CORNELL UNlVtiK5ii: LIBRARY SOUTH /.SiAC V LIBRARY ANKEX DATE DUE '""Bu^terOmr 1 ffi©^ imsm^ ^- ,!'f|j;|^:^ MMiSMtesWi 8 - GAYLORD PRINTED IN U.SA Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924086360637 In compliance with current copyright law, Cornell University Library produced this replacement volume on paper that meets the ANSI Standard Z39.48-1992 to replace the irreparably deteriorated original. 1999 CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY CHRISTIANITY m INDIA. CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA: AN HISTORICAL NAEEATIVE. JOHN WILLIAM |AYE, AUTHOB OY " THE LIFE OF LORD METCALFE," " THE LIFE OF SIR JOHN MALCOLM," " THE HISTORY OP THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN," ETC. LONDON: SMITH, ELDER AND CO., 65, CORNHILL. 1859. [ The right of translation is reserved.'] BY DEDICATING THIS VOLUME MOST AFFECTIONATELY TO ALEXANDEK DUFF, 1 SEEK ONLY TO EXPRESS MY ADMIRATION OF mS CHARACTER AND MY GRATITUDE FOB HIS KINDNESS, NOT TO ASSOCUTE HIS HONOURED NAME WITH OPINIONS WHICH HE MAY NOT WHOLLY APPROVE. CONTENTS. CHAPTEE I. PAGE The Ante-Protestant Era — ^Legend of St. Thomas — ^Fantsenus — Frumen- tius — The Syrian Churches — ^Francis Xavier — ^Inroads of the Papacy — Menezea — The Jesuit Missions . 1 CHAPTER n. Establishment of the East India Company — Immorality of the first English Settlers — Strife at the Presidencies — The first Church Services — Exhortations of the Directors — The first Protestant Church 38 CHAPTEE m. The first Protestant Mission — Ziegenbalg and Plutscho — Missionary Efforts at Tranquebar — Encouragement of the Company's Chaplains — Schwartz and Kiernander .65 CHAPTEE IV. Progress of Christianity in Bengal — Kiernander — His labours in Calcutta — State of society there — Hastings and Francis — Drinking, gaming, and duelling — Female society — Nautches — The Press. . . .87 CHAPTEE V. Progress of Morality and Religion— wThe administration of Lord Corn- wallis — Charles Grant and John Shore — The Malda Mission — The Clapham Sect— The War of Pamphlets 117 VIU CONTENTS. CHAPTEE VI. PAGB Dawn of the Nineteenth Century— The Protestant Church in Bengal- Brown — ^Buchanan — Kefity Martyn — Corrie — Thomason . . .161 CHAPTER VII. The Serampore Mission — First missionary efforts of the Baptists — William Carey — The Mission to Bengal — ^Marshman and Ward — Establishment at Serampore — Hostility of the Goyernment — Eventual Success 217 CHAPTER Vin. The Emancipation Act of 1813 — The Episcopal and Missionary Clauses — The Committees and the Debates — The First Indian Bishop — ^His Character and Career — The First Visitation Tour — State of the Churches— Death of Bishop MiddletOD . . . .257 CHAPTER IX. The Episcopate of Eeginald Heber — The Bishopric in Commission — Heber's early History — ^His Nomination to the See of Calcutta — State of Christianity on his arrival — His Tour in the Upper Provinces — ^Visitation in the South— State of the Southern Missions — ^Death of the Bishop— His Character .... . 315 CHAPTER X. Government Connexion with Idolatry — Juggernauth — The British Government and the Keligious Endowments of the People — The Pilgrim-tax — Gradual extension of State-Patronage — Results of our interference 366 CHAPTER XI. Ignorance of the People of England — Their dawning apprehensions — Mr. Charles Grant — The extension of the ecclesiastical establish- ment — Bishop Wilson — The despatch of 1833— Misgivings of the Court — Subsequent orders 397 CONTENTS, IX CHAPTER Xn. PAGE Severance of Government Connexion with Idolatry — Employment of Native agency — Administration of temple-finds — Landed endow- ments — Money-payments — Missionary efforts — Bishop Wilson — Connexion of Government Servants with Missionary schemes — The Hindoo law of inheritance — Education 431 CONCLUSION. Retrospect — Becapitulation — Success the result of caution — The question as affected by the Rebellion of 1857 — Our future policy — Proposed demonstrations — Buty of the Government — Duty of individuals — Conclusion 475 APPENDICES 507 E R K A T A. Page 41, line 16, for "heathen's minds," read "heathens' minds." Page 65, head line, for "tbench," read " fiest." Page 228, line 3 from bottom, for " fraudulent banker and low swindler," read " fraudulent debtor and low swindler." Page 432, line 9, for " other agency from that," read " other agency /or that." In some places, in the earlier part of this work, the name "Udny" is mis- printed " Udney." PREFACE. I HAVE been thinking, for many years, of such a work as this — or of one, perhaps, of greater pretensions. But for circumstances affecting my daily life, and limiting my powers of literary labour, I might have indented more largely upon the patience of the . reader. As it is, I give this volume to the world, with some confidence that the interest of the subject will atone for any inefl&ciency in its treatment. When the great rebellion of 1857 was at its height, and every mail was bringing from India fresh tidings of disasters suffered or retrieved, I often found in society that men would turn away from the considera- tion of the most important political events, or the most touching personal incidents, to discuss the great sub- ject of the future place of India among the Christian nations of the world. The missionary seemed, even then, to overlay the military element in men's minds ; and now the Indian question has become so largely a religious question, that many have ceased to regard it in any