Page:The Land of the Veda.djvu/462

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452
THE LAND OF THE VEDA.

and hated with a double intensity by the Hindoo race, whom they first misled and deceived, and then oppressed, during their brief term of power. The worst that they can do is now well known, and they are well aware that they are no longer feared. An amazing submission has been developed, showing how effectually the proud, imperious conceit has been whipped out of them.

In illustration of this fact, I will ask the reader's indulgence while relating an incident, rather “free and easy” in its character, but one which made a lasting impression upon my mind. It will point its own moral much better perhaps than a dozen sober facts could do.

Three weeks after my arrival in Lucknow, as the result of diligent search, we found premises for sale in the Husseinabad Bazaar, which seemed just what we needed for our Mission establishment. They belonged to a relative of the ex-King, a Nawab, or native nobleman, whose reduced circumstances made him glad to dispose of them. All being ready for payment, I went with this gentleman to the English magistrate's Court, to have the deed recorded and the cash paid, and have the signature and seal of the Court added, to render all safe and valid. The Court, for want of a more suitable place, was then held in the splendid Tomb of Asaf-ud-Doulah, second King of Oude. This was situated in the west end of that great Bazaar; the Fort, occupied by English soldiers, being at the other end; and between these two points, at any business hour of the day, you could find eight or ten thousand men lounging about or engaged in trade. Eighteen months before, such was the turbulence there, that a Mohammedan yell of “Deen, deen!” would have brought a mob of probably five thousand men around you in five minutes, every man armed and used to weapons, for many of them had served as Sepoys—all ready for any deed of violence or blood, in which they had the example of the vile Mohammedan Court then in Lucknow. It may be doubted if there was then a more combustible and fanatical scene any where on earth than that Bazaar held. Mr. Mead's description of it, on page 211, will be remembered by the reader.