GIFT OF 
 
A 
 
 RE PLY 
 
 TO THE 
 
 LETTERS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE ABBE DUBOIS, 
 
 ON 
 
 THE STATE 
 
 OF 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. 
 
 REV. JAMES HOUGH, 
 
 CHAPtfAIN TO THE HON. EAST-INDIA COMPANY, ON THE 
 
 MADRAS ESTABLISHMENT. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY R. WATTS. 
 PUBLISHED BY L. B. SEELEY & SON, 169, FLEET STREET. 
 
H 
 
 **^' 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 p. l. 
 
 THE POSSIBILITY OF CONVERTING THE HINDOOS 
 TO CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 p. 61. 
 
 THE NATURE OF THE MEANS EMPLOYED BY THE 
 ROMAN - CATHOLICS FOR THE CONVERSION 
 OF THE HINDOOS; TOGETHER WITH THEIR 
 FAILURE, AND THE CAUSE OF THAT FAILURE. 
 
 SECTION lit. 
 
 p. 1 1 1 . 
 
 THE NATURE OF THE MEANS WHICH PROTEST- 
 ANTS USE FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE 
 HINDOOS. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 P. 155. 
 
 THE SUCCESS WHICH HAS ALREADY ATTENDED 
 THE MEANS USED BY PROTESTANTS FOR THE 
 CONVERSION OF THE HINDOOS. 
 
 47 ( 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 P. 214. 
 
 THE PRESENT STATE OF THE SYRIAN CHURCH IN 
 TRAVANCORE, TOGETHER WITH THE SUCCESS 
 THAT HAS ATTENDED THE MEANS USED FOR 
 ITS MELIORATION. 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 P. 248. 
 
 THE DUTY AND POLICY OF PROMOTING CHRIS- 
 TIANITY IN INDIA; AND THE NECESSITY OF 
 IMPROVING THE CHARACTER OF THE SER- 
 VANTS OF GOVERNMENT, BOTH EUROPEAN AND 
 NATIVE. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 P. 305. 
 
 TWO LETTERS TO THE EDITOR OF THE CALCUTTA 
 JOURNAL 
 
 " Ought Christians to allow People of any Faith or Sect, as Hindoos, 
 Mussulmans, &c., to work at their Houses on Sunday ?" 
 
SECTION I. 
 
 THE POSSIBILITY OF CONVERTING THE HINDOOS 
 TO CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 IN a work recently published by the Abb6 
 Dubois, late Jesuit Missionary in Mysore, 
 entitled, " Letters on the State of Chris- 
 tianity in India," the Author replies in the 
 negative to the following questions: " First, 
 Is there a possibility of making* real converts 
 to Christianity among the natives in India ? 
 Secondly, Are the means employed for that 
 purpose, and, above all, the translation of 
 the Holy Scriptures into the idioms of the 
 country, likely to conduce to this desirable 
 object?" His negative to both these queries 
 he hesitates not to repeat in various parts of 
 the work; stating it as his " decided opinion, 
 First, that, under existing circumstances, 
 there is no human possibility of converting 
 the Hindoos, to any sect of Christianity : and, 
 Secondly, that the translation of the Holy 
 Scriptures circulated among them, so far from 
 
 B 
 
2 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 conducing to this end, will, on the contrary, 
 increase the prejudices of the natives against 
 the Christian Religion, and prove, in many 
 respects, detrimental to it." 
 
 " These assertions" he endeavours to sup- 
 port "by such arguments and proofs as a 
 long experience and practice in the career 
 of proselytism have enabled" him, as he con- 
 ceives, " to adduce." pp. l, 2. 
 
 His "arguments" are founded upon the 
 bad character of the Hindoos, but especially 
 of the Brahmins upon the extensive in- 
 fluence of the latter over all other castes 
 of Hindoos upon the nature of their super- 
 stitions and the inveteracy of their prejudices 
 upon the contempt into which Christianity 
 is, from various causes, brought upon the 
 persecutions to which converts are exposed, 
 &c.&c. (passim) all of which he regards as 
 insurmountable obstacles to the dissemina- 
 tion of the Gospel in Hindoostan. 
 
 His "proofs" are deduced from the total 
 failure, as he asserts, of the means hitherto 
 employed. If there were the slightest pro- 
 bability of success, it must, he thinks, ere this 
 have crowned the exertions of Roman- 
 Catholic Missionaries, who have laboured 
 in India for three centuries back, conceal- 
 ing, with care, every thing in the Christian 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 3 
 
 Religion likely to wound the feelings or offend 
 the prepossessions of the natives, and en- 
 deavouring, in every possible way, to con- 
 ciliate their minds. And since these means 
 have proved hitherto, and still continue to 
 prove, abortive, he regards it as the wildest 
 of speculations for Protestant Missionaries 
 to think of gaining upon a race of people 
 like the inhabitants of our Eastern Empire, 
 with a mode of worship destitute, as he de- 
 clares, of all attraction. 
 
 From a review of the whole subject, he 
 concludes, that God has predestinated the 
 Hindoos to eternal reprobation ! ! that, ie let 
 the Christian Religion be presented to these 
 people under every possible light," " the time 
 of conversion has passed away; and, under 
 existing circumstances, there remains no hu- 
 man possibility to bring it back." p. 42, &c. 
 
 If his reasoning be sound, and his conclu- 
 sion fairly drawn, we behold, in the millions 
 of human beings who inhabit the vast con- 
 tinent of India, a race of our fellow- creatures 
 in as hopeless a condition as that of apostate 
 angels: and, instead of cherishing the rising 
 sympathies of our common nature, which 
 would move us to stretch forth the hand of 
 charity to raise them from so wretched a 
 prostration of soul, it is our duty to stifle 
 
 B 2 
 
4 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 every tender emotion that straggles within 
 our bosoms, on beholding their hapless 
 condition ; lest we should, involuntarily, 
 speak to them in the accents of mercy, tell 
 them of the dying love of Christ, and thus, 
 before we are aware of it, be fighting 
 against the purposes of Almighty God. If 
 the Author's views be correct, then we are 
 justified in maintaining our sovereignty over 
 the Hindoos, without once offering them 
 that only equivalent compensation which 
 is to be found in the benefits of the Christian 
 Religion ! 
 
 A question involving such tremendous 
 consequences, to so great a proportion of 
 mankind, demands the most serious delibe- 
 ration. And after perusing and re-perusing 
 the Abb6's Letters, with that attention 
 which the importance of the subject de- 
 mands, and carefully comparing his asser- 
 tions with my own "experience and practice" 
 in the Missionary Cause for some years in 
 India, I have arrived at conclusions diame- 
 trically opposite to those which he has 
 drawn : and I here pledge myself to prove, 
 First, " the possibility of making real con- 
 verts to Christianity among the natives in 
 India." Secondly, that " the means em- 
 ployed for that purpose, and, above all, the 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 5 
 
 translation of the Holy Scriptures into the 
 idioms of the country, are likely to con- 
 duce to this desirable object." There are 
 those who would tell me, that 1 am com- 
 mitting myself on the very threshold of the 
 discussion; for that, to assert the possibility 
 of converting the natives of India to the 
 Christian Faith, is to betray a total igno- 
 rance of their character. I have studied 
 their character; and could, from my own 
 experience, give a description of their moral 
 depravity that would afflict the Christian's 
 soul. But I find that the Abb6, if he thought 
 it convenient to his purpose, would not 
 hesitate to deny the accuracy of any de- 
 scription, how closely soever resembling his 
 own: p. 145, &c. I shall not, therefore, 
 expose myself to the charge of drawing 
 " exaggerations and misrepresentations re- 
 specting the Hindoos," but will describe 
 them in his own terms. 
 
 " The Hindoos may be divided into two 
 classes the impostors, and the dupes. The 
 latter include the bulk of the population of 
 India ; and the former is composed of the 
 whole tribe of Brahmins." p. 87. 
 
 Contrasting the character of Cornelius 
 with that of the Hindoos, he says, their 
 " minds seem to be hermetically shut to the 
 
6 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 voice of truth, and to the rays of light; 
 and their judgment is led astray by their 
 passions, and most of their public and private 
 institutions. I have, alas ! nowhere met, 
 among the Hindoo Brahmins, another Cor- 
 nelius, * whose prayers and alms are come 
 up as a memorial before God.' I have, to 
 this day, remarked amongst them nothing 
 but pride, self-conceit, duplicity, lying, and 
 every kind of unnatural and ami- Christian 
 vices." p. 92. 
 
 " A Hindoo, and, above all, a Brahmin, 
 by his institutions, his usages, his education 
 and customs, must be considered as a kind 
 of moral monster as an individual placed 
 in a state of continual variance and oppo- 
 sition with the rest of the human race," 
 &c. &c. pp. 1OO,1O1. 
 
 " The leading feature of the education of 
 a Brahmin is an universal hatred and con- 
 tempt towards all the human race." He " is 
 taught, if not positively to hate his friends, 
 and to return evil for good, at least to con- 
 duct himself through life by quite selfish con- 
 siderations, and to sacrifice all, without 
 exception, to his private interests, without 
 distinction between friends and foes ; to be 
 entirely unmindful of the services rendered 
 to him, and to consider them,* whatever may 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 7 
 
 be their importance and value, as his strict 
 due/' " A Brahmin is, moreover, obliged, 
 from duty, to be selfish, intolerant and proud, 
 insolent and forbidding." p. 102. 
 
 At pp. 103 and 104, after comparing the 
 Brahmin to " those false philosophers of 
 whom Paul speaks (Rom. i.) ," he adds, " In 
 reading this chapter of our holy books, and 
 the forcible style in which the Apostle treats 
 the subject, one would fancy that he had in 
 view the Hindoo Brahmins, when he wrote 
 it. If one would draw up the character of 
 this caste of Hindoos, it could not be bet- 
 ter done, than by literally transcribing the 
 2Qth, 30th, and 3 1st verses of this very 
 chapter." 
 
 " The inferiority of the Hindoo Brahmins 
 to all other Pagan Nations, with respect to 
 religion, is the more striking, as they have 
 not been able to distinguish what is a virtue, 
 and what is not; since they in general sup- 
 pose it much more meritorious to render 
 service to beasts than to men. A pious Hin- 
 doo Brahmin, who will make it his impe- 
 rative duty to share his frugal meal with fishes, 
 snakes, monkeys, and birds of prey, will, 
 on the other hand, behold, with the coldest 
 indifference, a poor wretch starving at his 
 door, without thinking of assisting him." 
 
8 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 Instead of that great leading precept of 
 Christian Charity, * Thou shalt love thy 
 neighbour like thyself,' which is calculated 
 to convert the whole of mankind into a com- 
 munity of brothers, it might be said, that the 
 leading precept of the Brahmins is this, 
 1 Thou shalt love brutes like thyself.' " " To 
 practise a virtue from quite disinterested 
 motives, and only to enjoy the inward sa- 
 tisfaction of doing good, are things above 
 their comprehension. Ask a rich Hindoo, 
 who spends the whole or a part of his for- 
 tune in erecting or repairing places of reli- 
 gious worship, in building choultries, &c. 
 &c. &c., what are his motives for so doing, 
 his answer will almost invariably be, that he 
 does so to be publickly praised, as a virtuous 
 man, during his life, and to transmit his 
 name to posterity after his death." pp. 112, 
 113, 114. 
 
 Much more to the same effect might be 
 transcribed from the Author's more ela- 
 borate work, giving " A Description of the 
 People of India*:" but these extracts, 1 
 trust, will be sufficient to satisfy the reader, 
 
 * For an exposition of the inconsistency between the Author's 
 description of the immoral character of the Hindoos given in his 
 former publication, and that drawn in many parts of the present 
 Letters, see the Eclectic Review for Oct. and Nov. 1823. 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 9 
 
 that the Hindoo is, indeed, sunk into the 
 depths of depravity. He will know, also, 
 what degree of credit is due to the repre- 
 sentations of the man, who can himself at 
 one time describe the Hindoo in such appal- 
 ling characters, and, at another, affect to 
 have his " indignation roused to a high 
 degree," by, what he calls, " the exagge- 
 rations" &c. of the late Mr. Ward of Seram- 
 pore, who nowhere represents the Hindoo as 
 worse than a " moral monster." pp. J 45, 1 4Q,&c. 
 
 Taking, then, the natives of India as the 
 Abb6 Dubois himself describes them and 
 in more terrific colours they need not be 
 depictured ! I nevertheless maintain the 
 possibility of converting them to Christ: for 
 the Gospel has been proclaimed to as bad a 
 people, and that with success. 
 
 I will not fetch my proofs from Ancient 
 Greece or Rome, Britain or Gaul, the Sar- 
 matae or Daci, Scandinavians, Goths, or 
 Vandals ; though all these, and many other 
 people converted to the Faith, were, as 
 might be easily shewn, as unpromising sub- 
 jects for the Gospel as the inhabitants of 
 Hindoostan. 
 
 The testimony of St. Paul to the character 
 of the Corinthians, previous to their conver- 
 sion, shall suffice : " Neither fornicators, 
 
10 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, 
 nor abusers of themselves \vith mankind, nor 
 thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor 
 revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the 
 kingdom of God. And such were some of 
 you ; but ye are washed, but ye are sancti- 
 fied, but ye are justified, in the name of the 
 Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." 
 ( 1 Cor. vi. 9 11. See also Eph. ii. 1 5. 
 Coloss. iii. 5 7. &c.) 
 
 Then let us not despair of the Hindoo, bad 
 as he confessedly is ! The same Almighty 
 Being, who shewed mercy to the depraved 
 Corinthians, is able and who dare say He is 
 not willing? to deliver " the natives of In- 
 dia" also from the bondage of corruption, 
 and translate them " into the glorious liberty 
 of the Children of God." 
 
 Easy were it to prove, that the Hindoos 
 are less culpable before God, than the 
 Israelites who were cotemporary with our 
 Lord and His Apostles. They have as yet 
 manifested little of that perverse temper which 
 led the Jews, at one time, to take offence at 
 the strictness of John the Baptist; and, at 
 another, at the freedom of Christ : (Matt. xi. 
 16 1Q.) They have not yet resisted those 
 incontrovertible evidences for the truth of 
 Christianity which were vouchsafed to the 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 1 1 
 
 Jews, who had the testimonies of prophecy, 
 of John the Baptist, of miracles, and of a 
 voice from heaven. Consequently, the Hin- 
 doos, in rejecting the Gospel, could not be 
 so culpable as the Israelites were, even though 
 it had been stated to them in its purity, 
 without any admixture of human error or 
 device. Our Lord himself hath declared 
 thus much: (Matt. xi. 2O, 21.) Bad as the 
 Hindoos are, they are not worse than the 
 inhabitants of Sodom. No (M. Dubois may 
 rejoin); but these miserable people, with 
 their city, were destroyed by fire and brim- 
 stone from heaven. True : yet our Lord 
 declares, that it shall be more tolerable for 
 them, in the day of judgment, than for the 
 inhabitants of Capernaum, and, conse- 
 quently, for every other people who rejected 
 Him, notwithstanding the evidence he gave 
 them of His divine character and authority, 
 by performing many mighty works in their 
 presence: (vv. 23, 24.) The more numerous 
 the religious privileges which we enjoy, or 
 the opportunities that we may have for se- 
 curing our salvation, in the event of our 
 neglecting to avail ourselves of them, the 
 more tremendous will be our doom ! 
 
 I am, then, at a loss to divine how the 
 Abb Dubois can reconcile to his mind his 
 
12 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 abandonment of a people under the circum- 
 stances of the present inhabitants of India 
 and from his avowed conviction, that they 
 lie under the irrevocable curse of the Al- 
 mighty, and are doomed to eternal reproba- 
 tion! (p. 42) The gracious Redeemer was 
 much more merciful to the Children of Israel, 
 though their offences were greater, and His 
 own precious blood cried aloud from Cal- 
 vary in judgment against them. In the 
 prospect of their rejection of Him, and the 
 mercies which he proffered them, He uttered 
 a tender lamentation over their devoted city : 
 (Matt, xxiii. 37.) Ere He bowed His head 
 in death, He breathed forth this pathetic, 
 this compassionate ejaculation, " Father, 
 forgive them ! for they know not what they 
 do:" (Luke xxiii. 34.) He commanded the 
 Apostles to begin the preaching of repent- 
 ance and remission of sins at Jerusalem : 
 (Id. xxiv. 47 .) Accordingly, St. Peter, having 
 reproved the men of Israel" for denying 
 " the Holy One and the Just," and killing 
 " the Prince of Life," exhorts them to " re- 
 pent and be converted," that their " sins 
 may be blotted out;" and encourages them 
 to hope for mercy: (Acts iii. 13, &c.) St. 
 Paul most feelingly lamented their state, 
 with " great heaviness and continual sorrow 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 13 
 
 in his heart ;" for " he could wish himself 
 accursed (separated) from Christ for his 
 brethren," &c. (Rom. ix .l,&c.) For some 
 time after our Lord's resurrection, the other 
 Apostles also confined their ministry to the 
 Jews ; and even when, upon the persecution 
 which arose after the death of Stephen, they 
 were scattered abroad, very few of the Dis- 
 ciples travelled beyond the land of Pales- 
 tine (Acts xi. 19,20); and wherever they 
 went, they invariably addressed themselves, 
 in the first instance, to the Israelites : (Acts 
 xiii. 46, &c.) Nor did they abandon Je- 
 rusalem, notwithstanding all they suffered, 
 and the partial success that attended their 
 labours there, until the signal for their depar- 
 ture, which Christ had given them, appeared : 
 (Matt. xxiv. 15, &c.) The destruction of 
 their city and temple was suspended forty- 
 three years after the Crucifixion ; and during 
 the whole of that period, they were ad- 
 monished, again and again, to look on Him 
 whom they had pierced, if haply the blood 
 which they had shed might wash away their 
 crime. 
 
 Such were the feelings of Jesus Christ and 
 His Apostles towards the Israelites a peo- 
 ple, than whom no other nation has been, or 
 can be, placed in a situation to commit the 
 
14 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 greatest of pardonable crimes. To them 
 alone has the Lord of Life and Glory been 
 " manifest in the flesh ;" and, consequently, 
 none but they can have had the opportunity 
 of shedding His precious blood. Then, will 
 any uninspired mortal be so presumptuous, 
 as to pronounce any other nation under hea- 
 ven to be irrevocably doomed to eternal 
 misery, and that for crimes of inferior magni- 
 tude, and committed under less aggravating 
 circumstances ? Or, will he be so unfeeling 
 as to act upon that presumption, by ceasing 
 to labour, and by exerting his ability and 
 influence to dissuade others from labouring, 
 to bring them to the knowledge of " the only 
 true God," and to the faith of the only 
 " Mediator between God and Man?" (i Tim. 
 ii. 5.) 
 
 The Abb6 Dubois is aware, that, in order 
 to justify such a conclusion and such con- 
 duct, it is necessary to shew that the Hindoos 
 have committed the unpardonable sin; which 
 he, accordingly, endeavours to prove. In 
 what, I ask, does that sin consist ? Is it not 
 the attributing of that to the power of Satan, 
 which the reason of every unprejudiced mind 
 were sufficient to convince him that nothing 
 short of Omnipotence could effect? Thus 
 many of the Jews, when they beheld the 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 15 
 
 mighty works, and heard the heavenly dis- 
 courses, of Jesus, said, " He hath a devil, 
 and is mad :" (John x. 20.) They accused 
 Him of " casting out devils, by Beelzebub, 
 the prince of the devils :" (Matt. xii. 4.) 
 This crime of blasphemy against the Holy 
 Ghost, our Lord did declare to be unpar- 
 donable : (Ib. 31, 32.) But no other sin 
 whatever, not even the bitterest invectives 
 or most malicious slanders uttered against 
 Himself, nor the greatest cruelty inflicted 
 upon His sacred person, did He exclude 
 from the hope of pardon. 
 
 What facts, then, does the Abbe" advance, 
 in proof of the Hindoos having committed 
 this unpardonable offence? " The Christian 
 Religion," he says, " has been announced to 
 the natives of India, without intermission, 
 during the last three or four centuries ; at the 
 beginning with some faint hopes of success, 
 but at present with no effect." p. 42. 
 
 Admitting, for the sake of argument only, 
 that what he alludes to was the unadulterated 
 Gospel, and that its rej ection. constituted the 
 unpardonable offence ; still he ought to know, 
 that it has been preached to a comparatively 
 small proportion of the hundred millions who 
 inhabit the Indian Continent. How then, 
 upon the principles of Scripture, or common 
 
16 Possibility of converting t/te Hindoos. 
 
 justice, or the feelings of humanity, can he 
 reconcile to his conscience his sweeping con- 
 demnation of the whole, for the transgression 
 of the few ? Neither our Lord nor his Apo- 
 stles acted thus towards the Jews. Though 
 Jesus declared, that such as had blasphemed 
 against the Holy Ghost could not be forgiven, 
 yet did He continue to labour, and pray, 
 and weep, and suffer for the rest. St. Paul 
 expressly declares, that, as a nation, they 
 were not rejected by God : (Rom. xi. 1, &c.) 
 while he and the other Apostles continued 
 to exert themselves, as already shewn, to 
 promote the conversion of their brethren. 
 Then, even though M.Dubois be correct in 
 charging those Hindoos who have rejected 
 the Roman-Catholic mode of faith with com- 
 mitting the unpardonable sin, yet, by what 
 Scriptural authority or precedent does he 
 turn his back upon all the other natives of 
 India, and doom them to the irrevocable 
 curse of Almighty God? A revelation from 
 Heaven can alone justify such conduct ! St. 
 Paul required no less to divert him from his 
 purpose, when he desigaed " to preach the 
 word in Asia," and " assayed to go into Bithy- 
 nia:" (Acts xvi. 6 8.) And I am persuaded 
 that I utter the sentiment of every consistent 
 Christian, when I declare, that nothing short 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 1 7 
 
 of a manifestation of the Divine Will, equally 
 unquestionable, should induce Missionaries 
 to abandon the vineyard which they occupy 
 in the East. 
 
 The Abb6 Dubois seems to think that the 
 instructions given by our Lord to His Dis- 
 ciples, when He sent them forth to preach, 
 (Matt. x. Mark vi. Luke ix, and x.) are suf- 
 ficient to vindicate his abandonment of the 
 Hindoos. " Happy would it be, indeed," he 
 says, " had the divine instructions given by 
 Christ to his immediate Disciples, in these 
 chapters of his divine work, been followed 
 by a great many of those styling themselves 
 their successors/' The " instructions" to 
 which he refers are, that they should imme- 
 diately depart from all who returned not 
 their salutation and rejected their word : 
 (pp. 44, 45.) The Abbe assumes, that the 
 modern Missionary has precisely the same 
 duty to perform, and is placed in the same 
 circumstances, as those Disciples of our 
 Lord ; for without this, his argument falls to 
 the ground. But I protest against his as- 
 sumption. In those chapters, our Lord is 
 not (as the Abb6 affirm s)_ in vesting His Dis- 
 ciples " with full powers to preacfrHis divine 
 Religion to all people." He merely charges 
 them with a temporary office; viz. To an- 
 
 c 
 
18 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 nounce that the kingdom of heaven was at 
 hand. This proclamation He expressly 
 directs them to make to the Jews only; 
 charging them not to go " into the way of the 
 Gentiles," nor even to enter " into any city 
 of the Samaritans ;" but to "go rather to 
 the lost sheep of the house of Israel :" (Matt. 
 x. 5, 6.) He also invests them with power 
 to perform miracles, to prove that their com- 
 mission was divine : (ver. 8.) Where they 
 were not welcomed, they were forbidden 
 to remain, only because they had not time 
 then to stay in order to convince gainsay ers. 
 It was a hasty journey ; and, therefore, it 
 was not necessary to provide either gold, or 
 silver, or brass, in their purses ; nor scrip, 
 nor two coats (a change of apparel), nor 
 shoes, nor yet staves, (vv. 9, 10.) Their time 
 was very limited : consequently, they were 
 not to suffer themselves to be detained un- 
 necessarily, but to move on with the greatest 
 possible speed, in consistency with the ful- 
 filment of their commission. " For verily I 
 say unto you," their Master adds, " ye shall 
 not have gone over the cities of Israel, till 
 the Son of Man be come :" (ver. 23.) 
 
 Should the Abb6 refuse to admit this 
 brief explanation of the circumstances under 
 which the Seventy Disciples were sent forth 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 19 
 
 by our Lord, yet, before he can establish his 
 point, he must prove that the cases are pa- 
 rallel that all the Missionary has to do in 
 India, is, to proclaim that the kingdom of 
 heaven is at hand that he has ocular de- 
 monstration to produce of the divine autho- 
 rity by which he speaks and acts and that 
 circumstances are such as to require him to 
 pass through the country in haste. And 
 when he shall have succeeded thus far, 
 (which he must for ever despair of doing,) 
 still he will have to shew, that the Gospel 
 has been actually preached, with fidelity, to 
 the inhabitants of every town and village in 
 the East and that it has been pertinaciously 
 rejected by every one of them before the 
 instructions of Jesus Christ to His Disciples 
 will authorise him to shake off the dust of 
 his feet against the whole race of Hindoos. 
 He further quotes the example of the 
 Apostles, and particularly that of St. Paul : 
 (pp. 46, 47.) But, notwithstanding the ob- 
 stinacy and cruelty with which they were 
 driven from various places, we nowhere find 
 that they deliberately abandoned the nation 
 of Israel to their obduracy and unbelief. 
 St. Paul, especially, returns again and again 
 to persecuting cities, and even to Jeru- 
 salem, though it was testified to him, by 
 C2 
 
20 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 the Holy Ghost, that bonds and afflictions 
 awaited him: (Acts xx. 23. and xxi. 11.) 
 Though the Apostle of the Gentiles by 
 divine appointment, yet he did not consider 
 himself warranted in abandoning the Is- 
 raelites. When he finds that he can make 
 no impression on them, " he yields, he sub- 
 mits, he resigns himself ; he conducts him- 
 self according to the rules laid down by his 
 Divine Employer:" (p. 46.) But, in the 
 spirit of " his Divine Employer," he watches 
 for another opportunity to introduce his 
 favourite theme : and when vouchsafed, he 
 avails himself of it, and repeats his message 
 of mercy and redeeming love to those who 
 had hitherto opposed. And does the 
 Abb6 Dubois feel himself supported in his 
 desertion of India by such an example 
 as this? 
 
 But he refers to the sovereign purpose of 
 God according to election^ in vindication of 
 his conduct : (p. 42 44.) " That God, in his 
 infinite mercy, will have all men 'to be saved, 
 and to come to the knowledge of the truth ;' 
 and, that Christ died for the salvation of all 
 mankind, and ' came into this world to save 
 sinners ;' are truths," he says, " acknow- 
 ledged by all sorts of Christians, if we except 
 perhaps a few, who maintain the gloomy tenet 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 21 
 
 that God is willing to save only the elect or 
 predestined :" (p. 105.) Here lie objects to 
 the doctrine of personal election, as a 
 " gloomy tenet" How can he possibly 
 make this quadrate with his own use and 
 application of that doctrine to one hundred 
 millions of human beings ? (pp. 108, 109.) 
 Is it possible that he can be so blinded by 
 his peculiar notions, and so determined 
 upon maintaining them in defiance of all 
 consistency, as to think this application of 
 the doctrine less gloomy than its application 
 to a single individual*? I hesitate not to say, 
 that there is no Christian, in whose heart a 
 single spark of the love of Jesus glows, but 
 will feel a thrill of horror pass through his 
 veins, on reading this deliberate consign- 
 ment of so many of our fellow-creatures to 
 perdition ! True, St. Paul does confess, that 
 the purposes and ways of God are myste- 
 rious, secret, unsearchable, past finding- out, 
 &c. (p. 10Q.) And, therefore, because un- 
 known to us, he has not the temerity, the 
 inhumanity, so to act upon the doctrine 
 of predestination, as to abandon any in- 
 
 * Unless he holds the doctrine of personal election, what in- 
 terpretation does he give to Rom. ix. 18.? And to what purpose 
 does he adopt it as his motto, " Cujus vult miseretur, et quern 
 vult indurat" ? 
 
22 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 dividual, not even his bitterest enemy, much 
 less a whole nation, to eternal misery and 
 that for no other reason, but because he 
 is of opinion that they are doomed to per- 
 dition by the divine decree, and that, con- 
 sequently, it must prove a hopeless task to 
 labour for their conversion to God. Such 
 is the Abb6's persuasion ; and under these 
 feelings, he has looked back from the plough 
 to which he had put his hand : (Luke ix. 62.) 
 He informs us, that he has laboured in India 
 two and thirty years in vain ; that " every- 
 where the seeds sown by him have fallen 
 upon a naked rock, and have instantly dried 
 away. At length, entirely disgusted at the 
 total inutility of his pursuits, and warned by his 
 grey hair that it was full time to think of his 
 own concerns, he has returned to Europe, 
 to pass in retirement the few days he may 
 still have to live, and get ready to give in his 
 accounts to his Redeemer :" (Advert, p. vii.) 
 With his private reasons for retiring, no one 
 but himself is concerned : but of this, his 
 final step viz. The endeavour to deter others 
 from embarking in the Missionary Cause 
 may he consider well, before it be too late, 
 how he can render such an account as shall 
 prove satisfactory to his Judge! 
 
 He desires to know " who has told us that 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 23 
 
 Christianity shall not remain stationary," and 
 " continue to the end of the world to be," as 
 he asserts it has hitherto been, " the religion 
 of only the minority of mankind :" (p. 108.) 
 I reply, that Jehovah himself has told us, in 
 the most unqualified terms, that the Christian 
 Religion shall one day become universal : 
 (Psalm ii. 8. Isaiah xi. Q. Daniel ii. 44. 
 vii. 13, 14. Hab. ii. 14. Zech. ix. 10.) He 
 admits, indeed, that " Christ has promised 
 that * the Gospel of the Kingdom shall be 
 published in all the world, for a witness 
 unto all nations ; and then shall the end 
 come.' ' This alone, then, is an argument 
 for its promulgation throughout India ; until 
 it can at least be proved that all the inha- 
 bitants of that land have had a fair opportu- 
 nity of receiving, or rejecting, that " witness." 
 But he rejoins ; " Has He (Christ) told any 
 one, that all nations, or even the majority of 
 them, should be brought under the yoke of 
 the Gospel?" (p. 108.) " He has, it is true, 
 announced that His Gospel should be preached 
 all over the world; but, to the best of my 
 knowledge, he has never affirmed that it 
 should be heard, believed, and embraced by 
 all nations." (p. 42.) What, then, did He 
 mean, by comparing it " unto leaven, which 
 a woman took and hid in three measures of 
 
24 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 meal, till the whole was leavened ?" or what, 
 by the parable of the grain of mustard-seed, 
 " which indeed is the least of all seeds ; but 
 when it is grown, it is the greatest among 
 herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds 
 of the air come and lodge in the branches 
 thereof?" (Matt. xiii. 3133.) What other 
 signification can be attached to these para- 
 bles, but that they are intended to teach 
 that all nations shall be enlightened by the 
 doctrines, influenced by the principles, and 
 seek refuge from the wrath of God under 
 the peaceful shadow of the Gospel ? Did our 
 Lord utter a word in opposition to the pre- 
 dictions of His universal sway over men, 
 cited above, from the Old Testament? Did 
 He not imply, in His final command to His 
 Disciples, to " preach the Gospel to every 
 creature," that some would " believe and be 
 baptized," wherever it was proclaimed? (Mark 
 xvi. 16.) In short, was it not expressly re- 
 vealed from Heaven, " The kingdoms of 
 this world are become the kingdoms of our 
 Lord, and of his Christ; and He shall reign 
 for ever and ever?" (Rev. xi. 15.) 
 
 The Abb6 Dubois shall himself assist me 
 with another argument, to prove the inac- 
 curacy of his conclusion. Wishing to in- 
 validate the late Mr. Ward's account of the 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 25 
 
 immorality of the Hindoos, he hesitates not 
 to assert, that their general character is 
 actually superior to that of Europeans : 
 (p. 152 163.) We have already seen how 
 differently he can write, when he has another 
 object in view that he can represent the 
 Hindoo as entirely destitute of charity, if 
 his purpose be to shew the impracticability 
 of converting him from his depraved condi- 
 tion (p. 113) ; and can go so far as to assert, 
 that, " in order to make true Christians 
 among the natives, it would be necessary, 
 before all things, to erase from the code of 
 the Christian Religion the great leading pre- 
 cept of charity :" (p. 63.) But when he 
 wishes to contravene Mr. Ward's more cha- 
 ritable and more rational inference from the 
 same premises viz. The necessity for their 
 conversion he actually asserts, that they 
 are more charitable than Europeans : (p. 1 59.) 
 I leave it for him to reconcile these contra- 
 dictory statements ; and also to explain how 
 it is possible for a man to be a " true Chris- 
 tian," without charity: while I go on to 
 argue, that if he will admit that some Euro- 
 peans have been really converted to the true 
 faith of Christ, the possibility of converting 
 the Hindoos must follow as a fair and natu- 
 ral conclusion. Supposing that he believes 
 
26 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 his own statement respecting their superior 
 virtues to be correct, he cannot fail to per- 
 ceive that they must be more promising sub- 
 jects for the reception of the Gospel, than the 
 inhabitants of Europe. 
 
 Again : "When I behold them prostrating 
 themselves before their gods of stone and 
 brass, I exclaim," he says, " Such were our 
 ancestors, and so did they; and so would 
 we ourselves do, had not God, through his 
 infinite mercy, taken us out of such an abyss 
 of darkness, in order to illumine us with the 
 bright light of his Divine Revelation ! Let 
 everlasting thanks be returned to Him, for 
 this the greatest of all his divine favours in 
 this life:" (pp. 1 14, 115.) Surely the man, 
 who penned this sentence, forgot himself when 
 asserting the impossibility of converting the 
 inhabitants of India ! The only legitimate 
 inference from these remarks is not that of 
 M. Dubois, that the Hindoos cannot be con- 
 verted, but that since, by his own shewing, 
 they are no worse than our own ancestors were, 
 the same "infinite mercy" and "bright light 
 of Divine Revelation," which were vouchsafed 
 to these, may, in the day of God's power, 
 be extended also to the idolaters of Hindoo- 
 stan. And if he rightly appreciates "this 
 greatest of all the divine favours in this life," 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 27 
 
 and feels grateful to God for it, he renders 
 to the Lord a very unsuitable return for so 
 unspeakable a mercy, when exerting his 
 utmost ability to prevent its diffusion through- 
 out the habitable globe. Christ is glorified 
 in the conversion of sinners, from vice and 
 idolatry, to faith, and holiness, and love. 
 M. Dubois would persuade us to extinguish 
 His glory in the Eastern World ; to deny 
 Him one jewel from the countless multitudes 
 there, to decorate His crown ; to disappoint 
 His anticipation of as goodly a company 
 from the East as from the West, to " sit 
 down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, 
 in the kingdom of heaven :" (Matt. viii. 1 1 .) 
 The Abb 6 contends, that in no country in 
 the world has the Christian Religion had to 
 encounter the stupendous obstacles that are 
 to be met with in India ; that the sufferings 
 which Hindoo Converts would have to en- 
 dure, must for ever operate as an insurmount- 
 able barrier to the introduction of the Gospel 
 among them. " By embracing the Christian 
 Religion," he says, a Hindoo loses his all. 
 Relations, kindred, friends all desert him. 
 Goods, possessions, inheritance, all disap- 
 pear. The spiritual tyranny and cunning of 
 the priests, and the baneful division of the 
 people into castes, present (as he asserts) 
 
28 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 such impediments to the propagation of 
 Christianity in India, as have never existed 
 in any country whatever: (pp. 13,14. 97 99.) 
 
 Can the Abl>6 Dubois need to be reminded 
 of the absolute controul held by the Scribes 
 and Pharisees, in the days of our Lord, over 
 the minds of their countrymen? Does he 
 not know how entirely they gave the tone to 
 the public feeling, and led the national opi- 
 nion ? What is there in India that can ex- 
 ceed the mental thraldom in which the Jews 
 were held by their Rabbis ? (Matt, xxiii. 
 4, 13. Luke xi. 52.) In short, we have only 
 to read the account of the character and 
 proceedings of the Jewish Rulers, given in the 
 Four Gospels, to be convinced that every 
 Israelite who embraced Christianity, at its 
 first introduction into the world, had, at least, 
 as much to encounter as can possibly await 
 the converted Hindoo : (John vii. 46, &c. ix. 
 xii. 42. xix. 38.) 
 
 There is nothing whatever, in the case of 
 the Hindoo Convert, so bad as what our Lord 
 candidly led his Disciples, of every age and 
 country, to expect, as the consequence of 
 their fidelity to His Cause : " The brother 
 shall deliver up the brother to death, and the 
 father the child : and the children shall rise 
 up against their parents, and cause them to 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 29 
 
 be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all 
 men, for my name's sake :" (Matt. x. 21,22.) 
 " Think not that I am come to send peace 
 on earth : I came not to send peace, but a 
 sword. For I am come to set a man at 
 variance against his father, and the daughter 
 against her mother, and the daughter-in-law 
 against her mother-in-law. And a man's 
 foes shall be they of his own household :" 
 (Id. 34 36. Mark xiii. 9, &c. Luke xii. 49, 
 &c.) M. Dubois himself knows, that, what- 
 ever losses, or privations, or reproaches, the 
 Hindoo may have to encounter on embracing 
 Christianity, his life is protected by the British 
 Laws, which would condemn to the gibbet 
 the murderer of the humblest individual. 
 
 Christ forewarns His Disciples, that the 
 time would come, when whosoever killed them 
 would think that he did God service : (John 
 xvi. 2.) Hindoos would persecute a relation 
 embracing the Christian Faith, more out of 
 regard for the reputation of their family and 
 caste, than for the honour of their gods. 
 And I believe it will be generally allowed, 
 that persecutions arising from religious bigo- 
 try have always been more obstinate, furious, 
 and cruel, than those which have originated 
 in other causes. The Hindoos therefore, on 
 embracing Christianity, have less to fear than 
 
30 Possibility of coiwerting the Hindoos. 
 
 most of the earlier converts, for they have 
 not much religious prejudice to encounter. 
 
 He asks, "Where is the man furnished with 
 a sufficient stock of cynical fortitude to be 
 able to bear such severe trials?" (p. 14.) 
 There have been Cynics, Stoics, and other 
 Heathen Philosophers, such as Socrates and 
 a few more, who have submitted to death, 
 rather than renounce their sentiments : whilst 
 Plato, Seneca, and various Greek and Latin 
 Authors, have, upon philosophic principles 
 alone, taught a good man to endure patiently, 
 in the cause of virtue, the severest bodily 
 tortures that fire or sword can inflict not 
 considering what, but how well, he suffers 
 " Non quserit quid patiatur, sed quam bene." 
 
 Jesus Christ, however, inspires His Disci- 
 ples with a nobler principle, than Cynical 
 Fortitude, or Stoical Insensibility. He pro- 
 mised HIS gracious presence with them, un- 
 der all their toils, privations, and sufferings : 
 (Matt, xxviii. 20.) viz. the consolations arising 
 from the secret operations of His Spirit, and 
 from the hope of a recompence " manifold 
 more in this present time, and in the world 
 to come life everlasting ;" (John xvi. 1 7- 
 Luke xviii. 29, 30.) His predictions of the 
 persecutions they would endure were fully 
 accomplished ; as the Acts of the Apostles, 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 31 
 
 and various parts of St. Paul's Epistles, 
 abundantly testify. And under all their af- 
 flictions, they experienced their gracious 
 Master's fidelity to His promises. Though 
 " troubled on every side," they were " not 
 distressed ; perplexed, but not in despair ; 
 persecuted, but not forsaken ; cast down, 
 but not destroyed :" (2 Cor. iv. 8, &c.) Thus 
 did God always comfort those that were 
 cast down : (Id. vii. 5, 6.) They felt as men, 
 indeed ; yet were they taught, by the words 
 of the Saviour, and by the spiritual applica- 
 tion of those words to their minds, to regard 
 their present afflictions as light, and conti- 
 nuing but for a moment, when compared 
 with that " far more exceeding and eternal 
 weight of glory/' for the enjoyment of which 
 they were intended to prepare them : (Id. 
 
 iv. 17.) 
 
 Nor was this spiritual consolation and 
 support under persecution confined to the 
 immediate Disciples of our Lord. During 
 the first three centuries of the Christian Era, 
 the Church passed through no less than ten 
 persecutions; many of which were conducted 
 with a severity of torture, the very recital 
 of which cannot fail to agonize the heart. 
 Among the martyrs of that period, we read 
 of many persons, young, in health and the 
 
32 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 enjoyment of earthly comfort ; or poor, weak, 
 and with every natural inducement to escape 
 from torture and save their lives, by cursing 
 the name of Christ, and burning incense to 
 the gods ; yet, rather than make shipwreck 
 of their faith, they braved death, accom- 
 panied by the severest pains which the cruel 
 ingenuity of man could invent. No tortures 
 whatever, as the Younger Pliny and several 
 ecclesiastical authors inform us, could move 
 them from their purpose. 
 
 This state of things continued, with but 
 little intermission, until the Emperor Con- 
 stantine embraced the Christian Faith. And 
 the Abb6 Dubois will hardly deny, that these 
 obstacles to the spread of the Gospel were 
 much greater than any which " existing cir- 
 cumstances" in India present. According to 
 his mode of reasoning, then, it were im- 
 possible for the Christian Religion to triumph 
 over such stupendous barriers. Yet we find, 
 that the more the Christians suffered, the 
 wider did their faith spread ; insomuch that 
 this apophthegm became proverbial, " The 
 blood of the martyrs is the seed of the 
 Church." Tertullian says, " We are but of 
 yesterday ; and yet have filled all your places, 
 your cities, islands, castles, towns, councils, 
 even your camps, tribes, bands, your palace, 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 33 
 
 senate, and forum : in short, we have left you 
 nothing but your temples.* " Arnobius, who 
 wrote a short time before Constantine's reign, 
 speaks to the same effect. 
 
 Then, it may be reasonably asked, why 
 are we not to anticipate similar triumphs 
 for the Gospel in India, where, I maintain, 
 the impediments to its success, arising from 
 the persecutions consequent upon its recep- 
 tion, are far less formidable? I am willing to 
 concede, that persecution is calculated to 
 deter the natives from professing Christianity, 
 unless they be sincere. But this is rather an 
 advantage, than otherwise ; since it will tend 
 to preserve the Church from being crowded 
 by hypocrites. At the same time I assert, 
 that no opposition which man may raise can 
 impede the advance of true religion, for it is 
 the cause of Omnipotence! 
 
 One or two instances, out of many, may 
 here be adduced, in proof of the possibility 
 of even the Hindoos bearing sufferings and 
 reproach for the sake of Christ. 
 
 A recent arrival from Madras brought ac- 
 counts of a man who had been baptized a 
 short time before, by a Missionary of the 
 
 * Hesterni sumus, et vestra omnia implevimus, urbes, insulas, 
 castella, municipia, conciliabula, castra ipsa, tribus, decurias, pa- 
 latium, senatum, forum : sola vobis relinquimus templa. 
 
 D 
 
34 Possibility of converting the Hindoos, 
 
 Church Missionary Society. When his de- 
 termination to be baptized became known to 
 his relations, several who lived with him, 
 forsook him, others threatened him, and the 
 wife of his bosom refused to return to his 
 house. After some struggle between natu- 
 ral affection and a consciousness of duty, 
 and having received much appropriate ad- 
 vice from his teacher, he went to him, 
 " quite composed, and with joy in his coun- 
 tenance," saying, " The Lord has given me 
 grace. I cannot transgress against those 
 words which you mentioned. I must love 
 Christ, more than my wife and friends. I 
 will commend all things to God, and trust 
 Him. He will take care of me. I sincerely 
 wish, in the name of the Lord, to be baptized 
 to-morrow." He was baptized accordingly, 
 in the presence of many heathen, besides 
 the usual native congregation. " The same 
 evening," the Missionary writes, "Cornelius 
 (the name he had received at his baptism) 
 was summoned before the Headman of his 
 caste. This man had formerly been very 
 kind to him. When he went, with the cate- 
 chist, he was asked why he had acted so 
 foolishly as to embrace the Christian Reli- 
 gion: he replied, ' I have not acted fool- 
 ishly ; for 1 believe that I cannot be saved 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 35 
 
 from eternal damnation without the Re- 
 deemer, Jesus Christ/ He (the Headman) 
 answered, * That is your misled mind, 
 which makes you think thus. By what can 
 you know that it is the word of the True 
 God ?' His reply was, ' Permit me to say, 
 honey is sweet, but its sweetness is known 
 by him only who has tasted it : knowing no 
 taste, nor what sweetness is, a man cannot 
 conceive, by any description, the sweetness 
 of honey. Read but our True Vedam ; and, 
 if you seek earnestly the salvation of your 
 soul, you will then know that it is the word 
 of the True God.'"* 
 
 The other instance is the following. " A 
 Hindoo Youth belonging to the Mission 
 School at Allepie, on the coast of Malabar, 
 was employed by the Missionary at that 
 Station, who belongs to the same Society, to 
 transcribe portions of the Gospels in the ver- 
 nacular languages. While thus occupied, 
 he became impressed with a conviction of the 
 truth contained in the Sacred Book, and gra- 
 dually discontinued the observance of the 
 idolatrous rites of his family. He was re- 
 moved by his relations into the interior of the 
 country, in order to detach him from the 
 Mission ; and violence was threatened, to 
 
 * This account has since appeared in the Missionary Register 
 for October 1823, pp. 438, 439. 
 
 D 2 
 
36 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 induce him to conform to the customary prac- 
 tices of his caste. Urged by this treatment, 
 he fled from the country ; and coming into 
 the Tinnevelly District, he heard of the Mis- 
 sion near the town of that name, and sought 
 admission into the Seminary there. Prior 
 to receiving him, the Missionaries wrote to 
 his former master at Allepie, to ascertain the 
 truth of as much of the youth's account of 
 himself as that gentleman might be acquaint- 
 ed with; and he so far confirm edits accuracy. 
 The youth has since applied himself dili- 
 gently to his studies in the Tinnevelly Semi- 
 nary, preparatory to baptism ; and the Mis- 
 sionaries write in terms of entire approba- 
 tion of his conduct." 
 
 I could give many similar instances of 
 Christian fortitude displayed by Hindoo 
 Converts ; but these are sufficient for my pur- 
 pose. They shew, both the kind of perse- 
 cution to which they are exposed, (which 
 certainly is not to be compared with what 
 innumerable martyrs have endured, from the 
 persecution that arose when Stephen was 
 stoned to death, to the days of the Refor- 
 mation,) and, also, that it is possible for the 
 natives of India to be faithful to their con- 
 victions, in the face of such opposition as 
 the Abb6 Dubois describes. 
 
 He thus explains the kind of influence, or 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 37 
 
 tyranny, which the Brahmins exercise over 
 all the other castes, and the means by which 
 they obtained it. " In framing their system 
 of imposture, and in devising the monstrous 
 worship prevailing all over India, they not 
 only used every artifice in their power to 
 adapt it to the dispositions of a simple and 
 credulous people, but, above all, they em- 
 ployed all possible means to establish in this 
 way, in a pernlanent and indisputable man- 
 ner, the high power and uncontroverted con- 
 troul they have always exercised over the 
 other tribes. In order that their artifice, in 
 establishing throughout the body of society 
 the most downright imposture which ever 
 prevailed among any nation on the earth, 
 might not be questioned, they had the pre- 
 caution to encumber the people with those 
 numberless institutions, which, at the same 
 time that they secure the permanent superi- 
 ority of the Brahmins, render the other tribes 
 incapable of reasoning, or of any mental ex- 
 ertion which might enable them to emerge 
 from that state of intellectual degradation in 
 which they are held by their unchangeable 
 usages and customs." " It is a sin, it is a 
 crime, a sacrilege, in every Hindoo who is 
 not born a Brahmin, to endeavour to emerge 
 from that state of ignorance, and to aspire 
 
38 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 to the lowest degree of knowledge. It is a 
 sin for him even to pretend to calculate on 
 what days fall the new and full moon. He is 
 obliged to learn this and similar matters, and 
 to be guided in the most common occur- 
 rences of life, by his religious teachers:" 
 pp. 8890. 
 
 These assertions would lead us to con- 
 clude, that the Brahmins keep from the other 
 castes all religious and scientific knowledge. 
 They do, indeed, withhold from them the six 
 principal Sastras, which are considered sa- 
 cred ; and their perusal is regarded as the 
 peculiar privilege of the Brahmins. But I 
 never yet heard of their prohibiting the study 
 of European arts and sciences, and am ac- 
 quainted with several devoted Hindoos who 
 have a respectable acquaintance with Eng- 
 lish literature. Some, indeed, have been 
 for a considerable time engaged in trans- 
 lating many elementary works, and even such 
 books as Ferguson's Astronomy, &c. &c. into 
 the languages of the East, for the use of 
 their countrymen who do not understand 
 English. Many natives of the first respecta- 
 bility patronize and liberally support several 
 institutions (such as the School and School- 
 Book Societies,&c.) established tiy Europeans, 
 at Calcutta and Serampore, for the diffusion 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 39 
 
 of knowledge among all classes of native 
 youths and adults. The free school at Be- 
 nares, founded and liberally endowed by the 
 late Jay INarain, presents a striking instance 
 of liberality in a native, both in a pecuniary 
 and intellectual point of view. The son, also, 
 has shewn his mind to be equally free from 
 Brahminical influence and sordid principle. 
 When his father died, the legal transfer of 
 the property assigned by him for the en- 
 downment of the school having never been 
 effected, he very honourably and generously 
 secured to the Church Missionary Society 
 the monthly payment of 200 Sicca Rupees 
 which his father had assigned. The institu- 
 tion of the Hindoo College, at Calcutta, " al- 
 most entirely founded on the contributions of 
 that class of natives whose appellation it bears," 
 is another encouraging fact, in proof of the 
 freedom of the natives of respectability from 
 Brahminical influence. They are now begin- 
 ing to encourage schools for FEMALE children 
 also. Native presses, an engine unknown a 
 few years ago to the inhabitants of India, are 
 in active operation. They are even associat- 
 ing with Christians in various charitable un- 
 dertakings for the relief of suffering humanity. 
 Their different addresses, for some time 
 past, to official Characters, on their leaving 
 
40 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 India, evince an expansion of intellect, and a 
 liberality of principle, that can be attributed 
 only to their free intercourse with enlight- 
 ened Europeans, and their acquaintance with 
 the literature of the West. 
 
