498 



BENGAL. 



with an Inquiry into the Rise and Progress of the 

 Slave-Trad*-, its N;ilurr ami calamitous Effects. 

 These works were printed at his O\MI cxpt IIM-, and 

 distributed, witliout charge, wherever he thought 

 they would make an impression. He addressed them 

 directly, with suitable letters, to most of the crowned 

 heads of Kurope; and in many ot the most illustrious 

 divines and philosophers. '1 lie fervour of his style, 

 and the force of his fads, obtained for his philanthro- 

 pic efforts the notice which he sought for the benefit 

 of his cause. Great personages, on lx>(h sides of the 

 Atlantic, corresponded with him, ami it is certain 

 that he gave the original impulse to disposition*, and 

 measures which induced the nl>olitk)ii of the slave- 

 tr.ule by Britain and the I'nited Slates. Clarkson, 

 the liritish philanthropist, whose labours contributed 

 so largely to the accomplishment, of that object, 

 ;ickno li-dyi s, that his understanding was enlight- 

 ened, and his zeal kindled, by one of B.'s books, when 

 .s about to treat the question submitted to the 

 senior bachelors of arts in the university of Cam- 

 bridge, Annr liceat tin-Has in servitutem daref 



B. rcyanVd all mankind as his brethren. About 

 the year 1763, the wrongs inflicted on the aboriginal 

 nice of North America excited his susceptible mind, 

 and prompted him to publish a tract, entitled, Some 

 ( >l)sT\ations on the Situation, Disposition, and Char- 

 acter of the Indian Natives of America. He ad- 

 dressed the British governors and military command- 

 ers, on the effect of hostilities against the natives, 

 with characteristic boldness and pathos. His various 

 philauthropical efforts, and his excellent qualities, 

 obtained for him peculiar consideration in the society 

 of Friends. In 1780, he wrote and published a 

 Short Account of the religious Society of Friends 

 commonly called Quakers; and, in 1782, a Disserta- 

 tion on the Plainness and innocent Simplicity of the 

 Christian Religion. About the same time, he issued 

 several tracts against the use of ardent spirits. 



The person of B. was small, and his face far from 

 handsome, though benignity might be traced in his 

 animated aspect, even by those who knew not how 

 his whole being and small estate had been devoted. 

 His understanding was originally strong, and much 

 improved by reading and observation. His private 

 habits, morals, and pursuits were adapted to endear 

 aud dignify his public career. He died at Philadel- 

 phia, May 5, 1784, aged seventy-one years. When 

 it was announced that he was seriously ill, a multi- 

 tude of his fellow citizens presented themselves at 

 his dwelling with anxious inquiries ; and he con- 

 versed lucidly with hundreds after his case was pro- 

 nounced to be hopeless. There is extant a full and 

 interesting memoir of his life, by Roberts Vaux. 

 BENGAL; an extensive and valuable province of 

 Hindostan, situated between the 21st and 27th de- 

 grees of N. lat., and between the 86th and 92d de- 

 grees of E. Ion., its average length being about 350 

 miles, and its breadth 300. On the north and east, 

 it is defended by the mountains of Nepaul, Assam, 

 and Ava ; on the south, by a line of inhospitable 

 and dangerous sea-coast, containing but one harbour 

 capable of admitting ships of any considerable size, 

 and even that one guarded by innumerable shoals : 

 on the west, it joins Behr and Oude ; and, although 

 rather exposed to invasion on this frontier, it is, 

 nevertheless, better defended by nature than any 

 province of similar extent on the continent of Asia : 

 and should the British be ever driven from all the 

 other parts of India, as long as they shall retain their 

 maritime pre-eminence, they will find in B. a secure 

 asylum against their enemies. Thus guarded from a 

 foreign foe, they are equally safe from an insurrec- 

 tion of the natives, whose mildness of disposition and 

 aversion to war are such, that nothing short of the 



most atrocious cruelty, or religious persecution, could 

 induce them to draw their swords against their pre- 

 sent rulers. 



The fertile soil of B. produces every thing requi- 

 site for the sustenance of life, and in such abundance, 

 that the crops of one year are sufficient for the con- 

 sumption of its inhabitants for two. It abounds in 

 fruius and animals of many varieties, and yields every 

 article essential to the comfort, or even luxury, of 

 man. Its ingenious inhabitants are well versed in all 

 the arts of useful industry ; and, whilst their delicate 

 and valuable manufactures are exported to every 

 part of the world, they require no assistance from 

 other countries. In short, it lias been truly said >>f 

 this province, that it is the most valuable jewel in 

 the British crown. The revenues of B. consist chiefly 

 of rents paid to the government for land. In the 

 year 1811-12, they amounted, including those <>t 

 Behar and Orissa, to 2,590,000 sterling, to winch 

 may be added nearly 200,000 for the monopolies 

 of salt and opium. The exports of B. are principally 

 rice, cotton, and silk, both raw and manufactured ; 

 indigo, sugar, saltpetre, ivory, tobacco, and drugs of 

 various kinds : hemp and flax are also to be procured 

 in great abundance. Its imports by sea are gold ami 

 silver, copper and bar-iron, woolen cloths of every 

 description, tea, salt, glass, and china ware, wines, 

 and other commodities, for the use of its European 

 inhabitants, and a few Arabian and English horses. 

 The native breed of these animals being diminutive, 

 B. is chiefly supplied with them from the north-west 

 provinces, although the government have a stud of 

 their own in Behar, and hold out great encourage- 

 ment to the zemindars, or landholders, to breed them. 

 The south-east districts produce fine elephants, which 

 are not only in considerable demand, among the 

 opulent natives, for state or riding, but also used for 

 carrying the camp equipage of the army. They vary 

 in price from 50 to 1000: a good one should be 

 from eight to ten feet high, and not less tlian thirty 

 years of age. 



Bengal is intersected by the Ganges, the Brahma- 

 pootra, Dummooda, and several other rivers, so con- 

 nected by various streams, and the annual inunda- 

 tions, that there is scarcely a town which does not 

 enjoy the benefits of an inland navigation, the boats 

 employed in which are of various sizes and shapes, 

 many of them very handsome, and fitted both for 

 convenience and state. The Delta of the Ganges, 

 the water of which is either salt or brackish, exhibits 

 a labyrinth of uninhabited inland navigation ; and in 

 other parts of the country, during the rainy season, 

 some hundred miles of rice fields may be sailed over. 

 These inundations are, however, frequent!^ the cause 

 of much injury, by carrying away the cattle, stores 

 of grain, and habitations of the poor peasants. 



The greater proportion of the inhabitants of B. are 

 Hindoos: they are olive-coloured, with black hair 

 and eyes. They are small and delicate in their per- 

 sons, and, although very timid, are litigious ; humble 

 to their superiors, and insolent to their inferiors. In 

 youth, they are quick and inquisitive, and would pro- 

 bably be much improved by their intercourse with 

 Europeans, but for the supreme contempt in which 

 they hold other nations, from the notion of their 

 being degraded Hindoos. The indigent wear scarcely 

 any clothing other than a rag round their waist : the 

 rich, when out of doors, dress much like Mohammed- 

 ans; within the house, they usually resume their 

 old national costume, which consists merely of differ 

 ent pieces of cloth twisted round the body, and 

 having one end tucked into the folds. No small 

 part of the population are Mohammedans ; they are 

 the descendants of the Afghan and Mogul conquer- 

 ors, and Arabian merchants, softened, in the course 



