It is impossible not to feel that the cold and coarse feelings of the Barbarians are, in respect of the dead, rendered more repulsive by the horrid features of the Idolatry. In this there is so much to brutalise and render callous, that it is only asitis disregarded, that the natural human feelings come into play, and tenderness and delicacy find expression.
CHAPTER VIII.
OF ART, ARCHITECTURE, AND SOME WORDS ABOUT SCIENCE. [KRI-OTE].
Untilrecently the Barbarians had no proper style of Architecture, unless in Temples, Castles, and Ships. The dwellings, even in cities, were as ugly and inconvenient as it is possible to conceive.
When the great Roman civilisation disappeared, the barbarous tribes for many ages so slowly improved, that the aspect of common life remained savage. The Priests of the Superstition, however, saved some tincture of Roman learning, and brought from Rome some of the older knowledge. These, however, directed their minds to the erection of Temples, and edifices designed for the objects of Priestcraft.
Then arose those structures, truly wonderful, in stone, which exhibit so clearly the character of the gloomy Superstition: at first like those of Rome, but in time added to and changed, till at length the vast Temples, truly gigantic, calledGothic, arose.
These are like hugephantasmsof carved stone, rising into the sky. Huge walls, buttresses, turrets, immense clusters of columns, vaulted and lofty arches, long aisles, lighted by strangely-tinted windows, carved masses of stone in prodigious strength, leaping, flyingupwards, upwards, in grand confusion, and yet upon a strange, wild plan!—giving expression to an imagination only known to these dark and strong Barbarians. Externally, on all sides these Temples are monstrous idols in stone, stuck most curiously upon corners, high up in niches, on turrets and battlemented [trit-ti-sy] walls, over the sculptured, grand portals, everywhere—chieflydiabolic, exceeding all the dreams of a mad and dreadful frenzy, yet borrowed from the Superstition and illustrating it! Others surmounting these dreadful things,angelicand serene—as if, after all, the human instinct spurned all the low and horrible intimations of things too foul for expression, and yet so frightfullyattempted, in ghastly and grinning stone!
The Roman-Greek types knew nothing of such—how clear and beautiful these stood out, cheerful andclean, in the pure sky!
As art found this sort of expression in the structures devoted to the Superstition, so in the buildings for the chiefs of tribes the same spirit directed, though modified by the object. In these art found pleasure, and the barbaric mind delight, to pile up lofty Castles of huge stone—dark, menacing—where all was for strength and to symboliseForce, and nothing for refinement, nor even comfort. These great structures are now, for the most part, crumbling away; not from change of barbaric spirit in the love ofForce, but from the uselessness of the Gothic forms in the presence of big cannons. The Roman Architecture, somewhat altered, is generally revived in buildings of importance. Yet the Priests build much as before—dropping off, however,the more hideous of the grinning idols. In this unconsciously giving a sign of the decay of the Idolatry itself. For when all itshorrorsshall have disappeared, the morality and the simple worship of the Lord of Heaven may remain. The improving condition has improved dwellings, particularly of the Higher Castes. The poor still grovel in huts and hovels, often too offensive for the healthy growth of anything but pigs. Among the Low-Castes, in great towns, the filth and stench are quite insupportable.
In ships the English Barbarians pride themselves to be foremost. Upon this subject we may fairly give an opinion. There are others quite equal, and those of theStarry Flagoften superior.
At present the style is changing, and from wood are becoming iron, with such massive sides of thick steel, that no shot fired from any cannon shall be able to break through! So these English think to sail with these huge iron machines into the waters of any people and force submission. For the mighty cannon, shooting out vast fiery balls of steel, are expected to knock to pieces any Castles and utterly burn and destroy any city. And sheltered in these impregnable, swift, floating fortresses of steel, these Barbarians expect absolutely to dominate over all the Seas, and to sink everything which dares to oppose. This supremacy is already vaunted; and all the taxes which can be got from the people, from the tea and beer which they drink, from the tobacco which they smoke, from the letters and papers which they write and use in affairs, and from a shareof their daily toil, are devoted (after handing a certain portion to the Queen and the High-Castes for their pleasures) to these big, floating machines of war, to the huge cannons, and to arm and pay the sailors and soldiers, that this domination be absolutely assured! Still, so far, none of these terrible vessels have proved of any use, as they can neither float nor fight; or, if they float, turn bottom upwards at a small breath of wind, and, if moved to act in concert, are so unmanageable as to be only terrible to each other! The sailors, therefore, dread them as unfit for the sea, and asIron Coffinsto poor Jack, who is forced to go into them!
The introduction ofSteamhas only rendered the Western Barbarians more conceited and more miserable. On nothing do they pride themselves so much as upon the tremendousForce, which they have acquired in the various Arts, by the use of steam. They, in this, as in other similar inventions, mistake the nature of the thing used and its effect. They think themselveswiserbecause they move faster—as if the hare be necessarily wittier than the ox; and more civilised, because more powerful—as if the rhinoceros were to be preferred to the horse.
At this moment, the Barbarian tribes of the West are devoting all their energies to this single notion of Supremacy.Forceis absolutely the most coveted thing—to be strong, the only desirable thing. And the acme of that civilisation of which they boast, glitters only with polished steel, towering high, bristling with terrible weapons of destruction!
There are canals not much used, and not commonlyof good depth and width. The High-roads are nearly as good, in some parts, as those in our Flowery Land; but more frequently quite inferior, being either very dusty or muddy. They have none of the conveniences for the shelter or rest of travellers, provided everywhere by our Illustrious; nor are the signal towers and fine shade trees, which give such beauty to our roads, to be seen, excepting occasionally, and quite by chance, the latter.
The Bridges are insignificant, as a rule, owing to the littleness of the rivers; but they are handsome and strong, built of stone, in the Roman style. They span the rivers, the canals, and formviaducts[pa-se-gyt] for roads ofIron. Upon these roads, passing sometimes over the dwellings and streets of towns, move rapidly the long chain of carriages, drawn by steam-engines, conveying many people and much merchandise. These iron roads are numerous, and the works and buildings connected with them very great and costly. The Barbarians greatly vaunt the usefulness of these roads; but the rightfulness of their opinion is by no means apparent. They break up the quiet and the accustomed industries of the people; excite agitations, produce restlessness and expense, accumulate too manyhere, and depopulate and render meagrethere. They crowd the cities with the poor, and leave the rural districts empty; the towns are overburdened and the fields untilled. They foster the extravagances of the rich and add nothing to the comfort of the common people. It is said that in the saving of time is a saving of money. But it is to be considered that this ease and rapidityof movement is not always usefully directed. It may be, and it is, largely used only to waste and dissipate money and time. It is said to save material measured in relation to effect.Thisis not clear; for, although atonbe moved far quicker to a given point, who shall say that the ton moved by usual means would not, all things estimated, be as economically moved, and with as good result to the common weal?
The real question is not considered, which is—Have Iron-roads added to the useful means of the people? Consider the cost, and say whether such vast expense in other mode or modes of outlay would not have produced means more beneficial.
