of private intercourse, I could indeed say much--_much_ more. That she
came forward and devoted herself for her family in times of trial and
trouble--that twice she saved them from ruin--that she has achieved two
fortunes, besides a brilliant fame, and by her talents won independence
for herself and those she loved,--and that she has done all this
before the age of five-and-twenty, is known to many; but few are aware
how much more admirable, more respectable, than any of her mental
gifts and her well-earned distinction, were the moral strength with
which she sustained the severest ordeal to which a youthful character
could be exposed; the simplicity with which she endured--half
recoiling--the incessant adulation which beset her from morn to
night;[21] her self-command in success; her gentle dignity in reverse; her
straightforward integrity, which knew no turning nor shadow of turning;
her noble spirit, which disdained all petty rivalry; her earnest sense
of religion, "to which alone she trusted to keep her right."[22] Suddenly
she became the idol of the public; suddenly she was transplanted into a
sphere of society, where, as long as she could administer excitement to
fashionable inanity, she was worshipped. She carried into those circles
all the freshness of her vigorous and poetical mind--all the unworn
feelings of her young heart. So much genuine simplicity, such perfect
innocence and modesty, allied to such rare powers, and to an habitual
familiarity with the language of poetry and the delineation of passion,
was not _there_ understood, or rather, was _mis_-understood--and no
wonder! To the _blase_ men, the vapid girls, and artificial women, who
then surrounded her, her generous feelings, "when the bright soul broke
forth on every side," appeared mere acting; they were indeed constrained
to believe it such; for if for a moment they had deemed it all real,
it must have forced on them comparisons by no means favourable to
themselves. If, under these circumstances, her quick sensibility to
pleasurable emotion of all kinds, and her ready sympathy with all the
_external_ refinement, splendour, and luxury of aristocratic life,
conspired for a moment to dazzle her imagination, she recovered herself
immediately, and from first to last, her warm and strong affections, the
moral texture of her character; the refinement, which was as native to
her mind, "as fragrance to the rose," remained unimpaired. These--a rich
dower--she is about to carry into the shades of domestic life. Another
land will be her future home. By another name shall fame speak of her,
who was endeared to us as FANNY KEMBLE: and _she_, who with no steady
hand pens this slight tribute to the virtues she loved, bids to that
name--farewell!
THE FALSE ONE.[23]
And give you, mix'd with western sentimentalism,
Some samples of the finest orientalism.
LORD BYRON.
Akbar, the most enlightened and renowned among the sovereigns of the
East, reigned over all those vast territories, which extend from the
Indus to the Ganges, and from the snowy mountains of the north to the
kingdoms of Guzerat and Candeish on the south. After having subdued the
factious omrahs, and the hereditary enemies of his family, and made
tributary to his power most of the neighbouring kingdoms, there occurred
a short period of profound peace. Assisted by able ministers, Akbar
employed this interval in alleviating the miseries, which half a century
of war and ravage had called down upon this beautiful but ever wretched
country. Commerce was relieved from the heavy imposts, which had
hitherto clogged its progress; the revenues of the empire were improved
and regulated; by a particular decree, the cultivators of the earth were
exempted from serving in the imperial armies; and justice was every
where impartially administered; tempered, however, with that extreme
clemency, which in the early part of his reign, Akbar carried to an
excess almost injurious to his interests. India, so long exposed to the
desolating inroads of invaders, and torn by internal factions, began, at
length, to "wear her plumed and jewelled turban with a smile of peace;"
and all the various nations united under his sway--the warlike Afghans,
the proud Moguls, the gentle-spirited Hindoos, with one voice blessed
the wise and humane government of the son of Baber, and unanimously
bestowed upon him the titles of AKBAR, or the GREAT, and JUGGUT GROW,
or GUARDIAN of MANKIND.
Meantime the happiness, which he had diffused among millions, seemed to
have fled from the bosom of the sovereign. Cares far different from
those of war, deeper than those of love, (for the love of eastern monarchs
is seldom shadowed by anxiety,) possessed his thoughtful soul. He had
been brought up in the strictest forms of the Mohammedan religion, and
he meditated upon the text, which enjoins the extermination of all who
rejected his prophet, till his conscience became like a troubled lake.
