A HINDOO PRINCE.
WE have found the "mild Hindoo," the man so long sought in vain, who realises the idea which the British mind has formed to itself of one of the most varied populations in the world. Misled partly by ancient travellers, partly by the history of the conquest, which seems explicable only by the submissiveness of the people, and partly by a secret wish, the average Briton has developed out of his inner consciousness a being of dusky Prince of the veritable strain of Sivajee, perhaps the fiercest "Germans are celebrated for learning and smoking." All and most blood-thirsty bandit who, even in India, ever rose to in the same fashion, as of a schoolboy writing a theme. An independent power. This was the last Rajah of Kolhapore, a Eton boy of twelve, if he dared write in a theme exactly dependent Marhatta State yielding a revenue for its chief of what he thought, or if he were writing to his sister of a £120,000 a year, and inhabited by about a million of souls, similar age, would express himself just as the Rajah does, over whom he possessed the power of life and death. As and would, like him, probably omit to mention anything he did a Marhatta he was, of course, a Hindoo of Hindoos, and not approve. There is something exquisitely childlike, and in its could not cross the black water, and personally he was almost a way pleasant, in the single effort which he makes at self-intro- devotee, going twice a day to listen to texts and sermons ; but as spection or analysis, the constantly-recurring remark, "I like so- a Sovereign he enjoyed certain exemptions, and in 1870 the Brah- and-so very much." He seldom says, "I did not like," except mins informed him that if he took with him his own attendants when speaking of Volunteers, whose dark uniform always angers and ate only of food they had prepared, he might visit Europe his eye, and very seldom, even when describing persons, gets without loss of caste, or injury to his future prospects, or detri- beyond the most patent observations upon their outward bearing ment to his religious position among his own countrymen, a towards himself. He saw everybody, of course, all that is great,
position very valuable even to a Prince. or famous, or powerful in the land ; but his observation never
Accordingly, at the age of 20, the Rajah being then the goes deeper than in his remark about the Queen, that "she husband of two wives, one of whom was still a little child, came appeared to be in good health, and to be a kind-hearted over to Europe with a few followers, and is thus described in lady ;" or about Mr. Bruce, the Home Secretary, that he Good Words by Lady Verney :—" He was barely twenty, though is "very gentle, civil, and polite, though he is one of he looked much older ; a small-made man, with extremely slender the greatest men at present ;" or about Woodin, that "he bands and feet ; his complexion of that pleasantly brown colour sings and acts pretty well, but I admire his changing his dress which looks as if it had been just ripened by the sun, not scorched so quickly very much." He was evidently greatly impressed by black ; the eyes very large and lustrous, without much expres- the bearing of the great people, repeating over and over again his sion ; and a contemplative, rather child-like look ; his white admiration of their kindness and politeness to him, as if he were teeth shone brilliantly, however, when he spoke, and lighted up conscious of some internal surprise or shock to his previous experi- the dark face. A kindly, gentle young prince, not wanting in ence, but he draws no distinction between one man and another, intelligence, with a sort of easy dignity, as of one used to be and makes not the slightest effort to discriminate or even to define -obeyed, but apparently quite contented to remain languidly in the character. It is the good-natured chatter of a well-placed lad, place where he happened to be, so that one wondered the more to without mental power, but with a great capacity for being see him venturing so far from home. He was ordinarily dressed in moderately interested, and a great readiness to applaud or reward a kind of dark-green cloth coat, with a curious edifice on his head anybody who amuses him. There is not an ill-natured sentence formed of rolls of red muslin twisted into thin coils, without which in the entire diary, but then, also, there is not an acute one; not a he was never seen in public, any more than Louis XIV. without single line of vivid description or one which indicates acute his wig. He would have considered it an act of rudeness on his pleasure, except, indeed, when he is describing fireworks, an illu- part to show himself bareheaded, though he pulled off his turban mination, or a garden scene which impresses him he does not know when with his own people only. He had never been alone in all why, though he knows and records that he "liked it very much." his life, and used to sit chatting and laughing with his attendants The only sentence recorded of him which has any intellectual force on terms of perfect ease, curiously mixed with the Oriental at all is not contained in the diary, but in a letter, and tells that depth of respect and reverence with which they treated him." travel had shown him how insignificant a person a Rajah