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Leader (1850-1860), 18th August 1855, Edition 2 of 2, Page 16

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      The Novels Of M. Hjendrik Conscience. Th...

      tk « ?«« l « Tior stories , Veva , and The Lion of Flanders , are intended to il ^ t ^ jJrt lidebTSp arated periods of Flemish history , in which the illustarate two widely sep ^ ^ French . Veva describes ^ warTf ^ e pStst- mst the Republic of' 92 and Tke Lion of $ 7 ande % the war & the townsmen in the thirteenth century against Philip Vkf T ? X J 5 oth novels contain abundant evidences of careful workmanship , v ~ + w £ L- « nt to <* o too deeply into particulars when we are obliged to find fault-ha 7 ethe faSu defect « S dulness . Any English reader taking up either of them , would be able , we strongly suspect , to put it down exactly at the Sine when he had previously resolved to abandon books , and take to some other occupation . Whatever M . Conscience may do among his own public , we doubt if he will keep any lady sitting up too late , or make any gentleman unpunctual at dinner-time , among our public . His want of faculty as a his tediousness out of the

      painter of character is the principal cause of ; dry bones of the Past , he cannot put together living figures . Although defective in general construction , many of his scenes are well imagined and powerfully written ; but the people who move through them cannot fasten on the reader ' s sympathies , or even , by their recorded actions , keep him in a state of suspended interest . Veva , being nearest to modern times , is the least tedious of the two books . But the author ' s Conservative prejudices lead him into the old injustice of exhibiting in his Republicans the violent results of the French Revolution , without also , in common fairness , exhibitin in his Royalists , the causes which led to it . People unacquainted with French history could draw no other inference after reading Veva , than that the Kings , Aristocracy , and Priesthood of France , before the year 1790 , were all undeservedly distrusted and unreasonably resisted by a populace in a state of diabolical frenzy about nothing at all ! of the of M .

      On the whole , the result of ou ^ erusal works Conscience is , that he must be content to stand with the second rank of writers if he aspires to take his place as a contributor to the contemporary literature of Europe . Judged by the Flemish standard , he stands out prominently—but judged by the European standard , his position alters ; it then becomes clear enough that he is in no respect one of the great writers of fiction in our time .

      *G6 T H E Ii E A J> E Hi [No. 282, Sattj...

      * g 6 T H E Ii E A J > E Hi [ No . 282 , SattjbtjAy ,

      Adventures In The Province Of Assam. Tra...

      ADVENTURES IN THE PROVINCE OF ASSAM . Travels and Adventures in ths Province of Assam . By Major John Butler , 55 th Begt . B . N . I . Smith , Elder , and Co . It is not merely in regular campaigns and pitched battles that the officers of the Indian Army acquire their knowledge of the military _ , _ for it frequently happens that their most active service takes place in times of comparative peace and tranquillity . The detached duties they are then called upon to perform inspire them with a just confidence in themselves , with fertility of expedient , and a wholesome fearlessness of responsibility . On the extreme frontiers of our Indian possessions they are constantly engaged in repressing the forays and internal feuds < Jf neighbouring tribes ,-in inflicting chastisement for some audacious violation of the British territory , in surveying and mapping out wild and unknown districts , or in making roads and opening a regular trading communication with remote peoples . In these expeditions both men and officers are compelled to endure

      great fatigue , and are exposed to many perils from climate , wild beasts , and Semi-barbarians . At times they encounter terrific storms , of the violence of which it is impossible in more favoured regions to conceive an adequate idea , or they-enter upon inhospitable tracts , the peculiar haunts of tigers and wild elephants . At other times they have to force their way through hitherto impervious jungles , or to toil up the steep ascent of some mountain range seldom trodden by the foot of man , We then behold the gallant little band cheerfully plunging into the chill waters of a winter torrent , rushing impetuously over rolling stones and boulders sharp and slippery as glass . Escaping from this we watch them as they slowly wind along the edge of frightful precipices , or prepare their encampment for the night , cutting down bamboos , erecting huts , roofing them with grass , and providing against surprise by beasts of prey or the more treacherous savage . Such

