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THE  BOOK  WAS 
DRENCHED 


>  CO  ^ 

m<OU  166292    >m 


NDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM 


IN  FOUR  PARTS 


Being  fl  Collection  of  Essays,  Addresses,  Speeches,  iff, 
with  an  Appendix 


C.    YAJNKSVARA  CHINTAMANI. 


All  Rights  Reserved. 


(Oil  it  b  r  u  s : 

BY   THOMPSON    &    CO.,    AT  THK  kk  MTXl^UYA"  I'RKSS, 

IAM'S  HROAHWAV. 


J  yo  r , 


PRINTED  BY  THOMPSON  &  CO,,  AT  Till?  "MINICRVA" 
POPUAM'G  BROADWAY. 


THE  LATE  MR.  JUSTICE  M.  O.  RAXADR,  C.I.E 

BORN   184". D11CU   1901. 


TO 
THE  CHERISHED  Hflt)  REVERED  MEMORY 

• 

OK  TIIJ-; 

LUTE  IjON'BLE  Jr.  JUSTICE  HAHADEO  60YIND  RANADE, 

M.A.,  u,.u.,  C.I!E. 

• 

Whose  gigantic  intellect,  saiiltcd  character,  many-sided 
activity,  nn flinching  devotion  to  duty  andtpassionate  love  of 
motherland  were  the  wonder  and  inspiration  of  millions  of  his 
admiring  countrymen  ;  whose  whole  life  was  dedicated  to  the 
service  of  this  beloved  India  of  ours  and  was  one  noble  record  of 
glorious  exertions  and  self-:xicrificing  labours  for  the  regenera- 
tion of  her  teeming  millions  in  all  the  departments  of  our 
activity  in  general  and  in  the  holy  field  of  Social  Reform  in 
particular;  and  who  laid  me  personally  under  a  debt  immense 
of  endless  gratitude  by  the  parental  solicitude  he  evinced  in 
the  present  humble  undertaking  from  the  very  beginning  of 
its  inception  to  the  last  day  of  his  life  ; 

TMIS    VOLUME 

IS    DEDICATED, 

AS  A  MvivBLK  TOKKN  OI;  GRATJTUDU, 
BY  THE   EDITOR 


PRKFACH- 

In  placing  the  present  work  'before    the  "public1,  I  Mo 
hardly  think  tiny  apology  is  necessary.     In    the    holy    task 
of  India's  regeneration,  Social  Koforin  has   n  very   import- 
ant part  to  play  as  \vithonb  social    efficiency,  no    permanent 
progress  in  the  other  fields  of  our  activity  can  be  achieved. 
That  Hindu  Society  is  at  present  far  from  being  in   a   state 
of  efficiency  owing  to  the  serious  mischief    wrought  bj'vthc* 
many  evil  customs  that  powerfully  clog  the    wheel  of  pro- 
gress  at    every  step,   is    a    fact    that  requires  only  to  be 
mentioned  for  it  to  be  admitted.     Followfiig  in  the  wake  of 
English  education  and  our  assimilation  of  the  strong  points 
of  Western  civilisation,    a    general    awakening    has    taken 
place  in  India  ;  and  ceaseless  efforts  have,  for  the  last  one 
or  two  generations,  been  put  forth  by  the  leaders  of  educa- 
ted Indian  thought  to  better  the  condition    of   our    commu- 
nity   politically,     socially,     intellectually   and     materially. 
The  birth  of  that    grand   national    movement,    the    Indian 
National  Congress  was  followed  by  the  foundation  of  its  sister 
institution,  the  Indian    National    Social    Conference  ;  and 
liko  the  Congress  in  the  political  iield,  the  Social  Conference 
has  reduced  all  the  weak  points  of  our  social  organisation  to 
a  definite  shape,  has  devised  various  methods  for  remedying 
them,  and  has  showed  us  who  our  leaders  arc  in  this  depart- 
ment of  our   progress.     For   the    promotion   of    any  great 
cause,  a  sort  of   literature    should  grow    around   ic   which 
would  popularise   it   by   dispelling   all  false   notions    and 
spreading  Correct  ideas  about  it.     Thus    an    immense    mass 
of  literature — and  very  useful  literature — has  grown  up  on 
the  subject  of  Social  Reform,  and  a  calm  and  dispassionate 
study  of  it  cannotj  I  venture  to  think,    fail  to  convince  any 
rational  mind   of    the   utility    of   effecting   reform    in    our 


vi 

social  economy,  It  must  also  show  that  we  who  advocate 
a  return  Lu  soin^  uf  the  more  wholesome  of  our  old  ways, 
iind  not  the  opponents  of  our  cause  who  blindly  refuse  to 
bp  guided  \)$  reason  and  expediency  and  persist  in  sticking 
to  what  custom  alone  sanctions,  are  the  true  conservatives, 
the  true  Hindus.  It  has  been  thought  desirable  to  give  to 
the  public  in  one  connected  whole  in  the  shape  of  a  volume 
like  the  present  one  the  best  thoughts  of  our  best  men,  of 
our  intellectual  aristocracy  who  naturally  form  the  cream 
of  our  society  on  the  overwhelmingly  important  subject  of 
Social  Reform  ;  and  how  fcir  I  have  succeeded  in  achieving 
this  object,  it  is  for  the  public  to  say. 

My  first  Lli ipiks,  in  this  connection,  arc  due  to  my 
valued  friend,  Mr.  K.  Venkanna  Vantulu,  First  Grade 
Pleader,  Vizianagram,  whose  sincerity  of  purpose,  ardent 
advocacy  of  the  cause  of  Social  lleform,  and  large-hearted 
liberality  have  alone  made  the  publication  of  this  volume 
possible  ;  and  1  write  only  the  sober  truth  when  1  say  that 
but  for  him,  this  work  could  not  have  been  undertaken  at 
all.  He  has  throughout  been  of  immense  help  to  me  in 
completing1  it. 

The  late  lamented  Mr.  Justice  M.  (1.  lianade,  (.'.1,1.;,, 
whose  sudden  demise  cast  such  a  deep  gloom  over  the 
whole  land,  rendered  me  every  possible  assistance  in 
bringing  out  this  volume,  and  from  the  very  moment  that 
Mr.  Venkanna  Pautulu  and  myself  thought  of  undertaking 
this  work,  his  mature  counsel  and  kindly  co-operation  were 
entirely  at  our  disposal.  It  is  simply  impossible  to  over- 
estimate the  nature  or  the  magnitude'  of  the  loss  1,  in 
common  with  all  the  rest  of  my  countrymen,  have  sustained 
by  his  having  been  so  prematurely  called  upon  to  pay 
the  debt  of  nature.  1  meaniio  disrespect  to  the  galaxy  of 
the  distinguished  contributors  I  have  been  fortunate  enough 
to  secure  when  I  say  that  this  book  has  lost  much  of  its 
value  by  going- without  the  masterly  Introduction  from  his 


giftod  pen,  whicli  he  was  kind  enough  to  promise  to  me  us 
soon  as  requested.  It  seemed  to  mo  nil  but  impossible  tu 
fill  the  void  created  by  his  passing,  and  so  the  book  goow 
without  any  Introduction  at  ;ill,  As  a1  feeble  -marl*  of  my 
deep  gratitude  to  him  for  the  noble  services  rendered  by 
him  to  the  sacred  cause  of  Social  Reform  in  general,  am] 
paticularly  for  tho  groat  help  hrf  gave  mo  in  the  publi- 
cation of  this  volume,  I  have  dedicated  it  to  his  sainted 
memory. 

My  most  grateful  thanks  are  due  In  the  many  eminent 
contributors  who  wrote  for  the  Inok  at  considerable  s,,?»ri~ 
f ice  of  time  and  labour  simply  as  ft,  labour  of  love,  accepting 
for  their  reward  only  the  promotion  of  a  cause -dear 
:md  near  to  all  of  us.  L  doubt  not  their  views  on  tho  respec- 
tive questions  dealt  with  by  (hem,  formed  a  ft  or  deep  study, 
mature  relloction  and  considerable  experioiico,  will  be  given 
the  serious  consideration  jliov^so  richly  merit  by  one  nnd 
all  of  my  thinking  countrymen  and  will  also  succeed  in 
inducing  courageous  action  in  at  least  some  quarters.  I 
must  also  express  my  obligations  to  tho  late  Mr.  Justice 
ttanade,  Mr.  Justice  Ohamhivtirkar,  Dr.  Mahendra  Lai 
Sircar,  Kao  Bahadur  K.  Viresalhigam  Pantnlu  and  Mr. 
M.  Varadacharlu,  the  Secretary  of  the  Madras  Hindu 
Social  Reform  Association  for  supplying  to  me  the  papers 
printed  as  Parts  II,  I  IF,  IV  and  Appendix,  and  to  my 
distinguished  friend  Mr.  ('!.  Subramania  Iyer  for  the 
excellent  advice  ho  has  uniformly  given  me  in  seeing  the 
work  through. 

It  now  only  remains  for  me  to  express  my  great  regret 
that  it  has  not  been  possible  to  publish  the  book  earlier 
owing  to  several  unexpected  difficulties  over  which  f  had 
no  control. 

MADRAS,  K)//<  Muy  1001.  C,  V.  CUINTAMANI. 


CONTENTS 


FIRST  PART-ORIGIN  A  I,  PAPERS.          PAGE. 

I.     Social  History  of  India         .  ...  ...       1 

(By  Dr.  R.  G.  Bhavdarkar.) 

m 

IJ.     On  Social  Reform:  A  Statement      ...  ...     27 

(By  the  Hon.  P.  Anandacharlu.) 

9 

III.  The  Temperance  Problem  in  India  ...  ...     87 

(By  W-  5.  Caine,  Esq.,  M.  P.) 

IV.  The  Hindu  Woman  :  Our  Sins  against  Her     ...      97 

(By  Dayaram  Gidumal,  Esq.) 

V.     The  Hindu  Joint  Family  System      ...  ...    107 

(By  G.  Subramania  Iyer,  Esq.) 

VI,     The  Fusion  of  Sub-Castes  ...  ...     144 

(By  Rai  Bahadur  Lola  Baij  Nath.) 

VII.     Marriage  Reform  among  the  Hindus  ...   16ft 

(By  Rao  Bahadur  R.  N,  Mudholkar.) 

VIII,     foreign  Travel    ...  ...  ...  ...  188 

(By  Pundit  Bishan  Narayen  Dar.) 

LX.     Social   Intercourse    between    Europeans    and 

Indians.  ...  ...  ...  ...  22t> 

(By  8.  Sathianadhan  Esq.) 

X.     Social  Purity  and  Anti-Nautch  Movement     . . .  249* 
(By  R.  Venkataratnam  Naidu,  Esq.) 


10  CONTKNTvS, 

PAGE. 
XI.     \yidowRe-marriage  ...  ...  ...   282 

(By  Rao  Bahadur  Wamanrao  M.  Kolhatkar.) 

XII,     The  Present  Condition  of  the  Low  Castes       ...   812 
(By  K.  Ramanujachari}  Exq*) 

XIII.     Tim  Position  oF  Woman  in  Ancient  and  Modern 

India  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...    33* 

(By  JWVtf.  Kawahi.  Xathiavadhan.) 

X I  V.     Isolations  between  the  Ilinduw  and  Mahomedans.  3G2 
(By  M  A.  N.  Hi/tlar!,  ^//.) 


SKCOND  I;AKT— AiK.jJSTK'K 

SPKKCHKS. 

Second  Social  Conference                 ...              -••  ...  I 

Third  Social  Conference  (Kirst  f-'roposition )  ft 

Do                       (Second  Proposition)  .  !) 

Kourfch  Social  ContVrrnee                 --•               ...  -••  14 

Fifth  Socsial  Conference,    ..              ...              ...  ...  18 

Sixth  Social  Conference                    ...  •-•  20 

Seventh  Social  Conference*              ...              ..  ...  38 

Kiprhth  Social  Confe-renci!                 ...              ...  ...  44 

Ninth  Social  Conference    (On  'k  The  cause    of  the    Ex- 
citement at  Pooua)                      ..              ...  ..  -)3 

Ninth  Social  Coiifcrunco    'On    "  The  History  of  Social 

ileform  ")  ...               ..                ..              ...  .  .  62 

Tenth  Social  Conference                   ,   .               .  .  ...  72 

Eleventh  Social  Conference            ...              ...  •••  80 

Twelfth  Social  Conference              ,..              ...  ••-  96 

Do       (Concluding  Addross)        ...              ...  ...  108 

Thirteenth  Social  Conference            .              ...  ...  Ill 

Bombay  Social  Conference              ...              ...  ...  125 


CONTENTS,  11 

i 

THIRD  PAKT— THE  SOCIAL  CONFERENCE 

PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.       '     PAUK. 
Mr.  K.T.Telang's  Address— 1839  ...  ...   130 

Babu  Norendro  Nath  Son's  Address— 1890          ,      '...  138 
Dr.  Mahondra  Lai  Sircar's  Address— 1890  ...    13?) 

Mr.  (J.  S.  Khapardo's  Address— 1881  ...  ..    U2 

Rai  Bahadur  Ham  Kali  Chaudhuri's  Address— 1892    ..   Uti 
Duwau  Narondra  Nath's  Address— 189)5      ...  ...    K>0 

Jnstico-Sir  S.  Subramaiiia  Iyer's  Address— 1894         ...   lt>7 
Dr.  R.  G.  Bhandarkar's  Adilrcss— 1895        ...  ...    1/7 

Babu  Noreridro  Natli  Sen's  Address— 1896  ...    U)() 

Rao   Bahadur    Wanianran    M.    Kolhatkar'b  AddreuH— 

1897  194 

Rao  Bahadur    K.    Virosalingani    J'antulu'a   Address — 

1898  ...  ,..§       %     ---  ---  .-  202 

.Rai  Bahadur  Uila  Baij  Nath's  Address— 1899  ...   'JOG 

FOURTH  PART— MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS. 
Dr.  R.  G.  Bhandarkar  on  "  Social  Ruform  "...  ...   218 

Mr.    Mano    Mohan    (Oioso    on    "Social   Progress  in 

Bengal11 22!) 

Dr.  Mahendra  Lai  Sircar  on  "  E'eraalc  Medical  Aid  "M  1240 
Do  on   u  The    Age    o£   Consent 

Bill  "  247 

Do  on  "  The  Earliest   Marriage- 

able Age  -f         ...  ...  255 

Mr.  Justice  N.  G.  Chandavarkar  on  Social  Reform    ..,  309 
Mr.  G,  Subramania  Iyer  on  "  The  Principles  of  Social 

Reform" 343 


I-J  CONTKNT.s 

APPENDIX.  I 

SunuTKir>     oi   Resolutions    jessed    :il,  the  Social     (\m- 

ferenoe        ..                .                  ...  ...               ... 


AIJUKNDA. 

• 
Mr.  Justice  Kaiiiick'/s  Speech  sit  Luhore  in  1(JOO          ...   -"J77 

I.)e  \van    Santa    Rum's     Presidential  Address  at  Luhore 

m  1900  ...  ...  ...  ......  :{s;> 


PART  FIRST, 


Original  Papers. 


I.— Social  History  of  India. 

BY  RAMAKRTSTFNA  (JOI-AI,  UUANJIARK-AR,  M.A.,  rFT.D.,  c.r.E., 

Lntv  Professor  of  Oriental  Lanyuayeff. 

Dercan  College,  Poona* 


INTRODUCTORY. 

Before  entering  on  the  subject  of  this  paper  it  is  ne- 
cessary to  give  the  reader  a  general  idea  of  the  com- 
parative antiquity  of  the  different  portions  of  Sanskrit 
literature  referred  to  therein.  The  hymns  contained  in 
the  Rigvedii  Samhita  are  the  oldest ;  but  they  were 
composed  at  different  times  rind  some  of  them  are  much  later 
than  the  others.  The  verses  of  these  hymns  when  used 
for  sacrificial  purposes  are  called  Ma-ntraft.  The  Brahmanas 
which  contain  an  explanation  of  the  sacrificial  ritual  corno 
next  •  but  there  was  a  very  long1  interval  between  them 
and  the  hymns.  Then,  we  have  the  Aranyakas  which 
contain  the  Upanishads.  There  arc  treatises  of  the  latter  name 
which  arc  very  modern  and  form  by  no  means  a  part  of 
the  Vedic  literature  though  sometimes  they  profess  to  do 
so.  Later  than  these  are  the  Srauta  or  sacrificial  Sutras, 
and  contemporaneous  with  them  or  somewhat  later  are  the 
(Irihyn  Sutras.  The  Dharma  Sutras  in  which  the  religious 
and  sometimes  the  civil  law  is  laid  down  are  still  more 
modern.  The  Samhita  and  Brahmana  of  the  Black  Yajurveda 

Ar.B.— "  The   Press  having   pot  no  type    with   diacritical  marks,  tho 
paper  has  been  printed  without  them,"— K.  G.  B, 


2  INDIAN  SOQIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

contain   ihe    Mantra    and    Brahmana     portions     mixed 
together.    Some  of  the  Mantras  may  be  as  old  as  the  later 
hymns     of   the   Rigyeda  Samhita  ;     but    the    Brahmana 
portion  mu^t"  be  of  about  the  same  age  as   the   Brahmauas 
of  the  Rigveda.  Some  of  the  hymns  of  the  Atharva  Veda 
may  be  as  old"  as  the  later  ones  of  the  Rigveda ;  but  others 
are    considerably   more   modern-    Buddhism   rose    in  the 
latter  part   of    the    sixth    century   before  Christ  ;  and  the 
death  of  Buddha  took  place  about  477  B.  C.     The  genuine 
Upanishads  must  be   earlier   than   Buddhism.  The  .gram- 
marian Patanjali  lived  about  150  B,C,  and  Panini,  the  author 
of  the  Sutras  on  grammaV,  must    have    preceded   him    by 
several  centuries^  Yaska,  the  author  of  the  Nirukta,  which 
contains  an  explanation  of  the  difficult  words  in  the  hymns, 
must  have  flourished  before  Panini.    From  about   the  mid- 
dle of  the  third  century  before  Christ  to  about   the    end  of 
the  third  Ttfter,  Buddhism  WAS  thje  favourite  religion  of  the 
masses.      During    that    time     Brahmanic     literary     and 
religious  activity  was  a  good  deal  impaired.    In  the  fourth 
century  Buddhism  declined    and   there   was   a   Brahmanic 
revival ;  and  the  Brahmana  re- edited   some  of  the  books  on 
the  religious  and  the  civil  law  which  had  been   written   in 
the  form  of  prose  sentences  called  Sutras,  and  gave  a  new 
and  more  popular  shape  to  them.    Thus  arose  the   metrical 
Smritis   or    Smritis    composed    in   Anushtup-Slokas  which 
now    go  by  the    name    of   Manu,    Yajnavalkya  and   other 
sages   of  antiquity.    They  of  course    contained  mostly  the 
same  matter  as  the  old  Dharina  Sutras  \  but  they  brought 
the  law  up  to  the  time-    This  species   of   literature   having 
come  into  existence  in  this  way,  other  numerous  Smritis  of 
the  like  nature  came  to  be  written  subsequently.     The  old 
Puranas  were  also   recast   about  the    period,    and   a  good 
many  new  ones  written.    The   Mahabharata  is   mentioned 
by  Panini  and  in   Asvnlayana's   Grihya  Sutras  ;   but  was 
consolidated  into  something  like  its  present  shape  probably 
three  or  four  centuries  before  CJirist ;   but  passagts  were 


i.]  SOCIAL  HISTO&Y  OF  INDIA.  3 

interpolated  into  it   from  time  to  time  ;    and  it  nrist   have 
been  retouched  at  the  time  of  the  rivival. 

CASTE. 

More  than  four  thousand  years,  before  Christ  according 
to  the  latest  researches,  the  Sanskrit-speaking  people  called 
tho  Aryas  penetrated  into  India  from  the  "North-West, 
They  were  at  first  settled  in  Eastern  Kabulistan  and  along 
the  upper  course  of  the  Indus  ;  and  thence  they  gradually 
descended  the  river  to  the  south  and  spread  also  to  the  east 
in  the  upper  part  of  the  country  watered  by  the  five  rivers 
of  the  Panjab.  Their  progress  aju  every  step  wan  resisted 
by  another  race  or  races  which  in  the  Kigveda  are1  desig- 
nated by  the  name  of  Dasyu  or  Dasa.  ,TIie  Dasyus  arc 
contrasted  with  tho  Aryas  and  are  represented  as  people 
of  a  dark  complexion  who  were  unbelievers,  i.  c ,  did 
not  worship  the  gods  of  the  Aryas  and  perform 
the  sacrificeSj  but  followed  -another  law.  The  Aryan 
godslndra  and  Agni  are  frequently  praised  for  having 
driven  away  the  black  people,  destroyed  their  strong- 
holds and  given  their  possessions  to  the  Aryas.  s:  From 
day  to  day,"  it  is  said  in  one  hymn,  "  he  (Indra)  drove  the 
people  who  were  black,  all  alike,  from  one  habitation  to 
another."  Those  who  submitted  were  reduced  to  slavery, 
and  the  rest  were  driven  to  the  fastnesses  of  mountains. 
The  process  was  carried  on  in  all  parts  of  the  country  to 
which  the  Aryans  penetrated.  The  old  word  Da sa  came  to 
denote  a  "  slave  "  generally,  and  the  word  Dasyu  acquired 
the  significance  of  a  "  robber,"  as  those  aborigines  who 
had  betaken  themselves  to  mountain  fastnesses  subsisted 
on  robbery.  The  latter  word  came  also  to  signify  "  one 
beyond  the  Aryan  pale  "  as  these  tribes  of  robbers  were. 
While  the  Aryans  were  in  the  Panjab  they  were  divided 
into  a  good  many  tribes,  each  having  a  king  of  its  own  and 
a  family  or  families  of  priests.  There  were  among  them 
.three  social  grades  or  ranks.  To  the  first  belonged  the 
priests^ who  composed  Brahmans  (with  the  accent  -on  the 


4  IKDTAN  SOCIAL  REFORM,  [PA*T 

first  syllable),  i.e.,  songs  or  hymns  to  the  gods  and  knew 
how  to  worship  them,  and  were  called  Brahmans  (with  the 
accent  on  the  second  syllable).  The  second  grade  was  occu- 
pipd  by  Ihopd  who  acquired  political  eminence  and  fought 
battles,  and  were  called  Bajans.  All  the  other  Aryas  were 
referred  to  the  third  grade  and  were  distinguished  by  the 
name  of  Visas  or  people  generally.  These  three  classes 
formed  one  community,  and  such  of  the  aborigines  as  had 
yielded  to  the  Aryas  were  tacked  011  to  it  as  a  fourth  grade 
under  the  name  of  Vases,  which  word  had  now  come  to 
si^hify  slaves  or  servants.  <  Such  grades  existed  amongst 
ancient  Persians  also.  In1  the  coarse  of  time  these  grades 
became  hereditary  and  acquired  the  nature  of  castes,  and 
were  called  Brahmaiias,  Rajani/as  and  Vaisyas  or  descend- 
ants of  the  old  Brahmaus,  Rajans  or  Visas.  The  fourth 
class  came  to  bo  called  Sudras,  which  probably  was  at  first 
the  name  of  the  aboriginal  tribe  jyhich  had  acquired  a  dis- 
tinct position  in  the  community,  and  was  afterwards  gene- 
ralised. These  four  castes  arc  mentioned  in  one  of  the 
latest  hymns  of  the  Rigveda.  The  first  two  formed  definite 
classes  with  a  definite  sphere  of  duties  and  were  the  aris- 
tocracy of  the  community.  Since  the  Vaisya  class  included 
all  other  Aryas,  there  was  a  tendency  in  it  towards  the 
formation  of  sub -classes  or  communities  and  possibly  there 
were  such  sub- classes,  which  according  to  some  formed  in- 
dependent castes.  The  Sudras  being  the  aborigines,  there 
were  in  all  likelihood  several  castes  among t  them  correspond- 
ing to  the  several  races  which  inhabited  the  country 
before  the  invasion  of  the  Aryas.  These  were  of  course 
denied  the  privilege  of  keeping  the  sacred  fire  or  perform- 
ing the  sacrifices  ;  and  were  not  allowed  to  read  or  study 
the  Vedas.  The  two  highest  castes  do  not  seem  in  the 
times  to  which  the  old  religious  literature  refers  to  have  split 
up  into  sub  castes.  No  such  are  referred  to  in  that  litera- 
ture, though  they  are  supposed  by  some  scholars  to  have 
existed,  There  were  tribes  of  Kshatriyas  or  Rajanyas  and 


i.]  SOCIAL  SISTORY  OF  ItfDlA.  5 

Gotras  of  Brahmanas  ;  but  no  castes.  With  this  social  con- 
stitution the  Aryas  spread  over  the  whole  of  Northern 
India,  and  the  Sudra  population  incorporated  with  their 
community  became  so  large  that  it  influenced  the'  future 
development  of  the  country.  The  Sanskrit  language  was 
corrupted  and  the  Vernaculars  began  to  be  formed. 

The  languages  of  Northern  India  including  the  Mara- 
thi  are  offshoots  of  the  Sanskrit  ;  and  they  were  formed  not 
by  a  course  of  gradual  corruption  and  simplification  such 
as  we  meet  with  in  the  case  of  a  language  spoken  through  • 
out  its  history  by  the  same  race,  but  by  a  wholesale  corrup- 
tion of  Sanskrit  sounds,  i.e.,  mispronunciation  of  Sanskrit 
words  by  a  race  the  vocal  organs  of  which  were  not  habi- 
tuated to  utter  those  sounds,  and  by  a  generalization 
of  such  grammatical  forms  as  wvre  in  common  use 
through  ignorance  of  the  special  forms.  Thus  arose  in 
very  ancient  times  the  Prakrits ,  including  the  Pali  or  the 
language  of  the  saored  books  of  Southern  Buddhists ;  and 
these  have,  in  the  course  of  time,  become  the  modern  Ver- 
naculars. The  phonetic  difference  between  these  and  the 
old  Prakrits  is  but  slight  when  compared  with  that  between* 
the  latter  and  the  Sanskrit,  which  shows  that  there  was, 
when  the  Prakrits  were  formed,  a  special  cause  in  opera- 
tion, viz.,  the  incorporation  of  alien  races ;  and  this  cause 
has  ceased  to  exist  in  later  times.  The  Prakrits  and 
through  them  the  Vernaculars  have  got  some  special 
sounds  and  also  words  which  are  foreign  to  Sanskrit  ; 
and  this  points  to  the  same  conclusion.  Thus  then  these 
dialects  show  that  the  new  races  that  were  incorporated 
with  the  Aryan  community  had  to  give  up  iheir  own 
languages '  and  learn  those  of  their  Aryan  conquerors. 
The  Prakrits  and  the  Vernaculars  bear  the  same  relation  to 
Sanskrit  that  the  Komance  languages,  Italian,  French, 
etc.,  bear  to  the  Latin;  and  just  as  these  were  formed  by 
communities  composed  of  the  old  Romany  and  an  over- 
poweringly  large  element  of  the  Celtic  and  the  Germanic 


6  INDIAN  SOGIAL  REFORM.  [£ART 

races,  aoc were  the  languages  of  Northern  India  formed" 
by  mixed  communities  of  Aryans  and  aborigines.  As  a  mat- 
ter of  fact  some  of  the  vocal  peculiarities  of  the  makers  of 
Prakrits  are  'displayed  b.y  the  people  of  the  different  Indian 
provinces  at  the  present  day.  Thus  like  the  former  the 
Gujaratis  of  the  present  day  cannot  pronounce  the  Sans- 
,krit  sound  an  but  always  make  o  of  it,  the  Bengali  cannot 
utter  the  conjunct  consonant  in  Is vara  and  other  words  and 
invariably  changes  it  to  a  Double  consonant,  making  Issara 
of  Isvara,  the  Desasthn/Brahmans  of  eastern  Maharashtra 

*fH 

pronounce  a  dental  nasal  as  a  cerebral,  and  the  Sindhi  and 
also  the  Bengali  cannot  utter  fofoabut  must  make  Jtlcha  of  it- 
The  Bengali  shoe's  also  the  peculiarity  of  the  old  Magadhi 
speakers  by  his  incapacity  to  utter  the  three  different 
sibilants  and  his  giving  them  all  a  palatal  sound.  This 
would  show  that  among  the  speakers  of  the  modern  verna- 
culars there  is  such  a.  large  aboriginal  clement  that  it  has 
overpowered  the  Aryan  element  ;  and  they  may  as  well  be 
regarded  as  descendants  of  the  aborigines  as  of  the  Aryas. 
And  this  preponderating  influence  of  the  aborigines 
is  to  be  accounted  for  not  only  by  their  large  numbers  but 
by  the  fact  that  men  from  the  Aryan  community  frequently 
married  Sudra  wives  though  the  marriages  were  considered 
inferior,  and  sometimes  Sudra  men  married  Aryan  women. 
The  fact  that  some  of  the  Law-books  allow  of  the  former 
and  prohibit  the  latter  shows  that  in  practice  there  must 
have  been  many  such  cases  since  the  law  never  deals  with 
imaginary  circumstances  but  always  such  as  are  actual. 
The  origin  of  certain  castes  is  traced  in  those  books  to  such 
marriages  and  it  is  even  represented  that  under  certain 
circumstances  and  after  the  lapse  of  a  certain  number  of 
generations  the  offspring  of  those  marriages  can  attain  to 
the  caste  of  the  original  progenitor.  If  then  the  descend- 
ant in  the  fifth  or  sixth  generation  of  a  child  of  a  Sudrft 
woman  by  a  Brahman,  Kshatriya  or  Vaisya  man  could  be- 
come a  Bralimah,  Kshatriya  or  Vaisya  when  such  marriages 


L]  SOCIAL  HISTORY  OF  INDIA.  7 

were  permitted,  it  must  be  understood  that  there  ^is  some 
aboriginal  blood  flowing  through  the  veins  of  the  high-caste 
Hindus  of  the  present  day.  To  Southern  India  the  Aryans 
penetrated  at  a  comparatively  late  period,  when^  cottimun^ 
ties  and  nations  of  aboriginal  races  had  already  been  form- 
ed.  They  did  not  settle  there  in  large  numbers  and  thus 
were  unable  thoroughly  to  influence  the  latter  and  incorpo* 
rate  them  into  their  community.  Hence  they  preserved 
their  own  languages  and  many  of  the  peculiarities  of  their 
civilization  ;  and  these  the  Aryans  themselves  had  ta  adopt 
in  the  course  of  time.  The  Kanarese,  the  Tamil,  the  Teluju 
and  the  Malayalam  belong  to  an  dhtirely  non-Aryan  stock 
of  languages. 

It  was  not  possible  in  the  nature  of  things  that  the 
castes  should  always  follow  the  profession  or  calling  which 
brought  them  into  existence  and  which  is  laid  down  for 
them  in  the  ancient  Law-books.  The  Brahmans  alone 
could  officiate  as  priests  at  sacrifices  and  in  the  domestic 
ceremonies  ;  and  a  great  many  devoted  themselves  to  that 
occupation.  There  were  those  who  preferred  plain  living 
and  high  thinking,  and  taking  a  vow  of  poverty  devoted 
their  lives  to  study.  But  there  were  still  others  who  took  to 
agriculture,  trade  and  other  much  meaner  occupations  and 
also  to  politics  ;  and  there  was  in  the  olden  times  even  a 
Brahmanic  dynasty  reigning  at  Pataliputra.  But  politics 
and  war  were  the  special  occupation  of  the  Kshatriyas. 
They  also  devoted  themselves  to  philosophy  and  literature  ; 
and  in  the  Upanishadg  they  are  several  times  mentioned  as 
teachers  of  religious  philosophy  and  Brahmans  as  learners. 
In  one  place  it  is  said  thab  Brahmavidya  was  first  cultiva- 
ted by  them.  It  was  en  account  of  this  philosophic  culture 
that  religious  reformers  sprang  from  their  ranks.  Buddha 
was  a  Kshatriya  and  so  was  Mahavira,  the  founder  of 
Jainism.  Vasudeva  whose  name  is  closely  connected  -with 
the  Bhakti  school  either  as  the  name  of  the  Supreme  Being 
or  as  a- teacher,  was  a  Kshatriya  of  the  YAdava  clan.  A 


8  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

Bralimau  may,  says  Apastamba,  study  the  Vedas  under  a 
Kshatriya  or  Vaisya  tcaclier  when  reduced  to  that  necessity. 
The  Vaisyas  followed  the  occupation  of  trade  and  agri- 
culture. The  Sudras  are  condemned  to  be  the  slaves  or 
servants  of  the  other  castes  by  Brahmanic  Law-books.  But 
as  a  matter  of  fact  since  by  that  name  several  social  groups 
or  castes  were  designate!!,  it  was  impossible  that  that  occu- 
pation should  have  been  enough  for  them  or  have  satisfied 
them.  They  often  pursued  an  independent  calling  and 
became  artizans.  Patanjali  mentions  carpenters  and  black- 
smiths as  belonging  to  the.tSudra  class.  The  lowest  of  them, 
the  Chandalas  were  in  the  same  degraded  condition  as  they 
are  now. 

Endogamy,  i.e.,  marriage  within  and  not  without  the 
limits  of  a  group,  is  a  characteristic  of  caste.  But  as  already 
stated  a  man  from  the  higher  castes  could  marry  a  Sudra 
woman  under  the  law,  and  generally  a  marriage  connection 
could  be  formed  by  a  man  belonging  to  any  of  the  higher 
castes  with  a  woman  of  any  of  the  lower  castes.  The 
marriages  were,  however,  considered  to  be  of  an  inferior 
nature,  and  the  issue  took  rank  after  that  of  the  wife  of  the 
same  caste.  Marriages  in  the  reverse  order,  i.e.,  of  a  man 
belonging  to  a  lower  caste  with  a  woman  of  a  higer  were, 
like  the  marriage  of  a  Sudra  man  with  an  Aryan  woman 
alluded  to  before,  strictly  prohibited  by  the  Law-books  ;  but 
since  they  speak  of  the  issue  of  .such  marriages  and  give 
the  law  with  reference  to  them,  there  must  have  been  in 
practice  many  cases  of  the  kind.  After  a  time  however 
these  became  obsolete,  and  the  marriage  of  a  man  of  a 
higher  or  Aryan  caste  with  a  Sudra  woman  which  had 
been  allowed  by  the  law  before  and  frequently 'practised, 
was  also  prohibited  by  the  later  legislators.  And  in  prac- 
tice all  marriages  between  members  of  different  castes 
gradually  went  out  of  use. 

The  Brahmanic  religious  writers  mention  a  good  many 
castes  which  they  assert  sprang  from  intermarriages 


i.]  SOCIAL  HISTORY  OF  INDIA.  » 

between  persons  of  different  castes.  The  origin  thus  assign- 
ed to  the  castes  is  in  a  good  many  cases  evidently  fanciful, 
Some  of  them  such  as  Vaideha  and  Magadha  must  have 
arisen  from  the  locality  ;  others  such  as  Rathakara  or 
1  chariot -maker  J  from  the  occupation,  and  still  others  such 
as  Ohandala  from  the  race,  But  it  will  not  do  to  throw  dis- 
credit over  the  whole  statement.  The  Indian  authors  are 
always  inclined  to  reduce  everything  to  a  preconceived 
system.  The  castes  are  four,  and  if  we  find  many  more  in 
real  life  they  must  have  sprung  by  inter-marriages  from 
these  four.  This  is  the  theory  on  which  they  have  goiiu  ; 
and  certainly  its  application  to  all  cases  must  be  wrong. 
But  in  order  to  render  the  conception  of  such  a  theory  pos- 
sible, there  must  liavo  been  a  few  cases  actually  of  castes 
springing  up  from  such  marriages.  But  which  of  the 
castes  mentioned  by  them  are  mixed  castes  of  this  nature 
it  is  not  possible  to  determine  All  the  so-called  mixed 
castes  are  considered  Sudras,  which  shows  that  some  of 
them  at  least  were  aboriginal  tribes  which  had  become 
castes.  Similarly  some  castes  are  named  which  are  said 
to  have  sprung  from  Vratyaa  or  persons  who  had  set 
themselves  free  from  the  Brahmanic  ordinances  about  the 
orders,  i.  e.,  had  in  practice  given  up  the  Brahmanic  reli- 
gion. The  same  observation  as  that  made  above  is  appli- 
cable to  this  case  :  viz.,  some  castes  must  have  arisen  from 
this  cause,  but  which  we  cannot  say. 

Commensality  within  and  not  without  a  group  is  in 
almost  all  cases  another  characteristic  of  castes.  But  in 
the  olden  times  we  see  from  the  Mahabharata  and  other 
works  that  Brahrnans,  Kshatriyas  and  Vaisyas  could  eat  the 
food  cooked  by  each  other.  Manu  lays  down  generally 
that  a  twice-born  should  not  eat  the  food  cooked  by  a 
Sudra  (iv.  223)  ;  but  ho  allows  that  prepared  by  a 
Sudra  who  has  attached  himself  to  one,  or  is  one's  barber, 
milkman,  slave,  family  friend,  and  co-sharer  in  the  profits  of 
agriculture,  to  be  partaken  (iv.  253).  The  implication  that 


10  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

lies  here  is  that  the  tlirco  higher  castes  could  dine  with 
each  other.  Gautama,  the  author  of  a  Dharmasutra,  permits 
a  Brahman's  dining  with  a  twice-born  (Kshatriya  or  Vaisya) 
who  observes  his  religious  duties  (17,1).  Apastamba, 
another  writer  of  the  class,  having  laid  down  that  a  Brah- 
man should  not  cat  with  a  Kshatriya  and  others,  says  that 
according  to  some,  he  may  do  so  with  men  of  all  the  Varnas 
who  observe  their  proper  religious  duties  except  with  the 
Sudras.  Hut  even  here  there  is  a  counter-exception,  and 
as  allowed  by  Manu,  a  'Brahman  may  dine  with  a  Sudra 
who  may  have  attached  himself  to  him  with  a  holy  intent 
(1-18.  9,  13,  14). 

In  modern  times  it  is  of  the  essence  of  caste  that  there 
should  be  coiinubiiiin  only  within  its  limits  and  commen- 
sality  also  except  in  the  case  of  a  few  sub-castes.  But 
if  in  ancient  times  there  could  be  inter-marriages  between 
the  three  Aryan  castes  and  also  in  times  earlier  between 
all  the  four,  and  inter-dining  between  the  first  three  and 
some  individuals  of  the  fourth,  in  what  respect  are  they  to 
be  considered  as  castes  ?  Only  in  this  that  a  certain  dig- 
nity of  position  was  transmitted  from  father  to  son  and  that 
marriage  with  a  woman  from  a  family  of  a  lower  heredi- 
tary position  was  considered  to  be  of  an  inferior  nature. 
For  a  long  time  the  four  castes  preserved  their  original 
Vedic  character  as  social  grades  though  heredity  had  be- 
come associated  with  them.  But  we  can  plainly  observe 
the  operation  of  strong  tendencies  to  greater  exclusiveness, 
in  the  gradual  contraction  of  the  sphere  of  connubium  and 
commensality  which  we  have  noticed  above.  We  can  also 
discover  the  operation  of  causes  which  lead  to  the 
multiplication  of  castes.  The  difference  of  locality  gave 
rise,  as  wo  have  seen,  to  a  difference  of  caste  in  the 
case  of  8 Hitraa.  Brahmanic  law-givers  represent  several 
provinces  such  as  Avanti,  Magadha,  Surashtra  and 
tho  Deccan  as  unholy  and  consequently  not  fit  to  be 
inhabited  by  the  Aryas  (Baudhayana's  Dharmasutra, 


i.]  SOCIAL  HISTORY  OF  INDIA.  11 

1"  2-  13,  14),  imil  persons  who  have  gone  to  others  such  as 
Pundra  and  Vanga  are  considered  positively  to  have  lost 
caste  and  cannot  be  re-admitted  except  by  the  performance 
of  certain  purificatory  rights.  This  shows  a  tendency  to 
the  formation  of  separate  castes  among  the  Avyas,  on 
account  of  change  of  locality.  The  Magqdha  Hrahmnns 
arc  spoken  of  even  in  sacrificial  Sutras  as  a  degraded  class. 
Udichcha  (Northern)  Krahmans  are  frequently  mentioned 
in  Buddhist  Pali  works  in  a  manner  to  show  that  they 
constituted  an  order  or  evoii  a  Jati  (caste)  of  Brahmans. 
This  class  o:1  cast  •  seems  to  have  been  regarded  .is 
highly  respectable.  The  operation  of  race  in  the  forma- 
tion of  castes  we  have  already  observed.  The  original 
Sudi'ii  caste  and  a  good  many  others  that  afterwards 
came  to  be  included  in  it  were  due  to  this  cause. 
As  the  Aryans  spread  far  and  wide  in  I  he  country 
these  two  causes  came  into  full  operation.  A  third  cause 
is  the  same  as  that  which  brought  about  the  formation  of 
the  Vratya  castes.  When  the  ordinances  and  usages  of  a 
caste  are  violated  by  some  members  of  it,,  the  others  ex- 
communicate them,  or  regard  them  as  ha v ing  ceased  to 
belong  to  their  caste-  This  cause  came  into  active  opera- 
tion probably  during  the  time  when  early  Buddhism  en- 
joyed ascendancy  and  was  followed  by  the  Kshatriya  and 
Vaisya  castes.  Animal  sacrifice  was  prohibited  by  the 
great  Asoka  in  the  first  half  of  the  third  century  before 
Christ ;  and  along  with  that  some  of  the  ordinary  usages 
were  given  up.  The  Bnihmanas  must  have  looked  upon 
those  who  did  so  as  having  lost  caste  ;  and  this  Fact  is  pro- 
bably at  the  bottom  of  the  view  held  by  them  that  in  this 
Kali  age  there  are  only  two  Varnas,  the  Brahmans  and  the 
Sudras,  the  other  two  having  disappeared.  The  prevalence 
of  Jainism  and  some  of  the  other  religious  systems  must 
have  contributed  to  the  same  result.  And  the  laying  down 
of  certain  sins  liable  to  lead  to  excommunication  in  the 
Law-Vooks,  shows  that  the  practice  must  have  prevailed. 


t2  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

A  fourth  cause  also  came  into  operation  in  the  early  cen- 
turies of  the  Christian  era  or  even  before.  It  was  the  for- 
mation of  Srenis  or  trade  guilds.  They  are  mentioned  in 
some  of  the  Law-books  and  in  the  Nasik  and  Kanheri  cave 
inscriptions.  In  these  we  have  an  allusion  to  a  Taililca 
S'mri  and  a  Malika  S'reni,  i.e.,  the  guilds  of  oil-makers 
and  gardeners.  These  guilds  must  have  a  regular  organi- 
zation, since  charitable  persons  deposited  money  with  them 
for  the  benefit  of  Buddhist  monks,  011  which  they  paid  in- 
terest from  generation  to  generation.  And  in  the  course  of 
time  the  guilds  of  oilmen  mad  gardeners  became  the  castes 
of  Telis  and  Malis.  Some  or  a  good  many — not  all,  as 
has  been  supposed  by  some  writers, — of  the  modern 
castes  have  got  an  organisation  with  a  headman  or  Presi- 
dent, and  this  they  owe  to  their  having  sprung  from  such 
guilds  or  imitated  their  practice.  The  followers  of  each 
occupation  thus  formed  a  cfnte  and  the  number  multiplied. 
A  fifth  cause  has  also  been  in  operation  for  some  centuries. 
Religious  schools  or  sects  have  given  rise  to  different  castes. 
The  followers  of  the  Madhyandina  Sakha  or  resceiision  of 
the  White  Yajur-Veda  form  a  different  caste  from  that  of 
the  followers  of  the  Kanva  rcHcension,  and  those  of  Madhva 
from  that  of  the  followers  of  S'amkara,  though  there  is  com- 
mensality  between  them  except  in  some  cases. 

These  five  causes  have  been  in  brisk  operation  cRiring 
more  than  two  thousand  years,  unchecked  by  any  influ- 
ence of  a  unifying  nature  ;  and  the  principle  of  division  has 
become  strong!}-  ingrained  in  Hindu  Society,  and  perhaps 
in  the  Hindu  blood.  During  all  this  period  various  religi- 
ous and  philosophical  sects  have  been  founded.  Religion 
has  been  developing  and  not  quite  on  wrong  lines,  and 
spreading  elevating  ideas.  But  all  these  sects  including  that 
of  the  Buddhists  occupied  themselves  with  man's  eternal 
interests,  and  thought  it  no  concern  of  theirs  to  promote  his 
worldly  interests.  The  Buddhists  and  also  some  schools  of 
the  Vaishnavas  considered  caste  to  be  of  no  value.  Mea  from 


i.]  SOCIAL  HISTORY  OF  INDIA.  13 

all  castes  were  admitted  into  the  fraternity  of  Buddhist 
monks,  and  the  Vaishnavas  disregarded  caste  restric- 
tions in  their  dealings  with  each  other.  But  the  reformation 
of  lliiidu  society  by  relaxing  the  bondage  of  caste  was  not 
an  object  with  them.  Thus  the  result  is  that  Hindu  society, 
is  now  cut  up  into  more  than  three  thousand  castes.  Each 
of  them  is  a  community  by  itself,  having  no  connubium  or 
commensality  with  another  and  has  developed  peculiar 
manners  and  tastes  which  distinguish  it  still  further  from 
the  rest. and  render  social  intercourse  impracticable.  Thus 
the  two  hundred  and  forty  million!3,  of  Hindus  living  in  India 
form  about  three  thousand  distinct  communities,  each  on  an 
average  composed  of  eighty  thousand  people,  i.e.,  about 
two -thirds  of  the  population  of  ti  single  town  of  ordinary  size 
such  as  Poona. 

The  germs  of  the  caste  system  existed  among  some  of 
the  principal  races  in  the  West.  For  a  long  period  there  was 
no  connubium  between  the  Patricians  and  Plebians  in  Rome  ; 
and  traces  have  been  discovered,  we  are  told,  of  the  exist- 
ence of  restrictions  as  to  inter-marriage  and  eating  together 
among  the  Greeks,  Germans  and  Russians.  But  those  germs 
wei-e  trampled  under  foot  there,  while  hero  they  have  found 
a  congenial  soil  and  grown  into  a  huge  buiiyan  tree  throw- 
ing its  dark  shadow  on  the  whole  extent  of  this  vast  coun- 
try. And  what  is  the  reason  ?  This  is  what  M.  Senart,  the 
great  French  scholar  who  has  recently  published  an  essay 
on  Caste  is  represented  to  say  about  it. 

UM.  Senart  shows  how  the  growth  of  strong,  political 
and  national  feelings  constantly  tended,  in  the  West,  to 
weaken  and  at  last  succeeded  in  removing,  these  (caste) 
restrictions.  He  suggests  that  the  absence  of  such  feelings 
in  India  may  be  one  reason  why  the  disabilities  have  not 
also  there  been  gradually  softened  away.  It  is,  indeed,  very 
suggestive  for  the  right  understanding  of  Indian  History, 
that  they  should,  on  the  contrary,  have  become  so  perma- 
nent a  factor  in  Indian  life." 


14  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFOPM.  [PART 

M.  Senart's  theory  appears  to  be  that  the  innumerable 
castes  of  tho  present  day  existed  even  in  very  olden  times 
and  that  the  four  Varnas  or  grades  belonged  to  prc-Vedic 
times  when  the  ancestors  of  the  Parsis  and  Hindus  lived 
together,  and  were  traditionally  handed  down  to  the  Vedii1 
times  •  and  these  traditional  grades  were  fused  together 
with  the  numberless  castes  that  really  existed  so  as  to  form 
what  he  calls  a  "  hybrid  "  system.  The  modern  castes 
have  not  grown  out  of  the  old  Varnas  or  grades.  Hence 
lie  speaks  of  the  caste  restrictions  as  "  not  having  bpen  soft- 
ened away."  But  agreeing  as  I  do  with  Oldenberg,  a  German 
scholar  who  has  expressed  his  dissent  from  M.  Semirtj 
and  believing  that  the  view  I  liuve  put  forth  above  is  alone 
sustained  by  tho  evidence  available,  1  should  say  that  "the 
old  slight  restrictions  have  in  the  course  of  time  become 
very  heavy  fetters  that  render  all  movement  impossible/' 
And  this  is  the  result  of  the  cnti'-c  absence  of  "political  and 
national  feelings."  Pride  and  other  feelings  that  divide  man 
from  man  have  had  full  swing  in.  the  history  of  India  and 
sympathy  or  fellow-feeling  has  been  confined  to  the  nar- 
rowest possible  sphere. 

MEAT  AND  DRINK. 

Connected  with  the  question  of  caste  is  that  of  the  use 
of  meat  and  drink.  It  is  generally  supposed  that  abstinence 
from  meat  is  an  essential  condition  of  Brahmanism.  But 
according  to  all  authorities  the  Brahmans  and  other  twice- 
born  used  meat  in  ancient  times,  The  flesh  of  five  species 
of  live-clawed  animals  is  permitted  to  be  eaten  in  the  Dharma 
Sutras;  and  even  beef  is  allowed  by  Apastamba([-l  7.  30,  37 J. 
Most  of  the  sacrifices  of  the  old  Vedic  religion  were  animal 
sacrifices ;  and  the  animals  killed  by  suffocation  for  the  pur- 
pose were  goats,  sheep,  cows  or  bulls,  and  horses.  It  is 
impossible  that  the  idea  of  offering  meat  to  gods  could  have 
originated  unless  men  themselves  liked  it  and  used  it.  But  tho 
influence  of  Buddhism,  and  later,  of  Jainism  threw  discredit 
on  the  practice  ;  and  those  who  re-edited  Hindu  Law  in 


T.]  SOCIAL  HISTORY  OF  INDIA.  15 

tho  fourtli  century  of  tho  Christian  era  and  later,  i.e.,  the 
writers  of  the  Smritis  of  Manu  and  Yajnavalkya  lay  down 
the  old  permissive  precept,  but  hedge  it  round  with  so 
many  restrictions  that  it  amounts  almost  to  prohibition 
But  in  modern  times  tho  Brahmans  of  Bengal,  Mithila, 
Kashmir  and  Siiidli  do  use  meat;  while  in  countries  which 
were  for  a  long-  time  under  tho  influence  of  Buddhism  and 
Jainism,  such  as  Gujarat,  even  the  lower  castes  abstain 
from  it.  But  the  killing  of  cows  or  bulls  for  any  purpose 
whether  for  sacrifice  or  meat  went  out  of  use  early  •  and 
was  prohibited  in  the  books.  Similarly  in  the  Vedio  times 
*hc  popular  drinks  were  Soma,  a  species  of  intoxicating 
liquid,  and  also  Sura  or  fermented  liquor.  This  last 
however  was  soon  given  up;  and  we  find  the  use  of  it 
enumerated  among  the  seven  deadly  sins  even  in  such  an 
old  work  as  Yfiska's  Nirukta. 

V POSITION  AND  INKUI^NOK  OF  WOMEN. y^ 
In  a  list  of  the  old  teachers  or  Acharyas  of  the  Rig- 
veda,  given  in  Asvalayana's  Grihyasutra,  occur  the  nnmes 
of  three  women,  Gargi  Vachaknavi,  Vadava  Pratilhoyi, 
and  Sulabha  Maitreyi.  The  works  of  some  of  the  male 
teachers  mentioned  therein  have  come  down  to  us,  and 
those  of  a  few  others  are  alluded  to  in  other  works  ;  where- 
fore it  must  be  admitted  that  they  were  actually  living 
individuals.  So  these  ladies  were  not  imaginary  persons 
but  really  existed  and  taught,  Gargi  Vachaknavi  is  men- 
tioned in  the  Brihadaranyaka  Upanishad  as  having  been  a 
member  of  a  large  assembly  of  learned  Rising  held  at  the 
Court  of  Janaka,  King  of  Videhas,  and  taking  active  part 
in  the  debate  on  Brahman  or  tho  Universal  Essence,  that  is 
reported  to  have  taken  place.  Sulabha  Maitreyi  is  intro- 
duced in  the  Mahabharata  as  discoursing  on  Brahman  with 
King  Janaka.  In  another  part  of  the  same  Upanishad 
Maitreyi,  the  wife  of  Yajuavalkya  is  represented  to  have 
asked  him  when  he  expressed  his  intention  to  retire  from 
family  i  life  and  divide  his  property  between  her  and 


16  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

another  wife,  whether  wealth  could  confer  immortality  on 
her.  On  Yajnavalkya's  denying  it  she  said  she  did  not  care 
for  that  which  would  not  make  her  immortal,  and  begged 
of  Yajnavalkya  to  explain  to  her  what  he  knew  about 
Brahman.  And  so  Yajnavalkya  discourses  on  it  to  her  and 
she  interrupts  him  with  intelligent  questions.  This  dis- 
course is  famous  and  often  referred  to  in  the  Advaita 
Vedanta  taught  by  Samkaracharya.  Draupadi  is  represent- 
ed as  carrying  on  a  keen  controversy  with  Yudhishthira 
about  God's  dealings  \%ith  men.  The  poet  would  not  have 
urought  forward  such  a  .scene,  unless  in  his  time  there 
were  women  able  to  speadc  with  such  intelligence  and  know- 
ledge as  Draupadi  shows.  Among  the  Buddhists  there  was 
an  order  of  nuns  as  of  monks,  and  there  exist  works  written 
by  the  female  religious  elders.  All  this  shows  that  women 
in  those  days  were  not  condemned  to  ignorance,  but  took 
part  in  the  discussion  of  religious  and  philosophic  questions, 
and  even  appeared  in  assemblies  of  men. 

A  wife  and  husband  became  by  their  marriage  Dam- 
pati  or  "  two  masters  of  the  house."  "  The  gods  gave  her 
to  him  (the  bridegroom)  for  house-keeping ;  their  union 
was  as  permanent  and  intimate  as  that  of  the  Earth  and 
the  Heaven  ;  and  she  became  his  friend  and  companion," 
This  is  the  substance  of  the  Vedic  Mantras  repeated  by 
the  bridegroom  at  the  marriage.  And  in  keeping  with  the 
ideal  here  shadowed  forth,  the  Vedic  ritual  makes  her  a 
partner  in  all  the  religious  duties.  The  husband  cannot  keep 
the  sacred  fire  without  her  ;  her  presence  and  co-operation 
are  necessary  in  all  the  great  sacrifices.  The  fire  kindled 
on  the  occasion  of  marriage  had  to  be  kept  up  ;  all  the 
domestic  ceremonies  concerning  him,  her,  and  the  children 
were  to  be  performed  on  it,  and  when  either  died,  he  or  she 
was  to  be  burned  by  means  of  that  fire.  The  fire  was  thus  a 
standing  symbol  of  their  union.  This  ideal  of  the  relations 
between  the  two  was  in  all  likelihood  observed  even  in 
worldly  matters  in  the  well-conducted  families  as  the  fol- 


i.]  SOCIAL  HISTORY  OF  INDIA.  17 

lowing  praise    contained   in   tho   Mahabharata    indicates. 
tl  She  is  a  wife  who  is  diligent  in  household  duties,  she  is  a 
wife  who  has  children,  she  is  a  wife  to  whom    her  husband 
is  the  breath  of  life,  she.  is  a  wife   who    is   devoted   to   her 
husband.     A  wife  is  one-half  of  a  man,  a   wife  is   tho  best 
of  friends,  a  wife  is  at  the  root  of  the    accomplishment   of 
the  three  objects  of   life   (rightousness,    worldly  prosperity 
and  satisfaction  of  desire)  ;  a  wife  is  at  tho  root  when  final 
deliverance  is  attained.     Those   who  have    wives    perform 
thoir  duiies,  thoso  who   have    wives  •  become  householders, 
those  who  have  wiv(is  enjoy  peace/  those   who   have   wives 
are  prosperous,     In  solitude  they    dro   friends,    whose  con- 
versation in  sweet,   in  religious  duties  they  j,re  fathers,  and 
in    illness    they   are    mothers.     To  a  traveller  they    are    a 
repose  in  the  wilderness.   He  who  han  a  wifo  is  trustworthy  ; 
therefore  wives  arc  our  highest  resource.1'     (Mahabharata, 
I.  74,  31),  &(.•.).     When  BmUlha  *vas  going  about  preaching 
his  gospel,  his    great  supporters    were    women,  who    gave 
him  and  his  numerous  disciples  many  gifts   and    fed   thorn 
at  thoir  houses.     One  such  female  devotee  frequently  men- 
tioned in  the  Pali  Buddhistic  books  was  a  rich  lady  of   tho 
name  of  Visakha  who  resided  lit   Kravasti,   the    capital    of 
Kosala.     She  had  many  healthy  sons    and  grandsons   and 
was  looked  upon  as  an  auspicious  person.     All  men  invited 
her  to  dinner  first,  whenever  there  was   a   sacrifice    or    any 
festive  ceremonial.     This  gives  an  idea  of  the  influence  and 
popular  esteem  that  a  woman  could    attain.     Her    husband 
is  nowhere  mentioned  and  she  is  represented  .is  doing  things 
of  her  own  motion,  as    also    thoso   females   who  belonging 
to  respectable  families  gave  up  n  worldly  life    and   became 
nuns.     This   shows   that    women   enjoyed    a  good  deal    of 
independence.     In  later  times  too  LI  good  many  benefactors 
of  the  fraternity  of  Buddhistic  monks  were  women  and  their 
names  arc   found  inscribed   on    the   monuments   of   those 
times. 

3 


18  INDIAN  SOCTAL  REFORM.  [PART 

The  picture  lias  also  another  side.     Though  a  wife  was 
highly  respected,  a  woman  as  such  was  held  in  little  esteem. 
In    the    Taittiriya    Samhita    it    is   stated  that    women  are 
unsubstantial  and  consequently  excluded  from  inheritance. 
Yraska  gives  two  views,  one  agreeing  with  this,  and  another 
to  the  effect  that  they   can  inherit,     Those   who   hold  the 
former,  say  that  daughters   on    that  account    are   exposed, 
given   or   sold  ;  but   the   others    retort   that   sons   also  are 
treated  in  the  same  way,  and   give  the  instance  of  Suna/i- 
sepa   who    was    sold    by    his    father  to  Ilohita,  the   son    of 
TTarischandra,    a  king  of^tho  solar  race,  to  be  sacrificed  to 
Varuna  in  his  place.     Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  general 
opinion  of  the  Aryas  was   wavering  and  had  not  become 
definitely  hostile  to  females.     Tn   the  Rigveda  times  girls 
were  free  and   could  choose    their    own    husbands,    and 
enjoyed   a  great  deal  of  independence.     But  a  daughter  is 
always  a  source  of  anxiety  to  the  father  on  account  of  the 
difficulty  of  finding  a  suitable    husband.     Hence  even  in 
such  an  old  work  as  the  Aitareya  Brahmana,  while  the  wife 
is  called  a  friend  or  companion,  a  daughter  is  spoken  of  as 
[the  source  of]  humiliation.  In  the  Mahabharata  tf  women  " 
it  is  said,  f(  while   enjoying   themselves  with  men,  deceive 
them ;  no   man  who  has  once  got  into  their  hands,  can  be 
free.  All  the  wiles  of  Sambara,  Namuchi,  and  Kumbhiiiasa 
are  to  be  found  in  women.     They  laugh  when  a  man  laughs, 
weep  when  he  weeps ;  even  one  they  do  not  like,  they  sub- 
due by  endearing  words.     Usanas   or   Brihaspati  does  not 
teach  a  device  that  women  do  not  know  by  their  natural 
wit.     What  is  false  they  pronounce  to  be  true,  what  is  true 
they  make   out   to   be  false  ;  how  is  it  possible  for  men,  0 
brave  one,  to  watch  them  ?     There  is  nothing  more  wicked 
than  women ;  women  are  a  burning  lire  ;  they  are  the  illu- 
sive jugglery  of  Maya ;  put    the    edge    of    a  razor,  poison, 
serpent  and  fire  in    one    scale,    and  women  in  the  other." 
(XIII  .39  and  40),   In  actual  life  the  relations  between  man 


i.]  SOCIAL  HISTORY  OF  INDIA.  19 

and  woman  are  so  varied  that  it  ia  quite  possible  thai  under 
certain  circumstances  a  man  should  speak  thus  about  a 
woman.  lint  when  the  legislator  Maim  is  equally  hard  on 
women,  it  must  bo  acknowledged  that  the  estimate  of  the., 
old  Arya,  of  womanly  nature  is  not  flattering  to  them  gene- 
rally. They  are  debarred  from  reading  the  Vedas  ;  any 
religious  rite  in  which  they  nlone  are  concerned  is  directed 
to  be  performed  without  Vedic  Mantras.  Kven  tho  Bha- 
gavad  Git  a  gives  expression  to  the  general  belief  that 
it  is  oidy  a  sinful  soul  that  is  born  us  a  woman,  Vaisya  or 
Sudra.  Tims  women  began  to  sirffer  in  the  estimation  of 
men  about  the  time  of  Yaska;  and  tlie  downward  movement 
which  then  commenced  resulted  in  their  being  subjected  to 
definite  disabilities  by  the  fourth  century  of  the  Christian 
era  when  the  metrical  Smriti  of  Maim  was  written  and  the 
Mahabharata  retouched  ;  and  it  has  continued  to  this  day 
and  rendered  their  condition  still  more  deplorable. 
\f  A<SK  o*1  MAKKIAGE.  v 

Girls. 

When  the  Mantras  addressed  by  the  bridegroom  to  the 
bride  at  tho  time  of  marriage,  tho  substance  of  some  of 
which  I  have  given  above,  wore  composed,  there  can  be  no 
question  that  the  bride  must  have  been  a  girl  who  had 
arrived  at  an  age  of  discretion  and  could  understand  what 
marriage  meant.  In  the  time  of  Asvalayaiia,  Apastamba 
and  others  who  in  their  Grihya  Sutras  give  the  details  of  tho 
marriage  ceremony  and  say  nothing  about  the  age  of  the 
bride,  we  have  to  suppose  that  then  too  she  was  a  grown  up 
girl,  and  this  is  confirmed  by  their  allowing  intercourse  on 
the  fourth  day  after  marriage.  Hiranyakeain  and  Jaimini 
prescribe  in  express  terms  that  the  bride  should  be 
a  mature  girl  who  has  been  chaste ;  while  Gobhila, 
Gobhilaputra  and  tho  Manava  Grihya  lay  down  that 
a  girl  not  having  intercourse  previously  with  a  man 
should  be  married.  'Phis  also  means  that  the  girl 


20  INDIAN  SOCIAL  RRFORM.  [PART 

should  bo  one  who  lias  reached  womanhood.  "Hut," 
they  add,  "  it  is  best  to  many  one  who  has  not  arrived  at 
womanhood/'  Mann  and  other  writers  of  metrical  Srnritis 
require  that  a  girl  should  be  married  before  she  hits  arrived 
'  at  maturity.  Jn  these  various  injunctions  we  observe  a  re- 
gular downward  course.  Asvalayana  is  silent  about  the  age 
of  the  girls  ;  and  the  reason  must  be  that  lato  marriages 
which  the  Mantras  that  were  repeated  and  the  rule 
about  intercourse  on  the  fourth  day  presuppose,  must 
have  been  a  matting  of  course  and  alone  in  practice. 
"When,  however,  Hinmyakcsin  expressly  enjoins1  the  mar- 
riage of  mature  girls*  only,  the  opinion  of  the  Aryas 
about  the  time  when  he  lived  must  have  begun  to  become 
unsettled,  and  early  marriages  to  be  thought  of  as  better. 
Hut  when  (Jobhila  first  of  all  lay  a  down  a  precept  which  in 
effect  is  the  same  as  that  of  Hiranyakeain,  and  afterwards 
recommends  an  immature  bride  as  the  best,  the  opinion  in 
favour  of  early  marriage  must  have  become  more  predo- 
minant. And  it  went  on  acquiring  still  greater  predomi- 
nance, until  when  the  metrical  Smvitis  were  written,  or 
the  religious  law  was  revised,  it  had  completely  triumphed 
and  the  other  was  driven  out  of  the  field.  Mann,  however, 
ns  the  earliest  of  the  writers  of  these  works,  has  not 
entirely  forgotten  late  marriages*  and  allows  under  certain 
circumstances  a  girl  to  remain  unmarried  for  three  years 
after  she  lias  attained  womanhood.  And  since  his  time 
late  marriages  have  become  entirely  unknown,  and  in 
these  days  girls  are  sometimes  married  even  when  they 
are  a  year  or  two  old. 

Soys. 

The  old  law  was  that  after  TJpanayana  or  thfe  ceremony 
of  making  a  boy  over  to  a  guru  or  preceptor,  ho  should 
study  the  Vedas  for  twelve,  twenty-four,  or  even  forty-eight 
years  and  then  relinquish  the  Brahmacharya  or  student's 
vow ;  or  that  he  should  give  up  the  vow  after  he  had 


i.]  SOCIAL  HISTORY  OF  INDIA.  Si 

completed  his  studies  without  reference  to  ilie  number  of 
years  lie  took  to  do  it.  It  was  then  tliat  he  was  allowed  to 
marry.  The  Upanayaua  ceremony  was  performed  in  the 
case  of  a  Brahman  boy  when  he  was  at  least  eight  years 
old  and  in  the  case  of  a  Kshatriya  or  Vaisya  boy  when  he 
was  eleven  or  twelve.  As  the  lowest  period  of  twelve  years 
for  a  student's  life  must  have  been  fixed  because  the  studies 
generally  occupied  so  much  time,  a  young  man  was  free  to 
marry  when  he  was  at  least  twenty  years  old.  But  as  a 
rnlo  lie  entered  into  that  relation  at  a  later  age  and  Maim 
lays  down  thirty  or  twenty-four  years  as  the  proper  age* 
Now  here  the  law  up  to  the  time  of  Maim  Avas  entirely  in 
Favour  of  late  marriages  in  the  case  of  boys.  Hut  gradually 
the  duration  of  student-life  was  curtailed;  until  now  in  the 
Maratha  country  it  lasts  for  three  or  four  days  only,  and 
the  relinquishinent  ceremony  (Samavartana)  is  performed 
on  the  fourth  or  the  fifth  day.  The  Upanayana  ceremony 
and  the  Vedic  study  have  thus  tor  a  long  time  become  a 
solemn  farce,  and  a  boy  is  married  when  he  is  about  twelve 
years  old.  It  is  considered  necessary  for  the  reputation  of 
a  family  that  the  boys  in  it  should  be  married  at  about 
that  age,  and  the  delay  of  marriage  till  about  sixteen  is 
regarded  as  throwing  discredit  on  it. 

BuKNJNli    OF   WIDOWS. 

The  custom  of  burying  or  burning  a  widow  with  the 
dead  body  of  her  husband  prevailed  among  a  good  many 
ancient  Aryan  races  settled  in  Europe.  It  was  in  practice 
among  the  Teutonic  tribes  and  also  among  the  non-Aryan 
Scythians.  But  in  the  whole  of  the  Rigveda  there  is  no 
allusion  to  the  practice.  Still  it  must  have  prevailed 
among  th3  Indian  Aryas  before  the  time  when  the 
hymns  were  composed.  For  there  are  two  verses,  one  of 
which  occurs  in  the  Atharva  Veda  Samhita  and  intlioTa.it- 
tiriya  Aranyaka,  and  the  other  in  the  latter  and  in  the 
Kigveda  Samhita  (Ath.  V.,  XVIII,  3—1,  Tait.  Ar,  pp.  651 


22  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

and  65?  Kil.  Bibl.  Ind,  IHgv.  X,  18,  8)  of  which  the  first  is 
repeated  when  the  wife  of  an  Agnihotrin  is  made  to  lio 
down  by  the  side  of  her  dead  husband  on  the  funeral  pile, 
and  tho  other  when  she  is  raised  from  it  by  her  brother- 
in-law  or  her  husband's  pupil  or  an  old  servant  (Asv.  Gr. 
IV.  2,  1H).  Tim  sense  of  the  first  is,  "  0  mortal,  this 
woman,  desirous  to  go  to  the  world  of  husbands,  lies  down 
by  tho  side  of  thee  who  art  dead  in  accordance  with  ancient 
usage  ( l'u  ran  a  dharma.)  ;  give  her  children  and  wealth;" 
and  of  the  second,  "  rise,  (.)  woman,  for  the  world  of  the 
jiving,  tlion  art  lying  by  the  side  of  this  dead  [man].  The 
wifehood  of  a  second  husband  stares  thee  in  the  face."  The 
whole  ceremony  is  a  mimicry  of  the  once  practised  custom 
of  burning1  a  widow  ;  and  the  fact  of  raising  the  woman 
from  tins  pile  shows  that  it  was  afterwards  given  up.  The 
word  Diflliifihit.  Avhidi  occurs  in  the  latter  verse  is  taken  in 
an  etymological  sense  by  European  scholars  and  Say  ana 
in  his  commentary  on  tho  Rigveda,  and  made  applicable  to 
the  dead  husband  ;  but  in  the  commentary  on  the  Taittiriya 
Avail  yaka,  Say  an  a  takes  it  in  the  sense  of  "  a  second 
husband  "  ;  and  that  is  the  usual  sense  of  the  word  and 
that  alone  is  appropriate  here.  But  I  must  not  go  into  the 
reasons  in  this  paper  intended  for  the  general  reader. 
Thus  the  Vedic  Avyaw  had  consciously  given  up  the  custom 
of  burning  widows  ;  :md  there  is  no  trace  of  it  in  the  older 
books  on  the  religious  law.  But  it  must  have  prevailed 
among  some  of  the  many  Aryan  tribes  that  migrated  to 
India  or  among  tho  aboriginal  Sudras  ;  and  there  is  an 
indication  of  it  in  the  story  of  Madri,  one  of  the  two  wives 
of  Pandu  having  burned  herself  with  her  dead  husband, 
and  in  another  part  of  the  Mahabharata  where 'a  female 
dove  is  represented  to  have  burned  herself  with  her  dead 
mate.  She  went  like  a  human  widow  to  the  "  world  of 
husbands"  and  becoming  re-united  with  him,  lived  happily 
with  him,  But  when  the  deterioration  of  the  Aryan  moral 


i.]  HOCML  UTSTOhY  OF  INDIA.  23 

feeling  had  established  itself,  the  custom  was  general! v 
adopted  from  the  tribes  among  whom  ii  existed,  and  tho 
precept  about  tho  burning1  of  widows  was  laid  down  in 
some  of  the  metrical  Smritis,  though,  however,  not  without 
a  protest  from  others.  But  the  liiter  Pandits  in  theii 
exposition  of  the  law  denied  tho  authoritativeness  of  the 
protesting  texts  and  decided  that  tho  burning  of  widows 
was  lawful.  And  so  it  became  the  general  practice,  thuiigh 
it  was  optional  and  looked  upon  by  some  as  an  irrational 
act,  as  is  shown  by  the  beautiful  passage  against  it  in 
Rana's  Kadambari  ;  and  was  eventually  prohibited  by  th'- 
British  Uovcrnmcnt  in  18-50. 

^  WIDOW  MAKRiAfiK.v/ 

We  have  seen  that  the  wife  of  the  dead  Agnihotrin  was 
raised  from  the  funeral  pile  by  a  promise  of  remarriage. 
The  text  which  refers  to  this  is  one  of  tho  indications  con- 
tained in  the  Vedas  as  to  the  existence,  of  the  practice  of 
widow-marriage.  There,  is  another  in  the  Atharva  Veda,  in 
which  it  is  stated  that  "  when  a.  woman  who  has  had  a 
husband  before,  marries  another  after  his  death,  they  are 
never  separated  from  each  other  if  they  perform  the  rite  of 
aja  jjanchaudana."  In  the  Aitareyii  Bralnuana  we  have  a 
third  passage  in  which  it  is  said  that  "  ono  man  may  have 
many  wives,  but  one  woman  cannot  have  many  husbands 
at  one  and  thv  samv  tinw."  This  last  expression  implies 
that  she  can  have  many  at  different  times.  The  remarried 
woman  was  called  a  Pn,nar1>lui  and  tho  word  occurs  in 
the  Atharva  Veda  and  in  the  metrical  Smritis.  The  marri- 
age of  widows  however  is  not  allowed  by  an  express  pre- 
cept in  the  older  works  on  the  religious  law.  Of  the  metri- 
cal Sinritis,  two,  that  of  Parasara  and  Narada  permit  it ; 
but  all  the  rest  are  opposed.  The  fact  appears  to  be  that 
in  ancient  times,  the  practice  of  widow-marriages  did  exist 
and  it  continued  to  bo  followed  up  to  tho  time  when  the, 
jnetrical  Smritis  were  composed.  But  in  the  moan  while  it 


24  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

had  come  to  bo  considered  not  respectable  or  had  fallen 
into  disrepute.  Hence  a  controversy  arose  between  tho 
legislators.  Some  ran  ifc  down  entirely  ;  but  Maim  argues 
with  those  who  held  it  to  bo  legal  and  says  that  the  giving 
of  a  widow  in  marriage  is  not  mentioned  in  the  law  about 
marriage,  and  makes  a  compromise  by  allowing  the  remar- 
riage of  a  widowed  girl  who  has  not  arrived  at  maturity. 
Others,  however,  represented  by  Parasara  and  Narada 
stoutly  defended  the  practice  and  laid  down  a  direct  pre- 
cept to  legalise  it,  Tljo  writers  on  the  other  side  admitted 
Jie  fact  of  the  existence  yf  remarriages  in  so  far  us  they 
put  into  the  list  of  sons  ft  Paunarlhava  or  one  born  of  .1 
Punarbhu  or  a  remarried  woman.  But  they  gave  him  a 
low  rank  ;  and  allowed  him  aright  to  inheritance  on  the 
failure  of  those  above  him,  or  a  fourth  part  of  the  estate 
if  they  existed,  Yajmivalkya  even  rules  that  the  debts  of 
si  man  who  has  deceased  should  be  paid  by  him  who  mar- 
ries his  wife-  Thus  them  is  no  question  that  the  practice 
did  exist  at  the  time  when  these  works  were  written,  that 
is  from  about  the  fourth  to  about  the  sixth  century  of  the 
Christian  era.  It  was  not  forgotten  till  the  beginning  Of 
the  eleventh  century.  For  in  a  Jain  a  work  written  in 
1014  A.  I),  to  discredit  Brahinanisin  and  glorify  Jainism,  a 
certain  legend  is  narrated  in  which  .1  man  is  represented  to 
have  been  excluded  from  the  table  by  his  fellows  because 
he  had  become  a  recluse  without  going  through  the  previ- 
ous order  of  a  married  householder.  He  was  advised  to 
marry,  but  as  no  one  would  give  his  daughter  to  such  an 
old  man  as  he  was,  it  was  suggested  that  he  should  marry 
a  widow,  and  in  support  of  the  suggestion  the  text  from 
Parasnra  legalizing  such  a  marriage  was  quoted.  But 
though  Parasara  legalized  the  practice,  it  was  not  rehabili- 
tated and  continued  to  be  held  in  disrepute.  Hence  it 
gradually  fell  into  disuso  and  was  entirely  forgotten  in 
later  times, 


i.]  SOCIAL  HISTORY  OF  INDIA.  25 

Wo  have  thus  seen  how  the  disabilities  of  women  gra- 
dually multiplied.  Hut  the.  talc  does  not  end  here.  In 
still  later  times  the  disregard  for  the  life  and  happiness  of 
the  female  creature  grew  until  it  became  almost  abnormal  ; 
and  female  infants  were  destroyed  in  certain  provinces  and 
girls  to  the  number  of  a  hundred  or  two  were  married  to 
one  man  in  another.  The  first  practice  has  now  been  put 
an  end  to  by  the  British  Government ;  but  the  second  still 
flourishes.  Again  in  these  days  a  man  marries  ;i  girl  of 
twelve  or  thirteen  after  he  has  lost  his  first  wife  ;  she  dies 
after  a  time,  and  another  is  brought  into  the  house  ;  this 
also  meets  with  the  same  fate,  and  n  fourth  is  married  when 
probably  the  man  is  past  fifty  and  even  verging  on  sixty  ; 
and  she  is  left  a  widow  before  she  has  arrwed  at  woman- 
hood or  soon  niter.  Sometimes  negotiations  for  the  now 
connection  are  entered  into  in  the  burning  ground  while  the 
dead  body  of  the  old  wife  is  being  consumed  by  fire.  Now 
it  is  a  fact  that  a  connection  between  a  girl  of  thirteen  or 
fourteen  years  and  a  man  of  thirty- five  or  above  proves  fatal 
to  the  life  of  the  girl.  A  great  many  instances  are  now  before 
my  mind's  eye  in  which  when  a  man  married  a  second  girl- 
wife,  he  had  soon  to  marry  a  third,  and  a  fourth.  The 
husband  thus  causes  the  death  of  the  poor  girl.  And  still 
even  highly  educated  men  of  the  present  day  do  not  scruple 
to  resort  to  the  practice.  It  is  in  their  power  to  marry  a 
grown-up  widow  and  make  an  unfortunate  female  creature 
happy,  and  secure  for  themselves  a  suitable  companion, 
and  to  shun  the  guilt  of  causing  the  death  of  an  inno- 
cent and  helpless  creature.  But  no,  they  have  not  the 
courage  to  withstand  the  criticism  of  the  caste, — criticism, 
I  say,  not  persecution,  for  in  reality  there  is  very  little  of 
that. 

The  downward  course  which  began  many  centuries  ago 
has  landed  us  here-  And  anxiously  thinking  about  the 
matter,  one  asks  himself  why  should  this  degeneration  have 
4 


26  INDIA N  SOniA L  REFORM.  [ PAT*T 

gone  on  continuously  for  n  long  time  without  impediment. 
The  reason  seems  to  be  that  the  tyranny  under  which  the 
Hindus  have  lived  from  times  immemorial  has  weakened 
their  moral  fibre  if  not  entirely  destroyed  it.  We  have  been 
subject  to  M  throe-fold  tyranny  ;  political  tyranny,  priest- 
ly tyranny,  and  a  social  tyranny  or  the  tyranny  of  caste. 
Crushed  down  by  this  mo  man  has  dared  to  stand  and  assert 
himself.  Even  religions  reformers  have  shunned  the  legiti- 
mate consequences  of  their  doctrines  to  avoid  coining  into 
conflict  with  the  established  order  of  things.  The  prompt- 
ings of  his  better  nature  or  the;  pangs  of  conscience  a  Hindu 
has  had  to  suppress  for.  fear  of  the  three  agencies,  and  now 
the  bettor  nature  has  almost  ceased  to  prompt  or  the  consci- 
ence to  bite-  kAt  present,  however,  though  we  live  under  a 
foreign  Government  we  enjoy  a  freedom  of  thought  and  ac- 
tion, such  as  we  never  enjoyed  before  under  our  own  Hindu 
princes.  JJut  have  we  shown  a  capacity  to  shake  ourselves 
free  from  priestly  and  social  tyranny  ?  J  am  afraid,  not 
much.  But  this  is  certain,  that  unless  we  rouse  our  con- 
science and  cultivate  the  higher  feelings  of  our  nature 
and,  with  the  strength  derived  from  these,  stand  erect 
against  priests  and  caste,  there  is  no  hope  of  our  being  able 
to  turn  back  the  current  of  deterioration  and  degradation 
that,  has  been  flowing  from  the  very  olden  times  and 
increasing  in  force  as  it  advances'. 


i.]         ON  SOCIAL  REWRAf:   A  STATEMENT.      2? 
II.— On  Social  Reform  ;    a  Statement. 

*i 

13v    THE    IloNOUKAULK    ll.Vl    BAHADUR    I1.    ANANDAOUAKLU 
VlUYA    VlNOW,    U.L.,    U.f.H., 

r,  Imperial  Leytxlatiw  Council,  Madntx. 


It  is  indisputable  that  the  desire  for  improvement,  undur 
the  designation  of  social  reform,  is  wide-spread.  The  pro- 
gramme of  its  aims  and  objects  has  been  expanding  year 
after  year.  It  has  brought  within  its  scope  many  items 
which — strictly  speaking — may  be  said  rather  to  relate  to 
matters  of  convenience,  of  decency,  of  taste,  and  of  thrift. 
On  the  principle,  implied  by  the  inclusion"  of  thuse  lattur, 
the  list  admits  oF  much  further — I  had  almost  s:iid,  indefi- 
nite— extension,  involving  changes  down  to  such  insignifi- 
cant things  as  the  use,  by  our  respectable  womuu,  of 
umbrellas  and  slippers  when,  in  making  friendly  calls  or 
attending  at  marriage  and  other  ceremonies,  they  have  to 
walk,  during  the  mid-day  heat,  over  distances  far  too  short 
for  coaching,  but  far  too  long  for  pedestrian  performance, 
barefooted  and  without  a  shelter  for  the  head,  as  at  pru- 
sent ;  for,  in  respect  of  "  time-honored,"  minutely  regula- 
tive rules  and  in  respect  of  the  element  of  religiosity 
running  through  or  coloring  nearly  every  event  of  life,  our 
community  may  be  described,  without  exaggeration,  as 
occupying  almost  tho  first  place  among  the  world's  civilised 
people  and  to  be,  on  that  account,  out  of  tune  with— if  not 
also  stolidly  impervious  to — modern  ideas  or  rather  the 
ideas  that  have  come  upon  us  along  with  our  Western 
rulers.  But,  I  think,  ib  will  be  readily  granted  that  the 
bulk  of  these  features  are  features  on  which  no  serious, 
elaborate  or  u  learned "  controversy  has  arisen  or  could 
arise.  To  speak  with  precision,  they  have  really  no  two 
they  rest,  almost  entirely,  on  vis  iuerltac,  pure  and 


28  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

sitnpb.  If  they,  nevertheless,  hold  their  ground  as  yet,  as 
they  in  actuality  do,  it  is  (1)  because  a  fictitious  importance)* 
and  an  adventitious  notion  of  corresponding  difficulty  get 
imparted  to  them  by  virtue  of  their  place  alongside  of  the 
more  momentous  and  essential  questions  of  reform  and  (2) 
because,  a  good  number  of  those  who  arc  the  virtual  leaders 
or  trusted  guides  in  their  respective  sets  and  grades,  which 
constitute  our  society  and  which,  for  purposes  of  inter- 
marriage and  inter-dining,  are  mutually  exclusive,  seem 
not  to  be  impressed  wij:h  the  urgency  of  betterment  under 
these  heads,  in  the  degree  calculated  to  coerce  them  into 
making  up  their  minds. '  fn  my  judgment,  desirable  as  are 
changes  on  these  and  similar  linos  to  make  ideal  or  per- 
feet  men  and  women,  one  need  not  worry  oneself  or  become 
despondent,  if  they  arc  somewhat  postponed  ;  for,  such  of 
them  as  have  a  practical  side  are  sure  to  follow  in  the  wake 
and  almost  on  the  heels  of  yiccess,  as  regards  the  more  vital, 
complex  and  controversial  problems,  when  these  latter  get 
solved  or  got  near  to  being  solved,  It  is  human  nature — 
at  least  it  is  the  second  nature  of  most  men  of  the  easy- 
going sort,  who  constitute  the  majority  even  among  the 
intelligent  and  the  cultured  in  every  community — to  un- 
consciously overlook  or  insensibly  underrate  lesser  con- 
siderations when  greater  topics  clamour  for  and  demand 
the  beat  part  of  their  attention.  It  is,  further,  not  quite  so 
manageable  in  practice,  as  some  people  may  wish,  to  get  up 
an  adequate  degree  of  earnestness  and  readiness  for 
instantaneous  action  on  these  minor  points,  especially  when 
they  are  in  juxtaposition  with  burning  themes,  on  which 
men  of  equal  intelligence  and  equal  honesty  are  radically 
divided  and  take  opposite  sides  or  are  visibly  unconvinced 
and  therefore  lake  worm.  It  may  therefore  not  be  an 
altogether  improper  query  whether — speaking  seriously — 
there  is  not  something  of  a  waste  of  power  in  vehemently 
onthuaiug  on  those  points  or  impatiently  losing  temper  at 


i.]         ON  SOCIAL  REFORM:    A  STATEMENT.      29 

the  paucity  of  results,  so  disproportionate  to  tho  strength 
of  advocacy  or  disappointing  when  regard  is  had  lor  the 
evident  weakness  of  the  case  assailed. 

One  serious   drawback  which,  to   my   mind,    has    told 
heavily  all  along  the  line  and  is  apt  to  tell  eqnalty  so  for  a 
long  time,  if  things  are  loft  as    they  arc,    is   that    in    these 
minor,  as  in  graver,    matters    the  cH'ort   has    been,    nlmost 
solely,    on  tho  part1  of  mdlvs;    and  it  is   a  feeling,   which  I 
cannoc  get  rid  of,  that,  so  long  us  tldx   is  tho  case,  so    lou^ 
shall  we  be  working  as   with  the  lever  without  the  fulcrum. 
A  good  percentage  or  a  strong    contingent   of   self-reliant, 
self-respecting  and — lot  me  add — self-assertive    womanhood 
is  what  I  look  upon  as  that  fulcrum ;  and    it    is    my    con- 
viction that,  with  them  for  co-wovkers   and*— if  I    may  say 
so— for  active  and  belligerent  nul-contents,  the   rate  and 
amount  of  success  ought  to    astound   the    sceptic   find   the 
sanguine  alike.     This  indispensable  and  co-ordinate  or  con- 
tributory strength,  at   least   in    matters  which  involve  their 
interests — and  thcso  cover  moat  part  of  the  battle-ground — 
can  come  about,  only  if  we  stoutly  and  sdlf-lessly  resolve  to 
re-habilitate  our  women — of  course  with  such  modifications 
as  the  altered  conditions  of  uho  present  day  would  necessitate 
— in  respect  of  their  claima  (1)  to  education  and  (2)    to  pro- 
perty which  they  may,    consciously  and  correctly^    call   their 
own;  for,  I  maintain, — and  I  hope  soon  to  make    it   good — 
that  the  original,  excellent  provisions  under  these  heads  have 
been  ingeniously  whittled  away  and  superseded— not  to  say, 
perverted — by  later  Smrithi- writers  aud  Smrithi-oxpound- 
ers  in   lugubrious,   though  honest,    apprehensions  of  de-' 
generate  times,  which  they  feared  were  coming  after  them, 
and  which  -they  set   themselves  the   task  of   anticipating, 
according  to  their  lights. 

If  knowledge  is  power  as  held  by  Lord  Bacon  in  the 
fulness  of  his  philosophic  wisdom  arid  if  property  is  also 
power  as  affirmed  by  Lord  Macaulay,  on  the  basis  of  his 


30  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

study  and  mastery  of  matters  in  which  he  was  quite  at 
hutne,  ic  cannot  bo  that  those  dicta  arc  true  only  as  regards 
one-half  of  the  intellects  on  the  Indian  soil  but  false  as 
regards  the  other  half.  Nor  sun  1  woman  enough  to  ex- 
perience uliat  ignorance,  wedded  to  dependence  on  others 
fnr  even  bare  subsistence,  is  a  boon  conducive  to  virtue, 
to  happiness,  to  domestic  duties  and  to  the  obligations  of 
hospitality,  laid  specially  on  the  Hindu  housewife  by  the.1 
Aryan  Faith. 

As    an    earnest    of    what    might    be    accomplished 
by    the    two    Factors,    riz.,     education   and    possession    of 
property     which    absolves    the    possessor    from    depend- 
ence,   even    for    bare    sustenance,    on     grasping,     to-the- 
wonuui-iiiggarclly  and   autocratic    mnlc  masters,    one  may 
point  to  how — even  within  the  present    very  circumscribed 
opportunities     and    Facilities — many    a   girl -widow   in  our 
parts  has  been  able  to  score  in  resisting  the  relentless  razor 
in  its    attempted  havoc  on  her  head  of  hair.     Oases — by  no 
means    too    few    or    disproportionate    for    the    advantages 
secured — may  be  cited  in  which,    when    the  girls,  far  more 
than  their  guardians  and  often  in  spite  oF  those  guardians, 
put  their  foot  down  and  claimed  to  hold  their   own  against 
being  dispossessed  of  that  "  ornament  of  nature  "  along  with\ 
the  marriage  symbol  and  other  articles  of    embellishments, 
in  the    profaned    name  of  religion    and    of    morality,  they 
decisively   had  their    own  way,   without  themselves    being 
outlawed,  or  the  families  to    which  they    belonged  and  the 
circle  of  friends  and  acquaintances  that  mixed  with  thorn  be- 
ing cut  dead.     Even  unlettered  womankind  have  been  found 
to  come  round  and  become  reconciled  to   the   altered  situa- 
tion, when  the  revolt— I  should  prefer  to  call  it  the  crusade 
— proceeded   from  the   would-be   victims  under  the  force- 
ful influence  of  even  the  present  limited  degree  of  cultured 
intelligence    and    of    assured  proprietary    independence — 
especially  when   the    claimants    to  this  immunity  from  the 


i.]         ON  SOCIAL  REFORM':   A  STATEMENT.      31 

inhuman  treatment  showed  a  dec  id  ml  tendency  towards 
a  life  of  piety  and  towards  literary  and  other  innucent.ly- 
di  verting  pursuits.  I  do  not  siiy  that  the  rights  of  grumble 
went  unexercised.  The  priests,  1  dare  say,  ((noted  Vvasa's 
text  :  — 


VidhavakulHirwhandho  bhartlirubaiidltai/d,  j 

Sirasovapanant  thattmath  ltd  r  yam  ridkavai/a  tntha. 

•  * 

Meaning  :  —  The  hair  of  the  widow  made  up  into  knot* 

or  plaits,  would  act  as  fetters  on  thv  husband.      Hence  Ihc 
widow  should  cause  her  head  to  be  shaved. 

The  grandmothers  of  both  sexes  —  ever  'on  the  alert  to 
make  a  mickle  of  trifles  —  were  not  slow  to  take  solemn 
notice  or  thunder  out  their  customary  anathemas.  Those 
good  souls  too,  who  are  so  intensely  and  heroically  unselfish 
as  to  be  habitually  more  busy  with  other  people's  affairs 
than  their  own,  readily  contributed  their  expected  mice  to 
keep  up  the  '"  venerable  "  nine  days'  surprise  and  scandal. 
Faces  were  drawn,  as  in  duty  bound,  abnormally  long. 
Noses  and  chins,  as  is  their  wont  in  such  contingencies,  went 
up  high  into  the  air.  The  waggish  tongue,  as  usual,  waxed 
censorious  with  redoubled  captiuusness.  But  tho  girls, 
calmly  reliant  on  Uirir  innate  or  newly  -acquired  strength^ 
stood  their  ground  and  went  through  their  period  of 
tribulation  and  suspense,  which  they  felt  sure  would  bo 
but  shortlived,  with  exemplary  patience  and  unperturbed 
equanimity.  They  were  soon  rewarded  by  what  ought  to 
be  a  sight  to  the  gods.  The  distorted  and  upturned  faces 
and  facial  furniture  resumed  their  accustomed  dimensions 
and  pose,  while  the  voice  of  growl  and  gossip  got  lower 
and  lower  in  key  and  finally  died  out  into  its  wonted  impo- 
tence- What  has  tlins  happened  in  a  few  cases  in  one  sphere 
might  happen  again  and  again  and  in  many  more  spheres, 


:l:2  TNDTAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

and  turn  info  n  rule  whp.fc  :ire  now  but,  exceptions — apart 
from  what  males  inny  choose  to  do  or  not  to  do — if,  as  re- 
gards education  find  as  ivgards  property-independence,  our 
mothers,  wives,  sisters  and  daaghters  obtain  their  due  as  the 
descendants  of  the  Aryans  of  old  and  it'  we,  the  males, 
would  only  abdicate  a  little  of  those  all-absorbing  sovereign 
rights  which  we  claim  I'or  ourselves  by  the  instinct  of  nature 
and  by  the  pride  and  insolence  of  sex. 

For  all  this  tremendous  handicap,  I  agree  that  it  is 
highly  expedient  to  be  continually  placing  before  the  public 
eye,  a  lislof  wrongs — great  :ind  small  alike — that  requiYe 
to  be  righted,  as  serving  the  important  purpose  of  remind- 
ing those  concerned  as  to  how  much  uf  legitimate  expecta- 
tions yet  remains  to  he  accomplished  before  a  feeling  of 
undisturbed  complacency  may  be  allowed  to  develop  and 
settle  down. 

Now,  as  to  what  seem  to  me  to  be  the  graver  problems. 
These  ar<; : — 

(1 )      Early  marriages. 

(!2)     He-nuirriages  of  widows. 

(•\)     Liberty  for  our  countrymen  to  travel  or  sojourn 
in  foreign  lands. 

(•!•)     Women's  rights  of  property. 

(5)     Thoir  culture. 

At  any  rate,  those  1  select  for  consideration.  I  may 
premise,  at  onco  and  as  applying  equally  to  four  of  these 
topics,  that  on  each  of  them,  the  last  disputatious  word,  as  I 
apprehend,  has  been  already  said  from  the  point  of  view  of 
Shastras  on  both  sides.  There  is  evidently  no  disposition  on 
the  part  of  either  contending  party  to  go  over  to  the  other  or 
to  lay  down  arms.  There  is  no  further  resource  or  reason  to 
be  ransacked  or  brought  forward.  Each  side  has  declared, 
at  the  top  of  its  voice,  that  it  is  absolutely  in  the  right  and 
its  opponent  is  egregiously  in  the  wrong.  The  danger  and 
risk,  when  matters  have  come  to  such  a  pass,  are  for  things  i 


r.]        ON  SOCIAL  REFORM:  A  STATEMENT.        33 

to  so  drift  as  to  place  men  of  moderate  unselfishness* ^-such 
01- characterises    most  men  inmost  matters  even  in  the  cul- 
tured classes  in   a    community — at  a  great  discount.     The 
perilous   chances  are  to   alienate  ami  scare  away  probable 
converts  and  such  as  are  passing,  if  I  may  say  so,  through  the 
Chrysalis  stage.     Such  men  are  too  liable  to  be  scandalised 
or  deterred  by  the  dilemma  of  either  scoring  for  the  honors 
of  martyrdom   involving1   a   wholesale  self-sacrifice  and  an 
ostracism  from  their  kith  and  kin  or  of  finding  themselves 
denounced   and    pilloried    as  miserable  specimens  of  unre- 
deemed self-seeking   and  unmitigated  poltroonery.      When 
things  threaten  to  arrive  at  such  a  predicament,  it  is  pru- 
dent that  both  tho   zealous   party  and  tho  party  jealous  of 
them  must    rise   superior  to  the   purely  polemical  function. 
Not   only  must  they  good-humonredly  agrco  to  disagree  on 
the  Rhastraic   issues,  they  must  also  tako  care  not  to  lose 
touch  of  each    other.     They  must,  shako  hands  and — apart 
from  tho  contest  on  tho  direct  issues  debated  between  them 
— meet  each  other  half-way  ;  for,  it  is  quite  out  of  the  ques- 
tion that  tho  apostles  of  change  should  retire  from  the  field, 
humbled  and  chagrined,  or  remain  there,  only  to  koop  up  a 
mock-fight   to   save  appearances,   all  the  while  chafing  in- 
wardly under  a  sense  of  wasted  energy  or  of  unappreciated 
and  thwarted  labours,  It  is  equally  out  of  the  question  that 
the  passive  upholders  oE  the  status  quo,  who  have  had  an  easy 
time  of  it  all  along,  should  sit  doggedly  whoro  they  are  and 
rouse  themselves  to  action,  only  to  repel  attacks  that  might 
be  delivered  against  them,  In  my  opinion,  neither  can  afford 
to  stand    where  they  arc,     If  the  former  are  pressing  for- 
ward with  a  well-filled   programme,  the   latter  cannot  help 
realising  that  the  elements  of    disintegration   have    begun 
to  shew  themselves    and  that  things     are  simply   drifting 
without    chart    or    compass,      Both     have    thus    active, 
counteracting   duties    which  the y    must  neither  blink  nor 
shirk — to  bo  consistent  with  their   respective  faiths*    May 
'      5 


34  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [?AT?T 

they   *iot   revise   their  positions  and  their  methods,  decide 
upon  what  amount  of  concession  or  recognition  each  might 
make  or  extend  to  the   other,  in  a  spirit  of  honesty,    of 
calmnes^  and  of  advance  on  right  lines,  and  hit  upon  some 
harmonious  action  ?     lloal    success  is    barred  or   delayed 
by  nothing  so  much  as  by  the  too  common   and  too  tempt- 
ing practice  of  belittling  the  opponent's  arguments  and  of 
denying   him    credit    for    an    attitude    dictated    by    good 
faith,     however     erroneously.    It     has    been     well     said 
and  it    is    well   to  'bear    in    mind  that    ct  the    faith    of 
centuries   is   hard  to  I'oot  up   mid   the  old  are  only  the 
last    to     make    changes,      Tho   heart   cleaves   sometimes 
to  a  false   doctrine  rathnr   than   see  the  fabric,  built  up 
on  tho    foundations    of    the   past,    tottor    and    fall.     If   it 
is  false,  it  will  fall  of  its  own   weight  and  its  votaries  can 
neither  save  nor  hinder.''     What  is  thus    affirmed  of  long- 
standing faiths  may  be,  vith  equal  warrant  and  with  equal 
force,   affirmed  of  practices  of  ages — practices,  which,  by 
constant   familiarity,   have   ceased  to   strike   or  startle   as 
deformities  or  things  which  ought  not  to  be.     In   combat- 
ting those  and  such  as  these,  there  is  little  use  in  bandying 
hard  words   or  imputing  discreditable  motives.     Nor  will 
it  be  of  any  avail  to   trust  to   time  uiid  go  to  sleep,  as  if  it 
would  ameliorate  or  work   wonders  by  mere  efflux.    That 
which  bids  fair  is  effort — put  forth  patiently  but  nob   potu- 
lently — in  the   shape-  of  a  narrowing  of  the  sphere  of  conten- 
tion  by   separating   the   essential    and   cardinal   from  tho 
accidental  and  conventional  in  the  points  under  debate  so 
that  the  parties,   arrayed    against  one  another,   might  still 
continue   in  mutual    touch  and  give  rise  to  something  of  a 
homogeneous  action  by   suffering  their  angularities  to  bo 
gradually  rubbed  off  and  by  helping  to  create  a  substantial 
unity  of  purpose  amid  an  apparent  diversity  of  inclinations 
and  views  in  other  respects. 

To  my  mind,    such   a  narrowing   of  the   sphere   of 


i.]         ON  SOCIAL  REFORM:  A  STATEMENT.        3r> 

contention  has  long  suggested  itself,  revealing  a  modus 
virendi  which  seems  to  me  to  deserve  greater  promi- 
nence and  sturdier  insistence  than  hitherto  and  which 
is  calculated  to  yield  more  fruit  than  has  yet  been 
harvested.  It  may  well  be  that  I  um  too  sanguine.  Jt  may 
equally  bo  that  I  am  under  a  delusion.  I  am  nevertheless 
unconvinced  that  the  plan  1  venture  to  I'eeommcnd  has 
had  its  full  and  fair  chance  or  that  it  should  be  laid  on  the 
shelf,  on  any  a  priori  grounds,  as  a  manifestly  unserviceable 
hobby.  The  present,  however,  is  not  the  first  time  J  am 
stating  it.  Not  long  ngo,  while  on  a  professional  visit  to 
Masulipatam,  I  allowed  myself  to  bo  drawn  into  ventilating 
it  in  a  speech,  which  suffered  as  1  happened  to  deliver  it 
extempore — lacking  then  the  example  of  greau  man  tors,  who, 
despite  their  high  and  acknowledged  powers  of  elocution, 
uniformly  and  deliberately  preferred,  when  they  wished  to 
avoid  being  mistaken  by  the  outside  world,  the  practice 
which  has  since  been  post-prandially  chaffed  (as  T  think) 
but  classically  stigmatised  (us  others  fniioj')  as  "  Manuscript 
eloquence."  But  my  then  auditors  seemed  to  have  been 
favourably  impressed  with  what  I  said,  and  my  friends, 
Mr.  N.  N.  (Jhose  and  Mr.  Surendranath  Banerjca — even 
on  the  basis  of  the  imperfect  and,  in  some  respects,  an 
erroneous,  account  of  my  utterances— said  a  good  word  for 
the  position  I  took — the  former  in  the  tersely  written  pages 
of  his  Indian  Nation  and  the  latter  in  one  of  his  delightful 
feats  in  his  special  sphere,  the  public  platform.  These 
encourage  me  tore-state  it  in  an  unmistakable  and  ampli- 
fied form,  with  considerable  additions  which  subsequent 
reading  has  brought  withih  my  reach  as  having  abearing. 

Now,  as  regards  early  marriages.  One  of  the  grounds 
on  which  this  system  seems  open  to  animadvertion  is  that  it 
precludes  the  possibility  of  free,  mutual  choice  on  the  part  of 
the  wedding  couple.  To  my  jnind,  such  an  objection  seema 
to  be  extremely  wide  of  the  mark  and  one  that  should  be 


36  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

put  on  one  side  for  the  present  and   for    ;i  long    time  -  to 
come — for  how  long  few  am  tell.  T,  for  one,  cannot  hopefully 
look   forward    lo  n  consummation    in    this    respect    in  any 
near  future.     The  conditions  of  the   Hindu    Society,  in  so 
far  as  social  intermingling  between  the  sexes  is  concerned, 
are  dead  against  it.     Even  if  it  stood  by  itself,    the   single 
lesson   of    keenly-sensitive   feminine    chastity — taught  to 
almost  every  one  of  our  women  by  the  fact  that  their  adored 
Seetha  of  the  Kaniayana  refused  to  bo   burne  away   from 
Lanka,  the  .scene  of  present   danger  and   possible   death, 
even  by  Rama's  inmiacujatu  and  saintly  devotee,  Hanuman, 
on  the  ground  of  his  sex — is  far  too    deeply  rooted  in  their 
sense  of  propriety  and  esteem  to  permit  uf    what    may   be 
genorically   called    courtship,    which  would   seem  to  postu- 
late the    irreducible  mini  mum    that  the  blooming  youths, 
contemplating  matrimony,  should  not  only  be  thrown  into  the 
company  of  each  other  but  also  bo  now  and  then  left  alone  for 
mutual  study  and   mutual  understanding,  without  shyness 
and  without  the   restraint   caused  by  the  presence  of  third 
parties.      As   a   companion    case     or     converse    instance 
of  male  repugnance  for  11  maiden  who  lias  been  in  the  com- 
pany of  n.  stranger,  one  may   cite  the  fate  which  befell  the 
princess  Amba,  whose  life  is,  so  to   speak,  woven  into   the 
lives  of  Parasu  Rama  and  Bliishnui — heroes   of  whom  even 
the  least  cultured  Hindu  knows  and  knows  much.  For  who 
docs  not  know  that  the  maiden  Amba  was  carried  away  with 
her  sisters  by  the  lunar  hero,  Bhishraa,   in   order   that  his 
half-brothers  might  wed   them — that  on    her    disclosing  to 
him  her  prior  and  plighted  love  for  another,  he  let  her  go 
so  that  sho  might  join  the  object  of  her  affections — and  that 
the  latter  rejected  her  by   reason  of  her   having  remained, 
though  for  a  brief   period,  in   the    custody   of  a   stranger, 
even  although   that   stranger  was  a   sworn-celibate  of  the 
austerest  type. 

The  whole  tenor  of  the  ideas  and  sentiments   and  of 


i.]         ON  SOCIAL  REFORM:  A  STATEMENT.        37 

the  habits  of  thought  and  feeling,  governing  the  conduct 
and  moulding  the  i1  flat  ions  of  children  towards  parents 
among  us,  also  militates  against  the  speedy  growth  of  the 
sort  of  individuality  which  the  theory  of  mutual  choice  would 
presuppose.  Equally  adverse  will  be  the  deterring  inilu- 
ence  of  the  recorded  accounts  oE  daughters  whom  our 
women  cherish  as  noble  specimens  of  their  sex  and  as  the 
ideals  their  minds  hover  round  or  cling  to,  with  all  the 
glow  of  pride  and  keenness  ol!  pleasure-  We  read  indeed  of 
what  is  known  as  Swayamvara  or  the  choice  by  tho  bride ; 
but  the  best  known  instances,  such  as  those  of  Seotha, 
Darnayanthi,  Draupadi  and  Rukmani,  would,  on  examination, 
all  be  found  to  bo  not  strictly  in  point  as  examples  of 
selection,  either  independent  of  or  in  opposition  to  tho  pater- 
nal wish,  lligidly  speaking,  theirs  were  no  Svvayamvaras 
at  all.  On  the  contrary,  they  simply  illustrate  the  several 
devices,  adopted,  nut  to  override,  but  to  give  effect  to  the 
wishes  of  the  father  by  securing,  within  reach,  the  presence 
of  the  bridegroom,  rendered  unattainable  by  one  or  other 
impeding  cause,  They  are,  if  anything,  examples  of  con- 
currence, and  not  of  antagonism  as  between  fathers  and 
daughters,  and  of  no  sort  oE  paternal  coercion  as  regards 
the  male  consort-  Reference  is  indeed  made  and  approval 
is  also  accorded  to  what  is  styled  Gandharva  form  of 
marriage,  in  our  law-books.  But  this  is,  not  only  plainly 
pointed  at,  all  the  same,  as  a  sort  of  left-handed  alliance, 
but  is  also  restricted,  in  terms,  to  the  ruling  class,  out  of 
the  same  motive  which  extended  the  sacred  name  of  wed- 
lock to  Rakshasa  and  Paisacha  forms — forms  which  Mr. 
J.D,  Mayne  has  chosen  to  describe  as  the  lusts  of  the  Ourang 
Outang,  but  which,  along  with  the  Uandharva,  seem  to  mo  to 
be  rather  resolvable  into  a  reluctant  concession  to  Might, 
when  the  latter  showed  a  recurrent  propensity  to  trample 
over  Right.  Further  more,  it  is  a  fact  worthy  of  note  that, 
in  the  few  instances  of  Gandharva  marriage  which  arc 


38  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REJfORti.  [PART 

recorded  to  have  taken  place,  the  interviews  between  the 
pair  were  either  stolen  or  accidental  and  unexpected,  be- 
hind the  back  and  without  the  sanction  of  parents  or  guar- 
dians. As  to  such  ;i  thing  as  honeymoon,  it  is  wholely  an 
unknowfl  institution— 1thu  glamour  andpoetryof  first  promp- 
tings and  gush  of  love  being,  as  a  rule,  effectually  checked 
by  the  occasioos  to  meet  and  the  latitude  to  mix  being  consi- 
derably reduced  by  the  unavoidable  presence  of  one  or 
otlior  of  the  member*  oi!  a  family  group  into  which  the 
young  wife  is  transplanted  amid  environments  calculated 
to  make  life  prosaic  and  unsentiincntnl  and  practical  from 
the  first— not  tospeak  of  the  lenvcn  of  spiritual  and  spiritual- 
ising elements,  introduced  by  our  forefathers  into  the  insti- 
tution of  marrXigc  and  still  not  altogether  out  of  it. 

Thus,  it  appears  to  mo  that  the  models  of  womanhood, 
valued  among  out*  women,  would  conspire  with  other  causes 
to  toll  on  the  minds  of  our  girls  hostilely  to  a  develop- 
ment in  thorn  of  an  inclination  to  choose  their  own  husbands 
— models  which  must  operate  unless  and  until  they  are 
pulled  down  and  smashed  up,  or  until  another  Macaulay 
starts  up  to  turn  against  our  Ithihasas,  Puranas  and 
kindred  writings  his  disastrous  broadside  of  epigram 
and  declamation  without  striving  or  caring  to  study  their 
inner  meaning — a  luckily  unlikely  event  in  so  far  as  the 
education  of  our  fair  so x:  is  concerned.  Another  obstacle 
to  the  diminution  or  disappearance  of  paternal  dominion 
is  the  widely-accepted  belief  that,  on  the  paramount  and 
well-known  authority  of  Maim  and  of  many  other  promi- 
nent authors  of  Smrithis,  marriage  is  in  the  nature  of 
tho  earliest  sacrament  (Samscara)  for  girls,  something 
like  baptism  for  tho  Christian  infant.  It  may  be  that 
this  is  not  consciously  realised  by  our  womanhood  aa  a 
doctrine.  But  few  that  have  noticed  the  sincere  and  ner- 
vous anxieties  of  Hindu  mothers  to  see  their  daughters, 
early  enough,  enter  the  holy  precincts  of  married  status,  as 


i.]         ON  SOCIAL  REFORM:  A  STATEMENT.        39 

I  have  had  frequent  occasion  to  do  —  quite  apart  from  tho 
desire  to  take  advantage  of  eligible  matches  on  worldly 
or  prudential  considerations  —  will  hesitate  to  admit  its 
secret,  instinctive  working  113  a  powerful  and  efficient, 
though  dormant,  factor.  Add  to  that  belief,  tho  almost 
mandatory  declarations  in  Smrithis  that  tho  father  is  bound 
to  sec  to  his  daughter  becoming  a  wifn  before  fcliroo  seasons 
elapse  after  puberty,  with  spiritual  rewards  —  to  him,  to  her 
and  to  their  forefathers—  attached  to  tho  fulfilment  of  that. 
duty  and  spiritual  pains  and  pcualths  levelled  against  its 
default,  such  as  the  following  :  — 
Parasara  :  — 


Ashlavartthu,  liliavt'Ht,  yoicrea  tut  ravarnhathu  roJimcr 

Dasavarsha  Ihavcth  kanya  athaonrthwnm  rajaswala. 

Meaning  :  —  A.  girl  is  termed  (Jowreo  \vJion  eight 
years  old,  Itohinec  when  nine  years  old,  Kaiiya,  when  ton 
years  old,  and  a  llajaswala  thereafter. 

Brthaxpathi  ;  — 


Gowrecin  dadannakapruxhtmn  vi/knnthum  rohinwm 
tladaii 

Kanyam  dadun  Irahmaloktim  rauravumtliu  rajaswalam. 

Mfaning  :—  Tho  gift  of  a  Oowreo  secures  the  celes- 
tial region  Naka  ;  the  gifb  of  a  Kohineo  secures  the  heaven 
Vykuntha;  the  gift  of  a  Kanya  secures  the  regions  of 
Brahma;  while  the  gift  of  a  Rajaswala  entails  an  abode  in 
hell. 

Parasara  :  — 


40  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

Maflia  chaiva,  pitha  chaiva  jyeshthalratha  thathaivacha 

Thrayatfhe  naraknm  yanthi  drushtva  kanyam  rajasva- 
lam- 

Meaning : — The  father,  the  mother  and  the  eldest 
brother,  all  the  threo  goto  hell  by  allowing  a  girl's  puberty 
to  supervene  before  marriage. 

These  seem,  by  the  way,  to  give  us  an  inkling  into  one  of 
the  powerful  grounds  which  accelerate  marriages  among  us 
long  before   the  girls  might  arrive  at  the  age  to  judge  for 
themselves.  All  this  li/is  to  be  pulled  up,  root  and  branch,  and 
cast  away  before   the  right  of  independent  choice  becomes 
approvingly  oxercisablte.  I  am  afraid,  besides,  that,  owing  to 
these  several  causes  which  I  have  glanced  at,  it  will  be  as 
difficult  for  our  girls  to  take    to  the  foreign  institutions  of 
courtship,  honeymoon    and  all  the  rest  of  it  as   it  would  bo 
for  their  western  sisters  to   forego    them   ov  to  develop  in 
themselves  a  penchant  for  a  polyandrous  life  which   every 
right-thinking  person  justly  abominates.     In  the  meantime, 
men  would  not  be  wanting  who,  deriving   their  ideas  from 
the  pages   of  the  e very-day  novels  of  the  west,    would  take 
alarm,    shako    their   heads    ominously     and    mutter     and 
reiterate     the  wish     that    flirtations,    G-retna    Green   alli- 
ances and  runaway  matches,  which   rise   as    bubbles   and 
wavelets -on  the  rushing  floods  of  fresh  ideas,  might   never 
disturb   the    even  tenor  of    the    matrimonial    stream  in 
their  midst.     Let   us   put;  it  seriously  to  ourselves  whether 
wo  consider  this  feasible  within    a  measurable;  distance  of 
time.   To  my  mind,  there  ia,  in  all  I  have  said,  a  cumulative 
argument  against  the  expediency  of  retaining  the  objection 
in  question  on  the   card.     To  enunciate    our  position  so  as 
to  ward  off  such  an  alarm  and  keep  down   such  a  wish  is  a 
manifest  duty,  in  order  to  give  the  explicit  and  public  assur- 
ance that  we  mean  practical  and  practicable  improvement 
and  not  merely  a  novelty  and  an  innovation  to  which  that 
character  may  or  may  not  belong. 


i.]         ON  SOCIAL  REFORM  .'  A  STATEMENT.       41 

In  maintaining  this  position,  I  by  no  means  counten- 
ance the  baneful  practice  of  child  marriages  which  saem  to 
spread  fast  in  defiance  of  the  thunders  against  them.  The 
most  cogent  objection  to  that  practice  is  that  thereby  wo 
are  rearing  up — unconsciously  but  inevitably  nevertheless — 
a  baby-born  nation,  as  Dr.  S  my  the — now  in  Mysore  service 
and  one  whom  I  have  known  for  a^considerable  time  and 
learned  to  respect  ever  since  F  began  to  know  him — had 
the  courage  and  candour  to  assert  openly  at  a  public 
meeting  in  Madras  to  the  chagrin  of  many  who  do  not 
relish  unpalatable  truths.  I  too  wiis  among  those  who 
were  pained  by  the  statement ;  but  it  was  for  the  reason 
that  we  have  been  unwittingly  working  out  such  disastrous 
results.  I  would  press  this  objection  with  all  the  vehe- 
mence of  feeling  and  the  strength  ot  language  I  can  com- 
mand. I  am  not  indeed  unalive  to  the  motives  which 
mostly — and  I  would  add,  vcnially — lead  to  such  marriages  ; 
and  I  must  beg  to  differ  from  those  who,  on  that  account, 
condemn  the  parents  and  guardians  outright  and  in  un- 
measured terms  and  deal  out  fco  those  parents  and  guar- 
dians hard  epithets.  Neither  by  the  employment  of  pungent 
adjectives  nor  by  other  efforts  of  rhetoric  could  we  undo 
or  replace  their  legal  rights. 

To  work  a  sure,  steady  and  progressive  change  in  this 
respect,  effort  must  be  made,  iterated  and  re-iterated  to 
bring  startlingly  home  to  parents,  uneducated  in  English, 
how  physical  deterioration,  in  virtue  of  Nature's  unerring 
forces  and  stern,  physiological  laws,  will  grow  more  and  more 
far-reaching  and  claim  ever-increasing  victims,  dilapidated 
and  stunted,  as  one  generation  succeeds  another.  I  vividly 
remember  how,  so  long  back  as  five  and  forty  years  ago,  my 
good  and  respected  father  ever  had  on  his  lips  the  moral 

that    ^5*55R   (Kulaheena)    i.e.,   lowness    of    extraction   is 
more  endurable  than  5^5f*T  (Balaheena)    i.e.,    lowness    of 
6 


42  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

physical  strength,  in  the  choice  of  husbands  for  our  girls 
Ho  boLh  preached  find  saw  it  practised  within  the  lamen- 
tably abort  span  oflife,  vouchsafed  to  him, 

That  whicli  lends  color  to  attacks  such  as  T  have 
alluded  f,o  is  that,  in  a,  fow  cases,  girls  are  bartered  for 
filthy  lucre — though,  evon  this  heartless  procedure  of  turn- 
ing maidens  into  so  many  gold  mines  has  a  silver  lining 
about  it,  in  so  far  as  it  induces  tho  disposers  of  them  to  post- 
pone marriage  to  tho  nearest  limits  of  puberty  in  order 
to  command  sin  abnormally  high  price  for  them.  Barring 
the  few  casoa  which  hick  this  latter  feature  and  barring 
also  all  the  sibominable  cases  in  which  girls  in  naive 
twelve  are  yoked  to  decrepit  ago  with  one  foot  in  the 
grave,  an  unbiassed  observation  cannot  help  recognising 
thafc  prudential  considerations  for  the  girl's  welfare, 
which  is  taken  to  comprehend  her  enduring,  though 
not  poetic,  happiness,  coupled  with  a  nervous  anxiety 
to  see  girls  well-settled  ia  life,  underlie  the  practice. 

In  making  Sir  Joseph  Graybrooke  in  "  Miss  or  Mrs.  " 
to  tell  his  daughter  "  My  dear  Child  !  that  is  a  matter  of 
experience ;  love  will  come  when  you  are  married  lf,  and  in 
representing  her  aunt  Misa  Lavinia  as  adding  "  Dear 
Natalie,  if  you  remembered  your  poor  mother  as  I  remem- 
ber her,  you  would  know  that  your  father's  experience  is 
to  bo  relied  on,"  Wilkie  Collins  may  be  said  to  be 
unconsciously  hitting  off  what  most  Hindu  lathers  say  to 
themselves  in  selecting,  for  their  dear  ones,  husbands, 
not  only  agreeable  but  also  capable  of  keeping  them  in 
comfort — with  this  difference,  however,  that  the  bride- 
grooms of  their  choice  very  seldom  turn  out  such  scoundrels 
as  Richard  Turlington.  Further,  there  was  quite  as  much 
practical  truth  as  retort  in  the  reply  that  the  Hindus 
learned  to  love  whom  they  married — a  reply  which  is  said 
to  have  been  given  by  the  late  Mr.  T.  Gopal  Row,  the 
foremost  of  the  most  sober-minded,  clear-sighted,  and 


i.]        ON  SOCIAL  REFORM  :^A]STATEMENT.         43 

universally-esteemed  products  of  the  Madras  University, 
to  ii  European  friend  who  twitted  him  OIL  his  countrymen 
not  marrying  whom  they  love. 

Eligible  matches  arc,  further,  not  always  ready  at  hand 
within  the  limits  of  the  period  of  puberty— the  Rubicon  that 
should   not   bo    crossed.     There   is  therefore  mi  eagerness 
— not   altogether  unpardonable— to  uiiko  time  by  the  fore- 
lock and  to  bring  about  the  tying  of  thw  indissoluble  knot 
where  thuro  is  an  over-supply  of  girls  to    cope  with-     This 
eagerness   sometimes   overshoots   the  mark   by  degenerat- 
ing into  absolute  baby  marriages.    But  such  a    result  is   an 
abuse  and  is  unquestionably  regrettable;  but  then  it  is,  in  the 
nature  of  things,  not  altogether  preventive,  any  more  than 
fortune-hunting,     title-hunting   and    other   kinds    of    un- 
equal and  unrelishcd  matches  elsewhere  are.  I  say  this  not- 
withstanding the  impotent  and  easily-evaded  Tmikc-believe 
of  legislation  by  the  Mysore  Ourbar.  To  most  parents,  thus 
limited  to  the  period  of  puberty  for  exercising   their   righfc 
or  rather  for  performing  their  duty,  the  differences  in  age 
between  5  or  G  on  the  one  haod  and  1  I  or  12  on    the   other 
would  unfortunately  convey  little  appreciable  meaning. 

The  narrowing  therefore  of  the  sphere  of  contest  in 
respect  of  early  marriages  seems  to  lie  in  ono  or  other 
of  two  things,  without  abstracting  paternal  rights,  with- 
out denying  to  fathers  the  credit  of  caring  for  the  welfare 
of  their  children  and  without  .seeking  or  striving  to 
invest  our  boys  and  girls  with  an  unchecked  privilege  of 
choosing  their  partners  in  life.  Those  two  things  are  (1) 
that  our  Brahmins  should  imitate  the  Namburis  in  the 
Malabar  Districts  who  disregard  the  limit  of  puberty  and 
with  whom,  accepted  a<3  good  ™'pra.v(13rarnins)  as  themselves, 
they  intermix  and  inter  dine  as  [  am  told,  (2)  that  accept- 
ing that  the  rule  to  merry  before  puberty  is  insuperable 
and  that  a  marriage  attains  finality  on  the  completion  of 
the  Saptapadi — a  stage  in  the  series  of  conjugal  rites— 


44  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

wo  should  systematically  and  rigidly  postpone  consumma- 
tion which  ire  can  do  with  pvrject  impunity,  for  some 
years  after  puberty,  z'.r,.,  for  ns  inany  yearn  ax  would  Insure, 
against  the  -physical  deterioration,  enlarged  upon  by  Dr. 
Sinytho  as  already  alluded  to.  Thin,  in  my  opinion,  its 
one  perfectly  practicable  'modn&  vivcndi  for  which  we  may 
hopefully  and  profitably  agitate  Strictly  speaking,  the 
Hrahtnin  alone  1ms  to  make  up  his  mind  in  this  respect  in 
our  Presidency  ;  for  the  text  which  threatens  degradation 
in  case  of  marriage  after  that  limit  is  this  :  — 
Parasara  : 


--  II 

Yastham  mmudirahiH  kanyam    Itrahmaiiv  madamohltali- 
Aauvibhashyo  hyapaitktlwyaitistiviprn  vriyhalerpatltih. 
Meaning  :  —  -That    JJrahmin   who,   blinded   by  passion, 

marries  such  a  girl  (Kajaswala)  is  unfit  to   mix  with  or  eat 

with  —  such  a  one  is  called  Vrishalecpathy. 

1  arn  aware  that,  notwithstanding  the  fact  of  Kshe- 
triyas,  the  caste  above  them,  not  respecting  any  such  limit, 
the  Komaties,  who  claim  to  represent  in  this  Presidency 
the  third  of  the  four  recognised  Hindu  castes,  as  also  all 
castes  in  Bengal  and  elsewhere,  equally  rigidly  observe 
this  rule  and  that  many,  even  among  the  classes  who  do  not 
consider  themselves  bound  by  such  a  rule,  do,  in  practice, 
behave  often  as  if  it  was  obligatory  on  them.  It  goes  with- 
out saying  that  the  task  to  shake  themselves  out  of  such  a 
practice  is,  on  that  account,  more  easy  for  them.  If  they 
would  not  go  this  length,  which  they  have  an  unqualified 
liberty  to  do,  may  I  not  point  out  to  them  that,  even  with 
their  self-imposed  restraints,  there  is  nothing  to  handicap 
them,  if  they  resolve  to  assimilate  themselves  to  the  bulk  of 
the  non-Brahmin  Hindus,  so  far  as  to  defer  consummation, 
as  I  have  just  suggested  to  the  Brahmin  to  do.  To  inaugu- 


i.]         ON  SOCIAL  REFORM  -.  A  STATEMENT.         45 

rate  this  departure,  HtLle  more  than  a  convention  or 
compact  among  the  leaders  in  each  interdining  sot  or  class 
to  stand  by  one  another  or  rather  to  sit  and  mess  by  the 
side  of  one  another  is  needed  ;  and  it  were  to  be  devoutly 
wished  that  no  considerable  part  of  these  sets  and  classes 
would  hesitate  or  lose  further  time  to  join  hands  in  this 
respect.  Merc  mob-help  or  the  co-operation  of  illiterate 
relations  will  never  do.  That  will  bo  like  a  wave  of 
caprice.  It  may  ebb  and  recede  as  fast  as  it  may  flow 
and  advance.  Ifc  may  oftonor  do  harm  than  good,  being 
invariably  led  by  private  and  personal  regards  rather  than 
by  public  and  impersonal  or  altruistic  considerations.  It  is 
too  fickle,  too  weakly-grounded,  and  too  unsubstantial 
to  be  depended  upon.  If  men,  keen  about  thtj  ameliora- 
tion in  question,  yet  see  reason  to  light  shy  of  my  proposal, 
there  is  another  on  the  question  of  commensality,  which 
oilers  a  solution — commensality  happening  to  be,  rightly 
or  wrongly  (wrongly  as  Z  think)  the  pivot  on  which  all  ro- 
form  is  made  to  turn.  It  applies  to  this  and  many  others 
which  I  shall  deal  with  in  this  paper,  I  may  therefore 
once  for  all  formulate  and  dwell  upon  it  in  this  connection, 
so  that  I  may  simply  rcfor  to  it,  by  and  by,  as  occasion 
may  arise  to  quote  it  as  a  .solution. 

Of  commensality,  there  are  two  views  to  take.  But, 
before  noticing  these  views,  let  us  see  what  the  essence  of 
the  objection  is.  It  is  little  more  and  little  less  than  this : — 
that  food7  which  is  unexceptionable  on  any  ground  of  its 
inherent  properties,  becomes  contaminated  by  being  taken 
in  company  with  one  who  has  sinned  against  a  Shastraic 
rule.  On  the  very  face  of  it,  the  objection  is  no  higher 
than  a  conventional  one ;  for  it  would  be  ridiculous  to  hold 
that  an  article  of  consumption,  acceptable  in  all  other  res* 
pects  becomes  metamorphosed  into  something  intrinsically 
deleterious  by  reason  of  the  mere  touch,  look  or  proximity 
of  a  person,  obnoxious  as  abovo  noted,  Taking  it  then  as 


46  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

a  conventional  canon,  the  next  question  is  who  is  to  use  it 
and  for  what  purpose.  As  I  have  said,  there  are  two  views 
to  take.  The  view  generally  entertained  about  it  is  that  it 
is  a  privilege  with  which  society  is  armed  and  which  is 
granted  or  withhold  by  society  as  such,  in  proof  of  its  con- 
donation or  condemnation  of  a  person  who  incurs  its  dis- 
pleasure by  offending  against  one  or  other  of  the  rules,  tho 
observance  of  which  it  has  the  prerogative  to  enforce.  To 
my  mind,  this  is  a  grievous  mistake,  as,  on  a  comprehension 
of  the  true  scope  of  our  Shastras,  the  society  is  nowhere 
constituted  into  a  tribunal  with  an  inherent  jurisdiction  to 
exercise  any  collective  powor  of  pronouncing  outlawry,  as  I 
shall  soon  endeavour  to  shew.  In  the  meantime,  let  us 
assume  it  to  be  correct  and  see  what  honest  way  is  open  to  us 
to  overcome  the  barrier  thus  interposed.  To  look  upon  it 
as  the  one  arbitrarily-devised  mode  of  signifying  the  plea- 
sure or  displeasure  of  Society,  would  be  a  palpable  error. 
On  the  contrary,  it  is,  at  best,  only  one  out  of  the  few  signs 
and  tokens  by  which  aloofness  from  unclean  persons  — 
unclean  in  the  eye  of  the  Sastras  in  a  certain  sense  and  for  a 
certain  purpose  —  is  secured.  I  say  advisedly  that  commen- 
sal! by  is  only  one  of  the  signs  and  tokens  ;  for,  there  were 
others  which  exemplified  a  greater  rigour  of  avoidance  in 
times  gonw  by,  but  which  have  silently  dropped  into  disue- 
tude  and  become  obsolete.  The  following  verses  are  in 
point  :  — 

Par  aaam  :— 


t  II 

Thyajetthesum  krithayuge  threthayam  gramamuthsrujeth 
Dwapare  kulumekumthu  kartharam  thu  kalau  yuge. 
Meaning  :   Avoid  the  country   in  Kritha  Yuga,   the 

village  in  Trutha  Yuga,    the  family  in  Dwapara   and  the 

sinner  alone  in  Kali  Yuga. 


i.)         ON  SOCIAL  REFORM:  A  STATEMENT.          47 


Kritlie   sambhadianatheva    thrcthayam   sparsanenacha 

Dwaparu  thirannumadaya  Jcalaupathathi  karmLiia. 

Meaning  :  One  becomes  a  sinner  in  Kritha  Ynga  by 
merely  speaking  (to  the  sinner),  in  Tretha  Yuga  by  touching 
(him),  in  Dwapara  Yuga  by  partaking1  of  food  (from  him 
and  in  Kali  Yuga  by  committing  sinful  acts. 

Note.  —  As  Madhavacharya  and  others  have  explained, 
the  substance  of  the  above  verses  may  be  put  thus  :  — 

(1)  Whereas  in   Kritha,  Tretha  and  Dwapara  Yugas, 
one  becomes  a  sinner  by   merely  talking  to,    touching   and 
eating  the  food  of,  a   sinner,    in  Kali  Yuga,  one  becomes  a 
sinner  only  by  committing  acts  of  sin. 

(2)  Whereas  in    Kritha    Yuga   the  whole   kingdom 
(wherein  the  sinner  resides),  in   Tretha  the  whole    village 
(where  the  sinner  lives\  in   Dwapara  the  whole  family    (to 
which  he  belongs)  must    be    shunned  (to  escape    taint),    in 
Kali  Yuga  we  have    only  to  shun  the  actual  sinner. 

This  is  not  all.  Even  the  rules  which  relate  to  the 
question  of  permissible  food  are  demonstrably  in  the  obso- 
lescent stage  —  a  circumstance  which  must  be  evident  to  the 
least  observant,  when  he  notes  how,  out  of  the  interdicted 
edibles  and  drinkables,  onions,  potatoes  and  other  articles  of 
consumption  among  the  solids  and  aerated  waters  among 
liquids,  though  bottled  by  hands,  whose  touch  is  proscribed 
for  the  Kali  Yuga,  are—  to  instance  a  few  out  of  many  — 
freely  used  by  many  who  were  once  squeamish  about 
them.  Surely  the  liberty,  thus  enjoyed  as  to  things  re- 
garded as  intrinsically  objectionable  may,  with  a  safe  con- 
science or  rather  without  any  subterfuge  or  charge  of 
evasion,  take  the  further  form  of  eating  by  the  side  of  a 
person,  who,  if  I  may  say  so,  is  only  metaphorically  tainted. 
Jn  these  circumstances,  it  will  be  a  clear  narrowing  of  the 


48  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

sphere  of  contention,  if  the  prohibition  as  to  interdining 
goes  the  way  that  its  companion-prohibitions  have  gone, 
with  the  single  exception  of  intermarriage  which,  by  the 
way,  involves  rnnny  other,  complex  find  personal  considera- 
tions, than  that  the  youth  concerned  is  open  to  exception, 
in  the  light  of  what  Shastras  counsel — though  even  in  this 
exceptcd  sphere  of  action,  I  can  cite  a  number  of  instances 
showing  that  considerable  latitude  and  laxity  have  set  in 
and  are  unconditionally  assented  to,  which  are  diametrically 
opposed  to  the  Hhastraic  utterances  in  that  behalf.  Let  then 
the  sets  which  now  interdine  unite,  covenant,  and  practi- 
cally bring  into  vogu^  this  narrowing  of  the  sphere  of  con- 
tention ;  for,  whsit  a  convention  may  make,  it  can  well  un- 
make- 

Such  a  task  may  receive  an  impetus,  without  any  rea- 
sonable fear  of  doing  wrong,  if  the  second  and  the  other  view 
of  cominen.sality,  which  I  shall  proceed  to  propound  as  the 
more  accurate  one,  commands  acceptance.  Paradoxical  as  it 
may  sound  to  many,  it.  is  si  fact — quite  capable  of  proof — 
that  rights  of  individuality  arc  nowhere  so  fnlly  vouch- 
safed or  so  thoroughly  acknowledged  as  in  the  Shastras  as  I 
vend  thorn  —  it  being  left  to  each  man  to  work  out  or  to 
wreck  his  salvation  and  his  temporal  well-being,  of  which 
the  former  is  particularly  set  forth  as  the  ruling  end  and 
aim  of  ail  earthly  existence  and  which  he  ia  reminded  of,  in 
connection  with  almost  every  event  or  incident  of  life — 
great  and  small.  The  Shastras  give  him  the  rules,  give  him 
the  chnncc  and  give  him  the  advice  to  qualify  for  and 
strive  towards  that  goal ;  but,  at  the  ^ame  time,  it  leaves 
him  the  option  to  utilise  them  according  to  his  pleasure 
and  to  the  best  of  hia  power,  except  in  one  particular 
which  will  be  presently  noticed.  They  do  no  more  and 
they  profess  fco  do  no  more.  The  following  texts  bear  me 
out  in  this  construction  ; 


i.J         ON  SOCIAL  REFORM:  A  STATEMENT.       49 

ApatttJiaiiiba  Sid  raft  :  — 

H  qiRqftwef  §«  rffi:  qftftft 


ftarravaniauain  xirathannan-uxhlanc  paramaparimi- 
xiikhniii,  thnthalt  pariuritliot"  karmaphalaiwshtnia 
otipniii  r  amain-  halum  innlhani  pratjncnH  drai'yani 
fJhannaiiuslithcinainitlit  prafhi^fnli/nllu1  thachfhakrarathu- 
Lhnyor  loJi'ayifN  snklia  i/t'ra  vnrtlniflu*. 

Mean  in  y  :  Hy  acting  it])  to  the  rules  prescribed  for 
the  several  \r.riruns  (castes)  and  Asraimis  (orders),  not 
only  does  eternal  happiness  nwait  a.  ])erson  in  tlio  next 
world,  but  he  also  seen  res  in  this  world  ob  re-birth  such 
trood  fruits  as  ijood  linen,"!1,  ^'ood  looks,  good  caste,  good 
physique,  ^ood  intellect  }  wesilth;  i^c. 

Mann  :  — 


Acharallabli  yath  f  Iti/d  ijurar/ta  ra  tli  repxith  ah  p  rajali 


infj  :  Hy  Achara  (eonduct  according  to 
Shastraic  rules;  is  attained  lon«r  lifo,  ^ood  prog-cny,  endless 
wealth,  &c. 


Dumcliarohi  pnntsliu  htkc  lihacuth!  Hindi  thah 
Dnhkhabhfiyrerha  *atliath  nin  i;yadkitholpayiirevaclia. 
Meaning  :  —  By  improper  conduct,  a  person  becomes  in 
this  world  odious,  unhappy,  sickly  and  short-lived. 

Kan  i  fa  :  — 


II 


50  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

Attanachchayanaddanath  sallapath  sahabhojanath 

Sankramantheuha  papani  thylabindurivainbhasi. 

Meaning:  By  sitting  with  liim  (the  sinner),  by  sleeping 
by  hia  side,  by  making  gifts  to  him,  by  talking  to  him,  by 
eating  with  him,  sins  spread  themselves  like  drops  of  oil  on 
water. 

Br-ihaspath  i  :  — 


YeJcasayyasanavn  2^nnMJiybhandnm  panJcthyannamisra- 
nam. 

Ya/janadhyapancyonixthadhachaxaha  bhojanain 

Navadha  sunltarah  proldhona  hartliavyodhamyssaha. 

Meaning  :  Sleeping  on  the  same  bed,  sitting  on  the 
same  seat,  partaking  of  food  from  the  same  vessel,  eating 
in  a  line  at  a  general  repast,  helping  in  the  performance 
of  religions  rites,  giving  lessons  in  Vedas,  and  interdining 
—  in  these  nine  respects,  you  should  avoid  contact  with  a 
sinner. 

Devala  :  — 


Sallapasparxanisvasath  mha  sayyamnasanath 

Yajanadhyapanadyaunatk  papamsunkramathe  iirunam. 

Meaning  :  Speaking  with  a  sinner,  touching  him, 
being  within  reach  of  his  breath,  sharing  in  the  same  bed, 
sharing  in  the  same  seat,  iiitmlining  with  him,  helping 
him  in  th*  performance  of  religious  rites,  giving  him 
lessons  in  the  Vedas,  intermarrying  with  him,  are  ways  of 
contracting  sin 

In  the  Brahmin  preceptor  Sukra  Chariar  sanctioning 
the  marriage  of  his  daughter  with  the  Kshetria  monarch 


i.]        ON  SOCIAL  RtitVRll  ;  A  STATEMENT.      51 

Yayathi  who  demurred  to  take  the  step  on  the  ground  that 
it  inverted  the  Shastraic  order — in  the  sago  Vyasa  authori- 
sing Drowpaoi  to  w<»d  the  five  Pandavas,  notwithstanding 
that  polyandry  was  forbidden — in  the  holy  Arasishta 
taking  for  consort  Jin  unhallowed  Ghiindaii— and  in  tlio 
Brahmin  Pandit  Pandita  Hat  uniting  himself  to  the  Maho- 
medan  princess  Lavangi  and  throwing  down  tho  gauntlet 
for  those  who  contended  that  he  thereby  outraged  Hindu 
faith — in  these  and  similar  acts  of  seeming  defiance  of  the 
Shustras,  we  recognise  an  unequivocal  declaration  of  in- 
dependence as  though  the  sway  of  Smrithis  were,  strict!}7- 
speaking,  optional.  It  would,  in  my  judgment,  not  be  a 
tenable  argument  to  sny  of  the  so  and  the  like  that  they 
were  the  deeds  of  towering  personalities  who  rose  superior 
to  the  petty  little  rules,  meant  for  the  common  herd, 
just  as  a  giant  would  pass  through  n,  gossamer  network 
of  cobwebs  spun  by  tho  most  skilful  of  spiders  ;  for,  law 
is  no  respecter  of  persons,  be  their  mental  and  moral  al- 
titude however  exalted ;  and  an  obligation  is  an  obliga- 
tion all  the  same,  on  nil.  Nor  do  I  think  that  the  text 
which  tells  us  to  do  as  great  men  bid  and  not  as  they  do, 
affords  any  explanation  ;  for  it  looks  to  rno  rather  to  be 
but  the  later  outcome  of  a  policy  to  discourage  isolattd 
instances  of  defiance  of  Shastras,  whimsically  and  in  a  spirit 
of  levity. 

It  is  perhaps  in  recognition  of  this  aspect  of  the 
Shastras  that  an  eminent  Shastraic  expounder,  whose  name 
or  treatisa  I  cannot  just  now  recall  or  lay  my  hands  on, 
enunciated  the  thesis  that  they  discharge  a  threefold 

function,  i.e.,  they  are  in  part  IPJOTWcT*  (sovereign-like), 
in  part  foTOffcrfcTt  (friend-like)  and  in  part  WtirataRli 
a  winsome  damsel-like),  the  plain  English  of  which  classifi- 
cation is  that  they  are  partly  authoritative,  partly  advisory, 
*  Prabhuaammithi.  f  Mithraaammithi,  J  Kanthasammithi, 


52  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

nnd  partly  persuasive.  They  are  obviously  authoritative 
of  course  where  they  convey  dictates  to  emblems  of 
temporal  power,  how  to  settle  reciprocal  rights  among  the 
members  of  a  family,  how  to  decide  the  rights  of  the  family 
as  against  an  outcaste,  whose  fall  entails  his  extinction  iu 
it,  how  to  adjudicate  upon  and  decide  disputes  between 
man  and  man  and  hew  to  punish  crimes  and  misdemea- 
nours. .Beyond  these  limits,  which  might,  be  compendiously 
designated  as  defining  the  domain  of  civil  rights,  the 
Shastrjis  seem  to  me  to  fall  under  one  or  other  of  the 
remaining  two  heads.  Kvtn  where  they  sound  autho- 
ritative in  these  other  matters,  they  will  be  found,  on 
examination,  to  be  but  canons  which  one  ought  to  conform 
to,  at  the  peril  to  one's  spiritual  welfare  and  at  the  risk  of 
one  being  shunned — not  by  the  rank  and  tile,  and  much 
loss  by  the  tag-rag  and  bob-tail,  of  one's  caste,  sect  or  creed 

— bub  by  pious  men — called  flW^Y*  f5Tgn,t  and  so  forth  in 
the  Snirifchis — who  strive  to  live  the  life,  such  as  is  mapped 
out  and  held  out  as  beautiful  by  the  Aryan  faith  to  each 
of  its  adherents.  A  man's  salvation  of  his  soul  and  the 
advancement  of  his  temporal  interests  are  indisputably  his 
own  concern  ;  and  I  believe  that  it  will  be  conceded  on  all 
hands  that  no  other  man — much  less  any  collect  ion  of 
men — has  any  right  to  coerce  him  or  punish  him 
in  these  respects,  l^ven  011  the  momentous  affair  of 
preparing  himself  here  for  the  hereafter,  the  Shastras 

appear  to  me  to  be  but  like  a  friend,  IWWTr&J  and 
no  more-  Whether  1  am  correct  or  incorrect  on  this  point, 
it  is,  I  think,  abundantly  clear  that,  in  all  other  matters 
he  is  a  thorough  free-agent  to  make  or  ms*r  himself.  From 
such  a  right  in  one  man,  it  is  but  a  corrollary  that  every 
other  man  has  an  identical  right  to  do  as  he  pleases.  It 
follows  then  that  if  truly  pious  men — Sadhavah(flr^:)and 


•  Sttdhftvah.  f  Sishtah,  J  Miblirammifchi, 


L]         ON  SOCIAL  REFOHM:  A  STATEMENT.       53 


Sisthah  ftlgl'-  of  the  Smrithis  —  see  iib  to  avoid  a  delinauent, 
they  do  so  in  self-defence,  i.e.,  compelled  by  an  honest  de- 
sire to  safeguard  themselves  ngainst  -what  they  regard  as 
contamination,  imperilling  their  bcsfc  interests.  The  dnllpst 
man  must  note  the  broad  and  marked  distinction  that  exists 
and  is  discernible  between  this  conduct  and  the  so-called 
ostracism  o£  tlio  present  dny  hy  a  pack  of  ignorant  or 
spiteful  persons,  not  often  one-tenth  as  good  as  Uiu  one 
they  persecute,  taken  nil  in  all.  Their  pretensions  are 
entirely  without  warrant  find  without  foundation. 
Paratiarn  :  — 


Chuthirarvva  tlirat/orapl  yam 
Hadhanna  ithivigneyoh  nctltariftitliu  sahasraxalt, 
MtMiiinfj  :  That    which    four    or    three1     persons    well 
versed  in  tlie  vedas    declare   is  to  be    viewed   as  law  —  nob 
anything  else  although  declared  oven  by  a  thousand, 


u 

AtJia  oorthiram  tliu  yv  riprah  kcralvtn  ntnuadlutrahali 
Parishattwam  na  theshwasthi  sahaxraywiitJMnhH'ajte. 
Meaning  :  Henceforth,noininFilBrahmins,  even  although 
they  count  by  thousands,  shall  not  possess  the  character  of 
a  Parishad  (an  assembly  for  solving  Dharrna.). 


Yatha  kashtamayo  hasthee  yatha  charuiamayo   mrigah, 
Brahmanasthwanad/wcyanasthrayasthfi  jiainadharakah. 

Meaning  ;  Just  as  is  an  elephant  made  of  wood  and 
just  as  is  an  animal  (doer)  formed  out  of  skin,  HO  arc  no- 
minal Brahmins  uninitiated  (in  the  Ved&s). 


54  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

qfe^r  ^nwiwr  -•  i 


rai/achaiitlri  ye  dicija/i  iiainadhara'kaJi. 

Tha  'dwljak  jiapakwHiananttinntha  itarakam  yaynJi. 

Mcaniiiy  :  Whenever  nominal  Hrahmnis  prescribe 
penance,  they  thereby  become  .sinners  and  they  are  doomed 
to  Hull. 

It  iimy  not  be  out  of  place  hero  to  explain  the  only 
trace  of  an  organisation  which  the  Shastras  countenance, 
viz.,  a  Pavishat,  as  it  is  technically  termed.  To  begin  with,  it 
has  no  inherent  power  fco  call  itself  into  being.  It  is  the 
outcome  —  the  .sheer  outcome  —  of  the  man  who  considers 
himself  a  sinner  and  who  wishes  to  regain  his  lost  position, 
out  of  qualms  of  conscience  and  out  of  a  desire  to  resume 
the  duties  find  the  course  of  life,  prescribed  to  every  Aryan. 

Para,mra  :  — 


II 

V<*da  I't'damjavidiishain  dharmasasth  ram  rijanatham 
Swadharmarathavipmnam  ttwakum   'paupum  nivcdayeth. 

MviiH'in-y  :  A  sinner  should  confess  his  sin  to  Brah- 
mins versed  in  the  Vedas  and  the  Vedangas,  acquainted 
with  the  principles  of  the  Dharnui  Sastras,  and  devoted  to 
the  rules  of  life  proscribed  for  them. 

Parattara  :  — 


AvrathaHanianianthranamjatlnniathropajermiam 

iSalianranasminethavam  jiarishatlrwam  navidyatlie. 

Meaning  :    Those-    that    do    not    live  up  to  the  rules  of 

their  order,    those  who  have  not  been  duly  initiated,  those 

that  live  nominally    according  to   their  caste,  are  unfit   for 


i,]        ON  SOCIAL  REFORM:  A  STATEMENT.       55 

the  function  of  a  parishat,    even  although    they  muster  by 
thousands. 


n 

Aynathu-a  dhannasasthrani  prni/ascliitthavi  dadathyyali, 
Frayasrhithrc  bhawth  poothah  kilbixhum  paritiliudrrajcth. 

Meaning  :  Kvon  although  the  penance  is  prescribed 
by  a  man  ignorant  of  the  Dliarina  Shjislras,  the  penitent 
becomes  puriiied,  though  the  sin  attaches  thereby  to  the 
person  that  so  proscribes. 

Note  :  The  significance  of  this  vnrse  lies  in  the  pro- 
minence ifc  has  given  to  the  penitent's  attitude. 

Be  ifc  noted  —  and  this  cannot  bo  too  emphatically  pointed 
out  —  that  it  is  the  penitent  sinner  and  none  clso  who  can 
convene  a  Parishat  and  that  it  is  from  his  voluntary  sub- 
mission and  from  no  other  source  is  its  power  derived. 
In  this  respect,  though  in  this  respect:  alone,  a  Parishat 
is  like  arbitrators,  whose  jurisdiction  to  adjudicate 
is  conferred  by  the  partips  to  a  dispute,  by  the  exer- 
cise of  their  volition  and  by  that  alone.  But,  unlike 
arbitrators,  the  Parishat  has  no  disputes  to  set  at  rest 
and  no  blame  to  apportion  or  to  lay  on  this  or  that  of  the 
contending  parties,  each  of  whom  claims  approbation  of 
verdict  as  against  the  other.  The  Parishat,  on  the  contrary, 
has  as  his  premiss  that  ho  who  convenes  it  confesses  him- 
self to  be  in  tho  wrong  and  only  seeks  that  the  fitting 
atonement  for  that  wrong  may  be  indicated  to  him.  It  is, 
I  think,  self-evident  that  a  machinery,  thus  constituted,  and 
constituted  for  such  a  purpose  can  have  no  power  to  penalise 
or  chastise  ;  and,  save  and  except  this  machinery,  no  other 
is  contemplated  or  warranted  by  the  Shastras. 

In  these  circumstances,  the  power  to  excommunicate  or 
pronounce  verdicts  of  guilt  or  innocence,  claimed  by  or  for 
the  heads  of  mutts  and  the  leaders  of  the  several  sects  is  a 


56  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

downright  usurpation,  originating  in  ignorant  surrender  on 
the  part  of  those  over  whom  they  exorcise  control.  Such 
a  surrender  find  such  a  tyranny  do  but  afford  an  illustra- 
tion of  tlio  SMge  saying  that  the  slave  makes  the  tyrant  and 

not  VU'C  TITSll. 

It  may  be  asked  how  has  it  come  about,  that  caste- 
mpftings  are  held  and  tho  power  of  -muttx  and  of  similar 
prc tenders  to  authority  is  invoked  to  bring  breakers  of 
caste-rules  to  book,  I  am  inclined  to  think — and  it  may 
bo  ii  mere  speculation  on  my  part,  though  I  trust  a  specula- 
tion not  altogether  without  the  semblance  of  warrant — that 
the  higher  castes — ignorant  of  thoir  privileges — have  ser- 
vilely, though  insensibly,  imitated  the  nou-dvija  popula- 
tion, which,  for  want  of  other  recognised  guides,  has  long 
been  in  the  liabit  of  electing  its  headmen  and  convoking 

caste-assemblies — called  STricTf;^  ( Jathi  cootam) — to  ad- 
judicate on  the*  thousand  and  one  disputes  which  arise 
among  them,  not  on  rasto  questions  only  but  also  on  many 
others,  foreign  to  thorn. 

On  the  important  ground  that  thereby  we  shall  avoid 
outraging  but  shall,  on  the  contrary,  nourish,  foster  and 
conserve  feelings  of  self-respect  and  discourage  the  growth 
or  spread  of  dissimulation,  J  lay  superlative  stress  on  this 
method  of  getting  rid  of  tho  existing  embargo  on 
commensiility,  and  every  right-minded  man  must  decidedly 
prefer  it  to  the  prevalent  plan  of  requisitioning  the  moon- 
shine of  an  expiation.  The  origin  and  motive  of  all  penance 
is  primarily  penitence,  without  which  all  acts  of  atonement 
are  a  hollow  pretence,  if  not  also  an  impudent  mockery. 
Now,  let  us  put  it  fr>  ourselves  whether  we  are  so  blind  as 
riot  tolcnow  that  nine  men  out  of  ten,  who  consent  to  go 
through  the  formality  of  pureficatory  rites  are  really  proud 
of  the  conduct  for  which  they  profess  to  subject  themselves 
to  those  rit.es  and  whether  thoy  are  not  laughing  in  their 


i,]        ON  SOCIAL  REFORM  :  A  STATEMENT.       57 

sleeves  at  the  folly,  the  simplicity  and  the  easily-gratified 
formalism  of  those  who  ask  to  be  thus  deliberately  cajoled 
or  imposed  upon,  The  degradation  of  the  soul  and  the 
lowering  of  character  involved  in  an  affectation  of  repent- 
ance or  in  conduct  implying  repentance  when  none 
is  really  felt  or  when  there  is  an  inward  chuckling  over  the 
success  of  an  undisguised  ruw  arc  too  much  of  si  price  to 
pay  for  what  is  literally  selling  one's  soul  for  a  mess  of 
pottage.  The  threatened  demoralisation  and  callousness  to 
moral  sensibilities,  consequent  on  this  sort  of  diplomatic 
stooping  to  conquer,  must  make  UH  strike  a  halt  betimes,  i.e., 
before  we  becomo  largely  committed  to  lives  of  plausible 
falsehoods  and  to  a  course  of  pious  frauds.  Let  us  be  done 
with  the  policy  of  hood-winking  the  unwary  lost  wo  end 
with  hood-winking  ourselves  and  vitiating  our  moral  sus- 
ceptibilities. It  rests,  not  on  individual  effort,  but  on  the 
leaders  of  inter-dining  classes  who  have  it  in  their  power 
to  unite  in  solidarity  as  I  have  humbly  recommended  and 
to  make  it  no  longer  necessary  for  honorable  men  to  debase 
themselves  and  go  through  a  Feint — excepting  always  that 
pious  men  who,  in  good  faith,  regard  the  innovator  as 
tainted  and  tainting,  shall  be  free  to  stand  aloof.  I  know 
that  life  is  a  series  of  compromises.  What  I  recommend  is 
also  a  compromise,  which  will  possess  all  the  merits  of  a 
compromise  without  the  demerit  of  compromising  those  who 
accept  it  or  acquiesce  in  it. 

Next,  as  to  re-marriago  of  our  widows.  Here  again, 
there  is  room  for  narrowing  the  sphere  of  contention.  Des- 
pite all  that  is  asserted  to  the  contrary — on  the  meaning  of 
divers  words  and  on  the  interpretation  of  divers  texts — 
the  single  fact  that  there  is  a  distinct  and  recognised  status 
conceded  (1)  to  the  Punarbhu,  a  twice-married  woman,  as 
distinguished  from  "  Swairini"  (adulteress)  and  "vidhava" 
(widow)  and  (2)  to  Powuarbhava,  son  of  a  twice-married 
woman  marking  him  off  from  a  "  Kunda ";  bastard  son 
8 


58  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

born  of  a  married  woman  and  "Golaka"  bastard  son 
begotton  on  a  widow,  would  seem  fairly  to  establish 
beyond  all  cavil,  that  re-marriages  of  women  were  in 
voguo  for  all  practical  purposes  of  life  at  ono  period  in 
the  history  of  our  people.  The  sole  question  therefore 
is  how  to  revive  it  and  what  prevents  the  revival. 
That  the  Pownarbhav?\s  wore  declared  unsuitable  for  conse- 
cration at  Shraddhas  need  not  trouble  us  ;  for  so  were  also 
many  of  legitimate  extraction,  on  the  ground  of  ignoranco 
of  the  Vedas  and  on  other  grounds,  which—  bo  it  said  by  the 
way  —  did  not  thon  and  do  not  now  in  the  least  disqualify 
them  for  commonsality  on  all  ordinary  occasions.  Wo 
should,  1  supposoj  bi>  quite  content  —  at  least  as  an  initial  ex- 
pedient —  to  see  the  children  of  re-married  women  lifted 
above  proscription  und  assigned  just  the  status  and  privileges 
which  Namadhraka  Brahmins  and  like  Hindus  now  occupy 
and  enjoy.  Now,  the  prohibition  against  the  recognition  of 
the  practice  in  tho  present  day  rests  on  a  text  of  Smrithi- 
writor  Kratu  and  on  a  list  of  things  forbidden  for  the  present 
Kali  Vuga,  i  <1.,  the  Yuga  in  which  we  live  —  a  list  drawn  up, 
it  is  said,  in  the  beginning  of  our  Yuga  by  a  conclave  of 
unnamed  sages,  for  whom  authority  is  claimed  on  a  Sutra  of 
Apasthambha. 


Dharmajnasamayah  pramanam  Vrdascha. 

Meaning  :  Tho  verdicts  of  men  versed  in  Dharma  aro 
as  authoritative  as  the  Yedas. 

That  list  I  do  not  reproduce  here  as  it  is  ready  to 
hand  in  nearly  all  tho  Nibandhaua  Grandhas  or  treatises, 
in  print.  , 

To  the  prohibition  thus  laid  down,  it  is  bad  logic  to 
deny  a  binding  force  (as  is  often  done)  on  the  principle 
enunciated  in  tho  following  verse, 


i.J        ON  SOCIAL  REFORM  :  A  STATEMENT.         59 
tianyraha  :  — 


ritlii  purwietthit,  viruddkeshu  panwpamui 
Pooruauipoorram  balecyasxyathithi  nyayavido  viduh. 
Meaning  :  Learned  inen  have    said  that  where  there  is 

a  contradiction  among1  Sruthi,     Sinrithi  nnd   Parana,    each 

foregoing  one  is  stronger  than  what  follows. 

I  say  it  is  bad  logic,  principally  because  it  is  a  fallacy 
to  talk  of  a  contradiction  between  propositions  which  arc 
correlated  as  a  general  rule  and  as  an  exception  grafted  on 
that  rule  for  a  speciKc  period  as  in  this  instance  ;  tor  an 
exception  must  axiomatically  place  limitations  on  the  rule 
and  must,  to  that  extent,  override  it.  A  contrary  supposi- 
tion must  be  palpably  absurd  as  getting  rid  of  all  possi- 
bility of  laying  down  exceptions,  besides  convicting  our 
voluminous  Sinrithi  and  Puranic  writers  of  having  been  so 
many  purposeless  and  laborious  triflers.  I  would  there- 
fore unconditionally  accept  the  authority  of  the  exception 
and  seek  a  clue  to  an  honest  way  out  of  it,  just  as  the  father 
of  Vikramarka  must  have  found  to  marry  wives  from  castes 
below  his  and  just  as  Sri  Sankara,  Sri  Ram  ami  ja  and  other 
universally-respected  personages  must  have  discovered 
lor  entering  the  order  of  Sanyasins  —  in  the  face  of  the  fact 
that  the  course  they  respectively  pursued  was  inhibited  in 
the  same  identical  list.  Is  there  then  any  analogous,  justify- 
ing course  available  to  the  reformer  of  the  present  day  ?  It 
has  long  struck  me  that  in  all  cases  in  which  there  is  a  wide- 
spread repugnance  for  anything  laid  down  in  the  Srnrithica 
there  is,  on  the  unequivocal  authority  of  an  eminent  Smrithi 
itself,  which  will  be  presently  cited,  a  perfect  right  or 
rather  a  manifest  duty  to  over-ride  it.  The  text  which 
allows  or  prescribes  this  course  might  well  be  re- 
lied on  as  our  sheet-anchor,  provided  we  feel  sure 


60  INDIA  N  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

that   th  o   condition   precedent,    viz.,   of     a   general    anti- 

pathy, l^F^farSS^)*  does  in  fact  cxiat  —  a  condition  prece- 
dent which  is  indispensable  to  safeguard  majorities  from 
being  bored  by  the  tyranny  of  minorities.  I  assume  that, 
in  respect  of  interdicting  our  women  from  re-marrying, 
tli  ere  is  such  a  general  antipathy  and  I  point  to  the  text 
whose  authenticity,  authority  mid  applicability  to  cases 
such  as  the  present  have  been  placed  beyond  doubt  by 
interpretation  and  illustration  by  many  recognised  writers, 
notably  by  the  widely-esteemed  author  of  the  Mitakshara.. 
The  text  runs  thus  :  — 

Yaguaualkya  :  — 


Atttraryyaui     loli 
thn. 

Mt'dniiKj  :  One  should  cease  to  do  that  act  which  is 
calculated  to  bar  entrance  into  heaven  or  is  generally  felt 
to  be  repugnant  notwithstanding  it  may  be  laid  down  as 
Dhiirma. 

fii  three  difl'crent  contexts  and  for  three  different  pur- 
poses, the  author  of  Mitacshara  has  cited  and  applied  this 
text  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  viz  :  — 

(1)  In  deciding  that  shares  of  sons  are    equal  at  par- 
tition contrary  to  Mann's    declaration    that  a    larger  share 
shall  go  to  the  eldest  son. 

(2)  In  setting  aside   a   certain    rule    as    to    pollution 
which  it  is  needless  to  enunciate  here, 

(3)  And  in  giving  his  approval  to  the  non-observance 
of  certain  prescribed  rites  of  ancient  dates. 

In  .bringing   the   rule  against   the   remarriage  of  our 

widows  within  the   purview  of  the  text   in  question,  there 

ought  further  to  be  the  utmost  readiness,  as  already  a  good 

part  of  the  rule  has   been   an  actual    dead-letter   for  ages 

*  LokaviclviBhtum. 


i.  ]          ON  SOCIAL  REFORM  :  A  STATEMENT.         (>1 

past;  for,  though,  on  the  texts  of  Kasyapa  uiul  Kodha- 
yana,  which  I  subjoin,  ihcro  were  seven  classes  of  Punar- 
bhus,  nearly  half  the  number  have  been  clean  outside  thu 
ban  for  hundreds  of  years,  if  they  ever  Avere  under  it. 

Kasynpa  :  — 


k$'i]tlltci  jKiuiiOLrbharrih  kani/ah  rarjmtrt'i/uli  knlailli(iinalt, 

Vacltadattrt  manudnttn  kritlta 

Udakaspnrtdtha  yacha  yarha 

Aynlm  pariyatha  i/aclm  'piinctrUinnli  prattarachai/a. 

Meauiny  :  —  Punurbhava  girls  are  of  seven  classes,  and 
being  base  ought  to  be  shunned  (in  marriage),  vt'z.9  verbal- 
ly-given, iiientnlly-givcn/  one  who  linn  hud  the  matri- 
monial wrist-thread  put  on,  one  given  with  the  pouring  ol: 
water,  one  accepted  by  thu  hand  by  thu  bridegroom,  one 
who  has  gone  round  llu;  bridal  fire  Tone  who  has  passed 
the  Saptapadi)  and  one  who  is  born  of  a  puuarbhu. 

Bodhai/anoJi.  Sntra  :  — 


Pri?ar 

jw  a  5^rrr  i  iwf 

Vugdattah     manodattayniin     par'ujathci 

dam 
Niliita     lluiktali      r/riliMtltagarbalt,    jirasootha     chctlii 

jtapthavidhah 
Punarbhooh  thatu  griliectlwa  na  projam   na  dhannatu 

vindeth. 

Meaning  :  —  Verbally-given,    mentally-given^  one  who 
has    gone  round  the    bridal  fire,  olic  who   has  completed 


02  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [!JAKT 

the  iSaptapadi  ceremony,  one  \vlio  has  sexully  known  man, 
one  'ivJio  has  conceived,  one  \vlio  lias  borne  children.  These 
arc  the  seven  classes  of  Punarbhu.  Hy  marrying  them, 
neither  lawful  progeny  nor  Dharma  would  result. 

There  are  indeed  some,  who — deeply  impressed  with  the 
fad  that  many  a  widow  actually  fulfills,  in  Hindu  families, 
the  benevolent  mid  mblc  function  of  the  "  Maiden-aunt"  and 
of  a  guardian  angel  of  young  couples  who  set  up  separate 
homes  ol!  their  own — might  entertain  the  selfish  fear  that 
those  humane  classes  might  dwindle  in  numbers  if  not  into 
nothing,  in  case  widows  wen1  given  the  chance  to  marry 
again.  To  take  awiiy  motives  or  facilities  for  the  develop- 
ment and  nmltiplicily  of  such  angelic  characters  might  in- 
deed be  a  general  misfortune,  though  to  be  governed  by 
such  a  consideration,  would  be  to  put  the  happiness  of 
others  before  the  happiness  of  the  widows  themselves  ;  no 
body — either  of  legislators  or  of  ordinary  men— has  the 
shadow  of  a  right  to  insist  on  such  a  slavery  or  to  stem  the 
tide,  if  it  should  swell,  surge  and  advance.  Hut,  in  my 
humble  judgment,  no  such  tremendous  result  would  follow. 
I'jxuept  where  tenderness  of  age  supplies  the  motive  power, 
and  except  when  the  sweets  of  married  life  were  utterly 
untastrd,  the  gloomy  vaticinations  in  question  are  unlikely  to 
be  verified  in  results,  Our  national  temperament  is  against  it. 
Throw  open  the  portal^  and  you  will  nevertheless  find  that 
few  and  far  between — except  in  respect  of  the  above  excep- 
ted  exceptions — will  be  the  instances  of  advantage  being 
taken  of  the  new  liberty.  Do  we  not  know  that  a  great 
many  of  the  men  among  us,  who  are  entitled  to  take 
fresh  wives  in  supersession  of  or  in  succession  to  prior 
wives,  are  averse  to  do  it  ?  Do  we  not  know  also  that,  even 
among  the  nations,  amongst  whom  widowhood  is  no  badge 
of  nnfitness  for  matrimony,  there  are  heaps  of  women  who 
do  not  care  to  enter  upon  a  conjugal  life,  after  losing  the 
objects  of  their  first  choice  ?  The  passions  of  the  flesh  do 


ON  SOCIAL  REFORM  •  A  8TA  TEMENT.         63 


not  always  overmaster  the  pleasures  of  an  intellectual 
where  the  resources  for  the  latter  have  been  fairly  develop- 
ed, while  the  joy  of  playing  the  angel  of  unselfish  goodness 
is  keener  than  the  relish  for  carnal  gratification-  If,  there- 
fore, there  are  among  us  any  number  of  male  persuasion,  who 
are  oppressed  by  the  fear  in  question,  they  may  rest  assur- 
ed that  their  interests  would  remain  best-  protected,  notwith- 
standing all  that  men  and  women,  legislators  and  refor- 
mers, might  do  tending  to  tho  contrary. 

Thus  then  there  is  an  honest  mode  of  reviving  a  prac- 
tice once  prevalent,  and  no  one  need  be  under  any  appre- 
hension of  incurring  sin  ;  for,  whatever  net  was  onco 
consonant  with  loyalty  to  Hindu  faith,  must  —  other  things 
being  equal  —  be  no  less  consonant  with  it  in  tho  present  day. 
Hero  again,  the  amelioration  will  bo  an  accomplished  fact, 
if  a  convention  or  compact  among  intrrdiimig  classes,  such 
as  I  havo  alluded  to  as  regards  early  marriages,  takes 
place  and  is  given  practical  effect  to.  KYon  iF  such  men 
are  not  prepared  to  (Miter  into  such  ;i  convention  or  com- 
pact, there  is  the  other  solution,  in  respect  of  cnmnicnsn- 
Jity,  which  I  have  formulated  and  enlarged  upon  and  on 
which  they  might  well  fall  back,  if  there  is  any  earnest- 
ness about  the  matter. 

As  to  travel  or  sojourn  in  foreign  binds,  the  Smrithis 
themselves  show  how  tho  horizon  of  liberty  has  been 
gradually  widening  from  timo  to  time.  Not  to  tire;  by 
quotations,  I  may  succinctly  stato  that,  from  having  been 
confined  to  limits  which  were  pretty-well  defined,  we  wcro 
allowed,  as  time  went  on,  to  wander  into  Anga,  Vanga, 
Kalinga  and  other  then  forbidden  regions,  cm  condition  of 
re-performance  of  Dwija-making-rites  and  finally  no  ono 
at  the  present  day  dreams  of  any  taint  or  penances  in 
residing  in  those  countries.  It  looks  as  though  the 
rule  was  originally  conceived  by  tho  Aryan  settlers  in  this 
country  in  order  to  maintain  their  distinctiveness  and, 


64  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

perjiaps,  their    superiority    when    they    were  a  small  band, 
and  as  though  it  was  made   slacker   and   slacker   as    they 
multiplied  and  as  the  exigencies  for   extended  elbow-room 
became   more  and  more  pressing.     The  gradual  relaxation 
of  the  original   rigid   precept,    eventuating  in  a   final  carte- 
blanrhu  to  roam  over  the  length  and  breadth  of  this  country, 
is  perhaps  duo  to  thu  welcome  experience  that  their  views  and 
methods  of  life  insinuated  themselves  into  the  affections  of 
those  they  came  into  contact    with  and    found  favour  with 
thorn  and  because  they  feared  no  contami nation  or  reaction 
from  those  others.  It  is  intelligible  and  explicable  that  this 
liberating  process    should    make    a    dead    stop    where    the 
limits  of  their  influence  mot  with  a  definite    check    by   the 
intervention  of  the  sea-board.     At  this    stage,    they    would 
naturally  he  filled,  with  vague  alarms  of  conditions  unknown 
to  them  and  therefore-    uncontrollable    by    them    and    they 
therefore  planted  their    foot  at    that   point  and    decisively 
declared  the  imitility    of  even  penance    to   wash   the    sea- 
guno  man    clean-      If  J  am   right    in    these    ideas   which  I 
admit  to  be  no  belter  than    speculations    on  my   part,    one 
thing  is  quite  clear  that  ignorance  of  the  countries  beyond 
the  seas  must  have  played  an  important    part  and  formless 
risks  of  possible,  inexpiable  pollution  in  going  or  residing 
there  must    hnvo  flitted    against    their   timorous    fancy.    I 
am  not  sure  that,  even  in    the  present    day  "when    a  great 
deal  is  known  about  those    countries,    thero    is   not,  for  all 
that,   quite    an    ama/iug   hick    of  correct   and     reassuring 
knowledge    among    the    generality    of   onr    countrymen, 
to  block  the  way   of  further  liberation.     In   these  circum- 
stances   f     for    one    am    at   a   loss   to    see    how,    on   this 
question,   which,    of  all    the    questions  now  agitating    the 
country,  has  secured  the   smallest;  strength   numerically, — 
though  the  largest  in  intensity — a  narrowing  of  the  sphere 
of  contention  is  quite  as  feasible  as  in  other  cases  ;  for  I  am 
not  satisfied  that,  in  discussing   the  strictly  Shastraic  issue 


i,]        ON  SOCIAL  REFORM:  A  STATEMENT.        65 

arising  on  this  topic,  the  wish  of  the  heart  has  not,  too  often, 
been  the  parent  of  thought  of  the  head  or  that  reasons 
have  not  been,  equally  often,  found  or  conjured  up  to  uphold 
a  foregone  conclusion,  on  both  sides.  This  is  but,  natural. 
On  one  side,  intuitive  notions  of  fitness  of  things  claim  to 
determine  the  standard  of  right  and  wrong,  while  on  the 
other  side  comes  into  play  the  still-lingering  veneration  for 
sentiment  and  for  hoary  and  seemingly  approved  ideas  of 
admittedly  sagacious  men — sagacious  in  and  for  their  timo 
from  the  modern  point  of  view  but  sagacious  beyond 
comparison  in  tho  eye  of  tho  orthodox  crudites.  In 
the  midst  of  this  exhibition  of  overflowing  pugnacity 
all  round,  what  has  appeared  to  me,  by  the  light — such  as  it 
is — of  my  own  humble  researches,  as  the  best  and  soundest 
opinions  are  the  opinions  embodied  in  tho  well-reasoned 
and  calmly-expressed  exposition  by  the  hite  Srco  Krishna 
Thatha  Chariar,  one  of  our  earliest  Mahamahopaclhyayas 
and  perhaps  tho  greatest  of  them  by  reason  of  his  versa- 
tile powers  and  his  varied  and  many-sided  Sanskrit  learn- 
ing. Leaving  it  to  my  readers  to  read  his  neat  little 
brochure,  which,  owing  to  its  not  being  printed  in  Devana- 
gari,  lias  lacked  tho  wide  publicity  and  tho  respectful 
attention  it  deserves,  I  shall  just  state  his  findings  and  his 
verdict,  Combatting  the  intolerant  view  that  there  is  no 
ponpjioG  to  wash  a  sea-gono  man  pure,  he  has  affirmatively 
established,  with  chapter  and  verso  and  with  his  power  of 
logic,  that,  as  a  fact,  there  is  such  a  penance  and  what  form 
that  penance  should  take.  By  way  of  disillusionising 
persona  who,  in  an  excess  of  unconscious  bias,  jump  to  the 
conclusion  that,  where  there  is  penance,  there  is  tho  disap- 
pearance of  all  taint,  he  admits  the  view  as  generally 
correct  but  as  only  correct,  in  this  respect,  to  a  qualified 
extent,  i.e.,  only  to  the  extent  of  re-instating  the  penitent 
in  his  lost  chances  to  work  for  his  salvation  by  the  means  and 
in  accordance  with  the  scheme,  formulated  by  the  Aryan 
9 


66  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAw 

faitli  in  that  behalf.  Lastly,  lie  examines,  with  quite  a 
judicial  precision,  the  genuineness  and  the  true  signifi- 
cance of  a  text  which  in  terms  vetoes  association  even  with 
the  expiated  sea-gone  man  in  Kali  age  and  records  his 
frank  conclusion  that  the  text  alone  blocks  the  way  and 
could  not  be  fairly  explained  away.  As  I  have  said  already, 
I  for  ono  accept  these  utterances ;  but  nevertheless  I  main- 
tain that  there  is  a  hopeful  way  out  of  it  by  agitating  to 
create  a  general  repugnance  against  it,  such  as  would  render 
it  a  dead  letter  on  that  score,  on  the  strength  of  the  text 
already  once  dwelt  upon — unless  indeed  the  Gordian  knot  is 
cut  by  a  consensus  ot  opinion,  brought  about  to  abandon  the 
restrictions  on  commensality  on  the  grounds  T  liavo  hereto- 
fore indicated. 

Whether  the  requisite  degree  of  repugnance  cxiscs,  is 
the  question  to  which  we  may  narrow  the  issue  on  this  topic, 
if  my  view  on  the  Shastraic  provisions  is  accurate.  If  it  did, 
then  it  would  be  a  more  matter  of  convention  or  compact,  on 
this  point  nlso,  on  the  part  of  interdhiing  sets,  similar  to 
what  I  have  suggested  more  than  once  in  the  earlier  cases. 
If  however  they  do  not  exist,  then  agitation  for  immediate 
action  in  a  social  sense — is,  to  my  mind,  prumature  ;  but,  an 
agitation  is  necessary  all  the  snme  for  opening  the  eyes  of 
those  who  do  not  realise  the  precise  situation  and  for  get- 
ting them  to  develop  repugnance  un  what  at  present 
virtually  checkmates  a  decidedly  serviceable  move.  This 
may  perhaps  be  the  fittest  place  to  notice  the  cry  of  im- 
patience with  which  an  advico  to  conciliate  the  general 
public  is  often  received.  The  occasion  is  at  least  as  good  as 

any    other.     To  the  touching — may  1    not    say,  touchy 

exclamation,  "  are  we  to  wait  till  the  '  multitudinous  donkey ' 
is  taught  up  to  the  mark/'  my  answer  is  that  we  need  not 
imagine  any  such  animal  as  requiring  to  be  reckoned  with. 
If  I  may  speak  in  like  metaphor,  what  we  do  meet  with  is 
a  few  flocks  of  multitudinous  sheep,  each  with  its 


i]        ON  SOCIAL  REFORM:  A  STATEMENT.        07 

bell-wethers.  To  >vin  over  these  bell-wethers  is  the  most 
that  is  needed  in  each  fold.  Do  this  and  the  pens  \viJl 
empty  and  their  sequacious  inmates  will  follow  as  meekly 
and  submissively  as  the  body  does  the  will  or  as  the  tail 
does  the  trunk.  To  expect  triumph  in  bringing  foreign 
travel  into  vogue  even  without  this  measure  of  successful 
effort  is,  as  I  venture  to  think,  a  fcrilio  too  unreasonable — 
notwithstanding  that  every  one  who  makes  bold  or  finds  it 
possible  to  pioneer  the  way  is  entitled  to  unambiguous  and 
unstinted  praise. 

J  shall  next  briefly  dwell  upon  the  paramount  question 
oi'  rights  of  property  which  should  belong  to  our  women 
— rights  which,  as  1  have  said,  constitute  one  of  the  two 
Herculean  pillars  on  which  1  build  great  hopes  of  advanc- 
ing the  aspirations  under  the  several  heads  in  the  reform 
programme.  It  is  impossible  for  a  lawyer  to  avoid  talking 
shop  to  a  certain  extent  on  this  point.  Hut  I  shall  endea- 
vour to  be  untechnical  and  unweari^ome  and  I  shall  try  to 
bring  myself  down  to  the  level  nf  the  lay  mind.  1  may 
well  start  with  asking  thn  general  reader  to  taku 
the  following  for  granted,  i £.-..,  (J)  that  Mann  and 
Yagnyavalkya  are  admittedly  the  Foremost  Smrithi-writcr.s, 
('2)  that  the  latter  of  thorn  is  fuller  and  more  systematic 
of  the  two  in  laying  down  the  principles  of  inherit- 
ance and  succession,  governing  the  bulk  of  us,  (3) 
that  as  Ywgnyavalkya  is  virtually  the  prince  of  Hmrithi- 
writers,  so  is  the  author  of  the  Mitakshara,  Lis  most  ac- 
cepted commentary,  the  princo  of  Hmrithi-expouDderH,  (4) 
that,  while  professing  to  do  no  more  than  to  elucidate  the 
meaning  of  Yagnyavalkya\s  texts  wriatim,  the  author  of  the 
Mitakshara  has  brought  to  the  task  III'H  wide  and  varied 
range  of  learning  and  his  high  logical  powers  and  produced, 
in  the  result,  a  treatise  coming  up  to  a  comprehensive  code 
embracing  nearly  all  subjects  which  one  need  know, 
outside  sciences  and  the  tenets  of  religion,  ('))  that  thu 


68  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PABT 

authority  of  Mitakshara  is  accepted  all  over  the  country  ex- 
cept in  Bengal  and  except  in  a  small  area  in  the  Western 
Presidency  where  Nilakantha  generally  follows  in  his  foot- 
steps, differing  in  some  few  respects,  but  reverentially  bowing 
to  him  and  (6)  that  in  recognising  the  claims  of  women  to 
property,  the  .schools  of  Bengal  and  Nilakantha  have  gone 
further  than  even  the  author  of  the  Mitakshara  who,  as  I 
shall  presently  show,  has,  however,  laid  down  (as  one  may 
well  say)  quite  enough  to  give  them  a  fair  amount  of  prac- 
tical independence  on  that  score.  It  would  therefore  suffice 
to  notice  what  is  expounded  in  Yagnyavalkya  Smrithi  and 
in  its  great  commentary,  the  Mitakshara,  on  tho  subject  in 
question.  The  following  texts  of  Yagnyavalkya  are  in 
point  :  — 

Yagnyavalkya  :  — 


II 

Yadi  knrydth  samanamsan  patnych  karyah  sfimattisi- 
kali  Na  dattam  streedhanam  yattam  lharthrava  swa- 
surenava 

Meaning  :  If  he  make  the  allotments  equal,  his  wives 
to  whom  no  Stridhanam  has  been  given  by  the  husband  or 
the  father-in-law,  must  bo  made  partakers  of  equal  por- 
tions. 

«««3IW<=r«!fqf: 


Asamskmthasthu  samskaryah  brathribhih  pooriasam- 

skriihyh 
Bhaginyascha  Nijadatnsath  dathwamsamthii,  thurwya- 

kam. 

Meaning  :  Uninitiated  sisters  should  have  their  cere- 
monies performed  by  those  brothers  who  have  already 
been  initiated,  giving  them  a  quarter  of  one's  own  share. 


i.]        02V  SOCIAL  REFORM :  A  STATEMENT.        <>9 

1  may  say  at  once  that  [,  for  one,  would  be  quite  con-, 
tent  with  a  practical  acceptance  of  the  law  as  is  nere 
enunciated  in  lucid  language,  as  it  would  not  in  the  least 
dislocate  the  existing1  rules  of  inheritance  but  merely  re- 
duce, by  but  a  comparative  trifle,  the  shares  that  sons 
would,  otherwise,  take.  Hub  the  earliest  expounder  of  the 
principle  of  law  contained  in  these  text?,  Bharuchi,  attempt- 
ed to  pervert  it  by  whistling  away  the  distinct  and  fixed 
fraction  therein  given  to  sisters  and  fathers'  wives  at  parti- 
tion among  brothers  or  their  representatives  and  by  substi- 
tuting for  the  fourth  share  specified  therein,  merely  an  inde- 
finite and  variable  quantity,  limited  to  \vhat  might  suffice  for 
maintenance,  marriage  expenses  and  so  forth.  This  con- 
struction was  however  refuted  and  set  aside  by  Medhathithi, 
a  later  expounder  of  great  repute — one  who  earned  the 
honoured  title  of  Asahaya,  which  no  less  than  the  illustrious 
author  of  the  jYlitakshara  has  ungrudgingly  acknowledged. 
The  result  was  that  when  the  Mitakshara  came  to  be  compos- 
ed, the  narrower  or  rather  the  erroneous  interpretation  by 
Bharuchi  had  already  been  set  at  rest  and  our  women 
became,  once  again,  fully  entitled  to  their  absolute  rights 
to  the  definite  allotments  of  the  texts,  under  the  sanction  of 
Medhathithi.  On  this  latter  and  liberal  or  sound  exposi- 
tion, the  author  of  the  Mitakshara  placed  the  stamp  of  his 
high  approval,  pointing  out  the  fallacy  of  construing  a  self- 
contained  definite  dictum  into  a  vague  utterance  which  iy 
to  be  the  caper  ground  for  individual  caprice — be  it  the 
idiosyncrasy  of  the  partitioning  parties  or  the  eccentricity 
of  the  Judge  who  may  have  to  adjudicate  011  it.  One  would 
think  that,  in  common  fairness,  this  thrice-blessed  authorita- 
tive declaration  must  be  decisive — made  as  it  indeed  was, 
not  as  a  matter  of  first  impression,  but  by  the  plain  terms 
of  the  text,  made,  if  possible,  plainer  by  a  verdict  of 
preference  on  a  full  consideration  of  the  only  conflict  which 
had  been  raised  on  it,  But  this  was  not  to  be.  Up  rose, 


70  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [!JAI:T 

ut  i\  l;iU.T  date,  I  would  fiiin  say,  a,  pretender,  a  tliircl 
expounder,  the  nuthoL1  nf  Smrithi  Chandrika,  whose  illiberal 
views  are  only  ucjujilk'd  by  his  extravagant  pretensions 
which  reached  the  climax  when  he  hurled  at  such  u  univer- 
sally revered  personality  as  the  author  uf  thn  Mitakshara, 
epithets  like  "prattler,"  "  self-sufficient  man"  and  so 
Forth.  That  this  consequential  .scholiast  was  really  a.s  old  as 
he  wfis  taken  to  be,  at  the  time  he  was  .smuggled  into  a 
j)ositioii  of  authority,  is  not  established;  while  there  is 
good  room  Lo  suspect  whether  lie  docs  not  enjoy  a  false  and 
adventitious  importance  originating  in  his  Dattaka  L'liandri- 
ka  being  confouudcU  with  a  treatise  of  that  name  attri- 
buted to  the  great  Madhava  Chariar,  distinguished  by  the 
honoured  epithet  Vidyaranya.  Add  Lo  this  the  exposure,  of 
him  and  his  Dattaka  (Jhandrika,  by  that  ripe  scholar,  the 
learned  Ta^ore  lecturer  (iopal  Chander  Sarkai1,  and  we 
should  have  no  hu-itation  in  repudiating,  as  spurious  and 
unsound,  the  deliverances  of  that  Sir  Oracle.  To  see 
thai/  our  courts  nfo  back  and,  if  they  would  not,  that  we 
ourselves  disinterestedly  ti>'o  back,  to  the  logical,  sound  and 
clear  law  as  enuneinted  by  two  such  eminent  exponents  of 
Smrithi,  as  Medhalhithi  and  Yi^naneswara  is  a  duty  which 
lies  "heavily  on  every  apostle  of  reform  and  there  ought  to  be 
no  difficulty  on  the  score  of  the  length  of  time  for  which 
ihc  error  has  had  the  lease.  AVc  should  remind  our  judges 
and  we  should  remind  ourselves  that  .1  like  error  was  reeti- 
Jied  more  than  once  ;  for  instance,  in  ihecaseof  the  sister's 
and  the  sister's  sons1  claims  and  in  the  case  of  the  credi- 
tors' rights  to  enforce  a  soil's  pious  duty  to  pay  the  debts 
of  the  father,  where  they  were  neither  illegal  nor  immoral. 
Jn  the  ftice  of  these  precedents,  I  recognise  neither  justice 
nor  reason  in  any  plea,  based  on  the  longevity  of  the  mis- 
chief, worked  on  the  strength  of  a  pretender  ti  authorita- 
tive weight  and  antiquity.  Nothing  short  of  a  mistaken 
sense  of  sluiiDc  to  frankly  acknowledge  that  we  have  been 


T.]        OiV  SOCIAL  KEFORM:  A  STATEMENT.        71 

led  astray  under  false  pretences  ought*  to  bar  our  retu  11  to 
justice  and  fair  play  to  our  women  in  this  matter  of 
superlative  moment.  Let  feelings  of  chivalry,  if  we  really 
have  them,  stimulate  in  us  a  readiness  to  put  our  convic- 
tions into  practice  in  this  regard.  This  is  nil  that  is  need- 
ed. If  we  further  adequately  realise  how  this  property- 
independence — which,  I  maintain,  is  legitimately  theirs— 
will,  like  all  forms  and  measures  of  independence,  is  hound 
to  benefit  not  only  its  possessors  but  every  one  within  the 
reach  and  influence1  of  such  possessory  our  very  instinds 
of  selfishness  should  prompt  us  to  move  heaven  and  earth 
to  obtain  a  reversal  of  the  blunder,  I  lie  effects  of  which 
degrade  our  women  and  derogate  from  our  character  for 
straightforwardness  and  generosity.  Hefore  1  puss  away 
from  this  subject,  I  wish  to  emphasise  that  I  desiro  no 
legislation  under  this  or  any  other  head  of  our  internal 
economy,  lu  the  first  place,  it  is  next  to  impossible 
to  get  the  bulk  of  our  legislators,  who  cannot  have  our 
keenness  on  such  points,  to  realise  how  dreadfully  earnest 
we  are  on  them.  At  best,  they  will  give  us  the  half-heart- 
od  help  which  is  the  sine  qua  noil  of  good-natured  and  soft- 
hearted souls  who  cannot  bring  themselves  to  say  a  brutal 
nay.  In  the  next  place,  we  must  despair  of  achieving  any 
good  on  matters  in  which  the  (lovernmcnt  aru  not  interested, 
under  a  system  of  legislation  which  seeks  for  none  and 
swears  by  none  but  high-placed  official  and  officialised  voices 
and  ears  and  therefore  hears  not  murmurs  and  spies  nob 
muddles  on  lower,  plebean  planes — which  makes  no  provi- 
sion for  taking  evidence  to  guage  the  public  feeling  as  in 
the  case  of  the  recent  Malabar  Marriage*  Act — and  which  is 
resolved  to  get  through  the  largest  amount  of  cut  and  dry 
law-making,  within  the  shortest  space  of  time.  Let.  us 
further  note  and  take  warning  from  the  mode  the  work  was 
done  by  the  good  souls  who  passed  the  Widow  Marriage 
Act.  All  honour  to  them  and  may  God  and  man  bless  their 


72  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

memory  !  For  all  that,  who  can  fail  to  detect  that,  in  their 
overflowing  sympathy,  they  gave  us  a  law,  which,  in  their 
nervous  Fear  of  bringing  a  hornet's  nest  about  their  ears,  they 
managed,  as  it  were,  to  render  quite  abortive.  They  were 
between  the  devil  and  the  deep  sea  and  they  contrived  to 
scuttle  out  of  the  job,  offering  solatium  to  one  sido  or  ad- 
ministering solace  to  the  other  side;  to  the  question.  But  they 
either  forgot  or  conveniently  ignored  how  the  dullest  person 
believes  that  a  bird  in  hand  is  two  in  bnsh.  That  thev 
should  hiive  ever  seriously  persuaded  themselves  into 
hoping  that  matrimonially-disposed  widows  would  begin 
with  giving  up  the  certainty  of  present  possession,  for  a  pro- 
blematic prospect  of  being  no  Averse,  would  be  incredible 
without  a  pile  of  affidavits  in  support.  In  putting  our  houses 
in  order,  we  might  therefore  take  a  warning  not  only  from 
that  piece  of  legislation  but  also — if  T  may  say  so,  without 
the  risk  of  being  misunderstood  as  pleading  for  my  little 
bantling — from  the  manner  the  ill-conceived  and  ill-framed 
Pagoda  Act  came  into  being — an  Act  which  has  stood  un- 
touched, notwithstanding  that  it  has  been  an  unremedied 
scandal  for  nearly  two  score  years,  without  raising  a  single, 
solitary  beat  of  oth'cial  pulse  at  the/  frightful  spoliation  of 
property,  innocently  but  piously  endowed  for  charity  to 
man  and  service  to  (iod — though  to  a  "  heathen"  man  and 
to  a.  "  heathen  "  god, 

The  only  remaining  topic  on  which  I  have  promised 
observations  is  the  education  of  our  women.  There  are,  on 
the  topic  of  education  of  women,  certain  general  arguments 
which  apply  equally  to  all  latitudes  and  longitudes,  where 
germs,  aptitudes  and  plastic  energies  exist  for  a  progres- 
sive or  regenerative  change.  Those  are  put  in  a  delight- 
fully humourous,  yet  trenchant  and  popularly-convincing 
manner  in  a  paper,  contributed  to  the  then  youthful  and 
vigorous  Edinburgh  .Review,  nearly  .1  hundred  years  ago, 
by  Sidney  Smith,  one  of  the  most  robust-minded  and  plain- 


i.]         ON  SOCIAL  UEFOIiM:  A  STATEMENT.       73 

spoken  men  of  his  day.  If  it  were  in  my  power  to  dovetail 
in  this  connection  largo  extracts  from  that  storehouse  of 
masterly  exposition  and  felicitous  expression,  I  should 
indeed  he  glad — if  only  to  illumine  thereby  the  views  I 
hold  and  venture  to  express  here.  It  is  however  not  in  my 
power  to  do  more  than  cite  or  adapt  but  a  very  few,  pithy 
sentences  of  his,  as  conclusive  answers  to  certain  platitudes, 
forebodings  and  nervous  fears,  which  run  away  with  the 
judgments  of  not  a  small  percentage  of  men.  For  the  bene- 
fit of  the  affrighted  paterfamilias  who  dreads  decadence 
of  maternal  duties  in  the  disappearance  or  diminution  of 
female  ignorance1,  he  points  to  (ho  stern,  consolatory  truth 
that  nature  has  so  imperatively  and  rigidly  provided  for  the 
fulfilment  of  her  functions  that  no  mother  could  or  would 
forsake  her  children  for  a  quadratic  equation.  Upon  tho 
dictatorial  major  domo  of  the  household,  who  would  rele- 
gate and  restrict  womankind  to  ministrations  in  the  sick 
chamber  and  like  spheres  for  the  display  of  tender  and 
benevolent  emotions,  he  retorts  that — excellent,  noble  and 
heroic  us  it  is  to  compassionate,  —  one  cannot  be  compassion- 
ating from  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  till  twelve  at  night, 
M1-,  from  day-break  to  bed-time.  To  the  simple -minded  ami 
easily-gulled  domestic  autocrat  who  would  asseverate  that, 
seeing  how  all-engrossing  have  bueii  the  demands  of  kitchen 
duties  and  nursery  requirements  on  our  women's  time,  the 
claims  of  intellectual  or  literary  culture  could  secure  little 
or  no  appreciable  leisure  and  have  little  or  no  chance,  there 
is  the  apt  reply  that,  if  performed  with  an  eye  to  the  value 
of  time  and  with  the  perception  of  other  and  higher 
rwattcm*,  those  duties  and  requirements  would  actually 
take  a  tithe  of  the  time  which  is  now  seemingly  absorb- 
ed. To  the  complacent  soul  which  is  not  observant 
enough  to  be  struck  or  scandalised  by  prevalent  dis- 
parities between  men  and  women,  in  an  educational 
sense,  he  has  the  cruelly  uncompromising  frankness 
10 


74  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

to  ask  why  should  a  woman  of  forty  know  loss  than  a  boy 
of  eighteen  V 

To  those  dialectic  tit-bits,  cacli  and  every  of  which 
literally  applies  to  the  exigencies  in  onr  midst,  I  ven- 
ture to  add  a  few  remarks  of  my  own,  as  suggested 
by  the  special  conditions  under  which  and  the  special 
purposes  for  which  Female  education  has  to  be  pushed 
forward  among  us.  Kay  what  the  exceptionally  ardent 
of  the  English-educated  sections  may  to  the  contrary, 
it  is  no  use  mincing  matters  or  hiding  the  fact  that 
there  are  heaps  of  parents  and  guardians,  not  to  speak 
of  husbands  also,  who  discount — mentally  at  least — the 
education  of  our  women  on  the  ground  that  it  is  forced 
upon  us  by  the  itncongonial  example  of  our  present  rulers 
siml  on  the  ground  that  our  girls  are  placed  beyond  the 
needs  of  earning  a  livelihood  by  the  injunction  in  our 
Smrithis,  /.  e.,  the  repositories  of  the  wisdom  of  our  fore- 
fathers, that,  as  a  rule,  every  boy  shall  marry  and  beget 
children  as  a  matter  of  inviolable,  religious  duty  and  that 
every  girl  shall,  equally  as  a  matter  of  inviolable  religious 
duty,  be  ushered  into  an  curly  wedded  life  as  an  act  of  first 
indispensable  sacrament  for  her  and  as  the  indispensable 
help-mate  of  man  in  his  discharge  of  obligations  to  his 
god  and  his  forefathers. 

Being  thus,  as  a  matter  of  unfailing  course,  provided 
with  a  bread-winner,  the  girl  lucks  the  earnest  motive,  say 
they,  which,  despite  all  vehement  hortotory  homilies  in 
favour  of  seeking  knowledge  for  its  own  sake,  will  practi- 
cally govern  conduct.  In  plain  English,  education  to  our  fair 
sex  is  but  an  exotic  luxury  and  no  such  luxury  need  be 
enforced  in  right  earnest,  though  a  make-believe  of  it  must 
be  kept  up  to  save  appearances.  To  this  specious  plea 
there  are  two  answers- 

Taking  the  latter  argument  first,  a  little  reflection 
will  show  how  that  very  plea  supplies,  singularly  enough, 


i.]         ON  SOCIAL  REFORM :  A  STATEMENT.         75 

the  most  cogent  piece  of  reasoning  in  favour  of  educating1 
our  women  ;  because,  «,r  hyputhrfst\  there  must  be  on  their 
hands  a  number  of  hours  and  vast  stores  of  energy  over 
and  above  what  are  requisitioned  by  the  most  exacting 
domestic  and  household  duties — extra  hours  and  extra 
energies  Avhich,  with  the  faculties  and  aptitudes  with  which 
they  are  endowed  as  human  beings,  they  ought  to  usefully 
employ  but  which  they  could  not  al together  use  up  in 
talking  scandal,  in  sighing  for  rich  articles  of  jewellery  and 
clothing  not  possessed,  or  gloating  over  those  possessed,  in 
indulgence  in  forced,  half-wakeful  .slumbers  or  in  dawdling 
over  the  laborious  trifles  of  drcortiling  and  performing  the 
toilet  of  themselves,  their  daughters  and  the  daughters  of 
kinsmen  and  neighbours — the  bulk  of  the  occupations, 
now  open  to  a  good  proportion  of  our  women  to  fill  up  and 
kill  vacant  time.  Viewed  even  in  the  light  of  getting  rid 
of  ennui  and  even  in  the  light  of  turning  into  resources  of 
personal  happiness  the  talents  and  capabilities  with  which 
the  Maker  has  dowered  them,  education  seemsthe  best  means 
to  adopt  ;  for,  us  has  been  well  said,  no  entertainment  is 
better  and  chaster  than  the  recreation  of  reading.  As  to 
its  being  a  foreign  hobby  thrust  upon  us,  the  forefathers 
of  those  very  forefathers  who  are  relied  upon  and  rightly 
relied  upon,  as  absolving  our  women  from  toiling  in  search, 
of  an  unassured  means  of  keeping  themselves  in  decent 
comfort,  had,  I  think,  insisted,  with  equal  stress  and  as  a 
matter  of  necessary  implication,  on  education  of  our  girls 
(1)  by  conceiving  or  representing  the  deity,  presiding  over 
learning,  as  a  Goddevs  and  (2)  by  having  prescribed  Oopa- 
nayana  for  them  MS  well  as  for  boys  so  much  as  to  give  the 
former  the  option  of  living  out  their  lives  as  pious,  learning- 
devoted  celibates  under  the  designation  of  Jiru/hmavadiiiH, 
as  distinguished  from  Sadyoviidhus  whose  Oopaiuiyana  was 
to  be  on  the  eve  of  marriage  which  way  immediately  to 
follow.  I  find  the  texts  bearing  on  this  point,  cited  in  the 


76  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [ 

great  Madhavachariar's  Commentary  OIL  Parasani  Smritlii 
and  in  the  works  of  Vaidyanath  Oikshit,  it  learned  and 
highly  honoured  writer  of  over  throw  hundred  years  ago  and 
one  tofo,  'whom  the  High  Court,  of  Madras  lias  accepted  us 
an  authority.  As  ninny  persons  of  no  inconsiderable  erudition 
seem  not  to  be  a  wan;  of  them,  I  take  tin1  liberty  to  repro- 
duce them  here.  They  are  :  — 

llarwlha  Nittrn  :  — 


/'  'oli  nt'iradinyusMiuli/oraiUiwawha  ttta- 
thra  ItmhHHti'ndiiH'riiuHutiMnaiiauam  agwmdhu'uain 
vcdadhijctifauftni  bti'cti/rilie  lilnkshachari/uthi  sadi/o- 
radhoouaw  thitiinsthith?  rivahi*  kathanrlntlt 
hritlnravlvaliah  kan/ah. 


;  —  Females  are  of  two  classes,  viz.,  Urahma- 
vadins  and  Sadyovadhus.  Of  these,  to  Brahmavadins 
belong  rights  of  Oopamiyann-j  of  sacred  lire,  and  of  religions 
mendicancy  within  home  —  To  Sadynvadhus,  a  sort  of  brief 
Oopanayana  at  the  eve  of  their  approaching  marriage  must 
be  performed  and  then  the  rites  of  marriage. 

Yamah  :  — 


WRIT 


ON  SOCIAL  REFORM  :  A  STATEMENT.         77 


Pnrakalpe  tltu  narecuani 

Adhi/apanani  chn  redanaiu  sarltlirccrdfli'ntam  thatha 

Vitha  pithriryo  blirathava  tn/iHi'inutlhydfiai/i'tliparttli 

HH'agrilif't'haiva  kn)n/ni/ah  Mn/lfxlntchari/atn  vltlltt  si/at  IIP. 

Varjaijctlictjtnnw  clit'erttui,  jatathnraucinwuaclui. 

Meaning  :  —  Informer  kalpa,  girls  lisid  monnjee  \ni( 
upon  them  (had  Oopanayana  performed).  They  were  in- 
structed in  the  Vedns  and  were  tau^lifc  in  Savithivt1.  Tlioy 
were  taught  Vedus  either  l)y  their  latliers,  t)r  inu-les  or 
brothers  and  by  none  otliers.  They  carried  on  the  religions 
mendicancy  in  their  own  homes  and  I  hey  were  exempt 
from  using  deer-skin,  the  baclielor's  elotliing  and  matted 
hair. 

It  being  thus  clear  that  Female  education  is  neither  an 
alien  crotchet  nor  a  negligible  commodity  From  an  Aryan 
.stand  point  ,  the  next  question  is  what  form  il  should  take 
with  us. 

It  may  be  roughly  stilted  that  (here  arc  four 
theories  on  the  subject  of  education  of  women  :  r  /";:.,  (I)  that 
which  will  enablo  them  to  have  in  themselves  resources  for 
personal  happiness  and  to  command  respect  and  deferential 
esteem  or  <f  the  personal  happiness  theory  ;"  us  wi;  msiy 
briefly  call  it  :  (2)  that  which  will  make  them  a  bundle,  of  ac- 
complishments and  entertaining  companions  or  lf  the  per- 
sonal accomplishment  theory''  as  it  may  be  termed  :  (M)  that 
which  will  turn  them  into  rivals  of  the  sterner  BOX  and 
drive  them  into  battling  against,  (he  hitter  for  university 
honors,  for  civic-  and  other  public  functions,  and  for  distinc- 
tions and  preferments  in  the  many  exacting  walks  of  life, 
which  men  now  monopolise  or  predominate  in  ;  or  "the 
new  woman  theory  JJ  as  it  may  be  styled  by  way  of  utilising 
u  prevalent  expression  of  the  latest  date  :  and  (4)  that 
which  will  render  them  partners  in  life  of  thuir  husbands, 
in  the  sense  of  earnest  and  sympathetic  auxiliaries  of  tho 
latter  in  their  life's  altruistic  work  and  aspirations  or  lf  the 


78  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM,  [f  ABT 

levei  and  fulcrum  theory,"  as  I  should  designate  it  to 
convoy  my  meaning, 

1  have  little  to  say  on  the  first  two  of  these  theories, 
boyoiul  remarking  that,  so  far  as  they  go,  the  results  are 
unquestionably  good  but  that,  if  there  is  no  wider  ambition, 
there  is  but  an  intelligent  self-love  at  bottom  and  that  the 
women,  educated  up  to  those  standards,  are  therefore 
practically  no  proximate  helps  in  the  general  advance  of 
thru-  sex  or  the  community  to  which  they  belong,  though  as 
so  many  units  augmenting  the  numerical  strength  of  cultured 
intelligence  in  the  community,  they  are  inestimable  and  are 
worthy  of  honourable  mention  as  so  many  shining  lights  in  its 
midst.  Kvcn  if  education  should  make  no  greater  advance 
than  to  swell  the  numbers  falling  under  these  two  theories 
For  a  generation  to  come,  the  result  would  still  be  beneficial 
•in (I  cheering  enough,  having  regard  to  how  much  has  to  be 
confronted,  conciliated  and  subdued.  As  sure  as  the  day 
follows  the  twilight,  so  surely  are  altruistic  tendencies  and 
cravings  of  the  modern  kind  bound  to  develop  in  them,  when 
education  has  grown  more  common,  when  educated  women 
have  become  more  numerous  and  when  the  possession  of 
educated  intelligence  and  its  advantages  shall  cease  to  be 
distinctions  by  themselves  or  when  they  shall  not  suffice  as 
merely  minstrant  to  mutual  pleasure  for  cultured  couples, 
united  for  life  and  blest  with  abundant  energy, 

As  to  the  third  or  the  new  woman  theory,  it  need  not 
vex  our  souls  or  embarrass  us,  at  least  for  a  very,  very  long 
time  to  come.  It  is  however  worthy  of  note  that  to  us 
Hindus  the  conception  is  by  no  means  an  altogether  novel 
one  ;  for  unless  I  am  seriously  mistaken,  the  Brahmavadins 
to  whom  I  have  alluded  and  of  whom  I  have  given  some  idea 
already,  of  remote  ancestors,  were  but  concrete  instances 
of  the  theory  in  question-  What  is  of  far  greater  moment 
for  us  to  note  is  that  our  early  forefathers  not  only  antici- 
pated the  conception  of  the  new  woman  but  also  realised 


i,]         02V  SOCTAL  REFORM  :  A  STATEMENT.       70 

the  limitations,  to  which  it  was  necessarily  subject,  as  shown 
by  their  leaving  it  to  individual  cases  to  become  Brahimi- 
vadins  or  not.  That  so  few  had  taken  advantage  of  the 
option  is  perhaps  a  practical  adumbration  of  the  strong  ob- 
jection which  is  now  levelled  against  the  theory  and  its 
products.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  fact  is  indisputable  that 
there  is  a  dead  set  against  the  class  and  it  is  worthy  of 
note  that  it  is  not  the  outcome  of  any  such  idiosyncratic  in- 
tolerance as  invented  the  epithet,  the  blue-slocking.  So 
far  as  I  am  able  to  judge,  it  has  a  deeper  origin  and  a  far 
solidcr  basis  in  the  ultimate  physical  and  physiological 
data  and  it  is  well  to  take  note  of  the  weighty  anti-new 
woman  theory,  while  yet  we  are  on  the  tlircshhold  of  it  as  a 
people.  In  this  view  and  as  a  timely  warning,  I  subjoin 
for  the  benefit  of  the  general  reader,  a  few  extracts  For 
which  I  am  indebted  to  my  scholarly  and  brilliant  friend 
T3r,  T.  Madhavan  Nair. 

(a)  "  There  is    si    growing  tendency   si  round  us,"  says 
Sir  James  Crighton  Urowne,  "to  ignore  intellectual  distinc- 
tions between  the  sexes,  in  assimilate  the  education  of  girls 
to  that  of  boys,  to  throw  men   and   women    into    industrial 
competition  in  every  walk  of  life   and   to  make  them  com- 
peers in  social  intercourse  and  political    privileges." 

(b)  lf  The  anatomical    distinction    between    men  and 
women,"  says  l)r.  T.  M.  Nair  in    a  paper  ho    road  before  a 
select  yet  highly-appreciative    audience,   "   involves    dvcry 
organ  and  tissue  in  the  body.     They  extend  from  the  crown 
of  the  head  to  the  sole  of  the  foot,    for,  according  to  Broca, 
the  female  cranium  is  less  elevated  than  t^hat  of   the  male." 

(c)  t(  It  is  a  matter  of  scientific  observation,"  says  Dr. 
T.  M.  Nair  in  the  same  paper,  "  that  in  all  peoples  and  races 
without  exception,  the  absolute  weight    of  the  entire   brain 
is  on  an  average  greater  in  man  than  in  woman,  though  of 
course  individual  women   do  sometimes  possess  larger  and 
heavier  brains  than  individual  men,"     In  explanation  of  the 


ftO  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

face  insisted  on  in  thin  passage,  Dr.  Nair  gives  certain 
figure  which  \  omit  here,  to  economise  space,  more  espe- 
cially as  they  may  be  dry  and  uninteresting  to  the  general 
reader. 

(fl)  "That  tliis  rliffcrcncoin  the  weight  of  male  and  female 
brsiiriK/1  1  still  cjuot^  from  Dr.  Nair/'  is  a  fundamental  sex- 
ual distinction  and  is  not  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  hypo- 
thesis that  environment,  educational  advantages  and  habits 
of  life,  acting  through  a  long  series  of  generations,  have 
stimulated  tlio  growth  of  the  cerebrum  in  one  sex  more  than 
in  the  other,  is  maita  clear  by  the  fact  that  the  same  differ- 
ences in  weight  have  been  Found  in  savage,  races.  Tt  is  an 
established  fact  that  even  nn  extra  ounce  of  brain  matter 
might  involve  an  eiiormuus  mental  difference...  As  to  the 
quality  of  the  grey  matter  in  the  brain,  it  hfisboen  found  by 
Sir  James  Crighton  Hrowne  thtit  the  specific  gravity  of  the 
grey-matter  in  frontal  lobest(the  seat  of  intellect)  in  thomale 
is  1U3G  or  l(Y,\7  whereas  in  the  female  it  is  only  1034.  ...  It 
is  ascertained,,  that  there  is  a  difference  in  the  blood  sup- 
ply of  the  two  brains  as  well.  And  we  know  that  blood 
supply  is  in  some  degree  a  measure  of  functional  activity." 

(c)  "  In  a.  high  school  for  girls/1  says  Sir  James 
( Brighton  .Browne,  which  he  once  examined  in  England,  "  out 
of  187  girls  belonging  to  the  upper  and  middle  classes,  well 
fed  and  clad  mid  cared  for,  ivud  ranging  from  10  to  17  years 
of  age,  us  many  as  Ml  complained  of  headaches,  which  in 
(>o  cases  occurred  occasionally,  in  48  cases  occurred  fre- 
quently and  in  24  cases  occurred  habitually." 

(/)  "This  return  (i.e.,  in  the  preceding  extract)  re- 
presents/' continues  Sir  James  Crighton  Browne,  "  no  excep- 
tional state  of  things.  A  very  largo  proportion  of  high 
school  girls  suffer  from  headache  ;  neuralgia  is  com- 
mon among  them  and  they  display  multifarious  indications 
of  nervous  exhaustion." 

I  wish  I  could,  but  I  daro  not,  give  more  extracts  from 


i.]        ON  SOCIAL  REFORM:  A  STATEMENT.        81 

the  excellent  and  thoughtful   paper,  tho  whole  of  which  is 
worth  reading  for  its  high  medical  value  and  its  sparkling 
literary  grace.    It  may  bo  that,  in  this  matter J  doctors  have 
taken  violent  views  to  spite  the  usually  egotistic  pedagogue 
and  tho   self -opinionated    college-professor.     But,    milking 
the  amplest  allowance  on  that  account,  it  is  expedient  for 
laymen  to    act  upon  thorn  rather  than  set  them  at  nought. 
It  is,  besides,  noteworthy   that,   on    tho   subject   of   iVuiiilo 
education,  there  havo  been  within  this  century  a  succession 
of  dogmatisms   which   one   may    aptly   call    tho    game    of 
battle  door  and    shuttlecock.     First,  tho   rago  was   all    for 
accomplishments.    Then  there  was  a  reaction  and  it  favoured 
the  propaganda  which  took  no  account   of   any  original 
differences  in  the  conformation  of  male    and  femalo   minds 
and  intellects — n  propaganda  to  which  even  so  level-headed 
a  man  as  Sidney  Smith  unconditionally   succumbed.     That 
has  gone  on,  gaining  strength    with  tho  lapse  of  years  ovor 
since  and  it  has    matured  into  :L    means    of   producing    the 
now  woman.    This  has   apparently   caused    a   widespread 
alarm  and  the  result  is — to  borrow  the  coinage    of  a   great 
writer — n  re-reaction,    converting  tho    female   educational 
triumph,  which  had  fascinated  while  yet  an  unaccomplished 
fact,  into  a  target  for  medical,    social  and    political    shafts 
envenomed    with    sarcasm    and    sharpened   by    masculine 
intolerance.     The  equilibrium  may  yet  bo  reached  before  wo 
shall  have  gone  too  far.  But,  for  all  that,  we  should  do  well 
to  do  nothing  which  might  force  the  theory  of  the  now  woman 
on  our  sisters  and  daughters  and  drive  them  into   multiply- 
ing as  the  modern  counter-parts  of    the  Brahmavadins  of 
old.  For  all   that  men  may  do,  tlucro  will  always  grow  up  a 
few  who,  like  the  wives  of  John  Stuart  Mill  and  Mr.  Fawcott 
of  recent  years  and  like  Mrs.Marcet,  Mrs.  Sumervillo   and 
Miss  Martineau   of  a   remoter  date,  may    rise   superior  to 
the  deliverances  and   vaticinations  of   doctors,    physicists 
and  political  seers  and  may  brave  the  strictures  of  social  and 
11 


82  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

satirical  censors.  When  they  burst  into  view,  without  head- 
acfies,  with  healthy  skins  and  with  plenty  of  blood-laden 
corpuscles,  let  us  honor  them  with  unfeigned  pleasure  and 
ungrudging  praise,  though  we  should,  at  the  same  time, 
shriiYk  from  marking  thorn  out  na  examplars  Tor  wide 

imitation. 

I  shall  next  ar.d  last  proceed  to  make  a  few  remarks 
on  what  I  have  called  "  the  lever  and  fulcrum  theorj" 
of  education  for  women.  In  doing  so,  1  have  first  to  poii:t 
out,  in  express  terms,  wluifc  the  reader  has  probably  already 
perceived,  that,  in  indicating  the  categories  fulling  under 
the  theories  which  I  have  ventured  severally  to  enunciate, 
it  has  been  no  purpose4  of  mine  to  define  mutually-exclusive 
classes,  My  object  was  simply  to  call  attention  to  pro- 
minent, differentiating  features.  rYeedom  and  upward 
progress  from  ignorance  constitute  ihe  thread  that  runs 
through  them  all  ;  and,  while  the  second  is  but  an  advance 
on  the  first  by  the  addition  of  a  further  distinguishing 
mark,  the  last  two  are  distinct  divergences  from  the 
vantage  ground,  attained  by  the  successful  application  of 
the  first  two  theories.  To  educate  with  a  view  to  develop 
powers  of  pleasing  husbands  and  pure-minded  friends  is,  as 
must  be  obvious,  only  a  forward  step  upon  the  system  of 
education  for  personal  happiness  of  its  recipients.  From 
being  self-centred  in  the  main,  a  move  is  thereby  made  to 
lake  into  the  reckoning  also  the  pleasure  of  others,  though 
of  a  comparatively  limited  number-  When  we  come  to 
the  third,  there- is  a  parting  of  ways,  if  I  may  say  so.  Thence 
there  is  a  deflection  in  two  different  linen.  The  aim  or 
rather  the  effect  of  the  former  of  the  last  two  theories 
would  be  to  further  accentuate  the  self-centered  resources, 
while  the  object  and  the  result  of  the  latter  of  them  would 
be  beneficially  to  enlarge  the  circumscribed  circle. 

The  glory  and  the  crown  of  heroic  absolute  self-sacrifice 
arc  indeed  too  sublime  to  descend  on  the  pate  and  cranium 


i  ]        ON  SOCIAL  REFORM :  A  STATEMENT.        83 

of  every  mortal  man  or  woman  ;  Tor  they  are  essentially 
divinely-bestowed  and  they  are  reserved  tor  men  who  count 
for  a  million  each  and  whose  number  is  extremely 
small  in  the  economy  of  nature.  Hut  it  is  given  to  most 
men  and  women,  if  they  are  so  minded,  to  live  not  a>  little 
for  others'  sake  as  they  do  for  their  own.  In  this  work  of 
moderate  philanthropy,  man's  strength  of  purpose  and  of 
aspirations,  where  they  exist,  will  redouble  itself,  in  case 
his  wedded  consort  is  also  fitted  by  suitable  education  to 
unite  her  sympathy  and  en-operation.  What  then  is  tho 
suitable  education,  which  is  needed  '' 

The  education  of  our  girls,  as  of  'Mir  boys,  is  a  good 
deal  in  the  hands  or  under  the  direction  of  men,  women 
and  bodies  hailing  from  far  off  lands  and  with  systems 
of  social  forces,  prepossessions  and  preconceptions  not 
altogether  in  unison  with  even  tin1  enlightened  opinion 
which  pervades  our  social  structure, 

Their  ideas  and  methods  are  indeed  as  unexceptionable- 
as  their  motives  from  their  point  of  view,  arising  as  they 
do  and  suggested  as  they  are  by  the  motives  that  operate 
and  tho  experiences  that  have  been  acquired  in  their 
respective  places  of  birth  and  growth  or  in  other  less 
ancient,  less  advanced  and — as  some  would  be  inclined  to 
say — less  penetrable  peoples  than  ours  liappun  to  be.  For 
this,  among  other  reasons,  their  efforts,  without  the  loast 
blame  attaching  to  them,  have;  been  and  (I  tear)  are 
destined  to  be,  far  from  efficacious,  for  all  their  /eal. 

They  have,  as  is  only  too  natural,  borrowed  from  the 
personal  accomplishment  scheme  which  still  holds 
ground  in  their  land  and,  as  the  result,  the  needle  and 
ykuins  of  thread  have  played  an.  important  part  in 
the  girls'  curriculum  of  studies,  irrespective  of  the  condi- 
tion of  the  family  to  which  she  belonged  or  into  which 
she  might  expect  to  be  grafted,  A  smattering  of  their 
rnother*tongue,  and  not  unoften  of  bJnglish  as  well,  finishes 


8't  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [ 

their  school  career  l)y  the  time  they  reach  the  borderland 
of  pubescence,  which,  so  far  as  the  caste-girls  are  con- 
cerned— and  they  make  up  the  bulk — is  the  ultima  tlmlc  for 
one  and.  all  of  them,  for  going  out  of  doors.  This  is  often 
referred  to,  with  regret,  by  school-managers  as  handicap- 
ping the  work  they  tako  up  but  cut  short  on  that  account. 
For  my  part,  I  do  not  think  that  it  should  actually  intei*- 
cept  the  course  of  education,  though  it  may  put  an  end  to 
continuance  in  school.  Between  the  period  when  this  in- 
terdiction takes  place  and  the  period  of  the  girls  joining 
their  husbands,  the  interval  is  far  too  short  to  sap  the 
foundations  that  liswu  been  laid  or  to  quench  tho  thirst 
that  has  boon  created.  In  the  years  which  ensue  till  they 
become  mothers  of  children,  at  least  a  few  half-hours  a 
day  may  be  made  easily  available,  if  only  each  husband 
will  realise  that,  in  accepting  tho  bride  as  a  gift,  he  has 
accepted  the  role  of  leading  her  in  the  path  of  uscfuliicsH 
and  rectitude.  For  wuch  u  work,  if  not  for  love's  dalliances, 
our  social  framework  may  be  made  to  afford  scope  without 
hitch  or  dislocation  or  disruption.  Time  and  reasonable 
facilities  being  thus  secured,  tho  kind  of  studies  that  should 
be  chosen  is  the  only  further  question.  'There  may  be  much 
difference  of  opinion  on  this  point  in  matters  of  detail.  But 
I  think  ;ill  will  agree  that,  so  far  as  "  tho  literature  of 
power"  is  concerned  we  have  enough  and  to  spare.  It  is 
"  the  literature  of  knowledge"  which  does  not  so  much  as 
exist  for  our  women  unless  indeed  English  is  made  the  vehi- 
cle of  learning. 

This  situation  presents,  as  regards  our  women  in 
general,  a  problem  which  needs  far  greater  practical  consi- 
deration than  1  venture  to  think  it  has  as  yet  received. 
Add  to  it  the  further  problem  of  no  less  importance  and 
urgency  raised  by  tho  fact  that  European  ladies  are  begin- 
ning— I  had  almost  said  have  already  begun  and  are 
regretting  the  paucity  of  their  chances — to  seek  intercourse 


i.]        ON  SOCIAL  REFORM .  A  STATEMENT.        85 

with  the  better  situated  of  their  Hindu  sisters,  in  a  spirit 
of  sympathetic  kindliness.  It  is  time  that  both  fciiosc 
problems  are  earnestly  grappled  with,  With  11  difference 
which  will  bo  presently  specified  as  regards  the  latter  pro- 
blem, it  may  be  stated,  in  short,  that  the  creation  of  a  good 
vernacular  literature  of  knowledge,  either  by  moans  of 
translations  or  of  original  composition,  is  a  necessary  condi- 
tion precedent  in  respect  of  both,  OnciJ  this  desideratum 
is  secured,  I  feel  quite  certain  that  its  mastery  by  our 
keenly  acquisitive  girls  is  as  good  as  accomplished.  Tho 
equipment  thus  secured  must  be  supplemented,  as  regards 
our  more  favoured  classes,  with  a  decent  colloquial  ac- 
quaintance with  English  to  make  them  fitted  to  reciprocate 
the  good  feeling  and  friendliness  of  their  Kuropeiin  sisters 
so  as  to  bo  productive  of  mutual  respect,  mutual  pleasure 
and  mutual  benefit,  none  of  which  can  bo  expected  From 
the  now-prevalent  practice  of  our  women  being  trot- 
ted out  before  their  European  hostesses  wibli  an  exchange 
of  bland  smiles  as  in  a  government  levee  or  being  detained 
— each  for  a  few  minutes — for  a  scrap  or  two  of  pantomi- 
mic or  interpreted  conversation  on  trivial  matters  as  in 
a  garden  party  which  would  admit  oC  nothing  more  and 
nothing  else.  Into  greater  detail  I  cannot  go  just  at 
present,  as  I  have  already  exceeded  unduly  tho  limits  of 
the  reader's  patience.  Kiumgh  to  emphasise  that  to  widen 
the  horizon  of  their  knowledge  and  make  them  rend  of 
other  people  must  prove  the  solvent  of  many  errors  which 
must  give  way.  Such  a  course  may  incidentally  lead  to  some 
changes  in  dress  and  domestic  furniture  anil  so  forth — 
changes  at  which  some  men  would  turn  up  their  cyc-ball.s 
and  cry  themselves  hoarse  that  a  deluge  of  denationalisa- 
tion was  coming,  as  if  the  tailor  and  the  cabinet-maker, 
the  shoemaker  and  the  weaver  conjointly  settle  tho  mo- 
mentous question  of  nationality.  Tho  outcry,  oftener 
than  not,  is  the  outcome  of  race-jealousy  which  is "fashed n 


8t5  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAiif 

by  the  disappearance  of  visiblr  marks  of  fancied  superiority  ; 
For  who  could  be  so  green  as  not  to  see,  in  ealinur  moments, 
that  the  imitation  they  condemn  is  dictated,  after  all,  by 
considerations  of  greater  convenience  and  decency  and  is, 
in  fact,  a  compliment,  paid  to  those  that  arc  imitated. 
Assuming  that  some  undesirable  changes  in  these  and  like 
respects  will  creep  in,  to  seb  the  face  against  education 
in  order  to  keop  out  these  eventualities  is  like  laming  one- 
self, lest  one  may  commit  trespasses. 

J  have  three  words  more  before  T  concludo.  The  first  is 
a  word  of  apology  for  the  length  o!'  this  paper  which,  to  use 
the  well-known  paradox,  is  long   because    1  have   had   no 
time  to  write  a  shorter  one.     The  second  is  a  word    of   ex- 
planation for   having  cited,    whenever    1  have   cited  texts, 
tho.sc  ready  to  hand,    irrespective:    of  ilie    fjucstion  if    they 
were  the  best  to  <|uolr.     The  third  is  u  word  of  hope    that 
I  may  be,  taken  to  have  done  my  utmost    to    avoid   giving 
pain  and  to  write   without   bias  and  with    the    purpose  of 
suggesting   to  the    average  Hindu    how  best  he  could  ad- 
vance, without  giving  up  or  being  set  down   as   giving  up 
his     orthodox  status    altogether,    and    without    violently 
breaking  away  from    the  fold  to  which  he    belongs,  if  he 
wished  to  be  an  intelligent  and  useful  member   admissibly 
within  it. 


T.]      THE  TEMPERANCE  PROBLEM  IN  INDIA.    87 

III.— The  Temperance  Problem  In  India. 

BY  W.  S.  CAINE,  ESQ.,  M.  p. 

The  Temperance  problem  in  India  is  almost  entirely  a 
product  of  British  rule.  The  nnoicnt  ilindu  no  doubt  had 
his  own  Temperance  problem  to  solve.  In  the  Vedas  we 
find  ample  evidence  of  the  drinking  habits  of  the  primitive 
Indo-Aryan  who  dnink  freely  of  the  intoxicating  juice  of 
the  sacred  Soma  or  moonplant,  with  which  lie  offered  liba- 
tions to  bis  gods.  But  the  Hindu  was  soon  roused  to  a 
sense  of  the  evil  which  he  most  manfully  put  down  directly 
ho  became  conscious  of  it.  In  the  post-Vedic  period  of 
ancient  Indian  history,  the  strongest  interdiction  was  put 
upon  the  use  of  all  intoxicating  liquors  ;  and  at  a  still  later 
period  when  the  great  law  books  WCTO  compiled,  the  drink- 
ing of  spirituous  liquors  was  named  as  one  of  the  five 
mortal  sins  which  a  Ilindu  could  commit.  The  practice 
thus  strongly  forbidden  came  henceforth  to  be  confined  to 
the  lowest  and  aboriginal  classes  of  the  Indian  populations 
who  were  then  practically  outside  the  palo  of  the  Hindu 
community.  Later  on,  however,  a  new  rjligious  cult  arose, 
called  the  Tantra,  under  which  drink  was  associated 
with  religious  exercises.  In  the  sixteenth  century  there 
arose  in  Bengal  a  great  Brahmin  prophet,  Chaifcanya,  who 
absolutely  prohibited  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  among 
his  followers,  giving  them  instead  whab  ho  called  "  the 
new  wine  of  Divine  love,  ''  with  which  (wo  are  told)  ha 
was  himself  constantly  drunk  and  in  which  "  he  finally 
drowned  himself."  Like  Buddha,  Chaitanya  raised  a 
vigorous  protest  against  caste  and  the  ceremonial  sacrifices 
which  involved  the  use  of  strong  liquors,  and  as  a  result  of 
his  preaching  the  Temperance  problem,  as  it  affected  the 
lower  classes  of  the  population  in  Bengal,  was  effectively 
solved.  This  movement  was  still  in  progress  when  the 


88  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAST 

British  went  to  India.  But  it  cannot  be  said  that  ib  was 
helped  by  tho  British  occupation,  It  is  true  that  for  the 
first  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  after  the  East  India  Com- 
pany \yas  invested  with  sovereign  power  no  excise 
regulations  were  set  up.  But  the  Government  soon  became 
aware  that  a  considerable  revenue  might  be  derived  from 
this  source  and  accordingly  in  1790-91  the  first  excise  re- 
gulations were  promulgated,  ostensibly  for  tho  purpose  of 
suppressing  the  evils  of  drunkenness  and  illicit  distillation. 
The  greater  evil  of  Government  sanction  and  control  soon 
became  ovidont. 

In  1799,  Mr.  Wordsworth,  tho  Magistrate  and  Collector 
of  Hungporc,  in  Bengal,  sent  a  representation  to  the 
Government  complaining  of  the  increase  in  drunkenness, 
and  the  numerous  vicious  practices  that  are  universjilly 
associated  with  it,  which  lie  most  distinctly  attributed  to 
the  new  Excise  Itegulations.  Opinions  of  other  magistrates 
were  called  for,  who  also,  to  a  large  extent,  supported  the 
views  expressed  by  Mr.  Wordsworth. 

Practically  nothing  was  done  to  change  the  policy  of 
the  Government,  and  the  Excise  system  was  gradually 
extended  in  one  form  and  another  until  it  covered  tho 
whole  of  tho  British  dominions  in  India.  The  results  were 
most  deplorable.  Liquor  shops  were  opened  all  over  the 
country.  Officials  of  the  Government  openly  encouraged 
tho  salo  of  drink,  and  the  supreme  authorities,  blinded  by 
considerations  of  revenue,  did  nothing  to  check  tho  evil. 
Many  Indian  social  reformers  became  alarmed  at  the 
prospect  and  urged  the  Goverumcnt  to  introduce  restric- 
tions. They  were  so  far  listened  to  that  a  commission  was 
appointed  in  1883-84  to  enquire  into  the  liquor  traffic  in 
Bengal.  Very  little  came  of  this  commission  although  it 
had  to  admit,  in  its  report,  that  nut  more  than  two-fifths  of 
the  growtli  of  the  revenues  could  be  attributed  to  such 
normal  causes  as  the  growth  of  population  and  the  increas- 


r,]     TEE  TEMPERANCE  PROBLEM  TN  1NDTA.     80 

ing  prosperity  of  tho  people.  This  report  made  it  very 
clear  that  at  least  50  per  cent,  of  tho  increase  in  the  Kxeisc 
revenue  was  duo  to  tho  action  of  the.  (lovernmcnt  and  its 
officials  in  forcing  np  revenues  ab  the  expense  nl1  tho  phy- 
sical, social  and  niornl  welfaro  of  the  people, 

T  think  I  may  claim  to  be  the  lirsb  Kno-lishman  who 
seriously  investigated  ihe  Mxcise  policy  of  thn  [ndiau 
(Jovornuaeut.  I  made  my  lirst  visit  to  India  in  Hit*  winter 
of  J 887-88.  My  attention  was  drawn  to  tho  subject  by  a, 
deputation  which  waited  upon  me  in  Hombav,  consisting  of 
some,  of  t  he  leading  gentlemen  of  thai  c.il ) .  They  expressed 
a,  strong  desire  that  some,  organization  should  he  1'nrmed  in 
England  Avith  a  view  to  Parlian.enhuy  ael/'on,  rind  also  for 
tho  purpose  of  promoting  and  guiding  an  agitation  throngh- 
ont  India  for  Temperance  reform.  I  madr  son.o  further 
enquiries  into  the  mailer,  and  convinced  myself  that  India 
was  threatened  with  all  the  evil  rftfitffx  of  the?  drink*  trallic 
with  which  we  in  this  country  are  so  Familiar.  On  my 
return  to  Kn gland  u  mooting  ol  members  <>[  Parliament  arid 
Temperance  reformers  was  convened  at  the  London 
residence  of  Mr.  Samuel  Smith,  ALP,,  at,  which  thn  Anglo- 
Indian  Temperance  Association  was  formed  with  the-  avowed 
object,  of  resisting  the  spread  of  drinking  facilities  in 
]ndia  and  of  promoting  total  abstinence  among  the  natives. 
Mr.  Smith  was  elected  President  and  I  undertook  tho  Secre- 
taryship. 

F  returned  to  India  in  tho  following  winter  and  made  a, 
prolonged  tour  with  tho  licv.  Thomas  Kvrms,  We;  formed 
Temperance  societies  in  nearly  every  place,  we  visited  and 
much  enthusiasm  was  aroused  in  favour  of  Tempera  wee 
reform.  During1  this  tour  1  made  a.  complete  study  of  the 
Excise  administration  of  the  country.  I  found  that  the 
methods  of  administration,  differed  considerably  in  the 
vnrioa&  provinces,  but  that  Jfc  was  everywhere  based  upon 


90  TNDIAN,80CTAL  REFORM.  [PART 

what  is  known  as  the  Cl,  farming  system.1'  This  system 
still  prevails  in  cor  tain  districts. 

Licences  for  working  distilleries  of  ardent  spirits  and 
opening  liquor  shops  for  their  stile  are  granted  for  certain 
defined  areas  to  the  highest  bidder.  In  some  provinces  the 
spirits  are  manufactured  by  Iho  Government,  and  the  right 
to  retail  only  is  let  to  farmers.  The  Government  of  India, 
contended  that  this  system  was  calculated  tr>  produce  the 
maximum  of  revenue  with  a  minimum  of  drunkenness;  that 
thn  principles  on  which  it  was  based  were  these* — rr;.  :  that 
liquor  should  be  taxed  and  consumption  restricted  as  far  as 
it  was  possible  to  dc  so  without  imposing  positive  hardships 
upon  the  people  and  driving  them  to  illicit  manufacture. 
They  contended  that  they  had  been  completely  successful  in 
carrying  out  this  policy,  and  that  the  great  increase  of  Ex- 
cise, revenue,  taken  as  evidence  of  drinking  habits  by  those 
who  only  looked  upon  the  surface,  really  represented  a  much 
smaller  consumption  of  liquor  and  an  infinitely  better  re- 
gulated consumption  than  prevailed  in  former  years.  I  found 
this  opinion  maintained,  with  few  exceptions,  by  the  English 
oflicial  class  in  India  ;  but  in  my  intercourse  with  educated 
natives  1  found  a  strongly  contrary  opinion  universal,  and 
this  was  also  held  by  every  missionary  with  whom  I  came 
in  contact.  Native  opinion  maintains  with  great  pertina- 
city that  the  increase  of  Excise  revenue— which  is  still  going 
on,  as  I  shall  presently  show — represents  a  proportionate 
increase  of  intemperance  throughout  India;  that  the  Gov- 
ernment, under  the  thin  pretence  of  suppressing  illicit 
manufacture,  are  stimulating  the  extension  of  spirit  licen- 
ses for  revenue  purposes  ;  and  that  they  have  established 
liquor  shops  in  a  large  number  of  places  where  formerly 
such  things  were  unknown,  in  defiance  of  native  opinion, 
to  the  misery  and  ruin  of  the  population. 

OQ  ivy  return  to  England  steps  were  immediately 
taken  to  bring  the  matter  under  the  notice  of  Parliament, 


i.]     THE  TEMPERANCK  VROLLEM  IN  INDIA.     9t 

and  OH  30th  April  189!^  Mr.  Samuel   Smith,  AI.  P.    moved 
I  ho  following  resolution  in  the  House  of  Commons  : — 

"Tliaf,  in  the  opinion  uf  this  House,  the  litscal  system  of  the 
Government  of  India  loads  to  Hie  establishment  ol  spirit-  il;stille- 
ricw,  liquor  and  opium  shops  in  hir^n  numbers  ol1  places,  where,  till 
recently,  they  never  existed,  in  doliaiu-c  of  iiiitivc  opinion  and  pro- 
tests  of  the  inhabitants,  and  that  such  im-reu^cd  1'acililirs  foi-  drink- 
ing pnidnccH  a  steadily  increasing  coiiMimpbion,  ruid  spread  misery 
an  (I  rnin  among  the  indnstriul  classes  of  India,  railing  I'or  immedi- 
ate action  on  the  part  of  the  (iuvmniiciili  of  India  with  a  view  ID 
their  abatement. " 

1  reuordt'd.  tl.o  motion  in  a  speech  bnsc^l  upon  !lu4  fact 
to  wliicli  F  havo  Jilrujuly  roTurrcd  Jind  ;i  long  sinil  intrrcst- 
iu^  debate  Followed.  Sir  John  (!orhl7  then  Undur-Su- 
urettuy  for  Indiii,  speuking1  on  Ix'lialf  of  the  (ioverninciilj 
met  the  resolution  by  Ji  direct  jiegiitivc1.  The  inolioii  W;IH 
alst)  opposed  by  Sir  Kiehjinl  Fremj)le,  nn  ex-( Jovcrnor  ol 
Uouibtiy^  :ind  Kir  James  Ker^usson,  Under-Seerehiry  fur 
Foreign  AITuirs,  \vlio  described  it  iis  u  ;i  very  severe  \ok) 
of  censure  on  the  (iovermnent  of  India."  lint  in  spite  of 
this  strong  official  opposition,  and  notwithstanding  the  fact 
I  hat  the  (iovernment  had  u  largo  majority  in  the  House, 
the  resolution  of  censure  was  carried  by  Hu  votes  against 
10U,  a  majority  of  13. 

This  was  a  great  triumph  for  tho  cause  of  Temperance 
reform.  Tho  Secretary  of  State,  Viscount  Cross,  sent  a, 
despatch  to  the  (Jovernment  of  India  embodying  the  re- 
solution of  the  House  of  Commons.  The  Government  of 
India  took  the  matter  up  seriously,  a  thorough  imjuiry  and 
investigation  into  the  administration  of  the  excise  depart- 
ments of  the  various  provinces  was  instituted,  mid  the 
defence  of  the  Government  of  India  was,  after  a  lapso  of 
eight  mouthy  published  in  a  ponderous  volume  of  4,00 
pages.  That  the  policy  of  the  Government  was  largely 
influenced  by  the  resolution  of  the  House  of  Commons  will 


U-2  fNDfA N  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [ 

hi?  seen  by  I  lie  following  extract  from  the  Ua::ettc  of  India, 
1st  March  I8DO: 

"  J'oi.tCV    01'    Till;    (ioVhUiVMKNT    OF     INDIA    JN 

^IATTKKS  OF   Kxnsi;. 

"  lull.  Looking  tij  ;il I  ilit;  conditions  ol'  the  vary  iliin'c'iilL  prohuMii 
with  Mhich  -UP  havn  to  dcsil,  we  have  after  carelul  consideration, 
arrivt'il  uL  I/ho  conckihiui  Iliad  the  only  general  principles  vvliich  it 
is  cxprclic'iiL  or  c\ou  safe  Lo  fidopd  arc  the;  I'ol lowing  : — 

11  (1)  That;  Lhc  la.\aLiuii  of  .spiriLnous  and  intoxicating  liquors  and 
drugs  shall  hr    liigli,    and   in    sonic    cases   as  Ingli   as   it  is 
possible-  to  I'lil'orco  . 
"  ('J)  TJiat  the  IriiMii'  in  li(|ii(jr  iind  drugs    sh(juld  lie1    t-onducLcd 

under  suiLnblft  regulations  lor  police  piirpo«L-.s  . 
11  (-'I)  ThaL  tliL1  nuniljcr  nl'  placo.s  at  Avhich    lujuor  or   drugs   can 
1)0  purchased  .should  be  sU'k'Lly  limited  with  regard  to    tho 
eiriMiiiLslancus  ol'  uarli  locality;  and 

''  ( l-J   rrhat  t'll'orts  should  bo  made  to  ascertain  Lhe   existence    ol' 

local  public    sontinifiiit,  unil    that  a    reasonable  amount,    ol' 

det'cronc-e  should  bo  paid  Lo  .such  opinion  wlinn  ascertained.'1 

Tints  tlie    (iuveriiinent  <-d'  Tmliii,  nlways    slow  to    move, 

at  Uisi  instil.iited  really    serious   reforms    in   many    districts 

of  the  .Indian     Umpire,    a.ml  the    alarming   inci'ease  in    the 

e \cisc,  revenue  v/as   cheeked.      I » nt  L  regret  to  say    that    in 

recent  years  the.  excise  revenue  hus  ayaiii  advanced.     The 

effect  of  Parliamentary  censure,  I  am  afraid,  has    worn   oil' 

and  it  is  lo  bo    feared    that    the    '-  n'oueval    principles0  set 

J'ovth  in  tht*  despatch  already  <|iiotcd;  l)y  which  the,    excise 

dcparimcnl.  is  professedly  governed,  are  more  often  ignored 

than  regarded.     A  comparison,  of  the    Jig-iir.es    during   the 

last  twenty-live  years  will    show    how    rapid    the    increase 

of  the  revenue  has  been  : — 

\cb  Excise  lie  venue  oi'  India 

Ib7-t— ^>  ISHo— 81  J894— or,  1898— \)\) 

.fl,  755,000.         fc-^S  10,000,          J::j,9G5,000,        £-1,127,000. 
These  tigures    reveal  the  startling   fact  that  tho    rov- 

uiuie  from   intoxicants   sold  by  a  Christian  Government  to 
people  whose   religious  and   social   habits  arc   opposed    tu 


i.J     'ME  TEMPER  ANCti  PROBLEM  IN  INDIA.      Oo 

tliu  yule  of  liquor  and  drugs  altogether  has  more  than 
doubled  itself  during1  tliu  hist  twenty-five  years,  The 
figures  themselves  may  seem  small  as  compared  with  the 
consumption  per  head  in  Britain  ;  but  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  the  average  income  per  head  of  Hie  .population 
in  India  is  only  one  thirtieth  that  of  the  United  Kingdom 
and  that  India  is  still  practically  a  nation  of  total  abstain- 
ers, the  consumption  being-  confined  (at  present,  at>  any 
rate)  to  about  fifty  millions  of  the  population. 

As  1  have  said,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  the  restrictive 
regulations  of  the  Government  of  India  have  been  consi- 
derably relaxed  of  late-  Many  instance';  of  this  have  been 
brought  to  the  notice  of  the  Committee  of  the  Anglo- 
Judia.ii  Temperance  Association.  Any  sign  of  a  dimin- 
ishing revenue  from  excise  appears  to  fill  the  officials  of 
the  department  with  grave  alarm,  One  example  of  this  is 
to  be  found  in  the  last  report  on  Kxci.se  in  the  Madras 
Presidency  where  it  is  stated  that  there  lias  been  a  de- 
crease in  the  consumption  of  liquor  during  the  year  1898- 
U9.  And  also  a  falling-oil  in  the  number  of  shops.  Any 
satisfaction  which  the  friends  of  Temperance  in  India 
might  feel  with  regard  to  thin  is,  however,  neutralized  by 
the  comments  which  the  Madras  Government  make  in 
their  review  of  this  particular  report,  for  we  are  told  that 
tf -iL 'its  to  he  doubted  trlmtlwr  the  reduction,  has  \\ol  in,  so'iiti1, 
fiweff  youe  too  far"  ;  and  further  that  "  the  Hoard  of  Itcv- 
enue  has  settled,  in  communication  with  collectors,  the 
maximum  and  the  minimum  number  of  shops  to  be  opened 
in  oftoh  district.  3J  As  this  indicates  a  change  of  policy  on 
the  part  of  the  Madras  Government,  arid  having  regard  to 
the  fact  that  similar  views  are  finding  favour  with  some  of 
the  other  provincial  Governments,  the  reader  will  agree 
with  me  that  the  time  has  come  when  the  attention  of 
Parliament  and  the  public  ought  once  more  to  bo  directed 
to  this  matter.  Mr,  (Samuel  Smith,  M.  P.,  hub  accordingly 


(J4  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [L'AUT 

placed  the  following  notice  oi'  motion  upon  tho  order  book 
of  the  House,  of  Commons  : — 

"  To  call  attention  to  the  Jidministnition  of  Excise  in  India, 
by  which  mauy  licjiior-shnps  sire  bein^  opened  in  various  parts  of 
India  in  direct  violation  of  the  expressed  protests  of  the  neighbour- 
hood and  in  contradiction  of  the  declared  policy  of  the  Ciovcrn- 
mcnt  of  India  ag  L'ormiihitcd  in  their  despatch  i.o  the  Secretary  oJ 
State,  No.  120,  .February  l-th,  1H!)0,  mid  to  move  a  resolution." 

In  the  meantime,  however,  the  To  I  til  Abstinence  work, 
carried  on  by  the  Anglo-Indian  Temperance  Association 
among  the  people  of  India,  has  made  splendid  progress.  1 
have  paid  two  more  visits  to  India  during  the  hist  ten  years 
and  more;  recently  the  (JcncralSccretary  of  the  Anglo-Indian 
Temperance  Association,  Mr.  F.  (Jrubh,  undertook  a  similar 
tour.  As  a  result  of  these  efforts  a  large  number  of  Tem- 
perance societoH  have  been  established  all  over  India.  In 
this  work  we  have  been  ably  supported  by  the  llev.  Thomas 
Evans,  and  by  several  influential  vernacular  lecturers, 
notably  the  Mahant  Kcsho  Kam  Hoy,  of  Benares.  TJiis 
devoted  Hindu  was  the  means  of  inducing  whole  com- 
munities to  prohibit  the  sale  and  consumption  of  strong 
drink  among  their  members  by  eastc  rules.  His  death, 
which  took  place  live  years  ago,  was  a  grcut  loss  to  the 
movement.  In  later  years  the  Temperance  cause  htis  been 
admirably  served  by  eloquent  Indian  lecturers,  chief  among 
whom  have  been  J\lr.  Biphi  Chandra  Pal  (Bengal)  who  was 
a  delegate  to  the  recent  World's  Temperance  Congress,  in 
London;  Mr.  Shyani  Kishore  Varma  (N.  W.  P.,  Oudh  and 
Uehar)  ;  and  Mr.  Y'ashwant  Javagi  IJabir  (Bombay).  As 
a  result  of  these  labours  there  are  now  in  India  283  societies 
affiliated  to  the  Association.  There  is  hardly  a  town  of 
any  importance  where  somn  organization  for  the  further- 
ance of  Temperance  principles  does  not  exist.  The  socie- 
ties are  encouraged  to  hold  regular  meetings,  to  translate 
suitable  Temperance  tracts  and  articles  from  our  quarterly 
journal  (f  Abkari"  into  tho  vernaculars,  to  visit  the  yur- 


T.]     THE  TEMPERANCE  PROBLEM  IN  INDIA.     05 

rounding  villages,  to  submit  memorinls  to  Government 
against  the  opening  of  liquor  shops,  and  generally  to  fos- 
ter the  growth  of  a  sound  Temperancn  sentiment  among 
the  people. 

The  progress  of  the  movement  would  undoubtedly 
have  been  much  more  marked  had  ifc  not  been  for  the  re- 
current famines  which  have  devastated  India.  These  dire 
calamities  have  naturally  diverted  thn  attention  of  those 
influential  workers  to  whom  wo  have  to  look  for  the  effec- 
tive prosecution  of  the  Temperance  cause  .;  for  ib  must  bo 
remembered  that  the  men  who  are  taking  tho  lead  in  this 
great  movement  are  iilso  in  the  forofro.it  of  every  effort 
that  is  being  made  for  tlio  social  and  moral  amelioration 
of  the  people  of  India.  But  although  the  struggle  against 
famine  and  plague  has  made  great  demands  upon  tlio  time 
and  labours  of  some  of  our  bust  helpers,  tho  more  perma- 
nent conflict  between  sobriety  and  intemperance  lias  not 
been  neglected  by  them,  On  tho  contrary,  they  realise 
that  it  is  from  the  impoverished  peasants  of  India  that  the 
greater  portion  of  the  Indian  Kxcise  Revenue  is  drawn, 
and  that  this  is  the  very  class  which  first  succumbs  to  the 
privations  imposed  upon  them  in  these  recurring  periods 
of  scarcity. 

Tho  Excise  reports  for  the  past  year  have  not  yet  been 
issued  and  it  is  therefore  not  possible  to  arrivo  at  any 
conclusion  as  to  the  effect  which  the  latest  famine  will 
have  upon  the  Excise  returns.  At  the  end  of  the  previous 
famine,  however,  I  made  a  careful  study  of  these  re- 
turns and  I  found  that  for  the  first  time  for  many  years 
there  was  a  marked  decline  in  the  next  Excise  receipts  for 
the  two  years  which  were  affected  by  the  famine.  Taking 
the  Central  Provinces  as  an  example,  in  1894-95  the  net 
receipts  from  Excise  were  Rg.  27,21,007  while  in  1896-97 
they  fell  to'Rs.  20,55,696,  a  drop  of  nearly  7  lakhs,  or 
about  25  per  cent.  The  Excise  Commissioner,  in  his  report, 


90  TNDTAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

fnuikly  attributed  this  falling  off  to  famine;  bo  wrote  : — 
"  In  11  famine  yoar  it  is  only  natural  that  there  should  be  a 
much  smaller  consumption  by  the  public  of  Excise  articles, 
and  ,so  Hi(!  Revenue  must  fall."  This  wns  amply  confirmed 
by  reports  from  the  districts.  The  Collector  reported  that 
the  continued  agricultural  distress  wbich  made  the  liquor 
an  unattainable  luxury  for  the  great  bulk  of  the  drinking 
class  was  the  cause  of  the  full  in  receipts. 

All  this  points  to  the  melancholy  conclusion  that  the 
customers  of  the  liquor  and  drug  shops  of  the  Indian 
(iovernmont  arc  mainly  drawn  from  Iho  very  poorest  strata 
of  Judian  society,  'thai  which  Tails  an  once  into  public  ro- 
lief  tit  the  lirst  touch  of  famine.  Then*  cun  bo  nr>  doubt 
that  when  tho  returns  for  the  current  year  ;ire  issued  this 
sad  fact  will  be  still  further  emphasised, 

I  invite  tho  earnest  attention  of  social  reformers  in 
India  to  tho  facts  set  forth  above,  and  1  appeal  in  them  to 
lend  their  valuable  aid  to  a  movement  which  seeks  to  pre- 
vent their  native  huul  from  falling  under  the  baneful  influ- 
ence of  a  tiaHic  which  has  wrought  untold  misery  simong 
tho  nations  of  the  West,  n-nd  which  will,  if  not  speedily 
chocked,  prove  a  no  less  potent  instrument  in  the  moral  and 
social  tletorior.ition  of  the  pooplo  of  India. 


i.]  THE  HINDU  WOMAN,  Etc.  97 

IV.— The  Hindu  Woman  :  Our  Sins  against  Her. 

Uv  DA  YAK  AM  fiinmr.vr,,  Es<j.,  R.A.,  i.r,  P.,  i.r.s, 
Judicial  C 


Our  society  is  uni'ortunntrly  honey-combed  with  evils. 
Our  moral  sense*  is  a^'smi  so  much  atrophied  that  we 
liardly  realize  the  sins  we  commit  against  those  dearest  nncl 
nearest  to  us.  Do  you  tliiuk,  my  dear  friends  and  brothren, 
I  tun  exaggerating  ?  Do  you  think  we  do  nob  sin  against 
woman  from  her  birth  nearly  to  her  death  ?  (Jan  you  deny 
that,  owing  to  that  .sinning,  women  among  us  are  ordinarily 
no  better  than 

Household  stnll1, 

Live  chattels,  mincers  of  each  other's  famo 
Full  of  veak  poison,  turnspits  for  the  clown, 
The  drunkard's  football,  laughing-stocks  of  Time, 
Whose  brains  uro  in  their  hands  and  in  their  heflx, 
Thit  fit  to  tlarn,  to  knit,  towusli,  to  cook, 
rl'o  tramp,  to  scream,  to  burnish  and  to  scour, 
For  ever  slaves  at  home  and  Tools  abroad. 
Yon  will  say  they  arc  not  slaves,  but  my  dear  friends, 
what  is  tho  moaning  of    the     Asnra    form  of  marriage  ?   Is 
it  not  a  fact  that    excepting  a   few  upper    classes,   the  rest 
treat  woman  as  a  chattel  ?   Is    her    birth    welcome  to  those 
who    do  not  put  a    price    upon    her    but  have   to  pay  large 
dowries  ?  Is  she  not  a  marketable  commodity    among  those 
to  whom  her  birth  is   welcome?     Look  at  the  matter  cither 
\vay,  and  then  say  if  you  are  just  to  your  womankind. 

Justice  indeed  !  Why  our  little  ones  sire  barely  a  few 
days,  or  a  few  months  old,  when  \VP  inflict  tortures — brutal 
tortures  on  them.  Have  you  not  seen  little  babies  writh- 
ing and  shrieking  under  the  apony  of  the  pins  "r  needles 
passed  through  their  tender  ears  and  nose  ?  From  16  to  18 
holes  arc  made,  and  I  should  like  one  of  you  to  undergo 
the  operation  in  order  to  realize  the  suffering  of  the  little 
13 


98  TNDTAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

ones — the  future  mothers  of  the  nation.  Have  you  not 
seen  tlicir  tiny  chests  heaving  and  panting,  their  little 
breath  coming  and  going — their  young  eyes — new  yet  to 
sky  and  earth — full  of  a  quickening  flood  of  tears  Avith 
every  prick  of  the  torturing  pin  in  the  delicate  lobes  and 
cartilages  ?  How  tender  women  can  stand  such  a  sight 
passes  one's  understanding.  We  have  Shakespeare's  word 
for  it  that,  even  a  philosopher  cannot  bear  the  tooth-ache 
patiently — and  yet  here  arc  little  mites  of  humanity 
subjected  to  the  boring  operation,  in  the  teeth  of  the 
Penal  Code,  in  the  face  of  their  very  guardians  and 
protectors,  and  no  one  heeds  their  cries,  la  this  humanity, 
my  brothers  ?  Is  this  civilization  ?  Is  this  our  manhood  ?  Is 
this  the  glory  of  our  education  ?  But  alas  !  those  grey- 
haired  sisters — I  should  say  witch-sisters — Use  and  Wont — 
with  the  glass  of  hoary  fashion  in  their  hands,  and  the 
mould  of  obsolete  form,  have  cast  their  spells  over 
poor  India  to  her  grievous  ruin.  Thoir  Medusa-eye 
has  transfixed  us  with  its  stony  stare,  and  petrified  us 
into  fossil s— curious  moral  fossils — with  a  wonderful  power 
of  sinning  against  our  own  children  ! 

