Our Wants

‘Our Wants – Or a Suggestion for Remedies for the Removal of Moral, Social, Intellectual and Physical Evils of Bengal’ was a booklet written in English by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in 1863, when he was just 25 years old.

Our readers should be reminded of the context of this work. At this point in his life, the young Kedarnatha Datta held a high regard for the philanthropic efforts of Christian missionaries in India. Thus, ‘Our Wants’ is an appeal written in the spirit of public welfare and reform, addressed to government officials, missionaries, and the Bengali intelligentsia.

Despite the fact that this tract has little to do with Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism, the reader can appreciate Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s sincere desire to uplift his fellow Bengalis, who were then suffering from widespread poverty, moral decline, inadequate education, unsanitary living conditions, and the devastating effects of chronic epidemic fevers. His essay presents a detailed eyewitness account of the deteriorating sanitary conditions across districts such as Nadia, Hooghly, and Burdwan, and offers practical proposals for drainage, medical assistance, civic organisation, and social cooperation.

In presenting this text, we have retained the original nineteenth-century spelling and punctuation in order to preserve the character of the document. A glossary of terminology and geographical references has been included at the end of the article.

This essay is extremely rare, and we would like to thank the British Library in London for granting us access to this valuable historical document.

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BENGAL is one of the most extensive provinces of India. It is intersected by the largest and broadest rivers in the country, supplying water in abundance to the thickly populated districts lying on their banks. The natural aspects are as diversified as the province is extensive. The hills and dales off the Railway terminus at Raneegunge present an awful contrast with the low lands of Backergunge and Hidgellee. The sandy plains in the district of Burdwan, which is overflowed every year by the waters of the Damoodahr, form a contrast with the marsh of Jessore and some parts of Nuddea. The difference between the aspect of the Sunderbund jungles ruled by tigers and other ferocious tribes, and that of the cultivated fields of Nuddea, 24 Purgunnahs and Moorshedabad, is striking in the extreme. Physical beauty is however not the only recommendation of this part of India. The inhabitants are endowed with a degree of intelligence which is scarcely equalled by that of the people of any other province, nay, I might justly take the liberty to say, by that of any other Asiatic nations. Descended from the most intelligent of the human races, i. e. the Arian race, the Bengallees have from a long time figured as a nation in the departments of fine arts and inland commerce. We learn from Roman historians that Italian merchants used to visit Bengal in order to take Dacca Muslins, the finest stuff of cotton that could ever be made by human ingenuity, for use of rich men in the far west. The silk of Moorshedabad and of some parts of Midnapore, the Muslunds of the latter district, and the silver, gold and brazen works of Dacca do infinite credit to the ancient people of Bengal. It is owing entirely to the absence of any history of the province that several hasty authors have boldly pronounced against the people with impunity. By these remarks I do not mean to say that in ancient days, the Bengallees were a very civilized race. What I mean to say is, that the people of Bengal have all along been an intelligent race and the remarks of those, who consider them to have been on the same level with the Sonthals and Coles, are entirely unfounded.

It is my intention to say a few words about the present condition of Bengal and to suggest some means for its future improvement. Before entering on the subject of its moral, social and intellectual improvement, I shall make some remarks on the physical and sanitary condition of the province. I dare say, most of my readers are aware that this beautiful province inhabited by such an intelligent population, has of late been visited by an epidemic which is annually sweeping away thousands of men to the regions of death. Volumes could be written of tales of the misery which has overtaken the inhabitants of both the banks of the Ganges in the districts of Nuddea, 24 Purgunnahs and Hooghly. The epidemic first commenced its ravages in the village of Oollah, in Zillah Nuddea, in the year of Christ 1856. It is a kind of fever generated by malarial exhalations. The once thickly populated village of Oollah had in its bosom upwards of 30 thousand men and was one of the proudest villages of Bengal. But since the year 1856 it has considerably decayed and not more than one third of the population is still breathing the air. According to a gross calculation, about 17 thousand souls have fallen victims to the pestilence during the last 7 years and about 4 thousand men have fled from the village. From a correspondent of the Shome Prokash, I am astonished to learn that large buildings are to be found in that village which are now haunted by vultures and jackals that have taken the place of their human predecessors.

