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APOLOGY 
 
 FOR 
 
 PROMOTING CHRISTIANITY 
 
 INDIA. 
 
 THE REV. CLAUDIUS BUCHANAN, D. D. 
 
 Author of “ Christian Researches in AsiaJ'* 
 
 FIRST AMERICAN FROM FIRST LONDON EDITION. 
 
 LOne half the profits of this Edition will be devoted to 
 the support of Foreign Missions and Translations.]} 
 
 BOSTON : 
 
 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY NATHANIEL tVILIIS, 
 NO. 76 , STATE-STREET. 
 
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CONTENTSe 
 
 Page. 
 
 Fn EFACE 1 
 
 Letter addressed to the Court of Directors 
 of the Honourable the Enst-India Compa- 
 ny, dated 25th May, 18 1 3, in Reply to the 
 Statements of Ciuirles Euller, Esq. M. P. 
 concerning the idol Juggernaut. — Printed 
 by order of the House of Commons . 16 
 
 Second Letter addressed to the Court of Di- 
 rectors, dated Sth Jure, 1813, respecting a 
 peculiar Character in the Worship of the 
 Hindoos ^ in further Reply to the State- 
 ments of Charles Bidler, Esq. — Printed by 
 order of the House of Commons ... 33 
 
 Letter and Memorial, addressed to the Right 
 Hon. Gilbert Lord Minto, Governor Gene- 
 ral of India ; dated Calcutta, SSth ^Yovern- 
 ber, 1807, in Defence of Promoting Chris- 
 tianity in India.— Printed by order cf the 
 House of Commons -±6 
 
 Remarks (written in June, 1813 ), on the 
 Letter from the Bengal Government to the 
 Court of Directors, dated 7th Dec. 1807, 
 in Reply to the above Memorial . . 72 
 
{\r 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. I. Letter from the Bengal Government 
 to the Secret Committee of the Court of Di- 
 rectors, dated 7th Becember, 1807, in Reply 
 to the Memorial presented by the Rev. l)r. 
 Buchanan 100 
 
 No. II. Letter from the Court of Directors 
 to the Governor General in Council at Fort 
 William in Bengal, dated 7th September, 
 1808, in Reply to their Dispatch, detailing 
 the Proceedings respecting the Missiona- 
 'vies . 121 
 
 No. III. Letter from General Hay M^ Dow- 
 all, Commander in Chief of the Forces un- 
 der the Presidency of Fort St. George, to 
 the Governor and Council of that Presi- 
 dency ; dated ^Uh JVov. 1807, respecting 
 the Mutiny at Vellore ; with the proceed- 
 ings of Government thereupon . . . 129 
 
 No. IV. Minute of George Udny, Esq. Mem- 
 ber of the Supreme Council in Bengal, pro- 
 testing against superintending’^^ the Idol 
 Juggernaut, ^^as tending to perpetuate a 
 System of gross Idolatry extracted from 
 
 the Bengal Judicial Consultations of sd 
 April, 1806 135 
 
 No. V. Letter from Charles Butler, Esq. 
 
 M. P. to the Hon. the Court of Directors, 
 respecting the Idol Juggernaut ; dated the 
 CPdi May, iSiS . . " 136 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 V 
 
 No. VI. The Forerunner of the Holy Bible, 
 being a Translation of a Tract in the Ben- 
 galee Language, printed by the Missiona- 
 ries ; which the Bengal Government trans- 
 mitted to the Court of Directors as being, 
 in their judgment, calculated to inflame 
 the prejudices of the Hindoos . . . 145 
 
 No. VII. Memorial addressed by the Bap- 
 tist Missionaries to the Right Hon. Gilbert 
 Lord Minto, Governor General of India, 
 praying that the Bengal Government ivould 
 spare their Mission / dated Mission-House, 
 Serampore, 30th Sept. 1S07 . . . . 150 
 
 No» VIII. M*atural History cultivated by 
 the Protestant Missionaries in India 167 
 
 No. IX. Report of the Immolation of Fe- 
 males, between Cossimbazar, in Bengal, and 
 the mouth of the Hooghly, in the months of 
 May and June, 1812 l7l 
 
 No. X. Testimony of the Honourable the 
 East-India Company to the Character of 
 Mr. Swartz 173 
 
 No. XI. The Apology of Mr. Swartz, in 
 Answer to a Speedi delivered in the Bri- 
 tish Parliamient in 1793 ..... 17S 
 
1-^HE immolations under the Car of the Hindoo 
 Deity are not particularly considered in the 
 following Letter, that not being the subject 
 which 1 w as called upon to notice ; but, as 
 Mr. Buller is of opinion, “ that people may 
 with as much justice censure our GoVerument 
 at home for not preventing suicide, as they may 
 the Government abroad for not preventing the 
 immolations in question and since a compa- 
 rison between “ immolations in India, and sui- 
 cide in England,” has actually been made in 
 Parliament since the printing of his letter, it 
 seems to be proper to w eigh the merits of 'such 
 a comparison. I allege that there is no ground 
 for the comparison, either as to the frequency 
 of the deed or as to the principle. 
 
 And, first, with respect to the frequency of 
 the deed. — Mr. Buller observes, that when he 
 happened to be at Juggernaut, at the festival 
 of tlie Hutt in 1809, he heard but of one in- 
 stance of an immolation under the w heels of the 
 ear.” If x\!r. Buller can only speak of what 
 lie heard.” no dependence is to be placed on 
 his information, as he well knows, even re- 
 specting this one immolation w hich he mentions. 
 M^’lieii 1 was at Jfiggernaut, had I not followed 
 the Idol’s chariot myself, I should probably 
 
2 
 
 PKEFACE. 
 
 have never Iieard” of llie hvo immolalioiis 
 which I witnessed. If the writer wished to 
 have communicated to tlie nation any certain 
 information concerning these self-devotements< 
 he ought, every morning, during the height of 
 the festival, to have visited the Golgotlia, or 
 place where the dead bodies are cast forth 5 
 and also the sands betw een the Idol’s tow er and 
 the sea, and the precincts of the town. And 
 w bile examining these scenes, he ought to have 
 counted the bodies whose bones were bruised 
 by the car ; for it is very easy to distinguish 
 
 the skeletons which have been* crushed I say 
 
 skeletons, for the dogs and vultures generally 
 eat oil* the flesh before the morning. The w ri- 
 ter computes the number of pilgrims present at 
 the Rutt Jattra of 1 S 09 , at about 100 , 000 ; al- 
 though he observes elsewhere, that this was a 
 small number compared to that of other years. 
 Does he then know what was the daily morta- 
 lity, from diflerent causes, of this one hundred 
 thousand pilgrims Was if tw enty, or fifty, 
 ohe liundred, per day ? We know the calcula- 
 tion w hich has been made, of the daily casu- 
 alties in an army of 100,000 men, w hen in a 
 generally heaStliy state. What, then, must be 
 the daily average of deaths in an army of one 
 hundred thousand pilgrims; ‘‘ a large’propor- 
 tion of whom,” according to Mr. Bulier, con- 
 sists of the old and infirm, who come for ihe 
 express purpose of laying their bones witijin 
 the precincts of the city !” Or did he ever 
 make any inquiry respecting the daily devas- 
 tation of the various causes of death, so as to 
 he able to olFer even a conjecture on the sub- 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 % 
 
 ject } Did lie ever send for the hurries (or 
 forpse-carriers) and investigate accurately how 
 many immolations took place while he resided 
 in Orissa } Or can he safy certainly, from any 
 authentic data, that there were not in fact 
 many self-devotements during that period ? — I 
 think it probable, that the writer cannot answer 
 one of these questions in the aliirmative. A 
 simple case will explain my meaning in pro- 
 posing them. During the many years \lr. Dul- 
 ler resided in Calcutta, he probably never saw 
 more than three or four women burned 1 do 
 not know that he saw one ; — yet it now appears, 
 from unquestionable evidence, that a very con- 
 siderable number of females were immolated 
 within a short distance of his residence diiVing 
 that period. As it was with respect to immo- 
 lations at and near Calcutta, so, we would in- 
 fer, it might have been as to immolations at 
 Juggernaut. 
 
 \lt will be proper here to assign the reason 
 why so few immolations of women are seen by 
 Europeans in India ; for I understand the cir- 
 emnstanee has greatly perplexed the minds of 
 some. The causes are these : 
 
 4. There are in India 30,000 English, and 
 hfty millions of natit-es. In Calcutta alone, 
 the calculation, a few years ago, was 1300 En- 
 glish, and about half a million natives. 
 
 2. By_a law of the East-India Company, no 
 British subject can reside above ten miles’ dis- 
 tance from a principal settlement, without a 
 special licence. 
 
 3. The burnings do not always occur in the 
 same place ; but at some convenient spot near 
 
4 
 
 PREji'ACJ:. 
 
 the liouse of the deceased Hindoo, and geiie* 
 rally on llie banks of a river. 
 
 4. The bnrning generally begins next fore- 
 noon after the decease of the husband ; or if he 
 die during the night, it takes place next even- 
 ing, on account of the state of the corpse in a 
 liot climate. Immediately on the decease of 
 the husband, the Brahmins wait on the widow, 
 to know if she means to burn ; and all is set- 
 tled in an hour or two, 
 
 5. If the burning takes place in the forenoon, 
 it does not begin generally till ten o’clock, or 
 later, when the sun is hot, and when no En- 
 gl islinian goes to any distance without necessity, 
 if it takes place in the evening, the flame may 
 be seen at a distance ; but as it is more likely 
 to be merely the burning of a dead body (the 
 pile for which is generally lighted in the even- 
 ing), the expectation of a woman burning alivo 
 is not excit ed. From the terraces of the houses 
 in Calcjitta, funeral piles may be seen on the 
 other side of the river so commonly, that they 
 are not parlieularly noticed. No person thinks 
 of going over to examine what is doing; as it 
 is kno'Au to be, in general cases, only the burn- 
 ing of a dead body. 
 
 6. Unless an Englishman comes casually up- 
 on the scene, he never can, generally speaking, 
 see a burning. The only expedient is, to de- 
 sire your Hindoo servants to mention when they 
 hear that one is about to take place. But 
 again, your Hindoo servants live in your own 
 house, and not in the native part of the town; 
 and unless it be one of tlieir own relations who 
 is dead, they seldom h^r any thing of the event 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 O 
 
 afterwards. Another obstacle is, that they 
 are averse to communicate to Christians any 
 information concerning a custom which they 
 know is not approved. The Maliometans, on 
 the other hand, have less dithculty ; hut tiien 
 they have less acquaintance with what is pass- 
 ing among Hindoo families. My sircar (or 
 house-steward) has more than once apprised me 
 of a burning ; but I do not recollect that a Ma- 
 hometan servant ever did. And, again, even 
 if you should receive timely intelligence, it may 
 happen that the distance is inconvenient. The 
 usual place of burning, on the Calcutta side of 
 the water, is at Chitpore Ghaut, about four 
 miles from the English part of the town ; and 
 few of the English w ill choose to travel eiglit 
 miles, under a hot sun, through crowded bazars, 
 to witness the scene. 
 
 7, To all these causes may be added, the 
 utter disinclination of the English, in general, 
 to inquire into what the natives are doing. No- 
 thing relating to them excites much interest. 
 They constitute a distinct world from the En- 
 glish. Their lauguage, manners, and religion, 
 the English understand not. But chiefly the 
 personal degradation of the Hindoos, from po- 
 verty of circumstances and ignorance of mind,** 
 separates the two nations ; so that an English 
 lady or gentleman, in Calcutta, is generally 
 much better acquainted w ith what has passed 
 during the former year on tlie banks of the river 
 Thames, [in England] than w itli the scenes on 
 the hanks of the Ganges. 
 
 These considerations will shew’ what weight 
 IS due to the arsjURient so often repeated, viz. 
 
 1 * 
 
6 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 That the immolations of women must be few, 
 since so few English gentlemen have seen them. 
 
 The same observations will, for the most part, 
 aeeosint for that prevailing ignorance concerning 
 Hindoo scenes in general, such as the licenti- 
 ous ceremonies of the Rutt Jattra, and the im- 
 molations of men in the various ways in which 
 they are practised ; for numerous are the inodes 
 in which religious suicide is perpetrated, be- 
 sides that of being crushed under the chariot 
 of an idol. To coinpsy e the immolations of 
 men in India n ith suicide in England, is ex- 
 ceedingly preposterous. It is a received maxim 
 of philosophic wi iters, that, in any nation, the 
 eases of suicide by the men greatly exceed those 
 by the v,omen ; and the fact is accounted for 
 on self-evident principles. But it has been sa- 
 tisfactorily established, that upwards of ten 
 thousand women commit suicide annually in 
 India. What becomes, then, of the analogy 
 between the immolations of men in India and 
 in England,^ 
 
 Again : the immolations in India differ en- 
 tirely from suicide in England, in ihe principle^ 
 or moving cause of the act.— -Religious suicide 
 among the Hindoos is an act quite distinct from 
 *that suicide in Europe which results from des- 
 pair, A Hindoo is not usually urged to this 
 act by a sentiment of despair, but by the con- 
 viction of a meritorious deed; by the belief 
 that he purchases heaven by his oivn blood ^ 
 or by sympathetic phrensy. He devotes himself 
 to death with the same feeling, and on the same 
 principle, that he devotes his “ first-born child 
 to Gupga,” and can behold the infant in the 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 7 
 
 jaws of the alligator without compassion or 
 compunction. The advocates for the tranquil 
 continuance of the superstition of Brahma will 
 not deny, that, whatever he its actual charac- 
 ter, or whoever be the spiritual deity that rules 
 its votaries, it destroys all the “ tender visit- 
 ings of nature.’’ 
 
 It is proper I should say something on the 
 subject of the Second Letter in the following 
 pages. In three publications concerning India, 
 viz. “ A Memoir of the Expediency of an Ec- 
 clesiastical Establishment,” the “ Christian Re- 
 searches in Asia,” and the ‘‘ Brief View' of the 
 State of the British Colonies in Respect to Re- 
 ligious Instruction,” there is no exposition of 
 the peculiar subject of that letter. And it is 
 most certain, that it would not now have been 
 given, had not an attempt been made, in a pa- 
 per laid before the Council of the Nation, to 
 represent the “ sculptures on the walls of Jug- 
 gernaut” as being as harmless, in regard to 
 their moral effect on the Hindoos, as the figures 
 on an Etruscan vase are to us : from vvhiedi the 
 conclusion naturally would be, that the worship 
 of the Hindoos is not more contaminated by in- 
 delicacy than that of the English. 
 
 I would beg leave to notice in this place the 
 late discussion in Parliament concerning the 
 enormities of the Hindoo worship, and tiie at- 
 tempt made by some Honorable Members to 
 qualify them. I understood, some time ago, 
 that the statement in my own writings which 
 chiefly excited animadversion, was that which 
 refers to the burning of women. But I pre- 
 
is 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 sume that it is now generally known, that 
 subsequent statements ot* indubitable authority 
 have far exceeded mine, and have set the ques- 
 tion at rest. 
 
 Perhaps the Honorable Members above al- 
 luded to are nut aware, that a work has been 
 recently published in Bengal, in four volumes 
 quarto, entitled, “ An Account of the Writings, 
 Keligiou, and Manners of the Hindoos, includ- 
 ing Translations from their principal Works ; 
 by William Ward, one of the Baptist Mission- 
 aries at Serampore which has been bought 
 np with avidity in India, has already passed 
 tiirough two editions, and is now republishing 
 in this country. It was printed under the im- 
 mediate eye of the Supreme Government (as it 
 necessarily must be), and possesses an unques- 
 tionable authenticity, generally, on the various 
 subjects concerning wiiich it treats. It takes 
 the high ground of literal translations from the 
 Hindoo books, recent events, and living wit- 
 nesses. — Now, this work not only confirms the 
 statements in my volumes, in most points which 
 were controverted, but it goes far beyond them. 
 It describes, for example, the atrocities con- 
 nected with the burning of women, self-torture, 
 and the imparity of the Hindoo worship, in 
 such a manner as shews that 1 have scarcely 
 entered the vestibule of their temple. It states, 
 that an attempt was made to ascertain tlje 
 number of widows who were burned alive, with- 
 in thirty miles around Calcutta, in the year 
 1S03, and “ that the return made a total of 
 four hundred and thirty-eight.” And, in re- 
 gard to the circumstances of horror which 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 9 
 
 sometimes attend these scenes, I beg the reader 
 will accept the two following examples. The 
 first has already been noticed in the House of 
 Commons, in answer to an opposing statement 
 which asserted the “filial piety’’ of the Hindoos. 
 
 “ About the year 1796, the following most 
 shocking and attrocious murder, under the 
 name of suhumurunu,* was perpetrated at Mu- 
 jilupoor, about a day’s journey south from Cal- 
 cutta. Vaucha-ramu, a Bramliun, of the above 
 place, dying, his wife went to be burnt with the 
 body ; all the previous ceremonies were per- 
 formed ; she was fastened on the pile, and the 
 fire w as kindled. The funeral pile v^as by the 
 side of some brushwood, and near a river. It 
 was at a late hour when the pile was lighted, 
 and was a very dark, rainy night. When the 
 fire began to scorch this poor woman, she con- 
 trived to disentangle herself from the dead bo- 
 dy, crept from under the pile, and hid herself 
 among the brushwood. In a little time it was 
 discovered that only one body w^as on the pile. 
 The relations immediately took the alarm, and 
 began to hunt for the poor wretch who had made 
 her escape. After they had found her, the son 
 dragged her forth, and insisted upon her throw- 
 ing herself upon the pile again, or that she 
 should drown or hang herself. She pleaded 
 for her life, at the hands of her own son, and 
 declared she could not embrace so horrid a 
 death. But she pleaded in vain; the son urg- 
 ed that he should lose his cast, and that, there- 
 fore, he would die or she should. Unable to 
 
 * Siilm, xvith : murunu, deaths 
 
10 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 persuade her Jo han^ or drown Iierself, the son 
 and the others tlien tied her hands and her feet, 
 and threw her on tlie funeral pile, where she 
 quickly perished.” 
 
 The other example, which fiir exceeds the 
 foregoing in awful enormity, is the following : 
 — Goopinat’hu, a Bramhun employed in the 
 Serampore printing-office, in the year 1799 
 saw twenty-tivo females burnt alive with the 
 remains of Ununtu, a Bramhun of Bagnuparu, 
 near Nudeeyu. This Koolinu Bramhun had 
 more than a hundred wives. At the first kin- 
 dling of the fire only three of these wives had 
 arrived. The fire was kept kindled three days ! 
 When one or more arrived, the ceremonies were 
 gone through, and they threw themselves on the 
 blazing fire I On the first day three were 
 burned 5 on the second and third days, nineteen 
 more. Among these women, some were as 
 much as forty years old, and others as young 
 as sixteen. The three first had lived with this 
 Bramhun, the others had seldom seen him. He 
 married in one house four sisters 3 two of these 
 were among the number burnt.” 
 
 Now, if the horrible transaction here related 
 did not take place, it is very easy to ascertain 
 the fact. Nudeeyu, or as it is conrmonly cal- 
 led, Nuddeea, is at no great distance up the ri- 
 ver above Calcutta. The event is said to have 
 occurred in 1799. If it did take place in that 
 year, hundreds of people now alive must have 
 witnessed it. The Brahmin, who had a hun- 
 dred wives, must have been well known. Let 
 the inquiry then be made ; and let the credit of 
 the work, generally, rest on the result. I know 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 11 
 
 liolliing of llie merits of tlie book, but I depend 
 on the character of the authors and the circum- 
 stances under which it is publTshed; and I say 
 that the probability of the truth of the trans- 
 action jest related is as great as the absurdity 
 would be of supposing the follov,ing ease, viz. 
 “ That an autlior couitl be found in England 
 nlio should pub]i>h a Mork, in four volumes 
 quarto, in which it should be stated, that in the 
 year 1799 twenty-two women were burnt alive 
 on the banks of the Thames at Richmond, and 
 that the tire was kept burning three days ; and 
 moreover, tliat the book was published nith the 
 express leave of the King, under the eye and 
 responsibility of his government.*’* 
 
 As certain trentlcmen fiom India have been ac- 
 cused in Parliament of “ pertinaciously denying facts, 
 as the easiest mode of resisting the religions improve- 
 ment of India,” it is proposed to do them justice, and 
 to prove their sagacity, by the investigation of the 
 above sacrifice of twenty-two women on one pile ; and 
 thei? attention should be steadily fixed in the contem- 
 plation of the subject, until they or their parliamentary 
 accusers shall have obtained the victory. Or if they 
 should like the investigation of the following fact bet- 
 ter, it imw be adopted with equal propriety : liie event 
 occurred in ^May or June of last year, at Cliunakuli, 
 not far from Calcutta ; and the account of it was soon 
 after printed and published in Bengal. A Kooleen 
 Brahmin died at Chunakuli, “who had married twen- 
 ty-five women, thirteen of whom died during his life- 
 time : the remaining twelve perished witli him on the 
 fiinera.1 pile, leaving- thirty children to deplore th.e fatal 
 effects of tills liorrid system.” — The same printed ac- 
 count immediately states the following fact, as illus- 
 trative of the system : — “ Some years ago a Kooleen 
 Bra’umin, of considerable property, died at Sookachura, 
 three miles east of Scrampore (where the Missionaries 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 IJ 
 
 Zei^enbalg. and liis fellow-missionaries, 6rst 
 ^avp tlie only satisfactory account of the man- 
 ners and' religion of the South of India.* It 
 was to be expected that the present Missiona- 
 ries in Bengal would give the most particular 
 account of the North. In every heathen na- 
 tion, the Missionaries are generally best qua- 
 lified to delineate the character of the inhabi- 
 tants. Both in the Eastern and Western He- 
 mispiieres the rfiligioiis men have described the 
 country and manners of the people. The com- 
 mercial men in the East know, in general, very 
 
 liA'c.) He had married more than forty women, all of 
 \v)\ora died before liim, excepting’ eighteen. On this 
 occasion a fire, extending ten or twelve yards in leng'th, 
 was prepared, into which the remaining eighteen threw 
 tliemselves, leaving more than forty children, many of 
 whom are still living.’’ 
 
 Or, if the case of the scA'enty women, who were sa- 
 crificed m May ai'.d J’one of last year, within two hun- 
 dred miles of Calcutta, of whom the tweh’e above- 
 mentioned were a part, and of whom a. list and parti- 
 cula" account, recording name and place, was lately in- 
 serted in tlie public papers, should be thought a more 
 suitable subject for enquiry, it may be undertaken. 
 This, indeed, appears to be tlie fittest case of all for 
 trial and actual proof ; for it is stated tliat there are 
 “one hundred and eighty-four” wnxrssEs, who may be 
 produced ; nam.ely, the one Inindred and eighty-four 
 orplians of the deceased fathers and sacrificed mothers. 
 The places where tlu se witnesses reside have all been 
 printed ; and are not, in general, far from Calcutta. — 
 Appendix, J\ o. IX ) 
 
 * The transactions of the Tranquebar Mission fill 
 many volun^s in quarto, in the German language. A 
 very small portion of them has been translated into 
 English. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 13 
 
 liltJe of the subject. Resident generally in 
 towns or on tlie sea-coast, and occupied by fo- 
 reign avocations, they rarely penetrate into the 
 interior, to investigate, under a meridian sun, 
 the manners and customs of the people. As 
 to the literary men, again, who merely consult 
 books, their advantages of information are con- 
 fessedly very far inferior to those of the Mis- 
 sionaries. Of this general ignorance ofEnglish 
 residents in India concerning native scenes, vve 
 have lately had some remarkable examples in 
 the evidence delivered at the bar of the House^ 
 of Commons. Gentlemen who had occupied 
 high official stations in that country betrayed a 
 defect of information respecting the state of the 
 natives, and the progress of Christianity in dif- 
 ferent provinces, which has been contemplated 
 by many with utter astonishment. The circum- 
 stance, however, may be accounted for, in some 
 degree, by the following consideration. India 
 is not less than three thousand miles in extent. 
 Now the Shetland Islands are only seven hun- 
 dred miles from London ; but a merchant in 
 London knows very little about the manners 
 and customs of the Shetland Isles. Thus it is 
 in Hindostan. A merchant in Bengel knows 
 in general very httle of what is passing seven 
 hundred miles from that province. But, if the 
 fjuestion respects a distance of two thousand or 
 tliree thousand miles, it is much if he have a 
 n>ap of the country. In the time of Governor 
 Hastings, llie life and acts of the illustrious 
 SvvAUTz, his contemporary, and of his learned 
 predecessors and their transactions at the Courts 
 of Tanjore and Mysore, and the progress of 
 
rUEFACE. 
 
 ll* 
 
 Christianity in tlie sonlhern regions and Cey- 
 lon, were all of tljem circumstances nearly as 
 much unknown in Bengal, as the transactions of 
 the (’atholie Missionaries at the Court of Pe- 
 kin, or the state of Clirisliauity in the interior 
 of China. 
 
 The great extent of HinJostan in longitude 
 and latitude, may also account, in some degree, 
 for the discrepancy of relations concerning the 
 Hindoo people ; for in the nations between Cey- 
 lon and Cabal, there are as great differences in 
 manners, customs, and religion, as in those be- 
 tween the Shetland Isles and Constantinople. 
 Our nation has lately wondere^l at the flattering 
 acconijt given of the Hindoos at the bar of the 
 House of Commons, l»y some eloquent advocates 
 for the continuance of (heir existing state. Bat 
 the above consideration, of the great extent of the 
 Imlian Continent, may* sni^gest the possibility, 
 that, in some favoured region, a people may ex- 
 ist, difiering in certain respects, from the Hin- 
 doos ill general ; “a civilized and moral people,*’ 
 who“ treat their females with confidence, respect 
 and delicacy ;” who practice t!;e virtues of“ hos- 
 pitality and charity;” who are ‘‘distinguished 
 by the finest qualities of the mind;” who are 
 “brave, generous and humane; and tlieir truth 
 as remarkable as their courage and who, in 
 short, like St. Pierre's “ happy Indian family,” 
 may w ell make Christians blush. The accounts 
 do not add wliether these Hindoos have renoun- 
 ccil liie worship of tlie Lingam ; for the adage 
 still holds good, “ If you would know the cha- 
 racter of tlie nation, look at tlie temple.” It is 
 a rule in our creneral rellections on nations. 
 
PREFA0E. 
 
 15 
 
 to beware, lest by iindfily exalting paganism, 
 we should debase Christianity. It is yet abet- 
 ter rule to acknowledge the Bible in onr old 
 age, and to do some honour to Christianity be- 
 fore we die.* Many of us from India had, cer- 
 tainly, little opportunity of doing honour to 
 Christianity there. Let us then look into the 
 Bible at home ; and w hile we cherish w ith lau- 
 dable anxiety a desire to do justice to the Hin- 
 doos, to give to Brahma that which is Brah- 
 ma’s, let us also endeavour to give unto God 
 that which is God's.” We shall shortly be 
 placed in circumstances, even perhaps before 
 we leave this w orld,, when the reflection that 
 we had “ stood on the Lord’s side,” w ill be 
 grateful to the soul, and support the sinking 
 spirits; and, when, in the review of all the 
 nations which we have 'witnessed, and in re- 
 collection of their principles and actions, we 
 shall bequeath to them^this wish. That the 
 hook of God’s revealed w ill may go forth a- 
 inong them, as the best blessing to maiikiud ! 
 
 Isi Jidy^ 1313. 
 
 * It is to be hoped, for tlie credit of British India, that 
 the next g-eneration of gx^'iitlemen returning' from that 
 country, will not expose themselves to the severe and 
 pointed remark of Lord Milton, the son of Earl Fitz- 
 william, in !iis speech in the House of Commons. “ I 
 want no more,” said lie, “ to convince me of the neces- 
 sity of t!ie reiig'ious improvement of India, than the 
 sentiipents which have been uttered this eveniiyg by 
 .gentlemen relumed from that ciuarter .” — Debate of 
 the 17 th Jane, 1813. 
 
' V ‘ ' t-"’ 
 
 raiiiCE'x.:: 
 
 \th50LOGIC2;.I' ,;':■ i 
 
 
 TO THE COURT OF DIRECTORS OF THE HON. 
 EAST-INDIA COMPANY. 
 
 HONORABLE SIRS, 
 
 1 WAS yesterday favoured with a copy of 
 a letter addressed hy Mr. Charles Buller to 
 your Honourable Court, dated the 19th instant, 
 w hieh has been ordered to be laid on the table 
 of the House of Commons, relatin,^ to the wor- 
 ship of the idol Ju^.^eriiaut; and 1 now beg 
 leave to submit some remarks on that document. 
 The reference whielr the writer makes to me 
 hy name, and to my publications on this sub- 
 ject, w'ill apologize for my doing myself the 
 honour of addressing your Honourable Court. 
 
 Par. 1. Mr. Bulier fully confirms, in essen- 
 tial points, the general statements made by me, 
 concerning the part which the Bengal Govern- 
 ment has taken in the superjntendanee of Jug- 
 gernaut, and in deriving revenue from the wor- 
 ship of the idol ; but he defends the policy. 
 With that 1 have nothing to do. He admits, 
 also, that seif-immoiation under the wheels of 
 the car is practiced, but thinks the instances 
 are rare. I am of opinion that they are rare 
 also ; rare, I mean, when compared with the 
 number of females immolated on the funeral 
 
LEM'LK I. 
 
 17 
 
 pile. He heard of one immolation while he 
 was at Juggernaut ; and 1 have stated that I 
 saw two. 
 
 2. The oaly part of his letter that I need to 
 notice, is that which relates to the indecency of 
 the exhibition at Juggernaut “ On that point, 
 (lie says) my attention was directed to a pub- 
 lication by the Rev. Claudius Buchanan, who 
 speaks of a priest having pronounced certain 
 obscene stanzas in the ears of the people, and 
 of certain indecent gestures exhibited by a hoy 
 and a priest on the ear.” On tlsis passage Mr. 
 Bulier observes : — ‘‘ I do not mean to doubt 
 the fact.” With respect to the indecent ges- 
 tures said to have been exhibited on the car, 
 all I can say is, that if such things are done I 
 never saw them.” In the foregoing quotations 
 I state what I saw in 1806, and Mr. BuHer 
 states what he did not see in i809. 
 
 3. On my witnessing (he atrocities at Jug- 
 gernaut in 1809, 1 wrote letters from tlie spot 
 to a Member of the Supreme Goveriiment, and 
 • 0 tliC Senior Chajtlain in Bengal, cmitainij.rg 
 pm lions of my jouriia! as now given to the pub- 
 lic, and expressing a hope that the Bengal Go- 
 vernment would use its influence in suppress- 
 ing the sauguinarv and indecent exhibitions. 
 These letters were afterwards ftiirly copied, 
 and put into the hands of many. Men’s minds 
 were shocked by the recital, and Government 
 was blamed. It is j)os?ible tfjat Mr. Bulier 
 may not liave heard of these letters, al- 
 tiiough they were certainly in the hands of 
 Ills intimate friends 5 and in that ease no blame 
 is i nputable to iiim for not having alluded to 
 
 2 * 
 
18 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 them. Previously to this, ©ne of the members 
 of the Supreme Government (Mr. Uduy) had 
 protested against any interference at ail with 
 the idol Juggernaut * 5 and the Marquis Welles- 
 ley had declined giving Jus sanction to the law 
 for the superintendance and controul of the 
 temple. The rpiestion now was, whether, un- 
 der existing circumstances, tlie enormity of 
 these scenes might not be, in some degree, cjiia- 
 lilied. What instructions Government may 
 have given to the Superintendant of the temple 
 on this head, I do not know, as 1 soon after left 
 the country. If they gave none, this is directly 
 contrary to the evidence of Mr. Giaham (him- 
 self a ISleinber of the Siij)reine Government.) 
 before the Committee of the House of Commons. 
 If the Government did issue some instructions 
 on the subject, then tliat fact alone may ac- 
 count for tlie difterence of the scenes wliieh 
 were exhibited to me in 180G, and to Mr. Buller 
 in 1809. t 
 
 * See Ml*. Udny’s Minute : Appendix, No. 
 
 j- I allege it will be found, that Mr. Buller lias charg'- 
 ed me wiih an erroneous statement in regard to the 
 existence of that which I myself contributed to abolish. 
 Not that I can believe it is abolished. By no means. Li- 
 oentiousness is accounted as legitimate a character of 
 the Rutt Jattra in India, as it was of the feast of Bac- 
 chus among the Greeks. But I collect from Mr. Bul- 
 ler’s account, that a circumstance has taken place 
 which I had reason to expect would result from my 
 public remonstrance, and from the influence of the Go- 
 vernment at Juggernaut ; namely, that there is no lon- 
 ger any improper exliibition in the jiresence of Europe- 
 ans of rank or authority. I had myself urged on the 
 
LETTER I. 
 
 19 
 
 4. 1 shall now however assume, for the sake 
 of argument, that the Bengal Government did 
 not send instructions to the Suj?erintendant of 
 Juggernaut to endeavour to qualify the enor- 
 mity of the public exhibitions ; and shall pro- 
 ceed to review tbe opposing statements of Mr. 
 feuller and myself, even under that supposition. 
 1 shall simply state, in the first place, tliat what 
 1 saw in 1806 was seen, in part at least, by 
 others. I appeal to Hen^y Hunter, Esq. super- 
 intendaniof the temple in 1806, and toCapt. Pat- 
 ton and Lieut. Woodcock, military oliicers in 
 the Company’s service, then on doty at Jugger- 
 naut, whether they have not at any time wit- 
 nessed the priest, wlm, for the time, directed 
 the car of tlie idol, standing with his long wand 
 in ]:is hand bcliind the wooden horses, project- 
 ing tliis wand significantly, and with most un- 
 seemly action, using at the same time other in- 
 decent gestures, and accompanying these ges- 
 tures \Vith songs and extempore speeches, ad- 
 dressed to a multitude composed of both sexes 
 
 Merrsbers of the Ben.sral Government, that althoiigli we 
 could not Mel! interfere with these festivals in other 
 places, we might do it here; inasmuch as we had now 
 assumed the regulation of the place and temple (the 
 law for tlie “ .superintendance and management of the 
 temple” having passed about two months before I ar- 
 rived,) and as the priests would doubtless be civil to 
 our requests, as receiving tiieir salaries at our hands. 
 This reasoning tvas admitted ; and I was given to un- 
 derstand that soiiiething would be done. 
 
 * I miglit also refer to Capt. Comyn, (or Cummin) a 
 visitor, and to other gentlemen who might have vlshed 
 Juggernaut about tlsat period, sojne of whom may 
 p.ossibl)' be now in England. 
 
LETTER I. 
 
 Sfi 
 
 5. ]Mr. Biiller wonders how I should know* 
 that the speeches of the priest were indecent, 
 as he thinks it probable 1 did not understa'^d 
 the vernacular tongue of the province of Orissa. 
 In reply to this, I have to observe, |hat 1 had 
 two translations of the language ; one from the 
 indecent gestures of the priest, whose attitudes 
 too plainly interpreted his words ; and another 
 from my servants around me, who could trans- 
 late every word he uttered. 
 
 6. The writer has argued, in two different 
 places of his letter, as if 1 had said that my 
 ears were shocked by hearing the songs,” 1 
 have used no such words, nor any thing lika 
 them, ^ly words are these : “ 1 felt a consci- 
 ousness of doing wrong, in witnessing' tliis dis- 
 gusting exhibition ; and was somew Isat appal- 
 led by the magnitude and horror of the sjyec- 
 tacle.^^ 
 
 .7, The writer marvels, in the next place, 
 that I should have iieard any thing distinct- 
 ly, on account of the noise of the people “ clap- 
 ping their hands, talking, shouting, and mer- 
 ry-making,” in a crowd of about one hun- 
 dred thousand ;” particularly “ when, ow ing 
 to the distance of the platform on w hich the 
 priest stands, one could not by any endeavours 
 get within ten yards of him.” Mr. Buller 
 would leave it to be inferred here, that I was 
 not within “ ten yards” of the priest: — where- 
 as I state, ill the printed account, that “ I went 
 on in the procession close liy the tower ;” and, 
 in the letters circulated at Calcutta, it was 
 stated, that I was so close to the tower “ as to 
 receive a garland of flow ers from the hand of 
 
LETTER I. 
 
 2i 
 
 llie priest.” The fact was, I could touch the 
 car with my hand, during almost llie whole 
 time. 
 
 8. Mr. Buller observes again, that the “ noise 
 of tl- 3 people was incessant, and without inter- 
 mission, so that he could not hear any thing 
 that was said.” Doubtless he could not hear 
 what was said by the priest, if he stood at a 
 distance. — It is proper to explain here that, on 
 these occasions, Europeans in India usually 
 look on at a distance, on account of the press 
 of the people. At Juggernaut, in 1 P. 06 , the 
 English gentlemen usually sat in the Cutchery, 
 or public office, to see the procession pass. I 
 sat there for a w bile on ditt'erent days ; but I 
 could hear or see nothing distinctly, except at 
 the moment of passing, aud I joined the pro- 
 cession. Mr. Buller mentions that some ladies 
 were with him : it is therefore probable that 
 Mr. Buller sat all the while with the ladies in 
 the Cutchery, and that they did not follow the 
 idol for two or three hours, to see what was 
 transacting among the people, at their celebra- 
 tion of the famed Rutt Jattra. 
 
 9. Mr. Buller thinks that the noise of tlie 
 people about the car is “ incessant, without in- 
 termission but if he had joined Uie car, he 
 would have found that this is not the case. 
 AVhen the priest pronounces his stanzas, which 
 he does generally while the car stands still, 
 thei’e is a solemn silence among the people w ho 
 are near it, and they listen with keen attention : 
 at the conclusion they respond with a sensual 
 yell of approbation, and then urge the car 
 along. Many such yells I am sureMr, Buller 
 
^2 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 must have heard, aliliou^h he might not have 
 known >\liat it was that produced tliein. To 
 suppo«»e that the priest sliould, on any public 
 occasion, address the people and not be listened 
 to, is hardly cousisteiit. Mr. Ruller’s uck’,o\\ l- 
 edged Ignorance of this notorious circuiustarice, 
 yiz. thal tliere is a iVequen? intermission of the 
 noise of ttie people about the car, and a gaping 
 attention to devour tlie words of the priest, en- 
 tirely convinces me that he must be wholly ig- 
 norant of many important particulars of the 
 native scenes at Juggernaut. 
 