How much more numerous and better roads, vehicles, buildings for the poor, improved culture, tools, larger areas of recovered lands, new fertilisers, new and numerous schools—innumerable details of improvement—had the intellect, time and money directed to these roads been directed to the many needs of a people! The good, then, is rather the good which activity of brain and outlay of money naturally effect—possibly that activity and expense have not been most usefully employed in Iron-roads—indeed, very probablynotto the good effect of a more naturally ordered expenditure. But the English, seeing theeffectof a prodigious activity and employment of money spread over many years, place it to the credit of athing—Steam; never considering at all whether the thing has been necessarily the cause, or only the accident. To what effect, during the same time, might that same energy and money have been applied! The new power stimulated energy, andpossibly misled it. It may be said that steam did its service by giving this stimulus. Probably not so. The question is, Has Steam after allmisled—fallen short, in fact, of those effects which the usual and less novel forces would have produced? This is an unanswered question.
In the industrial arts the English are not remarkable. They are good in fire-arms and curious in weapons, as may be expected. They are expert in making barrels and vessels to hold liquors from wood;need, which they call the mother of invention, made this art a necessity; such is the prodigious quantity ofbeerwhich they consume. In dress-fabrics, in tools, in furniture, in metals, they show no more skill than our artisans, and in many articles not so much. We have arts, useful and beautiful, unknown to the Barbarians; they have things of mere show and luxury for which we have no use. In what is calledFine Art—that is Painting and Sculpture, particularly—we have but little to compare. ByFine Artis meant what is impossible to us; it is for the most part intolerable to us.
Think of the Illustrious of our Flowery Kingdom crowding into Halls, glittering with gilt and showy colours, to see there, arranged upon the walls and standing upon marble tables, great pictures of women and of men, often naked or nearly naked—wholly nude figures, mostly of women, in all attitudes, carved from marble, or made of a fine baked clay! Not only so; but the illustrious mothers, wives, daughters, and female friends, accompanying the men to the spectacle! The young man and the young woman together gazing uponthe nude and flesh-tinted voluptuous female, glowing in the picture! No; we give no such encouragement to fine Art! Yet our painters compare favourably with those of the Barbarians, in such proper use of the Art as is allowed by us.
For the same reason, as Sculpture with us is only permitted where useful or innocent, it does not reach after such effects as with the Barbarians; where a naked figure of a young woman, done in marble to the luxurious taste of a wealthy High-Caste, will command a great sum. None the less, our Artists can execute with fidelity, as ourAncestral Hallswill show.
Copying from the ancient Romans, in their most wanton and luxurious period, the kind of painting and sculpture referred to is most highly esteemed by the Christ-god worshippers! Many of the Roman works have been discovered, and serve as models; thus theancientsare imitated in their vicious taste, though condemned as very children of the devil!
With the decay of the darker terrors of the Superstition, the mind, rebounding fromasceticism, swung to the other extreme. A rational morality and worship would have preserved a due medium. But with ancient letters revived a love for ancient art; and the indecencies from that source were condoned to the excellency of the work—or pretended to be. The Priests took no care to repress this outburst of voluptuousness; in truth, moulded its nude forms to the embellishment of Temples; and, holding the warm fancies of its devotees, strengthened their influence by a new device. This zeal for the voluptuous in Art and reproductionof Roman types, began by the Roman Pope, spread everywhere. Thus theSuperstitionitself sanctions this taste, which to us appears so unseemly and immoral.
In Parks and Gardens the English Barbarians are not surpassed. We have no equals in horticulture; but in gardens the English are fine artists, and in parks have caught the trueinstinctof Nature. When in these, I have felt conscious of a fine civilisation. The lovely parterres of blooming shrubs; the grand vases, rich in brilliant colours of delightful flowers; roses, festooned, trailed in arches over smooth walks; green spaces, where the sunlight lay warm and cheerful; noble avenues of lofty trees; sweet arbours, embowered in blossoms and verdant vines; shady walks, meandering among the trees; groves of evergreens, musical with cascades, gleaming in marble basins; and fountains, ornamented and sculptured in shining stone. Little lakes, where the breezes awoke the sleepy waves and chased them to the shore, and where the aquatic birds of many forms delighted to sport! The whole place eloquent and still in beauty!Here, no force, nor barbaric rudeness, nor worship of brutal strength, nor of hideous forms, nor of lighted altars!Here, the English Barbarian was a civilised man, and here I could love him!
Ah, when shall he, so strong, see histruestrength, and know how to use it! Arm no more—teach the other Barbarians the proper use of Force! Dreaming no harm to others, fearing no harm to himself, and using the revenues of his great tribe to render it invincible in virtue—how then invincible in all!
One day one of the High-Caste took me under his Illustrious protection, and conveyed me to his grand House, built of hewn stone in the ancient Roman method. It stood among fine trees, a long and glisteningfaçade[phr-not] of white and ornamental marble. He presented me to his illustrious wife, who graciously saved me from the too great embarrassment of her presence; for, as I shall hereafter explain, the custom of the Barbarians in this respect shocks all our notions. Hanging upon the gilded walls were the costly works of painters—among them naked women, coloured and tinted, in most voluptuous forms, smiling down upon us—upon sculptured pedestals, stood white statues, in rich marbles, of exquisite maidens, nude, and attractive in every graceful attitude and personal charm! All this was surprising, if not pleasing—but when this Lord [Tchou] took me into the gardens and Park, there, indeed, all was calm—the agitation of my spirit subsided!
Walking with him, he took me by the arm, and said, "Ah, my dearChin-le, how little we know of each other; you do not understandhowmany things can be with us, nor can we understand many of your customs; butherewe are not unlike—inthisart we meet on common ground." I expressed my grateful sense of his goodness, assented to his happy reference, and then ventured to observe, "Your illustrious treats me like a relation—a brother." "In what respect—I do not know." "Ah, you presented me to the exalted, thelady[da-mtsi]—with us that is to say,this is a son, or a brother." He smiled. "Well, perhaps you areright. I rather think you are, in respect of women, though her Ladyship would not assent." I delicately hinted my embarrassment. "The pictures, the ——." He laughed good-humouredly, and replied, "Doubtless to eyes unused, such things look dazzling, and so on, but it is really only a matter of habit." But then, I suggested, "Is not Art misdirected when so employed." "Well, possibly; but an elegant thing, a beautiful thing—why not give an expression to that beauty which is the most interesting, the most charming?" "Does notthatimply a purity above experience and above nature?" "I see; you lead into an ethical maze—look there?" I followed his hand, and the noble Park extended on all sides; yet, I said to myself, in our Flowery Kingdom, if a point bedoubtfulin morals we lean against the doubt. But is there any doubt as to thesenudities? However, turning with admiration to the well-trained flowers, the spreading lawns of soft verdure, the beautiful vases of brilliant shrubs, the fine trees, with here and there a modest statue, or a marble fountain, I exclaimed, "How perfectly satisfactory and pleasing are these effects of an elevated Art, where nothing is suggested but what calms, cheers, refines, and makes generous!"
