1813 
 V-7 
 
 '-n \ddress to the Public, on an 
 Important Subject: Connected with the 
 Renewal of the Charter of the 
 Tn *la Company. 
 
 By 
 Robert Hall
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES
 
 AN 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 TO THE PUBLIC, 
 
 ON AN 
 
 ^important >ut>ject, 
 
 CONNECTED WITH 
 
 THE RENEWAL OF THE CHARTER 
 
 OF THK 
 
 EAST INDIA COMPANY. 
 
 By ROBERT HALL, A. M. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 fdote* bf W. Henlifre, Checker Yard, Owte HiJt 
 
 PUBLISHED BV JOSIAH CONDER, BUCKLERSBURY. 
 
 tfrnmumm 
 
 1919.
 
 S I 
 
 S ^.ro^liii**, 
 
 AN 
 
 ADDRESS, 
 
 DC 
 
 ao 
 
 the subject of the renewal of the Charter 
 of the East India Company is shortly to come 
 before Parliament, with a view to a final deci- 
 sion, it is presumed that it will not be deemed 
 impertinent to invite the attention of the Legis- 
 lature to a particular connected with that sub- 
 ject, which is judged of high importance. Thq 
 point to which we refer, respects the propriety 
 of inserting a clause in the new Charter, autho- 
 rizing the peaceable dissemination of Christian 
 principles in India, For want of such a pro- 
 vision, the Missionaries who have lately visited I 
 that country, have been under the necessity of ' 
 joing there by the circuitous route of America, 
 besides meeting with considerable obstructions 
 in their attempts to settle, and being exposed
 
 to much vexation and interruption in their quiet 
 efforts to plant the Christian faith. It must 
 surely be considered as an extraordinary fact, 
 that in a country under the government of a 
 people professing Christianity, that religion 
 should be the only one that is discountenanced 
 and suppressed. 
 
 That the most complete toleration should 
 be extended to the various modes of belief 
 prevailing in those remote dependencies of 
 our empire, and that none of the inhabitants 
 should be subjected to the slightest inconve- 
 nience on account of their adherence to the re- 
 ligious system of their forefathers, is readily 
 admitted ; nor would any event give more seri- 
 ous concern to the writer of this address, than 
 an interference with that right of private 
 Judgment which he deems an inalienable pre- 
 rogative of human nature. But for a Christian 
 nation to give a decided preference to poly- 
 theism and idolatry by prohibiting the dissemi- 
 nation of a purer faith, and thus employ its 
 powers in suppressing the truth, and prolonging 
 the existence of the most degrading and de- 
 plorable superstitions, is a line of conduct 
 equally repugnant to the dictates of religion, 
 and the maxims of sound policy. To oppose 
 by force the propagation of revealed truth, :
 
 from any worldly considerations whatever, is 
 uch a sacrifice of right to expediency, as can 
 be justified on no principles but what will lead 
 to the subversion of all morality and religion, 
 j If Christianity be a communication from 
 heaven, to oppose its extension is to fight 
 against God; an impiety which, under every 
 possible combination of circvjmstances, must 
 expect a severe. rebuke; but the guilt of which 
 is inconceivably aggravated, when the opposi- 
 tion proceeds from, the professors of that 
 very religion. We have no example in the his- 
 tory of tjie world of such a conduct; we have 
 no precedent of a people prohibiting the pro- 
 pagation of their own faith ; a species of into- 
 lerance exposed not only to the objections 
 which lie in common against all restraints upon 
 conscience, but to a train of absurdities pecu- 
 liar to itself, at the same time that it imposes a 
 character of meanness on the ruling powers, by 
 the virtual confession it includes, that they have 
 either no religion, or a religion of which they 
 are ashamed. As the equality of all religions, 
 the distinguishing tenet pf deism, is ulike 
 repugnant to the dictates of reason, and the 
 oracles of truth, so it is HI calculated to con- 
 ciliate the esteem of Eastern nations, on whom 
 it can have no other eflect than to desecrate
 
 the British name, by depriving it of the vene- 
 ration which nature, unsophisticated by im- 
 piety, has inseparably connected with senti- 
 ments of religious belief. Powerfully impres- 
 sed as they are with religious principles and 
 prejudices, however erroneous, we can scarcely 
 adopt a more effectual expedient for securing 
 their contempt and abhorrence, than an avowed 
 indifference to whatever concerns that momen- 
 tous subject. 
 
