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ruths or cars have au imposing air from their size and Joftiness ,. but every part of the ornament is o £ the most mean and paltry description , save only the covering of striped and spangled broad-cloth , furnished from the export warehouse of the British Government , the splendour of which compensates , in a great measure , for other deficiencies of decoration . After the images have been safely lodg-ed in their vehicles , a bo * is brought forth , containing the golden or gilded feet , hands , and ears , of the great ido ) , which are
fixed on the proper p arts with due ceremony , and a Scarlet scarf'is carefully arranged round the lower part of the body or pedestal . The joy and shouts of the crowd on the first movement of the cars , the creaking sound of the wheels as these ponderous machines roll along , the clatter of hundreds of harshsounding instruments , and the general appearance of so immense a moving mass of human beings , produce , it must be acknowledged , an impressive , astounding , and somewhat picturesque effect , while the novelty of tee scene lasts ; though the contemplation cannot fail of exciting the strongest sensations of pain and disgust in the mind of every Christian spectator /*—P . 33 .
" A respectable man threw himself off from the front of the car , as it was moving forward , and the enormous wheels passed just over his loins , and nearly separated his upper from his lower parts /* * ' To-day a poor creature threw himself under the wheels of Juggernaut ' s brother ' s ear , amf was immediately crushed to death . Another was waiting * for death yesterday , when an English gentleman taking a cane , used it to so good a purpose as to induce the silly fellow to change his mind , leap up and run off into the crowd . The
rains have set in very heavily to-day . Alas 1 what numbers will be swept away if they continue ! The number of pilgrims begins to lessen : this morning 60 , 000 left Juggernaut . We hear , from good authority , that more than two lacks of rupees have been received at the gate for the admission of pilgrims . "—P . 38 ,
There are thirteen annual festivals at Juggernaut alone ; what then must be the amount of death , of suffering , of the worst moral influences , the most abominable religious abuses , to which the British Government gives its sanction and support ! Who is not ready to enter his indignant protest against such a national humiliation , wrought by the mistaken policy of a few ? Yet we believe that the pamphlet before us is the only exposure oH the system which has found its way through the press to the English public . We hope it will be widely circulated , and followed by others in increasing numbers , till the evil is at an end , and the disgrace wiped away .
From the deification of the Ganges , and the supposed efficacy of its waters in cleansing from sin and conferring future bliss , it is the custom of the Hindoos to carry the sick and dying to breathe their last on the sacred shores . The suffering caused by this custom is dreadful enough when those supposed to be dying are really in a hopeless state ; but the evil is aggravated to an extent which it is fearful to contemplate when , as is frequently the case , the aged , the helpless , and the sick , wbo might be restored by proper means , are destroyed by exposure to the weather , or actuall y drowned by the undue zeal , the carelessness or cruelty , of their relatives . It is scarcely
credible that so horrible an abuse of a superstitious custom should be allowed to exist in the presence of European residents , and the vicinity of magistrates , who have , in this case , nothing to do but to interpose for the preservation of life , without interfering with any Hindoo law . What shall we think of that spirit of religious toleration which allows the youtig and strong , as soon as disease attacks them , to be carried down to the water's edge , and there stifled with mud , or maddened by the burning s \ in , or left at boio water mark as night conies on > What shall we think Of the liberal humanity of magistrates , which , rather thati medtke With a native custom , would stand
Untitled Article
fnditt ' s Cries $ o British Humanity . 841
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1829, page 841, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2579/page/25/
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