"Ah-Chin, my dear fellow, your enthusiasm is admirable; but we need more than the serene, the cheerful, and the generous!" As he said this he smiled at my look of bewilderment—for I was puzzled. Since then I have understood better. Art among the Barbarians must be suited to the restless eagerness of their nature, which demands excitement. And thepassions which ought to be severely repressed, Art, in a hundred ways, finds itself best rewarded to covertly gratify. Thus, all the strong emotions are most coveted, either as shown on the canvas or in the marble. Male figures, nude, writhing, wrestling, and in attitudes of force, or expressing hate, or pain, or fierce contention, or, if in repose, lapsing into the languor of desire. Female figures, for the most part, so managed as to stimulate those feelings, or to suggest those incidents which a wise man likes to ignore; or in such methods as to suggest emotions of shame, of terror, of suffering, or of crime—often debasing or evil in tendency, and rarely to any good purpose. Pictures of bloody fights, of burning cities, of great ships sinking, orblowing upwith all on board; of wretches tearing or cutting at each other, or struggling in blood and fury amid the waves. Statues distorted by agony, or paralysed by terror—in such, Barbarian Art greatly delights. In this, as in the sculpture of the Temples, showing, in another form, its fierceness and love of strong excitement.
In the cities, there are occasionally statues to men who have been famous; and, in some of the great Temples, Sculptures of High-Castes are sometimes set up. They are, as a rule, strange exhibitions. Many of the great pieces consist of a crowd of figures in marble—an astonishing jumble. There are figures blowing great horns; other impossible ones representing huge human birds hovering about; chiefly, however, naked women, with wings awkwardly fastened behind the shoulders, transporting the dead; and others (againfemales) with rings of leaves held in their hands over the head of the dead or dying man! All this is done, or attempted to be done, in marble; and involved in it will be a great ship burning, or great guns being fired, and men and women being killed by hundreds; or other dreadful scenes wherein the great man took fearful part! Memorials or huge paintings, in honour of persons famous in fight and plunder, are thus exhibited in the Temples and public Halls. They are, in general, very astonishing!
In the street corners are sometimes placed, on pedestals of huge stone, carved effigies of a King, or of a Queen, or of some High-Caste man. Of some Brave, who has cut off more heads than usual, or who has seized more plunder, or carried fire and sword over the lands of distant tribes. He is sometimes on horse-back; sometimes naked, with shield and sword, and very terrible; sometimes so far aloft, on top of a high stone column, that nothing can be descried but acocked hatand a pigmy figure under it. Rarely there may be a statue to some High-Caste, who has been distinguished for wringing more taxes from the common people, and, by this means, keeping large armed bands at work abroad—to the glory of the English name! more rarely a statue to the memory of any one renowned for a life useful to mankind.
As works of Art, these things are not to be criticised. They are works ofmoney—that is, paid for by weight; merely meant to compliment apartyor faction in the State, and not to honour, particularly, the subject of the Work, or to give a noble expression of humangenius or skill. No purpose, perhaps, in the sordid workman other than to pocket the large sum for the big show! Nothing wherein a grand imagination, inspired by a fine enthusiasm and full of a noble conception, glows and breathes in the stone, and makes it imperishable!
Whether an unconsciousdisgustleave these public statues and monuments alone in their ugliness, I know not; but they are totally neglected, begrimed, covered with filth—often made the roosting-places of the unwashed streetArabs(beggar boys) andloafers[na-sthi]. Even the statues of living Sovereigns are so totally forgotten and deserted, that the nose ofMajestymay be a small pyramid of dirt, and the ermine robes more defiled and foul than the rags of the street mendicant!
The Western Barbarians are very fond ofScience[kno-tu-ze]—(this is the nearest word in our language, though quite defective)—and consider themselves inthisto be far superior to the ancients and to all the peoples beyond the great Seas. I have never been able to comprehend, nor do I think the Barbarians themselves comprehend very accurately, the meaning of the word.
They will say of a man who is almost a fool, "Ah! but he is very scientific." Of another, constantly blundering, and who has been famous for prodigies of mistake, "His science is astonishing." A builder of a great ship, or of a great bridge, sees his ship upset or his bridge fall down; none the less, he demonstrates to his admiring countrymen that, uponscientificprinciples,the ship should have stood upright and the bridge been as stable as rock!
A doctor kills his patient [vi-zton] scientifically; a dentist cracks the jaw in extracting a tooth; a surgeon breaks the leg which he cannot set:Scienceis satisfied—"all was scientifically done!" A man spends his life in looking at the stars; he is a man of wonderful science. Another keeps a List of fair and rainy days during twelve moons; his scientific attainments are respected and hisobservationsrecorded, as if the fate of the harvests were involved.
You will hear of a man of marvellous science, before whom ordinary scientific men stand uncovered in silence; he has discovered a new kind oftadpole, and added another to the already interminabletermsof natural Science.
I have heard one of these learnedprofessors[pho-phe-sti] say wisely, "He is a benefactor of the race who makes two blades of grass to grow where one grew before;" "but," he added, "he is a greater who teaches mankind how to do this." In this way, wishing to show that anidiotmight chance to find a way to double his growth of grass, but would be incapable of discovering thecause; so that, probably, the accident would die with the finder. A wise man would, at once, look for the reason, and findingthat, be able to secure the benefit for all time. This knowledge of cause is the kind calledScience.
The explanation is familiar to us. In our Flowery Kingdom, the master teaches the rules, and the artificer puts them in practice. We call him an Artisan whohas knowledge of an Art: we call him who knows how things ought to be done, and who examines into things so as to comprehend the best modes of doing, simply a teacher, or master. We do not see that his knowledge, without actual performance, makes him a great man—a man of Science (as the Barbarians have it). Indeed, if a man do a thing merely mechanically, as a horse turns a mill, no doubt he is an ignorant artisan. Still, this stupidity does not exalt, in any degree, the nature of the knowledge of a brighter man: this one is only an intelligent artisan. On the whole, then, it seemed to me that the Barbarians, for the most part very ignorant, were easily imposed upon by those who, having leisure, mastered the multiformterms(or some of them) used by the teachers of Natural History in its various departments. These, too, idle and with some ambition to be known, easily fancied that the dry knowledge of wordswasknowledge; and discovering with surprise at first, but soon with great complacency, how very little one need to know to be ranked with men ofScience, at length prided themselves upon the very trivialities which otherwise would have been unvalued. In fact, finally imposed upon themselves as they imposed upon others, and really believed those triflesto beimportant, because confined to those who paraded them as Scientific. These busy, idle triflers in words becomethe men of Science.
This is very laughable, and shows how mankind, everywhere, constantly repeat the same follies. In our Illustrious annals men like these have appeared and disappeared; founded schools, been admired, had disciples, then passed into oblivion; their works, often voluminous, never met with; or occasionally dug out of mouldy bins and reproduced in some parts to show up the pretensions of anewcharlatan—to show how much better the same things were explained, or the same terms used by an old and forgotten author, 5,000 moons ago!
These men, as with us, constantly overrate the value of their labours; the world really can get on without them. Getting together inCongresses[Bed-la-mi], they pay (or affect) great respect to each other, and put on anairof abstraction; they are supposed to be pondering upon the care of men and things, and feel the weight of responsibility. Other men may be trivial; but to those upon whom rests the due ordering of Nature, Care should be a genius and Dignity a presence.