 It is an undeniable fact, that no persons 
 have been so popular in India, as the men 
 who have exerted themselves with the most 
 steady and persevering zeal in the dissemi- 
 nation of Christian principles; of which we 
 have a striking example in the excellent 
 Schwartz, for many years a Missionary on the 
 coast of Coromandel, who, by his wise and be- 
 nevolent conduct, rendered, on various occa- 
 sions, the most essential service to the British 
 interests, and became the object of the enthu- 
 siastic attachment of the natives.* 
 
 The attempt to propagate Christianity in 
 India is not a new experiment; it has been 
 now tried for more than a century: it received 
 the warmest support of George the First, of il- 
 
 * See the Reports of the Society at Bartlett's Buildings, 
 for promoting Christian Knowledge.
 
 lustrious memory, as well as of the then Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury; and in the hands of 
 Ziegenbalgius, and his successors, was crowned 
 with distinguished success.* Similar attempts 
 have been more recently made iuj Bengal, and 
 the adjacent provinces; and several Christian 
 societies have been planted by the labours of 
 Missionaries in those parts of India. It deserves 
 particular attention, that no inconvenience, not 
 even the slightest, has arisen from these enter- 
 prises; and that whatever agitation has been 
 witnessed among the natives at .different -times, 
 the propagation of Christianity ...ha? ne,ver been 
 the cause, or even the pretext. Wljen intelli- 
 gence of the insurrection at, Vellore reached 
 England, there were not wanting persons 
 who endeavoured to ascribe it, to the jea- 
 lousy and uneasiness excited by the efforts of 
 Missionaries; but no attempt could be more 
 unsuccessful, since, in the course of a, most ac- 
 curate investigation of the circumstance* 8 con- 
 nected with that event, we have it, on the 
 authority of Lord Teignmoutb, that not even 
 the name of a Missionary was mentioned,. 
 It arose from causes totally distinct. Thus 
 
 * See the excellent Letters from his Majesty -and the Arch- 
 bishop, addressed to Ziegeubalgius, in Buchanan's .Lcclesiaati* 
 
 tal Researches.
 
 8 
 
 have we the experience of more than a century 
 to justify the conclusion, that nothing is to be 
 feared for the tranquillity of India from the 
 operations of Missionaries, subject, as they must 
 ever be, to the control of the constituted au- 
 thorities. 
 
 The number of natives who profess Chris* 
 tianity is not small nor inconsiderable. The 
 disciples of Schwartz and his successors on 
 the Eastern side of the peninsula, amount to 
 fifty thousand ; and the Syrian Christians, on 
 the coast of Malabar, to several hundred thou- 
 sands ; the greater part of them converted from 
 the Bramins, and the higher classes. They 
 have subsisted therefrom the fifth century, are in 
 possession ofonehnndredand nineteen churches, 
 some of them sumptuous and splendid edifices; 
 and their superior elevation of character and pu- 
 rity of manners are attested, on the most respec- 
 table authority, to be such as the possession of 
 Christian faith might be expected to inspire.* 
 In addition to this ; translations of the Nevr 
 Testament, in almost all the vernacular dialects 
 of India, have been recently circulated, and a 
 considerable number of the natives are assidu- 
 ously and constantly employed in preaching 
 
 * See the interesting narrative of Dr. Buchanan's visit t 
 the Syrian Christians, in bis Ecclesiastical Researches.
 
 the gospel ; so that it is too late to think of 
 checking its career: the possession it has taken 
 of the public mind will necessarily render all 
 such attempts impracticable. The only ques- 
 tion which remains to be decided, is, whether 
 its further propagation shall be left solely in the 
 hands of natives, or whether intelligent and re- 
 spectable Europeans who come more imme- 
 diately into contact with the British govern- 
 ment, and in whose prudence and experience 
 greater confidence may be reposed, shall be 
 allowed to superintend its movements. The good 
 seed having struck its root too deep ever to be 
 extirpated, the only alternative is, either to 
 leave it to its spontaneous growth, aided by the 
 labour of Hindoos, or to place it under a more 
 skilful and enlightened cultivation. 
 
 Though strangers to the theory, the inhabi- 
 tants of Hindostan have been long familiarized 
 to the practice of toleration. In no part of the 
 world is there a greater variety of sects, or 
 more contrariety in the modes of religions be- 
 lief, subsisting without the slightest disturb- 
 ance : even the grand division of the natives 
 into Hindoos and Mahometans has continued 
 for ages, without interruption to the public har- 
 mony.
 