This,  however,  is  but  the  first  Act  of  woman's  tragedy. 
Sinning  against  her  as  a  baby — do  wo  cease  to  sin 
against  her  when  she  is  no  longer  one  ?  Do  we  not 
sin  against  her  play-time  ?  Do  we  not  see  the  little  one 
amusing  herself  in  :i  way  which  is  most  pathetic  ?  Is  she 
taken  out  to  fields  carpeted  with  verdure  ?  Can  she  tell  the 
names  of  more  than  a  few  birds— of  more  than  a  few 
animals  ?  Is  she  ever  told  what  beauty  God  has  given  to 
the  stars  above  her — and  to  the  works  of  Nature  around 
her  ?  What  is  her  outlook  ?  What  is  the  horizon  of  her 
little  vision  ?  Is  she  not  "  cabin' d,  cribb'd,  confi  n'd,  bound 
in"  to  the  four  walls  of  her  little  house — often  with  no  play- 
mate at  all  — often  with  all  play  tabooed  ?  There  is  hardly 
any  play-time  indeed  for  most  of  our  girl?,  and  that  means 


i.]  THE  HINDU  WOMAN,  Etc.  9rJ 

loss  of  joyousness,  and  alas !  often  loss  of  health.  It  has 
been  said  that,  "  lovely  human  play  is  like  the  play  of  the 

Sun See,    how   he    plays   in   the   morning,  with  the 

mists  below,  and  the  clouds  above,  with  a  ray  here,  and  a 
Hash  there,  and  a  shower  of  jewels  everywhere ;  that  is  the 
Sun's  play  ;  and  great  human  play  is  like  his — all  various 
— all  full  of  light  and  life,  and  tender  as  the  dew  of  the 
morning."  Do  you  provide  such  play  for  your  girls  ?  Do 
you  even  provide  one-half  as  good — or  indeed  auy  play  at 
all? 

The  child  grows,  and  one  would  think  ifc  is  time  to  send 
her  to  school.  But  do  we  send  her  there  ?  What  is  the 
total  number  of  our  school-girls  '(  And  is  it  not  a  fact  that 
even  those  who  attend — attend,  because  their  schooling 
costs  nothing  ?  Let  a  fiat  go  forth  that  every  school  girl 
must  pay  a  poor  anna  as  a  fee  per  month,  and  the  schools 
will  be  empty  to-morrow.  But  let  a  fiat  go  forth  that  every 
boy  is  to  pay  double  the  fee  he  now  pays,  and  the  boysj 
schools  will  remain  on  the  whole  as  full  as  before.  Why  is 
this  ?  Why  is  it  that  a  girls'  school  must  not  only  give 
teaching  gratis— but  provide  even  books,  slates  and  pens 
for  the  little  scholars  ?  Why  is  it  that  you  do  not  spend  a 
pic  on  your  daughter's  education  ?  Have  our  girls  no  souls  ? 
Hay  a  girl  no  eyes  or  ears,  no  hands  or  feet — no  "  organs, 
dimensions,  senses,  affections,  passions"  ?  Can  she  not  be 
"  noble  in  reason,  infinite  in  faculty,  in  form  and  moving 
express  and  admirable — in  action  like  an  angel— in.  appre- 
hension like  a  god — the  beauty  of  the  world,  the  paragon 
of  animals  ?"  Have  we  had  no  Savitris  and  Sitas — no 
Dayamantis  and  Draupadis— no  (Jargis  and  Maitreyis  ? 
Can  we  rise  in  the  scale  of  nations,  if  our  women  do  not 
rise  ?  Do  you  not  know  that, 

11  The  woman's  cause  is  man's  :  they  rise  or  sink, 
Together,  dwarl'd  or  god-like,  bond  or  free." 
If  you  do — why  is  it  that  you  make  no  Mien  lice  for  her 


100  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

education  at  all  ?  Is  this  creditable  to  you  ?  Do  you  not 
know  that  this  whole  universe  would  have  lain  buried  in 
the  abysmal  profound  of  nonentity—  if  there  had  not  been 
a  primeval  sacrifice  ?  Tf  you  believe  in  the  Upanishads 
and  in  the  Gita,  you  ought  to  believe  in  sacrifice.  Tin1 
greatest  poet  of  this  century,  who  was  also  a  seer,  tells 
you  ; 

"  No  sacrifice  to  heaven — no  help  from  heaven. 
That  nm a  thro'  all  the  faiths  of  all  the  world." 

But,  alas  !  we  tho  descendants  of  those  who  believe  the 
whole  of  life  to  be  a  result  of  God's  own  sacrifice,  we  the 
descendants  of  thoso,  who  saw  God  in  everything — and 
whose  whole  span  of  years  in  this  world  was  a  Yagna — we 
know  so  little  of  sacrifice  that  we  cannot  even  spare  nu  anna 
a  month  for  our  girls'  tuition  ! 

Hut  is  this  all  ?  Do  our  sins  stop  here  ?  I  wish  they 
did.  But  one  of  the  blackest  of  our  sins  is  yoking  our  little 
child  to  a  husband  before  her  school-time  is  over — nay  some- 
times even  before  her  poor  playtime  is  over.  When  in 
Gujarat  I  was  told  by  a  Sub-Judge  of  a  widow,  and  what 
do  you  think  was  her  age  ?  Why — a  year  and  a  half  !  All 
our  people  have  not  yet  sunk  to  that  depth  of  demoralization. 
But  is  it  not  a  fact  that  we  marry  our  children  too  early, 
and  the  result  is  often  a  breakdown  of  the  constitution — 
followed  by  disease — by  domestic  fret  and  fever — division 
and  discord,  and  even  by  the  supersession  of  the  poor  wife  P 
Is  it  not  a  fact  that  the  very  women  we  would  save  have  so 
utterly  degenerated  that  they  press  for  the  continuance  of 
the  cause  of  their  degeneration  ?  Even  a  man  like  Telang 
could  not  resist  such  pressure,  and  I  am  afraid,  even 
Keahub  Clumder  Sen  was  in  part  a  victim  to  that  kind  of 
pressure.  But  who  is  responsible  for  all  this  ignorance — 
for  all  this  degeneration  ?  When  the  war  between  the 
North  and  the  South  broke  out  in  America,  did  any  one 
hold  the  slaves  'responsible  for  the  continuance  of  slavery 


i.]  THE  HINDU  WOMAN,  Etc.  101 

— cvon  though  they  sent  up  petitions  after  petitions  that 
they  wanted  no  interference  with  their  lot  and  were  well 
content  with  it  ?  Tho  crown  of  degeneration,  believe  me,  is 
always  complete  ignorance  oi'  that  fatal  state,  the  crown  of 
slavery  is  the  feeling  that  there  is  no  enslavement  at  all. 
We  hardly  know — at  least  we  hardly  realize,  that  the 
violation  of  physiological  laws  i.s  a  .sin.  Indeed  we  ]u\r 
become  so  enslaved  to  that  sin  that  we  are  utterly  uncon- 
scious of  the  rottenness  it  has  spread  in  ourselves  and  in 
our  society.  Keshub  Chundcr  Sen  collected  tho  opinions  ol' 
eminent  experts  on  this  very  question,  but  we  are  wiser 
than  those  experts  !  We  seek  the  opiuio.is  oi:  doctors  in  cmi" 
Courts  ol  Law  and  act  upon  them — but  why  should  not  we 
ignore  them  when  our  own  children  arc  concerned?  Can  ;t. 
doctor  tell  us  what  is  the  proper  age  for  marriage — though 
his  opinion  may  be  of  valuo  in  questions  of  life  and  doath  ? 
No  ;  certainly,  all  doctors,  all  experts  are  Fouls,  when  they 
tell  us  there  is  it  vast  difference  between  pubescence  and 
puberty — that  what  is  called  a  sign  uf  puberty  is  merely  a 
sign  oE  pubescence — that  tho  reflex  action  of  early  marriage 
leads  to  premature  sickly  development — that  such  develop- 
ment means  not  seldom  death  in  child-birth  and,  generally, 
unhealthy  progeny  and,  always,  a  stunted  life.  Let  us 
continue  to  defy  the  advice  of  experts — let  us  continue  to 
make  martyrs  of  our  little  ones  and  then  protest  that  we 
do  not  sin  at  all !  But  if  there  is  a  God  in  heaven — believe  me 
— no  real  sin,  whether  you  acknowledge  it  or  not,  ever  goes 
unpunished  ;  and  even  now  we  arc  paying  the  penalty  in 
the  paraljsis  that  has  sieved  both  our  common  sense  and 
our  moral  sense  on  this  point,  and  in  the  continual  degenera- 
tion of  the  race  apparent  to  everyone  but  ourselves. 

Let  us  now  pass  to  the  fifth  Act  of  woman's  tragedy — 
the  Act  in  which  she  is  called  upon  to  play  the  part  of  a 
daughter-in-law.  Torturing  her  in  her  infancy — curtailing 
her  play-time—curtailing  her  schooling — saddling  her  too 


102  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

early  with  the  duties  of  a  wife — you  must  needs  also  hand 
her  over  to  the  tender  mercies  of  a  mother-in-law.  And 
what  a  life  is  it  ?  Can  you  tell  me  how  many  waking  hours 
you  actually  spend  with  your  wife  ?  Do  you  make  up  to 
her  for  all  .she  suffers  at  the  hand  of  an  u  nay  mpathi, sing1 
mother-in  law?  Do  yon  even  spare  as  much  time  for  her 
as  tor  your  cow  or  f'>r  your  hur.se  ?  You  have  all  sorts  of 
resources. — What  lias  she?  You  cim  improve  yourselves  in 
:i  thousand  ways.  You  can  learn  what  may  pro-lit  your  soul. 
— 13 ut  wh;it  can  she  learn  ?  Here  is  Mrs.  Annie  Began b 
lecturing  to  you  about  the  doctrines  of  the  Yedas.  JJut 
though  Mrs-  Besant  is  welcome  to  ruad,  mark  and  digest 
those  Scriptures— our  women  are  supposed  to  be  disqualified 
to  even  taste  a  little  of  their  honey  !  Is  not  this  LL  monstrous 
doutrinc,  my  brethren  ?  Do  not  lay  the  flattering  unction 
to  your  souls  that  you  arc  doing  your  duty  to  your  women 
to  the  best  of  your  lights  ?  No  I  you  are  not.  None  of  us  is, 
so  long  as  our  women  have  no  equal  opportunities  for 
intellectual,  irtoral  and  spiritual  culture,  and  are  consigned 
to  a  domestic  tyranny  which  fritters  away  all  their  energy 
in  patient  suffering,  i  know  there  are  daughters-in-law  who 
prove  themselves  a  pesb  to  their  dear  mothers-in-law,  but 
on  the  whole  you  will  agree  with  me  that  the  mother-in-law 
has  the  best  of  it,  and  the  daughter-in-law  the  worst,  in 
Hindu  homcu.  it  is  in  our  power  to  take  out  the  sting 
from  this  sorb  of  life— it  is  in  our  power  to  prevent  no  little 
pain  by  exerting  all  our  natural  influence,  by  sweet  reason- 
ableness, by  loving  remonstrance,  by  prudent  and  con- 
siderate interference.  Hut  our  hearts  have  grown  hard  and 
calbus,  and  we  seldom  realize  the  sufferings,  silently  borne 
in  our  homes,  or  lift  our  little  finger  to  alleviate  them.  Is 
not  this  our  fifth  sin  ? 

The  sixth  Acb  of  this  sinful  tragic  drama  is  early 
maternity.  Ignoring  the  laws  of  sexual  intercourse- 
ignoring  the  teachings  of  physiology— some  of  us  used  to 


].]  THE  HINDU  WOMAN,  Etc.  103 

perpetrate  what  the  law  now  punishes  us  a  crime.  But 
there  are  still  violations  of  physical  and  moral  laws,  which 
are  not  treated  as  crimes,  but  which  nevertheless  bring  their 
own  punishment  with  them.  We  sin  deeply  jigainpt  our 
women  not  only  as  wives  and  daughters-in-law,  but  as 
mothers  of  our  children.  There  is  a  beautiful  description 
in  the  Ramaymia  of  the  care  Rama  took  of  Sita,  when  she 
was  in  the  condition  which  Englishmen  call  interesting, 
but  which  is  not  very  interesting  to  us.  Do  we  tnke  such 
care  of  our  wives  ?  Do  we  even  sec  that  they  have  proper 
medical  help  when  their  terrible  travail  intensified  by  early 
marriage  is  upon  them?  It  was  only  the  other  day  that 
the  lady  doctor  at  Shikarpur  told  me  that  if  she  had  her 
way,  she  would  hang  all  the  midwives  in  that  city.  Dn 
you  know  how  their  bungling  and  blundering  often  entails 
permanent  injury,  and,  in  no  few  cases,diseases  hard  to  cure-3 
1  requested  several  gentlemen  at  Shikarpur  to  get  us  Dais 
who  might  be  properly  trained  in  the  Dufferin  Hospital.  But 
though  promises  have  been  given  to  me  from  time  to  time, 
not  one  of  them  has  been  fulfilled-  So  much  fur  our  ten.-er- 
heartednesa  1  Again,  woe  unto  the  child-wife  who  gives  birth 
to  a  daughter.  A  gentleman  told  rne  the  other  day  he  was 
going  to  get  his  son  married  again  because  his  daughter-in- 
law  brnught  forth  only  children  <|£Jier  own  sex.  And  lie 
actually  believed  that  the  poor  woman  was  responsible  for 
the  result !  It  is  thus  we  add  insult  to  injury — brutality  to 
injustice  !  What  hope  is  there  for  us,  so  lung  ns  one-half 
of  our  race  is  treated  in  this  fashi«n  ?  An  English  poet 
sings  of  a  time  when  thcie  will  be 

"  Everywhere 

Two  beads  in  council,  two  beside  tlie  hearth, 

Two  in  the  tangled  business  of  the  world, 

Two  in  the  liberal  offices  of  life, 

Two  plummets  dropt  tor  one  to  sound  the  abyss, 

Of  science,  and  the  secrets  of  the  mind.1' 
But   can  we  look  forward  to  such   a  time   in  our  oWn 


104  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

lanl,  wlien  wo  have  not  yet  learnt  the  barest  rudiments  of 
justice  to  our  own  wives,  our  daughters,  our  sisters,  our 
mothers,  and  are  ignorant  of  even  our  own  ignorance  ? 

T  come  now  to  our  seventh  sin,  the  last  Act  of  the 
tragedy,  and  the  saddest.  I  mean  the  sorrows  of  widow- 
hood. Lay  yonv  hands  on  your  hearts,  and  say  if  you  have 
douo  your  duty  by  the  widows  iu  your  community.  I 
kuuw  that  in  SOUK*  casles  widow  re  marriage;  is  allowed. 
But  there  :tre  numerous  others,  in  which  it  is  not,  and  tlu» 
condition  of  virgin-widows  specially  is  deplorable.  But  1 
earn  nob  if  you  do  not  marry  them,  for  marriage  is  not  the 
sole  end  of  a  woman's  existence.  I3ut  if  you  do  not  marry 
them,  give  them  at  least  some  training  which  may  make 
them  useful  members  of  society.  Believe  me,  women  care- 
less for  physical  pleasures  than  men.  Tt  is  men  that 
brutalize  them  by  their  sensuality.  It  is  men  who  do  not 
even  respect  the  sanctity  of  the  period  of  gestation  or  even 
thu  first  few  months  of  nursing  time.  It  is  men  who  impose 
thuii1  wills  on  their  Avives  in  sexual  matters  and  place  n0 
restraints  upon  themselves.  If  women  had  their  own  way 
in  these  matters,  they  would  follow  the  healthy  instincts 
of  nature,  and  their  own  ingrained  modesty.  Therefore 
let  us  not  assume  that  woman  is  fit  only  to  be  a  wife  or 
widow.  Kvon  if  you  assume  this,  see  that  your  widows 
become  ministers  of  merry,  angels  of  grace.  But  alas ! 
what  have  we  done  to  them  in  the  past  ?  If  we  had  but  a 
little  imagination,  if  we  could  transport  ourselves  to  the 
bourne  whence  no  traveller  returns,  if  we  could  with  our 
mind's  eye  see  our  own  daughters  as  they  are  after  their 
term  of  earthly  toil  and  trouble,  they  would  tell  us  :  "  Oh, 
father  !  1  came  to  you  a  divine  embryonic  soul,  I  was  a 
trust  in  your  hands,  You  should  have  let  my  little  soul 
grow  and  expand  its  wings  and  see  the  Father  of  all  light 
and  life.  But  you  imprisoned  me  in  my  bodily  shell,  and  you 
did  nothing  to  help  it  to  emerge  thence  into  the  sun-light 


!.]  THE  HINDU  WOMAN,  Etc.  105 

of  G-od's  beauty.  There  were  no  true  pleasures  for  me,  no 
pleasures  of  Memory,  none  of  Imagination,  none  of  Hope, 
none  of  Communion  or  Divine  Vision.  See  my  little  un- 
fledged, stunted,  blindfolded  soul.  It  is  110  better  than  it 
was.  You  have  violated  your  trust,  for  you  opened  1101,  the 
windows  of  my  soul,  and  I  liavo  yet  to  grope  in  darkness 
and  ignorance — darkness  and  ignorance  tliat  bring  their 
own  curse  and  that  spread  a  blight  on  your  future.  IV 
wise  to-day,  and  be  more  merciful  to  your  own  flesh  and 
blood."  But  ahis  !  wo  neither  hear  the  still  small  voice  in 
our  own  breasts,  nor  liavo  faculties  for  seeing  what  we  have 
made  of  woman  in  the  past,  and  what  wo  are  likely  to 
make  of  her  in  the  future. 

Emerson  has  a  golden  saying.  Ho  tells  you  "  BG  and 
not  seem — Be  a  gift  and  a  benediction.7'  Would  wo  made 
every  ono  of  our  daughters  a  gift  and  a  benediction — 
would  we  ceased  to  seem  and  lived  a  true  Ufa  and  washed 
away  our  manifold  sins  against  woman,  We  hurry  her 
from  her  infancy — through  physical  tortures — through  a 
joyless  childhood,  without  opportunities  for  playing  or 
learning,  into  the  bonds  of  early  matrimony — into  the 
miseries  of  early  widowhood.  Wo  sin  against  her  as  a 
baby — wo  sin  against  her  play-time — wo  sin  against  her 
school-time — we  sin  against  her  as  a  wife,  as  a  daughter- 
in-law,  as  a  mother,  as  a  widow.  And  what  is  more,  wo 
are  hardly  conscious  of  sinning — so  benumbed  has  become 
our  sense  of  duty — our  sense  of  fair  play— and  even  our 
common  sense  as  to  what  is  good  for  us  and  for  our  country. 
I  do  not  want  you  to  revolutionize  your  society,  I  do  not  ask 
yon  to  introduce  Western  fashions  and  Western  modes  of 
life-  But  I  do  ask  you  to  give  up  your  apathy — to  rouse 
yourself  from  your  terrible  lethargy,  and  do  the  barest 
justice  to  your  women.  Do  not  shut  them  out  of  the  light 
— do  not  starve  their  intellects  and  their  fine  sympathies 
and  imaginations  and  spiritual  insight — give  them  a  wider 
14 


106  INDfAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

sphere  of  usefulness,  and  greater  opportunities  for  self- 
improvement,  and  above  all  for  acquiring  "  Self-knowledge, 
Self-reverence,  Self-control/'  and  that  true  wisdom  which 
makes  life  a  Divine  harmony :  and,  believe  me  they  will  not 
only  become  your  help-mates,  if  not  your  better  halves,  but 
the  curse  of  our  seven  sins  may,  by  Divine  grace,  be 
removed,  and  (Jod's  blessing  be  mice  more  upon  us. 


i.]        77/^7  HINDU  JOINT  FAMILY  SYSTEM.      L07 
V.— The  Hindu  Joint  Family  System. 

JJY  (!.  SUUKAMANIA  lYKKj  ESQ.,  IJ.A,, 

Laic  Editor  of  the.  "Hindu,"  Madras. 


When  we  talk  of  Social  Reform,  we  have  social  progress 
iu  view.  II'  we  do  not  care  for  progress,  then  iio  reform  is 
needed,  although  without  progress,  stagnation  and  eventual 
decay  are  sure  to  set  in.  No  healthy  society  can  exist 
without  constant  and  conscious  endeavours  towards  a  better 
condition.  To  be  satisfied  with  existing  conditions  is  to  in- 
vite deterioration.  That  was  the  mistake  that  our  ances- 
tors made.  When  Hindu  Society  lost  its  virility  and 
capacity  for  progress,  its  leaders  adopted  a  policy  of  feeble 
compromise  with  every  fresh  environment  that  changing 
political  and  social  conditions  brought  about.  Comproini.su 
is,  indeed,  essential  for  smooth  progress  ;  but  while  it  is 
adopted  to  overcome  temporary  difficulties,  the  ideal  should 
ever  be  kept  in  view,  and  what  remnant  of  evils  compromise 
has  left  imcured,  should  again  be  combated  until  the  ideal 
is  reached.  To  approach  the  ideal,  not  to  recede  from  it, 
should  be  the  aim  of  every  endeavour.  For  the  time  being 
the  ideal  may  be  too  remote,  and,  judged  From  existing 
conditions,  it  may  be  impracticable.  Still  a  rational  ideal 
is  always  needful  For  a  potent  incentive  and  rightful 
guidance.  Herbert  Spencer  truly  says  :  "  If  amidst  all  those 
compromises  which  the  circumstances  of  the  times  nqcossi- 
tatc,  or  are  thought  to  necessitate,  there  exists  no  true  con- 
ception of  better  and  worse  in  social  organisation,  if  nothing 
beyond  the  exigencies  of  the  moment  arc  attended  to,  and 
the  proximately  best  is  habitually  identified  with  the 
ultimately  best,  there  cannot  be  any  true  progress.  However 
distant  may  be  the  goal,  and  however  often  intervening 
obstacles  may  necessitate  deviation  in  our  course  toward  it, 
it  is  obviously  requisite  to  know  whereabout  it  lies."  Nothing 


1 08  INDlAti  SOCIAL  &E&ORM.  [  P AKT 

car  be  inure  fatal  to  .social  well-being  than  the  motto 
of  "let  alone."  Many  people  are  satisfied  with  the  exist- 
ing1 state  of  things.  u  Are  we  nob  sufficiently  happy  with 
our  social  institutions  ?  There  is  unhappines.s  in  every  con- 
ceivable system  of  social  organisation.  Heaven  knows  that 
your  so-called  reform  may  make  the  last  state  worse  than 
the  first.  Is  it  not  .vise,  therefore,  to  let  things  alone  ?" 
Such  an  argument,  it  will  be  observed,  is  generally  advanc- 
ed by  those  who  happen  to  enjoy  more  than  their  fair  share 
of  the  good  things  of  this  world,  or  by  ignorant  men  who 
are  incapable  of  a  conception  of  improvement.  The  former 
are  actuated  by  extreme  selfishness,  and  are  entirely  bereft 
of  sympathy  with  those  who  are  less  fortunately  placed 
than  themselves,  while  the  latter  are  only  a  step  raised 
above  the  condition  of  brutes  who  are  entirely  guided  by 
their  instinct  and  by  their  wants  of  the  moment.  In  fact  a 
policy  of  "  let  alone  "  is  impossible,  because  it  .soon  sets  at 
work  the  latent  causes  of  deterioration.  It  assumes  that 
the  given  social  system  is  perfect,  that  its  evils  cannot 
be  mitigated,  tind  Mi  at  persons  who  suffer  from  them 
are  entitled  to  no  redress.  Though  perfection  is  not 
attainable,  there  can  be  no  limit  to  progress.  We  see  in 
every  part  of  the  world  statesmen,  patriots,  and  philanthro- 
pists ceaselessly  at  work  conceiving,  concerting  and 
carrying  out  measures  for  the  amelioration  of  the  condition 
of  mankind. 

There  are  those  that  admit  the  inevitability  of  change 
tind  progress,  but  are  not  satisfied  with  the  direction  in 
which  they  proceed.  Many  an  intelligent  Hindu  has  a 
longing  for  the  reappearenco  of  the  times  and  of  the  social 
system  depicted  in  the  institutes  of  Maim,  if  not  in  the 
Vedic  literature,  when  the  community  was  divided  into 
four  castes  based  on  birth,  when  the  most  intelligent  class 
took  little  or  no  interest  in  the  activities  of  life,  but,  being 
maintained  at  public  expense,  spent  their  life  in  sacrificial 


i.]         THE  HINDU  JOINT  FAMILY  SYSTEM.      109 

rites  or  in  secluded  contemplation,  when  trade  and  industry 
were  despised,  and  when  the  great  bulk  of  the  population 
were  forced  to  bo  content  with  a  lot  of  menial  .service 
rendered  to  the  higher  castes,  without  a  chance  or  a  hope 
of  rising  to  higher  standards  oF  life.  The  mind  that  can 
conceive  that  such  going-  backward  is  possible  can  be  en- 
titled to  no  respect.  India  can  no  moiv  go  back  to  that 
primitive  state  than  the  great  Dritish  Nation  can  go  back  to 
the  age  of  live  Druids.  I  do  not  know  how  these  people 
imagine  that  the  stupendous  achievements  of  human  he- 
roism, intelligence,  religion  and  science,  during  these  Four 
thousand  years,  for  (he  development  cl"  man  and  human 
society,  can  be  ullaccd.  Iwen  if,  by  some  miracle,  all  the 
forces  that  drag  society  forward  along  lines  of  progress, 
and  are  bound  to  grow  in  number  and  strength  as  the 
modern  system  of  international  relations  deepens  the  inter- 
dependence of  nations,  and  by  overcoming  the  obstacles 
arising  from  distance  and  time,  tends  to  raise  the  condition 
of  the  various  nationalities  to  ;j.  uniform  standard,  are  de- 
stroyed, and  Hindu  Society  is  revived  in  all  its  primitive 
glory,  how  is  it  proposed  to  save  it  From  the  decay  and  ruin 
that  seized  it  in  ancient  timch  ?  The  Yedic  social  system  was 
tried  and  did  not  succeed.  A  resuscitation  of  the  ancient 
institutions  of  Hindu  Society  is  impossible  unless  a  hngo 
PKALAYA  or  doluge  sweeps  over  tho  whole  world  destroying 
all  existing  nations,  and  man  starts  his  career  afresh  from 
a  primitive  state.  Such  an  assumption  is  too  grotesque  to 
be  seriously  entertained,  In  fact,  it  may  be  laid  down  as  a 
principle  of  social  evolution,  that  no  extinct  institution  can 
be  revived  iu  its  identical  shape,  without  adaptations  to 
suit  the  change  in  the  environment  which  time  in  its  efflux 
ceaselessly  effects. 

Human  mind,  in  its  constant  onward  progress,  acquires 
fresh  truths  as  the  result  of  its  natural  development  and 
organic  growth  and  will  not  relinquish  them,  Tho  child, 


110  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAW 

111  its  innocence  and  lack  of  responsibility,  is  indeed  much 
happier  than  the  adult,  it  is  more  beautiful,  blithesome  and 
gay ;  the  man,  tho    grandfather,  may   yearn  for   the   plea- 
sures of  childhood,  but  if  they  arc;  once  past,  they  are  past 
for  over,  and  no  effort    of  the  will    can  recall    them.     We 
ran  strike  a  man  dead,  but  it  is  beyond  our  power  to  make 
him  again  ih<;   pretty,  merry,  happy    child   of  his    earliest 
years,     In  the  same  way  ib  is  impossible  to  make  the  men 
of  to-day,  the?  men    of    two    thousand  years  ago.     All   our 
knowledge,  all  our  enlightenment  has  come  to  humanity  in 
the  course  of  its  natural    development,    and    as  the   result 
of  its  internal   viuil    energies-     To   attempt    to  oppose  the 
operation  of  these   elementary  forces   is  as    objectless   and 
fruitless   a  task  as  to    attempt  Lo   prevent  the    earth  from 
revolving  on  its  axis. 

Progress  consists  therefore  iu  moving  forward  and  not 
backward  ;  and  any  attempt  to  move  backward  on  our  part 
while  the  rest  of  the  world  moves  forward  will  only  end 
in  disastrous  ruin.  No  nation  in  modern  times  can  persist 
in  an  independent  career  not  in  harmony  with  the  move- 
ment; of  the  stronger  and  more  forward  races.  The  strong- 
est nations  of  the  world  have  in  their  hand  the  moulding 
of  tho  destinies  of  the  weaker  nations,  and  where  the 
Western  nations  lead,  the  Eastern  nations  must  follow;  and 
if  they  do  not,  ruin  will  seize  them.  India  is  being  dragged 
by  IJngland  in  the  tail  of  her  onward  career;  but  China, 
Japan,  Persia,  Turkey  and  Egypt — what  does  the  present 
state  of  these  countries  illustrate  ?  Japan  would  have  fallen 
a  prey  to  the  disease  germs  that,  imbedded  iri  her  own 
social  system,  were  eating  into  her  vitals,  or  would  have 
been  swallowed  up  by  llnssia,  if  a  great  revolution  had  not 
so  changed  her  social  and  political  system  as  to  bring  her 
institutions  and  her  own  ideals  into  harmony  with  those  of 
Europe.  And  what  is  the  fate  of  China,  which  persists. in 
the  preservation  of  her  antiquated  civilization  refusing  to 


i.]        TEE  HIND  U  JOINT  FAMTL  Y  S  YSTEM.      1 1 1 

fall  in  with  tho  ideals  of  the  leading-  iiations  of  the  world  ? 
The  modern  history  of  Turkey,  Egypt  and  Persia  teaches 
the  same  lesson,  the  lesson,  namely,  that  either  submission 
to  tho  Western  forces  or  ruin  is  the  alternative  open  to  what 
the  Marquis  of  Salisbury  described  as  the  dying  -nations 
of  the  world. 

Selection  and  competition,  or  the  survival  of  the  fittest, 
is  the  law  that  determines  progress  in  nature.  It  is  no  less 
applicable  to  human  society  than  to  animals  and  plants. 
In  an  organised  society  individuals  who  are  superior  to 
their  fellows  in  some  respects  assert  this  superiority,  and 
continuing  to  assert  this  superiority,  they  promulgate  ifc  as 
an  inheritance  to  their  successors  ;  this  is  how  progress  is 
originated  and  maintained.  And  whut  holds  good  in  regard 
to  a  single  society  holds  good  in  regard  to  tho  community 
of  nations.  Tho  marvellous  inventions  of  modern  science 
having  annihilated  time  and  distance,  the  remotest  psirts 
of  the  world  are  brought  into  touch  with  one  another,  and 
tho  stronger  communities  constantly  exert  their  influence 
and  assert  their  superiority  over  any  community  which  by 
its  weakness  is  exposed  to  foreign  influence.  Jsro  nation 
can  develop  its  destiny  in  these  days  independently  of  tho 
influence  of  other  nations.  Kxclusiveness  or  isolation  is 
impossible  without  producing  disastrous  results.  Tn  fact, 
no  exclusivencss  or  isolation  is  allowed,  because  tho  aggres- 
sive tendency  of  the  more  forward  and  progressive  nations 
constantly  seeks  openings  for  the  exercise  of  their  energy 
and  the  employment  of  their  resources.  For  purposes  of 
trade,  for  the  employment  of  their  capital,  for  the  settle- 
ment of  their  surplus  population,  for  political  convenience, 
or  for  the  mere  glory  of  territorial  aggrandizement,  they 
establish  their  ascendency  in  strange  countries,  add  to  their 
spheres  of  influence,  and  thrust  their  articles  of  industry. 
There  is  no  longer  a  single  corner  in  this  wide  world  which 
is  safe  against  the  encroachment  of  the  manly  races  of  the 


112  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

West.  What  is  taking  place  now  has  always  taken  place 
since  the  beginning  of  tho  world — ceaseless  and  inevitable 
selection  and  rejection,  ceaseless  and  inevitable  progress. 
The  history  of  the  world,  over  since  history  began  to  be 
made,  contains  numerous  instances  of  kingdoms  and  em- 
pires which,  being  unable  to  stand  this  stress  and  storm  of 
the  world's  competition,  fell  back  and  disappeared.  As 
wo  trace  the  growth,  decline  and  disappearance  of  tho  great 
powers  of  antiquity,  the  Babylonian,  Assyrian  and  Persian 
Umpires,  as  well  as  the  history  of  Hie  later  organisations, 
the  Greek  States  and  the  Roman  Empire,  wo  perceive  the 
operation  of  the  same  law-  Our  own  country  has  not  been 
free  from  the  results  of  the  same  conditions  of  struggle  and 
success  in  its  long  history  of  an  endless  succession  of 
vicissitudes.  "  In  the  flux  and  change  of  life,"  says 
Benjamin  Kidd,  "  tho  members  of  those  groups  of  men 
which  in  favourable  conditions  first  showed  any  tendency 
to  social  organisations,  become  possessed  of  a  great  ad- 
vantage over  their  fellows,  and  these  societies  grow  up 
simply  UHcaiu.*1  thpy  possessed  elements  of  strength  which 
led  to  the  disappearance  before  them  of  other  groups  of 
men  with  which  they  came  into  competition.  Such  socie- 
ties continued  to  flourish  until  they  in  their  turn  had  to 
give  way  before  other  associations  of  men  of  higher  social 
efficiency."  An  intelligent  student  of  the  history  of  our 
country  can  call  to  his  mind  stages  in  the  career  of  our 
race  illustrative  of  this  important  truth. 

The  progress  of  the  Western  nations,  more  especially 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  marks  tho  lines  on  which  the  pro- 
gress of  our  own  country  should  be  directed.  The  Hindu 
civilization  based  on  the  ancient  Aryan  institutions  is 
doomed-  The  cycle  of  human  evolution  which  it  dominated 
is  past  and,  in  the  fresh  cycle  that  has  succeeded,  the 
AVestorn  races  lead  the  progress.  The  only  civilization  that 
is  destined  to  and  will  eventually  dominate  the  world  ia 


i.J         THE  HINDU  JOINT  FAMILY  SYSTEM.      MX 

what  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  will  direct.  There  is  no 
part  of  Hie  world  where  the  Hritish  nation,  the  Germans 
or  the  Americans  do  not  exercise  a,  dominant  influence. 
To  India,  for  special  reasons,  no  other  progress  is  pos- 
sible. India  cannot  hope  to  dispense  with  all  those 
appliances  oF  modern  life  which  Western  science  has 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  man  ;  she  cannot  escape4  from  the 
influence  of  Western  thought  ;  she  cannot  help  imitating 
the  institutions  and  assimilating  the  ideals  of  the  West ;  any 
resistance  to  such  influence  will  only  throw  back  her  pro- 
gress and  render  her  more  unfit  to  carry  on  the  struggle 
for  existence,  which,  as  we  have  pointed  out,  is  the  condi- 
tion that  marks  the  life,  of  man  as  well  as  other  races  in 
nature.  India  lost  all  vitality  and  force  necessary  to 
pursue  an  independent  career  oE  progress  more  than  two 
thousand  years  ago,  when  she  first  began  to  shake  at  the 
repeated  knocks  of  foreign  invaders  at  her  doors.  She  at 
length  succumbed  to  the  superior  force  oE  the  Mahomedans 
who  ruled  over  her  for  over  six  centuries  and  whose  civili- 
zation she  adopted  in  many  respects.  But  the  decline  and 
overthrow  of  the  Mahomedan  power  and  the  establishment 
oE  British  domination  in  its  place  illustrates  the  law  of 
social  evolution.  We  have  been  laying  stress  upon  the 
law  of  the  rejection  of  the  weak  aud  the  success  of  the 
strong  in  the  ceaseless  war  of  competition  and  struggle 
that  the  human  races  are  waging.  For  a  short  time  the 
Hindu  race  appeared  as  if  it  would  muster  her  latent  powers 
and  win  independence.  But  the  event  proved  that,  like  the 
Chinese,  the  Indian  race  had  become  too  antiquated  for 
modern  conditions  of  success,  and  as  in  the  physical 
fight  between  nations,  bows  and  arrows  and  wooden  guns 
are  out  of  date,  so  in  what  may  be  called  the  moral  fight 
between  nations,  the  old  Hindu  institutions  constituting 
their  social  and  political  system  were  too  old  and  effete  to 
stand  the  crushing  onslaught  of  the  Western  forces.  And 
15 


114  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

it  is  only  too  obvious  that  the  indigenous  institutions  that 
served  their  purpose  well  enough  when  India  was  the  mis- 
tress of  the  world  and  feared  no  attack  from  outside  will 
prove  increasingly  feeble  and  imsnited  to  stand  or  resist 
the  pressure  of  the  younger  and  more  vigorous  nations  who 
press  forward  with  facilities  and  aids  which  the  latest  in- 
ventions of  human  mind  to  enhance  the  effects  of  physical 
ns  well  us  moral  effort,  plure  at  their  disposal. 

Thia  is  the  standpoint  from  which  wo  are  called  upon 
to  examine  our  institutions,  the  standpoint,  namely,  how 
iheso  institutions  can  be  so  modified  or  reformed  that  they 
may  be  most  serviceable  and  helpful,  in  holding  our  own, 
in  preventing  further  deterioration,  if  not  in  achieving 
fresh  progress,  amidst  the  ceaseless  rush,  jostle  and  con- 
flict going  on  in  the  arena  ot  this  wide  world.  Social  institu- 
tions must  work  by  promoting  individual  freedom  and  stimu- 
lating the  capacity  fur  corporate  action.  There  can  be  no 
national  progress  where  these  two  qualities  are  wanting. 
Under  n  social  or  political  system  which  takes  away  liberty 
jind  independence  fiom  the  individual  and  gives  him  no 
scope  or  inducement  to  work  for  the  good  of  his  neighbours 
and  his  country  fit  large,  no  progess  can  be  possible.  This  is 
the  basis  of  the  contrast  between  the  nations  of  the  West 
;ind  the  nations  of  the  Kast.  Even  among  the  nations  of  the, 
West,  their  growth  or  decadence  has  been  exactly  as  this 
great  quality  was  fostered  or  crushed  by  Society  and  the 
State.  No  other  fact  in  .'the  history  of  nations  is  more  pro- 
minent than  that  the  tyranny  of  society,  of  priests  and 
of  rulers  has  proved  the  most  effective  weapon  to  kill  tho 
latent  forces  making  for  the  development  of  men  and  the 
growth  of  the  nation.  The  Hindu  race  has  suffered  less 
from  the  tyranny  of  their  rulers  than  from  the  oppression 
nnd selfish  greed  of  their  priestly  class,  who  were  also  their 
legislators  and  leaders  of  thought.  There  is  absolutely  no 
other  instance  of  a  naturally  gifted  race,  intelligent,  indus- 


j .]         THE  HIND U  JOINT  FAMILY  S  YSTEM.      1 1 5 

trio  us,  and  docile,  capable  of  high  developments,  which  has 
been  kept  down  and  degraded  by  a  unique  system  of 
organised  priestcraft.  The  social  institutions  of  the 
Hindus  which  are  the  embodiments  of  the  wisdom,  the  self- 
seeking  wisdom,  of  the  priests,  have  produced  the  same 
melancholy  effect  by  killing  all  individual  freedom  and 
crippling  the  best  faculties  of  the  human  mind.  There  is 
no  other  country  in  the  world  where  caste  and  custom  have 
greater  influence  than  India  j  and  where  every  incentive 
to  actioji  and  every  ideal  are  judged  with  reference  to  the 
dictates  of  these  two  worst  of  tyrants.  The  Hindu  has  not 
lost  the  subtlety  of  his  mind,  but  he  can  no  longer  boast 
of  originality,  enterprise,  or  self-reliance.  Supposing  a 
highly  educated  Hindu  and  an  Englishman  of  ordinary  in- 
telligence are  both  taken  to  a  distant,  strange  land  ami 
there  left  to  shift  for  themselves,  we  have  no  doubt  but 
that  the  Hindu  will  find  himself  helpless  and  unable  to  gel 
on,  while  the  'Englishman  by  his  pluck  and  energy  will 
soon  win  his  way  to  a  position  of  respectability  and  affluence. 
The  Anglo-Saxon  will  work  hard,  grapple  boldly  with  his 
difficulties,  and  successfully  rough  it  out  in  the  end.  The 
success  that  he  is  winning  everywhere  in  the  world,  the 
ascendancy  he  establishes  wherever  he  goes,  his  wonderful 
enterprises  and  huge  accumulation  cf  wealth  are  due 
mostly  to  the  individual  freedom  he  enjoys  in  hia  native 
country.  This  is  the  secret  of  the  wonderful  dominance 
that  England  enjoys  among  the  nations  of  the  world,  while 
other  countries  like  Spain,  Portugal,  Austria  and  Italy  have 
fallen  back  in  the  race  and  acknowledge  the  lead  of  their 
more  masterful  neighbours.  The  tendency  of  all  progres- 
sive nations  is  to  allow  the  fullest  scope  for  the  free  ex- 
pansion of  the  latent  powers  of  the  individual  and  the  fullest 
liberty  for  him  to  follow  wherever  his  powers  lead  him. 
With  the  extinction  of  feudalism  and  the  military  type  of 
Society,  the  slow  emancipation  ul  the  masses  commenced, 


116  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAUT 

and  in  modern  times,  it  is  not  only  the  political  emancipa- 
tion of  the  individuals  of  tlie  humblest  lot  in  society  that 
is  aimed  at,  but  also  to  give  to  them  along  with  the  most 
favoured  classes  equal  opportunities  for  general  advance- 
ment. 

Not  only  is  personal  freedom  a  great  factor  in  national 
progress  ;  but  a  capacity  for  joint  action  either  in  tlie 
interest  of  a  body  of  individuals  or  in  the  interest  of  the 
community  at  large  is  also  important  for  a  successful  na- 
tional life.  The  great  qualities  that  distinguish  man  from 
the  inferior  animals  are  his  reason  and  his  sociability,  and 
these  two  attributes  impose  on  him  the  double  obligation 
of  improving  himself  and  improving  in  co-operation  with 
others  the  community  of  which  he  is  a  member,  In  the 
primitive  stages  of  society,  man  thinks  more  of  his  own 
individual  interests  than  those  of  his  society,  and  considers 
these  latter  as  necessarily  hostile  to  or  incompatible  with 
his  interests  as  an  individual,  lint  as  Society  reaches 
higher  stages  of  development,  the  interdependence  of  its 
various  members  and  classes  deepens,  and  man  learns  to 
consider  the  joint  interests  of  society  as  well  as  his  own, 
until  at  length  a  condition  is  renched  when  his  develop- 
ment as  a  separate  individual  is  less  important  than  his 
development  as  a  member  of  society.  At  first,  man  under 
his  selfish  impulses  refuses  to  recognise  an  obligation  in 
serving  the  interests  of  others,  but  as  the  complexity  of 
the  social  structure  increases,  he  learns  to  identify  the  in- 
terests of  the  community  with  his  own,  and  realises  his 
duty  to  his  nation  as  well  as  to  himself.  Where  the  inte- 
rest of  the  individual  and  of  society  clash,  it  is  now  recog- 
nized in  alt  civili/ed  countries  that  the  former  must  be  sub- 
ordinated to  the  latter.  The  late  Mr.  C.  H.  Pearson,  the 
author  of  that  remarkable  book,  "  National  Life  and  Cha- 
racter," attributes  the  downfall  of  the  Roman  Empire  to  the 
fact  that  there  was' no  sense  of  national  life  in  the  commtt- 


r.]         THE  HINDU  JOINT  FAMILY  SYSTEM.       1J7 

uifcy.  "  Unless  the  general  feeling  in  a  people,"  he  say,*, 
"  is  to  regard  individual  existence  and  fortunes  as  of  im 
practical  account  in  comparison  with  the  existence  and 
self-respect  of  the  body  politic,  the  disintegrating  forces  of 
time  will  always  be  stronger  in  the  long  run  than  any  given 
organization,"  What  great  part  this  feeling  of  self-eff;ice- 
mcnt  in  the  service  of  the  best  interests  of  the  body  1)0)1111:, 
patriotism,  in  other  words,  has  played  in  the  history  of 
nations,  we  need  not  say.  The  latest  instance  is  the  mar- 
vellous heroism  that  the  .small  Dutch  community  of  South 
Africa  has  shown  in  its  death-grapple  with  the  British 
nation,  with  its  gigantic  resources.  In  f^ct,  devotion  to  the 
State  as  the  embodiment  of  the  collective  interests  of  the 
nation,  is  becoming  in  all  civili/ud  countries  an  article  <>\ 
faith  almost  as  binding  as  a  religions  duly,  liven  morn 
than  :i  citizen's  duty  to  his  religious  faith  is  his  duty  In 
his  country  regarded  as  binding.  Mr.  Chamberlain  places 
patriotism  before  politics  ;  but  amongst  the  obligations  of  a 
citizen,  patriotism  is  before  his  religion  even.  Supposing 
England  happens  to  be  involved  in  a  war  in  defence  of 
Protestantism  against  the  machinations  of  the  Pope  and  his 
Roman  Catholic  lieges,  we  are  not  sure  that  the  Marquis 
of  Kipon  or  the  late  Marquis  of  Bute  will  fight  against  his 
mother  land  for  the  sake  of  the  faith  he  professes.  It  is 
said  that  in  the  American  War  of  Liberation,  a  Southern 
General  by  name  Stonewall  Jackson,  was  a  believer  in 
State  rights  but  was  no  believer  in  slavery.  He  found  it 
impossible  to  dissever  the  two  causes  and  he  elected  to 
tight  for  the  good  of  the  State,  which  he  clearly  appre- 
hended, against  the  abstract  and  transcendental  rights  of 
humanity.  The  paramount  duty  of  the  citizen  to  make 
every  possible  sacrifice  for  the  protection  and  honour  and 
general  well-being  of  the  State  is  recognised  by  the 
modern  practice  of  compelling  every  able-bodied  adult 
male  to  serve  in  the  army  for  a  limited  period  of  time, 


1 18  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [lJAi;T 

This  sacrifice  is  demanded  solely  on  the  ground  that  in 
national  existence  the  requirements  of  the  State  are  para- 
mount over  those  of  the  individual,  and  it  is  by  no  means 
unreasonable  to  suppose  that  this  obligation  will  be  extend- 
ed LO  other  spheres  of  national  duty  than  bearing  arms  in 
t  he  defence  of  the  father  land.  Nor  is  this  devotion  to  the 
State  and  the  sacrifice  in  its  interest  u  mere  sentiment  such 
as  were  the  devotion  and  sacrifice  which  people  used  to 
make  for  the  sovereign  in  the  middle  ages  ;  because,  in 
these  days  the  State  undertakes  to  do  many  things  for  the 
citizen  on  whom  it  confers  material  and  moral  benefits  of 
the  highest  value,  Besides,  the  best  thoughts  and  deeds  of 
a  country  are  the  most  cherished  inheritance  of  its  people 
from  generation  to  generation  till  the  end  of  history.  "  The 
religion  of  the  State,"  says  Mr.  Pearson,  lf  is  surely  worthy 
of  reverence  as  any  creed  of  the  Churches,  and  ought  to 
grow  in  intensity  from  year  to  year." 

It  is  the  desire  of  all  Indians  whose  minds  have  been 
cultured  by  education  and  whose  sympathies  broadened  by 
experience  and  reflection,  that  this  feeling  of  patriotism 
this  devotion  to  the  common  cause  of  the  country,  in  pre- 
ference to  more  limited  interests,  should  be  fostered  and 
strengthened  as  much  ns  they  are  in  other  modern  States. 
We  can  easily  imagine  what  would  have  been  the  condi- 
tion of  Europe  and  of  America  if  this  feeling  had  not  been 
woven  into  the  very  nature  of  the  people  by  example  and 
practice,  in  the  long  course  of  centuries  ;  and  our  own 
country  will  make  but  little  progress  as  long  as  our  people  re- 
main strangers  to  this  noble  feeling  which  has  been  the  cause 
of  the  highest  achievements  of  heroism  and  self-sacrifice  in 
other  parts  of  the  world.  If  is  of  course  absurd  to  separate 
the  well-being  of  the  individual  from  the  well-being  of  the 
community  ;  each  necessarily  acts  and  reacts  on  the  other- 
J3ut  while  certain  individual  interests  claim  the  Krsl  consi- 
deration, the  interests  of  the  State  or  the  community  at 


i .]         THE  HIND U  JOINT  FAMTL  Y  8 YSTEM.      1 1 0 

large  should  be  the  second.  Between  the  individual  and 
the  State  no  third  interest  should  intervene.  Thougli  a, 
strong,  intelligent  and  well  educated  individual  is  better 
able  to  serve  his  country  than  a  sickly  dullard,  still  in  pre- 
ference to  the  service  of  the  country  no  claim  on  the 
resources,  moral,  material  or  physical,  of  any  eiti/en  ran  be 
recognized.  The  poor  and  the  sick  and  other  disabled 
members  of  a  community  have  a  claim  on  the  personal 
service  and  on  the  possessions  of  those  who  are  in  more 
favoured  circumstances,  but  they  have  this  claim  not  sis 
individuals  apart  from  their  relation  to  society,  but  as  its 
constituent  units  whoso  well-being  contributes  to  the  well- 
being  of  society  as  a  whole.  The  so-called  family  is  no 
exception  to  this  general  principle. 

The  reader  who  has  had  the  patience  to  follow  me 
thus  far,  will  now  see  the  bearing  of  the  foregoing  remarks 
on  the  subject  of  this  essay.  We  shall  now  proceed  to 
consider  how  far  the  Hindu  joint  family  system  is  capable 
of  helping  the  Hindu  community  in  its  progress,  us  it  has 
to  progress  under  the  modern  conditions  of  close  competi- 
tion led  by  the  powerful  and  highly  developed  nations  of 
the  West;  how  far  this  peculiar  system  of  the  Hindus  is 
calculated  to  promote  individual  freedom  and  the  capacity 
for  joint  co-operative  effort — the  two  tests  which,  as  we 
have  said,  every  institution  in  a  healthy  state  of  society 
should  satisfy.  If  it  is  incapable  of  doing  one  or  the  other, 
then  it  is  obviously  the  duty  of  every  true  lover  of  his 
country  to  favour  and  work  for  its  gradual  adaptation  to 
the  new  environments  of  society.  It  would  not  be  wise  to 
prop  it  up  by  artificial  supports  and  try  to  maintain  it  in- 
tact against  the  disintegrating  forces  constantly  at  work  to 
undermine  it  and  bring  about  its  collapse.  It  is  altogether 
a,  false  sentiment  which  exaggerates  the  virtues  of  an 
obsolescent  institution  and  retards  natural  progress. 
Ordinary  persons  cannot  get  over  the  influence  of 


120  INDIAN  SOCIAL  ffEMftffJT.  [PART 

their  emotional  attachment  to  ancient  institutions  of 
wJiicli  alone  tliry  have  any  knowledge  and  amidst  which 
they  hnvo  been  brought  up.  Their  emotion  warps  their 
judgment  and  their  suspicion  that  the  change  is  being 
pressed  by  Western  influence,  by  the  influence  of  an 
alien,  rac^,  of  a  different  religious  faith,  enhances 
their  attachment  to  indigenous  institutions  as  well  as 
their  aversion  to  change.  The  bias  of  patriotism,  the 
bins  of  religion  and  the  bias  of  education — all  tend  to 
blind  the  judgment  and  make  a  due  appreciation  diffi- 
cult of  the  change  in  the  general  conditions  of  society 
which  calls  for  a  Concurrent  adaptation  of  the  institutions 
on  which  social  stability  vests.  Their  love  of  ancient  insti- 
tutions is  exactly  like  the  love  of  a  fond  mother  for  her 
children  in  spite  of  tlieir  defects  of  which  the  neighbour 
complains  almost  every  day. 

All  social  institutions  can  more  or  less  claim  the  merit 
of  antiquity;  but  while  in  progressive  communities  they  con- 
stantly undergo  transformation,  in  a  fossilised  social  state 
Mich  as  ours  they  remain  as  they  were  centuries  ago.  The 
Hindu  joint  family  system  had  continued  to  remain,*  until 
the  leavening  influence  of  liritish  rule  began  to  impart  a 
general  shake  to  the  whole  social  system  oE  the  Hindus. 
Most  of  the  progressive  nations  of  the  world,  especially 
those  which  have  a  common  ethnological  origin,  start  with 
more  or  less  kindred  institutions,  but  while  one  nation 
moves  quickly  and  changes  its  institutions,  others  remain 
stationary  and  its  institutions  become  more  or  less  stereo- 
typed. Between  the  institution  of  ancient  Brahminic 
family,  and  the  institution  of  family  in  the  early  societies 
of  a  kindred  origin,  a  striking  analogy  is  found,  A  Hindu 
"kutumba"  or  family  consisted  in  ancient  times  in  a  large 
group  of  persons,  living  within  one  enclosure,  ordinarily 
taking  their  meals  together,  having  a  common  fund  nnd  a 
common  means  of  support,  owning  extensive  landed  pro- 


F.]         THE  HINDU  JOINT  FAMILY  SYSTEM.      121 

perty,  with  herds  and  cattle,  and  probably  slaves,  before 
slavery  was  abolished  by  British  government ; — having 
probably  a  common  family  idol  whose  worship  was  carried  on 
out  of  the  common  funds,  and  performing  the  annual  and 
occasional  religious  ceremonies  in  honor  of  their  departed 
ancestors.*  The  Hindu  joint  families  were  only  a  repro- 
duction of  ancient  patriarchal  groups  of  which  the  chief 
characteristics  were  the  supremacy  of  the  eldest  male,  the 
agnatic  kinship  and  the  resulting  law  of  inheritance ;  and 
ancestor  worship  ;  and  the  Hindu  patriarchal  group  had 
the  special  characteristic  of  the  exclusion  of  females  from 
inheritance.  Tt  is  this  patriarchal  gruup  that  gradually 
developed  into  the  joint  family  system.  "  The  modern 
Hindu  community"  says  Mr.  Bhattacharya,  "  is  mainly  a 
constitution  and  expansion  of  the  eight  original  gotras  or 
patriarchal  group  that  came  over  to  India  from  the  regions 
which  lie  in  the  north-west  of  our  country  across  the  mountain 
chain  which  separates  it  therefrom.  The  gotras  were  absolu- 
tely homogeneous,  excepting  probably  the  slave  element. 
The  members  of  these  gotras  gradually  supplanted  the 
Dasya  race,  and  in  the  course  of  these  struggles,  them- 
selves divided  into  a  number  of  class  divisions  known  as 
castes.  When  the"f  had  given  up  their  nomadic  life,  they 
settled  in  agricultural  communities,  characterised  by  all 
those  attributes,  which  distinguish  tmch  groups  in  other 
parts  of  the  world.  These  assemblages,  known  as  the 
'  pugas/  or  village  communities,  gradually  disappeared, 
or  lost  all  their  essential  traits,  by  operation  partly  of  an 
inherent  principle  of  decay,  partly  also  by  the  disintegrat- 
ing effect  the  Brahminic  religion  had  upon  them.  Through- 
out the  whole  career  of  these  social  groups  so  originated 
in  the  ancient  gotraS)  the  principal  early  traces  were  never 
altogether  cast  off, — the  supremacy  of  the  eldest,  the 

*  Krishna   Kama!    Bhattacharya    on   the   Jaw   relating   to   the    Joint 
Hindu  Family. 


122  INDTAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAKT 

female  exclusion,  the  ancestor  worship,  having  been  either 
kept  in  remembrance,  or  partially  followed  in  practice ; 
while  the  most  characteristic  feature  of  the  gotra  group,  the 
joint  possession  of  all  the  property,  has  retained  its  pri- 
mitive vitality  down  to  our  own  days,— the  result  of  this 
remarkable  vitality  being  the  undivided  family  of  the 
modern  Hindu  Law."  That  the  Khatriyas  and  the  Vaisyas 
«ire  not  tho  lineal  descendants  of  these  eight  gotras  is  a 
notion  which  Mr.  Bhattacharya  discards.  "  The  notion 
was  evidently  generated  by  the  immensely  developed 
arrogance  of  the  Indian  priestly  class — instances  of  this 
arrogance  being  iret  with  in  almost  every  page  of  the  writ- 
ings promulgated  by  thrm  from  the  age  of  Manu.  We  must 
suppose  that  these  gotras,  or  cattle  tending  pastural  groups, 
at  whose  head  probably  stood  the  renowned  eight  Rishis, 
Vasishta  and  others,  included  not  only  the  ancestors  of 
modern  Brahmins,  but  also  the  ancient  progenitors  of  all 
the  genuine  Aryan  Kshatriyas  and  Vaisyas." 

Thus  tho  present  Hindu  joint  family  system  represents 
a  primitive  institution  which  was  common  to  many  races 
and  nationalities,  and  had  its  origin  in  the  necessities  of  a 
remote  age  when  the  protection  of  person  and  property 
and  reparation  for  injuries  suffered  did  not  form  the  duty 
'of  an  organised  central  authority  which  was  obeyed  by 
all  individuals  and  groups  of  individuals,  but  devolved 
more  or  less  on  the  individual  or  individuals  interested  in 
the  vindication  of  justice  according  to  the  sense  of  the  time. 
In  fact,  each  family  was  a  state  in  itself,  and  the  powerful 
opposition  which  the  first  Aryan  settlers  in  India  experi- 
enced from  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  made  it  necessary 
that  the  fo,mily  should  embrace  as  many  persons  as  could 
be  kept  together.  This  explains  the  absolute  authority 
vested  in  the  eldest  member  of  the  family  and  the  exclu- 
sion of  women  from  inheritance.  At  one  time,  in  many 
parts  of  the  world,  the  tribe,  the  city,  the  guild  claimed 


i.]         THE  HINDU  JOINT  FAMILY  SYSTEM.      123 

the  absolute  disposal  of  the  person  and  life  of  individuals  ; 
and  there  was  also  the  military  type  of  society  where  all 
functionaries,  authorities  and  powers,  whether  Civil  or 
Military,  were  regimented  and  disposed  as  in  an  army,  and 
where  the  individual  was  a  mere  cog  in  a  piece  of  mechan- 
ism, and  of  but  secondary  importance.  For  similar  rea- 
sons, the  unsettled  state  of  society  madn  the  family  a  state 
within  state,  of  which  the  head  possessed  absolute  power 
over  the  lives  and  liberties  of  all  the  other  members,  The 
improvement  of  the  joint  property  was  another  cause  of  the 
maintenance  of  large  families.  Some  of  our  ancient  Rishis 
recommend  living  in  joint  families,  because  "  united,  they 
are  likely  to  attain  a,  flourishing  state,"  through  mutual 
assistance  in  the  acquisition  of  wealth  as  well  as  through 
mutual  protection  against  external  danger.  Tho  organiza- 
tion of  the  family  had,  to  fulfil  its  purpose,  to  be  very  com- 
pact and  subject  to  extreme  discipline.  So,  the  father  had 
the  right  to  dispose  of  his  children  in  any  way  he  liked. 
The  father  could  give  away,  sell  away  or  abandon  his  son. 
The  family  was  also  liable  to  make  amends  for  the  injury 
caused  by  any  of  its  members.  It  administered  justice 
within  its  own  limits,  although  the  decision  of  the  family 
was  liable  to  revision  by  higher  tribunals.  The  state  of 
Europe  in  ancient  times  in  this  respect  was  certainly  worse, 
Over  the  children  of  the  family  the  right  of  the  head  had 
absolutely  no  limit,  Children  were  freely  exposed  in  the 
old  Greek  and  Roman  world  and  among  the  Norseman.  In 
the  case  of  the  wife  or  of  children  who  had  been  acknow- 
ledged, the  father  had  the  rights  of  a  Magistrate,  that  is, 
though  he  could  not  legitimately  put  to  death,  except  for  a 
grave  and  sufficient  cause,  there  was  no  recognised  tri- 
bunal to  which  an  appeal  from  his  sentence  would 
lie.  The  father's  right  over  the  person  and  property  was 
also  absolute.  Tho  husband  could  lend  his  wife  to  a 
friend,  as  well  as  choose  a  wife  for  his  son  or  a  husband 


124  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

for  his  daughter.  Neither  wife  nor  children  could  possess 
property.  The  husband  could  adopt  a  stranger  Lo  share 
his  children's  inheritance.  So  late  as  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury thu  Church  Courts  in  England  ruled  that  a  husband 
couKi  transfer  his  wife  for  another  man  for  a  limited  period, 
The  right  of  selling1  a  ward's  marriage  was  among  the  moist 
profitable  incidents  of  feudal  tenure.  A  girl  of  seven  years 
could  bu  betrothed  in  Mediov.il  England,  and  as  down  to  a 
later  time  the  marriages  of!  mere  children  were  still  common, 
the  parental  authority  in  regard  to  marriage  was  practi- 
cally absolute  ;  and  to  marry  without  tho  consent  of  thu 
parents  was  regarded  as  an  outrage  on  decency.  But  in 
Kuropo  Jill  these  Intve  changed,  The  right  of  the  father 
over  the  lives  of  his  children  and  tliu  right  of  the  husband 
over  the  life  of  his  wife  ore  now  practically  obsolete.  In 
India,  though  reform  has  nut  gone  so  Far  as  in  Europe,  still 
British  rule  has  divested  the  Hindu  joint  family  system  of 
its  grosser  barbarities.  Tho  father  can  still  hand  over  his 
sun  to  another  family  for  adoption,  can  keep  his  children 
ignorant,  can  choose  a  husband  or  wife  for  them  ;  he  can 
similarly  consign  his  wife  Lu  a  subordinate  status  in  society 
as  well  as  in  the  family,  ran  ill-treat  her,  deny  her  the 
pleasures  inul  comforts  and  the  education  which  the  male 
mum  burs  of  tho  family  can  claim.  The  spirit  of  the  West 
lias  nut  touched  and  transformed  the  whole,  but  it  may  yet 
accomplish  this  and  bring  our  family  system  into  harmony 
with  the  new  conditions  introduced  by  our  contact  with  the 
West. 

Thu  Hindu  juiut  family  is  different  from  what  is  un- 
derstood by  family  in  other  countries.  Western  countries 
have  discarded  all  that  represented  the  characteristics  of 
barbarous  times — the  need  of  defence  against  enemies,  the 
obligation  of  a  common  family  worship,  and  the  pledges  for 
good  behaviour  exacted  by  (he  State.  But  there  still  remains 
the  family  consisting  of  the  husband,  the  wife  and  the 


i.]         THE  HINDU  JOINT  FAMILY  SYSTEM.      125 

children  who  are  not  adults.  The  European  family 
is  established  in  pursuance  of  the  nutunil  instinct 
implanted  in  the  human  mind  tor  the  union  of  the 
sexes  and  the  perpetuation  of  the  species.  Though 
the  present  Hindu  joint  family  has  survived  its  medieval 
characteristics,  and  is  no  longer  organised  on  a  lar^c  nu- 
merical basis  for  purposes  of  self-protection,  Ac.,  still  it. 
brings  together  under  (he  roof  of  a  common  fHif^r  fattiiliuft 
a  number  of  persons  who  have  no  legal  or  moral  claim  on 
his  support.  It  is  impossible  that  a  Family,  consisting  of  ;i 
number  of  distant  relations  with  absolutelv  no  inlerest  in 
the  happiness  of  the  union  between  the  master  and  the 
mistress  or  in  the  proper  bringing  up  of  the  children,  can  be 
permeated  by  the  samu  leelingof  alTeetionaml  reverence 
and  bound  by  the  same  ties  as  a  family  which  is  based  on 
the  universal  instinct  of  the  animal  nature,  the  attraction 
between  the  two  sexes,  and  through  their  union  the  perpe- 
tuation and  sustained  progress  of  tin*  species.  \Vorking 
through  the  great  law  of  heredity  the  family  founded  on  the 
love  between  man  and  woman  tends  to  briny  into  existence  a 
scries  of  generations,  the  succeeding  generation  being  better 
than  the  preceding  one  in  physique,  in  intelligence  and  in 
morality.  At  all  events,  Lhis  ought  to  be  the  casu  in  ;t 
healthy  society.  Western  saying's  like  lt  the  nation  is  made 
in  the  cradle/1  n  the  moral  man  can  only  be  fonned  on  the 
mother's  knee,"  "  the  position  of  women  in  a  society  ^s  the 
best  te^t  of  its  civilization" — indicate  the  serious  and  noble 
conception  of  the  family  in  the  West-  A  keen  .sense  of  the 
honour  of  the  family  has  often  been  the  incentive  to  the 
noblest  acts  of  heroism  and  self-denial ;  and  besides,  other 
things  being  equal,  the  member  of  a  family  whose  lineal 
ancestors  have  been  brave  men  and  pure  women,  starts 
with  a  better  chance  of  a  blameless  life  than  the  child  whose 
best  hope  is  that  its  family  record  may  nob  be  remembered 
against  it.  No  democratic  prejudice  against  social  distinc- 


126  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [Priv 

tiojis  can  extinguish  the  pride  of  descent.  The  value  of 
family  feeling  is  however  more  based  upon  forethought  for 
the  future  than  on  a  sensibility  to  the  past.  "Whatever 
else  science  teaches  us,"  writes  Mr.  Pearson,  *  "  it  teaches 
that  the  family  with  its  inherited  taints  of  greed  or  lust,  ita 
quick  impulses  or  cautious  movements,  its  sublimated  or 
impaired  brain  power,  ilx  noble  or  sordid  proclivities,  is 
the  one  indestructible  factor  in  human  society.  Wo  may 
destroy  its  vantage  ground  of  privilege  and  consideration, 
but  however  debilitated,  it  will  remain.  No  change  affect- 
ing it  can  1)0  other  than  far  reaching.  The  man  who 
has  not  shrunk  [run  dishonoring  his  ancestors  has  often 
recoiled  from  the  prospect  of  bringing  infamy  upon  his 
children.  In  proportion  as  family  bonds  are  weakened,  as 
the  tic  uniting  husband  and  wife  is  more  and  more  capri- 
cious, ay  the  relations  of  the  children  to  the  parent  become 
more  and  more  temporary,  will  the  religion  of  the  house- 
hold life  gradually  disappear."  What  the  future  of  the 
family  system  of  Kuropc  will  be,  it  is  not  our  object  hereto 
consider.  "  May  it  be,"  sr.ys  this  writer,  "  that  as  husband 
and  wife,  parent  and  children,  master  and  servant,  family 
and  home  loso  more  and  more  of  their  ancient  and  intense 
.significance,  the  old  imperfect  feelings  will  be  transmitted 
into  love  for  fatherland."  May  it  be  or  may  it  not  be.  The 
Hindu  family  system  has  not  reached  a  stage  of  its  refine- 
ment Avlien  similar  doubts  come  within  the  range  of  practi- 
cal sociology.  Hut  it  is  certain  that  it  will  soon  survive 
its  present  crude  stage  and  take  that  constitution  and 
acquire  that  spirit  which  will  make  the  family  a 
healthy  factor  in  society  instead  of  the  drag  and  clog  that 
it  is  at  present.  Man's  part  in  the  social  economy  is  that 
of  the  bread-winner,  the  defender  of  the  living  generation, 
woman's  pare  is  that  of  the  preserver  and  improver  of  the 
coming  generation.  But  the  drones  and  idle  hangers-on 
*  National  Life  and  Character. 


i.]         THE  HINDU  JOINT  FAMILY  SYSTEM.      127 

have  no  part  whatever,  their  only  t-laim  is  to  be  rejected 
and  left  to  suffer  the  consequence  of  their  revolt  against 
nature  which  requires  a  constant  exercise  of  all  faculties  in 
view  to  progress  and  life,  with  the  penalty  of  death  for 
default. 

Thus  the  Hindu  family  system  and  that  of  other  na- 
tions differ  in  character  and  aim,  The  European  family  is 
based  on  the  sovereignty  oE  woman  who  is  the  trim  foun- 
tain of  all  national  greatness,  whereas  tlio  Hindu  system 
still  keeps  its  old  distinctive  feature,  being  an  organization 
chiefly  for  the  building  up  of  common  property.  The 
family  organization  has  no  longer  to  defend  itself  against 
outside  aggression,  nor  is  it  kept  together  for  common  an- 
cestor worship.  Its  only  object,  at  present  is  to  provide  for 
the  maintenance  of  u  number  of  persons  connected  together 
by  some  sort  of  relationship.  Jc  is  not  only  the  support  of 
the  old  parents  arid  brothers  that  it  undertakes,  but  also 
that  of  sisters,  cousins  and  other  destitute  relations,  The 
object  was  in  a  measuro  easily  attain od  in  former  times, 
when  all  the  members  could  live  together  under  the  same 
roof,  deriving  their  livelihood  from  the  common  landed 
property.  Instances  were  not  uncommon  until  a  few  years 
ago  when  a  single  family  consisted  of  nearly  one  hundred 
persons,  men,  women,  children  and  servants.  But  in  pro- 
portion as  the  livelihood  of  the  family  ceases  to  bo  derived 
from  land  alone  ami  is  derived  from  other  occupations  as 
well,  this  unwieldy  constitution  of  the  family  is  bound  to  be 
shaken.  The  upper  classes  of  Hindu.s  now  largely  fill  the 
public  service,  learned  professions,  and  the  occupations  of 
trade  and  commerce,  and  it  is  obvious  that  such  people 
cannot  live  together  in  the  same  place  or  that  the  earnings 
of  different  members  cannot  be  thrown  together  into  a  com- 
mon stock  for  common  support.  The  father  is  separated 
from  the  son,  brother  from  brother,  uncle  from  nephew,  and 
90  on;  each  living  in  a  place  to  which  his  avocation  calls, 


128  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PACT 

This  necessity  of  modern  times  is  a  great  blow  to  the  old 
constitution  and  spirit  of  the  joint  family.  Where  the 
different  members  of  the  family  live  together  in  the  same 
house,  the  elder  mulu  members  exercise  more  influence  on 
the  younger  ones,  and  tho  distinction  between  the  working 
man  and  the  idler,  the  clever  man  and  the  dullard,  the  old  and 
the  young,  is  less  observed,  and  the  women  of  the  family 
are  consigned  to  a  common  position  of  subordination  to  all 
the  adult  male  members.  Hut  when  the  joint  family  is 
scattered  into  different  groups  in  distant  places,  each  group 
becomes  a  family  in  itself,  more  simple  and  rational  in  its 
constitution  and  spirit,  though  tho  obligations  of  their  joint 
nature  are  more  or  less  respected-  In  the  present  transition 
state,  tho  Hindu  joint  family  system  is  less  antagonistic  to 
the  dignity  of  woman,  and  to  the  freedom  of  the  individual, 
and  more  calculated  to  keep  out  the4  drones. 

How  the  evils  of  the  Hindu  joint  family  system  strike 
a  sympathetic  outsider  disposed  to  be  lenient  to  our  faults 
and  actuated  by  a  most  goiuiinu  sympathy  for  the  well- 
being  of  the  Hindu  nation,  will  be  seen  from  the  opinions 
which  Mr.  II.  J.  S.  Cotton,  now  Chief  Commissioner  of 
Assam,  expressed  nearly  twenty  years  ago.  'flic  climate  of 
India  is  enervating,  while  the  simple  wants  of  the  people 
can  be  easily  supplied,  and  there  is  a  tendency,  in  conse- 
quence, among  the  great  mass  of  the  population  to  lead  an 
idle  life,  to  eke  out  a  livelihood  by  begging,  or  to  support 
themselves  at  tho  great  expense  of  their  charitable  relations 
or  neighbours.  This  system  has  given  riso  to  a  Lwaje  class 
of  idle  population  in  India,  and  is  producing  incalculable 
evils  to  progress.  "  It  is  this  state  of  things,"  Mr.  H.  J.  8. 
Cotton  says,  "  which  I  condemn  as  a  bad  one,  It  is  de- 
sirable to  encourage  among  individuals  not  only  a  sense  of 
self-reliance,  but  a  desire  to  be  independent,  and  a  feeling 
of  yhame  in  receiving  support  from  the  charity  or  labour  of 
others  without  the  return  of  any  corresponding  equivalent. 


i.]         THE  HINDIT  JOINT  FAMILY  SYSTEM.      129 

It  is  only  the  sick  and  infirm,  women  and  children,  and,  for 
special  reasons,  the  priesthood,*  who  are  rightly  supported 
by  the  labour  or  others. 

The  able-bodied  man  must  work,  and  the  necessity  of 
work  is  a  principle,  which  above  all  others,  requires  to 
be  implanted  in  the  mind  of  the  oriental,  whose  home  is  in 
a  hemisphere  where  the  bounty  of  nature  seems  almost  to 
remove  every  physical  stimulus  to  exertion.  The  dignity 
of  labour  is  a  faint  glimmering  light  even  in  AVestern 
Europe  ;  but  in  India  such  an  idea  is  not  only  unknown  but 
repellent,  and  it  is  considered  disgraceful  in  a  man  to  work 
for  his  livelihood  by  the  labour  of  his  hands.  Therefore, 
I  believe  that  in  India  any  system  of  social  life  which  in- 
directly or  directly  may  bo  said  to  afford  encouragement  to 
sloth  is  injurious,  and  that  we  should  do  our  best  to  modify 
or  eradicate  it." 

I  am  not  discussing,  in  this  paper,  the  subject  of  our 
joint  family  system  in  regard  to  the  law  relating  to  the 
rights  of  its  constituent  members,  but  am  considering  the 
wider  aspect  of  its  effect  on  the  general  well-being  of 
society.  Still  the  one  not  being  separable  from  the  other, 
the  discussion  which  Sir  V.  Bashyam  Tyongar's  I3ill  on 
cl  the  Hindu  Gains  of  Learning"  raised  in  Southern  India, 
throws  a  good  deal  of  light  on  the  general  evils  of  the 
present  state  of  the  Hindu  family.  Though  the  discussion 
was  confined  to  the  more  educated  classes  among  Hindus, 
still  a  few  of  them,  true  to  the  conservative  instinct  of  the 
race,  expressed  themselves  against  the  proposed  legislation. 
But  the  majority  of  those  that  were  consulted  on  the  desi- 
rability of  legislation  to  protect  the  earnings  of  a  member  of 
a  joint  family  from  wanton  claimy  urged  by  the  drones 
were  in  favour  of  such  protection  being  granted,  and  point- 
ed out  some  of  the  more  flagrant  evils  of  the  existing 
system.  I  shall  quote  here  the  opinions  of  two  Hindu  gentle- 

*  Mr.  H.  J.  S.  Cotton  is  a  follower  of  Comte, 

17 


]  30  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

men,  who,  by  virtue  of  the  position  they  hold,  may  bo 
said  to  be  misled  by  no  fads  or  theories,  but  to  take  a 
practical  view  of  the  question.  Dowan  Bahadur  Srinivasa- 
raghava  lyengur,  who  lias  boon  the  chief  minister  of  the 
Native  State  of  Baroda,  for  over  five  years,  says  :  "  What 
generally  happens  in  Hindu  families  is  this  :  So  long  as  the 
earning  member  Ijvos  there  is  seldom  uny  trouble;  the 
other  members  look  to  him  Tor  protection  und  know  that,  it 
they  put  any  pressure1  upon  him,  it  is  open  to  him  to  sepa- 
rate himself  from  the  family  and  thus  cut  off  their  supplies. 
When  liu  separates  himself  of  his  own  accord  he  generally 
makes,  out  of  his  "elf-acquisitions,  provision  for  the  other 
members  to  the  extent  of  his  means,  though  he  does  not 
feel  bound  to  consider  his  cousins,  nephews,  and  other 
distant  relations  as  being  on  the  same  footing  as  his  own 
children  whose  interests  have  naturally  the  first  claims  on 
him.  It  is  when  ho  dies  leaving  a  widow,  more  or  less  help- 
less, and  young  children,  more  especially  girls,  that  the 
troubles  commence,  leading  to  much  fraud  and  waste  of 
property.  The  proposed  legislation  will  effectually  put  a 
stop  to  these  evils  and  bo  of  great  benefit  to  the  country." 
SirKp  Seshadri  Iyer,  the  veteran  minister  or  Mysore,  says  : 
11  He  (the  earning  member)  would,  in  most  cases,  be  found 
most  willing  and  ready  tu  assist  his  poor  relations  if  the 
matter  were  loft  to  his  own  good  sense,  natural  affection, 
and  desiro  to  win  public  esteem.  On  the  other  hand,  to 
the  man  who  is  dead  to  the  dictates  of  natural  affection  and 
the  duties  enjoined  by  the  opinion  of  society,  there  is  al- 
ready, under  the  existing  system,  a  ready  means  of  escape, 
as  he  has  only  to  take  the  precaution  of  having  a  division 
of  family  property  effected  when  there  appears  a  prospect 
of  his  attaining  to  wealth.  The  real  sufferer,  under  the 
existing  system,  therefore,  is  the  educated  earning  man 
having  a  respect  for  the  opinion  of  society  and  natural 
affection  for  his  brothers  and  more  distant  kindred,  who 


i.]         THE  HINDU  JOINT  FAMILY  SYSTEM.      131 

hesitates  to  resort  to  a  division  of  family  property,  an  ex- 
treme measure  which  is  distasteful  to  every  Hindu  as  it 
involves  a  severance  from  the  rest  of  his  family  and  renders 
him,  for  all  practical  purposes,  including  those  of  religious 
ceremonial,  an  absolute  at  ranger  to  them.11  Sir  V.  Hashyam 
lyengar  himself  stated  that  '•  tho  personal  law  of  a  nation 
in  its  bearing  on  domestic  and  family  relations,  should  bo 
such  as  to  ensure  honesty  and  fair  dealing  at  home,  but  if 
the  law,  owing  to  its  obscurity  and  uncertainty  or  any  fault 
therein,  is  such  that  honesty  docs  not  begin  at  home,  the 
sooner  it  is  changed,  the  better  will  it  bo  for  the  develop- 
ment of  the  character  of  the  nation  as  cil'/ens."  Thus  the 
present  system  of  the,  Hindu  joint  family  has  a  most 
demoralising  effect  on  the  individual  members  of  the 
family  ;  and  its  effect,  more  especially,  cm  the  most  capa- 
ble and  iutelligent  member  —  the  member  who  earns  his  own 
livelihood  and  the  livelihood  of  a  number  of  others — is  most 
deleterious,  driving  him  to  fraudulent  and  bimimi  transac- 
tions to  elude  the  inroads  of  idles  greed. 

The  general  demoralisation  of  Ihe  members  of  the 
family,  with  a  direct  or  indirect  interest  in  the  joint  pro- 
perty and  earnings,  and  the  taking  away  of  individual 
freedom  from  the  earning  member  who,  by  his  intelligence 
and  capacity,  is  most  likely  to  be  of  use  to  society,  are 
among  the  worst  evils  of  this  system.  I  havo  already 
dwelt  on  the  importance  of  individual  freedom  as  a  factor 
in  social  progress.  In  proportion  as  the  individual  is 
allowed  full  scope  for  the  elevation  and  expansion  of  his 
nature,  the  society  of  which  he  i,s  a-  member  and  for  whose 
progressive  well-being  he  is  called  upon  to  labour  and 
employ  his  talents,  makes  progress  along  all  the  lines  of 
civilization.  Although  the  material  and  social  conditions 
of  a  nation  help  the  moulding  of  individual  character,  still 
the  reverse  is  also  true,  and  we  sec  almost  every  day  how 
the  knowledge,  energy  and  corporate  capacity  of  individuals 


INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

are  building  up  the  fortunes  and  greatness  of  nations. 
Even  outside  the  dominion  of  man,  in  the  wider  dominion 
of  nature,  the  same  law  of  a  ceaseless  struggle  for  indi- 
vidual assertion  and  individual  perfection  is  teen  to  prevail. 
All  alike,  animals  and  men,  arc  seen  struggling  for  this  end 
— the  end  of  individual  mastery.  Who  is  there  in  this  wide 
world,  in  the  sluggish  and  indolent  countries  of  the  East  or 
in  thu  active  and  aggressive  countries  of  the  West,  who  is  not 
actuated  by  the  ambition  to  rise  to  a  higher  position  than 
his  neighbours  have  reached,  to  be  less  and  less  dependent 
on  others,  to  secure  fcho  freest  and  widest  range  for  the  dis- 
play of  his  talents  and  capacities  ?  Money,  position,  and 
authority  arc  all  prized,  not  so  much  for  themselves  as  for 
the  means  they  furnish  to  satisfy  tins  ambition,  this  deep 
seated  desire,  in  the  heart  of  man.  Tyrants  and  priests 
have  throughout  the  history  ol'  man  tried  to  suppress  and 
crush  out  this  desire  by  their  selfish  policies  and  vile 
doeda.  But  as  the  present  condition  of  Europe  and  Ameri- 
can, aye,  even  of  Asia,  shows,  this  implanted  nature  of  man 
— the  nature  of  the  low,  crawling  slave  as  well  as  of  the 
mighty  Emperor— will  in  the  long  rim  assert  itself,  some- 
times in  open  rebellions  and  violent  efforts,  but  often  in  in- 
sidious plans  and  secret  circumventions.  The  Peasant 
War  of  the  17th  century,  the  French  Revolution  of  the  18th 
uud  the  socialistic  and  anarchic  movements  of  the  19th  in 
the  European  continent,  arc  a  few  more  prominent  among 
the  numerous  instances  of  man's  instinctive  desire  for 
freedom,  bursting  like  volcanic  eruptions  through  obstacles 
placed  by  ambitious  and  self-seeking  rulers,  who  in 
their  own  deeds  and  careers  illustrate  the  law  we 
are  hero  laying  stress  upon.  No  system  of  society  or 
government  can  endure  which  makes  no  provision  some- 
where for  the  expansion  of  the  individual  ;  and  unless  this 
is  done,  it  must  either  explode  in  revolutions  or  sink  into 
ruin  and  decay.  In  the  robust  West,  it  ended  in  revolutions, 


L]        THE  HIND  U  JOINT  FAMIL  7  S  YSTEH.        1 33 

while  in  the  apathetic  East,  the  political  system  collapset3, 
and  society  has  sunk  into  hopeless  decay.  fi  To  what  is  the 
stagnant  conditionof  India  with  its  swarming  millions,  due/1 
asks  an  English  writer/"  "  but  to  the  system  of  caste  which, 
leaving  no  room  for  individual  character  and  genius  to 
climb,  reduces  man  to  thu  condition  of  a  thing,  and  of  his 
immortal  spirit  makes  a  base  and  matciial  tool  merely? 
To  be  free  to  develop  every  side  ui'  our  nature  according 
to  the  inimite  variety  and  .subtlety  of  genius  and  aspira- 
tions, that  is  expansion,  that  is  liberty/''  Caste  is  the 
colossal  Jagannath  under  vvliosn  ponderous  wheels  thu 
Hindu  nature  is  squeezed  and  crushed  ;  but  the  joint  family 
system  is  the  car  of  the  minor  deity  which,  behind  thu 
chief  figure  in  the  destructive  show,  plays  its  own  part 

with  substantial  effect. 

» 

Many  a  Hindu  has  had  his  whole  nature  strangled, 
his  talents  degraded,  his  budding  ambition  blighted,  his 
hopes  and  aspirations  frustrated,  because  amidst  the  heavy 
burdens  pressing  on  him  as  the  most  useful  member  of  a 
large  joint  family  he  could  not  act  in  obedience  to  his  own 
impulses  and  convictions  !  There  would  be  more  public 
benefactors,  more  social  reformers,  and  more  patriots  in 
India  but  for  this  social  system  and  the  tyranny  of  public 
opinion  formed  and  educated  under  it  and  other  kindred 
institutions-  How  old  grand  mothers  who  will  not  die, 
brothers  who  have  to  be  fed  and  brought  up,  and  do- 
nothing  dependents,  have  prevented  many  an  educated 
Hindu  from  fulfilling  his  most  ardent  desire,  his  most 
cherished  convictions,  in  the  interest  of  his  countrymen  arid 
his  fellow-creatures.  He  has  left  his  own  wife  and  children 
helpleas  and  dependent  on  public  charity,  because  while 
he  was  alive,  all  his  earnings  were  eaten  up  by  brothers, 
nephews  and  cousin H,  who,  in  return  would  most  cruelly 
eject  from  their  doors  thu  destitute  widow  of  their  lato 
*  John  Batio  Crozier  on  Civilization  aud  Progress. 


134  INDIAN  SOCIAL  KEffORM.  [PART 

1  'jiiefactor.  In  such  cases,  gratitude  is  out  of  the  question, 
because  the  help  that  the  drones  receive  is  not  considered 
us  u.  favour,  but  as  an  inadequate  fulfilment  of  an  obliga- 
tion. They  grumble  that  more  is  not  done  for  them,  and 
arc  jealous  that  others  receive  more  of  the  master's  good 
things.  The  Hindu  joint  family  is  seldom  the  happy  home 
to  which  tin1  responsible  master  returns  for  relief  and  rest 
after  the  day's  hard  toil  ;  it  is  rather  a  Feeding  house 
where  every  one  is  fed,  not  out  of  charity,  but  as  a  matter 
of  right  on  thn  part  of  the  dependents  ;  and  for  all  the 
sacrifice  that  the  master  undergoes,  anything  but  gratitude 
from  the  dependents  or  place  in  his  own  mind  is  the 
guerdon. 

It  is  only  among  Hindus  that  this  custom  of  an  earning 
miin  supporting  a  large  number  of  relations  and  dependents 
prevails.  In  no  other  country  is  this  obligation  recognised 
to  the  same  extent.  Even  among  the  Maliomedans  of  India 
the  joint  family  system  does  not  prevail.  1  do  not  lose 
sight  of  the  natural  feeling  of  attachment  between  brothers 
and  sisters  that  were  brought  up  by  the  same  parents  and 
under  the  same  mof.  JJut  this  attachment  can  be  healthy 
and  beneficial  only  when  it  is  spontaneous  and  not  forced. 
In  the  discussion  that  was  raised  on  Sir  V.  Hashyam  lyengar's 
Uains  of  Learning  Hill,  a  good  deal  was  said  of  the  obliga- 
tion of  the  member  educated  at  the  joint  expense  of  the 
family  to  educate  and  bring  up  the  other  members,  I  do 
not  sec  how  this  obligation  arises.  The  education  of  chil- 
dren is  recognized  in  all  civilized  countries  as  an  obligatory 
duty  of  the  parents  ;  and  such  importance  is  attached  to 
the  proper  education  of  every  member  of  the  community, 
that,  if  the  parents  are  unable  to  discharge  this  duty,  the 
State  undertakes  it.  The  persons  that  were  responsible  for 
my  birth  arc  bound  to  see  that  I  do  not  become  a  burden 
to  myself  and  to  society.  If  the  birth  of  healthy  children, 
the  bringing  up  of  capablu  citizens  and  the  progressive 


i.]         THE  HINDU  JOINT  FAMILY  SYSTEM.      135 

perpetuation  of  the  species,  is  the  object  and  oud  of  th^ 
union  of  the  sexes,  thcMi  this  duty  should  be  boldly  faced 
by  the  parents  or  should  bo  undertaken  by  the  community 
which  benefits  by  the  consequences  of  this  natural  instinct;. 
To  throw  this  duty  on  the  back  of  an  individual  who  is  in 
no  sense  answerable  for  the  union  of  the?  sexes  or  for  its 
consequences,  is  unreasonable  and  wrong.  To  contend  that 
anything  done  to  weaken  this  obligation  recognized  in  the 
Hindu  joint  family  system  will  result  in  the  retardation  of 
progress  in  the  general  education  of  the  community  i,s  In 
betray  ignorance  of  the  social  conditions  of  other  countries 
in  the  world,  hi  countries  where  every  n.an  ami  woman 
can  read  and  write,  no  such  system  exists  ;  and  among  the 
non-Hindu  sections  of  the  Indian  population,  Parsees  and 
Native  Christians,  and  Mahometans,  education  is  not 
obstructed  by  the  absence  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  Hindu 
social  system.  To  shelve?  on  other  shoulders  the  responsi- 
bility which  belongs  to  the  parents  must  have1,  the  effect  of 
making  them  undervalue  its  seriousness  and  show  improvi- 
dence and  wrecklessness  in  the  bringing  up  of  the  family. 
How  many  Hindu  parents  are  there  who  feel  and  act  under 
the  conviction  that  they  will  rather  have  a  few  children 
and  give  them  good  education  and  respectable  breeding, 
than  have  a  number  of  them  who  cannot  all  be  educated, 
cannot  inherit  sufficient  means  to  support  themselves,  or 
get  a  decent  start  in  life  ?  Yet,  nothing  can  be  more  desir- 
able for  the  material  and  moral  well-being  of  the  community 
than  such  a  feeling  and  such  a  conviction. 

One  great  merit  that  is  claimed  for  the  Hindu  joint 
family  system  is  that  it  solves  the  problem  of  the  poor  in 
India.  Though  there  is  some  force  in  this,  yet  I  cannot 
admit  that  the  absorption  of  a  large  portion  of  the  pauper 
and  idle  population  in  the  family  is  an  unmixed  good.  As 
I  have  already  said,  the  Hindu  family  does  not  foster  a 
genuine  feeling  of  charity,  for  it  is  not  spontaneous  or  dis- 


136  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

criminate  and  is  often  exercised  under  circumstances 
which,  instead  of  blessing-  both  the  giver  and  the  receiver, 
demoralise  both,  find  bring  evil  to  the  individual  and  the 
rom  in  unity.  A  system  of  pauper  relief  which  will  make 
evory  able-bodied  idler  to  Avork  and  earn  his  own  liveli- 
hood is  nn  infinitely  bettor  solution  of  the  question  than 
our  joint  family  system.  Mr.  H.  J.  S.  Cotton,  to  whose 
opinion  I  have  already  alluded,  contests  this  point  as  fol- 
lows :  "  I  think  you  somewhat  unnecessarily  assume  that 
if  the  family  drones  were  bereft  of  family  support  they 
would  sink  into  the  Condition  of  paupers,  and  become  a 
burden  upon  the  general  community-  The  argument  may 
be  unduly  pressed.  For  there  is  indeed  little  or  no  ana- 
logy between  the  problem  of  pauperism  in  Europe  and  of 
poverty  in  India.  Jn  ordinary  times — famine  and  other 
similar  calamities  apart — the  pauper  of  India  is  not  like 
the  pauper  of  England,  for  whom  sustenance  can  only  be 
found  at.  the  public  cost  ;  and  the  reason  of  this  is  that  the 
necessaries  of  life  in  an  inclement  country  like  England  are 
so  immeasurably  greater  and  more  expensive  than  they  are 
in  India.  In  ordinary  times  I  should  have  no  fear  of  the 
pauperisation  of  India  if  the  Hindu  joint  family  system 
ceased  to  exist.  There  is  no  pauperisation  among  Ma- 
honiedans  with  whom  no  such  system  prevails.  In  tiinos  of 
crisis  tho  charity  of  the  joint  family  dries  up  unavoidably, 
tho  misery  and  starvation  among  the  idle  mouths  depend- 
ent on  it  for  their  support  is  even  greater  than  it  would  have 
been  if  they  had  previously  bee  a  in  the  habit  of  endeavour- 
ing to  support  themselves.  These  diones  are  paupers  al- 
ready. They  should  be  compelled  to  work,  but  the  exist- 
ence of  the  family  system  removes  the  necessity.  Only  in 
time  of  famine  it  is  that  they  a:-e  cast  out,  a  useless  num- 
ber of  mouths  to  feed,  who  in  no  inconsiderable  degree  en- 
hance the  difficulty  of  the  problem  of  famine  administra- 
tion," 


i.]         THE  HINDTT  JOINT  FAMILY  SYSTEM.      137 

Another  great  objection  to  the  joint  family  system  is 
that  it  degrades  the  position  of  women.  Instead  of  ruling 
the  family  as  its  queen,  commanding  obedience  and  rever- 
ence, the  Hindu  woman  is  the  drudging  slave.  No  culture 
or  elevation  of  feminine  nature  is  possible  in  a  Hindu  home. 
The  first  essential  of  a  happy  family,  a  free  love  between 
husband  and  wife,  is  restricted  and  smothered  by  the  cross 
influences  of  a  number  of  individuals  who  do  not  strictljT 
belong  to  the  family.  The  instinct  of  lovo  is  as  deeply  im- 
planted in  the  human  rnind  as  tire  other  natural  instincts,  and 
it  constantly  forces  a  vent  for  its  exercise.  But  hindrances 
that  cannot  be  overcome  restrain  this  exercise,  giving  rise 
to  a  good  deal  of  demoralisation  of  both  the  parties.  A 
genuine  love,  a  true  feeling  of  affinity,  cordial  companion- 
ship, mental  correction  and  elevation — are  said  by  modern 
scientists  to  be  essential  for  healthy  offspring.  But  our 
constitution  of  the  family  makes  this  impossible.  How  un- 
natural is  this  constitution,  is  almost  daily  illustrated  in 
the  constant  grumbling  of  tho  old  matron  of  the  house  of 
tho  dominion  of  the  wife  over  the  husband  who,  fearing 
the  displeasure  of  his  older! y  relations,  and  at  the  same 
time  unable  to  resist  the  instinct  which  draws  him 
in  a  bond  ot  holy  and  affectionate  kinship  close 
to  his  wife,  is  a  most  unhappy  victim  to  his  own  em- 
barrassment and  moral  conflict.  Many  a  young  wife  has 
suffered  the  most  cruel  treatment  from  her  husband  and 
has  had  her  whole  life  blasted  and  wrecked  under  the 
coercion  of  tho  unsympathetic  and  selfish  drones  hanging 
011  the  family,  No  happiness,  no  culture,  no  ideal  is  pos- 
sible to  the  Hindu  wife,  her  only  ideal  is  to  drudge  in  the 
kitchen  from  day's  end  to  day's  end.  The  four  walls  of 
the  Zenana  enclose  tho  universe  that  she  knows.  tl  The 
moral  itian  grows  on  the  knees  of  the  mother" — but  in 
India,  the  child— the  father  of  the  man — knows  nothing 
like  mother's  training  and  experiences  very  little  of  the 
18 


INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

sacred  influence  wliich  the  tender  solicitude  of  the  mother 
exercises  on  the  child's  moral  as  well  as  physical  growth. 
The  mother  herself — though  she  is  only  a  child  when  the 
burden  of  maternity  begins  to  rest  on  her — can  receive  or 
give  herself  no  education  whatever.  Liberty  of  every  kind 
being  denied,  she  has  her  natural  intelligence  and  her 
faculties  crushed  by  restraints  or  degraded  by  ill-treat- 
ment. If  we  observe  the  difference  between  the  joint 
family  as  ifc  still  survives  in  villages  and  out  of  the  way 
places,  and  the  family  constituted  by  the  educated  Hindu 
of  the  modern  times,  with  his  young  wife  far  off  from  his 
parents  and  elchrly  relations,  in  regard  to  the  relation  be- 
tween husband  and  wife  and  general  tone  of  the  family, 
how  in  the  one  case  tho  young  wife  is  a  dumb  driven  cat- 
tle, an  entire  stranger  to  nil  freedom,  to  all  elevating  im- 
pulses and  influence's,  and  how  in  the  other  she  with  dignity 
plays  tho  mistress  of  the  household,  is  a  ministering  angel 
to  her  husband,  ami  the  earnest  but  gentle  tender  of  her 
children,  the  unnatural  and  vicious  constitution  of  the 
joint  family  system  will  be  apparent-  Away  from  her 
mother-in-law  and  the  family  she  dominates,  the  young 
Hindu  wife  is  a  blithesome  sprightly  girl,  loving  freedom, 
and  indulging  in  her  natural  tastes.  She  learns  and  exer- 
cises responsibility ;  reads  and  thinks;  is  curious  about 
world's  affairs,  and  has  her  faculties  expanded.  But  in 
the  cramping  atmosphere  of  the  joint  family  ahe  is  an 
overworked,  ill-treated,  sullen  and  unhappy  creature,  the 
very  picture  of  helplessness  and  depression.  In  such  a 
state  it  is  impossible  that  the  Hindu  mothers  can  originate 
a  protfeny  that  can  be  of  service  in  the  advancement  of 
society's  well-being. 

In    Bengal,   it    is    believed,    the  joint    family  system 
has  made  the  seclusion  of  tlie  women  behind  the  P-iA'da,  and 
the  pernicious  prac;tico  of  infaut  marriage,  necessary.   tk  A 
uu»ru:>)us  group,  like  our  joint  family,    between   whom  the 


i.]        THE  HINDU  JOINT  FAMILY  SYSTEM.      139 

bonds  of  natural  affection  are  very  unequal  cannot,  I  fear, 
be  allowed  the  fullest  social  intercourse,  and  that  within 
the  seclusion  of  the  home,  without  serious  danger  to  their 
moral  purity  ;  and  the  purda  being  thus  necessary  within 
the  family,  it  cannot  be  dispensed  with  in  respect  of  out- 
sider a.  The  Purda  as  well  as  the  subordinate  organiza- 
tion of  the  zenana  system,  requires  that  the  newly  mar- 
ried wife  should  bo  trained  lo  the  habits  :mu  ways  of  ihe 
society  .she  enters  into.  To  this  end  infant  marriages 
arc  more  or  lets  indispensable/'  *  Thus  in  Hcugal  this 
system  has  developed  evils  which  in  (Southern  India, 
have  not  overtaken  it.  Merc  neither  the  purda  sys- 
tem nor  the  practice  of  child  marriage  is  an  inseparable 
characteristic  of  the  joint  family.  Uravidian  women,  like 
their  sisters  of  tho  Uekhan  and  Western  India,  are  not 
secluded  behind  the  purda,  though  their  movements  in- 
side the  house  ns  well  as  outside  are  subjected  to  restraints 
sometimes  exceediug  the  necessary  limits  of  that  modesty 
and  reserve  which  so  much  add  to  the  grace  of  feminine 
nature.  Nor  is  the  practice  of  child  marriage  prevalent 
among  the  non-Brahmin  communities  who  are  as  much 
addicted  to  the  joint  family  system  as  the  Brahmins.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  purda  system  as  well  as  child 
marriages  were  introduced  in  consequence  of  Mahomodau 
rule  to  protect  women  from  the  violence  which  the  exam- 
ple of  Mahomedaii  rulers  and  the  general  lawlessness  of 
the  times  encouraged.  But  to  *ay  that  the  purda  is 
necessary  to  protect  the  moral  purity  orwomun  within  the 
four  walls  of  the  home  is  as  absurd  in  theory  as  it  is  a 
gross  libel  ou  Hindu  women.  In  Southern  India,  I  have 
heard  of  joint  families  consisting  of  tif by  persons  and  more, 
and  not  a  whisper  has  been  heard  agaiust  the  chastity  of 
their  feminine  inmates.  Hindu  women  have  many  defects 
in  their  nature  :  they  are  ignorant,  superstitious,  liable  to 
*^A  Bengali  gentleman's  views  quotcdby  Mr.  H.  J.  8.  Cotton, 


140  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

be  easily  tumpted,  wanting  in  refinement ;  in  fact  they  have 
most  of  the  defects  incidental  to  a  crude  state  of  society  in 
which  women  are  held  in  subjection,  But  their  chastity 
has  never  been  questioned.  If  in  Bengal  greater  precau- 
tions are  deemed  necessary  to  screen  the  weak  feminine 
nature  against  the  outrage  of  the  other  sax,  it  can  only 
show  how  wicked  the  masculine  sex  of  Bengal  must  be. 
Still  neither  in  Kengal  nor  in  any  part  India  is  the  pnrda  a 
necessary  part  of  the  Hindu  family  system,  no  more  than 
it  is  of  the  family  system  of  other  countries  in  the  world- 
In  Southern  India  where  the  purda  does  not  seclude  the 
women  of  the  family  from  men,  tho  position  of  the  women  is 
degraded  enough  ;  but  the  pnrda  of  the  Bengal  household 
can  only  add  to  this  degradation.  "  It  consigns  women/1 
says  Mr.  II.  J.  S.  Cotton,  "  to  a  condition  of  subordination 
and  subjection  which  experience  shows  us  is  inseparable 
from  a  life  of  domestic  servitude.  It  is  based  on  a  coarse 
view  of  life,  which  has  no  other  bond  of  union  between  the 
sexes  than  a  mere  sensual  idea."  If  the  practice  of  child 
marriage  is  rendered  necessary  by  the  joint  family  system, 
the  system  is  to  be  condemned  all  the  more.  The  most  narrow 
minded  reactionary  among  modern  Hindus  has  not  found  jus- 
tification for  child  marriage,  the  greatest  curse,  next  to  caste, 
that  has  brought  the  Hindu  race  so  low.  To  say  that  girls 
should  be  married  when  they  are  yet  children  in  order  to 
prevent  immorality  only  shows  how  wicked  and  immoral 
must  be  the  society  where  a  man  cannot  come  in  contact 
with  a  woman  without  being  moved  by  the  vilest  of  thoughts. 
Child  marriage  is  not  the  universal  practice  in  India,  and 
yet  in  families  where  girls  are  not  married  until  they  are 
well  advanced  in  years,  female  chastity  is  preserved  beyond 
the  reach  of  slander  or  calumny,  To  woman  as  well  as  man 
purity  is  possible  under  a  good  domestic  discipline ;  and 
if  in  India  women  more  readily  yield  to  temptations  or 
succumb  to  the  wickedness  of  man,  it  is  because  their  moral 


i.]        THE  HINDU  JOINT  FAMILY  SYSTEM.      141 

as  well  as  physical  nature  is  weak,  partly  in  consequence  rf 
inherited  phyaioolgical  conditions  and  partly  of  the  senti- 
ment ingrained  in  the  nature  of  the  Hindu  woman  that  she 
should  not  resist  man's  intrusion  or  insult,  however  wicked 
his  intention  may  be. 

Woman,   as    1   have    said,  is  the  preserver    of  future 
generations  and  improver    of    tho    race,  in    thu  sense  that 
from    her  human  evolution  derives  its  progressive  energy. 
The  ancient  Hindu  sages    recognised    this    sublime    truth. 
Like  the  Greeks,  they  saw  in  the  union  of  two    individuals 
of  opposite  sexes,  the  sacred  design  of  reproduction  alone, 
which  consecrated  this  act  as  necessary  anil  .sublime,    thus 
preventing  the    possibility   of  unworthy   suggestions    and 
trains  of  thought  in  a  normal  and  ripened  intellect.     They 
had  not  obscured  and  perverted  this  elementary  impulse  in 
man  as  modern  civilization    has,    rind    therefore   wcro    still 
penetrated  with  the  natural  admiration  and  gratitude    for 
the  process  which  is  the  source  of    all   life   throughout  the; 
universe,  the  process  of  reproduction.     They   paid    honors 
to  the  organs  involved  in  this    vital  action,   placed   repre- 
sentations   of    them   as   symbols  of  fruitfulness     in     the 
temples,    public   places    and   dwellings,    invented    special 
deities  to  personify  propagation,  and  paid  them  a  worship 
which  did  not  then  degenerate  into    gross  and    purposeless 
sensuality   until   the    later   periods   of  the    moral   decay,* 
Human    love  is  no   doubt   principally  an   impulse  for   thu 
company    of   a   certain    individual   with    tho    purpose   of 
reproduction,  but  in  fact  it   is  something    more  than   this 
impulse.     It  is  an  enjoyment    of   the  intellectual  qualities 
of  the  beloved  being.     The  sentiment  survives  the  impulse 
for   reproduction,  and   is  a   living    force   in  the   union  of 
two    individual     throughout     life.     The    intellect    of  the 
Hindu  wife  is  not  cultivated,   and   in  modern  times  there 
is  great  disparity  between  the  educated  Hindu  and  his  un- 

*  Max  Nordau  on  Conventional  Lies. 


142  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [?AUT 

e  lucatcd  wife  iu  regard  to  cultured  intelligence.  But, 
though  the  intellect  of  the  Hindu  woman  is  uncultivated, 
still  she  is  not  wanting  in  natural  intelligence  which  makes 
lieu-  company  M  source  of  pleasure  and  often  of  edification. 
JKit  this  disparity  ought  not  to  exist,  and  to  raise  her  from 
her  position  of  mental  inferiority  which  often  mars  domes- 
tic felicity  and  causes  great  injury  to  the  offspring,  is  one 
of  the  objects  with  which  an  alteration  in  the  foundation 
of  the  Hindu  Family  system  is  advocated, 

The  degradation  of  woman  is  the  result  of  our  social 
system,  undby  her  ignorance  and  weakness  and  by  her  very 
degraded  state/ she  often  falls  mid  sinks  into  deeper 
degradation.  The  old  bonds  of  society  are  giving  way  and 
woman  has  no  longer  the  same  safeguards  and  asylums 
that  she  had  in  former  times.  There  is  consequently  a 
larger  number  of  helpless  widows  and  orphans  and  desert- 
ed women  in  the  country,  than  there  was  apparently  in 
times  when  Hindu  society,  rested  firm  on  its  old  moorings. 
The  individual  as  Avell  as  society  must  pay  greater  regard 
for  the  purity  and  elevation  of  woman's  nature,  by  raising 
her  to  the  dignity  of  freedom,  by  encouraging  her  sense  of 
self-respect,  and  by  arming  her  with  the  weapon  of  educa- 
tion. Above  all,  she  must  be  placed  above  anxiety  for  her 
daily  bread,  because  ib  is  poverty  that  brings  many  a 
woman  to  ruin,  The  Hindu  family  system  instead  of  re- 
cognising these  claims  of  woman,  and  being  constituted  on 
the  principle  of  her  sovereignty  in  the  family,  consigns  her 
to  a  condition  of  subordination  and  subjection,  and  thus 
corrupts  and  narrows  the  very  fountain  from  which  human 
evolution  derives  its  energy  and  health. 

To  sum  up  the  foregoing  arguments,  As  Lord  Rose- 
bury  said  at  Glasgow,  *  the  twentieth  century  would  be  a 
period  of  keen  and  almost  fierce  competition  among  nations  - 
and  into  this  competition  India  would  be  drawn  more 
*  In  his  Rocfcoral  address  OH  the  10th  of  November  1900. 


i.]        THE  HTNDT^  JOINT  FAMILY  SYSTEM      143 

directly  than  ever  by  virtue  of  her  dependence  on  England, 
The  result  of  India  being1  thus  turned  in  Hie  vortex  of 
intern  at  ional  struggles  for  the  wealth  of  tho  world,  would 
be  the  approximation  of  her  social  and  political  institu- 
tions to  the  models  of  the  West.  The  secret  of  success 
that  Western  nations  are  winning  is  the  perfect  freedom 
of  the  individual  and  his  readiness  to  sacrifice  his  o\vn  pri- 
vate interest  for  the  well-being  of  society  ;  mid  in  proportion 
as  social  and  political  institutions  of  a  country  satisfy  these 
two  tests,  they  will  be  either  praised  or  condemned.  The 
Hindu  joint  family  system  is  tin1  least  designed  to  developu 
these  qualities  ;  on  the  other  hand  it  crushes  individual 
freedom,  it  degrades  woman,  it  breeds  incompetency  and 
selfishness  instead  of  public  sprit  among  the  citizens;  and 
is  altogether  incompatible  with  the  spirit  of  the  new  civili- 
zation which  is  spreading  over  India  in  consequence  of 
British  rule  and  of  a  quicker  intercourse  between  the  East 
and  the  West.  From  these  causes,  we  should  pronounce 
the  Hindu  Joint  Family  System  to  bo  a  doomed  institution, 
and  say,  in  the  words  of  Mr.  H,  J.  S.  Cotton,  that  it  only 
remains  for  the  leaders  of  the  Hindu  community,  by  gentle 
and  judicious  guidance,  to  control  the  period  of  transition, 
so  that  it  may  be  passed  over  with  the  least  possible  dis- 
turbance, and  after  rejecting  the  environments  which  pre- 
judice and  disfigure  the  present  system,  to  reorganize  the 
more  suitable  materials  which  are  available  for  their  pur- 
pose on  a  healthy  and  progressive  basis. 


144  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFOEM.  [PART 

VI.— Fusion  of  Sub-Castes  In  India. 

15v  RAI  BAifAwnt  LAT.A  BAIJ  NATIT,  H.A., 
Jiulyp,  Court,  of  Small  Caiws,  Agra. 


The  Kditnr  of  the  Fndian  Herald  has  asked  mo  to 
contribute  a  paper  to  his  forthcoming  work  on  Indian 
Social  lie  form.  Tho  subject  he  has  entrusted  me  with,  is 
however,  a  very  difficult  and  complicated  subject,  and  \. 
wish  he  had  given  it  to  one  possessing  greater  knowledge 
ami  greater  opportunities  {or  observation.  I  shall  however 
try  to  show  as  briefly  as  I  can  how  the  system  of  castes  and 
sub-castes  grew  up  in  India,  how  far  it  forwards  or  retards 
its  progress  in  the  scale  of  nations  and  how  it  can  best  be 
modified  to  suit  modern  requirements.  My  views  on  the 
subject  are  already  contained  in  my  work  on  Hinduism  : 
Ancient  and  Modern,  and  this  paper  can  only  be  a  reitera- 
tion of  those  views. 

THE  Pintr:  CAST us  OF  ANC'IHXT  INDTA. 

The  history  of  Caste  in  India  shows  how  a  society  once 
healthy  and  progressive,  goes  lower  in  the  scale  of  civiliza- 
tion by  submitting  itself  blindly  to  priestly  influence  and 
shutting  itself  completely  off  from  all  healthy  contact  with 
other  nations  on  the  one  hand  and  bringing  within  its 
sphere  nations  outside  it,  by  descending  to  their  level  and 
adapting  itself  to  their  customs  and  institutions  on  the 
other.  Tlie  ethnical  basis  of  caste  as  daBard  in  the  four- 
fold division  of  Hindu  society  into  BrahHpns,  Kshattriyas, 
Vaisyas,  and  Sudras  is  to-day  the  same  as  it  was  when  the 
Bishis  of  the  Purusha  Sukta  of  the  Eig  Vedas  (Book  X, 
Hymn  90)  saii£  of  "  the  Brahman  being  the  mouth,  the 
Rajanya  (Kshattriya)  the  arms,  the  Vaisya  the  thighs,  and 
the  Sudra  the  feet  of  the  Purusha."  But  the  superstruc- 
ture is  now  regulated  by  quite  a  different  system  based 


i.]          FUSION  OF  SUB-CASTES  IN  INDIA.        145 

upon  geographical  division  as  well  as  upon  functional  dis- 
tribution. While  therefore  ifc  shall  be  impossible  to  blot 
the  caste  system  out  of  India  any  more  than  out  of  any 
other  country  in  the  world  where  natural  divisions  of  society 
into  teachers,  rulers,  producers  of  wealth  and  servants  and 
labourers  are  found  and  ought  to  be  found,  such  reforms 
ought  to  be  made  in  its  superstructure,  such  portions  of  it 
as  have  become  old  and  arc  crumbling  into  decay  and  are 
unfit  for  use,  renewed  and  remodelled  as  shall  bring  the 
edifice  into  greater  harmony  with  both  modern  require- 
ments as  well  as  with  the  design  of  its  founders  in  the 
past.  How  tliis  can  be  done  without  doing  violence  to  the 
traditions  of  the  people,  how  the  reformer  can  work  on  the 
lines  of  least  resistance  in  the  face  of  inertia  on  the  one 
hand  and  modern  revival istic  tendencies  on  the  other,  is  a 
question  worthy  of  serious  consideration.  All  success  in 
social  reform  greatly  depends  upon  how  far  you  are  able 
to  broaden  the  basis  of  society.  By  this  method  alono  you 
can  do  away  with  many  of  the  evils  which  are  rampant  in 
it  and  your  task  is  the  easier  when  you  have  the  sympathies 
of  the  civilized  world  and  the  sanction  of  religion  with  you. 
How  this  can  be  done  in  the  matter  of  reform  in  the  caste 
system  we  hope  to  show  in  this  paper. 

The  Vedas  and  the  Epics  carry  us  back  to  the  good 
old  days  of  India  when  there  were  no  castes  and  tf  the  whole 
world  consisted  of  Brahmans  only.  Created  equally  by 
Brahma  men  have  in  consequence  of  their  acts  become  distri- 
buted into  different  orders.  Those  who  became  fond  of 
indulging  their  desires  and  were  addicted  to  pleasure  and 
were  of  a  severe  and  wrathful  disposition,  endowed  with 
courage  and  unmindful  of  piety  and  worship those  Brah- 
mans possessing  the  attributes  of  Rajas  (passion)  became 
Kshattriyas,  Those  Brahmans  again,  who,  without  attend- 
ing to  the  duties  laid  down  for  thorn  became  possessed  of  the 
attributes  of  goodness  (Satwa)  and  passion  and  took  to  t/ho 
19 


146  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

practice  of  rearing  of  cattle  and  agriculture  became 
Vaisyas.  Those  Brahmans  again  who  were  addicted  to 
untruth  and  injuring  others  and  engaged  in  impure  acts 
and  had  fallen  from  purity  of  behaviour  on  account  of 
possessing  the  attribute  of  darkness  (Tamas)  became  Sudras. 
Separated  by  occupation  Brahmans  became  members  of  the 
other  three  orders."  (Mahabharata,  Moksha  Dharma,  chap. 
188).  if  Neither  birth  nor  study  nor  learning  constitutes 
Brahmanhood,  character  alone  constitutes  it."  (Maha- 
bharata,  Vana  Parvra,  chap.  'J13,  verso  108). 

Manu  also  tells  us  that  4|  a  Sudra  can  become  a  Brah- 
man and  a  Brahman  a  Sudra,"  ami  we  read  in  the  Maha- 
bharata  that  u  a  person  not  trained  in  the  Vedas  is  a  Sudra, 
and  that  whoever  conforms  to  the  rules  of  pure  and  virtuous 
conduct  is  a  Brahmann"  (Mahabhiirata,  Vana  Parva,  chap. 
180,  verse  32).  Judged  by  this  standard  mjiny  of  those 
who  now  claim  to  be  and  arc  recognised  as  Brahmans  and 
many  who  are  now  treated  a  Siulras  will  soon  cease  to  be 
so  regarded.  It  is,  however,  impossible  to  bring  modern 
Hindu  society  to  recognize  character  as  alone  determining 
one's  caste.  Claims  of  birth  cannot  be  ignored  in  the 
face  of  the  deep-rooted  and  the  universal  belief  of 
the  Hindus  in  birth  alone  determining  the  class  of  society  to 
which  a  person  belongs.  Fur  can  the  work  or  centuries  of 
priestly  influence  on  the  one  hand  and  ignorance  and 
superstition  of  the  laity  on  the  other  be  at  once  removed  ? 
What  can  possibly  be  done  in  this  respect  will  however  be 
shown  in  these  pages  hereafter. 

THE  MIXED  CAHTKS  OF  ANCIENT  INDIA. 

Says  Manu,  "  The  Brahman,  the  Kshattriya,  and  the 
Vaisya  are  the  throe  twice-born  classes.  The  fourth  the 
Sudra  is  once-born.  There  is  no  fifth  caste."  (Mann, 
chap.  X,  verse  4).  Intermarriages  among  the  various 
Aryan  castes  seem,  however,  to  be  common  in  those  days, 
find  these  gave  rise  to  ,i  number  of  mixed  castes  in  Ancient 


i.]          FUSION  OF  SUB-CASTES  Iti  INDIA.        147 

India.  For  instance  a  person  born  of  a  Brahman  father 
and  a  Kshattriya  mother  was  considered  to  be  a  Brahmar 
like  his  father,  but  tainted  with  the  inferiority  of  his 
mother's  easte.  If  he  was  born  of  a  Brahman  father  and 
Vaiaya  mother  lie  was  an  Ambashta,  and  if  of  a  Sudra 
mother  a  Parsava.  A  Kshattriya's  son  from  a  Brahman 
mother  was  called  a  Snfca,  a  Vaisya's  son  from  a  .Kshattriya 
mother  a  Ma'gadha  and  from  a  Brahman  mother  a  Vaideha. 
The  son  of  a  Sudra  front  a  Brahman,  a  Kahattriya,  and  a 
Vaisya  mother  was  respectively  an  Ayogava,  a  Kshatta, 
and  a  Cha'ndala.  A  member  of  the  three  twice-born 
classes  who  was  not  initiated  into  the  Yajnopavita  and  the 
Gayatri  was  a  Vratya.  AH  these  were,  however,  oil-springs 
of  lawful  unions.  The  intermixture  of  these  with,  the 
purer  twice-born  classes  on  the  one  hand  and  the  mixed 
castes  on  i,he  other  gave  rise  to  another  largo  number  of 
mixed  castes,  while  foreign  nations  like  tlie  Paundrakas, 
the  Andhras,  the  Dravidas,  the  Kambojas,  the  Yavanas, 
the  Sa'ka's,  the  Pardas,  the  Palhavas,  the  Chilian,  the  Kira- 
tas,  the  Dardas,  and  the  Khasas,  who  were  apparently  out- 
side the  pale  of  Aryan  society,  were  also  declared  to  be 
Kshattriyas  who  had  ceased  to  wear  the  sacred  thread,  or 
study  the  scriptures,  or  follow  the  advice  of  Brahrnans  in 
tho  matter  of  expiatory  ceremonies.  Such  persons  whether 
they  spoke  the  Aryan  or  any  other  dialect  were  all  declar- 
ed to  be  Chauras.  "  Thu  duties  assigned  to  these  mixed 
castes  were  those  which  the  pure  Aryan  would  not  follow. 
The  Sutas  trained  and  yoked  horses  though  as  in  tlie  case 
of  Sanjayii  of  the  Mahabharata  they  were  also  companions 
and  ministers  of  kings  and  met  the  Kishis  on  their  own 
ground  in  matters  of  learning  and  culture.  The  Ambashtas 
acted  as  physicians,  the  Vaidehas  as  guardians  of  royal 
households,  the  Ma'gadha's  as  traders  on  land,  the  Kshat- 
tas,  the  Ugras  and  the  Pukkas  caught  and  killed  animals, 
the  Dhigvunas  sold  hides  and  the  Vuinas  played  on  instru- 


INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAR* 

ments  of  music  made  of  bell  metal.  They  lived  011  the 
outskirts  of  villages  under  trees  and  in  burning  grounds. 
The  Chandalas  and  the  Swapactas  who  also  lived  outside 
villages  owned  asses  and  dogs,  ate  unclean  food  and  took 
clothes  covering  corpses. 

The  arts  of  life  flourished  gi'eatly  in  the  Epic  period. 
Anns  and  accoutrements  were  made  in  great  perfection, 
carriages  drawn  by  horses  and  oxen,  elephants  adorned 
with  gold  and  silver,  mid  garments  embroidered  with  gold 
were  common.  Ayodhya,  Uasaratha's  capital  was  furnished 
with  fl  rows  of  well  arranged  shops.  It  contained  theatres 
for  females.  It  was  gleaming-  with  gold  burnished  orna- 
ments and  its  people  wore  ear-rings  and  tiaras  and  gar- 
lands "  (Valmiki  Kamayaiia,  Balkand,  chaps.  V  and  VI). 
The  arti/aiiK  were  however  apparently  not  members  of  the 
pure,  but  of  the  mixed  castes,  for  which  the  pursuits  of 
the  former  were  indicated  in  detail  while  those  of  the  latter 
were  not. 

Progress  from  a  IOWCT  to  a  higher  caste  was  however 
recognized  in  those  times  and  a  Parsava  who  was  the  off- 
spring of  a  Brahman  father  and  a  Sudra  mother  could, 
according  to  Mann,  become  a  Brahman  in  the  seventh 
generation.  Such  a  person,  if  ho  performed  a  Paktt  Yajnya 
according,  to  the  Smritis,  been  me  an  Arya  (Brahman), 
(Maim,  chap.  X,  verses  64  and  67).  Vidura  of  the  Malia- 
bharata  who  was  the  son  of  a  Brahman  from  a  Sudra 
woman  was  looked  upon  as  the  very  embodiment  of  Dharma 
(righteousness),  while  a  fowler  who  sold  meat  instructed  a 
Brahman  in  the  deepest  mysteries  of  the  Sastras. 

In  the  matter  of  food  also  we  do  not  find  the  same 
restrictions  in  those  times  as  prevail  iiow-a-days.  A 
Brahman  was  prohibited  from  taking  food  from  a  Sudra 
except  in  times  of  extreme  distress.  In  such  times  a  Kiahi 
like  Vamdeo  though  cognizant  of  Dharma  (righteousness) 
took  prohibited  food  and  yet  was  not  sullied.  The  Eishi 
Uliaradwaja  accepted  in  a  lonely  place  a  gift  of  cows  from 


i.]         FUSION  OF  SU&CASVES  IN  INDIA.        140 

a  Taksha  (carpenter),  while  Viswainitra  had  no  scruple  in 
subsisting  upon  food  of  thu  unclciinest  description  taken 
from  the  house  of  a  Chandala  pleading  that <l  a  person  does 
not  incur  a  grave  sin  by  eating  unclean  I'ood  when  he  is 
dying  of  hunger/'  At  other  times  wo  are  told  in  thu 
Mahabhurata  that  "  a  Brahman  may  take  his  food  from 
another  Brahman,  or  from  a  Kshattriya  or  a  Vaisya  but 
not  from  a  Sudra.  A  Kshattriyu  may  tnke  his  food  from  a 
Brahman,  a  Kshattriya  or  Vaisya  but  not  from  a  Sudra. 
Brahmans  were  however  prohibited  from  taking  food  from 
a  person  who  professed  the  healing  arl,  or  who  was  the 
warder  of  a  house,  or  who  lived  by  learning  alone  or  from 
a  mechanic  or  a  woman  who  was  unchaste,  or  an  adulterer, 
or  HI  drunkard,  or  a  eunuch,  or  a  person  who  had  mis- 
appropriated another's  money,  in  .short  from  one  addicted 
to  evil  ways,  or  who  took  all  manner  of  food  without 
scruple  ;  "  (Mahnbharata,  Anusasamt  1'arva,  chap.  135). 

CASTES  AND  SUU-CASTKS  01-'  MODKLIN  INDIA. 
We  have  thus  seen  how  the  system  of  pure  and  mixed 
castes  prevailed  in  ancient  India  and  how  the  latter  were 
the  result  of  intermarriage  among  the  various  purer  castes, 
what  their  status  was  and  how  far  people  of  a  lower  caste 
could,  like  Visvamitra,  rise  to  a  higher  one.  Caste  in 
those  days  was  not  the  rigid  institution  it  now  is,  other- 
wise the  Hindus  would  never  have  attained  to  the  pitch  of 
civilization  tliey  did,  nor  with  the  highly  developed  intel- 
lects and  the  culture  of  not  only  the  Kshattriyas  and  the 
Vaisyas,  but  of  some  of  the  Sudras  also,  could  birth  alone 
have  given  to  the  people  that  status  in  society  which  it 
does  now.  How  vastly  different  it  is  now-a-days.  Not  only 
is  caste  the  express  badge  of  Hinduism,  its  stronghold  and 
the  perpetuator  of  status  and  function  both  by  inheritance 
and  endogamy,  but  at  the  root  of  that  loss  of  catholic  sym- 
pathy and  originality  in  action  which  are  now  so  painfully 
noticeable  in  Hindu  society.  No  Hindu  of  to-day  would 


INDIAN  SOCIAL  RtiFORti.  [PART 

bo  satisfied  by  calling  himself  a  Brahman,  it  Kshattriya,  a 
^aisya  or  a  Sudra.  lie  must  say  to  what  tribe  of  each  of 
these  castes  he  belongs  before  his  social  status  is  deter- 
mined. How  this  arose  is  now  the  question  for  considera- 
tion. The  social  and  religious  divisions  of  the  Indian  pco 
pie  are  now  based  upon  an  u  exclusive  devotion  to  heredity 
and  custom  manifested  in  thu  inclination  to  exalt  the  small 
over  the  great,  to  exaggerate  the  importance  of  minor  con- 
siderations and  thus  obscure  thatof  the  more  vital.  Liturgy 
and  ceremonial  observances  usurp  the  place  of  moral  and 
spiritual  ideas,  with  the  result  that  the  sanction  of  religion 
is  applied  to  all  the  regulations  of  social  Intercourse.  Rank 
and  occupation  arc  thus  crystallized  into  hereditary  attri- 
butes, a  process  wliicli  ends  in  the  formation  of  a  practically 
unlimited  number  of  .self-centred  and  mutually  repellant 
groups,  cramping  to  the  sympathies  and  the  capacity  for 
thought  and  actions.  Within  these  groups,  it  is  hardly 
possible  to  speak  too  highly  of  the  charity  and  devotion  of 
the  members  of  the  community  to  each  other,  but  beyond 
them,  the  barriers  on  all  sides  preclude  co-operation  and 
real  compassion  and  stitlo  originality  in  action"  (General 
Census  Keport,  1891,  page  121). 

The  present  subdivision  of  castes  is  due  to  geographi- 
cal divisions,  trade  distinctions  and  differences  in  form  of 
worship.  To  commence  with  the  Brahmans,  they  are  now 
divided  into  the  Panch  (Juaras  and  the  Panch  Dravidas. 
The  former  comprise  (I)  the  Saraswatas,  so  called  from  the 
country  watered  by  the  liver  Saraswati.  They  arc  large- 
ly found  in  the  Punjab,  and  their  usages  and  manners 
conform  in  many  respects  to  those  of  the  Khattris  of  that 
province,  with  whoia  they  often  cat  and  mix  freely.  (2) 
The  Kanyakubjas  so  called  from  the  Kanyakubja  or  the 
Kanouj  country.  These  are  now  a  very  exclusive  and 
isolated  class  not  only  as  regards  other  Brahmans  but 
among  themselves  also,  and  the  proverb  is  current  that  for 


r.]         FUSION  OF  SUB-CASTES  IN  INDIA.        151 

nine  Kanyakubjas  you  will  have  ten  cooking  places,  each 
refusing  to  dine  with  the  other,  often  with  his  nearest  rela- 
tions. So  very  exclusive  is  this  class  of  people  in  the  mat- 
ter of  marriages,  that  the  small  ness  of  its  various  clans 
causes  the  greatest  difficulty  in  obtaining  husbands  for 
girls  except  on  payment  of  extortionate  sums  of  money.  (3) 
The  Gurasf  who  are  so  called  from  flaur  or  the  country  of 
the  lower  Ganges,  are  a  very  influential  class  of  priests 
among  the  Vaisyas  of  the  North-West  Provinces  and  the 
lower  portion  of  the  Punjab,  and  enjoy  the  monopoly  of 
their  vast  and  enormous  charity,  They  do  not  mterdine 
with  the  Vaisyas  as  the  Saraswatas  of  the  Punjab  do  with 
tho  Khattris,  but  do  not  scruple  to  pnrtako  of  food  cooked 
by  tho  Vaisyas  and  tho  Kshattriyas  witli  milk,  sweets  and 
ghee.  (4)  The  Utkalas  of  the  province  of  Utkala  or  Orissa, 
and  (5)  the  Maithnlas  from  Mitbila  or  Beliar,  complete  the 
list  of  the  Panch  Gauras. 

The  Brahmans  of  Bengal  who  originally  went  from 
the  North -West  Provinces  now  form  a  separate  class,  with 
its  many  subdivisions  which  have  given  rise  to  the  custom 
of  Kulinism  in  that  province.  This  five-fold  division  of 
the  Brahmans  is  not  the  only  one  met  with  in  Upper  India- 
The  Raraswatas  of  the  Punjab  aro  divided  into  as  many  as 
four  hundred  and  sixty-nine  classes  and  Shcrring  enume- 
rates some  1,886  tribes  of  Brahmans. 

The  Brahmans  of  the  South  of  the  Vindhya  range  are 
called  the  Panch  Dravidas.  They  arc  (1)  the  Maharash- 
tras  of  the  country  of  the  Mahrattas.  These  were  once  the 
rulers  of  the  country  and  still  exercise  much  influence 
both  for  good  as  well  as  for  evil  among  some  of  the  Mah- 
ratta  states  of  Central  India,  the  Gujerat  and  tho  Deccan. 
They  possess  a  genius  for  intrigue,  and  show  much  political 
ability  and  are  ahead  of  most  of  the  races  of  India  in  some 
respects.  Orthodox  Hinduism  still  retains  its  hold  among 
many  of  them  and  the  study  of  Sanscrit  is  more  common 


152  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

among  their  laity  tlian  among  the  corresponding  class  of 
the  Brahmana  of  Upper  India-  (2)  The  Tailangas  of  the 
Telugu  country,  (3)  the  Dravidas  of  the  Dravidian 
country,  (4)  the  Karnatas  of  the  Karnatic,  and  (5) 
rhe  Gurjars  of  the  Gujerat,  complete  the  list  of  the 
Panch  Dravidas.  The  Gurjar  Brahmans  are  remark- 
able for  their  fine  and  well  defined  features  and  they  are 
now  the  rivals  of  the  Mahrattas  in  political  power  and 
literary  ability.  Southern  India  is  even  .1  greater  strong- 
hold of  Brahmanism  than  Northern  India.  In  spite  of  all 
progress  in  education,  the  people  of  the  South  are  even  more 
caste-riddon  than  the  people  of  the  North. 

The  Kashmiri  Briihiimns  from  K  ash  me  re  though  few 
in  number,  sire  also  not  without  their  sub-divisions.  They 
are  largely  met  with  both  in  tho  highest  and  lowest  rank 
of  (lovernment  service  and  the  bar,  and  though  ahead 
of  most  of  the  other  Brahmans  of  Upper  India  in  point  of 
acutenessof  intellect,  they  are  not  so  in  rising  above  petty 
caste  distinctions.  No  list  of  Brahmans  of  Upper  India 
can  be  complete  without;  reference  to  the  Chanbas  (the  Cha- 
turvedi  Brahmnns)  of  Mathnraand  other  parts  of  the  North- 
West  Provinces.  In  Mathura  one  section  of  this  com- 
munity is  called  the  Mitha  (sweet)  Chanbas,  to  distinguish 
them  from  the  Karwas  (bitter)  Chanbas !  The  former 
with  few  exceptions  furnish  the  strongest  possible  con- 
tradiction to  tho  name  they  bear,  stout,  burly,  innocent  of 
letters  and  exclusively  devoted  to  athletics  and  eating ; 
the  Chanba  generally  fattens  at  the  expense  of  the  pilgrims 
to  Mathura  and  justifies  the  saying  of  the  Sanscrit  poet,  that 
it  is  the  absolutely  devoid  of  intellect  and  the  absolutely 
wise  that  are  truly  happy,  all  others  are  miserable.  They 
have  the  curious  custom  of  Badla  or  exchange  which 
means  that  a  Chanba  in  order  to  get  a  wife  must  be 
prepared  to  give  in  return  a  girl  from  his  own  family  for 
wife  in  the  family  in  which  he  marries. 


i.]         FUSION  OF  SUB-CASTES  IN  INDIA.        153 

There  ia  some  difference  of  opinion  as  to  whether 
modern  Brahmans  are  of  pure  Arya  blood  ;  and  from  their 
finer  features  and  fairer  complexions  than  those  of  the  rest 
of  the  community,  it  is  thought  that  they  aro  the  descend- 
ants of  the  Aryas  of  old.  But  the  majority  of  Brahman^ 
of  these  parts  (in  Bengal  and  Southern  India  it  is  often 
worse)  have  not  finer  features  and  fairer  complexions  than 
other  Indian  races.  Some  of  them  are  in  fact  darker  in  com- 
plexion and  heavier  in  feature  than  some  of  tho  lowest  races 
of  modern,  times.  Physiology  can  therefore  he  110  guide  in 
this  respect-  On  the  other  hand  instances  of  Rajas  manu- 
facturing Brahmiina  oat  of  low  casfco  men  in  Upper  India 
are  not  rare.  Tim  Kunda  Brahmans  of  Partabgarh  in  Oudh, 
the  Tirgunaits  and  the  Swalikhs  of  Gorakhporo  and  Basti, 
who  call  themselves  Dubas  (Dvvivais),  Upadhyas,  Tivaris 
(Trivedis),  etc.,  wore  the  result  of  this  process. 

Then  again  how  vast  is  the  difference  between  the 
occupations  of  the  Brahmans  of  fcho  present  day  from  those 
followed  by  their  ancestors.  There  are  at  present  about 
one  and  a  half  erores  of  Brahmans  in  India,  but  how  many 
of  those  follow  the  injunctions  of  the  Sasfcras  in  earning 
their  livelihood  by  reading  and  teaching,  accepting  and 
making  gifts,  and  performing  and  officiating  tit  sacrifices  ? 
Jn  the  North- West  Provinces  some  ten  or  fifteen  per  cent, 
can  only  be  said  to  live  by  the  exclusive  performance  of 
religious  functions,  and  about  20  or  25  per  cent,  by  adding 
secular  callings  to  such  functions,  The  rest  perform  no 
priestly  office  whatever  but  are  land-holders,  cultivators, 
soldiers,  milk-men,  cooks,  cattle-grazers,  water-carriers, 
singers,  dancers,  wrestlers,  etc,,  etc-  In  fact  th<jre  is  no 
trade  in  which  a  Brahman  will  nob  now  engage  c'ind  the 
statistics  of  crime  of  the  seaports  show  that  there  is  no 
crime  which  he  will  not  commit.  What  a  fall  for  those 
who  profess  to  act  as  mediators  between  man  and  God ! 

The  Kshattriyas  fare  no  better.     They   were  formerly 
20 


154  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

divided  into  only  two  races,  the  Lunar  and  the  Solar-  Now 
they    exhibit   as   many    as    590     different    tribes.     Todd 
in  hisRajasthan   enumerates  lf  Chathis  Ilajkula  or  the  36 
Royal  races,  which  are  further   sub-divided   into  157  bran- 
ches or  sakhas,  the  principal  ones  like  the  (Jhilotc  having 
24,  the   Tuar   17,  the    lie  h  tor    13,  tho  Parmara   33,    the 
Chamhan  26,  tho  Challook  It),  and  the  Purapara  \2.     Each 
race  (Sakha)  has  its  Gotracharya  of  genealogical  creed  des- 
cribing tho  essential  peculiarities,  tho  religions    tenets  and 
tho  pristine  locale  of  tho  chin.    It  is  a  touch-stone  of  affinities 
and   guardian    of   tho  laws     oC   intermarriage."      (Todd's 
Kajasthan,  Volume  I,  page  77).    Tho  present  Rajput's  know- 
ledgo  of  those  is    however    of     tin;    incagrest    description. 
Soino  of  the  Ssikhas  are  now  oxtinct,  others    nre  still  found 
in  Upper  India.      Miniy  of  the     ehiefs    nf    Raj  put  ami    nud 
Central  India  tr:ieo  their    origin    to  one    or    tho    other     of 
these  Siiklms-     Tho    Jats  who    now   form  a  very  important 
agricultural  class  in  the  Punjab    also  traco    their  origin  to 
tho  Yudava  elan  of  the  Kshattriyas,    to  which  Krishna  be- 
longed.   But  tho  hitter  do  not  now  recogni/e  them  as  such. 
Some  Kuropon.ii  writers  assign  the  pJats    ;i  Scythian  origin. 
The  modern  Rnjpntj  even    though  greatly  deteriorated,  hns 
however  somo   independence  of    eharacter    nucl  refinement 
of  manners  which  at  onco   mark  him  off  from    tho  Jat,  the 
Gujar  or  any  other  class   which   claims  siftinity    with  him. 
He    has  still   preserved    many  a   relic    of  old    both   in  his 
court  as  well  as  in    his  household.     "  Traditional  history/' 
has  still  a  large   influence   over  his   mind.     "The  Rajput 
mother,"  says  Todd,  tf  claims  her  full  share  in  tho  glory  of 
her  son,  who   imbibes  at  tho   maternal  fount  his  first  rudi- 
ments of  chivalry ;   and   the    importance   of  this   parental 
instruction  cannot  bo  better    illustrated   than  in  the  ever- 
recurring  simile,  "  mako  thy  mother's  milk   reaplendant"; 
the  full  force  of  which  we  have   in    the  powerful,  though 
over-strained  expresssion  of  the  Boondi  queen's  joy  on  the 


i.J         FUSION  OF  St'S-CASTES  IN  INDIA.        155 

announcement  of  the  heroic  deatli  of  l^er  son  :  lf  the  long 
dried  fountain  at  which  IIQ  fed,  jetted  forth  as  she  listened 
to  the  talo  oE  his  death,  and  the  marble  pavement  on 
which  it  fell  rent  asunder-3'"  Equally  futile  would  it 
be  to  reason  on  the  intensity  of  sentiment  thus  implanted 
in  the  infant  Hajpoot  of  whom  we  may  say  with- 
out metaphor,  the  shield  is  bis  cradle,  and  daggers  his 
playthings;  and  Avilh  whom  the  first  commandment  is 
"  avenge  thy  father's  feud,"  on  which  they  can  heap  text 
upon  text;  from  the  days  of  the  great  Pandu  moralist  Vyasu, 
to  the  not  less  inllucnlial  bard  of  their  nation  the  Tricala 
Chanel.  "  (Tuilcl's  Hajasthan,  Veil.  I,  page  flflfl-07.)" 

The  Hajpnt's  marriage  customs  still  retain  their 
military  character  but  only  in  name  ;  and  though  reforms  in 
the  expenditure  incurred  in  his  marriage  and  other  cere- 
monies have  lately  been  attempted  in  Kajputana  and  else- 
where, yet  so  far  as  the  vast  bulk  of  I  he  Hajput  popula- 
tion of  Upper  and  Central  .India  is  concerned,  their  habits 
are  not  very  frugal  ami  to  live  beyond  means  is  their  nor- 
mal condition.  In  one  section  of  bho  community,  Mm 
Khattri  Kajpoots  of  the  iiarcilly  division,  we  are  told  they 
have  still  the  curious  custom  of  hanging  I  he  bridegroom 
head  downwards  at  the  door  of  his  fathur-in-huv  till  the 
latter  consents  to  pay  what  the  bridegroom's  father  de- 
mands ! 

They  have  hitherto  been  the  most  backward  in 
profiting  by  modern  education  and  efforts  at  reform  have 
barely  touched  the  surface  of  tho  community.  And  yet 
one  often  meets  with  many  a  Thakur  possessing  great 
acuteness  of  intellect  and  in  porno  instances  a  poetic 
imagination  also.  Some  of  them  are  and  have  been  Hindu 
writers  of  repute,  while  others  show  great  aptitude  for 
'Hindu  philosophy  and  it  is  not  uncommon  to  sec  a  Bajpub 
chief  once  a  great  figure  in  politics,  leaving  off  every  thing 
for  a  life  of  contemplation  and  study. 


156  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAIST 

The  decline  of  the  Kshattriya  race  is  clue  to  its  general 
disregard  of  its  duties  in  life,  its  habits  of  indolence,  and 
indulgence  in  intoxicants  and  strong  drink  as  well  us  to 
the  introduction  of  inferior  blood,  till  it  in  now  doubted  if 
i he  modern  Rajputs  ;irc  representatives  of  the  Kshattriyas 
of  old.  Many  of  tlit1  names  of  the  present  clans  of  the 
Hajput  tribes  of  Ifpper  India,  suggest  that  they  originally 
belonged  to  the  pastoral  or  the  hunting  castes,  who,  at 
various  times,  M-i/.'-d  lands  and  kept  them  and  formed 
themselves  into  disliuct  ;LIH!  separate,  castes.  And  r,i  writer 
in  the  N.  \V.  P.  (ja/ctteer  (Vol.  VIII,  page  7o)  speaking  of 
the  Rajputs  nl1  tho  Alathuni,  District  .says  "  that  Jtlia  of 
them  arc  of  impure  blood  and  ire  nob  admitted  by  the 
higher  china  to  an  e<|iuiiily  with  themselves." 

Their  original  occupation  of  ruling  and  protecting  the 
people  is  now  either  a  thing  of  the  past  or  is  exercised 
only  in  name  on  account  of  Pax  lirittania  and  their  lands 
in  British  India  are  fast  passing  into  the  hands  of  the 
tnonied  classes.  Now-a-days  they  chiefly  concern  them- 
selves with  agriculture  or  engage;  in  petty  quarrels,  or  pass 
their  time  in  indolence  or  debauchery  or  take  to  menial 
occupations.  Such  is  Ih-j  present  condition  of  the  majority 
of  one  erore  of  It  a  j  puts  now  living  in  India  and  professing  to 
represent  the  Kshattriyas  of  old,  the  pride  of  their  country. 

The  third  great  class  is  the  Vaisya-  At  the  last  census 
out  of  about  1  erore  'Jl  lacs  of  persons  belonging  to  the 
trailer  cnstc,  31  iS(>,lH)l»  returned  themselves  as  Daiiias  or 
Vlahajans,  80/2-1)  as  Vaisyas,  r'1,5-1-,177  as  Agarwal.is,  1,57,716 
JIM  Osvvftlas,  20,81W  as  Shirnnlis,  the  rest  comprised  among 
others  Agrahraris,  Kasaundhans,  Kamdus,  of  N.  W.  1*; 
Ohandabaniks,  Suwarnabaniks,  of  Den  gal  j  Aroras  and 
Khattris  of  the  Punjab  ;  lihutius  of  Bombay,  and  Chettia 
of  Madras.  The  chief  divisions  of  the  Vaisyas  are  into  : 
(-1)  tin1  Agrawftl,  comprising  the  Vaishnawas  and  the  Jaius, 
the  Maheshwaris,  tho  Oswalas,  the  Khandelwnlaa,  the 


A.]         FUSION  OF  SUJi-CASTEB  IN  INDIA.        J57 

Shrionalis,  the  Rajabansis,  the    Rnstogis,     the   Uanieeiiis, 
the  Mathurs,  and    the   Jlahawaras.     Todd   enumerates   8-t 
mercantile  tribes,  but  the  statistics  of  the   Vuisya    Confer- 
ence for  the  last  7  years  show  the   above,  to  be    the    princi- 
pal sections  of  the  Vaisyas.     They  all  interdine  but  do  not 
intermarry.     A    spirited    controversy     once    arose    as     to 
whether   the    Agrawalas   were     Vaisyas     or    Kshattriyas. 
Tradiation  says  that  in    the  Limur    race   of  kings  was  une 
Raja  Mahidbar  whoso  sou  was  Raja  Ugraseuu,  after  whom 
the  caste  was    named    Agrawala.     lie  married  two    wives 
Dluiupala  and  Sundar,  from  e.u-h  of  whom    he    had    I)  sons 
who  married  the  lb  daughters  of  Raja  Viisuki  of  the  Naga 
race-     These  were  the  progenitors  of  the  present  18  Agru- 
wahi  gotras,     Another     legend    traced    the    Agniwahiy  to 
Agroha  a  town  on  the  borders  of    llariana  in    the    runjab, 
and  tradition  goes  ihat  so  strong  was  the    spirit   of    frater- 
nity and  so  flourishing  were  the  Vaisyas  of  that  town,  that 
whenever    an    Agrawala    became    poor    each    of    his  caste 
people  contributed  a  rupee  fur  his  support  and  gave  him  a 
brick  to  build  a  house  from  and  thus  nt  once    brought   him 
to  their   own    level.     The  Vaisyas    are,  as  a  rule,  a  rising 
and  wealthy  and  prosperous  community,  but  mostly    prone 
to  indulge  in  extravagance  in    marriages.     They    comprise 
among  them  traders  of  all  grades  from  the  merchant  prince 
to  the  village  hawker  of  articles  of  food.     Ucing  an  aristo- 
cratic and  monied  class  with  no  political  power,  they    have 
been  able  to  preserve  their  purity  of  descent  more  than  the 
Brahmans  or  the  Kshattriyas,    and  the    assertion    of  some 
Sanskrit  writers  that  in  the  Kali  Yuga   only    the   first  and 
the  last  classes,  the  Urahmans    and    the    Sudras,  exist  and 
that  all  others  are  extinct,  has  been  refuted  in   their   case, 
not  only  on  grounds  of  continuity   of   occupation   which  is 
now  the  same  as  it  was  in  the  time  of  Manu  but  of   physio- 
logy also.     The  modern   Vaiaya   shows   a   greater  dash  of 
Aryan  blood  than  the  modern  Brahman  or  the  Kshattriya- 


158  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART? 

His  features  are  as  refined,  his  complexion  as  fair,  as  that 
of  the  best  races  of  India,  and  the  fact  that  he  is  rapidly 
making  his  way  in  callings  requiring  the  exercise  of  the 
highest  intelligence  shows  that  if  any  race  has  not  received 
mixture  of  foreign  blood,  it  is  this. 

Among  the  other  great  trading  classes  of  India  are 
the  Khatfcris,  the  Aroras,  the  Bhatias,  and  the  Marwaris. 
The  Khattris  who  numbered  0,86,511  and  the  Aroras  who 
numbered  6,73,  695,  at  the  last  census,  arc  largely  found  in 
the  Punjab  and  parts  of  Upper  India.  They  claim  to  bo 
of  Kshattriya  origin  and  are  divided  into  castes  and  sub- 
castos  mostly  loral,  such  as  the  Pachaniyuns  (Westerners), 
Purabiyas  (Easterners),  Punjabis,  Dilwnlis  (from  Delhi), 
etc.  None  of  these  intermarries  or  interdines. 

The  Bhatias  (56,792)  are  largely  found  in  Catch  and 
Sindh.  They  are  a  very  enterprising  community,  having  a 
largo  portion  of  foreign  trade  in  their  hands.  They  are 
great  followers  of  the  Gosuins  of  the  Vallabha  sect  and 
make  the  fortunes  of  the  latter  even  though  some  of  them 
prove  themselves  unworthy  of  their  gifts-  The  Gandha- 
baniks(  1,23,765)  and  the  Subarbaniks  (97,540)  of  Bengal 
are  also  called  Vaisyas,  but  there  is  no  connection  between 
them  and  the  Vaisyus  of  the  other  parts  of  India.  The 
Marwaris  from  Mar  war  are  included  in  the  Agrawala,  the 
Oswala,  the  Khawdelwala  and  the  Shrimali  Vaisyas  men- 
tioned above.  The  Chettis  7,02,141  and  the  Lingayatas 
1,01,687  are  the  trading  castes  of  Southern  India,  but  none 
of  them  has  any  connection  with  the  trading  castes  of  Up- 
per India  or  Bengal. 

The  Kayasthas  (22,39,810)  are  the  great  writer 
caste.  In  Upper  India  they  number  5,21,812  and  trace 
their  origin  to  king  Chitragupta  who  had  4  sons  from  each 
of  his  two  wives,  The  present  Kayasthas  are  said  to  have 
descended  from  these  8  sons  of  Chitragupta.  Another 
account  assigns  them  a  functional  origin  and  says  that 


L]         FUSION  OF  SUB-CASTES  IN  INDIA.        159 

Chitragupta  is  the  mythical  writer  at  tho  court  of  Yama 
the  king  of  the  dead  and  that  the  Kayasthas  trace  their 
origin  to  him  on  account  of  their  profession  being  that  of 
writers.  They  are  divided  into  (1)  tho  Mathuraa,  (2)  the 
Saksenas,  (3)  the  Srivastavas,  (4)  the  Bhatnagaras,  (5)  the 
Asthanas,  (6)  the  Nigams,  (7)  tho  Ambashtas,  (8)  the  Gours, 
(9)  the  Surajdwhajas,  (10)  tho  Karauas,  (11)  the  Sreshtas 
and  (12)  the  Valmikis.  None  of  these  intermarry  or  inter- 
dine.  They  are,  as  a  rule,  a  very  acute  and  intelligent 
community  and  have  always  furnished  the  government  of 
the  day  with  a  large  staff  of  secretaries  ami  writers  and  tho 
public  with  village  accountants.  They  show  great  aptitude 
to  adapt  themselves  to  tho  institutions  of  the  times  and 
seem  to  have  been  in  fis  great  request  under  ancient  as 
under  modern  regimes.  Iu  lien  gal  they  number  about 
li  millions,  in  Bombay  under  tho  namo  of  Parblui  about 
30,000,  but  nono  of  these  has  .anything  to  do  with  the 
Kayasthas  of  Upper  India  in  the  matter  of  intermarriage 
or  interdining* 

The  above  are  the  only  classes  of  Hindus  which  are  or 
claim  or  can  be  said  to  be  of  Aryan  origin.  Below  these 
is  quite  a  bewildering  number  of  castes  and  sub-castes 
which  trace  their  origin  to  function  but  are  now  regulated 
by  claims  of  birth.  Among  the  cultivating  castes  the 
Kunbis  (10  millions),  tho  Malis,  tho  Lodhas,  the  Kachis^ 
each  numbering  between  l\  and  If  millions,  the  cattle 
breeding  caste  (the  Ahir)  about  8  millions  and  the  cow-herds 
(Goalas)  about  2  millions,  were  all  originally  function 
classes,  but  are  now  divided  into  separate  castes  and  sub- 
castes*  The  menial  classes  who  number  about  14  millions 
are  also  as  minutely  divided  as  the  others.  A  Chamar  who 
makes  shoes  belongs  to  a  different  caste  from  a  Mochi  who 
makes  harness.  A  Bhangi  who  is  a  sweeper  claims  to  be  a 
member  of  a  different  order  from  a  sweeper  whose  patron 
saint  is  Lai -Beg.  The  artizans  who  number  about  29 


160  INDIAN. SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

millions  fare  no  better.  Blacksmiths,  silversmiths,  and 
goldsmiths,  all  constitute  different  castes,  so  do  Kaseras  who 
manufacture  and  sell  brass  vessels  and  Thatheras  who 
beat  brass  plates.  Carpenters  in  some  parts  of  the 
country  wear  the  5  acred  thread  but  are  not  allowed  to 
associate  with  any  of  the  three  twice-born  castes,  pro- 
perly so  called.  The  weaver,  the  tailor,  the  fringe- 
maker,  the  dyer  and  the  calicopriritor  are  nil  different 
castes.  In  some  portions  of  the  country  the  Halwais 
(the  confectioners)  constitutes  a  separate  caste,  in 
others  they  arc  either  Brahmans,  Vaisyas,  or  Khattris. 
The  Xahars  who  form  a  large  class  of  domestic  servants 
are  now  a  different  caste  from  the  Kewats  and  the  Dhimars 
(the  fishing  castes)  though  they  were  originally  one  and  the 
same.  In  tho  religious  orders  which  profess  to  be  above 
caste  distinctions,  such  distinctions  are  also  as  rampant  as 
among  other  Hindus.  We  have  among  us  about  27  lacs  of 
devotees  and  asceties  who  avo  divided  into  Gosaans, 
]iniragis,  Vaishnavas,  Dandis,  etc,  The  followers  of  Shiva 
have  12  sects,  the  follower  of  Vishnu  0,  and  the  followers 
of  either  but  according  to  a  particular  guru.  The  Gosaius 
are  both  a,  caste  and  an  order,  tho  former  because  they  do 
not  observe  celibacy  and  the  latter  because  they  reecive 
accessions  to  their  ranks  from  the  other  castes,  They  num- 
bered 2,31,612  at  the  last  census.  Tho  Yishnav.is  count 
about  4£  laca,  and  the  Bairagis  about  3  lacs.  The  jealousy 
of  these  orders  reaches  its  culminating  paint  at  the  (Kumbha) 
the  great  'bathing  festival  in  Hard  war  which  takes 
place  every  1 2  years  and  in  former  times  pitched  battles 
used  to  be  common  between  them.  The  Bairagis  have  also 
taken  to  married  life  and  are  proving  false  to  their  name, 
while  teorae  df  the  Dandi  Sanyasins  who  show  themselves 
to  bo*  caste-ridden  nre  falsifying  the  very  first  principles  of 
their  order. 


i.]         FUSION  OF  SUB-PASTES  IN  INDIA.        161 

RESULTS  OP  THE  PKESENT  SYSTEM  OP  CASTES  AND  SUB-CASTES. 
I  have  thus  attempted   to    show,    though    necessarily 
very  briefly   and  imperfectly,  how  rampant   caste   is  in 
modern  India.     Such  a   condition   of   the   community  can 
scarcely  foster  any  sentiment  of  nationality  or  favour  pro- 
gress or  check  its  more  degraded    portions   from    slipping 
out  of  its  yoke  and  embracing  foreign  creeds  in    the  hope 
of   bettering1   their   social    position.     All  non-conformistic 
movements  in  India  from   Buddhism   downwards,    and    all 
success  of  foreign  proselytising  missions  whether  undertaken 
by  the  sword  or  by  persuasion  are  mostly  traceable   to   the 
rigidity  of  the  fetters  with  which  caste  bindh    the   Hindus. 
And  yet  the  present  system  has  not  so  much  of  a  religious 
as  a  functional  origin.     In  its  earlier  stages  it  constituted  a 
bond  of  union   and  formed  people  into  distinct   units.     It 
did  not  limit  the  right  of  membership  to    those    who  were 
born    within   its   ranks   from  both   parents    and    did  not 
therefore  cause   the   harm  it   is    doing   now.     As   it   now 
stands,  you  can  defy  caste  by  eating,  drinking,  worshipping 
or  occupying  yourself  in  any  manner    you  choose,  so   long 
as  you  outwardly  observe  your  caste  rules.  A  Brahmana,  a 
Kshatriya  or  a  Vaisya  may  take   the  most  prohibited  food 
or  associate  with  women  outside   his  caste  without   being 
outcasted,  if  he  only  outwardly   observes   his   caste   rules. 
But  let  him  eat  the  most  lawful  food    with  a  foreigner  or 
cross  the  sea  for  a  most  lawful  object  or  marry  outside  his 
caste  in  the  most  lawful  manner,  and  he  is  at  once   thrown 
out,  unless   his  caste  connives  at   these    practices.     Caste 
therefore  as   now  prevailing  in  Hindu  society  cannot   but 
undermine  the  race  physically,  intellectually  and  morally — 
physically  by  narrowing  the  circle  of  selection  in  marriages, 
intellectually  by  cramping  the  energies,  and  morally  by  de- 
stroying mutual  confidence  and  habits  of  co-operation.   And 
it  ppeaks  well  of  the   marvellous  inherent   vitality   of   the 
race  that  it  has  been  able  to  retain  and  achieve  so  much  in 
21 


162  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

the  face  of  so  many  and  such   powerful   drawbacks.    An 
instrument  of  petty  tyranny,  caste  makes  the  highest  and 
the  best  of  the  community  submit  to  those  who   are   their 
inferiors  morally  andintellectually  but  who  form  a  powerful 
factor   for  evil.      The    tyranny   of     a  small     section   of 
society  becomes  most  unreasonable  when  tho  latter  issues 
wrong  mandates  or  interferes  in  matters  in  which  it  ought 
not  to  interfere  and  this  is  what  caste  now  does  among  the 
Hindus.     It  had  its   uses  in   tho  earlier  stages  of   society 
when  inroads  of  foreigners  necessitated   its   forming  itself 
into  compact  and   well  organized    groups    and   when    the 
condition  of  the  arts  of   life    required   that    trade    secrets 
should  bo  kept  confined  to  a  limited  circle.  But  the  circum- 
stances are  not  now  the  same   nor   do   the   times  require 
India  to  be  divided  into  a  number  of  small    and   mutually 
repellant  communities.     Tf  \ve  see  ourselves  as   others   see 
us,  we  shall  find  that  they  attribute   our   backwardness  in 
civilization  to    our   present  system   of   caste,     Says    Mr. 
Kidd  :  "  In  eastern  countries  where  the  institution  of  casto 
still  prevails,  we  have  indeed  only  an  example  of  a   condi- 
tion of  society  in  which  (in   the    absence  of    that   develop- 
mental force   which   we   shall    have   to  observe  at  work 
amongst  ourselves)  those  groups  and  classes  have   become 
fixed  and  rigid  and  in    which   consequently  progress   has 
be<m  thwarted  and  impeded  at  every  turn  by  innumerable 
barriers  which  have  for  ages  prevented  that  free    conflict 
of  forces  within  the  community  which  has  made  so  power- 
fully fpr  progress  among  the   western   peoples,"     (Social 
Evolution,  p.  154).     1  have  already  quoted  the   opinion   of 
the  late  Census  Commissioner  on  the   caste   system,   and  I 
shall  how  refer  to  what  another  writer  has  to  say  on  tho 
subject.  "  Society"  says  Mr.  Nesfield  in  his  Review  of  the 
Caste  System  prevailing  in   the  North  Western  Provinces 
andQudh  (Pages,  103-101),   "  instead  of  being  constituted 
fvs  one  organised  whole,  is  divided  against  itself  bjr   inor- 


4        VUSIOfr  Of  SUB-CASTES  tN. INDIA.       1GS 

ganic  sections  like  geological  strata.  The  sense  of  in- 
security thus  engendered  could  nob  but  lead  to  a  loss  of 
independence  and  courage  in  the  characters  of  individuals. 
For  a  man  soon  ceases  to  rely  on  himself  if  he  thinks  that 
no  reliance  is  to  be  placed  on  the  good  will  and  fair  dealing 
of  those  around  him  nnd  that  everything  which  'he  may 
say  or  do,  is  liable  to  be  suspected  or  misconstrued.  Thus 
the  two  great  defects  in  the  Indian  character — a  want  of 
reliance  on  one's  self  and  a  want  of  confidence  in  others — 
have  sprung  from  a  common  source,  the  terror-striking  in- 
fluence of  caste.  The  caste  arrogance  of  the  Urahmaii 
which  first  sent  these  evil  spirits  abroad  has  corrupted  the 
whole  nation  and  descended  to  the  very  lowest  strata  oE  the 

population Not  only     has   caste    dcinuValis&cd 

society  at  large,  but  it  is  a  constant  source  of  oppression 
within  its  own  particular  ranks.  Caste  is  therefore  an 
instrument  both  of  widespread  disunion  abroad  and  of  the 
meanest  tyranny  at  home,  :ind  the  latter  of  these  evils  haa 
intensified  the  want  of  courage  and  self-reliance  to  which 
we  have  lately  alluded  as  being  one  of  the  greatest  defects 
in  the  Indian  character."  "  Had  the  Brahman  never  come 
into  existence  and  had  his  arrogance  proved  to  be  less 
omnipotent  than  it  did,  the  various  industrial  classes 
would  never  have  become  stereotyped  into  castes  and  the 
nation  would  have  been  spared  a  degree  of  social  disunion 
tu  which  no  parallel  (.-an  be  foiiud  in  human  history" 

(p.  116). 

REFORM  IN  THK  CASTE  SYSTKM. 

Reform  in  the  present  system  of  caste  and  sub- 
castes  i$  therefore  absolutely  required  by  the  altered  con- 
ditions of  Indian  society.  Caste,  as  I  have  already  said, 
cannot  be  banished  from  India  any  more  than  from  any 
other  soil.  But  it  may  be  so  reformed  as  to  foster  good 
instead  of  evil.  The  task  of  the  reformer  in  this  respect 
is,  however,  full  of  difficulties,  but  if  he  keeps  stehdily  in 


164  .  'ttiBlAK  SOCIAL  REFORM. 


view  the  ideal  of  expansion  rather  than  contraction  of  . 
nationality  as  has  hitherto  been  done,  lie  shall  be  successful 
in  the  end.  His  greatest  difficulty  will  be  inducing  the 
highest  and  the  lowest  castes  both  of  which  are  extremely 
arrogant  in  caste  matters,  to  accept  his  programme  qf  re- 
form. The  castu  arrogance  of  the  Brahman  finds  its 
parallel  in  the  caste  arrogance  of  the  lowest  sections  of 
society  who  despise  tlioir  neighbours  on  most  frivolous 
distinctions.  In  the  other  castes  it  is  not  so  bad.  If  there-- 
fore the  reformer  works  on  the  lines  already  laid  down  by 
the  various  casto  conference1**  in  the  country,  in;:.,  to-  make 
those  sub-sections  of  a  casto  which  interdine  also  inter- 
marry, he  shall  gradually  bring  about  such  a  fusion  of 
castes  as  shall  broaden  the  basis  of  society  and  pave  the 
way  for  further  reform,  It  will  be  necessary  to  start  with 
the  most  minute  sub-divisions  and  work  upwards  to  the 
comparatively  larger  onus.  It  will  not  be  possible  nor 
desirable  to  havu  the  right  of  connubiuin  follow  the  right 
of  couvivium  within  the  same  gotra  o£  a  sub-caste.  The 
rule  of  not  marrying  in  one's  gotra  is  one  to  which  no  ex- 
ception can  be  admitted.  But  there  is  no  reason  why  thu 
right  of  connubiuin  should  not  follow  the  right  of  con- 
vivum  outside  a  gotra,  India  has  been  ruined  from  want  of 
an  organized  Indian  nation.  It  was  not  so  in  the  past. 
Let  it  therefore  bu  the  care  of  modern  Indian  reformers  to 
restore  it  to  its  former  standard  of  perfection  where  each 
section  of  society  felt  itself  to  be  dependent  upon  and 
worked  for  the  good  of  the  other.  The  Aryans  of  old  did 
not  relinquish  "  duty  from  lovo  of  money  nor  from  fear  of 
death  nor  from  dread  of  society,"  Let  modern  Aryans  if 
they  wish  to  be  a  nation  do  the  same. 

BAIJNATII, 


FUSION'  Oy  S17B-CASPES  IN  TNDIA.         1&5 


WORKS  CONSULTED. 

'The  Rig  Veda. 
The  Institutes  of  Maim. 
The  Ham  ay  an  a  of  Valmiki. 
The  Maha'  IHiarata. 
Hunter's  Indian  Empire. 
Census  Report  for  18U1. 
Nesfiukr.s  Brief  Review  of  the  Tribes    and    Castes    of 

the  North  -West  Provinces  and  Outlh. 
Kicld^s  Social  Kvoluiion. 
Todd's  Rajasthan. 


10G  ttfDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

VII. — Marriage  Reform  among  the  Hindus. 

UY  UAO  BAIIAJJUU  R.  N.  M.UDHOLKAK,  JJ.A.,  L.L.U., 
llif/h  Court  Valtil,  Ainraoti. 

There  is  no  doubt  some  basis  for  tliu  trite  observation 
that  India  is  not  a  country  but  a  continent,  and  contains 
not  a  nation  but  a  congeries  of  nations  :  and  when  a 
stranger  reads  or  hears  of  the  vast  extent  of  the  country 
and  of  something  like  the  three  hundred  millions  who  in- 
habit it,  of  the  numerous  religions  and  faiths  which  they  pro- 
fess and  follow,  Mahomedanusm,  /oroastrianism,  Sikhiam, 
Buddhism,  Jainistn,  Hinduism — with  the  almost  countless 
sects  which  sire  included  in  it, — he  is  apt  to  be  impressed 
with  the  absolute  correctness  of  the  remark.  But  to  one 
who  belongs  to  the  country  or  has  a  knowledge  ol!  the  actual 
condition  of  Indian  society,  the  facts  appear  otherwise; 
and  undoubtedly  so,  as  far  as  the  Hindu  community  are 
concerned,  Prom  the  Himalayas  down  to  the  Indian 
Ocean  and  From  the  Indus  to  the  Brahmaputia  the  Brah- 
min, Kshatriya,  Vaishya  and  Shudra  classes  have  institu- 
tions, manners,  customs,  observances,  ceremonies  which  in 
essential  features  are  the  same.  The  members  of  the  Jain 
sects,  differ  though  they  do  in  religious  beliefs,  dogmas 
and  rituals  from  the  orthodox  sections  of  the  Hindu  com- 
munity, arc  in  the  other  matters  which  constitute  their 
every  day  life,  so  similar  that  it  is  impossible  to  say  from 
ouiward  appearances  whether  a  person  is  a  Jain  or  an 
orthodox  Hindu.  We  may  go  one  step  further  and  say 
that,  so  far  as  the  bulk  of  the  Mahomedaii  community  is 
concerned,  excluding  religious  observances,  their  domestic 
life  is  in  several  respects  .similar  to  that  of  the  Hindus, 
which  by  the  way  cannot  be  a  matter  for  surprise  ;  for, 
they  consist  of  tlio  descendants  of  converts  to  Mali  ome  dan  - 
ism  and  come  from  the  same  stock  as  the  Hindus.  Hindus 


i.]  MARRIAGE  REFORM  AMONG  THE  HINDUS.  J07 

and  Mahomedans  can  well,  in  spite  of  difference  of  religion, 
be  called  one  nation.  Bub  leaving  Mahomedans  out  01 
consideration,  the  Hindus,  who  form  the  majority  of  the 
population,  possess  socially  as  well  as  politically  all  the 
characteristics  of  a  nation  ;  and  every  question  affecting 
their  well-being  is  a  question  of  national  importance.  Out 
of  the  total  population  of  287  millions  returned  by  the 
Census  of  1891,  over  222  millions  are  Hindus,  Sikhs,  Jains 
and  Buddhists.  Social  Reform  in  India,  therefore,  pos- 
sesses a  significance  far  greater  than  in  other  countries  ; 
and  it  is  to  he  expected  that  every  attempt  to  effect  any 
alteration  in  the  existing  pi-notices  si  ion  Id  in  these  dajTs  of 
free  thought  mid  free  discussion  excl I  e  the  watchful  jea- 
lousy and  keen  criticism  of  a  highly  intellectual  people  and 
often  produce  warm  controversies. 

There  is  no  subject  in  regard  to  which  there  is  greater 
difference  of  opinion  productive!  of  hot  discussion  than 
Marriage  Reform.  That  phrase  apparently  giving  expres- 
sion to  one  idea  denotes  really  speaking  several  subjects  ; 
many  of  them  concern  the  very  basis  of  soeial  life.  For  nn 
adequate  treatment  of  them  even  a  good-sized  volume  will 
not  suffice. 

In  this  paper  the  question  of  Marriage  Reform  is  con- 
sidered in'some  only  of  its  most  important  aspects.  It  is 
proposed  to  deal  chiefly  with  infant  or  early  marriage, 
compulsory  marriage  and  enforced  widowhood  ;  and  even 
in  regard  to  these  it  is  hardly  possible  to  give  within  the 
limits  at  my  command  anythiug  more  than  a  statement  of 
the  conclusions  which  the  discussions  that  have  taken 
place  on  the  subjects  suggest  to  me.  Solicitous  .  for  the 
regeneration  and  progress  of  the  great  community  to 
which  I  have  the  proud  privilege  to  belong,  and  believ- 
ing firmly  that  its  material  and  moral  regeneration  cannot 
be  effected  without  a  considerable  readjustment  of  its  mar- 
riage customs,  I  am  not  unmindful  that  there  are  amongst 


108  IN&IAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

my  countrymen  several  with  knowledge,  experience 
and  abilities  superior  to  what  I  may  be  allowed  to  possess, 
who  with  equal  fervour  believe  .that  many  of  the  views  herein 
set  forth  are  wrong  and  that  Hindu  society  would  suffer  if 
the  attempt  to  give  effect  to  them  succeeds.  The  number 
of  such,  however,  is  small  among  those  who,  having  received 
the  benefit  of  education  in  modern  literature  and  science, 
are  accustomed  to  subject  every  question  to  the  test  of 
reason. 

According  to  the  prevailing  practice  every  girl  must  be 
married,  and  the  religious  ceremonies  which  create  the  bind* 
ing  tie  and  irrevocably  unite  the.  wife  to  the  husband  must 
Ije  performed  before  the  girl  attains  puberty.  As  will  be 
shown  further  on,  there  are  a  few  sections  of  Hindus 
amongst  whom  girls  are  permitted  to  be  kept  unmarried 
sometimes  for  years  after  they  reach  womanhood.  But 
the  general  practice  insists  upon  marriage  before  that  event. 
For  the  marriage  of  men  no  age  is  prescribed,  but  the 
general  custom  is  to  get  them  married  at  the  age  of  15  or 
16,  indeed  very  often  at.  the  ago  of  10  or  11  even.  Thus 
throughout  the  whole  society  the  spectacle  is  presented  of 
boys  of  17  and  18  and  girls  of  13  and  14  entering  upon 
married  life  and  subjected  to  all  its  responsibilities.  Little 
children  of  14  becoming  mothers  is  a  very  common  sight. 
It  is  now  conceded  by  most  thinking  people  that  this  is  a 
very  deplorable  state  of  things  ;  and  it  is  unquestionable 
that  serious  evils  have  resulted  from  these  early  marriages. 
The  general  deterioration  in  physique  universally  noticeable 
is  justly  attributed  to  this  baneful  custom,  the  greatest 
sufferers  being  the  poor  girls  who  enter  upon  maternity 
before  their  bodies  are  properly  developed.  The  progeny 
of  such  parents  cannot  be  otherwise  than  weak  and  sickly. 

Equally  harmful,  both  to  the   individuals   concerned 
and  to  the  cpuntry   generally,   are  the  interference   with 
and  the  cradling  out  of  all  spirit  of  enterprise. 


I.]  MARRIAGE  REFORM  AMONG  THE  R INDUS.  189 

and  adventure  which  result  from  these  early  marriages. 
Thousands  of  promising  young  men  have  been  forced  -to 
give  up  their  studies  and  seek  employment  because  the 
means'  of  their  parents  or  guardians  were  exhausted  in 
getting  them  married,  and  the  maintenance  of  the -members 
of  the  family  became  itself  a  difficult  question.  In  these 
days  when  so  much  thought  is  bestowed  on  the  question 
of  the  poverty  of  the  country  and  schemes  for  the  restora- 
tion of  the  industrial  eminence  which  Tndia  once  enjoyed, 
are  discussed,  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  some  of  the 
causes  which  have  brought  about  pecuniary  embarrassment  a 
and  consequent  ruin  of  many  families  cnn  be  removed  by 
ourselves,  if  wu  only  sufficiently  *  exert  ourselves  and 
persevere  in  our  efforts. 

If  the  education  of  boys  is  interfered  with  and  its 
progress  hampered,  that  of  girls  in  most  cases  completely 
ceases  with  her  marriage,  i.e.)  from  the  age  of  8  or  10.  Afc  it 
is,  female  education  is  in  a  most  backward'  condition  in 
this  country  and  what  of  the  so-called  instruction  ia  re-* 
ceived  is  only  till  the  age  of  10  and  after  that'  there 
is  complete  cessation  of  it. 

The  want  of  enterprise  and  absence  of  love  of  adven- 
ture is  phenomenal.  Boy  husbands  burdened  with  family 
cares,  with  their  education  cut  short,  can  hardly  think  tif' 
striking  into  new  paths  and  'going  in  quest  of  adventures 
either  for  fame  or  for  money.  The  very  restricted  and  low 
vie>r  taken  of  women's  right  and  position  can  hardly  l>o 
attributed  to  the  notions  aboitt  early  or  compulsory'  rtiar- 
riages,'  for  they  exist  in  communities  which  ware  or  are 
free  from  these  trammels.  But  there  i&  no  doubfc  that  the1 
elevation  of  woman  to  her  propefr  position  and  lief'  moral 
equipment  for  that  position  is  greatly  retarded  bj^  the' 
existing  marriage1  Customs, 

The  ^formation  disclosed  by'thfe  old  SaiVskrit  litera-' 
ture  in  regard  to  thd  institutions  df  thb  acnc?6iit  Hindus' 


170  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

shows  that,  during  the  best  period  of  Aryan  history, 
neither  compulsory  nor  early  marriage  was  enjoined  for 
women,  and  it  is  during  this  period  we  find  a  high  view 
taken  of  the  dignity  and  rights  of  .women  and  the  wife 
was  regarded  as  the  half  of  her  husband,  not  only  figura- 
tively, but  participated  in  the  glories  and  privations  of  war 
and  peace,  and  was  his  companion  in  the  study  of  science 
and  philosophy. 

('losely  connected  with  early  and  compulsory  marriage 
is  its  cxpensiveness.  The  presents  to  the  bridegroom  find 
his  relations  in  cash  and  in  kind,  the  feasts  and  parties, 
the  vain  displays  and  processions  which  a  man  who  gets 
his  daughter  married  to  the  son  of  a  person  of  his  social 
position  lias  to  provide,  not  merely  strain  his  resources, 
bub  hi  many  cases  absolutely  bring  about  his  bankruptcy. 
This  absurd  costliness  ifc  is  which  is  mainly  responsible  for 
the  disparagement  and  low  estimate  in  which  female 
children  are  regarded  mid  for  the  dislike  which  the 
majority  feel  for  them. 

In  some  castes  and  sections  the  evil  has  gone  so  far 
as  to  pervert  human  nature  and  brought  about  foniale  in- 
fanticide, turning  loving  parents  into  worso  than  human, 
monsters.  To  check  these  atrocities  (lovcrmnent  had  to 
interfere  and  special  methods  had  to  be  devised  in  the 
shape  of  the  provisions  of  the  Infanticide  Act. 

In  the  contemplation  of  human  misery  there  is  no 
more  pathetic  and  heart-rending  spectacle  than  the  child 
widow  of  8  or  10,  hopelessly  condemned  to  life-long  misery 
and  degeneration.  And  this  exists  only  because  there  is 
compulsory  child  marriage.  Kvon  the  staunchesfc  and  most 
orthodox  upholders-  of  the  current  Hindu  beliefs  admit 
that  the  lot  of  the  child  widow  is  most  pitiable.  A  Hindu 
father,  howsoever  devout  he  might  be,  curses  his  fate  and 
the  harsh  customs  which  bind  him  down,  when  he  sees  his 
child  reduced  to  such  a  condition.  A  few  figures  will  show 


L]  MARRIAGE  RMORM  AMONG  THE  HINDUS.  171 

the  extent  of  the  evils  and  the  Inarms  they  produce.  In 
1891  there  were  amongst  Hindus,  Sikhs,  Jains  ami.  Had- 
dhists  89,051  boys  below  the  ago  uE  4  who  were  married 
and  228,560  married  girls  of  the  same  age.  ,  The  number 
of  widows  below  the  age  of  4-  was  10,641.  The  number  oE 
married  boys  between  5  and  9  years  of  age  is  nearly  6, lakhs 
and  two  thousand  and  that  of  girls  over  18i  lakhs.  The 
total  number  of  married  males  below  the  age  of  14  is 
2,725,124  and  that  of  girls  is  6,871,999.  The  number  of 
•widows "between  3  and  9  years  of  age  is  02,739  and  of 
those  between  10  and  1-J?  years  of  age  is  143,100.  Of  these 
•2  lakhs  and  more  of  widows  below  the  age  of  1  i  all  but 
some  4  thousand  arc  Uiiidus  proper. 

•These  evils  arc  recognized  by  almont  all  educated  and 
thinking  persons,  whether  they  belong  to  the  old  or  to  the 
new  school.  But  while  the  Progressive  party  urge  that 
active  steps  should  be  taken  for  removing  them  by  alter- 
ing the  existing  customs,  the  orthodox  party  resist  their 
demands  as  untenable  on  the  ground  that  thuy  arc  opposed 
to  religion. 

The  reform  advocated  is  mainly  on  the  following 
lines  : — 

(1)  Option  of  marriage  to  bo    allowed    to    women   in 
thu  same  way  as  to  men, 

(2)  No  girl  to  be  married  before  18  or  :it  the  earliest 
16. 

(•'$)  No  man  to  be  married  till  he  is  at  least  i!0,  and 
in  no  case  till  he  is  able  to  maintain  himself  and  his 
family. 

(4)  Abolition  of  customs   which    Jbring   about   unne- 
cessary expenditure  on  occasions  of  marriage. 

(5)  Kern  oval  of  the  religious  and    social   prohibition 
against*  the  re- marriage  of  a  widow  and  the  recognition   of 
her  claim  to  be  socially  treated  in  the   same   way  as  any 
other  married  woman  of  her  cuatu,      . 


172  INDIAN  SOCIAL  HEfGRM. 

As  things  .stand,  the  greatest  difficulty  is  about  the 
general  acceptance  of  the  changes  set  forth  in  points  i  ,2, 3 
and  5. 

One  of  the  features  common  to  all  the  innumerable 
castes  and  sub-castes  into  which  the  Hindus  are  divided, 
ia  the  firm  acceptance  of  the  doctrine  that  marriage  is  ab- 
solutely necessary  in  the  case  of  a  female.  Amongst  the 
higher  castes,  i.  <-.,  those  who  are  comprised  under  the 
three  original  main  castes  of  Brahmins,  Kshatriyas  and 
Vaishyas  there  ia  another  common  feature  and  that  is  the 
prohibition  of  the  remarriage  of  a  widow.  The  feeling 
against  widow  remarriage  amongst  the  members  of  these 
castes  is  so  great  that  even  amongst  scccdcrs  and  dissent- 
ers from  orthodox  Hinduism  like  the  Jains  (who  are 
classed  amongst  V.iishyas)  there  is  the  same  horror  of 
women's  contracting  a  second  marriage  as  amongst  Hrah- 
iniuK  and  Kshatriyas.  Nsiy,  in  the  Shudras  amongst  whom 
widow  remarriage  is  recognized  and  considered  lawful,  the 
general  sense  of  the  community,  whatever  the  law  might 
lay  down,  accords  a  much  lower  status  to  a  remarried 
widow  than  to  si  woman  who  was  married  when  she  was  a 
virgin. 

The  Progressive  party,  while  anxious  for  the  removal 
of  eVils,  are  conscious  that  no  change  which  is  not  sup- 
ported by  authority  or  precedent  has  any  chance  of  being 
considered  by  their  country  men.  Their  efforts  have,  there- 
fore, been  directed  towards  such  only  as  can  receive  these 
supports.  In  spite,  however,  of  this  attitude  of  theirs, 
they  have  not  yet  succeeded  in  securing  the  acceptance 
of  their  proposals  by  the  majority  of  the  Hindus.  They 
believe,  however,  that  reason  and  justice  are  on  their  side, 
and  they  expect  to  win  their  battle  by  the  weapons  drawn 
from  the  ancient  scriptures  and  ancient  history. 

In  regard  to  compulsory  and  early  marriage  the  po&i<» 
tion  of  the  orthodox  party  is  this.  There  are  certain 


i.]  MARRIAGE  REFORM  AMONG  THE  HINDUS.  173 

sacraments  ordained  aa  necessary  for  every  poreuu  male  or 
feinnlo.  In  the  case  of  males  of  the  three  regenerate 
classes,  this  necessary  sacrament  is  the  Upaiiayana  or 
rrhreud  Ceremony.  For  females  and  Shudras  the  place  of 
this  necessary  sacrament  is  supplied  by  marriage.  Relying 
on  a  text  contended  to  be  that  ol'  Ashwaluyana,  one  oE 
the  highest  authorities  on  ceremonial  law,  it"  is  advanced 
that  certain  ceremonies  constituting  the  consummation  .of 
marriage  must  be  performed  immediately  ni'ter  n  young 
woman  attains  puberty.  Great  reliance  is  also  placed  on 
various  texts  and  dicta  of  writers  of  eminence  laying  down 
that  the  father  of  a  girl  who  atttiins  puberty  before  mar- 
riage goes  to  hell.  The  chief  re-cognized  text  is  from  PunU 
tthara  which  says  "  <i  girl  iu  her  eighth  year  is  a  LJauri,  in 
her  ninth  yeur  a  Ilohini,  in  her  tenth  ycur  ;L  Kanya 
and  above  that  ti  Itajaswahi.  The  giving  in  niiirriago  of 
;i  Gauri  will  lend  to  Nak  (the  celestial  region  belonging 
to  Indra),  of  a  llohini  to  Vuikuntha  (the  one  belonging 
to  VishiuO,  of  a  Ivanya  to  Brahmaloka  and  a  Rajaswala  to 
hell-"  The  prevailing  and  accepted  belief  is  that  110 
Hindu  can,  without  imperilling  the  future  o£  his  soul, 
keep  his  daughter  unmarried  after  puberty.  The  social 
penalty  for  the  disregard  of  this  injunction  is  excommu- 
nication, perhaps  the  severest  punishment  which  a  com- 
munity can  inflict. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  advocates  of  reform  urge  that 
there  is  no  Vedic  text  or  anything  in  the  works  of  any 
of  the  Smriti  writers  except  the  one  attributed  to  Ashwalii- 
yana,  which  some  question  as  spurious,  which  lays  down 
that  every  girl  ought  to  be  married  and  the  marriage  con- 
summated at  the  very  first  appearance  of  womanhood. 
Passages  from  Manu  and  other  authorities  of  equal  posi- 
tion are  pointed  out  by  them  as  distinctly  opposed  to  thq 
alleged  heinjousnesa  of  keeping  a  girl  unmarried  at  pu- 
berty. One  passage  of  Maim  states  that  a  girl  is  to  wait  for 


174  INDIAN  SOCIAL  RE1VRM.  [»A«J 

three  ycaf-s  after  attainment  of  puberty  to  see  if  her  father 
gets  her  married.  If  he  does  not,  then  at  the  end  of  that 
period,  she  may  look  out  for  a  suitable  husband  for  herself 
and  select  and  marry  one.  Baudhiiyana  states  similarly. 
This,  it  is  urged  with  great  force,  evidently  means  that  a 
girl  decs  not  lose  her  caste  or  social  position  by  being  kept 
unmarried  after  puberty.  The  great  medical  authority 
Sushruta  says  :  u  A  woman  is  considered  to  be  a  child  till 
the  sixteenth  year  of  her  age  and  afterwards  to  be  in  her 
youth  till  the  thirty-second  year.  If  a  man  of  less  than 
'25  years  begets  a  child  on  a  woman  of  less  than  10  years, 
it  remains  in  the  womb.  Jf  it  is  born  it  docs  not  live  long? 
and  if  it  lives  at  all,  it  is  weak/7 

It  deserves  to  he  noted  that  in  ancient  limes  not  only 
was  it  not  considered  necessary  to  marry  women  before 
puberty,  but  at  times  they  even  remained  unmarried 
their  whole  life.  The  names  and  memory  of  the  Brahma- 
vadinis,  diargi  Vacliaknavij  Sulabhft  Mnitroyi,  Vadava 
i'ratitheyij  who  never  married  at  all,  and  passed  their 
whole  life  in  celibacy  are  .still  regarded  with  veneration  by 
the  most  orthodox  Hindus.  Judging  from  the  instances 
of  Draupadi,  Shakuntala,  Damayanti  and  several  others, 
it  would  seem  that  it  was  quite  an  ordinary  thing  for  girls 
to  remain  unmarried  till  considerably  after  they  attained 
the  years  of  discretion.  The  orthodox  party  urge  that 
the  instances  are  all  those  of  women  of  the  Kshatriya  caste. 
To  this  the  other  side  reply  that  the  laws  of  marriage  are 
the  same  for  all  the  three  regenerate  classes. 

The  facts  stand  thus  :  Formerly  it  was  as  much  iu  the 
option  of  women  as  of  men  to  marry  or  not  to  marry  and 
the  tie  itself  was  contracted  generally  after  the  attainment 
of  the  years  of  discretion.  The  sentiment  of  the  commu- 
nity, however,  became  changed  iu  course  of  time  and  not 
only  did  the  old  practice  of  women  remaining  unmarried  or 
considerably  after  they  came  of  ago  fall  into 


i.]  MARRIAGE  REFORM  AMONG  THE  HINDUS.  175 

disuetude,  but  it  came  to  be  regarded  that  it  was  unallow- 
able for  women  to  pass  an  unmarried  life  and  further 
that  they  ought-  to  be  married  before  they  roach  puberty. 
This  accounts  for  the  apparently  conflicting  texts  and  dicta 
to  be  found  in  works  on  ceremonial  Isiw. 

There  can  bo  no  question  that  the  prohibition  of  the 
remarriage  of  widows  is  of  comparatively  recent  origin. 
Mann  says  :  — 

TO   er 


"  If  the  husband  has  disappeared  and  cannot  bo  found, 
if  ho  is  dead,  if  he  is  banished  or  is  nuuter  or  becomes  an 
outcasto  ;  in  the  case  of  the  occurrence  of  these  five  mis- 
fortunes a  second  husband  is  ordained  for  women." 

The  same  or  similar  permission  is  accorded  in  tlio 
Smritis  of  Nitrada  and  Parashara.  About  the  comparative 
authority  of  the  Sinriti  writers  tlio  orthodox  rulo  is 
*erqrtratt*jIcT:  (^o  Smrifci  of  Parashara  is  tlio  guiding 
authority  in  tlio  Kaliyuga,  Le,,  the  present  age).  Katyayana, 
Yasistha,  Shatatapa  and  Prajapati  accord  this  permission 
to  women  whose  marriage  was  not  consummated-  All  the 
same  there  is  the  recognition  of  the  right  of  a  woman  who 
has  lost  her  husband  to  contract  a  second'  marriage,  And 
yet  there  is  no  matter  which  the  orthodox  regard  with 
greater  horror  than  the  remarriage  of  widows.  Neither 
the  weight  of  authorities,  nor  the  accordance  of  the  demand 
with  the  principles  of  natural  justice,  nor  compassion  for 
the  hard  fate  of  the  child  widow,  seems  to  diminish  that 
horror. 

Amongst  the  three  regenerate  classes,  or  rather 
amongst  Hindus  who  do  not  belong  to  the  Shudra  caste, 
both  the  widow  who  contracts  a  remarriage,  as  also  the 
man  who  marries  her,  are  considered  as  degraded,  polluted 
as  having  lost  caste.  It  is  not  permissible  to  eafc  food 


170  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM*  [PART 

prepared  or  touched  by  them;  nay,  it  is  not  allowed, 
what  in  English  would  bo  called,  to  dine  with  them  at  the 
same  table.  Those  who  dine  with  them  arc  excommuni- 
cated. At  one  time  even  those  who  attended  a  remarriage 
were  subjected  to  th<3  same  penalty.  The  very  sight  of  a 
remarried  woman  is  regarded  with  aversion.  The  orthodox 
will  condone  a  widow  however  scandalously  she  misbe- 
haves herself  if  she  makes  penance  ;  but  a  remarried 
woman  as  also  her  husband  are  beyond  the  pale  of  the 
most  extreme  penance.  Shunned  iu  life  they  are  execrated 
after  death.  Still  more  wonderful,  these  sentiments  are 
more  strongly  held  by  women  than  by  men.  One  of  the 
main  reasons  which  is  at  the  bottom  of  this  is,  the  extreme 
reverence  in  which  the  husband  is  held  by  tho  wife,  whose 
highest  conception  of  womanly  dignity  and  felicity  is  to  bo 
united  with  her  husband  not  only  in  her  lifetime  but  after 
her  death  also- 

Whatever  the  origin,  the  sentiment  is  there.  A  mother 
who  is  grieving  over  the  widowhood  of  her  child,  if  asked 
whether  she  would  agree  to  her  remarriage,  would,  in  the 
majority  of  oases,  unhesitatingly  say  that  she  would  rather 
wish  the  child  were  dead  than  remarried. 

Though  there  is  a  mass  of  authorities  and  historical 
instances  in  support  of  widow  remarriage,  the  obstacles  in 
tho  path  of  its  recognition  by  tlio  community  generally  are 
far  greater  than  in  that  of  lato  marriages.  Kven  amongst 
Shudras  in  Certain  sub-sections  widow  remarriage  is  con- 
sidered prohibited.  The  ordinary  Knnbis  ulso  amongst 
whom  it  is  permitted  look  upon  a  Pat  wife  (a  woman  mar- 
ried after  she  became  a  widow)  as  lower  in  status  and 
dignity  than  other  married  women  who  were  married 
virgins.  Though  our  Courts  have  accorded  to  the  son  by 
a  Pot  wife  the  same  rights  as  to  the  son  by  the  Lagnti 
wife,  ifc  is  \vell  known  that  amongst  the  higher  sections  of 
tho  Shudras  at  any  rate,  the  son  by  the  Lagna  wife  is  ac- 


[.]  MARRIAGE  REFORMATION*}  THE  HINDUS.  177 

corded  precedence  in  all  social  and  religious  matters  over 
the  sons  by  the  Pat  wife.  Some  even  go  to  the  length  of 
questioning  the  right  of  the  Pat  wife's  sons  to  inheritance 
when  there  tire  sons  from  a  Lagua  wife, 

It  cannot  bo  determined  with  any  degree  of  exactness 
from  what  time  compulsory  marriage)  before  puberty  an  J 
enforced  widowhood  came  into  vogue.  Nor  is  it  known 
whether  any  efforts  were  made  to  remove  these  evils, 
or  any  protest  raised  against  them  till  the  lash  cen- 
tury. In  the  last  quarter  of  that  century,  however,  the 
injustice  of  enforced  widowhood  roused  this  attention  of 
the  Maratha  Brahmins,  then  the  most  prominent  section  of 
tho  nation  not  only  in  literary  and  speculative  matters  but 
in  politics  and  military  achievements  also.  The  daughter 
of  Parashiirain  Pant  lihau  Patwnrdhan,  tho  (Jen oral  of  the 
Peshwii  having  become  ,ri  widow  when  she  was  a  inert?  girl 
and  had  not  reached  womanhood,  the  father  moved  by  her 
misery  resolved  to  make  a  bold  attempt  to  shake  off,  if  pos- 
sible, the  trammels  which  pitiless  custom  had  imposed,  and 
with  that  object  placed  tho  question  of  tho  validity  of  the 
remarriage  of  child- widows  before  the  Pandits  of  Monares, 
which  was  then  as  now  and  for  thousands  of  years  past 
the  chief  seat  of  Hindu  learning,  'Die  Pandits  who  wore 
asked  to  examine  tho  authorities  gave  their  opinion  in  fa- 
vour of  the  validity  of  such  marriages.  It  is  not  known 
exactly  why  Parashram  Pant  Bhau  did  not,  in  spite  of  tin's 
favourable  reply  of  tho  Pandits,  translate  his  desire  into  ac- 
tion. They  say  his  political  allies  and  superiors  pointed 
wit  to  him  that  though  the  Shastras  might  be  on  his  side, 
popular  sentiment  and  prejudices  were  so  strong  in  this 
matter  that  it  would  not  be  safe  to  the  State,  considering 
the  circiimstances  under  which  it  was  placed,  embarking 
on  the  experiment  he  was  trying.  And  thus,  wo  are  told 
ended  the  matter.  Nothing  is  heard  further  of  tho  woes 
of  the  unfortunate  widows  till  the  time  of  Rajah  Ram 
83 


17*  TNDTAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

Mohan  Roy.  But  he  oven  was  not  able  to  accomplish 
anything ;  and  it  is  not  till  nearly  half  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury is  passed  that  we  find  anything  worth  mentioning 
accomplished  towards  the  amelioration  of  the  condition 
of  widows.  In  1853  was  passed  the  measure  which 
would  stand  as  a  landmark  in  the  history  of  Social 
Reform  in  India — the  Act  to  validate  the  remarriage  of 
widows.  It  is  Loyond  question  that  that  Act  gavo  great 
offonco  to  the  orthodox  community  of  Bengal  and  of 
such  of  the  important  places  in  tho  Presidencies  of  Bombay 
and  Madras  where  education  had  nuulo  any  progress.  But 
it  is  more  than  doubtful,  whether  its  scope  nud  object,  or 
its  very  existence  even,  was  known  elsewhere  for  years 
and  years.  Persons  anxious  to  miuimi/o  tho  responsibi- 
lity which  attaches  to  the  high-handed  policy  of  Lord 
Dalhousie  in  political  matters^  attribute  to  this  and  one  or 
two  more  acts  of  his  administration  indicative)  of  his  sym- 
pathy with  the  progressive  party,  some  share  in  the 
general  opposition  to  tho  British  administration  which 
expressed  itsolf  in  the  catastrophe  of  18,j7.  Hut  this  posi- 
tion can  well  be  controverted,  nud  shown  to  bo  incorrect. 

With  the  legalisation  of  widow  remarriage  the 
greatest  difficulty  in  the  path  of  tho  Reform  party  was 
removed.  Hut  it  was  some  years  before  tho  iirst  Brahmin 
widow  remarriage  could  bo  brought  about.  Tho  validity 
of  remarriage  among  the  three  higher  castes  according  to 
the  Shastras  was  discussed  in  a  conclave  of  learned 
persons  presided  over  by  the  Shankaracharya.  Both  sides 
claimed  victory.  All  the  same  the  opposition  of  the  people 
aa  a  whole  was  most  pronounced.  The  widow  remarriage 
party  wore  subjected  to  every  possible  form  of  persecution. 
The  cause  however  did  not  die,  but  thrived  and  made  pro- 
gress slow  though  it  was.  It  is  true  that  the  number  of  these 
marriages  is  small,  and  a  remarried  widow  is  not  still  admit- 
ted fully  in  society,  and  she  and  her  husband  are  subjected 


1. 1  MARRIAGE  REFORM  AMONG  THE  HINDUS.  179 

to  numerous  annoyances  and  put  to  great  inconvenience. 
Hut  when  the  present  attitude  of  the  orthodox  party  is 
compared  with  the  active  warfare  carried  on  against  them 
with  the  weapons  of  persecution  and  vilification  only 
thirty  years  ago,  the  tone  of  optimism  which  pervades  the 
writings  and  speeches  of  some  of  the  leaders  of  the  Reform 
movement  appears  perfectly  justifiable. 

The  organized  efforts  made  to  raise  the  marriage- 
able age  of  girls,  if  later  than  the  remarriage  movement, 
have,  on  the  other  hand,  roused  less  violent  opposition  and 
have  received  a  greater  measure  oF  success.  Thirty  years 
ago  the  ago  at  which  most  girls  were  marricu  amongst  the 
Bra'hmins  south  of  the  Narmada  was  7  or  8.  It  has  now 
gone  up  to  10  and  12.  J']ven  the  latter  limit  has  in  numer- 
ous cases  been  exceeded  by  a  year  or  so  by  orthodox  people 
without  any  reproach  from  their  community.  Ju  Mysore 
tho  movement  against  infant  marriages  can  show  results 
hardly  to  be  expected  in  British  India.  Being  supported 
by  an  enlightened  ruler  and  a  sympathetic  minister,  it  was 
able  without  much  difficulty  to  obtain  recognition  from  the 
Acharyas  (the  spiritual  heads  of  the  different  sections  of 
the  community)  and  encountered  less  formidable  opposition 
than  it  would  have  done  otherwise.  Proceeding  cautiously, 
theMysorcCjiovermncnt  first  ascertained  whether  the  general 
sense  of  the  people  was  in  favour  of  progress  or  against  it, 
and  when  it  was  satisfied  from  the  proceedings  which  took 
place  in  the  lie presentative  Assembly  in  1892  that  there 
was  a  fairly  large  volume  of  public  opinion  behind  it,  it 
introduced  and  in  1894  passed  a  Bill  regulating  the  age  of 
marriage,  which  prohibits  under  pain  of  criminal  prose- 
cution the  marriage  of  girls  below  tho  age  of  8,  and  of  men 
above  the  age  of  55  to  girls  below  the  age  of  14.  In  the 
regulation  as  passed  there  is  no  minimum  limit  for  boys. 
Some  ardent  reformers  may  not  regard  the  results  achieved 
aa  romarkablu  or  even  satisfactory,  But  when  it  is  b.orno 


l*u  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [I'AKT 

in  mind  that  the  heads  of  all  the  three  great  divisions  of 
Hi'Hiliunos,  the  Bmarta,  Madhva  and  Ramanuja  sects  have 
laid  down  that  10  is  the  proper  age  and  marriages  below  8 
are  sinful,  that  is  a  matter  of  no  small  moment  where  there 
are  L">2/270  girls  below  the  age  of  4  who  are  married  or  are 
widows  and  I/J04/J15  between  the  ages  of  ">  and  9.  Equally 
valuable  is  the  measure  as  a  precedent  to  be  followed  by 
the  nther  Indian  States  if  not  by  the  British  tJovcriinient. 

A  few  years  later  two  Bills  were  prepared,  one  by  the 
llon'hle  Mr.  Jambulingam  Mudaliar  and  the  other 
by  the  llon'blo  Mr.  Itatnasabhapaty  Pilhii  of  the 
Madras  Legislative  Council,  for  obtaining  n  similar 
enactment  for  I  he  Hindus  of  the  Madras  Presidency 
generally.  Hut  there  is  no  likelihood  of  proposals  for 
the  introduction  of  measures  of  this  kind  being  en- 
tertained by  the  Hritish  (lovernmcnt,  unless  the  demand 
comes  from  the  majority  nf  the  people.  The  extent 
to  which  the  Hritish  (iovcrnnienl  would  interfere  in  mat- 
ters connected  with  the  religious  observances  and  social 
customs  ol'  the  people  of  this  country,  has  been  over  and 
over  again  authoritatively  laid  down,  and  was  restated  only 
the  other  day  by  the  present  Viceroy.  The  regulation  of 
the  age  uf  marriage  is  a  matter  which  is  clearly  outside 
that  sphere,  unless  the  bulk  of  the  people  desire  legislative 
sanction  for  what  I  hey  have  come  to  agree  amongst  them- 
selves. The  right  and  duty  of  the  (jovernment  to  take 
suitable  action  in  a  matter  like^that  covered  by  the  Age  of 
Consent  Hill  stands  on  a  different  footing.Beaides,  the  social 
controversies  of  the  last  sixteen  years  have  satisfied  many 
members  of  the  party  of  progress  who  were  first  disposed 
to  welcome  outside  help,  particularly  that  of  Government, 
ihat  any  prolTer  of  such  help  or  any  demand  for  it,  far 
from  furthering  the  cause  of  progress,  distinctly  retardait 
by  injuring  the  susceptibilities  of  the  people  and  rous- 
ing their  buspicions. 


i.]  MARRIAGE  REFORM  AMONG  THE  HINDU ti.  1*1 

TIio  administrations  of  the  Native  States  occupy  a 
more  advantageous  position  in  tin's  respect,  and  an  enlight- 
ened policy,. calculated  tu  educate  public  o|)iniuii  and  give 
eJfect  to  reforms  proceeding  on  the  lines  of  least  resistance, 
if  adopted  by  them  is  far  less  likely  to  encounter  active 
hostility  than  any  similar  measure  of  the  fJovernment  of 
India.  The  Uaroda  (Jovcrnment  in  181)3  formulated  certain 
proposals  of  a  purely  permissive  character  in  regard  to 
luarriagc  reform,  but  these  were  abandoned  later  on.  11 
is  trusted  that  this  does  not  betoken  an  intention  on  the 
part  of  that  State  to  leave  social  reform  severely  alone- 

Hut  whether  in  Hritish  India  or  in  Native  States,  the 
great  factor,  the  one  on  which  chief  reliance  has  to  be 
placed,  for  bringing  about  the  desired  transformation,  is 
the  education  of  public  opinion.  According  to  the  strict 
letter  of  the  text  of  Parashara  every  Hindu  father  who 
gives  his  daughter  in  marriage  after  the  tenth  year  goes  to 
liell.  -Numerous  fathers,  who  claim  to  be  orthodox  and 
are  treated  as  such,  commit  this  heinous  sin  of  marrying 
their  daughters  after  the  age  of  10,  and  yet  they  are  not 
excommunicated  or  subjected  to  any  social  inconvenience. 
Of  the  Hindu  female  population  between  the  ages  of  10 
and  14  over  o8.l  lakhs  are  unmarried.  Taking  tho  higher 
castes  among  whom  this  rule  prevails  to  be  only  8  per 
cent,  of  the  total  Hindu  population,  there  would  be  3  lakhs 
unmarried  girls  between  the  ages  of  10  and  14 
belonging  to  these  classes.  The  plain  inference  to  be  de- 
duced from  this  is  that  tlie  injunction  about  marrying  a 
girl  before  she  completed  her  tenth  year  is  nob  in  practice 
at  least  regarded  as  mandatory.  If  all  the  reformers  '  hot 
and  cold*  instead  of  carping  at  each  other,  were  to  combine, 
would  they  not  be  able  to  obtain  a  similar  relaxation  in  re* 
gun!  to  the  injunction  about  the  marriage  of  girls  before 
puberty  ?  Amongst  the  Nainbudri  Brahmins  of  Malabar, 
who  are  most  staunch  in  their  orthodoxy,  it  is  permissible 


182  INDIAN  SOCfAL  REFOtiM. 

to  defer  marriages  uf  girls  till  after  the  attainment  of 
womanhood.  Amongst  tho  Kulin  Brahmins  of  Bengal  tlu1 
sairo  tiling  exists.  Among  the  Putimc  Prabhus  of  Bombay, 
and  among  the  Mudaliar  and  other  castes  of  tho  Madras  Pre- 
sidency claiming  to  hold  an  intermediate  position  between 
Kshatriyas  and  fthudras,  tho  general  practice  is  to  marry 
girls  alter  the  age  of  ]-.  The  position  of  the  advocates  of 
change  is  that  it  is  beyond  question  thai  our  forefathers 
exercised  the  right,  which  every  community  has,  of  alter- 
ing their  customs  and  institutions  according  to  change  of 
circumstances  to  bring  them  into  conformity  with  their 
notions  of  wluil  was  proper  or  improper.  If  in  doing  so 
they  could  not  be  considered  transgressors  of  religion  and 
law,  it  would  hardly  bo  just  to  regard  as  irreligious  the 
proposals  of  those  who  after  all  arc  merely  joking  fora  re- 
turn to  the  earlier  and  better  traditions  of  their  race. 

The  change  can  be  effected  by  the  community  alone. 
No  compulsion  from  outside  is  fousiblu  or  desirable.  It 
would  be  unprofitable  to  go  into  the  controversies  which 
were  raised  by  tho  Ago  <-f  Consent  Hill  or  Mr.  Kalahari's 
proposals.  At  present  there  is  certainly  no  proposal  which 
calls  for  the  legislative  or  executive  action  of  (iovcrnmcnt. 
The  appeal  is  to  tho  community.  As  in  all  matters  so  iu 
this,  neither  tho  formation  of  correct  opinions  nor  their 
articulate  expression,  nor  tho  devising  of  methods  for  put- 
ting them  into  practice,  can  bo  expected  from  the  masses. 
It  is  on  the  leaders  that  this  task  devolves.  It  is  the  duty 
of  men  of  light,  and  loading,  uf  thought  and  reason,  of  cul- 
ture and  refinement. 

Tho  question  naturally  .irises  who  are  these  men  of 
light  and  leading  and  what  is  tho  recognition  to  be  extend- 
ed to  the  numerous  spiritual  heads  (Gurus,  Swamis,  Maha- 
rajas or  whatever  else  they  bo  called)  of  the  different  sec- 
tions and  sub-sections  of  the  community-  It  is  not  claimed 
for  a  moment  that  thought,  reason  or  culture  is  cou- 


i.J  MARRIAGE  REFORM  AMONG  THE  IUNDUS.  183 

fined  to  the  recipients  of  western  education  merely.  But 
it  is  submitted  that  no  one,  whatever  stores  of  bookish  lore 
he  may  have  laid  by,  can  justly  claim  to  possess  these,  who 
blindly  and  without  examination  accepts  a  thing  on  the 
principle  of  scriptumest,  who  declines  to  consider  the  jus- 
tice or  injustice^  propriety  or  impropriety  of  existing  insti- 
tutions and  customs,  forbidding  his  reason  to  sit  in  judg- 
ment on  them  to  determine  whether  they  are  harmful  or 
serve  any  useful  purpose,  whose  imagination  is  not  fired  and 
whoso  sympathies  are  not  moved  by  the  spectacle  of  the 
misery  he  sees  around  him,  misery  which  is  self-inflicted 
and  is  preventiblo.  It  is  devoutly  tr.  be  wished  that  nil 
angry  recriminations  about  hot  reformers  and  cnld  reformers 
will  cease,  and  that  all  reference  about  past  controversies, 
about  Government  interference  be  avoided  and  that  both 
those  who  advocate  action  from  within  and  those  who  de- 
mand help  from  without  will  combine  and  devote  their  en- 
ergies to  obtain  the  recognition  and  acceptance  of  the  prin- 
ciples which  they  hold  in  common. 

The  attitude  of  the  Acharyns  except  in  one  or  two  mat- 
ters has  not  been  such  as  to  encourage  the  Progressive 
party  in  expecting  help  from  them  in  the  solution  of  the. 
great  problem  of  social  reform.  It  is,  therefore,  natural 
that  there  should  be  among  them  if  not  a  disposition  to 
ignore  these  dignitaries,  at  any  rate  an  indifference  to 
secure  their  co-operation.  It  is  not  the  reform  party  alone 
who  do  not  attach  great  value  to  the  authority  of  the 
Acharyas.  The  orthodox  party  are  as  prompt  in  question- 
ing it  whenever  any  of  these  spiritual  heads  show  any  dis- 
position to  make  a  concession  to  the  demand  for  reform. 
Their  position  is,  it  is  true,  rather  anomalous.  But  it  is 
sincerely  hoped  that  they  and  all  people  of  the  orthodox 
party  will  study  the  signs  of  the  times  and  '  show  a  more 
liberal  and  sympathetic  spirit  to  remedy  admitted  grievan- 
ces than  they  have  done  till  now.  The  cause  of  progress 


TNDTAN SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

will  not  wait  for  them.    By  their    uncompromising   opposi- 
tion to  it,  it  is  their  position  which  is  being  imperilled. 

For  the  extravagance  in  marriage  expenditure  no 
blame  attaches  to  the  Shastras,  and  it  is  custom  and  the 
innate  vanity  of  man  which  is  responsible  for  it.  There 
being  no  difficulties  about  the  Sh.i.stras  to  be  overcome 
in  this  matter,  one  would  have  thought  that  reform  here 
would  be  easily  accomplished.  But  except  in  certain  places 
and  in  certain  sections,  where  the  evil  had  reached  extra- 
ordinary proportions,  little  change  is  noticeable.  On  the 
contrary  tho  ox  pon, si  veil  ess  of  marriage  has  increased  in 
almost  all  grades  of  the  community,  pnrticularly  in  the 
middle  and  well -to-do  classes  during  the  hist  thirty  years. 

l^ormerly  there  were  intermarriages  between  the  four 
castes — the  Brahmins,  Kshatriyas,  Vaishyas  and  Shudras — 
with  certain  restrictions'  A  Brahmin  could  marry  a  Brah- 
min, Kshatriya,  Yaishyaor  Shudra  woman,  and  a  Kshatriya 
could  marry  a  Kshatriya,  Vaishya  or  Shudra  wife  and 
so  on ;  and  the  issues  by  all  the  marriages  were  legitimate 
and  the  wives  all  lawfully  married.  This  was  Anuloma 

(3W5TR)  marriage.     Hut    if    a    woman    of  a   higher  caste 

married  a  man  of  u  lower  caste,  it  was  Pratiloma,  (  nfcf^lH) 
or  a  mesalliance.  Hut  though  reprobated,  such  marriages 
were  not  unlawful.  Devayani's  marriage  with  Vayati  was 
never  questioned.  When  and  how  this  old  system  disap- 
peared it  is  not  easy  to  say.  AW  have  tlio  fact  that  in  he 
present  day,  tho  restrictions  on  marriage  have  become 
absurdly  unreasonable  and  intolerable.  Not  only  has  not 
intermarriage  between  the  original  four  main  castes  gone 
out  of  fashion,  but  persons  belonging  to  the  different  sub- 
sections of  the  same  caste  cannot  intermarry  without 
danger  of  social  ostracism  and  reprobation.  For  instance, 
the  three  main  sections  of  tho  Maharashtra  Brahmins, 
Jleshastha,  Konkanastha,  Karhada — do  no  not  intermarry, 


F.]  MARRIAGE  REFORM  AMONG  THE  HINDUS*  185 

Among  the  Deshasthas  again,  the  Rigvedis,  Madhyandinis, 
Kanvas,  Maifcrayanis  cannot  intermarry.  Tho  same  is 
the  case  between  the  Madhvas,  Smartas  and  Bamanujas  in 
Southern  India,  the  Nagars  and  the  Audich  and  other  Brah- 
mins in  Guzerat,  the  Kashmiris,  Saraswats,  Kanyakubjas, 
&c,,  in  Northern  India ;  the  Shenavis  and  the  wefltern  coast 
Saraswats  in  Western  India.  From  the  original  four  castes 
have  sprung  the  present  thousand  and  one  castes  ranking 
below  the  Brahmins  and  sub-castes.  These  numerous 
castes  and  their  sections  observe  similar  prohibitions  in 
regard  to  intermarriages  witli  sections  of  equal  rank.  The 
result  is,  restriction  in  the  field  of  choico,  creation  of  un- 
necessary difficulties  and  increase  in  marriage  expenditure. 
Tho  change  advocated  and  which  is  the  only  ono  practicable 
is  intermarriage  between  those  different  sub-sections  of  a 
caste  which  interdine-  How  difficult  to  move  Indian 
society  is,  is  shown  by  what  has  happened  in  regard  to  thin 
matter.  Deshastlui/s,  Konkanasthas  and  Karhadas  were 
some  yoars  ago  allowed  to  intermarry  by  one  of  the 
Shankm'acharyas,  yet  HO  action  has  followed  this  edict.  In 
tlii!  last  Century  sonic  progress  was  sought  to  be  made  in 
this  matter  by  the  Maharastra  Brahmins.  Bajirao  I  had  a 
Deshastha  wife?.  But  it  docs  not  appear  that  any  other 
marriages  of  thah  kind  took  place. 

Rven  dissenters  from  orthodox  Hinduism  have  not 
escaped  this  influence.  The  Lingayats,  who  ought  accord- 
ing to  the  theory  of  their  religion  to  be  all  on  a  footing  of 
equality,  are  as  strict  in  their  observance  of  prohibitions 
against  intermarriage  between  different  sub-sections  ad 
the  orthodox  people.  The  same  thing  is  to  be  seen  amongst 
Jains.  What  is  still  more  wonderful  is  that  even  converts 
to  Christianity  observe  in  some  places  caste  distinctions  in 
regard  to  marriage  almost  as  rigorously  as  the  Hindus. 

Prejudice  against  mesalliances  is  common  both  to 
the  East  and  the  West.  To  expect  the  total  removal  of 
24 


ISO  MDIAtf  NDCJAL  REFORM-  [PAIST 

all  restrictions  in  regard  to  class  in  the  matter  of  marriage 
is  to  expect  an  impossibility.  It  is  not  only  against  Indian 
nature  but  against  human  nature.  Confining  our  efforts  to 
the  domain  of  the  practicable,  our  action  should  be  direct- 
ed to  the  bringing  about  of  inter-marriage  between  the 
sub-sections  of  tlie  chief  caches  as  now  existing. 

In  this  matter  it  is  not  the  Hhastraic  ordinances  which 
have  to  be  surmounted  bub  custom.  Hut  unreasoning 
custom  is  as  difficult  to  change  as  any  practice  sanctified  by 
express  text  of  law. 

To  polygamy  and  to  Kulinism  the  most  serious  form  in 
which  it  exists,  a  passing  reference  only  can  be  made*.  Poly- 
gamy though  permitted  by  the  Sliastras  is  nowhere  except 
in  Bengal  a  serious  evil.  The  number  of  men  with  more  than 
one  wife  is  in  tho  other  pwrts  of  India  very  small.  But  in 
Bengal  among  the  Kulin  Brahmins  its  extent  and  magnitude 
are  even  now  shocking.  Twenty,  thirty,  forty,  sixty,  eighty 
and  even  hundred  women  married  to  one  man  who  seldom 
sees  the,  majority  of  them  for  years  as  they  are  left  to  pine 
at  their  paternal  houses  by  the  husband  who  exacted  the  pay- 
ment of  large  sums  for  condescending  to  marry  and  whose 
few  and  far  between  visits  can  only  bo  obtained  by  the 
inducement  of  fresh  presents  To-  every  such  visit,  ought  to 
be  a  matter  of  great  regret  and  humiliation  to  any  civilized 
people.  In  1806  an  attempt  was  made  to  obtain  its  pro- 
hibition by  law.  "But,  after  a  very  careful  and  sympathetic 
enquiry  it  had  to  be  abandoned  as  impracticable,  unless 
the  Government  was  prepared  to  make  a  departure  from 
its  settled  policy,  which  it  wn^  not. 

The  Shastras  do  not  permit  the  supersession  of  a  wife 
by  her  husband  except  under  very  special  circumstances. 
It  is  submitted  that  the  reform  party  ought  to  take  an  even 
higher  stand  and  agitate  for  the  establishment  of  the 
principle  that  no  man  should  marry  another  wife  while  one 
is  living  or  continues  united  to  him  in  marriage. 


i.]  MARRIAGE  REFORM  AMONG  THE  HINDUS*  18? 

Education  and  the  juster  appreciation  of  right  ami 
wrong  which  Jlows  from  it  arc  producing  their  effect,  nod 
even  the  polygamy  of  the  Knlins  is  decreasing.  The  Poly- 
an drous  tribes  who  are  coming  under  the  operation  of  these 
beneficent  influences,  and  the  Malabar  Marriage  Hill 
testify  to  the  acceptance  by  the  enlightened  persons 
among  them  oE  a  higher  ideal  of  family  life.  On  the 
Aryans  the  descendants  uC  tin1  old  Rishis  and  the  valiant 
warriors  who  created,  spread  and  developed  civilization  in 
Ihis  vast  laud  is  imposed  the  saeivd  duty  of  restoring  and 
enforcing  the  lofty  views  uf  life  and  duty  enunciated 
by  the  great  men  of  their  nice.  The  cause;  of  reform  is  the 
cause  of  justice,  of  righteousness,  ol'  humanity.  Shall  we 
tolerate  unequal  laws  ?  Shall  we,  while  claiming  every 
sort  of  liberty  and  license  for  men,  impose  upon  women 
restrictions  and  disabilities  productive  of  the  utmost  misery 
and  degradation  in  too  many  cases  ?  On  our  reply  to  this 
and  cognate  questions,  and  the  attitude  we  adopt  towards 
them  depends  the  future  of  our  race.  IE  we  want  to  re- 
cover our  Former  greatness,  we  must  set  high  in  the  sanc- 
tuary of  our  heart  the  goddess  of  truth  and  justice  and 
paying  entire  devotion  to  her  and  vowing  undivided 
homage  to  her,  consecrate  ourselves  to  establish  her  sway 
both  in  our  houses  and  in  our  country  in  social  matters  us 
in  political  matters. 


188  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REffORM.  [PART 

VIII.  Foreign  Travel- 

BY  PUNDIT  BISHAN  NAKAYAN  DALJ, 
Barrister-at-Law,  Lucknow. 


The  question  of  foreign  travel  has,  of  late,  come  to 
assume  considerable  iinportauee  in  the  eyes  of  thoughtful 
1  Lillians,  because  of  the  serious  bearings  it  is  felt  to  have 
oil  some  vital  and  pressing  problems  of  Indian  life.  It  has 
many  aspects  each  of  which  deserves  a  close  and  careful 
study.  On  its  moral  and  mental  side  the  movement  of 
foreign  travel — the  going  out  uf  Indians  into  strange 
countries,  among  strange  peoples,  possessing  strange  civili- 
sations— is  obviously  closely  connected  with  the  great 
problem  of  our  National  Education.  On  its  political  side, 
it  cannot  but  seriously  modify  our  conceptions  regarding 
the  functions  of  Government  and  the  rights  of  citizenship 
by  giving  us  real  and  living  examples  of  societies  which 
have  fashioned  and  perfected  their  political  institutions 
upon  models  very  different  from  those  which  have  domi- 
nated the  whole  course  of  Asiatic  history.  On  what  may 
be  called  its  commercial  side  it  must  in  course  of  time,  by 
enlarging  our  knowledge  of  the  world,  suggest  to  our  minds 
new  means  and  appliances  for  augmenting  our  material 
resources  and  stimulating  our  industrial  activity.  So  then, 
if  civilization  is  another  name  for  the  net  result  of  mental, 
moral,  political,  and  industrial  activities,  the  question  of 
foreign  travel  is  intimately  connected  with  the  greater 
question  of  oar  national  progress.  In  the  following  pages 
an  attempt  will  be  made  to  discuss  the  question  in  the  light 
in  which  I  have  put  it  here— to  see  how  the  movement  of 
travelling  and  sojourning  of  Indians  in  foreign  countries 
has  arisen,  what  are  its  tendencies,  immediate  and  ulti- 
mate, good  and  ovil,  what  is  the  relative  significance  of 
each  of  its  various  aspect*,  in  what  way  it  affects  our  pre- 


i.]  FOREIGN  TRAVEL.  189 

sent  national  revival,  and  what  should  bo  the  attitude  of 
an  educated  Hindu  towards  it.  I  purposely  say  'an 
educated  Hindu/  for  an  educated  Mahomedan,  whatever 
elae  may  keep  him  back  from  sea-voyage,  is  happily  free 
from  the  restraints  of  'caste*  which  is  tlio  greatest 
barrier  against  foreign  travH  in  the  case  of  every  Hindu, 
whether  of  the  old  school  or  of  the  new. 

There  is  a,   souso   in    which   foreign    travel    is  110  new 

thing  to  us.     Ancient  India  had   commercial    intercourse 

with  other  countries,     Tliu  Indians  traded  with  Babylon  in 

the  seventh    century  H.  ('.    In  the    10th  century    13.  0.  the 

ivory  of  Solomon's  thrum*,  his  prut-ions  stones  and  peacocks, 

and    the    sandalwood    pillurs    of     his   temple,    have   beon 

ascribed  by  competent  authorities  to  an  Indian  origin.  Early 

in  the  10th  century  A.  D.    the  products    and  art-works  of 

India  were    seen  in   the    court   and   palaces  of  the  Caliphs 

of  Bagdad.     "  Four  elephants  caparisoned  in  peacock  silk 

stood  fit  the  palace  gate,    '  and   on  tho  back   of  each  were 

eight  men    of   Sind."*     During   the  Mahomedan   period 

foreign  travel  assumed  a  new   aspect.     The  Hindus  rarely 

if  ever  went  beyond   Afghanistan    and  Cashmere  ;  but  the 

Mahomedan  settlers  kept   up   their   connection    with  their 

homes  in  Persia,  Central  Asia,  and  Arabia.     In  these  times 

general  insecurity  was   the   order  of  the  day  and  facilities 

of  communication  were    unknown.     One  province  of  India 

was  foreign  to  another,  and  it  was  more  difficult  and  risky 

then  to  travel   from    Lucknow    to   Delhi  than   it  is  now 

for   Cook's    tourist  to   go    round    the  globe.      Caate,    too 

long  before  the   Mahomedans  came,  had  tightened  its  hold 

upon  the   Hindu   race,    and   the   traditions  of   the  great 

days   of  Asoka   and  Chandragupta  had  been   forgotten. 

Still  among  the  Mahomedan  population  there  was   a   large 

element  of  those  who  either  belonged  to  foreign   countries 

or  had  visited   them.     But   except  in  certain   superficial 

*  Hunter's  History  of  British  India,  Vol.  1. 


100  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REffORM.  f  PAUT 

aspects  this  slight  connection  of  India  with  the  outenvorld 
does  not  seem  to  have  produced  any  appreciable  effect 
upon  the  life  of  its  people.  Indeed  this  connection  became 
less  and  less  and  in  course  of  time  entirely  ceased.  Ho\v 
is  it  then  that  the  Mahomedans  though  foreigners  them- 
selves and  unrestrained  by  any  caste  rules  did  not  keep  up 
and  encourage  intercourse  with  other  countries  ''  But  we 
may  go  much  further  back  and  ask  how  is  il  that  the 
Hindus,  who  too  were  at  one  time  foreigners  in  India,  did  nob 
keep  up  connection  wish  their  home  in  Central  Asia  and 
after  a  time  shut  their  doors  to  all  foreigners  ?  For  both 
questions  in  their  broad  and  important  features  may  be 
answered  together. 

In  order  to  understand  the  early  conservatism  to  which 
the  prejudice  against  foreign  intercourse  was  due,  we  must 
for  a  time  put  aside  some  of  the  axioms  of  modern 
times,  and  try,  as  far  as  possible,  to  realize  in  our  imagina- 
tions the  circumstances  in  which  the  older  societies  had  to 
carry  on  their  struggle  for  existence  and  the  conditions 
under  which  success  was  then  possible.  Somebody  has 
spoken  of  a.  '  pre-economic  age/  an  ajjo  when  the  postulates 
of  political  economy  were  not  true  and  had  no  existence  ; 
when  labour  and  capital  were  not  transferable,  because 
the  occupations  were  hereditary  ;  transferable  capita] 
was  scanty,  and  Government  was  unstable  ;  when  free-trade 
and  competitions  would  have  been  the;  ruin  of  the  society 
which  adopted  them,  There  was  undoubtedly  a  '  pre- 
liminary age'  in  the  life  of  mankind  where  not  only  tlip 
principles  of  modern  political  economy  but  many  other 
principles  and  axioms  had  no  application — iudecd  when 
the  very  contrary  principles  seem  to  havo  been  good  for 
men.  In  primitive  societies  when  human  nature  was  being 
formed,  when  human  groups  wore  loose  and  unorganized, 
when  the  struggle  for  existence  Avas  fierce  and  tribal  feuds 
were  carried  on  without  giving  or  taking  quarters,  the 


i.]  FOREIGN  TRAVEL.  191 

first  care  of  nations  was  to  live  ;  and  then  the  question  of 
national  defence  was  considered  at  least  as  important  as, 
by  a  curious  recrudescence  of  past  savagery,  it  has  come 
to  be  considered  by  some  of  the  great  world-powers  of  our 
day.  In  a  fighting  ago  militancy  was  necessary  and  inevit- 
able. For  military  success  organization  was  the  one 
thing  needful.  To  heat  the  loose  and  incoherent  atoms  of  a 
tribe  into  a  compact  and  coherent  whole,  isolation  of  tribe 
from  tribe  was  necessary,  the  irresistible  power  of  the 
tribal  chief  was  necessary,  inter-tribal  hatred  wag  neces- 
sary, the  supreme,  duly  of  revenue  was  necessary.  No 
tribe  could  afford  to  allow  its  members  tc  form  friendly 
relations  with  other  tribos,  to  trade  with  them,  or  to  go 
among  them,  for  in  those  days  to  go  to  another  tribe  was 
to  be  lost  to  one's  own.  it  has  been  said  by  a  hero*  of 
modern  times  that  "  what  one  nation  hates  is  another 
nation/7  In  early  times  international  hatred  was  ono  of 
tlio  preservations  of  natural  existence.  If  a  tribe  discovered 
H.  fertile*  tract  of  land,  provided  itself  with  some  means 
of  existence,  invented  some  implements  of  war  and  indus- 
try, it  was  not  to  its  advantage  that  the  neighbouring 
tribes  should  know  it,  for  those  were  not  the  days  of  com- 
mercial treaties  and  international  alliances,  but  of  force  and 
violence,  when  the  ultimate  question  between  man  and 
man  was,  as  Carlyle  has  said  in  his  own  graphic  way, 
((  canst  thou  kill  me,  or  can  I  kill  thee  ?"  and  when  there- 
fore a  rich  tribe  for  instance,  if  it  allowed  its  riches  to  be 
known  to  other  tribes,  would  have  at)  once  excited  their 
cupidity  and  been  plundered  by  them  without  any  ceremony. 
Isolation  and  exclusiveness  were  then  a  necessity,  inter- 
course with  foreigners  would  have  brought  on  national  ruin. 
In  India  this  stage — this  u  preliminary  period" — had 
passed  long  ago,  when  after  a  loug  interval  during  which 
it  developed  a  noble  civilization  the  light  of  which  not  only 

*  Napoleon. 


192  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

blazes  in  what  has  been   called    'the  Vedic  Arcadia/ but 
sends  its  reflection  even  to  us  across  the  long  night  of  cen- 
turies and  through  the  glaro  of  gars   and    electricity,    a  re- 
lapse took  place  ;   civilization    became  stationary  and  after 
a  time  took  a  retrogressive  and  downward   course.     It  was 
then  that  a  period  came  which    in  its  marked   features  re- 
sembled the  Mahomedfin  period,  and   indued   immediately 
preceded  it.     The   militant. '  typo   of    society    revived;  the 
larger  Hindu  states  were  spli t  up    into    smaller    kingdoms 
and  principalities,  feudal    institutions  came  into    existence 
and  tribal  jealousies  and  sectarian  hatred  became  the  order 
of  the  day.     A  selfish  priesthood  imposed    its  yoke   upon 
the  neck  of  the  people  ;  custom  fixed  and    stereotyped  the 
course  of  national  life  ;  casto  system  elaborated   its  net  in 
the  meshes  of  which  wcro  caught   all  the    elements  of  pro- 
gress and  advancement.     And  the  worst  of  it  was    that  it 
took  place  at  a  time  when  the  necessity  for  isolation,  for  reli- 
gious nnd  political  autocracy  an il  for  the  fixed  and  heredit- 
ary divisions  and  distinctions  of  classes  and  occupations  was 
losing  its  importance,  when  other  nations  wore  entering  upon 
their  career  of  progress.     When  from  this  stationary    stage 
they  were  passing  into  that  in  which  those  ideas  and  institu- 
tions began  feebly  and  faintly  to  manifest  themselves  which 
have  through  a  long  course  of  centuries  fashioned  and  por» 
fected  what  is  now   called  modern   civilization,  the  Hin- 
dus   locked  themselves    up    within    the   four    corners   of 
India,  cut  off  all  foreign  intercourse  by  interdicting  foreign 
travel ,  and  instead  of   profiting  by  what  men  were  doing 
in  other  parts  of  the  globe,  began  to  -forget,  and  finally  did 
forget,  what  they  themselves  had   done  in  other    days.     It 
was  at  this  time  that  knowledge  became  the  monopoly  of  ti 
special  class,  that    the   political    life  was    sapped   by  the 
extending  sway  of  ecclesiastical  pretensions,    and  that  the 
seeds  of     racial    and     sectarian   animosities    w&re   sown, 
which  corroded  the  society  from  within  and   brought  down 


i.]  FOREIGN  TRAVEL.  193 

upon  ifc  foreign  invasions  from  without.  These  were  the 
dark  ages  of  Indian  history  ;  and  though  for  a  time  the 
ineteosnic  light  of  Mahomedan  civilization  shone  through 
them,  yet  the  religious  fervour  and  the  conquering  zeal 
which  in  its  earlier  days  carried  the  banner  and  the 
culture  of  Islam  into  so  many  lands  proved  in  the  end  in- 
constant and  evanescent,  and  the  spirit  of  reaction  and 
retrogression  marked  the  Mahomedan  rcyimo  as  it  had 
marked  the  Hindu  rcyinn'.  It  is  to  this  long  unhappy 
passage  of  our  national  life  that  the  words  of  Dr.  Arnold 
fitly  apply.  ''  Well,  indeed,  might  the  policy  of  the  old 
priest-nobles  of  Egypt  and  India  endeavour  to  divert  their 
people  from  becoming  familiar  with  the  son,  and  represent 
the  occupation  of  a  seaman  as  incompatible  with  the 
purity  of  the  highest  castes.  The  sea  deserved  to  be  hated 
by  the  old  aristocracies,  inasmuch  as  it  has  boon  thn 
mightiest  instrument  in  the  civilization  of  mankind." 

So,  then,  although  there  is  evidence  to  show  that  there 
was  commercial  intercourse  between  India  and  othur 
countries  during;  tho  last  two  thousand  years,  yet  it  could 
not  have  been  much  ;  and  the  testimony  of  history  ia  on 
tins  point  verified  by  onr  knowledge  of  the  state  of  Indian 
society  as  ifc  then  was.  The  love  of  travelling — of  moving 
about  from  land  to  laud,  among  strange  people  and  novel 
scenes  inborn  of  the  spirit  of  advcntion,  which  itself  has 
for  its  principal  ingredients,  intellectual  curiosity  mid 
political  enterprise.  Ju  Europe,  for  example,  the  Revival 
of  learning  in  the  fifteenth  century,  gave  a  most  powerful 
impulse  to  intellectual  curiosity  ;  the  discovery  of  America 
raised  to  a  white  heat  the  spirit  of  political  enterprise; 
and  the  combined  effect  of  both  these  great  events  of 
modern  history,  may  be  seen  in  the  commercial  activity 
and  the  passion  for  travelling  and  discovering  new 
lands,  which  sprang  up.  In  India  there  was  no  intellectual 
curiosity  and  no  political  enterprise,  Despotism  in  politics 


194  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

had  crushed  the  political  spirit  of  the  people  ;  despotism  in 
/eligion  had  enslaved  their  intellect.  Simple  wants  easily 
satisfied,  had  become  sanctified  by  an  ascetic  system  of 
morality  and  caste  by  tying  down  everybody  to  his  heredi- 
tary status  had  paralysed  the  energy  of  undivided  effort 
and  destroyed  the  feeling  of  the  dignity  of  manhood, 
Foreign  intercourse  was  not  encouraged  by  the  state  which 
was  unstable  and  despotic,  nor  by  the  sanity  which  was 
priest-ridden  and  conservative.  The  passion  for  travelling 
was  absent  because  neither  intellectual  unrest  nor  political 
ambition  was  thero  to  feed  its  flames. 

With  tho  advent  of  the  English  in  India  a  new  epoch 
began.  Since  the  movement  of  c  foreign  travel'  is  to  my 
mind  a  necessary  and  inevitable  consequence  of  changes 
wrought  by  English  or  European  influences  in  our  life 
and  thought,  it  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  summarise  these 
here.  And  in  order  to  understand  the  new  reyimc  we  must 
have  a  clear  idea  as  to  what  the  old  regime  was.  In 
politcis  the  principles  of  heredity  and  divine  right  were 
dominant.  The  people  had  no  voice  or  choice  in  (Jovern- 
menfc  and  the  ruler  wns  the  absolute  master  of  their 
fate.  IQ  religion  the  priest  was  the  keeper  of  tho  national 
conscience;  empty  forms  and  practices  had  dimmed  if  not 
destroyed  the  purity  of  the  ancieiu  faith,  and  false  and 
forged  traditions  formed  the  staple  of  popular  beliefs. 
Religious  dissent  or  doubt  was  a  sin  of  the  deepest  dye, 
and  the  business  of  c  fire-insurance '  by  making  the  sinners 
pay  in  silver  and  gold  in  order  to  escape  hell  was  as  brisk- 
as  in  the  worst  days  of  the  Catholic  Church.  In  morality 
the  ascetic  principle  reigned  supreme;  but  human  nature 
avenged  itself  now  and  then  by  revealing  in  the  character 
of  the  priests  and  moral  preceptors  the  worst  types  of 
humanity,  Caste  and  custom  were  the  regulators  of  social 
matter?.  Domesticlife  wns  governed  by  the  patriarchal 
authority;  women  and  children  had  no  status  but  were 


i.]  FOREIGN  TRAVEL.  195 

treated  by  the  patriarch  like  his  goods  aud  chattels.  Men 
were  not  wanting-  in  fine  traits  of  personal  character  in  the 
virtues  of  tenderness,  affection,  sympathy,  generosity,  arid 
truthfulness,  but  the  patriotic  sentiment  was  unknown, 
because  the  national  sentiment  did  not  exist :  men  felt 
allegiance  to  their  caste  or  sect  or  tribe  or  class  ;  but  t^e 
larger  and  wider  feeling  of  nationality  embracing  the  whole 
country  they  did  not  possess.  The  forces  of  law  and  order 
were  wtak  ;  the  insecurity  of  life  and  property  had  nearly 
killed  the  motive  for  the  production  and  accumulation  of 
wealth,  and  given  ascendancy  to  military  pursuit*  and 
occupation  over  every  thing1  else;  and  consequently  indus- 
trial activity  was  at  a  low  ebb,  and  all  impulse  for  the  culti- 
vation of  knowledge  and  arts  was  from  the  national  mind 
withdrawn.  This  is  a  sufficiently  dark  picture  of  the  India 
of  the  pre-English  era  ;  but  it  had  many  redeeming  features 
also  which  I  have  omitted  to  mention  here  because  they 
are  not  quite  relevant  to  my  argument. 

Turn  we  now  to  the  Dew  reyiuie.  The  greatest  change 
has  been  the  change  of  Government;  for  the  new  Govern- 
ment popular  in  principle,  half  despotic  in  practice, 
carried  011  by  a  free  people  in  a  country  where  freedom  ]»HH 
been  unknown— embodies  all  those  forces  oF  modern  civili- 
zation which  are,  iu  a  thousand  ways,  moulding,  modifying, 
transforming  our  national  life.  This  intellectual  awaken- 
ing of  India  began  long  before  Lord  Bciitinck  ;  but  since 
his  day  it  has  been  going  on  with  unprecedented  vigour 
and  rapidity.  In  the  beginning  of  this  century  the  influence 
of  European  knowledge  and  arts  had  begun  to  make  itself 
felt  among  the  cultured  classes  in  some  parts  of  India,  more 
particularly  in  Bengal  where  the  beginnings  of  the  great 
reform  movement  the  Bra h mo  Samaj  were  laid  by  the 
immortal  Raja  Bam  Mohan  Roy.  the  first  Indian  who 
crossed  the  *ca  and  visited  England.  He  was  powerfully 
influenced  by  tlu-  new  civilisation  which  Englishmen 


196  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

had  brought  and  his  example  influenced   many  active  and 
powerful  iniuds  among1  his  own  countrymen.     The  Indian 
Renaissance  thus  begun,  was  greatly  aided  and  stimulated 
by    the   educational   and   political  measures   of    Mctcalfe 
and     licntinck ;     the  introduction   of     higher     education 
in  public  schools  and  colleges,  the  recognition  of  the  princi- 
ple of  Freedom  in  speech  and  hi   the   press  and  in  religion, 
created  in  the  literary  classes    a  passion  for    letirniug  and 
study  such  as  since  the  revival  of  letters   has   hardly   over 
been  equalled  and    perhaps    never   surpassed.     "  1    go   to 
awake  the  dead"  said  a    scholar  of  the    fifteenth    century, 
and  it  was  in  this  spirit  that  men  turned  to   thu   study   of 
English  Literature,  science  and  arts  ;  but  as  in  Europe  men 
were  more  fascinated  by  the  literary  beauties  aud  graces  of 
the  ancient  masters,  than  by  their  science  and  philosophy  ; 
so  in  this  country  while  scientific   culture  did  not  at  first 
seem  to  have  inuch  attraction  for  scholars,  literary  educa- 
tion cainc  to  be  prosecuted  with    remarkable   ardour   and 
enthusiasm.     The  institution  of  public  education  distroycd 
the  monopoly  of  knowledge  by  any  privileged  caste  or  class, 
and  diffused  the  taste   and  the  desire   for  mental  culture 
through  every  grade  of  society.     In   the   intellectual  fer- 
ment which  followed,  the  old   order   began   to   give   away 
beneath   tbc    dissolving  agencies  of   thought  and   change. 
The  Indian  intellect   after   a   long  timo  of  captivity  was 
emancipated  and  brought  back  to  the  warm  precincts  of  the 
cheerful  day,  and  began  to  assert  itself  in  all  those  spheres 
from  which  it  had  been  kept  our,  by  rulers  and  priests.     In- 
tellectual curiosity  was  born,  and  so  alsq   was  the  spirit  of 
political  ambition  born,  for  English  literature  aud  English 
history  gave  the  Indians  new  conceptions  of  citizenship  and 
new  ideals  of   life,  'they  felt   for  the    first  timo   free  to 
follow  any  occupation  they  chose,  and  capable  of  rising  to 
any  position  by  dint  of  merit.     Those    who  loved   English 
literature  became   naturally  eager  to  know   the   home  of 


i.J  FOREIGN  TRAVEL.  197 

English  literature.  Those  whoso  minds  wore  fascinated  by 
European  arts  and  inventions  and  to  whom  European  civili- 
zation had  opened  a  new  world  of  interest  niul  delight, 
could  nofc  long  resist  the  seductive  influence  of  European 
ideas,  tastes,  habits,  and  modus  of  life. 

The  spoil  of  the  past  was  broken.  New  vistas  of  pro- 
gross  wore  opened,  Ardent  minds  were  sLirrod  lo  their 
very  depth,  and  then  stood  clear  on  high  before  their 
bewildered  gaze  the  vision  of  a  new  and  brighter  era  yet  to 
come.  Of  this  re-awakened  India  we  may  libly  speak  in 
the  words  of  Shelley- 

11  Tlie  world's  great  uijc  begins  IIIICNV 
Thf  golden  years  return  ; 
The  earth  doth  like  a  himku  renew 
Her  winter  weeds  outworn 
Heaven  smiles  ;  and  faiths  mid  10  in  pi  re  gleam 
1/ike  wrecks  of  a  (li.sclosinjr  dream. 'J 

It  was  this  revolt  of  the  Indian  intellect  against  the  old 
— this  passionate  longing  for  the  new — which  was  at 
once  the  symbol  and  the  precursor  of  those  changes 
which  led  to  the  readjustment  of  our  ideas  and  institutions 
to  the  needs  of  modern  life,  and  as  a  woenary  consequence 
called  into  being  those  agencies  which  have  tended  to 
servo  this  end,  One  of  those  agencies  was  the  movement  of 
'foreign  travel.'  It  was  inevitable,  and  it  came.  It  was, 
as  it  lias  boon  already  remarked,  Rajah  Ham  Mohan  Koy 
who  by  an  inspiration  of  genius  anticipated  the  hopes  and 
ideals  of  a  later  ago ;  the  small  grain  of  mustard  seod  sown 
by  him  has  in  the  course'of  half-century  grown  into  a  mighty 
tree.  Its  importance  cannot  be  properly  appreciated  un- 
less we  realise  the  new  circumstances  in  which  wo  are 
placed, 

The  influence  of  Western  culture  is  now  in  the  ascend*- 
daiit,  and  the  English  are  its  apostles  in  this  country.  It 
is  obvious  that  our  progress  and  prosperity,  in  the  sense  iu 


108  INDIAN  SOCIAL  RtiVORU.  [Pwv 

which  they  arc  understood  now,  depend  to  a  considerable 
extent  upon  our  acquiring1  those  arts  zmd  sciences,  ami 
assimilating  Unit  spirit  of  action  mid  enterprise,  by  which 
the  English  themselves  have  i-iscn.  There  is  no  other  road 
to  national  welfare  except  perhaps  that  pointed  out  by 
Theosophy  and  esoteric;  Buddhism,  which  however  the  na- 
tion dous  not  for  the  present  seem  disposed  to  adopt.  In 
these  days  knowledge  is  power;  and  under  English  domi- 
nion the  rule  ol'  the  sword  has  been  partially  superseded  by 
that  oE  opinion,  And  here  comes  in  our  difficulty.  In  tho 
past  we  could  wield  the  sword  quite  as  well  us  the  ruling 
class,  who  possessed  no  marked  intellectual  superiority 
over  us  and  from  whom  wo  were  nob  divided  by  any  wide 
gulf  of  social  differences.  These  days  are  passed,  Every 
thing  has  become  complicated,  requiring  intense  mental 
strain.  "\Vo  were  in  simple  sftldition,  we  arc  in  the  differ- 
ential calculus.7'  Now  wo  are  governed  by  a  people  who 
are  decidedly  superior  to  us  both  iu  the  arts  of  war  and 
pcaccj  who,  if  they  cannot  beat  us  hollow  in  pure  specula- 
tion, in  religion  and  morality,  do  yet  possess  au  amount  of 
verified  knowledge,  n  mass  of  facts,  tested,  asserted,  kept 
ready  for  practical  use,  and  an  armoury  of  mechanical  inven- 
tions which  aru  simply  astounding  and  bewildering  to  the 
Asiatic  mind,  and  which  give  thi'ir  possessor  an  undisputed 
superiority  over  us  in  all  the  practical  concerns  of  life.  These 
superior  people  govern  us,  and  their  Government  is  a  yort 
of  consbitutiomil  Government  in  which  knowledge  and 
intelligence  play  an  important  part.  In  its  counsels  opi- 
nion counts  for  much,  but  it  must  Be  not  only  an  informed 
and  enlightened  opinion,  but  so  markedly  so,  that  our  rulers 
may  also  admit  it  to  bo  informed  and  enlightened.  For 
superior  people  are  apt  to  despise  their  inferiors  and  care 
little  for  their  opinion — and  this  is  true  of  tho  Englidi  in 
their  attitude  towards  our  public  opinion — unless  those 
opinions  are  so  unmistakably  sound  und  clear  that  no 


i.]  FOREIGN  TEAVKL.  190 

lioncsfc  niiiul  can  refuse  to  consider  them.  And  thus  while 
u  premium  is  placed  upon  knowledge  and  intelligence,  we 
are  forced  to  compete  in  the  intellectual  sphere,  if  we  want 
to  improve  our  political  status,  with  an  intellectually  supe- 
rior race. 

We  must,  if  wo  are  eager  For  place  and  power  in  tho 
administration  of  our  country,  acquire  that  culture  which 
alone  is  now  a  passport  to  honor  and  famo.  In  raising1 
ourselves  to  the  intellectual  level  of  the  rulers  wo  shall  be 
simultaneously  raising  ourselves  to  their  political  level, 
Political  equality  will  c-nmo  when  intellectual  equality  has 
come. 

But  apart  from  the  general  political  efforts  which  we 
anticipate  from  tho  diffusion  of  Western  culture  in  India 
as  a  matter  of  mere  bread-and-butter,  its  necessity  is  plain 
and  imperative.  Before  everything  else  wo  must  livo. 
Life  before  liberty — For  circumstanced  as  we  are  it  would 
be  of  no  little  advantage  to  the  country  if  wo  occasionally 
showed  a  little  more  eagerness  in  possessing  ourselves  of 
the  Hesh-pots  of  worldly  comforts  nnd  worshipping  the 
goldon  calf  than  in  singing  psalms  toRepresentativc  Govern- 
ment, When  I  see  tho  utter  neglect  with  which  the  awful 
problem  of  subsistence  is  treated  in  this  country  and  tho  lit- 
tle or  no  regard  that  is  paid  to  industries  and  the  produc- 
tion of  wealth  and  the  necessaries  of  life,  f  am  almost  per- 
suaded to  think  that  it  would  be  an  advantage  to  the  coun- 
try if  Indians  were  to  forget  for  sometime  their  higher 
ideals  and  betook  themselves  to  meaner  and  lovelier  occu- 
pations— raking  in  the  straw  and  dust  like  the  old  man  in 
Pilgrim's  Progress,  unmindful  of  the  angel  who  offers  him 
a  crown  of  gold  and  precious  stones.  For  what  is  the  pre- 
dicament in  which  we  stand  ? 

In  the  learned  professions,  the  competition  is  keen  as 
keen  can  be.  There  is  a  rush  of  candidates  for  every  office, 
"  Every  gate  is  thronged  with  suitors  ;  all  the  markets  over- 


200  JNDTAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

flow."  For  tho  higher  bran  chew  of  the  public  service  wo 
must  go  to  England.  Tor  Medicine,  Law,  Engineering, 
Agriculture  we  must  go  to  England.  And  our  young  men 
must  compete  there  with  the  flower  of  English  youth.  Is 
this  not  enough  to  open  our  eyes  ?  Have  Indians  ever  had 
to  carry  on  the  struggle  for  existence  against  such  tremend- 
ous odds  ?  Failure  in  this  competition  means  extinction. 
And  yottho  public  service  and  the  learned  professions  are 
after  all  of  small  significance  in  adding  to  tho  material 
resources  of  the  country.  Now  national  prosperity  depends 
upon  tho  development  of  trade  and  industries,  But  we 
have  no  trade  and  hardly  any  industries  worth  the  name. 
Our  old  indigenous  industries  have  decayed  and  arc  decay- 
ing ;  they  were  bound  to  decay,  for  how  can  primitive  im- 
plements and  contrivances  stand  before  modern  inventions  ? 
Muscles  and  sinews  are  no  match  for  tho  iron  hands  of 
steam  giants.  In  past  times  over-population  redressed 
ilG  balance  by  lotting  out  floods  of  barbarian  invasions. 
Tn  these  day*  it  seeks  an  outlet,  in  colonisation,  in  stealing 
into  foreign  countries  in  tho  guise  of  trade  protected  by 
what  is  called  'sphere  of  influence1  and  filling  its  stomach 
at  the  expense  of  weaker  races  by  means  of  the  policy  of 
1  the  open  door.1  In  European  countries  the  competition 
in  trade  has  grown  very  keen  nnd  the  pressure  of  over- 
population is  beginning  to  be  feltr  Consequently  the  pro- 
cess of  colonisation  ia  going  on  with  inward  and  increasing 
rapidity,  while  tho  mental  energies  of  tho  nations  are  be- 
coming more  and  more  absorbed  iu  the  improvement  of 
technical  and  industrial  training  and  in  the  invention  of 
mechanical  tools  and  appliances.  With  such  a  Europe 
looking  with  hungry  eyes  upon  the  possession  of  other 
people,  ready  to  venture  forth  in  search  of  '  fresh  fields  and 
pastimes  new'  to  feed  its  surplus  population,  India  stands 
face  to  face.  How  to  moot  this  Europe,  how  to  keep  its 
food  from  being  eaten  up  by  foreigners,  how  to  protect  its 


i.]  FOREIGN  TRAVEL.  201 

industries  from  the  snares  and  allurements  of  Free  Trade  ; 
how  to  feed  its  own  surplus  population  for  whom  outside 
India  the  British  Empire  has  nothing  but  degradation  and 
servitude — this  is  the  great  problem— the  awful  sphinx 
riddle — with  which  India  is  confronted  and  which  not  to 
answer  is  to  be  destroyed.  Anyhow  if  the  severity  of  the- 
industrial  struggle  is  manifest,  it  goes  without  saying  that 
in  order  to  engage  in  it  with  any  chance  of  success  we 
must  fight  with  the  improved  weapons  of  our  adversaries, 
Technical  and  mechanical  training  is  therefore  the  one 
thing  needful. 

All  this  is  a  plea  for  higher  education  and  mechani- 
cal training,  it  may  be  urged.  ITes  ;  but  it  is  much  more  ; 
it  is  a  plea  for  '  Foreign  travel'  also  ;  for  if  higher  education 
ami  mechanical  training  are  good  things,  the  necessity  for 
obtaining  the  best  kinds  of  them  available  becomes  at  once 
obvious.  That  there  are,  compared  with  India,  far  more 
facilities  in  England  and  other  European  countries  for 
receiving  the  best  training1,  scientific,  literary,  and  techni- 
cal, which  the  age  can  give,  is  a  proposition,  the  truth  of 
which,  I  presume,  will  not  be  seriously  disputed,  But  I 
wish  to  explain  and  amplify  it  a  little  in  this  place, in  order 
to  bring  home  more  vividly  to  the  public  mind,  the  man- 
nor  in  which  education  received  in  England — I  confine  my 
remarks  to  England  as  the  one  European  country  with 
which  we  arc  chiefly  concerned — besides  being  of  the  best 
quality  a-a  si  purely  mental  commodity,  produces  certain 
other  effects  upon  the  student  which  are  of  the  greatest 
moment  to  him  and  the  absence  of  which  in  oui1  educational 
institutions  is  responsible  in  no  small  measure  for  the  just 
and  unjust  charges  that  are  often  made  against  English 
education. 