 But the most remarkable and most recent 
 instance of the triumph of the native mind 
 over Brahminical Influence, is furnished by 
 the formation of the Hindoo Literary So- 
 ciety. A number of natives of the first re- 
 spectability in Calcutta have formed them- 
 selves into a Society of that denomination. 
 The first meeting was held in February ] 823. 
 In the Address then read, they deplore the 
 inconvenience attending the want of a public 
 institution for the advancement of learning 
 in that country, amongst its native society ; 
 and declare, that the want of such an insti- 
 tution has been long felt. The causes of 
 their depressed condition they ascribe to 
 those very prejudices and superstitions 
 which the Abb6 Dubois asserts are insur- 
 mountable ; but which they regard as an evil, 
 to be removed only by the cultivation of 
 literature, and by free intercourse with other 
 people ; to promote which, they say, is the 
 express object of their Society. The busi- 
 ness at that meeting was conducted with a 
 decorum that would have done credit to an 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 41 
 
 European Assembly ; and the sentiments of 
 the different speakers were delivered with 
 great propriety and freedom. Discussion 
 was invited on literary and even religious 
 subjects. Two persons present objected to 
 all political discussion, and abusive exposures 
 of their religion : but they were answered, 
 that should any one publish a work abusing 
 their religion, a defence must be offered 
 thereto.* 
 
 These are far from being the only in- 
 stances that might be adduced, to shew the 
 improvement that has taken place, within 
 these few years, in the feelings and senti- 
 ments of the natives of India. The Abb6 
 Dubois greatly calumniates them, when he 
 says, that " to this day they have copied 
 nothing of the Europeans, besides their vices 
 and their follies :" (p. 118.) Freely as I ac- 
 knowledge, and much as I deplore, the sad 
 influence of immoral Europeans upon the 
 manners of the inhabitants of India, yet there 
 are Englishmen in the service, whose moral 
 conduct is such as to command the admira- 
 tion of the natives, and who exert them- 
 selves to promote the improvement of the 
 Heathen under their controul : while many 
 
 * Asiatic Journal, for October, November, and December 1823. 
 The Address read to the Meeting is particularly deserving of 
 perusal, though too long for insertion here. 
 
42 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 of the Hindoos feel grateful for the service 
 thus rendered to them, begin to shake off 
 the yoke of ignorance and superstition, and 
 to think and act for themselves, with a spirit 
 of independence which they have imbibed 
 solely from their intercourse with respectable 
 Europeans, " These things are not done in 
 a corner." JNo pains are taken by these 
 liberally-minded Hindoos to conceal their 
 proceedings from the Brahmins : they are 
 regularly published before the world : but 
 never have I heard of a single Brahmin who 
 raised a dissentient voice against the diffu- 
 sion of literary and scientific knowledge 
 among the other castes. 
 
 I fear not to make the same assertion with 
 reference to the Holy Scriptures and other 
 religious publications. There may be in- 
 stances of an intolerant spirit among the 
 Brahmins, to prevent their circulation and 
 perusal ; but such is very far from being the 
 general disposition. I mean not to affirm, 
 that the Brahmins are not as much attached 
 to their peculiar institutions as the interested 
 priesthood of any other nation : but I do 
 say, and repeat it, that, as a body, they have 
 hitherto never come forward to impede the 
 progress of Christianity among the other 
 castes. 
 
 The Abb6 Dubois asserts, that u as long as 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 43 
 
 we are unable to make impression on the 
 polished part of the nation, on the leaders 
 of the public opinion, on the body of Brah- 
 mins in short, there remain but very faint 
 hopes of propagating Christianity among the 
 Hindoos :" (p. 100, &c.) 
 
 Enough has been here stated, to prove 
 that the Hindoos have begun to examine 
 into the literature and religion of Europeans, 
 without waiting for the sanction of the Brah- 
 mins, or deferring to their judgment and 
 authority. I shall, therefore, merely subjoin 
 two familiar instances, to shew that the 
 Brahmin does not hold that commanding 
 influence over the mind and actions of the 
 people which is here pretended. 
 
 Will M. Dubois think it possible that a na- 
 tive could, or would, in opposition to the Brah- 
 mins, introduce a band of European music 
 into their very pagoda ; and have it to march 
 and play before the idol, when carried out 
 in procession? Yet this actually occurred 
 at Palamcottah, during my residence at that 
 station. The individual in question is a 
 Moodalyar, a man of a liberal rnind, bene- 
 volent to the poor, and highly esteemed by 
 all the Europeans at the station. He is also 
 the chief support of the pagoda near his 
 habitation : and, having hired a music-master 
 
44 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 to instruct his native musicians, he dressed 
 them in uniform, and employed them in the 
 manner I have related. When the Brahmins 
 remonstrated against this innovation, he re- 
 plied with a smile, and bade them only to 
 listen well to the new music, and observe its 
 vast superiority over their own tom-toms and 
 pipes. For the same purpose, he frequently 
 borrowed the drums and fifes of the native 
 battalion, which are played by Pariahs, 
 most of whom are Roman- Catholic Chris- 
 tians, and would therefore prove doubly 
 objectionable to the Brahmins. But their 
 inclination, and even expostulations, he totally 
 disregarded. 
 
 On one occasion, while waiting for the 
 ferry-boat to carry me over the Tambravany, 
 I mingled with the crowd of natives collected 
 for the same purpose, and endeavoured to 
 improve the opportunity, by conversing with 
 them upon the importance of Salvation, and 
 ascertaining who were able to read, and 
 willing to receive religious books. While 
 thus employed, a Brahmin drew near, not- 
 withstanding the jostling of the crowd, and 
 seemed curious to know what I had to say, 
 and what the books contained. I accosted 
 him ; and, after some conversation, he ac- 
 cepted a book. I then turned to another 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 45 
 
 man, who was importunate for a tract ; and 
 while reading aloud the one which I had 
 put into his hand, he stopped at a word, 
 which he asked me to explain. It was the 
 name Jesus. As soon as the Brahmin heard 
 the sound, he returned the book 1 had given 
 him. This gave me an opportunity of ex- 
 posing the absurdity and weakness of his 
 prejudice against a name; and while I was 
 speaking, he stole silently away, without 
 uttering a word to influence the minds of 
 the people ; nor did his example diminish, in 
 the least, their attention to myself. While 
 crossing the river, I again spoke to this 
 Brahmin (who was in the ferry with me, 
 and had been joined by another), upon the 
 impropriety of his conduct. He seemed to 
 pay no attention to what I said ; but his 
 companion accepted a small book ; and a 
 respectable native in the ferry begged for 
 the one which the other Brahmin had re- 
 jected. 
 
 Easy were it to state many other facts in 
 proof of the Brahmins not possessing that 
 controul over the people which the Abbe 
 Dubois attributes to them ; but I shall abs- 
 tain from crowding these pages with more 
 anecdotes than may be required to support 
 my counter-assertions. I maintain, that the 
 
46 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 command which the Brahminy caste may be 
 supposed, at one time, .to have held over the 
 rest, is now greatly diminished. I have 
 heard respectable natives, who, in conse- 
 quence of their affluent circumstances, had 
 crowds of Brahmins living upon them and 
 constantly about their houses, speak with 
 the greatest freedom, and in opprobrious 
 language, of their drunkenness, debaucheries, 
 &c. &c. And, as far as I know of the pre- 
 sent state of the public feeling to wards them, 
 I do assert, that their conversion is not a 
 sine qua non, in our calculations and exer- 
 tions upon the other castes. At, and in the 
 vicinity of, every European and Mission 
 Station which I have visited, and which form 
 a considerable portion of those in South- 
 India, I have found the natives beginning, and 
 more than beginning, to think and act for 
 themselves. 
 
 Besides, it is not to a Brahmin, but to the 
 Gooroo, or headman of the caste, that the 
 natives generally refer such questions as af- 
 fect their religious prejudices and reputation. 
 But could it be proved that the Brahmins 
 have that command over the minds of their 
 countrymen which the Abbe Dubois attri- 
 butes to them, their conversion would not be 
 in any degree essential to the actual conver- 
 
Possibility oj converting the Hindoos. 47 
 
 sion of the other castes. It is the Holy Spirit 
 which must convert the soul to God. He is 
 free in his operations ; and influences the heart 
 of one man, without any reference to the 
 character or station of another. 
 
 The Abb6 repeatedly asserts, that the " at- 
 tachment of the people of India to their 
 religion and customs is invincible," and their 
 " religious prejudices insurmountable:" (Ad- 
 vert, p. vi. p. 66, &c.) 
 
 He himself knows and, when endeavour- 
 ing to divest the late Mr. Ward's statements 
 of all credibility, acknowledges that some of 
 the most inveterate of those prejudices have 
 long since given way, before the prudence, 
 the humanity, and the perseverance of British 
 Officers. He attributes to the late Governor 
 Duncan the abolition of female infanticide 
 among the Rajahpoots. That gentleman, 
 when Resident of Benares, adopted every 
 measure in his power for its abolition : but 
 when removed to the government of Bombay, 
 it was left for Colonel Walker to effect that 
 object. Colonel W. persevered, against every 
 obstacle ; resisted the remonstrances, en- 
 treaties, and (more than implied) threats of 
 the heads of that tribe ; until he entirely ac- 
 complished his purpose, and that without the 
 least danger to our dominion in the East. 
 
48 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 He confesses also, " that the Bengal Go- 
 vernment (under the Presidency of the Mar- 
 quis Wellesley) had no sooner been made 
 acquainted with the existence of this horrid 
 practice" (mothers throwing the children of 
 their vows into the sea, at the mouth of the 
 Ganges, to be devoured by sharks and alli- 
 gators), " than Resolutions were passed, by 
 which it was declared, that the persons who 
 were guilty of those execrable excesses 
 should, when discovered, be put upon their 
 trials, as guilty of wilful murder, and judged 
 according to the severity of the laws :" (p. 205.) 
 
 Upon this extract, I merely remark, that 
 these admirable Resolutions were not passed 
 as soon as the Bengal Government became 
 acquainted with the existence of this horrid 
 practice. It was publickly known before, 
 and had long distressed the mind of every 
 man susceptible of compassion. But when 
 the Marquis Wellesley manifested an inclina- 
 tion to abolish this practice altogether, as 
 great an outcry was raised against this, as 
 the Abb6 Dubois now raises against every 
 similar interference with the prejudices of 
 the natives. The Noble Marquis, however, 
 was not to be put down by such unfounded 
 clamour. The " Resolutions" were passed 
 in 1802, and entitled, "A Regulation for 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 4 9 
 
 preventing the sacrifice of children, at Saugur, 
 and other places." The law was put in force 
 without delay : and, notwithstanding the pre- 
 dictions of dangerous commotions, as the 
 immediate consequence, it was obeyed, with- 
 out the slightest resistance, or even expres- 
 sion of displeasure. 
 
 At the confluence of the Jumna and the 
 Ganges at Allahabad, Hindoo devotees were 
 for ages in the practice of drowning them- 
 selves. But, not long ago, it was put a stop 
 to, by the Judge simply issuing an order, 
 " that any person found assisting to drown 
 another should be taken up for murder." 
 This had the desired effect : the multitude, 
 collected together on the occasion, dispersed 
 without the least disturbance. 
 
 It will, I believe, be allowed, that, in the 
 opinion of a confirmed Hindoo, it is the 
 greatest of all crimes to put a Brahmin to 
 death. No native Rajah or Magistrate ever 
 dreamt of executing oiue of that caste, what- 
 ever were his offence. But the British Go- 
 vernment have paid no deference to this pre- 
 judice ; awarding appropriate punishments to 
 criminals of every caste, with the strictest 
 impartiality. I very well remember a case 
 in point, related to me by the late R. H. 
 Young, Esq. who was for ten years Judge, 
 
 E 
 
5 Possibility of converting the Hindoos . 
 
 and subsequently Collector, of Tinnevelly. 
 When he was Magistrate of Trichinopoly, a 
 Brahmin was condemned to die, and he, ex 
 qfficio, had to see the sentence carried into 
 effect. It was the first instance of the kind 
 that had occurred at that Station ; and all the 
 Europeans there were of opinion, that the 
 populace would not allow the man to be 
 executed, and would rescue him by force, if 
 the attempt were made. When Mr. Young 
 expressed his determination to do his duty, 
 the Commanding Officer wished to support 
 him with a strong escort of soldiers ; but this 
 he declined, thinking it of importance to let 
 the natives see that he reposed confidence in 
 his own Peons. He requested, however, that, 
 in the event of a tumult, the military might 
 be prepared to assist in its suppression. The 
 Brahmin was led out in the presence of a 
 vast concourse of people ; from whom not a 
 murmur was heard, while preparations were 
 making for his execution, or at the moment 
 of his being launched into eternity : and 
 when the awful scene was closed, they quietly 
 dispersed. 
 
 The aversion of the Brahmins to mingle 
 with inferior castes is well known, and was 
 long considered unconquerable. But, for 
 some years past, they have enlisted into our 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 5 1 
 
 native battalions, and stand in the line, or 
 march indiscriminately with " vile Pariahs" 
 (as the Abbe Dubois designates them), and 
 even with Chucklers (workers in leather), who 
 are some degrees below the Pariah. 
 
 By entering our army, they make another 
 compromise of their ancient prejudices. It 
 is contrary to their superstitions, for any Hin- 
 doos, except those of the lowest castes, to 
 use the flesh or skin of any animal : and to 
 hare done so formerly, a man would have 
 lost caste. But the whole of our Seapoys, 
 who are composed of all ranks, wear the 
 belts, cartridge-box, bayonet-case, sandals, 
 &c. which are all made of leather. Indeed, 
 many private natives are now accustomed to 
 wear leathern sandals and shoes. A short 
 time previously to my leaving India, I ac- 
 companied my Moonshees, one evening, to the 
 door ; and, while they were putting on {heir 
 shoes, desired to know of what they were 
 made. " Of cow's hide" was the reply. I 
 affected to startle with surprise, and asked 
 how they could be guilty of such sacrilege : 
 to which they replied, with a smile, " When 
 we know a little more of you" (meaning 
 European Gentlemen), " we shall lay aside all 
 these notions." 
 
 Till within these few years, none but low- 
 E 2 
 
52 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 caste Hindoos would embark on board ship : 
 but now, the Seapoys are transported across 
 the ocean, to any distance to which their ser- 
 vices may be required, without any objection 
 being expressed on their part, and, on the 
 part of Government, with perfect indifference 
 as to their distinction of caste. And when 
 they return from these expeditions, they are 
 received again by their friends, without the 
 slightest hesitation. 
 
 For a long time, the Seapoys refused to 
 wear an uniformity of dress, until it was 
 thought almost dangerous to propose it. But 
 the late Lieutenant- General, Sir Henry Cosby, 
 in the early part of his military career in 
 South India, succeeded in prevailing upon 
 them to receive the uniform which has con- 
 tinued to be worn by them to the present 
 day*. 
 
 Numerous other instances could I give, in 
 proof that the Hindoo's " prejudices" are not 
 " insurmountable ;" particularly, as in the 
 Seapoy's case, when his interest is concerned. 
 But probably the reader will begin to think 
 me prolix f. Trifling as some of these cases 
 
 * Vide East-India Military Calendar. 
 
 f For arguments of greater weight in proof of the practica- 
 bility of overcoming " the prejudices" &c. of the Hindoos, vide 
 Lord Teignmouth's " Considerations" &c. ; wherein it is proved, 
 
 " that 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 5 3 
 
 may appear to him, yet the whole system of 
 Hindooism is composed of trifles : and every 
 one acquainted with the importance which 
 they still attach to prejudices and customs 
 equally insignificant, will acknowledge, that 
 there is nothing whatever in their civil or re- 
 ligious predilections, from which they may not 
 be expected, with the same facility, and with 
 as little danger to our Eastern Dominion, to 
 deviate, when the moral state of European 
 Society in India shall improve, and the natives 
 become better acquainted with our scientific 
 and literary productions. 
 
 I shall dismiss this part of the question 
 with a reply to what the Abb6 Dubois seems 
 to consider an unanswerable objection against 
 every attempt to interfere with the long- esta- 
 blished practices of the Hindoo. It is in the 
 case " of the burning of the Hindoo Widows 
 on the pile of their deceased husbands." 
 This he calls a " stale subject!!" So is that 
 of the Slave Trade. And many of the advo- 
 cates for this abominable traffic would gladly 
 
 " that millions of Hindoos have been converted to the Maho- 
 medan Faith ; and that hundreds of thousands have embraced the 
 doctrines of Christianity" (viz. within the communion of the 
 Syrian Church, in Travancore ; the Roman-Catholic Church, in 
 various parts of India ; and the Protestant Church, in South 
 India and Ceylon : (pp. 22 28.) Of these Christian Converts, I 
 shall have frequent occasion to speak in the sequel. 
 
54 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 join the Abb6 in endeavouring to pour con- 
 tempt upon the question so odious to their 
 respective feelings (feelings! did I say? 
 Can such men possess feelings that are not 
 degrading to human-nature ?) and persuade 
 us to abandon the " subject," because it is 
 " stale !" If this be argument, then I demand 
 of the Abbe, upon the plea of consistency 
 alone, the abandonment of his outcry against 
 every interference with the customs of India, 
 however inhuman or absurd: for WHAT sub- 
 ject can be more stale than this ! 
 
 This objection might be confidently left 
 to be answered by the sympathies of our 
 common nature. I pray to Almighty God, 
 never so to abandon Christians of the West 
 to the prince of darkness, as to permit him 
 to extinguish every spark of humanity that 
 yet glows in our bosoms ! While the blood 
 of so many victims to Eastern Superstition 
 calls aloud to Heaven for pity, may we open 
 our ears to their cry, and flee to their re- 
 lief ! May the protracted continuance of this 
 abominable custom, instead of blunting the 
 edge of our feelings, only increase their 
 poignancy ! 
 
 M.Dubois acknowledges " that these nefa- 
 rious sacrifices have increased, of late years :" 
 and he ascribes it, " in a great measure," to 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 55 
 
 what he calls " the intemperate zeal' 5 of the 
 late Mr. Ward, " and that of many of his 
 associates in the work of reform ; " which, 
 he says, roused " the zeal of the Hindoos" 
 " to a determined spirit of opposition and 
 resistance." 
 
 This insinuation is illiberal and unfounded ! 
 We learn, from the " Papers relating to 
 Hindoo Widows and voluntary immolations," 
 published, in 1821, by order of the House of 
 Commons, that the number of Suttees has, 
 indeed, of late years increased. In the pro- 
 vince of Bengal, there were 
 
 In 1815 . . . 378 I 1817 .... 707 
 1816 . . . 442 I 1818 .... 839 
 
 Of the different causes assigned for this 
 increase, the following is the most probable. 
 It having come to the knowledge of Govern- 
 ment, that many widows were burnt at a very 
 tender age, in a state of pregnancy, and un- 
 der other circumstances contrary to the Hin- 
 doo Laws relating to the subject, an order 
 was issued to prevent the burning of any 
 widow, until the Magistrate had ascertained, 
 that she was above the age of 1 5, and offered 
 herself a willing sacrifice to the flames. 
 Prior to this regulation, many families re- 
 frained from burning their widows, in conse- 
 quence of the odium which Europeans were 
 
56 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 known to attach to those who assisted at 
 those ceremonies. But now, whenever they 
 took place, they seemed in a measure to have 
 the sanction of the Local Government : the 
 natives were, therefore, no longer ashamed 
 of the practice, and hence the increase of 
 these sacrifices. But how unjust to charge 
 the Missionaries with the guilt of occasion- 
 ing this increase ! Whatever were the cause 
 of it, Missionaries were in no way concerned : 
 and had the practice been peremptorily abo- 
 lished, no such consequences would have 
 followed. To M. Dubois, this " appears a 
 measure too pregnant with danger to be at- 
 tempted." And he argues, that, "in the moral 
 order, as well as the physical, we are often 
 reduced to the sad necessity of tolerating 
 great evils, not to be exposed to greater 
 ones." Had the MarquisWellesley, Governor 
 Duncan, and Colonel Walker, consulted with 
 him upon the expediency of abolishing Infan- 
 ticide, he would, doubtless, have reasoned in 
 the same way against the propriety and safe- 
 ty of the attempt. The natives were as averse 
 to relinquish that practice, as they can pos- 
 sibly be to refrain from burning their widows : 
 and yet none but the happiest consequences 
 resulted from its prohibition. 
 
 The fact of the diminution of Suttees in 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 57 
 
 consequence of the private disapproval of the 
 Europeans, shews the powerful influence of 
 the bare opinion of their rulers over the 
 minds and conduct of the natives : and when 
 all the Honourable Company's Servants shall 
 exhibit to them a faithful specimen of the 
 Christian character, and study to promote 
 their mental and religious improvement, what 
 beneficial effects may we not anticipate from 
 their intercourse with the people whom they 
 govern ! 
 
 M. Dubois' comparison between the immo- 
 lating of the Hindoo Widow, as by Law esta- 
 blished, and the crimes of Duelling and Sui- 
 cide, as committed in Europe and which are 
 acknowledged to be contrary to all Laws both 
 Human and Divine, and discountenanced in 
 every possible way by all who have any sense of 
 religion merits no other observation, than 
 that which is elicited by the silent amaze- 
 ment which his remarks cannot fail to excite : 
 
 (pp.175, 1971990 
 
 I shall refrain from dwelling longer on this 
 painful subject; and will merely subjoin the 
 account of two cases of Hindoo Widows, 
 south of Calcutta, who were prevented from 
 burning, without occasioning the slightest 
 disturbance to the public peace. 
 
 The former occurred in ] 818, in the district 
 
58 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 of Tinnevelly, when I was resident at that 
 station. Upon the death of a respectable 
 Brahmin, both his widows applied for per- 
 mission to burn with his body. As this was 
 an unusual circumstance in South India, no 
 orders had been issued by the Madras Go- 
 vernment upon the subject. The Magistrate 
 replied to that effect; at the same time for- 
 bidding tbem to burn, until the necessary 
 orders should arrive. As this, however, 
 would occasion too great delay, (in conse- 
 quence of the sacrifice being considered as 
 divested of its peculiar virtue if offered long 
 after the husband's decease, and the diffi- 
 culty of preserving the corpse five or six 
 days,) it was burnt alone, without any in- 
 convenience to the public, or the surviving 
 widows. 
 
 The other instance occurred at Chicacole, 
 about sixty miles from Vizagapatam. A Lady 
 at that station, shocked at hearing of a wo- 
 man who intended to burn, and knowing that 
 the wood was prepared for the dreadful sacri- 
 fice, wrote to the late Rev. C. Church, at that 
 time Chaplain at Vizagapatam, requesting 
 him to intercede with the Magistrate, to pre- 
 ventit. ThatGentlemanrepliedtoMr.Church, 
 that he could not interpose his authority, but 
 that he would withhold his sanction until 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 59 
 
 every means had been tried to dissuade her 
 from her purpose. For some time she dis- 
 regarded every thing that was said to her, and 
 all importunity to save her was resisted by 
 her Friends to the last. She, however, at 
 length overcome by the kind and persuasive 
 entreaties of the Lady in question, retracted. 
 The immediate consequence was, her expul- 
 sion from her caste, and loss of all her jewels. 
 But her compassionate Protectress received 
 her, and shewed her every attention she re- 
 quired ; and a Subscription was raised for her 
 support. After a time, her Friends, observing 
 the notice taken of her by Europeans, re- 
 ceived her back, and she was reinstated into 
 all the privileges of her caste. She frequently 
 visited her Benefactress, after her return to 
 her Relations, and, with tears in her eyes, 
 expressed her gratitude for her preservation. 
 So much for the impracticability of abolish- 
 ing this horrid practice ! and so much for 
 the danger the Abb6 apprehends from the 
 attempt! In short, I do maintain, that it 
 betrays an ignorance of the native character, 
 to suppose that the Hindoos are capable of 
 being " roused to a determined spirit of oppo- 
 sition and resistance," by such means as have 
 been hitherto employed to wean them from 
 any of their " sacred customs and practices." 
 
60 Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 
 
 The Abb6 very well knows, that the natives 
 of India are not composed of such active 
 and irritable materials. 
 
 Having thus considered the question in 
 every point of view suggested by the Abb6 
 Dubois* remarks, and endeavoured to put a 
 fair construction upon all his statements, I 
 think the arguments and facts here advanced 
 in reply fully establish the position, that there 
 is " a possibility of making real Converts to 
 Christianity among the natives of India." 
 Since the Abb6 endeavoured to establish 
 the opposite position, by an appeal to the 
 immoral character of the subjects upon whom 
 the experiment is to be made, and to the 
 nature of their superstitions and inveteracy of 
 their prejudices, I have hitherto waved the 
 religious and spiritual consideration of the 
 subject, for the purpose of shewing, upon 
 his own grounds, that the Hindoo's entrench- 
 ments are not impassable, nor the moral 
 impediments of his character irremediable ; 
 since they are not more vicious than others, 
 and even less culpable in the sight of God 
 than many who have been converted to the 
 Faith of Christ. Hence the possibility of their 
 conversion, also, must be conceded by every 
 ingenuous mind : and while that possibility 
 exists, we have not the shadow of authority 
 
Possibility of converting the Hindoos. 6 1 
 
 for excluding them from all hope of obtain- 
 ing the divine mercy provided for apostate 
 but repenting creatures in the Gospel of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 THE NATURE OF THE MEANS EMPLOYED BY THE 
 ROMAN. CATHOLICS FOR THE CONVERSION 
 OF THE HINDOOS; TOGETHER WITH THEIR 
 FAILURE, AND THE CAUSE OF THAT FAILURE. 
 
 THE Abb6Dubois arrives at his conclusion 
 that the conversion of the Hindoos is imprac- 
 ticable from the failure of the means hitherto 
 employed by Roman- Catholic Missionaries; 
 which, he thinks, are better adapted to the 
 purpose than the measures which Protestants 
 adopt. Therefore, before proceeding to 
 establish my position by arguments drawn 
 from the successes which have crowned the 
 labours of Protestant Missionaries, injustice 
 to the Abb6 5 and to my own argument also, 
 I will endeavour to take an impartial view of 
 the efforts of M. Dubois and his Brethren to 
 evangelize India, and of their result. 
 
62 Means employed by the Roman-Catholics 
 
 One of the most obstinate prejudices of 
 the Hindoos, is that which ascribes to the 
 Brahmin an origin and honours super- 
 human. This prejudice must be overcome, 
 before the Gospel can obtain any footing in 
 the heart ; for Christ cannot be exalted, until 
 Man is humbled to the very dust. 
 
 How, then, have the Jesuits met this pre- 
 judice ? They have adopted the very means 
 that are calculated to strengthen it in the 
 minds of the people, and to foster brahmi- 
 nical pride. " After announcing themselves 
 as Brahmins, they made it their study to 
 imitate that Tribe : they put on a Hindoo 
 dress of cavy (or yellow colour), the same as 
 that used by the Indian Religious Teachers 
 and Penitents ; they made frequent ablutions ; 
 whenever they shewed themselves in public, 
 they applied, to their forehead, paste made 
 of sandal- wood, as used by the Brahmins* ; 
 they scrupulously abstained from every kind 
 of animal food, as well as from intoxicating 
 liquors, entirely faring, like Brahmins, on 
 vegetables and milk:'* (pp. 5, 6.) He pro- 
 ceeds to expatiate on the prudence of this 
 
 * This mark is worn also by the other castes of Hindoos, and 
 distinguishes the worshippers of their respective gods from each 
 other. The Jesuits, therefore, by adopting this mark, bore the 
 stamp of idolatry on their very front ! 
 
for the conversion of the Hindoos. 63 
 
 mode of proceeding, and attributes thereto 
 the acceptance they met with from the Native 
 Princes. 
 
 Some Catholic Friars of other Religious 
 Orders justly complained of these proceed- 
 ings to the Pope. The Jesuits were charged 
 with "the most culpable indulgence, in tole- 
 rating and winking at all kinds of Idolatrous 
 Superstitions among their Proselytes; and 
 with having themselves rather become Con- 
 verts to the Idolatrous Worship of the Hin- 
 doos, by conforming to many of their prac- 
 tices and superstitions, than making Indians 
 Converts to the Christian Religion:" (pp. 7, 8.) 
 
 When the Pope called them to account 
 for this shameful conduct, they attempted to 
 excuse themselves, by representing the expe- 
 diency of making this compromise ; which, 
 they argued, was only temporary, and was 
 justified by the example of the Apostles. 
 But "all these, and many other like reasons, 
 appeared, to the Holy See, futile, and merely 
 evasive; and the Jesuits were peremptorily 
 ordered to preach the Catholic Religion in all 
 its purity, and altogether suppress the super- 
 stitious practices, till then tolerated among 
 the Neophytes:" (pp. 8, 9.) 
 
 They did not comply with these orders, 
 without making a further attempt to obtain 
 
64 Means employed by the Roman-Catholics 
 
 the Pope's sanction to their idolatrous pro- 
 ceedings : and when, at length, Benedict 
 XIV. peremptorily commanded them to de- 
 sist from those practices, and to " bind them- 
 selves, by a solemn oath taken before a Bishop, 
 to conform themselves, without any tergiver- 
 sation whatever, to the spirit and letter of the 
 decree," M. Dubois says, that they obeyed, 
 though with reluctance: (pp. 9, 10.) Over- 
 awed, perhaps, by the Cardinal de Tournon, 
 the Apostolic Legate at Pondicherry, they 
 might comply at the time; but they soon 
 resumed their Pagan customs and supersti- 
 tions, and continue them to the present day. 
 
 The Abb6 attempts to extenuate this po- 
 licy, by representing the Hindoos as a people 
 " constituted in such a manner, by their edu- 
 cation and customs, that they are quite in- 
 sensible to all that does not make a strong 
 impression on the senses :" (p. 6S.) And 
 hence the necessity, I presume, of disguising 
 the Christian Religion, under images, pic- 
 tures, processions, &c. &c. resembling, as 
 closely as possible, those of the people we 
 would convert ! 
 
 When the Abb6 sat down to argue thus, 
 did he recollect the words of Jesus Christ ? 
 " God is a Spirit : and they that worship 
 Him, must worship Him inspirit and in truth :'* 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 65 
 
 (John iv. 24.) Let him not reply, that they 
 are too sensual to give ear to such a doc- 
 trine ; for their own Shasters inculcate a 
 similar principle : and it is the professed 
 object of their Sanassees, by mortifying the 
 flesh, to become insensible to surrounding 
 objects and animal gratification, that they 
 may keep the mind absorbed in contempla- 
 tion upon the Deity. Though the majority 
 of them are actuated by pride and indo- 
 lence, and study how they may impose on 
 the credulous with success, yet such is their 
 avowed object : and the devotee who prac- 
 tises the severest mortifications, is the most 
 highly esteemed. They consider this dedi- 
 cation of the body, or any part of it, as more 
 acceptable to God than any other service or 
 offering that can be rendered to Him ; and 
 hence the strict Sanassees are regarded as 
 the most holy of men. This Hindoo doc- 
 trine and practice may, therefore, be con- 
 sidered as facilitating the way for a favour- 
 able reception of the Gospel, when they shall 
 hear of its spiritual nature. 
 
 Allowing, however, that the Hindoos are 
 a sensual people, and easily captivated by 
 pomp and magnificence, yet wherein do 
 they differ in this respect, not to say from 
 ancient and modern Heathens of all lands, 
 
66 Means employed by the Roman- Catholics 
 
 but from all the rest of their species, of every 
 religion and every clime ? The constitution 
 of the human mind is the same everywhere. 
 The peculiarity of its attachments is quite 
 accidental, and is formed by education and 
 habit. We are all creatures of sense, and 
 too prone to be allured by sensible objects : 
 and in proportion as we are thus led away 
 by the vanities around us, the thoughts, the 
 affections, are drawn from God. To deliver 
 us from this thraldom of the senses, is one of 
 the practical designs of Christianity : and 
 until the soul shall be thus enfranchised, we 
 can never become spiritual, and, conse- 
 quently, acceptable worshippers of the Only 
 True God, nor faithful believers in Christ. 
 
 The duty, then, of every Missionary to 
 the Heathen, is obvious he is bound to en- 
 force upon them the necessity of renouncing 
 every idolatrous practice, before they can be 
 admitted as Members of the Church of God. 
 The Abb6 Dubois and his Brethren have 
 adopted the opposite system they have in- 
 dulged their Proselytes in their use of super- 
 stitions, calculated to lock the minds in 
 eternal ignorance of the spiritual nature of 
 God, and of the service which He demands 
 of all who approach Him. Are we, then, to 
 be told by these men, that the Hindoos' pre- 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 67 
 
 judices are insurmountable? They have never 
 attempted to overcome them ! M. Dubois 
 confesses, that during a period of twenty- 
 five years that he has familiarly conversed with 
 them, lived among them as their Religious 
 Teacher and Spiritual Guide he would 
 hardly dare to affirm that he has anywhere 
 met a sincere Christian. " In embracing the 
 Christian Religion," he says, " they very 
 seldom heartily renounce their leading super- 
 stitions, towards which they always enter- 
 tain a secret bent, which does not fail to 
 manifest itself in the several occurrences of 
 life ; and in many circumstances, where the 
 precepts of their Religion are found to be in 
 opposition to their leading usages, they 
 rarely scruple to overlook the former, and 
 conform themselves to the latter :" (p. 63.) 
 Can this be matter of surprise, even to the 
 Abb6 himself ? Every impartial observer will 
 see, that such is precisely the effect that 
 might have been anticipated, from the tem- 
 porising policy of the Jesuit Missionaries in 
 the East. 
 
 Since, however, the Abb6 Dubois thinks 
 they were justified in adopting those expe- 
 dients by the examples recorded in the sa- 
 cred page, (p. 6.) it will be right to inquire, 
 how far the conduct of our Lord and His 
 
68 Means employed by the Roman- Catholics 
 
 Apostles may be considered as establishing 
 a precedent for this mode of proceeding, in 
 our endeavours to propagate the Gospel. 
 
 We have seen that the Jesuits thought the 
 favourable opinion of the Brahmins indis- 
 pensable to their success ; and that they, 
 therefore, in the first instance, endeavoured 
 to gain their countenance. 
 
 For the same reason, it would have been 
 politic in our Lord and His Apostles to court 
 the Scribes and Pharisees ; for they also, as 
 already shewn, were " the polished part of 
 the nation," and " leaders of the public opi- 
 nion." But, so far from paying any defe- 
 rence to those haughty Sects, Jesus Christ 
 availed himself of every opportunity to hum- 
 ble their pride. Even the Harbinger of our 
 Lord, when announcing to the Jews the 
 speedy approach of the Kingdom of Hea- 
 ven, boldly rebuked the Pharisees and Sad- 
 ducees, when he saw them coming to his 
 baptism, and " said unto them, <O genera- 
 tion of vipers ! who hath warned you to flee 
 from the wrath to come?" Instead of flat- 
 tering them, as the rulers of the public opi- 
 nion, he tells them plainly, that no distinc- 
 tions of which they boasted, no, not even 
 their natural descent from Abraham, would 
 recommend them to God, unless they brought 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 69 
 
 forth fruits meet for repentance: (Matt. iii. 
 7 Q.) Jesus Christ reproves them still 
 more sharply, (Id. xii. 34.) and denounces 
 against them the most tremendous judg- 
 ments. " Ye serpents ! ye generation of 
 vipers ! how can ye escape the damnation 
 of hell :" (Id. xxiii. 33 30.) So far was 
 He from being induced, by their exalted 
 station and influence, to conciliate their 
 minds, that He refused to give them a sign, 
 when they requested one : (Id. xii. 38 4O. 
 xvi. ] 4.) He taught in parables, that they 
 might not understand lessons which He in- 
 tended for persons of inferior rank and im- 
 portance : (Id. xiii. 11, &c.) Upon their 
 demanding by what authority He acted, He 
 refused to satisfy them, unless upon condi- 
 tions with which they found it unsafe to 
 comply : (Luke xx. l 8.) Instead of ap- 
 pearing among them in the character of a 
 Rabbi, which He might have done without 
 having recourse to the duplicity which the 
 Jesuits practised upon the Hindoos, He as- 
 sumed a low origin ; selected a city of no re- 
 putation for His birth-place ; chose to be 
 nurtured in another of still less esteem, 
 though thereby their objections would be 
 strengthened against His person and office : 
 (John vii. 41 53. See also Luke xvii. 
 
70 Means employed by the Roman-Catholics 
 
 2O, 21.) Even His own countrymen were 
 offended with Him, for the same reason : 
 (Matt.xiii. 5457. Mark vi. 3.) 
 
 Our Lord knew that this behaviour would 
 provoke the Pharisees, and other persons of 
 respectability, to seek His death ; and that 
 they would succeed. Some of His Disciples 
 seem to have been amazed at the freedom 
 with which He spake ; and to have thought, 
 that He could not be aware how greatly He 
 was offending those, towards whom worldly 
 policy would have dictated a more concilia- 
 tory deportment. But He corrects their mis- 
 apprehension, and takes pains to make them 
 understand that He acted upon better prin- 
 ciples : (Matt. xv. 12 2O.) Peter, disap- 
 pointed at his Lord's prediction of the many 
 things He was about to suffer from the Elders, 
 and Chief-priests, and Scribes, even unto 
 death, " took Him, and began to rebuke 
 Him; saying, 'Be it far from Thee, Lord! this 
 shall not be unto Thee/ Bat He turned and 
 said unto Peter, Get thee behind Me, Satan ; 
 thou art an offence unto Me :" Why? " for 
 thou savourest not the things that be of God, 
 but those that be of men :" (Id. xvi. 21 23. 
 xvii. 12, 22, 23. xx. 17 19. Mark viii. 31 33. 
 &c.) Peter, at this moment under the in- 
 fluence of the god of this world, would have 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 71 
 
 suggested to his Master a mode of proceed- 
 ing like that which the Jesuits have pursued 
 in India ; for this, he hoped, would ensure 
 for Him and His Disciples a more favourable 
 reception. But our Lord's sharp rebuke of 
 that Apostle teaches us, that such measures 
 proceed from motives inconsistent with the 
 principles of the Gospel, and in opposition 
 to that disinterestedness and impartiality 
 with which it is to be proclaimed. This 
 Peter well understood, when under the 
 influence of the Holy Ghost : (Acts ii. iii. 
 iv. and x.) 
 
 Our Lord's example, in this respect, may 
 be placed in a still more striking point of 
 view. There is not a greater difference be- 
 tween the Brahmin and Pariah, or even 
 Chuckler, than there was between the Pha- 
 risees and Samaritans. The latter were 
 regarded by all the Israelites as the most 
 odious of men ; despised by them, under the 
 notion that they were possessed by the Devil ; 
 and all intercourse with them was carefully 
 avoided. Yet we find, that Christ conversed 
 with a Samaritan Harlot, and with all her 
 countrymen who resorted to Him for instruc- 
 tion, as freely as with a Pharisee a Master 
 and Teacher in Israel : (John iii. and iv.) 
 
 In short, Jesus Christ neither rejected nor 
 
72 Means employed by the Roman-Catholics 
 
 gave a preference to any that sought Him in 
 sincerity of heart. He came to seek and to 
 save that which was lost. All were lost. 
 But it was necessary for them to feel and 
 deplore their hopeless state, before they could 
 apply to Him for salvation in a right dispo- 
 sition of mind. The Pharisees, like the Brah- 
 mins, "trusted in themselves that they were 
 righteous, and despised others." It was ne- 
 cessary that this feeling should be inverted 
 that they should learn to " repent in dust and 
 ashes," and " esteem others better than them- 
 selves" before they could become proper 
 subjects for the mercy of Him who was 
 " ineek and lowly in heart." But that would 
 never have been the case, had our Lord 
 treated them as the Roman-Catholic Missio- 
 naries have behaved towards the Brahmins. 
 The pride of both must be subdued ; they 
 must be converted and become as little chil- 
 dren, before they can enter the Kingdom of 
 Heaven: (Matt. xvii. l, &c.) 
 
 The Saviour, instead of commanding His 
 Disciples to continue to regard the Pharisees 
 &c. with that respect which they had been 
 accustomed to pay them, expressly cautioned 
 them against being led astray by their influ- 
 ence and doctrines : (Matt. xvi. 5 J2.) 
 
 Like his Divine Master, St. Paul paid no 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 7$ 
 
 more respect to the Pharisees, as such, than 
 to the most illiterate, vulgar, and disreputa- 
 ble part of the Jews, or even the Gentiles. 
 He was himself a Pharisee, the son of a Pha- 
 risee ; and had more reason for glorying in 
 temporal distinctions than most of his coun- 
 trymen : (Phil. iii. 4 6.) But he never at- 
 tempted, upon ^2 plea, to recommend him- 
 self, or the Gospel, to his own, or any other 
 Sect. He rather gloried in his infirmities, 
 that the power of Christ might rest upon 
 him (2Cor. xii. p.); and that in direct op- 
 position to the Pseudo-apostles mentioned 
 in the preceding chapter of that Epistle, who 
 seem to have adopted the very method which 
 the Jesuits pursued in India, and for which 
 they are there condemned. 
 
 The object of St. Paul, like that of Christ, 
 was to preach the Gospel with such simpli- 
 city, that it might commend itself to every 
 man's conscience by its own intrinsic merits. 
 Were it clothed in classic language, and 
 promulgated by a person of eminence, it 
 would, doubtless, render it more acceptable 
 to the higher classes: but for that very 
 reason he divested it of human decorations, 
 knowing the propensity of the mind to be 
 attracted by a fair exterior of Religion, and 
 to mistake an approbation of a Preacher and 
 
74 Means employed by the Roman- Catholics 
 
 his style, for an approval of his sacred 
 message. He was well aware, also, that a 
 flowing diction, high-sounding titles, and 
 courtly manners, were calculated to blind 
 the understanding against those parts of the 
 Gospel which are most objectionable to the 
 pride of man ; but which must be subdued, 
 before the doctrines and precepts of the 
 New Testament can be rightly understood 
 or faithfully obeyed. Our Apostle did not 
 affect to undervalue human acquirements; 
 and on several occasions he shewed that he 
 knew how to employ them, when expedient, 
 to promote the glory of his Lord. But he 
 was cautious lest they should operate against 
 that simplicity of faith and singleness of 
 heart, which are indispensable to a correct 
 understanding and sincere acceptation of the 
 terms of the Gospel Covenant. We may 
 easily suppose, then, how he would have 
 abhorred the thought of assuming a fictitious 
 character, as the Jesuits have done in India, 
 for the purpose of imposing upon any de- 
 scription of men ! 
 
 The very circumstance of our Lord's 
 selecting illiterate and obscure Individuals, 
 for the first Teachers of the Gospel, shews 
 how contrary His design was to the policy 
 ef the Roman-Catholic Missionaries. Hu- 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 75 
 
 manly speaking, they were, of all men, the 
 least likely to succeed in weaning the world 
 from long-established customs, overturning 
 the existing order of things, and building up 
 the Religion of Jesus Christ upon the ruins of 
 every other Mode of Worship. What proba- 
 bility could there be, that a company of 
 Fishermen, Mechanics, and others of as little 
 respectability, should be able to contend 
 with Rulers, Priests, and Philosophers, and 
 triumph over their powers, sophistry, and 
 malice ? Yet this actually took place, during 
 the whole of the First Century of the Christian 
 JEra : and the conquests of Christianity being 
 achieved by means of Individuals who, as far 
 as natural causes have force,were unprepared 
 or disqualified for such an undertaking, fur- 
 nished incontestable proof of a divine power 
 operating through their instrumentality. 
 
 Hence it may be concluded, that our 
 Lord, by choosing the primitive Ministers of 
 His Word from the lowest ranks of Society, 
 intended to shew to the world, that the pro- 
 pagation of His Religion upon earth was the 
 work of God, and not of Man. And though 
 it is our duty, and, in the present state of the 
 Church, necessary, to cultivate an acquaint- 
 ance with ancient and foreign languages, and 
 to employ every other lawful means to disse- 
 
76 Means employed by the Roman- Catholics 
 
 minate the Gospel through every land, yet are 
 we bound to keep our Divine Master's object 
 steadily in view ; to act at all times with 
 Christian sincerity ; and to give no such pro- 
 minency to the persons or means employed, 
 as shall detract from God the glory of the 
 success that may result from our labours. 
 Let our plans be formed and executed with 
 all the wisdom, learning, and skill we can 
 command ; but let our design be simple, our 
 proceedings without disguise, and in all re- 
 spects in conformity with the example of 
 Christ. 
 
 Then, taking the Saviour and His Apo- 
 stles for my guides, I maintain, that the Brah- 
 min has no more claim to the regard of the 
 Christian Teacher than the Pariah : (James ii. 
 1 9.) I would not have the Missionary do 
 violence to the prejudices of any one: but he 
 betrays his trust, if he flatters the vanity or 
 sanctions the superstitions of any description 
 of men, for the sake of obtaining for the 
 Gospel a more extensive circulation. In the 
 language of Jehovah, by the mouth of His 
 Prophet, I demand, " Who hath required 
 this at your hands ?" Jesus Christ received 
 the inquiring Pharisees and Rulers, when 
 they really sought His instruction ; and on 
 no occasion did He unnecessarily give them 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 77 
 
 offence. But He paid no more court to 
 them, than to Publicans, Harlots, and Sama- 
 ritans. 
 
 Therefore, the Jesuit Missionaries in India 
 (besides introducing themselves to the Hindoo 
 Brahmins under a fictitious character, and 
 thus, to say the least of it, " doing evil that 
 good might come") erred at the very com- 
 mencement of their assault upon the pre- 
 judices and superstitions of Hindoostan. 
 
 The Abb6 Dubois, however, as already no- 
 ticed, thinks that him self and his Brethren are 
 borne out in this particular, by the example 
 of St. Paul ; and he quotes at length 1 Cor.ix. 
 20, 2 1 . (p. 6.) True that Apostle did consult 
 the infirmities of the weaker Brethren ; feeding 
 some with milk, others with stronger food, as 
 he found them able to bear it : (l Cor. hi. 2.) 
 He did not instantly demand the renunciation 
 of customs, in their nature indifferent, when 
 he perceived that such strictness might wound 
 their feelings, and thereby retard their pro- 
 gress in the Faith. He knew that they would 
 discontinue them of their own accord, when 
 further light had exposed their inutility. But 
 did he ever compromise the principles or 
 precepts of the Gospel? Did he, like the 
 Jesuits in India, allow Converts from Idolatry 
 tp incorporate Pagan Rites and Ceremonies 
 
78 Means employed by the Roman- Cat holies 
 
 with the simplicity of the Christian Mode of 
 Worship? Did he, like them, adopt those 
 Rites himself? JNo such thing! On one occa- 
 sion, indeed, he circumcised a Convert. That 
 Convert was Timothy, whose mother " was 
 a Jewess, but his father was a Greek." The 
 Jews knew that his circumcision had been 
 neglected; and, therefore, anticipating the 
 objections of the Jewish Converts to his tak- 
 ing, for a Companion and Fellow-labourer, 
 an uncircumcised Israelite, he performed 
 that Rite upon the youthful Timothy, pre- 
 vious to their visitation of the Churches : 
 (Acts xvi. l 3.) But he never allowed the 
 circumcision of a Gentile Convert, though 
 almost all the Jewish Brethren contended for 
 its necessity. He boldly set his face against 
 this, and every other observance ; seeing that 
 they would contract the liberty of the Gospel, 
 and tarnish the glory of God. He was jea- 
 lous lest these external forms should become 
 the means of flattering human pride, and be 
 relied on as rendering those who observed 
 them the more acceptable to Jesus Christ. 
 On one occasion, he resisted even Peter and 
 Barnabas, when he perceived that, out of 
 respect to the Jewish Converts, they withdrew 
 from the Gentiles, or wished to compel them 
 to live as the Jews: (Gal. ii. 11, &c.) He 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 79 
 
 prohibited the Christians from eating meat 
 which they knew had been offered to an 
 Idol : but when ignorant of its having been 
 so dedicated, he allowed them to eat freely; 
 for its defilement was not actual, but merely 
 accidental : and he even recommended them 
 to refrain from asking questions about any 
 meat set before them, lest, finding it had been 
 consecrated to some Pagan Deity, they should 
 be obliged, for conscience sake, to abstain 
 from eating. 
 
 It appears, then, that nothing was further 
 from St. Paul's intention, than " to become all 
 things to all men," in M. Dubois' acceptation 
 of the phrase. 
 
 I will here give two instances of the man- 
 ner in which Protestants meet Brahminical 
 pride. 
 
 The late Rev. C. R Swartz, waiting one 
 morning in the antechamber of the palace at 
 Tanjore, for an interview with the Rajah, was 
 thus accosted by a Brahmin, who was attend- 
 ing there for the same purpose. " Mr. Swartz, 
 do you not think it a very bad thing to touch 
 a Pariah?" "O yes, "the venerable Missionary 
 replied, " a very bad thing indeed!" The 
 Brahmin, however, perceiving, by his man- 
 ner of answering, that more was meant than 
 expressed, asked again, " But, Mr. Swartz, 
 
80 Means employed by the Roman- Catholics 
 
 what do you mean by a Pariah ?" " I mean," 
 the good man said, " a thief, a liar, a slan- 
 derer, a drunkard, an adulterer, a proud 
 man." <c Oh ! then," said the Brahmin, hastily 
 interrupting him, " we are all Pariahs." 
 Thus was the man made to perceive how in- 
 significant, in the Missionary's opinion, was 
 his boasted superiority over the Pariah : and 
 the lesson was calculated to teach him 
 wherein consists that distinction between one 
 man and another, which alone God will 
 recognise. 
 