of That little touch about the man who had never been alone, Kolhapore was in the world, a fact recorded without annoyance, and who talked so familiarly and pleasantly with his ser- but with the gentle surprise of an amiable child who is slowly, vants, yet was treated by them with such deep, silent respect, by repeated tentatives, finding his place in the universe. It was is a fine one, and exactly describes not only the position of course natural that such a man should be beloved by native of the Rajah among his people—that of a high-born child followers, to whom he was at once a sovereign, a semi- among his dependants, who is to be petted and talked to, sacred being, and a pet, and their love for him showed itself and kept in good humour, but if an order is given obeyed— finally in one of the strangest scenes ever enacted in Europe, but the special character of the man, who was exactly the child- a scene which, as described by the chief of police in Florence, like, simple, sweet-natured being, with an undue capacity of rever- reads like a chapter from the "Moonstone," or a forgotten bit of ence, which Englishmen believe all natives of India to be. We the "Arabian Nights." The poor little Rajah had been touched should not trust Lady Verney's account alone, or that of any other with the cold in England, and died on 30th November at Florence, European, as a native diplomatist when so inclined would deceive and his followers besought permission to burn the corpse after the the very elect ; but the Rajah kept a diary oe note-book daring his rites handed down from a creed older than Hindooism itself. tour, which has since his death been published by his guide, philo- The authorities at first would not hear of a ceremonial once so sopher,friend, and bear-leader, Captain West, and which lets us, at well known in Italy, but the British Minister with genuine kind- least in part, into the secret of the Rajah's character. It is a most ness pressed the request, the Minister of the Interior gave his remarkable production. From end to end of it there is not a permission for an infraction of the law, and the body was actually thought which is above the thinking-power of a pleasant-minded, burnt at the extreme point of the Cascine, or public park, on the simple English lad of fourteen, not an idea worth preserving, not a Arno, with all the regular ceremonial, and the ashes collected in a sentence upon which it is possible to found a criticising remark. porcelain vase, to be hereafter thrown into the sacred river, none And yet it is like the diaries of some children, a noteworthy pro- looking on but the municipal guards, and "the party, after having duction if only for its simplicity, its utter transparency, the carefully gathered the remaining ashes, cleaned and washed all internal evidence it affords that it is the work of one to whom round the ground, and, collecting them in a kind of sheet, brought affectation was unknown, who could not conceive a reason why it into the middle of the river to be shaken into the current ; mak- any one should ridicule his thoughts, and so recorded them with all ing afterwards, with the mud of the Arno, the form of a heart in
skin and gentle smile, clothed in white but with an ample turban, the inimitable dignity of unconscious childhood. The diary is who worships graven images and his white conqueror, who crammed with entries like these, made on the 15th and 16th June, has some moral foibles but no defects of manner, and whose 1870:—" Took a drive in Hyde Park and Regent's Park, and mind although acute is in all essentials, and especially in its through Regent Street in the afternoon. Hyde Park and Regent's capacity of affectionate respect, innocently childlike, and has Park are large and beautifully green. These are very good parks. dubbed this imaginary being the " native " of India. The Anglo- Many people ride, drive, and walk in them. 16th.—Went to see Indian, who knows that the natives vary in character as much as Madame Tussaud's Exhibition. The statues which are here are Englishmen, but are for the most part as subtle as Greeks, as made of wax, and are very life-like. No one thinks at first callous as Spaniards, as tenacious as Corsicans, and as satirical as thought that they are statues and not real persons. I liked these Parisians, finds the English fancy so ridiculous, that he has statues very much. They are of English and European kings and with the assistance of Nana Sahib and the Cawnpore queens and celebrated men. Then took a drive through Hyde story almost succeeded in preventing his countrymen from Park. At 11 p.m. drove to Sir Robert M—, to an evening descanting on their ideal ; but the old belief still lingers in the party. Sir Robert introduced several ladies and gentlemen to majority of English minds, and at last it has found in an un- me. He is a very good and polite man. It rained much to-night." expected quarter a kind of justification. There really was once a On the Continent it is just the same. "The Rhine is very broad, mild Hindoo, a native gentleman of the typical kind, and he was and it has got fresh water." "Munich is a nice large city." "The of all men in India a Marhatta, a Marhatta Prince, a Marhatta King of the Belgians spoke very politely and gently with me."