other light. A profound interest, indeed, has been awakened, and I trust that it is an enduring XU PREFACE. one. But, with this interest, it has appeared to me that there has been mingled much error. A tendency to run into extremes has been observable generally in the controversies which have grown out of the question, both in private society and in the public press. At one time, indeed, the disputants were divided into two great classes — those who regarded the mutiny of 1857 as the natural result of our religious and social innovations, and who, therefore, suggested the discontinuance of all efforts for the civilization and evangelization of the people of India ; and those who, looking upon it as a chastisement inflicted upon us for the neglect of our Christian duties, were, therefore, eager to atone for the remissness of the past by the activity of the future, and who counselled a course of vigorous iconoclasm — an unhesitating and undis- criminating crusade against Error, as something to be swept away by the strong hand of the dominant race. I found, too, that coupled with this extrava- gance of sentiment there was much ignorance re- garding antecedent events ; and I thought, therefore, that any contribution towards the available means of forming a more correct judgment with respect to the Past and the Future of Christianity in India might be serviceable to the Public. In this belief, collecting the materials already within my reach and going in search of others — PREFACE. XIU exhuming what I had written upon the subject in bygone years, and selecting therefrom whatever appeared to be most worthy of preservation — I set about the preparation of this work. I felt, as it proceeded, that the very moderate views which it enunciated would be palatable to no party — that I might be accused of blowing hot and cold, of halting between two opinions, and giving an uncertain sound. But now that I have brought it to a close, I am surprised to find how much, during the year which has elapsed since I commenced it, public opinion, whether in one extreme or the other, has moderated, and how many people have, so to speak, closed in upon the pivot where I once found myself almost alone. I have spoken of this volume as merely a con- tribution to the literature of Christianity in India. I desire that it may be regarded and judged as nothing more. It does not pretend to be a com- plete history of the efforts which have been made by Christians of various denominations to diffuse the light of the Gospel among the heathen nations of the East. Many very worthy efforts may be found unrecorded, and many very worthy labourers may be found unnoticed in this volume. Anything like a sufficient record of all that has been done would demand not one but many volumes. I have aimed at the production not of an exhaustive, but of XIV PKEFACE. a suggestive work ; and I hope that it will be judged fairly — not by what it does not, but by what it does contain. No one knows better than I do myself how much more I might have said in every chapter of this work to give completeness to this record. It will be observed that the subject has been treated biographically in the earlier part of the work. I believe that this mode of treatment, whilst impart- ing a living interest to the narrative better calculated than anything else to enchain the attention of the reader, is at the same time the most truthful form in which the progress of Christianity in India can be represented. It is to the "advance of individual minds" — to the energy of individual eflforts — that we owe the much or the little that has been done ; and it is in the thoughts that were taking shape in the minds of these pioneers of the Gospel that we must trace the dawning of Christianity in the East. The first difficulties fairly overcome — the thicket cleared, the road made, the first step taken — the rest depends comparatively little upon individual character and individual exertion. There may at later periods have been many Xaviers and Ziegenbalgs — many Careys and Martyns, but their individuality is lost in the crowd. The history, therefore, as it advances, natu- rally tends towards diffusion and generalisation. The personal landmarks disappear altogether, and we look only at results in the gross. PREFACE. XV This much with regard to the method of the work. A few words now with respect to the materials of which it is composed. The reader will see at once that these are of various kinds, printed, manuscript, and traditional. The published works to which I am indebted are generally named in the foot-notes. They are too numerous for me to indicate them here. Mr. Hough's elaborate " History of Christianity in India " deserves, however, prominent mention by all later writers on the subject. I must also especially acknowledge my obligations to Mr. Marshman, who kindly placed the first volume of his " History of the Serampore Mission " at my disposal many months before its publication, and to which I am indebted for nearly all the information contained in the Seventh Chapter of this book. I have consulted manuscript documents, public and private, when- ever I have thought that there was anything to be found in them ; but I make no boast of the exclusiveness of my materials. The biographers of the last half century have well nigh exhausted the private correspondence of the Christian worthies of the time; and the zeal of such good men as Sir Kobert Inglis and Mr. Arthur Kinnaird, with