 10. 1 do not impute it as a fault to Mr. Biil- 
 ler, that he has come away so imperfectly in- 
 formed respecting the scenes of Juggernaut ; 
 nor do i nuieh w ouder at it. In the eight years 
 during which I beiieve we resided together in 
 Calcutta, 1 never met Mr. Buller once, that 1 
 can remember, in the dist - ict of the natives, at- 
 tending a Sahamnron,* or witnessing their pio.- 
 ccssions or religious rites. 1 never heard tliat 
 he had any taste for investigating the existing 
 customs of the people, or any solicitude to niw 
 derstand the ciiaraeter of their superstition, 
 whether for the pu.''pose of extending Chris- 
 tianity or of palliating idolatry. And I dare 
 say he w ill candidly confess, that wiiile he held 
 his high station at Juggernaut, he never dream- 
 ed of pulling his person to inconvenience or 
 danger, by prosecuting researches of this kind ; 
 and that, instead of visiting frequently, witii 
 such intent, the noisome precincts of tlse pollut- 
 jid town an ] temple, he preferred the salubrious 
 
 burning of Women. 
 
LETTER I. 
 
 gales at his residence, on the pleasant shores of 
 the neiglihouring sea. I do not, I say, impute 
 it as a fault to Mr. Buller, that he has not a 
 taste for sucli inquiries ; but I wonder exceed- 
 i!)gl y that, under such circumstances, he should, 
 in an oilicial letter to your Honourable Court, 
 intended to be laid on the table of the House of 
 Commons, have urged (at least with gravity) 
 two ohjectloMs so frivolous aS the following : 
 First, li'.at possibly 1 did not understand the 
 dialect of Orissa : and second, that probably, 
 if I did understand it, I was at too great a dis- 
 tance from tlie speaker to itear what was said. 
 On tliese two iiiuendos rests the wiiole argument 
 of Mr. Buller, on the {)oint in question, addres- 
 sed to your Honourable Court. 
 
 11. Mr. Buller observes, that nothing impro- 
 per in liie exliibition could have been apprehen- 
 ded when he was at Juggernaut, otherwise the 
 gentlemeji would not have asked the ladies to 
 witness the procession. This is specious ; but 
 it ainounis to little when the circumstances are 
 explained. Mr. Hunter, in 18G6, (long before 
 Mr. BuHer’s arrival at Juggernaut,) would 
 doubtless discouutenaiice any indecency as much 
 as he could, and would request the officiating 
 priest to suppress it, at least in the presence of 
 Kuropeans. 1 ceiTainiy had some conversation 
 with Mr. Hunter on the subject. Tliere was 
 no lady at Juggernaut when 1 was there. Ou 
 occasion of the first lady coming to the place, 
 we may believe that some endeavour \>ou!d be 
 made, by the interference of tlie Company's of- 
 ficers, to prevent any thing improper from be- 
 l!ig practised, while lli^ idol pa>iscd the Ceteh- 
 
LETTER I. 
 
 2i> 
 
 ery. If the director of the ear was aware tliat 
 any particular practice would give oiTeiiee to 
 the Superiutendant of the temple (whose local 
 iuHiience we may suppose is very great,) he 
 l^oiild, without doubt, in deference to his rank 
 and authority, suppress it in his presence, or 
 w Idle passing the Cutchery. But this decidis 
 nothing as to the character of the Hindoo fes- 
 tival of the Rutt Jattra. Had Mr. Btiiler ac- 
 companied the car in a private character for a 
 few days, he would have returned to England 
 w itli very different impressions of the orgies of 
 - Juggernaut.* 
 
 12. It will no'vv he proper to advert to the 
 stanzas of the otfieiating jn iest w liiie directing 
 ilie car. Mr. Buller admits, tiiat “ the songs 
 in question, if he ma^ rely on the information 
 he received, are denominated Oubbee.” He was 
 riglitly Thformed. Tliey are iiceutions songs, 
 recounting the amours of their gods, and are 
 replete witli obscenity. !Mr. Buller apologises 
 for the use of the C'ubhee in these words ; “ But 
 whoever knows any thing of the Hindoos, must 
 be aware tliat their veneration for antiquity will 
 not allow tiiem to depart from any thing which 
 has once formed a part of their ceremonies.” 
 I'liis is truly said, if left to themselves, with- 
 out instruction or regard, tlie Hindoo people 
 will never depart frosn their ancient supersti- 
 tions, liowever sangiiinary or obscene. 
 
 13. As to Mr. Builer’s attempt to justify the 
 recital of the Cubbee in the public festivals of 
 
 * I use tlie old ortlio^rr.phy in wrilins;- lids vortl. 
 En^lisli org-ans cannot pr.^nounre ..r.-f-p.-’ r-'. 
 
LETTER I. 
 
 25 
 
 the Hindoos, by intimating, that it is a spe- 
 cies of song not very unlike that which is ad- 
 mitted into our own sacred writings I wiil 
 not sufter myself to make any comment upon it 
 in a letter addressed to your Honourable Court. 
 Mr. Buller adds, “ Ours” (i. e. our Cubbee) 
 ‘‘ I imagine are not at present read in any parts 
 of our service.” 
 
 14. The observations and arguments of Mr. 
 Buller, in his letter, go to countenance an opin- 
 ion tiiat there is no obscenity in the Hindoo 
 worship; that its ancient character has sud- 
 denly disappeared ; or at least, if it exist in the 
 derivative streams, that it is not to be found at 
 the fountain head. He says that he not only 
 never saM , but tliat he never heard of any such 
 thing. Mr. Buller knows well, that if he did 
 not chuse to make inquiry, the natives would 
 never let him hear any thing to their disadvan- 
 tage. But 1 must beg leave most respectfully 
 to assure your Honourable Court, that Mr. Bul- 
 ler is entirely mistaken in his estimate of the 
 character of the Hindoo worship. The two 
 characteristics of the worship of Brama, are 
 impurity and blood. The emblems of the for- 
 mer vice are engraved iii durable sculpture ev- 
 ery where on the walls of the temple. Why 
 are they thus engraved.^ Because they consti- 
 tute the very essence of the Brahminical su- 
 perstition. No labour of language, no qualifi- 
 cation of expression, can ever do away this 
 most notorious fact. I w ould add, that there is 
 not a single autheiiiic historian of the Hindoo 
 manners and religion from Tavernier down to 
 this time, who has ventured to dissemble it. 
 
20 
 
 L0TTER 1. 
 
 1j. Haviui; said thus much oil subjects which 
 Mr. Buller controverts,! think it fit now to no- 
 tice a siiliject which he does not controvert, 
 namely, the horrible eftects*of the concourse of 
 Pilgrims at Ju^i^eriiaut. Mr. Buller considers 
 ‘‘ that the pilgrims come from all parts of Hin- 
 dustan, from upwards of tOOO miles distance ; 
 and that a large proportion of these consist of 
 the old and inlirm, who come for the express 
 purpose of laying their bones within the pre- 
 cincts of the city.” He further argues, that 
 even if there were ten immolations at a single 
 festival, it would not be surprising, considering 
 the extent of the population ; “ for 1 suppose,” 
 he adds, the whole of the Hindoo popula- 
 tion, as far as Cabul, to be not much short of 
 two hundred millious.” 
 
 16. Mr. Buller would maintain the proposi- 
 tion, “ that the imposition of the tax diminishes 
 the number of pilgrims.” But the events of 
 this last year render this proposition very ques- 
 tionable. I would observe in the mean time, 
 that Mr. Buller would place the policy of the 
 tax on a new ground, namely, the diminution 
 of the number of pilgrims, and the consequent 
 prevention of famine and death.” Unfortu- 
 nately for this argument, it is a well-known 
 fact, that while the temple was under the na- 
 'tive dominion, when the tax on admission was 
 higher than it is now, and when a discipline w as 
 preserved among the people which we would 
 not think it right to exert, the concourse of pil- 
 grims was yet immeuse, in peaceable limes in- 
 credibly great and the consequent evils in the 
 necessary proportion. Mr. Buller describes the 
 
LETTER I. 
 
 2? 
 
 state of Juggernaut; about 1805, in the follovY- 
 ing words ; ‘‘ During the time that access was 
 allowed to the temple without the tax, the 
 throng of people at the place was so great, and 
 such a considerable number of the poorer classes 
 took that opportunity of visiting the temple, 
 that I w as informed that several persons perish- 
 ed from actual want of subsistence. The scenes 
 on the road were, I am told, truly shocking.* 
 But since the tax has been continued, the num- 
 bers of the pilgrims, particularly of the lower 
 classes, have considerably diminished.’’ — “ I 
 should regret to see the tax abolished, as the 
 abolition of it would render it difficult to re- 
 strain and regulate the numerous bodies of pil- 
 grims who resort to the place ; and it would in 
 all probability be the cause of the revival of 
 those horrid scenes of distress which were be- 
 fore experienced, when the tax was discontinu- 
 ed, and of which the traces are still to be met 
 with in the numerous human bones on the 
 road.” 
 
 ±7, Your Honourable Court will be concern- 
 ed i;o hear that the accounts lately received re- 
 present the state of Juggernaut as being more 
 shocking than ever. The “ revival of those 
 horrid scenes,” which Mr. Buller only antici- 
 pated from the abolition of the tax, has taken 
 place during its continuance. In the Periodi- 
 cal Accounts recently published, which have 
 been transmitted by the Baptist Mission in In- 
 dia, there is a communication from the eorres- 
 
 * These scenes took place just previously to Br, 
 Buchanan’s visit to Juggernaut, which was in 1806 , 
 
28 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 pondents of the Society in Orissa, Messrs. Pe- 
 ter, Smith, and Green. Mr. Peter liad been 
 stationed for some time as Missionary at Bala- 
 sore, from whence he proceeded to preach at 
 Bnddnick, Gaj-poora, and Cuttack, in his way 
 towards Juggernaut. He states, that the an- 
 xiety of the pilgrims to hear him explain the 
 Christian faith (for he is a native born, of dark 
 complexion, and speaks the language like them- 
 selves) was unaccountably great; that their 
 avidity to receive copies of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures was extreme; and that it was altogether 
 beyond his ability to supply the demand. He 
 adds, that the Knglish Colonel and his ofiiceis 
 have been present on those occasions. Messrs. 
 Smith and Green write from Cuttack, that the 
 worship of the idol Juggernaut had been more 
 numerously attended than usual. “ You would 
 have been astonished,” say they, to see the 
 vast number of pilgrims crossing the river at 
 Cuttack. As far as the eye could reach we 
 could not see the end of the ranks ; it put us 
 in mind of an army going to battle.” — “ 1 on 
 can easily conceive what a multitude of men, 
 women, and children must have been assembled 
 at the temple, for one hundred and fifty, or 
 thereabouts, to have been killed in the crowd. 
 They trdd one upon another in approaching the 
 temple gate. Ten Sepovs per company from 
 all the battalions, from Rarrackpore to this 
 station, had permission to visit the temple. A 
 famine was produced in the country, and great 
 numbers of the pilgrims died of hunger and 
 thirst. We talked to some of them, but it was 
 of no use. They said, whether we survive or 
 
LETTER I. 
 
 29 
 
 not, we will see the temple of Juggernaut be- 
 fore our death. umbers killed themselves by 
 falling under the wheels of the idol's car. 
 They laid themselves flat on their backs, for 
 the very purpose of being crushed to death by 
 it.”* The number of the pilgrims here said 
 to have been killed in the crowd, may perhaps 
 be overstated, as the writers probably received 
 the report of the natives. But if tuo-thirds 
 of the number were deducted, the horrible cir- 
 cumstances of the case remain the same. 
 
 18. I shall add the testimony of Dr. Carey 
 on the subject of the consumption of human 
 lives at Juggernaut at this time. I need not 
 add, that Dr. Carey is a man of unquestiona- 
 ble integrity; that he has been long held in es- 
 timation by the most respectable characters in 
 Bengal, and possesses very superior opportuni- 
 ties of knowing what is passing in India gener- 
 ally. In a letter lately received, he thus ex- 
 presses himself : 
 
 ‘‘ Idolatry destroys more than the sword, yet 
 in a way which is scarcely perceived. The 
 numbers who die in their long pilgrimages, 
 either through want or fatigue, or from dysen- 
 teries and fevers caught by lying out, and want 
 of accommodation, is incredible. I only men- 
 tion one idol, the famous Juggernaut in Orissa, 
 to which twelve or thirteen pilgrimages are 
 made every year. It is calculated that the 
 number who go thither is, on some occasions, 
 600,000 persons, and scarcely ever less than 
 100,000. I suppose, at the lowest calculation, 
 
 Periodical Accounts of Baptist Mission, No. xxiii. 
 
30 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 that, in the year, 1,200,000 persons attend. 
 Now, it* only one in ten died, the mortality caus- 
 ed by this one idol would be 120,000 in a year; 
 hut some are of opinion that not many more 
 than one in ten survive, and return home again. 
 Besides these, 1 calculate that 10,000 women i 
 annually burn with the bodies of their deceased 
 liusbands, and the multitudes destroyed in oth- 
 er methods would swell the catalogue to an ex- 
 tent almost exceeding credibillity.”* 
 
 With . regard to the number of women who 
 hum themselves annually in India, there are 
 two circumstances which render it probable, 
 that it is at least as great as Ur. Carey com- 
 putes it. The first is, that Mr. Buller, who 
 w as long Secretary to the Board of Revenue in 
 liid’i, has calculated that the population, ex- 
 tending as far as Cabul, is not much short of 
 “ two hundred millions.” The other circum- 
 stance is, that a Report has arrived, printed in 
 Bengal at the press of the Missionaries (and 
 your Honourable Court knows the attention of 
 your Bengal Government to every thing that is 
 printed there,) stating, that Seventy Females 
 had burned themselves in the months of May 
 and June last, between Cossimbazar (about two 
 hundred miles above Calcutta) and the mouth 
 of the Hooghly river, leaving one hundred and 
 eighty-four orplians.” The name and age of 
 every woman are given, and also the places 
 where the burning took place, and w here the 
 orphans live. These unhappy witnesses can 
 
 Periodical Accounts of Baptist Mission, Xo. xxiii. 
 
LETTER I. 
 
 31 
 
 satisfy those persons who may doubt the truth 
 of the printed account.* 
 
 19. There is a disposition prevalent at pres^ 
 ent to disparage the testimony of the Christian 
 Missionaries. It is supposed by their adver- 
 saries that, if they can in any way impeach the 
 credit of a promoter of Christianity, they gain 
 somewhat in the present question. But the 
 cause of Christianity will prevail. It will be 
 found, that the profession of Christianity and 
 a desire to promote it, are generally accom- 
 panied by a love of truth, Tim respectability 
 of the Christian Missionary will increase in this 
 nation, while the character and testimony of the 
 supporters of Brahma will sink and be dimin- 
 ished. It is true, an ardent zeal for the ditfu- 
 sion of the blessings of religion will, in some 
 cases, particularly in the view of impious 
 scenes, excite indigsiation, and may produce too 
 high a colouring in statement (which is exceed- 
 ingly reprehensible,) and narrators may make 
 mistakes in description. But still the substance 
 of the facts (which they think it necessary to 
 communicate to their country in defence of the 
 honour of Christianity) will remain. In like 
 manner, a writer, animated by a zeal of a con- 
 trary character, may be able, by the power of 
 high embellishment, by noticing indifterent cir- 
 cumstances and entirely suppressing others, to 
 represent the idol Juggernaut as being merely 
 one of ‘‘ the gay and elegant deities of Greece 
 and Rome but the substance of the facts, as 
 stated by others, will remain the same : it will 
 
 * See Appendix, No. IX. 
 
 
3:3 
 
 BETTER It 
 
 still coutinue true, that Juggernaut is a fountain 
 of vice and misery to millions of mankind; that 
 the sanguinary and obscene character of the 
 worsliip Is in the highest degree revolting; and 
 that it will be a njost happy event nhen our 
 Christian nation shall dissolve its connection 
 >vith that polluted place. 
 
 2Q. The annual waste of human life, from 
 the causes that have been mentioned, in tlie ter-- 
 ritories under the dominion of the Honourable 
 the East-india Company, is a subject of appal- 
 ling contemplation. Every friend of humanity 
 must be often putting the question, Is this 
 scene to continue forever ? Can tiiere be no 
 melioration of human existence in India ? Are 
 there no means of mitigating the anguish of re- 
 flection in England, nhen we consider that the 
 desolations of Juggernaut exist under our gov- 
 ernment Ves, we ansxver, there are means. 
 We have seen with what avidity the Holy 
 Scriptures are received by the pilgrims. These 
 pilgrims come from every part of Judia ; some 
 from Cabal, a distance of 1600 miles, and some 
 from Samarchand. They are the representa- 
 tives of a population, amounting, as we have 
 seen, to two hundred millions.” They are 
 of every caste, and many of them of no caste 
 at all. The Bible is, by the inscrutable provi- 
 dence of God, at hand : if has been translated 
 into the languages of India. Would it not, 
 then, be worthy of the East-India Company to 
 order ten thousand copies to be distributed an- 
 nually at Juggernaut, in any manner that pru- 
 dence would justify, and experience direct, as 
 a sacred return for the revenue we derive from 
 
LETTER ir. 
 
 33 
 
 it, if it sliould be thought right that that reve- 
 nue should still he continued ? The Scriptures 
 would thus he carried to the extremities of India 
 and the East. Is it possible that the shadow 
 of an objection should arise against such a 
 measure, innoxious, as it is humane and heaven- 
 ly, in its tendency ? Are we afraid that the 
 wretches who come to lay their hones within 
 the precincts of duggeri’iaut” would mutiny and 
 take away our dominion ? Would not the con- 
 sequence be rather, that “the blessing of Him 
 that was ready to perish” would rest upon 
 you ? 
 
 I have the honour to be. 
 
 Honourable Sirs, 
 
 Your most obedient Servant. 
 
 C. BUCHANAN'. 
 
 Kirbv Hall, Borobridge, 
 
 25th May, 1813. 
 
 LETTER IL 
 
 TO THE COURT OF DIRECTORS OF THE HOX. 
 EASTHNDIA COMPANY. 
 
 HONOURABLE SIRS, 
 
 MY former letter to your Honourable Court 
 of the 25th May, having been hastily called for, 
 I had not time to notice a certain part of Mr, 
 Buller’s letter so fully as the occasion demand- 
 
34 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 ed, I therefore now beg permission to address 
 your Honourable Court a second time. 
 
 1. The subject to which 1 would now beg 
 leave to direct the attention of j our Honourable 
 Court, is the attempt made by Mr. Buller to 
 extenuate the impure character of the Hindoo 
 worsliip. He acknowledges that indecent em- 
 blems are sculptured on the temple of Jugger- 
 naut, and that he has seen tliein ; but he adds 
 they are merely w hat may be seen “ in repre- 
 sentations of ancient sculpture.” This is true ; 
 tliey are of the same character w ith those which 
 ornamented the temple of the obscene god at 
 Rome. Mr, Buller has also, without doubt, 
 seen the painted and engraved emblems on the 
 cars of Juggernaut in Bengal. It is proper to 
 observe, that in some places the Rutt, or chariot 
 of the idol, as well as his temple, is covered 
 with characteristic devices. At Ishera, about 
 eight miles from Calcutta, the chariot of Jug- 
 gernaut is freshly painted previously to the an- 
 nual Rutt Jattra ; and the figures (which ex- 
 ceed all conception for variety of obscenity,) 
 become the objects of sensual gaze to persons of 
 both sexes. It is thought necessarj* that the 
 god should have his appropriate insignia, be- 
 fore he sets out on his progress. No classical 
 scholar can witness these representations with- 
 out being reminded of the Phallic ceremonies. 
 Now, if any man were to assert that, after such 
 preparation and with such accompaniment, 
 there w as yet no impropriety in word or action 
 manifested in the subsequent procession, and by 
 a people too wlio worship the Phallus, could 
 we believe him ? For, in endeavouring to elicH 
 
LETTER II. 
 
 33 
 
 the truth on the subject in qnestioUj which Mr. 
 Buller has agitated, and to which he has drawn 
 the attention of your Honourable Court and the 
 Imperial Parliament, we ought not to forget 
 (and the whole nation ought at the present lime 
 to keep it in mind,) “ That the mass, of the 
 Hindoo people worship an indecent emblem.” * 
 Some sects have an allusion to it in the marks 
 of cast painted on their foreheads. Some pa- 
 godas assume an analogous shape.* In sacred 
 groves, and in the temples of Maha-deva (the 
 great god) the significant Lingam presents it- 
 self conspicuously to view. It is the daily, 
 emphatical, primeval, and almost universal 
 worship of the Hindoo people. For the truth 
 of this fact I refer your Honourable Court to 
 every civil and military officer in your service 
 who has passed through Kindostan ; and to 
 every historian of the customs and superstition 
 of the Hindoos that can be produced. 
 
 2. The Rutt Jattra bears some analogy to 
 the ancient feasts of Bacchus. Learned men 
 entertain no doubt of the fact. “ The w orship 
 of Bacchus w as the same as that which is paid 
 to Siva. It had the same ohsceuities, the same 
 bloody rites, and the same emblem of the gene- 
 rative power.”! An author well versed in the 
 mythology of the South of India, expressly calls 
 the Rutt at the temple of Ramisseram the 
 car of Bacchus.”! The temple of Ramisseram 
 
 * Paolino, p. 579. 
 
 t Asiatic Researches, Vol. viii. p. 50. 
 
 t “ The triumphal cars, employed to cany about the 
 mages of their gods on days yf solemnity, are also of 
 
36 
 
 LETTER II, 
 
 is also \vititln (he territories of (he East India 
 Company, and is nearly as famous in the South, 
 as Juggernaut is in (he Aorth, of India. A 
 particular account of (he scenes exhibited at 
 the Rutt Jattra of that place, may, 1 under- 
 stand, be soon expected. In the mean time the 
 Rev. Mr. Cordiner’s narrative may suffice. 
 That gentleman describes tlie “ Swamy Coacli- 
 es” or Rutts at Ramisseram, which place he 
 visited in 1804, in the following terms: “The 
 outside is covered with an extraordinary assem- 
 blage of obscene images representing lewd and 
 indecent scenes too scandalous in the eyes of 
 an European to admit of a description. Each 
 carriage has four wheels of solid wood, and re- 
 quires two hundred men to draw it. AVheu 
 they are dragged along the strc-jts, on occasions 
 of great solemnity, women, in the phrenzy of 
 false devotion, throw themselves down before the 
 
 beautTful workmanship. Some of tl'.ese cars cost from 
 20 to 30,000 rupees. Of this kind is the car of Bacchus, 
 in tlie'temple Ramanacoil (or Ramisseram) on the boun- 
 daries of tlie Kingdom of Marava. There are others cf 
 like kind also at Tiruvancoda, Cangi-piu’i and J. - 
 garnat.”— Poo/mo, p. 390. 
 
 “ Besides tlicse grand festivals, there are several 
 others ; such as the Shiva-ratri or the Night of Shiva ; 
 on which the Phallophoria ceremonies that relate to the 
 worship of the Lingam are celebrated. On this occa- 
 sion all the inhabitants of botli sexes hasten in great 
 numbers to the temple of Shiva or Maha-deva ; remain 
 there tl»e whole night; sing all sorts of indecent songs 
 in honor of the Lingam ; go a hundred times in solemn 
 procession around the temple or around a tree, under 
 which a Lingam is placed ; and carry about with them, 
 at the same time, a wooden representation of the Lin- 
 gum amidst dancing and singing.” — FaoUno, p. 361. 
 
LETTER II. 
 
 37 
 
 wheels, and are crushed to death by their tre- 
 mendous weight, the same superstitious mad- 
 ness preventing the igimraut crowd from mak- 
 ing any attempt to save tiiem.” — Cordiner's 
 History of Ceylon^ vol. ii. ji. 16. 
 
 3. It ought further to be observed, that the 
 Phallic worship includes the Hindoo Triad, 
 Brahma, Vishnoo, and Sheva. The pedestal 
 is the type of Brahma, the Yoni that of Vish- 
 noo, and the Lingam or Phallus that of Sheva.* 
 And so peculiar are the effects of this impure 
 worship on the minds of the Hindoos, that they 
 are disposed to symbolize the objects of nature 
 in a manner analogous to it. If a man digs a 
 pond, he considers it as a Yoni, or emblem of 
 female nature, and he consecrates it by fixing 
 in it a mast decorated with a chaplet of flowers. 
 The sea, or w ell or cave, conveys a similar 
 type. A mountain, obelisk, or any thing coni- 
 cal, excites the idea of the Lingam. t Thus, in 
 like manner as Christians spiritualize natural 
 scenes for an edifying purpose, the Hindoos 
 sensualize the objects of nature. 
 
 4. It seem worth while to consider what was 
 the ultimate object of Mr. Buller, in addressing 
 your Honourable Court, and through you the 
 Council of the Nation, on the rites of Jugger- 
 naut. It could not be merely to describe more 
 accurately the circumstances of a Hindoo festi- 
 val ; or, to ofler an opinion respecting the sculp- 
 tures on the temple, for the satisfaction of the 
 antiquary. Had these been his objects, I should 
 
 * Sonnerat, vol. i. p. 179. ^ 
 
 j- Moor’s Hindu Pantheon, p. 379; 
 
 4 
 
3S 
 
 LETTLK ir. 
 
 Tiot have been disposed to notice them. I’ut 
 Ins purpose seems to me to have been, to excul- 
 pate the Hindoo worship from the cliarge of 
 blood and impurity, in order that our Christian 
 nation might feel itself justified in leaving the 
 Hindoo people as they are — involved in a bane- 
 ful superstition. 
 
 5. In regard to the charge of blood, the sev- 
 enty intmoiations of females in Bengal in the 
 months of May and June last, just brought be- 
 fore the public, will be a sutiicient answer.^ 
 The same proportion of human life is supposed 
 to be devoted tn destruction in the same way 
 every current month. This is a horrid and 
 painful recital to the feelings of the nations ! 
 The cry of such blood, arising from a country 
 placed under a Christian administration, cannot 
 fail to enter the ears of the -Lord of Sabbaolh. 
 
 6. As to the impurity of the Hindoo worship, 
 all the argumejit of Mr. Duller in extenuation of 
 it is, (without referring at present to its obvi- 
 ous principle,) that when he happened to be at 
 Juggernaut, he did ndt sec any thing improper 
 in the scene. He admits, indeed, that he might 
 have* heard the Cubbee,\vd(\ he been near enough. 
 But of what consequence is it whether there be 
 a cessation of indecency at times before Euro- 
 peans at Juggernaut or not If there were 
 even a complete cessation, what, I would ask, 
 is the occasional exhibition of indecency at a 
 public festival, compared to the common, con- 
 stant, characteristic impure worship of the 
 people Is Mr. Buller prepared to inform ns. 
 
 See Apf endix, No. IX 
 
LETTER II. 
 
 39 
 
 that the worship of the Lingam has ceased ? 
 or that it has been diniiiiislied in his time ? or 
 that he indah^es the smallest hope that it ever 
 will be (limiiiished ? NVhy then need he be at 
 pains to make the Hindoos appear a chaste and 
 deeorotis people in the eyes of the Engiish, when 
 iiis own eyes must have witnessed their impure 
 worship times without number ? 
 
 7. Every man who has studied the genius of 
 the Hindoo superstition, knows that the con- 
 templation of indecent emblems, frbni early 
 youth, is a fountain of licentiousness to the 
 people. The prostitution of the heart to sen» 
 suai images in the daily worship, is the deej). 
 copious, prolific source of general impurity of 
 heart, and iiideceney of speech and action. — 
 With siTch an ordinance of worship preseribcul 
 from infancy, can we believe it possible that any 
 people should consider Jaciviousness as a sin 
 against God ? They might indeed consider it 
 as a sin against public reputation, and against 
 political principle ; for the policy of the rudest 
 nations will restrain community ^of vice. But 
 that the Hindoos in general account lascivious- 
 ness a sin against God, is what I think the 
 boldest advocate for their religion will not ven- 
 ture to affirm * 
 
 * It iiJ' probable that the idea of obscenity was not 
 originally attached to these syrnbals ; and it is likely 
 that the inventors themselves might not have ibreseea 
 the disorders whicli this worship would occasion 
 mongst mankind. FioPiigacy easily embraces wliat 
 flatters its propensitie.s, and ignorance follows blindly 
 wiierever example excites. It is therefore no wonder 
 that a geuerai cc^ruption of manners should ensue, in- 
 
40 
 
 letter II. 
 
 8. Let our Christian nation tlien behold the 
 greater part of the Hindoo people, a hundred 
 million, at least, of our fellow-cratures, falling 
 prostrate before a black stone, and that black 
 stone afti indecent emblem ! Let us imagine the 
 females decorating it, according to their con- 
 stant custom, with flowers ! Let us contem- 
 plate the probable effects, (without any specific 
 relation) of such a worship on the general mo- 
 rals of the people; and then let us deny to In- 
 dia the instruction of Christianity, if we can. 
 
 9. One argument urged sometimes by the 
 European defenders of the Phallic worship is, 
 Thai young persons do not understand the em- 
 blems. as they are not exhibited entirely in the 
 natural form. But where is the sense of sup- 
 posing a person worshipping emblems which 
 lie does not understand.^ One should think, 
 that the very first business of the Brahmins 
 w ould be to make the pubescent youth under- 
 stand them. Besides, is it not admitted that 
 the people pronounce at their festivals certain 
 licenlioiis songs, which must soon explain the 
 
 supposed mysteries ; admired and familiar 
 
 songs consecrated by religion and ancient use ? 
 Ancient they doubtless are, and bear a strict 
 analogy to the Phalliea Asmata, the Phallie 
 songs of Greece and Egypt. 
 
 creasing in proportion as the distance of time involved 
 the original meaning of tlie symbal in darkness and ob- 
 livion. Obscene mirth became the principal feature of 
 llie popular superstition, and was even, in after times, 
 extended to and intermingled with gloomy rites and 
 bloody sacrifices.’^ — Asiat. Res. val. viii. p. 55. ^ 
 
LETTER II. 
 
 4t 
 
 10. But the grand apology of certain philoso- 
 phers for the worship of the Lingam and its 
 companion, has been, that they are merely 
 symbols of the procreative power of the Deity; 
 and therefore that the worshippers may have 
 very sublime conceptions, and cherish very pure 
 thoughts, notwithstanding the presence of such 
 objects. I do not, however, believe that there 
 exists a philosopher among us, who will now 
 seriously avow and defend the proposition, That 
 the constant exhibition of sensual images will 
 not taint the purity of the youthful mind.* 
 tl. The only object whicli 1 can conceive Mr. 
 Buller to have had in writing the letter which 
 has been laid before Parliament, is that of in- 
 sinuating that the Hindoos are not imbued by 
 such impure principles as has been asserted, 
 and that therefore it need give us no pain to 
 see them remain as they are. It becomes neces- 
 sary, t]%erefore, on the other hand, to assert 
 the truth ; and (however painful it must be to 
 the pure mind) to reveal tlie whole scene of 
 the polluted worship of Brahma, in its priuci- 
 
 * The Sacte of Siva, whose emblem is the Phallus, 
 is lierself typified by the female org’au. This tlie 
 Sactas worship ; some figuratively — others litekally.’* 
 lu this last mentioned sect “ (die Sactas) as in most 
 otiiers, there is a right-handed and decent path, and a 
 left-handed and indecent mode of worship ; but the in- 
 decent worship of this sect is most grossly so, and con- 
 sists of unbridled debauchery with wine and women/’ 
 “ 'rhey require their wives to be naked when attending* 
 them at their devotions.” — See JNIr. Colebrock on t!ie 
 Religious Ceremonies of the Hindoos. As. lies. 
 pp. 2db, 281. 
 
 4 * 
 
42 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 pie, essence, origin, and practice. Let us only 
 suppose (to bring this matter home to our feel- 
 ings,) that the youth of both sexes in Great 
 Biitaiii were brought to the temple, and in- 
 structed to worship indecent symbols; and what 
 must be the effect on their moral habits! Is 
 it then t > be- regarded as either decent or hu- 
 mane to labour to perpetuate this unseemly 
 worsiiip of our fellow-subjects in India by ex- 
 cluding true religion; or to endeavour to ex- 
 tenuate its moral turpitude in the face of a 
 nation professing the pure religion of Jesus 
 Christ r 
 
 13 . Mr. Buller Jjas told us, that he saw ob- 
 scene sculptures on the walls of Juggernaut; 
 but has not told us what he heard of the scenes 
 within. Had he wished to give the English 
 nation a just idea of the worship of Brahma, 
 there are two circumstances of a fundamental 
 character in relation to that ^t orship, which he 
 would no doubt have mentioned in the outset, 
 viz. 
 
 First, The hand of courtesans retained for 
 the service of the temple. These form a part 
 of the religious procession in the public streets 
 on certain days, and are kept in every great 
 temple of Hindostan. From infancy they are 
 prepared by education and elegant accomplish-* 
 ments for public seduction. Now, these priest- 
 esses form the character of the worship, “ be- 
 ing consecrated,” says Sonnerat, “ to the hon- 
 our of the gods.” They are the ministers of 
 the idol, and it is a part of their service “ to 
 .sing hymns to his praise.” Is Mr. Buller then 
 prepared to inform us that this character of the 
 
LETTER ir. 
 
 45 
 
 AVorsliip is abolished, and that the courtesans 
 at Juggernaut do not receive the accustomed 
 stipend presented, with other charges, for the 
 sanction of the English Government ? He knows 
 that we might as well attempt to raze the tower 
 of Juggernaut from its foundations as attempt 
 to remove this constituent part of the Brahmini- 
 cal- ritual. And thus it is throughout the ex- 
 tensive regions of the Hindoo idolatry — the 
 ministration of the priestesses being a natural 
 fruit of the worship of the Lingam. Does not 
 this admitted fact alone set the question at rest 
 respecting the character of the worship in ques- 
 tion ? In regard, however, to its moral effects ; 
 for that, after all, is the main object to be con- 
 sidered : let us only suppose that the youth of 
 Great Britain, of both sexes, were accustomed 
 to worship at the altar in company with a band 
 of impure females, invested with a sacred cha- 
 racter, and then to witness the songs and dances 
 of those females in the same place, and what 
 would be the character of the people of this 
 country in a few years } 
 
 Second : In my printed account of the trans- 
 actions at Juggernaut, I wished to state merely 
 wdiat I myself saw ; and therefore, as I was not 
 within the temple, I have not thought fit to 
 mention what I heard. But Mr. Buller having 
 resided for some time at the place, and having 
 held while there a high official station, must 
 have had various opportunities of obtaining 
 satisfactory information as to the character of 
 the scenes within the temple, particularly at 
 certain festivals; and under such circumstances 
 he might have stated what he had .heard to the 
 
44- 
 
 letter II. 
 
 public with perfect confidence. Is all then, ac- 
 cording to jVlr. Biillei 's information and belief, 
 pure, is all decorous, within the temple ? And, 
 if it be not, what signifies it whether, at certain 
 festivals, the ministering priest used unseemly 
 attitudes in the presence of the European super- 
 intendant or not ? If there actually be impurity 
 ‘‘within,” in the sacred place — in the recess of 
 sanctity — how can a vindication of Jugger- 
 naut remove this corner-stone from Brahma’s 
 temple }* 
 
 * That the worship of Brahma is constitutionally 
 impure, is demonstrated by the following- fact. There 
 ai'e temples of consecration for a life of impurity ; these 
 exist at Cambaya, Tivikarey, and other places, in Hin- 
 dostan. Tavernier first, 1 believe, among- Protestant 
 authors, (he was a French Protestant merchant,) men- 
 tioned the existence of the system. “ From Cambaya,** 
 says he, “ you go to a little village diii ant some three 
 coss, where there is a pagnd, to which all the Indian 
 courtisans come to make their ofTerings. This pagod 
 is full of a great inimber of naked images. Among the 
 rest, there is a large figure of one that seems to resem- 
 ble Apollo, with Ids parts all uncovered.” — Girls of 
 eleven or twelve years old, who have been bought and 
 educated for the purpose, are sent by their mistresses 
 to this pagod, “ to offer and surrender themselves up 
 to this idol.” — [Tavernier’s Travels in India, p. 57, fol. 
 ed. 1678.] For the import of this last expression, see 
 Ar.quetil du Perron’s description of the pagoda of Tivi- 
 kary, and of the rite observed by “les jeimcs Brahmi- 
 nes,” in his Zeud A vesta, vol. i. p. 29. — From these tem- 
 ples of coiisecration, issue females for the other pago- 
 das and for the general Indian public. Thus we see 
 that there exists in this world a superstition, whose 
 principle is “to hallow impurity.” But surely Athe- 
 ism itself will not defend a system which would sarxti- 
 i'y the act of wickedness by a soleiUiX rite of religion. 
 
LETTER II. 
 
 45 
 
 13. I would not impute a bad motive to those 
 Asiatic gentlemen who maintain a different 
 opinion from me on these subjects. Much al- 
 lowance is to be made for the effects of an im- 
 perfect education previously to leaving Eng- 
 land, and for the constitutional habits which 
 grow upon men by long iutercourse with Indian 
 scenes, and which, in some instances, have 
 changed the very principles and character ; 
 but 1, apprehend, that those who labour to ex- 
 tenuate the atrocities of the Hindoo idolatry 
 may^ be justly charged with two most serious 
 delinquencies : — First', by defending and con- 
 firming a sanguinary and obscene superstition, 
 they are in effect guilty of the utmost cruelty 
 towards whole nations of men ; — and secondly, 
 they are guilty 4)f a culpable indifference to 
 the truth and excellency of the Christian re- 
 ligion. 
 
 I have the honour to be. 
 
 Honourable Sirs, 
 
 Your obedient Servant, 
 
 C. BUCHANAN. 
 
 Kirbv Hall, Borobridge, 
 
 Sill June, 18 i 3. 
 
 Tavernier was at Cambaya about 1610. Wliat a vast 
 and extended scene- oF turpitude, amongst our feilow- 
 creatores, presents itself to the imagination from that 
 time to tli’.s ! Is it possible that any man whose mind 
 has been cultivated under the infiut r.ce (in the least 
 degree) of Cliristian principles, can permit himself to 
 sa} of such a system, Let it flourish ■, let it continue 
 for ages ! 
 
LETTER AND ME3I0RIAL, 
 
 TO 
 
 LORD MIXTO. 
 
 LETTER. 
 
 TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE I.ORD AllNTO, 
 
 Lc. &c. &.C. 
 
 51 Y LORD, 
 
 I BEG leave respeclfuily to submit to your 
 Lordsliip some particulars regarding the pres- 
 ent state of tile Christian Religion in Bengal, 
 ^’ihich I have thought it my duty to eommmii- 
 cate for your Lordsliip's information at this 
 time. 
 
 I trust your Tiordship will do me the jtistiee 
 to believe that it is with the utmost reluetanee 
 1 trouble your Lordsliip vvilli a letter on sueli a 
 suiijeet so soon after your entrance on this 
 government, when as yet few’, if any, of tlie 
 circumstances noticed in it caji have come to 
 your Lordship’s knowledge. 
 