I  take  scientific  teaching  and  technical   and  industrial 
instruction  first.    Now  in   India  there  is  hardly  any  well- 
organised  system  of  training  in  mechanical  and    industrial 
26 


202  JNDTAN  HOCTAL  REFORM.  [PART 

arts.  'Air.  Tata's  scheme  may — I  aui  sure  it  will — in  course 
of  time  be  of  preat  service  to  us  in  the  matter  ;  tut  at 
present  the  industrial  training  of  Indian  youths  is  only  '  a 
far-off  adorable  dream'  of  the  future.  In  England  this 
difficulty  does  not  exist.  The  workshops  and  other  institu- 
tions for  theoretical  and  practical  instruction  in  mechanical 
arts  are  there ;  p,nd  although  they  do  not  quite  freely  admit 
Indians,  still  with  the  assistance  of  their  English  friends  tbey 
can  obtain  admission.  This  is  one  reason  why  England  is  one 
of  the  Lest  places  for  the  industrial  training  of  Indians  ;  but 
there  is  another  reason  even  stronger  than  this.  To  live  for 
a  time  in  an  atmosphere  of  industrialism,  to  see  it  in  full 
operation,  to  mark  the  stamp  of  business  on  tho  sea  of  faces 
us  it  sui-ges  through  the  streets  of  London,  Manchester  and 
Birmingham  from  dawn  till  dusk,  to  witness  the  marvels  of 
mechanical  inventions  and  the  clash  mid  din  of  competing, 
conflicting  forces  in  large  centres  of  industry — this  in  itself 
ia  bo  my  mind  ft  matter  of  great  advantage  to  an  Indian. 
He  knows  hid  society  ;  he  must  know  what  the  European 
society  is  like.  He  must  fool  its  fascination,  lie  must 
catch  its  contagion,  he  must  enter  into  the  spirit  and  under- 
stand the  tempers  of  motiey-making  people ;  and  by  con- 
trast learn  to  realise  more  vividly  th-in  ho  can  otherwise, 
how  dull  his  own  society  is,  how  inactive  and  dormant, 
stirred  by  no  ambition,  moved  by  no  strong  desires,  un- 
affected by  the  greed  of  gold,  but  equally  destitute  of  tho 
good  things  which  gold  can  Imr.  No  receptive  inind  can 
fail  to  patch  tho  tone  of  English  society  by  being  thrown 
into  it  for  some  time ;  and  the  t^no  of  English  society  is 
preeminently  industrial. 

These  remarks  are  applicable  not  to  students  only  ; 
they  have  a  widor  application :  they  apply  to  Indians 
actually  carrying  on  trade  with  foreign  countries.  These 
stand  in  greater  need  of,  and  are  likely  to  profit  more  by, 
keeping  themselves  in  constant  touch  with  European  life  by 


i.]  FOREIGN  TRAVEL  203 

studying  its  commercial  secrets,  by  acquiring  something  of 
its  feverish  restlessness,  its  pushing  and  practical  tempera- 
ment. The  Parsis  who  took  the  lead  in  thin  matter  are 
now  at  the  head  of  our  trading  classes.  Even  the  Maho- 
uiedaus  of  the  Ueccan,  though  less  educated  and  naturally 
less  practical  thau  the  Parsis,  have  improved  their  position 
considerably  by  establishing  commercial  relations  with 
Africa  and  Arabia  in  the  West  and  China  and  the  Malay 
Peninsula  in  the  East.  The  Hindus  are  behind  both  tho 
Parsis  and  the  -Mtihomedans,  although  they  too  arc  begin- 
ning to  realise  tho  exigencies  of  modern  lit'o  and  the  im- 
portant part  which  trade  plays  in  it.  These  traders  by 
doing  business  with  foreign  countries  bring  to  India  not 
only  silver  and  gold,  not  only  articles  of  material  comfort 
and  luxury  ;  they  bring  something  more — they  bring  fresh 
experiences  of  countries  new  and  strange,  a  spirit  of  ad- 
venture and  enterprise,  wider  sympathies  and  a  more  ac- 
curate knowledge  of  the  life  of  varied  mankind.  India 
needs  them,  for  while  these  are  among  the  fruits  of  trade 
and  travel,  they  in  their  turn  react  upon  and  stimulate  the 
movement  of  trade  and  travel  by  weakening  those  preju-. 
dices  and  levelling  down  those  barriers  which  havo  hither- 
to kept  India  isolated  from  other  countries,  and  by 
strengthening  those  tendencies  and  creating  those  desires 
and  ambitious  which  are  calculated  to  draw  it  in  course  of 
time  into  tho  current  of  general  commercial  activity. 

Important  as  is  this  aspect  of  the  question  under  con- 
sideration, I  am  however  for  the  present  more  concerned 
with  the  mental,  moral  and  political  effects  of  the  move- 
ment of  '  foreign  travel/  and  therefore  shall  for  a  while 
try  to  ascertain  in  what  relation  it  stands  to  what  is  called 
(he  higher  or  liberal  education  of  Indian  youths. 

A  little  further  back  wo  started  with  two  propositions — 

first,  that  India  needs  liberal  education  of  the  modern  type, 

and  .becoml,   that   this   education   can   best  be  obtained  it) 


204  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [ 

Enghmd.  The  first  proposition  is  uot  disputed,  but  the 
second  sometimes  is.  The  objection  comes  somewhat  in 
the  following  form  :  If  an  intelligent  youth  desires  to 
cultivate  his  mind,  there  is  sufficient  scope  for  him  in  our 
Universities.  He  can  study  English  literature,  sciences, 
philosophy,  arts,  He  has  able  teachers  to  teach  him  any- 
thing he  wants  to  learn.  The  great  books  in  literature, 
philosophy  and  .sciences  arc  as  easily  accessible  to  him  as 
they  arc  to  the  English  youth  tit  home.  Keshab  Chunder 
Sen,  Kristo  Das  Pal,  Kajendra  Lai  Mittor,  K.  T.  Telang, 
Mr.  Justice  Kanacle,  Sir  T.  Madlmvii  Rao  were  not  educa- 
ted in  England ;  but  where  will  you  find  their  equals 
among  England-returned  men  as  writers,  orators, 
scholars,  statesmen  and  masters  of  the  English  tongue  ? 
A  man  of  capacity  will  make  a  mark  anywhere  and  every- 
where ]  a  dull  man  will  remain  dull  whether  ho  lives  in  the 
enervating  climate  of  Bengal  or  the  bracing  atmosphere  of 
England.  As  for  moral  training,  so  far  as  schools  and 
colleges  can  impart  it,  there  can  hardly  be  any  difference 
between  a  college  at  Cambridge  and  a  college  at  Calcutta ; 
while  in  England—this  is  a  positive  disadvantage — the 
Indian  youth  is  freed  from  the  moral  restraints  of  home 
und  society. 

There  is  .some  truth  in  this  view  of  the  matter,  but  not 
the  whole  truth.  It  is  true  that  the  generality  of  England- 
returned  students  are  not  very  superior  to  those  who  havo 
been  educated  in  India,  either  in  culture'  or  in  conduct. 
It  is  equally  true  that  Indian  Universities  have  produced 
men  of  great  mental  and  moral  eminence.  We  may  accept 
these  facts  and  still  be  able  to  hold  that  education  received 
in  England  must,  if  not  now  or  in  the  immediate  future, 
certainly  in  the  long  run,  produce  results  on  a  far  grander 
scale  than  Any  that  can  be  expected  from  our  Indian 
educational  system.  If  England-returned  youths  do  not  iu 
many  cases  come  up  to  the  expectations  formed  of  thorn, 


i.]  FOREIGN  TEA  VEL.  205 

there  arc  definite,  intelligible  reasons  for  it  to  which  I 
will  advert  later  on  ;  here  I  would  submit  i*  few  general 
considerations  which  Avould  at  onco  disclose  some  serious 
defects  in  our  educational  system,  arid  leave  little  doubt,  as 
to  the  necessity  for  securing  to  our  youths  a  sound  liberal 
education  at  au  English  University. 

To  an  Indian  youth  uf  average  intelligence  the  change 
from  a  society  intellectually  dull  and  inert  to  a  society 
brimful  of  ideas,  seething  with  intellectual  unrest  cannot 
but  affect  in  a  variety  of  ways.  He  is  bound  to  catch 
something  of  the  fever  and  restlessness  pervading  the  new 
atmosphere.  He  must  learn  to  have  his  wits  about  him 
when  everybody  else  whom  he  meets  has  his  wits  about 
him.  He  may  not  read  many  books,  but  he  cannot  help 
learning  something  of  the  wisdom  without  them  and  nbove 
them  which  is  won  by  observation.  Daily  and  hourly 
he  is  brought  into  contact  with  men  who  are  his  intellec- 
tual superiors.  He  finds  that  the  home  he  lives  in  is 
IIOD  like  the  home  he  has  left  behind — his  companions 
at  the  fire  side  and  the  dinner-table  are  not  unin- 
formed or  half-informed  men  and  ignorant  women,  but  men 
and  women  of  culture,  of  taste,  of  information.  The  new 
environments  must  tell  upon  his  mental  constitution  and 
modify  it  — unconsciously  and  in  spite  of  himself  his  way  a 
will  begin  to  change— quite  as  naturally  us  a  man's  accent 
changes  by  living  among  a  new  people— ho  will  begin  to 
find  some  relish  in  intellectual  exercises  as  ono  begins  to  like 
English  cheese  and  Irish  stem,  The  friction  of  strange 
thoughts  may  irritate  him,  but  will  humble  his  pride,  and 
when  he  comes  back  to  India  ho  will  not  be  very  tolerant  of 
the  self-complacency  of  his  countrymen.  We  must  assume 
some  such  result  from  his  sojourn  in  England,  or  else 
there  is  no  way  of  accounting  for  the  operation  of  social 
forces  upoa  the  minds  and  character  of  men. 

But  we  may  take  two    concrete  instances    us    to   how 


•JUb  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

Jin  Indian  .student  would  be  affected  by  his  now  .surround- 
ings. First  the  moral  influence  of  teachers.  Cardinal 
Newman  in  his  celebrated  sermon  on  '  Personal  Influence, 
the  Means  of  Propagating  the  Truth  '  has  described  how 
men  aru  influenced  more  by  the  example  of  tho  teacher — 
the  typo  oE  what  is  deserving  of  their  love  and  respect  pre- 
sented to  their  eyes  in  a  concrete  and  tangible  form — than 
by  books  or  preachings.  It  is  this  personal  influence  of 
the  teacher  which  our  educational  institutions  lack,  and 
which  pervades  every  rJnglish  College  and  is  the  most  im- 
portant factor  in  the  making  of  English  youths.  And  in 
India  we  cannot,  1  am  afraid,  have  it  fora  long  time.  Able 
and  efficient  jeachers  though  a  ivirc  commodity  up  to  tho 
present,  can  yet  be  had  if  we  pay  for  them  ;  but  teachers 
capable  of  exercising  any  spell  ol!  personal  influence  upon 
their  pupils,  by  sympathising  with  their  hopes  and  tenden- 
cies, by  winning  their  confidence  and  reading  the  secrets 
of  their  hearts— teachers  who  live  for  their  pupils  so  that 
their  pupils  may  learn  to  live  for  others — who  weep 
over  their  sorrows  and  are  happy  in  their  joys — such 
teachers,  indispensible  factors  in  the  education  of  ar 
nation's  youth,  are  and  must  be  rare  in  this  country. 
And  the  reason  is  plain.  Indian  teachers,  even  when 
they  arc  trained  in  their  profession,  arc  after  all  a 
wheel  in  the  educational  machine  which  itself  is  part 
of  the  bigger  administrative  machine  of  the  country,  and 
those  forces  which  in  other  departments  of  the  State  keep 
down  the  independence  mid  originality  of  Jndiaii  pub- 
lic servants,  tell  upon  the  teacher  silsu.  He  must  carry 
cut  the  rigid  regulations  oE  the  department;  he  cannot 
encourage  or  in  any  way  countenance  in  his  pupils  any 
disposition  or  tendency  which  is  not  to  the  taste  of  his  su- 
perior officer  ;  his  eye  is  on  *  promotion  by  results.7  Eng- 
lish teachers  aro  after  all  part  of  the  ruling  class.  It  will 
be  demanding  too  much  from  human  nature  to  expect  them 


i.l  FOREIGN  TRAVEL.  207 

to  live  as  a  s->rt  of  organised  protest  against  tho  'tiuropetin 
society  which  surrounds  tlioni.  For  they  must,  if  they 
wish  to  exorcise  a  teacher's  influence  over  thoir  pupils,  re- 
gulate their  lives  very  differently  to  that  of  the  generality 
of  their  countrymen.  They  must  identify  themselves 
with  the  people.  They  must  show  forbearance,  meekness, 
sympathy,  affection  in  their  treatment  of  them  ;  they  must 
mix  freely  with  their  peoples,  lot  them  feel  by  their 
'little  nets  of  kindness  and  of  love'  that  whatever  the 
Anglo-Indian  civilian,  or  merchant  or  soldier  may 
think  of  Indians,  they  at  any  late  have  a  genuine 
regard  for  their  welfare,  and  that  under  their  roof 
no  race  or  class  differences  shall  bi>  allowed  to  mar 
the  harmony  of  an  open  friendly  social  intercourse.  But 
political  feeling  is  so  strong  in  this  country  and  the  ex- 
clnsivenoKs  of  the  English  community  so  rigid,  that  the 
most  amiable  of  English  teachers  after  a  time  succumb  to 
class-influences,  their  temperaments  change,  their  amiable- 
ness  passes  off,  '  the  dyer's  hand  is  subdued  to  what  it 
works  in, '  and  so  the  result  is  not  that  lie  is  lost;  the 
result  is  that  the  whole  host  of  his  pupils  is  lost.  Now 
those  who  do  not  sufficiently  realise  the  importance  of 
educating  young  men  in  England  should  see  how  great 
this  loss  is,  and  yet  it  is  just  from  this  loss  that  the  Indian 
youth  is  saved  who  is  fortunate  enough  to  bo  brought  up  in 
an  English  college  under  the  personal  influence  of  his 
teachers  and  professors-  Jfc  was  said  of  a  teacher  that  he 
had  breathed  the  love  of  knowledge  and  truth  into  a  whole 
generation  of  his  countrymen.  This  high  function  n  good 
toacher  docs  renlly  discharge  and  in  the  English  soats  of 
learning  tlieio  are  many  such.  Tho  Indian  youth  particu- 
larly needs  a  tonic  of  a  good  personal  example  of  hia 
teacher,  because  his  home  can  offer  him  none,  nor  his 
society;  nor  would  his  life  without  such  influence  be  a  very 
desirable  one  in  a  country  where  so  many  temptations  beset 


208  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

a  young  man's  course,  and  where  amid  the  whirl  of  passions 
and  frivolities,  his  soft  moral  constitution  is  liable  to  be 
shaken  and  shattered. 

If  this  alone  were  the  advantage  of  placing  Indian 
youths  in  English  colleges,  the  experiment  would  be  well 
worth  trying.  But  the  English  University  life  is  beneficial 
to  them  in  many  other  respects,  Firlt  it  places  them  under 
a  strict  moral  discipline  which  is  entirely  wanting  in  this 
country.  There  the  student  after  his  college  hours  does 
not  feel  free  to  do  what  he  pleases.  He  has  to  conform  to 
certain  rules,  he  has  to  behave  himself  in  a  certain  manner  ; 
tlio  supervision  of  the  teacher  does  not  cease  beyond  tho 
college  compound,  mid  under  the  subtle  moral  influence  of 
the  corporate  life  of  the  University  of  which  he  forms  a 
part,  a  certain  sense  of  responsibility  arises  in  the  student 
of  seeing  that  no  stain  is  cast  by  any  act  of  his  upon  tho 
honor  of  his  institution.  Secondly,  he  is  enabled  to  associ- 
ate on  terms  of  intimacy  with  the  flower  of  English  youth. 
This  influences  his  mind  and  character  in  a  variety  of  ways 
Some  of  its  effects  arc  well  described  by  Mr.  Bagehot. 
Referring  to  the  advantage  of  the  collegiate  system  at 
Oxford  and  Cambridge,  he  remarks  thus  : 

"There  is  nothing  for  young  men  like  being  thrown 
into  close  neighbourhood  with  young  men  ;  it  is  the  age  of 
friendship  ;  and  every  encouragement  should  be  given — 
every  opportunity  enlarged  for  it ;  school  friendships  are 
childish ; 'after  life1  rarely  brings  many;  it  is  in  youth 
alone  that  we  ran  engrave  deep  and  wise  friendships  on 
our  close  and  stubborn  texture.  If  there  be  romance  in 
them,  it  is  a  romance  which  few  would  tear  aside.  A.11 
that  *  pastors  and  masters  '  can  teach  young  people  is 
as  nothing  when  compared  with  what  young  people 
can't  help  teaching  one  another.  Man  made  tho  school, 
God  made  the  playground.  Horses  and  marbles,  the  knot 
of  boys  beside  the  schoolboy  fire,  the  hard  blows  ijivon, 


i. j  FOREIGN  TRAVEL.  209 

and  the  harder  ones  received — these  educate  mankind.  So 
too  in  youth,  the  real  plastic  energy  is  not  in  tutors  or  lec- 
tures or  in  books  f  got  up,'  but  in  Wordsworth  and  Shelley  ; 
in  the  books  that  all  read  because  all  like — in  what  all  talk 
of  because  all  are  interested  in — in  the  argumentative  walk 
or  disputatious  lounge — in  the  impact  of  young  thought  upon 
young  thought,  of  fresh  thought  on  fresh  thought— of  hot 
thought  on  hot  thought — in  mirth  and  refutation — in 
ridicule  and  laughter-- for  those  arc  the  free  play  of  the 
natural  mind,  and  these  cannot  be  got  without  a  college." 
For  an  Indian  youth  this  is  a  great  advantage — this 
'  impact  of  hot  thought  on  hot  thought/ — us  this  is  an 
element  wholly  wanting  both  in  our  colleges  and  our 
society. 

But  this  is  not  all.  The  being  brought  together  in 
close  and  intiinato  association  of  Indian  and  English  youths, 
for  a  certain  length  of  time,  is  a  fact  of  very  great  signifi- 
cance. Both  come  to  understand  each  other,  like  each 
other,  overlook  each  other's  faults,  recognise  each  other's 
merits.  The  Indian  youth,  as  yet  his  mind  unembittered 
by  any  experience  of  Anglo-Indian  roughness  and  harsh- 
ness, sees  nothing  but  gentleness,  politeness,  and  generous 
manliness  in  the  English  youth.  The  English  youth,  as 
yet  without  any  pride  of  domination,  and  knowing  only  that 
a,  gentleman  is  a  gentleman  whether  white  or  black,  finds 
many  good  points  in  his  Indian  fellow-student — a  tender 
and  sympathetic  nature,  a  calm  and  sober  temperament, 
a  living  and  grateful  heart.  Prejudices  of  race  and 
colur  are  rubbed  off  on  the  cricket'  field  and  in  the 
lecture-room,  and  frendships  are  formed  which  are  not 
only  a  source  of  joy  and  comfort  to  the  parties  concerned, 
but  which  tend  indirectly  and  imperceptibly,  to  forge  new 
bonds, of  sympathy  and  good  will  between  India  and  Eng- 
land. Those  Englishmen  with  whom  we  have  associated  ae 
•fellow-students,  with  whom  we  have  rowed  on  the  Cam  and 
27 


210  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

the  hi*,  with  whom  we  have  passed  some  golden  hours  of 
youthful  mirth  and  enjoyment — those  Englishmen  where- 
ever  they  may  go,  whatever  station  in  life  they  may  be  placed 
in,  can  never  fail  to  cherish  kindly  feelings  towards  us  and 
ours,  and  remove  many  a  misunderstanding  from  the  minds 
of  their  own  countrymen.  And  for  us  too  is  needed  an 
open  and  free  social  intercourse  with  Englishmen  in  order 
to  make  us  forget  racial  degradation  find  political  inferio- 
rity, lose  that  imnjanly  nervousness  which  the  best  of  us 
feel  in  the  presence  oE  Englishmen,  and  those  feelings  of 
suspicion  and  estrangement  with  which  we  regard  them, 
My  belief  is  that  few  Indians  who  have  not  seen  the  Eng- 
lish University  life  are  able  to  understand  and  appreciate 
English  character  as  it  really  is,  and  to  maintain  their  self- 
respect  without  going  to  the  extreme  of  self-assertiveness, 
in  the  presence  of  an  Englishman,  Personal  contact 
removes  the  superstitious  awe  oE  centuries  and  introduces 
into  our  relations  with  the  ruling  race  an  element  of  frater- 
nal sentiment  which  is  bound  to  soften  and  sweeten  the 
course  of  our  political  life. 

Now,  who  can  deny  that  these  are  great  benefits  worth 
great  sacrifices  ?  Education  of  ti  superior  order,  special 
training  for  the  learned  professions  and  the  public  service,  a 
arge  experience  of  modern  life  with  all  its  multifarious  activi- 
ties, the  formation  of  character  under  the  varied  influences 
of  English  social  life,  numerous  opportunities  and  facilities 
for  understanding  Englishmen  and  cultivating  friendship 
with  them,  the  renovation  and  re-invigoration  of  our  minds 
and  characters  by  breathing  an  air  thick  with  ideas  and 
by  living  among  an  active,  energetic,  restless  race  of  men 
— these  are  the  benefits  which  Tndian  youthfl  are  expected 
to  derive  from  their  sojourn  in  England — benefits  which 
are  real  and  enduring  in  their  effects  upon  the  course  of 
our  future  progress.  The  question  is,  do  they  derive  them  ? 
Even  those  who  are  in  favour  of  foreign  travel  and  of 


].]  FOREIGN  TRAVEL.  21 1 

sending  young  men  to  England  hesitate  to  give  an  un- 
qualified  answer. 

They  say  '  yes,  going  to  England  tor  education  and 
improvement  is  a  good  thing  ;  but  our  young  men  don't  do 
anything  there  ;  they  spend  lots  of  money,  bccctoe  angli- 
cised in  their  manners  and  habits,  come  back  as  very  in- 
different lawyers,  begin  t  >  despise  their  countrymen  and 
do  nothing  for  their  society.  So  fur  the  experiment  has 
been  a  failure.  Let  every  parent  think  thrice  before  he 
yends  out  his  son  to  England.1 

There  is,  I  am  willing  to  admit,  some  justification  for 
this  punitive  judgment  ;  still  it  may  be  reasonably  urged 
that  the  experiment  has  not  had  a  fair  trial,  and  even 
then  it  has  not  failed.  The  dissatisfaction  with  the 
actual  result  is  due  to  our  own  over-sanguine  expec- 
tations, Consider  for  a  moment  the  circumstances  under 
which  Indian  youths,  ordinarily  go  to  England,  In 
most  cases  they  arc  the  sous  of  uneducated  or  half-educa- 
ted parents.  They  go  to  England  equipped  with  a  very 
indifferent  education  ;  their  parents  cannot  regulate  their 
training  nor  determine  for  them  the  choice  of  their  profes- 
sion. So  these  young  men  arc  expected  to  do  the  impos- 
sible. Without  sufficient  University  education  they  are 
expected  to  undertake  successfully  the  task  of  self-educa- 
tion. Without  experience  and  guidance  they  are  expected 
to  choose  a  profession.  And  further  they  are  expected  to 
perform  these  remarkable  feats,  with  plenty  of  money  in 
their  pockets,  \vith  numerous  temptations  surrounding 
them  from  all  sides,  free  to  form  any  friendships  and  choose 
any  companions,  removed  from  the  moral  influences  of  their 
own  home  and  society,  and  thrown  suddenly  upon  the  wide, 
wide  sea  of  modern  life  without  any  rudder  or  compass  to 
steer  their  course.  And  what  is  the  result  ?  The  result 
is  that  their  frail  barks  arc  wrecked,  the  waves  wash 
them  .down  ;  the  wished-for  haven  is  never  reached.  The 


212  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAKT 

showy  and  exciting  side  of  European  life  proves   more   at- 
tractive ;  the   young  man,  sure   of  large  remittances  from 
homo,  does  not  care  to  go  to  Oxford  or  Cambridge,   for  he 
has  no  thirst   for  knowledge    and  there  is  none  to  create 
that  in  him  ;  he  stays  in  London,   joins    one   of  the  Inns  of 
Court,   goes   to  some  '  Coach'    who   by   convenient  short 
cuts  leads  him  to  the  great  success  at  the  examination,  and 
thus  when  at  the  cost  of  a  few  weeks'  mechanical  labour  he 
becomes  a  full-fledged  barrister,  thinks  that  he  has  gained 
the  be-all  and  the  end-all  of  his  existence,  and  returns   to 
India  as  the  joy  and  prido  of  his  people.    What  is  there  for 
him  to  do  otherwise  ?  Fancy  an   English  boy  of  fifteen  or 
sixteen  sent  to  Paris  receiving  large  allowances  from  his  pu- 
rents,  left  free  to  do  what  he  likes  with  his  money  and  him- 
self, without  any  friends  to  assist  and  advise  in  regard  to  his 
education.     What  would  be  his  fate  ?    His  young  instincts 
and  impulses  will  get  the  better  of  him,  the  glitter  of  a  gay 
society   will   soon  begin    to    create   in   him  unwholesome 
cravings  and  the  weaknesses   of  human  nature  will   make 
him  what,    unconnected  by   salutary  influences,   they  are 
always  apt  to  make  of  ordinary  men.     Why  aliould  we  in 
the   first   instance    fondly  imagine    that  sea-voyage   mid 
foreign  travel  in  the  case  of  the  Indian  youth  are   good   ir- 
respective of  any  conditions,    that    by  the   mere  act    of 
crossing  the  sea  ho 

•     '  Suffers  a  sea-clmn^o 

Into  some  thing  rich  and  strange,' 

and  when  in  the  end  ho  fails  to  fulfil  our  expectations,  then 
turn  to  blaming  him  and  the  civilization  which  is  supposed 
to  have  corrupted  him  P  This  is  not  reasonable.  He  is  a 
creature  of  the  circumstances  in  which  his  parents  delibe- 
rately placed  him  ;  and  they  need  not  feel  much  disappoint- 
ed if  they  find  that  thorns  and  thistles  have  not  yielded 
them  figa  and  grapes. 

Still  I  cannot  help  remarking  hero  that  the  experiment 


i.]  FOREIGN  TRA  VEL. 

in  spite  of  so  many  disadvantages  and  drawbacks  lias  not 
wholly  failed.  Wise  and  educated  parents  have  been  able 
to  turn  the  experiment  to  good  account.  They  have  watched 
their  sons'  education  here  and  secured  efficient  supervision 
of  it  in  England-  They  have  taken  care  that  their  sons 
received  good  education,  lived  in  good  society,  made  good 
friendships,  and  chose  such  professions  as  were  suited  to 
their  tastes  and  bent  of  mind.  These  young  men  have 
conic  out  as  Civilians,  Doctors,  Engineers,  Agriculturists, 
Scientific  Specialists.  In  their  various  walks  of  life  they 
have  earned  distinction  and  fame,  and  given  us  men  like 
Syed  Mahomed,  Koines h  (Jhmider  Dutt,  Surendra  Nath 
Uancrjcc,  W.  C.  Bonnerjee,  the  late  Dr.  Bahadurji,and  the 
brilliant  wrangler  Pranjpye.  Kven  in  the  ranks  of  such 
young  men  as  have  not  the  advantage  of  wise  parental  ad- 
vice and  guidance  in  the  matter  of  their  education,  and  are 
thrown  upon  their  own  resources,  there  appear  from  time  to 
time  men  who  rise  victorious  over  the  temptations  of  their 
situations,  in  vvhom  the  inborn  faculty  for  acquiring  know- 
ledge seeks  its  own  satisfactions  without  any  external  or 
adventitious  aids,  who  by  dint  of  matural  gifts  assimilate- 
the  best  part  of  European  culture,  and  in  whoso  life  a  few 
years'  sojourn  in  England  proves  an  epoch-making  event. 
It  speaks  volumes  for  the  vitality  of  modern  culture  and  of 
the  desire  which  the  Indian  mind  has  come  to  cherish  for 
it,  that  in  spite  of  the  perils  and  pitfalls  of  European  life, 
in  spite  of  all  the  circumstances  which  are  adverse  to  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge  and  the  formation  of  character, 
in  spite  of  money  in  young  hands,  wine  in  young  heads, 
and  the  first  flutter  of  new  passions  in  young  hearts,  the 
experiment  has  not  altogether  failed — that  scores  of 
Indian  youths  go  every  year  to  England,  and  some  of 
them  do  well.  It  is  a  great  thing  that  not  only  many  are 
called,  but  a  few  are  actually  chosen.  As  things  now 
stand  much  money  is  doubtless  wasted  ;  fond  parents 


2H  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PALM 

thoughtlessly  send  their  sons  to  Knglarid  without  any 
clear  notions  as  to  what  they  should  do  there,  many 
young  men  turn  out  utterly  worthless  and  break  their 
parents'  hearts.  But  to  a  certain  extent  this  is  in- 
evitable. This  is  the  process  of  Nature  as  she  works 
upwards  to  higher  stupes  of  perfection  ;  u  of  fifty  seeds 
she  often  brings  but  one  to  bear."  How  many  noble  lives 
are  wrecked,  how  many  hopes  are  blasted,  how  much  misery 
is  caused,  what  an  enormous  quantity  of  human  energies 
and  efforts  is  wasted,  be  Fore  humanity  ;is  by  some  happy 
accident  brings  forth  some  great  character — who  makes 
amends  For  tin;  wasteful  process  of  nature,  who  stamps  the 
image  of  his  formality  upon  his  ugr  and  moulds  the  creed 
of  millions.  The  movement  of  sending  young  men  to 
England  is  to  my  mind  a  good  worth  having,  even  at  the 
heavy  price  we  have  to  pay  for  it  in  the  utter  wreck  of 
scores  of  our  youths,  if  even  once  in  a  decade  it  sifts  one  in- 
dividual of  exceptional  ability  and  moral  worth  from  the 
whole  mass,  for  this  one  individual  strikes  fire  in  a 
million  hearts  and  clears  away  many  prejudices  which  clog 
the  progress  of  his  race.  .  1  feel  pained  but  not  discouraged 
by  the  sorrows  and  misfortunes  of  the  present,  for  1  believe 
that  even  our  blind  and  wasteful  efforts  are  prquirmg  the 
way  for  a  happier  future. 

Still  the  question  whether  the  painful  and  wasteful 
process  by  which  wo  now  endeavour  to  assimilate  western 
culture  will  be  long  or  short,  is  one  of  no  small  moment  to 
any  one  who  is  interested  in  the  education  of  Indian  youth 
and  their  Future  AvulUbeing.  We  cannot,  as  rational  men, 
wait  upon  the  chapter  of  accidents  and  cast  the  burden  ot 
our  responsibility  upon  the  shoulders  of  Providence.  In 
sending  our  sons  to  England,  there  are  certain  matters 
which  demand  our  earnest  consideration.  In  the  first  place 
every  Indian  parent  must  see  if  he  has  got  sufficient  means 
to  educate  his  son  properly  in  England,  If  he  haid  not, 


i.]  FORETGN  TEA  VEL.  2r> 


then  I  have  not  tho  slightest  hesitation  in  saying 
should  never  think  of  the  mutter,  whatever  may  be  tho  case 
with  English  boys  :  a  foreigner  must  be  prepared  to  spend  a 
good  deal  if  ho  wants  to  profit  by  his  sojourn  in  England. 
ID  the  .second  place  the  time  of  the  boys'  education  should 
be  determined  here,  if  the  father  himself  is  competent  to  do 
it  ;  if  not,  ho  must  have  it  determined  by  some  competent 
men  in  England.  At  all  events  the  boy  should  be  left  lit- 
tle freedom  to  choose  his  own  education,  for  in  nine  cases 
ont  of  ten  he  will  mak:>  a  wrong  choice.  In  this  country 
\ve  have  a  very  good  illustration  of  it  in  tho  fact  that  when 
left  to  themselves  —  and  in  most  cases  they  are  left  to  them- 
selves —  onr  young  men  prefer  literary  to  scientific  course 
for  their  degree  examinations-  When  this  is  the  case  with 
comparatively  advanced  students,  what  can  we  expect 
from  England-going  boys  who  hardly  matriculate  before 
leaving  the  country  ?  Thirdly,  it  is  a  question  of  very 
great  importance  as  to  at  what  age  the  Indian  student 
should  be  sent  to  England.  Ho  may  be  sent  either  when 
he  is  very  young,  or  when  he  is  passing  out  his  boyhood 
and  is  in  the  middle  (.f  his  education,  or  when  he  is  a 
grown-up  young  man  and  has  completed  his  college  career. 
Each  stage  has  its  advantages  and  its  drawbacks.  -  Tho 
most  impressionable  age  is  certainly  childhood.  Whoever 
is  educated  in  England  from  that  ago  will  undoubtedly 
come  back  to  India  with  English  sentiments  and  habits 
but  decidedly  denationalised  and  anglicised.  Perhaps  to 
some  this  may  seem  desirable,  it  does  not  so  to  me.  My 
idea  is  that  one  who  has  never  known  his  father  and 
mother,  who  has  never  learnt  to  love  his  brothers  and  sis- 
ters, whose  earliest  associations  are  connected  with  foreign 
scenes  and  incidents,  who  sees  the  civilization  rf  his  own 
country  after  his  whole  mental  and  moral  nature  has  been 
transformed  by  the  civilization  of  another  —  such  a  one 
whatever  may  be  his  merits  in  certain  respects,  will  not 


21fi  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

care  much  for  his  people  and  country,  will  not  understand 
their  simple,  superstitious  idyllic  life,  will  be  disqualified 
by  his  formed  mind  and  stiffened  creed,  for  the  great  work 
which  requires  to  be  done  during  the  present  transitional 
epoch — the  work  in  the  conflict  of  old  and  new  forces,  of 
fusion,  preparation,  adaptation,  tentative  endeavour.  If  a 
boy  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  goes  to  England,  the  great  advan- 
tage is  that  he  has  sufficient  time  before  him  to  prosecute  his 
studies,  his  mind  is  plastic  enough  to  receive  new  and  fresh 
impressions  and  yet  at  tlie  same  time  capable  of  retaining 
the  traces  of  home-influences,  there  is  not  much  danger  of 
his  becoming  denationalised.  But  this  is  just  the  age  when 
the  dawning  youth  leads  the  mind  into  many  wild  ways  ; 
when  character  begins  to  be  formed,  when  it  makes  all 
the  difference  in  the  world  whether  the  young  man  keeps 
a  little  to  the  right  or  a  little  to  thu  loft  in  order  to  arrive 
at  the  right  goal.  If  the  student  goes  to  England  after 
completing  his  college  career  here,  he  certainly  goes  well- 
equipped  with  enough  culture  to  be  ablo.  to  take  full  ad- 
vantage of  English  life  and  training,  to  choose  his  own 
line  of  education,  to  enrich  his  experience  by  an  intelli- 
gent observation  of  hluropean  society.  But  on  the  other 
hand  we  must  remember  th.it  mind  like  ourselves  stiffens 
with  age,  a  young  man  of  over  twenty  does  not  possess 
the  same  plastic  and  flexible  iiiti'llocfc  as  a  hid  of  sixteen  ;  ho 
goes  to  England  with  tlie  hold  of  early  association  strong 
upon  him,  with  formed  habits  and  rooted  convictions  ;  he 
may  learn  much,  but  he  can  really  unlearn  little ;  and 
although  his  mind  is  stored  with  a  fund  of  new  ideas,  yet  I 
doubt  if  he  is  able  to  add  a  cubit  to  his  moral  stature.  It  is 
not  to  be  understood  that  his  character  does  not  in  some 
material  respects  change  for  the  better  under  the  influence 
of  his  new  surroundings  ;  it  does  change  and  improve,  but 
in  its  broad  lineaments  it  remains  what  his  home  and  society 
have  made  it ;  he  gives  intellectual  assent  to  many  princi- 


i.]  FOREIGN  TRAVEL  217 

pies  to  which  his  moral  nature  has  not  quite  adapted 
itself. 

Now  while  briefly  pointing  out  some  of  the  chief  ad- 
vantages and  drawbacks  of  the  ages  at  which  the  youth  may 
be,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact,  are,  sent  to  England,  it  is  not 
necessary  for  me  to  say  which  I  consider  to  be  the  beat 
age,  for  this  must  be  decided  with  reference  to  the  parti- 
cular circumstances  of  each  student— his  antecedents,  Ilia 
surroundings,  his  education,  his  natural  endowments, 
nnd  the  walk  of  life  for  which  his  parents  and  in- 
structors think  him  most  fitted.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
each  age  requires  special  provisions  and  safeguards, 
and  the  younger  the  ago  of  the  student  the  greater 
the  need  for  thorn-  As  of  course  the  majority  of  England- 
visiting  students  are,  and  will  always  bo  young  men 
between  sixteen  and  twenty  years  of  ago  with  incomplete 
college  training,  some  of  the  considerations  pointed  out 
:ibove  seem  to  me  important,  to  which  one  or  two  more  mav 
iitly  be  added  in  this  place. 

It  is  o£  the  utmost  importance  that  these  young  men 
should  be  placed  with  English  families  and  their  education 
looked  after  by  English  friends.  As  far  as  possible  they 
should  not  be  exposed  to  the  risk  and  inconveniences  of 
lodging-houses  and  boarding-houses.  It  is  not  easy  to 
find  good  families  who  would  take  Indian  boarders,  but 
the  personal  influence  of  English  friends  will  go  for  to 
obviate  this  difficulty. 

The  most  difficult  thing  I'M  the  supervision  of  young 
Indians'  education.  Some  thirteen  or  fourteen  years  ago  n 
Committee  was  formed  in  London  under  the  auspices  ot  the 
National  Indian  Association  for  the  purpose  of  looking  after 
Indian  students  and  giving  them  help  and  advice  in  matters 
of  education,  The  Committee  I  believe  still  exists.  One  of 
the  cardinal  principles  of  this  Committee  has  been  that  it 
must  have  the  young  men's  money  in  its  own  hands  ami 


218  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

regulate  and'check  their  expenses,  for  here  or  elsewhere 
the  master  of  the  purse  is  the  master  of  everything.  If  the 
student  has  control  of  his  money,  no  supervision  can  avail. 
He  will  spend  money  as  he  likes  and  will  seldom  like  what 
he  should.  Even  during  the  early  days  of  its  existence 
when  I  was  a  member  of  that  Committee,  I  could  find  it 
capable  of  doing  much  good,  and  one  of  the  tests  of  its  good 
work  was  that  the  very  first  batch  of  young  men  who  were 
placed  under  its  charge  and  were  in  every  way  doing  well 
under  its  supervision,  rid  themselves  of  its  restraining  in- 
fluences as  soon  as  they  could  persuade  their  parents  to 
make  them  the  sole  disposers  of  their  money.  Indian  parents 
have  not  sufficiently  availed  themselves  of  the  help  offered 
by  this  Committee,  but  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  utility  of 
the  Committee  or  similar  organisations  will  be  felt  more  and 
more  as  the  career  of  Engl arid-returned  young  men  pro- 
duces a  larger  and  larger  harvest  of  disappointments. 

Another  very  important  thing  is  the  choice  of  a  profes- 
sion. We  often  hear  pathetic  wails  over  the  legal  profession 
being  over-stalked ;  so  it  is  ;  but  beyond  weeping  and 
wailing  what  do  we  do  ?  Nothing  ;  on  the  contrary 
wo  send  our  sons  to  England  and  feel  very  happy 
when  they  join  the  Inns  of  Court.  They  manage  to  pass 
the  necessary  examinations  and  return  to  India  as  "  gen- 
tlemen of  the  long  robe/'  but  with  very  short  arms  to 
wrestle  with  the  difficulties  of  their  profession.  Now,  I 
do  not  say  that  young  men  should  not  study  Law  in  Eng- 
land— some  of  them  are  eminently  fitted  for  that  branch 
of  knowledge;  but  they  must  turn  their  attention  to  other 
professions  also.  There  is  great  room  for  good  doctors,  en- 
gineers and  other  scientific  specialists  in  this  country  ;  and 
surely  these  are  more  needed  for  the  production  and  aug- 
mentation of  our  national  wealth  than  any  number  of 
lawyers  put  together.  But  we  must  not  expect  a  boy  of 
sixteen  or  seventeen  to  be  able  to  resist  the  temptation  of 


i.J  FOREIGN  TRAVEL.  219 

swimming  with  the  current  and  of  doing  what  he  sees  his 
other  fellow  students  do. 

While  these  are  some  of  the  principal  tilings  which 
parents  and  guardians  would  do  well  to  take  into  their 
consideration,  there  are  some  others,  equally  important  but 
equally  neglected  by  those  whom  they  concern,  upon  which 
it  may  not  be  inopportune  to  address  a  few  words  to  the 
young  men  themselves.  They  have  to  bear  in  mind  that 
the  question  of  foreign  travel  besides  its  educational  aspect 
has  other  aspects  as  well — and  in  regard  to  these  they 
bear  certain  peculiar  responsibilities  because  their  sojourn 
in  England,  their  education  and  their  new  experiences 
give  them  a  peculiar  position  in  their  society.  In  the 
concluding  pa^es  of  this  essay  I  can  but  very  briefly  touch 
upon  this  side  of  the  question. 

T  have  spoken  of  foreign  travel.     More  particularly  in 
one  of  its  concrete  and  most  important  aspects  in  connection 
with  the  education  of  Indian  youths — as  part  of  the  great 
movement  of  illumination  the   rise   and   spread  of  which 
under  the  flag  of  new  forces  is   perhaps  the  most  remark- 
able phenomenon  of  modern  times  ;  and  therefore  I  cannot 
but  think  of  those  who  visit  Europe  cither   for  business   or 
for  education,  as  having  a  high  duty  laid  upon  them  of  pre- 
paring themselves  for  the  great  task  of  social  regeneration 
which  awaits  them,  on  their  return,  in   this  country.    The 
question  of  social  reform  has  many  sides  and  involves  many 
intricate  issues  ;  but  one  thing  with  regard  to   it  appears 
clear  beyond  the  reach  of  doubt  that  for  a  speedy  and  suc- 
cessful solution  of   it,  the  sympathy  and  moral  support  of 
Englishmen  are  nearly  as  needful  as  the  patriotic  co-opera- 
tion and  energetic  exertions  of  the  Indians  themselves.  Now 
it  is  clear  that  if  the  generality  of  Englishmen  are  mere  in- 
different spectators  of  our  social  changes  and  do  not  care  to 
cultivate  a  free  and  friendly  intercourse  with  us,  it  is  because 
both  of  us  are  separated  by  certain  race  prejudices,  born  of 


2UO  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [!JAKT 

our  ignorance  of  each  other's  habits  and  dispositions.  In 
India  the  exigencies  of  politics  will  probably  keep  these 
prejudices  alive  for  many  a  day.  But  in  England  it  is 
possible  to  remove  them  to  a  considerable  extent  if  we  suc- 
ceed in  making  Englishmen  see  that  Indians  arc  not  the 
semi-savages  they  arc  so  often  represented  to  be,  that  they 
have  a  great  civilization  of  their  own,  that  in  intelligence 
and  morals  they  are  not  unworthy  specimens  of  humanity. 
And  we  must  remember  that  Englishmen  will  judge  the 
whole  race  by  such  of  its  specimens  as  may  happen  to 
come  before  them.  At  present  they  see  Indian  merchants, 
politicians  and  students.  From  their  character  and  ac- 
complishments, their  tastes  and  pursuits,  they  judge  the 
state  of  our  civilization.  They  arc  quite  justified  in  sup- 
posing that  the  Indians  whom  they  see  in  England  are 
mostly  of  a  superior  class  ;  and  if  their  superior  class  do 
not  seem  to  them  to  come  up  to  the  mark  and  betray  any 
serious  defects  and  shortcomings,  they  cannot  be  expected 
to  think  much  of  the  common  sense  of  our  countrymen. 
It  is  therefore  of  bhe  utmost  importance  that  the  Indians 
who  go  to  England  should,  by  their  intelligence  and 
character,  be  fitted  to  make  a  favourable  impression  upon 
the  minds  of  the  English  people.  The  credit  of  a  whole 
nation  is  in  their  hands  j  they  may  lower  it  or  raise  it  in  the 
eyes  of  the  civilized  world.  The  vastness  of  the  conse- 
quences flowing  from  their  conduct  is  the  measure  of  their 
responsibility,  Lctno  Indian  think  that  if  inLondon  or  Paris, 
where  nobody  seems  to  care  who  he  is,  where  he  feels  himself 
'  lonely  in  a  crowd/  he  misbehaves  himself,  nothing  matters. 
H  is  landlady  and  maid  servant,  the  waiter  that  serves  him 
his  dinner  at  the  Club,  the  barber  that  shaves  him— these 
watch  him,  scrutinise  him  in  his  careless  unguarded 
moments,  and  according  to  the  impression  they  come  to 
form  of  him,  they  think  of  his  country  and  people.  If  three 
Englishmen  come  constantly  in  contact  with  good  and  well- 


i.J  FOREIGN  TRAVEL.  22 1 

behaved  Indiana,  of  refined  tastes  and  gentlemanly  habits, 
they  cannot  but  begin  to  respect  the  nation  to  which  they 
belong — and  once  they  come  to  look  upon  us  us  their  worthy 
associates  in  the  work  of  life,  we  may  be  sure  of  their 
sympathy  and  co-operation  in  the  great;  work  of  reform 
which  lies  before  us.  'Hunk  of  the  change  in  European 
sentiments  towards  India  wruughtby  men  like  Prof essor  Max 
Mailer  and  others  by  bringing  to  light  certain  race  affini- 
ties between  tlie  Hast  and  the  West ;  how  much  greater 
would  be  the  benefit  to  India,  and  why  not  to  Hngland  also  if 
the  Englishman  finds  that  his  Indian  Fellow  subject,  besides 
being  related  to  him  by  ties  ol' race  and  language,  is  pos- 
sessed of  certain  mental  and  moral  excellences  which  are 
the  liost  of  modern  civilization  !  This  view  of  tho  matter 
seems  to  me  important,  for  the  sympathy  and  good-will  of 
rulers  have  always  been  decisive  factors  in  tho  progress  of 
natives. 

While  it  is  important  that  the  Indian  who  goes  to 
I'jiiglaiid  should  make  a  favourable  impression  upon  the 
people  there,  it  is  equally  important  that  on  his  return 
home  he  should  bo  found  deserving  of  the  respect  and  con- 
fidence of  his  own  people,  for  they  will  judge  European 
civilization,  the  advantages  of  European  experience  and 
knowledge  from  their  effect  upon  his  mind  and  character. 
His  example  may  be  encouraging  or  disappointing  ;  in 
either  case  its  bearing  upon  the  people's  attitude  tDwards 
English  culture  and  English  civilization  is  obvious.  Every 
human  thing  is  judged  by  its  fruits.  The  people  at  large 
are  very  suspicious  of  new  ideas  and  institutions,  have 
little  confidence  in  new  growths,  have  accepted  many  new 
things  under  the  pressure  of  necessity,  and  this  feeling  of 
distrust  of  modern  aims  and  ideals  of  life  will  continue  so 
long  as  their  goodness  and  soundness  is  not  proved  to  them 
by  plain  and  palpable  results.  The  Indian  who  returns  home 
anglicised— with  English  vices  and  without  English  vir- 


222  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAET 

tues — wlio  treats  liis  national  institutions  with  a  superior 
air  of  contempt,  ridus  roughshod  over  his  people's  prejudi- 
ces, and  delights  in  wounding  their  tenderest  susceptibili- 
ties— his  example  goes  far  towards  strengthening  and  inten- 
sifying those  feelings  of  suspicion  and  even  positive  dislike 
which  the  Indian  people  generally  cherish  towards  modern 
civilization.  It  is  a  common  complaint  against  many  Eng- 
land-returned Indians  that  they  have  become  denationalised 
and  have  lost  touch  with  their  society.  The  complaint  is 
on  the  whole  just  ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  reaction 
which  has  of  late  set  in  in  this  country  against  the  indis- 
criminate adoption  of  European  ideas,  fashions  and  man- 
ners which  characterised  young  Indians  till  iifteen  or 
twenty  years  ago,  is  partly  duo  to  the  discouraging  example 
set  by  anglicised  Indians,  and  partly  to  that  general  ad- 
vancement of  knowledge  by  which  the  people  are  begin- 
ning to  appreciate  bettor  than  before  the  worth  of  their 
religion  and  the  beauties  of  their  ancient  literature,  So  then, 
if  this  reaction  against  modern  civilization,  which  seems  to 
me  in  some  of  its  aspects  even  now  premature  and  injurious, 
is  not  to  arrest  the  march  of  the  Indian  mind  by  delay- 
ing indefinitely  the  re-adjustment  of  the  old  order  to 
the  exigencies  of  the  new  time,  it  is  necessary  that  Eng- 
land-returned men  should  be  typical  of  all  that  is  good 
in  modern  life  and  culture,  so  that  by  the  actual  worthi- 
ness of  their  lives  they  may  be  capable  of  disarming  hostile 
criticism  and  correcting  popular  prejudices,  of  enabling  the 
people  to  feel  some  attraction  for  European  ways  of  think- 
ing and  living  and  inducing  them  to  exchange  old  lamps 
for  new.  This  high  mission  Providence  has  laid  upon 
their  shoulders.  Every  young  Indian  who  goes  to  Eng- 
land is  charged  not  only  with  the  duties  of  a  student  but 
also  with  those  of  a  reformer.  He  is  an  apostle  of  modern 
civilization — a  bringer  of  the  new  lights  to  his  countrymen. 
If  his  light  too  turn  out  to  be  mere  darkness,  then  how 


i.]  FOREIGN  TRAVEL.  223 

great  will  be  the  darkness.  He  should  recognise  from  the 
very  beginning  this  part  of  his  duty  as  of  very  solemn  im- 
port, the  preparation  for  the  proper  performance  of  which 
is  not  to  be  put  off  for  a  single  day, 

I  do  not  agree  with  those  who  think  that  a  young  man 
should  think  of  nothing  except  his  studies  so  long  as  he  is 
a  studemt,  that  the  proper  time  for  cherishing  dreams  of 
reform  is  when  he  enters  the  world.  Youth,  to  my  mind,  is 
the  timo  for  everything  which  ought  to  be  the  object  of  a 
good  citizen's  life,  It  is  tho  time  when  the  mind  is  plastic 
to  the  touch  of  circumstances,  when  confidence?  in  one's 
self — the  great  secret  of  success  in  every  walk  of  life — is 
abundant,  when  sympathies  and  affections  .are  ardent,  and 
the  fount  of  energy  full  and  fresh  ;  and  if  this  time  is  not 
utilised  by  filling*  young  and  passionate  hearts  with  the 
fervour  of  social  amelioration,  we  may  rest  assured  that  no 
efforts  and  experience  of  after  years  will  avail  much. 

Manhood  brings  its  own  duties,  its  own  cares  and 
anxieties,  and  then  who  thinks  of  social  good  ?  Other  im- 
pulses are  developed,  other  ambitions  arise-  Men  easily  suc- 
cumb to  them.  The  world  is  so  strong  that  sometimes  even 
those  who  in  their  younger  days  felt  social  fervour  as  soon 
as  they  find  themselves  in  the  rough  and  tumble  of  life  and 
experience, 

11  ThelosaoH,  the  crosses 
That  active  man  engage," 

cool  down  half  in  despair,  half  in  disgust  at  a  world  out  of 
joint,  which  will  not  allow  itself  to  be  set  right  as  prompt- 
ly as  they  would  wish.  Hence  wo  find  men  wlio  are  good 
friends,  good  fathers,  good  husbands,  respectable  citizens 
and  honest  public  servants,  and  yet  who  seem  to  possess  no 
public  spirit,  to  care  nothing  for  others,  whom  the  suffer- 
ings of  their  fellows  beyond  the  limited  circle  of  their  friends 
and  relations  do  not  move,  and  in  whom  the  sense  of  social 
duty  is  very  imperfectly  developed.  These  are  the  men 


221  TNDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

who  in  their  younger   days   never  learnt  to   regard   social 
good  as  the   supreme   object  of    their  life.      Nobody    will 
ever  be  capable  of  caring  for  his  society    with  much  ardour 
in  his  riper  years   who  docs    not  learn  to  care  for  it  when 
young.     In  tho  spring-tide   of  life,  when  our  faculties   are 
active  and   alert  and  tho    blood  runs   swiftly  in  our  veins, 
when  the  light  of  love  and  hope  gilds  our  horizon,   and  the 
song  of  birds  is  sweet  in  our  ears,    and  the  sight  of  flowers 
gladdens  our  hearts — then,  then  is  the   time  for  dreaming 
dreams  and  seeing  visions  of  social  and    political    Utopias, 
for  it  is  these  dreams   and  visions  which   make  the  love  of 
humanity  the  breath  of  our  nostrils,   the  heart  blood  of  our 
hearts,   and  evon  in  the  midst  of  the   world's   cruelest  dis- 
appointments enable  us  to  pursue  with  undhninished  zeal  our 
up-hill  struggles  towards  the  light  and  tho  right,  sustained 
by  the  '  mighty  hopes  that  make  us  men.'  It  is  because  I  have 
this  strong  faith  in  the  impulses  and  enthusiasms  of  youth 
that  I  so  much  desiro  that  these  impulses  and  enthusiasms 
of  the  young  men  who  go  to  England   should  bo  made  use 
of  and   Mio  supreme    importance   of   their  right  use  in  the 
rause  of  social  good  should  bo  impressed  upon  their  minds. 
And  it  is  even  of  immediate   and  practical   importance 
that  young  men  should  have  the   sense  of  social  responsi- 
bility fully  awakened   in  them,   for  the  very   first  problem 
which  on  their  return  home,  they — or  at  least  such  of  them 
as  are   of   Hindu   persuasion — have  to   solve  is    how  to  get 
themselves  reinstated    in  their  respective  communities.    For 
him  who  id  prepared  to  abjure  caste  publicly  the  solution  is 
easy  ;  ha  gives  up  his  small  sect   and  becomes  a  citizen  of 
the  world.     But  it  is  extremely  doubtful    if   in   any   other 
respect  he  improves  his  position.    If  he  has  sons  and  daugh- 
ters, if  he  is  a  man  of  sociable  natnre,  he  is  sure  to  feel  cer- 
tain practical  difficulties  which  everyone  must  feel  who  has 
given  up  his  society   and  is  not  able   to  enter    any   other. 
But  we  need  not  trouble  ourselves  about  him,  because  for 


i.]  FOREIGN  TRAVEL.  225 

along  time  to  come,  lie  maybe  certain  his  example  will  not 
be  popular  in  this  country.    Then  there  is  the  case  of  those 
who  want  to  get  back  into  their  society,    which  they   know 
to  be  caste-bound,  but  which    they  want  to  enter  on  condi- 
tion they    are  allowed    to  go    about    as  so   many  chartered 
libertines   submitting  to  no  caste  rules  and  doing  whatever 
they  like  in  open  defiance  of  them.    And  this  brings  in  the 
question  of  Prashchit,  or  penance,    upon  which  I  intended 
to    say   something,    but    as    I  have    already   exceeded    my 
limits,  I  shall  confine  myself  to  a  few  general  remarks  upon 
the  remarkable  attitude  of  these  men  towards  their  society. 
Hindu  society,  it  would  be   generally  admitted,  is   not 
as  yet  prepared  to  give  cp  caste;  if  an  Englaiiu-re turned  man 
is,  he  must  be  prepared  to  give  up  Hindu  society.    It  is  no 
use  saying   that  society    tolerates  breaches  of    caste,    that 
there  are  hundreds  and  thousands  who  eat  and   drink  with 
everybody  and  society  takes  no  notice  of  them  ;    that  when 
one  does  what  society  already  knows  and  connives  at,  why 
shouldn't   lie  be    allowed  to    doit    openly?     Why,  for   the 
simple  reason  that  society  is  riot  prepared  to  tolerate    open 
defiance  of  caste  rules.     If  any  one  think  it  is,  lie  has  only 
to  ask  it  to  allow    him  to    remain  in   it  on  condition  of   his 
observing  no  caste  rules,  and  he  will  soon   find   himself  out 
of  it.     The  changes  of  a  hundred  years  have  brought  about 
a  state  of  things  in  which  the  Hindu  community  has  by  way 
of  compromise  come  to  put  up  with  breaches  of  caste  observ- 
ances to  a  certain  extent — but  only  to  a  certain  extent — be- 
yond which  it  does  not  at  present  seem    disposed  to  extend 
its  tolerance.     To  an  England-returned  man  it  simply  says 
this  : — {{  You  may  or  may  not  believe  in  caste  ;  I  am    only 
concerned    with   your   public    conduct — your    conduct   on 
social     occasions  ;  if  it  is  consistent  with  caste  ordinances, 
I  don't  care  what  you  do  in  the  privacy  of  your  home,  and 
if  not  you  must  go."    Now,  I  ask  my  radical  friend,   what 
more  latitude  do  you  want   for  yourself?    Where  is   your 
29 


226  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

principle  compromised  if  you  enter  your  community  on 
those  terms  ?  Thcro  is  no  hypocrisy,  no  deception,  no  double 
dealing  when  your  conduct  is  neither  intended  nor  calcu- 
lated to  deceive  any  body  for  who  is  so  simple-minded  as  to 
believe  that  you  feel  any  romantic  attachment  for  caste  ? 
But  at  the  same  time  be  sure  that  so  long  as  Hindu 
society  does  not  undergo  considerable  changes  which 
will  be  the  work  of  centuries,  so  long  as  millions  of  Hindus 
are  ignorant,  or  are  bred  up  in  the  old  school ;  so  long  as 
Hindu  women  do  not  como  under  tho  influence  of  the  new 
light — and  there  are.  hardly  more  than  a  score  of  such 
women  outside  Calcutta  and  Bombay — caste  system,  an  in- 
stitution of  immemorial  antiquity,  which  has  made  its  im- 
pression upon  everjr  nerve  and  fibre  of  our  social  organism, 
will  continue  to  exist  and  nothing  but  quiet  and  gentle 
compromises  extending  over  a  long  space  of  time,  will  be 
found  efficacious  enough  to  dissolve  its  bonds.  The  way  to 
break  the  strength  of  Hindu  orthodoxy  is  not,  if  I  may  use 
a  phrase  which  the  Boer  war  has  brought  into  fashion,  by 
making  frontal  attacks  upon  its  impregnable  positions 
behind  caste-entrenchments,  but  by  turning  its  flanks, 
by  going  round  and  marking  those  weak  points  in  its 
organization  winch  cannot  be  well-defended  against  the 
pressure  of  new  forces. 

What,  are  wo  to  wait,  it  may  be  urged,  till  the  bulk  of 
the  Hindu  community  is  prepared  to  renounce  caste  ?  Are 
we  to  reform  only  such  abuses  as  everybody  is  prepared  to 
give  up  ?  Are  we  to  follow  Pope's  prudent  advice, 

"  Be  not  the  first  by  whom  the  now  ore  tried' 
Nor  yet  the  last  to  lay  the  old  aside  ?" 

By  no  means;  but  consider  that  before  you  attempt  to 
bring  about  any  change  you  must  prepare  tho  public 
mind  for  it.  You  must  change  men's  opinion  first  before 
you  can  hope  to  change  their  conduct.  And  what  is  the 
Hindu  public  opinion  in  regard  to  caste  ?  la  it  really  in 


i.]  FOREIGN  TRAVEL.  227 

favour  of  abolishing  caste?  Is  it  even  ripe  enough  to  allow  a 
free  discussion  of  the  question  at  a  mixed  gathering?  Have 
we  forgotten  plague-riots  and  the  Sanatan  Dharam  demon- 
strations? Well,  the  fact  is  that  anti-caste  opinions  are  not 
tolerated  by  the  Hindu  community ;  much  less  can  we 
expect  it  to  tolerate  their  realization  in  practice.  Educate 
public  opinion  upon  this  question  ;  you  will  find  even  this 
apparently  simple  process  somewhat  long'  and  laborious. 
Reforms  attempted  in  haste  are  often  repented  at  leisure. 
An  open  crusade  against  caste  can  end  only  in  disaster  ; 
for  I  consider  it  nothing  short  of  disaster  that  the  Hindu 
community  should  by  the  action  of  an  aggressive  and  reck  • 
less  radicalism  be  driven  into  the  arms  of  the  reactionary 
movements  which  have  of  lato  created  so  much  stir  and 
unrost  in  the  country.  Periods  of  transition  havd  their 
inconveniences  arid  inconsistencies  ;  but  they  have  to  be 
borne,  compromises  htive  to  liu  effected  ;  Ihe  old  docs  not 
die  without  a  struggle,  the  new  is  not  born  without  travails. 
Our  rapid  reformers  would  do  well  to  pardon  the  words  of 
Mr.  Herbert  Spencer: 

fl  For  it  cannot  be  too  emphatically  asserted  that  this 
policy  of  compromise,  alike  in  institutions,  in  actions  and  in 
beliefs,  is  a  policy  essential  Lo  a  society  going  through  the 
transitions  caused  by  con  tinned  growth  and  development. 
Tha  illogicalities  and  the  authorities  to  bo  found  so 
abundantly  in  current  opinions  and  existing  arrangements, 
are  those  which  inevitably  arise  in  the  course  of  perpetual 
re-adjustments  to  circumstances  perpetually  changing. 
Ideas  and  institutions  proper  to  a  past  social  state  but  in- 
congruous with  the  new  social  state  that  has  grown 
out  of  it,  surviving  into  this  new  social  state  they  have 
made  possible,  and  disappearing  only  as  this  new  social 
state  establishes  its  own  ideas  and  institutions,  are  necessa- 
rily, during  their  survival,  iu  conflict  with  these  new  ideas 
and  institutions — necessarily  furnish  elements  of  contradic- 


228  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAR* 

tion  in  men's  thoughts  and  deeds.  And  yet  as,  for  the 
carrying  on  of  social  life,  the  old  must  continue  so  long  as 
the  new  is  ready,  this  perpetual  compromise  is  an  indis- 
pensable ttccompaniment  of  a  normal  development.  Just  as 
injurious  as  it  would  be  to  an  amphibian  to  cut  oil  its 
bronchain*  before  its  lungs  were  well-developed,  so  injuri- 
ous must  it  IM  to  a  society  to  destroy  its  old  institutions 
before  the  new  have  become  organised  enough  to  take 
their  places,"  (Study  of  Sociology,  pp,  396-397). 

Koine  would  construe  this  into  a  plea  for   maintaining 
the  stain  quo.     They  think  that  because  they   and  their 
friends    arc    prepared     for     certain     reforms,     therefore 
the     whole     country   is    prepared    for    them.      Some    of 
them     uvon    go   the  length  ol'   saying  that    it'   the  Hindu 
population    is   nut   going  to     submit  to    them,    they  will 
form  a  separate  society  of  their  own.     Carlylo  says  some- 
where  'Two   or   throe   gentlemen    have   met  in    a    room 
and  have   said,    Go   to,    we   will    make    a   religion."     So 
these  gentlemen  want  to  make  a  society  of  the  elect — with- 
out caste,  without  Hindu  principles,  without  old  traditions. 
In  their  eyes  moderation  is  the  virtue  of  cowards,  and  pom- 
promise  the  deceiver  of  traitors.    They  will   however  soon 
find  out  their  mistake.  Our  social  conservatism  is  too  strong 
to  be  pulled  down  in  a  day.  It  is  being  gradually  undermined 
by  the  tide  of  modern  civilization,  '  a  tide  that  moving  seems 
asleep,  too   full  for   sound  or    foam,'    and  it  is  no  part  of 
wisdom    to    check  or  retard  its   progress   by  exciting  and 
grading  into  fury  the  passions  and  prejudices  of  a  thousand 
years.     Even  for  bringing  about  slow  changes  in   our   cus- 
toms and  beliefs  the  y.cal  and  courage  of  heroes  and  martyrs 
will  be  needed  and  most   effective  in   breaking  the  neck  of 
Hindu  orthodoxy  will  be   those  who   will  remain  in  their 
society  and  not  those  who  go  out  of  it. 


i.]  SOCIAL  INTERCOURSE,  Etc.  229 

IX.— Social  Intercourse  between  Europeans  and 
Indians. 

BY  S.  SATTHIANAUHAN,  ESQ.,  M.A.,  L.L,  M., 
Professor  of  Philosophy,  Presidency  Collwje,  Madras- 


The  question  of  the  feasibility  of  the  promotion    of  a 
more    intimate    social    relation    between    Europeans    and 
Indians  cannot  be  discussed    satisfactorily  unless  one  lias  it 
knowledge   of  the   vast   difference  in  the    habits,   thoughts 
and  avocations  of  the  two  races-     That  there  is  a  wide  gulf 
between  the  two  races  which  even  «i  century  of  British  rule 
has  not   succeeded  in   bridging   there  is  no  need  to   prove. 
But  unfortunately  those*  who  have  either  written  or  spoken 
on  this  delicate  subject  have  done  more  harm  than  good  by 
their  e&  parte  statements.     A  few  years  back  an  article  ap- 
peared  in  the   Fortnightly    Review,    from    the   pen    of  Mr. 
Wilfred  Blunt,  professing  to  trace  the  history  of  the  ft  ever- 
widening   gulf  of   personal    dislike/1    which    separates  the 
educated  Indian  from  the  "  individual  Englishmen  who  rule 
them"  ;  and  1  know  for  certain  that  if  that  article  had    any 
effect  at  all,    it  was  to    make  tho    gulf  wider   than  it   was 
before  Mr.    Wilfred    Blunt   took   upon   himself    the    self- 
imposed  task   of  bridging  it.  I  shall  quote  a  single  passage 
from  the  article  referred  to  :  li  I  shall  no  doubt  incur  anger 
by  saying  it,    but  it   is  a  fact  that   the  English    woman    in 
India,   during  the  last  thirty  years,   has   been  the  cause  of 
half  the  bitter  feelings  there  between  race  and  race.  It  was 
her  presence  at  Cawnpore  that  pointed  the  sword  of  revenge 
after  the  Mutiny,   and  it  ia  her  constantly   increasing  influ- 
ence  now    that    widens  the  gulf   of  ill-feeling  and    makes 
amalgamation  daily  more  and  more  impossible.  I  have  over 
and  over  again   noticed  this.     The  English   Collector,   the 
English  Doctor,   or  the   English   Judge  may  have  the  best 
will  in  the  world  to  meet  their  Indian  neighbours  and  offi- 


230  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  .          [PART 

cial  subordinates  on  equal  Icrrns.  Their  wives  will  hear 
nothing-  of  the  sort,  and  the  result -is  a  meaningless  inter- 
change of  cold  civilities."  Such  statements  as  these  do  more 
harm  than  good  and  have  been  indulged  in  frequently.  I 
do  not  pretend  to  throw  any  new  light  on  the  subject,  but 
my  position  as  an  Indian,  and  as  one  who  fchas  had  the 
privilege  of  a  long  stay  in  England,  enables  me  to  view 
the  problem  from  a  point  of  view  different  from  that  in 
which  it  is  generally  viewed  by  those  of  iny  countrymen 
who  have  not  had  the  privilege  of  an  intimate  acquaintance 
with  Knglish  life. 

In  the  first  place  let  n.e  say  that  a  complete  fusion  of 
the  two  races,  under  present  conditions,  is  an  utter  impos- 
sibility ;  and  when  I  speak  of  free  social  intercourse,  I  do 
not  menu  a  state  of  things  that  would  lead  to  such  a  com- 
plete fusion.  The  intermarriage  of  the  races  is  a  subject 
which,  perhaps,  does  not  come  within  the  scope  of  this 
article,  but  [  may  be  permitted  to  say  that,  despite  the  few 
instances  that  have  taken  place,  the  time  even  for  the  dis- 
cussion of  such  a  theme  has  not  yet  arrived.  That  such 
marriages  have  taken  place,  and  some  of  them  may  have 
turned  out  hanpily,  may  possibly  be  true ;  but  the  very  idea 
of  such  a  thing  has,  wo  may  say  happily,  not  yet  become 
familial  to  the  European  mind,  and  it  must  be  long  before 
the  many,  and,  as  at  present  seems,  insuperable  objections 
to  such  marriages  becoming  common  can  be  overcome.  It  is 
strange,  but  still  it  is  a  known  fact  that,  so  long  as  human 
nature  remains  what  it  is,  eastern  and  western  nations 
cannot  amalgamate  without  a  loss  to  both. 

Before  attempting  to  answer  the  question  of  the  possi- 
bility of  the  promotion  of  a  more  intimate  social  relation 
between  Europeans  and  Natives,  it  is  necessary  to  take  a 
glance  at  the  present  state  of  Indian  Society,  to  understand 
clearly  of  what  elements,  homogeneous  or  heterogeneous,  it 
is  composed  and  also  discover  whether  there  is  any  likeli- 


i.]  SOCIAL  INTERCOURSE,  Etc.  231 

hood  of  those  elements  being  welded  into  one  homogeneous 
wholo.     The  word  u  Indian,"  in  its  widest  acceptation,  em- 
braces all   people  who  live   in  India,    including   IJruhmins, 
Sudras,   Pariahs,   even    Mahometans,    not  to  speak    of  the 
various   sections    and  sub-sections   into  which     those  are 
divided.    Professor  Secley  has  pointed  out  in  his  Expansion 
of  England   that  all  the    elements  of  a  common   nationality 
are  absent  in  India,  viz.,    (1)  community  of  race    or  rather 
the  belief  in  a  community  of  race  ;  (2)    the  sense   of  a  com- 
mon interest  and  the  habit  of  forming  a  single  political  wholo 
and  (3)  a  common  religion.    Whatever  may  be  the  changes 
coming     over  the    country   now, — and   some    powerful  in- 
fluences are  being  brought   to  bear  upon  the  races  inhabit- 
ing India,— it  must    be  admitted    that  the  caste    system  is 
still  in  the  ascendant  and  prevents  the  amalgamation  of  the 
Indian    peoples  so  widely    diverging  in  language,  in    social 
customs,  and  in  religion.      The  educated  classes,    it  is  true, 
claim  to  be  free  from  the  trammels  of  caste,  but  the  glaring 
incongruity  between  thoughts  and   deeds,    between    public 
profession  and  private  practice,  is  felt  by  none  more  keenly 
than  by  the  educated  Hindu  himself.    Much  is  said  against 
caste,  but  caste  still  reigns  supreme  in  some  form  or  other, 
even  in  the   most    enlightened  circles-     There    is   still   an 
absence  of  perfect  sympathy  among  the   peoples   of   India. 
Their  habits  and  idiosyncracios,  their  prejudices  and    cus- 
toms, prevent  their  complete  fusion,  and  to    this   day   they 
are  separated  by   impassable   barriers.     Seeing    that    the 
points  of  disparity  between  the  different  classes  that  consti- 
tute the  Indian  population  are  so   great  as   to    make   their 
cordially  mingling  with  one  another  impossible,   how    then 
can  we  expect  the  Indian  population,  made  up  as  it   is  of 
these   motley   races,    to  mix   cordially  with   Europeans,  a 
people  entirely  differing  from  them   in   creed,   colour,   and 
costume?     Charity,  it  is  said,  should  begin    at   home;   and 
so  there  should  be    free  social   intercourse  first  between 


232  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

classes  of  people   which   have   greater  affinities  with   one 
another.     The  European  may  well  say  : — lf  You   wonder  at 
there  being  an  icy  barrier  between  Europeans  and  Natives  : 
what  free  intercourse  is  there  between  peoples    who  consti- 
tute tho  Indian  population  ?IJ     I  do  not  mean   to  insinuate 
for  a  moment  that  there  is  no   sympathy  and   social   inter- 
course between  the   Indian   races ;   what    I   moan   is  that 
before  we  begin  to  find   fault   with    Europeans   for   their 
aloofness  we  should  show  that  there    is  more  of   cordiality 
and  union  between  the  different   Indian  races,  who,  though 
locally  intermingled,  are  still  morally   separated.     There  is 
still  distrust  between  class    and   class ;   there    is   still    that 
narrow  exclusiveness    and  petty-minded   jealousy    keeping 
the  different  castes  and  classes  apart  from  one  another.    All 
efforts  of  onr  educated    countrymen    should,   therefore,    be 
directed  towards  creating  a  universal  feeling  of  rationality. 
India  consists  merely  of  a  vast  assemblage  of  races  divided 
into  countless  unsympathising  castes  and  classes,     A   bond 
of  union  is  needed.    I  do  of  course  admit  that  English  edu- 
cation and  western  civilization  have  amalgamated   to  some 
extentthovaryinurforc.es   among   the    Indian   population, 
but  greater  exertions  must  be    put    forth    by   tlic   various 
castes  an  i  classes  Lh.it  exist  in  India  to  bring  about  a  deep- 
er sympathy  and  u  more  complete   union.     It   is   very  easy 
to  point  fin  the  mote  in  our  neighbour's  eye    and    overlook 
the  beam  in  our  own,     Let  not  one  caste    despise   another. 
L'jt  Miere  lx»  -m  e  id  of  all  religious  intolerance  and  bigotry. 
Let  t.hiire  be  a  freer  intercourse  between    Mahomed  an  and 
Hindu,  Hindu  and   Christian,   Christian  and  Mahomedan. 
Let  all  learn  to  think  alike  and  also   to  act   alike,    "  yoked 
in  one  fellowship  of  joys  and  pains,"  realizing  that  we  are 
all  fellow-citizens  of  a  common  mother  country;    and  then 
we  shall  have  greater  reason  to  complain  of  the  icy  barrier 
that  now  separates  Europeans  from  Natives. 

In  trying  to  trace  the  cause  of  that  absence  of  free 


i.]  SOCIAL  INTERCOURSE,  Etc.  233 

intercourse  between  the  rulers  and  the  ruled,  we  should 
not  fail  to  take  into  account  one  essential  characteristic  of 
the  English  nation.  The  English  are  the  most  reserved  of 
all  races.  It  is  the  nature  of  an  Englishman  to  keep  him- 
self aloof  from  a  foreigner,  whether  European  or  Asiatic, 
one  with  a  dark  or  a  white  skin.  A  channel  only  twenty 
miles  broad  separates  France  from  England,  and  yet  there 
is  a  gulf  between  the  peoples  of  these  two  countries  nearly  as 
wide  as  the  one  that  separates  the  English  from  the  dusky 
inhabitants  of  India.  Referring  to  the  insular  character  of 
the  English,  Emerson  says  : — il  In  short  every  one  of  these 
islanders  is  an  island  himself,  safe,  tranquil,  incommuni- 
cable- In  a  company  of  strangers  you  would  think  him 
deaf ;  his  eyes  never  wander  from  his  table  and  newspaper. 
He  is  never  betrayed  into  any  curiosity  or  unbecoming 
emotion.  They  have  all  been  trained  in  one  severe  school 
of  manners,  and  never  put  off  the  harness.  He  does  not 
give  his  hand.  He  does  not  let  you  meet  his  eye.  It  is 
almost  an  affront  to  look  a  man  in  the  face,  without  being 
introduced.  In  mixed  or  in  select  companies  they  do  not 
introduce  persons ;  so  that  a  presentation  is  a  circumstance 
as  valid  as  a  contract.  Introductions  are  sacraments.  He 
withholds  his  name.  At  the  hotel  he  is  hardly  willing  to 
whisper  it  to  the  clerk  at  the  booking  office.  If  he  gave  you 
his  private  address  and  card,  it  is  with  an  avowal  of  friend- 
ship ;  and  his  bearing  on  being  introduced  is  cold,  even 
though  he  is  seeking  your  acquaintance,  and  is  studying 
how  he  shall  serve  you/' 

This  account  of  the  English  character  contains  much 
of  truth.  lu  the  course  of  a  conversation  I  once  had  with  a 
German  Missionary  who  had  lived  in  India  for  upwards  of 
twenty  years,  he  said: — "What  strikes  us  Germans  in 
India  most  is  the  utter  exclusiveness  of  the  English.  They 
try  their  best  to  have  as  little  to  do  with  the  Natives  as 
possible.  They  even  shun  us,  though  we  are  RO  near  of  kin 
30 


234  INDIAN  SOCIAL   REFORM.  [PART 

to  them.  We  Germans  behave  differently  in  onr  colonies." 
Well,  this  state  of  things  can  be  accounted  for  only  by  the 
fact  of  the  natural  reservedness  of  the  English  character. 

There  is  an  innate  sense  of  superiority  in  the  English- 
man which  makes  him  look  upon  himself  us  belonging  to  a 
race  the  first  in  all  the  world.  To  his  eyes  even  his 
immediate  neighbours,  the  French  and  the  Germans, 
are  his  inferiors,  and  he  becomes  more  alive  to  this 
superiority  when  ho  leaves  his  island  homo  to  mix  with 
foreigners.  Bub  at  home  lie  is  himself  natural  and  genuine. 
Hence,  to  know  what  the  English  really  are,  we  irust  go  to 
their  very  firesides.  It  is  only  there  that  wo  find  out  their 
real  character.  It  is  there,  more  than  anywhere  else,  you 
feel  their  kin  dness  and  consideration,  their  unaffectednesR 
and  liberality  of  feeling.  It  is  worth  going  to  England  at 
any  cost  and  inconvenience  to  find  out  what  tho  English 
really  are.  Even  now,  as  I  look  back,  I  cannot  help  bring- 
ing before  my  mind  those  happy  days  which  I  had  the 
inestimable  privilege  of  spending  with  English  friends, 
who  were  none  the  less  cordial  because  of  my  being  a 
foreigner.  These  friendships  I  enjoy  even  now,  though 
many  seas  lie  between  India  and  England.  In  that  strange 
land  many  a  door  was  open  to  me  ;  and  the  kind  treatment 
and  the  warm  welcome  I  received  in  those  English  homes 
made  my  stay  in  England  appear  almost  a  pleasant  dream 
to  me,  This  has  been  the  experience  of  others  of  my 
countrymen  who  have  visited  England.  Let  us  not  there- 
fore judge  hastily  of  the  English  in  India,  by  looking  at 
only  the  official  side  of  their  character.  To  a  great  extent 
they  move  in  an  artificial  atmosphere  in  this  country.  Was 
it  not  Eudyard  Kipling  who  said  that  the  Ten  Command- 
ments cease  to  be  binding  on  an  Englishman  on  this  side 
of  Aden?  Whether  he  meant  that  this  statement  of 
his  should  be  taken  seriously  or  npt,  we  do  not  need 
a  Kipling  to  tell  us  that  the  conditions  of  life  in  India  of 


i.]  SOCIAL  INTEBCO URSE,  Etc.  235 

an    Englishman  arc  entirely  different  from  those   in  Eng- 
land. 

I  have  referred  to  the  innate  sense  of    superiority   of 
the   Englishman   and    ln's    natural     reservedness.      These 
features   of   his   charaeter    have  their  ugly    side    as    well. 
Too   much   of   self-consciousness   often     degenerates   into 
t  swagger;  and  there  is  no  human  infirmity    so    melancholy 
as  British  swagger.    We    sen   it    manifesting   itself   in   so 
many  ways.  To  give  one  single  example.     There  appeared 
three  years   ago  a   remarkable    work  by  Dr.  Pearson,    en- 
titled National  Life,  and  (Character.     This  work,  which  has 
been  highly  eulogized  by  the   British  Press,   tries  to    work 
out  one  single    idea,  namely,  that   the   dark   racss   are    in 
reality  lower  than  the  white  races  in  the  sense  of  being  unfit 
for  progress  and    civilization.     Now   there    does    not  need 
much  logic  to  point  out  that  such   a  sweeping   generaliza- 
tion, with  regard,   not    to  the  present  condition  but  to  tho 
future  of  the    (lark    races,    is    the    outcome    of    imperial 
insolence  and  a  narrow  conception  of  human  progress;    yet 
the  numerous  British  critics  of  Dr,  Pearson's   work,  includ- 
ing   the  London    Times,   accepted   his     assumption  as  a, 
matter  of  course   and    never    thought   of   questioning  tho 
very  A.  B.  C.  of  his  mode  of  reasoning,    which   is  the  out- 
come of  national  prejudice.    The   British  as  a  nation   have 
yet  to  learn  that  there  is   nothing   iu  race  which,    under  a 
systematic   education   and    training,  continued  over  long 
generations,  could  prevent  the   dark  races   from  ultimately 
inheriting  a  higher  civilization. 

Then  let  us  pray  that  come  it  may — 

As  come  it  will  for  aj  that — 
That  sense  and  worth,  o'er  a1  the  earth 

May  bear  the  gree  and  a'  that. 
For  a'  that  and  a'  that, 

It  is  coining  yet  for  a1  that. 


236  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.         [PART 

That  man  to  man,  the  world  o'er, 
Shall  brothers  be  for  aj  that. 

I  am  also  afraid  that  the  conditions  of  life  in  India  of 
an  Englishman  are  such  that  they  tend  to  foster  and 
nourish  this  questionable  side  of  his  character,  namely,  race 
conceit.  An  Englishman  arrives  in  India  and  finds  to  his 
utter  astonishment  that  he  is  made  more  of  than  ever  ho 
was  before  ;  and  if  he  is  one  who  holds  any  position  of 
official  influence  and  draws  a  high  salary,  there  will  never 
bo  wanting  a  circle  of  natives  who  treat  him  almost  as  a 
demi-god.  Not  only  are  the  lower  classes  given  to  cring- 
ing and  fawning;  but  even  the  educated  classes  have  the 
same  weakness.  There  is  a  gre:it  deal  of  false  hero-wor- 
ship in  India, — worship  of  mere  pelf  and  power,  and  this 
trait  in  the  native  character,  combined  with  the  innate 
sense  of  superiority  in  the  Englishman,  is  a  serious 
hindrance  in  the  way  of  bringing  the  two  races  together 
on  any  footing  of  equality. 

But  even  admitting  these — the  peculiar  constitution 
of  Hindu  Society  and  the  natural  reservedness  of  the 
English — as  barriers  to  a  complete  social  fusion,  I  do  not 
see  why  there  should  uot  be  a  more  cordial  relationship 
existing  between  Europeans  and  Natives  than  there  is  at 
present.  After  all,  it  is  not  much  that  the  natives  require 
of  their  English  neighbours.  They  only  desire  a  more 
friendly  intercourse,  a  more  kindly  sympathy.  What  then 
can  be  the  obstacles  to  these  ?  Let  us  see. 

Mr.  C.  T.  Buckland,  in  his  Sketches  of  Social  Life  in 
India,  has  an  interesting  chapter  on  Native  life.  He  says 
that  the  chief  cause  of  the  want  of  social  intercourse  be- 
tween Europeans  and  Natives  is  the  little  knowledge  which 
the  former  have  of  the  inner  social  life  of  the  natives. 
An  Englishman  sees  a  Native  in  his  office,  where  they  meet 
together  for  the  purpose  of  going  through  some  dry 
work.  They  exchange  a  lf  good  morning ;J  or  a  "good 


L]  SOCIAL  INTERCOURSE,  Etc.  237 

evening,"  and  they  never  see  anything  of  each  other  till 
they  meet  the  next  day  to  look  over  some  official  document 
or  talk  about  business  matters.  I  know  the  little  know- 
ledge which  the  English  have  of  the  inner  social  life  of 
the  natives  is  often  brought  forward  as  an  obstacle  to  free 
social  intercourse.  But  I  fear  that  this  excuse  is  a  very 
lame  one  altogether.  It  is  confounding  cause  and  effect 
to  say  that  the  want  of  mutual  knowledge  is  an  obstacle  to 
free  social  intercourse.  If  there  is  freer  intercourse 
between  the  two  races,  the  Europeans  will  certainly  have 
a  better  knowledge  of  the  inner  social  life  of  the  Natives. 
Even  Sir  Monier  Williams,  notwithstanding  his  wide 
Indian  experience,  has  fallen  into  the  very  same  mistake, 
In  an  address  he  delivered  at  a  meeting  of  the  National 
Indian  Association,  he  says— and  he  repeats  it  over  and 
over  again — that  the  want  of  sympathy  on  the  part  of  the 
English  towards  their  Indian  fellow  subjects  is  simply  and 
solely  due  to  the  insufficient  knowledge  which  the  former 
have  of  India  and  the  people,  If  Sir  Monier  Williams,  in 
making  such  a  statement,  referred  only  to  the  English  at 
home,  there  would  have  been  no  objection  taken  to  it,  but 
it  he  wishes  to  make  out  that  the  English  in  India  are  un- 
charitable and  unsympathetic  because  they  are  ignorant,  I 
can  only  say  that  the  statement  is  incorrect.  The  English 
in  India  cannot  conscientiously  plead  the  want  of  mutual 
knowledge  as  an  excuse  for  their  unsympathetic  conduct. 
The  ignorance  (and  there  is  plenty  of  it  among  Englishmen 
in  India)  is  the  effect  and  not  the  cause  of  the  unsympathetic 
nature  of  the  majority  of  Englishmen  who  sojourn  in  our 
midst.  We  often  come  across  very  amusing  instances  of  ig- 
norance relating  to  India  and  Indians  -among  Englishmen  at 
home  ;  such  ignorance  is  pardonable,  I  saw  nothing  incon- 
gruous in  an  Englishman  at  home  asking  me  whether  the 
Zenanas  were  not  a  tribe  of  Afghans,  I  was  not  in  the  least 
surprised  to  see  once  a  number  of  placards  in  a  large  town  iu 


238  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

England,  announcing  a  Missionary  meeting,  in  which  it  was 
said  that  the  Bishop  of  Travancore,   New  Zealand,   would 
take  part.     It  did  not  in   the   least    shock   me    when    the 
daughter  of  a  Member  of  Parliament  once  asked  me,  with 
much  naivete,  whether  in  India  houscy  were  built  of  bricks. 
But  when  I  am  told  that  there  are    civilians   who   will  not 
bo  able  to  puss  an  examination  in  the    Geography  of  India 
outside  their  own  presidency  ;  when   I   remember  coming 
across  Kglishmen  in  India  using  opprobrious  terms  such  as 
u  devilish"  to  designate  the  religious  tenets  of  India  ;  when 
I  read  sweeping   statements   about   the  character   of   the 
native  population,  as  for  example,  the  following : "  a  nation 
of  lifirs,  perjurers,  forgers,  devoid  of  gratitude,  trust,  good 
nature,  and  every  other  virtue,"  <(  people  addicted  to  adula- 
tion, dissimulafci"n,   dishonesty,   falsehood,    and   perjury;" 
when  one  sees  all  this,  one  cannot  but  be  astonished  at  such 
ignorance  and  come  to  the  conclusion  that   such  ignorance 
is  only  the  outcome  of  national  pride     Let  there  be  good 
will  and  sympathy  between  the  people  of  England  and  the 
people  of  India,  then  there   will   bo   no   more    talk   about 
mutual  ignorance.     Want  of  sympathy  is  not  rootod  in  the 
want  of  knowledge,  it  is    the  want    of    knowledge   that   is 
rooted  in  the  want  of  sympathy. 

Sir  Monier  Williams,  in  his  deeply  interesting  work  on 
"  Modern  India  and  the  Indians/7  stiys  :  "  The  impenetra- 
ble barrier  with  which  the  Hindus  surround  their  homes, 
and  their  refusal  to  sit  ato  meals  with  Europeans,  are  fatal 
to  mutual  friendliness  and  sociability."  The  same  causes  are 
also  assigned  by  Mr.  C.  T,  Buckland,  as  coming  in  the  way 
of  a  complete  social  fusion  between  the  rulers  and  the 
ruled,  "  Two  of  the  main  elements,"  writes  Mr-  Buokland, 
"  of  social  intercourse,  according  to  English  ideas,  consist 
(1)  in  dining  together,  (2)  in  the  interchange  of  ladies' 
society."  As  regards  the  first,  it  is  true  dinners  play  an 
important  part  in  lubricating  business,  softening  asperities, 


i.]  SOCIAL  INTERCOURSE,  Etc.  239 

and  bringing  about  a  good  understanding  between  people  ; 
bufc  at  the  same  time  it  must  be  admitted  that  caste  preju- 
dices cannot  be  regarded  as  in  any  way  constituting  an 
insurmountable  difficulty  to  free  social  intercourse.  Caste 
prejudices  have  not  prevented  a  few  noble  Englishmen  »md 
Englishwomen  from  forming  the  most  agreeable  relations 
with  Indians  belonging  to  the  highest  castes.  It  is  indeed 
most  unreasonable  to  say  that  because  a  man  will  not  eat 
with  me  I  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  him,  If  the  English 
expect  their  Hindu  fellow-subjects  to  give  up  ca^te,  pro- 
mising, on  that  condition,  to  move  more  freely  with  them, 
it  is  but  just  thut  the  Hindus  should  expect  their  European 
neighbours  to  make  some  concession  at  least  in  return.  Sir 
Monier  Williams  goes  so  I'ar  as  to  dissuade  his  countrymen 
in  India  from  eating  beef,  on  the  authority  of  St.  Paul,  who 
says,  "  If  meat  make  my  brother  to  ofFe'nd  I  will  eat  no 
flesh  while  the  world  Htandetlf."  An  English  gentleman 
who  did  not  regard  caste  prejudices  as  forming  any  chief 
obstacle  to  a  free  intercourse  between  the  two  races  said  : 
' '  A  man  who  will  neither  cat  with  you  nor  drink  with  you 
it  is  said,  nor  admit  you  to  his  own  wife's  sooietv,  cannot 
be  really  intimate  in  your  lions*).  Hut  I  confess  I  cannot 
see  the  force  of  this  argument.  In  my  own  case  I  did  not 
find  any  difficulty  in  forming  the  most  agreeable  relations 
with  Brahmins,  Mahomedans,  Parsccs,  and  Native  Chris- 
tians- I  found  no  difference  of  any  insurmountable  kind  be- 
tween their  ideas  ami  my  own,  not  more,  indeed,  than  would 
be  the  case  had  they  been  Spaniards  or  Italians,  The  fact  of 
their  not  breaking  bread  with  me  I  am  sure  constitutes  no 
kind  of  obstacle  to  our  kindly  relations."  I  have  already  ad- 
mitted that  caste  prejudices  do  stand  in  the  way  of  a  greater 
social  fusion  between  two  classes  ;  but  I  do  not  regard  the 
breaking  of  bread  as  an  indispensable  condition  of  social  in- 
tercourse. Every  one  will  adrnifc  that  the  social  relations 
between  educated  Hindus  and  educated  Mahomedans  are 


240  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

of  an  intimate  nature,  and  yet  they  do  not  dine  with 
each  other. 

And  then  what  about  the  exclusiveness  of  the  Natives 
of  India  and  their  social  and  religious  prejudices?  it  will  be 
asked,  An  Knglish  lady,  for  instance,  who  wishes  to  know 
more  about  the  inner  life  of  the  Hindus,  does  she  not  find 
n  difficulty  in  bein£  admitted  into  a  Hindu  home  ?  It  is  my 
humble  opinion  that  a  foreigner  will  find  very  little  diffi- 
culty in  getting  an  insight  into  the  inner  life  of  the  Hindu, 
if  only  ho  really  s»pe-ks  the  acquaintance  and  friendship  of 
•  the  In  tier.  Religious  and  social  prejudices  will  never  stand 
in  the  way  of  their  becoming  more  intimately  acquainted. 
A  Native  gentleman  thinks  it  a  great  honour  if  only  he 
Tecei^esa  visit  from  his  European  friends.  The  native  heart 
is  naturally  kind,  but  the  kindness  becomes  warmer  when 
the  object  of  it  is  a  member  of  the  dominant  class  •  The 
respect  and  attachment  which  Natives  have  to  one  of  the 
ruling  race,  who  does  or  means  to  do  them  good,  is  almost 
'unbounded;  any  expression  of  real  sympathy  is  always 
repaid  by  n  hundredfold  degree  of  respect  and  regard. 

The  degraded  condition  of  Hindu  women  must,  how- 
ever, be  admitted  to  be  a  fertile  source  of  discontent.  It  is 
perfectly  true  that  one  of  the  main  elements  of  social  inter- 
course, according  to  English  ideas,  consists  in  the  inter- 
change of  ladies'  society.  Hut  here  again,  in  trying  to  lift 
our  women  to  a  higher  level,  we  naturally  expect  greater 
sympathy  and  *  support  from  our  foreign  neighbours,  and 
more  especially  from  English  ladies  resident  in  India.  We 
dare  not  of  course  say  that  no  attempts  have  been  made  by 
English  ladies  to  help  their  Indian  sisters.  All  honour  to 
those  few  philanthropic  European  ladies  who,  both  in  India 
and  in  England,  most  disinterestedly  help  the  cause  of 
female  progress  in  our  country,  We  thank  them  most 
sincerely  for  their  invaluable  help,  but,  at  the  same  time,  I 
believe  I  am  right  in  saying  that  the  number  of  English 


i.]  SOCIAL  INTERCOURSE,  Etc.  241 

ladies  in  India  who  really  wish  to  be  of  some    direct  use  to 
their  benighted  Hindu  sisters  ia   very   insignificant.     How 
many  English  ladiea,  other  than  those  who   belong   to  the 
small  and  noble  band  of  Zenana  workers,  to    whom  India 
owes  so  much*  try  to  learn    enough   of    the   vernaculars  to 
speak  a  few  words  in  them  !  Perhaps   this  is  expecting  too 
much  from  them  ;  but  there  are  simpler  and  easier  ways  of 
helping  the  cause  of  i'emale  progress.     English    ladies  can 
do  much  by  their  sympathy.     The  very  fact,    for  instance, 
of  an  English  lady  visiting  a   school    will   draw    scores   of 
young  girls  to  it  ;  and,  if  the  interest  taken  is  lasting,  much 
permanent  good  will  come  of   it.      Wo    are  not  justified  in 
asking  much,  knowing    as   we   do    the  immense   gulf   that 
separates  the  majority  of  our  females   from   those  English 
ladies  who  sojourn  in  our  midst.  We  only  want  a  little  more 
sympathy  \  we  only  'wish  them  to  take  a  little  more  interest 
in  things  that  concern  the  welfare  of  India's  women.     Her 
Majesty  the  Queen-Empress,  by  studying   tho   Hindustani 
language,  has   shown,    in    an    unmistakable   manner,   her 
great  sympathy  with  her   Indian    subjects,    and    this   act 
of    hers    has    been    a   source    of   great  encouragement  to 
them.     In    our    own    Presidency,    Lady    Wenlock   did   a 
great    deal    to    promote    the    cause    of    the    women    of 
India,  and  the  noble  example  set  by  this    exalted  lady  will 
not  be  without  its  effect  on  her  countrywomen.     Thu  good 
work  done  by  ladies,  such  as   Mrs.  Grigg,   Miss  Gell,  Mrs. 
Arundel,  Mrs,  Benson,  Mrs.    Brander,    and  others,    is  also 
bearing  fruit  in  various  directions.  At  tho   same  time,  we 
Indians,  too,  have  our  own  duties.    There  is  not  the  slight- 
est use  in  commending  with  the  lips  a  certain  reform  as  be- 
neficial to  society  ;  every  possible   step   should  be  taken  to 
carry  it  out  practically.  There  are  hundreds  of  our  country- 
men, who  fully  recognize  tho  importance    of  female  educa- 
tion, and  know  full   well  the    conspicuous  part  it  plays  in 
the  civilization  of  the   country.     They   are   ready  to  give, 
31 


242  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

when  an  opportunity  occurs,  elaborate  lectures  on  female 
education  and  propose  still  more  elaborate  plans  for  carry- 
ing out  a  scheme  of  education  throughout  India ;  but  when  it 
comes  to  teaching  their  own  wives,  daughters,  or  sisters,  to 
read  or  write,  their  Heal  or  eloquence  seems  to  vanish.  So 
much  then  for  their  applying  in  practice  what  they  highly 
applaud  in  theory.  Let  this  one  thing,  therefore,  be  borne 
in  mind  :  the  spread  of  education  among  native  ladies 
cannot  but  be  fraught  with  good  results,  arid  will  tend 
more  to  assimilate  the  character  and  mode  of  thought  of 
the  Hindu  with  that  which  is  the  outcome  of  Western 
civilization  than  perhaps  any  other  that  can  be  devised* 
I  know  that  there  is  a  belief  current  among  a  class  of  natives 
that  the  general  education  of  women  will  lead  to  the 
loosening  of  social  ties,  the  displacement  of  customary 
ways,  and  the  disturbance  of  the  domestic  equilibrium. 
Some  even  go  further,  and  assert  that  the  little  education 
that  Hindu  girls  have  received  has  stripped  them  of  the 
graces  for  which  they  were  remarkable.  But  those  who 
are  interested  in  the  educational  progress  of  the  country 
do  make  allowance  for  such  opinions  ;  and  their  complaints 
do  not  refor  to  the  section  of  the  native  community  which 
is  hampered  by  such  fears.  All  that  they  protest  against 
is  the  apathy  and  indifference  of  the  intelligent  and 
educated  natives,  who  are  fully  alive  to  the  advantages 
of  female  education,  but  who,  in  spite  of  their  enlighten- 
ment, have  done  practically  nothing  to  further  a  cause 
which,  they  know  full  well,  is  fraught  with  the  deepest 
issues  to  their  country.  It  is  true  India  is  in  a  period  of 
transition,  and  there  must  be  some  dislocation  before  the 
lessons  of  emanciption  are  fully  learnt,  and  stability  is 
reached.  But  the  educated  Indian  knows  this,  and  is  fully 
awatfe  that,  in  spite  of  temporary  embarrassment,  a  time  will 
come  when  a  more  perfect  womanhood  will  be  prod  ace  d, 
and  when  the  daughters  of  India  will  compare  favourably 


i.]  SOCIAL  INTERCOURSE,  Etc.  243 

in  intelligence,  in  character,  and  in  all  the  graces  of  life 
with  her  more  favourably  circumstanced  sister  in  the  West. 
His  lack  of  practical  interest  is,  therefore,  all  the  more  to 
be  regretted. 

It  is  often  said  that  the  moral  gulf  between  English- 
men and  Indians  is  so  wide  as  to  make  the  promotion  of 
good  will  and  sympathy  between  the  two  races  an  utter  im- 
possibility. Well,  to  this  there  can  Le  given  an  easy  reply. 
Granting  that  the  English  m-u  morally  superior  to  the 
Indians,  then  one  of  the  signs  of  this  mornl  superiority 
would  necessarily  be  their  mixing  freely  with  their  superi- 
ors with  the  object  of  raising  them  to  a  higher  level.  J  can 
never  believe  in  the  moral  superiority  of  a  person  who 
thinks  that  one  of  the  conditions  of  his  exalted  position  is 
that  he  should  keep  himself  aloof  from  his  inferiors,  And 
then  again  is  the  moral  gulf  so  wide  after  all  ?  If  the  English 
possess  such  sterling  qualities  as  sincerity,  straightforward- 
ness, a  possionate  regard  for  truth,  courage,  and  manliness, 
must  it  not  be  admitted  that  there  is  also  much  that  is  good^ 
true,  and  lovely  in  the  Indian  character,  as  for  example, 
patient  perseverance,  calm  endurance  under  suffering,  a 
love  of  simplicity,  filial  obedience,  reverence  for  superiors, 
tenderness  towards  animal  life,  faithfulness  in  service,  and 
toleration  of  religious  diversities  ?  Will,  then,  the  English, 
by  mixing  more  freely  with  their  Hindu  brethren,  be  solely 
the  losers  ?  To  cultivate  friendly  relations  all  that  is  needed 
is  a  little  blindness  to  each  other's  faults  and  a  generous 
recognition  of  each  other's  virtues. 

Af  i1.  H.  J.  S.  Cotton,  in  his  work  on  "  New  India,11 
makes  out  that  the  sympathies  of  the  two  nations  are  less 
kindly  than  they  were  in  the  flays  of  a  past  generation  ; 
and  this,  he  says,  is  chiefly  due  to  the  changed  circumstan- 
ces in  with  the  ruling  race  Ima  found  itself.  Europeans 
in  India  are  mere  birds  of  passage.  Increased  facility  of 
communication  has  made  them  look  upon  their  sojourn  in 


244  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

India  as  more  an  exile.  There  is  nothing  to  bind  them  to 
this  land  \  and,  as  also  a  very  large  number  of  Europeans 
are  resident  in  India,  they  are  sible  to  find  companions 
among  their  own  kinsfolk,  and  shrink  from  all  avoidable 
communication  from  others.  A  few  among  them  may 
associate  with  the  natives  from  ?i  sense  of  duty,  but  for 
their  social  and  moral  needs  their  own  countrymen  are 
sufficient,  and  not  one  Englishman  in  a  thousand,  when  the 
hour  comes  for  leaving  India  for  good,  is  sensible  of  a 
wrench,  of  a  void  being  created  in  his  life,  by  the  sepa- 
ration from  any  native  whom  he  has  known. 

Natives  should  be  more  bold  and  straightforward  in 
their  intercourse  with  Europeans.  If  there  is  anything  which 
a  European  looks  upon  as  an  indication  of  inferiority, 
it  is  that  cringing  and  fawning  tendency  which  is  so 
conspicuous  is  the  lower  classes  of  the  natives  of  India. 
Human  nature  is  always  tickled  by  flattery  and  nourished 
by  servile  obsequiousness.  Natives,  at  tho  same  time, 
should  take  care  that  straightforwardness  does  not 
degenerate  into  arrogance  or  impudence.  They  should 
also  try  and  learn  the  manners  and  etiquette  of 
English  society.  It  is  with  the  English  more  than 
with  any  other  nation  that  "  manners  rnakcth  tho 
man."  There  is,  of  course,  much  that  is  artificial  in  English 
society  with  which  an  Oriental  finds  himself  unable  to 
reconcile.  Weightier  matters  of  the  law  are  often  over- 
looked, while  much  stress  is  laid  on  the  mint  and  cummin 
and  anise  of  fashion  and  convention  ;  but  with  the  English 
inexorable  etiquette  is  imperative  in  its  demands,  and  will 
be  satisfied  with  no  less  than  full  and  absolute  obedience  to 
the  letter  of,  its  laws.  The  complete  ignorance  of  the 
conventional  rules  and  forms  of  English  life  places  the 
native  in  a  very  awkward  predicament.  When,  for  the  first 
time,  he  finds  himself  in  company  with  English  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  he  feels  as  if  he  were  anything  but  in  his  right 


T.]  SOCIAL  INTERCOURSE,  Et<>.  245 

place  ;  ho  is  deprived  of  all  power  whether  of  speech  or 
action;  he  is  literally  paralysed.  He  sits  disconsolate  in  a 
corner,  afraid  to  speak  or  move  as  if  t(  wisdom  gets  its 
g-oms  by  gaping."  The  whole  thing  often  takes  the  form 
of  a  tragic  comedy  where  the  hero  is  truly  a  tragic  picture. 
His  perplexed  airs,  his  rustic  manners,  and  embarrassed 
gait,  when  joined  with  more  serious  violations  of  etiquette, 
succeed  only  too  well  in  making1  him  an  object  of  pity  if 
not  of  contempt. 

"  Oft  it  chances  in  particular  men 
That  for  some  vicious  mole  of  nature  in  them, 
*        *        *        *        *        *        these  men 
Carrying,  1  say,  the  stamp  of  one  defect, 
Being  nature's  livery,  or  fortune's  star, 
Their  virtues  elss,  bo  they  as  pure  as  grace, 
As  infinite  as  man  may  undergo, 
Shall  in  the  general  censure  take  corruption 
From  that  particular  fault." 

There  is  one  question  connected  with  this  subject  which 
I  am  tempted  to  discuss,  and  that  is  the  political  effects  of 
the  estrangement  of  the  two  communities  ;  but  .the  subject 
being  a  difficult  one,  I  leave  it  to  more  competent  men.  A 
few  words,  however,  with  reference  to  it,  I  may  bo  excused 
for  saying  hore.  It  is  absolutely  essential  for  a  foreign 
Government,  in  order  to  be  successful  in  the  administra- 
tion of  India,  that  it  should  understand  the  feelings,  habitR 
and  institutions  of  the  people  over  whom  it  holds- sway. 
Legislation,  taxation  and  the  proper  Government  of  a  people 
require  intimate  knowledge  of  the  people  to  be  governed. 
A  good  Government  ought  to  aim  at  the  maximum  of 
happiness  and  minimum  of  discontent  in  its  subjects.  This 
may  be  the  philosophical  ideal,  but  still  every  possible 
approximation  must  be  made  towards  its  realization.  If 
much  is  not  done  in  this  direction  the  pfeople  will  bear  the 
yoke  sullenly  and  with  discontent.  To  bind  natives  b^ 


240  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

tiea  of  gratitude  is  much  better  than  overawing  them  by 
physical  force.  In  writing  thus,  however,  I  am  fully 
sensible  of  tlio  existence  in  our  midst  of  those  sterling 
Englishmen  and  Englishwomen,  who  leave  no  stone  un- 
turned to  keep  up  the  happiest  possible  relationship  between 
the  natives  and  themselves.  These  are  the  salt  of  the 
English  community.  It  is  their  presence  that  makes  us 
love  and  respect  our  foreign  rulers,  and  it  is  their  influence 
that  counteracts  tho  ovil  effects  of  fche  presence  of  some 
ruffianly  Europeans  in  our  midst.  There  is  one  thing  for 
which  wo  Madrasees  ought  to  be  very  thankful.  I  think  I 
am  right  in  Baying  that  the  relation  between  the  Natives 
and  Europeans  in  our  Presidency  is  far  more  cordial  than 
in  any  other  part  of  India.  At  all  events  there  is  more 
sympathy  between  the  two  races  here  than  in  Bengal.  We 
natives  of  the  benighted  Presidency  had  our  equilibrium 
undisturbed  oven  during  the  discussions  of  the  Ilbert  Bill. 
Even  in  the  heab  of  that  controversy  Englishmen  and 
Natives  in  this  Presidency  treated  each  other  with  the 
utmost  consideration,  courtesy  and  kindness. 

In  conclusion,  let  me  say  a  few  words  about  the  prac- 
tical methods  that  may  be  adopted  with  the  object  of 
promoting  a  more  intimate  social  relation  between  Euro- 
peans and  Natives.  The  establishment  of  Cosmopolitan 
Clubs  is  one  step  that  is  supposed  to  have  been  gained 
in  the  bringing  about  of  a  better  understanding,  but  I 
fear  very  much  the  experiment  *  that  has  been  tried  in 
Madras  has  not  been  a  success  from  this  point  of  view. 
Social  gatherings  are  coming  to  be  the  order  of  the  day. 
They,  no  doubt,  do  great  good,  as  they  facilitate  the  inter- 
change of  ideas  and  conduce  to  greter  familiarity  ;  but  it 
all  depends  upon  the  way  in  which  they  are  conducted.  It 
often  happens  that  at  these  gatherings  the  Europeans  con- 
gregate together  leaving  the  natives  to  enjoy  intercourse 
among  themselves.  An  Englishman  seema  to  be  keenly 


L]  SOCIAL  INTERCOURSE,  Etc.  247 

sensitive  bo  the  opinions  of  his  fellowmen  ;  and  so  long  cs 
fraternising  with  natives  has  not  become  the  fashion  in 
society,  ho  would  not  go  out  of  his  way  to  mix  freely  with 
his  native  fellow  citizens.  The  fact  is,  many  .sacrifices 
have  to  be  nuide  on  both  sides  before  a  greater  reunion  is 
established  between  the  two  races.  Natives  ought  to  be 
admitted  .socially  to  the  conversational  circles  of  Europeans. 
They  ought  not  to  bo  regarded  as  an  inferior  race,  altogether 
unfitted  for  polite  society.  They  have,  of  cour.se,  their 
peculiarities  as  ranch  as  other  people ;  but  it  is  by  the 
constant  collision  of  friendly  intercommunication  that  the 
angles  of  difference1  aru  broken  off  and  polished  down. 
Although  it  is  snid  that  familiarity  breeds  contempt,  yet 
there  arc  not  wanting  instances  in  which,  when  it  has  been 
once  established,  people  have  come  to  esteem  one  another, 
whatever  may  be  their  national  antipathies,  The  educated 
Natives,  on  the  other  hand,  must  try  to  make  themselves 
acceptable  to  Europeans  by  adopting  a  grateful  and  gentle- 
manly bearing,  and  a  polished  and  courteous  mode  of 
address.  They  ought  always  to  be  loyal  to  Englishmen  for 
what  they  have  done  and  .intend  doing  for  India- 
Europeans,  too,  should  take  a  keener  interest  in  all  that 
appertains  to  their  Indian  fellow  subjects.  Their  short  stay 
in  India  ought  to  be  devoted,  as  much  as  possible,  to  the 
cultivation  of  friendly  interests  and  social  amenities.  The 
late  Lord  Hobart,  addressing  an  Indian  audience  on 
this  very  subject,  once  said,  "  the  mere  accident  of  race  or 
faith,  can  never  affect  either  the  motive  or  the  obligation  of 
mutual  friendliness  and  respect,  and  that  whether  born  in 
England  or  India,  and  whatever  may  be  the  creeds  and 
dogmas  which  have  kept  them  so  lamentably  asunder,  their 
mutual  interest  for  the  present  and  their  hope  for  the  future 
is,  in  reality,  the  same/'  These  are  pregnant  words  of 
wisdom,  and  if  both  Natives  and  Europeans  would  give  up 
minor  prejudices  which  must  booner  or  later  mult  away 


248  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAfci 

before  the  sympathy  of  thought  and  feeling,  thought  strong 
enough  to  defy  time  and  civilization,  incalculable  good 
would  result.  And  let  Englishmen  in  India  remember  this, 
that  England'^  work  in  India  docs  not  consist  merely  in 
giving  good  lawn,  preserving  peace,  administering  justice, 
preventing  foreign  aggression,  checking  famines,  educating 
the  people,  and  developing  the  trade  and  the  material  re- 
sources of  the  country  •  all  these;  without  the  existence  of  a 
cordial  and  sympathetic  feeling  between  Indians  and  Eng. 
lishmen  are  useless.  Let,  therefore,  the  people  of  England 
and  India  join  heart  and  hand  in  united  efforts  for  the 
cultivation  of  each  other's  good  will;  let  those  in  authority 
assume  an  at'litudc  of  kindness  and  genuine  sympathy  to- 
wards the  natives  ;  let  individual  Englishmen,  laying  aside 
all  prejudices,  stretch  out  their  right  hand  of  fellowship  to- 
their  Indian  brethren  ;  lot  English  ladies  break  through 
their  selfish  excluveness  and  endeavour  to  do  something 
more  for  their  benighted  Hindu  sisters ;  and  let  natives, 
educated  natives  more  especially,  bo  more  loyal,  be  more 
grateful  for  all  that  England  has  done  for  India  ;  let  them 
not  obstinately  and  foolishly  misrepresent  every  act  of  the 
British  (iovernment, — let  all  this  be  done,  and  then  there 
will  be  no  more  talk  about  the  (l  ever  widening  gulf  ot 
personal  dislikes"  that  separates  the  rulers  from  the  ruled, 


I.]  SOCIAL  PURITY.  249 

X.— Social  Purity  and  the  Anti-nautch  Movement 

BY  R.  VENKATAHATNAM  NATDIT,  ESQ.,  M.A.,  I,.T., 
Head  Master,  Mahlool  College,  Secundiralad. 


11  There  ia  but  one  temple  in  the  world,  and  thnfc  temple  is  the 
body  of  man." — Novalis. 

"  The  crucial  index  of  a  man's  character  ia,  LR  a  rule,  hi  a  rela- 
tion to  the  opposite  sex." — 11'".  T.  Nieatl. 

11  The  life  of  thft  nation  depends  on  the  life  of  the  home,  and 
that  of  the  home  depends  on  the  purity  of  the  individual." — ur. 
Moorhouse,  Up.  of  Manchester. 

"  Not  to  turn  human  brutal,  but  to  build 

Divine  on  human,  pleasure  came  from  Huaven. 
Pleasure  first  succours  virtue  ;  in  return 
Virtue  Rives  pleasure  an  eternal  reign. —  Young. 
"  Her    (tho    dancing-girl's)    blandishments    are  India's     ruin. 
Alaa  !  her  smile  is  India's  death.1' — Rabu  K.  (J.  tieu. 

I. THK     TUHKK     SANCTIONS. 

Tho  growth  of  a  community,  .is  a  moral  organism,  is 
marked  by  three  distinct  stages,  according  as  legislation, 
public  opinion  or  individual  conviction  is  recognised  as 
the  supreme  sanction  for  conduct.  In  an  aboriginal  state, 
these  three  motives  to  action  may  remain  un differentiated. 
But  as  a  community  emerges  into  view  as  an  organised 
body  with  a  definite  course  of  existence,  it  is  characterized 
by  that  "immobility," as  (liiizot  has  it,  which  naturally  results 
from  the  government  undertaking  to  control  the  entire 
life  of  the  community.  The  individual  is  aware  of  no  du- 
ties, and  moved  by  no  desires  apart  from  those  demanded 
or  sanctioned  by  the  clan  or  caste  as  a  self-governing  body. 
A  constant  reference  ia  tacitly  or  expressly  made  to  the 
wish  of  the  "  elders  " — the  representatives  of  the  con- 
science and  the  commands  of  the  community.  This  is  tho 
era  of  tutelage.  It  is,  however,  perceived,  sooner  or  later, 
by  all  advancing  communities  that,  long  as  may  be  "  the 
arm  of  law/'  it  cannot  reach  and  adjust  the  inner  work- 
32 


:>50  INDIAN   SOCIAL   REFORM.  [PART 

ings  of  society.  Man  is  not  merely  a  subject  but  also  a 
citi/eu  ;  and  his  relations  with  his  neighbours  are  far  too 
numerous  and  complex  to  be  regulated  by  any  government. 
The  thousand  and  win  occasions  which  bring  man  and  man 
together  in  the  daily  transactions  of  life,  must  necessarily 
lie  beyond  the  ken  of  tho  most  watchful,  and  elude  the  grasp 
of  tho  most  vigorous,  of  political  bodies.  Thus  society  sup- 
plements government;  and  able  to  employ  a  closer  surveil- 
lance and  a  more  effective  means  of  influence,  ib  moulds, 
as  no  political  administration  can,  the  complete  round  of 
existence.  Nothing  is  too  common-place  and  nothing  too 
personal  for  its  intervention.  This  is  the  era  of  commu- 
nion. But  if  man  is  not  a  machine  to  be  always  governed, 
neither  is  he  a  sheep  to  be  always  led-  The  inborn  incli- 
nation to  "individuality"  will  assert  itself,  despite  the 
most  strenuous  efforts  to  keep  it  down.  The  threats  of 
political  pain  or  social  ruin  will  be  ignored,  at  least  by  a 
select  number  ;  at  first  a,  few  and  gradually  several  more 
will  demand  tho  birth-right — as  an  American  writer 
suggests  of  each  soul — to  have  a  vote.  A  community  thus 
enters  upon  an  almost  unlimited  prospect  of  progress  and 
happiness,  as  its  members  awaken  to  a  sense  of  individua- 
lity— of  self-regarding  virtues-^of  self-reliance  and  self- 
denial — of  self -reverence  arid  self-consecration — of  hope 
and  service, — in  a  word,  to  the  sense  that  man  has  to  ef  ab- 
solve" himself  to  himself  before  he  conforms  to  society  or 
courtesies  to  Caesar.  Conformity  is  superseded  by  indivi- 
duality ;  convention  yields  place  to  conviction.  Alike  in 
the  daring  heroism  of  mighty  crises  and  the  silent  service 
of  routine  life,  the  prime  concern  is  to  do  what  is  person- 
ally felt  to  be  proper.  This  is  the  era  of  'single  manhood/ 
The  distinct  nature  and  the  relative  merit  of  these 
three  springs  of  action  are  clearly  perceived  when  examined 
with  reference  to  a  few  concrete  instances.  Legisla- 
tion makes  the  physicial  security  and  the  material  well- 
being  of  tho  nation  its  special  charge  ;  public  opinion 


i.]  SOCIAL^PURITY.  25J 

controls  the  social  relations  and  defines  the  moro  patent 
domestic  responsibilities  ;  Mia  sense  oC  individuality  seeks 
to  strengthen  and  reiiue  the  secret  motive  or  the  innate 
incitement  to  spontaneous  activity.  With  sucli  materially 
different  aims,  these  great  agencies  to  the  moral  elevation 
of  a  society  are  appropriated  to  essentially  different  spheres 
of  influence,  To  take  a  few  instances  from  our  country  : 
legislation  abolishes  frail  and  enunciates  the  legal  rights  of 
the  widow;  crude  public  opinion,  however,  cripples  all  at- 
tempts to  help  thu  re-marriage  of:  women  ;  and  the  gloom 
that  darkens  the  path  of  countless  victims  to  a  cruel  and 
senseless  custom  can  be  chased  away  only  by  the  illumined 
consciences  :md  the  enlightened  sentiments  of  individuals. 
Again,  legislation  may  fix  the  age  of  consent  or 
restore  conjugal  rights;  public  opinion  alone  can  discourage 
the  silent  oppression  by  a  heartless  husband;  and  only 
the  loyal  heart  moved  by  none  but  chaste  desires  can  mako 
wedded  life  the  stepping-stone  to  a  regenerated  humanity. 
Legislation  may  raise  the  cost  of  drink  and  minimise  the 
occasions  for  temptation  ;  nothing  save  public  opinion 
can  visit  the  sot  with  the  full  discredit  which  he  courts 
by  hiw  slavish  habit;  whereas  a  keen  sense  of  inborn  ma- 
jesty is  a  pro-requisite  to  the  indignation  which  (with 
Maim)  brands  debasing  inebriety  as  among  of  the  five 
u  deadly  sins."  Legislation  may  punish  immodest  soli- 
citing of  attention  in  public;  but  it  needs  a  strong 
public  opinion  to  vote  indecent  song  and  suggestion  out  of 
court ;  while  the  chastity  that  would  rather  pluck  out  the 
offending  right  eye  than  tarnish  its  native  purity,  is  bred 
only  in  the  soul  that  delights  in  the  law  of  righteousness. 
Thus  legislation  judges  by  the  act,  public  opinion  by  the 
behaviour,  personal  responsibility  by  the  witness  within  of 
motive  and  desire.  Legislation  compels  the  unaided  help- 
lessness of  man  ;  public  opinion  works  upon  his  '  gregari- 
ousness  *  ;  personal  responsibility  draws  out  his  manliness. 
The  three  stages  are  not  perforce  mutually  exclusive 


252  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

— in  time  or  in  operation.  The  essential  distinction  be- 
tween them  lies  not  in  their  VfteJt  but  in  their  whence  and 
whither,  and  not  in  the  acts  they  approve  but  in  the  end 
they  point  to.  The  external  aspect  and  the  apparent 
tendency  may  acorn  to  agree  ;  judged  by  what  they  appear 
to  be,  two  lives  may  look  much  alike.  Yet  the  lawa  they 
obey,  the  methods  they  employ  and  the  aims  they  pursue, 
may  be  radically  different,  uccording  as  the  main  spring  is 
the  desire  to  serve  the  king,  suit  the  times,  or  be  loyal  to  the 
royal  wrtihin  oneself.  Hence  the  product  of  legislation  is  the 
law-abiding  man,  of  public  opinion  the  respectable  man,  of 
personal  conviction  tlio  conscientious  man ;  each  good  in 
his  own  way — the  first  as  ho  is  kept  from  harm,  the  second 
as  he  is  pliant  to  the  prevailing  custom,  the  third  as  he 
honours  his  conscience  as  his  king. 

Thus  judged,  there  is  a  distinct  scale  of  importance — 
a  real  difference  of  moral  worth — in  the  hierarchy  of  rights 
and  duties,  on  account  of  the  sanction  they  appeal  to.  The 
activity  and  authority  of  legislation  necessarily  confine 
themselves,  for  the  most  part,  to  those  rights  and  duties 
which  constitute  whatCarlyle  terms  '•  inferior  criminality." 
Public  opinion  addresses  itself  to  the  one  end  of  postpo- 
ning pe  rSonal  taste  to  the  general  tendency.  Individual 
responsibility,  working  into  the  inmost  mines  of  motive,  aim 
and  method,  seeks  to  produce  what  the  same  sage  calls  "  su- 
perior morality."  To  this  sacred  class  belong  those  personal 
virtues  and  private  graces — veracity  and  honesty,  chastity 
and  sobriety — those  eternal  verities  whose  possession  alone 
marks  out  man  as  the  master-piece  of  creation.  They  are 
thus  divinely  ordained  to  the  place  of  honour  among  vir- 
tues claiming  our  hdmage.  Hence  the  importance  and  the 
authority  of 

IT. — TUB  PLEA  FOR  SOCIAL  PURITY. 

Providence  reveals  its  wisdom  and  manifests  its  love 
in  the  mysterious  harmonies  pre-arranged  between  objects 
seemingly  opposed  or  unrelated,  This  divine  ordering  of 


i.]  SOCIAL  PURITY.  253 

tilings  is  strikingly  illustrated  in  the  surprising  "  fellow- 
feeling  "  created  and  sustained  between  the  strong  and 
the  weak,  the  vigorous  and  tho  tender,  the  restless  and  tho 
serene,  the  longing  and  the  lovely.  The  depth  of  those 
profound  relations  between  friend  and  friend,  parent  and 
child,  pupil  and  preceptor,  husband  and  wife,  what  plum- 
met of  intellectual  calculations  can  sound  ?  They  are  far- 
reaching  as  Infinity,  sublime  as  Heaven.  This  fact  makes 
it  essential  to  the  very  existence  of  a  nation  that  those 
sacred  weldings  of  soul  to  soul  to  should  never  be  suffered  to 
be  loosened  by  lust  or  tinkered  with  baseness.  Apart  from 
all  4e  local  conditious,"  the  intimate  inter-dependence  of 
the  sexes  is  recognised  always  and  everywhere.  They  are 
meant  by  an  eternal  purpose  to  be  each  ether's  |C  help- 
mates "  in  a  holy  ttisk — faithful  co-workers  in  one  u  present 
paradise/5  joint-trustees  of  the  generations  to  come-  The 
profound  responsibilities  of  parenthood,  the  devout  sacri- 
fices of  wedlock,  the  simple  trusts  of  childhood,  demand 
that  the  inviolable  sanctities  of  marriage  shall  be  kept 
•scrupulously  pure.  l(  If  man  is  tho  head  of  woman,  woman 
is  the  heart  of  man;  "  and  out  of  the  heart  are  tho  issues 
of  life.  That  character  is  the  backbone  of  a  nation  is 
almost  a  truism  ;  but  character  has  been  compared  to  M 
bucket,  and  impurity  to  a  leak  at  its  bottom.  "  My  strength/* 
says  Sir  Galahad,  "  is  as  tho  strength  of  ten,  because  my 
heart  is  pure."  It  argues  a  noble  soul  that  cannot  wrong 
a  woman.  A  wag  chafed  Dryden  at  the  utter  spiritless- 
ness  of  his  "  Spartan  Hero  "  who  could  be  alone  with  a 
beautiful  woman  and  take  no  pleasure,  "Yes,"  was  the 
prompt  and  just  reply,  •'  you  would  have  done  otherwise, 
but  you  are  no  hero !  "'  Gladstone  has  observed  that lt  con- 
jugal relation  includes  in  itself  all  other  loves  ;"  and  tho 
Mahabharata  defines  the  wife  as  "  the  friend  in  solitude, 
the  father  in  duty ,  the  mother  in  distress  and  the  refuge 
in  wilderness,"  Manu  demands  of  him  that  would  bo  a, 
felth©r*-a  noble  image  of  the  great  Creator — to  be  wholly 


254  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

satisfied  with  her  lie  has  taken  unto  wife,  and  guarantees 
good  fortune  to  the  house  where  the  husband  is  content 
with  the  wife  and  the  wife  with  the  husband.  The  Christian 
teacher  exhorts  him  that  would  acquire  a  soul's  companion 
to  give  up  his  all  for  her  sake.  This  comprehensive  nature 
of  the  conjugal  relation  necessitates  a  corresponding  rigi- 
dity in  excluding  everything  partial  or  temporary,  carnal 
or  halt-hearted,  in  the  holy  alliance  of  two  hearts— in  what 
has  been  happily  termed  "  the  harvest  of  a  hundred  years.0 
In  fine,  the  delights  of  thu  homo  spring  from  the  purity  of 
the  conjugal  relation,  and  tho  strength  of  the  nation  de- 
pends on  the  peaceful  ness  of  its  homes.  He  has  no  country 
who  hus  no  homo  ;  and  he  has  no  home  who  does  not 
rejoice  in  it  us  tho  sanctum  of  chastity  and  the  shrine  of 
love.  The  plea  for  social  purity  is  thus 

III. — A  NATIONAL  PKOULUJH. 

If  progressive  communities  are,  according  to  a  high 
authority,  distinguished  by  their  readiness  to  harmonise 
legislation  with  growing  public  idcaln,  it  is  no  less  true  of  a 
healthy  society  that  its  declared  intentions  constantly  ad- 
just themselves  to  what  is  best — purest  and  noblest — in 
individual  hope  and  experience.  Laws,  to  be  beneficial, 
should  consult  the  view  of  the  cultured  ;  public  opiuion,  to 
be  honoured,  should  ocho  the  voice  of  the  oracles  within. 
In  the  ultimate  resort,  the  human  heart — strong  because 
pure,  happy  because  temperate,  sympathetic  because  self- 
denying — is  the  spring  of  till  law  or  custom  approved  of 
man;  and  the  essence  .of  righteousness  is  in  the  freedom 
and  the  directness  of  personal  conviction.  Thus  viewed, 
social  purity  challenges  recognition  as  one  of  those  prime 
principles  which,  throned  in  the  hearts  of  the  u  chosen 
ones,"  invariably  raise  the  tone  of  society  and  elevate  the 
standard  of  legislation.  The  position  of  woman  in  the 
home  as  the  feeder  of  passion  or  the  first  preceptress  of 
posterity,  as  the  neglected  drudge  at  the  hearth  or  the 
unrivalled  queen  of  the  heart,  either  dooms  a  society  to  the 


i.]  SOCIAL  PURITY.  255 

death  of  self-exhausting  viceor  blesses  it  with  abiding 
strength  and  stability.  National  vigilance,  therefore,  is 
nowhere  else  more  imperatively  required  than  in  demanding 
thorough  honesty — whole-hearted  sincerity — perfect  gentle- 
manliness  — in  that  attachment  of  soul  to  soul  which,  when 
genuine,  makes  man  an  apprentice  to  Heaven,  but,  when 
spurious,  earns  for  him  the  prerogative  of  the  brute.  {So- 
cial purity  thus  acquires  an  honoured  place  in  that  constel- 
lation of  sublime  virtues  without  whose  guidance  the  horo- 
scope of  a  nation's  greatness  can  never  be  east-.  "  Believe 
me,"  says  an  authority  on  this  subject,  « the  maintenance 
of  purity  in  the  relations  of  the  sexes  is  vital  to  national 
greatness  and  prosperity.  For  in  the  relations  of  husband 
to  wife,  parent  to  child,  througli  long  gradations  of  mutual 
tenderness  and  support,  each  is  bound  to  each,  and  all 
1  with  golden  chains  -about  the  feet  of  (Jod.J  Hreak  oiiee 
these  golden  links  of  loving  help  and  service,  and  all  the 
strong  bonds  of  civilised  society  will  be  weakened  and 
loosed  " 

Nor  is  our  society  without  several  dark  features  that 
compel  earnest  attention  in  this  direction.  The  land  where 
popular  religion  enriches  the  value  of  paradise  with  the  un- 
fading charms  of  celestial  nymphs  and  offers  their  favours 
as  the  reward  (be  it  only  as  a  second  choice)  to  the  highest 
of  religious  rites ;  the  country  where  the  current  faith  often 
formulates  itself  into  a  most  subtle  or  seductive  order  of 
amorous  poetry,  which  piety  does  not  scruple  to  sing  and 
modesty  does  not  blush  to  hear  ;  the  empire  whose  armed 
defenders  are  provided  in  "  regimental  bazaars  "  with 
markets  covert  for  the  offer  of  winsome  flesh  to  lucrative 
lust,  and  whose  landed  aristocracy  often  own  a  vulgar 
herd  of  nondescript  men  and  women  ;  the  society  infected 
with  customs  that  lend  the  dignity  of  caste  to  the  basest  of 
professions,  or  work  upon  the  ignorance  of  devotion  to 
gratify  sacerdotal  sensuality  ;  the  community  that  places 
BO  legal  limits  upon  a  man's  marrying  capacity,  but  is  not 


256  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

unwilling  to  visit  with  the  persecution  of  law  the  woman 
who  will  not  yield  her  person  where  her  heart  is  not;  the 
nation  that  hurries  millions  through  a  married  life  they  are 
not  equal  to,  and  thrusts  on  millions  of  others  a  celibacy 
they  dare  not  honourably  set  aside — India  and  the  Indian 
nation  cannot,  for  their  very  name  and  existence  in  the 
honoured  circle  of  the  civilised,  afford  to  omit  this  question 
from  a  comprehensive  plan  of  social  reform  and  progress. 
In  root-principle,  it  is  of  the  same  stock  as  temperance;  in 
main  argument,  it  is  akin  to  tho  great  problems  connected 
with  tho  position  and  function  of  woman  in  home  and 
society  ;  in  its  direct  aims,  it  touches  closely  the  vital  ques- 
tions of  the  right  use  of  religious  endowments,  the  great 
responsibilities  of  leaders  and  the  proper  training  of  the 
young;  in  its  ultimate  results,  it  is  not  without  a  bearing 
upon  what  foreign  travel  is  metint  to  achieve  or  the  eleva- 
tion of  tho  lower  classes  is  expected  to  realise. 
IV.— WHAT  is  SOCIAL  PURITY  ? 

Man  is  the  crown  of  creation  even  from  the  matchless 
complexity  (with  the  immense  possibilities)  of  his  nature. 
There  is,  no  doubt,  a  charm  in  simplicity,  just  as  there  is 
music  in  a  monochord.  But  that  harmony  in  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  poet,  thLs  universal  frame  began  and  to  which  it 
has  been  growing,  has  its  soul  in  well-ordered  complexity. 
We  are  told,  in  the  name  of  evolution,  that  the  human 
embryo  races  through  a  course  of  diversified  growth  which 
in  prehuman  periods  took  ages  to  accomplish  ;  and  it  needs 
no  great  stretch  of  imagination  to  see  that  tho  body  which 
is  the  focussed  result  of  a  hundred  scattered  processes  of 
development  enshrines  a  'being  that  contains  a  myriad 
avenues  to  mental  and  moral  progress.  This  distinguishing 
feature  of  man  makes  sound  character  a  highly  complex 
instrument,  capable  of  producing  angelic  symphony  bat 
easily  liable  to  get  out  of  tune.  The  sole  remedy  lies  in 
that  serenity  which  denotes  equal  growth  on  all  sides— 
that  purity  which  points  the  way  to  perfection— tlwkt 


i.]  SOCIAL  PURITY.  257 

cleanliness  of  heart  which  is  next  to  godliness  of  soul. 
Purity  is  to  character  what  symmetry  is  to  beauty — not  an 
accident  of  adornment,  but  an  essential  of  structure.  It 
denotes  that  apt  assortment  of  man's  desires  and  appetites, 
in  deference  to  hig  special  powers  and  faculties  of  thought 
:iml  speech,  emotion  and  nrl.s,  AY  ill  iind  work,  which,  by 
subordinating  the  physical  to  tho  intellectual,  postponing 
the  immediate  to  the  final,  and  surrendering  the  pleasing 
for  the  good,  combines  in  man  the  sacred  functions 
of  the  heir  of  ages  past  and  the  architect  of 
centuries  to  come.  It  consists  in  that  uniformity  of  deve- 
lopment— that  moving  forward  of  tho  whole  man,  to  which 
alone  is  awarded  the  maximum  of  good.  It  is  that  conser- 
vation of  vital  energy  which  comes  of  a  wise  correlation  of 
vital  forces.  It  is  that  discipline  of  the  heart  under  which 
man's  desires  and  powers  are  told  off  to  their  respective 
posts  arid  through  their  conjoint  watch  and  work  win  the 
great  victories  of  life.  In  fine,  it  is  that  attuning  of  the 
soul  to  the  processes  of  nature  as  the  chosen  purposes  of 
God  which  ought  to  make  every  man  what  only  an  occa- 
sional sage  now  is — the  interpreter  of  life  in  the  terms  of 
eternity  and  the  beautifier  of  earth  as  the  ont-houso  of 
Heaven.  Applied  to  social  life,  Purity  is  complete  submis- 
sion—whole-hearted obeisance — soul-deep  homage — to  what 
tho  sublimest  English  poet  has  named  "  the  sun-clad  power 
of  chastity/'  It  is  a  call  to  tho  spouse  to  rejoice  in  tho 
spouse,  and  a  command  to  the  parent  to  be  pure  amidst 
pleasure.  It  is  a  recognition  of  the  steru  truth  that  the 
righteousness  which  exalteth  a  nation  has  its  secret 
strength  in  '  &  well-governed  and  wise  appetite/  regula- 
ted by  the  'holy  dictate  of  spare  temperance/  It  is  a 
caution  to  the  community  that  '  to  hastening  ills  a  prey'  is 
the  land  whore  the  heat  of  passion  ia  preferred  to  the 
warmth  of  Jove,  and  the  '  prompture  of  blood'  is  followed 
as  the  law  of  life.  It  holds  (with  Mann)  that  culpable  at- 
tention to  another's  consort  is  the  surest  course  to  curtail 
33 


2fi8  TNDTAN  SOCIAL  REFORM,  [PART 

emu's  length  of  days  ;  rind  it  condemns  (with  Shakespeare)  as 
comrades  in  iniquity  the  rako  and  thn  murderer — "  the 
saucy  sweetness  that  coins  heaven's  image  on  stamps  that 
are  forbid"  and  tho  reckless  villainy  that  "  falsely  takes 
away  a  life  true  made."  It  declares  that  tho  happiness  of 
marriage  shall  be  earned  only  by  the  responsibilities  of 
marriage,  and  tho  joys  of  family  life  shall  be  the  prize  only 
oE  those  willing  to  tako  its  irrevocable  yoke,  It  esteems 
human  existence  ton  sacred  to  be  cradled  in  lust  ;  it  proclaims 
the  marriage  bond  too  strong  to  be  dissolved  by  freaks  of 
taste,  defects  of  law,  or  even  the  transitions  of  death.  It 
honours  holy  wedlock  as  an  ordinance  of  the  Most  High 
and,  hence,  requires  the  absolute  freedom  (to  adopt  F. 
Harrison's  happy  language ',  from  even  "  one  passing  sha- 
dow of  suspicion/'  of  "the  inviolable  institution  whereon 
the  happiness  of  all  depends."  It  finally  warns  the  creature 
that  "  hooks  its  right  and  wrong  to  the  appetite"  to  beware 
and  be  not  deceived  that  fi  neither  tho  sensual  nor  the 
drunkard  shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God." 

A  very  thoughtful  and  charming  writer  has  pointed  out 
that  the  benevolent  nature  of  the  government  of  this  world 
is  strikingly  evinced  in  the  boundless  bounty  with  which 
gratification  is  added  to  relief i  pleasure  is  attached  to  duty, 
and  enjoyment  is  infused  into  necessity.  Thus,  while  light 
and  aound  might  have  sufficed  for  ordinary  life,  wisdom  and 
love  mellow  the  one  into  music  and  the  other  into  rainbow. 
Hunger  might  be  met  with  food,  but  a  relish  is  placed  in 
the  palate ;  and  touch  is  endowed  with  not  only  tho  sensi- 
tiveness of  a  thermometer  but  also  the  living  sympa- 
thies of  a  flower.  Life  is  thus  everywhere  wailed  on  by 
pleasure;  but  it  constitutes  all  the  difference  between 
animal  and  man  how  pleasure  is  used.  To  pursue  pleasure 
as  the  purpose  of  life  is  the  animal  \  to  subject  pleasure  to 
the  purpose  of  life  is  man.  That  follows  the  lead  of  in- 
stinct, this  guides  the  instinct  with  reason.  Thus  the  animal 
is  tho  creature  of  the  day  ;  but  man  is  the  pilgrim  of  eter- 


L]  SOCIAL  PURITY.  259 

nity.  Tins  distinguishing  supremacy  makes  in  him  pleasure 
the  hand-maid  to  progress — not  an  alien  to  be  rejected,  but 
a  servant  to  be  controlled  ;  not  a  disease  to  be  rooted  out, 
but  an  impulse  to  be  regulated.  "  Temperance" — wise 
moderation  in  the  legitimate,  cheerful  abstinence  from  the 
forbidden — is,  accordingly,  the  only  law  befitting  man  ;  and 
purity  is  temperance  in  that  supremo  relation  of  the  sexes 
which,  as  regulating  the  home,  prescribing  the  ideals  ot 
society  and  linking  general  ion  to  generation,  sways  the 
destinies  of  our  race.*  Thus  social  purity  is  the  regulation 
of  our  appetites  by  our  higher  nature  as  a  course  of  lil'e 
the  most  favourable  to  complete  growth.  "  There  is,"  Bays 
a  vigorous  writer  on  flu's  subject,  "  a  dignity  conferred 
upon  us — bringing  mun  near  to  the  hijjh  and  solemn  rela- 
tionship of  the  Creator" — in  our  possession  of  the  power  of 
re-production.  With  this  honor  conies  the  responsibility 
for  every  man  to  be  pure  and  worthy  in  life  and  sentiment — 
in  act,  speech  and  thought.  Social  purity  is  chastity  in 
body  and  chastity  in  mind — stern  uncompromising  repug- 
nance to  whatever  is  base  or  vulgar,  indecent  or  im- 
modest in  study  or  pleasure,  speech  or  song,  faith  or  sen- 
timent, thought  or  lii'e — stout,  unrelenting  opposition,  de- 
spite the  threat  of  law  or  the  frown  of  society,  the  curse  of 
pretentious  piety  or  the  loss  of  spurious  attachment,  to  every 
habit  or  custom,  regulation  or  institution  that  defeats,  or 
tends  to  defeat  the  high  purpose  of  human  life  by  gilding 
shame  with  fashion,  or  condoning  carnal  longing  as  venial. 
It  brands  as  mean  and  cowardly,  notwithstanding  mimic 
nobility  and  affected  bravery,  the  man  who  uses  the 
frailty  of  the  weak  or  the  want  of  the  needy  for  his  own 
purpose,  who  haunts  beauty  till  it  is  tarnished  or  pursues 

*  "  Surely  a  day  is  coming  when,  it  will  be  known  again  what  virtue 
is  in  purity  and  continence  of  life ;  how  high,  beneficent,  sternly  inexo- 
rable, is  the  duty  laid  on  every  crcaturo  in  regard  to  thcHO  particulars. 
Well,  if  such  a  day  never  come,  then  I  perceive  much  else  will  nevor 
come.  Magnanimity  nnd  depth  of  inaight  will  never  come;  heroic  purity 
of  heart  and  of  eye  ;  noble  pioua  valour  to  amend  ua  aud  the  age  of  bronze 
and  lacquers,  how  can  they  ever  come  ?  " — 


260  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

innocence    till  it  is  tainted,    who    repays   friendship   with 
infidelity,  or  puts  on  piety  to  pollute  all  the  more  securely, 
ft  demurs  to  the  law,  though   backed    up    by    power,    that 
declines  to  protect  the    helpless   from    the   ravage   of   the 
brutal  or  to  screen  the  guileless  from  the  craft  of  the  wily. 
It  decries  the  customs    that    invite    undisguised    shame    to 
the  hall   of   lion  or,    or  restore    convicted    impurity   to    the 
place  of  position,      It    silences   the   song    that    deifies  the 
brute  and  proscribes  the    picture    that    commemorates    the 
immodest.     It  loathes  the    book    that    feeds    the   budding 
mind  with    "  the  sewage    oF  the   slum/7    and   rebukes  the 
speech  that  glorifies  "  our  swine    enjoyments."     It    abhors 
the    taste  "that  fancy  begets  on  youthful    thoughts,"    and 
denounces  the  desires  that  delight  to  wallow    in    "  troughs 
of  Zolaism."     It  stifles  the  thought  that  tinctures  the  soul 
with  the  hues  of  hell,  and  contemns  the    creed  that   caters 
to  the  carnal  and  calls  it  religion,     On    the   other   hand,   it 
honors  the  Hie  that  never  deviates  into  guilty  pleasure,  and 
counts  him  a   hero  who   always   keeps   the   citadel  of   his 
souses.     It  upholds  the  law    that  vindicates    morality,    and 
espouses  the  custom  that   conforms   to  righteousness.     It 
rejoices  in  the  speech  that   wells   up   from  a  clean   heart 
and  cultivates  the    taste   that    contemplates    the   sublime. 
It  welcomes  the  wong  that  softens   the    savage  in  man,  and 
prizes  the  art-  that  immortalised    the  pure.     It   nourishes 
the  thought  that  aspires  after  the  true,   and    lives    by   th« 
faith   that    adores    the  All-Holy.*     In.    a  word,  it   conse- 
crates the  whole  life  from  its    cradle    of   childhood   to  its 
culmination    of  sagehood    to  the   hastening   of  that   c  fer- 
off  divine-event  J  when  man  and   woman,    through   their 
hallowed  uniou,    will  achieve   the    fulness   of  regenerated 
self — that   sovereign   power    (in   Tennyson's  ever  happy 
words)  which  consists  in  self -con  trolling  strength  and  sel{- 
knowing   wisdom,   iu    self-denying     happiness    aud   self- 
reverencing  goodness. 

*  See  the  specimen  Purity  Pledges  at  the  end. 


i.]  SOCIAL  PURITY.  261 

This  holy  end  kept  in  view  makes  marriage  tho  most 
hallowed  of  sacraments,  though  all  the  same  the  freest  of 
choices — that  devout  covenant  of  soul  with  soul,  that 
sacred  exchange  of  heart  for  heart  which  to  force  is  the 
lowest  slavery,  and  which  to  avoid  is  the  biisest  selfishness. 
To  enquire  how  marriage  origins ted  is  outside  the  province 
of  this  paper.  It  suffices  for  the  present  purpose  to  point  out 
that  true  national  progress  has  everywhere  run  parallel  to 
an  increasing  sense  of  the  sacredncss  of  tho  family  tie.  So 
far  as  it  can  be  traced,  the  ascent  of  mankind  along  the 
heights  of  civilisation  has  been  in  the  direction  of  constitu- 
tional monarchy  as  the  strongest  bulwark  of  the  state,  and 
of  "  legalised  monogamy  "  as  the  surest  foundation  of  the 
home.  But  monogamy,  like  monotheism,  largely  fails  in 
its  results  when  inherited  as  tradition  or  assumed  as  exter- 
nal conformity.  lfhus  monogamy  may  degenerate  into 
what  has  heartlessly  been  travestied  as  "  one  to  one  being 
cursedly  confined/*  as  monotheism  may  point  only  to  a  cold 
eternal  something  or  an  abstract  reign  of  luw.  But  eleva- 
ted to  supreme  rule  over  the  whole  sphere  of  life,  this 
" maiden  passion  for  a  maid  J1  is  the  bountiful  liispcu&er  of 
"  all  that  makes  a  man/'  In  Uiis  "  ;  ingle  lovu,"  as  liuskin 
has  it,  lt  is  the  sanctifi cation  of  all  man's  strength,  and  the 
continuance  of  all  his  purposes."  The  true  test  uf  monogamy 
is  the  monocracy  of  the  whole  heart  by  the  one  all-endear- 
ing, as  the  true  mark  of  monotheism  is  the  mouolatry,  with 
the  whole  soul,  of  the  One  All-sufficient.  The  essence  of 
both  is  the  complete  devotion  of  one  to  the  one  ;  in  both,  it 
is  alone  with  the  alone. 

11 0!  there  is  something  in   marriage,   like    the   veil  of  the 

temple  of  old, 
Thab  screened  the  Holy   of  holies  with  blue  and  purple 

and  gold ! 
Something  that  makes  a  chamber,  where  only  the  oue  may 

come, 
A  HBcrednoHP,  too,  uod  a  silence,  where  joy  that  IB  deepest 

is  dumb*11 


262  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAR* 

And  social  purity  socks  to  guard  the  sacredness  of  this 
'  chamber  J  with  a  vigilance  and  a  devotion  too  wakeful  for 
the  sliest  insinuation  and  too  firm  for  the  hardest  tempta- 
tion, and  to  adorn  and  enrich  it  with  the  most  glowing 
emotions  of  the  heart,  and  the  most  sublime  offerings  of 
the  soul. 

V. — Soj»i']  SPKCIAI,  ASI'CCTS  or  SOCIAL  PURITY 
may  next  be  glanced  at,  with  particular  reference  to 
our  social  conditions.  A  word  of  caution  and  of  request 
may  here  be  necessary  that,  as  one  descends  from  iine 
principles  to  unpleasant  particulars,  one  runs  the  risk  of 
offending1  "  c.irs  polite."  Hut  the  duty  of  speaking  an  un- 
welcome truth,  according  to  occasion,  being  granted,  the  kind 
render's  judgment  may  decide  whether  the  occasion  does 
not  exist.  The  first,  then,  of  thoe  special  aspects  is 

fa}  Rvlujwu  and  Social  Purity. 

Tlio  intensest  devotional  attitude  towards  God  is  that 
sweet  ecstacy— that  enchanting  inddhunjam—m  which  lie 
is  "  the  spouse  Divine  of  human  soul."  It  is  a  conception 
at  once  homely,  precise  and  inspiring— not  distant  a wef  vague 
familiarity  or  helpless  trust,  but  voluntary  and  cheerful 
self-dedication.  This  muster-passion  of  the  soul  naturally 
shadows  itself  forth  in  u,  thousand  suggestive  figures  or  allu- 
sions, BUD  there  arc  Lwo  distinct  stages  in  a  complete 
religious  career — the  weaning  oi!  the  soul  from  matter  and 
the  infusion  of  the  soul  into  matter  ;  the  exodus  into  the 
wilderness  to  fast,  the  return  into  the  world  to  preside 
over  the  feast ;  the  rigid  abstinence  from  the  world's  revel- 
ries, the  free  participation  in  the  world's  charities.  In  the 
first,  morality  is  the  martial  law  regulating  religion ;  in  the 
second,  religion  is  the  vision  on  the  mountain-top  receiving 
a  divine  decalogue  for  the  crowd  below.  The  former  is  the 
age  of  discipleship,  the  latter  the  age  of  kinship,  to  God. 
But  when  this  order  is  violated,  as  it  often  must  be  in  a 
country  where  "  faith"  is  in  so  many  cases  divorced  from 


L]  SOCIAL  PURITY.  2G3 

"light,"  the  liberties  of  tho  Inter  are  nnticipnicil  fis  tho 
licenses  of  the  earlier  stage,  tho  counters  of  mature  wisdom 
pass  as  the  coin  of  green  ig-normice,  and  tho  ecstucios  of  tho 
soul  are  perverted  into  tho  indulgences  of  the  SCMISO.  Thus 
it  comes  of  a  huge  unsettling  of  matters  spiritual  that 
many  a  custom  or  institution  has  risen  in  our  midst,  whoso 
sole  justification  is  that  it  is  associated  with  the  great  name 
of  religion  and  shall  not  be  questioned.  Hut  who  can 
prevent  tho  little  leaven  from  doing  its  work  ?  The  so-called 
faith  of  the  majority  has  not  only  been  stereotyped  into  a 
"  zodiac  of  feasts  and  fusts"  hut  also  degenerated  in  not  a 
few  instr nees  into  pornp  and  performances  far  from  ele- 
vating, if  not  positively  offensive.  Occasions  tliere  be  when 
unbridled  enthusiasm,  not  content  with  J)athing  and  feeding, 
bedding  and  wedding  "  the  Lord  of  the  Universe/3  plans 
for  him  a  nocturnal  a,d venture  from  which  he  is  supposed 
to  return  incognito  before  dawn  ;  or  when  blind  eager- 
ness, toiling  to  scale  the  heights  of  Indra's  blissful  abode, 
not  only  marks  its  progress  with  holocausts  of  dumb 
victims  but  culminates  in  a  deed  or  sanctimonious  sin 
that  no  system  of  morality  dare  justify.  Celibacy,  that 
self-forgetful  ness  in  the  service  of  the  Lord,  dwindles  into  a 
social  fiction,  till  a  vestal  dcva  da*i  is  represented  by  H. 
shame-proof  demimonde,*  and  priestly  vows  betray  their 
hollowneas  now  in  nude  photos,  then  in  criminal  prodigali- 
ty, anon  in  the  incarceration  of  a  holy  priest  for  gallantry, 
arid  again  in  tho  unfolding  in  a,  court  of  law  of  the  life- 
history  of  a  cl  born-lord JJ  of  countless  devotees  under  circum- 
stances revolting  enough  for  a  foreigner  to  charncterise 

*  "  Our  temples  caniint  improve  unless  the  dancing  girl  bo  lira!  kicked 
out,"  wan  the  remark  made  by  the  Hon'ble  Mr.  P.  Annndn  Charlu,  when 
the  present  writer  happened  once  to  travel  with  him.  AR  an  intonating 
experiment,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  a  friend  oC  the  writer's,  who  I'K  tho 
manager  of  an  important  temple  in  tho  Northern  Circars,  "  difliillnwrd 
dancing  girls  about  four  years  ago"  and  he  states  that  "no  want  was  felt 
at  any  time  in  the  real  worship  and  temple  service  on  account  of  their 
absence,"  that  it  "  doea  not  show  any  change  for  tho  worse,"  and  1  lint  "  a 
great  majority  of  the  devotees  feel  it  a  change  for  flic  Liclter,  although 
there  are  a  few  vulgarly  people  that  complain  of  it.1' 


264  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

him  as  a  creature  not  fit  to  be   touched  '  with  a  pair  of  hot 
tongs.'     Devotion,  that   rejoicing   of  the  soul  in  the  graces 
of  the  Lord,  degenerates  into  vagaries  that  embody  them- 
selves in  images  and   pictures  of  ruthless  realism  with  dis- 
solute   details,    and   express    themselves   in    song  or  verse 
that  bigoted  partisans  alone    can  misname  piety.     Ksoteti- 
cism,  that  panacea  for  all   the    spiritual    ailments  of  India, 
would  fain  galvanise  those  dead  bones  into  life;  but  while  the 
subtle   apologist  points  to  a   mystic  inside — a  light  behind 
Parrhasins's  curtain,  the  simple  world  accepts  the  pleading 
to    justify    the    palpable    outside,    and  vulgar    orgies  and 
voluptuous  leclax*  amorous  ditties  and    "unholy   hoKs"  (as 
some  one  termed  them)  stand  out  among  the  main  features 
of    the    faith    of   thfc    majority.     Nor   does   the  evil  stop 
here,      This   culpable    indifference    to   the     essentials   of 
morality  in    the   most   absorbing    concerns    of    life    robs 
religion,   oftentimes,    of     even     ordinary     solemnity    and 
reverence ;  and  not  n  few  of  the  localities  credited  with  the 
odour  of  sanctity  need  only   a  closer   examination  to  smell 
with  impurity,    Deplorable  as  these  things  are,  they  are  not 
beyond  human  help.    The  remedy  lies  with  the  community  • 
which,  outside  the  callousness  of  custom,  is  uncommonly  sen- 
sitive in  such  matters.   Let  only  men  of  light  and  leading  look 
facts  square  in  tho  face,  let  them  enforce  u  morals"   before 
they  sanction  "  symbols"  and  insist  on  sterling  character  as 
the  first  proof  of  pious  conviction  ;  and  this  Augean  stable 
will  soon  be  cleansed.     In  our  national  ideals  and  traditions 
there  is  enough  of  chaste  piety  and  inspiring  purity  to  jus- 
tify  the  hope   that  if  only  this   outer  u  abasement  "  could 
be    swept  out  and  the    native    grandeur   revealed  to    the 
people's  heart,  our  nation,  too,  may  realise   and  appreciate 
the  sublime  truth  that  piety   without  purity  is  baser  than 
gross     superstition — it    is     sanctified    sin.      But     it      is 
one  thing  to  hold  out  indiscriminately  on  our  past  great- 
ness ;  it  is  another  to   emulate   it  judiciously.     The  next 
topic  that  may  engage  attention  is 


.]  SOCIAL  PURITY.  265 

(b)  Public  Recognition  of  Social  Impurity 
in  any  form  and  with  any  excuse.  Buskin  has  taught  us 
that  the  acme  of  goodness  is  not  merely  to  do  the  right 
thing  but  also  to  love  it  and  enjoy  it.  The  reverse  is  equally 
true  that  virtue  fails  of  its  essence  if  its  abstinence  from 
vice  does  not  amount  to  a  total  refusal  to  lend  countenance 
to  it  to  any  degree  and  under  any  circumstances-  To  pity 
and  pass  by  the  weakness  that  hides  itself  ii?  the  shade  may 
be  charity  ;  to  note  impurity  as  an  unfortunate  element  in 
some  lives  and  bind  it  down  witli  restraints  and  penalties 
calculated  to  confine  it  to  iN  natural  place  as  the  grossest 
of  indulgences — the  last  and  the  lowest  of  t(  deadly  sins," 
may  bo  statesmanship  ;  to  devise  means  and  employ  agen- 
cies to  warn  the  unsuspecting  or  to  reclaim  the  erring,  may 
be  philanthropy  ;  but  to  trim  immorality  with  fashion,  to 
furnish  it  with  facility,  to  bolster  it  up  with  an  apology,  to 
charter  it  with  a  passport,  or  to  sanction  it  with  a  custom, 
is  to  set  a  premium  on  vice  and  to  condemn  the  state  or  the 
society  as  "  organised  selfishness."  A  state  or  a  society  is 
not  bound  to  procure  for  the  carnal  cravings  of  the  sensual 
any  more  than  to  provide  For  the  gambling  tendencies  or 
the  thieving  propensities  of  the  avaricious.  On  the  other 
hand,  nations  or  communities  arc  no  less  amenable  than 
individuals  to  the  ethical  law  that  not  to  rebuke  or  protest 
against  open  vice  is  to  half  sanction  it,  The  government  that 
undertakes  to  protect  base  gratification  for  its  natural  sting 
or  merited  humiliation,  incurs  the  heavy  responsibility  of 
furthering  vice  by  making  impurity  venial.  As  Mrs,  Jose- 
phine Butler  has  pointed  out,  state  regulation  of  vice  is  but 
state  sanction  of  vice  ;  it  is  only  '  drilling,  barracking  and 
licensing  vice  ' — supplying  '  state- accredited  instruments  ' 
for  the  most  debasing  use,  Likewise,  the  society  that 
assigns  in  its  fold  a  recognised  place  and  position  to  pro- 
fessional lewdness— aye,  confers  on  it  the  dignity  of  a  caste 
tricks  it  out  with  a  catching  name,  condemns  itself  as 
34 


gflrt  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

"procuress  to  hell,"  Tfco  future  of  a  nation  depends 
wholly  upon  its,  Estimate  of  man — its  hope  of  human  possi- 
bilities; and  the  community  that  counts  social  impurity, 
not  ft  temporary  weakness  to  be  strenuously  overcpme,  but 
a  lasting  disability  to  be  reduced  to  a  custom,  looks  down 
upon  man  as  an  "appetite  incarnate."  Says  an  eminent 
medical  authority,  "  as  BOOH  prescribe  theft  or  lying  or  any-* 
thing  else  that  God  has  forbidden  as  prescribe  inchastity"  ;* 
and  what  is  public  recognition  of  social  impurity  by  state 
or  by  society  but  this  culpable  prescription  oE  inchastity  ? 
Closely  related  to  this  is  the  rather  exciting  question  of 

(r)  Social  Purity  and  Public-  life. 

If,  as  Carlylo  holds,  "  society  everywhere  is  some  re- 
presentation of  a  graduated  worship  of  heroes,"  tho  Hfo  of  n 
loader  is  a  model  to  his  contemporaries  and  n  heritage  to 
posterity.  It  illustrates  the  moral  ideal  to  be  imitated  by 
a  thousand  admirers  ;  it  maps  out  the  moral  path  to  be 
trodden  by  a  thousand  followers.  When  one  of  England's 
wisest  politicians  required  that  he  who  would  be  a  states- 
man must  first  prove  himself  a  gentleman,  the  demand 
really  meant  that  the  aspiration  to  be  honoured  with  pub  • 
lie  confidence  implied  the  covenant  to  be  clean  and  pure 
beyond  all  imputation,  above  every  suspicion.  If,  as  Lecky 
States,  "  pure  domestic  life  "'  is  amongst  the  '  strongest J  of 
those  forces  that  bear  a  nation  onward  to  improvement, 
the  private  life  of  one  that  would  mould  the  thoughts, 
guide  the  energies  and  thus  shape  the  destinies  of  a  nation 
is  a  public  concern.  Let  it  be  once  conceded  that  there  is 
go6d  ground  for  the  many  restrictions  which  a  wise  govern- 
ment imposes  on  its  public  servants  ;  and  it  will  be  idle  to 

4  The  opi Dions  of  two  other  eminent  medical  men  may  be  cited  here, 
According  to  one  of  them,  "  there  are  no  organs  so  much  under  control  an 
those  of  generation.  Their  qualities  peculiarly  adapt  them  to.  subservien- 
cy to  man's  moral  nature."  The  other  observes,  "  No  man  ever  yet  was  in 
the  slightest  degree  or  way  worse  for  perfect  continence,  or  the  better  for 
incontinence.11 


i.]  SOCIAL  PURITY  267 

contend  that  those  who  would  sketch  the  career  of  a  race 
need  not  rise  to  the  standard  of  those  who  manage  its 
passing  interests,  or  that  the  integrity  enforced  about  "bar- 
baric pearl  and  gold "  may  be  safely  relaxed  concerning 
what  is  the  most  precious  jewel  of  woman  and  the  dearest 
possession  of  man.  Both  may  be  private  as  single  inci- 
dents ;  but  both  are  public  as  examples  or  precedents.  In 
both,  the  weakness  of  the  few  becomes  the  excuse  of  the 
many.  In  both,  the  purpose  of  life  is  vitiated  and  the  ideal 
of  life  is  lowered.  As  Milton  very  truly  points  out| 
it  implies  n  certain  lack  of  manly  greatness — a  weak  mind 
that  "  aims  not  beyond  higher  design''  than  mere  enjoy- 
ment— to  succumb  to  amorous  charms.  Inchastity,  as 
Muliainiuad  warns  us,  is  not  merely  an  evil  course  but  a  foul 
thing.  Does  it  not,  further,  sound  as  mere  mockery  that 
the  call  to  fairness  imd  equity  should  come  from  one  who 
does  nob  scruple  to  despoil  a  woman  of  her  birth-right  or  a 
home  of  its  happiness,  or  who  does  not  hesitate  to  snatch  a 
selfish  pleasure  which,  in  one  respect,  is  blacker 
than  the  vilest  murder  as  invariably  damaging  the  peace 
or  the  hope  of  an  accomplice.  Concupiscence,  no  less  than 
cupidity,  is  incompatible  with  greatness— with  real  inte- 
grity and  wide  catholicity  ',  and  to  ignore  this  fact  ia  to 
drop  half  our  kind  out  of  account.  Quite  unavailing  is  the 
defence  Which  compares  the  disinterested  leader  of  a 
nation's  hopes  and  activities  to  an  agent  that  knows  no  bet* 
ter  motive  than  money — a  lawyer,  a  doctor  or  an  engineer.  It 
is  a  sign  of  diseased  enthusiasm,  if  not  a  mark  of  the  rather 
low  notion  prevailing  about  apparently  high  objects  ot 
life,  that  one  who  surrenders  comfort  and  position  and  ac- 
cepts loss  and  reproach  for  a  humble  or  neglected  cause,  ia 
placed  by  hid  professed  Supporters  under  the  sbme  vincu<- 
lum  wttfc  the  skilled  labourer  ever  available  to  the  party 
that "  pays."  Unless  disciplesliip  deteriorate  into  trhafc 
Cfaiiyle  stigmatises  tis  '  spanielahip/  it  cannot  bu  true 


268  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM,  [PAUT 

that  lie  who  may  be  the  sorriest  or  the  moat  indifferent  of 
mortals  arid  lie  who  fears  the  Lord  and  walks  in  the  light 
of  His  wisdom  are  alike  fitted  to  marshal  the  energies  and 
forecast  the  future  of  a  nation.  The  former  is  "  a  soldier 
of  fortune  "  whose  cleverness  any  one  may  buy  ;  the  latter, 
na  guide,  philosopher  and  friend"  entitled  to  our  profoun- 
dest  respect  and,  on  that  very  account,  bound  to  satis- 
fy our  highest  expectations  in  social  virtues.  He  is  a 
*  Representative  Man '  whom  wisdom  and  gratitude  alike 
would  decline  to  measure  with  the  mercenary  standard  of 
a  paid  pilot ;  and  to  expect  this  personal  purity  in  one 
thus  exalted  id  but  a  fresh  instance  of  the  ancient  truth 
that  ho  who  ivill  control  shall  begin  with  self-control,  that 
he  who  will  rule  without  shall  nob  himself  bo  subject  to 
anarchy  within. — Not  a  few  of  the  supporters  of  this  cause 
may  advantageously 

(d)     Work  among  tlw  children  (tad  the  youth 
of  the  laud.     Apart  from  the   nature    of   public    education 
now  in  vogue  in  India,  much  too  little — notoriously  little — 
is  being  done  to  build  up   character — to  form  noble  virtues 
and  create  high  aspirations— in  the  generations-to-be.     It 
is,  indeed,    surprising   that  where  such  scanty   attention  is 
given  to  the  healthy   rearing-up   of  children,   the   tone  of 
general  morality  is,  nevertheless,  so  satisfactory.  That  beto- 
kens the  innate  goodness  of  human  nature  and  the  intrin- 
sic worth  of  some   of    the  principles,   now    hardened  into 
customs,  which  were  the  original  moulds   of  our   national 
life.     But  the  painful  experience   of   every  one   that    has 
endeavoured  to  be  of  any  public  service  almost  invariably 
reports  that,  for  a  large  and  civilised   nation,    most  disap- 
pointingly few  are  the  instances  in  which  our   countrymen 
dare  rise  above  what  may  be   called    "  neighbourly  good- 
ness."    A  chivalric    spirit   (if  that   term    be    expressive 
enough)  is  woefully  wanting   among  us.     It  is  not  mcTe 
ultruiam  :  it  is,  so  to  speak,  social  transcendentalism.     This 


I.]  UUC1AL  PVKITY.  269 

natiomil  drawback  early  suggests  itself  in  our  youth. 
Our  boys  may  be  rightly  credited  with  being  more  docile  and 
better- behaved  than  their  western  brethren  ;  but  are  they 
not  also  more '  insinuating  '  in  their  ways — more  wanting  in 
4  directness  '  ?*  Does  not  a  tendency  to  "  look  about " 
when  they  ought  to  "  look  in  the  face  "  early  sprout  up  in 
them  ?  One  chief  reason  for  this  delect  is  the  position  of 
women  in  India — not,  as  is  generally  s;vd,  low  or  hard, 
but  uninspiring — wanting  in  the  capacity  to  evolve  in  man 
that  refined  gentleness  which,  without  weakening  the 
vigom'j  strains  untthe  coarseness.  Jlroughb  up  under  such 
"  home  influences/'  our  youth  betray  either  precocious  vul- 
garity in  the  lower  classes,  or  f '  studied  "  bashfulnuss  (young 
Marlow  like)  in  the  higher  classes,  of  society.  Hither  way 
there  is  an  absence  of  '  naturalness  ;  '  which  is  partly  the 
result  and  partly  the  cause  of  the  characteristic,  almost 
national,  of  so  many  of  our  homes;  which,  again,  are  not 
impure  or  unhappy,  but  uninvigorating.  All  work  among 
our  boys  and  youth,  not  expressly  educational,  has,  there- 
fore, to  be  directed  towards  evoking  this  vcrvv — this  in- 
stinctive fairness  and  natural  fineness — in  them-  Not  that 
efforts  bearing  directly  on  our  question  arc  quite  superlluons. 
If  the  experience  of  teachers,  watchful  and  themselves 
good,  counts  for  aught,  and  if  the  painful  tale  often  told 
by  doctors  of  all  denominations  be  even  partially  true, 
there  are  quite  too  many  instances,  often  leading  to  grave 
consequences. iind  at  times  ending  even  fatally,  of  the 
early  tasting  of  the  forbidden  fruit  -\  and  it  cannot  be  bet- 
ter in  a  country  where  so  few  feel  the  duty  of  placing  a 

*  A  careful  and  .sympathetic  European  observer  of  our  nation  IIUH 
remarked  thab  India  produces  neither  ao  many  rogues  nor  BO  many 
heroes  as  a  country  in  the  West  doeB. 

f  Alarming  particularly  are  the  accounts  given  by  several  medical 
men  of  "  that  hideous  Bin,  engendered  by  vice  and  practised  in  solitude  " 
by  a  large  number  of  students  arid  other  young  men. — It  is  to  be  hoped 
that  tho  type  of  hoteln  and  "  eating  houses  "  from  which  nefarious  sLorica 
come  out  occasionally,  like  blasts  from  hell,  ia  t'uyt  becoming  obsolete1. 


270  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PABT 

check  upon  their  tongues  or  their  tastes  for  tiicir  dear  onosj 
sake,  and  where  painted  Jezebels    are  permitted  to  jaunt 
in  the  most   respectable    localities,   at    times   in   the    very 
neighbourhood  of  educational    institutions.     But  the  main 
effort  has  to  be    devoted    to   preventative    rather   than  to 
remedial    work — to    fore-arm    the  youth  against   coming 
dangers     rather     than    to     snatch     them    from    present 
evils.     What   our  community   needs  is    tlio    formation   of 
associations — on    the      lines   of  c  the    guilds   of     honour ' 
in   the   west — with   membership  large   enough  for  frater- 
nity but  quite  within    bounds  for   discipline,  manned    in 
ji  fostering  spirit   by  persons    that   have    a   sacred  sense 
of   the  promise   and  the  possibility  of  childhood  or  youth, 
and  inculcating,  on  broad    principles   and  in  devout  rever- 
ence1, along  with   spotless  purity    the   kindred    virtues   of 
unflinching  honesty  and  large-hearted  magnanimity.   This 
will  necessarily  be  slow  work  but,    in  the   fulness  of  Grod's 
time,  sure.     It  is   true  that  there   are  already  many  insti- 
tutions in  the  landj  professing  to    promote  this  very  end  ; 
but  the  question  has  to  be   boldly   asked  and  honestly  an- 
swered whether  their  strong  point   is  ethics  or  athletics — 
be  the  latter  lingual  or   physical.     A  fair    beginning  must 
bo  made;  and  if  anywhere,  it  is  in  this  work  that  men    are 
superior  to  methods.     JOverj   life   lived    under  the  Great 
Task- Master's   eye   is   available    here. — As    the   last    of 
these  special  aspects  of  the  question  may  bo  considered  the 
movement  in  which  so  much  of  the  interest   and   attention 
of  the  friends  of  I  his  reform  has,  for  obvious  reasons,  been 
centering — 

(0  tin;  Aiiti-nautch  Movement. 

It  was,  perhaps,  unfortunate,  though  evidently  un- 
avoidable as  a  beginning,  that  the  purity  movement  was 
started  in  the  concrete  form  of  the  anti-nautch  agitation. 
Friends  ready  to  further  the  cause  failed  in  many  instances 
to  realise  the  basal  principle  ;  while  persons  startled  by  its 


i.]  SOCTAL  PURITY.  271 

novelty  pub  upon  it  most  fantastic  constructions.  One 
party  traced  it  to  a  lurking  hatred  for  the  dancing- girl ; 
another  discovered  in  it  a  crusado  against  music  ;  to  some 
it  appeared  to  be  a  graceless  exposure  of  a  small  national 
weakness  :  to  some  others  it  was  no  better  than  a  Quixotic 
attempt  to  cure  the  irremediable.  Even  among  friends  but 
fow  realised  that  to  discourago  iiautch  was  to  demand 
purity  in  other  respects,  and  t,o  decline  to  employ  tho 
dancing-girl's  enter  tainmont  WSIH  to  disapprove  open 
impurity  wherever  found.  When,  therefore,  a  seemingly 
superfluous  memorial  to  a  distant  government  dis- 
closed a  personal  promise  "  to  do  likewise/1  enthusi- 
asm cooled  down  and  eloquence  was  hushed  in  not  a 
few  cases.  When,  next,  it  gradually  ctune  out  that  to  con- 
demn the  nautcli  was  to  covenant  for  fin  earnest  endeavour 
after  purity  in  thought,  speech  and  act,  many  more,  .shrank 
from  so  heavy  a  demand.  When,  at  ji  later  stage,  the  prin- 
ciple that  would  proscribe  polluted  pleasure  was  sought  to 
be  applied  to  public  life,  some  of  oven  those  that  had  been 
tho  most  forward  to  attack  were  also  among  the  foremost 
to  sound  tho  retreat.  Jiut  the  anti-iuuitch  movement  would 
be  a  huge  cry  for  a  trifle — almost  a  'much  ado  about 
nothing' — unless  it  presented  itself  as  an  inalienable  part  of 
a  great  problem,  a  particular  aspect  of  an  important  prin- 
ciple, a  concrete  instance  of  a  lofty,  though  seemingly  new- 
born ideal*  Its  basis  is  not  in  fine  manners,  but  in  good 
morals ;  its  aim  is  not  mere  elegant  breeding,  but  pure 
living.  If  every  one  espousing  this  movement  has  not  rea- 
lised this  expectation,  it  is  not  the  fault  of  the  principle. 
Many  are  called,  but  few  are  chosen. 

Among  all  the  countries  with  which  Inuia  would  wish 
to  compete  in  morals  and  in  civilisation  there  is  not  one 
that  accords  to  open,  flagrant  impurity  such  recognition 
as  this  country  gives  to  the  uattfoA-gir].  Secret  vice  and 
veneered  inchastity  are  to  be  found  all  the  world  over  ;  but 


272  INDIAN  SOC1A I  REFO  RM.  [PABT 

immorality  as  a  hereditary  and  acknowledged  profession! 
living  in  peace  and  amity  with  and  amidst  other  avocations, 
fortified  against  the  attacks  of  time  and  change,  and  endowed 
with  the  privileges  of  social  sanction,  is  peculiar  to  this 
land.  By  no  other  civilised  people  is  the  thin  veil  of 
music,  as  a  profession,  suffered  so  fully  to  cover  (and  for  all 
social  purposes  so  completely  to  atone  for)  the  iniquity  of  a 
woman  openly  living  a  l<  fast  life."  In  the  temple  she  has 
'  not  only  tho  free  Hnd  ready  admission,  of  any  other  lay 
person,  but,  in  innumerable  cases,  a  position  next  only  to 
that  of  tho  prioat  or  the  manager.  No  part  of  a  town  is  too 
respectable  for  her  residence*;  no  circle  of  society,  too 
high  for  her  invitation.  No  festive  occasion,  however  aus- 
picious, is  complete  without  her  presence :  to  receive  a 
guest  or  to  felicitate  a  friend,  to  honour  a  superior  or  to 
celebrate  a  jubilee,  to  solemnize  a  wedding  or  to  initiate 
a  child  into  learning — aye,  at  times,  to  welcome  a  spiritual 
head  or  to  parade  a  religious  reviver,  her  song  is  the  TV 
Deum  of  thankful  joy,  her  dance  the  exhilaration  of  enthusi- 
asm. Tho  benediction  on  many  a  solemn  occasion  is  of  her 
chanting  ;  the  longevity  of  connubial  life  for  many  a  hope- 
ful brido  is  secured  through  tho  talismanic  "  black  beada  " 
of  hop  stringing.  In  religions  processions  hers  is  thn  lead, 
while  the  graceless  priest  with  his  unheeded  jargon  is  exiled 
to  a  safe  distance-*  Famine-stricken  parents,  albeit  of 
high  caste,  may  surrender  to  her  care  and  profession  the 
child  that  a  foreigner,  however  pure  and  respectable,  may 
not  apply  for.  In  times  of  fi  legal"  difficulties  she  may 
count  upon  the  support  of  even  some  of  the  titled  leaders 
of  society  privately  to  plead  with  the  crude>  stickling  judge 
to  do  a  little  wrong  in  order  to  do  a  great  right.  But  how 
this  has  come  to  be  so,  and  why  this  is  thus  endured  iu  a 
country  otherwise  jealous  of  female  chastity,  it  is  not  very 

*  May  it  be  reasonably  hoped  that  the  days  are  wholly  gone  when  the 
carriages  of  the  elite  were  her  '  free  conveyance/  and  the  wives  of  the 
fashionable  were  her  c|  honorary  maids"  ? 


i.]  SOCIAL  PURITY.  273 

difficult  to  see.  Of  all  the  harmful  consequences  of  the 
caste  system  none  would  seem  to  be  so  injurious  as  its  ten- 
dency to  place  merit  and  demerit  on  a  level.  Both  made 
customary,  virtue  is  not  necessarily  honoured  with  social 
credit  and  vice  is  not  perforce  branded  with  social  discre- 
dit. Not  what  is  good  bub  what  is  usual,  is  commendable ; 
likewise,  not  what  is  bad  but  what  i«  unusual,  is  condernn- 
jible.  The  national  conswnco  is,  in  nmny  important 
matters,  hide-bound  with  custom.  ITenoo  the  ruthless, 
sometimes  savage,  punishment  nl"  cluinco instances  of  socret 
vice,  alongside  of  this  disgusting  indifference— nay,  this 
culpable  encouragement  given  socially  through  the  iiautch, 
and  religiously  through  temple-service — to  innumerable 
cases*  of  open  shamelessness, 

That  these  women  have  not  always  been  thus  patron- 
ised, is  evident  from  ancient  literature.  They  seem  to 
have  begun  as  virgins  dedicated  to  the  service  of  religion— 
vestals  that  forgot  the  world  in  the  thoughts  of  Heaven. 
They  were  consecrated  to  the  Lord ;  and  to  that  age  be- 
longs the  terrible  warning  that  to  approach  ono  of  the  class 
criminally  was  more  sinful  than  thus  to  approach  even  one's 
mother,  It  is  of  that  by-gono  period  those  well-meaning 
friends  of  India  really  think  who  defend  the  modern  nautch- 
girl  by  unfairly  comparing  her  with  the  medieval  nun  !  But 
nothing  is  so  frequently,  though  in  most  cases  so  imper- 
fectly, imitated  as  religion  ;  and  the  spontaneous  self-for- 
getfulness  of  the  first  generations  became  the  forced 
asceticism  of  those  who  came  after  them.  The  institution 
would  appear  to  have  been  in  a  transitional  stage — Dot 
perhaps  a  caste,  but  not  without  a  Jeep  touch  o£  the  world — 
at  the  time  of  Buddha  ;  who  had  an  enthusiastic  admirer 

*  The  exact  number  of  these  unfortunate  women  in  India  cannot  bo 
ascertained.  According  to  the  Census  of  1891,  those  following  "  indefinite 
and  disreputable  occupations "  were  returned  as  1,562,981 ;  and  actors, 
gingers  dancers  and  their  accompanists  numbered  270,956,  Probably, 
several  appeared  under  the  respectable  heading  of  temple -servants, 

35 


274  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

in  Ambapali,  who  could  vie   with  great  lords  in  position 
and   opulence.     With   that   mighty    emphasis    laid  upon 
pure  life   which  distinguished  Buddhism,   the  women  of 
light  song  and  dance  necessarily  went  down  in  status.     In 
the  day  lt  of*  the  Chinese  pilgrims  the  singer  and  the  cour- 
tezan were  compelled  to  reside  outside   the  village-walls, 
along  with  the   fisherman  and  the   scavenger.0     History, 
however,  '«  seems*  to  indicate    that   she  was  not  kept  out 
long  ; "  and  as  that  wave  of  moral  force  which  is  associated 
with  the  name  of  Buddha   ebbed   away,  she   could,  by  the 
age  of  the  dramas,  regain  through  her  charms  and  accom- 
plishments  the   social  position    no  longer  merited  by   her 
character.     A  sin  course  of  centuries  custom  favoured  by 
convenience    fossilised    every     profession    into    a    caste 
that  encyclopedic  organisation— tho   Hindu  Society,   with 
ifcs    round-robin    of   castes — could    accommodate    profes- 
sional lewdness   with   a  plea  and    a  place,  just  as  it  fur- 
nished the   professional   thief  with   a   guide-book  and   a 
presiding-genius.     Whai  comes  by  birth-right  need  not  bo 
earned  by  accomplishments  ;  and   u  the  general  notion/'  as 
the   Census   Commissioner   observes, "  of   the  employment 
(at  present)  is  that  expressed   in  one  of  the  schedules  from 
a  town  in  the  north  as   singing  and  enjoining  sensual  plea- 
sures !  "  Such  have  been  the   high   origin  and  the  low  fall 
of  a  most  unfortunate  section  of  mother  India's  daughters ; 
who  (in  the  words   of  Prof.  Sir  W.  Mon.-Williams)    were 
once   "patterns   of   piety   and   propriety,"   but   are  now 
"slaves  to  the  licentious  passions  of  the  profligate. )J    Is  not 
society  bound  to  help   them  up   to  a  pure  course  of  life  ? 
fi  How  is  it,"  asks  that  eminent  temperance-preacher  and 
great  friend  of  India,  the  Revd.  T.  Evans, if  that  the  temple 
Priests  and  sacred  Brahmins   do  not   step  to  the   front  to 
reform  such  a  degrading  abuse  as  this  ?"     But  the  question 

*  Census  of  India,  1891— General  Report,  p.  110, 


i.]  SOCIAL  PURITY.  275 

is  really  an  appeal  to  the  heart  and  the  conscience  of  all 
educated  India. 

Custom,  however  hoary  or  wide-spread,  though  it  may 
at  times  havo  a  tempering  effect,  cannot  make  evil  quite 
harmless ;  and  far  from  light  is  the  penalty  that  India  has, 
silently  and  almost  unconsciously,  been  paying  for  suffer- 
ing this  dark  iniquity  to  live  and  thrive  in  her  very  bosom, 
Public  recognition,  by  hiding  the  ugliness  of  a  vice,  makes 
it  fashionable  and  thus  costly.  It  sets  up  a  competition 
where  repugnance  should  bo  the  only  attitude.  How 
prodigal  in  wealth  and  life  this  injurious  indulgence  haa 
been,  scores  of  impoverished  families  and  hundreds  of 
frustrated  hopes — countless  instances  of  disappointed 
careers,  wasted  opportunities,  neglected  affections  and 
squandered  fortunes— can  amply  testify. — Further,  the 
desire  for  repentance  is  generally  proportionate  to  the 
social  odium  attaching  to  a  sin.  "  That  would  be  a  re- 
proach to  your  mother ;  you  only  name  me,"  was  the  proud 
retort  of  a  smart  danciiig-girl  to  a  filthy  epithet  used  by 
the  voluptuous  Sirajuddoula.  Whut  is  labeled  as  n  neces- 
sary profession  by  society,  is  rarely  felt  to  be  a  degrading 
avocation ;  and  the  consoling  thought  that  one  need  not  be 
better  than  is  expected  of  one,  easily  satisfies  the  random 
compunction.  That ' '  want-begotten  rest "  which  the  poet 
rates  lower  than  the  worst  slavery,  is  the  doom  of  the  un- 
fortunate nursling  of  sin  who  is  never  led  to  feel  that  her 
tainted  life  marks  her  off  as  a  moral  leper.  Thus  the  gate 
of  repentance,  open  in  Heaven's  grace  to  the  vilest  sinner, 
is  virtually  closed  by  a  custom-ridden  community  that 
thereby  makes  itself  an  abettor  of  impenitent  guilt.  How 
many  a  Kdnchanamali  that  would  repent  and  seek  the 
ways  of  the  Lord,  is  being  thus  lulled  into  suicidal  security 
by.  a  society  that  thoughtlessly  cries  " Peace  !  Peace  I11 
when  there  is  no  peace ! — Again,  nothing  can  justify  the 
pleasure  purchased  with  another's  degradation.  Be  the 


276  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

fictitious  theory  what  it  may,  in  real  practice  no  woman  is 
— no  woman  can  by  custom  be — a  musician  in  calling  un- 
less she  also  be  a  '  public  woman '  by  profession.  It  is  her 
fallen  condition  that  makes  her  eligible  for  that  occupa- 
tion. Those  who  hastily  compare  her  with  the  music- 
hall  singer  of  the  west,  besides  implying  that  two 
blacks  make  a  white,  decide  the  question  on  the  ground 
of  mere  decency,  forgetting  that  a '  fast  life  '  is  there  an 
unacknowledged  and  incidental  weakness,  but  here  an 
avowed  and  necessary  pre-requisite.  If  Manu  is  justified 
in  charging  with  destruction  of  life  him  who  cooks  the 
meat  or  him  who  eats  it  no  less  than  him  who  kills  the 
sheep,  does  not  the  guilt  or  the  shame  of  the  dancing- 
girl's  life  fall  to  the  account  of  those  who  accept  her  fallen 
condition  as  the  pass-port  to  her  profession  as  a  singer  or 
dancer  ? — Moreover,  music,  thai  divine  art  which  u  stoopetli 
so  low  as  to  soften  brute  beasts,  yet  mounteth  as  high  as 
angels1' — that  "  inarticulate,  unfathomable  speech  which 
leads  us  to  the  edge  of  the  infinite  and  lets  us  for  a  moment 
gaze  into  that" — that  food  of  love  and  incense  of  the  soul, 
has  been  largely  neglected  and  completely  disreputed  by 
its  unholy  association  with  open  immorality.  Times  were 
when  sages  did  not  decline  to  teach  it  and  princesses  did 
not  disdain  to  learn  it.  Numerous  instances  could  be  cited 
of  ladies  of  virtue  and  position  acquiring  and  using  this 
noble  accomplishment.  They  felt  no  indignity,  the  public 
imputed  no  flaw,  on  that  account,*  But  when  society  was 
unhinged  by  political  disturbance  and  social  deterioration, 
modesty  retired,  while  impudence  held  the  field  undisputed. 
With  return  of  peace  and  enlightenment,  music  should  have 
been  everywhere  restored  to  its  ancient  prestige  of  an 
honourable  accomplishment.  But  force  of  association  has 

*  Mrs.  Besant  is  reported  to  have  observed  recently :  "  Music  has  been 
excluded  (from  the  education  of  girls)  because  of  its  shameful  associations 
with  the  nautch  girls.  Your  sons,  if  they  want  music,  have  to  mix  with 
the  most  shameful  of  characters.'1 


i.]  SOCIAL  PURITY.  277 

fastened  a  tarnished  name  bo  it ;  and  so  long  as  it  is  con- 
demned to  be  the  prerogative  of  the  Circes  and  the  Syrens  of 
our  society — and  it  must  bo  so  till  we  decline  to  be  charmed 
by  the  murky  music  of  a  maudlin — it  must  be  content  to 
be  the  bondmaid  of  iniquity — the  stalking-horse  for  impurity 
to  prey  all  the  more  securely. — Lastly,  sullying,  degrading, 
debasing  must  be  the  effect  upon  all— home  and  neighbour- 
hood, wife  and  children,  guests  and  friends — of  an  entertain- 
ment in  which,  pretending  to  no  secrecy  and  reserving  no 
modesty,  she  who,  of  nil  female  kind,  is  the  only  one  to  take  a 
hire  for  her  '  person'— she  who  has  forfeited  the  sweet  name 
of  sister— she  who  is  nor  maid,  nor  wife  nor  widow— she 
whose  "  heart  is  snares  and  nets7'  und  whose  "  house  is 
the  way  to  hull,"  simulates  :i  virtue  she  daily  violates,  or 
pleads  for  LI  pleasure  she  daily  pollutes.  To  touch  pitch 
and  not  be  tarred,  is  to  try  to  repeal  an  eternal  ethical  law. 
The  weighty  words  of  the  learned  and  venerable  Dr.  Bhan- 
darkar  will  suffice  :  "  I  have  always  been  of  the  opinion 
that  he  who  patronises  dancing-girls  does  not  sufficiently 
hate  the  immoral  life  which  they  professedly  lead,  or  value 
as  highly  as  ho  ought  to  do  female  purity,  which  is  the  soil 
on  which  the  noble  qualities  of  womun  grow,  The  institution 
of  nautch  cannot  but  have  a  debasing  effect  on  the  morality 
of  men  and  women.  I  shall  not,  without  strong  proof,  be- 
lieve in  a  man's  being  a  faithful  husband,  if  he  takes  delight 
in  giving  fumfrb-partios  and  attending  them.  To  have  a 
nautch  at  one's  own  house  is  to  give  an  object-lesson  in, 
immorality  to  the  boys  and  the  girls  in  the  family,  especi-j 
ally  to  the  former.  As  long  as  naufah  is  fashionable  among 
us  and  is  freely  indulged  in,  it  is  impossible  that  the 
morality  of  men  should  greatly  improve,  and  our  respect 
for  women  should  increase."  Wise  words  these  that  state 
the  matter  in  a  nutshell.  "With  them,  not  inappropriately, 
may  go  Bishop  Welldon's  thoughtful  suggestion  that  "  tho 
cause  of  morality  in  India  would  seem  to  make  a  definite 


278  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

advance,  if  at  the  beginning  of  the  new  century  the  officials 
of  government  and  the  leaders  of  society  were  to  make 
known  tbeir  desire  that  naulchcs  should  not  form  part  of 

any  entertainment  to  which  they urc  invited." 

Not  many  words  can  profitably  be  given  to  the  question, 
'  what  next  ?'  when  nautchcs  are  universally  discouraged. 
It  ia  not  easy  or  safe  to  foretell  the  direction  likely  to  be 
taken,  by  the  energies  of  a  society  passing  through  a  great 
transition.  To  the  strictly  pure  the  simple  consideration, 
"morals  before  art  or  pleasure  "  would  be  quite  enough; 
but  it  is,  perhaps,  too  much  to  expect  the  majority  to  be 
fully  content  with  this.  There  must  be  a  sense  of  want  for 
a  time,  as  the  old  order  changeth  into  the  new.  Promis- 
cuous musical  entertainments,  barren  of  result  in  other 
countries,  will  grow  obsolete.  \Vhatwithiiatural  un- 
suitability  to  India  and  what  with  social  discouragement, 
dance  will  lapse  ay  a  relic  of  the  paat.  Weaned  from  its 
present  low  associations,  music  must  become  a  commoner 
and  more  respectable  acquirement — a  profession  with  some 
and, an  accomplishment  with  many;  and  all  the  genuine 
pleasure  to  be  derived  from  that  noble  art  may,  after  a 
generation  or  two,  be  fully  regained.  Indian  music,  rich  in 
devotional  and  unfortunately  pretty  full  in  the  amorous 
clement,  will  have  to  bu  considerably  improved  on  the 
purely  social  side.  Social  gatherings — not  the  current 
picture  galleries,  but  cordial,  convivial  assemblies — will 
become  frequenter  and  more  useful  and  attractive,  with  the 
spread  of  education  and  of  liberal  ideas  on  "  castes  )!  and 
the  "  position  of  women."  Clubs — not  the  present '  after- 
maths '  of  professional  work,  but  resorts  of  learned  ease 
and  friendly  communion — will  be  more  popular  as  interest 
and  .information  about  "  general  subjects  "  will  grow.  A 
dozen  other  methods  of  employing  leisure  in  useful  and 
innocent  ways  will  gradually  suggest  themselves,  when 
only  there  is  a  firm  resolution  "  not  to  drink  poison,  if 


ii]  SOCIAL  PURITY*  279 

nectar  bo  not  within  easy  reach.19 — As  to  the  particular 
community  concerned  ;  when  deprived  of  the  prestige  of 
music,  its  hope  will  be  chiefly  in  two  healthy  changes  : — (1) 
the  allotment  of  temple-service  (of  course,  wholly  for  sacred 
purposes)  as  the  reward  only  of  chastity — married  life  be- 
ing no  disqualification,  and  (2)  the  education  and  improve- 
ment of  the  male  members  of  the  community — now,  mostly 
drones  or  parasites.  No  doubt,  with  many  an  unhappy 
woman  the  change  will  for  a  time  be  a  "  vision  of  Mirza  " 
bridge,  through  which  she  will  drop  into  the  current  below. 
But  if  the  present  wealth  and  influence  of  tho  community 
be  wisely  utilised,  the  meed  of  immorality  may  be  happily 
changed  into  the  price  of  salvation.  A  caste,  chartered  to 
a  vicious  life,  will  cease  to  be ;  and  though  some  poor  sheop 
may  deplorably  go  astray,  not  a  few  of  the  daughters  now 
deliberately  prodigal  will  be  restored  to  the  longing  bosom 
of  the  Divine  Mother. 

VI — CONCLUSION. 

That  e  born  prince*  among  tho  educated  sons  of  India 
—that  noble  soul,  tho  news  of  whose  translation  to  "holi- 
er heights"  has  just  been  received  in  such  '  divine  des- 
pair1 by  the  whole  nation — observed  at  the  last  Madras 
Social  Conference  that  the  best  test  of  the  principles  of 
social  reform  is  to  picture  them  tn  the  mind  as ''writ 
large"  on  the  society  and  to  realise  what  happy  changes 
are  thus  made,  and  what  abiding  good  is  thus  wrought. 
Judged  according  to  this  wise  canon,  purity  in  personal 
domestic  and  social  life  justifies  itself  as  the  very  key-stone 
of  moral  health  and  national  greatness.  u  Trample  on  wo- 
man," says  a  distinguished  friend  of  this  cause,  "  and  you 
trample  on  your  own  moral  nature.  Respect  woman,  care  for 
her,  work  for  her,  give  her  knightly  shelter  and  protection, 
and  you  shall  find  the  loftier  emotions  gaining  away  in  your 
heart,  and  touching  your  life'  to  finer  issues."  "  Whether  you 
be  young  or  old,  think,  I  pray  you,  of  the  holy  names  of 


280  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 


r,  (daughter)  wife  and  mother  ;  think  of  all.  the  holy 
influences  which  stream  forth  upon  an  evil  world  from  tho 
relations  which  those  sacred  names  represent,  and  resolve, 
one  and  all,  that  under  no  sky  from  which  the  sun  shines 
down  shall  those  names  have  a  holier,  tenderer  meaning 
than  in  this  fair  land.0 

Nor  need  this  stirring  appeal  come  amiss  to  those  with 
rich  traditions  and  noble  examples  of  purity  in  the  past. 
The  crowning  feature  oE  our  national  hero  was  that  he  never 
sent  butono  arrow  and  never  lovrd  bin  one  woman—  tho 
Kohinoor  of  her  kind.  Our  national  type  of  truthfulness 
preferred  gifting  away  an  empire  to  plucking  tho  rose 
from  a  maiden  brow.  Our  national  model  of  devotion 
made  purity  the  basis  of  piety  by  finding  a  "  mother  n 
in  every  "  stranger  woman."  The  greatest  of  our 
epics  tells  man  "  to  look  upon  his  neighbour's 
wife  as  on  her  that  gave  him  life."  The  oldest  of 
our  bridal  hymns  requires  tho  couple  being  wedded  to  pray 
jointly  "  may  all  tho  god^  that  live  above  blend  our  hearts 
in  love  !  "  The  highest  ideal  of  chivalry  in  India  made  the 
c  knight'  the  rakhiband-bhai  —  tho  bracelet-wearing  bro- 
ther —  of  the  '  lady.1  An  ancient  Indian  conception  of  tho 
Deity  is  that  of  '  half-man  and  half-woman,'  the  harmoniser 
of  the  sexes.  A  hoary  precept  of  purity  in  our  literature 
exhorts  every  person  to  honour  the  body  and  to  keep  it 
pure,  for  it  is  the  abode  of  the  spirit.  May  the  sanctity  of 
that  Indian  sage  abide  in  us,  who,  when  a  celestial  nymph 
visited  his  hermitage,  employed  her  wiles  to  disturb  his 
penances,  and  immodestly  laid  bare  some  'mysterious 
charms/  exclaimed  in  childlike  innocence,  "  would  that  one 
could  have  a  mother  of  this  beauty  !  "  The  grace  of  tho 
All-Holy  be  with  us  all  ! 


i.]  SOCIAL' PURITY.  28l 

APPENDIX. 

[SPECIMEN  PLEDGES.] 

A.     For  Adults. 

With  the  help  of  (Jod,   I  pledge   myself    to  keep  the 
following  covenant : — 

1.  I  will  nob  attend  any  gatherings   where  nautches  are  pre- 
sent, or  invite  them  myself,  or  do  any  thing   else- that   tends  to  en- 
courage them. 

2,  I  will  not  use  impure  language,  or  tell  coarse  jests,  or  sing 
indecent  songs,  or  indulge  in  listening  to  nuch    language,    songs  or 
jests. 

<'J.  1  will  not  indulge  in  witnessing  indecent  pictures,  paintiugu, 
or  scenes. 

•1.  I  will  not  converse  or  road,  for  the  sake  of  impure  pleasure, 
about  subjects  that  are  calculated  to  suggest  impure  thoughts,  arid 
will  try  my  best  not  to  entertain  any  such  thoughts. 

T>.  I  will  be  chaste  in  body  and  will  endeavour  my  best  to  be 
chaste  in  mind,  as  well  as  to  promote  the  cause  of  purity  iti  general. 

•  B.      tfor  boys* 

In  order  to  preserve  my  own  personal  purity  and  to 
encourage  it  in  others,  as  being  one  important  feature  of  a 
sound  character.  I  promise,  with  trust  in  God's  help  and 
guidance,  to  try  my  very  best — 

(1)  To  cultivate  such,  habits  as  will  help  purity  in  thought, 
speech  and  action ; 

('2)  To  abstain,  while  showing  obedience  to  the  wishes  of  my 
father  (or  guardian),  from  such  engagements  as  are  like- 
ly to  be  harmful  to  personal  purity ;  and 

('•>)     To  persuade  my  friends  and  school-mates  to  do  likewise. 


282  INDIAN  SOGIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

XI.— Widow  Re-marriage, 

Bv  lUu  LAJIADUJ;  WAUANIIAO  MAJMIAV  KOLLLYTK.VR, 
District  and  Sessions  Judye,  Sangvr. 

A  study  of  the  earlier  part  of  the  Creek  and  Roman 
histories  leads  one  to  the  conclusion  that  like  India  other 
Aryan  peoples  too  were  once  ruled  by  priests.  India  differs 
from  Greece  and  Home  in  the  fact  that  here  theocracy  has 
maintained  its  ground  to  the  present  times,  while  there  it 
was  followed  by  the  rule  of  heroes,  aristocracy  and 
democracy.  The  continuance  of  theocracy  in  India 
must  be  admitted  on  all  hands  to  be  the  source  of 
its  strength  as  well  as  uf  its  weakness,  as  will  be 
apparent  from  the  fact  that  the  Hindus  have  to  this  day 
preserved  their  distinct  nationality,  while  their  brother  na- 
tions  survive  pnly  in  history.  The  same  turn  of  mind  that 
has  perpetuated  evil  customs  in  all  their  nudity  has  also 
protected  the  Hindu  simplicity  of  manners  in  all  its  love- 
liness from  the  ruthless  hand  of  time. 

The  grip  of  religion  on  popular  mind  is  naturally  very 
tight  as  compared  with  the  hold  that  mundane  institutions 
generally  have.  Religion,  with  its  complicated  apparatus 
of  heaven,  hell,  purgatory,  blessings,  curses,  holds  out  pro- 
mises of  eternal  happiness  as  a  reward  for  obedience  to  its 
laws  and  threatens  perpetual  condemnation  for  their  vio- 
lation. Any  description  of  pleasure  that  may  follow  from 
a  violation  of  its  commands  is  limited  in  intensity  as  well 
as  duration,  while  the  penalty  entailed  is  infinitely  harder 
and  more  enduring. 

In  India,  religion,  not  content  with  unlimited  control 
over  spiritual  concerns,  gradually  wormed  itself  into  the 
details  of  daily  life,  however  trifling  and  however  removed 
from  the  generally  accepted  idea  of  religion.  In  extending 
its  dominion  it  insensibly  increased  in  power.  A  departure, 
never  so  slight,  from  the  rules  of  everyday  life  as  observed 


i.]  WIDOW  RE-MARRIAGE.  U83 

by  the  Hindus  came  to  bo  looked  upon  as  a  sacrilege 
and  as  a  consequence,  to  entail  the  penalty  of  excommuni- 
cation. None  can  lay  any  claim  to  the  name  of  a  Hindu 
unless  he  endorses  every  practice  sanctioned  by  the  priest- 
ly class.  Either  a  person  must  be  a  Hindu  all  over,  or  he 
cannot  be  a  Hindu  at  all. 

The  Vedas  troubled  themselves  only  abgut  particular 
religious  performances  like  sacrifices.  The  Smritis  extend- 
ed their  conquests  and  brought  purely  temporal  things  like 
apprenticeship,  marriage,  succession,  adoption  and  the  cri- 
minal law  within  the  pale  of  religion ;  and  its  example  was 
imitated  by  the  Purans  in  the  work  of  extending  the  domi- 
nion of  religion  to  regions  which  were  not  ita  legitimate 
objects.  How  far  this  extending  process  would  have  car- 
ried its  operations  had -it  been  allowed  to  go  its  own  way, 
it  is  idle  to  speculate.  But  it  is  amusing  to  note  the  fetters 
with  which  religion  thought  fit  to  bind  tho  apparently  trifling 
routine  of  life.  Tho  obsequious  ceremonies  that  have  to  bo 
performed  before  the  dead  are  allowed  to  be  burnt  are  an 
instance  in  point.  A  son  must,  after  the  death  of  his  father, 
part  with  his  mustachios,  and  the  shaving  business  has  to 
keep  time  with  incantations  uttered  by  a  priest.  The  ad- 
justment of  the  pilo  of  wood  that  is  to  consume  the  dead  is 
accompanied  by  appropriate  incantations.  Mven  acts  to 
which  no  ingenuity  can  attach  the  semblance  of  religious 
siginficance  have  their  own  religions  appurtenances. 
On  cremation  grounds  as  near  marriage  altars,  on  death- 
beds as  on  hymenal  beds,  in  dinner  parties  as  on  fast 
days  there  is  only  one  idea  present  to  the  mind  of  a  Hindu, 
one  idea  alone  runs  through  acts  performed  by  him  ; 
and  that  all-engrossing  idea  is  OHO  of  religion. 

Fiction  actively  aids  religion  in  its  conquests.  Com- 
paratively recent  works  in  order  to  claim  tho  respect 
generally  yielded  to  antiquity,  are  palmed  off  on 
tho  credulous  reader  as  of  as  ancient  dates  as  the 


284  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAJIT 

Vodas  themselves-  Even  the  Vedas  are  referred  back 
to  a  fabulously  old  period.  Mr.  B.  GL  Tilak  has,  in  a 
scholarly  treatise  on  the  antiquity  of  the  Vedas,  clearly 
shown  that  the  greater  part  of  the  Vedas  was  written  only 
abont  4,000  years  ago.  The  Smritis,  which  on  the  very 
face  of  them  appear  to  be  much  more  recent  are  devoutly 
believed  by  all,  orthodox  Hindus  to  be  reminiscences  of  the 
Vcdas.  Works  on  mathematics  which  were  evidently 
composed  after  the  Greek  invasion  are  credited  with  being 
^manations  from  Brahm>v  Even  works  of  a  couple  of 
decades  back  are  said  to  have  been  fathered  on  the  famous 
Vyas  with  semething  like  indecent  haste.  How  far  Vyas 
and  others  to  whom  these  later  works  are  imputed  will  like 
the  several  acts  of  filiation  and  what  welcome  tho  impostors 
will  meet  at  their  hands  it  ia  difficult  to  imagine.  But  it  is 
beyond  reasonable  doubt  that  though  in  an  age  in  which 
the  mist  of  ages  of  superstition  is  being  dispelled  by  the 
searching  light  of  historical  investigation  they  are  not  like- 
ly to  find  any  credence,  still  they  have  done  incalculable 
mischief  by  tightening  the  fottrra  with  which  superstitious 
India  was  manacled.  The  fact  that  great  rulers  like 
Shivaji  who  were  in  their  time  only  great  heroes  have 
within  the  short  period  of  a  couple  of  centuries  risen  to  the 
dignity  of  demigods  illustrates  the  same  credulous  tend- 
ency. The  result  has  been  that  antiquity  which,  in  other 
countries,  would  be  at  best  but  extremely  suspicious 
evidence,  is  in  India  conclusive  proof  of  the  desirability 
of  a  custom. 

This  process  of  extending  the  domain  of  religion,  once 
understood,  easily  explains  the  subordinate  position  which 
has  been  assigned  to  Indian  women.  They  were  prevented 
by  the  physical  irregularity  of  their  lives  from  taking  part 
in  sacrificial  performances  which,  in  some  not  rare  cases, 
extended  over  inconveniently  long  periods,  and  thus 
gradually  lost  the  importance  which  they  once  enjoyed  in 


i,]  HTDOir  RK-MARHTAGK.  285 

the  times  of  Gargi  and  Atreyi,  much  as  the  warrior  and 
merchant  classes  lost  their  occupations  being  inconsistent 
with  an  unimpeded  participation  in  religious  ceremonies. 
That  these  latter  too  once  shared  high  privileges  with  the 
priestly  class  is  borne  out  by  the  history  of  Viswamitm 
and  by  traces  being  found  in  tho  Vodas  of  a  time  when 
warriors  could  give  lessons  in  religious  matters  to  priests 
without  scandalising  them. 

Tha,t  a  widow  had  tlie  right  of  remarrying  is  placed 
beyond  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  by  several  Smritis  which 
have  been  already  explained  with  remarkable  lucidity  by 
Pandit  Ishwar  Chandra  Yidyasagar,  Vishnu  Shastri  Pandit 
and  Mr.  Justice  Ramide.  Thn  most  important  of  them  aro 
the  works  of  Mtinu,  Ntirada  and  Parana™.  Whatever  legal 
force  we  may  attach  to  the  several  texts,  wo  cannot  escape 
the  conclusion  to  which  they  point— that  the  custom  of 
widow  marriage  was  once  in  vogue  in  India.  The  ancient 
Indian  law  on  the  subject  was,  if  uqything,  inoro  liberal  in 
its  provisions  than  the  modern  English  law.  Of  course  in 
the  progress  of  time,  as  the  extension  of  thfc  range  of 
religion  began  to  contract  on  the  liberty  enjoyed  by  women, 
the  above  texts  began  to  .  bo  tortured  out  of  thoir  natural 
significance  by  ingenious  interpreters  to  fit  in  with  n  state 
of  society  that  had  of  late  come  into  being.  This  method 
being  deemed' of  doubtful  utility  in  cases  of  serious  contro- 
versies, was  later  on  given  up  in  favour  of  the  crea- 
tion of  new  texts  to  be  fathered  on  some  ancient  sage  or 
other.  This  point  in  the  history  of  tho  movement  is 
represented  by  the  Puranic  period  when  the  leaders  of 
the  Hrahmanic  community  began  to  marshal  their 
forces  against  the  advocates  of  Buddha's  roligion  which, 
from  an  insignificant  sect,  had  been  growing  to  gigantic 
proportions  and  which  threatened  at  no  distant  date  to 
swallow  it  up  unless  active  steps  were  taken  to  represent 
the  Brahraanic  religion  in  tempting  colours.  To  this  period 


28C  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

the  great  Indian  epics  belong.  Even  in  the  Puraus,  however, 
truces  of  the  custom  of  remarriage  are  found. 

t(  The  first  on  the  list  is  the  remarriage  of  Ulupi,  the 
widowed  daughter  of  a  patriarch  of  the  Naga  tribe,  who 
on  the  death  of  her  first  husband  was  given  in  marriage  by 
her  father  to  the  famous  Arjun,  the  hero  of  the  Mahabha- 
rat  story.  Ulupi  in  so  many  distinct  words,  is  described  to 
have  become  one  of  Arjun's  many  wives,  the  son  she  bore 
to  him  is  emphatically  described  to  bo  his  legitimate-born 
son,  and  not  one  of  the  inferior  sorts  of  sons.  Tho  entire 
narrative  in  the  Mahabharat,  and  still  more  emphatically 
Jaimini'a  continuation  corroborates  this  assertion. 

"  The  second  illustration  is  from  the  story  of  Nala  and 
Damayanti.  The  latter  princess,  after  having  been  aban- 
doned by  her  husband  in  the  forest,  found  her  way  after 
much  suffering  to  her  father's  house.  While  there,  she 
bided  in  hope  for  some  time,  but  could  get  no  news  'of  her 
absent  lord.  Thereupon,  with  the  consent  of  her  mother 
she  contrived  a  plan  for  finding  out  her  long-lost  Nala, 
She  secureuthe  services  of  a  learned  Brahman  to  advertise 
to  all  the  neighbouring  princes  that  she  was  going  to  have 
a  second  Swayamvara  and  make  a  second  choice  of  a  husband 
for  herself  in  consequence  of  the  disappearance  and  proba- 
ble death  of  Nala,  her  first  husband.  This  Brahman  carried 
his  message  to  the  Court  of  the  King  of  Ayodhya,  with 
whom  Nala  had  sought  shelter  in  the  disguise  of  an  obscure 
charioteer.  The  ting  of  Ayodhya,  on  hearing  this  news 
prepared  to  go  to  the  Swayamvara  and  Nala  drove  the 
chariot  for  him  with  extraordinary  speed,  the  secret  of  which 
was  known  to  him  only.  This  display  of  skill  and  certain 
other  circumstances  led  to  his  subsequent  recognition, 
whereupon  all  idea  of  the  second  marriage  was  given  up. 
This  story  has  its  importance,  for  it  shows  the  received 
opinion  among  the  people  of  the  day,  to  whom  such  an  in- 
vitation did  not  appear  in  any  heinous  light,  did  not  appear 


i.]  WIDOW  RE-MARRIAGE.  2SV 

more  extraordinary  than  the  invitation  to  the  first  marriage. 
That  ti  woman  like  Daniayanti,  so  renowned  for  her  devo- 
tion to  her  husband,  should  with  the  consent  of  her  parents, 
try  to  discover  the  whereabouts  of  her  lost  husband  by  this 
stratagem,  at  once  shows  that  remarriage  did  not  strike 
people  in  those  times  as  an  abomination,  but  as  an  ordinary 
commonplace  thing. 

i€  The  third  illustration  is  from  Padma  Parana,  the 
story  of  the  unfortunate  daughter  of  the  King  of  Benares 
who  was  married  no  less  than  twenty  times,  it  being  her 
peculiar  misfortune  that  as  soon  as  the  marriage  rites  were 
all  performed,  the  husband  so  married  died,  Bbut  though 
this  happened  over  and  over  again,  the  father,  with  the 
consent  of  tho  sage  Brahmans  of  his  Court,  solemnly  gave 
her  in  marriage  as  often  as  she  became  a  widow.  The  em- 
phatic words  used  in  the  text  preclude  the  supposition  con- 
tended for  by  some  disputants,  that  the  several  husbands 
were  removed  by  death  before,  and  not  after  the  binding 
marriage  rites  had  been  celebrated."* 

Soon  after  this  followed  the  celebrated  expulsion  of 
the  Buddhists  from  India.  One  of  the  impressions  that  the 
Buddha's  religion  left  back  was  the  further  curtailments  of 
the  liberty  of  women.  To  this  period  is  relegated  the  birth 
of  the  odious  custom  of  disfigurement  of  widows  in  imita- 
tion of  a  similar  custom  of  the  Buddhistic  ascetics.  Once  it 
obtained  a  vogue,  marriage  of  widows  was  rendered  prac- 
tically impossible. 

Along  with  the  introduction  of  enforced  widowhood 
there  was  springing  up  a  hateful  custom,  i.r,.,  that  of  infant 
marriag.e,  which  was  in  the  end  to  prove  its  worst  enemy. 
The  two  customs  thus  brought  together  by  a  mere 
accident  were  diametrically  opposed  to  each  other, 
An  infant  widow  is  a  pitiful  result  of  their  combined 
action,  and  in  her  turn,  is  wreaking  a  just  vengeance 
*  Quoted  from  Mr,  Rauadu'o  Essay, 


288  INDIAN  HOCIAL  REFORM.  |PAJW 

on  bhom  by  representing  the  evil  consequences  of  each 
in  their  exaggerated  form,  A  widowed  infant  has 
bwen  the  first  to  attract  the  sympathies  of  an  advocate  of 
late  marriages  as  she  has  Leon  the  first  to  enlist  the  sym- 
pathies of  all  pioneers  of  widow  marriage,  This  young  and 
at  the  same  time  widowed  creature  is  a  favorite  both  with 
the  reformers  and  the  anti-reformers,  and  paradoxical 
though  it  may  appear,  nothing;  would  please  both  the 
parties  so  much  as  a  complete  annihilation  of  her. 

The  reasons  why,  after  being-  established  as  a  sacred 
custom  enjoying  the  privileges  attending  the  idea  of  its 
sacerdotal  birth,  enforced  widowhood  continued  in  full  swing 
for  a  period  of  nearly  two  thousand  yeai-3  are  not  far  to 
seek.  Religious  institutions  uro,  as  a  rule,  not  so  fragile  of 
frame  as  other  institutions.  Systems  based  on  temporal 
grounds  can  bo  discontinued  fit  plunsurc  when  no  justifica- 
tion remains  for  their  continuance.  Obedience  to  (lovernment 
legislation  can  bo  enforced  only  so  long  as  obvious  blessings 
flow  from  it,  It  is  true,  as  observed  by  an  acute  thinker^ 
that  a  change  in  law  never  anticipates  a  change  in  popular 
sentiment.  But  it  is  equally  true  that  it  is  never  long  in 
following  it,  The  code  of  Manu,  on  the  other  hand,  has 
been  the  law  of  the  Hindus  for  a  period  of  nearly  two 
thousand  years,  and  a  construction  of  its  texts  inconsistent 
with  their  obvious  meaning  is  to  this  day  scarcely  admitted 
except  by  aside  wind.  The  rigidity  of  Hindu  sacred  law" 
thus  made  a  disturbance  in  the  Hindu  social  structure  every 
corner  of  which  breathed  of  nothing  but  religion,  possible 
only  by  revolution.  The  minister  and  judges  of  Hindu 
kiugs  were  themselves  priests,  men  of  high  principles  and 
rigid  morality  and  well  versed  in  ancient  lore  if  you  please 
but  incompetent  for  that  very  reason  to  the  task  of  intro- 
ducing a  beneficial  reform,  where  necessary,  and  incapabe 
of  understanding  that  widows  in  the  full  bloom  of  their  youth 
could  be  in  any  need. of  n  second  marriage.  A  revolution 


i.]  WIDOW  RE-MARRIAGE,  289 

in  the  religious  ideas  of  the  nation  was  a  condition  prece- 
dent to  the  introduction  01  salutary  reforms.  But  such  a 
revolution  was  by  no  means  desirable  or  possible.  It  was 
impossible  because,  during  the  process  of  development  from 
thy  rude  material  of  universal  pantheism  to  the  highly 
subtle  doctrine  of  absolute  idealism,  the  Hindu  religion  had 
gathered  on  its  way  doctrines  of  a  miscellaneous  sort  and  re- 
strained them  with  a  firm  grasp.  Jfc  was  not  possible  for  any 
foreign  religion,  in  competition  with  thn  indigenous  product 
of  India  to  present  an  exterior  subtle  enough  to  mystify, 
tempting  enough  to  win,  imposing  enough  to  awe  or  gross 
enough  to  strike.  The  Hindu  religion  was  itself  calculated 
to  humble  the  king  in  his  palace1,  solace  tlio  pnrisnnt  in  his 
hovel,  aud  satisfy  the  philosopher  in  his  study. 

The  tendency  of  the  Maya  doctrine  which  eame,  into 
fashion  after  the  expulsion  of  the  Huddhists  was  to  confirm 
leaders  of  the  Hindu  community  in  their  indifference  to- 
wards women,  especially  towards  widows,  by  making  the 
world,  widows  included,  an.  unreal  one.  This  philosophi- 
cal school  maintained  a  stoic  indifference  of  feeling  to  its 
disciples  and  cut  the  Gordion  knot  of  the  origin  of  evil 
by  imputing  unreality  to  worldly  pleasures  as  well  as 
worldly  pains.  The  doctrine  of  fatalism  too,  which  had  ob- 
tained a  vogue  among  the  Hindus  tended  to  benumb  their 
feelings  and  introduce  among  them  a  reckless  indifference 
by  teaching  that  all  misery  was  inevitable.  Though  the 
subject  of  free  will  and  necessity  is  doomed  to  remain  ,-i, 
vexed  question  to  the  end  of  time,  it  is  as  plain  as  daylight 
that  the  prevalence  of  the  doctrine  of  fatalism  has  intro- 
duced an  unhealthy  tone  of  thinking  among  those  who 
hold  it. 

Foreign   travel  which    always    creates    a    respect  for 

foreign  customs  through  a  sympathetic  observation  of  them 

and  thus  acts  as  a  check  on  the  tendency  of  the  customs  of 

a  country    to  stagnate,   was     not  open    to    Hindus.     The 

37 


290  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

priests  were  wise  enough  to  anticipate  the  innovations  that 
would  follow  in  thu  train  of  foreign  travel,  and  accordingly 
forbade  ifc  on  pain  of  doing  penance, 

Mahomedan  conquest,  instead  of  familiarising  the 
natives  with  foreign  customs,  only  contributed  materially 
to  prejudice)  them  against  their  conquerors.  After  it,  the 
natives  were  solely  occupied  by  the  thought  of  their  politi- 
cal regeneration  and  indefinitely  postponed  their  social 
progress,  Mven  had  the  conquerors  been  more  sympathetic 
in  their  treatment,  it  is  mure  than  doubtful  if  they  would 
have  impressed  the  conquered  wrth  a  favourable  opinion  of 
their  customs,  as  the  latter  were  greatly  their  superiors  in 
social  matters.  Indeed,  it  is  suspected  by  some  writer 
that  many  evil  customs  iiinoug  the  Hindus  like  the  system 
of  ParJn-  and  curly  marriage  oAve  their  origin  to  Mahorne- 
dnns.  Jt  wns  reserved  for  Knglish  conquerors  alone  to  pre- 
sent a  set  of  manners  at  once  foreign  and  civilized. 

The  pit  of  ignorance  into  which  women  fell  after  their 
degradation  is  also  one  of  the  potent  reasons  why  their 
male  partners  who  strove  1o  rise  superior  to  the  existing 
state  of  society  were  often  held  in  check  in  their  upward 
march,  This  was  ns  it  should  be.  This  is  the  fate  of 
every  nation  in  which  one  class,  after  obtaining  the  mastery 
over  another  equally  numerous  class,  tries  to  crush  it  to  the 
dust.  The  grim  reality  of  this  proposition  has  been  alas! 
too  often  proved  in  the  history  of  widow  marriage-  The 
famous  Rajput  prince,  Jayasinhn  II  of  Jaipur  attempted  to 
introduce  widow  marriage  in  his  kingdom,  and  his  efforts 
would  have  been  crowned  with  success  but  for  his  own 
widowed  mother  who  mockingly  insisted  on  her  own 
marriage  taking  place  before  that  of  any  of  her  widowed 
subjects,  Strange  phenomenon  !  A  widow  actively  inter- 
fering with  the  liberation  of  her  own  class  !  The  etory  of 
tho  celebrated  Maratha  chief,  Parashuram  Bhau's  daughter 
illustrates  the  same  truth.  "  Ho  had  a  young  daughter 


L]  IV] DOW  RE-MARRIAGE.  291 

and  Durgabai,  wo  believe,  was  her  name.  She  was  given 
in  marriage  at  a  very  tender  age,  varying  in  different 
accounts  from  five  to  nine  years  old,  to  a  suction  of  the  Joshi 
family.  The  youn^  bridegroom  died  of  small-pox  fever, 
wliilo  yet  tlio  marriage  iestivities  were  not  over.  The 
brave  old  father  was  so  moved  by  this  calamitous  termina- 
tion of  his  fond  hones  to  seo  his  daughter  blessed,  that  ho 
wrote  to  the  Peishwa  at  Poona,  tendering  his  resignation  of 
his  command  of  the  army,  und  exinvssing  a  determination 
to  retire  from  the  world.  The  fVii-hwH-'s  durbar,  who  knew 
the  value  of  the  man,  and  fell  with  him  in  his  sufferings, 
assured  him  that  lie  need  not  drspair,  lor  they  would  try  h» 
lind  a  remedy  for  his  irremediable  MJITOW.  Tim  Shankara- 
charya  of  the  time  was  then  referred  to,  and  liis  kind  offices 
were  prayed  for  by  the  men  in  power.  The  old  man  had 
some  grudge  against  the  iJhuu,  and  he  answered  that  he 
would  have  nothing  to  advise  in  the  way  of  giving  comfort 
to  a  man  "who  was  worse  than  a  i/finnt.  The  Peishwa's 
durbar,  there  Tore,  wrote  to  the  licnares  Pundits,  the  Pan- 
dits of  the  Poona  CourL  has  ing  shown  a,  perverse  disposi- 
tion. These  Benares  Pandits  sent  a  letter  of  assent  signed 
by  many  hundred  person^,  in  which,  moved  by  the  extreme 
infancy  of  the  bride,  and  also  by  the  consideration  thab  the 
cause  of  Brahman  supremacy  would  be  greatly  checked  by 
the  withdrawal  of  Bhau  from  public  u flairs,  they  found  out 
that  the  Shastras  favoured  the  remarriage  of  giijs  liko 
Durgabai,  widowed  in  infancy,  (hi  receipt  of  this  letter  of 
the  Benares  Pandits,  bho  Shankaracliarya  of  the  day 
thought  it  wise  to  yield,  and  the  Poona  Pandits  were  about 
to  follow  suit,  for  none  dared  to  hint  a  threat  against  the 
lion  of  the  Deccan,  as  ho  was  called.  The  astute  Bandits, 
however,  waited  on  Parshuram  Pant  Bhau's  wife,  and 
through  her  they  gained  their  object.  The  mother  expressed 
her  readiness  to  bear  with  her  daughter's  bereavement, 
rather  than  see  a  new  innovation  introduced.  Parsharam 


292  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

Pant  Bhau  was  much  .surprised  itt  this  resolution  and  yield- 
ed the  point  to  the  Pandits,  declaring  that  ho  insisted  upon 
it  solely  with  a  view  to  console  his  wife,  and  if  she  wished 
for  no  consolation,  he  had  nothing  more  to  say.;J  * 

Tn  "Bengal  the  widow  marriage  movement  was  inaugu- 
rated hy  (lit1  late  venerable  Pandit  Ishwar  Chandra  Vidya- 
sagar  who  maytbo  termed  the  grean  apostle  of  the  cause. 

In  an  able  work  on  remarriage  which  he  wrote  in  1854, 
not  content  with  proving  its  desirability  on  grounds  of 
justice  mid  convenience,  he  maintained  that  it  was  not  pro- 
hibited by  the  Vidas,  but  that  on  the  contrary  it  was  posi- 
tively countenanced  by  them,  lie  went  on  to  show  that 
those  texts  in  the  Smiritis  which  militated  against  the 
Vttdic  texts  must  yield  I  he  preference  to  them  as  being 
more  recent  in  date.  This  book  was  written  in  Bengali^ 
and  therefore  was  intelligible  in  all,  His  principal  oppo- 
nent, the  then  best  grammarian  in  Bengal  wrote  his  rejoind- 
ers in  Sanskrit  in  accordance  with  the  tradition  of 
Sanskrit  scholars,  which  were  therefore  quite  Greek  and 
Latin  to  the  masses.  Later  on  Pundit  Ishwar  Chandra 
translated  hivS  work  into  J'jiiglish  with  a  view  to  create  in 
terest  in  the  subject  in  his  English  readers. 

Once  mooted,  this  tjuestion  soon  attracted  public  atten- 
tion and  rapidly  grew  in  importance.  Several  meetings 
were  held  to  discuss  the  subject  in  all  its  bearings.  Many 
scholars  from  Bengal  expressed  views  contrary  to  those 
held  by  the  Pandit.  (Joverninent  consulted  the  Pandits  of 
Benares  on  this  point  and  they  returned  a  verdict  in  favour 
of  remarriage.  The  agitation  led  at  last  to  the  passing  of 
Act  XV  of  1856  which  legitimated  the  issue  of  remarried 
widows. 

After  removing  the  legal  bar  to  the  legitimacy  of  tke 
offspring  of  remarried  couples,  the  Pandit  next  turned  hid 
attention  to  giving  the  subject  a  practical  turn.  l 

*  Quoted  from  Mr.  Ranade's 


i.]  WIDOW  RE-MARRIAGE.  293 

"  The  first  widow  marriage  celebrated  by  liim  took 
place  in  Calcutta  on  the  7lh  December  1805.  'This  created 
a  great  sensation  in  the  Hindu  community.  He  was  ex- 
communicated himself,  and  Llit1  same  penalty  was  threatened 
upon  all  who  joined  him.  Although  he  was  deserted 
by  his  friends  and  countrymen,  he  firmly  adhered  to  his 
plans.  He  succeeded  in  causing  ;i  number  ol'  widmv  mm1- 
riages  to  be  solemnized.  Ife  became  heavily  involved  in 
debt  on  account  of  the  expenses  connected  with  them,  lint 
refused  to  accept  any  pecuniary  assistance  from  others. 
lie  chose  a  widow  as  the  bride  of  his  son."  * 

Tracing  back  the  time  when  the  attention  of  the 
Mahratta  Brahmans  was  lirst  directed  to  this  subject  sifter 
the  British  conquest,  we  come  to  a  pjunphlet  on  remarriage 
written  in  18o7.  It  was  the  fruit  ol!  the  joint  authorship 
of  n  Teliigu  Brahman  and  a  resident  of  Itatnagiri.  1 1  was 
published  in  Bombay  and  many  favourable  and  adverse  criti- 
cisms appeared  in  the  Almnhaf,  Darpan,  a  weekly  psiper 
of  that  time.  On  this  another  book  was  written,  but  it  was 
not  printed,  though  copies  of  it  were  privately  circulated 
among  Shastris.  The  language  of  the  book  leads  one  to 
conclude  that  it  was  written  by  tin  old  Sashtri.  Tho  name 
of  the  author  is  not  given.  It  appears  to  have  been  sent 
by  the  author  to  a  wealthy  and  influential  friend  who,  in 
his  turn,  published  it.  This  book  refers,  among  other 
things,  to  the  stories  of  Parshuram  lihau's  widowed 
daughter,  and  thus  confirms  the  facts  which  Mr.  Ranadc 
gathered  from  an  independent  source.  The  Kov.  Baba 
Pudmanji  also  wrote  two  works  on  remarriage — "  the 
Kutomba  Sudharana,"  and  "  the  Yamunaparyatana/' 

Thus  in  the  Deccan  books   on  the    subject   appeared 
even  prior  to  Pandit  Ishwar  Chandra's  work.     But  this  re- 
form was  far  from   being    instantly  carried  into   practice. 
The  remarriages  that  were  celebrated  after  this  wordy  war* 
*  Quoted  from  "  Noted  Indiana." 


204  INDIAN  SOCIAL    REFORM.  [PART 

faro  and  before  the*  movement  was  taken  up  by  Vishnu 
Sushtri  were  fow  ami  far  between.  Jlaglmnath  Janardan, 
a  (<aud  Brahmin  by  canto  and  a  clerk  in  the  municipal  office 
at  Ahrneilabad  mnrricd  a  widow,  Chimabai  by  name,  at 
J'uomi  about  the  year  Idfj-'l.  The  bridegroom  had  his  first 
wife  living  at  the  lime  of  the  remarriage,  and  consequent- 
ly his  remarriage  was  not  hailed  by  tliu  reformers  with  any- 
thing like  enthusiasm.  The  second  remarriage  took  place 
thirteen  years  after  the  first.  The*  bride  was  a  (iujrathi 
lady  named  Diwali  l!a.i.  The  very  next  year,  Narayen  Ja- 
gannath  J3hidCj  a  Mahratta  Brahman  :md  tin  ancient  pleader 
at  Pocnu,  married  his  wife's  widowed  sister  at  Kandr.i  near 
Bombny.  All  rhcse  remarriages  were  celebrated  privately 
and  were  nnt  fruitful  as  in  Bengal  of  a,ny  practical  conse- 
quences. This  may  bo  accounted  for  partly  by  the  fact 
that  education  ul'  tho  musses  in  the  Ueci'un  had  commenced 
lator  than  in  Bengal. 

Tho  Widow  Marriage  Association  was  started  at  Bombay 
in  the  yenr  1  S(Hj.  Many  educated  natives  enlisted  them- 
selves as  its  members.  Jt  had  for  its  Chairman  H.  li.  the 
Chief  of  Jttinkhind  and  for  its  Vice-Chairman  H.  H. 
UaghuiKith  R no  of  Vinchur,  Vishnu  Shastri  Pandit  acted 
as  Secretary,  BLI!  Mangesh  Wau'le,  K.  T.  Telang,  M.  (i. 
Uanadc,  Janardan  Sakharam  (iadgil,  (Jopal  Haoliari  Desh- 
inukh,  Habiji  Pandnrang,  Shniiti?rain  NWuyana,  N-  M. 
Piirmanaud,  1>.  II.  Blmgvat,  A.  V.  Kiithaviite  were  some  of 
its  membois.  .In  antagonism  to  this  association  tho  ortho- 
dox party  sot  up  an  association,  tho  Hindu  Dharma  Vya- 
vasLhapakaMandnli,  with  the  uutivu  co-operation  of  Vithobii 
Anna  Daftardar  and  Nilkantli  Rao  Joahi.  It  held  its  meet- 
ings at  Thakor  Dwar.  The  wordy  strife  of  these  associa- 
tions lasted  for  three  years. 

Tho  widow  marriage  movement  had  need  of  a  champion 
like  Ishwar  Chandra  Vidyasagar  who  should  combine  in 
his  person  sound  scholarship,  a/n  intellect  capable  of  under- 


T."|  TV/DO  W  RE-AIA  RRIAGE.  29* 

standing  and  harmonising  the  several  discordant  texts  in 
t-lio  Smritis,  mi  eloquence  powerful  enough  to  move  the 
masses  and  an  honesty  of  purpose  which  never  shrank 
from  consequences,  in  short,  one  who  should  possess  both 
the  head  to  plan  and  the  hand  to  execute.  Tin's  champion 
the  reform  party  found  at  la>t  in  the  celebrated  Vishnu 
Sashtri  1'andit.  j\s  for  many  days  the  cause  of  widow 
marriage  was  all  but  identified  with  his  name,  it  would  nol 
bo  amiss  to  give  a  brief  account  of  his  life  and  doings.  Curi- 
ously enough,  tho  broad  I  acts  ni'  his  lif>-  coincide  willi  those 
of  Pandit  Ishwar  (Chandra.  After  being  educated  according 
to  the  old  system,  IK;  learnt  English  in  the  (Sovernmoni 
School  at  1'oona,  When  he.  left  school,  In1  entered  (fovern- 
meiit  servico,  but  was  soon  obliged  to  throw  it  up.  Ilo 
then  became  tho  Hditor  of  the1  J)t<lit  rrakaak,  an  Indian 
paper.  Ue  had  an  intimate  knowledge;  of  Sanskrit,  English 
and  Marathi.  The  widow  marriage  movcinoiit  appears  to 
have  early  attracted  his  jifitico.  Jh;  translated  J'andit  Ish- 
war  Chandra's  work  on  the  subject,  into  Marathi,  and 
tried  to  sow  the  seed  of  reform  b  oadcast  by  writing 
able  essays  in  his  paper.  This  did  not  l';.il  to  elicit 
adverse1!  criticism  from  his  opponents,  who  were  old  Shas- 
tris  woll'versed  in  Sniiskrit  Ion1-  To  carry  the  discussion 
l-o  successful  termination  Vishnu  Shar4ri  had  need  of  all 
hin  resources.  He  was  ccpial  to  thn  occasion.  JFc 
liad  to  read  a  variety  of  Sanskrit  works  in  order  to  faco 
his  opponents.  Questions  about  the  (iolm  of  the  re- 
married widow,  the  ]>crson  who  was  to  give  her  awny 
in  marriage,  and  about  inheritance  wore  readily  put 
to  him  by  his  opponents  or  by  interested  loikcr.^-on 
and  were  as  readily  anavvered  by  him  in  his  eloquent  and 
convincing  manner.  Moreover  he  was  not  spfm'ng  in 
using  his  elocutionary  powers  for  tho  cause,  He  was  just- 
ly reputed  to  be  one  of  th«  best,  if  not  the  best  orator  of 
his  timOp  The  subject  Ifint  an  additional  charm  to  his 


296  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [?AET 

eloquence.  Ho  lost  no  opportunity  of  delivering  lectures 
and  thus  making  the  subject  popular  in  provincial  towns, 
though  a  variety  of  business  detained  him  iu  Bombay  of- 
ttiner  than  he  wished-  Ho  made  several  speeches  at  Nasik 
which  was  then,  us  it  still  is,  a,  city  of  scholars  and  priests. 
Lectures  were  followed  by  disputes.  Placards  signed  by 
Vishnu  Shastri  and  inviting  discussion  were  to  be  seen  in 
all  the  principal  streets  of  largo  towns.  The  defiant 
challenge  wns  accepted  by  the  celebrated  Vithoba.  Anna 
Daftardar  who  was  at  once  a  great  scholar  n/nd  great 
poet.  Ho  came  to  Pnona  in  1808  and  expressed  his  desire 
that  the  controversy  should  take  place  in  that  city.  Vishnu 
Shastri  assented  to  the  proposal,  and  came  to  Poona  with 
his  friends.  But  the  controversy,  did  not  come  off  as  expect- 
ed. \Vhila  the  terms  on  which  the  controversy  was  to  take 
place  were  being  settled  to  the  satisfaction  of  both  parties, 
Vifchobii  Auiiii  commenced  :i  series  of  lectures  against  re- 
marriage in  the  Pachluipnrkar's  wad  a,  Kudu  war.  Vishnu 
Shastri  was  not  invited  to  the  meetings  that  were  held  there. 
Seeing  the  opposite*  party  busy  with  arousing  popular 
opinion  in  their  favour,  he  commenced  a  similar  series  of 
lectures  at  Souia  Hapu  Maude's  house  in  the  Narayen  Peth. 
He  refuted  in  his  lectures  those  very  arguments  which  hud 
been  advanced  by  the  Daftardar  in  his  lectures,  and 
summaries  of  which  were  being  published  as  soon  as  they 
were  delivered.  The  novelty  of  the  subject  and  his 
claims  on  popular  sympathy  raised  public  excitement 
to  the  highest  pitch.  A  little  incident  may  serve  as 
well  as  another  to  show  what  absorbing  interest  the 
subject  had  created.  On  the  first  day  of  Vishnu  Shastri's 
series  of  lectures,  the  audience  was  not  large  owing  to  no 
previous  intimation  having  been  piven  to  the  public.  But 
on  the  very  next  day  the  crowd  literally  crammed  the  place 
of  meeting.  The  meeting  was  accordingly  adjourned  (?)  from 
the  principal  hall  to  the  courtyard.  The  yard  was  not  in 


i.]<  WIDOW  RE-MARRIAGE.  297 

proper  order,  and  the  servants  were  bid  to  swcup  it  clean 
and  to  spread  carpets.  An  eminent  friend  of  Vishnu 
Shastri  who  had  accompanied  him  from  Bombay,  impatient 
of  delay,  commenced  the  sweeping  operation  himself. 
Bandu  Rana  Ranade,  who  was  himself  no  mean  scholar  and 
who  was  present  on  the  occasion,  expressed  his  satis- 
faction Avith  the  masterly  way  in  which  Vishnu  Shastri 
handled  his  subject,  with  his  erudition  and  frith  the  lucidity 
with  which  lie  made  his  meaning  plain. 

So  far  everything  went  on  very  well.  Hut  the  really 
arduous  task  still  rmnnined  to  bo  accomplished — that  of 
breaking  through  the  barriers  of  custom.  The  reform  party 
had  had  more  than  enough  of  disputes  mid  wfcre  tired  of 
them.  A  hero  was  required  who  would  break  the  ice  by 
marrying  a  widow  and  face  the  opprobrium  that  always 
attaches  to  innovation,  in  ;i,  word,  who  would  transfer  the 
question  from  speculation  to  reality.  There  were  not  many 
persons  among  the.  foremost  reformers  who  were  unfortu- 
nately for  themselves  widowers  (adult  bachelors  were  out  of 
question)  and  fortunately  for  the  cause  brave  souls.  In  India 
bravery  in  social  matters  means  more  rhau  it  does  in  more 
liberal  countries.  Religion  being  tin?  basis  of  all  Hindu 
customs,  and  it  being  naturally  conservative  in  its  tenden- 
cy, every  innovation,  however  trilling,  comes  to  be  looked 
upon  as  something  opposed  to  religion,  and  iherefore  to  bo 
discouraged  by  every  means.  Poverty  of  reformers  in  par- 
ticular cnsea  lends  a  peculiar  bitterness  to  the  hardship  of 
social  ostracism  which  more  resembles  Robinson  Crusoe's 
solitary  life  in  the  desert  island  than  the  isolation  of  re- 
formers like  Wilberforco  and  Bradlaugh,  who  differing  in  a 
single  point,  retained  in  their  personality  sufficiently  numer- 
ous points  of  resemblance  to  those  among  whom  they  moved, 
tq  be  but  little  affected  by  a  difference  of  opinion.  The 
absorption  of  individual  life  in  religion  makes  it 
indispensable  wrt,o  yield  a  wholesale  allegiance  to  it 
38 


298  TNDTAN  fiOCTAL  REFORM-  [PART 

or  to  eschew  it  altogether.  An  Englishman  in  a  similar 
predicament  would  seek  to  forget  his  misery  in  the  excite- 
ment of  foreign  travel.  Hut  an  excessive  lovo  of  country 
and  lack  of  adventure  have  mado  foreign  travel  a  forbid- 
den fruit  to  the  Hindus.  What  am  the  pangs  of  the  black- 
hole  compared  to  those  ?  Let  not,  therefore,  those  of  us 
who  are  more  conservative  gloat  over  the  weakness  of  those 
reformers  who  failed  in  the  necessary  amount  of  courage  to 
carry  out  their  principles  into  practice  and  thus  to  run  the 
gauntlet  of  popular  disfavour  and  of  whose  weakness  sueli 
merciless  gloating  would  be  the  best  justification,  if  any 
were  wanted.  Moral  weakness  is  the  heritage  common  to 
all  Hindus,  and  nobody  has  the  right  to  laugh  at  another's 
weakness  unless  he  himself  lias  shown  signal  courage 
in  identical  circurrstanees.  AVe  must  make  allowance  for 
weakness  which  is  constitutional  with  us  all. 

The  much  needed  man  of  courage  was  not  long  in 
making  his  appearance.  Two  brothers,  Warn  an  Rao  and 
Narayan  Rao  Paranjpe,  who  belonged  to  the  reform  party 
had  a  young  widowed  sister,  Venn  13ai  whom  they  wished 
to  see  remarried,  and  were  in  search  ef  a  suitable  match. 
They  had  tho  full  sympathy  and  co-operation  of  their  sister. 
They  made  their  intentions  known  to  the  remarriage  asso- 
ciation who  advertised  in  the  I^du  Prakaxk  paper  for  a  man 
willing  to  marry  a  widow.  The  advertisement  elicited  a 
response  from  one  Pandurang  Vinayek  Karmarkar,  a 
teacher  in  the  Vernacular  school  at  Saoda  in  the  Khandesh 
District  who  signified  his  willingness  to  risk  a  marriage 
with  the  widowed  girl.  The  association  had  him  examined 
as  to  his  Iwiafidcs  and  fitness  and  then  gave  its.  sanc- 
tion to  the  remarriage.  The  bridegroom  took  a  few  days' 
leave  and  went  to  Bombay.  The  celebration  was  to  be 
public,  and  measures  were  taken  accordingly.  The  day 
and  place  of  tho  marriage  were,  fixed  and  invitation  cards 
were  sent  over  the  signatures  of  the  following  gentlemen; — 


i.] .  IVIDO  W  RE-MARRIAGE. 

1 .  Vishnu  Parsharam  Pundit. 

2.  (iQpal  llari  DeHlinukh. 
;3.     M.  G.  Hanade. 

•I-.      Vishnu  Moreshwar  Bhide. 

5.     Vishnu  Parsharam  Kanade. 

(?,     Shri  Krishna  Slitistri  Talekni1. 

7.     Janardsxn  Sakhiu-fim  (iadgil. 

•  The  m urn' age  WHS  to  take  place  at  the  house  of  Rao 
JJahadoor  Moroba  Kantoba  ne;i,r  the  Gowalia  tank.  Tlie 
host,  a  Path  a  re  Prnbhu,  WHS  a  staunch  adherent?  of  the 
reform  party  and  followed  up  this  proof  of  hia  devotion  to 
the  eause  by  soon  nften\:irds  himself  marry iug  a  widow 
of  his  own  caste.  He  had  his  house  .specially  decorated 
for  the  occasion-  The  tin ti -re Form  party  was  naturally  vexed 
to  see  the  efforts  ol'  their  opponents  on  the  verge  of  beinjr 
crowned  with  success.  They  left  no  stone  unturned  to  pre- 
vent the  remarriage-  Anonymous  letters  were  sent  to 
Vishnu  iShastri,  and  open  threats  of  setting  the  Indu 
Prakash  Press  building  on  lire  uttered  in  his  presence. 
Plans  were  laid  to  waylay  and  attack  the  bridegroom  on 
his  way  to  the  marriage-hall.  But  Vishnu  Shastri  was  not 
a  person  to  mind  such  threats.  Stops  were  taken  to  have 
recogniyauces  tor  keeping  public  peace  executed  by  those 
using  the  threats.  Vishnu  Shastri  received  succour  at 
this  juncture  from  an  unexpected  quarter.  The  master  of 
it  gymnastic  school  who  took  great  interest  in  the  progress 
of  reform,  hearing  of  the  threats  directed  against  Vishnu. 
Shastri,  sent  a  defiant  warning  to  the  leaders  of  the  lawless 
of  the  adverse  party  that  they  would  do  well  to  desist  from 
their  eiforts  to  prevent  the  remarriage  taking  place.  Find- 
ing all  their  attempts  at  prevention  baffled,  the  leaders  of 
the  anti-reform  party  proposed,  a  couple  of  dtiyt)  before  the 
day  fixed  for  the  marriage,  that  a  controversy  should  first 
take  place,  and  only  in  the  event  of  a  majority  voting  in 
favour  of  its  legality  and  not  otherwise,  should  the  re- 


300  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

marriage  be  solemnised.  The  orthodox  party  evidently 
hoped  by  this  means  to  gain  time.  The  reformers  were 
not  deceived  by  this  appearance  of  anxiety  on  the  part  of 
their  opponents  to  refer  the  matter  to  arbitration.  They 
kept  to  their  original  resolution  of  celebrating  the  remarri- 
age on  the  day  fixed  and  took  additional  measures  in 
anticipation  of  a  riot  taking  place.  Thus  the  first  public- 
celebration  of  a  remarriage  took  place  on  the  evening  of 
15th  June  1809,  without  anything  happening  to  mar  the 
joy  of  the  occasion.  JMany  European  and  native  gentle- 
men of  distinction  wore  present .  Vishnu  Shastri  himself, 
assisted  by  some  priests  conducted  the  marriage  cere- 
monies. The  marriage  presents  amounted  to  Rs.  3,000 
which  was  deposited  in  the  Hank  of  JBoinbny  in  the  name 
of  the  bride.  The  marriage  feast  too  was  attended  by  a 
number  of  Hindus  from  different  places- 

Seeing  all  their  intentions  frustrated  one  by  one,  the 
infuriated  opponents  hud  recourse  to  excommunication. 
But  at  the  very  outset,  a  dilemma  presented  itself.  A 
wholesale  excommunication  of  persons  who  had  attended 
the  marriage  ceremonies  or  the  marriage  feast  without 
distinction  would  be  too  vague  mid  would  lose  its  strength 
by  reason  of  the  number  of  those  included  in  it,  while 
one  confined  in  its  operation  to  the  leading  offenders 
would  be  too  limited  for  the  rage  of  the  orthodox  party 
which  knew  no  bounds.  At  length  after  due  deliberation, 
the  latter  course  was  adopted  ;  and  accordingly  the  seven 
signatories,  the  bridegroom,  the  bride  and  her  brothers  were 
excommunicated.  'I  he  meeting  held  at  Thakor  Dwar  by 
which  the  resolution  of  excommunication  was  adopted  was  a 
disorderly  are — a  fact  which  before  long  occasioned  a  dis- 
pute as  to^what  was  the  precise  wording  of  the  resolution 
passed  by  the  meeting.  Before  the  question  was  satisfac- 
torily decided  circular  letters  were  sent  by  the  leaders  of 
the  orthodox  party  to  different  towtts  notifying  the 


i.]  WIDOW  RE-MARRIAGE.  ;30l 

excommunication.  On  this,  four  gentlemen,  Bhaskar  Shastri 
Tambankar,  Sakharam  Shastri  Kale,  Mahadeo  Chcnmaji 
Apte  and  Anna  Moreshwer  ICunte,  issued  a(  circular  letter 
stating  that  no  resolution  had  been  unanimously  come  to 
by  the  meeting  at  Thakor  Dwar.  These  four  gentlemen 
were  forthwith  summarily  excommunicated. 

Some  partisans  of  the  reform  party  who  had  attended 
the  meeting  at  Thakor  JJwar  took  for  perusal  M  list  from  a 
partisan  of  the  anti-reform  party.  This  resulted  in  u  dis- 
pute, and  the  dispute  ni  a  prosecution  of  Vishnu  Parshram 
Itanade,  Hal  Mangcsh  Wagle,  and  N.  Al.  Parmanand  which 
was,  however,  dismissed  for  want  of  -sufficient  evidence. 

Soon  after  this,  letters  appeared  in  scvera?  papers  with 
recommendations  that  the  public  should  nut  respect  the 
decree  of  excommunication,  seeing  that  remarriage  had 
not  been  proved  to  be  invalid  according  to  Hindu  law  by 
the  orthodox  party.  These  were  signed  by  young  educated 
gentlemen  mostly  from  Pooua.  Their  number  at  length 
went  up  to  one  hundred  and  seventy-two.  The  rapid  in- 
crease in  the  number  began  to  cause  uneasiness  to  the 
ami-reform  party  and  to  force  on  them  the  necessity  of  a 
final  settlement  of  the  question  by  arbitration.  They  ac- 
cordingly applied  to  the  (Shaiikaracharya  of  Karver  and 
Sankeshwar.  The  Shankaracharya  acceded  to  the  request 
and  went  to  Poona  in  the  March  of  IfcVO.  The  Shankara- 
charya  is  said  to  have  secretly  signified  to  the  reformers 
his  readiness  to  give  his  sanction  to  the  remarriage  of 
infant  widows  provided  that  they,  in  their  turn,  withdrew 
the  claims  of  adult  widows  to  the  same  indulgence-  The 
reformers  took  stock  of  the  strength  of  their  position  and 
declined  to  come  to  the  compromise  proposed,  especially  as 
they  thought  that  permission  to  remain  was  more  in  re- 
quest with  adult  than  with  infant  widows.  On  this  a  formal 
challenge  was  sent  to  the  reform  party  and-  accepted  by 
them.  ThenftWB  of  the  cooling  Controversy  spread  like 


302  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PA*T 

wild  tire  throughout  the  length  mid  breadth  of  the  Mahratta, 
count  i-y,  and  old  Shastris  Hocked  to  Poona  from  different 
places,  some  on  invitation  from  the  Shankaracharya  to  assist 
in  the  debate,  others  from  pure  curiosity  to  witness  the 
momentous  r.Miitroversy.  At  the  very  outset,  the  ques- 
tions what  should  bo  the  t^nn.s  oF  the  debate  and  with 
whom  the  final  word  should  rest,  stared  in  the  face-  The 
Sluinkaracharyn.,  admittedly  opposed  as  lui  was  to  the  re- 
marriage movement,  was  ;i  sorry  judge  of  the  justice  of 
the  cause.  The  reformers  proposed  on  their  side  that  both 
the  parties  should  publish  their  sevimil  rases  and  people 
should  be  left  to  judge  ol'  them  ol  their  own  free  will.  But 
the  proposal  WHS  rejected  by  the  Shaiikarachnryri  who 
sought  LJ  substitute  his  own  in  lieu  of  the.  popular  decision. 
The  reformers  had  .it  last  to  close  with  the  proposal  of  the 
Shankaracharya.  Then  followed  the  nomination  of  arbitra- 
tors and  the  umpire.  Five  arbitrators  appeared  on  each  side 
and  an  umpire  was  appointed  who  was  to  act  only  in  the  event 
of  there  being  an  equality  of  votes.  The  Shankaracharya 
gave  his  word  that  none  who  should  register  his  vote  on 
the  reformers'  side  should  incur  his  displeasure,  and,  in  a 
letter,  assured  the  adverse  party  of  his  intention  to  act  dis- 
interestedly in  the  matter,  and  to  do  nothing  beyond  an- 
nouncing what  would  dearly  appear  to  be  the  decision  of 
the  majority.  The  famous  debate  took  place  in  Dixit's 
house  at  Poona.  Vishnu  tShastri  Pandit,  assisted  by  M.  G. 
Raiuide  led  the  reformer's  side  of  the  controversy;  while 
Narayanacharya  Gajcndragadkar,  assisted  by  Vithoba 
Anna  Daftardar  led  the  other  side.  The  names  of  the  ar- 
bitrators and  the  umpire  are  given  below. 

On  the  side  which  maintained  the 

legality  of  widow  marriage.  On  the  other  side* 

1.  Krishna  Shastri  Chip-     1 .     Bhiku  Shastri  Godbole. 

lonkar. 

2.  Baoji  Shastri  Agashe,     2.    Dinkar  Shaetri  Khambelb. 


T-l  WIDOW  RE-MARRIAGE.  303 

3,     Kaghunath  Shantri          3.     Appa Shastri  Khaldiknr. 

Shcnde. 

1.     Kcsheo  Shastri  Gadgil.  4.     Hhiksirharya  Ainapure. 
f).     Vyankat  Shastri  Mate.    ,V     Uanesh  Shastri  Kohatkar. 

Umpire — (iopalucharya  Ivarhadkar. 

To  avoid  uncertainty  and  confusion,  questions  and  ans- 
wers wove  written,  signed  respectively  by  querists  and 
respondents.  Jn  the  course  of  the  debute,  Dinkur  Shastri 
(Chambete,  one  of  the  arbitrators  nominated  by  the  orthodox 
party,  openly  declared  that  victory  over  the  reform  party 
was  his  sole  aim,  and  not  the  investigation  of  truth.  Vishnu 
Shastri  drew  the  iitiention  of  Ihe  Sh.inkarachary.i  to  this 
flagrant  proof  oi'  partiality,  but  ho  was  allowed"  to  remain. 

The  debate  commonced  its  sittings  on  the  28th  March 
1870,  and  lasted  for  nine.  days.  The  reformers  intended  to 
bring  forward  more  proofs  in  favour  of  the  legality  of  re- 
marringe.  But  the  Slwnkaracluirya.,  declaring  himself  in 
be  Satisfied  with  the  number  of  arguments  on  either  side, 
arrested  the  further  progress  of  the  debate,  and  bade,  the 
several  arbitrators  submir,  their  votes.  The  reformers  offered 
no  objection  to  this  informal  procedure.  The  arbitrators 
gave  their  votes  ;i3  desired.  Those  on  the  negative  side 
together  with  one  of  those  on  the  aHirmative  side  declared 
against  tho  validity  oE  remarriage.  80  the  affirmative  side 
was  defeated  by  a  majority  of  two. 