the consenting voice of Parliament, has made nearly all the official papers illustrative of the subject accessible to the public. Partly in justice to the public, partly in justice to XVI PREFACE. myself, I should mention, in conclusion, that, although the greater portion of this volume was written last year, and is now, for the first time, offered to the public, some parts of it were written many years ago, and published, in the shape of review-essays, but with a view to future collection. It is right that this should be stated, in order that the reader may know what is offered to him ; and that the writer may not be supposed to have borrowed from others what probably they have borrowed from him. J. W. K. London, February, 1859. CHRISTIA]V[ITY I:N^ INDIA. CHAPTER I. The Ante-Protestant Era— Legend of St. Tlionias — Pantsenus— Fruraentius — The Syrian Churches — Francis Xavier — Inroads of the Papacy — Menezes — The Jesuit Missions. It is my design that this volume shall contain a popular sketch of the progress of Christianity in India ; more especially as it has been aifected by the efforts of the Protestant Church and the measures of the British Government. Glancing at the legend- ary history of the earliest Christian ministrations in the East, I shall touch upon the establishment of the Syrian Churches, upon the first efforts of the Papacy, and upon those great and important facts the Jesuits' missions in the East ; until, arriving at the period of British connection with India, I come to speak of the doings of our own countrymen at home and abroad, aided by the efforts of their Danish and American fellow-labourers in the same vineyard. I shall dwell upon the progress of the Anglican Church in India; upon the advancement of practical Chris- B 2 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. tianity as exhibited in the lives of our Anglo-Indian brethren ; and upon what is called the " traditionary policy " of the British Government in the East. I shall endeavour to show in what manner Christianity and Heathenism have severally received support or discouragement from that Government; and shall conclude the sketch with some observations on the manner in which the great question has been affected by the calamities which have recently filled so many hearts with fear and so many homes with mourning. At the outset of his journey the historical inquirer finds himself groping in the dim regions which lie between fact and fable. He cannot clearly discover who were the first apostles who carried to the shores of the Indian ocean the truth of the new religion which Christ had bequeathed to the world. He knows that from the very commencement of the Christian sera there was constant interchange of worldly goods between the shores of the Red Sea and the southern and western coasts of the great Peninsula of India. It was by the enterprise and the ambition of the Macedonian Alexander that a knowledge of the countries of the East had first been opened out to the empires of the West, that the gates of com- merce had been unlocked, and the people of India and the colonists of Egypt brought into frequent intercourse with each other. The great city which he founded became in time the mart of the commerce of the East and the stronghold of the new religion of the West. But the glory of the Greek empire had THE LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS. 6 passed away. The advent of the Redeemer found the Romans masters of the world ; and Alexandria a Roman city. With the increased demand for foreign luxuries, there grew new incentives to commercial enterprise. Every year, at the time of the summer solstice, a fleet of more than a hundred merchant ships sailed, under the Roman flag, out of the port of Myos Hormus on the Red Sea, and steered for the rich pearl-fisheries of Ceylon and the spicy coasts of Malabar. In exchange for the rich silks, the costly jewels, and the aromatic treasures of India and Arabia, the Romans gave their precious metals and something more pre- cious still. They carried out tidings of the birth and sufferings of the Redeemer, and of the new faith that he had bequeathed to the world. Of the first Indian missionaries we have no account. There is a legend which attributes to the apostle Thomas the establishment of the Christian Church in India. Slowly does reason reject a tradition which imagination is so eager to embrace. It would be pleasant to accord the fullest faith to the legend of the apostolic origin of Christianity in India ; but there is really no authority in its favour to divest it of all the attributes of fable. A very exciting account of the life and death of the apostle in India is to be found in the pages of a Portuguese historian. With apparent good faith Maffeus relates the miracles that Thomas wrought in India ; how he converted certain Magi; how he built a temple at Meliapore ; how he brought the dead to life ; how B 2 4 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. he delivered himself of certain wonderful prophecies : and, finally, how he became a martyr for the faith.