t of the community was; they
were solemnly assured again and again their religion would be
scrupulously respected; they had full evidence before their eyes that
with few exceptions their officers had no Christian zeal. Whence, then,
this charge of tampering with their religion? The explanation is to be
found in the character of Hinduism. It is intensely outward. It is a
matter of rite and ceremony, of meat and drink, of clothing and posture.
It may be filched from a man without any act of his own by the act of
another, and he may not be aware till informed that the fatal loss has
been incurred. Something may be introduced into his food which will
deprive him of his religion, and make him an outcast all his days. What
more easy than to introduce a defiling element, such as the blood or fat
of the cow or bullock, of which the Brahman or Rajpoot might unaware
partake? To this intensely outward religion people of these castes are
passionately attached from custom, from superstition, and still more, I
think, from the consideration among themselves and others which caste
purity secures. Their honour, _izzat_, as they call it, is their most
valuable possession. An attack on it is bitterly resented. This honour
is quite consistent with licentiousness, robbery, plunder, and even
murder; but to violate caste by drinking from the vessel of a low-caste
man, or eating with him, would bring with it indelible disgrace. To
partake of the cow, the sacred animal, is the greatest crime which can
be committed, and, if done unconsciously, the greatest calamity.

Notwithstanding the fact that the English as a people had little zeal
for their religion, the Sepoys thought they saw reasons for our wishing
to effect their conversion. If Christians, they would be fitter
instruments for carrying out the designs of their English conquerors.
They would in that case be no longer hampered by class distinctions,
commissariat arrangements could be more easily made, they would have no
objection to serving in foreign lands, and they would become identified
with us. What was more easy than to effect the change by the
manipulation of their food? Their imagination led them to interpret
facts as justifying suspicion, and the supposition was enough to drive
them to revolt.

The Muhammadans in India have become Hinduized to a large extent; they
continually speak of themselves as a caste, and Muhammadan soldiers have
shared with their Hindu comrades in the fear