There are numerous sects that admit proselytes from every
caste; but at the same time they will not partake of food, except with
those of their own religious party. "Here," says Kerr, "the spirit of
sect has supplanted even the spirit of caste,"--as at the temple of
Juggernath in Orissa, where the pilgrims of all castes take their
_khana_ in common.
At our quarters in Cossitollah even this progressive Karlee will not
taste of the food which has been served at our mess-table, though it be
returned to the kitchen untouched. But at least he is consistent; for
neither will he take medicine from the hand of a Sahib, however ill he
may be; nor have I ever known him to decline or postpone the performance
of this or that duty because it was Sunday,--as many knavish bhearers do
when they have set their hearts on a cock-fight. To compound for sins
one is inclined to, by damning those one has no mind to, it is not
indispensable that one should be a Christian.
The amiable Mr. James Kerr, of the Hindoo College of Calcutta, has
contrived an ingenious and plausible apology for the constitutional (or
geographical) laziness of Bengalese servants. He says: "A love of repose
may be considered one of the most striking features in the character of
the people of India.
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