Narrative of the Life and Travels of Serjeant B——

by Robert Butler

The consequence was, notwithstanding the poor girl's disinclination, that her parents got them joined together in a marriage contract. Mrs. C. had been in our regiment for some time before I was acquainted with her, and our acquaintance arose from my wife bringing her into our hut shortly after we came to Bangalore. We were several times in each other's company before we had any conversation of a religious kind; and the first time that I may say any of us had a favourable opportunity was, I think, one Sabbath forenoon, when I was engaged reading Doddridge's Rise and Progress. I happened to make some observations on the subject, which gave her a suitable opportunity of opening her mind to me, which, it struck me, from some previous circumstances, she had been desirous of doing. I was truly delighted with the simple, undisguised manner in which she expressed her sentiments and feelings, and happy that I had it partly in my power to relieve the uneasiness of her mind, and to assist her inquiries after divine truth. From this time we endeavoured to make it convenient frequently to have some discourse together in our hut; the Sabbath, in a particular manner, being devoted by us for our mutual edification; and she found it a very severe trial indeed to be compelled to exchange our company and conversation for the company and unprofitable conversation of the men, when she went to her barrack-room at night, and, above all, to face her brutal husband, who perceived by her artless manner of endeavouring to persuade him to leave off his wicked courses, how she had been employed. Her attempts to reclaim him, alas! were all in vain, for the best answer that she would receive from him for this kindest of all love, was to keep her tongue to herself, and not trouble him with her —— nonsense; and if she attempted, while he was defaming, to entreat, it was well if he did not enforce his denunciations by the weight of an unmerciful hand. Such was the miserable situation of this poor female, who had, besides this, the care of two young children, and was unwearied in her endeavours to make her husband and them comfortable. Now, my dear reader, if you have been placing yourself all along in my circumstances, you will certainly partake, in part, of my feelings; but, after all, it will only be in part; for although the power of imagination is great, yet I am persuaded you will come far short of the reality; still I am sure you will not wonder at my being sorry to part with this truly amiable young woman, who was earnestly desirous to obtain the knowledge of that way in which she might "escape the wrath to come," and in whom I felt the more deeply interested from a consideration of my former situation in the Prince of Wales's Island, where I so earnestly desired some person to assist me in inquiries of a similar kind. Now, all that I could do for her in this case, (for parted we must be,) was to give her my advice, my best gift[16], and my blessing with it, namely, Doddridge's Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul, (which book I formerly mentioned having purchased from one of the men in Hydrabad,) and which had been of great use to myself; and I hope the blessing of God has rendered it of great service to her also. In a word, we parted with very sorrowful hearts, but our sorrow was not without hope, for that blessed religion which had formerly supported our minds, and cheered us in many a gloomy hour, left us not even now, when we needed comfort; but told us that the sufferings of the present time were not worthy to be compared with the glory that should be revealed in us at our meeting in Emmanuel's land; and that our light afflictions which might intervene, were but for a moment, and would, by the divine blessing, work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

The invalids left Bangalore upon the 13th September, 1813, and proceeded to Punamalee, a depôt for recruits from Europe, and invalids from India, homeward bound. We were ordered there to be in readiness for the first Company's ship that should touch at Madras. We arrived at Punamalee upon the 1st of October, 1813. I had in this place a severe attack of the bile upon the stomach; but it was not the disorder generally called by that name in this country; for it has nearly all the symptoms of the flux, being accompanied with great pain in the bowels, which are generally much swelled, along with a considerable degree of sickness. I was so much exhausted by it in two days, that I could not turn myself in the bed without assistance. I continued about a week very ill, and had more the appearance of getting a grave in India, than of ever seeing my native country again; but it was the wise saying of a worthy divine, that man is immortal until his day come; for while there are more days, there are means stirred up. But often, since I came to India, have I been inclined to take up the language of good Hezekiah, "I have said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave; I am deprived of the residue of my years. I said I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living; I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world." But I can now add, with the same good man, "O Lord, thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back: for the grave cannot praise thee; death cannot celebrate thee; they that go down to the pit cannot hope for thy truth: the living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day." O that I may devote my spared life unto thy service.

While we lay at Punamalee, Paddy L—, of our regiment, drowned himself in a tank, at the back of the barracks, upon a Sabbath morning. This man was going along with us for Europe, with a bad discharge, in consequence of having made himself unfit for further service by shooting off his hand, for which dreadful outrage against the laws of both God and man, as well as against his own body, he was sentenced to receive corporal punishment; to be kept in confinement during his stay with the regiment; and to be sent home with a blank discharge. He had also been frequently confined, after we came here, for different crimes; and once while he was in the Cungie-house,[17] having obtained a light, on pretence of lighting his pipe, he set fire to the place, attempting to burn both it and himself; and it was with considerable difficulty that his life, at that time, was saved, being taken out half suffocated, and as black as a chimney-sweep. I cannot inform the reader what were his diabolical motives for drowning himself; but we need not wonder much at it, when he was so depraved as to commit such crimes as I have mentioned, and indeed many others which I decline noticing; only this I will say, that "destruction and misery are in the way of such people, and the way of peace they have not known;" and no marvel that "their feet run into evil, and make haste to shed blood, seeing they have no fear of God before their eyes."

