106 Lieut.-Colonel Brigg^ Memoir of the early Life of Nana Farnevis. 



" On the road, one day, an infantry soldier seized a young woman in a field 

 " and threw her down, with the intention of committing a rape : one of the 

 " troopers on duty, * observing it, galloped up and pierced him to the heart 

 " with his spear. Thus I had before me an example of the consequences 

 " of indulgence in the passions. 



" On the next day his Highness crossed the Nira, but I remained that 

 " day at Sirioul ; and owing to the swelling of the river I was obliged to 

 " go in a boat : but the force of the current carried us down the stream. 

 " The boatmen declared they could do nothing ; and we had come close to 

 " some rocks, and must have been dashed to pieces in a few minutes. I 

 " called on God to assist us ; when two of the boatmen had the boldness to 

 " leap overboard, and gaining the bank, were able to drag the boat to the 

 " shore, by which means we were all presei-ved. 



" This providential circumstance was brought about through tlie inter- 

 " vention of Vishnu the preserver. 



" I then went on to Poona, and was shortly after called on by his High- 

 " ness to resume the functions of my ofiice as Farnevis." 



Having finished this remarkable narrative, it seems incumbent on me to 

 make some observations on its character. No one can doubt, who has 

 attended to the beautiful introduction of tliis piece of biography, tliat its 

 author had very sublime ideas of the nature of the Deity, whom he repre- 

 sents as ' The Only One — The Si'irit,' who pervades all space, being every 

 where present at the same moment, and omnipotent. This is, in fact, the 

 true and original basis of the Hindu religion, tliough, like others which 

 profess a belief in one God, it has in the course of time dwindled into the 

 grossest idolatry. Polytheism received its first shape when the attributes 

 of the ' Only One ' became personified in his character of Creator, Pre- 

 server, and Destroyer, and mankind conceived that in worshipping symbols 

 of his power in these several capacities, they were likely tlie more readily to 

 attain the objects of their prayers. In order therefore to propitiate the Deity 

 in his character, either of Maha Deva, Vishnu, or SrvA, the people made 

 vows to render offerings to their temples in cases of success. In order to confer 



* On the occasion of the march of troops through the country, it is usual to post safeguards 

 to protect tlie persons and property of the inhabitants ; and it is concluded, that the trooper, 

 meeting with resistance from the foot-soldier, felt himself authorized to act as he did. 



