ECCLESIASTICAL ESTABLISHMENT

FOR

BRITISH INDIA.

BEFORE the Author left India, he published a "Memoir of the Expediency of an Ecclesias"tical Establishment for our Empire in the "East." The design of that work was first suggested to him by Dr. Porteus, late Bishop of London, who had attentively surveyed the state of our dominions in Asia; and he was encouraged by subsequent communications with the Marquis Wellesley, to endeavour to lead the attention of the nation to the subject. That publication has now been five years before the public, and many volumes have been written on the various subjects which it contains; but he does not know that any objection has been made to the principle of an Ecclesiastical Establishment for Christians in India. An attempt has been made indeed to divert the attention from the true object, and, instead of considering it as an establishment for Christians, to set it forth as an establishment for instructing the Hindoos.

But the instruction of the Hindoos is entirely a distinct consideration, as was carefully noted in the Memoir. At the end of the first part is ' the following paragraph:

"It will be remembered, that nothing which "has been observed is intended to imply that

any peculiar provision should be made imme

diately for the instruction of the natives, "Any expensive establishment of this kind, "however becoming our national character, or "obligatory on our principles, cannot possibly "be organised to efficient purpose, without the "aid of a local Church. Let us first establish "our own religion amongst ourselves, and our "Asiatic subjects will soon benefit by it. When "once our national Church shall have been "confirmed in India, the members of that Church "will be the best qualified to advise the state, "as to the means by which, from time to time, "the civilization of the natives may be pro"moted."*

An Ecclesiastical Establishment would yet be necessary for British India, if there were not a Mahomedan or Hindoo in the land. For, besides the thousands of British Christians, who live and die in that country, there are hundreds of

Memoir, p. 20.

thousands of native Christians, who are at this moment "as sheep without a shepherd;" and who are not insensible to their destitute estate, but supplicate our countenance and protection. Surely the measure cannot be contemplated by the Legislature, for a moment, without perceiv ing its absolute propriety on the common principles of justice and humanity.

In regard to the other subject, the instruction of the Hindoos, many different opinions have been delivered in the volumes alluded to, the most prominent of which are the two following: First, that Hinduism is, upon the whole, as good as Christianity, and that therefore conversion to Christianity is not necessary. This deserves no reply. The second opinion is, that it is indeed a sacred duty to convert the Hindoos, but that we must not do it by force. With this opinion the Author perfectly coincides. To convert men by any other means than those of persuasion, is a practice fit only for the Inquisition, and completely at variance with the tenor of every page which he has written. The means

of conversion, which he has recommended, are those which are appointed in the Holy Scriptures, namely, "Preaching, and the Word of God." The first and present means are the translation of the Word of God into the various

languages; and the next are the labours of teachers and preachers.

The Author is not, nor has he ever been, the advocate for force and personal injury toward the Hindoos. No: he pleads the cause of humanity. The object of his Work, and of his Researches, has been to deliver the people of Hindostan from painful and sanguinary rites; to rescue the devoted victim from the wheels of Moloch's Tower; to snatch the tender infant from the jaws of the alligator; and from the murderous hands of the more unnatural mother: to save the aged parent from premature death in the Ganges by the unnatural son; to extinguish the flames of the female sacrifice, and to "cause the widow's heart to sing for joy."

Another object of his Work has been, to shew, that while the feelings of the Christian are painfully affected by the exhibition of these sufferings and atrocities, Infidelity, on the other hand, can behold them, and poEs behold them, with all the coldness and apathy of Voltaire. And this is the great practical triumph of Christia nity over philosophical unbelief. While by the former, the best feelings of our nature are meliorated, and improved, and softened, and extended; they become, by the influence of the latter, sullén, and cold, and torpid, and dead.

T

The remaining opinion on this subject, which is worthy of notice, is the following: "The "conversion of the Hindoos to Christianity is "indeed a solemn obligation, if practicable "but the attempt may possibly displease the "Hindoos, and endanger our Empire." This fear is grounded solely on an ignorance of facts, and on the remoteness of the scene. Christianity began to be preached to Hindoos by Europeans, 300 years ago, and whole provinces are now covered with Christians. In the present endeavours of Protestant Missionaries, the chief difficulty which they generally experience is to awaken the mind of the torpid Hindoos to the subject. They know that every man may chuse the religion he likes best, and profess it with impunity; and that he may lose his cast and buy a cast again, as he buys an article of merchandize. There are a bundred casts of religion in Hindostan; and there is no common interest about a particular religion. When one native meets another on the road, he seldom expects to find that he is of the same cast with himself. They are a divided people. Hindostan is like the great world in miniature; when you pass a great river or lofty mountain, you generally find a new variety. Some persons in Europe think it must be a novelty to the Hin