 The other instance is as follows. A young 
 Brahmin applying for admission into the 
 English School at Palamcottah, requested a 
 seat by himself. I desired the Master to in- 
 form him, that there was no objection to his 
 sitting alone, provided he brought his own 
 chair and table, but that he could not be fur- 
 nished with a separate seat. Accordingly, 
 he did so : but on entering the School, a few 
 days after, I saw him sitting with the other 
 Scholars, and two boys of inferior caste writ- 
 ing at his table. 
 
 It is in this way, without making any rude 
 attack upon the prejudices of these men, but 
 at the same time shewing them that we think 
 their proud and childish distinctions quite 
 beneath our notice, that they themselves will 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 8 1 
 
 begin to appreciate them less than they have 
 hitherto done. And if we, like Swartz, take 
 occasion also to tell them, that the immora- 
 lity of any Individual will reduce him to a 
 level with, or even below, the most vulgar, 
 and, notwithstanding his reputation in this 
 world, render him obnoxious to the judg- 
 ments of God, we shall then-be following the 
 example of Christ himself, and adopting the 
 most probable and only lawful means of 
 correcting the notions and humbling the 
 pride of the Brahmins. (Vide Matt, xxiii. 25, 
 &c.) This would never be accomplished by 
 the Jesuits' mode of proceeding. Their ob- 
 ject is, not to humble, but to conciliate, that 
 haughty caste : and they would allow them, 
 on embracing Christianity, to retain notions 
 directly at variance with the unassuming spi- 
 rit of the Gospel. 
 
 We may now understand the Abbe* Dubois, 
 when he says, " If any of the several Modes 
 of Christian Worship were calculated to make 
 an impression, and gain ground, in the coun- 
 try (India), it is no doubt the Catholic Form, 
 which you Protestants call an Idolatry in 
 disguise" (p. 18), " whose external pomp 
 and show appear so well suited to the genius 
 and dispositions of the Natives," (pp. 23, & 
 67 to 70.) If the object be to make mere 
 
 G 
 
82 Means employed by the Roman Catholics 
 
 Proselytes from one Mode of Worship to ano 
 ther, then we must concede, that Popery has 
 the advantage ; for Protestantism has no at- 
 tractions whatever for the secular and the 
 sensual. But if the design be to recover the 
 soul from the dominion of the senses, to 
 purify the heart and correct the actions in 
 a word, to make true Christians then we 
 deny that the Jesuits have reason to entertain 
 the faintest hope of witnessing such a result 
 from their exertions ; .they make little or 
 no effort to raise their Proselytes from the 
 degraded condition in which they find them. 
 I once asked a Priest, on the Coromandel 
 Coast, by what Scriptural authority they per- 
 formed the Ceremony of the Rutt*, and other 
 Idolatrous Customs. He replied, " There is 
 no authority for it in Scripture : but if you 
 come amongst dogs, you must do as dogs do /" 
 It was in vain that I endeavoured to con- 
 vince him, that it was the Christian Minister's 
 duty to exalt his Flock, if possible, to the 
 character of Men and Christians ; and not to 
 degrade himself to a level with their base 
 condition. This doctrine did not accord with 
 his policy and secular interests. 
 
 * A vehicle resembling Juggernaut's Car, used at all the prin- 
 cipal Pagodas in India. The Roman Catholics place upon it the 
 Image of the A r irgin Mary ; and draw it round the Church, in the 
 same manner as the Hindoos drag their Idols round their Temples^ 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 83 
 
 The Roman Catholics in India, where they 
 can afford it, celebrate the great Festivals of 
 the Church by a Theatrical Representation of 
 the event commemorated : this is followed 
 by an exhibition of fire- works, accompanied 
 by repeated shouts and the barbarous music 
 of the Indians, as at the Hindoo Festivals, 
 which is often continued through the night. 
 As far as my observation has extended, I have 
 never witnessed any attempt, on the part 
 of the Roman- Catholic Missionaries, to im- 
 prove the character of their Converts. They 
 change their Idols indeed; substituting the 
 Crucifix and the Images of the Virgin, Peter, 
 Thomas, Sebastian, and other Saints, for 
 the Lingum, Maha Deva, &c. &c.; but they 
 leave them at heart as they found them. No 
 wonder, then, that their character is as bad 
 as the Abb6 Dubois describes them. In- 
 deed, it would be matter of surprise if he 
 could find " a true Christian" among Prose- 
 lytes made by such means: (pp.73, 131 136.) 
 With reference to them, I do not hesitate to 
 adopt the sentiment of Tully, and say, that it 
 had been as well to have left them to follow 
 the gods of their fatherst, as to have con- 
 verted them in such a manner, and to such a 
 
 t " A patribus acceptos deos placet coli." De Leg. 1. 2. 
 G 2 
 
84 Means employed by the Roman-Catholics 
 
 profession of Christianity as they have em- 
 braced. 
 
 The Missionary's line of duty, in his at- 
 tempts to convert the Heathen, is so accurately 
 marked out, and the Jesuits' departure from 
 that line so strikingly expressed, in the fol- 
 lowing Extract, that I shall make no apology 
 for transcribing it. The author is exposing 
 the sin of Worldly Conformity. " No doubt 
 to conciliate is a good thing ; and to become 
 all things to all men, in order to gain the 
 more, as far as it can be done with a good 
 conscience, is a work of charity. But if 
 men, in order to conciliate, go half-way over 
 to the World, and give up a great part of their 
 Religion, this is not recommending the Cause 
 of God, but betraying it. Remember the 
 solemn charge given in the text : (Exodus 
 xxiii. 2025.) 'Thou shalt not bow down 
 to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after 
 their works; but thou shalt utterly overthrow 
 them, and quite break down their images; 
 and ye shall serve the Lord your God.' This 
 zealous protest, which the Israelites were to 
 make against Idolatry and the works of the 
 Heathen, shew with what firmness the Fol- 
 lowers of Christ should resist every thing 
 which is contrary to the interests of his King- 
 dom, and make no compromise with Satan 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 85 
 
 whatever*." I leave it with the Reader to 
 apply this sentiment to the proceedings of 
 the Roman-Catholic Missionaries, described 
 in the preceding pages. 
 
 But, notwithstanding their unscriptural 
 policy, and shameful compromise of every 
 thing resembling the pure and undefiled Re- 
 ligion of the New Testament, the Abbe Du- 
 bois himself acknowledges, that they have 
 totally failed of their object, and that " all 
 this pageantry is at present beheld with in- 
 difference by the Hindoos, and the interests 
 of the Christian Religion have not been im- 
 proved by what some may be disposed to 
 term mere Priestcraft:" (p. 72.) In order 
 to prove that this failure is not to be attri- 
 buted to the inefficiency of the means em- 
 ployed, but to the peculiar character of the 
 Hindoos and the nature of their supersti- 
 tions, he shews, that those very means were 
 successful in Japan, beyond all calculation 
 or the most sanguine expectations. Upon a 
 prima-facie view of this argument, it may ap- 
 pear to warrant his conclusion: for, if one 
 race of people are converted to pure Chris- 
 tianity by the very measures which another 
 nation has for centuries pertinaciously re- 
 jected, it would seem to furnish some plea, 
 
 * Fawcett's Sermons, Vol. I. p. 448. 2d Ed. 
 
86 Means employed by the Roman- Cat holies 
 
 for the inference, that the latter lie under 
 the sentence of Divine Reprobation. This 
 question, then, requires examination. 
 
 The Jesuit Missionary who laboured in In- 
 dia with the most zeal and success, wasFrancis 
 Xavier. He arrived in India about the year 
 1 522. Within the space of three years, he " is 
 said to have made many thousand Converts:" 
 but these being of the lowest castes, and he 
 being dissatisfied with their character, and 
 " entirely disheartened by the invincible ob- 
 stacles he everywhere met in his apostolic 
 career, and by the apparent impossibility of 
 making real Converts, he left the country in 
 disgust, after a stay in it of only two or 
 three years; and embarked for Japan, where 
 his spiritual labours were crowned with far 
 greater success, and laid the foundation of 
 those once numerous and flourishing Congre- 
 gations of Japanese Christians, who, within a 
 period of less than a century, amounted to 
 more than a million of souls." (pp. 3, 4.) 
 
 We are not to attribute this success to 
 Xavier alone. He was accompanied by 
 many Jesuits from various parts of India; and 
 several others arrived, about the same time, 
 from Macao. Nor are we to infer from it, 
 that there was something in the nature or 
 character of the Japanese superior to the 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 87 
 
 mental or moral qualifications of the Hin- 
 doos, which prepared them to give the spi- 
 ritual and humbling doctrines of the Cross a 
 more favourable reception. Their success 
 arose, first, from the extensive connexions 
 which the Portuguese had already formed 
 with the Natives, by their commercial inter- 
 course, and numerous intermarriages with 
 families of the first respectability; which 
 circumstance would, undoubtedly, prepare 
 them to adopt the Religion of persons with 
 whom they were so closely related. And, 
 secondly, the Established Religion of the 
 country so nearly resembled the constitution 
 and forms of the Roman Church, that it re- 
 quired no great sacrifice of views and princi- 
 ples, in the Japanese, to embrace the Roman- 
 Catholic modification of Christianity. Hi- 
 therto every Religion had been tolerated in 
 Japan: but the established and most popu- 
 lar Creed was, and still is, the Sinto. The 
 Dairi, or Ecclesiastical Emperor of Meaco, 
 possesses a jurisdiction resembling that of 
 the Roman Pontif. Their Holy Mother is 
 honoured like the Sancta Maria. Their 
 Bonzes or Priests, and Canusies or secular 
 Clergy, in their office, dress, celibacy, shaved 
 heads, &c. &c. strikingly resemble the cor- 
 responding characters in the Roman-Catholic 
 
88 Means employed by the Roman-Catholics 
 
 Church. Their Pilgrims, most of whom 
 are Religious Mendicants, and Jammaboes, 
 a kind of Hermits, with their various self-in- 
 flicted tortures, mortifications, privations, 
 penances, fastings, &c. &c. are very like the 
 soi-disant Holy Beggars who for many years 
 imposed, and in Roman-Catholic Countries 
 still impose, upon the credulity of the West- 
 ernWorld . They have also their SacredVows, 
 Religious Establishments, such as Convents 
 and Nunneries, together with several Orders 
 of Friars and Nuns. They even dispense In- 
 dulgences (ofarrai), for which the Orthodox 
 Sintonists go on pilgrimage to the Holy 
 Place (i. e. to the Temple of Tensio Dai Sin, 
 their chief God) : these are sent also by the 
 Canusies, annually, to all parts of the Empire, 
 and are carried about by Pedlars for sale. 
 The Sintonists are taught to believe in pre- 
 tended Miracles or Charms, and in Purga- 
 tory. They pay divine honours to Images : 
 their Church Service is accompanied by the 
 tinkling of bells, incense, &c. &c. In short, 
 Sintonism resembles, in so many particulars, 
 the institutions, pretensions, and practices of 
 the Roman-Catholic Church, that the Japan- 
 ese were prepared, in a remarkable manner, 
 to embrace that Form of theChristianReligion 
 which the Jesuits introduced into their conn- 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 89 
 
 try. No wonder, then, that the Proselytes 
 flocked to them by thousands and tens of 
 thousands. They are said to have converted 
 one-third of the Empire ; among whom were 
 Royal Princes, Viceroys, Magistrates, and 
 many other Persons of Distinction. Indeed, 
 under the then existing circumstances, it 
 would have been matter of surprise had they 
 not met with unexampled success. 
 
 But this prosperity was not of long con- 
 tinuance. In about a Century after the 
 introduction of Popery into Japan, a severe 
 persecution was raised by the Government 
 of the Empire against the Roman Catholics ; 
 which, in 1639, ended in the total exter- 
 mination of the Portuguese. This M. Dubois 
 attributes to " the jealousy and alarm of the 
 Bonzes and other Directors of the popular 
 Faith;" awakened, as he says, by the daily 
 increasing number of the Converts, which 
 threatened " to supplant the Religion of the 
 Country :" (p. 4.) That this feeling existed, is 
 most probable. But surely the Abb6 cannot 
 be ignorant of the real causes to which this per- 
 secution is generally attributed. The Govern- 
 ment became jealous of the immense wealth 
 which the Portuguese were accumulating, and 
 exporting out of their dominions. The pride 
 and intolerance of their Bishops grew insup- 
 portable. Not content with the superintend- 
 
90 Means employed by the Roman- Cat holies 
 
 ence of Spiritual affairs, they interfered with 
 Politics and the Councils of the State, and 
 endeavoured to assume a superiority over 
 the Nobility of the Empire. One haughty 
 Prelate in particular, meeting one of the 
 chief Counsellors of the State, refused to pay 
 him that deference which he was entitled to 
 receive. This insolence provoked him to 
 prefer heavy complaints at Court ; and thereby 
 the irritation of Government, already excited 
 against the Portuguese, was considerably in- 
 creased. There was reason to apprehend 
 that they intended to effect a Revolution in 
 the State ; and the interception of two Letters, 
 written by them, detected and explained 
 their treacherous designs. The storm, that 
 had been gathering for some time, now burst 
 with a tremendous explosion. Instantly were 
 they, with their Clergy and Japanese kindred, 
 ordered to quit the country. The other Ja- 
 panese Christians were detained ; those who 
 were from home commanded to return ; and, 
 in a short time, the whole were put to death. 
 The final blow to the Roman-Catholic inte- 
 rests in Japan, was struck in one day; when 
 above 37,000 Members of that Church pe- 
 rished by fire and sword.* 
 
 The Portuguese blame the Dutch for this Persecution. The 
 latter may have acted in an unchristian manner, to which they 
 
 were, 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 91 
 
 The Portuguese made several attempts to 
 recover the ground they had lost. On one 
 occasion they sent a splendid Embassage 
 from Macao to the Court of Japan ; but the 
 Emperor ordered the whole (6l persons) to 
 be beheaded saving only a few of their 
 meanest servants, who were preserved to 
 carry home the sad intelligence of their mas- 
 ters' fate.f 
 
 The Japanese have from that time adopted 
 every possible measure to prevent the intro- 
 duction of Christianity into the Empire; and, 
 identifying the Protestant with the Catholic 
 Faith, under the general term of Christianity, 
 their precautions are used alike against the 
 professors of those opposite Creeds. " Their 
 Laws are extremely rigorous againstTeachers 
 of the Christian Religion." " The following 
 inscription is placed at the head of the Stone 
 
 were, doubtless, provoked by the jealousy and opposition of the 
 former against them, from their first settlement in Japan, in 1600. 
 But how could the Dutch occasion the pride and intrigues of the 
 Portuguese, which were the real cause of their sufferings ? 
 
 t Golownin, in his Narrative of his Captivity in Japan,relates the 
 last attempt made by the Roman Catholics to introduce their Reli- 
 gion among the low inhabitants (the Hairy Kuriles) of Eetooroop, 
 which is under the dominion of the Japanese. The means they 
 used were most unchristian and disgraceful ; but they totally 
 failed. The persons composing the Mission were obliged to flee, 
 and were closely pursued by the Japanese : (Vol. I. pp. 105, 
 1 06.) This occurred about the beginning of the present Century. 
 
92 Means employed by the Roman- Catholics 
 
 Tablets of Laws, which are fixed up in all 
 public places, and even in the streets : 
 * Whosoever knows any individual who has 
 taught Christianity, and can convict him 
 thereof, shall receive a reward of 500 silver 
 pieces.' : One Law prohibits Masters from 
 hiring Servants, until they receive from them 
 a written assurance of their not being Chris- 
 tians. Another enacts ; " If any European, 
 residing in Japan, shall attempt to teach our 
 People the Christian Faith, he shall undergo 
 a severe punishment, and shall not be re- 
 stored to his Native Country." Their Laws 
 protect all Foreigners within the Empire from 
 corporal punishment, except " those who 
 attempt to induce Japanese Subjects to em- 
 brace Christianity." They prohibit the 
 teaching of Christians to read and write 
 their language ; and even exclude from the 
 Public Service every Japanese who has lived 
 among Christians in a Foreign Country. 
 
 Such is their concern to preserve and pro- 
 pagate this contempt of the Christian Reli- 
 gion, that " in Nangasaki, where Christianity 
 had made the greatest progress, there is a 
 staircase, on the steps of which are laid va- 
 rious ornaments and utensils of the Catholic 
 Church, and on the first step a Crucifix" (and 
 images of the Virgin Mary and some other 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 93 
 
 Saints). " On New-year's Day, all the in- 
 habitants of Nangasaki are obliged to ascend 
 these steps, and, as a proof that they are not 
 Christians, trample on the articles." " Even 
 young Children, unable to walk, are held 
 down by their mothers to touch the Images 
 with their feet."* 
 
 The Japanese informed Captain Golownin, 
 that this strict prohibition of Christianity by 
 their Laws, was solely to be attributed to the 
 mischievous civil wars which arose in Japan 
 after its introduction. 
 
 Such is briefly the rise and fall of Popery 
 in Japan : and the Roman Catholics are 
 chargeable with the guilt of producing these 
 inveterate prejudices, and thus closing every 
 avenue against the introduction of the Gospel 
 into that extensive Island. It was by similar 
 conduct that they provoked against them- 
 selves a severe persecution in China, also ; 
 and occasioned in the Rulers of that vast 
 Empire, a resolution equally determined to 
 exclude the Christian Religion. 
 
 We see, then, that the Abb6 Dubois has 
 little reason to refer to the success of the 
 Jesuit Missionaries in Japan, either in proof 
 of the efficiency of the means they used to 
 propagate Christianity, or in support of his 
 
 * See Krusenstern's and Golownin's Narratives, &c. 
 
94 Means employed by the Roman-Catholics 
 
 inference, that, since the same means have 
 been employed in India without success, 
 the Conversion of the Hindoos must be a 
 hopeless undertaking*. 
 
 He admits the decline of Christianity from 
 that numerical strength and partial reception 
 which it once possessed in India. He says, 
 11 The low state to which it is now reduced, 
 and the contempt in which it is held, cannot 
 be surpassed. There is not at present in the 
 country (as mentioned before) more than a 
 third of the Christians who were to be found 
 in it eighty years ago ; and this number di- 
 minishes every day, by frequent apostacy. It 
 will dwindle to nothing in a short period ; 
 and, if things continue as they are now going 
 on, within less than fifty years there will, I 
 fear, remain no vestige of Christianity among 
 the Natives." (p. 12 ; see also, to the same 
 effect, pp. 13, 14.) 
 
 The commencement of this decline, he at- 
 tributes to the interference of the Pope with 
 the proceedings of the Jesuits. Its more 
 rapid progress was occasioned, he says, by 
 " the invasion and bloody contests for do- 
 minion between the English and French." 
 The confirmation of the Natives' contempt far 
 Christianity arose, as he admits, from their 
 detection of the fraud which the Jesuits had 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 95 
 
 practised upon them. " The Hindoos soon 
 found, that those Missionaries, whom their 
 colour, their talents, and other qualities, had 
 induced them to regard as such extraordinary 
 beings, as men coming from another world, 
 were, in fact, nothing else but disguised 
 Fringij (Europeans) ; and that their country, 
 their religion, and original education, were 
 the same with those of the vile, the con- 
 temptible Fringy, who had of late invaded 
 their country. This event proved the last 
 blow to the interests of the Christian Reli- 
 gion. No more conversions were made ; 
 apostacy became almost general in several 
 quarters ; and Christianity became more and 
 more an object of contempt and aversion, 
 in proportion as the European manners 
 became better known to the Hindoos." 
 (pp. 11,12.) 
 
 I admit, that the immoralities of Europeans 
 have always produced a bad effect, in various 
 ways, upon the Natives of India. But had 
 the Jesuits acted with Christian integrity ; 
 and, instead of assuming the character of 
 Brahmins, appeared among them as faithful 
 Preachers of the Gospel, no misconduct of 
 the English or French army would have 
 diminished the respect they had com- 
 manded prior to the invasion of India by 
 
96 Means employed by the Roman- Catholics 
 
 those Powers. Witness the unreserved, the 
 undiminished confidence reposed in the late 
 Missionary Swartz, and the regard shewn 
 him by Hyder, Tippoo, and other Native 
 Princes, to whom his character was known, 
 even when they were at war with the very 
 Nation, the English, by whom he w r as em- 
 ployed. He was generally allowed to pass 
 through the midst of their encampments, 
 without the slightest molestation : he was 
 designated, both by Mahomedans and Hin- 
 doos, by the title of " The Christian" and 
 that, too, as a mark of respect : and such was 
 their delicacy of feeling towards him, that 
 when it was thought necessary to detain his 
 palanquin, the sentinel was ordered to assign 
 a general reason, and to pretend to be 
 waiting for orders to let him move on. This, 
 and much more information to the same 
 effect, I received from the late Colonel Charles 
 Trotter, who knew Swartz intimately for 
 years, and served in the campaigns during 
 which that venerable Missionary met with 
 such marked respect from the Enemy. 
 
 The instance given by the late Dr. Bu- 
 chanan, of the confidence placed in the bare 
 word of Swartz, when every other European 
 was distrusted, and whereby the Fort of 
 Tanjore was saved from famine during its 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 97 
 
 siege by the French Army, sufficiently proves 
 that the Jesuits would have experienced no 
 diminution in the esteem of the Natives to- 
 wards them, after the European Invasion, had 
 they uniformly acted in a manner becoming 
 Christian Teachers. 
 
 After all, however, if we inquire into the 
 expedients used by the Roman-Catholic 
 Missionaries to preserve Christianity among 
 their Converts, its decline will be found to 
 have arisen more from their own negligence, 
 than from any other cause : for it requires 
 as much care, if not more, to cherish a love 
 and reverence for the Gospel, as to produce it. 
 
 They withhold from their Converts the 
 Word of God! This is the Charter of our 
 Faith and Privileges the only " lamp to our 
 feet, and light to our paths," to guide us, 
 through the darkness, and across the devious 
 ways of ignorance and vice, to the Kingdom 
 of Glory. For this infallible guide, they sub- 
 stitute Images, Pictures, and unintelligible 
 Ceremonies. M. Dubois denies " that the 
 reading of the Holy Scriptures is forbidden 
 to Catholics:" (p. 27.) I will only reply, 
 that I frequently offered to supply them, 
 through their Priests, with the New Testa- 
 ment ; but have never been permitted. I have 
 often left a Testament with the Catechist of a 
 
98 Means employed by the Roman- Catholics 
 
 Roman-Catholic Church in the Interior, 
 which the Priest has afterwards ordered to 
 be returned. I have never heard of a Transla- 
 tion of the Scriptures by the Jesuits into any 
 of the Indian Languages ; nor have I ever 
 seen a New Testament in the possession of 
 even one of their Catechists, unless it were 
 one that he had received privately from some 
 Protestant Missionary, and which he kept 
 carefully concealed from the Priest. A Tamul 
 Book, written by a Roman- Catholic Priest, 
 was once brought to me, to answer. The 
 Author defends the Worship of Images, upon 
 the plea, that Images and Pictures are books 
 for the Illiterate. All question, then, about 
 the corruption of Christianity by the Papists 
 apart had the Almighty prospered the la- 
 bours of the Jesuits in India, He would, con- 
 trary to His avowed determination, have 
 given His glory to another, and His praise 
 to Graven Images : (Isaiah xlii. 8 .) The Abb6 
 Dubois glories in their policy, though it has 
 failed : we may easily suppose, then, how he 
 would have triumphed, had it succeeded. 
 The vindication of His own honour, there- 
 fore, required that Jehovah should withhold 
 His blessing from them, and confound their 
 devices: (i Cor. i. 25 31.) 
 To substitute Images, &c. for the Scrip- 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 99 
 
 tures, is an imposition upon the human mind : 
 it is denying to man that instruction which 
 God has expressly revealed, for the purpose 
 of teaching us the knowledge of Himself and 
 His gracious will. I am aware that M. Du- 
 bois asserts the incapacity of their Converts 
 to understand the Word of God. " I have 
 now under my religious controul," he says, 
 " between 7000 and 8000 persons of this 
 description; and I should be very much per- 
 plexed, indeed, were I, among so large a 
 number, desired to point out four Individuals 
 capable of understanding the meaning of the 
 Bible, and to whom the reading of the naked 
 Text of the Holy Scriptures would prove of 
 the least utility:" (p. 125.) And is this an 
 argument for withholding the Blessed Book 
 from them? To a man inspired with a mo- 
 derate portion of love for the souls of his fel- 
 low-men, it will dictate a very different mode 
 of procedure. Stationed among persons of 
 this description, he will feel it to be his duty 
 to put the Bible into their hands, as soon as 
 they can read it ; directing them, at the same 
 time, what parts to read ; and carefully ex- 
 plaining to them all the doubts and difficul- 
 ties that occur. Many Roman Catholics in 
 Tinnevelly, to whom I had given the New 
 Testament in Tamul, were in the constant 
 
 H 2 
 
1 00 Means employed by the Roman-Catholics 
 
 habit of waiting upon me, for explanation of 
 different passages. In general, I found them 
 much more intelligent than I had been led to 
 expect; and the very parts at which they 
 seemed to stumble, led to profitable discus- 
 sion: and I do not recollect an instance of 
 one departing without being satisfied. One 
 Young Man came frequently, with a string of 
 texts to be explained. On one occasion, he 
 referred to Rev. xiv. I told him that the con- 
 duct of the Romish Church, her arrogance, 
 and her persecution of the Saints for cen- 
 turies past, were so accurately described in 
 that and the xiiith Chapter, that Protestants 
 supposed she was intended by the Beast and 
 Babylon. He replied, that the 6th verse was 
 now being fulfilled ; for that he had heard of 
 the Translation of the Scriptures into the Lan- 
 guages of almost " every nation, and kin- 
 dred, and tongue, and people." " The con- 
 sequence of this universal diffusion of the 
 Bible," 1 added, " as foretold in the 8th verse, 
 will be the fall of Babylon. When you read 
 the Scriptures with attention and prayer, you 
 will see that the Superstitions of your Church 
 are contrary to the purity and simplicity of 
 the Gospel : and when God shall give you 
 His grace, you will renounce every practice 
 that is prohibited by His Word."" Now 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 1 1 
 
 then I see," he added, " why our Priests 
 forbid us to read the Bible!" 
 
 I will give one more instance, in vindica- 
 tion of the Native Roman-Catholic's capacity 
 to profit by the perusal of the Scriptures ; 
 which, at the same time, will furnish an ad- 
 ditional proof of the intolerance of their 
 Priests, in denying them the privilege of 
 reading the Sacred Volume. A Young Man, 
 educated in one of the Schools of the Church 
 Missionary Society in Tinnevelly, wrote me 
 the following Letter, on my leaving that 
 district : 
 
 " Reverend Sir, 
 
 " As Providence was pleased to send you 
 to this country, many of us are now ac- 
 quainted with the everlasting Light of the 
 Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ ; especially, 
 I speak of myself; for before these three 
 years, I did not know what a Testament was : 
 but since the Tinnevelly English School was 
 opened, I have pretty good knowledge of the 
 Scriptures ; and I hope, and wish, that all 
 other Schools will continue to make many 
 understand the bright paths of Religion and 
 Holiness ! 
 
 " As I hear of your departure, I am ex- 
 tremely sorry to say we are at a loss. I am 
 
102 Means employed by the Roman- Cat holies 
 
 advanced pretty far in Arithmetic, and in the 
 other branches of learning ; and hope you 
 would be pleased to give proper instructions 
 about our future education. 
 
 I am, Rev. Sir, 
 Your very humble servant, 
 < Tinneveiiy, Nahnaprocausum" 
 
 22 January, 1821." 
 
 So far is it from being necessary, as the 
 Abb6 Dubois pretends, to indulge the super- 
 stitious notions of these people before you 
 can prevail upon them to listen to your in- 
 structions, that I never conversed with them 
 without first desiring them to remove that 
 idolatrous mark from the forehead, which 
 their own Priests had allowed them to retain. 
 They invariably admitted, that among the 
 Heathen it distinguished the Worshippers of 
 Siva from the Votaries of Vishnoo, and that 
 it was, therefore, most unbecoming in a Chris- 
 tian to wear it : and I never met with a man 
 who refused to put it away. 
 
 I had intended giving other proofs of the 
 facility with which the Pagan Customs may 
 be overcome, in those who embrace Chris- 
 tianity ; and that nothing has a greater ten- 
 dency to produce this effect, than the simple 
 perusal of the Scriptures. Suffice it to say, 
 that I have at all times resisted them, in the 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 1 03 
 
 Roman Catholics who have come to me ; and 
 never without success. It has been my study 
 to mark, as distinctly as possible, the dif- 
 ference between our simple Mode of Worship 
 and the Pomp of the Romish Church. I 
 know that our proceedings have been re- 
 ported to the Roman-Catholic Priest at Pa- 
 lamcottah, in such approving terms, that he 
 thought it expedient to imitate us ; and ac- 
 tually put a stop to Superstitions which they 
 had long practised, to the entire satisfaction 
 of his own people. With the same ease 
 and advantage might they abolish the whole : 
 and if, at the same time, they would teach 
 and exhort them to read the Word of God, 
 they would soon experience the revival of 
 the interests and spirit of Christianity in the 
 East. Alas ! in every part of India that 1 
 have visited, I have seen an Altar or a Cross 
 by the road-side ; and have met Roman Ca- 
 tholics with a Crucifix or an Image suspended 
 from their necks, like the Amulets of the 
 Heathen; which, upon being interrogated as 
 to their utility, they have called their Swamy /* 
 But never, never have I heard any thing like 
 the sound of the Gospel, from either Priest 
 or Layman! Then, can the Abb6 Dubois 
 
 * Meaning " God" This is the name which the Heathen give 
 to their Amulets and Idols. 
 
1 04 Means employed by the Roman- Catholics 
 
 wonder that the interests of his Church are 
 declining in such a land as Hindoostan? 
 
 Another means for the preservation of 
 Christianity is, the publication of small 
 Treatises and Elementary Works on Reli- 
 gious Subjects. The Roman-Catholics have 
 published a few Works of this description ; 
 but they are seldom to be met with, except, 
 here and there, one or two in the possession 
 of the Native Catechists. And even were 
 they more numerous, they are but ill adapted 
 to preserve the spirit of piety, or cherish the 
 love of True Religion ; for they treat much 
 more upon the Ceremonies and Superstitions 
 of their Church, than upon Devotional Ex- 
 ercises, or the Graces and Duties of the 
 Gospel. M. Dubois' own little Catechism 
 is the most useful thing of the kind I have 
 heard of among the Roman-Catholic Publi- 
 cations in India: (p. 125.) He himself ac- 
 knowledges the want of such Elementary 
 Works (p. 78) : but we do not hear of any 
 attempts, on his own part or that of his Bre- 
 thren, to supply the desideratum. 
 
 A third indispensable requisite, if we 
 would preserve the spirit of godliness among 
 our Converts, is, a pious and well-educated 
 Ministry. The Roman-Catholics in India do 
 not want Seminaries for the educating of their 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 105 
 
 Priests. Nearly the whole of their Churches 
 in the Interior are under the superintendence 
 of what they call the Black Clergy, (the de- 
 scendants of Portuguese bom in India,) 
 who were educated and ordained at Goa. 
 In the District of Tinnevelly alone there are 
 Eight of these Priests, besides upwards of 
 Sixty Native Catechists ; and I have occa- 
 sionally met with a well-educated man 
 amongst them. But the majority are ex- 
 tremely ignorant; none of them know any 
 thing of the Scripture ; and frequently have 
 I heard the poor people under their controul 
 complain of their avarice and oppression. 
 Whether such a Clergy are calculated to 
 promote the interests of True Religion, I 
 leave the Reader to judge ! 
 
 Equally essential is it to the welfare of 
 Christianity, to educate our Children in the 
 precepts and principles of the Bible. But 
 the Roman-Catholics have very few Schools 
 in India of any description. In the Tinne- 
 velly District, where there are 30,000 Mem- 
 bers of that Communion, they have only one 
 School, containing Forty Scholars. They will 
 plead poverty (as they have done to me) in 
 excuse for this neglect of the Rising Genera- 
 tion : but I have offered to establish Charity 
 Schools for them*, and to appoint one of 
 
 * Under the auspices of the Church Missionary Society. 
 
106 Means employed by the Roman-Catholics 
 
 their own Congregation for the Master, pro- 
 vided they could find a man qualified to 
 teach, and would allow him to conform to 
 our Regulations. At one place I opened a 
 School, under a Protestant Master, which 
 succeeded well for some time ; until the 
 Priest interfered, chastised the Children, and 
 reproved their Parents for allowing them to 
 attend. The Scholars were then reduced to 
 so small a number, that, after persevering for 
 a few months, under the hope of their coming 
 to a better mind, the Master was at length 
 removed to a more promising Station. One 
 Priest only had the liberality to allow me to 
 open a School, for the benefit of the Children 
 of his Congregation; and he permitted a Ca- 
 techist of his own to become the teacher. 
 
 We may now easily account for the de- 
 cline of Christianity in India, as promulgated 
 by the Roman Catholics. M. Dubois may 
 have felt the inconvenience arising from the 
 People's incapacity to comprehend his Dis- 
 courses, or even his own simple Catechism 
 (pp. 68 and 125) ; but to complain of it, is to 
 reproach himself and his Brethren for their 
 neglect to cultivate their Converts' intellectual 
 powers ! What else could be expected, when 
 so little pains are taken to instruct the adults 
 in the true nature of the Christian Religion, 
 
 or to educate the children in the rudiments of 
 
 ' 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 107 
 
 knowledge, and train them up in Christian 
 Principles? To have found Four, or even 
 One, among 7000 or 8000, or any given number 
 of persons so entirely neglected, capable of 
 understanding a Christian Treatise or Dis- 
 course, would indeed have excited astonish- 
 ment ! This were looking for fruit from an 
 uncultivated vineyard. Even allowing that 
 those who first embraced the Roman-Catho- 
 lic Faith were Spiritual Converts, (which is 
 more than the Abbe" himself requires us to 
 concede,) yet how were it possible to pre- 
 serve their Christian Character by such means 
 as the Jesuits employed? Ceremonies, Images, 
 Processions, &c. may dazzle the eye and 
 captivate the mind, but can never inspire 
 holy affections, or engraft one Scriptural 
 Principle on the heart. And certainly the 
 Hindoos, who change their own Religion for 
 one laden with such Superstitions as these, 
 are not likely to remain " stedfast in the 
 Faith," when their personal comfort or safety 
 are endangered by their Christian Profession. 
 M.Duboishas given one instance of their apo- 
 stacy under such circumstances (p. 74) : and 
 though, when the storm of Persecution blew 
 over, the majority of them returned to the 
 bosom of the Church, yet he has good reason 
 for placing no greater confidence in their sta- 
 
108 Means employed by the Roman-Catholics 
 
 bility, should the trial of their Faith ever be 
 repeated : (p. 75.) But he ought to attribute 
 the diminution of their numbers, and the de- 
 generacy of those who continue to profess 
 the Catholic Faith, to the neglect of their 
 Priests to adopt proper means for their men- 
 tal and religious improvement. 
 
 He is of opinion that Xavier's disappoint- 
 ment " ought to have been sufficient to damp 
 the most fervent zeal of the persons disposed 
 to enter the same career:" (p. 4.) This I con- 
 cede, provided those persons were actuated 
 by his principles, and depended upon such 
 means as he employed. The Abb6 expresses 
 himself as " fully aware that a great many 
 over-zealous Protestants may be disposed" 
 61 to maintain that the Catholic Religion 
 being nothing but a corruption of the Religion 
 of Christ, and its Worship a human invention, 
 the Divine Assistance can never attend the 
 propagation of it ; and that its failure in the 
 business of Proselytism cannot be a matter 
 of surprise:" (p. 24.) He declines entering 
 into this discussion ; and, in a Private Letter, 
 his Correspondent might courteously dis- 
 pense with it : but, in publishing that Letter 
 to the world, it was by no means foreign to 
 his subject to disprove the Protestants' ob- 
 jection. Indeed, his Cause demanded it; 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 109 
 
 for this question is the very hinge on which 
 the controversy turns. If he can prove that 
 Popery is not a corruption of Christianity, 
 and that the means used by the Papists for 
 its diffusion through the world are lawful and 
 scriptural, and the best adapted to promote 
 the interests of real Religion ; he will then 
 have fair premises for his conclusion, that to 
 endeavour to convert the Hindoos is an im- 
 practicable task. As a Protestant, I might 
 claim the privilege of assuming, that the 
 Cause of Christianity and that of Popery are 
 distinct from each other ; and that when the 
 Missionaries of the latter Communion la- 
 boured to further the objects of the Holy 
 See in India, it by no means followed that 
 they even thought of " forwarding the inte- 
 rests of the Gospel," in the Protestants' ac- 
 ceptation of the term. But my argument 
 does not require me to enter into the ques- 
 tion. If the Abb6 Dubois can prove that 
 this assumption is untenable, it will turn the 
 discussion in his favour : but certainly the 
 onus rests with him. 
 
 All comparison, however, between Pro- 
 testantism and Catholicism apart I have 
 only to shew, that the measures adopted by 
 the Roman-Catholic Missionaries for the 
 evangelizing of India are unwarranted, by 
 
1 1 Means employed by the Roman- Catholics. 
 
 the nature of the Gospel, the plain text of 
 Scripture, the examples of Jesus Christ and 
 his Apostles; and that, so far from being 
 better adapted to the accomplishment of this 
 design than any other means, they are, of all 
 means, the least likely to make True Con- 
 verts. This ] have already done; and, there- 
 fore, their failure, instead of setting* the mat- 
 ter at rest, and justifying the abandonment 
 of India to its present state of ignorance, 
 superstition, and vice, leads much more ob- 
 viously to the conclusion, that the Almighty 
 has purposely withheld His blessing from 
 such human devices. And if we are to be- 
 lieve that God is faithful to His promises, to 
 give unto His Son the Heathen for His inhe- 
 ritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth 
 for his possession (Ps. ii. 8.), we must 
 infer, from the failure of the Jesuits, that 
 other means are to be used for the complet- 
 ing of His gracious purposes in the East. 
 
( 111 ) 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 THE NATURE OF THE MEANS WHICH PROTEST. 
 ANTS USE FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE 
 HINDOOS. 
 
 THE Abb6 Dubois admits, that Christianity 
 will prove a great blessing, even where it 
 effects not all the saving benefits which it is 
 calculated and intended to produce (p. 8 1 .) 
 that its mere profession is much better than 
 Idolatry (p. 82.) and that, notwithstanding 
 the infamous character of the generality of 
 Native Christians (p. 63, &c.), he is " ac- 
 quainted with many among them who are, in 
 their morals, probity, and general behaviour, 
 irreproachable men, enjoying the confidence 
 even of the Pagans ; and into whose hands I 
 should not hesitate," says he, " to entrust my 
 own interest :" (p. 83.) Seeing, then, that 
 Christianity (of course he means as professed 
 by Roman Catholics) is capable of operating, 
 and actually has operated, in so beneficial 
 a manner upon the Hindoos who have em- 
 braced it, can he have so little love for his 
 Species, as to deny to any portion of them the 
 
112 Means which Protestants use 
 
 blessings which he has the opportunity of 
 dispensing ? Indeed, in a happier moment, 
 he can say, "As a most sincere, and most 
 undisguised Believer of the Divine Origin of 
 the Christian Religion, and firmly persuaded 
 that this Religion alone can render man 
 happy in this life and in that to come, my 
 most earnest wishes have always been to see 
 it believed and professed by all mankind, and 
 extend its dominion, its mild and genial in- 
 fluence, all over the World, and among all 
 Nations :" (p. 47.) Why, then, has he for- 
 saken the Missionary Cause in the East, and 
 done his part to deter others from entering 
 upon the same undertaking ? He will doubt- 
 less reply, as he has already said, because 
 he thinks the Conversion of the Hindoos im- 
 practicable. Suppose this were conceded ; 
 yet his own admission, just cited, of the 
 effect it is calculated to produce in theWorld, 
 and which it has already produced in India, 
 condemns his deliberate abandonment of that 
 Idolatrous Land. Allowing, with him, that 
 the Native Roman-Catholics are not True 
 Christians, yet to effect even the minimum of 
 good which he admits that they have derived 
 from Christianity, is worth all the pains and 
 expense bestowed upon them. But Pro- 
 testant Missionaries, notwithstanding the con- 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 1 1 3 
 
 temptuous manner in which M.Dubois speaks 
 of them and their works (pp. 17 21. 25, 26. 
 51, 52, &c.) have met with still better suc- 
 cess ; and I now proceed to explain the 
 nature of the means they have used. 
 
 Their main instrument is the Bible. Though 
 the Abb6 seems amused at the idea of giving 
 the Scripture to the Hindoos, and thinks it 
 the least likely instrument to effect their 
 Conversion, (pp. 1, 2, &c. &c.) yet I maintain, 
 that it is the most effective that ever was, 
 is, or can be, employed. For this purpose 
 the Evangelists wrote their Gospels, and the 
 Apostles their Epistles. The earliest Mis- 
 sionaries of the Church of Christ translated 
 the Bible into the languages of the Nations 
 they endeavoured to convert. So far back 
 as the Second Century, we have accounts of 
 the Syriac, the Egyptian, the Ethiopic, and 
 the Old Latin* Versions. In the next Cen- 
 tury, Origen, and other Missionaries, trans- 
 lated and dispersed the Scriptures, in various 
 Languages. Indeed, until the Papal Supre- 
 macy was established when means more 
 characteristic of Mahomedanism than Chris- 
 tianity were used to convert Infidel Nations ; 
 when Cardinals and Bishops were seen lead- 
 
 * This Translation is known by the name of " The Italic^ 
 
 I 
 
1 14 Means ivhich Protestants use 
 
 ing armies to the field, to extend the domi- 
 nion of Christ by fire and sword till then, 
 the Translation of the Bible into the language 
 of a country, in order to effect its conversion, 
 was considered a measure of primary im- 
 portance. And with reason : for that 
 Blessed Book imparts knowledge that is 
 able to make men wise unto salvation, and 
 that in a manner adapted to every capacity. 
 Though it contains Mysteries that are beyond 
 the comprehension of the Learned much 
 more of the Illiterate yet is there sufficient, 
 that is calculated, at once to enlighten the 
 understanding, arrest the attention, convict 
 of sin, engage the affections, and, in a word, 
 convert the soul to God: (Ps.xix. 7. Heb. 
 iv. 12.) This then, if any thing, is adapted 
 to rouse the Hindoo from his mental apathy, 
 and quicken him in the paths of life. 
 
 When it is considered, also, that the Bible 
 is the only Revelation of the Nature and the 
 Will of God ever vouchsafed to man ; that it 
 contains all the information which we have 
 of Him who was sent to be " a Light to lighten 
 the Gentiles ;" there can be no question, 
 in the unprejudiced mind, about the neces- 
 sity, and the duty, of giving the prece- 
 dency to this, among the various means used 
 for the Conversion of the Heathen : for the 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 1 1 5 
 
 sacred light of the Scriptures can alone dis- 
 pel the moral, the mental darkness which 
 overshadows India, and every other Pagan 
 Land. I know that the Abb6 Dubois objects 
 to the present Versions of the Bible in the Ori- 
 ental Languages to which I shall presently 
 reply : but this will not serve him as a refuge 
 here ; for, when endeavouring to explode 
 the idea of converting the Hindoos by giving 
 them the Bible, and to prove the absurdity 
 of the attempt, he speaks in the most unqua- 
 lified terms of the Scripture itself, as unsuited 
 to the purpose, without reference to any spe- 
 cific Versions : (pp. 27 33. 121, &c.) 
 
 His principal reasons for this conclusion 
 are, because "the Sacred Book contains, in 
 almost every page, accounts which cannot 
 fail deeply to wound their feelings, by openly 
 hurting prejudices which are held most 
 sacred." " What will a well-bred Native 
 think," he asks, " when, in reading over 
 this Holy Book, he sees that Abraham, after 
 receiving the visit of Three Angels under a 
 human shape, entertains his guests by caus- 
 ing a calf to be killed, and served to them 
 for their fare ? The prejudiced Hindoo will 
 at once judge that both Abraham and his 
 Heavenly Guests were nothing but vile Pa- 
 riahs ; and, without further reading, he will 
 i 2 
 
] 16 Means which Protestants use 
 
 forthwith throw away the book, containing 
 (in his opinions) such sacrilegious accounts." 
 " What will a Brahmin say, when he per- 
 uses the details of the bloody sacrifices 
 prescribed in the Mosaical Law, in the wor- 
 ship of the True God ? He will assuredly 
 declare, that the God who could be pleased 
 with the shedding of the blood of so many 
 victims immolated to his honour, must un- 
 doubtedly be a Deity of the same kind (far be 
 from me the blasphemy!) as the mischievous 
 Hindoo deities Cohly, Mahry, Darma-rajah, 
 and other infernal gods, whose wrath cannot 
 be appeased, but by the shedding of blood, 
 and the immolating of living victims." 
 61 But, above all, what will a Brahmin, or 
 any other well-bred Hindoo, think, when he 
 peruses in our Holy Books the account of 
 the immolating of creatures held most sacred 
 by him ? What will be his feelings, when 
 he sees that the immolating of oxen and 
 bulls constituted a leading feature in the reli- 
 gious ordinances of the Israelites ; and that 
 the blood of those most sacred animals was 
 almost daily shed at the shrine of the God 
 they adored ? What," &c. &c. &c. (pp. 28 
 31.) After mentioning several other in- 
 stances, he concludes thus : " I could point 
 out, in almost every chapter of Holy Writ., 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 1 17 
 
 passages nearly as exceptionable ; and which 
 it would be equally dangerous to exhibit, 
 without a long previous explanation to the 
 prejudiced Hindoo." He then endeavours 
 to prove, that he has sufficient grounds for 
 his objection, by stating, that his own Con- 
 gregation were offended at the mention of 
 Christ as a peasant of Galilee and the son of 
 a carpenter ; and of his Apostles, as fisher- 
 men. They cautioned him also against 
 speaking of the fatted calf, in the Parable of 
 the Prodigal Son of the wine, in the Eu- 
 charist, &c. (pp. 32 34.) 
 
 I grant that these accounts are calculated 
 to wound the prejudices of the Hindoo, 
 whose mind is unprepared to receive them. 
 But does not M. Dubois know, that in every 
 Nation, and every age, the Natural Man has 
 taken offence at the peculiarities or the sim- 
 plicity of the Divine Religion ? Under the 
 Mosaic Dispensation, let us instance the Cir- 
 cumcision of the Jews. Nothing ever ap- 
 peared more contemptible and absurd, in 
 the eyes of the Heathen, than that ordinance. 
 The Jews are ridiculed by many Ancient 
 Authors, for performing that painful and, as 
 it appeared to them, unmeaning ceremony : 
 and Philo says, that every body laughed at 
 it. Yet many Proselytes from Idolatry sub- 
 
118 Means which Protestants use 
 
 mitted to it ; the False Prophet, Mahomet, 
 adopted it ; and it has continued to be 
 practised by the millions of his followers to 
 the present hour. The Abb6 Dubois will 
 not, of course, think it possible that a Hindoo 
 Brahmin could be prevailed upon to endure 
 it. This, however, actually took place, 
 while I was residing at Palamcottah a Brah- 
 min of that Fort having embraced the Mus- 
 sulman Faith, and, of course, submitted to 
 this initiatory ordinance. 
 
 Under the Gospel Dispensation, we will 
 instance the Crucifixion and Resurrection of 
 the Saviour. The Heathen, and especially 
 the Jews, scoffed at the Christians, as wor- 
 shippers of a Crucified God (v^j-tfl *niiy 
 cultores suspensi). This was, at that time, 
 a term of great reproach ; for crucifixion was 
 the most ignominious of all punishments ; 
 and was never inflicted by the Romans upon 
 any but fugitives and slaves. For the first 
 Three Centuries, Christians of all ranks en- 
 dured this contempt. At length, Constan- 
 tine the Great abolished the practice of cru- 
 cifixion ; and thus, in a few years, the igno- 
 miny of the punishment being in a great mea- 
 sure forgotten, this " offence of the Cross 
 ceased." Such has been the policy of Roman 
 Ecclesiastics almost from that day to the 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 1 1 9 
 
 present : but the vanity which dictated this 
 shunning of the Cross, engendered a Hydra 
 which has devoured the Christian Graces*. 
 
 The doctrine of the Resurrection also was 
 despised by the Ancient Heathen; and to 
 believe in it, accounted madness : (Acts xvii. 
 32. xxvi. 23, 24.) Yet, among the first Con- 
 verts to the Christian Faith, were some of 
 the wisest Heathen Philosophers. 
 
 To give credit to all that the Abb6 affirms, 
 we must conclude that the Brahminical 
 System prohibits the shedding of blood, and 
 the putting of an animal to death, particu- 
 larly in their Religious Ceremonies. Not to 
 advert to the Human Sacrifices under the 
 wheels of Juggernaut's Car (to appearance 
 voluntary, but which the Brahmins, it is well 
 ascertained, often procure, lest the reputa- 
 tion of their god should suffer from the cir- 
 cumstance of none being found zealous 
 
 * It may be noticed here, as a favourable coincidence, that the 
 Sufferings and Crucifixion of Jesus Christ are calculated to exalt 
 him in the opinion of the Hindoos, especially when they shall 
 understand for what purpose He endured such accumulated mise- 
 ries. The more painful the tortures to which their own Sanassees 
 submit, the more holy do they esteem them (as already re- 
 marked) : and they will readily apply this prepossession to the 
 suffering Jesus. I remember shewing to one of them a Plate of 
 the Saviour on the Cross, and asking him who it was. He re- 
 plied, that he supposed it must be some Holy Sanassee. This led 
 to an explanation, which he seemed to approve. 
 