Tho  reformers  were  fairly  puzzled  at  the  result,  and 
with  all  the  greater  reason  as  the  arbitrators  on  their  side, 
A^yankat  Shastri ,  who  had  at  the  last  moment  left  them  in 
the  lurch  and  proved  a  traitor  to  their  cause,  was  the  very 
person  who  had  supplied  them  with  an  argument  in  favour 
of  remarriage,  viz.}  that  "the  central  period  of  Kali  age, 
which  is  the  Yuga  proper  and  to  which  alone  the  prohibi- 
tions against  remarriage  and  other  institutions  can  apply, 
has  not  yet  commenced  and  in  fact  will  commence,  only 
ie  3V,OOOyeafB  from  this  date/'  His  conduct  pointed 


304  INDIAN  SOCIAL    REFORM.  [PART 

to   some   secret  influence    clandestinely   brought   to  bear 
upon  him.     So  far  from  refuting  his  own  argument  in  the 
opinion  he  had  submitted,  he   had  not  so  much  as  referred 
ta  it.     Vishnu  Slrastri  determined  to  get  the  matter  cleared 
before   accepting    (lie    Shankaracharya's  verdict   as  final ; 
and  so  he  sent  word  to   Vyankafc   Shastri  with   his  friend 
SiciLdheahwar  Sliastri  that  he  desired  to  see  him  personally. 
Noxfc  morning'Vyankat  Shastri  called  en  Vishnu  Hhastri  as 
desired.     There     won)     present    also      Vishnu    Parashram 
Hannde,  Koslieo  Pandurang  (rodbole  and  Narayan    Bapuji 
(Jorc.     On  being    asked  to   explain  his  conduct,    Vyankat 
Shastri  stated  that  he    still  clung    to  his   first  opinion,    but 
that  the  Shtlfitris  of  the   adverse  party  and    the    Shankara- 
charya    himself  had    brought  their    pressure   to  bear   upon 
him  saying  that  a  lie  in  tho  service  of  religion   is  excusable 
and  cit'tig  the  case  of  Dharimi,  and  that  her  poor  soul !  had 
,TIO  alternative  but  to, submit  :ind  take  Jin  oath  thnt  he  would 
vote  against  leimirriage.  '  This    confession   astounded    the 
persons     assembled   there :    and   one     (^f   them,     Narayen 
.Bapuji  Gore    published  1  ho  account  over    his  signature   in 
tho   Dili/an    /VrrlWi.,  (number   of   14th  April    1870.)     The 
orthodox  party  hastened  to  throw    discredit  on  tho  account 
by  an  expedient   as  ingenious  and    as    little  to  their    credit 
us  the  one  they  had    already    employed-     Directly    tho  ac- 
count   appeared,   they    Ionic    tho    simple  Vyankat    Shastri 
before  tho  Sh  Ankara  diary  a  and  induced    him  to  sign  a  do- 
cument purporting  to  deny  the    fact  of  his  having  seen  and 
spoken  to  Vishnu  SliHstri  as   alleged   by  Gore.     This  took 
place  on  the  15th  of   April  1870.     The  very  next  day,  the 
contents  of  the  document  were  published  in  a  proclamation 
in  which  tho  Editor  of  the  Dnyan  Prakath  paper  was  open- 
ly, charged  with  dishonesty.     >Soon  after,  in  a  meeting  held 
<on  the  7th  April  to  announce  the  decision  arrived  at,  Ganesh 
Bapuji  Malvankar,  who   was  an  .eloquent  speaker  and  who 
been  charged  with  the  duty  of  making  the   announce* 


i.]  WIDOW  RE-MARRIAGE.  305 

inent,  seized  the  opportunity  to  read  the  paper  signed  by 
Vyankat  Shastri  and  the  proclamation  issued  and  to  give 
vent  to  his  pent  up  rage  against  the  editors  of  the  Dnytin 
Prakash  and  the  Indit,  Prakavh  and  Narayen  Hapnji  CJoro 
in  a  declamation  in  which  ho  denied  the  last  named  gentle- 
man whom  he  accused  of  black  deeds  any  title  to  his  own 
surname  which,  in  AJarathi  means  "  white."  Mr.  Gore, 
keenly  conscious  of  the  injustice  of  the  defainatory  epithets 
hurled  at  his  head,  lodged  a  complaint  against  Mr.  Mai  van  - 
kar  in  the  Court  of  Mr.  Frascr,  Hail  way  Magistrate,  Those 
who  had  been  present  on  the  occasion  of  Vyankat  Shastri'a 
confession  and  others  who  had  attended  tho  meeting  in 
which  the  defamatory  language  was  used  were  examined 
as  witnesses  for  the  prosecution.  Evidence  of  alibi  was 
adduced  for  defence*,  but  it  could  not  stand  tho  test  of 
cross-examination  and  WHS  disbelieved  by  tho  Court. 
Mr.  Malvankar  was  convicted  of  defamation  and  sentenced 
to  simple  imprisonment  for  a  term  of  thirty-two  days.  Dr. 
Eraser's  judgment  appeared  in  the  supplement  to  the  Indit, 
Prakaiih  number  of  the  16th  May.  On  appeal,  the  District 
Magistrate  maintained  the  conviction  but  reduced  the  sen- 
tence to  one  of  a  fine  of  Us.  100.  The  order  of  the  District 
Magistrate  was  confirmed  on  appeal  by  the  High  Court. 

After  tho  conclusion  of  the  trial,  fres»h  trials  were  in- 
stituted of  those  who  had  given  false  evidence  in  the  pre- 
ceding trial,  and,  among  others,  of  lYIalvaiikar,  who  was, 
after  a  preliminary  inquiry,  committed  to  the  Court  of  Ses- 
sion, and  was  sentenced  to  throe  months'  rigorous  imprison- 
ment. He  was  also  prosecuted  by  the  editors  of  the  Dnyan 
Prdkaxh  and  the  Tndn  Prakash  for  defamation,  both  of 
whom  withdrew  their  complaints,  the  former  on  the  tender 
of  apology  by  the  accused,  and  the  latter  on  the  conviction 
of  the  accused  in  the  perjury  case.  In  the  course  of  the 
defamation  trials,  Yyankat  Shastri  deposed  on  oath  that 
he  himself  had  communicated  to  Vishnu  Shastri  the  line  of 
3'J 


306  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

argument  relating  to  Kaliyuga  and  that  he  had  discovered 
nothing  to  change  his  opinion. 

The  Remarriage  Association  passed  a  resolution  that 
the  validity  of  remarriage  was  as  good  as  recognized  by 
the  majority  of  the  arbitrators  seeing  thnt  Dinkar  Khastri's 
opinion  was  nob  worthy  of  being  taken  into  account  as  he 
wan  retained  on  the  hoard  of  arbitrators  under  protest  and 
that  Vyankat  Shastrijs  real  opinion  was  in  favour  of  re- 
marriage. This  resolution  is  in  accordance  with  the  rules 
of  judicial  practice  that  obtain  in  Indian  Courts,  and  for  the 
matter  of  that,  in  the  courts  of  nil  civilized  countries. 

Martyrdom  always  triumphs  over  success,  though  it  is 
displayed  in* a  bad  cause.  Sympathy  follows  in  the  wake 
of  misfortune,  though  it  bo  the  result  of  a  mistake  on  tho 
part  of  the  persecuted.  The  prosecutions  instituted  by  the 
reformers  against  their  adversaries  turned  the  tide  of  pub- 
lic opinion  against  them  for  a  time,  and  blinded  tho  masses 
to  the  unfair  means  employed  against  them.  Popular  pre- 
judice gathered  strength  from  the  %ct  of  Gopal  Hari 
Deshmukh,  one  of  the  excommunicated  seven  gentlemen 

going  through  tho  HRWxI  (Prayaschit)  ceremony  at  Ahme- 
dabad  on  the  22nd  May  1870  for  the  sake  of  his  daughter 
whose  mother-in-law  thaeatencd'  to  get  her  son  remarried  hi 
case  her  father  remained  excommunicatocP.  A  mistaken  idea 
began  to  spread  among  the  masses  that  Mr.  Deshmukh  bad 
done  penance  through  a  change  in  his  opinion.  In  a  letter, 
Mr.  Deshmukh  communicated  the  real  cause  of  his  doing  pen- 
ance to  Vishnu  Sashtri  who  thereupon  published  part  of  it  in 
theliwZffc  Prakash  (number  of  the  20th  May).  In  it  Mr. 
Deshmukh  had  promised  active  and  entire  sympathy  with 
the  doings  of  the  reformers.  This  act  of  penance  without 
repentance  perfectly  satisfied  his  daughter's  mother-in  law. 
The  uneasiness,  however,  arising  from  such  persecu* 
tion  was  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  sympathy  of 
friends.  Those  whom*  tho  nrgumcnts  of  the' reformers  and 


I.]  }\'1DO\\'  ME-UAtiSIAM!.  307 

the  dishonesty  of  their  adversaries  had  won  over  to  their 
side,  were  not  slow  to  proclaim  their  conversion.  A  letter 
of  sympathy  appeared  in  the  Lulu  Prakuth  (number  of  the 
27th  June)  over  fifty-one  signatures  which  soon  went  up  to 
over  two  hundred  and  fifty.  Scarcely  had  the  late  warmth 
of  the  hot  contest  had  time  to  cool  \vhcn  another  remarriage 
took  place  on  the  6th  of  June  in  the  hall  of  the  (roknl  Dan 
Tejpal  Sanskrit  Institute.  This  event,  tnkiilg  placo  as  it 
did  so  soon  after  the  luto  tragedy,  stilled  nil  fears  thut 
wore  lingering  on  the  j«;oro  of  want  of  following.  A  couplo 
of  years  after,  Vishnu  Sluistri  himself,  though  on  the  shady 
side  of  forty-five,  proved  thu  honesty  of  his  convictions  by 
espousing  a  widow. 

Tin;  Gujrathis,  who  were  so  far  silent  spectators  of 
the  tragedy  being  enacted  at  Poona,  began  active  agitation 
soon  after  tlio  Poona  agitation  had  gone  beyond  its  incipi- 
ont  stage.  A  Remarriage  Association  was  started  at 
Ahmedubad  for  the  purpose  of  helping  remarriages.  Shot 
Madhavdas  Raghu^ithdas,  of  the  Kapol  Bania  caste, 
married  a  young  widow  of  a  rich  and  high  family  of  his 
own  caste,  and  has  been  since  doing  good  to  the  cause, 
lie  has  christened  his  new  building  in  Cxirgaum  the  Widow 
Marriage  Hall  and  has  placed  it  ut  the  service  of  the  cause 
of  widow  marriage,  It  has  justified  its  name  by  the  num- 
ber of  happy  remarriages  it  has  silently  witnessed  for  more 
than  ten  years. 

Three  or  four  years  ago,  Mr.  D.  13.  Jay  want,  an  edu- 
cated and  courageous  youth  of  the  Kayastha  L'rabhu 
class  set  an  example  to  his  fellow-castemen  by  marrying  a 
widow  of  the  same  caste.  He  and  his  older  brother  who 
went  though  the  ordeal  with  great  courage  and  equani- 
mity, deserve  every  praise.  More  remarriages  have  since 
taken  place  in  the  same  caste. 

In  1884  the  subject  of  remarriage  acquirred  a  fresh im* 
portance  through  the  writings  of  Mr,  Malabari,  one  of 


INDIAN  SOGLIL  REFORM. 

Parsi  gentlemen  who  Iiave  been  cluing  yeomen's  service  to 
tlio  country  of  their  adoption  in  social,  political  and  indus- 
trial iliatter^  and  who  have  thus  been  more  than  discharg- 
ing the  debt  of  gratitude  they  o\ve  to  it.  Being  a  non- 
Hindn,  and  consequently  not  in  a  position  to  speak  with 
authority  and  to  be  heard  with  unbiassed  minds,  in  constant 
danger  of  having  his  disinterestedness  construed  into  meddle* 
someness,  his  laudable  efforts  wen;  far  less  successful  than 
those  of  a  Mindn  oF  equal  courage,  sincerity,  ability  and 
knowledge  would  Inivo  been,  After  years  of  untiring- 
labour  he  linuded  ovor  liis  self-imposed  and  thankless  task 
tu  Dewuii  Bahn-door  11,  Rnghunath  Rao  as  likely  to  prosper 
in  orthodox 'hands.  Thab  his  confidence  was  not  misplaced 
has  been  amply  proved  by  his  worthy  successor.  Madras 
was  rather  Idle  in  the  field,  but  it  has  more  than  made 
amends  for  its  early  indifference  by  its  sustained  enthusi- 
asm for  the  cause  of  remarriage,  thanks  mainly  to  the 
indefatigable  and  zealous  labours  of  lino  Bahadur  K.  Vi- 
resnlingam  Pantulu,  thar  whom  finite  ardent  worker  in 
the  cause  of  Social  Reform  does  not,  breathe  in  the  whole 
country  and  who  is  justly  known  as  the  Pandit  Yidyusagar 
of  Sou  thorn  India.  The  Punjab  is  still  in  a  backward 
condition,  and  no  wonder-  .Education  has  been  there 
neglected  to  :i  degree  which  renders  freedom  of  thought 
well  nigh  impossible. 

We  must  not  ignore  the  influence  of  literature  on 
widow  marriage.  The  Sndharak,  a  paper  started  by  the 
lute  lamented  G.  G.Agarkar  and  the  Indian  Svcial  Reformer 
have  been  the  leading  organs  of  the  reformers  in  the 
Deccan  and  Madras  respectively  and  been  doing  immense 
service  to  the  cause  of  widow  marriage.  The  widow  homed 
of  Shashipacla  Banerji  and  U.  K.  Karve  have  also  had  their 
share  in  the  furtherance  of  the  movement.  Of  late  several 
pamphlets  and  plays  have  been  written  in  favour  of  widow 
marriage  and  have  been  growing  in  popularity. 


i.) 

A  statistical  study  of  remarriages  celebrated  hitherto 
in  the  Maratha  country  leads  to  some  curious  conclusions, 
The  largest  number  of  bridegrooms  is  from  the  Koka- 
rwsiha  Brahman  class,  and  the  largest  number  of  brides 
from  the  Ueahasthas.  The  rut io  of  Kokanastha  bridegrooms 
to  Kokanastha  brides  may  be  said  very  nearly  to  vary  inver- 
sely i;s  that  of  Dashastha  bridegrooms  to  Deshastlm  brides. 
The  number  of  remarriages  among  ihe  Karliadas  and  the 
Deorakhes  is  too  small  to  draw  any  conclusion.,  Oat  of  21 
marriages,  in  8  the  bridegrooms  earned  not  more  than  Ra.  25 
per  mnnth,  in  2  they  earned  more  than  25  but  not  more  than 
50  ;  in  4  they  earned  more  than  50  but  not  more  than  75, 
and  in  2  more  than  75  and  not  more  than  100.  This  falsifies 
the  assertion  often  confidently  made  that  most  bridegrooms 
in  remarriages  are  highly  paid  fiovernniunt  officials. 
Among  the  Mali  rat tiis,  Brahinaiis  appear  to  have  taken  the 
most  prominent  part,  while  among  the  Gujrathis  the  .Manias 
have  been  the  principal  actors,  and  the  Mrahmans  have 
been  thrown  in  the  l^ickground.  The  ages  of  the  majority 
of  Mahratta  brides  vary  from  15  to  20,  and  those 
of  tlie  majority  of  Gujruthi  brides  from  20  to  25;  while  the 
age  of  an  average  Mahratta  bridegroom  varies  from  30  to 
o5,  and  that  of  his  liujrathi  brother  from  25  to  30.  The 
inequality  arises  from  the  fact  that  even  in  ordinary  marri- 
ages among  the  (iujrathis  the  ages  of  the  bride  and  the 
bridegroom  are  allowed  to  gravitate  more  towards  each 
uther  than  in  ordinary  JVfahratta  marriages. 

The  annual  increase  in  remarriages  is  greater  in  JJerar 
and  the  Central  Provinces  than  in  the  Deccairpn»por.  The 
reasons,  are  obvious.  Those  who  have  migrated  to  those 
provinces  observe  a  great  difference  between  their  own 
manners  and  those  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  provinces,  arid 
being  thus  impressed  with  the  immateriality  of  differences 
in  social  customs  find  it  easier  to  advance  than  those  whom 
they  have  left  behind. 


sio      .      INDIAN  SOCIAL  RE&URM. 

Moreover,  neither  their  old  bonds  nor  tlieir  new  con-, 
nections  are  so  strong  as  to  materially  alfect  tlieir  conduct 
in  social  matters.  The  annually  growing  number  of  re- 
marriages in  these  provinces  is  also  no  unsure  index  to  the 
sentiments  of  the  Deccanites  proper  which  are  every  year 
being  more  and  more  alienated  from  the  old  religion,  and, 
though  held  in  check  by  tlieir  surroundings  for  a  time,  wait 
only  a  transplantation  to  express  themselves  in  action. 
Kveji  in  Poonrj.,  the  sent  of  orthodoxy,  old  people  who  havu 
witnessed  the  ravages  of  the  terrible  plague  on  thousands 
of  Hrahman  families  are  hoard  openly  to  deplore  the 
absence, of  the  custom  oF  rernMrriages.  (tod  grant  that  we 
learn  to  reform  ourselves  without  the  uid  of  misfortunes. 

Ifc  lias  been  observed  by  an  acute  Maratha  thinker 
that  the  cause  of  reform  was  nob  a  little  compromised  by 
the-  social  reformers  themselves  posing"  as  religious  re- 
formers. Perhaps  this  \vas.  But  one  who  it*  conscious  of 
the  part  religion  has  played  in  the  fossilising  of  old  customs 
need  not  bo  reminded  of  the  necessifr  of  religious  reform 
being  undertaken  side  by  side  with  social  regeneration. 
The  educated  people  in  India  have  outgrown  their  customs. 
To  whatever  reform  they  direct  their  energies  they  are  met 
ut  every  turn  by  the  all-absorbing  and  tyrannical  Hindu 
religion  holding  every  custom  tight  with  the  iron  grip  of 
desperation.  Naturally  they  feel  ini  aversion  from  it,  and 
the  odium  is  gradually  transferred  from  its  vulnerable 
parts  to  those  that  are  lovely.  The  same  religion  that  once 
trespassed  upon  the  provinces  of  society  and  law  is  now, 
in  its  turn,  exposed  to  the  danger  of  having  its  merits 
confounded  with  its  defects.  Its  blind  mistakes  recoil 
upon  its  head  with  a  terrible  fury  ;  and  after  having  taken 
undue  liberty  with  its  sister  institutions  it  is  now  fast  losing 
the  respect  that  is  its  due. 

The  Bengali  as  well  as  the  Maratha  reformers  thought 
fit  to  substitute  in  the  place  of  the  old  religion  a  new  one 


i.]  TVIDO  W  RE-MA  RRIAGE.  31 1 

which  was  in  reality  nothing  more  or  less  than  the  self- 
same old  religion  shorn  of  its  accidents  and  excrescences, 
the  old  religion  in  all  its  pure  splendour.  The  religions 
movement  in  Bengal  was  far  more  snccessFul  than  that  in 
the  Bombay  Presidency.  The  result  has  been  that  in  Bengal 
religion's  reform  has  kept  pace  with  social  reform,  while  in 
the*  Bombay  Presidency  ib  has  given  place  to  scepticism  and 
atheism.  On  the  other  hand,  in  Bengal  social  reform  has 
been  in  a  degree  impeded  by  the  tacit  requirement  of  con- 
formity with  the  principles  of  Brahmoism  which  is  the 
religion  of  tho  reformers,  while  in  Bombay  the  reformers, 
apparently  continuing  as  they  do  in  the  religion  of  their 
ancestors,  are  not  estranged  from  popular  sympathy  to  the 
degree  they  have  dono  in  liengal.  In  Bengal,  social  reform 
lias  assumed  the  shape  of  a  caste  question,  while  in  Bombay 
the  refusal  of  the  reformers  to  claim  a  separate  canto  for 
themselves  has  set  the  whole  society  in  a  farment.  lleform 
is  bound  t6  live  an  isolated  life  in  Bengal,  and  to  be  general 
in  Bombay.  Whichever  state  of  the  two  one  is  inclined 
to  prefer  to  the  other,  one  fart  remains  undisputed  that 
neither  social  aristocracy  nor  religious  anarchy  is.  a  tiling  to 
be  congratulated  upon.  Tt  is  time  the  Shankaracharya 
reviewed  his  decision  in  the  Poona  controversy  in  a  spirit 
of  compromise  and  effected  a  reconciliation  between  the 
innovations  that  arc  knocking  for  admission  and  the  old 
religion  that  is  indignantly  refusing  them  entrance. 

The  number  of  remarriages  is  bound  to  be  small  as 
compared  to  that  of  first  marriages.  Bearing  this  fact  in 
mind,  we  find  that  the  number  of  remarriages  is  steadily 
growing  every  year.  Occasional  inequalities  can  be  account- 
ed for  by  the  recent  terrible  visitations  that  have  relegated 
everything  save  the  safety  of  life  to  a  subordinate  rank. 
A  sudden  increase  is  expected  after  society  is  restored  to 
its  equilibrium,  which,  it  is  fervently  hoped,  is  ut  no 
6ate>  * 


312  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

XII.  The  Condition  of  Low  Castes 

Ur  K.  IlAMAKiuACHARij  ESQ.,  M,  A.,  n.  L., 
Principal  Maharajah's  College^  Vlziauagraw. 

The  position  assigned  to  low  castes  in  the  Hindu  social 
organization  is  one  of  its  least  satisfactory  features.  When 
in  the  early  nineties,  an  agitation  was  started  by  some  Mis- 
sionaries in  the  south,  for  the  purpose  of  calling  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Madras  Government  to  their  miserable  condi- 
tion, I  expressed  my  views  in  writing  and  placed  them  be- 
fore the  late  Maharajah  of  Vijayanagaram,  whose  generous 
sympathy  with  the  low,  the  miserable,  and  the  fallen  Avas 
known  to  all  that  knew  him  intimately,  in  the  hope  that 
his  support  if  secured,  would  be  a  powerful  aid  to  those  who 
were  trying  to  elevate  them.  Though  the  Maharajah 
assured  we  of  his  sympathy  with  them,  nothing  came  out 
of  it. 

Who  are  tho  people  that  como  under  thq  category  of 
low  castes  ''  They  go  by  different  names  in  different  parts 
of  the  country  ;  they  are  oplled  Malas  and  Madigas  in  tho 
Circars,  Pariahs  in  the  Tamil  country,  Holiyas  in  Canarti, 
Poliyas  in  Malabar,  and  JJhedas  in  Maharashtra,  They  are 
known  as  Chandalas  to  the  writers  of  Smriti*.  According 
to  Mann,  a  Chandala  is  one  who  ha*  a  Sudra  father  and  a 
Brahmin  mother.  Though  this  definition  of  Chandala  has 
been  apceptcd  by  all  the  later  siiiriti  writers,  I  think  that 
the  real  Ohandalas  were  probably  those  aboriginal  tribes 
whom  the  Aryans  cutoff  from  Society, perhaps  on  account  of 
tlieir  vicious  lives.  With  a  view  to  discourage  as  far  as 
possible  intercourse  between  Brahmin  women  and  Rndra 
men,  tlie  Brahmin  law-givers  degraged  the  offsprings  of 
such  unions  to  the  level  of  those  who,  having  been  thrown 
out  of  the  pale  of  the  Aryan  community,  were  in  certain 
respects  regarded  ns  worse  than  beasts.  Their  complexion 


r.]          THE  CONDITION  OF  LO IV  *CABTE8.          31 3 

and  featiires,  their  moclo  of  worship,  their  marriage  and 
other  ceremonies,  all  point  to  a  nou- Aryan  origin.  Lonpf 
before  the  time  of  Maim,  the  Chandalas,  whatever  their 
origin,  must  have  been  reduced  to  the  condition  similar  to 
that  iu  which  we  still  find  their  descendants  ;  for,  we  find 
that  his  description  of  their  social  condition  is,  in  rort.iin 
respects,  nofc  inapplicable  to  the  low  castes  of  tho  present 
day,  making  allowance  For  the  changes  winch  it  lias  under- 
gone in  Hie  altered  stafp  of  Iho  IlinJu  society  under  thn 
British  rule. 

Abbe  Dnbois  says  "  the  Pariahs  were  most  probably 
composed  in  tho  first  instanco  of  all  tho  disreputable 
individuals  of  different  classes  of  society,  who  on 
account  of  their  various  offonccs  had  forfeited  thoir  right 
to  associate  with  respectable  men.  They  formed  a  class 
apart  and  having  nothing  to  fear  and  less  to  lose,  they 
gave  themselves  up  without  restraint  to  their  natural 
tendencies  towards  vice  and  excess  in  which  they  continue 
to  live?  at  the  present  day."* 

Some  arc  of  opinion  that  tho  Pariahs  were  originally 
hill  people  imd  that  they  wore  driven  away  from  the  plains 
by  their  Aryan  conquerors.  There;  doe,s  not  seem  to  be  any 
ethnological  connection  between  them  and  the  various 
classes  of  hill  people  in  Southern  India,  such  as  the  KhomlH, 
the  Savaras,  the  ( <  adabas,  the  Lumbadis.  Their  marriage > 
funeral  and  other  rites  have  little  in  common  \  as 
regards  their  physical  features,  there  is  hardly  any 
resemblance  between  them  and  any  of  the  existing 
hill  tribes  that  I  know  of  in  Southern  India, 

Th(5  following  is  what  Mann  says  about  them  :  — 
(a)    "Cliandalas  and  Svapachas  (those   who  cat  dog's  flesh) 
shall  lire  outside  the  village;  they  shall  have  no  utensils  for  their 
UNC  ;  their  property  shall  consist  in  dogs  end  asses." 

(1}    "They  shall  pub  on  clothing  taken   off  dead  bodies,  and  eah 

*     Vide   page  53,  U can  champ's   translation  of  Abbe    Duboi*'    Hindu 
.  Customs  and  Coromonipi, 

40 


314  INDIAN  SOCIAL  HEFORM.  [PART 

their  food  in  broken  pota.  Their  ornaments  shall  be  made  of  iron 
and  they  shall  always  wander  about.1' 

(»;)  "  While  engaged  in  the  performance  of  religious  duties,  no 
twice-born  man  shall  hare  anything  to  do  with  them.  They  shall 
have  dealings  amongst  themselves  and  contract  marriages  with 
their  equal*.'1 

(d)  "  They  shall  not  receive  food  directly  (from  n  man  of  twice- 
born  class)  hnt  shall  reecho  Uie  same  in  a  broken  pot  through 
another  (a  Hudra).  Thfy  shall  not  move  about  in  towns  and  villages 
nl  night." 

(n)  ll  Thny  may  go  nn  business  during  the  day,  wearing  a  bad  go 
(to  bo  distinguished  from  other  classes)  under  orders  of  the 
King;  they  shall  remove  from  the  village  the  dead  body  of  one  who 
had  no  relations  left;  so  says  the  law.'' 

(/)  "  Under  orders  of  the  king  and  in  accordance  with  tho  law, 
they  shall  hang  those  who  arc  condemned  to  death,  They  shall 
tnko  tho  clothing  and  ornaments  of  those  who  an?  condemned  to 
death."* 

From  what  is  slated  above,  it  is  plain  that  the  Ohaiulalas 
wore  thrown  out  of  tho  Hindu  community  and  that  their  cup 
of  misery  was  full  before  the  time  of  Mann.  I  shall  (|uoto 
below  a  few  extract's  from  Parasara  who  came  long  after 
JV1  ami,  ^  hi ch  refer  to  certain  expiatory  ceremonies  1o  be 
performed  by  members  of  twice-born  classes  for  sins  arising 
from  contact  (direct  or  indirect)  with  Chandalas. 

(a)  "If  a  Brahmin  happens  to  talk  to  a  Chandala,  ho  shall  (in 
order  to  be  purified  from   the  pollution  arising   therefrom)  talk  to 
other  Urnhmins  and  repeat  Savitri." 

(b)  "A  Brahmin  who  has  slept  with  a  Chandaln  shall   fast  for 
ihroe  days,    A  Ilrahmin  who  bus  walked  on  a  road  with  a  Chandnla 
is  purified  by  tho  repetition  of  Ciajatri." 

(c)  "A  Bruhmin  touching  a  Chandala  shall  forthwith  look  at 
Die  sun>  and  also  perform  his  ablutions  with  his  clothing  on/' 

(d)  "  A  Ilrahmin   drinking  water  from  a  well,  being   unaware 
that  it  was  sunk  by  a  Chandala,  is  purified  by  taking  only  a  single 
inoal  daily,  for  three  consecutive  days.11 

(0)  "1C  a  Brahmin  drinks  water  from  a  well  touched  by  tho 
pot  of  a  Chaudalu,  he  is  purified  after  eating  yavas  (barley)  cooked 
in  cow's  urine,  for  three  days." 

«  Maim.  Chapter  10,  (n)  51,  (J.)  52,  (c)  53,  (rf)  54,  (e)  So,  (/)  50, 


1.]  THE  GOX&tilOX  OF  LOW  CA8TEH.       oi5 


(/)     "  A  Brahmin  \vlio  drinks  water  from  Llic  pot  of  a 
is  pnriliod  by  performing  the  I'rajapntya   ceremony,   provided   tliuL 
lie  han  spit  it  out,  forthwith." 

(l/J  ''If  such  water  is  digested,  the  liruhmiii  shall  pori'urm 
tiaiitapana,  but  nub  J'rojupalya." 

(h)  "If  u  HraliiTiiiL  cuts  once  the  loud  oi'  u  Cli:indalu,  being 
uuawure  that  il  is  .such,  ho  is  purilied  by  oating  //CHM  (barley  ) 
cooked  in  cow's  urine,  lor  three  consecutive  days," 

(t)  "  If  a  HraLimin  allows  a  C'liandnla  to  live  in  his  house,  with- 
oul  knowing  tliat  lie  is  uucli,  he  i.s  purified  if  ho  performs  u  number 
of  expiatory  ceremonies,  besides  setting  fire  to  his  house."* 

A  reference  to  tbe  Inter  Sanscrit  writers  shows  Lbut 
there  way  uo  improvement  in  the  position  uf  I'haudalas  as 
u  class  in  Kpiu  or  Piiranic  limes,  a  (  liaTxlitla  being  nlways 
tspoken  of  us  the  most  degraded  oF  human  beings,  an  embo- 
diment of  all  that  is  impure,  immoral  and  nieked,  a  being 
with  whom  the  higher  castes  should  have-  no  sort  ol! 
intercourse  whatsoever.  Whatever  changes  Hindu  society 
may  liave  undergone  in  the  course  of  ages,  whatever  effect 
the  growth  of  new  ideas  may  have  had  upon  different  sects 
Jiy  way  of  splitting  them  into  sub-sects,  the*  socio-ruligioua 
relations  ol'  the  different  castes  do  not  seem  to  have  very 
much  changed  ami  the  position  of  the  low  castes  has  con- 
sequently remained  unaltered.  Tho  establishment  of  the 
Mahomedan  rule  in  Jndiadoes  not  appear  to  have  improved 
the  position  of  the  Chamlalas,  although  the  JVJuisaalmans 
recognise  no  caste  and  freely  employ  them  in  their  domes- 
tic service.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  some  of  the  Miihome- 
dan  rulers  who  bore  no  good  Avill  to  tho  lirahmins  and 
persecuted  them  in  various  ways,  should  never  have  thought 
of  elevating  tho  C  hand  a  las,  as  a  measure  calculated  to  de- 
grade tho  Brahmins  find  reduce  their  influence.  So,  whe- 
ther the  country  wag  ruled  by  the  Hindu  or  Mussulman 
kings,  their  lot  remained  the  same,  throughout  many 
centuries.  The  picture  given  by  Abbe  Dubois  of  their 

*  rarasani,   Clmptcr  6,  (a)   M,   (I.)  M,  (,-)  j|,  (d)  20,  (»:)  HI,    (/)~J7 
(j/)  28,  (/.)  W>  (i)  3*  mid  40.  ' 


:)  J  0  J NDIA  N  tiUL'U  C  'HlttfOltU.  \  PAUT 

condition  about  the  end  of  the  uighieenth   century    clearly 
bears  out  tlie  truth  of  the  above  statement. 

(<0  <f  The  contempt  and  aversion  with  which  the  other  castes 
and  particularly  the  Brahmins  regard  these  un fortunate  people  arc 
carried  to  such  an  excess  that  in  many  places  their  presence  or  even 
their  foot-prints  are  considered  sufficient  to  deiilo  the  whole  neigh- 
bourhood. They  nro  forbidden  to  cross  a  street  in  which  Hrahmius 
nre  living.  .Should  they  ho  so  ill-advised  as  to  do  HU.  the  later  would 
have  the  right  not  ro  strike  them  themselves  because  they  could 
not  do  so  \vibltont  defilement  or  oven  touch  them  with  the  end  of  a 
lung  stick,  but  to  order  them  to  be  Msrcrely  beaten  by  other  peo- 
ple, &c.,  &o.,  &c.* 

(It)  "  Any  one  who  hns  been  touched  whether  inadvertently  or 
purposely  by  a  Pariah  is  defiled  by  that  single  net,  and  mny  hold  no 
communication  with  any  person  whatsoever  unlil  ho  has  been  puri- 
iled  by  bathing  or  by  other  ceremonies,  more  or  leas  important 
nccording  to  the  status  und  customs  of  his  caste.  It  would  be 
contamination  to  eat  with  any  member  of  this  class,  to  touch  food 
prejvarcd  by  them  or  even  to  drink  water  which  they  have  drawn  ; 
to  use  an  earthen  vessel  which  they  have  held  in  their  hands  ;  to  set 
loot  inside  one  of  their  louses  or  to  allow  them  to  enter  houses  other 
than  their  own.  Each  of  these  ucts  Mould  contaminate  the  person 
nft'ectcd  by  it  and  before  being  readmitted  to  his  own  caste,  such  a 
person  would  have  to  go  through  many  exacting  nnd  expensive 
formal  itiif.*H."t 

(c)  ''  Throughout  the  whole  of  India,  the  Pariahs  are  looked 
upon  as  slaves  by  other  castes  and  are  treated  with  great  harshness 
Hardly  anywhere  nre  they  allowed  to  cultivate  for  theirown  benefit, 
b'it  are  obliged  to  hire  themselves  out  to  the  other  castes  who  in 
return  for  a  minimum  wage  exact  thn  hardest  task  from  thcm/'J 

(rf)  "  However,  notwithstanding  the  miserable  condition  of 
these  wretched  Pariahs,  thry  urc  never  heard  to  murmur  or  to  com. 
plain  of  their  lowest  state.  Still  lesy  do  they  ever  dream  of  trying 
to  improve  their  lot  by  combining  together  and  forcing  the  other 
elastic^,"  &c.j  itc.f  Ac. 

(e)  "  Nothing  will  ever  pei'Minde  him  (a  Pariah)  tlmb  men 
are  all  made  of  the  same  clay  or  that  ho  has  aright  to  insist  on 
better  treatment  than  that  which  is  meted  out  to  him," 

*  a)  Vide  pwge  52,  Chapter  o,  part  I.  BeiiucLamp's  translation  of  Abbe 
Duboie'  Hindu  Manners,  Cue  torn  s  aud  Ceremonies, 
t  (tj     Qainoas  (a), 
t  (r)     Vide  page  50,  part  aiiaCliapter  «umc  ae  (•»)  nud.(b;f 


i.J          THE  CONDITION  OF  7,011      UAUTJSti. 

(/)  "They  live  in  hopeless  poverty  and  tlio  greater  number 
luck  sufficient  means  to  procure  even  -the  coarsest  clothing.  They 
go  about  almost  naked  or  at  best  clothed  in  the  most  hideous  rags." 

((/)  "  The}'  live  from  hand  to  mouth  the  whole  year  round,  and 
rarely  know  one  day  how  they  will  procure  food  for  the  next;  when 
they  hap]>en  to  have  any  money,  they  invariably  spend  it  at  unco 
on  the  drink,  and  make  M  point  of  cluing  no  work,  as  long  as  they 
have  anything  left  to  live  on.'"* 

(k)  ''Among  the  forests  on  the  Malabar  Coast  there  Jives  a 
tribe  which,  incredible  as  it  may  seem,  surpasses  the  two  (l.'ariahs  and 
Piilvers,  the  latter  a  class  of  Piiriulis  found  in  Mad  urn)  of  which  I 
have  just  spoken,  in  degradation  and  squalid  misery.  They  are 
called  Puliahs  and  are  looked  upon  as  below  the  level  of  beasts 
which  share  this  wild  country  with  them.  They  lire  not  «?ven  allow- 
ed ,to  build  themselves  huts,  to  protect  themselves  from  the  incle- 
mencies of  the  weather,  A  sort  of  lean-to  supported  by  four  bam- 
boo-poles and  open  at  the  sides  .serves  as  u  shelter  for  some  of 
them  and  keeps  off  the  rain,  though  it  docs  not  screen  them  from 
the  wind.  Most  of  them  however  make  for  themselves  what  may  be 
c:i1  led  nests  in  the  branches  of  the  thickcst-foliaged  trees  where 
they  perch  like  birds  of  prey  for  tho  greater  part  of  the  twenty-four 
hours.  They  are  not  even  allowed  to  walk  peaceably  along  the 
highroad.  Jf  they  see  any  one  coming  towards  them,  they  ,  aro 
bound  to  utter  a  certain  cry  and  to  go  a  long  way  round  to  avoid 
passing  him.  A  hundred  paces  is  the  very  nearest  they  may 
approach  any  one  of  a  different  caste,51  &c.,  Ac1.,  &c. 

(0  "The  Pnliahs  live  an  absolutely  ravage  lii'o  and  have  no 
communication  whatever  with  the  rest  of  the  world,  "t 

From  the  description  given  by  Dubois  of  ilie  condition 
uf  the  low  castes  of  his  time,  the  reader  will  sec  that 
through  nil  the  vicissitudes  through  which  India  passed, 
there  Was  no  change  in  their  position  in  relation  to  tlio 
other  crtstesj  and  that  if  there  had  been  any,  it  was  for 
the  worse  ;^ut  the  consolidation  of  the  British  power  in 
India  has  hail  n  beneficial  effect  upon  it;  the  abolition  of 
slavery  in  India  l*s  secured  perfect  personal  freedom  for 
the  low  castes,  of  which  in  certain  parts  of  the  country  such 


(<0.  M,  (fti  W-     ra*  Pa8°  51>  Chapter  and  Pt.  same  RB  (a),  (6),  fr 
ami  (')•  TVdeimgoB  01,  92,  Chapter  and  Ft,  ennic  os  («),  ('')<  Ac, 


:Jl,s  INDIAN  NWIAL  HEFORti.  [I'AJM 

ris  Malabar,  they  had  not  dreamt  for  many  coDluvies.  The 
law  recognises  no  distinction  of  caste,  and  tliosc  who  injure 
the  person  or  property  oF  their  fellow  1  icings  under  the 
alleged  sanction  of  custom  are  punished.  A  ([iialiiied  man 
of  low  caste  is  equally  eligible  For  appointment  under  the 
Government  with  a  qualified  man  of  high  caste.  Theoreti- 
cally, these  are  no  small  gsiins  to  a  Fallen  class,  whose  very 
existence  except  for  duties  was  not  recognised  till  the 
establishment  of  the  British  power  ;  I  say  theoretically  for, 
ns  circumstances  stand,  the  only  real  boon  For  which  they 
arc  as  a  class  indebted  to  the  British  (.Jovernment  i,s  that  of 
personal  freedom.  As  I  am  going  to  speak  of  their  educa- 
tion later  on,  I  need  not  here  discuss  the  question  whether 
and  how  far  the  (jovcrnment  deserve  to  bo  praised  for  the 
facilities  they  have  afforded  to  low  castes  in  that  direction, 

In  the  following  paragraphs  I  propose  to  describe  the 
present  condition  of  the  low  castes  so  that  ihe  reader  may 
Form  an  idea  of  the  disabilities  to  which  they  are  still  sub- 
ject under  the  best  of  rulers  which  this  country  has  ever 
hud.  Though  1  have  had  no  opportunities  of  observing 
personally  the  condition  of  the  Pariahs  outside  the  Circarts, 
from  what  I  have  read  and  heard  about  them,  I  believe  that 
my  remarks  may  bo  applied  to  the  class  aa  a  whole,  in 
*vhnte\  er  part  of  the  country  they  may  be  found, 

The  low  castes  live  as  a  rule  outside  towns  and  villages 
and  always  at  some  distance  from  them.  They  live  in 
huts.  The  roof  of  a  I'ariah  hut  is  made  of  palmyra  leaves 
or  thatch,  whichever  is  available  in  the  locality,  and 
supported  on  low  mud  walls  of  not  more  than  four  or  five 
feet  in  height;  it  has  one  entrance  which  is  often  so  low 
that  only  children  of  not  more  than  ten  or  twelve  years  of 
age  cun  conveniently  enter.  Jt  is  not  provided  with  win- 
dows or  other  contrivances  to  let  in  light  or  air.  Inside 
hut,  all  that  one  finds  is  only  a  pile  of  earthen  pots  and 
times  a  rickety  makc-sbif  b  of  a  cot  and  a  dirty  slinking  ami* 


L]  THE  CONDITION  OF  LOW  CASTES,        ftlO 

made  of  palm  or  date  leaves,  Generally,  the  hut.  has 
no  backyard  attached  to  it,  and  when  it  has  one,  it  is  full 
of  filth  and  looks  like  :i  rubbish  depot .  Tiled  houses  are 
exceedingly  rare,  As  the  surface  of  tho  ground  on  which 
the  parch ery  stands  is  not  generally  much  above  tho  sur- 
rounding fields,  their  huts  are  damp,  except  during  the 
hot  weather  ;  consequently  those  that  live  in  them  often 
suffer  from  fever  and  dysentery.  Their  surroundings  are 
generally  in  ,ri  most  insanitary  condition,  as  portions  of 
carcases  of  cattle  and  other  animals  upon  which  they  feed 
are  thrown  near  their  huts  and  allowed  to  rot  and  stink. 
Jf  the  problem  of  village  sanitation  has  defied  the  attempts 
of  the  Government  up  to  date,  the  .solution  of  that  of  par- 
cliery  sanitation  must  bo  regarded  as  an  impossibility  for 
the  present. 

The  dress  of  Panchaums,  especially  of  those  living  in 
villages,  is  of  tho  most  scanty  description,  consisting  of  a 
rag  tied  round  the  waist  in  tho  case  of  males.  It  is  doubt- 
ful whether  in  villages,  they  change  their  rags  more  than 
twice  or  thrice  n  year.  Their  women  are  somewhat  better 
clad,  although  their  clothing  is  made  of  the  coarsest  stuff*. 
Those  that  are  decently  dressed  arc  found  only  in  towns 
being  employed  as  syces,  &c. 

If  we  except  a  few  who  are  in  the  service  of  the  Gov- 
ernment or  Europeans,  as  well  as  those  who  are  substan- 
tial farmers  or  traders,  whose  number  must  be  exceedingly 
small,  they  may  be  said  to  live  on  tho  coarsest  kind  of  food 
acceptable  to  any  class  of  the  people  living  in  the  plains. 
They  are  generally  so  poor  that  it  is  doubtful  if  the  majo- 
rity of  them  have  more  than  a  single  scanty  meal  a  day 
for  many  months  in  the  year,  in  addition  to  gruel  which 
they  cannot  do  without  in  the  morning.  What  is  left  of 
food  partaken  by  the  higher  classes  on  such  occasions  as 
marriage,  &c.,  is  about  the  most  delicious  an  ordinary  Pan-, 
chama  can  hope  to  get.  They  are  fond  of  liquor  and  drink 


320  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

toddy  generally  and  arrack  if  they  get  a  chance,  They 
Arc  so  fond  of  drink  that  they  often  spend  the  whole  of 
their  miserably  small  daily  wages  for  it. 

A  large  number  of  Panchamaa  earn  their  livelihood  as 
servants  of  farmers  and  are  mostly  paid  in  kind  fcv  their 
services,  Many  of  them  are  nlso  day  labourers,  their  wage* 
ranging  in  this  part  nf  the  country  from  nine  pies  to  two 
annas  n,  day.  They  n re  employed  ns  syces.  A  few  are 
petty  fanners.  Some  aiv  employed  ns  village  watch* 
men;  in  addition  io  the  duties  of  village  watchmen 
they  carry  messages  in  the  day  time,  the  proprietor  or  the 
lioftdtnan'of  the  village  having  a  right  to  employ  them  for 
private  or  public  purpose  us  the  case  may  be.  Panchamns 
are  also  found  in  the  Police  or  the  Military  department  and 
some  are  in  the  domestic  service  of  Europeans  and  Mussal- 
mans.  Shoe-making  and  leather  dressing  are  chiefly  in 
their  hands.  In  towns,  a  particular  class  of  thorn  are  em- 
ployed ns  sweepers  and  scavengers.  AVo  do  not  find  many 
beggars  among  them,  at  least  not  po  many  as  one  may 
reasonably  expolt  to  see  amongst  such  poor  people ;  this 
is  perhaps  due  to  the  fact  that  a  Panchama  cannot  main- 
tain himself  by  begging,  as  he  is  regarded  as  unworthy  of 
being  helped  by  the  other  classes  of  the.  community. 

To  speak  of  the  property  of  Panchamas,  if  we  except 
those  who  are  in  the  employ  of  the  Government  or  of  Euro- 
peans and  a  few  others  who  are  cither  farmers  or  traders, 
it  is  doubtful  if  they  can  bo  said  to  have  any  property  at 
all,  except  the  miserable  huts  in  which  they  live,  In  most 
cases  even  these  huts  are  not  their  own;  and  they  aro  al- 
lowed to  live  in  them  only  so  long  as  it  suits  the  convenience 
of  their  masters.  That  the  bulk  of  the  people  in  India  are 
very  poor,  is  a  fact  which  every  man  wllb  knows  anything 
really  about  their  material  condition  ;,ttmst  admit.  If  the 
majority  of  the  lower  classes  who  ara  higher  iii  social  scale 
are  hopelessly  poor,  what  must  be  the  lot  of 


i.]  THE  CONDITION  OF  LOW  CASTES.        321 

who,  occupying  the  lowest  position  in  society,  depend  upon 
them  for  their  livelihood  ?  I  would  that  somebody  took  the 
trouble  to  collect  statistics  regarding  the  material  condi- 
tion of  these  low  castes,  and  place  the  information  before  the 
public  so  that  they  may  see  how  miserably  poor  they  are. 
As  for  the  treatment  of  the  Panchamas  by  the  higher 
castes,  in  certain  respects  the  history  of  the  world  can  show 
no  parallel  to  it.  Tt  is  true  that  alow  caste  man  is  legally 
free ;  but  socially,  is  he  not  worse  than  a  slave  ever  was  in 
the  worst  days  of  slavery  ?  The  slaves  in  ancient  Greece 
and  Rome  had  no  personal  freedom  and  were  bought  and  sold 
freely.  They  were  given  the  hardest  and  meanest  kinds 
of  work  to  do^  and  if  they  complained,  they  were  flogged 
or  punisKed  in  any  other  manner  their  lords  thought  it  fit 
to  punish  them  ;  they  were  not  allowed  to  own  any  property 
or  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  their  labour ;  they  were  severely 
punished  for  disobedience  sind  might  under  certain  circum- 
stances even  bo  put  to  death  by  their  owners  ;  and  if  tho 
owners  did  so,  they  were  accountable  to  nobody  for  it.  In 
fact,  they  were  absolutely  at  the  mercy  of  their  masters.  If 
the  master  happened  to  bo  a  cruel  man,  there  was  no 
end  to  "the  misery  of  his  slaves.  With  all  these  dis- 
abilities, the  slaves  were  in  a  certain  sense  the  companions 
of  their  lords  ;  they  were  in  personal  attendance  on  them  ; 
find  if  they  were  intelligent  and  faithful,  they  became  their 
confidential  advisers.  Sometimes  they  got  their  freedom 
when  they  did  signal  services  to  their  masters,  and  wero 
then  as  good  as  any  freeborn  men.  The  idea  of  cutting  off 
a  whole  class  from  society  and  keeping  them  at  a  distance 
as  a  mark  of  tlieir  degradation,  declaring  them  to  be  unfit 
for  any  kind  of  intercourse,  never  seems  to  have  struck  the 
Greeks  or  the  Romans.*  However  unsympathetic  may 

*  Dr.  Schmitz  speaking  of  the  Helots  of  Sparta  says,  "  tho 
members  of  the  ruling  class  were  held  to  be  profaned  by  the  touch  of  the 
unfortunate  outcaste ;  the  latter  are  said  to  have  sometimes  been  forced  to 
make  themselves  drunk  that  in  this  state  they  might  be  exposed  to  the 
derision  and  insults  of  their  young  lords  aa  a  practical  lesson  of  sobriety.11 
But  he  thinks  that  this  and  similar  stories  may  be  exaggerated. 


322  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

Iiave  been  the  attitude  of  the  general  community  towards 
the  slaves  in  middle  ages,  we  find  that  the  priestly  class  stood 
by  them  and  that  the  church  was  the  protector  of  the 
oppressed  slave.  In  England,  the  abolition  of  serfdom  and 
villainage  was  greatly  due  to  the  exertions  of  tho  clergy 
who  used  their  influence  with  the  powerful  and  the  wealthy 
to  get  their  slaves  manumitted.* 

[11  ibis  respect  the  attitude  of  the  priestly  caste  in  India 
towards  low  castes  has  always  been  the  reverse  of  that  of 
tho  Christian  elergy  towards  the  slaves  in  Europe.  The 
untold  misery  of  millions  of  the  Pauehamas  in  this- country 
throughout. mi mberless  generations  has  been  tho  result  of 
the  aversion  of  the  priestly  class  towards  them.  How  is  a 
Pnnchama  treated  by  the  higher  classes  ?  Is  he  nob  re- 
garded as  the  worst  of  human  beings,  nay,  worse  than 
tho  most  unclean  of  animals  ?  Is  he  not  treated  worse 
than  a  dog,  au  ass  or  even  a  pig  ?  If  a  Brahmin  has 
scruples  to  touch  &  pig,  he  has  none  to  approach  him,  Can 
a  Pancharna  ever  dare  to  come  near  a  Brahmin  without 
being  reviled  for  his  insolence  ?  A  Panchama  is  regarded 

*  "  Slavery  was  gradually  disappearing  before  tho  efforts  of  tho 
Church.  Theodore  had  denied  Christian  burial  to  the  kidnapper,  and 
prohibited  the  sale  of  children  by  their  parents,  after  the  age  of  seven. 
Ecgberht  of  York  punished  any  sale  of  child  or  kinsfolk  with  excommuni- 
cation. The  murder  of  u,  slave  by  lord  or  mistress,  though  no  crime  in  the 
eye  of  tho  State  became  a  sin  for  which  penance  was  due  to  the  Church. 
The  slave  was  exempted  from  toil  on  Sundays  nud  holy  days  ;  here  and 
there  he  became  attached  to  the  soil  and  could  only  be  sold  with  it ;  some- 
times he  acquired  a  plot  of  ground,  and  was  suffered  to  purchase  his  own 
release.  yKthelstan  gave  the  slave-class  a  new  rank  in  the  realm  by  ex- 
tending to  it  the  same  principles  of  mutual  responsbilifcy  for  crime  which 
wore  the  basis  of  order  among  tho  free.  The  Church  was  far  from  con- 
tenting herself  with  this  gradual  elevation  j  Wilfrid  led  the  way  in  the 
work  of  emancipation  by  freeing  two  hundred  and  fifty  serfs  whom  he 
found  attached  to  his  estate  at  Selsey.  Manumission  became  frequent  in 
wills,  as  the  clergy  taught  that  such  a  gift  was  a  boon  to  the  soul  of  the 
dead;  At  the  Synod  of  Chelsea  the  bishops  bound  themselves  to  free  at 
their  decease  all  serfs  on  their  estates  who  had  been  reduced  to  serfdom 
by  want  or  crime.  Usually  the  slave  was  set  free  before  the  altar  or  in 
the  Churoh-poroh,  and  the  Gospel-book  bore  written  on  its  margins  the 
record  of  his  emancipation."  Vide  pages  58  and  59,  Chap,  1,  A  Short 
History  of  the  English  People,  Green, 


i.]  THE  -CONDITION  OF  LOW  CASTES.         323 

such  an  impure  creature  that  a  Brahmin  believes  that  he 
is  polluted  by  his  near  approach  and  does  not  become  pure 
unless  he  performs  certain  expiatory  ceremonies.  The 
aversion  to  the  Panchama  is  so  strong  up  to  date  that  in 
villages  remotely  situated  from  towns  and  mostly  inhabited 
by  Brahmins,  he  dare  not  show  himself  in  the  Brahmin 
quarter;  and  if  he  crosses  the  threshold  of  a  Brahmin's 
house,  he  is  sure  to  be  addressed  in  a  language  which  no 
member  of  another  caste  would  ever  tolerate,  What  if  the 
law  recognise*  no  distinction  between  the  high  and  low 
castes  J.  Hindu  society  says  that  the  low  castes  arc  beyond 
its  pale.  Tyranny  political  or  social  i.s  a  curse  ;  but  of  the 
two  the  social  is  a  greater  curso  than  the  political.  The 
following  remarks  of  John  Stuart  Mill,  though  made  in 
connection  with  a  different  subject  may  be  applied  to  the 
case  of  the  low  castes  ill  India  : — 

tl  Like  other  tyrannies,  the  tyranny  of  the  majority 
was  at  first,  and  is  still  vulgarly,  held  iu  dread,  chiefly  as 
operating  through  the  act.s  of  the  public  authorities.  But 
reflecting  persons  perceive  that  when  society  is  itself  the 
tyrant — society  collectively,  over  the  separate  individuals 
who  compose  it — its  means  of  tyrannising  are  not  restricted 
to  the  acts  which  it  may  do  by  the  hands  of  its  political 
functionaries.  Society  can  and  does  execute  its  own  man- 
dates, nnd  if  it  issues  wrong  mandates  instead  of  right,  or 
any  mandates  at  all  in  things  with  which  it  ought  not  to 
meddle,  it  practises  social  tyranny  more  formidable 
Jbhan  many  kinds  of  political  oppression,  since,  though 
not  usually  upheld  by  such  extreme  penalties,  it  leaves 
fewer  means  of  escape,  penetrating  much  more  deeply  into 
the  details  of  life  and  enslaving  the  soul  itself ."*  When  a 
great  community  has  so  far  allowed  its  higher  instincts  to 
be  warped  that  it  comes  to  treat  a  large  portion  of  itself, 
numbering  some  millions,  us  worse  than  beasts,  and  totally 

*  Vide  page  3,  Chap.  I.,  Liberty,  by  John  Stuart  Mill  (People's  Edition). 


'INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFO&M.  [PABT 

refuses  to  recognise  those  tics  which  bind  humanity  toge- 
ther, sad  mnst  be  the  lot  of  that  unfortunate  portion  which 
for  no  fault  of  its  own  is  degraded  to  a  position  the  worst 
imaginable  for  any  community  to  occupy.  The  existence 
of  the  present  order  of  things  for  centuries  has  worked 
such  a  change  in  the  minds  of  the  higher  and  lower  castes 
alike  that  both  of  them  have  come  to  regard  their  present 
relations  as  perfectly  natural.  The  Panchamii  who  lives  a 
miserable  and  degraded  life,  who  is  allowed  no  sort  of 
social  intercourse  with  the  other  sections  of  the  community, 
who  is  not  oven  allowed  to  go  noar  the  higher  -classes, 
being  denied  a  concession  made  to  the  dirtiest  of  animals, 
takes  this  treatment  as  perfectly  natural  and  is  hardly 
aware  of  his  own  degradation.  Docs  he  ever  think  that 
his  position  is  capable  of  improvement,  and  that  as  .a 
human  being  he  has  certain  indefeasible  rights  which  no 
custom  to  the  contrary  can  take  away  ?  Every  man  who 
is  born  into  this  world  has  a  natural  right  to  walk  over 
high  ways  and  in  public  places  in  his  own  country.  Every 
man  .who  is  born  into  this  world  has  .1  right  to  take  water 
from  such  sources  as  uru  available  for  the  general  use  of  the 
community.  Vet  some  of  these  primary  rights  of  man  are  de- 
nied to  the  Panuhama  -,  he  is  not  allowed  to  walk  in  certain 
streets  of  villages  owned  by  .Brahmins  even  though  tbey 
ure  public  property  ;  if  he  happens  to  see  a  Brahmin  coin- 
ing in  the  opposite  direction,  after  the  latter  has  performed 
his  ablutions  in  the  village  tank,  he  would  have  to  go 
off  the  way  lest  the  Brahmin  should  be  polluted.  Ho  i» 
hot  allowed  to  take  water  from  wells  used  by  the  other 
classes  in  consequence  whereof  he  is  put  to  serious  inconve* 
tiiences  in  places  where  the  people  depend  upon  a  few  wella 
for  their  drinking  water,  especially  during  the  hot  weather* 
Is  nbt  this  tantamount  to 'a  denial  of  primary  human 
rights  to  the  Panchamu  ?  Commission  of  crimes  may  entail 
loss  of  primary  as  well  as  secondary  rights  ;  but  in  such  a 


i.J          THE  CONDITION  OF  LOW  CASTES. 

case  it  is  only  the  individual  criminal,  the  actual  perpetra- 
tor of  the  crimes  that  is  punished.  Vv'c  have  no  idea  of 
tho  crimes  committed  by  the  forefathers  of  the  existing 
low  castes  for  which  they  lost  their  status  as  liumaq  beings; 
but  it  is  certainly  unjust  to  enforce  in  the  case  of.  the.  des- 
cendants the  penalties  originally  inflicted  on  their  fore- 
fathers, except  by  applying  to  them  the  calvinistic  doc- 
trine of  original  sin  which  the  humanity  of  the  nineteenth 
century  rejects  as  one  of  the  exploded  beliefs  of  medieval 
Christianity.  If  tho  Piinchanuis  do  nut  deserve  this  treat- 
ment on  the  ground  of  being  the  descendants  of  their  fore- 
fathers, do  they  deserve  it  on  account  of  their  personal 
actions  or  character  ?  Are  the  Punch  tunas  as  a  class  worst) 
than  any  other  of  the  lower  classes  of  the  Hindu  .  community, 
allowance  being  made  for  the  circumstances  under  which 
they  have  been  placed  for  centuries  ?  If  a  general  enquiry 
were  made  regarding  their  character,  I  have  no  doubt  it 
would  result  in  bringing  to  light  some  facts  which  would 
show  them  in  a  favourable  light  when  compared  to  some 
classes  who  arc  above  them  in  the  social  scale.  There  ia 
evidence  to  show  that  in  early  times  there  were  Panchamaa 
distinguished  for  their  genius,  learning  and  piety,  and  their 
names  are  venerated  by  the  Hindus  up  to  the  present  day. 
If  tradition  may  be  believed,  Valmiki,  the  author  of ,  the 
Ramayana,  which  is  considered  to  be  the  first  and  certainly 
one  of  the  finest  epic  poems  in  Sanskrit,  is  said  to  have 
been  a  Panchama.  This  tradition  is  supported  f  by  tho 
Padmapurana  and  Jnana  Yasishtha,  both  of  which  are 
regarded  as  works  of  authority  by  learned  Brahmins.  The 
immortal  author  of  Rural,  known  as  Tiruvalluvar,  and 
Tiruppaniyalwar,  one  of  the  twelve  saints  worshipped  by 
the  Vaishnava  community,  are  both  supposed  to.  have  been 
roon  of  Panchama  origin.  Marner  Numbiyar,  a  disciple  of 
Yanmnaeliaryar,  one  of  the  greatest  Vaishnava  scholar* 
saints  of  antiquity,  though  a  Panchama  hy  birth,  received 


326         .       INDIAN  SOCIAL  IlEFOttM.  [!JART 

all  the  high  funeral  honors  of  a  Brahman  saint  on  his  death. 
1  have  heard  -of   some  Panchamas   of  modern  times   who 
were  held  in  respect  by  their  contemporaries  for  their  learn- 
ing and  piety.     If  the  Panchama    community,    which   pro- 
duced such  men,  does  not   deserve  to  be   treated  with  con* 
tempt  and  aversion,  and  if  under  favourable  circumstances 
members  thereof  have  every    chance  of   rising  and   distin- 
guishing themselves,  the    problem  of  elevating  low    castes 
is  surely  worthy  of  thu    serious    attention    of  the  social  re- 
former.    There  are  about  five  million  Panchamas  in  South- 
ern India,  excluding  those  in  the  Native  States  of  Mysore, 
Travancora    and     Cochin.     There    is   a    large    Panchama 
population  in  the  Western  Presidency,   and  their  number  is 
not  inconsiderable  in  Bengal  and   Northern  India-     Proba- 
bly the  total  Panchama  population  in   India  is  about  seven 
millions.     Surely  the  question   of  the   emancipation  of    so 
many  millions  of   human   beings  cannot  be  unimportant. 
To  the  best  of  my    knowledge,   so  far  as  the  Indian  social 
reformer  is  concerned,  the   Panchania  problem  has  not  yet 
advanced  beyond  the    stage  of   discussion.     A  reference  to 
the  reports  of  the  Indian  Social  Conference  for  the  last  few 
years  shows  that  although  the  reformers  have  riot  lost  sight 
of  the  question,  they  have  not  been  able   to   formulate  any 
definite  proposal  regarding   its  'solution.     The  question  of 
social  reform  in  India  is  a  peculiarly  difficult  one.     We  all 
know  how  attempts  made  by  some  of  our  best  men  to  intro- 
duce Bintill  but  salutary  changes  into  customs  are  met  with 
an  apposition  calculated  to  break  the  spirit   of  any  but  the 
most  resolute,  changes  too  about  the  desirability  of  which 
there  is  little  difference  of  opinion,  not  .only  among  the  few 
who  by  their  education   and  experience  are   competent    to 
forni  an  opinion,  but  also  among  the  many  whose  minds 
have  not  been  petrified  under  the  dead  weight  of  custom. 
If  the  reformers   are    unable   to  change   recent  practices 
which  are  admitted  to  be  pernicious,  for  which  there  is  no 


i.]          THE  CONDITION  OF  LOW  CASTES.         327 

sanction  in  the  Shaatras  and  which  most  people  condemn 
but  few  are  bold  enough  to  set  aside,  can  they  hope  to  ini- 
duce  their  countrymen  to  treat  the  Panchamas  as  their 
fellow-beings  fit  to  associate  with  and  to  rise  above  the  prer 
judico  they  have  inherited  from  their  forefathers  ?  Recog- 
nising this  prejudice  as  a  barrier  to  the  elevation  of  the 
low  castes,  a  barrier  which  can  only  be  slowly  removed, 
let  ns  see  if  anything  cnn  be  done  for  the  present  to  im- 
prove their  lot.  In  tho  first  place,  it  must  be  stated  that 
their  present  condition,  miserable  as  it  is,  is  an  improve- 
ment upon  their  past  one.  Not  to  speak  oE  the  personal 
emancipation  secured  to  tho  Panchamas  by  the  statute  law, 
their  admission  into  the  Military,  Police  and  other  depart-* 
ments  of  the  public  service  has  raised  their  status,  at  least 
that  of  those  who  have  been  thus  admitted.  About 
twenty-one  per  cent  of  tho  Panchanui  population  in  the 
Madras  Presidency  are  stated  to  havo  been  cultivators  some 
years  back  ;  probably  their  number  now  is  a  little  lavger.l" 
The  establishment  of  special  primary  schools  for  the 
Panchamas  is  a  measure  of  some  importance,  although  .tho 
result  thereof  is  not  perceptible  at  present.  According  to 
the  report  of  the  Director  of  Public  Instruction  for  1898-99, 
there  were  about  sixty  thousand  Panchama  boys  receiving 
instruction  in  the  Madras  Presidency  in  that  year,  t 
Out  of  these,  twenty-one  were  in  Upper  Secondary  schools 
and  one  was  in  a  College.  Tho  above  facts  appear  so  far 
encouraging.  But  I  have  reasons  to  think  that  a  good 
many  of  those  shown  in  tho  returns  as  Panchamas  are 
Christians  by  faith,  and  that  if  their  number  is  deducted 
from  the  total,  that  of  Panchamas  proper  will  be  very 
much  smaller  than  it  now  appears  to  be. 

Foremost  among  the  benefactors  of  Panchamas  coma 

*  Vide  page  232,  Vol.  2,  Manual  of  the  Administration  of  tho  Madrft* 
Presidency. 

f  Fide  page  98,  Report  on  the  Public  Instruction  in  the  Madras 
Presidency  for  1898-09. 


328  .  INDI4N  80CI4L  REFORM.  [PART 

Christian  Missionaries.    "When  these  low  castes,  kept  down 
in  a  state  of  extreme  degradation  and  wretchedness,  were 
left  to  themselves,  cared  for  neither  by  their  own  country- 
men nor  their   rulers,  the   missionaries  came   forward   tq 
rescue-  and  elevate  them,  by  educating  and  qualifying  them 
for  higher  walks   of  life   of  which   they   could   not  have 
dreamt  till  recently,     It  was  an  agitation  started  by  some 
missionaries  in' the  South  in  favour  of  the   Panchamas  that 
opened  the  eyes  of  the  local  Government  to  their  extreme- 
ly wretched  condition,  and  made  them  start  special  schools 
for  their  benefit.     The  missionaries   have  proved  to  be  sin- 
cere friends  of  the  low  and  the  fallen  in  India  as  elsewhere 
and  have  done  and  are  still  doing  their  best  to   raise  their 
status.    If  missionaries   come   first  as   benefactors  of    the 
Panchamas,  the  local  Government   come   next,    for  open- 
ing  schools   for  their    exclusive    benefit ;     but    if    they 
wish  to  elevate  them  they  will  have  to   do   a  great   deal 
more,    as    will    be   shown    presently;     still,     since   they 
have    taken    the    first    step  in  the    right   direction,    they 
deserve  the   thanks    of  the    community.     Supposing  that 
education  will  considerably   raise  the  status   of   tho   Pan- 
chamaSj    it  may  be   asked  how   they  are  to  be  educated. 
In  the    largest    majority  of    cases,    their    education  can- 
not go  beyond   the  primary   stage,    as   they  are   too  poor 
to  continue  their   studies   further.     If  primary    education 
is  all  that   they  can  hope  for  under  the   existing  circum- 
stances, of  what  use  can.it  be  to   them?     A  large  number 
of  Panchamas  has  been  receiving  education  for  some  years ; 
but  I  do  noc  know  if  there  are  any  amongst  them  (who  are 
not  Christians)  holding  decent  appointments  in  the  public 
service.     Even  if  primary  education  could   dp  them  some 
good,  how  could  it  reach  those  who  are  living  in  rural  parts 
who  form  the  majority  ?     As  primary   education  in   India 
has  but  touched  the  mere  fringe   of  the   population,  for  a^ 
long  time  to  come  Panchama  boys   living  in   villages  will 


i.]  THE  CONDITION  OF  LOW  CASTES.         326 

have  to  go  without  any  education.  The  establishment  of 
Primary  schools  for  the  Panchamas  in  towns  will  do  but 
little  good  for  the  little  that  they  may  learn  in  them  they 
will  forget  shortly  after  leaving  them,  as  they  will  have  no 
occasion  to  make  use  of  it  in  the  walks  of  life  they  have  per- 
force to  enter.  If  they  have  to  bo  pushed  up,  special  edu- 
cational facilities  will  have  to  bo  provided  for  them  \  so  that 
intelligent  Pancharna  lads  may  proceed  to  the  University. 
In  the  present  state  of  that  community,  perhaps  technical 
education  will  bo  of  greater  use  to  them  than  literary.  Tn 
my  humble  opinion,  the  scholarships  now  sanctioned  by  thb 
local  Government  for  tlio  encouragement  of  the  backward 
classes  ar«  practically  useless  to  the  Panchamas,  inasmuch 
as  they  cannot  continue  their  studies  further  with  them 
without  extraneous  help,  which  in  thoir  case  is  impossible, 
their  parents  being  too  poor  to  give  them  any  pecuniary- 
assistance  ;  so  these  scholarships  will  have  to  be  increased, 
if  the  low  castes  are  to  derive  any  benefit  from  them.  Be- 
sides, one  or  two  scholarships  will  have  to  be  instituted  for 
tlio  Panchamas  of  each  District,  so  that  any  thing  which 
the  Government  may  be  willing  to  do  for  this  class  may' 
benefit  it  aa  a  whole. 

Even  if  all  that  is  recommended  in  the  abovo  para- 
graph is  done,  it  is  doubtful  if  education  alone  will  remove 
the  disabilities  to  which  the  Panchamas  have  been  subject 
for  these  many  centuries  and  raise  them  socially  so  as  to 
render  them  quite  free  from  the  infamy  which  now  at- 
taches to  thoir  very  name.  Even  if  educated  Panchamaa 
get  good  appointments  in  the  public  service,  it  is  doubtf  ill 
whether  members  of  the  higher  castes  will  associate  with 
theni  or  treat  them  as  their  equals.  This  is  not 
likely  to  happen  for  a  long  time  to  come.  Some  are  of- 
opinion  that  since  their  present  condition  is  an  improvement 
Upon  their  past  one,  they  are  sure  to  make  further  progress 
in  future  if  only  they  are  educated.  They  say  that  with 
42 


330  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

the  spread  of  English  education,  caste  restrictions  will 
slacken  and  that  the  existing  prejudices  against  the  low 
castes  will  tend  to  disappear.  There  is  some  truth  in  this. 
But  the  levelling  up  of  a  fallen  class  by  education  is  a  slow 
process.  Those  that  are  sanguine  about  it  will  do  well  to 
bear  in  mind  that  their  optimism  is  based  upon  what  they 
nee  in  a  few  large  towns,  If  the  Panchamas  living  in 
towns  appear  to  bo  treated  better  than  those  who  live  in 
villages,  it  is  due  to  a  variety  of  causes,  of  which  the  grow- 
ing sympathy  of  the  more  enlightened  members  of  the  com- 
munity with  low  castoa  is  not  one.  The  fact  is  that  the 
conditions  of  life  in  towns  do  not  allow  full  scope  for  pre- 
judices of  the  higher  castes  against  the  low  castes ;  this  is 
quite  different  from  sympathy.  In  towns  those  whose  minds 
have  been  truly  liberalised  under  the  influence  of  English 
education  form  a  microscopic  minority.  Even  the  hall- 
mark of  the  University  is  not  always  a  guarantee  that 
the  mind  of  the  recipient  of  the  honour  is  purged  of 
superstitions  and  prejudices  common  to  the  community 
to  which  he  belongs.  The  remarkable  growth  of  the 
present  llovivalistic  movement  in  the  country,  support- 
ed mainly  by  educated  men,  some  of  whom  have  re- 
ceived the  highest  University  honours,  strangely  trying 
to  justify  on  plausible  grounds  all  that  is  Indian,  good,  bad 
or  indifferent,  boars  out  to  some  extent  the  statement  of 
the  critics  of  the  existing  educational  system  that  the  pro- 
ducts of  higher  education  iu  India  are  not  all  that  they  are 
supposed  to  be.  The  Hindus  move  slowly  when  they  are 
compelled  to  move  at  all.  If  progress  in  certain  directions 
is  visible  in  towns,  it  scarcely  extends  beyond  their  limits. 
While  a  few  advanced  men  are  found  in  large  towns,  men 
who  have  kept  pace  with  the  progress  of  thought  in  Europe, 
the  majority  of  their  countrymen,  especially  those  who  9*9 
.  living  ih  villages  have  not  got  beyond  the  stage  of  culture 
reached  by  their  forefathers  about  two  thousand 


I.]  THE  CONDITION  OF  LOW  CASTES.         331 

ago.  Thongh  it  is  true  in  a  general  way  that  the  few  in 
towns  must  always  lead  the  many  in  the  country,  the  largest 
majority  of  the  rural  population  in  Fndia  do  not  appear 
to  be  influenced  in  the  slightest  degree  by  the  opinions  of 
advanced  thinkers  in  the  towns.  If  higher  education 
is  the  only  solvent  of  prejudices,  how  are  the  rural 
population  to  bo  brought  under  its  influence  ?  Those 
who  read  the  times  have  to  admit  that  if  higher  edu- 
cation i&  to  spread  in  the  country,  it  will  not  be  through 
the  direct  agency  of  the  State.  If  the  Government  keep 
back,  the  chance  of  the  bulk  of  the  people  coming  under 
the  sway  of  western  ideas  must  be  remote.  It  is  not 
pleasant  to  play  the  role  of  a  pessimistic  philosopher,  but 
there  is  no  use  in  indulging  in  visionary  hopes,  especially 
when  such  indulgence  leads  to  the  continuance  of  a  highly 
unsatisfactory  state  of  things  affecting  the  position  of  a 
large  section  of  a  community.  The  principle  of  Laissez- 
faire  is  all  very  well,  when  the  people  are  enlightened  and 
self-reliant  ;  but  in  a  backward  community  it  is  seldom 
productive  of  good.  It  must  also  be  borne  in  mind  that 
whatever  difference  of  opinion  there  may  be  regarding  the 
non-interference  policy  of  the  Government  in  certain  ques- 
tions of  social  or  religious  character,  there  can  be  but  one 
opinion  concerning  this,  that  in  the  matter  of  readjustment 
of  relations  between  the  higher  and  lower  castes,  they  can 
do  nothing  except  in  the  way  already  suggested,  however 
much  they  may  sympathise. 

It  is  suggested  that  Government  should  encourage 
the  emigration  of  low  castes  to  foreign  countries,  such  as 
Mauritius,  Zanzibar  and  certain  other  parts  of  Africa,  with 
a  view  to  their  final  settlement  in  those  countries.  Those 
who  suggest  this  think  that,  if  they  return  at  all  to  their 
mother  country  after  a  long  time,  they  *ill  have  lived  down 
the  disabilities  of  their  birth,  if  they  take  care  to  settle  in 
a  different  part  of  the  country  from  which  they  originally 


382  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

emigrated.  They  advocate  this  measure  as  one  which 
is  important  not  only  from  a  social,  but  also  from  an  econo- 
mical point  of  view.  Though  this  suggestion  is  not  un- 
worthy of  the  consideration  of  the  Government,  it  must  be 
added  that  the  carrying  out  of  it  will  be  attended  with 
immense  practical  difficulties. 

If  the  low  castes  aro  to  be  raised  socially,  it  can  only 
be  done  by  the  higher  castes  ;  since  in  the  present  state  of 
enlightenment  of  the  people,  it  is  not  possible  that  largo 
portions  of  the  higher  classes  would  move  in  the  matter  of 
their  own  accord,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  leaders  who  ought 
to  see  its  importance  to  educate  public  opinion  as  a 
measure  preparatory  to  any  bteps  they  may  propose 
to  take  for  the  elevation  of  tho  Panchaiimis.  With 
a  few  honourable  exceptions,  the  leaders  of  the  com- 
munity, even  those  good  men  who  at  considerable  self- 
sacrifice  are  actively  striving  to  promote  the  interests 
oi  the  couutry,  have  scarcely  turned  their  attention  to  this 
important  subject.  Admitting  the  immense  difficulties  of  the 
question,  I  am  still  of  opinion  that  it  deserves  more  serious 
attention  than  has  Ucen  till  now  bestowed  upon  it.  The 
leaders  of  tho  Hindu  community  have  laid  themselves  open 
to  the  attack  of  their  critics  that  what  they  are  seeking  is 
not  the  advancement  of  the  many  but  that  of  the  few,  by 
their  indifference  to  the  miserable  and  degraded  condition 
of  the  low  castes.  If  their  critics  were  to  say  l<  You  want 
higher  political  privileges  ;  you  ask  for  equal  treatment 
with  British-born  subjects  of  His  Majesty  ;  you  denounce 
the  conduct  of  the  European  colonists  in  South  Africa 
towards  the  Indian  settlers  in  their  colonies,  Yet  you 
keep  so  many  millions  of  your  countrymen  in  a  state  of 
degradation  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  any  country  ; 
you  scarcely  recognise  them  as  human  beings  and  treat 
them  as  worse  than  beasts,  though  they  are  in  no  way 
worse  than  many  whom  you  treat  as  your  equals,  Are 


i.]  TEE  CONDITION  OF  LOW  CASTES.          333 

you  consistent  ?  Can  you  complain  of  injustice  if  in  the 
present  state  of  things  your  requests  are  not  granted  ?  " 
One  would  like  to  know  the  replies  our  men  of  light  aod 
leading  would  give  to  such  questions  as  these. 

If  it  is  said  that  the  Hindu  religion  stands  in  the  way 
of  elevation  of  the  low  castes  and  that  no  change  can  be 
made  in  this  direction  without  violating  its  principles,  it 
may  be  replied  that  in  the  first  place  though  Hindu  society 
may  be  slow  to  move,  it  is  still  moving,  and  that  a  good 
many  changes  have  already  been  made  in  customs  and 
practices  which  were  at  one  time  considered  to  be  an 
essential  part  of  the  religion  of  the  people.  In  t/ho  second 
place  it  must  be  remembered  that  tho  Hindu  sacred  books 
say  explicitly  that  a  man  is  a  Chandala  not  by  his  birth, 
but  by  his  actions.  Instances  have  been  already  given  to 
*how  that  in  ancient  times  men  who  were  born  Chandalas 
rose  to  eminence  by  their  learning  and  character  and  were 
held  in  the  highest  estimation  by  their  contemporaries,  and 
their  memory  is  venerated  down  to  the  present  day. 
Vaishnavism  in  its  essence  is  a  protest  against  caste,  and 
the  life  of  Kamanujachariar,  the  great  Vaishnava  Reformer 
is  in  itself  an  illustration  of  one  of  the  fundamental  princi- 
ples of  the  Hindu  religious  philosophy  that  a  man  should 
be  respected,  not  for  his  birth  or  social  position,  but  for 
his  knowledge  and  character.  Therefore  tho  plea  of 
religion  as  justifying  the  continuance  of  the  present  de- 
graded condition  of  the  lower  castes  can  be  accepted  neither 
011  the  ground  of  justice  and  equity  nor  on  that  of  sanction 
of  the  sacred  writings  of  the  Hindus,  as  interpreted  in  the 
light  of  the  practice  of  Indian  sages  and  philosophers  in 
ancient  times.  Since  the  majority  of  the  people  in  every 
country  act  according  to  custom,  though  it  may  be  irra- 
tional or  even  prejudicial  to  their  real  interests,  radical 
changes  cannot  be  introduced  into  the  existing  practice 
so  as  to  elevate  low  castes  all  at  once  3  but  tho  way  must 
be  prepared  for  the  necessary  changes,  Though  the  pro- 


334  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.         [!JART 

blem  is  peculiarly  difficult,  yet  it  will  have  to  be  grappled 
with  if  the  leading  men  of  the  Hindu   community  do   not 
wish  to  be  condemned  for  countenancing  a  form  of  slavery 
which  is  in  certain  respects  worse    than   that  which   ever 
existed    in  Europe.     Besides,  it  is   a  sheer  loss  of  power  to 
the  country  that    so   many   millions   of   men  and  women 
who  are  remarkable  for  their  powers  of  physical  endurance 
and   who   are   not  less  intelligent  than  any  of  the   lower 
classes   should   bo   practically    cut    off  from  society   and 
compelled  to  lot  their  faculties  rust  for  want  oE   opportu- 
nities to  exercise   them.     It   will   nob   do   for  our  leading 
men  to  say  that  they  need  not  trouble  themselves  about  the 
elevation  of  low  castes  on  the  ground  that  what  is  necessary 
in  their  case  is  being  clone   by    the   Government  and  the 
missionaries.     I  have  already  said  that  what  the    Govern- 
ment can  do  directly  is  little-     As  for  the   missionaries,  it 
musfybo  remembered  that  the  good  they  have  done  to  the 
low  castes  has  been  in  almost  every  case  preceded  by  their 
conversion  to  Christianity,     Therefore   the   leaders  of  the 
Hindu  community  will  have  to  ask  themselves  the   question 
whether  they  will  rise  superior  to   the   prejudices   of   their 
unenlightened  countrymen  in  the  treatment  of  the  Pancha- 
mas  and  boldly  come  forward  to  raise  them  from  their  pre- 
sent degraded  condition,  or  leave  them  to  the  missionaries 
to  bo  proselytised  and  regenerated.     This  is   an  important 
question.    The  present  condition  of  the  low  castes  is  a  dis- 
grace to  the  community  and  ought  not  to  be  allowed  to  re- 
main long  as  it  is.     If  high  caste  men  cannot  give  up  their 
prejudice  against  low   castes  and  are   unwilling  to   raise 
their  social   status,    they    cannot    reasonably    complain  if 
these  low  castes  give  up  their  connection  with  the  Hindu 
community,  of  which  they  have  no  cause  to  be   proud,  and 
embrace  a  faith  which  will  not  only   alter  their  relations 
with  the  other  sections  of  Indian   society,  bub  will   also 
enable  them  to  live  a  better  and  happier  life. 


XIII— The  Position  of  Woman  In  Anolent  and 
Modern  India 

By  MRS,  KAMALA   SATTHUNADHAN,  M.  A. 

Perhaps  nothing  is  so  decisive  a  test  of  the  degreo_of 
civilisation  and  ^thical  culture  to  which  a  nation  has  at- 
tained as  the_position  assigned  to  women  among  the   peo- 
ple of  that  nation.    In  this  respect  we  have  no  reason  to 
be  ashamed  of  our  early  Aryan  ancestors,  as  ancient  India 
had,  from  this  point  of  view,  reached   a  degree  of  refine- 
ment higher  even  than  that  attained  by  either  Greece  or 
Eome  iu  their  palmiest  days,  and  mmh  higher,   incredible 
as  it  may  seem,  than  that  of  modern  India.    In  Greece, 
the  allegiance  of  the  citi/en  to  his  state  was  looked  upon 
as  his  paramount  duty  ;  and,  lest  family  ties  should  in   any 
way  impair  this,  the  women  wore  deprived  of  all  higher 
offices.     Kept  in  strict  seclusion,  with  no  education  worthy 
of  the  name,  they  were  almost  reduced  to  the  condition  of 
slaves.    Nor  was  the  position  of  the  ancient  Roman  matron 
better.    No  doubt  she  is  often  held  up  as  the  ideal  of  a 
noble  and  lofty  character,  but  even  she  had    no    personal 
rights  and  was  subject  to  her  husband  as  absolutely  as  if 
she  had  been  his  slave.    In  ancient  India,   on  the  other 
hand,  the  position  of  woman  was  far  different.  4 

The  direct  evidence  we  got  in  this  matter  from  the 
Vedas,  which  are  the  earliest  records  from  which  such  in- 
formation may  be  gathered,  is  scant ;  but  it  is  sufficient  to 
show  that  the  position  heldjby  the  Aryan  women  in  the 
Vedic  period  was  a  most  honourable,  nay  exalted,  one. 
Without  any  unhealthy  restrictions  ou  their  actions,  they 
were  allowed  a  freedom  in  society,  which  now  in  India 
would  be  wondered  at  and  perhaps  considered  unbecoming. 
There  was  no  attempt  made  to  keep  them  uneducated  and 
they  seem  to  have  been  on  a  footing  of  perfect  equality 
with  their  husbands,  subject  to  no  one,  not  even  tbeir 


386  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

mothers-in-law.  And  what  is  more,  the  Hindu  wife  was 
considered  as  the  intellectual  companion  of  her  husband 
and  as  his  friend  and  helper  in  life  ;  she  was  honoured  and 
respected  by  him  and  her  supremacy  in  his  home  was  ab- 
solute as  wife  and  mother.  Sucli  was  the  position  of 
jromen  in  ancient  India  ;  but  what  a  terrible  falling  off 
from  this  high  standard  is  presented  by  their  condition  as 
modified  by  later  Erabraamsm  and  Hinduism,  That  their 
present  position  is  deplorable  and  is  one  of  the  chief  hind- 
rances to  the  further  advance  of  Indian  civilisation,  no 
one,  not  even  the  most  enthusiastic  patriot  of  India's  glory, 
can  deny.  It  is  better  f.ir  to  admit  it,  to  bo  ashamed  of 
it,  and  then  try  to  do  something  to  remedy  their  condition 
and  make  them  better  fitted  for  the  important  duties 
which,  as  women,  they  are  called  upon  to  fulfil. 
"*•  As  has  already  been  shown,  in  early  Vedic  times,  we 
have  a  very  pleasing  picture  of  women,  who  moved  on  a 
footing  of  perfect  equality  with  their  .husbands.  In  numer- 
ous places,  we  even  find  mention  of  wives  joining  their 
husbands  in  tlie  performance  of  sacrifices.  They  offer  the 
oblations  together  and  thus  hope  to  go  to  Heaven  together. 
Then  there  is  the  picture  of  cultured  ladies,  some  of  whom 
themselves  were  Rising  and  composed  hymns  like  the  men. 
They  often  distinguished  themselves  in  science  and  in  the 
learning  of  the  times  ;  and,  what  is  more  astonishing,  they 
even  had  a  certain  amount  of  influence  on  politics  and  ad- 
ministration. They  attended  great  assemblies  ;  they  open- 
ly frequented  public  thoroughfares  ;  and  in  fact,  altoge- 
ther they  have  never  mixed  so  freely  in  the  society  of  men 
as  women  do  in  modern  Europe,  yet  absolute  seclusion  and 
retirement  are  or  at  least  were,  not  Hindu  customs.  Innu- 
merable passages  can  be  quoted  from  Vedic  literature 
showing  the  high  esteem  in  which  women  were  held  ;  but 
it  will  be  enough  if  we  give  one  example  which  is  often 
brought  forward,  There  is  an  account  given  in  the  early 


i.J  THE  POSITION  OF  WOMAN,  Etc.         333 

Brahmanas  of  a  conversation,  which  is  reported  as  having 
taken  place  between  Yajnavalkya,  a  great  saint  and  his 
cultured  wife,  Maitrwyi,  on  the  eve  of  his  retirement  into 
the  ascetic  state.  Yajnavalkya  is  said  to  have  proposed  to 
divide  his  wealth  between  Maitroyi  and  her  co-wifo.  Bui 
the  former  refused  the  money  and  askod  in  return  that  she 
might  bo  taught  tho  knowledge  of  immortality  ;  and  it  is 
recorded  that  that  knowledge  was  granted  to  her.  This 
example  goes  at  onco  to  prove  what  we  havo  been  trying 
to  set  down  hero.  The  very  fact  of  Maitreyi  asking  for 
the  knowledge  of  immortality  shows  that  women  then  must 
have  been  in  the  habit  of  asking  for  such  things  and  that 
it  was  not  thought  improper  to  keep  them  well-informed 
on  religi6us  aud other  matters  of  general  interest.  In  an. 
cient  times,  not  only  were  child- marriages  unknown ;  but  on 
the  contrary,  we  havo  numerous  allusions  to  the  marriages 
of  girls  at  u  proper  age.  There  was  also  no  religious  qb- ' 
Ijgation  that  evoryjjirl  must  be  married  ;  and  we  even  find 
mention  of  unmarried  women  who  remained  in  their 
fathers7  homes  and  obtained  a  share  of  tho  paternal  pro- 
perty. 

It  would  seem  that  girls  in  ancient  India  had  a  voice 
in  the  selection  of  their  husbands.  It  was  customary,  no 
doubt,  to  make  the  official  demand  through  third  persons ; 
but  it  is  more  than  probable  that  the  girl's  consent  was 
made  sure  of  first  and  therefore  that  she  was  a  willing 
bride.  Indeed,  a  little  later  on  the  fine  old  custom  of  the 
Swayamvara,  in  which  tho  girl  was  given  the  privilege  of 
choosing  her  husband  out  of  many  suitors,  was  originated, 
and  was  not  abolished  till  a  long  time  afterwards. 

The  sacredness  of  the  marriage  tie  and  the  marriage 
rite  is*  emphasised  in  Vedic  literature  by  the  description  of 
a  marriage  in  heaven,  which  forms  the  introduction  to  the 
grand  wedding  hymn  there  given.  This  is  the  marriage 
of  Suryah,  the  sun-maiden  or  Dawn,  with  Soma  or  the 
43 


33H  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

Moon.  The  interpretation  of  the  myth  presents  no  diffi- 
culty and  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  was  intended  as  the  type 
of  all  earthly  marriages,  the  harmonious  co-operation  of 
tlie  two  rulers  of  the  Universe,  signifying  the  love  and 
union  which  ought  to  exist  between  a  husband  and  hi  a 
•wife. 

4V  In  ancient  times,  widow  marriage  was  not  prohibited  ; 
on  the  other  hand,  we  find  a  distinct  sanction  of  it  in  tho 
rites  which  arc  prescribed  for  the  widow's  performance 
boforo  sho  enters  into  the  married  state  again. 

is  tho  position  of  women  in  Vedic  times.    Coming 


(down  to  a  later  period  of  Indian  history, — the  times  of  tho 
Mahnbhfiratsi  and  the  Ramayana, — \yo  find  that  there  is  not 
much  difforvm-e  in  their  condition.  They  hold  the  same 
honoured  position  as  they  did  before.  Indeed,  in  exhibiting 
pictures  of  domestic  life  and  manners,  the  Sanskrit  epics 
are'  particularly  life-like,  and  even  more  so  than  tho 
Greek  and  Roman.  In  the  delineation  of  women,  tho 
Hindu  poet  throws  asido  all  exaggerated  colouring  ;  ho 
draws  from  nature  and  from  life  ;  and  the  many  heroines 
that  we  meet  with  engage  our  affections  and  interest  far 
more  than  any  of  the  heroines  in  Greek  or  Roman  classical 
literature. 

"vrn  There  is  a  remarkable  definition  of  a  wife  given  in  the 
Mahabharata,  which  it  will  be  worth  our  while  to  notice  : 

j  "  A  wiFo  is  half  the  man,  his  truest  friend — 
\     A  loving  wife  is  a  perpetual  spring 

Of  virtue,  pleasure,  wealth  ;  a  faithful  wife 

Is  liia  hcsb  aid  in  seeking  heavenly  bliss  ; 

A  sweetly-speaking   wife   is  n  companion 

J  n  solitude  ;  a  father  in  advice  ; 

A  mother  in  nil  seasons  o£  distress, 
J  A  rest  in  passing  through  Life'a  wilderness," 

Thus  wo  see  that  thu  great  freedom,  which  was  then 
granted  to  woni^n,  did  not,— as  it  is  sometimes  thought  now 


i.j         THE  POSITION  of  WOMAN,  EI<>.         339 

it  might  do,  if  ever  it  is  granted   in  tliu    same   way,  —  pre- 
vent thorn  from    leading  lives  of   perfect  conjugal  fidelity. 
From  timo  immemorial,  tlie  Hindu  women  IIZIM)  been  justly 
celebrated  for  the  possession  of  domestic   virtues,   -such    as 
devotion  to  husbands,  affection  for  children,  careful   atten- 
tion to  household  duties,  modesty,   gentleness,   hospitality. 
The  many  pictures  we  have  of  Pativralttj  or  "  devoted  wife" 
are  truly  touching  and  at  the    same   time    interesting,  be- 
cause  they  throw  so  much  light  on  the  purity    and  simpli- 
city of  Hindu  domestic  manners  in  early  timea,    No    doubt 
thgjiovotion  of  the  Hindu  wife  implies  an  inferiority,  which 
is  incompatible  with  modern  European  ideas   of    independ- 
ence ;    but  it  is  at  the  same  time  none  the  less    touching  ; 
nor  do  we  fail  to  see  from  the   many   legends   and   stories 
that  we  find  in  the  epics  that  submission  and  independence 
go  hand  in  hand.  Wives  jiro  loyal  and  devoted  to  their  hus- 
bandpj  yet  show  much  independence   of   character   and  do 
not  hesitate  to  express  their  own    opinions  ;  husbands   aru> 
tenderly  affectionate  t  nv.mls  their  wives    and  treat    them. 
with  respect  and  courtesy  ;  daughters   aro   submissive  and  \ 
obedient  to  their  parents,  yet,  when  occasion   requires,   aro  - 
spirited  and  courageous  ;  in  fact  love  and   harmony   reign 
throughout  the  family  circle.     Nothing  can  be  more  beau- 
tiful and  touching  than  thejuetures  of  domestic  uud  social 
the  Kamayana  and  the  Mahabharata  abound 


with  ;  and  many  aro  the  high-soulcd  heroines  that  we  meet 
with,  showing  clearly  that  in  those  days  there  was  much 
dignity  and  elevation  about  female  character,  There  in, 
forexemple,  the  chaste  jSjia,  the  heroine  of  the  Kainayana, 
the  memory  of  whose  noble  purity  and  unflinching  devotion 
to  her  husband,  every  Hindu  woman  holds  dear  even  to 
the  present  day.  Though  young  and  bred  in  the  palaces 
of  kings,  this  delicate  maiden  pleads  to  follow  her  hus- 
band into  the  dreariness  of  a  forest  life,  when  he  is  con- 
demned by  the  selfishness  and  ingratitude  of  a  step- 


340  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [!JART 

mother  to  an  exile  of  fourteen  years  •  and  there)  in  spite  of 
the  horrors  and  temptations  with  which  a  demon-king  sur- 
rounds her,  and  in  the  face  of  almost  insurmountable  diffi- 
culties, she  remains  true  to  her  lord,  till  in  the  end  she  is 
reunited  to  him.  >Somc  of  her  pleadings  for  permission  to 
accompany  her  husband  into  exile  arc  so  touching  that  we 
cannot  help  quoting  them  : 

11  A  wife  must  share  her  husband' 6  fate.  My  duly  is  to  follow  thcc 
Where'er  thnu  cocsl.  Apart  from  thce,  I  should  not  dwell  in  heaven 

itself. 

Thou  arb  my  king,  my  guide,  my  only  refuge,  my  divinity. 
It  ia  my  fixed  roaolvc  to  follow  thcc.    If  thou  must  wander  forth 
Through  thorny   trackless  forest,   I  will  gu  before    thce  treading 

down 
The  prickly  hramblcs  to  miike  smooth   thy  path.     Walking  before 

thec,  I 

Shall  feel  no  wearinoas;  the  forest  thorn  will  seem  like  silken  robes  : 
Roaming  with  thee  in  desert  wastes,  a  thousand  years  will  bo  a  day  ; 
Dwelling  with  thce,  o'on  hell  itself  would  be  to  me  a  heaven  of  bliss.'' 

'411iS.5.t?lX^i  Savitii,  thu  heroine  of  a  pathetic  legend, 
is  the  story  of  |C  the  wonderful  temple  of  exalted  chastity." 
Savitri,  the  daughter  of  a  great  king,  has  chosen  a  hermit 
son  for  her  husband,  but  there  ia  a  curse  on  him  that  he 
should  die  within  a  year.  Hut  in  spite  of  all  the  terrors  of 
a  premature  widowhood  that  are  held  out  before  her,  she 
remains  true  to  her  plighted  faith  and  marries  the  youth 
of  her  choice.  Then  she  watches  over  him  so  unceasingly 
and,  when  the  dread  hour  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  curse 
arrives,  she  pleads  for  his  life  with  such  courage  and  ten* 
derness,  that  the  great  King  of  Death  himself  is  touched 
by  her  devotion,  and  gives  back  her  husband  again  to  her* 

There  are  many  such  stories  like  these  in  the  Hindu 
literature,  and  they  all  deserve  to  be  read  over  and  over 
again,  both  for  their  own  sakes  and  also  becaifte  they  are 
such  touching  mementos  of  the  early  days  of  our  brave, 
old  ancestors. 


i.J  THE  POSITION  OF  WOMAN,  Etc.         341 


.^!t^9JSi?^er  period,  —  tliP_JSg£L£f  .^Ii9  Sutras 
und  jhe  laws  of  Mann,  —  we  find  that,  though  the  women 
still  enjoyed  considerable  liberty,  there  way  a  distinct  de- 
cline in  their  position.  The  ancient  law  -giver,  fllanur 
speaks  of  women  as  having  no  will  pi1  their.  j^wn^a^jojiJit 
for  independence,  but  he  was  probably  describing  a  stato 
of  society,  which  it  was  the  aim  oE  Lho  priesthood  to  estab- 
lish, rather  than  thai  which  really  existed  then.  Women 
were  regarded  as  dependent  upon  their  male  relations  ;  but 
noverthelcs,  as  distinctly  appears  from  the  lone  of  all  San- 
skrit literature,  they  were  honoured  in  their  families  and 
held  in  esteem  by  the  society  in  which  they  lived.  H  The 
teacher"  pays  Mann,  "  is  ten  times  n.ore  venerable  than  a 
sub-teacher,  the  father  LI  hundred  times  more  than  the 
teacher,  and  tho  mother  a  thousand  times  more  than  thu 
father."  Thus  we  see  that  women  were  hold  in  great  res- 
pect ;  but  still  thu  feeling  that  they  had  no  independent 
aim  or  existence  was  fust  growing  with  tho  degeneracy  of 
tho  times. 

l  s  afc  aflje§rly  age  was,  as  we  havo 


seen,  probably  unknown  in  the  Vedic  and  even  the  Kpic, 
period.  It  gradually  however  came  into  vogue  with  the 
nationalistic  aud  the  Buddhist  periods  ;  but  even  then  it 
was  not  obligatory.  But  it  is  insisted  upon  by  the  writers 
of  the  Puranic  period,  or  the  last  period  of  Hindu  rule  in 
India  ;  and  now  it  has  become  so  firmly  rooted  a  custom 
that  no  Hindu,  unless  he  be  a  very  brave  man,  would,  ever 
dream  of  transgressing  it. 

Thfl  ynftriMftflfl  nf  ^'flawm,  which  was  a  prevalent  cus- 
tom in  the  Vedic  and  iipic  periods,  became  gradually  re- 
stricted in  the  Rationalistic  period,  and  except  in  tho  caso 
of  child-widows,  was  not  looked  upon  with  favour.  Mann 
especially  fe  very  indignant  against  it,  though  in  one  place 
he  Hays  that  widow  marriage  still  prevailed  in  his  time, 
although  it  was  not  approved  by  the  orthodox  and  nowhero' 


342  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

prescribed  for  virtuous  women.  The  feeling  against  it, "how  • 
ever,  grew  very  strong ;  and  though  even  to  the  close,  of  the 
Puranic  period  it  was  nob  altogether  prohibited,  still  in  the 
end  it  culminated  in  the  complete  abolition  of  the  despised 
custom  and  even  in  the  introduction  of  the  terrible  custom 
of  Sati,  or  the  burning  of  widows.  But  the  latter  was 
never  a  Hindu  custom.  It  was  introduced  into  India  by  the 
Scythian  invaders,  who  poured  into  the  country  during  the 
Buddhist  age.  It  seemed  to  exercise  a  great  fascination 
however  for  the  Hindus  :  and  (he  inhuman  practice  was 
often  practised  till  the  merciful  intervention  of  the  British 
Government  led  to  its  abolition. 

Thus  gradually  the  position  of  women  in  India  declined 
till  about  1000  A.  D.,  when  woman's  subordination  to 
man  became  complete.  The  pride  of  Brahmanism  and  the 
influence  of  the  priests,  whose  authority  became  more  and 
more  firmly  established  and  who  denied  to  the  women  with 
those  of  the  lower  castes  all  the  learning  of  the  times,  no 
doubt  with  the  object  of  perpetuating  their  sway,  seem  to 
be  the  chief  causes  of  this  sad  change.  But  it  was  the 
Mahomedan  conquest  of  India,  which  finally  completed  the 
degradation  in  the  position  of  Hindu  women,  the  result  of 
which  was  a  seclusion,  which  led  to  a  complete  cramping  of 
their  intellectual  faculties,  owing  to  the  absence  of  oven 
that  education,  which  contact  with  and  observation,  of  the 
inside  world  imparts-  At  the  present  day  no  Hindu  woman 
has  in  theory  at  least  any  independence,  for,  as  we  have 
shewn  already,  one  of  the  principal  precepts  taught 
in  the  Hindu  books  is  that  women  should  be  kept  in  a  state 
of  subjection  all  their  lives  and  never  on  any  account  to  be 
allowed  to  become  their  own  mistresses.  She  belongs  to 
her  father  first  and  then  to  her  husband  to  whom  she  is 
given  away  for  ever  ;  and  even  after  his  death  she  is  not 
free,  for  her  own  sons  have  the  right  to  order  her  about. 
Many  are  the  evil  effects  of  such  a  system  ;  but  before  pro- 


L]  THE  POSITION  OF,  WOMAN,  Etc.  343 

ceeding  to  notiqe  these,  let  us  consider  for  a  moment   what 
the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  women  are. 

From  the  hour  that  the   first   man   and    wonum   were 
created,  God  has  not  put  ono  human  being  into   the   world 
without  something  to  do  there,  some  visible   tangible   work 
to  be  left  behind  when  death  conies  ;  and  women  as  well  as 
men  are   responsible  for   their  lives,   for  the  talents   and 
gifts  given  them,  which  they  arc  on  no   account   to   waste. 
But  then  comes  the  momentous  question   which   every   In- 
dian woman  may  ask  with  no  hope  of  a  satisfactory  answer, 
at  least  at   the  present  time,  "  What,anfel  to_  do   with  ray 
lif SL  ?"     A  definite  answer  to  such  a  question  is  always   im- 
possible, owing  to  a  diversity  of   characters,    tastes,   capa- 
bilities, and  circumstances  of  each  individual,   and    much 
more  so  is  it  in  this  case  whore  even  where  tho   taste    and 
the  capability  for  work  exist,  no  opportunity   is   given  for 
their  exercise.     BjitLJvhsiJLarQ  women  to.  tlo  ?     A   diversity 
gf^opiruon  exists^on.  tJiej)Qint.  /  It  is   the   dictum   of  many 
that  home  is  woman's  sphere  and  that  beyond   home   she 
has  no  work  to  do.  '-  Some  say  that  she  has   duties  outside 
home  as  well ;  but  there  are  two  parties  among   those  who 
hold  the  latter  opinion.  *>0n  tho  one  hand  there  are  many 
who  agree  with  Mr-  Ruskin  that  it  is  foolish   to   speak   of 
the  superiority  of  one  sex  to  tho  other,  because  each  has 
what  the  other  has  not,  because  the  woman  is  tho   comple- 
ment of  the  man.  *0n  the  other  hand  the   opinion  is — and 
it  is  slowly  gaining  ground — that  women  are  the  equals    of 
men  in  all  things,  that  they  are  joint-partners  with  man  in 
making  the  world  better  anjjl  that  sex  has   nothing  to  do 
with  tho  arrangement.     B^alL^arfi_agrced  Jhatjbho Jlr&t 
duties  ofjvoman  are  at  home,  and  these  are   thp   dufes  of 
maiden/, wife,  apdcmothcr.     Innumerable   are  the   ways  iu| 
which   n^_  Tfif"flftn    can   bo   useful  to   those  around  her,  as 
daughter,  as  sister,  as  friend,  as  a  helper  of  the  poor,  as  a 
sweet  sympathiser,  as  a  true  woman.    What  can  be  nobler 


341  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

than  noble  maidenhood,  distinguished  by  all  the  attributes 
a  good  woman  ought  to  possess — by  courtesy,  in  the  widest 
sense  of  the  word,  the  courtesy  which  regards  with  indul- 
gence the  views,  wishes  and  even  the  whims  of  others, 
which  respects  their  prejudices  while  not  yielding  to  them, 
which  volunteers  no  harsh  judgments  ;  by  industry,  by 
constancy,  by  endurance,  by  modesty,  by  grace  and  dignity 
— all  indications  of  that  higher  sympathy  and  purer  feeling 
which  woman  is  said  to  possess  as  her  distinguishing  cha- 
racteristic. &SJKif£,  a  woman's  first  duty  is  to  her  husband. 
To  her  with  her  gentle  nature,  with  the  sterner  and  bolder 
outlines  of  mail's  character  changed  in  her  into  softer  and 
more  delicate  outlines,  is  granted  the  privilege  of  standing 
by  the  side  of  her  stronger  companion  and  helping  him  on  in 
life.  Mr.  Ruskin  says  there  are  five  classes  of  duties  which 
are  included  in  woman's  work,  and  these  are  (1)  to  please 
(2)  tojfeod Jthom JJL dainty  ways,  (3)  to  clothe  the^ij 
f1lflm  orderly,  (5)  to  teach  JJiftm.  But,  says  some 
one  these  are  old-fashioned  duties  and  women  have  talents 
for  better  things  than  these.  Certainly  they  have,  but  because 
that  is  the  case  there  is  no  need  to  undervalue  woman's  work 
at  home,  of  which  the  duties  above  enumerated  form  part. 
A  wife  should  be  ji er  Ima band's L njarea^ndjdgar§gt_ _f rjifltid 
an  d  ihfiicef  or<^  , 

as  capabl^ojj^isi^  Perfect  hap- 

piness can  exist  only  where  there  is  perfect  equality,  for  in 
the  close  intercourse  of  domestic  life,  the  wife  and  the  hus- 
band mast  necessarily  act  and  react  upon  each  other.  But 
to  be  a  man's  equal,  a  woman  must  be  educated  and  truly 
enlightened.  In  _what  jjofifl^  a  man  want  in  his  wife  ? 
Qnjyjaifficient  power  and  tact  to  servo  her  husband  aright  ? 
<Np  ;  he  requires  also  intellectual  tastes  and  sensibilities  to 
make  her  companionship  a  source  of  life  and  light  to  him, 
such  high  thoughts  and  aspirations  as  will  enter  into  his 
highest  ideals  and  such  love  for  him  as,  remaining  nobly 


i.]  THE  POSITION  OF  WOMAN,  Et<:  34ft 

blind  to  his  faults,  will  help   to   lift  him   above   the  gros's 
atmosphere   of  this    work-a-day   world.     When  there    is 
such  an  entire  compatibility  of  temper,    there  will  never 
arise  any  question  of  superiority,  each   will    know  when  to 
yield  to  the  ether,  and   when  in  after-life    the  husband   is 
filled  with  care  and  trouble,  what  a   help   the    woman  is  to 
him  then.     She  smooths  away  his  sorrows,  she  props  up  his 
flagging  spirits,  she  puts  new   hope  into   his    soul,   and  lie 
goes  forth  with  new  strength  and  new  zeal  to  wrestle    with 
life  and  its  responsibilities.     It  is  impossible  to  exaggerate 
the  influence  for  good   that  women  may   have   upou    men. 
Mr.  Euskin  says,   "  The  soul's  armour  is   never  set  to  the 
heart  unless  a  woman's  hand  has  braced  it ;  and  it   is  only 
when  she  braces  it  loosely   than   the    honour   of  manhood 
fails."     "  Oftentimes"   says  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  in  his 
11  Professor  at  the  Breakfast  Table,"   "  I   have    seen   a  tall 
ship  glide  by  against  the  tide  as  if  drawn  by    some   invisi- 
ble tow-line,    with  a  hundred  strong   arms    pulling  ib  ;  her 
sails  being  unfilled,  her   streamers  were  drooping,  she  had 
neither  aide- wheel,  nor  stern  wheel ;  still  she  moved  on  statn- 
]y  in  her  serene   triumph    a^  if  with  her  own    life.     But   I 
knew  that  on  the  other  sido  oEtlv*  ship,  hidden  beneath  the 
great  hull  that  swam   so   majestically,   there    was  a  little 
toiling  steam-tug  dragging  it  bravely  on,  and   I  knew   that 
if  the  steam-tug  unturned  her  arms  and  left  the   tall    ship, 
it  would  drift  hither  and  thither  and  go  off  withtho  refluent 
tide,  DO  man  knows  whither.     And  HO  I  have  known    more 
than  one  genius  that,  but  for  the   brave   toiling    arms   and 
warm-beating  heart  of  the  faithful   little  wife  that  nestled 
close  in  his  shadow    nnd   dragged    him     on    against  all 
the  tide  of  circumstances,  would    soon    have    gone    down 
the    stream'     and    been     heard    of     no     more."     In    the 
same  way   a   mother   influences    the     life     of '  her   child* 
as   one   good  mother  is  worth    a   hundred  school -masters, 
directing  far  more  than  does  the  father  the  action  and  con- 
44 


346  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

duct  of  the  child.  And  it  is  true  of  mothers  as  of  wives 
also,  that  rhe  most  cultivated  women  make  the  best  of 
mothers,  for  not  only  does  maternal  love  make  many  a 
woman  heroic,  but  it  also  stimulates  the  intellect,  calling 
forth  in  many  an  unsuspected  reserve  of  mental  power.  Mr. 
Knskln  Rays  abnut  the  first  education  of  a  child,  ft  Do  you 
suppose  it  makes  no  difference  to  it  that  tlie  order  of  the 
house  is  perfect  and  quiet,  the  faces  of  its  father  and  mother 
full  of  peace,  their  soft  voices  familiar  to  its  ear  ;  or  that  it 
is  tossed  from  arm  to  arm,  among  hard,  or  reckless,  or 
vain-minded  persons  ?  "  Thcijiiotlier  it  is  >vho  supplies  the 
grace>  the  beauty,,  the  atmosphere  of  purity,  of  the  home? 
who  maintains  its.  harmony  and  order.  A  mother^  love,  — 

mother  gives  up  Lor  heart  to  her 


child   and   boromos  absorbed   in    his   existence.     A  true 
mother's  love  is  a  love  which  years  cannot  wither,  which  is 
always  ready  to  answer   any  demands  made  upon  it,  which 
gilds  the  darkest  clouds  with   shine.    Her  love  it  is  which 
provides  childhood  and  manhood  with  happy  memories,  so 
illuminating  home  that   to  the  day  of  death,  home  serves 
as  a  beacon-light  attracting  the  weary  wanderer  back  to  its 
peaceful  light.     What  would  Shakenpearo^ 
thgjyreat  .gen  iusea  of  the  .jvarld,    hM©J^ 
mockers  ?  Thus  we  may  say,  not  that  we  may  trumpet  forth 
our  own  glory,  but  that  we  may    encourage  ourselves  and 
others  only  to  do  ouf  duty,  "  that  posterity  lies  in  the  per- 
son of  the  child  in   the  mother's  lap."    The  memory  of  a 
good  woman  will  live  after  her,  both  in  the  work  she  has 
done  and  in  the  lives  of  those  she  has  brought  up  and 
influenced. 

1  The  rights  of  women,  what  arc  they  ? 
The  right  to  labour  and  to  pray, 
The  right  to  comfort  in  distress 
The  right  when  others  blame,  to  bless." 


i.]  THE  POSITION  OF  WOMAN,  Etc.  347 

fk  There's  not  a  place  in  earth  or  heaven 
There's  not  a  ta&k  to  mankind  Kiven, 
There's  not  a  blessing  or  a  woe, 
There's  noL  a  whispered  yes  or  no, 
There's  nob  a  life,  or  death,  or  birth 
That  has  a  feather's  weight  of  worth 
i  Without  a  woman  in  it.1' 

A 11.  women  Cannot  be  so ;  but  all  women  can  aspiiv. 
to__thc,.Jiigli__ideal.  Consciously  or  unconsciously  a 
woman,  if  shu  be  true  and  tender,  loving,  patient, 
will  organise  and  put  in  operation  a  set  of  influences 
that  mould  the  destiny  of  a  nation.  The  idea  that 
woman  is  the  complement  of  the  man  is  brought 
out  in  Tennyson's  Princess.  Tennyson  does  not  advo- 
cate that  marriage  and  home  alone  are  woman's  sphere, 
though  he  comes  back  Lo  such  a  position  sometimes. 
Woman  has  to  be  a  true  woman  at  home  and  form  true 
men  and  women  for  the  State  and  for  humanity.  But 
he  takes  a  larger  view  also.  He  appears  to  ridicule  the 
scheme  of  the  Princess  ;  but  there  is  no  malice  in  his  treat- 
ment of  the  case.  He  dwells  with  admiration  on  the  tine 
character  of  the  Princess  and  the  essential  nobility  of  her 
cause.  Knowledge,  he  says,  is  as  necessary  for  women  as  for 
men,  but  with  a  difference,  not  in  the  matter  of  the  princi- 
ples of  nature,  but  allowing  her  to  assert  herself,  allowing 
womankind  to  have  free  play  and  then  supplementing  it 
with  knowledge  as  the  means  by  which  to  rise  upwards. 
11  Everywhere/1  he  says, 

"Two  heads  in  council,  two  beside  the  hcanh, 
Two  in  the  tangled  business  of  the  world, 
Two  in  the  liberal  offices  oi!  life, 
Two  plummets  dropped  for  one  to  sound  the  abyss 
Of  science  and  the  secrets  of  the  mind.'1 

Combining  what  Mr.  August  Comte  says  with  the  vie  AT  of 
Mr.  Raskin,  we  have  the  wholo  case  before  us.  '*  In  prac- 
tical energy  and  in  the  luoutal  capacity  connected  with  it, 


348  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAKT 

man  is  undoubtedly  superior  to  woman.  Woman's  strength 
on  the  other  land  lies  in  i'eoling.  She  excels  man  in  love, 
as  man  excels  her  hi  all  bonds  of  force/7  says  the  former, 
while  liuskm's  theory  is  :  "  A  man's  work  for  his  home  is 
to  secure  its  maintenance,  progress  and  defence  ;  the 
woman's  to  secure  its  order,  comfort  and  loveliness."  But 
buth  have  public  duties  also,  "  for  tho  man's  duty  is  to 
assist  in  the  maintenance,  in  the  advance,  in  the  defence  of 
the  State.  The  woman's  duty  is  in  the  ordering,  ,in  the 
comforting,  and  in  the  beautiful  adornment  of  the  State." 
Finally  we  come  to  that  large-hearted  vieivjiLwomau- 
hopd,  which,  as  wo  said  befoie,  is  slowly  gaining  ground  — 
that  women  are  equals  of  men  in  every  way,  and  .tliat.therp- 
fore  to  women  as  to  meii,  is  to  be  given  every,  opportunity 
for  the  full  development  and  exerciwu  of  .their  fupulties  ancj 
gifts.  "  '-tlxjurg  j«LU9  sex  among  _soiilsj"  says  a  writer,  "  and 
hence  Jliere  is  none  ij 


"  Women  have  risen  to  high  excellence 
In  every  urt  w  here  tcr  they  ffivc  their  care,"  says  Ariosto. 

That  women  are  capable  of  every  improvement  which  will 
better  their  judgments  and  understanding,  iS  beyond  all 
doubt.  Onl\  ,  they  must  set  to  it  in  earnest  and  lay  a  sound 
basfs  of  \\iadom  and  knowledge,  in  order  that  they  may  be 
better  enabled  to  servo  God  and  help  their  neighbours. 
The  survey  of  the  progress  of  women  in  the  world  of  letters 
is  very  instructive  ;  and  proves  that  she  is  not  intellectually 
inferior  to  man,  inasmuch  as  her  progress  has  been  in 
exact  correspondence  with  the  increasing  educational  advan- 
tages placed  at  her  disposal.  The  convolutions  of  tho 
ordinary  female  brain  are  said  indeed  to  be  less  complex 
than  those  of  the  ordinary  male  brain  -  but  it  does  not 
appear  as  a  fact  that  ordinary  women  are  duller  of  com- 
prehension than  ordinary  men.  Each  has  to  cultivate  mind 
and  heart  and  soul,  each  has  to  make  the  best  possible 
use  of  time  as  a  preparation  for  eternity.  A  writer  says 


i.]  THE  POSITION  OF  WOMAN,  Etc.  349 

"  woman,  like  man,  has  a  being  to  develop,  physically  with 
more  of  grace  and  loveliness,  though  with  leas  of  strength ; 
intellectually  with  more  of  taste  and  fineness  of  percep- 
tion and  discrimination,  though  with  loss  of  logical  power 
and  continuous  application ;  morally,  with  more  of  meek- 
ness and  kindness,  of  patience  and  endurance,  though  with 
less  of  determination,  energy  and  activity ;  bat  still  the 
great  object,  in  both  cases,  is  the  development  of  the 
qualities  of  that  being  with  which  God  has  endowed  us." 
Woman  as  the  enthusiast  and  reformer  may  be  as  great 
ay  man,  for  courage  is  not  only  a  manly,  but  also  a  womanly, 
virtue.  Woman  is  capable  of  the  highest  courage*  the 
courage  which  endures  the  sharpest  arrows  of  pain  without 
a  murmur,  which  sacrifices  itself  for  another's  sake,  which 
gives  up  everything  willingly  for  a  cherished  cause,  which 
can  bear  unjust  censure  with  a  tranquil  spirit  and  not 
despair.  A  male  writer  himself  says,  "  The  courage  of  men  is 
based  upon  custom,  discipline,  ordinary  habit ;  that  of 
women  is  inspired  by  some  elevated  motive  or  strong  passion. 
Hence  women  always  rise  to  the  occasion  ;  men  frequently 
fall  below  it."  But  it  was  only  lately  that  such  a  view  has 
been  gaining  ground.  Until  a  few  years  ago,  men  planned 
and  worked  as  if  there  were  immenso  difference  be- 
tween themselves  and  women.  It  was  claimed  that  women 
should  avoid  higher  education  because  they  had  less  ability 
than  men.  But  all  such  errors  arc  gradually  being  explod- 
ed and  we  trust  will  never  be  held  again.  But  there  is 
a  basis  of  truth  on  which  they  rest,  and  that  is  that  women 
in  the  present  time  are  not  as  capable  for  work  as  men, 
because  very  few  of  them  have  cultivated  business  habits. 
Women  complain  that  it  is  more  difficult  for  them  to  get 
work  than  men.  Are  they  as  much  to  be  relied  upon  P  They 
must  be  prepared  for  hard  work,  for  persevering  work, 
and  not  suppose  that  because  they  are  women  the  race 
will  be  made  easier  for  them.  They  must  have  exactness 


350  INDIAti  SOCIAL   REFORM.  [PABT 

punctuality,  endurance,  thoroughness,  for  superficial  know- 
ledge will  not  do,  and  whatever  work  is  undertaken  must 
be  gone  through  to  the  end.  Especially  must  women  bo  on 
guard  against  the  emotional  elements  of  their  nature  and 
strive  to  acquire  that  power  of  application  which  is  the 
chief  element  of  victory.  Happily  the  old  notion  that  it 
makes  a  woman  unwomanly  to  be  well  educated  is  being 
lost  sight  of.  But,  while  claiming  higher  education,  we 
must  guard  against  that  very  danger.  Why  is  it  we  have 
sometimes  such  ridiculous  pictures  of  educated  women  ?  It 
is  because  they  go  to  the  other  extreme.  Educated  women 
sometimes  think  they  are  above  the  simple  duties  of  woman- 
lifo.  They  are  filled  with  pride  at  their  own  greatness. 
But  education  does  not  consist  in  such  pride,  but  in  iden- 
tifying herself  with  every  good  and  noble  work.  As  a 
clergyman  once  said  in  a  sermon,  i€  None  of  you,  girls,  I 
hope,  will  eter  think  yourselves  too  fine  or  too  cultivated 
to  attend  to  your  domestic  duties  ;  for  even  in  such  humble 
services  as  these,  you  may  be  pleasing,  serving  the  end  as 
devoutly  as  in  any  act  of  public  benefit."  We  will  some- 
times find  work  lying  very  near  at  hand.  Nothing  on 
earth  is  too  mean  for  us,  if  we  only  look  at  it  in  the  spirit 
trod  intended  us  to  look  on  his  creations,  every  object  of 
which  is  u  a  wondrous  thing  which  we  may  look  into  infi* 
nitude  itself." 

'  ^  Suchjroiiig Jbhe  possibilities-  -of  womankind,  wjj^ja j t 
That  Indian  wotgenjlp  jiotrealise-theui  ?  Because  they  are 
handicapped  in  every  way  by  evil  and  degrading  customs. 
^hfl'fflnfltLgifla  rarely  or  never  have  a  voice  in  the  selection 
of  their  husbands,  and  indeed  they  could  not  be  given  any 
choice,  for  the  custom  is  that  they  should  be  married  very 
early  and  marriage  at  that  age  puts  before-  them  more  of 
the  immense  responsibilities  it  is  charged  with.  The  girl 
is  allowed  no  time  when  she  can  prepare  herself  for  the 
duties  of  marriage— the  time  of  maidenhood  which  English 


I.]  THE  POSITION  OF  WOMAN,  Etc.     .       851 

girls  make  so  much  of,  the  season  of  culture,  when  the 
judgment  has  to  be  formed,  the  intellect  disciplined  and 
feelings  and  passions  brought  under  strict  control,  the 
time  when  the  heart  is  most  susceptible  of  external  influ- 
ences and  therefore  the  time  to  be  most  carefully  watched 
over.  Neither  can  the  girl  havo  education  worthy  of  the 
name,  for,  in  spite  of  Zenana  work,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
there  arc  schools  for  married  young  women,  education 
after  marriage  isjiotliiog  like  .the  education  whiclv_an-un- 
married  girl  can  .  receive,  when  most  of  her  time  is  at  her 
disposal  and  her  fresh  intelligence  and  healthy  curiosity 
are  in  no  way  impaired  by  the  dignity  of  married  matron- 
hood.  The  husb_an_dg_.al_so .are  required  to  bo 
mecti  for  while  an  UP.QQWCi0,<l  student  is  ..feet1  JbA- 
his  time  to  his  books,  one  who  is  married  muat  also  attend 
to.  .bifLJwif (LiuuL-childrGtt  and  is  constantly  troubled  by 
household  matters!  And  then,  when  they  grow,  older  and 
their  characters  refine,  it  often  happens  that  the  boy 
and  the  girl  prove  a  very  ill-assorted  couple  with  na- 
tures .as  different  as  the  two.  poles,  and  unhappi- 
ness  and  misery  is  threatened  to  both.  Thus,  except 
in  a  very  few  cases  there  is  none  of  that  elevated  wifely 
companionship  we  havo  been  considering,  nor  that  noble 
motherhood  without  which  so  few  children  become 
noble  men  and  women.  Picture  such  women  drifting  into 
middle  age — helpless,  burdensome  or  quarrelsome  wives  ; 
laxy,  feeble  mothers ;  incapable  of  acting  upon  their  good 
intentions ;  either  sinking  into  a  hopeless  indifference  or 
wearying  themselves  out  with  weak  complainings,  which 
never  result  in  any  amendment.  For  another  evil  from 
which  a  Hindu  girl  suffers,  is  the  want  of  independence  at 
home.  Very  often  her  spirit  is  broken  down  and  crushed 
by  the  treatment  which  falls  to  the  lot  of  a  daughter-in-law 
from  her  husband's  family.  She  lives  in  constant  dread  of 
her  mother-in-law,  who  ID  her  turn  is  afraid  of  her  daughter- 


)62       •         INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

!n-law  gaining  too  much  ascendancy  over  her  son,  and  who 
Accordingly  seizes   every    opportunity    to    breed    discord 
between  the  two.    The  poor  girl's   character  is  pictured  in 
bhe  worst  colour   before  her  husband,  and  the  etiquette  of 
Hindu  Society  is   such   that   she  is  forbidden    to  seek  any 
opportunity  for  defending  herself,  and  perhaps  if  she  were 
bravo  enough  to  do  this,  no  ono  would  pay  so  much  attention 
to  her.     Naturally,  her  spirit  is  soured  and  embittered,  and 
she  rapidly  descends   to   the  level  of  her  companions,  per- 
haps in  her   turn   to   tyrannise   over  her  daughter-in-law 
when  she  gets  one.     A  wife,  however  young  or  foolish  she 
may  be,  must  be  mistress  in  her  own    house,  and  she  must 
have  a  voice  in  the   bringing-up  of   her   children,  which 
rights  mothers-in-law  are  very  fond  of  infringing.     But  the 
mother-in-law  herself  must   have   privileges,  and  dare  we 
say  a  few   words  in   her  defence  ?  Young  wives  do  not 
sufficiently  ^consider   how  very  hard  it  must  be  for  a  fond 
mother  to  lose  her  office  as  primary  agent  in  her  son's  wel- 
fare and  even  his   happiness.     This  is  the  case  in  England 
and  much  more  so  is  it  in  India  where  the  influence  of  the 
mother-in-law  is  supreme  and  thafc  of  the  wife  nothing.     A 
young  wife,  if  she  has  any  right  feeling,  will  listen  patient- 
ly to  the  advice  of  her  elders  and  feel  grateful  for  any  advice 
given.     Surely  i(  the  primal  elder  curse  "  must  be  upon  the 
woman  who  voluntarily  or   thoughtlessly  tries  to  sow  divi- 
sion between  her  husband   and   his   own   flesh  and  blood- 
There  arrives  a  season  when  the  most  uncharitable  mother- 
in-law  becomes  harmless.    Then  and  after  her  death,  bless- 
ed are  those  sons  and   daughters  who   during  her  life  time 
so  acted   towards  her  that  her  death  lays  upon  them  no 
burden  of  bitter  remembrance- 

Then  there  is  the  custom  of  seclusion  which,  though  it 
is  slowly  giving  away  now,  was  in  former  times  very  strin- 
gent, There  are  some  arguments  urged  by  the  defenders 
of  this  custom,  such  as  the  want  of  education,  but  they  are 


i.]  THE  POSITION  Off  WQMAN,  Etc.          353 

causes  which  can  be  easily  removed.  And  what  are  ttye 
evils  of  such^a  seclusion  ?  The  woman  does  not  mix  with 
society  and  therefore  does  not  get  that  wider  knowledge  of 
life  which  acquaintance  with  the  world  imparts.  Owing  to 
the  narrowness  and  blankness  of  her  daily  life,  she  is  glad  to 
catch  at  any  straw  of  interest.  Gossip  is  her  only  recrea- 
tion and  her  life  is  made  up  .of  contemptible  nothings. 
Then  again  she  is  careless  about  her  friendships,  not 
knowing  that  a  true  friendship  is  to  be  entered  upon 
thoughtfully,  earnestly,  as  upon  an  engagement  made  for 
life,  and  that  a  true  friend,  faithfully  tender  and  tried,  is 
an  inestimable,  but  not  easily  acquired  treasure. 

Anotherjmrjedimeut   to   the   advancement  of  Hindu 
Women,  an  evil  more  or  less  resulting  from   the  degrading 
customs  above  mentioned,   IK   their   \ysui  t   of  odjlfi^onj--^ 
want  which  is  the  chief  cause   of  the  defects,.  to  .bcuiQticed, 
'TPlpng  the  >  jvpiiieii  pf  Inclui  —  little  influence  over  their  hus- 
bands inability  to  bring  up  children  properly,  superstitious 
beliefs,  absorption  with  trifles  and  passion  for  jewels.  Does 
any  man  seriously  think   that   an  uncultured   woman    can 
make  a  better  wife  than  a  refined,  educated  woman  ?  Does 
he  desire  a  woman  whose  soul  will  never  sour   above   the 
kitchen  or  nursery  interests  ?     Does  a  good  man  ever  love 
a  woman  the  more  for  reverencing  her  the  less  ?     Certain- 
ly not,  should  be  the   answer,  and  knowing  this  a  woman 
should   not   in   the    least   be     afraid  of  cultivating   her 
own  mind  fearing  that  she  may   lose   her  husband's  love. 
And  a  man^sjifluld^oyja^          toaUpw  liia-JEifeutn,  ,he> 
owing  fa  jh 


ftnie  educaiton^  ^  raises  _Jathgr_-,  than  degrades  ,or  , 
womanliness.  But  'merely  book  education  is  of  no  -use, 
unless  it  is  supplemented  by  that  wider  knowledge  which  a 
free  communion  with  society  gives.  Hindu  women  should 
be  allowed  to  mix  freely  with  society,  in  order  that  they 
may  learn  as  much  as  possible  frpni  observation  of  others  . 
45 


354  INDIAN  ROCJAL  REFORM.  [PABT 

There  should  be  free  intercourse  between  husband  and  wife, 
between  parents  and  children,  and  between  relatives  and 
friends.  We  must  not  losu  heart,  neither  for  ourselves  nor 
for  those  we  love.  To  struggle,  and  always  to  struggle,  is 
life.  Above  all,  the  woman  must  have  courage  to  do  what 
is  right,  regardless  of  the  opinion  of  the  world  or  of  society, 
courage  to  endure  pain  for  a  good  cause,  courage  to  vindi- 
cate purity  and  truth  everywhere,  courage  to  vindicate 
the  honour  and  dignity  of  her  sex,  always  eager  to  deve- 
lop the  faculties  God  has  given  her,  in  order  that  she  may 
lead  a  higher  life  than  she  lias  hitherto  been  leading,  a.  life 
of  the  soul  in  the  service  of  God  and  her  fellow-beings. 
"  How  to  live  ?  That,"  says  Herbert  Spencer,  "  is  the 
essential  question  for  us.  Not  how  to  livo  in  the  mere 
material  sense  only,  but  in  the  widest  sense.  To  prepare 
us  for  complete  living  is  the  function  which  education  has 
to  discharge/'  The  education  that  we  want  therefore 
should  be  as  wide  and  varied  as  arc  the  interests,  and 
duties  of  life,  an  education  which  shall  discipline  and  invi- 
gorate soul,  mind  and  body. 

E**Last .but. not  least  among  the  handicaps  of  Hindu 
women  is  the  custom  that  widows  should  not  be  remarried. 
It  often  happens  that  girls  are  married  to  persons  who  are 
old  enough  to  be  their  fathers  and  the  chances  aro  ten  to 
one  that  they  aro  left  widows  even  sometimes  before  they 
are  old  enough  to  understand  the  sad  change  that  has 
taken  place  in  their  lives.  For  indeed  a  sad  change  it  is, 
The  poor  young  widow's  life  is  made  a  burden  to  her.  She 
is  opfcnly  reviled  and  ridiculed  ;  every  misfortune  that  hap- 
pens in  her  family  is  ascribed  to  her  evil  influence.  Her 
lot  is  a  miserable  one,  but  not  even  a  gleam  of  hope  to 
brighten  her  dark  existence.  The  domestic  services 
rendered  by  widows  are  often  very  valuable,  but  in 
most  cases  do  not  help  to  lighten  her  misery.  Here 
is  a  bitter  appeal  from  a  widow :  if  Oh !  Lord !  hear 


i.J  THE  POSITION  Off  WOMAN,  Etc.  355 

our  prayer.     No   one    has   turned   an    eye   on    the    op- 
pression which    wo    suffer,  though    with    weeping    and 
crying    and    desire  we   have   turned  to   all   sides   hoping 
that   some   one  would  save  us.     We  have  searched  above 
and  below   but    Thou  art   the     only   one   who  will  hear 
our  complaint.     For   ages,   dark   ignorance  has   brooded 
over  our  mind    and  spirits.     Wo  have  no  strength  to  go 
out.     Wu   are  bruised    and  beaten.     Oh!  Father!  When 
shall  we  be  set  free  from  this  jail  ?"     Is  it  not  fcime  some- 
thing wore  done  to   assuage  the  sad  lot  of  widows?  And 
something    is   indeed   being    done    and   our  hope  ia  that 
before  long  their  lives  will  be  made  worth  living  not  alone 
by  allowing  them  to  marry  again,  for  marriage  should  not  be 
the  sole  hope  of  womanhood  ;  but,  chiefly  by  bettering  their 
condition  in  thoir  own  homes,  showing  them  love  and  sym- 
pathy from  their  fellow-creatures,  and  providing  them  with 
some  lofty  object  in  life    for  which   they  could  live. 

Our  social  reformers   should  try    their   bestito  reduce 

17  -*— —     ,  -j-  -.. 

theJhfl-R^c^^Jhe^cust^rn  of  e.arly,  marriage.  But  where 
that  is  not  possible,  let_tlie  husband  ..educate  lii$_wjfg,  or 
allow  private  zenana  education  to  her.  And  indeed,  to 
do  justice  to  thu  zeal  of  those  engaged  in  the  work  of 
reforming  India,  much  is  being  done  in  this  way-  But 
yet,  though  the  subject  of  female  education  is  a  theme  of 
constant  exhortation  with  those  intersted  in  the  progress 
of  the  country,  one  cannot  help  noticing  that  bub  little  is 
being  done  in  the  way  of  action.  rjjh£__tj.alt  Jiea.TiLitk.Jiho 
men,  for  though  many-talk,^ vet  few  sut.an 

i£Ji?jL^J!!J^  ^°  ieave  i* t 

everything,  showing  a  sad  lack  of  rightful  and  perfectly 
justifiable  ambition  on  our  part.  It  is  obviously  our  duty 
to  bestir  ourselves  and  show  the  men  that  they  owe  it  to 
us  as  our  right  to  place  us  on  the  same  level  with  them- 
selves. .  * 

But  it  is  easier  to  speak  JJmn JQ  jagtf   says  some    one 


356  INDIAN  SOCIAL  ttEffOtitt.  [PART 


and  with  justice.  Jhejlinjiuj^^ 

tomed  to  the  ^position  they  have  been  made  to  occupy  for 
cflntlirieB  that  they  are  loath  to  change^,  however  alluring 
the  prospect  may  be  that  is  held  out  to  them.  Itmis  s&d 
to  say  JE.  but  it  is  nevertheless  a  fact,  that  jnany  of  them 
B.  jBducatioi].  AEbat  jmght  to  be 

and  euc.ouragement.  to 


tage  of  the  opportunities  held  out  to   them.     And  in  this 
they   require   helps    from   the  men    themselves  ;  and   of 
course  the  men  cannot  help  them  unless  they  are  brought 
to  change  for  a  better  one  their  low  opinion  of  their  weaker 
companions.     If  the  men  will    only  trust   the   women  and 
have  confidence  in  them,  there  is  no   knowing  what   great 
things  may  bo  done.     The  women   must  hu  ahuHUL-by  vari- 
ous means,  by  advice,  by  reading,  by  associations,  by  meet- 
ingSi  by  mixing  freely  in  society,  that  they   can  be   educa- 
ted, and  in  this  what  can  be  better  than  encouragement  by 
husbands  as  opposed  to  the  constant  censures  by  mothers- 
in-law  ?    Ik§IUM^iN~  it-  JnuaJs  ..fee  Jshawi^dihfiJQi  that    it  is 
worth  while  to  be  educated,  and  here   again  what  can   be 
better  than  the  influence   of  the  husbands  ?     The  Hindu 
wife    thinks    her    husband    a   God  ;   she    will    reverence 
all  his    wishes.     Consequently  if    he    plainly    shows  her 
that   it    is   his   desire    that     she    should    be    educated) 
if  he    teaches    her  the  value   of  literature  by   constant- 
ly reading  or  explaining   to  her  passages  from  the   best 
authors,    she  will    do   wonders    to   try   to     please     him, 
And  here,  let  na  gay  ^  word  aboni-^ngliHh  fldMatiiOT1    Nbw- 
a-days  we  hear  a  great  deal  about  the   revival  of  vernacu- 
lar studies.    These  studies  have  certainly  their  great  value 
and  there  is  a   need  of  creating  a  better  literature  for 
women  in  the  vernaculars  than  now  exists.     But,   so  long 
aa  the  Eriglish  are  our  rulejre,  —  and  by  this  I  do  not   mean 
to  say  that  their  rule  is  unwholesome,—  s 


sent  day  literature,    which  is  prevalent  in  our  midst,  is 


i.]  THE  POSITION  Of1  WOMAN,  Sic.  357 

more  in  English  than  in  the_y.ernac.ulaiaj  so  long  agamjis 
tfr^  University  exaniinatioiis  are  cpn^u^J^ii^^  and 

the  common  language  of  Government  and  other  depart- 
ments is  English,  so  long  as  conversation  with  the  English 
and  even  among  our  own  people  is  conducted  in  English, 
sojong  then  it  is  obviou  s  Jthat  jJLlilJ^JL  ^JSglish..  J&JQgUaga 
we  must  cultivate,  though,  the  veruq-gular^are 


Western  education  and  Western  culture 
have  done  a  great  deal  for  us,  and  if  we  wish  to  derive 
any  more  advantages  from  them,  we  must  put  ourselves  in 
a  position  in  which  they  can  easily  reach  us. 

13y  learning  English,  wu  women  Can  jlo  a  great  deal, 
As  has  been  said,  the  young  men  of  India  arc  all  pursuing 
the,ir  studies  in  Knglish,  and  if  their  mothers,  wives  and 
sisters  also  knew  English,  how  much  true  sympathy  there 
would  be  between  them  all  !  There  would  be  real  com- 
panionship in  work  —  companionship  which  will  lighten  the 
most  difficult  task  ;  there  will  be  mutual  exchange  of  ideas, 
leading  to  mutual  advantages  and  mutual  improvement. 
We  women  ourselves  will  have  our  ideas  enlarged  and  our 
character  strengthened  and  wo  shall  come  to  see  that  the 
petty  occupations  and  amusements  with  which  we  are  now 
satisfied  do  not  make  up  all  the  world  ;  and  thus,  inspired 
in  every  way  for  a  noble  life,  we  shall  stretch  forth  our 
hands  and  embrace  the  means  and  opportunities  that  '  are 
before  us  for  the  pursuit  of  such  a  life. 

education  will  enable  the   Hinda 


to  be  more;  in  ttmch  with  their,  children,  both  young  and 
grown-up,  for  then  they  can  help  them  in  their  studies 
both  before  and  after  they  go  to  school. 

Hnglifl}]  pdiinn,|jflp  will  accomplish  another  great  re- 
sult ;  it  wilL  promote  thalsocial  intercourse  between  Euro- 
pean and  ffiasbLJadifigj  sbiPhJa,9pM.ne(9BGttqrM]iawj  and 
from  which  the  latter  can  learn  so  much.  At  present,  in 
spite  of  the  eagerness  of  both  parties  for  such  an  inter- 


358  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

course,  the  want  of  a  common  language  is  greatly  felt  and 
is  the  chief  hindrance  in  the  way  of  such  a  desirable  result. 
Then  again,  there  will  be  lesn  monotony  in  the  lives 
of  the  Hindu  women  if  their  education  is  once  be- 
gun. English  literature  is  a  never-ending  literature 
and  the  Hindu  ladies  are  sure  to  find  in  it  plenty 
that  will  interest  them  and  occupy  their  spare  time.  There 
will  also  be  a.  better  management  of  hoim3  affairs,  a  more 
intelligent  observation  of  the  rules  of  health,  more  thought 
for  others,  more  self-denial  and  less  fault-finding  with  our 
neighbours. 

Last,  but  not  least,  J>1&  education,  pf^u^^n^j^n^w^ijign, 
will  JjjLjj ... powerful  iiigtriimqnt  jor  the  social  reform,  of  J,|idia. 
Once  the  men  are  brought  to  respect  ns,— and  that  they 
will  surely  do,  if  only  we  sliow  ourselves  worthy  of  it, — 
they  will  gradually  bo  brought  to  give  us  those  social  rights, 
which  are  the  privileges  of  women  in  other  countries. 
When  the  social  reformers  find  that  those  very  women, 
who  hitherto  had  been  their  chief  opposers,  not  only 
desire,  but  will  also  aid  them,  to  dispel  the  social  darkness 
in  which  India  is  shrouded,  then  they  will  work  with 
renewed  vigour  and  hope  ;  and  the  many  social  evils  of 
India,  such  as  caste  prejudices,  the  bonds  of  superstition 
and  ancient  custom,  infant  marriages  and  enforced  widow- 
hood, will  soon  be  done  away  with,  and  India  will  become 
a  renovated  country. 

We  Tnu8t._guffrd  against  the  supposition  ..that  ,tlic 
women  of  thy  present  day  have  altogether  falleu  from  their 
tyjgjgut  character.  Domestic  virtues  aud  f aithf  ulaess  and 
devotion  to  their^Jmsbands,  modesty  and  kindness  have 
always  been  their  characteristics,  and  some  remarkable 
.instances  may  still  be  found  of  moral  and  even  intellectual 
excellence.  There  are  many  exceptions,  where  the  women 
are  well  treated  and  allowed  a  certain  amount  of  freedom, 
and  in  many  cases  they  are  treated  by  their  husbands  ten* 


T.]  THE  POSJTJON  0V  WOMAN,  Eh.  :WO 

derly  and  respectfully  and  the  little  consideration  they 
enjoy  in  private  life  is  in  some  respects  compensated  by 
the  respect  which  is  paid  to  thorn  in  public,  A  Hindu 
woman  is  almost  alwnys  safe,  oven  in  the  mosfc  crowded 
places,  from  the  risk  of  insult  and  the  impertinent  looks  of 
idle  loungers. 

But,  apart  from  these  exceptional  considerations,  a 
steady jpr^resRjn  j.he  social  reJfor..in  .  for  women  has  for 
some  yea^s  been  apparent  and  is  gig-dually  making  .itself 
felt.  There  was  great  prejudice  against  the  education  of 
women  in  India  some  years  ago.  It  was  feared  that  any 
knowledge  imparted  to  women  and  the  consequent  freedom 
implied  therein  would  turn  their  heads  and  cause  them  to 
lose  their  balance.  But  such  fears  have  been  proved  to  be 
ill-founded.  The  example  of  the  Europeans,  the  benign 
influence  of  Christianity,  and  the  exertions  of  the  Christian 
missionaries  in  the  cause  of  female  education  in  India,  have 
all  combined  in  working  a  slow  but  sure  change  in  the 
sentiments  which  have  hitherto  been  felt  regarding  the 
education  of  Hindu  women.  Its  importance  is  now,  one 
can  safely  say,  valued  not  only  by  men,  but  also  by  women. 
Many  girls'  schools  have  been  established,  and  the  Hindu 
mothers  take  great  delight  sometimes  in  seeing  their  girln 
attend  these  schools  and  acquire  knowledge,  elementary  it 
may  be.  And  even  after  their  marriage,  the  husbands  of 
these  girls,  seeing  the  example  of  the  Europeans,  arc 
trying  to  continue  their  education,  in  the  hope  of  enabling 
them  to  be  real  companions  to  themselves.  More  freedom 
also  is  allowed  to  them,  and  they  are  allowed  '  to  go  out 
more  freely  into  society.  Clubs  are  being  formed  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  India  by  ladies  alone  of  all  communities  for 
mutual  improvement ;  widow-remarriage  is  being  advocated 
by  social  reformers  all  over  India  and  even,  in  some  cases, 
attempted  ;  and  altogether  such  a  change  for  the  better  is 
coming  over  the  position  of  women  in  India,  that  we  shall 


360  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

be  justified  in  saying  that  the  time  cannot  be  far  distant 
when  the  women  in  India  will  be  raised  to  the  same  high 
position  that  their  sisters  occupy  in  European  countries. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  inveterate  prejudice  will  eventually 
give  way  and  that  both  Hindus  and  Mussulmans  will  be 
brought  to  honour  the  weaker  sex,  as  the  help-mates  for 
them  and  am  their  friends  aud  counsellors.  The  Indian 
women  restored  to  their  ancient  liberty  and  raised  to  a 
still  higher  position  by  the  noble  r  influences  of  the  present 
day,  will  one  day  take  their  true  place  in  society,  softening, 
strengthening  and  ennobling  the  character  of  the  people 
among  whom  they  livo. 

.!^  g^lier  from  all  this  that  Hindu  jyanaen 
on  the  men,  JUib  that  is  nat  jgo-  The 
chief  reason  why  cultivated  men  of  tin*  present  day  are  so 
little  able  to  put,  into  practice  their  civilized  notions  of 
reform  is  the  backward  influence  of  the  women,  who  do 
nothing  in  their  power  to  prevent  them  from  going  against 
ancient  Hindu  customs.  They  heap  reproaches  on  the 
man  who  is  bold  enough  to  do  so,  and  try  to  make  his  life 
a-s  hard  as  possible,  till  in  the  end  he  is  cowed  back  into  the 
old  routine  <  for  any  bold  reform  in  the  Hindu  families 
moans  their  excommunication,  and  excommunication  to  the 
women  means  tin1  loss  of  the  little  amusement  they  have  — 
the  company  of  their  friends.  Thus, 


.of  being  :i  helpmaJo,  to  her  husband,  ia^a_.4r_ag  on 
fcUQ-  tlLii^^'-BUtCPStiSMi  wliois  in  no  way  fitted  to  do 
tjiejjwu  distinct  duties  that  lie  before  hor,  —  the  duty  of. 
being  a  true  companion  to  hci*  husband  and  ,the  duty  of 
being  a  true  mother  to  her  children.  But  she  will  be,  if 
something  were  done  to  refine  her  position,  something  that 
would  raise  her  above  her  surroundings  and  draw  out  all 
that  is  pure  and  ennobling  in  her.  All  women  have  more  or 
less  the  same  womanly  nature  in  thorn  ;  and  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the  Hindu  women,  if  only  they  are  intellectually 


i.]  TEE  POSITION  OF  WOMAN,  Etc.  361 

trained,  will  be  able  to  do  just  as  much  for  their  country- 
men, an  the  European  and  American  women  are  doing  for 
Europe  and  America  respectively. 

ItJs.  tim^therefgre Jhat^sfimH3tluOg,definiJie .  WSJtf  JjfiJJOg 
Attempted  to  raise  the  position, o£  the  Hindu,  .women,  i& 
order  at  least  to  reraoYfl-tlie ..blot  that  is  go  proinin^utia  the 
^dyamjing _  civilisation-,  -of-  -India.  The  first  duty  of  tl^R 
Hindu  men  t.nWn.rdq  ftju^r  yrfln.^!  ia  their  Pflnratinn.  It  is 
only  fair  that  the  same  education  should  be  allowed  to 
women  as  is  given  to  men.  An  English  home  is  proverbial 
For  its  comfort  and  happiness,  because  in  an  English  home 
the  woman's  influence  is  the  strongest ;  she  it  is  who  reigns 
supreme  and  inspires  the  men,  and  thus  it  is  that  an  English- 
man may  wander  over  the  world  and  yefc  his  mind  will  ever 
turn  to  his  home  with  fond  memories  and  pleasant  hopes  as 
his  beacon  of  light,  as  his  haven  of  refuge  in  the  midst  of 
the  sorrows  of  life.  But  we  may  take  comfort  by  the 
thought  that  even  in  England  the  female  advancement  was 
not  gained  without  long  and  painful  effort.  And  so  in 
India  when  the  time  of  trial  and  work  is  past  and  our 
cause  is  won,  ouv  Indian  sisters  will  compare  favourably 
with  our  more  favourably  situated  sisters  in  tho  West. 
With  Tennyson,  let  us  say  : 

VYct  in  tho  long  years  liker  must  they  grow 

Tho  man  be  more  of  woman,  she  of  man  ; 

Till  at  the  last  she  set  herself  to  man, 

Liko  perfect  music  unto  noble  words ; 

And  so  these  twain  upon  the  skirts  of  time, 

Let  aide  by  aide,  full-summed  In  all  their  powers, 

Dispensing  harvest,  sowing  the  i.o-be, 

Self -reverent  each,  and  reverencing  each. 

Then  comes  the  statelier  Eden  back  to  men  ; 

Then  reign  the  world's  great  bridals,  chaste  and  calm 

Then  springs  tho  growing  race  of  mankind. 

May  these  things  be." 


SG2  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [ 

(XIV;  Relations  between  the  Hindus  and 
Mahomedans 

BY  M.  A.  N.  HYDARI,  ESQ.,  B.  A., 
Deputy  Accountant-General^  Madras, 


In  my  College  days  the  question  whether  Social  Reform 
should  precede  Political  Reform   was  an  absorbing  topic  of 
discussion  in  the  press  and  on  the  platform  ;  and  I  well  ro- 
member  a  paper  read  011  the  subject   by  the  late    lamented 
Mr.   Justice   Telang  before    the    Students7    Literary     and 
Scientific  Society  in  Bombay,  which  was  distinguished  by 
thoso  powers  of   close  reasoning,  balanced   judgment  and 
graceful    expression,    the     premature     disappearance    of 
which    from    our   public  life  we   have   not  yet    ceased   to 
feel.  No  chew©  of  reasoning,  however,  can  more  powerfully 
demonstrate   the   superior,    if    not    the    dominant    claims 
of  Social   over  Political    Reform  than  the  mention  of  that 
item  in  our   programme  which   forms  the    subject  of   this 
paper.     For   as   I  have  taken   more  than  once  the   liberty 
of  asserting,  lc  the  hands  of  Government  must  necessarily 
be  tied   so   long    as   there   is   jealousy   and    suspicion  be- 
tween the  two  great  masses  it  has  to  rule  ;  and  in  the  anta- 
gonism of  the  two  races— antagonism   that  has  of  late    de- 
generated so  often  into  outbursts   of  physical  violence  that 
its  prevention  has  come  to  bo  one  of  the  chief  problems  to 
which  we  have    to  address   ourselves — in    this  antagonism: 
lies  the  greatest  stumbling  block  to  the  advancement  and 
prosperity  of  the  country  that  is  our  common  motherland/' 
......   "  Unless  we    feel  the  common   bond   of  union   that 

unites  us  (Mussalmana)  with  the  Hindus  so  as  to  work  out 
together  our  joint  salvation,  all  our  efforts  for  political 
reforms  must  prove  vain  and  fruitless.'3 


i.]     RELATIONS  BETWEEN  THE  HINDUS,  Etc.    363 

The    very   essence   of     lleform     demands    that    the 
many  shall  bo   one ;    its   goal   js    Union   and   Harmony — 
the   integration   of   tho  divided   heterogeneous  units  into 
n    homogeneous    consolidated    whole,    in   entire    harmo- 
ny  with   its    environment,    Mn   environment    that   begins 
with,    but   is  not   limited  to   the   hearth,    and    gradually 
expanding  through   tho    limits   of    race    and    creed    and 
country  covers  and  enfolds  all  humankind  and  the  universe 
and  makes  the  sphere  of  work  of  the  Social  Reformer  ulti- 
mately coterminous  with  that  of  the   Prophet,  Avho  seeks  to 
bring   about"  Peace   on  earth  and  Good  Will  to  all  men." 
From  this   stand-point,    all  the  various  items  in  the    pro- 
gramme of  ' '  Indian  Social  Reformers,"  all  the  various  con- 
cessions claimed  by   "  political   agitators"  (I  mean  no   dis- 
respect), all  the  different    outbursts  of  Theosophiu  activity 
(taking  Theosophy  in  its  widest  sense  without  reference  to 
any  particular  organisation), — all  these  have  their  value  and 
justification  only  as  so  many  steps — often  very  halting  and 
usually  unconscious — towards  bringing  us  nearer  to  that  goal 
— albeit  very  distant — when  wo  shall  be  self-respecting  men 
and  women  and  our  country  shall   become  fitted   to  bo  in- 
vited to  take  its  placo  side  by  side  with    the  other   self-go- 
verning members  of  the  Federated  States  of  Britain. 

Unless  this  be  the  ultimate  consummation,  the  transfer 
of  the  sovereignty  of  India  to  the  nation  most  fitted  by  its 
character,  its  history  and  traditions  to  be  the  educator  and 
regenerator  of  the  Indian  people  loses  all  its  place  and 
meaning  in  the  logic  of  events — the  more  so  when  it 
is  remembered'that  this  transfer  was  effected  so  uncon- 
sciously, so  much,  to  all  seeming,  in  the  very  teeth  of  circum- 
stance and  inclination  that  its  story  affords  to  theologies 
one  of  the  most  impressive  illustrations  of  the  guid- 
ing finger  of  Providence  in  History.  For  it  is  through 
this  British  supremacy  that  the  most  potent  forces  towards 
the  unification  and  harmony  I  am  referring  to  havo  been 


364  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

brought  into  place,  nay  the  very  idea  of  them 
engendered  in  us-  and  the  possibility  of  their  realisation 
is  beginning  to  be  entertained — profound  peace,  common 
institutions,  uniform  administration,  equal  laws,  impartial 
justice,  space-killing  railroads,,  time- annihilating  telegraphs, 
above  all,  an  ennobling  and  inspiriting  literature  giving 
communion  with  the  deeds  and  words  and  thoughts  of  the 
great  souls  of  the  world. 

And  yet  paradoxical  as  it  may  sound,  the  same  British 
supremacy  would  «een  to  have  introduced  some  new  ele- 
ments of  separation  between  the  two  great  communities  of 
India— elements  which  unfortunately  have  exercised  an 
effect  out  of  all  proportion  to  their  real  importance.  On 
the  one  hand  the  imposition  of  the  educational  test  as 
the  principal,  if  not  the  sole,  avenue  to  the  public  service 
has  given  the  Hindus  a  vantage  ground  in  the  pursuit  of 
power  and  influence  not  enjoyed  by  them  previously  except  in 
Western  India,  and  a  study  of  tbe  popular  and  prejudiced 
accounts  which  pass  for  the  history  of  the  Mahomedan 
domination  of  India  seems  to  have  inspired  the  ardent  spirits 
among  the  new  generation  of  Hindus  with  the  desire  of  using 
this  advantage  for  paying  off  the  scores — to  put  it  rather 
bluntly— that  they  consider  are  awaiting  settlement  from 
the  days  of  Muhammad  of  Ghazni  down  to  those  of  Aurunga- 
zeb  and  Tippu  Sultan.  On  the  other  hand  the  Mahome- 
dans,  who  see  their  influence  and  position  disappearing 
before  their  very  eyes,  havo  transferred  the  odium  they 
formerly  lavished  on  their  English  successors  to  their 
Hindu  fellow-subjects,  who  have  outstripped1  them  in  the 
race.  That  it  is  the  bitter  remembrance  of  the  worst 
features  of  Moslem  rule  and  consequent  aggressive  vindic- 
tiveness  on  the  part  of  the  Hindu,  whilst  it  is  the  steady 
ousting  from  Government  service  (brought  about  no  doubt 
largely  by  his  own  want  of  adaptation)  and  consequent 
jealousy  on  the  part  of  the  MussaJman  that  are  at  the  root 


i.J     RELATIONS  BETWEEN  THE  HINDUS,  Etc.    865 

of  this  estrangement,  is  in  my  opinion  confirmed  by  the 
fact  that  the  relations  of  these  two  communities  arc  the  most 
cordial  in  those  parts  where  Moslem  influence  has  been  the 
least  lasting  or  where  commerce  which  takes  off  the  keen- 
ness of  competition  for  government  service  is  the  most 
active.  If  it  be  alleged  that  in  these  cases  the  Moslem 
communities  are  essentially  Hindu  in  character,  race  and 
institutions,  tho  fact  that  the  progress  of  English  education 
among  them  too  has  so  far  tended  to  bring  about  their 
alienation  From  their  Hindu  brethren  goes  but  to  streng- 
then thc3  view  expressed  above. 

How  can  we  most  effectually  counteract  the  effects  of 
these  centrifugal  forces  ?  I  have  tried  to  indicate  below 
some  agencies  that  suggest  themselves  to  me  and  if  herein 
I  have  appealed  more  often  to  the  Hindus,  it  is  not  because 
I  consider  them  more  responsible  for  the  past  but  because 
I  consider  their  responsibility  for  the  future  to  be  greater 
by  virtue  of  their  predominant  position  as  an  educated 
and  advanced  majority  that  can  better  make  the  most 
effective  advances  towards  the  establishment  of  cordial  re- 
lations between  tho  two  communities. 

1.  The  first  agency  is  the  Native  Vress.  Jt  should 
havo  a  living  realisation  of  the  paramount  necessity  of  a 
cordial  union  between  the  Hindus  and  Mussulmans.  At 
present  there  is  too  great  a  tendency  to  criticise  each  other's 
claims  with  irritating  candour.  This  is  especially  the  cases 
with  the  treatment  of  Mahomedan  claims  by  the  Hindu 
Press,  due  no  doubt  largely  to  tho  fact  that  these  are  in 
many  instances  unreasonable  and  extravagant  and  are 
sometimes  made  in  an  offensive  spirit.  But  it  appears 
to  me  that  even  here  a  forbearance  and  a  sympathy  that, 
while  gently  correcting  such  extravagance  and  insolence, 
point  out  the  lines  along  which  more  rational  claims  can  be 
less  aggressively  formulated  are  greatly  needed.  When 
for  instance  the  Mussulmans  want  a  larger  representation 


366  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

in  the  higher  ranks  of  the  public  service,  ifc  is  ungenerous 
nnd  unfair  to  seize  upon  the  declarations  of  a  stray 
Mahomedan  association  here  and  there  us  representative  of 
a  general  demand  by  them  for  a  lowering-  of  the  qualifying 
test  in  their  cage,  ignoring  entirely  the  request  of  more 
responsible  bodies  thnt  a  direct  regular  recruitment  be 
made  of  a  specifieWu)nber  of  qualified  Mahomedan  gra- 
duates only,  whose  qualifications  have  been  certified  to  by 
tlie  universities  or  the  heads  of  colleges  in  which  they 
have  been  educated  and  by  the  heads  ol'  offices  in  which 
they  have  been  subsequently  trained.  In  short  the  Press 
must  have  that  catholicity  of  spirit  that  regards  the  pro- 
motion of  the  interests  ol!  one  community,  if  backward,  as 
the  necessary  stepping  stone  and  complement  to  the  in- 
terests of  all. 

2,  This  same  principle  must    be  present    to  the  mind 
'of  every  employer  of  labour  official  or  unofficial.    Jealously 

watching  the  interests  of  all  who  have  been  placed  under 
him  and  allowing  no  influences  of  whatever  kind  to  in- 
terfere in  the  just  disposal  of  his  patronage,  he  must  remem- 
ber that  ifc  is  within  his  power  to  make  his  office  a  fruitful 
centre  of  influence  for  the  consolidation  or  destruction  of 
that  union  of  hearts  for  which  I  am  pleading.  One  unjust 
supersession  will  undo  more  and  a  helping  hand  to  one 
deserving  postulant  will  advance  farther  the  good  cause, 
than  many  speeches  or  essays. 

3.  The  recent  acrimonious  c/ntroversy  in  the   North 
on  the  Urdu-Hindi  question  leads   me   to  suggest   another 
way  in  which  iu  place  of   estrangement,  genuine  affection 
may  be  engendered.    It  is.  not  for  me  to  pronounce  on  the, 
merits  of   that  question  from  its  linguistic  side  or  from  the 
amount  of  advantage  its  settlement  in  its  present  form  has 
conferred  on  the  people  it  will  affect,  though  ther&as  some- 
thing in  the  view  that  if  the  present  had   been  allowed  to 
continue  ifc    would   have  led   to   thti^much  desired  result 


i,]    RELATIONS  BETWEEN  THE  HINDUS,  Etc.  367 

(from  the  change  ?)  of  a  benefit  of  language.  But  is  not  the 
ill-feeling  that  has  been  niised  out  of  all  proportion  to  any 
direct-  benefits  that  lire  expected  to  accrue  from  the 
change  ?  The  inconveniences  which  fchn  existing  state 
of  affairs  caused  to  the  Hindu  community  were  pre- 
sumably not  greater  now  than  they  were  seven  yearfl 
ago  when  the  question  was  not  to  my  knowledge  even  so 
much  as  formulated.  But  the  breach  that  has  been  made 
between  the  two  communities  who  wore  to  all  appearances 
being  gradually  brought  togothor  by  tlie  disappearance  of 
some  unfavourable  influences  and  still  more  by  the  chasten- 
ing effect  of  the  common  suffering  011  account  of  famine  and 
pestilence,  is  one  which  may  take  years  to  close.  Where 
thfe  sentiment  of  one  community  is  deeply  aroused,  would 
not  in  such  cases  the  leaders  of  the  other  community  be 
consulting  the  interests  of  all  and  making  for  the  larger 
good  if  they  themselves  came  forward  and  asked  for  the 
postponement  of  the  reform  especially  when  the  reform  is 
in  tho  direction  of  the  disturbance  of  a  long  established 
position  of  affairs  ?  Would  not  such  an  attitude  on  but  one 
question  lead  to  the  amicable  settlement  of  several,  giving 
as  it  would  by  its  spirit  of  srlf-sacrifice  an  earnest  of  the 
genuineness  oi!  the  desire  of  at  least  one  of  the  two  com- 
munities to  be  friends  with  tho  othor  ?  A  resolution  was 
formally  passed  at  tho  instance  oF  Air.  Justice  Tyabji 
in  the  Madras  Congress  of  1887  not  to  discuss  any  question 
that  might  by  the  vote  of  any  one  community  be  decided  to 
be  against  its  interests.  It  appears  to  me  that  some  such 
resolution  should  be  tacitly  taken  by  all  our  leaders  and 
rigidly  acted  upon. 

4.  Aiv^lu'r  point  to  which  I  would  invite  attention  is 
the  tendency  that  has  developed  of  late  to  have  sectarian 
institutions,  especially  schools  and'  colleges  for  particular 
sections  of  tho  community.  Mrs.  Besant's  Hindu  College 
at  Benares  is  the  latest  exemplification  of  this  tendency, 


368  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

and  while  not  for  a  moment  blind  to  the  necessity  of  provid- 
ing for  the  special  wants  of  any  particular  community,  I  de- 
precate the  establishment  of  separate  institutions  from  which 
members  of  other  communities  are  excluded.  The  Aligarh 
College  insists  upon  no  such  exclusion  of  the  Hindus,  and 
it  would  have  been,,  well  if  the  Benares  College  had  fol- 
lowed the  like  liberal  policy.  It  is  the  republicanism  of 
the  school  and  college  that  is  the  greatest  leveller  of  secta- 
rian differences  and  distinctions,  a  leveller  whose  influence 
is  carried  later  on  into  the  wider  arena  of  public  life  ; 
and  it  is  the  friendships  cemented  in  school  and  college 
that  are  best  calculated  to  bring  about  an  intimate 
understanding  among  tho  educated  of  all  classes  and  creeds. 
Even  movements  like  tho  Social  Koform  Conference  would 
gain  in  usefulness  if  after  providing  for  the  discussion  of 
the  particular  wants  of  each  community  in  sectional  com- 
mittees, it  had  a  common  meeting  ground  of  tlie  represen- 
tatives of  both  Hindus  and  Mussulmans  for  the  discussion  of 
common  evils  and  general  principles. 

5  Another  step  would  bo  tho  formal  and  conscious 
recognition  of  the  necessity  for  tho  consideration  in  a 
practical  manner  of  each  other's  religions  feelings  by  the 
two  communities.  There  is  For  instance  no  reason  what- 
soever why  the  Mahomed  an  loaders  should  not  actively 
discourage  tho  slaughter  ut  kirn1  for  all  purposes  as  much 
as  possible.  I  believe  the  accession  of  sympathy  to  the 
Mahomediin  cause  would  be  invaluable  whilst  tho  sacrifice 
made  to  join  it  would  bo  timall  if  any  ah  all.  On  the  other 
hand  why  should  not  tho  leaders  of  the  Hindus  try  to  meet 
their  Mussulman  brethren  in  the  matter  of  observ- 
ing due  respect  towards  their  places  of  worship  ? 

G.  The  last  and  one  of  tho  most  fruitful  agencies  is 
that  of  Literature.  At  present  in  most  Hindu  publications, 
almost  every  desecration,  every  corruption,  every  evil  is  laid 
at  the  door  of  the  Mnssalmans,  No  work  Avon  Id  be  more 


i,]     RELATIONS  BETWEEN  THE  HINDUS,  Etc.   S69 

valuable  than  the  elaboration  of  those  lines  of  investigation 
which  have  been  sketched  out  in  such  a  masterly  manner  in 
his  last  annual  (Lucknow)  address  by  the  one  thinker  in  our 
mi«ist,  whose  intellect  has  taken  in  its  wide  sweep  the  entire 
problem  of  the  regeneration  of  India  and  whose  annual 
utterances  so  sympathetically,  so  helpfully  and  so  inspir- 
ingly  attack  one  after  the  other  its  buccessivi1  points.  One 
result  of  such  work  would  be  the  compilation  oi:  suitable 
text  books  on  Indian  History  that  would  deal  with  the 
Moslem  rule  in  India  in  a  sympathetic  spirit  and  bring  out 
the  contribution  made  by  the  Jlussalinuns  to  the  civilization 
of  India,  thereby  serving  directly  to  remove  one  of  the 
most  active  of  the  most  hostile  influences  named  at  the 
outset  as  being  at  work  in  producing  the  estrangement  of 
the§two  communities- 

The  above  are  but  some  of  the  remedies  for  neutralising 
the  influences  that  serve  to  divide  us.  Doubtless  many 
more  will  suggest  themselves  to  any  one  who  bestows  on 
the  subject  tfce  attention  its  paramount  importance  demands, 
for  as  J  have  said  1  can  conceive  no  nobler  work  to  which 
an  Indian  can  consecrate  himself  than  that  of  cementing 
the  hearts  of  the  diverse  races  and  nationalities  of  our  vast 
continent  into  a  solid  and  united  whole  bound  by  a  union 
that  is  not  merely  a  superficial  one,  or  that  merely  enables 
the  Hindu  and  the  Mussalman,  the  Parsi  and  the  Christian 
to  regard  each  other  on  sufferance  or  even  with  a  species  of 
benevolent  mentrality,  but  a  living  and  active  union  whereby 
they  come  to  look  upon  each  other  as  brothers  working  for 
the  cultivation  and  progress  of  their  common  heritage. 


PRINTED  AT  THE  "  MINERVA  "  PRESS,  MADRAS. 


SECOND  PART, 


jttr.  Justice  Jlanade's  Speeches, 


The  Second  Social  Conference— Allahabad— 1888, 

Rao  Bahadur  M,  G.  Ranade  said :— With  the  permission  of 
the  President,  I  have  taken  upon  myself  the  duly  of  giving  to  tho 
gentlemen  assembled  in  this  Conference,  a  general  idea  of  what 
it  is  proposed  to  do  at  this  meeting,  In  the  first  place,  1  am 
glad  to  see  that  so  many  friends  from  all  parts  of  the  country 
have  come  together  to  take  part  in  the  work  of  the  Conference, 
You  are  all  aware  that  we  meet  here  to-day,  in  accordance  with 
the  resolution  adopted  at  Madras  last  year,  when  we  held  our 
first  Social  Conference  there.  Though  the  President,  Rajah 
Sir  T.  Madhava  Rao,  and  the  General  Secretary,  Dewau 
Bahadur  R.  Ragunatha  Rao  have  been  prevented  by 
illness  from  coming  to  Allahabad,  it  is  very  satisfactory  to  see 
that  we  have  on  the  platform  here  to-day  so  many  men  of  light 
and  leading  from  Bengal,  the  N.-W.  Provinces,  the  Punjab, 
Madras,  and  Bombay.  What  is  more  satisfactory  still  is  the 
fact  that  everybody  seems  to  be  in  earnest,  and  recognizes  the 
necessity  of  seriously  considering  the  many  questions  of  social 
reform  which  press  for  solution  at  our  hands.  When  I  watch 
the  growth  of  public  feeling  on  this  subject,  as  it  has  manifest- 
ed itself  in  our  successive  meetings  during  the  last  four  years 
at  Bombay,  Calcutta,  Madras,  and  now  here  at  Allahabad,  I 
feel  that  a  great  and  welcome  change  has  taken  place  in  the 
attitude  of  the  public  mind  in  its  relation  towards  the  work  of 
(bis  Conference, 


2  JNDJAN  KOGIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

Tin's  change  of  feeling  was  clearly  seen  at  the  preliminary 
meeting  of  delegates  and  visitors  interested  in  social  reform, 
which  was  held  in  the  drawing  room  on  Friday  last.  Though 
we  had  no  time  to  advertise  the  meeting  properly,  about  200 
gentlemen  assembled  on  that  occasion,  and  many  friends  from 
different  parts  of  the  coon  try  gave  us  an  account  of  what  was 
being-  done  in  the  way  of  social  reform  in  the  various  provinces 
of  India.  I  was  glad  to  see  that  Mr.  Kashi  Prashad  gave  a 
very  interesting  account  of  the  work  of  the  influential  Hindu 
Association  of  which  he  is  the  Secretary,  and  Munshi  Hargovind 
Dayal  from  Lucknow  gave  us  an  account  of  the  great  Kayastha 
Conference  held  here  about  two  months  ago.  The  members  of  the 
Jain  Reform  Association  of  Ouzarathave  sent  their  delegates  to 
the  Conference,  and  similar  delegates  have  been  sent  by  the 
Madras  meeting  which  was  held  there  a  few  weeks  ago  for  this 
express  purpose.  Ifc  was  settled  at  that  preliminary  meeting 
that  wo  should  meet  here  to-day,  and  give  our  serious  considera- 
tion to  the  subjects  which  have  agitated  the  minds  of  tho 
Hindu  community  all  ovor  India. 

Before  proceeding  to  Jay  before  yon  the  programme  of 
subjects  which  we  have  to  deliberate  upon  to-day,  it  will  be  as 
well,  if  I  make  a  fo\v  remarks  aa  to  the  exact  scope  and  position 
of  the  Conference.  T  reed  hardly  tell  you  that  the  Conference  is 
not  intended  to  he  a  new  association  aiming  at  superseding  or 
controlling  tho  local  societies  which  are  doing,  each  in  its 
sphere,  good  and,  as  I  believe,  honest  work.  The  conditions  of 
Hindu  society  and  of  the  various  castes  and  divisions  of 
which  it  is  composed  preclude  the  idea  of  our  meeting 
together  in  a  common  association,  in  tho  same  way  as 
we  meet  together  in  the  political  Congress.  In  the  Con- 
gress, wo  meet  as  citizens  of  one  empire,  subjects  of  one 
sovereign — obeying  the  same  laws,  liable  to  pay  the  same  taxes, 
claiming  the  same  privileges,  and  complaining  of  the  same 
grievances.  This  common  character  makes  the  deliberations, of 
the  Congress  a  matter  of  common  anxiety  to  all,  Hindus,  Maho* 
medans,  Persia,  Christians,  Europeans,  without  distinction,  of 
colour  or  creed,  There  are,  no  doubt,  even  in  political  matters, 


ii  J        MR.  JUSTICE  MANADB'8  tiPEtiCHES*          3 

subjects    winch  interest  tlio  several  provinces  locally  ;    and 
these  wo  have  to  relegate  to  tbe  provincial  meetings. 

In  social  matters  this  difference  of  interest  makes  itself 
still  more  manifest ;  and  apart  from  distinctions  of  creed  and 
race,  among  the  Hindu  community  itself,  the  customs  of  one 
province  do  not  obtain  in  another,  and  tho  caste  organiza- 
tion is  based  on  different  principles  iii  dill'eront  provinces. 
Polygamy  prevails  in  one  province,  while  it  is  almost  unknown 
iu  others.  Tho  widow's  unhappy  disabilities  affect  different 
castes  in  different  ways.  Infant  marriages  arc  unknown  in 
many  castes  and  communities,  while  they  represent  a  great 
evil  in  other  classes.  Tbe  prohibitions  against  foreign  travel 
are  operative  in  one  place,  while  they  are  practically  not  of 
much  moment  elsewhere.  These  circumstances  have  to  be 
borne  in  mind,  and  they  naturally  prevent  a  common  effort  by 
a  single  association  being  made  for  the  achievement  of  a  com- 
mon purpose.  The  Conference,  however,  has  a  very  important 
function  of  its  own.  While  not  superseding  t.he  local  associations, 
it  is  intended  to  strengthen  their  local  efforts,  by  focussing 
together  the  information  of  what  is  being  done  in  these  matters 
in  the  several  communities  and  provinces  and  castes,  and  thus 
stimulating  mutual  co-operation  by  extending  sympathy  and 
help.  Each  local  body  must  grapple  with  its  own  evils;  but 
in  this  struggle  it  is  very  necessary  that  it  should  kuow  what 
are  the  common  principles  on  which  the  struggle  is  to  be  main- 
tained, what  are  the  methods  to  be  followed,  and  the  conditions 
and  limitations  to  be  observed.  It  is  iu  respect  of  these 
principles  and  methods  and  limitations,  that  the  work  of  the 
local  associations  presents  common  features,  and  it  is  in  respect 
of  this  common  element  that  our  deliberations  in  this  Social  Con- 
ference are  likely  to  be  very  helpful  to  us  all.  The  difficulties,. 
referred  to  above,  make  it  impossible,  to  some  extent,  for  us  all 
to  adopt)  as  in  the  political  Congress,  definite  resolutions  on 
particular  subjects.  Meeting  as  we  do  here  to-day,  as  mem- 
bers subject  to  different  caste  jurisdictions  in  social  matters, 
it  will  be  hopeless  to  expect  that  our  resolutions  will  carry  the 
weight  which  the 'resolutions  of  the  Gongi'esa  are  in  a  position 
to  secure  for  Uleuiselvcs.  It  is  on  this  account,  that  we  have  to 


4«  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REW£M.  [TART 

confine  ourselves  to  recommendations  from  the  general; body  to 
local  and  caste  associations,  which  these  latter  are  to  take  into 
their  consideration  and  give  effect  to,  within,  their  own  sphere, 
in  such  directions  as  they  deem  convenient  or  necessary. 

.  I  lio po  that  I  havo  clearly  distinguished  the  particu- 
lar work  ol'  the  Conference.  The  Conference  is  intended 
to  strengthen  tlie  hands  of  the  local  associations,  and  to 
furnish  information  to  each  association,  province  or  caste  as  to 
what  in  being  done  by  others  similarly  situated  in  the  same 
province  or  other  provinces  or  castes,  and  to  stimulate  active 
interest  by  mutual  sympathy  and  co-operation.  I  do  not  wish 
to  bo  understood  as  it'  there  arc  no  common  features  in  our 
KQcial  nrguni/atiou.  If  that  had  been  the  case,  we  should  never 
.have  oomu  together.  \Ve  are  in  a  sense  as  strictly  national 
socially,  us  we  are  politically.  Though  the  differences  are  great 
for  purposes  of  immediate  and  practical  reform,  yet  thrre  is  a 
background  of  common  traditions,  common  religion,  common 
laws  and  institutions  nnd  customs  and  perversions  of  such  cus- 
toms, which  make  it  possible  for  us  to  deliberate  together  in 
spite  of  our  differences.  In  dealing  with  these  differences,  it 
would  not  do  to  forget  the  common  background  any  more  than 
by  reason  of  the  common  background,  it  would  be  wisdom  to 
forget  the  differences.  We  have  to  eliminate  the  differences, 
{ind  correct  the  perversions,  which  have  sprung. up,  and  obscured 
the  nobility  of  our  common  stock  and  ancient  origin.  It  is 
a  fortuuate  thiug  that  most  of  the  social  evils  complained  of  in 
these,  days,  were  unknown  in.  the  days  of  our  highest  glory, 
and  in  seeking  their  reform,  we  arc  not  imitating  any  foreign 
models,  but  restoring  its  ancient  freedom  and -dignity  in  place  of 
•subsequent  corruptions. 

I  have  dwelt  lougou  this  subject,  because  there  are  many 
luisappro  liens  ions  entertained  about  it,  which  intarfere  with 
the  work  of  the  Conference.  Having  said  this  much  upon  the 
com  mon  principles  underlying  the  deliberations  at  this  Conference, 
I  will  only  take  a  few  minutes  mote  to  sketch  the  work  we 
mean  to  do.  You  would,  in  the  first  instance,  be  called  upon 
to  reaffirm  the  work  done  in  Madras  by  appointing  Mr.  B. 
Kaguiiatha  Riiu  to  be  your  General  Secretary.  With  a  view  to 


ii.]        Ms.  JUSTICE  RAXADE'8  SPEECHES. 


secure  local  co-operation,  it  will  be  necessary  to  name  gentle* 
men  who  will  volunteer  to  act  as  Secretaries  in  different  circles. 
In  making  these  appointments,  1  would  desire  that  the  exist- 
ing local  associations  should  be  recognized  by  their  Secretaries 
being  appointed  to  report  their  work  to  this  Conference,  and  to 
tWireapond  with  ,  each  other.  After  these  appointments  of 
volunteer  Secretaries  have  been  made  for  the  several  circles,  the 
President  would  call  upon  the  local  Associations  represented 
here  to  affiliate  themselves  to  the  Conference,  and  to  send  their 
reports  through  delegates  each  year.  After  this  work  is  over,  a 
resolution  will  be  proposed  for  your  adoption,  explaining  the 
methods  to  be  followed  in  the  work  of  successfully  carrying  out 
reform  in  social  matters.  The  last  resolution  would  refer  to  the 
subjects  on  which  attention  should  be  chiefly  directed  for  the 
preneut/,  and  the  limitations  suggested  by  the  conditions  of  our 
society  in  respect  of  desirable  and  practicable  reforms.  This  is 
the  programme  of  the  day's  work,  and  I  will  now  request  you  to 
give  effect  to  it  in  the  way  you  deem  most  convenient. 

One  more  general  remark,  before  concluding  these  obser- 
vations, may  be  permitted  to  me  in  regard  to  the  existing  cbndi- 
tion  of  things.  The  chief  event  of  the  year  in  this  connection  is, 
no  doubt,  the  great  meeting  at  A  j  mere  in  March  last.  The  rb- 
presentativca  of  twenty  large  and  small  states  met  at  Ajmerc, 
and  agreed  to  certain  proposals  for  reforms  in  marriage  and 
death  expenses,  and  to  certain  limitations  about  the  age  of 
marriage,  both  of  boys  and  girls.  This  indicates  a  great  change 
of  feeling  in  a  most  orthodox  province,  and  in  the  moat  ortho- 
dox class  of  the*  people  of  that  province.  This  change  of  feeling 
is  not  due  to  the  adverse  criticism  provoked  by  the  activity  of 
the  Congress.  1  would  never  have  welcomed  the  change,  if 
it  had  >been  the  result  of  such  adverse  criticism.  I  have 
closely  watched  public  feeling  during  the  last  four  years, 
and  though  when  we  met  in  Bombay  nothing  great  was 
done  or  thought  of  beyond  a  discourse  by  one  or  two  friends, 
and  in  Calcutta  we  absolutely  did  nothing,  we  were  able  to  put 
up  the  scaffolding  at  Madras,  k  and  we  now  hope  to  lay  the 
foundations  <at  Allahabad.  Only  o  no  explanation  can  be  givim 
of  this  change  of  feeliirg  and  that  is,  that  people  have  come  to 


«  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

see  that,  it  they  rueaii  real  work,  that  work  must  be  on  all  the 
lines  of  their  activities.  Eveu  a  citizen's  virtue  is  not  the 
highest  ideal  to  which  we  can  aspire.  There  is  a  higher  life 
still,  and  that  is  represented  by  our  family  and  social  obligations. 
Tho  Rajputanu  people  ha,ve  set  us  a  noble  example,  and  a 
Conference  buck  as  this,  consisting  as  it  does  of  men  who 
represent  all  that  is  best  in  each  province,  may  well  be  expected 
to  take  a  leaf  out  of  the  history  of  the  A j mere  gathering.  (Loud 
chum.) 


The  Third  Social  Conference— Bombay— 1889. 

In  moving  the  iirst  proposition  Rao  Bahadur  M.  6.  Rauadu 
said  : — UK.  PRESIDENT,  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN, — The  Resolution 
I  desire  to  place  before  this  great  meeting  relates  to  a  subject  ot 
considerable  importance,  and  one  which  was  very  hotly  dis- 
cussed in  the  public  newspapers  in  the  early  part  of  the  year. 
It  was  at  Iirst  expected  that  Mr.  J3ayaram  Gidumal,  who 
originally  started  this  discussion  by  the  publication  of  a  small 
pamphlet,  would  have  been  able  to  attend  to-day,  and  move  the 
Resolution  himself.  Unfortunately  he  has  been  unable  to  attend 
the  meeting,  and  I  have  beou  asked  by  him  to  supply  his  place. 
The  Resolution  is  to  the  following  effect :— - 

'  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  Conference!  the  distinction 
made  by,  the  Penal  Code  between  the  general  age  of  consent 
(12  years)  laid  down  in  Section  90,  and  the  special  age 
prescribed  in  clause  5  and  the  Exception  in  Section  375  is  both 
unnecessary  and  indefensible,  and  that  with  a  view  to  prevent 
early  completion  of  marriages,  which  leads  to  the  impairment 
of  physical  health  of  both  husband  and  wife,  and  to  the  growth 
of  a  weakly  progeny,  cohabitation  before  the  wife  ia  twelve  years 
old  should  be  punishable  as  a  criminal  offence,  and  that  every 
effort  should  be  made  by  awakening  public  conscience  to  the 
grave  dangers  incurred  to  postpone  the  completion  of  marriage 
till  the  age  of  14  at  least,  as  being  in  accordance  with  the  dic- 
tates of  our  ancient  medical .  works  and  modern  science,  and 
couutouauoed  by  the  approved  sentiment  and  practice  of  the 
country.'  >  .  , 


n.]        11  R.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.          7 

The  question  to  be  considered  is  a  simple  one.  AH  men 
are  aware  that,  under  the  law  as  it  now  stands,  connection  by  a 
husband  with  his  wife  or  by  a  stranger  with  any  woman  is 
punishable  as  rape,  if  the  wife's  or  woman's  age  is  below  10 
years.  If  the  wife  is  above  10  years,  the  law  has  ruled  that 
connection  with  her  by  her  husband  is  not  rape.  In  the  case  of 
strangers,  connection  with  a  woman  with  her  consent  is  not  an 
offence  relating  to  the  body  under  the  Section,  unless  consent  haa 
been  extorted  or  given  under  mis-impression,  while  in  the  cnse 
of  the  husband,  connection  with  or  without  consent  is  not  re- 
garded as  an  offence  at  all.  The  ago  of  consent  in  this  section 
is  fixed  at  10.  The  general  age  of  consent  as  laid  down  by 
Section  90  of  the  Penal  Code  is,  however,  12,  even  in  the  case  of 
assault  (Section  350),  while  in  the  case  of  certain  offences  it  is 
as  high  as  H  or  16  (Sections  361  and  373).  These  limits  of  ope 
mean  that  the  consent  given  by  a  child,  who  is  less  than  12  or 
14  or  16  years,  to-  certain  offences  being  committed  does 
not  take  away  the  criminal  character  of  these  offences  ;  while 
in  the  case  of  rape  the  consent  is  of  no  avail  only  where  the 
child  is  less  than  10  years  old.  This  is  clearly  an  anomaly 
of  the  law  which  requires  an  explanation.  If  in  the  case 
of  more  venial  offences  against  the  person  and  property 
of  a  child  the  age  limit  should  be  BO  high,  it  does  not  stand 
to  reason  that  it  should  be  so  low  in  the  cose  of  the  offences 
described  under  Section.  375,  Mr.  Dayaram's  pamphlet, 
it  must  be  admitted,  raised  side  issues  which  provoked 
controversy.  He  compared  the*  English  with  the  Indian 
Law,  and  dwelt  upon  the  contrast  as  one  unfavourable  to  the 
Indian  Code.  Of  course,  there  was  some  point  in  these 
observations,  but  too  much  stress  should  not  be  laid  upon  these 
differences,  as  the  laws  of  different  countries  are  intended  to 
guifc  the  different  conditions  of  life  and  the  habits  of  the  people 
affected  thereby,  and  it  caunot  be  urged  as  a  sufficient  reason 
to  modify  the  law  of  one  country  that  in  some  other  country 
tho  law  is  different.  On  another  point  also,  Mr.  Dayaram  took 
up  a  position  which  was  not  likely  to  pass  unquestioned.  H& 
maintained  that  as  the  law  now  stood,  connection  with  a 
woman  above  10  and  bolow  12  years  by  a  stranger  with  her 


A  .INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

consent  was  not  punishable  at  all  as  an  offence,  This  position  was 
questioned  by  Professor  Tilak  of  Poona  in  a  reply  he  published 
to  Mr-  Dayaram's  pamphlet,  and  in  which  it  was  urged  that 
up  to  the  age  of  ,12  such  consent  would  not  avail  the  offender. 
I  do  not  wish  to  enter  into  these  controversial  points.  They 
are  not  necessary  for  the  purpose  of  recommending  the  Resolu- 
tion I  'wish  to  move,  in  which  particular  care  has  been  taken  to 
steer  clear  of  controversy.  I  take  my  stand  on  the  Penal  Code 
of  the  country,  and  oH  the  gravity  or  otherwise  of  the  several 
classes  of  offences,  and  on  this  basis  1  contend  that  if  the  con- 
pont  of  a  girl  does  not  avail  a  man  who  assaults  her  or  robs  her 
or  cheats  her  or  kidnaps  her,  if  slio  is  below  12  in  some  cases, 
and  below  14  or  10  years  in  age  in  other  cases,  part  pasw,  it 
should  not  equally  avail  a  stranger,  or  even  a  husband,  when 
the  offence  is  rape,  and  the  girl  is  less  Hi  an  12  years  old. 
The  thing  has  only  to  be  stated  in  this  clear  way  to  make  tho 
anomaly  appear*  a  very  invidious  and  unjust  refleciion  on  onr 
national  character,  It  might  indeed  be  said,  Where  is  the 
practical  evil  which  needs  relief  P  Has  anybody  complained 
against  the  existing  state  of  the  law  ?  The  answer  is  not  far 
to  seek.  If  the  law  protects  the  husband  or  a  stranger  in  the 
matter,  when  tho  victim  happens  to  be  not  less  than  10  years 
old,  how  could  you  expect  complaints  in  regard  to  it  ?  And  yet 
there  have  been  cases  of  such  offences,  and  in  certain  parts  of 
the  country  it  is  almost  an  institution  to  bring  the  child  hus- 
band and  wife  together,  notably  in  Cmzarath  and  Bengal.  The 
fact  that  the  .legislature,  in  deference  to  what  it  regarded  as 
oar -national  weakness  fixed  the  limit  so  low,  itself  serves  to 
blind  men's  consciousness  on  the  point,  and  blunts  the  moral 
sense  of  indignation  and  resentment,  It  is  urged  that  the 
practice  in  all  respectable  families  is  superior  to  the  law  as  it 
stands,  and  that  therefore  .no  change  in  the  law  m  necessary j 
My.  ova  feeling  is  that  it  is  very  desirable  to  bring  up  the  law 
to  the  limit  of.  this  respectable  practice,  And  to  direct  general 
attantion.to  I  he  .necessity  of  slowly  raising  the  age  of  con  sum  ma* 
tiqn. ,  Eyen  the  limit  of  12  years  is  too  low?  ;<  but  as  that*  age  haa 
been  laidjdown  generally  in  the  Code,  I  do  not  seek  to  raise  t/be 
sbpve.  iliat  age.  Of  course  it  is  very  desirable  oil  medical 


ii.J        MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'f!  SPEECHES.  9 

ground*  that  every  effort  should  be  made  to  put  off  the  connection 
at  least  till  14,  and  the  resolution  is  worded  accordingly.  While 
it  seeks  a  change  of  the  law  by  substituting-  12  for  10  years  as 
the  age  of  consent,  it  requires  us  all  to  put  forth  our  beat  efforts 
to  enlighten  public  conscience,  and  in  this  way  to  raise  the 
limit  to  14.  Private  effort  will  thus  supplement  the  work  of 
legislative  reform,  and  it  will  only  seek  legislative  help  in 
respect  of  removing  an  anomaly,  which  the  law  itself  has 
created,  and  which  no  private  effort  can  by  itself  remove.  A 
change  of  the  kind  suggested  would  in  its  consequence  produce 
a  very  healthy  reaction  on  public  feeling,  and  stimulate  nod 
strengthen  private  effort.  I  hope  you  will  all  accept  the  resolu- 
tion as  n\ery  reasonable  proposal.  You  will  see  that  it  is  not 
si  matter  in  which  we  go 'out  of  our  way  to  seek  the  help  of 
the  l:iw,  where  the  law  has  hitherto  not  interfered.  It  relates 
to  .1  matter  in  which  the  law  has  interfered  to  our  prejudice, 
.md  we  seek  a  change  to  establish  a  desirable  harmony  between 
the  law  and  our  most  approved  practice.  (Lond 


In  moving  the  second  proposition,  Rao  Bahadur  M.  G. 
Kauade  said  : — The  second  proposition  relates  to  a  subject 
which  intimately  concerns  the  future  of  all  organised  attempts 
at  social  reform.  Whatever  difference  of  opinion  there  might 
he  as  regards  the  general  question  of  compulsory  legislative 
interference  for  the  prevention  of  great  social  evils,  it  ia  clear 
that  no  seriou.4  objection  can  be  taken  to  a  proposal  to  empower 
a  certain  body  of  persons,  who  voluntarily  take  solemn  pledges 
in  matters  of  social  reform  for  their  own  guidance,  to  ftftsocinte 
together  with  other  similarly  pledged  members  who  consent  to 
he  bound  by  penalties  enforceable  by  the  society  to  which  they 
belong,  in  case  of  a  breach  of  these  pledges,  Every  legally 
constituted  society  has  this  power.  It*  may  have  no  occasion 
to.use.it,  but  the  power  must  exist  as  a  last  resource.  Caste 
organisations  have  this  power,  and  they  enforce  it  on  occasions. 
They  enforce  it  against  the  wishes  and  consent  of  their  members, 
while  under  the  plan  proposed,  oonwnt,  free  and  voluntary,  in 
an  essential  condition  of  enforcement,  and  tin's 
2 


10  TNDTAN  ROCIiq}  REFORM.  [PAHT 


differentiates  the  proposal  from  a  law  of  the  Slate,  or  a  caste 
rule.  Certainly  no  individual  can  claim  power  to  dictate  to 
others  how  they  should  act,  but  all  conceptions  of  natural  jus- 
tice  and  civil  polity  imply  that  any  one  individual,  or  a  number 
of  individuals,  can,  in  respect  of  matters  not  prohibited  by  law, 
prescribe  the  rule  of  conduct  for  his  own  or  their  guidance,  'and 
he  in  fact  a  law  to  himself  or  themselves.  \Vheu  the  idea  of 
compulsory  prohibition  hy  law  of  certain  social  abuses  had  to 
be  given  up  as  impracticable  for  various  reasons,  it  became  clear 
that  for  the  success  and  solidarity  of  all  organized  efforts  at 
self-help,  ib  was  necessary  that  this  permissive  protection  and 
authorization  by  law  should  bo  secured  to  give  effect 
to  the  pledges  which  might  have  been  accepted  aa  rules 
rif  conduct.  The  want  of  such  binding  and  empowering 
law  was  .  seriously  felt-  hy  a  Social  Reform  Society  in 
Siml,  and  it  asked  the  help  of  the  Government  of  Indin 
about  three  years  ago.  That  Government,  however,  referred  the 
applicants  to  th&  Companies  Act  VI  of  1882,  in  which  Section 
20  provides  for  the  Reg  is!  rat  ion  of  Associations  not  carried  on 
for  profit.  The  suggestion  was  adopted,  and  the  Society  regis- 
tered itpelf  as  an  Association  after  obtaining  a  license  from 
Government  to  dn  so.  Since  then  :i  similar  society  in  Gnzarath 
lias  also  taken  some  practical  steps  in  this  direction.  We  have 
also  a  movement  in  our  part  of  the  country  based  on  the  flame 
lines.  It  hi,  however,  plain  that  as  the  provimons  of  the  Indian 
OompaniflR  Act  are  rleavly  intended  to  regulate  large  Joint 
Stock  business  undertakings,  carried  on  mainly  for  thfe  pur- 
poses of  profit,  these  provisions  cannot  conveniently  regulate 
the  work  of  Hocioties  established  for  purposes  of  social  reform 
by  persons  who  bring  no  capital,  and  own  no  joint  property, 
But  who  take  certain  cohi  mon  pledges  for  binding  themselves 
to  practise  particular  rules  of  condnct.  The  '  two  objects  being 
so  inconsistent,  the  law  regulating  business  societies  can  never 
1m  coriveniently  applied  (o  the  other  net  of  Associations.  Ex- 
pferiflftGB  has  also  demonstrated  that  this  inconvenience  is  a  real, 
not.  a  fancied  grievance,  I  hold  in  my  hand  a  letter  written 
t/>  me  by  a  Bind  gentleman,  who  is  himself  a  member  of  -the 
Sind  BociriyV  registered  under  the  Companies  Act.  He  obnerrftfl 


ji.]          MR.  JUSTICE  HlfADE'N  SPEECHES.        11 

that  the  Companies  Act  is  utterly  unauited  to  the  genius  uf  a 
Social  Reform  Association.  The  cumbrous  procedure  which 
lias  to  he  observed  under  Sections  7u'  and  77,  when  any  altera- 
tions have  been  made  in  the  Articles  of  Associations,  the  im- 
possibility of  altering  the  scope  and  object  as  set  forth  in  the 
Memorandum  of  Associations  under  Section  VI,  the  necessity 
uf  printing  and  publishing  notices,  balance  sheets,  &c.,  are 
obligations,  which  impose  serious  inconveniences.  The  Sind  Social 
lleform  Association  has  experienced  the  difficulty  of  complying 
with  these  onerous  obligations,  ainl  it  is  the  general  desire  thai 
n  special  law  for  the  butter  regulation  ol"  Uefurin  Associations 
(iliuuld  be  passed.  Similarly  the  regulations  in  table  A  have 
to  be  expressly  excluded  under  Section  38  by  the  Articles  ol 
Associations.  If  not  so  exclude J  or  modified,  the  regulations 
in  table  A  apptyi  »«d  n*  ^he  procedure  of  Associations.  The 
rules  in  table  A  regarding  accounts,  andii,  notices,  and  the 
procedure  to  be  followed  at  general  meetings,  are  so  elaborate, 
and  require  so  much  expenditure  for  printing  that  it  is  very 
necessary  to  provide  that  these  rules  shall  not  apply,  unless 
made  expressly  applicable  by  the  articles. 

Then  again  the  fees  laid  down  under  Section  AO  are  so 
heavy  as  almost  to  be  crushing,  and  greatly  disincline  men 
from  seeking  the  protection  of  the  Companies  Act.  Govern- 
ment have  only  reduced  the  registration  fees  in  the  case  of  such 
Associations  to  Rs.  50,  but  this  sum  itself  is  not  small,  while 
the  other  fees  on  the  registration  of  documents,  (e.y.,  on  notices 
of  change  of  office,  Section  64)  remain  unchanged,  and  press 
inconveniently  on  the  limited  resources  of  the  members,  it  in 
necessary,  therefore,  that  these  fees  should  be  removed.  Inad- 
vertent omission  to  comply  with  the  provisions  of  Sections  47, 
50, 35  and  74  subjects  Associations  to  heavy  penalties.  This  deters 
men  from  v,ol:iuteeriug  to  serve  as  Secretaries  or  Managing  Direr- 
fcora  of  Association*.  The  windiug  up  process  is  also  very  cumb- 
rous, and  mubt  be  made  simpler  and  easier,  I  have,  made  these 
quotations  from  the  letter  of  my  Sind  friend,  aud  as  he  speaks 
jfroui  experience  aud  the  letter  represents,  us  I  am  iuforme.d, 
the  views  uf  the  Secretary  of  that  Society,  Ina  opinion  is 
entitled  to  considerable  weight,  1  may  uleo  &tat>e  that  Mr. 


12  INDIAN  KOCIAL  REWRM.  [PAW 

Dayarani  Ciidumal,  though  he  does  not  go  so  far  as  the  other 
fcJiud  curreapoiident  to  whom  I  have,  referred,  in  coudemiiicgtlu* 
Companies  Act,  joins  with  him  in  thinking*  that  the  Companies 
Act  is  unsuitable,  and  that  the  best  plan  to  follow  would  be  to 
enlarge  the  scope  of  Act  XXI  of  1860,    which  is  in  every  way 
JL  simpler   law,    and  lo   make  it   applicable    to  Social    Reform 
A  asocial  lot' s.     Mr.  Day  a  ram  hus  himself  prepared  the  draft  of 
such  an  amending   Act,  which    incorporates   the  most   needful 
provisions  of  Act  VI  of  1882  and  of  Act  XXI  of  18(30,  and  that 
draft  was  sent  to  me  for  consideration  .it  this  Conference.     AH 
it  is  out  of  place  to  expect  a  detailed  consideration  of  the  draft 
in  this  place,  the  Resolution  provides  for  the   appointment  of  a 
Mtiall  committee  to  take  the  draft  into  its    consideration,     You 
will  then  till  agree  with  me    that  a  case  hus  been   made  out  for 
applying  to  Government  for  a  special    law,  which  necessity  thu 
Resolution  aflirins  in  its  third  paragraph,    and  further  suggests 
the  lines  on  which    the  amending  Act   should  be  passed.     The 
first  paragraph  affirms  the   principle  of  such  permissive   legis- 
lation.    The  second    paragraph  of  the  Resolution  will,    I  fear, 
require  some  more  explanation  from  me,    Section  9  of  Act  XXI 
of  1860  provides  for  the  levy  of  penalties  for  breach  of  rulea,  and 
Section  15   prescribes  the  qualifications  of  the    members.     Ou 
the  analogy  of  these    provisions,    it   is   proposed  slightly   to 
enlarge   them  by  providing  that   when  a  member  of  a  Reform 
Association  dies  without   resigning  his   membership,    his  BODS 
and  other    heirs  shall,  if  the  rules   so  provide,  be  regarded  as 
coming  in  his  place,  unless  or  until  they  signify  their  intention 
to  the  contrary.     Such  a  provision  might  seem  unusual  in  such 
a  matter  of   voluntary  organizations,  but  it  is  a  very  necessary 
provision  to  safeguard  the  interests  of  the  surviving   members. 
It  may  safely  be  presumed  that  the  son  of  a  man  will  prefer  to 
continue  his  adherence  to  his  father's   principles  rather   than 
disown  them.     There  is  au  evident   advantage  iu  the  arrange- 
ment, and  the  analogous  traditions  of  castes  and    guilds  are  in 
its  favour.     There   is   no  hardship  in    the  provision,    because 
complete   liberty   to  resign  is  guaranteed  to   the   heirs  of  % 
deceased    member.     1  hope  to   have   thus  made  my   moaning 
plfcitf    iu    regard    tu   the   mote    uiipuriaiit    portions  of    the 


ii.]        MR.  JUSTICE  BANADE'N  tiPEECHEH.         13 

Resolution,  which  1  have  proposed  fur  your  considera* 
tioti.  It  seeks  no  compulsory  interference  of  the  law.  It 
ouly  seeks  for  the  organised  Associations  a  power  to  give 
effect  to  the  rules  and  penalties  to  which  their  members 
have  given  express  and  voluntary  assent.  Without  Bucli  a 
power,  it  is  the  experience  of  all  of  us  that  we  are  often  in 
our  weaker  momenta  tempted  lo  falter  and  go  wrong.  Of 
course,  nobody  expects  that  men  can  be  made  to  practise  HH 
they  preach  by  force  of  the  law.  The  strength  of  motive,  and 
the  impulse  to  act  up  to  if,  must  come  from  within.  At  the 
same  time  the  fear  of  .social  opinion  in  riot  small.  In  a  large 
number  of  cases,  men  fear  the  opinion  of  their  fellows  more 
than  they  fear  their  own  conscience.  There  is  no  valid  reason 
why  this  power  should  not  be  turned  to  account.  Of  course  it 
will  be  turned  to  account  only  in  the  case  of  those  who  con- 
sent to  join  a  society  on  these  conditions.  Others,  who  so 
choose,  might  join  simply  as  sympathisers,  but  not  prepared  to 
bind  themselves  to  the  penalties  laid  down  for  a  breach  of 
pledges.  Those,  however,  who  stand  aloof,  have  no  right  to 
dictate  that  none  shall  bind  themselves,  if  they  so  chooRe. 
Such  a  principle  of  joint  action  cannot  fail  to  be  of  great  help, 
and  I  trust  that  it  will  meet  with  your  approval.  The  power 
of  registering  Social  Reform  Associations  already  exists,  and 
it  is  not  a  new  law  that  is  sought.  The  law  is  there.  It  ra  not 
a  compulsory  but  a  permissive  law.  It  is,  however,  proved 
to  be  cumbrous  and  inconvenient  in  many  respects,  and  all  that 
is  proposed  is  to  simplify  it.  Under  these  explanations,  T  beg 
to  move  the  adoption  of  the  second  Resolution  entrusted  to  me  : 

'  That  in  the  opinion  of  the  Conference,  it  is  highly  de- 
sirable that  persons,  who  voluntarily  associate  together  for  the 
promotion  of  social  reform,  and  accept  certain  pledges  iu  respect 
of  the  obligations  cast  upon  them  us  members  of  such  Associa- 
tions, should  be  enabled  to  enforce,  without  difficulty  and  ex- 
pensive litigation,  the  rules  against  those  who  violate  them,  by 
the  levy  of  any  penalties  sanctioned  by  the  rules  BO  accepted  by 
them ;  ,, 

1 2,<  That   if  the   ruleh   bo  provide,  -thu    heir*  (uoub,    «fcc.  j 


J I  INDIA  AT  SOCJA  L  REMM.  L^AICT 

of  adeceatiod  member  shall  ou  his  death  be  deemed  to  be -members 
uf  the  uaid  Associations,  and  clothed  with  all  the  lights, ,  uud 
be  subject  to  all  the  liabilities  of  such  membership,  until  thay 
resign  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  contained  in  the  said 
rules  *;  •  • 

'  ii.  And  that  a.s  the  provisions  of  the  Companies  Act  VI  of 
J8Ss2  arid  Act  XXI  of  18(50  (Literary  anil  Charitable  Societies 
Act1)  do  not  provide  sufficient  facilities  for  the  proper  oigauisa- 
iroii  of  Associations  for  the  [iromotion  uf  social  reforms,  and 
Hie  conduct  of  their  business  and  Hie  cut'orcemeiit  of  their 
penalties,  a  draft  of  a  less  cumbrous  and  more  clastic  Acl, 
incorporating  and  amending  certain'  provisions  ot  both  these 
Acts,  be  prepared  and  submitted  to  (iovernment,  with  a  prnyer 
that  it  will  take  into  its  earliest  consideration  the  clesirablity  ot 
passiiig  a  Special  Act  for  this  purpose,  and  that  in  the  ineair- 
while  Government  should  exempt  the  levy  of  all  fees  under  the 
Stamp  and  Companies  Acts  on  all  documents  executed  for 
the  purposes  of  such  Associations.  The  draft  pieparcd  by  Mr. 
J)ayaram  (jiidumal  should  be  referred  to  a  committee  consisting 
of  Rao  Bahadur  Ranade,  the  Hon.  Mr.  Te'Unp,  Mr.  N.  0. 
Chandavarkai1,  aud  Mr.  Ds'yarani  Gidnmal,1 


The  Fourth  Social  Conference— Calcutta—  1 89O. 

in  moving  the  (-first)  proposition,  '  That  this  ConfereJice  has 
heard  with  satisfaction  the  account  pf  the  work  done  in  the  pro- 
motion of  social  reform  by  the  various  independent  and  affiliated 
Associations,  established  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  and  it 
trusts  that  the  good  work  that  has  been  done  during  the  past 
year  will  be  continued  with  the  same  earnestness  during  the 
coming  year/  the  lion,  liao  Bahadur  M.  C.  Rauade  aaid  :r- 
With  the  permission  of  the  President,  1  propose  witbin  the 
short  time  at  my  disposal  to  lay  before  you  a  brief  summary  of 
the  work  done  by  the  various  independent  and  affiliated  Social 
Reform  Associations  now  at  work  in  tbit,  country  during  the 
past  year.  The  year  that  ib  now  about  to  close  has  been  in 
this  respect  a  most  eventful  one.  From  <me  end  of  the  country 


if.]        MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.         15 

to  the  other,  there  has  been  an  ear  neat  struggle  going  on  in  tho 
minds  of  all  classes   of  the   community,  and  the  fact  has  been 
I'eoognised  that  the  claims  of  social  reform  on  our  attention  are 
of  a  paramount  character,  and  that  the  time  is  past  for  a  mere 
academical  consideration   of   the  same.     You    will    be  glad  to 
notice  that  we  are  no  longer  liable    to  the  reproach  of  devoting 
our  attention  exclusively  to  politics,  while   neglecting  the  more 
peremptory  calls  of  duty  nearer   home.     I  have  kopt  myself  in 
tonch  with  the  beatings  of  the  national  pulse,  Brid  I  can    (here- 
fore  speak  with  &ome  authority  from  first  hand  sources  of  infor- 
mation.    We  have  received  reports    from  1C  circles,    including 
large  and   populous   districts   nnd   provinces  in  all  the  great 
Presidencies   of  the   Empire.     The   mere   enumeration   of   the 
names  of  these  places  will  give  you  an  idea  and  a  much  better 
idea  than  any  description  can  convey  of  the  universal  character 
of  this   national   awakening.     The    reports  that   I  hold   in  my 
hand  have  come  from  distant  Quettn,  Punjab,  Sind,    Oujaratli, 
Horn  bay,      Deccan,    Southern    Maratha    Country,    the    Herars, 
Madras,    Malabar,   Hellary,   Oudh,  Rohilkand,    Agra,  Meerat, 
norakhapur,  Hyderabad   (Deccan),  Allahabad,  Rajputana,  and 
even  from  places  where  we  have  received  no  report?,    messages 
of  sympathy  and  ro -operation  havo  come  to   us  during  the  last 
few  days  by  letters  or  telegrams.  Of  course,  as  might  be  expected, 
.action  has  provoked  in  some  quarters  a    reartiou,  and  orthodox 
communities,  which  hitherto  treated  the   matter  with  indiffer- 
unne,  have  been  stirred  up  to  throw  oft'   their  lethargy,  and  put 
forth  their  strength   of  numbers   by  way  of  protest  against  the 
coming  change.     This  has  been  notably  the   caHe  at  Delhi  and 
in  my  part  of  the  country,   as  also  in  Madras.     1  welcome  this 
orthodox  struggle  to   discountenance  the  efforts   of  what   they 
are  pleased  to  style   the  so-called  reformers,  because  it   brings 
forcibly   to  the  minds  of  many  thousands  of  people,    whom  we 
omild  not  otherwise  reach,  the  urgent  necessity  of  netting  our 
house  in  order.  -  Even  the  Delhi  Pundits  found  it  necessary  to 
yield  to  thre  spirit  of  the  times  by    taking  up  the  cry  of  the  re- 
formerw  against  extravagant  expenditure  on  marriage  and  other 
The   ShaatriR  and   reactionists   on   our  side  of  the 
R!RO  0n  the  Madras  Ride,  found  it  necepsnry  to  admit 


Ifi  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

the  existence  of  the  evil,  though  they  would  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  suggest  ion  a  fop  reforming  the  Admittedly  evil  customs. 
The  chief  bone  of  coutention  was  the  question  of  the 
Age  of  Consent,  in  regard  to  which  our  views  were  for- 
mulated in  the  first  Resolution  adopted  at  the  last  Conference. 
The  controversy  has  raged  rather  furiously  round  this  central 
point.  Memorials  to  the  Government  of  India  were  sent  from 
various  parts  of  t'ne  country,  —  Sind,  Gujarath,  Bombay,  Dec- 
nan,  Madras,  Mangalore  and  Meerat,  and  as  a  consequence 
counter-memorials  were  also  sent  up  by  the  Benares  and  Delhi 
Pundits,  and  the  Bombay,  Poona  and  Madras  reactionists,  There 
is  no  dispute  about  the  main  question.  All  are  agreed  that 
the  evil  of  premnture  connections  is  one  which  should  he 
Rhongly  put  down.  Those  who  oppose  the  proposals  do  so 
chiefly  on  the  ground  of  the  abuse  of  power  by  the  police. 
This  is  however  a  question  of  procedure,  and  does  not  affect 
tjie  amendment  of  the  substantive  penal  law.  All  reasonable 
apprehensions  can  easily  bb  set  at  rest  by  enacting  certain  pro- 
visions by  which  the  offence  can  be  made  a  non-cognizable  one, 
and  permitting  bail  in  cases  where  the  offence  does  not  result 
in  serious  crimes.  It  can,  therefore,  no  longer  be  said  with 
justice  that  there  is  any  serious  difference  of  opinion  on  this 
point.  The  matter  is  now  in  the  hands  of  Government,  and  it 
is  an  open  secret  that  the  legislature  will  before  long  take  up 
fliis  question  on  the  nn.inimous  recommendation  of  the  execu- 
tive Government.  The  point  chiefly  to  be  considered  at  this 
stage  is  the  exact  limit  of  age,  which  should  be  adopted.  Out- 
side the  Hindu  community,  the  feeling  is  that  12  years  as  re- 
commended by  the  last  Conference  is  too  low  a  limit.  The  Jady 
Doctors  and  the  Public  Health  Society  of  this  place  have  sug- 
gested a  higher  limit.  On  our  side  of  the  country  1,600  Hindu 
ladies  have  taken  the  same  view  in  a  memorial  addressed  by 
them  to  Her  Majesty  the  Queen- Km  press.  As  the  subject  is 
now  engaging  the  consideration  of  Government,  we  deemed  it 
necessary  to  refrain  from  including  it  in  the  business  of  this 
year,  which  yon  will  see,  from  the  draft  Resolutions  placed  in 
'your" hands,  includes  no  proposal  for  legislative  interference, 
except  in  one  small  rpattpr  about  which,  however,  £  am  glad  to 


ii.]        MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.         17 

&ee  from  the  reports  .that,  have  come  to  hand,  there  is  not  much 
difference  of  opinion.  I  refer  to  the  proposed  abolition  of  civil 
imprisonment  in  tbe  case  of  married  women  in  execution  of  re- 
stitution decrees. 

I  agree  with  my  friend  Mr.  Maumobau  Gho.se  in  the  view 
that  social  reform  is  eminently  a  .question  in  which  we  must 
work  for  ourselves,, and  by  ourselves,  but  there  is  one  limitation 
to  this  freedom,  n'j.,  that  where,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Age  of 
Consent,  as  also  in  respect  of  the  execution  of  restitution 
decrees  and  the  disabilities  of  married  widows,  the  law  itself 
has  laid  down  certain  undesirable  restrictions,  a  change  in  the 
law  can  alone  remove  the  evil  complained  of.  Mr.  Manmohan 
Ghose  is  too  good  a  lawyer  not  to  be  aware  of  this  limitation. 
In  regard  to  all  other  matters,  the  present  programme  of  the 
Conference  is  to  work  out  the  changes  proposed  by  organising 
and  educating  public  opinion.  On  the  question  of  infant 
and  ill-assorted  marriages,  for  instance,  the  various  Social 
Reform  Associations  havo  proceeded  on  the  principle  of  self- 
help.  Their  members,  pledge  themselves  to  advocate  and 
adopt  certain  changes.  The  pledge  movement  started  in  Poona 
has  taken  root,. and  baa  been  adopted  by  Berar  friends,  as  also 
by  reformers  in  the  N.-W,  Provinces  and  Oudh  and  Beluchis- 
tan.  In  Rajput  an  a,  State  agency  is  made  available  by  its 
peculiar  constitution.  In  Sind  and  Gujarath,  friends  have 
advanced  a  step  further  and  have  registered  their  Associations 
which  are  working  satisfactorily.  The  general  feeling  on  this 
subject  appears  to  be  that  the  marriageable  age  should  be  fixed 
for  the  present  at  the  limit  of  puberty,  that  is,  12  years  in  the 
case  of  girls  and  18  in  the  case  of  boys.  In  Rajput  an  a  they 
have  gone  further.  In  Sind  and  Gujarath  and  Berar  the  limits 
are  lower.  In  respect  of  ill-assorted  marriages,  the  feeling 
seems  to  be  that  more  than  30  years'  difference  should  not  exist 
between  the  ages  of  man  and  wife.  The  draft  Resolutions  have 
been  framed  on  these  lines,  and  aa  they  represent  the  general 
view  it  may  be  hoped  that  there  will  be  no  room  for  much 
^liffopence  of  opinion.  In  regard  .to  widow-marriages  there 
-were  celebrated  during  tbe  laet  year,  a  re-marriage  among  the 
Kayasthas  in  Punjab,  one  ,  in  Centra]  Provinces,  and  three  on 
3 


Ifl  TNDIAN' 8WIAL  HRFORM.  [PART 

ilia  Bombay  side.  About  the  excommunication  of  persona  wbo 
undertake  sea-voyages,  public  opinion  is  growing  more  favour- 
able.' '  The  Indian  Delegates,  who  returned  about  the  middle  of 
the  yaar,  were  admitted  back  into  their  communities  without 
muah  diffiuulty.  The  difficulties,  however,  are  not  altogether 
imaginary,  as  the  record B  of  the  Jain  defamation  case  in  this 
city  amply  testify.  A  resolution  therefore  has  been  drafted  on 
this  subject  to  give  expression  to  Hie  wish  of  the  Conference 
that. a  better  feeling  in  regai'd  fro  the  admission  of  such  persons 
by  their  castes  should  be  created  all  over  tlie  country.  You 
will  thus  see,  gentlemen,,  that  :i  good  deal  of  work  and  very 
ho>peful  work,. has. been  accomplished  all  along  the  line.  The 
Conference,  where  we  have  gathered,  brings  all  this  work  to  a 
focus,  and  this  appears  to  me  to  be  its  chief  value.  It.  strength- 
ens .the  hands  of  local  societies,  it  formulates  the  methods, 
and  it  regulates  the  aspirations  of  those  who  are  working  earn- 
estly in  this  cause.  It  thus  makes  us  feel  for  the  first  time  in 
pur  history,  not  only  that  we  are  politically  a  united  nation, 
bat  that  our  social  arrangements  are  also  being  subjected  to 
fcb«  inspiring  influences  of  the/  national  spirit.  (Loud  cheers.} 


The  Fifth  Social  Conference— Nagpur— 1891. 

Rao  Bahadur  M.  G.  Ranade  said  (in  moving  the  first 
resolution) : — 

MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  GRNTLEMEN, — I  have  been  asked  to  move 
the  first  resolution  for  the  consideration  of  the  meeting.  The 
resolution  runs  thus  : — 

"  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  Conference  the  recent  decision 
pf  the  Madras  High  Court,  affirming  the  validity  of.  the  custom 
of  exacting  money  in  consideration  of  the  gift  of  girls  in 
marriage,  not  only  conflicts  with  the  decision  of  the  High 
Courts  of  Bombay  and.  Calcutta,  but  is  also  condemned  by 
axprtss  texts  of  Hindu,  Law.,,  and  by  the  .best  orthodox 
sentiment  of  the-  country.,  The,  Conference  accordingly  recQm- 
mtnd^aJI  Social  Reform  Associations  to  join  >  together  in  one 
effort;  to  denpuDQe  this  practice,  ond  ensnre  that  jnojtiea 


ii.]"      MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.         10 

received  by  the  father  or  guardian  of  tbe  girl,  shall  bd  b eld  as 
a  trust  in  tbe  interest  of  the  £irl,  and  the  trust  duly  enforced/' 

The  Madras  decision  referred  to  is  reported  in  the  Indian 
La-w  Report,  13  Mad.  S3. — Viswanafhan  versus  S  ami  n  a  than. 
Thte  parties  in  this  suit  were  Brahmins,  and  the  Plaintiff 
brought  his  suit  on  a  bond  for  Ila.  200  passed  by  'the 
Defendant  in 'consideration  of  Plaintiff's  giving  his  daughter 
in  marriage  to  the  Defendant's  nephew.  The  Defendant 
pleaded  that  the  consideration  was  illegal.  The  Sub-Judge  of 
Kumbhakonnm  held  that  the  consideration  was  r.ot  illegal,  and 
nl lowed  tha  claim.  The  matter  came  before  the  High  Court. 
Justices  Parker  and  Wilkinson  held  that  Plaintiff's  claim  was 
maintainable,  and  was  not  against  public  policy  ot  Hindu  Law. 
They  admitted  that  such  contracts  were  illegal  in  England, 
bilt  under  the  impression  that  the  moral  consciousness  of  the 
people  in  this  country  was  not  opposed  to  the  practice;  they 
decided  that  the  consideration  could  not  be  regarded  as  im- 
moral or  against  public  policy.  The  decisions  of  th'e  Bombay 
High  Courfrin  Dularai  versus  Vallabdas  Pragji  reported  in  the  In- 
dian Law  Report,  13  Bombay,  126  and  of  tho  Calcutta  High 
Court  in  Hamchand  Sen  versus  Andaits  Sen  lb.,  10  Calcutta,  1054, 
were  referred  to  and  disapproved  for  reasons  stated  in  the  Judg- 
ment. 

The  High  Courts  being  thus  in  conflict  with  one  another, 
it  becomes  necessary  in  this  Social  Conference  to  give  an  expres- 
sion to  tbe  general  feeling,  that  not  merely  the  sympathies,  bub 
the  convictions  of  the  public  generally  and  not  of  reformers 
only,  are  opposed  to  the  view  taken  by  the  Madras  High  Court. 
In  the  first  instance  the  Madras  High  Court  appears  to  have 
overlooked  the  fact  that  the  parties  before  them  \itereflrahmin*, 
and  that  the  Asur  form  of  marriage  was  condemned  for  Che 
Brahmin  caste.  Out  of  the  eight  forms  of  fa  a  rri  age,  tbe  first 
four  are  oommetided  for  Brahmins,  naitiely,  the  Brahma,  Dait'a, 
Arnha, -and  Prajapatya  :  and  the  Astir  form  is  only  for  Vaisliyas 
and  Sadras  (Manu,  ch.  3P  verse  24).  '  Secondly;  'the'  Judges 
relied  upon  the  commentator  Siromani  of  Southern 
•who  identified  the  Asitr  wffrh  tti*  Arsh  tornr  ot 'married.  ' 
'  mfcy  bave'beea'rigbt  in  bib  view  to  tbe  'e* 


20  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

seeking  to  establish  some  resemblance '.between  the  two  forms, 
but  be  could  never  have  intended  that  tbe  Asar  form  was  as 
commendable  as  Arab  for  the  Brahmins. 

The  money  consideration  in  this  case  can uot,  under  any 
circumstances,  fall  within  the  gift  of  a  cow  or  two  permitted 
in  the  Arsk  form  of  marriage.  In  ch.  3,  verse  53,  Manu  goes  so 
far  as  to  expressly  controvert  the  position  that  the  gift  in  the 
Arsh  form  was  5^»  and  lays  down  that  whether  the  gift  is 
small  or  great,  it  is  equally  a  sale  of  the  girl,  and  constitutes 
an  offence  described  as  the  sale  of  one's  own  children. 

There  is,  therefore,  no  Shastraic  basis  for  the  view  taken 
by  the  Madras  Court,  and  this  ia  admitted  by  the  Judges  them- 
selves. They,  however,  thought  that  the  custom  was  widely 
prevalent,  and  was  not  opposed  to  the  moral  consciousness  of  the 
people.  We  can  fairly  join  issue  on  both  these  points,  and 
contend  that  the  custom  is  not  widely  prevalent  in  the  higher 
castes,  and  that  in  all  castes,  it  is  opposed  to  the  moral  feelings 
of  the  people,  Mr.  Justice  Scott,  in  his  judgment,  has  expressly 
observed  that  the  Asur  form  of  marriage  is  only  legal  among 
the  lower  castes  ;  and  that  in  this  respect  though  the  custom 
in  tbe  country  may  be  defective,  that  is  no  reason  why  an  addi- 
tional evil  should  be  engrafted  upon  the  existing  usage.  It  is 
immoral  and  against  public  policy  even  in  the  present  state  of 
matrimonial  relations  in  India.  This  view  of  Justice  Scott  was 
concurred  in  by  Justice  Jardine.  The  Chief  Justice  Garth,  in 
the  Calcutta  case  also  held  that  such  contracts  were  void  and 
illegal  in  this  country,  and  were  incapable  of  being  enforced 
by  the  rules  of  equity  and  good  conscience.  Tte  fact  that 
marriages  of  girls  take  place  during  infancy  is  not  a  sufficient 
reason  for  encouraging  parents  and  guardians  to  abuse  their 
authority  over  their  infant  charges,  by  deriving  money  advant- 
age from  disposing  of  their  wards.  They  were  bound  as 
parents  to  exercise  their  choice,  not  for  their  own  advantage, 
bat  for  the  interest  of  the  minor  girls. 

It  was,  indeed,  contended  in  the^;  Madras  case  that  the 
parents  bad  to  maintain  the  minor,  and  might  claim  to  be  re- 
imbursed the  expenses  incurred  by  them.  Such  an  argument 
may  hold  gqod  in  other  countries,  bat  in  this  country,  the 


ii.]        MR.  JUSTICE  BANADE'S  SPEECHES.        21 

duty  of  the  parent  to  support  his  child  is  not  limited  by  such 
mercenary  considerations. 

The  Madras  Judges  are  themselves  prepared  to  invalidate 
such  contracts,  where  tho  girl  is  given  in  man  ingo  to  old  and 
debauched  men,  but  this  distinction  sap§  at  the  root  of  the 
principle  involved.  Who  is  to  decide  upon  the  qualifications  of 
the  old  and  debauched  men  ?  Where  is  the  limit  to  be  drawn  ? 
The  better  course  seems  to  be  to  follow  the  rulings  of  the 
Calcutta  and  Bombay  High  Courts.  Of  course  in  this  conflict 
between  the  High  Courts,  tho  Legislature  can  alone  remove 
the  evil  by  express  law.  It  has,  iu  Section  23  of  the  Contract 
Act,  laid  down  tho  principle,  and  all  that  has  to  be  done  is  to 
make  tho  meaning  more  clear  by  an  addition,  declaring  that 
all  payments,  received  by  the  girl's  father  or  by  the  guardian 
iu  consideration  of  the  girl's  marriage,  are  void  nnd  illegal. 

Till  this  is  effected,  the  next  best  course  is  to  declare  that 
all  such  payments  are  made  iu  the  interest  of  the 
girl,  and  that  the  parent  or  the  guardian  is  only  a  trustee  of 
the  girl.  Manu  lays  down  (in  ch.  3,  verso  54)  that  if  the 
payment  is  made  to  the  girl,  there  is  no  objection!  and 
he  strictly  prohibits  the  relations  of  the  girl  from  seizing 
the  girl's  wealth  (ch.  3,  verse  52).  It  is  on  this  account 
that  the  resolution  is  worded  in  the  way  proposed. 

There  are  some  who  think  that  payments  made  to  the 
bridegroom's  father  should  be  brought  under  the  same  cate- 
gory* In  some  castes  these  payments  also  are  exacted  from 
mercenary  motives.  There  is,  however,  a  difficulty  in  the  way, 
caused  by  the  fact  that  the  approved  forms  of  marriages,  Brahma 
and  Daiva,  contemplate  gifts  of  money,  &r.,  to  complete  the 
gift  of  the  girl.  The  circumstances  of  the  two  cases  are  not 
identical,  and  it  will  take  some  time  to  make  people  see  any 
inconsistency  in  following  the  old  law.  We  have,  therefore, 
confined  the  resolution  to  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  in 
which  the  custom  is  not  widely  prevalent  and  is  certainly 
opposed  to  the  moral  consciousness  of  the  people,  nnd  is,  more- 
over, in  conflict  with  express  texts.  I  Hope  I  have  made  ray 
meaning  clear  to  every  body  present,  and  that  you  will  approve 
the  proposition,  which  I  have  the  honor  now  to  move.  /k 


22  INDIAN  SOCIAL  &EFORM. 

The 'Hon'ble  Rao  Bahadur  M.  G.  Itanade  delivered  an 
address  at  the  Hialop  College,  explaining  the  objects  and 
necessity  of  the  Social  Conference,  and  the  methods  of  its 
operations.  Rao  Bsihadur  V.  M.  Bhide  of  Pnona  was  in  the 
chair.  Mr.  Raimde  said  that  he  was  not  uttering  words  of 
mere  common-place  courtesy  often  used  on  such  occasions, 
when  he  said  that  the  cordial  reception  given  to  him  and  his 
f fiends,  strangers  as  they  were,  by  the  people  of  Nagpnr,  was 
exceedingly  kind  of  them.  When  he  left  the  Western  coast, 
with  its  hill-forts  and  arid  plains,  which  were  nt  present 
threatened  with  scarcity,  and  when  lie  first  saw  the  fertile 
parts  on  this  side,  he  could  conceive  the  satisfaction  his  ances- 
tors must  have  fell'  in  settling  here,  in  this  land  uf  plenty, 
verdure,  and  happiness,  Those  days  arc  gone,  The  wounds 
then  caused  have  been  healed.  The  people  have  reconciled 
themselves  to  the  effects  of  the  British  conquest.  The  old  in- 
vasions from  the  West  have  ceased.  But  what  is  this  new 
invasion",  you  will  ask, — this  new  invasion  which  also  comes 
from  the  West,  and  seeks  to  capture  the  East  ?  There  is  first 
the  Congress  invasion, — you  must  surely  have  reconciled  your- 
self to  it.  Its  triumphal  arch  has  been  raised.  The  camp  is 
ready  ;  and  all  preparations  are  ripe  for  a  mighty  siege,  The 
Bieging  operations  will  commence  from  to-morrow,  and  'you 
will  all -be  busy  contributing  your  share  in  them.  The  Con- 
ference movement  represented  a  more  humble  invasion,  'there 
are  no  battlements,  no  triumphal  arches,  no  preparations  for 
war.  Before  commencing  its  operations,  as  the  spokesman  of 
the  Conference,  he  wan  desirous  of  having  a  parley  with  those 
that  had  assembled  there,  and  of  seeking  their  earnest  co- 
operation in  the  work  it  had  undertaken.  The  Congress  inva- 
sion was  an  invasion  which  needed  no  advocate  to  plead  ita 
cause  before  them,  as  it  had  already  secured  their  sympathies^ 
His  mission  needed  an  advocate,  for  it  was  a  delicate  task, — 
this  work  of  social  reform.  The  work  of  the  Conference  con- 
cerned our  family  interests,  it  touched  the' hearts  of  the  people, 
«nd  if  not  wisely  carried  on,  it  was  sure  to  arouse  opposition. 
-His  party  could  not  adopt  the  role  of  dictatorship,  and  they 
pever/  thought  of  adopting  it.  Mr.  Ranade  then  weiit  into  the 


ii.]        MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S.  SPEECHES.         23 

history  and  constitution  of  the  Social  Conference,  the  importance 
of  which i  ho  said,  could  be  easily  understood  by  his  sriying  that 
it  sought  to  purify  and  improve  their  character  as  citizens 
and  -as  heads  of  families.  There  were  ah  present  scattered 
over  this  large  country  a  number  of  associations,  which  aimed 
at  reforming  the  social  institutions  of  the  people,  some  three 
of  them  were  registered  under  the  Company's  Act  or  under  the 
Religious  and  Charitable  Societies'  Act ;  there  were  some 
thirty  others  which  satisfied  themselves  with  mere  pledges. 
There  was  an  ecpial  number  of  those  who  did  not  take  any 
pledges,  but  had  been  striving  to  agitate  for  reform.  All  of 
these  worked  i'or  .1  common  purpose,  viz.,  the  amelioration  of 
the  social  condition  of  the  people,  But  each  of  these  worked 
independently.  And  for  each  of  these  to  carry  on  correspond- 
ence directly  with  the  other  associations,  and  seek  to  benefit 
by  their  experience,  was  a  cumbrous  process.  To  make  this 
process  easier  and  more  effective,  the  Social  Conference  was 
brought  into  being.  Each  Reform  Association  reqqfred  the 
co-operation  of  the  rest,  and  each  sought  the  benefit  of  the 
experience  of  others  which  were  working  in  the  same  direction, 
This  want  the  Social  Conference  supplied,  for  at  the  Conference, 
views  were  exchanged,  experience  was  communicated,  varied 
information  was  focussed,  and  additional  light  was  thrown 
each  year  on  many  subjects,  and  a  unity  of  purpose  was 
secured  in  the  work  of  the  different  associations.  The  Con- 
ference, he  repeated,  was  not  a  dictatorial  body  commissioned 
to  command  subordinate  associations,  but  it  was  a  gathering 
where  the  representatives  from  different  parts  met  to  inform 
each  other  and  help  each  other  in  the  work  of  practical  reform. 
In  .this  social  problem  more  importance  was  paid  to  the 
methods  of  reform  proposed  than  in  the  agitation  for  political 
reform,  and  rightly.  For  there  Avas  such  a  variety  of  com- 
munities amongst  them  that  what  suited  the  aspiration  of  one 
niay  not  fit  in  with  the  needs  of  the  other,  what  vyaa  desired 
by  pne  was  not  necessary  for  the  purposes  of  others.  IJe  would 
illustrate  bia  remarks  by  taking  the  marriage  question.  There 
wepe  people,,  in,  remote  India  (about  many,  lakhs  of  them  known 
$8  Hindus)  whose  custom  and  ]tyw  allowed  one  wife  for  five 


24  TNDTAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

brothers, — .1  custom  which  would  be  considered  a  bin,  if  not  a 
crime,  by  us  on  this  side,  but  which  passed  there  as  a  common- 
place  occurrence.  Again,  in  other  parts  lower  South,  there  are 
people  who  do  not  attach  any  sacred  character,  as  wo  do  here, 
to  the  marriage  tie.  For  the  purposes  of  religions  law  or  civil 
law  or  any  law,  there  is  neither  husband  nor  wife  in  Malabar, 
This  cuNtom  prevails  not  in  a  small  portion  of  this  country,  but 
in  a  populous  region  which  measures  400  miles  in  length  and 
30  to  40  miles  in  breadth.  The  learned  lecturer  said  that  a 
friend  of  his  who  was  present  here  to-day,  and  who  was  trying 
to  make  marriage  a  permanent  life-long  obligation  there,  was 
denounced  by  these  people  as  aiming  at  a  dreadful  revolution. 
In  the  East,  there  was  a  class  vory  prominent  and  much  res- 
pected, among  whom  one  man  (whether  he  be  a  young  or  an 
old  man)  could  be  the  husband  of  any  number  of  girls,  irre- 
spective of  age.  Such  are  the  various  customs  obtaining  in 
different  parts  of  the  country,  and  what  he  said  of  the  marriage 
custom  applied  equally  to  other  customs.  Hence  there  is  the 
difficulty  of  prescribing  one  method  of  reform  for  all  India. 
Necessarily  the  methods  must  be  different  for  different  com- 
munities, and  they  must  be  so  framed  that  the  old  continuity 
of  each  with  its  past  history  may  not  be  broken  up.  The  Con- 
ference proposes  some  common  methods,  and  seeks  to  nnimate 
the  workers  with  a  righteous  purpose  common  to  all.  Happily 
all  the  disputes  in  this  Social  Reform  agitation  related  to  the 
question  of  the  methods  1o  be  pursued.  The  existence  of  the  evil 
was  admitted  by  reasonable  men  of  all  parties,  and  the  necessity 
for  reform  was  recognized  everywhere  by  those  who  gave 
thought  to  the  subject.  The  dispute  was  how  shall  they  do  it  ? 
In  studying  the  history  of  their  country  during  the  past  2,000 
years,  they  would  find  illustrations  of  various  methods  of  reform. 
There  were  some  who  said  that  they  should  preach  reform  ; 
but  that  they  should  in  practice  only  drift  into  reform,  which 
means  that  we  should  close  our  eyes,  shut  our  mouths,  tie  down 
our  hands  and  feet,  and  wait  and  wait  till  the  train  of  events 
transferred  us  from  one  stago  to  another.  Things  should  be 
allowed  to  take  their  own  course.  There  was  a  fallacy  lying 
ftt  the  root  of  this  whole  view  which  was  so  apparent  that  ij; 


n.]        MR.  JUSTICE  RANADWS  SPEECHES.         2fi 

was  not  necessary  for  him  to  spend  many  words  to  expose  it. 
When  one  drifts  into  reform,  he  is  not  reformed,  he  remains 
exactly  as  he  was.  The  fastest  railway  train  does  not  give 
exercise  to  our  body,  if  we  do  not  ourselves  move.  Some  there 
were  who  thought  that  when  they  were  asked  to  lend  their 
support  to  reform,  there  was  some  objective  reality  outside  them- 
selves that  they  had  to  deal  with.  Tliero  was  no  such  thing. 
The  thing  to  be  reformed  was  their  own  self,  heart,  and  head 
and  soul,  their  own  prejudices  were  to  be  removed,  their  super- 
stitions to  be  eradicated,  their  courage  to  be  strengthened,  their 
weaknesses  to  be  conquered,  in  fact  their  character  to  be  formed 
again  so  as  to  suit  the  times,  so  as  to  fit  with  the  spirit  of  the 
age.  Mr.  Ranade  appealed  to  each  of  his  hearers  if  his  con- 
science did  not  tell  him  that  there  was  something  lacking  in 
him  to  make  him  what  he  desired  to  bo.  And  if  so  what  were 
the  methods  which  could  supply  what  was  wanting  in  them  P 
Mr,  Ranade  then  named  four  methods  of  making  a  conscious* 
effort  to  reform.  The  first  method  was  what  he  could  approxi- 
mately describe  as  the  method  of  tradition,  that  is  to  say,  of 
basing  reform  on  the  old  texts.  The  weapon  of  the  school  of 
tradition  was  interpretation,  in  other  words,  taking  the  old 
texts  as  the  basis,  and  to  interpret  them  so  us  to  suit  the  new 
requirement*  of  the  times.  This  was  the  method  followed  by 
Dr.  Bhandarkar  recently ;  and  tho  same  was  the  methocl  of  the 
venerable  founder  of  the  Arya  Samaj  —  Pandit  Dayanand 
Saraswati — who  believed  that,  in  dealing  with  the  masses,  ifc 
would  not  do  to  follow  any  other  method  than  that  of  taking 
the  old  texts,  and  putting  new  Interpretation  on  them,  so  as  to 
make  all  feel  that  there  was  an  effort  made  to  preserve  tho  old 
continuity,  and  that  there  was  no  attempt  at  innovation,  which, 
in  the  eyes  of  the  ignorant,  always  meant  revolution.  This  is  the 
method  the  Social  Conference  follows  in  connection  with  the  ques- 
tion of  widow-remarriage.  The  next  method  was  that  of  appeal- 
ing to  the  conscience  of  the  people.  The  first  method,  in  tho  opi- 
nion of  a  good  many  people,  leads  to  disputations,  and  therefore 
they  advocate  the  method  of  appealing  directly  to  their  sense 
of  right  and  wrong,  good  and  bad,  sinful  and  virtuous.  The 
weapon  of  this  school  of  reformers  is  to  seek  to  bind  men  by 
4 


26  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.     .          [PART 

their  own  pledge  or  promise,     The   third  method  Bought  to 
enforce  reform  by  means  of  penal  ties, — imposed  either   by  the 
caste  or  by  the    State,   in    either  of  which  case   it  is  equally  a 
constraint  imposed  by  the  wise   upon    the   ignorant   in    their 
common  interest.     It  has  its  merits  as  well    as  demerits,   but  it 
must  be  advocated   only  in   those  cases  in  which  the  first   two 
have  no  chance   of  success,  for  it  is  a   coercive   method,    which 
should  not   be  resorted   to,  until    other  ways   have  been    tried. 
The  fourth  method  is  that  of  dividing  from  the  rest,  and  form- 
ing  a  new   camp,    nnd   shifting   for   ourselves.     This   has   its 
merits   too,  but  many  more   demerits,  tlio   chief  among   which 
latter  is  tho  breaking  of  continuity.     All  lead  to  the  same  goal, 
and  excepting  the  fourth   one,  all  the  three  have  been  accepted 
by  the  Conference.     The  Conference  is  not,  as  has  been   misre- 
presented, a  body  aiming  at  carrying  out  reform  by  mere  legisla- 
tion.    This  is  as  inaccurate  adescription.  of  ifc  as  could  possibly 
be  given.     Legislation  steps  in  only  when   the  other   methods 
fail.     He  would  refer   as  an   illustration  to   the  practice  of  the 
sale  of  girls  in  marriage,     Tho  Madras  High   Court  has    given 
its  .support  to  it.     The  Bombay   and  Bengal  High  Courts   have 
pronounced  their  opinion  against  it.     In  such  a  case  comes  the 
need  of  legislation.     Mr.  II  an  ad  a  then  ex  or  ted  his   audience  to 
lend   their   support  and   their  active   support   to  the  cause   of 
Social    Reform.     The    Conference    and    the  Congress,  he   said, 
were  so  closely   united    that  they  could  not    help  the   one  and 
discountenance  the  other  ;  they  were  two   sisters, — the  Congress 
and  the  Conference;  and  they  must  let  them  both  go   hand-iu- 
hand,  if  they  wished  to  make   real  progress.     The  cause  of  the 
Conference  was  the  cause  of  the   well-being  of  the  people,  even 
as  the  cause  of  the  Congress   was  the  cause   of  their  country's 
progress. 


The  Sixth  Social  Conference— Allahabad— 1892. 

At  a  public  mooting  held  on  the  25th  December,  under  the 
presidency  of  the  Hon'ble  Rni  Bahadur  Ram  Kali  Chaudhnri, 
Rao  Bahadur  M.  G.  Ranade  gave  an  address  on  the  subject 
of  "Social  Evolution."  He  said  :—  Mr.  President  and 


11.]       MR.  JUSTICE  RANAD&S  SPEECHES.         27 

men,  once  more  we  meet  in  this  busy  week  of  December, 
this  time  in  your  historical  and  holy  city,  to  take  stock 
of  our  year's  achievements,  to  count  our  losses  and  gains> 
and  to  pledge  ourselves  to  help  each  other  in  the  unccusing1 
struggle  to  better  our  condition.  When  from  our  distant 
provinces  we  start  on  these  annual  pilgrimages,  we  are 
often  twitted  for  our  pains  by  those  who  take  credit  to 
themselves  for  superior  wisdom,  and  the  question  is  often  asked, 
what  mad  freak  lays  hold  of  so  many  earnest  minds  in  tho 
country,  which  leads  them  to  pursue  this  mirage  of  national 
elevation,  which  recedes  further  from  our  grasp  the  more  eagerly 
we  run  after  it.  This  same  irreverent  doubt  also  weighs  down 
some  among  our  own  body  in  our  weak  moments,  and  it  seems 
to  me  very  necessary,  before  we  enter  upon  more  serious  work, 
to  purify  ourselves  by  the  discipline  of  a  rigorous  course  of  self- 
examination  for  the  struggle.  Nothing  strikes  our  critics  both 
European  and  Native,  as  more  manifestly  absurd  than  this 
Our  faith  that  these  annual  gatherings  will  prove  helpful  in 
attaining  the  objects  we  seek.  Progress  in  the  art  of  self- 
Government,  both  in  its  national  and  individual  bearings,  it  in 
urged  by  some  of  our  native  friends,  can  never  be  secured  by 
these  half-confused  gatherings  of  races  and  creeds  and  interests, 
aud'the  jumble  of  tongues,  and  the  turne  imitation  of  methods 
not  our  own.  Our  European  critics  are  more  wise  in  their 
generation,  and  some  of  the  wisest  among  them  have  demon- 
strated to  their  own  satisfaction  that  all  Oriental  races  have 
had  their  day,  and  that  nothing  is  now  left  to  them  but  to  vego  • 
tate  and  die,  and  make  way  for  their  betters.  Political  elevation, 
and  social  emancipation,  religious  or  spiritual  enlightenment, — 
these  gifts  have  not  been,  and  will  never  be,  according  to  their 
philosophers,  vouchsafed  any  more  to  the  Indian  races,  If 
these  black  forebodings  were  really  inspired  prophecies,  our 
outlook  would  he  dark  indeed.  Happily  for  us  these  prophecies 
are  not  true,  and  what  is  more,  it  is  in  our  power  to  falsify 
them.  History  does  not  countenance  them,  and  the  teachings 
of  science  are  not  in  their  favour.  No  earnest  prayer,  no  self- 
denying  aspiration,  no  sincere  battling  with  falsehood  and 
ignorance,  can  ever  under  God's  Providence,  end  iu  failure. 


28  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAW 

The  methods  may  have  to  be  changed,  but  the  straggle  is  ever 
the  same,  and  none  need  despair.  Ib  is  not  the  gains  that  you 
make  outside  of  yon,  it  is  not  what  you  have,  but  what  you 
yourselves  become,  that  makes  or  mare  a  man's  or  ft  nation's 
destiny.  Particular  reforms  may  be  out  of  our  reach,  or  may 
nut  be  for  our  advantage  :  but  the  earnest  desire  for  reform,  and 
sincere)  efforts  of  self-sacrifice  directed  towards  their  attainment 
cuuuou  but  elevate  us  above  our  weaknesses,  and  strengthen  our 
M trong  points,  and  plant  the  banner  of  union  in  hearts  torn  with 
centuries  of  strife  and  disunion.  This  is  the  moral  interest 
of  the  struggle,  and  those  who  cannot  appreciate  this  invaluable 
privilege  of  fighting  in  the  ranks  in  such  a  struggle  are, — what 
shall  1  call  i hem— superior  persons  living  in  a  Paradise  of  their 
own.  if  indeed  history  and  science  both  declared  against  us, 
we  might  find  it  necessary  to  pause.  But  the  history  of  this 
great  country  is  but  a  fairy  talc,  if  it  has  not  illustrated  how 
each  invasion  from  abroad  lias  tended  to  serve  as  a  discipline  of 
the  chosen  race,  and  led  to  the  gradual  development  of  the  nation 
to  a  higher  ideal  if  not  of  actual  facts,  at  least  of  potential 
capabilities  The  nation  has  never  been  depressed  beyond  hope 
of  recovery,  but  after  a  temporary  submerging  under  the  floods 
of  foreign  influences,  has  reared  up  its  head — absorbing  all  that 
is  best  in  the  alien  civilisation  and  polity  and  religions.  The 
testimony  of  science  points  in  the  same  direction.  If  the 
environments  determine  the  growth,  a  change  in  the  environ- 
ments must  bring  about  a  change  in  the  political  and  social 
organism.  There  is  thus  no  cause  for  despair  if  we  only 
remember  one  great  lesson  of  history  and  science,  namely,  that 
no  development  of  the  body  politic  is  possible,  unless  the. new 
heat  animates  all  our  powers,  ami  gives  life  and  warmth  to 
all  our  activities. 

Wheu  wo  meet  at  these  annual  gatherings  to  seek  our 
political  elevation,  we  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  our- 
social  emancipation  should  go  along  with  it,  if  we  desire  to  be 
an  individual  consistent  whole,  with  a  just  balance  of  power 
in  all  our  movements.  In  otlber  words,  the  social  evolution 
must  take  place  side  by  side,  if  it  should  not  precede  the 
political  growth  that  we  desire  to  achieve,  What  is  it,  some 


ii.]        MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'U  SPEECHES.         29 

of  you  will  ask,  that  you  require  of  us  io  do  iu  this  work  of 
inter  Gal  freedom  ?  1  would  reply,  the  evolution  that  we  should 
seek  is  a  change  from  constraint  to  freedom—  con utraint  im- 
posed by  our  own  weaker  nature  over  the  freedom  of  our  higher 
powers.  It  is  a  change  from  credulity  to  faith,  from  credulity 
which  behoves  without  grounds  to  faith  which  builds  itself 
upon  a  firm  foundation,  Our  station  in  life,  our  duties,  and 
our  limits  of  action  are  certainly  fixed  for  most  of  us  by  circum- 
stances over  which  we  have  no  control,  but  there  is  still  a  large 
margin  left  for  freedom  of  action.  We  voluntarily  contract  that 
margin,  and  bind  ourselves  by  fetters,  and  glory  in  them  as 
the  Mahomed  an  fakir  in  Bombay,  who  thinks  himself  specially 
favoured  because  he  bears  heavy  iron  chains.  The  change 
which  we  should  all  seek  is  thu«  a  change  from  constraint  to 
freedom,  from  credulity  to  faith,  from  status  to  contract,  from 
authority  to  reason,  from  unorganised  to  organised  life,  from 
bigotry  to  toleration,  from  blind  fatalism  to  a  sense  of  human 
dignity,  This  is  wliat  I  understand  by  social  evolution,  both 
for  individuals  and  societies  in  this  country.  Even  if  we 
accept  the  evolution  view  to  be  correct,  it  should  not  be  for- 
gotten that  the  environments  which  surround  us  have  changed, 
and  are  not  the  same  that  they  were  a  hundred  years  ago. 
Pence  and  order  reign  throughout  the  laud  instead  of  the  old  dis- 
turbances which  made  the  preservation  of  life  one's  chief  care.  In- 
stead of  our  country  being  a  sealed  book,  we  are  now  a  part  of  the: 
community  of  nations,  feeling  joy  and  sorrow  in  their  prosperity 
or  distress.  In  our  own  country  distance  and  local  barriers  which 
so  long  separated  us  have  been  removed,  and  we  are  made 
more  mobile  and  coherent  than  we  ever  were  before,  These 
are  only  physical  changes.  More  important  still  is  the  disci* 
pline  afforded  us  by  the  example  and  teaching  of  the  most  gifted 
and  free  nation  iu  the  world,  whose  rule  guarantees  to  us  a 
long  continuance  of  these  favourable  conditions.  The  reign  of 
law  is  supreme.  Human  skill  and  human  sympathies  are  busy 
at  work  to  correct  all  our  failings,  and  it  cannot  well  be  that 
all  this  should  have  happened  as  a  mere  accident  in  human 
story.  .  The  European  philosophers  themselves  admit  that 
wholesale  migration  and  infusion  of  new  blood  can  alone  revive- 


30  -  INDIAN  SOCIAL  RlSFORM.  [PAR* 

the  old  effete  Oriental  races.  I  ecu  tend  that  the  changed  order 
of  things  described  above  are  the  new  environments  in  which, 
without  change  of  place,  we  have  been  forced  to  migrate,  they 
infuse  new  blood  into  our  veins,  and  they  bring  down  from 
heaven  the  spiritual  tire  which  has  strength  enough  to  purge 
us  of  our  grosser  selves,  if  we  only  will  do  our  duty.  On  their 
own  theory,  therefore,  there  is  no  cause  for  the  despair  which 
European  thinkers  feel.  The  process  of  growth  is  always  slow, 
where  it  has  to  be  a  sure  growth.  The  best  natures  naturally 
want  to  shorten  this  long  process  in  their  desire  to  achieve  the 
work  of  a  century  in  a  decade,  This  temptation  has  to  be 
resisted,  and  in  this  respect  the  teachings  of  the  evolution 
doctrine  have  great  force,  because  they  teacli  that  growth  is 
structural  and  organic,  and  must  take  slow  effect  in  all  parts 
of  the  organism,  und  cannot  neglect  uny,  and  favour  the  rest. 
There  are  those  amongst  us  who  think  that,  in  this  connection, 
the  work  of  the  reformer  is  confined  only  to  a  brave  resolve  to 
break  with  the  past,  and  do  what  our  individual  reason  suggests 
as  proper  and  lit.  The  power  of  long-formed  habits  and 
tendencies  is  however  ignored  in  this  view  of  the  matter. 
"  The  true  reformer  has  not  to  write  upon  a  clean  slate.  Hiy 
work  is  more  often  to  complete  the  half-written  sentence.  He 
has  to  produce  the  ideal  out  of  the  actual,  and  by  the  help  of 
the  actual."  \Ve  have  one  continuous  stream  of  life  flowing 
past  us,  and1' we  must  accept  as  valid  the  acts  which  were 
noted  in  the  past,  and  on  the  principles  of  the  past,"  and  seek' 
to  turn  the  stream  with  a  gentle  bend  here,  and  a  gentle  bend 
there,  to  fructify  the  land ;  we  cannot  afford  to  dam  it  up 
altogether,  or  force  it  into  a  new  channel.  It  is  this  circumstance 
which  constitutes  thu  moral  interest  of  the  struggle,  and  the 
advice  so  frequently  given— that  we  have  only  to  shake -our 
bonds  free  and  they  will  fall  off  themselves, — is  one  which: 
matured  and  larger  experience  seldom  supports.  We  cannot 
break  with  the  past  altogether  ;  with  our  past  we  should  not 
break -altogether,  for  it  is  a  rich  inheritance,  and  we  have  no- 
reason  to  be  ashamed  of  it.  The  society  to  whinh  we  belong 
has  shown  wonderful  elasticity  in  the  pasty  and  there  is  no 
reason  for  apprehending  that  it  baa  ceased  to  be  tractable 


ii.]        MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.         81 

and  patient  and  persistent  in  action.  While  respecting 
the  past,  we  must  ever  seek  to  correct  the  parasitical  growths 
that  have  encrusted  it,  and  sucked  the  life  out  of  i(-.  This  is, 
at  least,  the  spirit  in  which  the  societies  and  associations  which 
are  represented  at  the  Social  Conference  seek  to  work.  They 
seek  no  change  for  its  own  Hflke,  or  because  it  is  fashionable 
elsewhere.  They  seek  their  inspiration  in  the  best  traditions 
of  onr  own  past,  and  adjust  tho  relations  of  the  past  with  the 
present  in  a  spirit  of  mutual  forbearance.  Tho  Shastrns  they 
revere,  but  they  respect  the  spirit  more  than  the  letter  of  the 
old  law.  The  road  is  difllcnlt  and  besot  with  dangers,  but  as 
it  is  the  only  sure  road,  there  is  no  choico.  Looked  at  in  this 
spirit,  we  may  now  review  the  work  of  the  past  year,  and 
although,  as  in  tlio  political  sphere  of  onr  activity,  we  have 
both  gained  and  lost  ground,  there  is,  on  the  whole,  no  cause 
for  thinking  that  we  have  wasted  onr  opportunities  during  the 
year  that  is  about  to  close.  Being  in  touch  with  friends  in  all 
parts  of  tho  country,  I  can  speak  with  some  authority,  and  I  am 
glad  to  testify  to  the  fact,  that  it  cannot  be  laid  at  tho  door  of 
the  different  local  Associations  that  they  have  been  idle  all  the 
year  round.  In  the  Bengal  Presidency  an  agitation  initiated 
by  Kumar  Bonoy  Krishna  Bahadur,  and  supported  by  such 
men  as  Sir  Roniesh  Chandra  Mitra  and  Pundit  Mahesh  Chandra 
and  Babu  Surendra  Nath  Banner  jee,  has  been  carried  on  in  the 
matter  of  removing  hindrances  in  the  way  of  the  free  admis- 
sion of  men  who  go  to  foreign  countries.  Vyavasthaa  numer- 
ously signed  by  Pundits  and  others,  have  advanced  the  solution 
of  that  question  to  a  sensible  extent.  In  the  N.-W.  Provinces 
and  Oudh,  the  Kayastha  Associations  and  their  Conference 
have  done  a  great  deal  for  that  community  in  the  way  of 
checking  intemperance  and  extrnvagance,  and  promoting 
education.  In  the  Punjab,  the  healthy  activity  of  the  local 
Arya  Samajas  has  given  to  that  body  a  position  of  great  use- 
fulness in  the  education  and  training  of  the  community  of  the 
country.  Two  re-marriages,  one  in  high  life  and  the  other  in 
consonance  with  the  old  practices,  have  taken  place  with  the 
apparent  approval  of  many  orthodox  leaders.  Lower  down  in 
Rajputana  the  Walterkrit  Rajputra  Sabhahan  developed  its 


*2  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAET 

organisation,  and  enforced  its  rules  with  greater  success  than 
before,  and  the  movement  is  now  spreading  among  other  classes 
of  the  community.  The  leading  Native  States  are  lending  their 
support  to  the  cause  of  reform  officially.  In  Ouzerath  in  our 
own  Presidency,  His  Highness  the  Maharajah  Gaikwar  has 
been  appealed  to  for  help  by  the  Mahajans  of  thirty  leading 
sub- castes  to  help  them  in  raising  the  limit  of  marriageable 
age,  nnd  checking  extravagance.  In  the  British  territory  in 
the  same  province,  ths  Kunbi  population  has  been  similarly 
profiting  by  the  operation  oC  the  rules  framed  under  the  In- 
fanticide Acts.  In  the  rest  ot*  the  Presidency,  the  Marwadi 
Jains  at  Nasik  and  the  Kayastha  Prabhus  have  held  Conferences 
for  the  promotion  of  reform  in  their  own  community.  In  Bom- 
bay n,  re-marriage  was  celebrated  the  other  day  which  was  also 
an  inter -marriage.  In  Poonn,  owing  to  local  distractions,  much 
has  not  been  done,  but  thn  Poona  Association  has  received 
several  more  pledges,  find  some  of  the  highest  families  in  the 
city  have  arranged  mutual  marriage  alliances,  the  actual  cele- 
bration of  marriage  being  postponed  till  the  girls  arrive  at 
puberty.  Even  the  local  distraction  had  a  higher  moral  inter- 
est than  what  people,  looking  superficially,  would  be  prepared 
to  admit.  As  the  question  is,  however,  still  undecided,  it 
would  bo  premature  to  prophesy  the  final  results.  But  there 
are  evident  signs  that,  the  struggle  has  commenced  in  earnest, 
And  it  will  end  in  a  compromise  creditable  to  both  the  parties. 
In  Mysore  His  Highness  the  Maharajah's  Government  is  pre- 
pared to  undertake  legislation  in  respect  of  marriage  reform, 
and  has  been  good  enough  to  show  His  Highness's  appreciation  of 
.the  work  of  tho  Conference  by  deputing  a  learned  Shastri  of  his 
Court  to  help  us  in  our  deliberations.  In  Malabar  the  propos- 
ed legislation  of  marriage  among  Nairs  has  made  some  pro- 
gress. In  the  Madras  Presidency,  three  re-marriages  took 
place,  one  of  them  being  an  inter- marriage.  A  new  association 
pf  earnest  workers  has  also  been  formed  there,  which  represents 
the.young  Madras  party,  and  promises  the  happiest  results. 
Two  of  oar  most  prominent  workers  undertook  missionary 
f^qrs  in  the  Punjab,  in  the  Central  Provinces  and  in  the  Berars, 
at  great  self -sacrifice.  In  the  Central  Provinces  a  Native 


ii.]        MR.  JUSTICE  E  A  NADS' S  SPEECHES.          33 

Christian  was  taken  back  info  his  caste  by  the  leading  Pandits 
of  Jubbalpore.  Taking  things  as  they  are,  this  is  cot,  I  hope,  a 
very  unsatisfactory  account  of  the  year's  work,  audit  shows 
that  the  conscience  of  the  country  is  touched  in  all  great 
centres,  and  with  better  organization,  greater  courage  of 
conviction,  and  more  faith  in  Providence,  we  may  hope  that 
this  process  of  social  regeneration  or  evolution,  if  ypu  like  so 
to  call  it,  will  continue  to  grow  in  strength  and  in  power.  To 
help  that  growth,  by  bringing  all  workers  together  once  a  year 
to  exchange  views  and  sympathies,  is  the  object  with  which 
we  meet  hero.  Last  time  the  people  of  Allahabad  gladly  wel- 
comed onr  efforts,  and  wo  feel  quite  sure  of  a  similar  Avelcome 
on  this  occasion. 