 47 
 
 I have Tio other view in soliciting your Lord- 
 sliip’s attention to them, but tlie advancement 
 of learning and religion. Perhaps no one has 
 addressed your Lordship on the subject since 
 your arrival ; and there are certainly many 
 particulars regarding their present state, which 
 it is of importance your Lojdship should know. 
 
 Being about to leave India, 1 feared lest 1 
 should hereafter reproach myself, if I withheld 
 any thing at this time which I conceived might 
 he useful, particularly as I have been further 
 •encouraged to address your Lordship, by your 
 Lordship’s known condescension in receiving 
 any cominuiiications which are honestly in- 
 tended. 
 
 I have the honour to be, my Lord, 
 
 Witli much respect, 
 
 Your most obedient, humble servant, 
 
 (Signed) C. BUCHANAN. 
 
 Calcutta, 
 
 9th November, 1807. 
 
 MEMORIAL. 
 
 TO THE PJSHT HON. GILBERT, LORD MINTO, 
 GOVERNOR-GENERAL, &c. &c, &c. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 1. I HAD the honour to receive a letter 
 from the Chief Secretary to the Govern- 
 nrent, under date the 11th September, desiring 
 
48 
 
 MEMORIAL. 
 
 that I would submit, for the inspection of Gov- 
 ernment, the inamiscript of some Sermons on 
 the Prophecies, which I intended to publish. 
 1 shall willingly submit these discourses to 
 your Lordship’s perusal, and shall be liappy 
 to receive such observations on them as your 
 Lordship’s learning and candour may suggest ; 
 hut 1 cannot submit them to the judgment of 
 the Officers of the Government. My reasons 
 for declining to comply with the wishes of 
 Government in this respect, it is incumbent on 
 me to state ; and I feel confident your Lord- 
 ship will consider them to be satisfactory. 
 
 2 . It will not have escaped your Lordship's 
 observation, even in the short period since your 
 arrival, that some of the officer’s of your Lord- 
 ship’s government do not manifest any zeal for 
 promoting the knowledge of the Christian Re- 
 ligion in India : they consider, that a zeal in 
 this respect would not be consonant to a wise 
 and prudent policy* 1 am willing to believe 
 that they advise according to the best of their 
 judgment; but a principle pure and just in it- 
 self, if it be not tenderly exercised in reference 
 to other important obligations, may become ex- 
 travagant or pernicious. For instance, not to 
 promote Christianity may, in certain circum- 
 stances, be prudent ; but to repress Christianity 
 will not, I think, in any case, be defended. It 
 is not necessary to observe to your Lordship 
 how much the minds of Europeans assimilate 
 to the native character after a long residence 
 in this country, and bow difficult it is for men, 
 even of good sense and honest intentions, while 
 involved in the mist of this prejudice, to view' 
 the Christian religion in the true light. 
 
MEMORIAL. 
 
 4 ^ 
 
 3. During the administration of the Marquis 
 'Wellesley, tlje spirit of promoting learning and 
 religion in India was general and ardent ; but 
 after the departure of that nobleman, a great 
 revolution took place. A spirit, directly ad- 
 verse to the diffusion of religion in India, most 
 unexpectedly broke forth, just as if it had been 
 coniiued by liis presence. This spii it appeared 
 long before the insurrection in Vellore. I men- 
 tion this, lest your Lordship should suppose 
 that it originated with that event: for I under- 
 stood that the Masscre at Vellore” has been 
 unaccountably adduced as some sanction to the 
 principle of opposing the progress of the Chris- 
 tian Religion in Bengal. 1 had opportunities 
 of judging of the causes of that event, which 
 were peculiar. I was in the vicinity of the 
 place at the time; I travelled for two months 
 immediately afterwards in the provinces adja- 
 cent, with tlie sanction of Government ; and I 
 heard the evidence of Christians, Mahometans, 
 and Hindoos, on the subject. I'hat the insur- 
 rection at Vellore had no connectiGU with the 
 Christian Religion,* directly or indirectly, im- 
 mediately or remotely, is a truth which is ca- 
 pable of demonstration. 
 
 4 . The spirit so hostile to the progress of 
 Christianity in India, appeared first in cpera- 
 liou about two years ago, and has been acquir- 
 ing strength ever since. It has exhibited itself 
 in a series of acts, the recital of which will suf- 
 ficiently illustrate to your Lordship the temper 
 of mind which produced them. These acts are, 
 however,- not to he considered as the official 
 and acknowledged measures of the respectable 
 
MEMORIAL. 
 
 SO 
 
 person, who preceded your Lordship in tlie 
 governii>ciit. Sir George Barlow has often 
 expressed liis approbation of the means used for 
 the diftusion of Christianity in India, and he 
 sincerely desires its success. These measures 
 have not been generally considered as the oft- 
 spring of his unbiassed judgment. Besides, 
 most of the.m are extra official, and with some 
 of them he is perhaps yet unacquainted. They 
 will probably appear to your Lordship to have 
 been dictated by a timorous policy, proceeding 
 from minds somewhat agitated by the responsi- 
 bility of a weighty empire, viewing at the same 
 time Christianity as an innovation in India, 
 and magnifying that innovation, perhaps, into 
 a revohjtion. The acts which have plainly 
 manifested this alarm are many. It will suf- 
 fice to notice to yoUr Lordship the four follow- 
 
 5 . First. The withdrawing the patronage of 
 Government from the translation of the Holy- 
 Scriptures into tlie Oriental Tongues. 
 
 The translation of the Scriptures had com- 
 menced in the College of Fort William, at the 
 expense of Government. When ilje Honoura- 
 ble the Court of Directors directed a reduction 
 of the expenses of that institution, it was re- 
 solved to make provision for the continuation 
 of the translation of the Scriptures hy piihlie 
 subscription, and to exonerate tlie Government 
 entirely. It was accordingly proposed that a 
 Committee of the College and of others should 
 superintend the translations, and controul the 
 expenditure. This measure had been recom- 
 mended hy certain of the bishops and by some 
 
MEMORIAL. 
 
 51 
 
 noble persons in England, who wished to aid 
 us in the translation of the Scriptures ; and the 
 couutenaiiee of the C(dlege was merely desired, 
 with the view that the important work might 
 be conducted strictly in the principles of the 
 national church, and not fall entirely into the 
 hands of dissenters, as it has since done. Your 
 Lordship will be surprised to hear that this 
 proposition was rejected. Government with- 
 drew^ its patronage from tl»e work entirely, and 
 even refused to give its countenance to the sub- 
 scription. The immediate consequences of this 
 unexpected blow' was the loss of ample funds ; 
 for there appeared at the time, throughout all 
 India, a disposition to encourage a literary un- 
 dertaki ig which was deemed so honourable to 
 the nation. . 
 
 Considering the difficulty of obtaining fit in- 
 struments I'or the conduct of such a work, tiie 
 religious and moral importance of the work it- 
 self, and its advantages to the general interests 
 of Oriental Literature, your Lordship w ill be- 
 lieve, that this forfeiture of public encourage- 
 ment, under such auspicious circumstances, has 
 ever been viewed with regret by the friends of 
 learning and of religion in Europe and in India. 
 
 This disappointment, however, has had one 
 favourable result; it aecelerated the establish- 
 ment of “ the Cliristian Institution in the 
 East,”* which carries the translation of the 
 
 * Early in 1806, in the view of tlie Translations of 
 the Scriptures ceasing in the College of Fo- 1 '‘.V’illiam, 
 Dr. Buelianan resolved to devote wliatever inf* lencehe 
 posi»es§ed in his official character as Vice-Provost ot 
 
52 
 
 MEMORIAL. 
 
 Scriptures, in some of the lani^Jia^es, into re- 
 gions far beyond the coiitroui of the Bengal 
 Government. 
 
 the Collejre, to the aid of the Translations in the hands 
 of the Baptist Missionaries, and to endeavour to excite 
 as nuich of ])ublic interest in their favour as possible, 
 t'or litis purpose he drew up “ Proposals for a Subscrip- 
 tion for translating- the Holy Scriptures into the follow- 
 ing- Oriental Languag-es : Shanucrit, Bengalee^ Hhuloos- 
 ianre, Persian, Jfaliratta, Gnzerattee, Orissa, Carnata, 
 Tetinga, Bnrmah, Assimi, Bootan, Tibet, JMalay and 
 Chinese — containing- a prospectus of Indian versions, 
 and obsc-rt ations on the practicability of the general 
 <lvsign : signed b_v the nine Baptist Missionaries, and 
 dated “Mission-House, Seranipore, March, 1806.” — 
 That paper was composed entirely by Dr. Buclianan, 
 part of it from materials furnished by the Mir.'ionaries. 
 But as it was apprehended the name “ Baptist” might 
 not be auspicious to' tiie design, in the general view of 
 the public, Dr. Buchanan did not admit that word, but 
 designated them “ Protestant Missionaries in Bengal;” 
 as it stands in the proposals. Copies >vere distributed 
 liberally in India and in England. To some of tlio.se 
 distributed in England w'as prefixed a frontispiece re- 
 presenting a Hindoo receiving the Bible, and “ bending 
 to die Christian Faith.” Copies were transmitted to 
 almost the whole of the principal civil officers, and to 
 many of the military officers in the Honorable Compa- 
 m ’s service throughout Hindustan, from Delhi to Tra- 
 vancore ; many of whom had never heard of the Scram- 
 pore Mission before. Dr. Buchanan obtained permis- 
 , sion, at the same tunc, to send the propo.sals, in his of- 
 ficii, i cliaractci- as Vicc-Provost of the College, free of 
 expence, to ail parts of the empire ; and he accompa- 
 nied ilK-m, in most instances, with a letter from him- 
 .seif The design received encouragement from eve- 
 ry cpiai-ter; and a sum of about 1600 ])ounds was 
 soon raised for the translations ; to whicii llie late Uev. 
 David Blown contributed 250 pounds. 
 
 d'be concurrence of the public w'as tlie more ca.slly 
 obtained from its being implied in the propo.sals that 
 
^lEMORIAL. 
 
 03 
 
 6. Second. Attempting to suppress thje trans- 
 lation of the Scriptures. 
 
 the undertaking would enjoy the countenance of the 
 College. That expectation was expressed in the fol- 
 lowing terms : 
 
 “ Par. 11. Our hope of success in this great under- 
 taking depends chiefly on tl\e patronage of the College 
 of Fort William. To that institution we are much in- 
 debted for the progress we have already made. Orien- 
 tal translation has become comparatively easy, in con- 
 sequence of our having the aid of those learned men 
 from distant provinces in Asia, who have assembled, 
 during the period of the last six years, at that great 
 eraporium of Eastern Letters. These intelligent stran- 
 gers voluntarily engage with us in translating the Scrip- 
 tures into their respective languages ; and they do not 
 conceal their admiration of the sublime doctrine, pure 
 precept, and Divine eloquence of the word of God. 
 The plan of .these translations was sanctioned at an ear- 
 ly period by the Most Noble the Marquis Wellesley, 
 the great patron of useful learning. To give the Chris- 
 tian Scriptures to tlie inhabitants of Asia is indeed a 
 work which every man, who believes these Scriptures 
 to be from God, will approve. In Hindostan alone, 
 there is a great variety of religions ; and there are some 
 tribes which have no certain cast or religion at all. To 
 render the revealed religion accessible to men who ‘de- 
 sire’ it; to open its eternal sanctions, and display its 
 pure morals to those who ‘ seek a religion’ ; is to fulfil 
 the sacred duty of a Christian people, and accords well 
 witli the humane & generous spirit of theEnglish nation. 
 
 “ 12. It may also be expected, that the design will 
 be generally encouraged, on the ground of its promoting 
 the diffusion of Oriental Literature, and affording new 
 facilities to Europeans in obtaining a knowledge of the 
 various languages of this great empire. With every 
 t ranslution of tlie Scriptures into a new language, it is 
 intended to give a grammar of that language, if none 
 already exist. 
 
 “ 1). A copv of these Proposals has been forwarded 
 to llie British Ambassador at Petersburg, with a re- 
 5 * 
 
MEMORIAL. 
 
 Qi 
 
 An attempt was next made to suppress the 
 translation of the Scriptures entirely, and this' 
 attempt had almost succeeded. 
 
 quest that he would submit them to his Majesty the 
 Emperor of all the Russias ; some of the limgua^s 
 above mentioned being spoken in regions bordering on 
 the territories of his Majesty.” 
 
 Although the Government of Bengal withdrew its 
 patronage, most of the individuals in every part of In- 
 dia whose support was then secured, being satisfied 
 that the simple translation of the Holy Scriptures mast 
 ever be a measure utterly devoid of objection, liave con- 
 tinued suady friends to the undertaking to this day. 
 
 Afterwards, when Hr. Buchanan visited the soutliern 
 regions of India, and had witnessed the triumpli of 
 Christianity on the one hand, and the horrors of Pagan- 
 ism on the other, he conceived the design of an institu- 
 tion of a moi*e general nature for Oriental Illumination, 
 than that confined to Bengal. [See his meditation on 
 the banks of the Chilka Luke, on a Sunday morning, in 
 view of the tower of Juggernaut. — ^Chris. Res. p. 142.] 
 And on his return to Calcutta in the following year, he 
 proposed to the Baptist Mission, that the dificrent so- 
 cieties and individuals in India, engaged in translatiRg 
 the Scriptures, should associate (merely in that cha- 
 racter) under the name of “ The Christian Institution 
 in the East,” or the “British Propaganda;” in order 
 that their operations might have the appearance of be- 
 ing natlomil and not sectarian ; and tliat thus they 
 miglit be able to vie with the “ Romish Propaganda,” 
 whose fame is yet alive in Asia. It was ])i oposed that 
 the Missionary pursuits, properly so called, and the' 
 individual esiablisiiments of each society slioukl remain 
 peculiar andjirivate as before : but that the transJatois 
 of the Scriptures should act in concert, and maintain 
 an amicable correspondence with each other, under the 
 general superintenclance of the Rev. Mr. Brown, Pro- 
 vost of the Colleg-e of Fort M illiara, who had foraierh , 
 in discharge of his office as Provost, superintenced Uie 
 translations of the Scriptures in the College ; anc would 
 
MEMORIAL. 
 
 55 
 
 To suppress the translation of the Scrip- 
 tures, is to suppress the Scriptures. 1 can 
 make no further observation on this, in addres- 
 sing your Lordship. 
 
 now continue to be the organ of communication to Go- 
 vernment, and be responsible for the views and proceed- 
 ings of the general society. This proposition the Bap- 
 tist Society declined ; and in consequence, the propos- 
 ed name of “ Christian Institution” was but partially as- 
 sumed, Th% other branches, nevertheless, were gene- 
 rally associated ; and the Rev. Mr. Brown superintend- 
 ed those branches of the department of Scriptural 
 Translation, as they came successively into operation, 
 to the day of his death, viz. the Rev. Henry Martyn and 
 his co-adjutors Sabat and Mirza Fitrut, translators of 
 the Hindoostanee and Arabic^ at Cawnpore ; Messrs, 
 Cran and Desgranges, translators of the Telhiga, at 
 Visagapatam ; Thomas Jarrett, Esq. translator of the 
 Sumatra or Western JHalay, at Madras ;* the Syrian 
 Bishop and his priests, translators of the Malay-alim, 
 at Travancore ; Sebastiani, translator of the Persian, at 
 Calcutta; and Dr. Leyden of the College of Fort Wil- 
 liam, translator of the Pushtu, Jlfahliviau, Baloch, Ala- 
 ccLssur, and Bugis languages. Mr. Brown also opened 
 a correspondence with Tanjore, Tranquebar, and Co- 
 lumbo, concerning editions of the Scriptures in the 
 Ti.:.aul and Cingalese. 
 
 Exclusive of the 1600 pounds above-mentioned to 
 have been subscribed for translations by the Baptist 
 Missionaries, Dr. Buchanan had put down his name for 
 5000 rupees, 620 pounds ; hut after his return from 
 visiting the Christians in Travancore and other places, 
 he withdrew his subscription from the Northern Mission 
 which was now well patronised, and applied it to simi- 
 lar objects in the South, where it was most wanted. 
 
 * Br. Buchanan does not know whether J\Ir. Jarrett con^ 
 tinned to prosecute the translation after he left India. 
 
56 
 
 MEMORIAL. 
 
 7 . Tlilrd. Suppressing the encomium of the 
 Hon. the Court of Directors, on their venera 
 hie missionary the Rev. Mr. Swartz. 
 
 The Honourable Court had sent out to Fort 
 St. George a marble monument, to be erected 
 in the church of St. Mary, to the memory of 
 Mr. Swartz, inscribed with a suitable epitaph ; 
 aiKl they announced it, in their general letter, 
 dated 29th October 1806, as a testimony of the 
 deep sense they entertained of his transcendant 
 merit, of his unweariid labours in the cause of 
 religion and piety, and of his public services at 
 Tanjore, where the influence of his name and 
 character was for a long course of years pro- 
 ductive of important heneflts to the Company. 
 The Honourable Court fui iher adds : “ On no 
 subject has the Court of Directors been more 
 unanimous, than in their anxious desire to per- 
 petuate the memory of this eminent person, and 
 to excite in others an emulation of his great 
 example.’’ They direct, finally, that trans- 
 lations shall be made of the epitaph into the 
 country languages, and .published at Madras, 
 and that the native inhabitants shall be en- 
 couraged to view the monument.” 
 
 The Christians in Bengal were of course re- 
 joiced to hear of the honourable testimony tf> 
 tlie apostoftc Swartz, end they expected that it 
 would be acknowledged here, as at Fort St. 
 George and Bombay ; but they were disa])- 
 pointed : there was no recognition of the vener- 
 able 31issionary iii Bengal. The epitaph was 
 not insei ted in tlie Calcutta Gazette, nor was 
 tlie sliglitest notice taken of the circumstance. 
 And lest it might be supposed tiiat it was 
 
MEMORIAL. 
 
 5r 
 
 omitted by accident, the official notice of the 
 Governor in Council at Fort St. George, which 
 appeared siibsG»|uentIy, relative to the day of 
 eummemoration, was also suppressed. 
 
 But what followed was yet more painful. 
 Your Lordship w ill judge of the feelings of the 
 Christians in this place, when they read, in the 
 Government Gazette of the week following, an 
 article whose obvious tendency was to bring the 
 labours and character of the Christian Mis- 
 sionary into contempt.* Thus, while the Hon- 
 ourable the East India Company were adorn- 
 ing the sepulchres of their Missionaries and 
 enjbalming their memory in the South, their 
 own servants were treating the character with 
 indignity in the North. We were at first 
 alarmed, lest lliis might be tlie signal for the 
 other papers to commence an attack on tlse 
 humble and defenceless IVIissionaries ; but vve 
 were happy to find, that not one of the seven 
 papers oK this Presidency followed the example 
 of the official Gazette. 
 
 As it is not probable that any of the partio'- 
 lars above-mentioned, have as yet come tV ^ our 
 Lordship’s know ledge, 1 beg leave to refer your 
 Lordsliip to the enclosed printed paj>er (A) 
 published by the authority of the Governmeut 
 of Fort St. George. 
 
 The Mission to Greenland and Labrador, whose 
 civilizing- efficacy on the rude inhabitants of tliosc re- 
 gions has long been a theme of admiration to the Chris- 
 tian world, is held forth in that paper to public ridi- 
 cule ; and tlie simple narrative of tiie pious w-ell-mean- 
 3ng Missionaries, is declared to “exhibit a degree of 
 canting fanaticism w'ell worlbv of the followers of 
 Crunip'ell.*’— Ca/ci/L'a Gazette, Sept. 17, 1807. 
 
>38 
 
 MEMORIAL. 
 
 S. Fourth. Restraining^ the Protestant Mis- 
 sionaries in Bengal, from the exercise of* their 
 fii!ictio!is, and establishing an Imprimatur for 
 tlieologicai works. 
 
 Men’s miuds were prepared, by the preced- 
 ing circumstances, to expect little indulgence to 
 Missionaries, but they were certainly not pre- 
 pared to expect the event which followed. 
 
 The success of the Protestant ^Mission in 
 Bengal Jiad long been a source of uneasiness 
 to those (dfieers of Governinent who do not 
 think it right to convert the natives. Some of 
 the native Moonshees attaclied to the public 
 Osiices, well kiiowiii:', froin long acquaintance, 
 their masters’ sentiments on this subject, have 
 not failed from time to time to urge them to 
 countenance tiieir petitions, and to lend their 
 voice in accusing tlie Missionaries. Some 
 eiamour of this kind was raised at two dif- 
 ferent times within tlie last seven years ; but it 
 passed away without oflence to the Christian 
 Religion. The complaint of the Moonshees 
 against tlie Missionaries, on the present occa- 
 sion, is not, I understand, so serious as the 
 former : they complain, that the Missionaries 
 have, in a certain paper, applied abusive 
 epitliets to Maliomet.” The Missionaries cer- 
 tainly misteJ e the proper method of eonvijjeing 
 the minds of men, if tiliey use epithets of abuse; 
 the successful nietliod of preaching is by argu- 
 ment and ailectionate address ; and I presume 
 this has been their general metirnd during tjie 
 fourteen years of their mission, else we cannot 
 suppose their labours would have been followed 
 ivitii so nuic.h fciiecese. 
 
MEMORIAL. 
 
 59 
 
 At the same time, Christian Teachers are 
 iiot to speak with reverence or courtesy of Jug- 
 gernaut or Mahomet; they must speak as the 
 Scriptures speak; that is, of false gods as 
 false gods, and of a lying prophet as a lying 
 prophet. The Mahometans apply abusive epi- 
 thets and vulgar curses to the idolatry of the 
 Hindoos and to the faith of Christians, and 
 these epithets are contained hooks ; and 
 Government might, on the same principle, have 
 been assailed with the petitions of Christians 
 and Hindoos against the Mahometans. If the 
 natives choose to go to hear the preaching or 
 to read the books of the Missionaries, it is their 
 pleasure to do so — it is no concern of Govern- 
 /neiit. These poor Missionaries are not official 
 characters : they have no power, no authority, 
 no riches ; and this the natives well know. 
 They are like the first Apostles, contemned 
 and despised by all casts ; and if they are be- 
 reaved of the countenance of their own Govern- 
 ment, they are bereaved indeed. 
 
 The complaint, however, of the Mahometans 
 has produced a very serious event. The Protes- 
 tant Missionaries in Bengal were prohibited, 
 hy order of Government dated 8th September 
 last, from preaching to the natives.* 
 
 The Protestant Mission being situated at 
 Serampore, a town belonging to the King of 
 Denmark, the English Government requested 
 
 • It was generally understood that the former admi- 
 nistration were unwilling to encounter the public odium 
 of accomplishing this measure ; and that, by pressing it 
 with a serious countenance on Lord Minto immediately 
 on his arrival, they surprised the Governor-general. 
 
60 
 
 memorial. 
 
 the Danish Governor to give iip the Mission 
 Vress, anti ordered the Missionaries to remove 
 to Calcutta. Tiie Danish Governor resisted 
 this demand, on thtrplea of tlie sovereignty of 
 liis nation ;* and the English Government* re- 
 voked their requisition. The English Govern- 
 ment then issued i?n order prohibiting the Mis- 
 sionaries from printing any books, “ directed 
 to the object o'>'* converting the natives to Chris- 
 tianity.” On this a question was proposed 
 officially to t!ie British Government by the 
 Danish Governor; a question which your Lord- 
 ship will be concerned to think should ever 
 have been necessary. It was this; “Whether, 
 among the books prohibited by the British 
 Government, the Bible in the Bengalee language 
 was included The answer to this question 
 your Lordship will read with yet more con- 
 cern. It was the following: “We are not 
 aware of any objection to the promulgation of 
 the Scriptures in the Bengalee language, unac- 
 companied by any comments on the religions of 
 the country:” that is, the English Government 
 were not “aware tliat there was any objection 
 to the publication of the Bible, yet they were 
 not certain.” At all events, it must have “ lio 
 
 * Dr. Buchanan was misinformed in thi.s particular. 
 The Danish Governor did not, it seems, resist the de- 
 mand, on the plea of tlie sovereij^nty of his n.'ition, al- 
 thoug^h he misjht have so done if it had pleased him ; 
 hut he solicited the revocation of tlie demand, on t]»e 
 ground of ‘’the distress to which the Missionaries 
 w'ould be exposed by the English Government’s exact- 
 ing a compliance with it,” and on the ground of the 
 cpnvenic’itce of the press to the Danish Government. 
 
MEMORIAL. 
 
 61 
 
 comment on the religions of the country:” that 
 is, it must not be said of the Bible — This is 
 the word of the true God, and more worthy of 
 belief than the Veda of Brahma nor must 
 any illustration of its truth be noticed by refer- 
 ence to ihe Hindoo doctrines ; for instance, by 
 appealing to their own ideas of a Trinity, of 
 an atonement, and of the ‘‘man twice born.” 
 
 After some consideration, the English Govern- 
 ment qualified (but did not revoke) their prohi- 
 bition respecting works directed to the object 
 of converting the natives,” and informed the 
 Missionaries OiSeially that, whatever they 
 printed for the future, must be submitted to tlie 
 inspection of the odicers of Government:” and 
 here the matter ended. An official Imprimatur 
 is established for the theological works of the 
 Protestant Missionaries ; and preaching to the 
 natives, beyond the limits of the Danish town, 
 is entirely prohibited : and this, of course, 
 amounts to nearly a total suppression of the 
 ^iiision. 
 
 The chief inconvenience of the Imprimatur 
 imposed is, not that religious books shall be 
 submitted to the officers of Government, but 
 that they must be submitted to the native” 
 officers of Government. If, indeed, the Chris- 
 tian officers of Government understood the Ben- 
 galee, Arabic, Orissa, Mahratta, and Chinese 
 languages, then might the Missionaries expect 
 that Christians would revise their works ; but 
 a Hindoo must revise the Bengalee, and a Ma- 
 hometan the x\rabie. Those very Mahometans 
 who impeached the Missionaries in the first 
 instance will necessarily be employed next t« 
 
MEMORIAL. 
 
 62 
 
 revise their theoh) 5 y. Was it ever heard that 
 a Hindoo or a Mahometan gave a candid judg- 
 ment of a Christian hook? They will, of 
 course, obliterate all passages which olfend 
 their own superstitions, and particularly those 
 ijuotations from Scripture' which speak of lying 
 propliets, or the sin of idolatry. 
 
 I now heg leave to recpiest your Lordship's 
 attention to the plea on which these proceed- 
 ings against the Protestant Missionaries have 
 been grounded. It is this : “that the public 
 faith has been pledged to leave the natives in 
 the undisturbed exercise of their religions.” 
 This is a proper pledge of oar Legislature. It 
 is proper not to disturb the natives in the exer- 
 cise of their religion; nor has this pledge ever 
 been broken, directly or indirectly. It is pro- 
 per not to interfere with, or by violence to pre- 
 vent, the superstition of the natives, if not crim- 
 inal in itself, or affecting the public peace. 
 But if, by the expression, “ not disturbing the 
 natives in the exercise of their religion,” be 
 meant that “ we are not to use means for dif- 
 fusing the knowledge of Christianity among 
 them,” then it is to be observed, that this pledge 
 has been violated by every Government in In- 
 dia, and has been systematically broken by the 
 Honourable the East India Company from the 
 year 1698 to the present time. The fact is, 
 they have pledged themselves to a conduct just 
 the reverse. The East India Company hold 
 this country by a Charter, which expressly sti- 
 pulates that they shall use means to instruct 
 the Gentoos, &e, in the Christian Religion. 
 (William III. 15th September, 1698.) iVnd 
 
MEMORIAL. 
 
 63 
 
 this stipulation is in perfect accordance wilh 
 their pledge of not disturbing the natives in 
 the exercise of their superstitious t)Y force, in- 
 asmuch as it is a very diiTerent tiling to apply 
 arguments to tlie mind and to inflict wounds on 
 the body. It is their duty to civilize their bar- 
 barous subjects, and to teach them humanity, 
 and for that purpose to address tlieir under- 
 standings and their aflections. At the same 
 time, it is their duly not to disturb the exercise 
 of their strperstiiion by compulsory acts : and 
 the Leg islature has stipulated for ihe perform- 
 ance of both duties ; and the flrst duty is as 
 % positive as the second. They first stijxilate to 
 do good, and they next stipulate not to do evil ; 
 and in consequence of tliis stipulation, tiie Hon- 
 ourable Company have constantly aided the 
 Christian Missions in India; and at this time, 
 liiey devote a eoiisiderahlc sum annually to their 
 support. The Protestant Mission in Bengal 
 commenced in 175S. The Honourahle Com- 
 pany's sliips brought out tlie aiinuai supplies 
 for this 3iission, and before the year 1770, re- 
 ligious tracts were translated into the Bengalee 
 language ; and Hindoo Christians preached to 
 their countrymen, in the time of Hastings, in 
 the town of Calcutta. The ?tlission continued 
 its labours till about tiic year 1700, when tl:e 
 sup[)ly of Missionaries from Europe failed. 
 It was succeeded by the present ?iHssion at He- 
 ra !n pore in 1793. 
 
 'i'iie Calcutta mission was of extensive use 
 in disseminating Christian principles through 
 Northern India. Tiiey sent Ara’oic New 'j’es- 
 laments to the court of Hhah Allum, the Muh- 
 
64 
 
 MEMORIAL. 
 
 oiTiedan King of Hindostan, then reshlent at 
 Allahabad. The priests of his Majesty return- 
 ed their thanks to the Missionaries, and reques- 
 ted tiuit tlie supply might be continued.” it 
 was continued for a time, and an investment of 
 Arabic Bibles is soon expected, under the sanc- 
 tion of the Honourable Company, for a similar 
 purpose. Little of the influence of Christian- 
 ity in India has come, as yet, to the knowledge 
 of the public. Englishmen in general know' as 
 little of the state of Christianity in India, as 
 of the state of Hinduism. Two Christian Mis- 
 sions w6re at the same period tolerated by Shah 
 Alluni ; one of whicli bad existed since the 
 time of Akbar the Great, and both of whieli 
 exist unto this day. 
 
 At Seringapatam, under Hydcr Sultaun the 
 Mahomedan Prince of Mysore, the most com- 
 plete toleration was permitted. In the Appen- 
 dix to the enclosed pamphlet, your Lordship 
 W'ill see with what ardour the preaching of 
 Swartz was received at Seringapatam, and how 
 the noble Afahomedans and Hindoos desired to 
 learn from him what was the right prayer.” 
 Romish Missions were tolerated by Hyder at 
 the same time. Tippoo Sultaun was more in- 
 tolerant than Ids father. He was at times a 
 persecutor; yet he did not quench Christiani- 
 ty; and Alissions now flourish in various parts 
 fT the Mysore country. 
 
 After these antimrities, we certainly shall 
 not refer to the Mahomedan Moonshces in Cal- 
 cutta, for their opinion on the general relations 
 of religious toleration in India. 
 
 I do not know whether your Lordsliip has 
 been informed, that there are two Roman Cath- 
 
MEMORIAL. 
 
 65 
 
 nli^ Missions in Bengal and the provinces ad- 
 jacent. They have existed for a long period of 
 time, and have been tolerated by the Mahome- 
 dan, Hindoo, Seik, Nepaul, and Tibet Govern- 
 ments. They have preached and published 
 what they pleased, without any official restric- 
 tion that we have ever heard of ; and they now 
 continue to follow their functions under the pro- 
 tection of the English Government, while the 
 Protestant Missionaries are restrained and their 
 theology is subjected to an official licence. 
 
 The proceedings against the Protestant Mis- 
 sion will naturally be supposed at home to have 
 been called forth by some public commotion in 
 Bengal, or by the bad moral character of the 
 Missionaries. As to the first, they will be hap- 
 py to hear, that we are now, and long have been, 
 in a state of almost torpid tranquillity ; and as 
 to the character of the 3Iissionaries, the Gov- 
 ernment has acknowledged them to be men of 
 quiet demeanour, of pious intentions, and as de- 
 serving countenance and respect for their liter- 
 ary labours. 
 
 It has been the usual conduct of Asiatic Go- 
 vernments to let Christianity alone. In the an- 
 iials of the British Administration in India, 
 there has been no instance of the suppression 
 of a Christian Mission. Our empire here sub- 
 sists by the discrepancy of religious opinion. 
 It is not good policy to strengthen the Hindoo 
 Religion, or to strengthen the Mahomedan Re- 
 ligion ; but it is good policy to strengthen the 
 Cliiistian Religion, heeause it is as yet the 
 weakest. It is eert.iiiily our djity not to oppose 
 it ; for if this council be of God, w e cannot 
 6 ^ 
 
66 
 
 MEMORIAL. 
 
 resist it.’^ And it would now be as easy to op- 
 pose the rushing of the Bore into the river 
 Ganges, as to oppose the entranee of Christian- 
 ity into the province of Bengal.* 
 
 9 . After the pei usai of the foregoing pages, 
 your Lordship will be prepared to understaiul 
 the cause of the late alarm regarding the Pro- 
 phecies; not a public alarm indeed, but the 
 alarm of some of the officers of your Lord- 
 ship’s government. 
 
 Having had occasion lately to preach a se- 
 ries of discourses on the Christian Prophecies, 
 in the Presidency Church, some of the congre- 
 gation expressed a wish that I would permit 
 them to be printed, observing, that they had be- 
 fore made a similar request without effect ; but 
 as 1 was now about to return to Europe, they 
 hoped I would bequeath to them these few dis- 
 courses. 
 
 When it was understood by the officers of 
 Government, that the sermons on the prophe- 
 cies were to be published, they were alarmed: 
 — your Lordship will scarcely divine the cause 
 — it was this It seems these prophecies de- 
 clare, that all nations shall be converted to 
 the religion of Christ.” But if this be true, it 
 was argued. What bad news to the Mahome- 
 dans and the Hindoos ! In sl.orl, the advertise- 
 ment announcing the intended publication of 
 the Prophecies, which was sent to the Govern- 
 
 * The Boke is th? ra^/icl influx of the tide of the 
 ocean into the Ganges. That river is wide at the mouth ; 
 hut suddenly narrowing’, the accumulated waters seek 
 "tlieir level, and run forward in a continued billow, with 
 a mighty rusliing noise, a hundred miles up the country. 
 
MEMORIAL. 
 
 67 
 
 meiit Gazette, was suppressed ; the advertise- 
 ment itself was delivered in with trepidation 
 to Government, and an order was immediately 
 issued to the printers of the other papers, for- 
 bidding them to publish the alarming notice. 
 In consequence of this order, it has been pub- 
 licly understood that the Christian Prophecies 
 - are suppressed by authority i 
 
 I now beg leave to submit it to your Lord- 
 ship’s judgment, whether, in the view of the 
 temper of mind displayed above, it would be 
 proper in me to subject my compositions to the 
 opinion and revision of the officers of your 
 Lordship’s government. Might there not be 
 some danger in committing the Christian Pro- 
 phecies to be altered and new-modelled by men 
 who favour the disciples of Mahomet and Brah- 
 ma ? I incline not to commit them to the hands 
 of those officers, from another consideration : 
 it would be a bad precedent. I would not that 
 it should be thought, that any where in the^ 
 British dominions, there exists any thing like a 
 civil inquisition into matters purely religious. 
 
 It is now nearly two months since I received 
 the letter from Governinent on tliis matter, 
 and I have not yet communicated my intentions. 
 
 I now beg leave to inform your Lordship, that 
 I do not wish to give Government any unneces- 
 sary offence, I shall not publish the Prophe- 
 cies. 
 
 At the sa»m8 time 1 beg leave most respect- 
 fully to assure your Lordship, that I am not in 
 any way disappoiiited by the interference of 
 Government on tfiis occasion. The pupposed 
 suppression of the Christian Propbji^es has 
 
6S 
 
 MEMORIAL. 
 
 produced (he consequence that might bn expec- 
 ted. The public curiosity has been greatly ex- 
 cited to see these Prophecies; and to draw the 
 attention of men to the Divine Predictions, 
 could be the only object I had in view in notic- 
 ing them in the course of my public ministry. 
 Another consequence will probably be ; the 
 Prophecies will be translated into the languages 
 of the East, and thus pave the way, as has 
 sometimes happened, for their own fulfilment. 
 
 10. Your Lordship will be enabled better to 
 understand the real nature of this alarm re- 
 garding the Prophecies, when you are inform- 
 ed of the alarm which was excited about half 
 a year before your Lordship’s arrival, by the 
 ancient ‘•Christian Tablets.” 
 
 In consequence of the inquiries, sanctioned 
 by the Marquis Wellesley, into the history and 
 literature nf the Syrian Christians of Travan- 
 core, some ancient Manuscripts were announc- 
 ed, and also certain “ Brass Tablets” of great 
 antiquity, containing tiie privileges of these an- 
 cient Christians, asserting their rights of no- 
 bility, and declaring nithal that they had a 
 King. Your Lordship can hardly conceive the 
 apprehensions which were excited by this dis- 
 covery, in the minds of those who iiave been 
 lately alarmed by the Prophecies. Even at 
 tJje first, it was accounted an oininons mission 
 to go “to rake up the asl-.es of Christianity” 
 in the very midst of tlie Hindoos. .But when 
 it was animtinced that tliere were “glowing 
 embers,” not!)ing less seemed to be expected 
 than lluit all Hiiidoslan would shortly be “ in a 
 fiame.** For if it was true lltat Christianity 
 
MEMORIAL. 
 
 69 
 
 once flourhlied in Hindostan, it followed that 
 it miglit dourish again. It was devour iy wish- 
 ed that these Christian Tablets might sink 
 to the bottom of the sea,*’ and even the curios- 
 ity of tlie Hindoo Antiquaries was queaehed in 
 this horror of Christianity.* 
 
 That yonr Lordship may be assured that this 
 alarm was real, and not fictitious, it is only ne- 
 cessary to add, that when the article of iitera- 
 ry intelligence published in the Bombay Gaz- 
 ette, containing the account of these ancient 
 Christians.t and of these ‘‘ brass plates” (which 
 account was certainly interesting to the Chris- 
 tian world in general, and to men of letters in 
 particular,) arrived at Calcutta, it was sup- 
 pressed, by authority, as something dangerous 
 to the State; and the Bishop of Llantlafi‘’s let- 
 ter on the Civilization of Indiaf had nearly 
 shared the same fate. 
 
 11. It appearing from the recent events above 
 noticed, that the diffusion of Christianity in 
 Bengal is plainly obnoxious to some of the of- 
 ficers of Government, serious apprehensions 
 are now' entertained, that the attempt to sup- 
 press the translation of the Scriptures will be 
 renew'ed. I cannot believe that the attempt 
 w ill be made during your Lordship’s adminis- 
 
 ^ ' These brass tablets are now deposited in the pub- 
 lic library of the University of Cambridge. 
 
 t It had been previously published in the Bombay 
 Gazette, by winch nK^ans it reached Europe. It was 
 published afterwards in Engiand by the late Bishop of 
 London. 
 