120 Means which Protestants use 
 
 enough to sacrifice their lives to his honour) ; 
 nor to the immolating of the Hindoo Widow 
 upon the funeral pile of her husband's corpse 
 (at which horrible ceremony a Brahmin is 
 present, and commonly the most active per- 
 son there) : I will mention only one case in 
 point, which I have witnessed. It occurred 
 at Courtallum, in the Tinnevelly District. At 
 the conclusion of a Festival which had lasted 
 several days, two kids were presented before 
 the Idol : the head of one was severed from 
 its body, and laid upon the altar, with boiled 
 rice, the blossom of the cocoa-nut, flowers, 
 &c. &c. as an offering not to the mischievous 
 Hindoo Cohly, &c. &c. but, to the god Ra- 
 mah ! The second kid was next presented, 
 its ear slit, and then it was suffered to 
 escape* ! A holy Brahmin officiated at this 
 " bloody sacrifice." So much for M. Du- 
 bois' pretence that they will be shocked at 
 the very mention of such a thing in Scripture. 
 The offence taken by his people at the 
 mentioning of the fatted calf (p. 33), furnishes 
 
 * The Reader will observe the similarity between this and the 
 Levitical Ceremony of the Scape-goat : (Lev. xvi. 7, &c.) I 
 could not ascertain that it bore any reference to this Jewish Ordi- 
 nance ; the only reply given to all my inquiries being, " It is 
 our custom" the Hindoos' general answer to such questions, so 
 little do tljey know of the origin or signification of their own 
 observances. 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 1 2 1 
 
 its own answer. It was his duty to mention 
 it, accompanied with an appropriate expla- 
 nation, which he, doubtless, gave. If they 
 were dissatisfied or scandalized, he might 
 lament their weakness, but was not respon- 
 sible for the unfavourable effect produced 
 upon their minds. We are bound to preach 
 the Gospel as it is revealed to us. We must 
 explain it, indeed ; but it is at our peril to 
 alter or disguise it, in order to meet the pre- 
 judices of any people. While conscientiously 
 fulfilling our duties, as Ministers of the Word, 
 we may safely leave the consequences to God. 
 A similar reply may be made to their ob- 
 jection at the describing of our Lord as the 
 son of a carpenter, and the naming of the 
 mean occupation of His Apostles. This ob- 
 jection is as old as Christianity : it was ad- 
 vanced by our Lord's own countrymen, 
 against His pretensions as a Public Teacher, 
 (Matt. xiii. 54 58.); and by others, against 
 Himself and his Apostles (Acts iv .) Though 
 He foreknew that this prejudice would exist, 
 yet He chose to appear in that humble sta- 
 tion, and appointed to the Apostleship men 
 of the same rank. We have already seen, 
 that the Hindoos cannot be more scandalized 
 by the human origin of Christ and His Apo- 
 stles, than the Jews were ; and we may fairly 
 
1 22 Means which Protestants use 
 
 conclude, that it was intended thus to humble 
 their pride, and correct their expectations of 
 worldly grandeur and power under Messiah's 
 reign. It is for the destruction of such prin- 
 ciples that the Gospel artillery is pointed. 
 Are we then to disguise those circumstances, 
 in the history of Jesus Christ and His first 
 Disciples, which He evidently intended to be 
 made most prominent ? Shall we be ashamed 
 of his humiliation ? Neither St. Paul, nor any 
 of his Apostolic Brethren, acted thus (l Cor. 
 i. 23, 24. 2 Cor. xi. 6, 7) : and if we adopt a 
 contrary mode of proceeding, we shall only 
 prove ourselves unworthy of the sacred office 
 to which we are ordained. 
 
 Not unnecessarily to prolong this discus- 
 sion, I maintain, and am prepared to prove, 
 if more than is here stated be required, that 
 there is nothing in the objections advanced 
 by the Abb6 Dubois that can do greater vio- 
 lence to the prejudices of the Hindoos, than 
 the ceremonies and doctrines of the Old and 
 New Dispensations offered to the notions of 
 the Ancient Heathen. And since, notwith- 
 standing these obstacles, the Cause of True 
 Religion has triumphed, in a greater or less 
 degree, wherever it has been proclaimed, we 
 may reasonably anticipate success even in 
 Hindoostan. 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 123 
 
 But 1 would ask the Abb6 Dubois, Who 
 does distribute the Bible among the Hindoos 
 in the manner he describes indiscriminately, 
 and without preparation? Certainly not the 
 Bible Society. I never heard of a single 
 Agent of that Institution thus employed in 
 India. Their specific object is, to procure 
 and publish the most-approved Translations 
 of the Bible into all the Languages of the 
 East. Missionaries, and other persons, are 
 furnished, from the Society's stores, with 
 what number of copies they may require ; but 
 in distributing them, they are left to their 
 own discretion. Having been upon the 
 Committee of the Bible Society at Madras, 
 I can bear testimony to the caution exercised 
 in receiving and answering the applications 
 made for supplies of the Scripture. Pains 
 were always taken to ascertain the number 
 of copies likely to be wanted, and whether 
 the person applying for them might be ex- 
 pected to distribute them with care. As far 
 as my experience goes and it extends to a 
 considerable part of South India they were 
 given with prudence. Indeed, numerous as 
 they appear on paper, our stock was too 
 small to admit of an indiscriminate distribu- 
 tion among the Heathen. In Tinnevelly 
 alone, we had not enough to supply the Na- 
 
124 Means which Protestants use 
 
 tive Christians. Not quite 200 copies of the 
 New Testament were sent to us annually by 
 the Christian-Knowledge and the Bible So- 
 cieties: we could have disposed of twice the 
 number among our own people and the Ro- 
 man Catholics alone : and seldom was a copy 
 given to a Heathen, unless it were to one of 
 our own Scholars, who, upon completing 
 their education, generally begged to be al- 
 lowed to keep their books. To give an idea 
 of the scarcity of the Scriptures in our dis- 
 tricts, we had the Gentoo New Testament 
 bound up in Two, and the Tamul in Three 
 Parts, to make them go as far as possible. 
 All this does not look very much like an ex- 
 travagant and indiscriminate distribution of 
 the Holy Book. Indeed, to use a colloquial 
 phrase, we could not afford it. 
 
 The Abb6 asserts, that Christians in gene- 
 ral are as unprepared to read the Scriptures 
 as the Heathen. This I shall soon shew is 
 not the fact. At present, 1 will only remark, 
 that, whatever may be the case with his own 
 people, I know many Protestants, and some 
 Catholics educated in our Mission Schools, 
 who are as capable of reading and under- 
 standing theWord of God in their vernacular 
 tongue, as the same class of persons in any 
 Christian country. 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 125 
 
 He reprobates, however, in the strongest 
 terms, the character of the Translations 
 hitherto made into the Oriental Languages ; 
 and maintains that they are so very imperfect, 
 that they cannot be understood. If that be 
 the fact, he may dissipate his apprehensions 
 of the evil they will do ; for it will certainly 
 go far to neutralize his objection, that they 
 will do more harm to Christianity than good. 
 He knows, as well as I do, that the Natives 
 are not so industrious, as to toil through a 
 volume which they find it difficult to com- 
 prehend. In the event, then, of a stray copy 
 finding its way to a man as unprepared for 
 it as he may suppose him to be, and not 
 familiar with the style in which it is ren- 
 dered, it cannot do the harm which he pre- 
 tends to fear. 
 
 However,! much question the Abbe Dubois' 
 competency to judge of the Translations, 
 against which he has passed so sweeping a 
 sentence of condemnation*. " On Twenty of 
 the Versions which had been wholly or in 
 part executed," at the time the " Ninth Me- 
 moir on the Translations " was issued, " the 
 Testimonies of Learned Natives had been 
 obtained before the Report went to press, 
 
 * For a full exhibition of his incompetency to this task, see 
 the Eclectic Review, November 1 823. 
 
126 Means which Protestants use, 
 
 and are printed therein. In all the cases, 
 the approbation is explicit; and in nearly 
 all it is declared, that the respective Versions 
 will be universally intelligible to the people 
 for whom they are designed*. 
 
 But I shall leave the defence of the Northern 
 Versions to persons who may be conversant 
 with those Languages ; and confine myself to 
 Three Southern Translations, upon which he 
 has animadverted. 
 
 With respect to the Translation of the First 
 Four Chapters of the Book of Genesis in 
 " Canada" (Canara, or Canarese) were it 
 even as inaccurate as the Abb6 Dubois would 
 make it appear, the very circumstances relating 
 to it speak in favour of the Bible Society. I 
 happened to be on the Sub-Committee for 
 Translations at Madras, when the indefati- 
 gable Translator, the Rev. W. Reeve, Mis- 
 sionary at Bellary, offered his Canarese Ver- 
 sion of the Pentateuch to the Madras Aux- 
 iliary Bible Society. After much delibera- 
 tion, and the detention of Mr. R. at the 
 Presidency for several months, it was re- 
 solved to print, if my memory does not fail 
 me, only three chapters, and to send a copy 
 to every Canarese Scholar whom they knew 
 (and the Abb6 Dubois was named among the 
 
 * Missionary Register, November 1 823, p. 493. 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 127 
 
 rest), inviting* criticism. Mr. R. remained at 
 Madras until their answers were returned ; 
 the greater part of which were highly favour- 
 able to the Translator and his performance. 
 When the Abbe's Criticisms were read, Mr. 
 R. replied to many of his objections, in a 
 manner that convinced me, at least, and I 
 believe the other Members of the Committee, 
 that he was as conversant as M. Dubois with 
 the Canara Language. So favourable was 
 the impression made upon the Committee by 
 the careful examination of all the opinions 
 received upon this Specimen, that it was 
 resolved to proceed with the remainder in 
 the same way ; and a Committee of Canarese 
 Scholars was appointed at Bellary, to revise 
 the whole, prior to its being submitted to the 
 Sub-Committee at Madras. 
 
 Whatever opinion, then, the Abb6 may 
 form to the prejudice of this Version, it is 
 most uncandid to hold it up to ridicule, as a 
 Specimen of the Translations circulated by 
 the Bible Society in the East. It was not 
 yet adopted, much less published, by that 
 Society ; and the care taken to collect the 
 j udgment of the most-approved Scholars upon 
 it, previous to its being received, would, to 
 an ingenuous mind, have suggested a very 
 different conclusion, in reference to the Bible 
 Society, from that which he has drawn. 
 
128 Means which Protestants use 
 
 But the very Specimen which he has pub- 
 lished of this Translation (p. 213, &c.) speaks 
 much more in favour of Mr. R. as a Transla- 
 tor, than of the Abb6 Dubois as a Philologist. 
 
 I had prepared a Criticism, to shew that the 
 Abb6, in his Critique upon the First Chapter, 
 has erred, apparently through ignorance of 
 the Hebrew Language. Had Mr. Reeve trans- 
 lated from the Vulgate, he would, probably, 
 have adopted some of the expressions sug- 
 gested by M. Dubois. But that Gentleman 
 madeuse of the Original; and, before the Sub- 
 Committee, constantly referred to the Hebrew 
 Text. I find myself, however, so ably anti- 
 cipated by the Eclectic Review *, that I shall 
 transcribe the major part of the Criticisms 
 given in that Work. 
 
 After fully exposing the inaccuracy of the 
 Abb6's Criticism upon the compound word 
 Dewer-attma, employed by Mr. Reeve to 
 express ' the Spirit of God,' in Gen. i. 2. the 
 writer proceeds : 
 
 " Among the expressions marked as ' mere 
 interpolations,' or * as words whose meaning 
 
 * (For November 1823.) With the exception of one or two 
 very immaterial inaccuracies, arising from the want of sufficient 
 local information, the whole of the circumstances relating to this 
 Translation are fully stated in the same Work. I shall, not- 
 withstanding, let what I have written remain, as the Testimony of 
 a Witness to the truth of the facts recorded. 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 1 29 
 
 materially differs from that of the Text/ 
 in the Abbe's Literal Translation, are seve- 
 ral of a very extraordinary description. For 
 instance : ' To govern the day and to govern 
 the night' (ver. 16), are printed in italics, 
 as instances of mistranslation ; the word in 
 the English Bible being, * To rule.' ' And 
 be in great numbers in the water of (the) 
 sea : all birds multiply on the earth ' are 
 marked in the same manner. Our Readers 
 will perceive, on turning to Gen. i. 22. that this 
 reading is identical in meaning with the Com- 
 mon Version, but better expressed. ' Over^ 
 come' the earth, another word printed in ita- 
 lic, as materially differing from the Text: our 
 Text has, 'subdue:' (ver. 28.) ( He created 
 him having the figure of God ' (ver. 27), is stig- 
 matized as a ' blasphemous expression.' The 
 Reader will recollect that the expression is the 
 Abbe's own. The word in the English Text 
 is, ' In the image of God.' Now, if the 
 Canarese afforded a word more specifically 
 signifying image, than that which the Abb6 
 has been pleased to render figure, it would 
 clearly have been less eligible, because it 
 would have suggested more strongly the idea 
 of a material likeness. But here again he 
 does not hint at there being any more proper 
 word, which could be substituted for the one 
 
1 30 Means tvhich Protestants use 
 
 employed by Mr. Reeve ; and it is obvious, 
 that the shades of difference between the 
 words form figure image, are such as 
 arise purely from our acquired associations. 
 We have no doubt that the Canarese word, 
 which the Abb6 renders figure, might with 
 equal fidelity have been rendered image. If 
 so, the charge of blasphemy returns upon 
 the Critic's head ; for it is the language of 
 Scripture." 
 
 Before dismissing this subject, I request 
 the Reader to compare the whole of the 
 Abb6 Dubois' English Translation of the 
 Canarese with the First Chapter of Genesis 
 in our own Authorised Version ; and he will 
 find that many other words printed in italics, 
 as inaccurate or absurd, are actually synony- 
 mous with the terms used in the English 
 Bible. If then he had intended, like a Chris- 
 tian and a Scholar, to give a fair view of the 
 merits of this Translation, he would have 
 rendered it back again, as far as he could 
 consistently, into the language of our Re- 
 ceived Text. But, by studiously and unne- 
 cessarily adopting other expressions, a su- 
 spicion is raised, that his object was to hold 
 up this, and, through it, every Translation 
 published by the Bible Society, to contempt : 
 and I should decline to argue thus with a 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 1 3 1 
 
 man who could act in so illiberal a manner, 
 were it not that I know that, in certain quar- 
 ters, deference is paid to any thing the Abb6 
 may advance, without examining into its 
 accuracy. 
 
 In his first Letter (dated Aug. 7, 1815) he 
 writes in contemptuous terms of the Malay- 
 alim Version : (p. 3Q.) This was made, not by 
 the Agents of the Bible Society, but by some 
 Syrian Priests (Catanars) in Travancore. 
 The Protestant Missionaries in that country 
 soon discovered in it numerous inaccuracies ; 
 and, instead of circulating it, the Rev. 
 B. Bailey, a Missionary at Cotym, has been 
 employed about five years, with the best 
 assistance the country affords, in giving an 
 entirely new Translation. As far as he had 
 proceeded with it, when I was in Travancore 
 (in Dec. 1820), his performance was highly 
 approved by competent judges; but, before 
 it is adopted by the Madras Auxiliary Bible 
 Society, it will have to pass, like every other 
 Translation, through as strict an ordeal as the 
 Canarese. 
 
 He has no better opinion of the Tamul 
 Version. With this I am better acquainted 
 than any other; and have a copy by me now. 
 It was made upwards of a century ago, by 
 Bartholomew Ziegenbalg, the first Protestant 
 
 K 2 
 
1 32 Means which Protestants use 
 
 Missionary in India, sent out by the King of 
 Denmark to Tranquebar. On visiting Eng- 
 land, to promote the interests of his Mission, 
 he was countenanced by the King, George 
 the First, the Bench of Bishops, and the 
 Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge ; 
 by whom he was recommended to translate 
 the Scripture into the Tamul Language, as a 
 work of primary importance. Several Edi- 
 tions of this work have been published by the 
 Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 
 at their Vepery Mission Press ; and, within 
 these few years, by the Bible Society also, at 
 the Serampore Press, after having been re- 
 vised each time, but without undergoing any 
 very material alteration. 
 
 I admit that this work is not sufficiently 
 idiomatic : and for that reason it is, in many 
 parts, particularly the Epistles, not well under- 
 stood by the Heathen. But M. Dubois is much 
 mistaken in asserting that it has entirely 
 missed its object (p. 38). The principal 
 object of its frequent publication has been, 
 to preserve, among Native Christians, a know- 
 ledge of the Word of God ; and this it has 
 accomplished. The Protestants, and even 
 Roman- Catholics educated in Protestant 
 Schools, are familiar with its style, read it 
 with fluency, and have little or no difficulty 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 1 33 
 
 in comprehending those parts which, in the 
 English Translation, are intelligible to an 
 ordinary reader. And may we not hope 
 that it has instructed many souls in the doc- 
 trines, and guided them in the paths, of 
 Everlasting Life * ? 
 
 So far, then, as my observation has ex- 
 tended, I affirm that the Abb6 Dubois has 
 totally failed in his attempt to fix a stigma 
 upon the operations of the Bible Society in 
 the East. 
 
 I admit that accurate Translations of the 
 Holy Scriptures, into the various Languages 
 of India, are difficult to be obtained : but 
 First Versions require, and will receive, in- 
 dulgence from all who candidly consider 
 the great obstacles with which the Trans- 
 lators have to contend. It is not necessary 
 for me to reply to M. Dubois' insinuations 
 against the Serampore Missionaries. Their 
 qualifications for the important task they 
 have undertaken ; the vigilance and labour 
 with which they have endeavoured to pre- 
 vent inaccuracies in every Version that has 
 
 * There is another Tamul Translation of the New Testament, 
 made in Ceylon, by a Company of Learned Natives. It was pub- 
 lished at Columbo, in 1759, by the Dutch Government, and edited 
 by two Dutch Missionaries Bronsveld and Fybrand, 1 think, 
 were their names. This Version is more idiomatic, but not so 
 correct as that of Ziegenbalg. 
 
1 34 Means which Protestants use 
 
 passed through their hands ; have been fully 
 and, to every unbiassed mind, satisfactorily 
 explained*. I feel that it would be degrad- 
 ing those estimable men men whose talents, 
 and worth, Marquis Wellesley, Lord Minto, 
 and Marquis Hastings, together with a long 
 list of Public Servants in Bengal, eminent no 
 less for piety than ability, knew how to ap- 
 preciate to intimate the necessity of ad- 
 vancing one word in their defence against the 
 Abba's unwarranted attackf. p. 35, &c.&c. 
 The precautions taken by the Madras 
 Auxiliary Bible Society to ascertain the ac- 
 curacy of every Translation of the Scripture 
 into the Languages of the South, are the 
 same as those adopted with reference to the 
 Canara Specimen already noticed. Each 
 Translation is first submitted to a Committee 
 of Translators, composed of Gentlemen ac- 
 quainted with the language; who are em- 
 powered to call in Learned Natives to their 
 assistance. When it has been revised and 
 corrected to the satisfaction of every mem- 
 ber, it is sent to the Sub-Committee for 
 Translations ; and, if approved, it is printed, 
 
 * See Ward's Farewell Letters the whole Series of Memoirs 
 published by themselves upon their Translations the Eclectic 
 Review for Nov. 1823 &c. 
 
 f For a vindication of the Se rampore Missionaries, see their 
 Vindicise Seramporianse. 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 1 35 
 
 and circulated among persons who are known 
 to be acquainted with the language, whose 
 opinion of the work is solicited. When it 
 has passed through this ordeal, it is finally 
 submitted to the General Committee of the 
 Society ; before whom any individual may 
 object to its adoption, provided he think 
 that sufficient attention has not been paid 
 to his previous representations. The work 
 is not adopted and published until it has 
 received the approbation of this Committee*. 
 Such precautions ought, I think, to satisfy 
 the most scrupulous objection. If, however, 
 M. Dubois can suggest any hint for the better 
 security of the Translations from error, I will 
 pledge myself, on my return to India should 
 it please God to restore me to my labours 
 in that country ! to exert my influence with 
 the Bible Society for its adoption. 
 
 The Abbe" passes a sweeping sentence of con- 
 demnation against the Twenty-four Versions 
 published at the Serampore Press, without 
 giving us any proof of his ability, or informing 
 us that he has taken any pains to ascertain 
 
 * Such were the measures adopted to the close of 1821, when 
 my intercourse with the Madras Bible Society was suspended. 
 At that time they were soliciting the opinions of several Gentlemen, 
 as to what better or additional precautions could be adopted : and 
 if any alteration has been since made, it will, I am persuaded, be 
 for the better. 
 
1 36 Means which Protestants use 
 
 their character. But even were they as im- 
 perfect as he asserts, would the funds and 
 the labour expended upon them be lost? 
 No, by no means. It were unreasonable to 
 expect the First Translation of the S.cripture 
 into any language to be perfect. The late 
 Mr. Ward himself (speaking of the Trans- 
 lations against which the Abb6 so bitterly 
 inveighs) says,* " These Versions are not 
 offered as perfect performances ; but, I doubt 
 not, they will bear to be compared with any 
 other First Versions which have at any time 
 been given to the world." " Every First 
 Version of such a book as the Bible, in any 
 language, will require, in future Editions, 
 many improvements, and all the aids pos- 
 sible, to carry these Versions to perfection." 
 Every future Translator will be greatly as- 
 sisted in his work by all that have preceded 
 him. And if even the Seventh Version be 
 in general correct, what good man will re- 
 gret the labour and costs of the former Six? 
 We may, for instance, refer to the English 
 Translation, which, the Abb6 says, is the 
 
 * Farewell Letters, pp. 155, 184. Query. Is this the lan- 
 guage of a man wishing to impose upon the Public ? or of one who, 
 44 without the assistance of any criticism whatever, supposes him- 
 self, with five or six other individuals, able to execute genuine 
 Translations into intricate Languages, with which they, after 
 all, can possess only an imperfect acquaintance ?" 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 1 37 
 
 " Third Version" of the Scripture into our 
 language ; but which, had he taken proper 
 pains to acquaint himself with its history, he 
 would have found to be the Seventh, or 
 rather a revision of Six former Versions. 
 Though this Version, confessedly, is not per- 
 fect, yet it abounds in instruction which is 
 able to make men wise unto salvation : and 
 where is the Englishman,who loves his Bible, 
 that does not praise God for having raised 
 up such men as Wickliffe, Tyndal, and other 
 English Reformers ; who, in the face of per- 
 sonal danger, and while enduring grievous 
 privations, executed those Translations to 
 which we are greatly indebted for the accu- 
 racy to which our present Authorised Ver- 
 sion has attained ? So shall the day come, 
 in the fulness of time appointed in heaven, 
 when Asiatic Christians shall bless the me- 
 mory of those devoted and benevolent 
 Strangers, who, from such a distance, and 
 with so many sacrifices, first brought to their 
 shores the Oracles of Divine Truth. 
 
 M. Dubois more than insinuates, that we 
 have no occasionprobably he means no right 
 
 to supply the Hindoos with Bibles, until they 
 
 ask for them : (p. 1 50.) Did they ask for the 
 Jesuit Missionaries? Did any Heathen Na- 
 tion ever, in the first instance, ask for the 
 
138 Means which Protestants use 
 
 Bible? Had the Almighty waited till man 
 asked for His Word, we should have re- 
 mained, to the present day, without a Reve- 
 lation of His Nature and Will ! 
 
 But this insinuation would be unworthy 
 of notice, were it not that I am prepared to 
 shew that the Hindoos are now in such a 
 state, that they do ask for the Bible. Many 
 more applications have been made by them, 
 to myself, than it has been in my power to 
 grant : and I shall here transcribe the greater 
 part of a Letter in my possession, to prove 
 that the Heathen are not only asking for the 
 Bible, but actually coming forward to pro- 
 mote the objects of the Bible Society. 
 
 Having written to the Hon. Dr. Twisle- 
 ton, Archdeacon of Columbo, to collect 
 such Tamul Publications as he might be able 
 to procure, in order to assist me in the revi- 
 sion of the New Testament in that language, 
 he kindly wrote for me to a friend, C. Lay- 
 ard, Esq. Judge of the Province of Jaffna, 
 where the Tamul is more spoken than in the 
 South of Ceylon. On the night before I em- 
 barked for Europe, in a state of ill-health 
 that precluded the possibility of my attend- 
 ing to business, I received a Letter from the 
 latter Gentleman, stating that he had for- 
 warded a large collection of Tamul Books, 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 139 
 
 and giving the following very interesting in- 
 formation. 
 
 " Dear Sir, Jaffnapatam, Jan. 4-, 1821. 
 
 " The books I sent from hence are all 
 
 that I have yet been able to procure; and 
 
 there are no other copies of the same works, 
 
 I believe, left in the district. 
 
 ct To dwell on the difficulties I have met 
 with, would appear only as an attempt to en- 
 hance the little service I have been able to 
 effect towards obtaining as many copies of 
 the Sacred Scriptures, for the use of the 
 Translators, as are extant : but were I to say 
 nothing, I should deprive myself of the plea- 
 sure of communicating to you a piece of 
 agreeable information viz. that the possess- 
 ors of some of these books would with more 
 readiness have parted with much money or 
 valuable property, than with the Sacred Vo- 
 lume ; and that they would not have given 
 them for any price, or on any terms, ex- 
 cepting for the Christian purpose of their 
 being sent to the Translator, in order to ex- 
 pedite the circulating of an approved Trans- 
 lation of the Word of God." 
 
 Of the possessor of a Bible sent, Mr. L. 
 writes, he " prizes it above any money, and 
 refused, from a Roman- Catholic Priest, 
 
140 Means which Protestants use 
 
 some years since, the value of six slaves for 
 its purchase. 
 
 " I am obliged to request you will consi- 
 der the books sent as merely a loan ; for I am 
 pledged for their return, as soon as they can 
 b,e spared : and have ventured to assure our 
 community, who are not pleased to lose even 
 a School-book, that we may now reckon you 
 amongst our friends, and one who will, if it 
 is in your power, not only secure us a part 
 of the Bibles published, but also supplies of 
 any Extracts from the Scriptures the Bible 
 Society at Madras may circulate, and such 
 as can be spared of the Elementary Books 
 that may be received for distribution from 
 the Society for Promoting Christian Know- 
 ledge, especially some Tamul Prayer-Books. 
 
 " In the last year I have witnessed that 
 which would give true satisfaction, even to 
 our friends in England, if it could be laid 
 before them in . a manner entitling it to 
 credit *. 
 
 " On the 1st of January 1820, I presided 
 at the forming of the first Tamul-Bible As- 
 sociation which, I believe, was ever formed ; 
 
 I take upon myself to give publicity to this Letter, feeling 
 persuaded, from this passage, that the respected writer would 
 readily permit it to be published, for the purpose for which it is 
 here introduced, were he at a convenient distance to be consulted. 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 14 1 
 
 being the only European present. The Ma- 
 nuscript of that day's proceedings, and some 
 Papers relative to the Society, were sent to 
 the Lord Bishop of Calcutta, when last at 
 Columbo : and thus, I would hope, was 
 conveyed to that high authority a just idea 
 of the extent to which the Natives may be 
 expected to come forward in their own cause, 
 if only a few can be found amongst those who 
 ought to interest themselves about the People 
 they are placed to govern, who will consider 
 it an incumbent duty to lead the Natives to 
 exertion. 
 
 61 In February 1820, an Assistant Associa- 
 tion was formed at Poonerem ; on which oc- 
 casion Christian Davidf, a Vice-President 
 of our Tamul Association, was deputed to 
 attend and, in October, another at Ma- 
 lagam. 
 
 " We have thus raised Three Tamul Asso- 
 ciations in nine months. The last, at which 
 I also presided, was very numerously at- 
 tended ; and the greater part of the Subscri- 
 bers (a most extraordinary fact !) were Hea- 
 thens, who, to the amount of from 25O to 300 
 persons, contribute from one to six fanams 
 monthly. The revenue thus raised for the pur- 
 
 f A pious and intelligent Native Priest, who has translated 
 the English Liturgy into Tamul. 
 
142 Means which Protestants use 
 
 pose of circulating the Holy Scripture is equal 
 to 1 500 Rix-dollars per annum." 
 
 After giving some information respecting 
 the advancement of Religion and Education 
 in the district, inhabited by a population 
 amounting to from 150,000 to 200,000, the 
 writer concludes: 
 
 " My Letter is already so long, that I am 
 sure you will have reason to be tired of it ; 
 and 1 shall, therefore, hasten to a conclu- 
 sion, with only expressing a hope, Dear Sir, 
 that, on every occasion that you can obtain 
 a few books for the Tamul Inhabitants of this 
 place, you will recollect that an appeal to you 
 has been made from one who has known them 
 eighteen years, and who finds them more ready 
 to receive the Sacred Scriptures and Books of 
 Instruction, than many of the warmest wishers 
 for the spread of Religion amongst them 
 would readily believe" 
 
 i These Extracts I shall leave, without com- 
 ment, to speak as to the disposition of the 
 Natives, both Christian and Heathen, in re- 
 ference to the Bible, and to the want of the 
 Sacred Volume in this district. 
 
 It is possible, however, that the Abb6 Du- 
 bois may be induced to admit the propriety 
 of translating the Bible into the Eastern 
 Languages, provided the task be executed 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 143 
 
 in an acceptable manner: for he says, " A 
 Translation of the Holy Scriptures, in order 
 to awaken the curiosity, and fix the atten- 
 tion of the Learned Hindoo, at least as a lite- 
 rary production, ought to be on a level with 
 the Indian performances of the same kind 
 among them, and be composed in fine poe- 
 try, a flowery style, and a high stream of. 
 eloquence ; this being universally the mode 
 in which all Indian performances of any 
 worth are written :" (p. 4 1 .) Then, why have 
 not some of the Jesuit Missionaries performed 
 this work? Perhaps of all Europeans that 
 ever resided in India, R. C. J. Beschi, alias 
 Vira-mamuni*, was the best qualified for 
 such an undertaking. As a Tamul Scholar, 
 he was little inferior to many of the Learned 
 Natives; and his High and Low Tamul Gram- 
 mars speak loudly in praise of his talents 
 and diligence. Why then did he not under- 
 take such a Translation of the Scriptures as 
 the Abb6 describes? Probably his Epic 
 Poem, the Temba-vani, was intended, and 
 may by some be thought to supersede the 
 Scripture, as it treats upon Scriptural sub- 
 jects. It is composed in poetic language, 
 " a flowery style, and a fine stream of elo- 
 
 * An assumed title, by which, as an Author, he was best known 
 by the Natives. 
 
1 44 Means which Protestants use 
 
 quence ;" and I freely render to it that tri- 
 bute of commendation, to which, as a lite- 
 rary performance, it is entitled. It abounds 
 also in admirable instruction upon various 
 Sacred topics : but the metaphysical style, 
 and the classical language, in which the Au- 
 thor has clothed his Lessons, have rendered 
 them quite unintelligible to any but the most 
 Learned Hindoos. Very few indeed have I 
 met with that understood the Temba-vani, 
 and never one that derived any spiritual ad- 
 vantage from it. One or two Extracts, if the 
 Reader will have patience to peruse them, 
 will convince him, that the lowest Transla- 
 tion of the plain Text of Scripture is more 
 likely to convert the Hindoos to Christianity 
 than such a substitute as this. 
 
 I will not insert his description of the 
 Journey of the Holy Family across the De- 
 sert, on their return from Egypt ; fearing that 
 it will weary the Reader, before he comes to 
 the predictions, which the Saviour is made to 
 utter upon that journey, of several Monks, 
 who, in future ages, would there devote 
 themselves to various mortifications in the 
 cause of virtue. 
 
 " When, by the outrageous fury of the 
 passions, the driver had fallen from his seat, 
 Mavavana-muni, having seized and mounted 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. \ 45 
 
 the elephant, which is the body; governing 
 him by the strong hook* of resolution, he 
 will bind him to the pillar of constancy by 
 the rope of penance, and fill all heaven with 
 admiration." 
 
 Take another 
 
 " Desirous of obtaining the wealth pecu- 
 liar to the Kingdom of Heaven, Madittagen, 
 having heaped on the car of unceasing peni- 
 tence a load of holiness, and yoked to it, as 
 oxen, his body and soul, avoiding the quag- 
 mire of sinful desire, he will arrive at salva- 
 tion." 
 
 A third 
 
 " Having planted the honey-dropping jas- 
 mine-vine of perfect virtue; having surrounded 
 it with a hedge of subdued senses, to protect 
 it by penance supported by religion ; having 
 let in the water of strict discipline, and spread 
 around it the sand of grace, Asoren will 
 flourish as a garden whose fragrance reach- 
 eth to heaven." 
 
 A fourth 
 
 " Blowing the red furnace of penance, and 
 placing therein the iron of the five senses, 
 adding the mercury of bright wisdom, Puro- 
 
 * It is, perhaps, necessary to inform the English Reader, that 
 the elephant is governed by an instrument, hooked at one end, 
 with which the driver pricks him behind the <\<r. 
 
 L 
 
146 Means which Protestants use 
 
 daren poured the pure gold thus obtained 
 into the mould of religion; and, having en- 
 chased it with precious jewels, he became 
 an ornament for the breast of the God he 
 adored." 
 
 Will the Reader bear with me, if I add a 
 fifth? It shall be the last. It is upon the 
 Egyptian Mary. 
 
 " Though women may inwardly resolve on 
 good or bad, it is difficult for them to persist 
 in their resolution: thus, though Ejesia Ma- 
 riyal, overleaping the fence of modesty, had 
 at first plunged into the sea of carnal desire, 
 yet at last, having determined to perform 
 austerities with the purest devotion, she will 
 retire from the world, and long remain here. 
 
 " The eye perceives not the colour by 
 which it is darkened ; and who are they who 
 see their own faults, apparent to all others ? 
 But she, remembering of herself her mi- 
 nutest sins, and borne on the wings of men- 
 tal resolution, produced by reflecting on the 
 truth she perceived, gave herself up to devo- 
 tion, covered only by the mantle of female 
 modesty. 
 
 " On the flying chariot of Desire, she ar- 
 rived at the Desert of Sin; on the flying 
 chariot of Fear, she repaired to the Mountains 
 of Penitence ; on the flying chariot of re- 
 
for the Conversion of the, Hindoos. 147 
 
 splendent Wisdom, she entered the grove of 
 Growing Virtue ; and on the flying chariot 
 of My Name, she shall enter the Kingdom 
 of Heaven." 
 
 These Extracts are taken from the Notes 
 to the late Mr. Ellis's Translation of the 
 Korell* : and though that Gentleman was an 
 admirer of the talent and genius of Beschi, 
 yet he remarks upon this part of his cele- 
 brated Poem, " The tissue of conceits ex- 
 hibited by these Verses may have been woven 
 for the Poet by the Italian or the Tamul 
 Muse ; as both, though they often cull from 
 the rose-bush of Fancy its fairest flowers, are 
 prone, also, to collect the unsubstantial dew- 
 drops glittering on its leaves." 
 
 But what shall we say to his attributing 
 such " conceits" to the Saviour, who spake 
 as never man spake ; studiously adapted His 
 lessons to the meanest capacity ; and, so far 
 from sanctioning Monkish austerities, cau- 
 tioned us against assuming such hypocritical 
 appearances of sanctity? (Matt. vi. l, . &c.) 
 Were there any thing in the history of His 
 infant years to warrant the ascribing of pre- 
 dictions to Him at the early age of His return 
 from Egypt, and were even these fancied pro- 
 phecies, instead of being clothed in a style 
 
 * Chapter III. Section 3. 
 L 2 
 
148 Means which Protestants use 
 
 which the most erudite only can understand, 
 delivered in such familiar language as the 
 Saviour designedly adopted; yet what pur- 
 pose, I ask, could they possibly answer 
 to the cause of Christianity ? They could 
 serve only to give authenticity to Popish 
 Legends, and encourage the practice of super- 
 stitious mortifications, which our Blessed 
 Lord so pointedly prohibited. 
 
 I had marked several other passages of the 
 same character for insertion; and had in- 
 tended noticing, also, the Inyana-upedasam 
 of R. Robertus Nobili, a&'asTatwa-bod, haca 
 Swamy (a scholar of the same School, though 
 of inferior ability to Beschi). But, if the 
 Reader is not tired of perusing, I must 
 confess that I am of transcribing such fan- 
 tastical " conceits !" Were it not that the 
 Temba-vani is, to my own knowledge, 
 more admired by some professed Christians 
 than the Bible itself, I should hardly have 
 thought it worth while to take even this much 
 notice of the Work. It exactly corresponds 
 with the description which the Abb6 Dubois 
 gives of such a Translation as he conceives 
 to be indispensable, in order to render the 
 Sacred Volume acceptable, or even tolerable, 
 to the Hindoos. But I doubt not that the 
 Christian Reader will concur with me in 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 149 
 
 opinion, that the Translations of the Scrip- 
 tures already made by Protestants into the 
 Languages of the East, even though we judge 
 of them all by the specimen which the Abb6 
 has given of the Canara Version of the Pen- 
 tateuch (which, it is fair to conclude, is the 
 most unfavourable he could select), are likely 
 to prove one-hundred -fold more beneficial to 
 the Hindoos than such Versions, or Para- 
 phrases, or Fictions, or whatever it be called, 
 as the Heroic Poem of Beschi. Let the 
 Reader compare this with St. Paul's con- 
 duct, in a corresponding case: (l Cor. ii. 
 1-8.) 
 
 But, while I argue thus for the supremacy 
 of the Scriptures among the means used for 
 the conversion of the Heathen, and maintain 
 that the Bible Society have not acted with 
 that indiscretion with which the Abb6 Dubois 
 charges them, I am not contending for the pro- 
 priety of distributing Bibles among the Hea- 
 then without accompanying helps: (pp. 31, 
 124.) He asserts that " the New Reformers," 
 by whom he means the Protestant Missiona- 
 ries in India, " fancying that, in order to con- 
 vert the Hindoos to Christianity, it was only 
 necessary to lay the Bible before them, they, 
 at their first outset, made extremely incorrect 
 and almost unintelligible. Translations of our 
 
150 Means which Protestants use 
 
 Sacred Books into the several idioms of the 
 country. Our disfigured Holy Scriptures 
 were profusely diffused among the inhabi- 
 tants, under such a contemptible garb ; and 
 upon this only foundation the latter were 
 angrily required to shift for themselves, to 
 build their faith, and reform their religion, 
 civilization, and manners :" (pp. 14Q, 1 50.) A 
 most unfounded charge! and, until he can 
 support it by well-attested facts, or even by 
 a single instance of such imprudence on the 
 part of any Society*, I shall think it unwor- 
 thy of a reply. 
 
 Contrasting the measures of the Jesuit with 
 those of the Protestant Missionaries in India, 
 he says, that the former established Schools 
 for the educating of Native Catechists and 
 Religious Teachers, and composed Tracts and 
 Elementary Works upon Religious Topics : 
 (p. 131.) Any person not acquainted with 
 the proceedings of Protestants in the East, 
 would conclude, upon reading this state- 
 ment, that they neglected the use of such 
 means ; and this is obviously the impression 
 made on the mind. But is this arguing like 
 a fair disputant and a lover of truth ? He 
 must, he cannot but know, that Protestant 
 
 * No Institution is answerable for the conduct of an indivi- 
 dual Member, which it does not authorise. 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 151 
 
 Missionaries have adopted these very expe- 
 dients, and that to a much greater extent 
 than the Jesuits ever did. How inconsis- 
 tent, then, with Christian integrity, so to state 
 the case, as to make a false impression ! 
 
 With regard to the training of Native Ca- 
 techists, Schoolmasters, and Priests, I know 
 not a single Missionary Station between 
 Madras and Cape Comorin, including both 
 the Coromandel and Malabar Coasts nine 
 of which I myself have visited where there 
 is not a separate establishment for this spe- 
 cific purpose. This was one of the first 
 objects to which the venerable Ziegenbalg, 
 Swartz, and their co-adjutors, paid attention. 
 I am intimately acquainted with several pious 
 and intelligent Native Religious Teachers, 
 educated at Vepery, Tranquebar, Tanjore, 
 &c. &c. DoesM. Dubois remember nothing 
 of the first four Priests ordained by Swartz 
 and Kohloff, some years ago? Did he never 
 hear of the devoted Sattianaden ? Does he 
 not know, that successive Missionaries, in 
 South India, of the Society for Promoting 
 Christian Knowledge, have since ordained 
 other Natives equally promising!? Has he 
 never read accounts of the splendid Esta- 
 
 f All these Priests are supported by this admirable Institution. 
 
152 Means ivhich Protestants use 
 
 blishment at Serampore ; or of the College at 
 Calcutta, founded more recently by the late 
 Bishop of that Diocese? I cannot think 
 that the man who appears to have been so 
 industrious in collecting information to the 
 prejudice of Protestant Missionaries, needs 
 to be informed, that they also have always 
 " selected the best-disposed and most intel- 
 ligent among the Native Converts, and 
 established Schools for the forming of Cate- 
 chists or Native Religious Teachers" or, 
 that they have " superintended and directed 
 those Schools of Catechists, and made it 
 their principal study to give them an educa- 
 tion suited to their intended profession." 
 
 Neither can he be ignorant, that the com- 
 position and translation of Religious Tracts, 
 and other Elementary Works, has formed a 
 prominent part of the Protestant Missionary's 
 labours. Has he never seen the valuable 
 Dialogues of Swartz, in Tamul ; or any of 
 the numerous Catechisms, and other Works 
 of various sizes, published by the Danish 
 Missionaries, and the Agents of the Chris- 
 tian Knowledge Society in South India, for 
 many years past ? Is he ignorant of the 
 thousands of Elementary and other Publica- 
 tions that issue annually from the various 
 Presses in Bengal and Madras ? No 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 153 
 
 several parts of his Letters shew, that he is 
 well aware of what is going forward in this 
 and other departments of Missionary Labour. 
 I will therefore relate but two cases in point. 
 Last year, the Press of the Church Missionary 
 Society at Madras, alone, sent forth Thirty 
 Thousand Copies of Religious Publications ! 
 During my residence in Tinnevelly, the Ma- 
 dras District Committee of the Christian 
 Knowledge Society, and the Corresponding 
 Committee of the Church Missionary Society, 
 sent me annually, upon an average, Two Thou- 
 sand Religious Publications, for the use of 
 their respective Missions in that distant pro- 
 vince ! I will only add, that every* Pro- 
 testant Mission in India is as well, and 
 many are much better, supplied with Works 
 of the same description : and that they are 
 riot published for the Catechists only (as the 
 Jesuits' Tracts, &c. appear to have been), 
 but are distributed among all ranks of Chris- 
 tians and Heathens, that are found capable 
 of understanding, and desirous of possessing 
 them. 
 
 There is another, and that a most pro- 
 mising department of Missionary Labour; to 
 which, as far as I can learn, from the " Let- 
 
 * Of course, I except newly-formed Stations. 
 
154 Means which Protestants use 
 
 ters" now before me, and other sources of in- 
 formation, the Roman- Catholic Missionaries 
 have paid no attention I mean the establish- 
 ment of Schools for all classes of Children. 
 I know not of a single Protestant Missionary 
 Station in South India, where there is not an 
 English School for the benefit of those Chil- 
 dren whose parents wish them to learn our 
 language, and one or more Schools in 
 which the Children of Christians and Hea- 
 thens are taught the Elements of useful and 
 Religious Knowledge in their vernacular 
 tongues. 
 
 To expatiate on the expediency or utility 
 of such Institutions is, happily, quite unne- 
 cessary : for it is now acknowledged, by all 
 who have given the subject a candid consi- 
 deration, that it is of primary importance 
 
 " to rear the tender thought ; 
 
 To teach the young idea how to shoot ; 
 To pour the fresh instruction o'er the mind ; 
 To breathe th' enlivening spirit ; and to fix 
 The generous purpose on the glowing heart." 
 
 If this be the case in Christian Countries, 
 how much more so must it be in Pagan Lands, 
 while the mind is yet supple, and ere it is 
 benighted by Superstition, or distorted by 
 Vice ! 
 
Jor the Conversion of the Hindoos. \ 55 
 
 Such are the instruments which Protes- 
 tants employ, for the enlightening, the me- 
 liorating, the evangelizing of Hindoostan. 
 Whether or no these, and the other means 
 here enumerated, are well adapted to the end 
 in view, will be best ascertained by the suc- 
 cesses that have hitherto attended them ; and 
 which I shall briefly enumerate in the next 
 Section. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 THE SUCCESS WHICH HAS ALREADY ATTENDED 
 THE MEANS USED BY PROTESTANTS, FOR 
 THE CONVERSION OF THE HINDOOS. 
 
 THE Abb Dubois, to shew that the "bril- 
 liant success" of the Serampore Missionaries, 
 in " translating the Scriptures, within the 
 short period of nine or ten years, into no 
 less than Twenty-four Asiatic Languages," 
 11 has not in the least dazzled him, nor altered 
 his opinion, nor diminished his scepticism on 
 the entire inadequacy of such means to en- 
 lighten the Pagans and gain them over to 
 Christianity," adds, " I would not certainly 
 
156 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 dare to warrant, that these twenty spurious 
 Versions, with some of which I am acquaint- 
 ed, will, after the lapse of the same number of 
 years, have operated the conversion of twenty- 
 four Pagans :" (p. 37.) This, we are to con- 
 clude, is the lowest estimate of good which he 
 supposes likely to result from them. He 
 thinks it is possible, then, that they may pro- 
 duce this number of conversions. I will 
 venture to affirm, that if, at the expiration of 
 twenty-four years, it shall appear that the 
 same number of immortal souls have been 
 actually converted through the perusal of 
 those " spurious Versions," there are few 
 Members of the Bible Society, who contri- 
 buted towards their publication, but will feel 
 grateful to Almighty God for this apparently 
 small quantity of success. When the value of 
 one soul is maturely considered, and it is re- 
 membered that such corruptible things as 
 silver and gold were not of sufficient value 
 to redeem it that its ransom from sin and 
 death cost " the precious blood of Christ !" 
 what labour, what expense, that men can 
 bestow upon its conversion, can be more than 
 equivalent ? His objection, then, arising from 
 the imperfect manner in which those Trans- 
 lations are executed, will be lighter than a 
 feather, in the judgment of those who alone 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 157 
 
 have any right to complain the Members of 
 the Bible Society ! 
 
 For the satisfaction of those Benevolent In- 
 dividuals, we can enumerate many more than 
 the given number of conversions, from the 
 perusal of those " spurious Versions" alone 
 and that within half of the allotted period! 
 The late Mr. Ward names several persons, 
 whose conversion is to be traced to the perusal 
 of the New Testament*. But Mr. Ward 
 was one of the parties arraigned! True. 
 Well ; any one who will take the trouble to 
 look over the various Missionary Publica- 
 tions for the last ten years, will find several 
 instances of the kind, from authority which 
 to the Abb6 Dubois at least, but to no one 
 who knew that good man's character may 
 appear less questionable. 
 
 But, could it be proved that the simple 
 perusal of the Scriptures had produced no 
 effect in India the translating and publish- 
 ing of Twenty-five Versions of the Bible, if 
 we consider only (upon the maxim of Ho- 
 race, Dimidium facti Sac.) the importance of 
 making a commencement, and also the ser- 
 vice which these Versions, how imperfect 
 soever they may be, will render to future 
 Translators, we may regard them as an 
 
 * Farewell Letters, p. 1 85, &c. 
 
1 58 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 amount of success in which the Friends of 
 Missions, and particularly the Members of 
 the Bible Society, have cause to exult. 
 
 The success attending the Mission Schools, 
 has far exceeded the most sanguine expec- 
 tations of the best friends to the Missionary 
 Cause. 
 
 The Abb6 Dubois refers his readers to 
 the Lutherans, Baptists, and others, for an 
 account of " their successes" in India ; evi- 
 dently implying, however, that the result will 
 disappoint any expectations that may have 
 been raised : (p. 25, 26.) I have followed 
 his directions -not, indeed, confining my 
 inquiries to the Societies he names, but ex- 
 tending them to as many of the Societies now 
 labouring in India as I could conveniently 
 consult. The following is a rough Statement 
 of the numbers in the Schools established 
 by various Associations, for the instruction of 
 Native Children in that country. 
 
 The Society for Promoting Christian 
 
 Knowledge 3500 
 
 Baptist Missionary Society .... 10000* 
 
 * Since the material change introduced into the School System 
 of Serampore, as detailed in the Third Report, no List of Schools 
 or of Scholars has been sent home. Indeed, the nature of that 
 alteration is such, that the Schools can no longer be said to belong- 
 to the Baptist Missionary Society, though the Children derive 
 
 instruction 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 159 
 
 Church Missionary Society .... 6581 
 
 Adults 
 
 London Missionary Society .... 4650 
 In Government Schools, under the su- 
 perintendence of the Missionaries of 
 
 the London Society .... say 3000 
 
 Calcutta School Society 2800 
 
 Wesleyan Missionary Society . . . 4000 
 
 Bombay Education Society .... 1200 
 
 American Board of Missions .... 2000 
 
 Scottish Missionary Society .... 500 
 Hindoo College, at Calcutta, Seram- 
 
 pore, &c say 300 
 
 Jay Narain's Seminary at Benares . . 130 
 
 Netherlands Missionary Association . 100 
 
 Free-School Association at Cawnpore 158 
 
 Total 39149 
 
 These numbers are given from the latest - 
 accounts received. From some Stations, no 
 Returns have arrived in England these two, 
 and from others these three, years past : and 
 I hesitate not to affirm, that there are, at 
 least, Fifty Thousand Children, the major part 
 Heathen, now in the various Schools established 
 by Protestants in India ! 
 
 instruction through means of their Missionaries. In 1819, the 
 Children in the Schools connected with Serampore alone amounted 
 to 8000. They have since been increasing, in an accelerating 
 ratio : and, perhaps, if I doubled that number, I should be within 
 their present amount. 
 
1 60 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 Though it is not pretended that these 
 Schools have effected many conversions, yet, 
 if we recollect the strong prejudice that ex- 
 isted in the minds of the Natives, within these 
 few years, against sending their children to 
 Schools established and superintended by 
 Europeans, and in which printed books were 
 used ; and if we consider, also, that the Scrip- 
 tures, and other Religious Books, are now 
 used in the great majority of those Schools ; 
 we must indeed be ignorant of the general 
 effect of such education upon the youthful 
 mind, not to admit, that those Schools pro- 
 mise much to the Missionary Labourer. We 
 may reasonably look to them as so many 
 Nurseries for the rearing of a more intelligent 
 and less-prejudiced race of Hindoos than 
 those of the present or any preceding age. 
 And that the preaching or reading of the 
 Divine Word will be more likely to affect 
 their minds than it does those of their parents, 
 who possessed none of the advantages which 
 they enjoy in the Mission Schools, is too 
 obvious to need further remark. 
 