In these Meetings, nothing is worthy of debate unless it beScientific. A plain paper, directed to a simple, useful object, and stating in ordinary and intelligible language the rules useful to the end, is not satisfactory. There should be something novel and obscure, or it is unlikely to come within the desired category. In truth, high and mightyprincipleson which man and the gods exist and move and flourish, or upon a disregard of which decay and dissolution follow—these are alone the proper objects of philosophers and men of Science; and involved in the profound investigation ofprinciples, the Congress disappears from the common eye, and is lost even to itself!
On the whole, the value of these scientific men to the world did not seem to me to be considerable. I mean asscientific men—without any of the pretension or cant [Bo-zhe] of their class, individuals may be useful, and would be more useful without the false glamour of class-vanity. A man of brain and who really thinks and examines, if he have anything to say will say it, and it will be judged by its merit. But when men havingtimeand not knowing what to do with themselves, and having some knowledge of words and butlittle brains, see anopening for imbecility, and are received and praised and dubbedScientific, because they devote time and waste a large quantity of paper to give the worldtheir thoughts—it is doubtful whether the more harm or the more good be done. To be sure, the idle and empty man may be rendered supremely happy in his vanity, and may have been saved from some personal degradation or vicious inclination—but the world could have been well spared hisCatalogue of the Parasiteson the Lobster, or hisNotes on the Habits of the Barn Swallow, or hisSuggestionsas to the proper use of smoke, or hisHintsupon the hybernation of Eels. No great harm is done, for nobody reads these things but the men of Science, who are obliged to keep up to the work of busy idleness, in reading for debate with each other and at theCongress.
This body professes to teach the proper rules for physical improvement, and its members are natural philosophers. They do not, however, confine themselves to the investigation of natural phenomena—they range over the whole broad field of speculation as well, demanding to know the cause of all things, and the very essence, object, and end. Those who take upon themselves this wider inquiry, assume a dignity far above the mereScientists—these deal with mere visibleforms; but those with thelawswhich underlie the forms, and with the source of Law, its origin, its object, and its end! These arePhilosophers! and when a man is a man of Scienceanda philosopher, then no more is possible to human exaltation!
I have sufficiently referred to theworksof these in another place. They cannot be wholly useless, if there really be abrain, honest and strong, at work. For to such patiently, humbly, earnestly, full of grateful recognition and conscious of the limitations of knowledge and of inquiry; seeking and looking out, with sad eyes, upon the vast world; to such, some new evidence of the grand order, some new and brilliant ray of divine illumination may come—notto showcausenor purpose, but to delight and tranquillise, to give new assurance of the Beneficent and Infinite Wisdom!
The English Barbarians have true men of Science. They are those to whom the people are indebted for nearly all of the useful discoveries and inventions. Men, who, engaged in some pursuit, apply a patient investigation and thoughtful experiments to see if they cannotimprovethe existingmeans to ends. In these investigations, they discover a new source or a newwayof power; and, in the experiments, new applications and uses of it. When these men fall into the hands of theScientistsand Philosophers, and, leaving their work-shops,shine with the gods, at the Congresses—theyusually end in thatglamour—their light is no longer an illumination!
Of the musical Art, some things may be said. There is a wonderful variety of instruments—not many at all like ours.
Some of the stringed are similar to ourChe. There is one, so enormous a structure, as to equal a house in size. It is made by a wonderful combination of hollow, metal pipes, ranging in size from a flute to a big cannon; and in height from a span to the lower mast of a ship. Its sounds are many, single in melody, or astonishing in a wild, clanging harmony (the Barbarians think); but to me, discord. All the combined noises are terrific; and surpass what the effect would be of ourChe,Yuhnien, andPieu-kingall sounding at once!
In Singing, the men often roar like bulls, and the women scream, making hideous contortions. A handsome woman does not like to sing.
There is a Theatre—play—where all the parts, men and women, are sung. The passions of love, hate, jealousy, and so on, are sung and screamed at each other by the players in the most absurd manner. The woman will sing and shriek out the most astonishinggymnastsof voice, the man shouting and bellowing back, and then both together bellow and scream; the woman, at last, falls into the arms of the man, or the man throws himself in a passion at the feet of the woman—both singing and screaming all the while—and the curtain drops! Then arise the noisy plaudits of the spectators—demanding a repetition!
The barbaric music is, for the most part, like themselves, rude and noisy. There are some exceptions—and in simple melody often sweet and tender. Thefluteand thehornare pleasing—the former is much like ourCheng.
Occasionally, one or two thousand singers, and as many performers on instruments come together, and give a grandMusical Treat. Judge what this must be, when you add to this vast combination also the prodigiousHouse of Noise(called Organ)!
Oratory is an Art much admired among the Western tribes, and the English think themselves to be prëeminent. I can hardly judge; one needs to be a perfect master of a tongue to follow a speaker as he ought to be followed. Barbarous races commonly produce effective Orators; the imagination is vivid, the passions strong, and there is enough culture to make the forms of speech at least tolerable.
In the Law-makingHousesspeeches (orations) are often delivered. For the most part dull in manner, insignificant in thought, poor in illustration, very ineffective. The members go to sleep, or withdraw, or rudely interrupt—sometimescoughingdown the speaker. Very rarely are to be seen any flashes of eloquence, to be felt any thrill of its power. Unfortunately the same conceit, here as elsewhere, leads many to believe themselves to be Orators to whom the ability to speak properly is denied by nature. Yet these insist upon "airing their eloquence" (as it is styled) on every occasion possible. Generally these men have some subject, nick-named by the other members as a Hobby, which must be spoken to whether the House will hear or not.Then occurs one of those scenes so characteristic. The Hobby-man rises and tries to speak. He waxes eloquent (at least, he intends to be) on his favourite topic—perhaps the Pope at Rome; or therights of women; or thepurificationof mud-streams; or the poor man'sbeer; no matter what, when the other members determined to drown the speaker, break through all the rules of the House, the orders of the Head officer, and more, all the ordinary decencies, andcaterwaul, andcoughandhowl, till, from mere impossibility of hearing his own voice, the poor,squelchedorator sinks into his seat.
Now, the House prides itself upon thelibertyof speech and of debate; it isoneof the palladia of English Freedom; and this is a forcible illustrationof the liberty. Anything obnoxious to the majority, or even to a noisy minority, may be silenced—such is the freedom of debate!
The English Barbarians especially boast that the Great Council (Law-Houses) is not only the foremost of all national councils, whether ancient or modern, in character and in wisdom, but also in dignity, and the extreme care with which is guarded that most inestimable of allInstitutions, the Sacredliberty of Speech!
There is a kind of oratory, sometimes contemptuously called Pulpit-oratory by the English, which may be referred to, because it forms a considerable part of the literary entertainment. Once a week, on theHolyday, ten thousand speeches or more are uttered by the Bonzes from a high place (calledPulpit) within the Temples. From the place of delivery the name mentioned is given to this kind of speech-making. The speech is known by one name—Sermon. These sermons form a part of theritesin the Temples, and are therefore numberless and never ceasing. As ought to be expected, they are as dull as such a formal thing must be. Some Bonze, new to his office, may attempt to give a little life to the performance. But the High-Caste do not like to be disturbed by any novelties; they prefer comfortably to sleep in the soft seats with high-backed supports, where their fathers have slept, Holy-day after Holy-day, for generations before them. They will not have the Bonze, therefore, thunder the terrors of Jah intheirears, nor affrighttheirwives and children by painting Hell and the Devil. Eloquence, therefore, in the Temples, if it exist, must be content to glide softly over "green pastures," murmuring drowsily with "meandering streams."