* The Portuguese, at all events, believed these tra- ditions, and invoked the miraculous aid of the saint when they went into battle. Marco Polo, who visited India before the time of the Portuguese, relates that St. Thomas was accidentally killed when at prayer in a wood, by a low-caste man, who was shooting at peacocks ; and that, as a consequence of this mischance, none of the poor man's tribe could ever enter the place where the saint lay buried — " Nor," adds the Venetian, " could twenty men force them in, nor ten hold them there, on account of the virtue of that sacred body."f Every one who has visited Madras, knows " St. Thomas's Mount." It has for centuries been held, both by the Syrian and the Eomish churches, to be the burial place of the apostle ; but the more the legend is investigated, the more fabulous it appears. I do not know a modern writer of any note who has the least faith in the story. That the gospel was ever preached in India during the first century, there is no credible evidence to show ; but this much history may assert, that towards the close of the second century, when the Emperor Commodus, one of the worst and weakest of the many tyrants and idiots who hastened the downfall * Gibbon says that " Marco Polo v hose legs are as big as an elephant's was told on the spot that he (St. which gives occasion for the divnlcine Thomas) suffered martyrdom in the it to be a judgment on them as city of Melmpore." This, however, the generation of the assassins' and IS clearly an erroneous statement. murtherers of the blessed apostle St t Dr. Fryer, who visited India Thomas, one of whom I saw at Fort about 1680, says that "about this St. George." Such the miraculous mount live a cast of people, one of origin of Elephantiasis ' PANT^NUS. O of the Roman empire, exercised bloody dominion in the eternal city and throughout its marvellous depen- dencies in three quarters of the globe, the glad tidings of the Gospel had reached the ears of the dwellers on the Southern Indian coast. From whose- soever lips the great message fell, it had not fallen on ungrateful soil. Among the pearl-fishers of Ceylon and the rude cultivators on the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel were men who sighed after better teaching and a purer faith than those of the priests of their idol temples. From those distant Indian shores the Egyptian mariners brought back intelligence which spread joyfully among the Christians of Alexandria. Deme- trius held the episcopate of the Alexandrian see. Pantsenus presided over the celebrated school which was among the glories of that famous city. He had forsaken the philosophy of the Portico to embrace the faith as it is in Jesus ; and now the intelligence brought home by the Egyptian mariners stirred his heart among his pupils and his books. The longings of the heathen were after Gospel teaching. Their prayers for the help of instructed Christian guides did not find utterance in vain. Pondering, perhaps praying over, these strange tidings, the philosopher formed a great resolution, and girded himself up for a great enterprise. He determined to leave his disciples — to abandon the honours and rewards of the academy — and to go forth to preach the Gospel to the heathen upon heathen ground. What he did, and what he taught, it is hard to say. Doubts of the CHBISTIANITY IN INDIA. soundness of his doctrines have been freely expressed. It is said, that the taint of the old Stoic philosophy clung to the Christian teacher. But we may at least believe the sincerity and devotedness of the man, who exchanged the learned quiet of the schools, and the amenities of civilization, for the hardships and suffer- ings of missionary life, beneath a burning sun, and among a barbarous people ; and though there be no record of his exploits, or even of the precise scene of his labours,* and it is known that he returned after a time to Alexandria, to take his old place among his disciples, we may cherish the pleasing belief, that the first Indian missionary of whom we have any authentic account, did not labour wholly in vain. But it is not easy to say what he left behind him, or who succeeded him in the great work. The history of the Christian Church in the East here sinks into a cloud of obscurity. Little is known of the progress of the Gospel on Indian soil throughout the whole of the third century. It was at the commencement of the fourth, that the Emperor Constantino, " seated Christianity on the throne of the Boman world," At the Council of Nice, held under his authority, at the close of the first quarter of that century, one of the * It is even doubted ty some of Ceylon and the Malabar coast, ■writers whether he visited India It is certain, however, that there is Proper at all ; and it is suggested something extremely vague and in- that the scene of his labours was definite in the geographical nomeu- more probably the coast of Arabia. clature of ancient writers, who are But the balance of evidence collected too apt to describe Arabia, Abyssinia, by Mr. Hough, in his " History of Persia, and Central Asia, indiffer- Christianity in India," is against the ently, under the comprehensive name latter hypothesis. There is no reason, of India, — a word, indeed, often made indeed, to doubt that Pantaenus visited to represent all the countries of the India ; in all probability the island East. THE STORY OF FRUMENTIUS. 