Next year the epidemic extended as far as the east bank of the Hooghly near Chukdah, and some four villages were at once reduced into the wretched condition of Oollah. It was not here that the periodical fever was confined. It began to make its progress southwards ravaging the villages that fell in its way. In the third year it crossed the river and visited the villages of Trivanee and Bansbaria where three fourths of the population have untimely paid their debt to nature. Though the epidemic was making rapid progress during the subsequent years, yet it did not arrive at the meridian of its dreadfulness till 1862. It was in this year that it visited that part of the district of Burdwan which lies from Pundooah to Poorboosthul where people have still been dying, and where, as the report runs, no funeral ceremonies are performed either on the Hindoo or on the Mahomedan dead bodies, inconsequence of there being none to take care of the departed! Those who are still living are laboring under fever and have scarcely time and strength to assist their dead friends and relatives. Those who pass by these villages either on business or on a trip, are perfectly unable to devise a scheme for the relief of the afflicted villagers for fear of losing their own lives while residing in the scene of troubles. What a harrowing scene of distress!! How heart rending it is to see that a dying mother is looking at her dying son without being able to take him in her arms, that one of the brothers is groaning where the other brothers are lying dead, and that there is none in a house to look to a tender child which has just lost its mother! Such scenes are common in these places. Though the rigour of the epidemic has been much softened in those villages, of which it was the earliest visitor, yet no where it is seen that the plague has entirely left the place. Even Oollah, where the fever first sprang some 7 years ago, is still continued to be its chosen seat. It is feared, and not without reasons, that this epidemic fever will in time spread over whole of Bengal and carry death and devastation as far as the sea. While we see that it is making progress onwards every year, we have no reasons to doubt that it will extend its dominion in course of time over whole of the province.

It is, therefore, high time for us to enquire into the causes of this mighty change in the sanitary condition of Bengal. Not long ago, the districts of Nuddea, Hooghly and Burdwan were considered as the healthiest parts of the province. Sick men used to go out to those places for the benefit of their health, and Officials when transferred there from other districts, considered it an especial favor done to them. At present no one likes to visit those places, and instances have been met with, of men dying of fever on return from the affected locality after 3 or 4 days’ stay. O! What a sad change! Would, I were a medical man to discover the causes of it and to propose a sure remedy for the improvement of this state of affairs! I shall however try to trace out the causes of this evil and to propose a remedy for its removal, for the consideration of medical men and the generous public. Conscious of my inability to do such a task, I do not pretend to have discovered the true causes, but as agitation of the matter will invite professional enquiry and generous endeavours, I publish my inferences on the subject drawn from personal knowledge of the places visited by the epidemic.

The healthiness of a country depends entirely on the good state of its air and water. When the water and air of a place become bad, the condition of the place, as a matter of course, becomes unhealthy. But these two elements, unlike the will of man, can never change of themselves. There must be some other principle in nature which brings on this revolution in them. What then can this principle be? Men taught in medicine are certainly the proper persons to cut this gordian knot to answer this important question. On reference to common sense however I have arrived at this conclusion, that the change in air and water is always occasioned by a revolution in the earth itself. It may be that by heat, caused by some volcanic action under the earth, the atmosphere may be tainted by a disease eventually breaking out amongst the inhabitants. It is also not impossible that the abundant growth of vegetables on the surface of the earth or an increase of the human population may generate a periodical malady amongst the people. Instead of attempting to explain the theory further, I should at once see its application to the subject under consideration.

The epidemic, as I have mentioned in the beginning, first sprang in Oollah, alias Beernuggur. This village, according to tradition, is one of the most ancient villages in Bengal. It is inhabited by families who have been residing there for more than fifteen generations. Previous to the epidemic, the village was in many places covered with a jungle of useless plants giving a safe shelter to the members of the Reptilia class. These latter grew in abundance and were seen to take quarters in the dilapidated buildings of ancient Zemindars. There were ponds excavated for the purpose of taking earth for erecting large houses. These ponds were not filled up soon after they were excavated and leaves falling in them from neighbouring trees were rotting from a long time, and exhaling malaria into the adjacent atmosphere. Even before the breaking out of this plague, a sort of periodical fever often broke out in Beernugggur during the rainy seasons, and mortality increased in a considerable degree. What but the rotting of leaves in those obnoxious tanks during the rains could be the cause of this periodical visitation of fever? During my residence in Oollah in my early days I had the opportunity to observe that the earth of the village was every year becoming more and more damp. Twenty years ago, the rooms in the first story of a house were as dry as those of the second, but time brought on a great change in them, and subsequently it was found, that rooms which had no floor under them, became as damp as those of Calcutta. Now what could be the cause of this gradual change? Though the obnoxious tanks might have greatly contributed to the revolution, yet no process of reasoning can lead us to the conclusion that they were the only cause of it. There is however a Bheel, connecting the Matabhanga and the Hooghly, which passes close by the village. This Bheel (called by the people the Baromashia) swells in the rainy seasons with water from the tributary and disembogues itself into the Hooghly, when it is full. It appears on investigation that the mouth of this Bheel has been gradually filled up with deposits carried by the current, and its water in consequence cannot flow after the rainy season is over. This stagnant water appears to be the cause of the dampness of the village.