Thelower-sectsare not so disposed to neglect their duty. With these the Bonze is expected to be "instant, in season and out of season," in the work of Jah. Histerrorsand the awful Hell; the wiles of Satan; the agony of the damned; the danger of neglecting repentance; the need of Salvation; the glorious Gospel; the blessedness of the redeemed; the worthlessness of good works; the absolute loss, here and hereafter,of failing to Believe; all thesecanonsare vomited forth from the pulpit with an energy, and, sometimes, when directed tounbelievers, with a vindictive ferocity, startling and overpowering. The hearers do not sleep; even the boldest tremble, and the timid and weak sometimes go into convulsions of fear.
There are itinerant Orators, who go about the country making speeches (and trying to make money) upon all sorts of subjects. They are rarely effective, though occasionally, when they happen to seize upon a popular fancy, or to stir up some popular feeling, they gain a certain attention from the Lower-Castes. Whenever effective, it is by blending some of the strong points of the Idolatry with the prevailing agitation. If there be some matter concerning which the populace presume to have any opinion, then the itinerant speaker has his chance; and he is doubly influential if he mix in his discourse a good proportion of matter taken from theSacred Writingsand theCanons—this he distributes, to damn opposers and to reward adherents, with a combined Priestly and Lay vivacity and force!
We have, and have always had, ample specimens of these self-elected teachers and speakers; and they receive with us, in general, about the same neglectful consideration accorded to them by the Barbarians.
On a review, it must be admitted that the Western tribes are ingenious in domestic arts, and not wanting in invention. In the fine Arts they are sometimes effective, though immoral—merely imitating the ancient Roman-Greeks, whom they callMasters. Their architecture, when worth attention, is Roman. But they have produced one novelty,the Gothic—a wonderful outgrowth of the Barbaric mind, formed by its great Superstition. In painting, when confined to natural scenery and objects, they are sometimes very pleasing and correct. But in this department, where they are not immoral, they are often repulsive, seeking forstartling effects, caught from the strongest passions. True Art elevates, refines, and pleases. It never lends itself todeformity, to the bad passions, to baseness. And it cannot sullyitselfby tampering with impure things. It recognises the twofold nature of man, and addresses itself to hismoral instinctand love of divine beauty.
CHAPTER IX.
OF AMUSEMENTS, GAMES, AND SPECTACLES.
Whenthe lowest-caste takes aholiday, decent people keep away from the place of resort, as they would from pestilence. The coarseness, indecency, and uncleanliness are too revolting. Not that they really differ in the ways of enjoying themselves; but from their personal brutishness.
The remarks following refer to those above them, and to the great body of thepeople, when at spectacles and public resorts.
To me, unaccustomed to it, the presence of women everywhere perplexed and surprised. In days of sports, eating, drinking beer, gin, and other drinks, romping of the sexes, and an incessant restlessness, are very noticeable. In the open grounds, all kinds of sports and games are going on; women and men dance, whirl about upon seats, rush after and chase each other, swing in swings, all in a wild revelry! There will be games where the woman is now pursued, and now the man; and now shouting, screaming, giggling, struggling and kissing, men and women rush after each other, catch each other; and then, reforming in ranks, go through the same wild pranks again.
The chief out-door sports are horse-racing, boat-racing, hunting upon horseback, bats and balls, foot-races, and the like. In-door: the theatres, the dancing-halls, the circus, and a great variety of shows and spectacles. Women attend upon all, and take a part in all—or nearly all. In the theatre, the circus, the dances, and many other places and things, they take the most conspicuous parts.
Horse-racing is esteemed as the greatest of all spectacles; and ranks as worthy of a national support. The Highest-Castes—even the Sovereign—attend. The Law-making Houses, the Great Officers of Administration, and the High-Bonzes, leave the duties of their exalted rank, and postpone the making and ordering of the Laws, to attend theRaces. The Illustrious wives, daughters, and female relatives—even royalty—hasten to them, and esteem them as the best of all sports.
Every Caste—thieves, beggars, jugglers, the veryscumof the cities;loafers, vagrants—rich, poor; men, women, children—every description of person, rush or crawl to theRaces. Every sort of vehicle, every mode of conveyance is used: on horseback, on foot; in any way, the enormous multitudes crowd to theRaces—it is the English Saturnalia (as an ancient Roman festival, noted for its licentiousness, was called)—I have heard the wordpunned[jo-akd]Satan-ail'ye, by jesters—meaning theDevil is in it. Not a bad notion, having reference to the evil effects of the sport.
On both sides of the space where the horses are to run, immense numbers of carriages of all descriptions, booths, stands and seats, are arranged, where the vastcrowds stand, or sit, pushing, elbowing; whilst the horses aretrottedout, and theraceis duly prepared. At length, a great many horses, ridden by little men, looking like Apes, rush off at a signal; spurred, whipped, urged by the riders into madness, with eyes bloodshot, and nostrils distended, and every cord and muscle starting out and straining—whilst the multitudes of men and women stand up, shouting, leaping, screaming with excitement—sweep like a whirlwind along the course, and pass the goal! And thousands of gold are lost and won! By as little as a head, or a neck, one of the horses is declared to be winner! The name of the horse is sent all over the Barbarian world, and theeventis watched for by millions—because bets are made, not only upon the ground, but in every part.
I can hardly explain to the people of our Central Kingdom, the excitement and the confusion of this scene. The most illustrious men and women are present; the great Bonzes are there—all classes, the lowest and highest, jumbled together, if not in contact, all carried away by the same wild passion. About the splendid equipages of the rich, mere human vermin crawl and fight for the crumbs and bones which fall, or are thrown from the feasting women and men, carousing in the carriages. In these, beautiful women laugh and bet with the men, drink the wines, and exchange a hundred smiles and jokes. Betting books are opened, and the women take bets and plunge into the vortex of the phrensy. The race is over, and thousands are impoverished, many utterly ruined.
With us the Theatre is merely a public, out-doorspectacle, of no importance, amusing the ordinary crowd, and free from immorality. Women take no part in the representations—boys, dressed as females, playing for women. But with the Barbarians the Theatre is an organisation of government, and receives the highest support. Women act, and are more popular with the spectators than the men.
The first in estimation is theOpera. In this representation, as I have said in another place, the action goes on, all inSinging. To me nothing could be more ludicrous, more in defiance of all reason and nature. The most terrible emotions—fear, hate, envy, as well as the tender; love, affection, friendship—all sung, and not merely sung, but bellowed, screamed, shrieked, in every contortion of throat and mouth!
In the Tragic performance the fierceness of the Barbarians delights in dreadful murders, plots, assassinations; in things which tear and lacerate human feelings, and bring despair and death!