He reflected that in his vast dominions there were at least fifteen
different religions, which were subdivided into about three hundred
and fifty sects: to extirpate thousands and tens of thousands of his
unoffending subjects, and pile up pyramids of human heads in honour of
God and his prophet, as his predecessors had done before him, was, to
his mild nature, not only abhorrent, but impossible. Yet as his power
had never met with any obstacle, which force or address had not subdued
before him, the idea of bringing this vast multitude to agree in one
system of belief and worship appeared to him not utterly hopeless.
He consulted, after long reflection, his favourite and secretary, Abul
Fazil, the celebrated historian, of whom it was proverbially said, that
"the monarchs of the East feared more the pen of Abul Fazil than the
sword of Akbar." The acute mind of that great man saw instantly the wild
impracticability of such a scheme; but willing to prove it to his master
without absolutely contradicting his favourite scheme, he proposed, as a
preparatory step, that the names of the various sects of religion known
to exist in the sultan's dominions should be registered, and the tenets
of their belief contained in their books of law, or promulgated by their
priests, should be reviewed and compared; thence it would appear how far
it was possible to reconcile them one with another.
This suggestion pleased the great king: and there went forth a decree
from the imperial throne, commanding that all the religions and sects
of religion to be found within the boundaries of the empire should send
deputies, on a certain day, to the sultan, to deliver up their books of
law, to declare openly the doctrines of their faith, and be registered
by name in a volume kept for this purpose--whether they were followers
of Jesus, of Moses, or of Mohammed; whether they worshipped God in the
sun, in the fire, in the image, or in the stream; by written law or
traditional practice: true believer or pagan infidel, none were excepted.
The imperial mandate was couched in such absolute, as well as alluring
terms, that it became as impossible as impolitic to evade it; it was
therefore the interest of every particular sect, to represent in the
most favourable light the mode of faith professed by each. Some thought
to gain favour by the magnificence of their gifts; others, by the
splendour of their processions. Some rested their hopes on the wisdom
and venerable appearance of the deputies they selected to represent
them; and others, (they were but few,) strong in their faith and
spiritual pride, deemed all such aids unnecessary, and trusted in
the truth of the doctrines they professed, which they only waited an
opportunity to assert, secure that they needed only to be heard, to
convert all who had ears to hear.
On the appointed day, an immense multitude had assembled from all the
quarters of the empire, and pressed through the gates and streets
of Agra, then the capital and residence of the monarch. The principal
durbar, or largest audience-court of the palace, was thrown open on this
occasion. At the upper end was placed the throne of Akbar. It was a
raised platform, from which sprung twelve twisted pillars of massy gold,
all radiant with innumerable gems, supporting the golden canopy, over
which waved the white umbrella, the insignia of power; the cushions upon
which the emperor reclined, were of cloth of gold, incrusted with rubies
and emeralds; six pages, of exquisite beauty, bearing fans of peacocks'
feathers, were alone permitted to approach within the silver balustrade,
which surrounded the seat of power. On one side stood the vizir Chan
Azim, bold and erect of look, as became a warrior, and Abul Fazil, with
his tablets in his hand, and his eyes modestly cast down: next to him
stood Dominico Cuenca, the Portuguese missionary, and two friars of his
order, who had come from Goa by the express command of the sultan; on
the other side, the muftis and doctors of the law. Around were the great
omrahs, the generals, governors, tributary princes, and ambassadors. The
ground was spread with Persian carpets of a thousand tints, sprinkled
with rose-water, and softer beneath the feet than the velvety durva
grass; and clouds of incense, ambergris, and myrrh, filled the air. The
gorgeous trappings of eastern splendour, the waving of standards, the
glittering of warlike weapons, the sparkling of jewelled robes, formed a
scene, almost sublime in its prodigal and lavish magnificence, such as
only an oriental court could show.