A question may here arise. What might then be the cause of the epidemic in other villages? In answering this, I have to inform my readers, that in almost all the villages where the fever has made its ravages, thick jungle, stagnant water and dilapidated houses are to be found in plenty. Though there are villages in which these obnoxious things are existing for years without having generated any sort of distemper, yet it is possible that this periodical fever will by and bye extend its dreadful empire to those places, assisted in a great measure by the malaria of the locality.

After all, Bengal is in a dreadful position in point of sanitary state. How long will the generous public remain indifferent to this matter? I most earnestly invite the patriots of the country to unite their strength and thought in an attempt to relieve their afflicted countrymen. Let them form an association, raise subscriptions and send medical aid to the villages. This is not all. The Bheels are to be re-excavated, jungles are to be cut down, and obnoxious tanks are to be filled up. It will not be sufficient to do all these only in the villages already visited by the epidemic. These are also required to be done in those places of Bengal to which the epidemic may in future probably extend. No one, I dare say, can doubt the fact, that the sufferers can by no means exert for themselves, nor can they be expected to swell the proposed subscription, though for their own benefit. That since the commencement of the epidemic they have been reduced into a wretchedly poor condition, no one can deny. By long confinement to bed; they have not been able to acquire money either by labour on the field or by service under other parties. It is some of the Zemindars of those places who alone can lend pecuniary contributions in aid of the generous attempt proposed to be made. Whatever contributions may be received from the suffering parties will, therefore, be kept apart from calculation. An association of the patriots of Bengal, with a view to relieve the sufferers, is therefore absolutely necessary.

I next appeal to Government for relief. It is with sincerest thanks and gratitude that our country must acknowledge the favors it has received from them since the year 1756. Having saved us from the hands of a tyrannical Nabob, they have allowed us to enjoy the blessings of peace and to improve our morals and our intellect. They have been, in short, helping us in the same manner as the father helps his infant child in walking and learning to speak. To whom then shall I appeal with greater force than to such a body of philanthropic rulers. My proposition to them is simply this, that they should devote a portion of the revenue derived from the country under Act XX. of 1856, to the clearing of the jungle and marshes, and to the establishment of Dispensaries in the places affected by the epidemic. Instead of spending the surplus sum of the Municipal revenue of a village, as is often done, in constructing roads not at all useful to the inhabitants, that amount ought to be laid out in conservancy and sanitary purposes of the locality. While taking such active measures, they should at once appoint a committee of efficient medical officers who will on local examination report, and propose the best means of improving the sanitary position of such a fruitful province. Financially considered, the step will not be an imprudent one. For, should the epidemic be allowed to continue its ravages for some years more, the province will scarcely have men sufficient to cultivate it properly, and the rents as a matter of course will be difficult of realization. It matters little, if the Government think it proper to pursue a different course of proceedings from that which I have suggested. I must mention here, that they have already sent a number of native doctors to the districts of Nuddea and Hooghly for the relief of the sufferers, and they are equally anxious to stop the progress of the periodical disease in question. But the times and the state of the interior absolutely require a more active measure and a greater degree of anxiety.

Lastly, I appeal to the feelings of that self-denying and disinterestedly philanthropic body, the missionaries. It is they who have become the best instructors of the natives in all their attempts to rise in the world. The spirit of Christianity has wonderfully prepared their minds for any troubles of life which they meet in their attempts to do good to others. I invite their especial attention to this most important matter. The sufferers want both men and money to relieve their own distress. In such times of need the soldiers of Christ are, the only true friends. I need not point out the way, in which the missionaries can assist the groaning villagers. Suffice it to lay the matter before them, and they will find out the best means to relieve the suffering parties.