 ■t See Christian Researches, at conclusion. 
 
ro 
 
 MEMORIAL. 
 
 tration. If, however, any sinister event should 
 afford a pretext for revivint^ it, 1 humbly re- 
 quest that the Chinese Translation of the 
 Scriptures may be spared. Suffer me, my Lord, 
 to intercede for the Chinese. There are three 
 English youths, who have been for two years 
 past under the tuition of the Ciiinese Professor 
 and his t\Yo Chinese Assistants, and they have 
 now acquired a very considerable proficiency 
 ill the Chinese Language ; and it is my inten- 
 tion to call them to lingland for public pur- 
 poses, in three years hence, if their studio's be 
 not interrupted. This Class has been organiz- 
 ed and maintained at a great expense. It is 
 the only regular Chinese Class in the world, 
 cut of ilie limits of the Chinese Empire; and 
 it Mil; probably be the source of the first regu- 
 ior i istruction in the Chinese Language in 
 Great liritain.* 
 
 * The expense was upwards of 1300 pounds. The 
 Chinese Professor, Mr. Lassar, was ori.s^inally engaged 
 to superintend the Class at Serainpore, by Dr. Buchan- 
 an, aud was maintained at his sole expense for about 
 three years, at 300 rupees per month. The condition 
 on which Dr. Buchan-an engaged to maintain him at the 
 IM issiou-Housc, was, Tliat one of the elder Missionaries, 
 and three at least of the youths, should engage in the 
 diligent study of the Chinese Language Mr. Marsh- 
 man was the elder Missionary who accepted the con- 
 dition. Hearing that the lion, the Court of Directors 
 were about to organize the College at Hertford, Dr Br.- 
 clianan contempiated, at that time, the probability of 
 Mr. La.ssar’s pupils being by and by qualilied to hold a 
 situation as Instructors of Chinese in that institution. 
 They are now qualified for that office ; and it seems to 
 be tile interest of the East-lndia Company to appropri- 
 
MEMORIAL. 
 
 ri 
 
 12. If your Lordship should judge it expe- 
 dient to investigate any of the facts contained 
 in this letter, I shall be happy to afford any 
 further evidence or explanation that may be re- 
 quired, before I leave India. 
 
 I have the honour to be. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 With the highest respect, your Lordship’s 
 
 Most obedient and humble Servant, 
 (Signed) C. BUCHANAN. 
 
 Calcutta, 
 
 7th Nov. 1807. 
 
 ate the special advantage. A knowledge of the Chinese 
 Language is confessed to be of the utmost importance 
 to tlieir civil servants who have to negociate with the 
 Chinese people ; and yet it is not cultivated either at 
 the College of Fort William in Bengal, or at tJie Col- 
 lege of Hertford in England. This impoi'tant language, 
 hitherto deemed inaccessible to the Universities of Eu- 
 rope, was planted, and has been brought to maturity, 
 as it were, by the wav-side. 
 
REMARKS 
 
 02T THE 
 
 LETTER FROM THE BENGAL GOVERNMENT 
 
 TO THE 
 
 £[on. the Court of Directors^ dated Dec. 7, 1807, in reply 
 to the foregoing JMcinorial.* 
 
 THE Earl of Mintn must be well assured by 
 this time, that I highly respect the character 
 of liis administration ; for his public acts de- 
 monstrate, that he is by no means indifferent to 
 the promotion of learning in the East, or to 
 the diffusion of Christian Knowledge amongst 
 the inhabitants of India. At the time I sub- 
 mitted to his Lordship the preceding Memorial 
 concerning the injuries indicted on Christianity 
 in Bengal, I wished him to understand that I 
 exonerated him entirely from blame, since he 
 had but lately arrived, and could not possibly 
 be fully acquainted with all the circumstances 
 to which the Address referred. And his Lord- 
 ship will do me the justice to recollect that I 
 did not transmit that letter “ on the public ser- 
 vice,” or to the Governor-general “ in Coun- 
 cil but merely for his private information, if 
 he should think proper so to consider it. His 
 
 See Appendix, No. I. 
 
REMARKa. 
 
 7'i 
 
 faslilouing my address into a public proceeding 
 was entirely gratuitous. I oSered to explain ; 
 but he declined an interview, and chose to send 
 the Memorial to England, accompanied by offi- 
 cial animadversion. The truth was, he natur- 
 ally received his first impressions from the pub- 
 lic* functionaries who filled official situations 
 near his person ; and with that urbanity and 
 heroism which are natural to him, he said, “ I 
 will defend my new government.” The radi- 
 cal error of his Lordship’s incipient adminis- 
 tration (not indeed imputable to himself) was, 
 that in concerting measures respecting ‘‘ Reli- 
 gion and Christian Missions,” he did not call to 
 his councils the official adviser of GTovernment 
 on such subjects; namely, the Senior Chaplain 
 of the Honourable Company, the Rev. David 
 Brown, who had enjoyed the confidence of ev- 
 ery Governor-General for nearly twenty years 
 before, and who could have given him, in a few 
 minutes, just views of character and of exist- 
 ing circumstanees. B^jt some of the persons 
 about his Lordship had no desire to direct liis 
 attention at that crisis to such a counsellor as 
 Mr. Brown ; for he was too sincere a friend of 
 Ciiristianity.* His Lordship’s good sense, 
 however, seems soon to have triumphed over 
 this difficulty : and to have enabled him to ap- 
 preciate justly Mr. Brown’s eounsei and com- 
 munications. The public has heard how lau- 
 dably Lord jMiiito has exercised himself la 
 promoting useful learning, by giving Ins pat- 
 
 * I would always exempt from the imputations com 
 nected with this subject Niei Benjamin Edrnonstoiie, 
 Esq. Vice-President of tls; Calcutta Bible Society, 
 
74 
 
 REMARKS, 
 
 ronage to the College of Fort William, to the 
 Chinese Class at Serampore, and to the Calcut- 
 ta Auxiliary Bible Society. In Mr. Brown’s 
 commuuicatiou to me last year, respecting the 
 establishment of the Bible Society, he distinct- 
 ly mentions his Lordship’s change of sentiment 
 on some points. — ‘‘ Pagoda, (Serampore,) 5lli 
 March, 18 il. — 1 have had long and full dis- 
 c’.^ssioHS w ith Lord Minto on all subjects of re- 
 ligion, missions, and Scriptures ; and he is very 
 desirous to tread back his steps, and to atone 
 for the mistake which he made at the begin- 
 ning of his government. Your memorial pre- 
 pared the way for this reflux of sentiment. 
 ISeither that, nor the Chinese, nor any part of 
 your labours, have fallen to the ground.” Lord 
 Minto w ill best know’ whether this extract pos- 
 sesses the features of truth. Nothing could 
 have justified my printing it but the necessity 
 w hieh existed, that the truth should be fully un- 
 derstood on a subject afl’ectiug the interests of 
 Christit«iity, and the character of its legitimate 
 teachers in India. It is believed in Bengal, 
 that the attack on the Missionaries did not 
 originate with Lord Minto. On the contrary, 
 it w as supposed that his presence tempered its 
 violence, and assuaged the storm. 
 
 2. 1 shall do myself the honour to remark 
 on the Letter itself. The Memorial presented 
 by me adverted to certain public acts which I 
 considered to he dishononrable and injurious to 
 Christianity. I specified the four following: 
 
 First. The w ithdrawing ®f the patronage 
 of Government from the translation of the 
 Holy Scriptures into the Oriental Tongues.” 
 
REMARKS. 
 
 V5 
 
 Second. « Attempting to suppress the trans- 
 l?ition of the Scriptures entirely*” 
 
 Third. Suppressing the encomium oi the 
 Honourable the Court of Directors on their ve- 
 nerable Missionary the Rev. Mr. Swartz and 
 Fourth. Restraining the Protestant Mis- 
 sionaries in Bengal from the exercise of their 
 functions, and establishing an Imprimatur lor 
 Theological Works.” 
 
 To the first of these charges, the Bengal 
 Government have made no reply ; and yet it 
 was the most important. The withdrawing of 
 the patronage of Government from the transla- 
 tion of the Scriptures, which had commenced 
 so auspiciously in the College of Fort William, 
 was an act which involved in it most sensibly 
 the honour of a Christian Administration. But 
 there is not one word offered in justification. 
 Indeed, it was impossible to justify it.* 
 
 To the second charge, “ Attempting to sup- 
 press the translation of the Scriptures eutire- 
 
 * It is to be hoped that, at this era of Christian in- 
 vestigation, the East-India Company will vindicate the 
 honour of the nation, and of their own government in 
 India, by directing that the College of Fort William 
 shall patronise, as it formerly d.d, translations oftlie 
 Scriptures in the various languages of the East ; aiid 
 particularly, tl^at the ivsitlar languages, cultivated by 
 their Professor, the late Dr. Leyden, (into each of which 
 he has translated the Gospel of St. Matthew), may not 
 be permitted again to sink into oblivion for want of 
 encouragement. The College of Fort William expends 
 a monthly sum at this time, under sanction of the 
 Court of Directors, for translations from the Mytholo- 
 gy of Drahma (witness the fabulous Ramayunu, &c.) 
 but nothing is given, that we have heard of, fQi* the 
 honour of Christ, 
 
KEMAHKiw 
 
 V 6 
 
 ly” out of tlie College, a« v ell as in it, no re^ 
 ply is made. iSor shall 1 add furlher explaua' 
 lion. 
 
 To tlie third charge^ ‘‘ Suppressing the offi- 
 cial eneorainm on the venerable Swartz,” there 
 is no reply. There is iwit the most distant al- 
 lusion to the subject. 
 
 On the fourth charge alone, copious observa- 
 tions have been made. And on these I propose 
 to animadvert. 
 
 Of the collateral snhjeets, the alarm con- 
 cerning The Brass Plates,” and the exclu- 
 sion from the“ Government Gazette and other 
 papers of the “ literary intelligence” concern- 
 ing the Syrian Christians in Travancore, no no- 
 tice has been taken.* 
 
 * When Dr. Leyden, Lord Mlnto’s admired literary 
 friend, who possessed a spirit which was keenly suscep- 
 tible, beard of the Government’s suppressing the “lit- 
 erary intelligence,” relating to that very quarter of In- 
 dia, through part of which he himself had travelled, 
 and cortcerning which he had furnished me with vari- 
 ous topics of investigation, I leave his Lordshlj^to con- 
 ceive the fluent speech and bodily agitation of the 
 scholar, on the view of the “ Gothic proceeding.” 
 
 The ptiblic in England have been much gratified hy 
 the perusal of the Earl of Minlo’s beautiful eiilogium 
 on the character of Dr. Leyden, at the last public dis- 
 putation at the Gollege of Fort William. ]'>r. Ijcydcn’s 
 talents for philological research were indeed beyond all 
 praise; but he consecrated iiis last years by a study of 
 a higher kind than that of philology ; “ He was trans- 
 lating tlie Holy Scriptures into five ddferent languages.’* 
 We should have been happy to have seen, tliat this 
 fittest subject for the liighest panegyric had not been 
 wholly omitted in a discoui’se addressed to the Student? 
 of the College of Fort Vf iilium. 
 
REMARKS. 
 
 3. Before I prcrceed further, I shall make 
 two preliminary remarks. 
 
 Of the accuracy of the facts stated in the 
 Memorial, I think there can be little doubt. I 
 challenged inquiry before I left Calcutta ; but 
 the Government did not think it necessary ter 
 investigate them. They wrote their Letter to 
 the Court of Directors while I was yet on the 
 spot, without communicating their sentiments 
 to me in any manner, although I was on terms 
 of personal civility with every member of the 
 administration ; and they sent the letter home 
 without my knowledge by the same fleet which 
 conveyed myself. Nor did I ever see it until 
 it was recently printed by order of the Hon- 
 ourable the House of Commons. 
 
 The second remark I would make refers to 
 the charge of “ disrespect” which is preferred 
 against me, in the Letter alluded to, for ad- 
 dressing Government at all on the subject ; and 
 to which they frequently revert with lively sen- 
 sibility. I am not at all anxious about self- 
 justification in this matter, except as the hon- 
 our of religion may be concerned : and I hope 
 little personal feeling will be visible in these 
 Remarks. But in regard to the charge in 
 question, I only request that the Bengal Gov- 
 ernment will look back to the transaction, and 
 survey the nature of the subject and the cir- 
 cumstances in which I stood. Let them say 
 whether I had any personal interest in the 
 cause at issue. Did 1 address Government for 
 my own advantage Was it to recommend my- 
 self to the favour of the Court of Directors 
 w hen I returned home ? No. It w as not mv ow n 
 
HEM ARKS. 
 
 rs 
 
 cause, but that of Revealed Religion, wbicb I 
 maintained. Christianity had been dishonour- 
 ed. Its teachers were oppressed and silenced 5 
 and there was nobody to appear for the truth. 
 I stood, for a moment, the Representative of 
 “ Him who is higher than the highest.’’ And 
 is (his to be denominated disrespect; especial- 
 ly when the words of my Address are perfect- 
 ly respectful ? 1 think that, in the judgment of 
 candour and of eniightened minds, it will be 
 thought that 1 barely did my duty. The pub- 
 lic voice in the settlement of Calcutta was cer- 
 tainly in my favour ; for the proceedings against 
 the Missionaries were very generally con- 
 demned. 
 
 4. The justification of the acts of Govern- 
 ment specified in the eighth paragraph of my 
 Alemorial, is founded on these two assump- 
 tions, viz. 
 
 1 . That the ^proceedings of the Missiona- 
 ries were of a character entirely new,” and that 
 their publications and preaching rendered the 
 interference of Government necessary. 
 
 2 . That the Supreme Government w as by no 
 means hostile to the introduction of Christiani- 
 ty into India. 
 
 Let us review the first of these assumptions. 
 —We shall describe “ the origin” of the pro- 
 ceedings against the Missionaries in the words 
 of the official dispatch to the Court of Direc- 
 tors. 
 
 ‘‘ The pamphlet in question was delivered to 
 the Secretary in the Secret, Political, and For- 
 eign Department by the Professor of Aral)ic 
 ^ud Persian in the College of Fort William. 
 
REMARKS'. 
 
 79 
 
 who Reeeivecl it from the chief native Precep- 
 tor in that department,” (that is, the elnef 
 Arabic Moonshee, a Mahomedan ;) who stat- 
 ed that it was put into his hands, by the son of 
 a Mogul merchant (a Mahomedan) residing at 
 Calcutta, with a request that he would prepare 
 an answer to it, with a view to vindicate the 
 credit oPtheir common religion.”* It is not 
 alledged that the Moonshee complained of the 
 contents of the paper in any manner. No state- 
 ment to that etfect is contained in the whole 
 dispatch. 
 
 This pamphlet, it seems, declared that Mah- 
 omet was a tyrant and an impostor ; and more- 
 over, that the Christian Religion was the true 
 one. On which the Government resolved, 
 That the public faith had been pledged to 
 leave the inhabitants of these dominions in the 
 full, free, and undisturbed exercise of their re- 
 spective religions and that the Missionaries 
 ought to be restrained. They accordingly in- 
 terdicted the Missionaries from preaching or 
 publishing; that is, they suppressed the Mis- 
 sion. But after they had so done, they discov- 
 ered, to their great astonishment, that pamph- 
 lets of a similar nature had been published 
 hve years before,” and that public preaching 
 had been practised during the same period in 
 Calcutta liy the same Missionaries. l)r. Carey 
 declared officially ; AUhotigh pamphlets have 
 been in circulation for several years, no one in- 
 stance has come to my kiiov. ledge <)f the least 
 symptom of alarm having been excited, wheth- 
 
 East India Papers, Xo. 142, p. 4i. 
 
0 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 £r among Hindoos or Mussulmans, in conse- 
 quence of such circulation.” At this period, 
 Lord Minto must have looked gravely at his 
 counsellors. The Government discovered fur- 
 |her, that pamphlets of a like character had 
 been published all over the south of India, for 
 three centuries before ; and that, in short, there 
 was no way of saying that Christianity is true, 
 without insinuating that Mahomedauisui is 
 false. 
 
 5 , But let us investigate; the “ first move- 
 ment” in this affair. Ijie pamphlet fell into 
 the hands of a Mahomedan merchant in Cal- 
 cutta, who carried it to a Mahomedan Moon- 
 shee in the College, “ with a request that he 
 would prepare an answer to it, with a view to 
 vindicate the credit of their common religion,” 
 Thus far was well. The Moonshee shews it to 
 his English Master, the Arabic Professor 5 
 whether, as an object of curiosity, or in a sullen 
 mood, is not stated. The Arabic Professor 
 seizes the paper, and presents it to the Govern- 
 ment. Now, if that gentleman had not charged 
 himself with this official act, we should proba- 
 bly have never heard a word on the subject. 
 When the Moonshee had shewed the pamphlet 
 to him, he ought to have acted like a Christian 
 Professor, and said, “ Do as the son of the Mo- 
 gul merchant bids you : go and prepare an an- 
 swer to it with a view to vindicate your common 
 religion.” Had he so done, the Moonshee would 
 probably have answered ; “ It is hard work,” 
 and have gone to smoke his Hooka. — Again, 
 supposing (for argument’s sake) that the Moon- 
 shee complained that Mahomet was vilified, 
 
nEMARKS. 
 
 SI 
 
 the Professor Imd only to reply : *• Brahmin?, 
 Boodhists and Seiks vilify Mahomet every day 
 in words and in writing. Bnt is it lor yon, 
 Mahomedaus, to speak of the iiuiecoruni of 
 vilifying the religion of others, whose bonks 
 are tilled with it.- What volume, in the theo- 
 logical part of Tippoo's Jdbrary in the College 
 of Port William ^if it refers to Christianity at 
 all) does not contain the most unq'.uiiined abuse 
 of the Christian Religion, and of its profes- 
 sors — 1 hope tiiat the gentleman, v. Imever he 
 w as, w ho made himself active on tlic above oc- 
 casion. has, by this time, made some atonemetit 
 to the Christian cause, and enrolled himself a 
 member of the Calcutta Auxiliary Bible So- 
 ciety. 
 
 6. In the Letter of the Bengal Government, 
 they relate a transaction which took place un- 
 der the administration of ?tlarquis Wellesley, 
 in vindication of their interfering with the ^Nlis- 
 sionaries. But I allege that the ease is of no 
 value in regard to the purpose for w hich it k 
 quoted. I was Vice-Provost of the College at 
 the time, and must have been fully acquainted 
 with tlie particulars of the transaction. As I 
 hear it has been triumphantly menlioned by the 
 adversaries of Missions, a brief elucidation of 
 its merits may not be unacceptable. 
 
 In the year tS04, the following Thesis Avas 
 proposed, among others, for discussion by the 
 Students, at the annual disputations held in 
 the College of Fort M iliiam, viz. •' The ad- 
 vantage w hich the natives of this country misrht 
 derive Trom translations, in the vernacular 
 tongues, of tiic books containing the principles 
 
82 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 of llieir respective religions, and those of the 
 Christian “ faith.” — Among the persons con- 
 nected with the Government and with the Col- 
 lege about that time, there were some who, in 
 consequence of long habits of intercourse with 
 the natives, had acqtiired a greater tenderness 
 for the religious feelings of a Mahomedan or 
 Hindoo, than for those of a Cliristian. And 
 this they defended (some of them singularly 
 amiable men,) without renouncing the charac- 
 ter of Christian themselves, on the ground of 
 condescension to the prejudices of the “ weaker 
 brethren.” These gentlemen had, of course, 
 been hostile from the beginning, to the transla- 
 tion of the Scriptures in the Oriental Lan- 
 guages, which was prpceedirig in the College 
 by Natives and Europeans. So great was 
 their jealousy on this subject, that there ex- 
 isted a kind of compromise between us, that if 
 the Bible was printed for Christians, the Koran 
 should be printed for Mahomedans ; which 
 was actually done. They further objected to 
 the discussion of subjects at the Annual disputa- 
 tions in the Oriental Tongues, in which the 
 inferiority of Mahbmedanism might be infer- 
 red by implication. When, therefore, the above 
 Thesis was proposed, which seemed merely to 
 place the Christian and Mahomedan Religions 
 on an equality, they represented to me, as Vice- 
 Provost, that the subject might give oftence. I 
 observed, that certainly there was no ground of 
 ott'ence on the part of the natives ; that, on the 
 contrary, I considered the Thesis myself as be- 
 ing rather discreditable to Christianity ; and 
 that I would gladly order it to be changed for 
 
REMARKS. 
 
 83 
 
 another, if it were not that the young men had 
 now prepared their disputations on the subject. 
 It is proper to observe that the subject was not 
 proposed by me. By a rule of the College, the 
 selection of the Thesis is given to the student, 
 called the Respondent, who is to defend it; 
 and it must be afterwards approved by the 
 College Council. I heard no more of the mat- 
 ter till after some days, when I was informed 
 that the Mahomedan Moonshees and others 
 had signed a paper in the way of memorial to 
 Lord Wellesley, requesting that their religion 
 might not be invaded. The fact was, they were 
 urged and assisted so to do by their Christian 
 Patrons ; the Moonshees being in general as 
 subservient to the will of their English Pro- 
 fessor as servants are to a master. INay, some 
 of the English acknowledged that they “ en- 
 couraged it as a very proper measure.” And 
 it was proved that many of - he Moonshees wdio 
 signed the paper knew not what the Thesis 
 contained. — -The petition having been presented 
 to Lord Wellesley, he first told them that there 
 was no harm in the Thesis, and then desired it 
 to be changed ; which was done. And this 
 was the precedent which some years afterwards 
 was to vindicate the suppression of the Chris- 
 tian mission. 
 
 7. A new doctrine was introduced about the 
 time the Missionaries were assiled, viz. That 
 to propagate Christianity was necessarily to 
 vilify (by inference) the religions of the country. 
 And w ith this was connected the following pro- 
 position, which every wliere pervades the let- 
 ter on which i am remarking; namely, “That 
 
remarks. 
 
 6 :( 
 
 the public faith had been, repeatedly pledged, 
 under the express injunetions of the Legisla- 
 ture, to leave the sulijeets of the Company in 
 the full, free, and undisturbed exercise of their 
 respective religions — Just as if the most 
 solemn engagements of the Legislature in Great 
 Britain should ever be supposed to prccliuh 
 religious discussion : or to forbid Christians to 
 think and to say, That juggernaut was a log 
 of wood, or that Mahomet was an impostor. 
 
 The Missionaries state, in their 5lemoriaI, 
 that the 3iarqais Wellesley ordered the Psalms 
 of David, and the Prophecy of Isaiah, to be 
 translated into the Bengalee Language, as a 
 Class-book for the .Students. In consequence 
 of this order, the Hindoo Moonshees would be 
 obliged to instruct their pupils how^ to read 
 such passages as tliese : All nations which 
 
 thou hast made siiall come and worship before 
 thee, O Lord.” — ‘‘Tlie Heathen shall cast their 
 idols to the moles and to the bats.” But his 
 Lordship was not aware that he was infringing, 
 by that order, the most solemn injunctious of 
 the British Legislature. 
 
 In regard to “ religious discussion,” Dr. Ca- 
 rey represented to the Government, when they 
 were about to suppress bis functions, a fact 
 wdiicli every body conversant with tlie inhabi- 
 tants well knew ; namely, “That the natives 
 of Bengal, divided into numerous sects, indulge 
 in literary and religious discussion to an almost 
 unbounded degree — and lliat the Missionaries 
 ‘‘ found, in iiumeroMs instances, that discussion 
 has been desired and approved by the multitude, 
 even w ben it has ended to the disadvantage of 
 their spiritual guides.” 
 
REMARKS. 
 
 85 
 
 It was amusing, about this time, <o see the 
 Missionaries presenting to the Bengal Govern- 
 ment, uitk great simplicity, (in reply to the 
 argumnit of the ‘‘pledged faith,"’) an extract 
 from the Charter to tlie Company by William 
 III. in nl.ich it is stipulated, “ I'hat the mini- 
 sters of the Ho:»')urabie Company are to learn 
 the Hindoo languages, to enable them to instruct 
 the Genloos, ^c. in the Christian Religion.” 
 
 8. The Beiigal Governnient,dii order to shew 
 that it must he ditiicult to have religious dis- 
 cussions with a Mahoinedan, quote a passage 
 from a book of my own : “ A Memoir of the 
 Expediency of an Etelesiaslical Establishment 
 for Britisli India,” pjibiisiied in 1805 ; and they 
 seem to quote it as containing a trutJi justly ex- 
 2 >?*essed ; ‘* Wlienever the Maisomedaii feels his 
 religion touclted. he grasps his dagger.” This is 
 certa n'y a truec* aracteristic of that^people, in 
 general ; and yet we know that many a Ma- 
 liomedan has been subdued by the persuasive 
 power of the Gospel, and that the ferocious ti- 
 ger has been changed into a lamb. It is, doubt- 
 less. the principle of the Mahoniedan in every 
 j)art of the world, in Engiand as well as India, 
 to draw the dagger when his religion is assail- 
 ed ; for the religion tliat was propagated by 
 the sword can only he defended by the sword: 
 but where Mahomedans are servants and not 
 masters, they have not, or at least ought not to 
 have, daggers to draw . 
 
 hi sueli eiicumstuiiC-'S (while tliey are our 
 sijbjetits.) what ougli liien to be our conduct 
 towards them ? What do Ch.ristian duty and a 
 itise jiolicy require on our part? This was the 
 8 
 
80 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 question I was endeavouring to answer. It k 
 Ihe fate of the English in India to exist among 
 this dagger-drawing people. How may we be 
 able to exist among them for an age to come 
 with confidence and security ? I attempted to 
 shew, that our only hope of attaining to this 
 security must be derived from gradually hu- 
 manizing their vindictive spirit by Christian 
 instruction. I recommended that the Govern* 
 ment should allow' “ Christian Schools to be 
 established for the children and that, in re- 
 spect to the adults, instead of “ nursing their 
 faith w ith tenderness” (a^ the manner of some 
 was, and on which I had just animadverted ;) 
 and instead of “ reverencing the religion of 
 MahomedaJJs” by w hich reverence it was well 
 known their couteiiiptuous spirit was cherish- 
 ed and FOMENTED ; we should endeavour to 
 repress and restrain their contemptuous spirit 
 (or, as I less properly expressed it in the first 
 edition, to coerce their contemptuous spirit”) 
 by every proper means, and particularly by 
 maintaining a distant demeanour, and treating 
 them after the manner adopted by Marquis 
 ^Vellesley and Marquis Cornwallis, who, as I 
 afterw ards observe, ‘‘ never admitted a native 
 to their confidence or counsel.” 
 
 And such are the means I would yet reconi- 
 mend.'Bi/t some persons have said, that they un- 
 derstand the passage as if I intended we ought 
 to convert the Mahomedans by force.”* But 
 if such w a? my meaning, why did not the Ben- 
 
 * As for the- Hindoos, they could not have been in- 
 cludixl, Ibi* thcyiiever shewed a couteniplMCjns .spirit ” 
 
REMARKS. 
 
 S-7 
 
 gal Government quote the passage on this most 
 fit occasion, and demolish, at one blow, the cause 
 of Christian Conversion in India, which I was 
 defending ? The reason is very obvious : it was 
 because they knew I meant no such thing. On 
 the contrary, they knew that tlie passage con- 
 tained a just sentiment and most whoiesoine ad- 
 vice. I had just before complained of Chris- 
 tians doing obeisance to the faith of Mahomet. 
 
 As matters now stand, the follower of Maho- 
 met imagines that we consider it a point of 
 honour to reverence his faith, and to despise 
 our own. For he every day meets with Euro- 
 peans, who would more readily speak with dis- 
 respect of their own religion than of his. No 
 where is the bigotry of this intolerant faith 
 nurtured with more tenderness than in British 
 India. While it is suft'ering concussion in ev- 
 ery other part of the world, even to Mecca its 
 centre (as by a concurring Providence toward 
 its final abolition,) here it is fostered in the 
 peaceful lap of Christian liberality.” And 
 then I signified, that, instead of cherishing this 
 spirit, a wise policy required that we should 
 repress it. The means by which we might s» 
 repress it I had just before pointed out. “Is 
 it then good policy to clierisli a vindictive re- 
 ligion in the bosom of the empire for ever.^ 
 Would it not accord with the dictates of the 
 soundest wisdom, to allow Christian Schools to 
 be established, where the children of poor Mah- 
 oraedaws might learn another temper ; the good 
 effects of which would be felt before one genera-^ 
 tion pass away? The adult Hindoo will hard- 
 ly depart from his idol, or the Mahamedan 
 
68 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 from Ills pronhrt in !iis old a"e ; hnt his chil- 
 dren, when left destitute, may Ije bron^iit up 
 Christians, if the Brltisli I’arliarnent please.” 
 
 That is the kind of force I would recommend, 
 and which 1 explained ; namely, the persuasive 
 force of Ci rislian Instruelion, exerted on in- 
 fant and ji'venii minds. U is somewhat re- 
 markable, that when tijree xmlumes which I- 
 have published coueernin;^ the Kasi. ree.om- 
 mejid, in almost every paj^e, the appointed aiul 
 lei^-itimate means «f coiiveP'ion, vi/. Preach- 
 ing am! the Word of GodP there shonid be any 
 person who would contend, that a single line of 
 <lubioi3s import must necessarily contradict ail 
 the rest. When men of adverse sentiments 
 fasten on a single word in i hook, it is a snre 
 sign that they are overwhelmed by its argil- 
 inents, awed by its truth, and encumbered with 
 an expiring cause.* 
 
 9. We non' come to the consideration of the 
 ohnoxiods pamphlets. — I'he Bengal Govern- 
 ment have transmitted three to England, w hieh 
 they mark A. B. and C. and which they desig- 
 
 * I was not a little surprised to bear that an Honor- 
 able Member had stated seriously, in t!ie House of 
 Commons, Itiat I had recommended that the natives of 
 India should be converted by Force. I only can account 
 for this by supposing that .some perso.n had tohl him it 
 was so ; and that he had never read a word which I 
 had written on ti.e subjtct. T, could hardly propose 
 that 30,000 men slionkl di'aw the s\^■ol■d on hf'.v milli- 
 on, and impose a faith ! And }et tliis is wliat the in- 
 sinuation means, if it means any thing’. But again, 
 supposing that I liad made such a prtjposal, would tins 
 have been the way to recommend my objects, concern- 
 ing InJia, to the British Nation ? 
 
REMARKS. 
 
 89 
 
 Rate to be “ the most material,” that is, the 
 most exceptionable, of them all. Of these the 
 only reprehensible Tract, in my judgment, is 
 C. the ‘‘ Rise of Wisdom.” It is a small poem 
 of six pages, and was composed by a Bengalee 
 Poet. The Bengal Government observe upon 
 it, tiiat “ it was excluded froas general perusal, 
 by the abstruseiiess of metrical composition.” 
 It is merely a satire on the Brahmins, and was 
 a very unworthy instrument to be used in Chris- 
 tian Conversion ; — and such the Missionaries 
 themselves acknowledged it to be. — The Tract 
 marked x\. is entitled The Distinction,” or 
 difterence between the characters of Chrishna 
 and Christ, It is entirely unexceptionable in 
 sentiment and language. — The Tract marked 
 B. is that beautiful little piece, submitted with 
 the rest to the Imperial Parliament, entitled 
 “ The Forerunner of the Bilile.” Though tor- 
 tured in the translation, it contains some strik- 
 ing and eloquent passages.* I have read every 
 word of this piece, and hesitate not to declare, 
 that on the same principle that a tribunal could 
 condemn the “ Forerunner of the Bible,” they 
 might have condemned the Sermons of Arch- 
 bishop Tillotson. On the same principle 
 that they condemned the “ Forerunner of the 
 Bible,” they might have eondcnnied the Lord’s 
 Prayer Hallowed be t.hy name !” “No,” 
 
 * Of these the following is one Referring to the 
 inysterv of “ God having become man,” with allusion 
 to the Hindoo incarnations : “ There was an incarnation 
 of Jksus, the Protector of tlie unprotected, full of the 
 splendour of Cod, having- been sepai-ated from his bojiy 
 in a column of splendour before him.” 
 
 8 * 
 
00 
 
 remarks. 
 
 says llie Rrahuiin : let tlie name of Bralimft 
 be hallowed — -“Thy kingdom eoFne 
 says the JMaiiomcdan, “ Jet ^iahonict^s, not 
 Christ’s, king«io;Ti come.” — But that tlie public 
 may have competent means of forming a jiidg- 
 ineiit on the subject, a copy of the Tract is 
 subjoined for tiieir perusal. — See Appendix. 
 No. VI.* 
 
 10. Another subject of inquiry is, whether 
 there was any commotion in Bengal, in conse- 
 quence of tl)e preaching of the Missionaries, 
 to warrant the proceedings against them. The 
 Government do not ailedge that there was any 
 
 * When the “Forerunner of the Bible” came before 
 the Court of Directors, they seem to iiave been at some 
 loss v'hut to say on it. As it had come so fur, charg*. d 
 with crime, they thought of course that it must coniain 
 sometliing wrong : but yet theA' had doubts, hi justice 
 to the Honourable Court, tlieir sensations of difficulty 
 will be stated in their own words. “ Perhaps,” say 
 tliey, in answQi’ to the Bengal Government, “son e 
 doubt might be fairly entertained whether a considera- 
 ble part of the paper marked B. was of a r.atine to 
 have excited sim lar feelings (that is, to have alurmtd 
 the religious pn jud ces of the natives) if the otlier 
 publications did noi p;Cp:ue -be mind to receive Arith 
 some jealousy any works wldcti issued from the san e 
 press. In suggestirg the possibilil}* of this doubt, we 
 by no means ir^nd to convey any disapprobation of 
 that pnident precaution which led you to m event the 
 further publication of this last (the paper B ) together 
 with those wliich appear to us to be more unquestioiiabi y 
 exceptionable. It is a matter of great difScuiiy to 
 draw the line which sliould at once describe and cha- 
 racterize the publications Avliith might be permitted -o 
 be considered as inoiiensive and, at the same lime, 
 distinguish them from those which a propci- precauticii. 
 would suppress.” — East -India J^epers, ./\b. l-ll, p- 72. 
 
REMARKS. 
 
 ComiVsotion. They hint, indeeJ, tliat there was 
 
 an incipient irritation in the minds of the na- 
 tive public but they evidently make no ac- 
 count of this surmise; otherwise it would have 
 appeared in a more imposing form. It was as- 
 serted, at the time, that the people were “ in a 
 state of rJiiiost tor])id tranquillity.” When the 
 Missionaries preaclied in their chapel in Cal- 
 cutta, there were, of cotirse, always a few na- 
 tives around the door ; but, during the whole 
 period of my residence in that city, I never 
 heard of more than one instance of the natives 
 insulting the preacher, b\ the manner in w hich 
 Englishmen sometimes insult a Dissenting Cha- 
 pel in-Eugland. But 1 have heard of dissolute 
 Engl is li men disturbing the Mission Chapel in 
 Cuieutta. 
 
 The parallel drawn by t!ie Bengal Govern- 
 ment, ‘‘between the Protestant Missionaries 
 preacliing to Hindoos, and Jews and Roman 
 Catholics ill England trying to convert Protes- 
 tants,” is curioijs. Tliey seem to tiiiuk that 
 Jews and Roman Catholics dare not try to con- 
 vert Protestants, ‘‘ by preaching publicly and 
 indi-icriminately to his Majesty’s Protestant sub- 
 jects,” partieuiarly if they use “opprobrious and 
 odensive terms ;” and that if they were to do so, 
 the magistrate might “ intervene, and silence” 
 tliem. Bat I beg leave most respectfully to of- 
 fer if as my opinion, that Jews and Roman 
 Catholics may try to convert his Majesty’s liege 
 Protestant subjects, “jKibiiely and indiscrimi- 
 nately,” and in “ opprobrious and oftensive 
 terms too,” whenever they please and fur- 
 
 * As Peter Gandolphy the Catholic, and David Lovi 
 the Jew, well know. 
 
93 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 ther, that if the magistrate were to seize thrir 
 bodies for such offence, the news.of the event 
 vould soon reach the Kast Indies. 
 
 11. If, then, there was no commotion among 
 the people in Bengal, what was the cause of 
 the proceedings against the Missionaries ? 'I'he 
 massacre of Vellore— the fatal massacre of 
 Vellore. That event, which had taken place 
 upwards of a year before, had filled the minds 
 of the rulers of India (as it well might) with 
 apprehensions for the safety of the English do- 
 minion. It was some time before Christianity 
 was thought of as being a cause of that event ; 
 but as soon as the suspicion was presented to 
 the mind, it was eagerly entertained, and spee- 
 dily magnified (in some imaginations) to a cer- 
 tainty. This jealousy of Christianity was far- 
 ther inflamed by communications from England 
 — by heart-sickening, criminatory communica- 
 tions. Those who were at the helm of aftairs 
 thought that something ought to be done ; but 
 what to do they knew' not. The ship of the 
 slate w as in danger, agitated by the waves ; 
 and, like infatuated mariners in a storm, they 
 resolved to throw out the compass and quad- 
 rant, to lighten the vessel. 
 
 To prove the sensations of alarm concerning 
 Christianity w hich the Bengal Government suf- 
 fered about that period, it is only necessary to 
 refer to their letter to the Court of Directors of 
 Nov. 2 , 1807, containing their proceedings re- 
 specting the Missionaries. In that dispatch, 
 they declare without qualification, That the 
 industrious propagation of a belief that tlie 
 British Government entertained the design of 
 
REMARKS. 
 