The Comic is as coarse in loosebuffoonery[Kro-sen-to-se] as the tragic is for an extreme of agony, based upon crime and baseness.
But the most astonishing of all the representations upon the Stage is theBallet. I should not dare nor desire to refer to this, were it not to illustrate a point in the Barbarian character, only too prominent; and to give further cause to the people of ourFlowery Landto be thankful to the Sovereign Lord, that He has not permitted such mark of degeneracy to stain us.
The Ballet is supervised by a very High-Caste Lord. It is composed of a band of young women, selected forbeauty of form and of limb. They appear in public nearly naked, or so clothed in tightest hose [ki-i-e] and draped in thinnest diaphanous fabric, that what is concealed is half disclosed and more piquant than if left uncovered. Troops of these appear—dazzling in white or pink—upon the stage-floor. Before they show themselves to the public, however, they parade, one by one (as I was truly informed), before the High-Caste Supervisor of the Ballet, who, with his assistants, duly examines the legs, arms, busts, and drapery, to see if all be in due order. The drapery is carefully measured to see if it be of the required length, and, if too short, must be extended to the knees. Not to cover anything, but to satisfy a pretence. For these transparent fabrics, aside fromthatquality, are so contrived that they float off from the body and limbs with every movement—and the motions studied are those which produce this effect—twirling around rapidly being a chief feat. When the High-Caste is satisfied that there be nothing to offend the most delicate, and that all the demands of a pureChrist-godmorality are satisfied, he sends the young girls to the stage, and they appear in theBallet.
This is a dance—why should I say more. But consider this dance is before the highest and best—in an immense and brilliantly lighted, lofty house. There are vast crowds, seated upon a level with, or just below the stage—in rows, one row above another, forming a grand half-circle, from the floor to the dome; so high, that the faces cannot be distinguished. Then the rich and glittering decorations; the paintings, the sculptures, the music!
The music of innumerable instruments strikes up. In come the troops of half-naked girls; their busts, their legs exposed. In they come, leaping, dancing, twirling, whirling, flying! They twirl around on the toes like tops. They spin on a single toe, sticking out the other leg—and, in this attitude, revolve about! They retreat, advance, stoop, go backward, forward; twisting, twirling, throwing themselves, their arms, and particularly their legs, into all possible positions; whirling about on one leg and extending the other, being the most admired feat! This is (very faint) theBallet!
Mothers, wives, husbands, daughters, sons, lovers, maidens, look upon this spectacle—and pray for the benighted Heathen!
Englishmen often remarked to me, jocosely, "Ah-Chin—no like the Ballet—why, the Theatre nowadaysstandson Legs!"
It is a fact that, in those times which the Barbarians calldark, when ignorance and brutality marked the whole aspect of common life, theinstinctof decency prevented women from appearing on the Stage at all. It is quite a modern invention.
The Circus is another favourite show. In this, women appear, ride the horses, fly in the air, walk upon ropes tightly drawn above the spectators, and form a main feature. They make the same study of exposing themselves, and are undressed like the women in theBallet. They give to the performance the same kind of stimulus, to which is added the further excitement of danger. For in leaping, flying through the air, vaulting, and walking upon the tight-rope high above the spectators;the probability of a broken back, or neck, gives a new sensation.
In the warm weather, the English Barbarians find great amusement in crowding to the Sea. Here, little houses placed on wheels are trundled into the waves. From these, women, men, and children wade, and plash and dive into the water. The women, and even children, often swim very well—the men nearly all. The two sexes bathe quite near, or together, in full sight of the people on the shore. Here, on the sands, thousands are walking, sitting, and lounging about, amusing themselves in the idlest sports. The men in the water are, with the exception of a mere loin-cloth, naked. The women, though tolerably covered, yet so carelessly that, with the motions of the bath and waves, they are sufficiently exposed! In these sea-bathing places you will see Barbarian life in all its rudeness, and love of boisterous fun and frolic. The men, and women, and children, abandon themselves to eating, drinking, bathing in the sea-water; to sports and games; to dancing, sight-seeing, andmatch-making. The last is the pursuit of husband-catching, which the free-and-easy life at the sea-side greatly facilitates.
Boat-races—sailing boats, and boats rowed or paddled—take place at these sea-side places, and are greatly admired. They are unobjectionable, and natural to a maritime tribe.
A strange feature is to see women go fearlessly into boats, and, hustled with the men, enjoy the excitement of the wind and wave, to witness these races, or merely for the frolic—but women are everywhere!
The Cattle Shows are characteristic. Here, fat cattle, sheep, fat swine, fine horses, poultry, tools used in tillage, fruit and vegetables, are shown; and the best receive prizes. Only a few of the High-Castes attend these, and then merely as a form. The real support comes from the farmers; and from theLower-Castes. These crowd to the show, paying at the doors, merely for frolic and fun. Open to late hours at night, with music, lights, and places for eating and drinking, the mixed crowd of men and women delight in the hustling, crowding. The usual beer and other drinks are ready; the usual giggling of women, surging, and elbowing, and pushing about! One wonders much, whether the fat animals are not more respectable than the animals which crowd about them! But I can hardly fairly judge of the realcharacterof the crowds, for they are too novel and too offensive to the habits of our Flowery Land. It is certain, however, that the Barbaric element always perverts the most useful things; and a Cattle Show must be debased and turned aside from its proper objects. What have the women and men, who push and surge about the brutes, of interest in the thing? Nothing. They may know and care for sheep, whenroasted, or for fat swine, when in the shape of arasher[fri-ie-tz].
The most curious, and, perhaps, most important of out-door scenes is theHustings. When there is a vacant place in the Lower-Law-House (of the great Council), the Sovereign commands a new member to be chosen by those who have the right, in the town entitled to send. A sort of stage is put up in the market-place, and here those meet who are to behustledfor. Hustingscomes from this word, and meansto shake together in confusion. There are some who wish to send A., others who wish to send B. Accordingly, these are seized by their struggling supporters; each side endeavouring to put upon the stageitsman, and each trying to put off the man of the other side! One may judge of thehustling. Each candidate submits to every sort of indignity. Thehustlers(voters, generally called) are chiefly of the Lower (not Lowest) Caste, and enjoy this privilege mightily. Beyond the immediate actors are the associates of the two parties—not having a right tohustle; but, none the less, aiding in the general struggle, by pelting with rotten eggs, garbage, or other harmless (sometimes not harmless) nastiness [phu-fo], the man whom they dislike. Finally, one of the men is got upon the stage; entitled to be the new member for having had the larger number ofindignitiesput upon him, and come out a-top! These are—to have the head-covering driven violently down over the face—to be befouled with stinking eggs and garbage, and all the time to say, "Free and independent voters," accompanied by bows and grimaces, intended forsmiles!
If the Lower-House, however, find on examination that some one has hustled twice—that is, thrown two missiles, then the scene must be rëenacted! For it is thought to be too dangerous to allow of this unfairness. If one could do this on the one side, then it would be done on the other; and in the excitement, things harder than mud would be thrown, to the danger of life! As to the outside throwers, the police take care that they do not exceed mud, filth, rotten eggs, and vegetables!