While here also I received a letter from Serjeant Gray, giving us the melancholy intelligence of his wife having had a severe attack of the flux, and of that disorder terminating in her dissolution, and earnestly soliciting me to send him a word of consolation, and an advice suited to the particularly trying circumstances in which he was placed; to which request I most readily complied in the best way I was able. My wife and I were much affected at the unexpected news; and no wonder, considering that great intimacy which had always subsisted between our families ever since the time I received Doddridge's Rise and Progress in Hydrabad. Our attachment to one another was such, that during the time the regiment was in Trichinopoly, when our huts were at a considerable distance, we very seldom passed a day, if duty would permit, without being in one another's company, and frequently we even dined together; and this friendship subsisted until we left the regiment, when we had truly a sorrowful parting; but we then little imagined that one of us was so near the eternal world. Surely the language of Divine Providence to us at this time was, "Be ye also ready, for at such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh." Surely this is an important, universal, and perpetual admonition, "O that we were wise, that we understood this, that we would consider our latter end." My letter no sooner reached the regiment, than Mrs. Copwick seeing it, wrote off immediately to Punamalee, requesting me very kindly "to send her also a word of advice before our embarkation; adding, that although she had not forgotten my former counsels, yet she had a great desire to have something from me in writing, that would not only refresh her memory, but also excite her gratitude to her heavenly Father, who had used me as an instrument, that Christ might be formed in her soul, and that it might also be a help to support her mind, under her severe trials, and encourage her to a continuance in well-doing, trusting that at last she might receive the end of her faith, even the salvation of her soul."

I need scarcely inform the Christian reader with what joy I received this delightful letter, and with what comfort and enlargement of heart I answered it; all that I shall say is, that I wish God may bless every mean which I have been enabled to use for her eternal advantage, and that we may finally meet again upon the right hand of the judge, when he which soweth, and they which reap, shall rejoice together.

I have since learned from good authority, that Serjeant Gray has followed his wife to the narrow house appointed for all living, and that Mrs. C.'s wicked husband is also gone from our world, dying as he had lived, and that God, in his kind providence, has provided a friend who took an interest in the welfare of his widow, and obtained a place for her in the family of a respectable clergyman in the country, to take the superintendence of his children, having made ample provision both for her and the orphans. In their happy experience, therefore, was that promise fulfilled[18], "Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive, and let your widows trust in me."

My dear reader, you may naturally enough think that the writer of this little work is very defective in his duty, when he has travelled so many hundred miles in India, and has scarcely so much as even dropped a hint of the appearance of the country, the customs and manners of its inhabitants, their religion, &c.; but my reason for this is, that I may make this work appear as regular and satisfactory as possible; for I have designedly delayed entering upon these things until I was just going to take farewell of the country. And now, as I am going to take a long, and, I hope, a last adieu of that part of the world, where I have suffered much, and, I bless God, have enjoyed much, I will attempt a very brief account of these, in their regular order, before I step on board ship, and close my bodily eyes—for ever perhaps—upon this scene.

CHAPTER XI.

Country.—I do not mean here to give you a particular description of the various parts of India through which I have travelled, but rather attempt a very brief sort of general representation of it: and I will say that it is, comparatively, sandy and barren; for water, which is so essential to the fertilizing of the soil, is in most places very scarce; and no wonder, when it is generally six or seven months in the year without a shower of rain. And were it not for a plan adopted by the natives, where there are no rivers, by far the greater part of the country, now peopled, would be uninhabitable; but during the monsoon, or rainy season, the inhabitants, having prepared large tanks for its reception, get these amply stored during the heavy rains; which I have often seen fall in such abundance as to inundate the country so that the communication betwixt villages, (which are always built upon rising ground,) had to be carried on by boats or canoes. I say, when these tanks are filled, it secures to them, humanly speaking, the succeeding harvest. The event is celebrated with great rejoicings; but I shall not waste your time and my own, in attempting to describe these ostentatious parades, but desire rather that you would turn over your Bible, and look at Belshazzar's mob of musicians, described in the 3d chapter of Daniel, for you will there find the description of a similar band; and it is very easy to conceive, in your own mind, a number of black people following them. I will rather give you a sketch of the manner in which their crops are produced, which will be more entertaining and instructive.

After, therefore, having these tanks well replenished, and before they begin to plough their rice-fields[19], (which must be always nearly level,) they flood them with water for a day or two, to soften the ground; and, to effect this, they have recourse to the following expedient: they erect a thick post about twelve feet high, at the top of which there is a strong lever, somewhat like the handle of our pump wells, only much longer, and to that end to which you may suppose the sucker of the pump attached, they fasten a rope or chain, of a sufficient length to reach the water, and, at the end of this rope or chain, they have a large iron bucket, and a person ready, at the side of the tank, to guide and empty it into the furrows or ridges, (Psalm lxv. 9th verse and downward,) which are formed in the rice-fields for the reception of the water, and also to conduct it over the surface of the whole plain that they intend to water. At the other end of the lever another person is appointed to tread on it, so as to raise up or let down the bucket to the person, as I said, who stands at the bottom to guide and empty it; and, to prevent the feet of the drawer from slipping, there are a number of knobs or blocks of wood nailed upon that part of the handle which he treads. These water-engines are frequently erected by the side of a growing tree; but when this is not to be had, there are two large uprights placed close by the supposed pump, and spaked across, so that the person may not only ascend and descend upon this kind of ladder, but also have a security from falling, while he is following his employment. This is the mode of watering fields, I may say, universally adopted in India, where I have travelled; but there is another kind of water-engine, which I understand is generally used in Egypt, and some other countries, which is managed by the motion of a wheel. In this wheel there are a number of steps, and the person treading upon these turns the wheel round until the rope or chain has elevated the bucket to a level with the soil intended to be watered; but whether the one or the other plan be adopted, it is a laborious and scanty manner of watering cultivated grounds of any extent. If the inhabitants of these parched countries were obliged to adopt this mode for their gardens only, it would be comparatively trifling labour; but when a person takes a view of a very extensive field, which must be kept two or three inches deep all the time the rice is growing, (and only when they wish the rice to harden is it taken off,) I say, if we consider this, the reasoning of the inspired historian, in showing the superiority of the land of Canaan to that of Egypt, will be very evident.