It is now time for me to take up the subject of social wants. To this important subject the attention of our countrymen should be always directed. It is a painful fact that, notwithstanding the occasional endeavors of some patriotic reformers, the social condition of Bengal is still sadly wretched. Though much has been said and done to raise the status of our ladies, yet to our great surprise, the wished for point has not yet been arrived at. The Bethune’s female school, the school of Dr. Duff, and a few institutions, established for the education of females in the interior of the province by that warm patriot, Pundit Eshwar Chunder Bhidiashagur, have already been existing for years. In some of the respectable families of Calcutta, zenana reform has already been introduced. Ladies are taught knitting, needlework and painting. There are even Hindu females at present who can check accounts and write letters and memoranda for their husbands. But this order of things is sadly confined within the Mahratta ditch. The village females are still in the same state of darkness as before. The condition of the females of Bengal remains, therefore, yet to be raised.

The distinction of caste is a great drawback on our improvement. This is a monster institution sanctioned by age. Much has already been said and done to do away with this institution, but as something more remains to be done, no practical result has yet been arrived at. This institution is supported entirely by the prejudices of the old class, and any attempt to break it down would be fruitless, until a liberal education prepares the minds of the various classes that inhabit the country. Unlike all other institutions, caste binds all classes of men in India, and as long as no revolution takes place in the popular ideas, any change for the better can hardly be expected. It is not, therefore, the province of one man or of a few men to attempt at a revolution of this nature. This mighty work is expected to be done by the spread of education alone. Thanks to Government that they have established schools and have been spending a portion of the imperial revenue for that noble purpose. The missionary also deserves our warmest thanks for his Christian endeavors to spread education and light throughout the whole length and breadth of our country. It is a consolation to us however, that the seed of reform has already been sown, and time will show that the tree, which will ere long sprout, will in future bear noble fruits.

The social condition of a nation depends entirely on cultivation and trade. I must therefore direct my attention to those two subjects and make some off-hand remarks on their state in Bengal. The products of the province are of various kinds, and the fertility of the soil is highly remarkable. Dhan, moosoori, khesari, peas, moog, dhunia, mowrie, kalai, oror, gram, wheat, barley, mustard, teel, sugar-cane, mulberry, cotton, hemp, flax, tobacco and indigo are the agricultural produce of Lower Bengal. The district of Backergunge largely supplies all sorts of crops which come to the use of a native’s table, and it is a striking fact that these crops are grown there without any difficulty on the part of the cultivators. Backergunge contains about 8,064 square miles and a population of about 9,00,000 men. The agricultural population is about 25,000 i.e. one thirty-sixth portion of the whole population. Now, one might wonder, that a district which supplies Calcutta, Mauritius and Burmah with rice and many other necessaries of life, could possibly be cultivated by such a small proportion of its inhabitants. The processes of sowing seeds on the marsh and of reaping the corn when the rivers swell, are strikingly easy. It is for this reason that the people of that district are in the main a commercial class, holding marts in several suitable places, and exchanging articles with those of other districts. Labouring classes are also numerous. Carpenters find constant engagements in building canoes for transport of articles by means of navigable rivers. The Bunder of Nulchit is a remarkable place for trade, where the Arracanese come with catachew, tejpat, iron and spices, to have rice, nuts, cocoanuts and pawn in exchange. In most other districts the case is quite different. According to Major Ralph Smyth, Revenue Surveyor, the proportion of cultivators in 24 Purgunnahs is 82-8 per cent. in the adult male population. In Burdwan the proportion is about 85 per cent. In short, excepting Dacca, Backergunge and Jessore, not less than 70 per cent. of the male adult population are employed in the cultivation of land. Thus it will be seen that the agricultural classes of the people exceed all the other classes, and the numbers of the working and trading portions are sadly limited. The fertility of the soil of Lower Bengal has greatly contributed to the idleness of the people. The lower orders of men, to whom the task of cultivation has been left, are easily satisfied with the product of their lands, as soon as it is sufficient to meet the expenses of cultivation, the demands of the Zemindars and the Mohajuns, and the necessaries of his life. Ambition in a manner is not known to them. No improvement therefore has been made in the process of cultivation, since the earliest discovery made by their ancestors when first pressed by necessity. The implements are the same that were used by their fore-fathers in the days of Menu and Ramchundra, notwithstanding the successive revolutions of thought, fashion and mode of life that have taken place in India since their memorable days. Neither European capitalists nor Young Bengal have directed their thought to this most important point. Young Bengal, in whom rest all hopes about the future improvement of the country, looks to an appointment under Government or the Railway Companies as the only object of his ambition. What a sad mistake! His country is the most fertile country between the poles, and a large part of it is lying waste for want of cultivators. On reference to the Geographical and Statistical Report of the district of Beerbhoom, made by Captain W. S. Sherwill, he will find that only one half of the area of the whole district is under cultivation, an after allowing one fourth for rivers, sand and hills, the remaining one fourth is in a state of Nature. This uncultivate portion of land, though in strips, I dare say, must not be very far from the Railway line. In the Report furnished by Mr. Pemberton, the Revenue Surveyor of the district Maldah, he will see (though with difficulty, owing to the inclination of the Surveyor to make the Report a detail of the survey duties instead of a source of information to the general reader) that nearly one tenth of the district is without cultivation. On reading the Statistical and Geographical Report of the 24 Purgunnahs, the most able and masterly Report of the kind, submitted by Major Smyth he will observe that the Soondurbunds, a part of which is included in the district, occupy about a little less than one third of the whole area. Though since the year of the Report under notice, several enterprising and educated natives have taken lands in those jungles and have cultivated them, yet there remains a large tract of land not very far from the “City of Palaces.” Instead of referring to Geographical Reports of all the districts where the survey has already been completed, I may at once remark that still a large tract of uncultivated land is lying in the heart of the province, and would advise my countrymen to direct their attention to the task of cultivating them. The tales of Zemindaree oppression can no longer frighten them, as they have been numbered with historical events, since the passing of Act X. of 1859 and Act VI. of 1862. Government is in favor of the just parties, and the law is their protector. Let them learn the science of agriculture and apply the principles of it to the art. Let them introduce more civilized and useful implements and grow articles which are most demanded both in Europe and in the country. Since the commencement of the American war, India is looked to as the only country which will take the place of America in supplying cotton. It is said in the land Revenue Administration Report for 1860-61, that if there be a skilful personal supervision, cotton may be successfully grown in the divisions of Burdwan, Chittagong, Cuttack, Nuddea, and Rajshaye. It is not now, that we can fully conceive all the advantages which the country will derive from the educated inhabitants of Bengal undertaking the noble task of cultivation. When once our enlightened countrymen apply their hands to the matter, we shall then see innumerable blessings springing from the undertaking.