The  Seventh  Social   Conference— Lahore— 1893. 

Speaking  on  Social  Reform,  thellon'ble  Mr.  Justice  Ranade 
said: — MR. CHAIRMAN  AND  GKNTMSMEV, — This  is  not  the  first  time 
that  I  have  come  to  visit  this  beautiful  city  of  yours.  Nearly 
20  years  ago  I  first  visited  Lahore,  and  saw  the  sights  and  made 
myself  acquainted  with  the  notables  of  the  city.  One  genera- 
tion has  passed  away  since  then,  and  many  of  my  old  acquaint- 
ances have  departed,  and  their  place  has  been  taken  up  by 
others  who  were  then  perhaps  attending  yonf  schools  and 
colleges,  Duiing  these  20  years,  a  spiritual  wave  has  swept 
over  your  province,  and  I  see  signs  and  indications  which  satisfy 
mo  that  you  have  been  all  the  better  for  the  operation  of  this 
most  elevating  influence.  I  visitod  this  place  again  7  years 
ago  ;  but  my  visit  then  was  only  for  a  short  time,  and  no\v  you 
find  me  here  before  you  in  your  midst  on  the  occasion  of  this 
great  gathering  of  the  Indian  nations,  which  has  been  held 
annually  for  the  past  nine  years  in  the  great  capitals  of  thn 
Hri  fifth  Indian  Empire.  T  come  this  time  in  connection  with 
a  mission  of  peace,  which  the  General  Secretary  of  the  Con- 
ference, Dewau  Bahadur  It,  Raghunath  Rao  has  been  pleased 
to  assign  to  me,  namely,  to  bespeak  your  favourable*  attention 
to  the  consideration  of  matters  which  more  intimately  concern 
the  true  welfare  of  the  great  Empire  to  which  we  all  belong 


3-1  INDIAN  SOCIAL  EEFORM.  [PART 

than  many  others  with  the  noise  of  which  the  air  ia  singing  all 
aboub  u a  here.  Perhaps  few  of  you  have  ubeeu  privileged  to 
see  Dewan  Bahadur  Raghunath  Rao.  He  is  the  father  and 
the  patriarch  of  this  movement.  Thu  respect  due  to  age  and 
rank  and  education  is  sanctified  in  his  case  by  the  charm  of  a 
highly  spiritual  life,  a  temper  BO  sweet,  a  heart  so  warm  and 
sympathetic,  that  I  am  not  exaggerating  when  I  say  that 
many  of  you  might  well  undertake  a  pilgrimage  all  tho  way  to 
Madras  to  see  him  once  in  your  life.  By  reason  of  old  ago  and 
infirmities  he  has  been  unahlo  to  nome  over  here,  and  has 
deputed  me  to  deliver  io  you  this  message  of  peace,  and  tn 
seek  your  co-operation  in  Hio  great  work  of  social  reform,  which 
has  a  claim  upon  your  attention  as  legitimate  as  the  more 
stirring  political  aspirations  which  for  tho  time  engage  yonr 
attention.  This  reminds  mn  of  n  story  which  I  happened 
,somo  months  ago  to  read  in  .1  biography  of  the  prophei  of  Arabia. 
You  all  know  that  Mahomed's  first  wife  Khadj.i  was  older  than 
himself,  and  that  in  later  life  when  he  became  a  power  in 
Arabia,  ho  took  a  second  and  a  younger  wife  named  Ayesha. 
Thin  younger  wife  once  asked  the  old  prophet  the  reason  why 
he  did  not  give  all  his  heart  to  the  wife  of  his- choice,  so  beauti- 
ful and  so  young,  who  had  brought  him  accession  of  power  and 
wealth,  and  why  he  still  shared  that  affection  with  one  who 
was  old  and  decayed.  Mahomed  gave  a  reply  which  haa  a 
moral  true  for  all  eternity.  He  said  to  his  young  wife  that 
though  he  loved  her,  he  could  not  well  give  up  his  whole  affec- 
tion to  her,  for  his  old  wife's  claims  on  his  love  were  stronger 
and  far  more  legitimate  than  any  that  she  could  plead.  Khadija 
had  accepted  him  when  lie  was  poor  and  unknown,  she 
had  tended  him,  advised  him,  and  helped  him  in  his  cares 
and  anxieties,  and  her  piano  could  not  bo  filled  by  any  woman 
however  lovply,  whom  he  rhosp  for  her  charm  of  nge  and 
beauty.  N 

This  beautiful  little  .story  has  a  moral,  tho  significance  of 
which  we  should  not  forget  on  occasions  like  this.  Those  who 
know  me  know  full  well  that  T  should  be  the  last  person  to 
condemn  the  political  aspirations  that  have  been  created  in  our 
mmds  as  the  result  of  British  rule  and  liberal  education,  They 


ii,]        MR.  J  U8TICE  RANADE'8  SPEECHES.         36 

represent  a  department  uf  human  activity,  to  tbe  claims  of 
which  the  people  of  this  country  have  beeu  long  indifferent. 
JYo  mau  cau  feel  the  full  dignity  of  human  existence,  who  is 
dead  to  the  duties  of  Hie  citizenship  of  a  great  empire,  At  the 
same  time  this  new  love,  that  has  sprung  up  in  us,  ought  not 
to  dry  up  the  fountains  of  our  affection  for  the  old  claimant, 
who  accepted  us  when  we  were  poor  mid  helpless,  -without 
whoso  anxious  care  and  watchfulness  wo  euu  iiuvur  hope  to  be 
in  a  lit  condition  to  undertake  the  higher  responsibilities  that  we 
seek  to  deserve.  Jt  WLLS  :t  sense  of  this  necessity  of  developing 
with  equal  care  the  whole  uf  our  being,  both  in  its  family  and 
social  relations,  as  also  in  its  relation  to  the  body  politic,  that 
impelled  Dewan  Haliadur  and  myself  as  his  helpmate  to  attend 
these  gatherings  ever  since  their  inception  in  IJombayin  1885, 
The  Congress  leaders  have  also,  after  some  preliminary  difficul- 
ties, recognized  the  fact  that  this  old  claimant  upon  our  affec- 
tions could  not  be  entirely  ignored,  and  have  granted  us  per- 
mission to  carry  on  in  their  camp  our  propaganda  on  our  own 
responsibility.  1  hope  these  introductory  observations  will 
give  you  an  insight  into  the  nature  of  the  message  that  \  have 
been  deputed  here  to  communicate  to  you,  and  it  is  this  mission 
that  brings  me  and  others  of  my  friends  to  this  great  distance, 
at  this  by  no  moans  to  us  at  least  agreeable  season  of  the  year. 
About  135  years  ago  my  ancestors  came  to  your  parts  of  the 
country  for  a  brief  interval,  but  then  their  mission  was  dif- 
ferent. Our  hands  were  at  each  other's  throats  then.  The 
Pax  Britannica,  has  now  released  those  hands  for  other  an  d 
nobler  work.  We  now  meet  as  brothers  and  friends.  You 
have  treated  us  as  your  welcome  guests,  and  we  meet  here  to 
discuss,  in  a  language  that  we  all  understand  and  with  complete 
freedom,  the  many  evils  that  we  all  more  or  less  suffer,  and 
which  are  so  deep-rooted  in  the  very  vitals  of  our  family  and 
social  system.  Do  I  exaggerate  in  any  way  the  character  of 
this  disorder  in  our  system  of  family  life  ?  I  am  not  given  to 
exaggeration,  and  the  subject  is  too  serious  to  admit  of  suck 
light  treatment.  I  appeal  to  every  one  of  the  many  hundreds  of 
tbe  men  before  me, — 1  appeal  to  them  most  solemnly, — I  ask 
them  to  lay  their  bands  on  their  hearts,  and  stand  up  before 


3ti  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAKT 

this  meeting  and  say,  if  any  one  can  muster  courage  io  say  it, — 
that  our  family  and  aooial  arrangements  Lave  not  been  out  of 
joint,  for  centuries  together  ?  Are  we  or  are  \ve  not  conscious 
that  many  of  us,  under  the  narcotic  influence  of  custom  and 
usage,  too  often  violate  the  feelings  of  our  common  human  nature 
and  our  sense  of  right  and  wrong,  stunt  the  growth  of  0111- 
higher  life,  and  embitter  the  existence  of  many  of  those  who 
depend  on  ns,  our  wives  and  children,  onr  brothers  and  sons, 
our  '  relatives  and  friends  r1  Arc  we  prepared  to  point 
out  any  single  hour  of  the  day  when  wo  do  nob  unconsciously 
commit  injustice  of  a  suit  by  the  side  of  which  municipal 
injustice  is  nothing,  when  we  do  not  unconsciously  sanction 
iniquities  by  the  side  of  which  the  moat  oppressive  tyrant's 
rule  ia  mercy  itself  r'  Wo  resent  the  insult  given  by  the 
oppressor.  We  protest  against  the  unjust  judge.  Here 
however  we  are  judge  and  jury  and  prosecutor  and  accus- 
ed ourselves,  arid  we  arc  sometimes  consciously  and  more 
of  tea  unconsciously  committed  to  .a  course  of  conduct,  which 
makes  tyrants  and  slaves  of  us  all  and,  sapping  the  strength  of 
our  resolution,  drags  us  down  to  our  fall — to  be  the  laughing 
stock  of  the  whole  world.  Till  we  set  these  matters 
right,  it  is  almost  hopeless  to  expect  that  we  can  have  that 
manliness  of  character,  that  sense  of  our  rights  and  responsi- 
bilities without  which  political  and  municipal  freedom  is  hard  to 
achieve  and  impossible  to  preserve. 

I  want  you  to  recognise  this  fact.  1  have  no  authority 
to  suggest  to  you  remedied.  These  will  suggest  them* 
selves  to  you.  The  fetters  of  the  mind  once  realized  as 
fetters,  will  drop  off  themselves.  They  cease  to  be  fetters, 
and  even  become  a  discipline  for  a  better  existence.  Ib 
may  take  years  and  generations  to  achieve  this  result. 
We  may  all  have  to  die  and  become  manure  for  the  seeds  of 
life  in  future  generations.  But  once  we  enter  upon  the  right 
path',  the  torch  of  light  blazing  inside  us,  which  we  only  seek 
to  darken,  with  our  artificial  rushlights,  will  show  to  those  who 
come  after  us  the  way  to  heaven.  The  way  to  heaven  is  a 
narrow  path,  and  one  has  to  tread  upon  sharp-edged  instruments, 
carefully  balaucing  the  weak  limbs  aiid  spirits.  The  way  to 


Ji.}        MR.  JUSTICE  ti A  NADU'S  SPEECHES.          31 

hell  is,  as  you  all  know,  a  road  well  paved  with  good  inten- 
tions, and  we  have  only  to  close  our  eyes  and  shut  our  ears, -to 
be  listless  and  indifferent,  lead  a  butterfly  existence,  and  die 
intellectually  and  spiritually.  We  have  pursued  that  way  too 
long,  and  it  is  time  now  that  we  should  take  duo  care  to  set 
our  houses  in  order,  as  no  mere  whitewashing  and  no  plaster- 
ing would  remove  these  hidden  sources  of  our  weaknesses. 
The  whole  existence  must  hu  renovated.  The  baptism  of  lire 
and  nob  of  water  must  be  gone  through  b_y  those  who  seek  a 
renovation  of  heart  such  as  this 

Perhaps  some  oF  you  might  think,  and  in  this  favoured 
laud  of  yours  you  have  good  reason  to  think,  that  things 
are  not  bo  had  as  they  boem.  That  is  ulao  my  own 
hope;  and  this  faith  in  us  alone  makes  us  foci  that  if  we 
all  pull  strongly  and  heartily,  we  may  yet  achieve  our 
regeneration.  T  profess  implicit  faith  in  two  articles  of  my 
creed.  This  country  of  ours  is  the  true  land  of  promise.  This 
race  of  ours  is  tho  chosen  race.  Tt  was  not  for  nothing  that 
G'od  has  showered  His  choicest  blessings  on  thia  ancient  land  of 
Aryavarta.  We  can  see  His  hand  in  history.  Above  all  other 
countries  we  inherit  a  civilization  and  a  religious  and  social 
polity  which  lias  been  allowed  to  work  their  own  freo  develop- 
ment on  the  big  theatre  of  time.  There  has  been  no  revolution, 
and  yet  tho  old  condition  of  things  has  been  tending  to  reform 
itself  by  the  slow  process  of  assimilation.  The  great  religions 
of  the  world  took  their  birth  here,  and  now  they  meet  again  aH 
brothers  prepared  to  welcome  a  higher  dispensation,  which  will 
unite  all  and  vivify  all.  India  alone,  among  all  the  countries 
of  the  world,  has  been  &o  favoured,  and  we  may  derive  much 
strength  of  inward  hope  from  such  a  contemplation,  Change 
for  the  better  by  slow  absorption — assimilation  not  by  sudden 
conversion  and  revolution — this  lias  been  the  characteristic 
feature  of  our  past  history.  We  have  outlived  Buddhism,  and  we 
conquered  it  by  imbibing  its  excellences  and  rejecting  its  errors, 
We  have  outlived  Mibomedan  repression,  and  have  conquered  it 
by  being  the  better  for  the  hardy  discipline  in  the  suffering  we 
wenfc  through  under  its  domination.  The  old  world  looseness  of 
the  rotations  of  married  life  aud  of  affiliation  of  sous  has  been 


38  TNDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

purged  from  us,  The  old  wprld  slavery  of  Llie  Sudra  uiillious  bus 
been  quietly  abandoned,  tho  erewhile  Sudra  clasnes  bave  been 
elevated  into  Vaishyas,  our  Urahmins  have  become  warriors 
and  statesmen,  Kshatrias  have  becornu  philosophers  and  guides, 
and  our  Vaibbyas  have  become  our  prophets  and  saintb.  The 
old  world  fotichism  has  given  phioe  lo  idolatry.  Tliu  old  world 
polytheism  lias  given  place  to  :i  full  recognition  by  the 
humblest  of  our  people  ol'  the  unity  uf  the  godhead.  Our 
voracious  love  ol!  llcsli  and  wine  bus  made  room  Tor  an  ideal 
of  abstinence,  charity,  and  mercy,  unknown  all  over  the 
vvorlii.  The  old  sacrifices  of  man  and  beast  have  given  place 
io  the  holior  hacriliccs  ol'  the  passions  in  us.  The  patriarchal 
forms  of  society  have  imide  room,  for  communal  organiKatioBH 
all  over  the  country.  Tho  sanctity  of  woman's  place— it'  not 
as  wife,  yet  as  mother,  daughter,  and  sister, — has  been 
reali/ed  in  a  wrty  unknown  before,  o'1  elsewhere. 

All  these  changes  have  been  brought  ab^at  consciously  or 
unconsciously  without  any  violent  struggle,  and  without  break- 
ing up  the  continuity  of  the  old  life.  If  the  guiding  hand  of 
God  in  history  1ms  so  favoured  us  hitherto,  why  should  we 
despair  nuw  when  we  bave  been  brought  under  influences  of  a. 
still  more  elevating  kind  p  Tho  Old  Testament  testifies  to  the 
truth  and  benignity  of  the  promise  ol!  the  New  Gospel.  It  is 
the  Gospel  which  teaches  us  the  supreme  duty  of  unification  in 
place  of  dissension.  It  teaches  us  by  example  and  precept  the 
supreme  virtue  of  organisation  and  self-reliance.  It  holds  be- 
fore us  a  brighter  ideal  of  the  dignity  of  the  individual  soul — 
tho  image  of  the  God  in  us.  It  seeks  to  bridge  the  chasm  we 
otherwise  would  have  been  unable  to  spau  by  our  own  unaided 
efforts,  and  holds  us  out  a  hope  of  a  more  hopeful  future  than 
we  have  ever  enjoyed  in  the  past. 

'  I  hope  thus  to  have  shown  the  urgency  of  the  work  of 
social  reform  and  the  grounds  which  justify  our  hope  that 
honest  and  united  rfforts  will  surety  lead  to  success.  Thanks  to 
the  Arya  Samaj  movement  in  your  part  of  the  country  and  the 
Brahmo  Samaj  organizations  in  other  parts  of  India, — good 
and  noble  work  has  been  accomplished  within  the  past  genera- 


IT.]         3M  JTT8TTCK  JtANAVE'S  \1PEKU1TKS.          S9 

iion  or  two.     I  am  hero  how  over   speaking  as  a  representative 
of  no  particular  Samaj,   but  as  a  member  of   the  great   Hindu 
community  which  peoples  this  land  and  forms  one-sixth  of  the 
human  race.     The  true  test  of    progress  must  be    seen  in   signs 
which  show  that  this  vast  mass    of  humanity    is  being    vivified 
by    the    sacred    fire   which  burns  only  to   purify  and    elevate. 
There  are  those  who  think  that  no  such  signs  can  be    seen,  and 
that  our  highest  duty  is  to  separate  ourselves  from  the  decaying 
mass   and  look    to  our   own    safety.     I  have    battled  with    this 
idea  for  the  last  30  yours  and  I  shall  protest  against  it,  till  life 
is    spared    and  my    voice    permits    me    to   apeak.     Thi»    Hindu 
community  is  not  a  festering  mass  of  decay  and  corruption.     It 
is  no  doubt  conservative  to    a  degree,  but  that   conservatism  is 
its   strength,      No  nation     has  any    destined   place  in  history 
which  changes  its  creed  and  its  morals,  its  customs  and  its  social 
polity,  with   the   faciliiy  of    fashions       At  the    same  time    our 
conservatism  does  not  prevent  the  slow  absorption  of  new  ideas 
and  the  gradual  assimilation  of  now  practices.    You  will    natu- 
rally oxpect  me  to  produce  my  credentials  for  such  a  statement. 
If  you  will    not  do   it  there   are  others   who  will,  and    I  shall 
therefore  pass  briefly  in   review  the  social    history   of  the  past 
year,  just  reminding  you  of  its    leading  features  in    support  of 
my  statement.  (1)  First  and  foremost  in  the  list  of  such  events  I 
would  put  the  action  taken  by  the  Mysore  Government   in  the 
matter  of  improved    Legislation    for    cheeking    infant  and    ill- 
assorted  marriages.     The  matter  was  taken  up  at   the  instance 
of  the  Representatives  of  the   Mysore  Assembly   and  after  ob- 
taining the  consent  of  the  heads  of  the  great  Mutts,  the  subject 
was  discussed  formally  and,  though  the  numerical  majority  was 
against  this  reform,  the  minority  was  respectable  and  was  sure 
to  carry  the  day   sooner  or   later.  ('2)   The  example  of  Mysore 
was  followed  also   by  the   enlightened  ruler  of   Baroda   whose 
help  was  asked  by  the  leading  Mahajans  of  that  city  to  strength- 
en  their   efforts   at    reform     by   legal     sanction.     An  infant 
Marriage   Bill  and    also  a  Bill  to  encourage    the    formation   of 
social  improvement  societies  have  been  framed  and   published, 
and  are  now  under  consideration.    (3)   The  Rajput  Hitkarini 
Sabba  has  as  you  all  know  been  the  pioneer  in  those    reforms, 


,10  INDIAN  SOCIAL  IttfWJttM. 

and  its  work  1ms  been  grow  inn-  in  scope  and  power.  The 
example  of  the  Rajputs  is  being  followed  by  otber  castes  in 
that  Province.  We  liuve  thus  had  three  experiments  conducted 
on  different  methods  by  the  ruling  authorities  of  Ilnjputana, 
Gujarath,  and  Mysore, — all  tending  towards  the  same  end  by 
different  directions.  This  variety  of  methods  is  the  best  test  of 
the  genuineness  of  the  reform  movement.  (4)  While  these  leading 
Native  States  show  clear  signs  of  advance,  the  great  Ecclesias- 
tical Heads  are  not  backward.  In  our  part  of  the  country 
the  Shankaracharya  of  the  Sankeswar  Mutt  has  been  moved  by 
a  petition  signed  by  many  thous.inds  of  persons  io  express  his 
disapproval  of  the  practice  of  the  sale  of  girls  in  the  form  of 
marriage.  (5)  Tho  Madras  High  Court  threo  years  ago  gave 
some  sanction  to  this  illegal  practice,  and  its  action  was 
commented  upon  in  a  formal  Resolution  at  the  Nugpur  Con- 
ference. Since  then  it  bus  seen  reason  to  change-its  views  and 
has  disowned  tbn  inferences  suggested  by  Its  previous  deci- 
sions, (ti)  Another  Shankaracharva  at  Dwarka  in  Gujarath  has 
promised  his  support,  to  a  movement  for  tho  improvement  in 
the  native  calendar  nbout  which  discussion  has  been  going  on 
for  a  lung  tirnn  in  our  part  of  the  ronntry.  (7)  Sringeri 
Shankaracharya  has  been  distinguishing  himself  on  tho  same 
side  by  removing  the  hindrances  to  foreign  travel,  find  advising 
the  Maharajah  of  Mysore  to  undertake  a  trip  to  Calcutta  by 
sea  ins  tend  of  by  In  ml.  You  will  thus  see  that  both  the  Civil 
and  Religious  heads  nf  the  community  are  feeling  a  new 
responsibility  in  this  matter,  which  is  surely  a  sign  we  cannot 
but  welcome.  It  shows  that  the  movement  is  not  confined  to 
a  heterodox  minority,  as  some  people  fire  pleased  to  call  it.  (8) 
In  further  proof  of  this  progress  I  would  draw  your  attention 
to  the  movement  in  Malabar  for  legalizing  marriage, — a  want 
which  the  Nairs  had  not  till  now  felt.  The  question  is  still 
under  tho  consideration  of  Government,  and  thanks  to  thoeffortfi 
of  my  friend  the  Hon'hle  Sankaran  Nair,  an  improved  marriago 
law  will  sooner-  or  later  be  passed  for  that  province,  (9)  Another 
of  my  friends  theHon'ble  Bhashyam  Aiyangar  lias  brought  in  a 
Bill  for  relaxing  the  rigidity  of  the  joint  family  system  by  ex- 
tending the  scope  of  self-acquired  property.  The  Hon'ble  Rash 


n.]        Mn.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.         41 

-Cehari  Ghose  has  actually  carried  a  small  measure  of  improve- 
ment in  the  ancient  law  of  equal  partition  in  his  province.  (10) 
It  might  be  urged  that  all  this  was  the  work  of  the  authorities 
and  that  people  generally  took  no  part  in  it.     This  was,   how- 
ever, not  true.  The  meetings  of  the  Social  Conference  from  year 
to  year  would  have  no  value  by  themselves,  if  they  did  not  reflect 
considerable  local  activity  in  the  same  direction.    The  Kayastha 
community   in   the   North-West  Provinces  may  well  claim  the 
honor  of  leading    this  popular  movement.     In  tho  North- West 
Provinces  and  the  Punjab,  their   Sadar  Sabhas,   provincial  and 
local  Sab  ha  g,  their  journals,  their   educational  Institutions   and 
benevolent  Funds,  are  a  feature  of  this  activity  too    marked  to 
be  passed  over.     Their  method*  of  operation  are  suited  to  their 
needs  and  they  have  fought  successfully  against  intemperance 
and   extravagance  in  their  community.     (11)     Their  example 
has  been  followed  by  the  Bhargavas  of  the  North -West  Provin- 
ces, the  Jains,  the  Agnrvalasor  Vaishyas,  the  Jats,  the  Mai  is  in 
Raj  put  ana,  and  the  Sarins  in  the    Punjab  and    by  many   other 
smaller  communities,  who    meet  in  Conferences  every  year  to 
provide  for  the  education  of  their  children,  both  boys  and  girls, 
and  frame  rules   against   early   marriages  and  extravagance  in 
expenditure.     (12)     Tho    tendency    of    all    these  local   bodies, 
especially  the   Kayastha   Sabhas,  is    to  break    up  the   smaller 
divisions   and  promote  inter-marriage  and  inter-dining  among 
sub-sections   of   the   same    caste.      The  JaitpUr-Mahajans   in, 
Kathiawar  have  expressly    proposed  this   latter  object  for  the 
consideration  of  their  cRste.     (13)     Following  the   example  of 
the  North- West  Provinces,  the  Audicha  Brahmins  in  Gnjarath, 
the  Oawal  Jains  in  Nasik  and   the  Kayantha  Prabhus  in  Thana 
have  held  similar  meetings  of  their  castes  for  the   same  objects 
with  equally  good  results.     These    caste   organizations   do  not 
reflect  heterodoxy,  but  are  intensely  orthodox  and  yet  they  feel 
the  necessity  of  reform  and  organized   efforts.     Many  of   these 
organizations  are  not  regularly  affiliated  as  societies  represented 
at  the  Social  Conference,  but  some  of  them  are  so  affiliated  and 
the  Conference  is   chiefly  of   value  in    that  it   stimulates  these 
local  efforts.     (14)    There  aro  regular  circles,  in  which  Associa- 
tions exist,  who  send  their  delegates  to  the  Conference ;  as  for 
6 


42  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAi*r 

example  I  might  refer  to  the  Bellary    Sanmarga  Samaj,   the 
Berar  Association,  the  Dharwar   Saroilani    Sabha,  ibe  Madras, 
Poona  and  Ahmedabad  Associations,  theGaziapur,  Meerut,  and 
Aj mere  circles,  and  llio  Sind  Association.    Several  of  these  are 
registered  Associations  mid  others  are  taking  steps  to  register 
themselves.     (15)     These    Associations  while  taking    up  social 
reform  join  with    it  a  general  movement  in  favour  of  purity  of 
conduct,  and  of    purging  the   community  of  vicious  practices. 
The  Madras  Sabha  lias  taken  tho  lead  against  the  dancing  girl 
institution.     Many  others   take  pledges   against  intemperance, 
incontinence   and     polygamy.     (1C)     The  Bengal    Presidency, 
•while  it  ia  the  centre  of  the  Hi-ahnin  Samaj  movement,  has   un- 
accountably shown  a  strange  tendency  towards  bigoted  conserva- 
tism among  the  masses    in  a  way    not  known   in  other  parts  ol' 
India.     Even   there,  however,  the  .sea-voyage   movement  has 
been  taken  up  in  right,  earnest,  and  qrganized  efforts    are  being 
directed  to  facilitate  the  admission  into  caste  of  persons  who  have 
crossed  the  seas.     (17)     On  onr    sirlo  of  the  country  tho  same 
movement  has  found  greater  favour  with  orthodox   people,  and 
admissions  into  caste  have   taken  place  in   Ahmodabad   and  the 
Konkan,  and  Rujkot  on  ^ernis,  which  show  a    grenb   relaxation 
of  the, former  prejudices.     (IS)     Our  Presidency  has   also  been 
distinguished  by  the   favourable   reception  it   has  given  to   tho 
re-iuftrriflge  movement,     As  many   as  seven  re-marriages  took 
place   last  year  in  our  Province — spontaneous  marriages  noiL. 
brought  about  by  organizations.     (10)     Madras  and  the  Punjab 
hnve  also  shown  some  activity   in  thin  direction.     As    might  be 
expected  these  re-marriages  frequently  involve    the  breach  of 
strict, caste  exclusiveness,  and  they  thus  serve  a  double  purpose, 
(20)  The   Arya  Samaj  has    distinguished  itself   by  the  re-ad- 
mission into   tbeir  community   of  repentant  converts  to   other 
religions*     (21)     In  my  part  of  the  country  among  the  highest 
caste  Brahmins  two  virgin   girls   respectively   of   13    and    15 
y«*tB   were   married   last  year,   reflecting   the  highest  credit 
upon  the jr  parents.     Two  or  three  other  girls   of  the  best  fatni- 
liea  hav6  had  the  Vitkdan  ceremony  performed  at  the   age  of  12 
or  13,    and  tho  marriage   ceremony  postponed  till   maturity. 
(22)     The   Paroda   Government  Las  take,n  Btepq  to  ^enforce 


n.]        MR.  JttSTTCf!  BANADE'S  SPEECHES.         43 

compulsory  education  iii  one  part  of  its  territory  a«  an  experi- 
ment. 

I  tbiuk  I  have  said  enough  to  show  that  this  movement- in 
favour  of  social  reform  is  neither  coutined  to  any  one  province, 
nor  to  any. class  of  the  community,  but  is  a  general  and  popular 
movement  all  over  tho  country,  aud  embraces  all  castefl.  It 
covers  a  wide  programme,  encouraging  foreign  travel,  re- 
marriage of  widow*,  interfusion  of  castes,  the  admission  of 
converts,  and  checking  infant  and  ill-assorted  marriages,  poly- 
gamy, tinlu  of  girln,  intemperance,  and  incontinence.  The 
methods  on  which  it  is  conducted  ure  varied,  but  all  are  animat- 
ed by  a  common  purpose.  There  is  the  method  of  legislation, 
and  of  executive  notion,  there  is  the  method  of  strengthening 
casto  organizations,  and  tho  method  of  appealing  to  the  con- 
sciences of  men  by  pledges^ There  is  also  the  method  of 'inter- 
pretation, and  public  preaching  and  popular  enlightenment  are 
also  relied  upon  as  helps.  All  these  methods  of  work  are  carried 
oil  together  with  a  common  aim.  There  is  thus  no  reason  for 
feeling  hopeless  about  the  ultimate  success  of  efforts  so  directed 
and  so  general.  There  is  no  other  sphere  of  activity,  political  or 
educational  or  industrial,  which  seems  to  have  taken  such 
hold  of  the  popular  mind.  Of  course  admission  is  slow,  and 
change  is  gradual;  and  ardent  and  earnest  minds  desire  to  sec 
the  work  accomplished  in  their  own  life- time.  The  method  of 
rebellion,  i.e.,  of  separating  from  the  community,  naturally 
suggests  itself  to  such  minds.  I  am  constitutionally  inclined 
to  put  more  faith  in  tho  other  methods  mentioned '  above. 
They  keep  up  continuity,  arid  prevent  orthodoxy  from  becoming 
reactionists  out  of  a  mere  spirit  of  opposition.  There  are  dis- 
advantages in  this  slow  process  of  working,  but  they  have  to-be 
put  up  with.  This  has  been  the  characteristic  line  of  action 
followed  by  our  ancestors,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  think 
that  they  were  essentially  mistaken.  The  Social  Conference 
meets  every  year  to  focus  all  this  information  and  make  it 
available  to  all  local  workers.  By  this  mutual  exchange  of 
views,  each  circle  and  association  is  stimulated  by  example 
and  precept  to  higher  efforts,  'and  these  efforts  are  guided  in 
the  proper  directions  by  the  experience  of  those 


44  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

which  are  more  advanced  than  others  in  particular  matters. 
Its  resolutions  express  the  ideals  to  be  aimed  at.  Each  local 
association  is  recommended  to  approach  these  ideals  in  its  own 
way,  and  is  required  to  give  an  account  of  its  work  every  year. 
This  may  seem  to  many  a  very  small  progress,  but  it  is 
eminently  practical.  A  few  advanced  reformers  from  all  parts 
of  the  country  meeting  together  will  not  be  able  to  accomplish 
their  purpose,  because,  as  at  present  situated,  they  are  separa- 
ted from  one  another  in  all  relations  of  life  in  n  wuy  to  make 
joint  action  impossible.  The  resolutions  are  strictly  binding 
upon  those  who  accept  tliem  in  the  same  \v;iy  as  the  dictates 
of  conscience  are  binding ;  and  they  cannot  be  made  more 
binding  in  any  other  way  except  in  small  local  organizations. 
I  hope  I  have  made  the  aims  and  purposes  of  the  Conference 
clear  to  you,  and  with  this  explanation  I  feel  contident  that 
you  will  join  with  us  and  promote  the  work  we  all  have  at 
heart.  I  thank  you  heartily  for  the  patient  hearing  you  have 
given  me,  and  hope  that  our  sessiou  here  will  interest  you, 
and  enlist  your  sympathy  in  this  good  cause. 

The  Eighth  Social  Conference— Madras— 1894. 

The  subject  of  the   lecture  was  "  The   Past    History  of 
Social  Reform."     Mr.  Justice  Ranade  said  :— GENTLEMEN,— It 
is  a  source  of   unmixed   satisfaction  to    me  and    to  my   friends 
interested  in   the  cause  of  social    elevation   that  after   seven 
years'  wanderings  far  and  near  over  all    the  chief    provinces  of 
India,  we  have  been  spared   to  visit   the  Southern    Presidency, 
which  has  for  a  thousand  years   and  more   maintained  its  re- 
putation as  the  fountain   source   of  all    higher  spiritual,    social 
and  moral  development  in  this  great  country.    Your  DravidJan 
civilisation  has  been  always  strong  enough  to   retain  the  stamp 
of  its  individuality  in  the  midst  of  Aryan  inundations,   which 
submerged  it  for  a  time.     Ton  thus  possess  an  advantage  over 
as,  hailing  from   more  northern  provinces,"- which  advantage* 
has  been  utilised  by  your  Alwar  saints  to  an  ex  tent  unknown  to 
us*    By  the  side  of  the.  four  Veda*,  your  Tamil  songs  of  deva- 
tiou  couftt jtu-te  the  fifth  Veda,  which  is  chanted  by  your  priests 


nj        MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.        45 

on   occasions   of  festival  a  and  religious   celebrations.     Twelve, 
hundred  years   a,go,  tbo  great  Acharya  of  the    Adwait  philoso- 
phy    finally   overturned    the     Atheistic  philosophies    of    the 
Buddhistic    and   Jain   systems,   and     established   the    revived 
Hindu  faith  on  the  comprehensive  basis  on  which  it  now  stands 
broadened  and   deepened  all   round.     Two  hundred  years  after 
has  another  Acharya   founded   the  Visishtadvvait  and    Dwait 
philosophies,    which     have     so   profoundly     modified    modern 
Indian  society  and  subordinated  jnyau  and  yoyu  finally   to  the 
religion  of    love.     These  great     AcharyaH    wore  the   fountain 
sources    of  all   the  higher    wisdom     arid   spiritual    elevation, 
that  have  distinguished  the  religious   history  of  thu    last  1,000 
years   and    more.       Ramanand,    who    was     the   teacher    of   so 
many  divers  Vaishnavn  sects,    and    Chaitanya,    who    was   the 
.saintly   leader   of    Bengal,  and     Nanak,    the    founder    of    the 
Sikh   faith,  derived    their  illumination   from  tho   philosophers 
of     tho     South.       The   successors     of  Ramanujacharya   were 
the     first   social   reformer*.     They     felt     compassion   for  the 
hard   lot   of   tho  poor   and    disfigured    widow,    and    did    their 
best   to   carry  comforl    to    her.     They   also     took   pity    upon 
the  fallen  condition   of  tho   lower   strata  of  the  social  system 
and  conceded   to    them  the    privilege  of   admitting  them   into 
a  community  of   faith  with   the  higher    classes,     it   was   not 
therefore  without  reason    that  the    Conference    movement  was 
first  started  in  this  city,  under   the   auspices  of  the    late  Sir  T. 
Madhava  Rao.    Dewan  Bahadur  II.  Raghunath  Rao  blessed  the 
child  and  gave  it  into  our  hands,  and   wo  now    bring  it  back  to 
yon  after  a  lapse  of  seven  years.    These  seven  years  have  work- 
ed  a  great,    and  I  believe,  a  hopeful   change  in   the   Attitude  of 
the  community  of  races,  who  are  represented  in  this  gathering, 
towards  questions  of  social  reform.    There  are  those  who  think 
that  these  seven   years  have  been   years  of  fruitless  task,  and 
that  the  heart  of  the  nation  has  not  been  touched  by  the  appeals 
made  to  it  either  from  the  political  or  social  platforms.     Some 
of  you  are  better  judges  about  the  success  of  the  work  done  on 
the  political  platform.     I  think  it  was  Lord  Salisbury,  who  ob^ 
aer*ed  that  small  maps  are  very  delusive  guides,  wheu  we  have 
to  decide-  ou,  questions  of  frontier  troubles.     Ae  regards 


46  INDIAN  SOCIAL  ItEFORM.  [PAIT 

progress  I  may   say,    with   equal    reason,  that  short  spaces  of 
time  nre  similarly  deceptive,  and  yet  1  shall   venture  to  ask  our 
despondent,    though    earnest,   self-examinitig   judges  to  pause 
and  contemplate  the  change  these  aeveu  yearn  have  -witnessed. 
If  the  heart  of  the  nation  uan  be  tiaced  any  where  in    its  ancient 
strongholds,    you    will   certainly    HOC    it  strongly    entrenched 
in  the  Native  States.     If  uny  movement  stirs  the  Native  Stiles, 
which  ?iro  impervious  to  your   political    and    industrial  propa- 
ganda, thut  is  a  sign  that  the  heart  of  the  nation  has  been  touch- 
ed.    Now  what  do  we  see  has  been  the  character  of  the  change 
effected  in   these   seveii    years    amongst  some    oC    our   premier 
States  ?      Seventeen    States  in   Rajpulnna-  -Odeypore,  Jaipur, 
Jodhporc,  Pratapgad,  Sirohi,  Tonk,    Uhvar,  Jesehueic,  Kotah, 
iJuncti,  Ajmure,  Kerowli,  Kiflheugtid,  Jhall.iwar,    Bansdah,  and 
Doiigarpoiv, — have  been  members 'of    the    Walterkrita  Sablin, 
whose  annual  reports  show  how  strong  is  the  organixntion  that 
has  been  .set   up   in    th-it    province    for  the    curtailment  of  ex- 
travagunt  expenditure  on  marriages  and  funerals  and  the  regu- 
lation of  child-marriages,   not  only    amongst  the   Rajputs,  but 
among  ninny  other   castes    allied  to    and   subordinate  to  them. 
The  ruler  of  Baroda  has  similarly  exerted   himself  in  the  work 
of  social  elevation,  not  fio  much  on  his   own  motion,  but  at  the 
instance  of  the  Mahajans  and  Kunbi  cultivators  in  his  own  and 
the   neighbouring   JJritish  territory.     The    Cambny    ruler  has 
also  followed  suit.      Lower  down  mid  much  nearer  we  have  the 
Mysore  Durbar.     II  has  set  an    example  of   legislation,  which 
cannot  fail  in  time  to  be  copied  elsewhere.     After  full  delibera- 
tion and  consultation  with  his   Parliament,    the   Maharajah  of 
Mysore  has  passed  into  law  this   year   the   first  instalment  of 
measures   intended  to  put  a  stop   fo   marriages  of   girls  below 
eight    years  of  age    and  ill-assorted    marriages  of  younp  pirls 
below  fourteen  with  old   men   above  fifty.     Tho  Maharajah  of 
Cashmere  'has   also  this  year  not   only  presided   over  a  Social 
Reform  Association  founded  in  that  Statfe,   but  has  taken  steps 
to  discourage  tLe   practice  of   hired   crying  and  beating  of  the 
chest  as  also  the  custom  which  in  those  jiarts  was  Supposed  to 
prevent  tne  father  from  seeing  the   face   of  his   daughter  after 
she  was  married.    The  rulers  of  Baroda,  Indore,   Kaptirthala, 


it]  •      MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.        47 

•Bbavanagar,  Morvi,  Gondol,  Wadliwan,  Cnch  Beliar,  Kolha- 
poro  and  many  other  States  have  crossed  the  seas,  some  with 
lu.w£e  retinues  and  some  with  their  wives  and  chi'dron* 
We  do  not  claim  any  credit  for  all  these  movements  in 
the  name  of  the  Conference.  I  only  allude  to  them  hero  as  iu- 
dicatin^  the  fact  that  these  reforms  have  all  been  initiated  and 
curried  out  dnrinp;  these  past  seven  years  or  more  by  the  same 
earnestness  of  spirit,  which  working  on  a  lower  sphere  makes 
this  Conference  necessary  and  possible  from  year  to  year  as  an 
Immblo  sister  of  tho  National  Congress.  The  genuineness  of 
the  feeling  is  borne  witness  to  by  the  fiuit  that  in  inaugurating 
the  new  social  regulations,  different  methods  of  procedure 
have  been  ndopted  by  different  states  to  accomplish  thfl 
same  end.  The  method  of  direct  legislation  has  found  favour 
with  Mysore,  of  caste  initiation  in  l»uroda,  and  of  executive 
regulations  in  Kajputana.  This  is  a  point  which  is  but  little 
understood,  though  this  variety  bears  on  its  face  the  stamp  oi 
sincerity  and  shows  thai  the  movement  is  spontaneous  and  of 
indigenous  origin.  The  foreign  Covernment  which  rules  over 
us,  cannot  but  be  encouraged  by  the  results  of  such  spontane- 
ous action  on  the  part  of  ihe  rulers  of  Native  States  who  reflect 
the  higher  wisdom  of  their  population.  We  do  not  want  it-- 
aud  the  Government  is  naturally  averse  to  meddle  with  social 
matters  ia  the  way  it  did  when  it  put  down  Sutlcc  and  infan- 
ticide. And  yet  in  its  own  cautious  way  it  is  educating  tho 
people  to  a  higher  sense  of  their  responsibility  in  this  connec- 
tion. It  has  by  a  formal  notification  abolished  hook-swinging, 
directly  legislated  for  several  backward  classes,  and  regulated 
the  marriage  expenditure  of  the  Kunbi  and  the  Kajputs  and 
Jat  population  in  several  parts  in  the  Bombay  Presidency  and 
ill  the  North-West  Provinces.  It  ventured  indeed  to  pass  the 
Age  of  Consent  Act,  but  the  agitation  that  the  measure  provok- 
ed has  weakened  its  hands  and  it  now  lights  shy  of  further 
legislation  on  that  line,  and  it  has  refused  to  amend  the. law 
regulating  religious  endowments  in  the  way  some  of  yon  desire- 
ecL,  1  am  glad,  however,  to  learn  that  it  is  prepared  in  consider 
,th$  Malabar  Marriage  Bill  on  the  lines  recommended  by  the 
Honourable  Mijthuswami  Iyer's  Committee  and  (o  abolish  irn- 


48  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

prisonraeiit  in  execution  of  decrees  for  the  restitution  of  conjugal 
rights.  It  also  permitted  the  Honourable  Bubu  13  eh  an  Lai 
to  carry  through  the  Bengal  Council  a  new  pattern  law, 
which  is  a  very  great  improvement  on  the  general  Hindu  Jaw 
of  equal  compulsory  division.  Both  Native  Slates  and  the 
British  Government  have  thus  paid  homage  to  the  supremacy 
of  the  new  spirit  that,  is  actively  working  in  our  midst,  and  it 
is  in  this  general  fact  and  not  in  its  particular  manifestation 
that  I  see  the  hands  of  Providence  at  work  for  our  good. 

Perhaps    some   of  you   would  say  that  after    nil  kings  and 
ministers   slioald    liavo  no   placo  on  this   platform,  and  that  I 
must  addnco  some  beHer  oridonces  oC    the  fad  of   n,n  awakened 
conscience  among  tho  pooplo  rather  than    appeal  to  the  acts  of 
States.     There  is  some  truth  in  that  observation.     Tho  work  of 
social  reform  cannot  bo  an    net  of  a    State,     It  is  chiefly  valu- 
able when  it  is  the  work  of    the  people.     I  shall  therefore  now 
appeal  to  the  popular    movements,    which    have   been    started 
during  the  past  seven  years  and  more,  and  which  are  so  charac- 
teristic of  our  new  life.     If  there  had  been  no  such   background 
of  popular  effort  behind  its  back,   the    Conference,  in  which  we 
propose  to  meet  bore,     will  no   uonhfc    be  an  empty  show.     The 
fact  however    is  fnr  otherwise.     Grander   and  more  enthusias- 
tic meetings  than  those    we  hold  here    aro    held  just  about  this 
Reason  in  half-a-do/en   cities   in  Northern  and  Western  India. 
The  great  Knyasiha    community  of   tho  North    met   last  year 
at   Jlathuro, — the     Vnishya  Conference    met   at    Lahore    and 
meets  this  year   at  Sha  jnhanpur  nndor  tho   guidance  of   my 
friend  Lala  Baij  Nath, — the    Bhargavas  met    afc  Lncknow   last 
year,  and  the  Audichy.'is  in    Bombay.     The  Jains   in  our  parts 
met   at    Ahmed  abaci,    and    at  the    .same    place  a     Ala  homed  an 
Conference,  in  which   Hindus  joined,   was   held   and   passed 
resolutions  condemning  nautch  and   extravagance  in   marriage 
expenditure.     In  the   Punjab  there   is  a  regular   cobweb   of 
Bnradnri  ft  rid   caste  associations,  the  most  prominent  of   which 
are  the  Sarin  Sabhas,  the  Koyastha  Sabhas,  and  the  Khalsa  or 
Sikh    Sabhns.     In  your   own    part  of   the    country    the  Sri 
Madhwas  met  similarly  at  Tirupnti  about  this   time.     All  this 
work  IB  done  within  the  sphere  of  each  caste  organization,  and 


ii.]        MR.  JUSTICE  RANADWS  SPEECHES.        49 

tbeir  regulations  are  enforced  by  the  sanction  of  caste  rules. 
The  reports,  which  most  of  these  communities  and  caste  associa- 
tions forward  to  this  Conference,  arc  in  my  opinion  the  most 
interesting  part  of  the  year'H  work.  The  Conference  focusseS, 
these  reports  for  general  information,  points  out  the  limits  of 
practical  work  and  suggests  the  lines  of  further  development. 
These  Associations  furnish,  as  I  have  said  above,  the  back- 
ground of  the  work,  which  the  Conference  takes  in  hand  in  a 
more  comprehensive  spirit.  At  any  rate  these  arc  some  of  the 
constituencies,  to  which  the  Conference  hopes  to  appeal  for 
help  and  guidance. 

Of  course  while  the  Barartaris  or  caste  systems  of  organiza- 
tions prove  useful  in  certain  parts  of  the  country,  in  other  parts 
religious  organizations,  such  as  the  Arya  Samaj,  the  Brahmo 
Samaj,  the  Prarthana,  Samaj,  the  Dharnia  Mahamandal,  the 
Sanatnna  Snbhas  undertake  the  work  of  social  reform 
on  independent  linos.  These  Samajes  work  towards  the 
some  end  as  the  Baradari  Associations,  but  with  different 
sanctions.  The  Arya,  Samaj es  have  done  great  wonders 
in  this  connection.  Tlity  have  started  Temperance  move- 
ments and  Bands  of  Hope,  and  composed  temperance  songs, 
which  are  being  sung  by  women  on  festive  occasions: 
They  have  encouraged  re- marriage,  adopted  reformed  rites, 
which  presuppose  and  enforce  late  marriages.  They  have 
founded  Girls'  and  Boys'  Schools  and  Colleges.  They  have  or- 
ganised charity  on  a  large  scale.  They  in  a  word  constitute  all 
that  is  most  hopeful  find  worth  living  in  the  new  life  of  the 
province  of  the  Punjab.  On  the  Bengal  side  the  Brahmo 
Samajes,  with  their  special  marriage  law,  have  gone  far  in  ad- 
vance of  us  all  in  many  matters. 

Next  after  the  Baradari  societies  and  the  religious  bodies 
engaged  in  the  work  of  reform,  we  have  a  third  class  of  organi- 
zations such  as  those  represented  by  the  Hindu  Social  Reform 
Association  of  Madras,  whose  annual  gathering  we  have  met 
here  to-day  to  celebrate.  There  are  innumerable  other  bodies 
such  as  the  Sanmarga  Samaj  of  Bellary,  the  Berar  Social  Re- 
form Association,  the  Ahmedabad  and  Sind  Associations  and 
the  re-marriage  Associations  in  Bombay,  Madras,  Ward  ha  and 
7 


50  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

other  places,  which  rely  riot  so  much  upon  the  sanction  of 
.caste  rules  or  the  religious  sense  of  duty,  hat  upon  trust 
in  the  honour  of  members,  who  pledge  to  give  effect  to  certain 
improvements  in  our  social  condition.  As  might  be  ex- 
pected, these  voluntary  Associations  have  not  the  strength 
and  efficiency  of  the  first  two  organizations,  though  it 
maybe  noted  as  a  sign  of  the  times  that  they  are  slowly 
taking  steps  to  register  themselves  with  a  view  to  strengthen 
themselves.  They  lack  the  strength  of  the  sanction,  and  have 
wider  grasp  of  the  problem  before  us.  There  are  also  Purity 
Associations  working  on.  the  same  lines  in  all  parts  of  the 
country  ;  they  also  have  a  great  field  of  usefulness  before  them. 
J  have  already  noted  the  fact  that  Native  States  are  working 
on  different  lines.  The  popular  Associations  are  also  trying  to 
carry  out  their  ends  in  three  different  ways — by  caste  action, 
by  the  sanction  of  religion,  and  by  the  method  of  pledges,  and 
appeal  to  the  sense  of  self-respect  and  love  of  public  esteem  and 
fear  of  public  criticism.  The  voluntary  Associations  again  are 
following  different  methods  of  practical  wirk.  Some  place 
their  reliance  chiefly  on  an  appeal  to  the  ancient  law,  others 
prefer  plans  of  forming  a  schism,  and  a  few  are  for  the  method 
of  open  revolt,  Then  this  is  the  situation,  and  nnich  of  tho 
activity  that  we  have  noted  above  in  these  matters  has  been 
developed  during  the  past  seven  years. 

The  result  of  all  this  awakening  is  best  seen  in  the  keener 
appreciation  of  the  moral  law  of  purity  and  charity.  This 
constitutes  in  my  view  tho  most  instructive  and  hopeful  feature 
of  the  past  ten  years.  Kven  the  Government'  has  been 
forced  to  acknowledge  the  force  of  this  new  feeling.  It 
is  at  the  root  of  the  agitation  against  vivisection*  the  Con- 
tagious Diseases  Act,  the  compulsory  examination  of  women, 
in  which  last  respect  the  Government  here  has  had  to  yield  to 
Indian  and  English  public  opinion.  The  same  feeling  also 
finds  expressions  in  the  great  Temperance  agitation,  which  has 
led  to  the  appointment  of  two  commissions  of  inquiry.  The 
agitation  against  the  abuse  of  Temple  Endowments  may  be 
traced  to  the  same  source.  Tlie  agitation  against  the  nautch 
girl  and  loose  habits  of  family  life  is  explained  by  reform  on 


n.J        MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.         51 

the  same  principle.  The  movements  intended  to  help  the 
Pariah  classes  are  due  to  the  same  potent  cause.  The  miserable 
condition  of  the  child-widow  is  now  more  keenly  recognised' 
as  a  problem,  which  must  be  solved.  Widows'  homes  are 
springing  up  in  Allahabad,  Calcutta  and  Pooua,  and  the  ques- 
tion of  the  re-marriage  of  child-widows  has  passed  through  the 
preliminary  stage  of  a  trial  experiment.  Polygamy  and  the 
sale  of  girls  in  marriage  are  also  slowly  disappearing  from  'the 
land,  though  they  will,  1  fear,  light  hard  to  the  end.  More 
than  75  re-marriages  have  t-.ikeu  place  in  our  Presidency  and 
25  similar  marriages  during  the  last  20  years  in  the  Madras 
Presidency  and  the  cause  haa  shown  a  steady  rule  of  nlow 
progress  all  over  the  country. 

I  hope  I  have  said  enough  to  justify  my  position  that  the 
last  seven  years  have  not  been  fruitless  of  results,  not  measured 
by  the  standard  of  Western  races,  bub  by  the  conservative 
strength  of  oar  prejudices  and  by  the  rule  of  improvement 
observable  in  our  political  and  industrial  spheres  of  work.  The 
members  of  the  Madras  Hindu  Social  Reform  Association 
may  therefore  comfort  themselves  with  the  consolation 
that,  although  the  number  of  ita  members  may  be  few, 
they  represent  much  that  is  hopeful  and  living  in  the  present 
constitution  of  our  society.  They  are  the  burning  coals  snatch- 
ed out  of  the  hearth,  the  fire  of  which  will  not  be  smothered 
by  the  ashes  of  indifference  and  discouragement.  They  have 
their  representatives  in  every  house  and  province  of  India,  and 
they  are  sure  to  win  in  the  end,  however  unpleasant  may  be 
the  struggle  in  the  present. 

Their  movement  against  the  Nautch  girl  approved  itself 
to  the  sense  of  the  Lahore  Conference,  and  since  then  many 
Associations  have  given  their  adhesion  to  the  cause.  I  need  only 
mention  the  names  of  a  few  provinces  and  places  here.  The 
Punjab  is  one  of  them.  The  Hindus  and  Mahomedana  at 
Ahmodabad  recorded  the  same  vote.  The  Associations  in 
Rawalpindi,  Berar,  Dharwar,  Salem,  and  Bellary,  Chicacole^ 
Masulipatam  and  Gulbarga  have  accepted  the  principle  and  art 
trying  to  enforce  it,  . 

As  regards  infant  marriages,  the  Mysore  Government  has 


52  INDIAN  tiOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

crossed  the  ttubican  and  broken  the  ice  of  the  prejudices  oE 
centuries.  The  Rajputana  rulers  have  set  the  same  example 
by  State  regulation!,  and  throughout  the  country  there  is  a 
growing  fieuse  that  this  evil  practice  has  been  tolerated  too  long 
and  that  the  timo  has  come  for  a  cautious  retracing  onwards  of 
our  steps,  in  our  part  of  the  country  many  castes  are 
moving  in  tho  matter  of  the  education  of  girls,  and  the 
the  minimum  marriageable  ages  of  girls  and  boys  are 
beiug  slowly  raised  all  round.  The  Deshi  laws  of  Bamas 
have  fixed  the  ages  of  girls  at  W,  the  Bhargavas  at  12, 
the  Matbma  Chobar  at  1J7  aud  the  Mahajans  at  12.  It  cannot 
bo  long  under  these  hopeful  circumstances  before  we  shall  find 
a  permanent  change  in  this  matter.  As  regards  re-marriagea 
there  have  been  12  re-marriages  celebrated  in  the  course 
of  the  year— I  in  the  Punjab,  "2  in  Madras,  and  the  rest  in 
our  part  ol  the  country,  The  Barua  casto  at  Surat  actually 
went  so  far  ay  to  pass  a  resolution  at  a  caste  meeting  that  the 
second  marriage  of  child-widows  should  be  permitted.  This 
resolution  was  again  brought  before  tho  caste  by  those  who 
opposed  it,  and  even  then  the  caste  expressed  its  acceptance  of 
the  principle  and  deferred  its  experiment  til  I  other  Baina  castea 
joined,  This  circumstance  clearly  shows  how  the  wind  is  blow- 
ing, aud  it  must  be  a  source  of  satisfaction  to  us  all. 

As  regards  social  intercourse  and  tho  admission  of  people 
who  had  changed  their  religion  or  who  had  returned  from 
Engiaud,  three  cases  of  special  interest  occurred  in  Bengal  aud 
Madras,  which  show  a  very  happy  change  in  the  attitude  of  the 
caste-bound  society.  Mr.  Chetty  and  one  DeshastLa  Brahmin 
were  taken  back  into  their  castes  without  much  serious  mis- 
givings. In  Bengal  the  Jvayasthas  admitted  Babu  Upendra 
Nabh  Das,  who  had  not  only  gone  to  England  but  had  married 
an  English  \vife  and  had  children  by  her.  In  the  Punjab  the 
Arya  Samajaa  aud  Sikh  Associations  admitted  as  many  as 
twelve  Mussulman  converts.  Recently  alliances  have  been 
formed  between  orthodox  and  heterodox  reformed  families  under 
very  favourable  circumstances,  both  in  Madras  aud  in  our  part 
of  thexountry. 

I  fear  I  have  taken  up  yuur  time  too  long,  aud  that  1  should 


IL]        MR.  JUSTICE  RANAbE'8  SPEECHES.         f>3 

not  overtax  your  kind  patience.  We  have  need  above  all  uf 
two  great  virtues  over  and  above  our  earnestness.  We  must 
have  inexhaustible  patience,  which  faith  in  an  over-ruling 
Providence  and  the  final  triumph  of  right  aloue  inspire,  and 
we  ruuat  have  charity.  Hope,  faith  and  charity — these  are  the 
three  graces  we  must  nil  cultivate,  and  if  we  keep  them  ever  in 
mind  and  hold  steadily  by  them,  we  may  be  sure  that  AYO  may 
still  regain  our  lost  position  and  become  a  potent  factor  in  the 
world's  history.  The  turn  of  life  and  light  is  in  tho  indivi- 
dual. Wo  have  to  purify  it  to  feel  the  bent  and  the  light  of 
truth  in  us;  and  if  we  care  each  for  thus  acting  in  the  faith 
of  duty,  we  mny  be  sure  that  (jod's  helping  hand  will  come  to 
our  relief.  If  we  suffer  misery,  we  have  earned  it  by  our  sins 
in  tho  past  and  present.  If  we  purge  them  off,  tho  bright  rays 
of  glory  will  shine  in  their  old  splendour.  In  that  hope  we 
rest  assured  that  in  the  good  work  we  share,  and  according  us 
we  share,  we  shall  succeed. 

The  Ninth  Social  Conference— Poona— 1895. 

Speaking  on  "  The  Cause  of  the  Hxuitemeiit  at  Pooua,"  the 
Ifon'blc  Mr.  Justice  Kanade  said  :  — 

llu.  PRUSLDUNT,  JJADIKS  AND  G  EN  i  LUMEN,— It  lias  been  a 
custom  for  many  years  past  on  the  occasion  of  these  annual 
gatherings  to  deliver  an  introductory  address  on  the  aims 
and  tho  scope  of  tho  Social  Conference  movement,  and  before 
its  regular  work  is  taken  in  hand  to  bespeak  the  favourable 
attention  of  the  public  of  the  place,  in  which  we  meet, 
to  its  claims  upon  them.  In  conformity  with  this  practice 
I  stand  before  you  here  on  this  occasion.  Huforo,  however, 
I  proceed  with  the  address  proper,  circumstances  Lave 
rcftddrcd  it  necessary  that  one  or  two  personal-explanations 
should  be  offered.  Tho  first  explanation  that  I  have 
to  place  before  you  on  beLalf  of  those  who  have  been 
taking  an  interest  in  this  Conference  movement  is  in  regard  to 
the  position  of  tho  General  Secretary,  Dewan  Bahadur  Kaghu- 
natha  Rao,  in  connection  with,  the  Conference.  Some  of  yoii 
may  bavo  read  a  letter  from  a  correspond  en  t  of  Taujoro  pub- 
lished in  a  paper  heie,  in  which  it  was  stated  that  Dewan  Bah&- 


,U  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

dur  Raghunatba  Rao  has  ceased  to  be  the  Secretory,  baa  Design- 
ed his  office,  and  that  he  thinks  the  Conference  a  farce,  if  not 
a  clever  deception.  A  statement  like  that  appeared  a  fortnight 
ago,  and  1  was  surprised  to  find  that  it  should  have  been  accept- 
ed as  true  without  question.  J Jecause,  until  last  October, 
when  the  fHibjects  for  this  Conference  were  first  proposed 
provisionally,  in  accordance  with  usual  practice.  I  sent  a 
list  of  them  to  him  and  he  returned  it  with  sumo  suggestions* 
So  1  was  quite  sure  till  27th  October  last  things  wore  all  right. 
As  the  statement  had  :ippearcd  in  a  local  newspaper,  it 
became  necessary  in  tho  opinion  of  some  of  my  friends 
that  we  should  ascertain  what  the  truth  was.  And  here  is  the 
reply  which  Do  wan  iJahadur  Raghunatha  Rao  has  sent  to  a 
letter  that  J  addressed  to  him. 

[Hero  Mr.  Justice  Ranudo  read  the  letter  which  is  as 
follows  : — "  Tho  facts  of  the  case  are  that  Mr.  Joshi  of  the 
American  celebrity  about  a  week  ago  called  upon  mo  at  Kum- 
bhakonum,  ]le  said  in  exultation  that  the  Congress  had 
rightly  refused  its  pandal  to  the  Social  Conference.  This 
rather  startled  me,  HH  1  hud  thought  that  he  was  a  social  re- 
former. 1  told  him  that  I  *vas  glad  that  the  pandal  was  not 
allowed  to  be  used  by  the  Social  Conference,  for  the  deception 
that  used  to  bo  practised  by  the  Congress  upon,  the  English 
people  that  it  worked  in  con  junction  with  the  Social  Conference 
was  unveiled,  and  tho  English  people  would  now;  clearly  under- 
stand that  the  Congress  really  did  not  mean  to  work  with  the 
Social  Conference.  ,1  added  1  was  therefore  glad  that  the  Con- 
gress refused  their  pandal  to  the  Social  Conference.  .  With 
regard  to  my  connection  with  reference  to  this,  year's  Confer- 
ence, I  s-aid  I  was  too  old,  too  weak  to  .attend  it,  and  that  it 
•was  meet  for  me  to  spend  my  time  now  quietly  without  trou- 
bling myself  with  public  controversies.  My  state  of  health 
prevents  my  going  to  Poona,  1  am  sorry  to  sayl'J 

1  hope  this  reply  will  remove  the  apprehensions  created  in 
the  minds  of  some  friends  as  to  whether  the  connection  of 
Pewan  Bahadur  R.  Raghuntha  Rao  still  continues  or  has 
ceaqed.  aiid  how  fur  the  opinions  attributed  to  him  were  justified 
by  the  evidence  of  his  own  writing. 


TI.]        Mn.  JUSTICE  BANADE'S  SPEECHES.         55 

The  other  explanation  that  I  have  to  give  relates  to  the 
circumstances  under  which  tills  Conference  hag  to  bo  held  in 
another  place  this  year.  The  controversy  has  been  very  bitter 
for  the  last  five  or  six  months,  and  1  do  not  want  to  allude  to 
that  controversy.  But  as  the  mutter  has  a  sort  of  official 
character  about  it,  it  is  necessary  that  a  public  statement  should 
be  made  on  an  occasion  like  this,  in  order  that  there  may  be 
no  room  for  misapprehension  on  either  side.  I  shall  now  ask 
my  brother,  with  the  President's  permission,  to  read  a  letter 
that  was  written  and  the  replies  that  have  been  received. 
(Here  the  circular  addressed  to  the  various  Standing  Congress 
Committees  asking  their  opinions  on  the  question  of  the  loan 
of  the  Congress  Pandsil  to  the  Conference,  together  with  their 
replies  was  read.) 

There  is  a  third  matter  and  a  very  important  matter  which 
relates  to  the  President-elect  of  this  year's  Congress. 

(An  extract  from  the  Honourable  Habu  Siirendra  Nnth 
Banerjee's  letter  was  read,  in  the  meeting  which  was  as 
follows: — 'The  raison  (Vctre  for  excluding  social  questions  from 
our  deliberations  is  that  if  we  were  to  take  up  such  questions  it 
might  lead  to  serious  differences  ultimately  culminating  in  a 
schism,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  the  first  importance  that  we  should 
prevent  a  split.  The  request  of  the  other  Ride  is  very  un- 
reasonable ;  but  we  have  sometimes  to  submit  to  unreasonable 
demands  to  avert  greater  evils,') 

The  question  which  I  propose  briefly  to  consider  on  this 
occasion  is — how  it  has  happened  that  while  Bombay  and  Cal- 
cutta, Lahore  and  Nsigpur,  Madras  and  Allahabad  had  not  shown 
such  an  excitement  over  this  matter  during  the  last  nine  or'  ten 
years — how  has  ifc  happened  that  in  this  city  of  ours,  which  at  least 
wfe  all  take  a  natural  pride  in,  as  being  equal  to  all  these  other 
cities,  if  not  superior  to  them  in  some  respects — how  has  it 
happened  that  this  city  and  this  part  of  (he  country  waa  made 
to  feel  such  an  unusual  excitement  over  this  subject.  This  is  a 
subject  to'  which  we  ought  to  devote  some  portion  of  our  time. 
It  is  a  phenomenon  which  requires  an  explanation.  It  is  ah 
event,  which,  1  must  say  after  twenty-five  years'  experience  of 
Poona,  surprises  me — why  it  should  have  been  so.  I  n$ed  hardly 


56  TNDTAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

flay  I  was  also  pained  tliafc  ifc  should  have  been  so.  But  whether 
we  feel  surprised  or  not,  there  is  the  objective  fact  before  us. 
People  got  excited  not  only  here,  at  Sholapur,  Ahmednagar, 
Nasik,  Bombay,  bat  at  Satara,  Nagpur,  Dharwar,  and1  in 
many  parts  of  the  country,  asyou  will  see  from  the  telegrams 
that  have  been  read  to  yon.  I  arn  quite  aware,  one  most  obvious 
explanation  that  occurred  to  many  is.  that  this  excitement  is 
duo  to  personal  differences  and  party  quarrels.  This  is  a  very 
convenient  way  of  disposing  of  this  question.  Personal 
differences  there  arc.  Party  quarrels  and  party  misunderstand- 
ings there  will  be  to  the  end  of  lime,  just  as  they  have  been 
from  the  commencement  of  the  world.  Wherever  a  dozen  men 
meet  together  or  a  number  of  people  go  to  work  together,  there 
will  bo  misunderstandings.  But  that  does  not  satisfactorily 
account  for  what  we  have  seen — the  loss  of  temper,  the  absolute 
waste  of  energy,  the  absolute  waste  of  what  I  would  call  high 
powers  on  a  subject  on  which  it  was  not  necessary  to  spend 
a  word.  And  yet  there  is  the  phenomenon  that  on  both 
sides  our  publicists  and  writers,  our  thinkers  and  preachers 
were  all  engaged  in  this  matter,  thinking  every  day  and 
devoting  all  their  attention  in  n  way  which  almost  provoked 
a  cynical  feeling  whether  we  had  all  lost  our  wits.  Party 
differences  and  personal  misunderstandings,  I  believe  you 
will  Jind,  are  not  confined  to  Poona.  I  have  personal 
experience  of  nearly  every  large  city  in  the  country,  having 
visited  them  three  or  four  times  and  sp«nt  a  good  deal 
of  time  in  making  myself  acquainted  with  their  party  differences. 
It  is  a  characteristic  of  our  people  that  where  a  doxen  people 
work  together  one-half  will  call  tho  other  half  mad  or  wicked. 
It  is  our  general  habit  to  misunderstand  one  another.  People 
think  that  there  is  no  good  man  among  their  opponents.  '  But 
party  differences  and  personal  misunderstandings  have  never 
made  a  whole  nation  mad.  It  will  not  be  fair  to  the  intelli- 
gence of  this  ci^y,  or  to  the  intelligence  of  other  places  in  the 
country  of  which  this  city  boasts  to  be  the  capital,  to  accept 
this  explanation.  This  way  of  brushing  away  inconvenient 
questions  raayi  be  very  satisfactory  to  some,  but  we  cannot 
accept  such  an  explanation  in  this  place,  You  should  suppose 


n.]        MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.         57 

yourselves  in  the  position  of  a  naturalist,  and  try  to   see  why  BO 
many  otherwise  intelligent  animals  should  have  lost  themselves 
in  a  passionate  mood  for  the  last    six   months.     Or   think   you 
are  an  anatomist  and  see  what  is  there  in  the    body  of  this  na- 
tion which  could  have  produced  such  disorganization.    It  would 
not  be  fair  on  an  occasion  like  this  to  brush  away  this  question 
and  merely  laugh  over  it.     There  is  a  serious  significance  which 
we  must  all  lay  to  our  hearts,  if  we  want    to  derive  the   lesson 
which  the  exhibition  of  the  last  six  months  offers  us.    The  ques- 
tion before  us  is,  why  should  men  otherwise    intelligent  get  so 
much  excited  over  petty    matters    like    this    Pandul    question. 
The  two  assemblies  as  you  know  had    nothing  whatever   to    do 
with  each  other.     Their  organizations  are  separate,  their  modes 
of  work  are  separate,  their  publications  and  objects  are  separate, 
but  as  so  many  people  come  from  all  parts   of    the    country,    it 
has  been  found  convenient  that  those  among    them    who    cared 
for  one  or    both,    who  cared   for    social    and   political    reform, 
should  have  a  common  meeting  ground   provided  for    them   at 
one  and  the  same  place  and  time,  at    common  expense.     While 
the  rest  of  India  has  shown  a  good  deal  of  prudence  and  wisdom, 
why  is  it  that  we    were    not    able    to    show   that    wisdom    and 
moderation  of  temper,  which  wo  naturally   claim  the    right   to 
command  ?  I  confess  I  am  not  at  all  satisfied    with    the   expla- 
nation usually  offered.     There  must  be  something  deeper  which 
we  must  study,  some  weakness  or  strength   whatever  you   may 
call  it  which  alone  can  satisfactorily  account  for  this  phenome- 
non.    According  to  some,  Poona  has  done  what   no  other  place 
had  the  courage  or  folly  to  attempt,  and  this    is  the   cause  why 
this  contest  should  happen  here  and  not    elsewhere.     When  we 
dive  beneath  the  surface,  I  believe  we  do  come  to  the   traces  of 
certain  differences  which  mark  this  part    of   the  country   from 
others.     Those  differences  require  our  most  anxious  considera- 
tion on  this  occasion. 

Taking  a  bird's  eye  view  of  the  social  history  of  India,  you 
will  find  that  there  are  various  methods  of  working  out  social 
reform  questions  adopted  in  different  parts  of  the  country  by 
different  races,  into  which  this  Continent  has  been  divided.  If 
you  go  to  Bengal,  you  will  find  there  that  the  religious  (theistic) 
8 


58  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

development  has  taken  up  and  absorbed  all  the  more  serious  men 
who  think  about  these  matters.  On  the  basis  of  their  new  religions 
ideas,  they  have  developed  a  social  organization  and  also  formed 
a  community  by  themselves.  This  community  naturally  attracts 
to  itself  all  those  among  other  classes  of  the  people  who  feel 
seriously  about  these  matters,  and  they  strengthen  and  grow 
into  a  separate  section,  which  has  lifcMe  or  no  connection  with 
the  rest  of  the  orthodox  or  the  general  community  from  which 
they  spring.  The  B rah  mo  Sn.maj  there  with  all  its  sects  takes 
up  into  its  rank  all  those  who  are  eager  in  the  work  of  social 
reform.  Outside  the  Brahmo  Sanmj  the  only  name  that  figures 
prominently  in  connection  with  social  reform  is  the  name  of 
Pundit  Is  war  Chandra  Vidyasagar.  This  Pundit  did  inaugu- 
rate a  great  reform,  but  as  you  know  that  outside  the  Brahmo 
Church  or  Churches  that  movement  has  failed  not  only  since 
his  death  but  even  during  his  lifetime.  Pundit  Vidyasagar 
was  one  of  those  who  felt  aggrieved  in  his  old  age  that  he  had 
taken  part  in  a  matter  in  which  his  hopes  were  not  crowned 
with  success.  So  far  as  the  orthodox  community  is  concerned, 
Bengal  is  more  orthodox  than  any  other  part  of  India.  So  far 
as  the  reformed  community  is  concerned,  Bengal  is  more  re- 
formed than  any  other  part  of  India.  They  form  in  fact  two 
separate  camps.  Kulinism  and  the  Kali  worship  thrive  in  all 
their  extravagance  on  one  side,  and  puritanical  theism  on  die 
other.  The  great  weakness  that  I  attribute  to  the  Brahmo 
Samajists  is  that  they  are  so  absorbed  with  the  religious  side 
of  their  creed  and  are  so  separated  from  the  orthodox  com- 
munity that  they  fail  to  feel  warm  interest  in  other  matters, 
which  concern  the  people  in  the  same  way  as  reformers  else- 
where feel.  On  the  other  hand  the  orthodox  community 
also  feels  no  interest  in  the  Brahmo  Samaj  people.  There 
is  every  dny  an  attempt  on  both  sides  to  make  the  dif- 
ference as  great  as  the  difference  between  the  Hahomedana 
and  the  Hindus.  What  the  Brahmo  Samaj  has  done  in  Bengal, 
the  Arya  Samaj  has  been  attempting  to  do  for  the  people  of 
the  Punjab  with  greater  advantages.  The  Sikh  development  of 
the  17th  and  19th  centuries  naturally  elevated  the  Punjab  people. 
The  basis  of  their  elevation  is  the  religious  development,  anct 


u.]        MR.  JUSTICE  RANADHTS  SPEECHES.         30 

on  it  you  find  based  a  social  organism,  which  absorbs  all  the 
more  serious  and  more  thoughtful  people.  The  Arya  Samaj  is 
a  religious  organization  based  upon  a  social  superstructure  into 
which  a  few  people  here  aud  there  find  their  resort,  and  the 
rest  of  the  community  slowly  gets  itself  more  and  more  hide- 
bound and  more  and  more  wedded  to  the  old  ways  of  thinking 
about  these  matters.  In  the  North-West  Provinces  neither 
the  Brahmo  Samaj  iior  the  Arya  Samaj  has  produced  any 
effect.  They  are  a  very  slow  mass  to  move.  The  present  con- 
dition of  the  North-West  Provinces  with  all  their  natural  ad- 
vantages of  position  aud  climate  is  characterised  by  lethargy 
and  backwardness.  The  Brahmin  a  there  occupy  a  very  unim- 
portant position.  13 at  the  rising  generation  aud  the  fruit  of 
the  University  education  arc  devoting  their  best  attention  to 
this  question  and  are  trying  to  reform  the  usages  of  their 
caste.  The  reports  of  the  Kayaatha,  Jat,  Khatri,  Ukargava 
and  other  Associations  show  us  that  they  desire  to  promote 
reform  within  the  sphere  of  their  own  castes. 

The  Social  Conference  does  not  wish  to  kick  the  old 
ladder,  but  it  is  composed  of  those  who  are  eager  to  give  and 
receive  information  on  social  matters,  aud  to  exchange  thoughts 
on  social  reform.  Tun  present  tendency  of  Hinduism  is  to 
throw  off  its  exclusive  character.  (Here  the  speaker  related  the 
story  of  a  hundred  Hindus  who  had  been,  con  verted  to  the  Moslem 
faith  and  who  were  taken  back  into  the  Sikh  community  in  the 
Punjab  this  year.  Another  story  was  told  of  fifty  born 
Mahomedan  converts  who  were  converted  into  Hinduism.  A 
Hangari  at  Mud  hoi  was  said  to  have  been  induced  to  become  a 
convert  to  Mahomedaniam,  but  in  sober  mood  repented  and 
wished  to  come  back.  But  the  Brahmins  were  nob  ready  to 
take  him  back  into  his  former  community.  So  the  Ban  gar  i 
caste  at  Mudhol  appealed  to  Svvami  Nityanauda,  an  Arya 
Samaj  preacher,  who  consented  to  perform  the  ceremony  of 
admitting  him  into  his  caste  and  gladly  went  there  and 
performed  it.) 

You  may  think  here  that  we  are  of  course  perfectly 
unconcerned  with  all  these  events  which  happened  in  other 
parts  of  the  country.  But  time  and  tide  wait  for  no  man. 


60  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

Social  evolution  will  not  allow  you  to  rest  where  you  are; 
There  are  stages  in  which  a  diseased  mind  is  BO  filled  with 
melancholy  and  hypochondria  that  the  doctor  finds  that  the 
only  remedy  is  cure  by  faith,  and  to  put  more  faith  in  him 
electrifies  the  patient  from  top  to  bottom,  and  when  tre  is  BO 
eliaken  he  feels  liiniself  relieved.  We — every  one  of  us — men 
and  women — require  that  those  of  us  who  are  working  on 
different  lines  in  this  country  should  work  harmoniously. 
Conservatism  i'a  a  force  which  we  cannot  afford  to  forego  or 
forget,  You  may  talk  and  act  in  a  way  that  appears  to  be  the 
result  of  your  voluntary  efforts,  but  you  are  unconsciously 
inftuenccd  by  the  traditions  in  which  you  are  born,  by  the 
surroundings  in  which  you  arc  brought  up,  by  the  very  milk 
which  you  have  drunk  from  your  mother's  breasts  or  influenced 
by  those  things  in  the  world  which  you  cannot  disown.  To 
say  that  it  is  possible  to  build  up  fi  new  fabric  on  new  lines 
without  any  help  from  the  past  ia  to  say  that  I  am  self-born 
and  my  father  and  grand -father  need  not  have  troubled  for  me. 
That  is  the  way  in  which  things  strike  me  ab  least. 

One  of  the  ways  in  which  reform  movements  are  being 
worked  out  in  India  is  the  ircthod  of  rebellion.  We  go  into 
another  camp  oil  a  religious  basis  and  a  social  structure  ia  built 
upon  it.  The  other  way  of  introducing 'reform  is  by  utilising 
caste  organisations  for  ihe  purpose  of  reform.  The  third  ia  to 
go  to  the  Acharyas  and  try  to  see  that  they  arc  animated  with 
a  higli  purpose  and  move  about  the  country  and  purify  ns  and 
themselves  in  the  bargain.  The  fourth  way  is 'to  appeal  to 
men's  sense  of  honour  and  makb  them  pledge  themselves  to 
certain  reforms.  The  fifth  and  the  least  eligible  wajr  is  to  seek 
legislative  help.  But  in  order  to  work  out  reforms  on  any  of 
these  lines  all  of  us  must  work  together.  *  We  must  •  meet  at 
least  once  a  yea-r  to  derive  what  Ifessons  we  can  from  each  other 
and  exchange  mutual  help  and  sympathy — this  is  the  reason 
why  we  go  to  the  Conference*  The  rebellious  method  may  be 
the  most  suitable  for  one  reform,  the  traditional  method  for 
another,  the  pledge  method  for  a  third,  and  the  legislative 
metliod  may  be  the  final  solution  of  a  fourth  reform.  There 
may  be  all  these  different  lines  not  parallel  but  tapering 


«,]:  -     MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'8  SPEECHES.        61 

towards  one  point-in  the  end  ;  but  till  they  meet  we  must  work 
together  -separately. 

I  have  now  a  register  of  T)0  Associations,  the  registered 
members  of  which  are  not  very  many.  They  may  not  exceed 
ten  thousand,  but  they  are  the  hope  and  the  strength  of  the 
future.  They  all  work  on  their  own  linos,  and  in  doing  so 
they  are  likely  to  commit  mistakes,  from  which  their  friends 
should  try  to  help  them.  Now  I  have  told  you  how  things 
stand  in  Bengal,  I  he  North-West  Provinces  and  the  Punjab. 
On  the  Madras  side  the  Brahmin  element  i.s  preponderant,  and 
as  a  result  the  lower  classes  are  borne  down  with  a  weight 
which  they  are  not  ublo  to  bear.  But  there  are  thoughtful 
ttlen  among  them  for  whom  wo  all  feel  the  highest  respect. 
The  most  favoured  method  in  that  Presidency  is  of  voluntary 
pledges.  That  being  the  condition  of  things  iri  Madras, 
what  is  our  position  on  this  side  r*  Are  we  working  on  a 
religious  basis  to  which  a  new  social  superstructure  is 
added,  or-  are  we  proceeding  on  the  more  orthodox  method 
of  caste  regulations  ?  Are  wo  proceeding  on  the  lines  of 
legislation,  or  of  voluntary  efforts  ?  There  are  societies  in 
this  Presidency  who  have  registered  themselves  under  the  In- 
dian Companies'  Act  or  the  Religious  and  Charitable  Kndow- 
nieuKs  Act,  and  they  find  that  their  provisions  do  not  suit  their 
convenience  and  they  want  more  facilities.  In  other  places, 
the  religious  and  caste  leaders  arc  appealed  to  for  help,  There 
are  also  those  who  prefer  the  method  of  revolt,  and  schism. 

The  peculiar  feature  of  the  movement  in  the  Presidency  is 
that  we  want  to  work  on  no  single  line,  but  to  work  011  all  lines 
together  and  above  all  not  to,  break  with  the  past  and  cease  all 
connection  with  our  society.  We  do  not  proceed  on  the  reli- 
gious, basis  exclusively  ay  in  Bengal.  We  have  the  different 
Saroajes,  but  somehow  or  other  there  is  something  in  our  nature 
•which  prevents  us  from. bodily  moving  into  another  camp.  We 
do  not  desire  to  give  up  our  hold  on  the  old  established  institu- 
tions* -Some  might  say  this  is  our  weakness — others  think  in 
it  consists  our  strength.  Reform  work  has  not  been  carried  on 
in  this  Presidency  on  any  one  definite  fine,  but  we  are  trying 
#11  the  methods  which  I  have  placed  before  you.  If  we  were 


02  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. ,        m 

to  follow  auy  one  method,  our  quarrels  would  cease.  If  we 
wore  distinctly  prepared  to  stand  in  a  camp  of  our  own,  leaving 
the  whole  community  to  do  what  they  like,  we  might  be  at 
peace;  for  this  is  exactly  what  our  friends— the  reactionist 
and  the  orthodox  community — are  desiring  us  to  do.  We  do 
not  put  our  faith  exclusively  in  the  caste  method  of  work..  We 
arc  not  limited  to  tho  method  of  Avhat  I  say  is  the  method  of 
pledges,  viz.,  each  man  taking  a  pledge  to  do  what  to  him  seems 
right.  We  differ  from  other  parts  of  the  country  in  our  pursuit 
of  this  work  of  social  reform  on  various  lines, — we  do  not  prefer 
any  one  method  of  work  and  try  to  utilise,  adopting  each  as  it  is 
most  suited  for  our  purposes,  all  these  ways,  and  this  of  course 
brings  us  into  conflict  with  oar  orthodox  and  reactionary  f Heads. 
1  hope  1  have  satisfied  you  that  it  is  uob  mere  personal  differ- 
ences or  party  quarrels  or  anything  of  that  sort  that  explains  the 
situation,  bat  it  is  our  systematic  attempt  to  do  tho  thing  not  on 
onu  definite  line,  which  has  intensified  the  conflict.  We  are  not 
disposed  to  follow  any  one  method  to  the  end,  and  we  apply  a 
number  of  methods  to  a  number  of  problems,  and  we  do  desire 
above  all  not  to  occupy  a  separate  camp  for  ourselves.  This  is 
in  my  opinion  tho  chief  reason  why  there  has  been  so  much 
misunderstanding  and  such  exhibition  of  temper,  and  when  you 
add  to  that  personal  and  private  differences,  you  will  understand 
why  the  unfortunate  opposition  which  was  not  offered  else- 
where was  exhibited  in  this  beloved  city  of  ours.  I  hope  on 
another  occasion  to  give  a  retrospect  of  the  work  of  reform 
carried  on  in  different  provinces  of  India  during  the  year  about 
to  close. 

Speaking  on  the  "  History  of  Social  Reform/1  the  Hon'ble 
Mr.  Justice  llanade  said:— MK.  PRESIDENT,  LADIES  and  GENILE* 
MEN, — On  Wednesday  last  my  time  was  so  taken  up  with 
personal  explanations  and  a  review  of  the  general  tendencies  of 
the  reform  movement  in  the  different  provinces,  that  I  was  not 
able  to  present  to  you  a  brief  retrospect  of  the  year's  work  as  I 
had  at  first  intended  to  do.  It  is  very  necessary  on  an  occasion 
like  this  to  direct  public  attention  to  the  more  notable  events 
Of  the  year)  and  to  see  how  far  they  mark  out  footprints  on  tho 


ii.]        MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'8  SPEECHES.         CS 

sands  of  time  in  our  journey  onwards.  We  sire  so  scattered  and 
BO  little  in  touch  with  one  another  that  single  workers  in  this 
field  are  too  often  disposed  to  look  upon  the  work  before  them 
as  a  task  beyond  human  endurance  in  which  failure  is  certain, 
while  the  chances  of  success  are  well  nigh  hopeless.  This  sort 
of  despondency  would  be  impossible  if  we  had  more  fuith  in 
an  over-ruling  Providence,  nnd  if  we  contented  ourselves 
with  the  immediate  work  before  us,  leaving  the  final  issue 
in  His  hands.  The  Conference  gathering  brings  the  indi- 
vidual workers  together  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  and 
when  we  exchange  notes  with  one  another,  those  of  ns  who  may 
have  lagged  behind  are  encouraged  to  persevere  in  the  work  by 
the  example  of  their  f el lo w-workerH,  who  have  attained  better 
success  or  struggled  more  manfully  with  their  difficulties. 
Viewed  in  this  light  the  present  gathering  has  to  my  mind  a 
hol)r  character,  full  of  encouragement  and  hope,  to  all  who  como 
to  it  from  far  and  near.  The  year  that  is  about  to  close  haa 
not  been  altogether  an  uneventful  one.  f  propose  with  your  per- 
mission to  travel  from  south  to  north  arid  briefly  direct  your 
attention  to  the  new  social  leaven  which  is  stirring  the  appa- 
rently dormant  and  lifeless  mass  of  the  Indian  community. 

You  will  note  with  satisfaction  that  on  the  Malabar  Coast, 
including  tho  Native  State  of  Travanoore,  a  most  healthy  move- 
ment has  for  sometime  been  at  work  to  legalise  the  institution 
of  marriage  in  the  great  Nair  community.  Throughout  this  ex- 
tent of  the  country  marriage,  as  an  institution  recognised  by  re- 
ligion and  law,  has  no  footing,  except  among  a  very  small  pro- 
portion of  the  Brahmin  population.  Men  and  women  cohabited 
together  but  without  the  sanctity  and  sanction,  which  marriage 
confers  upon  man  and  wife.  In  this  part  of  the  country  only 
the  eldest  representative  in  Brahmin  families  can  marry  in  our 
sense  of  the  word.  The  rest  of  the  community  both  Brahmin 
and  non-Brahmin  have  lived  from  ancient  times  till  now  in 
theory  at  least  with  the  wild  license,  which  lets  the  male  and 
female  members  of  the  animal  world  consort  together  in  tempo-, 
rary  connections,  Of  course  human  beings  cannot  practise  this 
licence  without  submitting  to  some  restraint  of  custom,  and  there 
are  such  custom?  winch  Imve  supplied  the  place  indifferently  of 


64  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PABT 

the  indissoluble  life-long  alliance  which  constitutes  the  essence 
of  marriage.  This  state  of  things  did  well  enough  as  long  as  Ma* 
lahar  and  Travancore  were  cub  off  from  the  rest  of  the  world. 
With  better  communications  and  with  the  greater  spread  of 
education  a  new  sense  dawned  upon  the  minds  of  the  thinking 
portion  of  the  Nair  community,  and  a  general  desire  was  felt 
among  those  people  fo  rise  to  the  social  level  of  their  fellow 
countrymen  in  other  parts  of  India.  An  agitation  was  setup  and 
after  meeting  with  some  opposition  Government  appointed  a 
Commission  to  inquire  into  the  matter,  and  on  the  basis  of  the 
report  of  this  Commission  a  draft  Hill  was  drawn  up  and  this  Bill 
has  this  year  been  introduced  into  the  Madras  Legislative  Council 
by  the  Hon'ble^gentleman  who  is  now  presiding  at  this  meet- 
ing (the  Hon'ble  Mr,  C.  Sankaran  Nair).  The  chief  credit  of 
this  movement  and  the  practical  turn  given  to  it  belongs  to  the 
Hon'ble  Mr.  Sankaran  Nair  and  his  fellow-workers,  and  you 
will  be  glad  to  find  that  their  labours  have  been  crowned  with 
success.  The  principle  of  the  law  is  now  safe  and  the  Bill  has 
been  referred  to  a  Select  Committee  to  settle  the  details. 
Following  the  example  in  British  India,  the  Travancoro  Gov- 
ernment have  also  sanctioned  the  introduction  of  a  Bill  subject- 
ing the  (Custom jiry  connections  to  the  pains  and  penalties  of  the 
Indian  Penal  Code.  Both  on  the  Malabar  coast  and  in  Travan- 
coro the  movement  has  been  entirely  of  popular  origin,  the 
oflicials  and  Governments  reluctantly  yielding  to  the  pressure 
brought  upon  them  by  the  people  concerned. 

Turning  northwards  you  will  be  glad  to  learn  that  the 
marriage  laws  passed  by  His  Highness  the  late  Maharajah  of 
Mysore  have  worked  satisfactorily.  The  Dewan  stated  last 
October  before  the  Representative  Assembly  that  there  were 
only  four  cases  where  the  penal  clauses  had  to  be  enforced 
during  the  course  of  the  year,  and  in  all  these  cases  the  pro. 
secutions  were  instituted  on  the  complaint  of  private  persona 
and  neighbours.  This  is  a  circumstance  of  great  promise,  as  it 
shows  that  public  conscience  is  on  the  bide  of  the  Government. 
On  the  East  or  Coromandel  Coast  of  the  Madras  Presidency 
the  leaders  of  the  social  reform  movement  have  been  actively 
at  work  both  in  the  Presidency  town  and  in  the  Mofussil  in 


n.]        MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.         65 

promoting  female  education,  and  in  the  protest  they  have  made 
in  favour  of  purity  of  life  and  against  degrading  and  immoral 
customs.  One  re-marriage  was  celebrated  by  the  Rajahmundry 
Wicjow  Re-marriage  Association,  which  is  guided  by  tho 
venerable  Viresalingam  Pantulu  Garu,  whoso  zeal  in  this  cause 
has  been  unabated,  and  who  lias  earned  justly  the  fame  of  being 
the  Pundit  Vidy.isagar  of  this  part  of  the  country. 

Another  notable  event  was  the  le-admission  by  the  Chetty 
community  of  a  young  graduate,  who  had  embraced  Christia- 
nity and  who  afterwards  desired  to  return  back  to  his  old  faith. 
Another  event  of  fi  similarly  instructive  character  was  the  re-ad- 
mission by  his  community  of  a  Deshastha  Brahmin,  who  had 
gone  io  England  and  who  was  admitted  by*  the  Deshastha 
casto  at  Coimbatore  on  easy  conditions,  which  marked  the 
growth  of  public  feeling  in  this  connection.  To  the  West 
of  Mysore  in  the  Palghat  country  a  very  vigorous  agitation 
has  been  set  on  foot  by  some  earnest  workers  to  fix  the 
minimum  marriageable  age  of  boys  at  18  and  secure  popular 
support  for  legislation  on  this  subject.  You  will  thus  see 
that  on  the  Madras  side  there  arc  signs  of  very  earnest 
efforts  made  to  promote  reform  in  nil  tho  main  heads  of  our 
programme,  such  as  higher  female  education,  purity  of  morals, 
widow  marriage,  and  the  admission  of  foreign  travelled  persons 
and  of  converts  to  other  faiths,  and  tho  improvement  of  mar- 
riage laws  and  of  the  condition  of  the  Pariahs.  These  move- 
ments are  directly  of  popular  'origin  in  all  parts,  and  have  in 
some  cases  support  of  both  the  British  and  Native  Governments. 

Going  next  to  Bengal,  the  change  is  not  a  very  agreeable 
one,  as  1  observed  on  last  Wednesday.  Reform  here  is  confined 
chiefly  to  those  who  have  become  members  of  the  Theiatic 
churches,  while  the  rest  of  the  community  shows  a  retrograde 
tendency  in  the  direction  of  reaction.  The  sea- voyage  move- 
ment stirred  Bengal  two  years  ago.  But  apparently  no  pro- 
gress was  made  in  regard  to  it  in  the  present  year.  The  only 
visible  movement  attempted  this  year  was  about  the  reduction 
of  extravagant  expenditure  on  marriage  occasions  and  even  this 
movement  was  instituted  by  the  Government  of  that  part  of 
tbe  country.  Meanwhile  female  education  outside  the  presi* 
9 


66  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAKT 

dency  towns  showed  no  progress.  Knlinism  still  flourishes  in 
tlic  land;  the  widow- marriage  movement  started  by  Pandit 
Vidyasagar  evokes  no  interest ;  and  things  generally  are  at  a 
standstill.  I  am  afraid  iny  statements  about  Bengal  may 
appear  to  many  as  exaggerating  the  faults  of  our  friends  there. 
For  Bengal  is  generally  associated  in  our  ninds  us  the  foremost 
province  in  matters  of  progress-  T  can  only  say  in  my  defence 
that  I  depend  for  my  sources  of  information  on  four  or  five  friends 
in  that  province.  One  of  them  is  u  missionary  of  the  New 
Dispensation  Church,  and  another  n,  social  reform  preacher,  who 
belongs  to  no  church.  The  other  t\vo  gentlemen  are  of  the  old 
school-  There  are  no  social  reform  associations  in  "Bengal,  and  I 
only  received  two  reports  from  local  bodies,  who  appeared  to 
devote  their  attention  chiefly  to  temperance  and  primary  female 
education.  Nothing  will  give  me  greater  satisfaction  than  to 
•find  that  my  information  about  Bengal  is  not  accurate  up  to 
date,  but  until  this  correction  comes  from  proper  sources,  I 
must  depend  upon  my  own  authorities,  and  you  will  join  with 
me  in  regarding  this  state  of  things  as  very  discouraging 
indeed. 

Advancing  northwards,  w6  find  in  the  North-West  Provin- 
ces and  Oudh  more  hopeful  signs  of  a  desire  for  social  improve- 
ment. Here  as  I  have  stated  in  my  firsfc  address  the  work  is 
carried  out  on  caste  lines,  and  the  great  communities  which 
constitute  the  middle  and  upper  classes  of  these  provinces,  the 
TCuyusthas,  th6  Bhargavas,  tho  Agarwalas,  the  .lats  and  the 
Jains  are  each  heaving  with  new  life,  though  that  activity  is 
restricted  within  very  narrow  spheres.  These  communities 
hold  their  Conferences  from  yefir  to  year.  These  Conference 
meetings  are  largely  attended.  They  chiefly  devote  them  selves 
to  tho  work  of  reducing  customary  marriage  expenses  and  also 
try  to  raise  tlie  marriageable  age  limits.  Temperance  also 
occupies  a  prominent  place  in  their  programme'  and  the 
Kayastha  Temperance  movement  has  especially  shown  a  good 
record  this  yenr.  The  Parity  movement  also  occupie's  atten- 
tion in  these  parts  and  some  progress  is  also  made  in  intercom- 
munion betwefen  subcastes.  The  education:  chiefly  of  boys 
and  in  sornd  cases  of  girls  and  'the  establishment  of  Boarding- 


ii.]        ME.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.          07 

Louses  have  occupied  their  attqntion  to  some  extent.  The 
movement  is  not  based  on  any  departure  from  the  old  religious 
creeds  and  the  Arya,  Samajes  established  in  different  parts 
are  not  showing  much  zeal  in  their  work.  For  certain  purposes 
these  caste  organisations  ar<;  very  valuable,  but  they  have  their 
own  weakness.  They  cramp  and  narrow  the  sympathies  of 
those  who  belong  to  them,  and  llio  sphere  of  action  is  restricted 
within  very  defined  limits.  Such  as  they  arc  however,  they 
.cannot  fail  to  eJTect  considerable  change  for  the  better  in  the 
social  condition  of  the  country,  if  only  these  separate  casto 
movements  work  together  for  the  common  good,  In  regard  to 
the  question  of  widow  marriage  and  foreign  travel  and  female 
education,  these  provinces  are  very  backward.  Though  they 
came  under  tho  British  rule  early  in  the  century,  the  system 
of  public  education  prevalent  in  these  parts  has  been  lesa 
permeated  by  Western  iullucnces  and  is  more  oriental  in 
character  than  in  Bombay,  Madras  and  Calcutta.  The  Allaha- 
bad University  was  established  in  1887,  I.e.,  ^0  years  after  the 
other  universities  were  founded  soon  after  the  mutiny.  Pro- 
ceeding further  on  to  the  Punjab,  the  sociu.1  movement  is  seen 
to  be  more  energetic  in  character  and  more  fruitful  of  results, 
The  rise  of  the  Sikh  power,  based  as  it  was  on  a  religious 
upheaval  which  tried  to  assimilate  the  better  elements  of 
Mabomcdanism  and  the  ancient  Hindu  faith,  has  secured  for 
the  Punjab  a  very  favourable  start.  The  caste  restrictions 
against  interdining  are  not  so  strictly  observed  as  in  other 
provinces.  The  supremacy  of  Brahmins  is  not  so  oppressive 
iu  its  weight  of  authority,  and  altogether  a  healthy  and 
manly  tone  distinguishes  the  people  of  those  parts.  No  wonder, 
therefore,  that  the  Arya  Sarnaj  movement  found  q,  soil  already 
prepared  for  its  reception,  and  nowhere  else  has  it  produced  on  the 
whole  such  beneficial  changes.  Though  the  founder  of  the  Arya 
Samaj  did  not  favour  the  marriage  of  widows  except  with  the  bro- 
ther of  the  deceased  husband,  the  Arya  Samaj  OH  in  the  Punjab  have 
for  many  years  past  shown  greater  liberty  in  this  matter,  and  thia 
year  was  distinguished  in  the  annals  of  the  Punjab  by  a  most 
important  accession  to  the  strength  of  the  reform  party  repre- 
sented by  the  celebration  of  the  marriage  of  Dewan  Suut  Ram's 


(58  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAR* 

widowed  daughter.     As  this  family  is  one  of  the    most  respect- 
able among  the  Khatri  community,  it  is  expected  that  this  move- 
ment will  have  a  new  strength  in  that  part  of  the  country.     As 
a  matter  of  fact,  there  were  two  other  re-marriages  in  the  Pun- 
jab this  year,  one  according  to  the  JJrahmo  rites,  and  the  other 
according  to  the  Arya  Samaj    ritual.     As   regards  foreign  tra- 
vels, the  people  in  tho  Punjab  have  quietly  solved   the  problem 
by  openly  receiving  men  who  have  gone  beyond   the   seas  into 
caste.     The  Punjab  also  ha«  taken  the  load  in   another  matter, 
which  shows  more  than  anything  else  the  advance  made  in  their 
province.     A  portion   of  tho  Sikh  conim unity  has  been  actively 
engaged  in  the  work   of   conversion    of    Alahomcdana  into   the 
Sikh  faith,  and  the  Arya  Samajes  also  have  shown  readiness  to 
make  conversions    from  other   religious.     Some    150  converts 
were  thus  admitted    back   into    communion    with   the    Sikhs. 
Outside  the  Arya  Samaj  and  the  Sikh  community,  the  Kh atria, 
the  Vaishyas,  und  the  Agarvakis    have    also   been    carrying  on 
good  work  in  the  fusion  of  aubcaates,  in  cutting   down  extrava- 
gant expenditure,  in   promoting   temperance,   and  raising   the 
marriageable  age  of  girls.     The  Purity  movement  in  the  Pun- 
jab is  also  conducted  with  great  energy,  and  the  crusade  against 
intemperance  is  more  Mystcmatic   there   than   elsewhere.     The 
Punjab  has  also  earned    the    distinction   of   holding  provincial 
social  Conferences  every  year.    Altogether  tho  social  movements 
in  these  parts  are  of   a  character   to   inspire   hope  and  afford 
encouragement  to    all  who    take   interest   in   this     work.     In 
the   province   of   Sind    we    have  some  honest  workers.     Nota- 
ble   among    them    Mr.    Dayaram    Gidnmal    holds   the  chief 
place.     The  registered   Social  Reform  Association  of  Hydera- 
bad is  the  oldest  of  its  kind,  though  this   year    it  was  unable 
to  show  much  work.     At  present  the   Sind  reformers  are  de- 
voting themselves  chiefly  to  the  promotion  of  female  education, 
-which  is  in  a  very  backward   condition  in  that   province.     The 
Walterkrit   Rajputra   Sabha,   representing   iwenty   small  and 
large  States,  has  maintained  its   character    as  a  most  effective 
organisation  for  the  promotion  of  the  two  reforms  to   which  it 
chiefly  devotes  its  attention,  namely,  the  reduction  of  the-  marri- 
age expenses  and  raising  the  marriageable  age  of  girls  and  boys. 


jr.]    '    MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.         69 

The  example  of  the  Rajput  class,  ia  slowly  jyorkiug  a  change  in 
the  other  communities  such  as  Brahmins,  Agarwalas,  and  Jains. 
An  attempt  is  being  made  by  the  Talukdars  in  North  Gujarath 
to  have  a  Sabha  of  fcheir  own  based  on  the  same  model.     This 
brings  us  back  to  our  own  Presidency  with  its  two  divisions,  the 
Gujarath  and  Maharashtra  districts,   the   latter  including   the 
Berars  and  Central  Provinces.     In  the  Berars  there  is   a   very 
vigorous  Sociul  Keform  Association  at  work  consisting    of   400 
members,  and  it  has  been  the  means  of  popularising  the  work  of 
social  reform  in  that  part  of  the  country.     The  members  of  the 
Berar  Association  have  pledged  themselves  to  certain   reforms, 
including  nearly  the  whole  of  the  programme  of  the  Conference, 
and  their  example  and  advice  have  resulted  in  directing  public 
attention  to  these   subjects.     The    Central    Provinces  have  not 
shown   equally  good   work   this   year.     The  widow   marriage 
movement,  however,    has   found  considerable  support  in  these 
provinces,  and  a  baud  of  young  reformers  has  been   formed  at 
Nagpur,  which  promises  better  work  next  year.     In  the  Guja- 
rath districts  of  the  Presidency,  Ahraedabad  has  put  forth  con- 
siderable efforts  in  the  promotion   of   female   education.     It  ia 
also   the   head -quarters   of   the    re-marriage    and   temperance 
movements  in  those  parts.     The  misfortune  of  Gujarath  is  the 
multiplicity  of  sub-divisions  of    castes  and  sab-castes.     Among 
the  Kunbis  and  the  Brahmins  alike   there  are  higher  and  lower 
sections  of  the  community,  the  lower  aspiring  to  form  alliances 
with  the  higher  at  any  cost  and    the   higher  disdaining  to  form 
such  alliances   for  their   daughters   with  people   of  the  lower 
sections,     This  unfortunate   state  of  things  leads  to  extortions 
in  the  shape  of  heavy  dowries,    polygamy,  infanticide,  and  un- 
married old  spinsters.     The    efforts   of   Government  under  the 
Infanticide  Act  and    of   the   communities    themselves   to  check 
these  evils  have  not   been   very  successful,   but  it  is  expected 
that  theao  mischievous  customs   will  work  out  their  own  ruin 
by  the  rebellion  of  the   lower  sections   against  the  tyranny  of 
the  higher   especially   the    Kunbi   Patidars  and  the  Anavala 
Brahmin  Bhathelas.     There  was   one   widow   marriage  in  the 
Ahmedabad  district  among  the  Audich  people,  and  three  yoking 
foreign- travelled  men  of  the  Brahma  Khatri.  caste  found  adnm* 


70  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. . 

sion  into  tbeir  community  .without  difficulty.  The  Audicli 
Brahmins  also  have  been  holding  annual  Couferences  of  the 
caste  on  the  North-West  Provinces  model,  His  Highness  the 
Maharajah  of  Baroda  has  been  moved  by  the  M  ah  a  j  anas  in  the 
Baroda  territory  to  legislate  with  a  view  to  strengthen  the 
hands  of  tbe  .castes  in  ,  enforcing-  their  own  regulations  about 
reform,  and  two  Bills  framed  for  this  purpose  are  still  under  the 
consideration  of  Ilia  Highness  the  Maharajah.  In  the  Marat  ha 
country  proper  the  work  of  reform  has  been  carried  on  all 
along  the  line  by  utilising  all  available  resources.  The  widow- 
marriage  .movement  has  been  taken  up  actively  by  the  Associa- 
tion at  Pootia,  and  its  missionaries  have  travelled  about  the 
w.hole  of  the  country  securing  sympathy  and  support.  In  all, 
four  re-marriages  werp  celebrated  in  Bombay  and  Poona  this 
year.,  th<e  celebrations  in  Bombay  beiug  confined  to  the  Guja- 
rath  community,  foreign-travelled  men  returning  back  to  tbe 
country  arcslowJyfindingadmission  in  to  their  caste  wi  thout  experi- 
encing thediffigulties  that  stood  in  their  way  before.  The  marriage- 
able age  limits  are  being  sensibly  raised,  nearly  half-a-doaeii  of 
the  bes,t  families  in  Pooua  have  practically  shown  that  after 
be  trot  1ml  the  girls  can  remaiu  unmarried  till  fourteen  and  boyts 
till,  twenty  without  serious  caste  opposition,  The  sale  and  ex- 
change of  girls  in  marriage  i«  also  condemned  by  the  head 
Acharya,  who  is  prepared  to  indict  custe  punishments  on  those 
who  may  bo  guilty  of  a  breach  of  the  order.  Female  education 
is  also  being  encouraged  by  the  success  of  the  High  School  at 
Poona  and  by  the  Society's  schools  in  Bombay.  The  Temperance 
cause  also  ia  actively  propagated  by  Temperance  preachers,  and 
already  there  is  a  sensible  change  in  the  attitude  of  young  men 
towards  this  indulgence.  It  will  be  seen  from  this  review  of  the 
.social  history  of  the  year  that  tilings  are  not  so  hopeless  as  they 
seem  to  casual  ou-lookers.  The  conflict  between  the  reformers  and 
reactionaries  in  the  Deccan  Districts  has  been  especially  useful 
in  drawing  public  attention  to  the  claims  of  the.  Conference 
upon  public  sympathy.  In  all  towns  wherever  the  Mahrathi 
language  is  spoken  including  the  Berars  and  the  Central  Provin- 
ces, the  struggle  between  the  two  parties  has  been  keen  and  active 
throughout  tho  year.  For  reasons  which  I  have  stated  in  my 


it:]       MR.  JVSTTCE  RANADfi'S  SPEECHES.        71 

first  address,    such   a   conflict,  based  on  principles  and -not  on 
personal    differences,  is    nob,    under    existing    circumstances, 
possible  in  any  other  part  of  India.     In  view  of  this  conflict;  it' 
becoihes  the  duty  Of  all  to  consider  what  phould  be  the  attitude 
of  the  reformers  towards   those   who  are  opposed   to  them. 
Strength  of  numbers  we  cannot  command,  but  we  can  command 
earnestness  of  .conviction,  singleness  of  devotion,  readiness-for 
self -sacrifice  in  all  honest  workeis  in   the  cause.     Hven  though 
these  workers  may  be  few  in.  number,  Ihoy  will  in  the  end  suc- 
ceed in  overcoming  opposition.     Wo   have   above  all  to  Ifearn 
what  it  is   to    beau   suirl   to  Forbear — to  bear   ridicule,  -insults, 
even  personal  injuries   at   times,   and    forbear  from  returning 
abuse  for  abuse.     In  the  words  of  fche  Prophet  of  Nazareth,  we 
have  to  take  up  the  cross  not  because  it  is  pleasant  to  be  perse- 
cuted, but  because    the  pain  and  the  injury  are  as  nothing  by 
the  side  of  the  principle  for  which  they  are  endured.     We  may 
differ   as   individuals,   but  these  differences  are  after  all  doe  to 
the   weakness  of  the   human  temperament   and  to  the  errors  of 
the    human   judgment.     It   is  the    mind  which  after  all  holds 
intercourse  with   other   minds,  and    there  is  a,  basis  of  union  in 
the  common   divine   element  present  in  all  of  us,  which  is  tjfie 
spirit,  which  binds   together  all  men  in  a  common  bond  of  love 
and  help.     The  waters  of  the  heavens  get  their  colour  from  the 
soil  over  which   they   flow  ;   but   after  all  these  colours  are  not 
the  water ;  they  may  conflict  with  one  another  for  a  time,  but  in 
the  end  they  meet    and  flow  in  one  pure  stream  into  the  great 
ocean,  leaving  the  earth  and  the  mud  and  the  silt  behind  them. 
If 'we  only  work  in  this  faith,  the  opposition  to  reform,  which  so 
much  disturbs  us   at    times,    will  only  be  an  incentive  to  more 
sustained  efforts.     This   should   be  the  spirit  in  which  I  would 
wish  yon  to   regard  the  events   of  the  last  few  months,  and  it 
anything  I  have  said  from  this  platform  inspires  you  with  such 
a  spirit,  I  feet  sure  that  you  will  not  have  attended  the  Confor- 
ence  sittings  in  vain. 


72  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

The  Tenth  Social  Conference— Calcutta— 1896. 

The  Hon'ble  Mr.  JusticcTianade  delivered  his  inaugural  ad- 
dress which  was  as  follows  : — MR.  PUKSWENT  AND  GENTLEMEN, — 
After  an  interval  of  six  ycais,  during-  which  period  we  havo  com- 
pleted our  round  of  the  continent  of  India,  we  meet  here 
again  this  time  under  the  shadow  of  a  great  calamity 
— I  might  almost  say  in  the  midst  of  national  tribula- 
tion and  sorrow.  At  ono  time,  indeed,  the  presence  of  this 
calamity  suggested  to  many  tho  thought  that  gatherings 
such  as  these  had  better  be  postponed  to  a  more  favour- 
ed season.  On  further  consideration,  however,  it  was  forced 
upon  our  minds  that  visitations  such  as  these  had  a  deeper 
meaning,  and  that  there  was  a  solemn  obligation  OIL  us 
all  to  make  a  confession  of  our  errors  and  sins ;  and  as  tho 
Jewish  prophets  pf  old  railed  upon  the  chosen  people  in  distress 
and  in  peril  to  renew  their  covenant  with  their  Lord,  we — the 
men  who  can  read  the  signs  of  the  times  and  feel  the  burden 
laid  upon  us — should  meet  to  urge  from  this  and  other  plat- 
forms  the  necessity  of  self-correction  and  self -exertion,  in  a 
spirit  of  pious  resignation,  joined  with  a  fixed  resolve  that,  come 
what  may,  ourselves  and  the  generations  to  come  aftor  us  shall 
suffer  as  brave  men  suffer — their  very  suffering  making  them 
braver  still  and  better  able  to  cope  with  danger  than  they  ever 
were  before.  It  was  this  feeling  which  prevailed  over  the 
better  minds  amongst  us  not  to  yield  to  the  panic  of  the  hour, 
and,  while  not  making  light  of  the  danger  that  threatened  us, 
to  see  in  that  danger  the  very  best  reason  for  taking  counsel  to- 
gether how  to  provide  against  its  recurrence  in  the  future. 

I  submit  to  you,  gentlemen,  the  question  which  you  will 
All,  each  in  his  place,  consider  for  yourself — why  it  is  that 
famine  and  pestilence,  poverty  and  distress,  have  the  appalling 
terrors  which  they  cany  with  them  in  this  land  ?  We  cannot, 
vof  course,  make  the  winds  blow  as  wo  list,  nor  can  we  force  the 
rain -clouds  to  shower  their  plentiful  blessings  as  we  need  or  de- 
sire. But  with  the  advantages  we  enjoy,  it  should  certainly  be 
possible  BO  to  garner  up  our  resources  of  health  and  wealth  as 
to  enable  us  to  pass  through  such  a  crisis  with  a  tolerable 


n.]        Mfi.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.         73 

Assurance  of  safeiy.  Visitations,  such  as  these  we  suffer  from, 
will  lose  half  their  horrors,  if  we  could  discount  them  ID  anti- 
cipation, IF  wo  were  stronger  and  more  manly,  more  prudent, 
nioro  abstemious  and  more  thoughtful,  millions  would  not  livo 
and  breed  as  if  they  were  members  op  the  brnto  creation,  and 
not  men  and  women  made  in  (ho  imngo  oF  God  for  a  higher 
purpose  than  to  live  find  din  like  ihn  butterflies.  It  may  well 
bo  that  these  visitations  arc  intended  us  warnings  of  our  duty 
in  this  respect,  to  set  our  liouso  in  order  and  nnfc  (o  sin  against 
the  laws  of  our  existence.  Of  one  aspect  of  this  question  of  our 
duties  I  have  nothing  to  speak  from  this  platform — the  aspect 
in  which  we  deal  with  it,  ns  citizens  of  a  great  .Umpire.  But 
the  sphere  of  our  duties  is  nol>  exhausted  when  we  discuss  the 
question  as  a  qiipstion  of  State  policy  only.  The  State  after  all 
exists  only  to  make  individual  members  composing  it  nobler, 
happier,  richer  and  more  perfect,  in  ovory  attribute  with  which 
we  are  endowed  ;  and  this  perfection  of  our  being  can  never  be 
insured  by  any  ontsidn  arrangement,  however  excellent,  unless 
the  individual  member  concerned  is  in  himself  prepared  in  his 
own  private  social  sphere  of  duties  to  co-operate  in  his  own 
well-being.  It  is  this  latter  aspect  of  our  duties  with  which 
we  nre  moro  immediately  concerned  hero,  and  it  is  to  this  side 
of  the  question  that  1  bespeak  ynnr  favourable)  attention  on 
this  occasion. 

Yon  will  ask,  gentlemen,  what  message  has  this  Conference 
to  deliver  on  an  occasion  of  the  kind  which  brings  us  here  to- 
gether ?  This  is  the  tenth  meeting  of  the  Conference,  and  one 
has  a  right  to  expect  that,  after  ten  years  of  ceaseless  activity, 
any  movement  with  a  vitality  of  its  own  should  be  able  to 
allow  itself  to  be  judged  by  its  fruits,  Two  years  ago,  at 
Mad  ran,  T  turned  a  similar  opportunity  to  account  in  presenting 
to  yon  a  brief  survey  of  our  seven  years'  work  in  the  different 
provinces  of  India,  It  is,  therefore,  not  necessary  that  I  should 
go  over  the  same  ground  hero  again.  Jt  will,  however,  interest 
you  equally  well  if  I  give  you  a  brief  outline  of  the  work 
of  the  year  which  is  about  to  close — in  some  sense  a  very 
remarkable  year  indeed.  In  all  such  matters  the  first  step 
towards  betterment  is  to  realise  the  fact  that  oar  social 
10 


74  INDIAN  SOCTAL  REFORM.  [PART 

conditions  are  not  exactly  as  they  fihould  be,   and  that   they 
stand  in  need  of  a  healthy  change,  which  can  only   he   brought 
about  by  every   ono  of  us  making   the  effort  to  pull  himself 
out,   and   helping  others  to   step   out   from  the  mire  of  false 
flelf-satisf  action  or    helpless   despond oncy,    than    which    there 
is  nothing   more   dangerous   by  way   of  obstacle   to   our  deli- 
verance.    Until   the   conscienrw    is    stirred   up,    nothing   great 
or  good   can   be  accomplished  hy  the   agencies    from   outside, 
which   hardly  touch  the  surface.     Tt  is   not  au  easy  thing    to 
stir  up  tho   conscience  of   a  nation  such    as  ours  ;  but  to  jndge 
from  tho  signs  aronnrl  us,  there  are  obvious  indications  that  the 
dead  bones  are  heaving  with  a  new  life,  and  that  the  cold  limbs 
are  reviving  with  a  now   warmth  hitherto   despaired  of.     This 
is  but  a  mere  commencement,  full  of  hope  and  promise  to  those 
who  are   gifted    with  patience,   but  with   little    significance  to 
those   who,   like  children,    are  impatient   to  see  tangible  re- 
units.     During  the  course  of  the  year  this  awakening  manifested 
itself,  not  only   among  the  classes  who  are    generally   credited 
or  discredited  ns  reformers,    but   also    in  the    very  strongholds 
•  of  orthodoxy,   and  tho    defenders  of   the   established  order  of 
things.     On    our   Ride   of    tha  country,    the  Sanatan    1)  harm  a 
Rakshani  Sabha,  presided   over   by  tho    Goswami   Maharajah, 
and  attended  by  tho  most  orthodox    enemies  of  reform,   met  in 
Bolemn   conclave,   and  sided   with    thn   reformers,    whom  they 
disliked,  in  condemning  some  of  the   existing  customs,  such  as 
the  sale  of  girls  in   marriage  and  infant   marriages.     On    the 
Madras  side,  the   Srivaiahnava    Conference  and  the   Godavari 
District  Conference,  both  very  orthodox  bodies,  met  also  under 
similar  circumstances  and  joined   hnnds  with  the   reformers  io 
many  questions  over   the  gulf   which   separates   them.     There 
are  some  who  think  that  the  reform   movements  to  be  effective 
must  be  confined  to  each  great  caste   or  sub-caste.     Judged  by 
this  test,  we  may  draw  consolation  from  the  fact  that  full  trial 
is  being  given  to  this  view  :  for  the  Bhargava  and  the  Kayastha 
and  the  Agarwal   or  Vaishya  Conferences   in   the  North- West 
Provinces,  the   Snrin  and   Kaynstha  and  the  Aurora    Bansa, 
Societies  in  the  Punjab,  the  Audich  and   the  Kayastha  Frabhu 
Conferences  in  Bombay,  and  the  Sri  Vaishnava  Conference  on. 


IL]       Mn.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.        75 

the  Madras  side,  were  all  bodies  which  met  each  in  its  own 
place,  and  will  meet  again  under  very  encouraging-  circum- 
stances. It  is  proposed  to  have  a  meeting  of  the  Sanatan 
Dharma  Rakshani  Sablui  in  Bombay  under  the  presidency  of  the 
principal  Acharya  of  that  part  of  India  who,  bo  it  said  to  his 
credit,  has  set  his  f;ice  against  the  sale  of  girls  in  marriuge,  and 
is  prepared  to  enforce  prohibition  on  a  proper  case  being  made 
out.  The  Acharya  of  (he  Saras wat  Brahmins  is  at  this  mo- 
ment discussing  with  his  followers,  what  treatment  should  be 
given  to  England-returned  men  ;  and  the  Borar  people,  led  by 
very  orthodox  gentlemen,  have  asked  the  San kes Invar  Swami 
to  relax  the  restrictions  against  widow-marriages.  A  very 
learned  Shastri  at  Jubbulporo  has  been  discussing  the  much 
vexed  question  of  the  admission  buck  into  the  community  of 
men  who  have  returned  from  England,  or  joined  other  faiths 
and  desire  to  return  within  1  he  pale  of  Hindu  society.  Moved 
by  the  same  feeling,  the  Nasik  priests  have  in  one  instance  ad- 
mitted an  England-returned  gentleman  back  into  his  caste. 
The  Lohana  community  in  Bombay,  who  had  for  many  years 
excluded  the  philanthropic  gentlema;i,  Sett  Damodardasa 
Goverdbaii  Uass  from  their  roinmuuioii,  admitted  him  freely 
this  year,  in  consideration,  of  his  many  and  great  benefac- 
tions to  the  community  and  to  the  public  at  large.  The  Jain 
community  in  Bombay  have  not  only  welcomed  Mr.  Vir- 
chanda  Gandhi  on  his  return  from  America,  but  they  gave 
him  a  grand  farewell  when  ho  went  out  as  a  missionary 
to  tbat  country.  Gentlemen,  you.  will  admit  that  thcpe  arc  all 
very  hopeful  signs  ;  scattered  and  few  though  they  are  over 
this  vast  country,  they  show  evidence  of  a  desire  to  breathe 
a  new  life  m  quarters  where  you  would  least  expect  it ;  and 
they  show  also  that  the  desire  for  reform  in  our  social  condi- 
tioos  is  now  penetrating  below  the  surface  to  the  very  heart  of 
the  nation, 

Of  course  this  sort  of  activity  is  more  manifest  among  the 
younger  generation  everywhere.  I  hold  in  my  hand  a  list  of 
Associations  and  Sabhao,  which  have  been  good  enough  to  send 
to  the  General  Secretary  of  the  Conference  reports  of  their1 
-work.  Our  appeal  for  such  reports  does  not  reach  all  whq 


76  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

work  in  the  good  cause,  and  eveu  those  to  whom  the  appeal  ia 
made 'do  not  respond  in  time.  I  have,  however,  with  me  a 
list  of  AsHociationa  which  have  sent  in  their  Reports,  and  their 
number  comes  nearly  to  sixty — the  largest  number  that  has 
been  yet  reached.  We  were  hitherto  unable  to  tap  ftengal,  but 
this  year  we  have  received  reports  from  ton  Associations  from 
this  part  of  the  country,  twenty-three  from  the  Bombay  Presi- 
dency, eleven  from  Madras,  two  from  Mysore,  four  from  the 
Punjab,  two  from  Heccau  Hyderabad,  oue  each  from  the 
Central  Provinces  and  the  JJorar,  sind  livo  from  the  North- 
Western  Provinces.  The  reports  of  these  Associations  have 
been  summarised,  aud  the  summary  Tv-ill  be  plnced  in  your 
liandu  wlien  we  meet  to-morrow  to  discuss  our  plan  of  opera- 
tions. Of  course,  those  Associations  du  not  subscribe  to  all 
the  points  to  which  the  Social  Conference  draws  attention  from 
year  to  year.  Surnool' them  favour  female  education  chiefly, 
Others  purity  and  temperance  ;  others  ngaiu,  improvement  in 
the  condition  of  child-widows  ;  a  fourth  class  favour  interdining 
and  intermarriage  between  sub-castes  ;  many  more  favour  the 
further  raising  Of  the  marriageable  age  limit — some  by  compul- 
sory legislation,  others  by  caste  regulation*],  and  others,  again, 
by  means  of  pledges,  Many  similarly  interest  themselves  in 
curtailing  the  expenditure  OH  marriage  and  death  ceremonies. 
A  few  are  striving  to  admit  men  returned  from  England  and 
converts  from  other  faiths,  And  some  interest  themselves  in 
elevating  the  lower  classes.  Gentlemen,  you  will  thus  Heo  that 
in  part  or  in  whole  Mm  Conference  programme  is  nne  which 
covers  the  whole  Held  of  our  activities  in  social  question?, 
though  there  is,  as  might  be  expected,  every  variety  of  method, 
and  full  room  for  choice  of  different  subjects  according  to  the 
needs  of  each  province  and  community.  Such  a  variety  is 
natural,  and  1  should  regret  if  there  was  not  this  difference  of 
lights  and  shades  and  we  were  all  echoing  the  same  cry 
throughout  the  country. 

There  are,  however,  some  general  features  of  similarity 
which  might  be  noticed  here  with  advantage.  Bengal,  though 
it  gave 'birth  to  Rajah  Ram  Mohan  Roy,  as  well  as  to  Pandit 
Iswara  Chandra  Vidyasagar,  seems  at  present  (outside  the 


jr.]       Ms.  JUSTICE  fiANADWS  SPEECHES.         77 

Brahtno  Saniaj)  to  be  content  with  helping  female  edacatiou 
uliiefly.  Polygamy  and  Kuliniem,  widow-marriago  and  unequal 
and  infant  marriages — these  subjects  have  not  excited  tbe  same 
attention  here  as  in  other  parts  of  the  country.  Jn  the  North- 
Western  Provinces  the  method  of  working  through  caato 
organisations  finds  most  favour.  Female  education  is  not; 
much  attended  to,  but  extravagance  in  uiarripgo  expenses  and 
temperance  occupy  the  chief  attention.  The  Punjab  takes  the 
lead  this  year  in  the  matter  of  the  widow-marriage  movement, 
re-admission  of  converts  from  other  faiths  and  inter- marriage 
in  sub-castes,  hi  tho  Madras  Presidency  the  Purity  and  the 
Anti-Nautch  movements  tind  their  chief  advocates.  On  the 
Bombay  side,  including  J3erars  and  Central  Provinces  also,  to  a 
certain  extent,  the  Reform  Associations  are  more  catholic  in  the 
number  of  subjects  to  which  they  direct  their  attention.  Bom- 
bay took  the  lead  in  the  widow-marriage  movement  till  last 
year.  It  comes  out  second  this  year  with  eight  widow-marri- 
ages, while  the  Punjab  takes  the  first  place,  showing  a  total  of 
twenty-five  such  marriages,  Madras  having  contributed  two, 
the  North-Western  Provinces  one,  and  Bengal  one.  In  the 
matter  of  foreign  travel,  (he  Central  Provinces  arc  coming  to 
the  forefront,  us  many  us  nino  young  men  having  been  sent 
last  year  to  Kugland  for  study.  In  this  connection  wo  may 
note  with  satisfaction  the  fact  that  us  many  as  one  hundred  anil 
sixty-seven  Hindu  students  are  studying  at  this  time  in  Eng- 
land ;  fifty- six  from  Bengal,  forty -two  from  Bombay  and  Central 
Provinces,  thirteen  from  Madras,  thirty-six  from  Punjab,  one 
from  Mysore,  three  from  KathiaAvar,  and  five  from  the  Nizam 'a 
State. 

These  figures  show  that  year  after  year  the  pilgrimage  tp 
foreign  lands,  unhampered  by  domestic  restrictions,  and  the 
substitution  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  for  the  old  venerated 
cities  of  Benares  and  Nuddea,  must  inevitably  take  place,  and 
they  will  be  wise  in  their  generation  who  remove  the  thorns 
from  the  way  of  the  young  pilgrims,  and  welcome  them  back 
on  their  return. 

As  regards  inter-marriage  and  inter-dining — in  other  worda 
the  fusion  of  snb'castea  into  larger  aggregates — tho  year  about 


7S  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.         < 

to  close  has  a  good  record  to  show.  Among  tbe  noticeable 
events  of  tbe  year  was  an  alliance  between  a  Madras  graduate 
and  a  Marathi  lady  brought  up  in  Poona  and  educated  in  our 
schools  there.  Two  inter-marriages  of  a  lens  noteworthy  kind 
occurred  in  the  Central  Provinces,  and  twenty  inter-marriages 
took  place  among  the  several  Khatri  sub-divisions  in  the  Pun- 
jab. In  the  Province  of  Bengal,  yon  will  all  be  glad  to  learu 
that,  owing  to  the  exertions  chictiy  of  Babu  Hash  Bebari 
Makerji,  of  Vikrampnr,  the  artificial  divisions  between  tbe 
several  mcls  among  the  Kulins  of  this  province  have  been 
made  to  give  way  to  a  better  feeling  of  the  essential  union 
of  the  Kulin  caste  in  ono  hundred  cases  during  the  course 
of  the  last  twenty-five  years.  Our  friends  at  Madras,  in 
the  course  of  the  year,  have  set  1111  example  of  practically 
popularising  the  claims  of  this  reform  to  general  adhesion 
by  instituting  what  are  called  reform-dinners,  where  all 
sects  of  Brahmins  are  welcome  as  brothers.  The  exclusiveness 
of  caste  shows  evident,  signs  of  gradual  relaxation.  This  is, 
however,  nowhere  so  manifest  as  in  the  province  of  Punjab, 
where,  owing  to  tbe  exertions  chiefly  of  rhe  cultured  Hindus! 
Sikhs  and  members  of  the  Arya  Samaj,  the  admission  into  the 
Hindu  community  of  Mahomedan  and  Christian  converts  has 
made  a  great  advance,  and  as  many  as  two  hundred  and  fifty  or 
three  hundred  persons  were  admitted  during  the  course  of  the 
year,  This  movement  bus  found  support  in  unexpected 
quarters.  I  refer  here  to  the  advocacy  of  this  reform  in  the 
Amrita  Bazar  Patrika  of  this  place.  Nothing  could  be  more 
pathetic,  nothing  more  profoundly  true  than  tbe  appeals  made 
by  this  exponent  of  conservative  opinion  to  the  Hindu  communi- 
ty generally  to  drop  their  ancient  spirit  of  exclusiveness,  and 
receive  with  open  arms  those  who  may  desire  to  OCMBB  back  to 
the  old  religion,  and  thus  ward  off  the  danger  of  national  sui- 
cide, which  otherwise  is  inevitable.  I  would  make  the  same 
appeal  on  the.ground  of  the  devotion  we  owe  to  truth  and  reason 
and  the  supremacy  of  the  pi  aims  of  conscience  upon  oar  allegi- 
ance, to  allow  free  liberty  in  the  matter  of  this  interchange  of 
faiths,  :  . 

In   .regard    to    the    claims  .of  purity,    temperance,  and 


Tt.]       MR.  JUSTICE  RANAD&8  SPEECHES.         79 

economy  in  marriage  and  other  ceremonial  expenditure,  much 
need  not  be  said  here,  as  tlieso  are  matters  in  which  both  the 
reform  and  the  orthodox  parties  in  all  the  provinces  of 
India  are  at  one  in  their  desire  for  change.  About  the  question 
of  infant  and  unequal  marriages,  there  is  also  unanimity  of 
pnblic  sentiment,  which  is  being  slowly  but  surely  educated  to 
perceive  the  necessify  of  adopting  a  higher  standard  of  age 
both  for  boys  and  girls  than  what  satisfied  the  generation  that 
is  past.  Thanks  to  the  marriage  laws  passed  in  Mysore,  in 
Southern  India,  the  sentiment  in  favour  of  legislation  on  the 
subject:  is  ripening  gradually  to  action.  Meantime  private 
efforts  to  raise  the  marriageable  age  to  fourteen  for  girls  and 
to  twenty  for  boy  a  and  more  are  being  actively  pushed  forward 
by  the  more  advanced  reformers  in  all  parts  of  the  country, 
among  some  of  the  very  highest*  families,  without  meeting  with 
much  opposition  from  the  orthodox  classes. 

This  then,  gentlemen,  is  a  summary  of  the  work  done  and 
recorded  during  the  year  in  various  directions  and  channels,  in 
which  the  reform  movement  is  proceeding,  You  will  all  admit 
that  it  is,  on  tho  whole,  very  creditable.  What  is  the  inner 
spring  of  action  which  is  setting  in  motion  both  reform  and 
orthodox  workers  almost  against  their  will,  even  where  their 
will  does  not  consent  to  move  ?  That  inner  spring,  the  hid- 
den purpose  not  consciously  realised  in  many  cnses,  is  the 
sense  of  human  dignity  and  freedom,  which  is  slowly  assert- 
ing its  supremacy  over  the  national  mind.  Tt  is  not  confined 
to  one  sphere  of  family  life.  It  invades  the  whole  man,  and 
makes  him  feel  that  individual  purity  and  social  justice  have 
paramount  claims  over  us  all,  which  we  cannot  ignore  long 
without  being  dragged  down  to  a  lower  level  of  existence.  This 
or  that  particular  reform  or  revival  of  ancient  practices,  as 
some  would  like  to  all  them  ;  the  removal  of  this  or  that  par- 
ticular defect  or  vice,  is  not  and  should  not  be  the  only  end 
and  aim  of  the  agitation  to  improve  our  social  condition.  The 
end  ia  to  renovate,  to  purify,  and  also  to  perfect  the  whole  man 
by  liberating  his  intellect,  elevating  his  standard  of  duty,  and  per- 
fecting all  his  powers.  Till  so  renovated,  purified  and  perfected, 
wo  can  never  hope  to  be  what  our  ancestors  once  were— the 


80  TNDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

chosen  people,  to  whom  great  tasks  were  allotted  and  by  whom 
great  deeds  were  performed*  Where  this  feeling  animates  the 
worker,  it  is  a  matter  of  comparative  indifference  in  what 
particular  direction  it  asserts  itself,  nnd  in  what  particular 
method  it  proceeds  to  work.  With  a  liberated  manhood,  with 
buoyant  hope,  with  a  faith  that  never  shirks  duty,  with  a  sense 
of  justice  that  deals  fairly  to  all,  with  unclouded  intellect  and 
powerfully  cultivated,  and,  lastly,  with  \\  Invo  that  overleaps 
all  bound,  renovated  India  will  take  her  proper  rank  a mong 
the  nations  of  the  world,  and  ho  the  master  of  the  situation  and 
of  her  own  destiny,  This  is  tho  goal  to  bo  reached — this  is  the 
promised  land.  Happy  are  they  who  see  it  in  distant  vision, 
happier  those  who  are  permitted  to  work  and  clear  the  wny  on 
to  it,  happiest  they  who  live  to  see  it  with  their  eyes  and  tread 
upon  tho  holy  soil  once  more.  Famine  and  pestilence,  oppression 
and  sorrow,  will  then  be  myths  of  the  pnst,  find  the  Clods  will 
then  again  descend  to  the  earth  and  associate  with  men  as  they 
did  in  times  which  wo  now  call  mythical.  This  is  the  message 
which  the  Conference  has  to  deliver  to  you,  and  I  thank  you  all 
for  having  listened  to  it  with  such  patience. 


The  Eleventh  Social  Conference— Amraoti— 1897. 

Addressing  on  "  Revival  and  Reform,"  tho  Hnn'ble  Mr,  Jus- 
tice Ranade  said  : — MK.  PKF.SIDGNT  A\fo  GHXTLEMEN,— This  time 
last  year,  when  we  met  in  the  metropolis  of  India,  I  ventured 
to,8iiy  that  the  gathering  of  the  Conference  was  held  under  the 
shadow  of  a  great  calamity.  Few  of  us  then  fully  realised  the 
accumulation  of  miseries  and  sorrows  which  this  unhappy  year 
now  about  to  close  had  in  store  for  us.  The  shadows  darkened 
and  deepened  in  their  horrors  as  the  year  advanced,  and  it 
almpst  seemed  as  if  the  seven  plagues  which  aftlicied  the  Innd 
of  tjte  Pharoahs  iu  old  times  were  let  loose  upon  us,  for  there 
is  not  a  single  province  which  had  not  its  ghastly  record  of 
deatfk  ftpd^uin  to  mark  this  period  ,ns  the  most  calamitous  year 
of  the  century  within  the  memory  of  many  generations  past. 
NQ  juWAQCfe  Jras  suffered  more  from  these  dire  visitations  than 
the  Presidency  of  Bombay,  and  we  are  still  carrying  the  yoke 


IL]        MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.         81 

of  this  hard  discipline  of  sorrows  with  a  patience,  and,  I  might 
add,  courage,  which  baffle  all  description,  The  fight  has  been  very 
unequal,  and  we  have  been  worsted  at  every  point,  oar  activi- 
ties have  been  paralysed,  and  our  losses  great  beyond  all  previ- 
ous anticipations.  Spenking  on  an  occasion  like  this,  I  cannot 
but  give  expresHion  to  the  grief  which  presses  heavy  on  our 
hearts,  as  we  remember  the  faces,  once  so  familiar  in  these 
Conference  gatherings,  conspicuous  by  their  absence  here  to- 
day— soldiers  of  God  in  the  great  fight  with  evil,  who  have 
been  taken  away  from  us  in  the  full  bloom  of  their  manhood, 
and  whose  places  we  can  never  hope  adequately  to  fill  up.  One 
snch  earnest  flonl,  the  late  Rao  Bahadur  Chin  tarn  an  Narayeii 
Bhat,  was  the  life  and  light  of  this  movement.  I  had  fondly 
hoped  that  it  would  be  my  privilege  to  hand  over  to  him  the 
charge  of  this  great  service,  for  which  the  many  great  and  good 
qualities  of  his  head  and  heart  fitted  him  so  well.  But  thin 
was  not  to  be,  and  we  have  now  to  console  ourselves  with  the 
mournful  satisfaction  that  he  died  a  martyr  to  his  self -imposed 
labour  of  love  and  charity.  In  another  place  I  have  described 
our  sense  of  the  loss  suffered  by  us  by  tlio  death  of  another 
veteran  in  the  fight — the  universally  lamented  Mr.  Waman 
Abaji  Modak.  Though  disabled  for  a  time  for  active  work,  bin 
soul  was  ever  alive  to  the  call  of  duty  for  which  he  lived  and 
died.  Friends  who  knew  Mr.  Gokuldas  Leula  of  Siud  have 
paid  a  similar  tribute  of  their  sorrow  to  the  memory  of  this 
sincere  worker,  who  died  a  victim  to  the  plague,  while  ad- 
ministering relief  to  those  who  suffered  from  its  ravages, 
A  tribute  of  respect  is  also  due  to  the  memory  of  Mr.  Kaainath 
Punt  Natn  of  Poona,  and  Mr.  Yaman  Daji  Oka,  well-known 
in  these  parts.  I  might  recall  to  your  mind  the  names  of 
many  more  whom  it  has  pleased  Providence  to  take  away  from 
us,  but  this  is  hardly  necessary  to  convince  you  that  the  year's 
casualties  in  our  ranks  have  been  very  heavy.  When  people 
in  their  impatience  complain  that  oar  friends  here  and  else- 
where are  o»iy.glib  talkers,  and  fail  badly  when  tjbey  are  tolled 
ofl  to  &et,  they  seem  to  forget  the  moat  prominent  feature  of  our 
erperience  of  these  great  visitations— nmnrfy,  that  in  every 
town  and  city;  where  distress  in,  any  form  prevailed,  Wliether  it 
11 


H5f  TNDTAN  80UTAL  lifiFORM.  [PART 

was  due  to  famine,  or  plague,  or  earthquake,  or  floods,  or  hurri- 
cane, the  members  of  the  various  Reform  Associations  and  their 
sympathisers  have  always  been  the  first  to  volunteer  their  help, 
and  if  they  have  lost  heavily,  this  loss  is  due  to  the  peraeverajice 
with  which  they  maintain  the  fight.  We,  who  have  been  spared 
till  now,  may  well  pay  thin  tribute  of  respect  to  their  memories 
on  an,  occasion  like  this,  when  we  meet  together  to  reckon  our 
gains  aqd  losses  for  the  year. 

As   might   be   expected,    the   reports   of   this  year's  work 
which  have  been  received  from    nearly  sixty  Associations,  large 
and  Nmall,  and  which  have  been  summarised  up  to  date,  complain 
that  their  work  for  the  year  has  not  been  as  sucoesaf  ul  as  in  the 
previous,  two  years.     And    yet   to  those    who  can  read  between 
the  linen,  there  are  manifest   signs   which   show  that  the  work 
has   been  as   earnestly  pursued   as  ever.     To  instance  a  few 
cages : — Under  the  head   of    female  education,   tbe   Bethuen 
College     of    Calcutta,     the    Girls1    High     Schools   at    Poon*' 
and   Ahmedabad,     the   Kanya     Maha  Vidyalaya   at    Jullun- 
dar,    the  Sing   Sabha's  Girls1   School   at  Lahore,  the  Maha- 
rani's  Girls'  School  at  Mysore,   the  Muhakali  Patshala  organis- 
ed  by   Mataji   Tapauwini   Bai,    a    Manitha  lady  in  Calcutta, 
and  the   Sylhet   and   Mymensingh  Unions,   all  show  a  record 
of  progress  each  in  its   own    line  of  development.     There  is  not 
a  single  Reform    Association   of  any    position  in   the  country 
which  has  not  lent  its  best  efforts  to   raise  the    standard   and 
popularise  the  system  of  female  education,    Many  Associations, 
Sabhas  and  Samajas maintain  independent  girls'  schools  of  their 
own,  and  others  have  their  home  classes  more   or  less  actively 
employed  in   carrying  on    the   work  of  the  schools   to  educate 
the  more  advanced  students.     Others  ngain  have  their  lectures 
for  ladies,  and   Ladies1    Associations,    such  as  at  Ahmedabad, 
Bombay,   and  Madras,   started  and  maintained  by  the  ladies 
themselves.     Though  the  condition  of  female  education  is  still 
very   backward,  and   though    the   experiments    that  are   now 
carried  on    are  on  different   lines,  the  signs  are  clearly  visible 
that  throughout  India,  the  national  awakening  to  the  necessity 
of  developing  the  moral  and    intellectual   capacities   and  apti- 
tudes of  our  sisters  has  found  universal  recognition, 


ii.]        MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'B  SPEECHES.         88 

AH  regards  another  sign  of  this  liberal  movement  which 
seeks  to  do  equal  justice  1o  the  rights  of  the  female  as  bf  Ibe 
male  sex,  it  is  Satisfactory  to  note  that  though  the  number  of 
-widow  marriages  this  year  has  been  smaller  than  that  o'f  the 
previous  years,  still  all  the  provinces  have  taken  part  in  the 
movement.  The  reports  show  that  in  all  25  widow-nirttfriflges 
were  'celebrated  throughout  India  durin<?  thw  past  year  : — 
Punjab  10,  Bombay  0,  Central  Provinces  t,  Madras  U,  North- 
West  Provinces  and  Bengal  1  each.  The  widow  -marriages  in 
the  Central  Provinces  have  boon  all  brought  about  directly  or 
indirectly  by  the  persistent  utt'orts  of  Rao  Bahadur  Kolhatkm-, 
tlir  President  of  this  gathering.  For  the  re-marriages  in  Pun- 
jab the  credit  is  due  to  Dewan  Suntaram  and  his  friends  of  the 
Widow  IVI  carriage  Association  there,  and  in  regard  to  Bombay  the 
same  honour  is  due  to  Mr.  Bhagawandas,  the  son  of  the  late 
Madhavdas  Raghunathdas  in  whose  house  two  re-marriages 
were  celebrated.  The  credit  of  the  widow-marriages  celebrated 
in  Madras  is  due  to  Rao  Bahadur  Viresalingam  Pantulu.  There 
was  thus  not  a  single  province  in  which  friends  of  the  causo 
did  not  manifest  their  active  interest  in  it,  which  remark  does 
not  equally  hold  good  for  the  previous  yearn.  The  paucity  iu 
the  total  number  was  partly  due  to  the  calamities  of  the  year, 
and  partly  to  the  prohibition  of  all  marriages  due  to  the  year 
being  a  Sinhast  year.  Another  good  sign  of  the  times  which 
may  be  noted,  is  the  fact  that  some  of  the  castes,  in  which  no 
re-marriages  had  been  celebrated  before,  joined  in  tire  move- 
ment for  the  first  time  this  year.  Tt  was  also  reported  in  the 
papers  that  the  Maharajah  of  Nabha,  in  the  Punjab,  had 
exercised  his  influence  in  favour  of  bettering  the  condition  of 
Hindoo  widows,  and  inducing  influential  Hindoo  gentlemen  to 
support  the  widow-marriage  movement.  In  the  Chandraseniya 
'Kayasth  Prabhu  caste  of  Bombay,  a  similar  pronouncement 
-wfts  made  by  the  leaders  of  the  community  in  favour  of  re- 
marriage, and  it  wan  resolved  to  bring  up  the  subject  before 
the  next  Kayasth  Prabhu  Conference  to  be  hold  at  Barodu. 
Another  satisfactory  indication  nf  the  times  is  furnished  by 
the  fact  reported  from  Guzerut,  that  tlio  Audich'  Brahmin 
community  at  Damun  made  a  similar  pronouncement  irt  favour 


64  INDIAN  tiOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

of  widow  marriage,  in  their  caste.  The  Widows'  Homes  at 
Baranagar  and  Pooua  have  also  been  successfully  maintained 
notwithstanding  pecuniary  difficulties,  and  the  number  of 
widows  attending-  the  homes  haH  slightly  increased,  thanks  to 
the  efforts  of  Mr.  Sasipada  Bauerjee  of  Baranagar  and  Professor 
Karve  of  Poona. 

As  regards  foreign  travel,  the  year  has  had  a  good  record 
to  show.  Several  Saraswata  gentlemen  have  returned  from 
England,  and  though  the  Guru  of  the  caste  has  refused  admis- 
sion to  them,  the  reform  party  at  Mangalorc  and  in  North 
Canara  have  succeeded  in  openly  showing  their  sympathy  with 
these  mori.  ttaja  Nowlojee  Hao  (iiijar,  a  scion  of  the  princely 
house  of  Nag  pur,  returned  from  England,  and  was  well  receiv- 
ed, and  Messrs.  Boot!  and  Alonikar  of  Nagpur,  Mr.  Krishna 
Rao  Bholanath  of  Ahmedabad,  Professor  Gokhale  of  Pooua,  and 
Mr.  Ketkar  of  Gwalior,  have  similarly,  though  not  formally, 
been  admitted  by  some  of  their  caste  people,  and  the  opposi- 
tion has  not  ventured  to  place  any  difficulties  in  their  way. 
Two  Bhatia  gentlemen,  for  the  first  time  in  that  community, 
lei't  for  England  with  the  full  support  of  their  caste.  In  the 
Punjab,  several  young  men  in  the  Biradari  castes,  who  had  been 
to  England,  were  admitted  back  without  any  opposition.  Two 
young  men  from  the  Aurorbans  caste  went  to  England  last 
year.  The  liberal  section  of  tho  Cashmere  Pundits'  Sabha  is 
strongly  in  favour  of  foreign  travel.  These  instances  show  that 
slowly  but  surely  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  the  prejudice 
against  foreign  travel  is  on  the  wane,  and  that  before  long  the 
orthodox  community  or  tlio  communities  will  learn  to  tolerate 
these  departures  from  custom  as  an  inevitable  change. 

In  regard  to  the  question  of  inter- marriage,  the  Bengal 
papers  announced  an  inter-marriage  Sn  high  life  between  two 
subdivisions  of  the  Kayastha  community,  which  hitherto 
kept  aloof.  In  the  Punjab,  there  was  a  betrothal  between 
two  Bub-castes  of  the  Serin  community.  This  was  the  first 
instance  of  an  inter-marriage  between  these  two  sub-divisions. 
Many  of  the  widow- marriages  have  also  been  instances  of 
inter- marriages,  uud  for  the  tirst  time  last  year  two  ipatan- 
ces  of  inter-marriage  between  Madrasee  and  Bengalee  gentlemen 


n.]       MR.  JUSTICE  tiANADE'8  SPEECHES.          85 

and  ladies  occurred.  Tbe  North -West  Provinces  reports  show  in- 
stances of  similar  fusion  between  sub-divisions  of  the  Kayastha 
caste  there,  and  in  Guzerat  there  is  u  similar  tendency  manifest 
in  some  of  the  castes  to  amalgamate  together. 

As  regards  tho  postponement  of  infant  marriages,  the 
reports  from  all  provinces  show  a  decided  tendency  to  increase 
the  limits  of  marriageable  uge,s  of  girls  and  boys.  In  the  Pun- 
jab, the  Aurorbans  Sabba  lias  passed  a  resolution  that  no  girl 
belonging  to  the  caste  should  be  given  in  marriage  unless  she 
has  completed  her  twelfth  year.  In  the  iM acinus  Presidency, 
the  opinion  in  gaining  ground  that  the  time  has  now  come  for 
applying  to  Government  for  legislation  on  the  subject  to  lix  at 
least  the  marriageable  age  for  boys,  if  not  for  girls  and  to  lay 
down  a  maximum  limit  of  age  for  old  persons  who  marry  young 
gills,  on  the  plan  adopted  by  the  Mysore  Government.  The 
Madras  Provincial  Social  Conference  and  the  Godavati  District 
Conference  expressly  passed  resolutions  on  this  subject.  The 
Hindu  Social  Reform  Association  ut  Madras  1ms  also  appointed 
a  committee  to  draw  up  a  memorial  with  the  same  object.  The 
Hon'ble  Mr.  Jambulmgam  Mudaliar  is  reported  to  be  contem- 
plating the  introduction  of  a  Bill  into  the  local  Council  there  on 
this  subject.  There  have  also  been  individual  instances  in 
some  parts  of  the  country  where  grown-up  girls  have  been 
married  without  experiencing  any  very  bitter  opposition  from 
the  caste. 

Nearly  all  the  Associations  have  been  pledged  to  support 
the  Purity  movement,  including  the  anti-?;aulc/t  and  tempe- 
rance agitation  arid  the  work  done  during  the  year  shows  con- 
siderable progress  under  both  these  heads. 

To  turn  next  to  another  question  in  which  the  Conference 
has  been  interesting  itself  for  the  past  few  years, — the  admis- 
sion of  converts  from  other  faiths — some  progress  has  been 
made  daring  the  year.  The  Shuddhi  Sabha  admitted  nearly 
200  Mahomedan  converts  this  year.  Hitherto  the  movement 
for  the  re-admission  of  converts  to  other  faiths  back  into  the 
Hindu  society  was  chiefly  confined  to  the  Punjab.  This  year, 
however,  there  have  been  also  instances  of  such  conversions  in 
Bengal,  the  North- West  Provinces,  and  far  away  in  Burmab, 


8fi  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [!?ART 

one  of  them  being  a  convert  Christian  and  the  others  Maho- 
metans. The  Shuddhi  Sabba  of  Lahore  and  the  Arya-  Samnj 
there  have  deservedly  takon  the  lead  in  this  movement,  and  it 
will  be  a  source  of  great-strength  to  them  that  the  movement  has 
been  taker)  up  in  bhe  other  Provinces  also.  The  Central  Provinces 
Reports  for  the  year  show  that  Mr.  Sbanker  Slidatri  of  Jnbbul* 
pore  has  published  a  pamphlet  on  the  .subject  and  it  is  a  strange 
ooiucidenco  that  Professor  HJJ  JMiam  Shustri  Bhagwat  of  Bohi- 
bay  vend  this  year  a  paper  before  the  branch  of  the  Asiatic 
Society  there,  showing  huw'in  aid  times  the  noil- Aryan  races 
were  brought  within  the  fold  of  the  Aryuu  system. 

As  regards  the  reduction  of  extravagant  expenses  in  mar- 
riage, a  very  important  movement  was  started  in  Calcutta 
under  the  au&pioea  of  leading  Kayastha  gentlemen,  including 
H null  men  as  Sir  HomeHJi  Chandra  Mittra  and  the  Hon'ble 
Mr.  Chunder  Madhub  Ghose,  who  met  at  Babu  Ramanath 
Ghose's  house,  and  passed  several  resolutions  which  are 
likely  to  be  attended  with  good  results.  Nearly  every  one 
of  the  reports  of  the  North- West  Provinces  contain  details  of 
the  manner  in  which  the  Kayasfchas,  the  Bhargavas,  the 
(yhaturvedin,  Vaishyas,  the  Jains  and  other  castes  have  tried  to 
lay  down  sliding  scales  of  marriage  expenditure,  curtailing  ex- 
travagance under  many  heads,  abolishing  nautch  parties,  fire- 
works, and  other  useless  items.  In  the  Punjab,  the  Aurorbans 
have  very  considerably  reduced  the  extravagance  in  marriage 
expenses-  On  the  Bombay  side,,  the  Bhatia  mandal  and  the 
Dasa  Caw >il  Jains  have- successfully  worked  in  the  same  direc- 
tion. lOven  in  far  off  P>aroda,  the  Dasa  Porwad  Bania  caste 
people  have  been  moving  in  the  matter.  Following  the  example 
of  the  Bajputra  Hitkarni  Sabha,  many  non-Rajpoot  castes  in 
Raj  poo  tana  and  Malwa  have  laid  down  roles  which  are  enforced 
by  the  same  sanctions  as  those  of  the  principal  Sabha. 

As  regards  Conference  work  generally,  it  may  be  noted 
that  caste  Conferences  are  the  order  of  the  day  in  all  parts  of 
lu dm.  I  have,  on  previous  occasions,' mentioned  the-gatherittgn 
annually  held  this  week  in  sevenil  large  towns  in  the  North- 
Western  Provinces  of  the  Keyastha  and  the  Vaishya  commu- 
nity. This  year  was  dibtiiiguishtd  by  the  holding  of  the  firat 


IT.]         Mn.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.          87 

Provincial  Social  Conference  iu  Madras,  iu  whicb  Presidency 
also  we  have  had  two  district-  Conferences,  one  on  the  Kast» 
Coast  in  the  Godavari  District,  nnd.the  other  on  the  West  Const 
at  Mangalore.  New  associations  nre  being  formed  under  very 
favourable  auspices  in  many  parts  of  the  country,  notably  in 
the  Bombay  and  Madras  Districts,  to  support  the  work  of  the 
Conference,  and- to  give  effect  to  its  resolutions, 

Encouraged  by  ihe  success  which  has  attended  the  efforts 
of  the  Mysore  Government,  and  the  Malabar  Marriage  Law 
passed  in  (ho  Madras  Council,  two  Bills  of  parent  social  import- 
ance have  been  introduced,  one  iu  the  Imperial  Council,  to 
bring;  under  better  control  religious  charities  and  endowments, 
and  another  has  been  introduced  in  the  Madras  Council  to 
remove  all  doubts  in  find  codify  the  law  in  regard  to  what 
constitutes  self -acquired  property  under  the  Hindoo  joint 
family  system.  Both  these  Bills  have  suggested  subjects 
for  discussion  at  the  ensuing  Conference-  this  year,  and 
it  is  not  therefore  necessary  for  me  to  enlarge  upon  their 
importance.  There  is  a  thir.d  measure  before  the  Viceroy 'H 
Council  which,  though  it  relates  to  a  particular  section  of  the 
Mahometan  community,  has  a  wider  bearing  which  interests 
us  all.  The  Memon  section  of  this  community  in  Bombay  were 
originally  Hindoo  converts,  and  though  they  embraced  Maho- 
med anism,  they  retained  their  old  Hindoo  customs  in  regard  to 
inheritance  and  succession,  jnd  these  customs  were  recognised 
by  our  Law  Courts.  A  majority  of  that  community,  however, 
now  desire  that  in  place  of  the  Hindoo  customs,  tho  Mahomo- 
dan  Law  should  govern  their  succession  to  the  property  of 
deceased  persons.  The  Government  of  India  accordingly  intend 
to  pass  a  sort  of  a  permissive  measure,  by  which  a  member  of 
this  community  may  retain  or  abandon  the  old  rules  by  a  formal 
declaration  of  his  choice,  which  choice,  once  made,  will  be  final. 
The  subject  bristles  with  difficulties,  but  the  permissive  legisla- 
tion, if  it  proves  a  success  in  actual  operation,  will  furnish  a 
precedent  which  may  prove  of  considerable  belp  to  those  who 
wish  to  have  more  liberal  laws  of  inheritance  and  succession 
without  change  of  religion. 

Such,  gentlemen,  is  the  brief  record  of  the  principal  social 


88  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

> 

events  of  the  year.  Many  ardent  spirits  amongst  us  will  no 
doubt  be  very  much  dissatisfied  with  the  poverty  of  this  record. 
At  the  same  time,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  hundreds  and 
thousands— nay  millions  of  our  countrymen  will  regard  this 
poor  record  as  very  revolutionary,  and  condemn  this  as  one 
of  the  unseen  causes  which  has  brought  about  physical 
and  moral  catastrophies  upon  the  land  by  way  of  punish- 
ment for  the  sins  of  the  reformers.  These  arc  two  extreme 
sides  of  the  question,  and  it  is  not  for  me  to  say  to  an  audience 
like  this  on  which  side  the  balance  of  truth  may  be  found. 
The  Arya  Patrika  of  the  Punjab,  which  is  a  recognised  organ  of 
the  Arya  Sanmj  there,  has  in  its  words  of  advice  to  the  Confer- 
ence expensed  its  view  that  we  are  radically  in  the  wrong  in 
seeking  to  reform  the  usages  of  our  society  without  a  change  of 
religion,  and  it  seriously  suggests  ihat  we  should,  in  the  first 
instance,  become  members  of  their  Samaj  and  this  conversion 
will  bring  with  it  all  desired  reforms.  Many  enthusiastic 
friends  of  the  Bruhmo  Samaj  entertain  similar  views  and  give 
us  similar  advice.  All  I  can  say  to  these  welcome  advisers  is 
that  they  do  not  fully  realise  the  situation  and  its  difficulties, 
People  have  changed  their  religion,  and  yet  retain  their  social 
usages  unchanged.  The  Native  Christians,  for  instance, 
especially  the  Roman  Catholic  section  among  them,  and  many 
sections  of  Mahomedans  are  instances  in  point.  Besides,  it  has 
been  well  observed  that  even  for  a  change  of  religion,  it  is  too 
often  necessary  that  the  social  surroundings  must  be  liberalis- 
ed in  a  way  to  help  people  to  realise  their  own  responsibilities 
audio  strengthen  them  in  1  heir  efforts.  Lastly,  these  well- 
meaning  advisers  seem  to  forget  that  the  work  of  reform  cannot 
be  put  off  indefinitely  till  the  far  more  arduous  and  difficult 
work  of  religions  conversion  is  accomplished.  It  may  take 
centuries  before  the  Arya  or  Brahmo  Samaja  establish  their 
claims  for  general  recognition.  In  the  meanwhile  what 
is  to  become  of  the  social  organisation?  Slowly  but 
surejy,  the  progress  of  liberal  ideas  must  be  allowed  to  work  its 
way  in  reforming  our  social  customs,  and  the  process  cannot  be 
stopped  even  though  we  may  wish  it.  In  the  case  of  our  society 
especially,  the  usages  which  at  present  prevail  amongst 


TI.J         MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.         89 

us  are  admittedly  not  those  which  obtained  in  the  most 
glorious  periods  of  our  history.  On  most  of  the  points 
which  are  included  in  our  programme,  oar  own  record  of 
the  past  shows  that  there  has  been  a  decided  change  for  the 
worse,  and  it  is  surely  within  the  range  of  practical  possibili- 
ties for  us  to  hope  that  we  may  work  up  our  way  back  to  a 
better  state  of  things  without  stirring  up  the  rancorous  hostili- 
ties which  religious  differences  have  a  tendency  to  create  and 
foster.  There  is  no  earthly  reason  whatsoever  why  we  should 
not  co-operate  with  these  religious  organisations,  or  why  they 
should  not  rather  co-operate  with  us  in  this  work  in  which  our 
interests  are  common,  because  the  majority  of  our  countrymen 
hold  different  views  about  religion  from  those  which  commend 
themselves  to  these  Samajas.  I  am  speaking  these  words  with 
a  full  sense  of  my  responsibility,  for  I  am  in  my  humble  way  a 
member  of  one,  if  not  of  both  the  Samajas,  and  I  am  a  sincere 
searcher  after  religious  truth  in  full  sympathy  with  the  Arya 
and  Brali mo  Samaj  movements,  and  £  hope  therefore  that  these 
advisers  of  ours  will  take  my  reply  in  the  same  spirit,  and  will 
not  misunderstand  me.  Schismatic  methods  of  propagation  can- 
not be  applied  with  effect  to  vast  communities  which  are  not 
within  their  narrow  pale. 

On  the  other  side,  some  of  our  orthodox  friends  find  fault 
with  us,  not  because  of  the  particular  reforms  we  have  in  view, 
but  on  account  of  the  methods  we  follow.  While  the  new 
religious  sects  condemn  us  for  being  too  orthodox,  the  extreme 
orthodox  section  denounce  UR  for  being  too  revolutionary  in 
our  methods.  According  to  these  last,  our  efforts  should  be 
directed  to  revive,  and  not  to  reform.  1  have  many  friends 
in  this  camp  of  extreme  orthodoxy,  and  their  watch-word  ia 
that  revival,  and  not  reform,  should  be  our  motto.  They 
advocate  a  return  to  the  old  ways,  and  appeal  to  the  old 
authorities  and  the  old  sanction.  Here  also,  aa  in  the  instance 
quoted  above,  people  speak  without  realisibg  the  full  signifi- 
cance of  their  own  words.  When  we  are  asked  to  revive  oar 
institutions  and  customs,  people  seem  to  be  very  much  at 
sea  as  to  what  it  is  they  seem  to  revive.  What  particular 
"period  of  our  history  is  to  be  taken  as  tie  old  p  Whether 
12 


90  INDIAN  SOCIAL  RE  FOB  AT. 

the  period  of  tbe  Vedas,  of  the  Smritia,  of  the  Pur  anas 
or  of  the  Mahomed  an  or  modern  Hindu  times  ?  Our  usages 
have  been  changed  from  time  to  time  by  a  slow  process 
of  growth,  and  in  some  cases  of  decay  and  corruption, 
and  we  cannot  stop  at  a  particular  period  without  breaking 
the-  continuity  of  the-  whole.  When  my  revivalist  friend 
presses  his  argument'upon  me,  lie  has  to  seek  recourse  in  some 
subterfuge  which  really  furnishes  no  reply  to  the  question — 
what  shall  we  revive  P  Shall  we  revive  the  old  habits  of  our 
people  when  the  most  sacred  of  our  caste  indulged  in  all  the 
abominations  as  we  now  understand  them  of  animal  food  and 
drink  which  exhausted  every  section  of  our  country's  Zoology 
and  Botany  ?  The  men  and  the  Gods  of  those  old  days  ate  and 
drank  forbidden  things  to  excess  in  a  way  no  revivalist  will 
now  venture,  to  recommend.  Shall  we  revive  the  twelve  forms 
of  sons,  or  eight  forms  of  marriage,  which  included  •  capture, 
and  recognised  mixed  and  illegitimate  intercourse  ?  Shall  we 
vevive  the  Niyoga  system  of  procreating  RODS  on  our  brother's 
wives  when  widowed  ?  Shall  we  revive  the  old  liberties  taken 
by  the  Riahis  and  by  the  wives  of  the  Bishis  with  the  marital 
tie  ?  Shall  we  revive  the  hecatombs  of  animals  sacrificed  from 
year's  end  to  year's  end,  and  in  which  human  beings  were  not 
spared  as  propitiatory  offerings  p  Shall  we  revive  the  Shakti 
worship  of  the  left  hand  with  its  indecencies  and  practical 
debaucheries?  Shall  we  revive  the  tfati  and  infanticide  ens- 
torus,  or  the  flinging  of  living  men  into  the  rivers,  or  over  rocks, 
oc  hookflwinging,  or  the  crushing  beneath  Jagannatli  car  ? 
Shall  we.  revive  the  iaternecine  wars  of  the  Brahmins  and 
Kshatriyaa,  or  the  cruel  persecution  and  degradation  of  the 
aboriginal  population  V  Shall  we  revive  the  custom  of  many 
husbands  to  one  wife  or  of  many  wives  to  one  husband  ?  Shall 
we  require  our  Brahmins  tocea.se  to- be  landlords  and  gentle- 
men, and  turn  into  beggars  and  dependants  upon  the  king 
AS  in  olden  times  ?  These  instances  will  suffice  to  show 
that  the  plan  of  reviving1  the  ancient  usages  and  customs 
will  not  work  our  salvation,  and  is  not  practicable.  If  these 
usages  were  good  and  beneficial,  why  were  they  altered  by 
oar  wise  ancestors?  If  they  were  bad  and  injurious,  how 


ii.]        MR.  JUSTICE  RAtUDIfB.  SPEECHES.        ai 

can  any  claim  be  put  forward  for  their  restoration  after  so 
many  ages  ?  Besides,  it1  seems  to  bo  -forgotten  that  in  a 
living  organism  as  society  is,  no  revival  is  possible.  The 
dead  and  the  buried  or  burnt  are  dead,  buried,  and  burufc 
once  for  all,  and  the  dead  past  cannot  therefore  be  revived  ex- 
'oepfc  by  a  reformation  of  the  old  materials  into  new  organised 
beings.  Tf  revival  is  impossible,  reformation  is  the  only  alter- 
native open  to  sensible  people,  and  now  it  may  be  asked  what  is 
the  principle  on  which  this  reformation  must  be  based  ?  People 
have  very  hazy  ideas  on  this  subject.  It  seems  to  many  that  it 
is  the  outward  form  which  hns  to  be  changed,  and  if  this  change 
can  be  made,  they  think  that  all  the  difficulties  in  our  way  will 
vanish.  If  we  change  our  outward  manners  and  customs,  sit  in 
a  particular  way  or  walk  in  a.  particular  fashion,  our  work,  ac- 
cording to  them  is  accomplished.  I  cannot  but  think  thatmuch 
of  the  prejudice  against  the  reformers  is  due  to  this  misunder- 
standing. It  is  not  the  outward  form,  but  the  inward  form,  the 
thought  and  the  idea  which  determines  the  outward  form,  that 
has  to  be  changed  if  real  reformation  is  desired. 

Now  what  have  been  the  inward  forms  or  idean  which 
have  been  hastening  our  decline  during  the  past  three  thousand 
years  ?  These  ideas  may  be  briefly  set  forth  as  isolation,  sub- 
mission to  outward  force  or  power  more  than  to  the  voice  of  the 
inward  conscience,  perception  of  fictitious  differences  between 
men  and  men  due  to  heredity  and  birth,  passive  acquies- 
cence in  evil  or  wrong  doing,  and  a  general  indifference  to 
secular  well-being,  almost  bordering  upon  fatalism,  These  have 
been  the  root  ideas  of  our  ancient  soeial  system.  They  have 
aa  their  natural  result  led  to  the  existing  family  arrangements 
where  the  woman  is  entirely  subordinated  to  the  man  and  the 
lower  castes  to  the  higher  castes,  to  the  length  of  depriving 
men  of  their  natural  respect  for  humanity.  All  the  evils  we 
seek  to  combat  result  from  the  prevalence  of  these  ideas.  They 
are  mere  corollaries  to  these  axiomatic  assumptions.  They 
prevent  some  of  our  people  -from  realising*  what  they  really  are 
in  .all  conscience,  neither  better  nor  .worse  than  their  fellows, 
and  that  whatever  garb  men  may  .put  on-,  .they  a»«  the  worse 
for  assuming  diguitiea  and  poweig  which  do  not  in  fact  belong 


02  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

to  thorn.  As  long  as  these  ideas  remain  operative  on  our  minds, 
we '  may  change  our  outward  forms  and  institutions,  and  be 
none  the  better  for  the  change.  These  ideas  have  produced  in 
the  long-  course  of  ages  thei-r  results  on  our  character,  and  we 
must  judge  their  good  or  bad  quality,  as  St.  Paul  says,  by  the 
fruits  they  have  borne.  Now  that  these  results  have  been 
disastrous,  nobody  disputes  or  doubts,  and  the  lesson  to  be 
drawn  for  our  guidance  in  the  future  from  this  fact  is  that  the 
current  of  those  ideas  rnunfc  bo  changed,  and  in  the  place  of  the 
old  worship  we  paid  to  them,  v:e  must  accustom  ourselves  and 
others  to  worship  and  reverence  new  ideals.  In  place  of 
isolation,  we  must  cultivate  the  spirit  of  fraternity  or  elastic 
expansiveness.  At  present  it  is  everybody's  ambition  to  pride 
himself  upon  being  a  member  of  the  smallest  commuuity  that 
can  be  conceived,  and  the  smaller  the  number  of  those  with 
whom  you  can  dine  or  marry,  or  associate,  the  higher  is  your 
perfection  and  purity,  the  purest  person  is  he  who  ccoks  his 
own  food,  and  does  not  allow  the  shadow  of  even  his  nearest 
friend  to  fall  upon  his  cooked  food.  Every  caste'  and  every 
sect  has  thus  a  tendency  to  split  itself  into  smaller  castes  and 
6 mailer  sects  in  practical  life.  Even  iu  philosophy  and 
religion,  it  is  a  received  maxim  that  knowledge  is  for  the 
few,  and  that  salvation  is  only  possible  for  the  esoteric  elect 
with  whom  only  are  the  virtues  of  sanctity  and  wisdom,  and 
that  for  the  rest  of  mankind,  they  must  be  left  to  wander  in 
the  wilderness,  and  grovel  in  superstition,  and  even  vice,  with 
only  a  colouring  of  so-called  religion  to  make  them  respectable. 
Now  all  this  must  be  changed.  The  new  mould  of  thought  on 
this  head  must  be,  as  stated  above,  cast  on  the  lines  of  frater- 
nity, a  capacity  to  expand  outwards,  and  to  make  more  cohesive 
inwards  the  bonds  of  fellowship.  Increase  the  cirole  of  your 
frienda  and  associates,  slowly  and  cautiously  if  you  will,  but 
the  tendency  must  be  towards  a  general  recognition  of  the 
essential  equality  between  man  and  man.  It  will  beget  sym- 
pathy and  power.  It  will  strengthen  your  own  hands,  by  the 
sense  that  you  have  numbers  with  you,  and  not  against  yon, 
or  as  you  foolishly  imagine,  below  you. 

The  next  idea  which  lies  at  tbe  root  of  our  helplessness  ia 


ii.]        MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.         93 

the  sense  that  we  are  always  intended  to  remain  children,  to 
be  subject  to  outside  control,  and  never  to  rise  to  the  dignity 
of  self-control  by  making  our  conscience  and  our  reason  the 
supreme,  if  not  the  sole,  guide  to  our  conduct.  All  past  history 
has  been  a  terrible  witness  to  the  havoc  committed  by  this 
misconception.  We  are  children,  no  doubt,  but  the  children  of 
God,  and  not  of  man,  and  the  voice  of  God  is  the  only  voice 
which  we  are  bound  to  listen.  Of  course,  all  of  us  cannot  listen 
to  this  voice  when  we  desirn  it,  because  from  long  neglect  and 
dependence  upon  outside  help,  we  have  benumbed  this  faculty 
of  conscience  in  us.  With  too  many  of  us,  a  thing  is  true  or 
false,  righteous  or  sinful,  simply  because  somebody  in  the 
past  has  said  that  it  is  so.  Duties  and  obligations  arc  duties 
and  obligations,  not  because  we  feel  them  to  be  so,  but 
because  somebody  reputed  to  be  wise  has  laid  .it  down  that 
they  are  so.  In  small  matters  of  manners  and  courtesies, 
this  outside  dictation  is  not  without  its  use.  But  when 
we  abandon  ourselves  entirely  to  this  helpless  dependence 
on  other  wills,  it  is  no  wonder  that  we  become  helpless  as 
children  in  all  departments  of  life.  Now  the  new  idea 
which  should  take  up  the  place  of  this  helplessness  and  depend- 
ence is  not  the  idea  of  a  rebellious  overthrow  of  all  authority, 
but  that  of  freedom  responsible  to  the  voice  of  God  in  us. 
Great  and  wise  men  in  the  past,  as  in  the  present,  have  a  claim 
upon  our  regards,  but  they  must  not  come  between  us  and  our 
God — the  Divine  principle  enthroned  in  the  heart  of ' every  ono 
of  us  high  or  low.  It  is  this  sense  of  self-respect,  or.  rather 
respect  fur  the  God  in  us,  which  has  to  be  cultivated.  It  is  a 
very  tender  plant  which  takes  years  and  years  to  make  it  grow. 
Bat  there  is  the  capacity  and  the  power,  and  we  owe  it  as  a 
duty  to  ourselves  to  undertake  the  task.  Revere  all  human 
authority,  pay  your  respects  to  all  prophets  and  all  revela- 
tions, but  never  let  this  reverence  and  respect  come  in  the  way 
of  the  dictates  of  conscience,  the  Divine  command  in  us. 

Similarly  there  is  no  doubt  that  men  differ  from  men  in 
natural  capacities,  and  aptitude?,  and  that  heredity  and. birth 
are  factors  of  considerable  importance  in  our  development,  But 
it  is  at  the  game  time  true  that  they  ate  not  the  only  factors 


54  INDIAN  SOCLLL  REFORM.  [PART 

that  determine  iho  whole  course  a(  our  life  for  good  or  for  eviJ, 
.under  a  Jaw  of  necessity.  Heredity  and  birth  explain  many 
things,  bat.  this  law  of  Karma  does  not  explain  all  things  ! 
Wliat-is  worse,  it  does  not  explain  the  mystery  that  makes  man 
and  woman  what  they  really  are,  the  reflection  and  the  image  of 
God.  Our  passions  and  our  feelings,  our  pride  and  our  ambi- 
tion, lend  strength  to  the.se  agencies,  and  with  their  help  the 
Law  of  Karma  completes  our  conquest,  and  in  too  many  cases 
enforces  our  surrender.  The  new  idea  that  should  come  in  here 
is  that  this  Law  of  Karma  can  be  controlled  and  set  back  by  a 
properly  trained  will,  when  it  is  made  subservient  to  a  higher 
will  than  ours,  This  we  see  in  our  everyday  life,  and  Neces- 
sity, or  the  Faten  are,  as  our  own  texts  tell  UP,  faint  obstacles 
in  the  wny  of  our  advancement  if  we  devote  ourselves  to  the 
law  of  Duty.  I  admit  that  this  misconception  is  very  hard  to 
remove,  perhaps  the  hardest  of  the  old  ideas.  But  removed  it 
must  be,  if  not  in  this  life  or  generation,  in  many  lives  and 
generations,  if  we  are  ever  to  rise  to  our  full  stature. 

The  fourth  old  form  or  idea  to  which  I  will  allude  here  is 
our  acquiescence  in  wrong  or  evil  doing  as  an  inevitable  condi- 
tion of  human  life,  about  which  we  need  not  be*  very  particular. 
All  human  life  is  a  vanity  and  a  dream,  and  we  are  not  much 
concerned  with  it.  This  view  of  life"  is  in  fact  atheism  in  its 
worst  form.  No  man  or  woman  really  ceases  to  be  animal  who 
does  not  perceive  or  realise  that  wrong  or  evil-doing,  impu- 
rity and  vice,  crime  and  misery,  and  sin  of  all  kinds,  is  really 
our  animal-  existence  prolonged.  It  is  the  beast  in  us  which 
blinds  ua  to  impurity  and  vice,  and  makea  them  even  attractive. 
There  must  be  nautches  in  our  temples,  say  our  priests;  because 
even  the  Gods  cannot  do  without  these  impure  fairies.  This  is 
(only  a  typical  instance  of  our  acquiescence  in  impurity.  There 
-roust  be  drunkenness  in  the  world,  there  must.be  poverty  and 
wretchedness  and  tyranny,  there  must  be  f  rand  and  force,  there 
mast  be  thieves  and  the  law  to  punish  them.1  No  doubt  these 
are  facts,  and  there  is  no  use  denying  their  existence,  but  in 
the  name  of  all  that  is  sacred  and  true;  do  not  acquiesce  in  them, 
do, not  hug  these  evils  to  your  bosom,  und  cherish  them.  Their 
contact  ia  poisonous,  nut  the  l«Hb  deadly  'because  it  does  not  kill, 


TT,]        Mn.  jrSTICE  RANADE'8  SPEECHES.         95 

but  it  corrupts  mem.  A  healthy  flense  of  the  (rue  dignity  of 
our  nature,  and  of  man 'ft  high  destiny,  is  tlie  beat  corrective 
and  antidote  to  this  poison.  I  think  I  have  said  more  than 
enough  to  suggest  to  your  reflecting  mind's  what,  it  is  that  we 
have  to  reform.  All  admit  that  we  have  been  deformed.  We 
have  lost  our  staturo,  we  are  bent  in  a  hundred  places,  our 
eyes  lust  after  forbidden  things,  our  ears  desire  to  hear 
scandals  about  our  neighbours,  our  tongues  last  to  taste  for- 
bidden fruit,  our  hands  itch  for  another  man's  property,  out1 
bowels  are  deranged  with  indigestible  food.  We  cannot  walk 
on  our  feet,  but  require  stilts  or  crutches.  This  is  our  present 
social  polity,  and  now  wo  want  this  deformity  to  be  removed  ; 
and  the  only  way  to  remove  it  is  to  place  ourselves  under  the 
discipline  of  better  ideas  and  forms  such  tis  those  I  have 
briefly  touched  above.  Now  thia  is  the  work  of  the  Reformer. 
Reforms  in  the  matter  of  infant  marriage  and  enforced  widow* 
hood,  in  the  matter  of  temperance  and  purity,  in  tor-marriage 
between  castes,  the  elevation  of  the  low  castes,  and  the  re-ad-> 
mission  of  converts,  and  the  regulation  of;  our  endowments  and 
charities,  are  reforms  only  so  far  and  no  further,  as  they  check 
the  influence  of  the  old  ideas,  and  promote  the  growth  of  the 
new  tendencies.  The  Reformer  lias  to  infuse  in  himself  the 
light  and  warmth  of  nature,  and  he  can  only  do  it  by  purify^ 
ing  and  improving  himself  and  his  surroundings.  He  must 
have  his  family,  village,  tribe,  and  nation  recast  in  other  and 
new  moulds,  and  that  is  the  reason  why  •  Social  Reform 
becomes  our  obligatory  duty,  and  not  a  mero  pastime  which 
might  be  given  up  at  pleasure.  Revival  is,  as  1  have  said, 
impossible  ;  as  impossible  as  mass-conversion  into  other  faiths. 
But  even  if  it  were  possible,  its  only  use  to  us  would  be 
if  the  reforms  elevated  us  and  our  surroundings,  if  they  made 
Us  stronger,  braver,  truer  men  with  M  oar  faculties  of  endurance 
and- work  developed,  with  all  our  sympathies  fully  awakened 
and  refined,  and  if  with  our  heads  and  hearts  acting  in  union 
with  a  purified  and  holy  will,  they  made  us  feel  the  dignity* of 
our  being  and  the  high  destiny  of  our  existence',  taught  us  to 
love  all,  work  with  all,  and  feel  for  all.  This  is  the  Reformer's 
true  work,  and  this  in  my  opinion  is  the  reason  why  the  Con- 


01}  .  U?DfAN,$<JClAL  iREFORM. 

ference  meets  from  year  to  year,  and   sounds  the  hwruomep  m 
every 'year  which  can  listen  to  them  with  advantage. 

The  Twelfth  Social  Conference— Madras— >1 89R 

The  Hon'ble  Mr.  Jastice  Ranade  delivered  an  address  on 
"  Southern  India  a  Hundred  Years  Ago."  He  said  : — 

MR.  PRESIPKNT,  JjAnrres  AND  GKNTLKMEN, — Once  more  with- 
in a  cycle  of  12  years  we  meet  for  the  third  time  in  this,  holy 
region  of  Southern  India,  the  birth-place  'of  the  Social  Confer- 
ence.' Men  and  things^  have  moved  fast  since  we  first  met 
under  the  leadership  of' the  late  Raja  Sir  T.  Madhava  Rao, 
the  first  President  of  the  Conference,. 

'The  shadow  of  the  great  calamity  which  has  been  dogging 
our  foot  steps  for  the  last  three  years,  is  still  upon  us,  and  its 
dark  clouds  are  atill  thickening  on  the  Southern  horizon,  while 
it  has  not  yet  stopped  its  destructive  work  in  our  part  of  the 
country.  '  The  persistency  with  which  these  calamities, succeeo] 
one  another  and  intensify  our  suffering  has  made  some  wise 
met!  among  you  prophesy  still  more  dire  calamities  in  the 
years  to  come.  These  prophets  derive  their  knowledge  from  ob- 
servations of  the  conjunctions  of  stars  and  planets.  We,  IpPB 
gifted  creatures,  can  hut  how  to  them  as  we  look  at  the  signs 
below  bur  feet,  on  the  earth  we  live  in  and  move  and  have  our 
being  in. 

A  Christian  missionary  who  worked  in  your  Province  for 
30  years,  more' than  a  hundred  years  ago,  ban  left  on  record  his 
impressions  of  Son  thorn  India  aa  he  saw  it  in  thosfe  old  dayR, 
arid  the  words  of  despair  lie  has  uttered  fill  one's  mind,  with 
graver  forebodings  than  tho  prophecies  of  our  astrological  ob- 
server^. Abbe  Dubois,  whose  work  has  .been  recently  publish- 
ed, has  in  one  of  his  chapters  on  the  '  Poverty  of  India/  pro- 
nounced this  curse  upon  the  people : — "  It  is  a  vain  hope  to  sup. 
pose  that  the  English  people  can  ever  improve  the  condition  of 
the  Hindus.  T  lie  efforts  of  a  humane  and  just  government 
may  succeed  pp  to  a  certain  point,  but  as  long  aa  the  Hindus 
cling  to  their  civil  arid  religious  institutions,  customs  and  habita, 
th^Hntfst  remain  what  they  have  always  been, 


TI.]        Mn.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.          97 

poverty  and  wretchedness.  Those  institutions  and  customs  are 
insurmountable  obstacles  in  their  path  of  progress.  To  make 
a  new  race  of  Hindus,  yon  must  begin  by  undermining  the 
foundations  of  their  civilization,  religion,  and  polity,  and  tarn 
them  into  atheists  and  barbarians,  and  then  give  thgm  new 
laws,  new  religion  and  new  polity.  But  .even  then,  the  task 
will  be  half-accomplished,  for,  we  should  still  have  to  give 
them  a  new  nature  and  different  inclinations  ;  otherwise,  they 
would  soon  relapse  into  their  former  stale  and  worth." 

This  pronouncement  by  one  who  had  no  motive  to  judge 
us  ill,  and  who  had  the  best  opportunities  to  judge  us  well, 
would,  if  true,  be  to  ray  mind  a  far  worse  calamity  than  the 
physical  sufferings  and  trials  wo  are  now  enduring,  and  which 
according  to  some  of  our  wise  men  we  are  fated  to  suffer  a  hun- 
dredfold more  in  the  near  future.  It  is  strange  that. these 
Christian  Missionaries  and  our  wise  men  should  thus  join  their 
hands  over  the  wide  expanse  of  time  and  space  that  separates 
them.  There  are  those  among  us  who  have  firm  faith*  quite 
independently  of  the  planetary  conjunctions,  in  the  gradual 
decay  of  all  virtue  and  piety  in  this  land,  when  the  fatal  limit 
of  5,000  years  from  the  commencement  of  the  Kaliyuga  has 
been  reached,  and  according  to  whom  we  are  now  just  on  the 
verge  of  crossing  this  Rubicon  which  separates  law  from  anar- 
chy, and  virtue  from  impiety,  and  nothing  that  men  can  do  in  the 
work  of  their  own  salvation  will  ever  help  to  avert  the  crisis. 

In  this  situation,  gentlemen,  we  meet  here  under  circum- 
stances which  are  calculated  to  make  us  anxious  and  thought- 
ful, and  to  sober  and  moderate  our  enthusiasm.  Here,  we  have 
met  full  of  hope,  and  we  find  that  Nature  and  Man,  the  latter 
as  represented  by  an  eminent  Christian  Missionary,  and  also,  by 
our  own  kith  and  kin,  place  this  skeleton  before  our  eyes  in  the 
midst  of  our  rejoicings.  Are  we  then  all  indulging  in  the 
fond  dreams  of  a  Fool's  Paradise  ?  Is  this  '  Holy  Land,'  peopled 
by  one-sixth  of  the  human  race,  tit  for  no  other  use  than  to  be 
the  accursed  desert  of  human  hopes  and  wishes,  without  the 
fertilizing  rains  of  divine  favour  to  water  its  dry  and  .parched 
up  plains,  and' no  green  vegetation  to  bless  theeyea,  apd  DO  sweet 
BOuncTsofnru sic  to  lull  the  ears?  I,  for  one,  refuse  to  believe 
13 


98  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [FACT 

that  such  a  doom  .<is  reserved  for   this  favoured  region/  even 
though  it  ia  pronounced  by  reverend   missionaries  and  our  own 
revered  religious  teachers.     I,  for  one,   refuse  to 'believe  that 
we  cau  make  noheadvyay  in  the  patli  of  progress,   arid  that  the 
British  connection  with  this  country,  with  all  its   humane,  and 
just  administration,   will  prove  of   no  avail   to  lift  us  up  from 
the   mire   of  our  wretchedness.     Tlje  seeming    alliance     be- 
tween, .the   missionaries   and   our  wise    people  has  tbis   weak 
point  in  its    armour  of  defence.    According  to   our   people,  the 
state  of  the  country  a  hundred  years  ago,  was  much  better  in  all 
reepecta,  morally   and   socially  than  what  it  is  now.     The  Mis- 
sionary's despair  was  however  forced   upon  him  by  the  state  of 
the  country  as  he  saw  it  a  hundred  years   ago,  and  one  can  feel 
almost  sure,  from. the  wny  in  which  things  have  moved  since  he 
wrote,  that,  if  he    had   lived  a  hundred   years   later,   he  would 
have  joined  with  the   contemporary    men  of  his  calling,  in  con^ 
f err  ing  on  us  his  blessings   instead  of  his  curses^     The  formid- 
able al)iance  thus  turns  out  on  examination  to  be  not  so  formid- 
able «RB  it    seems  at    first   sight,  arid  wo   can  turn  one  of  our 
assailants  against  the  other,  and  await  in    hope  the  final  result. 
What  then  was  the  social  condition  of  Southern    India  a  hun- 
dred years  back,  and   have  the  past  hundred  years  worked  no 
permanent  change  -for  the  better  ?     This    will  be  the   theme  to 
which' I  shall  address  my  observations  to-night,    and  I  hope  to 
be  able  to  show  that,  if  things  are  not  all  as  bright  as  we  wish 
them  to  be,  they  are  not  so  dreary  and  cheerless  as  some  would 
have  them  to  be,  and  that  the    British  connection  and  its  'just 
and  humane '   administration  have  brought  about  a  change  in 
our  religion,  law,  and  polity,  of  such  a  character  as  not  to  make 
it  necessary   that    we  should  be  all    turned  into  atheists  and 
barbarians,  to   be   white-washed   again    into  civilisation   and 
maitnftto,  and  that  if  we   have   not   acquired  a  new  nature,  we 
have  at  Jeast  acquired  inclinations  and  aspirations  which  will 
prevent  our  relapse  into  our  former  condition. 
'   '•  A  hundred  years  ago,  AbJje  Dubois-  mentions  that  among 
the  Nairp  on  the  Malabar  coast,   the  women   had  several  hus- 
band* at  one  and  the  same  time,  and  amongst  the  Nambudri 
Brahmins  of  that  province,  if  a  girl  died  unmarried,  it  was  deem- 


lu]        MR.  JUSTICE  KANADE'8  SPEECHES.        99 

ed  necessary  for  her  salvation  that  the  corpse  should  be  marridd 
to  some  Brahmin 'hired  for  (he  purpose  before   it  was  burned. 
Theu,  in  the  Madura  district,  there  was  a  caste  called  Tbtiyars, 
among  whom  brothers,  uncles  and  nephews  liad  a  cotnmon  wife 
among  them,  and  in* Eastern  Mysore  there  was' a  caste  in  which 
the  mother  giving  her  eldest  daughter  in  marriage  had  to  punc- 
ture two  of  her  finger  a.     On  the  Malabar  noast  in    those  days, 
all   Sudras    drank  toddy  and   Brahmins  used  opium.     In  the 
Cat-untie  hills  men  and  women  did  not   wash    their  clothes  till 
they  wore  away  by  use.     In  those  days  again,  besides  the   caste 
and  scut-divisions,  there  were  what  are  called  the   right  hand 
and  the  left  liand  factions  in  which  the  low-castes  were  divided 
upon  such  questions  as   the   right  to  wear  slippers,    to   ride  on 
horse-back,  or  to  pass  curtain  streets,  or  to  sound  certain  music 
before  them.     All  these  citations  are  made  from  the   first  chap- 
ter of  Dubois'  work,  and  the  editor   of  that   book    has  found  it 
necessary,  in  his  desire  to  state  the  truth,  that  all  these  customs 
of  polyandry  and   un  cleanliness,   and  these   factious  feuds  have 
ceased  to  exist.     In  the  second  chapter  of  the   same  work,  men- 
tion is  made  of  the  condition  of  the  Pariahs.     That  condition  is 
bad  enough  even  now,  but  the  details  given   of  their  wretched- 
ness in  this  work  baffle  all  description.     They  were  forbidden  to 
cross  Brahmin  streets,  or,  to  coino   in  Brahmin   neighbourhood. 
Ou   the   Malabar   Coast,    the    Pariahs   were   attached -to ^ the 
land    as    serfs    and    sold    with    it.     Jn   those   good  old,  days 
adultery  was    punished  with    death  inflicted  on   the  woman, 
and  that  death   was  inflicted  by  the  members  of  the,  caste, 
Expulsion  from   caste  for   breach    of  caste-rules    was     irre- 
vokable  unless  a  rival  faction   was  created  by  the  friends  of 
the  person  excommunicated.  Even  when  thousands  of  Brahmins 
of  those  days,  as   well  as   Sudras,   were  forcibly   converted  by 
Tippu  Sultan,  the  Brahmins  who  were  applied  to.  for  re-admis- 
sion found  it  impossible,   even   with  the  help  of  the  Brahmin 
Government  of  Puna,  to   effect  their  restoration,   while  many 
thousands  of  Christians   whu  had   been  similarly  .  converted  by 
Tippu  Sultan,   were  freely  admitted  'back  into  the  Christian 
community,  by  the  intervention  of  Abbe'Dubbis,  Colonel  Wills, 
and  General  Wellttoluy.  'The  professors   of  the  so-called  Fine 


100  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REMRM. 

Arts  such  as  music,  painting,  aiid  sculpture  belonged  iu.  those 
days  to  castes  which  were  held  to  be  lower  in  the  social  scale 
I  ban  fcbe  Sudras,  and  their  touch  was  pollution.  These  things 
have  now  been  according  to  the  editor, of  the  work,  all  changed 
for  the  better.  Adultery  is  tiot  pupished  by  death  without- 
trial,  excommunication  is  not  irrevocable,  wholesale  conversion 
by  force  are  impossible,  and  there  are  movements  to  re-admit 
converts  to  olher  faiths  when  they  seek  such  re- admission.  This 
year,  the  Arya  Sftiuaj  in  Punjab  admitted  five  such  Christian 
and  Moslem  proselytes.  And  men  of  the  highest  caste  are  now 
engaged  in  the  practice  of  the  tine  arts.  As  regards  the 
Brahmins  themselves,  the  power  of  the  Gurus  in  those  days  in 
exacting  Pad  a- Puj  a  was  something  terrible.  Dubojs  mentions 
without  reserve  that  many  had  to  sell  their  children  for 
Onrudakshinas.  Women  dishonored  by  the  Guru  were  called 
flarud  Baswis  or  Lio^a  Basiyig,  and  had  the  stamp  of  Garud 
or  the  Ling  branded,  on  tender  parts  of  their  bodied.  And  then, 
these  women  became  wives  of  gods  and  served  in  the  temple, 
till  they  became  old  and  lost  their  attraction.  In  Dubois'  time 
the  girls  were  married  at  the  ago  of  5,  7  or  at  the  utmost, 
when  they  were  9  years  old.  Widows,  of  course,  were  not 
allowed  to  marry  in  the  higher  castes,  and  even  the  Sudras 
followed  the  example.  .On  the  fast-days  people  not  only  took 
no  food,  on  the  llth  day  but  also  ate  only  once  on  the  10th  and 
the  12th  days.  In  Bengal  the  widows  may  not  even  drink 
water  on  the  fast-days.  People  who  happened  to  kill  Nag 
serpents  had  to  expiate  their  offence  by  a  ceremony  called  the 
pavadan,  which  consisted  of  an  incision  made  on  the  thigh  or 
arm  of  the  offender,  or  of  some  other  person  who  might  stand 
aa  substitute  on  the  former's  paying  a  large  Dakshina.  In  the 
last  case,  the  blood  was  sprinkled  on  the  body  of  the  offeuder. 
As  regards  intemperance,  Dubois  says,  that  while  the  Euro* 
peang  are  poted  for  their  drunkenness,  the  Brahmins  are  in 
their  turn  open  to  the  charge  of  gluttony,  and  even  as  regards 
drunkenness  ,he  says,. they  were  not  altogether  exempt  from  the 
vice,  tyiid  gives  an  ip stance  i|i  which  a  Tan  j  ore  Brahmin's  lionets 
caught  fjre,  J\ud  among  the  things  saved  were  one.vessel  of  suited 
poi'k  and  au other  of  arrack  or  native  rum,  Of  course  these  Broil- 


il.]'        M&  JUSTICE  RANAD'E'S  SPEECHES. 

itiJns  must  hit  VQ  been  Shkktee  worshippers  or  uuui-mun/ei's, among 
the  use  of  forbidden  food  and  drink,  anil  promiscuous 
men -and  women  in  iii  decent  gatherings  were  tests 
for'' ad  mission  into  the  secret  society.  The  respect  due  from  the 
Sudras  to  the  Brithmnis,  and  from  women  to  men  was  in  those 
days  best  shown  by  uncovering  the  npper  -part  of  the  body  of 
the  inferior  person  before  the  eyes  of  the  superiors.  As  regards 
Sttttw,  it  was  the  commonest  occurence  to  witness.  Dubois  him- 
self witnessed  the  deaths  of  several  Suttees-,  among  others  the  Ra- 
nees of  Tanjore,  who' immolated  themselves  with  the  corpse  of 
the  deceased  Raja.  There  were  some  seven  hundred  tiuttcc 
deaths  in  the  year  1817  in  the  Bengal  Presidency  alone.  As 
regards  <the  belief  in  astrology,  magic,  omens  and  palmistry, 
Dubois  states  that  there  was  in  his  time  almost  a  general  belief 
in  these  superstitious  fancies.  These  beliefs  arc  not  still  extinct 
but  we  have  no  idea  of  the  influence  they  exorcised  a  hundred 
years  ago*  Then  again,  turning  to  the  popular  religion  of  the 
country,  the -position  of  the  Devadasoes  was  recognised  as  so 
respectable,  that  even  private  gentlemen  visiting  each  'other  on 
formal  business  had  to  be  accompanied  by  these  attendants. 
There  were  temples  in  Mysore  belonging  to  the  aboriginal  gods 
where  fairs  were  held,  at  which  wo  then  cursed  with  barrenness 
mado  vows  to  get  children,  and  in  connection  with  these  vows 
had  resort  to  the  most  dirty  practices,  which  cannot  be  describ- 
ed in  decent  language.  Their  gods  and  goddesses  were  carried 
in  processions  in  those  days  being  made  to  mimic  obscene  ges- 
tures to  one  another.  These  processions  may  still  be  seen  in 
various  parts  of  Southern  India,  but  robbed  of  much  of  their 
obsoetie  'features.  Walking  on  burning  fire,  hook-swinging, 
piercing  the  cheeks  and  the  lips  or  the  tongue  with  iron  rods 
or  silver  wire*— these  were  the  received  forms  of  devotion  in 
many  temples.  -  '•  ' 

I  think  I  have  said  enough  to  give  you  an  idea;  of  the  state 
of  things  in  Southern  India  Which  Dubois  witnessed  with 
hiftown  eyes  a  bundled  years  ago.  It  is-  quite  possible,  that; 
being  a  missionary,  he  unconsciously  exaggerated  many  points; 
and  hi ia understood  many  'others.  There  are  good  reasons 
to  think,  that  he  was  misinformed  in  many  respects  ;  "but 


.102  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [LJAK-J 

making  allowance  for  all  theae  defects,  tin*  general  cor- 
rectness of  hi 8. description,  especially  of  the  ignorant  classes 
of  society,  can  hardly  be  impugned.  There  are  fossil  remains 
and. vestiges  of  all  these  enormities  and  superstitions  even 
still  visible  outside  our  larger  towns  in  the  mofussil.  Even 
if  one-tenth  of  the  evils  and  vices,  and  obscenities,  and  enormi- 
ties which  met  his  eyes  wore  true,  they  make  up  together 
a  picture  sufficiently  disheartening  to  the  most  enthusiastic 
defender  of  the  past.  The  fact  is,  that  Brahmin  civilisation, 
with  all  its  poetry  and  philosophy,  with  strict  rules  of  absti- 
nence and  purity,  had  hardly  penetrated  below  the  upper 
classes  who  constituted  less  than  ten  per  cent,  of  the  popula- 
tion. We  can  easily  understand  these  phenomena  from  our 
own  present  experiences. 

The  practical  question   for    us    to  consider  is  whence  came 
this  polyandry   and   polygamy  ;    this  brutal  conception  of  gods 
and  goddesses,  this  confessed   cruelty  to  women,  these  supersti- 
tions, these  feuds  between  casfcos  and  sub-sections  of  castes,  and 
factions  ?  Abbe   Duboia    has  been  very  unjust  to  the  Brahmins 
when  he  holds  them    responsible  for  all  these  enormities.     The 
Brahmin  civilisation,  whatever  else  it  wan,  was  certainly  not  a 
civilisation  which    favoured    polyandry  or  polygamy,  drunken- 
ness and  obscenity,   cruelty  and    vice.     We  have  records  which 
mirror  the  thoughts  of  tbe  Brahmin  settlers  in  Southern  India. 
The  ideal  of  marriage  was  monogamy,  and  it  is  best  ty pitied  in 
the  story  of  the    Ram  ay  ana,    where  the  hero  is   distinguished 
above   all    men   for  his   single-hearted  devotion  to  his  consort. 
The  women  as  depicted  in  the  early  Brahmin  records  as  aloe  in 
the  epics  are  respected  and   honoured,   left  to   their    choice 
to    marry  or  to  remain  single  and  are   oftentimes  noted  as 
composers  of  hymug,  and  writers  of   philosophical  works.     The 
wife,   even   in   the  rituals  we   now  recite,  is  the  sole  mistress 
pf  the   house  and   as  free  an  agent  an  her  partner  in  life.     The 
immolation  in  the  form  of  Satee  was  not  only   not  recognised  as 
a  duty,  but  second  .marriage    was  prescribed  as  quite  open  to 
ber.if  she  so  wished  it  in   all    the    Hist    three   Yugas.     Early 
marriage  was  not  dreamt  of,  and  one  of   the   qualifications  for 
marriage  w$s  developed   womanhood-     The  castes   were  not  so 


it.]          Jfn.  JTTRTTCE  ItANAVWR  RPJWCTTES.      103 

strongly  separated  as  to  prevent  inter-marriages  in  the  order 
of  the  cafeta,  and  as  for  inter-dining,  the  first  three  castes  among 
themselves  observed  no  jealous  distinction.  And  the  better 
specimen  of  the  fourth  caste  was  specially  commended  as 
servants  for  cooking1  food.  Ghost- worship  nml  Devil-worship 
were  unknown  to  the  Brahmin  cult.  As  for  crossing  stum 
on  long  voyages,  there  is  historical  evidence  that  the  Brahmin 
missionaries  and  settlers  established  themselves,  and  their 
religion  in  far  off  Java,  and  Sumatrn,  and  their  Buddhist 
successors  converted  half  the  human  race  in  Burmah,  Siam, 
China.  Japan,  Tibet  and  distant  Mongolia.  Even  in  India  it- 
self the  Aryan  settlers  found  no  difficulty  in  incorporating  with 
them  the  non-Aryan  races  into  Fellowship  in  the  profession  of 
the  Aryan  faith. 

The  question  tluis  recurs  again  how  it  happened  that 
institutions  and  practices  so  essentially  just  and  pure,  eo  healthy 
and  considerate,  came  to  be  deflected  from  their  natural  growth, 
and  made  room  for 'the  distortions  which  struck  Abbe  Duhois 
as  so  monstrous,  and  excite  surprise  in  us  even  at  the  present 
day  ;  how  the  chivalry  and  honour  of  our  noble  ancestors 
disappeared  and  their  spiritual  worship  gave  way  to  ghost  and 
demon  worship  the  ministers  of  which  in  many  cases  are  the 
descendants  of  these  same  old  Brahmins  ?  Unless  we  find  some 
working  solution  which  satisfactorily  Recounts  for  this  trans- 
formation, we  shall  never  be  able  to  find  oiir  way  with  sure  steps 
out  of  this  labyrinth.  Abbe  DuboiVs  explanation  is  obviously 
untrue.  The  fact  appears  to  be,  though  I  speak  with  diffidence 
and  subject  to  correction,  that  the  Brahmin  settlers  in  Southern 
India  and  the  warriors  and  traders  who  came  with  them 
were  too  few  in  numbers  and  too  weak  in  power  to  make  any 
lasting  impression  beyond  their  own  limited  circle  upon  the  vast 
multitudes  who  constituted  the  aboriginal  races  in  the  Southern 
Peninsula.  In  North  India  where  their  power  was  more  dis- 
tinctly felt  they  appear  to  have  been  about  the  commencement 
of  the  Christian  era  submerged  by  fresh  hordes  of  Scythians 
or  Shake,  of  Huns  and  the  Jats  or  Goths  'who  subverted 
the  Roman  Empire.  In  Southern  India  it  was  not  foreign 
invasion,  but  the  upheaval  of  the  aboriginal  Dr&yich'an  races 


104  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

whioh  brought  about  pretty  nearly  the  same  results.    There  is 
a  tone  of  despondency  und   panic  in-  the  Puranas-  written  about 
this  time  which    can   only  bo  explained   by  some    such  phdno- 
menai     However  this  may  be,  this  is  certain  that  when  Hindu* 
ism  revived  from   the   depression  into   which  ft  had  fallen,  in 
consequence  of  the  rise  of   Buddhism,    it  did   not     revive  in  its 
old,  pristine  purity,    bnt  in  the  more  or  loss    adulterated    form 
a.s  we  now  see  it  even  at    the  present-  day.     In  their  anxiety  to 
destroy  Buddhism,  and  later  on   the  Jain  faith,  the  Brahmins, 
allied  them  selves 'with  the  barbarism  of  the  land  represented  in 
the  countless  multitudes,  whom  they  had  till  then  contemptuous- 
ly treated  -as  S udras,  and  as  out  of  the  pale  oF  their  early  institu- 
tions.    From  being  sages  and  prophets,  poets  and  philosophers, 
they  descended  to  the  lower  level    of  priests  and  purohits,  and 
thus  sacrificed '  their  independence  for  the    advantage  of  power 
and  profit.     The  gods  and  goddesses  of  the  Dasyus  or  the  Rak- 
shasafl  who  had  no  place   in   the  old  pantheon    were  identified 
with  being  more  or  less   pure    forms  of   the  old    Brahmanical 
triad  or  rather  of  the  two  divisions   of   Shaiva   and  Vaishnava 
cults.     The    old   elastic    system   of  the   three    divisions  of  the 
Aryn.8  and  the  fourth  non-  Aryan  section  became  crystallised  iuto 
local  and  professional  ciistes,    of  which  the    Brahmins   became 
the     priests ;     and    these     sub-divisions     became   strict    and 
iusurmoun  table  barriers.     Such  a  change   as  this   con  Id  not  be 
brought  about  without  a  surrender   all   aloog  the    line   to  the 
brute  force  of  barbainns   influences.     Woman   ceased    to  be  an 
object  of  respect  and  became  the  Mihjeo.t  of  distrust  -and  jealousy 
who  always   must   remain    dependent   on   her  relations.     The 
institution  of  Satee  found  in,   all  barbarous  nations    was  intro- 
duced, marriage  by  choice  gave  way  to  the   practice   of  sale  in 
marriage,  and  polygamy  and  polyandry  became   legalised  insti- 
tutions,    Brahminism  having  failed  to   conquer  from   want  of 
power,  allowed  itself  thus  to  be  degraded  and  conquered  by  the 
multitudes  whom  it  failed  to  civilize.     As  priests  of  the  castes 
and  the  aboriginal  gods  and  goddesses,  it  became  their  interest 
to  magnify  fojf  their  advantage  the  old  superstitious  beliefs  j  and 
with  a  view  *to  justifying  this  action  books  culled  the  Mahatmyaa 
were  composed  in  the  najne  of  the  Puranos  and  pew  texts  < 


ii.]         MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPRECHEti.       105 

introduced,  condemning  all  the  old  approved  institutions  sdch  as 
velibacy,  searvoyages,  late  marriages,  and  widow?  marriages  as 
being  unsuited,  to  the  new  l£ali-yuga,  a,nd  therefore  forbidden, 
though  practised  in  old,  times.  This  seems  to  me  to  be  the  only 
possible  explanation  of  the  change  <?t'  front  which  we  see  in  the 
old  reqprds.  Of  course,  in  the  midst  of  this  degradation,  the 
spirit  of  the  old  civilization  was  not  entirely  extinct,  and  the 
great  Acharyas  who  flourished  in  Southern  India,  and  the  equally 
great' saints  and  prophets  who  succeeded  them,  entered  their 
protest  against  this  cruelty  and  wrong  and  degradation  o(, the 
p,riesthopd,  and  held  up  the  light  on  high  with  the  independ- 
ence of  the  old  Rishist  Their  labours  bore  no  permanent 
result  because  of  the  eruptions  of  th,e,  Mabowedans  which 
goon  followed  and  the  establishment  of  the  Moslem  power 
aggravated  the  old  evils  by  the  example  which  the  Muesal- 
mai\s  aet  to  the  subject  races.  Even  the  Mahomed  ana, 
however,  were  not  able  to  extinguish  the  old  fire  completely^ 
and  the  spirit  of  righteous  self-assertion  and  of  faith  in  God 
which  has  distinguished  Brahmanisrn  from,  the  first,  only 
wanted  an  opportunity  to  regain  its  old  liberty. 

If  this  account  of  the  deflect  ion  or  corruption  qf  Brabman- 
ism  be  approximately  correct,  ib  furnishes  us  with  a  clue  by 
which  we  can. trace  back  our  steps  in  this  labyrinth  of  confusion. 
The  opportunity  so  sorely  needed  hai  come  to  this  country  and 
slowly  butaurely  priest-ridden  and  caste-ridden  India  is  k>Q,scn- 
ing  its  coils  of  ages.  Abbe  Dubois  was  unjust  to  the  old  civi- 
lization when  bethought  that  we  should  have  to  unlearn -all 
our  past  and  to  commence  with  atheism  and  barbarism,  and 
then  take  our  religion,  law  and  polity  frpm  our  foreign  masters, 
Ijvep  if  the  task  were  possible,  the  remedy  would  be,  worse, 
than  the  disease.  We  have  nob  to  unlearn  our  entire  past,— 
certainly  not— the  past  which  is  the  glory  and  \yonder.of  the 
human  race.  We  have  to  retrace  our  stejps  from  >  the  period  o£ 
depression,  when  in  panip  and  weakness  a  compromise  was  made 
witl»  ,  the  . brute  force  of  .ignorance  and  superstition.  If,  thia 
unholy  ^lli^nce  \  is  set.  aside,  we  hp,vte  the,  3rjihtn,anipm  pf  th^ 
tirat  tfiree  .Yagas,  nnfoldipg.itpelf  in  all  \te  power  and 
it  flqurUhed-in  the  best. period  of  our  history. 
"  '  14  ' 


106  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

This  is  the  work  of  the  reform  movement.  Last  year  I 
spoke  of  '  Revival  and  Reform '  and  I  tried  to  show  how  Reform 
was  not  Revival.  The  line  of  thought  developed  above  shows 
that  the  work  of  Rvform  is  really  the  work  of  Liberal  ion, •>— 
Ubdration  from  the  restraints  imposed  upon  an  essentially 
superior  religion,  law  and  polity,  institutions  and  custom  a  by 
oar  surrender  to  the  pressure  of  mere  brute  force  for  selfish 
advancement.  Our  nature  has  not  to  be  changed,  If  that  were 
necessaryf  escape  would  be  hopeless  indeed.  Our  inclinations  and 
aspirations  have  to  be  shifted  from  one  quarter  to  its  opposite, 
from  the  more  immediate  past  of  our  degradation  to  the  most 
remote  past  of  our  glory.  We  need  no  foreign  masters  for  this 
purpose.  It  is  enough  if  they  keep  the  peace  and  enforce  tolera- 
tion to  all  who  work  for  righteousness,  Super-imposed  laws  will 
not  do  service  to  us  unless  as  in  some  extreme  cases  the  Surgeon 
has  to  be  sent  for  to  stop  hemorrhage  and  allow  the  Physician 
time  to  heal  the  patient.  This  work  of  liberation  must  be  the 
work  of  our  own  hands,  each  one  working  of  himself  for  his  own 
release.  It  is  in  this  spirit  that  the  work  has  been  carried  on 
during  the  last  thirty  years  and  more. 

For  the  last  twelve  yean*  the  Conference  has  been  trying  to 
establish  a  bond  of  union  between  the  several  associations  and 
individuals  who  are  working  in  this  direction  in  this  and  in 
other  parts  of  the  country,  and  to  publish  the  results  of  that 
work  for  the  information  of  all  concerned.  Measured  from  year 
to  year,  the  progress  seems  small,  and  in  many  years  the  harvests 
are  not  plentiful.  The  year  about  to  close  has  been,  on  the 
whole,  a  lean  year  owing  to  causes  which  need  not  be  detailed 
here,  the  plague  being  the  principal  cause  among  others,  The 
results  of  this  year  will  be  placed  before  the  delegates  in  a  sum- 
mary form  at  the  first  preliminary  meeting  to-morrow  morning. 
One  general  observation  may  be  made  on  this  occasion,  The 
question  is  often  asked  who  are  the  heroes  and  martyrs  in  this 
reform  work,  the  prevailing  impression  being  that  unless  heroes 
and  martyrs  are  forthcoming,  no  cause  can  make  progress.  I 
Would  say  in  answer  that  to  the  extent  that  this  impression  is 
true,  the  cause  had  its  heroes  and  martyrs  in  Pandit  Ishwar 
Chandra  Vidyasagar,  Pandit  Viahrtu  ghastri,  Mr.  Karsandas 


)i.]       MR.  JUSTICE  RANADKS  SPEECHES.        107 

Maljee  and  Mr.  Madbavadas  Raghunathdas,  and  even  now 
we  have  Rao  Bahadur  Kolhatkar,  our  President  of  last  year, 
Dr.  Bhandarkar,  our  President  of  one  of  the  previous 
years,  our  honoured  President  this  year,  Pandit  Viresh- 
J  in  gam  Pautulu,  Prof.  Karve,  and  others  who  require  no  men- 
tion, wbo  have  in  their  own  lives  set  an  example  which 
shows  that  the  fire  is  not  yet  put  out  altogether.  Dr. 
Jaising  and  Mr.  O.warkantha  Ganguli,  who  died  this  year, 
may  also  be  mentioned,  one  as  the  life  and  soul  of  the  Shudhi 
Sabha,  and  the  other  as  a  practical  reformer  from  among  the 
Brali mo  community.  It  is  not  given  to  all  to  be  heroes  and 
martyrs  in  such  a  cause.  But  it  is  given  to  every  one  to  be  an 
earnest  and  genuine  worker.  In  that  capacity  the  names  of 
hundreds  may  be  mentioned  who  are  unknown  beyond  their 
own  circles  and  whose  work  therefore  is  one  of  pure  love  and 
self -sacrifice.  Lala  Devraj  and  Lai  a  Munshiram  of  Jullundhur, 
Lala  Hansraj  and  Lala  Ruchiram  of  Lahore,  the  late  Gokuldas 
of  Succur,  Mr.  Dayaram  Gidumal  of  Sindh,  Mr.  Lai  Shankar  of 
Ahrnedabad,  Mr.  Daniodardas  Goverdnandas,  the  late  Dr. 
Aimaram  Panda  rang-,  who  died  during  the  year,  Babu  Shashi- 
pad  Bannerjee,  Babu  Rash  Behari  Mukerjee  who  also  died  this 
year,  Dew  an  Bahadur  Raghunath  Rao,  Mr.  R.  Venkataratnam, 
of  your  part  of  the  country,  Mr.  Vishnu  Pant  Mahajani  of 
Berar  and  Lala  Baijnath  of  N,  W.  P.  may  be  mentioned  in 
this  connection  as  persons  about  whose  genuine  devotion  to  the 
cause  there  can  be  only  one  opinion.  In  spiritual,  if  not  in 
temporal  matters,  the  remark  is  true  that  a  man's  wealth  is 
measured  not  by  what  he  has  in  the  way  of  possessions  outside 
himself,  but  by  what  he  is  or  may  become  in  the  way  of  his  owu 
development,  from  year  to  year  into  higher  and  fuller  life. 
Liberties  bestowed  on  us  by  foreigners  are  concessions  forced  on 
us  by  the  force  of  circumstances.  These  are  not  really  ours,;  they 
are  possessions  only  and  not  developments.  But  when  multitudes 
of  people  in  different  parts  of  the  country  yearn  for  a  change  in 
their  social  surroundings,  and  each  in  his  place  seeks  to  work  it 
out  at  great  sacrifice  of  his  present  interests,  it  can  hardly  be 
but  that  those  yearnings  and  struggles  must  bear  fruit.  OneoE 
our  most  popular  sainta  lias  iu  his  own  inimitable  way  described 


1.08  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  ,   [t>ART 

this  fruit  to  be ,  the  strength  which  comes  from  the  resolve 
to  be  better;  and  judged  by  this  test  there  can  be  no  reason  to 
doubt  that,  this  desire  to  be  better,  and  this  resolve  to  strive 
for  it  ore  both  growing  in  all  the,  many  races  that  dwell  in 
thin  land.  Other  influences  co-operating  help  on  the  work  and 
make  it  smoother  and  easier  of  accomplishment  -But  without 
such  a  desire  and  such  a  resolve  these  forces  would  be  powerless 
to  act.  We  have  therefore  no  reason  to  be  depressed  by  the  cala- 
mities and  by  the  prophecies  of  evil  to  come  and  of  our  unalter- 
able doom  pronounced  by  our  own  or  other  people.  The 
harvest  is  ready  to  the  hand  of  every  one  who  is  prepared  to 
give  his  honest  labour  for  the  day,  to  earn  his  rest  for  the  night, 
in  life  and  after  life. 


The  Hon'blq  Mr.  Justice  Ranarle,  in  bringing  the  proceedings 
of  the  Conference  to  a  close,  Raid  -. — LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN, — 1 
am  glad  that  all  these  expressions  of  thanks  have  been  given 
by  ,the  Secretary  of  tho  Conference  Committee.  I  now  beg  to 
propose  that  the  .General  Secretary  and  the  Joint  Secretaries  be 
re^ppointed  for  the  next  year  and  that  the  next  .year's  Con- 
ference be  held  in  some  place  in  the  North-West  Provinces, 
most  likely  at  Lucknow,  The  General  Secretary  has  written 
to  me  that  on  account  of  his  advanced  age  and  delicate  health 
he  has  been  unable  to  be  present  at  this  Conference,  but  he  has 
sent  his  blessings  and  words  of  advice  which  I  believe  will  sink 
deep  into  the  hearts  of  those  present.  He  says,  "  The  work 
that  is  being  done  is  holy  work.  We  do  not  seek  to  advance 
our  temporal  interest,  \ve  .seek  to  promote  our  spiritual  welfare." 
If  we  look  at  tho  programme  that  we  have  gone  through,  some 
of  us  may  be  inclined  to  ask  what,*  after  all,  has  been  done. 
But  suppose  in  place  of  the  several  resolutions  that  have  been 
moved,  seconded  and  supported  during  this  day,  we- put  in  their 
negatives,  suppose  instead  of  saying  on  tliia  day,  the  first  :day 
of  the  new  year,  "  I  shall  take  for  myself  a  vow  that,  as  far  as 
lies  in  my  power,  I  shall  undertake  the  education  of  my  female 
relations,"  we  say  "  I  shall  not  undertake*  the  education  of  my 
female  relations,1'  shall  we  be  the  better  or  the  worse*  for  our 
resolution  ?  Suppose  instead  of  flaying  "  I  shall  -take  a  vow 


n.}      MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  (SPEECHES.         109 

not  of  temperance  which  U  without  much  itaeaning  for  most  of 
us,  bub  of  total  abstinence/'  you  pub  ib  the  other  way,  and  say 
"  it  shall  be  oar  pleasure  and  convenience  nob  to  observe  these 
restraints  which  onr  forefathers  had  placed  upon  us  '*";  will  our 
resolution  be  to  our  advantage  or  loss,  spiritually  or  morally  ? 
Suppose  instead  of  saying,  "  I  shall,  as  far  as  possible,  profcrncb 
and  prolong  the  period  of  celibacy  amongsb  men  arid  women," 
W9  were  to  say,  that  "  as  far  as  possible,  that  period  shall  bo 
shortened  "  ;  shall  our  country  be  the  better  for  onr  efforts  6r 
the  worse  ?  Suppose  we  ask  ourselves  whab  plan  of  life  we 
are  to  follow  ;  shall  we  not  be  just  and  merciful  to  those  who 
need  justice  and  mercy  at  our  hands?  Khali  we  not  be  more- 
considerate  to  those  whom  we  have  hitherto  treated  as  if  their 
very  touch  was  pollution,  and  help  them  in  rising  higher,  or 
shall  we  say  to  them,  "  Do  not  stand  near  and  cast  your  uhadow 
on  us  "  ;  will  the  inner  man  in  each  one  of  us  grow  stronger, 
braver  and  more  charitable  and  humane,  by  reason  of  our 
resolve  in  one  way  and  not  in  the  other?  The  issue  is  thus, 
a  choice  between  life  and  death  ;  we  live  or  we  die  accord- 
ing as  we  make  the  choice.  We  all  desire  bo  live,  and  yet-most 
of  us,  by  our  course  of  conduct  show  as  if  we  welcomed  death. 
Whether  reformer  or  non-reformer,  let  each  one  in  the  seclusion 
of  his  home,  when  he  retires  into  his  own  hearth,  ask  himself 
the  following  question  : — Does  he  feel  the  desire  that  he  should 
grow  in  purity,  temperance,  justice  and  mercy,  and  that  these 
virtues  be  more  and  more  incorporated  into  tho  practical  life  he 
leads  from  day  to  day  ?  I  believe  every  one  of  us,  whatever  be 
his  particular  views  as  to  different  points  arid  methods  we  have 
discussed,  realises  the  importance  oE  the  main  issue.  That  issue 
is  nob  this  or  that  particular  reform  about  .which  people  have 
so  much  controversy,  but  the  general  spirit  of  purity,,  justice, 
equality,  temperance,  and  mercy,  which  should  be  infused. into 
oar  minds  and  which  should,  illuminate  our  hearts.  Is  it  to  be 
the  spirit  of  justice,  charity,  mercy,  toleration  and  appreciation 
of  all,  or  is  it  to  be  exchisiveness,  haughtiness,  pride,  cruelty 
and  misery  of  al)  Jdnds  ?  The  choice  lies  with  us  and  wo  may 
choose  .whichever  we  prefen  Ib  is  not  on-  this  platform  only 
but  wherever  we  go,  and  whatever  we  do,  these  two  paths  are 


110  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAH* 

constantly  coming  across  our  vision.  One  of  them  asks  us  to 
#o  one  way,  the  other  the  other  way.  We  have  to  make  the 
choice,  and  as  we  make  the  choice,  we  succeed  or  fail  in  our 
lives.  Of  course,  the  failing  in  life  may  nob  seem  to  many,  to 
boa  very  serious  affair  when  they  do  nob  come  to  any  positive 
trouble.  But  whether  we  are  great  in  riches  and  possession,  and 
whether  we  are  great  in  the  estimation  of  the  world,  the  only 
thing  that  is  really  ours  is  how  far  during  the  short  time  that  has 
been  allowed  to  us  all,  we  succeed  here  in  making  ourselves 
better  fitted  for  the  existence  that  is  to  come.  If  we  can  guago 
our  advance  from  day  to  day  and  from  year  to  year,  by  this 
standard,  then  I  believe  we  shall  find  tho  true  reward  of  our 
work.  We  lire  .spending  unnecessary  breath  in  thinking  that 
the  tstrifc  lies  between  tho  one  and  the  other  party  in  these 
matters.  There  is  really  no  strife  and  there  are  no  parties  out- 
side us.  If  those,  who  do  not  agree  with  the  methods  that  arc 
pursued  here,  think  they  can  attain  the  same  objects  by  other 
methods,  then  they  should  adopt  those  other  means.  Somebody 
here  said  we  are  iu  a  minority,  but  when  we  embrace  tho  whole 
world  in  our  vision,  the  minority  is  turned  the  other  way.  If  we 
may  not  at  present  be  in  a  position  to  assert  the  strength  of 
the  majority  which  is  represented  by  the  sentiment  and  the 
sense  of  the  world,  still  you  may  depend  upon  it  that  wherever 
you  go,  this  sense  and  these  sentiments  must  carry  Hie  day  in 
the  end.  It  is  on  such  considerations  that  we  must  rely  for  our 
ultimate  success.  Majority  and  minority  I  keep  absolutely 
out  of  sight.  I  put  the  question  to  myself,  "Do  I  feel  any 
yearning,  any  regret,  any  compunction,  that  there  is  anything 
wanting,  anything  wrong,  anything  cruel  in  me,  and  do  I  try 
to  abstain  from  doing  anything  that  I  ought  to,  and  feel  inclined 
to  do  things  which  I  ought  not  to  do?"  If  I  feel  this  sort  of  com- 
punction, this  sort  of  struggle,  if  I  feel  noble  impulses, -if  I  feel 
at  the  same  time  that  these  noble  impulses  have  been  weakened 
by  nature,  the  work  before  me  of  reform  is  clear:  Remember,  the 
tfcork  of  this  Conference  and  of  gatherings  like  this  is  really 
this  work — to  make  men  feel  that  they  have  duties  and  res- 
ponsibilities for  which  alone,  life  and  health  are  given  to  them": 
That  is  the  sort*  of  philosophy  which  cumes  upon  nie  at  times, 


TT.}        MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE8  SPEECHES.        Ill 

and  which  I  believe  comes  upon  every  one  of  us  when  we  look 
seriously  at  these  things.  If  any  of  us  feel  in  our  hearts  that 
we  have  to  make  amends  for  the  past;,  I  believe  that  man  is 
the  better  for  hjs  attendance  here,  even  though  he  may  dis- 
approve of  any  particular  items  of  our  programme. 

We  have  every  reason  to  thank  the  Conference  Committee 
for  the  great  trouble  they  have  taken  in  providing  for  all  those 
small  matters  which  to  strangers  from  outside  represent  no 
end  of  small  inconvenience.  We  have  every  reason  to  be  thank- 
ful to  the  Secretaries  of  the  Committee,  to  the  Volunteers,  to  the 
Reception  Committee  of  the  Congress,  to  the  lady  visitor?* 
and  above  all,  to  the  President  of  the  Couferenco  and  his 
lieutenant,  the  Hon'ble  Mr.  Subba  Rao,  who  have  done  their 
work  to-day  with  such  efficiency  and  success.  On  behalf  of  the 
larger  India  which  is  not  represented  here,  we  have  every  renson 
to  thank  our  Madras  friends  for  the  hospitable  and  enthusiastic 
way  in  which  thoy  have  conducted  the  work  of  this  day. 
(Loud  cheers.) 

The  Thirteenth  Social  Conference— Lucknow— 19OO. 

The  Hon'ble  Mr.  Justice  Ranade  delivered  his  inaugural 
address  on  ll  India  a  Thousand  Years  Ago.''  He  said  :  — 

MK.  PKESTDENT,  LADIKS  AND  GKNTLEMFN, — This  time  last 
year,  I  had  occasion,  at  the  inauguration  of  the  Conference 
held  at  Madras,  to  speak  on  the  subject  of  "  Southern  India  a 
Hundred  Years  Ago.'1  To-day  I  find  myself  far  away  in  the 
North,  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  the  traditions  of  a  civilisa- 
tion older  than  the  oldest  known  to  history,  the  land  of  the 
Aryan  race  settled  in  India,  tracing  its  descent  from  the  self- 
born  Swayambhu  Manu,  where  the  Solar  dynasty  flourished  for 
thousands  of  years,  the  land  of  the  Ikshwakus,  of  Dilip  and 
Raghu,  of  Dasharatha  and  the  incarnate  hero  Rama,  with  his 
illustrious  brothers  and  the  still  more  honoured  wife  Sit  a,  the 
knd  where  Vashistha and  Vishvamitra  lived  and  flourished,  the 
home  of  all  that  is  beautiful  and  true,  and  lovely  and  godlike  in 
Arjan  history.  This  favoured  land  of  yours  gave  birth  also 
in  lat?r  times  to  Sukhya  Muni  Buddha  who  baa  been  well  den- 


]  1 2  INDIA  N  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [ PART 

cribed  as  ibe  perfection  of  humanity  in  its  highest , and  noblest 
development,  and  whose  "  wheel  of  law  "  still  regulates  the 
thoughts  and  feelings  of  half  the  human  race  in  its  efforts  to 
attain  beatitude,  The  South  and  the  North  thus  contrasted 
together  suggest  recollections  that, are  BO  overpowering,  that  I 
am  tempted  on  this  occasion  when  we  meet  to  inaugurate  the 
work  of  the  Conference  at  Luck  now,  to  dwell  for  a  few  moments 
nn  this  subject,  and  1  bespeak  your  thoughtful  attention  to  the 
Ie0sons.it  suggests.  Far  in  the  South,  which  is  now  tho  strong- 
hokl  of  JJrahmiiiic.il  ideas  uninfluenced  by  outside  contact,  the 
Aryan  civilisation  no  doubt  made  its  way,  but  it  continued  to 
be  an  exotic  civilisation  confined  to  a  small  minority  of  Aryan 
spttlers,  so  few  in  numbers  that  they  were  overwhelmed  by  tho 
influences  of  the  earlier  Uravidian  dominion.  It  never  made 
its  home  in  those  remote  regions,  and  the  common  people  con- 
tinued their  adhesion  to  their  old  worship  and  to  their  old 
faiths  under  new  names.  What  the  effects  of  this  subordina- 
tion were,  was  depicted  in  my  address  at  Madras  in  the  words 
of  a  foreign  missionary  who  lived  and  worked  a  hundred  years 
ago,  and  who  bad  exceptional  opportunities  of  studying  these 
effects.  I  propose  this  time  to  draw  your  attention  to  the  turn 
which  the  Aryan  civilisation  has  taken  under  the  influences 
.represented  by  the  conquest  of  this  part  of  the  country  by  tho 
Mahoraedana,  nearly  a  thousand  years  back.  The  one  factor 
which  separates  Northern  India  from  its  Southern  neighbours, 
is  the  predominant  influence  of  this  conquest  by  the  Mahoine- 
daqs  which  has  left  its  mark  permanently  upon  the  country, 
by  the  actual  conversion  to  the  Mahomed  an  faith  of  one-fifth 
of  tho  population,  and  by  the  imperceptible  but  permanent 
moulding  of  the  rest  of  tho  people  in  the  ways  of  thought  and 
belief,  the  like  of  which  is  hard  to  find  on  the  Malabar  or 
Cpromandel  Coasts.  I  propose  to  draw  my  materials  from  the 
Mahomcdan  philosophers  and  travellers  who  visited  India,  both 
before-  and  after  the  Mahomed  an  conquest  had  changed  the 
face  of  the  country.  Owing  to  the  absence  of  the  historic 
i^tinct  ftrftong  our  people,  we  have  necessarily  to  depend  upon 
the  testimony  of  foreign  historians. .That  testimony  is  however 
unexceptionable,  because  it  was  for  the  most,  part  givea  before 


n-1        MR.  JUSTICE  BANADE'8  SPEECHES.        113 

the  Mahomedan  domination  had  effected  the  separation  which 
distinguishes  the  Old  India  of  the  past  from  the  Modern  Indfa 
in  which  we  are  DOW  living.  This  domination,  also  separates 
the  line  which  marks  off  Southern  India,  of  which  I  spoke  last 
year,  from  the  North,  in  one  of  the  most  representative  centres 
of  which  we  are  met  here  to-d;iy.  At  the  outset,  we  must  have 
a  correct  understanding  of  what  Northern  India  was  before 
M  ah  am  ad  of  Gazni  made  his  numerous  expeditions  for  the 
plunder  of  its  far-famed  cities  and  temples,  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  tenth  century.  Fortunately  for  us,  we  have  a  wit- 
ness to  this  period  of  our  history  in  the  writings  of  Alberuhi, 
whose  work  on  India  was  written  shortly  after  the  time  that 
Mahamad  crossed  the  Indus  as  a  conqueror  of  infidels.  That 
work  has  been  translated  hy  Dr.  Sachau,  a  professor  in  the 
Berlin  University,  and  in  its  English  form,  is  now  accessible  to 
us  all.  Alberuni  was  a  native  of  Khorasan,  his  birth-place 
being  near  Khiva.  Mahamad  of  Gazni  conquered  Khorasan, 
and  Alberuni  had  thus  to  shift  to  Gazni  which  was  then  the  seat 
of  a  flourishing  empire,  the  rulers  of  which  were  great  patrons  of 
Mahomedan  learning.  Alberuni  was  in  special  favour  with 
Masaud  the  son  of  Mali  am  ad,  and  he  was  thus  enabled  to  travel 
throughout  India,  where  he  spent  many  years,  having  mastered 
the  Sanskrit  language.  He  was  n  philosopher  by  profession 
and  temper,  and  had  a  special  liking  for  Indian  philosophy, 
whieh  he  studied  with  the  same  care  and  attention  that  he 
bestowed  on  Plato  and  Aristotle.  His  work  on  India  consists 
of  80  chapters,  relating  to  Religion,  Philosophy,  Caste,  Idola- 
try, Civil  Polity,  Literature,  Science,  MathenrmticH,  Medicine, 
Geography,  Astronomy,  Cosmogony,  Alchemy,  and  Astrology, 
He  took  great  pains  to  give  a  full  description  of  all  that  wftH 
known  to  the  Hindus  under  these  several  heads,  and  being  na- 
turally not  a  bigoted  Mahomed  an,  his  book  shows  that  he  wrote 
his  whole  work  with  a  single  desire  to  promote  the  cause  of  true 
learning.  While  Alberuni  shows  a  great  regard  for  the  Hindu 
Philosophy,  Astronomy,  and  Medicine,  be  wan  not  slow  in  finding 
on*  the  weak  points  of  the  Indian  character.  In  his  chapters 
on  caste  and  idolatry,  in  the  condemnation  he  pronounces  on 
the  want  of  practical  aptitudes  of  our  people*,  and  in  their 
15 


114  TNDIAN  ROCTAL  REFORM.  [PART 

devotion  to  superstitious  observances,  Albernni  did  not  spare 
his  censures.  He  contrasted  the  democratic  equality  of  the 
Hahomedan  people  with  the  innumerable  divisions  of  the  Indian 
races.  He  notices  the  helpless  position  of  the  women  of  India, 
and  the  filthy  customs  and  the  habits  of  the  people  in  those 
days.  He  gives  praise  to  the  few  educated  Brahmins  whom  he 
separates  from  the  superstitious  multitudes,  whose  fallen  con- 
dition he  deplores.  Hven  among  the  Brahmins,  he  notices  the 
verbosity  of  their  writings  arid  the  words-splitting  which  passed 
for  wisdom,  tie  notice*  the  greediness  and  tyranny  of  the 
Hindu  princes  who  would  not  agree  to  join  their  efforts  together 
for  any  common  purpose,  and  the  timidity  and  the  submissive- 
ness  of  the  people  who,  in  his  expressive  language,  were  '  scatter- 
ed like  atoms  of  dust  in  all  directions  '  before  the^invading 
Moslems.  The  prevailing  feeling  among  the  MahomednriH  of 
the  time  was  that  the  Hindus  were  infidels  and  entitled  to  no 
mercy  or  consideration,  and  the  only  choice  to  be  til  lowed 
to  them  was  that  of  death  or  conversion.  Albernni  did  not 
share  in  these  views,  but  these  were  the  views  of  his  master 
Mahamad  of  Onzni  mul  of  the  hordes  who  were  led  by  him  on 
these  expeditions.  Another  traveller,  Ibn  Batnta,  a  native  of 
Tanjiers  in  North  Africa,  visited  this  country  about  a  hundred 
years  after  Kutnbudin  established  the  Afghan  kingdom  nt 
Delhi.  Like  him  he  was  taken  into  favour  by  the  then  Delhi 
Emperor,  Mahomad  Taghlak,  under  whom  he  noted  for  Rome 
time  as  Judge  of  Delhi.  Ibn  Batnta  travelled  more  extensively 
than  Albernni.  He  travelled  from  the  extreme  west  of  Africa 
to  the  extreme  east  of  China,  and  went  round  the  coast  from 
Malabar  toCoromandel.  He  was  however  not  a  philosopher  nor 
a  scholar.  His  Journal  of  Travels  is  interesting,  but  he  did  not 
obsarve  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  people  with  the  same 
mastery  of  details  that  Albernni's  work  shows  on  every  page. 
The  only  points  which  struck  Ibn  Batuta  in  the  course  of  his 
travels  through  India  were  the  rite  of  Sati  of  which  he  was  a 
witness,  and  the  practice  of  drowning  men  in  the  Ganges,  both  of 
which  struck  him  as  inhuman  to  a  degree  he  could  not  account 
for.  He  also  notices  the  self -mortification  of  the  jogees  and 
their  juggleries,  in  describing  which  last,  he  mentions  the  fact 


ii.]        ME.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.        113 

that  in  the  presence  of  the  Kmpuror  lie  saw  it  jogeo  raise  his 
body  up  in  the  air,  and  keep  it  there  i'or  some  time.  Another 
traveller  Abdur  Kaxzak  visited  India,  about  1450  A.D.  liia 
travels  lay  chiefly  in  the  southern  peninsula,  Calicut,  Vifcia- 
iiagar  and  Manga'.ore.  The  narratives  of  two  ether  travellers, 
oue  a  Russian  and  the  other  a  Venitiau,  who  both  visited  India 
in  the  fifteenth  century,  11  re  published  by  the  llakluyt  Society 
which  afford  most  interesting  reading.  The  general  impression 
left  on  the  minds  of  these  traveller  was  a  respect  for  thu 
Brahmins  for  their  philosophy  and  attainments  in  astrology, 
but  for  the  common  people,  the  vast  multitudes  of  men  and 
women,  their  sense  was  one  of  disgust  and  disappointment.  Abdur 
Ha/ /- nk  expressed  this  feeling  in  his  own  words  in  a  reply  to  the 
invitation  of  the  King1  of  Vizianagar.  He  said  to  the  king, 
"  It'  I  have  once  escaped  from  the  desert  of  thy  love,  and  reach 
eil  in y  country,  I  shall  not  set  out  on  another  voyage  even  in 
the  company  of  a  king.1'  In  Southern  India,  these  travellers 
found  that  both  men  and  women,  besides  being  black,  were 
almost  nude,  and  divided  into  innumerable  castes  and  sects, 
which  worshipped  their  cvvn  idols.  This  abase  of  idolatry  and 
caste  struck  every  traveller  as  the  peculiar  characteristic  of  the 
country,  and  gave  them  offence.  The  practice  of  self-immolation 
or  Sati,  and  of  human  sacrifices  to  idols  by  being  crushed  over 
by  the  temple  car  are  also  mentioned.  Finally,  we  have  the 
testimony  of  the  Emperor  Babar  who  in  his  memoirs  thus 
describes  this  country  : — "  Hiudusthan  is  a  country  which 
has  few  things  to  recommend.  The  people  aro  not  handsome. 
They  have  no  idea  of  the  charms  of  friendly  society  or  of  freely 
mixing  together  in  familiar  intercourse.  They  have  no  genius, 
no  comprehension  of  mind,  no  politeness  of  manner?,  110  kind- 
ness or  fellow-feeling,  no  ingenuity  or  mechanical  invention 
in  planning  and  executing  their  handicraft  work,  no  skill 
or  knowledge  in  design  or  architecture.  They  have  no  good 
horses,  no  good  flesh,  no  good  grapes  or  musk-melons,  no  good 
fruits,  no  cold  water  or  ice,  no  goocL  food  or  bread  in  their 
bazaars,  no  baths,  no  colleges,  no  candles,  not  even  a  candle-stick. 
They  have  no  aqueducts  or  c.'iuala,  no  gardens,  and  no  palaces; 
ia  their  buildings  they  study  neither  elegance  nor  climate,  not* 


116  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

appearance  nor  regularity.  Their  peasants  and  lower  classes 
all  go  about  naked  tying  on  only  u  lanyoti.  The  women  too 
have  only  a  lany."  The  only  good  points  which  Babar  could 
find  in  favour  of  Hindus tliaji  were  that  it  IB  a  large  country,  and 
has  abundance  of  gold  and  silver,  and  there  is  also  an  abundance 
of  workmen  of  every  profession  and  trade  for  any  work  and 
employment. 

Such  was  the  picture  presented  to  the  Mabomedans  when 
they  entered  India  through  the  passes  in  successive  hordes  for 
three  or  f our  centuries.  A  great  portion  of  the  disgust  and 
disappointment  felt  by  these  Mahomedan  invaders  may  be  set 
down  to  ignorance  and  the  pride  of  race.  At  the  same  time, 
it  is  a  I  way  si  of  advantage  to  know  exactly  how  India  appeared 
in  its  strong  and  weak  points  to  intelligent  foreigners,  such  as 
those  we  luj,ve  mentioned  above.  The  question  for  consideration 
to  us  at  the' 'present  moment  is,  whether  in  consequence  of  the 
predominance  of  the  Mahomedans  for  five  centuries  which 
intervened  from  the  invasions  of  Mahamad  to  the  ascendancy 
of  Akbar,  tlui  people  of  India  were  benefitted  by  the  contact 
thus  forcibly  brought  together  between  the  two  races.  There 
are  those  among  us  who  think  that  this  predominance  lias  led 
to  the  decay  and  corruption  of  the  Indian  character,  and  that 
the  whole  H tor / of  the  Mahomedan  ascendancy  should  for  all 
practical  purposes,  be  regarded  as  a  period  of  humiliation 
and  sorrow.  Such  a  view  however  appears  to  be  unsupported 
by  any  correct  appreciation  of  the  forces  which  work  for  the 
elevation  or  depression  of  nations.  It  can  not  be  easily  assumed 
that  hi  God's  Providence,  such  vast  multitudes  as  those  who 
inhabit  India  were  placed  centuries  together  under  influences 
and  restraints  of  alien  domination,  unless  such  influences  and 
restraints  were  calculated  to  do  lasting  service  in  the  building 
up  of  the  strength  and  character  of  the  people  in*  directions  in 
which  the  Indian  races  were  most  deficient.  Of  one  thin? 
we  are  certain,  that  afber  lasting  over  five  hundred  years,  the 
Mahomedan  Empire  gave  way,  and  made  room  for  the  re  estab- 
lishment of  the  old  native  races  in  Punjab)  and  throughout  Cen- 
tral Hind  us  than  and  Southern  India,  on  foundations  of  a  much 
more  solid  character  than  those  which  yielded  so  easily  before 


IL]         Mr,.  JUSTICE  HANADE'B  SPEECHES.        117 

the  assaults  of  tho  early  Mahomeclun  conquerors  The  domina- 
tion therefore  had  not  the  effect  of  MO  depress  ing  the  people 
that  they  were  unable  to  raise  their  heads  agtiin  in  greater 
solidarity.  If  the  Indian  races  had  not  beneGtted  by  the 
contact  and  example  of  men  with  stronger  muscles  and  greater 
powers,  they  would  have  never  been  able  to  reassert  them- 
selves in  the  way  in  which  history  bears  testimony  they  did. 

Quite  independently  of  this  evidence  of  -this  broad  change 
that  took  place  in  the  early  part,  of  the  eighteenth  century 
when  the  Mogul  empire  went  to  piece?,  and  its  place  was 
taken  up  not  by  foreign  settlers,  but  by  revived  native  powers, 
we  have  more  convincing  grounds  to  show  thut  in  a  hundred 
ways  the  India  of  the  18th  century,  so  far  as  the  native  races 
were  concerned,  was  a  stronger  and  better  constituted  India  than 
met  the  eyes  of  the  foieign  travellers  from  Asia  and  Europe 
who  visited  it  between  the  period  of  the  first  five  centuries  from 
1000  to  1500.  In  Akbar's  time  this  process  of  regenerate  India 
first  assumed  a  decided  character  which  could  not  be  well  mis- 
taken. No  btudent  of  Akbar's  reign  will  fail  to  notice  that  for 
the  first  time  the  conception  was  then  realized  of  a  united 
India  in  which  Hindus  and  Mahomedans,  such  of  them  as 
had  become  permanently  established  m  the  country,  were  to 
take  part  in  the  building  of  an  edifice  rooted  in  the  hearts  of 
both  by  common  interests  and  common  ambitions.  Jn 
place  of  the  scorn  and  contempt  with  which  the  Mahonaedan 
invader*  had  regarded  the  religion  of  tho  Hindus,  their 
forms  of  worship,  their  manners  and  customs,  and  the 
Hindus  looked  down  upon  them  as  barbarous  Mlenchas,  whose 
touch  was  pollution,  a  better  appreciation  of  the  good  points  in 
the  character  of  both  came  to  be  recognized  as  the  basis  of  the 
union.  Akbar  was  the  first  to  see  and  realize  the  true  nobility 
of  soul  and  the  devotion  and  fidelity  of  the  Hindu  character, 
and  satisfied  himself  that  no  union  was  possible  as  long  as  the 
old  bigotry  and  fanaticism  was  allowed  to  guide  the  councils 
of  the  Empire.  He  soon  gathered  about  him  the  best  men  of 
his  time,  men  like  Faizi,  Abul  Fazel  and  their  Father  Mubarak, 
the  historians  Mirza  Abdul  Rabirn,  Nizamuddin  Ahmed, 
Badauni  and  ethers.  These  were  eet  to  work  upon  the  trans- 


118  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REffOUtt.  [PART 

latiou    of  the  Hindu  epics  and  Sbastras    and    books   of   science 
and  philosophy.     The  pride  of  the  Rajput  races  was  conciliated 
by  taking  in  marriage,  the  princesses   of   Jaipur   and  Jodhpur, 
and  by  conferring  equal  or  superior  commands  on  those  princes. 
These  latter  had  been  hitherto  treated  0s  enemies,     They  weru 
now  welcomed  as  the  props  of  the  Empire,  and  Maharaja  Bhag- 
vaudan,  his  great  nephew  Mansingh  for  some  time  Governor  of 
Bengal  and  Kabul,  Raja  To  da  mm  I  and  the  Brahmin  companion 
of  the  EiMperor  Unja  Birbal,  these  were  welcomed  to  court,  and 
trusted  in  the   full  consciousness  that  their    interests  were  the 
8 am o  aH  those  o f  the  Musalman  noblemen^     The  Emperor  him- 
i*elf  guided  by  such  counsel    of    his    Hindu    and    Mahomedan 
nobles,  became  the  real  founder  of   the  union   between  the  two 
races,  and  this  policy  for  a  hundred  years*  guided  and  swayed  the 
councils  of  the  empire.  A  fusion  of  the  two   races  was    sought  to 
be  made  firmer  still  by  the  establishment  of  a  religion  of  the 
Din-i-ilahi   in  which    the  best   points  both  of  the  Mahomedan, 
Hindu,  and  other  faith?  were  sought  to  be  incorporated.     In- 
vidious taxation   and  privileges    were  done    away   with,  and 
toleration  for  all  faiths  became  the  universal  law  of  the  Empire. 
To  conciliate  his  subjects,  Akbar  abjured  the  use  of  flesh  except 
on  four   special    occasions    in  the   year,    and  he    joined    in  the 
religious  rites  observed   by    his  Hindu    Queens.     In   regard  to 
the  purtic'jlar  customs  of   the  people   relating  to    points  where 
natural  humanity  was  shocked  in  a  way  to  make  union  impossi- 
ble, Akbar  strove   by   wise   encouragement   and   stern   control 
where  necessary,  to  help  the  growth  of  better  ideas.     Sati  was 
virtually   abolished   by   being  placed    under  restraints    which 
nobody  could    iind  fault  with.     Re -marriage  was  encouraged, 
and  marriage  before  puberty  was   prohibited.     In  these   and  a 
hundred  other  ways,  the  fusion  of    the  races  and  of  their  many 
faiths  was   sought  to  be   accomplished   with   a  success    which 
was  justified  by  the  results  for  a  hundred  years.    This  process 
of  removing  all  causes  of  friction  find  establishing  accord  went, 
on  without  interruption  during  the   reigns  of  Akbar,   Jahangir 
and  Shahajahan.     Shahajahan's   eldest    son    Dara    Sbeko  was 
himself   an   author   of   no    mean   repute.     He   translated    the 
Ujjaniehads,  and  wrote  a  work  in  which  he  sought  to  reconcile 


IT.]         MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.        110 

the  Brahmin  religion  with  the  Mahomedan  faith.  He  died  in 
1659.  This  period  of  a  hundred  years  may  be  regarded  as  the 
halcyon  period  of  Indian  history  when  the  Hindu  nnd  Maho- 
medan races  acted  in  full  accord.  If  in  place  of  Aurangzeb, 
Dara  Slieko  hud  succeeded  to  power  as  the  eldest  son  of  Shaha- 
jahan,  the  influences  set  on  foot  by  the  genius  of  Akbar  would 
have  gathered  strength,  and  possibly  averted  the  collapse  of 
the  Mogul  power  for  another  century.  This  was  however  not  to 
be  so,  and  with  Aurangzeb's  ascent  to  the  throne,  a  change  of 
system  commenced  which  gathered  force  during  the  long  time 
that  this  Kmperor  reigned.  Even  Aurnngzob  had  however  to 
follow  the  traditions  of  his  three  predecessors.  He  could  not 
dispense  with  Jaising  or  Jaswantsing  who  were  his  principal 
military  commanders.  In  the  reign  of  his  son,  whole  provin- 
ces under  him  weie  governed  by  Rajput,  Kayasthu  nnd  other 
Governors.  The  revival  of  fanatic  bigotry  was  kept  in  check 
by  the  presence  of  these  great  Rajput  chiefs,  one  of  whom  on 
the  reim position  of  the  zezia  addressed  to  the  Kmperor  a  protest, 
couched  in  unmistakable  terms  that  the  (.loci  of  Islam  was  also 
the  God  of  the  Hindus,  and  the  subjects  of  both  races  merited 
equal  treatment,  Aurangzeb  unfortunately  did  not  listen  to 
this  ml  vice,  and  the  result  was  that  tho  empire  built  by  Akbar 
went  to  pieces  even  when  Aurangazeb  was  alive.  No  one  was 
more  aware  of  his  failure  than  Auranga/eb  himself,  who  in  his 
last*  moments  admitted  that  l:is  whole  life  was  a  mistake. 
The  Marathas  in  the  South,  the  Sikhs  in  the  North,  and  tho 
Rajput  states  helped  in  the  dismemberment  of  the  empire  in 
the  reigns  of  his  immediate  successors  with  the  result  that 
nearly  the  whole  of  India  was  restored  to  its  native  Hindu 
sovereigns  except  Bengal,  Ondh,  and  the  Deccan  Hyderabad. 
It  will  be  seen  from  r.his  that  so  far  from  suffering  from  decay 
nnd  corruption,  the  native  races  gathered  strength  by  reason  of 
the  Mahomedan  rule  when  it  was  directed  by  the  wise  counsel 
of  those  Mahomedan  and  Hindu  statesmen  who  sought  the 
weal  of  the  country  by  a  policy  of  toleration  and  equality. 
Since  the  time  of  Ashoka,  the  element  of  strength  born  of 
union  was  wanting  in  the  old  Hindu  dynasties  who  succumbed 
ao  easily  to  the  >Iahorneda,n  invaders, 


INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

Besides  this  source  of  strength,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that- 
in  a  linndred  other  ways  the  Mahometan  domination  helped  to 
refine  the   tastes    and    manners   of    the  Hindus.     The   art  of 
Government  was  better  understood    by  the   Mahoraedans  than 
by  the  old  Hindu  sovereigns.     The    art  of  war  also   wus  singu- 
larly defective  till  the    Mahomedans    came.     They   brought  in 
the  use  of  gunpowder   and    artillery.     In  the  words   of  Bahnr, 
they  "  taught  ingenuity  and  mechanical  invention  in  a  number 
of  handicraft  art*,"  the  very  nomenclature  of  which  being  made 
up   of    non-Hindu    words,  shows     their    foreign    origin.     They 
introduced  candles,  paper,  glass,  and  house-hold  furniture  and 
saddlery.     They   improved    the    knowledge   of    the  people  in 
music,    instrumental    and  vocal,  medicine    and    astronomy,  arid 
their  example  wns  Followed  by  the  Hindus  in  the  perversions  of 
both  these  sciences,  ,-ishology,  and  alchemy.     Geography   and 
history  were  first  made  possible  departments  of  knowledge  and 
literature    by  their   example.     They   made   roads,    aqueducts, 
canals,  caravansaries,  and  the  post  office,  and  introduced  the  best 
specimens   of  architecture,  arid    improved  our  gardening,    and 
made  us  acquainted  with  a  taste  of  new  fruits  and  flowers.    The 
revenue  system  /is  inaugurated  by  Toduri"^'1  in  Akbar's  time  is 
the  basis  of  the  revenue   system  up   to  t;aireresent  dny.     They 
carried  on  the  entire  commerce  by  sea  w^uw^Mant  regions,  and 
made  India  feel    I  hat  it  was    a  portion  ^atti\uv  inhabited  world 
with  relations    with    all,  and    not  cut   6ii  frum    all  social  inter- 
course.    In    all  these  respects,    the    civilisation   of  the  united 
Hindu  and  Moslem  powers  represented  by  the  Moguls  at  Delhi, 
was  a  distinct    advance    beyond    whnl.  was    possible    before  the 
tenth  century  of  the  Christian  era. 