Seven days did the royal Akbar receive and entertain the religious
deputies: every day a hundred thousand strangers feasted at his expense;
and every night the gifts he had received during the day, or the value
of them, were distributed in alms to the vast multitude, without any
regard to difference of belief. Seven days did the royal Akbar sit on
his musnud, and listen graciously to all who appeared before him. Many
were the words spoken, and marvellous was the wisdom uttered; sublime
were the doctrines professed, and pure the morality they enjoined: but
the more the royal Akbar heard, the more was his great mind perplexed;
the last who spoke seemed ever in the right, till the next who appeared
turned all to doubt again. He was amazed, and said within himself, like
the judge of old, "_What is truth?_"
It was observed, that the many dissenting or heterodox sects of the
Mohammedan religion excited infinitely more indignation among the
orthodox muftis, than the worst among the pagan idolaters. Their hearts
burned within them through impatience and wrath, and they would almost
have died on the spot for the privilege of confuting those blasphemers,
who rejected Abu Becker; who maintained, with Abu Zail, that blue was
holier than green; or with Mozar, that a sinner was worse than an
infidel; or believed with the Morgians, that in paradise God is beheld
only with the eyes of our understanding; or with the Kharejites, that a
prince who abuses his power may be deposed without sin. But the sultan
had forbidden all argument in his presence, and they were constrained
to keep silence, though it was pain and grief to them.
The Seiks from Lahore, then a new sect, and since a powerful nation,
with their light olive complexions, their rich robes and turbans all
of blue, their noble features and free undaunted deportment, struck the
whole assembly with respect, and were received with peculiar favour
by the sultan. So also were the Ala-ilahiyahs, whose doctrines are a
strange compound of the Christian, the Mohammedan, and the Pagan creeds;
but the Sactas, or Epicureans of India, met with a far different
reception. This sect, which in secret professed the most profane and
detestable opinions, endeavoured to obtain favour by the splendid
offerings they laid at the foot of the throne, and the graceful and
seducing eloquence of their principal speaker. It was, however, in vain,
that he threw over the tenets of his religion, as publicly acknowledged,
the flimsy disguise of rhetoric and poetry; that he endeavoured to
prove, that all happiness consisted in enjoying the world's goods, and
all virtue in mere abstaining from evil; that death is an eternal sleep;
and therefore to reject the pleasures of this life, in any shape, the
extreme of folly; while at every pause of his oration, voices of the
sweetest melody chorussed the famous burden:
"May the hand never shake which gather'd the grapes!
May the foot never slip which press'd them!"
Akbar commanded the Sactas from his presence, amid the murmurs and
execrations of all parties: and though they were protected for the
present by the royal passport, they were subsequently banished beyond
the frontiers of Cashmere.
The fire-worshippers, from Guzerat, presented the books of their famous
teacher, Zoroaster; to them succeeded the Jainas, the Buddhists, and
many more, innumerable as the leaves upon the banyan tree--countless as
the stars at midnight.
Last of all came the deputies of the Brahmans. On their approach there
was a hushed silence, and then arose a suppressed murmur of amazement,
curiosity, and admiration. It is well known with what impenetrable
secrecy the Brahmans guard the peculiar mysteries of their religion. In
the reigns of Akbar's predecessors, and during the first invasions of
the Moguls, many had suffered martyrdom in the most horrid forms, rather
than suffer their sanctuaries to be violated, or disclose the contents
of their Vedas or sacred books. Loss of caste, excommunication in this
world, and eternal perdition in the next, were the punishments awarded
to those, who should break this fundamental law of the Brahminical
faith. The mystery was at length to be unveiled; the doubts and
conjectures, to which this pertinacious concealment gave rise, were
now to be ended for ever. The learned doctors and muftis bent forward
with an attentive and eager look--Abul Fazil raised his small, bright,
piercing eyes, while a smile of dubious import passed over his
countenance--the Portuguese monk threw back his cowl, and the calm and
scornful expression of his fine features changed to one of awakened
curiosity and interest: even Akbar raised himself from his jewelled
couch as the deputies of the Brahmans approached. A single delegate had
been chosen from the twelve principal temples and seats of learning, and
they were attended by forty aged men, selected from the three inferior
castes, to represent the mass of the Indian population--warriors,
merchants, and husbandmen. At the head of this majestic procession was
the Brahman Sarma, the high priest, and principal _Gooroo_ or teacher of
theology at Benares. This singular and venerable man had passed several
years of his life in the court of the sultan Baber; and the dignity and
austerity, that became his age and high functions, were blended with a
certain grace and ease in his deportment, which distinguished him above
the rest.