 10 
 
 But if nothing is to be feared from the 
 dissemination of Christian principles in India, 
 the advantages resulting from it, whether we 
 consult the interest of the natives, or our 
 own, are loo obvious to require to be enu- 
 merated, and too important to be overlook- 
 ed. With respect to its aspect on the natives, 
 will it be contended that a more powerful in- 
 strument can be devised for meliorating and 
 raising their character, than grafting upon it 
 the principles of our holy religion, which, 
 wherever it prevails, never fails to perfect what- 
 ever is good, and to correct whatever is evil, in 
 the human constitution; and to which Europe 
 is chiefly indebted for those enlightened views, 
 and that high sense of probity and honour, 
 which distinguish it so advantageously in a 
 comparison with Asiatic nations? The preva- 
 lence of Christianity every where marks the 
 boundary which separates the civilized from 
 the barbarous or semi-barbarous parts of the 
 world : let but this boundary be extended, and 
 the country included within its limits may be 
 considered as redeemed from the waste, and 
 prepared to icceive the precious seeds of civi- 
 lization and improvement. Independently of 
 eternal prospects, it may be safely affirmed, that
 
 11 
 
 polytheism and idolatry draw after them such 
 a train of absurd and dismal consequences, as 
 to be quite incompatible with the due expan- 
 sion of the human intellect, and necessarily to 
 prevent the operations of reason from reaching 
 their maturity and perfection. Wherever 
 Christianity prevails, mankind are uniformly 
 progressive: it communicates that just manner 
 of thinking upon the most important subjects, 
 which, extending its influence thence to every 
 department of speculative and moral truth, 
 inspires a freedom of enquiry and an ele- 
 vation of sentiment, which raise the disciples 
 of Revelation immeasurably above the level of 
 unassisted nature. 
 
 The Hindoo superstition is characterised by a 
 puerile extravagance of conception, as hostile to 
 the cultivation of reason, as the enormity of its 
 practices is revolting to humanity. It oppresses 
 the former by its gigantic absurdities: it ex- 
 tinguishes the latter by the cruelty of its ritei. 
 The annual destruction of female infants in 
 Guzarat and Kutch is estimated at fifteen or 
 twenty thousand*. Till lately, it had been the 
 custom from time immemorial to immolate, at 
 the island of Saugor, and at other places es- 
 
 * See Moore's Hindoo Infanticide.
 
 12 
 
 teemed holy, on the banks of theGanges, human 
 victims, or to destroy them by sharks. From a 
 late investigation, it appears that the number 
 of women who sacrifice themselves on the 
 funeral pile of their husbands, within thirty 
 miles of Calcutta, is, on an average, upwards 
 of two hundred*. A multitude of courtezans 
 are uniformly attached to the principal temples; 
 and the most obscene symbols exhibited to in- 
 flame the passions of their votaries'}'. 
 
 While the history of all times and nations 
 evinces the inseparable alliance of impurity and 
 cruelty with the worship of idols, is it consis- 
 tent with the dictates of humanity, not merely 
 to witness these enormities without attempting 
 to correct them, but to oppose the communica- 
 tion of the only remedy which is capable of 
 effecting a cure ? 
 
 . The base venality, together with the spirit of 
 artifice and intrigue, which distinguish the na- 
 tives of Hindostan, have rendered it the theatre 
 of perpetual revolutions, robbed its native 
 governments of every principle of stability, and 
 rendered poisonings, assassinations, and trea- 
 chery, expedients so constantly resorted to by 
 
 " * See Buchanan's Memoir, p. 96, Appendix. In a Letter 
 lately received from Dr. Carey, he estimates the whole number 
 of women annually sacrificed throughout India at ten thousand, 
 f See Sonnerat' Voyage aux Indes et a la Chine, p. 219.
 
 13 
 
 the parties in conflict, that it is impossible to 
 peruse its history without shuddering. To 
 affirm that there is nothing in their supersti- 
 tions calculated to correct these vices, is saying 
 little, when, in fact, they derive a powerful sanc- 
 tion from the maxims of their religion, and from 
 the character of their gods. There is not one 
 of their deities pourtrayed in their Shasters, 
 whose moral character is tolerably correct. 
 How much Christianity is wanted to exalt the 
 sentiments, and purify the principles of this cor- 
 rupt and effeminate race, is too obvious to need 
 to be insisted on. 
 