 In the collection, then, of so vast a number 
 of Native Children into the numerous Schools 
 in India, we behold an important Missionary 
 achievement. How much prejudice must 
 have been overcome, those who know the 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 1 6 1 
 
 character of the Hindoos, and the nature of 
 their superstitions, can well conceive : rea- 
 son and experience may calculate upon ex- 
 tensive mental and moral improvement, from 
 this wide diffusion of general knowledge : 
 and faith can see, in the distance, " first 
 the blade, then the ear, and after that the 
 full corn in the ear," growing* thickly over 
 the fields where the divine seed is thus pro- 
 fusely strown. 
 
 The Abb6 Dubois will be amused at these 
 anticipations : for he assorts, that the chil- 
 dren "go to those Schools for the sole pur- 
 pose of attaining a competent acquaintance 
 with the English Language*, in order to be 
 able, by this means, to gain a livelihood ; as 
 this accomplishment is, at present, the only 
 way to attain an honourable and advan- 
 tageous situation in the several offices of 
 Government. As soon as they have attained 
 their object, all is over with your books of 
 science and morality ; they never more cast 
 a look at them, during their lives :" (p. 167.) 
 Such is the liberal Abbe's surmise^ \ The 
 fact is otherwise as examples, about to be 
 
 * The Missionary Schools in which English is taught are com- 
 paratively few. 
 
 f Were this correct, it would apply only to the English 
 Schools. 
 
 M 
 
1 6*2 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 produced, will prove. That such is the object 
 with which many enter the Schools, cannot 
 be questioned ; for Hindoo Children know as 
 little how to appreciate the advantages of 
 education, as the Youth of England or any 
 other country. But numerous are the in- 
 stances wherein they have acquired a taste 
 for European Literature in these very schools; 
 taken pleasure in cultivating that taste after 
 they have quitted them ; and employed them- 
 selves in communicating their knowledge to 
 their friends. Often have I seen the head 
 scholars at their Lessons and Exercises, 
 when all the rest have been celebrating the 
 Heathen Festivals : and on expressing my 
 surprise at seeing them in school on such 
 occasions, they have replied, that they found 
 more pleasure in their books than at the 
 temples. 
 
 In the Fifth Report of the Diocesan Com- 
 mittee of the Christian Knowledge Society, 
 speaking of their scholars' proficiency and 
 disposition to improve, it is said, " In addi- 
 tion to the regular Class-books, some of them 
 have made themselves acquainted with Tara- 
 chund Dueet's ' Pleasing Tales/ the < His- 
 tory of Joseph' in Bengalee and English, 
 with other books of the same description." 
 
 " The increased esteem in which inform a- 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 163 
 
 tion and amusement, thus derived, is held by 
 them, is evinced by their frequent requests 
 for books, for the purpose of taking home to 
 read in their families, which is now becoming 
 a common practice among them : and, among 
 the pleasing omens of the general improve- 
 ment of moral feeling, it may be mentioned, 
 that a little Boy (whose attention and good 
 behaviour had been always remarkable, and 
 who had invariably refused any pecuniary 
 reward), on quitting Calcutta for a period, 
 came to return thanks for his schooling; 
 and asked, as the only desired mark of favour, 
 for books to carry home to his friends. * They 
 have none,' said he, ' in our village ; and I 
 shall read there to them.' Several equally 
 pleasing instances might be mentioned : and 
 the Committee offer no apologies for occa- 
 sionally noticing objects which may appear 
 to some so trifling ; because the Benevolent 
 will see in such traits a prospect of future 
 good ; and will feel assured, from such dawn- 
 ings of improvement, that their kind coun- 
 tenance and liberal support will reap their 
 fruit in due season." 
 
 Such is the disposition which I have wit- 
 nessed in many of the Youths educated in the 
 Church Missionary Society's Schools in South 
 India ; and abundant information to the same 
 
 M 1 
 
1 64 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 effect might be collected from the Reports of 
 every Missionary Society in Hindoostan. 
 
 We have seen that M. Dubois represents 
 the Brahmins as inaccessible beings, and that 
 " the barrier" between us and them is " im- 
 passable:" (p. 101.) Had he established 
 Schools for the instruction of Youth, and 
 conducted them upon liberal principles, he 
 would have seen the Brahmins themselves 
 crossing that barrier, and courting his ac- 
 quaintance. One or two instances shall suf- 
 fice, to prove that Protestant Missionary 
 Schools are rapidly removing that " wall of 
 partition," which has for ages separated the 
 Brahmin from all other castes and descrip- 
 tions of men. 
 
 Boys of every caste are admitted into 
 those schools. In Tinnevelly (and I believe 
 the same practice is adopted everywhere 
 else,) we classed the Brahmin with the Soo- 
 dra of equal attainments ; and constantly 
 have I seen them studying at the same desk, 
 or standing up, side by side, to repeat their les- 
 sons. In one of our Schools, there were, at the 
 time of my leaving the district, 4 Brahmins, 
 6 Soodras, 2 Mussulmans, 6 Roman Catholics, 
 ] Country-born, and 2 Pariars. One of those 
 Brahmins, instead of leaving the school "as 
 soon as he had attained the object" for which 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 165 
 
 alone, as the AbWDubois asserts, they attend, 
 continued there till he was upwards of twenty 
 years of age: indeed, I left him in the 
 school when I came away from the South. 
 He seemed really to love the New Testa- 
 ment ; and used to read it at home, notwith- 
 standing the opposition of his family. At 
 length they complained of him to an Uncle, 
 the senior member of the family, requesting 
 him to use his influence to induce the young- 
 man to lay aside the obnoxious book. The 
 old man, with the liberality of a Gamaliel, 
 sent for his Nephew, and desired to look at 
 the book (which was a Tamul Testament). 
 Having examined several parts of it, he re- 
 turned it, speaking to this effect: " This is 
 a good ftook : it can do the lad no harm, and 
 may do him much good: I will not, therefore, 
 interpose, to prevent his reading it." 
 
 Just before I left the district, this young 
 Brahmin wrote me the following Letter : 
 
 " Reverend Sir, 
 
 " I am very thankful to you for the 
 good path which I am now learning in the 
 Tinnevelly English School. My longing 
 wish was, to wait always, yea, even to the 
 day of my death, at your door, for to get in- 
 structions to save my perishable soul; which 
 
Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 no one yet had undertaken to do, but is done 
 in your days. Now, as 1 hear you are going 
 away very far, we do not know what to do, 
 and how we shall improve for the future. 
 Therefore I beg you would be pleased to 
 give proper orders, to bring me on forward in 
 learning as usual. 
 
 " I am, Reverend Sir, 
 
 " Your humble servant, 
 
 "22d January, 1821. CaiNNIAH." 
 
 . 
 
 This, with the exception of a few compli- 
 ments, is verbatim et literatim: it will, there- 
 fore, speak for itself, as to the proficiency and 
 spirit of the writer. 
 
 There are a few Brahminy Boys in many of 
 the Schools of the Church Missionary So- 
 ciety ; and, I believe, in those of other So- 
 cieties also. In one of the Tranquebar 
 Schools, supported by that Institution, out of 
 the fifty-two Scholars it contains, forty-five 
 are Brahmins. At a recent examination of 
 this School, one of the Brahminy Boys, seven 
 years of age, read our Church Catechism, and 
 repeated a part of it which he had committed 
 to memory. 
 
 A Missionary of the same Society, after 
 mentioning his examination of the School at 
 Madabaram, writes 
 
for the. Conversion of the Hindoos. 1 67 
 
 " In the afternoon, a Brahmin, who ap- 
 pears to be the principal man of the place, 
 and who formerly was against our establish- 
 ing a Christian School, came, and several 
 other Heathens along with him. He said, 
 ' Sir, we see that this School is profitable to 
 our children; for they have come home, and 
 have put questions to us which we could not 
 answer, and felt indeed ashamed that our 
 children became our instructors. We, there- 
 fore, request you, not only to continue this 
 School, but also to instruct us.' It was, in- 
 deed, unexpected to me, to hear this from 
 that Brahmin, who, a year before, I thought 
 would be our strongest opponent. Accord- 
 ing to his request, the way of Salvation was 
 declared, and Jesus Christ preached to him : 
 after which he ordered his servants to bring 
 some fruit, which he offered to me, according 
 to the native custom*." 
 
 By the Third Report of the Serampore 
 College, it appears, that, of the Fifty Stu- 
 dents on the Foundation, Seven tvere Brah- 
 mins ; who were studying, besides the Lan- 
 guages taught there, Geography, and the 
 Newtonian System of Astronomy. And it is 
 intended, in the present year, to give them, in 
 common with the other Students qualified to 
 
 * Missionary Register, Oct. 1823. p. 443. 
 
1 6 8 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 enter upon these branches of science, "-some 
 knowledge of the First Principles of Chemis- 
 try ; and thus to lead them gradually for- 
 ward in scientific pursuits, while they advance 
 in their Philological studies." 
 
 Numerous instances to the same effect 
 might be given, in reference to every other 
 class of Hindoos: but, since the prejudices 
 of the Brahmins are considered and acknow- 
 ledged to be the most difficult to overcome, 
 it will be sufficient to have stated these re- 
 sults upon that domineering caste, in answer 
 to the Abb6's assertion, that the barrier be- 
 tween us and them is " impassable." 
 
 The Protestant Reader I refer to the 
 blessed effect of the revival of Literature in 
 the Western World, previous to the Re- 
 formation an effect which, though these 
 Schools produce no immediate conversions, 
 warrants the anticipation of a result, at no 
 distant period, equally glorious, from this 
 wide diffusion of Religious and Scientific 
 Knowledge ! And 1 will detain him with 
 the statement of only one Case, to prove that 
 such expectations are far from being visionary, 
 or beyond the probability of being realized. 
 
 At Tinnevelly, the Head Classes of the 
 Church Missionary Society's Schools were 
 assembled every Saturday Afternoon, ac- 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 169 
 
 companied by their Masters, to read a Chap- 
 ter in the New Testament, which was always 
 given them on the Saturday preceding. They 
 were then questioned as to the meaning of 
 the Chapter, and afterwards listened to an 
 Exposition upon it. The Missionaries at that 
 Station continue this practice ; and the last 
 accounts received from them state, that one 
 of the Masters had embraced Christianity, 
 in consequence of what he heard from them 
 on those occasions! 
 
 The Abb6p)ubois asserts, that the " pro- 
 ject," (viz. " the establishment of Schools 
 to enlighten the Hindoo Females") "is 
 merely visionary /and altogether impractica- 
 ble; the most deeply-rooted prejudices of 
 the country being decidedly hostile to its 
 execution" " that even should not the pre- 
 judices of the country oppose an almost in- 
 surmountable bar to the establishment of 
 Schools for Females in India, the state of 
 poverty of the latter, and their numerous 
 
 (avocations, would not allow them to attend 
 those Schools" and, "that at least five-sixths 
 of the Hindoo Females live in such distressed 
 circumstances, that, from the age of eight or 
 ten years, to the end of their lives, they are 
 obliged to labour without intermission from 
 morning till evening ; and that, notwithstand- 
 
1 70 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 ing their incessant labours, they are hardly 
 capable of saving enough to purchase a coarse 
 cloth of the value of five or six shillings, to 
 cover themselves." (pp. 205, 206.) 
 
 Will it be believed, that the writer of these 
 sentences, not twenty pages before, endea- 
 vours to represent the Hindoo Females in the 
 most amiable light*. His object then was, 
 to confute the statements of the late Mr. 
 Ward ; which, by the way, corresponds with 
 his own character of Hindoo Women, given 
 in his " Description of the People of India." 
 I could confute, from my own experience, 
 not from " hearsay" and also from some 
 copious Extracts from Hindoo Writers which 
 I have in my possession, most of what he has 
 asserted for the purpose of raising the Hindoo 
 Females in our esteem. But it is enough for 
 
 * I shall not break a lance with the Abbe, for asserting that 
 the Hindoo Women vie with those European Ladies who " dance 
 Waltzes," and in various ways " deliver their persons into the 
 arms of another man :" (p. 188.) I cannot defend those of my 
 Countrywomen, who are so little u aware of what they owe to 
 their Husbands, and to the modesty of their sex," as " to allow 
 themselves such gross violations of decorum," against the severe, 
 though, it must be conceded, too-often-merited insinuations of 
 the Abb Dubois. If he enter into a comparison, between the 
 Hindoo Women, and those Europeans Ladies who are Christians, 
 not in name and external professions only, but upon principle 
 who love the Bible, and are attentive to their devotions and every 
 religious, moral, and relative duty (of whom there are, happily, 
 many in India !) then I will meet him. 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 171 
 
 my present purpose, that he admits the pre- 
 valence of an " austerity of manners which 
 has drawn so marked a line of separation 
 between the two sexes, and denied Women 
 in India a due share in the social intercourse, 
 and a proper attention to the improvement of 
 their intellectual faculties." It is rather an 
 aggravation, than a palliation (as M. Dubois 
 seems to think it) of this evil, that it has ex- 
 isted " from the earliest to the present times, 
 among all Oriental Nations" (p. 181): and 
 its existence in India is quite enough to rouse 
 our sympathy in behalf of the Hindoo Wo- 
 men, whom he represents as in so degraded 
 a condition. Such a " line of demarcation 
 between the sexes," and such "austerity of 
 manners" on the part of the male towards 
 the female, is contrary to all Christian prin- 
 ciple and precept : and if it be our duty to 
 attend to the moral, mental, and religious 
 improvement of the former, we are bound to 
 devote an equal share of attention to the 
 latter. The Hindoo Women are much more 
 superstitious than the men, of which I could 
 give several instances, in the opposition which 
 they have raised to the instruction of their 
 children in Mission Schools, and to the 
 reading of Religious Books in their houses, 
 when their Husbands have been anxious for 
 
172 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 both. This will be regarded as the natural 
 result of their want of mental improvement; 
 for Ignorance, it is generally admitted, is the 
 mother of Superstition : and it will excite 
 within the Christian bosom a still deeper com- 
 miseration for them, than for the men. 
 
 But the Abb6 Dubois does not know the 
 Liverpool, or indeed any British Ladies, if 
 he thinks they will cease from the attempt to 
 establish " Schools for Females in India," 
 in consequence of any " almost insurmount- 
 able bar " that may oppose the execution of 
 their plans. It may, indeed, cause them to 
 halt in their benevolent career ; but it will 
 only be to attack this formidable " almost ;' 
 nor will they desist, until it be levelled with 
 the ground. 
 
 About two years before the Abb6 Dubois 
 hazarded these assertions on the impracti- 
 cability of establishing Female Schools in 
 India, the Baptist Missionaries in Calcutta, 
 with their accustomed benevolence and ac- 
 tivity, had actually succeeded in this im- 
 portant branch of Missionary Labour. Their 
 success encouraged the British and Foreign 
 School Society, in concert with some of the 
 Members of the Calcutta School Society, 
 then in England, to solicit from the Public, 
 " funds for the sending out a suitable Fe- 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 173 
 
 male Teacher from England, who might de- 
 vote herself exclusively to the education of 
 Native Females in India." Such a Lady 
 (Miss Cooke) was procured ; and she sailed 
 to India, " recommended, in the first in- 
 stance, by the British and Foreign School 
 Society, to the Calcutta School Society ; but 
 was subsequently transferred to the Church 
 Missionary Society*." 
 
 On the arrival of Miss Cooke in India, 
 and the object of her mission being made 
 known, many, both Europeans and Natives, 
 thought, with the Abb6 Dubois, that it was 
 the most visionary scheme ever formed, and 
 certain to end in disappointment. Her own 
 Pundit, " a high Brahmin," Miss C. writes, 
 "with a most profound contempt for the 
 Bengalee Females," " used daily to assure her, 
 that she would never succeed : their women 
 were all B EASTS quite stupid never could or 
 would learn ; nor would the Brahmins ever 
 allow THEIR females to be taught/' &c. &c. 
 To all this she answered ; " Very well we 
 shall see." She persevered, however, against 
 every discouragement ; and in a short time she 
 had the satisfaction of witnessing the decline 
 of the native prejudices, and an increasing 
 
 * Missionary Register, November J82Q, p. 481. 
 
174 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 desire, on the part of the Parents, to send 
 their Children to School, and on the part of 
 the Scholars to be instructed. This intelli- 
 gence is fully detailed in the Missionary Re- 
 gister for 1823*. Suffice it to say here, that 
 before the expiration of twelve months from 
 the commencement of operations, there were 
 nearly 400 Female Scholars in the Fifteen 
 Schools which Miss Cooke had established. 
 The subject of Female Education is becom- 
 ing more popular than it was among the Na- 
 tives, and no doubt the number of Schools 
 is now greatly augmented. By the last ar- 
 rivals, the account stands as follows : 
 
 Scholars. 
 
 Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 100 
 London Missionary Society ...... 80 
 
 Church Missionary Society 439 
 
 In Calcutta by the Female Juvenile Society, 
 
 Baptist Missionaries, and others . . . 370 
 At and around Serampore, say 200 
 
 Total .... 1189 
 In stating the number of Native Female 
 Children now under instruction in India, I 
 labour under the same disadvantage of im- 
 perfect information which I lamented in re- 
 porting the state of the Schools for Boys. 
 By confining myself, however, as nearly as 
 
 * April, p. 194, 195 ; and August, p. 355 S60. 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 1 75 
 
 possible, to the accounts received, I obviate 
 the charge of exaggeration ; and in these 
 nearly 1200 Native Girls, now collected in 
 Protestant Mission Schools, we are furnished 
 with a triumphant reply to the Abb6's ima- 
 ginary objections ! He will hardly credit, 
 that it was proposed, and acceded to, by some 
 of the most respectable Natives in Bengal, 
 to admit European and other Female Teach- 
 ers into their Families, to instruct their 
 Wives and Daughters. In short, the Abbe* 
 Dubois ought to have known, that, in Chris- 
 tian Benevolence, as well as in Philosophy, 
 the age of conjecture is gone by, and that we 
 are now living in an age of experiment : and 
 such results of Charitable and Christian Ex- 
 periment as have here been adduced, when 
 weighed against his volume of conjectures, 
 or rather unproved assertions, are perfectly 
 satisfactory to all candid minds. 
 
 He concludes his remarks upon this sub- 
 ject, by recommending the " Liverpool La- 
 dies" to attend rather to the temporal wants 
 of their poor neighbours ; and if, after, they 
 have any surplus, and are " disposed to give 
 a more extensive range to their charity and 
 benevolence," to send it to India, to feed 
 and clothe the poor of that distant land : 
 (p. 207.) Since he is now in Europe, I 
 
176 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 recommend him to pay " the Ladies of Liver- 
 pool" a visit, (as I have done since my re- 
 turn to England) ; and he will find, perhaps 
 to his satisfaction, and, I hope, to his admi- 
 ration also, that they have liberally antici- 
 pated his admonition. There is, I believe, 
 no town, even in England, where Charitable 
 Institutions more abound, or in which the 
 wants of the indigent are more industriously 
 explored, or more bountifully supplied. To 
 what shall we attribute their strict attention 
 to this " Christian duty," but to that princi- 
 ple of love^which constrains them to promote, 
 with so much zeal, the eternal welfare of 
 mankind. This is the root, the tree, from 
 which acts of genuine charity grow. And 
 even were it proved that the Liverpool La- 
 dies expended more upon the spiritual, than 
 the temporal necessities of the indigent, we 
 could find for them a satisfactory defence 
 against such charges as those of M.Dubois, in 
 the consideration of the superior worth of 
 the soul, to the body and all its concerns. 
 But never was it known, that the temporal 
 wants of the poor were neglected by per- 
 sons, who, from a correct view of the nature 
 and condition of the soul, and of the Remedy 
 provided for its recovery from the Fall, gave 
 attention to its interests, as of paramount im- 
 portance. 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 177 
 
 The Abb6 might have spared his insinua- 
 tions of the same description, at pp. 1 50, 151; 
 for it would have cost him very little trouble 
 to ascertain that the Protestants in India 
 pay great attention to the necessities of the 
 Poor. He has, probably, heard of the 
 " Friend-in-Need Society," and " Native 
 Hospital/' at Madras, and of similar Chari- 
 table Institutions at Calcutta. I know not 
 a Mission Station in South India where the 
 poor are not relieved, and provided with 
 rice, " cumbelees," and cloths. 
 
 But to return from this digression. The 
 principal means upon which Protestant Mis- 
 sionaries in India calculate for producing an 
 immediate effect upon the Native Mind, is, 
 the preaching of the Gospel. It is not much 
 that they can do in this most important de- 
 partment of Missionary Labour ; the climate, 
 the languages, the habits of the people, being 
 all against them. Though there are some, 
 whose strength of constitution, correct pro- 
 nunciation, and intimate acquaintance with 
 the Native Tongues, enable them to preach 
 almost as constantly and intelligibly as they 
 could do in Europe, yet this is not often the 
 case : consequently, they feel the necessity 
 of qualifying pious and intelligent Native 
 Christians for the Ministerial Office. For 
 
 N 
 
178 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 this purpose, the Colleges and Seminaries, 
 already enumerated, were established at dif- 
 ferent Mission Stations ; and the success 
 that has hitherto attended the preaching of 
 this class of persons, justifies the anticipa- 
 tion of the happiest and most extensive re- 
 sults, when a competent number shall be 
 sent forth to preach to their own country- 
 men " the wonderful works of God." 
 
 In reference to this important class of Na- 
 tive Labourers, and to the good effect that 
 may be expected from their exertions, the 
 Committee of the Church Missionary So- 
 ciety say, in their Twenty-third Report 
 
 " At their head stand Two Ordained Mis- 
 sionaries the Rev. Abdool Messeeh, and 
 the Rev. William Bowley, whose steady and 
 useful course may serve to assure the Society 
 that the Natives of India are become com- 
 petent, under the Divine Blessing, to form 
 Christian Churches from among their coun- 
 trymen, and to instruct and edify those 
 Churches." 
 
 In confirmation of this remark, the Reader 
 need only refer to the various Letters and 
 Journals of these two persons, published in 
 the Missionary Register (passim), and in the 
 Reports of the Society to which they belong. 
 From the same sources he may derive infor- 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 179 
 
 mation as to the qualifications and piety of 
 John Devasagayam, Native Superintend ant 
 of the Schools of the same Society at Tran- 
 quebar. He may refer also to the Abstract 
 of East-India Missions, published in 1814, 
 by the Christian Knowledge Society, for an 
 account of the zeal and talent of the First 
 Four Native Priests ordained at Tanjore, 
 but particularly of Sattianaden. In the va- 
 rious Reports of the Baptist Missionary So- 
 ciety, accounts to the same effect, equally 
 satisfactory, may be seen. The Letter ad- 
 dressed, about a twelvemonth ago, by a Na- 
 tive Youth and other Members of the Seram- 
 pore Congregation, to their Countrymen, 
 evinces a talent and spirit of a superior or- 
 der ; and is calculated to convince the most 
 sceptical, that much, very much benefit to 
 the Cause of Christianity in the East may 
 be anticipated, from the attentive and reli- 
 gious cultivation of the Native Mind*. 
 
 It would detain the Reader too long to 
 make all the citations from these references 
 which my inclination would prompt me to 
 transcribe. I shall, therefore, content my- 
 self with giving one more example of piety, 
 zeal, and talent, in a Native Christian. He 
 
 * This " Address " was reviewed in the Friend of India,, and 
 has since appeared in the Asiatic Journal for Sept. 1823. 
 
 N 2 
 
1 80 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 was a pupil of the late Swartz ; his name, 
 Veesoovasanaden ; he was ordained by the 
 Christian Knowledge Society's Missionaries, 
 at Tanjore ; had the charge of the Congre- 
 gations of that Society in the Tinnevelly Dis- 
 trict ; and laboured for some years under 
 my own immediate inspection. He was ge- 
 nerally my companion, on my visits to those 
 Congregations. His piety, ability, and Chris- 
 tian meekness, commanded the love of the 
 Native Converts, and the respect of the 
 Heathen and Mahomedans. I have con- 
 versed with him on various subjects ; and 
 heard him preach and pray, in a manner 
 that shewed how remark ably the Divine Bless- 
 ing had followed the instructions which he 
 had received. 
 
 In proof of his zeal, I will state the num- 
 ber of Converts made from Idolatry, chiefly 
 through his instrumentality, during the four 
 years that he was with me : 
 
 In 1817 25 
 
 1818 52 
 
 1819 34 
 
 1820 . . . . . 122 
 
 233 
 
 This statement is sufficient to warrant the 
 most sanguine expectations from the labours 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 1 8 1 
 
 of such Preachers, when their numbers shall 
 be increased. 
 
 In proof of the ability of this man, I will 
 here transcribe the conclusion* of a Religious 
 Tract, which he wrote for his Countrymen, 
 when the Cholera Morbus prevailed in our 
 district. 
 
 " If you are desirous of renouncing sin, 
 becoming the Children of God, and walking 
 in the path of holiness, Jesus Christ will 
 give you whatever strength you require for 
 that purpose. He will remove all afflictive 
 trials from his Children, who turn from evil, 
 and do that which is right ; and will preserve 
 and bless them. Therefore, forsaking all 
 False Gods, Devils, and Idols, which are un- 
 able to save you, love Jesus Christ, who hath 
 saved you hitherto from suffering. And if 
 you trust in Him, and assent to His Holy 
 Word, in order to obtain the pardon of your 
 sins, and the Divine Blessing, you will read 
 and meditate therein every day, as the food 
 of wisdom for your souls. Then will you 
 be righteous, die happily, and be saved. 
 
 46 The Lord has sent this dreadful afflic- 
 tion into the world, that you may forsake 
 your sins and repent, in the present season of 
 mercy. If you repent, this awful disease 
 
 The wholft would be too long for insertion. 
 
1 82 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 will prove a blessing to you : if not, it will be 
 the sword of Heaven, to destroy you. Every 
 one of you, therefore, that has witnessed this 
 great calamity, if, through fear of the Lord's 
 anger, you repent and amend your ways, 
 you will obtain innumerable blessings you 
 will live happily in the enjoyment of the 
 Lord's mercy, both on earth and in heaven. 
 
 " Should there be any among you that 
 have read or heard this Religious Book, 
 whose soul is distressed in whom there is a 
 commencement of true wisdom, and who 
 wish to learn and understand accurately the 
 doctrine of Salvation you need not go away 
 in despair, saying, * What shall we do? Who 
 will shew us the way to heaven?' For if 
 you go to the Minister (who lives &c.), he 
 will receive you with pleasure ; will instruct 
 you in the doctrine of Jesus Christ, which is 
 the true and even path that leads to salva- 
 tion ; and will give you such books of wisdom 
 as you require for that purpose. Strength- 
 ened by the excellent knowledge that will 
 hence dawn on your minds, you will grow 
 and increase more and more in understand- 
 ing, wisdom, godliness, and faith ; the show- 
 ers of Divine Mercy shall fall, on you, your 
 wives, and children ; and at last, God having 
 called you to his Kingdom through the pas- 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 183 
 
 sage of a happy death, he will encircle your 
 heads with the Crown of Salvation. Most 
 earnestly and repeatedly do I entreat you, 
 in the Name of the Lord, to become meet for 
 this most glorious happiness ! Oh may your 
 souls live for ever in felicity with the Lord ! 
 
 " Nazareth, in the Tinnevelly Mission, 
 " Sept. 21,1819." 
 
 I will only add to this, that the writer was 
 unacquainted with any European Language 
 or Science. We see, then, in him, to what an 
 intelligent Native may be brought, even with- 
 out all those advantages which the present 
 Missionary Colleges and Seminaries in India 
 furnish. 
 
 But while I thus explain the means which 
 Protestant Missionaries employ for the Con- 
 version of the Natives of Hindoostan ; and 
 maintain, in opposition to the Abb6 Dubois' 
 assertion to the contrary, that they are more 
 likely to accomplish that end than any 
 which the Jesuits have used ; I nevertheless 
 beg to state, that, without God's blessing, 
 they do not depend upon any means for suc- 
 cess. Fully do I concur in opinion with 
 him, as he restates his position, " that, under 
 existing circumstances, there is no human 
 possibility of converting the Hindoos :" (p. 2.) 
 I know the difficulties ; have grappled with 
 
1 84 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 them as well as he ; and again and again 
 have been compelled to stand still. But, 
 praised be God! this has not always been 
 the case ; and one instance of success has 
 appeared to me an ample remuneration for 
 the labour expended upon twenty failures. 
 In reference to this mighty undertaking, I 
 know not the Missionary who will not say, 
 in the words of his Gracious Master, " With 
 men this is impossible ; but with God all 
 things are possible :" (Matt. xix. 26.) Tell 
 me not, This is not reason. It is perfectly 
 reasonable to believe that Omnipotence can 
 effect the work! It is not carnal, but it 
 is spiritual reason. It is the reasoning of 
 faith, which God approves, and which He 
 will honour; because He is honoured by 
 faith in His Word and Power, and by the 
 success which is thus ascribed solely to Him! 
 Trusting then in Him who hath said, that 
 the " Word that goeth forth out of His mouth 
 shall not return unto Him void, but that it 
 shall accomplish that which He pleases, and 
 prosper in the thing whereto He sends it," 
 (Isaiah, Iv. 1 1.) the Missionary is animated to 
 the contest with the Ignorance and Idolatry 
 of the East. While he feels it to be his duty 
 to publish that Word abroad, and instru- 
 mentally prepare the Native Mind for its 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 185 
 
 reception, he looks implicitly to the Author 
 of that Word to give it effect. Were the 
 heart of the Hindoo harder, and his preju- 
 dices more inveterate than they really are, 
 Jehovah hath declared, " Is not My Word 
 like as a fire ; and like a hammer that break- 
 eth the rock in pieces ?" or, were his mind 
 more opaque than it confessedly is, yet the 
 entrance of that Word giveth light : and He 
 who commanded the light to shine out of 
 darkness, can shine into every heart, " to give 
 the light of the knowledge of the Glory of 
 God in the face of Jesus Christ." In this 
 confidence, every Missionary, who knows 
 and performs his duty, will continue to plant 
 and water ; leaving it with the Almighty, in 
 His own time, to give the increase. 
 
 St. Paul affirms, that we are saved by Grace, 
 through faith: (Eph.ii. 8.) And the Abb6 
 Dubois admits, that " Faith, and other super- 
 natural virtues, are merely a gratuitous gift 
 from God, which He bestows on whom He 
 pleases, when He pleases, and on what con- 
 ditions He pleases :" (p. ) 10.) But it never 
 seems to enter into his own contemplation, 
 or that of his Brethren, that God may bestow 
 these graces on the poor Hindoo ! He says, 
 again, that " after the coming of Christ, the 
 True Religion was promulgated all over the 
 
1 86 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 world ; and had such extraordinary successes, 
 amidst every kind of discouragement and 
 contradiction, that it is quite impossible to 
 account for it, but by the supernatural and 
 invisible interference and assistance of the 
 Divine Agent, who alone was able to over- 
 come the otherwise insuperable obstacles that 
 opposed its progress, and to extend its empire 
 over so large a proportion of mankind :" 
 (pp. 106, 1O7.) And is not the same Divine 
 Agency capable of overcoming " the obsta- 
 cles " that in India also oppose themselves to 
 the progress of the truth, how " insuperable" 
 soever they may appear to human calcula- 
 tion? Surely it is! The Abb6 Dubois him- 
 self will not reply in the negative. Indeed, 
 that agency must be exerted in the conver- 
 sion of every individual soul to God, what- 
 ever be his nation, superstitions, or sins. It 
 is Divine Grace alone that can silence " those 
 passions and prejudices which impede the 
 march of Truth" (p. 92) ; enable the mind to 
 comprehend, or dispose the heart to love it ; 
 and thus bring the whole man into a state of 
 willing subjection to the Prince of Peace. 
 And I contend, that the truth, when applied 
 by the Spirit of God, will convert the Hindoo, 
 who is the subject of that operation, as 
 readily as the professor of any other Creed. 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 187 
 
 This is enough for the Christian Missionary. 
 He has the promise of his Lord, that with 
 this faith he shall accomplish things other- 
 wise impracticable: (Matt. xvii. 20.) He, 
 therefore, who labours for the Conversion of 
 the Hindoos, with this confidence in God to 
 prosper his endeavours, cannot be, as M. 
 Dubois more than insinuates, a " deluded 
 victim:" (p. 12O.) He feels his duties to be 
 " trying" and "arduous" (p. 80) ; but, instead 
 of deserting his post in despair, he will adopt 
 the noble sentiments which appear at one 
 time to have supported the Abbe's own mind. 
 " In such discouraging circumstances, with- 
 out any apparent human means to improve 
 the Cause of Christianity in this country, 
 there only remains to the persons of our pro- 
 fession to look up with calmness and .resig- 
 nation to Him who holds in His hands the 
 hearts of men, changes them when he 
 pleases, and is able, even of stones, to raise 
 up Children to Abraham, when the time 
 appointed by Him for the purpose arrives. 
 In these deplorable times, in which Scep- 
 ticism and Immorality threaten to overwhelm 
 every nation and every condition, it only 
 remains to us to weep, between the porch and 
 the altar, over the iniquities of the people ; 
 to water the sanctuary with our tears ; to 
 
1 88 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 bewail, like Jeremiah, the general corrup- 
 tion ; to edify the people by our lessons and 
 examples ; to look to the Father of Mercies 
 to pray to Him to bring about better times, 
 to spare His people, and not give His heritage 
 to reproach : and, if our interposition cannot 
 stem the torrent, and our altars are finally to 
 be overthrown by the sacrilegious hands of 
 Modern Philosophy, let us have, as our last 
 resource, resolution and fortitude enough to 
 stand by them to the last, and allow our- 
 selves to be crushed down, and buried under 
 their ruins :" (pp. 84, 85.) 
 
 This is worthy of the Missionary Cause ! 
 And though the Spirit that dictated these 
 resolutions seems to have forsaken the 
 bosom of the man who penned them, I pray 
 that it may rest upon the heart of every one 
 that now labours to propagate the Gospel 
 through distant lands. Then, though many 
 fall " victims" to the Cause, it will not be under 
 a " delusion" ; for they will both toil and suffer 
 cheerfully, for His sake, who sacrificed Him- 
 self as an Expiatory Victim for the recovery 
 of an Apostate World; and under every 
 suffering, every privation, every discourage- 
 ment, they will be animated by the Saviour's 
 promise " Every one that hath forsaken 
 bouses, or brethren, or sisters, or father^ or 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 1 89 
 
 mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for 
 My Name's sake, shall receive an hundred- 
 fold, and shall inherit everlasting life:" (Matt. 
 xix. 29.) The infidel calls this delusion : 
 but I am arguing with a professed Minister 
 of Christianity ; and I challenge him to 
 prove, how it is possible to make too great 
 a sacrifice for our Lord Jesus Christ ; and 
 how the man who even lays down his life 
 for the Redeemer's sake, can, upon Christian 
 principles, be called a " deluded victim !" 
 
 While, however, the power and promise 
 of God, and the design of the Gospel Cove- 
 nant, justify the assertion that the Hindoos 
 may, and ultimately will, be converted to 
 the Christian Faith, my conclusion is forti- 
 fied by the actual commencement of the 
 work of Divine Grace in Hindoostan. 
 
 I will not dwell upon the Native Congrega- 
 tions amounting to about One Hundred and 
 Sixty! assembled by the Baptist, theChurch, 
 the Methodist, the London, the Scottish, 
 and the American, Missionary Societies, in 
 different parts of India, since they do not 
 consist entirely of Christians. I will, how- 
 ever, state, that those Societies can enume- 
 rate nearly Three Thousand Converts *, who 
 have renounced all their superstitions, have 
 
 * These are exclusive of the Converts in South Travancore, of 
 whom the Abb^ speaks so contemptuously. 
 
190 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 embraced the Christian Faith upon principle, 
 are living according to the Saviour's com- 
 mands, and thus adorning their profession 
 in the midst of Idolatry and iniquity. The 
 strictest attention is paid to their moral con- 
 duct : and when it is not in conformity with 
 their profession, they are suspended, and de- 
 nied the privilege of Communion, until the 
 Missionary is satisfied as to the sincerity of 
 their repentance. Many have died in the 
 Faith, and given every proof that Divine Grace 
 had regenerated their hearts. 
 
 Here I might close my argument with tri- 
 umph ! When it is proved that such a num- 
 ber of Hindoos are turned from darkness to 
 light, and from the power of Satan to God, 
 every Christian will be satisfied that the work 
 of Grace is begun in India ; and will feel " con- 
 fident, that He who hath begun the good 
 work," can and " will carry it on" until it be 
 complete. If this fail to convince the Abb 
 Dubois, and to remove his " scepticism" on 
 the subject, it will only furnish an additional 
 proof of the utter inutility of holding any 
 argument with prejudice. 
 
 But I have not done. There is a body of 
 Christians in South India to which I have 
 not referred. They are the fruits of the la- 
 bours of the Danish Missionaries at Tran- 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 191 
 
 quebar, and the German Missionaries of the 
 Christian Knowledge Society, and have been 
 converted at different periods during the last 
 Century. They occupy eight principal Sta- 
 tions Vepery, Tanjore, Tranquebar, Trichi- 
 nopoly,Tinnevelly, Cuddalore, Madura, and 
 Ramnad. They are to be found also, in 
 small numbers, scattered through many of 
 the villages of South India. M. Dubois 
 has some acquaintance with these people ; 
 and will, perhaps, know, that when I state 
 them at twenty thousand, I estimate them 
 far below their actual number. 
 
 But he entertains a low opinion of their 
 character : (p. 1 7 2O.) I have visited all these 
 Stations, except Cuddalore ; and from what I 
 have observed, and the accounts I have re- 
 ceived from the Missionaries, I know them 
 to be much superior, in a moral point of 
 view, to the description which the Abb gives 
 of his own people. 
 
 Of a considerable number of these Native 
 Christians I can speak more particularly, 
 having lived amongst them for some time, and 
 had the management of their spiritual affairs 
 (under the direction of the Madras District 
 Committee of the Christian Knowledge So- 
 ciety), and not unfrequently the adjustment 
 of their temporal difficulties. 
 
192 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 The Abb6 describes these people in the 
 following terms : " There are, besides, a few 
 Protestant Christians dispersed chiefly in the 
 Tinnevelly District ; but in such small num- 
 bers, that they do not deserve the name of 
 Congregations:" (p. 19.) 
 
 I cannot reply to this better, than by giv- 
 ing a brief description of these people. Their 
 number is about four thousand, and they are 
 scattered through sixty- three villages. Some 
 of the Congregations are too small "to de- 
 serve the name :" but there are several 
 amounting to near and upwards of one hun- 
 dred, one of three hundred, and another of 
 four hundred souls ! The last two Congre- 
 gations form two distinct Villages : in each is 
 a Church, a Boys' and a Girls' School, a Na- 
 tive Priest, Catechist, and two Schoolmasters. 
 There is not an Idolater or Papist among 
 them ; nor is a Popish Image, a Heathen Idol, 
 or an Altar, to be seen in any corner of their 
 streets. I have addressed them several times, 
 when the Churches were always crowded. 
 The transition from the noise and idolatrous 
 symbols of Pagan Towns, to these peaceful 
 abodes, was more refreshing to my spirit 
 than any thing I ever remember to have en- 
 joyed out of my native land. 
 
 Such are the fruits of the Missionary 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 193 
 
 Jaenicke's labours, assisted and succeeded by 
 the Country-priest Sattianaden, and other 
 servants of the Christian Kno wledge Society ! 
 The Reader will now judge of the accuracy 
 or candour of the Abb6's description of these 
 interesting people. 
 
 He will probably ask, * Are they not of 
 low castes ?' Some of them are persons of 
 respectability, but the majority areShanaars 
 (cultivators of the palmyra and cocoa-nut 
 trees). But does their humble origin and 
 occupation affect their Christian character? 
 This objection has always been raised against 
 the lowly disciples of Jesus, by those who 
 glory more in secular distinctions, than in 
 the name and service of God. " The com- 
 mon people" have alw r ays heard the Gospel 
 "gladly:" in every age it has met with a 
 more ready reception from them, than from 
 the mighty, the noble, the learned, and the 
 rich : and the soul of a Shanaar, or even a 
 Pariah, is as precious, in the Redeemer's 
 sight, as that of a Namboory or Poorohita 
 Brahmin. 
 
 But he advances a more serious objection 
 against them : their moral character, he as- 
 serts, is worse than that of the Roman-Ca- 
 tholic Christians : this, therefore, demands a 
 more particular reply. 
 
 o 
 
1 94 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 I admit the Tinnevelly Christians will dis- 
 appoint the man who expects to find them 
 an intelligent and highly spiritually- minded 
 people. But when theft situation is known, 
 such expectations would be most unreason- 
 able. When I first arrived amongst them in 
 18 16, they had been ten years without a Mis- 
 sionary ; nearly that time with only one 
 Country-priest; their Schools had gone to 
 decay ; and they were almost destitute of the 
 Scriptures and Elementary Books. What 
 reason, then, have we to be surprised, if their 
 knowledge and religion were at a low ebb? 
 Yet I will affirm, that, in both respects, they 
 were equal to what any town or village in 
 Christendom would be, if left for the same 
 length of time under similar circumstances. 
 
 During the ten years that they were left to 
 themselves, their Heathen neighbours perse- 
 cuted them in an arbitrary and vexatious 
 manner: but they bore the trial with patience, 
 without one, as far as I could ever learn, 
 apostatizing, to avoid personal suffering. Let 
 this be contrasted with the apostacy of 6o,OOO 
 Roman-Catholics, upon the command of 
 Tippoo Sultan to have them circumcised 
 and " made converts to Mahomedanism !" 
 (pp. 74, 75.) 
 
 During the prevalence of the Cholera 
 Morbus in Tinnevelly, many of the Roman 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. \ 95 
 
 Catholics united with the Heathen in the De- 
 vil's-dance, and other Idolatrous Ceremonies, 
 to avert that awful calamity. Not an in- 
 stance of the kind occurred among the Native 
 Protestants of the same district ! 
 
 The Abb6 Dubois sufficiently accounts for 
 the unsteady character of his own people. 
 He admits that they are " ordinarily" from 
 " among out-casts, or are quite helpless per- 
 sons, left without resources ur connections 
 in Society;" that " they, generally speaking, 
 ask for baptism from interested motives:" 
 (pp. 73, J34.) No wonder, then, that they 
 continue in their Christian profession no 
 longer than they find it conducive to their 
 interest or convenience ! 
 
 He speaks of the Protestants as consisting 
 " half of Catholic Apostates, who went 
 over to the Lutheran Sect in times of 
 famine, or from other interested motives:" 
 and says, that he once became acquaint- 
 ed with some " who regularly changed 
 their religion twice a-year, and who, for a 
 long while, were in the habit of being six 
 months Catholic, and six months Protes- 
 tant." (p. 20.) 
 
 During the four years that I was in Tinne- 
 velly, the Converts from Popery formed 
 about one- sixth of the number of persons 
 o 2 
 
196 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 received into Communion with us. I know 
 not to what period the Abb6 refers, when he 
 charges the Members of his own Commu- 
 nion with going over to the Protestants from 
 interested motives, and that once a-year; 
 but I am certain that, for some years past, no 
 Protestant Missionary would have acknow- 
 ledged them as Christians. In South India 
 we might have had whole Congregations of 
 Catholics, had we paid no regard to their 
 character, or to their object in embracing the 
 Protestant Faith. None were received, un- 
 til they had given proof of their sincerity, and 
 until their character and motive had been 
 carefully investigated. Contrary to the Ro- 
 man-Catholic policy, they are required, as a 
 sine qua non, to renounce every semblance of 
 Idolatry. As far as my experience extends, 
 they can serve no secular purpose whatever 
 in becoming Protestants; nor is any such 
 inducement held out to them. Had the 
 Abb6 resided amongst them, he would have 
 found something more than "a vain phantom, 
 an empty shade of Christianity;" which, he 
 confesses, is all that his own people exhibit: 
 (p. 63.) He, no doubt, finds it convenient to 
 stigmatize them as " Catholic Apostates:" 
 but, upon the same principle, he would apply 
 this opprobrious appellation to our own 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. \ 97 
 
 ancestors, and to the German Reformers in 
 the days of Martin Luther; for they also 
 were Separatists from the Romish Church. 
 
 Of the Roman-Catholics he says, that 
 " the practical virtues of Christianity are 
 almost unknown to them:" (p. 65.) Their 
 drunkenness and other vices are proverbial ; 
 and they are allowed by their Priests to live 
 in this state of iniquity, without interruption, 
 provided they make u confession" now and 
 then, and pay for " absolution." 1 never knew 
 a Native Protestant addicted to intoxication. 
 Any one detected in the commission of sin 
 that brought reproach upon the Christian 
 Profession, was severely reprimanded, and 
 suspended from Communion, until he gave 
 evident signs of repentance. 
 
 M. Dubois complains that his people can- 
 not understand what is preached to them : 
 (p. 67, &c.) Among the Protestants he 
 would have found many intelligent men and 
 boys, and now and then a woman, who could 
 answer him any questions put to them upon 
 a subject on which he might have been dis- 
 coursing. Some will carry home with them 
 the whole Sermon. I know those, among our 
 own people, who have numerous Sermons col- 
 lected in this way, and written by them upon 
 cadjans. Several of our Catechists were 
 
1 98 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 accustomed to preach these Sermons over 
 again. 
 
 Though (at p. 83) he says, that there are 
 some " irreproachable men among the Na- 
 tive Christians, into whose hands he would not 
 hesitate to entrust his own interests," yet 
 (at p. 164), in writing to a different correspon- 
 dent, he endeavours to dissuade him from 
 trusting, " in any capacity whatever, a Na- 
 tive who has renounced, or who slights the 
 usages of his caste or the prejudices of the 
 country. I shall, above all," he says, a ne- 
 ver advise you to make such a man your 
 butler, or your treasurer. In the former 
 case, you would soon find that your liquors 
 were fast wasting ; and, in the latter, you 
 would, ere long, find a large deficit in your 
 chest. For you may, at the first outset, and 
 without further inquiries, judge that a per- 
 son of this description is a quite lost charac- 
 ter, and that his first steps to improvement, 
 after having renounced the usages and 
 prejudices of his caste, will be to turn a 
 drunkard and a rogue." Since these cau- 
 tions are given without any qualification 
 whatever, they are, of course, calculated, 
 and perhaps intended, to bring all Christians, 
 how sincere soever they may be in embracing 
 Christianity, under this odious imputation 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 1 99 
 
 and suspicion. They will apply, therefore, 
 to his own Converts, who, he says, are 
 " irreproachable," and to whom " he would 
 not hesitate to entrus this own interests" 
 unless, indeed, he defend himself here against 
 the charge of inconsistency, by allowing that 
 they never " renounced the usages and pre- 
 judices of their caste." In that case they 
 were not Christians. But, then, he may be 
 asked again, what he means by so frequently 
 lamenting that the majority of his Converts 
 are of this base character ? And if he thought 
 such Christians worthy of Jiis confidence, 
 why does he endeavour to depreciate their 
 character in the estimation of others ? or 
 why abandon his Mission in despair, upon 
 the plea, that it is in vain to attempt making 
 real Christians in India, when they may at 
 least become "irreproachable," and worthy 
 of being entrusted with their masters' in- 
 terests ? Or what does he mean by lament- 
 ing (p. 120), that " a Native Christian," 
 " who happens to fall in the way of an Euro- 
 pean," should, " (after having been surveyed 
 with a stern and scornful countenance,) be 
 welcomed by him with this insulting reproach, 
 * Why hast thou forsaken the religion of thy 
 forefathers, to embrace a foreign worship ?' ' 
 and, that " the name of a Native Chris- 
 
200 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 tian and a Rogue shall sound as synonymous 
 in the ear of a prejudiced European" What, 
 I ask, does he mean by deploring this, when 
 he can himself use such strong, such unmea- 
 sured terms, to bring the most sincere and 
 devout Native Christian, as well as the most 
 abandoned outcast, under this very suspicion 
 and contempt? 
 
 I leave him to extricate himself from these 
 dilemmas as he may, while I proceed to 
 affirm, that his charge is not applicable to 
 the Native Protestants. I have proved the 
 integrity of some : others I know, who have 
 held places of trust under Europeans, and 
 fulfilled their duties to the satisfaction of 
 their employers : and nothing can be more 
 satisfactory than the testimony borne by the 
 Serampore Missionaries to the character of 
 several in their service*. 
 
 I can give an instance of a Heathen, also, 
 who knew how to appreciate their character. 
 When I was atTanjore, in 1B21, the Rajah f 
 of that Fort was gone on a Pilgrimage to 
 Benares, attended by a retinue of Brahmins 
 and others. Whom did he select for his purse- 
 
 * Vindicise Seramporianae, pp. 49, 50. See also pp. 24, 25. 
 
 t This is the Heathen Prince who some years ago gave an en- 
 dowment of land, producing an annual revenue of 500 pagodas, 
 towards the support of the Protestant Mission in his dominions. 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 201 
 
 bearer on the journey? I was informed, by a 
 Gentleman there, that a Native Protestant was 
 appointed by him to this responsible office ! 
 But, supposing the Protestants, as a body, 
 deserved one-half of the reproach which 
 M. Dubois so unsparingly heaps upon them, 
 they would at least prove this point, in op- 
 position to his assertions, that the Hindoos 
 maybe weaned from their idolatrous practices. 
 Though he will not allow that the 23,OOO 
 Protestants in India have attained to Chris- 
 tian perfection, yet, since not one of them is 
 allowed to retain any Pagan Superstitions, he 
 can no longer maintain his position, that their 
 prejudices &c. are " insurmountable." 
 