 93 
 
 converting its native subjects to Cliristianity, 
 w as rendered the f^jficient iiisti'ument of the inavS- 
 sacre of V ellore.” After the evidence w liich 
 lias been laid before the nation on this subject^ 
 I need make no eoninieiit on tiie foregoing pro- 
 position. But it may be proper, for tlie satisfac- 
 tion of tliose persons who are not fully acquaint- 
 ed with t!ie facts, to adduce tlie evidence of a 
 competent authority, from -vliose judgment 
 there can hardly be any appeal on this subject 5 
 but whose teslintmiy the Bengal Government 
 had not an opportunity of seeing, when they 
 wrote the above letter. I allude to the ofiiciai 
 declaraiion of General Hay M’Dovvall, Cor.i- 
 niander in Chief of tlie Ma<lras Army. In his 
 letter to the Governor and Cofsncil of the Pre- 
 sidency of Fort Bt. George, dated IMadras, 
 ?^ov. 19, 1807, nearly a year and a half after 
 the mutiny, lie delivers it as the result of the 
 whole evidence which had passed under his re- 
 view, ‘Mhat the rumour alluded to*’ (viz. that 
 the British Government entertained the design 
 of converting its native subjects to Christiani- 
 ty) “ was by no means general, and except at 
 Hydrabad it had made little or no impression.” 
 But, what is most remarkable, the Commander 
 ill Chief grounds on tlie circumstances of this 
 mutiny a proposal to the Government to build 
 Christian churches. Alluding to tlie in- 
 diifereiice of Europeans which is manifested a-s 
 to the adoration of the Supreme Being,” and 
 to the absurility of supposing that (he natives 
 should apprehend any religious interference 
 from •• persons who apparently conduct t hem- 
 selves with so much apatliy in respect to w hat 
 
91 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 coliceriis religious worship he observes, that 
 this iudifF>irenee, particularly in the army, is 
 owing to the want of churches. He then adds: 
 ‘‘ I trust I shall he excused if I suggest the 
 propriety of having convenient chapels, of mod- 
 erate price, constructed in all situations within 
 the Couipany’s territories, where European 
 troops are likely to be quartered. Whatever 
 may be urged to the contrary, I am convinced 
 that siich an improvement, independent of the 
 obvious advantages, wuiild render the British 
 characUr more respected by the natives, and be 
 attended bynn evil consequences.” — The whole 
 letter of General M’Dowall, and tlie Resolu- 
 tions of Government thereon, will be given for 
 the satisfaction of tlie reader. [See Appen- 
 dix, No. IIl.J But the observations of his pre- 
 decessor, General Sir John Cradock, mark, in 
 a yet more absolute manner, the absence of 
 Christianity from the English troops in India. 
 In an official communication to Government af- 
 ter the massacre of Vellore, he thus writes : 
 
 In no situation has so much toleration, and 
 such an unlimited freedom of religious opin- 
 ions and ceremonials, been displayed as under 
 the British Gov'ernment in India ; and in no 
 situation have so few measures been pursued 
 by British subjects, for the conversion of the 
 people to the religion which we profess. No 
 Englishmen have hitherto been employed on 
 this duty in the provinces of the Peninsula; 
 and, from the almost total absence of religious 
 establishments in the interior of the country, 
 and from the habits of life prevalent among 
 military men, it is a melancholy truth, that sa 
 
REMARKS. 
 
 95 
 
 uftfrequent are the religious observances of Of- 
 ficers doing doty with battalions, that the Se- 
 poys have not, until very lately, discovered the 
 nature* of the religion professed by the Eng- 
 lish.” — East India Papers, No. ±94;, p. 5. 
 
 12. The second assumption, on which the 
 Bengal Government lest their justification, js, 
 “ That they were by no means hostile to the 
 introduction of Christianity into India.” I am 
 satisfied that they are favourable to the diftu- 
 sion of Christianity at this present time ; but, 
 in regard to their sentiments at a former period, 
 any further observation is rendered quite un- 
 necessary, after liie disclosure that has been 
 made by the publication of the Indian corres- 
 pondence. 
 
 In their letter of the 2d Nov. 1807, before 
 quoted, they suggest to the Honourable Court 
 to discourage any accession to the number of 
 Missionaries actually employed, under the pro- 
 tection of the British Government in India, in 
 the work of conversion.'^'^ This suggestion ful- 
 ly developes the feeling of that period. Those 
 Missionaries who are now here we will re- 
 strain : you will be pleased to discourage any 
 accession to the number ; so Brahma will enjoy 
 an eternal reign. The Honourable Court seem 
 to have been a little distressed at the perusal of 
 this suggestion: — they replied to it in the fol- 
 lowing terms : 
 
 Having explained to you, as briefly as pos- 
 sible, the principles on which we wish you to 
 act with regard to the Missionaries, it remains 
 
 * Query j Honv, w])en, and wdiere they discovered it i 
 
96 
 
 KRMARKS. 
 
 for IIS only to advert to your suggestion, ‘ tliat 
 Wii should discourage any accession to the num- 
 ber ot* Missionaries actually employed, under 
 the British Government in India, in the work 
 of conversion.’ You are, of course, aware 
 that many of the meritorious individuals who 
 have devoted theinselv'cs to those labours, were 
 not British subjects, or liv ing under our autho- 
 rity, and that none of tlie Missionaries have 
 proceeded to Bengal with our licence.” 
 
 13. It remains tiiat we notice the reception 
 which the Letter of the Bengal Government, in 
 answer to my Mepiorial, met with in England ; 
 first, from the Court of Directors ; and second- 
 ly, from the Board of Controul. 
 
 The Court of Directors made no observation 
 upon it at all ; being content to insert a single 
 paragraph communicated to them by the Board 
 of Controiil.* But the reply which the Hon- 
 
 * The Honourable Court mi^ht have been reluctant 
 to convey any special ceiisiii-e for my endeavors to pro- 
 mote religion in India, from die consideration tJiatthcy 
 had, on in}' first going to that country, ivcommended 
 tile intei*ests of Chi-istianity strongly to my attention. 
 Wl»en I was appointed a Cliapialn tor Bengal, in 1796, 
 I received a public charge from the Court of Directors 
 on the occasion. I was desired to attend the Court in 
 iny ciericid robes ; and the Chairman, Sir Stephen Lush- 
 inglon, addressed me on the importance of my office, 
 and on llie duties imposed on a niini.ster of religion in 
 India. His speech, wliich was Qvidently.composed with 
 much care, occupied about a quarter of an hour or 
 more in the delivery. The venerable Baronet ob.serveci, 
 '(hat French principles were sapping t!ie foundations of 
 Christianity and of .social order; and heearn6si\ in- 
 culcated on vac the duly of defending ami n.oa-.otiiig 
 
REMARKS. 
 
 ©r 
 
 •urable Court made to the contemporaneous 
 letter of the Bengal Government, detailing their 
 proceedings concerning the Missionaries, must 
 not be passed over. The Honourable Court 
 firs^- praises the conduct of their Indian Govern- 
 ment generally, and then proposes a different 
 mode of proceeding for their governance in 
 future. “ If,” say they, “ you had foreseen 
 that the li^issionaries would have shewn that 
 entire and re.’^dy subraissiveness to Government 
 which their conduct has manifested, we think 
 you would have doubted of the expediency of 
 holding, under the' circumstances you have de- 
 scribed, a PUBLIC PROCEEDING upon thcif 
 
 the principles of the Christia'V Religion, by every pro- 
 per means, I was much affecv^ed by the solemnity of 
 the occasion, and by the energy ai?cl feeling with which 
 the address was delivered ; and the subject of the 
 charge itself made a great impression .'>n my mind, par- 
 ticularly when meditating on it afterwards, during my 
 voyage. I trust that my whole life in Inuua has been 
 one continued act of obedience to that charg'e- If the 
 public have received any useful information, or the 
 cause of truth any support from my writings, 5t has 
 been owing, in a great degree, to that admonitory ad- 
 dress, delivered to me soon after my leaving Colleg'e 
 and entering on the ministerial office. I doubt not that' 
 some of the members of the Honorable Court have the 
 •circumstance in their recollection. I well remember a 
 gentleman who was then, and is now, a Director, com- 
 ing into the Waiting Room, after I had withdrawn from 
 the Court, and telling me that the Directors had been 
 congratulating their Chahman on his “ excellent ser- 
 mon.” It will be satisfactory to the public to see that 
 my endeavours to promote Christianity in India (in any 
 degree that these may have been approved) originated 
 in an especial manner with the E. India Company itself. 
 
REMARKS. 
 
 transactions. And we would only suggest, 
 that if, on any future occasion, any fresh pre- 
 cautionary measures should become indispensa- 
 ble, it would be desirable, in the first instance 
 at least, to see whether a private communica- 
 tion from the Governor General might n<>t ef- 
 fect all that is desired, without bringing into 
 view the instrumentality of Government.”— 
 We rely on your discretion tliat you will al^- 
 stain from all unnecessary or OL3ter.fatious inter- 
 ference with their proceedings.” — The whole 
 letter is highly creditable to the judgment of 
 the Court of Directors of the East India Com- 
 pany. It is a model for official writing and 
 temperate rebuke. But its highest praise is, 
 with one exception, that it maintains just and 
 dignified views concerning the extension of 
 Christianity in Inaia, both in relation to the 
 well-being of th^- natives and to the security of 
 the British Government.* 
 
 The Boat'd of Controul penned a brief reply, 
 containing the following sentence, written with 
 great spirit and with good temper: — “We 
 shall content ourselves at present with remark- 
 ing, that Dr. Buchanan, as well as all other Ec- 
 clesiastics who promulgate the doctrines of 
 Christianity in India, and who bestow such 
 just and merited encomiums on the conduct of 
 the Missionary Swartz, would do well to 
 adopt it as the model of their own 5 and should 
 always recollect that discretion and moderation, 
 in their language and actions, are most con- 
 sistent with the mild spirit of our religion, and 
 
 See the Letter, Xo, II. Appendix. 
 
REMARKS. 
 
 99 
 
 are indispensably requisite for those who are 
 employed in prosecuting the laborious work of 
 conversion.” 
 
 The Board of Controul probably did not in- 
 tend it; but they may be assured that the Sec- 
 retaries in Bengal, on the first view of the 
 above conspicuous eulogiiim on Swartz, would ’ 
 instinctively say, “ That is intended for us, 
 because we suppressed, in the Calcutta Gazette, 
 the encomium on Swartz transmitted by the 
 Court of Directors.” 
 
 As for myself, I regret that this salutary ad- 
 monition, penned in 1808, should not have been 
 conveyed to me sooner than last week, when it 
 was printed by tlie Honourable the House of 
 Commons. But it is good advice at all times. 
 
 I have now only to say, that 1 shall ever be 
 happy to sufier a little disparagement, if it 
 tend to the exaltation^ of so excellent and ex- 
 emplary a character as the Missionary alluded 
 to. I will further add, that I hardly know a 
 circumstance which could have given me great- 
 er pleasure, than to see the British Government 
 and the Hast India Company combining to- 
 gether, in an official and solemn manner, to 
 propose to English Ecclesiastics an imitation 
 of the conduct and example of the apostolic 
 Swartz. 
 
 Kirby Hall, Borobridge, 
 25th June, 1813.’ 
 
APPENDIX, 
 
 No. r. 
 
 Copy of a Letter from the Bengal Governme nt 
 to the Secret Committee of the Court of Direc- 
 tors, dated the 7th December, ISOT”. (Ex- 
 tracted from the East India Papers, printed 
 by order of the House of Commons, wVo. 142, 
 jjp. 74 — 79. J 
 
 TO THE HON. THE SECRET COMMITTEE OF 
 THE HON. THE COURT OF DIRECTORS. 
 Honourable Sirs, 
 
 THE Governor General has judged it to be 
 his duty to communicate to the Board, a Letter 
 and Memorial addressed to his Lordship by the 
 Reverend Mr. Buchanan, one of the Chap- 
 lains of this Presidency, in consequence of the 
 measures adopted by this Government, rela- 
 tively to the proceedings of the Society of Mis- 
 sionaries for the propagation of the Gospel, 
 ((he details of which we had the honour to re- 
 port to your Honourable Committee in our 
 despatch of the 2d ultimo.) That Memorial, 
 containing animadversions on the measures to 
 which we have adverted, introduced in a man- 
 ner which we consider to be personally disre- 
 spectful to the Governor General, as well as 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 101 
 
 dissespaetful lo the Government, and ascribing 
 to both, motives and principles of action, of a 
 nature injurious to the character of the British 
 Administration in India; we deem it proper to 
 transmit to your Honourable Committee tlie 
 enclosed copies of that Letter and Memorial, 
 and at the same time to state such observations 
 as the tenor of the latter appears to us to ren- 
 der necessary. 
 
 2 , Of the acts which Mr. Buchanan has 
 stated as the acts of the British Government in, 
 India, and the circumstances of wdiich Mr. 
 Buchanan has explained and censured, under 
 the present Governor General’s supposed igno- 
 rance of them, the principal are those which 
 formed the subject of our despatch to your 
 Honourable Committee of the 2d ultimo ; and 
 all are referred ostensibly to the prejudices and 
 counsel of the officers of Government; and Mr. 
 Buchanan has ascribed to the late and present 
 Government the adoption of measures directed 
 to the object of opposing the progress of Chris- 
 tianity in India, on the foundation of opinions 
 inculcated by its officers. The comments on 
 the late measures of the present administration, 
 contained in Mr. Buchanan’s Memorial, are 
 founded on the disrespectful and unauthorized 
 presumption, that the Governor General, re- 
 gardless of the first principle of his public duty, 
 has blindly submitted to the guidance of the 
 subordinate officers of Government, and adop- 
 ted measures of the highest importance, with- 
 out a previous consideration of their origin and 
 tendency, and even without a previous knowl- 
 edge of the nature of them ; and your Honoara» 
 9 * 
 
20Q 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 ble Committee %ull observe, that Mr. Buehan> 
 ail has described to his Lordship, as points of 
 in f ormation, acts and opinions sanctioned by 
 his own oihcial signature as Governor General 
 in Council. 
 
 3 . It cannot, however, escape observation, 
 tkat the real design of the Memorial is to im- 
 pute to the Government these principles of ac- 
 tion which are ostensibly ascribed to its oili- 
 cers ; and under any circumstances, it is in- 
 cumbent on us to obviate a misconception of the 
 motives and objects of the recent measures of 
 this Government, which a perusal of the Me- 
 morial might occasion, if the errors of its state- 
 ments should remain unexplained. 
 
 4 . With this view it is not necessary to en- 
 ter into a discussion of the accuracy of all the 
 facts alleged by Mr. Buchanan. It will be 
 sirfticient to notice those leading points of the 
 Memorial on which is founded the extraordina- 
 ry imputation of a systematic design, and an 
 actual attempt, on the part of the present Ad- 
 ministration, to support the interests of the re- 
 ligions of this country, by preventing the dif- 
 fusion of Christianity within the limits of the 
 British dominions in India. 
 
 3. Mr. Buchanan has contrasted the en- 
 couragement afforded to the propagation of 
 Christianity under former Gpveriimeufs, with 
 a supposed opposition to it under the last and 
 present Administrations. It will be found, 
 however, that those proceedings of the Mis- 
 sionaries which have attracted the attention of 
 this Government, are of a character entirely 
 new', or such at least as had not come under the 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 203 
 
 observation. of Government. We allude to the 
 practice of public preaching in the native 
 language at the seat of Government, and fo 
 the circulation of printed works in the same 
 languages, on topics and in terms grossly of- 
 fensive to the religious prejudices of bur na- 
 tive subjects, 
 
 6. With respect to the practice of public 
 preaching to the unconverted natives of this 
 country, on topics of this nature, we deem the 
 prohibition of it to be consistent with the 
 principles and practice of those countries in 
 w hich the most liberal toleration is established 
 for all religions, and consonant specilicaliy 
 with the principles and practice of the British 
 Government and nation. In England, persons 
 who profess the Roman Catholic faith may as- 
 semble and assist at the performance of the 
 rights of their religion in their own chapels, 
 without opposition or molestation from the 
 Government. So may the Jews celebrate the 
 rites of their religion in their own synagogues ; 
 hut we do not conceive the Catholic or Jewish 
 priests have ever claimed a right to preach 
 publicly, not to their own flocks, but indis- 
 criminately to his Majesty’s Protestant sub- 
 jects, discourses for the express purpose of 
 converting that whole Protestant and Christian 
 nation to the Catholic or Jewish religion ; 
 much less, publicly to revile and insult, in the 
 most opprobrious and ofteiisive terras, the tenets 
 and ministers of the Church of England. If 
 any indiscreet enthusiast of either of the per- 
 suasions above mentioned should hold a conduct 
 so imprudent and so unjustifiable, and the mag- 
 
appendix. 
 
 lOi 
 
 isirate should intervene and silence him, as lie 
 unquestionably would, we are persuaded that 
 so reasonable an interposition of the magistrate 
 would neither fall within the real and odious 
 principle of persecution, nor experience that 
 \inraerited reproach from the mouths of the 
 rational and ingenuous members of the religion 
 attempted to be propagated in that manner. 
 The late prohibition of public preaching in the 
 native languages at Calcutta, was given occa- 
 sion to, and rendered indispensable, by prac- 
 tices similar to those which we have just de- 
 scribed ; and was called for, also, by some pe- 
 culiarities in the present times too obvious to 
 need explanation ; as well as by some actual 
 indications of solicitude and incipient irritation 
 in the minds of the native public of this city, 
 in consequence of those provocations. 
 
 7. Whetlier some regulation may not be de- 
 vised, under which the celebration of public 
 worship, and the decent performance of the 
 Christian rites, may be allowed to native Chris- 
 tians, is an interesting point, to which we are 
 neither indifterent nor inattentive. The in- 
 discreet mode in which those duties were late- 
 ly administered, coupled with other considera- 
 tions of an occasional and we trust temporary 
 nature, required in our judgment, for the mo- 
 ment, the immediate suspension of a practice 
 which, in the form then given to it, threatened 
 consequences prejudicial to the public repose, 
 and not less adverse to the success of the pious 
 purpose proposed by the Missionaries them- 
 selves. 
 
 S. In India, considerations of public safety 
 are superadded, in a more than ordinary de- 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 20 S 
 
 gree, ttf obligation contracted by Govern- 
 ment of protecting the rights and privileges of 
 the subject ; Knd we cannot doubt that the wis- 
 dom of evary former administration in India 
 would have suggested the necessity of prohibit- 
 ing this pracljce, if known to prevail in tlie 
 maimer in w Inch it recently prevailed in the 
 seat of Governmei?t. 
 
 9. Mr. Buchanan, by tke tenor of his ^fe- 
 morial, has permitted a conciiision to be drawn, 
 that printed works, of the natare described in 
 the 5th paragraph of this despatch, have been 
 circulated under former Governments without 
 opposition or controul, and that the suppres- 
 sion of them is an innovation in principle, as 
 well as in act, upon the practice of preceding 
 administrations. The existing restrictions np- 
 on the press in India, however, have been in 
 force during a long coarse of years | and it 
 cannot be supposed that any former adminis- 
 tration would have deemed it consistent with 
 the public safety, or w ith the oMigation of pub- 
 lic faith, as pledged to the native subjects of 
 the Company, for the unmolested exercise of 
 their religions, to permit the circulation of 
 such inflammatory works as those which we 
 have lately had occasion to bring under the no- 
 tice of your Honourable Committee. In sup- 
 port of this opinion, we deem it proper to state ' 
 the circumstances of a transaction which oc- 
 curred during the administration of Marquis 
 M ellesley, analagoiis to the proceedings of the 
 present Government in suppressing the public 
 discussion, either by preaching or by printed 
 works, ot topics offensive to the religions of 
 our native subjects.. 
 
106 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 10. In the year 1801, the followirl^ subject 
 of disputation, in the College of Fort William, 
 lia viiig been proposed, viz. ‘‘ The advantage 
 'which the natives of this country might derive 
 from translations, in the vernacular tongues, 
 of the books containing the principles of their 
 respective religions, and those of the Christian 
 faith the prepared discussion of which sub- 
 ject was reported to involve topics ofiensive to 
 the religious prejudices of the class of Ma- 
 homedans ; a number of the most respectable 
 and learned of the Mussulman inhabitants of 
 Calcutta addressed a memorial to the Governor 
 General, Marquis Wellesley, remonstrating 
 against this supposed infringement of the une- 
 quivocal toleration which they acknowledged 
 with gratitude the Government had till then 
 aftorded to the unmolested exercise of the re- 
 ligions of its subjects. In reply to this me- 
 morial, a declaration was addressed to the me- 
 morialists, in the name and by the authority of 
 the Governor General ; in which, after advert- 
 ing, as a fundamental principle of the British 
 Government, to the solicitude with which Gov- 
 ernment not only abstained from all interference 
 in the religious concerns of its Mussulman and 
 Hindoo subjects, and from any endeavour to 
 disturb tbeir faith or to impede that full and 
 free exercise of their respective religions which 
 they enjoyed under the Mussulman Govern- 
 ment, but even afforded additional facilities to 
 them in the observance of all the rites, cere- 
 monies, and duties of their respective persua- 
 sions ; and after explaining to the memorialists 
 the error of their apprehensions regarding tha 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 107 
 
 object and design of the disputation which had 
 been proposed, and the real purpose of the dis- 
 putations annually holden in the College of 
 Fort William, and assuring the memorialists 
 that the examination of any question whatever 
 connected with the interests of religion, and 
 especially the degradation of the religions of 
 this country and the propagation of the Chris- 
 tian faith, were entirely foreign to the objects 
 of the institution, the Governor General signi- 
 fied to the memorialists, that although, on pe- , 
 rusing the proposed thesis, he perceived no 
 principle of an objectionable tendency, yet that, 
 with a view to prevent the possibility of any 
 apprehension on the part of the natives of this 
 country that it might be the intention of the 
 British Government to depart from the system 
 of unlimited toleration which it had hitherto 
 uniformly observed, the moment that the Gov- 
 ernor General was apprized of the subject of 
 the proposed thesis, he issued orders positively 
 prohibiting the disputation upon that thesis 5 
 and copies of this declaration were circulated 
 to all the principal stations under this Presi- 
 dency, and to the foreign Residencies, with a 
 view to enable the officers and representatives 
 of Government to counteract at those stations 
 any eventual alarm of the nature of that which, 
 had been excited at the Presidency. 
 
 11. From this transaction may be inferred 
 not only the effect which public discussions re- 
 specting the religions of the country are calcu- 
 lated to produce, but also the solicitude of that 
 very administration to which Mr. Buchanan 
 has specially appealed, as encouraging the pro- 
 
108 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 pagation of the Christian faith in India, to 
 suppress discussions such as those which we 
 have deemed it our duty to prohibit. 
 
 12. The composition of works directed to 
 the object of converting the natives to Christi- 
 anity, so naturally leads to discussions of that 
 nature, that the evils resulting from the latter 
 must necesjgarily be hazarded by an unrestrain- 
 ed toleration of the former ; and our decision 
 upon this new question has been regulated not 
 by any innovation on former established prin- 
 ciples, but by those maxims of prudence and 
 precaution which the condition of the British 
 establishment in this country requires, and the 
 neglect of which w ould, in our decided judg- 
 ment, not only expose to hazard the stability 
 of (he British dominion in India, but would im- 
 pede the accomplishment of the very object; 
 which animates the pious labours of the So- 
 ciety of Christian Missionaries in the w ork of 
 conversion. 
 
 13. These consequences must he hazarded 
 in a peculiar degree by a supposed connection 
 between the efforts thus employed for the con- 
 version of the natives, and the measures of the 
 Government, which, on grounds already stated, 
 have been rendered by the highest prescriptive 
 authority, and by the uniform practice of the 
 British Government in India, systematically 
 distinct; and in our despatch to your Honorable 
 Committee, of the 2d ultimo, w e have explain- 
 ed the circumstances which, in the present con- 
 dition of the British power in India, more than 
 fit any former period, would tend to establish 
 in the minds of the natives a belief of that eon- 
 
APPENDIJit. 
 
 109 
 
 itection under the unlimited toleration of those 
 proceedings on the part of the Missionaries 
 which vve have deemed it our duty to repress. 
 
 14. The expediency and necessity of protect-* 
 ing our native subjects in the undisturbed en- 
 joyment of their religious opinions and usages, 
 and of carefully withholding the influence of 
 Government for the support of the endeavours 
 of Missionaries to convert the natives to Chris- 
 tianity ; in other words, the real principles of 
 action and maxims of precaution which have 
 regulated the proceedings of this Government 
 with respect to the Missionaries and to the pro- 
 ductions of their press, have been recognized 
 and inculcated in the most forcible and explicit 
 terms, in the following extracts from the letter 
 of the Honourable the Court of Directors to the 
 Government of Fort St. George, dated the 29th 
 of May, on the subject of the mutiny at Vellore. 
 
 ‘‘ In the whole course of our administration 
 of the Indian territories, it has been our known 
 and declared principle to maintain a perfect to- 
 leration of the various religious systems which 
 prevailed in it, to protect the followers of each 
 in the undisturbed enjoyment of their respective 
 opinions and usages, and neither to interfere 
 with them ourselves, nor to suffer them to be 
 molested by other s.^^ 
 
 “ When we afforded our countenance and 
 sanction to Missionaries who have from time to 
 time proceeded to India, for the purpose of pro- 
 pagating the Christian Religion, it was far 
 iVom being in our contemplation to add the in- 
 fluence of our authority to any attempts they 
 miglit make : ft)r on the contraryVe were per- 
 to 
 
110 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 fectly aware that the progress of real conver- 
 sion wofihJ be slow and gradital, arising more 
 from a conviction of the principles of our reli- 
 gion itself, and from the pious examples of its 
 teachers, than from any undue influence, or 
 from the exertions of authority, which are ne- 
 ver to he resorted to in such cases.” 
 
 15. Your Honourable Committee will be sa- 
 tisfied, by the tenor of our present dispatch, and 
 of our despatch of the 2d ultimo, that these are 
 precisely the principles which have regulated 
 our late proceedings with regard to the Mis- 
 sionaries ; and that Mr. Buchanan, in ascrib- 
 ing to us a disposition hostile to Christianity, 
 has assumed a latitude of censure equally disre- 
 spectful in its nature and unwarranted by facts. 
 
 IG. With respect to the injurious position 
 stated in Mr. Buchanan’s Memorial, that under 
 the proceedings sanctioned by this Government, 
 the tendency of publications directed to the ob- 
 ject of converting the natives is submitted to the 
 decision of a Mahomedan or a Hindoo, it is ob- 
 vious to remark, that Government itself is com- 
 petent to judge of it through the medium of 
 translation; that'the intervention of a native 
 is not necessary to enable us to obtain informa- 
 tion regarding the contents of any publication 
 in the Persian, Arabic, Hindostanee, or Ben- 
 galee languages ; and that our late proceedings 
 with regard to the works, of which translations 
 were enclosed in our despatch to your Honour- 
 able Committee of the 2d ultimo, was the result 
 of our own judgment of the Hatiire and tenden- 
 cy of those works. 
 
 * 17. The intimation contained in Mr. Bu- 
 chanan’s Memorial, that this Government has 
 
AFFENOIX* 
 
 Itl 
 
 established a new and specific imprimatur with 
 respect to works on theology, appears to us to 
 require some observations relative to the nature 
 and effect of the restrictions c^n the press, which 
 since their original establishment have conti- 
 nued to operate without relaxation. 
 
 18 . This intimation, althougli bearing refer- 
 ence to those publications of the press at Se- 
 rampore which we have judged it necessary to 
 prohibit or restrain, appears to be principal ly 
 founded on the requisition noticed at the com- 
 mencement of Mr. Buchanan’s Memorial, on the 
 subject of submitting certain Discourses on the 
 Prophecies, which Mr. Buchanan proposed to 
 publish, to the inspection of Government previ- 
 ously to their publication. It is proper therefore 
 to explain the circumstances of that transaction. 
 
 19. The Siiperintendant of the Company’s 
 Press having received from Mr. Buchanan the 
 draft of an advertisement, wliieh announced 
 the intended publication of Mr. Buchanan’s 
 Sermons preached in the Presidency Church, 
 on the Prophecies, deemed it his duty to obtain 
 the sanction of Government to the publication 
 of those Sermons, and consequently to the in- 
 sertion, in the Government Gazette, of the ad- 
 vertisement announcing their intended publica- 
 tion, and accordingly communicated the draft 
 of the proposed advertisement to Government 
 through the channel of its officers. Upon this 
 reference, the Chief Secretary was directed to 
 request, that Mr. Buchanan would send the 
 manuscript for the inspection of Government, 
 previously to its publication ; and under this 
 order, the publication of the advertisement also 
 
113 
 
 APPENDIX, 
 
 was of course suspended^ This transaction is 
 considered by Mr. Buchanan to amount to a 
 suppression of the Sermons on the Prophecies, 
 because a condition was attached to the publi- 
 cation of them, which Mr. Buchanan errone- 
 ously supposed to be the revision of them by 
 the officers of Government, a condition to w hich 
 he could not conscientiously accede. 
 
 20. Mr. Buchanan however must be suppos- 
 ed to object to the revision of those discourses 
 by the Government itself, as the condition of 
 their publication, because the charge of estab- 
 lishing an imprimatur on works of theology, if 
 it does not refer to the revision of the Govern- 
 ment, is founded, as far as relates to the dis- 
 courses in question, on an erroneous construc- 
 tion of the Chief Secretary’s requisition, which 
 expressly declared that the manuscript w as to 
 be submitted to the inspection of Government. 
 
 21. Not having had an opportunity of peru- 
 sing those discourses, w e can form no judgment 
 of the propriety of their publication. The 
 printing an exposition of the sacred prophecies 
 would certainly, as such, have met w ith no op- 
 position from us ; nor w ould the prophecy, 
 most disrespectfully and improperly stated by 
 Mr. Buchanan as a particular object of alarm 
 to us, viz. the final conversion of all mankind 
 to the Christian faith, have rendered the publi- 
 cation in our judgment objectionable. At the 
 same time, if in commenting on that prophecy, 
 Mr. Buchanan should have been found to have 
 introduced into his discourses strictures on the 
 religion of the Mahomedans and Hindoos, of 
 the nature of those which, in the form pf works 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 113 
 
 published for (he perusal of the natives of this 
 country, w e had deemed it our duty to suppress, 
 or to have enlarged on the topic of the imme- 
 diate and general conversion of our subjects in 
 the East to Christianity, we should probably 
 have judged the promulgation of such remarks 
 from the pulpit of the Presidency and the press 
 of Government, to be unseasonable and inexpe- 
 dient, in the present conjuncture of affairs. 
 
 22. Of this nature only are the restrictions 
 which we desire to impose on the publication of 
 theological works in this country. Those re- 
 strictions obviously form a part of that general 
 controul which, in the actual state of our do- 
 minion in India, it is indispensably necessary 
 to impose on the productions of the press, for 
 the^securily of the public interests and the pre- 
 servation of the public tranquility in this im- 
 portant braneh of the British empire. Such 
 restrictions have virtually existe<l during the 
 whole period of the British supremacy in In- 
 dia : the occasion for the active exercise of 
 them has only recently occurred. 
 
 23. Religious discussions, as being calculat- 
 ed in a peculiar degree to affect the public 
 tranquillity, are the direct and proper objects 
 of a general centroui, which has been establish- 
 ed over the productions of the press, for pur- 
 poses of national interest and public security ; 
 and ia-lndia, more than in all other countries, 
 the eoiitroui of religious publications is indis- 
 pensable for the public safety. 
 
 24. This necessity cannot be exemplified iii 
 terms more just or more forcible than in the fol- 
 lowing extract from a work published by Mr, 
 
 10 * 
 
114 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Buchanan in England, and entitled, A Me- 
 moir on the Expediency of an Ecclesiastical 
 Establishment in India.” 
 
 The Mahoniedans profess a religion which 
 has ever been characterized by political bigotry 
 and intemperate zeal. In this country that re- 
 ligion still retains the character of its bloody 
 origin, particularly among the higher classes. 
 Whenever the Mahomedan feels his religion 
 touched, he grasps his dagger. This spirit was 
 seen in full operation under Tippoo’s govern- 
 ment, and it is not now extinguished.” 
 
 25, The practical effect of this sanguinary 
 spirit of bigotry, as exemplified in the mutiny 
 of Vellore, and in the events which succeeded 
 it, can hardly escape observation ; for although 
 Mr. Buchanan, on the ground of his personal 
 communication with some of the natives on the 
 coast, is of opinion that the insurrection at Vel- 
 lore had no connection with the Ehristian re- 
 ligion directly or indirectly, immediately or re- 
 motely, we are compelled to form a different 
 judgment, from the mass of authentic evidence 
 and information on that unhappy event, record- 
 ed on the proceedings of Government ; and we 
 are satisfied that a persuasion (a most errone- 
 ous one indeed, but a firm and sincere persua- 
 sion) in the breasts of a great proportion of 
 the Sepoys who were thus betrayed into the ex- 
 ecution of the massacre of Vellore, and of those 
 who subsequently manifested a spirit of insur- 
 rection, that a design existed on the part of the 
 British Government to operate a general con- 
 version of the inhabitants of India to Christi- 
 anity, was one of the most efficient causes of 
 
APPENDIX-. 
 
 113 
 
 that horrible disaster. Responsible therefore 
 to our Sovereign, to our immediate superiors, 
 and to our country, for the security and tran- 
 quillity of this empire, we should have neglect- 
 ed a primary obligation of our public duty, if 
 at any period of time, but especially while 
 such impressions were recent, we had permit- 
 ted the circulation within the British territo- 
 ries, of works reviling the religions of our 
 subjects, and distinctly declaring a desire to 
 convert them to the Christian faith. Under 
 the influence of the same sentiments and cir- 
 cumstances also, we can«ot but question the 
 prudence of publishing, with the sanction of 
 the supreme British authority in India, the ap- 
 proaching and instant conversion of the inhab- 
 itants of this country to Christianity. 
 
 26. The imposition of a restraint, therefore, 
 on the promulgation of writings of the above 
 description, is but the application of a long au- 
 thorized and existing controul over the conduct 
 of the press, to the most important of the ob- 
 jects for which that controul was originally es- 
 tablished ; and consequently, as far as the pub- 
 lic safety is concerned, works on theology, like 
 works on other subjects, must be considered to 
 be subject to a civil revision. 
 
 27. It is true, that no direct controul over 
 the press of the Missionaries at Serampore, 
 had been speciflcally declared to exist, or had 
 ever been exercised by the British Government, 
 because no abuse of that press had attracted 
 notice. But under the peculiar circumstances 
 of the settlement of Serampore, and of the 
 press established in it, oar right to controul the 
 
116 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 productions of the Missionary Press cannot he 
 disputed. 
 
 28. The population of Serampore cannot af- 
 ford employment to a press in any degree suf- 
 licient to support the charges attending it. 
 The only purposes connected with the concerns 
 of the Danish Government, or of the inhabit- 
 ants of Serampore, to which the press of the 
 Missionaries was applied, were (as stated by 
 the (Tovernor of that settlement, in his letter of 
 the 30th of September,) the publishing of re- 
 gulations and advertisements of public and pri- 
 vate sales. All woA:s printed at that press 
 were necessarily intended for circulation in the 
 British territories, and were so circulated, and 
 the pamphlets which attracted our notice were 
 sent to tins Presidency and its vicinity, for dis- 
 tribution among osir native subjects. 
 
 29. The Missionaries themselves are all 
 British subjects ; Mr. Carey, the cliief mem- 
 ber of the Society, holds the situation of Pro- 
 fessor of the Shaiiscrit and Bengalee languages 
 in the College of Fort William, and the lead-' 
 ing members occasioiially reside at this Presi- 
 dency. The Danish Government permitted, 
 and motives of convenience induced, them to 
 establish their press at Serampore. But the 
 press is principally supported by the aid and 
 encouragement aftbrded by the Asiatic Society 
 and the College of Fort William. It is con- 
 sequently, to ail intents and purposes, a Brit- 
 ish Press : and its ]>rt)duetions must necessari- 
 ly be considered by the community at large, to 
 issue under tlie patronage and sanction of the 
 British GoTcninient. 'fhe same considerations. 
 
appendix. 
 
 iir 
 
 therefore, which require the exercise of an ef- 
 ficient coutroul over the presses established at 
 this Presidency, are equally applicable to the 
 press at Serampore. When its productions 
 were found to be of a nature hazardous to the 
 public tranquillity, it became the absolute duty 
 of this Government to give ejffeet to that coii- 
 troul; and adverting to the inconvenience, and 
 in some degree the inefficiency, under which 
 the controul of a press established in a foreign 
 jurisdiction must be exercised, we deemed it 
 adviseable to simplify and facilitate the execu- 
 tion of that system, by requiring that a press, 
 the productions of which were to circulate ex- 
 clusively in the British territories, should be 
 transferred to those territories, and be brought 
 fairly and ostensibly within the scope of that 
 observation which was entitled to controul it. 
 We therefore desired the Missionaries to re- 
 move their press to Calcutta; apprising the 
 Danish Governor, at the same time, that we 
 had deemed it necessary to signify that desire 
 to the Missionaries, and stating to him the 
 grounds of the measure. 
 
 30 . The right of the British Government to 
 exercise a controul over the press of Seram- 
 pore, and for that purpose to require the trans- 
 fer of it to the Presidency, was not contested 
 by the Governor of Serampore ; w ho, far from 
 resisting the demand for its removal on the plea 
 of the sovereignty of his nation, as erroneously 
 asserted by Mr. Buchanan, merely solicited the 
 revocation of that demand, on the ground of 
 the distress to which the Missionaries would 
 be exposed by our exacting a compliance w ith 
 
118 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 it ; stating an additional inducement, in the 
 convenience which tlie Government and inhab- 
 itants of Serampore experienced from the use 
 of the press, in publishing regulations and ad- 
 vertisements of public and private sales. 
 
 31. We at the same time received from the 
 Missionaries the Memorial, of which a copy 
 formed an enclosure in our dispatch to your 
 Honourable Committee of the 2d ultimo ; where- 
 in the Missionaries represented the peculiar 
 circumstances of their property at Serampore, 
 and explained the very serious and distressing 
 consequences to the individuals composing the 
 Mission, as well as to the body itself, and to a 
 considerable number of families connected with 
 them as servants and dependents, which would 
 result from the removal of the press from Se- 
 rampore. Being satisfied of the truth of these 
 representations, and nothing being further from 
 our views and disposition than to aftect in the 
 smallest degree either the interests of the mis- 
 sionary body or the personal comfort and con- 
 venience of those worthy individuals, w e with- 
 drew without hesitation that part of the meas- 
 ure, and remained satisfied with the assurance 
 of the Missionaries, that the works to be here- 
 after printed at Serampore should be previous- 
 ly submitted to the revision and sanction of our 
 Government. 
 
 32. The attention with which we listened to 
 the representations of the Missionaries, con- 
 cerning the distress w hieh the removal of their 
 press would occasion, was aeknowiiedged by 
 them in terms of fervent gratitude ; and irr re- 
 ply to our letter CQmmuuicating to the Gover- 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 119 
 
 nor of Serampore our compliance with the so- 
 licitation of tl»e Missionaries, his Excellency 
 expressed “• liis most i^rateful acknowledgments 
 for the moderation we had so generously mani- 
 fested” on this occasion. 
 
