tempts to raise the low. Learning belongs to the master-ignorance to the serf. It is enough for him to obey and work. There will always be poor, and vicious poor. It is better to merely watch and guard against an Evil, for which there is no remedy. To give instruction to the low-orders, is to arm demagogues with a dangerous weapon. ""A little knowledge is a dangerous thing'-it only enables the multitude to see just what it suits the purpose of the Agitator to show! There is nothing but evil in these grand measures. All must be left to individual effort; and to the Priests. These must work as comes in their way; instructing those who wish, and encouraging those who dutifully obey, and attend to the labours imposed upon them by divine Providence" (Meaning, that Jah has ordained, from all time, that some must be "Hewers of wood and drawers of water" a quotation from the Sacred Writings). In this manner, the High-Caste, when it condescends to the subject at all, dismisses it. Indeed, this Caste, the Master-Caste, really feels no other concern in the low orders, but a concern for their peaceful subjection. To this point they direct so much care, as to have always trained bands of braves, and strong, picked, wellordered men, called Police, ready at hand. So, in case the wretched, degraded, and despised serfs and thieves, should dare to raise any stir, disturbing the ease and enjoyment of the luxurious High-Caste, they may be shot down without mercy! Necessarily, the elevation of the low-classes will be very gradual. Many of the Priests, wishing to enlarge and maintain the influence of the Superstition, actively exert themselves among the honest and industrious poor. And some of these Bonzes are as benevolent as the traditions of their Caste and of their Idolatry will permit. It is doubtful if the present condition of the masses of the English Barbarians be so manly and independent as ages ago-when they were sufficiently intelligent to move in their own cause, and were really of some importance in the State. Unfortunately, they did remove from their necks the pressure of immediate, personal service, only to accumulate upon them, as a Class, the whole weight of the landed and trading interests. As a whole, therefore, they are more servile, more abject, and more dependent; and the few individuals who may raise themselves above the level of their class cannot even flatter themselves in this to have gained. There never was a time when these individuals did not exist -it is not clear that their numbers have increased. CHAPTER XI. OF THE HIGH CASTES: SOME PARTICULARS OF THEIR DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL CUSTOMS. : In this chapter I shall try to show some of the peculiarities of the opposite extreme of Barbarian life. From ignorant poverty, verging upon crime, crime and vice; we are taken to luxury, also verging upon crime, crime and vice-though under very different forms. The Allwise and Sovereign Lord knows how to judge each class of offenders! The High-Caste is very exclusive-it will not, if it can avoid it, notice one of a lower order; and never will do so unless it has some selfish end in view. This coldbloodedness characterizes all Castes. When the Barbarians, therefore, chance to meet, and being of near Castes, cannot be distinguished by dress, they never touch or address each other-but stare rudely up and down the person, to see if it will be safe to be civil, the one to the other. In general, however, the two Higher-Castes present so many features in common, that a spectator may regard them as one. Both look upon all useful occupation as shameful; and whilst it is hard to call up a blush for anything mean, detection in any honest work covers with confusion! The women of this Caste appear everywhere in public, with the same boldness as men. They dress in laces, silks, satins, velvets; richest furs, feathers, shawls, and scarfs. Are so addicted to these things, and to costly jewels, and ornaments of gold, precious stones, and the like, that a fortune is often carried upon and about a fine Lady. (Lady is for the female like Lord for a male). In truth, a Lady only lives for two purposes to dress, and to marry. I ought to add another, but whether it be subordinate or chief I know not; in fact, I hardly know what it is. We have no very near word. It is a something of which you hear constantly to flirt. To dress, it is necessary to shop [keat-hi]. This, is to buy the innumerable articles which make up a finė Lady's wardrobe and personal appointments. Heaven and earth, and all the lands beyond the great seas, are ransacked to gratify the insatiate demands of Barbarian HighCaste women. The finest paints for the cheeks and eyelids, the most precious stones for the ears, the neck, the wrists, the fingers; the most delicate perfumes, the pure gold, the richest furs and feathers, spices, oils; the laces, scarfs, silks, embroideries; - an endless variety. Shopping is, therefore, the serious occupation (subsidiary to husband-catching and flirting) of ladies. Many ruin themselves, or their fathers, their husbands, or relatives, in this expensive luxury of idle vanity. High-Caste women show themselves in public, sometimes on foot, but, more generally, lolling, with poodles in lap, within open, grand carriages, drawn by great, high-stepping horses. (Poodles are nasty dogs). They attend the Temples, waited upon by solemn servants, clothed in showy colours, and bearing ostentatiously the Sacred books. They are conspicuous, when at the Temple, for audibly accompanying the Priest in the Invocations and Confessions: "miserable offenders" seeming to be a phrase rolled like a sweet morsel, and having a savour of repentance and humility, very edifying! The men do not appear very numerously with the women-leaving them to do as they please. The men going off to their own exclusive pleasures: gambling, betting, racing, boating, hunting, and other things equally useful and improving. All through the night, which is the time of HighCaste revelry, the streets where the great live resound with the noise of the carriages, constantly busy with the transporting of the High-Castes to and from the Theatres, the Dances, the places of Amusements, the Dinners, the Parties, Routs, and visits. To mark the difference of the Upper from the Lower, time itself is reversed; night is taken for life and sport, and the day for rest, gossip [Quen], and shopping. In nothing could the difference be more striking. The luxuriousness of mere self-indulgence, which takes no heed of the usual order of nature, and does not suspect that day has any better use! When in the country, there is the same round of busy nothings. Visits, feasting, drinking -dancing, routs, and parties. Women taking the lead everywhere and in everything. Here, as in town, the business of life with women is to flirt, to marry, to dress-the last should be first. The men add to the follies of women some things more robust, but not more useful. Betting, horse Q |