When the sage Sarma had pronounced the usual benediction, "May the
king be victorious!" Akbar inclined his head with reverence. "Wise
and virtuous Brahmans!" he said, "our court derives honour from your
illustrious presence. Next to the true faith taught by our holy Prophet,
the doctrines of Brahma must exceed all others in wisdom and purity,
even as the priests of Brahma excel in virtue and knowledge the wisest
of the earth: disclose, therefore, your sacred Sastras, that we may
inhale from them, as from the roses of paradise, the precious fragrance
of truth and of knowledge!"
The Brahman replied, in the soft and musical tones of his people, "O
king of the world! we are not come before the throne of power to betray
the faith of our fathers, but to die for it, if such be the will of the
sultan!" Saying these words, he and his companions prostrated themselves
upon the earth, and, taking off their turbans, flung them down before
them: then, while the rest continued with their foreheads bowed to the
ground, Sarma arose, and stood upright before the throne. No words can
describe the amazement of Akbar. He shrunk back and struck his hands
together; then he frowned, and twisted his small and beautifully curled
mustachios:--"The sons of Brahma mock us!" said he at length; "is it
thus our imperial decrees are obeyed?"
"The laws of our faith are immutable," replied the old man, calmly, "and
the contents of the Vedas were pre-ordained from the beginning of time
to be revealed to the TWICE-BORN alone. It is sufficient, that therein
are to be found the essence of all wisdom, the principles of all virtue,
and the means of acquiring immortality."
"Doubtless, the sons of Brahma are pre-eminently wise," said Akbar,
sarcastically; "but are the followers of the Prophet accounted as fools
in their eyes? The sons of Brahma are excellently virtuous, but are
all the rest of mankind vicious? Has the most high God confined the
knowledge of his attributes to the Brahmans alone, and hidden his face
from the rest of his creatures? Where, then, is his justice? where his
all-embracing mercy?"
The Brahman, folding his arms, replied: "It is written, Heaven is a
palace with many doors, and every man shall enter by his own way. It is
not given to mortals to examine or arraign the decrees of the Deity, but
to hear and to obey. Let the will of the sultan be accomplished in all
things else. In this let the God of all the earth judge between the king
and his servants."
"Now, by the head of our Prophet! shall we be braved on our throne by
these insolent and contumacious priests? Tortures shall force the seal
from those lips!"
"Not so!" said the old Brahman, drawing himself up with a look of
inexpressible dignity. "It is in the power of the Great King to deal
with his slaves as seemeth good to him; but fortitude is the courage of
the weak; and the twice-born sons of Brahma can suffer more in the cause
of truth, than even the wrath of Akbar can inflict."
At these words, which expressed at once submission and defiance, a
general murmur arose in the assembly. The dense crowd became agitated
as the waves of the Ganges just before the rising of the hurricane. Some
opened their eyes wide with amazement at such audacity, some frowned
with indignation, some looked on with contempt, others with pity. All
awaited in fearful expectation, till the fury of the sultan should burst
forth and consume these presumptuous offenders. But Akbar remained
silent, and for some time played with the hilt of his poniard, half
unsheathing it, and then forcing it back with an angry gesture. At
length he motioned to his secretary to approach; and Abul Fazil,
kneeling upon the silver steps of the throne, received the sultan's
commands. After a conference of some length, inaudible to the attendants
around, Abul Fazil came forward, and announced the will of the sultan,
that the durbar should be presently broken up. The deputies were
severally dismissed with rich presents; all, except the Brahmans, who
were commanded to remain in the quarter assigned to them during the
royal pleasure; and a strong guard was placed over them.
Meantime Akbar withdrew to the private apartments of his palace, where
he remained for three days inaccessible to all, except his secretary
Abul Fazil, and the Christian monk. On the fourth day he sent for the
high priest of Benares, and successively for the rest of the Brahmans,
his companions; but it was in vain he tried threats and temptations,
and all his arts of argument and persuasion. They remained calmly and
passively immoveable. The sultan at length pardoned and dismissed them
with many expressions of courtesy and admiration. The Brahman Sarma
was distinguished among the rest by gifts of peculiar value and
magnificence, and to him Akbar made a voluntary promise, that, during
his reign, the cruel tax, called the Kerea, which had hitherto been
levied upon the poor Indians whenever they met to celebrate any of their
religious festivals, should be abolished.