Prince of the veritable strain of Sivajee, perhaps the fiercest "Germans are celebrated for learning and smoking." All and most blood-thirsty bandit who, even in India, ever rose to in the same fashion, as of a schoolboy writing a theme. An independent power. This was the last Rajah of Kolhapore, a Eton boy of twelve, if he dared write in a theme exactly dependent Marhatta State yielding a revenue for its chief of what he thought, or if he were writing to his sister of a £120,000 a year, and inhabited by about a million of souls, similar age, would express himself just as the Rajah does, over whom he possessed the power of life and death. As and would, like him, probably omit to mention anything he did a Marhatta he was, of course, a Hindoo of Hindoos, and not approve. There is something exquisitely childlike, and in its could not cross the black water, and personally he was almost a way pleasant, in the single effort which he makes at self-intro- devotee, going twice a day to listen to texts and sermons ; but as spection or analysis, the constantly-recurring remark, "I like so- a Sovereign he enjoyed certain exemptions, and in 1870 the Brah- and-so very much." He seldom says, "I did not like," except mins informed him that if he took with him his own attendants when speaking of Volunteers, whose dark uniform always angers and ate only of food they had prepared, he might visit Europe his eye, and very seldom, even when describing persons, gets without loss of caste, or injury to his future prospects, or detri- beyond the most patent observations upon their outward bearing ment to his religious position among his own countrymen, a towards himself. He saw everybody, of course, all that is great,
position very valuable even to a Prince. or famous, or powerful in the land ; but his observation never
Accordingly, at the age of 20, the Rajah being then the goes deeper than in his remark about the Queen, that "she husband of two wives, one of whom was still a little child, came appeared to be in good health, and to be a kind-hearted over to Europe with a few followers, and is thus described in lady ;" or about Mr. Bruce, the Home Secretary, that he Good Words by Lady Verney :—" He was barely twenty, though is "very gentle, civil, and polite, though he is one of he looked much older ; a small-made man, with extremely slender the greatest men at present ;" or about Woodin, that "he bands and feet ; his complexion of that pleasantly brown colour sings and acts pretty well, but I admire his changing his dress which looks as if it had been just ripened by the sun, not scorched so quickly very much." He was evidently greatly impressed by black ; the eyes very large and lustrous, without much expres- the bearing of the great people, repeating over and over again his sion ; and a contemplative, rather child-like look ; his white admiration of their kindness and politeness to him, as if he were teeth shone brilliantly, however, when he spoke, and lighted up conscious of some internal surprise or shock to his previous experi- the dark face. A kindly, gentle young prince, not wanting in ence, but he draws no distinction between one man and another, intelligence, with a sort of easy dignity, as of one used to be and makes not the slightest effort to discriminate or even to define -obeyed, but apparently quite contented to remain languidly in the character. It is the good-natured chatter of a well-placed lad, place where he happened to be, so that one wondered the more to without mental power, but with a great capacity for being see him venturing so far from home. He was ordinarily dressed in moderately interested, and a great readiness to applaud or reward a kind of dark-green cloth coat, with a curious edifice on his head anybody who amuses him. There is not an ill-natured sentence formed of rolls of red muslin twisted into thin coils, without which in the entire diary, but then, also, there is not an acute one; not a he was never seen in public, any more than Louis XIV. without single line of vivid description or one which indicates acute his wig. He would have considered it an act of rudeness on his pleasure, except, indeed, when he is describing fireworks, an illu- part to show himself bareheaded, though he pulled off his turban mination, or a garden scene which impresses him he does not know when with his own people only. He had never been alone in all why, though he knows and records that he "liked it very much." his life, and used to sit chatting and laughing with his attendants The only sentence recorded of him which has any