 3o. It will be evident, from the facts and oh- 
 servalions which we have stated to your Hon- 
 ourable Committee, that no innovation has ta- 
 ken place in the principles and practice of this 
 Crovernment, relatively to the controul of the 
 productions of the press ; that no new an<l 
 specific imprimatur has been established for 
 works on theology, hut that the restrictions 
 which virtnaliy existed with regard to publica- 
 tions in general, were practically applied to the- 
 ological works, only when works of that class, 
 containing strictures on the religions of the 
 country in terms the most irritating and often- 
 sive, by being circulated among our native sub- 
 jects, exposed the public trauquillity to hazard. 
 
 34. Mr. Buchanan's indecent comments on 
 our reply to the reference of the Governor of 
 Serampore, relative to the translation of the 
 Bible (whicli reply Mr. Bnchauan has commu- 
 nicated to the Governor General, as a point of 
 information, and as a subject of concern to his 
 Lordship) merely suggest the expediency of re- 
 marking, that we should deem it our duty to 
 oppose the publication of any strictures on the 
 religions of the country, .such as we have al- 
 ready suppressed, whether promulgated in the 
 form of separate tracts, or of prefatory notes 
 to a translation of the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 35. Our solicitude for the suppression of 
 publications of that nature, combines with a 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 vigilant attention to the public safety and tran- 
 quillity, a regard for the successful propaga- 
 tion of the truths of Christianity among the 
 misguided natives of these* distant countries, 
 by the only means which can promote its suc- 
 cess, — the operation of example in the conduct 
 of its preachers and professors, in the princi- 
 ples which it inculcates, and in the effects 
 M'hich it produces on the dignity of individual 
 character, and on the general happiness and 
 welfare of mankind; united also with the means 
 of instruction, when instruction is desired ; but 
 unconnected with the language of irritation, 
 with revilings against the religions of the coun- 
 try, and with prophetic denunciations of their 
 immediate subversion. 
 
 3G. We shall conclude this discussion by ob- 
 serving, that it has never been in the contem- 
 plation, either of the present or the preceding 
 administration of this Government, to controul 
 or impede the pious labours of the Missiona- 
 ries, while conducted in the manner which pru- 
 dence dictates, and which the orders of the 
 Honourable Court have distinctly prescribed. 
 But when the mistaken zeal of the Missiona- 
 ries exceeded those limits which considerations 
 of public safety, and even a solicitude for the 
 propagation of Chris! ian knowledge among the 
 misguided natives of these countries, liave wise- 
 ly imposed ; when publications and public 
 preachings, calculated not to conciliate and 
 convince but to irritate the minds of the peo- 
 ple, were brought to the notice of Government, 
 the interposition of the ruling power became 
 necessary to preclude the apprehended effects 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 121 
 
 of these dangerous and iinproStable proceed- 
 ings. 
 
 AVe have the lionour to be, &c. &c. 
 (Signed) MiN'rO, 
 
 G. BEWETT, 
 
 G. H. BAELbWy 
 J. LUM8DEN. 
 Fort William, 7th December, 1897. 
 
 No. n. 
 
 Eoctract of a Letter from the Court of Direc- 
 tors^ to the Governor General in Council at 
 Fort William in Bengal / dated 7th Septem- 
 ber, 1S08. 
 
 Pad A. 1. AVE have received, by the Gene- 
 ral Stuart, your letter of the 2d November last, 
 addressed to the Secret Committee, on the sub- 
 ject of certain publications which had issued 
 frosn the Missionary Press at Serainpore, and 
 detailing tlie proceedings which you had 
 thought it advisable to adopt with regard to 
 ihem. 
 
 2. W^hatever is connected with an attempt 
 to introduce Christianity among the natives of 
 British India, cannot but he felt as a subject of 
 tiie greatest importance, and of the greatest 
 delicacy; and we lament that circumstances 
 I should have occurred in any part of our terri- 
 I lories, to call for the interference of our Gov- 
 ernment in matters of that description. AYe 
 are ansious tliat it should be distirictiy under- 
 
122 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 stood, tl’.at \\2 are very far from being averse 
 to the introdnftion of Christianity into India, 
 or indlderent to tiie beneiits which would result 
 from the general diffusion of its doctrines; but 
 we liave a fixed and settled opinion, that noth- 
 ing could be more unwise and impolitic, noth- 
 ing even more likely to frustrate the hopes and 
 endeavours of those who aim at the very ob- 
 ject, the introduction of Christianity among 
 the native inhabitants, than any imprudent or 
 injudicious attempt to introduce it by means 
 which should irritate and alarm their religious 
 prejudices. That the publication whieli first 
 excited your attention, as well as the paper 
 wiueii von transmitted to us. n-.arked C. entit- 
 led 'I'he Rise of Wisdom,” is calculated to 
 produce those clfeets, we conceive can admit of 
 no doubt ; and we entirely ap'prove of your 
 emleavoin s to interrupt the cireulatioii of them, 
 luiieed tlie Missionaries themselves seem to re- 
 gret and to condemn their publication. Per- 
 haps some doubt might be fairly entertained 
 w 'netlu'r a considerable part of the paper mark- 
 ed B. was of a nature to have excited similar 
 feelings, if tlie other publications did not pre- 
 ]!are the mind to receivt? witli sojne jealousy 
 any works which issiied from the same press. 
 In siig^esling the possibility of this <loubt, we 
 hy no means intend to convey any disapproba- 
 tion of that prudent precaution which led you 
 to prevent tlie furtiier pu!)lica(ion of this last, 
 together with those which appear tr.* ns to be 
 more nnipiestionably exeeptionaiile. It is a 
 matter of great dlilit-ulty to draw' the line 
 wiiicli should at once describe and characterizij 
 
ATPENDIX. 
 
 123 
 
 the pv.hlications uhich might he permitted to 
 he considered as inodensive, and at tlie same 
 time disliiiguish them from tiiose which a pro- 
 per precaution would suppress : and at this dis- 
 tance from the scene of Governmenl, we can 
 only state to you tliose general principles w hich 
 w e are desirous should direct your conduct upon 
 this point. For this purpose, we would refer 
 you to a passage in our political letter to Fort 
 St. George of the 29th May, 1807, in which 
 we briefly intimated, in the following terms, 
 our sentiments of w hat the character and con- 
 duct of Christian Missionaries in India, and 
 the carriage of the Company's Government to- 
 wards them ought to be. “ \yhen we afforded 
 our countenance and sanction to the Missiona- 
 ries who have from time to time proceeded to 
 India for the purpose of propagating the Chris- 
 tian Religion, it w as far from being in our con- 
 templation to add the influence of our authori- 
 ty to any attempts tl'ey might make ; for, on 
 the contrary, w e w ere perfectly aw are tiiat tiie 
 progress of real conversion would be gradual 
 and slow, arising more from a conviction of 
 the purity of the principles of our religion it- 
 self, and from the pitnis example of its teach- 
 ers, than from any undue influence, or from the 
 exertions of authority, wliich are never to he 
 resorted to in such cases.” In the same spirit 
 we would still wish to aflirm as a principle, the 
 desira!)leness of imparling the knowledge of 
 Christianity to the natives of British India ; 
 but we must also enuteud. that tlie means to be 
 used for that end shall be only such as shall be 
 . free from any political danger or alarm. 
 
121 
 
 Ari’EXDIX. 
 
 3. Witli these jjo'sitions, which appear 
 fo i!S lo l)c i'll !i(la men l.il on the subject in ques- 
 tion. the 3yt!i paragraph of your despatch now 
 before iis. in substance corresponds ; for you 
 tJiere, after acknou ledging your entire con- 
 viction of (he correctness of the statement which 
 the Menioria! of the Missionaries contains, re- 
 lative to the motives and objects of their zeal 
 for the propagation of the sacred doctrines of 
 Christia.sity,” observe, •• Our duty as guardians 
 of tbe public welfare, and even a consentaneous 
 solicitude for the dift'usioii of the blessings of 
 Christianity, merely require us to restrain the 
 efibrts of that commendable zeal within those 
 limits, the transgression of w hich w ould, in oiir 
 decided judgment, expose fo hazard the public 
 safety and tranquillity, without promoting its 
 intended object.” Agreeing then with you in 
 general views on this question, and impressed 
 w ith the necessity of leav ing the application of 
 these principles to the discretion of the Govern- 
 ment upon the spot, we feel that we have but 
 little further to suggest to you upon that part 
 of the subject. 
 
 4. AVe observe with great satisfaction the 
 temperate and respectful conduct of tiie Society 
 of 5lissionarics, in the discussions which took 
 place on the subject of the pnblieatious to which 
 yonr attention w as directed, and of tbe measures 
 which you fell ycurselvcs called upon to adopt; 
 and we entirely approve of the permission 
 which yon granted to them of continuing their 
 press at Serainp(»re. Tl)eir residence at that 
 place would probably be attended w ith liti'le ad- 
 ditional incoi.'venrtace to your Governniciit , 
 
APrENDlX, 
 
 125 
 
 aiul we conclude, moreover, that the Britisli 
 authority lias loisg ago been established at the 
 diiferent Banish settlements in India. We are 
 well aware that the progress of the Missiona- 
 ries, botii Catholic and Protestant, for a long 
 period of years, iias not been attended w ith in- 
 jurious conseqneiiees : their numbers have not 
 been sudicient to excite alarm, and their gene- 
 ral conduct has been prudent and conciliatory ; 
 and we have no reason to suppose that the 
 mere circulation, in a peaceable and unobtru- 
 sive manner, of translations of the Scriptures, 
 is likely to be attended witli consequences dan- 
 gerous to tlie j)ubiic safety. 
 
 5. The paramount power whiclj we now' pos- 
 sess in India, umloubtediy demands from ns ad- 
 ditional caution upon this subject, it imposes 
 upo;i us tile necessity, as ueii as strengthens 
 our obligation, to protect the native inhabitants 
 in the free and undisturbed profession of their 
 religious opinions, and to take care tiiat they 
 are neither liarassed nor irritated by any pre- 
 mature or over-zealous attempts to convert 
 tlsem to Christianity. 
 
 6. In ecineying to you our approbation of 
 the controul wliich you had determined to ex- 
 ercise with regard to sueli publications as might 
 issue from tlie })ress of the -Uissioiiaries, we 
 trust that it will be found not only salutary to 
 tlie interests of Govern jnent but even satis- 
 factory to t!»e considerate part of the ^Mission- 
 aries themselves. They must be aware that it 
 is quite consistent with doing all justice to tlie 
 exceilcncy of the motives on which they act, to 
 apprehend that tlieir ?:eal may sometimes rc- 
 
 11 * 
 
AFrJLNDIX. 
 
 12fi 
 
 quire a cheek, and that it may he useful and 
 necessary to introduce the controul or super- 
 intendance of Goverumeni; whose respojisibiii- 
 t;, for the public tranquillity will force it to 
 direct its views to tliose political considerations 
 which the zeal of the Missionaries might over- 
 look. 
 
 7. If, indeed, you had foreseen that the Mis- 
 sionaries Mould have shewn tliat entire and 
 ready submissiveness to Government Mhich 
 their conduct has manifested, we think you 
 M ould have doubted of the expediency of hoid- 
 ing, under the eircurnstaiices you have describ- 
 ed, a public proceeding upon their tiansactions : 
 and we Mould only suggest, that if ou any fu- 
 ture occasion any fresh precautionary measures 
 should become indis]>ensable, and the inter- 
 ference of Government he again required, it 
 Mould be desirable, in tlie first instance at least, 
 to see Mliether a private commimicalion from 
 tlie Governor General might not efiect all that 
 is desired, Mithoat bringitsg into vieM' the in- 
 strumentality of Government. Its authority 
 cannot he seen actively to controul any of their x 
 proceedings, m ithout exposing it to the inference 
 of specially sanctioning and coiiuteuancing such 
 publications and such conduct as it does not 
 prevent, and thereby making the Government 
 in some degre^e a party to the Acts of the Mis- 
 sionaries, and making the Missionaries appear 
 in the character of the agents of Government. 
 
 8. Ill adverting to your prohibition of the 
 public preaching in Calcutta to the Hindoos 
 and Mahoraedans ; at the time when we ap- 
 prove of this measure of precaution, we do not 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 137 
 
 understand you to object to the Missionaries de° 
 cently performing, at their usual places of re- 
 sidence, tUe duties of their religion, in chapels 
 or rooms, at which admittance may be given 
 to their converts or to other Christians. We 
 presume that the n!i!n])er of chapiaiiis which 
 we have appropriated for the performance of 
 religious duties at Calcutta, is sufficient for all 
 the British or other inluibitants of that place 
 who comprehend the English language; but 
 we do not recollect it to have been your inten- 
 tion to preclude otlier Christians there from 
 I'.earing Divine service performed in a language 
 which they understand. 
 
 9. Having thus explained to you, as briefly 
 as possible, tiie principles on which we wish 
 you to act with regard to the Missionaries, it 
 renfains for us only to advert to your sugges- 
 tion, that we should ‘‘discourage any accession 
 to the number of Missionaries actually employ- 
 ed under the protection of the British Govern- 
 ment in India in the work of conversion.” Yon 
 are of course aware, that many of the merito- 
 rious iiidividjials who have devoted themselves 
 to those labours, were not Britisli subjects, or 
 living under our authority ; and that none of 
 the Missionaries iiave proceeded to Bengal , 
 with our licence. 
 
 10. Entertaining tl.e sentiments which we 
 have expressed in the preceding parts of this 
 despatch, w e are very far from disapproving of 
 your having refrained from resorting to the au- 
 
 - thority vested in you by law, and enforcing its • 
 
 provisions in all their strictness against the 
 Missionaries ; and we rely on your discretion, 
 
128 
 
 ATPENDIX. 
 
 tliat you will abstain from all unnecessary or 
 osleiilatioiis iiit«rierence \vitli their {>rocpe(lings. 
 On the other haml, it uiil he your bon!i*le» duly 
 vigilantly to guard the public traiiquillity from 
 interruption, and to impress upon the minds of 
 ail the inhabitants of India, that tlie British 
 faith, on wliich they rei; for the free exercise 
 of tlieir religion, nil! he inviolably maintained. 
 
 Extract of Letter from the Court of Directors 
 to the. Governor General in Council at Fort 
 jrUHani in IJengul, dated 7t/i Sehiemher* 
 ISOS. 
 
 • 
 
 Para. 12. Since the preceding paragrapijs 
 >vere written, yonr letter of tlie Tth Beeemher, 
 1807, to the Secret Committee, has been re- 
 ceived, with copies of tim Letter and Memori- 
 al addressed to the Governor General by the 
 Reverend i)r. Claudius Buehanasj, 
 
 13. We desire to express our entire satisTac- 
 tion at tlie expianatior^ which you liave thought 
 it necessary to give to your proceedijjgs ; and 
 as most of tlie observations wlneh would natu- 
 rally have oeeuned to us on the perusal of 
 tiiose documents fsave airea<iy been staled iu 
 this letter, we de- ai it unnecessary to enlarge 
 further on this snlyeet. 
 
 14. With every disposition to make due al- 
 lowance in fav(Oir of ardent zeal in the cause 
 of Religion, it would have beeii.impos*si!)le for 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 129 
 
 US to avoid noticiu^ the imjiroper style of Dr. 
 Buchanan's Address to the supreme Authority 
 in India, if his subsequent departure from 
 thence had not in some degree relieved us from 
 that necessity. We shall content yourselves at 
 present with remarking, that Dr. Buchanan, as 
 well as all other Ecclesiastics who promulgate 
 the doctrines of Christianity in India, and w ho 
 bestow such just and merited encomiums on the 
 conduct of the Missionary Swartz, would do 
 well to adopt it as the niodel of their own ; 
 and should always recollect tha.t discretion and 
 moderation in their language and actions are 
 most consistent with the mild spirit of our re- 
 ligion, and are indispensably requisite for those 
 who are employed in prosecuting the laborious 
 work of conversion. 
 
 [^TaJcenfrom the East-India Papers, print- . 
 ed by order of the House of Commons, 
 «A'o. 142., pp. T2 — 74 and p. 85. j 
 
 ■SV. ill. 
 
 Letter from General Hay MH)oiv,alL Comman- 
 der in ly.’iief of the Forces under the Presi- 
 dency of Fort St. George to the Governor 
 and Council of that Presidency ; dated 24:th 
 Aon. 1807, respecting the Jiuiiny at Vel- 
 lore ; with the proceedings of Government 
 thereupon. ( Extracted from the East-Pndia 
 
130 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Fapcvfi^ printed hy order of the Home of 
 Commom, ./Vo, 19-1, p. 10 — i.i.J 
 
 EXTRACT I'ORT ST GEORGE AJli.i rARY COX- 
 SUL'l’A'l'iONS, 24iii NOV. 1307. 
 
 Tipad liip follauin^ lielter from tlie Commaii- 
 di'r iti (Jliier. 
 
 The Chief Secretary to Government. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 liS' ohedience to t!ie \vis]i expro«sed by the 
 lloiiosirable the Governor iu Couiiei!, contained 
 in the Military Secrelary’s letter of tlie l7th 
 instant, I have the honour to convey iny senti- 
 ments on the important suhjeet. 
 
 'i'he plea of interference in reli^iotis scruples 
 has been, during many ages, a dreadful weapon 
 in tiie liands of the factious, discontented and 
 bigoted ; but the emissaries who were said to 
 be so assiduously employed in seducing the loy- 
 alty and affection of the Sepoys, have happily, 
 niider this pretext, made little progress in their 
 insidious and malignant designs. 
 
 it may occasion some degree of surprise that 
 th.e people of this country should b(‘ brought to 
 believe, that those who apparently conduct 
 tliemseives vvitli so much apathy in respect to 
 what concerns religious worship, should have 
 formed any serious scheme for conv « ing w hole 
 nations of different easts and persuasions to the 
 Ghristian faith. None but the weakest and 
 most sujierstitious could have been deluded by 
 so improbable a tale; and accordingly we tirid 
 tlie rumour alluded to was by no means general, 
 
APPENDIX, 
 
 131 
 
 an:!, except at Hydrabad, it had made little 
 or MO impression. 
 
 In making the above remark on the indifference 
 wiffcli is manifested in the adoralion of the’ Sii- 
 p.-eme Being, 1 must ad{{, in justice to tlie mili- 
 tary character, that it cliieffy proceeds from a 
 \vant of places (and, at several stations, of 
 clergymen) exclusively appropriated for Di- 
 vine service ; and 1 trust 1 shall be excused if 
 I suggest the propriety of having convenient 
 chapels, of moderate price, constructed in all 
 situations within the Company’s territories 
 where European troops are likely to be quarter- 
 ed. Whatever may be in'ged to the contrary, 
 I am convinced, tiiat sueli a!! improvement, in- 
 dependent of the obvious advasitagcs, would 
 render the Britislj eliaracter more respected by 
 the natives, and be attended by no evil coase- 
 qnences. 
 
 V'iewi ng the object of the Honourable Court 
 of Directors to liave been fully anticipated by 
 the several orders which have already been 
 psamnulged, and being of opinion that this al- 
 most obsolete question ought not to be revived, 
 riie disi'.HSsiou slionld iiere terminate publicly. 
 Jl take liie liberty, however, to propose to the 
 Honojjrable the Governor in Couneil, that a 
 copy of the extract from tlie despatches of the 
 Honourable Court should be transmitted confi- 
 dentially to General Otficers or others, in com- 
 mand of divisions or separate bodies of troops, 
 that the judgment of the Court on this point 
 may be disseminated with delicacy and caution. 
 
 Madras, ( I liave the honour to be. «xc. &c. 
 
 to Xov. 1807 ^ (Signed) HAY >rDO\yALH. 
 
132 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Resolve<1, T];at the recommendation of the 
 Commander in Chief, for the construction o0 
 ( ’Impels at the several stations usually occu- 
 jjied by European troops, be brought to the no- 
 tice of the Honourable the Court of Directors; 
 and that in the mean time the Commander in 
 Chief bo desired to issue such directions a'S he 
 may deem most proper for ensuring the regular 
 performance of Divine worship at those stations, 
 without incurring expense in the construction 
 or hire of buildings for that particular purpose. 
 
 Resolved, That the Commander in Chief's 
 opinion, respecting the inexpediency of publish- 
 ing to the native army any further declaration 
 on the subject of their religion and customs, be 
 confirmed ; but that he be authorised, accord- 
 ing to his suggesiion, to communicate the senti- 
 ments expressed by the Honourable Court, re- 
 garding the native troops, in a coiifideiitial 
 manner, to commanding otneers of corps and 
 stations. 
 
 JS,vfract Military Letter from Fort St, George, 
 dated the 2^tli Dec. 1807. 
 
 46. Your Honourable Court having particu-^ 
 larly adverted, in your political despatch of 
 tile 29lh May ISO/, to the apprehension which 
 was supposed to prevail among the native 
 troops, that it was intended by the British 
 Government to compel them to become con- 
 verts to Chrisliaiiity, and having furnished us 
 with conditional instrndions for counteracting 
 tliat unfounded fear, by the formal publication 
 of ccrtaiii Resolutions of a difierent tendency, 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 133 
 
 in the name and by the order of your Honoura- 
 able Court, we deemed it proper to furnish the 
 Commander in Chief with copies of the para- 
 graphs containing your sentiments and instruc- 
 tions on that subject. 
 
 47. The general knowledge which we pos- 
 sessed of the present state of the native army 
 of Fort St. George, induced as to believe that 
 the publication eventuafly authorized by your 
 Honourable Court, would, under existing cir- 
 cumstances, be equally inexpedient and unne- 
 cessary ; but considering the particular re- 
 sponsibility which attaches to the Commander 
 in Chief on every question relating to the ’fi- 
 delity and subordination of the army, it was 
 thought proper that his opinion should be for- 
 mally required on this point, and that he should 
 be requested to state his sentiments fully for 
 our consideration. 
 
 48. We consider the Letter which we re- 
 ceived from the Commander in Chief, in reply, 
 to be highly creditable to that oSicer, and to 
 deserve the particular attention of your Honour- 
 able Court. 
 
 49. The Commander in Chief has observed, 
 that it may occasion some degree of surprise 
 that the people of this country should be brought 
 to believe that persons, who apparently conduct 
 themselves with so much apathy in respect to 
 religious worship, should have formed any se- 
 rious scheme for converting whole nations of 
 difterent casts and persuasions to the Christian 
 faith ; and Lieutenant General M’DowaU is 
 accordingly of opinion that the rumour was by 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 131 
 
 no means general, and that, except at Hydra-* 
 had, it had made but little impression. 
 
 50. The Commander in Chief has, at the 
 same time, in justice to the military character, 
 expressed his belief that the indlfterence mani- 
 fested by the European inhabitants of India in 
 the adoration of the Supreme Being chiefiy 
 proceeds from the very limited number of 
 clergymen and from a want of places exclusive- 
 ly appropriated for Divine service. He has 
 therefore suggested the propriety of construct- 
 ing convenient chapels at a moderate expense, 
 at all stations where European troops may 
 probably be quartered ; and, whatever may be. 
 urged to the contrary, he has stated his convic- 
 tion that such an improvement, independent of 
 its advantages in a religious view, would ren- 
 der the British character more respected by the 
 natives, and would not be attended by any evil 
 consequences. 
 
 51. With respect to the object of your Hon- 
 ourable Court, the Commander in Chief consi- 
 ders it to have been fully anticipated by tlic 
 several orders already published under the au- 
 thority of this Government ; and being of 
 opinion that this obsolete question ouglit not to 
 be revived, he has recommended that the public 
 discussion of it should be immediately termina- 
 ted. It has however been suggested bv 'Lieu- 
 tenant General M’Dowall, that extracts from 
 the despatch of yonr Honourable Court should 
 be transmitted conlideiitially to commanding 
 officers ; that the judgment of your Houourable 
 Court, on this point, may be disseminated with 
 delicacy and cautien. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 135 
 
 52 . Entirely concurring in the sentiments 
 expressed by the Commander in Chief, we 
 have desired him to circulate your orders in 
 the manner which he may deem most advisea- 
 bJe ; and with respect to his suggestion for the 
 general construction of chapels at the principal 
 sta.tions of the army, we beg that you will fur- 
 nish us w ith early directions on that »subject. 
 In the mean time, Lieutenant General M’Dow- 
 all has been requested to issue such orders as 
 may appear to be best calculated to ensure the 
 regular performance of Divine worship, with- 
 out incurring expense in the construction or 
 hire of buildings for that particular purpose. 
 
 No. lY. 
 
 Minute of George Udny, Esq. Member of the 
 Supreme Gouncil in Bengal, protesting a- 
 gainst superintending'^ the idol Jugger- 
 naut, as tending to perpetuate a system of 
 gross idolatry Extracted from the Bengal 
 Judicial Consultations of Sd April, 1806 . 
 f Taken from the East-India Tapers, printed 
 by Order of the House of Commons, JS'*o. 194 , 
 p. 41 .; 
 
 I APPROVE of the following Regulations, 
 with the exception of those parts of it wliieh 
 provide for the superintendance and manage- 
 ment of the temple at Juggeriiauth, and th<? 
 pajiment of its officers. 
 
136 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 The making provision by law for such pur- 
 poses, it appears to me, would operate to sanc- 
 tion, and tend to perpetuate, a system of gross 
 idolatry, which Government is neither bound 
 nor does it seem becoming in it to do. 
 
 I would leave the temple and its whole 
 economy exclusively to the direction and man- 
 agement of its own officers, allowing them to 
 collect the regular established fees they have 
 hitherto been accustomed to do, securing the 
 pilgrims at the same time against every thing 
 of a vexatious nature from the extortion and 
 oppression of those officers. 
 
 if the revenue with which the temple is en- 
 dowed be insufficient for its support, I would 
 reduce the rate of tax proposed to be levied 
 from the pilgrims, relinquishing the remainder 
 to be applied to that purpose, in order that 
 Government should have no direct concern of 
 any kind in what relates to the maintenance 
 of the Temple, or the payment of its officers, 
 but appropriate solely to its own use the whole 
 of the tax levied from the pilgrims by its 
 officers. 
 
 (Signed) G. IT. 
 
 No. V. 
 
 Letter from Charles Buller, Esq. J/. P. to tlm 
 Honourable the Court of Directors, respecting 
 the Idol 'Juggernaut, dated the ±9th Jlay, 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 137 
 
 1813 , (laid on the table of the House of Com- 
 mons, and ordered to be printed, 2^th May, 
 1813 .) 
 
 TO THE COURT OF DIRECTORS OF THE HON- 
 OURABLE EAST INDIA COMPANY. 
 
 Honourable Sirs, 
 
 CONSIDERING the very exaggerated and 
 nnfouiided opinions vvliich appear to be enter- 
 tained in England, in regard to the conduct of 
 the Bengal Government at Jaghanath, and in 
 respect to the atrocities said to be practised 
 there 5 it has been suggested to me, as I \va§ 
 so long on the spot, and as I had so much to 
 do in framing the existing regulations relative 
 to the tax levied from the pilgrims, that I 
 should take an- opportunity of giving such in-, 
 formation as might place the matter in its pro- 
 per point of view. The best mode, therefore, 
 which presents itself to me of communicating 
 the information I possess, is to address myself 
 to your Honourable Court. 
 
 The object I have in viev/ is, to correct the 
 erroneous opinions which seem to prevail in 
 regard to the conduct of our Government, with 
 reference to the temple, and to remove the ex- 
 aggerated ideas entertained in respect to the 
 atrocities said to be practised there. 
 
 With respect to the first point, as far as I 
 can recollect, it seems to be supposed that our 
 Governntent at Bengal is busied in the eontroHl 
 and regulation of Hindoo worship ; and that it 
 is actively employed in the encouragement of 
 idolatry, for the purpose of reveiiae. Your 
 
138 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Honourable Court must be fully aware Iiow 
 studiously the regulations have guarded against 
 committing the Government in any way what- 
 ever, respecting questions which might arise 
 relative to the interior concerns of the temple. 
 The clauses which refer to the power reserved 
 by Government of removing the Patron of the 
 Temple, and to the permission given to the 
 head ministerial officers to remonstrate against 
 any orders issued by the Patron, afford tho on- 
 ly possible opportunity for Government to in- 
 terfere in regard to the interior. But consi- 
 dering the vast power vested in the Patron, 
 and the means which he has rf extensive op- 
 pression and extortion, I considered those pow- 
 ers to be essentially necessary ; and althongh 
 1 am perfectly sensible that they never will be 
 exercised, except in an extreme case, yet the 
 result of my subsequent experience at the Board 
 of Revenue has tended to shew, that it was 
 prudent to adopt the clauses in question. 
 
 With regard to the encouragement of idola- 
 try, most assuredly nothing of the kind occurs 
 on tiie part of Government; unless, indeed, 
 it be supposed tliat the liberal wish to protect 
 and secure its native subjects in the due exer- 
 cise of their religious as well as civil liberties 
 he pronounced to he an encouragement of idola- 
 try. If an anxious desire, on the part of 
 Government, to remove all unlawful impedi- 
 ments and obstacles from out of the way of the 
 Hindoos worshipping with ease and convenience 
 to themselves, be construed into an enl^ourage- 
 meiit of idolatry, in that case, I apprehend the 
 Bengal Governaient must plead guilty to the 
 charge. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 139 
 
 With regard to the revenue, that seems to 
 me to be a question which has been considera- 
 bly misunderstood ; for, from the mode in 'which 
 I have heard gentlemen express themselves 
 with reference to that point, they appear to 
 consider this revenue to be taken as a price 
 for the permission of idolatry, and consequently 
 they seem to think, that if the Government 
 would consent to give up the revenue, the idola- 
 try would of coarse cease. Surely nothing can 
 be more erroneous than the above opinion ; for 
 I suppose no one would venture to say, that 
 the ruling power in Hindostan, whatever its re- 
 ligion may be, should interfere to prevent the 
 Hindoos from having access to their own tem- 
 ples. If, then, you allow access to the temple 
 at Jaghanath, such access must be subjected to 
 restraint and regulation ; and I know not a 
 more powerful means of restraint and regula- 
 tion than is afforded by the tax. I can speak 
 from my own knowledge of the fact, that the 
 imposition of the tax, so far from operating as 
 an encouragement to persons to resort there, 
 has had a direct contrary tendency ; for dur- 
 ing the time that access was allowed without 
 the tax, the tiirong of people at the place was 
 so great, and such a considerable number of the 
 poorer classes took that opportunity of visiting 
 the temple, that I was informed that several 
 persons perished from actual want of subsis- 
 tence. The scenes oii the road were, 1 am 
 told, truly shocking; but since the tax has 
 been continued, the numbers of the pilgrims, 
 particularly of the lower classes, have consi 
 derably diminished. I have passed several 
 
140 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 times backwards and forwards between Cattacli 
 and Jaghanath (and that too, jnst previous to 
 the Ruth Jattrah, or festival of the Charist) 
 without seeing many objects of wretchedness. 
 I certainly have seen two or three poor wretch- 
 ed objects, exhausted by their long journey, and 
 almost starving. But this is no very great 
 matter of surprise, when it is recollected that 
 the pilgrims come from all parts of Hindostan, 
 from upwards of 1,600 miles distance ; and 
 that a large proportion of these consist of the 
 old and iiihrm, who come for the express pur- 
 pose of laying their bones within the precincts 
 of the city. It seems to me that the question 
 of revenue lies within a very small compass. 
 If it be thought that it is inconsistent with our 
 religion to permit the Hindoos to resort to their 
 temples, the tax in that case is obviously im- 
 proper ; but if it be the duty of our Govern- 
 ment to allow its native subjects to worship ac- 
 cording to their own ideas, I should regret to 
 see the tax abolished, as the abolition of it 
 would render it dilhcult to restrain and regu- 
 late the numerous bodies of pilgrims who re- 
 sort to the place; and it would, in all probabil- 
 ity, be the cause of the revival of those horrid 
 scenes of distress which w ere before experienc- 
 ed, when the tax was discontinued, and of w hich 
 t!ie traces are still to be met with in the nume- 
 rous human bones on the road. I have heard 
 it observed, that the tax in question is some- 
 thing similar to a tax upon gambling houses, or 
 other houses of i!! fame: but surely there is a 
 *most essential dif/erenee between the two cases. 
 Tire objection to the former I understand to be 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 141 
 
 this — that the taxation amounts virtually to a 
 licence of that which is, in its nature, immor- 
 al; but in this case, I do not understand therp 
 is any question whether the Government is to 
 allow its subjects access to their own temples : 
 Government must admit the access, whether it 
 takes a tax or not. Under that circumstance, 
 therefore, I cannot see what possible objection 
 there is to the continuance of an established 
 tax of this nature, particularly wdien it is tak- 
 en into consideration what large pensions in 
 land and money are allowed by our Government 
 in all parts of the country, for keeping up the 
 religious institutions both of the Hindoos and 
 the Miisselraans, 
 
 In respect to the atrocities said to be prac- 
 tised at the place, they refer to the immola- 
 tions under the wheels of the car on w hich the 
 idol is carried. That such things occur, there 
 can be no doubt ; but certainly not to the ex- 
 tent, nor exactly from the same motive, as 
 seems to be supposed by many in England. It 
 would appear to be a prevailing opinion, that 
 these immolations are of frequent occurrence ; 
 that they are a duty prescribed to the Hindoos 
 by their religion ; and, consequently, that such 
 duty is often carried into performance. Wheth- 
 er it be a duly or not, 1 cannot positively say ; 
 but I believe it to be no part of their religion, 
 and that, in point of fact, it is no more a duty 
 prescribed to the Hindoos, than it was a duty 
 prescribed to the Christian Ascetics to live in 
 i the austere and curious modes in which many 
 of them formerly did, in the early ages of 
 I Christianity. Indeed, the infrequency of the 
 
112 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 act is the fullest proof, I conceive, that it is 
 not an act of duty prescribed to any sect of 
 Hindoos whatever. I was at Jagbanath dur- 
 ing the whole of the Ruth Jattrah (in 1809 I 
 think it was,) and I heard but of one instance 
 of an immolation under the wheels of the car. 
 1 should not suppose it possible that another 
 instance could iiave happened during that fes- 
 tival, without my hearing of it. But suppos- 
 ing, instead of one, there were ten times the 
 number, w hat would it amount to r — that out of 
 a population of nearly two hundred millions, 
 (for 1 suppose the whole of the Hindoo popula- 
 tion, as f^ar as Cabul, to be not much short of 
 two hundred millions,) there are to be found 
 ten fanatics, fools and madmen enough to com- 
 mit such an act at Jaghanath. 
 
 There is another matter to be mentioned, 
 but of which 1 was totally ignorant till very 
 lately, w hen it w as particularly painted out to 
 me, in order that 1 might say w hether it were 
 correct or otlierw ise. 1 allude to the circum- 
 stances of the indecency said to be exhibited 
 oii the ear of the idol. On that point my at- 
 tention was directed to a publication by the 
 Rev. Hr. Claudios Buchanan, who speaks of a 
 priest having pronounced cerlaiu obscene 
 stanzas in the ears of the people, and of cer- 
 tain indecent gestures exhibited by a boy and 
 priest on the car. With respect to the songs, 
 how the author came to know w hat the priest 
 was repeating, he does not state. I do not mean 
 to doubl the fuel ; but I do think, if the pro- 
 cession was any thing at all like that which I 
 saw, there is no room to suppose that the au* 
 
APPENDi:i. 
 
 14 ^ 
 
 thor*s ears, even if lie did understand the lan- 
 guage, could have been shocked by liis actually 
 hearing the songs. To give some idea of the 
 thing ti) gentlemen in England, I would beg 
 them to represent to themselves the car in pro- 
 gress between Charing Cross and Parliament 
 Street, t!ie whole of the way as crow ded as pos- 
 sible with people, clapping their hands, talking, 
 shouting, and merry-making ; and can it be 
 conceived, that in such a noise a person could 
 have his ears shocked by hearing what the 
 priest was repeating, when, owing to the dis- 
 tance of the platform on which he stands, one 
 could not by any endeavours get within ten 
 yards of him. 1 am sure I could not hear any 
 thing which was said ; and during the whole of 
 the time I was present, the noise was incessant, 
 without intermission; and according to the na- 
 ture of things I conceive it must be so, in a 
 crowd of about one hundred thousand. Upon 
 Ibis point, however, if I can rely upon the in- 
 formation I have received, the songs in question 
 are denominated by the natives Cubhee, a spe- 
 cies of song not very unlike that which is ad- 
 ' mitted into our own sacred writings. Ours, I 
 imagine, are not at present read in any part 
 of our service ; but whoever knows any thing 
 of the Hindoos, must be aw are that their ve- 
 neration for antiquity will not allow' them to 
 depart from any thing whicli has once form- 
 ed a part of their ceremonies. With respect 
 to the indecent gestures said to have been ex- 
 hibited on the car,,all I can say is, that if such 
 things are done, I never saw tliem, and what 
 nnue. 1 never lieard of them till I came to 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 England. To give you an irrefragable proof 
 of what I have asserted relative to my igno- 
 rance, and to the ignorance of the other gentlemen 
 on the spot, of any thing of the nature alleged 
 ever happening, I need only mention that I be- 
 lieve t])ere was not a single lady at the station 
 who did not accompany her husband to see the 
 procession. Had w e had the slightest surmise 
 of that which is asserted to be a fact, most un- 
 questionably those ladies would not have been 
 there. But 1 do most solemnly declare, that I 
 never did hear the most distant hint of any 
 thing indecent having been seen, or of any thing 
 in the slightest degree resembling indecency. 
 Wiih re gard to the temple, there certainly are 
 indecent figures on it, but certainly not more 
 than what we see every day in representations 
 of ancient sculpture. Indeed they are so badly 
 done, that I do declare, that if they had not 
 been pointed out to me, I should never have 
 known that they were there. 
 
 It has been suggested, that I should say 
 something more about the charge which has 
 been made against our Government, for not 
 interfering to put a stop to the immolations. 
 If I had been asked before Mr. Graham gave 
 his evidence before the House of Commons, I 
 should have said, that I did not know that the 
 Government bad interfered at all. 1 never 
 heard of it : and as it appears to me so utterly 
 impossible for the Government to interfere with 
 eSect, I should have supposed they never had 
 attempted it. I have said before, that I under- 
 stand that it is MO part of a duty prescribed to 
 any sect of Hindoos, to devote themselves under 
 
APPENDijC. 
 
 iU 
 
 the wheels of the car. I believe, from evert 
 thing 1 have heard, that the Brahmins have no 
 concern at all in encouraging the fanatic to 
 destroy himself ; and that, in point of fact, 
 they are as ignorant of any one's having the 
 intention of devoting himself as we are here. 
 I never heard that there are any previous ablu- 
 tions or purifications, which are usual when 
 the priests interfere on se.ch momentous occa- 
 sions, How then can the Government inter- 
 fere ? Tlie man, I believe, does not communi- 
 cate his intention : and I think it not at ail un- 
 likely that he himself does not intend it, till a 
 little before be throws himself under the wheels. 
 As for preventing it at tlie spot, it is utterly 
 impossible. in such a crowd no one knous 
 what bis next neiglibour is about. lu short, it 
 appears to me, that people may with as much 
 justice censure our Government at home, for 
 not preventing suicide in the variety of wavs 
 in which we are informed it is practised, as 
 they may the Government abroad, for not pre- 
 enting the immolations in question. 
 