 If he object to this conclusion, that they 
 are persons from the lowest castes, and that 
 therefore they had less to relinquish than 
 those in the higher ranks of society, I reply, 
 that many of them are from the most respect- 
 able castes. I myself am acquainted with 
 several Moodalyars and Pillays, and I know 
 of some Brahmins. These, though they form 
 the minority of Native Christians, are more 
 than enough to support my argument, in fa- 
 vour of the possibility of converting the 
 Hindoos. But even were the assertion, that 
 all the Native Protestants are from the lowest 
 castes, correct, it would not form an objec- 
 
202 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 tion against my position ; for the Abb6 him- 
 self admits, that " the low-born Pariah" is 
 tenacious of " the childish distinction of the 
 Right and Left Hand," lays " much stress" 
 upon it, and considers it " the most honou- 
 rable distinction of .his tribe ;" and says, that 
 if you try to persuade him to lay aside that 
 distinction, as " wholly incompatible with the 
 first duties imposed upon him by the Chris- 
 tian Religion," " your lectures, your instruc- 
 tions, your expostulations, on such subjects, 
 will be of 110 avail ; and your Christians will 
 continue the slaves of their Anti- Christian 
 prejudices and customs :"(PP- 4, 65.) This, 
 we are to conclude, is the experience of him- 
 self and other Jesuit Missionaries : and any 
 one who has read with candour the descrip- 
 tion, given in these pages, of the means which 
 they have employed to convert the Hindoos, 
 or to establish them in the faith when con- 
 verted, will not be surprised at their failure. 
 But Protestant Missionaries have met with 
 better success. 1 could have shewn the 
 Abbe", when in India, some devout Pariah 
 Christians, who have entirely renounced u the 
 childish distinction of Right and Left Hand," 
 and are leading exemplary lives. Indeed, I 
 know not the Pariah Protestant that has not 
 renounced that distinction : and though all 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 203 
 
 the 23,000 Native Protestants in India were 
 of that low caste (they form, however, the 
 minority of the 4000 in Tinnevelly!) they 
 would still furnish ample grounds for my con- 
 clusion, that the Protestants have found it 
 possible to convert the Hindoos to the faith of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Still, however, my argument requires not 
 so great a number of Converts for its support. 
 I have no occasion t endeavour to prove, 
 that they are all real Christians, and the sub- 
 jects of Divine Grace. There is no Congre- 
 gation, and perhaps there never has been, 
 of which this can be said : the tares and the 
 wheat have always grown together. My 
 object is to shew, that the work of Grace is 
 begun in India : and this I have done already, 
 in the characters given of several Native 
 Teachers employed in various parts of that 
 country. I will affirm of several, with whom 
 I am intimately acquainted, that, as far as 
 one human being can judge of the heart of 
 another, (and " by their fruits ye shall know 
 them,") I have met with " sincere and undis- 
 guised Christians" I will detain the Reader 
 with only two or three proofs of this, in addi- 
 tion to what has been already stated. 
 
 In 182], when travelling from Tanjore to 
 Tranquebar, I was stopped, about midnight, 
 
204 Succets of Means used by Protestants 
 
 at Combaconum, and conducted to a build- 
 ing where refreshments were prepared for me. 
 I soon found that the person who was paying 
 me such attention was a Native Protestant, 
 named Pakeyanaden, the English Interpreter 
 of the Court at that Station a man of re- 
 spectable abilities, and who, but for his Chris- 
 tian prof ession, would, I have no doubt, rise 
 to the highest post a Native can fill. 
 
 After I had finished my repast, he con- 
 ducted me to his house, where his family 
 were waiting to receive me. After some con- 
 versation, and being joined by several other 
 persons, we united together in singing a Hymn, 
 reading the Scriptures, and Prayer, in the 
 Tamul Language. This was the first time I 
 had joined in the devotions of a Native Chris- 
 tian Family at their own house, and I could 
 not but express my approbation to my host. 
 But he replied, that this was nothing new ; 
 that they always commenced and closed the 
 day in the same manner ; and that on that 
 evening they had deferred their devotions to 
 that late hour, in expectation of my arrival. 
 
 Europeans, who view only the surface of 
 
 Native Society in the East, contend that the 
 
 Missionaries are doing nothing amongst the 
 
 Hindoos. But what will be said to this in- 
 
 v stance, of a small company of Christians, in 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 205 
 
 the very midst of Idolatry, rearing an altar 
 to the Redeemer, and offering thereon the 
 tribute of prayer and praise, morning and 
 evening ? Let those who may feel disposed to 
 deny that any good impression is made upon 
 the Natives of India, move from their couches ; 
 break through the circle of sycophants through 
 whom they have hitherto received their in- 
 formation, and who, before they reply to their 
 master's questions, endeavour to ascertain 
 what kind of answer will please him ; and 
 then let them go among those Natives to 
 whom Protestant Missionaries have directed 
 their attention, and they will find many in- 
 stances of the kind I have just quoted. 
 
 A few weeks ago, I received a Letter from 
 this Combaconum Christian ; which may, 
 perhaps, be admitted in evidence of his own 
 Christian spirit, and that of the two Natives 
 of whom he writes. 
 
 " Reverend and Kind Sir, 
 
 " I am overjoyed by hearing, from dif- 
 ferent Gentlemen, that your health is tolera- 
 bly well since you arrived in England ; and 
 I am happy to tell you, I and my Family, 
 also our good Veesoovasanaden, the Native 
 Priest at Tinnevelly, enjoy a very good 
 health. Only his daughter, of five years old, 
 
207 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 died : he is however comforted, by the 
 blessed assurance that his daughter became 
 one in the number of Angels that serve the 
 Lord in heaven. He is now blessed with a 
 son, in the latter end of December. I find 
 him a good Labourer in the Vineyard of 
 our Lord. The Christians are much at- 
 tached to him. The Missionaries at Tanjore 
 intend to send for, and station him at this place, 
 
 " I rejoice that the number of Christians 
 increases in this Heathenism Town. I hope 
 you might have heard of the Rev. Mr. B.'s 
 arrival, and establishment of a Mission here : 
 our good friend John Dewasagayam Pillay, 
 with him, is much busy in arranging the new 
 Establishment, and often goes to Tranque- 
 bar, Negapatam, and to our neighbourhood, 
 on his duty. He joins me, with my family, 
 in presenting our most dutiful respects to 
 you and worthy Mrs. , praying fre- 
 quently for your and Family's health and 
 comfort, and speedy return to our country. 
 
 " Recommending ourselves to your blessing 
 and fatherly kindness, 
 
 " I remain, with great regard, 
 
 Rev. and kind Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient and humble servant, 
 
 " PAKEYANADEN." 
 
 Combaconum, 12th June, 1823." 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 206 
 
 I think it will be allowed, by the candid 
 Reader, that the language of this Letter, 
 especially when considered in connection 
 with the writer's exemplary character, and 
 with his practice of assembling his Family, 
 every morning and evening, for devotional 
 exercises, is no common proof of the reality 
 of his Christian Profession. 
 
 It will be remembered, that I have already 
 spoken of the two Native Teachers about 
 whom he writes. In proof of Vesoovasana- 
 den's piety and ability,! have given an extract 
 from a Religious Tract of his composition : 
 and I will now, for the same purpose, insert 
 part of a Letter I received from John De- 
 wasagayam, the evening before I sailed from 
 India. 
 
 " Reverend and Kind Father, 
 
 " It is a severe trial and deep distress 
 to us, to hear that you have been lately so ill, 
 and are obliged to leave India so soon for 
 England. How hard and grievous this event 
 may be to us, we trust, and we are sure, that 
 the ways of the Lord, in this respect, are also 
 full of mercy, and gracious to you, and to all 
 those who regret on this occasion." Then, 
 after praising the " dear Name" of the Lord, 
 for what had been done in the Cause of Christ 
 
208 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 in that part of India, he proceeds : " We are 
 sure He will be now your and your respect- 
 able Family's great support and comfort. I 
 still trust, that if it would be in the sight of 
 the Lord necessary to continue your services 
 for my poor nation, He will change your 
 plan, and keep you for some years more 
 here. But if He wants to bring you from 
 your heavy labour to some rest even in this 
 world, He will permit your removal from us. 
 But even in the sea, or any part of the world, 
 He will sweeten your life, and enrich your 
 Family with Divine Blessings. 
 
 " Praying sincerely to the Lord that you 
 and your Family may long enjoy health and 
 comfort in this life, and commending myself, 
 my poor Family, and my Scholars, to your 
 paternal blessing and prayers, 
 
 " I remain, 
 
 My dear and Reverend Father, 
 Your ever faithful and obedient servant, 
 " JOHN DEWASAGAYAM." 
 " Tranquebar, 16th Jan. 1822." 
 
 I doubt not but the pious Reader will 
 agree with me, that the man who can feel 
 such compassion for his Heathen Country- 
 men, and such fervent desire for their salva- 
 tion such Christian love for those who are 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 209 
 
 engaged in promoting their conversion ; such 
 regard to the superintending providence 
 of the Almighty ; and such entire acquies- 
 cence in His will, when the labours of His 
 servants are suspended ; must be a Christian 
 of no ordinary attainments in the school of 
 Jesus Christ. I will only add, that I have 
 seldom been more refreshed and edified by 
 the Christian discourse of an European, than 
 I was by the conversation of this Native 
 Christian. 
 
 Here I might speak of a Catechist of high 
 caste, who, by eating and drinking in my 
 presence what was handed to him by a 
 Pariah servant, gave incontestable proof of his 
 having renounced caste, and all Pagan dis- 
 tinctions, for the sake of Christ. After this, 
 he continued in my service several months ; 
 and I had every reason to be satisfied of his 
 sincerity, and to be thankful to God for the 
 success that attended his labours. I might 
 dwell also with satisfaction upon the charac- 
 ter of another Catechist, whom I employed 
 about four years in a confidential situation. 
 The humility, piety, zeal, and integrity of this 
 man were as evident fruits of the Spirit as I 
 ever remember to have witnessed. To these 
 I might add several private Christians among 
 the Tinnevelly Protestants, who, T had every 
 
 p 
 
210 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 reason to believe, were sincere Converts : 
 also several Priests, Catechists, and Lay- 
 men at Madras, Vepery, Tan j ore, Tranque- 
 bar, and in North India. But my object is, 
 not so much to count the number of Converts 
 upon whose sincerity we may rely, as to 
 shew, from my own experience, that the Work 
 of Conversion is actually begun in India. One 
 instance is sufficient, to establish my[point, 
 and overturn the whole of the Abb6 Dubois' 
 reasoning and conclusions. 1 have given 
 three cases, at least, of Native Converts, who 
 have come under my personal observation, 
 and of whose "real" conversion I can speak 
 with some confidence. 
 
 The argument, then, may be summed up 
 in few words 
 
 M. Dubois maintains, that the Roman-Ca- 
 tholic Mode of Worship is well adapted to 
 the conversion of the Hindoos to Christianity . 
 But, by his own shewing, it has totally failed. 
 Therefore, the Ceremonies of the Roman 
 Church are not adapted to the end in view. 
 
 Again : He maintains, that the means em- 
 ployed by Protestants are the least likely to 
 succeed. But they have succeeded, in sere- 
 ral instances. Consequently, of all themeans 
 hitherto tried, they are the best suited to our 
 purpose. 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 2 1 1 
 
 Again : Upon the failure of the means 
 used by the Jesuits, he, by a petitio principii, 
 concludes, that the Natives of India are 
 doomed to reprobation, and that to attempt 
 to convert them is nothing less than warring 
 against the manifest purposes of God. 
 
 Christian Love, and a due sense of our 
 own infinite obligations to the Redeemer, 
 would suggest the expediency of trying other 
 means, before we abandon them to that 
 awful and irrevocable doom. 
 
 Other means have been tried ; and they 
 have succeeded beyond expectation. There- 
 fore, we ought to regard that success as a 
 token of good from the Lord to the inhabi- 
 tants of Hindoostan ; and to persevere in the 
 use of the same means, in the assurance, 
 that the Lord's purpose is not to doom the 
 Natives of India to reprobation, but to ga- 
 ther a People from that Pagan Land, to sit 
 down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in 
 His Heavenly Kingdom. 
 
 The Abb6 Dubois may object to this con- 
 clusion, that the instances of Conversion pro- 
 duced though we take them at Twenty- 
 three Thousand ! are, after all, as a drop 
 to the ocean, as the small dust in the balance, 
 when compared with the One Hundred Mil- 
 lions of Souls in our Eastern Dominions ! 
 p 2 
 
2 1 2 Success of Means used by Protestants 
 
 True. But we regard them as the first sprout- 
 ing of that "grain of mustard-seed, which a 
 man took and sowed in his field : which, in- 
 deed, is the least of all seeds ; but when it is 
 grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and be- 
 cometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come 
 and lodge in the branches thereof." It is the 
 beginning of that leaven to ferment, " which 
 a woman took and hid in three measures of 
 meal, till the whole was leavened." (Matt. xiii. 
 3 1 33.) I have abundantly shewn, that the 
 mass is, humanly speaking, preparing for 
 this operation, by means of Schools and 
 various Publications. I have proved, also, 
 that the Divine Grace has taken effect. How 
 difficult soever it may be to convert the adult 
 Heathen, we have seen that it is NOT " im- 
 practicable." What the Holy Spirit has ac- 
 complished in one case, He can accom- 
 plish in another, and in all. 
 
 The Abb Dubois, like the Ten Spies 
 from Canaan, would discourage us, by reports 
 of the stupendous difficulties in the way of 
 evangelizing the Inhabitants of the East; 
 and he predicts the destruction of Christi- 
 anity in India within the space of fifty years. 
 I, though in spirit and faith inferior to Caleb 
 and Joshua, am yet returned from the same 
 land that the Abb6 has visited, and bring a 
 
for the Conversion of the Hindoos. 213 
 
 similar report of the obstacles to be en- 
 countered. I do, however, with those two 
 faithful Israelites, encourage Missionaries to 
 go up and possess the land. The Lord has 
 shewn that He is with us also : He will con- 
 quer by us. Then, " rebel not ye against the 
 Lord :" (Num. xiii. and xiv.) Joshua's God is 
 our God : and in the day of His own power 
 He will redeem even India to Himself. Be- 
 hold the foundation of the Redeemer's Tem- 
 ple laid in that Pagan Land! and look con- 
 fidently for the day, when " He shall bring 
 forth the head- stone thereof with shoutings, 
 crying, Grace, Grace, unto it !" 
 
 " Rise, crown'd with light, Imperial Salem, rise I 
 
 Exalt thy towery head, and lift thy eyes ! 
 
 See a long race thy spacious court adorn ! 
 
 See future sons and daughters, yet uhborn, 
 
 In crowding ranks on every side arise, 
 
 Demanding life, impatient for the skies ! 
 
 See barbarous Nations at thy gates attend, 
 
 Walk in thy light, and in thy temple bend ! 
 
 See thy bright altars throng'd with prostrate Kings, 
 
 And heap'd with products of Sabean springs ! 
 
 For thee Idume's spicy forests blow, 
 
 And seeds of gold in Ophir's mountain glow. 
 
 See Heaven its sparkling portals wide display, 
 
 And break upon thee in a flood of day ! 
 
 No more the rising Sun shall gild the morn, 
 
 Nor evening Cynthia fill her silver horn ; 
 
214 Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 
 
 But lost, dissolv'd in thy superior rays, 
 One tide of glory, one unclouded blaze, 
 Overflow thy courts : the Light Himself shall shine 
 Reveal'd, and God's eternal day be thine !" 
 
 POPE'S MESSIAH. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 THE PRESENT STATE OF THE SYRIAN CHURCH 
 IN TRAVANCORE, TOGETHER WITH THE SUC- 
 CESS THAT HAS ATTENDED THE MEANS USED 
 FOR ITS AMELIORATION. 
 
 SPEAKING of the Syrian Christians in Tra- 
 vancore, the Abb6 Dubois expresses his sur- 
 prise " at the exaggerations" of the late Dr. 
 Buchanan, " on this and many other impor- 
 tant points :" (p. 2 1 .) It would have been well, 
 had he explained to what particular "exagge- 
 rations" he alludes : we might then have ex- 
 amined into the justice of his accusation. 
 It appears, from his Letters, that he does not 
 know the state of the Syrians, from personal 
 observation ; and he has neglected to spe- 
 cify any one "point" which Dr. B. has mis- 
 represented. That that Author's descrip- 
 
Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 215 
 
 tions are written in glowing language, and 
 under the influence of animated feelings, I 
 allow : but the candid Reader, who has tra- 
 velled over the pages of his " Researches in 
 the East," accompanying him, from Bengal, 
 through the horrid scenes exhibited in Orissa; 
 the darkness, superstition, and misery, of 
 other intervening Provinces ; and arriving 
 with him at last in South Tra.vancore ; will 
 not be surprised at the warmth of his emo- 
 tions, on discovering an isolated body of 
 Christians among the mountains of that king- 
 dom. And, when he finds that, amidst every 
 local disadvantage, in the face of successive 
 and obstinate persecutions from the Papists, 
 and under the dominion of Idolatrous Rulers, 
 they had, for many centuries, retained much 
 of their Primitive Faith, and an unqualified 
 reverence for the Word of God and impli- 
 cit deference to its authority ; he will, I think, 
 allow, that no language can adequately ex- 
 press the feelings which such circumstances 
 must excite in the mind of a Christian, pant- 
 ing, as Dr. B. did, for opportunity to pro- 
 mote the glory of God, and the best interests 
 of man. I confess, that 1 thought his repre- 
 sentations of that interesting people highly 
 coloured ; and did not venture to anticipate 
 all the pleasure from a visit to them, which 
 
216 Of the Syrian Church in Tracancore. 
 
 his account seemed to promise. But, when 
 travelling amongst them, and visiting their 
 Churches, I compared his statements with 
 all I heard and saw : and the result was, 
 that in no instance did I find that the 
 Doctor had overstated facts ; and, on more 
 than one occasion, his description did not 
 equal my own feelings on the spot. 
 
 But, before M. Dubois had presumed to 
 charge a man, of the late Dr. B.'s principles 
 and character, with publishing " exaggera- 
 tions" to the world, he ought to have been 
 certain of the accuracy of the information 
 upon which his accusations were founded. 
 
 He says, " he has heard that some Pro- 
 testant Missionaries had recently prevailed 
 upon many of the Syrian Clergy to marry ; 
 and that it was the only success they had to 
 boast of." (p. 60.) 
 
 Previous to exposing the inaccuracy of 
 this assertion, I shall correct his statements 
 in reference to two or three points, which I 
 do not remember to have seen answered in 
 any other Publication*. 
 
 * I had marked for insertion M. Dubois' accounts of their Origin, 
 Name, Creed, Sacraments, &c. &c., and shewn their inaccuracy in 
 many respects. But, as this is not necessary to my purpose, and 
 the Abbs' is so ably confuted, on these and several other points, 
 by the>uthor of a " Brief History of the Syrian Churches," given 
 
Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 217 
 
 He says, " They have numberless Fasts 
 during the year ; they use candles, tapers, 
 incense ; and have many more external Cere- 
 monies than the Catholics, in the exercise of 
 their religious functions," &c. (pp. 59, 60.) 
 
 That there is much of superstition in their 
 Religious Services, I admit ; and was pained 
 to witness so close a resemblance in them to 
 the Ceremonies of the Roman-Catholic 
 Church : but that they " have many more 
 external Ceremonies than the Catholics," 
 is true only of the Roma-Syrians, i. e. 
 those who have embraced Popery altoge- 
 ther, or incorporated Popish Superstitions 
 with the Forms of the Syrian Church. But 
 of those Syrians who adhere to their ancient 
 Ritual, it is not true. In the midst of their 
 Service on Sabbath Morning, I witnessed 
 what 1 never heard of in a Roman- Catholic 
 Chapel, either in India or Europe, viz. the 
 reading of the Lesson appointed for the Day, 
 in the Vernacular Tongue. 
 
 He says, that their Clergy " use the Sy- 
 riac in their Liturgy and Religious Ceremo- 
 nies :" (p. 60.) This, if intended as an ob- 
 jection, comes with a very ill grace from a 
 
 in the Appendix to the Seventeenth Report of the Church Mis- 
 sionary Society, I shall refer the Reader to that able and interest- 
 ing article, for the information required on those subjects. 
 
218 Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 
 
 Roman-Catholic Priest; who, in common 
 with the rest of his order, uses the Latin "in 
 the Liturgy and Religious Ceremonies" of 
 his Church ; a language equally unintelligi- 
 ble to the Laity in India, and to the majority 
 even in Europe. 
 
 This objection is less formidable, in refe- 
 rence to the Syrians, than to the Roman-Ca- 
 tholics. For it is contrary to the laws of 
 the Roman Church to pray in public in any 
 other language; whereas the Syrian Metro- 
 politan informed me, upon my putting the 
 question to him, that they had no Canon 
 which prohibited the translating of the whole 
 of their Liturgy into the Vernacular Tongue, 
 for the use of the Church ; except, indeed, 
 a few Prayers, which are addressed to the 
 Virgin Mary. 
 
 But when the Abbe* goes on to assert, (p. 22,) 
 that " all the science of their Clergy consists in 
 being able to read, or rather spell, this lan- 
 guage, in order to be qualified to perform their 
 Religious Ceremonies" and says, that " he 
 has been assured that there is at present no one 
 amongst the Catholic or the Nestorian Clergy 
 capable of properly understanding or ex- 
 plaining two phrases of the Syriac Books" 
 I answer, that this is an unfair representation 
 of their present state. That, at the time he 
 
Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 219 
 
 received his information, feiu of them knew 
 more than is here asserted, may have been 
 the case. But they have always had some 
 Syriac Doctors (Malpans) amongst them; 
 and in 1820, when I visited them, the Cata- 
 nars read the Prayers with fluency, and I 
 conversed with several who were masters of 
 the language. And as to M. Dubois not being 
 able to " see of what utility the project of sup- 
 plying them with Syriac Bibles can be,"(p.6o.) 
 this arises from his neglect to inform himself 
 better as to their ability to make use of them. 
 Upon the presumption that " no one amongst 
 them is capable of understanding that an- 
 cient language," his surprise that the Bible 
 Society should think of sending them Syriac 
 Bibles is not unnatural. But, then, all this is 
 mere presumption not fact. The Priest 
 who officiated at the Syrian Altar, on the 
 occasion just alluded to, made use of one of 
 the Bible Society s Syriac Testaments, when 
 he read the Chapter in the vernacular lan- 
 guage: and as his eye passed over the Sy- 
 riac page, he rendered it into Malayalim with 
 such facility, that I thought the book before 
 him was written in that tongue, until in- 
 formed to the contrary. Two Missionaries 
 and myself spent an evening with the same 
 man, when we discussed some of the princi- 
 
220 Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 
 
 pal doctrines of Christianity. He sat with 
 another of the Bible Society's Syriac Testa- 
 ments before him ; and referred to it, in con- 
 firmation of his opinions, with a readiness 
 that proved him to be familiar with the Sa- 
 cred Text. Several of the Catanars, whom 
 I saw in the interior, shewed me, with appa- 
 rent pleasure, their copies of the same work, 
 carefully folded up in white cloth ; and gave 
 me reason to believe that they knew the 
 value of the boon. When Dr. Buchanan 
 was with them, they were much in want of 
 the Syriac Bible ; and it was only upon his 
 promise to repay them an hundred-fold, that 
 they entrusted to him their most valuable 
 Manuscripts. Just before the arrival of the 
 first supply from England, they grew so impa- 
 tient, that they began to suspect that the Doc- 
 tor had imposed upon them. But their su- 
 spicions were soon removed ; and I had the 
 satisfaction of hearihg them express their 
 gratitude for the treasure which the Bible 
 Society had sent them. 
 
 The Abb6Duboissays,(p.22,)"The Jesuits, 
 on their first arrival in India, hearing of them, in 
 one way or another converted the greatest part 
 to the Catholic Faith." It was not till up wards 
 of forty years after the arrival of the Portuguese 
 in India, that any attempts were made to 
 
Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 221 
 
 seduce the Syrians from their own Commu- 
 nion, or compel them, " in one way or ano- 
 ther," to enter into that of Rome: and the 
 duplicity, stratagem, arrogance, cruelty, and 
 violence, even unto blood, of Don Alexion 
 de Menezes, Archbishop of Goa, and other 
 persecutors, cover their names with infamy ; 
 and fill us with admiration at the constancy 
 of the Syrians, who resisted such means used 
 to convert them*. 
 
 " There remains," he says (p. 22), " still 
 among them, large Congregations, consisting 
 of 70,000 or 60,000 Christians, of whom two- 
 thirds are Catholics, and a third Nestorians." 
 
 By this estimate, he computes the number 
 of Faithful Syrians at about 25,000. At the 
 time I was with them, their number was 
 stated to be 53,000. They have since been 
 reckoned at 13,OOO families ; which, allowing 
 5 to a family, will raise them to 65,OOO. 
 
 He says, " They are all designated under 
 the contemptuous name of Nazarany, and 
 held by the Pagans in still greater contempt 
 than the Christians of this part of the coun- 
 try. The Nairs chiefly keep them at the 
 greatest distance." (p. 22.) 
 
 It will be seen, by reference to La Croze, 
 
 * The history of these transactions is given in the Seven- 
 teenth Report of the Church Missionary Society, just mentioned. 
 
222 Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 
 
 that, at the time the Portugese arrived in 
 India, and for a few years subsequent to that 
 period, the Syrian Christians stood high in 
 the estimation of their Heathen Rulers and 
 neighbours. They enjoyed many privileges 
 under the Native Princes ; ranked with the 
 Nobility of the Country ; the authority of 
 their Bishops was allowed to extend to all 
 Civil as well as Ecclesiastical affairs ; they 
 were carefully instructed in the use of arms, 
 from their eighth to their twenty-fifth year, 
 and were excellent hunters : the more of 
 them a Pagan Prince had in his dominions, 
 the more was he feared and esteemed ; and 
 not more than two hundred years ago, 
 they furnished the Rajah of Cochin with 
 50,000 of the best soldiers : on that ac- 
 count, as well as on that of their fidelity and 
 strict attachment to the truth in every thing, 
 the Native Princes cherished and counte- 
 nanced them in every possible way. In 
 virtue of privileges granted by Sharen Per- 
 maul, former Emperor of Malabar, they took 
 precedency of the Nairs, who are the Nobility 
 of the country ; and they were second in 
 rank only to the Brahmins. The Kings 
 themselves manifested an extraordinary vene- 
 ration for them. The inferior castes looked 
 up to them for protection against the oppres- 
 
Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 223 
 
 sions of the higher castes. They depended 
 directly on the Prince or Minister, and not 
 on the Provincial Governors. They them- 
 selves punished any infringement of their 
 privileges, or insult offered them, by a Pa- 
 gan. The Nairs, who are the Nobility and 
 Warriors in Malabar, then respected them 
 very highly, and considered it a great honour 
 to be regarded as their brothers. So nume- 
 rous were their privileges, that La Croze says 
 it would be tiresome to describe them all. 
 It was permitted only to the Brahmins, and 
 them, to have inclosed porches before their 
 houses. They were authorised to ride and 
 travel on elephants ; a distinction accorded 
 only to them and the Heirs of the Crown. 
 They sat in presence of the King and his 
 Ministers, even on the same carpet ; a privi- 
 lege granted to Embassadors only. The 
 King of Paroor, having wished, during the 
 preceding century, to extend this privilege to 
 the Nairs, the Christians declared war 
 against him, and obliged him to restore 
 affairs to their former state. 
 
 Lieutenant- ColonelJohn Munro, late Re- 
 sident at the Court of Travancore, in his* 
 " Address to the Government of Fort St. 
 
 * This Address was published in the Appendix of the Twen- 
 tieth Report of the Church Missionary Society. 
 
224 Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 
 
 George on the State of Christianity in that 
 Residency," cites this account of the Syrians' 
 privileges and respectability, in proof of the 
 extraordinary advancement of the Christian 
 Religion in a country governed and in- 
 habited by the Hindoos. I quote it, to shew 
 that they were not, in La Croze's time, so con- 
 temptible in the eyes of the Heathen as the 
 Abb6 Dubois represents them at present. At 
 the period of the Roman-Catholics" unwar- 
 rantable interference with them, they lived 
 in the full enjoyment of these immunities : 
 and though they subsequently lost much of 
 their respectability (for which they have to 
 blame only their Popish persecutors), they 
 are yet held in greater estimation than the 
 Native Roman Catholics; and at the very time 
 when the Abb6 wrote the Letter in which he 
 asserts the contrary, and represents them as 
 held in great contempt, they were actually 
 rising again in respectability, and in the esti- 
 mation of their Rulers. 
 
 In ]818, three years subsequent to the 
 date of the Abbe's Letter, Lieutenant- Colo- 
 nel Munro, who had for some time known 
 the Syrians intimately, thus described them, 
 in his Address to the Madras Government, 
 already referred to 
 
 11 Notwithstanding the misfortunes which 
 
Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 225 
 
 they have suffered, and the disadvantages of 
 their situation, they still retain, however, 
 some of the virtues by which they were for- 
 merly distinguished. They are remarkable 
 for mildness and simplicity of character, 
 honesty, and industry ; their pursuits are con- 
 fined to agriculture and trade ; and, although 
 they have lost the high station and elevated 
 sentiments which they once possessed, yet 
 they are still respected, on account of their 
 integrity and rectitude of conduct." 
 
 Then, after explaining the improved state 
 of their Ecclesiastical affairs, this enlightened 
 Statesman proceeds 
 
 " The temporal situation of the Syrians 
 has also been materially improved. I have 
 frequently taken occasion to bring them to 
 the notice of her Highness the Rannee of 
 Travancore ; and her intelligent, liberal, and 
 ingenuous mind has always appeared to feel 
 a deep interest in their history, misfortunes, 
 and character. She is aware of the attention 
 excited to their situation in Europe ; and her 
 anxiety to manifest the sincerity of her at- 
 tachment to the British Nation has formed, 
 I believe, an additional motive for the kind- 
 ness and generosity she has uniformly dis- 
 played towards the Syrians. She has ap- 
 pointed a considerable number of them to 
 
 Q 
 
226 Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 
 
 public offices ; and lately presented the sum 
 of 20,000 rupees to the College of Cotym, 
 as an endowment for its support. The Syrians 
 are most grateful for her goodness ; and che- 
 rish, in no ordinary degree, the sentiments of 
 affection and respect toward her person 
 that are entertained by every class of her 
 subjects." 
 
 Such were the respectability and improving 
 circumstances of these people, whenM.Du- 
 bois published his representation of them, as 
 more contemptible in the eyes of the Pagans 
 than even the Roman-Catholic Christians ! 
 
 He says " Their Clergy lived till lately in 
 celibacy :" (p. 60.) La Croze informs us, that 
 the Priests are not engaged to celibacy ; nor 
 was it universal among them, prior to their 
 persecution by the Jesuits. Menezes found 
 several of them married, whom he commanded 
 to put away their wives ; and those who re- 
 fused obedience to his unauthorised mandate, 
 he excommunicated. 
 
 With respect to his insinuation, "that all the 
 success which the Protestant Missionaries 
 stationed among them had to boast of was, 
 the having prevailed upon many of the Ca- 
 tanars to marry," I beg to state, that Colonel 
 Munro, and Mr. Norton (the first Protestant 
 Missionary who devoted attention to the Sy- 
 

 Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 227 
 
 rians), seeing the immoralities which the celi- 
 bacy of the Priests occasioned, represented 
 to them the duty and necessity of marriage. 
 " The Bishop saw the evil of the practice, 
 and wished to remedy it. One reason, among 
 many that was urged in its favour, was their 
 poverty : they were too poor to maintain a 
 wife and family. To obviate this difficulty, 
 the Resident (Colonel Munro) offered to give 
 400 rupees to the first Priest that should 
 marry ; and promised so to arrange matters, 
 that the Clergy, in general, might marry, and 
 support their families." 
 
 " The Metropolitan, a short time after, 
 issued a Circular Letter to all the Churches ; 
 in which he stated the prohibition of Sacer- 
 dotal Matrimony to be, not of the Church of 
 Antioch, but of the Church of Rome ; and 
 desired that the Clergy would take the matter 
 into consideration, and comply with the ordi- 
 nance of marriage, when convenient. Two 
 of the Clergy were, in consequence, soon after 
 married ; and forty more entered into bonds 
 that they would marry as soon as some pro- 
 vision should be made for the support of their 
 families, should they have any*." 
 
 The other Missionaries promoted the prac- 
 tice, as far as they thought it compatible with 
 
 * Missionary Register, March 1818, p. 99- 
 Q2 
 
228 Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 
 
 their situation to interfere. When I was at 
 Cotym, thirty -five of the Catanars had mar- 
 ried, and the number has since increased. 
 Whatever the Abb6 Dubois' feelings upon 
 this success may be, Protestants, at least, 
 may return thanks to God, for having so far 
 prospered the efforts made to do " away with 
 that which has been, among the Syrians/ as 
 well as in the Church of Rome, a prolific 
 source of immorality." 
 
 But his principal objection against the Sy- 
 rians appears to be, that " they, above all, 
 deny the Blessed Virgin the title of Theo- 
 tocus, or Mother of God, asserting that the 
 Son of God did not assume a soul and a body 
 in her womb." (p. 59.) 
 
 This title, Qsoroxoc, was first given to the 
 Virgin Mary by the GreekChurch ; andOrigen, 
 I believe, was the person who proposed it. 
 It was applied to her by several of the Greek 
 Fathers after him ; and was at last confirmed 
 by the Council of Ephesus, which was called 
 to adjust the dispute which arose upon Nes- 
 torius, and his Presbyter Anastasius, denying 
 her that title rv Nsrof / *w ot,yia,v Ma^/a? eivott 
 (dzorozov agvovfAtvx. 
 
 The literal signification of the title is, "She 
 who brought forth Him that is God ;" and it 
 may originally have been intended to mean 
 
Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 229 
 
 no more, than that she was the Mother of the 
 Human-nature of Him who was God as well 
 as Man. In this sense Nestorius himself 
 would allow her the title : and what renders 
 it probable that this was the meaning- at first 
 attached to the name, is, that the Greeks did 
 not call her M^rg^a rov 0g<w, until Leo the 
 Great, and other Latin authors after him, 
 translating " Theotocus," Dei genitrix, and 
 Dei-para, those Latin names were rendered 
 back into Greek, OsoyM^r^: and thus, at last, 
 they both called her, plainly, Mother of God. 
 But it is not correct to say of the faithful 
 Syrians, that they deny that the Son of God 
 assumed a soul and a body in the Virgin's 
 womb. M. Dubois may think this the inevi- 
 table consequence of their refusing to call her 
 "Mother of God:" if so, he must assume 
 that the Soul of Christ was His Divinity, which 
 every Protestant agrees with the Syrians in 
 denying. They receive the Athanasian Creed, 
 without its damnatory clauses ; and, accord- 
 ingly, hold, with us, that Christ was both 
 " perfect God, and perfect Man ;" " God, of 
 the Substance of the father, begotten before 
 the world : and Man, of the Substance of His 
 Mother, born in the world." The Virgin 
 was the parent of His Manhood only, which 
 consisted of " a reasonable soul, and human 
 
230 Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 
 
 flesh." To assert the contrary, and maintain 
 that she was the Mother of God, is to convert 
 " the Godhead into flesh," and involves one 
 or the other of these heretical conclusions 
 either that the Virgin* Mary was a divine 
 being, or that Jesus Christ was not divine. 
 For, since He could not, in the natural order 
 of things, derive from His Mother a nature 
 which she did not possess, if she were the 
 parent of his Divinity as well as Humanity, 
 she herself must have been divine previous 
 to her conception of Him. On the other 
 hand, if she were not divine, and He possessed 
 no nature but what He derived from her, He 
 cannot be God. 
 
 But I shall not discuss this question, 
 more fully ; my object being merely to re- 
 mark, that the Abb6 Dubois, when in a 
 Letter to an English Clergyman, and he a 
 Dignitary* of our Church objecting against 
 the Syrian Christians that they denied 
 to the Virgin the title of " Mother of God," 
 ought to have recollected, that, instead of 
 rejecting this as an heretical tenet, or de- 
 nouncing the Syrians for holding it, we hail 
 it as a point of orthodoxy on which we are 
 agreed. 
 
 " Behold the Nestorians in Travancore I" 
 
 * The Archdeacon of Bombay. 
 
Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 231 
 
 he exclaims. " Interrogate them ; ask them 
 for an account of their success in the work 
 of Proselytism in these modern times ? Ask 
 them, Whether they are gaining ground? and, 
 Whether the interests of their ancient Mode 
 of Worship are improving ? They will reply, 
 that so far from this being the case, their 
 Congregations, once so flourishing, and 
 amounting (according to Gibbon's account) 
 to 200,OOO souls, are now reduced to less 
 than an eighth of this number, and are daily 
 diminishing." (pp. 25, 26.) 
 
 They would reply no such thing ! 
 
 When the first Missionaries from Syria 
 arrived in India, (whether in the Fifth Cen- 
 tury, or at what precise period cannot be 
 very accurately ascertained,) they succeeded 
 in establishing the Christian Religion to a 
 wide extent, converting Hindoos of the 
 highest castes, JNairs, and even Brahmins, 
 to their Faith*. La Croze informs us, that, 
 in his day, the Diocese of the Syrian Bishop 
 contained more than One Thousand Five 
 Hundred Churches, and as. many Towns 
 and Villages. It has already been shewn 
 what privileges they then enjoyed, and how 
 
 * This is forcibly adduced by Lord Teignmouth, in argument 
 to. prove the practicability of converting the Hindoos to Chris- 
 tianity. Considerations, p. 24. 
 
232 Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 
 
 high a character they maintained among the 
 Heathen : also, how greatly they have fallen, 
 and to what causes their decline is to be at- 
 tributed. In the state of ignorance and de- 
 jection in which Drs. Kerr and Buchanan 
 found them, it required all the efforts and 
 perseverance of the Bishop and Catanars to 
 protect their flocks against the subtlety and 
 violence of the Jesuits and Carmelites. Not 
 content with despoiling them of every vestige 
 of civil or ecclesiastical liberty, Menezes, 
 and others, robbed them of their most valua- 
 ble books, and committed all they found to 
 the flames. Thus did they deprive their 
 helpless victims of the possibility of cultivat- 
 ing their minds : and is it not too much for 
 a Jesuit now to exult over their fallen state ! 
 Having shewn; that when the Abb6 Du- 
 bois wrote this, the temporal circumstances 
 of the Syrians were improving, 1 now pro- 
 ceed to prove the same of their Ecclesiastical 
 affairs. The fostering hand of a British Of- 
 ficer, another Cornelius, (Lieut.-Col. lYIunro,) 
 was endeavouring to raise them from that 
 state of depression to which the Roman-Ca- 
 tholics had reduced them. Amidst all their 
 errors, they had for centuries defended their 
 Altars and their Creed against Papal ag- 
 gression ; and that, too, with a spirit that 
 

 
 Of the Syrian Church in Travaneore. 233 
 
 commands the admiration, and under suf- 
 ferings that move the sympathies, of every 
 free people. And, before the Abbe* Dubois 
 had so committed himself, in the year 1823, 
 as to publish this erroneous statement, he 
 ought to have acknowledged, that a liberal, 
 a charitable, a Christian Nation, had, for 
 years, taken a lively interest in their affairs, 
 and already done much to raise them from 
 the dust. 
 
 But he speaks from " such information as 
 he possesses :" he has " been assured" of such 
 and such things. It seems, then, that he also, 
 notwithstanding his invectives against "a 
 Reverend Gentleman" for doing (as he asserts) 
 the same thing, can fill his pages with " inac- 
 curacies, exaggerations, and misrepresenta- 
 tions" (p. 2O2.), and, upon such questionable 
 authority, impugn the statements of a man 
 like the late Dr. Buchanan. 
 
 But to proceed 
 
 Lieut. -Colonel Munro, finding, within the 
 sphere of his influence, such an interesting 
 race of people as the Syrian Christians, like a 
 judicious and a Christian Statesman, saw 
 the policy, acknowledged the duty, and va- 
 lued the privilege, of endeavouring to amelio- 
 rate their condition. This could not be 
 effected without much toil and perseverance : 
 
234 Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 
 
 but no impediments were suffered to defeat 
 the plans, or check the operations, of this 
 Philanthropist. " I have afforded," he says, 
 in the Address already quoted, " since my 
 first arrival in Travancore, the most decided 
 protection to all classes of the Christians, 
 and in particular to the Syrians. I expe- 
 rienced, however, some difficulty, for a time, 
 in improving the condition of the Syrian 
 Christians, in consequence of internal dis- 
 sentions among themselves." These he pro- 
 ceeds to describe; but they need not be here 
 repeated. He then adds, " The death of 
 the Bishop, and the elevation of the Ram- 
 ban to his office, removed some of the im- 
 pediments that had opposed the measures 
 which appeared to be requisite for the gene- 
 ral amelioration of the Syrian Community." 
 " But the assistance of intermediate agents 
 was essentially necessary to the success of 
 those measures ; for the Syrians themselves 
 were lamentably deficient, in knowledge, 
 energy, and ability." 
 
 Colonel Munro applied to the Madras 
 Corresponding Committee of the Church 
 Missionary Society, to send as many Missio- 
 naries as could be spared, to assist in the ex- 
 ecution of his designs. Accordingly, in 
 181 6, the Rev. T. Norton was sent to Tra- 
 
Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 235 
 
 vancore, and stationed at Allepie, a large 
 town on the Malabar Coast, and in the vici- 
 nity of the Syrians. In November of the 
 same year he was joined by the Rev. B. 
 Bailey, another Missionary from the same 
 Society. Mr. Norton paid the Syrians as 
 much attention as he conveniently could ; 
 but the distance of his Station from their 
 Bishop's residence, and other Missionary 
 duties demanding his attention, prevented 
 his devoting himself to them so exclusively as 
 wa& necessary to render them effective as- 
 sistance. It was therefore thought adviseable 
 to remove Mr. Bailey to their principal Sta- 
 tion ; and, accordingly, in the beginning of 
 1817, he took up his abode at Cotym. 
 
 In the autumn of 1818, Mr. Bailey was 
 joined by the Rev. Joseph Fenn ; and in the 
 following year, by the Rev. Henry Baker ; 
 both Missionaries of the same Society. 
 
 In their joint Report of the same year, they 
 write 
 
 " The Mission at Cotym is very extensive 
 and important : it is immediately connected 
 with a body of 50,OOO or 60,000 professed 
 Christians; and has attracted the notice of 
 the Government and Natives. The extreme 
 limits of the Syrian Churches, from south to 
 north, are distant from each other more than 
 
236 Of the Syrian Church in Travanpore. 
 
 1 50 English miles : from east to west, at least 
 thirty. They have not, till the last few years, 
 enjoyed any kixid of protection ; and, conse- 
 quently, those who used to oppress them are 
 jealous of their present advantages, and in in- 
 numerable ways distressing them. The pre- 
 sence of an European puts an immediate stop 
 to these disorders. At Co.tym is a celebrated 
 Brahminical College : at a little distance is 
 another, lately established, for the cultivation 
 of the Sanscrit Language. How important 
 is such a Station ! and how necessary such 
 help, as may give energy to our proceedings !" 
 " It is, in all cases, necessary to the pro- 
 sperity of any plans, that there should be an 
 entire union among those concerned, both in 
 their formation and their execution ; but it is 
 of pre-eminent importance in this Mission. 
 The best method of ensuring caution, and, 
 at the same time, progress, will be, by watch- 
 ing and taking advantage of the gradual en- 
 largement of the views of the Metropolitan, 
 and of the Clergy more immediately sur- 
 rounding him. Hence the absolute necessity, 
 that all, directing their efforts to the reforma- 
 tion of this Church, should reside together, 
 and be in the habits of daily intercourse with 
 the Metropolitan and his attending Clergy*." 
 
 ' * See Twentieth Report of Church Miss. Society, pp. 167, 16S. 
 
Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 237 
 
 Such were their views of the importance 
 of their undertaking ; and their arrangements 
 for the accomplishing of their designs were 
 in accordance with the judicious sentiments 
 here expressed. 
 
 I shall now give a summary view of the 
 State of the Mission at the close of 1820; 
 when I visited the Missionaries, at the re- 
 quest of the Madras Corresponding Com- 
 mittee. 
 
 Mr. Bailey, the Senior Missionary, was 
 engaged in translating the New Testament 
 into Malayalim. He also performed Divine 
 Service, every Sabbath, in the same language; 
 and was, besides, employed with his Bre- 
 thren in the general objects of the Mission. 
 
 To this Translation I have already alluded. 
 This was one of the first objects to which 
 Colonel Munro wished him to direct his 
 attention. In January 18 19, that officer 
 wrote 
 
 " The Translation of the Bible is a work of 
 the first importance, and also of great diffi- 
 culty. The Version of the Four Gospels 
 printed at Bombay is now found, as our 
 Missionaries advance in the language of Ma- 
 layalim, to be so very bad in every respect, 
 in fidelity, meaning, and language, as to be 
 unfit for use ; and the Version of the whole 
 
238 Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 
 
 Scriptures, lately made at the College, by 
 the Catanars, from Syriac into Malay alim, 
 is equally bad. Mr. Bailey, whose profi- 
 ciency in Malayalim is great, is obliged to 
 make a complete Version of the whole, re- 
 sembling, indeed, a New Version, more than 
 a Revision; and this work must necessarily 
 be slow*." 
 
 When I was with Mr. Bailey, he had made 
 considerable progress in the Translation, 
 considering the short time he had been em- 
 ployed upon it. He was assisted by some 
 of the most respectable Catanars, Nairs, and 
 even a Learned Brahmin; and his Version, 
 as far as he had then advanced with it, was 
 approved by the best Malayalim Scholars. 
 
 Mr. Bailey had translated a great part of the 
 English Liturgy, also, into Malayalim: and 
 I had the pleasure of being present, when he 
 performed Divine Service, in that language, 
 in an old Syrian Church, which was nearly 
 filled with Syrians. A good proportion of 
 Catanars were present ; and the person who 
 officiated as Clerk, reading the Responses, 
 and even the Lessons, was the Malpan (Sy- 
 rian Professor in the College), whom I had 
 seen, on the morning of the same day, perform 
 the office of Priest in the College Chapel. 
 
 * See Twentieth Report of the Church Miss. Society, p. 170. 
 
Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 239 
 
 On expressing my surprise at his taking so 
 humble a station, I was informed, that he so 
 admired our Liturgy, that he was proud of 
 the honour of taking any part in the Service. 
 It was highly gratifying; and proved how 
 soon the prudent and conciliatory conduct 
 of the Missionaries had won the confidence 
 of both Priests and Laity, to see them thus 
 voluntarily, and contrary to the long- esta- 
 blished custom, joining in Public prayer in 
 the vulgar tongue, and without the slightest 
 recognition of the Virgin Mary's supposed 
 mediatorial influence. 
 
 Mr. Fenn, the Second Missionary, had 
 charge of the College. 
 
 This Institution was founded, 1 believe I 
 may be permitted to say, by Lieutenant-Co- 
 lonel Munro. It was built in 1815, by the 
 sanction of her Highness the Rannee of Tra- 
 vancore, who contributed liberally to wards its 
 erection ; and gave, as already noticed, in per- 
 petuity, an endowment of land, and grants 
 of money, equal to the support of Fifty 
 Students. 
 
 In reference to the beneficial results to be 
 anticipated from the College, Colonel Munro 
 wrote, in 18 19 " It is only by an efficient 
 course of instruction at the College, that a 
 respectable body of Native Clergy can be 
 procured for the Service of the Syrian 
 
240 Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 
 
 Churches, and for the propagation of Chris- 
 tianity among the Heathen." 
 
 Besides the Superintending Missionary, 
 the College is provided with Two Syriac 
 Professors (Malpans) ; a Hebrew Professor 
 (Moses Sarphati, a liberally-minded Jew from 
 Cochin); Two Native Teachers of Sanscrit ; 
 and an English Teacher and Assistant. 
 
 When I was at Cotym, there were about 
 Forty Students in the College, whom I ex- 
 amined : and though the Institution was then 
 in its infancy, the progress of several of the 
 Boys was highly creditable to themselves 
 and their Teachers. 
 
 I shall here give an Abstract of the last 
 Report of the College 
 
 There were then Fifty Students ; twelve 
 of whom had passed through the initiatory 
 ordinations. One of them was so far ad- 
 vanced in his knowledge of the English Lan- 
 guage as to read some of our Poetry. He 
 had made great progress in Latin also,, and 
 was then beginning Virgil : he had, likewise, 
 commenced the study of Hebrew. 
 
 In the Latin Class were Thirteen Students. 
 
 The whole were studying English and 
 Syriac, and several of them Sanscrit. 
 
 In reference to their behaviour, abilities, 
 and the hopes they encourage the Missiona- 
 ries to entertain, those Gentlemen write 
 
Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 24 i 
 
 " The conduct of the Students is remark- 
 ably good. They behave with the greatest 
 respect ; while they are entirely free from all 
 servility. Their natural dispositions, their 
 desire of learning, their ability and applica- 
 tion, are not at all inferior to what is found 
 among Youths in Europe. If present hopes 
 do not prove fallacious, in less than ten years, 
 with the assistance now sought, and the Bless- 
 ing of God, there may be 50 or 100 Learned 
 Priests, belonging to this venerable Church, 
 nourishing their own flocks, and spreading 
 the triumphs of the Gospel around them*." 
 
 The following Extract, from the same Re- 
 port, will shew the reputation which the Col- 
 lege has, in so short a time, attained among 
 these interesting people. " The whole of 
 the Syrian Population look to the College as 
 the eye of their body, and make it their 
 boast ; and the exertions of some of the pre- 
 sent Students will, ere long, justify this 
 feeling." 
 
 Not long after the organization of the Col- 
 lege, the Missionaries projected the establish- 
 ment of Three Seminaries, upon the plan of 
 Free Grammar-Schools in England one 
 for the Central ; a second for the Northern ; 
 and a third for the Southern Division of the 
 
 * S'ee XXIlId Report of the Church Missionary Society, p. 1 30, 
 11 
 
242 Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 
 
 Diocese. The most promising- Youths in 
 these Schools are to be selected for the Col- 
 lege, and translated thither as vacancies 
 occur. The Central School was erecting 
 at Cotym when I was there. It has now 
 been completed some time ; and contained 
 Thirty-nine Scholars, at the date of the last 
 Report. 
 
 The Third Missionary, Mr. Baker, super- 
 intends the Parochial School Department, 
 Previous to the arrival of the Missionaries, 
 the Syrians were almost without Schools for 
 Children designed for secular occupations : 
 but those Gentlemen soon resolved to supply 
 this great desideratum ; and the latest ac- 
 count states the number at Thirty-seven, 
 containing 921 Scholars. There were yet 
 about Fifteen Parishes unprovided with 
 Schools ; but several of them are, I have no 
 doubt, by this time supplied. 
 