 That their conversion is practicable, is 
 ascertained beyond controversy by the success 
 which has already attended the experiment; 
 that no apprehensions are to be entertained for 
 the permanence of British power, in conse- 
 quence of the attempt, is manifest from ex- 
 perience; that to consult the 'welfare of the sub- 
 ject is the first duty of the sovereign, and the : 
 chief distinction betwixt the exercise of legiti-* 
 mate authority and the operation of lawless^ 
 tyranny, will not be disputed in an enlightened 
 age ; and that the Christian religion is the great- 
 est blessing we have received, the most precious 
 boon we can bestow, none but infidels will 
 deny. It surely will not be asserted, that we
 
 14 
 
 are under less obligation to communicate a good, 
 because that good may be traced to the imme- 
 diate interposition of Heaven, or because it con- 
 tains the seed and germ of eternal felicity. 
 He who believes the Uible, must know that the 
 heathen are to be given to Christ for his inheri- 
 tance, the uttermost parts of the earth for his 
 possession, and that therefore to forbid his being 
 preached to the Gentiles that they may be saved, 
 is an attempt to contravene the purposes of the 
 MostHigh, equally impotent and presumptuous. 
 Let the potsherds strive against the potsherds of 
 the earth, but ivoc unto him who striveth with his 
 Maker. Such conduct, persevered in, must 
 infallibly draw down the judgments of God on 
 the people to whose infatuated counsels it is to 
 be ascribed. Whoever considers the aspect of 
 the times, must be invincibly prejudiced not to 
 discern the symptoms of a peculiar crisis, the 
 distinguishing features of which, are the rapid 
 subversion of human institutions, and the ad- 
 vancement of the kingdom of God. The stone 
 cut out without hands has already fallen upon the 
 image, and made it like the chaff of the summer 
 threshing-floor: the next event we are to look 
 for in the order of Providence, is its enlarging 
 itself, till it becomes a great mountain, and fills 
 the whole earth. If there ever was a period
 
 15 
 
 when the propagation of the true religion might 
 be resisted with impunity, that period is passed ; 
 arid -the Master of the universe is now addres- 
 sing the greatest potentates in the language of 
 an ancient oracle: " Be wise now, ye kings; 
 be instructed, yejudgesof the earth." Encom- 
 passed as we are with the awful tokens of a 
 presiding and avenging Providence, dissolving 
 the fabrics of human wisdom, extinguishing 
 the most ancient dynasties, and tearing up 
 kingdoms by their roots, it would be the height 
 of infatuation any longer to oppose the reign 
 of God, whose purposes will pursue their career, 
 in spite of the efforts of human policy, which 
 must either yield their co-operation, or be bro- 
 ken by its force. 
 
 All that is desired, on this occasion, is simply 
 that the word of God may be permitted to have 
 free coursed Whether it be consistent with 
 sound policy for the British government to em- 
 ploy any p*rt of its resources in aid of the cause 
 of Christianity in India, is a question which it is 
 not necessary to discuss, while its friends con- 
 fine their views to a simple toleration, and re- 
 quest merely that its teachers may not be 
 harassed or impeded in their attempts to com- 
 municate instruction to the natives. Before 
 such a liberty can be withheld, the principles
 
 16 
 
 
 
 of toleration must be abandoned; nor will it 
 be practicable to withhold it without exciting 
 a sanguinary persecution ; where men are to be 
 found who will eagerly embrace the crown of 
 martyrdom rather than relinquish the perform- 
 ance of what appears to them a high and awful 
 duty. And what a spectacle will it exhibit, 
 for a Christian government to employ force in 
 the support of idolatry, and the suppression of 
 truth. 
 
 Instead of dwelling on the necessary effects 
 of such a measure, let us consider for a moment 
 the beneficial consequences likely to result from 
 an opposite mode of conduct. On that im- 
 provement of character which the cordial re- 
 ception of revealed truth cannot fail to operate, 
 it will be easy to graft some of the best itabits 
 and institutions of European nations, advancing 
 gradually through an interminable series of 
 social order and happiness. Under the foster 
 ing hand of religion, reason will develope her 
 resources, and philosophy mature her fruits. 
 Nor will the ad vantages accruing to the British 
 interests, from a change so salutary, be less 
 certain, or less important. The possession of 
 the same faith will occasion such an approxi- 
 mation of the habits and sentiments of the 
 Datives to pur own, as will render the union 