The trade of the province is extremely limited. Inland commerce exists to a certain extent, but it is confined within the province. In this branch of human occupation my countrymen have yet to make a considerable progress before any expectation can be entertained of our rising in the scale of nations. It is a sad thing, that we have not yet learnt the advantages of Companies. We are ready to accuse the Zemindars of their negligence to lay out money in enterprising actions. But in what country have the proprietors of land engaged themselves in commercial undertakings? It is the middling class that launch everywhere upon all sorts of enterprise, and the material improvement of the country can be expected from them alone. Zemindars, like the lords of England, are expected to form an appendage of the Court. The poorer classes, who have yet to make their fortune, are alone to apply their shoulders to the wheel of progress, and as long as we look to the proprietors of land and Government for assistance, so long will the condition of the country remain unadvanced. How truly does a friend of mine writing from London in the Indian Mirror, say:-“One great defect among us is our inclination to look up to Government for every material and moral improvement in the country. In England I find just the reverse, the people seldom, if ever, expect the Government to assist them in any undertaking. Roads, railways, bridges and ships are daily built by the people themselves without the least assistance from Government. Four or five persons meet together, a Company is formed, money is immediately laid out and turned into some good use or other. Cannot our monied Baboos form Companies in order to construct railways and build ships, instead of leaving everything in the hands of Government?”

These are manly words, and I would have those of our countrymen, who live upon interest on Government Promissory Notes, to follow the advice of the esteemed friend quoted above. This class of men, numerous as they are in Calcutta, have no occupation whatever, and if they employ their time in such useful endeavours, there, then, will be little chance of their degrading human nature by constant use of alcohol and tobacco and by indulging in slandering others. It is highly desirable that this class of men, who are at present of no positive use to society, will, by such occupations, add to the number of useful members and look to the material interests of the country.