More  lusting  benefits  have  however  accrued  by  this  contact 
in  the  higher  tone  it  has  given  to  the  religion  and  thoughts  of 
the  people.  In  this  respect,  both  the  Mahomedans  and  Hindus 
benefited  by  contact  with  one  another.  As  regards  the  Maho- 
medans, their  own. historians  admit  that  the  Sufi  heresy  gathered 
strength  from  contact  with  the  Hindu  teachers,  and  made  many 
Mahomedans  believe  in  transmigration  and  in  the  final  union  of 
the  soul  with  the  supreme  spirit.  The  Moborrura  festival  and 
eajnt  worship  are  the  best  evidence  of  the  way  in  which  the 


ir.]        3fn.    JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.        121 

Mahometans  were  influenced  by  Hindu  ideas.  We  are  more 
directly  concerned  with  the  way  in  which  this  contact  has 
affected  the  Hindus.  The  prevailing  tone  of  pantheism  had 
established  a  toleration  for  polytheism  among  our  most  revered 
ancient  teachers  who  rested  content  with  separating  the  few 
from  the  many,  and  established  no  bridge  between  them.  This 
separation  of  the  old  religion  has  prevented  its  higher  precepts 
from  becoming  the  common  possession  of  whole  races.  Under 
the  purely  Hindu  system,  the  intellect  may  admit,  but  the  heart 
declines  to  allow  a  common  platform  to  all  people  in  the  sight 
of  God,  The  Vaishnava  movement  however  has  succeeded  in 
establishing  the  bridge  noted  above,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt, 
that  in  the  hands  of  the  followers  of  Kamananda,  especially  the 
Kabirpanthis,  Malikdasis,  Dadupanthis,  the  followers  of  Mira- 
bjii,  of  Lord  Gauranga  on  the  Bengal  side,  and  Baba  Nanak  in 
Punjab  in  the  fifteenth  and  the  sixteenth  centuries,  the 
followers  of  Tukaram,  Ekanath  and  Namdev  in  the  Deccan, 
Babalalin,  Prauanathis,  Sadhs,  the  Satnamis,  the  Shiva- 
Narayans  and  the  followers  of  Mahant  Rama  Charan  of  the 
last  two  centuries — this  elevation  and  the  purification  of  the 
Hindu  mind  wns  accomplished  to  an  extent  which  very  few  at 
the  present  moment  realise  in  all  its  significance.  The 
B  rah  mo  and  the  Arya  Samnj  movements  of  this  century  are 
the  continuations  of  this  ethical  and  spiritual  growth.  Caste, 
idolatry,  polytheism  and  gross  conceptions  of  purity  and  pollu- 
tion were  the  precise  points  in  which  the  Mahomedans  and  the 
Hindus  were  most  opposed  to  one  another,  and  all  the  sects 
named  above  bad  this  general  characteristic  that  they  were 
opposed  to  these  defects  in  the  character  of  our  people.  Nanak's 
watch  ward  was  that  he  was  neither  Hindu  nor  Mahomedan, 
but  that  he  was  a  worshipper  of  the  Nirakar  or  the  formless. 
His  first  companion  was  a  Mahomedan,  and  his  teacher  1*9  said 
to  Lave  been  also  a  Mahomedan.  Lord  Gmaranga  had- also 
Mahomedan  disciples.  Mahomedan  saints  like  Shaik  Mahomed, 
Shaik  Farid  and  Mahomed  Kazi  were  respected  both  by  Hindas 
and  Mahomedans.  The  abuses  of  polytheism  were  checked  by 
the  devotion  to  one  object  of  worship  which  in  the  case  of  many 
of  these  Vaishnava  Sects  was  supreme  God,  the  Paramatma, 
16 


122  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

and  the  abases  of  caste  were  controlled  by  conceding  to  all, 
Hindus  and  Ma  ho  me  dan  a  alike,  the  right  to  worship  and  love 
the  one  God  who  was  the  God  of  all. 

In  the  case  of  the  Sikhs,  the  puritanic  spirit  even  develop- 
ed under  persecution,  into  a  coarse  imitation  of  the  Mahomedan 
fanaticism  directed  against  the  Mahomedans  themselves ;  but 
in  the  case  of  the  other  sectaries,  both  old  and  new,  the  tolerant 
and  the  suffering  spirit  of  Vaiahnavism  has  prevailed,  breathing 
peace  and  good- will  towards  all. 

Such  are  the  chief  features  of  the  influences  resulting  from 
the  contact  of  Mahomedans  and  Hindus  in  Northern  India. 
They  brought  about  a  fusion  of  thoughts  and  ideas  which  bene- 
fit ted  both  communities,  making  the  Mahomedans  less  bigoted, 
and  the  Hindus  more  puritanic  and  more  single-minded  in  their 
devotion.  There  was  nothing  like  this  to  be  found  in  Southern 
India  as  described  by  Dubois  where  the  Hindu  sectarian  spirit 
intensified  caste  pride  and  idolatrous  observances.  The  fusion 
would  have  boon  more  complete  but  for  the  revival  of  fanaticism 
for  which  Aurangzeb  must  be  held  chiefly  responsible.  Owing 
to  this  circumstance,  the  work  of  fusion  was  left  incomplete  ; 
and  in  the  course  of  years,  both  the  communities  1m re  develop- 
ed weaknesses  of  a  character  which  still  need  the  disciplining 
process  to  be  continued  for  a  longer  time  under  other  masters. 
Both  Hindus  and  Mahomedans  lack  many  of  those  virtues 
represented  by  tho  love  of  order  and  regulated  authority.  Both 
are  wanting  in  the  love  of  Municipal  freedom,  in  the  exercise 
of  virtues  necessary  for  Civic  life,  and  in  aptitudes  for  mecha- 
nical skill,  in  the  love  of  science  and  research,  in  the  love  and 
daring  and  adventurous  discovery,  the  resolution  to  master 
difficulties,  and  in  chivalrous  respect  for  womankind.  Neither 
the  old  Hindu  nor  the  old  Mahomedan  civilisation  was  in  a 
condition  to  train  these  virtues  in  a  way  to  bring  up  the 
races  of  India  on  a  level  with  those  of  Western  Europe,  and  so 
the  work  of  .education  had  to  be  renewed,  and  it  has  been  now 
going  on  for  the  past  century  and  more  under  the  pax  brittanica 
with  results — which  all  of  us  are  witnesses  to  in  ourselves. 

If  the  lessons  of  the  past  have  any  value,  one  thing  is  quite 
clear,  viz.,  that  in  this  vast  country  no  progress  is  possible 


ii.]        MR.  JtttiTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.        123 

unless  both  Hindus  and  Mahomedans  join   hands  together,  and 
are  determined  to  follow  the  lead  of  the  men  who  flourished  in 
Akbar's  time  and   were  his  chief    advisers   and    councillors, 
and  sedulously  avoid  the   mistakes    which  were  committed  by 
his  great-grandson  Aurungzeb.     Joint   action    from  u   sense  of 
common    interest,    and    a    common    desire     to     bring     about 
the    fusion  of   the    thoughts   and    feelings   of   men    so   as   to 
tolerate  small  differences  and  bring  about  concord — these  were 
the   chief   aims    kept    in    view     by     Akbar    and    formed    the 
principle     of    the   new     divine      faith      formulated     in     tho 
J)in-i-ilahi.     Every  effort  on  the    part  of   either  Hindus  or  Ma- 
homedans to  regard  their   interests    as  separated  and   distinct, 
and  every  attempt   made   by   the    two   communities  to   create 
separate  schools  and   interests  n.'nong   themselves,    and   not  to 
heal  up  the   wounds   inflicted  by   mutual   hatred    of  caste  and 
creed,  must  be  deprecated  on  all  lumds.     It  is  to  be  feared  that 
this  lesson  has  not  been  sufficiently  kept  in  mind  by  the  leaders 
of  both  communities  in  their  struggle   for   existence  and  in  the 
acquisition  of  power   and   predominance   during   recent    years. 
There  is  at  times  a   great  danger  of  the  work  of  Akbar    being 
undone  by  losing  sight  of  this  great  lesson  which  the   history 
of  his  reign  and  that  of  his  two   successors  is  so  well  calculated 
bo  teach.     The  Conference  which  brings  us  together  is  especial- 
ly intended  for  the  propagation  of  this  *  din  "  or  '  Dharma,'  and 
it  is  in  connection  with  that    message   chiefly  that  I  have  ven- 
tured to  speak  to  you  to-day   on  this    important  subject.     The 
ills  that  we  are  suffering  from  are  most  of  them,  self -inflicted  evils, 
the  cure  of    which  is  to  a  large  extent  in  our  own  hands.     Look- 
ing at  the  series  of  measures   which  Akbar  adopted  in  his  time 
to  cure  these  evils,  one  feels    how  correct    was  his  vision  when 
he  and  his  advisers  put  their  hand  on  those  very  defects  in  our 
national  character  which  need  to    be  remedied  first   before  we 
venture  on  higher  enterprises.     Pursuit  of  high  ideas,  mutual 
sympathy  and  co-operation,  perfect  tolerance,  a  correct  under- 
standing of  the  diseases  from  which  the  body  politic  is  suffering, 
and  an  earuest  desire  to   apply  suitable   remedies — this    is  the 
work  cut  out  for  the   present   generation.     The  awakening  has 
commenced,  as  is  witnessed  by  the  fact  that  we  are  met  io  this 


124  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

place  from  such  distances  for  joint  consultation  and  action. 
All  that  is  needed  in  bbai  we  must  put  our  hands  to  the  plough, 
and  face  the  strife  and  the  struggle.  The  success  already 
achieved  warrants  the  expectation  that  if  we  persevere  on  right 
lines,  the  goal  we  have  in  view  may  be  attained.  That  goal  is 
not  any  particular  advantage  to  be  gained  in  power  and  wealth. 
It  is  represented  by  the  efforts  to  attain  if,  the  expansion  and 
the  evolution  of  the  heart  and  the  mind,  which  will  make  us 
stronger  and  braver,  purer  and  truer  men.  This  is  at  least  the 
lesson  1  draw  from  our  more  recent  history  of  the  past  thousand 
years,  and  if  those  centuries  have  rolled  away  to  no  purpose 
over  our  heads,  our  cause  is  no  doubt  hopeless  beyond  cure. 
That  is  however  not  the  faith  in  me  ;  and  I  feel  sure  it  is  not 
the  faith  that  moves  you  in  this  great  struggle  ngainst 
our  own  weak  selves,  than  which  nothing  is  more  fatal  to 
our  individual  and  collective  growth.  Doth  Hindus  and 
Mahomedans  have  their  work  cut  out  in  this  struggle. 
In  the  backwardness  of  female  education,  in  the  disposi- 
tion to  over-leap  the  bounds  of  their  own  religion,  in  matters 
of  temperance,  in  their  internal  dissensions  between  castes 
and  creeds,  in  the  indulgence  of  impure  speech,  thought, 
and  action  OIL  occasions  when  they  are  disposed  to  enjoy  them- 
selves, in  the  abuses  of  many  customs  in  regard  to  unequal  and 
polygamous  marriflges,  in  the  desire  to  be  extravagant  in  their 
expenditure  on  such  occasions,  in  the  neglect  of  regulated  cha- 
rity, in  the  decay  of  public  spirit  in  insisting  on  the  proper 
management  of  endowments, — in  these  and  other  matters  both 
communities  are  equal  sinners,  and  there  is  thus  much  ground 
for  improvement  on  common  lines.  Of  course,  the  Hindus  be- 
ing by  far  the  majority  of  the  population,  have  other  difficulties 
of  their  own  to  combat  with  ;  and  they  are  trying  in  their  ga- 
therings of  separate  castes  and  communities  to  remedy  them 
each  in  their  own  way.  But  without  co-operation  and  conjoint 
action  of  all  communities,  success  is  not  possible,  and  it  is  on 
that  account  that  the  general  Conference  is  held  iu  different 
places  each  year  to  rouse  local  interest,  and  help  people  in  their 
se  par  a  he  efforts  by  a  knowledge  of  what  their  friends  similarly 
situated  are  doing  iu  other  party.  This  is  the  reason  of  our 


li.]        MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'8  SPEECHES.        12o 

meeting- here,  and  I  trast  that  this  message  I  li  a  vo  attempted  to 
deliver  to  yon  on  tliis  occasion  will  satisfy  you  that  \vo  cannot 
conceive  a  nobler  work  than  i lie  one  for  which  we  have  met 
here  to-day. 


The  Bombay  Social  Conference— Satara  — 19OO. 

As  President  of  the  First  Hombay  Provincial  Social  Con- 
ference held  at  Satara  in  May  1900,  the  Hon'ble  Sir.  Justice 
Ranade  delivered  the  following  inaugural  address:  — 

GENTLEMEN, — The  idea  of  holding  periodical  gatherings  in 
each  Presidency  for  the  discussion  of  provincial  matters  of 
public  interests  is  a  legitimate  offshoot  of  the  great  national 
gatherings  which  have  now  become  an  institution  of  the  land, 
This  year  these  gatherings  have  been  held  in  all  the  thiee 
Presidencies,  and  it  is  obvious  that  this  success  indicates  a 
healthy  growth  of  public  sentiment.  In  the  Madras  Presidency, 
the  political  gatherings  in  that  Province  have  always  been 
accompanied  by  the  friends  of  social  reform  utilising  the  occa- 
sion, on  the  analogy  of  the  great  national  gatherings  of  the 
Congress  and  the  Conference  to  meet  together,  for  the  discus- 
sion of  social  subjects,  and  though  hitherto  in  the  political 
Conferences  held  in  this  Presidency,  it  has  not  been  found 
possible  to  follow  this  example,  it  is  a  matter  of  great  satisfac- 
tion to  find  that  our  Satara  friends  have  realised  the  necessity 
of  supplementing  the  work  of  the  political  Conference  by  invit- 
ing the  friends  of  social  reform  to  come  together  and  take  stock 
of  our  gains  and  losses  in  the  social  sphere  of  our  activities. 
Owing  to  the  circumstances  under  which  this  work  had  to  be 
undertaken  at  Satara,  we  have  had  to  content  ourselves  with 
a  very  brief  programme,  but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  seed 
sown  to-day  will  bear  a  rich  fruit  hereafter. 

ADVANTAGE  OF  SDC1I  (IATHERINGS. 

1  know  there  are  those  among  us  who  see  no  advantage 
in  holding  local  or  national  gatherings  of  this  sort  for  the 
consideration  of  social  topics.  There  are  others  who  think 
'that  though  ouch  gatherings  may  have  their  used,  they  should 


126  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

not  be  joined  together  in  place  and  time  with  the  political 
meeting,  as  they  only  serve  to  detract  the  attention  of  the 
workers,  and  lead  to  no  practical  results.  It  may  be  of  uso  to 
attempt  a  brief  reply  to  both  these  objections. 

As  regards  the  first  difficulty,  it  seems  to  me  to  arise 
from  a  confusion  of  ideas,  which  is  very  prejudicial  to  the 
right  appreciation  of  our  duties,  both  in  the  political  and 
social  sphere.  The  underlying  assumption  is  that  in  politics, 
our  duties  consist  chiefly  in  stating  our  wants  and  grievances 
to  strangers  who  have  been  placed  by  Providence  in  command 
over  us,  and  who  aro  ill-informed  about  our  real  condition. 
Politics  in  this  sense  means  simply  formulating  claims  for  gifts 
or  favours  which  require  no  other  action  on  our  part  ;  while 
in  the  social  sphere,  our  duties  lie  more  exclusively  with 
the  regulation  of  our  own  actions,  in  which  outside  help  is  not 
needed  for  guidance  or  control.  As  I  understand  it,  this 
distinction  between  the  two  spheres  of  our  activities  is  based 
on  a  radical  mistake.  The  integrity  of  any  human  being  cannot 
be  broken  up  into  separate  spheres  of  activities  of  the  sort 
contemplated  by  those  who  raise  this  objection.  For  the  sake 
of  convenience,  you  may  say  that  the  rose  has  its  beauty 
and  its  fragrance,  bat  you  can  no  more  separate  the  fragrance 
from  the  beauty,  and  any  attempt  to  do  it  can  only  end 
in  the  destruction  of  both.  What  is  true  of  the  individual, 
is  true  of  the  collections  of  individuals,  whom  we  may  call 
by  any  name,  tribe,  class,  or  community.  These  communities 
are  organisations,  and  you  can  no  more  separate  the  activities, 
except  provisionally,  and  for  the  time.  Every  little  village 
in  our  land,  however  poor  it  may  be,  has  its  temple  and  its 
'*  chowdi,"  its  resting  place,  and  watering  place,  and  every 
town  or  city  must  have  its  township  or  civic  life  made  up  of  in- 
terests which  are  not  wholly  political,  not  exclusively  social,  or 
religious,  or  commercial.  The  shops  and  the  bazaars,  the  tern- 
pies  and  the  theatres,  the  schools  and  the  hospitals,  the  courts 
and  the  barracks,  the  young  and  the  old,  the  men  and  the  women, 
the  poor  and  the  rich— it  is  this  variety  and  concourse  which 
constitute  the  interest  of  village,  town  and  city  life.  Some  may 
rule,  others  obey  ;  some  may  advise,  others  follows  ;  but  the  dis- 


IT.]        Mn.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.      127 

tinction  is  only  provincial,  and  not  iii  the  nature  of  things. 
You  cannot  even  build  a  house  of  your  own  where  you  do  not 
keep  a  place  for  strangers,  or  the  way-farer.  You  have  to  pro. 
vide  for  the  God's  place  of  worship,  a  place  where  the  thirsty, 
hungry  and  the  sick  have  to  be  cared,  and  there  is  no  man  co 
poor  and  BO  selfish  that  he  does  not  share  in  all  these  varied  in- 
terests  and  recognise  their  claims.  Kach  concern  has  to  he 
attended  to  in  its  own  time,  and  in  its  own  way,  hut  it  is  the 
whole  collection  which  makes  it  a  human  interest.  What  in 
trne  in  our  private  concern  is  equally  true  of  our  public  life. 
Politics  is  not  merely  petitioning  and  memoruliaing  for  gifts  and 
favours.  Gifts  and  favours  are  of  no  value  unless  we  have  deserv- 
ed the  concessions  by  our  own  elevation  and  our  own  struggles. 
u  You  shall  live  by  the  sweat  of  your  brow  "  is  not  the  curse 
pronounced  on  man,  but  the  very  conditions,  his  existence  and 
growth.  Whether  in  the  political,  or  social  or  religious,  or 
commerical,  or  manufacturing  or  epsthetical  spheres,  in  litera- 
ture, in  science,  in  art,  in  war,  in  peace,  it  is  the  individual  and 
collective  man  who  has  to  develope  his  powers  by  his  own 
exertions  in  conquering  the  difficulties  in  his  way.  If  he  is 
down  for  the  time,  he  has  to  get  up  with  the  whole  of  his 
strength  physical,  moral  and  intellectual,  and  you  may  as  well 
suppose  that  he  can  develope  one  of  those  elements  of  strength 
and  neglect  the  others,  or  try  to  separate  the  light  from  the 
heat  of  the  aun  or  the  beauty  and  fragrance  from  the  rose. 
You  cannot  have  a  good  social  system  when  you  find  yourself 
low  in  the  scale  of  political  rights,  nor  can  you  be  fit  to  exer- 
cise political  rights  and  privileges  unless  your  social  system  is 
based  on  reason  and  justice.  You  cannot  have  a  good  economi- 
cal system  when,  your  social  arrangements  are  imperfect.  If 
your  religious  ideals  are  low  and  grovelling,  you  cannot  succeed 
in  social,  economical  or  political  spheres.  This  inter-depend* 
ance  is  not  an  accident,  but  is  the  law  of  our  nature.  Like 
the  members  of  our  body,  yon  cannot  have  strength  in  the 
hands  and  the  feet  if  your  internal  organs  are  in  disorder ; 
what  applies  to  the  human  body  holds  good  of  the  collective 
humanity,  we  call  the  society,  or  state.  It  is  a  mistaken  view 
which  divorces  considerations,  political  from  social  and  econo- 


128  TNDTAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

mica),  and  no  man  can  be  said  to  realise  bis  duty  in   one  aspect 
who  neglects  bis  duties  in  the  other  directions. 

THE  FAMING  CRISIS. 

As  an  example,  the  present  crisis  of  the  famine  may  well 
be  considered.  If  onr  social  arrangements  were  as  perfect 
as  they  might  be  made,  half  the  terrors  of  famine  would 
vanish,  and  the  political  problem  would  be  much  simpli- 
fied. There  is  no  question  which  ia  purely  political  any 
more  than  social,  or  economical,  or  even  religious  and  they  make 
a  fatal  mistake  who  suppose  that  these  are  separate  depart- 
ments in  our  composite  nature.  The  same  forethought,  the 
same  resolution,  the  same  historical  spirit,  the  same  compara- 
tive scrutiny  and  the  name  strenuous  endeavours  are  needed,  in 
all  the  spheres  of  onr  activity  and,  therefore,  it  will  not  do  for 
us  to  say  that  in  politics,  our  duties  are  clear,  but  not  so  in 
other  spheres.  The  whole  man  has  to  be  developed  and  perfect- 
ed for  his  own  advantage  and  the  glory  of  God,  and  it  is  only 
a  conception  like  this  which  can  strengthen  our  efforts,  and 
crewn  them  with  real  success.  It  is  on  this  account  that  when 
we  take  stock  of  our  wants,  our  mind  must  be  open  on  all  sides  ; 
the  eyes  must  see  and  the  ears  hear,  the  bands  move,  and  the 
feet  support.  This  can  only  be  done  by  our  devoting  attention 
to  all  claims.  Owing  to  our  difficulties  of  every  day  life  of  toil 
and  sorrow,  we  cannot  always  find  time  for  all  things.  When 
we  therefore  meet  for  one  purpose,  of  taking  thought  of  our 
political  condition,  that  is  just  the  time  when  we  have  the 
spirit  of  unselfish  devotion  stirred  up  in  us  to  approach  our  in- 
ternal man  in  its  most  tender  moments,  and  there  is  an  obvious 
convenience  in  seeking  to  utilise  the  advantages  of  time,  place, 
company,  and  the  enthusiasm  which  springs  from  association 
with  equals,  and  yon  will  thus  see  why  the  Congress  and  Con- 
ference gatherings  have  been  joined  together.  If  I  had  the 
choice,  we  should  long  since  have  added  other  spheres  of  work 
so  as  to  make  the  national  gathering  really  national  in  name 
and  aims.  The  claims  of  some  kind  of  work  might  be  more 
absorbing  than  those  of  others,  but  each  roust  hava  its  time  and 
place  and  proportional  attention  devoted  to  it,  and  I  am  glad  to 


ii.]        MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.        120 

see  that  these  considerations  have  weighed  with  our  friends  in 
inviting-  us  to  this  gathering  at  Satara  on  the  present  occasion. 
But  it  may  be  said  that  our  social  fabric  is  not  the  work  of  hu- 
man hands  like  the  political  institutions  under  which  we  live, 
and  that  in  regard  to  these  social  customs,  the  law  has  been 
laid  down  from  time  immemorial,  and  wo  have  only  to  follow  it, 
and  it  is  not  for  us  to  attempt  changes  to  suit  our  exigencies. 
This  is  another  oE  those  misconceptions  for  which  there  seems 
to  be  no  excuse  except  a  false  pride,  which  makes  us  cherish 
dangerous  delusions.  As  .1  matter  of  fact,  the  social  arrange- 
ments at  present  are  admittedly  not  those  for  which  we  can 
plead  the  sanction  of  the  great  law-givers  whose  mimes  we 
revere  in  lip  worship,  but  whose  behests  wo  disobey  at  every 
step.  Most  of  the  customs  which  we  now  profess  to  follow  run 
counter  to  the  practices  observed  in  the  old  times  when  the  in- 
stitutes were  written.  The  dependent  status  of  women,  the 
customary  limits  of  the  ago  of  marriage,  the  prohibition  of 
marriage  to  widows  in  the  higher  castes,  the  exclusive  confine- 
ment of  marriage  to  one's  own  division  of  the  sub-castes  into 
which  the  country  has  been  split  up,  the  ignorance  and  seclusion 
of  women,  the  appropriation  of  particular  castes  to  particular 
professions,  the  prohibition  to  foreign  travel,  the  inequalities 
made  by  the  license  en  joyed  by  men  and  the  abstentions  enforced 
on  women,  the  jealous  isolation  in  matters  of  social  intercourse 
an  regards  food,  and  even  touch,  indiscriminate  charity  to  certain 
castes,  for  all  these,  and  many  more  alienations  from  the  old 
standards,  you  cannot  hold  the  old  law-giver  responsible. 
They  are  the  work  of  human  hands,  concessions  made  to  weak- 
ness, abuses  substituted  for  the  old  healthier  regulations.  They 
were  advisedly  made  by  men  whose  names  are  not  known 
to.  our  ancient  history.  They  are  interpolations  made  to 
bolster  up  the  changes  introduced  about  the  times  when  the 
country  had  already  gone  from  bad  to  worse,  They  were 
innovations  for  which  no  sanction  can  be  pleaded.  It  may  be, 
they  were  made  with  the  best  intentions.  Admittedly  they 
have  failed  to  carry  out  these  good  intentions,  if  any,  then 
entertained ;  and  in  seeking  to  upset  them,  and  restore  the 
more  healthy  ideals,  they  were  superseded.  The  reformers.of  the 

17 


130  TNDTAN  KOCTAL  REFORM.      .        [PART 

present  day  are  certainly  not  open  to  the  charge  that  they  are 
handling  roughly  with  time-honoured  institutions.  It  is  rather 
for  the  reformers  to  take  their  stand  as  defenders  of  these 
ancient  ordinances,  and  denounce  those  who  have  set  God's  law 
at  defiance  to  suit  their  own  purposes. 


TUP,    FXrVITAIilMTY    OF    RGFOIMI. 

But  even  if  this  were  otherwise,  and  even  if  it  could  be 
shown  by  a  long  special  pleading  that  the  changes  niRde  are,  to 
some  ex  tout,  proper  deductions  from  the  old  texts,  it  is  quite 
plain  that  no  lapse  of  time  can  bar  the  way  of  reform  where 
such  is  needed  by  the  exigencies  of  our  present  difficulties. 
Abovo  all  mere  ordinances  and  institutes,  stands  the  law  eter- 
nal, of  justice  and  equality,  of  pity  and  compassion,  the  sugges- 
tions of  the  conscience  within  and  of  nature  without  us.  We 
can  no  more  resist  the  stream  of  those  influences  as  working 
for  righteousness  than  we  can  roll  back  the  tide.  All  real 
prudence  would  dictate  that  we  should  take  f  nil  measure  of  these 
influences  and  decide  how  far  we  must  accommodate  ourselves 
to  the  inevitable.  All  classes  of  society,  reformers  and  anti-re- 
formers alike,  unconsciously  admit  the  force  of  these  considera- 
tions The  only  difference  between  the  two  consists  in  the  fact 
that  wliile  the  latter  yielrl  unconsciously  and  under  pressure, 
the  former  seek  to  use  conscious  effort  to  ncoompliah  the  same 
purpose  ;  nnd  between  the  two,  tho  victory  must  be  for  those 
who  do  not  wish  to  drift,  but  wish  to  be  guided  by  the  admoni- 
tions of  their  inward  monitor,  and  the  lessons  of  past  history. 
People  will  visit  England  whether  their  elders  like  it  or  not ; 
and  the  force  of  circumstances  will  prevail.  The  education  of 
women  will  similarly  be  encouraged  as  each  year  rolls  on.  The 
limits  of  age  for  marriage  will  be  raised.  Intermarriage 
restrictions  will  be  dissolved.  Caste  exclusiveness  must  relax, 
and  greatest  freedom  predominate  in  all  transactions  between  man 
and  man.  As  prudent  men,  the  question  for  us  will  be,  shall 
we  float  with  this  current  or  resist  it  ?  As  these  influences  are 
providential,  our  duty  is  clear,  and  this  duty  becomes  more 
pleasant  when  we  find  that  in  so  acting,  we  are  not  only  obeying 


ii.]        MK.  JUSTICE  RANADE'S  SPEECHES.        loi 

God's  law,  bob,  also  returning  to  the  ways  of  our  forefathers, 
overstepping  the  obstacles  put  in  by  our  fathers  in  the  way. 

There  is  one  objection  still  which  hampers  the  way  of 
reform.  Granted  that  reform  is  desirable,  it  is  still  claimed 
that  only  the  ecclesiastical  heads  of  the  different  communities 
and  the  caste  ciders  alone  have  legitimate  authority  to  uct  in 
such  matters,  and  that  it  is  nob  for  the  rn  is?  eel  I  an  eons  crowd  of 
people  like  ourselves  to  claim  this  privilege.  To  a  certain 
extent  the  caste  elders  and  even  the  Acharyus  are  moving  in 
the  right  direction.  In  the  great  caste  Conferences,  held  in  all 
parts  of  India,  the  Kayastlia,  Vaishya,  and  other  organisations 
that  might  be  named  without  number,  there  are  visible  signs  of 
the  dead  bones  heaving  with  the  life  of  anew  spirit.  J'JVGU  the 
A  chary  as  in  the  South,  when  moved  by  native  miens,  and  in 
Home  cases  when  not  so  moved,  have  .spontaneously  put  forth 
efforts  to  promote  what  is  right  and  proper.  There  is,  therefore, 
no  occasion  to  quarrel  with  these  agencies.  They,  however,  have 
their  vested  interests  at  stake,  and  it  will  be  more  than  human 
if  they  look  at  these  things  in  the  same  light  us  those  who  fcei 
the  pinch  are  disposed  to  regard  them.  Their  co-operation 
should  bo  welcomed,  but  the  question  does  not  close  here,  The 
duty  is  cast  upon  us  to  see  that  the  commonwealth  to  which  we 
belong,  is  not  endangered  by  any  vested  prejudice.  We  can  never 
forego  the  right  of  every  IIQ man  being  to  act  in  concert  with 
others  of  his  own  way  of  thinking,  and  make  the  effort  to  better  our 
condition  with  the  light  that  is  given  to  us,  and  with  the  help  that 
religion  and  history  afford  us.  Of  course,  oui  powers  arc  limit- 
ed, but  the  work  of  education  consists  in  increasing  the  strength 
of  those  powers  by  propagatiug  both  by  precept  and  example, 
what  we  feel  to  be  right  and  proper.  We  may  fail,  or  eveti 
miscarry,  but  the  effort  will  do  us  incalculable  good,  and  the 
very  failure  will  serve  as  a  warning.  This  is  the  law  of  all 
progress,  and  we  can.  claim  no  exemption  from  it. 

Lastly,  it  has  been  said  that  we  are  BO  split  up  into  sects 
and  divisions,  castes  arid  sub-castes,  that  DO  common  concert  IB 
possible  for  the  best  of  us,  and  that  if  we  mean  real  work  We 
must  begin  with  castes  and  sub-castes,  and  not  indulge  iu  the 
dream  of  joiut  action  at  least  for  many  centuries  to  come. 


132  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAR* 

Tbis  argument  is  doable-edged,  and  Las  beeii  used  by  thoso 
who  do  not  feel  with  us,  to  damp  our  energies  in  the  political 
as  also  the  social  sphere  of  action.  When  we  examine  it  more 
carefully,  wo  find  that  it  is  more  fallacious  than  true.  Castes 
and  aub-caates  have,  no  doubt,  their  particular  preferences  and 
dislikes,  their  own  evils  and  iniquities  to  account  for,  and  as  we 
see  everywhere  from  the  reports  of  the  Social  Conference,  their 
best  men  are  manfully  struggling  to  cure  these  evils.  It  should, 
however,  not  be  forgotten  that  this  caste  difficulty  is  the 
main  blot  on  our  social  system.  Tho  great  tight  has  to  be 
maintained  here,  and  not  on  the  outskirts.  Quite  indepen- 
dently of  this  circumstance,  the  differences  between  the  castes 
merge  into  minor  matters  by  the  side  of  their  great  similarities. 
In  the  social  sphere  of  our  activities,  all  castes  and  even  creeds 
are  alike  defective  in  not  recognising  the  claims  of  justice  and 
equality,  and  according  the  respect  and  freedom  due  to  the 
female  sex  and  cherishing  the  abuses  claimed  by  men  as  men  ; 
and  by  the  members  of  one  class  of  men  to  the  disparagement  of 
other  castes.  This  furnishes  the  common  platform  on  which  all 
can  act,  and  it  is  only  by  the  education  received  on  this  common 
platform  that  we  can  command  the  elevation  and  freedom  which 
alone  will  belp  us  to  be  taller,  wiser,  and  better  individually 
and  collectively. 

I  have  thus  attempted  to  forestall  by  anticipation  many  of 
the  objections  which  might  be,  and  are,  urged  by  those  who 
are  not  disposed  to  be  friendly  to  the  work  of  social  emancipa- 
tion. With  the  work  that  has  been  done  in  the  different 
provinces  by  more  than  a  hundred  associations  that  are  in  full 
sympathy  with  the  cause  of  social  progress,  it  is  not  my  purpose 
liere  to  deal.  The  reports  of  the  Conference  for  the  last  13 
years  furnish  a  living  record  to  which  all  can  refer  with  advant- 
age. It  is  a  record  which  does  not  allow  large  achievements  in 
accomplished  facts,  but  to  those  who  can  read  between  the  linefc 
the  spirit  that  animates  this  work,  there  is  a  land  of  promise 
opening  its  vistas  before  them  in  a  way  to  encourage  the  most 
despondent.  To  go  no  further  back  than  the  pant  five  months, 
I  find  from  the  notes  of  events  kept  with  mo  that  even  in  this 
year  of  distress  some  seven  re-marringes  took  place,  3  ia  the 


n.]        MR.  JUSTICE  RANAD&B  SPEECHES.       U3 

Punjab,  1  in  Bombay,  1  in  the  North- West.  Provinces,  1  in 
Madras,  and  1  in  the  Central  Provinces.  In  Bengal,  where  tho 
widow  marriage  movement  commenced  in  I  ah  war  Chandra 
Vidyasagar's  time,  as  many  as  46  marriages  were  celebra- 
ted, 30  were  celebrated  since  and  41  more  were  celebra- 
ted among  the  Brahnios,  making  ;i  total  of  117.  Including  the 
Central  Provincca  and  the  Uerars,  the  LJombay  Presidency  has 
during  the  last  ol)  years,  since  the  movement  began,  shown 
more  than  a  hundred  such  marriages  distributed  equally  be- 
tween the  Gujeratis  and  the  Doccanis.  The  Punjab  and  the 
N.-W.  Provinces  show  a  total  of  more  than  thirty,  und  Madras 
presents  nearly  the  same  figure.  The  total  of  marriages  would, 
therefore,  be  about  oOO throughout  Indium  the  several  provinces 
in  the  higher  castes.  Miss  Manning's  "Indian  Magazine,"  in 
one  of  its  recent  numbers,  gave  the  total  number  of  Indian  resi- 
dents, mostly  students  studying  in  England,  to  be  olo,  of  whom 
nearly  half,  141  were  Hindus,  01  Parsees,  71)  MiihouiedaiiH, 
and  22  Native  Christians.  These  figures  show  how  the  wind  is 
blowing,  and  how  the  stream  of  events  is  steadily  mi  the  right 
side.  The  native  papers  in  the  Punjab  show  that  during  the  last 
five  months  some  7  admissions  of  converts  from  Christian  and 
Mabomedau  faiths  were  made  by  the  Arya  Samajas,  and  there 
is  an  active  controversy  going  on  for  the  wholesale  admisHiou 
of  some  hitherto  despised  castes.  The  success  of  the  Bethuue 
College  in  Calcutta,  the  female  schools  arid  colleges  at  J nil  under, 
Poona,  Ahmedabad,  and  Mysore  has  been  full  of  promise  in 
this  as  in  previous  years.  Among  the  legislative  events,  next 
after  the  passing  of  the  Mysore  marriage  laws,  the  most  note- 
worthy event  during  the  past  five  months  has  been  the  enact- 
ment of  the  Hindu  Gains  of  Learning  Bill  by  the  Madras 
Council.  The  local  Sabhas  such  as  the  Deshamukha  and 
Kunbi  Sabhas  in  Beiar,  the  Rajput  in  N.-W.  P.,  the  Sowrash- 
tra  in  the  Madras  Presidency,  and  Khatria  in  the  Punjab  Lave 
held  their  meetings  and  passed  resolutions  in  favour  of 
marriage  reform  under  good  auspices.  Many  instances  of 
late  marriages  have  takeu  place  throughout  the  country,  also 
of  intermarriages  in  different  parts  of  India,  the  most  notice- 
able on  our  side  being  Mr.  Javeri's  daughter's  marriage  the 


Jw  INDIAN  SOCIAL 

other  day,  arid  the  intermarriage  between  the  families  of  Malad 
Bhagvat  last  year.  This  is,  no  doubt,  a  brief  record,  bub  as 
observed  before  it  is  full  of  promise. 

The  present  crisis  through  which  our  part  of  the  country  is 
passing  under  the  stress  of  plague  find  famine  has  intensified 
the  necessity  of  taking  adequate  steps  for  alleviating  the  distress 
suffered  by  all  classes.  There  are  particular  directions  in  -which 
all  social  reform  organisations  niighb  work  with  advantage  in 
such  a  crisis.  Many  thousands  of  poor  orphans  have  been 
rendered  homeless,  and  alt/hough  they  fire  supported  through 
famine  by  private  and  Government  charity,  the  time  is  coming 
when,  with  the  rains  on  us,  this  charity  will  cease  to  flow,  and 
the  unclaimed  orphans  will  have  to  be  provided  for  when  the 
distress  is  over.  The  Missionary  societies  have  pledged  them- 
selves not  to  effect  conversions  while  the  distress  is  at  its  height, 
and  they  are  prepared  to  give  over  the  children  to  those  who 
will  claim  them.  The  rest  who  will  be  unclaimed  will  have  to 
be  cared  for  by  these  societies,  and  people  everywhere  must 
consider  the  question  of  how  to  deal  with  these  poor  children, 
Freedom  to  return  to  their  community  is  a  charity  which  we 
all  can  display  if  \ve  have  the  largeness  of  heart  to  understand 
tho  issues  involved.  Tho  economical  question  here  becomes  one 
of  religion  and  social  amelioration.  Equally  affecting  is  the  claim 
which  has  been  urged  on  behalf  of  hundreds  of  child- widows  who 
have  been  rendered  miserable  in  consequence  of  the  famine  and 
the  plague  visitation.  In  normal  times  their  condition  was  bad 
enough ;  but  their  misery  has  been  aggravated  by  the  misfortune 
of  these  hard  times,  and  those  who  have  any  heart  to  feel  for 
their  wrongs,  might  well  be  asked  to  take  thought  as  to  how 
their  misery  might  be  alleviated.  The  question  of  postponing 
marriages  to  the  latest  limit  of  marriageable  age,  the  age  of 
puberty  while  the.se  visitations  are  upon  us,  will  not  fail  to 
attract  the  attention,  both  of  the  reformers  and  of  those  who 
profess  to  be  indifferent  to  this  subject.  These  and  other  mat- 
ters will,  I  doubt  not,  engage  the  attention  of  friends  who  are 
assembled  to-day.  We  shall  not  bo  able  to  take  any  immediate 
action,  but  if  these  matters  are  allowed  their  claims  on  our 
thoughtful  consideration  when  we  go  to  oar  places,  the  work  of 


n.]         MR.  JUSTICE  RANADE'8  SPEECHES.       1S5 

reform  cannot  fail  to  lead  to  some  useful  results.  For  this,  aud 
work  like  this,  concerted  actions  is  needed,  and  concerted  action 
is  only  possible,  under  existing  circumstances,  when  we  think 
and  work  together.  A  committee  consisting  of  all  those  who 
sympathise  with  the  progress  of  reform,  is,  therefore,  sorely 
needed  in  this  part  of  the  country  to  co-operate  with  similar 
workers  elsewhere  and  it  is  with  this  view  that  our  work  to-day 
will  chiefly  consist  in  forming  such  a  committee, 'and  laying 
down  the  lines  on  which  it  is  to  work.  Tin's  is  a  duty  in  which, 
I  trufet,  yon  will  all  join,  and  join  with  a  heart  that  will  suffer 
no  disappointment,  but  will  strain  every  nerve  each  within  his 
own  sphere  to  bring  about  the  practical  well-being  of  our 
people  in  which  the  well-being  of  every  individual  is  involved. 
This  is  the  message  that  I  was  commissioned  by  friends 
elsewhere  to  communicate  to  you  here,  and  I  now  commend  this 
subject  to  your  anxious  care,  in  the  full  conviction  that  the  work 
is  one  in  which  wo  can  all  co-operate  with  advantage,  and  in 
which  no  progress  is  possible  without  such  co-operation. 


THIRD  PART- 


Jhe  Presidential  Addresses  at 
the  Social  Conferences. 


The  Third  Social  Conference— Mr.  Justice 
K.  T.  Telang's  Address. 

In  opening  fclie  proceedings  of  this  meeting,  I  should  like 
to  make  a  few  preliminary  remarks.  At  first  everybody  must 
admit  it  to  be  a  matter  of  sincere  congratulation,  that  at  this 
third  meeting  of  the  Social  Conference,  we  have  present  among 
ns  a  few  ladies  of  our  own  community.  The  question  has  been 
doubtless  raised  in  England,  whether  women  ought  or  ought  not 
to  enter  into  the  heat  and  dust  of  political  warfare.  But  what- 
ever the  true  answer  to  that  question  may  be,  there  can  be  no 
possible  doubt,  that  in  the  sort  of  work  wo  are  to  discuss  to-day, 
the  presence  and  co-operation  of  women  is  most  desirable. 
And  in  order  to  carry  oat  any  of  the  reforms,  which  may  be 
discussed  at  such  gatherings,  the  help  and  co-operation  of  our 
ladies  is  absolutely  essential,  Therefore  I  think  we  may  say 
that  we  have  this  year  been  enabled  to  take  one  step  forward. 
It  may  not  be  a  long  step,  I  don't  think  it  is  a  long  step 
taken  by  itself.  But  we  mny  fairly  look  forward  with  hope  to 
further  progress  and  advancement,  along  the  road  on  which  the 
first  short  step  has  now  been  taken.  Those  who  have  hitherto 
criticised  the  National  Congress  and  its  proceedings,  have,  as 
we  are  aware,  often  twitted  us  with  not  paying  sufficient  atfcen- 


in.]          THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         137 

tion  to  social  reform  arid  devoting-  our  energies  exclusively  to 
the  political  improvement  of  the  country,  I  think  I  may 
fairly  say  that  such  gatherings  as  these!  which  have  met  every 
year  since  the  time  of  the  Madras  Congress,  afford  an  adequate 
and  conclusive  answer  to  those  criticisms.  But  while  I  think 
this  answer  conclusive,  I  must  also  say  that  I  think  there  is 
something1  in  the  criticisms  from  which  we  ought  to  derive  some 
useful  lesson,  I  have  myself  noticed,  in  the  writings  and  speeches 
of  many  of  our  countrymen,  a  strong  tendency  towards  devot- 
ing, I  cannot  sny  exclusive,  but  1  must  say  an  overwhelming 
share  of  attention  to  political  matters.  Social  matters  thus  get. 
entirely  eclipsed,  so  to  say,  by  political  in  some  quarters,  and 
that  is  the  basis  of  truth  in  tho  criticisms  to  which  I  have 
alluded:  Well,  I  think  that  to  this  extent,  we  ought  in  time  to 
take  warning  from  these  criticisms,  and  as  far  as  may  be,  set 
our  house  in  order.  There  is  one  oilier  remark  I  wish  to  make. 
And  that  relates  to  a  tendency  which  ha*  also  been  noticeable 
in  recent  discussions  to  ass-ime  that  social  and  political  activi- 
ties can  be  entirely  dissociated,  and  to  ignore  the  fact  that  the 
underlying  principles  in  both  groups  of  activities  are  in  sub- 
stance the  same.  We  often  hear  propositions  confidently 
asserted  by  many  persons  in  the  course  of  discussions  on  social 
topics,  which  when  applied  to  politics,  must  lead  to  results 
that  those  persons  entirely  repudiate.  No  one  will  charge  me 
with  being  an  out  and  out  imitator  of  European  ways.  I  have 
not  the  slightest  desire  to  adopt  bodily  the  whole  of  the  Euro- 
pean social  economy  for  myself  or  for  our  community.  Bat  at 
the  same  time  I  do  hold  most  strongly  to  this  view,  that  it  is 
our  bounden  duly  to  study  English  social  institutions,  in  the 
same  way  that  we  study  English  political  institutions,  BO  that 
we  may  consider  how  far  they  will  suit  the  conditions  among 
which  we  live  and  move.  The  adoption  of  English  methods  of 
work  and  of  English  ideals  to  bo  worked  for,  to  which  on  the 
political  Ride,  we  are  HO  partial,  is  not  a  thing  to  be  entirely 
scouted  on  the  social  side,  in  the  way  which  may  be  observed 
in  some  quarters.  The  need  for  improvement  in  political 
matters  is  not  greater  than  in  social ;  and  the  principles  of 
improvement  in  both  are  in  substance  identical,  whatever  dif- 
18 


138  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

ferences  there  may  be  in  their  applications.  And  therefore  it 
is  my  conviction  that  it  is  our  duty  to  learn,  correctly  appre- 
ciate, and  apply  the  real  principles  adopted  by  those  who  stand 
in  the  forefront  of  civilisation  as  much  in  our  social  ns  in  our 
political  concerns.  (Loud  cheers.) 


The  Fourth  Social  Conference— Babu  Norendro  Nath 
Sen's  and  Dr.  Mahendra  Lai  Sircar's  Addresses. 

Dr.  Mahendra  Lai  Sircar,  the  President-elect,  not  having 
cpme  in  time,  Babu  Norendra  Nath  Sen  was  elected  President. 
He  said  : — I  feel  extremely  flattered  by  the  honour  that  you 
have  done  me  by  unanimously  voting  me  to  the  chair.  I  have 
always  held  the  opinion  that  political,  social,  moral  and  reli- 
gious reforms  should  go  hand  in  hand  (cheers),  and  that  politi- 
cal reform  means  nothing  unless  it  is  accompanied  by  social, 
moral  and  religious  reforms  (cheers).  It  is  said  tha*;  Congress- 
men are  opposed  to  social  reform.  This  is  not  so  (cheers).  J 
myself  am  an  active  member  of  the  Congress,  and  no  one  is  in 
greater  pympflthy  with  the  cause  of  socinl  reform  than  myself 
(cheers).  Most  of  those  who  are  present  at  the  Conference  to- 
day are  Congress-men.  I  am  entirely  in  sympathy  with  the 
objects  of  the  Conference,  and  with  most  of  the  resolutions  that 
will  be  bronght  forward  for  consideration  and  adoption  to-day. 
The  people  of  India  owe  a  great  deal  to  the  British  Government 
for  their  political  advancement,  their  intellectual  advancement, 
and,  to  a  certain  extent,  even  for  their  moral  advancement 
(cheers).  They  must;  be  grateful  to  the  Government  also  for  the 
anxiety  that  is  now  being  shown  by  it  for  their  social  advance- 
ment (hear,  hear).  I  w.is  very  glad  to  hear  that  onr  beloved 
Queen-Em  press  (cheers)  is  most,  anxious  to  see  that  we  should 
take  interest  ourselves  in  the  cuuse  of  social  reform,  and  that  we 
should  take  every  etep  to  advance  ourselves  socially  (hear, 
hear).  Nobndy  can  deny  that  we  are  in  several  respecte  social- 
ly degraded  or  at  least  that  we  are  net  advanced  socially  to 
that  extent  as  we  ought  to  have  been.  Such  being  the  case,  I 
think  every  true  Indian  patriot  should  take  some  interest  in  the 


in.]          THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.        139 

cause  of  social  reform  (cheery).  I  am  glad  to  seo  that  the 
gathering  oa  tho  present  uccafcsion  is  n  large  and  influential  one. 
Probably  it  would  Imvo  been  much  larger,  if  the  people  had 
been  assured  betimes  that  this  Conference  would  nob  ask  for 
legislative  interference  in  the  mutter  of  Hindu  marriage  cus- 
toms (cheers).  You  will  tint!  frnm  the  copy  of  ihe  Resolutions 
placed  in  your  hands  that  we  do  not  ask  legislative  interfer- 
ence in  any  matter  except  as  regards  the  amendment  of  Act 
XXI  of  I860,  so  as  to  include  voluntary  Social  Reform  Associa- 
tions within  its  scope.  The  subject  was  referred  to  a  Committee 
appointed  at  the  last  year's  Conference.  This  is  a  simple 
matter,  and  the  law  thfit  is  sought  for  is  n  permissive  and  not 
a  compulsory  one.  Nobody  can  have  the  least  objnction  <  to 
such  a  law.  I  do  not  know  why  the  Hindus  should  be  at  all 
opposed  to  social  reform,  because  all  the  reforms  that  they 
want  are  sanctioned  by  their  own  religion  (cheers).  The  Vedas, 
which  are  tbe  earliest  records  uf  tho  AryHS  and  which  have 
the  highest  authority  among  them,  teach  us  that  wo  should  not 
marry  early  (cheora).  As  regards  females,  the  Vodas  say  that 
they  should  not  many  before  the  ago  of  sixteen  years,  and  as 
regards  males,  that  they  should  iiat  marry  before  the  age  ot 
twenty-five  at  least.  With  a  larger  dissemination  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  Vedas  among  us,  the  very  reforms  that 
are  now  being  advocated  in-  many  quarters  will  be  most  gladly 
accepted  by  the  Hindus.  It  is  only  because  the  study  of  the 
Vedas  has  been  neglected  that  many  social  evils  have  crept 
into  Hindu  society.  I  say  that  if  our  own  religion  sanctions 
the  reforms  asked  for,  f  do  not  see  why  you  should  hesitate  in 
the  least  to  accept  them  (bear,  he.'ir). 


(At  this  stage  of  tho  proceedings  Dr.  Mahendra  Lai  Sircar 
having  arrived,  Babu  Norendra  Nuth  Sen  vacated  the  chair  in 
his  favour.)  Dr.  Mahendra  Lai  Sircar,  who  was  received  with 
cheers,  said: — Ladies  and  Gentlemen, — I  must  thank  you  for 
tbe  cheers  with  which  you  have  greeted  me,  but  I  am  sorry  you 
shall  soon  find  that  your  cheers  havo  been  quite  mistaken, 
You  have  dragged  from  his  sick-bod  a  niau,  who  was  for  the  last; 


140  INDIAN  SOCIAL  BEFORif.  [PART 

few  days  on  the  verge  of  his  grave.  Such  a  man  can  scarcely 
be  deemed  fit  to  preside  on  this  solemn  occasion.  However,  as 
it  is  your  pleas  a  re  that  1  should  occupy  the  chair,  I  will  just 
make  a  few  remarks.  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  this  is  a  meeting 
of  the  Social  Conference,  nod  I  see  that  this  is  the  Fourth  So- 
cial Conference  that  has  been  held  in  this  country.  That  we 
all  feel  that  we  ore  tho  victims  of  some  social  custom  or  other, 
is  such  a  patent  fact  that  it  needs  no  words  from  me  to  prove. 
My  reluctance  in  taking  the  chair  to-day  proceeds  from  other 
grounds  also  than  the  state  of  my  health.  You  have  not  only 
dragged  me  from  the  verge  of  the  grave  as  I  have  said,  but  you 
have  taken  me  out  oF  my  groove.  Social  matters  have  not 
beau  in  the  line  of  my  studies,  All  my  life  I  have  been  a  hum- 
ble practitioner  of  medicine,  arid  the  only  other  matter  I  have 
been  engaged  in,  has  been  to  introduce  a  study  of  the  physical 
sciences  among  my  countrymen,  and  therefore  1  arn  not  in  any 
sense  at  all  competent  or  fit  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  office 
of  President  of  the  Social  Conference1.  But  I  have  all  my  life 
been  a  victim  of  the  tyranny  of  social  custom  in  my  own  coun- 
try (Laughter)'  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  see  before  me  a  very 
lengthy  programme,  but  all  the  Resolutions  that  are  before  ns 
hinge  upon  one  chief  social  custom,  which  has  acted  most  in- 
juriously upon  the  development  of  the  Hindu,  race  and  that  is 
child -marriage  (cheers).  This  pernicious  custom  has  done 
what  nothing  else  could  so  effectually  do,  namely,  it  has  deterio- 
rated the  once  noble  and  glorious  Hindu  race, — a  race  that 
gave  enlightenment  \o  the  whole  world  (cheers).  How  has  it 
done  this  ?  Since  it  has  taken  a  deep  root  in  our  country,  what- 
ever might  have  been  its  original  philosophy,  this  custom  has 
ruined  us,  and  has  been  working  detrimentally  at  the  very 
fountain  of  life.  The  Hindu  race  consists  at  the  present  day, 
if  you  would  pardon  me  for  the  very  strong  expression  that  I 
am  bound  to  utter,  by  virtue  of  this  very  blessed  custom,  of 
abortions  and  premature  births.  Are  we  all  born  at  the  proper 
time  P  If  the  laws  of  physiology  are  true,  and  I  believe  they 
are  eternal  verities,  then  every  man  nnd  woman  born  of  parents 
of  such  tender  years  as  ten  or  twelve  years  for  a  giil  and  fifteen 
or  sixteen  for  a  boy  must  be  "pronounced  to  ba  either  an  abortion 


HI.]         THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         Ul 

or  a  premature  birth  (hear,  hear).  And  are  you  surprised  that 
the  people  of  a  nation  so  constituted  shoald  have  fallen  easy 
victims  under  every  blessed  tyrant,  that  ever  chose  to  trample 
upon  them  ?  Whatever  of  intellectual  and  moral  qualities  we 
still  possess  is  by  inheritance  from  the  past;  whatever  we  have 
lost  we  have  to  thank  this  custom,  against  which  we  are  bound 
to  raise  our  most  emphatic  protect  (cheers).  Do  all  you  can,  let 
the  Government  concede  everything  that  you  want,  and  let  the 
Government  even  leave  our  shores  to-day,  do  you  Ihink, 
gentlemen,  that  we  shall  be  able  to  do  without  that  Govern- 
ment from  to-morrow  ?  And  why  not  P  You  will  find  that  it 
is  because  you  have  not  got  the  capacity  for  work.  Look  at 
the  root  of  the  evi!  (cheers),  By  virtue  of  the  law  of  inherit- 
ance, you  have  got  the  intelligence  of  the  old  Hindus  (cheers); 
by  virtue  of  this  accursed  custom  you  have  lost  all 
that  capacity  for  work  which  our  Hindu  ancestors  pos- 
sessed iu  olden  days  (cheers).  How  can  you  expect,  if  you  go 
on  at  this  rate,  to  take  a  lead  in  any  work  whatever?  You 
cannot  possibly  do  it.  Yon  must  improve  the  fountain  of  Jife 
itself  (hear,  hear),  before  you  can  expect  to  cope  with  races 
which  have  held  their  own  for  so  many  centuries,  which,  under 
better  social  customs  consist  of  units  infinitely  more  mature 
than  ourselves.  Thi*  is  the  simple  law  of  nature,  and  you 
cannot  go  against  it.  Do  all  you  can,  talk  as  much  as  you  like, 
abuse  your  Government  as  much  as  you  like,  there  you  are — n 
race,  degenerated,  paralysed  in  all  your  energies.  What  then 
can  you  do  ?  Therefore  T  say  that  it  ia  a  happy  sign  that 
along  with  the  Congress,  you  have  this  Conference  on  the  most 
vital  point  that  concerns  us  (cheers).  The  Congress  may 
successfully  do  all  its  work  ;  you  may  hnve  the  elective  principle 
and  the  representative  principle  and  everything  else  you  want 
and  every  concession  that  you  claim,  but  how  can  you  maintain 
the  position  in  which  you  may  be  thus  placed  ?  You  cannot  possib- 
ly doit.  It  is  a  notorious  fact  that  our  children  are  very  pmart 
so  long  afl  they  are  at  school,  bub  where  do  they  go  after  that  ? 
They  go  to  the  wall,  Shall  I  sny  ib  P  Thej  go  to  the  very  dust, 
they  mingle  themselves  with  the  dust,  they  are  nowhere.  They 
very  creditably  and  successfully  pass  their  examinations,  and 


142  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [Pimt 

after  tbat  where  are  they  ?  ¥"011  do  not  6nd  them  anywhere. 
With  the  exception  of  a  very  few,  you  do  not  find  your  Gra- 
duates engaged  in  any  substantial  work,  and  as  regards  the  few 
that  are  so  engnged,  what  reward  do  they  receive?  What  but 
discouragement  find  abuse  r*  (Hear,  hear.)  I  have  beeu  spend- 
ing my  whole  life,  and  I  nm  almosb  tempted  to  say  that  I 
have  been  waiting  my  whole  life,  in  order  that  I  might  succeed 
in  introducing  the  study  of  the  physical  sciences  amongst 
my  countrymen  ;  and  what  i.s  the  reward  that  I  have  got  ? 
The  reward  is  thai  nfter  fourteen  years  of  cogitation  and 
agitation  and  working  amidst  insuperable  difficulties,  I  have  not 
yet  got  fi  Laboratory  built,  for  my  Science  Association.  The 
root  of  all  this  is  that  we  do  not  know  what  we  are.  It  we  knew 
that,  there  will  soon  be  an  end  of  all  this  ruin.  Without,  there- 
fore, any  farther  remarks,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  would  ask 
jou  to  proceed  at  once  with  the  business  of  the  meeting  (loud 
cheers). 


The  Fifth  Social  Conference— Mr.  G.  S.  Khaparde's 

Address. 

I  am  proud  to  become  the  President  of  the  Indian 
National  Social  Conference,  although  I  must  say  I  do  not  de- 
serve the  honour  you  have  done  me.  To  the  word  Social  in  the 
title  of  the  Conference,  I  attach  the  greatest  importance,  for 
to  my  mind  it  is  clear  that  this  Social  Conference  is  fraught 
with  good  and  great  results.  When  I  said  I  was  not  worthy  of 
the  honour  that  bus  been  given  to  me,  the  phrase  was  not  used 
by  me  as  a  conventional  method  of  acknowledging  thanks,  but 
because  it  WHS  literally  true.  For  you  all  know  who  the  Pre- 
sident of  the  first  Conference  was.  It  was  no  less  a  personage 
than  Sir  T.  Madhava  Rao,  one  of  the  greatest  statesmen 
India  has  produced.  The  second  President  was  Rai  Bahadur 
Sabhapathi  Mudaliar,  a  mnn  well-known  for  his  sincerity  and 
substantial  sympathy  in  the  cause  of  reform,  and  well-known 
also  as  a  writer  on  the  subject  of  reforms,  and  a  shrewd  man  of 
business.  The  third  President,  that  is  to  say  when  the  Congress 
assembled  at  Bombay,  was  the  Honourable  Mr.  Justice 


in.]         THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         143 

Telannr,  whose  praises  it  would  be  superfluous  to  sing.  At  Cal- 
cutta Dr.  Mali  end  i  a  Lai  Sircar,  who  is  known  all  over  India  as 
a  ripe  scholar,  great  reformer  and  profound  thinker,  presided 
and  lent  his  strong1  support  to  (he  Conference.  When  we  hare  had 
such  a  roll  of  illustrious  Presidents  of  this  Conference,  it  is  not 
conventional  modesty  on  my  part,  1  assure  you,  to  say  that  I  do 
not  feel  myself  a  worthy  successor  to  my  predecessors  in  this 
office.  Gentlemen,  we  have  had  heavy  losses  during1  the  past 
year.  Rwjah  Sir  T.  Madhava  Rao,  the  great  "  Native  Thinker  v 
i.H  no  more.  His  pen  no  more  writes,  and  his  brain  has  ceased 
to  work.  The  other  loss  I  have  to  mention  is  thnt  of  Pundit 
Iswara  Chandra  Vidyasagar,  than  whom  you  could  not  find  a 
truer  reformer  in  India.  lie  worked  heart  and  soul  for  the 
cause  of  leforrn,  and  was  a  deep  thinker  and  sincere  man.  And 
lately,  we  lost  a  friend,  Row  Suheb  Muhipatram  Rupram,  whose 
efforts  in  the  cause  we  have  at  heart  need  no  mention.  Gentle- 
men, you  all  know  that  this  year  began  with  the  agitation  iibonb 
tlie  Age  of  Consent  Act,  which  stirred  the  country  so  greatly. 
You  know,  gentlemen,  that  my  atfcitudu  towards  tlio  Bill  \vafl 
one  of  opposition.  I  would  not  have  let  tho  Bill  pass,  if  I  could. 
And  why  ?  My  position  WHS  that  such  reforms  should  spring 
from  tlie  people,  and  should  not  be  forced  on  them  ;  for  thin 
appearance  of  force  disinclined  people  to  all  reform,  and  thin 
made  matters  worse.  However  I  a  1ml!  leave  that  question  now, 
and  would  turn  to  compute  the  results  of  the  agitation,  RR 
far  as  they  have  come  under  our  observation  during  this  year. 
You  know  there  were  some  people  who  thought  that  the  Bill 
had  made  a  breach  in  native  society,  and  that  it  could  not  by 
any  means  be  bridged  over.  But  these  people  never  made  a 
greater  mistake.  Now  that  the  Bill  is  law,  it.  is  wrong  to  fight 
against  it,  To  throw  dirt  at  it  now  is,  in  my  opinion,  little  short 
of, — from  one  point  of  view, — sedition.  The  other  result  of  the 
Bill,  I  am  going  to  note,  is  that  for  the  first  time  our  old  peo- 
ple and  onr  new  people  began  to  fight  shoulder  to  shoulder, — 
which  was  in  itself  a  distinct  gain  to  all  of  us,  both  for  those  who 
won  and  for  those  who  were  defeated.  These  are,  in  my  opinion, 
results  of  no  small  importance  Now,in  the  heat  of  tho  controversy, 
there  was  in  some  quarters  a  great  deal  of  misconception  about 


144  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

the  reformers  and  the  reform  movement  It  was  thought,  and 
it  in  (.bought  even  now,  by  some  that  tlit,  reformers  wanted  to 
have  fill  possible  laws  passed,  and  by  that  agency  to  carry  out 
the  programme  of  Social  Reform.  This  is  a  sheer  misunder- 
standing. Our  first  method  is  that  of  persuasion.  We  try  to 
find  out  what  the  belief  and  the  sentiments  of  the  people  are, 
what  they  would  acceptor  do  actually  accept,  whom  they  revere 
as  authoritative  writers  on  Dharma  Shastra,  and  then  after 
finding  that  out,  we  try  to  meet  them  on  their  own  ground. 
If  they  accept  the  Shastras,  we  accept  them  too,  but  interpret 
them  in  the  light  of  the  knowledge  we  have  acquired.  I  will 
honestly  tell  you  that  our  interpretations  are  correct,  and  not 
distorted  through  our  zeal  to  further  the  cause  of  reform.  We 
accept  the  premises  supplied  by  the  old  text  writers,  and  then 
we  stop  there,  and  res<;'/t  to  logic  and  reason.  This  is  the 
method  of  what  is  called  Ynktiictid.  We  do  not  resort  to  legisla- 
tion when  there  are  other  ways  open  to  us.  Where  tho  mischief 
has  been  caused  by  law,  we  tiy  to  get  it  removed  by  law,  and 
I  think  yon  will  all  agree  with  me  in  saying  that  it  is  only 
fair,  after  whnt  I  have  told  you,  not  to  describe  this  Conference 
as  aiming  at  reform  by  legislation.  You  know  very  well 
that  I  am  myself  against  legislation,  except  in  very  special 
rases.  But  tlmt  does  not  mean  that  I  would  not  go  in  for  the 
help  of  the  Legislature  in  these  matters,  at  anytime,  and  under 
fu.y  ciicumstancea.  I  am  against  legislation,  first  because  [ 
believe  in  the  maxim  thut  reform  should  begin  from  within!  se- 
condly because  it  creates  opposition  for  opposition's  Bake,  and 
thirdly  because  it  destroys  the  self-acting  machinery  which  we 
desire  to  create  in  our  society.  JJut  where  this  is  not  possible, 
or  has  been  found  by  trials  to  be  impracticable,  then  ond  then 
alone,  by  all  means  I  go  in  and  go  in  wiih  a  zest  for  legislation. 
The  objects  of  this  Social  Conference  are  not  any  other  than 
what  I  have  indicated.  What  we  seek  is  to  promote  organisa- 
tion and  self-help.  Our  people  have  already  done  something 
in  this  direction.  Take  for  instance  the  institution  at  Ajmere 
presided  over  by  the  Political  Agent  in  Raj  pa  tana.  They 
have  regulated  the  age  of  marriage,  and  laid  down  lines  of 
inform  in  other  matters.  The  movement  at  Ajmere  may  be 


IIL]         THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.          145 

said  to  have  fairly  proceeded,  for  the  report  of  that  Reform 
Association  shows  i*»  that  out  of  1,481  marriages  that  were 
celebrated,  there  were  only  307  marriages  in  which  the  self- 
imposed  rules  were  broken.  Take  another  instance,  if  you  like, 
that  of  Mysore — which  is  even  more  advanced  than  the  British 
Government  in  some  matters,  for  they  have  thero  a  Representa- 
tive Council  now.  They  in  Mysore  havo  taken  up  the  question 
of  reform  in  right  earnest.  They  havo  asked  their  Pandits  to 
find  out  authorities  in  favour  of  long  sea-voyages,  and  I  am 
sure  the  Pandits  will  lend  their  support  to  the  progressive  party 
in  this  matter.  Really  speaking,  reform  is  not  quite  the  word 
to  describe  the  demands  of  the  Conference.  For  in  most  cases  it 
is  return  to  old  ways  that  we  are  advocating.  Take  for  instance 
the  question  of  marriage.  You  all  know  what  the  progres- 
sive party  says  on  this  subject.  J'ow  I  put  it  to  you,  if 
you  would  not  rather  have  marriages  after  the  manner  of 
Shakuntala  than  after  the  fashion  prevailing  more  or  less  in 
this  country,  of  an  old  man  taking  his  little  daughter  on  his 
knee  and  giving  her  to  another.  Or  to  take  another  instance, 
which  do  you  prefer  I  ask  you  :  Do  you  like  the  marriage  of 
Sita  with  Rama  ?  Or,  to  take  another  instance, — you  have 
Nala  and  Damayanti  ?  Would  you  like  it  better  if  Dam  ay  an  ti 
was  given  away  by  her  father  to  one  of  the  Gods  that  competed 
with  Nala  on  the  occasion  ?  But  I  might  go  on  for  any  length 
of  time  multiplying  instances  till  you  are  weary  of  them.  All 
I  mean  to  say  is  tbat  what  we  are  advocating  is  not  a  frightful 
innovation,  as  some  of  our  critics  seem  to  take  it.  It  is  only, 
as  I  have  said,  a  return  to  genuine  old  ways.  And  I  sincerely 
exhort  you,  gentlemen,  to  go  back  to  these  old  ways  and  old 
methods,  for  they  are  good  men  and  true,  who  have  shown 
these  old  paths  to  you.  Gentlemen,  I  like  the  caste  system,  as  I 
also  like  numerous  other  old  things.  I  like  my  good  old  reli- 
gion. I  would  not  leave  it  under  any  circumstances.  Nor  would 
I  wish  a  Mahomed  an  to  give  up  the  Koran,  nor  also  do  I  ask 
the  Brahmo  SamajiRts  to  leave  the  faith  which  their  great 
founder  has  established  for  them.  So  then,  this  is  not  a  new 
religion,  nor  even  is  our  programme  a  new  departure.  Gentle- 
men, progress  is  the  law  of  the  universe,  and  you  cannot  stop 
19 


140  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

it.  You  must  cither  advance  or  fall  back.  By  the  blessings 
of  God,  arid  by  the  blessings  of  the  benign  British  Government, 
we  are  under  the  influences  of  a  progressive  civilisation,  so  that 
whether  a  man  will  or  no, — I  am  a  fatalist  in  my  own  way, 
gentlemen,  and  so  I  say,  whether  a  man  will  or  no, — he  must 
move.  Now,  which  is  better,  walking  of  our  own  accord,  or 
being  pushed  on  from  behind  ?  That  represents  the  wholo 
problem  of  Social  Reform  in  this  country,  nnd  indicates  tho 
lines  on  which  our  Resolutions  arc  drawn,  (Cheers.) 


The  Sixth  Social  Conference— The  Hon,  Ram  Kail 
Chaudhuri's  Address. 

LA  DIRS  AND  GKNTJ<F:MRN, — Reform  in  the  social  condition  of 
our  fellow-countrymen  is  the  sole  and  single  aim  of  our  Con- 
ference. The  social  evils  wo  arc  subject  to  are  infant  marriage, 
extravagant  expenses  attendant  on  marriages  and  certain  other 
ceremonies,  prohibition  of  widow -marriage,  polygamy,  prohibi- 
tion of  intermarriage,  disfigurement  and  other  discomforts  to 
which  widows  are  subjected,  money  consideration  for  which 
girls  Hi'o  given  in  marriage,  seclusion  of  women,  and  many  others. 
These  evils  prevail  more  or  less  in  all  parts  of  our  country. 

In  the  growth  of  our  society  from  the  Vedic  times,  the 
evils  have  gradually  come  into  existence  in  the  same  way  as 
many  good  institutions  that  arc  found  in  our  social  system. 
The  social  system  of  our  country  in  its  outward  appearance  pre- 
sents a  diversity  of  detail,  that  has  led  not  only  interested  writers 
but  also  disinterested  thinkers  to  deprive  us  of  the  character  of 
nationality.  13  ut,  if  deeply  considered,  the  generalisation  can- 
not but  be  deemed  :i  specious  one.  In  all  essential  characteristics 
the  Hindu  society  has  features  that  go  to  make  it  into  a  single 
nation.  Tako  Religion,  the  first  authority.  The  Hindus  of  all 
parts  of  the  country  look  up  to  the  Vtdas  and  the  religious 
works  baard  on  their  interpretations.  Then  take  Sod  tl  matters. 
It  is  well-known  thnt  religion  enters  into  all  the  important 
parts  of  their  social  and  individual  life.  And  if  there  is  the 
unity  of  source  in  purely  religions  matters,  it  necessarily  follows 
that  the  social  department  of  our  community  has  the  same 


in.]        THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES. 

unity  in  its  important  aspects.  Whether  it  be  in  Northern 
India  or  Southern  India,  the  same  "  Samskars" — ceremo- 
nial rites  performed  for  social  and  religious  purposes— mark 
the  life  of  every  individual  member  of  the  Hindu  society  at  its 
different  periods  1'rom  birth  to  death.  All  of  us  assembled 
here,  coming  from  various  parts  of  the  country,  have  under- 
gone the  same  ceremonies  of  "  Namakarn"  "  Annaprashan" 
"Ahtndan"  and  others.  The  "  Smriti  "  works,  that  prescribe 
rules  for  all  the  important  functions  of  our  social  and  religious 
life,  and  lay  down  what  our  duties  and  obligations  are  through- 
out life,  and  even  show  us  the  way  how  our  properties  are 
to  be  dealt  with  in  lite  and  after  death,  govern  all  parts  of  the 
country  with  but  slight  differences.  Again  the  tongues  in. 
which  we  speak  in  our  respective  homes,  arc  but  closely  allied 
dialects,  derived  from  the  jsamu  mother  language — Sanskrit. 
And  all  these  important  elements  of  unity  in  the  religious  and 
social  life  of  Hindus  are  daily  receiving  strength  from  the 
common  lines  of  feelings,  thoughts  and  ideas,  that  *  are  being 
created  in  the  in ind  of  educated  Indians  owing  to  the  flow  of 
Western  knowledge  and  thought.  If  there  are  such  solid  rea- 
sons in  support  of  the  view  thus  taken,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  Hindus  of  all  parts  of  India  form  one  nation ;  and  we 
arc  well  justified  in  calling  our  Social  Conference  a  national 
one.  Indeed  the  social  evils  referred  to,  as  has  been  observed 
above,  are  more  or  less  common  to  all  parts  of  India,  in  other 
words — National. 

It  is  obvious  that  various  causes  combine  to  make 
human  nfe  miserable.  The  social  evils  referred  to  having  been 
created  by  circumstances — that  in  the  various  stages  of  the 
growth  of  our  society  came  into  existence — have  only  contributed 
to  the  increase  of  the  miseries  of  life.  It  is  therefore  our  mani- 
fest duty  to  make  efforts  to  remove  them,  as  far  as  lies  in  our 
power,  from  our  society.  This  is  not  only  the  plain  dictate  of 
nature,  but  in  doing  so  we  find  that  our  attempt  will  take  us 
back  to  the  simple  ways  in  social  life,  followed  by  our  remote 
ancestors  in  the  days  of  onr  old  Vedic  period.  It  is  also  neces- 
sary for  us  to  move  with  the  progress  that  is  going  on  in  other 
parts  of  the  world,  The  other  evening  we  heard  onr  learned 


148  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAET 

friend,  the  Honourable  Rao  Bahadur  Ranade,  calling  our 
attention  to  the  forebodings  in  the  conclusion  arrived  at 
by  evolutionists  in  respect  of  old  nations  like  ourselves 
to  the  effect  that  the  force  that  was  in  us  has  been  spent 
and  our  society  has  no  longer  a  life  worth  having.  If  indeed 
we  are  to  live  the  apathetic  and  stationary  life  our  society  bas 
hitherto  lived,  the  melancholy  doom  the  modern  men  of  light 
predict  for  us  is  soon  to  overtake  us ;  but  if  the  signs  of  the 
times  are  to  be  properly  read,  if  the  activities  our  countrymen 
are  here  and  there  beginning  to  put  forth  have  any  meaning, 
for  which  we  have  to  thank  the  enlightened  policy  pursued  by 
the  British  Government  in  India,  we  have  no  reason  for  despair. 
The  life  in  us,  as  was  observed  by  our  friend  referred  to  in  his 
lecture,  is  not  dead,  but  has  only  remained  torpid  owing  to 
various  causes.  It  is  now  our  part  to  show  by  our  exertions 
that  the  life,  that  has  been  left  in  us,  is  still  capable  of  being 
revived. 

Now  what  are  we  to  do  in  introducing  reforms  in  our 
social  conditions  ?  In  our  zeal  for  reform  let  us  not  lose  pati- 
ence. If  we  conceive  what  reforms  we  should  have,  let  us 
not  take  action  at  once.  We  thereby  alienate  our  less  advan- 
ced countrymen  from  the  ways  we  aspire  to  adopt,  and  our 
failure  is  the  consequence.  The  first  step  in  our  procedure, 
as  far  as  I  ara  able  to  judge,  is  to  create  a  widely  spread  public 
opinion  in  favour  of  reform.  This,  1  know,  requires  an  im- 
mense deal  of  talk,  for  which  we  are  subjected  to  so  much 
taunting  criticism.  But  ignoring  such  taunts,  we  should 
strenuously  go  on  to  convert  gradually  the  minds  of  our  coun- 
trymen, I  know  a  great  deal  of  time — perhaps  the  period  of  a 

generation  or  two is  required  for  such  conversion.  Our 

people — even  of  the  lowest  class — are,  however,  very  intelli- 
gent ;  and  the  English  education — thanks  to  the  Government 
we  are  placed  under — is  doing  us  great  help  in  this  respect, 
and  we  are  sure  to  succeed  in  this  first  step  of  our  procedure. 

We  know  what  difficulty  we  experience  from  the  resistance 
shown  by  our  females,  when  we  attempt  to  introduce  a  social 
reform.  It  is  therefore  extremely  necessary  to  take  measures 
to  educate  them  and  convert  their  minds, 


in.]         THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         149 

In  the  work  of  this  conversion  of  mind,  we  can  avail  our- 
selves of  the  agency  of  preachers.  These  should,  however,  take 
care  that  they  abstain  from  proceeding  in  a  manner  that  might 
offend  the  miuds  of  their  hearers.  In  this  connection  I  may 
observe  that  it  is  the  duty  of  every  educated  person  often  to 
mix  with  the  old  class  of  people,  and  place  convincing  argu- 
ments before  them  in  regard  to  reforms.  This  mode  is,  I  can 
say  from  my  personal  experience,  a  very  effective  one  in  gradu- 
ally creating  a  public  opinion  in  favour  of  social  reform. 

We  should  avoid  State  help  in  introducing  reforms  in  social 
matters.  This  mode  is  calculated  to  bring  about  evils  of  other 
kinds  and  tends  to  retard  progress.  We  are  only  to  avail  our- 
selves of  the  social  force  that  will  be  created  along  with  the 
formation  of  public  opinion.  Wo  should  also  avoid  creating 
factions.  The  method  of  concilintion,  in  my  opinion,  should 
always  be  adhered  to.  This  method  takes  much  time  to  carry 
out  reforms,  but  it  is  a  sure  and  certain  one. 

The  most  effective  agency  for  organising  reforms  is  the 
formation  of  reform  associations  all  over  the  country.  And 
this  T  am  glad  to  see  is  being  gradually  done.  I  may  observe 
here  that  the  rules  of  such  associations  should  not  be  enforced 
with  such  rigour  as  to  deter  people  from  joining  them.  We 
know  what  a  strong  force  there  is  in  our  society  that  keeps  the 
old  state  of  things  a-going,  and  we  are  also  aware  of  our  weak- 
nesses. Under  the  present  state  of  society  wo  must  make  allow- 
ance for  such  weaknesses. 

In  conclusion,  I  may  say  that  I  advocate  the  usefulness 
of  our  annual  Social  Conference.  We  meet  together  once  a 
year  and  compare  notes  as  to  what  we  have  been  able  to 
do,  and  measure  the  little  bits  of  progress  we  are  making  in 
various  quarters.  Also  we  in  our  several  local  quarters  feel  as- 
pirations to  show  a  better  record  to  the  general  Conference. 
And  after  a  deliberate  consideration  in  annual  meetings, 
we  recommend  to  the  several  bodies  in  the  country  the  way  and 
means  to  the  several  reforms.  The  Honourable  Rao  Bahadur 
Ranade  has  said  so  much  on  this  head  on  various  occasions, 
that  it  is  superfluous  to  dwell  any  more  on  this.  It  now  only 
remains  for  me  respectfully  to  request  you  to  keep  the  work  of 


150  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

social  reform  a-going-  throughout  tbc  year,  and  not  turn  to  it 
only  when  the  Annual  Conference  meets. 


The  Seventh  Social  Conference— Dewan  Narendra 
Nath's  Address. 

LADIES  AND  GEMLKMKN, — I  must  thank  you  for  the  honour 
thai  you  have  conferred  upon  me  by  selecting  me  as  your  Presi- 
dent. I  confers  I  find  myself  unworthy  of  presiding  over  the 
deliberations  of  huch  an  august  assembly  as  I  find  here  to-day, 
and  I  wish  your  selection  had  fallen  on  an  abler  person. 

Nothing  conduces  more  to  vigorous  action  and  to  a 
concentrated  application  of  our  energies  than  a  clear  under- 
standing of  the  nature  of  the  work  we  set  before  ourselves.  It 
is  not  difficult  to  find  an  answer  to  the  question  which  in  the 
words  of  the  Honourable  Mr.  11  an  ad  e  '  is  often  asked  by  those 
who  take  credit  to  themselves  for  superior  wisdom  '  as  to  the 
object  of  that  part  of  the  annual  gathering  which  meets  here  to- 
day. The  answer  is  covered  by  a  couple  of  words  g  Social  Reform/ 
Every  one  has  a  fairly  correct  notion  of  what  is  included  in  these 
wordn,  but  it  will  not  be  amiss  to  attempt  something  like  an 
analysis  of  the  ideas  which  these  words  convey.  It  is  impossi- 
ble to  give  a  logical  definition  of  social  reform,  which  may  have 
different  meanings  in  different  countries  and  under  different 
circumstances.  In  British  India,  nnder  this  head  we  include, 
reforms  of  such  institutions  as  are  not  directly  conversant 
with  the  amelioration  of  our  spiritual  and  religious  nature, — 
reforms  which  have  for  their  direct  sanction  the  strength  of 
public  opinion  and  which  are  enforced  by  social  approbation 
and  disapprobation,  as  distinct  from  those  introduced  and 
enforced  hy  political  authority. 

Ever  since  the  time  that  Governmental  functions  become 
other  than  purely  military,  the  Government  of  each  country  and 
nation  has  uniformly  directed  its  attention  to  the  suppression  of 
a  certain  class  of  evils.  This  class  by  a  successive  process  of 
ages  has  come  to  be  regarded  as  a  separate  one  by  itself.  But 
with  the  exception  of  the  prominence  given  to  this  class  of  evils, 
which  has  always  been  regarded  as  the  fit  subject  of  legislation, 


in.]         THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         151 

there  is  DO  radical  and  essential  difference  between  tliem  and 
the  evils  which  are  suppressed  by  an  opinion  nf  the  majority 
expressed  in  the  form  of  social  opprobrium.  Even  the  rules  of 
social  etiquette,  which  are  apparently  so  distinct  from  laws 
properly  so  called,  deal  with  matters  which  cannot  be  separated 
by  any  hard  and  fast  lines  from  nnittern  dealt  with  by  our  laws. 
You  can  easily  imagine  how  a  course  of  conduct,  which  would 
he  only  an  offence  against  the  rules  of  etiquette,  by  slight 
changes  which  introduce  no  now  element,  comes  to  be  regarded 
as  an  act  against  which  the  instrumentality  of  our  courts  can  he 
brought  into  exercise.  The  question  is  only  one  of  a  fitness  bf 
things,  of  the  proportion  between  menus  to  bo  employed  and 
ends  to  be  achieved.  The  magnitude  of  the  evil  to  be  suppress- 
ed has  to  be  weighted  against  the  evils  inRrpnrnble  from  em- 
ploying legislation  as  a  remedy.  Whether  it  is  possible  to 
create  a  public  opinion  in  our  favour  find  lo  achieve  by  exorta- 
tion  and  advice  what  would  otherwise  be  attained  by  more 
stringent  measures, — whether  it  is  worth  while  to  abandon  our 
self-help  and  reduce  ourselves  by  one  further  step  as  automa- 
tons in  the  hands  of  Government — are  questions  which  we 
should  put  to  ourselves  before  deciding  to  seek  the  help  of 
legislation.  There  is  however  no  touch -a  tone  which  we  can 
employ  as  a  test  to  distinguish  the  evils,  to  the  suppression  of 
which  legislation  can  he  directed,  from  other  evils. 

Circumstances  have  brought  us  into  contact  with  a  nation 
in  whose  social  institutions,  ppeaking  generally,  are  reflected 
all  the  intellectual  and  moral  traits  which  distinguish  the 
civilisation  of  the  West  from  the  civilisation  of  thfi  East.  A 
stern  regard  for  the  realities  of  life  as  opposed  to  a  vain  pur- 
suit after  transcendental  mysteries  and  a  tendency  to  regard  all 
human  beings  as  entitled  to  claim  and  exercise  equal  rights 
and  privileges  ns  human  beings  as  opposed  to  the  encourage- 
ment of  a  domination  of  the  stronger  class  over  the  weaker — 
are,  amongst  others,  the  main  characteristics  of  the  institu- 
tions which  are  placed  before  us  for  imitation.  I  do  not  enter 
into  the  recondite  problem  of  history,  whether  the  antagonism, 
which  I  have  described  would  exist,  if  our  pristine  institutions 
were  by  a  magical  process  revived,  But  that  such  an  antagon- 


152  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

ism  exists  now  admits  of  no  doubt,  whilst  it  is  equally 
undoubted  (hat  we  are  an  Eastern  nation  and  that  we  are  not 
a  barbarous  people.  I  will  presently  discuss  whether  the  charac- 
teristics of  the  Western  institutions,  which  I  have  above 
described,  are  worthy  of  our  imitation. 

But  let  me  first  invite  your  attention  to  the  peculiar 
circumstances  of  our  position.  According  to  an  eminent  his- 
torian of  the  present  day,  the  experiment  which  is  being  tried 
by  the  British  nation  in  India  is  one  unprecedented  in 
history.  He  says  thin  with  reference  to  politics,  but  the 
remark  applies  with  equal  force  to  the  changes  in  the  whole 
moral  fabric  of  our  society,  which  are  being  worked  "at  the 
present  day.  Never  before  within  memorable  history  did  one 
nation  having  a  progressive  civilisation  come  into  contact  with 
another  nation  having  a  defunct  and  stationary  civilisation,  in 
the  relation  of  rulers  and  ruled,  with  prospects  of  the  perma- 
nence of  that  relation  backed  up  by  a  desire  on  both  sides  for 
its  permanence.  In  infusing  therefore  a  spirit  of  the  West 
into  our  social  institutions  we  have  facilities  and  difficulties 
that  are  peculiarly  our  own,  and  these  arise  from  the  fact  that 
we  are  a  civilised  and  not  a  barbarous  nation,  though  our 
civilisation  is  now  defunct.  The  facilities  are  all  intellectual, 
and  the  difficulties  are  all  moral,  We  have  had  a  language,  the 
perfection  of  which  is  simply  a  marvel  to  those  who  study  it ; 
we  have  had  a  religion  which  to  say  the  least  is  capable  of 
assuming  a  most  scientific  and  a  monotheistic  garb  ;  and  we 
have  had  a  code  of  laws  which  is  remarkable  for  the  consis- 
tency with  which  its  principles  are  worked  out  through  its  vari- 
ous branches.  Much  of  all  this  is  lost,  but  in  all  the  vicissitudes, 
through  which  we  have  passed,  we  have  retained  our  intellec- 
tual capacity.  Therefore  RO  far  as  the  apprehension  of  an  idea 
— even  the  most  advanced — is  concerned,  we  are  not  behind 
any  nation ;  but  when  the  question  comes  to  carrying  these 
ideas  into  practice  our  chief  difficulty  commences.  All  human 
beings  are  intellectually  more  flexible  than  morally,  but  the 
fact  that  we  have  certain  institutions  amongst  us  founded  on  a 
state  of  society,  which  was  admittedly  the  foremost  in  civilisa- 
tion at  one  time,  marks  a  certain  stage  of  intellectual  advance- 


TIL]         THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         15:3 

ment,  and   gives   us   intellectually   an    advantage    over  others 
who   have    to    learn    the    very    first    lessons     of    civilisation, 
and  because    these   institutions   are  the   heritage  of  a  civilisa- 
tion,* all    consistent   with     one    another   and    based    on     prin- 
ciples, which   by   influence    of   ages   have  become  a  part  and 
parcel  of  our  nature,  it  is  all  the  more  diHicult  to  change  them. 
The  changes  that  we  are  to  undergo  are  not    those  incident  to 
the  growth  of  an  organism,  but  those   incident    to  a    metamor- 
phosis which  takes  place  when  one   kind    of   organism  changes 
into  another  kind  of  organism,  —  when    one    accustomed  to  live 
under  a  certain  habitat  into    another   living    under    a  different 
habitat.     We  have  a  double  process  to   undergo, — we  have  not 
only  to  put  on  a  new  garb  but  to  take  off    the  old    one  as  well. 
People  of  most  other  countries,  in    which    civilisation    is  being 
spread  by  European  influence,  have  only  to  exchange  savagery 
for  civilisation,  which  in  many  respects  is  a  much  easier  process. 
There  is  another  intellectual    advantage,  which  we  possess 
even  over  the  nations  foremost    in  the  scale  of   civilisation  and 
to  which  I  have  not  referred.     Anew  mode  of  conduct  or  living 
strikes  only  to  the  most  original  and  advanced  minds    amongst 
them.     But  we  are  spared  the  pains  and  troubles  of  originality. 
The  discovery  is  made  by  the  thinkers  of  the  West,  and  we  have 
only  to  grasp  and  apprehend    the    idea   for    which,    as  I    have 
shown,  we  have  a  distinct  advantage  over  many    other    people. 
Modes   of   life    in    advance  of   the    nge   are     more   commonly 
known  amongst  us  than  even  amongst  the   foremost    nations  of 
Europe.     Hence  it  is  that  in  no  other  nation   do  we  discover  RO 
many  instances  of  individuals  in    whom    a    wide    divergence  of 
beliefs  from  acts  is  to  he  found.     We  are  not  behind  any  other 
nation    in    the    virtue    of   moral   couruge,    but    owing    to    I  he 
peculiar  circumstances  of   oar    position,   we    have   intellects  1 
ad  vantages  and  moral   difficulties,  which    others  have    not.     To 
give   you  an   instance,  it    does  not   require  a   very  high   order 
of  menial    calibre  to    grasp  and    apprehend  the    nselessness  or 
even    the    perniciousness    of  the   institution   of    cnsfe  with   its 
manifold  divisions  and  sub-divisions.     But   you  can    very  well 
realise  the   moral   difficulties  that  stand  in  our    way  of  even 
slightly  deviating  from  these  rigid  rules,  A  foreigner  is  astonnd- 
20 


154  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

ed,  when  an  intelligent  Hindu  who  is  able  to  talk  with  sense 
and  ability  on  all  the  topics  of  the  day,  declines  to  accept  a  cup 
of  tea  from  him.  He  must  think  that  the  Hindu  has  some 
extraordinary  mental  or  moral  weakness.  But  neither  of  these 
accusations  is  true.  The  Hindu  understands  that  abstinence 
from  eating  and  drinking  with  foreigners  is  a  practice  which 
should  be  abandoned  and  he  does  display  a  certain  amount  of 
moral  weakness  in  not  acting  up  to  his  convictions,  but  no 
extraordinary  weakness.  Courage  is  to  be  measured  by  the 
amount  of  self-sacrifice  which  a  person  is  prepared  to  undergo, 
and  the  foreigner  has  no  icloa  of  the  fate  which  awaihs  his  friend 
for  breaking  his  caste  rules.  To  the  Hindu  it  means  excommu- 
nication or  social  death, — nothing  short  nf  a  kind  of  martyrdom 
How  many  in  other  nations  are  prepared  to  undergo  such  an 
extreme  form  of  punishment  ?  Very  few,  not  more  than  those 
who  amongst  ourselves,  can  most  aptly  be  styled  martyrs  for 
the  cause  of  social  reform.  Excommunication  or  cessation  of 
commensality  and  intermarriage  is  a  punishment  quite  unknown 
in  the  West,  and  a  European  has  no  idea  of  the  moral  courage 
which  a  Hindu  requires  in  order  to  break  his  caste  rules. 
Those  in  favour  of  established  customs  can  easily  take  to 
themselves  the  credit  of  having  the  courage  of  their  convictions, 
but  it  is  a  courage  which  hardly  deserves  the  name. 

From  these  considerations  follow  two  conclusions  which 
are  worthy  of  your  attention  :  1st,  that  we  stand  more  in  need 
of  organised  action  than  of  mere  thought  and  speculation,  and 
if  we  have  to  exercise  our  thinking  faculty,  it  is  not  so  much  in 
discovering  new  modes  of  social  life  as  in  considering  how  we 
are  to  introduce  them,  and  '2nd,  that  we  must  proceed  very 
gradually,  seeing  at  every  moment  that  "  old  order  changeth 
giving  place  to  new."  We  are  not  changing  chaos  for  order, 
but  an  old  regime  for  a  new  one,  and  we  have  to  take  care  that 
we  do  not  in  tho  process  introduce  anarchy  for  a  regime  which, 
however  ill-suited  may  be  its  principles  to  our  present  require- 
ments, still  possesses  the  advantages  of  an  organised  system. 
There  is  much  force  in  the  objection  which  the  cavillers  of  all 
reform  movements  urge  against  the  necessary  evils  of  a  trans i- 


in.]        THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRtSBSES.         155 

tional  stage,  and  wo  should  spare  no  pains  in  seeing  that  these 
evils  are  reduced  to  a  minimum. 

From  these  preliminary  considerations  I  now  proceed  to 
the  main  subject.  The  Honourable  Mr.  Kamkali  Chaudhuri, 
the  President  of  (he  Sixth  Social  Conference,  gives  an  exhaus- 
tive list  of  the  subjects  that  fire  included  in  oar  programme 
of  social  reform.  These  are  lk  infant  marriage,  extravagant 
expenses  attendant  on  marriages  and  certain  other  ceremonies, 
prohibition  of  widow-remarriage,  polygamy  and  prohibition  of 
inter- marriage,  disfigurement  and  other  discomforts  to  which 
widows  ard  subjected,  money  considerations  for  which  girls  are 
given  in  marriage,  and  seclusion  of  women.'1  On  the 
evils  of  infant-mariiage  1  wish  to  say  nothing  ;  this  is  a  subject 
which  I  think  may  fairly  be  assumed  to  have  passed  the  stage  of 
controversy.  Prohibition  of  inter-marriage  is  ulso  a  subject 
which  I  propose  to  leave  untouched,  as  I  think,  I  will  have 
sufficiently  tried  your  patience,  with  the  discussion  of  other 
subjects  with  which  I  propose  to  deal.  The  remaining  subjects 
then  may  he  classified  under  two  heads:  removal  of  female  dis- 
abilities under  our  social  laws,  and  curtailment  of  expenses  on 
marriage  and  other  ceremonies,  and  1  wish  to  say  a  few  words 
about  each. 

First  as  to  the  removal  of  female  disabilities.  If  you  look 
at  the  history  of  human  progress  you  will  find  that  one  chief 
trait  by  which  its  successive  steps  are  characterised  is  the 
gradual  assertion  of  the  principle  that  all  human  beings  as  such 
have  equal  rights  and  privileges.  This  principle  has  been 
slowly  making  a  triumph  over  the  opposite  one  of  *  might 
is  right.'  '  Love  thy  neighbour  as  thou  lovest  thyself.1  'Do 
unto  others  RS  thou  wouldst  be  dona  by '  said  a  great  moral 
preacher  and  religious  reformer  1900  years  ago.  Once 
give  up  the  doctrine  of  equality  of  rights  of  all  human 
beings  and  assert  that  physical  force  ought  to  determine 
the  superiority  of  rights  and  you  undermine  the  very 
foundation  of  morality.  For  what  remains  of  the  laws  of  pro- 
perty is  that  the  stronger  neighbour  by  mere  dint  of  physical 
force  is  allowed  to  have  every  advantage  over  the  weaker,  and 
to  usurp  what  belongs  to  him,  The  laws  of  contract  will  be 


156  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

reduced  to  a  mere  mockery,  if  thu  stronger  promisee  were  to 
break  with  impunity  thepromises  made  to  the  weaker  promisor. 
Passing  from  individuals  to  groups  of  individuals  or  nations, 
we  find  that  the  same  principle  has  gradually  established  itself. 
There  was  a  time  when  the  stronger  nations  used  to  invade 
and  plunder  their  weaker  neigh  bourn,  The  inroads  of  Nadir 
Shah  and  his  followers  are  still  painfully  fresh  in  our  memories. 
At  the  present  day  we  find  that  amongst  the  civilised  nations  of 
Europe,  one  of  the  cardiunl  principles  of  international  morality 
is  that,  no  nation  shall  invade  its  weaker  neighbour  for  purposes 
of  self-aggrandisement-.  Conquests  are  permissible  in  self- 
defence  and  for  the  still  worthier,  though  very  often  ostensible 
object  of  spreading  civilisation.  Leaving  aside  the  code  of 
morality  that  guides  the  conduct  towards  each  other  of  such 
two  groups  as  are  fit  to  be  called  nations,  we  find  that  by  thfi 
abolition  of  slave  trade  all  civilised  nations  of  tho  world  have 
recognised  that  one  chief  duty  of  every  human  being  is  to  re- 
gard every  other  human  being  as  having  so.ne  claims  to  equali- 
ty in  the  exercise  of  some  of  the  essential  functions  of  human 
existence.  To  come  nearer  home,  what  induces  us  to  demand 
from  our  rulers  who  are  in  every  way  stronger  than  ourselves 
a  redress  of  certain  grievances, — a  redress  which  chiefly  con- 
sists in  establishing  equality  between  the  rulers  and  the  ruled  ? 
And  what,  may  I  further  ask,  leads  our  rulers  to  make  gradual 
concessions  to  our  demands  ?  Is  it  not  a  silent  belief  on 
both  sides  that  a  tyranny  of  the  strong  over  the  weak 
is  a  rule  of  the  past  V  Liberalism  in  politics  and  conser- 
vatism in  social  reform,  at  least  so  far  as  the  rights  of 
women  are  concerned,  is  an  anomaly  and  is  explicable  only 
upon  the  hypothesis  that  those  who  profess  these  inconsistent 
creeds  entertain  too  high  an  opinion  of  everything  belonging  to 
themselves — too  high  an  opinion  of  their  institutions  and  too 
high  (  which  of  course  includes  if  you  so  choose  a  sufficiently  bigh) 
opinion  of  their  rights  and  privileges.  In  claiming  equality 
for  our  women  we  do  nothing  niore  than  push  by  one  more  step 
the  principle  of  equality,  which  you  have  seen  has  making  succes- 
sive inroads  on  the  opposite  one  of  domination  by  physical 
force,  and  to  which  all  the  civilised  nations  of  the  day  have 


in.]         THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         157 

yielded  aud  yielded  vvitli  immense  benefit  to  the  human  race. 
None  of  you  is  prepared  to  admit  that  we  should  revive  the 
slave  trade,  or  that  we  should  once  more  allow  thai  it  is  proper 
for  the  stronger  nations  to  invade  and  plunder  the  weaker,  or 
that  it  will  conduce  to  human  welfare  to  drive  away  altogether 
the  notion  of  equality  from  our  lawn  cf  property  and  of  contracts, 
and  least  of  all  will  you  admit  the  justice  of  the  principle  that 
hy  sword  have  our  rulers  conquered  India,,  and  by  sword  they 
should  maintain  it  and  treat  us  as  slaves.  Hut  when  a  further 
accession  to  that  same  principle,  the  subversion  of  which  will 
restore  a  state  of  things  at  which  every  one  will  shudder,  is 
claimed,  the  demand  is  resisted. 

There  is  however  nothing  strange  and  wonderful  in  this. 
In  all  departments  of  human  knowledge  and  conduct  the  on- 
ward march  of  every  progressive  principle  is  resisted  at  every 
step  in  the  same  way.  Look  at  the  manner  iu  which  the  domain 
of  science  has  gradually  increased.  In  the  opinion  of  Socrates 
a  search  into  physic^  and  astronomy,  says  a  historian,  was  not 
considered  within  the  domain  of  science,  but  was  looked  upon 
as  impious.  A  similar  reproach  is  even  at  the  present  day 
made  against  an  attempt  to  bring  social  phenomena  within  the 
domain  of  science.  Another  instance  of  un  opposition  against  a 
progressive  principle  is  afforded  by  the  history  of  religion,  in 
which  all  attempts  to  drive  out  the  anthropomorphic  tendency 
have  been  met  with  resistance  at  every  step.  The  most  wonder- 
ful part  of  the  opposition  is  that  no  lesson  is  taken  from  the 
past  experience  of  the  human  race  ;  it  is  riot  recognised  that  in 
the  past  similar  struggles  were  made  which  nre  now  admitted 
to  have  been  unwise. 

Now,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  what  more  can  be  said  in 
favour  of  a  principle  and  in  derogation  of  its  opposite  than  that 
it  forms  the  very  foundation  of  our  morality.  But,  say  onr 
adversaries,  all  human  beings  are  not  equal  in  power  and  capa- 
city, and  therefore  it  in  preposterous  to  claim  equality  of  rights 
for  all  of  them.  None  can  deny  that  human  beings  differ 
much  from  one  another  in  powers  and  capacities.  I  am  not 
going  to  enter  into  the  controversy  whether  «b  solute  equality 
of  rights,  for  all  in  every  respect  is  possible  or  desirable.  The 


158  iNblAti  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

controversy  is  foreign  to  my  purpose.  But  on  tlie  other  hand,  if 
human  progress  haw  not  taken  the  direction  just  the  opposite 
of  that  which  it  should  have  taken,  no  one  will  assert  that 
inferiority  of  powers  justifies  an  utter  annihilation,  of  rights. 
Not  even  the  most  conservative  tyrant  will  have  the  courage  to 
affirm  that  our  women  .should  be  converted  into  marketable 
commodities,  and  that  we  should  have  power  of  life  and  death 
over  them.  What  then  is  the  golden  mean  hetween  these  two 
extremes,  which,  aa  we  have  seen,  are  both  equally  unacceptable  ? 
The  only  criterion,  which  I  think  we  cau  employ  in  determining 
the  rights  and  privileges  of  a  certain  class  when  considered  in 
connection  with  their  powers  and  capncit.ies,  is  that  rights 
should  be  commensurate  with  powers, — that  the  measure  of 
right  should  be  the  measure  of  power  and  capacity.  By  this 
process  we  arrive  at  that  principle,  which  forms  the  foundation 
of  all  our  Political  and  Moral  Philosophy,  viz.}  that  every 
human  being  should  be  allowed  the  free  exercise  of  his  power, 
with  the  usual  proviso  that  the  exercise  should  be  consistent 
with  the  harmonious  development  of  all  other  powers  and  with 
a  similar  exercise  of  those  powers  on  the  part  of  others,  Now, 
ladies  and  gentlemen,  what  rights  do  we  claim  for  our  sisters  ? 
The  right  of  re-marriage  for  widows,  the  right  of  free  move- 
ment, and  the  right  of  intellectual  advancement.  Can  any  one 
assert  that  women  have  not  the  powers  and  capacities  for  the 
exercise  of  these  rights,  or  that  their  exercise  arrests  the 
harmonious  development  of  other  powers,  or  that  it  is  not 
possible  so  to  arrange  that  the  exercise  of  these  powers  may  be 
consistent  with  a  similar  exercise  «>n  the  part  of  others  P  On 
the  contrary  the  present  state  of  our  females  degrades  them 
from  the  position  of  human  beings  to  that  of  mere  machines, — 
dwarfs  and  stunts  what  is  noblest  and  highest  in  human  nature, 
for  no  intellectual  advancement  is  possible  with  BO  many  re- 
strictions of  movement  as  we  impose  on  our  women. 

Bui*,  say  our  opponents,  there  are  evils  in  removing  the 
disabilities  of  females,  and  that  a  removal  of  them  will  inter- 
fere with  the  development  of  their  moral  nature.  Before 
proceeding  to  consider  these  evils,  lot  me  point  out  to  you  one 
danger  which  we  should  guard  against,  while  forming  an 


HI.]          TEE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         1 59 

opinion  ou  the  merits  and  demerits  of  every  kind  of  innovation, 
lu  the  beginning  of  this  address  I  mentioned  incidentally  of 
the  inflexibility  of  our  moral  nature.  Oar  moral  sentiments 
are' formed  by  the  influence  of  opinions  and  ideas  which  we  have 
imbibed  from  our  childhood.  We  judge  of  every  new  movement 
presented  to  us  in  the  light  of  suntiinents  which  havebeen  formed 
in  a  state  of  society  inconsistent  with  the  existence  of  circum- 
stances which  the  movement  advocated  proposes  to  bring  about. 
From  our  very  infancy  we  have  been  accustomed  when  deciding 
between  the  respective  claims  of  males  and  females  to  put  all 
advantages  on  the  side  of  males  and  all  disad vantages  on  the 
side  of  females, — to  put  a  high  value  on  our  advantages  and  to 
think  lightly  of  the  sacrifices  to  which  we  subject  the  fair  sex. 
This  process  when  discussing  the  question  of  the  equality  of  the 
tights  of  women  must  be  abandoned,  for  to  adopt  it  would  be 
to  commit  the  fallacy  so  well  known  to  all  students  of  Logic  by 
the  technical  name  of  pptitio  principii. 

Bearing  this  precaution  in  mi  ml  and  taking  first  the  evils 
of  widow-remarriage  I  defy  any  one  to  point  out  a  single  evil, 
and  I  will  show  him  a  corresponding  evil  to  exist  in  the  re- 
marriage of  widowers.  Why  is  the  latter  permitted  ?  If  the 
combined  prayer  of  all  of  us  assembled  here  to-day  could  con- 
vert human  beings  into  angels  and  make  them  free  from  all 
desires  and  wants,  to  which  they  are  subject,  1  would  be  as  glad 
to  lead  the  congregation  as  I  feel  honoured  to-day  to  preside 
over  your  deliberations,  and  then  we  could  by  one  stroke 
abolish  the  re-marriage  of  both  widows  and  widowers.  But 
alas  this  is  impossible  ! 

It  is  preposterous  to  say  that  certain  moral  virtues  are 
secured  by  compulsory  widowhood.  The  case  is  very  often 
just  the  reverse.  But  assuming  for  the  sake  of  argument  that 
they  are  secured,  is  no  account  to  be  taken  of  the  miseries  and 
the  privations  to  which  widows  are  subjected  ?  The  misfor- 
tune of  a  Hindu  womun  becoming  a  widow  does  not  only  con- 
sist in  the  loss  of  a  husband,  very  often  her  sole  protector  in 
this  world,  but  in  the  train  of  miseries  and  privations  which 
must  follow  in  a  complete  renouncement  of  all  the  pleasures  of 
this  world  and  in  short  in  a  compulsory  asceticism.  For  otherwise 


160  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

her  position  becomes  ID  ore  degrading  in  oilier  and  more  important 
respects.  No  moralist  to  whatever  school  he  may  belong  will 
affirm  that  misery  and  suffering  are  concomitants  of  virtuous 
actions,  and  that  a  course  is  to  be  recommended  as  virtuous 
which  brings  more  misery  and  suffering  than  happiness.  To  a 
utilitarian  the  idea  of  securing  virtue  by  attempts,  which  entail 
an  amount  of  misery  outweighing  the  happiness  resulting  from 
the  so-called  virtue,  would  be  as  absurd  .and  false  as  the  idea 
which  prompts  the  miser  to  pass  his  life  in  misery  and  to  horde 
up  money,  knowing  that  wealth  is  desirable  not  for  its  own 
pake  but  for  the  enjoyment  which  it  is  the  means  of  procuring, 

Let  us  now  consider  for  a  few  moments  the  objections 
which  are  urged  against  female  emancipation,  but  before  doing 
HO  let  me  explain  what  I  mean  by  this  phrase.  An  idea  cognate 
to  that  of  equality  is  the  idea  of  liberty.  While  I  refrained 
from  expressing  an  opinion  on  the  question  of  absolute  equality, 
I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  absolute  liberty  of  action  can 
and  will  never  be  permitted.  For  the  welfare  of  humanity  some 
laws  must  exist,  and  every  law  impliea  a  restriction  of  liberty. 
What  is  objected  to  by  us  is  an  inequality  of  law  —  laws  im- 
posing many  restrictions  on  one  class  and  few  on  the  other. 

I  have  never  been  to  England  and  have  never  moved  in 
English  society.  I  am  therefore  unable  to  form  an  exact- 
idea  of  the  restriction^,  which  in  place  of  our  Purdah  system 
exist  in  English  society,  regulating  the  association  of  males 
Avith  females.  But  there  is  no  doubt  that  some  restrictions  of 
the  sort  do  exist.  Every  one  of  you  is  familiar  with  what  yon 
see  marked  on  Railway  carriages  '  For  Ladies  only.'  It  is, 
as  you  know,  an  offence  under  the  Railway  Act  fora  male 
passenger  to  travel  in  a  carriage  reserved  for  females. 

If  I  were  given  the  privilege  of  framing  a  code  of  social 
rules  regarding  the  association,  of  males  with  females,  I 
would  make  one  of  which  the  cardinal  principle  could  be  couch- 
ed in  some  such  words  as  the  following:  —  Let  no  adult  rnalo 
or  female  enjoy  the  society  or  company  of  the  opposite  sex  ex- 
cept in  the  presence  of  his  or  her  relations.  I  do  not  see  that 
there  could  be  any  reasonable  objection  to  this  principle.  It 
gives  no  unfair  advantage  to  one  sex  over  another.  It  implies 


TIL]         THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         161 

equal  liberty  as  well  aa  restriction  of  liberty  to  both.  It  does 
not  arrest  the  development  of  anything  that  ia  good  and  noble 
in  human  nature,  nor  do  I  see  that  it  ia  open  to  the  objection 
of  iui practicability.  It  ia  possible  to  enforce  a  strict  observance 
of  it  by  creating  a  strong  public  opinion  and  moral  sentiment 
in  favour  of  it.  A  few  words  more  will  make  this  clearer.  In 
what  does  our  Purdah  system  essentially  consist  ?  It  consists 
in  the  seclusion  of  women  from  men  by  the  former  being  con- 
fined within  the  four  walls  of  Zenana.  Hiding  the  face  is 
not  its  principal  feature.  There  are  many  respectable  societies 
in  which  the  rule  of  drawing  a  veil  over  the  face  is  not  observ- 
ed, but  which  keep  their  females  in  the  Zenana,  and  do  not  in 
any  way  regret  the  absence  of  that  rule.  People  huve  an  exag- 
gerated notion  of  the  potency  of  the  Zenana  system  in  securing 
the  seclusion  of  women  from  men.  To  no  other  mode  of  confine- 
ment do  the  words  of  the  poet : — 

1  Strong  walla  do  not  a  prison  make. 
Nor  iron  burs  a  cage  ' 

apply  with  greater  force  than  to  our  Zenana.  There  are  no  sen- 
tinels standing  at  the  door  of  every  Zenana  any  more  than  there 
are  at  the  doors  of  those  who  do  not  observe  the  system.  Nor  is 
there  any  dynamite  placed  at  the  threshold  of  every  female 
apartment  of  res  pec  tab!  o  Indians  liable  to  explode  whenever 
there  is  an  attempt  at  an  ingress  or  egress.  A  person  who 
wantonly  enters  within  the  four  walls  of  a  Zenana  withont  an 
intent  to  intimidate,  insult,  annoy  or  commit  an  offence  is  not 
liable  to  prosecution  under  our  laws,  and  if  he  doea  enter  the 
Zenana  with  any  of  these  intentions,  he  is  as  much  guilty  of 
trespass  as  he  would  be  if  he  were  to  enter  the  Mardani  under 
similar  circumstances.  The  Zenana  system  therefore  has  no  phy- 
sical or  legal  sanction  at  the  present  day.  In  the  absence  of 
all  these  forces,  what  is  it  then  that  prevents  a  gentleman  who 
ia  a  stranger  from  going  into  the  Zenana,  or  a  lady  from  coming 
out  of  it  P  It  is  nothing  more  than  a  fear  of  public  opinion  or 
moral  sentiment  engendered  by  the  force  of  early  education 
and  habit.  In  securing  the  separation  of  one  sex  from  the 
other  by  creating  a  public  opinion  in  favour  of  the  principle 
enunciated  above,  we  do  not  substitute  an  incorporeal  thing 
21 


162  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

such  as  a  moral  sentiment  for  a  corporeal  and  tangible  obstacle 
such  as  the  walls  of  the  Zenana  appear  to  be  at  first  sight,  but 
only  one  moral  sentiment  in  place  of  another,  whilst  we  remove 
the  inequitous  domination  of  one  sex  over  the  other. 

There  are  other  instances  too  in  our  experience,  in  which 
we  see  that  by  the  spread  of  civilisation  and  enlightenment  a 
moral  sentiment  serves  the  same  purpose  as  a  strong-  masonry 
wall.  Not  to  go  far,  even  in  the  town  of  Lahore,  you  will  find 
that  the  honses  of  all  the  members  of  the  old  gentry  of  Sikh 
times  are  built  within  the  city  in  such  a  style  as  to  defy  all 
attempts  of  intruders  and  trespassers.  In  place  of  these  we 
find  respectable  gentlemen  of  the  present  day,  most  of  whom 
fill  us  high  a  position  in  society  as  some  of  the  old  raises  did  in 
their  times,  building  houses §outside  of  the  city,  entry  into 
which  could  be  made  by  a  flimsy  door  that  could  be  forced  open 
by  a  strong  kick  from  a  stalwart  Sikh.  In  Presidency  towns  and 
in  Simla  wo  find  that  even  the  shops  of  jewellers  are  protect- 
ed only  by  doors  having  large  glass  panes.  Nothing  of  the  sort 
is  possible  in  Afghanisthan  or  oven  in  British  territory  in 
some  of  the  frontier  towns.  All  this  is  due  to  the  strong 
development  of  a  moral  sentiment  which  respects  the  law  of 
private  property  and  public  peace.  Is  it  not  then  possible  that 
by  a  similar  development  of  another  moral  sentiment  we  may 
attain  without  giving  any  undue  advantage  to  one  class  over 
another,  that  which  we  now  attain  by  subjecting  our  women  to 
a  miserable  kind  of  slavery  ? 

A  stock  objection  of  all  opponents  of  innovations  is  that 
the  new  rule  of  conduct  proposed  is  liablo  to  be  abused.  To 
such  of  our  conservative  friends  as  take  an  optimistic  view  of 
the  present  state  of  our  society,  1  have  nothing  to  say  beyond 
appealing  to  the  past  experience  of  mankind,  which  shows 
that  every  change  has  been  liable  to  abuse  and  that  if  there 
had  been  no  change,  there  could  have  been  no  progress,  But 
to  those  who  think  that  our  present  condition  stands  ID  need  of 
reform,  the  simple  answer  is  :  guard  against  the  abuse.  In 
the  present  case  the  advocates  of  established  customs  give  a 
very  plausible  form  to  their  objection.  They  say  every  force 
follows  the  course  of  least  resistance ;  female  emancipation  may 


m.]        THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         163 

be  carried  to  an  extent  to  which  it  exists  in  English  society  and 
this  is  an  evil.  Well,  as  1  have  said  at  tho  outset,  I  have  no 
personal  knowledge  of  the  stat«  of  EuglUh  society, — there  may 
be  some  evils  amongst  them,  Some  of  the  modes  of  their  social 
amusement  do  appear  to  us  to  be  objectionable.  Bat  it  is  not 
impossible  to  avoid  them.  Drinking  prevails  very  commonly 
amongst  Europeans  and  was  imitated  by  a  very  large  number 
of  the  earlier  batch  of  our  educated  men.  But  within  the  last 
ten  years  much  good  has  been  done  by  Temperance  Societies, 
and,  I  think,  I  can  say  without  any  fear  of  contradiction  that 
within  this  period  our  schools  and  colleges  have  turned  out 
men  a  large  majority  of  whom  are  teetotallers.  Once  admit 
that  the  principle,  which  1  have  enunciated  above  as  forming 
the  basis  of  our  future  social  code,  is  a  sound  one  find  you  can 
avoid  overdoing  it  as  well  as  underdoing  it. 

No  stage  of  the  advancement  of  human  civilisation  comes 
within  my  mental  view,  in  which  we  will  have  to  change  this 
principle.  If  it  is  not  observed  in  English  society  (which  I  am 
inclined  to  think  is  not  correct, — only  I  cannot  speak  with 
authority  for  want  of  personal  knowledge),  it  is  a  mistake  to 
believe  that  the  extent  of  liberty  which  prevails  amongst  them, 
is  an  outcome  of  the  advance  of  civilisation.  Freedom  of 
movement  has  been  enjoyed  by  English  women  ever  since  the 
dawn  of  British  civilisation,  and,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  there 
have  been  no  accessions  to  this  liberty  with  the  advance  of 
civilisation.  Some  of  their  customs,  which  appear  to  us  to  be 
objectionable,  are  the  product  of  peculiar  circumstances,  have 
existed  amongst  them  for  a  long  time,  and  by  no  means  indicate 
a  particular  stage  of  civilisation,  in  the  same  way  as  our 
Zenana  system  was  imported  under  peculiar  circumstances  and 
is  not  a  mark  of  any  particular  state  of  intellectual  and  moral 
advancement. 

What  I  have  described  above  is  the  ultimate  goal  which 
we  mean  to  reach  in  our  onward  march  in  social  progress. 
What  particular  steps  should  be  taken  by  each  society  is  a 
question  which  has  to  be  determined  with  the  greatest  wisdom, 
precaution  and  forethought,  and  with  a  special  regard  to  the 
circumstances  of  that  society  ;  for  in  no  other  department  of 


164  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REPORti.  [PART 

social  progress  is  a  defiance  of  public  opinion  more  injurious, 
and  in  no  other  department  is  liberty  on  a  certain  principle 
liable  to  be  abused  for  liberty  without  any  principle. 

You  will  bo  amused   to  hear  certain  rules  of  etiquette 
in  our  society  based   on  an  extreme  refinement  of  the  ideas 
connected    with    our  system  of  tbe   seclusion  of  women   from 
men, — a  refinement  which   is  sometimes    inconsistent  with  the 
notions  of  purity,  which  ought    to  permeate  all  our  conceptions 
about  conjugal   relationship.     A   husband   does  not  speak  with 
his   wife  in  the  presence  of  his  elders.     In  conversation  it  is 
against  decorum  to  speak  of  the  wife   of    another  person,  the 
word  'house1  is  used   instead  of  wife.     In  the   Multan   district 
when  a  gentleman  enquires  about  the  health  of  his  friend's  wife, 
lie  does   not  even  use  the  word  house,  but  Didhi  or  entrance  to 
the  Zenana.     The  enquirer  dares  not  even  in  imagination  enter 
the  house,  but  falls   short  of  it  at  the  very   threshold.     In  such 
societies  the  emancipation   of   females   would  indeed    be  a  big 
jump, — a  sudden  change  as  impossible  as  it  would  be  undesir- 
able.    I  would  suggest  that  in  societies,  in  which  no   education 
ia  given  to  females,  some  education  may  be  given,  and  in  others, 
in  which  education  is  already  given,  an  advanced  course  of  edu- 
cation  may  be   introduced.     IE  you    develop    the  intellectual 
power,  there  will  naturally  be  a  demand  for  the  exercise  of  the 
power.     Make  your  sisters  capable  of  understanding  the  world, 
and  they  will,  as  a  consequence,   require  to  be  allowed  to  move 
about  and  see  the  world.     Nut  only  this,   but  inculcate  a  taste 
for  knowledge,  and  the  desire  for  it  which   is  the  most  insatia- 
ble of  all  other  desires  will  grow,    until  it  will  be  impossible  to 
satisfy  it  without  slackening  the  restraints  that  exist  at  present. 
Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  have  detained  you  long  on  the 
subject  of  female  disabilities — though  perhaps  not  longer  than 
the  importance  of  the  subject  justified,   and  I  will  DOW  say  a 
few    words   on    the  curtailment  of  expenses  on  marriage  and 
other   ceremonies.    A   few    months    ago    my    fridnd  Pandit 
Shiv  Warain,   Pleader  of  Jnllandhar,   wrote  a  nice  little ,  book 
on  the  subject  of  social  reform ,  amongst  Kashmiri  Ptondits, 
a  community  to  which  he  and  I  hare  the  honour  to  belong.    A 
greater  part  of  the  book  is  devoted  to  proposals  for  reducing-  ex- 


in.]        $HE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.          165 

pendituve  on  various  ceremonies.     A  friend  of  mine  wrote  on 
the  back  of  it  a  couplet,  which    with   slight   alterations    in  the 
second  line  to  suit  tie  rhyme  stood  thus  : — 
'  Karo  aiah  o  uahrat  ko  apme  zara  kiiui, 
Ki  mauen  nasayeb  turn  hunke  bhihaui,' 

which  means:  reduce  your  luxuries,  before  you  expect  us  to  fol- 
low your  advice.  A  few  days  later,  I  had  occasion  to  talk  with 
another  friend  of  mine  on  the  subject,  and  he  said  in  prose 
what  is  expressed  above  in  poetry.  Our  efforts  are  partly  mis- 
understood. '  Never  a  borrower  but  a  lender  be  '  is  the  principle 
which  we  mean  to  inculcate  for  all  kinds  of  business.  We  do 
not  recommend  extravagance  in  anything,  A  person  who  ex- 
pends- more  than  his  income  on  the  ordinary  comforts  of  life,  is 
as  unwise  as  the  person  who  incurs  debts  on  marriage  cere- 
monies, but  our  efforts  are  specially  directed  to  reduction  of  ex- 
penses on  the  latter,  because  in  respectable  circles  debts  are 
more  generally  incurred  on  celebration  of  marriages  and  other 
ceremonies  than  on  comfortable  living,  and  there  is  a  great  dis- 
proportion in  the  minds  of  the  people  between  the  importance 
of  living  comfortably  and  of  making  a  show  OD  ceremonies.  To 
pass  years  under  misery  and  in  a  state  below  what  your  means 
can  command  in  order  that  you  may  be  able  to  spend  five  or 
six  days  in  a  life-time  with  pomp  and  show  is  a  peculiar  mode 
of  employing  your  resources  to  the  best  advantage  and  of  secur- 
ing the  greatest  amount  of  happiness.  Our  contentions  can  be 
aammed  up  in  three  sentences— never  outlive  your  means, 
reduce  your  expenditure  under  one  head  and  increase  it  under 
the  other,  and  see  if  you  are  happier-  In  fixing  scales  of 
expenses  for  the  marriages  of  our  daughters,  we  must  not 
however  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  under  our  present  laws 
daughters  inherit  in  very  few  oases,  and  that  the  dowries 
given  on  their  marriages  form  the  principal  part  of  their 
personal  property.  Large  dowries  within  the  means  of  the 
persons  giving  them  .are  not  to  be  deprecated  in  societies  in 
which  early  betrothal  is  followed  by  marriage  at  an  age  at 
which  the  bridegroom  though  past  minority  has  not  entered  the 
world  and  has  not  begun  to  earn  his  own  livelihood. 

Rich  men  in  all  societies  form   always  an  influential  clasn, 


166  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

whose  example  is  looked  up  to  and  followed  by  all  the  rest.  It 
is  therefore  very  necessary  that  if  they  sympathise  with  oar 
efforts  to  reduce  expenses  in  social  ceremonies  and  if  they 
realise  that  their  poorer  brethren  suffer  by  the  disproportion 
that  exists  ID  our  ideas  between  the  importance  of  Jiving  com- 
fortably and  of  making-  a  show  on  ceremonies,  they  should  be  a 
little  more  frugal  than  is  strictly  justifiable  by  their  means. 
For  often  a  morbid  activity  ha.s  to  be  checked  by  showing  some 
unusual  energy  in  the  display  of  a  healthy  activity,  which 
counteracts  the  morbid  one. 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  have  now  to  say  a  very  few  words 
on  the  functions  ot  this  Social  Conference,  and  I  have  finished. 
This  assembly,  which  consists  of  the  representatives  of  different 
societies  whose  circumstances,  needs  and  requirements  are  more 
or  lens  different,  meets  only  once  a  year.  It  partakes  therefore 
of  the  character  of  a  representative  body.  It  affirms  certain, 
principles,  the  working  of  which  is  left  to  the  various  Commit- 
tees. The  proper  work  of  the  Conference  is  to  enunciate 
certain  principles  and  to  see  that  the  Committees  try  to  work 
them  out, — in  short  to  guide  the  work  of  subordinate  working 
bodies.  In  the  words  of  our  veteran  reformer  we  meet  here  '  to 
take  stock  of  one  year's  achievements.1  If  by  meeting  once 
a  year  and  passing  a  number  of  resolutions  we  are  able  to 
awaken  the  representatives  of  different  communities  to  a  sense 
of  their  work,  we  achieve  much.  The  subject  of  the  organisa- 
tion of  the  Conference  on  a  provisional  basis  will  come  up  before 
the  meeting.  The  chief  difficulty  is  that  in  each  province, 
there  are  different  communities,  each  at  a  different  stage  of 
advancement.  Some  communities, — perhaps  all,  except  some  ad- 
vanced religious  communities — will  be  startled  at  the  very 
name  of  widnw  re-marriage  or  female  education,  but  there  are 
two  very  important  subjects  in  our  programme,  which  cau 
afford  a  common  platform  of  work  for  different  Associations  and 
Sabhas,  that  exist  in  the  country — I  mean  early  marriage  and 
reduction  of  expenses  on  social  ceremonies.  If  different  Asso- 
ciations affiliate  themselves  to  the  Conference,  the  more  advan- 
ced spirit  which  characterises  our  programme  can  be  infused 
into  them,  Let  us  however  hope  that  the  earnestness  and  zeal, 


in.]          THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         167 

which  characterises  our  action  to-day  will  mark  our  efforts 
throughout  tbe  year  before  we  meet  ag:n'n,  and  that  whilst  we 
display  undautsted  ooura-o  and  unfailing  perseverance  in 
our  onward  march  in  sc.cial  reform,  wo  make  our  way 
with  the  greatest  wisdom  ami  forethought  through  our 
present  stage  of  marked  transition, 

Ladies  aud  gentlemen,  before  I  sit  down  let  me  apologise 
to  you  for  having  detained  you  so  Jong1  over  this  address,  und 
let  me  thank  you  for  the  patience  wilh  which  you  have  listened 
to  all  that  I  have  said. 


The  Eighth    Social    Conference— Dewan    Bahadur 
(now  the  Hon'ble  Justice  Sir)  S.   Subramania 
Iyer's  Address. 

I  beg  to  thank  you  most  sincerely  for  the  honour  you  have 
done  me  in  asking  mo  to  preside  tit  this  Conference.  When  I 
look  back  to  the  record  of  your  past  Conferences,  I  cannot  help 
feeling  that  this  duty  had  devolved  on  some  uno  more  capable 
of  doing  justice  to  the  task  and  some  one  who  cun  Ppe.ik  with 
much  greater  emphasis  than  I  can  upon  questions  which  will 
presently  come  before  you  for  consideration.  Gentlemen,  we 
are,  I  think,  very  lucky  this  year  in  having  in  our  midst  some 
of  the  leaders  of  the  social  reform  movement.  I  refer  first  to 
our  venerable  friend  Dewan  Bahadur  Raghuriatha  Rao,  whose 
devotion  to  the  cause  is  so  well  known  to  you  all.  I  also  refer 
to  that  large-hearted  man  whose  indefatigable  and  wise  work 
in  the  cause  of  reform  is  also  well  known  to  you — I  mean  tho 
Hon'ble  Mr.  Justice  Ranade.  I  also  refer  to  that  profound 
scholar  whoso  deep  learning,  erudition,  and  unflinching  devo- 
tion to  the  cause  of  reform  is  also  well  hn  -wn  to  yon  — I  menn 
Dr.  Bhandarkar,  Vice-Chancellnr  of  the  Bombay  University. 
With  such  learned  and  experienced  men  ready  to  guide  you 
and  instruct  you  in  yonr  deliberations  this  day,  I  feel  jjreat 
hesitation  and  diffidence  in  having  to  stand  np  and  address  yon. 
Bat  Orthodox  precedent  requires  that  I  as  the  Chairman  should 
open  theae  proceedings  with  a  few  prefatory  remarks.  In  foU 


168  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

lowing  the  rule  I  propose  to  be  brief,  because  there   is    so  much 
work  to  get  through  and  because  so  much  of  what  I  can  say  has 
been  so  well  anticipated  in  the  admirable   address  delivered  by 
the  Hon'ble  Mr,  Justice  Ranade  the  other  day    in  the  Christian 
College  Hall.     It  was  an  address  which  contained   a   luminous 
and  masterly  survey  of  the  work   done  and   the   progress  made 
during  the  sever,  years  which    have   elapsed   since   the   Social 
Conference  was  held  in  this  city.     Gentlemen,  I   believe  all  of 
you  know  the  Urge  gatherings  that  were   held  during  the  last 
few  days,  composed  of  persons  who   came  from  various   parts 
of    India.     They    have    come  here    at    considerable    sacrifice 
and  inconvenience  from  distant  parts  to  attend  these  meetings. 
What  do  we  find  on    close   examination  ?     We  find  that  a  con- 
siderable number  of  these  gentlemen  are  more  or  less  interested 
in  all  three  movements,  thus  proving  beyond  the  possibility  of  a 
doubt  that  the  revival,  which  is  taking  place  just  amongst  us,  is 
not  one-sided, — is  not  confined  to  politics,  but  that  it  extends  to 
and    embraces    matters,  .social   and   spiritual.     However   much 
individuals  may  differ   as   to   which   of  these  particular  move- 
ments  is    entitled    to   special    attention    and   support    at  their 
hands, — however  much    individuals   may   disagree  as   to    the 
actual  steps  to  be  taken  to  achieve    the  end  which  is  in  view, — 
I  think  I  can  safely^say  that  it  has   come  to  be  generally  recog- 
nised that  none  of  tfyese  movements  can  be  neglected  altogether, 
if  the  general  progress  of  the  country  is  to  be  placed  on  a  true 
and    sound    basis.     I   am   quite   sure   that   this  conviction   is 
growing  stronger  and  stronger  amongst  us  every  day,  and  that 
it  is  beginning  to  be  felt  that  there  is  no  real    antagonism,  and 
there  ought  to  be    no  real   antagonism   amongst  these  various 
movements,     I    believe   it   is  this   growing  consciousness  that 
makes  such   of  us   as   are   specially   interested   in  the  Indian 
National  Congress  look  upon  the   work  of  the  social  reformer 
with  greater  favour  than  was   the   case  at  first.     I  believe  it  is 
this  general  feeling   that   likewise  disposes  the  social  reformer 
to  endeavour  to  evolve  out  of  the  indigenous  literature  of  the 
country  certain  doctrines    to  jneet  the  requirements  of  our  age. 
This   iiaturally  leads  me    to  offer  a  few  observations  on  the 
methods  employed  by  some  of  the  most  enthusiastic  reformers, 


in.]         THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         169 

I  have  noticed  with  great  regret  that  hastiness,  insufficient  ex- 
amination of  causes  and  effects,  exaggeration  and  intolerance 
characterise  some  of  their  writings  and  utterances.  I  believe 
such  writings  and  utterances  are  retarding  rather  than 
advancing  the  progress  of  our  cause.  Allow  me  to  say 
what  I  really  think  of  the  policy  thus  pursued.  I  am  anxious 
to  take  advantage  of  this  opportunity  and  state  it  publicly, 
because  1  wish  that  the  outside  world  should  not  judge 
of  the  soundness  and  the  wisdom  of  our  cause  by  such 
utterances  and  such  writings,  which  T  am  free  to  confess 
are  open  to  objection.  I  urge  most  earnestly  upon  those  gentle- 
men, whose  enthusiasm  and  whose  honesty  I  perfectly  recog- 
nise, not  to  provoke  enmity  and  not  to  make  enemies  to  tho 
cause  by  such  a  procedure.  We  must  avoid  that  narrow  dog- 
matism that  we  so  much  complain  of  in  our  companions.  The 
habits,  the  feelings,  and  the  institutions,  which  are  the  result 
of  a  long  history,  cannot  be  altered  in  a  day.  To  some  of  those 
ardent  reformers  I  have  just  referred  to  this  may  sound  very 
harsh.  They  may  ask  how  are  those  evils  to  be  eradicnted, 
unless  we  make  it  a  point  of  exposing  them  and  holding  them 
for  reprobation  in  season  and  out  of  season.  To  them  my  reply 
is — try  and  educate  public  opinion — try  and  get  public  opinion 
on  your  side,  and  custom  such  as  you  wish  will  certainly  soon 
grow  out  of  such  public  opinion,  and,  as  has  been  remarked  be- 
fore, even  religion  will  not  delay  long  to  strengthen  herself  by 
establishing  an  alliance  with  the  accomplished  fact,  arid  thus 
adopting  with  her  sanction  and  grace  the  altered  practices  of 
domestic  and  social  life.  Nor  do  I  think  that  the  religious 
practices  and  ceremonies,  which  seem  inconsistent  at  first  sight 
with  our  altered  programme,  to  be  ridiculous.  I  wish  that  the 
reformer  gave  a  thought  to  the  question  how  these  practices, 
which  are  inconsistent  with  our  present  position  of  affairs 
came  to  receive  the  sanction  of  religion.  Once  the  true  foun- 
dation of  the  situation  is  explained  on  a  rational  basis,  I  feel 
that  much  of  the  opposition  which  is  offered  will  disappear. 
In  this  connection  I  wish  to  offer  one  more  observation,  and  I 
trust  that  you  will  receive  it  in  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  offered. 
I  believe  it  was  the  late  lamented  Professor  Rangan  ad  ham 
22 


170  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

Mudaliar,  for  whom  all  of  us  have  such  admiration,  who  said 
that,  with  reference  to  some  matters  which  the  reformer 
is  advocating,  no  one  has  a  right  to  demand  from  another 
that  amount  of  self-sacrifice,  which  is  consistent  with  his 
thoughts  and  ideas.  With  reference  to  these  matters  I  am  in- 
clined to  grant  and  endorse  his  views.  Fat  yourself  the  ques- 
tion how  many  of  you  are  willing  to  become  martyrs  of 
the  cause  at  once.  That  is  the  difficulty,  which  I  ask  the 
enthusiastic  reformer  to  realise  fully  before  he  loses  pati- 
ence with  those  who  are  desirous  of  seeing1  those  changes 
effected.  I  should  however  ask  my  enthusiastic  friend  not  to 
misunderstand  me. 

I  shall  now  proceed  to  offer  a  few  observations  with  refer- 
ence to  another  class  of  persons.  The  great  charge  which  is 
brought  forward  against  us  is  that  if  we  proceed  long  with  these 
measures  that  are  being  advocated,  we  are  sure  to  be  launched 
in  the  chaos  of  irreligion.  I  feel  certain  that  there  is  not  the 
slightest  foundation  for  such  an  apprehensiou.  I  have  always 
found  it  difficult  to  understand  why  a  religious  reformer  work- 
ing for  the  spiritual  elevation  of  our  people,  if  he  is  fully  libe- 
ral, should  quarrel  with  his  fellow-countryman,  who  is  seeking 
to  effect  in  our  social  usages  the  necessary  changes  gradually, 
cautiously  and  in  a  reasonable  and  truly  patriotic  spirit  (hear, 
hear).  I  trust,  gentlemen,  that  as  long  as  the  social  reformer 
confines  himself  to  his  limits — as  long  as  his  practice  is  charac- 
terised by  sympathy  and  discrimination,  so  long  will  he  receive 
nothing  but  sympathy  from  those  educated  men  who  are 
corning  under  the  powerful  influence  of  philosophy  and  reli- 
gion, which  is  now  being  preached  in  this  country  with  a  zeal,  a 
fervour,  a  felicity,  and  an  eloquence,  almost  unmatched  (cheers). 
I  can  assure  you  that  I  am  behind  none  in  my  admiration  or 
reverence  for  the  philosophy  contained  in  our  Indian  scriptures. 
I  feel  fully  satisfied  that  the  precious  contents  of  these  great  re- 
mains of  antiquity  are  before  long  destined  to  find  acceptance 
and  due  recognition  at  the  hands  of  the  thoughtful  men  not  only 
in  this  country, — its  ancient  home,  but  also  at  the  hands  of  the 
thoughtful  men  of  civilised  Europe,  America,  and  Australasia. 
Bat  no  amount  of  faith  in  these  scriptures  can  blind  any  one  to 


in.]        THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         17 1 

the  mischievous  character  of  some  of  the  practices,  which  the 
social  reformer  is  endeavouring  to  rectify.  I  shall  proceed  DOW 
to  take  one  or  two  points  and  make  a  few  observations  on  them. 
I  first  ask  how  can  any  one  with  a  spark  of  reasonableness  in 
him  question  the  mischievous  consequences  which  flow  from 
the  system  of  infant  marriages,  which  is  so  much  in  vogue  at 
present.  Who  will  nob  deplore  the  disastrous  consequences 
that  flow  from  premature  maternity  and  paternity,  which  neces- 
sarily follow  from  this  extremely  vicious  custom  ?  How  can  any- 
body defend  the  procreation  of  feeble  children  by  parents  hard- 
ly capable  of  looking  after  themselves  and  utterly  unable  to 
bring-  up  their  children  in  such  a  way  as  would  make  them 
useful  citizens  of  the  country,  into  which  they  come  into  being  ? 
Does  our  religion  require  that  such  early  marriages  should 
take  place  ?  I  deny  it,  and  say  that  very  little  reflection  and 
scrutiny  will  satisfy  any  of  you  that  entertain  a  doubt  in  this 
matter,  that  such  a  practice  is  absolutely  inconsistent  with  that 
portion  of  our  Shastras,  which  lays  down  rules  of  self-restraint 
to  be  practised  by  every  male  member  of  the  so-called  regene- 
rate class,  before  he  becomes  a  householder.  As  this  subject 
has  been  the  topic  of  every  reflecting  and  meditating  man,  I 
need  not  say  anything  further.  Passing  on  to  the  vexed  ques- 
tion of  the  condition  of  widows,  can  an}1  body  defend  it  and 
say  truly  that  their  condition  is  all  right  ?  Would  anyone 
say  that  the  unfortunate  lot  of  these  widows  requires  no 
remedy  P  I  know,  gentlemen,  that  this  is  a  very  trouble- 
some topic.  It  is  one  011  which  tho  few  are  opposed  to  the 
many ;  and  I  certainly  do  not  belong  to  the  few  and  yet  cannot 
sympathise  with  the  many.  I  trust  that  the  observations 
which  I  make  in  regard  to  this  matter  will  be  received  as  com- 
ing from  a  man  who  belongs  to  neither  side.  I  say  that  the 
subject  is  indeed  a  very  difficult  one,  and  beset  with  difficulties. 
I  say  it  is  beset  with  difficulties,  because  I  look  upon  any 
attempt  to  mould  our  marriage  institutions  on  the  footing  of  a 
mere  contractual  basis  as  an  extremely  retrograde  movement* 
I  will  deplore  the  day  when  the  very  high  ideal  of  marriage 
laid  down  in  our  Shastras  will  give  place  to  the  modern  notion, 
which  seems  to  be  gaining  ground  everywhere  and  every  day. 


172  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

The  modern  notion  is  that  it  should  be  a  mere  matter  of  contract. 
That  is  a  position  which  little  examination  will  show  to  be  con- 
trary to  the  spirit  of  the  entire  history  regarding  the  subject  of 
marriage  in  this  country.  Still  it  is  impossible  for  me  to 
reconcile  myself  to  the  position  in  which  our  custom  places 
those  widows  whom  I  have  just  referred  to.  I  believe  it  serves 
an  extremely  useful  purpose.  It  makes  them  remarkable 
specimens — self-denying  specimens  of  humanity.  If  the  prac- 
tice of  self-denial  was  a  voluntary  one,  then  it  would  be  entitled 
to  our  admiration.  But  it  is  absurd  to  talk  of  those  specimens 
as  specimens  of  remarkable  self-denial,  when  that  is  enforced 
by  the  rigid  rules  of  society.  I  submit,  gentlemen,  that  it  is 
impossible  to  recognise  that  the  self-restraint,  which  you  impose 
upon  children  who  have  no  intelligence,  would  bo  regarded  as 
producing  that  self-denial,  which  is  generally  admired  by  all. 
That  being  the  position  of  affairs,  I  cannot  possibly  agree  with 
those  who  would  band  themselves  to  persecute  those  who  are 
seeking  to  find  some  way  out  of  the  difficulty.  I  think  a  way 
should  be  found,  and  the  position  of  affairs  restored  to  what  it  was, 
when  those  tiishis  legislated  on  a  plan  akin  to  the  present  ideal  of 
marriage  and  yet  did  not  impose  this  custom  of  enforced  widow- 
hood. Of  course  there  is  a  certain  class  of  people  who  are 
disposed  to  look  upon  everything  old  contained  in  the  Shastras 
as  by-gone  nonsense,  and  there  are  those  who  have  not  read 
the  Shastras,  except  through  the  medium  of  translations,  to 
judge  \vhat  the  Shastras  contain,  I  have  neither  to  mind  the 
one  nor  the  other.  But  I  have  to  discharge  my  duty  as  a 
member  of  this  community,  whatever  the  position  you  may  take 
with  reference  to  me  and  the  acceptance  I  receive  at  your  hands. 
I  am  not  pressing  my  own  thoughts  upon  you  as  if  they  were 
original,  The  substance  of  what  I  said  was  expressed  in  a 
felicitous  way  by  the  late  Justice  K.  T.  Telang  than  whom 
there  was  no  more  impartial  observer  of  things — than  whom  no 
other  person  possessed  a  more  independent  judgment.  But  as  I 
observed  before,  the  difficulty,  on  the  other  hand,  is  equally  great. 
Once  the  solemnity  of  the  bond  of  marriage  is  made  loose,  there 
is  a  danger  of  suits  being  filed  for  divorce,  for  the  dissolution 
of  marriage)  for  incompatibilities  of  temper  and  BO  on.  Wo 


in.]         THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         173 

are,  therefore,  by  the  system  of  infant  marriages  principally 
launched  in  this  position  of  difficulty,  and  the  truly  patriotic 
and  reflective  roan  must  make  up  bis  mind  to  find  a  way  out  of 
the  difficulty  without  ou  the  one  hand  destroying  the  solemnity 
of  marriage  or  discouraging  the  bonds  of  unity,  and  on  the  other 
hand  by  finding  a  remedy  for  the  unprotected  class.  Whether 
it  is  possible  to  get  out  of  the  difficulty  is  a  question  about 
which  there  is  a  great  difference  of  opinion.  I  believe  that,  if 
the  young  and  the  enthusiastic  would  both  apply  their  minds 
dispassionately  and  endeavour  to  iind  u  remedy  which  will  not 
destroy  the  national  character  of  marriage,  Providence  will 
find  a  way  to  get  out  of  the  difficulty.  It  is  a  problem  which 
will  take  a  long  time  to  solve.  That  is  the  reflection  that  is 
forced  upon  one's  mind.  But  if  you  will,  as  I  have  said, 
meet  on  a  friendly  basis  dispassionately,  with  a  desire  in 
fact  to  solve  the  difficulty  on  national  lines,  it  would  not 
be  difficult  to  find  a  modus  ujperandi,  which  would  satisfy  both 
sides  in  due  time.  This  is  the  reflection  that  forced  itself  upon 
my  mind,  when  I  looked  at  some  books  with  reference  to  this 
very  question.  Old  Rishis  did  not  act  as  you  do.  They  did 
not  absolutely  prohibit  re- marriages.  On  the  other  bund,  they 
provided  for  cases  of  the  sort  that  have  created  a  difficulty  and 
are  still  creating  a  difficulty  amongst  us.  They  did  not  by  an 
inviolable  custom  enforce  widowhood  on  those  who  are  not 
willing  to  adopt  that  life.  Therefore  I  say  that  if  reformers 
and  those  that  oppose  them  reasonably  meet,  some  arrange- 
ment could  be  made,  which  would  seem  to  us  a  way  out  of  the 
difficulty.  I  am  not  competent  to  go  into  the  question  fully. 
But  even  if  I  were,  time  would  not  permit  this  being  done. 
That  is  the  matter  which  every  honest  man  muat  apply  bis 
mind  to  and  see  whether  he  could  not  effect  a  reconciliation  by 
which  the  difficulty  might  be  got  over.  It  is  cot  right  that  if 
the  reformer  endeavours  to  effect  a  change  in  the  manner  which 
is  not  consistent  with  present  practices,  he  should  be  punished 
with  excommunication — the  biggest  punishment  that  can  be 
awarded  \  for  it  only  indicates  that  enemies'  hearts  are  callous 
to  the  mischief  the  present  practices  are  working.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  reformer  fehuuld  take  care  not  to  go  aud  pro- 


174  INDIAN  SOCIAL  HEffORM.  [PART 

pound   a  theory   which   may  lead   to  a  complete  breach.     I 
have  now  taken  up  the  two  important  social  questions  of  infant 
marriages  and  enforced   widowhood.    1  shall    now  refer  to  the 
question  of  female  education — the  all-important  subject  in  my 
view.     It  is  a  question  which  will  enable  us   to  tide  over  the 
difficulty  far  more  easily  than    any  other  question.     Can  any 
reasonable  man  contend  to  leave  the  other  sex  in  utter  darkness 
without  providing  for  it  the  means  of  acquiring  proper  learning 
and  culture  ?  I  believe  this  is  a  subject  on  which  you  have  heard 
a  great  many  speeches,  Therefore  my  observations    will  be  very 
few  indeed.  1  have  one  more  observation  to  make,  and  that  is  that 
Sir  William  Hunter  very  truly  once  observed  that  whatever  the 
ultimate  sanction  for  human  conduct,  whatever  the  influence  of 
religion,  whatever  the  fear  of  punishment  in  the   future  state, 
whatever  the  present  fears  of  the  criminal  law  may  be,  the  best 
safeguard  for  a  man  against  the  temptation   for  wrong-doing  is 
his  self-respect.     This  is  not  an  ideal  picture    merely,    and  one 
object  of  the  social  reformer  in  endeavouring  to  secure  education 
for  our  women  is  to  enable  them  to  discharge  their  sacred  duties 
as  mothers,  as  wives,  and  as  sisters  more  nobly  and  more  truly 
than  they  are  at  present  able  to  perform.     It  is  usual,    gentle- 
men, to  speak  of  this  as  a  new  ideal,    an  outgrowth    of  purely 
Western  education.     However  that  may  be,  it  is  satisfactory  to 
note  that  a  change  for  the  better  is  taking  place  in  the  attitude 
of  the  community  as  a  whole  in  the  matter  of  female  education, 
and  the  other  things  which  I  have  referred  to  before,    It  is  not 
much,  but  I  believe  the  old  aggressive  hostility,   conGning  my- 
self to  the  general  tendency  of  the  people,  is  slowly  dying  away, 
and  I  believe  that  the  number  of  people  amongst  our  countrymen, 
who  are  disposed  to  look  with  greater  sympathy  with  the  move- 
ment of  the  reasonable  social  reformer,  is  on  the  increase,   and 
I  trust  that  in  the  hurry  to  go  on  much  more   quickly  than  we 
do  now,  this  favourable  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  general  com- 
munity will  not  be  lost  sight  of.     I  trust,   gentlemen,   that  no 
pains  will  be  spared  to  win  over  by  sympathetic  efforts  the  ma* 
jority  of  our  countrymen  to  our  way  of  thinking.     I  trust  that 
you  will  resolutely  avoid  the  method   of  rebellion,  as  Mr.  Jus* 
ticfe  Ranade  aptly  termed  it.    I  trust  that  you  will  not  even 


in.]        TEE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.          75 

under  the  most  provoking  circumstances  say  it  is  impossible  to 
get  on  with  this  old  community,  let  us  form  a  new  community. 
We  shall  nob  then  be  able  to  confer  any  benefit  upon  the  society 
by  such  a  process.  You  may  become  anew  caste  and  have  a  new 
marriage  law  enacted  in  the  statute  book.  Bat  so  far  as  the  cruel 
customs  that  you  complain  of  and  so  fur  an  relief  to  the  oppress- 
ed are  concerned,  you  will  not  be  able  to  do  any  good.  You  will 
be  able  to  say  I  have  saved  my  daughter,  my  sister,  and  so  on, 
but  you  will  not  bo  able  to  say  I  have  been  able  to  effect  a  good 
and  salutary  change  in  the  general  community.  I  trust,  there- 
fore, that  you  will  bear  in  mind  that  this  method  of  rebellion 
may  be  avoided  even  under  the  most  provoking  circumstances. 
Our  object  should  be  to  try  and  draw  to  our  view  the  majority 
of  the  community,  and  I  think  that  in  going  about  the  work  of 
reform  we  should  also  bear  in  mind  the  observation  of  Sir  T. 
Muthuswami  Iyer,  which  he  made  when  addressing  an  associa- 
tion of  young  men  :  (  Your  work  should  not  partake  of  the  cha- 
racter of  indiscriminate  destruction,  but  of  construction  on  old 
national  lines.'  Of  course  I  know  that  many  of  you  will  go  back 
and  say  that  it  is  usual  for  Subramauia  Iyer  to  indulge  in  all 
the-se  platitudes  (hear,  hear).  Many  of  you  may  also  say  that 
it  is  easy  to  suggest  good  old  national  lines  without  being  told 
-what  these  national  lines  are.  If  you  take  ancient  books,  I 
trust  you  will  be  able  to  find  out  that  there  are  a  good  many  nation- 
ill  lines.  We  need  not  destroy  the  old  history  and  start  a  fresh 
one  ;  you  may  be  able  to  rectify  yourself,  but  the  community 
will  not  be  able  to  change,  unless  you  proceed  on  those  lines  on 
which  it  has  gone  on  for  a  considerable  period,  and  our  efforts 
should  simply  be  to  remove  the  excrescences  of  the  injurious 
customs,  which  in  every  climate  and  in  every  nationality 
necessarily  crop  up  from  time  to  time.  I  do  not  think  I  should 
detain  you  any  more.  I  have  spoken  to  you  upon  the  principal 
questions.  I  know  that  this  slow  process  that  I  have  been  en- 
deavouring to  press  upon  you  will  certainly  be  distasteful  to 
certain  minds.  This  will  fill  many  minds  who  are  in  favour  of 
a  rapid  change  being  effected  with  a  feeling  of  despondency. 
But  I  must  say  that  in  my  opinion  the  surest  way  of  reaohii.^ 
our  goal  is  to  adopt  a  policy  of  persuasion  and  education— the 


176  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

policy  of  educating  the  community  and  evoking-  their  sympathy 
thereby.  There  are  some  I  know  amongst,  my  friends  who  take 
a  much  less  favourable  view  of  the  destinies  of  our  people.  They 
are  those  who  look  upon  the  inhabitants  of  this  great  country  as 
belonging  to  that  inferior  type  of  humanity,  which  is  destined, 
to  adopt  the  language  of  Dr.  Pearson,  to  occupy  the  black  beU. 
as  opposed  to  the  white  belt  of  the  globe.  Gentlemen,  if  you 
proceed  on  the  lines  indicated  by  me,  I  am  sure  you  will  bo 
able  to  make  a  great  many  improvements,  and  eventually  you 
will  be  destined  to  get  a  large  measure  of  success  within  the 
limit  supposed  to  be  allowed  to  thi.u.iferior  branch  of  the  people. 
To  those  who  think  that  our  futuie  is  indefinitely  great,  there 
is  no  room  for  despair,  Even  if  you  suppose  that  it  is  so,  judg- 
ing from  our  own  procedure,  our  own  habits  and  customs,  our 
want  of  self-reliance  and  so  on,  even  to  those  who  take  that 
despondent  view,  I  say,  '  Consult  any  book  which  is  written  on 
the  subject  of  social  evolution,  and  you  cannot  but  see  that 
there  is  a  great  future  before  you,  and  in  order  to  achieve  this 
end  you  should  proceed  not  only  with  the  perseverance,  which 
is  worthy  of  the  great  cause  that  we  have  before  us,  but  also 
with  the  spirit  of  patient  confidence  and  hopefulness,  which  I 
think  our  surrounding  circumstances  justify.'  I  have  de- 
tained you  longer  than  I  expected.  13ut  before  I  sit  down,  I  have 
a  duty  to  perform,  of  saying  a  few  words  upon  an  event  of  no 
small  importance  which  has  taken  place  in  the  neighbouring 
Province  of  Mysore,  whose  benevolent  sovereign  paid  his  debt  of 
nature  the  other  day  at  a  premature  age.  I  think  after  the 
vote  you  have  just  passed,  it  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  dwell 
upon  his  great  excellences,  upon  his  benevolent  nature,  his 
statesmanlike  qualities  and  other  excellent  traits  in  his  charac- 
ter. It  is  to  that  enlightened  sovereign  that  the  Mysoreans  are 
indebted  for  the  law,  which  now  prohibits  the  marriage  of  girls 
under  3  years  of  ape  and  also  prohibits  ill-assorted  marriages. 
I  think  His  late  lamented  Highness  and  his  equally  enlightened 
Dewan  as  well  as  his  wise  and  able  Councillors  have  earned  the 
gratitude  of  the  whole  community  by  passing  such  a  law  as  the 
one  in  qnestion.  Not  that  this  is  going  to  bring  in  a  large 
amount  of  relief,  but  that  it  has  applied  the  principle  of  legis- 


in.]          THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.          177 

lation  for  the  removal  of  social  evils.  I  trust  that  the  example 
thus  aet  by  a  native  Government,  guided  by  very  experienced 
and  cautious  men  by  no  means  unsympathetic  to  the  dominating 
orthodoxy — I  trust  that  the  example  set  by  that  enlightened 
Prince  will  lead  tn  similar  legislation  elsewhere.  Gentlemen, 
I  have  done, — I  have  only  to  thank  you  for  the  kindness  you 
have  shown  rue  in  listening  patiently  to  what  I  have  said.  I 
shall  now  proceed  to  call  upou  the  various  speakers  to  move  the 
resolutions  that  are,  to  be  placed  before  you  to-day  for  your 
consideration  (loud  applause). 


The  Ninth  Social  Conference—  Dr.  R.  C.  Bhandar- 
kar's    Address. 


LADIES  AND  GKNTiiBMEN,  —  I  must  in  accordance  with  the 
usual  practice  hegin  by  thanking  you  for  having  elected  me 
your  Chairman.  On  the  present  occasion,  however,  this 
is  not  a  mere  matter  of  routine  and  formality.  Certain  circum- 
stances have  this  year  very  widely  evoked  enthusiasm  for  the 
cause  of  social  reform,  and  have  led  to  a  sort  of  constitution 
being  given  to  this  Conference  similar  to  that  which  the  politi- 
cal Congress  possesses.  I  have  before  me  to-day  a  large 
number  of  my  countrymen,  who,  I  believe,  are  sincere  advocates 
of  social  reform,  as  calculated  to  improve  the  fortunes  of  our 
country  aud  to  place  her  in  a  condition  to  enable  her  to  main- 
tain her  position  in  the  keen  competition  and  rivalry  thnt  is 
now  going  on  between  the  different  countries  and  races  of  the 
world.  To  be  the  Chairman  of  a  body  of  such  true  lovers  of 
their  country  is  an  honour  that  cannot  but  be  highly  apprecia- 
ted. 

About  sixty  years  ago,  none  among  us  hid  any  idea  of  the 
reform  of  our  society  and  a  Conference  such  as  this  was  out  of 
the  question.  But  since  that  time  we  have  come  in  closer 
contact  with  Western  civilisation  chiefly  through  the  means  of 
English  education  ;  and  that  has  led  us  to  take  interest  in  the. 
concerns  of  Indian  society  in  general  and  consider  its  good  to 
be  our  good,  and  has  evoked  in  us  feelings  of  justice  and  com- 


178  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

passion  for  the  various  classes  that  com  pose  our  society.  If 
then  you  are  animated  by  these  sentiments,  the  task  before  us 
to-day  "\\ill  present  no  difficulties.  For  the  end  aimed  at  by  the 
propositions  that  will  be  laid  before  you  is  justice  and  fair  play 
to  all  olapsea  of  persons,  the  alleviation  of  their  sufferings  and 
the  removal  of  obstacles  in  the  free  development  of  our  indivi- 
dual activities. 

And 'first,  a  pood  many  of  the  proposals  have  reference  to 
the  condition  of  the  female  portion  of  our  society.  Gentlemen, 
one- half  of  the  intellectual,  in  oral,  and  spiritual  resources  of 
our  country  is  being1  wasted.  If  our  women  were  educated  RR 
they  ought  to  be,  they  would  be  a  powerful  instrument  for 
advancing  the  general  condition  of  our  country.  They  will 
bring  up  every  new  generation  in  a  manner  to  perform  its 
duty  efficiently  and  will  shed  the  influence  of  the  benign 
virtues  peculiar  to  them  on  men  and,  so  to  say,  humnniso 
them.  All  the  means  of  educating  women,  therefore, 
that  have  been  indicated  in  the  propositions,  you  will, 
I  feel  sure,  approve  of.  You  will  see  that  the  opening 
of  High  Schools  is  one  of  them.  That  necessarily  implies 
that  the  study  of  English  language  and  literature  is  con- 
sidered to  be  beneficial  to  our  women.  Though  there  hns 
been  some  difference  of  opinion  as  regards  this  point,  still 
T  believe  the  necessity  of  such  education  has  been  recognised 
hy  the  majority,  But  I  think  it  still  remains  an  open 
question  whether  our  ideal  for  the  education  of  women  ought 
to  be  the  same  as  that  for  the  education  of  men, --whether 
after  they  finish  their  High  School  education,  they  ought  to  be 
made  to  go  through  the  whole  University  course  up  to  the 
M;A.  Degree.  If  bitter  complaints  have  recently  been  urged  an 
to  the  great  pressure  which  our  University  education  imposes 
npbn  oar  men,  much  stronger  grounds  there  are  for  fear  as 
regards  women,  whose  constitution  is  more  delicate  and  cer- 
tain incidents  in  whose  life  and  whose  domestic  duties  tax 
bhem  BO  heavily,  Perhaps  after  finishing  a  High  Schbol  edu- 
cation, if  Jarbher  progress  is  desired,  there  should  be  a  selec- 
tion of  such  subjects  as  are  more  calculated  to  develop  the 
peculiar  ;  aptitudes  of  womanly  nature.  The  other 


m.]         THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.          179 

concerning  our  daughters  and  oar  sisters  Lave  reference  to  the 
unjust  and  cruel  sufferings  to  which  our  present  social  usages 
(subject  them,  and  which  no  man  in  whom  the  sentiments  of 
justice  and  compassion  are  developed  can  find  it  in  his  heart 
to  tolerate  even  for  a  moment.  The  misery  of  our  widows  has 
been  the  subject  of  frequent  remark  ;  I  will  therefore  not  detain 
you  long  by  a  full  exposition  of  it.  1  will  only  make  a  general 
observation  that  that  society  which  allows  men  to  marry  any 
number  of  times  even  up  to  the  age  of  sixty,  while  it  sternly 
forbids  even  girls  of  seven  or  eight  to  have  another  husband 
after  one  is  dead, — which  gives  liberty  to  a  man  of  50  or  60  to 
marry  a  girl  of  eleven  or  twelve,  which  has  no  word  of  condem- 
nation for  the  man  who  marries  another  wife  within  fifteen 
days  after  the  death  of, the  first,  is  a  society  which  sets  very 
little  value  upon  the  life  of  a  female  human  being,  and 
places  woman  on  the  same  level  with  cattle  and  is  thus  in  an 
unsound  condition  disqualifying  it  for  a  successful  competition 
with  societies  with  a  more  healthy  constitution.  Oftentimes 
the  marriage  of  a  girl  under  certain  circumstances  proves  her 
death-warrant.  This  matter  has  within  the  last  few  years 
forced  itself  powerfully  upon  my  observation.  A  young  man  of 
thirty  or  thirty-five  loses  his  first  wife  ;  straightway  he  pro- 
ceeds to  marry  another,  who  is  a  girl  of  ten  or  twelve.  That 
girl  dies  by  the  time  she  reaches  the  age  of  twenty  ;  another 
takes  her  place,  immediately  after  ;  she  too  dies  similarly;  then 
comes  a  third  who  meets  with  the  same  fate  ;  and  a  fourth  is 
married  by  the  persevering  man  and  is  eventually  left  a  widow 
before  she  is  out  of  her  teens.  A  great  many  such  cases  have 
occurred  within  the  last  few  years  and  amongst  our  educated 
men.  The  medical  men,  whom  I  have  consulted,  say  that  the 
results  are  due  to  the  marriages  being  ill-assorted,  i.e.,  to  the 
great  inequality  between  the  age  of  the  girl  and  of  the  strong 
and  vigorous  man.  I  do  not  know  how  else  to  characterise  these 
cases  except  as  cases  of  human  sacrifice.  Surely,  if  the  men 
who  have  married  girls  successively  in  this  manner  are  educated 
men,  their  refined  sentiments  and  feelings  ought  to  make  them 
spare  poor  innocent  girls  and  marry  grown  up  women,  — - 
widows,  if  unmarried  ones  are  not  to  be  had,  Gentlemen,  this 


180  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

case  of  ill-assorted  marriage  deserves  greater  condemnation  at 
oar  hands  than  the  other,  which  is  the  only  one  tliat  seems  to 
be  contemplated  in  one  of  the  resolutions  to  be  brought  for- 
ward, and  in  which  an  old  man  of  even  fifty  or  sixty  marries  a 
•girl  of  ten  or  twelve. 

I  will   next  call  your   attention    to    those   points   in   the 
resolutions  which  concern  the   institution  of  castes.     And  first 
of  all  allow  me  to  observe   that  a  very  great  revolution  has  been 
effected  in  this  matter  by  the  mere  fact  that  we  are  governed  by 
a   people   amongst   whom  the   sense   cf  equal   justice   for  all 
classes  of  people  has  received  a   high   development.    A  Shudra 
at  the  present  dny  is  nob  more  heavily    punished    than  a  Brah- 
min for  the  same  crimes.     Manu,  Yajnavalkya  and  others  have 
been  set  aside  in  this  respect,  and    the    privileges  which  in  the 
eye  of  the  criminal  law  men  of  the  highest  caste   enjoyed,  have 
been  taken    away   from   them.     I   remember   about  forty-five 
years  ago  when  a  Brahmin  was  hanged  for  committing  a  murder 
at  Ratnugiri,  it  created    a  stir   among    the  people,  since  such  a 
punishment  for  a   Brahmin    was   opposed  to  all  past  traditions 
of  the  country.     But  of  course  the    change  did  not  provoke  ac- 
tive hostility  and   has   been   acquiesced  in    on  all  sides.     Simi- 
larly a   8nudra's    tongue  is    not    now  cut  off  for  repeating  the 
letters  of  the  Vedas.     On  the  contrary,  if  a  teacher  in  a  Govern- 
ment school  refuses  to  teach   the  sacred  mantras  to  a   Shudra, 
he  is  apt  to  be  dismissed  from   service.     In  our  schools  and  col- 
legea    we    have    to    teach    Sanskrit   literature   including   the 
Vedas  to  all  castes    and  classes.     But  it   is  very   much   to   be 
regretted  that  the  treasure  of  knowledge   which  has  thus    been 
thrown  open  to  all  is  not  availed    of  by  the  lower  castes  to  the 
extent  to  which  they  should.     This   is  to  be    accounted  for  in  a 
great  measure   by    the   fact  of  the  old  traditional   feeling  not 
having  gone  out — education  is  not    what  the  Shudra    thinks  of 
first,  nor  are  endeavours  made  by  others  to  induce  him  to  edu- 
cate himself   and   8  moo  then   his  path    to  a  University  degree* 
Similarly  the  railways  have  been   effecting   a  silent  revolution. 
A  holy  Brahmin  does  not  scruple  to  sit  in  a  third  class  carriage 
by  the  side  of  a  Mahar,    whose    very  shadow  is  an  abomiuution 
on  ordinary  occasions. 


in.]         TSE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         l8l 

The  Mahars  and  Mangs  on  this  side  of  the  country  and 
the  Pariahs  on  the  other,  who  form  the  lowest  classes,  have  been 
entirely  neglected.  They  are  the  outcastes  of  Hindu  society, 
and  have  been  from  the  remotest  times  in  a  very  degraded 
condition.  The  reference  made  to  this  fact  by  aMnhar  Haridas 
in  his  prefatory  remarks,  while  performing  a  Kirtana  at  my 
house  a  few  years  ago,  was  very  touching.  He  said,  *  the 
Vedas  and  Shasfcras  have  cast  us  aside,  but  the  Santas  or  saints 
of  the  middle  ages  have  had  compassion  on  us.'  And  be  it  said 
to  the  credit  of  the  Santas  of  Mahrashtra  headed  by  the  Brah- 
min Eknatli  and  to  the  Santas  of  other  provinces  that  they  had 
compassion  for  the  outcastes  of  Hindu  society,  and  admitted 
their  claims  to  religious  instruction  and  a  better  treatment.  If 
then  in  those  olden  days  these  pious  men,  with  their  hearts 
elevated  by  faith  and  devotion,  admitted  the  lowest  Shudra  to 
religious  communion  and  instruction,  shall  we,  upon  whom 
a  greater  variety  of  influences  have  been  operating,  refuse  to 
exert  ourselvks  for  bringing  enlightenment  in  the  dense 
darkness  in  which  his  mind  is  shrouded  ?  And  I  believe  from 
the  opportunities  I  have  had  of  observation  that  the  despised 
Mahar  possesses  a  good  deal  of  natural  intelligence  and  is 
capable  of  being  highly  educated.  So  that  to  continue  to  keep 
him  in  ignorance  is  to  deprive  the  country  of  an  appreciable 
amount  of  intellectual  resources.  And  generally,  allow  me  to 
observe  that  the  rigid  system  of  castes,  which  prevails  among 
us,  will  ever  act  as  a  heavy  drag  on  our  race  towards  a  brighter 
future.  To  tie  men  down  to  certain  occupations,  even  when 
they  have  no  aptitude  for  them,  renders  those  men  less  useful 
to  the  country.  When  all  men  belonging  to  a  certain  caste 
must  follow  certain  occupations  only,  the  field  is  overstocked 
and  poverty  is  the  result.  You  can  get  a  Brahmin  schoolmaster 
for  five  or  six  rapeea  a  month,  but  a  good  carpenter  or  stone- 
mason cannot  be  had  unless  you  pay  from  twenty  to  twenty- 
fire  rupees  per  mensem.  And  unless  perfect  freedom  is  allowed 
to  men  in  this  respect,  and  each  allowed  to  make  the  best 
possible  use  of  his  own  powers,  the  country  cannot  economically 
advance.  Special  privileges  enjoyed  by  certain  castes  most  keep 
the  members  of  others  in  a  disadvantageous  position  in  the 


isa  TNDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

rivalry  and  competition  of  life.  In  order  that  a  nation  as  a  whole 
may  put  forth  all  its  power,  it  is  necessary  that  there  should  be 
no  special  privileges  and  special  restrictions.  Agaiu  the  prin- 
ciple of  caste  lias  throughout  our  history  operated  in  such  a 
way  that  each  caste  has  now  come  to  form  a  separate  commu- 
nity with  distinct  usages,  even  as  to  the  kind  of  food  that  is 
eaten  »md  the  manner  in  which  it  is  cooked.  *  And  there  is  no 
social  intercom m unica I ioL  between  them  of  a  nature  to  hind 
them  together  into  one  whole.  Hence  instead  of  there  being  a 
feeling  of  sympathy  between  different  castes,  there  is  often  a 
feeling  of  antipathy.  As  long  as  this  state  of  things  lasts,  I 
shall  feel  greally  obliged  to  any  one  who  will  explain  to  me 
how  ib  is  possible  to  form  a  united  Hindu  nation,  If  therefore 
we  feel  at  all  concerned  as  regards  the  future  of  our  country  in 
the  great  struggle  that  isgoingon  in  the  world,  something  must 
be  immediately  done  to  induce  a  feeling  of  unity  among  these 
distinct  communities  and  convert  active  antipathy  into  active 
sympathy. 

And  I  will  here  make  bold  to  assert  that  the  chronic  poverty 
of  the  agricultural  classes  and  the  depredations  of  the  prover- 
bial Savkar  or  money-lender  constitute  a  great  social  evil.  The 
Government  has  been  endeavouring  to  do  a  good  deal  by  means 
of  mere  special  legislation  ;  but  that  does  not  seem  to  have 
remedied  the  evil  and  the  money-lender  continues  to  charge 
interest  from  IB  to  25  per  cent,  on  loans  raised  on  the  security 
of  lands,  and  two  or  four/?ice  per  rupee  per  month,  i.e.,  37£  or 
75  per  cent,  on  smaller  sums  lent  for  shorter  periods ;  and  there 
are  also  enhancements  of  interest,  when  the  money  is  not  paid 
at  the  stipulated  time.  In  this  manner,  the  poor  peasant 
is  ever  a  prey  lo  the  rapacity  of  the  money-lender  and  is  never 
allowed  to  raise  his  head.  This  is  a  political  as  well  as 
a  social  question.  The  Government  has  been  on  several  oc- 
casions urged  to  establish  agricultural  banks,  but  it  has  not 
yet  seen  the  wisdom  of  doing  so,  and  we  too,  whose  countrymen 
the  agriculturists  are,  have  not  shown  particular  solicitude  to 
remedy  the  evil  by  establishing  banks  of  our  own.  T  do  uot  think 
any  special  banking  institution  with  elaborate  machinery,  such 
as  has  been  recently  proposed,  is  wanted,  An  ordinary  bank 


TIT.]         THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         183 

with  agencies  at  the  District  towns  and  sub-agencies  for  circles 
•with  a  radius  of  about  ten  miles  will,  I  think,  fully  answer  the 
purpose.  Money  should  be  lent  on  the  security  of  land  at  an  in- 
terest of  from  9  to  12  per  cent,  payable  about  the  same  time  as 
the  land  revenue.  Sympathetic,  though  firm,  treatment  should  be 
accorded  to  the  peasants  and  the  agents  employed  should  not  be 
unscrupulous  men*  exacting  perquisites  for  themsclvcp.  But  I 
will  not  trespass  on  the  province  of  tho  man  of  business,  and 
whatever  be  the  scheme  that  may  be  considered  suitable  and 
whatever  its  details,  this  I  feel  certain  about,  thut  sbrewd  men 
ought  not  to  be  allowed  to  prey  upon  the  ignorance  and  entire 
helplessness  of  the  agrionll  ural  classes  and  perpelnate  their 
wretched  condition. 

Then  there  are  other  points  in  the  resolutions,  Hie  aim  of 
which  is  to  remove  positive  obstacles  to  our  healthy  development. 
The  early  marriage  of  boys  and  girls  is  of  this  nature,  since  its 
effect  is  to  undermine  the  strength  of  both  and  bring  forth  a  pro- 
geny of  weak  children.  The  growth  of  the  parents  themselves, 
intellectual  as  well  as  physical,  is  stunted  ;  and  in  a  course  of 
evolution  our  race  must  become  incapable  of  that  eneiyy  and 
stillness  of  application,  which  are  so  necessary  under  the  condi- 
tions brought  inr-o  existence  by  the  rivalry  and  competition  of 
races.  The  prohibition  of  travel  in  foreign  countries  I  would 
put  under  tho  same  head,  since  it  acts  as  an  obstacle  to  the  free 
expansion  of  our  energies  and  capacities. 

These  are  tho  principal  points  aimed  at  by  the  social  reform- 
er. You  will  see  that  what  is  necessary  in  order  that  these  re- 
forms may  come  into  practice  is  that,  there  should  spring  up  in  our 
hearts  a  sense  of  justice,  a  keen  sympathy  for  tho  sufferings  of 
others  and  a  love  for  one's  own  counh'y  and  race,  and  an  anxiety 
for  their  future  well-being.  If  the  feelings  have  been  awakened 
in  us  with  any  degree  of  intensity,  they  cannot  fail  to  realise 
themselves  in  some  sort  of  action,  and  I  believe  that  the  contrary 
holds  true  that  when  no  action  follows,  the  feelings  are  either 
not  awakened  at  alJ,  or  if  really  awakened,  are  very  weak.  Jt  is 
this  fact  and  also  the  general  conservatism  of  our  nature  as  well  ag 
tho  fear  of  excommunication  that  hold  ua  back  and  we  devise  a 
number  of  excuses  for  oar  inaction.  Sometimes  we  are  disposed 


184  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

to  leave  the  whole  matter  to  the  action  oF  time,  thinking  that 
all  we  desire  will  come  into  practice  just  as  the  rigidity  of  caste 
rules  is  being  gradually  lessened  by  railway  travel  Hog-  and 
such  other  circumstances.  But  time  is  not  a  force,  it  is  simply 
a  conception  of  the  mind  to  connect  events  together  and  car  not 
work  any  changes.  IF  therefore  any  changes  have  come  on  in 
the  course  oF  time,  they  must  be  brought  about  by  the  force  in 
the  human  heart  that  leads  to  action.  As  u  matter  oF  fnct, 
such  changes  are  often  very  extensive  and  important.  For  in- 
stance the  practice  of  early  marriage  of  girls,  and  of  female  in- 
fanticide and  Kulinism  have  come  into  existence  in  compara- 
tively recent  times,  But  if  you  examine  their  origin,  you  will 
tind  that  the  first  owes  its  introduction  probably  to  the  circum- 
stances that  when  the  girls  grew  up,  they  went  wrong  in  some 
cases.  In  order  to  prevent  such  a  result,  they  were  tied  down 
to  a  husband  before  they  were  of  an  age  to  go  wrong,  To  avoid 
sin  was  of  course  »  laudable  object,  but  tho  desire  was  not 
under  the  guidance  of  reason.  Consequently  the  many  evil 
effects  of  early  marriages  were  overlooked,  and  the  attainment 
of  that  one  object  was  exclusively  attended  to.  If,  however,  the 
desire  to  prevent  the  evil  had  been  under  the  guidance  of  reason, 
other  modes  would  have  been  devised  for  effecting  it  than  the 
one  actually  chosen.  Similarly  the  practice  of  female  infanticide 
and  of  Kulinism  must  in  the  beginning  have  arisen  from  family 
pride.  One's  daughter  should  not  be  married  into  a  family 
possessing  no  importance  or  distinction.  To  marry  her  into  a. 
high  family  requires  a  heavy  expenditure  of  money,  which  tho 
father  cannot  afford,  and  in  the  case  of  Kulinism  such  a  family 
is  not  available.  Hence  rather  than  suffer  the  disgrace  of  ally- 
ing himself  with  a  low  family,  he  allowed  his  daughter  to  be 
destroyed,  and  in  the  other  case  to  be  married  to  one  who  had 
innumerable  wives  already.  Here  again  you  will  see  that  the 
motive  of  action  was  not  under  the  guidance  of  the  higher  feel- 
ings of  love  and  tenderness  for  a  human  being  and  especially 
for  one's  own  child.  Thus  then  what  time  brings  about  is 
very  often  not  under  thu  guidance  of  rwason  or  the  higher  feel- 
ings of  our  nature,  and  consequently  very  often  degradation  is 
the  result  and  not  elevation.  It  will  therefore  not  do  to  leave 


HI.]         THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         185 

reform  to  time  or  the  slow  and  unconscious  operation  of  causes. 
It  must  be  effected  from  a  conscious  intention,  and    the   motive 
force   should    be,  as   above  remarked,  a  sense  of  justice,  a  keen 
sympathy  and  an  anxiety  for  the  future   of  one's   own  country. 
Unable  to  appreciate  the  feelings  of  the  true  reformer,  we  often 
Hccuse  him  of  being  hasty  in  desiring  to  do  everything  at  once,— 
we  sometimes  sny  that  if  he  had  adopted  a  pnrticular   way,  the 
reform  he  desires  would  hnve  long  come    into    practice.     Com- 
ments  such   as   these    J    always  suspect,  especially  when  they 
come  from  a  man  who  has  done  little  or  nothing  practical.  I  am 
however  not  an  advocate  of  headlong^action.     The  motive  force 
of  reform  should  be  powerful  in  o-ir  hearts,  but    they    must    be 
tempered  in  a  manner  not  to  lead    IIH  to   cut  ourselves    from  n 
vital  connection  with  the  past.     We  should  not  adopt  the  pro- 
cedure  of    the    French    Revolution,   but  imitate   the  mode   of 
action  of  English  people,    whose    pupils    we   are.     They   have 
realised  as  great  changes  as  the   French    Revolution    sought  to 
effect-,  but  in  a    manner   which    connects    them    with    the  past 
history  of  the  country.     Ifc  will  not  be  impossible  to  devise  such 
a  mode  of  action.     One  who  has  returned  from    foreign    travels 
should  live  like  an  ordinary  Hindu.     A  re-married  widow  should 
conduct  herself  just  like  an  ordinary  Hindu  lady.     And  even  as 
regards  caste,  we  should  behavo  towards  each  other  in  ordinary 
matters  as  if  no  such  distinction  existed  between  us  ;  while  as  to 
eating  together  and  inter- marriage,  they  must  come    in    by  and 
by  especially  when  the  sharp  distinctions  as  to  usages  and   cus- 
toms between    the  several   castes    are  obliterated    by    a  closer 
intercommunication  than  that  which    exists  at  the  present  day. 
But  the  great  danger  of  delayed  reform  is  that  in  a  short  time 
the  feeling  which  dictated  it  becomes  cool,  and  the  necessity  for 
it  is  entirely  forgotten.  To  prevent  this  result  it  is  essential  that 
the  motive  springs   of  reform    should   always  be  kept  alive  in 
our  hearts.     We   should   make   an    earnest  effort  never  to  lose 
sight  of  the  goal  we  have  to  reach.     But    the  modest    prcposul 
that  will  be  laid  before  you  as  regards   these    two    matters,  viz., 
inter-communication  as  regards  eating  and  marriage-alliance  be- 
tween members  of  the  sub-divisions  of  the  same  caste,  involved 
no  violent  change  whatever ;  consequently,  there  is,  I  believe,  no 
24 


Iflfl  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

excuse  for  delaying  its  realisation,  Generally  it  may  be  ob- 
served that  what  we  have  to  avoid  is  the  formation  of  a  separate 
caste  cut  off  from  all  social  intercourse  with  any  of  the  existing 
Hindu  castes, — that  is  to  say,  we  should  avoid  such  complete 
isolation,  as  for  instance,  conversion  lo  Christianity  leads  to. 
And  most  of  the  reforms  we  advocate  involve  no  break  of  con- 
tinuity. Some  of  them  will  be  welcomed  by  the  orthodox  people 
themselves,  and  as  regards  a  great  many  others  what  we  pro- 
pose is  merely  to  go  back  to  the  more  healthy  condition  in  which 
onr  society  once  existed.  In  ancient  times  girls  were  married 
after  they  had  attained  maturity,  now  they  must  be  married 
before  ;  widow-marriage  was  in  practice,  now  it  has  entirely 
gone  out,  women  were  often  highly  educated  and  taught 
even  music  and  dancing,  now  they  are  condemned  to  ignor- 
ance and  denied  any  accomplishments.  The  castes  were 
only  four  in  number,  now  they  are  innumerable.  Inter-dining 
among  those  castes  was  not  prohibited,  now  the  numberless 
castes  that  prevail  cannot  have  inter-communication  of  thflfc 
nature.  Consistently  with  the  maintenance  of  continuity  iu 
this  manner,  there  ought  to  be,  I  thidk,  as  much  action  nn 
possible.  A  strong  public  opinion  must  be  created  among  the 
whole  body  of  educated  natives,  condemning  any  departure  from 
the  programme  of  reform,  while  no  mercy  should  be  shown  to 
one  who  does  what  even  the  orthodox  disapprove,  and  at  sixty 
marries  a  girl  of  ten  or  twelve,  or  another  wife  immediately 
after  the  death  of  the  first.  The  exhibition  of  any  caste 
partiality  must  also  be  severely  condemned,  as  no  religious  rules 
require  it.  Unless  we  act  in  this  manner,  all  our  advocacy  of 
rfefdrm  will  sink  into  the  merest  sentimentality  more  demora- 
lising in  its  effects  than  sturdy  orthodoxy. 

But  even  sentimental  advocacy  is  an  homage  done  to  a 
right  cause  and  consequently  is  better  than  stolid  indifference 
or  active  hostility.  This,  however,  is  unfortunately  the  mental 
attitude^  of  a  great  many  educated  natives  in  all  parts  of  the 
country.  In  Bengal,  as  was  pointed  out  by  our  friend  the 
Honourable  Mr.  Justice  Ranade  the  other  day,  social  reform  is 
nbW  Confined  to  Brahmos.  The  great  body  of  educated  Bengalees, 
who  art  not  Brfthroos,  are  indifferent  or  hostile.  The  late 


in.]         iTfli?  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         187 

Iswaia  Chandra  Vidyasas?ar,  who  inaugurated  the  reform  about 
widow-marriage  and  first  ransacked  our  Smriti  literature  to  be 
able  to  make  out  that  it  was  sanctioned  by  the  Shastra,  and 
worked  for  a  life-time  to  make  it  popular,  was  in  his  latter  days 
filled  with  denpondency  and  expressed  his  conviction  to  visitors 
from  this  side  ot  the  country  that  Hindus  us  Hindus  would 
never  accept  social  reform.  It  is  certainly  a  matter  of  the 
deepest  regret  that  it  should  be  confined  to  a  religious  body. 
We  on  this  side  have  not.  come  to  this  pass  yet,  though  we 
have  our  full  share  of  indifference  and  hostility.  The  aim  of 
our  reformers  here  has  always  been  to  reform  our  society —our 
nation.  I  am  happy  to  find  that  our  Madras  friends  agree  with 
us  in  this  respect.  Reform  thiough  the.  agency  of  caste,  which  is 
attempted  in  some  parts  of  the  country,  is  very  unsatisfactory. 
Very  little  can  be  effected  in  this  way.  The  reduction  of  mar- 
riage expenses  and  measures  of  this  nature  only  can  be  carried 
out  by  its  means,  arid  the  great  danger  of  this  method  is  that 
caste  which  has  corroded  the  vitals  of  this  country  will  be 
strengthened  by  it. 

Thus  then  we  should  nurture  in  our  hearts  the  great  forces 
which  bring  about  the  reform  of  society,  viz.,  truth,  justice,  and 
nympathy.  Two  of  the  greatest  historians  of  England  have  told 
us  that  the  moral  law  governs  the  affairs  of  the  world ; 
its  observance  alone  ensures  national  prosperity,  One  of 
these  I  have  quoted  elsewhere,  and  will  now  ask  your 
attention  to  the  observations  of  the  other.  The  strongest 
of  the  forces  which  are  steadily  bearing  nations  onward  to 
improvement  or  decay  are,  according  to  Lecky,  the  moral 
ones.  'Their  permanent  political  well-being/  he  says,  '  is 
essentially  the  outcome  of  their  moral  state.1  The  moral 
law  seeks  to  purify  private  life  and  to  effect  social  justice,  and 
through  these  alone  in  the  political  well-being  of  a  nation  pos- 
sible. And  evolutionary  science  is  beginning  to  teach  us  the 
same  lesson.  Competition  and  rivalry  are  the  necessary  condi- 
tions of  progress  towards  a  higher  condition  among  men  as  well 
as  among  the  lower  creature?.  This  competition  find  this 
rivalry  tend  to  establish  tho  supremacy  of  the  stronger  indivi- 
dual over  the  weaker ;  his  race  propagated  itself  and  that  of 


188  INDIAN  SOCIAL 

the  other  disappears.  It  is  this  law  that  is  lending  or  has  led 
to  the  extinction  of  the  aboriginal  races  in  the  presence  of  the 
stronger  European  races  in  America,  Australia,  New  Zealand 
and  other  islands.  This  competition  and  rivalry  need  not 
assume  the  form  of  an  actual  war  of  extermination.  It  has 
been  clearly  ascertained  that  eveu  in  the  midst  of  profound 
peace,  the  primitive  races  show  a  tendency  to  disappear.  If 
this  law  were  in  operation  in  our  country,  our  future  must  be 
very  gloomy.  But  our  climate  will,  I  think,  come  to  our  res- 
cue as  it  has  been  ascertained  that  the  stronger  races  of 
Western  Europe  cannot,  if  settled  here,  exhibit  the  same  energy 
and  perseverance  that  they  do  in  temperate  regions.  Colonisa- 
tion of  India  by  the  European  races  is,  therefore,  an  impractica- 
bility ;  but  does  not  deliver  us  from  the  dangers  of  competition 
and  rivalry  with  them.  And  again  that  law  must  be  in  opera- 
tion among  us  to  ensure  our  own  progress.  But  to  estimate  its 
full  effects  we  must  understand  the  conditions  under  which 
it  acts  in  the  case  of  man.  Man  is  a  social  animal,  and  the 
competition  that  comes  into  operation  in  his  case  is  a  competi- 
tion between  societies.  The  ancient  history  of  the  human  ace 
consists  of  war  between  such  societies  and  the  triumj  cue 
and  subjugation  of  another.  Thin  competition  and  rivalry  be- 
tween different  societies  is 'going  on  still,  and  in  order  'fhat  a 
society  may  carry  on  the  contest  to  a  successful  issue,  it  is 
necessary  that  it  should  be  HO  organised  that  the  individuals 
composing  it  should  not  be  borne  down  by  artificial  restrictions, 
but  be  able  to  put  forth  their  best  powers  and  capacities.  The 
history  of  England,  for  example,  shows  a  gradual  emancipation 
of  the  classes  that  were  once  in  a  condition  of  little  bettor  than 
slavery  and  a  renunciation  of  their  privileges  by  the  dominant 
classes.  The  effect  of  this  has  been  to  place  the  individual  in 
a  more  advantageous  position  to  conduct  the  battle  of  life,  and 
thus  to  render  the  society,  of  which  he  is  a  member,  fitter  for 
competition  and  rivalry  with  other  societies.  But  it  is  the  de- 
velopment of  sympathetic  or  altruistic  feelings  only  amongst 
the  privileged  classes  and  the  society  generally  that  can  lead  to 
the  removal  of  the  disabilities  of  others  and  the  redress  of  their 
grievauces.  Without  such  feelings,  internal  dissensions  and 


mj          THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.          189 

eventual  degradation  must  be  the  results.  And  these  feelings 
are  now  leading  the  English  people  to  devise  means  for  relieving 
the  chronic  poverty  of  the  lower  classes,  to  readjust  the  rela- 
tions between  labour  and  capital,  and  undertake  a  vnriety  of 
schemes  to  relieve  distress  and  misery.  It  is  a  patent  fact  ac- 
knowledged by  all  disinterested  persons  that  the  English  people 
have  developed  the  altruistic;  feelings  in  a  higher  degree  than 
any  other  European  nation,  and  by  the  wny,  this  constitutes  the 
basis  of  our  hopes  in  a  better  future  for  our  country.  Just  as 
England  has  been  endeavouring- to  remove  thedisabilities  andsuf- 
fjringa  of  the  lower  classes  of  her  population,  so  shall  efforts  not 
be  wanting  on  her  part  to  remove  our  disabilities  and  sufferings, 
But  the  law  of  social  evolution  cannot  cease  to  operate  ;  and  in 
order  that  our  society  may  be  able  to  hold  its  own  in  the  com- 
petition and  rivalry  with  other  societies,  which  is  inevitable, 
we  must  abide  by  the  conditions  of  that  law.  That  law  is  thus 
stated  by  the  latest  writer  on  the  subject,  whose  hook  has  created 
a  great  stir  : — '  That  the  moral  law  is  the  unchanging  law  of 
progress  in  human  society  is  the  lesson  which  appears  to  be 
wi*  i«n  over  all  things-  No  school  of  theology  has  ever  sought 
to  e  ie  this  teaching  with  the  directness  and  emphasis,  with 
which  it  appears  that  evolutionary  science  will  in  the  future  be 
justified  in  doing.  In  the  silent  and  strenuous  rivalry  in  which 
every  section  of  the  IHCO  is  of  necessity  continually  engaged, 
permanent  success  appears  to  be  invariably  associated  with 
certain  ethical  and  moral  conditions  favourable  to  the  mainten- 
ance of  a  high  standard  of  social  efficiency  and  with  those 
conditions  only.1  If  then  social  efficiency  and  consequent  suc- 
cess are  what  we  desire  in  our  contest  with  other  races,  we 
must,  because  the  law  is  immutable,  endeavour  to  rer.lise  those 
ethical  and  moral  conditions.  We  must  cultivate  a  sense  of 
justice  and  a  Live  and  sympathy  for  others,  relieve  the  poor 
widow  of  her  sufferings,  remove  the  disabilities  of  womankind 
and  of  the  lower  classes,  and  allow  free  play  to  the  energies  and 
capacities  of  all.  And  the  necessity  for  our  doing  ^o  becomes  the 
more  imperative  from  our  political  condition.  If  we  ask  England 
to  remove  our  disabilities,  we  must  as  a  necessary  preliminary 
show,  that  we  are  worthy  of  the  favour  by  removing  the  diq- 


100  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

abilities  of  the  oppressed  classes  of  our  society.  Thus  and  thus 
alone  will  our  country  prosper.  Every  scheme  for  bettering 
oar  condition  is  destined  to  fail  if  it  does  nut  make  provision 
fur  the  growth  of  these  sympathetic  virtues  and  through  them 
for  the  realisation  of  eocial  reform.  Let  us  then  invigorate  and 
elevate  our  souls  by  ever  placing  before  our  mind's  eye  the  pre- 
cept of  the  great  Indian  Reformer  of  the  6th  century  before 
Christ,  the  Lion  of  the  Sakya  race,  Goutama,  the  enlightened  : 
1  Cultivate  a  mind  boundless  (as  sympathy)  for  all  beings  ns  is 
that  of  the  mother,  who  protects  her  only  son  by  sacrificing  her 
own  life  f  ;  and  with  him  proclaim  from  this  Social  Conference 
hall,  '  May  all  living  beings  feeble  or  strong,  long,  great,  middle- 
sized  or  short,  small  or  large,  seen  or  unseen,  living  far  or  near, 
born  or  fco  be  born  be  happy.1  {Prolonged  cheers.) 


The  Tenth  Social  Conference— Babu  Norendro 
Nath  Sen's  Address. 

It  is  DO  thing  new  to  say,  that  opposition  is  the  very  life- 
breath  of  a  public  movement,  and  that  no  great  cause  in  the 
world  has  triumphed  without  opposition.  The  history  of  every 
important  ngitatiou  teaches  that  it  did  not  attain  to  its  object, 
till  after  severe  strifes  and  struggles,  and  repeated  reverses. 
This  lesson  is  well  illustrated  in  the  case  of  the  Congress.  You 
require  not  to  be  told  what  fierce  opposition  that  movement 
evoked  in  the  early  years  of  its  existence,  and  how  it  has  out- 
lived all  clamour,  till  it  fairly  promises  to  he  an  institution  of 
the  laud.  The  history  of  the  Congress  movement  shows,  how- 
ever, that  the  opposition  it  encountered,  was  mostly  from  with- 
out, while  the  Social  Conference  has  had  to  experience  opposi- 
tion from  within.  But  we  may  now  be  said  to  be  well  out  of  the 
wood.  To-day  the  Social  Conference  is  far  stronger  than  it  was 
a  few  years  back.  The  movement  now  enters  upon  the  tenth 
year  of  its  existence,  and  every  year  we  find  it  gaining  ground, 
step  by  step,  while  the  number  of  its  friends  and  supporters 
has  steadily  increased,  The  fact,  at  the  same  time,  remains 
unquestionable,  that  the  Conference  is  ex ercieing  a  healthy  edo<» 


in,]         THE  PRESIDENTIA  L  A  DDRESSEfl.         1  (J  1 

eating  influence  upon  the  different  castes  and  Rub-sections  of 
castes,  into  which  Hindu  society  is  divided.  From  small 
beginnings  the  movement  has  expanded  into  its  present  dimen- 
sions. We  have  onr  delegates,  like  those  of  the  Congress,  duly 
elected,  and  among  the  visitors  to  Calcutta  at  this  season,  not  a 
few  have  come,  not  as  delegates  to  the  Congress,  but  as  dele- 
gates to  the  Conference.  J  happen  to  be  acquainted  with  peo-  > 
pie,  who  entertain  more  sympathy  for  this  movement  than  for 
the  Congress  itself,  and  with  others,  who  somehow  find  them- 
selves deterred  from  attending  the  Congress,  but  rendily  assist 
at  the  deliberations  of  the  Social  Conference.  But  rightly 
speaking,  the  Social  Conference  is  a  fitting  corollary  to  tho 
National  Congress.  It  is  well  that,  when  claiming  higher 
privileges,  we  should  fit  ourselves  for  such  privileges. 

There  was  a  time,  and  that  not  so  very  long  ago,  when  our 
countrymen  concerned  themselves  with  politics  only,  nnd  with 
political  ngitation.  But  that  time  is  fast  passing  n.way,  and  it 
is  quite  refreshing  to  see  tho  re-awakening  of  national  life  in  all 
directions,  and  the  people  shaking  off  their  torpor,  and  engag- 
ing in  reforms  of  all  kinds,  such  as  might  be  needed  to  raise 
them  as  a  nation.  We  are  beginning  to  see  all  our  weak  points, 
and  discovering  the  causes  that  retard  our  national  progress, 
and  applying  ourselves  to  the  task  of  remedying  the  evils. 
There  are  abundant  signs  of  national  activity  all  around  us. 
Our  people  are  seeking  not  only  their  political  enfranchisement, 
but  also  their  material,  moral,  social  and  religious  welfare. 
There  is  an  upheaval  and  a  revival  everywhere.  The  ameliora- 
tion of  our  social  condition  is  so  mixed  up  with  our  future 
greatness  and  prosperity,  that  we  cannot  afford  to  neglect  it 
any  further.  However  we  may  try  to  raise  ourselves  as  a 
nation,  we  shall  find  our  efforts  quite  paralysed,  because  of  the 
crying1  defects  in  our  social  system.  You  will  therefore  see 
that  social  reform  is  even  of  moro  immediate  concern  to  us  tban 
political  reform.  But  somehow  or  other,  social  reform  has  come 
to  be  regarded  with  tho  utmost  distrust  and  suspicion,  It  is 
viewed  in  some  quarters  in  the  light  of  something  outlandish 
and  foreign.  Ido  not  know  why  it  should  be  so.  We  are  not 
a  Hew  nation,  bat  an  old  one,  that  baa  long  known  decay,  it 


J92  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

is  this  decay,  which,  in  part  at  least,  we  have  met  to  arrest. 
We  are  not  so  very  unfamiliar  with  (he  character  of  the  social 
system  existing  in  India  in  olden  times,  and  in  her  palmy  day*. 
That  system  was  nothing  like  the  hybrid  one,  which  we  have 
hugged  all  too  closely  in  recent  times.  Knowing  that  to  be  the 
case,  what  should  prevent  us  from  reverting  to  the  old  system  ? 
Socinl  reform,  then,  means  nothing  more  than  a  return  to  the 
social  structure  thftt  was  built  up  in  Ancient  India.  Thus, 
there  can  be  nothing  much  to  object  to  it.  Ona  of  the  principal 
causes  of  our  present  misfortunes  is  that  we  have  receded  a 
very  long  way  from  the  laws  a'nd  institutions  of  the  pnst,  and 
adopted  some  mongrel  ones  in  their  stead.  Our  national 
decadence  is  mostly  due  [to  the  later  corruptions,  which  have 
been  allowed  to  permeate  both  our  social  and  religious 
systems.  Our  efforts,  therefore,  should  be  directed  solely  to 
the  removal  of  those  corruptions.  All  that  we  call  upon  onr 
Hindu  countrymen  to  do  is  nothing  more  than  this. 

Already  the  Social  Conference  has  achieved  great  good  for 
the  country,  as  you  will  find  from  the  published  summary  or 
reports,  forwarded  by  the  different  Social  Reform  Associations 
in  India,  copies  of  which  have  been  placed  in  your  hands.  A 
more  interesting  publication,  it  has  hardly  been  my  lob  to  peruse. 
You  will  now  have  some  idea  of  the  social  progress  that  th« 
country  is  making  along  with  progress  in  other  directions. 
Such  subjects,  as  marringe- reform,  sei-voyage,  and  foreign 
travel,  female  education,  temperance,  <fcc.,  have  been  engaging 
the  attention  of  these  Associations.  Some  of  them  have  been 
working  with  remarkable  vigour  and  zeal.  Besides  these  Asso- 
ciations, there  have  beon'Haver.il  Caste  Conferences,  held  annu- 
ally, suoh  as  the  Kayastha  Conference,  the  Vaishya  Conference, 
and  Sri  Vaishnava  Conference.  Those  Conferences  are  meant 
for  the  social  benefit  of  the  castes  whose  names  they  bear. 
The  proceedings  of  those  Conferences  will  indicate  what  ad- 
vance some  of  the  important  Hindu  .castes  are  making  in  self- 
help,  self-reliance,  and  social  progress. 

The  so-called  benighted  and  conservative  Madras  evidently 
leads  the  van  of  social  progress,  and,  in  this  respect,  seta  an  ex- 


in.]        THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         103 

ample  to  the  rest  of  India.  Next  comes  the  Deccan,  and  other 
parts  of  India  follow  it.  It  has  been  said  that  Bengal  lags 
behind  the  rest  of  India  in  the  matter  of  social  reform.  I  do 
not  know  how  far  this  charge  is  true.  Here  in  Bengal,  there 
is  evidently  a  decided  feeling  against  early  marriages  among  the 
educated  classes.  An  agitation  has  been  set  on  foot  for  some- 
time in  favour  of  the  reduction  of  Hindu  marriage  expensed, 
with  as  much  genuine  earnestness  as  we  displayed  in  connection 
with  the  sea- voyage  question  a  few  years  back.  Then  as  re- 
gards the  higher  education  for  women,  Bengal  holds  decidedly 
more  advanced  views  than  any  other  reform  circle  in  the  coun- 
try. But  it  must  be  said  that  the  above  remark  holds  good 
chiefly  of  the  Indian  Christian,  B  rah  mo,  and  the  England -re- 
turned  classes.  What  is  particularly  wanted  however,  in  Bengal, 
as  in  the  other  parts  of  India,  is  that  social  reform  should  be 
carried  on  strictly  national,  that  is,  Aryan  and  old  Shastraio 
lines,  among  those  who  aspire  to  be  known  as  good  £{ Indus.  If 
we  wish  to  make  the  cause  of  social  reform  a  success,  we  must 
proceed  with  caution,  and  make  no  attempt  to  introduce  violent 
changes  in  our  social  organisation.  •  The  objeqt  of  this  Social 
Conference  is  more  to  educate  public  opinion  in  all  the  problems 
of  social  reform  than  anything  else.  You  may  safely  leave  to  time 
the  results.  We  must  call  to  our  aid  the  authority  of  our  sacred 
books,  and  of  the  ancient  history  of  our  country  in  our  work  of 
social  reform.  There  is  enough  in  our  ancient  volumes  to  show 
that  the  social  system  of  the  Hindu  in  the  past,  was  altogether 
a  model  one,  and  we  cannot  do  better  than  follow  it,  if  we  are 
at  all  anxious  to  regain  our  lost  national  greatness. 

And  now,  before  I  conclude,  I  hope  that  the  deliberations 
of  this  Conference  will  be  conducted  with  as  much  moderation, 
forbearance  and  wisdom  as  possible,  and  that  no  want  of  har- 
mony will  disturb  our  proceedings.  There  is  not  another  ques- 
tion more  difficult  and  delicate  than  that  of  social  reform,  and 
it  should  be  approached  with  the  utmost  sobriety,  and  discussed 
in  such  a  spirit  as  might  not  give  rise  to  the  least  friction.  We 
must  show  extreme  tolerance  .for  the  opinions  and  feelings  of 
those  who  differ  from  us  on  the  subject,  so  that  even  the  most 
orthodox  and  bjgoted  might,  in  time,  come  into  our  fold;  and 
25 


194          '     INDIAN  SOCIAL  BEFOEM. 

become  of  our  way  of  thinking.     Social  reform  is  not  meant  for 
the  liberal  few,  but  for  the  backward  many. 


The  Eleventh  Social  Conference— Rao  Bahadur 
Vamanrao  Madhav  Kolhatkar's  Address. 

LADIES  IND  GENTLEMEN, — I  thank  you  very  much  for  the 
honour  you  have  done  me  by  voting  me  to  the  chair,  and  I  beg 
to  assure  you  that  I  feel  very  much  flattered  by  it.  But  I  can- 
not conceal  from  you  the  consciousness  of  my  inability  to  fill 
with  credit  a  position  which  has  been  honoured  at  previous 
gatherings  by  eminent  and  distinguished  personages,  with  whom 
the  humble  individual  now  addressing  you  can  bear  very  little 
comparison.  Jn  fact  when  the  proposal  to  make  me  President 
was  first  communicated  to  me  about  six  weeks  ago,  it  caused  me 
considerable  surprise,  and  I  almost  suspected  that  a  practical 
joke  was  being  played  upon  me.  But  when  I  considered  that 
the  proposal  emanated  from  friends  whose  good  sense  and  friend- 
ly feeling  I  could  not  very  well  for  a  moment  doubt,  and  when  I 
consider  further  that  the  race,  as  has  been  well  said,  was  not 
always  to  the  swift  nor  the  battle  to  the  strong,  I  took  heart 
and  braced  myself  up,  as  well  as  I  could,  for  the  difficult  task 
that  was  to  be  laid  on  me.  I  will  first  beg  yon  to  overlook  my 
shortcomings,  and  then  proceed  according  to  time-honoured 
custom  to  make  some  observations  in  connection  with  the  work 
for  which  we  have  assembled  here  to-day. 

The  first  matter  to  which  I  have  the  pleasure  to  invite 
your  attention,  is  the  gratifying  fact  that  the  short-sighted 
prejudice  which  had  sought  sometime  ago  to  dislodge  our 
Conference  from  its  legitimate  habitation — the  Congress 
pandal — is  now  happily  a  thing  of  the  past  and  has 
given  place  to  good  sense  and  wisdom.  The  credit  of  first 
discountenancing  that  prejudice  does  no  doubt  belong  to- 
enlightened  Bengal.  But  we  of  the  Berars  and  the  Cen- 
tral Provinces  also  might  well  be  excused  for  claiming  a 
share  in  it,  and  for  haying  walked  in  the  wise  footsteps 
of  Calcutta.  I  am  informed  on  good  authority  that  there 


in.]        THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.        J96 

was  not  a  single  discordant  note  struck  when  the  question 
of  placing  the  Congress  pandal  at  the  service  of  this  Confer- 
ence came  on  for  consideration  before  the  local  Congress  Com- 
mittee, and  that  the  question  was  disposed  of  with  perfect  con- 
cord, and  in  such  a  manner  as  to  even  imply  that  it  admitted 
of  no  two  opinions  at  all.  This,  you  will  allow,  is  a  matter  for 
sincere  congratulation,  and  you  will  doubtless  join  with  me  in 
saying  that  Mall  is  well  that  ends  well.'1 

I  will  next  address  you  a  few  words  about  the  present 
position  and  future  prospects  of  the  Social  Reform  Movement. 
My  humble  opinion  is  that,  all  things  considered,  social  reform 
is  steadily  gaining  ground  in  the  hearts  of  our  people.  In  view 
of  the  magnitude  of  our  task,  the  difficulties  in  the  way,  the 
comparative  paucity  of  real  workers  in  our  field,  and  the  slow- 
ness of  the  pace  with  which  we  are  moving,  one  is  apt  not  to 
recognise  this  onward  motion,  and  many  peoplo  are  disposed  to 
grumble,  and  ba  despondent,  and  even  doubt  at  times  whether 
we  are  going  forward  at  all.  When  we  are  in  this  undesirable 
plight,  we  cannot  do  better  than  cast  at  once  a  mental  glance 
at  what  things  were  like,  say,  about  ten  or  twenty  years  ago, 
and  ask  ourselves  if  we  have  not  made  any  progress.  This 
useful  retrospect  will  at  once  lift  us  out  of  the  slough  of  des- 
pondency, and  restore  us  to  a  hopeful,  if  not  even  cheerful, 
mood.  If  one  has  any  doubt  on  this  question  of  the  progress 
achieved,  hehas  but  to  turn  the  pagesof  the  report  of  the  last  Con- 
ference to  be  convinced  of  the  general  fermentation  that  is 
taking  place  in  matters  social  in  so  many  places,  and 
in  such  unexpected  quarters.  And  in  this  connection,  let 
us  also  always  lay  to  our  heart  and  constantly  bear  in 
mind  the  golden  advice  so  often  repeated  by  our  great 
guide,  friend  -  and  philosopher,  the  life  and  soul  of  the 
Indian  Social  Conference — 1  mean  the  Hon'ble  Mr.  Justice  Ba- 
nade — and  sedulously  cultivate  in  practice  the  useful  virtue  of 
patience,  which  is  ever  the  greatest  friend  in  need,  and  is  there- 
fore the  best  friend  indeed.  But  the  indispensable  friend,  I 
am  sorry  to  observe,  does  often  fight  shy  of  us,  and  is  conspi- 
cuous among  as  only  by  his  absence,  simply  because  we  do  not 
sufficiently  care  to  cultivate  his  friendship.  And  again,  let  us 


196  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

remember  thaUhe  causes  of  the  slow  pace  with  which    we   are 
moving  onwards  are  not  confined  to  the  Social   Reform    Move- 
ment alone,  bah  are  simultaneously  hindering  the  onward  march 
of  other  movements  also.     The  principal  drawback  everywhere 
is  the  paucity  of  earnest,  loyal,  and    enthusiastic  workers,  com- 
bined with  the  superfluity   of  irresponsible,  unsympathetic  and 
do-nothing  critics.     This  is  the  chief  canker  at  the  root   of  all 
our  activities,  whether  in  the  social,  the  industrial,  the  religi- 
ous, or  any  other  field.     There  is,  on  the  one  hand,  the  more  or 
less  large  following,  whose  chief  business  is  talk,  the  whole  talk, 
and  nothing  but  talk ;  and  on  the  other  hand  there  is  the  larger 
herd  still  of  the  ever-carping  critics,  who  arc   pleased  to  live  in 
a  well-known  paradise,  and  to  fancy  that  the  reforms  we  advo- 
cate do  not  concern  them  or  their  society  at   all ;  and  who,  doing 
nothing  themselves,  but  standing  at    a   safe  distance   from   all 
the  risk  and  toil  and  moil  of  all  progressive  work,    are  satisfied 
with  nothing  that  the  reformers  will  do,  but  are,  on  the  contrary, 
immensely  delighted  with  the  easy  and  patriotic-looking  work  of 
crying  down  reform  and  reformers.  If   a  reformer  in  any  of  the 
fields  already  mentioned  serves  the  cause  for  which  he  is  working 
merely  by  speech— and  yet  speech,  let  us  remember,  is  the  first 
and  the  most  potent  instrument  of    ventilation  and  agitation — 
he  is,  according  to  these  dainty  gentlemen,  only  a  lip-reformer 
or  a  canting  hypocrite.     But  the  moment   the  reformer  reduces 
his  professions  to  action,  he   becomes   at  once  a  dangerous  fire- 
brand, a  revolutionary  character  who,  instead  of  taking  up  some 
other  non-descript  reform  first,  is  moving  on  too  fast  and  head- 
long,   and   without   the   previous  consent  and    sanction  of   the 
majority,  if  not  the  whole,  of  his   countrymen,  or  moving  on  in 
contravention  of  the  laws  of  evolution,    or  the  teachings  of  his- 
tory, or   the  strict   lines  and    dictates   of  the   Shastras,  or  in  a 
word,  what  not !  Good  God  ! !  Are  not  these  objections  grand,  and 
high-sounding,  and  if  you  please  even   erudite  P  Sure   enough, 
they  are.     But  these  gentlemen  forget   that  it  is  generally  not 
in  the  nature  of   individuals,    belonging  to  a  supremely  conser- 
vative race  like  ours,  to  move  oa  too  fast,   that  no  reform  has 
yet  taket  place  at  any  time  with  the  previous  consent  and  sanc- 
tion of  the  majority  of  mankind  ;  that  'even  the  laws  of  evolu- 


in.]        THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         19? 

tion  require  human  aid  in  furtherance  of   their  work   in  social 
matters ;  that  history,  if  read   aright,    teaches  something   else 
than  mere  cynical  inaction  ;  and   that   the  lines    and    dictates 
of  the    Shastras    run   counter    neither   to   the   spirit,    nor  in 
many     cases     to    the    letter,    of  onr    proposals    for    reforms. 
Let  us    not,    ladies    and     gentlemen,    look     at    things    from 
the    high     and    giddy     altitudes   of    theoretical    beauty    and 
perfection,  but   remain  satisfied   with   the   humble  and   sober 
stand -point    of    practical    good    sense     and    discretion.      Let 
us  not  be  carried  away   and   deluded  by  fine  phrases  and  catch- 
words, and  let  us  not   allow  our  equanimity  to  be  disturbed  by 
them  ;  but  lot  us,  at  the  Fame  time,  take  care  to  keep  our  minds 
free  from  the  taint  of  self-sufficiency  or  self-satisfaction,  which 
seems  to  me  to  be  one  of  the  most  besetting  sins  of  the  present 
day.     For  no   one,    whether    a  reformer  or  a  non-reformer,  can 
afford  to  indulge   in  these   mischievous   luxuries,  and  scorn  the 
honest  advice  of  friend  or  foe.     No  true  reformer  has,  so  far  as 
I  know,  yet  claimed   perfection   and  infallibility  for  himself  or 
his  ways.     The  sensible  portion  of  them,  conscious  of  their  own 
defects  and  shortcomings,   are  no  doubt,  profiting  by  past  mis- 
takes and  failures.     If  our  worthy  critics  only  practise  half  the 
moderation,    which  they    are  fond  of  preaching  to  us  in  season 
and  out  of  season,  and  take  to  honest  and  sympathetic  criticism, 
their  fault-finding  will  be  a  great    and  useful  light  in  our  path, 
and  we  shall  not  only  be   duly    grateful  to  them  for  that  light, 
but  shall  also  gladly  excuse  their  inaction  or  apathy  which  when 
timid,  is  often   concealed,    if  the  truth  must  be  told,  under  the 
mask  of   cautious   prudence.     Between  half-hearted  work  and 
unsympathetic,    irresponsible   criticism,   the  work   of  reform  is 
bound  to  be  a  good  deal    stifled,  if  not  even  strangulated  ;  and 
the  wonder  to  me  very  often  is   that  the  social  reformer,  who  is 
the  favourite  butt  of  ruthless  criticism  proceeding  from  both  the 
educated    and  the   uneducated  critics,   has  still  managed   not 
only  to   keep  his   head  above   water,  but  also  to  win  his  way 
steadily,  though    slowly,   to  the   unwilling  hearts  of  his  dear 
countrymen.     The  workers  in  the  other  fields  are  better  placed 
than  ourselves  and  the  religious  reformers,    inasmuch   as   they 
have 'to  face  only  external  opposition,   whereas  the  opposition 


198  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

we  have  to  meet  and  face  is  opposition  proceeding  from  our 
own  dear  and  near  ones — parents,  wives,  daughters,  sisters, 
brothers,  neighbours,  friends  and  countrymen — with  whom  we 
have  lo  journey  on  in  this  pilgrimage  of  life,  and  for  whose 
welfare  we  are  striving  to  the  best  of  our  lights  and  opportuni- 
ties. The  other  workers  are  cheered  on  in  their  paths  by  en- 
couragement and  approbation  from  persons  for  whose  well-be- 
ing they  labour.  But  ours  is  truly  a  thankless  and  therefore 
much  more  difficult,  task,  The  only  reward  we  get  for  our  pains 
is  jeer  and  ridicule,  which  frighten  away  many  a  man  who  would 
otherwise  willingly  work  for  the  cause  we  have  at  heart.  No 
wonder  then  that  we  have  a  smaller  number  of  even  half-hearted 
workers  in  our  field,  and  that  our  outturn  of  work  is  perhaps 
not  so  large  in  quantity,  or  so  nice  to  look  at  as  the  labourers  in 
the  other  fields  can  show  and  boast  of. 

This  tli on  is  the  explanation  that  accounts  for  the  fact  that 
our  educated  men,  upon  whose  shoulders  alone  the  responsibi- 
lity of  the  regeneration  of  our  beloved  country  can  rest,  are 
either  half-hearted  workers  or  uncomfortable  critics.  Why  is 
it  that  our  engines  are  so  few  and  weak,  while  our  brakes  are 
so  numerous  and  powerful  ?  The  reply  to  my  mind  can  only 
be  one  and  it-  is  this,  that  our  homes  not  being  in  order,  we 
send  forth  into  the  world  only  weakly  and  ill-equipped  soldiers 
to  tight  the  battle  of  life.  Our  nursery  is  so  full  of  unhealthy 
influences,  that  a  supply  from  it  of  healthy  and  vigorous  plants 
that  grow  in  the  fulness  of  time  into  large,  shady  and  fruit- 
laden  trees,  is  well-nigh  impossible.  Being  children  generally 
of  girl-mothers  and  boy-fathers,  we  naturally  lack  the  physical 
stamina  which  is  a  sine  qua  non  of  all  oar  different  activities. 
Being  brought  up  in  homes  where  ignorance  and  superstition 
are  generally  allowed  to  reign  supreme,  and  where  blind  custom 
is  permitted  to  be  the  principal  guide  and  regulating  force,  we 
naturally  lack  that  mental  freedom  and  those  moral  and  religi- 
ous influences  which  are  so  necessary  for  the  robust  growth  and 
development  of  individual  soul  and  character.  Being  exhausted 
in  body  and  mind  in  early  years  by  too  much  educational  cram* 
ming,  unrelieved  by  sufficiently  nourishing  diet,  and  being  en- 
cumbered with  a  wife  and  children  almost  at  the  threshold  pf 


TIL]         THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         199 

life,  besides  haying  in  numerous  instances  to  bear  the  anxious 
burden  of  supporting  a  host  of  other  relations,  our  budding 
spirits  are  soon  blighted  by  these  cares  and  anxieties,  and  little 
energy  or  inclination  is  left  for  any  other  serious  work  in  life 
than  that  of  earning  bread  and  butter.  Add  to  these  cramping 
and  stunting  influences  the  habits  of  servility,  submission  and 
supineness  engendered  by  climatical  and  other  causes,  and  the 
result  is  the  unavoidable  one  which  we  actually  see  and  so  much, 
deplore. 

The  social  reform  movement  has  set  to  itself  the  all-import- 
ant task  of  removing  these  evils,  which  are  eating  into  the  vitals 
of  all  our  movements,  and  of  giving  them  life,  health  and  vigour. 
If  our  difficulties  and  sacrifices  are  greater  than  those  which 
have  to  be  encountered  and  endured  by  the  workers  in  the  other 
fields,  the  guerdon,  the  prize,  and  the  reward  which  must,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  come  to  us  in  the  Jong-  run,  if  we  are  true  to  our 
salt,  is  also  very  much  greater.  By  stopping  early  and  unequal 
marriages,  we  shall  be  bringing  iuto  being  a  robust  race  of 
workers,  with  frames  better  adapted  to  stand  the  wear  and  tear 
of  life.  By  destroying  the  cruel  customs  which  deprive  our 
widowed  daughters  and  sisters  of  the  joys  and  comforts  of  holy 
matrimony,  and  which  disfigure  them  against  their  will,  we 
shall  not  only  be  giving  them,  if  they  wish  to  have  it,  the  hap- 
piness of  family-life,  the  absence  of  which  makes  the  generality 
of  our  widowers  so  miserable  with  all  their  vaunted  superiority 
in  knowledge,  wisdom  and  philosophy,  but  we  shall  also  be  lay- 
ing a  deep,  broad,  and  strong  foundation  of  moral  courage  in  our 
character  by  trampling  under  our  feet  tyranny  of  every  descrip- 
tion. By  educating  and  emancipating  our  females,  by  setting 
our  faces  against  the  mischievous  vice  of  intemperance,  which, 
not  content  with  the  ravages  it  has  wrought  in  its  old  homes  of 
Europe  and  America,  is  now  seeking  a  new  field  for  its  unhal- 
lowed work  of  destruction  in  this  holy  land  of  Bharat ;  and  by 
advancing  the  purity-movement,  worked  for  with  such  laudable 
zeal  and  persistence  principally  by  our  good  friends  of  Madras, 
who  promise  ere  long  to  my  mind  to  be  the  exemplars  and  the 
models  of  earnest  workers  for  the  rest  of  India,  we  shall  be 
creating  better  environments  for  ourselves  and  our  children, 


200  INDIAN' SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

who  must  be  tbe  architects  of  the  distinguished  position  of 
eminence  to  which  we  wish  to  restore  this  ancient  land  of  ours. 
By  moving  for  a  better  organisation  of  public  and  private 
charity,  by  curtailing  extravagance  on  marriages  and  other 
occasions,  we  shall  be  placing  ourselves  in  a  position  not  only 
to  give  a  greater  amount  of  relief  to  real  distress  and  helpless- 
ness, but  also  to  supply  the  indispensable  capital  without  which 
our  workers  in  the  industrial  line  arc  so  seriously  handicapped. 
By  rescuing  caste  from  its  present  absurdities  and  exaggera- 
tions, and  confining  it  within  its  ancient  reasonable  limits,  we 
shall  be  practically  preaching  to  our  division-loving  country- 
men the  holy  gospel  of  love,  peace  and  concord,  without  which 
a  united  India  is  an  impossibility,  and  a  common  nationality  a 
myth  and  a  fiction.  By  successfully  solving  the  question  of 
foreign  travel,  we  shall  not  only  divest  ourselves  of  the  narrow- 
minded  conceit,  self-satisfaction  and  exclusiveness  of  the  pro- 
verbial frog  in  the  well  which  we  at  present  undoubtedly 
cherish,  but  also  place  at  the  service  of  our  youth  a  wonderful 
educational  agency  which  has  almost  a  magical  power  for  good 
— a  power  that  has  been  so  well  illustrated  in  the  recent  history 
of  our  plucky  neighbours  of  Japan,  the  brightest  spot  at  pre- 
sent in  old  Orient.  And  by  re-admitting  into  society  converts 
frotu  other  faiths,  we  shall  not  only  be  vindicating  the  liberal 
catholicity  of  the  pristine  Hindu  faith,  but  also  showing  a  prac- 
tical appreciation  of  that  faith,  and  turning  into  friends  a  large 
number  of  our  countrymen  who  are  now  forced  into  a  hostile 
camp  by  our  wayward  obstinacy. 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  these  are  questions  which  are  inti- 
mately bound  up  with  our  national  progress  and  welfare  in  all 
directions  ;  and  this  being  the  work  which  it  is  the  noble  mission 
of  this  Conference  to  Further,  we  have  met  here  to-day  to  dis- 
ODSS  and  consider  several  of  these  questions.  Until  we  build  up 
a  better  mind  in  a  better  body,  and  until  our  souls  are  made  fit 
temples  for  the  gieafc  soul  of  the  uni verso  to  live  in,  the  mate- 
rials necessary  for  great  and  rapid  progress  in  all  the  direc- 
tions in  which  we  are  now  moving,  and  wish  hereafter  to  move, 
will  be  wanting.  Until  we  can  produce  in  our  race  the  able, 
the  brave,  the  honest,  the  earnest,  the  steady,  the  persistent, 


in.]         THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         201 

the  self-sacrificing  and  the  enthusiastic  workers,  who  made 
ancient  India  what  it  wad,  and  who  have  made  modern 
Europe  and  America  what  they  are,  we  cannot  hope  to  make 
any  solid  and  substantial  progress,  and  this  melancholy  truth 
is  brought  home  more  and  more  every  day  to  the  minda 
of  those  persona  who  are  engaged  in  the  work  of  reform  in  dif- 
ferent fields.  Let  us  then  gird  up  our  loins,  and  give  up  the 
lethargy  engendered  by  causes  already  touched  upon,  and  rise 
equal  to  the  importance  of  our  work  by  putting  forth  in  future 
more  earnest  efforts  than  we  have  hitherto  done.  Although 
speech  is  necessary  for  the  ventilation  of  our  programme,  and 
we  must  again  and  again  have  recourse  to  it  in  future,  as  we 
have  had  recourse  to  it  in  the  past,  still  mere  lip-devotion  to 
our  cause  cannot  take  us  to  the  goal  in  view,  as  we  must  have 
now  found  by  sad  experience.  The  time  has  now  surely  come 
for  translating  speech  and  ideals  into  action,  and  showing  by 
our  sincerity  and  our  enthusiasm  to  those  of  our  countrymen 
whom  we  wish  to  win  over  to  our  views,  that  \vo  really  believe 
in  all  that  we  say.  If  we  adopt  and  adhere  to  this  course  re- 
solutely, manfully  and  in  the  proper  spirit  of  self-sacrifice!,  the 
time  will  soon  come  when  our  Social  Reform  programme, 
which  is  transparently  simple,  and  cannot  be  long  misunder- 
stood, will,  under  Providence,  be  viewed  with  favour  by  those 
who  are  now  looking  askance  at  it,  and  sure  enough,  those 
•who  now  come  to  scoff  and  flout  us,  will  then  remain  to  pray 
and  bless  us. 

Before  I  conclude  and  sit  down,  I  beg  to  tender  my  heart- 
felt thanks  to  our  good  sisters  of  Amraoti,  who,  headed  by  our 
friend  Mrs.  Gangubai  Joshi,  and  ably  assisted  by  such  ladies  as 
ray  clever  friend  Mrs.  Manoramabai  of  Nagpur,  were  able  to 
organise  almost  in  a  trice  a  very  successful  exhibition,  which 
we  have  had  so  much  pleasure  to  witness  in  the  course  of  this 
week.  Let  us  all  hope  that  such  exhibitions  as  these  become 
the  normal  feature  of  our  annual  gatherings,  and  that  this  ex* 
hibition  proves  to  be  the  nucleus  of  regular  and  full-fledged 
Fine  Arts  Exhibitions  of  the  kind  annually  held  at  Simla  by 
oar  advanced  sisters  from  Europe.  I  also  note  with  pleasure 
the  very  gratifying  fact  which  must  have  struck  you  all  as  a 
26 


202  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

very  prominent  feature  of  this  year's  gathering — the  fact,  viz., 
that  our  Conference  this  year  has  been  graced  with  the  pre- 
sence of  such  a  large  number  of  lady  friends  as  might  well  ex- 
cite the  envy  and  emulation  of  even  the  more  advanced  pro- 
vinces. Our  best  thanks  are  surely  due  to  these  good  angels, 
who  have  lent  so  much  grace  and  dignity  to  this  gathering  and 
this  pleasant  debt  of  gratitude  I  beg  to  discharge  with  all  my 
heart. 

The  Twelfth  Social  Conference— Rao  Bahadur  K. 
Vlresalingam  Pantulu's  Address. 

LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN, — I  consciously  feel  that  I,  an  hum- 
ble and  incompetent  individual,  am  not  worthy  of  the  position 
which  has  been  thrust  on  me  and  which  has  been  filled  with 
credit  at  the  previous  Conferences  by  eminent  and  worthy 
gentlemen  with  whom  I  hardly  bear  any  comparison.  I  wish 
your  selection  had  fallen  on  an  abler  person.  As  it  is  however 
your  pleasure  that  I  should  occupy  the  chair,  I  heartily  thank 
you  for  the  honour  you  have  conferred  on  me. 

We  are  met  here  to  consider  questions  of  the  gravest  im- 
portance to  our  society  and  hence  to  the  commonwealth  ;  for,  I 
believe  the  political  development  of  a  country  must  largely  de- 
pend upon  the  social  condition  of  the  community  which  sup- 
plies the  physical,  intellectual  and  moral  resources  of  the  people. 
The  real  work  of  improving  our  social  environment  undoubted- 
ly lies  outside  Conferences  of  this  kind,  but  meetings,  discus- 
sions and  resolutions  are  also  necessary  to  prepare  the  ground 
and  to  nil  the  moral  atmosphere  of  the  community  with  ideas, 
which  when  they  enrich  the  blood  of  the  people,  will  stimulate 
them  to  action. 

I  have  myself  always  endeavoured  in  my  own  humble  way 
to  work  on  the  plan  which  makes  action  follow  as  closely  as 
possible  upon  the  heels  of  conviction.  I  may  therefore  be  par- 
doned for  the  observation  that  discussions  and  resolutions  do 
not  by  any  means  exhaust  the  real  work  of  social  or  any  kind  of 
reform,  although  they  have  their  own  part  to  play  in  the  grand 
drama  of  the  evolution  of  humanity.  I  understand  that  the 


in.]         TEE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         203 

methods  of  physical  science  have  influenced  all  departments  of 
modern  thought  in  the  West.  My  acquaintance  -with  the  phy- 
sical sciences  is  not  as  wide  as  I  should  have  liked  it  to  be,  but 
as  far  as  I  am  able  to  judge,  men  of  science  work  on  the  prin- 
ciple that  true  knowledge  mast  be  based  on  experiment  and  ob- 
servation. I  fancy  that  that  wonderful  engine  which  has 
brought  many  of  you  across  hundreds  of  miles  from  the  various 
parts  of  this  vast  continent  was  not  devised  by  a  single  effort  of 
imagination,  but  its  evolution  was  a  slow  process  in  which  hun- 
dreds of  trials  had  to  be  made  with  patience  and  perseverance 
by  as  many  brains  and  hands.  The  electricians  who  have 
harnessed  lightning  to  drag  the  tram  car,  though  by  no  means 
at  lightning  speed  in  our  city,  did  not,  I  conceive,  rely  on  mere 
a  priori  speculations  as  to  how  the  development  of  the  electrical 
science  ought  to  proceed,  but  they  had  to  make  innumerable 
trials  patiently  and  perse veringly.  And  if  patient  and  plodding 
work  is  necessary  in  the  domain  of  physical  science  where 
the  laws  which  the  elements  obey  are  more  easily  ascertain- 
able,  patient  and  plodding  and  often  painful  work  is  still 
more  necessary  for  social  reform,  inasmuch  as  the  laws  of 
the  human  mind  and  of  human  society  are  more  difficult 
to  understand  and  more  difficult  to  be  made  the  basis  of  any 
dogmatic  theory,  I  have  sometimes  been  bewildered  by  the 
discussions  in  newspapers  about  what  are  called  methods  of  so- 
cial re  form.  That  bewilderment  is  no  doubt  largely  explained 
by  the  fact  that  I  am  not  competent  to  grasp  the  latest  socio- 
logical discoveries  of  Western  savants,  but  I  must  confess  that  I 
have  generally  missed  in  these  discussions  any  reference  to  the 
efforts  made  by  the  disputants  to  check  their  theories  by  this 
experience.  Patient,  honest  and  intelligent  work  is  not  only 
the  one  indispensable  condition  pf  the  success  of  the  social 
reform  movement,  but  it  is  also  the  only  safe-guard  against 
errors  of  judgment  and  the  results  of  preconceived  theories. 
The  work  cannot  of  course  be  done  in  annual  meetings  like  the 
Conference,  but  as  I  said  before,  meetings  of  this  kind  have  also 
an  important  function  to  perform  in  the  economy  of  the  social 
reform  movement. 

It  should  not  be  necessary  in  the  twelfth  Conference,   and 


204  INDIAN  SOCIAL  BEFORM.  [PART 

it  would  be  presumptuous  in  an  unsophisticated  individual  like 
me  to  attempt  to  set  forth  the  objects  which  may  be  served  by 
a  Conference  like  this.  Bat  as  I  laid  some  stress  on  the  work 
that  has  to  be  done  outside  the  Conference,  I  wish  to  be  per- 
mitted to  point  out  that  these  annual  meetings  contribute  in  an 
eminent  degree  to  keep  the  ideas  of  reforms,  as  it  were,  in  the 
air.  That  in  itself  is  insufficient,  and  forms  no  part  of  the  work 
of  social  reform,  but  it  forms  a  material  part  of  the  means  of 
reform.  You  often  hear  it  stated  that  the  Conference  is  all 
talk,  and  that  nothing  will  come  of  it  but  mere  waste  of  breath. 
I  hope  nobody  will  accuse  me  of  fondness  for  hearing  my  own 
voice,  for  I  seldom  speak  in  public,  but  it  seems  to  me  that 
those  that  regard  these  Conferences  as  mere  tamaslia  take  alto- 
gether a  narrow  view  of  the  imperceptible  influence  of  such 
gatherings.  The  annual  Conference  should  certainly  be  supple- 
mented by  the  activity  of  smaller  local  bodies  working  through- 
out the  year.  Without  such  activity  the  Conference  will  soon- 
er or  later  begin  to  suffer  from  tho  effects  of  inanition.  But 
while  I  think  that  the  Conference  must  have  a  large  number  of 
feeders,  the  annual  gathering  itself  will  rest  on  those  feeders 
and  serve  to  com bi ae  them  into  one  harmonious  system  of  or- 
ganisation. 

The  Conference  may  thus  be  reckoned  among  the  educative 
agencies  which  make  for  reform.  You  often  hear  it  stated  that 
education  is  the  best  remedy  for  the  evils  from  which  our  so- 
ciety is  suffering.  If  by  education  you  mean  that  which  is  im- 
parted in  your  schools  and  colleges,  this  statement  does  not  ex- 
press the  whole  truth,  and  our  educated  met  themselves  will 
bear  out  the  truth  of  my  remark,  for,  we  know  the  majority  of 
our  educated  men  are  as  backward  in  espousing  the  cause  of  so- 
cial reform  in  practice  as  their  uneducated  countrymen.  Then 
again  observation  will  reveal  to  you  communities  in  which  edu- 
cation has  made  such  great  progress  that  there  is  hardly  a  man 
in  them  who  is  unable  to  read  and  write,  and  yet  which  would 
not  give  admission  into  society  to  an  England-returned  man, 
and  much  less  to  a  re-married  widow.  A  friend  was  telling  me 
the  other  day  that  a  well-known  local  Hindu  gentleman  of 
great  age  and  experience  was  once  bitterly  remarking  to  him 


in.]         THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         205 

thai  education,  while  it  makes  good  men  better,  makes  bad 
men  worse.  This  epigram,  like  others  of  its  kind,  must  no 
doubt  be  accepted  with  a  good  deal  of  reservation  ;  but  obser- 
vation will  show  you  that  literary  education  is  often  a  double- 
edged  weapon.  For  your  purpose,  this  education,  which  makes 
men  think  and  undoubtedly  prepares  the  ground,  must  be  sup- 
plemented first,  by  a  familiarity  with  the  ideas  of  reform,  and 
secondly,  by  the  influence  of  personal  example.  But  personal 
example  cannot  of  course  be  set  in  annual  meetings.  These  can 
only  contribute  to  render  the  right  kind  of  ideas  more  familiar 
to  the  people.  These  Conferences,  therefore,  have  an  important 
function  to  perform. 

The  subjects  which  you  have  to  consider,  though  generally 
called  social,  relate  to  the  individual  and  to  the  family,  as  well 
as  to  society  at  large.  The  questions  of  temperance,  purity  and 
perhaps  of  female  education  may  be  said  to  primarily  relate  to 
the  individual.  The  questions  of  infant-marriage,  widow-mar- 
riage and  others  of  that  kind  may  be  said  to  relate  to  the  family. 
The  elevation  of  the  depressed  classes,  inter- marriage  between 
sub-sects,  foreign  travel,  religious  endowments,  and  such  other 
subjects  may  be  said  to  effect  the  society  at  large.  But  all  these 
questions  are  intimately  connected  with  one  another.  For,  what 
affects  the  individual  affects  the  family  and  what  affects  the 
family  must  affect  society.  It  is  not  for  me  now  to  speak  on  any 
of  the  particular  subjects  which  you  may  discuss.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  the  various  speakers  will  do  ample  justice  to  the 
several  subjects  which  are  entrusted  to  them  and  discuss  them 
with  maturity  of  judgment,  fairness  of  reasoning,  but  coupled 
with  courage  and  enthusiasm  for  the  cause  they  uphold.  There 
is  one  matter  to  which  I  should  like  to  refer  before  I  conclude. 
The  President  of  last  year's  Conference  expressed  an  opinion 
that  your  Madras  friends  "  promise  ere  long  to  my  mind  to  be 
the  exemplars  and  the  models  of  earnest  workers  for  the  rest 
of  India,"  and  similar  compliments  have  from  time  to  time  been 
given  to  us  by  our  kind  friends  of  other  parts  of  India.  1  am 
afraid,  however,  that  the  notions  which  seem  to  be  entertained 
in  other  parts  of  India  about  our  activity  and  earnestness,  are 
very  much  exaggerated*  My  friends  may  not  thank  me  if  I 


206  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PABT 

dispel  that  illusion  about  Madras,  and  it  may  even  be  quoted  as 
another  instance  of  the  iconoclastic  tendencies  of  social  reforms. 
But  if  truth  must  be  told,  we  in  Madras,  are  as  earnest,  or  as 
apathetic  as  our  brethren  elsewhere.  There  is  as  much  of  vacil- 
lation and  temporising  here  as  in  other  places.  We  are  fond  of 
inventing  false  theories  and  lame  excuses  to  justify  our  conduct 
as  people  are  elsewhere.  We  undertake  difficult  schemes  as 
hastily,  and  fail  in  them  as  woefully,  as  perhaps  in  other  parts 
of  our  country,  In  these  circumstances,  to  accept  all  the  kind 
encomiums  which  are  now  and  then  showered  upon  us  for  our 
earnestness,  will  go  to  prove  that  we  are  neither  earnest  nor 
honest.  We  may  have  more  to  learn  from  you  than  you  say 
you  have  to  learn  from  us.  At  any  rate,  let  us  all  learn  from 
one  another,  and  help  and  encourage  one  another. 


The  Thirteenth  Social  Conference— Ral  Bahadur 
Lala  Baij  Nath's  Address. 

LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN, — Permit  me  to  offer  you  my  sin- 
cerest  thanks  for  the  great  honour  you  have  done  me  in  electing 
me  as  the  Chairman  of  this  august  assembly.  As  I  call  to  mind 
the  many  distinguished  gentlemen  who  have  so  worthily  pre- 
sided over  the  deliberations  of  this  Conference  which  aims  at 
devising  methods  of  reform  for  the  whole  of  the  Indian  commu- 
nity, I  feel  that  your  choice  might  have  been  bestowed  more  ad- 
vantageously upon  a  worthier  head.  As,  however,  you  have 
been  pi  eased  to  bestow  the  honour  upon  me,  I  gratefully  ac- 
cept it,  craving  your  indulgence  if  I  fail  to  justify  your  expec- 
tations. 

We  are  met  here  to  discharge  one  of  the  most  solemn  duties 
which  each  of  us  owes  to  his  mother-land.  Who  is  there,  be  he 
the  most  pronounced  radical  or  the  most  pronounced  conser- 
vative, who  does  not  wish  his  country  to  prosper,  all  her  sons 
and  daughters  morally  elevated,  possessing  strong  and  well- 
developed  bodies,  properly  cultivated  minds,  well-trained  intel- 
lects, and  in  every  way  the  best  men  and  women  of  their  age. 
The  goal  of  all  Indian  reformers  in  the  past  has  been  to  bring 


in.]        *THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.        207 

Indian  society  to  such  a  condition,  and  the  goal  of  modern 
Indian  reformers  can  also  be  no  other.  The  reformer  in  the 
past  had,  however,  to  work  under  conditions,  somewhat  different 
from  those  under  which  the  reformer  in  the  present  has  to  work. 
Society  had  not  then  so  widely  gone  astray  from  its  ancient 
ideals  as  it  has  done  now,  nor  had  later  corruption  taken  such 
deep  root  in  it  as  it  has  done  in  these  times,  nor  were  the  forces 
the  reformer  bad  to  contend  with  BO  strong  and  so  numerous 
as  they  are  now.  The  Bishis  of  ancient  India  declared  all  in- 
dividual and  national  progress  to  lie  in  adherence  to  truth  and 
duty,  and  the  ton  indications  of  Dharma,  according  to  Manu 
were  fortitude,  compassion,  control  of  the  mind  and  the  organs 
of  sense,  purity,  intelligence,  study  of  the  Sastras,  rectitude  of 
behaviour  and  absence  of  anger.  But  the  Bishis  appealed  to  a 
society  not  so  corrupt  or  lifeless  as  ours.  Being  the  best,  and 
the  most  morally  elevated  men  of  their  age,  they  knew  that 
the  elevation  of  the  race  consisted  in  a  harmonious  develop- 
ment and  satisfaction  of  all  its  wants.  The  task  of  the  modern 
reformer  in  India  is  therefore  one  of  peculiar  difficulty  and  taxes 
his  resources  to  the  utmost.  He  should  not  only  know  thorough- 
ly and  clearly  the  wants  and  tendencies  of  his  society  and  be 
capable  of  taking  abroad  survey  of  all  its  institutions,  but  also 
the  evils  under  which  it  labours.  Courage  of  conviction,  firm- 
ness of  purpose  and  a  determined  resolution  to  do  the  right  look- 
ing neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left,  are  demanded  of  him  in 
a  greater  degree  than  they  were  from  his  predecessors. 

He  cannot,  moreover,  afford  to  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that 
the  evolutionary  science  of  modern  Europe  makes  the  develop- 
ment of  the  intellectual  capacity  subordinate  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  religious  character,  and  declares  the  future  of 
nations  to  lie  in  assigning  to  reason  a  lower  plane  than  religion. 
Said  Mr.  Lecky,  speaking  of  the  causes  of  the  prosperity  of 
nations  as  indicated  by  history  :  "  Its  foundation  is  laid  in  pure 
domestic  life,  in  commercial  integrity,  in  a  high  standard  of  moral 
worth,  and  of  public  spirit,  in  simple  habits,  in  courage,  up- 
rightness, and  a  certain  soundness  and  moderation  of  judgment 
which  springs  quite  as  much  from  character  as  from  intellect. 
If  yon  would  form  a  wise  judgment  of  the  future  of  a  nation, 


208  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

observe  carefully  whether  these  qualities  are  increasing  or  decay- 
ing. Observe  carefully  whatqnalitiescount  for  most  in  public  life- 
Is  character  becoming  of  greater  or  less  importance  P  Are  the 
men  tf  ho  obtain  the  highest  posts  in  the  nation  men  of  whom, 
in  private  life,  irrespective  of  party  competent  judges  speak 
with  genuine  respect  P  Are  they  .of  sincere  convictions,  consistent 
'lives  and  indisputable  integrity  ?  It  is  by  observing  this  cur- 
rent that  you  can  best  cast  the  horoscope  of  a  nation."  (Lecky'a 
Political  Value  of  History.)  The  conclusion  of  the  Rishis  of 
ancient  India  was  no  other,  and  the  Indian  reformer  has  there- 
fore to  keep  this  ideal  as  steadily  in  view  as  the  reformer  in 
Europe. 

A  revival  of  Hinduism  is  noticeable  almost  everywhere  in 
India,  and  many  think  such  a  revival  to  be  somewbat  hostile 
to  the  work  of  social  reform.  But  no  Hindu  revival,  if  it  is  to 
be  at  all  genuine,  can  have  any  other  object  in  view  than  the 
removal  of  all  such  barriers  as  impede  the  progress  of  the 
Hindus  in  the  march  of  civilisation — an  object  which  the  social 
reformer  has  also  in  view.  What  applies  to  individuals  also 
applies  to  societies  and  no  society,  which  aims  at  a  revival  of 
Hinduism  without  making  the  necessary  reforms  in  the  social 
conditions  of  the  Hindus,  can  hope  to  succeed  or  earn  the  sym- 
pathy of  any  right-minded  Indian.  All  that  a  society,  whether 
it  be  for  social  or  religious  reform,  can  do,  and  ought  to  do,  is 
to  find  out  how  far  the  nation  has  gone  astray  from  its  best  and 
truest  ideals,  and  what  portion  of  its  present  institutions  favours, 
and  what  retards  its  attainment  of  those  ideals  ;  to  have  the 
latter  retained  and  the  former  reformed  and  modified.  This 
and  no  other  is,  I  believe,  the  programme  of  this  Conference,  ns 
well  as  of  all  other  bodies  that  derive  their  initiative  from  it. 
They  are  not  revolutionary  but  reforming  bodies,  working  on 
the  lines  of  the  least  resistance,  and  never  losing  sight  of  the 
fact  that  their  goal  is  the  harmonious  development  of  the 
Indian  society  in  Order  to  make  it  as  perfect  as  possible. 