When the new member is chosen, he is called upon by his supporters to thank them in a speech. He rises to do this, and, bowing, says, "I am powerless to express my grateful sense of the honour.Free and independent voters"—at this moment a half-drunken supporter of the defeated man gives the signal. The rotten egg has fairly hit the new member in the face; the crowd on the one side and on the other rush inpell-mell; the stage is broken down; stones, sticks, clubs, brickbats, are used and fly about freely; noses bleed; heads are cracked; oaths and yells arise! The new member, surrounded by his supporters, finally conquers; and, placed in a chair, is lifted by strong arms to the shoulders of sturdy men, who bear him to his illustrious house, where his exalted wife and noble friends receive him with delight. The tumultuous crowd are feasted by the Servants; and, finally, yelling and shouting formy Lord—the new member—he appears at a lofty window above them, thanks them once more, and disappears. The rabble leave the place, the gates are closed, and my lord and lady can congratulate themselves and be congratulated that thefarceis over. Power and influence remain with them—the indignities are all washed off—it is merely English humour.
In these Hustings the Illustrious wives and daughters, as well as all male relatives, take part, and are obliged to take their share of theindignities. The dirty child of a low-caste (who happens to have a right tohustle) will be taken upon the silken lap ofmy Lady, and feel boldly in my Lady's pocket for pennies; and the daughter of my Lady sits down upon the stool andfeeds the hungryold hagof aged poverty. The old hag being ill, and mother to thehustler. In this way, and on these rather infrequent occasions, the bold Englishman of Low-Caste vindicates his manhood and shows his power in the State. But it is a mere form. The High-Castes understand the Barbaric temper, and consider this mode of amusing it the cheapest and least inconvenient. There is a struggle sometimes for the new membership between individuals, but these are always of the High-Caste connection and order. Actual power does not exist in the hustling rabble—thatis in the High-Caste. Nevertheless, sometimes theHustlerscan determine which of two shall be sent; and, therefore, it is necessary, when more than one desires to go, to submit to thehustling. Nearly all the worstindignitiesare omitted when only one person is named. In this case, all the hustlers being of a mind, they do not inflict more than theaccustomedindignities, which are moderate in comparison; though one would think sufficiently humiliating.
In the civic processions, which occur when a new magistrate is appointed to a city, one observes how the old barbaric features still predominate. Like children those things are most esteemed which grown people disdain or laugh at. Rude force and the emblems of it; men absurdly accoutred in old, fantastic arms and armour; banners which once marshalled trained men to war; gilt and golden vehicles, conveying priests and officials; these carrying glittering baubles in their hand; loud music and bands of curiously dressed braves; these things delight the multitude, which comes swarming out from every hole and corner of the city. Such crowds of both sexes, with children even in arms! Nowhere out of these Barbaric and populous tribes can such a spectacle be seen. The vast throngs rush and push about, and woe to that decent man who gets entangled among them! Often the selfish, reckless hordes, rushing through some street with a new purpose, overwhelm and crush every moving thing in the way.
Women, children, strong men, are often thrown down, maimed; even killed outright! Thieves, beggars, the indescribablescumof degraded humanity, mixed with the crowd (in its own character but little removed from lowest debasement), give it an air of unspeakable disgust!
Of these Civic Spectacles,a Coronationis supreme. This only takes place when a new Sovereign is crowned. No one is admitted to the actual Ceremony but the highest of the High-Castes. The common people, who bear nearly all the taxes to pay for the enormous cost, must be content to get such glimpses of the passing pageant, as is possible to them, at the risk of limb and of life. The whole thing is so guarded by armed bands, on horseback and on foot, with fire-arms ready, and swords drawn, that it is only by rushing close to the horsemen, and pressing upon the foot-braves, that any glimpse can be got by the common multitude; and for these mere glances—under the bellies of horses, or between their legs, or through some iron railings, or the like—the devoted barbarians will risk their lives. Such is the admiration which this great show attracts!
It is thus admired, not only because of the awfulnessof theCrown, but also because the Idolatry plays so large a part in it. The new King is always crowned by a Highest Bonze, in his costly priestly robes, and anointed withholyoil; whilst theSacred Writingsand Incantations are duly read and uttered! The worship of Christ-Jah and the other gods, are all pledged, together with all the Canons and beliefs, including the Divine Revelation of the JewishSacred Writings; in fact, the ceremony, in the Priestly part, is Jew throughout!
The scene is characteristically barbaric. Force, and glittering display; all the jewels, the gewgaws, the golden rods, orbs, bowls, sticks; the spears, swords, steel armour, helmets; the robes, furs, silks, velvets; jewelled garters for the legs; ornamented chains in gold, for the neck; coronets, for the hereditarynobles[Hi-fi]; cassocks, gowns, mitres, staffs; scarlet and crimson cloths, cloaks, and waving plumes of the great braves; men in steel, on horseback—all these things, and a thousand more! With the grand women, and the High Lords! all are present. All is show and glitter; and childish! In the midst, out there rides a man, all covered with steel armour, with a long and flashing spear, who, sitting proudly on his horse, looks defiance! A trumpet sounds; another dashes forward, and proclaims the new Monarch; then the first, with a loud voice, defies to mortal combat any one who dares to challenge the right of the proclaimed Sovereign—and, thereupon, throws down a glove [kang]. If any one should pick up the glove, it would imply an acceptance of the challenge. No one takes up the glove. Thetrumpets sound, the music strikes up in a hundred places; the vast multitude cry and shout, "Long live the renowned, the exalted, the Illustrious!"—and the new-crowned man is King!
In this barbaric display, the money expended is enormous in amount. The jewels and mere inanities are so costly that, put to proper use, poverty would scarcely exist. Nor is this all; the High-Caste get all the honours and emoluments, though they bear but a small part of the expense. Many of this Caste holdhereditaryoffices connected with this Show, from which they derive revenue and high honour! One may be hereditarysword-bearer, anothercup-bearer, anothertowel-holder, anotherbottle-washer. Nor is this sort of sinecure (namefor frivolous, useless Service) confined to males; females may be hereditaryfolders of the Queen's night-cap,washers of the baby-linen,keepers of the robes,maids of the bed-chamber, and so on! Still, such is the ignorance and debasement of the common people, and even of the better classes, that, although they pay for these expensive whimsicalities and barbarisms, and never by any chance share in the personal benefits,they admire them; and believe them to be, in some mysterious way, connected with theirglorious constitution and privileges!
I scarcely like to speak of the displays by thebraves. These are those on horseback, those on foot, those with horses, and cannons mounted on wheels; and some who march partly, and partly ride. OurFlowery Kingdomknows these armed bands, and how rude and disorderly they are. How they plunder and kill the defenceless,and burn and destroy! How fierce they are, and how reckless of order, even to their own chiefs!
But I will refer to the main display of these armed bands. Once or twice in twelve moons, all the bands being assembled, are divided into two parts. Each part has a great Chief at the head, with horsemen, footmen, and those with the wheeled-cannon.