      scenes as these are graphically described in Major Butler ' s remmiscences of travel and adventure , combined with much useful information regarding the habits , and customs of the various clans occupying the highlands of Assiun . But while we award due praise to the enterprise and endurance manifested in these adventures , we loudly protest , in the name of our common humanity , against the policy pursue ^ by the Indian Government towards weak and insignificant tribes . In Europe we reprobate all interference with the internaWiffairs of other States , whilst in the East we compromise the dignity of a great nation b y taking part in every squabble that occurs between robber chiefs lying along our frontier . After tun military expedition against the hill tribes of Assam , with very doubtful success , but with a positive ox . penditure of men and money , it was widely determined to withdraw all the troops from the hills to Dheemahpoor , and to " abstain entirely and unreservedly from all concorn or meddling wijth the feuda" of these savnge

      tribes . Even presuming the necessity of any one of those expeditions , it would surely nave been more rational—if it be n < # absurd to expect such ft vulgar attribute as common sense in men placed in high authority—to have despatched European soldier © on a . duty for which they are physically better calculated than ; the lowland Sipahee , so impatient of cold . ' 4- 'ho fluttering of the native troops appear to have been cruelly intense , and if they partially succeeded in discomfiting the enemy , it was only through this superiority of fire-arms over stones and spears . Tho whole system of warfare > vn » disgraceful in the extreme , entiro villages being burned to the ground , to inspire the barbarians with a taste and respect for civilisation . Nor can

      wo bestow much commendation on Major liutler ' n symbol of peace and brotherly love . Hia invariable emblem of fraternisation is a bottlo of brandy . It must be admitted , there appears to have been no instance of its having failed to conciliate good will . Until \ ory recently it uaed to he a favourite jibe with the natives of India that if the British rule were suddenly brought fto , a conclusion , the only vestiges of our lost dominion would bo a unary thousands of empty beor bottles . It may possibly bo deemed that the bottlo is a more pleasant token of civilisation than the gallows , but we could wish that tome other evidence of intellectual superiority were offered to the savage

      than a sample of our skill in distillation . The Major , indeed , seems to entertain rather material notions on most topics of national amelioration . " When I first came to Assam in 1837 , " he writes , " there were but few brick bungalows with glass doors in the province , and every station was lost in jungles and swamps ; but vast improvements have been effected . Briek bungalows with glass doors , brick gaols , courts of justice , record offices and treasuries , are everywhere to be met with . " What a satire on the humanising influences of the British sway ! If we cannot reclaim the barbarian , we at least bring him to trial in a brick house with glass doors , and then confine him in another brick house , without glass doors , because he has violated laws he never understood . Another instance adduced to illustrate

      the beneficial effects of intercourse with Europeans is in the veneration now paid to the coin of the realm in preference to shells and beads , which will no longer " purchase anything . " The Nagahs now understand the merits of the " ¦ splendid shilling" as well as a Philips . Some attempts have also been made to convert this clan to Christianity , but the means employed are sufficiently small to warrant the interposition of a miracle . A schoolmaster has been appointed , and copies of tho Bible supplied in the Assamese and Bengalee languages , but without any marked success , although Major Butler expresses himself very favourably as to their capacity for receiving instruction . He speaks of them its the most unprejudiced race he ever met with—particularly as regards their diet .

      They eat dogs , rats , elephants , tigers , rhinoceroses , cows , pigs , and fowls ; but , strange to say , they have no ducks . A dead elephant is esteemed a great prize as well as a delicacy . The flesh is merely dried in the sun and eaten without any further cooking , either roasting or boiling . They are extremely foud of spirituous liquors , the stronger the better ; we gave them wine , beer , and brandy ; the latter was highly approved of , but the bitter taste of the beer they did not at all relish ; they did not either like vinegar or sauces , or anything sour ; but sugar , jams , aniseed , or anything sweet , pleased them much , and they immediately asked for more . In fact they ate and drank of everything we offered them , and smoked our cheeroots with great satisfaction . If such a people could receive a moral education , how soon , " & c .