Want of space does not allow me to enlarge on this part of my subject, and it is necessary that I should turn my remarks at once to the intellectual and moral condition of Bengal. Education, you are aware, has been making considerable progress. Large schools have already been established in every district which supply boys to the Calcutta University. There have also been opened a good number of schools supported partly by local subscriptions and partly by Government aid. Besides, there are institutions in which the Vernacular language is taught with great success to the village boys, who afterwards make their entrance into the Sanscrit College of Calcutta. By means of these schools, education has moderately spread its blessings all over the province, and the intellect of the people has been much cultivated. This is not all. A taste for literature has been perceived to exist in the minds of the people. The advantages of periodical literature have also been appreciated, and a number of well educated men have become earnestly busy in improving our mother tongue. Essays, full of useful information, are now and then appearing either in the columns of a Vernacular Newspaper or in the shape of pamphlets. Attempts are also made to suit our language to the art of oratory. In public Societies, Bengallee Lectures are delivered and discussions carried on. Songs too, of great wit and humour have been composed. Poets have given original compositions to the world. There have already been a good number of Bengallee works published and the Vernacular press is busy in issuing a number of Books every month. There is felt, however, a strong necessity for a Review in Bengallee, or a Periodical for criticism. Though the Bibidharta Shangraha is a paper of the kind, yet it does not fully answer the purpose of a Review. This is a great desideratum. Pretending authors, who have no right to public audience, appear now and then to harass the reading class, and fortunately pass with impunity for this reason. Genius, on the other hand, is not amply rewarded, for eulogium, and the thanks of a nation, are the only food on which it thrives. By the noble exertions of Pundit Eshwarchundra Bhidiashagur, Bengallee prose has already attained to a degree of excellence which everyone will surprisingly admire. In the face of such improvements in the language, it is very painful that our generous Government will overlook, or rather allow to exist, a great defect. My readers perhaps have understood that I allude to the Bengallee language used in the Courts. This language is an abominable one, being a heterogeneous composition of Persian, Arabic, Bengallee and English. The style again is equally singular. In a Roobookaree or a Purwanah, one sentence runs from beginning to end, containing a number of participles, which render it utterly unintelligible. That Sheristadar is considered the best who can use the greatest number of participles in his Roobookarees. Many of the judicial Officers are under a mistake in believing that the business of a Court cannot be conducted in a better style of writing. I remember having once suggested a better mode of writing to one of the Officials, but was sorry to hear in reply that the proposed mode was more grammatical and more sensible than the one in vogue, but there could be no Rungin Ebarut in it. I candidly confess that his remarks had either more or less meaning than my plain understanding could comprehend. Grammar, and especially the Orthography, is never cared for, and it is difficult for one, who has been well educated in Bengallee, to understand the proceedings of the Courts by reading them. To remedy this evil our Government, at the suggestion of Mr. Pratt, passed an Order in 1856 on the Commissioners of Revenue enjoining that before the appointment of an Amlah, they must see that he possesses a certificate of competency in the Bengallee language from the Inspector of Schools. This was followed by another Order in the year 1858, prescribing the works in which the Amlahs were required to pass an examination. For a few days, the Circular Orders were followed to a word, and candidates who held certificates had the preference over those who were entertained in the several offices as apprentices or Taeds, as they are generally called. But those Circulars have now become dead letters, and are rusting in the corners of almirahs in all the offices where they were sent.

It appears that several of the Officials found the Amlahs who were appointed under those Orders could not do their duties properly inconsequence of their having had no previous knowledge of Court business. Instead of setting aside the measure as useless on this score, they ought to have suggested to Government a means to remove this evil. With regard to the whole matter, there can be one very useful suggestion. In the Law examinations, there may be fixed a grade for the Amlahs, and candidates wishing to pass it, may be required to produce, along with the application, a certificate from competent Educational authorities testifying to their competency in Bengallee and general knowledge. This measure, I dare say, will give at once learned and able ministerial Officers to the Courts, and there will be no complaint either from the Patriots of Bengal or from the Officials to whom the business of a district is entrusted. This, as a matter of course, will be a measure for the future, and we shall have to wait a generation more to have the Court language remodeled, if the carrying out of the same alone is to be waited for. There is, therefore, a pressing necessity for discovering a means for the speedy improvement of the Court language. The present Amlahs and Mooktears are a notoriously ignorant class of men. They have no knowledge of Spelling and Grammar, neither can they express their ideas in Bengallee words. Whatever knowledge they have of scribbling was picked up under the irregular tuition of the remarkably stupid Gooroo-mohashoys, who taught them only to steal tobacco and to make stupid excuses when detected in a punishable offence. I do not mean to say that the Mooktears and Amlahs are wanting in intelligence, but that their intelligence and morality have been depraved on account of the incompleteness of their education. It is therefore highly desirable, and I might say necessary, that the present Amlahs and Mooktears be required to pass an examination in Bengallee, and in the general branches, within a prescribed period, and should they fail, they should be required to vacate their places for those who have a better title to them.

Here I must stop. A few words about the moral condition of the people will form the last part of this brochure. In connection with this important subject, I have to make some observations on the very pernicious habit of smoking tobacco to which the largest proportion of my Countrymen are addicted.