 
 17 
 
 firm, by rendering it cordial. While a total 
 opposition in their views on the most important 
 points subsists betwixt the sovereign and the 
 Subjects ; while objects adored by the one are 
 held in contempt and abhorrence by the other; 
 they may be artificial! y connected , but it is impos- 
 sible they should be united; it is rather a juxta- 
 position of inanimate parts, than an union of 
 minds. In such a situation the social tie wants 
 that cementing principle which is requisite to 
 give it strength and stability: it is a strained and 
 unnatural position, in which things are held 
 contrary to their native bent; in which au- 
 thority is upheld merely by force, without 
 deriving support from that sympathy of 
 congenial sentiment, which forms its truest 
 basis. Hence the precarious tenure by which 
 European states have successively held domi- 
 nion in India, where all has been submitted to 
 the arbitration of the sword; where, the 
 moment force has been withdrawn or relaxed, 
 authority has ceased, and each, in its turn, has 
 gained a transient ascendancy, none a firm and 
 tranquil possession. In order to obviate the 
 mischiefs arising from such a state of things, it 
 is extremely desirable, providing it be practi- 
 cable, to impart to our subjects in the East, 
 some principle which shall draw them inte 
 

 
 18 
 
 closer contact with the ruling power; and what 
 principle equally operative and efficient with 
 tlie possession of a common religion ? Though 
 the -universal diffusion of Christianity over 
 India will probably be a work of time, its in- 
 fluence in strengthening the social compact by 
 augmenting the attachment of the natives, will 
 be uniformly progressive ; and while external 
 tranquillity is secured by the superiority of our 
 policy and our arms, we shall every year be 
 making our way into their hearts : we shall be 
 establishing an interior dominion, and may con- 
 fidently reckon on the unshaken fidelity of 
 every Christian convert. This is not mere con- 
 jecture: for in all the trying vicissitudes expe- 
 rienced by the British interests in India, the 
 Hindoo Christians have invariably approved 
 themselves our firmest friends and abettors. 
 
 Though the writer of this is afraid of being 
 tedious, there is another consideration con- 
 nected with the present subject, which he deems 
 of too much importance not to be mentioned. 
 The possession of India, it is well known, is 
 an object to which our enemies are looking 
 with eager desire; accompanied with jea- 
 lousy at that splendour which the vastness of 
 our oriental empire confers on the British name 
 and character. No efforts will they deem too
 
 19 
 
 great, no sacrifices too expensive, to rob us of 
 so bright a jewel. What events may arise here- 
 after to facilitate the accomplishment of their 
 wishes, it is beyond the power of human saga- 
 city to conjecture; one thing is certain, that 
 nothing will oppose a more formidable obstacle 
 to their designs than the diffusion of Christia- 
 nity. They who have received that inestima- 
 ble blessing, will infallibly cling with ardour to 
 the people to whom they are indebted for it. 
 They will feel more than a natural affection to 
 the country which has opened to them the 
 prospect of immortality, and nourished them 
 with the bread of life. In all the struggles to 
 retain or to acquire dominion in the East, the 
 Christian portion of the population will, to a 
 man, be the zealous partizans of Great Britain ; 
 a firm and immoveableband, whose devoted at- 
 tachment will in some measure compensate for 
 their inferiority of number, [n this species of 
 policy too, in this most unexceptionable mode 
 of conciliating esteem, we shall have nothing to 
 apprehend from the intrigues of our rivals, who 
 are equally indisposed and disqualified to en* 
 gage in such an enterprize. 
 
 If we consider what may be the probable in- 
 tention of Providence in opening so extensive a 
 communication betwixt Europe and the most 
 c 2
 
 20 
 
 ancient seats of Idolatry, and more especially 
 of subjecting such immense territories in the 
 East to the British arms, we can conceive no 
 end more worthy of the Deity in these mo- 
 mentous changes than to facilitate the propa- 
 gation of true religion. 
 
 Our acquisition of power there has been so 
 rapid, so extensive, and so disproportioned to 
 the limits of our native empire, that there are 
 few events in which the interposition of Provi- 
 dence may be more distinctly traced. From 
 the possession of a few forts in different parts of 
 the coast, which we were permitted to erect for 
 the protection of our commerce, we have risen, 
 in the course of less than half a century, to a 
 summit of power, whence we exert a direct do- 
 minion over fifty millions, and a paramount in- 
 fluence over a hundred millions of men. By 
 an astonishing train of events, a large portion 
 of the population of the oriental world has been 
 subjected to the control of an Island placed 
 in the extremities of the West of Europe. King- 
 doms have fallen after kingdoms, and provinces 
 after provinces, with a rapidity which resembles 
 the incidents of a romance, rather than the ac- 
 customed order of political events. It is re- 
 markable, too, that this career of conquest has 
 uniformly directed its steps towards those parts
 