But all these professions were hollow and insidious. Akbar was not
a character to be thus baffled; and assisted by the wily wit of Abul
Fazil, and the bold intriguing monk, he had devised a secret and subtle
expedient, which should at once gratify his curiosity, and avenge his
insulted power.
Abul Fazil had an only brother, many years younger than himself, whom
he had adopted as his son, and loved with extreme tenderness. He had
intended him to tread, like himself, the intricate path of state policy;
and with this view he had been carefully educated in all the learning of
the East, and had made the most astonishing progress in every branch of
science. Though scarcely past his boyhood, he had already been initiated
into the intrigues of the court; above all, he had been brought up
in sentiments of the most profound veneration and submission for the
monarch he was destined to serve. In some respects Faizi resembled his
brother: he possessed the same versatility of talents, the same acuteness
of mind, the same predilection for literary and sedentary pursuits, the
same insinuating melody of voice and fluent grace of speech; but his
ambition was of a nobler cast, and though his moral perceptions had been
somewhat blunted by a too early acquaintance with court diplomacy, and
an effeminate, though learned education, his mind and talents were
decidedly of a higher order. He also excelled Abul Fazil in the graces
of his person, having inherited from his mother (a Hindoo slave of
surpassing loveliness) a figure of exquisite grace and symmetry, and
features of most faultless and noble beauty.
Thus fitted by nature and prepared by art for the part he was to
perform, this youth was secretly sent to Allahabad, where the deputies
of the Brahmans rested for some days on their return to the Sacred City.
Here Abul Fazil, with great appearance of mystery and circumspection,
introduced himself to the chief priest, Sarma, and presented to him his
youthful brother as the orphan son of the Brahman Mitra, a celebrated
teacher of astronomy in the court of the late sultan. Abul Fazil had
artfully prepared such documents, as left no doubt of the truth of his
story. His pupil in treachery played his part to admiration, and the
deception was complete and successful.
"It was the will of the Great King," said the wily Abul Fazil, "that
this fair youth should be brought up in his palace, and converted to
the Moslem faith; but, bound by my vows to a dying friend, I have for
fourteen years eluded the command of the sultan, and in placing him
under thy protection, O most venerable Sarma! I have at length discharged
my conscience, and fulfilled the last wishes of the Brahman Mitra. Peace
be with him! If it seem good in thy sight, let this remain for ever a
secret between me and thee. I have successfully thrown dust in the eyes
of the sultan, and caused it to be reported, that the youth is dead of
a sudden and grievous disease. Should he discover, that he has been
deceived by his slave; should the truth reach his mighty ears, the head
of Abul Fazil would assuredly pay the forfeit of his disobedience."
The old Brahman replied with many expressions of gratitude and
inviolable discretion; and, wholly unsuspicious of the cruel artifice,
received the youth with joy. He carried him to Benares, where some
months afterwards he publicly adopted him as his son, and gave him the
name of Govinda, "the Beloved," one of the titles under which the Indian
women adore their beautiful and favourite idol, the god Crishna.
Govinda, so we must now call him, was set to study the sacred language,
and the theology of the Brahmans as it is revealed in their Vedas and
Sastras. In both he made quick and extraordinary progress; and his
singular talents did not more endear him to his preceptor, than his
docility, and the pensive, and even melancholy sweetness of his temper
and manner. His new duties were not unpleasing or unsuited to one of his
indolent and contemplative temper. He possibly felt, at first, a holy
horror at the pagan sacrifices, in which he was obliged to assist, and
some reluctance to feeding consecrated cows, gathering flowers, cooking
rice, and drawing water for offerings and libations: but by degrees he
reconciled his conscience to these occupations, and became attached to
his Gooroo, and interested in his philosophical studies. He would have
been happy, in short, but for certain uneasy sensations of fear and
self-reproach, which he vainly endeavoured to forget or to reason down.