intellectual force on terms of perfect ease, curiously mixed with the Oriental at all is not contained in the diary, but in a letter, and tells that depth of respect and reverence with which they treated him." travel had shown him how insignificant a person a Rajah of That little touch about the man who had never been alone, Kolhapore was in the world, a fact recorded without annoyance, and who talked so familiarly and pleasantly with his ser- but with the gentle surprise of an amiable child who is slowly, vants, yet was treated by them with such deep, silent respect, by repeated tentatives, finding his place in the universe. It was is a fine one, and exactly describes not only the position of course natural that such a man should be beloved by native of the Rajah among his people—that of a high-born child followers, to whom he was at once a sovereign, a semi- among his dependants, who is to be petted and talked to, sacred being, and a pet, and their love for him showed itself and kept in good humour, but if an order is given obeyed— finally in one of the strangest scenes ever enacted in Europe, but the special character of the man, who was exactly the child- a scene which, as described by the chief of police in Florence, like, simple, sweet-natured being, with an undue capacity of rever- reads like a chapter from the "Moonstone," or a forgotten bit of ence, which Englishmen believe all natives of India to be. We the "Arabian Nights." The poor little Rajah had been touched should not trust Lady Verney's account alone, or that of any other with the cold in England, and died on 30th November at Florence, European, as a native diplomatist when so inclined would deceive and his followers besought permission to burn the corpse after the the very elect ; but the Rajah kept a diary oe note-book daring his rites handed down from a creed older than Hindooism itself. tour, which has since his death been published by his guide, philo- The authorities at first would not hear of a ceremonial once so sopher,friend, and bear-leader, Captain West, and which lets us, at well known in Italy, but the British Minister with genuine kind- least in part, into the secret of the Rajah's character. It is a most ness pressed the request, the Minister of the Interior gave his remarkable production. From end to end of it there is not a permission for an infraction of the law, and the body was actually thought which is above the thinking-power of a pleasant-minded, burnt at the extreme point of the Cascine, or public park, on the simple English lad of fourteen, not an idea worth preserving, not a Arno, with all the regular ceremonial, and the ashes collected in a sentence upon which it is possible to found a criticising remark. porcelain vase, to be hereafter thrown into the sacred river, none And yet it is like the diaries of some children, a noteworthy pro- looking on but the municipal guards, and "the party, after having duction if only for its simplicity, its utter transparency, the carefully gathered the remaining ashes, cleaned and washed all internal evidence it affords that it is the work of one to whom round the ground, and, collecting them in a kind of sheet, brought affectation was unknown, who could not conceive a reason why it into the middle of the river to be shaken into the current ; mak- any one should ridicule his thoughts, and so recorded them with all ing afterwards, with the mud of the Arno, the form of a heart in
the centre of the space occupied by the pile, they buried some small vases containing raw and boiled rice and peas, sandalwood and betel, surmounted by small yellow banners ; they also scattered copiously on the meadow a quantity of rice and peas, offered, according to the rite, to the deceased kinsman's soul, which they believe a continue wandering for some days near the place where the body was burnt. After repeated rubbing with water collected in the palm of the hand, they closed in a circle in the middle of the meadow, muttering as the custom of natives is, and bursting all out into a flood of tears, chanting some kind of funeral songs interrupted by clamours and lamentations. Rising again after a moment, they took up the urn containing their master's remains," and so returned whence they came, with their caste unbroken, and a melancholy recollection of the gentle, childlike noble whom they had served so well. He had died childless, but a boy of eight, .of the strain of Sivajee, was placed in his wife's lap, and so adopted, and is now being trained to occupy the throne.
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