Modern discovery in the science of medicine has partly established the fact, that the use of this weed is highly injurious to the health of man, and it is not improbable that on further enquiry into the subject, this valuable fact will be admitted as true on all hands. Apart from the medical consideration of the subject, the habit in question is both pernicious to society and to the moral principle of man. Large portions of arable land are occupied in the cultivation of the tobacco plant, and in India about one sixteenth portion of human industry is wrongly wasted on it. During my residence in the districts of Cuttack, Pooree and Balasore, I had the opportunity to observe that almost whole tracts of land lying on the banks of rivers were occupied in growing this plant. If, instead of cultivating this intoxicating drug so largely, the tracts of land devoted to it were sown with more important crops, what an amount of useful corn could have been raised, and what proportion of want in daily life, especially among the poorer classes, lessened? I say tobacco is a social, as well as a moral evil. It is a social evil, because by its extensive cultivation the country loses a great deal of industry, and by its universal use a great amount of idleness creeps into society. It is a moral evil, because all social evils injure the morality of a nation. The only plea on which this baneful practice of smoking tobacco is defended, is that it diverts the mind and gives relaxation to the spirits of man. This is a gross error of the understanding. There are men who are never addicted to this useless and sometimes injurious habit, and whose spirits are as cheerful as those of a tobacco smoker. There can be no denying of the fact that it is the smokers alone who are in need of smoking after hard labour. Tobacco, like gunja, opium, bhang and other drugs of the intoxicating class, enslaves the human mind, and when once a man becomes its votary, it is difficult for him to cut off connections with it. A general attempt therefore should be made by all my countrymen to relinquish this pernicious habit.

It is also observable that a large number of the Bengallees at present indulge in the habit of drinking alcoholic compositions. On reading the last Report of the Abkaree administration, we find that by the enhancement of duty on country spirit, the Revenues of the Department have more than doubly swelled! Our Rulers, even in the days of Financial embarrassment, should not (beg pardon) touch the unholy matter of opening wine shops and distilling country wine for public consumption. I would therefore humbly beg of them to take this important matter into their early consideration. It is the duty of Government always to guard our morality and to legalize all sincere attempts at the moral regeneration of the people, whom the Great King of kings has appointed them to rule. If by such attempts the Revenues of the country fall, the Almighty Ruler who regulates the myriads of spheres rolling in the firmament, will assist in the management of the state affairs.

The moral advancement of a people must depend upon the training of youth at School. It is therefore necessary that boys should have moral education in their early days. Considering the education now imparted to the young men in Government Schools to be an incomplete one, it is my duty to urge upon the Educational authorities to look to a means for the moral elevation of the country. Along with the books of science and literature, they should teach the principles of morality to the students. During my service as a Schoolmaster, for about four years in several parts of the country, one striking fact was prominently brought to my notice. The boys, however enlightened in their intellect, had a very poor conception of the moral principle. Instances might be quoted even from the biographies of European great men which corroborate this assertion. It may be laid down as a general rule, that no intellectual education can produce higher results, unless it be accompanied by sound moral training. In Government Schools, boys are taught to learn the higher branches of literature and science, but they are not instructed in any book of morals. This is inconsequence of an impression of Government, that by introducing any book of morality, they will wound the popular feeling. Attempts were made and are still being made to have that most valuable of all books, the Bible, introduced into Government Colleges and Schools, but they have all been unsuccessful. That the Bible is a work composed of the highest moral truths nobody can deny. The only objection raised against its introduction into the institutions supported by Government is, that it is a religious work, which is not relished by that class of natives whose children are educated in them. Such objections as this should never have weight with those who watch with attention the progress of the native mind. The want of moral education has already been felt by the people, and the objection mentioned above has no hold in the popular mind. If it were true, then why should the people send their boys to those Schools which owe their foundation to the most philanthropic exertions of the Christian Missionaries? Even in Burdwan, noted, as it is, for intellectual barrenness, an illustration can be found in support of my assertion. People send their boys to the Missionary School for education in preference to the Moharajah’s College, though the latter institution is as well managed as any Zillah School under Government. It is therefore highly desirable that the precepts of Jesus should at once be made a class-book in the Government and Government Aided Schools.