 I have the honour to be, &c. 
 
 (Signed) C. BULLER. 
 London, 19th Muy, Ibio. 
 
 No. 
 
 TJie Forerunner of the Holy Bible beins; a 
 ’-—translation of a — Tract in the Bengalee 
 Language^ printed by the J^Iissionaries ; which 
 the Bengal Gocernrnent transmitted to the 
 13 
 
146 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Court of Directors (marked B,) as being, itt 
 their judgment, calculated to infame the pre- 
 judices of the Hindoos. ( Eadracted from 
 the East-India Bapers, printed by order of 
 the House of Commons, J\"‘o. 142 , jyp. 65 , 06 .^ 
 
 HEAR, 0 worldly men! hear Mith ^ii at- 
 tentive mind, how you may obtain salvation 
 from terrible hell. None of you seek for that; 
 your thoughts are constantly employed about 
 money, about all these trifles, and tlris world ; 
 e very one of 'you is incessantly contemplating 
 this world. All these things will be necessary 
 but for a short time: after death you will by 
 no means have property. Know all of yon, 
 Unit on being born you must die, and that after 
 death you must either go to heaven or to liell : 
 and without remission of sins you cannot go to 
 heaven ; with downcast countenance you will 
 be east into awful hell, \yhat is hell like, or 
 ■what sort the lormeijts in it ? Be informed : no 
 one of you thinks of making himself acquainted 
 with that. Irisunerable hell is tilled v\ith ever- 
 lasting fire, wbicli will never be extinguished. 
 On falling therein, brethren, ti.ere is no further 
 preservation : the end of eternity is a begint^ 
 ning to it. Ye are afraid, but afterwards fall 
 into this awful hell. Beware, beware of this 
 inextinguisbahle fire : make Christ your asylum ; 
 take an asylum ; for without that, no one of 
 you will obtain salvation. Both Hindoos and 
 Mussulmans have many sasters, the object 
 whereof we have strictly examined, and tliere 
 is no work of true redemption among them : 
 they are sasters for the amusement of children : 
 they are like tales. 
 
appendix. 
 
 ur 
 
 In tlie Hindoo sasters there is an account of 
 ten incarnations. Let me plainly state them, 
 and listen. In the iirst place, there was ?^ar^ 
 rayn in the form of a fish, for the protection ol 
 Satcebroto. 
 
 The second was a tortoise, for the support 
 of the earth ; the third a boar, to lift it up : t!ie 
 fourth w as the man lion, to destroy the demons : 
 in the fifth, the dwarf took Bali to hell ; in the 
 sixth, Panusram destroyed the Khitrees ; in 
 the seventh, Ramchunder killed Kabon ; in the 
 ei.^lith, Christna killed Caiigra ; and in the 
 ninth, Buddha manifested tlie Buddbites. And 
 if the story of (he nine inearnalions be true, 
 still there is no redeemer. V/hat will yon do ? 
 how will you be redeemed from sin? — But we 
 will point out a remedy. 
 
 We formerly had a similar sastra; but when 
 we obtained the Great Sastra, we renounced 
 that. Allow us to give you some information 
 eoncerniiig it. If you be desirous of a remedy, 
 attend and hear. 
 
 At that time, when the Almighty had finish- 
 ed the creation, he gave a mighty order to all 
 men. He gave an account of heaven and hell, 
 lie pointed out the distinction between rii<lit 
 and wrong. Hear all of you my infallible or- 
 der. What I say, I will do ; that is certain. 
 If any be pure and practise holiness, I will give 
 them matchless glory in heaven ; but if any one 
 sin, I will certainly cast him into eternal tire.” 
 
 This is the primary order of God ; after 
 which mankind became wicked, and God knew 
 it, but there was no redemption, and he ordered 
 that some remedy should be provided. Through 
 his mercy there was a provision for the ro- 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 lib- 
 
 ilempfion of sinners. If any person sliouTd as- 
 sume birlh on earth, ami take npoji himself the 
 torment of sinners, tliose sinners who sincerely 
 believe in him should he redeemed ; and there 
 was an ineariiatiun of Jesus, the protector of 
 the unprotected, full of the splendour of God, 
 having been se])arated from his body in a column 
 of splendour before him. He said, I will 
 take birth on earth, and siifter all the torment 
 of sins on my body. Whatever sinners take 
 refuge under my protection, you will grant them 
 salvation.” God said, “ Yes, this is my pro- 
 mise, I will redeem them. Mortals are under 
 thy protection.” After which, the Lord was 
 conceived in the country of Judea, according to 
 prophecy, in tlie womb of a woman. During 
 his life on earth, he took the name of Jesus 
 Christ, and he performed many miracles in va- 
 rious places. The blind received sight; the 
 dead life. He did many such miracles, he was 
 so great. And he fulfilled the sayings of the 
 Prophets, and was killed by the hands of the 
 people of his own nation, and gave up his life 
 under various kinds of torment ; and after thr^e 
 days he arose again : and because he suftered 
 torment in liis body for sins, therefore he was 
 denominated Saviour of Sinners. 
 
 Christ did not die like people in general ; 
 he suffered much torment, and died miracu- 
 lously. 
 
 When he took upon himself to suJer for us, 
 his tornit'ut was intolerable. Amidst these 
 sufferings, he called out and said, “ O God 1 
 why hast thou forsaken me, and left me in the 
 bauds of sinners ?” And they spit upon him, 
 vexed him and mocked him, and put a crown of 
 
ArPEXDl!^. 
 
 143 
 
 Ihorns upon Iiis head, and fixed his feet and 
 hands upon a cross with nails ; ami when thej 
 had inflicted severe piuiishinent upon him, they 
 killed him. They pierced his breast with nails, 
 and exhausted liim ; and wiien he shed his 
 blood, they caused him to drink vine.^ar mixed 
 witli galls; and liaving tormented liini in this 
 manner, they killed him. Tliey fastened t vo 
 thieves, one on his right hand and one on his 
 left ; and when lliey had disgraced him in tins 
 manner, tlt“y killed him. In this manner died 
 the Saviour of the World. On his own body 
 he snflered the torment of sinners ; and it v. as 
 requisite for him to do so : without that, God 
 would not have redeemed mankind. He paid 
 tlie ransom of all sinners; and according to the 
 security which he gave, so it came to pass. 
 His death was the preservation of our life: his 
 suflerings were the source of joy to the whole of 
 us. Tile suflerings of Jesus Christ atoned to 
 God for the torment of eternal hell lire. God 
 accepted of all that, and the faith of Jesus 
 Christ, for the sake of sinners. He accepted 
 of the death of Jessis Christ, in exchange for 
 the eternal death of sinners. As righteousuess 
 was the garment Jesus Christ, so let iig make 
 faith ill iiim our vesture. We go before God 
 after death. Can you go in the presence of 
 God } You cannot go before God by taking the 
 name of Ram Chrishn Sheeb^ or any otlier 
 deity, seeing all those sinners w'as an abomina- 
 tion to the Lord. They will sutFer eternal tor- 
 ment in awful hell; but it is a great consola- 
 tion to his mind to hear of the works and name 
 of Christ. 
 
 1.3* 
 
150 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Christ is now with God, for the redemption 
 of sinners who worship him. Those who die 
 worshippers of him on earth, he cheerfully 
 takes to the mansion of Heaven. Hear, hear, 
 O people ! hear my words. A copious work 
 on this subject, named the Gospel, was first in 
 the Hebrew and Greek : from these, the English 
 made a translation of it ; but not they alone ; 
 various other nations made a translation of this 
 great and principal Sastra. The French, 
 Dutch, Germans, Hanes, Armenians, and va- 
 idous others, copied it. It went to America 
 and Africa, and all other countries, and to all 
 the principal islands. This holy book went to 
 all these countries, and even in Malabar it was 
 translated into Hindee. Whoever obtained this 
 holy book renounced all previous sastras, and 
 espoused it. It has now been translated into 
 the Bengally language, and printed. Any one 
 who w ishes to Isear this work, may come to 
 Serampore, and we will read it to him. 
 
 Printed at Serampore, 1806—1213. 
 
 (A true Copy.) 
 
 (Signed) JV*. B. Edmonstone, 
 
 Secretary to Government. 
 
 No. \ II. 
 
 Memorial^ addressed by the Baptist Missiona^ 
 Ties to the Right Honourable Gilbert Lord 
 Minto^ Governor General of India^ praying 
 that the Bengal Government would spare their 
 Mission, Dated Misssion-House, Serampore^ 
 
appendix. 
 
 15 i 
 
 SOth September 9 1807. f Extracted from the 
 
 Elast-India Papers^ printed by order of the 
 
 House of Commons, *N*o. ±4:2, pp. 56 — 61. J 
 
 TO THE RIGHT HON. GILBERT LORD MINTO, 
 GOV. GENERAL OF INDIA, &c. &c. &c. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 1. THE Society of Missionaries residing at 
 Serampore entreat permission to lay before 
 your Lordship, with the greatest submission, a 
 full and undisguised statement of their situa- 
 tion, circumstances, and views ; humbly casting 
 themselves on your Lordship’s clemency, and 
 imploring such relief as your Lordship’s can- 
 dour, and wisdom, and attachment to the Protes- 
 tant Religion may suggest. 
 
 2. Your Lordship’s Memorialists beg per- 
 mission humbly to represent, that in the year 
 1792 a number of ministers and others of the 
 Baptist Denomination, reflecting on the bles- 
 sings they enjoyed through the Christian Reve- 
 lation, and feeling it their indispensable duty 
 to attempt imparting the same to the heathen, 
 formed themselves into a voluntary society, by 
 the name of the Baptist Missionary Society; 
 and that your Lordship’s Memorialists, in- 
 fluenced by the same vievvs, by the advice of 
 this society, engaged in a mission to India. 
 
 3. They entreat permission further to state, 
 that one of your Lordship’s Memorialists and 
 his friend, since dead, landed at Calcutta in the 
 year 1793 ; w ho being soon after entrusted, by 
 a gentleman high in the service, with the care 
 of two indigo works in the district of Dinage- 
 pore, began to learn the Bengalee language 
 
152 
 
 APPENDIX, 
 
 translate the Scriptures, and dispense Christtau 
 instruction to the natives of that and the neigh* 
 Louring districts : and although this was con- 
 tinued for six years, nothing appeared on the 
 part of tlie natives but the highest satisfaction. 
 
 4. That the Right Honourable Lord Teign- 
 inouth, being then Governor General of India, 
 was pleased to grant these two ^Missionaries 
 the covenants of that time granted to British 
 subjects in India. 
 
 5. They entreat permission further humbly 
 to represent, that in the year 1799, four other 
 Missionaries arriving at Serampore were in- 
 vited by his Excellency Colonel Bie, late Gover- 
 nor of iSerainpore, to settle in that colony, open 
 an European school, set up their printing press, 
 and instruct the natives of that settlement in 
 Christianity, under the patronage of his Danish 
 Majesty; and that your Lordshi})’s Memo- 
 rialists felt it their duty to accept his Excel- 
 lency's invitation. 
 
 6. I'iiat ill consequence of a representation 
 made by his Exceiieney Colonel Bie, his Danish 
 Majesty was pleased to direct the Royal Col- 
 lege of Commerce at Copenhagen, to signify his 
 pleasure to the Governor of Serampore, that 
 the Society nf Missionaries be considered as 
 under his Majesty’s protection and patronage, 
 which they accordingly signified by a letter 
 hearing date September 5th, 1801. 
 
 7. That, thus encouraged by the Danish 
 Government, your Lordship’s Memorialists pro- 
 ceeded to print the Scriptures in the Bengalee 
 language ; and, by preaching and diffusing re- 
 ligious tracts, to instruct the native inhabitants 
 ef that settlement in the Christian religion ; 
 
APPENDIX, 
 
 133 
 
 and that his Excellency the late Colonel Bie 
 was pleased, at the baptism of the first Hindoo 
 convert, to honour the Missionaries with his 
 presence. 
 
 8. That, after the Scriptures w ere published^ 
 many came to Serainpore from different parts 
 of the country to request copies, and to seek 
 Christian instruction ; and that a considerabie 
 number, at different times, have received Chris- 
 tian baptism. 
 
 9. That of those who thus came from a dis- 
 tance, some entreated your Lordship’s Memo- 
 rialists to accompany them to their respective 
 homes, for the sake of instructing their neigh- 
 bours and friends, wlio, though equally desirous 
 of Christian instruction, were unable to take 
 so long a journey : that in several instances 
 tliey complied with these invitations, and in- 
 variably found these excursions attended with 
 perfect quietness as well as safety to their ow n 
 persons, although they appeared simply as 
 Cliristian teachers ; and the people whom they 
 thus visited were in several instances Ma- 
 homedans. 
 
 10. Your Lordship’s Memorialists entreat 
 permission farther to represent, that on occa- 
 sion of the printing presses at Calcutta being 
 placed under the controul of Government, the 
 Most Noble the Marquis Wellesley was pleas- 
 ed to inquire respecting the press at Seram- 
 pore ; but on being informed that (official pa- 
 pers for the Danish Government excepted) the 
 Missionaries confined its operations to printing 
 the Scriptures and religious tracts, and made 
 it an invariable rule to print nothing of a po- 
 litical naturcj his Lordship was pleased to ex- 
 
APPENDIX, 
 
 154 ! 
 
 press liis satisfaction at the press of Serampore 
 being thus employed. 
 
 11. That his Lordship was pleased soon 
 afler to accept a copy of the New Testament, 
 translated by the Missionaries into the Betiga- 
 Jee language, and to express his approbation of 
 the undertaking. 
 
 12 . That, in 1801, his Lordship was pleased 
 to appoint one of your Lordship’s Memorialists 
 teacher of the Bengalee and Sangskrit lan- 
 guages in the College of Fort William. 
 
 13. That his Lordship was pleased soon 
 after to direct the Missionaries to prepare and 
 print the Psalms of David, and the Book of 
 Isaiah, as a class-book in the Bengalee lan- 
 guage, for the use of the College. 
 
 14. That on a subsequent occasion, his Lord- 
 ship was pleased to assure one of your Lord- 
 ship’s Memorialits, that he was perfectly ac- 
 quainted with all the concerns and operations 
 of the Missionaries at Serampore, and felt 
 great satisfaction at their aSairs being attended 
 with such a degree of success. 
 
 15. They entreat permission also to repre- 
 fcnt, that in the year 1803 a copy of the New 
 Testament, and the Pentateuch, in the Benga- 
 lee language, were presented to his Majesty by 
 R. Bowyer, Esq. of Pall Mall ; and that his 
 Majesty was pleased graciously to accept them, 
 and to direct that his Majesty’s thanks be given 
 to the Baptist Missionary Society. 
 
 10. They humbly beg leave further to repre- 
 sent, that early in the year 1804, reflecting on 
 the situation of the different countries around, 
 as destitute of the Holy Scriptures, your Lord- 
 ship’s Memorialists felt it their duty to request 
 
API’ENBIX. - 
 
 155 
 
 llie assistance of the public in Europe, in the 
 work of translating and publishing the Scrip- 
 tures in tlie languages of India. 
 
 IT. That in the year 1805, a letter was re- 
 ceived from the British and Foreign Bible So- 
 ciety, of which the Right Honourable Lord 
 Teignmonth is President, and the Bishops of 
 London, Durham, Exeter, and St. David’s, the 
 Right Honourable Lord Radstock, Admiral 
 Gambler, vSir W. Pepperell, William Wilber- 
 force, and Charles Grant, Esq. Vice Presidents ; 
 the following extract from which, they humbly 
 entreat pesmission to submit to your Lordship. 
 
 London^ July 23, 1804. 
 
 “ Resolved,-— -That George Udny, Esq. the 
 Reverend David Brown, the Reverend Claudius 
 Buchanan, and Messrs. Cary, Ward, and 
 Marshman, be requested to form a Committee, 
 and to correspond with the Society respecting 
 the best means of promoting the object of this 
 Institution, with regard to the Eastern Lan- 
 guages.’’ 
 
 (Signed) John Owen, Secretary. 
 
 18. That in the year 1806, your Lordship’s 
 Memorialists published a Memoir, in India, 
 relative to the translations of the Scriptures, 
 of which copies were transmitted to the Honour- 
 able the Court of Directors, the Right Honoiir- 
 ai)lc the President of the British end Foreign 
 Bible Society, the Riglit Reverend the Bishops, 
 tJse Universities in Britain, and a number of 
 public bodies and private gentlemen. 
 
 19. That ill consequence of this Memoir, a 
 considerable sum was subscribed by gentlemen 
 at this Presidency to carry forward the w ork ; 
 
136 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 and that subscriptions have been received dfi 
 tlie same account tVom England and Scotland, 
 and also from the United Stales of America. 
 
 20. Thus have your Lordship’s Memori- 
 alists, humbly relying on your Lordship’s 
 clemency, laid open, in the most unreserved 
 manner, the whole of their circumstances, 
 l^onscious of no evil design, they have never 
 attempted concealment, hut have year by year 
 laid the whole of their conduct before the pub- 
 lic, both in Britain and India. And they en- 
 treat permission furtlier humbly to slate, that 
 in the course of their missionary labours, they 
 have baptized upwards of a hundred natives, 
 including Hindoos and iMussulmans : of these, 
 the first ten were inhabitants of Serampore, 
 and the rest such as came from dilferent parts 
 of the country seeking Christian instruction. 
 Among these, twelve were Brahmins, sixteen 
 of the Writer cast, and five Mussulmans. Your 
 Lordship’s IMemorlalists entreat permission to 
 add, that neither the baptism of tlie Brahmins 
 nor Mussulmans created any kind of alarm, al- 
 though the circumstances attending them were 
 j>erfectly well known to a great distance 
 around. 
 
 21. Your Lordship's Memorialists humbly 
 entreat permission further to represent, lival iii 
 thus alibrding Cliristian instruction to natives, 
 they were perfectly unconscious of acting con- 
 trary to the declared will of the British Nation 
 and Legislature, or to the existing regulations 
 of the Honourable Compasjy. Conscious of 
 tlie salutary elfcets of renovating the mind and 
 regulating the passions, they wished to impart 
 ihe blessing to their Hindoo fellow-subjecU ; 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 457 
 
 happy in tlie idea that in every real Convert 
 they were securing to their country a friend, a 
 subject obeying from new principies, and cor- 
 dially attached to the British Nation by new 
 and inviolable lies. 
 
 22 . They entreat permission further to re- 
 present, that, though perfectly acquainted with, 
 and highly revering, the principles which in- 
 duced the British Legislature to guarantee to 
 their Indian Subjects the full and undisturbed 
 possession of their diftere.it religions opinions, 
 your Lordship’s Memorialists were perfectly 
 unconscious of violating those principles, inas- 
 much as the most solemn engagements of this 
 nature in Britain are never supposed to pre- 
 clude religious discussion ; and from the liberal 
 and generous nature of the Protestant religion, 
 they were led to imagine that a Protestant na- 
 tion, while utterly averse to coercion, could not 
 but wish their Hindoo subjects might, in some 
 prudent and safe method, receive Christian in- 
 struction. 
 
 23. They humbly entreat permission further 
 to state, that this supposition was strengthened 
 by perusing in Russell’s Collection of Statutes 
 concerning the Incorporation, Trade, and Com- 
 merce of the East'India Company, printed at 
 London in 1786, and dedicated to the Right 
 Honourable Henry Dundas, an abridgment of 
 the Charters of Incorporation granted to the 
 several East-lndia Companies ; which abridg- 
 ment, among others, contains an abstract of the 
 Cliarter granted to the Honourable Company 
 by his Majesty King William the Third, ami 
 bearing date September 5th, 1G08 j in which it 
 
ioS 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 is stipulated, page 20 . of the aht idgment, tliat 
 “ the ministers of the llonourahie Company 
 are to learn the Portuguese aud Hindoo lan- 
 guages, to enable tliem to instruct t!ie Gentoos, 
 iice. in the Clirlstiaii religion, &c.'’ 
 
 21. Your Lordshi{)’s Memorialists humbly 
 acknowledge to your Lordship, that the con- 
 duct of other Protestant nations towards their 
 Indian subjects, has also tended. to confirm them 
 in this supposition, particularly that of the 
 United Stales of Holland, who, w hile they al- 
 lowed their Cingalese, Malabar, and Malay 
 subjects, the free exercise of their didereht re- 
 ligious, at the public expense translated the sa- 
 cred Scriptures into the former and latter of 
 these iiiugiiages, and employed Mi.-isionaries 
 and Catechists to instruct the natives in the 
 Cdiristian religion; from which conduct your 
 Lordship’s Memorialists have never heard that 
 in one single instance any alarm or disturbance 
 arose, but that, on the contrary, these convert- 
 ed natives were often of the highest political 
 service to their respective governments. 
 
 25. That tSie conduct of his Danish Majes- 
 ty, Frederick the Fourth, who in 1705. at his 
 own expense, sent Mes.srs. Ziegenbalg and 
 (jrundler to found the Protestant ^lissiou at 
 Tranquebar, tended still more to confirm tlieir 
 minds in this idea, particularly when connect- 
 ed with tiie subsequent conduct cf the Bridsh 
 Nation towards that Mission : for your Lord- 
 slup’s Memorialists entreat permission to re- 
 present, that on the return of the ?ilissioriary 
 Ziegenbalg to Eurojie, nine yea?’s after the com- 
 meueeir.eut of tlie Mission, lie was invited to a 
 sitting of the Bishops and others, in the Socle- 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 159 
 
 ly for promotin?^ Christian Knowledge; and 
 that after his return to India, he was present- 
 ed with a printer’s press, to encourage him in 
 the publication of the sacred Scriptures ; that 
 this press the Missionaries set up at Tranque- 
 bar, where it still remains employed for mis- 
 sionary purposes, under the patronage of his 
 Danish Majesty. 
 
 36. That the gracious condescension of his 
 Majesty George the First by no means tends to 
 weaken these ideas : for, in addition to the en- 
 couragement afforded these Missionaries by hi* 
 subjects, bis Majesty was pleased to write them 
 two letters ; in tlie first of which, bearing date 
 August 3Sd, 1717', his Majesty w as pleased to 
 eipress his satisfaction at the success of their 
 labours, and to assure them of the continuance 
 of his royal favour ; and in the second, dated 
 February 23d, 1727, twenty-two years after the 
 mission had been founded (a period in which 
 the dissemination of tlie Scriptures and tlia 
 baptism of a multitude of the natives had fully 
 developed its nature and tendency,) his Majes- 
 ty was pleased to express bis satisfaction in 
 terms still stronger, to assure them that a con- 
 stant account of the progress of their mission 
 would be acceptable, and to pray that they 
 might be assisted in tins good work, that its 
 perpetuity might not fail in generations to 
 come.” 
 
 27. Your Lordslnp^s Memorialists humbly 
 entreat jjermission further to represent, that the 
 conduct of the Honourable Company towards 
 the Missionary Swartz, lately deceased, has 
 tended to convince thcci, that in aftotnpting to 
 afford Christian instruction to the Hindoos, 
 
160 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 they M ere not acting contrar.y to the wit ■ of the 
 Tlonourahle Company. In conlirmation of this 
 idea, they entreat permission to refer to the ce- 
 notaph which the Honourable Company has 
 been pleased to erect at Madras to the memory 
 of this Missionary, directing that the inscrip- 
 tion be translated into the different languages 
 of the country, tliat the natives may understand 
 the sense they entertain/ of his transcendant 
 merit in •• abstracting himself from temporal 
 views, and far a period of fifty years going 
 about doing good,” in the character of a Chris- 
 tian ^Mi'^sionary. 
 
 28 . Your Lords! ip*s Memorialists most hum- 
 bly entreat permission to appeal to your Lord- 
 ship, whether their eircumstanees and employ- 
 ment, in translating the Scriptures and quietly 
 dispensing Christian instruction, he not similar 
 to those of Ziegenhaig and Swartz. 
 
 They acknowledge that their efforts bear no 
 proportion to the labours of these excellent 
 men, but entreat permission humbly to repre- 
 sent, that their motives and the nature of their 
 labours are exactly the same. 
 
 29. They also entreat permission further to 
 represent, that from the peculiarly delicate cir- 
 cumstances in which the efforts of the Mission- 
 ary Swartz w ere made, among natives w hose 
 bigotry greatly exceeds lliat of the natives of 
 this Presidency, and in the neighbourhood of 
 the most inveterate and formidable Mahometan 
 power which lias ever opposed the British na- 
 tion, they w ere led to suppose that if in these 
 circumstances, attempts to instruct natives in 
 the Christian religion were not injurious to the 
 public tranquillity, but rather meritorious, ihpy 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 161 
 
 could not l>e of a different nature in this Pre- 
 sidency? freed from every poR erful Mahometan 
 neighbour, and where the natives, divided into 
 numerous sects, indulge in literary and religi- 
 ous discussion to an almost unbounded degree. 
 
 30 . That all they have had an opportunity 
 of observing relative to the natives, has con- 
 vinced them of this being their true state and 
 disposition. They hare found that in numer- 
 ous iustances discussion has been desired by 
 tlseir native teachers, and approved by the mul- 
 titude, even when it has ended to the disadvan- 
 tage of their spirituai guides; that Christian 
 instruction has been sought both by Hindoos 
 and Mussulmans ; that the prudent dissemina- 
 tion of Christian instruction for thirteen years, 
 the baptism of more tlian a Imndred of the na- 
 tives, and the circuiation of several thousand 
 copies of the Scriptures, has created no alarm, 
 nor excited among them the least tlissatisfac- 
 tion, during the whole of tl'is period. Tijev 
 entreat permission also to add, that one of your 
 Lordship's Memorialists has been in the liabit, 
 for more than live years, of dispensing Ciiris- 
 tian instruction, in Calcutta, to his servants, 
 and such other nalives who choose to attend, 
 without observing the most distant appearance 
 of discontent.' 
 
 31 . Your Lords'nip’s Memoriaiists humbly 
 entreat permission further to intrude upon your 
 liordship's clemeney, and to represent, lliat 
 about a year ago a number of Armenians and 
 Protestant Portuguese, natives of Calcutta, 
 stated to them that they wished for Clirislian 
 iustfuciion, but were too little acquainted with 
 
 14 * 
 
162 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 l!ie En^Usli lan^ua^e to roceive it at the Eng- 
 lish ehureh : tiiey therefore entreated your 
 Lordship’s Memorialists to afford it them in 
 Bengalee, the only language in which tliey 
 could receive it, one of lliem offering to fit up 
 a part of his house for that purpose. Xot im- 
 agining that by thus affording instruction to 
 Protestant natives, they were acting contrary 
 to the will of Government, your Lordsliip’s 
 Memorialists felt it tlieir du^y to comply with 
 tliis rerpicst. And it is with the deepest con- 
 cern they learn that this lias been meiuioiied to 
 Government, as an atte:npt to inffame the minds 
 of the natives, and distin 1; the public tranquil- 
 lity. 
 
 32. They humbly beg leave to represent, that 
 liearing instrneti.Vii in their own language, na* 
 tives have occasi(uiai!y iistoned wilboiii, hut 
 that not the least appearance of dissatisfaction 
 has been oliscrsed among those who iiuve thus 
 oe e asiona 1 ly 1 i stened . 
 
 33. Your Lordship's Menicrialisls humbly 
 implore permission to represent, that it is with 
 the deepest concern they understand apprehen- 
 sions for the public tranquillity have been en- 
 tertained from the productions of their pressi 
 
 34. They therefore humbly enJrea permis- 
 sion to lay before your Lordship a correct list 
 of the pamphlets which have issued therefrom, 
 w ith a brief view of tlieir contents. 
 
 1. Tlie Gospel Messenger,” a short Ben- 
 galee poem, wiilten to announce the Iransiatioii 
 of tlie Scriptures. By a Hindoo Pundit, fav- 
 ourable to Christianity as aii ob ject of discus- 
 sion, but still professing Hindooisin. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 las 
 
 2. ‘‘The Dawn of Wisdom.” By the same 
 Punciit. Written to invite his couiitrymen to 
 the investi^^ation of Ch.ristianity. 
 
 3. “ News relative to t'ic Salvation of Man.” 
 
 4. “ A Summary of Ciiristian Boetriries.” 
 
 5. “ Tlie Words of Arfeetion.” a summary 
 of Christianity, with an invitation to the Bin- 
 (loos to examine it. 
 
 G. “ An Address to the Worsliippers of Jug- 
 gernaut ,” — i pages. 
 
 7. “ The DiSerence,” a comparison between 
 Khrishna a.nd Clirist. A translation of this, 
 and the 1st, 5th, and Gtli Articles, have been 
 published in England. 
 
 8. “ The Sure Refuge,” “ Salutary Coun- 
 sel,” and the “ Eniigiitcning Guide;” three 
 short Pieces addressed to his Countrymen llie 
 Hiinloos. By Petninher Sing, an aged native 
 Christian. 
 
 9. “ An Address to Mussulmans with an 
 A])pendix, contahiing some liccount of Mah- 
 omet. 
 
 35. Your Lordsisip's ^lemorialists humbly 
 entreat j>ermission to represent, that these pam- 
 phlets, with a few (hiteeliisms (two of tliem 
 ]Jr. Watts’s) includes every thing they have 
 printed in the luvlive languages, except the 
 Scriptures, a hook of ijymns. and. the element- 
 ary books printed for the fJollege of Fort Wil- 
 liam. The appendix in tiie 9th article is the 
 paniji’ilet, a Persian tian.siatinn of which was 
 laid before your Lordship. Tills is the only 
 one wliieii your Loielship's Memorialists have 
 at any time addressed 1o I'ie Alnss:i!inans, as 
 tiiey have general i v found them less fond of dis- 
 eussion than the ilindoos. They entreat per- 
 
16i 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 mission to add, (hat the Address was written 
 and printed in Engliiiid several years ago, and 
 was selected by your Lordship's Memorialists, 
 on account of its conciliatory tendency ; that 
 the Appendix was drawn up by your Lordship's 
 Memorialists about three years ago, at the re- 
 quest of a number of Mussulmans highly fond 
 of religious discussion ; tijat none of those ep- 
 ithets were used respecting JSLahomet which 
 appeared in the Persian translation, and that 
 your Lordship's Memorialists never lieard of 
 any Mussulman being displeased by the perusal 
 in the Bengalee of the original copy, aithougli 
 it has been read for nearly three years. They 
 entreat permission, liowever, to represent, tliat 
 on receiving tlie first information of your Lord- 
 ship's pleasure, tiiey withdiew it from circula- 
 tion in every form. 
 
 .30. They entreat permission to assure your 
 Lordship, that notliing cun he farther from 
 them, than an indifference to the public tran- 
 quilHty. Convinced as they are, by all the ob- 
 servations (hey have been able to make, that 
 the British Government is the greatest national 
 blessing vouchsafed by Divine Providence to In- 
 dia for many ages ; and that the safety of them- 
 selves and tlieir families, and of their native 
 converts, depends in a peculiar manner on the 
 permanent prosperity of the British Govern- 
 ment ; they entreat your Lordship to judge 
 whciher the dictates of Religion do not concur 
 with those of the soundest reason, in urging 
 them to promote, hy every possible means, tdie 
 peace, (ranquiliily. and prosperity of the Brit- 
 ish Empire in India. 
 
 3 \ Your Lordship's 3Icmoriali -ts humbly 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 165 
 
 entreat permission further to represent, that 
 they now have in the press transl.ttions of the 
 Scriptures in the Sangskrit, tiie Bengalee, tise 
 Hisidee, the Orissa, the MaJiratta, and the Guz- 
 zeratter languages, wliicli they iaave pleJged 
 themselves to the public in Britain, America, 
 and in India, to print at a stipulated price, a 
 price precluding any profit arising to them- 
 selves from this work of public and gratuitous 
 benevolence. 
 
 38. That for the sake of executing these 
 works, and others which they are printing at ii 
 stipulated price for the College of Fort Wil- 
 liam and the Asiatic Society, and the accom- 
 modation of those concerned in them, they have 
 been obliged to purchase and fit up premises at 
 an expense of more than sixty thousand rupees; 
 an expense involving them in debts which the 
 most persevering industry and the most rigid 
 economy has not enabled them in seven years 
 wholly to liquidate. They humbly entreat per- 
 mission further to state, that these premises, if 
 abandoned, could be let only fora small monthly 
 rent, and would indeed be ineligible to any sin- 
 gle family, or to persons in a different line of 
 business ; while premises equally spacious and 
 convenient could not be obtained at Calcutta 
 for the montlily rent of a thousand rupees. 
 
 89. That in consequence of the difference in 
 the price of house rent and other neeessaries 
 of life, naturally existing between the metrop- 
 olis of India and a small country town, the 
 wages of native workmen in the printing line 
 at Calcutta are nearly double those given at 
 Serampore. Such works, however, as your 
 Lordship'S Memorialists have engaged in, with 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 loa 
 
 a view to j)Dblie sale, relating clueHy (o Oj ieii- 
 tal Literature, are exceedingly Ilinited and pre- 
 carious in the sale, and will permit no addition 
 being niiide to their price. 
 
 40. That your Lordship’s Memorialists, with 
 their wives and children, forming a family of 
 more than thirty Europeans, are by their mis- 
 sionary circumstances laid under the necessity 
 of adopting a degree of economy and frugality 
 practicable only in a retired country situation 
 as well as of training up their children (twen- 
 ty in number) in the same course ; they there- 
 fore entreat permission to represent to your 
 Lordship's consideration, that these circum- 
 stances constrain them to contemplate a remo- 
 val to Calcutta with the utmost dread, as in- 
 volving the speedy and inevitable ruin of them- 
 selves and tiieir families. 
 
 41. They beg leave therefore to cast them- 
 
 selves on your Lordship’s clemency, and with 
 the utmost deference to submit their circHni- 
 stanees to your Lordship’s humanity and wis- 
 dom, humbly imploring the great Author of the 
 Cii.ristiaiTReiigiou to pour down on your Lord- 
 ship his choicest blessings, that yoiii Lordship’s 
 CioverDinent, tranquil and happy to your Lord- 
 ship, may be productive of the most benehcial 
 and lasting effects to the millions confided to 
 your Lordship’s care ; and that at a very dis- 
 tant period your Lordship may receive from 
 His gracious hand a crown of glory that fadeth 
 not away ! We have the honour to be, &c. 
 (Signed) TV. Carey, TFni. Moore, 
 
 Jo. Marshman, Josh. Jioive, 
 
 Wm. Ward, Felix Care^y^ 
 ^fission House, Scrampore, 30th Sept. 180r. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 ±67 
 
 No. Till. 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY CULTIVATED BY THE PRO- 
 TEST ANT IMISSION ARIES IN INDIA. 
 
 A VERY erroneous idea prevaiis in Eng- 
 land respecting the general character and pur- 
 suits of the Missionaries in India. The com- 
 mon impression is, that they hare no- occupa- 
 tion but that of preaching. The following ex- 
 tracts from a late publication of the aged Mis- 
 sionary, the Rev. Dr. Jolm, will, it is hoped, 
 tend to put the public mind right in this in- 
 stance. Dr. John has been forty years in In- 
 dia, being a member of ti'.e Alission at Tran- 
 quebar, in the South t and is now actively em- 
 ployed in the benevolent work of organizing 
 native schools, for the instruction of the Hin- 
 doos and others in general asenii knowledge. 
 At these seliools, it is optional for the children 
 to learn Christian principles or not. 
 
 The ?»lissionaries have not been negligent 
 of Indian literature or natural Jiistory, But have 
 communicated on these topics with the learned 
 of past and present times. What Ziegenbalg, 
 M^alter, M idebrog, have done in the first hall- 
 ceivtnry of the Mission, respecting Indian geo- 
 graphy, history, and religion, ancient vrritings, 
 6ce. may be seen in Niecamp's Extract of the 
 Mission Accounts, which has been published in 
 German and I^atin. 
 
 M'hen I arrived in India, I found in onr 
 Aiisslon Library a whole press of ancient man- 
 uscripts on palm leaves, concerning the Hindoo 
 or Brahmin religion, or Vedalis ami Shasters, 
 and oU medical science, of which there was 
 
163 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 a manuRcript book umlor the title of 
 ]\iejlleus ^Malabaiicus, and Mythologia Mala- 
 barica, and many more relics of botanical ob- 
 servations, witii oilier testimonies of the many 
 laliours and attentions of the older Missiona- 
 ries in difierent sciences. But by the in- 
 clemency of the climate, and the want of means 
 to preserve and pay due attention to tliese lit- 
 erary treasures, a great deal has been unhappi- 
 ly lost. However, what was still legible has 
 been copied, and made use of in later times. 
 
 Of the literary ti'ansaetions in the present 
 half century of the Mission, I will only men- 
 tion w ivh a grateful sense the merits of the late 
 Dr. Koeing, wlio was a scholar of the great 
 Linneens. Aly colleague, the Rev. Dr. Rottle; , 
 and myself, have profited much by his indefa- 
 llga!)ie zeal in communicating his extensive 
 knowledge of natural history, which he also 
 shewed to many English gentlemen when he 
 entered into the English service. 
 
 Afti r him Dr. Martiiti, and. in later years, 
 Dr. Klein, united us in this favourite science. 
 In acknowledgment of our services, we were 
 favoured by our plsilosopiiical friends w’itli fbeir 
 latest works on all the branches of natural his- 
 tory published by Chemnitz, Schreber, Esper, 
 Herbot, Wildenow, Ealsek and Russel, &.c. 
 To assist us in tliese pursuits, we found among 
 tlie natives many an able youtli, insomuch tliat 
 1 have succeeded in sending, during my stay in 
 India, above an liundred boxes of curiosities 
 collected in many eoiinlries and islands in the 
 Indian seas, besides tlie many botanical speci- 
 mens seiit i)y the Rev. Dr. Rottler and Dr. 
 Klein. 
 