      The religious belief of these interesting tribes , so well disposed to Christian cheer , is at present somewhat vague and uudefined . A few clans worship the sun and moon , others believe in a plurality of gods endowed with equal power , to whom they oiler in sacrifice pigs , fowls , and spirituous liquor . Their sacrifices are great rejoicings after the manner of the Israelites . To their deity they present a scanty portion , composed of the refuse parts , and with the rest they feast and make merry . They have also a confused notion of spirits who dwell in rocks and trees " and rivers , and they imagine that sickness and other evils incidental to humanity may be averted by the slaughter and consumption of bogs and fadings from the flock . One of their most horrid superstitions is to cut otf the head , hands , and feet of any one in thfields

      they can master—not necessarily an enemy—and stick them up e to ensure a good harvest . At Dheemahpoor there are remains not unlike those at Abury , a circumstance that may perchance be distorted into an illustration of the common or igin of the human race and of human worship . This line of argument is in tho naif style of Nelson ' s profession of faith . Kemarking one day to a friend that he still retained the sensation of fingers on the arn ? he had lost , he triumphantly added , " which proves the immortality of the soul , and makes the wiiole thing quite clear . " The nattfral inference is rather that similar causes will , carteris paribus , always produce similar effects , and that similar premises in Assam and Anglcsca will lead to similar conclusions . The following is the description of the avenue of stone pillars within the old fort of Dheemahpoor : —

      After passing through the gateway into the fort , we met with two rows of thirty curious round sandstone pillars , carved with representations of the lotus flower ; then two rows of fifteen square pillars , roughly carved with figures of peacocks , tigern , deer , and elephunts . Many of the pillars arc broken and prostrute . The rows of pillars are fifty-fivo feet wide and two hundred and thirty-six feet long ; ten feet between each pilliir , and twelve feet between each row . Taking the average height of the square pillars at eighteen feet , twelve above and six . underground , and live feet square , the weight of each of these atones , when quarried , was not less than seven hundred and twenty-nine maunds , or about twenty tons . The largest round pillar is thirteen feet high , and six feet six inches in diameter ; one of the smallest is ten feet high , and three Ject nine inches in diameter Each pillar is supposed to have been the appointed seat of a grandee according to his rank . It is aiiid that every year , on a fixed day , all the nobles assembled in this hall of audience , and a human being was decapitated between two square pillars in the ce . itre of tho hall before the assembly , as a sacrifice to appease the wrath of the deity .

      The major rather inconsequentially argues from the size of these stones that " they are made on the spot from eonie composition of sand and other ingredients , as it does not seem practicable to convey such enormous masses of stone from the Nugnh hills , which are distant from this spot thirteen miles . " But the stones at Abury have been computed to weigh fifty tons , and yet they were arranged symmetrically in circles as well as in the two great avenues , and placed at precisely equal distances from one another . The criminal code of the Kookies , two of the moat powerful clans , must oftentimes cause the heart of a sufferer to lenp with joy . The penalty of denth is not inflicted for theft , adultery , or murder , for this wise people prefer the spilling of liquor to the aljedding of blood . The ordinary penalty for most offences is a pot of liquor , or a pig . " When a fino is paid with a all

      pig , the animal ifl killed and cut up into pieces , and portions arc given to the chiefs , as well as to the owner of the house in which the pig has biv » cooked , and the remainder is given in e <^ ual portions to the public / ' The unclean animal plnj's a distinguished part in all thoir festal ceremonies , and they are ever ready to exclaim with Carlo BuflFbne , Pork , pork in your only feed , " and perhaps for the suine reason : " "Tin an axiom in natural philosophy what comes nearest the nature of that it feeds converts quicker to nourishment , and doth sooner CHScntiatu . Now , nothing in flesh and entrailti assimilates or re . soinblea man more than a hog or swine . " The grand monument , however , to tho wisdom of the New Ivookios is the institution of Jiiijahnhip , which proves the existence of strong Tory principles in tho mountains of Assam : probably the tribe is of Caucasian origin : —¦

      One , among all tho Itajahri of each class , in chosen to bo tho Prudhnm or Chiol Kajah of that clan . All tho Kajuh » are- connected , having sprung from tho sanio originul Htock ; nor can any other person Huccued to thi . 1 dignity until tfro nrcaent rnco of Kajaha is extinct . Should nono of tho family Burvive , the family of tho chief

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 18, 1855, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_18081855/page/16/