 Such were the Seminaries, and such the 
 progress of Education to, among the Syrians, 
 when M. Dubois published the Letter, in 
 which he asserts, " they have no Houses of 
 Education, no Teachers, no Professors ; but 
 only some Schools, kept by their ignorant 
 Priests, for the purpose of teaching persons, 
 destined to the Ecclesiastic Profession, to 
 read this language" the Syriac. (p. 23.) 
 
Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 243 
 
 But, though the Missionaries, for the bet- 
 ter accomplishing of their common object 
 viz. the amelioration of the whole Syrian 
 Community have made this division of la- 
 bour, yet, in the translating of Religious 
 Tracts and other Elementary Works, in 
 holding intercourse with the people, in visit- 
 ing the Churches in the interior, and, in a 
 word, in all the general affairs of the Mis- 
 sion, they act in concert with each other. 
 
 It was one of Colonel Munro's original pi ans 5 
 to establish a Printing-press at Cotym. This 
 is now accomplished ; and the Board of Su- 
 perintendence for the College of Fort St. 
 George have kindly permitted a fount of Ma- 
 layalim'Types to be cast from their matrices, 
 for the use of this Press*- It is needless to 
 observe how much more efficient this will 
 render the Mission. 
 
 It is not the least encouraging circum- 
 stance, that the Metropolitan is associated 
 with the Missionaries, in Council and opera- 
 tion. He v has apartments in the College; 
 
 * It is worthy of remark, in proof of the respectability of the 
 Syrian College, and of the approbation with which the Missio- 
 naries' proceedings are regarded, that the College of Fort St. 
 George has presented to the College of Cotym a Copy of each of 
 its Publications ; with an intimation from the Board of Superin- 
 tendance, of their intention to present to that Institution a Copy 
 of every Publication which may hereafter issue from their Press* 
 (See XXIIId Report of the Church Missionary Society, p. 243.) 
 R 2 
 
244 Of the Syrian Church in Travancorc* 
 
 where they meet him every week, upon the 
 business of the Mission. He is acquainted 
 with all that is passing; and nothing is done 
 without his concurrence. A report to the 
 contrary was circulated in India about three 
 years ago. It was said that the Missiona- 
 ries were interfering with the Syrians, in op- 
 position to their own Metropolitan's wish. 
 This having reached the ears of the late 
 Bishop of Calcutta, that lamented Prelate, 
 when returning from the last Visitation he 
 held at Bombay, stopped at Cochin, and 
 sent for the Syrian Bishop, in order to ascer- 
 tain whether or no it were the fact: and, 
 upon the Metropolitan's declaring that there 
 was no truth in the report, and that the Mis- 
 sionaries were labouring with good effect 
 and in perfect harmony with himself and his 
 Clergy, his Lordship expressed his satisfac- 
 tion, and shortly after took his leave. 
 
 Colonel Munro writes, in the Address 
 already noticed : " In several conferences 
 which I had with the Bishop and Syrian 
 Clergy, during a visit which I made to Cotym 
 in December last, they expressed, with 
 warmth, their satisfaction and gratitude, at 
 the course of measures adopted to enlighten 
 and restore the Syrian Church." They, and 
 the Bishop in particular, expressed the same 
 
Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 245 
 
 to myself: and the Syriac Letter* which they 
 sent by me to the Church Missionary Society 
 conveys an official and grateful acknowledg- 
 ment for the many favours they had received. 
 I was favoured with several interviews 
 with the Syrian Bishop ; and can with truth 
 say, that he appeared to be a man of genuine 
 piety, sound judgment, and humility ; de- 
 voted to his people and his God ; and in 
 every respect qualified for the important 
 duties of his station. The Missionaries 
 write of him " The Metropolitan is a man 
 deserving of all honour; not only from his 
 rank, but from his character : he is a wise 
 man, and an humble man. He is the head, 
 not only of the Syrian Church, but of the 
 Mission. Nothing takes place within the 
 Mission without acquainting him with it ; 
 nor is any thing allowed, to which he at all 
 objects." "The Metropolitan's affection and 
 respect for us increase. Mar Philoxenusf, 
 who lives an hundred miles to the North, ends 
 all his Letters to our friend Mar Dionysius 
 at Cotym, * Let no abatement of the regard 
 of the Sahibs { at Cotym befall us||.' " 
 
 * An English Translation of this Letter was published in the 
 Missionary Register for October 1822. pp. 431, 432. 
 f The retired Syrian Bishop. J Gentlemen. 
 
 See XXIId Report of the Church Missionary Society, p.153. 
 
246 Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 
 
 Thus, by the happy combination of wis- 
 dom, prudence, and perseverance, the Mis- 
 sionaries have accomplished, in six years, 
 what the duplicity and violence of the Ro- 
 man-Catholics, though exerted for centuries, 
 could never have effected. They have in- 
 gratiated themselves with the Metropolitans, 
 Malpans, Clergy, and the whole body of Sy- 
 rians. Their conciliatory, consistent, and 
 truly Christian conduct has impressed all 
 ranks with the conviction, that they are come 
 amongst them for no other purpose, but to 
 improve their condition, and promote their 
 present and future happiness. Their counsel 
 and example have quickened the long-torpid 
 spirits of many, and called them forth actu- 
 ally to co-operate with them in the prosecu- 
 tion of their work. They have given them 
 several useful and religious works, in their 
 own language; and the Translation of the 
 Scriptures is advancing. They have prevailed 
 upon parents to send their sons to a distance 
 from home (a thing which before they were 
 scarcely known to do), to be educated at the 
 College, under the care of foreigners. They 
 have collected already fifty promising Youths 
 (as many as the College can receive), and 
 are educating them, according to the Euro- 
 pean mode of instruction* for the Sacred Work 
 
Of the Syrian Church in Travancore. 247 
 
 of the Ministry. They have established a 
 System of Education for all ranks, nearly 
 throughout the whole of the Diocese ; and 
 even persuaded some of the Syrians, poor 
 and penurious as they found them, to contri- 
 bute towards the support of the Schools. 
 They have exercised amongst them, and 
 taught them to admire, a purer mode of 
 worship than their own ; and that without 
 making one observation, upon the vanity of 
 the superstitions of their Church, that could 
 wound their feelings. 
 
 Let this conduct be contrasted with that 
 of the Jesuits towards this interesting people : 
 and let these facts speak in reply to the 
 Abb6 Dubois' assertion, that all the success 
 the Missionaries had to boast of among them 
 was, the having prevailed upon many of their 
 Priests to marry. 
 
 But he is greatly mistaken, if he think 
 that they " boast of" even this unexampled 
 success. Promising as appearances are, and 
 happily as every thing concurs to promote 
 their object, they attribute all to the super- 
 intending Providence of the Almighty. In 
 their weekly consultations, previous to enter- 
 ing upon business, they unite in prayer to 
 God, for wisdom and direction: in the same 
 spirit of dependence upon Divine Aid, they 
 
248 Necessity of Promoting Christianity, 
 
 prosecute all their labours: and sure I am, 
 that, so far from " boasting of" what they 
 have done, they render the glory to Him, to 
 whom only it is due. 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 THE DUTY AND POLICY OF PROMOTING CHRIS- 
 TIANITY IN INDIA ; AND THE NECESSITY OF 
 IMPROVING THE CHARACTER OF THE SER- 
 VANTS OF GOVERNMENT, BOTH EUROPEAN 
 AND NATIVE. 
 
 IT has long been customary, in certain quar- 
 ters, to decry all Missionaries in the East, 
 and to predict the downfal of our Indian 
 Empire, as the inevitable result of their pro- 
 ceedings. And, though the experience of more 
 than twenty years has proved that such appre- 
 hensions are without foundation (the extension 
 and increasing stability of our Eastern Domi- 
 nion having more than kept pace with the pro- 
 gress of Missionary Exertion), yet even now 
 there are not wanting individuals, who, upon 
 every shadow of a pretext, step forward to 
 repeat assertions, which have been often 
 confuted, and to retail prophecies, which the 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 249 
 
 actual issue of the measures upon which they 
 are founded have long since proved falla- 
 cious. 
 
 The Abb Dubois is one of this number. 
 He also sounds his note of alarm upon the 
 question ; though he must know it to be as 
 " stale a subject" as that of burning the Hin- 
 doo Widows upon the Funeral Pile. 
 
 /also beg leave to sound an alarm though 
 with a very different trumpet. Instead of 
 predicting the ruin of the Honourable the 
 East-India Company's dominions, as the con- 
 sequence of Missionary undertakings, I he- 
 sitate not to assert, that it were better to 
 abandon all their Eastern acquisitions, than 
 to discourage the propagation of Christianity ; 
 or even to stand neuter, and use no means to 
 promote that object, throughout their exten- 
 sive Empire. A fearful load of responsibility 
 rests upon them ! The history of all Na- 
 tions proves, that every event is under the 
 Almighty's controul. By Him " Nations 
 and Empires rise and fall, flourish and de- 
 cay." The triumphs and defeats of armies, 
 unless viewed in connection with the sove- 
 reign purposes of God, are of less moment, in 
 His sight, and in that of every wise and good 
 man, than the descent and evaporation of 
 the morning-dew. But when regarded as 
 
250 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 links in that chain of events upon which the 
 stupendous designs of Jehovah are sus- 
 pended, they assume an importance, with 
 which no other consideration can invest them. 
 We may instance the successive rise and fall 
 of the Chaldean, the Persian^ the Grecian, 
 and the Roman Monarchies ; compared with 
 the Sacred Prediction, and actual accom- 
 plishment of designs, which were fulfilled, 
 without the intention, or even knowledge, of 
 the immediate agents employed, by a wise 
 and all-controlling Providence, to carry them 
 into execution! Let us instance, also, the 
 universal success of the Roman arms in the 
 reign of Augustus, so evidently intended to 
 tranquillize the world, and prepare it for the 
 Advent of the Prince of Peace ! 
 
 Every one conversant with the history of 
 the British Empire in India will know, that 
 the acquisition of territory has long ceased 
 to be the object (if indeed it ever were the 
 object) of the English in waging war with 
 the Native Powers. Self-defence alone seems 
 to have called them into the field, against the 
 French, Hyder, Tippoo, and other formida- 
 ble enemies. At the close of the last Mah- 
 ratta War, the Marquis of Hastings publicly 
 and distinctly avowed thus much, in reference 
 to that campaign : and I know not of a single 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 25 1 
 
 instance upon record, wherein the British have 
 taken up arms for the purpose of molesting 
 an unoffending Prince, however insignificant 
 and defenceless, much less of despoiling him 
 of his dominions. Sir John Malcolm*, speak- 
 ing of the extension of the British Empire in 
 India, says, " We have been reluctantly com- 
 pelled, by events far beyond our power to 
 controul, to assume the duties of Lord-para- 
 mount of that great Continent." " Increase 
 of territory will, in spite of all our efforts, 
 come too rapidly. The cause which has 
 compelled, and will continue, beyond all 
 others, to compel us to increase our dominion, 
 lies deep in the character of our powerf." 
 This he proceeds to explain : but it shall suf- 
 fice here to remark, that God has often seemed 
 to permit the Wicked Spirit (as in Ahab's 
 case, 2 Chron. xviii. 18 22.) to inspire the 
 Counsellors of Native Princes with the spirit 
 of infatuation which has urged them on to 
 provoke hostilities against themselves, until 
 the British have had no alternative, but to 
 deprive them of all power in future to disturb 
 their peace. In this way has the major part 
 of our Indian Territory been transferred to our 
 
 * Memoir of Central India>, vol. II. p. 264. 
 t Mem, pp. 267, 268. 
 
252 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 hands, contrary to our expectations, and often 
 against our wish. 
 
 For what purpose, I ask, has the Almighty 
 conferred upon a Company of British Mer- 
 chants a more extensive dominion than any 
 earthly Monarch governs ? Can it be for their 
 personal aggrandizement ? to enrich our na- 
 tion, and indulge us with exotic luxuries ? 
 No ; there is not the shadow of a reason to 
 conclude that His object is different from 
 what it has generally been, m permitting one 
 nation to triumph over another. That object 
 is, to prepare a way for the Ambassadors of 
 Peace, and to extend the boundaries and 
 blessings of His Kingdom. To deny this, or 
 to suppose that the case of the British Power 
 in India forms an exception to the Almighty's 
 general design, is to provoke Him to sub- 
 vert that mighty Empire. We glory in the 
 achievements of our arms : but soon will 
 their splendour be tarnished, soon shall our 
 Indian Possessions be taken from us, and 
 given to a Nation more zealous for the honour 
 of our God, unless we inscribe on our ban- 
 ners, " Holiness to the Lord," and follow up 
 our successes by rendering them subservient 
 to the promotion of His glory in the East. 
 
 How vast then, how tremendous, the re- 
 sponsibility of our Indian Government ! I 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 253 
 
 tremble for the mortal that shall presume to 
 endeavour, either to extenuate its magnitude, 
 or, by word or action, to divert the Rulers of 
 our Eastern Empire from discharging that 
 debt which they owe to The Lord of Hosts ! 
 He has given them an opportunity to acquire 
 a more splendid renown than ever rewarded 
 the hero of the field. If they avail themselves 
 of it, by diffusing the light of Revelation 
 wherever they bear sway, then, when here- 
 after they shall see countless myriads flocking 
 from the East to meet the Ransomed from the 
 West, they themselves will enter with the 
 throng into the realms of unfading glory. 
 But, if they use no means to promote this 
 object, still it shall be accomplished for it 
 is the Almighty's purpose : and He hath 
 declared, " I will work ; and who shall let 
 it (turn it back)?" " My counsel shall stand ; 
 and I will do all My pleasure." No hostility 
 or inactivity of man shall prevent the achieve- 
 ment of the Redeemer's triumphs in the East : 
 and if those, who are instrumental in effecting 
 those conquests, shall find their future joys 
 proportionably increased, the remorse of every 
 opponent to the work, when he shall witness 
 its completion, can neither be described nor 
 conceived ! 
 
 Often has it been, objected, that the propa- 
 
254 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 gation of Christianity in India is a measure 
 fraught with imminent danger to our Eastern 
 Possessions. Suppose, for the sake of argu- 
 ment, we allow the possibility of the thing : 
 yet will any man, of right understanding, and 
 impressed with a moderate degree of reve- 
 rence for the authority and holiness of the 
 Supreme Being, urge this as a sufficient rea- 
 son for the omission of so sacred, so obvious 
 a duty? Shall secular interest be allowed to 
 stand in competition with the performance of 
 that duty ? No ! Will not such an one say, 
 Let our Indian Empire go to its natural 
 owners, to any one, rather than retain it on 
 condition that we withhold therefrom the 
 Light of Revelation, and thereby incur the 
 Almighty's displeasure ! What is the wealth 
 of the Indies, without the favour of God? 
 we should soon find it more worthless than 
 dross. If, in order to preserve our Eastern 
 Dominions, we deny to the millions of our 
 Indian Subjects, that " Light" which was re- 
 vealed for the express purpose of enlightening 
 the Gentiles theGod who has bestowed upon 
 us the vast Continent of Hindoostan, may 
 soon be provoked to recall that costly acqui- 
 sition. 
 
 An able officer, already named, (Sir John 
 Malcolm) argues, upon principles not dissi- 
 
both among Europeans an d Na fives . 255 
 
 milar, for the diffusion of " knowledge and 
 truth" throughout our Indian Possessions. 
 He says, at the conclusion of the work above 
 quoted " The relation of the Natives of 
 India to the English is that of a conquered 
 people to its conquerors. Since we have 
 obtained sovereignty over them, we have 
 greatly ameliorated their condition ; and all 
 rational means have been employed to pro- 
 mote their happiness, and to secure to them 
 the benefits of good government. By pre- 
 mature efforts to accelerate the progress of 
 the blessings it is our hope to impart, we 
 shall not only hasten our own downfal, but 
 replunge the Natives of India into a state of 
 greater anarchy and misery than that from 
 which w r e relieved them. Let us, therefore, 
 calmly proceed in a course of gradual im- 
 provement ; and when our rule ceases for 
 cease it must (though probably at a remote 
 period), as the natural consequence of our 
 success in the diffusion of knowledge ! we 
 shall, as a Nation, have the proud boast, that 
 we have preferred the civilization to the con- 
 tinued subjection of India. When our power 
 is gone, our name will be revered ; for we 
 shall leave a Moral Monument, more noble 
 and imperishable than the hand of man ever 
 constructed !" 
 
256 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 This liberality of sentiment is worthy of the 
 man, and of the subject which he advocates : 
 and all that I require is, the application of 
 the principle to the Cause for which I plead. 
 If the enlightening of the Native Mind, with 
 the knowledge of European Literature, is a 
 duty paramount to every personal or politi- 
 cal consideration, and should make us rise 
 above every sordid calculation of secular 
 interest and if it be more honourable to 
 retain possession of India for a few years, 
 while employing every means to improve the 
 mind and condition of the Natives, than to 
 keep them for treble the space of any given 
 period in a state of mental darkness as well 
 as corporal subjection we have only to con- 
 sider the vast superiority of Christian Know- 
 ledge over every human science or natural 
 acquirement and also the unadulterated, 
 the imperishable enjoyments to which it 
 leads in order to be convinced how un- 
 worthy it is of the man, who has any pre- 
 tensions to the character and hopes of a 
 Christian, to deny the inestimable blessings 
 of our Religion to the Natives of India, upon 
 the plea, that it will endanger our dominion 
 over them, and our possession of their land. 
 But while I concede, ex animo 9 that it is 
 incumbent upon us to instruct the Natives of 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 25? 
 
 the East in the arts and sciences of the West, 
 notwithstanding the danger to our Indian 
 Empire which Sir John Malcolm apprehends 
 from their improvement* ; yet ought it not 
 to be maturely considered, how that effect 
 of their advancement in knowledge can be 
 best counteracted? The Ethics of a Socrates 
 or a Seneca can never curb the natural free- 
 dom of the spirits that have nothing better 
 to restrain them. But if you call in the aid 
 of Christianity, you apply a remedy, and the 
 only effectual one, to obviate the evil you 
 dread. To impart to your Indian Subjects 
 merely secular knowledge, may be to supply 
 them with weapons against yourselves. Cer- 
 tainly the most dependence can be placed 
 upon their allegiance, after they shall become 
 better instructed, when they are brought also 
 under the influence of the precepts and prin- 
 ciples of the Gospel. 
 
 If this reasoning be correct, we see that 
 Christianity, instead of endangering our Em- 
 pire in the East, will tend to increase its sta- 
 
 * Though I reason upon the supposition that this effect may 
 result from the mental improvement of the Natives, yet I think 
 it questionable. When their minds are more enlarged than they 
 are at present, we may reasonably anticipate, that they will be 
 better able to appreciate the nature and advantages of our 
 government : and when that shall be the case, we may expect 
 them to yield us a willing obedience. 
 
 S 
 
258 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 bility. So far then from its being impolitic 
 to promote its diffusion through that Pagan 
 Land, I am prepared to maintain, that it is 
 the most politic measure that could be 
 adopted. In this assertion I am supported 
 by two authorities, which few will refuse to 
 admit. The first is that of Lord Teignmouth, 
 " who, after serving the Company for above 
 five-and-twenty years, in various subordinate 
 offices and after having been associated, for 
 the last three or four of them, with Lord Corn- 
 wallis in the Supreme Council when some 
 changes of extreme importance were to be 
 made in the East-India Company's system, 
 was, without recommendation or interest, se- 
 lected, solely on the ground of his high inte- 
 grity, tried abilities, and perfect acquaintance 
 with East-India affairs, to fill the high office 
 of Governor-General of Bengal. A few years 
 ago, that Nobleman published to the world his 
 sentiments on this subject; and distinctly de- 
 clared his strong and clear persuasion, that 
 it was not only practicable, but expedient, 
 on grounds of political interest, as well as 
 just and right on theprinciples of Religion and 
 Humanity, to communicate, prudently and 
 discreetly, to the Natives of India, the 
 knowledge of Christianity ; and thereby, 
 through the Divine Blessing, to improve their 
 
bo th among Europeans and Na tives. 259 
 
 wretched state in this world, as well as to 
 open to their view the prospect of eternal 
 happiness*. 
 
 Such are that Nobleman's general senti- 
 ments upon the subject of evangelizing India. 
 His view of the question, upon which I now 
 more particularly quote his authority, I shall 
 transcribe from his own Pamphlet. 
 
 " Major Scott Waring asks if it can be 
 possible 'that thirty thousand British sub- 
 jects could retain an Empire containing fifty 
 millions of people, if the Christian Religion 
 was universal in India?' The question will 
 not at this time be deemed to require a solu- 
 tion: and on his principles the case will 
 never occur. But it is more pertinent to ask, 
 Whether the British Dominion in India will 
 not acquire additional solidity by the acces- 
 sion of a body of Natives united to us by 
 the bond of a common Faith ? Major Scott 
 Waring foresees no danger in the operation 
 of bigotry, superstition, and prejudice; which, 
 whilst they exist in their present force, must 
 oppose a bar to a cordial union between the 
 Natives of India and their European Rulers. 
 I see the subject in a different light ; and, 
 without wishing to circumscribe the limits of 
 that toleration which has hitherto been 
 adopted, feel the necessity of introducing a 
 
 * Christian Observer, Vol. XII. pp. 26S, 67. 
 S2 
 
260 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 principle of counteraction and melioration, 
 by implanting amongst them the doctrines 
 of Christianity*." 
 
 Without comment upon this extract, I will 
 merely subjoin the Query of the^riterin the 
 Christian Observer, already cited : " Shall 
 Lord Teignmouth's judgment of East-India 
 affairs, so highly and universally respected 
 in every other particular, be called in ques- 
 tion in this instance only ?" 
 
 My other authority is, that of Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Munro, whose talents and assiduity, 
 when young in the Service, attracted the 
 notice of Government, and subsequently 
 marked him out as a fit person to be entrusted 
 with the responsible and important situation 
 of Resident of Travancore. In the Address 
 to the Madras Government, so frequently 
 noticed in these pages by which it will be 
 seen what a comprehensive view he took of 
 the subject relative to the improvement of 
 the Natives of India, and with what discre- 
 tion and perseverance he projected and exe- 
 cuted plans for their amelioration he says : 
 
 " The facts which I have described seem 
 to authorise the conclusion a conclusion, 
 which, I am convinced, will be further con- 
 firmed the more the subject is examined and 
 studied that whatever impediments may be. 
 
 "Considerations" &c. pp. 44, 45. 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 261 
 
 opposed to the progress of Christianity, 
 proceed from political, and not from religious 
 jealousy. They who cherish sentiments of 
 hostility against the British Power, and 
 hopes of its instability, will, of course, decry 
 any measures calculated to unite the interest 
 of a body of the people with its permanency . 
 That power is exposed to greater danger 
 from secret conspiracy, than from open re- 
 sistance ; and this danger must increase with 
 the extension of the British Possessions, 
 which augments the disproportion, in num- 
 bers already so immense, between the Rulers 
 and the Subjects. But, in establishing a body 
 of Native Subjects connected with the mass 
 of the people by a community of language, 
 occupations and pursuits, and united to the 
 British Government by the stronger ties of 
 Religion and mutual safety, ample means 
 would be acquired of procuring information 
 of the proceedings of the people, and of all 
 machinations against the British Power. In 
 the course of time, still greater advantages 
 would arise ; and the support of a respect- 
 able body of Christian Subjects would con- 
 tribute to strengthen the British Power, in 
 those junctures of commotion and difficulty, 
 which must be expected to occur in a 
 country like India, that has been in a state 
 of revolution for ages. The introduction of 
 
262 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 Christianity, in some of the Provinces, may 
 be attended with delays ; but, in Travancore 
 and Cochin, there is already a numerous 
 body of Christian Inhabitants, who, with 
 moderate assistance and encouragement from 
 the British Government, will firmly attach 
 themselves to its interests, and may prove of 
 material service in supporting its power." 
 
 If there be still a doubt on the Reader's 
 mind, as to the policy or safety of Govern- 
 ment countenancing the propagation of 
 Christianity in India, let him look at the 
 Island of Ceylon, where the experiment has 
 actually been made. The Dutch Govern- 
 ment, from their first possession of that island, 
 and subsequently the British Government, 
 have openly countenanced Missionaries, and 
 furthered their designs for the Religious im- 
 provement of the Natives. That Colony 
 " has been highly favoured, in the beneficent 
 views of persons in authority. A deserved 
 testimony is borne on this subject, in the 
 following passage of the Tenth Report of 
 the Colombo Bible Society*" 
 
 " It is not solely to the number of Copies 
 of the Scriptures which the Committee have 
 been enabled to circulate, important as that 
 object undoubtedly is, that the advantages 
 
 * Missionary Register for January 1824, p. (}4, 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 263 
 
 arising from an institution of this nature are 
 to be estimated. Much, very much, is to be 
 expected from the beneficial influence of 
 example. The Natives of this Colony have 
 now, for a long course of years, beheld the 
 Governor of the Island, and all the principal 
 Officers of the Government, however various 
 and dissimilar may be their general habits 
 and pursuits, steadily combined together in 
 cordial and zealous co-operation for the ad- 
 vancement of one object, obviously dis- 
 interested on their part, and solely intended 
 to promote the welfare of the people." 
 
 The popularity of several Gentlemen who 
 have been most active in these proceedings, 
 and the absence of the faintest appearance 
 of dissatisfaction on the part of the Natives, 
 furnish an undeniable proof of the safety 
 with which a similar countenance might be 
 afforded to the promulgation of Christianity 
 upon the Indian Continent. 
 
 1 had been led to believe that Sir John 
 Malcolm opposed the introduction of Chris- 
 tianity into our Indian Empire, and took up 
 his " Memoir of Central India" under that 
 impression. But I find nothing in that in- 
 teresting work which can be construed into 
 hostility against Missionary pursuits, or that 
 bears at all upon the general question of 
 evangelizing the East. I should have been 
 
264 Ncessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 surprised and pained to have found this intel- 
 ligent Officer lending the authority of his 
 respectable name in support of the outcry 
 vociferated against this majestic and mo- 
 mentous undertaking. If I understand him 
 and I have taken pains to do so he admits, 
 and even enforces, the duty of instructing and 
 ameliorating the Natives. It is upon the 
 measure, to be adopted for this purpose, that 
 he recommends caution and patience ; and I 
 know not the Missionary in India that would 
 not unite with him in the suggestion. It is 
 worthy of observation, also, that his remarks 
 even on Education are not intended to apply 
 to the whole of our Eastern Dominions not 
 to the Presidencies and their neighbour- 
 hood, nor to the " towns and provinces long 
 under the British Government," but to newly- 
 conquered countries. " Nothing could be 
 more dangerous," he says, " at the present 
 moment, than the extension of this plan of 
 Education into countries just emerging from 
 anarchy ; and the bad impression made upon 
 ignorant and agitated minds, by the misrepre- 
 sentations of our intentions in such a measure, 
 would far exceed any good that could be 
 effected by its establishment. These senti- 
 ments led to the rejection of a proposition* 
 
 * Sir John here subjoins the following Note- " A proposition 
 for introducing Schools was made to the Hon. Mr. Elphinstone, 
 
 when 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 265 
 
 made by pious and excellent men for its im- 
 mediate introduction over our late Conquests ; 
 and the same caution led to very strict rules 
 being laid down to prevent any European 
 Merchants or Adventurers settling in Central 
 India, or having any money concerns with 
 its inhabitants." 
 
 There is nothing in this Extract (and I 
 find no stronger language upon the subject 
 in the work from which it is transcribed) 
 that can justify the conclusion, that the 
 writer has enlisted himself on the side of 
 those who are opposed to Missionary Pro- 
 ceedings in the East. Instead of applying 
 to the Advocates of the Cause, as is some- 
 times done, contemptuous epithets, he speaks 
 of them in respectful terms, as "pious and 
 excellent men;" and explains his reasons for 
 rejecting their proposition, to arise, not from 
 any hostile feelings towards them or their ob- 
 ject, but from that caution which he thought 
 it necessary to observe in reference to all 
 other Europeans not immediately in the ser- 
 vice of Government. 
 
 The same author has forcibly shewn the 
 
 when Commissioner of the Poona Territories ; as well as to me, 
 when in charge of Central India. An answer, grounded on the 
 reasons that have been stated, was given, by both, for rejecting its 
 adoption." 
 
266 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 necessity of peace throughout the British 
 Empire in the East, in order to preserve its 
 stability. The propriety of the measures 
 which he suggests for the purpose, on their 
 adaptation to the end in view, I presume not, 
 nor does it fall within my province, to dis- 
 cuss. One additional expedient, however, I 
 may be permitted to mention, in consistency 
 with the design of the present work ; viz. 
 The introduction of Christianity. No policy 
 can be compared with this ! No enactments, 
 no concessions, no judicial or financial ar- 
 rangements, can so tranquillize the minds of 
 men, as the genial influence of our Holy Re- 
 ligion. Peace is its appropriate characteris- 
 tic. It reveals how peace was effected between 
 God and apostate Man, by the Atonement 
 offered on the Cross. It calms the fears of 
 the guilty conscience, and reduces the turbu- 
 lent passions of the soul to peace. When 
 thus received into the heart, it will unite all 
 the members of the body politic, to their 
 Rulers and to each other, in one bond of 
 amity and love. Visionary as these antici- 
 pations may appear to the partial observer, 
 they are the very predictions of Holy Writ. 
 " And it shall come to pass in the last days, 
 that the Mountain of the Lord's House shall 
 be established in the top of the mountains, 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 267 
 
 and shall be exalted above the hills ; and 
 all nations shall flow unto it. And many 
 people shall go and say, Come ye, and 
 let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord, 
 to the House of the God of Jacob ! and He 
 will teach us of His ways, and we will walk 
 in His paths : for out of Zion shall go forth 
 the Law, and the Word of the Lord from 
 Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the 
 nations, and shall rebuke many people ; and 
 they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, 
 and their spears into pruning-hooks : nation 
 shall not lift up sword against nation, neither 
 shall they learn war any more :" (Isa.ii. 2 4.) 
 " Come ! behold the works of the Lord, what 
 desolations He hath made in the earth ! He 
 maketh wars to cease unto the end of the 
 earth ; He breaketh the bow, and cutteth 
 the spear in sunder : He burneth the chariot 
 in the fire. Be still ; and know that I am God. 
 I will be exalted among the Heathen ; I will 
 be exalted in the earth :" (Ps. xlvi. 8 JO. 
 Every Christian, who has felt the power of 
 Religion in his own heart, will declare, that 
 such must be the universal effect of its dif- 
 fusion through the world. And hence it is 
 obvious, that there can be no sounder policy 
 than to promote its advancement in the East. 
 That Sir John Malcolm has not noticed 
 
268 Necessity of promo ting Christianity, 
 
 this, in his enumeration of the measures cal- 
 culated to preserve the tranquillity of India, 
 cannot be fairly construed even into indiffe- 
 rence, much less hostility, to this great sub- 
 ject. It may, and, probably, ought to be 
 attributed to the same cause which I assign 
 for not entering mte the political view of the 
 question it did not fall within his province. 
 But while I argue thus for the policy of 
 propagating Christiany in the East, I must 
 not be understood to recommend the Go- 
 vernment to take an active part in the work. 
 Not because 1 think, with the Abb6 Dubois, 
 that it would "prove detrimental to" the 
 Cause, " by increasing the jealousy and dis- 
 trust of the Natives" (p. 48) ; but because I am 
 persuaded that it would occasion the Church 
 to be crowded with multitudes who would 
 prove a disgrace to our Religion. When, in 
 the reign of Constantine, Christianity was 
 first made the Religion of the State, such was 
 precisely the effect produced. The unas- 
 suming, the self-denying Genius of the Gospel 
 fled before the Spirits of ambition and cupi- 
 dity, which now possessed the Church. ' ' Ex- 
 ternal piety flourished ; Monastic Societies 
 in particular places were also growing ; but 
 faith, love, heavenly-mindedness, appear very 
 rare : yet among the poor and obscure Chris- 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 2(>9 
 
 tians, I hope," says Milner, " there was far 
 more Godliness, than could be seen at Courts, 
 and among Bishops and persons of eminence. 
 The doctrine of Real Conversion was very 
 much lost, or External Baptism was placed 
 in its stead ; and the true doctrine of Justi- 
 fication by Faith, and the true practical use 
 of a Crucified Saviour for troubled con- 
 sciences, were scarce to be seen at this time. 
 There was much outward Religion, but this 
 could not make men Saints in heart and life." 
 " True humility and charity were now little 
 known in the Christian World, while Super- 
 stition and Self-righteousness were making 
 vigorous shoots ; and the real Gospel of 
 Christ was hidden from men who profes- 
 sed it*." 
 
 Notwithstanding the confident assertions 
 of M. Dubois and others, respecting the in- 
 vincibility of the Hindoos' attachment to their 
 customs and superstitions, I will venture as 
 confidently to predict, that the Church of 
 Christ in the East will soon become as crowd- 
 ed, and as soon degenerate into this secular, 
 heterodox, and vicious character, when the 
 Natives shall find it conducive to their tem- 
 poral welfare to embrace the Christian Reli- 
 gion. They would flock by thousands to the 
 
 * Church History, vol. II. p. 49. 
 
270 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 standard of the Cross, if they found it the 
 passport to wealth and distinction. Send me 
 forth with an unlimited commission from the 
 Ruling Powers, and, were it possible that I 
 could undertake so impious a task, 1 would 
 engage to return you as many Converts, with 
 a large proportion of Holy Brahmins among 
 them, as I had lucrative situations to confer at 
 the Baptismal Font ! ! But it is not the 
 object of Protestant Missionaries to extend 
 the name of Christianity, without its spirit ; 
 and, therefore, they studiously withhold from 
 the Natives every secular inducement to em- 
 brace our Holy Faith. 
 
 While, ^however, I do not propose to the 
 East-India Company to engage in any direct 
 measures for the Conversion of the Hindoos, 
 there are yet two or three points deserving 
 mature deliberation. 
 
 First : The Missionary may, in various 
 ways, be assisted in his humble, laborious, 
 and self-denying task, at little or no expense 
 to Government. While he behaves with pru- 
 dence, and refrains from interfering with Civil 
 or Military Affairs, the Company's Servants 
 might receive express orders to shew him 
 that respect which they pay to each other. 
 The Natives of India seldom pay much re- 
 gard to an European from whom they have ' 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 2/1 
 
 nothing to expect, especially when they 
 observe that he is neglected by his Country- 
 men. Consequently, when a Missionary is 
 scowled upon by the Gentlemen at his Sta- 
 tion, it tends to degrade him in the eyes of 
 the Heathen, and impedes the influence 
 which his character and exertions might 
 otherwise command. Whatever opinions, 
 may be entertained of Missionary pursuits, 
 and their probable results, the devoted men, 
 who have embarked in the Cause, are deserv- 
 ing of honour from all ranks. They have 
 forsaken all that is dear to man on earth ; 
 renounced every worldly prospect ; literally 
 presented themselves as living sacrifices to 
 their God and Saviour ; and that, with no 
 one object in view, but to promote the present 
 and future happiness of their fellow-men., 
 Such characters are very undeserving of that 
 contempt, with which I know they are some- 
 times regarded. Were their personal feel- 
 ings only concerned, they would hardly 
 thank me for speaking thus in their behalf: 
 but it is their office, their situation among 
 the Heathen, which requires this small tri- 
 bute of respect : and when it is withheld 
 from them, and impediments are unneces^ 
 sarily thrown in their way, for no other pur- 
 pose but to annoy them, it is calculated 
 
272 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 to discourage them in their work, and to 
 dimmish their influence. It has been said, 
 and the Abb6 Dubois repeats the calumny 
 (p. 176), that the interference of the Protest- 
 ant Missionaries with the prejudices of the 
 Hindoos hasproduced ' * irritation, opposition, 
 and resistance." Why has he not given an 
 instance in support of his assertion ? be- 
 cause the experience of upwards of a cen- 
 tury, from the arrival of Ziegenbalg at 
 Tranquebar, to the present moment, can- 
 not furnish one ! Of all European Residents in 
 India, the Protestant Missionary is the truest 
 friend to Government. The Soldier protects 
 their frontiers, and preserves the internal tran- 
 quillity of the State ; the Magistrate takes 
 cognizance of individual transgressions of the 
 Laws, and dispenses justice impartially to 
 all ; the Commercial Agent promotes indus- 
 try among different classes of the Natives, and 
 conducts and improves the commerce of the 
 Empire ; the Collector promotes the cultiva- 
 tion of the soil, and replenishes the Public 
 Treasury : but all these labour for reward. 
 The humble Missionary, without any pecu- 
 niary remuneration from the Government, de- 
 votes himself exclusively to the improvement 
 of the Subjects of the Realm ; and, in propor- 
 tion as he succeeds, he accomplishes, or 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 273 
 
 rather anticipates, much of the Public Ser- 
 vants' duties. The effect of his doctrines 
 and precepts is, to preserve peace on earth, 
 and thereby to supersede the use of arms : 
 whilst all ranks, learning from him their duty 
 to God and Man, and seeking, through his 
 directions, Divine assistance to perform their 
 duty, will leave to the Officers over the dif- 
 ferent Departments of the Service little more 
 to do, than to gather in the fruit of his 
 labours. And, above all, instead of holding 
 the Natives in submission by constraint, he 
 binds them (at least those of them who are 
 converted by his means to Christianity) to 
 their Rulers, by an identity of interest, and 
 by the bond of Christian Love. Then is it 
 too much to demand, for this useful class of 
 Individuals, that attention, which their cha- 
 racter ought to command, and which the 
 nature of their services so justly merits ? I 
 am not impugning the conduct of our Indian 
 Rulers in this particular; and am persuaded 
 that they would never sanction any marked 
 and unmerited incivilities towards Missio- 
 naries : but surely it is not too much to hope 
 that they will make known, throughout the 
 Service, that it is their pleasure to have every 
 respect shewn to Missionaries, so long as 
 they do nothing to forfeit it. 
 
274 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 It would greatly facilitate them in the pro- 
 secution of their work, were the Collectors 
 instructed to furnish them with a piece of 
 ground, on which to build their Schools and 
 Churches, where they do not interfere with 
 public buildings or private property. 
 
 When their Converts are persecuted by 
 the Heathen as I have known them, even to 
 the deprivation of their property it is but an 
 act of justice in the Magistrate to inquire as 
 patiently and impartially into their case, as 
 that of the Heathen or Mahomedans. Go- 
 vernment, doubtless, conclude that this is 
 done : but there have been, and may be again, 
 Europeans in the Service, who treat the Na- 
 tive Christians with contempt, and dismiss 
 their complaints in a manner that appals 
 them ; gives their enemies occasion to tri- 
 umph over them, and to repeat the vexatious 
 and unjust persecutions ; and leaves them 
 without the hope of redress. This would, I 
 have little doubt, be prevented, by the issuing 
 of express orders, requiring that the same 
 protection be afforded to the Christians as to 
 every other class of Natives. 
 
 The Converts might, and ought, to have 
 the same advantages as their Countrymen in 
 the Public Service, where they are found to 
 possess equal abilities. This would be 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 275 
 
 effected, by simply abolishing those Regula- 
 tions which require, that all the highest 
 Offices which Natives can hold, shall be tilled 
 by Mahomedans and Hindoos*. It is not 
 just, and, perhaps, is not intended by the 
 East-India Company, that the profession of 
 Christianity alone should exclude a Native 
 from situations of the first respectability : 
 but such is the operation of the Regulations 
 to which I refer ; and, so long as they conti- 
 nue in force, they must be regarded as an 
 impediment to Missionary Exertion. 
 
 The Second point for consideration is, The 
 Establishment of Schools throughout the 
 Company's Dominions, for the Education of 
 their Servants in the English and Native 
 Languages. 
 
 By this means, attention could be paid to 
 their morals, and right principles inculcated. 
 The bribery of the Upper Servants, the cru- 
 elty and extortion often of even the Peons, 
 are notorious. This must make an impression 
 on the Native Mind, greatly to the prejudice 
 of Government ; which is, of course, consider- 
 ed responsible for the acts of its Servants. It 
 
 * Extracts to this effect, from Regulations passed by the Go- 
 vernor in Council of Fort St. George, are given in Appendix B 
 of the " Diary " of a Field-Officer of Cavalry. 
 
 T 2 
 
276 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 answers little purpose to punish individual 
 offenders : the evil must be eradicated. 
 While the Native Servants are left to pick 
 up their education as they can, what else is 
 to be expected, but that they will make the 
 most of their situations, without much scruple 
 of conscience? But give them a proper edu- 
 cation, and you fortify them, as much as lies in 
 your power, against the temptations of office. 
 
 Sir John Malcolm recommends the encou- 
 ragement of the Native Village Schools in 
 Central India, as " the best means of com- 
 mencing, if not completing, the introduction 
 of knowledge amongst them, and thereby 
 gradually ameliorating their condition." I 
 know not the character of those Schools; but 
 with the Native Schools in South India I 
 have some acquaintance ; and will venture to 
 say, that it will answer no good purpose to 
 encourage them, while their present system 
 is continued. Their character cannot be 
 better described, than in the words of the Su- 
 perintend ant of the Church Missionary So- 
 ciety's Schools atTranquebar 
 
 " Among the Schoolmasters of the com- 
 mon Native Schools, many are to be found 
 who give themselves to some open vice. I 
 may say, there is not one who does not, pub- 
 lickly or privately, encourage his Scholars, 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 277 
 
 almost daily, to steal some trifle or other 
 from their parents' homes. They are accus- 
 tomed to bring betel-leaves every morning 
 after breakfast, a piece of wood in the even- 
 ing, and sometimes cash and areka-nuts : 
 consequently, the Native Children are very 
 early accustomed to the vice of stealing ; 
 and, when they are grown up, they continue 
 the same practice ; so that, when they are 
 afterward employed in Public Duties, they 
 do incalculable mischief to their Superiors and 
 inferiors. These facts being well known to 
 our English Superiors, and seriously lamented 
 by many who have these Natives in their 
 service, I need not dwell more on the sub- 
 ject. The vices of stealing and bribery in 
 *the country are beyond description; and 
 thousands of poor people become objects of 
 severe distress, by the dreadful corruption of 
 the Native Public Servants*." 
 
 Nothing, humanly speaking, can remedy 
 these evils, but the establishing of Free 
 Schools, by Government, throughout their 
 dominions. This " will be one of the most 
 successful means of correcting the children 
 in their early vices, and of impressing on 
 their minds the blessings and credit of ho- 
 nesty f." Unless such an expedient be 
 
 * Missionary Register, October 1823, p. 444, f Idem. 
 
278 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 adopted, this corruption, and these oppres- 
 sions, will continue to grow ; until, if any 
 thing can provoke the Natives to resistance, 
 they will be roused to throw off a yoke, un- 
 der which, contrary to the intention or regu- 
 lations of the Government, they are made to 
 groan, 
 
 It is true, the children are taught in these 
 Schools to repeat Native Proverbs, some of 
 which contain excellent morals : but none of 
 them understand the poetic language in 
 which they are written. I remember once 
 reading over a string of them with a Learned 
 Brahmin, who was, every now and then, at 
 a stand for their signification. Some he car- 
 ried home with him, talked over them with 
 his friends, but, after all, could not give me 
 a proper explanation of their meaning. A 
 short time before I left Madras, I went into 
 one of the Native Schools, and requested the 
 Teacher to let me see what the Boys were 
 reading. He shewed me some Ollas, on 
 which were written the Sayings of Ouvyar, 
 I desired him to explain them to me ; when 
 he took up another Olla, which contained 
 the interpretation, and began to read. I 
 stopped him, saying, that I wished him to 
 tell me, from his own mind, what he supposed 
 to be the sense of the Proverbs, or even of 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 279 
 
 the written interpretation : upon this, he 
 looked in my face, and confessed, with a 
 smile, that he understood neither the one nor 
 the other. Such is the ignorance of most of 
 the Native Schoolmasters! and it is evident, 
 tfyat their Scholars can derive no moral bene- 
 fit whatever from repeating Sentences, how- 
 ever sound the morality they contain, unless 
 they are made to comprehend their meaning 
 and application. But if Government would 
 take up the subject of Education, the advan- 
 tages that would result, from the measure, to 
 the Natives, and ultimately to themselves, 
 are too obvious to be named. 
 
 It would tend also to conciliate the minds 
 of the people. Several of their favourite 
 Authors speak of the establishment of 
 Schools for the Education of the Young as 
 one of the most laudable actions, and loudly 
 celebrate the praises of those who have 
 founded Seminaries for Learning. Few 
 plans could be adopted that would more 
 effectually convince them that their Rulers 
 took a real interest in promoting their 
 happiness. 
 
 The knowledge of the English Language 
 acquired in these Schools would prove 
 another bond of attachment on the part of 
 the Natives towards the Government. In 
 
280 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 the event of the invasion of India by any 
 Foreign Nation, a powerful auxiliary would 
 be found in the body of Natives acquainted 
 with our language and the rudiments of our 
 literature. Of the vast number of Natives 
 now in our Service, a very small proportion 
 speak English. Some of the Head-writers, 
 and most confidential servants in our Cutcher- 
 rees and Courts, understand not a word of our 
 language : many of the English Writers, even, 
 comprehend not one sentence in five of what 
 they transcribe : and seldom do you meet 
 with a Native who can pronounce English 
 intelligibly, or converse with you in it, upon 
 any subject out of the common routine of 
 business. The reason is, there a*e very few 
 facilities beyond the Presidencies for the 
 study of the language ; as not many 
 Natives can afford to pay for instruction 
 from a master capable of teaching it : those, 
 therefore, who aspire after employment in 
 the English department of the Service are 
 often obliged to acquire the language as they 
 can from other Natives, who, often without 
 understanding its construction, and but im- 
 perfectly acquainted with its pronunciation, 
 engage to teach it upon moderate terms. 
 This is a subject deserving the immediate 
 attention of Government. Intelligent Youths, 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 281 
 
 descendants of Englishmen, might be se- 
 lected, from the Asylums at the different Pre- 
 sidencies, for this service, and receive an ap- 
 propriate education. Many capable young 
 men of this description have long been em- 
 ployed in the Financial, Medical, and Survey- 
 ing Departments ; and they would be equally 
 useful as Schoolmasters. Two were engaged 
 in that capacity in the English Schools of 
 the Church Missionary Society in Tinne- 
 velly : their writing and pronunciation were 
 as good as could be expected from English- 
 men in the same rank of life : and had a 
 little more attention been paid to their educa- 
 tion, they would have equalled any ordinary 
 Schoolmaster in Great Britain. If this sub- 
 ject betaken up by Government, it will find 
 respectable employment for an increasing 
 and interesting body of people, and turn 
 their labours to a very good account. 
 
 A Third subject deserving attention is, The 
 abolition of every practice that outrages the 
 feelings and sympathies of human-nature, and 
 of which British Law would take cognizance. 
 
 Not withstanding the Abb6 Dubois' affected 
 apprehension, that " the putting a stop to 
 Suttees, by coercion, appears a measure too 
 pregnant with danger to be attempted," 
 (p. 1^8,) I maintain that it would tend 
 
2S2 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 to confirm our political power in the East. 
 It might alienate the minds of the interested 
 few who profit by these immolations ; but it 
 would conciliate the bulk of the Natives, 
 and attach them the more cordially to 
 our Government. Remove every barba- 
 rous superstition that paralyzes the affections 
 of the soul, and instantly will you perceive 
 the feelings of humanity begin to revive. 
 Each chord entwined about the heart will 
 soon vibrate to the sounds of parental, filial, 
 and fraternal love ; and even the Hindoo, no 
 longer a misanthrope, or deaf and blind to 
 the charms of society, shall own and rejoice 
 in the relative ties by which man is bound to 
 man. The heart-melting gratitude with 
 which the Rajahpoot Mothers presented at 
 the feet of Colonel Walker the Children pre- 
 served through his humane perseverance ; 
 the conduct of the Widow rescued from the 
 funeral pile at Chicacole towards her Bene- 
 factress, and the subsequent behaviour of 
 her relatives ; are alone sufficient to vindi- 
 cate the Hindoo's claim to the feelings of 
 humanity ; and to shew, that these anticipa- 
 tions will, in all human probability, be 
 realized, when the obstructions that now pre- 
 vent the exercise of those feelings shall be 
 removed. 
 
 But how strange is it, that men, who can 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 283 
 
 reason so fairly on other subjects, should 
 advance their theories, again and again, upon 
 the political danger and commotions to be 
 more than apprehended (as they say) from 
 any change that may be attempted in the 
 Hindoos' practices! " The ancient rules for 
 the collection of the Revenues have been 
 changed and modified in innumerable in- 
 stances" " the Revenue System, both in 
 principle and practice, has undergone a funda- 
 mental alteration." " In opposition to ancient 
 rules and customs, the public assessment in 
 Bengal has been declared fixed and irrevo- 
 cable." " The Revenue-Officers have been 
 deprived of the judicial power which they 
 had from time immemorial exercised: they 
 have been made amenable to the Courts of 
 Justice for acts done in their official capa- 
 city." The " discretionary authority" and 
 " extensive influence" which " the great 
 Zemindars or Landholders possessed," " dur- 
 ing the Mahomedan Government," " are 
 now completely annihilated ; and the greatest 
 Landholder in Bengal possesses no more in- 
 fluence than that of an English Gentleman of 
 extensive landed property." Thus, \hefornwr 
 customs have undergone a total alteration, to 
 the great benefit of the community at large. 
 " With respect to the Criminal Law, the 
 
284 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 British Government adopted the Mahomedari 
 Code, by which it had been antecedently 
 administered ; and the sentences of the Crimi- 
 nal Courts are regulated by that Code, ' ex- 
 cepting in cases in tvhich a deviation from it 
 may be expressly directed by any Regulation 
 passed by the Governor- General in Council'" 
 " Thus the Regulations, in the very outset, 
 intimate some exceptions." In the instances 
 of trials for murder the admission of the 
 testimony of such witnesses as, on account 
 of their Religious persuasion, the Mahomedan 
 Law rejected the capital punishment of tc a 
 person deliberately intending to murder one 
 individual, and accidentally killing another" 
 the Law of Retaliation, by which a murderer 
 66 might escape the punishment due to his 
 crime" in all these instances, the Mahome- 
 dan Law has been altered ; and the very titles 
 of some of the Regulations express, that they 
 are enacted for the purpose of modifying the 
 Mahomedan Law. 
 