One of these Divisions is sent to a distance, and the other is kept at hand. Then the one near is commanded to act as if the distant force was an enemy, who, having landed, was marching into the country to subdue it. In this way, it is intended to teach the armed bands to march, countermarch, hide, seek, advance, retreat, get into ambuscade, get out of it, rush up hills, rush down hills, cross rivers, make bridges, construct roads;pretendto blow up and to construct earth-forts;pretendto charge, to fire, to shoot, to rush with horses, to swiftly move and fire the cannons, each against the other; to skirmish in small squads [kong], and fight in large bands—in fine, to carry on aMilitary campaign(as the Barbarians term this prodigious nonsense). Some one said to me, "A verysham pain." It seemed to me no sham to the soldiers—so far astoilis concerned.
How, in carrying out this tomfoolery [hen-di-ho-ty], bands of armed men may be seen scattered over a wide range of country. Smoke of fire-arms and reports of the cannons may be seen and heard, in different parts—and a quiet traveller may be surprised to see suddenly a band of men, armed, rapidly approaching, with the bright steel glistening in the sun; and, levelling these steel-spears affixed to the fire-arms, see them rush,pell-mell, upon a row of bushes, firing and shouting—then, suddenly recoiling, rush back and hurry to shelter behind someother row! Then cannon will bang, and smoke will rise from among trees near the place; and the horses will be seen advancing rapidly, dragging after them the cannon, which, being planted on a hill, fire and bang away; then, all at once, some great braves, with feathers flying, and swords flashing, will rush directly upon the cannon, even right into the mouths!
Thenpell-mellother horsemen, cutting and slashing with long swords, and firing off little fire-arms, will be seen; and soon long lines of foot-braves will appear among the trees and bushes, and some will rush upon the others, and others rush upon them, firing and banging away, in a manner very surprising; and this is asham-fight. Sometimes the braves get so excited that they really do fight in good earnest. As there is nothing but powder in the fire-arms, the danger is in the swords and spears, which are sometimes so used in the heat and excitement that many braves are really hurt.
When all is over the head braves of the two forces make Reports of the doings of their respective divisions, complimenting the braves and the head men upon their discipline and order.
On one occasion the Royal Prince and his attendants rode directly upon the mouths of a battery of cannon. Now the whole idea of theShamis that everybody is to conduct himself preciselyas ifthe doings were real. Any head-brave who forgets this is disorderly and liable to punishment. What would have been the fate of the Royal party had the cannon which they rode directlyupon, been charged with balls as well as powder! It is not to be found, however, that the Great Brave in his Report referred to this extraordinary exploit of the Royal Prince.
With an enemy, real, deadly, strong, advancing into the country, then indeed the braves would have work which would stir all their wits and nerve all their strength. Marches in rain and mud; toilsome nights; work in the ditches; cold and biting winds; wakeful and wearisome watchings; all endured manfully, and hardly noticedbecause it is real. Even a pauper disdains make-believe toil, and takes the pittance tendered for it as an insult. To the common man all this labour and exposure is very hard and very real—all the more so, because it is mere noise and smoke. No wonder that he is careless and indifferent; no wonder that he curses the nonsense which wearies him without giving him any satisfaction. Show him true, honest need; where the enemy of his tribe lurks, and he is alert, active; calls up all his intelligence, looks to his arms, looks about him, and feels no fatigue. But this—he loses discipline, and is really demoralised by aSham.
Still the Barbarians greatly admire all this noise and blustering; and the Head-Braves fancy that the bands are improved in order and in knowledge of arms; that they would really understand how to meet a genuine enemy more skilfully, by havingmade-believeto fight a friend. All human experience shows the opposite of this to be true; for theshamis certain toentailsome of its mischief and injure the very qualities which it is supposed to improve. In the nature of things thisaffair cannot be good. The object is a sham—everything, therefore, about it is sham. The fight is a sham, and the fighter is a sham-brave, and, therefore, worthless. Who doubts that he is injured by this pitiful work?
When these armed bands march in the displays made on public occasions, then, knowing that they are doing true work with a true object, they enter into it with spirit. Every man feels himself to be a part of a fine whole, and interests himself to do his best. These displays of the numerous armed men, marching with banners, bright swords and spears, with cannon, great troops of horses, long columns of glittering steel flashing in the sun, with brilliant coverings and gay colours, and the loud clanging music—these attract great multitudes. Whilst the High-Caste Braves, on grand horses, clothed in bright armour and steel, prance about and order the bands of braves. All are quiet and orderly, and preserve due restraint. One would not know that these are the same turbulent, untrained, reckless, and cruel plunderers and murderers, who devastate the homes of peaceful people beyond the seas.
I did not see the big fire-ships, for it was not permitted to me. Or rather it would have been very uncomfortable indeed, for the rude and insolent Barbarians in the ships know nothing of ordinary politeness and civility. They jeer my illustrious country and people, and mock at us with the brutality of conceited and barbaric ignorance. I was told that the big ships perform a great many movements, firing off the great cannons, and moving about each other, andpretending to fight—in this way to teach the head officers and the men how to manage the vessels, and how to fire the enormous guns, and how to shoot the big balls and fire-bombs, and other horrible things, in the most destructive way. Sometimes an old vessel is allowed to float on the waves, and the fire-ships shoot off the cannon balls against the hull, to see how soon they can destroy, burn, or sink it. Sometimes they send against it a curious machine filled with gun-powder, which, sinking under the old hull, suddenly blows up, raising the great mass entirely out of the sea, and utterly destroying it! So ingenious are these fierce tribes of the West in all contrivances for the destruction of mankind!
CHAPTER X.
OF THE EMPLOYMENTS OF THE PEOPLE, AND ASPECTS OF DAILY LIFE.
I havespoken quite at length of the English Barbarians astraders—these form a large portion of the whole. Below these are the lowest caste, workers, beggars, and thieves. The tillers of the land make a great part of the workers; then those who toil in the mines, shops, and great factories; lastly, mere day-labourers of all sorts.
The tillers of land are wretchedly poor. In the years of their strength they just keep from starvation, living in hovels hardly fit for a brute, and not so good as theMaster'sdog-kennel. When strength goes they become idle, paupers, and die in the poor-house [do-zen-di].
The mine-workers delve in the dark bowels of the earth for coal, iron, copper, tin, and other minerals. No beast works in more dirt, nor under more brutal circumstances. Out of the light of day, far below, in pitchy blackness, illumined only by the faint light of a lamp fastened to his head, theserftoils—exposed to death from suffocation, by the falling-in of earth, from great outbursts of water, from accidents of many kinds, and from the fearfulexplosions! He gets more money—but in thelight of day, when he has cleansed himself from some of his weight of filth, the gin and beer shop give him the readiest and only resource! The lives of these toilers and of their families are scarcely imaginable. An explosion sometimes destroys nearly a whole village!
The vast numbers, men, women, and children, who labour in shops and factories of all kinds, present a very uniform appearance of misery and degradation. They swarm in the great towns, amid thedébris[kon] of coal and iron works, and in thepurlieusof the places of labour—dirty, noisome, barbarous. No High-Caste, unless by mistake, ever goes among them; and even the lower avoid them. Worked by their task-masters all the day, from early morning till late at night, for such pittance as may keep themat work, what can be expected? Young girls and lads work together; there is no decency (there hardly can be), connections are formed, children come; but who is to carefor them? What can describe truly the actual state of things?