Opposition  there  has  always  been,  -  and  shall  always  be,  'to 
the  work  of  reform;  Buddha,  Sankara,  Nanftka,  Chaitanya, 
and  others  who  set  themselves  about  reforming  Indian  society 
of  their  times,  had  to  do  so  in  the  teeth  of  the  bitterest 


iu.]         THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.          20!) 

tion  from  the  advocates  of  its  then  existing  systems.  In  some 
cases  it  was  active  hostility,  in  others  passive  indifference.  But 
if  the  cause  was  right,  success  came  in  the  end.  Perseverance 
was  all  that  was  required.  So  it  ought  to  be  with  us  also.  Our 
difficulties  in  the  work  of  social  reform  are  our  best  helpmates, 
and  if  we  but  persevere  in  our  efforts,  we  shall  find  our  difficul- 
ties growing  Jess,  and  ourselves  making  greater  impression 
upon  the  community.  "  Perseverance,"  says  the  Mahabharatti, 
is  the  root  of  prosperity,  gain,  nnd  all  that  is  beneficial.  The 
person  who  pursues  an  object  steadily  without  giving  it  up  in 
vexntion,  is  truly  great,  and  enjoys  everlasting  happiness." 

i  am  not  one  of  those  who  believe  our  cause  is  losing  ;  on 
the  contrary  the  large  and  sympathetic  audience  around  me  is 
the  best  proof  of  the  increasing  interest  taken  in  our  proceed- 
ings throughout  the  country.  It  is  the  Social  Conference  which 
has  given  the  initiative  to  the  many  caste  reform  associations, 
like  the  Kavastha,  the  Bhavgava,  the  Vaisya,  the  Rajput  and 
others,  which  are  now  working  in  these  parts  of  the  country  in 
the  direction  of  social  reform.  In  fact,  the  contagion  has 
spread  to  the  class  which  was  hitherto  considered  to  be  alto- 
gether hostile  to  all  reform — to  Bre.hmanas,  and  it  is  a  sign  of 
the  times  that  they  too  are  having  sectional  Conferences  of 
their  own  for  the  same  purpose  as  the  other  castes.  I  need 
only  refer  to  the  Gaur,  the  San  ad  ha,  the  Chaturvedi,  and  the 
Kashmiri  Conferences  of  that  community.  All  these  reform 
bodies  are  working  on  the  lines  of  this  Conference,  discussing 
the  subjects  discussed  by  it  aud  passing  almost  the  same  resQr 
Intions.  Their  success  is  proportionate  to  the  degree  of  their 
effort  in  the  work  of  reform,  and  the  time  during  which 
each  of  them  has  been  in  existence.  T  shall,  with  youi- 
leave,  speak  of  the  work  done  by  the  Vaisya  during  the 
eignt  years  it  has  been  in  existence.  Its  first  sitting  in  Heerut 
was  attended  by  only  36  members  of  the  Vaiflya  community. 
Its  seventh  sitting  iu  Delhi  was  attended  by  more  than  350  de- 
legates from  out-stations,  andnbout  2,000  visitors  from  Delhi. 
Its  last  sitting  in  Bareilly  was  attended  by  delegates  and  visit- 
ors not  only  from  the  North-Western  Provinces,  but  also  from 
the  Punjab,  Raj pu tana,  and. other  parts  of  India,  It  has  now 
37 


210  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM,  [PART 

'more  thau  a  hundred  branch  associations  subordinate  to  it,  all 
working1  on  the  lines  laid  down  by  it.  It  counts  among  its 
•members  not  only  men  of  tlie  new,  but  of  the  old- school  also. 
Many  of  them  are  leaders  of  the  community  in  their  respective 
.centres,  imd  BO  great  is  the  interest  taken  in  its  proceedings  that 
last,  year,  when  in  Delhi  the  question  of  the  lowest  marriageable 
age  for  girls  came  up  for  discussion,  the  excitement  among  the 
Vaiwya  community  of  that  place  was  very  great.  The  question 
became  the  topic  of  the  day  all  over  the  town,  and  the  resolu- 
tion was  passed  after  the  most  velrerncnt  discussion  and  amidst 
thfl  greatest  excitement.  Similarly  in  lH9fi,  in  Ajmere,  when 
the  question  of  the  settlement  of  caste  disputes  by  private  arbi- 
tration was  being  discussed,  some  sympathetic  outsiders  appeal- 
ed to  the  Conference  to  procure  the  amicable  settlement  of  a 
'local  dispute  about  a  religious  procession,  which  had  been  going 
-on  among  the  Vaisyas  of  A]  me  re  for  some  years  past,  and  had 
cost  them  enormous  sums  of  money.  The  matter  was  enquired 
into,  and  some  of  the  members  of  the  Conference  undertook  to 
act  as  arbitrators.  The  lecturers  of  the  Conference  and  its 
papers  are  doing  good  work  in  disseminating  its  aims  and  ob- 
jects in  the  community,  and  it  is  some  satisfaction  to  find  the 
more  progressive  among  us  often  inviting  our  lecturers  to 
lecture  on  social  reform  on  occasions  of  marriages,  and  provid- 
ing these  n«  entertainment  for  their  guests  instead  of  the  nautch 
girls  of  old.  The  ages  of  marriage  both  for  boys  and  girls  pre- 
scribed by  it  have  the  snnction  of  the  best  Sastris  of  these 
parts  and  are^heing  adopted  by  the  community.  The  scale  of 
expenditure  prepared  under  its  direction  is-  also  finding  favour 
among  the  community,  and  it  is  not  uncommon  <o  find  people 
settling  beforehand  that  marriages  shall  be  conducted  according 
•to  its  rules.  The  old  system  of  indiscriminately  throwing  away 
large  snms  of  money  on  occasions  of  marriage  is  now  gradually 
giving  place  to  its  employment  in  a  more  useful  manner,  and 
one  of  our  prominent  members  last  year  set  a  good  example  of 
giving  a  part  of  the  money  he  was  going  to  spend  on  the  occa- 
sion of  his  son's  marringe,  as  a  donation  to  the  Hindu  College 
of  Benares,  and  another  as  a  fund  for  the  establishment  of  a 
female  school  in  Delhi.  Even  in  the  latter  place,  which  is  re* 


in.]         THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         2\i 

raarkable  for  its  love  of  show  and  pomp,  a  branch  of  .the  Con- 
ference has  been  successful  in  materially  reducing  tlie  expendi- 
ture on  some  of  the  marriage  ceremonies,  and  in  altogether  cut- 
ting down  the  others.  The  offenders  against  the  rules  of  the 
Association  are  looked  down  upon  and  in  some  cases  a  nominal 
penalty  is  also  imposed  upon  them.  The  system  of  advertising 
for  husbands  and  wjves  may  seem  new  to  the  Must,  but  we  find 
our  caste  paper,  the  Vuisyi  Jlitkuri,  generally  full  of  advertise- 
ments from  parents  and  guardians  of  both  boys  and  girls  eligi- 
ble for  marriage.  These  advertisements  are  always  matter  of 
fact  productions,  and  describe  the  position  in  life  of  the  adver- 
tiser, the  age,  health,  education  of  his  child,  and  the  kind  of  hus- 
band or  the  wife  he  requires.  Last  year  the  Conference  dis- 
cussed the  effect  of  the  present  system  of  education  upon  the 
youth  of  the  community  and  it  was  probably  due  to  its  initiative 
that  some  very  desirable  changes  in  it  were  introduced  by  the 
authorities  in  these  provinces.  In  order  to  widen  the  field  of 
employment  of  the  younger  portion  of  the  community,  the  Con- 
ference has  set  itself  about  having  them  trained  in  arts  and 
manufactures  in  foreign  countries  as  well  as  in  India  by  those  of 
its  members  who  own  mercantile  aud  manufacturing  or  banking 
firms.  Its  orphanage  and  Ayurvqdic  dispensaries  are  also  gain- 
ing in  popularity  and  altogether  it  hus  a  good  future  before  it. 
Above  all  it  has  succeeded  in  rousing  the  Vaisyas  to  a  sense  of 
their  condition  both  in  the  past  and  the  present,  as  well  as  pro- 
vided the  means  of  inducing  a  feeling  of  affection  and  legard 
among  its  members,  and  even  if  it  had  done  nothing  else,  that 
alone  would  have  entitled  it  to  its  gratitude.  I  have  spoken  of 
the  work  of  the  Vaisya  Conference  as  I  happen  to  know  it  best. 
The  work  of  the  other  caste  Conferences,  like  the  Kayastha  and 
the  Bhargava,  is  no  less  praiseworthy.  If  the  reformers  have 
not  been  able  to  achieve  the  success  they  deserve,  it  is  because 
they  have  to  work  in  a  society  where  education  has  not  yet 
made  much  progress  among  the  masses,  and  where  old  but  un- 
reasonable customs  are  still  holding  their  sway.. 

As  remarked  by  a  great  writer,  "  custom  is  a  violent  and 
treacherous  school  mis  tress  who,  by  little  and  little,  slyly,  un- 
perceivjed,  slips  in  the  foot  of  her  Authority,,  but  having  tbua  by 


212  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

getitta  means  and  humble  beginnings  with  the  aid  of  time 
established  it,  unmasks  a  furious  and  tyrannical  countenance 
against  which  none  hafi  the  courage  nor  the  power  so  much  as 
to  lift  up  his  eyes.5'  The  reformer  in  a  country  like  India, 
especially  in  provinces  like  these,  bus  therefore  to  meet  with 
great  difficulty  in  making  good  his  standing-place.  This  is  a 
work  of  years,  requiring  the  utmost  patience.  He  has  not  only 
to  be  a  whole  ninn  all  round  and  have  u  clear  conception  of  his 
aims  and  objects,  but  has  also  often  (o  work  unassisted,  deserv- 
ing little  sympathy  from  those  around  him,  and  having  gene- 
rally to  rely  upon  his  own  resources  in  his  efforts  to  undo  the 
work  of  centuries.  He  requires  to  look  neither  to  the  right  nor 
to  the  left,  neither  backwards  nor  forwards,  but  always  towards 
the  object  he  has  in  view,  and  if  he  adheres  to  the  well-known 
Persian  spying  of  "  Himmat  mardcn  madad  Khudu," — Heaven 
helps  those  who  help  themselves, — success  will  come  to  him 
in  the  end,  tardily  though  it  be.  This,  1  believe,  is  the  steady 
aim  which  all  reformers  have  or  ought  to  have  in  view,  and  I 
hope  the  day  may  soon  come  when  we  shall  be  able  to  show 
you  more  tangible  results  than  we  have  done  hitherto. 

We  are  told  that,  in  having  so  many  caste  Conferences  and 
Associations,  we  aro  wasting  power  and  are  scattering  force 
which  ought  to  be  conserved,  that  it  will  be  much  better,  if  in- 
stead of  having  BO  many  separate  bodies  working  independently, 
we  had  one  Social  Reform  Association  like  this  Conference.  I 
regret  I  cannot  subscribe  to  this  opinion,  We  are  not,  by  work- 
ing in1  the  way  we  are  doing,  perpetuating  distinctions  and  dif- 
ferences which  ought  not -to  be  perpetuated.  On  the  contrary 
w£  take  society  as  we  find  it,  and  are  beginning  the  work  of  re- 
form in  the  only  way  in  which  it  could  possibly  begin,  &'*«,,  from 
the  bottom  upwards.  A  general  social  reform  organisation  like 
this  Conference,  though  most  useful  and  necessary  as  an  advis- 
ing body  cannot,  from  the  present  circumstances  of  the  country, 
be  a- working  body.  All  that  it  can  do  is  to  lay  down  a  general 
programme  of  social  reform,  leaving  it  to  each  -caste  and  com- 
munity to  carry  it  out  in  the  manner  most  suited  to  its  condi- 
tions, The  number  of  earnest  reformers  in  the  various  provin- 
ces is- yet  few  and  far  between,  though  as  time  goes  on  we  hope 


ui.]         THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         213 

to  see  a  larger  accession  to  our  numbers,  and  each  community 
shall  reckon  not  a  few  but  many  workers  in  the  field  till  theory 
of  social  reform  is  re-echoed  from  one  part  of  the  country  to 
the  other.  I  need  not  cite  for  our  workers  the  well-known  say- 
ing of  a  Sanskrit  poet,  thai  where  these  six,  viz.,  exertion, 
courage,  fortitude,  intelligence,  strength  of  character,  and  enter- 
prise, are  found,  there  even  the  gods  are  ready  to  offer  their 
help.  Well  did  the  wisest  Indian  of  his  time  say  :  "  Thy 
sphere  is  action,  not  regard  for  the  fruit  of  action." 

I  shall  nob  say  much  on  the  subjects  we  are  going  to  dis- 
cuss. None  of  them  i«  new,  and  they  have  all  been  very  fully 
and  ably  discussed  both  in  the  press  as  well  as  on  the  platform, 
so  much  so  that  a  vast  amount  of  useful  literature  has  grown 
round  most  of  them.  All  that  see  ins  to  be  necessary  is  to  devise 
practical  methods  for  carrying  out  the  suggested  reforms,  We 
do  not,  for  instance,  now  require  to  be  told  the  advantages  of 
female  education  which  are  now  being  recognised  by  almost  the 
whole  of  the  Indian  community,  a  few  men  and  women  of  the 
orthodox  school  excepted.  On  the  contrary  the  questions  which 
demand  serious  consideration  are  :  (I)  Whether  we  should  edu- 
cate our  girls  on  the  same  lines  as  we  are  doing  our  boys  in  the 
matter  of  primary,  secondary  and  college  education  ;  if  we  are 
to  do  so  with  certain  modifications,  what  ought  to  be  such  modi- 
fications P  ('2)  Are  we,  as  is  the  general  opinion  of  many  of  our 
greatest  sympathisers,  to  give  our  wives,  and  daughters,  only 
such  education  in  their  vernaculars  us  is  necessary  for  the  suc- 
cessful management  of  an  ordinary  Indian  household,  or  are  we 
also  to  give  high  education  to  those  who  seek  for  it  ?  (8)  What 
are  the  kinds  of  subjects  we  are  to  teach  our  females,  and  what 
books  are  we  to  place  in  their  hands  ? 

All  these  questions  are  periodically  discussed  in  the  various 
reform  Conferences  in  the  country,  and  any  suggestions  from  a 
distinguished  body  like  this  Conference  will  materially  help  the 
movement.  In  some  communities  fathers  of  boys,  and  boys 
themselves,  insist  upon  having  educated  wives,  and  this  is 
made  a  condition  precedent  in  some  marriage  negotiations. 
Might  I  suggest  a  more  universal  adoption  of  this  sugges- 
tion in  "older  to  afford  greater  impetus  to  the  work  of 


214  ItfDIAtf  SOCIAL  REFOttH.  [?AHT 

reform  ?  In  connection  with  ibis  eobject,  I  beg  to  appeal 
to  those  or  our  couutrymeu  wbo  have  received  the  benefits 
of  a  Western  education  to  bring  their  knowledge  to  bear  upon 
the  compilation  of  suitable  text-books  for  our  females  and  thus 
make  them  sharers  in  their  culture.  For  some  years  past  we 
have  been  advertising  for  suitable  text-books  for  females,  and 
are  prepared  to  give  handsome  prizes  for  a  series  of  such  books, 
but  our  advertisement  has  not  yet  been  responded  to  on  the 
part  of  tho&e  who  are  best  able  to  give  us  good  text-books. 

The  subject  of  promotion  of  the  physique  of  our  hoys  and 
girls  is  so  closely  contacted  with  the  questiou  of  raising  the, 
marriageable  agu  that  the  two  may  usefully  bo  considered  toge- 
ther. The  lowest  marriageable  ages  prescribed  by  the  various 
Conferences  in  the  country  have  not  yet  been  universally  adopt- 
ed in  the  community,  yet  the  progress  we  have  already  made 
in  this  direction  is  very  hopeful,  and  parents  and  guardians 
of  boys,  and  the  latter  themselves,  are  gradually  coming  to  re- 
cognise the  advantages  of  marrying  at  a  proper  age.  This  is 
producing  a  good  effect  upon  parents  and  guardians  of  girls 
also,  and  I  submit  for  the  consideration  of  all  who  are  assem- 
bled in  this  Conference,  that  if  they  but  determine  to  have  their 
boys  marry  at  a  proper  age,  they  will  soon  find  some  progress 
in  the  direction  of  raising  the  marriageable  age  of  girls  also.  I 
need  scarcely  tell  you,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  that  in  Western 
countries  the  lower  the  station  in  life,  the  earlier  the  age  of 
marriage,  and  that  among  classes  which  aspire  to  rise  high  in 
the  social  pcale  marriage  is  delayed  even  up  to  middle  ago  in 
order  to  have  fewer  children,  but  such  as  shall  be  more  capable 
of  succeeding  in  the  present  struggle  of  life  in  those  countries. 
For  instance  among  the  working  classes,  the  average  age  of  marri- 
age among  women  is  between  22  and  24,  and  among  men  be- 
tween 24  and  26.  Among  farmers  tbe  averages  are  26  and  29, 
and  among  the  professional  classes  31  and  36.  The  number  of 
confirmed  bachelors  among  the  last  mentioned  classes  is  greater 
than  among  the  first  two.  Here  ,  in  .India  the  case  is  exactly 
the  reverse,  The  higher  the  station  in  life,  tbe  lower  the  age 
at  which  children  are  married,  with  the  result  that  we  are  add- 
ing every  year  to  a  population  already  incapable  pf  tachievinir 


in,]        TEE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.         215 

any  success  in  the  modern  straggle  for  existence,  or  swelling 
the  number  of  child  and  girl  widows  dragging  a  life  of  misery, 
and  instead  of  decreasing  are  only  adding  to  the  general  pover- 
ty of  the  country.  All  indulgence  in  show  and  pomp  at  mar* 
ringed  is  also  due  to  this  system  of  child- marringe.  Reform  it 
and  you  lessen  the  inducements  to  extravagance  nu  occasion*  of 
marriage.  < 

The  question  of  reform  in  the  caste  system  is  closely  con- 
nected with  Hie  questions  of  unequal  marriages,  sales  of  boys 
and  girls  for  enormous  sums  of  money  in  the  namo  of  marriage, 
as  well  as  with  the  restrictions  on  foreign  travels,  Broaden  the 
basis  of  caste  by  having  those  sub-sections  of  ;i  caste  which  in- 
ter-dine also  to  inter-marry,  and  vice  versa,  and  you  widen  the 
circle  of  choice  of  husbands  and  wives  and  affect  some  reform 
in  the  system  of  unequal  marriage*,  and  sales  of  boys  and  girls  ; 
you  would  also  thereby  promote  brotherly  feeling  among  the 
members  of  the  caste,  and  make  them  loss  exclusive  and  more 
devoted  to  public  good.  Many  of  the  restrictions  upon  foreign 
travel  will  also  be  relaxed,  if  not  removed,  by  reforming  the 
caste  system.  Such  restrictions  are  due  more  to  prejudice  than 
to  any  religious  prohibition.  The  most  learned  Sastris  in  the 
country  have  given  their  dictum  in  favour  of  sea-voyages,  but 
caste  prejudices  defy  the  Sastris  and  their  Sastras.  In  some 
communities  in  tho  Punjab  and  parts  of  the  North- Western  Pro- 
vinces such  restrictions  have  been  removed  in  the  case  of  those 
who,  on  return  from  Europe,  live  and  mix  with  their  fellows, 
in  the  same  manner  as  they  did  before  going  to  Europe.  In 
some  of  these  communities  a  visit  to  Europe  does  not  excite  much 
notice.  The  members  of  those  communities  have  come  to  recog- 
nise the  danger  of  alienating  the  sympathies  of,  and  throwing 
overboard,  those  who  are  best  capable  of  helping  them  on  in  the 
race  of  progress  by  their  widened  knowledge  and  experience  of 
foreign  countries.  On  the  other  hand  the  latter  have  also  come 
to  recognise  the  importance  of  their  living  with  their  brethren 
and  keeping  themselves  in  touch  with  their  own  community,  in 
preference  to  unsympathetic  relations  with  foreigners. 

These  are  some  of  the  most  important  subjects  we  are  going 
to  discuss,  and  I  beg-  most  earnestly  tbe  attention  of  all  speakers 


21(3  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

to  ike  importance  of  dealing  with  each  of  them  in  a  practical 
manner.  We  require  uofc  only  ourselves  to  recognise  but  also  to 
bring  home  to  our  lea*  favoured  countrymen,  the  fast  that  no 
society  can  hope  to  prosper  where  artificial  restrictions  or  class 
privileges  prevent  individuals  from  putting  forth  their  best 
powerd  both  to  their  own  and  their  country's  advantage,  where 
the  high  are  prevented  from  pym path isi tig  actively  with  the 
low  and  the  mean,  where  the  standard  of  virtue  is  neither  the 
same  as  it  was  in  its  own  past  nor  what  it  is  in  tlie  roost  pro- 
gressive nations  of  modern  times.  We  have  long  defied  the 
mom  I  law.  In  unmistakable  tones  it  tells  us  that  if  we  awpire 
to  rise  in  the  scale  of  nations  we  must  purify  private  life  and 
effect  social  justice,  that  our  safety  lies  only  in  defying  it  no 
longer.  Says  Tennyson  : 

Love  thou  thy  land,  with  love  far-brought 

From  out  the  storied  Fast,  and  used 

Within  the  present,  bub  transfused 

Thro'  future  time  by  power  of  thought. 

Watch  what  main-currents  draw  the  years  ; 

Cut  Prejudice  against  the  grain  ; 

But  gentle  words  are  always  gain  ; 

Regard  the  weakness  of  thy  peers. 

Nor  toil  for  title,  place,  or  touch, 

Of  pension,  neither  count  on  praise, 

It  grows  to  guerdon  after-days  ; 

Nor  deal  in  watch-words  overmuch  ; 

Not  clinging  to  some  ancient  aavr, 

Not  master'd  by  some  modern  term, 

Not  swift  nor  slow  to  change,  but  firm  : 

And  in  its  season  bring  the  law 

That  from  discussion's  lip  may. fall 

With  Life,  that,  working  strongly,  binds — 

Set  in  all  lights  by  many  minds, 

To  close  the  interests  of  all. 

For  Nature  also,  cold  and  warm, 

And  moist  and  dry,  devising  long. 

Thro'  many  agents  making  strong, 

Matures  the  individual  form. 

Meet  is  it  changes  should  control 

Qnr  being,  lest  we  rust  in  ease, 


in.]        THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESSES.          217 

We  all  are  changed  bj  still  degrees, 
All  but  the  basis  of  the  Soul. 
So  let  the  change  which  comes  be  free 
To  improve  itself  with  that  which  flics, 
And  work  a  joint  of  state  that  plies 
Its  office  moved  with  sympathy. 

I  should  now  conclude.  Our  ancestors  call  to  us  not  to  let  the 
glorious  inheritance  they  have  left  us  rot  and  perish.  They  tell 
us  :  "  Yon  are  proud  of  us,  let  your  children  be  also  proud  of 
you.  According  as  the  generations  that  come  bear  honourable 
witness  to  your  deeds,  so  shall  your  famo  be."  .  What  great  deeds, 
what  great  institutions,  what  noble  manners  and  customs  of 
many  a  nation  of  antiquity  have  passed  away  because  succeeding 
generations  could  not  maintain  them  in  their  original  purity, 
nor  improve  upon  them  as  the  times  required.  It  is  now  for  us 
to  prove  whether  those  are  right  who  believe  that  humanity 
overadvances  in  a  course  of  ceaseless  improvement  arid  that  the 
great  ideals  of  old  are  no  mere  empty  dreams,  or  those  who 
slumber  in  the  sluggish  indolence  of  a  mere  animal  existence 
and  mock  every  aspiration  towards  a  higher  life.  Such  an 
answer  can  only  be  given  by  us  by  deserving  the  blessings  of 
those  who  blessed  their  followers  in  these  words  :  "  May  your 
minds  be  always  devoted  to  Dharma  during  every  day  of  your 
lives.  That  alone  is  man's  friend  in  this  world  as  well  as  in 
the  next.  Those  who  follow  Dharma  do  their  duty  without  ex- 
pectation of  honour  or  reward,  though  both  came  in  the  end. 
Let  us  therefore  never  renounce  truth  and  duty,  remembering 
that  truth  protects  those  who  protect  it  and  kills  those  who 
kill  it." 


Ladies  and  gentlemen,  permit  me  now  to  thank  you  very 
sincerely  for  the  kind  attention  and  patience  with  which  you 
have  listened  to  these  words  of  mine,  * 


28 


FOURTH    PART. 


JYciseellaneous  Papers  on 
Social  ftefornv 


Dr.  R.  G.  Bhandarkar,  PH.D.,  C.I.E.,  on  "Social 

Reform  and  the  Programme  of  the  Madras 

Hindu  Social  Reform  Association." 

Dr.  R.  G,  Bhandarkar  delivered  the  following-  address  as 
President  of  the  Second  Anniversary  meeting-  of  the  Madras 
Hindu  Social  Reform  Association,  held  on  the  27th  December 
1894  : — I  have  been  all  my  life  a  schoolmaster  and  as  such  ifc 
has  been  my  duty  to  castigate  boys  and  young  men.  In  the  ob- 
servations I  am  going  to  make,  therefore,  you  may  find  a  good 
deal  nob  flattering  to  yon  nor  to  your  taste  ;  but  I  assure  you 
it  will  be  said  with  a  pure  and  unmixed  desire  to  promote  the 
real  good  of  my  country.  The  Hindu  Social  Reform  Associa- 
tion has  done  me  very  great  honour  by  inviting  me  to  preside 
at  its  annual  meeting.  But  great  as  the  honour  is,  it  had  not 
a  sufficient  attractive  power  to  drag  me  about  seven  hundred 
miles  away  from  my  closet  in  Poona.  What  I  come  for  is  to 
encourage  the  members  of  the  Association  and  congratulate 
them  on  having  begun  real  practical  work  in  matters  of  social 
reform  by  taking  pledges,  and  on  their  determination  to  with- 
stand all  the  inconveniences  or  persecution  that  may  re- 
sult therefrom  for  the  sake  of  the  truth  and  their  conn  try  '9 
good.  They  have  thus  shown  rare  moral  courage,  and  given 
evidence  of  the  possession  of  what  I  call  moral  force.  By  moral 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  219 

force  I  mean  in  the  present  case  strong  indignation  against  the 
evils,  injustice,  and  even  the  cruelties  that  at  present  disgrace 
our  society,  and  an  earnest  desire  to  eradicate  them.  Moral 
forces  of  this  sort  our  race  has  not  shown  within  the  last  twenty 
centuries,  and  we  have  allowed  ourselves  without  any  thought 
and  feeling  to  be  drifted  into  our  present  deplorable  condition. 

The  social  ideal  was  much  higher  and  more  rational  in 
ancient  times  than  it  is  now,  I  will,  therefore,  go  into  the 
history  of  the  several  institutions  and  practices  which  your 
pledges  refer  to.  For  this  purpose,  I  propose  to  glance 
at  what  might  be  called  the  several  layers  of  Sanskrit 
literature,  The  oldest  layer  is  that  of  the  mantras  of  the 
Yedas.  Next  in  antiquity  come  the  Brahmanas  and  Aranyakaa 
or  forest-chapters  including  the  Upanishads.  Then  we  have  the 
so-called  Sutras  which  deal  with  sacrificial  matters  and  the 
religious  concerns  of  daily  life  of  the  first  three  castes.  Next  we 
have  the  epic  poems,  the  Mahabharata  and  Ram  ay  ana,  and  last 
of  all  the  metrical  Smritis  or  law-books  and  the  Puranas.  The 
point  of  view  from  which  I  shall  consider  this  extent  of  litera- 
ture is  that  of  the  critical  scholar,  whose  object  is  to  trace  out 
history,  and  not  of  the  Pandit,  according  to  whom  sequence  of 
time  either  does  not  exist  or  is  unimportant. 

Now  with  reference  to  the  first  point  about  the  education  of 
women,  there  is  no  question  that  in  the  very  olden  times,  they 
•were  not  debarred  from  the  highest  education.  ID  the  list  of 
teachers  which  a  Rigvedi  Drahman  has  to  repeat  in  connection 
with  a  daily  ceremony  called  the  Drahma  Yajna  there  arc  the 
names  of  three  women — Gargi  Vacbakneyi,  Sulabha  Maitreyi, 
and  Vadava  Prat i they i.  The  works  of  some  of  the  male  teach- 
ers therein  named  have  come  down  to  us,  wherefore  they 
were  historical  persons.  Hence  the  three  women  mentioned 
along  with  them  were  also  historical  persons,  and  were  teachers] 
though  there  are  now  no  works  which  go  by  their  name?.  The 
first  of  these  is  also  mentioned  in  an  Upanishad,  as  forming  a 
member  of  an  assemblage  of  learned  Bishis  in  which  the  highest 
problems  about  the  world  and  the  Supreme  and  individual  soul 
were  discussed,  and  as  taking  part  in  the  debate.  In  the  epic 
poems  girle  are  represented  aa  going  through  a  regular  course  of 


220  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

education  of  which  dancing,  drawing  and  music  formed  parts  ; 
they  are  represented  as  mixing  freely  with  men  and  taking  part 
in  conversation  on  the  highest  *  subjects.  Buddhistic  literature 
also  represents  women  as  actively  assisting  the  reform  which 
Buddha  had  inaugurated,  and  as  discussing  with  him  points 
about  virtue,  duty  and  absolution.  Gradually,  however,  their 
importance  lessened  and  about  the  time  when  the  dramatic  lite- 
r^ture  arose,  we  find  that  as  a  class  they  were  not  taught  Sans- 
krit though  they  could  read  and  write  in  the  popular  languages 
and  even  compose  poetry  in  them.  Even  so  late  as  the  eleventh 
century  women  were  not  condemned  to  exclusion,  and  were 
taught  scientific  music,  as  follows  from  a  copper  plate  inscrip- 
tion recently  edited  and  translated  by  me  in  which  a  queen,  one 
of  the  wives  of  a  king  of  the  Deccan,  is  represented  to  have 
aung  a  beautiful  song  in  an  assembly  composed  of  the  highest 
officers  of  that  and  the  surrounding  kingdoms,  and  to  have  ob- 
tained as  a  reward  the  consent  of  her  husband  to  give  land  in 
charity  to  Brahmans.  The  seclusion  of  women  and  their  ignor- 
ance is,  therefore,  a  custom  that  was  introduced  in  later  times, 
and  the  Mussulman  domination  contributed  to  render  it  very 
rigid. 

Now  as  to  early  marriages,  it  admits  of  no  question  what- 
ever that  girls  were  married  after  they  came  of  age.  The  reli- 
gious formulas  that  are  repeated  on  the  occasion  of  marriage 
ceremonies  even  at  the  present  day  can  be  understood  only  by 
mature  girls.  The  bridegroom  has  to  say  to  his  bride  that  she 
has  become  his  friend  and  companion  and  that  together  they 
would  bring  up  a  family.  It  is  impossible  that  a  girl  below  the 
age  of  twelve  can  understand  such  expressions  addressed  to  her. 
When  the  formulas  were  composed,  therefore,  girls  had  al- 
ready arrived  at  maturity.  Then  again,  in  some  of  the  Sutras, 
the  bride  and  the  bridegroom  are  directed  to  live  apart 
from  each  other  for  a  certain  number  of  days  and  in  some  cases 
for  a  year.  It  is  not  possible  that  such  a  direction  should  be 
given,  if  the  girl  was  of  an  age  when  she  could  not  cohabit  with 
her  husband.  In  some  of  the  Sutras  there  is  an  actual  direction 
for  their  being  brought  together  on  the  fourth  day  after  the  mar- 
riage ceremony.  All  this  necessarily  implies  that  the  girl  had 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  221 

arrived  at  maturity  before  the  marriage  ceremony  was  per- 
formed. In  profane  literature  also,  we  have  the  clearest  indi- 
cations that  girls  were  married  after  they  attained  maturity. 
Bat  early  marriages  began  soon  to  come  into  practice.  Asva- 
I  ay  an  a,  Apastamba  and  others  say  nothing  specific  abont  the 
age  of  the  girl  at  the  time  of  marriage,  leaving  it  to  be  under- 
stood, from  the  nature  of  the  ceremonies  that  they  were  to  be 
of  a  mature  age.  Hiranyakesen  and  Jaimini  expressly  prohi- 
bit a  man's  marrying  a  girl  before  she  has  arrived  at  puberty. 
After  the  completion  of  his  study,  the  student,  they  direct, 
shall  marry  a  girl  who  is  anagnika,  i.e.,  not  immature.  Evi- 
dently when  these  Rising  wrote,  the  practice  of  early  marriages 
was  coming  in;  but  they  set  their  face  againat  it  as  irrational. 
The  authors  of  later  Sutras,  such  as  Gobhila  and  Manu,  after 
giving  general  directions  as  regards  marriage,  lay  down  that  it 
is  best  to  marry  a  girl  who  is  nagnika,  i.e.,  one  who  has  not 
arrived  at  puberty,  They  only  thus  recommend  early  marriages. 
This  shows  that  when  they  lived  and  wrote  the  feeling  against 
late  marriages  had  grown  strong.  »  Of  the  writers  of  Metrical 
Smritis,  Manu  is  not  quite  decidedly  opposed  to  late  marriages, 
but  other  writers  prescribe  early  marriages  only  under  religi- 
ous penalties.  In  this  manner  late  marriages  gradually  went  out 
of  use  and  early  marriages  became  general.  When  the  cus- 
tom of  such  marriages  became  established,  the  ovils  arising  from 
them  were  not  perceived  by  anybody,  and  gradually  in  this  part 
of  the  country  in  particular,  the  age  at  which  boys  and  girls 
were  married  became  lower  and  lower,  until  now  a  female  infant 
nine  months  old  is  tied  in  holy  wedlock  to  a  male  infant  about 
a  year  old.  Here  there  is  an  instance,  of  the  fact  that  our  people 
through,  the  influence  of  custom  lost  all  sense  of  the  utter  ab- 
surdity of  the  practice. 

The  practice  of  re-marriage  of  women  also  prevailed  io  the 
olden  times.  The  Aitareya  Brahmana  contains  a  statement 
which  may  be  thus  translated  :  '  Therefore  one  man  may  have 
several  wives,  but  one  woman  cannot  have  several  husbands 
simultaneously/  This  shows  that  polygamy  was  in  practice, 
but  not  polyandry.  And  to  exclude  that  only  and  not  a  woman's 
having  several  husbands  at  different  times,  the  writer  uses  the 


222  INDIAN  SOCIAL  RfiFORM.  [PART 

word  '  simultaneously.*  Thus  a  woman  can  have  several  hus- 
bands at  different  times.  In  the  performance  of  the  funeral 
ceremonies  of  the  keeper  of  the  sacred  fire,  the  practice  pre- 
vailed of  making  his  wife  lie  down  with  his  dead  body,  hut 
before  Betting  fire  to  the  latter,  the  wife  was  made  to  rise  and  a 
verse  was  repeated  the  sense  of  which  is  : '  Rise  op,  0  woman, 
to  join  the  world  of  the  living,  thou  liest  down  with  this  man 
who  is  dead  ;  come  away,  and  mayest  thou  become  the  wife  of 
this  second  husband,  who  is  to  take  hold  of  thy  hand.'  This 
verse  occurs  in  the  Rig  Veda  Sam  hi  ta  and  in  the  Taitireya 
Aranyaka.  In  the  latter  it  is  explained  by  Sayana  in  accord- 
ance with  my  translation,  but  in  the  former  he  explains  the 
word  Didhishu,  which  occurs  in  it,  not  as  a  second  husband  aa 
he  does  here,  but  '  as  ono  who  impregnates/  and  makes  it 
applicable  to  the  first  husband.  European  scholars  of  what 
might  be  called  the  '  etymological  school '  also  explain  the  word 
in  the  latter  sense,  but  the  word  Didhishu  acquired  by  usage  the 
sense  of  '  a  second  husband/  and  it  is  not  proper  to  set  aside 
that  sense  and  explain  it  etymological!/  as  '  one  who  impreg- 
nates.' And  another  school  of  Vedic  scholars,  who  attend  more 
to  usage,  is  growing  up  in  Germany,  and  I  feel  confident  that 
they  would  explain  the  word  and  verso  in  the  manner  in  which 
Sayana  explains  it  in  the  Taitireya  Aranyaka.  This  verse  is  in 
the  Atharva  Veda  preceded  by  another,  thesensu  of  which  is  'thia 
woman  wishing  to  be  in  the  same  world  with  her  husband 
lies  down  by  thy  side,  O  mortal  who  art  dead,  folio  wing  the  an- 
cient practice ;  grant  her  in  this  world  children  as  well  as 
wealth.'  If  he  is  asked  to  give  her  children  after  his  death,  they 
must  be  children  from  another  husband,  In  another  place  in 
the  Atharva.  Veda,  it  is  stated  that  (  she,  who  after  having  bad 
one  husband  before  gets  another  afterwards,  \vill  not  be 
separated  from  him  and  if  she  and  he  perform  the  rite  called 
Ajahanchandana.'  Here  you  have  a  clear  statement  about  the 
re-marriage  of  a  widow.  In  later  times,  the  practice  began  to 
go  out  of  use,  and  in  the  time  of  Manu  it  was  restricted  to  a 
child-widow.  But  the  condition  of  re-married  women  was  con- 
sidered lower  than  that  of  the  wife  of  a  first  husband.  Still 
however  in  two  other  metrical  Smritis  occurs  a  text,  in 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  223 

which  women  under  certain  circumstances  are  allowed  to 
marry  a  second  husband  and  the  death  of  the  first  husband 
is  one  of  these  circumstances,  This  shows  that  even  in 
later  times,  the  practice  of  widow-marriages  prevailed  in 
Borne  parts  of  the  country,  while  the  existence  of  texts  pro- 
hibitory of  it  in  the  Puranas  and  some  Smrilis  shows  that  it 
had  gone  out  of  use  in  others.  Widow-marriage  was  a  thing  by 
no  means  unknown  even  at  such  a  late  period  as  the  beginning 
of t the  twelfth  century  of  the  Christian  era,  for,  in  a  work  written 
by  a  Jain  in  1170  of  the  Vikram  era  corresponding  to  J 114  of  (he 
Christian  era,  a  story  is  told  of  a  certain  ascetic  sitting  down  to 
dinner  along  with  other  ascetics.  The  other  ascetics  rose  up 
when  ho  sat  down  and  left  their  seats.  He  asked  them  why 
they  had  done  so,  upon  which  they  told  him  that  he  had  com- 
mitted an  irreligious  deed  in  having  taken  the  vow  of  an 
ascetic,  before  going  through  the  previous  condition  of  a  married 
life.  They  then  directed  him  to  go  away  arid  marry  a  wife. 
He  went  away  and  demanded  the  daughters  of  men  belonging 
to  his  caste  in  marriage.  But  as  he  had  become  an  old  man, 
nobody  would  give  his  daughter  to  him,  whereupon  he  went 
back  to  the  ascetics  and  told  them  of  what  had  occurred.  They 
then  advised  him  to  marry  a  widow,  and  he  went  away  and  did 
accordingly.  In  connection  with  this,  the  same  text  about  the 
re-marriage  of  women,  which  I  have  quoted  above,  is  given  as 
occurring  Lu  their  Sastras.  But  in  still  later  times  the  practice 
became  entirely  obsolete. 

There  prevailed  among  us,  you  know,  the  practice  of 
burning  widows  on  the  funeral  piles  of  their  dead  husbands,  till 
it  was  put  a  stop  to  in  1830  by  the  British  Government.  Now 
in  the  Rig  Veda  Samhita  there  is  no  trace  whatever  of  the  ex- 
istence of  this  practice,  and  it  is  supposed  by  a  German  scholar 
that  it  was  adopted  by  Indian  Aryas  from  another  Aryan  race, 
with  whom  they  afterwards  came  in  contact ;  for  it  did  generally 
prevail  amongst  some  of  the  cognate  European  races  such  as 
the  Thracians.  But  the  Vedic  Aryas  had  given  it  up ;  and 
that  it  once  prevailed  among  them  and  was  afterwards  given 
up  is  indicated  by  the  second  of  the  two  texts  which  I 
have  quoted  from  the  Atharva  Veda  in  which  it  is  said  :  '  This 


224  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

woman  following  the  ancient  custom  lies  down  by  fchee,  0 
mortal/  Thus  you  will  see  that  the  custom  which  had  gone 
out  of  use  amongst  the  Vedic  Aryas  was  revived  later  on 
about  the  time,  when  the  metrical  Smritis  were  written  through 
the  influence  of  the  practice  of  other  races. 

The  corruptions  which  the  more  rational  practices  of  olden 
times  underwent  must  have  been  due  to  such  foreign  influence 
and  also  to  other  causes,  A  few  centuries  before  the  Christian 
era  and  a  few  after  it,  India  was  exposed  to  the  inroads  of 
foreign  races  from  the  West,  some  of  which  afterwards  settled 
in  the  country.  The  lowering  of  the  status  of  women  generally 
must  have  been  due  to  the  influence  of  these  new  settlers.  But 
other  causes  also  may  have  been  in  operation  ;  for  instance,  the 
fact  that  when  girls  remained  unmarried  for  several  years  after 
puberty  a  few  sometimes  went  wrong,  must  have  contributed  a 
good  deal  to  the  introduction  of  the  practice  of  early  marriages. 
Bat  the  great  point  to  be  noticed  is  that  the  excesses  to  which 
even  a  good  motive  led,  did  not  strike  our  people.  Thus  the 
later  practices  of  female  infanticide  and  Kulin  marriages  in 
Bengal  must  have  been  due  to  the  feeling  natural  in  parents  to 
marry  their  daughters  into  a  respectable  family.  But  it  is  not 
everybody  that  can  get  a  husband  for  his  daughter  in  a  rich  or 
respectable  family,  and  to  marry  her  to  a  man  in  a  lower  con- 
dition of  life  or  belonging  to  a  low  family  was  considered  dis- 
graceful, and  rather  than  suffer  such  a  disgrace,  the  Rajputs 
destroyed  their  female  infants,  and  the  Bengali  Brahmaus  gave 
their  daughters  to  a  man  even  though  he  had  wives  already  ; 
and  he  came  to  have  a  number  of  them,  often  so  many  us  125. 
Here  you  will  find  the  inability  of  our  people  to  perceive  the 
cruelty  or  the  absurdity  of  a  practice,  when  they  are  under  the 
influence  of  an  idea  sanctioned  by  custom  than  which  nothing 
is  more  sacred. 

One  social  institution,  and  that  perhaps  the  most  import- 
ant, remains  to  bo  noticed*  In  the  very  early  times  the  sys- 
tem of  castes  did  not  prevail,  and  it  seems  to  have  developed 
about  the  end  of  the  Vedic  period,  It  arose  from  a  difference 
of  avocations  or  professions.  The  feeling  of  a  father  that  a  son 
should  follow  his  trado  or  calling  is  natural,  and  it  is  thip 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  225 

which  in  the  beginning,  at  least  when  unchecked  by  other  influ- 
ences, gives  rise  to  separate  castes,     The  word    Brahman  signi- 
fies in  the  older  portion  of  the  Veda  a  hymn  composed  in  praise 
of  a  deity.     There  were  some  men,  who  were  skilled  in  the  com- 
position of  such  songa.     In  return  for  these  songs   the  gods,    to 
whom  they  were  addressed,  were  believed  to  confer   favours   on 
the  singers,  and  on  those  Kings  and  Princes  for  whose  sake  they 
were  composed.     Singers  such  as  these   were   therefore  always 
in  requisition,  whenever   a   god  had  to    bo  propitiated,    and   it 
became  a  lucrative  trado.    And  fathers  bringing  up  their  SOIIB  in 
that  trade,  there  came  to  be  in  course  of  time    a   certain  num- 
ber of  families  devoted    to    the    avocation    of    composing  these 
songs  and  singing  them  in    the   worship   of   gods.     Tho    mem- 
bers of  these  families  becamo  '  Brahmanas'  and  thus   they  came 
to  be  recognised  as  a  separate  cas to.     Similarly  the  descendants 
of  princes,  chiefs  and  soldiers  followed   the    avocations  of  their 
ancestors,  and  came  to  form  a  caste  of  warriors.      The   cultiva- 
tors of  soil  constituted  the  Vaisyu  caste.  When  the  Aryan  race 
left  the  Punjab  and    spread  over   Northern   India,  some  of  the 
aboriginal  races  were  incorporated  with  their  society,  and  formed 
the  caste  of  Sudras.     Thus  there  were  four  castes,  but  the  rules 
about  these  were  by  no  means  so  rigid  as   they    afterwards   be- 
came.    Even  in  the  time  of  the  epics,  the  Brahmans  dined  with 
the  Kshatryas    and   Vaisyas,  as    we  see   from  the  Brahmanio 
sage — Durvasa — having  shared  the  hospitality  of  Draupadi,  the 
wife  of  Pandavas.     A  member  of  a  higher  caste  could  marry   nr 
woman  belonging  to  any  of  the  lower    castes,    there    were    also 
many  instances  in  which  a  man  belonging  to  a  lower  caste  mar- 
ried a  woman  from  the  higher  castes.     Amongat  the  composers 
of  the  Vedic  hymns  there  were  some  such  as  Kavasha  Ailusha, 
who  did  not  belong  to  the  Brahman  caste,  but  was   still    admit- 
ted into  it  on   account   of   the  faculty   they  possessed.     What 
caste  has  become  in  the  course   of  time   you    need  not  be  told. 
The  smallest  difference  as  regards  locality,  trade,  or   profession 
and  practice  was  enough   to   constitute   a   separate  caste,    and 
thus  four  original  castes   have   grown  to  four   thousand,   and 
there  are  no  inter- marriages  or  inter-dining  between  any  two  of 
these.     These  four  thousand  castes  form  so  many  different  com - 
29 


226  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

muni  ties  and  the  phrase  '  Hindu  community1  is  but  a  geogra- 
phical expression.  The  evil  results  of  such  a  system  on  the 
social,  religious  and  political  condition  of  a  country  cannot  be 
overstated. 

Thus  then  you  will  see  that  our  social  institutions  and  prac- 
tices were  healthy   and  rational   in  the   olden    times,  and  they 
have   latterly   become   corrupt    and    irrational    through   some 
cause  or   other.     But  the    most   wonderful   thing   about   the 
matter  is  that  the  excesses  which   in  the   downward  course  our 
race  was    led    to,    did   not  attract    attention    and  rouse    the 
moral    sentiments  or  excite   moral   indignation    ;    and   women 
were  committed  to  the  flames,    crying   child-widows  were  forci- 
bly disfigured  and  condemned   to  a   solitary    and  unhappy  life, 
little  girls   were    sacrificed  at  the   hymenal  altar  in    numbers, 
female  infants  were  murdered  and  there  was  nobody  to   protest 
against  these  cruelties  as   Hirauyakshin   and   Jaimini  once  did 
against  early  marriages.     On  the  other   hand,  these  later  prac- 
tices acquired   the   forces   of  custom.     Custom  is  a  god  whom 
our  race  devoutly  worships,  and  religious  sanction  was  accorded 
to  these  practices  by  the  insertion  of  texts  in    the  later  books. 
The  moral  sentiments  were  not  strong   enough  to  burst  through 
the  thick  veil  of  custom    and  assert  the  claim    of  truth,  justice 
and  humanity.     The  question  now  ia  whether  with   our  minds 
liberalised  by  English   education   and    contact   with   European 
civilisation,  we  shall  still   continue   to   worship  custom  and  be 
its  slaves,  and  allow  our  moral   sentiments  to   remain  dead  and 
unjust,  and  cruel  social  practices  to  flourish.     If  our  education 
does  not  lead  us  to  protest  against  them,  that  education  must  be 
considered  to   be   merely    superficial.     Gentlemen,  we  have  in 
the  course  of  our  history   not  emancipated   ourselves   from  the 
tyranny  of  our  political   potentates   and   from   the   tyranny  of 
custom,   our  social   potentate.     Fortunately  now    the   British 
Government   has   freed   us    from   the   former  and  granted   us 
rights  and  allowed  us   a  large   measure   of  freedom  ;  but  not 
satisfied  with  that  we  are   seeking  for  greater  freedom.     Shall 
we  then  with  the  spirit  of  freedom    thus  awakened   stoop  slav- 
ishly  to    the  tyrant  custom,    and  bear   all  the  cruelty   that  it 
inflicts  upon  us  P  If  we  do,  the  spirit  of  freedom  that  we  think 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  227 

is  awakened  in  us  is  illusive  And  delusive.  No  !  if  we  have  to 
march  on  along  with  the  progressive  races  of  the  West,  with 
whom  we  are  now  indissolubly  united,  our  social  institutions 
must  improve  and  become  more  rational  and  just.  There  can 
be  no  advancement  politically,  I  firmly  assert,  without  social 
and  moral  advancement.  And  by  seeking  the  several  reforms 
that  we  have  in  view,  we  certainly  shall  not  be  taking  a  leap 
in  the  dark,  for  the  condition  of  our  society  once  was  what  we 
are  now  endeavouring  to  make  it.  This  is  the  spirit  in  which 
we  should  approach  the  question — oE  sweeping  away  from  our 
institutions  tho  corruptions  of  later  nges. 

It  has  often  been  suggested  that  on  the  strength  of  the 
texts  in  the  old  books  we  should  convince  the  orthodox  leaders 
of  our  society  of  tha  reforms  we  seek  being  sanctioned  by  the 
Sastras,  and  endeavour  to  introduce  them  with  their  aid  and 
consent.  But  such  a  thing  to  my  mind  is  an  impossibility.  Our 
old  books  do  not  constitute  the  real  authority  in  religious  mat- 
ters that  we  obey.  Custom  has  been  and  is  our  authority, — 
custom  is  our  religion.  Texts  creep  into  our  religious  books, 
as  I  have  already  observed,  sanctioning  current  customs  and 
even  when  they  do  not  do  so,  our  Pandits,  who  in  later  daya 
have  developed  a  great  deal  of  logical  acumen,  prove  by  means 
of  their  subtle  arguments  customary  practice  to  be  the  only 
one  sanctioned  by  our  religious  books.  The  later  development 
of  the  Hindu  religious  law  has  proceeded  just  on  these  lines. 
We  must  therefore  begin  the  work  of  reform  in  spite  of  the 
orthodox  leaders,  trusting  simply  to  our  awakened  moral  con- 
sciousness and  to  the  fact  that  it  is  not  an  entirely  new  thing 
that  we  are  going  to  introduce. 

I  am  therefore  glad  that  you  have  begun  the  work  in  earn- 
est and  taken  certain  pledges.  These  pledges  are  good  as  a 
first  instalment,  though  that  about  caste  does  not  signify  much 
in  accordance  with  the  standard  prevailing  in  my  part  of  the 
country.  No  one  can  excommunicate  us  in  Western  India  for 
eating  food  prepared  by  Brahmins  in  the  presence  of  members 
of  most  of  the  lower  castes.  I  do  not  wish  yon,  however,  to  obli- 
terate all  distinctions  at  once.  Caste  has  become  so  inveterate 
in  Hindu  society  that  the  endeavour  to  do  so  will  only  result 


228  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

in  the  formation  of  new  castes.  But  the  end  must  steadily  be 
kept  in  view.  We  must  remember  that  caste  is  the  greatest 
monster  we  have  to  kill.  Even  education  and  intercourse  as 
regards  food  does  not  destroy  it.  The  feeling  that  we  belong  to 
a  certain  caste  and  are  different  from  those  constituting  another 
caste  returns  again  and  again  in  a  variety  of  shapes,  even  when 
we  have  broken  through  the  restraints  imposed  by  caste  as 
regards  eating  and  drinking,  and  if  not  studiously  driven  away 
will  ever  keep  us  apart  from  each  other  and  prevent  the  for- 
mation of  a  homogeneous  nationality.  I  will  ask  you  to  con- 
sider whether  a  pledge  not  to  be  guided  by  caste  considerations 
in  the  disposal  of  your  patronage  if  you  happen  to  be  placed 
in  a  position  of  influence  and  in  the  whole  of  your  ordinary 
practical  life,  and  to  act  in  all  matters  except  inter-marriage 
and  inter-dining  as  if  you  belonged  to  one  community,  will  not 
be  a  more  effective  pledge.  You  might  also  gradually  pledge 
yourself  to  dine  with  members  of  sub-castes. 

Your  pledges  about  concubines  and  nautch  women  are  also 
highly  commendable  in  my  eyes.  They  show  a  correct  appre- 
ciation of  one  oE  the  problems  before  us.  One  who  takes  liber- 
ties in  these  matters  cannot  claim  that  he  has  respect  for  his 
•wife's  personality  or  for  womankind  generally.  Our  aims  about 
the  elevation  of  women  and  the  assignment  to  her  of  her  proper 
position  in  society,  from  which  she  may  exercise  a  humanising 
influence  over  us  all,  cannot  bo  realised,  unless  respect 
for  her  becomes  apart  of  our  nature.  Again  looseness  in  these 
masters  deteriorates  the  character  of  a  man  and  this  deterio- 
ration must  produce  evil  effects  in  other  respects  also.  Your 
determined  attitude  in  this  matter  therefore  and  the  earnest 
efforts  you  have  been  making  during  the  last  two  years  to  pro- 
pagate your  views  have  been  to  me  the  source  of  the  deepest 
gratification,  and  deserve  all  the  commendation  that  is  possible 
for  me  to  bestow.  Moral  rectitude  here  as  elsewhere  is  the 
essential  condition  of  progress  all  along  the  line. 

As  to  your  pledge  to  bring  about  widow -marriages  and  to 
admit  the  re-married  widow  and  her  husband  to  your  table— 
that  indeed  is  a  bold  step  that  you  have  taken.  You  will  for  a 
time  be  subjected  to  persecution,  but  I  hope  you  have  prepared 


iv. J  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  229 

yourself  for  it,  and  if  your  educated  countrymen  who  have  nofc 
had  the  courage  to  join  you  will  but  sympathise  with  you  and 
not  aid  the  orthodox,  I  have  little  doubt  that  this  reform  itself 
will  gradually  become  a  custom  and  cease  to  bo  looked  down 
upon.  The  great  thing  we  have  to  remember  is  that  we  should 
go  on  practising  what  we  consider  to  be  good  without  making 
much  ado  about  it.  It  will  then  come  into  general  practice, 
and  growing  into  a  custom  will  become  sanctified.  For  our 
previous  history  hits,  I  again  aflirm,  shown  to  my  mind  that 
custom  is  the  spiritual  potentate  that  sanctifies,  and  sanctifies 
even  horrid  deeds. 

The  Association  y<m  have  started  renders  me  hopeful. 
There  is  nothing  like  it  on  our  side  ;  and  everywhere  among 
educated  natives  there  is  lukewarmncss  about  social  re- 
form. The  minds  of  some  are  not  liberalised  at  all,  others 
think  that  the  reforms  we  have  ia  view  are  good  bub  flatly 
refuse  to  do  anything  to  aid  them  ;  while  there  are  a  great 
many  who  are  supremely  indifferent.  I  agree  with  my  friend 
the  Hon'blc  Mr.  Justice  Ranado  in  thinking  that  there  has 
been  an  awakening.  But  he  has  allowed  us  the  option  of  being 
satisfied  or  dissatisfied  with  it.  I  exercise  the  option  and  de- 
clare that  I  am  dissatisfied.  The  lamp  has  been  lighted  ;  bufc 
the  light  is  flickering  and  in  view  of  the  attitude  of  even  our 
educated  brethren,  it  is  just  as  likely  to  my  mind  that  it  will  be 
blown  out  as  that  it  will  blaze.  In  these  circumstances  the  en- 
deavours that  you  are  making-  are  a  great  source  of  comfort  and 
encouragement,  and  I  earnestly  hope  you  will  continue  your  wojfc 
as  boldly  as  you  have  begun  it,  and  that  you  will  find  imitators 
both  in  your  Presidency  and  in  other  parts  of  India,  and  our 
country's  cause  will  make  a  real  advance. 


The  late    Mr.  Mano  Mohan  Chose  on  "Social    Pro- 
gress in  Bengal  during  the  last  Thirty  Years/9 

The  late  Mr.  Mano  Mohan  Ghose  delivered  the  following  ad* 
dress  at  a  meeting  of  the  National  Indian  Association  in  1895, 
the  Right  Hon'ble  Lord  Hobhouse  presiding  :•*— LADIES  AND 


230  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

GENTLEMEN, — I  confess  I  feel  very  diffident  after  Lord  Hobhouse's 
kind  introduction,  as  I  am  afraid  you  will  be  greatly  disap- 
pointed if  you  expect  me  either  to  read  a  paper  or  deliver  a  speech 
on  the  present  occasion.  I  think  I  onght  to  explain  that,  being 
on  a  short  visit  to  this  country  and  having  been  connected  with 
this  Association  almost  from  the  beginning,  1  felt  I  could  not 
possibly  decline  the  honour  which  Lady  Hobhouse  was  pleased 
to  confer  upon  me  by  inviting  me  to  address  the  members  of 
this  Association  upon  some  topic  likely  to  be  interesting  to 
them.  I  must  state  at  the  outset  that  I  have  had  no  time  what- 
ever to  write  a  paper  upon  the  important  subject  on  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  notice,  I  desire  to  make  a  few  remarks.  The 
subject  I  have  chosen  is  a  wide  one  consisting  of  various  copies, 
on  each  of  which  a  good  deal  could  be  said.  My  remarks,  how- 
ever, will  be  of  a  somewhat  desultory  character  and  confined  to 
three  or  four  of  the  most  important  heads  connected  with  social 
progress  in  Bengal  during  the  last  thirty  jears.  There  are 
two  limitations  which  I  have  felt  it  necessary  to  prescribe  to 
myself.  The  first  is  that  my  remarks  will  be  confined  to  social 
progress  among  the  Hindus  in  the  Lower  Provinces  of  Bengal. 
It  is  right  that  I  should  confine  my  observations  to  that  part  of 
India  only  with  which  I  am  familiar,  and  particularly  to  the 
Hindus  of  Bengal,  as  my  experience  of  other  races  is  exceeding- 
ly limited.  The  second  limitation  has  reference  to  the  period  of 
time  during  which  I  have  myself  tried  to  be  a  careful  observer 
of  what  has  been  going  on  around  me.  It  is  now  nearly  thirty 
years  since  I  returned  to  India  after  my  first  visit  to  England 
as  a  student,  and  I  therefore  desire  to  limit  my  remarks  to 
that  period  of  time  of  which  I  can  speak  personally. 

In  order  to  be  able  rightly  to  estimate  the  character  of  the 
progress  which  has  taken  place  during  thirty  years,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  bear  in  mind  the  state  of  things  which  existed  formerly, 
and  the  difficulties  which  the  people  of  Bengal  had  to  encounter. 
It  is  equally  necessary  to  have  regard  to  the  character  and 
ideas  of  the  people  as  they  existed  when  the  English  were  first 
brought  into  contact  with  them.  Unless  this  is  borne  in  mind 
it  would  be  impossible  rightly  to  guage  the  character  of  the 
social  revolution  which  is  taking  place  amongst  us.  Having  re- 


iv,]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  231 

gard  to  the  state  oE  things  which  existed  in  Japan,  for  instance, 
or  to  the  advance  recently  made  by  the  people  of  that  country, 
the  progress  made  by  the  people  of  Bengal  may  not  be  regard- 
ed as  very  considerable.  Bat  it  would  be  scarcely  right  to  in- 
stitute any  comparison  between  the  people  of  Bengal  and  those 
of  Japan  for  obvious  reasons.  The  Hindus,  as  you  are  aware, 
have  always  been  a  conservative  people,  wedded  to  their  own 
social  institutions,  and  have  always  been  opposed  to  the  iritro* 
duction  into  their  country  of  foreign  institutions.  As  I  have 
said,  I  propose  to  touch  only  on  some  of  the  salient  points 
connected  with  my  subject,  and  I  must  confine  myself  to  three 
or  four  heads,  as  it  is  impossible  to  do  full  justice  even  to  any 
one  of  them  in  the  course  of  a  single  hour. 

The  first  point  I  wish  to  dwell  upon  is  the  Hindu  Caste 
system  ;  I  propose  next  to  point  out  to  you  the  progress  made 
by  the  women  of  Bengal — and  in  this  connection  I  wish  to  make 
a  few  observations  on  the  marriage  system,  and  certain  other 
social  customs  which  have  undergone  considerable  changes. 
Before  I  conclude  I  shall  have  to  point  out  some  of  the  difficul- 
ties which  are  still  in  the  way  of  further  progress  ;  and  in  this 
connection  I  shall  have  iu'cidun tally  to  refer  to  the  most  impor- 
tant question,  in  which,  I  know,  the  members  of  this  Associa- 
tion are  deeply  interested — namely,  the  social  relations  existing 
between  the  European  and  Indian  races, 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  peculiar  caste  system 
of  India  constitutes  the  most  formidable  difficulty  in  the  way 
of  the  introduction  of  European  civilisation  among  the  people 
of  India.  Ic  religion,  manners,  habits,  ideas,  and  I  may  say, 
almost  in  every  particular  which  binds  man  to  his  fellow- 
creatures,  the  two  races  are  widely  apart.  According  to  the  old 
Hindu  ideas,  the  very  touch  of  a  foreigner  was  pollution. 
This  Iras  the  state  of  Hindu  feeling  when  English  schools 
and  colleges  were  first  established,  and  no  wonder  therefore 
that  the  Hindus  should  have  suspected  that  the  English  Gov» 
eminent  was  animated  by  some  ulterior  purpose  in  inviting 
them  to  send  their  sons  to  English  schools  for  education.  As 
you  are  aware,  the  peculiarity  of  the  Indian  caste  system  has 
reference  chiefly  to  restrictions  imposed  upon  the  people  as 


232  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

regards  their  food  and  drink.     No  food   or   drink  touched  by  a 
foreigner  could  be  taken  by  a  Hindu.     These  restrictions  were 
-of  so  rigorous  a  character  that  in  course  of  time  people  strongly 
objected  to  eat  any  vegetable  not  indigenous  to  the  country,  but 
introduced  by  foreigners.     A  remarkable  illustration  of  this  is  to 
be  found  in   the   fact    that  nob  very    long  ago     Hindus  could 
not  be  persuaded  to  eat  potatoes.     I  am  assured  that,  incredible 
AS  it  may  seem  at  the  present    day,    my  own  grandfather,  who 
died  in  1817,  could  not  be  persuaded  to  sanction  the  eating    of 
potatoes  by  members  ofhis  own  fiimily.  Tt  is  curious  that  nearly 
600  years'  association  with  Mahomedaus  only  tended  to  strength- 
en this  feeling  of  antipathy  towards  the  foreigner   though   the 
Hindu  and  the  Mahomedan  lived  side  by  side.    As  I  had  occasion 
to  point  out  some  years  ago,  it  is  a  curious  and  suggestive  fact 
that,  apart  from  its  flavour  or  smell,  Hindus  strongly  objected 
to  the  use  of  onion,  because   it  was  supposed  that  the  Mahome- 
dan s  had  introduced  it  into  India  as  an  article  of  vegetable  food. 
Jlven    now  there   are  Hindu  widows  who,  on  the  same  ground, 
object  to  cauli-flowers  and   cabbages,      Such,   then,    waa    the 
state  of  things  when    the   English  first  attempted    to  try   this 
great  experiment  which    ia  now  going  on.     You  have  all  heard 
that  crossing  the  seas  entailed  upon   the   Hindu    loss  of   caste  ; 
this  was  because  he  could  not   bo  expected   to   do  BO, without 
departing  from  the  strict  rules  of  food  prescribed  for  him.   But 
at  the  present  day,  these   caste  rules   have  become   so  elastic, 
that,  so  far  as  Bengal  is   concerned,  a  man  may  now   live  in 
England  for  years,  and  on  his  return  to    India  be  looked  upon  a 
good  Hindu  provided  he  docs    not,  by  his  own  conduct,    in  any 
other  way  forfeit  the  confidence  and  the  respect  of  his  own  peo- 
ple.    During  the  last  thirty  years    there   have  been   many  men 
who  have  returned  from   England,   and  the  majority   are   now 
regarded  as  members  of  the  Hindu  community,  though  they  have 
not  thought  fit  to  perform  any  of  those  expiatory  ceremonies  which 
were  at  one  time  considered  requisite  for  the  purpose  of  getting 
back  into  caste.     Of  late  years  young  men  belonging  to  some  of 
the  most  orthodox  families  in  Calcutta  have  been  received  back 
into  their  families  on  their  return  from  England,  and  many  are 
now  living  in  English  style,  without  visiting  England,  who  are 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  293 

for  all  practical  purposes  reckoned  aa  good  Hindus.  This  is  a 
state  of  things  which  30  years  ago  Could  not  have  been  predict* 
ed.  There  have  been  even  a  few  instances  of  inter-marriage 
among  persons  of  different  castes,  bat  inter-marriage  strikes  at 
the  very  root  of  the  entire  social  system  of  the  Hindus.  It  ifl 
not,  therefore,  to  be  wondered  at  that  there  have  not  been  many 
oases  of  inter-marriage.  As  regards  the  restrictions  with  reference 
to  food,  which  formed  the  greatest  difficulty  in  the  way  of  the 
progress  of  the  Hindus,  it  is  satisfactory  to  note  that  they  have 
been  completely  relaxed. 

I  now  come  to  the  position  occupied  by  Hindu  women,  I 
believe  and  I  have  always  believed,  that  it  is  impossible  for  any 
race  in  the  world  to  rise  in  civilisation  if  one-half  of  their  popu- 
lation is  kept  in  subjection  and  ignorance.  As  you  are  aware,  in 
Bengal  Hindu  women  had  for  centuries  been  kept  in  a  state  of 
seclusion  ;  this  may  have  been  partly  due  to  Mahometan  influence, 
but  whatever  was  the  cause,  thirty  years  ago  the  position  of  the 
Hindu  women  in  Bengal  was  most  deplorable.  The  state  of 
things  is  altogether  different  now.  As  regards  the  seclusion  of 
Hindu  women,  the  change  has  been  of  a  marvellous  character. 
The  introduction  of  railways  and  the  necessities  of  travelling 
have  done  much  towards  bringing  about  this  change.  I  well  re- 
member being  much  struck  about  thirty  years  ago,  on  my  re 
turn  to  Bengal,  at  the  number  of  palanquins  and  screens  at 
every  railway  station  on  the  arrival  of  a  train  to  enable  Hindu 
ladies  to  get  into  or  out  of  a  train  without  being  seen  by  men. 
But  at.  the  present  time  almost  at  every  railway  station  in  Ben- 
gal you  will  see  Hindu  women  of  the  middle  classes  walking  to 
and  from  a  train  without  any  palanquin  or  screen  to  hide  them. 
As  regards  the  education  of  our  women,  we  have  also  made 
rapid  progress.  There  was  a  time  when  it  was  thought  that 
the  education  of  women  would  necessarily  lead  to  the  breaking 
up  of  Hindu  homes  and  of  Hindu  society.  At  Ihe  present 
moment  there  are  female  schools  in  ft  1  most  every  villnge  in  tlie 
country,  and  in  the  city  of  Calcutta  we  have  a  College  for 
Hindu  women,  supported  by  Government,  where  Hindu  ladien 
are  qualifying  themselves  for  the  highest  University  Honours. 
In  that  respect  I  may  say  we  have  gone  further  even  than  Eng- 
30 


INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

lish   Universities,  for   we   have   now   a  considerable    number 
of  Hindu  ladies  who  have  received  degrees  from  the  University 
of  Calcutta.     In   Bethune    College   there    are    at    the  present 
moment  Hindu    ladies    of  different   castes   boarding   together, 
and   receiving    the    highest    education    which    our    University 
can  impart.     In  this  connection  I   shall    go   back  a  little    and 
refer   to    the   history   of   this   institution     ns     you    will     find 
it  exceedingly  interesting.     The    boarding   department   of   the 
Bethune  College  owes  its  existence  to   the   philanthropic  exer- 
tions of  an  English  lady,  who,  a  little  more  than    twenty-three 
years  ago,  went  to  Bengal  and  laid  the   foundation    of   the  first 
Boarding  School  for  Hindu  girls.     This  lady  was  Miss  Akroyd 
(now  Mrs.  Beveritlge),  who,  with  the  help  of  Lady  Phear,  was 
able  to  start  a   boarding   school    for    Hindu    women.     In  those 
daya  most  of  the  pupils  were   unfurled   women    or    widows  and 
some  of  them  Imd  to  bo  induced  by  means  of  scholarships  to  at- 
tend the  school.     This  institution  was  subsequently  taken  up  by 
the  Government  of  Bengal,  and  amalgamated  with  the  Bethune 
School,  which    wa^   before   the    amalgamation    sin    infant    day- 
school.     At  the  timoof  its    amalgamation,  in    1878,    the/e  were 
about  half-a-clozon  boarders,  anil  it  was  then  vrry  much  doubted 
-whether  it  wculd  be  wise  to  keep  up    an    institution,  which  re- 
ceivrd  so  little  support  from  the  Hindu  community.     The  Gov- 
ernment of  Bengal  was,  however,  persuaded  to  erect  a  building, 
at  a  considerable  cost,  for  the  residence   of    these  boarders,  and 
-when  this  building  was    completed  not   long   ago,   it   was  con- 
sidered doubtful  whether  even  one-half  of  the  accommodation 
provided  would  be  required  by  the  pupils.     The  accommodation 
provided  was  for  forty-six  pupils,  and  it  may   be   interesting  to 
note  that  just  before  I  loft  for    England   in    September    last,  it 
was  reported  to  me,  as  Secretary   of   the   institution,   that  not 
-only  the  entire  accommodation    had   been   filled    up,    but  there 
were  half-a-dozen  further  applications  for  admission,  which  for 
-  want  of  room  I  was  obliged    to  refuse.     The    number  forty-six 
no  doubt  Rounds  a  small  one  amongst  so  vast  a  population,  but 
considering  the  difficulties  which  had  to    be  overcome  I  cannot 
but  look  upon  it  as  exceedingly  encouraging.  His  curious  lo  find 
that  many  of  the  Bengali  ladies  who  are  now  seeking  admission 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  235 

tothia  boarding  school  do  not  hesitate  to  describe  themselves  as 
Hindus  by  religion.  I  mention  this,  lest  you  might  be  led  away 
by  the  idea  that  this  school  consists  entirely  of  girls  belonging 
to  the  Brahmo  Samaj  persuasion,  though  undoubtedly  this  latter 
class  have  chiefly  availed  themselves  of  the  benefits  of  it.  I  well 
remember  the  time  when  our  hostess,  Lady  Hobhouse,  used  to 
encourage  the  pupils  of  this  institution  by  offering  scholarships 
to  deserving  young  widows,  with  a  view  to  induce  them  to  con- 
tinue in  the  school;  audit  must  be  exceedingly  gratifying  to 
her  to  hear  that  at  the  present  time  not  only  is  it  not  necessary 
for  us  to  attract  boarders  to  tiio  school  by  means  of  such  scho- 
larships, but  the  fees  proscribed  are  in  every  case  being  readily 
paid.  While  pointing  out  the  marvellous  progress  which  the 
women  of  the  middle  classes  are  thus  making  iu  point  of  educa- 
tion, I  must  guard  nguinst  my  remarks  being  understood  to 
imply  that  female  education  has  permeated  to  any  considerable 
extent  among  the  masses  of  the  pooplo. 

The  advance  made  by  the  women  of  Bengal  is  intimately 
connected  with  the  marriage  customs  prevailing  in  the  country, 
and  I  should  like  to  make  a  few  observations  on  that  subject. 
I  am  aware  that  the  ordinary  idea  in  England  on  the  subject  of 
our  marriage  laws  is  that  Hindus  are  given  to  polygamy.  This, 
I  may  be  allowed  to  say,  i.s  a  very  serious  error.  It  is  true  that 
there  are  no  penal  laws  prohibiting  bigamy  or  polygamy  by 
men,  but  any  one  who  has  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the 
people  of  Bengal  must  know  that  the  Hindus  are  essentially  a 
monogamous  people.  Bigamy  is  no  doubt  sanctioned  by  law  in 
certain  cases,  but  except  among  the  Kuliii  Brahmins  it  is  never 
practised.  The  feeling  is  getting  stronger  everyday  in  the 
Hindu  community  against  bigamy,  and  I  venture  to  assert  that 
there  is,  numerically  speaking,  perhaps  less  bigamy  committed 
in  Bengal  than  is  surreptitiously  committed  in  countries  where 
the  law  makes  it  a  criminal  offence.  The  question  of  early 
marriage  or  rather  child-marriage  is  also  intimately  connected 
with  the  education  and  advancement  of  our  women.  As 
regards  child-marriages,  though  I  regret  I  cannot  say 
that  they  have  been  discontinued,  there  has  uudoubtodly  been 
a  remarkable  progress  of  late  years.  The  history  of  the 


236  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [?ART 

Bethune  Scliool,  to  which  I  have  already  alluded,  shows 
also  the  progress  which  has  been  made  in  this  respect.  I 
remember  the  time  when  there  was  scarcely  one  pupil  in  that 
school  above  the  age  of  ten  years  unmarried.  But  at  the 
present  moment  all  the  boarders  I  have  referred  to  are  single 
women,  and  there  are  among  the  day  pupils  many  girls  who, 
although  they  have  attained  the  ordinary  marriageable  age  among 
Hindus,  have  been  left  unmarried.  This  fact  also  indicates  to 
my  mind  great  progress  in  the  ideas  of  the  people  on  this 
subject. 

As  regards  the  domestic  habits  of  the  people,  I  may  say 
that,  having  regard  to  the  tenacity  with  which  Hindus  cling 
to  their  ancient  customs,  they  have  also  undergone  a  marked 
change,  and  I  think  it  may  be  said  generally  that  the  progress 
made  by  the  people  of  Bengal  of  late  years  has  been  of  a  very 
encouraging  and  hopeful  character.  My  remarks  have  neces- 
sarily been  confined  to  the  Hindu  community.  As  regards 
the  progress  made  by  our  Mahomedan  fellow-subjects,  I  feel  that 
I  am  not  competent  to  speak  with  any  degree  of  confidence. 
I  hesitate  to  speak  on  a  subject  regarding  which  I  know  so 
little,  and  especially  as  I  should  be  sorry  to  say  anything 
likely  to  be  misunderstood  by  my  Mahomedan  friends.  There  is 
one  point,  however,  on  which  I  feel  strongly,  as  it  is 
intimately  connected  with  the  question  of  female  improvement. 
I  mention  it  in  the  hope  that  if  I  am  mistaken  in  my  inferences 
and  opinions  I  may  be  set  right  by  some  one  or  other  of  the 
Mahomedan  gentlemen  whom  I  am  glad  to  see  present  to-night. 
It  is  generally  believed  that  it  was  the  influence  of  the  Maho- 
medan a  which  led  to  the  seclusion  of  Hindu  women.  As  regards 
Hindu  women,  I  have  already  said  that  they  are  throwing  off 
gradually  the  restrictions  which  were  imposed  upon  them,  but 
1  wish  I  could  say  the  same  with  regard  to  the  Mahomedan 
women  of  Bengal.  I  am  well  awa^re  of  the  fact  that  female 
schools  for  Mahomedan  girls  have  been  established  by  the 
Government,  but  what  the  result  of  that  experiment;  has  been 
I  am  not  in  a  position  to  state.  There  is  one  fact,  however, 
which  has  struck  me  very  forcibly— namely,  that  residence  in 
this  country  among  Englishmen  has  Lad  generally  the  effect  of 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  23? 

changing  the  view  of  young  Hindus  on  the  subject  of  the 
position  that  women  ought  to  occupy  in  society.  Whether  a 
similar  change  has  been  effected  in  the  ideas  of  Mahoraedan 
gentlemen  who  have  visited  this  country  is  a  question  which 
I  should  like  to  he  answered  by  some  of  my  Mahoraedan  friends. 
There  has  not  been,  I  regret  to  say,  one  single  instance  of  a 
Maliomedan  gentleman  educated  in  this  country  who,  on  hia 
return,  has  thought  fit  to  break  through  the  restrictions  of  the 
Zenana.  In  one  or  two  notable  instances  Mahomedan  gentle- 
men whose  ideas  have  undergone  a  great  change  on  this  subject 
have  solved  the  problem  by  marrying  English  wives,  but  that 
is  a  solution  which  is  scarcely  calculated  to  improve  the  status 
and  position  of  their  own  countrywomen. 

Coming  back  to  the  progress  which  Hindu  society 
is  now  making  iu  Bengal,  I  have  to  adveit  to  a  matter  which 
threatens,  in  my  judgment,  to  be  a  Formidable  difficulty  in  the 
way  of  further  progress.  Of  late  years  there  has  been  a  decid- 
ed reactionary  tendency  among  a  large  and  influential  section 
of  my  educated  countrymen  in  Bengal,  whose  well-meaning 
efforts  have  been  directed  towards  opposing  any  further  influx 
of  European  civilisation  into  the  country,  The  growth  of  the 
class  of  revivalists,  or  reactionaries,  is  iu  my  humble  opinion 
partly  due,  no  doubt,  to  the  existence  of  a  feeling  of  extreme 
veneration  for  the  ancient  institutions  of  the  country,  bordering 
almost  upon  conceit.  If  I  felt  sure  that  this  desire  to  revive 
the  ancient  civilisation  of  India  did  not  owe  its  origin  to  that 
feeling  of  contempt  which  Hindus  entertain  for  European  in- 
stitutions, and,  above  all,  to  a  dislike  of  the  English  people,  I 
should  be  disposed  to  respect  the  patriotic  views  of  this  class  of 
reactionaries,  however  impracticable  I  might  consider  their 
scheme  to  be.  Our  ancient  civilisation  is  undoubtedly  a  legiti* 
mate  matter  for  pride,  and  nothing  would  be  more  deplorable 
than  if  English  education  were  to  extinguish  in  our  minds  that 
just  and  national  pride  which  every  Hindu  ought  to  feel  in 
the  thought  tl>at  he  belongs  to  a  race  which  not  only  has  the 
credit  of  being  the  most  ancient  in  civilisation,  but  can  boast  of 
a  language  and  literature  indicating  intellectual  culture  of  a 
marvellous  character.  But  this  feeling  of  pride  must  not  bg 


238  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

permitted  to  go  beyond  its  legitimate  limits.  It  must  not  be 
permitted  to  generate  conceipty  the  result  of  which  must  be  to 
obstruct  all  real  progress,  I  am  constrained  to  make  these 
remarks  because  I  have  been  given  to  understand  that  this  un- 
fortunate wave  of  reaction  has  even  reached  some  of  our  young 
men  resident  in  this  country.  There  ia  now  springing  up  in 
India,  under  tlie  guise  \,i  leviving  the  ancient  civilisation  of 
the  Hindus  a  feeling  of  deliberate  opposition  to  the  English 
people  and  all  their  social  institutions.  This  is  much  to  bo  de- 
plored, because  I  foresee  that  the  result  of  such  a  feeling  must 
be  to  throw  back  the  h:md  of  progress  very  considerably.  These 
revivalists  have  been  reinforced,  I  regret  to  find,  even  from 
this  country  :  they  have  \\elcomed  amongst  them  Theosophists 
and  English  leaders,  whose  well-meaning  utterances  can  have 
only  the  effect  of  further  embittering  the  unhappy  feelings  now 
existing  between  the  t\vo  races,  If  English  friends  who  go  to 
India  dilate  upon  the  dark  side  of  modern  civilisation,  they  na- 
turally attract  a  great  deul  of  applause  from  certain  sections  of 
my  countrymen,  who  applaud  not  because  they  have  any  know- 
ledge themselves  of  the  character  of  European  civilisation,  but 
because  all  tirades  against  the  English  people  find  a  natural 
response  among  those  who  are  brought  up  to  dislike  them.  If 
I  only  thought  that  it  was  possible  for  us  now  to  do  without  the 
help  of  England,  I  should  be  the  tirst  to  sympathise  with  these 
well-meaning  people  •  bub  believing  as  1  do  that  ifc  will  take 
many  generations  yet  before  we  are  likely  to  be  in  a  position  to 
dispense  with  the  assistance  which  England  and  her  civilisa- 
tion can  give  us,  and  knowing  also  full  well  that  for  our  own 
sakes  it  is  absolutely  necessary  at  the  present  moment  that  we 
should  know  a  great  deal  more  of  England  and  her  institutions 
than  wo  at  present  do,  I  cannot  help  pointing  out  to  my  coun- 
trymen, HO  many  of  whom  I  sec  before  me  to-night,  that  the 
course  which  these  re-actionaries  are  following  is  fraught  with 
grave  danger  to  the  future  of  our  country.  It  is  not  permitted 
to  me  to  encroach  upon  the  domain  of  politics,  but  it  is  only  fair 
to  my  countrymen  that  I  should  not  hesitate  to  point  out  that  the 
fault  is  not  entirely  on  their  side.  I  can  fully  understand  and 
make  due  allowance  for  the  feeling  of  revulsion  ID  tbe  minds  of 


TV.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  239 

some  of  my  countrymen  at  what  they  rightly  or    wrongly   ima- 
gine to  be  the  attitude  of  the   English  people   towards  them,  I 
will  go  further  and  any  thit  T  believe  the  English  in  India  have 
not  helped  us  in  this  great  work  of  social  re  Form  in  the  way  they 
might  have  done  ;  and  T  will  further   not  hesitate  to  dpolaro  my 
conviction  that  ono  of  the  chief  onuses  of  this  1111  fortunate  re-ac- 
tionarv  movement  on  the  part  of  my  countrymen  is  the  attitude 
of  the  English  people  themselves.     As  one  of  the    most  import- 
ant objects  of  this    Association  is  to    bring    about    a  hotter  feel- 
ing between  the  two  races,  T  venture  at.  some  length  to  dwell  on 
this  topic.     To  my  mind  it  is  one   of   the    most  difficult   and  at 
the  same  time    most    important   questions    connected    with   the 
future  of  India,     The  gulf  which   unhappily  exists  between  the 
two  races  is    no    doubt    greatly   due    to    the    misunderstanding 
which  exists  on  both  sides.     England  has  done    great  things  for 
India,  but  I  am  disposed  to  agroe  with  a  writer  in  the    Contem- 
porary Review  for  October— the    Rev.    Mr.  Bonnar — who,  after 
twenty-five  ye.nV  residence  in  India,  points  out  that,  in  spite  of 
the  great  tilings  which  the  English  have  achieved  in  that  conn- 
try,  their  rule  has  boon  n.  signal  failure    in    ono    important  res- 
pect,  and  that  H,  they  have  failed  to  convince  the  people    of  In- 
dia that  they  possess  any  sympathy  for  lliem.     If  the  people  of 
India  could  he  made  to  feel  that  tho  English  out    there,  sympa- 
thised with  them  in  this  great  strmrglo    for   social  reform,    the 
work,  I  believe,  would  be  carried  out  much  more  speedily   than 
it  is  now  being  done.     It  is    necessary   that    while  on    the   one 
hand  my  countrymen  should  be  a,  little  less  sensitive  than    they 
at  present  seem  to  be,  on  the    nthcr   hand    our  English    friends 
who  go  to  India  should    not   only    be    a  little  more  tolerant,   of 
foreign  ways  and  customs,    but    should    even    go   out   of    their 
way    to    show   their    sympathy     to    tho    people  among   whom 
they  live.     I  am  one  of  those  who  firmly  believe  in  the  ultimate 
success  of  the  grand  and  unique  experiment  \\hich    England   is 
now  engaged  in  trying  in  India.     That    experiment    consists  in 
engrafting  a  Western  civilisation  upon  an  Eastern  stock.     There 
nre  undoubtedly  great  difficulties  in  the  way,  but  I  have  no  mis- 
pi  vings  whatever  regarding    its    success   if    we   could  only  feel 
assured  of  the  sympathy  of  the  English  people. 


240  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

Dr.  Mahendra  Lai  Sircar,  LL.D.,  C.l.E,,  on  Female 
Medical  Aid  to  the  Women  of  India. 

In  seconding  the  First  Resolution  moved  by  the  Hon'ble 
Mr.  (afterwards  Sir  Andrew)  Seoble  at  the  Third  Annual  Meet- 
ing of  the  National  Association  for  supplying  Female  Medical 
Aid  to  the  Women  of  India,  held  on  Wednesday,  the  8th  Feb- 
ruary, 1888,  the  Hon'ble  Dr.  Mahendra  Lai  Sircar  spoke  as  fol- 
lows :— 

YOUR  EXCELLENCIES,  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN, — It  is  nothing 
but  a  pure  sense  of  duty,  tardily  awakened,  which  has  forced 
me  against  myself  to  appear  before  you  this  evening,  and  pre- 
sume to  open  my  lips  before  this  august  assembly,  presided  over 
by  His  Excellency  the  Viceroy/and  graced  by  the  presence  of 
Her  Excellency  the  Lady- President  of  this  Association,  and  of 
other  distinguished  personages.  My  consolation,  in  this  predi- 
cament, is  that  the  Hon'ble  gentleman,  who  has  moved  the  Re- 
solution for  the  adoption  of  the  Report  of  the  Central  Commit- 
tee of  the  Association,  has  fortunately  BO  exhausted  his  subject 
that  he  has  left  nothing  for  his  seconder  to  add  to  what  he  has 
already  said.  All  that  I  have  now  to  do,  indeed,  all  that  I  can 
do,  is  to  add  my  feeble  testimony  to  the  flood  of  testimony  al- 
ready received,  and  is  being  daily  received,  of  the  good  and 
noble  work  which  this  National  Association  for  the  supply  of 
Female  Medical  Aid  to  the  Women  of  India  is  doing,  and  is  cal- 
culated to  do  for  a  long  time  to  come.  As  you  are  aware,  Ladies 
and  Gentlemen,  the  necessity  for  such  an  Association  has  arisen 
from  the  existence  in  this  country  of  a  social  custom  prevalent 
both  amongst  Mahomedans  and  Hindus,  which  has  led  to  the 
seclusion  of  women,  forbidding  them  to  show  their  faces  to  men 
other  than  their  nearest  and  dearest  kith  and  kin,  a  custom 
which  has  curbed  and  cribbed  our  society,  arresting  its  due  de- 
velopment by  withholding  from  it  the  healthful  and  benignant 
influence  of  its  own  fairest  portion.  It  would  be  idle,  at  this 
moment,  to  speculate  on  the  origin  of  this  custom,  It  is 
enough  for  philanthropy  to  recognise  the  evils  which  have  come 
on  in  its  train  as  its  most  inevitable  consequences,  Of  these 
evils,  Besides  the  one  I  have  just  alluded  to,  the  most  sf upend* 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS-  241 

ous,  the  most  heart-rending,  the  most  universal,  is  that  which 
directly  affects  the  fairest  portion  of  both  Hindu  and  Mahome- 
dan  communities.  The  seclusion  of  women  in  tin's  country  for 
centuries  has  been  synonymous,  as  was  happily  expressed  by 
an  Hon'ble  speaker  on  this  very  subject  last  yonr,  in  this  hall, — 
the  seclusion  of  women  in  this  country  has  been  synonymous 
with  their  exclusion  from  the  comfort  and  relief  of  medical  aid 
in  sickness  and  from  knowledge  of  the  conditions  of  a  healthy 
life,  Now,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  realise  for  one  moment., 
what  this  state  of  things  means.  It  means  lhat,  for  centuries 
nearly  half  the  population  of  this  vast  continent  had  scarcely 
had  any  medical  aid,  certainly,  no  proper  medical  nid,  in  even 
sickness  which,  unrelieved,  either  costs  life  or  entails  lifelong 
suffering.  lOven  at  this  very  moment,  when  I  am  speaking  to 
you,  countless  are  the  Indian  homes  which  are  the  scenes  of  the 
acutest  agonies  of  disease,  which  might  be  relieved,  of  prema- 
ture death  which  might  he  averted,  by  timely  and  skilful  medi- 
cal treatment.  And  yet,  strange  to  say,  the  necessity  of  coun- 
teracting this  evil  was  not  ever,  thought  of  in  this  country  till 
recently.  And  this  thought  did  not  originate  with  those  who 
are  directly  concerned.  It  came  from  abroad.  And  the  reason 
"is  riot  far  to  seek.  The  same  custom,  which  has  consigned  the 
fair  sex  within  the  prison  walls  of  the  Zenana,  has  prevented 
them  from  undertaking  the  severer  duties  of  life,  duties  which 
require  rough  training  in  the  beginning  for  their  due  perform- 
ance, duties  which,  up  to  this  moment,  are  looked  upon  as 
peculiar  and  proper  to  the  sterner  sex.  I  must  confess,  nnd  it 
is  in  expectation  of  absolution,  ac  your  hands,  gentle  Ladies, 
thfit  I  make  this  confession  of  a  grave  sin  against  you, — I  con- 
fess that.,  in  the  pride  of  my  sex,  I  had  believed  that  man  was 
more  fitted  for  intellectual  work,  woman  for  the  exercise  of  the 
gentler  affections.  I  had  erred  with  the  sublime  poet  of  the 
world  in  believing  as  absolute  that — 

"  For  contemplation  he  and  valor  formed, 
For  softness  she  and  sweet  attractive  grace." 

But  stubborn  facts,  which  recent  times  have  unfolded,  have 
convinced  me  that  while  woman's   heart  ia   really    and    vastly 
superior  to  man's,  her  intellect,  if  allowed  fair   play,   can  £om- 
31 


242  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

pete  on  equnl  terms  with    his.     Nay,    in   some   instances,    her 
natural  acuteness  and  the   exquisite   fineness  of   her  tempera- 
ment are  likely  to  give  her  the  advantage    even   in  matters  in- 
tellectual.    And  now  my  humble  belief  is  that  in  the  matter  of 
ministering  to  the  sick,  her  heart  nnd  her  head  alike  contribute 
to  render  her  eminently  qualified.     Whether  she*  will  ever  ap- 
proach the  stronger  sex  in  high  surgery,  whether  she  will   ever 
display  the  coolness  and  the  nerve  that  have  been  displayed  by 
the  gentleman  surgeon  on  the  operating  table,   whether,  indeed, 
it  is  desirable  that  she  should,  I  will  not  htop    here  to  discus^j 
She  can  well  leave  this  really  manly  part  of  the  medical   art  to 
the  gentleman  surgeon.     She  has  enough  and  ample  field  in  the 
exercise  of  the  purely  physician's  part,  and  even    this    I   would 
limit  to  the  treatment  of  her  own  sex,     For    the   treatment  of 
her  own  sex,  she  must  be  infinitely  more  competent  than   man. 
The  disorders  of  the  organisation  peculiar  to   women  can  only 
be  understood  by  women.     And  here  I  am   bound   to  point  out 
how  evident  and  triumphant  is  the  confirmation  of  the  scientific 
character  of  the  glorious  and  beneficent  system   of  medicine  I 
have  the  honor  and  the  privilege  to  practise,  a  system  which 
administers  for  diseases  peculiar  to  women  medicines  that  have 
been  proved  by  female  powers.     Differently  constituted  as  man 
is,  he  can  only  indirectly  understand   diseases  peculiar  to    the 
other  sex,  and,  therefore,    ns  a  matter  of   course,   cannot  fully 
sympathise  with  them.     This  is  no  reproach.     The  Son  of  God 
himself  had  to  take  on  onr  form,  had  to  become   one   of  us,  to 
know  the  magnitude  of  our  sins,  and  fathom  the   depth   of  onr 
misery.     I,  therefore,  venture  to   think   that   the  necessity  of 
lady-doctors,  not  only  for  the  women  of  India,  but   for  woman- 
kind all  over  the  world,  having  thus  been  demonstrated,  we  are. 
now  in  a  better  position  to  understand  the  supreme  necessity 
and  realise  tho  full  importance  of  the  scheme,  which   has  been 
inaugurated,  and  is  in  fair    working    order,    for  the  supply  of 
female  medical   aid  to  the  women  of  our  country,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  highest  lady  in  (he  land  and  of  the  Sovereign 
Lady  of  the  Empire,     Efforts   in  the  same  direction  were  in 
existence  before  the  advent  in    thitf   country    of   H.    E.    the 
Lady-Founder  of  this   Association.    Bat  those  efforts    were 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  243 

of  a  solitary  character,  few  and  far  between,  "local  in 
aim  and  limited  in  extent."  Ib  was  reserved  for  her 
noble  genius  "  by  a  bold  attempt,"  indeed  by  one  of  the  boldest 
attempts  that  have  ever  emanated  from  an  undaunted  will, 
guided  by  a  philanthropic  heart,  M  to  rouse  the  conscience  and 
the  imagination  of  the  public  at  largo,  aiid  so  to  bind  together 
in  one  common  effort  all  parts  of  the  Empire  and  all  classes  of 
the  community,"  Well  might  we,  men  and  women,  take  our 
lesson  of  Untiring  energy  and  unflinching  devotion  in  the  car- 
rying out  of  a  righteous  cause  from  the  bright  example  of  the 
Countess  of  Dufferin.  The  third  annual  report  of  the  Central 
Committee  with  its  accounts,  which  is  now  laid  before  you, 
bears  ample  testimony  to  the  literal  truth  of  what  I  say.  I 
have,  therefore,  great  pleasure  in  seconding  the  Resolution 
which  has  been  moved  for  the  adoption  of  the  Report,  and  tho 
confirmation  of  the  accounts  therein  contained. 

[n  proposing  the  First  Resolution  for  the  adoption  of  the 
Report  at  the  Sixth  Annual  Meeting  oF  the  National  Associa- 
tion for  supplying  Female  Medical  Aid  to  the  Women  of  India, 
held  on  the  9th  February,  1891,  Dr.  MahendraLal  Sircar  spoke 
as  follows: — 

YOUK  EX&JLLENCfES,  YOUR  HONOULI,  LADIES  AND  GENTLE- 
MEN,— Her  Excellency  the  Lady-President  and  the  Central 
Committee  of  this  the  National  Association  for  supplying 
Femal  Medical  Aid  to  the  Women  of  India,  have  done  me  the 
honor  1o  ask  rne  to  move  the  adoption  of  the  Sixth  Annual 
Report  which  has  been  just  so  ably  presented  to  you,  and  it  is 
due  to  myself  to  tell  you  that  while  I  feel  proud  of  the  unusual 
honor  done  to  me,  that  feeling  is  associated  with  its  antithesis, 
a  sincere  sense  of  my  own  utter  un worthiness  of  the  honor,  by 
virtue  of  my  incompetency  to  discharge  the  duties  which  the 
honor  demands  of  its  recipient.  Had  it  not  been  for  the 
august  source  whence  the  honor  lias  come,  I  should  certainly 
have  hesitated  to  accept  it  with  its  heavy  responsibility.  I 
have  however  no  other  alternative  now  than  with  all  humility 
to  submit,  in  fall  reliance  upon  your  indulgence  for  my 
shortcomings. 


244  INDIAN  SOCIAL  UEtfORM. 

TLis  the  Sixth  Annual  Report  of  the  Association  is  the 
biggest  of  all  that  have  been  published,  and  I  am  happy  to  bo 
able  to  say  that  its  increased  size  is  indicative  of  the  increase 
in  the  magnitude  of  the  sphere  of  its  operations.  A  comparison 
of  this  with  the  previous  Report  shows  that  in  place  of  ffty 
local  and  district  associations  and  committees  affiliated  or 
attached  to  provinces  and  in  touch  with  the  central  committee, 
there  are  now  over  a  hundred  ;  in  place  of  ten  lacs  spent  in  the 
erection  of  hospitals  there  have  been  over  twelve  ;  in  place  of 
two  hundred  thousand  of  women  who  had  received  medical  relief 
there  were  over  four  hundred  and  eleven  thousand  \  in  place  of 
thirty  there  were  forty  Lady  Doctors  and  Assistant  Surgeons  and 
Female  Medical  Practitioners  working-  in  connection  with  the 
]rund;  and  in  place  of  two  lacs  which  the  local  associations  and 
committees  hud  in  actual  and  in  promise,  there  arenow  actually 
invested  three  lacs  and  thirty-nine  thousand,  in  hand  thirty-five 
thousand  rupees,  and  in  donations  promised  of  over  a  lac  and 
seventy  thousand.  Now  this  is  progress  beyond  all  expectation, 
and  testifies  to  the  deep  and  genuine  Eympathy  with  which  Her 
Excellency  the  Marchioness  of  Lansdowne  has  taken  up  the 
duties  of  Lady-President,  and  also  to  the  loyalty  and  earnestness 
and  energy  with  which  those  under  her  are  working  for  the  Fund. 

So  far  therefore  as  the  Central  Committee1  and  its  Lady- 
President  are  concerned  the  Report  is  eminently  satisfactory. 
The  Association,  far  from  suffering  on  the  departure  of  its 
benevolent  Founder  and  first  most  energetic  President,  has  made 
immense  strides  under  her  successor  who  has  shown  herself  in 
every  way  worthy  of  the  mantle  of  benevolence  and  practical 
good  work  which  has  fallen  on  her  and  which  she  has  taken  up 
with  all  the  earnestness  of  genuine  conviction.  The  Report  is 
also  satisfactory  inasmuch  as  it  shows  that  the  Lady-Founder 
on  her  retirement  from  India  has  not  only  not  forgotten  the 
noble  work  which  she  inaugurated  with  such  unexampled 
enthusiasm  and  devotion,  but  has  infused  new  life  into  it  by 
working  for  it  with  the  same  undiminished  enthusiasm 
and  devotion  in  her  native  land,  and  drawing  towards  it  the 
active  and  substantial  sympathy  of  the  womankind  of  England, 
the  noblest  of  their  typo  in  all  the  world. 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  245 

So  far  then  as  the  originators  and  workers  of  the  Associa- 
tion are  concerned  the  Report  is  more  than  satisfactory,  and  ifc 
gives  me  very  great  pleasure  to  move  its  adoption,  fully  confi- 
dent of  your  unanimous  acceptance  of  my  proposition. 

Bat  before  I  sit  down,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  I  have  one 
question  to  ask,  and  that  is  a  very  serious  one.  Js  the  Report 
satisfactory  so  fair  as  those  arc  concerned  who  are  really  inter- 
ested in  this  movement  of  benevolence  and  charity  in  the  highest 
sense  of  the  word  P  Now  who  are  they  who  ore  really  interest- 
ed P  Who,  but  we  the  natives  of  India  ?  Does  the  Report  show 
that  we  have  done  our  duty  to  ourselves,  and  to  those  who  have 
pointed  out  to  us  what  thtit  duty  is?  Ih  would  be  ingratitude, 
with  the  fact  before  us  of  the  magnificent  and  princely  dona- 
tions that  have  been  made  to  the  Fund,  to  say  that  some  of  us 
have  not.  But  would  it  not  be  a  violation  of  truth  to  say  that 
we  as  a  nation  have  awakened  to  a  lively  sense  of  that  duty  P 

Boast  as  much  as  we  may  of  our  ancient  civilization,  there 
is  the  unerring  index,  the  condition  of  our  women,  which  points 
to  the  melancholy  fact  that  we  have  not  only  not  advanced 
from  the  point  attained  by  our  ancestors  in  ancient  time,  but 
that  we  have  receded  much  from  it,  that  we  have  not  only  not 
profited  by  a  literature,  a  philosophy  and  a  religion  which  were 
marvels  and  models  for  the  rest  of  the  world  in  their  days  and 
which  are  the  admiration  of  even  the  most  cultured  moderns, 
but  that  in  every  respect  we  are  showing  ourselves  unworthy  of 
that  noble  heritage.  Look  at  the  condition  of  woman  in  Vedic 
and  even  in  Purairic  times,  and  look  at  her  condition  now,,  and 
then  sny  if  we  have  not  fallen  from  our  high  state. 

Whatever  the  cause,  about  which  it  is  now  idle  and  unprofit- 
able to  speculate, — whatever  the  cause,  it  is  a  positive  but 
most  lamentable  fact  that  for  centuries  the  fairest  of  our  com- 
munity have  been  immured  within  the  prison  walls  of  the  zena- 
na, shut  out  not  only  from  the  light  of  day,  but  from  what  is 
equally  essential,  tho  light  of  knowledge,  and  subjected  to  the 
tyranny  of  a  most  degrading  and  ruinous  custom,  the  custom  of 
child-marriage.  The  result  has  been  most  disastrous  to  the 
very  life  of  the  nation.  And,  what  is  worst  and  most  painful 
of  all,  under  the  mistaken  idea  of  obedience  to  the  dictates  of 


246  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [?ART 

religion  tbe  fair  sex  has  been  patiently  enduring  the  acntest 
agonies  of  disease,  preferring  relief  in  the  hands  of  .the  great 
Deliverer  himself  to  relief  in  the  hands  of  the  physician  if  of 
the  opposite  sex.  It  is  only  the  professional  man  who  can 
understand  what  this  state  of  things  means,  what  the  amount 
of  suffering  is  which  is  so  heroically  endured,  what  the  conse- 
quences in  most  cases  life-long  in  the  shape  of  chronic  uncured 
and  incurable  ailments  are,  and  how  almost  countless  are  the 
fatal  terminations  from  all  these  causes  combined,  most  of 
which  might  be  averted  by  timely  medical  aid.  This 
state  of  things  has  been  going  on  in  our  midst  from  time 
almost  immemorial,  and  we  have  been  complacently  looking 
on  as  if  all  was  right,  as  if  no  intervention  on  our  part  was 
necessary.  And  this  state  of  things  would  have  gone  on 
unremedied  till  probably  the  end  of  time,  had  it  not  been  for 
the  divine  attribute  of  sympathy  in  woman.  A  knowledge  of 
this  melancholy  state  of  things  in  her  Indian  Empire  reached 
the  Queen-Empress,  and  with  that  wide  and  prompt  sympathy 
which  has  been  the  charm  of  all  her  life,  Her  Majesty  lost  no 
time  in  commending  the  matter  to  the  Countess  of  Dufferin 
before  her  departure  for  India.  That  recommendation  has  borne 
fruit  in  the  foundation  of  the  most  magnificent  and  the  most 
needed  charitable  institution  in  the  world,  the  National  Associa- 
tion for  the  supply  of  Female  Medical  Aid  to  the  Women  of 
India. 

In  this  fact  of  this  National  Association  owing  its  very 
existence  to  the  direct  initiative  of  our  Sovereign,  and  its  main- 
tenance and  development  chiefly  to  the  philanthropy  of  our 
noble  sisters  of  England,  we  ought  to  read  the  two-fold  charac- 
ter of  the  duty  that  is  now  imposed  upon  us,  duty  to  our  mothers 
and  sisters  and  daughters  and  wives,  and  duty  to  our  Sovereign 
and  the  womanhood  of  England  not  only  for  having  pointed  out 
to  us  that  duty  but  in  heping  ua  with  head  and  heart  and 
money  to  enable  us  to  perform  that  duty.  Now,  I  think  it 
would  be  quite  superfluous  on  my  part  to  tell  you  that  the  best 
way  to  discharge  the  second  duty  is  by  fulfilling  the  first  one  to 
the  best  of  our  ability. 

Is  any  incentive  necessary  to  prompt    us  to   do   this   first 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  247 

duty,  our  duly  to  our  own  mothers,  and  to  our  own  sisters  and 
our  own  daughters  and  our  own  wives  who  are  or  are  to  become 
mothers  in  their  turn,  all  of  whom  we  have  been  hitherto  most 
culpably  neglecting  with  a  selfishness  which  has  its  origin  in 
the  pride  of  our  sex  ?  If  any  incentive  is  necessary,  I  should 
ask  you,  my  countrymen,  to  find  it  in  the  glorious  words  preg- 
nant with  the  highest  wisdom  and  the  deepest  religion  attribu- 
ted to  the  Founder  of  Islam — Aljannatu  tahta  aqddme 
nmmahdtekum  :  "  Paradise  is  beneath  the  feet  of  jour  mothers,11 
Woman  is  essentially  mother,  and  verily,  a  mother  is  the  incar- 
nation of  God's  love  on  earth.  In  neglecting  women  we  do  in 
reality  neglect  our  mother?,  and  thus  neglect  our  very  salvation. 
We  have  been  guilty  of  this  sin  all  along  our  later  national  life, 
and  the  world  has  to  see  whether  we  are  to  continue  in  it,  or 
whether  we  should  attempt  to  purge  ourselves  of  it.  Let  us 
raise  woman  from  the  subordinate  position  she  now  occupies  to 
the  co-ordinate  position  she  ought  to  occupy,  let  woman  with 
man  be  in  reality  one  flesh,  oue  heart  and  one  soul,  as  God  has 
designed,  and  then  all  will  be  right,  and  there  will  be  no  room 
for  foreign  intervention. 

Dr.  Mahendra  Lai    Sircar's  letter  to  the  Chief 

Secretary  to  the  Government  of  Bengal  on 

the  Age  of  Consent  Bill. 

The  following  is  the  full  text  of  the  letter  addressed  by 
Dr.  Mahendra  Lai  Sircar  to  Sir  John  Edgar,  K.C.I.E.,  c.s.i., 
Chief  Secretary  to  the  Government  of  Bengal,  in  reply  to  his 
letter  inviting  his  opinion  on  the  Age  of  consent  Bill : — 

To  SIB  JOHN  EDGAR,  K.C.T.R.,  c.s.r,, 

Chief  Secretary  to  the  Government  of  Bengal. 

SIR, 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter, 
No.  306  J,  dated  the  26th  January,  asking  my  opinion  on  the 
provisions  of  the  Bill  now  before  the  Legislative  Council  of 
India  to  amend  the  Indian  Penal  Code  and  the  Code  of  Criminal 
Procedure,  1882,  and  have  to  apologize  for  the  delay  due  to 
continued  illness  in  forwarding  my  reply, 


2*8  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

2.  My  opinion  on  the  custom  of  early  marriage   prevalent 
in  tbis  country  is  before  the  public  since  1871,  when,  in  reply  to 
a  circular  letter  of  the  late  Babu  Keslmb  Chunder  Sen  request- 
ing opinion  on  the  age   nf    puberty    of    native   girls    and    their 
minimum  marriageable  age,  I  gave  my  views  on  tbe  subject  in 
a  rather  lengthy  letter  to  the  Babu,  and   in  an   article,    both  of 
which  were  published    in   my   Journal    of   Medicine   (Calcutta 
Journal  of  Medicine  for  July  1871). 

3.  In  the  letter  I  said  : 

11  Early  marriage,  in  my  humble  opinion,  is  the  greatest 
evil  of  our  country.  It  has  stood,  so  to  say,  at  the  very 
springs  of  tbe  life  of  tbe  nation,  and  prevented  the  normal 
expanse  of  wbich  it  is  capable.  And  I  am  inclined  to  date  the 
fall  and  degeneracy  of  my  country  from  the  day  Angira  uttered 
the  falal  words,  and  those  words  became  law,  or  custom  which 
is  stronger  and  more  mischievous  than  law  itself  :  — 


qra 

£N:  6R[c*£r*lcT:  II 

11  The  girl  of  eight  yenrs  is  Ganri  (i.e.,  of  the  same  elevated 
character  and  purity  as  GUuri  or  Parvati,  the  goddess  Durga)  ;  of 
nine,  Roliini  (one  of  the  wives  of  the  moon);  of  ten  (a  simple) 
virgin  ;  of  above  that  age,  a  woman  who  has  menstruated.  Hence 
the  learned  should  give  their  daughters  in  marriage  whenever  they 
attain  the  ago  of  ten,  and  they  will  not  be  liable  to  the  fault  of  not 
marrying  their  daughters  in  due  time," 

"  T  have  no  doubt  in  my  own  mind  that  high  and  luxurious 
living  and  early  seeing  and  knowing  of  child  -husbands  and 
child-wives,  favored  by  the  anxiety  of  fond  parents  to  see  their 
little  ones  become  fathers  and  mothers,  are  the  chief  causes  of 
the  forced  puberty  which  we  BO  much  regret  in  our  female  no 
less  than  in  our  male  children. 

11  The  advocates  of  early  marriage  urge  that  the  custom  is 
nothing  else  than  the  expression  of  a  stubborn  necessity  which 
has  arisen  from  the  fact  of  early  pubescence  iu  this  country. 
I  think,  however,  we  are  warranted,  bjr  what  has  been  already 


iv,]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  249 

adduced,  in  concluding  that  early  marriages  have  been  the 
cause  of  early  pubescence.  The  primary  object  of  marriage  is 
no  doubt  the  production  of  healthy  offspring,  and  physiologi- 
cally speaking  it  ought  not  to  be  consummated  before  the  ages 
when  the  offspring  is  not  calculated  to  be  long-lived  or  healthy. 
The  commencement  of  the  menstrual  function  is  no  doubt  an 
index  to  the  commencement  of  puberty.  But  it  is  a  grave  mistake 
to  suppose  that  the  female,  who  has  just  begun  to  menstruate,  is 
capable  of  giving  birth  to  healthy  children.  The  teeth  are  no 
doubt  intended  for  the  mastication  of  solid  food,  but  it  would  be 
a  grievous  error  to  think  that  the  child,  the  moment  he  begins 
to  cut  hid  teeth,  will  be  able  to  livo  upon  solid  food.  Our 
anxiety,  on  the  contrary,  should  be  that  the  delicate  'masticatory 
organs  are  not  injured  or  broken  by  giving  the  child  too  hard 
food.  So  when  we  see  a  girl  is  beginning  to  have  the  monthly 
flow,  we  should  nob  only  anxiously  watch  its  course  and 
regularity,  but  should  also  watch  the  other  collateral  develop- 
ments of  womanhood  to  be  able  to  determine  the  better  the  time 
when  she  can  become  a  mother,  safely  to  heraelf  and  io  her  off- 
spring. For  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  .that  while  early 
maternity  results  in  giving  birth  to  short-lived  or  unhealthy 
children,  it  at  the  same  time  seriouly  compromises  the  health  of 
the  mother  also.  I  can  speak  positively  on  the  subject;  from 
personal  experience.  A  host  of  complaints  from  which  our 
females  suffer  life-long  or  to  which  they  fall  early  victims,  arise 
from  early  pubescence  and  early  maternity. 

"This  view  of  the  state  of  things  imperatively  demands 
that,  for  the  sake  of  our  daughters  and  sisters,  who  are  to  be- 
come mothers,  and  for  the  sake  of  generations,  yet  unborn,  but 
upon  whoso  proper  development  and  healthy  growth,  the  future 
well-being  of  the  country  depends,  tho  earliest  marriageable  age 
of  our  females  should  be  fixed  at  a  higher  point  than  what 
obtains  in  our  country.  If  the  old  grandmother's  discipline  could 
be  made  to  prevail,  there  would  be  no  harm  in  fixing  that  age 
at  14  or  even  12,  but  as  that  is  well-nigh  impossible,  or  perhaps 
would  not  be  perfectly  right  and  consistent  with  the  progress*  of 
the  times,  I  should  fix  it  at  16." 

4.     In  the  Article  I  said  : 
32 


250  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

11  We  know  the  disastrous  effect  the  custom  has  produced 
in  the  shape  of  deterioration  of  race,  and  it  will  be  culpable 
perversity  on  our  part,  if  informed  of  the  remedy  we  fail  to 
apply  it,  through  prejudice  or  pride.  The  generations,  that  are 
being  born  under  the  present  system  of  things,  in  the  eye  of 
modern  science  and  of  our  own  ancient  Ayurveda,  are  no  better 
than  abortions  and  premature  births." 

11  The  development  of  the  sexual  instinct,  in  the  human 
subject,  is  not  immediately  consequent  on  the  development  of 
the  physical  signs  of  puberty.  That  development  is,  to  a  great 
extent,  dependent  upon  moral  training  or  education,  and  may  be 
delayed  or  hastened  for  a  considerable  time  after  or  before  the 
menstrual  function  declares  itself.  We  have  seen  children,  who 
have  been  born  and  bred  in  scenes  of  sexual  immoiality,  mani- 
fest the  instinct  at  an  age  long  anterior  to  the  first  menstrua- 
tion, and  we  have  seen  grown  up  females,  who  have  been 
born  of  parents  jealous  of  their  children's  morals,  remain  un- 
conscious of  it  long  after  the  attainment  of  physical  puberty. 
And  this  very  fact  would  point  to  the  imperative  necessity  of 
the  radical  reform  for  which  we  are  contending.  Early  marri- 
ages have  led  to  precocious  offsprings,  and  this  state  of  things 
must  be  done  away  with  at  once  and  without  hesitation.  .And  in 
fact,  parents  ought  to  he  ashamed  of  themselves  if  they  prove 
unequal  to  the  ta.sk  of  watching  over  the  morals  of  their 
children.11 

"  It  is  true  that  at  each  menstrual  period  there  is  chance 
of -conception,  but  it  is  equally  true,  as  was  pointed  so  early  as 
in  the  days  of  Susruta,  that  the  product  of  conception  at  an 
age,  when  the  mother  herself  has  not  attained  her  full  develop- 
ment, is  not  likely  to  be  a  normal  human  being.  The  object 
of  Nature,  in  the  union  of  the  sexes,  is  no  doubt  the  production 
of  offspring  for  the  perpetuation  of  the  species.  But  in  order 
that  the  species  may  be  truly  perpetuated,  it  is  necessary  that 
the  offspring  should  be  healthy.  And  whatever  therefore 
interferes  With  the  production  of  healthy  offspring  must  be 
looked  upon  as  frustrating  the  intention  of  Nature,  and  there- 
fore cannot  be  regarded  as  the  dictate  of  sound  religion.  On 
the  contrary,  in  our  humble  opinion,  it  should  be  condemned 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  251 

nob  only  aa   unscientific,    but  because   of   that,   as  irreligious 
also." 

5.  I  repeated  these  views  at  the  Social  Conference  recent- 
ly held  and  over  which  I  presided  ;  and  I  gave  expression  to 
them  in  my  lecture  on  the  "Influence  of  the  Physical  Sciences 
on  Moral  Conduct  "  delivered  at  the  Town  Hall  under  the  pre- 
sidency of  His  Honor  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  when  T  said : 

"  The  burning-  topic  of  the  day  in  my  country,  which  is 
convulsing  Hindu  Society  and  has  roused,  I  am  glad  to  say, 
earnest  patriotism,  is  the  perniciousness  of  the  custom 
of  child-marriage,  a  custom  which  has  been  the  most 
efficient  cause  of  the  ruin  and  degeneiacy  of  the  Hindu 
race,  I  believe  it  would  be  impossible  for  this  custom  to 
endure,  if  the  leaders  of  our  sociely  or  better  still,  if 
every  man  and  woman  of  our  community,  were  made  to  see  in 
the  light  of  physiology  what  child-marriage  in  reality  means, 
if  they  could  be  made  to  fully  realize  that  it  not  only  inevitably 
and  to  a  living  certainty  prematurely  exhausts  the  couples  who 
are  forced  to  reproduce  before  the  proper  season,  before  they 
themselves  arrive  at  maturity,  but  by  virtue  of  that  give  rise  to 
offspring  who  must  necessarily  share  all  the  immaturity  and 
attendant  weakness  and  incapacity  of  the  parents,  and  that  a 
succession  of  such  generation  means  progressive  degeneracy  and 
imbecility  of  race,'7 

6.  While  I  was  thus  strong  and  uncompromising  in  my 
condemnation  of  the  custom  of  child-marriage,  I  must  confess 
I  was  opposed  to  legislative  interference  in  the  matter.  In  the 
article  in  the  Calcutta  Journal  of  Medicine  from  which  I  hove 
given  extracts,  I  said : — "  It  is  beyond  our  province  to  sny 
whether  legislative  interference  in  such  social  matters  is  likely 
to  be  beneficial  or  not.  We  for  ourselves  hate  coercive  legisla- 
tion. Arid  we  would  leave  such  questions  to  be  decided  by  the 
good  sense  of  the  comtnunity,"  Again  :  "  The  only  other  objec* 
tion  that  can  be  entertained  is  that  the  contemplated  abolition 
of  early  marriage  being  against  a  time-honoured  custom, 
ingrained  in  the  mind  of  the  Hindu  Community  as  having  all 
the  authority  of  religion,  however  false  the  connection  between 
them  may  now  be  shown  to  be,  will  be  attended  with  serious 


252  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

social  inconveniences,  which  it  will  not  he  possible  even  for 
enlightened  and  educated  men  to  endure.  It  ia  not  possible  to 
effect  a  sudden  change  in  the  fabric  and  organisation  of  any 
society,  far  less  of  Hindu  Society.  We  admit  the  force  of  the 
objection,  and  we  are  therefore  afraid  of  the  consequences  of 
legislative  interference,  should  the  legislature  consent  to 
Interfere.  But  we  do  not  see  any  ground  of  its  not  interfering 
when  the  interference  is  for  a  particular  section  of  the  commu- 
nity and  prayed  for  by  that  section.5' 

7.  At  the  time  I  penned  tho  above  I  was  not  aware  that 
the  Indian  Penal  Code  had  made  some  provision  however 
slight  for  tho  protection  of  child-wives  against  outrages  by 
brutal  husbands,  by  constituting  inlercourse  by  a  husband  with 
a  wife  under  ten  years  of  age  rape  in  the  eye  of  the  Law  and 
therefore  punishable  accordingly.  The  protection  is  very  slight 
indeed,  as  intercourse  by  a  husband  with  a  wife  under  ten  is  a 
a  very  rare  occurrence.  The  legislature,  evidently  as  a  first 
.attempt,  dealt  very  leniently  with  tho  customs  and  usages  of 
Hindu  Society,  and  therein  in  my  humble  opinion  made  a  mis- 
take. For  the  very  large  class  of  little  ones  who  really  needed 
protection  was  left  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  brutal  custom. 
This  large  class  is  constituted  by  girls  between  ten  and  twelve, 
at  which  age  from  precocious  development,  itself  the  product  of 
the  custom  of  child -marriage,  the  function  of  menstruation  very 
frequently  appears,  and  then  the  opportunity  is  seized  of  declar- 
ing the  little  ones  as  being  fit  for  becoming  mothers,  and  are 
then  by  the  twisting  and  torturing  of  doubtfnl  texts,  and  by  the 
ignoring  of  the  more  positive  and  authoritative  texts  of  our 
Shastras,  forced  to  become  mothers,  to  the  great  detriment  of 
the  health  of  mother  and  offspring,  which  means  to  the  great 
deterioration  of  the  race  itself. 

8.  Under  these  circumstances  I  hail  the  proposed  amend- 
ment in  the  Penal  Code  as  legislation  in  the  right  direction,  in 
the  direction  not  only  of  justice  bnt  of  humanity  to  a  large  class 
of  the  community  who  by  the  singularity  of  their  position 
cannot  protect  themselves,  indeed,  can  never  think  of  protecting 
themselves ;  a  class  who,  while  they  are  the  victims  of  a  most 
pernicious  custom,  are  not  only  not  allowed  to  see  through  their 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  253 

miserable  condition,  but  strangely  enough  are  made  to  believe 
that  tbeir  loti  is  the  happiest  that  could  be  imagined,  ordained 
by  religion  as  the  goal  to  heaven. 

9.  It  is  true  that  to   constitute  intercourse    between  hus- 
band and    wife    rnpe   under  any    circumstances    looks   like   an 
absurdity  and  an  anomaly,  subversive  of  ihe  very  pacred  charac- 
ter  of   marriage    itself,    at  least  jars  upon   common  sense  and 
aesthetics.     And   it    would   certainly  ho   better  if    the    object 
aimed   at   by   the   proposed    amendment,   could  bo  attained  by 
direct  legislation  raising   the  minimum  age  of   marriage..     But 
as  that  seems  to  be  impossible  just  at   present,  there  is  no  other 
alternative  tli an  the   amendment   proposed.     We   have  courted 
the  anomaly  by  bringing   ourselves  to  our  present  condition  by 
a  perversion  of  tho  highest  dictates  of  our  truly  holy  religion. 

10.  It  is  a  matter  of  extreme  regret  that  the  question  has 
at  last  to  be  settled  by  legislative  interference,  and  not  by  "  the 
good  sense  of  our  community,'1  to  which  I  hnd  appealed  twenty 
years  ago.     The  "  good  sense  "    displayed  by  those  of  my  coun- 
trymen  who    arc   against   the   Bill    ban  been  such    as  to  drive 
every  well-wisher  of  his  country  to  the  uttermost  depths  of  des- 
pair as  to  the  possibility  of  any  good  coming  out  of  that  "  good 
sense."     As   genuine   Hindus   mindful   of   true  religion,  I  had 
expected  that  my  countrymen  should   have  taken  this  opportu- 
nity to  pray  for  the  raising  of  the    minimum  marriageable  age, 
and  thus    win   the   honor  and  credit   of   removing   an  anomaly 
from  the  Penal  Code.     Instead   of    this,  is  it  not  heart-rending 
to  see  how  they  are  wasting  and    perverting  their   ingenuity  to 
bolster  up  rotten    texts  to  show  to  tho  world    that  Iho  Hindus 
for  centuries,  in  the  exercise  of   marital  rights    and  under   the 
sanction  of  so-called  religion,  have  been  committing  the  gravest 
and  the  most  brutal  outrages  on  immature  female  children  I  and 
that  they  must  have   this   accursed  custom  continued  and  per- 
petuated, or  their  religion  is  in  danger,  and  their  way  to  heaven 
obstructed  !  I  have  been  compelled  to  speak  thus  of  the  opposi- 
tion, because   in  my  opinion  it  is  impossible  to  imagine  a  more 
Billy,  shameless  and  suicidal  argument  than  that  of  Qarlhadan, 
that  is   being  advanced   by  them.     It   is  a  silly  argument, 
because  the    function  of  menstruation   being  of  a  periodical 


254  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

character,  it  is  impossible  to  say  from  the  first  shows  of  blood 
that  it  is  indicative  of  menstruation  at  all,  or  at  least  of  normal 
menstruation.  It  is  a  shameless  argument,  because  even 
assuming  that  the  first  show  of  blood  is  indicative  of  the  com- 
mencement of  normal  menstruation,  it  is  impossible  (for  reasons 
better  imagined)  in  the  majority  of  cases  to  enforce  the  Shastraic 
injunction  (admitting,  which  I  do  not,  that  the  injunction  is 
Sluislraie)  without  actual  force,  that  is,  without  rape  in  the 
literal  sense  of  the  term.  The  argument  is  suicidal,  because  in 
attempting  to  vindicate  our  religion,  by  its  perverse  interpre- 
tations and  forced  inferences  it  paints  that  religion  in  the  most 
hideous  colors.  And  what  am  1  to  say  to  those  of  my  profes- 
sional brethren  who  have  nob  hesitated  to  lend  the  weight  and 
the  influence  of  their  name  and  their  authority  in  this  unrighte- 
ous cause  ?  It  is  much  to  be  deplored  that  they  have  not  paid 
more  regard  to  their  Science.  It  is  a  sad  spectacle  they  have 
presented  to  the  scientific  world,  that  with  all  their  attainments 
in  physiology  and  the  allied  sciences  they  do  not  see  any  evil 
consequences  from  the  union  of  child-wives  with  child  or  adult 
husbands,  that  they  expect  mature  offspring  from  immature 
parents! 

11.  This  is  my  opinion  on  the  principle  of  the  Bill.  I  nm 
not  a  lawyer  competent  to  make  any  suggestions  as  to  its  penal 
provisions.  This  much,  however,  I  am  bound  to  say  that  a?, 
except  for  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  countiy,  the  enact- 
ment which  constitutes  intercourse  between  husband  and  wife 
rape,  is  an  anomaly,  the  punishment,  unless  the  intercourse  is 
attended  with  personal  injuries,  should  be  much  lighter  than  in 
the  case  of  ordinary  rape  ;  it  should,  in  my  humble  opinion,  in  no 
case  be  imprisonment.  In  other  words,  it  should  be  so  provid- 
ed that  the  punishment  should  never  be  such  as  to  be  ca'culated 
to  embitter  the  future  relationship  of  the  married  couples. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

Sir, 

BAIDYANATH,  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

4/fc  March,  1891.  MAIIENDRA  LAL  SIRCAR. 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  255 

Dr.  Mahendra  Lai  Slroar  on  the  Earliest  Mar- 
riageable Age. 

(Reprinted  from  the  "  Calcutta  Journal  of  Medicine"  July,  1871). 
In  private  conversation  and  public  discourse  young  Bengal 
has  been  assiduous  in  showing  off  bis  enlightenment  by  lament- 
ing over  the  evils  which  teem  in  his  unfortunate  country.  Of 
these  evils  that  which  has  furnished  material  for  the  loudest 
talk  is  early  marriage.  As  usual  with  young  Bengal,  we  have 
had  hitherto  talk  and  nothing  more.  The  monster  custom,  which 
has  enervated  our  race  so  that,  from  having  been  one  of  the 
strongest,  we  are  now  the  weakest  in  the  world,  has  defied 
mere  talk.  Young  Bengal,  no  doubt  because  of  his  half-henrted- 
ness,  has  failed  in  making  any  impression  upon  it,  and  would 
seem  to  have  dropped  the  subject  in  despair. 

Under  these  circumstances  wo  cannot  bub  be  thankful  to 
Babu  Keshub  Ch  under  Sen  for  reviving  the  subject  and  attempt- 
ing to  deal  with  it  with  his  characteristic  energy,  The  way  in 
which  he  has  proceeded  with  it  strikes  us  as  the  very  best,  be- 
cause it  is  the  most  prudent,  we  had  almost  said,  truly  scientific 
waj\  The  question,  strictly  speaking,  is  not-  primarily  religious 
but  physiological.  Its  religious  bearings  must  be  determined  by 
the  verdict  of  physiology.  This  Babu  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  hns 
well  understood,  and  accordingly  the  first  thing  he  has  done  has 
been  to  address  a  circular  letter  to  several  medical  gentlemen  of 
Calcutta,  requesting  them  to  give  their  opinion  on  the  conditions 
and  development  of  puberty  as  observed  in  native  females,  and 
on  the  earliest  marriageable  age  consistent  with  the  well-being 
of  mother  and  child  and  society,  We  publish  under  our  Qlean- 
ings  the  circular  letter  along  with  the  replies  thereto  of  the 
medical  gentlemen  addressed,  and  we  would  express  our  opinion, 
that  whatever  might  be  the  out-corne  of  the  agitation,  there 
cannot  be  the  slightest  doubt  that  it  will  hereafter  be  looked 
upon  as  the  first  practical  turn  which  wag  given  to  this  most 
important  subject.  The  opinions  themselves  form  a  most  valu- 
able contribution  to  the  literature  of  the  subject  ftnd  deserve  a 
•  permanent  record. 

We  are  sorry  to  find  that  the  agitation  has  met  with  oppo- 
3ition  from  quarters  from  which  at  least  we  did  not   expect  it. 


256  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

The  only  ground  of  the  opposition  that  we  can  disc-over  is  that 
the  agitation  has  emanated  from  Babu  Kesbub  Cbunder  Sen. 
Some  of  those  very  young  men,  who  were  hitherto  loud,  nay, 
boisterous  in  decrying  the  evil  of  early  marriage,  are  no\v  found 
in  the  ranks  of  the  opposition  laughing  at  and  ridiculing  the 
very  inquiry  itself.  We  do  not  here  allude  to  the  opposition  by 
the  so-called  Adi  Br&hmos  to  the  Br&hmo  Marriage  Bill  as  piny- 
ed  for  by  the  so-called  progressive  Brkhruos,  We  allude  to  the 
silent  and  therefore  more  effective  scoffing  of  neutral  parties, 
who  pretend  to  be  more  educated  and  enlightened  than  any  of 
their  countrymen.  We  medical  men  have  nothing  to  do  with 
sects  and  sectarianism.  We  gave  our  opinion  on  tins  moment- 
ous subject  on  true  physiological  grounds,  irrespective  of  the 
manner  in  which  they  were  likely  to  be  received  by  particular 
seota  or  individuals.  And  it  is  really  irritating  to  see  that 
such  a  broad  question,  a  if  ec  ting  the  weal  and  the  welfare  of  the 
whole  Hindu  race,  should  have  beon  viewed  by  any  from  any 
other  than  the  most  philanthropic  standpoint. 

It  is  beyond  our  province  to  say  whether  legislative  inter- 
ference in  such  social  matters  is  likely  to  be  beneficial  or  not. 
We  for  ourselves  hate  coercive  legislation.  And  wo  would  leave 
such  questions  to  be  decided  by  the  good  sense  of  the  commu- 
nity. All  that  we  want  is  that  the  pernicious  restraint,  which 
is  being  exercised  by  a  monstrous  custom  and  a  falsely-inter- 
preted religion,  be  removed. 

The  advantages  of  early  marriage  as  urged  by  its  advo- 
cates are :  — 

1.  That  the  marriage  being  accomplished   before  puberty 
is  established,  all  possibility  of  sexual  immorality  is  prevented ; 
and 

2.  Facility   being  offered  by  it  to  sexual   intercourse  just 
when  it  ought  to   begin,    that  is,   with  the   commencement  of 
puberty,  the  intention  of  nature  in  the  union  of  the  sexes,  name- 
ly, reproduction,  is  fulfilled,  so  that   there  would  be  no  possibi- 
lity of  loss  to  the  world  from  failure  of  a  single  birth. 

These  views  soem  to  hav^  derived  no  inconsiderable 
strength  from  the  dicta  of  some  crack-brained  Rising.  Thus 
Vashist'ha  says.—" 


IY.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  257 

r  qr  «*ir 


The  father  commits  the  sin  of  {raticide,  if  his  daughter,  while 
yet  unmarried,  menstruates  in  his  house.  Such  a  virgin  ii  called  a 
vrifliiHli  (a  term  of  reproach). 

And  Pait'hinashi  goes  so  far  as  to  declare  that, 


Before  her  breasts  appear,  a  girl  should  be  given  in  marriage. 
Both  he  who  gives  in  marriage,  and  he  who  receives,  a  damsel  after 
the  appearance  of  her  menses,  sink  to  hell  ;  and  the  father!  grand- 
father, and  great-  grandfather  of  each  are  again  born  in  ordure. 
Therefore  should  a  girl  be  married  at  an  age  when  she  can  go  about 
naked. 

The  objections  urged,  therefore,  by  the  advocates  of  early 
marriage  ugainst  the  abolition  of  the  custom,  are  (I)  that  it  will 
tend  to  increase  sexual  immorality,  and  (2)  cause  a  negative  loss 
to  tbe  world  in  the  shape  of  failure  of  birth.  Hence  parents 
that  neglect  to  marry  their  children  before  puberty,  are  consi- 
dered to  be  liable  to  the  sin  of  murder  of  unborn  human  beings 
that  might  otherwise  have  been  born  ! 

The  first  objection  must  be  acknowledged  to  have  some 
force.  The  intercourse  of  the  sexes  is  a  physiological  necessity, 
and  it  may  be  said  that  if  delayed  too  long  after  the  attain- 
ment of  puberty,  it  may  become  a  fertile  source  of  sexual  im- 
morality. Oar  own  statistics,  it  may  he  urged,  point  to  twelve  as 
the  average  age  at  which  the  menstruation  and  therefore  puberty 
commences  in  this  country,  and  therefore  it  may  be  argued,  the 
age  of  marriage  should  not  be  fixed  higher  than  this.  To  this  we 
reply,  that  it  is  not  early  marriage  by  itself  that  we  regret  so 
much  as  early  pubescence.  Oar  object  is,  as  indeed  it  should 
be  chat  of  all  true  philanthropists,  to  endeavour  to  prevent 
the  development  of  early  pubescence,  which  leads  to  such 
lamentable  deterioration  of  race.  And  as  we  have  shown,  we 
believe,  conclusively,  that  early  pubescence  is  the  result  of 
33 


258  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

early  marriage.  We  contend  that  by  striking  at  the  root  of 
the  latter  we  can  succeed  in  preventing  the  development  of  the 
former.  So  that  the  dread  of  the  increase  of  sexual  immorality 
consequent  upon  the  abolition  of  early  marriage,  is  altogether 
groundless. 

This  dread  is  groundless  for  other  reasons.  The  develop- 
ment of  the  sexual  instinct,  in  the  human  subject,  is  not  imme- 
diately consequent  upon  the  development  of  the  physical  signs 
of  puberty.  That  development  is,  to  a  great  extent,  dependent 
upon  moral  training  or  education,  and  may  be  delayed  or  has- 
tened for  a  considerable  time  after  or  before  the  menstrual 
function  declares  itself,  We  have  seen  children,  who  have 
been  born  and  bred  in  scenes  of  sexual  immorality,  manifest 
the  instinct  at  an  age  long  anterior  to  the  first  menstruation, 
and  we  have  seen  grown  up  females,  who  have  been  born  of 
parents  jealous  of  their  children's  morals,  remain  unconscious 
of  it  long  after  the  attainment  of  physical  puberty.  So  that 
the  objection  to  the  abolition  of  child-marriages,  if  earnestly 
made,  would  look  very  little  creditable  to  our  social  and  domes- 
tic economy — would  in  fact  show  the  rotten  state  of  the  moral 
foundation  of  our  society.  And  this  very  fact  would  point  to 
the  imperative  necessity  of  the  radical  reform  for  which  we  are 
contending.  Early  marriages  have  led  to  precocious  offsprings, 
and  this  gttite  of  things  must  be  done  away  with  at  once  and 
without  hesitation.  And  in  fact,  parents  ought  to  be  ashamed 
of  themselves  if  they  prove  unequal  to  the  task  of  watching 
over  the  morals  of  their  children.  Unless  they  can  do  that, 
they  are  unworthy  the  name  of  parents,  and  should  not  have 
made  themselves  so — an  argument  in  itself  powerful  in  favor  of 
the  measure  now  being  discussed. 

The  second  objection  is  merely  sentimental,  if  not  alto- 
gether puerile,  and  would  seem  to  have  been  based,  if  at  all, 
npon  a  mere  superficial  knowledge  of  physiology.  A  deeper 
acquaintance  with  it  will  succeed  in  removing  it  altogether.  Jt 
is  true  that  at  each  menstrual  period  there  is  chance  of  concep- 
tion, but  it  is  equally  true,  as  was  pointed  out  so  early  BS  in 
the  days  of  Susruta,  that  the  product  of  conception  at  an  age, 
the  mother  herself  baa  not  attained  her  full  development, 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  259 

is  nob  likely  to  be  a  normal  human  being*  The  object  of 
Nature,  in  the  union  of  the  sexes,  is  no  doubt  the  production  of 
offspring  for  the  perpetuation  of  the  species.  Hut  in  order  that 
the  species  may  be  truly  perpetuated,  it  is  necessary  that  the 
offspring  should  be  healthy.  And  whatever  therefore  interferes 
with  the  production  of  healthy  offspring  must  be  looked  upon 
as  frustrating  the  intention  of  Nature,  and  therefore  cannot  be 
regarded  as  the  dictate  of  sound  religion.  On  the  contrary,  in 
our  humble  opinion,  it  should  be  condemned  not  only  as  unsci- 
entific, but  because  of  that,  as  irreligious  likewise. 

The  only  other  objection  that  can  be  entertained  is  that 
the  contemplated  abolition  of  early  marriage  being  agninst  a 
time-honored  custom,  ingrained  in  the  mind  of  the  Hindu 
community  as  having  all  the  authority  of  religion,  however  false 
the  connection  between  them  may  now  be  shown  to  be,  will  be 
attended  with  serious  social  inconveniences,  which  it  will  not 
be  possible  even  for  enlightened  and  educated  men  to  en  da  re. 
It  is  not  possible  to  effect  a  sudden  change  in  the  fabric  and 
organisation  of  any  aociety,  far  less  of  Hindu  society.  We  ad- 
mit the  force  of  the  objection,  and  we  are  therefore  afraid  of 
the  consequences  of  legislative  interference,  should  the  legisla- 
ture consent  to  interfere^*But  we  do  not  see  any  ground  of  its 
not  interfering  when  tifp  interference  is  for  a  particular  section 
of  the  community  ana  prayed  for  by  that  section.  *  ( 

We  would  deem  it  a  misfortune  to  the  country,  if  the  agi- 
tation, inaugurated  by  Babu  Keahub  Chunder  Sen,  be  allowed 
to  subside  without  its  producing  the  desired  effect  upon  the 
mind  of  the  community,  if  the  note  of  warning  unanimously 
given  by  some  of  the  leading  medical  gentlemen  of  Calcutta  be 
unheeded.  We  know  the  disastrous  effect  the  custom  haa  pro- 
duced in  the  shape  of  deterioration  of  race,  and  it  will  be  culpa- 
ble perversity  on  our  part,  if  informed  of  the  remedy  we  fail  to 
apply  it,  through  prejudice  or  pride.  The  generations,  that  are 
being  born  under  the  present  system  of  things  in  the  eye  of 
modern  science  and  even  of  our  own  ancient  Ayurveda,  are  no 
better  than  abortions  and  premature  births.  What  can  be  ex- 
pected of  such  human  beings,  ushered  into  the  world  under 
such  unfavorable  ci  ream  stances  P  How  can  they  be  expected 


260  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

to  compete  in  fcbe  hard  straggle  for  existence,  not  to  say,  for 
intellectual  and  moral  superiority  ?  Why  talk  any  longer  of 
education  P  What  can  education  do  with  such  subjects  P  Edu- 
cation is  merely  a  directing  power.  But  the  energies  and  the 
forces  must  already  exist  in  order  that  the  directing  power  may 
succeed  in  leading  them  to  healthy  results. 

Our  orthodox  community,  if  they  are  consistent,  ought  to 
yield  and  adopt  the  contemplated  reform.  They  ought  no 
longer  to  rest  on  doubtful  and  suspicious  texts,  when  the  verdict 
of  common  sense  and  physiology  is  backed  by  such  high  autho- 
rities as  Maim  and  Dhanwantari.  In  religious  matters  the 
authority  of  Manu  is  unanimously  acknowledged  to  be  above 
all.  Why  tben  should  VashiHt'ha  and  Pait'hinasi  have  the 
preference  P  If  our  orthodox  community  really  have  at  heart 
the  extinction  of  the  Hindu  race,  they  could  not  have  invented 
a  surer  way  of  accomplishing  their  object  than  what  they  have 
done  in  following  the  custom  of  obi  Id- marriages.  But  if  they 
wish  that  the  once  glorious  Hindu  race  should  re-assert  its  place 
in  the  family  of  nations,  should  contribute  to  the  progress  and 
well-being  of  the  whole  human  race,  then  they  ought  to  see  by 
the  light  of  science  that  the  custom  of  early  marriage  is  suicidal  in 
the  extreme.  We  therefore  appeal  to  the  patriotism  and  the  philan- 
thropy of  our  orthodox  community.  We  appeal  to  their  vene- 
ration for  their  sastras.  And  we  hope  that  they  have  not  be- 
come dead  to  all  the  high  and  holy  instincts  of  human  nature.  We 
hope  they  may  yet  shake  off  the  shackles  of  prejudice  and 
superstition  which  have  been  lying  heavy  upon  them  and  pre- 
venting them  from  lifting  up  their  heads  in  the  atmosphere  of 
intellect  and  morals. 

MARRIAGEABLE  AGE  OF  NATIVE  GIRLS. 

Circular  letter  of  Babu  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  to  certain 

Medical  Men. 
To 

Dr.  Norman  Chevers,  M.D. 

Dr.  J.  Fayrer,  M,D.,  C.S.I. 

Dr.  J.  Ewart't  M.D. 

Dr.  S.  G.  Chuckerbutty,  M.D. 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  261 

Dr.  D.  B.  Smith,  M.D. 
Dr.  T.  E.  Charles,  M.D. 
Dr.  Chunder  Coomar  Dey,  M.D. 
Dr.  Mahendra  Lai  Sircar,  M,D. 
Tamecz  Khan,  Khan  Bahadur. 

INDIAN  REFORM  ASSOCIATION, 

1st  April,   1871. 
GENTLE  MEM, 

I  have  the  honor  to  solicit  the  favor  of  your  opinions  on  a 
subject  of  great  importance  to  the  Native  community  in  India. 
There  is  no  donbb  that  the  custom  of  premature  marriage,  as  it 
prevails  in  this  country,  is  injurious  to  the  moral,  social  and 
physical  interests  of  the  people,  and  is  one  of  the  main  obsta- 
cles in  the  way  of  their  advancement.  Owing  to  thu  spread  of 
education  and  enlightened  ideas  tho  evils  arising1  from  this  in- 
stitution are  beginning  to  be  perceived,  and  there  is  a  growing 
desire  to  remedy  them.  Those,  however,  who  are  alive  to  the 
importance  of  this  reform,  feel  great  difficulty  in  determining 
the  marriageable  age  of  Native  girls.  It  seems  necessary, 
therefore,  that  competent  medical  authorities  should  be  con* 
suited  in  the  matter,  and  their  judgment  made  known  for  the 
guidance  of  the  Native  community.  I  beg  therefore  respect- 
fully to  request,  you  will  be  pleased,  after  a  careful  considera- 
tion of  the  facts  that  have  come  to  your  knowledge,  and  of  the 
climate  and  other  influences  which  govern  the  physical  develop- 
ment of  women  in  tropical  countries,  to  state  what  you  consider 
to  be  the  age  of  puberty  of  Native  girls  and  their  minimum 
marriageable  age. 

Trusting  you  will  kindly  forgive  the  liberty  I  have  taken 
in  thus  addressing  you, 

I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

Gentlemen, 
Tour  most  obedient  servant, 

KESHUB  CHDNDER  SEN. 


262  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

Replies  to  the  above  Letter. 
[Fttoai  DR.  S.  G.  CHUCKBRDUTIT.] 

14,  Chownnghee  Road,  I*t  April,  1871. 

In  reply  to  your  letter  of  this  date,  I  beg  to  say  that  the 
usual  sign  of  puberty  in  a  girl  is  the  commencement  of  men- 
struation which  occurs  as  a  general  rule  in  all  countries  be- 
tween the  ages  of  thirteen  and  fourteen,  though  in  .some  cases 
it  may  come  on  earlier  or  later.  The  best  standard  for  com- 
parison will  be  the  Native  Christian  girls  on  the  one  hand  and 
European  girls  on  the  other,  for  in  respect  of  marriage  they 
adopt  the  same  rule.  I  am  not  awaro  that  there  is  any  practi- 
cal difference  between  these  tvvo  classes  of  girls  as  to  the  age  of 
puberty.  The  Hindu  and  Mahomedan  girls,  from  the  custom 
of  early  marriage,  attain  to  forced  puberty  at  an  earlier  age. 
This  should  therefore  never  influence  our  opinion  as  to  what  is 
the  proper  age  for  puberty  under  normal  circumstances. 

Bat  although  menstruation  may  occur  at  14  and  fruitful 
marriages  may  take  place  at  that  age,  the  minimum  age  accord- 
ing to  English  law  for  marriage  is  16  with  the  consent  of 
parents,  and  a  girl  is  not  ordinarily  supposed  to  be  capable  of 
being  independent  till  she  is  21  years  old. 

There  are  various  reasons  for  this  practice,  the  principal 
object  of  which  is  to  give  a  girl  sufficient  time  for  education, 
moral  training,  and  ripe  judgment. 

In  the  Crise  of  Native  Christian  girls  the  same  practice  is 
observed  with  benefit,  and  1  fail  to  see  why  any  other  practice 
should  be  adopted  in  the  case  of  other  classes  of  Native  girls. 
It  is  a  vicious  motive  that  as  soon  as  a  girl  menstruates  she 
must  be  married.  It  is  not  done  in  any  civilised  country,  nor 
should  it  be  done  here.  The  practice  of  abstinence  which  the 
deferment  of  marriage  imposes  on  a  girl  is  more  beneficial  to 
mankind  than  its  reverse,  i.e.,  early  marriage. 

8.  O.  CnUCKERBDTTY,     M.D. 


[  FROM  DR.  FAYRER.  ] 

3rd  April,  187 1. 

I  have  the  honour  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter, 
dated  1st   April,   1871,    and  in  reply  to  say,  that  1  have  much 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  263 

pleasure  in  giving  you  my   opinion   ou  the   important  subject 
concerning  which  you  seek  information. 

I  consider  that  the  minimum  age  at  which  Native  girls 
should  be  married  is  16  years,  and  I  believe  it  would  be  well,  aa 
a  general  rule,  that  marriage  should  be  deferred  to  a  later 
period,  say  to  18  or  20  years  of  age. 

The  fact  of  a  girl  having  attained  the  period  of  puberty 
does  not  by  any  means  imply  that,  though  capable,  she  is  fit  for 
marriage.  Physiological  science,  common  sense  and  observation 
all  teach  that  an  immature  mother  in  likely  to  produce  weak  and 
imperfect  offspring.  Before  the  parent  gives  birth  to  a  child 
she  should  herself  have  attained  her  full  growth  and  a  much 
more  complete  development  and  vigour  than  can  be  looked  for 
in  female  children  of  10  to  14  yenra  of  age.  I  am  told  that  in 
Bengal  marriages  do  frequently  take  place  at  these  very  early 
periods  of  life. 

1  am  speaking  of  the  subject  now  only  in  its  physical 
aspect;  of  the  other  disadvantages,  mornl,  socinl  and  domestic, 
I  need  say  nothing. 

They  are  so  obvious  that  they  must  forcibly  present  them- 
selves to  the  notice  of  all  the  highly  educated,  thoughtful  and 
intellectual  natives  of  Bengal,  among  whom,  it  is  to  me  a 
marvel  that  such  a  pernicious  practice  should  have  so  long  been 
permitted  to  obtain. 

You  have  my  most  cordial  sympathy  in  a  movement  which, 
if  carried  out,  will  do  more  phyfliciilly  to  regenerate  and  morally 
to  advance  your  countrymen  and  women  than  almost  any  other 
that  your  zeal  for  their  improvement  could  promote. 

J.  FATHER,  M.D. 


[  FHOM  DR.  J.  EWART.  ] 

bth  April,  1871. 

I  am  of  opinion  that  the  minimum  age  at  which  Hindu 
women  should  be  encouraged  to  marry,  would  be  after  and  not 
before  the  sixteenth  year,  But  the  race  would  be  improved 
still  more  by  postponing  the  marriage  of  women  till  the 
eighteenth  or  nineteenth  year  of  age. 

JOSEPH  EWABT, 


264  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM,  [PAET 

[FROM  DR.  CHUNDEB  GOOMAR  DET.] 

152,  Amhent  Street,  &h  April,  1871. 

In  the  absence  of  all  statistics,  it  is  bard  to  Bay  precisely 
when  oat*  girls  arrive  at  puberty,  but  my  impression  is  that 
they  generally  do  so  between  11|  and  13  years. 

Their  minimum  marriageable  age  is,  I  believe,  14  years. 

CnUNDEK   COOMAU  DEY. 


[FROM  DR.  CHEVERS.] 

Medical  Oollege,  8th  April,  1871. 

The  question  conveyed  in  your  circular  of  the  1st  instant 
regarding  the  age  of  puberty  of  native  girls,  and  their  minimum 
marriageable  age,  is  certainly  one  of  great  practical  importance, 
and  you  will  see  that  I  have  thus  regarded  it  in  my  work  on 
Medical  Jurisprudence  in  India.  The  general  opinion  among 
Physiologists  is  that,  all  collateral  circumstances  except  those 
of  climate  being  equal,  all  women  would  reach  puberty  at  about 
the  same  age.  If,  however,  there  does  prevail  in  India  an  idea 
that  a  crime  equal  to  that  of  child-murder  ig  incurred  when- 
ever menstruation  occurs  previous  to  marriage,  it  becomes 
difficult  to  obtain  statistics  showing  the  range  of  ages  at  which 
naturally  Indian  women  would  attain  puberty.  It  would  per- 
haps, be  well  to  obtain  some  statistics  of  the  ages  at  which 
puberty  was  reached  by  some  hundreds  of  carefully  brought 
up  widows  of  rfo'Zd-husbands, 

This  has  never  been  attempted,  I  believe,  and  such  a  table 
would  be  valuable  to  science  and  of  valid  aid  to  the  excellent 
purpose  which  you  have  in  view.  The  Mahomedan  law  has 
frequent  allusions  to  the  principle  that  puberty  sanctions 
marriage,  and,  doubtless,  Bengal  would  make  a  great  step  in 
advancQ,  if  parents  would  admit  and  act  upon  the  rule  that 
marriage  allowed  before  the  establishment  of  puberty,  even 
should  that  change  be  delayed  until  the  17ch  or  18th  year,  is 
contrary  to  the  law  of  nature.  Still  this  is  not  enough.  It 
stands  to  reason  that  a  wife  ought  to  be  a  person  whom  the 
least  observant  would  declare  to  be  *  "woman"  and  not  a-n 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  LW) 

immature  "  child."  Therefore,  if  safe  child-bearing  and  healthy 
offspring  are  to  he  regarded  as  being  among  the  first  objects  of 
marriage,  this  rite  ought  seldom  to  be  allowed  before  the  18th 
year,  the  16th  year  being  the  minimum  age  in  exceptional 
cases.  I  shall  be  happy  to  communicate  with  you  further  on 
this  subject,  especially  should  you  bo  nbln  to  obtain  the  statis- 
tics which  T  have  suggested. 

NOUMAN 


[FROM  Du.  D.  B.  SMITH.] 

I  was  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  note  of  the  15th  and 
for  the  4  copies  of  the  printed  Circular  which  you  were  good 
enough  to  send  me. 

With  regard  to  the  subject  of*' Too  early  marriage,"  1 
believe  it  to  be  one  of  great  importance  socially  and  politically. 
Unfortunately  it  is  almost  as  difficult  as  it  is  important,  inas- 
much as  its  consideration  brings  us  face  to  face  with  deep  pro- 
blems in  physiology  and  political  economy. 

It  is  DO  easy  matter  to  get  at  \\\Q  facts  upon  which  argu- 
ments should  alone  hinge  in  such  a  matter. 

Thousands  will  no  doubt  confidently  assert  that  the  practice 
in  pernicious  to  the  last  degree,  whose  judgment  is  based  on 
mere  hearsay,  and  who  have  never  taken  the  trouble  to  go 
into  the  enquiry  carefully.  I  am  afraid  that  trustworthy 
scientific  observations  and  statistics  as  to  tho  exact  age  of 
puberty  are  very  scanty  in  India.  Again  the  minimum 
marriageable  age  is  not  easy  of  determination. 

How  is  it  to  be  decided  ?  I  am  myself  inclined  to  think  that 
it  should  (as  far  as  physiology  is  concerned)  somewhat  closely 
correspond  with  the  complete  development  and  solidification  of 
the  booy  skeleton.  The  exact  period  at  which  I  his  occurs  in 
India  requires  careful  enquiry.  Few  men  (so  far  as  I  know) 
have  paid  special  scientific  attention  to  U,  and  yet  such  opinions 
only  are  of  any  real  value, 

The  early  betrothal  system  and  the  bringing  together  of 
persons  of  immature  age  must  be  bad,  a,a  involving  a  disturb- 
ance of  imperceptibly  gradual  sexual  development  and  a* 
34 


TNDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM*  [PART 

lighting  up,  what  in  medical  physiology  might-be  called,  an 
unnatural 4  Erythism.'  I  should  be  glad  indeed  to  be  familiar 
with  and  to  understand  all  the  exact  social  and  religious 
grounds  upon  which  the  practice  has  been  adopted  and  followed 
in  India,  and  to  read  the  arguments  by  which  they  can  best  be 
met. 

It  appears  to  me  that  any  attack  made  against  an  institu- 
tion might  possibly  do  more  harm  than  good,  unless  it  is  very 
woll  thought  out,  determined  ano]  overpowering,  and  unless  it 
rests  upon  masses  of  incontrovertible  facts  and  investigations 
of  a  precise  scientific  character. 

With  these,  I  dare  say,  .some  good  might  be  clone,  particu- 
larly if  a  number  of  Jeading  and  thinking  men  would  bring1 
forward  some  arguments. 

The  great  difficulty  appears  to  me  to  collect  facts  of  real 
value.  I  confess  that  at  present  T  am  personally  not  in  pos- 
session of  many  such  facts. 

But  the  subject  is  one  which  interests  me  greatly,  and  I 
shall  be  only  too  glad  if  in  any  way  it  lies  in  my  power  to  fur- 
ther the  objects  of  the  Circular,  or  to  assist  you  in  the  rectifica- 
tion of  what  is,  I  believe,  one  of  the  physical  and  social  evils 
which  tend  to  sap  the  vigor  of  Indian  communities. 

I  shall  be  very  glad  if  you  will  keep  me  acquainted  with 
any  thing  that  is  being  done  in  this  matter. 

D.  B.  SMITH. 


[FROM  Dn,  T,  E.  CHARLES,] 

Calcutta,  4tli  May,  1871. 

The  question  asked  about  the  precise  ago  at  which  girls 
arrive  at  puberty  in  Bengal  is  one  which  it  is  not  possible  to 
answer  by  fixing  any  given  date  as  that  at  which  puberty 
commences,  Neither  in  this  nor  in  any  other  county  can 
puberty  be  said  to  arrive  at  a  given  date,  as  whatever  date  is 
taken,  though  it  may  truly  represent  an  age- at  which  many 
girla  menstruate,  must  necessarily  -  fait  to  include  the  caseft  of 
those  who  menstruate  a  year  earlier  or  later,  and  constitute 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS. 

a  class  HO  uumorpus  aa  perhaps  to  iijclude  as  largo  a  number 
as  the  one  to  whom  the  date  chosen  is  applicable. 

Swshruta  fixes  the  date  of  menstruation  in  India  at  "  after 
the  12th  year."  The  inquiries  of  Baboo  Modus u dan  Goopto 
led  him  to  believe  that  menstruation  usually  began  after 
the  12th  year,  or  at  the  beginning  of  the  I3tli  year,  f 
regret  that  I  have  not  collected  any  statistics  on  the  subject, 
and  can  only  record  my  impression  from  all  I  have  seen  thai 
both  of  the  above  authorities  have  fixed  the  date  a  few  rcouths 
earlier  than  1  would  feel  inclined  to  do.  If  I  were  foi-ced  to 
name  any  single  date,  I  would  state  that  the  end  of  the  \Sth  year 
would  more. correctly  represent  the  state  of  the  case  as  now  met 
with  in  Calcutta.  1  would  have  it  clearly  understood  however 
that  such  is  only  an  impression,  and  does  not  deserve  that  im- 
plicit confidence  should  be  placed  on  it.  I  Liu  ye  heard  of  very 
numerous  instances  of  menstruation  occurring  during  the  twelfth 
year,  and  many  during  the  eleventh.  JJefpre  this  ditto  men- 
struation is  not  rare,  but  still  deserves  to  bo  regarded  as  ex- 
ceptional, much  in  the  same  light,  in  fact,  as  similar  cases  aro 
looked  on  in  colder  climates.  I  have  heard  of  many  girls  nut 
menstruating  till  long  after  the  completion  of  the  thirteenth 
year.  Instances  delayed  till  the  completion  of  the  fifteenth  year 
are  of  such  frequent  occurrence  that  I  never  regard  them  as  ex- 
ceptional. Instances  of  menstruation  delayed  till  the  16th, 
17th,  and  18th  year  are  met  with.  Good  eve  tabulated  six  such 
cases  out  of  ninety  instances,  and  a  seven  which  had  r.ot 
begun  to  menstruate  at  20.* 

I  would  beg  to  be  allowed  strongly  to  insist  on  the  fact, 
that  the  beginning  of  menstruation  should  not  be  taken  to  re- 
present tlie  marriageable  age.  It  is  true  that  taking  generally, 
this  may  be  said  .to  be  the  sign  that  a  girl  has  arrived  at  .the  age 
at  whiqh  she  may  conceive.  It  13  an  undoubted  fact,  however, 
that  out  of  many  gif-ls  living  in  the  married  state  at  the  time  that 
menstruation  begins,  very  few  do  conceive  for  many  months  or 
even  years  after  that, function  hns  become  established.  I  be- 
lieya  that  though  this  event  may  be  taken  to  represent  commen- 
cing puberty,  a  girl  ought>not  to  foe  taken  as  having  arrived  at 
y,  till  vauouBvbanges  m  her  organisation,  Tvjiich  take 


2(U  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

place  gradually '  and  occupy  a  considerable  period,  h&vd  been 
fully  completed.  I  have  no  data  on  which  to  determine  how 
long-  these  changes  occupy.,  and  therefore  cannot  assign  any  date 
after  the  first  menstruation,  as  the  one  at  which  puberty  should 
be  considered  OH  completed.  - 

.  It  is  also  of  great  importance  that  the  fact  should  be  kept 
prominently  in  view,  that- there  is  a  broad  distinction  between 
the  ag»  at  which  it  is  possible  for  a  child  to  conceive  and  that 
at  which  it  is.prudent  ina  medical  point  of  view  that  she  should 
be  allowed  to  become  a  mother.  I  have  seen  many  mothers  in 
India  of  fourteen,  instances  of  early  maternity  are  not  rare  ; 
but  when  I  meet  with  n  mother  under  fourteen,  I  look  upon 
her  as  an  exception,  though  Baboo  Modusudun  Goopto  has 
tubulated  live  such  cases  out  of  thirty-seven  women  among 
whom  he  made  enquiry.-  Though  I  hnvc  seen  so  many 
mothers  at  fourteen  ay  to  look  on  the  occurrence  of  mater* 
nity  at  that  age  as  the  rule  rather  than  the  exception,  I  uni- 
formly regard  such  instances  of  early  child-bearing  as  a  mis- 
fortune. I  am  fully  convinced  that  the  evils  attendant  on  child- 
bearing  at  such  an  early  period  are  much  greater  than  when  the 
bodily  frame  of  the  mother  has  arrived  at  more  perfect  maturi- 
ty, and  consider  that  every  endeavour  should  be  made  to  pre- 
vent children  becoming  mothers  at  fourteen.  Constitutions 
shattered  by  early  child-bearing  cannot  be  made  to  appeal  so 
strongly  to  the  intellect  of  others  who  have  not  been  witnesses 
of  the  extensive  mischief  caused,  as  figure? calculated  on  a  death 
rate.  I  should  think  it  possible  that  by  examining  the  death 
rate  of  young  mothers,  some  very  valuable  statistical  data  could 
be  secured.  Till  some  such  exact  information  becomes  available, 
I  may  quote  the  fact  that  in  France  fl  twice  as  many  wives 
under  twenty  die  in  the  year,  as  die  out  of  the  same  number  of 
the' unmarried,"  and  state  my  belief  that  probably  the  injurious 
effect  of  early  child-bearing  would  be  more  apparent  from  In- 
dian statistics.  To  fix  a  minimum  marriageable  age  is  so  purely 
an  arbitrary  proceeding,  that  I  prefer  to  adopt  -the  age  of  14 
years,  as  proposed  in  the  Bill,  and  making  a  few  remarks  on  it, 
to  attempting  'to  assume  another 'us  a-  more  iife  limit.  In  a 
medical  point  of  view  alouc  the  limit  of  14  years,-  though  pro- 


iv.]  MlSGELIuiNEQUS  PAPERS.  200 

hably  sufficiently  low  if  only  a  few  were  expected  to  take* advant- 
age of  it,  I  consider  to  be  much  too  low  when  it  is  believed  that 
the  great  majority  of  those  about  to  many  will  avail  themselves 
of  the  earliest  lawful  opportunity  of  doing  so.  It  would  to 
improper  to  style  a  girl  of  fourteen  as  a  child,  but  we  would  be 
equally*  far  wrong  in  regarding  her  aw  a  woman*  She  is  in  a 
transition  stage,  and  while  she  is  only  developing  into  a  woman* 
hood,  she  is  in-  a  position  as  regards  child-bearing  which  is  very 
far  from  perfect.  Tho  practical  effect  of  this  limit  will  be  to 
ensure  that  the  young  mothers  will  just  be  removed  from  the 
period  of  childhood,  which  [  consider  to  be  a  very  great  deside- 
ratum, but  it  will  not  place  them  within  the  safe  period  of  adult 
age.  At  present  I  believe  the  majority  of  the  women  become 
mothers  while  they  may  bo  said  to  be  children!  and  the  proposed 
.change  will  just  bring  them  into  that  age  in  which  they  may 
with  propriety  bo  regarded  as  adolescent.  Child-bearing  ill  the 
early  stages  of  adolescence,  1  regard  only  as  little  less  injurious 
tbaii  during  childhood ;  and  any  regulation  which  would  ensure 
that  most  young  mothers  would  have  completed  their  fifteenth 
year  is  one  calculated  to  do  a  great  amount  of  good  though 
stopping  very  far  short  of  what  might  be  done.  I  am  distinctly 
of  opinion  that  a  resolute  stand  should  be  made  for  the  full  age 
at  present  proposed,  and  would  regard  the  relaxation  of  even  * 
month  or  two  as  positive  loss.  Tiiking  into  consideration  the 
present  state  of  Native  feeling  on  the  subject,  I  have  refrained 
from  dwelling  at  length  on  the  injurious  effect  &  of  women  bear- 
ing children  even  during  adolescence.  When  the  present  step 
has  been  attended  with  success,  and  the  mind  of  the  community 
has  been  accustomed  to  the  change,  it  will  then,  be  time  to  try 
and  effect  further  improvement.  I  do  not  know  whether  it  would 
be,  just  to  expect  the  law  to  give  assistance  in  the  matter  to  a 
.much  further  extent,  but  the  leaders  of  thought  and  those  whose 
influence  extends  to  guiding  social  customs  should  frooi  the  be- 
ginning strive  to  give  the  fullest  prevalence  to  the  idea  that 
though  the  law  sanctions  thfi  age  of  fourteen  aa  the  minimum 
age  for  marriage,  medical  considerations  unite  with  all  others 
in  deprecating  such  early  uuions.  If  the  object  be  steadily  kept 
iu  view  and  frequently  dwelt  on,  a  moat  important  change  will 


27U  .INDIAN  SOCIAL  REWtiM* 

undoubtedly  be  effected  011  public  opinion*  aud  when  implioiu 
tion  in  sucli  aa  early  marriage  oomea  to  be  regarded  as  a 
breach  of  good  breeding,  as  it  undoubtedly,  is  .among.  Western 
nations,  the  gain  to  the  nation  will  be  immense*  Even  among 
orthodox  Hindu  families,  I  am  told  that  various  causes  have 
led  to  a  postponement  of  the  very  early  age  at  which  marri- 
ages used  to  take  place.  I  am  told  that  half  a  century  ago,  a 
strong  fooling  existed  that  marriage  should  take  place  at  the 
age  of  eight,  while  aboafc  fifteen  years  ago,  the  age  of  eleven 
was  deetned  sufficiently  young.  Of  late  years  a  gradual  im- 
provement seems  noticeable,  as  large  numbers  of  girls  do  not 
marry  till  they  are  12,  and  marriages  delayed  till  13  are  by  uo 
means  very  rare.  Even  should  the  religious  belief  of  the  Hindu 
render  it  obligatory  on  him  to  give  his  daughter  in  marriage 
before  menstruation  begins,  as  far  as  I  know  there  is  no  obli- 
gation which  necessitates  his  allowing  his  daughter  to  remain 
vrith  her  husband  till  she  has  arrived  at  such  an  age  that  child- 
bearihg  will  not  prove  exceptionally  injurious  to  her  system.  I 
cannot  shut  my  eyes  to  many  difficulties  which  are  in  the  way 
of  even  slow  progress,  but  most  of  them  can,  I  conceive,  be  got 
over,  and  as  they  do  not  depend  on  any  medical  question,  I  do 
not  enter  into  this  view  of  the  subject;  Two  points,  however, 
constituting  grave  and  formidable  impediment  have  come  pro- 
minently before  me  while  making  enquiries  to  enable  me  to 
offer  an  opinion  on  the  question.  One  lies  in  a  wide-spread 
belief  that  the  climate  leads  to  early  menstruation,  which 
points  to  early  marriage,  aud  the  other  a  similarly  extended 
opinion  that  the  climate  causes  an  early  development  of  sexual 
passion,  There  is  just  sufficient  truth  in  both  these  statements 
to  render  it  impossible  to  give  them  a  full  and  unreserved  denial, 
and  yet  so  little  truth  in  them  as  to  render  the  arguments  based 
on  them  entirely  valueless.  Menstruation  in  Calcutta  is  un- 
doubtedly earlier  than  it  is  in  London,  though  the  difference  in 
this  respect  between  the  two  places  is  not  BO  great  as  is  usually 
believed.  The  climate  and  other  sprroundingu  of  young  girls 
may  have  some  influence  ia  leading  to  this  result,  but  the  grant 
cause  which  induc^  ea^ly  .menstruation  is  undoubtedly  ea*ly 
imm-iage.  The  girl  tifrfurced  in  to .  menstruating  prematurely 


m}  AflSCELLAKJUG  PS  PAfSRS.  27 J 

by  the  abnormal  conditions  under    which    'marriage*  places 
her. 

•  Horse  breeders  are  well  aware  of  this  physiological  law, 
and  owners  of  racing  studs  habitually  take  advantage  of  this 
natural  law  when  it  suits  their  purpose  by  confining  an  entire 
pony  under  the'  same  roof,  though  separated  from  the  mure 
by  partition,  when  tbey  desire  that  her  ovaries  should  be  .forced 
prematurely  into  that  condition  which  is  analogous  to  the  state  • 
they  are  in  during  menstruation  in  the  human  species. 

I  believe,  in  the  young  widow  and  in  the  girl  kept 
separate  from  her  husband,  menstruation  occurs  uni- 
formly later  than  in  thosa  living  in  a  state  of  marriage.  I 
am  also  of  opinion  that  the  universality  of  early  marriage 
has  had  a  decided  effect  in  determining  the  earlier  appearance 
of  menstruation,  OH  it  is  well  known  that  instances  of  early  and 
late  menstruation  show  themselves  regularly  in  special  families 
and  the  age  at  which  menstruation  occurs  may  be  regarded  n& 
in  a  great  measure  hereditary.  A  very  large  number  of  tho  in- 
stances of  menstruation  met  with  before  the  thirteenth  year,  is 
capable  of  very  easy  explanation  on  the  supposition  of  early 
marriage  having  caused  their  premature  appearance,  If  mar- 
riage became  generally  delayed  till  menstruation  had  been  fully 
established,  I  am  quite  sure  that  after  a  series  of  generations, 
menstruation  would  come  on  habitually  at  a  later  and  later 
period  and  much  more  closely  approach  to  a  Western  standard. 

On  the  subject  of  the  early  development  of  sexual  passion  T 
write  with  great  reluctance,  and  only  write  at  all  because  I  con- 
sider by  not  referring  to  the  question,  it  will  do  more  harm  than 
by  allowing.it  to  enter  in  to  this  discussion. 

I  have  long  believed  that  the  young  Hindu  female  is  usu- 
ally totally  devoid  of  all  sexual  feeling,  and  special  enquiries  on 
the  point  made  daring  the  present  investigation  have  complete- 
ly confirmed  me  in  this  opinion.  Believing  the  allegation  to 
be  without  foundation,  I  consider  the  fear  of  seduction  grounded 
on  it  to  be  needless,  and  am.  convinced  that  such  a  misfortune 
befalling  on  any  Bengalee  girl. of  fourteen  or  fifteen  .years  of  ago 
woald  depend  on  a  train  of  events  in  which  sexual  passion  would 
bold  us  unimportant  a  place  *s  it  would  do  under  similar 


272  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

oircunisfcaunes  in  Spitz bergeu  or  the  Northern  shore  of  Baffin's. 
Bay. 

T.  EDMONSTON  CHARLES. 


[FROM  PR.  M.  L.  SIRCAR.  j 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  receipt  of  your  circular 
letter  dated  the  1st  April,  1871,  and  I  have  to  apologi/e  for  the 
delay  in  replying  to  it. 

The  subject  mooted  in  your  letter  has  been  to  me,  for  a 
long  time  past  and  especially  since  T  have  taken  to  the  profes- 
sion to  which  I  have  the  honour  to  belong  —  and  as  I  believe  it 
cannot  but  be  to  those  of  niy  countrymen  who  look  upon  life 
beyond  the  mere  surface  of  its  pleasures  and  woes,  who  have 
acquainted  themselves  with  the  laws  of  its  genesis,  development, 
maturity  and  decline,—  one  of  the  deepest  concern  and  anxiety. 
And  I  must  express  to  you  my  heart-felt  thanks,  as  all  true  well 
wishers  of  our  country  ought,  for  the  initiative  you  have  taken 
in  the  matter. 

Early  marriage,  in  my  humble  opinion,  is  the  greatest  evil 
of  our  country.  It  has  stood,  so  to  say,  at  the  very  springs  of 
the  life  of  the  nation,  and  prevented  the  normal  expanse  of 
which  it  is  capable.  And  1  am  inclined  to  date  the  fall  and  de- 
generacy of  my  country  from  the  day  Angira  uttered  the  fatal 
words,  p.nd  those  words  became  law,  or  custom  which  is  stronger 
and  more  mischievous  than  law  itself  :  — 

ift  iftdr  wwr  a  ftlWr  I 

ai?T  &$  WWW  II 


u 

The  girl  of  eight  years  is  Ganri  (i»c.t  of  the  same  elevated  character 
and  purity  aa  Gauri  or  Farvatj,  the  goddess  Durga)  j  of  nine,  Echini  (one 
of  the  wives  of  tho  moon)  ;  of  ten  (a  simple)  virgin  ;  of  above  that  age,  a 
woman  who  has  menstruated.  Henoe  the  learned  should  give  their 
daughters  in  marriage  whenever  they  attain  the  age  of  ten,  and  they  will 
not  be  liable  fco  the  fault  of  not  marrying  their  daughters  in  due  time, 


MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  273 


"  I  do  not  know  how  such  an  absurd-  opinion  cfrme<  to*be 
tolerated  and  received  as  the  rale  of  marriage.  I  believe  it 
waft  the  natural  off  -shoot  of  the  morbid  jealousy  tyhioh  was 
slowly  taking  possession  of  the  Hindu  mind  and  of  which  the 
final  expression  we  have  now  in  our  own  time.  I  hope  the  day 
has  dawned  for  better  things. 

Mann,  would  seem  to  fix  the  earliest  marriageable  age  of 
girls  at  twelve  or  eight  :  —  ,  t     . 


A  man  aged  thirty  years  may  marry  a  girl  of  twelve,  (if  .  he  fju<tl  pw) 
dear  to  his  heart  ;  a  man  of  twenty-four  years,  a  damsel  of  eight,  'If  ho 
marries  earlier  (than  twenty-four)  he  loses  virtue, 

We  ought  to  remember  that  by  thisr  text  Manu  simply 
limits  the  minimum  marriageable  age  of  the  male  and  the 
female.  He  does  by  no  means  prohibit  later  inarriages.  On 
the  contrary,  he  strictly  prohibits  the  marriage  oE  a  man  of 
thirty  with  a  girl  of  less  than  twelve,  and  so  on,  He  does;  not 
say  a  man  of  thirty  may  not  marry  a  girl  of  a  higher  age  than 
twelve.  All  that  he  says  is  that  the  youngest  girl  that  a  man 
of  thirty  can  marry  is  one  of  twelve  years.  This  is  evident 
from  his  laying  down,  in  the  same  text,  that  a  man  of  twenty- 
four  may  marry  a  girl  of  eight.  The  spirit  of  this  text  would 
be  better  understood  if  we  take  it  along1  with  another  in  Which 
he  says  :  — 


The  girl,  though  menatruanfc,  should  rather  stay  at  (her.  father's)  home 
tilt  her  death,  than  be  given  away  iu  marriage  to  one  devoid  of  all  excel- 
lent qualities.  .  . 

Now  certainly  this  is  a  very  positive  injunction,  and  why 
should  our  community  overlook  or  disregard  it  ?  Manu's  au- 
thority is  acknowledged  by  all  to  be  higher  than  that  of  Angi^. 
Why  then  should  the  latter  have  the  preference  in  a  matter  Q£ 
aach  vital  importance,  and.in  which  WQ  have,  as  we  shall  set, 
corroboratory  evidence  of  oar  Ayurveda  ? 
35 


274  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFOKN.  [PART 


.  ... 

We  have  not,  it  seems,   any  mean.      q  ™  ascertaining  what 

was  the  earliest  marriageable  age  in  the  Ve^,"^  times,  at  least  I 
have  not  had  opportunities  of  satisfying  myself  *.    *  nn  *-ne  subject, 
I  therefore  naturally  turned  to  our  ancient  medical         writings  to 
see  it  the  Hindu  medical  philosophers  of  old  also  sanctione**  *  "1  the 
onpbysiological  custom  of  early   marriage.     This  search  h.      as 
cost  me  some  time,  and  this  is  the  reason,  Sir,  of   the  delay  in 
'replying  to  your  letter.     As  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascer- 
tain! we  have  no  mention  of  the  age  of  first  menstruation  nor 
of  the  earliest  marriageable  age  in  Charaka  Sanhita,  perhaps 
the  oldest  work  extant  of  Hindu  medicine.    But   in  Suaruta,  a 
work  of  equal  celebrity  and  almost  equal   antiquity,    we   have 
distinct  mention  of  the  age  when   menstruation  usually  com- 
mences and  of  the  age  when  it  ceases. 

19:09 


The  menstrual  blood  of  females  is  also  elaborated  from  the  chyle,  Tt 
begins  to  flow  after  the  ago  of  twelve  years,  and  ceases  to  do  so  after  that 
of  fifty. 

And  more,  we  are  told  the  age  before  which  the  female 
ought  not  to  conceive  :  — 


u 

m 


If  the  male  before  the  age  of  twenty-five  impregnates  the  female  of 
loss  than  sixteen  years  old,  the  product  of  conception  will  either  die  in  the 
womb  ;  or  if  it  is  born  it  will  not  be  .long  -lived,  and  even  if  it  lives  long,  it 
will  be  weak  in  all  its  organs.  Hence  the  female  should  not  be  made  to 
conceive  at  too  early  an  age. 

Here  there  is  no  ambiguity.  The  opinion  expressed,  as  to 
what  should  be  the  minimum  age  of  child-  bearing,  is  decided, 
And  this  age  is  certainly  higher  than  what  Angira's  dictum,  if 
followed,  is  calculated  to  make  it,  and  what  is  now  actually 
seen.  In  fact,  the  passage  looks  very  like  a  protest  against  the 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  275 

evil  of  early  marriage  which  had  probably  already  began  to  be 
felt  at  the  time  the  treatise  was  composed. 

As  in  the  discussion  of  this  subject,  the  question  of  the  age 
of  firet  menstruation  naturally  comes  to  mind,  and  as  it  is 
commonly  believed  that  this  is  the  age  which  nature  has 
indicated  as  the  time  when  the  opposite  sexes  should  be  united 
in  holy  marriage,  I  have  been  at  some  pains  in  collecting 
statistics  on  the  subject.  The  inquiry  is  attended  with  great 
difficulty,  which  you,  Sir,  as  a  Hindu,  can  easily  understand, 
However,,  as  my  informants  are  all  educated  men  and  felt 
interested  in  the  inquiry,  on  their  testimony  I  can  vouch  tor 
the  accuracy  of  the  facts  which  I  have  collected  and,  which  I 
now  submit  to  you. 


A'o. 

y 

m 

No. 

y 

m 

Wo. 

V 

m 

No. 

y 

m 

1. 

8 

9 

25. 

10 

11 

49. 

11 

6 

73. 

12 

2 

£. 

8 

10 

26. 

11 

0 

50. 

11 

6 

74. 

12 

2 

3. 

9 

0 

27. 

11 

0 

51. 

11 

8 

75. 

12 

2 

4. 

9 

0 

28. 

11 

0 

52. 

11 

9 

76. 

1? 

3 

5. 

9 

2 

29- 

11 

0 

53. 

11 

9 

77. 

12 

3 

6. 

9 

5 

30. 

11 

0 

54. 

11 

9 

78. 

12 

•3 

7. 

9 

5 

SI. 

11 

0 

55. 

11 

10 

79. 

12 

3 

8. 

9 

5 

32. 

11 

1 

56. 

11 

10 

80. 

12 

3 

9. 

9 

5 

33.- 

11 

2 

57. 

11 

10 

81. 

12 

3 

10. 

9 

5 

34. 

11 

3 

58. 

11 

10 

82. 

12 

3 

11. 

9 

10 

35. 

u 

3 

59. 

12 

0 

83. 

12 

3 

12. 

9 

10 

36. 

11 

:{ 

60. 

12 

0 

84. 

12 

4 

13. 

10 

0 

37. 

11 

3 

61. 

12 

0 

85. 

12 

5 

14. 

10 

0 

38. 

11 

3 

62. 

12 

0 

86. 

12 

5 

15. 

10 

2 

39. 

11 

3 

63. 

12 

0 

87. 

12 

5 

16. 

10 

2  . 

40. 

11 

3 

64. 

12 

0 

88. 

12 

5 

17. 

10 

3 

41. 

11 

3 

65. 

12 

0 

89. 

]2 

6 

18. 

10 

6 

42. 

11 

4 

66. 

12 

0 

90. 

12 

6 

19. 

1C 

6 

43. 

n 

5 

67. 

12 

0 

91. 

12 

6 

20. 

10 

e 

44. 

11 

5 

68. 

12 

1 

92. 

12 

6 

21. 

10 

6 

45. 

n 

6 

69. 

12 

1 

93. 

12. 

6 

22. 

10 

T 

46. 

11 

6 

70. 

12 

I 

94. 

12 

7 

23. 

10 

10 

47. 

11 

6 

71, 

12 

1 

95. 

12 

7 

24, 

10 

10 

48. 

u 

6 

,  72. 

12 

u 

96. 

12 

7 

276  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 


NV,. 

y 

t»i 

No. 

y 

m 

No. 

y 

m 

No. 

y 

m 

97. 

12 

hi 

108. 

13 

0 

119. 

13 

9 

130. 

14 

2 

98.' 

12 

1  8 

109. 

13 

0 

120. 

13 

9 

131. 

14 

3 

99. 

12 

8 

110. 

13 

1 

121. 

14 

0 

132. 

14 

10 

160. 

12 

10 

111. 

13 

2 

122, 

14 

0 

133. 

15 

0 

101. 

12 

10 

112. 

13 

2 

123. 

14 

0 

134. 

15 

0 

102. 

12 

10 

113. 

13 

2 

124. 

14 

0 

135. 

15 

4 

1<W. 

IS 

11 

114. 

13 

3 

125. 

14 

0 

136. 

17 

.5 

101 

13 

0 

115. 

13 

5 

126. 

14 

0 

137. 

18 

0 

105. 

13 

0 

116. 

13 

6 

127. 

14- 

0 

138. 

19 

0 

106. 

13 

0 

117. 

13 

7 

128. 

14 

1 

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13 

0 

118. 

13 

8 

129. 

14 

2 

Besides  the  above  138  cases  in  which  the  ages  of  first 
menstruation  are  given  precisely  to  the  year  and  month,  I  have 
been  famished  with  additional  46  cases  in  which  the  ages  have 
been  given  precisely  as  to  the  year  only.  Thus  in  four,  the 
menstruation  had  commenced  after  the  age  of  9  years,  in  nine 
after  10,  in  thirteen  after  11,  in  twenty-four  after  12,  in  five 
after  13,  in  six  after  14,  and  in  three  after  15.  So  that, 
altogether,  we  have  2  cases  of  first  menstruation  after  the  age 
of  8  years,  14  after  9,  22  after  10,  46  after  12,  22  after  13,  18 
after  14,  6  after  15,  2  after  17  ;  in  1  after  18.  The  following 
negative  facts,  which  were  furnished  to  me,  are  worth  men- 
tioning, namely,  in  one  girl  aboVe  13,  in  four  above  14,  in  one 
above  19,  and  in  one  above  40,  the  function  has  not  yet  appeared. 
The  last  two  cases  are  no  doubt  quite  exceptional,  depending  upon 
tome  undetected  abnormality.  On  an  average  of  all  the  cases  the 
function  begins  after  the  age  of  11  years  and  9  months ;  on  an 
average  of  the  cases  in  which  the  age  is  precisely  given,  the  ago 
in  whiih  it  Commences  is  twelve  years  and  one  month, -which 
may  be  looked  upon  as  corroboratory  of  that  laid  down  in 
Susruta,  if'we  take  Susruta's  age  as  the  average.  Bat  if  we 
lake  the  age  laid  down  in  Susruta  as  the  minimum,  which  is 
niore  likely  from  the  language  employed,  then  we  must  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  minimum  age  of  menstruation  has, 
since  toe  days  of  Susruta,  become  much  lower,  a  fact  which 
demands  serious  consideration. 

As  to  whether  climate,  the  degree  of  latitude,  the  position 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  277 

on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  the  nature  of  the  soil,  and  other 
surroundings  have  or  have  not  nny  influence  upon  the  men- 
strual function,  its  first  appearance,  its  subsequent  regularity, 
and  its  final  decline,  is  a  question  which  may  be  still  regarded 
as  open  to  discussion.  I  do  not  think  facts  have  been  collected 
with  sufficiently  scrupulous  accuracy,  and  other  circumstance?, 
social  and  domestic,  have  been  allowed  due  weight  in  the 
balance  of  causation,  to  warrant  any  positive  conclusion  on  the 
point.  A  superficial  view  of  available  facts  would  seem  to 
incline  the  mind  to  the  belief  that  climate  does  influence  the 
menstrual  function,  delaying  its  first  appearance  in  the  cold  and 
hastening  the  period  in  tropical  countries.  After  carefully 
weighing  all  the  circumstances  which  might  have  a  possible 
influence  on  the  function,  I  am  led  to  believe  that  if  climate 
Ii8,s  any  influence,  it  is  trifling,  not  to  Bay  infinitesimal.  There 
is  no  doubt,  aa  our  table  will  show  that  the  age  cf  first  men- 
struation here  in  Calcutta  (I  do  not  say  Bengal  advisedly)  is 
earlier  than  in  London,  but  I  am  more  inclined  to  attribute  this 
difference  to  the  difference  o£  social  and  domestic  economy  that 
obtains  in  the  respective  places.  1  have  not  said  Bengal,  because 
I  have  positive  testimony  that  there  is  a  striking  difference 
between  the  ages  of  first  menstruation  in  town  and  country'. 
The  earliest  ages  that  I  have  quoted  of  early  menstruation  were 
in  some  of  the  rich  families  iu  Calcutta.  And  I  have  no  doubt 
in  my  mind-that  high  and  luxurious  living  and  early  seeing  and 
knowing  of  child-husbands  and  child-wives,  favored  by  the 
anxiety  of  fond  parents  to  see  their  little  ones  become  fathers 
and  mothers,  are  the  chief  causes  of  the  forced  puberty  which 
•we  so  much  regret  in  our  female  no  less  than  in  our  male 
children.' 

It  is  huh  fair  to  say  that  this  evil  of  early  marriage 
has  reached  its  climax  only  in  the  present  day ;  especially 
in  lower  Bengal,  and  more  especially  in  Calcutta.  The 
evil  was  till  recently  in  Bengal,  as  it  is  still  in  the  North -West, 
counteracted  to  some  extent  by  a  quasi -custom,  by  which  the 
fulfilling  of  the  actual  rites  of  marriage,  the  actual  seeing  and 
knowing  of  child- husbands  and  -child-wives,  is  prevented  till 
after  some  maturity  had  been  attained  by  both.  With  the 


278  INDIAN  SOCIAL  'REFORM.  [PART 

progress  of  enlightenment  this  rigid  grand  mother's  discipline 
has  begun  to  be  disregarded,  and  we  have  now  true  physiological 
marriage  almost  immediately  after  the  ceremonial  one  is  over. 
It  is  therefore  high  time  that  we  should  endeavour,  by  the  light 
of  common  sense  and  science,  to  set  matters  right  by  fixing  the 
minimum  marriageable  age  of  oar  girls,  consistent  with  the 
normal  development  of  the  offspring  and  the  preservation  of 'the 
health  of 'the  mother. 

The  Advocates  of  early  marriage  urge  that  the  custom  is 
nothing  else  than  the  expression  of  a  stubborn  necessity  which 
has  arisen  from  the  fact  of  early  pubescence  In  this  countrjr.  I 
think,  however,  we  are  warranted,  by  what  has  been  already 
adduced,  in  concluding  that  early  marriages  have  been  the  cause 
of  early  pubescence.  The  primary  object  of  marriage  is  no 
doubt  the  production  of  healthy  offspring,  and  physiologically 
6  peaking  it  ought  not- to  be  consummated  before  the  ages  when 
the  offspring  is  not  calculated  to  be  long-lived  or  healthy.  The 
commencement  of  the  menstrual  function  is  no  doubt  an  index 
to  the  commencement  of  puberty.  But  ib  is  a  grave  mistake  to 
suppose  that  the  female,  who  has  just  begun  to  menstruate,  is 
capable  of  giving  birth  to  healthy  children.  The  teeth  are  no 
doubt  intended  for  the  mastication  of  solid  food,  but  it  would 
be  a  grievous  error  to  think  that  the  child,  the  moment  he 
begins  to  cut  his  teeth,  will  be  able  to  live  upon  solid  food. 
Our  anxietyi  on  the  contrary,  should  be  that  the  delicate  masti- 
catory organs  are  not  injured  or  broken  by  giving  the  child  too 
hard  food.  So  when  we  see  a  girl  is  beginning  to  have  the 
monthly  flow,  we  should  not  only  anxiously  watch  its  course 
and  regularity,  but  should  also  watch  the  other  collateral 
developments  of  womanhood  to  be  able  to  determine  the  better 
the  time  when  she  can  become  a  mother,  sa.fely  to  herself  and 
to  her  offspring.  For  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  while 
early  maternity  results  in  giving  birth  to  short-lived  or  un- 
healthy children,  it  at  the  same  time  seriously  compromises  the 
health  of  the  mother  also.  1  can  speak  positively  on  the  subject 
from  personal  experience.  A  host  of  complaints  from  which 
our  females  suffer  life-long,  or  to  which  they -fall  cnrly  victims, 
arise  from  early  pubescene  and  early  maternity. 


17.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  279 

This  view  of  the  state  of  things  imperatively  demands. that, 
for  the  sake  of  our  daughters  and  sisters,  who  are  to  become 
mothers,  and  for  the  sake  of  generations,  yet  unborn,  but  upon 
whose' proper  development  and  healthy  growth,  the  future  well- 
being  of  the  country  depends,  the  earliest  marriageable  age  of 
our  females  should  be  fixed  at  a  higher  point  than  what  obtains 
in  our  country.  If  the  old  grandmother's  discipline,  alluded  to 
above,  could  be  made  to  prevail,  there  wpuld  be  DO  harm  in- 
fixing  that  age  at  14  or  even  12,  but  as  that  is  well-nigh  impos- 
sible, or  perhaps  would  not  be  perfectly  right  and  consistent 
with  the  progress  of  the  times,  I  should  fix  it  at  16. 

MADENDRA  LAL  SIRCAR, 


[FllOMlMAULAVI  TUMEEZ  Kl[AN,   KHAN  BAI1ADUH.] 

I  really  regret  much  that,  owing  to  a  variety  of  causes,  I 
was  not  able  before  this  to  reply  to  your  letter,  regarding  my 
opinion  on  the  subject  of  the  marriageable  age  of  Native  girls 
of  Hindoos  tan  and  Bengal. 

I  might  premise,  that  my  personal  experience  strengthens 
the  belief  that  a  tropical  region  exerts  an  immense  influence  in 
inducing  a  rapid  development  of  parts  in  both  the  animal  and 
vegetable  organisation.  A  natural  consequence  of  this  is  the 
earlier  appearance  of  indubitable  proof's  of  puberty  amongst  the 
girls  of  India  in  general,  than  is  the  case  with  persons  of  similar 
ages,  but  natives  of  different  temperature  of  climate. 

Habits  of  life  and  usages  of  society  are  not  without  their 
influence  on  age.  A  girl,  who  is  born  and  bred  up  in  different, 
and  perhaps,  luxurious  circumstances,  will  reach  the  age  of 
puberty  earlier  than  what  is  likely  to  be  the  case  in  others, 
situated  in  opposite  and  adverse  circumstances. 

A  M^ahomedan  girl,  according  to  her  law- givers,  is  consi- 
dered to  be  "  Moo-rn-bek-kaeo,  "  i.e.,  apt  a}  vivibae,  when  she  is 
11  qureeb-ool-lia-loogh,"  i,e,,  approaching  the  age  of  pubescence. 

Experience  and  the  laws  both  tend  to  establish  the  fact 
that  in  the  tropical  climates,  this  age  is  attained  between  the  tenth 
and  the  thirteenth  year,  Although  a  girl  may  become  marriage- 
able at  the  age,  but  dictate?  of  observation,  commonseBse,  and 


280  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

Jastly  biological  laws,  cannot  bat  lead  us  to  the  conclusion,  that 
a  female  cannot  be  sufficiently  mature  for  the  fulfilment  of  the 
serious  duties  of  a  wife,  much  leas  for  those  of  a  mother,  at  the 
extremely  tender  and  early  age  ;  and  that  where  forced  to  do 
so,  her  delicate  and  hitherto  immature  organisation  becomes 
rapidly  impaired  both  in  health  and  vigour,  anil  thus  before 
she  is  actually  young,  she  gats  old  and  decrepit.  This  exerts 
its  baneful  influences  on  her  progeny.  Speaking  in  a  scientific 
and  humane  point  of  view,  I  might  safely  pronounce  that  in 
considering  the  proper  age  of  marriage  for  a  Native  girl  of  India, 
ive  should  not  look  to  the  time  when  the  signs  of  puberty  show 
themselves  generally,  but  make  it  a  point  that  under  no  circum- 
stances is  a  girl  to  be  allowed  to  get  married  before  she  has  attained 
the  full  age  of  sixteen  years  at  the  least ;  nor  can  there  be  enter- 
tained any  doubt  that  were  the  consummation  of  marital  rites 
deferred  somewhat  longer,  it  will  tend  to  the  improvement  of 
the  individual  and  the  progeny  too. 

TITMEEZ  KHAN. 


[FROM  DR,  D.  B.    SMITH.] 

(Second  Letter.) 

With  reference  to  my  former  letter,  dated  17th  April,  re- 
garding the  marriageable  age  of  Native  girls,  I  again  address 
you,  with  the  object  of  stating  that  I  entirely  agree  with  those 
high  medical  authorities  who  have  recently  laid  before  the 
Indian  Reform  Association  the  opinion  that,  as  a  rule,  girls  in 
this  country  marry  much  too  early  ;  that  before  completion  of 
her  sixteenth  year  a  girl  is  physiologically  immature  ;  and  that 
.it  would,  in  general,  be  very  advantageous  if  marriages  were 
deferred  even  for  two  or  three  years  later  than  this. 

Before  Ihe  age  specified  (sixteen),  a  female  canntt  be  said 
to  be  fully  developed— either  physically  or  mentally.  Some 
parts  of  her  osseous  structure,  which  are  essential  to  the  repro- 
ductive function,  are  not  yet  consolidated.  -The  first  appearance 
of  those  means  to  be  regarded  as  coincident  with  the  most 
.fitting  time  for  marriage  ;  they  merely  indicate  the  development 
of  procreat ive  power  and  a  possible  capacity  for  conception 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  281 

although,  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  a  female  may  conceive  before 
she  has  ever  menstruated,  and  also  that  infants  have  even  been 
known  to  menstrnate. 

The  stomach  digests,  the  brain  elaborates  thought,  the 
voice  gives  utterance  to  such  thought  long  anterior  to  the  time 
at  which  thess  funr.tions  are  performed  with  full  force  and  in 
physiological  perfection,  and  a  similar  law  of  Nature  applies  to 
the  sexual  system  of  the  female.  She  mny  present  the  initia-  • 
tive  signs  of  womanhood  without  its  being  at  all  desirable  that 
she  should  at  once  become  a  mother.  When  a  girl  reaches  the 
11  pubescent"  or  "  nubile  "  age,  she  may  be  said  to  have  acquir- 
ed the  "  Vis  Generandi"  but  it  is  a  few  years  after  this  that  she 
arrives  at  what  the  Romans  called  her  Pubertas  Plena  which  is, 
physiologically,  the  most  appropriate  period  for  marriage. 

I  am  aware  that  certain  physicians  and  learned  -waiters 
have  expressed  a  different  opinion  on  this  point.  Montesquieu 
enunciated  the  dictum  that  "  women  in  hot  climates  are  marri- 
ageable at  eight,  nine  or  ten  years  of  age," — adding  (what, 
under  the  assumed  circumstances,  is  certainly  much  more  near 
the  truth)  that  "  they  are  old  at  twenty."  "  The  ago  of  mar- 
riage,1' says  Mr.  Sale,  "  or  of  maturity,  is  reckoned  to  be  fifteen 
— a  decision  supported  by  a  tradition  of  the  Prophet,  although 
Abu  Hanifah  thinks  eighteen  the  proper  age."  (Prichard's 
Natural  History  of  Man,  Vol.*  II.,  p.  655).  Some  physiologists 
believe  that  the  catamenial  function  does  not  occur  earlier  in 
hot  than  in  cold  climates.  Mr.  Roberton,  whose  writings  on 
this  subject  are  well  known,  is  a  learned  exponent  of  this  view 
of  the  case,  Allusion  to  his  investigations  may  be  found  in  Todd's 
"  Cyclopaedia  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology  " — Art —  "  Generation,  " 
Vol.  II.,  p.  412. 

The  expeuence  of  Haller,  Bberhave,  Den  man,  Barns, 
Dewees  and  others  were  in  support  of  a  contrary  opinion.  There 
can,  I  think,  be  but  little  doubt  that  temperature,  mode  of  life, 
moral  and  physical  education,  do  produce  decided  variations  in 
relation  to  puberty.  The  late  Professor  Trail  I,  Editor  of  the 
Eighth  Edition  of  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  states  that 
Fodere  observed  a  difference  in  this  respect  between  the  inha- 
biKntaof  the  warm,  mr  iitime  part  of  Provence  and  the  elevated 
36 


282  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

valleys  of  Entraunes  '  and  St.  Eh'eime,  and  that  he  himself 
(Traill)  had  remarked  a  similar  difference  in  Spain  between  the 
children  in  the  plains  of  Andalusia  and  among  the  mountains 
of  Catalan  a.  (Outlines  of  Medical  Jurisprudence,  p.  18). 

Dr!  Tilt  compiled  from  the  works  of  various  authors  a  Table 
of  the  Period^  of  first  menstruation  of  12,037  women,  in  hot, 
temperate  and  cold  climates,  The  following  ate,  briefly,  the 
results  arrived  at  :  — 

'No.  of  Observations.  Mean  age. 

Hot  Climates     ...         666     13-19 

Temperate  ,,.      7,237 1494 

Cold        4,134     16-41 

Grand  mean  of  all  countries  =  14'85 

The  table  referred  to  is  to  be  found  in  Dr.  Tilt's  Work  on 
Diseases  of  Women,  2nd  edition,  p.  35. 

Menstruation  has  been  found  to  be  accelerated,  amongst  the 
Manchester  Cotton-spinners,  by  continual  exposure  to  a  high 
artificial  temperature.  The  effects  of  high  temperature  in  has- 
tening development,  and  organic  functions  generally,  were  well 
demonstrated  by 'Reaumur's  experiments  on  Pupoe,  and  by  Mr. 
Higginbottom's  researches  on  the  metamorphosis  of  the  tadpole 
into  the  frog  (Phil.  Trans.  1850,  p.  431,  and  Proceedings  of  the 
Royal' Society,'  Vol.  XI.,  p,  532). 

Those  who  desire  to  study  fully  the  subject  of  Puberty,  in 
all  its' bearings,~.should  consult  the  writings  of  Bi  sob  off,  Raci- 
b  or  ski,  Coste,  Pouchet,  Bierre  de  Boisuiont,  Whitehead,  Arthur 
Farre,  Allen  Thomson,  Roberton,  Mayer  ("  Des  Rapports  Conju- 
gaug"),  Meigs,  Ac.,  and  different  standard  Treatises  on  Medical 
Jurisprudence,  as  those  of  Beck,  Orfila,  Casper,  Chevers,  Tay- 
lor, Ac. 

Allowing  that  it  would  be  un philosophical  to  endeavour  ab- 
solutely to  fix  any  phrely  arbitrary  date  for  marriage  in  any 
country,  I  myself  believe  that  a  Bengal  female,  after  the  age  of 
sixteen,  may  marry  and  bear  healthy  offspring  ;  whilst  the  same 
individual,  at  an  earlier  age,  would  bo  very  liable  to  beget 
children  feeble  in  every  sense  of  the  term. 

I  think  wo  may  even  go  so  far  aa  to  say  that  too  early  mar- 
riage is  inevitably  bad,  and  radically  destructive  of  national 


iv,]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  283 

vigor.  Not  so,  it  mast  be  confessed,  thought  Voltaire's  friend, 
of  whom  he  writes  as  fojlows,  in  his  Dictionaire  Philosophique 
(Tame  Sixieme,  p.  131)  :  — "  Un  grand  politique  I  tali  en,  qui 
d'ailleurs -etait  fort  savant  dans  les  langues  Orien  tales,  chose 
tres  rare  chez  DOS  politiques,  medisait  dans  ma  jeuness  :  Caro 
figlio,  souvenez  quo  les  Juifs  n'ont  jamais  en  qu'uue  bonne  insti- 
tution,— cello  d'avoir  la  virginite  en  horrent1." 

The  reason  why  the  ancient  Jews  thus  attached  a  certain, 
stigma  to  virginity,  ia  ably  explained,  both  on  political  and  re- 
ligious grounds,  by  Mr.  Leckie,  in  his  "  History  of  European 
Morals"  Vol.  I.,  p,  112.  The  same  learned  author  (at  p.  118) 
indicates  why  it  is  that  the  views  of  priests  and  political  econo- 
mists are  somewhat  at  variance  on  this  subject  ;  the  former  be- 
lieving that  "  the  postponement  of  marriages,  through  pruden  - 
tial  motives,  by  any  large  body  of  men,  is  the  fertile  mother  of 
sin,  whilst  the  latter  opposes  early  marriage  on  the  ground  that 
11  it  is  an  essential  condition  of  material  well-being  that  the 
standard  of  comfort  should  not  be  depressed.11 

I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  yery  early  marriages  in  this 
country  are  mentally  degrading  HS  they  are  physiologically  ob- 
jectionable. It  would  be  altogether  unbecoming  and  ou.t  of  place 
for  me  to  enter  into  the  subject  of  the  moral  objections  to  early 
marriage  ;  the  more  so  as  it  is  almost  self-evident  that  the  arti- 
ficial forcing  of  physical  instincts,  and  the  consequent  unnatural 
stimulation  of  sexual  passion,  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  mere  error 
of  judgment.  It  certainly  involves  a  degree  of  depravity  the 
consideration  of  which  may,  however,  safely  be  left  to  the  "  in 
tuitive  moralist." 

The  medico-legal  bearings  of  this  subject  are  most  im- 
portant, and  they  fall  much  more  within  the  province  of 
the  physician.  Only  a  few  days  ago,  a  girl  aged  eleven  years 
was  brought  to  me,  suffering  from  advanced  Secondary  Sy- 
philis, which  had  been  directly  contracted  by  the  pitiable  child, 
-^her  parents  being  both  healthy.  The  girl  was  in  tears,  and 
endeavoured  to  conceal  the  truth  ;  whilst  the  mother  declared 
her  daughter  to  be  virya  intacta, — but  it  was  not  so. 

1  earnestly  hope  that  the  .thinking  and  good  men  by  whom 
Native  society  is .  more  or  le^  led,  nmy,  in  tiuiu,  bucceed  iu 


284  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

bringing  about  some  change  towards  abolishing  the  prevailing 
custom  of  child- marriage  in  this  country.  The  subject  deserves 
most  earnest  consideration  ;  and  it  is  one,  the  importance  of 
which  should  continually  be  impressed  on  the  minds  of  the 
people  by  all  those  leaders  of  thought  who  speak  with  authority 
amongst  their  countrymen  and  -who  may  have  it,  more  or  less, 
in  their  power  to  regulate  prevailing  opinions  or  to  modify  the 
.social  usages  of  the  country.  It  may,  I  think,  without  any 
exaggeration  or  cynicism,  be  said  that  the  present  system  of 
early  marriage  in  Bengal  panders  to  L  assion  and  sensuality, 
violates  the  requirements  of  nature,  lowers  the  general  standard 
of  public  health,  lessens  the  average  value  of  life  taken  greatly 
from  the  general  interests  of  existing  society,  and  allows  a 
present  race  to  deteriorate  both  to  its  own  disadvantage  and  to 
the  detriment  of  future  generations.  The  results  of  reform  in 
this  direction  would  undoubtedly  be  of  great  importance.  As 
I  said  in  my  former  letter,  however,  the  medical  arguments 
against  early  marriage  ought  to  be  much  more  precise  and 
cogent  than  any  that  have  yet  been  adduced.  Physiological 
observations  on  the  subject  have  neither  been  extended  nor 
have  they  been  recorded  with  enough  of  care.  The  importance 
of  a  broad  social  question  of  this  kind  ought,  in  great  measure, 
to  be  determined,  and  the  scientific  arguments  relating  to  it 
grounded,  on  a  fixed  and  sound  philosophical  basis,  for  I 
believe  the  saying  to  be  a  true  one  that  no  mere  theory  will 
eVer  throw  down  ancestral  traditions. 

Mr.  F.  G.  P.  Neison,  in  the  Preface  to  his  valuable 
"  Contributions  to  Vital  Statistics,"  indicates,  as  "an  immense 
field  which  still  remains  uncultivated/'  even  in  England,  the 
investigation' of  the  following  questions: 

"  The  influence  of  age  at  marriage  on  the  fruitfalness  of 
the  marriage.  The  influence  of  age  at  marriage  on  the 
mortality  of  children  born  therefrom.  The  influence  of  age  at 
marriage  on  the  sex  at  issue,  and  also  on  the  relative  mortality 
of  the  first,  second  an<J  third  born,  as  well  as  on  each  subse- 
quent birth  in  consecutive  order." 

I  observe  that  the  Editor  of  the  Indian  Medical  Gazette  baa, 
in  his  last  issue,  commented  somewhat  derisively  (one  iright 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  285 

almost  any — "  with  plentiful  lack  of  politeness  ")  on  the  present 
movement  of  the  Indian  Reform  Association,  regarding  the 
marriageable  age  of  Native  girls.  This  is  to  he  regretted,  even 
although  the  home-thrusts  are  playful. 

"It  seems  to  us  that  if  the  educated  and  enlightened 
Native  gentlemen  referred  to  by  our  reformers  were  anxious  for 
the  solution  of  a  problem  of  this  kind,  they  would  hardly  seek 
for  advice  on  the  subject  from  medical  practitioners;  evidently 
questions  of  this  description  must  and  always  will  bo  settled 
by  the  dictates  of  society,  guided  by  common  sense,  rather 
than  by  physicians  and  philosophers.  We  all  know  the 
answer  of  the  '  wise  man  f  quoted  by  Bacon  when  asked  when 
a  man  should  marry— '  a  young  man  not  yet,  and  elder 
men  not  at  all/  and  we  doubt  not  the  members  of  the  Indian 
Roform  Association  have  received  some  such  prudent  answer 
from  the  professional  men  they  have  consulted  regarding  the 
marriageable  age  of  then1  daughters.1' 

Such  is  the  sententious  ruling  of  the  Medical  Gazette.  I 
can  only  hope  that  |(  our  reformers  "  may  survive  such  admo- 
nition and  censure,  and  that  they  may  live  to  prove  that  they 
are  truly  in  earnest  in  this  matter. 

With  all  due  respect  for  the  opinions  of  the  Medical  Gazette, 
I  presume  to  think  that  the  members  of  the  Indian  Reform 
Association  may  very  well  be  pardoned  for  asking — (in  connec- 
tion with  such  a  subject  as  that  of  early  or  late  marriage)— 
"  What  are  the  teachings  of  Physiology  ?  " — seeing  that  true 
facts  and  sound  principles  last  for  ever,  whilst  individual 
opinions  and  conventional  customs  are  liable  at  any  hour  to 
change.  It  even  appears  to  me  natural  and  reasonable  that 
they  should  have  put  this  question  to  professional  men  whose 
special  business  it  is  to  investigate  such  subjects, — men  who 
have  sometimes  very  flatteringly  no  doubt  been  called  "  Minis- 
tri  et  interpreted  Naturw,"— whose  duty  and  privilege  it  is  to 
raise,  by  every  possible  means,  the  general  standard  of  health 
and  happiness,  and  who  may,  therefore,  without  any  offence  be 
appealed  to  in  questions)  affecting  the  science  of  population,  and 
the  popular  bearings  of  medical  knowledge. 

Although  this  letter  is  already   too  long,   I  cannot  refrain 


286  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFO&M. 


from  adding  UK  it  a  quotation  from  the  lectures  of  a  learned 
American  Professor  (Dr.  Meigs  of  Philadelphia)  whose  writings 
on  the  subject  of  Puberty  are  most  interesting  and  philosophical, 
Apropos  of  the  wisdom  ov  otherwise  of  consulting  medical  prac- 
titioners on  social  subjects,  he  writes  :  — 

"  Physicians  are  the  health  officers  of  society.  I  would 
that  they  as  a  -body  were  awake  to  the  importance  of  so  guid- 
ing the  public  mind  on  all  topics  connected  with  the  conserva- 
tion of  health/  as  to  exert  the  whol&  influence  of  the  profession, 
a  great  influence,  iu  impressing  upon  the  public  mind,  clear 
and  sound  notions  in  regard  to  those  hygienic  uses  and  ap- 
pliances which  the  public  either  know  not  or  overlook,  per- 
haps in  the  hurry  and  cares  and  embarrassments  of  tlie 
business  and  occupations  of  the  world. 

"  A  physician  ought  to  exert  the  intellectoal  power  which 
by  his  position  in  society  he  is  presumed  to  possess  in  protecting 
society  against  the  evils  of  ignorance  on  hygienic  subjects. 
Forty  thousand  medical  men  in  the  United  States  should  not 
always  allow  their  day  and  generation  to  pass  away  without 
leaving  some  .signs  of  progress,  and  effecting  some  amelioration 
of  the  condition  of  society,  beyond  the  mere  restorative  results 
of  their  therapeutical  prescription/1 

There  is  assuredly  some  work  of  the  same  kind  for  medical 
men  to  do  in  India  ;  and  it  would,  in  my  opinion,  be  hard  to 
instance  any  subject  upon  which  they  could  more  usefully  bring 
their  experiences  and  wisdom  to  bear,  than  upon  that  which 
relates  to  the  discouragement  of  child  -marriages  amongst  the 
Natives  of  Bengal. 

DAVID  B.  SMITH,  M,  D, 

—Indian  Mirror,  23rd  and  26th  June,  and  17  th,  19th  and 

21st  July,  1871. 

[FROM-  DR.  NOEIN  KRISHNA  BOSE.] 

lam  in  receipt  of  your  printed  letter  of  the  1st  instant 
relative  to'  the  prevalence  of  early  and  premature  marriage  in 
the  country,  and  I  feel  myself  highly  flattered  that  you  should 
think  my  opinion  on  tho  Mtihjuct  of  value  enough  to  be  at  thfe 
trouble  to  ask  for  it. 


iv,]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  287 

I  have  always  regarded  the  custom  to  be  among  the  princi- 
pal causes  of  our  physical  deterioration  as  a  race,  and  also  as  a 
powerful  impediment  in  the  way  of  intellectual  advancement 
and  social  reform.  You  will  find  these  views  fully  set  forth  in 
a  paper  on  the  importance*  of  physiological  knowledge  with 
reference  to  marriage,  education,  Ac.,  which  1  had  the  honor  to 
read  before  the  Bothune  Society  in  1855,  and  which  was  after- 
wards published  in  the  Calcutta  Literary  Gazette  ot  that  year, 

I  do  not  think  that  climate  exerts  that  degree  of  influence 
.  in  modifying  the  age  of  puberty  in  different  parts  of  the  world 
which  has  been  generally  ascribed  to  it.  Some  difference  it  will 
produce,  no  doubt,  but  this,  on  examination,  will  be  found  to 
range  within  very  narrow  limits,  On  studying  the  age  of 
marriage  in  different  countries  at  different  periods  of  time,  it 
has  appeared  to  me,  on  the  other  hand,  that  early  wedlock  has 
always  been  the  result  of  ignorance  and  of  general  degraded 
condition  of  the  female  sex,  and  hence  at  one  time  it  was  not 
unknown  even  in  the  latitudes  of  England  and  Russia.  And 
the  mischief  lies  in  this,  viz.,  that  when  the  practice  becomes  a 
marked  one,  it  tends  to  perpetuate  itself  by  producing  precocious 
maturity  among  the  .children  in  accordance  with  the  organic  laws 
which  govern  the  hereditary  transmission  of  physical  and 
mental  qualities. 

In  this  country  the  custom  under  notice  has  prevailed  for 
centuries  and  generations,  and  it  is  not  at  all  to  be  wondered 
at,  therefore,  that  our  boys  and  girls  should  attain  to  puberty 
at  an  earlier  period  of  life  than  under  a  healthier  system,  of 
matrimonial  connections  they  would  have  done.  This  is  a  fact, 
however,  which,  in  fixing  the  minimum  marriageable  age  of  our 
girls,  should  not  be  entirely  overlooked,  calculated  though  it  be 
to  give  rise  to  some  diversity  of  opinion  on  the  subject,  In 
determining  the  age  in  question,  more  regard  is  to  be  had  only 
to  the  period  of  life  when,  by  its  anatomical  development,  the 
female  system  is  fitted  to  enter. upon  the  functions  and  duties  of 
maternity  without  injury  to  itself  or  the  physical  deterioration 
of  the  offspring  begotten  by  it,  I  should  say  that  our  girls 
should  not  be  married  before  they  have  attained,  at  least,  tho 
eighteenth  year  of  their  ago,  Before  this  period  it  would  not 


288  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

bear,  with  impunity  the  drain  which  maternity  must,  establish  in 
it,  But  c'onsideiing  the  modifying  influence  of  the  long  preva- 
lence of  early  marriage  to  which  advertance  has  been  made 
above,  it  may  be  doubted,  perhaps,  whether  it  would,  all  things 
considered,  be  advisable  to  fix  so  high  a  standard  at  once.  An 
evil,  by  long  duration,  bocornej  as  it  were  a  part  and  parcel  of 
the  system  to  which  ifc  belongs,  and  canrot  be  rooted  out  all  nt 
once,  without  risk  and  danger  to  the  system  itself,  In  practi- 
cally dealing  with  the  subject  in  hand,  therefore,  it  may  be 
necessary  perhaps  to  lower  somewhat  the  above  standard  of 
eighteen  ;  and  this  done,  I  should,  for  the  present,  fix  the  mini- 
mum marriageable  age  of  our  females  at  fifteen,  and  this  the 
more  particularly,  as  from  a  social  point  of  view,  this  standard 
has  a  greater  chance  of  being  abided  by  in  practice  than  the 
higher  one  of  eighteen. 

I  have  only  to  add  that  it  has  given  me  the  greatest  plea- 
sure to  find  that  you  have  taken  up  this  subject  in  such  an 
earnest  and  practical  manner,  and  I  sincerely  hope  that  your 
effort  may  be  crowned  with  success.  My  only  regret  is  that  in 
my  present  insular  position — at  a  distance  from  all  centres  of 
social  and  mental  activity — it  is  not  in  my  power  to  oo-operate 
with  you  in  the  way  I  would  have  wished,  but  still  if  you  think 
I  can  be  of  any  help  in  forwarding  the  object  you  have  in  view, 
my  services  are  at  your  command. 

NOBTN  KRISHNA  BOSE, 

Khundiva,  18th  July  1871. 


[FROM  DR.  ATMARAM  PANDURUNG,], 

I  received  during  the  first  week  a  copy  of  the  printed  cir- 
cular letter  you  have  addressed  to  several  eminent  medical  gen- 
tlemen at  Calcutta,  and  I  am  glad,  you  have  thus  given  mean 
opportunity  of  expressing  my  views  on  the  matter  it  refers  to.  I 
believe  the  girls  of  this  country  arrive  at  puberty  at  the  average 
age  of  from  13  to  15  years,  and  in  this  as  in  'every  thing  else, 
they  differ  bat  slightly  from  girls  in  other  countries.  In  some 
cases  puberty  is  known  to  come  on  as  early  as  10  yearja,  and  in 
others,  BO  late  as  17  or  18  years.  In  Rome*  rave  WBljaocna  the 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  289 

catamenia  occur  regularly  every  month  from  infancy.  This 
difference  amongst  girls  is  partly  caused  by  some  peculiarity  IE 
their  individual  constitution,  but  in  a  large  majority  of  cases 
chiefly  or  entirely  by  social  influence — the  influence  of  habits  of 
thought  and  action  which  society  has  on  its  each  individual 
member.  You  will  then  find  in  all  countries  in  the  world,  girls 
living  in  cities,  and  especially  in  very  crowded  parts  of  it,  and 
in  the  lowest  strata  of  society,  arrive  afc  puberty  at  a  much, 
earlier  age  than  those  living  in  the  agricultural  or  rural  dis- 
tricts and  in  the  upper  strata  in  whom  high  moral  feelings  pre- 
vail. The  custom  of  premature  marriage  thereby  acting  in- 
juriously upon  the  morals  of  the  people  among  whom  it  pre- 
vails, has  an  undoubted  tendency  to  bring  on  early  puberty, 
and  this  is  strangely  mistaken  for  climate  influence.  Climate 
has  no  influence  in  the  matter.  The  history  of  our  own  people  in 
former  years,  when  this  pernicious  custom  had  no  existence, 
will  bear  me  out  fully,  so  that  I  need  not  have  to  point  other 
classes  or  tribes  in  this  country  or  other  countries,  savage  and 
civilized,  where  the  custom  of  early  marriage  does  not  exist,  to 
support  the  assertion  that  climate  has  no  influence  on  the 
coming  on  of  puberty. 

-As  to  your  second  question,  what  is  to  be  considered  as  the 
minimum  marriageable  age  of  girls  in  this  country,  it  is  rather 
difficult  to  give  a  satisfactory  reply.  If  the  question  had  been 
simply  what  is  considered  to  be  the  proper  age'  at  which  girls 
ought  to  marry,  the  proper  answer  would  be,  without  ony 
hesitation,  20  years,  and  there  are  sound  anatomical  and 
statistical  reasons.  When  girls  marry  at  that  age,  all  the 
ends  and  aims  of  marriage  are  gained  with  the  best  of  results. 
There  is  then  less  amount  of  sterility,  and  also  less  number  of 
deaths  of  mothers  at  their  delivery,  <fcc.  But  it  is  impossible 
for  any  medical  gentleman  to  answer  jour  question  in  the  form 
you  have  put  it.  What  one  can  sa}  is,  that  puberty  is  not  the 
best  criterion  of  proper  marriageable  age,  for  it  is  not  the  period 
nt  which  development  of  parts  concerned  in  gestation  and  deli- 
very is  completed  ;  nor  is  then  the  mind  well  adapted  for  the 
requirements  of  the  mother  in  taking  proper  care  of  her  deli* 
cate  and  tender  offspring. 
37 


290  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

It  behoves  well-informed  and  educated  people  in  this  coun- 
try that  they  shoiild  both  individually  and  collectively  exert 
themselves  most  strenuously  to  do  away  with  this  most  perni- 
cious custom  of  premature  marriage  by  deferring  the  marriage 
of  their  sisters  and  daughters  to  as  near  the  age  of  20  years  as 
they  can,  for  they  would  thereby  undoubtedly  raise  the  moral, 
social  and  physical  condition  of  the  people  at  large.  It  is  their 
bound  en  duty  to  do  it,  and  they  must  do  it, 

ATMAKAM  PANDURUNG. 
Bombay,  24th  July  1871. 


DR.  A.  V.  WHITE.] 

1  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt,  on  the  17th 
instant,  of  your  letter,  dated  April  1st,  asking  me  to  state  what 
T  consider  to  be  the  age  of  puberty  of  Native  girls  and  their 
minimum  marriageable  age,  and  in  reply  to  offer  the  following 
observations. 

From  inquiries  1  have  made  on  this  subject,  I  have  long 
since  come  to  the  conclusion,  that  there  is  a  considerable  differ- 
ence, with  regard  to  the  period  at  which  menstruation  first 
makes  its  appearance,  between  English  and  Indian  girls.  Among 
English  girls  menstruation  occurs  more  frequently  at  15  years 
than  at  any  other  ago,  while  among  Indian  girls,  in  the  large 
majority  of  cases,  I  believe,  it  occurs  at  13  or  even  less.  The 
cause  of  this  difference  of  two  years  is  not  so  much,  in  my 
opinion,  the  effect  of  climate,  as  a  difference  in  Hie  constitution 
of  the  two  races, 

Early  marriages,  as  they  obtain  in  this  country,  have  the 
effect  of  prematurely  rousing  the  ovaries  into  a  state  of  activity, 
and  early  menstruation  is  the  result  ;  but  this  early  menstrua- 
tion is  unaccompanied  with  the  other  signs  of  development  or 
advancing  puberty,  such  as  the  special  growth  of  the  reproduc- 
tive organs,  in  conjunction  with  the  general  development  of  the 
frame  and  of  the  mental  faculties.  This  pernicious  custom  has 
so  long  prevailed  that  it  hna  now  become  the  constitutional 
habit  of  Indian  girls  to  menstruate  early  ;  and  this  habit,  I  be- 
lieve, is  transmitted  from  mother  to  daughter,  If  Indian 


iv\]  MlSCteLLANEUUS  VAPERS.  291 

were  not  to  marry  until  16  or  IS,  I  believe  that  in  a  few  genera- 
tions this  habit  would  be  broken,  and  a  marked  improvement 
in  this  respect  would  be  observed. 

Cases  of  early  menstruation  at  10  and  11  years  are  by  no 
means  of  very  rare  occurrence  in  temperate  climates,  but  they 
are  found  among  girls  who  have  been  brought  up  in  indolence, 
luxury,  or  among  those  employed  in  our  large  manufactories, 
where  the  influences  in  operation  tend  to  foster  precociousuess,, 
and  indeed  place  them  in  very  similar  conditions,  physically 
and  morally,  to  those  of  Indian  girl  p. 

Menstruation  is  no  doubt  the  moat  important  sign  of  puberty, 
but  when  it  shows  itself  early,  it  is  only  the  sign  of  commencing 
puberty,  and,  in  Iho  absence  of  the  other  indications,  by  no 
means  implies  that  a  girl  iu  fitted  for  marriage  and  child-bear- 
ing. It  is  not  until  pubotty  has  been  fully  established  that  the 
minimum  marriageable  age  has  been  reached,  and  this  rarely 
occurs,  in  my  opinion',  among  Native  girls  before  the  15th  or 
16th  year,  but  if  marriages  were  delayed  until  the  18th  year, 
the  frame  would  be  more  thoroughly  developed  \  the  danger  of 
child-bearing  would  be  lessened  and  healthier  offspring  would 
be  secured. 

A.  V.  WHITE, 
Pmfexsor  *f  Midwifery, 
Grant  Medical  College, 
th,  lb7L 


The  Hon.  Mr.  Justice  K.  T.  Telang  on   "  Must  Social 
Reform  precede  Political  Reform  In  India?  " 

The  Hon'ble  Mr.  Kasinath  Trimbak  Telang,  W.A., 
LL.U.,  C.T.E.,  delivered  the  following  speech  before  the  Students' 
Literary  and  Scientific  Society,  on  the  22nd  February  1886  :— 

MB.  CHAIRMAN  AND  GENTLEMEN,— In  opening  the  address 
which  I  have  undertaken  to  deliver  this  evening,  I  am  afraid  I 
must  begin  with  a  word  of  apology  for  the  imperfections  which 
I  am  certain  muwt  bo  found  iu  it,  And  UH  1  ;un  nut  in  n  position 
to  plead  the  excuse  of  having  been  asked  to  deliver  the  address 


292  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [!?ART 

by  any  one  other  than  myself,  I  must  say  a  few  words  in  expla- 
nation of  my  appearance  before  you  this  evening.    Well,  as  one 
of   the    Secretaries    of   ihe   Students'   Literary   and  Scientific 
Society,  it  is  part  of  my  duty  to  see  that  the  Society's    session 
does  not  remain  quite  barren  of  essays  and   lectures.     But  in 
consequence  of  circumstances  which  need  not  now  be  dwelt  on, 
although  this  session  of  the  Society  began  as  far  back  as  October 
last,  no  essays  have  in  fact  been  read  or  lectures  delivered  as  yet 
before  the  Society.  And  when  T  endeavoured  to  make   arrange- 
ments to  avert  any  reflectidh    upon   us  in  consequence   of   this 
circumstance,  and  began  to  ask  friends  to  prepare   lectures  end 
addresses,  it  occurred  to  me  that  the  fairest  course  would  be  for 
me  to  begin  by  putting  my  own  shoulders  to    the  wheel.     And 
accordingly   it  was  only  at  the  beginning  rtf   lust   week,    that  I 
determined  to  prepare  myself  for  the  address  which  I  am  now 
about  to  deliver.     The  subject  of  that  address,  however,  is  not 
altogether  new  to  me.     It  attracted  my  attention  many  months 
ago,  when  I  was  writing  a  letter  to  my  friend  Mr.  B.  M.  Malabari 
in  reference  to  his    notes  on   "  Infant   Marriage    and  Enforced 
Widowhood."     When  I  was  -writing   that  letter,  Sir  Auckland 
Colvin's  communication  to  Mr.  Malabari  had  just  been  published 
in  the  newspapers.     And  the  view  had  been  expressed  in  it,  that 
we  ought  to  turn  our  attention  to  social  reform,  in  preference  to 
the  endeavours  we  were  making  to  teach  our  English  rulers  what 
their  duties  were  in   the  government   of  the   country,     In  my 
letter  to  Mr.  Malabari,    I  ventured  briefly   but  emphatically  to 
express  my  dissent  from  this  view  of  Sir   A.  Golvin.     And    in 
support  of  ray  opinion.  I  quoted   a  passage   from    Mr.  Herbert 
Spencer's  essay  on  Manners  and  Fashions.     My  letter  has  been 
published  in  the  newspapers,  and  I  need  not  now  go  into  details 
regarding  its  contents.     Since  then  attention  has    been  again 
drawn  to  the  point,  by  the  letter  recently  written  on  the  subject 
of  Hindu  Social  reform  by   one  whose  authority  is  deservedly 
esteemed  and  highly  respected  by  us  all  in    Bombay*     But  as 
the  subject  is  one  of  undoubtedly  great  and  vital  importance,  it 
is  desirable  to  consider  it  on   grounds   of  reason,  and  independ- 
ently  of  the   authority   even  of   Mr.  Herbert   Spencer  or  Mr. 
Wordsworth. 


rv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  293 

And  first,  when  we  are  asked  -  to  give  precedence  to  social 
over  political  reform,  it  is  necessary  to  consider  whether,  tb  erf 
is  such  a  sharp  line  of  demarcation  between  social  and  political 
matters  as  must  be  drawn  in  order  to  give  effect  to  tin's  demand** 
I  confess  I  think  such  a  line  cannot  be  logically  drawn.  The 
division  is  one  which  in  many  respects  is  one  of  convenience 
only.  And  even  those  matters  which  are  mainly  and  to  a  great 
extent  social  have  most  important  political  aspects,  and  vice 
versa.  Take  education.  It  is  an  agency  of  vital  importance 
alike  for  political  and  social  pin-poses.  Or  again,  take  the 
removal  of  the  prohibition  against  a  voyage  to  England.  The 
social  importance  of  this  is  obvious.  But  the  political  value  of 
it  also  is  equally  manifesfe,  especially  now  when  wo  have  just 
welcomed  the  Indian  Delegates  back  to  their  own  country. 
Take  again  the  question  in  reference  to  whioh  this  controversy 
has  been  raided.  The  question  of  infunt  marriage  is  a  social 
one.  But  the  modes  suggested  for  remedying  the  evil  raisfc 
great  political  issues,  touching  the  province  of  legislation,  and 
the  true  functions  and  limits  of  State  activity.  Therefore  it  is 
clear,  that  these  political  and  social  questions  are  so  intertwined 
one  with  the  other,  that  a  hard  and  fast  line  cannot  in  practice 
be  drawn  between  them.  And  consequently,  even  if  the  pre- 
ference suggested  could  be  justified  in  theory,  it  would  not  be 
feasible  to  enforce  it  in  practice. 

But  now,  assuming  that  it  IN  practicable  to  work- on  the 
basis  of  such  a  preference  being  given  to  social  over  political 
reform,  let  us  inquire  on  what  ground  of  reason  such  a  prefer- 
ence can  be  laid  down.  I  have  endeavoured  to  follow  the 
whole  controversy  as  it  has  been- going  on  for  some  time  past. 
And  I  have  come  across  only  two  reasons  in  favour  of  the  pre- 
ference thus  suggested.  First  it  is  said,  that  slavery  at  home 
is  incompatible  with  political  liberty.  Now,  when  understood 
in  its  true  sense,  I  have  no  quarrel  with  this,  principle.  I  am 
prepared  to  concede,  and  indeed  I  hold  the  doctrine  myself  very 
strongly,  that  tho  true  spirit  of  political  liberty  must  be  only 
skin-deep,  if  so  much,  in  the  man  who  can  actively  maintain  or 
oyen  passively  tolerate  slavery  within  his  own  household.  But 
I  apprehend,  that  fur  the  application  of  thin  principle,  you  inunt 


204  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFUlUL  [PART 

bave  a  conscious  tyranny  on  the  one  side  and  a  slavery  tbat  is 
felt  to  be  slavery  on  the  otbcr.  Without  this  consciousness 
on  both  sides,  I  hold  that  the  principle  would  be  incorrect. 
Now,  how  does  the  .matter  stand  in  the  case  j  before  us  ? 
Have  we  in  truth  got  to  deal  with  a  case  of  conscious  tyranny 
and  felt  slavery  ?  1  say,  certainly  not.  I  say,  that  BO  far 
as  we  have  tyranny  and  slavery  in  the  case,  we  have  only 
a  case  of  the  tyranny  of  the  past,  the  present  being  bound 
in  slavery  to  it.  It  is  not,  as  it  is  often  represented,  a 
case  of  male  tyrants  a^d,  female  slaves  to  any  notable 
extent;.  We  are  all— men  and  women,  widows  and  widowers, 
children  and  adults — slaves,  if  that  is  the  proper  expres- 
sion, to  ancient  custom.  Remember  this  further.  As  regards 
all  those  burning  questions,  which  just  now  trouble  us  in  con- 
nexion with  social  reform ;  as  regards  enforced  widowhood, 
infant  marriage,  voyages  to  England,  and  so  forth  ;  the  persons 
who  are  supposed  to  be  our  slaves  are  really  in  many  respects 
our  masters.  You  talk  of  the  duty  which  lies  upon  us  of  break- 
ing the  shackles  off  their  feet,  but  they  will  have  none  of  this 
breaking  off  of  the  shackles.  To  a  great  extent  they  do  not 
feel  the  shackles,  and  they  decline  to  let  us  break  them.  They 
protest  against  that  interference  with  and  desecration  of  their 
ancient  and  venerable  traditions,  which,  from  their  point  of 
view,  is  involved  in  this  course  of  enfranchisement.  Therefore 
I  hold,  that  the  phrase  "household  slavery,"  as  used  in  this 
controversy,  is  an  entire  misnomer.  It  is  these  so-called  slaves 
within  our  households,  who  form  our  great  difficulty.  And 
under  these  circumstances,  1  venture  to  say,  that  the  sort  of 
"  household  slavery  "  that  in  truth  prevails  among  us,  is  by  no 
means  incompatible  with  political  liberty.  The  position  in  fact 
is  this.  Here  we  have  what  may,  for  convenience,  be  treated 
as  two  spheres  for  our  reforming  activities.  There  is  slavery 
in  the  one  sphere,  and  there  is  slavery  in  the  other,  and  we  are 
endeavouring  to  shake  off  the  slavery  in  the  one  sphere  as  well 
aa  in  the  other.  I  can  see  no  reasonable  objection  to  this  course. 
That  course  is  a  perfectly  legitimate  one,  and  aa  Mr.  Herbert 
Spencor  has  pointed  out,  it  is  tilso  shown  to  be  the  natural  one 
by  scientific  observation. 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  295 

Let  us  now  go  on  to  the  next  reason  alleged  in  favour  of 
the  precedence  claimed  for  social  over  political  reform.  It  is  said 
that  a  nation  socially  low  cannot  be  politically  great,  that  his- 
tory shows  no  instance  of  such  a  condition.  Now  if  this  means 
that  political  and  social  progress  go  on  together,  that  the 
spirit  of  progress  working  in  the  political  sphere  always  maiii- 
fests  itself  in  greater  or  less  vigour  in  the  social  sphere,  I  at 
once  admit  it.  The  passage  from  Mr.  Spencer's  essny,  which 
I  quoted  in  my  letter  to  Mr.  Malalmri,  and  which  merely 
,  sums  up  the  result  of  a  full  di  secession  marked  by  all  Mr. 
Spencer's  acumen  :unl  comprehensive  grasp,  shows  that 
very  clearly.  But  thia  is  a  very  different  thing  indeed  from 
the  proposition  involved  in  the  present  argument.  It  is  not 
enough,  as  thus  understood,  to  justify  the  preference  demanded. 
For  that  purpose,  it  is  necessary  to  prove,  that  in  a  social 
condition  that  is  at  any  given  period  unsatisfactory,  political 
greatness  is  unattainable,  and  political  progress  not  to  be 
achieved.  To  this  proposition,  I  confess,  I  cannot  see  that 
history  affords  any  support.  And  I  hold,  indeed,  that  the 
lessons  to  be  deduced  from  history  run  exactly  counter  to  this. 
Look  at  that  brilliant  episode  in  the  history  of  India  which  is 
connected  with  the  names  of  Sivaji,  and  the  subsequent  Mn- 
ratha  rulers — an  episode  on  which  our  memories  still  love  to 
dwell.  1  have  been  recently  reading  several  of  the  fiakhars  or 
chronicles  of  those  times  which  have  been  published.  And 
judging  from  them,  I  cannot  find  that  the  social  condition  of 
that  period  was  very  much  superior  to  the  social  condition 
that  is  now  prevailing,  We  had  then  infant  marriage  and 
enforced  widowhood  we  had  imperfect  female  education  ;  we 
had  also  the  practice  of  Sati,  though  that  never  was  a  very 
wide-spread  practice.  Confining  our  attention  to  the  subjects 
involved  in  the  practical  controversy  now  going  on,  and  to 
subjects  kindred  to  it,  it  is  plain,  I  think,  that  the  palm  of 
superiority  cannot  be  awarded  to  the  period  covered  by  the 
achievements  of  the  great  Maratha  power.  Yet  there  can  be 
no  doubt,  that'  politically  those  achievements  were  very  brilli- 
ant, and  that  they  implied  great  political  progress,  at  least 
the  limits  of  their  principal  home,  If  we  go  back  to 


296  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAKT 

a  still  earlier  period,  wo  have  evidence  in  the  writings  of  that 
famous  Chinese  traveller,'  Hiouen-Tsang  who  carne  to  this 
country  in  the  seventh  century  A.D.,  of  a  prosperous  political 
condition,  while  the  facts  of  the  social  condition  do  not  indicate 
any  very  great  superiority  over  what  prevails  now.  Tlio  caste 
system  was  then  in  foree.  And  we  have  it  expressly  and 
distinctly  ttatetl  by  Hiouen-Tsang,  that  in  those  days  widow- 
marriage  w.is  nob  practised.  Thero  you  have  one  mark  of 
11  household  slavery  "  certainly,  yet  the  political  condition  of 
the  provinces  in  Northern  India  rnled  by  Harshavardhana,  or 
of  onr  own  part  of  the  country,  then  governed  by  the  great 
Pulakesi,  was  by  no  means  a  bad  one.  Hut  it  may  be  said  that 
our  matoiials  for  ti  correct  picture  of  those  times  arc  not 
satisfactory,  and  that  it  will  not  be  quite  safe  to  draw  such 
inferences  from  our  imperfect  materials.  1  do  not  wish  to 
impugn  this  view.  I  must  admit  certainly  that  the  materials 
are  not  quite  satisfactory.  And  therefore  I  will  ask  you  for 
a  little  while  to  join  with  me  in  considering  the  lessons  to  be 
derived  from  the  history  of  a  country,  whose  history  we  can 
ascertain  fiom  much  more  satisfactory  materials — a  history, 
too,  which  we  are  sometimes  charged  with  knowing  better 
than  we  know  the  history  of  our  own  country.  Let  us  look  at 
the  history  of  the  country  which  we  believe,  and  are  happy 
in  believing,  to  be  at  the  very  top  of  the  political  ladder  to- 
day ;  let  us  look  at  the  history  of  England  in  the  seventeenth 
century  A.D.,  the  materials  for  which  are  easily  accessible,  and 
have  been  digested  for  us  by  such  classic  historians  as  Hal  lam, 
for  instance,  and  Lord  Macaulay.  The  political  history  of 
England  in  the  seventeenth  century  is  pretty  familiar  to  us. 
The  beginning  of  the  century  synchronises  with  the  close  of 
the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  in  whose  time,  after  a  pretty 
long  period  of  enjoyment  by  the  Crown  of  almost  uncontrolled 
power,  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  people  had  begun  to  be 
asserted.  1  pass  over  the  reign  of  James  T.  and  come  to  that 
of  Charles  1,  Here  you  have  the  achievements  of  that  brilliant 
galaxy  of  political  workers,  containing  Hampden,  the  Five 
Members,  the  great  men  of  the  Long  Parliament.  You  have 
tben  the  battles  of  the  first  English  Revolution,  as  it  has 


TV,]  MISCELLANEOrS  PAPERS.  297 

sometimes  been  called,  winding  up  with   the  proceedings  of  the 
tribunal  over  which    Bradshaw   presided,    and'  the   finn],  catas- 
trophe of  the  execution  of  King  Charles  I.     A  republican  might 
object  to  the  phrase  catastrophe,  hut  as  there  was  a  destruction 
of  the  life  of  one  of  God's  creatures,  it  is,  I    hope,    allowable  to 
speak  of  the  event  aa  a  catastrophe.     Well,   we  pass  on  then  to 
the  protectorate  of   Cromwell,   a    tangible    embodiment  of  the 
assertion  of  popular  power  against  the    Crown.     Then  we  come 
after  the  Restoration  to  the    well   known    Habeas    Corpus  Act. 
And  after  the  short  and  inglorious  reign    of  James  If,  we  come 
to  the  great  Revolution  of  1688.     Then  we  have  the  Declaration 
of  Rights  and  Bill  of  Rights,    till  finally   we  reach    the  Act  of 
Settlement  at  the  very   close   of    the   seventeenth    century.     It 
would  not  be  easy,  I   should   say,  to  find  out   in    history   many 
parallels  to  the  course    of   political   progress   indicated   by  the 
events  I   have    now   alluded    to — a   course    which   not   merely 
improved  the  condition  of  England    at   the    time!  but  has  been 
followed  up  by  greater  or  less  progress  of    a   similarly   salutary 
character  since,  and  ia  being  still    so    followed    up    in   our  own 
day.     T>isten  to  the  words  of  the   judicial   Hall  am   in  regard  to 
the  political  position  achieved  by  England   at   the    close  of  the 
seventeenth  century.     "  The  Act   of  Settlement,"    he   says,  "  ia 
the   seal   of   our   constitutional    laws,    the  complem^pt  of  (he 
Revolution  itself,  and  the  Bill  of  Rights   the  .last  great  statute 
which  restrains  the  power  of  the  Crown,  rind  manifests  in  any  con- 
spicuous degree,  a  jealousy  of  Parliament  in   behalf  of   its  own 
and  the  subjects' privileges.     The  battle  had   been   fought   and 
gained.     The  voice  of   petition,  complaint,  or   remonstrance,  is 
seldom  to  be  (raced  in    the    Journals.     The    Crown   in   return 
desists  altogether  not  merely  from  the  threatening   or   objuga* 
tory  tone  of  the  Stuarts,  but   from    that   dissatisfaction   some- 
times apparent  in  the  language  of   William ;    and  the  vessel 
seems  riding  in  smooth  water,    moved    by    other   impulses  and 
liable  perhaps  ti  other  dangers  than  those   of  the   ocean  wave 
and  tempest."     So  much  for  the  political   condition.     And  now 
let  us  seo  what  was   the   social   condition    of   England,   at  the 
time  when  her  people   were  achieving   these   glorious  political 
.successes.     The  mnlerinls  are  collected  reiuly  to  our  hancjU  in  n,n 
38 


208  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

elaborate   chapter,    (lie   third   or   fourth,  of  Lord   Macauluy's 
History   of   England — on   the    condition  of  England  in    1685. 
Those  who  wish  to  examine  -the  question   for  themselves   must 
lead  that  chapter  in  the  original.     I   cannot  go  now  into  all  the 
topics   there   expatiated    on.     The    condition   of   the   working- 
classes,   and   the    agriculturists,    the    state   of    tho   means    of 
communication,  the   extraordinary   extent    to  which  children 
were  overworked  for  the   benefit,    in   the  result,   of   the   adult 
population,  the  looseness  and  obscenity  of  general  conversation, 
these  are  all  dwelt  on  in  the   interesting  pages  of  Macaulay.     1 
will  not  say   more   about   them.     I    \vill    only   draw   attention 
particularly  to  two  points.     The    first   relates  to   the  state  of 
female    education.     Macaulay     gives    as    an    instance    of  the 
miserable  state  of  female  education,  and   merely  as  an  instance 
of  what  was  only  too   common    at   the   time,  the   ignorance  of 
su(5h  a  person  as  Queen  Mary,  the   wife   of  William    III. — her 
ignorance  of  her  own  vernacular,  the  classical   languages  being, 
bf  course,  out  of   the   question.     The   ignorance  is  shown  in  a 
Sentence  endorsed  by  Queen  Mary  herself   on  a  copy  of  a  book, 
a  Bible,  I  think,  presented  to  her.  The  English  is  such  as  a-boy 
fh  our   sixth    standard  classes    could    easily   improve.     I  have 
copied  out  the  words  here,  and  I  will  read  them  to  you.     "This 
book,"  so  runs  the  endorsement,  "was  given  the  King  and  I  at 
tfur  crownation."     That  is   one   point.     Another,  also  noted  by 
Macanlay,  is  that  husbands  "  of  decent  station,11  as  Macaulay  is 
careful  to   note,  were   not  ashamed,    in  those   days,    of  cruelly 
beating  their  wives.     Well,  as  I  said  before,  1  need  not  go  into 
further  details.     These  are   enough  to  demonstrate,  that  at  the 
politically  glorious  epoch  we  are  now   surveying,  the  social  con- 
dition of  England  in  regard  to  the  relations  of  the  sexes,  was  by 
no  means  of  a  highly   creditable   character.     Look  again  at  the 
England  of  to-day.     Politically,   she   continues  to   be  as  great, 
and  as  prosperous,  -  and  a^  energetic  in    advancement,    agr  ever, 
How  is  she  socially  ?    I  have  noted  down  here  a  point- or  two  in 
regard  to  this,  -which  is  worthy  of  consideration.    But  I  wish  to 
say  a  word  of  warning  before  I  refer  to  these  points  themselves. 
On  this  as   well  as  on  the   last   point,  I  refer  only  to  existing 
social  evils.     This  is  necessary  for  the  argument,     But  I  must 


iv,]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  8Q9 

not  be  understood  as  supposing  for  one  instant,  that  these  evils 
afford  a  satisfactory  picture  of  the  social  condition  of  England, 
taken  as  a  whole,  whether  in  the  seventeenth  century  or  at  the 
present  day.  I  have  not  the  privilege  of  a  personal  knowledge 
of  the  social  condition  of  England  even  at  the  present  day.  But 
from  all  I  have  read  and  seen  here  ;  from  all  I  have  heard  from 
those  of  our  friends  who  have  had  the  inestimable  privilege  of 
seeing  with  their  own  eyes  Kuglaud  and  English  social  life  ,f 
especially  fr<m  what  I  have  heard  from  our  distinguished  friends 
who  have  only  just  returned  ;  and  among  thern^  too,  especially 
my  excellent  friend  Mr.  llamasawmi  Mudaliar  of  Madras  who  bus 
publicly  spoken  on  this  subject;  from  all  this,  I  have  formed  a 
conclusion,  which  1  have  no  hesitation  in  plainly  avowing,,  that 
in  my  judgment  the  social  condition  of  England  is,  in  many 
important  respects,  immensely  superior  to  that  of  any  of  the 
sections  of  our  Indian  community.  I  hope  this  open  avow.il  will 
prevent  any  misunderstanding  of  my  meaning  in  what  1  have 
said  on  this  subject,  and  also  in  what  I  nra  goirg  to  soy,  Of  the 
detailed  points,  then,  that  I  have  noted,  I  pass  over  one  which 
1  had  intended  to  refer  to,  but  which,  on  second  thoughts,  1 
consider  to  be  so  liable  to  misapprehension  that  it  had  better  be 
omitted.  And  I  will  refer  first  to  the  question  of  women's  rights. 
That  was  a  question  on  which,  as  we  all  know,  .the  late  John 
Stuart  Mill  felt,  thought,  and  wrote,  very  strongly.  But  what 
has  been  the  result  of  it  ?  His  very  eloquent  treatise  on  the 
Subjection  of  Women  has  not  yet  had  any  appreciable  result,  as 
regards 'the  practical  enforcement  of  its  doctrines,  while  Mr, 
Mill  himself  was,  in  his  lifetime,  ridiculed  for  his  out-of-the- 
way  views.  Great  is  tiuth  and  it  prevails,  says  the  Latin 
proverb,  and  our  own  Sanskrit  maxim  is  to  the  same  effect- 
Truth  alone  is  victorious,  not  untruth.  But  for  tho  present 
the  truth  enunciated  by  Mill  is  not  in  the  ascendant.  Again,  it 
was  only  the  other  day,  in  this  very  Hall,  that  w,e  were  in- 
formed how  the  relations  of  the  working  classes  and  the 
aristocratic  party  in  England  were  constituted,  and  how  the 
former  felt  a  genuine  and  fervent  nyinpathy  with  the  wants 
and  wishes  of  the  Indian  population,  because  they  fejt  that 
iu  their  own  country  au<l  by  their  own  people, 


300  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

treated  in  much  the  same  way  as  we  are  here.  Does  that 
indicate  a  satisfactory  social  condition  f  Or  again,  let  me  refer 
to  the  telegram  received  only  tins  afternoon,  about  a  grand 
Socialist  meeting  of  20,000  people  in  Hyde  Park.  One  of  the 
Socialist  orators  there  declared,  that  there  would  be  bloodshed, 
unless  social  reform — by  which  I  understand  him  to  mean  a  re- 
form in  the  relations  of  the  different  classes  of  society, — was 
granted.  Can  we  say,  that  that  is  altogether  as  it  should  be? 
There  is  one  more  point  that  I  would  wish  to  refer  to  here, 
especially  because  it  affords  an  even  closer  parallel  to  onr  con- 
dition than  those  to  which  I  have  now  alluded.  Marriage  with 
a  deceased  wife's  sister  is  at  present  prohibited  ILL  England. 
The  movement  for  the  removal  of  this  prohibition  is  not  one  of 
yesterday.  It  is  an  old  one,  and  has  gone  on  for  many  years.  On 
the  last  occasion  that  it  was  solemnly  discussed,  the  reform  was 
obstructed,  and  successfully  obstructed,  by  those  who  correspond 
in  English  society  to  our  priesthood.  There  you  have  the  case  of 
a  social  reform,  which  comes  as  near  as  possible  to  the  social 
reforms  required  among  us — reforms,  that  is  to  say,  of  social  re- 
gulations intertwined  closely  with  religious,  or  what  are  regard- 
ed as  religions,  ordinances.  How,  then,  does  the  whole  matter 
stand?  In  this  England  of  ours,  this  England,  where  political 
reform  is  advancing  by  leaps  arid  bounds,  where  political  affairs 
attract  such  attention  as  is  shown  by  the  commotion  of  the 
General  Election  just  closed — in  this  England,  there  are  still  social 
evils,  huge  and  serious  social  evils,  awaiting  remedy.  To  them 
attention  is  not  directed  with  anything  like  the  force  and  energy 
bestowed  on  political  affairs — even  until  bloodshed  is  threatened. 
Where,  then,  is  the  lesson  of  history  whrjh  we  are  asked  to 
deduce  and  act  upon  ?  Once  more  I  say,  that  my  remarks 
must  not  be  understood  as  implying  fora  moment,  that  lam 
comparing  our  social  condition  with  that  of  England.  lam 
doing  nothing  of  the  sort.  I  am  only  pointing  the  lesson 
taught  by  the  contemporary  history  of  England— that  political 
progress  can  be  achieved,  and  is  being  achieved  before  our  eyes, 
where  social  evils  still  remain  unremedied,  and  where  they 
receive  but  a  comparatively  small  fraction  of  the  attention  and 
reforming  energy  of  the  people. 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPEfiS.  301 

And  now  having  dealt  with  the  only  two  argument^  Hint 
I  have  come  across  in  support  of  the  theory  tliat  social  reform 
must  precede  political  reform,  1  must  pass  on  to  the  next 
branch  of  my  observations.  But  before  I  do  so,  I  wish  to  sny  one 
word.  A  good  deal  more  might  be  said  on  this  question  of  the 
true  lesson  taught  by  history,  But  having  said  what  I 
have  said,  I  think  it  is  unnecessary  to  further  labour  the 
point,  as  the  view  1  have  taken  is  that  which  is  implied  in  the- 
practical  advice  given  by  Mr.  Wordsworth,  whose  authority  — 
especially  on  questions  like  this  one,  concerning  the  philosophy  of 
history — may  safely  be  pronounced  to  be  unequalled  in  Bombay. 

Well,  then,  having  dealt  with  and  shown  what  I  conceive 
io  be  the  fallacy  of  the  arguments  urged  in  support  of  the 
affirmative  of  the  question  which  forms  the  subject  of  this 
evening's  discourse,  1  will  now  proceed  to  state  the  arguments 
which  appear  tonic  to  support  the  negative  answer  to  that 
question.  And  first,  it  seems  to  me  to  be  plainly  a  maxim  of 
prudence  and  common  sense,  that  reform  ought  to  go,  as  I  may 
say,  along  the  line  of  lisast  resistance.  Secure  first  the  reforms 
which  you  can  secure  with  the  least  difficulty,  and  then  turn 
your  energies  in  the  direction  of  those  reforms  where  more 
difficulty  has  to  be  encountered.  You  will  thus  obtain  all  thai; 
vigour  which  the  spirit  of  reform  must  derive  from  success,  and 
thus  carry  out  tho  whole  work  of  progress  with  greater  promp- 
titude than  if  you  go  to  work  the  other  way.  This  is  the 
principle  we  actually  act  upon  within  the  sphere  of  political 
activity  itself.  How,  then,  can  we  be  justly  twitted  for  apply- 
ing the  same  principle  as  between  the  two  spheres  of  political 
and  social  activity  ?  Now  if  this  principle  is  correct,  it  leads 
manifestly  to  the  conclusion  that  more  energy  ought  just  now  to 
be  devoted  to  political  than  to  social  reform.  Remember,  I  am 
not  asking  that  our  reforming  energies  should  be  confined  to 
the  political  sphere.  Far  from  it.  1  entirely  repudiate  that 
principle.  And  I  don't  think  you  could  carry  it  out  if  you 
would.  As  pointed  our  in  the  quotation  from  Mr.  Spencer's 
essay  given  in  my  letter  to  Mr.  Malabari — I  must  ask  to  'be 
excused  for  referring  to  that  lelttr  so  frequently— as  there 
pointed  out,  the  spirit  which  impel  hi  to  political  reform  must 


302  INfilAN  SOCIAL  R&FOkM.  [PART 

needs  burst  forth  in  other  directions  aldo/more  or  leas  frequently, 
with  greater  or  less  force.  I  have  not  the  remotest  idea 
df  laying1  an  embargo  on  ibs  outgoings  in  those  direc* 
tions.  Buti  this  I  do  say,  that  political  reform  is  ou titled 
to'  a  greater  share  of  our  energies  -  than  socihl,  under  th« 
circumstances  we  have  got  lo  doul  with.  Every  one  of  us 
cannot' -devote  himself  to  every  one  of  the  numerous  reforms 
Which  Tire -wan  ted.  Extraordinary  natural  gifts  may  enable 
rtue  person,  like,  for  instance,  my  friend  Mr.  Hanade,  to 
devote  himself  successfully  to  many  modes  of  activity  at 
one  and  thb  sdme  time.  But  this  is  not  possible  to  us  all. 
Therefore  in  dividing  Our  energies,  if  we  have  to  divide  them, 
between  political  and  social  reform,  I  hold  that  the  greater 
portion  of  our  energy  legitimately  can,  and  therefore  ought  to 
be  devoted  to  the  former.  And  now  mark  how  the  result  1 
Allege  follows  from  the  application  of  the  line-of-least-resistance 
principle:  What  Are  the  forces  opposed  to  us,  if  I  may  use 
that  compendious  expression  ?  On  the  one  side,  -  we  have  a 
government  by  a  progressive  nation,  which  is  the  benign 
mother  of  free  nations — a  nation  which,  by  its  constituted 
authorities,  has  solemnly  and  repeatedly  declared,  and  in  some 
measure  practically  shown  the  sincerity  of  its  declarations, 
that  it  is  -ready  to  'admit  us  to  full  political  rights,  when  we 
show  that  we  deserve  them  and  shall  use  them  well.  On  tho 
other  side,  we  have  an  ancient  nation,  subject  to  strong  pre- 
judices ;  not  in  anything  like  full  sympathy  with  the  new  con- 
ditions  now  existing  in  the  country;  attached,  perhaps  "not 
Wisely  but  too  well,"  to  its  own  religious  notions  -  with  which 
the  proposed  social  reforms  are  closely,  intimately,  and  at 
numberless  points,  intertwined;  loving  all  its  own  genuine 
hoary  traditions— and  some  of  its  very  modern  ones  also  which 
it  supposes  to  be  hoary — yet  often  failing  to  understand  the 
true  meaning  and  significance  of  both  classes  of  traditions.  Aft 
between  these  two  groups  of  what  I  have  called,  'only  for  con- 
venience of  phrase,  opposing  forces,  CKTI  there  be  any 'reasonable 
doubt  how  the  line  of  least  resistance  runs  ?  H  we  compare  the 
Government  and  (he  Hindu  population  to  two  forts  facing  the 
army  of  reform,  can  there  be  any  doubt  tiint  the  wisest  course 


TV.]  MISCVllLANKurS  PAPERS.  303 

for  tliftfc  array  is  to- turn  its  energies  first  towards  the,  fort  re- 
presented .by  the  Government,  where  \ve  have  numerous  and 
powerful  friends  among  the  garrison,  and  which  is  held  against 
UB'Qtily  in  order  to  test  first  whether  wo  shall  be  able  to  pro*, 
perly  use  any  larger  powers  that  may  be  conceded  to  us  there  ?. 
AH  to  the  other  fort,  the  case  is  as  far  as  possible  from  being 
one  of  rewi,  vidi,  vici.  The  soldiers  of  Uie  old  .garrison  are 
not  in  the  least  ready  to  <:give  up,"  and  in  some  respects  we. 
have  yet  got  even  to  forge,  and  to  learn  to  wiold,  Hie  weapons 
by  which  we  have  to  fight  them. 