APPENDIXi 
 
 169 
 
 In our missioii garden is kept a nursery of 
 the best most useful fruit trees, native and 
 foi eign. Tliis is open to Europeans and na- 
 tives in our district when lliey wish for planis. 
 If free schools shall be established and super- 
 intended by intelligent school rectors from 
 England and Germatiy, amongst tiiese some 
 will be acquainted with agriculture, grafting, 
 atql other particulars of gardening. Much of 
 this can be applied to our Indian climate. 
 Many barren or Jess cultivated lands can be 
 improved, and many hilly or flat districts tilled 
 with timber and fruit trees, or made to nourish 
 small grains and bulbs, cotton, dying and medi- 
 cal plants, &c. I am sure that many European 
 gentlemen wlio have or will lay out gardens 
 w ill be very glad iftljey can procure European 
 school inspeciors, w'no may occasionally super- 
 intend such gardens, and instruct tlm frequently 
 stupid and ignorant native gardeners in the 
 art of gardening. How much have I lamented 
 on my travels tlirough the country, esjiecially 
 aftp- destructive inundations when 1 have pass- 
 ed-'rivers, lakes, and tanks, that the banks on 
 many places are so ill attended to, though tlieir 
 frequent failures might so easily he prevented 
 by planting on them the most comm ui shrubs. 
 When, for instance, 1 travciied with the late 
 jHr. Gericke through the hills and villages 
 from Chingeiput to St. Thome, we conversed 
 together, and both felt nnich concern that these 
 long tracts were so liitle and so insuflicienlly 
 cultivated ; and I could not iielp expressing my 
 wish that I might have tliem under my dis- 
 posal and direction, if they were not so distant 
 15 
 
iro 
 
 APPEMDiJi. 
 
 from Tranqiiebar. How many millions of iLe 
 most useful palmeira trees, and ot':cr timber 
 and fruit trees, could be raised in the most bar- 
 ren billy districts, if the European inspectors 
 of free schools were placed throughout the 
 country ; who, in their visitations of the schools, 
 might attend to these objects, and engage the 
 nafive schoolmasters with their pupils to assist 
 in them at their leisure hours, and according 
 to their capacities. 1 would, indeed, particu- 
 larly advise that the poor children should by 
 no means sit the whole day, bent over their 
 books and palmeira leaves. If Dr. Bell and 
 Mr. Lajicaster's plans are gradually introduced, 
 the youth will learn in one forenoon more than 
 in an whole day, if the old custom should be 
 continued. In tlje afternoon, they can be em^ 
 ployed in some exercises of the body, in order 
 to make them, from their earliest age, industri- 
 ous, laborious, and active-— *fit for every useful 
 business. Thus may also those European rec- 
 tors of native schools, who have a knowledge 
 of mechanics, or who have been dyers, 
 ers, carpenters, instrument makers, and thjse 
 w ho have w orked in minerals, be of great use 
 in this country, and may make at least some of 
 their pupils acquainted with their respective 
 professions. 
 
 “ The European gentlemen, judges, collec- 
 tors, residents, and those in other stations in 
 tiie Honourable Company’s service, cannot at- 
 tend to or enter into the above-mentioned de- 
 tails, if they are not assisted by intelligent 
 men of a lower situation, who are contented 
 with small salaries, but can render themselves of 
 great use under their patronage ; not only in 
 attending to the schools, but to secondary em- 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 in 
 
 ploynienti?, such as those before named. IMy 
 late and living friends, Dr. Anderson, Dr. Rus- 
 sel, Dr. Boxburgh, and Dr. Benjaniin Hejne, 
 would undoubtedly have had much greater suc- 
 cess in their beneiicial researches, if they had 
 found such assistants as these in their pursuits.” 
 ■—Rev. C S. John on Indian Civiliz. ji. 39 — 43. 
 
 Dr. Carey and his fellow-labourers in the 
 North of India have not been inattentive to na- 
 tural history. Dr. Carey himself has studied 
 it more particularly, and cultivates a small bo- 
 tanical garden at Serampore. He has also at- 
 tendt^d to statistical and agricultural subjects. 
 See his paper “ On the State of Agriculture in 
 the District of Dinajpur;” inserted in Asiatic 
 Researches, vol. x. art. 1. 
 
 No. IX. 
 
 Report of the IMMOLATION of FEMALES, 
 
 between Cossimbazar, in Beng-al, and the Mouth of 
 the Hoog-hly, in the months of May and June, 1812, 
 (Extracted from an Account of the Writing's, Religi- 
 on, and Manners of the Hindoos, &c. by \V. Ward, 
 one of the Missionaries at Serampore.) 
 
 Places. 
 
 Pemale's Name. 
 
 Age. 
 
 Children 
 
 left. 
 
 Susbar.d’s Cast. 
 
 Kaleeka-poora 
 
 - Hira - - 
 
 - 18 
 
 1 
 
 Brail 77m 
 
 Ditto ... - 
 
 - Radha 
 
 - 22 
 
 2 
 
 Oilman 
 
 Ditto - - - 
 
 . Swkhee . 
 
 - 33 
 
 2 
 
 Blacksmith. 
 
 Ditto ... 
 
 - Sar77tee - 
 
 - 25 
 
 2 
 
 Brahmi.'n 
 
 Ditto ... 
 
 . Kflomaree 
 
 - 40 
 
 4 
 
 Carpenter 
 
 Balooch?/ra 
 
 - Karainee 
 
 - 32 
 
 3 
 
 Brahm77n 
 
 Bam7/nfya 
 
 - Rajee 
 
 - 25 
 
 3 
 
 Kaist’ha 
 
 Ditto ... 
 
 - Roopee - 
 
 - 25 
 
 2 
 
 Brail m77n 
 
 Shree-n?^g7^ra 
 
 - Fumula - 
 
 - 31 
 
 3 
 
 Carpenter 
 
 J?7y 77-para 
 
 - Ko77sh77lya 
 
 - 45 
 
 5 
 
 Gardener 
 
 Ditto . 
 
 - Five women — 
 
 4 
 
 Merchant 
 
 Kaalu'm-bazar 
 
 - Soond77ree 
 
 - 35 
 
 O 
 
 Goldsmith 
 
 Pitto - - - 
 
 - Dasee 
 
 - 34 
 
 o 
 
 9 
 
 Brasier 
 
1^3 APPENDIX. 
 
 ftacu. 
 
 
 Ftntnlc's Name. 
 
 Age. 
 
 Children 
 
 left. 
 
 Huiband'i Ca:t. 
 
 Ciilcutta - 
 
 - 
 
 - Slivaraee 
 
 - 32 
 
 2 
 
 Brai.mwn 
 
 Ditto - - 
 
 - 
 
 - Tara - - 
 
 - 19 
 
 1 
 
 Goldsmith 
 
 Ditto - - 
 
 - 
 
 - Soondw’ee 
 
 - 31 
 
 3 
 
 Blacksmith 
 
 Ditto - - 
 
 - 
 
 - Jeei-a 
 
 - 25 
 
 3 
 
 Kiv/irtto 
 
 Bihya - - 
 
 - 
 
 - Rammuiiee 
 
 - 27 
 
 2 
 
 Brahmt/n 
 
 K^fniula-poora 
 
 - IRftuna - 
 
 - 16 
 
 0 
 
 Husbandman 
 
 Ditto - - 
 
 - 
 
 - Mi/nee - 
 
 - 33 
 
 3 
 
 Oilman 
 
 Ditto - - 
 
 - 
 
 - Dasee 
 
 - 25 
 
 2 
 
 Goldsmith 
 
 Ditto - - 
 
 - 
 
 - Bhwppfvidee 38 
 
 4 
 
 Rajpootfl 
 
 Ditto - - 
 
 . 
 
 - L?/kshinee 
 
 - 60 
 
 5 
 
 ■Washerman 
 
 Ditto - - 
 
 - 
 
 - Shyamee 
 
 - 50 
 
 3 
 
 Gardener 
 
 Ditto - - 
 
 
 
 - 38 
 
 4 
 
 Oilman 
 
 3^fana-singlm 
 
 pooraDarrunee 
 
 - 40 
 
 3 
 
 Kaist’ha 
 
 Ditto - - 
 
 - 
 
 - Piidma - 
 
 - 33 
 
 2 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Ditto - - 
 
 - 
 
 - Lideeta - 
 
 - 45 
 
 6 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Ditto - - 
 
 - 
 
 Somee - 
 
 - 30 
 
 3 
 
 Carpenter 
 
 Burdhmaii 
 
 - 
 
 - Koomaree 
 
 - 23 
 
 O 
 
 Rajpoota 
 
 Ditto - - 
 
 - 
 
 - Droptidee 
 
 - 31 
 
 3 
 
 Carpenter 
 
 Ditto - - 
 
 - 
 
 - Tripoc/ra 
 
 - 38 
 
 4 
 
 Blackmith 
 
 Koch7i-n?igtira 
 
 - Dwya 
 
 - 35 
 
 4 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Brahmuii-poora 
 
 - Nt/yanee 
 
 . 21 
 
 3 
 
 Weaver 
 
 Xwya-sevai 
 
 - 
 
 - Sidhoo 
 
 - 25 
 
 3 
 
 Potter 
 
 Inkoo-seraj 
 
 - 
 
 - llif 111 trace 
 
 - 19 
 
 1 
 
 Brahm?m 
 
 Ditto - - 
 
 . 
 
 - Swkhee - 
 
 - 32 
 
 o 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Ditto - - 
 
 . 
 
 - Shomee - 
 
 - 30 
 
 3 . 
 
 Barber 
 
 Shree-niig^^ra 
 
 - Vimtila - 
 
 - 31 
 
 3 
 
 Carpenter 
 
 Ram-poora 
 
 - 
 
 - Shyamee 
 
 - 38 
 
 3 
 
 Brahmmi 
 
 Aimr-poora 
 
 - 
 
 - K/nee 
 
 - 15 
 
 1 
 
 Bagdee 
 
 Gopal-nwg'wra 
 
 - Soiia - - 
 
 - 39 
 
 o 
 
 Ki'.tirtta 
 
 iMamk;-p5orrt 
 
 - 
 
 - Bh?/\vunee 
 
 - 29 
 
 3 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Ditto - - 
 
 - 
 
 - Bhabniee 
 
 - 38 
 
 2 
 
 Gardener 
 
 Ditto - - 
 
 - 
 
 - S7ii*w3svutee 
 
 19 
 
 1 
 
 Oilman 
 
 Ditto - - 
 
 . 
 
 - V^s^'k^a 
 
 - 40 
 
 4 
 
 Weaver 
 
 Tareshwwia 
 
 - 
 
 - Shyamee 
 
 - 37 
 
 4 
 
 B ulimwi 
 
 Ichan77g77i-ya 
 
 - 
 
 - Pi/ya 
 
 - 17 
 
 1 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Ditto - - 
 
 - 
 
 - Clutra 
 
 - 52 
 
 4 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Ditto - - 
 
 - 
 
 - Kalmdee 
 
 - 25 
 
 2 
 
 Oilman 
 
 Kaiiflya 
 
 - 
 
 - ]MohzViee 
 
 - 33 
 
 4 
 
 Barber 
 
 'I'eghwiiya 
 
 - 
 
 - So6»nduree 
 
 - 38 
 
 3 
 
 Kiv7/rtta 
 
 Ditto - - 
 
 - 
 
 - Siitzsliee - 
 
 - 33 
 
 3 
 
 Barber 
 
 Ditto - - 
 
 . 
 
 - Xt/yanee 
 
 - 25 
 
 3 
 
 Brahmtzn 
 
 Dhunakz^h* 
 
 - 
 
 - 12 women 
 
 - — 
 
 30 
 
 K. Brahmtm 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 173 
 
 This last mentioned Brahm?m had married 
 twenty-five women, thirteen of ^^hom died dur- 
 ing his life-time : the remaining twelve perish- 
 ed with him on the funeral pile, leaving thirty 
 children to deplore the fatal effects of this hor- 
 rid system. 
 
 Some years ago, a Kooleena Brahm2in,of con- 
 siderable property, died at Sooknclmra, three 
 miles east of Serampore. He had married more 
 than forty women, all of w hom died before him 
 excepting eighteen. On this occasion, a fire, 
 extending ten or twelve yards in length, was 
 prepared, into which the remaining eighteen 
 threw themselves, leaving more than forty 
 children, many of whom are still living. 
 
 No. X. 
 
 TESTIMONY of the Hon. ihc East-lndia 
 Company to the Character of Mr. Sa'Akrz.* 
 
 (Extracted from a Preface to a Funeral Sermon, ]>Teach- 
 ed in St. Mary’s Church, Fort St. George, by order 
 of the Hon. Court of Directors, on the opening- of Mr. 
 vSwartz'.- Monument set up in that Church. By R. H. 
 Kerr, D. D. Senior Chaplam of Fort St. George.) 
 
 PUBLIC DEPARTMENT. 
 
 To Rev. l)r. Kerr, Sen. Chap. atFort.St. George. 
 kevehexd sir, 
 
 I am directed by the Rt. Hon. the Governor 
 in Council to enclose, for your information and 
 
 * Suppresssd by the Bengal Government. 
 
 15 * 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 in 
 
 guidance, the Extract of_a late Letter from the 
 Hon. the Court of Directors, and to inform you 
 of the wish of his Lordship in Council, that early 
 measures may be taken for erecting in St.Mary’s 
 Church the nionumeut which has been transmit- 
 ted to this place by the Hon. Court, as a tribute of 
 respect to the memory of the lateRevMr.Swarfz. 
 
 2. His Lordship in Council directs me also 
 to express his confidence that your endeavour 
 w ill be exerted to give every practicable eftect to 
 the farther suggestions of the Hon. Court, with 
 regard to the best means of conveying an ade- 
 quate impression of the exalted worth of that 
 revered character, and his Lordship will be 
 prepared to give every facility to the measures 
 which you may propose on this subject. 
 
 I have the honour to be, &c. 
 
 G. BUCH AN, Chief Sec. 
 
 Fort St. Georg-e, 16th June, ISOr. 
 
 E.vtract of a General Letter from England, in 
 the Public Department, dated Oct. 20, 1806. 
 
 3. By our extra ship the Union you will re- 
 ceive in four packing-cases, numbered 1 to 4, a 
 marble Monument, which has been executed 
 by Mr. Bacon under our directions, to the me- 
 mory of the Rev. Christian Frederick Sw artz, 
 as the most appropriate testimony of the deep 
 sense w e entertain of his transcendant merit, of 
 liis unwearied and disinterested labours in the 
 cause of religion tind piety, and the exercise of 
 the purest and most exalted benevolence ; also 
 of his public services at Tanjore, w here the in- 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 ±75 
 
 Alienee of his name and character, through the 
 unbounded confidence and veneration which they 
 inspired, was for a long course of years pro- 
 ductive of important benefits to the Company. 
 
 4. On no subject has the Court of Directors 
 been more unanimous, than in their anxious de- 
 sire to perpetuate the memory of this eminent 
 person, and to excite in others an emulation of 
 liis great example: we accordingly direct, that 
 the Monument be erected in some conspicuous 
 situation near the altar, in the Church of St. 
 Mary, in the Fort St. George ; and that you 
 adopt, in conjunction and with the assistance of 
 the Rev. Dr. Kerr, the Senior Chaplain at your 
 Presidency, any other measures that your judg- 
 ment shall suggest, as likely to give effect to 
 these our intentions, and to render them impres- 
 sive on the minds of the public at your settle- 
 ment. As one of the most efficacious, we would 
 recommend that, on the first Sunday after the 
 erection of the Monument, a discourse adapted 
 to the occasion be delivered by the Senior Chap- 
 lain. We desire also that the native inhabi- 
 tants, by whom Mr. Swartz was so justly rever- 
 ed, may be permitted and encouraged to view 
 the Monument, after it shall have been erected ; 
 and that translations be made of the inscription, 
 into the country languages, be published at Ma- 
 dras, and copies sent to Tanjore and the other 
 districts in which Mr. Swartz occasionally re- 
 sided and established seminaries for religious 
 iustruction. 
 
 5 . We were much gratified by learning that 
 his Excellency the Rajah of Tanjore had also 
 been desirous of erecting a Monument to the 
 memory of ISir. Swartz, ia the Church which 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 iro 
 
 was built by Mr. Swartz himself in the inner 
 fort of* that capital, and had sent directions ac- 
 cordingly to this country, in consequence of 
 which a Monument has been executed by Mr. 
 Flaxman. We shall give directions for its be- 
 ing received on board one of our ships free of 
 freight; and we desire that you \\ill aSbrd eve- 
 ry facility towards its conveyance to Tanjore. 
 (A true Extract) G. G. KEBLE, ^'ec. 
 
 COPY 
 
 OF THE mSCRIPTIOX ON* 
 
 MR. SWAUTZ’s MONUMENT. 
 
 C Dictated by the Hon. Court of Directors. J 
 
 SACRED TO THE MEMORY 
 
 of the Reteheitd FnErEHicK Christian Swartz, 
 Whose life was one continued effort to imitate the 
 Example of his BLESSED MASTER. 
 Employed as a Protestant Missionary from the 
 Goverxmext of Denmark, 
 
 And in the same character by the Society in Exgeaxd 
 for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, 
 
 He, during a period of fiftt tears, “ Went about 
 Doing Good 
 
 Manifesting, in respect to himself, the most entire 
 abstraction from temporal views, 
 
 But embracing every opportunity of promoting both 
 the temporal and eternal Welfare of others 
 In him beligiot appeared not witli a gloomy aspect 
 or forbidding mien. 
 
 But with a graceful form and placid dignity* 
 Among the many fruits of his indefatigable labours was 
 the erection of the church at Tatjore. 
 
 The savings from a small salary were, for many years, 
 devoted to the pious work. 
 
 And the remainder of the expence supplied by 
 Individuals, at his solieUation, 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 irr 
 
 The Christian Seminaries at R.uixADPOTiA>r and in 
 The Tia'xevelly province were established by him, 
 1^0 loved and honoured by Europeans, 
 
 IJe was, if possible, held in still deeper reverence by the 
 natives of this country, of every degree & every sect; 
 And their unbounded confidence in his integrity and 
 Truth was, on many occasions rendered highly 
 beneficial to the public service. 
 
 The POOH and the i^'Juhed 
 L ooked up to him as an unfailing friend and advocate ; 
 Tlie GREAT and powerfgi. 
 
 Concurred in yielding him the highest homage ever paid 
 in this Quarter of the Globe to Eijropea>^ virtue. 
 
 The late Hyder Ally Cawk, 
 
 In the midst of a bloody and vindictive war with tire 
 Carxatic, sent orders to his Officers “to permit 
 the venerable father Swartz to pass unmolested, and 
 shew him respect and kindness, for he is a 
 Holy ]Man and means no harm to my Government.” 
 
 The late Tuxjaja, Rajah of Taxjore, 
 when on his deaih-bed, desii’ed to entrust to his protect- 
 ing care his adopted Son, Serfojee, the present Rajah, 
 with tlie administration of all affairs of ids Country. 
 On a spot of ground granted to him by the same Prince, 
 two Miles east of Tanjorc, 
 
 He built a House for his Residence and made it an 
 
 OHP.HAX ASYLUJI. 
 
 Here the last twenty years of his life were spent in the 
 education and reiigious instruction of Children, 
 Particularly those of indigent parents — whom he 
 gratuitously maintained and instructed : 
 
 And here, on the 13th of Februa.ry, 1798, 
 Surrounded by his infant dock and in the presence of 
 several of his disconsolate brethren. 
 Entreating them to continue to make religio^t 
 tlie first object of their care. 
 
 And imploring witli his last breath the Divine Blessing 
 on their Labours, he closed 
 His truly Christian Career, in the 72d year of his Age. 
 THE EaST-InDIA CoJIPAVY, 
 
 Anxious to perpetuate the memory of such transcendant 
 Worth, and gratefully sensible of the Public Benefits 
 w hicb resulted from its influence, 
 
 Caused this Monument to be erected, A. D. 1807, 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 iT8 
 
 No. XI. 
 
 T^ie APOLOGY of Air, SfVAnrz, in Answer 
 to a Speech delivered in the British Parlia- 
 ment^ in 1793 . — f Extracted from the Pro- 
 ceedings of the Honourable Society for pro- 
 vioting Christian Knowledge. J 
 
 A LETTER* lias been received from Mr. 
 t^wartz, dated at Taiijore, February 13, 1794, 
 written in consequence of his having perused 
 at Vallani, in a newspaper called the Courier, 
 of Friday, May 34th, 1793, some animadver- 
 sions on their Mission, the Missionaries in gen- 
 eral, and himself in particular, and containing 
 a vindication of himself, the other Missiona- 
 ries, and the Missions, against the misrepre- 
 sentations produced to the public in those ani- 
 madversions. This letter, being of a particu- 
 larly interesting nature, the Society judge fit 
 to produce at length. 
 
 Tanjore, February 13, 1794. 
 Reverend and dear Sir., 
 
 As his Majesty’s 74th Regiment is partly 
 stationed at Tanjore, and partly at Yallam, 
 six English miles distant from Tanjore, we 
 
 * As the Soclet}', after forty years’ experience, have 
 had constant reason to approve of INIr Swartz’s inte.ffri- 
 ty and veracity as a correspondent, his zeal as a promo- 
 ter of Christian knowledg-e, and his labours as a ■Missi- 
 onary ; they take this opportunity of acknowledging 
 his faithful services, and recommending his letter to 
 the consideration of the public, as containing a just 
 statement of facts relating to the Mission, believing 
 Mr. S. is incapable of departing from the truth in the 
 rniniitest particular. 
 
APPtTfDIX. 
 
 Commoniy go once in a week to Vallain, to per- 
 form Divine service to four companies of that 
 regiment. 
 
 When I lately went to that place, the 230th 
 number of a newspaper^ called the Courier, 
 Friday evening, May 24th, 1793, was commu- 
 nicated to me. 
 
 In that paper I found a paragraph, delivered 
 by Mr. Montgomerie Campbell (who came out 
 to Intlia with Sir Archibald Campbell, in the 
 station of a Private Secretary,) wherein my 
 name w as mentioned in the following manner : 
 
 “ Mr. M. Campbell gave his decided vote 
 against the clause, and reprobated the idea of 
 converting the Gentoos. It is true. Missiona- 
 ries have made proselytes of the Parriars ; but 
 they were the lowest order of people, and had 
 even degraded the religion they professed to 
 embrace. 
 
 “ Mr. Swartz, whose character was held so 
 deservedly high, could not have any reason to 
 boast of the purity of his followers : they were 
 proverbial for their profligacy. An instance 
 occurred to his recollection perfectly in point: 
 he had been preaching for many hours to this 
 cast of proselytes on the heinousness of theft, 
 and, in the heat of his discourse, taken oS’ his 
 stock, when that and his gold buckle were stol- 
 en by one of his virtuous and enlightened con- 
 gregation. In such a description of natives 
 did the doctrine of t}*e Missionaries operate. 
 Men of high cast would spurij at the idea of 
 changiug the religion of their ancestors.” 
 
 As this paragraph is found in a public pa- 
 per, I thought it would not displease the Hon- 
 ourable Society to make a few observations on 
 
180 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 it ; not to boast (\> liieh I defesf,) but to doeiore 
 tlie plain Irulh, and to defend iny brethren and 
 inyseir. 
 
 About seventeen years asjo, when I resided 
 at Trie binopoly, 1 visited the Congregation at 
 Tanjore. In my road I arrived very early at 
 a village which is inhabited by Collaries (a set 
 of people wiio are infamous for stealing; even 
 tfie name of a Collary, or better Calien, signi- 
 lies a thief.) These Collaries make nightly 
 excursions in order to rob. They drive away 
 bi’.i locks and sheep, and w hatever they can find ; 
 for whieli outrage they annually pay IjOO 
 chokr. or 7.;0 pagodas, to the Rajah. 
 
 Of this east of people, many live iii the Tan- 
 jore country, still more in Tondimairs couiitrv, 
 and likewise in the Nabob's country. 
 
 W.ben I arrived at one of these villages, call- 
 ed Pudaloor, I took off my stock, pulling it on 
 a sand-buiik. Advancing a little, to look out 
 for the man who had carried niy iinnen clothes, 
 1 was regardless of the slock; at which time 
 some thievish boys took it away. Not one 
 grown person was present. When the inhabi- 
 tants lieard of the theft, they desired me to con- 
 fine all those hoys, and to punish them as se- 
 verely as I pleased ; hot 1 refused to do tliat, 
 not thinking tiuit the trifle which I had lost was 
 worth so much trouble. 
 
 That such hoys, w hose fathers are professed 
 thieves- sh;>uld commit a theft, can he no mat- 
 ter of w onder. All the village w ere heathens ; 
 not one Chi istian family was found therein. — 
 Many of our gentlemen, travelling through 
 that viijuge, have been robbed. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 181 
 
 The trifle of a buckle I did not therefore lose 
 hy a Christian, as Mr. M. Campbell will have 
 it, but by heathen boys. 
 
 Neither did I preach at that time ; Mr. M. 
 Campbell says that I preached two hours. I 
 did not so much as converse with any man. 
 
 This poor story, totally misrepresented, is 
 alleged by Mr. M. Campbell to prove the profli- 
 gacy of Christians, whom he called with a 
 sneer, “ virtuous and enlightened people.” 
 
 If Mr. M. Campbell has no better proof, 
 liis conclusion is built upon a bad foundation, 
 and I shall not admire his logic : truth is 
 against him. 
 
 Neither is it true, that the best part of those 
 people who have been instructed are Parriars, 
 Had Mr. M. Campbell visited, even once, our 
 Church, he w ould have observed that more than 
 two thirds ivere of the higher cast ; and so is it 
 at Tranquebar and Vepery. 
 
 Our intention is not to boast; hut this I may 
 safely say, that many of those people who have 
 been instructed have left this world with com- 
 fort, and with a well grounded hope of ever- 
 lasting life. 
 
 That some of those who have been instructed 
 and baptized, have abused the benefit^ of in- 
 struction, is certain : but all sincere servants 
 of God, nay, even the Apostles, have experienc- 
 ed this grief. 
 
 It is asserted, that a Missionary is a dis- 
 grace to any country. Lord Macartney and 
 the late General Coote would have entertained 
 a very different opinion. They, and many oth- 
 er gentlemen, know and acknowledge, that the 
 16 
 
183 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Missionaries have been benefickil to Goveru- 
 meiit, and a comfort to the country. 
 
 This 1 am able to prove in the strongest 
 manner. Many gentlemen who live now in 
 England, and in this country, would corroborate 
 my assertion*. 
 
 That the Reverend Mr. Gerieke has been of 
 eminent service at Cuddalore, every gentleman, 
 >vho was at Cuddalore at the lime when the war 
 broke out, knows. He was the instrument in 
 the hands of Providence, by which Cuddalore 
 was saved from plunder and bloodshed. 
 
 He saved many gentlemcsi from becoming 
 prisoners to Hyder, which Lord Macartney 
 kindly acknowledged. 
 
 When Negapatam, that rich and populous 
 city, fell into the deepest poverty, by the una- 
 vodiable consequences of war, Mr. Gerieke be- 
 haved like a father to the distressed people of 
 that city. He forgot that he had a family to 
 provide for. Iviany impoverished families were 
 supported by him ; so that w hen I, a few months 
 ago, preached and administered the Sacrament 
 in that place, I saw many wlio ow ed their and 
 their children’s lives to his disinterested care. 
 Surely this, my friend, could not be called a 
 disgrace to that place. When the Honourable 
 Society ordered him to attend the Congregation 
 at Madras, all lamented his departure: and at 
 Madras, he is esteemed by the Governor and 
 many other gentlemen to this day. 
 
 It is a most disagreeable task to speak of 
 one’s self. However, 1 hope that the Honoura- 
 ble Society will not look upon some observa- 
 lious which 1 am to make,, as a vain and sinful 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 183 
 
 fcoastingj but rather as a necessary self-defence. 
 >ieither the Missionaries, nor any of the Chris* 
 tians, have hurt the welfare of the country. 
 
 In the time of war, the Fort of 'I'anjore was 
 in a distressed condition. A powerful enemy 
 w as near, the people in the Fort numerous, and 
 not provision even for the garrison. There 
 was grain enough in the country, but we had 
 no bullocks to bring it into the Fort. When 
 the country people formerly brought paddy in- 
 to the Fort, the rapacious Dubashes deprived 
 them of their due pay: hence all confidence 
 was lost, so that the inhabitants drove away 
 their cattle, refusing to assist the Fort. The 
 late Rajah entreated the people, by his mana- 
 gers, to come and help us ; but all was in vain. 
 
 At last the Rajah said to one of our princi- 
 pal gentlemen : “ fVe all, you and I, have lest 
 our credit : let us try whether the inhabitants 
 will trust Mr. Swartz.^^ Accordingly he sent 
 me a blank paper, empowei'ing me to make a 
 proper agreement with the people. Here was 
 no time for hesitation. The Sepoys fell dowm 
 as dead people, being emaciated with hunger : 
 our streets were lined with dead corpses every 
 morning : our condition w as deplorable. I 
 sent, therefore, letters every where round about, 
 promising to pay any one with my own hands, 
 and to pay them for any bullock which might 
 be taken by tlie enemy. In one or two days, I 
 got above a thousand bullocks, and ‘ient one of 
 our Catechists and other Christians into the 
 country. They went at the risk of laeir lives, 
 made all possible haste, and brought into the 
 Fort, in a very short time, 80.000 kallams. By 
 17 
 
184 . 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Ihis means tlie Fort was saved. When all was 
 over, 1 paid the people (even with some money 
 which bel >nged to others,) made them a small 
 present, and sent them home. 
 
 The next year, when Colonel Braithwaite 
 with his whole detachment was taken prisoner, 
 Major Alcock commanded this Fort, and be- 
 haved very kindly to the poor starving people. 
 We were then, the second time, in the same 
 miserable condition. The enemy always in- 
 vaded the country when the harvest was nigh 
 at hand. I was again desired to try my for- 
 mer expedient, and succeeded. The people 
 knew that they were not to be deprived of their 
 pay : they therefore came with their cattle. 
 But now the danger was greater, as the enemy 
 was very near. The Christians conducted the 
 inhabitants to proper places, surely with no 
 small danger of losing their lives. Accord- 
 ingly they wept, and went, and supplied the 
 Fcrt with grain. AVhen the inhabitants were 
 paid, I strictly inquired whether any of the 
 Christians, had taken from them a present. 
 They all said, “ No, no ; as we were so regu- 
 larly paid, we offered to your Catechist a cloth 
 of small value, but he absolutely refused it.” 
 
 But Mr. Campbell says, that the Christians 
 are profligate to a proverb. 
 
 If Mr. M. Campbell was near me, I would 
 explain to him who are the profligate people 
 who drain the country. When a Dubash, in 
 the space of ten or fifteen years, scr.apes to- 
 gether, two, three, or four lacks of pagodas, 
 is not this extortion a high degree of profli- 
 gacy ? 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 1S5 
 
 Xay, Goveni’.nent was obliged to send an 
 order, that three of those Gentoo I3ubashes 
 should quit the Tanjore country. I'he enor- 
 mous crimes eoinmitted by them tilled the 
 country with complaints; but I have no mind 
 to enumerate tliem. 
 
 It is asserted, that the inhabitants of the 
 country would suffer by Missionaries. 
 
 If the Missionaries are sincere Christians, it 
 is impossible that the inhabitants sliouid suSer 
 any damage by them : if they are not what 
 they profess to be, they ought to be dismissed. 
 
 M^iien Sir A. Campbell was Governor, and 
 Mr. M. Campbell his Private Secretary, tlie 
 inhabitants of the I’anjore co!intry were so 
 miserably oppressed by the Manager and the 
 Madras Dubaslies, that they quitted the country. 
 Of course, ail cultivation ceased. In the month 
 of June, the cultivation should commence; but 
 nothing was done, even at tlie begiiining of 
 September. Every one dreaded tlie eaiumity 
 of a famine. I entreated the Hajaii to remove 
 that shameful oppression, and to reeal tlie in- 
 habitants. He sent them word, that justice 
 should be done to tliein; but they disbelieved 
 his promises. He then desired to write to 
 them, and to assure them, that l;e, at my inter- 
 cession, would sliew kindness to them. I did 
 50. All immediately returned: and first of all 
 the Kailcr (or as they are commonly called 
 Coliaries) believed my word, so that 7,0v00 men 
 Came back in one day. The other inhabitasits 
 Coilowed their example. "When I exiiortcd 
 them to exert themselves to the utmost because 
 the time for cultivation was almost lost, they 
 18 
 
AVl’ENDIJi. 
 
 iS6 
 
 replied in tl)e following mannor; ‘‘ As y«)ij have 
 sliewed kindness to ns, yon shall not have reas<m 
 |o repent of it : we intend to work night and 
 day, to shew onr regard for yon.” 
 
 Sir xV. Campbell was happy when he heard 
 of it; and we had the satisfaction of haviug^a 
 better crop than the preceding year. 
 
 As there was hardly any administration of 
 justice, I begged and entreated the Rajah to 
 establish justice in his country. “ Well,” said 
 lie, “ let me know wherein my people are op- 
 pressed.” 1 did so. He immediately consent- 
 ed to my proposal, and tolil iiis manager, that 
 he should feel liis ind.ignalion. if the oppression 
 *lid not cease immetiiately. Bat he soon died : 
 he did not see the exeention. 
 
 When tile present Rajah began his reign, I 
 put Sir A. Caniphell in mind of that necessary 
 jioint. He dhsired me to make a plan lor a 
 court of justice, wiiich I did; hut it was soon 
 neglected by the servjints of the Rajah, who 
 commonly sold justice to the best bidder. 
 
 When the Honourable Company took pos- 
 session of the country, during the war, the plan 
 for introducing justice was reassumed, by which 
 many people were made happy. But when tiie 
 country was restored to the Rajah the former 
 irregularities took place. 
 
 During the assumption. Government desired 
 me to assist the gentlemen collectors, 'i'lie 
 district towards the west of Tanjore had been 
 very much neglected, so tliat the water-courses 
 Jiad not been cleansed for the last fifteen years. 
 I proposed that the collector should advance 
 500 pagodas to cl.eiinse those water-courses. 
 
APPEXDIX. 
 
 i&7 
 
 The gentlemen consented, if I would inspect 
 the business. The work was begun and finish- 
 ed, being inspected by Christians. Ail that 
 part of the country rejoiced in getting 100,000 
 kallanis more than before. The inhabitants 
 confessed, that instead of one kallam they now 
 reaped four. 
 
 JSo inhabitant has suifered by Christians : 
 none has complained of it. On the contrary, 
 one of the richest inhabitants said to me; “Sir, 
 if you send a person to us, send one who has 
 learned all your Ten Commandments.*’ For 
 he and many hundred inhabitants had been 
 present, when I explained the Christian doc- 
 trine to Heathens and Christians. 
 
 The inhabitants dread the conduct of a 
 Madras Dubash. These people leud money to 
 the Rajah at an exorbitant interest, and then 
 are permitted to collect their money and inter- 
 est ill an appointed district. It is needless to 
 mention the consequences. 
 
 When the Coliaries committed great out- 
 rages ill their plundering expeditions, Sepoys 
 were sent out to adjust matters ; but it had no 
 effect. Government desired me to inquire into 
 the thieyish business : I therefore sent letters 
 to the head Coliaries. They ‘appeared. AYe 
 found out, in some degree, how much the Tan- 
 jore and Tondaman’s and the Nabob’s Coliaries 
 had stolen ; and we insisted upon restoration, 
 which was done accordingly. 
 
 At last all gaye in writing, that they would 
 steal no more. This promise they kept for 
 eight months, and then they began their old 
 work : however, not as before. Had the in- 
 
188 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 spection over their conduct been continued, they 
 iniglit have been made useful people. I insist- 
 ed upon their cultivating their fields, which 
 they really did. But if the demands became 
 exorbitant, they have no resource, as they think, 
 hut that of plundering. 
 
 At last some of tiiose thievish Collaries de- 
 sired to be instructed. I said, “ I am obliged 
 to instruct you ; but I am afraid that you will 
 become very bad Christians.” Their promises 
 were fair. I instructed them ; and when they 
 had a tolerable knowledge, I baptized them. 
 Having baptized them, I exhorted them to steal 
 no more, but to work industriously. After that 
 I visited them; and having examined' their 
 knowledge, I desired to see their work. I ob- 
 served with pleasure, that their fields were ex- 
 cellently cultivated. “ Now,” said I, ‘‘ one 
 thing remains to be done; you must pay your 
 tribute readily, and not wait till it is exacted 
 by military force,” which otherwise is their 
 custom. Soon after that, I found that they had 
 paid oflF their tribute exactly. 
 
 The only complaint against those Christian 
 Collaries was, that they refused to go upon 
 plundering expeditions as they had done before. 
 
 Now I am well aware, that some will accuse 
 me of boasting. I confess the charge willingly, 
 hut lay all the blame upon those who have con- 
 strained me to commit that folly. 
 
 I might have enlarged my account ; hut fear- 
 ing that some characters would have suftered 
 by it, I stop here. 
 
 One thing, however, I affirm, before God and 
 man, that if Christianity, in its plain and imdis- 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 189 
 
 guised form, ^vas properly promoted, the country 
 uoukl not suffer, but be benefited by if. 
 
 If Christians were employed in some impor- 
 tant offices, tliey should, if they misbehaved, be 
 doubly punished ; but to reject them entirety 
 is not right, and discourageth. 
 
 The glorious God, and our blessed Redeemer, 
 has commanded his Apostles to preach the Gos- 
 pel to all nations. 
 
 The knowledge of God, of his divine perfec- 
 tions, and of his mercy to mankind, may be abus- 
 ed; but there is no other method of reclaiming 
 mankind, than by instructing them well. To 
 hope that the heathens will Jive a good life, 
 without the knowledge of God, is a chimera. 
 
 The praise bestowed on the heathens of this 
 country by many of our historians, is refuted by 
 a close (I might also say by a superficial) in- 
 spection of their lives. Many historical works 
 are more like romances than liistory. Many 
 gentlemen here are astonished how some histo- 
 rians have prostituted their talents, by writing 
 fables.* 
 
 I am now at the brink of eternity ; but to this 
 moment I declare, that I do not repent of having 
 spent forty-three years in the service of my Di- 
 vine Master. Who knows but God may remove 
 some of the great obstacles to the propagation of 
 
 . * I would not apply the above censure pronoxinccvl, 
 by Mr. Swartz, on certain accounts which he had peru- 
 sed, to the panegyric on the Hindoos, which we liave 
 recently heard from Mr. Buller, Mr. Marsh, and others ; 
 but I would only beg leave to suggest to them, a more 
 measured phrase in describing the character of any Pa- 
 gan people in the cars of the British public. 
 
490 
 
 APPENDIX, 
 
 the Gospel ? Should a reformation take place 
 amongst the Europeans, it would, no doubt, be 
 the greatest blessing to the country. 
 
 These observations I beg leave to lay before 
 the Honourable Society, with ray humble thanks 
 for all their benefits bestowed on this work, and 
 sincere wishes that their pious and generous 
 endeavours to disseminate the knowledge of 
 God, and Jesus Christ, may be beneficial to 
 many thousands, 
 
 I am sincerely. 
 
 Reverend and dear Sir, 
 
 Your affectionate brother and humble servant, 
 (Signed) C. F. SWARTZ,