 21 
 
 of the earth, and to those only, which are the 
 primeval seats of pagan idolatry ; forming an in- 
 timate connexion betwixt the most enlightened 
 of Christian nations, and the victims of the 
 most inveterate and deplorable system of su- 
 perstition mankind have ever witnessed. As we 
 must be blind not to discern the finger of God 
 in these transactions, it behoves us to consider 
 for what purposes we are lifted to so high a 
 preeminence. 
 
 It is certainly not to be ascribed to a blind 
 predilection, which aims at no other object 
 than to gratify ambition, by extending the power, 
 and augmenting the grandeur of Great Britain; 
 a motive too puerile to satisfy the requisitions 
 of human reason, much more to limit the views 
 of an eternal mind. 
 
 The possession of sovereignty over extensive 
 kingdoms is a sacred trust, for which nations 
 are not less responsible than individuals, a de- 
 legation from the supreme fountain of power; 
 and as the unalterable laws of nature forbid us 
 to confound men with things, or to forget the 
 reciprocal obligations subsisting betwixt the 
 sovereign and the subject, we can scarcely be 
 guilty of a greater crime than to consider ihe 
 latter as merely subservient to the interests of 
 the former. Every individual of the immense
 
 population subjected to our sway, has claims 
 on our justice and benevolence which we cannot 
 with impunity neglect : the wants and sufferings 
 of every individual utter a voice which goes to 
 the heart of humanity. In retuin for their al- 
 legiance, we owe them protection and instruc- 
 tion, together with every effort to meliorate 
 their condition, and improve their character. 
 Jt is but fair to acknowledge, that we have not 
 been wholly insensible to these claims, and that 
 the extension of our power has been hitherto 
 highly beneficial. But why, in the series of 
 improvements, has Christianity been neglected? 
 Why has the communication of the greatest 
 good we have to bestow, been hitherto fettered 
 and restrained; and while every modification 
 of idolatry, not excepting the bloody and 
 obscene orgies of Juggernaut, has received 
 Support, has every attempt to instruct the 
 natives in the things which belong to their 
 peace, been suppressed? It will surely ap- 
 pear surprising to posterity, that a nation, glo- 
 rying in the purity of its faith as its highest 
 distinction, should suffer its transactions in 
 the East to be characterised by a spirit of 
 infidelity, as though it were imagined the foun- 
 dations of empire could be laid only in apos- 
 tacy and impiety; at a moment, too, when
 
 Europe, convulsed to its centre, beholds these 
 frantic erections swept with the besom of de- 
 struction. Their astonishment will be the more 
 excited, when they compare our conduct in 
 this instance with the unprecedented exertions 
 we are making for the diffusion of religious 
 knowledge in other directions; with the ope- 
 rations of the Bible Society, which, formed for 
 the sole purpose of conveying the oracles of God 
 to all quarters, has risen to an importance that 
 entitles it to be regarded as a national concern ; 
 in which statesmen, nobles, and prelates, have 
 enrolled their names, emulous of the honour of 
 advancing to the utmost the noble design of the 
 institution; with the Bartlett's Buildings So- 
 ciety, employed for upwards of a century in 
 attempts to convert the natives of Hindostan, 
 which includes in the list of its members every 
 bishop, and every dignified ecclesiastic in the 
 realm ; with the numerous translations going on 
 in all the dialects of the East, to which the 
 learned, both in Europe and in Asia, are looking 
 with eager expectation. When posterity shall 
 compare the conduct we are reprobating with 
 these facts, how great their astonishment, to find 
 the piety of the nation has suffered itself to lie 
 prostrate at the feet of a few individuals, the 
 open or disguised enemies-of the faith of Jesus f
 
 It is impossible, in connexion with the cir- 
 cumstances to which we have adverted, to mis- 
 take the real sentiments of the British people, 
 or not to perceive that the illustrious associa- 
 tions already mentioned are entitled, on a ques- 
 tion of this nature, to be considered as its ge- 
 nuine and legitimate organ. 
 