 So, also, in reference to the Hindoos. In 
 17Q5, the Government of Bengal put a stop, 
 in the Province of Benares, to the Brahmins' 
 establishing koorhs, during which they lace- 
 rated their own bodies, threatened to swal- 
 low, and sometimes actually swallowed, 
 poison, and wounded or killed their female 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 285 
 
 relations or children, " on the approach of any 
 person to serre them with any process, or to 
 exercise coercion over them on the part of 
 Government or its delegates." By the same 
 Regulation, they were forbidden to sit dhurna 
 also. To recover a debt, or extort charity, 
 they were accustomed to take their seat at 
 the person's door of whom the demand was 
 made. Provided with some offensive weapon 
 or poison, in order to wound or kill them- 
 selves upon any one entering or quitting the 
 house, they sat fasting until their object was 
 attained ; and it was considered " equally 
 incumbent on the party who was the occa- 
 sion of such Brahmins thus sitting, to abstain 
 from nourishment until the latter were satis- 
 fied." 
 
 " The rules and measures adopted for 
 putting a stop to these abuses, and for pre- 
 venting the revival of the still more savage 
 custom, which, until within these few years, 
 had been generally prevalent among the 
 Tribe of Rauje Koomars inhabiting the 
 borders of the province near Jompore of 
 destroying their infant female children, by 
 suffering them to perish for want of suste- 
 nance are hereby enacted, with modifica- 
 tions, into a Regulation*." 
 
 * Twenty -first Regulation of the year 1795. 
 
286 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 " By the Hindoo Law, to occasion the 
 death of a Brahmin, either directly or indi- 
 rectly, is an inexpiable crime." The disre- 
 gard of this prejudice, in the distribution 
 of justice by the English, has been already 
 shewn ; also the abolition, by order of the 
 Civil Authorities, of Infanticide, at S augur, 
 at several places on the Ganges, and at 
 Guzerat, and drowning in the River Jumna. 
 
 In short, " the British Government in 
 Bengal has wisely proceeded in the task of 
 reformation, with cautious and measured 
 steps ; yet the Civil Institutions of the coun- 
 try have undergone, in the last twenty-five 
 years*, a total alteration." 
 
 " The Regulations, which, by deviating 
 from ancient rules, have so much contributed 
 to the comfort and happiness of the people, 
 were, in many instances, at the time of their 
 establishment, considered as hazardous inno- 
 vations, repugnant to the feelings and preju- 
 dices of the Natives of the higher class. Ac- 
 customed to a despotic form of government, 
 they were incapable of appreciating the be- 
 nefits of a different system. Slaves and 
 tyrants by turns, the great Landholders, in 
 the exercise of arbitrary power, found some 
 
 f This was written in 1813- 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 287 
 
 compensation for their submission to it ; and 
 although they have derived peculiar benefit 
 by the innovations introduced by European 
 Authority, the power and influence which 
 they enjoyed under the former system were 
 not resigned without reluctance, and the loss 
 of them is still regretted." But no commo- 
 tions have resulted from the alteration of the 
 old system, to endanger the British Empire 
 in India. 
 
 The same may be said of the Regulations 
 " enacted for the purpose of modifying the 
 Mahomedan Law." " I do not learn," says 
 Lord Teignmouth*, " that these modifica- 
 tions have disgusted the Professors of that 
 Law, who have quietly admitted the justice 
 and propriety of them. Yet, were it told at 
 Cairo or Constantinople, that, in opposition 
 to the Divine authority of the Koran, and 
 the Expositions of their Holy Imaums, their 
 Laws had been altered by the authority of 
 profane European Infidels, the Muftis of 
 those cities would exclaim, * Impiety ! ' and 
 Revenge ! ' " 
 
 Since these alterations have been made 
 without the slightest resistance from the 
 
 * " Considerations " &c. The whole of this account of the 
 Changes effected in the Laws and Usages of the Mahometans and 
 Hindoos is borrowed from that Pamphlet : pp. 12 20. 
 
288 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 Natives whom they respectively affected, 
 may we not hope that measures will be 
 speedily adopted for the abolition of Suttees, 
 and every other inhuman custom ? Will it 
 be pretended that the Natives of India are 
 more tenacious of the privilege of destroying 
 helpless Widows, than of their natural rights, 
 long-established laws, ancient customs, and 
 prejudices ? 
 
 However, were it likely for the Hin- 
 doos, on being commanded to desist from 
 immolating the Widow upon the funeral-pile 
 of her deceased Husband, to resist the 
 order, what possible danger to our Indian 
 Government could arise from their "opposi- 
 tion? They would form a very small mino- 
 rity of the Natives not One in TwentyThou- 
 sand. Unless, then, it be imagined, that the 
 haughty Mahomedans who look down with 
 supercilious contempt upon the whole race 
 of Idolaters, and the hundreds of thousands 
 of apathetic Hindoos who are quite indiffe- 
 rent about the burning or burying of Widows 
 alive, will all make common cause with the 
 incensed few, and take up arms in defence 
 of those abominable practices, there is little 
 more to be feared from their abolition, than 
 from the interruption of the Native Children's 
 play. Be it remembered, that I am not 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 289 
 
 hazarding a rash assertion here; but drawing 
 a legitimate conclusion, from past experience 
 of the safety with which other changes, much 
 more likely than this to provoke irritation 
 and rouse into action every interested feeling, 
 have actually been effected. 
 
 A Fourth point which I would take the 
 freedom to suggest for consideration, is, That 
 every practicable effort be made^ to improve 
 the Moral Character of the Honourable Com- 
 pany's Servants. 
 
 The Abb6 Dubois describes but too accu- 
 rately, the conduct of many of those persons, 
 and its sad consequences upon the minds of the 
 Natives. " I will refrain," he says, " from en- 
 tering into details on the low state of Christia- 
 nity among the Europeans living in this coun- 
 try ; as this part of the subject is your* pro- 
 vince, rather than mine. I will content myself 
 with saying, that if their public and national 
 virtues are a subject of praise and admiration 
 to all castes of Hindoos, the bare-faced im- 
 morality, the bad examples, and disregard of 
 every sense of Religion, exhibited by a great 
 many amongst them, are not the least among 
 the many obstacles which oppose the pro- 
 gress of their Religion in this country, by 
 
 * The Archdeacon of Bombay. 
 U 
 
290 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 increasing the prejudices of the Natives 
 against it, and rendering it particularly 
 odious to them, when they see it so ill ob- 
 served by those who were educated in her 
 bosom, and who come from countries where 
 this Religion alone is publickly professed. 
 They think that there can be no advantage 
 in embracing a Religion, which seems to have 
 so little influence on the conduct of those 
 who profess it : nay, a great many among 
 thein^ judging from outward appearances, 
 question whether the Europeans living among 
 them have any Religion what ever. Ihavebeen 
 many times challenged to bear testimony on 
 this fact ; and very seriously asked by them, 
 whether the Frangy (Europeans) acknow- 
 ledged and worshipped a God." (pp. 83, 84.) 
 
 " It is a well-known fact, that it is pre- 
 cisely those of the Hindoos who are most 
 familiar and most connected with the Eu- 
 ropeans, who manifest the strongest disgust 
 and aversion to the Religion and manners 
 of the latter. In proof of this assertion, I 
 appeal to all the Officers, both Civil and 
 Military, serving under the Three Presiden- 
 cies in India." (p. 43.) 
 
 ". Should the intercourse between the in- 
 dividuals of both nations, by becoming more 
 intimate and more friendly, produce a revo- 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 291 
 
 lution in the Religion and usages of the 
 country, it will not be to turn Christians 
 that they will forsake their own Religion, 
 but rather (what, in my opinion, is a thousand 
 times worse than Idolatry !) to become perfect 
 Atheists : and if they renounce their present 
 manners, it will not be to embrace those of 
 the Europeans, but rather to become what 
 are now called Pariahs." (p. 50.) 
 
 " Many persons who come from Europe 
 to India with unsettled and wavering Reli- 
 gious Principles, finish, on beholding the va- 
 riety of Worships prevailing in the country, 
 by laying aside what they term the prejudices 
 of education, becoming Free-thinkers, and 
 adopting the broad principle of Modern Phi- 
 losophy, that all Religions are equally accept- 
 able to the Deity, and conduct to the same 
 end :" (p. 137. See much more to the same 
 effect, at pages 115, 120, 152, &c. &c.) 
 
 Is not this state of things awful and alarm- 
 ing in the extreme ! Such conduct must tend, 
 not only to alienate the affections of the Na- 
 tives from their Rulers, and counteract all the 
 liberal efforts of Government to reconcile 
 them to their present situation, but to call 
 down the vengeance of Almighty God upon 
 the men, who thus cause His Religion to be 
 reproached among the Heathen! 
 
 u 2 
 
292 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 It is a fact, that, although the most irre- 
 ligious of the Company's Servants are the 
 most indulgent (and often ridiculously and un- 
 necessarily so) towards the Natives, in regard 
 to their superstitions, they cannot gain their 
 confidence and attachment. They are not con- 
 sistent in their behaviour towards all clases : 
 and they seem to think, that their giving way 
 to the childish superstitions of the more re- 
 spectable, will be received as an atonement 
 for their abuse, neglect to pay their debts, 
 and general ill-treatment of the rest. But 
 they greatly mistake. The Natives know very 
 well, that all Europeans regard their Idola- 
 tries as irrational and absurd ; and, therefore, 
 never give us credit for sincerity, whatever 
 respect we may pretend to shew them. But 
 nothing can cause them to esteem the men, 
 whose debaucheries, injustice to their trades- 
 men, and, in a word, disregard of all appear- 
 ance of Religion, are the general topic of 
 conversation among them, and scandalize all 
 castes. 
 
 On the other hand, it is equally deserving 
 of observation, that Gentlemen of the oppo- 
 site character, though they evince a perfect 
 indifference about the foolish Ceremonies of 
 the Natives, are yet the objects of their ad- 
 miration. In familiar conversation with them, 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 293 
 
 I have heard their remarks upon persons 
 attentive to their Religious and Moral Duties; 
 and could give a striking instance of confi- 
 dence, on an occasion of importance to the 
 Revenue of Government, being reposed in a 
 JUNIOR of this character, which was, and 
 would continue to have been, withheld from his 
 irreligious SUPERIOR. So true is the obser- 
 vation of Lieutenant- Colonel Munro, in his 
 Address to the Madras Government : " The 
 Natives of India still retain an admiration 
 of excellence, and a high veneration for virtue 
 and sanctity : and the purity of morals, sub- 
 limity of doctrine, and extraordinary adapta- 
 tion to the condition of mankind, of the Pro- 
 testant Religion, are eminently calculated, 
 when understood and when their effects are 
 
 A/ 
 
 seen, to engage Converts." 
 
 Surely, then, there can be no question as 
 to the importance of using every possible 
 means, to improve the Moral and Religious 
 Character of all classes of Europeans, but 
 particularly of the Company's immediate 
 Agents in India. Waving the consideration 
 of duty on the part of Government to give 
 serious attention to the subject, its own in- 
 terests, the stability, the very existence of our 
 Eastern Empire demand it. No Govern- 
 ment, indeed, can ensure the good conduct of 
 
294 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 its servants or subjects, however excellent 
 the means used for the purpose : but much 
 may be done to preserve the character of our 
 Religion in India, and to ensure a strict ob- 
 servance of the Ordinances of our Church, 
 in every part of the Empire where Europeans 
 are stationed . Much of the immorality and in- 
 fidelity among the Company's Servants, com- 
 plained of by the Abb6 Dubois and others, 
 arises, I am persuaded, from the habits of 
 indifference to Religious Exercises, acquired 
 by a long residence among the Heathen, at a 
 great distance from the Ordinances of Divine 
 Worship, with every possible facility for the 
 gratification of their passions. Under such 
 circumstances, they must be more than human 
 to preserve a reverence for the parting admo- 
 nition of Parents, a recollection of lessons 
 received from Religious Preceptors, and keep 
 their youthful propensities under moral re- 
 straint. Launched into a world peculiarly 
 abounding in temptations, before reason is 
 matured, or sacred principles are formed, to 
 guide them in the paths of Virtue and Religion, 
 what wonder if their passions precipitate them 
 into every vicious excess ! Thousands of 
 hopeful young men have thus been ruined, 
 and brought to a premature grave, for want 
 of timely admonition, Religious Instruction, 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 295 
 
 and the authority of superiors, to controul 
 them in their wicked and destructive ca- 
 reer ! 
 
 Will it be said, that Government, since it 
 does not sanction, is not responsible for their 
 crimes ? No ; that cannot justly be pleaded, 
 until every preventive means has been em- 
 ployed. The Ecclesiastical Establishment 
 in India, though extensive, and a great bless- 
 ing to the country, is yet inadequate. But 
 this is too important a subject to be treated of 
 in the concluding observations of the present 
 Work. I shall, therefore, confine myself to 
 one point; viz. The due observance of the 
 Sabbath. To the habitual violation of that 
 Sacred Day, may be traced the major part, if 
 not the whole, of the evils of which we com- 
 plain. Until men have so renounced the 
 authority of God as to disregard His com- 
 mand to consecrate the Sabbath to holy em- 
 ployments, they will not abandon themselves 
 to an unrestrained course of iniquity : but 
 when once accustomed to profane the Holy 
 Day of Rest, the transition to every other 
 sin is easy and natural. I conceive, then, 
 that proper attention to this important duty 
 will contribute greatly to obviate the demo- 
 ralizing tendency of Eastern habits and in- 
 dulgence. The means to promote this desk 
 
296 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 rable end are few, obvious, and easy to be 
 adopted. 
 
 First Divine Service should be publicMy 
 performed on the morning and evening of the 
 Sabbath, at every Station. If there be no 
 Chaplain, the Senior Officer, Civil or Mili- 
 tary, should be required to read, or empow- 
 ered to appoint a junior to read, the Service, 
 and a Discourse. Even where there are but 
 two or three Officers at the Station, they 
 should not neglect this duty. It may be ob- 
 jected, that it is enough', in the case of so 
 small a number, for each individual to retire 
 to his room, and perform his devotions in 
 private : but this is to forget, or undervalue, 
 the gracious promise of the Divine Presence 
 and Blessing vouchsafed to " two or three 
 assembled together in " the Name of God. 
 No individual who feels the importance and 
 privilege of Prayer, will neglect private devo- 
 tion, because required to unite with one or 
 more individuals in the Public Service of the 
 Church ; or think that the one duty should 
 supersede the other. It would also defeat 
 another object in the public performance of 
 Divine Worship, viz. to let the Natives see 
 that we are not so regardless of Religion, as 
 they have hitherto had too much reason to 
 think us. And thus may we hope to remove 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 297 
 
 that suspicion of us as an Atheistical People, 
 which an inattention to Religious Ordinances 
 has produced in their minds. 
 
 At some Military Stations, this duty is at- 
 tended to. This was the case at Palam- 
 cottah, previous to my arrival there as Chap- 
 lain. The Commanding-Officer, the late 
 Colonel Charles Trotter, required all the 
 Military Officers to assemble for Divine 
 Worship ; and two or three of the Civilians 
 joined them, until deterred by the ridicule of 
 their companions. 
 
 Secondly For the due performance of Di- 
 vine Service, a Chapel should be built at 
 every Station. At present, all the Chaplains 
 Stations are not provided with Places of 
 Worship. That this desideratum should be 
 supplied with the least possible delay, few 
 will hesitate to allow : and, in reference to 
 the erection of a small Chapel at every other 
 Station, I shall adopt the suggestion of a 
 late Commander-in-Chief of the Madras 
 Army (General M'Dowall). That Officer 
 had been addressed by the Government of 
 Fort St. George, desiring to know from him 
 whether there was any truth in the report, 
 that the Mutiny at Vellore was occasioned by 
 attempts made to convert the Natives to 
 Christianity. To which he replied 
 
298 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 " It may occasion some degree of surprise, 
 that the people of this country should be 
 brought to believe, that those who apparently 
 conduct themselves with so much apathy in 
 respect to what concerns Religious Worship, 
 should have formed any serious scheme for 
 the converting whole nations, of different 
 castes and persuasions, to the Christian Faith. 
 None but the weakest and most superstitious 
 could have been deluded by so improbable 
 a tale : and, accordingly, we find the rumour 
 alluded to was by no means general ; and, 
 except at Hydrabad, it had made little or no 
 impression. 
 
 " In making the above remark on the in- 
 difference which is manifested in the Adora- 
 tion of the Supreme Being, I must add, in 
 justice to the Military Character, that it 
 chiefly proceeds from a want of places (and, 
 at several Stations, of Clergy men) exclusively 
 appropriated for Divine Service : and I 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 quartered. What- 
 ever may be urged to the contrary, I am con- 
 vinced that such an improvement, indepen- 
 dent of the obvious advantages, would ren- 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 299 
 
 der the British Character more respected by 
 the Natives, and be attended by no evil con- 
 sequences." 
 
 The whole of this Official Communication 
 was published by the late Dr. Buchanan, in 
 his "Apology for promoting Christianity in 
 India:' Since, however, the Vellore Mutiny 
 continues to be ascribed to attempts to con- 
 vert the Natives, and knowing that the judi- 
 cious suggestion and observations of General 
 M'Dowall, though made nearly eighteen 
 years ago, have not yet been attended to, I 
 shall not apologise for supporting my posi- 
 tion by the copious Extract transcribed 
 above. 
 
 A Third point for consideration is, The 
 supplying of every Chapel with a large Bible 
 and Prayer-Book, the Book of Homilies of 
 the Church of England, Religious Discourses, 
 and such other Publications, as Government, 
 or the Bishop of Calcutta, may think proper 
 to select. 
 
 Fourthly- Particular orders should be is- 
 sued against the transacting of public business 
 on the Sabbath . Notwithstanding the Regu- 
 lations that already exist to this effect, and the 
 close of Public Offices at the Presidencies, 
 and of all Judicial Courts, it is a fact, that 
 some Gentlemen, situated in the interior, 
 
300 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 attend to their Cutcherrees, and keep their 
 Native Writers employed, almost as much 
 on the Sunday as on any other day. Were 
 this strictly prohibited, unless in cases of 
 emergency, I am of opinion, that those who 
 have thus thoughtlessly violated the Sabbath 
 would begin to think more seriously and cor- 
 rectly upon the subject, and refrain from in- 
 curring the displeasure of Government. 
 
 Fifthly All kinds of Diversion should be 
 prohibited on that Sacred Day. How in- 
 congruous must it appear to the Natives, to 
 see Gentlemen go from Church to the card or 
 billiard-table, and spend the Sabbath Even- 
 ing in feasting, dancing, and mirth. These 
 evils I have often had occasion to deplore, 
 but could not, only for want of a Government 
 Regulation forbidding them, prevent. When 
 the late Colonel Trotter first took command 
 of Palamcottah, the Junior Officers were ac- 
 customed to spend the Sunday Afternoon at 
 the Fives Court ! This he immediately put 
 a stop to, by stationing a sentinel at the en- 
 trance, with a written order that no one was 
 to play there on the Sabbath, which he was 
 desired to shew to every Gentleman that 
 came. This had the desired effect ; and the 
 practice was never repeated as long as Colo- 
 nel Trotter lived . Easy were it for Government 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 301 
 
 to apply a similar remedy to every such 
 flagrant impropriety of conduct. 
 
 Sixthly Even the Natives in the Service of 
 Government should be required to pay some 
 respect to the Sabbath. It is a violation of 
 the Fourth Commandment* to employ " the 
 stranger within our gates" on that day : and 
 I know, from my own experience, and that 
 of several Europeans who never employed 
 Native Workmen on Sunday, and required all 
 about them to reverence the day, that they 
 cheerfully comply with the requisition, and, 
 when acquainted with their motive, actually 
 honour the Gentlemen who demand of them 
 this tribute of regard. Sir R. Brownrigg, when 
 Governor of Ceylon, ordered that all shops, 
 bazars, and other places of trade, whether be- 
 longing to Heathens, Mahomedans, or Chris- 
 tians, should be shut upon the Sunday, from 
 9 A.M. to l P.M., on pain of fine or imprisonment. 
 And I remember a Captain of the Madras 
 Army informing me, that when, at Colombo, 
 he wished to remove some baggage on a 
 
 * I am aware that the application of this command to the pre- 
 sent race of Hindoos has been questioned. A writer, under the 
 signature of Philo-kalon, published a Letter on the subject, in the 
 Calcutta Journal of January 31, 1820, which I was requested by 
 a friend to answer. As the question is of great importance, I 
 shall give both Philo-kalon's Query, and my own Reply, in an Ap- 
 pendix to this Work. 
 
302 Necessity of promoting Christianity, 
 
 Sunday, he could induce no Cooley to carry 
 it for him ; such was the respect paid to the 
 Sabbath by all classes of Natives, in conse- 
 quence of the Governor's order ! It is in the 
 power of the Indian Government to procure 
 a similar reverence for that Sacred Day, at 
 every European Station throughout its do- 
 minions ; and I feel persuaded, that, in doing 
 so, the British Character would be raised in 
 the Natives' esteem. 
 
 These Regulations should be published in 
 the vernacular language of every Station, for 
 the information of all classes of Natives: 
 for it is of importance to the Government, 
 that the inhabitants should at length know 
 how to distinguish between the Acts and Re- 
 gulations of the Rulers, and the misconduct 
 of their Agents ; otherwise the character of 
 the former will continue to suffer from the 
 delinquencies of the latter. 
 
 By such precautions as are here suggested, 
 I am confident that a great improvement will 
 be effected in the Anglo-Indian Character. 
 They will do more to consolidate our East- 
 ern Empire, than any merely political ar- 
 rangements that have ever been adopted. 
 They will tend to command the respect and 
 attachment of the Natives. And when that 
 object is accomplished, I will riot hesitate to 
 
both among Europeans and Natives. 303 
 
 predict, that our possession of India will be 
 retained to a period far beyond the most san- 
 guine expectations, on the nicest calcula- 
 tions, of the Statesman or Philosopher. But 
 if no such means are adopted to improve the 
 British Character in India, and ingratiate the 
 English with the Natives, then will there be 
 equal grounds to anticipate the downfal of 
 our Eastern Empire, at a period not very re- 
 mote. The Natives cannot be expected to 
 submit -to the government of Foreigners 
 whose irreligious character they despise, when 
 they shall once possess the power of deliver- 
 ing themselves from their rule. 
 
 The Abb6 Dubois with justice remarks, 
 that the present degraded and idolatrous state 
 of India " reminds us of the great obliga- 
 tions under which we stand to the Divine 
 Author of Revelation, the common Father of 
 all Mankind, for having, without any previous 
 deserving on our part, chosen us, among so 
 many Idolatrous Nations, to be His adopted 
 people. What ought not our gratitude to be 
 to Him for this, the greatest of all His Divine 
 favours?" (p. 136.) To this I will only add, 
 that when we do know the value of Revela- 
 tion, we shall feel bound, by gratitude to 
 its Author, to communicate its doctrines and 
 precepts to those under our controul. If we 
 
304 Necessity of Promoting Christianity, 
 
 neglect this obvious duty, we shew that we 
 know not how to appreciate the heavenly 
 boon, and that our hearts are devoid of gra- 
 titude to the Donor : and in the want of this 
 principle is implied every thing odious to 
 God! 
 
 " Ingratum si dixeris, omnia dicis." 
 
 To draw this Work to a close If the pro- 
 positions laid down in the preceding pages are 
 established, and the conclusions fairly drawn, 
 it is plain that the sure method of preserving 
 the dominion which the Almighty has so gra- 
 ciously and so wonderfully bestowed upon us 
 in the East, is, to promote the accomplishment 
 of His design, to extend His Empire also over 
 the hearts of the millions of Immortal Beings 
 whom he has brought under our sway. Thus 
 let us follow the guidance of His Providence ; 
 and then may w r e expect that He will con- 
 tinue to us the means of fulfilling His pur- 
 poses towards the Natives of India, until 
 their Redemption be complete. 
 
 On the other hand, we see also, that to 
 neglect the duty which we are so obviously 
 commissioned to perform, is the most proba- 
 ble way of provoking the Almighty to pluck 
 the laurel from our brow, despoil us of our 
 wealth, and lay our honours in the dust ! 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 To the Editor of the Calcutta Journal ; dated 
 Central India, Jan. 31,1 820. 
 
 " Ought Christians to allow People of any Faith or Sect, as Hindoos, 
 Mussulmans, &c., to work at their Houses on Sunday ?" 
 
 SIR 
 
 A HE only passage in the SCRIPTURES that could 
 have raised a doubt on this head, is the following : 
 " The Seventh Day is the Sabbath of the Lord 
 thy God : in it thou shalt do no manner of work, 
 thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, &c., nor thy 
 cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gate." 
 In this, the prohibition is so explicit, that nothing 
 more than an assurance of its being addressed to 
 Christians can be requisite to enable us to an- 
 swer the question. Let this point, then, be ex- 
 amined. 
 
 The Jewish Religion was given to the Jews 
 exclusively : it did not exact belief or profession 
 from any other nation of the earth ; and in no 
 part of the Scriptures were the Jews commanded 
 to diffuse it. For what reason, then, do people, 
 who profess a Religion which superseded and 
 annulled it, suppose themselves bound to pay it 
 obedience ? The Jews, we are told, are under 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 the displeasure of God, for continuing their ad- 
 herence to it, and for rejecting Christianity : and 
 yet Christians refer to it ; and, to supply what 
 they imagine deficiencies in their own Faith,, select 
 doctrines and mandates from this. 
 
 Conduct so egregiously irrational could pro- 
 ceed only from the supposition of its having been 
 enjoined by our Saviour, or by some of his Apo- 
 stles. Accordingly, passages from the New Tes- 
 tament are cited to justify it: "Think not 
 that I am come to destroy the Law, or the Pro- 
 phets : I am come, not to destroy, but to fulfil." 
 " All Scripture is given by inspiration of God ; 
 and is profitable, for doctrine, for reproof, for 
 correction, for instruction in righteousness :" 
 (2 Tim. iii. 5 16.) But these passages have 
 not the meaning ascribed to them. 
 
 Of the first, the import is this "I am come to 
 fulfil all righteousness, by a thorough and per- 
 sonal obedience to that Law of Holiness ; and 
 no part of the Typical Ceremonies of the Law 
 shall be unfulfilled, and no obligation of the 
 Moral Law shall be waived." Our Saviour hav- 
 ing, in his own person, fulfilled all the Typical 
 and Prophetical part, and obeyed rigidly and 
 minutely all the Moral and Preceptive part, abo- 
 lished the whole ; it having answered the ends 
 for which it was given, and having received, in its 
 completion, due honour and glory. This His 
 Apostles declare, in every page of their writings 
 " We are not under the Law." " We are deli- 
 vered from the Law, that we should serve God 
 in newness of spirit, not in the oldness of the 
 letter.'' " The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ 
 
APPENDIX. 307 
 
 Jesus hath made us free from the Law of Sin and 
 Death." 
 
 With respect to the second passage, the Scrip- 
 tures may justly be said to have been written for 
 our instruction; as they contain innumerable 
 instances of piety, holiness, and obedience ; and 
 will furnish the most instructive lessons on the 
 awful justice and the immaculate purity of the 
 Divine Being, in his dreadful judgments on grace- 
 less offenders. They were to be consulted, also, 
 that we might perceive the perfect correspondence 
 of the Prophecies regarding our Saviour, with 
 their accomplishment in Jesus ; and that we 
 might, consequently, attain the firmest convic- 
 tion of the Divinity of our Faith. 
 
 It appears, then, that we have no injunction 
 from our Saviour or His Apostles to regulate our 
 conduct by Judaism. And why is this particular 
 Commandment deemed obligatory on the followers 
 of Christ, when many other directions of Moses, 
 and all the Ritual and Ceremonial parts of his Law, 
 are supposed to be abrogated ? In the Chapter in 
 which the Ten Commandments are delivered, is 
 an order to Moses to build an altar and not of 
 hewn stone : and the reason assigned is, that the 
 altar would be polluted, if any tool were lifted on 
 it. Why do not Christians avoid building an altar 
 of hewn stone ? Why do not we either obey the 
 whole, or reject the whole ? Surely we are not 
 to cull such parts of a Religion as may suit our- 
 individual inclinations ! The truth is this : The 
 Jewish Law was adapted to the rude and unen- 
 lightened age in which it was delivered ; and it 
 now requires not observance, either from Jews or 
 x 2 
 
308 APPENDIX. 
 
 Christians : it was a " shadow of good things to 
 come :" it has been naturally succeeded and re* 
 moved by the substance. 
 
 The old Law, then, being abolished, by what 
 are we to guide ourselves ? The answer is ob- 
 vious : By the Precepts of Christianity ; and by 
 those old Jewish Laws which are noticed and im- 
 posed on us by Christ and His Apostles. Surely, 
 nothing necessary for our guidance can have been 
 omitted by our omniscient Saviour ? In what 
 part, then, of the New Testament are we prohibited 
 from employing Heathens on the Sabbath ? In 
 no part. Then we may employ them? Certainly. 
 
 Scripture, then, not forbidding the practice, let 
 us examine if REASON will condemn it. 
 
 Now, by employing Heathens to work on the 
 Sabbath, we do not compel them to act in oppo- 
 sition to the dictates of their conscience, or notions 
 of rectitude ; or to do any thing, which, if left to 
 themselves, they would refrain from doing. We 
 do not prevent them from discharging any duty, 
 moral or religious ; or from the performance of 
 any, to which their reason or inclination might 
 direct them. But, if we dismiss them on Sun- 
 day, with orders to return and work as usual the 
 following six days, we shall manifestly deprive 
 them of the produce of a day's labour : we shall 
 cause them to loiter and saunter about, a burthen 
 to themselves, and useless to others : we shall 
 thereby expose them to fall into the vices of idle- 
 ness, drunkenness, and gambling ; and, conse- 
 quently, to the probability of acquiring habits, 
 which will render them unfit for the sober occu- 
 pations they have hitherto pursued : hence, in- 
 
APPENDIX. 309 
 
 famy, poverty, and misery, are almost inevitable ; 
 in short, from the prevalence of these vices, by 
 which we ourselves have been enabled to gain an 
 ascendancy over them, wretchedness and ruin, 
 both temporal and spiritual, are necessarily con- 
 sequential. 
 
 Such dreadful evils may result from depriving 
 people of employment on Sundays. If we attend 
 to the progress of the human mind, when unoc- 
 cupied, from folly to folly, and from sin to sin, 
 we shall readily acknowledge the probability of 
 such a lamentable gradation of iniquity. Does 
 it not follow, then, that if, with this knowledge 
 of what is likely to ensue from divesting labouring 
 men of their ordinary occupations, we persist in 
 dismissing workmen on Sundays, we shall not 
 only not be pious and holy, but become ourselves 
 guilty of those crimes which we thus allow them 
 to be excited to commit ? Christianity shews us, 
 that it is equally criminal, to commit sin, and not 
 to prevent its commission. The deplorable end 
 above mentioned may certainly not happen to 
 one out of five ; but it also may happen to the 
 whole : and, according to our Religion and to 
 Reason, we are criminal, if we do not guard 
 against even the probability of sins being com- 
 mitted. 
 
 This practice, however, though proved to be 
 agreeable to reason, and not repugnant to Scrip- 
 ture, is yet productive of an evil. 
 
 The Sabbath is set apart for the care of the 
 soul ; for the worship of God ; for the reading 
 and hearing of His Holy Word ; for prayer, medi- 
 tation, and self-examination ; for repentance of 
 
310 APPENDIX. 
 
 errors ; for humble acknowledgment of them ; 
 for making resolutions of reformation and amend- 
 ment ; and for thinking and conversing on Spi- 
 ritual matters. Whatever tends to prevent or 
 obstruct the performance of these duties, it be- 
 hoves us to remove. If, therefore, we have people 
 to work at our houses on Sundays, and, as usual, 
 instruct them in their work, we shall cause a pre- 
 judicial intermixture of worldly and spiritual con- 
 cerns, and shall untune and unfit our minds for 
 the due discharge of the duties just mentioned. 
 On the other hand, if we merely allow Heathen 
 Workmen to continue on the Sabbath their daily 
 employment, while we ourselves are retired, and 
 feel not, from their presence, the slightest inter- 
 ruption, this evil will be removed, and, with it, 
 every scruple against the practice in question. 
 
 (Signed) PHILO-KALON. 
 
 To the Editor of the Calcutta Journal; dated 
 Southern India, March 1O, 1820. 
 
 " Ought Christians to allow People of any Faith or Sect, as Hindoos, 
 Mussulmans, &c., to work at their Houses on Sunday ?" 
 
 SIR, 
 
 IN your Number for January 31, there is a 
 communication from Philo-kalon, on the above- 
 stated Query, which the writer appears to have 
 solved to his own satisfaction : but he must not 
 be disappointed, to learn, that his conclusions 
 are not sufficiently powerful to force conviction 
 
APPENDIX. 311 
 
 upon every mind that has been nurtured within 
 the pale of our incomparable Establishment* 
 
 The Church of England, in common with the 
 Kirk of Scotland and all the Reformed Churches 
 of the Continent of Europe., have followed the 
 example of the Church of Christ from its earliest 
 stage, in adopting the Ten Commandments of 
 God which were delivered to Moses at Sinai', and 
 inculcating them as of universal obligation to all 
 that worship the God of Israel. With such pre- 
 cedents then, the most punctual observance of the 
 Sabbath, how erroneous soever in the Writer's 
 estimation, should, in the outset,have commanded 
 a little more respect than to be termed " egre- 
 giously irrational ;" and it would have given us 
 no unfavourable opinion of his candour, had he 
 suspended his judgment on a point, which, so 
 far from being questioned by the Fathers of our 
 Church, received the concurrence of their deli- 
 berate Council. Be it observed, that Philo- 
 kalon's objections are as applicable to the whole of 
 the Commandment enjoining the celebration of 
 the Sabbath, as to the particular clause against 
 which he points them ; for there is no direct in- 
 junction regarding the Sabbath in the New Tes- 
 tament. He must, therefore, be considered as 
 impugning the wisdom of our Ancestors, in re- 
 quiring this, or any other Mosaic Precept, to be 
 taught our children at the earliest dawn of reason, 
 to be repeated by them with the first accents of 
 the lips, and to be read every Sabbath in the 
 public Congregations of the Church ; unless such 
 precept can be found, verbatim, in the New Tes- 
 tament. I grant, that could the strict observance 
 
312 APPEXDIX. 
 
 of the Sabbath, according to the Law of Moses, 
 be proved to be unscriptural, no human autho- 
 rity would justify its continuance : but until that 
 be done, I must continue to think that our fore- 
 fathers were guided by the Word of God in en- 
 joining its observance, and that every deviation 
 therefrom is a departure from the same unerring 
 standard. 
 
 Your Correspondent remarks, that " the only 
 passage in the Scriptures that could have raised 
 a doubt on this head/' is that contained in the 
 Fourth Commandment, which prohibits the em- 
 ployment on the Sabbath of " the stranger that is 
 within thy gate." And is not this enough ? What 
 is this passage, but part of a Divine Law ? And if 
 it can be shewn that this Law remains unrepealed 
 in the New Testament, it will have all the force 
 of a precept delivered by Christ himself. Human 
 Laws often become obsolete, when the circum- 
 stances that occasioned them no longer exist ; 
 but, until formally abrogated, they remain among 
 the Statutes of the Realm, and every one that 
 transgresses them does it at his peril : and how 
 many instances have we known, of a busy and 
 unkind informer taking advantage of such anti- 
 quated decrees, to bring an unconscious offender 
 to justice ! But no part of the Ten Command- 
 ments can be called obsolete, while they continue 
 to form a portion of the First Lessons of our 
 Children, and are publickly read in the Church 
 every Sabbath. 
 
 The onus probandi, then, rests with Philo- 
 kalon : for he is evidently bound to shew, where, 
 when, and by whom, any single passage of the 
 
APPENDIX. 313 
 
 Decalogue has been annulled, before he can have 
 a right to demand proof of the whole being re- 
 peated in the New Testament. He has indeed 
 attempted this, by confounding the Preceptive 
 with the Ceremonial parts of the Mosaic Institu- 
 tion ; and, thus united by him under the term 
 Judaism, has endeavoured to shew that the whole 
 system was abolished by Christ. But, surely, 
 I need not remind him that every thing about 
 the Temple at Jerusalem, both internally and 
 externally, together with all its offerings, services, 
 furniture, and implements, were typical of the 
 Redemption of Man by Jesus Christ ; and that, 
 therefore, they were abolished when he had com- 
 pleted the work of Salvation, and fled, like the 
 shadows of the morn before the rising orb of day. 
 It is to this the Apostles allude, when they speak 
 of the abolition of the Law : and when they 
 assert their liberty, it is their freedom from the 
 painful rite of Circumcision, and the now unne- 
 cessary Services of the Temple. (Tide the Epistle 
 to the Hebrews, passim.) But, if such passages 
 are to be applied to the didactic parts of Judaism, 
 what is this but making the Apostles declare that 
 they considered themselves free from all Moral 
 Obligation. 
 
 It is true, the Apostle does declare, " The 
 Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made 
 us free from the Law of Sin and Death ;" and 
 many passages of the like import are scattered 
 through the Apostolic Writings. But every one 
 who reads the portion of Scripture from which 
 the above text is selected, will find, that the 
 Apostle, so far from arguing (as your Corre- 
 
314 APPENDIX. 
 
 spondent states) that Christ " abolished'* " the 
 Moral and Preceptive part" of the Law, by " ri- 
 gidly and minutely obeying it," actually com- 
 mends that Law as u holy," and the Command^- 
 ment as "holy, just, and good :" (Rom. vii. 12.) 
 The subject of his lamentation is, that he, through 
 the debility of his nature, the strength of his 
 passions, and the unconquerable propensity to 
 evil that he finds within his heart, cannot observe 
 that Law so perfectly as he ought, and whose every 
 precept he confesses to be founded in wisdom, 
 purity, and justice: (Ibid. v. 1 3 to the end.) And 
 the ground of the exultation with which the next 
 Chapter commences, is, that notwithstanding 
 his inability to keep the Law of God, and thus 
 render himself worthy of the Kingdom of Hea- 
 ven he has nothing to fear from the penalties 
 annexed to it ; for that Jesus Christ has paid the 
 price of his ransom from eternal death. " There 
 is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which 
 are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, 
 but after the Spirit ; for the Law of the Spirit of 
 Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the 
 Law of Sin and Death :'' (Rom. viii. 1,2.) I feel 
 persuaded that Philo-kalon, upon a more mature 
 consideration of this concluding passage, in con- 
 nexion with its context, will see that he has mis- 
 taken its signification; and that nothing could be 
 further from the Apostle's intention, than to assert 
 that the Moral Law was abolished by the Obedi- 
 ence of Christ, as was the Typical by the offering 
 of His body on the cross. 
 
 The Laws of Moses were given to the Children 
 of Israel ; who have been preserved, to the present 
 
APPENDIX. 315 
 
 day, as a distinct people, for wise and gracious 
 purposes, on which it is beside our present pur- 
 pose to enlarge. But how it can be said, that 
 their Religion was given to them " exclusively " 
 when its privileges were extended to men of every 
 nation, colour, or superstition, who submitted to 
 and performed all its requisitions I am at a loss 
 to comprehend ! And equally unable am I to 
 account for another of your author's assertions ; 
 viz. that the Jewish Religion was (e superseded and 
 annulled" by the Christian. I have always under- 
 stood that Christianity was but a more advanced 
 stage of the same Religion as was promulgated to 
 the Jews ; that it abolished only its externals, but 
 retained the same object of adoration ; obeyed the 
 same Divine authority ; required the same qualifi- 
 cations of contrition, confession, and faith, in the 
 worshippers ; and trusted in the very same Re- 
 deemer for pardon and reconciliation : for the 
 Jew believed in the Messiah promised ; the Chris- 
 tian believes in Him who hath fulfilled all the 
 promises of the Saviour of Mankind. Hence it 
 would appear, that Christianity is rather the per- 
 fection, than the abolition of the Jewish Religion ; 
 for they are substantially the same : and, there- 
 fore, there can be nothing very " irrational " in 
 the " conduct" of those who scruple to violate 
 any of the Ten Commandments, unless it can be 
 proved from the New Testament that they have 
 been annulled. 
 
 It may be asked why the Saviour did not enjoin 
 the strict observance of the Sabbath, if he in- 
 tended the day to be kept in conformity with the 
 Commandment. But, before this objection can 
 
316 APPENDIX. 
 
 have any force whatever, it must be proved that 
 it was necessary for our Lord to repeat the Com- 
 mandment, word for word, and sentence by sen- 
 tence, in order to ensure the obedience of His Dis- 
 ciples to the duty in question. But this it was 
 not ; for Christ saw that the persons whom he 
 addressed were already strict observers of the Sab- 
 bath, and most tenacious of the slightest interrup- 
 tion to its sacred duties. Nothing, therefore, re- 
 mained for him to do, but to sanction the cele- 
 bration of the day by his own example, and cor- 
 rect what was amiss in those who professed obe- 
 dience to the command of Moses ; and, conse- 
 quently, we find that he did both. 
 
 For the first : It were tedious to cite all the 
 passages from the Four Evangelists, which declare 
 that our Lord paid attention to this hallowed day, 
 according to the command of God : nor is it re- 
 quisite ; for one of them, St. Luke, informs us, 
 (ch. iv. 16,) that it was "His custom" to go into 
 the Synagogue on the Sabbath-day. 
 
 For the second : He found the Pharisees had 
 so disguised the Commandment by their false 
 glosses and traditions, as to persuade themselves, 
 and the people, that it was requisite to refrain 
 from works of mercy, and even from acts of ne- 
 cessity, on the Sabbath-day. But, instead of 
 acting from a tenderness of conscience, their mo- 
 tives were those of the basest hypocrisy ; substi- 
 tuting numerous Services and privations that were 
 not required, for that Spiritual observance of the 
 day which alone could prove acceptable to God. 
 In this manner did they u make void the Law by 
 their Traditions ;" and render the Sabbath a bur- 
 
APPENDIX. 317 
 
 densome and painful duty, rather than a refresh- 
 ing day of rest. Our Lord, with a bold and de- 
 cisive hand, drew aside the veil, unmasked their 
 dissimulation, and declared what? not that 
 they should run into the opposite extreme, and 
 violate the command of Moses, but that they 
 should celebrate the Sabbath as the Law required, 
 withoutanyadjunctsoftheirown: (Matt.xii.Q-lS.) 
 
 But a Query arises here ; which, if Philo-kalon 
 is unable satisfactorily to solve, will leave the 
 whole of his reasoning with a very slender sup- 
 port. Since the Saviour did all that could be 
 necessary to ensure the continuance of the Sab- 
 bath in his Church ; had He, on the other hand, 
 intended to make any alteration in the observance 
 of that day, was it not absolutely requisite for 
 Him to state that alteration, and not leave us to 
 guess at the particular clause or clauses of the 
 Commandment that might be omitted with im- 
 punity ?.. I think every candid mind will allow 
 that it was requisite : otherwise it would expose 
 our Heavenly Teacher to the imputation of leav- 
 ing His Disciples in the dark, as to His intention 
 on a point of such moment. And, since he has 
 not done so with respect to any single passage of 
 the Commandment, but has left the whole as He 
 found it (except, indeed, that He has freed it of 
 its numerous perversions), the only fair and legi- 
 timate inference can be, that He intended the 
 Law regarding the Sabbath to remain in His 
 Church unaltered. 
 
 Since, then, our Lord sanctioned the Sabbath 
 by a personal observance of its duties, and took 
 such pains to correct the abuses which the Jewish 
 
318 APPENDIX. 
 
 Rulers had introduced while He made no altera- 
 tion in the Law itself that commanded the ob- 
 servance of that day can we be reasoning on 
 the principles of sound logic, to infer that we are 
 at liberty to employ Heathen at our houses i.e. 
 to let " the stranger work within our gates" on 
 Sunday merely because it is not prohibited in 
 the New Testament as well as in the Old f And 
 can it be fairly concluded, from the Saviour's 
 omitting to repeat the Fourth Commandment, 
 that we may reject the whole, or such part of it 
 as it suits not our convenience or inclination to 
 observe ? 
 
 I would beg once more to refer your Corre- 
 spondent to the Redeemer's express command 
 " to the multitude and to His Disciples" con- 
 tained in Matthew xxiii. 3 : " All, therefore, what- 
 soever they (the Scribes and Pharisees, ver. 2) 
 bid you observe, that observe and do :" and 
 the reason for this command is given in the 
 second verse they " sit in Moses' seat." This 
 does not seem to accord with Philo-kalon's asser- 
 tion, that the whole of the Jewish Religion, as 
 well the Preceptive as the Typical part, is annulled 
 and superseded by Christianity : and, to my view 
 at least, it amounts to a command to observe the 
 Sabbath according to the Jewish Religion; for this, 
 it is well known, was one of the principal laws 
 which the Scribes and Pharisees enforced. It 
 will avail nothing to say, that this command may 
 have been addressed to the People as Jews, for it 
 was given to His Disciples at the same time : and 
 had He meant the latter to be free from any part of 
 the law in question, on their renouncing Judaism, 
 
APPENDIX. 319 
 
 He would have told them so, and they would 
 not have failed to publish the same to the 
 Churches which they afterwards established : but 
 not a single passage to this effect is to be found, 
 throughout their Writings. 
 
 I never before heard or saw it gravely stated, 
 that we were not at liberty to employ workmen 
 when we please, without incurring " the guilt of 
 those crimes" which the vicious may commit 
 when we cease to keep them at work. But I 
 think it unnecessary to swell this Paper, by a reply 
 to the latter part of your Cor respondent's Letter; 
 else it were easy to shew, that the man who is 
 really disposed to gambling, drunkenness, and the 
 like, will surely pursue his vicious propensity at 
 one time, if not at another : and a caviller might 
 contend, that knowing a workman or servant to 
 be so inclined, would furnish a good reason for 
 his dismissal altogether ; since, by giving him 
 employment, you (doubtless, unintentionally) add 
 fuel to the flame of his passions, for you enable 
 him thereby to provide himself with the means of 
 illicit gratification. 
 
 But, having shewn it to be the Christian's duty 
 to observe the Sabbath in this particular as well 
 as every other, he has nothing to do with the 
 consequences. Let him obey the Commandment 
 of God, and he will keep his own " conscience 
 void of offence," whatever happen to those whom 
 he may forbid to work upon his premises on this 
 hallowed day. 
 
 Philo-kalon, however, may not have given it a 
 thought, that his arguments on this point, make 
 the Jews equally guilty with Christians, for dis- 
 
320 APPENDIX. 
 
 missing the Heathen from their work on the Sab- 
 bath ; yet he will surely allow, that they were 
 right in obeying the Divine Law. 
 
 I am quite at a loss to divine what could have 
 been Philo-kalon's intention, in making this at- 
 tempt to weaken the Christian's obligation to ob- 
 serve the Sabbath ; for I give him too much cre- 
 dit for consistency with the name he has assumed, 
 to think he could have contemplated or suspected 
 any evil to result from it. Yet, if it be fair to 
 judge of a person's respect for the Sunday by the 
 manner in which he spends it, I would venture 
 to say, that there are many who would heartily 
 thank your Correspondent, could he relieve their 
 consciences of the Sabbath altogether ; and I 
 feel persuaded, that such will hail his Letter as a 
 welcome harbinger, to set them at liberty from 
 the burthensome and unwelcome tasks of the day. 
 They find themselves permitted to have work- 
 men about the house, provided they shut them- 
 selves up ; but, feeling no taste for the sacred 
 occupations which Philo-kalon assigns them, it is 
 not likely that they will submit long to what they 
 must consider little short of incarceration : hence, 
 they will not find much difficulty in persuading 
 themselves, that there can be no great harm in 
 looking at the people, giving one or two direc- 
 tions, and so forth ; until they will be found en- 
 tering into a regular superintendence of what is 
 going on, and disregarding every duty that was 
 intended to distinguish the Day of Rest. 
 
 Philo-kalon must be too well acquainted with 
 mankind, not to know that many will argue and 
 practise thus ; and I cannot but think he would 
 
APPENDIX. 321 
 
 regret to have afforded any, the slightest aid, to 
 entrench themselves in error and vice. I should 
 like to see such a pen as his, employed in defence 
 of the bulwarks of Sacred Truth and Virtue ; but 
 he must excuse me if I say, that his present 
 communication appears to me calculated to 
 weaken, and even undermine them. Some contend 
 against the Sabbath altogether, for the very rea- 
 son that he assigns for dispensing with that clause of 
 the Commandment which forbids the employment 
 of " the stranger within our gates," viz. because 
 it is not commanded in the New Testament : and 
 they have nearly as much reason on their side as 
 he has. Infidelity, like a swelling stream, exerts 
 all its force to shake the embankments by which 
 it is confined. The removal of one restraint will 
 be as an opening at which it will enter : soon will 
 the breach be widened ; one stone will fall after 
 another ; until the torrent rush on with an im- 
 petuosity that shall defy all resistance, wash down 
 its ancient barriers,, overwhelm every Divine Insti- 
 tution^ and leave us the sport of each noxious and 
 varying blast that assails us. This unhappy pro- 
 spect has been realized in the fate of too many 
 victims of the Law, who have confessed that their 
 vicious career began in the neglect of the Sabbath. 
 And if I have succeeded in impressing others 
 with my own conviction, that the habitual disre- 
 gard of the clause of the Fourth Commandment 
 now in question will, in most cases, if not in all, 
 lead to the rejection of the Sabbath altogether, 
 as its natural consequence every true lover of 
 that which is good will see the danger of surren- 
 dering the disputed point, and the necessity, the 
 
322 APPENDIX. 
 
 expediency, of maintaining, that the Law which 
 Jehovah made for the celebration of the Sabbath 
 is as binding on the Christian as it was on the 
 Jew. 
 
 (Signed) PHILO-ALETHINON. 
 
 
YC 
 
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