Again,  in  politics,  argument  goes-  a  great  \vuy  ;  in 
social  reform,  it  goen  for  very  little,  Feeing  thnt  feeling  and 
tradition  are  involved  in  it  to  a  very  large  extent  indeed.  In 
politics,  even  such  a  thinker  as  Sir  FiUjames  Stephen  is 
content  to  resort  to  reason.  He  pays,  that  if  the  people  of  India 
want  free  institution?,  without  wire-pulling  from  English 
Radicals,  let  them  by  all  means  have  such  institutions.  Sir 
Fitz james  Stephen's  objection  is  only  to  the  concession  of  suoh 
institutions,  when  they  are  not  asked  for  in  India,  only  to  prove 
a  pet  theory  of  English  politicians.  In  presence  of  such  cham- 
pions of  the  existing  order  of  things,  logic  is  an  instrument  of 
power.  But  where  feeling  and  tradition  are  the  authorities 
appealed  to,  logic  is  almost  impotent,  You  must  then  make 
np  your  minds — still  to  use  logic,  of  course,  but  only  aa  a 
subordinate  agency — and  you  must  rely  more  on  a  long,  patient, 
toilsome,  process  of  diverting  the  feelings,  or  to  express*  it 
differently,  making  the  soil  unfit  for  the  growth  of  these 
misplaced  sentiments  and  misunderstood  traditions,  in  the  same 
way  as,  according  to  a  great  pcientific  teacher,  science  does  not 
attack  the  weed  of  superstition  directly,  but  renders  the  mental 
soil  unfit  for  its  cultivation.  You  cannot  sny,  you  onglit  not  to 
say  here,  "cut  this  down,  why  cumbereth  it  the  ground."  You 
must  improve  here,  you  must  infuse  new  vitality  and  new  vigour 
into  the  old  growth.  In  one  word,  to  go  back  once  ngain  to  our 
old  political  phraseology,  we  have  here  got,  like  Disraeli,  iq  edu- 
cate our  party,  which  always  must  be,  and  in  tins  case  must 
particularly  be,  a  lengthy  and  laborious  operation. 
-  Once  more,  In  political  matters  we  can  all  unite  at  once, 


304  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM-  [PART 

Hindus,    Mussulmans,    Parsis,  the   people  of   Eastern    India, 
Southern    India)   Western   India,    Northern     India, — all    can 
unite,   £ud  not  only    can  do  so  in   theory,  they    have   actually 
done   BO   in   fact,    as   demonstrated   at  the  National   Congress 
held  last  Christmas.     What   is  the  secret  of  this  P  The   an- 
swer  is   obvious.     The  evils,  or  supposed  evils,  are  common  ; 
the   remedies,    not   being  in   any  way  mixed  up,  with  any  very 
r powerful    traditions,    are   nlso    the  sanie ;  and    all    intelligent! 
Indian  opinion  is   necessarily   unanimous.     In   regard  to  social 
matters,    the   conditions    are    all  altered.     The   evils,   for  one 
thing,  are  not  identical.     The  surrounding  conditions  are  exces- 
sively various.     The  force  of  traditions  and  old  memories  is  not 
equal  all  round.     And   the   remedies,    therefore,    that  suggest 
themselves  to  different  minds  are    almost  of  necessity  different. 
It  is  plain,  then,    that  the    advantages  to  secure  \vhich  wo  can 
fill  unite  ought  to  be  tried  for  drat,  s»o  that  we  may  obtain  tut 
benefit  of  the  fraternal  feeling  which  must  be  generated  by. Booh 
co-operation..  If  political  reform  is  thus  secured  by  the  concert- 
ed actipn  of  all   the  educated  classes  in  India,  that    must,  arid 
inevitably  will,  tell  favourably  on  the  advancement  of  social  re- 
form.    Heading   Mr.  Cotton's    book   on    Nen\  India   the  otlisr 
day,  I  came  across  a  passage  germane  to  this  topic,  which  I  have 
.copied  out  here  and   shall  read  to  you.     "  Bereft  of  political  in- 
dependence,'9 snys    he,  "  their   ideas  of  collective  action  cannot 
have  that  impress  of   sound  logic  and  morality  which  collective 
.action    alone   can   impart  to    them.     A  considerable   degree  of 
unity  in  thought  and  action  has   lately  been  established  in  poli- 
tical .matters,  and   it  may  be   hoped,   therefore,  that  there  will 
ahprtly  be  a  similar  manifestation  in  regard  to  moral  and  social 
questions/,'     What  Mr.  Cotton  says    here  is  not   only  perfectly 
true,  but  I  venture  to    think   it   is  somewhat    understated.     In 
•regard  to  moral  and   social  questions,  in  the  same  way  as  with 
regard  to  political  ones,  there  is  a  great  deal  more  unity  already 
established   than  he  supposes.     The  difference  there,  too— as 
regards  the. goal  to  be  reached — ia  but  slight.     The  real  differ- 
ence is— and   that  I   admit  is  at  present   very  wide — as  to  the 
roads  for  reaching  the  goal.     Some  believe  in  legislation,  somo 
jn  Sfc/ite  aid,  and  Qomo  are  inclined  to  trust  to  the  development 


TV.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  305 

from  within  of  the  energy  of  the  community M  Such  and  other 
important  differences  exist  in  the  modes  suggested  for  effecting 
reforms.  Hut  about  the  substantive  reforms  themselves,  there 
is  but  little — I  dun't  deny  that  there  is  a  little — difference  of 
views-  But  the  general  unity  is  not  thereby  marred.  And  the 
want  of  unit}'  in  details  here  referred  to  is  due  to  various  cir- 
cumstances like  those  already  indicated,  and  must  gradually 
cease  to  exist. 

One  of  our  Anglo-Vernacular  newspapers  recently  asked 
how  the  progress  of  political  reform  was  expected  to  tell  on  the 
advance  of  social  reform.  1  say,  we  have  just  indicated  one 
mode  in  which  this  operation  will  take  pluce.  In  political 
matters,  we  are  learning — and  learning  more  easily  than  we 
should  do  in  any  other  department  of  activity — the  lesson,  that 
we  must  act  in  concert,  that  to  this  end  we  must  give  and  take, 
and  sink  smaller  differences  for  the  one  common  purpose.  Tbis, 
and  lessons  like  this,  when  we  are  thoroughly  imbued  with  them, 
will  form  the  best  possible  equipment  for  the  work  of  social 
reform  that  lies  before  us.  We  must  act  together,  we  must 
disarm  opposition,  we  must  conciliate  those  opposed  to  us. 
Such  are  the  modes  of  action  which  we  are  learning  in  the 
course  of  our  political  activity.  These  we  shall  have  to  apply 
in  the  performance  of  our  duty  in  the  social  sphere.  Let  us 
remember  further,  that  with  political  independence,  to  a  certain 
extent,  goes  a  great  capacity  for  Rocial  advancement.  This  is 
not  a  mere  empty  speculation.  It  is  a  theory  in  support  of 
which  historical  testimony  can  be  adduced.  Sir  H.  Maine  has 
pointed  out  in  regard  to  the  Hindu  Law  as  administered  by  our 
Indian  courts,  that  it  has  now  assumed  a  stiffness,  rigidity, 
and 'inflexibility,  which  formed  no  feature  of  the  system  before 
British  rule.  In  the  days  of  the  Peshva  regime  again— a  regime 
which  many  among  us  are  apt  to  look  up  in  as  very  anti-liberal 
and  narrow — there  was  a  liberalising  process  going  on,  which, 
if  I  may  be  permitted  to  use  that  "figure,  must  make  one's 
mouth  water  in  these  days.  The  story  of  Parashuram  Bhau 
Patvarfthari  is  a  familiar  one.  That  brave  soldier-statesman 
had  almost  made  up  his  mind  to  get  a  favourite  daughter,  who 
had  become  a  widow  in  youth,  remarried.  He  had  to  abandon 
39 


306  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

that  intention,  it  is  true,  bat  still  the  very  fact  that  such  ao 
idea  should  have  entered  his  mind,  and  should  have  been  placed 
by  him  before  those  by  whom  he  was  surrounded,  and  that 
these  latter  should  have  deprecated  it  in  the  very  mild  manner 
that  they  seem  to  have  done — these  are  facts  worthy  of  being 
pondered  over.  Coupling  them  with  such  facts  as  I  see  in  the 
Bakhars,  regarding  the  behaviour  of  the  Peshvas  with  Jivba 
Dad  a,  the  entertainment  of  Mussulmans  and  Hindus  at  dinner 
together  on  occasion  of  the  marriage  of  Savai  Madhavrav 
Peshva,  the  marriage  of.  the  Peshva  Balaji  Bajirao  with  a 
daughter  of  a  Desastha  family,  I  confess  I  am  inclined  strongly 
to  draw  the  inference,  which  I'have  held  for  a  long  time,  that 
if  Peshva  rule  had  continued  a  little  longer,  several  of  the  social 
reforms  which  are  now  giving  us  and  the  British  Government 
so  much  trouble  would  have  been  secured  with  immensely 
greater  ease. 

And  now  I  come  to  the  last  of  the  points  I  wish  to  address 
myself  to  this  evening.  I  do  so  the  more  readily  now,  because 
I  am  afraid  I  have  trespassed  already  too  long  on  your  attention, 
The  remark  of  Sir  A.  Colvin  which  I  alluded  to  at  the  beginning 
of  this  address,  assumed  that  as  n.  matter  of  fact  we  were 
devoting  an  extravagant  proportion  of  our  time  and  energy  to 
the  subject  of  political  reformp  and  neglecting  almost  entirely 
— so  it  appears  to  me  to  have  assumed— the  subject  of  social 
reform.  I  cannot  admit  this  to  be  the  fact  at  all,  I  can  well 
understand,  how  such  an  incorrect  impression  should  arise 
among  those  whose  acquaintance  with  what  is  going  on  in 
Indian  Society  is  from  the  outside,  and  derived  from  newspapers 
and  other  similar  sources.  In  the  case  of  political  reform,  it  is 
of  the  very  essence  of  the  thing  that  a  great  deal  should  be  done 
through  the  agency  of  newspapers.  Nobody,  I  am  sure,  will 
suspect  me  of  undervaluing  the  utility  of  the  press  in  all  works 
of  reform.  But  1  must  own,  that  I  do  not  think  social  questions 
are  very  njuch  the  worse  for  not  being  talked  about  so  much 
through  the  newspapers  as  political  questions.  For  see  how 
different  the  two  cases  are  in  regard  to  this  point.  la  regard 
lo  politics,  the  efforts  made  so  far  have,  as  a  general  but  not 
by  any  means  as  a  universal  rule,  addressed  thernselvee  to 


±\r.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  3U? 

those  who  dome  within  the  circle  of  the  influence  of  the-preda. 
For  one  thing,  the  officers  of  Government  have  to  Be  kept 
informed  in  regard  to  what  is  thought,  felt,  or  desired 
by  the  people,  One  of  the  best  means  of  effecting  this 
is  afforded  by  newspapers.  Again,  superior  officers  of  the 
British  Government  have  often  to  be  informed  of  the  doings 
of  (heir  subordinates,  and  informed  in  such  a  way  as  to  enforce 
attention.  The  newspaper  press  is  a  most  potent  instrument 
for  use  in  such  cases.  But  in  the  case  of  social  evils,  the  parly 
to  be  educated  is  to  a  great  extent  beyond  the  ambit  of  the 
newspaper's  influence.  It  does  not  often  get  into  the  way  of 
the  newspaper,  and  it  is  too  thick-skinned  to  be  touched  to  the 
quick  on  that  side.  The  mode  of  operation,  accordingly,  must 
here  be  necessarily  different,  although,  of  course,  even  here  the 
newspaper  is  of  use  as  an  indirect  means  of  education  by  way 
of  "  nitration"  ;  and  also  as  a  means  of  communication  with 
those  sections  of  the  old  party  that  come  nearest  to  the  new ; 
and  further  as  a  means  of  communication  between  the  various 
sections  or  members  of  the  new  party  itself,  However,  although 
reforming  activity  in  the  social  sphere  is  thus  usually  less  noisy 
than  in  the  other  sphere,  it  is  not,  therefore,  any  the  less  real. 
But  before  I  go  into  details  here,  lam  free  to  admit  at  once 
that  the  success  we  have  achieved  is  excessively  slight.  Eat 
if  I  admit  this,  I  wish  to  aak,  whether  any  one  is  prepared  to 
say  that  the  success  we  have  achieved  in  the  political  sphere 
is  so  very  large  after  all,  even  with  more  favourable  conditions  P 
Admitting  that  we  are  miles  and  miles  away  from  the  goal  in 
social  reform,  I  hold  that  we  are  as  yet  equally  far  in  political. 
We  have  made  and  are  making  preparations  in  both,  and  in 
both  we  have  made  a  similar  amount  of  progress.  Let  us 
glance  at  the  facts,  Female  education  is  one  of  our  principal 
it  em  a,  as  it  is  one  of  our  principal  means,  of  social  reform. 
We  have  made  some  progress  there.  I  am  myself  a  great  be- 
liever in  the  efficacy  of  female  education,  especially  in  connexion 
with  general  social  reform  of  all  descriptions.  And,  therefore^ 
I  need  scarcely  say  that  what  we  have  done  is  small  enough  in 
all  conscience.  But  we  have  done  something.  Our  Parsi 
friends,  with  my  venerable  friend  now  in  the  chair  as  one  of 


308  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

their  great  leaders,  havo  made  progress  which  puts  us  to  shame. 
But  though  we  are  lagging  behind,  we  too  are  doing  something, 
as  I  need  scarcely  tell  the  members  of  the  Students'  Literary 
and  Scientific  Society.  The  girls  at  the  Society's  Schools  have 
been  for  some  time  increasing  in  numbers,  And  recently  we 
have  added  an  Anglo-Vernacular  Department  to  our  schools, 
which,  beginning  with  12  girls  in  the  first  year,  and  contnin- 
ing  22  in  the  second,  now  opens  its  third  year  with  as  many 
as  60  girls.  Again  I  say  this  is  small  enough,  as  no  one  can 
feel  more  strongly  than  I  do.  But  it  is,  I  will  venture  to  say, 
perceptible  progress.  Then  there  is  also  the  other  great  section 
uf  the  Indian  community — the  Mahomedm-.  That  section  has 
generally  been  regarded  as  averse  to  i m pro vcnienh— especially 
of  the  modern  sort.  But  the  important  movement  started  by 
my  excellent  friend  Mr,  Badruddin  ,Tyabji  and  his  colleagues, 
has  by  its  great  success  shown  that  the  Mahomed  an  com- 
munity, too,  is  socially  moving  forward,  However,  to  return 
to  other  points  connected  with  the  social  state  of  the  Hindu 
community.  The  question  of  widow  marriage  has  ceitainl^ 
advanced  a  great  deal  beyond  the  stage  at  which  it  was,  saj 
twenty  year?  ago.  The  bonds  of  caste  are  getting  looser,  out 
friends  are  going  to  England  with  less  difficulty,  and  more 
frequently,  than  before.  [A  Voice — What  about  infant 
marriage  ?]  A  friend  there  asks  about  the  position  of  the  infant 
marriage  question.  Well,  even  here  we  are  not  so  bad  as  we 
were  within  the  narrow  span  even  of  my  own  experience. 
The  age  of  marriage  is  slowly  rising,  1  admit  again  it  is 
rising  very  slowly  indeed,  and  the  point  it  has  now  reached 
is  low  enough.  Still  there  is  no  retrogression  certainly,  nnd 
there  is  some  progress,  however  slight.  And  all  these  facts 
being  such  as  I  have  pointed  out,  I  venture  to  repeat,  that  we 
cannot  fairly  be  censured  for  giving  too  exclusive  attention  to 
political  at  the  expense  of  social  reform. 

And  now,  after  all  this  discussion,  I  venture  t&  reiterate 
the  opinion  which  I  stated  many  mouths  ago,  that  it  is  nqt 
possible  tq  sever  political  from  social  reform  altogether  ;,  that 
the  two jnuatgo  hand  in  hand,  although  the  march  may  not  in 
/theoaee  of  both  be  with  absolutely  equal  celerity.  I  say, we 


Lv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  309 

must  find  ought  to  devote  the  greater  portion  of  our  energy  to 
political  reform,  tmfc  so  as  still  to  keep  alive  a  warm  sympathy 
for  social  reform.  To  one  like  myself,  who  believes  to  a  great 
extent  iu  the  philosophy  of  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer,  this  conclu- 
sion is  not  only  a  correct  one,  but  almost  the  only  one  possible. 
But  even  to  those  wLo  may  not  accept  that  philosophy,  but  who 
will  look  beneath  the  surface  of  things,  to  them,  too,  this  conclu- 
sion must  commend  itself.  Let  us  then  all  devote  the  bulk  of 
our  energies  to  political  reform,  Let  us  keep  alive  oar  sympa- 
thies with  social  reform  and  those  who  undertake  them,  and 
let  us  all  help  them  to  the  extent  of  nur  powers.  At  all  events, 
for  God's  sake,  let  us  not  set  ourselves  in  antagonism  to  social 
reform.  In  this  way  only  shall  we  host  discharge  the  whole  of 
the  duty  which  lies  upon  us,  the  duty  of  reform  in  social  as  well 
as  political  matters.  l<\jr  1  must  repeat,  that  in  my  judgment 
they  are  both  duties  and  must  both  be  fairly  attended  to  ami 
discharged  according  to  our  circumstances  anfl  opportunities, 


The  Hon'ble  Mr.  N.  C.  Chandavarkar  on 
Social  Reform. 

The  following  is  the  full  text  of  tha  speech  delivered  by  the 
Honourable  Mr.  N.  G.  Chandavarkar,  n.A,,  LL.U.,  as  President 
of  the  Fourth  Anniversary  Meeting  of  the  Madras  Hindu  Social 
Reform  Association  on  28th  November  1896  : — 

LADIES  AND  GENTLEMKN,—  I  nm  giving  but  a  very  inadequate 
expression  to  my  feelings  at  this  moment  when  1  say  that  it  has 
given  me  unbounded  pleasure  to  visit  this  capital  of  Southern 
India  and  to  meet  in  this  hall  and  on  'this  occasion  so  many  of 
the  friends,  sympathisers  and  active  supporters  of  the  cause  of 
Hindu  social  reform.  This  is  an  occasion  which  I  cannot  very 
easily  forget,  and  though  I  must  acknowledge  my  inability  to 
do  full  justice  to  the  task  which  the  members  of  the  Madras 
Hindu  Social  Reform  Association  have  entrusted  to  me,  yet  I 
entertain  tbe  hope  that  the  combined  sympathies  of  so  many 
ladies  and  gentlemen  that  1  see  before  me  for  the  cause  which 
both  yon  and  myself  have  greatly  at  heart  and  tbe  willing 
confidence  with  which  I  have  been  called  to  this  chair,  will 


310  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAH* 

have  an  inspiring  effect  upon  me  and  enable  me  to  justify,  to 
some  extent  at  least,  that  confidence.  It  looks  rather  odd  that 
a  stranger  like  me  in  Madras  should  be  selected  for  the  honor 
that  you  have  done  me  by  asking  me  to  preside  at  this  meeting. 
Bat,  after  all,  I  am  willing  to  own  that  my  situation  cannot  be 
very  odd  on  account  of  my  being  a  stranger  to  Madras,  when  I 
remember  that  this  is  not  the  first  time  when  you  have  selected 
*a  gentleman  from  the  sister  Presidency  to  preside  at  an 
anniversary  meeting  of  the  Madras  Hindu  Social  Reform  Asso- 
ciation. One  far  more  deserving  of  your  confidence — one  who 
haa,  by  his  pure  and  exemplary  life,  no  less  than  by  his  scho- 
larly attainments  and  moral  courage,  won  universal  respect  and 
entitled  himself  to  be  regnrded  as  a  leading  social  reformer — I 
refer  to  Dr.  Bhandarkar — honored  this  chair  at  your  anniver- 
sary meeting  held  at  the  end  of  December  1894  and  addressed 
you  on  the  subject  of  Hindu  social  reform  iii  words  which,  I 
dare  say,  have  made  indelible  impression  on  the  minds  of  all 
who  heard  him.  But  though  I  happen  to  bo  a  stranger  to  this 
Presidency  in  the  sense  that  I  received  my  education  in  Bom- 
bay and  have  made  that  city  my  home,  yet  I  may  fairly  claim 
not  to  be  an  entire  stranger  amongst  you  for  the  reason  that  I 
not  only  come  from  a  diwtrict  which  at  one  time  formed  part 
of  this  Presidency  but  from  a  community  which  eveu  now  is 
linked  with  both  Madras  and  Bombay,  and  derives  its  influen- 
ces from,  and  owes  its  enlightened  spirit  to,  the  one  Presidency 
as  much  as  to  the  other.  It  is  this  feeling  which  partly  en- 
couraged me  to  accept,  without  any  hesitation,  your  kind 
invitation  to  me  to  visit  this  city  and  to  do  myself  the  honor 
of  presiding  at  your  deliberations  here.  But  that  is  not  the 
only  feeling  which  encouraged  me  to  so  readily  accept  the 
invitation.  For  some  years  now^-they  may  be  a  very  few 
.years,  not  more  than  six  or  seven,  but  nevertheless  they  are  years 
which,  in  my  humble  opinion,  mark  a  very  important  epoch  in 
the  popular  progress  of  the  city,  if  not  of  the  whole  of  the 
Presidency,  of  Madras — for  some  years  now,  I  have  watched 
with  considerable  interest  and  sympathy,  the  earnest  efforts  of 
some  of  my  friends  here  to  create  public  opinion  in  favor  of 
social  reform  and  to  awaken  the  conscience  of  the  country  in 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  311 

general  to  the  social  wants  and  needs  of  that  ^reafc  and  ancient 
community  to  which  we  belong; — I   mean,    the  Hindus.'  These 
friends  of  ours,  who  have   identified  themselves  with  the  cause 
rtnd  have  been  striving  for  its  progress— who   by    precept  and 
example  have  shown  and  are  showing  that  they  are  in  earnest — 
have  awakened  an  interest  in  the   cause    which  is  not  confined 
either  to  this  city  or  this  Presidency  alone.     For  one  thing,  the 
Indian  Social  Reformer  has,   during  these  seven   years  of  its 
existence,  won  its  way  into  the  hearts  of  many  a  sympathiser  of 
social  reform,  and  no   bettor  acknowledgment  of  the  service  it- 
has  been  rendering  could  bo  made   than    in  the    words  of  three 
such  eminent  Hindus  as  the  late  Mr.   Justice   Tel  an  g,    the  late 
Honorable  Rao  Bahadur  K.  L.  Nulkar,   and  the  Jate  Mr.  N.  M, 
Permanand,  who  were  among  its   most  careful  readers  and  its 
most  sincere  admirers.     They  followed  its  criticisms  with  great 
interest  and  more  than  once   remarked    to  me    that  the  conduc- 
tors of  the  Indian  Social  Reformer  spotted  out  our  social  defects 
with  a  keenness  of   insight   and  intelligence  of  criticism  which 
was  admirable,  regretting   at  the   sarue   time   that   in  no  other 
part  of  the  country  was  there  a  paper    similarly  devoted  to  the 
cause  of  social  reform.     For  another  thing,    the   Madras  Hindu 
Social  Reform  Association,  whose  fourth  anniversary  meeting  we 
have  met   to   celebrate   this   evening,   shows    that    there   are, 
amongst  you   here,    men   who,  convinced   of   the  necessity  of 
organising  the  forces  of  social  reform,  have  banded    themselves 
together  for  the    purpose  of   trying,  as   far  as  they  can,  to  rea- 
lise in  their  own  lives,  individually  and  collectively,  that  higher 
and  richer  ideal  which  social  reform,  rightly   understood,  holds 
out  before  us  as    the  true   embodiment   of  social  as  well   as  in- 
dividual existence.     It  is  to  the  call  of  such  ardent  and  sincere 
champions  of  social  progress  that  I  have  deemed  it  my  humble 
duty  to  respond  ;  not  because   I  claim    to   have  done   anything 
worth  the  name  of  a  social  reformer  to  deserve   the  high  honor 
you  have  done  me   by  selecting  me   as   your  Chairman,   but 
because  1  feel  proud   to   stand   by  the  side  of  those  here,  with 
whose  thoughts  and  actions  I  am  in  hearty  sympathy. 

THE  NEED  OF  SOCIAL  REFORM  ORGANIZATIONS. 

And  I  {lo  not  know,  I  cannot  indeed  conceive,   of  a  duty 


312  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

higher,  nobler  and  more  imperative  in  these  days  than  that  of 
co-operating  as  far  as  one  can  co-operate,  with  an  organization 
snch  as  the  Mai  rag  Hindu  Social  Reform  Association.  If  the 
cry  of  the  social  reformer  has  been  a  cry  in  the  wilderness — if 
the  cause  of  social  reform  has  not  been  able  to  make  appreci- 
able progress,  the  cause  is  to  be  sought  mainly  in  the  fact  that 
its  advocates  have  not  shown  sufficiently  that  spirit  of 
torgaui/ation  and  association  without  which  no  great,  reform 
can  be  effected  and  no  change  for  the  better  brought  about  in 
either  iho  ideas,  or  the  ideals,  or  the  conduct,  of  any  class  of 
people.  We  live  in  times  when,  more  than  in  any  other,  the 
necessity  is  felt  of  men  sharing  common  opinions  on  great 
questions  affecting  the  public  welfare  combining  together  and 
working  by  means  of  smch  combinations  for  the  fulfilment  of 
their  ideals  and  the  realization  of  their  object!3.  But  the  value 
of  such  combined  activities  has  not  yet  been  felt  in  all  its  force 
in  regard  to  this  great  work  of  Hindu  social  reform  in  many 
places,  and  it  is  on  that  account  more  than  any  other  that  the 
cause  suffers.  Those  of  us  who  feel  the  need  of  reform  in  the 
social  customs  nnd  institutions  of  our  people,  who  wish  to  do  all 
we  can  to  bring  about  that  reform,  have  need  to  bear  in  mind 
ihe  very  toi&e  remark  of  Goethe  that  "  the  individual  can  ac- 
complish nothing  unless  he  co-operates  with  the  many  at  the 
riglit  time  "  ;  we  have  to  lay  to  heart  the  shrewd  observation  of 
a  social  philosopher,  \vhn  says  that  "  the  insight  of  any  one  in- 
dividual is,  in  general,  but  a  half-light,  and  requires  to  be 
complemented  by  combination  with  the  light  of  others."  The 
Madras  Hindu  Social  Reform  Association  supplies,  therefore,  a 
need  of  the  time,  and  its  claim  to  the  sympathy  and  support  of 
every  well- wisher  of  the  country  rests  on  the  ground  that,  feel- 
ing the  value  nnd  necessity  of  organised  effort  in  the  promotion 
of  social  reform,  it  has  pledged  itself  to  carry  on  its  mission  in 
the  first  place  by  means  of  lectures  and  tracts,  nnd  in  the  second 
place  by  means  of  personal  example  and  aid  to  those  who  take 
practical  steps.  The  two  great  influences  among  mankind, 
says  Carlyle,  are  light  and  lightning— thai  \s,  the  force  of  insight 
on  the  one  hand  B,nd  the  force  of  practical  effectiveness  on  the 
Other.  Bv  means  of  lectures  and  tracts  you  avail  yourselves  of 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  313 

tbe  force  of  light — bring  out  not  only  the  light  of  knowledge 
that  is  in  you,  but  you  give  it  to  others  and  th'us  help  to*  cliff  Use 
a  knowledge -of  our  social  defects  and  evils  among  the  people. 
But  what  is  more  commendable  in  the  programme  of  your 
Association  is  that  it  does  not  rest  content  with  mere  talk  bat 
seeks  to  give  practical  effect  to  that  talk  by  means  of  action, 
which  is  what  Carlyle  meant  when  he  ppoke  of  the  lightning  as 
one  oE  the  two  great  factors  in  the  progress  of  mankind,  The, 
great  charge  is  often  made  against  social  reformers  that  many 
or  most  of  them  are  insincere  and  have  not  the  courage  of  their 
convictions.  It  is  not  for  me  to  say  whether  and  how  far  this 
charge  is  true,  and  if  it  is  true,  whether  it  is  not  a  weakness 
shared  by  the  advocates  of  social  reform  in  common  with  the 
rest  of  their  educated  countrymen.  But  it  is  important  to  note, 
at  this  moment,  the  stage  at  which  the  attitude  of  our  educated 
countrymen  has  now  arrived.  There  Was  a  time  when  educa- 
ted Hindus  did  not  hesitate  to  express  freely  and  publicly 
their  opinion  in  favour  of  tho  various  measures  of  social  reform. 
Twenty  years  ago,  no  one  feared  to  say,  if  he  felt  it,  that  infant 
marriage  was  harmful,  widow  re-marriages  were  desirable,  and 
caste  distinctions  were  mischievous.  It  was  a  period  when  no 
one  oared  whether  those  who  held  those  opinions  were  in  con- 
sistency bound  to  act  up  to  them,  But  that  period  was  soon 
followed  by  another,  when  the  voice  of  conscience  began 
slowly  to  assert  itself.  During  the  preceding  period,  tho 
question  was,  what  do  I  think  ?  The  question  during  this 
second  period  was,  If  I  think  a  particular  measure  of  re- 
form good  and  necessary,  why  do  I  think  only  and  not  act  ? 
It  is  during  this  second  period  that  many  of  our  educated  country- 
men were  made  alive  to  the  truth  that  the  expression  of  a  certain 
opinion  in  favour  of  social  reform  carries  with  it  a  certain 
amount  of  personal  responsibility  and  that  there  must  be  some 
consistency  between  our  words  and  our  deeds.  And  we  have 
now  arrived  at  the  third  stage  when  educated  Hindus  stand 
divided  into  two  camps — firstly,  those  who  give  expression 
to  their  convictions  and  are  prepared  to  act  up  to  them,  and 
.secondly,  those  who  hesitate  to  give  public  expression  to  their 
ponviction  in  favour  of  social  reform  lest  whnt  they  say  should 

40 


314  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PABT 

be  dragged  to  light  and  the  inconsistency  between  their  opinions 
and  actions  exposed  some  day, ,  Those  who  belong  to  the  for- 
mer class  are  undoubtedly  fewer  in  numbers ;  while  those 
belonging  to  the  latter  may  again  be  divided  into  two  classes — 
those  who  refuse  to  say  publicly  what  they  think  on, social  re- 
form and  think  it  prudent  to  hold  their  tongues,  and  those  who 
deem  it  on  the  whole  expedient  to  run  with  the  multitude  and 
declare  themselves  as  opponents  of  social  reform.  My  friend, 
Prof.  Karve  of  the  Fergusson  College,  who  has  been  collecting 
opinions  in  favour  of  widow  re-marriage  in  order  to  find  out  how 
many  of  the  educated  Hindus  are  prepared  to  support  that 
reform  theoretically  and  how  many  arc  prepared  to  give  it 
practical  support,  told  me  some  time  ago  that  a  very  large 
number  refused  to  declare  openly  their  opinions  on  the,  question, 
though  in  private  they  sympathised  with  it. 

This  may  be  a  matter  of  regret,  but  we  need  not  be  sorry 
that  we  have  arrived  at  this  last  stage,  when  the  necessity 
of  suiting  word  to  action  and  presenting  to  the  public  a  life  of 
consistency  is  making  itself  felt  more  than  at  any  of  the 
previous  stages  through  which  the  course  of  social  reform  has 
run.  Your  Madras  Hindu  Social  Reform  Association  is  a  sign 
of  the  times  and  may  fairly  be  taken  as  an  index  of  the  whole- 
some change  which  is  taking  place  in  the  minds  of  many  of  our 
educated  countrymen.  No  one,  I  notice,  can  become  a  member 
of  the  Association  unless  he  is  prepared  to  pledge  himself  to 
carry  out  certain  reforms ;  and  by  bringing  about  widow- 
m ferriages,  endeavouring  to  create  public  opinion  against  what 
are  called  nautch  parties,  and,  in  other  ways,  you. have  shown 
that  you  are  in  earnest  and  determined  to  fight  the  battle  of 
reform  with  courage,  consistency,  and  calmness. 

I  know  that  there  are  not  wanting  critics  who  are  ready 
to  detect  flaws  in  your  programme  and  say  a  number  of  things 
against  your  methods  of  work.  Ib  is  an  old  story  oft-repeated 
that  you  are  too  hasty  and  rash,  and  are  by  your  agitations  and 
activities,  your  lectures  and  tracts  and  newspaper  criticisms, 
doing  more  harm  than  good  to  the  cause  of  social  reform,  and 
by  creating  a  prejudice  against  it,  you  are  retarding  it  while 
you,  think  you  are  endeavouring  to  promote  it.  There  is  noth* 


iv.]'  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  315 

ing  new  in  this  sort  of  hostile  criticism,  it  is  the  kind  of  criti- 
cism to  which  reform  of  all  kind,  not  merely  social,  hen  been 
treated  in  all  ages  and  in  all  countries.  Whether  the  measures 
of  social  reform  which  you  have  proposed  and  the  methods  of 
work  which  you  have  adopted  are  hasty  and  rash  and  calculated 
to  injure  the  cause  of  social  progress  among  tlie  Hindus,  is 
a  subject  with  which  1  shall  atteiript  to  deal  in  the  coarse  of 
this  address  a  little  later  on.  But  there  is  one  criticism  of 
which  I  may  be  allowed  to  take  note  just  now,  and  it  is  this, 
that  it  is  to  be  seen  whether  Ihe  activity  and  enthusiasm, 
which  have  animated  the  members  of  the  Madras  Hindu  Social 
Reform  Association  so  far,  will  enduro  for  a  long  time  to'come 
or  evaporate  after  a  certain  number  of  years.  Sustained  and 
united  action  and  patient  foil  in  the  midst  of  difficulties,  are,  we 
are  told,  not  the  virtues  for  which  the  Hindu  is  specially  noted  ; 
and  it  is  doubted  whether  an  organization  of  the  kind  you  have 
started  will  be  able  to  hold  on  and  last  for  more  than  a  few 
years  to  come.  The  only  answer  which  we  can  make  to  this 
criticism  is  that  it  is  not  for  us  either  to  pry  into  or  to  answer 
for  the  future,  for  it  depends  on  a  variety  of  circumstances, 
most,  if  not  all,  of  which  are  beyond  human  calculation.  Ifc  is 
enough  for  us  to  answer  for  the  present  and  to  work  in  the 
present,  in  the  spirit  of  faith  and  hope  ;  remembering  that' the 
future  rarely  fails  when  those  who  work  for  a  good  cause  ore 
animated  by  that  spirit. 

TUE  DIFFICULTIES  OF  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

But  there  are  those  amongst  us  who  tell  us  that  this  problem 
of  Hindu  social  reform  is  of  so  highly  complicated  a  character 
and  surrounded  with  such  innumerable  and  insuperable  difficul- 
ties that,  in  attempting  its  solution,  we  have  proposed  to  ourselves 
not  only  a  tremendous  but  a  hopeless  task,  This  hobgoblin  argu- 
ment perpetually  reminds  us  that  the  Hindu  society  is  not  one 
society  but  many  societies,  each  having  its  own  customs,  tradi- 
tions and  manners  and  each  marked  by  its  own  peculiar  stages 
of  growth  ;  and  that  an  organization  such  as  the  Madras  Hindu 
Social  Reform  Association  is  attempting  the  impossible  when, 
by  drawing  together  a  small  number  of  Hindus  of  different 


316  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

castes,  representing  different  social  customs,  it  is,  through  them, 
seeking^ the  social  regeneration  of  the  whole  and  unwieldy  mass 
of  Hindn  society.  This,  we  are  told,  is  not  the  first  age  or  time 
in  the  history  of  that  society  when  men  have  tried  the  Her- 
culean task  of  effecting  a  reform  iti  its  social  customs  and  insti- 
tutions ;  there  have  been  periods  in  that  ancient  history  when 
men  greater  than  those  who  now  pose  as  social  reformers,  gird- 
fid  their  loins  to  reform  either  the  institution  of  marriago  or 
the  institution  of  caste  ;  and,  in  spite  of  it  all,  Hindu  society 
has  gone  on  in  its  old  ways,  and  caste  and  infant  marriage  and 
enforced  widowhood  have  continued  to  rule  our  social  destinies. 
I  remember  a  friend  of  mine,  who  was  disposed  by  a  variety  of 
circumstances  to  take  a  very  pessimistic  view  of  the  .future  of 
Hindu  society  quoting  to  me  the  saying  of  the  ancient  Greeks 
that  it  is  impossible  to  constitute  a  State  of  more  than  a  few 
thousand -citizens  and  telling  me  that  the  very  bulk  of  our  num- 
bers, added  to  the  variety  of  language,  custom,  and  tradition, 
was  our  greatest  difficulty.  Next  to  this,  we  are  often  asked  by 
our  pessimistic  friends  to  take  particular  account  of  what  is  said 
to  be  the  peculiar  habit  of  the  Hindu  mind — the  habit  of  "  in-' 
nate  laziness  "  or  "  inborn  apathy,11  which  make  most  of  us  in-" 
disposed  to  get  out  of  old  and  established  grooves  even  when  we 
feel  convinced  that  a  change  is  either  desirable  or  necessary. 
This  peculiar  habit  of  mind  is  now  observable  in  the  fact  that 
while  there  are  many  educated  men  who  feel  the  need  of  social 
reform — while  nearly  all  would  say  that  our  social  customs  re- 
quire to  be  changed — there  are  very  few  who  would  think  it 
their  duty  to  put  their  shoulders  to  the  wheel  and  take  their 
part  in  the  furtherance  of  the  cause  of  social  reform.  "  What 
is  everybody's  business  is  nobody's  business."  "  Each  of  us,"  to 
express  it  in  the  language  of  an  English  writer,  "  is  apt  to  think 
that  the  world  could  get  on  well  enough  without  his  particular 
piece  of  service.'1  We  are  ready  to  say  that  social  reform  is 
necessary.  Even  more  ready  to  criticise  a  Banade  or  a  Bhan- 
darkar  for  not  doing  this  or  doing  that  as  a  social  reformer  ; 
but  it  never  occurs  to  us  that  if  we  feel  that  social  reform  is 
good,  it  is  our  duty  also  not  to  shirk  our  responsibility  but  in 
proportion  to  our  abilities  and  opportunities  to  bear  our  share  of 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  317 

the  work  that  has  to  be  performed  in  bringing  about  that  reform. 
Then,  again,  we  are  told  to  take  a  warning  and  give  up 
our  cause,  because  our  pessimists  draw  oar  pointed  attention 
to  what  they  call  "  the  spirit  of  Hindu  revivalism  "  which,  in 
spite  of  educational  and  other  reforming  agencies  that  have 
been  in  our  midst  working  together,  has  come  over  the  country 
and  seems  to  be  the  animating  force  at  the  present  day.  The 
wave  of  Hindu  orthodoxy  is  said  to  ho  passrng  over  the  whole 
face  of  Hindu  society  and  throwing  back  tho  cause  of  social  pro- 
gress by  years,  if  not  centuries.  These  and  such  other  signs  of 
the  time  are  held  forth  not  un frequently  as  making  the  situation 
of  social  reform  one  of  despair. 

But,  is  there  really  any  reason  to  be  frightened  away  by 
these  difficulties  and  to  despair  ?  Hindu  society  is,  no  doubt,  a 
very  unwieldy  structure,  and  is  divided  into  numerous  castes. 
But  is  it  on  that  account  hopeless  to  expect  it  to  assimilate 
gradually  the  ideas  of  social  reform  ?  Though  it  is  divided  into 
castes  and  sub-sections  of  castes,  innumerable,  with  peculiarities 
of  custom  and  tradition  distinguishing  them  from  one  another, 
yet  it  onghtnot  to  be  forgotten  that  all  these  castes  and  sub- 
sections rest  on  a  common  foundation  ;  they  have  a  sort  of  inter- 
dependence and  exert  mutual  influence  on  OTIO  another.  The 
customs  and  institutions  with  which  the  social  reformer  pro- 
poses to  deal  are  common  to  the  higher  classes  of  the  Hindu 
society  from  whom  the  lower  classes  fake  their  standard,  and 
if  Hindus  of  different  castes  band  themselves  together  for  the 
common  object  of  social  reform,  it  is  because  they  have  discern- 
ed the  fact  that  one  of  the  difficulties  of  that  reform  in  any 
caste  is  the  fear  that,  if  it  throws  away  an  ancient  custom  or 
gives  up  an  ancient  institution,  it  may  lose  its  prestige  in  the 
eyes  of  the  other  castes  that,  together  with  it,  constitute  Hindu 
society.  The  social  reformer  has  to  work,  so  to  say,  on  the  con- 
science of  that  society  in  general  ;  he  has  to  criticise  the  com* 
mon  foundations  on  which  the  social  customs  and  institutions 
that  he  seeks  to  improve  rest,  and  it  is  in  that  way  that  he  can 
hope  to  awaken  the  spirit  of  reform  and  progress.  The  part,  in 
the  shape  of  caste  and  its  sub-sections,  has  grown  out  of  the 
whole  in  the  shape  of  Hindu  society ;  and  the  part  will  not  move, 


3J8  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

oat  of  its  piloted  sphere  in  tlfet  society  unless  the  general  is  also 
agitated  and  moved.  Hence  the  necessity  and  value  of  social 
reform  organizations,  composed  of  members  drawn  from  differ- 
ent castes  ;  they  engage  the  interest  and  serve  to  make  a 
breach  in  the  old-fashioned  ideas  of  all  castes.  When,  again, 
we  are  told  to  take  a  warning  and  give  up  our  cause,  because 
even  the  life-loflg  and  devoted  efforts  of  men  greater  than  those 
now  working  for  social  reform  ended  in  failure,  and  that 
Hindu  society,  in  spite  of  the  more  earnest  prophets  of  social 
reform  in  the  past  continues  what  it  was  and  has  been,  the  warn- 
ing means  nothing  less  than  a  total  denial  to  the  Hindns  of 
the  power  of  assimilating  new  ideas.  lam  not  prepared  to 
admit  either  the  truth  or  force1  of  this  total  denial.  It  is  usual  to 
speak  of  "  the  hoary  and  venerable  age  of  the  Hindu  society  "i 
and  amidst  all  its  Vicissitudes,  are  we  to  suppose  that  it  has 
been  able  to  survive  and  stand  the  shock  of  ages  without  the 
power  of  assimilation,  or  rather,  which  is  (he  same  thing  ex- 
pressed in  different  language,  without  the  power  of  adjusting 
itself  to  its  environment  ?  "  The  immobility  of  the  East/1 
i:  the  stolid  conservatism  of  the  Hindu/'  are  fine  phrases  that 
have  passed  into  proverbs  ;  they  have,  like  all  phrases  that 
have  become  proverbs,  a  grain  of  truth  in  them,  but  not  the 
whole  truth  and  let  us  not  be  enslaved  by  them.  If  we  try  to 
get  inside  the  notions  conveyed  by  these  phrases,  we  shall  find 
that  Hindu  society  has  not  been  so  stolidly  impervious  to  new 
ideas  and  new  influence  as  we  often  suppose  it  to  have  been. 
To  tell  us  that  great  saints  and  sages  like  Ram  an  113  a,  Gbai* 
tanya,  Guru  Nanak,  Baa  aw  a,  and  Buddha,  failed  with  all  their 
mighty  influences  to  rid  that  society  of  some  of  its  evil  customs, 
is  to  remind  us  that  what  has  happened  in  the  past  in  the  case 
of  a  people,  will  also  happen  whether  now  or  in  future — that, 
in  other  words,  history  is  apt  to  repeat  itself.  But,  as  pointed 
out  by  Mr.  John  Morley,  historical  analogies  are  more  often 
imperfect  and  misleading  than  true.  When  we  say  that 
history  repeats  itself  and  predict  that,  because  events  took  a 
certain  course  in  the  cade  of  a  certain  people  in  some  by -gone 
period,  they  are  likely  to  take  the  samd  course  now  or  hereafter, 
we  forget  that  each  period  has  its  own  distinctive  features,  is 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  319 

dominated  by  its, own  peculiar  influences,  which  make  the 
problem  of  that  period  ita  own.  Historical  generalisations  aro 
not  without  their  value.  They  train  the  mind  to  read  human 
nature,  and  teach  us  the  stages  through  which  human  develop- 
ment has  passed.  But  we  must,  at  the  same  time,  bear  in 
mind  the  warning-  of  a  well-known  social  philosopher  that 
11  historical  generalisations  are  apt  to  hurt  the  mind  in  some- 
what the  eame  way  as  glasses  hurt  the  eye.  They  accustom  us, 
to  look  at  things  in  a  particular  way,  arid  make  it  difficult  for 
us  to  see  them  in  any  other  way."  The  social  reformer  of  the 
present  age  has  no  reason  to  be  disheartened  by  the  failures  of 
the  past  or  deterred  by  the  despondent  tones  in  which  tho 
history  of  some  ancient,  movements  speak,  because  he  has  to 
deal  with  the  problem  of  social  reform  amidst  influences  which, 
he  may  fairly  and  without  any  exaggeration  say,  are  peculiar- 
ly his  own. 

CONDITIONS    OF   ROPE. 

It  is  worth  while  drawing  pointed  attention  to  one  or  two 
at  least  of  these  influences^  for  on  them  our  hopes  of  the  future 
as  to  the  social  salvation  of  the  Hindus  rests  and  by  them  the 
social  reformer  has  every  reason  to  feel  inspired  and  encour- 
aged. When  I  speak  of  these  influences,  I  do  not  wish  to 
confine  your  attention  to  such  things  as  our  schools,  our 
Universities,  and  other  educational  institutions,  of  which  it  is 
usual  to  say  that  they  are  slowly  emancipating  tho  intellect  of 
the  country  and  preparing  the  way  for  reform  and  progress  in 
all  directions.  They  are  undoubtedly  among  the  great  mental 
levers  of  the  age.  But  there  are  other,  though  more  silent  yet 
none  the  less  potent,  influences  which  are  working  together  for 
our  good  in  this  age.  All  of  us  here  have  not,  I  dare  say, 
forgotten  the  old  controversy  as  to  the  relative  merits  of  social 
and  political  reform,  which  was  raised  some  years  ago,  in  the 
form  of  the  much  agitated  question — Should  social  reform 
precede  political  reform? — and  on  which  the  late  Mr.  Justice 
Telang  discoursed  at  the  beginning, of  the  year  1886  with  much 
ability  and  eloquence.  It  is  a  controversy  of  which  we  do  not 
hear  much  now-a-daya,  .probably  because  we  have  come  to 


320  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

perceive  the  sober  truth,  attested  by  the  experience  of  every 
civilized  nation  tlwt  progress  has  no  arbitrary  laws  and  that 
there  can  be  no  rank  of  precedence  among  the  different  lines 
or  departments  of  reform.  There  are  times  when  religion 
takes  hold  of  the  popular  mind  and  concentrates  its  attention 
and  energies  npon  questions  affecting  its  spiritual  well-being. 
There  are  periods  when  material  progress  becomes  the  rage  of 
the  day;  and  periods  when  political  advancement  becomes  the 
ruling  passion.  It  may  not  be  easy  to  say  how  and  when 
and  why  these  will  precede  or  succeed  one  another,  but  the 
truth  is  there  that,  as  pithily  put  by  Mr.  John  Mackenzie, 
in  his  work  on  ''  Social  Philosophy,"  "  there  have  been  times  at 
which  the  most  pressing  problem  has  rather  been  an  individual 
one— as,  for  instance,  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  There  have 
also  been  times  at  which  the  most  pressing  problem  has  been 
political  rather  than  social ;  and  there  have  been  times  at  which 
the  most  important  problem  bus  had  regard  to  the  discovery  of 
abstract  truths  or  to  the  advance  of  material  prosperity."  But 
it  should  cot  be  supposed  on  that  account  that  the  spirit  or 
rather  the  elements  of  one  kind  of  reform  are  totally  wanting 
or  absent  in  any  given  period,  because  the  predominating  spirit 
then  is  the  spirit  of  some  one  of  the  other  kinds  of. reform. 
That,  however,  is  not  the  point  I  wish  to  emphasise  in  asking 
you  to  note  the  favorable  influences  of  the  present  age  amidst 
which  tlie  social  reformer  is  called  to  do  his  work.  My 
point  rather  is  that  all  activities,  be  they  political,  material, 
religious,  or  social,  have  a  mutually  interacting  influence. 
The  desire  for  progress  in  one  direction  does  tell  and  must  tell, 
though  slowly  and  imperceptibly,  by  creating  a  desire  for 
progress  in  the  other  directions  as  well.  To  put  it  in  the 
language  used  by  Mr.  Montague  in  his  book  called  "  The 
Limits  of  Individual  Liberty/1  "serious  opinion  on  any 
subject  modifies  opinion  on  all  great  subjects.11  The  system 
of  Copernicus  affected  religious  thought  in  Europe;  and  in 
,our  own  days  we  see  that  Darwin's  theory  of  evolution  is  affect- 
ing both  religious  and  political  thought  there.  We  no  doubt 
lament  at  times  that  the  mRJority  of  our  educated  countrymen 
are  for  political  advancement  and  indifferent  to  social  reform  j 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  321 

that  while  the  number  of  those  who  attend  the  National  Con- 
gress is  very  large  and  the  number  of  those  who  do  not  attend 
it  but  sympathise  with  it  even  larger,  the  number  of  those  who 
attend  the  Social  Conference  is  very  much  smaller.  We  some' 
times  in  a  spirit  of  impatience  complain  that  our  political  acti- 
vities rather  mar  than  favor  the  cause  of  social  progress.  And 
in  proof  of  it  ask  ourselves  to  note  the  attempt  to  exclude  the 
meetings  of  the  Social  Conference  from  the  camp  of  the 
National  Congress,  But  let  us  not  bo  misled  by  such  a  merely 
superficial  aspect  of  things.  It  is  said  that  the  growth  of  the 
political  sentiment — the  desire  for  political  advancement — by 
bringing  together  men  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  giving 
them  a  common  ground  of  hopes  and  aspirations,  enabling  them 
to  speak  from  a  common  platform,  is  indirectly  infusing  into 
them  a  common  spirit  of  nationality,  drawing  them,  indirectly 
and  slowly  no  doubt  but  for  all  that  steadily,  out  of  the  nar- 
rower sphere  of  caste  and  opening  before  them  a  wider  and 
higher  view  of  humanity.  There  is  some  force  and  truth  in 
that  observation  ;  hut  even  without  going  so  far  as  that,  I  think, 
we  may  safely  say  this,  that  it  is  not  merely  the  blessings  of 
peace  and  order  which  the  British  administration  under  which 
we  live,  has  brought  in  its  train,  that  we  have  to  be  thankful 
.for  ;  but,  what  we  have  to  value  even  more  than  those  bless- 
ings which  wo  highly  prize,  is  tho  spirit  of  enquiry 
and  of  individuality  which  the  genius  of  that  administration 
has  a  tendency  to  foster  in  those  brought  within  its 
dominion.  It  ia  said  by  some  writers  on  socialism  in  Hurope, 
that  the  predominance  of  the  social  problem  in  that  continent 
at  tho  present  moment  is  due,  to  the  increasing  preponderance 
of  democratic  influences  in  the  modern  State.  Whether  that  is 
a  correct  representation  or  not,  it  is  not  wide  of  tho  mark  to  say 
that  the  Anglo-Saxon  character  favours  individual  independence 
-and  leaches  men  to  think  and  feel  seriously  that  they  are  citi- 
zens of  a  State.  'When  men  learn  that,  a  feeling  of  individual 
responsibility  and  dignity  is  created,  and  once  that  feeling  is 
created,  it  cannot  stop  there  and  crop  itself  up  in  the  sphere  of 
politics  alone.  It  must  gradnally  lead  them  to  perceive  that 
they  are  not  merely  citizens  of  a  State,  but  also  members  of  a 


322  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAST 

society,  and  just  as  they  ought  to  aspire  for  advancement  in  the 
one  they  must  also  aspire  for  advancement  in  the  other.  Thus 
it  is  that  the  ground  is  prepared  for  the  social  reformer  in  our 
times  in  a  way  of  which  I  am  not  aware  any  preceding  age  in 
the  history  of  the  Hindus  prepared  it.  The  political  spirit  of 
the  West,  which  we  are  slowly  imbibing  arid  which  is  manifest- 
ing itself  in  a  variety  of  ways,  must  acb  on  the  social 
spirit  also.  Though  the  rank  of  the  social  reformers  is 
thinner  than  the  rank  of  the  politicians,  who  can  gain- 
say this,  that  since  the  time  the  National  Congress  is  said  to 
have  awakened  our  political  conscience,  the  social  problem  has 
been  thrusting  itself  forward,  disturbing  many  a  caste,  and 
awakening  our  social  conscience  also  ?  The  fact  is  that  when  the 
politician  talks  of  our  rights,  our  nationality  and  our  claim  to  be 
ruled  justly  and  equitably — when  he  says  that  the  times  have 
changed  and  with  them  political  institutions  and  laws  must 
change,  the  social  reformer  is  able  to  put  his  own  claim  for- 
ward and  bring  to  his  aid  the  progressive  spirit  generated 
by  a  desire  for  political  advancement.  Conscience  awakened  in 
one  direction  rarely  fails  to  be  awakened  in  other  directions 
also.  I  remember  when  some  years  ago  some  one  remarked  in 
a  newspaper  that  the  educated  native  of  India  was  more  ready 
to  trouble  the  Secretary  of  State  than  to  trouble  his  mother-in- 
law,  Sir  William  Wedderburn  replied  that  that  was  so  because 
it  was  much  easier* to  beard  the  high  official  who  presides  over 
the  India  Office  than  the  mother-in-law  who  presides  over  the 
Hindu  home.  But  the  Hiudu  mother-in-law  has  since  begun 
to  feel  that  she  is  not  without  her  share  of  tho  bearding  too. 
By  the  majority  of  almost  every  caste  in  which  there  is  intelli- 
gence, it  is  now  conceded  that  times  are  changing  and  must 
change  socially  ;  we  may  differ  as  to  ways  and  means,  but  the 
number  of  those  who  say  that  there  should  be  no  social  progress 
and  that  we  must  rest  where  we  are  and  have  been,  is  getting 
smaller  than  it  was  oven  ten  years  ago.  In  the  formation  of 
this  opinion,  I  humbly  think  that  what  I  have  called  the  genius 
of  the  British  administration  and  the  political  activities  which 
are  the  outcome  of  it,  must,  as  they  do,  imperceptibly  bear  their 
share ;  and  that  is  a  force,  the  influence  of  which,  I  say,  is  pecu- 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPE&&.  323 

liar  to  the  present  times.  Nor  should  we  lose  sight  of  another 
peculiar  influence  of  the  present  ape,  which'  is  spoken  of  as 
"  facility  of  movement,"  of  which  it  has  been  well  said  by  a 
writer,  that  it  is  "  a  great  means  of  forming  new  connections11 
and  of  integrating-  society  ou  an  improved  basis  after  first 
disintegrating  it.  It  is  not  merely  the  railways  and  steamers 
that  have  helped  us  to  move  away  from  one  place  to  another  aiid 
exchange  ideas  find  draw  new  light,  but  the  whole  world  has9| 
so  to  say,  opened  to  us  to  an  unprecedented  extent.  Wo  have 
been  caste-ridden  ;  bat  a  wider  world  unknown  to  caste  is  try- 
ing to  ride  us  now.  We  are  sought  to  be  influenced,  not  merely 
by  the  particular  society  in  which  wo  are  born  or  the  particular 
religion  in  which  wo  have  boeu  bred  up,  but  alsu  by  the  West 
and  the  East.  We  leave  our  Louies  cither  in  search  of  employ- 
ment or  for  trade,  and  imbibe  new  ideas,  contract  now  sympa- 
thies, and  learn  to  form  new  connections.  A  new  and  wider 
kind  of  sympathy  is  being  generated  than  that  to  which  the 
confined  atmosphere  of  caste  in  the  old  days  accustomed  oar 
ancestors. 

I  have  mentioned  but  two  of  the  peculiar  influences  of  the 
present  age  as  calculated  to  favor  the  cause  of  social  progress 
and  there  are  others  which  will  perhaps  easily  suggest  them- 
selves to  you.  I  shall  not  attempt  to  dogmatise  on  the  subject 
by  predicting  that  these  peculiar  influences  are  sure  to  lead  to 
the  social  reforms  we  advocate ;  no  one  cau  safely  prophesy 
the  future.  Bat  all  I  wish  to  maintain  is  that  we  have  no 
reason  to  be  led  away  by  the  historical  analogies  of  those,  who 
say  that  because  tke  social  problem  did  not  succeed  in  the 
hands  of  men  more  gifted  than  those  now  working  for  it,  in  by- 
gone periods,  it  is  bound  to  fail  now  and  hereafter  also.  The 
social  reform  of  the  present  day  has  no  doubt  the  old  difficul- 
ties still  existing,  to  contend  against ;  and  those  difficulties 
seem  insurmountable  ;  but  the  old  problem  is  presented  to  him 
now  in  a  new  garb ;  while  old  difficulties  exist,  new  instruments 
are  at  his  disposal ;  and  if  he  works  with  patience  and  courage 
there  is  no  reason  why  he  should  despair. 

A  certain  amount  of  pessimism  does  no  doubt  at  times 
come  over  us  in  sight  of  the  so-called  and  sudden  revival  uf 


324  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 


orthodoxy  throughout  the  country.  In  almost  every 
newspaper  we  read,  in  almost  every  meeting  we  attend,  in 
almost  every  lecture  we  hear  and  in  a  variety  of  ways  that  it  is 
unnecessary  to  particularise,  we  note  this  sign  of  tho  time,  as 
some  people  term  it,  and  conclude  that  the  cause  of  social  reform 
has  but  a  poor  outlook  when  it  iiuds  itself  confronted  by  Hie 
wave  of  Hindu  revivalism  which  is  passing  over  tho  face  of 
the  whole  country.  But  I  do  not  know  if  my  friends  here  will 
take  me  to  be  a  man  of  an  unduly  and  excessively  sanguine 
temperament,  if  I  express  my  sincere  view  that  this  sudden 
revival  of  orthodox  Hinduism  has  really  no  abiding  element 
of  danger  to  thn  cause  of  reform  and  is  jusc  one  of  those  things 
we  should  expect  in  the  cnse  of  people  situated  as  \ve  Hindus 
just  now  are.  "  Progress"  it  has  been  well  said,  "  has  many 
receding  waves"  and  whether  in  the  case  of  political  or  social 
reform,  we  shall,  like  every  other  people,  be  found  sometimes 
moving  onwards  and  at  other  timoa  seem  to  be  going  back- 
wards, but  on  the  whole  advancing.  That  is  the  law  of  all  pro- 
gress. In  his  Essay  on  Sir  James  Mackintosh's  "  History  of 
the  French  Revolution,"  Macaulay  speaks  of  the  history  of 
progress  in  England  as  "  a  history  of  actions  and  re-actions11 
aud  compares  "tho  motion  of  tho  public  mind"  in  England 
with  "  that  of  the  sea  when  the  tide  is  rising.''  "  Each  succes- 
sive wave  rushes  forward,  breaks,  and  rolls  back  ;  but  the  great 
flood  is  steadily  coming  in.  A  person  who  looked  on  the  waters 
only  for  a  moment  might  fancy  that  they  were  retiring.  A 
person  who  looked  on  them  only  for  five  minutes  might  fancy 
that  they  were  rushing  capriciously  to  and  fro.  But  when  he 
keeps  his  eye  on  them  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  and  sees  one 
sea-mark  disappear  after  another,  it  is  impossible  for  him  to 
doubt  of  the  general  direction  in  which  the  ocean  is  moved." 
The  present  is  merely  a  reaction  against  the  notion  that  the 
Hindu  had  nothing  good  or  noble  to  show,  that  his  religion  and 
his  society  are,  a  bundle  of  superstitions.  We  have  now  found 
that  like  other  people  we  must  be  proud  of  ourselves,  our  conn* 
try,  our  religion,  our  society,  and  our  everything.  We  feel 
offended  when  we  are  told  that  we  must  go  to  other  revelations 
than  our  own  in  search  of  religioua  truth  ;  when  we  ore  remind*- 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  325 

ed  that  we  must  adopt  foreign  iJiistoms  it' wo  are  to  become 
great- like  foreigners.  This  feeling  of  pride  and  patriotism  is 
the  outcome  of  many  causes  to  but  a  few  of  which  I  have  here 
referred.  This  feeling  of  pride  and  patriotism  is  perhaps 
natural  under  the  circumstances,  but  whether  natural  or  not, 
and  though  the  present  manifestations  of  it  are  of  the  reaction- 
ary spirit,  yet  they  have  no  element  of  permanence  or  vitality  in 
them.  The  complaint  is  that  it  is  the  educated  classes  who  are. 
showing  and  fostering  that  spirit  by  taking  a  leading  and  active 
part  in  movements  professing  to  plead  and  encourage  the  cause 
of  Hindu  orthodoxy ;  but  the  spirit  which  is  at  the  bottom  of 
these  movements  is  more  mechanical  thjin  spiritual,  because  it 
is  born  of  the  feeling  of  pride  and  patriotism  and  the  feeling 
of  self-assertion  to  which  I  have  just  alluded  and  not  of  any 
real  belief  in  either  the  dogmas  or  the  institutions  of  Hinduism 
on  the  part  of  those  who  are  its  leaders  and  promoters.  I  am 
doing  no  injustice  to  Ruch  of  my  educated  countrymen  as 
are  now  leading  and  promoting  these  movements.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  they  sincerely  believe  that  wo  Hindus  ought  not  to 
allow  our  religion  and  society  to  be  disparaged  and  that  the 
only  way  to  unite  the  discordant  elements  of  Hindu  society  is 
to  work  upon  those  elements  by  means  of  the  dogmas  it  believes 
and  the  institutions  it  worships  ;  and  there  is  this  apology  for 
them  that  they  are  passing  through  a  state  of  development 
through  which  all  progressive  countries  have  had  to  pass  be- 
fore attaining  higher  and  richer  forms  of  life.  In  his  Essay 
on  "  The  Signs  of  the  Times  "  published  in  the  year  1829,  Carlyle 
dealt  with  a  somewhat  similar  phase  of  social  life  through 
which  English  society  was  then  passing  and  denounced  in  no 
measured  terms  what  he  called  the  entirely  mechanical  spirit 
of  the  age,  with  belief  in  outward  institutions  corresponding 
to  no  iuward  impetus  or  conviction  represented  by  "  spiritual 
dynamics"  in  man.  Such  mechanical  conformity  to  external 
forms  without  any  vital  belief  in  the  principles  embodied  in 
those  forms  is  only  a  mark  of  the  present  transition  tit  ate  of 
Hindu  society.  We  are  now  passing  through  a  period  which  is 
certainly  not  one  of  dogmatism ;  but  one  of  scepticism  and  criti- 
cism, The  great  French  writer,  De  Tocqucville,  has  pointed  out 


326  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAH* 

the  peculiarities  of  such  a  period  in  his  observation  that  "in  times 
of  general  scepticism  every  one  clings  to  his  own  persuasion,.,  not 
so  much  because  he  is  assured  of  its  excellence,  as  because  he 
is  not  convinced  of  the  superiority  of  any  other.  In  the  present 
age,  men  are  not  very  ready  to  die  in  defence  of  their  opinions, 
but  they  are  rarely  inclined  to  change  them  ;  and  there  are 
fewer  martyrs  as  well  as  fewer  apostates."  Our  customs  and 
»our  institutions  are  now  brought  into  contact  with  new  customs 
and  new  institutions  ;  we  have  opened  to  us  not  only  the  lore  of 
the  East  but  also  of  the  West ;  the  spirit  of  the  age  is  to  ask  the 
why  and  the  wherefore  in  the  case  of  everything  we  are  asked 
to  accept  or  reject ;  and  in  this  chaotic  condition  when  nothing  is 
settled  and  nearly  everything  is  undergoing  a  process  of  disturb* 
ance,  it  is  only  to  be  expected  that  before  the  old  light  fades 
away  and  the  new  light  begins  to  shine,  the  old  light  will  show 
a  sudden  blaze  before  it  dies.  Our  society  is  now  like 
the  man,  who  fears  when  he  is  disturbed  in  the  position  to  which 
he  has  fondly  clung  for  better  or  for  worse  for  years  and  asked 
to  move  into  another  position.  In  the  face  of  the  new  forces 
which  it  has  to  meet,  it  feels  that  the  process  of  its  disintegration 
has  commenced  and  is  afraid  lest  the  disintegration  completed 
should  totally  ruin  it.  It  feels  that  the  powers  above  it — the 
powers  of  authority,  tradition,  and  custom — which  have  hither- 
to held  it  together  are  growing  weaker  day  by  day,  and  that  the 
powers  within  us — the  powers  of  u  self -reverence,  self-knowledge, 
and  self-control  "  are  not  yet  grown  strong  to  protect  us  from 
social  wreckage — and,  therefore,  it  tries  in  the  midst  of  this 
sharp  conflict  between  the  old  and  the  new  to  hold  as  fast  as  it 
can  to  the  old.  Through  this  state  of  transition  every  society 
has  passed  ;  and  we  cannot  be  exceptions  to  the  general  law. 
There  ought  to  be  nothing,  therefore,  in  the  sudden  revival  of 
Hinduism  to  discourage  the  social  re  Former,  provided  he  is 
neither  idle  nor  impatient,  but  works  in  a  spirit  neither  of  pessim- 
ism nor  optimism,  but  "  in  a  spirit  of  cautious  Meliorism,11  strong 
and  unshaken  in  his  faith  in  the  results  of  patient  labour,  "  un- 
hasting  and  unresting." 

Though  a    state  of  transition  such  as  that  through  which 
our  Hindu  society  is  passing  is  inevitable  under  the  present  con- 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS-  327 

ditiona  and  though,  like  all  states  of  transition,  it  nannofc  last 
long,  we  should  not  delude  ourselves  with  the  belief  that  a* period 
of  mere  scepticism  and  criticism  with  mechanical  conformity  to 
outward  institutions  without  any  inward  impetus  or  conviction 
must  necessarily  and  unconditionally  give  way  to  a  better 
period  in  the  long  run.  When  society  is  being  disintegrated 
and  showing  all  the  signs  of  disintegration)  no  hope  of  a  fresher 
and  better  integration  of  it  can,  be  held  unless  there  are  found 
even  in  the  midst  of  the 'forces  that  disturb  and  disintegrate 
it,  what  Carlyle  calls  "  organic  filaments11 — i.e.,  forces  which 
promise  to  bring  the  disturbed  elements  together  and  reunite 
the  different  and  dispersing  elements  of  society  on  a  better  and 
higher  principle  of  life,  It  is  in  the  formation,  and  rather  to 
speak  more  appropriately  in  the  development  of  these  lt  organic 
filaments'1  that  the  work  and  value  of  the  social  reformer  lies  ; 
while  the  forces  around  us  are  slowly  loosening  our  faith  in  the 
old,  snapping  the  bonds  of  custom,  tradition,  and  superstition 
and  threatening  to  lead  society  into  chaos,  the  social  reformer 
has  to  bring  those  very  forces  to  his  aid  and  show  the  way  to 
the  formation  of  a  new  faith,  a  now  ideal,  and  a  new  bond,  which 
shall  enable  society  to  enter  into  a  higher  and  richer  form  of 
life  instead  of  being  disorganized. 

There  are  two  and  only  two  ways  in  which  wo  can  assist  in 
the  formation  and  development  of  those  "  organic  filaments.11 
It  is  usual  to  speak  of  the  age  in  which  we  live  as  "an  age  of 
light  and  literature,"  an  age  of  books,  pamphlets,  lectures,  and 
above  all  newspapers.  Now,  there  is  no  doubt  that  sometimes 
our  very  light  becomes  our  very  darkness.  As  some  one  baa 
said,  "  literature  may  prove  a  Babel  instead  of  a  diapason  "  and 
"  even  light  from  heaven  may  be  used  to  lead  astray.11  For  one 
newspaper  or  book  or  pamphlet  or  lecture  pleading  before  the 
people  the  cause  of  social  reform  and  trying  to  enlist  popular 
sympathy  on  its  side,  there  may  be  hundreds,  as  there  are 
hundreds  opposing  the  cause  and  pandering  to  the  grosser  in- 
stincts of  the  people,  and  striving  to  catch  popular  applause  and 
sympathy  by  championing  the  cause  of  custom  and  superstition. 
Bat  those  who  take  so  gloomy  a  view  of  the  help  that  may  be 
given  to  the  cause  of  social  reform  by  "  the  diffusion  of  litera- 


328  'INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM  [PART 

tare  and  culture  among  the  ma^es  "'ought  to  remember  that  it 
is  not  aolely  because  there  is  such  a  Bnbel  of  tongues  that/ social 
reform  lags  behind  but  rather  because  our  efforts  to  diffuse  that 
literature  and  culture  by  means  of  hooka,  pumphletsnnd'leetures 
havd  not  been  sufficiently  active,  systematic,  and  sustained.  I 
do  not  mean  to  suggest  this  as  a  special  reflection  on  those  who 
fec-l  for  socifil  reform  and  desire  to  promote  it,  If  a.ny  ona  feels 
.disposed  to  take  advantage  of  tho  remarks  I  have  made  and 
make  it  a  point  of  attack  on  social  reformers,  T  should  remind 
him  that  not  nrerely  social  but  all  other  kinds  of  reform  and 
activity  are  sharing  the  same  weakness.  But  it  is  only  natural 
that  the  literature  in  favor  of  social  reform  is  in  the  minority 
while  the  literature  opposed  to  it  is  in  the  majority.  That, 
again,  has  been  the  case  in  all  ages  and  in  all  civilized  countries 
in  the  case  of  all  reforms  during  their  initiatory  stage.  Even 
one  newspaper  well  conducted,  even  a  handful  of  reformers  well 
balanced,  can  do  a  great  deal  and  have  been  able  to  advance  the 
cause.  For  instance,  your  Indian  Social  Reformer  has,  I  know, 
many  critics  that  arc  ready  to  rebuke  it  for  some  unpleasant 
things  it  says;  but  I  know  it  also  that  the  critics  and  many 
more  are  led  by  it  to  many  a  searching  of  the  heart;  and  while 
it  is  supposed  now  and  then  to  sting,  it  also  helps  to  arouse 
"  the  still,  small  voice  "  within  many  a  mind  that  would  strangle 
it  for  telling  unpleasant  truth  and  exposing  its  weakness.  Has 
not  the  Reformer  since  it  came  into  existence  not  only  been  able 
to  formulate  the  obscured  opinions  of  many  on  social  reform, 
but  also  led  to  reformed  marriages  ?  But  why  dwell  long  on  the 
necessity  of  diffusing  the  light  of  pocial  reform  by  means  of 
pamphlets  and  lectures  and  newspapers,  when  there  is  hardly 
any  one  so  disposed  to  dispute  that  necessity?  The  question, 
however,  deserves  some  special  notice  because  of  another  question 
which  is  intimately  connected  with  it  and  on  which  a  good  deal 
has  been  of  late  said  in  tho  discussions  on  social  reform.  There 
are  thohe  who  maintain  that  the  cause  of  that  reform  must  be 
placed  on  what  is  called  the  .Hhastric  basis  and  that  we  must 
appeal  to  the  religions  instincts  of  the  masses.  The  view  is  that, 
we  ruu'st'plead  for  those  reforms  not  on  the  grounds  of  natural 
justice  but  on  the  grounds  of  Shastric  injunctions.  In  hig 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  820 

Republic,  Plato  has  mentioned  this  as  one  of  the  means  of  human 
improvement  and  he  speaks  of  the  method  as  "  "noble  falsehood." 
In  his  book  called  "  The  Promotion  of  General  Happiness/'  Prof. 
Macmillan  of  Elphinstone  College,  Bombay,  hints  at  it  as  a  vain- 
able  method  of  reform  when  he  says  that "  religion  is  mnch  more 
teachable  than  morality  to  large  masses  of  men."  And  dealing 
with  this  question,  Mr.  Mackenzie  in  his  work  on  "  Social  Philo- 
sophy" remarks  that  "  at  a  certain  stage,  both  religion  and  mora- 
lity can  hardly  be  taught  except  in  the  form  of  myth.  The  Begrift 
mast  appear  in  the  form'of  the  Vorstellnng,  reason  in  the  form 
of  emotion."  Seeing  that  religion  hua  so  large  a  hold  on  the 
human  mind,  larger  tban  anything  else,  and  that  we,  Hindus, 
have  been  essentially  a  religious  people,  there  is  some  force  in 
the  view  that  we  must  approach  their  minds  and  their  hearl.s 
by  means  of  the  Shastras  by  which  they  profess  to  he  guided. 
But  the  tihastras  themselves  are  not  agreed  upon  many  points. 
Those  of  us  who  are  familiar  with  Canareso  know  the  proverb 
which  says  : 

which,  translated  into  English,  means  that  the  8  ha  sir  as  make 
the  din  of  the  market  place,  and  another  proverb  which  says  : 

which  means  that  the  Puranas  are  all  chaos  and  confusion. 
This  very  circumstance,  however,  ought  to  be  our  help  in  the 
promotion  of  reform.  If  the  Hindu  Shastras  are  wide  and  com- 
prehensive enough  to  include  any  measure  of  reform,  the  social 
reformer  ought  not  to  omit  to  derive  support  from  them  and 
base  his  cause  on  them  so  far  as  he  can  base  it.  But  our  very 
Shastras  have  given  us  a  free  hand  in  changing  with  the  times, 
by  agreeing  upon  one  point  more  than  upon  anything  else— 
that  is,  by  pronouncing  without  any  hesitation  that  custom  or 
usage  c>in  supersede  the  injunctions  (>f  the  Shastras.  The  whole 
history  of  tho  Hindu  society  has  been  a  history  of  tumultuous 
departure,  whenever  the  departure  was  rendered  necessary  or 
expedient,  from  the  laws  laid  down  in  the  Shastras.  Every 
custom  marks  the  beginning  of  such  a  departure  ;  and  if  the 
Shastras  themselves  say  that  we  can  make  new  customs,  I  do 
not  see  why  the  social  reformer  should  confine  himself  to  the 
Shastras  alone.  |  By  all  means  lot  us  not  make  light  of  oar  sacred 
books  ;  like  the  Unristian  nations  of  modern  Europe,  who 

43 


330  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

owe  much  to  the  Bible  and  cannot,  therefore,  do  away  entirely 
with  the  influences  they  have  derived  from  it,  we  Hindus  can- 
not free  ourselves  from  the  influences  we  have  derived  from  our 
Sh'iutras.  The  Shastras  have  been  more  liberal  than  we  care  to 
be,  by  giving-  us  a  free  hand  to  deviate  from  them  when  neces- 
sary. It  is  this  fact  which  the  social  reformer  must  incessantly 
din  into  the  ears  of  the  masses  ;  the  Shastras  are  a  valuable 
moans  of  showing  that  our  history  has  been  a  history  of  change. 
As  Dr.  Bhandarkar  pointed  out  to  yon  in  his  address  from  this 
place  two  years  ago,  there  was  a  period  .when  our  women  were 
not  only  educated  but  learned,  when  infant  marriages  did  not 
prevail,  widow  marriages  were  not  unusual,  and  caste  distinc- 
tions did  not  exist  in  the  aggravated  and  absurd  form  in  which 
they  exist  now.  That  period  was  followed  by  another  and  wo 
have  gone  on  changing.  We  made  no  doubt  bad  customs  but 
we  made  customs  nevertheless  and  got  the  Shastras  to  adapt 
themselves  to  those  customs.  Let  us  now  reverse  the  process 
and  try  to  make  good  customs,  arid  call  to  our  aid  the  Shastras 
when  and  where  we  can,  and  appeal  to  the  liberty  of  making 
customs  which  they  have  given  us  where  their  injunctions  arc 
against  us. 

But  mere  lectures  and  newspapers  and  discuanions  can 
never  bo  expected  to  advance  the  cause  of  social  reform.  The 
ideas  and  ideals  of  that  reform  will  and  must  remain  merely 
speculative  truths  and  abstract  propositions  so  long  as  they  arc 
confined  to  debutes,  writings,  and  speeches  and  as  long  as  they 
are  not  put  to  Hie  test  of  practice.  To  convert  men  to  the  mode 
of  life  you  recommend  them,  you  must  not  only  give  them  the 
impetus  of  "  light  "  but  also  the  iihpetus  of  "  warmth.'3  In  his 
highly  thoughtful  Journal,  Amiel  reminds  us  that  "  the  philoso- 
phic parl.y  of  the  last  century  "  was  "able  to  dissolve  anything 
by  reason  and  reasoning  but  unable  to  construct  any  thing,"  for, 
says  he,  "  construction  rests  upon  feeling,  instinct,  and  will." 
And  therefore  lie  advises  those  who  seek  to  reform  their  people 
to  amend  them  not  by  reasoning  but  by  example,  to  "  be  what 
you  wish  others  to  become.  Let  your  self  and  not  your  words 
preach  for  you.*'  The  object  of  all  reform  is  to  enable  its  prin- 
ciples to  become  the  practical  maxims  of  life — to  make  them  sq 


iV.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  331 

many  "  habits"  ;  but,  as  pointed  out  by  Mr.  .Montague  hi  his 
"  Limits  of  Individual  Liberty  "  to  which  I. have  once  'before 
referred,  before  the  principles  gain  sufficient  strength,  they  must 
be  something  more  than  an  abstract  purity,  for  when  you  mere- 
ly canvass  the  principles  too  long,  you  make  people  doubt  them 
and  disregard  them,  you  only  breed  moral  scepticism,  since  to 
mere  logical  discussion  people  owe  very  little.  "  Men,11  says 
Tennyson,  "  since  they  are  not  gods,  must  rise  on  stepping  stones  ' 
of  their  dead  selves.11  Hence  it  is  that  ejcample  and  action  more 
than  mere  preaching  and  theory  are  so  essential  to  the  success  of 
any  reform — particularly,  social  reform.  It  is  the  more  potent 
of  the  two  "  organic  filaments  "  which  go  to  constitute  society 
on  a  reformed  basis. 

Bat  when  we  speak  of  the  necessity  and  value  of  €  sample 
and  action,  we  are  met  with  the  objection  that  it  is  all  very  (ine 
and  very  easy  to  talk  iu  that  way  and  to  tell  men  that  they 
should  do  as  they  say  and  give  practical  effect  to  their  convic- 
tions on  social  reform.  Dut  we  are  all  not  born  to  be  heroes 
and  martyrs.  We  have  families  to  care  for;  worldly  interest* 
to  follow  ;  and  a  society  in  the  shape  of  our  caste  to  mix  with, 
if  we  arc  to  get  on  in  the  world.  Of  what  use  is  it  to  hold  be- 
fore us  an  almost  impossible  ideal  of  conduct  and  effort,  the 
realisation  of  which  in  practice  only  leads  to  our  ex-communica- 
tion and  persecutions  ?  This  is  the  stock  argument  of  the  day 
and  the  line  of  thought  manifested  by  it  accounts  for  "  the 
innate  laziness  "  or  "  inborn  apathy  "  which  I  said  was  one  of 
the  difficulties  social  reform  in  particular  bad  to  contend 
against  But  who  has  ever  been  able  to  improve  himself  or  to 
improve  his  fellows  by  lying  on  a  bed  of  roses  P  There  is  no 
royal  road  to  reform,  A  certain  amount  of  risk  must  attend 
every  great  effort  and  enterprise,  and  the  greater  the  effort  and 
the. enterprise,  the  greater  the  risk.  Where  because  of  the  fear 
of  persecution  and  excommunication,  men  allow  their  higher 
self  to  gink  into  the  lower,  the  cause  of  reform  must  suffer.  But 
after  nil,  we  are  living  in  times  when  persecution  and  excom- 
munication are  gradually  losing  some  of  their  terrors.  .Society 
under  the  press  of  a  variety  of  circumstances  is  becoming  more 
tolerant ;  and  excommunication  is  not,  and  can  no  longer  h0 


332  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

the  dreadful  tiling  it  was  in  former  times.  Bat  there  is  &  no- 
tion widely  prevalent  that  the  best  way  bf  reforming  your  society 
lies  in  falling  fn  with  it  and  not  tryirig  to  realise  your  ideal  in 
your  own  life.  It  is  supposed  that  an  excommunicated  man, 
by  'formally  ceasing  to  he  a  member  of  his  caste,  ceases  to 
exercise  any  influence  over  it,  and  thereby  frustrates  his  own 
object.  Now,  we  have  heard  this  argument  a  number  of  times 
'from  a  n  limber  of  men,  but  we  have  not  heard  of  a  single 
reform  of  importance  effected  by  those  who  affect  to  improve 
their  caste  by  giving  way  to  its  prejudices  instead  of  boldly 
and  firmly  standing  up  for  their  own  views  and  convictions. 
Of  reformers  of  this  kind,  Mr.  John  Morley  has  very  appropri- 
ately tipoken  in  his  work  on  "  Compromise  "  as  men  who  are 
led  away  by  a  spirit  of  "  illegitimate  compromise,"  which  in 
effect  makes  them  say  to  their  society  •. — "  I  cannot  persuade 
ypu  to  accept  my  truth  ;  therefore,  I  will  pretend  to  accept 
your  falsehood."  And  the  notion  that  because  a  man  who  firmly 
stands  up  for  his  own  convictions  is  excommunicated,  he  ceases 
to  exercise  any  influence  over  his  caste  and  retards  the  cause  of 
reform,  is  amply  borne  out  to  be  erroneous  by  all  the  move- 
ments of  history.  It  is  said  that  when  the  Ho  mail  Senate 
ordained  thnt  "  the  History  of  Creomutius  Cordo"  should  be 
burnt,  a  rtomnn  stood  forth,  saying,  Cast  me  also  into  the  flames 
for  I  know  tliat  history  by  heart.  Moralising  on  this,  the  great 
Italian  patriot,  Mazzini  observes  : — "  You  -may  kill  men,  you 
cannot  kill  a  great  idea.1'  Adopting  that  line  of  thought,  we 
may  also  well  say  :  — "  You  may  excommunicate  a  man  for  rea- 
lising his  own  ideas  of  reform  in  his  own  life  ;  but  yon  cannot 
tyll  either  the  ideas  he  represents  or  the  moral  influence  of  the 
life  ho  leads.  It  is  all  very  fine  to  talk  of  reforming  your 
people  by  not  separating  yourself  from  them.  No  reformer 
wishes  to  be  separate  from  his  people  j  but  because  the  people 
separate  from  him  by  proclaiming  the  ban  of  excommunication 
against  him,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  separation  causes 
a  destruction  of  his  personality  and  the  influence  of  his  example, 
It  would  be  tiring  your  patiebce  to  illustrate  what  I  aay  by 
referring  to  examples  from  history' and  proving  that  societies 
have  made*  progress  because  men  haye  appeared  amongst  them 


iv,]  MISCELLANEOUS  P<APEttS.  333 

who  realised  the  spirit  of  it  in  their  own  lives,  withstood 
calumny  and  persecution  ,  and  lived  and  died  for.  it  It  is 
enough  to,  ask  .those  who  talk  of  reforming  their  society  by 
moving  with  it,  to  explain  how  it  was  that  "  a  few  poor  slaves 
a.nd  outcaste. Hebrews  "  were  able  to  hold  their  own  and  make 
oonveraions  of  people  around  them  to  their  faith  "  while  Rome 
displayed  its  greatness  even  in  death  ;"  how  Luther,  far.  less 
intellectually  gifted  than  his  more  learned  contemporary. 
Erasmus,  was  able  to  influer.ee  religious  thought  and  conduct  in 
Europe,  though  he  was  an  excommunicated  man,  In  fact,  the 
whole  history  of  reform  had  been  the  history  of  men  who 
moved  ahead  of  their  society,  and,  is  well  summed  up  by  Prof. 
HuirbeacI,  who  says:— "  The  opponents  of  useful  reforms  are 
drawn  from  the  same  class  as  at  the  same  time  blindly  resisted 
the  establishment  of  tho  form  or  institution  to  which  they 
themselves  blindly  cling.  Those  who  build  the  sepulchres  of 
tho  prophets  and  garnish  the  tombs  of  the,  righteous  are  the 
children  of  bhose  who  slew  them." 

Reform  is  effected  then  when  those  who  feel  its  need  and  are 
convinced  of  its  utility,  preach  it  not  merely  by  the  force  of 
precept  but  also  by  the  force  of  example.  We  hear  a  good  deal 
about  the  necessity  of  moving  with  the  times  ;  and  1  iiotjced 
only  in  a  recent  number  of  tho  Indian  Social  Reformer  a  letter 
from  a  Saraswat  gentleman — Mr.  Bijur  Shankar  Narain  Rao — 
giving  expression  to  that  view  by  saying  that 4i  no  one  will  deny 
that  while  we  must  advance  with  the  limes,  >ve  must  also  not  go 
far  ahead  of  the  times."  I  am  willing  to  concede  that  "  we 
must  not  go  far  ahead  of  the  times/'  for,  an  pointed  out  by  one 
of  tjie  historians  of  the  present  age,  the. late  t Prof.  Kreeman, 
when  you  go  too  far  ahead,  there  is  th.e  c| anger  of  those  who 
you, wish  should  follow,  losing  sight  of  you.  Reform,  like  till 
growth  intended  to  be  lifegiving  and  sustaining,  must  be  gradual. 
But,  as  the  same  historian  points  out,  jou  must  be  ahead  or 
else  there  can  be  no  progress.  The  phrase  "moving  with  the 
times"  is  meaningless.  %  Time  is.  no  agent;  it  is  men  aud  not 
time  that  are  the  moving  springs  of  society.  Society  has 
uMumlly  a  tendency  to  cpst^  its,  members  in  tfoe  iron  mould  of 
custom  and ,  jaupersijtion ;  and  it  is  pnly  tbo^e  wbq  31$  educated 


334  iNtilAtf  SOCIAL  REFORM. 


who  can  give  it  the  propelling  force.  To  move  with  it  is  to 
move  iq  the  old  ways  ;  it  is  only  by  moving  ahead  of  it  and 
showing  it  the  way  onwards  that  you  can  get  it  to  move  on-"  If 
men  who  have  been  to  England,  had  before  going  there  taken 
the  opinions  of  either  the  whole  or  the  majority  of  their  caste, 
would  they  have  been  able  to  make  the  venture  and  cioss  the 
Kalapani  ?  The  majority  would  have  for  a  certainty  declared 
themselves  in  that  case  against  the  step,  denounced  it  as  rash 
and  irreligious,  and  threatened  to  excommunicate.  But  it  is 
because  the  men  that  did  go  went  without  stopping  to  enquire 
what  the  caste  would  say  or  do—  because  one  set  the  example, 
another  followed,  and  a  third  did  the  same  —  that  a  change 
has  come  about  in  the  sense  of  many  castes,  and  even  the  feel- 
ing now  growing  that  England-returned  men  should  be  re- 
admitted after  Prayaschitta,  is  due  to  the  fact  that  these  men 
went  a  little  ahead  of  their  fellows  instead  of  what  is  vaguely 
talked  of  as  "  moving  with  the  times."  There  are  rarely  in  history 
instances  of  any  society  moving  towards  a  reform,  unless  that 
reform  was  initiated  by  its  more  daring  spirits  who  were  spirit- 
ed and  courageous  enough  to  go  ahead  of  it  and  thus  inspired 
into  its  more  timid  members  some  of  their  own  impulse  and 
courage.  And  the  same  view  is  expressed  by  Mr.  John  Frier 
liibbcn  in  his  article  on  "  Automatism  in  Morality/'  published 
in  the  number  of  the  International  Journal  of  Ethics  for  the 
month  of  July  1895,  He  says  :  —  "  Progress  has  often  been  due 
io  a  thorough  revolution  of  existing  social  conditions  and 
customs,  and  this  in  turn  has  been  gradually  achieved  through 
the  insistence  of  the  prophet  of  individualism,  whose  voice  has 
been  raised  against  the  trammels  of  public  opinion  and  the 
chains  of  custom.  It  is  impossible  to  eliminate  the  individual 
factor.  If  it  had  been  possible,  we  should  see  greater  uniform- 
ity than  we  find." 

When  we  say  that,  though  we  should  not  go  too  far  ahead, 
yet  we  must  go  ahead,  we  are  brought  to  the  qnestion,  what 
is  going  ahead  ?  Are  any  of  the  measures  of  social  reform  which 
we  advocate  so  rash  and  hasty  that  they  propose  nothing  bat  a 
leap  in  the  dark  or  a  sudden  revolution  in  Hindu  society? 
Oar  critics1  assume  a  number  of  things  when  they  criticise  as 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  335 

and  base  on  those  assumptions  their  conclusion  that  we  wish  to 
run  headlong  into  reforms  and  move  too  fast,  But  a  .careful 
consideration  of  the  measures  of  reform  we  propose  ought  to 
satisfy  an  unbiassed  mind  that  our  programme  ia  moderation  itself, 

FEMALE    EDUCATION, 

for  instance,  is  the  first  item  of  reform  on  our  list,  We  say 
that  it  in  our  first  duty  to  educate  our  daughters  or  other  female 
wards.  I  do  not  suppose  that  there  is  any  one  who  will  seriously 
maintain  that  there  is  anything  radical  or  revolutionary  ia  this 
idea  about  the  necessity  and  importance  of  female  education. 
But  we  are  told  that  it  is  no  use  talking  of  that  education  with- 
out or  before  deciding  the  kind  and  character  of  education  that 
our  women  must  receive.  Should  they  be  educated  in  the 
Vernaculars  or  in  English  ?  Now,  1  do  not  care  whether  you 
educate  your  women  in  the  Vernaculars  or  in  English,  though 
I  consider  it  absolutely  necessary  that  no  one,  whether  man  or 
woman,  should  be  ignorant  of  his  own  Vernacular,  provided 
the  education  they  are  given  is  one  which  fits  them  to  be  the 
guardian  angels  of  their  homes — provided,  that  is,  we  enable 
them  to  be  not  only  good  housewives  but  also  good  compani- 
ons of  life.  There  are  branches  of  knowledge  which  must  im- 
prove the  minds  of  women  as  much  as  they  improve  the  minds 
of  men  ;  but  the  biographies  of  great  women,  whether  of  India 
or  of  foreign  co  an  tries,  the  art  of  domestic  economy  and  house- 
keeping, ought  to  form  the  special  features  of  female  education. 
Let  us  leave  aside  the  pedantry  that  makes  this  question  of 
female  education  a  matter  of  academic  discussion  and  busies  it 
self,  like  the  schoolmen  of  old,  in  idle  speculations  and  subtle 
disputations.  Let  us  be  moro  practical  by  insisting  upon  thin, 
above  all,  that  whatever  else  may  be  necessary  or  not  for 
women,  this  we  deem  absolutely  necessary  that  they  should  know 
their  own  vernacular,  that  they  should  know  all  that  can  be 
learnt  about  housekeeping,  and  sewing,  and  the  essential  truths 
and  the  holier  and  higher  and  more  ancient  traditions  of  the 
Hindu  religion  and  society  and  not  merely  the  corruptions  into 
which  the  vicissitudes  of  later  ages  have  cast  it.  If  we  can  teach; 
tjiem  more,  so  much  the  better  for  us.  But  if  we-  cannot  soar 


330  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PAR* 

higher  than  that,  let  us  soar  BO  high  at  least. ;  and  see  that 
the  work,  thns  fixed,  is  done  thoroughly.  I  am  entirely  with 
those  who  hold  that  such  education  as  we  impart  to  women 
must  not  unfit  them  for  the  duties  and  obligations  which  they 
have  to  fulfil  as  the  presiding  deities  of  our  homes.  There 
is  no  fear  that  our  women  will  neglect  those  du ties  because 
they  are  educated ;  they  are  already  good  housewives  within 
the  circumscribed  sphere  of  knowledge  in  which  society  hns 
kept  them  ;  but  our  object  is  to  enlarge  that  sphere  by  enabling 
them  to  perform  those  duties  more  efficiently.  Then,  on  fhe 
question  of 

MARRIAGE  REFORM, 

what  do  we  propose  and  pledge  ourselves  to?  It  is  undoubt- 
edly our  object  to  get  rid  of  the  baneful  practice  of  infant 
marriages  and  see  that  the  future  progeny  is  not  ;i  progeny 
born  of  babies.  But  since  the  reform  in  this  direction  as 
in  all  directions  must  advance  by  stages,  wo  propose  to  re- 
frain from  marrying  our  daughters  or  other  female  wards 
before  they  are  eleven  years  of  age  in  the  case  of  those  with 
whom  marriage  .  before  puberty  is  obligatory  and  in  the  case 
of  others  before  puberty.  The  eleventh  year  is  fixed  provision- 
ally as  the  limit  below  which  no  one  should  celebrate, his 
daughter's- or  other  female  ward's  marriage.  To  some  it  may 
aeem  too  low  a  limit ;  I  myself  think  it  might  have  safely  been 
put  at  12;  but  whether  11  or  12,  it  is  well  to  begin  at  some 
limit  and  raise  it  gradually.  Is  there  anything  radical  in  this  ? 
Some  perhaps  may  feel  inclined  to  ask — what  is  the  reform 
you  effect  by  taking  such  a  low  limit  ?  My  answer  is  that 
by  fixing  upon  a  limit  and  determining  not  to  go  below  it, 
you  take  a  step  forward  ab  a  time  when  the  practice  is  to  many 
girls  when  they  are  8  or  10,  If  our  limit  is  11  to-day,  we  shall 
be  encouraged  to  raise  it  to  12  and  onwards,  What,  again,  do 
we  urge  in  favour  of 

WIDOW  REMARRIAGE, 

which  is  also  one  of  the  reforms  which  we  deem  essential  ? 
We  have  no  quarrel  with  the  sentiment   which   leads   either  a 
who  having  lost  her  husband  or  a  man  who  having  lost 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS,  337 

bis.  wife  determines  to  consecrate  her  or  his  life  to  a  life  qf 
celibacy  out  of  res  pec  b  for  the  memory  of  the  dear  dep&rted. 
Such  a  sentiment  has  everything  in  it  to  evoke  oar  admiration  ; 


among  the  many  virtues  which  have  raised  our  beloved 
Sovereign,  Queen-Empress  Victoria,  immensely  in  oar  estimation 
arid  taught  us  to  regard  her  as  a  model  Queen,  is  the  life  of  noble 
widowhood  which  she  has  been  leading  since  the  death  of  the 
Prince  Consort.  But  let  us  not  corrupt  such  a  sentiment  by, 
sacrificing  at  its  altar,  girls  who  lose  their  husbands  at  tender 
ages,  while  we  allow  even  men  near  their  graves  to  marry.  I 
have  heard  many  an  orthodox  man  and  many  an  orthodox  woman 
deplore  this  accursed  custom  of  enforced  widowhood.  The 
sentiment  in  favour  of  it  has  not  indeed  taken  practical  shape 
to  a  large  extent  ;  but  it  is  steadily,  though  very  slowly  growing. 
The  object  of  the  reform  is  only  to  remove  the  obstacle  enforced 
by  custom,  not  to  compel  every  widow  to  marry,  but  to  allow  a 
feeling  to  grow-  in  society  that  it  is  permissive  to  a  widow  to 
marry  if  she  chooses.  And  what  is  our  programme  about 

CASTE? 

In  his  address  delivered  at  the  anniversary  irleetiiig  of 
this  Association  two  years  ago,  Dr.  Bhandarkar  said:  —  "Caste 
has  become  so  inverate  in  Hindu  society  that  the  endeavour  to 
do  so  (to  obliterate  all  distinctions  at  once)  will  only  result  in 
the  formation  of  new  castes.  But  the  end  must  steadily  be  kept 
in  view.  We  must  remember  that  caste  is  the  greatest  monster 
we  have  to  kill/1  There,  again,  recognising  the  insuperable 
difficulty,  and  the  necessity  of  moving  gradually  by  stages,  we 
propose,  to  begin  with,  the  amalgamation  of  sub-castes  so  far  as 
inter-dining  is  concerned: 

One  more  question  remains  and  that  is  about  the  re-admis- 
sion into  caste  of  what  are  called  England-returned  men.  There 
is  no  special  reference  to  it  in  the  published  programme  of 
the  objects  and  measures  of  (he  Madras  Hindu  Social  Reform 
Association  and  I  should  have,  if  1  consulted  my  oivn  wishes 
and  inclinations,  let  that  question  alone  without  saying  a  word 
about  it  here  for  the  very  good  and  obvious  reason  that  that 
question  more  than  any  other  question  of  social  reform  has  been 
solving  itself  and  proving  loo  strong  for  even  caste  or  other 
43 


333  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.         [PART 

judices,  Our  interest?,  our  aspirations,  our  hopes  of  the  future 
are  bound  up  with  England  and,  whether  you  will  or  no,  to 
England  Hindus  have  pone  and  to  England  Hindus  will  go. 
The  tide  is  too  strong  for  even  the  united  forces  of  caste,  super- 
stition and  priesthood  and  it  is  as  idle  to  think  or  even  dream 
of  checking  that  tide  as  it  was  idle  on  the  part  of  Mrs.  Parting- 
ton  to  stop  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic  by  means  of  her  broom. 
In  several  higher  castes  that  I  know  of  in  Western  India,,  many 
have  got  quietly  back  into  their  caste  without  any  fuss  or  hub- 
bub. And  even  in  those  .castes  which  are  now  losing  their 
heads  over  the  question  and  making  a  good  deal  of  fuss  over  it, 
I  feel  certain  that  the  force  of  the  times  is  such  that  a  few 
years  hence  their  future  generations  will  laugh  and  wonder  at 
the  excitement  which  their  ancestors  of  the  present  generation 
have  managed  to  get  up  over  this  question.  There  are  those 
who  maintain  that  England-returned  men  ought  not  to  be  taken 
back  into  caste  without  the  performance  of  "  Prayaschit,"  and 
there  are  others  who  hold  that  England-returned  men  ought 
not  to  be  re-admitted  intocasto  at  all,  because  a  trip  to  England 
necessarily  involves  a  violation  of  the  essential  rules  of  caste  on 
the  part  of  those  who  undertake  it  by  compelling  them  to  eat 
forbidden  food  and  get  contaminated  by  contact  with  the  Hlecli- 
chas.  Now,  my  answer  to  those  who  take  the  prayasckitta 
view  of  this  question  is  this.  If  prayaschitta  is  penance  for  a 
sin  committed,  there  can  be  on  principle  no  moral  objection  to 
those  England-returned  men  doing  that  penance,  if  they  sincere- 
ly think  that  they  committed  a  sin  in  going  to  England 
and  pledge  themselves  not  to  do  forbidden  things  here 
and  act  accordingly.  Bub  of  what  use  is  a  prayascliitta  if  instead 
of  leading  to  sincere  penitence  and  preventing  the  commission, 
it  only  becomes  a  promoter  and  abettor  of  sin.  It  has  already 
led  many  a  caste  to  commit  sins,  because  people  think  that  they 
can  even  in  penance  plan  sins  anew,  I  have  heard  many 
say  : — "  I  shall  violate  a  caste  rule  and  then,  take  prayaschiita." 
1  do  not  tii ink  that  those  of  us  who  are  sincerely  anxious  for 
the  welfare  and  progress  of  Hindu  society — who  think  that 
morality  is  a  greater  cementing  bond  of  society  than  anything 
else — ought  to  be  parties  to  p  theory  which  teaches  men  that 


itf.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  339 

they  have  a  license  to  sin  freely,  for  every  time  they  sin  they  can 
do  penance  and  pass  for  sinless  men.     Aud    a  'prayaschittd   has 
already  become  a  license,  so  bo  say,  for  many  a  sin  and  many  a 
flagrant    departure    from    the    path     of    virtue.     My    second 
objection  to  praijaschitta  in  the   case  of   England -returned  men 
is,  that  I  do  not   consider  that   a   trip    to    England  is    sinful. 
This,  indeed,  is  conceded  by  many  who  hold  to  the  prayaschitta 
theory.     They   say  that  praijaschitta  is   only  a    formality,   and, 
there  should  be  no    scruple   about  it.     But  no   reform  ou^ht  to 
be  promoted,   unless  we    teach  people,  both  by   precept  and  ex- 
ample that  it  is  a   reform   which  is  not   only  essential    but  also 
consistent  with  the  principles  of  morality.     The  shastras  are  in- 
voked in  support  of  the  theory  that  going  to  England  is  sinful  ; 
bub  the   shastras   knew  nothing  of   England   when    they  were 
written  or  "revealed  "  and    all  that   the   shastras    say  is  that  it 
is  a  sin  to  cross  the  sea.     But  what  caste  has   escaped  this  sin 
of  crossing  the  sea    in  these  days  without  going  to   England  ? 
When  our  opponents,    however,  find    themselves   driven  into  a 
corner  by  this  argument,  they  take  shelter  behind  the  plausible 
contention  that  a    trip  to  England  contaminates  thoa'o  who  un- 
dertake  it  by   bringing   them  in   contact  with   Mlechchas  and 
compelling  them,  through    sheer  necessity,  to   partake   of  for- 
bidden food.     But  they  forget  that  they  play   with  edged  tools 
when  they   use  this  sort  of  argument.     The   contamination    of 
contact -with  the  Mlechchas  and  the  partaking  of  forbidden  food, 
commenced  in  the   case    of  mnny  a  caste  in  this    very  country 
long  before  any  one  thought  of  going  to  England.     If  men  that 
go    to    England   partake   of    forbidden    food    through    neces- 
sity, what   are  we   to  say   of  those    in  many   castes  that  par- 
take of  it    on  the  sly    and    for  mere    pleasure    and    to  gratify 
their  appetite  and  taste  ?     One   would  not  like  to  say  much  on 
this  delicate  subject,  but  the  time    is  coming,   and  has  come  for 
honest  men,  to  speak  freely.    If  the  truth  were  told,  we  should 
have  to  say,  in  the  language  used  by  Queen  Sheba  :  "  The  half 
has  not  been  told."     But  it  is  said   that  the  sin    of  such  men  is 
not  detected,  whereas  the    "sin"  of  England-returned   men  is 
found  out.     Then  are  we   to  understand  that  while  we  talk  of 
God  and  the  holy  bonds  of  society,  society  is  to  be  guided  by 


340  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

aud  its  members  hold   together  on   the    degrading,  vicious  and 
ungodly  principle,  so  eloquently  denounced  by  the    late   Cardi- 
nal Newman  as  the  worst  of  moral  cankers  that  must  ultimate- 
ly lead  to  social  decay  and  ruin,  "  that  it  is  not  the  commission 
but  the  detection  of  sin"  that  is  to  be  the  social  standard  of  sin- 
fulness  P     Let  men  beware  that  they  are  playing  fast  and  loose 
with  their  responsibilities    as  members   of  society   and  uncon- 
sciously bringing  about  its  extinction  by  becoming  parties  to  a 
doctrine  that  is  so  demoralising.     Let  them  read,  mark  inward- 
ly, and  digest  the    thrilling  words  in  which  Dr.  Martinean  has 
pointed  out  that  even   in   so  vast  an  empire  as  that  of  ancient 
Rome  M  the   most  compact  and  gigantic  machinery  of  society" 
fell  to   pieces    and   "  perished   like   a   Mamoth,"    because  the 
sanctities   of  life   were   disbelieved   even   in  the  nursery  ;  no 
binding  sentiment  restrained  the  greediness  of  appetite  and  the 
licentiousness   of   self-will;  the  very  passions  with  whose  sub- 
mission alone   society   can   begin,  broke  loose  again — attended 
by   a  brood   of   artificial    and   parasitic    vices   that  spread  the 
dissolute   confusion."     It   is    not    England -returned  men   that 
are  breaking  loose  the  moral  bonds  of  our  society  ;  the  plague- 
spot  is  elsewhere  and  because  it  requires  a  microscope  to  detect 
its  bacilli,  let  it  not  be  supposed  that  society  is  safe.     It  is  the 
spirit  of  organised  hypocrisy,  which  sanctions  the  commission  of 
any  sin,  provided  it  is  done  on  the  sly,  and  which  the  members 
of  every  caste  tacitly  tolerate,  that  is  laying  the  axe  at  the  root, 
not  only  of  virtue,    but  all  social  union  of  the  trne  type,     It  is 
said  that  the  real  difficulty  to    social    reform  comes  from  the 
stated  opposition  of  our  gurus, — those  who  preside  over  castes  as 
their  spiritual  and  social  heads  and  dictators.    However  much 
or  little  we   may  differ  from  the  gurus,  I  do  not  think  we  are 
justified  in  laying  the  blame  upon  them  so  much  or  so  entirely 
as  many  are  disposed  to  do.     The  institution  of  gurus  is  a  holy 
and  venerable  institution,  which,  I  have  no  doubt,   has  done 
much  good  in  the  past,  and  we  should  not  be  blind  to  the  fact 
that    our  gurus  exercised  in  the  past  a  vast  spiritual  and 
moral  influence  over  the  Hindu  community, — aod  that  enabled 
that   co  mmnnity   to  keep  alive  the  light  of  virtue  even  in  the 
midat  of  its   vicissitudes.   1  am  not  one  of  those  who  think  that 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  34 i 

an  institution  which  has  done  so  well  in  the  past  ought  to  be 
lightly  dealt  with.  «  But,1'  as  pointed  out  by. Mr,  Lecky  in  his 
address  on  "  History  "  delivered  at  the  Birmingham  Midland 
Institute  a  few  years  ago,  "  somclinaes  with  changed  beliefs  and 
changed  conditions,  institutions  lose  all  their  original  vitality," 
and  the  only  condition  of  their  survival  and  continuance  is 
"that  true  characteristic  of  vitality — the  power  of  adapting 
themselves  to  changed  conditions  and  new  utilities,11  i.  e., 
of  adopting  themselves  to  new  wants.  This  institution  of 
gurus  can  only  survive  subject  to  that  condition.  Lastly, 
I  notice  with  particular  pleasure  that  both  in  your  programme 
and  in  your  lectures  and  in  your  newspaper,  you,  the  members 
of  the  Madras  Hindu  Social  Reform  Association,  lay  stress  upon 

A  LIFE  OF  PURITV  . 

That,  indeed,  ought  to  be,  as  indeed  you  have  made  it,  tho 
key-note  of  the  social  reform  movement.  All  reform  must  begin 
with  the  reform  of  the  individual  and  the  reform  of  the  indivi- 
dual begins  when  he  lives  a  life  of  openness  and  virtue  and 
makes  that  the  basis  of  all  progress,  both  individual  and  social. 
We  complain  that  Hindu  orthodoxy  has  a  deep-seated  prejudice 
against  social  reform  ;  but  once  convince  it  that  you  are  men  of 
moral  excellence,  that  you  lead  and  insist  upon  others  leading 
lives  of  rectitude,  and  that  all  your  plans  and  proposals  of  re- 
form centre  round  that  as  the  cardinal  principle  of  your  faith, 
you  cannot  fail  to  attract  its  attention,  engage  its  sympathies 
and  at  last  secure  its  support.  Men  now  may  make  light  of 
and  ridicule  your  attempt  to  denounce  and  put  down  what  are 
called  nautch  parties  ;  they  may  laugh  at  you  and  take  you  for 
visionaries  ;  bub  be  sure  enthusiasm  in  the  cause  of  morality 
has  unrivalled  charm  and  power  which  does  not  fail  sooner  or 
safer  to  assert  itself.  Our  work  of  social  reform  must  suffer 
so  long  as  we  do  not  preach  and  practise  the  gospel  of  a  godly 
life;  with  that  life  as  the  animating  principle  of  our  movements, 
we  may  prove  more  than  a  match  to  all  prejudice  and  opposi- 
tion, I  believe  there  is  a  great  deal  of  truth  in  what  my  distin- 
guished friend,  the  Hon'ble  Mr.  Pherozaha  M.  Mehta  said  at 
a  meeting  of  the  Bombay  Legislative  Council,  when  in  reply  to 
a  member  of  that  Council  who  pooh-poohed  the  ladies  and 


342  INDTAfr  SOCIAL  EEFOttif. 

gentlemen  in  England  that  have  been  leading  the  agitation  of 
purity  as  mad  enthusiasts,  he  reminded  the  Conncil  that  it  is 
such  mad  enthusiasts  who  have,  as  the  pages  of  English  his- 
tory show,  awakened  the  moral  conscience  of  England  and  con- 
tributed to  its  progress,  The  sentiment  has  taken  root  in  Hindu 
society  that,  however  good  a  principle  may  -be,  it  should 
not  be  practised,  if  it  is  opposed  to  public  sentiment ;  and  hence 
it  is  that  wherever  a  reform  is  proposed,  we  are  met  with  the 
Sanskrit  verae,  which- says  :— *  *  *  i  e,,  although  (a  thing)  is 
pure,  it  should  not  be  done  or  observed  because  it  is  opposed  to 
public  ftentimeiit.  The  sentiment  embodied  in  this  verse  ac- 
counts for  all  ills  and  evils  ;  it  has  proved  hostile  to  all  reform  and 
progress.  We  have  to  strive  hard  to  knock  that  sentiment  on 
the  head  ;  and  our  lives  should,  therefore,  be  so  arranged  as  to 
enable  us  lo  be  living  protests  against  lawless  modes  of  living. 
1  know  that  the  work  before  us  is  gigantic,  and  our  diffi- 
culties innumerable.  Our  hearts  faint  when  we  see  that  there 
is  a  Himalaya  of  prejudice,  ignorance,  and  opposition  to  be  gob 
over  before  we  can  hope  to  win  and  say  our  work  is,  or  is  about 
to  be,  accomplished.  But  if  we  have  our  conditions  of  difficul- 
ty, we  are  also  not  without  our  conditions  t)f  hope.  We  have 
put  our  hands  to  the  plough,  and  it  is  not  for  us  to  look  back ; 
and  we  need  not  look  back  and  despond,  if  we  only  bear  in 
mind  that,  small  as  our  numbers  are,  uninfluential  as  people 
say,  as  we  may  be,  it  is  not,  as  Mazzini  in  his  vigorous  langu- 
age points  out,  the  number  but  the  unity  of  forces  that  enables 
a  good  cause  to  win  and  prosper.  Nor  should  we  be  impatient 
of  results.  Jh  is  enough  for  us,  it  should  be  enough  for  us,  if 
we  are  able  to  say  that  we  have  not  remained  idle  or  inactive, 
but  have  done  something,  even  if  that  something  be  very  little, 
to  carry  the  work  of  social  refbrm  a  little  further  than  we 
found  it  and  helped  our  successors  to  carry  it  further  still.  We 
do  not  wish  to  make  light  of  the  past,  nor  do  we  desire  to  touch 
ancient  institutions  in  either  a  spirit  of  irreverence  or  thought- 
lessness. It  is  becausfc  we  think  that  social  growth  is  continu- 
ous, and  that  not  only  "perfect  truth,"  but l4  perfect  develop- 
ment "  is  "beyond  the  reach  of  any  one  generation"  that  we 
hold  fast  to  the  principle  that  each  generation  ought  to  endfea* 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  343 

vonr  to  leave  society  better  than  it  found  it  by  raising  its  ideals 
of  life  and  conduct ;  and  if  we  go  on  with  our-  work,  making  an 
irreproachable  life  the  basis  o£  it,  we  maybe  able  to  say  that 
we  have  not  worked  in  vain. 


Mr.  G.  Subrarrianla  Iyer  on  "  The  Principles  of 
Social  Reform." 

The  following  is  the  full  text  of  the  address  delivered  by 
Mr,  G.  Subramania  Iyer,  H.A.,  at  the  Fifth  Anniversary  Meeting 
of  the  Madras  Hindu  Social  Reform  Association,  held  in  Decem- 
ber 1897  :- 

THE   STAGE    OF   DISCUSSION   IS   NOT   PASSED, 

People,  who  are  not  very  zealous  about  social  reform,  are 
apt  to  think  that,  at  this  anniversary  as  well  as  at  our  other 
meetings,  we  are  enacting  only  a  useless  show  and  that  every 
form  of  activity  on  behalf  of  Social  Reform  except  practical 
action  is  vain.  Practical  action  is  no  doubt  greatly  wanted,  but 
1  do  not  think  in  this  great  question  the  stage  of  discussion  is 
passed.  Not  only  is  the  stage  of  discussion  not  passed,  but 
there  has  not  been  a  fraction  of  the  amount  of  discussion 
which  the  great  importance  of  the  question  demands,  Where 
are  the  societies,  meetings,  discussions,  pamphlets  and  books, 
which  are  accessories  of  great  reform  movements  ?  It  is  obvious 
that  before  the  community  can  accept  change,  it  should  be 
educated.  The  public  mind  should  be  opened  to  the  enormity 
of  the  evils  that  hinder  progress  ;  wrong  notions  should  be 
corrected  ;  prejudices  should  be  overcome  \  opposition  should  be 
baffled,  and  above  all  public  feeling  should  be  roused.  In  fact 
it  is  not  opposition,  reasonable  or  unreasonable,  so  much  as 
apathy,  that  is  the  worst  enemy  of  Reform.  Action  on  a  large 
scale  is  not  possible  without  i*  long  period  of  agitation.  I-t 
must  be  confessed  that  the  agitation  on  behalf  of  Hindu  Social 
Reform  has  not  been  vigorous  or  powerful.  At  best  it  has 
been  feeble  and  spasmodic,  and  while  I  shall  be  the  last  person 
to  speak  disparagingly  of  the  efforts  of  Reformers  of  whose 
difficulties  others  can  have  no  adequate  idea,  I  must  state  that 
what  progress  lifts  been  made  in  the  expansion  of  reform  ideas 


344  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

nnd  in  the  weakening  of  the  opposition,  is  due  more  to  the 
general  progress  of  intelligence  among  the  people  than  to  thfc 
direct  efforts  of  the  Reform  party.  Bat  it  is  necessary  that  public 
intelligence  should  be  directed  on  wise  lines  and  advancement 
made  less  slowly  than  at  present.  All  discussion  is  therefore  to 
be  welcomed,  and  every  one  tout  'talks  or  writes  of  reform 
topics,  unless  he  be  a  scoffer,  should  be  regarded  with  sympathy. 

THE    POLICY    OP     LEAVE   ALONE. 

Some  people  say,  why  not  leavd  alone.  We  are  happy 
enough  without  your  reforms — at  all  events  as  happy  as  social 
institutions  can  make  a  people  happy.  Such  changes  as  are 
necessary,  time  will  effect  without  the  fussy  and  mischievous 
tinkering  of  so-called  reformers.  This  view  is  too  narrow- 
minded  and  altogether  wrong.  We,  reformers,  do  not  mind 
abuse.  We  are  getting  callous  to  it,  our  skin  being  too  thick  for 
such  missiles.  But  people  who  are  averse  to  active  efforts  for 
change  and  would  depend  on  time  as  the  only  agency  of  reform 
have  read  history  to  no  purpose.  No  nation  tried  this  policy 
of  let  alone  and  reaped  a  more  disastrous  harvest  than  we 
Hindus  have  done.  Have  we  not  for  over  ten  centuries  let 
things  alone — let  history  make  itself  ;  and  what  is  the  conse- 
quence ?  Political  subjection,  social  prostration,  poverty, 
disease.  This  is  the  consequence. 

NO    RIGHT  TO   VEGETATE, 

Indeed,  it  cannot  be  otherwise.  No  community — any 
more  than  an  individual — has  a  right  to  vegetate.  If  it  does, 
deterioration  must  set  in.  Our  sages  propose  a  condition  of 
absolute  quietude  for  individuals,  Starvation  of  the  external 
as  well  as  the  internal  senses,  their  severance  from  their  respec- 
tive objective  relations,  self-contemplation,  quietude,  and 
nirvana — these  are  the  successive  stages  in  the  evolution  of  the 
individual  in  a  single  birth  or  in  a  series  of  births.  I  do  not 
know  if  similar  stages  of  evolution  are  proposed  for  communities 
as!w6Hi,  A  tall  events,  DO  community  has  yet  reached  that 
higher  plane  where  nirvana  is  the  goaJ.  Nor  do  we,  Hindus  of 
modern  days,  aspire  for  it.  We  cherish  an  aspiration  to  rise  ftf 
the'  same  level  of  material  and  moral  condition  as  other  nations. 
We  feeV humiliate.*}  at  our  poverty,  afi  oar  helplessness,  at  bur 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  345 

defeats,  and  at  the  slight  and  contumely  heaped  on  us  by 
people  who  do  not  sympathise  with  us  and  whose  interests  are 
in  conflict  with  ours.  We  must  then  recognize  the  same* law  of 
life  that  other  nations,  now  dominating  the  destiny  of  the  world, 
pursue  with  success.  In  fact  there  is  no  other  law  of  life. 
Ceaseless  activity,  perpetual  struggle,  rivalry,  defeat  or  success 
— tliis  is  the  law.  We,  Hindus,  can  no  more  escape  it  than 
we  can  escape  any  other  law  of  nature,  We  may  depend  upon 
it, — we  shall  be  shown  no  mercy.  We  should  either  struggle 
forward  or  pursue  a  track  of  continuous  decadence* 

HAVE  WE   THEN    DECAYED  ? 

The  decadence  of  a  community  does  not  necessarily  mean 
its  decadence  in  numbers.  So  far  as  numbers  go,  thanks  to  the 
custom  of  early  and  compulsory  marriage,  we  have  undergone 
no  decay  at  all.  The  contact  of  a  more  vigorous  and  manly 
race  has  proved  fatal  to  many  an  aboriginal  race  in  the  world. 
The  ancient  Peruvians,  the  Aztecs  and  the  Caribs  were  extermi- 
nated by  the  more  hardy  races  of  Europe  ;  and  in  Australia,  in 
Africa  and  in  America  the  aboriginal  races  arc  meeting  with  the 
same  fate.  Bat  in  the  ceaseless  vicissitudes  of  our  history  in 
the  past,  we  have  preserved  our  identity  ;  and  not  only  have 
we  preserved  our  identity  but  have  even  preserved  some  of  the 
more  marked  features  of  our  distinct  civilization.  We  have 
certainly  multiplied  in  numbers,  The  innate  vitality  of  the 
race  has  enabled  it  to  resist  the  fate  that  overtook  some  ancient 
races  and  are  overtaking  the  Pacific  Islanders,  the  Maoris,  and 
the  Negroes  in  Africa  and  America.  Still,  the  degeneration  is. 
perceptible  along  many  a  vein  in  the  national  character.  We 
have  preserved  majiy  of  the  softer  and  more  passive  elements  of 
character— but  have  degenerated  in  the  rougher,  the  more 
active,  and  the  more  manly  elements.  We  are  the  same 
patient,  peace-loving,  orderly,  industrious,  simple  and  spiritual 
people  that  we  were  centuries  ago.  We  preserve  the  same 
tenderness  to  animal  life,  the  same  sense  of  family  obligations, 
the  same  rogard  for  personal  purity,  the  same  metaphysical 
cast  of  mind.  But  patriotism,  love  of  enterprise,  co-operative 
faculty,  adventure,  energy,  aspiration,  devotion  to  duty  and 
stich  like  qualities,  we  have  lost,  if  we  ever  possessed  thenu  In 
44 


346  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

fact,  as  the  author  of  Social  Evolution  would  pot  it,   we  have 
lost  the  qualities  which  contribute  to  "  Social  efficiency." 

"  SOCIAL  EFFICIENCY." 

Speaking  of  the  prosperity  of  nations  and  tho  causes  of  it 
Mr.  Lecky  sajs  :  M  Its  foundation  is  laid  in  pare  domestic  life, 
in  commercial  integrity,  in  a  high  standard  of  moral  worth  and 
of  public  spirit,  in  simple  habits,  in  cournge,  uprightness,  and  a 
certain  soundness  and  moderation  of  judgment,  which  springs 
quite  as  much  from  character  as  from  intellect.  If  you  would 
form  a  wise  judgment  of  the  future  of  a  nation,  observe  care- 
fully whether  these  qualities  are  increasing  or  decaying. 
Observe  specially  what  qualities  count  for  most  in  public  life. 
Is  character  becoming  of  greater  or  lees  importance  ?  Are  the 
men  who  obtain  the  highest  posts  in  the  nation,  men  of  whom 
in  private  life  and  irrespective  of  party,  competent  judges  speak 
with  genuine  respect  P  Are  they  of  sincere  convictions,  consist- 
ent lives,  indisputable  integrity  P  ....  It  is  by  observing 
this  moral  current  that  you  can  best  cast  the  horoscope  of  a 
nation."  It  is  this  moral  current  which,  according  as  it  is  clear, 
healthy  and  vigorous,  or  the  reverse,  determines  the  position 
of  a  nation  in  the  world.  The  happiness  of  man,  under  modern 
conditions,  depends  far  more  upon  what  may  be  called  his  social 
qualities— qualities,  thnt  is  to  pay,  which  enable  him  to  act  in 
co-operation  with  a  large  number  of  men — than  upon  his  quali- 
ties as  an  isolated  individual.  The  individual  will  no  doubt 
continue  to  wield  influence  on  his  neighbours,  but  the  progress 
of  the  community  no  longer  depends  to  the  same  extent  as  it 
did  in  ancient  times,  on  the  towering  genius  of  an  individual, 
be  he  a  ruler,  a  statesman  or  a  general.  It  depends  on  the 
collective  activity  of  a  large  number  moving  together  at  a  time. 
The  power  of  organization  is  therefore  so  important  in  the&o 
days  as  a  factor  of  progress.  It  is  these  qualities  that  contri- 
bute to  social  efficiency  that  really  constitutes  in  modern  tastes 
th*  superiority  or  inferiority  of  moe.  Says  Mr.  Bed  jam  in 
Eidd  :  "Nor  even  of  the  possession  of  high  intellectual  capacity, 
can  science  give  us  any  warrant  for  speaking  of  one  race  as 
superior  to  another.  The  evolution  which  man  is  undergoing  is 
over  and  above  everything  el  HO,  a  social  evolution,  There  is, 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS 

therefore,  bat  one  absolute  test  of  superiority.  It  is  only  the  race 
possessing  in  the  highest  degree  the  qualities  contributing  to 
social  efficiency  that  can  be  recognized  as  having  any  claim  to 
superiority.  But  these  qualities  are  not  as  a  rnje  of  the 
brilliant  order,  nor  such  as  strike  the  imagination.  Occupying 
a  high  place  amongst  them  nre  such  characteristics  as  strength 
and  energy  of  character,  humanity,  probity  and  integrity,  and 
simple  minded  devotion  to  conceptions  of  duty  in  such  circum- 
stances as  may  arise." 

THE   CLUE    TO    REFORM    ACTIVITY. 

It  is  this  test  as  to  the  condition  of  a  nation  th,at  should 
supply  the  clue  to  true  reform  activity.  Whatever  institution, 
custom,  belief  or  notion  retards  the  development  of  thin  social 
efficiency,  should  be  modified,  or  discouraged,  and  others  more 
subservient  to  this  end  should  be  gradually  evolved.  If  we 
consider  the  programme  of  our  work  having  regard  to  this  te.«t, 
we  will  see  its  importance  and  its  wisdom,  A  baby-born  race 
and  a  race  whose  children  are  brought  up  by  illiterate  mothers 
cannot  develop  much  of  the  qualities  which  I  have  alluded  to. 
We  search  in  vain  iii  such  a  race  for  the  qualities  of  courage,  of 
enterprise,  of  adventure,  and  of  a  fearless  facing  of  responsibili- 
ties instead  of  shirking  them  or  flying  away  from  them.  Nor 
can  a  people  who  treat  their  women  as  if  they  were  intended  for 
no  higher  duties  than  the  personal  service  of  their  husbands,  and 
who  heartlessly  consign  their  unfortunate  widows  to  a.  lot  of 
perpetual  privation,  shew  much  of  chivalry,  generosity,  sym- 
pathy with  the  weak,  self-sacrifice,  and  dignity  of  family  life. 
Nor,  again,  is  it  possible  that  a  people  divided  as  tho  Hindus 
are  into  castes  with  all  the  narrow  feelings  and  antipathies 
that  they  nurse,  learn  qualities  BO  essentially  social  as  patriot- 
ism, fellow-feeling,  a  sense  of  the  equality  of  all  men,  and 
sacrifice  for  others,  "  Caste  is  the  greatest  monster  we  have  to 
kill,"  said  Dr.  Bhandarkar  speaking  in  this  city  three  years 
ago  ;  and  indeed  it  is.  More  than  all  other  evils  of  our  sooia.1 
system,  it  has  contributed  to  the  crashing  of  the  high  moral 
feeling,  of  the  ethical  nature  of  the  Hindu,  and  of  that  divine 
instinct— the  aensd  of  man's  duty  to  man  irrespective  of  bki)i 
or  rank.  Take  again  the  foolish  custom  of  looking  upon 


348  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

foreign  travel  as  a  violation  of  religions  duty.  I  do  not  know 
that  tiny  conceivable  state  of  Hindu.  Society  in  tie  past  could 
have  famished  reasons  for  the  necessity  of  such  prohibition. 
But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  self-inflicted  isolation  was 
the  cause  of  serious  deterioration  in  the  character  of  the  people. 
They  became  ignorant  and  conceited,  and  while  they  lost  one 
strong  incentive  to  sustained  advancement  in  the  arts  of  civili- 
sation which  a  free  intercourse  with  foreign  countries  should 
have  supplied,  they  lost  all  knowledge  of  the  outside  world, 
believed  that  their  own  country  and  their  own  people  constitu- 
ted God's  universe,  flattered  themselves  that  everything 
worth  knowing  they  already  knew,  and  that  human  race 
could  not  advance  further  than  the  stage  they  had  them- 
selves reached.  It  is  no  longer  possible  for  the  people 
of  India  to  remain  in  this  state  of  isolation.  They  will  have 
new  blood  infused  into  them  by  a  free  intercourse  with  the 
active  races  of  other  parts  of  the  world.  This  silly  prohibition 
is  so  opposed  to  the  needs  of  modern  times  that  an  increasing 
number  of  Hindus,  disregarding  this  prohibition,  visit  foreign 
countries  •  for  purposes  of  education  and  commerce.  The  well- 
known  terrors  of-  excommunication  are  no  longer  able  to  stop 
4be  flowing  tide  bursting  through  this  old  and  time-worn  bar- 
rier. No  healthy  social  progress  is  possible  without  every  faci- 
lity being  provided  for  foreign  travel.  Fancy  what  the  con- 
dition of  England,  would  be  if  a  prohibition  were  placed  on  her 
best  men  leaving  their  native  country  !  What  will  even  Japan 
be  under  such  prohibition  p  The  conclusion  is  therefore  obvious 
.that  the  social  customs  and  prejudices  which  we  are  engaged  in 
combating  are  inimical  •  to  the  growth  of  those  qualities  that  I 
have  alluded  to  ,as-  constituting,  important  factors  in  "  Social 
•efficiency."  -  ,  •  • 

-  OUR  DIFFICULTIES  ARE  SPECIAL  AND  .MORE   FORMIDABLE. 

We  are  fully  sensible  of  the  stupendous  difficulties  besetting 
•ndeavonra  to  sweep  away  abuses  centuries  old,  to  change  cus- 
toms that  are  interwoven  into  the  very  life  of  the  people,  and  to 
adapt  ancient  institutions  to  modern  requirements.  These  diffi- 
XJultiea  are  special  in  this  country  and  are  more  formidable  than 
elsewhere.  Because  the  changes  wo  desire  and  we  strive  to 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  849 

bring1  about  are  not  like  the  gradual,  natural  and  organic  trans- 
formation of  an  existing  institution  to  suit  a  fresh  wanl.  In 
Western  countries  social  changes  mean  more  or  less  improve*- 
ments  on  existing  bases  ;  the  spirit  of  the  nation,  of  the  iristi- 
tutions  and  of  the  ends  desired,  remains  the  same  through  sue*- 
cessive  developments.  Each  new  step  murks  the  continued 
evolution  of  Society,  helped  and  directed  by  the  forces  it  spon- 
taneously developes.  But  in  India,  we  have  more  or  less  to 
pour  new  wine  into  old  bottles.  The  ideals  of  thinking  Hindus 
in  these  days  arc  not  those  that  moved  our  ancestors,  of  whose 
conceptions  of  human  well-being,  the  institutions,  customs,  &c., 
that  we  have  inherited  are  the  embodiment.  Our  modern 
ideals  are  more  or  leas  derived  from  the  experience  of  Western, 
countries  and  the  forces  that  make  them  living  and  keep  them 
in  operation  are  also  more  or  less  foreign.  We  want  to  become 
a  nation  like  Western  nations ;  we  want  to  be  wealthy  like 
them  ;  active,  enterprising,  free,  and  moral  like  them  ; 
and  our  aspirations,  it  may  be  safely  said,  have  compara- 
tively little  in  common  Avrth  those  lawgivers  and  reformers  of 
old  whom  we  hold  answerable  for"  the  social1  feature*  confront- 
ing us  at  the  present  moment.  Many'  of  thefle  features  are 
hostile  to  these  aspirations,  Still,  w6  cannot  pull  down  the 
-Hindu  social  edifice  as  the  tower  of  the  Connema'ra  Library  wafe 
pulled  down  the  other  day,  and  erect  another  to  suit  exactly 
our  new  purposes.  The  'process  involves  a  good  deal  of*  de- 
structive work,  however  slowly  and  cautiously  feffected.  It  must 
be  a  good  deal  more  than  mere  adaptation.  What  process  of 
adaptation  for  instance,  can*  make  the  joint  family  system,  de- 
gradation of  women,  and  caste,  suit  modern  ends  9  They  must 
be  adapted  and  adapted  until  they  'cease  to  exist.  Changes 
must  be  more  abrupt,  the  transition  more  violent,  the  old 
and  the  new  more  dissimilar,  in  this  country,  than  has  been  the 
experience  in  more  fortunate  countries, 

THE  PENALTY  SHOULD  BE 'PAID.'  '  k' 

The  Hindu  community  should  pay  the  penalty  of  its  jmst 
neglect.  For  centuries  it  has  been  away  from  the  path  of  true 
progress.  The  peculiar  social  system  of  the  Hindus  worked  Well 
enough  so  loug  as  they  were  ail  independent  and  self-con tatined 


350  INtilAN  SOCIAL  REPoRti.  [PART 

community.  But  it  bad  within  itself  seeds  of  decay,  because  it 
was  not  a  self-working  pystem  adapting-  itself  to  fresh  environ- 
ments as  they  arose.  It  was  not  designed  to  promote  solidarity 
and  a  uniform  progress  of  the  whole.  The  spiritual  aspiration 
that  dominated  the  thought  and  the  whole  altruistic  activity  of 
the  higher  classes  was  antagonistic  to  all  material  interests  and 
obscured  the  paramount  need  of  strengthening  the  social 
organization  in  view  to  security  from  external  danger  as  well  as 
'to  internal  well-being,  The  high  level  of  material  prosperity 
which  the  nation  *as  able  to  reach  on  account  of  favourable 
physical  conditions,  soon  resnltcd  in  effeminacy  of  character — a 
result  which  came  about  all  the  more  easily  by  the  aversion  of 
the  people  to  material  advantages  naturally  induced  by  their 
spiritual  ideals.  Buddhism  went  to  strengthen  this  aversion, 
and  by  admitting  all  castes  into  its  spiritual  fold,  extended 
it  to  the  whole  population.  The  'military  defence  of  the 
country  against  external  or  internal  dangers  was  of  course 
neglected,  our  ancestors  being  evidently,  under  the  belief 
that  outside  India  there  were  no  people  capable  of  invading 
her  and  establishing  a  foreign  rule  subversive  of  their  own 
religion  and  civilization.  Arts  and  industries  were  despised,  no 
social  status  being  accorded  to  the  classes  following  them. 
Women  were  deposed  from  the  position  which  they  had  previ- 
ously occupied,  and  came  to  be  looked  upon  as  mere  instruments 
of  men's  pleasure.  All  education  which  was  not  spiritual  or 
ecclesiastical  was-ruled  mischievous.  The  nation  became  effe- 
minate, priest-ridden,  disorganized,  stagnant,  and  utterly  unfit 
for  self-defence.  When  once  the  tide  of  foreign  invasion  began 
to  flow  into  the  country,  the  degradation  was  complete  and 
during  nearly  a  thousand  years,  the  best  efforts  of  its  most 
valiant  champions,  such  as  they  were,  were  directed  towards 
keeping  the  nation  up  somehow,  preserving  the  prized  inherit* 
anceofold,in  religion,  literature  and  traditions,  and  towards 
feeding  the  people  with  a  hope  of  a  better  time,  in  a  future  cycle 
of  the  world's  evolution.  During  this  long  period,  no  original 
achievement  in  any  sphere  of  human  activity,  not  even  in  the 
intellectual  sphere,  can  be  traced  to  the  Hindus,  While  we  were 
thns  in  a  stagnant  condition,  other  nations  of  the  world  madt 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  351 

wonderful  progress,  and  some  of  them  in  particular,  who  were 
staeped  in  barbarism  at  a  tirno  when  the  Hftidus  werp  in  the 
pinnacle  of  glory,  have  become  masters  of  the  world  including 
our  own  dear  motherland.  The  world  haa  been  progressing 
rapidly,  while  we  we're  in  u  trance,  and  now  being  roused  once 
more  into  consciousness  by  the  quickening  contact  of  the  West, 
we  find  ourselves  amidst  strange  surroundings,  which  threaten 
onr  fresh  born  consciousness  with  extinction  if  we  do  not  accept 
and  assimilate  them.  The  civilization  we  have  managed  to  pre- 
serve through  a  series  of  unparalleled  vicissitudes,  is  antiquated 
and  unsuited  to  modern  conditions,  and  however  reluctant  we 
may  be  to  tear  ourselves  from  the  past  and  however  difficult  the 
process  may  be,  we  must  recognise  it  to  be  inevitable.  We  can 
only  do  our  best  to  make  the  transition  from  the  old  order  to 
the  new  as  smooth  as  possible,  although,  as  I  have  said,  it  can- 
not be  as  smooth  as  it  can  be  in  other  countries. 

CASTE  A3  THE  BASIS  OP  THE  SOCIAL    SYSTEM    MUST  HE    CHANGED. 

The  Hindu  Society  is  founded  on  cnste,  which  by  its 
extreme  conservatism,  by  its  jealousy  of  foreigners  and  by  its 
careful  preservation  of  the  purity  of  blood,  has  preserved  the 
identity  of  the  nation  in  spite  of  the  large  infusion  of  foreign 
elements  in  its  composition.  We  recognise  the  service  that  this 
institution  has  done  to  the  people  in  the  past.  But  conditions 
have  changed  and  caste  too  will  have  to  change  its  spirit  if  not 
its  form  also.  The  caste  basis  of  society  is  essentially  one  of 
inequality  as  determined  by  certain  artificial  significance  of  birth 
and  of  barriers  arbitrarily  created  to  limit  the  sphere  of  hnman, 
faculties.  Whatever  meaning  there  might  have  been  in  this 
inequality  and  restriction  in  the  original  conception,  it  can  have 
no  rational  meaning  whatever  in  thefle  dnys.  Modern  world  will 
hot  acknowledge  special  claims  of  individuals  to  special  means  of 
spiritual  salvation.  The  Pariah  as  well  as  the  Brahmin  will  be 
allowed  to  seek  his  own  means  of  salvation.  Any  application 
of  coercion  will  only  end  in  the  individualnr  community  coerced 
seeking  relief  by  entering  other  social  systems  where  greater 
liberty  is  promised.  Nor  is  there  in  our  country  in  these  days 
any  temporal  authority,  as  there  was  in  former  times,  to  apply 
Coercion  to  epfprce  obedience  to  a  §ocial  polity,  at  once  irrational . 


3r>2  INDIAN  SOCIAL  PEFORM-  [PAIIT 

and  degrading  according  io  prevailing  conceptions.  If  equality 
then  must  be  conceded  to  all  classes  in  spiritual  concerns,  it 
must  be  conceded  in  matters  temporal  too.  We  can  no  longer  lay 
down  arbitrarily  that  certain  occupations  are  open  to  a  certain 
caste  and  others  to  other  castes.  Each  person's  aptitude  and 
opportunity  are  the  only  determining  factors  in  the  choice  of 
occupation.  The  great  principle  of  social  relation  in  these  days 
is  a  perfect  equality  of  footing  to  all.  The  history  of  the  modern 
world  is  mostly  the  history  of  the  struggle  against  a  monopoly 
of  power  and  prestige  in  certain  classes  ;  the  privileged  classes 
having  been  deprived  of  their  privileges,  the  masses  are  emanci- 
pated and  elevated,  bringing  together  all  members  of  the  com- 
munity on  a  footing  of  equality  and  removing  nil  obstacles  placed 
by  society  or  the  State  before  individuals  in  the  rivalry  of  life. 
Thanks  to  the  Pax  firitannica,  the  tyranny  of  caste  is  being 
broken  down,  find  theoretically  at  all  events  the  Pariah  and  the 
Brahmin  can  compete  together  in  life  with  equal  freedom.  No 
Indian  is  now  handicapped  for  the  accident  of  his  birth* 

THE  L'OWER  OF  CUSTOM  AS  A  STANDARD  OF  CONDUCT  SHOULD 
UK   WEAKENED. 

Caste,  as  the  basis  of  society,  and  custom  as  the  regulating 
force  of  its  activity,  are  not  a  healthy  combination,  It  is  wonder- 
ful how  amongst  us  custom  has  usurped  the  place  of  reason, 
sentiment,  and  religion  itself,  as  a  standard  of  right  and  wrong. 
In  our  social  relations  it  is  recognised  as  a  dominant  motive  of 
action.  In  every  society  custom  is  no  doubt  more  or  less  powerful. 
In  the  nnme  of  fashion,  of  public  opinion,  or  of  social  convention, 
it  plays  the  tyrant,  The  Englishman  is  a  slave  of  it  in  certain 
spheres  of  action  as  the  Hindu  ;  but  the  Hindu  is  a  more  craven 
slave  than  any  other  civilised  race.  The  difference  is  one 
of  degree,  bat  in  this  world  all  differences  between  right  and 
wroug,  good  and  bad,  or  between  opposites  of  any  kind,  are 
ultimately  of  degree.  At  all  events  they  are  practically  so. 
When  therefore  a  conservative  Hindu  justifies  or  defends  the 
intolerable  tyranny  of  r;uatom  by  referring  to  a  similar  state  in 
other  countries,  his  reasoning  is  specious.  Nobody  says  Eng- 
lish society  or  any  other  society  is  perfect,  and  reformers  there 
too  are  irritated  at  the  obstruction  of  custom.  It  ia  in4ee4  enT 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  853 

titled  to  regard  in  certain  comparatively  unimportant  spheres 
of  conduct.  In  dress,  in  forms  of  civility,  in  Ynere  ceremonies, 
and  in  conventions  generally,  the  sway  of  custom  is  innocuous. 
Beyond  these  limits  that  sway  should  not  be  allowed  to  trespass. 
On  the  other  hand,  when  its  influence  intrudes  into  relations 
which,  underlie  the  elevation  and  refinement  of  human  nature 
and  when  it  obstructs  the  healthy  play  of  sentiment  or  the 
application  of  reason,  it  becomes  mischievous.  1  shall  illustrate 
what  I  mean.  The  Hindus  have  their  own  dress,  their  own 
forms  of  courtesy,  their  own  domestic  and  social  ceremonies. 
Whether  these  are  altered  or  whether  they  remain  the  same, 
matters  little,  The  power  of  custom  in  these  and  kindred  mat- 
ters is  tolerable.  But  when  it  claims  control  over  actions  con- 
cerning the  health  and  happiness  of  individuals  aud  of  the  well- 
being  of  the  community  as  a  whole,  it  transcends  its  limits  and 
should  be  checked.  In  the  great  question  of  the  re-marriage  of 
widows,  for  instance,  our  people  admit  the  hardship  of  life-long 
widowhood  and  they  also  admit  the  scriptural  sanction  for  re- 
marriage. They  admit  too  the  expediency,  from  a  worldly 
point  of  view,  of  reform.  Parents  are  not  callous  to  the  claims 
of  their  widowed  child  on  their  affection  ;  the  widow's  suffer- 
ing, her  privation,  her  disfigurement  and  her  unhappy  lot 
generally,  often  break  their  heart.  Instances  of  parents  who 
take  their  unfortunate  child's  lot  so  much  to  heart  that  they 
themselves  vow  life-long  abstinence,  are  not  unknown.  They 
feel  that  the  young  widow  might  be  misled;  and  after  their  own 
lives,  she  will  be  utterly  helpless.  Yet,  all  these  considerations, 
pressing  so  strongly  in  favour  of  the  one  stpp  that  will  make 
themselves  and  their  child  happy,  are  set  aside,  merely  because 
CusTOM;is  opposed  to  it.  Religion  is  not  against  it,  morality  is 
not  against  it,  nor  expediency,  nor  even  the  general  feeling  of 
the  caste.  But  Custom  overrides  all,  and  holds  both  reason 
and  sentiment  captive.  Similarly  in  regard  to  marriage,  it  is 
Custom  that  limits  the  field  of  choice  to  the  caste  to  which  the 
boy  or  the  girl  may  belong.  The  Shastras  recognize  only  four 
castes,  but  these  four  have  now  become  forty  thousand,  a  caate, 
in  some  instances,  consisting  of  but  a  few  families.  Yet  the 
alliance  must  be  formed  within  the  limits  of  that  caste,  aud 
45 


354  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

the  result  is,  marriage  at  an  excessively  tender  age  and  at  a 
ruinous  cost.  These  two  evils  would  be  greatly  avoided  if 
marital  relations  were  allowed  within  a  wider  field.  As  a  fact, 
however,  a  Hindu  parent  will  rather  marry  his  young  daughter 
to  an  invalid,  to  a  very  old  man,  to  a  man  without  any 
means  of  livelihood,  than  rnarry  her  to  a  boy  of  a  different 
caste  whatever  may  be  his  recommendations.  Many  a  young 
girl  and  many  a  young  boy  are  made  unhappy  all  their  life 
in  consequence  of  this  restriction.  Yet  the  only  justification 
of  this  restriction  is  CUSTOM.  There  is  nothing  else  prohibit- 
ing alliance  within  a  wider  area  than  a  single  caste. 
Again,  ask  our  countrymen  the  reason  for  the  restrictions 
on  the  liberty  of  oar  women.  Ask  them  why  the  woman 
should  not  move  about  as  freely  as  the  man,  why  she  should 
not  go  about  with  a  pair  of  shoes  and  an  umbrella,  why  she 
should  not  drive  out  with  her  husband,  why  she  should 
not  extend  her  knowledge  and  refine  her  manners  by  mix- 
ing in  society,  why  she  should  not,  in  fact,  do  so  many  other 
things,  which,  without  offending  the  orthodox  sense  of  proprie- 
ty, she  might  do  to  understand  better  the  world  and  human 
nature  and  make  herself  more  intelligent  and  more  self-reliant. 
The  reason  they  will  give  is  CUSTOM.  The  less  advanced  the  state 
of  Society  is,  the  more  extensivemnd  more  powerful  is  the  sway 
of  this  tyrant.  In  a  primitive  state,  custom  not  only  regulates 
social  conduct,  but  controls  industry  also.  It  fixes  the  wages,  it 
limits  the  market,  and  determines  generally  the  relation  between 
capital  and  labour.  Modern  conditions  have  almost  taken  away 
this  latter  power  from  CUSTOM,  but  they  have  been  powerless  to 
depose  it  as  a  ruling  moral  force. 

CASTE  SHOULD  BE  REPLACED  BY  EQUALITY  AND  CUSTOM 

B7  REASON  AND  SYMPATHY.         * 

Caste,  then,  as  the  basis  of  social  status  should  be  replaced 
by  equality  of  footing  to  all,  and  custom  as  a  motive  of  action 
should  be  replaced  by  reason  and  sympathy.  I  have  already 
said  that  so  far  as  the  State  can  help  in  the  establishment  of 
this  equality  of  footing,  it  is  secure  to  all  classes  of  people. 
But  there  are  a  thousand  corners  and  tarns  into  which  the.  in- 
fluence of  the  State  does  notj  penetrate  and  where  social  deal-* 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPEttS. 

ings  are  subject  to  the  caprice  of  public  opinion  and  individual 
feeling.  In  the  eye  of  the  law,  the  Pariah 'and  the  Brahmin 
are,  DO  doubt,  on  a  footing  of  equality,  but  the  law  cannot  reach 
the  trifles  as  well  as  the  important  transactions  of  life,  and  it  is 
quite  open  to  the  landlord,  the  money-lender  and  the  high  caste 
man,  to  oppress  the  Pariah  in  countless  ways.  Caste  breeds 
pride  and  selfishness,  and  the  man  of  the  higher  caste  thinks  it 
his  privilege  to  despise  the  man  of  the  lower  caste.  Every 
endeavour  should  bo  made  to  break  down  this  spirit,  although 
the  less  essential  and  the  more  extraneous  forms  of  caste  may 
linger.  The  position  of  CUSTOM  being  taken  by  reason  and 
sympathy,  or  rather  by  sympathy  tempered  by  reason,  our 
social  relations  will  be  less  stereotyped,  and  more  in  accord 
with  the  fresh  knowledge  and  experience  we  acquire  every  day 
in  consequence  of  a  freer  and  quicker  intercourse  among  the 
communities  of  the  world.  Sympathy  is  the  first  impulse  to 
action,  while  its  form  in  practical  effect  is  determined  by  reason. 
Then  the  incongruity  we  perceive,  in  the  light  of  modern 
knowledge,  between  the  ideal  and  the  existing  state,  will  press 
on  ns  with  greater  force  until  the  desired  transition  from  the 
old  and  less  rational,  to  the  new  and  the  more  rational  order, 
takes  place.  Mr.  Leoky  well  observes  :  "  An  impartial  exa- 
mination of  great  transitions  of  opinion  will  show  that  they 
have  usually  been  effected  not  by  the  force  of  direct  arguments, 
not  by  such  reasons  as  those  which  are  alleged  by  controver- 
sialists and  recorded  in  creeds,  but  by  a  sense  of  the  incongruity 
or  discordance  of  the  old  doctrines  with  other  parts  of  our 
knowledge."  It  is  the  duty  of  all  interested  in  our  social  well- 
being  to  bring  home  to  the  popular  mind  with  an  ever-increas- 
ing pressure  this  sense  of  incongruity,  which  will  then  raise  a 
general  revolt  against  the  sovereignty  of  the  ruling  twins — 
caste  and  custom. 

ELEVATION   OF   WOMEN, 

If  the  victory  of  the  social  feeling  over  self-love  is  the  key 
to  the  regeneration  of  social  existence,  if  a  moral  transforma- 
tion must  precede  any  real  advance,  and  if  a  pressing  sense  of 
incongruity  must  bring  on  transition,  then  this  victory,  this 
transformation  and  this  pressure  should  be  manifest  in  the 


356  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

family  before  they  can  assert  themselves  outside.  The  claim 
of  woman  to  a  higher  status  should  be  recognised.  It  is  self- 
love,  narrow  sympathy,  and  a  low  standard  of  conduct  that 
constitute  tlie  cause  of  the  subordination  of  woman  to  man.  The 
Hindu  conception  of  society,  though  fairly  cognizant  of  the  res- 
pect due  to  woman,  does  not  provide  for  the  growth  of  her  status 
into  equality  with  man.  Even  in  Europe  the  equality  of  the 
two  sexeLS  ia  a  modern  idea,  though  there  is  a  far  nearer 
approach  to  it  there  than  iti  this  country.  Our  joint  family 
system  is  not  favourable  to  that  undisputed  sovereignty  which 
she  has  a  right  to  wield  in  the  home,  and  oven  the  freedom 
which  is  hers  theoretically  is  considerably  curtailed.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  in  ancient  and  medieval  periods  the  Hindu  woman 
enjoyed  both  at  home  anil  outside  a  higher  status  and  greater 
freedom  than  she  does  at  present.  The  deterioration  is  chiefly 
the  result  of  the  backward  notions  which  our  Mahomedan  rulers 
brought  with  them,  and  to  the  decay  of  the  Hindu  character 
itself,  The  Mahomedan  rule  has  to  answer  for  many  faults  in 
our  social  arrangements  at  present,  and  among  them  the  selfish 
and  ungenerous  view  taken  of  the  rights  of  the  other  sex  is  not 
the  least  deplorable.  Buddhism  too  contributed  materially,  I 
believe,  to  this  result.  I  do  not  propose  to  go  here  into  a  his- 
torical enquiry  of  the  causes  of  the  present  degraded  condition 
of  our  women,  but  I  may  observe  that  in  the  more  sympathetic 
and  rational  views  we,  Social  Reformers — hold  on  the  posi- 
tion of  women,  we  mostly  reproduce,  to  suit  modern  ideals,  the 
conception  of  our  forefathers.  We  hold  that  the  true  test  of 
civilization  is  the  position  of  women,  and  the  incongruity 
between  our  pretensions  outside  our  home  and  our  practice 
within  it,  should  gradually  lead  to  a  greater  harmony  between 
our  two  lives. 

THE  HINDU  WOMAN  WILL  LOSE  MUCH  OF  HER    DOMESTICITY. 

Much  as  the  family  is  the  sphere  where  the  virtues  of 
womanhood  have  their  chief  scope,  there  is  no  reason  why 
woman  any  more  than  man  should  be  dead  to  all  the  interests 
of  the  world  at  large.  From  the  experience  of  European 
countries  it  is  evident  that  there  is  almost  an  unlimited  scope 
for  the  benevolent  exercise  of  the  peculiar  charm  and  grace 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  357 

with  which  feminine  nature  is  endowed.  What  women  do  in 
the  Western  countries  as  teachers,  nurses,  and  generally  as 
ministering  angels  to  the  poor  and  suffering,  through  a  hundred 
means  and  organizations,  that  the  Indian  woman  too,  can  do. 
As  the  civilization  of  our  country  breaks  away  from  its  old 
moorings  and  proceeds  along  Western  lines,  the  Hindu  woman 
will  cease  to  be  confined,  in  her  interests  as  well  as  movements, 
within  the  walls  of  the  home,  but  will  live  outside  as  well  asp 
within  the  house.  Imagine  wluit  influence  the  joint  family 
system  has  on  the  position  of  women.  Ifc  is  the  feelings  and 
ties  that  this  system  genorat.es  that  procure  to  the  woman  some 
male  guardian  iu  all  her  conditions  arid  stages  of  life.  But  if 
this  joint  family  system  declines  — which  it  must  as  the  result 
of  non-agricultural  occupations  becoming  more  common — she 
will  have  to  depend  on  herself  and  lose  her  extraneous  support 
to  an  incrf-asing  extent.  She  will  of  necessity  learn  self- 
reliance  and  will  be  driverito  support  herself.  In  proportion 
as  this  happens  she  will  iSWWrer  domesticity.  Towards  the 
same  result  will  tend  the  influence  of  Western  training  which 
is  opposed  to  the  seclusion  of  woman,  so  that  we  may  predict 
a  serious  and  radical  change  in  her  future  position. 

HINDU    WOMEN    SHOULD    BE    AWAKENHD   TO   TJIR    W[DER    INTEREST 
OP   THEIR  COUNTRY. 

I  entirely  agree  with  Mrs.  Benson,  the  lady  to  whose  sym- 
pathy and  active  interest  in  our  social  questions  we  are  so 
deeply  indebted,  in  her  opinion  that  the  Indian  as  well  as 
English  women  want  to  be  "  awakened  to  an  intelligent 
interest  in  the  social  problems  concerning  them  and  their  child- 
ren, and  to  the  wider  interests  of  their  country.11  This  is  a 
high  ideal,  and  in  order  that  the  Hindu  woman  may  perform 
the  part  which  it  should  assign  to  her,  phe  should  be  armed 
with  the  necessary  education,  How  do  you  expect  ignorant 
mothers  to  know  their  duties  to  their  children,  realize  their 
awful  responsibility  not  only  for  the  good  breeding  of  their 
children,  but  also,  through  their  children,  for  the  well-being  of 
the  country  at  large,  and  to  perform  these  duties  satisfactorily  p 
Recently,  a  medical  authority  pointed  out  that  because  Indian 
mothers  do  not  know  how  to  feed  their  infants,  a  little  more 


358  IfrDIAN  SOCIAL  tiEFORfa  [PART 

than  one- half  of  all  the  infanta  born  survive  to  enter  on  a 
second, year  of  lito.  Herself  miserably  ill* fed  and  harried  into 
the  solemn  responsibilities  of  maternity  while  yet  a  child,  the 
mother  has  not  to  feed  her  baby  the  food  which  nature  pro- 
vides in  her;  and  resorting  without  knowledge  to  methods  of 
artificial  feeding,  she  kills  the  child  out  of  her  very  tenderness ! 
How  in  a  hundred  other  ways  the  ignorance  of  the  child- mother 
.renders  her  unfit  to  discharge  her  solemn  duties  and  to  bring 
up  children  morally  nnd  physically  healthy,  you  are  all  as 
aware  as  myself.  Outside  the  home,  there  are  a  hundred  ways 
in  which  an  educated  woman  can  serve  her  country.  The  great 
work  of  the  education  of  her  sex  will  alone  occupy  thousands, 
and  what  can  be  more  honourable  or  patriotic  than  the  work  of 
emancipating  them  from  their  condition  of  ignorance  which 
attenuates  their  faculties  and  dims  their  charm  P  As  nurses 
and  physicians,  and  as  inspirers,  if  not  leaders,  of  every 
movement  aiming  at  the  increase  of  human  happiness  or  the 
alleviation  of  human  suffering,  they  can  most  worthily  fulfil 
their  nature.  The  ignorance  and  degradation  to  which  women 
are  subjected  by  the  tyranny  of  man  involve  an  incalculable 
waste  of  beneficent  human  force  which  God  could  not  have 
intended  to  be  so  wasted, 

WOMEN   SHOULD   RECEIVE    THE    HIGHEST   AND   MOST   LIBERAL 
EDUCATION   POSSIBLE. 

In  order  that  woman  may  rise  to  the  full  sublimity  of  her 
nature,  it  is  obviously  absurd  to  train  her  in  an  elementary  and 
in  a  thoroughly  inefficient  and  milk-and-water  system  of  edu- 
cation, which  is  all  that  we  have  in  our  country  and  which  many 
people  think  is  quite  enough.  My  own  opinion  is  that  their 
education  should  be  as  high,  as  scientific  and  as  invigorating  as 
the  education  of  men.  We  recently  heard  a  high  authority 
saying  that  female  education  should  proceed  in  this  country  on 
conservative  national  lines.  What  these  conservative  national 
lines  are,  it  is  difficult  to  say.  But  it  is  obvious  that  in  this 
great  question— as  in  most  others— regard  should  be  bad  more 
to  the  requirements  of  the  future  than  to  the  facts  of  the 
past.  You  do  not  expect  the  educated  Hindu  of  the  future  to 
be  the  same  as  his  educated  ancestor  of  the  medieval  times 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS.  359 

was.  As  the  India  of  the  twentieth  century  will  not  be  the 
flame  as  the  India  of  Asoka's  or  Vikramaditya's  time,  and  aa 
the  social  conditions  and  the  responsibilities  'of  the  citizen  will 
differ  from  those  which  were  known  in  the  times  past,  so  the 
training  and  culture  of  our  future  generations  will  have  to 
differ  from  those  of  our  ancestors.  The  educated  Hindu 
woman,  any  more  than  the  educated  Hindu  man,  cannot  pos- 
sibly adhere  to  the  So-called  conservative  national  lines.  The. 
calls  on  her  energy,  her  sense  of  duty,  and  her  social  virtues  will 
necessarily  differ  and  her  education  should  be  liberal  and  in- 
vigorating enough  to  enable  her  to  meet  the  changed  conditions. 
Nor  is  the  stress  which  timid  people  lay  on  national  continuity 
so  necessary.  There  is  no  fear,  in  these  days,  of  Robespierres  of 
social  revolution.  There  can  be  no  sanguinary  convulsions  or 
forcible  sweeping  away  of  old  institutions  such  as  characterised 
social  transitions  in  times  past.  Persuasion  and  not  force  is  the 
instrument  of  change,  and  though  entirely  new  ideals  and 
thoughts  and  convictions  may  come  to  prevail,  the  actual  tran- 
sition must  be  the  slow  process  of  peaceful  persuasion  by 
example  as  well  as  by  precept.  This  transition  may  be  quicker 
or  slower  according  to  the  besetting  conditions,  but  it  can  be 
no  other  than  peaceful. 

THE  PARAMOUNT  OBJECT  15  TO   DEVELOP    SOCIAL    QUALITIES. 

Let  me  go  back  to  my  central  idea  which  I  want  you  to  keep 
before  your  mind  while  yon  listen  to  me,  the  idea,  that  is,  that 
social  efficiency  or  social  feeling  or  altruism,  as  opposed  to  self- 
love  or  egotism,  is  the  true  test  of  the  progress  of  a  community. 
If  this  standard  is  to  determine  the  education  of  Indian  women, 
you  will  understand  how  the  kind  of  education  advocated  in  some 
quarters  falls  grievously  short  of  the  level  that  has  to  be 
reached.  I  say  nothing  against  the  desire — with  which  I  most 
cordially  sympathise — to  preserve  and  not  to  weaken  by  .a 
wrong  training  in  schools  the  peculiar  graces  of  Hindu  feminine 
nature.  But  I  must  say  that  excessive  stress  on  this  is  apt  to 
become  mere  cnnt.  These  graces,  as  well  as  the  qualities  that 
are  not  reckoned  graces,  are  the  result,  so  far  as  they  do  not 
arise  from  the  physical  and  climatic  condition  of  the  country, 
of  the  babits.and  activities  of  life,  A  well-born  Hindu  woman, 


360  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [PART 

for  instance,  will  not  walk  briskly  in  the  street,  will  not  laugh 
or  talk, aloud,  airl  will  not  show  off  her  dres<*  or  ornaments. 
These  qualities  of  modesty  impart  to  our  women  a  peculiar 
charm.  Bat  it  is  quite  possible  that  altered  conditions  of  life 
may  modify  these  and  other  peculiarities,  as  a  similar  modifica- 
tion is  already  taking  place  in  the  case  of  our  educated  men.  The 
modesty  which  marked  the  bearing  and  demeanour  of  the  late  Sir 
T,  Muthusamy  Iyer  and  for  which  he  used  to  get  a  good  deal  of 
praise,  is  not  the  most  prominent  trait  in  the  character  of  the 
younger  generation,  and  in  other  attributes  too  which  used  to 
be  associated  with  Hindu  character,  a  quiet  and  perceptible 
change  is  taking  place  ;  and  for  that  reason  we  do  nob  mean  to 
demand  a  change  in  the  educational  system  and  a  reversion  to 
the  system  which  trained  the  mind  and  formed  the  character 
of  our  ancestors.  Similarly,  the  education  of  our  daughters 
should  not  be  determined  by  these  comparatively  subordinate 
considerations.  The  paramount  object  is  to  develop  social 
qualities,  and  whatever  education  will  conduce  to  this  end,  that 
on  the  whole  should  be  accepted  as  the  best  education.  Rama- 
yanam,  Mahabharatam  and  S  rim  at  Bhagbavatam  afford  ex- 
cellent training  in  a  way,  but  ihey  cannot  be  the  mental  nourish- 
ment which  God  and  Nature  have  provided  for  the  human  race 
for  all  time  and  under  all  conditions.  Fancy  the  education  of 
the  Teutonic  race  being  placed  altogether  on  the  basis  of  the 
New  Testament  or  the  History  of  the  Saints ! 

PATRIOTISM    AS    A    PHASE    OP   FOCIAL   FEELING. 

I  have  said  that  "  social  efficiency  "  is  the  test  of  progress 
and  that  the  community  that  has  not  developed  a  sufficient 
measure  of  altruism,  social  feeling  or  a  preference  of  the  common 
weal  over  selfish  desires,  lacks  the  vitality  essential  to  sustain 
its  progress.  In  a  word,  wherever  a  sense  of  national  life  is 
absent,  there  the  fatal  grrmg  of  decay  are  at  work.  No  other 
illustration  of  this  principle  is  wanted  than  the  history  of  our 
own  race.  Another  illustration  is  furnished  by  the  downfall  of 
the  Roman  Empire — an  empire  whose  rise  and  fall  seem  to  be 
an  endless  reservoir  from  which  illustrations  for  principles  of 
social  progress  are  drawn.  The  Roman  Empire  fell  to  pieces, 


iv.]  MISCELLANEO  US>  PAPERS.  36 1 

says  the  author  of  "National  Life  and  Character,'1  "  not  because 
its  administrators  were  always  inefficient,  or-its  armies' weak, 
or  its  finances  and  mechanical  resources  inferior  to  those  of  the 
nations  which  overpowered  it,  but  because  there  was  really  no 
sense  of  national  life  in  the  community."  The  author  adds  : 
"  Unless  the  general  feeling  in  a  people  is  to  regard  individual 
existence  and  fortunes  as  of  no  practical  account  in  comparison 
with  the  existence  and  self-respect  of  the  body  politic,  the 
disintegrating  forces  of  time  will  always  be  stronger  in  the  long- 
run  than  any  given  organization,"  Not  that  there  was  no 
organization  which  demanded  and  received  the  homage  of  the 
Hindus;  but  this  organization  was  not  the  State  or  the  com- 
munity  as  a  whole;  but  it  was  the  caste;  and  the  caste  feeling 
together  with  the  system  of  village  communities  confined  the 
sympathy  and  activity  of  the  people  within  extremely  narrow 
limits.  They  never  allowed  a  national  feeling  to  grow.  In  fact, 
the  very  conception  of  a  Nation,  a  State,  a  Commonwealth,  was 
wanting. 
TlIE  MOMENTUM  MUST  COMR  FliOM  THE  EXAMPLE  OF  INDIVIDUALS. 

Thus,  according  as  such  of  our  social  institutions  and 
customs  as  hinder  the  growth  of  what  I  have  called,  (borrow- 
ing the  expression  from  Mr.  Benjamin  Kidd — the  author  of 
"  Social  Evolution"),  "Social  Efficiency" — in  other  words  a 
spirit  of  altruism,  social  feeling,  or  a  sense  of  national  life,  are 
modified  or  adapted,  according  as  an  equality  of  footing  is  made 
secure  to  all  classes  in  the  competition  for  life,  according  as 
the  women  of  the  country  are  educated  and  enjoy  freedom  of 
thought  and  movement,  and  according  as  the  people  are  per- 
meated with  this  sense  of  national  life,  social  progress  would 
be  made  under  favourable  conditions.  But  the  ground  may  be 
cleared,  the  conditions  may  be  favourable,  the  fulcrum  and  the 
lever  may  be  sound  and  in  their  proper  place,  yet  the  momen- 
tum to  lift  the  lever  up  may  be  wanting.  And  this  momentum 
must  come  from  the  example  of  individuals — individuals  such  as 
those  that  have  from  time  to  time  in  the  past  history  of  the 
race  moulded  its  destiny.  Statesmen,  poets,  men  of  science, 
inventors  of  mechanical  contrivances — all  these  no  doubt 
contribute  to  progress,  but  they  can  help  progress  and  turn  its 
46 


362  INDIAN-  SOCIAL  EEFOEN.  [PABT 

direction  in  its  advance,  but  cannot  impart  the  initial  moving 
force,  Which  cornea  from  those  great  men  who  by  the  power  of 
their  lofty  character  and  sublime  deeds  and  the  burning  enthu- 
siasm they  impart  to  masses  of  men,  sweep  away  abuse  and 
falsehood,  stamp  out  superstitions,  open  new  paths  and  estab- 
lish fresh,  ideals  for  the  elevation  and  advancement  of  the 
human  race1. 

A  HIGH    AVKRAGE  OF  SOCIAF,  FICKF.INCJ  HULL'S  TIIESR  C1IIEAT  MEN. 

Hut  this  initial  moving  force  may  come  from  humble 
individuals  and  operate  within  a  limitefl  .sphere  as  well  as  from 
those  rare  geniuses  or  heroes  whose  spirit  sweeps  over  a  whole 
country  or  continent.  As  Mr.  John  JVJorley  says,  "  what  we 
see  every  day  with  increasing-  clearness  is  that  not  only  the 
well- being  of  the  man}',  but  the  chances  of  exceptional  genius, 
moral  or  intellectual,  in  the  gifted  few,  are  highest  in  a  society 
where  the  average  interest,  curiosity,  capacity,  are  all  highest.'1 
The  humblest  individual  can  therefore  come  to  the  help  of  tho 
genius  and  can  contribute  to  the  gradual  raising  of  the  average 
standard  of  national  sense  in  the  community.  The  humblest 
of  us  can  by  diligently  using  our  own  minds  and  diligently 
seeking  to  extend  our  own  opportunities  to  others,  help  to  swell 
the  common  tide,  on  the  force  and  the  set  of  whose  currents  de- 
pends the  prosperous  voyaging  of  humanity. 

TWO   POWERFUL  AGENCIES — THE    STATE   AND   THE    CHURCH. 

Two  powerful  agencies  that  have  done  n-  great  deal  to 
advance  social  well-being  in  other  countries  are  not  available 
to  our  cause  in  this  country,  namely,  the  State  and  the  Church. 
Here  the  State  represents  an  alien  power,  which  is  not  well- 
informed  on  Hindu  Social  questions  and  which  lacks  that 
propelling  force  which  the  wieldcrs  of  that  power  would  come 
under  if  they  were  of  the  people,  and  if  they  shared  directly  in 
the  consequences  of  our  social  evils  and  in  the  adverse  feeling 
and  sense  of  incongruity  they  cieale,  Where  the  ruling  power 
is  in  the  hands  of  our  countrymen  such  as  it  is  in  Native  Princi- 
palities, you  see  how  it  has  been  possible  to  move  in  the  direc- 
tion of  reform  ;  and  if  only  the  British  rulers  of  InoUa  would 


iv.]  MISCELLANEOUS  PAPERS,  363 

realize  their  responsibilities  as  Hindu  statesmen  do,  and  if 
they  arc  less  timid  in  facing  othodox  opposition,  a  great'  acces- 
sion of  strength  would  accrue  to  forces  of  reform.  In  regard 
to  the  Ch arch  also,  we  arc  at  n  great  disadvantage.  There 
is  nothing  amongst  us  corresponding  to  the  great  and  powerful 
institution  culled  the  Church  in  Christian  countries.  Our  fore- 
fathers never  thought  of  giving  to  their  religion  the  strength  of 
an  organized  institution,  and  I  mast  say  that  the  Hindu  religion, 
in  its  present  degradation  and  weakness,  IMS  paid  a  frightfdl 
penalty  for  this  neglect.  Our  Mathuthipathies  and  priests  are 
themselves  corrupt  and  sunk  in  ignorance  and  superstition.  If 
anything,  they  constitute  a  force  hostile  to  rational  and  healthy 
reform.  Fancy  the  groat  Saiikarachari  Swami  of  Sringeri, 
disregarding  the  secession  of  disciples  from  whom  he  derives 
his  temporal  affluence  and  spiritual  status,  placing  himself  at 
the  head  of  the  party  of  reform  and  while  denouncing  the  evils 
grossly  revolting  to  humanity  and  common  sense,  openly  advo- 
cating the  changes  that  a  true  insight  into  the  present  and 
future  needs  of  the  country  and  a  genuine  and  enlightened 
patriotism  demand  ;  how  easily,  then,  will  the  devoted  band  of 
reformers  crush  opposition  and  win  victories !  I3ut  this  is  not 
to  be.  Cannot  the  Reformers  instul  Swarni  Vivekananda  or 
some  spiritual  hero  like  him  into  a  reform  Saukarachari  as  there 
was  a  second  Pope  for  sometime  in  Europe! 


Appendix. 


Summary  of  Resolutions  passed  at  the  various 

Sessions  of  the  Indian  National  Social 

Conference. 

[When  the  Indian  .National  Congress  was  founded  at  Bombay 
in  1885,  it  was  felt  by  the  leaders  of  the,  movement  and  borne  of  our 
English  and  other  friends  t.hat  the  national  movement  should  not  be 
exclusively  political,  but  that  side  by  side  with  the  consideration 
of  political  questions,  questions  allcct-ing  our  social  economy  should 
also  bs  discussed  and  that  the  best  endeavours  should  be  put  forth 
for  ameliorating  the  existing  condition  of  our  society.  With  this 
view,  Dewan  Bahadur  R.  Raghimathu,  .Rao  and  Mr.  Justice  (then 
Rao  Bahadur)  M.  G.  Ranadc  delivered  addresses  on  Social  Reform 
on  the  occasion  of  the  meeting  of  the  L^irst  Congress  at  Bombay. 
In  1886,  at  Calcutta,  nothing  unfortunately  was  done.  Discussion, 
however,  was  going  on  among  the  leaders  of  tlic  Congress  move- 
ment and  other  leaders  of  educated  Indian  thought  and  opinion 
whether  the  Congress  itself  as  such  should  concern  itself  with  social 
questions  or  whether  a  separate  movement  should  be  started  for 
the  discussion  of  social  questions.  There  were  several  very  weighty 
considerations,  dwelt  upon  by  Messrs.  Dadablmi  Naoroji,  Budruddin 
Tyabji  and  W.  C.  Bonnerjee  in  their  Presidential  Addresses  at 
the  Second,  Third  and  Eighth  Congresses,  why  the  Congress  should 
riot  directly  concern  itself  with  the  discussion  of  social  subjects.  So 
it  was  at  last  resolved  after  mature  deliberation  by,  among  others, 
Dcwan  Bahadur  R,  Raghunatha  Kao,  Mr.  Mahadeo  Govind  Ranade, 
Mr.  Norendro  Nath  Sen  arid  Mr,  Janakinath  Ghosal,  that  a 
separate  movement  called  the  Indian  National  Social  Conference, 
should  be  started  for  the  consideration  of  subjects  relating  to  our 
social  economy.  Dewan  Bahadur  11.  Raghunatha  Rao  may  be  styled 
the  father  of  this  movement  and  Mr.  Ranade  its  wet-nurse.  Madras 
bad  the  honour  of  being  the  birth-place  of  the  Conference,  for 
the  First  Indian  National  Social  Conference  was  held  at  Madras  in 
December  1887,  with  no  less  a  man  than  the  late  Rajah  Sir  T. 
Madhavarao,  K. C.S.I.,  the  premier  Indian  statesman  of  this  cen- 
tury, as  the  President,  The  work  done  at  this  First  Conference, 
however,  was  not  much,  "  Among  other  important  resolutions  it 
was  agreed  by  the  members  then  present,  that  this  meeting  recognised 
the  necessity  of  holding  Annual  National  Conferences  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  India  for  considering  and  adopting  measures  necessary 
for  the  improvement  of  the  status  of  our  society,  and  of  our  social 
usages  ;  that  steps  should  be  taken  to  organise  and  establish  Pro- 
vincial Sub-Committees  of  the  Conference  ;  that  among  other 


366  APPENDIX. 

social  subjects  which  the  Conference  might  take  up,  those  relating 
to  the  disabilities  attendant  on  distant  sea-voyages,  the  ruinous  ex- 
penses ,oE  murriage,  the  limitations  of  age  below  which  marriages 
should  not  take  place,  the  remarriages  of  youthful  widows,  the  evils 
of  the  re-marriages  of  old  men  with  young  girls,  the  forois  and  evi- 
dehces  of  marriages,  and  inter-marriages  between  sub-divisions  of 
the  same  caste— should  form  the  subjects  for  discussion  and  deter- 
mination ;  that  the  fundamental  principles,  implied  in  the  pledge 
of  the  membership  of  each  of  the  Sub-Committees,  should  be 
binding  upon  the  members  under  the  penalties  agreed  upon  by 
the  members  of  such  Sub-Committees ;  and  that  these  princi- 
ples should  bo  carried  out  and  enforced  as  regards  the  mem- 
bers who  might  agree  to  he  bound  byauch  penalties,  (1)  by  the  Sub- 
committees themselves,  or  (2)  through  their  spiritual  heads, 
whenever  it  was  possible  to  do  KO,  or  (o)  through  Civil  Courts,  or 
failing  all,  (4-)  by  application  to  Government  for  enabling  the  Commit- 
tees to  enforce  the  rules  in  respect  of  their  own  pledged  members.'1 
Rajah  Sir  T.  Madhavaran,  K. C.S.I.,  was  elected  President,  Rao 
Bahadur  M.  G.  Riinade,.  C.I.E.,  Vice-President,  and  Dowan  Baha- 
dur R,  Raghunathn  Rao,  Genei-al  Secretary  of  the  Conference. 
From  that  time  the  Conference  lias  been  held  every  year  in  the 
Congress  panddl,  except  when  the  Congress  met  at  Poona  in  189-5. 
In  that  year  some  reactionaries  succeeded  in  dislodging  the  Con- 
ference from  its  proper  habitat,  the  Congress  pandal.  Bub  since 
1896  again,  the  Conference  has  been  held  in  the  Congress  pandal 
itself.  Dewan  Bahadur  R.  Raghunatha  Rao  of  Madras  is  the  General 
Secretary  of  the  Conference  ;  and  the  Hon'blc  Mr.  Justice  M.  G-. 
Ranade,  C.I.K.,  of  Bombay,  Babu  Norcnclro  Niith  Sen  of  Cal- 
cutta, Rai  Bahadur  Lala  Baij  Nath  of  the  N.-W,  P.  and  Oudh, 
Professor  Lala  Kuchiram  of  the  Punjab,  and  Mr,  Dayaram  Gridu- 
mal  of  Sindh,  are  the  Joint  General  Secretaries.  Thirteen  sessions 
of  the  Conference  hud  been  held;  and  the  fourteenth  met  at 
Lahore  lust  year, 

The  following  will  show   the  places   where  the  Conference  mcD 
and  the  names  of  the  Presidents  of  the  Conference : — 

No.  YEAH.  PLACE  OF  MEETING  NAME  OF   PRESIDENT, 

1  1887  Madras  Rajah  Sir  T.  Madhava  Rao.K.  C.  S.  I. 

2  1888  Allahabad  Rai  Bahadur  A,  Sabhapathi  Mudaliar, 

3  1889  Bombay  Mr,  Justice  K.  T.  Telang,  C.  1.  E. 

4  1890  Calcutta  Dr.  Mahendra  Lai  Sircar,  LL.D.,  C.T.E. 

5  1891  Nagpur  Mr.  Ganesh  Sri  Krishna  Khaparde. 

6  1892  Allahabad  Rai  Bahadur  Ram  Kali  Chaudhuri. 

7  189tf  Lahore  Dewan  Narendra  Nath. 

8  1894  Madras  Sir  S.  Subramania  Iyer,  K.  C.  I.  E. 

9  1895  Poona  Dr.R.G.  Bhandarkar,  PH.  D..C.I.E. 

10  1896  Calcutta  Babu  Norendro  Nath  Sen. 

11  1897  Amraoti  Rao  Bahadur  W.  M.  Kolhatkar. 

12  1898  Madras  Rao  Bahadur  K.ViresalingamPautulu, 

13  1899  Lucknow  Rai  Bahadur  Lala  Baij  Nath, 


APPENDIX.  367 

The  following  subjects  were  discussed  at  the  Conference :— 
Affiliation  of  Social  Reform  Associations  to  th"e  Social  Confer- 
ence, Methods  of  Social  Reform,  Recommendations  for  carrying  out 
the  aims  and  objects  of  the  Conference.  Age  of  Consent,  Registra- 
tion of  Social  Reform  Associations  Widow  Marriage  Act,  Dis- 
figurement of  Child  Widows,  Child  Murringp,  Work  of  Social 
Reform  Associations,  Restitution  of  Conjugal  Rights,  Sea  Voyages, 
Ill-assorted  Marriages,  Social  Reform  Fund,  /S'liZferi  or  exacting 
money  in  consideration  of  the  gift  of  girls  in  marriage,  Polygamy 
a,nd  Kniinism,  Rehitions  between  Hindus  and  Mahometans, 
Curtailment  of  Expenses  on  niarriagc  and  other  ceremonials,  ' 
Female  Education,  Fusion  of  Sub-castes,  Organising  Social 
Reform  Associations,  Anti-Nautcli  arid  Purity  Movement,  Temper- 
ance, Intercourse  with  Foreign-travelled  Men,  Amendment  of  Act 
XXI  of  1850,  Sinpa  Kyi-tern,  Rp-marringn  of  Widows,  Purity  of 
Private  Life  of  Public  Alen,  Re-admission  of  Converts  to  Hindu 
Society,  Religions.  Endowments,  Religious  and  Moral  Education, 
Elevation  of  Low  Castes,  Charity,  (ruins  of  Leaining,  Contagions 
Diseases  Act,  Consent  of  Widows  and  unmuiricd  (Jjirls  between  the 
ages  of  12  and  10  to  personal  dishonour  at  the  hands  of  strangers, 
Working  of  the  Mysore  Marriage  Law,  Tnfant  Marriage  Bills,  Mala- 
bar Marriage  Law,  Badahior  Exchange  Marriage,  Physique  of  Boys.] 
We  give  below  one  resolution  on  each  of  the  above  subjects,  the 
same  being  in  our  opinion  the  best-worded  and  most  comprehensive 
of  all  resolutions  that  were  adopted  at  the  several  sessions  of  the 
Conference. 

1.  That  the  various  Social  Reform  Associations,  Sabhas  and  Caste 
Unions,  which  may  already  be  existing  or  may  hereafter  be   formed 
in  any  part  of    India,  be  asked  to    afliliate    themselves    to,    and  co- 
operate with  this  Conference,  so  far  as  their  aims  and  objects   are  in 
common  with  ihe  latter,  to  send  it    copies  of  their  proceedings    and 
reports,  and  to  nominate   delegates  to  take  part  in  its  annual    meet- 
ings.    (Res.  Ill,  Second  Conference,  Allahabad,  1888.J 

2.  That  this  Conference  recommends  the  following    methods  of 
operation,  leaving  it  to  each  provincial  or  local  association,  to  adapt 
them  to  its  own  local  circumstances: — (a)  Formation  of  asocial  re- 
form fund;     (b)  Employment  of  preachers,     (c)  Periodical    lectures 
on  social  reform,     (d)  Formation  of  local  or  caste  associations.       (e) 
Publication  and    distribution  of  pocial    reform    literature,    both  in 
English  and  the  Vernacular,    (fj  Registration  of  Associations  under 
Sec.  26  of  the  Companies'  Act  VI  of  1882.     (<j)  Pledges  by  members 
aguinbt  marrying  their  male  or  female  relations  below  a  certain  age, 
as  well  as  for  educating  all  their  female  relations  to  the  best  of  their 
ability,  and  in  case  of  breach  to  pay  a  prescribed  penalty,  (lies.    IV, 
Second  Conference,  'Allahabad,  1888), 

iJ.  That  this  Conference  makes  the  following  recommendations 
for  carrying  out  its  aims  and  object?,  leaving  it  to  each  local 
association  to  adopt  such  uf  them,  as  may  be  suited  to  its  circum. 
stances: — (1)  Reduction  of  birth,  marriage,  death  and  other  expen- 
ses, and  prescription  of  scales  for  persons  of  various  means,  as  well 
as  for  presents  made  by  a  bribe's  fanryly  to  that  of  a  bridegroom.  (2) 


368  APPENDIX. 

The  gradual  raising  of  the  marriageable  age  to  the  standard  fixed  by 
the Rujput  chiefs. '(o)  The  remarriage  of  child-widows.  (4J  Removal 
of  social  disabilities  attending  sea-voyages  to  foreign  countries.  (5) 
Prevention  of  disfigurement  of  child-widows  prevailing  in  certain 
parts  of  India,  (ti)  Intermarriage  between  those  sections  of  a  cnste 
which  dine  together.  (7?es.  V,  Second  Conference,  Allaluibad>  1888.) 

4.  That  in  the  opinion  of  Ibis  Conference,  the    distinction  made 
by  the  Penal  Code,  between    the   general  age  of   consent  (12  years) 
laid  down  in  Section  90  and  the  spec-mi  age    prescribed  in    Clause  5 
and  the  exception  in  Section  1575,  is  both    unnecessary   and   indefen- 
sible, and  that  with  a  view  to  prevent  early  completion  of  marriages, 
which  leads  to  the  impairment  of  physical   health  of  both   husband 
and  wife,  and  to  the  growth  ol'  a  weakly  progeny,  cohabitation  before 
the  wife  is  12  years  old  should  be  punishable  as   a   criminal   alienee, 
and  that  every  effort  should  be  made  by  awakening  public  conscience 
to  the  grave  dangers  incurred  to   postpone    the   completion  of  mar- 
ringe  till  the  ago  of  14  at  least,  as  being  ir,    accordance  with  the  dic- 
tates of  our  ancient  medical  works   and   modern  science,    and  count- 
tenanced  by  the  approved    sentiment    and   practice    of   the  country 
that  every  member,  joining  any   of    the  Social  Reform  Associations 
connected  will  this  Conference  .should    be   nsked   to    pledge  himself, 
not  to  complete  in  his    own  case  or    in  the   case  of  his  children,  who 
are  minors,  any  marriages  before  the  bride  completes  her  lith  year 
(Res.  /,  Third  'Conference,  JJomlay,  1889,) 

5.  That  the  Conference  considers  it  expedient  that  Act  XXI  of 
1860,  under  which    benevolent   arid  educational  Associations  can  be 
registered,  should  be  made  applicable  to  Social  Reform  Associations ; 
that  Section  26  of  Act  VI  ot    188:2,    under  which   Associations   nob 
formed  for  profit  can  be  licenced  by  Local    Governments   and  regis- 
tered, should  be  so   amended    as   to  empower  such  Governments    to 
exempt  wuch  Associations  from  any  obligation  imposed  by   the   Act 
upon  Mercantile  Companies  ;  that  under  the  same  Act  no  fees  should 
be  exacted  from  Associations  registered  under  Act  XXI  of  1860  ;  and 
that  the  General  Secretary  of  the   Conference  be  empowered  to  send 
a  representation    based  on    this   Resolution    lo   the   Government  of 
India  in  the  Legislative  Department   for   their  consideration.     (Ees. 
VIII,  Sixth  Conference.  Allahabad,  1892.) 

[The  General  Secretary  mudo  n.  representation  to  Government 
accordingly.  For  partic.nlars,  vitle  RCP.  IX.  of  the  7th  Conference 
and  Res.  Ill  of  the  Hth  Conference.! 

0.  That  the  experience  of  the  last  10  years'  working  of  the 
Widow  Marriage  Act  of  180(i  has,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Conference, 
established  the  fact  tlmtthoAct  fails  to  secure  to  the  remarrying 
widow  the  full  enjoyment  of  her  rights  in  Ihe  following  respects  : — 
First,  that  such  widow  is  made  to  forfeit  her  life-interest  in  her  hus- 
band's immovoablo  property  1'or  doing  a  lawful  act  when  such  for- 
feiture would  not  have  resulted  if  she  had  misconducted  herself; 
secondly,  tlmt  even  in  respect  of  Slridhan  proper,  over  which  her 
power  of  disposal  is  absolute,  there  is  a  general  impression  that  she 
loses  proprietary  rights  over  her  moveables  in  favour  of  hor  bus. 
band's  relations,  who  otherwise  could  not  have  interfered  with  her 


APPENDIX*  369 

free  disposal  of  the  same  ;  thirdly,  in  many  cases,  she  and  her  second 
husband  are  not  onlj'  ex-conimunicated  but  the  rigpht  of  worstiip  in 
public  temples  has  been  denied  to  them,  and  no  relief  has  been  given 
to  them  in  the  Civil  Courts  ;  fourthly,  in  some  parts  of  the  country, 
she  is  subjected  to  disfigurement  before  she  has  arrived  at  the  age 
of  majority  without  any  freedom  being  given  to  her  to  exercise  her 
choice.  In  all  these  respects  tho  law  of  1856'  has  proved  inoperative 
to  protect  her,  and  the  Conference  is  of  opinion  th»t  steps  should  bo 
taken  by  the  Social  Reform  Associations  who  favour  such  reform  to 
adopt  remedies  to  relax  tho  stringency  of  caste  usages,  and  to  secure 
a  reconsideration  of  the  principles  of  the  Act  with  a  view  to  remedy, 
its  defects  (Res.  VII,  Eleventh  Conference,  Ammoti,  1897.) 

7.  That  the  disfigurement  of  child-widows,  before    they  attain 
the  age  of  18  and  oven  after   that   age,    without   the   consent    of  the 
widow  recorded  in  writing  before  a  Pam-h  and  a  Magistrate    be  dis- 
couraged, and  caste  organizations  bo  formed    to    arrange   for  social 
penalties  to  bo  inflicted  on  those  who  aid  in  disfiguring  child-widows 
without  their  consent.     (Res.  VII,  Sixth  Conference^  Allahabad,  1892.) 

8.  That   this  Conference  is    of    opinion   that  the  well-being 
of  the  community  demands  that   the   practice   of  child-marriage  be 
discouraged  by  public  sentiment,  and  that   within  the  sphere  of   the 
various  castes  and  communities,  strenuous   efforts  be  made  to  post- 
pone the  celebration  of  marriage  rites  lill  12  in  the  case    of  girls  and 
18  in  the  case  of  boys,  and    the  consummation  of  the   marriage   till 
after  they  attain  the  age  of   14   and   20,   respectively,   and   that  tho 
members  of  the  various  Social  Reform   Associations  in  the   country 
should  pledge  themselves  to  see  that  these  limits  of  age  are  realised 
in  actual  practice,   and  public   opinion   educated   to  advance   these 
limits  still  higher.     (Res.  II,  Fourth  Conference,  Calcutta,  1890.) 

9.  That  this  Conference  has  heard  with  satisfaction  the  account 
of  the  work  done  in  the  promotion  of  social    reform  by    the  various 
independent  and  affiliated  Associations,  established  in  different  parts 
of  tho  country  and  it  trusts  that  the  good   work  that  has  been  done 
during  the  past  year  will   be  continued   with    Iho  same  earnestness 
during  the  coming  year.     (Res.  I,  Fourth  Conference,  Calcutta,  1890.) 

10.  That  the  Conference  is  of  opinion  that  imprisonment  in  the 
case  of  the  execution  of  decrees  for  the  restitution  of  con jugal  rights, 
even  as  a  last  resort,  should    be    abolished.     (Res.    V,  Fifth  Confer- 
ence, Nagpur,  1891.) 

11.  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  Conference,  it  is   not  desirable 
to  excommunicate  persons  who  undertake    distant   sea-voyages  and 
that  Social  Reform  Associations  be  requested  to  exert  themselves  to 
secure  the  retention  by  such  persons  of  the   social  status  enjoyed  by 
them  in  their  castes,     (Res.  Vt  Fourth  Conference,  Calcutta,  1890.) 

12.  That  in  tho  opinion  of  the  ConfeVcnce  the  practice   of  men 
of  more  than  fifty  years  of  age  marrying  young  girls  below  twelve  is 
opposed  to  tho  spirit  of  the  Shastras,  and  is  extremely  prejudicial  to 
the  interests  of  the  community,   and  that   the  power  of  adoption 
given  by  the  law  leaves  no  excuse  for  such   ill-assorted   marriages, 

47 


370  APPENDIX. 

and  the  Conference  therefore  affirms  the  necessity  of  actively  dis- 
couraging all  ma/ria^es  where  the  difference  of  age  between  the 
parties  exceeds  thirty  years.  (Res.  VIt  Eleventh  Conference,  Am- 
raoti,  1897,) 

13.  For  securing  more  effective  co-operation   of  Social  Reform 
Associations  in  the  work  of  the  Conference,  and  for  advising  and  guid- 
ing local  efforts,  it  is  desirable  in  the  opinion  of  the  Conference,  that 
Provincial  Branch  Committees  be  established  in  each  Province,  with 
special  funds  of  their  own  to  be  devoted  to  the  purpose  of  employing 
preachers  and  publishing  tracts,   collecting    information  regarding 
existing  social  customs  and  the  evils  arising  therefrom,  etc,,  and  thub 
representative  Committees  should  be  formed  to  undertake  the  work 
in  the  course  of  this  year.     The  Province  of  the  Punjab  should  take 
the  lead  in  giving  effect  to  this  Resolution.     (Res.  X,  Seventh   Con- 
ference, Lahore,  1893J 

14.  Having  regard  to  the  conflicting  decisions  of  Indian  Courts 
regarding  the  validity    of  the  custom    of    receiving  money  in  con- 
sideration of  giving  a  girl  in   marriage,   and  to  the  widespread    pre- 
valence of  the  custom,  and    being  convinced  that    such  a    custom  is 
against  the  spirit  of    Hindu  Law,  and  is    immoral  and   injurious  to 
the  interests  of  society,  this   Conference  recommends  all  Social  Re- 
form Associations  to  join  together  in  one  effort  to  denounce  and  dis- 
courage the  said  custom,  and  ensure  that  in  case  moneys  are  receiv- 
ed by  the  father  or  guardian  of  the  girl,  the  same  shall  be  held  as  a 
trust  in  the  interests  of  the  girl,  and  the  trust  duly  enforced.     (Rea- 
T,  Fifth  Conference,  Nagpur,  1891,) 

15.  That  the  Conference  strongly    denounces    the  abuse  of  the 
institution  of    marriage    practised    in    certain  parts    of   India  and 
among  certain  classes  where  men  marry  more  than  one  wife  without 
any  adequate  cause  such  as  is    recognised  by  ancient  law  texts,  and 
recommends  that  all  Social  Reform  Associations  should    discourage 
this  practice  of  polygamy  as  at  once  degrading  and  pernicious  in  its 
consequences,  that  steps    should  be  taken  to   enforce  that    no   such 
second  marriage  takes  place  without   an  adequate    provision  being 
made  for  the  discarded  wife  and  children  if   any ;  the  associations 
should  pledge  their  members    not  to    encourage  such  marriages  by 
their  presence  and  support;  and  that  wherever  Kulinism  prevails, 
the  Reform  Associations   in  those  provinces    should  make    every 
effort  to  educate  public  opinion    in  regard  to  the  evil  consequences 
resulting  therefrom  and   promote  inter-marriage   independently  of 
the  artificial  distinctions  of  Mela,  G-arhs,  and  Parjaya,  (Res.  IX,  Tenth 
Conference,  Calcutta,  1896.) 

16.  The  Conference  regards  with  the  deepest   regret  the  many 
religious  disputes  between  the  lower   classes  of  Hindus  and  Maho- 
metans, which  have  occurred  in  several  parts  of   the   country,  and 
led  to  serious  riots  and  loss  of  life.     Such  disputes  are  fraught  with 
great  danger  to  the  intimate  social  relations  which  should  bind  the 
two  communities  together.     The  Conference   is  of  opinion  that  if 
Punchayets  were  established  with  the  sanction  of  the  authorities,  and 
included  the  leading  representatives  of  the  two  communities,  and  if 


APPENDIX.  371 

these  Puncliayets  exerted  themselves  to  remove  by  anticipation  all 
grounds  for  misunderstanding,  their  efforts  will  toe  attended'  with 
success,  The  Conference  accordingly  recommends  that  these'mixed 
Punchaycts  should  be  nominated  by  the  local  authorities  and  should 
include  the  leading  members  of  the  two  communities,  the  rules 
framed  by  them  with  the  cognizance  of  the  authorities,  should  be  car- 
ried out  and  enforced,  and  the  Punchayet  leaders  should  freely  exerb 
themselves  to  help  the  authorities  in  restoring  peace  and  order  and 
reconciling  both  ths  parties  to  live  amicably  together.  (Res.  VI, 
Fifth  Conference,  Nagpur,  1H91.) 

[The  suggestion  for  the  formation  of  Puncliayets  was  accepted 
by  the  Government  of  the  N.-VV-T.  and  Uudh  ami  Punchnyets  were 
established.  They  worked  very  well.  For  particulars,  vide  Res,  IV 
of  the  7th  Conference  and  Krs.  JX  of  the  Btli  Conference.] 

17.  That  in  the  opinion  of  this    Conference,   ib    is  necessary  to 
curtail  marriage  ami  ceremonial  expenses,  and  the  Conference  recom- 
mends each  community  to  lay  down  fixed   scales   of  such   expenses, 
and  provide  measures  for  the-    enforcement   of   their  rules.     (Rea.  I, 
Sixth  Conference,  Allahabad,  1892.) 

18.  That  in  the  opinion  of  the  Conference  the   permanent  pro- 
gress of  our  society    is    not    possible    without   a    further    spread   of 
female  education  and  that  the  best  way  is  (1)  to   proceed  on  national 
lines    by   employing    in   female  schools,    female   teachers    of   good 
character    and    descended    from   respectable  Hindu    families,    (2) 
to  establish  training  schools  to  secure  a  sufficient  number  of  qualifi- 
ed female  teachers,  (-J)  lo  open  home  classes  for  grown  up  ladies  who 
cannot  attend  regular  schools    with  extra    fcmiiJe    teachers  to  visit 
and  help,  at  stated  interval?,  such  ladies  as   read  at  their  homes,  (4) 
to    employ    a  Pundita    versed    in  (Sanskrit  to    read  passages   from 
1'uranns,  and  impart  religions  and  moral  instruction  Lo  ladies,  (5)  to 
take  steps  to  publish  text  books  suited  to  the  requirements  of  female 
schools,    and    (6)  to  impart  instruction  in    needle    works,  hygiene, 
culinary  art,  domestic  economy,  and  training  of  children   in   secon- 
dary schools.     (Res.  /,  Tenth  Conference,  Calcutta,  1896.) 

19.  The  Conference  re-affirms  the  necessity  of  further  steps  being 
taken  by  societies  for  social  reform  in  all  parts  of  the  country  to  re- 
move  all  hindrances  in  the  wuy  of    inter- dining  of  members  of  the 
different  sub-sections  of    the  same  caste,  and  to  promote  inter-mar- 
riages between  persons  who  can  dine  together  under  existing    rules, 
(Res.  X,  Eighth  Conference,  Madras,  1894.) 

20.  That  this  Conference  earnestly  urges  upon  all  interested  in 
social  reform  the  absolute  necessity   of  organising   Social   Reform 
Committees  in  all  districts,  or  tifc  least  one  buch  Committee  in   each 
Province,  on   the  principle  of  self-sacrifice,    and  employing  at   least 
one  full  time  worker  for  the  purpose  of  educating  public  opinion  on 
the  subject  of  social  reform.     (Res.  X,  Sixth  Conference,  Allahabad, 
1892.) 

21.  The  Conference  records  its  satisfaction  that  the  Anti-nautch 
movement  has  found  such  general  support  in  all  parts  of  India,  and 


372  APPENDIX. 

it  recommends  the  various  Social  Reform  Associations  in  the  coun- 
try to  persevere  in  their  adoption  of  this  self-deny  ing  ordinance, 
and  to 'supplement  ifc  by  pledging  their  members  to  adhere  to  the 
cardinal  principle  of  observing  on  all  occasions,  as  a  religions  duty, 
purity  of  thought,  speech  and  action,  so  as  to  purge  our  society 
generally  of  the  evils  of  low  and  immoral  surroundings.  (Res.  IIlt 
Ninth  Conference,  Poona,  1895), 

22.  That  the  Conference  notes  with  pleasure  that,  thanks  to  the 
noble  efforts  made  by  Mr.  Gaine,  Mr.  Evans  and  his  native  fellow 
workers,  considerable  success  has  attended  the  efforts  of  the  Kayas- 
fcha  Tempeninrc  Society  and  similar  other  c-astc  organizations  for 
the  promotion  of  total  abstinence,  and  ifc  feels  more  than  ever  the 
necessity  of  active  co-operation  between  the  Temperance  movements 
in  India  and  those  in  England  and  America..  The  vice  of  intemper- 
ance is  not  of  ancient  growth  hero  and  is  still  confined  to  minorities : 
and  it  is  in  the  opinion  of  the  Conference  necessary  that  the  majority 
of  total  abstainers  should  exert  themselves  to  popularise  their  views 
and  should  have  the  power  ol'  enforcing  them  by  some  adoption  of 
the  principle  of  local  option  which  cannot  be  secured  without  the 
co-operation  of  the  English  and  American  Temperance  Societies. 
(Res.  Ill,  Tenth  Conference.  Calcutta,  1806.) 

23-  The  Conference  notes  with  satisfaction  that  there  now 
exists  no  difficulty  in  the  admission  of  foreign  travelled  people  among 
the  Khatri  and  Sikh  communities  of  the  Punjab,  and  that  the  ad- 
mission of  similar  people  in  Guzerabh  and  Southern  India  has  been 
secured  during  the  present  year  on  more  easy  conditions  than  were 
possible  some  years  ago.  The  Conference  recommends  these  exam- 
ples to  the  Kayastha  community  in  the  North-West  Provinces, 
where  more  difficulty  has  been  experienced,  and  to  the  Brahmins 
and  other  high  castes  in  .ill  parts  of  the  country,  among  whom  tho 
prejudice  against  foreign  travel  by  sea  is  still  strong.  The  earnest 
co-operation  of  the  caste  and  ecclesiastical  leaders  must  bn  enlisted 
in  this  work,  as  the  final  success  of  all  our  political,  industrial  and 
social  activities  rests  on  this  movement.  (Res.  V,  Ninth  Conference, 
Poona,  1895.) 

24.  That  in  view  of  the  conflict  of  the  preamble  of  Act  XXI  of 
1850  with  its  operative  section   as  construed   by   the   several    High 
Courts  and  the  unsettlemcnt  of  family  peace  in  consequence  of  such 
rulings,  the  Conference  is  of  opinion   that  as  tho   Act   was   not  in- 
tended to  affect  or  alter  the    Mahnmedan  or  Hindu  family   or  per- 
sonal law,  the  Government  of  India  be  moved  to  take  into  its  consi- 
deration the  necessity  of  amending  the  Act,  so  as  to  limit  the  opera- 
tion of  the  word,  '  rights,1  used    in   Sec,  1  of  the   Act  to  '  rights   of 
property1  only,  and  not  to  marital  and  guardianship  rights.    (Rea. 
VIII,  Seventh  Conference,  Lahore,  1893.) 

25.  That  the  Conference  is  of  opinion  that  the  Siapa  system  of 
loud  mourning  and  beating  of  the  chest  which  prevails  in   Sind,  tho 
Punjab,  the  North- West  Provinces,  and  Guzerath  is  a  very  objec- 
tionable and  unreasonable  practice,  and  entails  great  misery  on   the 
mourners,  and  it  recommends  that   Social  Reform   Associations   in 


APPENDJX.  373 

those  parts  of  the  country  should   take  early  steps   to  discontinue 
this  practice.     (Res.  XI,  Seventh  Conference,  Lahore,  1893.)     . 

26.  That,  in  the  opinion  of  the    Confereiicc,   it   is  desirable  not* 
to  discourage  the  remarriage  of  child-widows,  when  their  parents  or 
guardians  wish  to  give  them  in   inurriago   according  to  the  Hindu 
Shastras.  (Res.  X,  Tenth  Conference,  Calcutta,  1896.J 

27.  That,  in  the   opinion   of  the   Conference,  it  is  a  matter  of 
satisfaction  to  find  that  the   educated  classes   require   that  private 
life  ond  morals  of  public  men  should  be  as  pure  and  self-denying  us 
the  proper  discharge  of  their  public  duties  demand,  and  the  Confer- 
ence recommends  that  every  member  of   societios  for   social    reform, 
should  ejideavour  as  far  as  possible  to  realise  the  ideal  professed  by 
him  in  his  private  life.     (Res.  XI,  Eighth   Conference,  Madras,  1894.') 

28.  The  Conference  records  its  satisfaction  that  some  two  hun- 
dred converts  to  other  faiths  were  received  back  into  Hindu  Society 
in  the  Punjab  this  year,  arid  that  stray  instances   of   such   rcadmis- 
sion  have  taken  plnce  in  other  provinces  also.     Hindu   Society   can- 
not afford  to  bo  exclusive  on  this  point  without  danger    to  its  exist- 
ence, nnd  the  Conference  recommends    the   Social   Reform  Associa- 
tions to  interest  themselves  in  the  subject,  with   a   view   to  facilitate 
such  readmissions    in   all  instances  where   ib   is   sincerely    sought. 
(Res.  XT,  Eleventh  Conference,  Amraoti,  1897.) 

29.  The  Conference  understands  that  the  principle   of  the  Bill 
introduced  by  the  Hon'ble  Mr.  Anandacharlu  in  Ilia  Excellency    the 
Viceroy's  Council  is  to  subject  the  trustees,  without  any  violent  dre- 
turbance  of  existing  arrangements  to  an  effective  moral  control  of  the 
respectable  worshippers  of  the   shrines   in  the  neighbourhood.     As 
such  the  Conference  accepts  the  principle  of  the  Bill,  and  would  sug- 
gest that  the  trustees  or  managers  nf  ull  public  endowments  should 
be  bound  by  law  to  publish  full  accounts  of    the   management,   and 
that  the  Temple  Boards  as  suggested  below  should  have  the  power 
of  suspending  defaulting  trustees   or   managers   for  suspected  mis- 
conduct, leaving  to  these  latter   freedom    to    clear  themselves   by   a 
suit  in  the  Civil  Court,  instead  of,  as  now,  requiring  worshippers  to 
bring  such  suits.     In  the  opinion  of  the   Conference,  if    these    mea- 
sures were  adopted,  there  would  be  no  practical  necessity   of  creat- 
ing new  Central   and   District  and     Taluq    Boards.     The   existing 
Local  Fund  District  Boards   and    the    Jurors'  and   Assessors1   Hat, 
would  furnish  a  constituency,  out  of  which  the  new   Temple  Boards 
might  be  selected  according  to  the  respective  creeds   to   which   the 
ehriue  belongs.     (Res.  IV,  Eleventh  Conference,  Amraoti,  1897.) 

30.  That  in  the  opinion  of  the   Conference  it  is  desirable  that 
Bteps  should  be  taken  to  provide  for  religious  and  moral  education 
in  Government  schools    out  of  school   hours,  and  in  private  schools 
during  school  hours,  so   ;is  to   counteract,   to  some  extent,  the  evil 
complained  of  about  the  present  Western    education  which  is  too 
secular  in  character.  (Res.  VUI,  Tenth  Conference,  Calcutta,  1896.) 

31.  That  in  the  opinion  of  the  Conference   the   education  and 
the  social  amelioration  of  the  Pariahs  and  other  out-castes  in  all  parta 


374  APPENDIX. 

of  India  is  a  duty  which  rests  on  all  those  who  have  the  permanent 
good  of  "their  country  at  heart  and  every  effort  should  be  made  to 
raise  these  classes  to  a  position  where  by  education  and  industry 
they  may  rise  above  the  disadvantages  of  their  condition.  (Res., 
XI,  Tenth  Conference,  Calcutta,  1896.) 

32.  That  in  the  opinion  of  the  Conference  the  increase  of  popu- 
lation and  the  growing  poverty   of  the  country  make   it  incumbent 
to  regulate  with  discrimination  the  existing  system  of  public  charity 
BO  as  to  diminish  the  incentives  to    idleness  and  pauperism,  without 
at  the  same  time  creating   indifference  to  cases  of  real  distress:  and 
tlva  Conference    would  recommend  all    Social  Reform  Associations 
which  interest  themselves  in  the  working  of  charity  and  benevolence 
to  concentrate  the   resources   available   for  this  purpose,    and    dis- 
burse them  under  proper  control   to  those  who  stand  in  real  need  of 
such  help,  Rnd  for  such  purposes    as  are  likelj*  to  wean  people  from 
idleness.     (Res.  Ill,  Eleventh  Conference,  Amraoti,  1897.) 

33.  In  reference  to  the  Gains  of  Learning    Bill,  introduced  in 
the  Madras  Legislative  Council  by  the   Honourable  Mr.  Bhashyam 
lyengar,  the  Conference  is  of  opinion    that  the  existing  state  of  the 
law  on  the  subject  is  both  uncertain  and  unsatisfactory,  and  that  a 
declaratory  Act,    giving  a   wider   recognition  to  the  rights  of   the 
earning  members  of  a  family  over  acquisitions   made  by  them  with- 
out the  use  of  family  funds,  except  so  far  ah  these   funds  have  pro- 
vided them  with  subsistence  and    education  benefiting    their  posi- 
tion  in    life,   is    very    desirable    in   the    interests    of    the    social 
emancipation  of  those  who  are  members  of  the  Hindu  Joint  Family 
System.  The  Conference  further  suggests  that  a  compromise  which 
would  divide   such    acquisitions   into  tvro  equal   shares,  one  part  re- 
maining available  as   "joint   property   for  division,   as  afc  present, 
among  the    members  of  the  family,   and  the  other  being  treated  as 
separate  self-acquired  property,  would  tend  to  remove  many  of  the 
objections  urged  against  the  Bill  and  retain  the  solidarity  of  inter- 
est without  producing  any   mischiefs  in   the   way  of  checking  the 
spirit  of  enterprise  which  leads  to  such  self-acquisition.  (Res.  XIII, 
Eleventh  Conference,  Amraoti,  1897.) 

34.  The  Conference  notice?  with  regret    that,  notwithstanding 
the  official   condemnation    pronounced    upon    the  system  once  pre- 
valent of  regulating  the  prevention  of  contagious  diseases  in  large 
towns  and   cantonments,  the    Government   of  India  has  sanctioned 
a  relaxation  of  the  policy  adopted  by  ity  and   has  thus   surrendered 
the  principle  on  which   such  condemnation  was  based.     Th6  natural 
penalties  of  indulgence  in  vice  are  the  only  deterrents  agninst  such 
habits,  and  to  remove  these  natural  restraints  saps  at  the  root  of  all 
real  growth  of  virtue,    The  Conference  therefore  recommends  that 
all  Social   Reform   Associations   should,  in   the   interests  of  female 
purity,  make  common  cause  ii.  this  matter  with  the  agitation  going 
on  in  England.     (Res.  XV,  Eleventh  Conference,  Amraoti,  1897.) 

35.  That  as  the  law  at  present  stands,  there  is  apparently  no 
protection  to  a  widow  or  an  unmarried   girl  above  twelve  or  below 
sixteen  who  is  a  consenting  party  to  an  act  of  personal  dishonour 


APPENDIX.'  .    375 

at  the  hands  of  strangers.  In  the  opinion  of  the  Conference  the 
consent  of  such  a  girl  between  twelve  and  sixteen  should,  afc  in  the 
case  of  kidnapping,  bo  held  to  be  inoperative  to  protect!  the  roan 
who  violates  her  honour.  (Res.  XVI}  Eleventh  Conference,  Awraoti, 
1897.) 

36.  The  Conference  learns  with  satisfaction  that  the  Marriage 
Eegulations  in    Mysore  have   been   worked   by  the  Mysore  Durbar 
with  judicious  mildness  and  with  great  regard  for  the  feelings  of  the 
people  concerned,  as  shown  by  the  small  number  of  prosecutions  and 
convictions.     The   success  which  has   attended  this  legislation  will, 
the  Conference  hopes,  encourage  other  States  to  follow  the  example 
of  Mysore,    (Res.  Ill,  Twelfth  Conference,  Madras,  1898.) 

37.  The  Conference   learns    with  regret  that  the  Government 
of  India  has   refused    to  sanction  the   introduction   of  the   Infant 
Marriage  Prevention  Bills  in  the  Legislative  'Jouncil  of  Madras,  on 
the  ground  that  in  its  opinion   the    measures  proposed  were  in  ad- 
vance of  public  opinion.     As  both  the   Marriage    Bills  were  drafted 
on  the  lines   of   the   Mysore    Marriage   Regulations  and  fixed  the 
minimum  limits  below  the  ages  which  are   now  observed  by  most  of 
the  classes  of  people,   the   Conference  hopes  that,  if  the   fact  were 
properly  placed  before  the  Government,  ib  would  be  satisfied  that  the 
Bills  were   not   open  to  the  objections   taken   to  them.    The  Con- 
ference, therefore,  recommends  that  early  steps  should  be  taken  by 
the   Associations   to  memorialise  Government    with  a  view  that  it 
may  bo  persuaded  to   appoint  u,   commission  of  enquiry  to  ascertain, 
the  advance  made  by  public  opinion  on  this  subject  and   to  advise 
Government   on  the  action   ib  should  take   in  this   matter.     (Res. 
IV,  Twelfth  Conference,  Madras,  1898.) 

38.  This  Conference  notes  with  great  satisfaction  that  although 
Registrations  of  Marriages  under  tho  M.ilabar   Marriage  Law,  h'»ve 
not  been  as  numerous  as  anticipated  at  first,  yet  this  legislation   has 
been  attended  with  the  happiest  results,  inducing  a  healthy  change 
in  the  sentiments  of  the  people  on  the  question  and  that  the  people  of 
Malabar  subject  to  their  own  customary  Law  have  shown  a  decided 
tendency    to  assimilate  their   usages    to  those   of  the  other  Hindu 
communities.     In  the  opinion  of  the  Conference  time  has  now  come, 
when  the  discretion  to  allow  Marriages  to  bo  registered  at  any  time 
might  be  regulated    and    that  further  facilities  be  afforded  for  snch 
registration  by  the  appointment  of  Village  Officers  to  act  as  Marriage 
Registrars  under  the  directions   and  control  of  the  existing  official 
Registrars.     (Rea.  VI,  Twelfth  Conference,  Madras,  1898.) 

39.  The  practice  of  arranging    marriages   on  the  Badala  or 
Golawat    (exchange)    system     prevailing  in  certain  castes   in   the 
N.-W.  P.  and  Oudh  is,  in  the  opinion  o^the  Conference,  fraught  with 
the  degradation  of  the  marriage  tie  to  the  same  extent  as  that  of  the 
sale  of  girls  in  marriage,  and  as    such,  should  be  discouraged  by  all 
means,  by  gradually   enlarging  the  circle  of  sub-castes  eligible  for 
the  choice  of  marriage  alliances.     (Res,  XH,   Thirteenth  Conference, 

,  1899.) 


376  APPENDIX. 

40.  The  Conference  notes  with  satisfaction  that  in  the  North- 
Western  Provinces  ^  and  Oudh,  the  Educational  Department  has 
given  special  attention  to  physical  education  and  encourages  annual 
tournaments  and  the  giving  of  prizes  to  the  boys  of  the  Primary 
and  Secondary  Schools,  as  also  of  Colleges,  with  a  view  to  improve 
the  physique  of  boys.  Such  tournaments  and  prizes,  as  also  the 
establishment  of  Boarding  Schools,  and  the  promotion  of  Brahma- 
charya  are,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Conference  the  only  available  means 
for  improving  the  physical  stamina  of  the  younger  generation,  and 
as  such,  should  engage  the  attention  of  the  He  form  Associations. 
(Res.  XHI,  Thirteenth  Conference,  Lucknoiv,  1899.)  • 


rmie 


ADDENDA. 


The  Inaugural  Address 

OP    TTTE 

( 

LK    Mil.    JUSTICE  M.  (I.   IlANADE. 

Fourteenth  Conference—  Lahore — 1 9OO. 

Vasliistlia  anil  Vishiramitrn. 

About  this  time  last  year  1  had  occasion,  fit  tho  inaugura- 
tion of  the  Conference  held  at  Tmcknow,  to  dilate  on  a  text  of 
Nanak,  in  which  he  proclaimed  himself  to  be  neither  a  Hindu 
nor  aMahomedan.  To-day,  I  find  myself  in  the  extreme  North- 
West corner  of  India,  in  the  land  of  tho  five  rivers,  the  original 
home  of  the  Aryan  settlers,  who  composed  the  Vedic  hymns, 
and  performed  the  great  sacrifices,  We  are  met  to-day  in  the" 
land  of  the  Riahis,  where  Vashistha  and  Vishwarnittra  lived 
and  flourished  at  a  time  when  the  caste  institution  had  not 
taken  its  root  in  our  Indian  soil,  when  men  and  women  enjoyed 
freedom  and  equality,  asceticism  had  not  over-shadowed  the 
land,  and  life  and  its  sweets  were  enjoyed  in  a  spirit  of  joyous 
satisfaction.  Punjab  during1  its  eventful  history  has  well 
deserved  the  compliment  that  it  is  the  land  of  the  RiaLia.  The 
question  then  naturally  arises,  who  were  these  Rishis  ?  What 
-was  the  condition  of  society  when  they  lived  V  What  thoughts 
stirred  them  and  what  actions  ennobled  their  lives  and  their 
struggles  ?  For  most  of  us,  long  habit  has  rendered  it 
impossible  to  imagine  a  state  of  society,  where  men  wore  not 
split  up  into  petty  divisons  of  caste  with  its  artificial  barriers, 
limiting  men's  activities  and  narrowing  their  sympathies.  It  is 
a  revelation  to  many  of  us  to  be  tak«n  back  to  two  or  three 
thousand  years  ago,  to  a  state  of  society  when  class  divisions 
such  as  Brahmins  and  Kshatriyas,  Vaishyas  and  HhudrAs  were 
unknown  or  not  well  established,  and  tho  only  distinction 
48 


378  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

recognized  in  practice  was  between  the  Aryans  and  non-Aryans 
To  illustrate  the  gulf  which   separates  our   own  times  from  the 
days  when  the  Rishis  flourished,  we  need  only  mention  the  fact 
that  the  daughter  of  the  King  of  Yidarbha  was  given  in  marriage 
to   Agastya.     Another   Raja,    by  name    Lorn  a  pad  a,    gave    his 
daughter  in  marriage   to  one  Rishyashringa.     The  king  Trina- 
Jrindu  also  thus  gave  his    daughter  to    Pulasti,   and  Bliagiratha 
gave    his    daughter   to    Kourtsa    Rishi.     The    king     Sharyati's 
daughter  was  given  in  marriage  to  Chyavanya  Rishi.    Instances 
where  the  Brahmins  gave  their  daughters  in  marriage  to  kings 
were    also   not    uncommon.     Thus    Shukracharya's    daughter 
Devayani  was  given  in  marriage  to  Yayati  and  Kritwi  to  Aunha, 
Independently    of   marriage    alliances,    stories   are   told  where 
liishis,  \vlio  were  born   in  royal  houses    or   were  Rajarshia,  be- 
crtme  by  their  sanctity  and  devotion   entitled  to  be  called  Brah- 
marshis.     One  Priyamedha  was  so  elevated,   and  Sliini,  Garga, 
and  Traiyaruni  were  also  so  promoted  to  the  status  of    Brahmar- 
flhis.    AlsoMudgala  and  Gritsamada,  who  wore  before  kings,  be- 
came thus  Brahmins.  The  Brahmins  on  their  side  felt  no  scruple 
in  learning  the  Dhanurveda  or  archery.  Agasti  Muni,  as  is  well 
known,    was   skilled   in    Dhanurveda   and    conquered  the  non- 
Aryan  king  llvala  and  the  Kalnkeyas,  who  were  pirates  or* -the 
sea-coast.     Agtiiveshya  was  also  noted  for  his    skill  in  archery 
and  lie  was  the  teacher  of  Dronacharya,  himself   a  great  Brah- 
min commander  in  the  wars  of  the  Mahabharata.     His  son  Ash- 
watthama  ami  his  brother-in-law  Kripa  were  similarly  renown- 
ed.    Instances  where  Brahmins  caused  the  ruin  of  the  kings  of 
the  day  by  their  curses  are,  no  doubt,  more  frequent  than  those 
where  kings  cursed  the  Brahmins  and  brought  about  their  ruin. 
As  illustrations  of  the  first  class,  we  may  mention  stories  about 
King  Nahusha  and  Ven  Raja.  Nahuaha,  as  is  well  known,  had 
by  reason  of 'his  superior  merits  become  the  occupant  of  Indra's 
throne,    but  he  made  the  Brahmins  carry  him  in  a  palanquin  ; 
and  Agastya  Muni  resented  the   ill-teatment   and  cursed  him 
which  led  to 'his  downfall.     King  Ven  was  similarly  dethroned. 
Similarly 'Vashistha's    curse    against    Sabasrarjuna    enabled 
Parashurama    to    lop    off    his    numerous    hands.     Vashistha 
is  also  mentioned   as   having  cursed   Raja  Kalmashpada,   and 


ADDENDA  ;*79 

Raja  Trislianku  became  Chandala  in  nonse'quQnce  of.  tlje  curse. 
On  the  other  hand  Vasliistha  himself  did  not' escape  m\- 
li armed-  There  is  besides  the  story  of  Ambarislm,  who  was 
persecuted  by  Durvasa  and  in  tho  result  Durvasa  had  to  entreat 
Ambariaha  to  grant  him  pardon  and  withdraw  the  Sqdarahana 
which  perpefcaally  followed  him  and  gave  him  no  rest.  As 
regards  the  women,  numerous  stories  aie  told  of  their  remaining 
unmarried  throughout  their  lives  and  of  their  engaging  them- 
selves in  the  pursuit  of  devotional  exercises  or  in  tho  study  of 
philosophy,  The  story  of  Amba,  who  remained  unmarried  all 
her  life,  is  well  known.  She  wanted  to  marry  with  Shalva,  but 
he  would  not  take  her  and  she  would  not  accept  the  choice  made 
by  Bhishma  for  her.  The  daughter  of  Knnigarga  also  remained 
unmarried  during  life.  Gargivachaknavi,  Vadavapratitheyi 
and  Sulabhamaitreyi — all  these  are  historical  names  of  women 
who  passed  their  lives  in  celehacy  and  engaged  in  discussions 
on  philosophic  subjects  in  the  court  of  Janaka. 

Perhaps  the  most  instructive  of  these  ancient  stories  is  that 
which  is  connected  with  the  rivalry  of  Vashishtha  and  VJshva- 
mitra.  Both  these  names  occur  in  the  Vedic  hymns,  and  though 
their  rivalry  is  noticeable  even  in  these  early  hymns,  they  fur-: 
msb  no  authority  for  tho  legend  which  gathered  round  their 
names  in  the  period  which  succeeded  the  composition  of  the 
hymns.  Vashistha  is  a  great  exponent  of  Brahmin  orthpdoxy. 
The  legends  seek  to  make  out  that  Vishvamitra  was  not  by 
right  a  Brahmarshi.  He  was  only  a  Hajarshi  and  aspired 
to  be  a  Brahmarshi.  Yashistha  would  riot  support  him  in  this 
ambition  and  that  accounted  for  their  strife.  Throughout  the 
story  Viahvamitra  represents  the  view  of  those  who  try  to  admit 
the  non-Aryans  into  the  Aryan  community  and  seek  to  elevate 
them.  The  story  of  Trishanku,  for  instance,  notwithstanding  its 
exaggeration,  has  a  moral  of  its  own.  Vashiatha  had  without 
justice  condemned  Trishanku  to  be  aChand^l  simply  because  he 
aspired  to  go  to  heaven  by  the  force  of  his  merits.  Vishvamitra 
took  up  his  cause  and  performed  the»Yagnya,  because  Trishanku 
bad  saved  his  wife  and  children  during  a  great  famine.  The 
result  was  that  Trishanku  was  accepted  in  heaven  notwith- 
standing the  corse  of  Vashistha.  The  story  of  Shuimshepa, 


HBO  INDIAN  MOGUL  REFORM. 

who  was  the  son  of  u,  Brahmin  and   was  purchased  as  sacrificial 
victim  to  be  offered  to  Varutia  in    the   place   of   the  king's  son, 
who  was  first  promised,  is  also  full  of  the  same  liberality  on  the 
part  of  Viahvamitra,    who    saved   the    Brahmin's    life   by    his 
mediation.     The  result  of  the   conflict   between  Vasishtha  and 
Vishvamitra  was  a  complete   victory    on   the  part  of  the  latter, 
for  Vashishta  admitted  Vishvamitra's    claim  to  be  a   Brahma- 
rshi.     Yashishtha's    line     was    continued     by    his     grandson 
Parashara.  Krishuadwaipayana,  Vaishampayana,  Yajnyavalkya, 
Shukra  Muni,  and    Jaimini    all    belonged    to  the  orthodox  side. 
Vishwamitra's  family  was   connected    by  alliances  with  that  of 
Bhrigu,    Jamadagni    and    Parashar.     The    great  Rishis   who 
colonised  Southern  India   were   undoubtedly  Agastya  and  Atri 
who    with    their    wives    Lopamudra    and   Anusuya    occupy    a 
prominent  place  in    the    atory  of    the  Kamayana-     Fung  Ham  a, 
stopped  in  their   Ashiam,  and  Valmiki's    description   of    these 
Ashrams  presents  a   picture   of   these   holy  settlements,  which 
does  not  lose  its  charm  even   at    the  present  day.     These  settle- 
ments  were   the   pioneers  of  civilization   in   Southern    India. 
There  were  similar  establishments  in  other  parts  of  India  on  the 
borders  of  the  civilized  kingdoms.     The    Rishi,    with  his    wife 
and  his  numerous  pupils,    kept   herds   of   cows,  cultivated    the 
land,  and  founded  colonies  or  cities    and  helped  the  Rajas  from 
the   North   to   establish    their    power    in    the  South.     Jaraa- 
dagni's    story    of    the     conflict     with     Kartavirya     and     the 
subsequent  wars  between  Parasharam  and  the  sons  of  Kartavirya 
no  doubt   refer   to   such    expansion   of    power.     King    Rama 
himhelf    was    helped    by    Agasti    in    the    final  struggle  with 
King  Havana.     Parashuram  is  said  to  have  similarly  carried  on 
a  war  with   the  Rakshasas   which  was  put  an    end    to   by  the 
meditation  of   Vasistha.     The  early   Rishis  were   great  both  in 
peace  and  in  war.     In  this  respect   the  Rajarshis  were  as  great 
as  the  Brahmarshis.  Rasabhadeo,  for  instance,  had  one  hundred 
sons,   of   whom   nine   devoted  themselves  to   meditation   and 
philosophy  and  'eighty-one  followed  the  karraa-marga,  and  the 
remaining  ten    ruled   over  kingdoms.     King  Janaka  was  great 
as  a  sovereign  ruler  and  greater  still  as  a  saint.     Vamadeo  was 
noted  for  his  piety,  devotion  and  knowledge  which  came  to  him 


ADDENDA.*  38 1 

in  his  mother's  womb.  The  Brahmin  Rush1!  Balaki  was  taught 
higher  philosophy  by  Ajatshatru,  the  Raja  of  >Kashi;  It  may  be 
seen  that  theie  was  no  monopoly  oE  learning  in  those  early 
times  and  Rajas  and  Brahmins  sat  at  tho  feet  of  each  other  to 
learn  wisdom.  There  was  in  fact  no  permanent  division  of 
functions  between  the  two  orders,  and  therefore  they  were 
somewhat  like  the  temporal  and  spiritual  lords  we  know  of 
in  Kngland.  They  could  interchange  places  and  did  in  fact  so 
interchange  them  in  numerous  instances. 

Thib*  brief  account  of  the  time  when  the  Rishis  flourished 
in  this  country  naturally  leads  to  the  inquiry  as  to  how  it  was 
that  in  course  of  time  Brahmin  Rishis  came  practically  to 
monopolise  the  title  and  deny  it  to  the  Rajas.  Tho  story  of 
Vasistha  and  Vishwamitra  furnishes  some  clue  to  a  solution  ofc' 
thia  difficulty.  The  great  names  of  Agyustya  and  Atri,  Vasistha 
a?id  Jamadagni,  Bhrigu  and  Bharadwaja,  Parashar  and  Vurndoo, 
Vaishampayana  and  Yagnyavalkya,  Valmiki  and  Vyas,  Kapil 
Muni  and  Shuka  Muni  naturally  carried  influence  with  all 
classes  of  people.  The  Rajartshis  were  not  much  known  for  their 
authorship,  and  when  these  old  families  succumbed  to  foreign 
conquerors  in  the  early  period  of  the  Christian  era,  the  new 
Rajput  or  Jat  conquerors  had  no  hold  on  the  popular  mind,  and 
the  Brahmins  retained  or  increased  their  hold  011  the  affections 
of  the  people.  Tho  Puranic  literature  which  had  its  birth 
about  this  time  confirmed  this  superiority  of  the  Brahmins  and 
the  result  was  that  the  term  Rishi  came  to  be  applied  only  to 
Brahmins  as  being  the  only  literary  or  cultured  class  of  the 
time.  Their  predominance  continued  unchecked  except  so  far  as 
the  Yaishnava  movement  name  to  the  relief  of  ths  non-Brahmin 
classes.  The  Vaishnava  movement  has  struck  its  deepest  root 
in  the  Punjab,  where  the  ten  Gurus  from  Nanak  to  Guru 
Govind  Sing  have  effected  a  change,  the  like  of  which  no  other 
part  of  India  can  exhibit.  TheGranth  Sahib  has  taken  the 
place  of  the  old  Vodas  and  Puranas  and  the  Gurus  and  their 
descendants  occupy  the  place  of  the  Brahmins.  Since  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  British  rule  new  forces  have  been  in  operation 
and  the  road  is  now  again  open  by  which  the  best  •men  of  all 
classes  might  aspire  as  in  the  past  to  be  the  true  Rishis  of  tho 


J82  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

land.  A  movemen't  which  has  been  recently  started  in  the 
Punja'b  may  be  accepted  as  a  sign  that  you  have  begun  to  realize 
the  full  significance-  of  the  need  of  creating  a  class  of  teachers 
who  may  well  be  trusted  to  take  the  place  of  the  Gurus  of  old. 
The  chief  point,  however,  that  is  to  be  considered  in  this  con- 
nection is  who  should  bo  these  Gurus  of  tlie  future.  It  is  with 
this  view  that  I  have  endeavoured  to  place  before  you  a,  brief 
account  of  the  true  (Jurus  of  the  pant,  namely  the  Rising 
who  were  both  U  rah  marsh  i.s  and  Rajarshis,  only  distinguished 
from  one  another  by  their  individual  inclinations  and1  abilities. 
We  must  keep  that  ideal  before  us  if  we  mean  to  prove  ourselves 
Hie  worthy  descendants  of  our  earliest  ancestors.  Of  course  the 
teachings  and  the  methods  and  the  subjects  taught  in  these 
days  must  be  made  to  suit  our  new  exigencies  and  environments, 
but  the  spirit  animating  the  teachings  must  be  the  same  as  that 
which  led  the  first  settlers  to  cross  the  Vindhya  Range,  and  es- 
tablish their  colonies  in  the  South.  By  reviving  our  ancient 
traditions  in  this  matter  we  may  hope  in  the  near,  future  to 
instil  into  the  minds  oi  our  young  generations  lessons  of  devo- 
tion toleaining,  diversity  of  studies  and  personal  loyalty  to  the 
teacher  without  which  no  system  of  school  or  college  education 
can  ever  bear  any  fruit.  This,  however,  is  not  all.  Tn  addition  to 
these  lessons,  our  new  teachers  must  know  how  to  introduce  their 
pupils  to  a  correct  appreciation  of  the  forces  which  are  at  work 
in  the  wider  world  outside  and  which,  in  spite  of  temporary 
checks  or  seeming  reverses,  represent  all  that  is  best  in  human 
efforts  for  the  elevation  and  happiness  of  man.  Our  teachers 
must  enable  their  pupils  to  realize  the  dignity  of  man  as  man, 
and  to  apply  the  necessary  correctives  to  tendencies  towards 
exclusiveness,  which  have  grown  in  us  with  the  growth  of  ages. 
They  must  see  that  our  thoughts,  our  speech,  our  actions  are 
inspired  by  a  deep  love  of  humanity,  and  that  our  conduct  and 
our  worship  are  freed  where  necessary  from  the  bondage  of 
custom  and  made  to  conform  as  far  as  possible  to  the  surer 
standard  of  our  conscience.  We  must  at  the  same  time  be 
careful  that  this  class  of  teachers  does  not  form  a  new  order  of 
monks.  Much  good,  I  am  free  to  admit,  has  been  done  in  the 
past  and  is  being  done  in  these  days,  iu  this  as  well  as  other 


ADDENDA.-  383 

countries  by  those  who  take  the  vow  of  lifelong  celebaoy  and 
who  consecrate  their  lives  to  the  service  of  imln  ancTthe  greater 
glory  of  our  Maker.  But  it  may  he  doubted  how  far  such  men 
are  able  to  relaize  life  in  all  its  fulness  and  in  all  its  varied 
relations,  and  I  think  our  best  examples  in  this  respect  are  fur- 
nished by  Agastya  with  his  wife  Lopamudru,  Atri  with  his 
wife  Anusuya,  and  Vasistha  with  his  wife  Arundhati 
among  the  ancient  Rishis,  and  in  our  own  times  by  men 
like  Ur.  Bhandarkar  on  our  side,  Diwan  Bahadur  Rnghunathil 
Row  in  ^Madras,  the  late  Keshab  C bander  Sen  and  Babu 
Pratap  Chandra  Moznmdar  and  Pandit  Shivanath  Shastri 
in  Bengal,  and  Lala  Hansa  Raj  and  Lala  Munshi  Ram 
in  your  own  province.  A  race  that  can  ensure  a  continuance 
of  such  teachers  can,  in  my  opinion,  never  fail,  and  with  tho 
teachings  of  such  men  to  guide  and  instruct  and  inspire  us,  I, 
for  one,  am  confident  that  the  time  will  be  hastened  when  we 
may  be  vouchsafed  a  sight  of  tho  Promised  Land. 


Diwan  Sant  Ram's  Presidential  Address  — 
Lahore— 19OO. 

DELEGATES,  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN, 

ALLOW  me  to  thank  you  most  sincerely  for  the  very  great 
honour  you  have  conferred  upon  me  in  electing  me  to  preside 
over  the  deliberations  of  this  groat  assembly.  I  feel  most  keen- 
ly my  umvorthiness  to  occupy  a  position  which  has  been  filled 
by  such  distinguished  reformers  and  scholars  as  Sir  T.  Madhava 
Row,  Dr.  Bhandarkar  and  others,  and  if  I  have,  not  without 
hesitation,  accepted  the  most  responsible  duty  of  conducting  the 
proceedings  of  to-day,  it  is  only  in  the  hope  that  my  presence 
here  will,  in  some  small  measure,  further  the  cause  of  one  much 
needed  reform  for'  which  the  Conference  has  been  labouring 
since  its  very  inception,  and  with  which  I  am  also  humbly 
associated.  • 

We  in  the  Punjab  are  fortunate,  that  the  path  of  social  re- 
form  is  much  smoother  here  than  in  other  parts  of  India.  Many 
important  reforms  which  have  engaged  the  earnest  attention  of 


384  INDIAN  'SOCU L  REFORM. 

the  leaders  of  the  Hindu  community  in  other  provinces  and 
•which  are  as  far  as  ever  from  being  carried  out,  have  come  to  us 
easily,  naturally  and  without  much  effort.  The  sea-voyage 
question,  for  instance,  which  has  proved  such  a  stumbling  block 
elsewhere  in  the  way  of  the  legitimate  aspirations  of  many  an 
educated  Indian,  has  lost  any  significance  it  ever  had  here. 
Again,  the  caste  restrictions,  though  bad  enough  in  the  Punjab, 
do  nob  possess  the  same  rigidity  as  they  do  in  the  rest  of  India. 
We  have,  therefore,  good  reason  to  be  thankf ui  for  the  many 
encouraging  circumstances  which  make  our  work  in  tfie  direc- 
tion of  social  reform  comparatively  easier  of  achievement. 
Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  need  hardly  tell  you  that  we  owe  these 
and  other  advantages  to  the  labours  of  many  noble  reformers 
who  have  worked  BO  earnestly  in  the  past  for  the  good  of  the 
millions  of  this  land.  In  particular,  let  us,  on  this  important 
occasion,  turn  with  gratefal  hearts  to  the  founders  of  the  great 
Sikh  religion.  We  feel  sure  that  the  spirits  of  the  great  Baba 
Nanak  and  Guru  Govind  Singh  are  looking  with  approbation 
on  the  aims  and  objects  of  this  great  assembly,  Their  blessings 
and  prayers  are  with  ns  in  our  efforts.  With  their  great  work 
the  best  interests  of  our  country  are  identified.  The  conviction 
is  more  and  more  gaining  ground  in  the  minds  of  the  thinking 
portion  of  the  people  of  India  that  tho  remedy  of  the  many  evils 
which  are  eating  into  tho  very  vitals  of  our  society  lies  in  our 
own  hands,  and  that  if  we  but  make  up  our  minds,  and  earnest- 
ly and  honestly  set  about  it,  the  salvation  of  India  cannot  be 
long  delayed. 

It  is  cheering  to  note  that  the  forces  at  work  over  the  length 
and  breadth  of  India  are  all  in  the  direction  of  a  clearer  recog- 
nition of  our  many  national  evils  and  a  bolder  attitude  to 
combat  them.  The  many  reform  associations,  dealing  with 
specific  evils  which  are  spread  like  u  net-work  over  the  country, 
point  unmistakably  to  the  tendencies  of  mouern  India.  Indian 
society  is  at  the  present  moment  in  a  state  of  transition.  There 
is  social  unrest  every  where/  Even  the  most  othodox  communi- 
ties are  not  free  from  the  signs  of  this  new  ferment  which  is 
surely,  thotfgh  imperceptibly,  leavening  the  whole  mass  of  our 
society. 


ADDENDA.  385 

Herein  the  Punjab,  for  instance,  as  \uu  must  have  noticed 
from  Ihe  summary  of  tho  reports  presented  to  you  the  other 
tiny,  all  the  ensues  and  their  suh-Hfriinns  are  busy  (each  in  its 
own  way)  in  currying  out  important  reforms  within  their  own 
circle.  The  work  dune  by  these  associations  taken  together  is 
such  as  to  encourage  ns  in  the  midst  of  our  trials  and  difficulties. 
As  illustrating  the  modus  npirandi  uiul  the  natn.iv  find  extent 
of  achievement  of  these  sectional  organizations,  T  may  he  per- 
mitted to  refer  briefly  to  tho  work  of  one  or  two  Kliatri  Sabhas 
culminating  in  the  grand  Khatri  Conference,  which  was  held 
within  this  week  and  at  a  place  not  very  fur  from  here.  One  of  the 
most  important  of  the  Kliatri  associations  is  the  Sarin  Subha.  The 
first  Sarin  Snhhn.  in  the  Punjab  was  established  nt  Lahore  in  the 
year  1882.  After  five  yenrs1  regular  and  earnest  work,  the 
Sabhn  found  itself  strong  enough  to  invite  members  of  their 
own  community  from  other  large  towns  of  the  Province  to 
\\  Conference,  which  WHS  held  at  Lahore  in  1887.  In  the 
following  year,  another  and  more  successful  Conference  was 
held  in  the  sarnc  place.  This  was  quickly  followed  by  the  third 
('onlerence  which  was  held  at  Hoshiarpur  in  1889.  Tn  1892 
the  fourth  Conference  was  held  at  Amritsar  and  in  189.r),  tho  fifth 
nnd  last  Conference  was  held  at  Hoshiarpur  again.  Ladies  arid 
gentlemen,  it  is  not  easy  fov  mo  to  tell  you  how  much  these  Con- 
ferences have  done  to  advance  the  cause  of  social  icfnrm  in  the 
Sarin  section  of  the  Punjab  Khatris.  Wine  and  tho  inevitable 
nantch-girls  have  been  banished  from  their  marriage  parties, 
unequal  matches  have  not  only  been  condemned,  bub  are 
made  punishable  by  the  Baradari,  the  marriageable  age  of  girls 
has  been  raised,  the  expenses  incurred  on  festive  occasion*,  have 
been  curtailed  and  regulated,  and  a  healthy  opinion  on  many 
other  social  questions  has  been  created  and  fostered. 

But  if  I  refer  to  the  Sarin  Subhas  and  Sarin  Conferences,  I 
do  so,  ns  I  have  already  said,  merely  to  indicate  tjie  character 
and  the  influence  of  caste  associations  in  general.  There  are 
many  other  equally  important  associations  which  are  engaged  in 
exactly  the  same  kind  of  work  as  thefiarin  Sabha  has  been  doing. 
There  is  hardly  a  town  of  any  importance  in  the  Punjab  which 
docs  not  boast  of  at  least  one  or  two  caste  associations,  the  moat 
49 


386  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

influential  of  them  boing,  besides  the  Sarin  SabLas,  the  Bunjahi 
KhatriSabhas,  the^Agarwal  Sab  has,  the  Kayasth  Sn.bh.as  ,-ind  the 
Arorbantj  Sabhas.  Of  the  many  happy  signs  of  the  time,  perhaps 
not  the  least  encouraging  i«  tlie  fact  that,  the  now  ideas  are 
slowly  but  singly  filtering  down  to  the  hitherto  impervious 
strata  of  rigid  conservatism  and  orthodoxy,  and  that  even  the 
Gaur  Brnhmans  of  the  sacred  land  of  Kurnkshetra  have  begun 
to  feel  their  silent  influence. 

Of  the  professedly  religious  societies,  the  Singh  Sabha,^, 
the  Arya  Samajos  and  the  Brahmo  Samajes  are  clomp-  a  great 
deal  to  push  on  the  cause  of  social  reform  in  this  Province, 
and  T  am  glad  to  notice  that  during  the  present  year  the  Singh 
Sahbas  and  the  Arya  Samajos  have  been  particularly  active  in 
elevating  the  social  status  of  certain  lower  castes  of  Hindus. 

While  speaking  of  these  Sabhas  and  Samajes,  I  must 
draw  your  kind  attention  for  a  moment  to  the  very  useful 
work  which  they  have  been  doing  in  advancing  the  cause  of 
female  education.  In  particular,  the  Kanya  Maha  Vidyalaya 
of  Jullundur  deserves  special  mention  as"  a  leading 
institution  of  its  kind  in  this  Province.  Perhaps  the  most 
important  feature  of  the  Vidyalaya  is  the  special  class 
for  widows  and  ,  grown-up  'ladies,  some  of  svhom  have 
come  from  considerable  distances  and  are  living  in  the 
Boarding  House  attached  to  the  School.  T  am  also  glad  to 
note  that  arrangements  have  lately  been  completed  for  the 
teaching  of  Elementary  Science  and  Drawing,  and  that  it  in 
compulsory  for  all  the'  scholars  to  take  part  in  the  games  for 
which  ample  provision  has  been  made.  During  the  present 
year,  there  were  about  125  girls  on  the  rolls  with  an  average 
daily  attendance  of  80  scholars. 

Another  important  private  institution  working  in  the  cause 
of  education,  moral,  religious,  physical,  and  technical  is  the  Daya- 
nada  Anglo-Vedic  College,  Lahore.  It  is  the  leading  institution: 
of  its  kind  and  it  is  hardly  necessary  for  me  to  dwell  at  length 
upon  the  benefits  which  it  has  conferred  upon  the  general  Hindu 
community. 

I  must  also  say  a  few  words  about  the  good  work  which  has 
been  done  by  the  several  temperance  and  purity  associations 


ADDENDA.  387 

worldlier  in  the  Punjab.  Of  these,  I  may  be  permittee]  to  single 
out  two  for  n  passing  reference.  The  Temperance*  Association 
at  Amritsar  is  the  most  active  Association  in  Ibis  Province.  It 
lias  started  several  lines  <>f  work.  It  has  a  n^iid  preacher  who 
visits  different,  stations  and  wives  lectures  on  the  evils  of  drinkt, 
It  was  the  first  in  this  country  to  make  use  of  the  stage  for  ex- 
posing the  evils  of  intemperance.  It  has  composed  and  put  on 
the  slage  several  Temperance  plnys  which  have,  I  believe,  pro- 
duced wholesome  effect  on  the  minds  of  our  young  m«n.  It  IHH 
publishe/l  and  distributed,  free  of  charge,  thousands  of  copies  of 
Temperanco  tracts.  This  is  the  only  Temperance-  Association 
in  India  which  was  represented  a*;  the  World's  Tempurancv 
Congress  lately  held  in  London,  find  it-  is  a  matter  of  pride  to 
us  that  its  representative  was  no  other  than  Diwan  Narindiu 
Xnth,  31. A.,  the  worthy  President  of  tin's  Conference  Jil  iN 
first  sitting  in  this  city.  This  Association  has  done  a  vast, 
amount  of  good  work  in  the  Temperance  cause,  and  [  hope  that 
its  example  will  be  largely  followed  by  similar  societies  in  other 
parts  oi:  the  Province.  One  suggestion  only  T  would  like  to 
make  to  the  Temperance  workers,  not  only  in  the  Punjab  bu*. 
also  in  other  parts  of  the  country.  I  think  much  is  being  done 
to  put  fcho  educate  1  classes  on  their  guard  against  the  tempta*- 
tions  and  evils  ot  strong  drink.  JJut,  [  fcnr,  little  or  nothing 
lias  been  attempted  to  reform  the  lower  classes  of  our  popui.'i- 
tion  which  are  so  much  addicted  to  this  vice. 

The  Punjab  Purity  Association  is  the  other  Society  about 
which  I  should  like  to  say  a  few  words.  It  combines  philan- 
thropic and  charitable  work  with  the  advocacy  of  the  cause 
of  Temperance  and  Purit.y.  It  maintains  a,  charitable  dis- 
pensary, which  is  attended  by  about  a  hundred  patients 
every  day.  in  the  days  of  trouble  which  we  have  just 
passed,  it  has  been  supporting  a  number,  of  widows 
with  funds  specially  collected  for  the  purpose,  it  rendered 
conspicuous  service  to  the  poor  homeless  Bikaneris  who 
sought  refuge  in  this  Province  'during  the  last  famine. 
An  important  institution  organized  by  the  Association  is  the 
Pawitra  Holi,  an  annual  gathering  whicb  is  held  with  the 
object  of  purging  the  Holi  festival  of  its  obscenity  and  impurity. 


388  INDIAN  SOCIAL  KEK'ORM. 

Ladies  mid  gentlemen,  I  cannot  allow  this  opportunity  to 
pass  withofit  referring  briefly  lo  n  subject  in  \vliich  I  have 
taken  a 'deep  and  ptTSOnal  interest  ;  1  mean  tlio  re-marriage  oC 
child  widows.  J  can  assure  you  that  il  was  not  without  much 
earnest  thought  and  inquiry  that  I  took  the  somewhat  bold 
stop,  about  five  years  ago,  of  giving  ni.V  widowed  daughter  io 
marriage  to  a  young  gentlemen  of  my  own  caste.  I  ascertained 
the  views  of  the  most  learned  Pundits  of  Benares,  Allnhnbii'* 
irnd  other  places,  and  T  need  hardly  say  that  all  the  sacred 
authorities  that  were  consulted  -Maim,  Parasara,  Vashishta, 
Vajnavulkya  and  others — sanctioned  tho  re-niarringo  of  child 
•widows.  1  was  further  supported  in  my  action  by  the  fact 
that  such  an  exalted  personage  as  MrJiaraja  Ram  Chandra 
1 ) rough t  about,  the  re- marriage  of  two  widows.  viz.t  Tara  arid 
M.iTidodnri. 

Thus  yon  will  see  thai  the  Shastras  aiv  in  favour  of  this 
lel'orm,  and  the  enlightened  sentiment  of  tlu-  Hindu  community 
.supports  it.  In  this  connection  I  have  vrry  great  pleasure  to 
announce  that  since  the  re-marriage  of  my  daughter,  f>0  other 
similar  widows  have  been  married  in  accordance  with  the 
Shastras,  some  of  them  belonging  to  families  of  such  high 
positions  as  those  of  Rai  Baliadnr  Sardar  Gopal  Singh  of 
(iurj.in.wala,  Lala  Rattan  Chand  Peri  of  Lahore,  and  Lain 
Kishan  Chand  of  Hera  Ismail  Khan. 

The  question  is  often  asked  what  has  ihii  Conference  done.1 
during  the  past  fourteen  years  of  its' existence.  YTepr  after  year, 
it  has  assembled  in  some  centre  of  education  and  enlighten- 
ment, has  passed  resolutions  and  dispersed.  Jt  is  said  that 
the  resolutions  are  not  binding  upon  anybody,  not  even  upon 
those  who  support  them.  Ladies  and  gent  It-men,  it  is  true 
that  there  has  been  wanting  that  living  connection  between  the 
central  organization  and  the  various  Reform  Associations  in  the 
country,  and"  that  a  great  deal  still  remains  to  be  done  to  make 
such  a  connection  vital  and  binding.  Yet,  this  is  but  a  partial 
view  of  the  question.  The  wurk  of  the  Conference  lies  in  other 
and  not  less  important  directious.  The  Social  Conference  is  the 
only  institution  in  India  which  brings  to  a  focus  the  enlightened 
opinion  and  the  aspirations  of  our  educated  countrymen  on 


A  DDENDA. .  389 

social  matters.  It  is  difficult  to  over-estimate  the  silent  in- 
fluence that  it  exerts  in  educating  public  opinion.  Every,  year 
tho  Social  Conference  issues  and  distributes  broadcast  a  largo 
mass  of  literature  on  social  reform  questions.  The  reports  oE 
tlio  Conference  are  reviewed  by  the  Press  of  the  country,  both 
English  and  Vernacular,  and  the  resolutions  adopted  at  those 
^annual  gatherings  are  read  hy  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands 
cS  intelligent  people,  over  tho  length  and  breadth  of  India. 

Besides,  year  by  year,  the  constitution  of  the  Conference  is 
becoming  morn  perfect  and  Hie  area  of  its  sympathy  moro  ex- 
toridcd.  Round  its  flag  are  gathered  together  all  the  devoted 
workers  in  Hio  cause  nl!  social  reform,  and  their  voices  cannot 
but  bo  cheering  to  all  those  who  labour  in  the  same  field. 

And  yet  it  is  bat  tho  small  beginning  of  a  movement  which 
is  destined  to  exert  a  mighty  influence  upon  the  future  social 
structure  of  the  groat  nation  which  is  slowly  evolving  itflelf  in 
this  ancient  land.  I  believe  it  is  a  movement  with  a  great 
future  beforo  it.  Hitherto  it 'has  confined  itself  to  a,  review  of 
the  principal  achievements  of  the  year  in  matters  of  social  re- 
form and  the  adoption  of  resolutions  indicating  the  lines  on 
which  the  reform  work  should  in  future  be  carried  on.  I  think 
it  is  time  that  tho  movement  take  a  moro  practical  turn.  A 
groat  deal  yet  remains  to  be  done,  in  disseminating  social  re- 
form literature,  in  preaching  reform  ideas  to  tho  masses,  in 
csirrying  the  gospel  of  reform  to  every  nook  and  corner  of  this 
vast  land.  For  this  we  will  require  five  or  six  powerful  pro- 
vincial associations  working  in  concert  with  and  under  the 
guidance  of  tho  central  organization.  I  am  sure  there  are 
devoted  men  enough  in  each  province  for  carrying  on  the 
movement  with  steady  zeal  throughout  the  year. 

T  am  glad  to  loam  that  the  local  Committee  of  tho  Confer- 
ence has  resolved  to  introduce  the  system  of  taking  pledges  for 
carrying  out  in  actual  practice  some  of  the  ideas  which  wo 
have  been  preaching  for  BO  many  years.  I  hope  a  sufficiently 
largo  nnmber  of  persona  will  como  forward  to  take  these 
pledges  an<i  thus  show,  by  their  example,  that  thoy  arc  really 
in  earnest  about  the  work  which  they  have  been  HO  loudly 
advocating. 

401 


390  INDIAN  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  we  must  always  bear  in  miml        it 
all  good  things  are  hard  to  achieve.     In  a  large  nation  a' 
many  people  most  be  prepared  to  go  through   the  di  Hi.  LI  (ties 
and  trials  which  have  always    beset  the  path  of   pioneers.     To 
this  great -and  sacred  work  of  being  pioneers,  the    Social   Con- 
ference calls   upon  you.     The   difficulties  are   both    groat   and 
numerous,  but  the   interests  of  an   entire   nation   depend  up 
your  decision  and  action. 

Providence  has  been  pleased  to  sond  us  in  this  century 
many  heroic  men  who  have  tried  their  utmost  to  raise  *he  social 
and  moral  condition  of  our  countrymen.  A  country  which  has 
produced  such  illustrious  reformers  as  Ram  Mohan  Hoy,  Ishwar 
Chandra  Vidya^agar,  Keshub  Chandra  Sen,  aud  Dayanandn 
Saraswati  need  not  despair  of  its  future.  Standing,  as  we  do, 
on  the  threshold  of  the  twentieth  century,  let  us  carry  on  their 
work  ffith  faith  and  devotion,  let  us  nourish  with  all  our  care 
the  tree  which  they  have  lovingly  planted.  And  may  the  new 
century,  which  soon  dawns  upon  us,  bring  the  light  of  true  life 
with  it.  May  the  old  era  of  injustice  and  social  tyranny  and 
iinbrotberliness  pass  away  and  the  new  era  of  poane,  progress 
and  Jove  begin  in  our  midst !