 It ought never to be forgotten, in the consi- 
 deration of this subject, that it is inseparably 
 connected with liberty of conscience. Religious 
 toleration implies not merely the freedom of 
 thought, which no human power can restrain, 
 tmd which equally subsists under the most ty- 
 rannical and the most enlightened governments; 
 it comprehends, also, the freedom of communi- 
 cation, and the right of discussion, within the 
 limits of sober and dispassionate argument. 
 He who is impressed with a conviction of the 
 importauce of the Christian verities, it is rea- 
 sonable to suppose, will be anxious to commu- 
 nicate them : he will probably feel as St. Paul 
 did in a similar situation, whose spirit was 
 stirred within him when he beheld Athens 
 whojly given up to idolatry : he may be touch- 
 f cj with so strong a commiseration for the 
 yictims of religious imposture, and so powerful 
 a sense of the cjuty of attempting to correct it, 
 as to be ready to adopt the language employed
 
 on another occasion " We cannot but speak 
 the things which we have seen and heard." 
 
 None but the determined enemy of truth and 
 decency will deny that such a state of mind is 
 possible, or that it is more allied to virtue than 
 to vice. If at this juncture, a superior power 
 interposes, and says, You shall not impart your 
 conviction, however strong ; you shall not at' 
 tempt to dispel delusions the most gross, or 
 correct enormities the most flagrant, though no 
 other means are thought of but calm expostu- 
 lation and argument ; in what, I would ask, 
 does such an interference differ frompersecution? 
 Here is conscience on one side, an enlightened 
 conscience, as all Christians must confess, and 
 force on the other; which is precisely the po- 
 sition in which things are placed by every in- 
 stance of persecution. Jf Christianity was ever 
 persecuted; ifthemartyrologiesofall times and 
 nations are not to be exploded as mere fiction 
 and romance; this is persecution, and perse- 
 cution of a most portentous character, being 
 directed, in support of a system we detest, 
 against the religion by which we expect 
 to be saved. Here are a people, indignant 
 posterity will exclaim, who profess subjec- 
 tion to the Saviour of the world, and hold 
 in their hands the oracles which foretell 
 the universal extension of his dominion, who
 
 yet make it a crime to breathe his name in pa- 
 gan lands, and employ their power to fence 
 out the scene of his future triumphs, and render 
 it, as far as possible, inaccessible to his religion. 
 With what efficacious sincerity, and edifying 
 fervor, must this people have prayed, " thy king- 
 dom come !" Admirable successors of the Con- 
 stantines and the Charlemagnes of a former age! 
 Faithful stewards of the manifold gifts of Godf 
 When the parallel betwixt the conduct of 
 modern missionaries and the first preachers of 
 the gospel is insisted on, it is usual to attempt 
 ta annul the conclusion deduced from the com- 
 parison, by remarking that the latter were 
 possessed of miraculous powers, to which the 
 former make no pretensions. That this cir- 
 cumstance occasions a real disparity in the 
 means of insuring success, will be readily ac- 
 knowledged ; but that it makes any difference 
 whatever in the right of imparting instruction, 
 will not hastily be conceded. Had such su- 
 pernatural interpositions never accompanied 
 the publication of the gospel, it had wanted 
 its credentials, and been essentially defective 
 in the proof of its divine origination. It was 
 necessary for a new dispensation, when first 
 ushered into the world, to be accompanied 
 \vithadirect appeal to the senses, with the visi- 
 ble signatures of a divine hand ; and it is the
 
 27 
 
 glory of our holy religion to have possessed 
 them in a variety and splendour that astonished 
 mankind, and laid a foundation for the faith and 
 obedience of all succeeding ages. At its en- 
 tratice, such an economy was requisite to pre- 
 pare the way. But when these miraculous oc- 
 currences, after enduring the severest scrutiny, 
 under circumstances the most favourable to 
 investigation, were committed to writing, and 
 formed a compact body of external evidences ; 
 when the supernatural origin of the Christian 
 faith had taken its place amongst the most indu- 
 bitable of recorded facts, it was no longer ne- 
 cessary to be continually repeating the same 
 proofs; nor consistent with the majesty of Hea- 
 ven, to be ever laying the foundation afresh. It 
 was time to assume the truth of religion as a 
 thing proved.. 
 
