which has been prepared by a person of an inferior order; dealing in things prohibited by the shasters, as cow-skins, fish, &c. Persons may sink lower in caste in cases where they do not become entire outcasts. A Brahmin, by officiating as priest to a Shoodra, does not become a Shoodra, but he sinks into a despised order of Brahmins.”
But there is an infinity of petty absurdities which, among some of the people, chiefly amongst the lowest classes, and especially among the servants of the English in Calcutta, are sufficient to make a set exclude one of their members from their mess,—the sole object being to exact a dinner from him; in this respect the lower classes of Muhammedans of Bengal have just as must caste as the Hindus; many of them even worship at Hindu temples.
It has often been said that the institution of caste is one of the greatest scourges of the country; that it dooms large classes of men to a mental and bodily degradation, in which they are for ever excluded from the learning and honours of the country; and that it has proved a bar to improvement in arts and sciences. To a certain extent, its effects may have had the injurious effect described, but infinitely less than is usually supposed. It is generally conceived that the caste ties a man down to follow his father’s business: this is a most erroneous idea. Most men do commonly follow the occupation to which they have been brought up; it is grown into a custom, and in fact is but the natural course where a father bequeaths his business to his son; but it involves no obligation to do so. In England it is not uncommon for a clergyman, a lawyer, or a soldier, to educate his sons for his own profession; the business of tradesmen and shopkeepers, is almost always carried on by one of the sons during his father’s life-time, and continued by him after his death. So it is in India. It is true that the priesthood is the portion of the Brahmins, but even to this there are exceptions, and in other classes there is a considerable latitude. There is nothing, for instance, to prevent a common shopkeeper (bunnea), from rising up to be a wealthy merchant, should his affairs prosper; and, on the other hand, the family of a once rich merchant will sometimes sink down into the situation of servants. Even a choomar or a mater (currier and