These reforms though expensive are urgently necessary. Our Government deserve our sincerest thanks for all the innumerable benefits we have derived from them. Whenever they are convinced of the existence of an evil, they try their utmost to remove it. My countrymen, however, are alone to blame for not earnestly finding out the means of improving the condition of our country. It is not owing to want of patriotism. Bengal, I dare say, can boast of a greater number of patriots than any other part of the world. Bengallees, what a warmly patriotic race! They love their country as one loves his own home. But how wretched is the fruit of their unparalleled patriotism. It is a matter of great regret that most evils existing in the society of Bengal owe their origin to want of energy. I invite them to pariotic attempts at a time when we are placed by Providence under a Government that never shrinks from doing the most important duty of rulers, i. e. looking to the interests of the people. There is another friend to back them in all their noble attempts. The Missionary of Christ with a heart full of love stretches forth his right hand addressing them, “brothers, rise and work your own good, and I will assist you at whatever cost.” Is it not time, my countrymen, to apply yourselves to the work of progress when you have so many friends to help you and your own good genius to guide you? Rise then and act with “Heart within and God o’erhead.”

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GLOSSARY

• 24 Purgunnahs – 24 Parganas, a district in Bengal.
• Abkaree administration – The excise department in British India responsible for regulating and taxing liquor, opium, ganja, bhang, and toddy.
• Amlah – The subordinate staff and clerical establishment of a government office.
• Arracanese – The people of Arakan (Rakhine), Burma.
• Backergunge – Bakarganj, in present-day Barisal, Bangladesh.
• Baboo – A respectful designation for educated Bengali gentlemen; in administration, a clerk or subordinate official.
• Bansbaria – Bansberia, a town in Hooghly district.
• Baromashia – Baromasia, a river or watercourse in East Bengal.
• Beernuggur – Birnagar, in Nadia district.
• Beerbhoom – Birbhum, a district in West Bengal.
• Bheel – A marshy lake, wetland, or natural water depression.
• Bibidharta Shangraha – Vividhārtha Saṅgraha, a 19th-century Bengali monthly magazine.
• Bunder of Nulchit – The port of Nilkhet in East Bengal.
• Catachew – Cashew nuts.
• Chakdaha – Chakradaha, in Nadia district.
• Coles – The Kol (or Ho) tribal community.
• Damoodahr – The Damodara River in East Bengal.
• Dhan – Paddy; rice in its unhusked form.
• Dhunia – Dhanya; coriander (usually the seed).
• Eshwar Chunder Bhidiashagur / Eshwarchundra Bhidiashagur – Īśvara Candra Vidyāsagara (1820–1891), noted educator and reformer.
• Gooroo-mohashoys – Guru-mahāśayas; revered teachers or spiritual preceptors.
• Gram – Chickpeas (Bengal gram) or chickpea flour.
• Hidgellee – Hijli, in Midnapore.
• Kalai – Kalai dal; usually black gram (urad), sometimes horse gram.
• Khesari – Khesari dal; grass pea or chickling pea (Lathyrus sativus).
• Mahratta ditch – A defensive trench dug around Calcutta in 1742 by the East India Company.
• Menu – Manu, the legendary lawgiver.
• Mohajuns – Moneylenders.
• Moorshedabad – Murshidabad, former capital of Bengal.
• Mooktear – A legal representative or agent holding a power of attorney.
• Moosoori – Masur dal; red lentils.
• Mowrie – Fennel seeds.
• Muslunds – Muslin cloth.
• Nuddea – Nadia, a district of Bengal.
• Oollah – Ula (modern Birnagar).
• Oror – Arhar; pigeon pea (toor dal).
• Poorboosthul – Purbasthali, in Purba Bardhaman district.
• Pooree – Jagannātha Purī.
• Puddnah / Pundooah – Pandua (Hooghly or Malda, depending on context).
• Purwanah / Roobookaree – An official written order, warrant, or summons in Mughal and early British India.
• Rajshaye – Rajshahi, in North Bengal.
• Ramchundra – Lord Rāmacandra.
• Raneegunge – Raniganj, a coal-mining town.
• Rungin Ebarut – A humorous Bengali-Persian phrase meaning “no colour or flavour in it”; something lacking charm.
• Sanscrit – Sanskrit.
• Sheristadar – A senior court or revenue office chief clerk; head record-keeper.
• Shome Prokash – Soma Prakāśa, a Bengali newspaper of the 19th century.
• Sonthals – The Santal tribal community of Bengal, Jharkhand, and Odisha.
• Sunderbund / Soondurbunds – The Sundarban, the Ganges delta mangrove forests.
• Tejpat – Bay leaves.
• Trivanee – Triveni, a locality or confluence point in Hooghly.
• Zemindar – Zamindar; a landholder under the Mughal and British systems.
• Zemindaree – The estate or jurisdiction of a zamindar.
• Zenana – The women’s quarters of a household.
• Zillah – A district (Persian zilaʿ).