 As we were none of us eye-witnesses of the 
 miracles wrought in the primitive ages, but rest 
 our belief on historical documents, it is not 
 impossible, as far as the truth of Christianity 
 is concerned, to lay open to pagans the sources 
 of our conviction, and by that means to place 
 them in nearly the same situation with our- 
 selves ; to say nothing of that internal evidence 
 which commends itself to every mans conscience 
 in ihe sight of God. This is actually the iuode
 
 28 
 
 in which the light of Revelation has been chiefly 
 diffused since the cessation of miraculous gifts; 
 which, in the opinion of some, terminated with 
 the apostles, in the judgment of others, were 
 continued through the first three centuries, but 
 are universally allowed to have ceased long be- 
 fore the conversion of the northern and western 
 parts of Europe. Did the disciples of St. Co- 
 lumba, who spread Christianity through the 
 German provinces on the Baltic, through the 
 kingdoms of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, 
 owe their success to miraculous powers? Did 
 St. Austin and his associates, who laid the 
 foundations of the religious establishments in 
 England, make such pretensions? 
 
 To demand miracles in order to justify the 
 propagation of Christianity in pagan countries, 
 is to attribute to it a state of perpetual weak- 
 ness and pupillage : it is to cancel all that i 
 past, to accuse the most illustrious missionaries 
 of enthusiasm, and the faith of our forefathers 
 of folly and credulity. The principle we are 
 attempting to expose, not content with inflict- 
 ing a stigma on a particular sect or party, in- 
 volves the whole Christian community estab- 
 lished in these realms, in the foul reproach of 
 being the illegitimate offspring of fanaticism, or 
 wnposture. It is only necessary for us to plac*
 
 29 
 
 ourselves in imagination at that period when 
 the foundation of the Church was laid in this 
 and in other European countries, to perceive 
 that the same objections which are made to 
 the present efforts of missionaries, apply with 
 equal force to those that are past. They who 
 first exhibited the mystery of the cross to the 
 view of our rude ancestors, were equally desti- 
 tute of miraculous powers with ourselves. But 
 they felt the power of the world to come: they 
 were deeply impressed with the dignity and 
 excellence of the Christian dispensation, and 
 touched with a passionate regard for the ho- 
 nour of God and the salvation of souls. 
 These were the motives which impelled them 
 forward; these the weapons of their war- 
 fare. The ridicule attempted to be poured 
 on men of the same principles and character, 
 engaged in the same object, is, in fact, reflected 
 on these their predecessors, and is precisely 
 a repetition of the conduct of the impenitent 
 Jews, who honoured the memory, and built 
 the sepulchres of departed, while they were 
 imbuing their hands in the blood of living, 
 prophets. We collect, with eager veneration, 
 the names and achievements of the first heralds 
 of the gospel ; we dwell with exultation on the 
 heroic fortitude they displayed in encountering
 
 so 
 
 the opposition of fierce barbarians, amidst their 
 efforts to reclaim them from a sanguinary super- 
 stition, and to imbue their minds with the prin- 
 ciples of an enlightened piety. We look up to 
 them as ta a superior order of beings, and in 
 the character of the instructors of mankind in 
 the sublimest lessons, entitled to a distinction 
 above all Greek, above all Roman fame; yet, 
 with ineffable absurdity, and a most con- 
 temptible littleness of mind, if it please Pro- 
 vidence, at distant intervals, to raise up a 
 few congenial spirits, we are prepared to 
 treat them with levity and scorn. It is the 
 misfortune of some men to labour under an in- 
 capacity of discerning living worth ; a sort of 
 moral virtuosi, who form their estimate of cha- 
 racters, as the antiquarian of coins, by the rust 
 of antiquity. 
 
 Urit enim fulgore suo, qui praegravat artes 
 Infra se positas : extinctus amabitur idem. 
 
 HORACE. 
 
 I would not be understood, in the remarks 
 made on this part of the subject, to explode 
 the expectation of the renewal of mira- 
 culous agency; which some of the most able 
 divines have unquestionably formed, from 
 a perusal of the prophetic oracles. The in- 
 ference I would wish to establish is sim-
 
 31 
 
 ply this, that we are not justified in neglect- 
 ing the means of propagating the truth we 
 already posses>s, by the absence of higher 
 succour; and that it would ill become the 
 Christian world to abandon the attempts to 
 convert the inhabitants of pagan countries, 
 in deference to the clamours of men, who de- 
 mand miracles merely because they believe they 
 will not be vouchsafed, and decry the ordinary 
 methods of procedure, because they are withiu 
 our reach, and have already been crowned 
 with success. To such the language of the 
 prophet Amos may be addressed with pro- 
 priety \--Woe unto you that desire the day 
 of the Lord! to what end is it for you? The day 
 of the Lord is darkness and not 
 Ch. v. la 
 
 FINIS. 
 
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