7 assembled prelates, named Johannes, subscribed his name, as " Metropolitan of Persia and the Great India," a fact which seems to indicate that there was at that time a Christian Church of some bulk and significance planted on the Indian coast. Thirty years later, one Frumentius, a Tyrian by birth, sailed for India, invested by Athanasius with Episcopal authority, and gathered together the scattered Christian flocks which were then dispersed over the southern peninsula. The story of this man is worth telling. He was the kinsman of a Christian philosopher named Mero- pius, who had heard from others such accounts of the wonders of the " Great India," as filled him with a strong desire to visit the utmost isles and shores of the East. Taking two young kinsmen with him as companions of his voyage, he sailed for India, satisfied his longings, and was about to turn the prow of his vessel towards hope, when the natives of the country seized him and the mariners who had worked his ship, and barbarously murdered them. The young kinsmen of the philosopher alone escaped. Their names were Frumentius and ^desius. The natives carried the youths to their king, who made the one his secretary and the other his cup-bearer ; and when he died, leaving a son in his minority, the queen- mother entreated the strangers to undertake the guardianship of the boy, and to direct the admini- stration of the country. They consented ; and Fru- mentius became the chief ruler of the state. The precise locality in which the Christian tutor and 8 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. regent of a heathen prince and a heathen country exercised dominion is not on record ; but it is nar- rated by many credible authorities, that in this trying and responsible position Frumentius remembered the lessons of his youth, and turned to good account his influence and authority. He found on inquiry from the merchants that there were many Christians on the coast ; he gathered them together ; erected a church ; exhorted them to the constant worship of the true God, and promised to protect their temporal interests. Many were thus added to the Christian Church ; but in due course the prince, attaining to years of discre- tion, took the reins of government into his own hands, and Frumentius and JEdesius, in spite of the remon- strances of the young sovereign and his mother, pre- pared to return to the country of their birth, ^de- sius repaired at once to the home of his kindred in Tyre, but Frumentius made his way to Alexandria, sought an interview with Athanasi^is, and urged him to provide for the spiritual wants of the native con- verts on the Indian coast. The Patriarch besought him to undertake the mission himself, and Frumentius returned to India. It is said that the new bishop made many converts and erected many churches. It is only in accordance witli the general character of the traditions of the age, that it should be added that he wrought many miracles. Of the progress of Christianity in the East during the fifth century there are few, if any, authentic records. Early in the sixth century, a merchant of Alexandria named Cosmas visited India, and wrote THE SIXTH CENTUEY. 9 an account of the places he had seen. " There is," he said, " in the Island of Taprobane (Ceylon) in the furthermost India, in the Indian sea, a Christian Church, with clergymen and believers. I know not whether there are any Christians beyond this island. In the Malabar country also, where pepper grows, there are Christians, and in Calliana, as they call it, there is a bishop who comes from Persia where he was consecrated."* The Gospel had indeed been making its way towards India by the northern route, through Central Asia; and was preached, with suc- cess, in Persia, in Media, in Armenia, in Bactria, and in the Tartar countries lying to the north of the great Caucasian range. " The Barbaric Churches," says Gibbon, " from the Gulf of Persia to the Caspian Sea, were almost infinite ; and their recent faith was conspicuous in the number and sanctity of their monks and martyrs." " In a subsequent age," to borrow the language of the same historian, " the zeal of the Nestoriansf overleaped the limits which had confined the ambition and curiosity both of the Greeks and Persians. The missionaries of Balkh and Samarcand pursued without fear the footsteps of the roving Tartar, and insinuated themselves into the camps * There has been a good deal of the Pudifetania on the Cororaandel learned discussion relative to- the coast, mentioned by Nicolo Conti, is identity of this place, but I see no identical -vrith the Poodabatan of reason to disbelieve that the Greek Cosmas, which was on the Malabar KaWiava represents the modern Cal- coast. Ijanee, near Bombay. Cosmas evi- f The Nestorians were the fol- dently knew nothing of the eastern lowers of Nestorius, who was con- coast of the Indian peninsula ; and seorated Bishop of Constantinople in yet Mr. Hugh Murray, in his " Jrlisto- 429. For an interesting account of rical Account of Discoveries and his career, and of his peculiar doc- Travels in Asia," a very able and trines, see Mr. Hough's " History," interesting compilation, suggests that vol. i. chap. 11. 10 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. of the valleys of Imaus and the banks of the Selinga." But as the seventh century dawned upon Asia, the great imposture of Mahomed arose and checked for a time the growth of Christianity in the Eastern world. The faith of the Arabian enthusiast, supported by seductive appeals to the passions of men, began to roll its irresistible tide over the vast extent of country that lies between the banks of the Mediterranean and the confines of the Chinese Empire. The followers of the new creed were men of earnestness and enter- prise ; they monopolised the trade and navigation of the East; and for a time the Christian churches languished. Commerce had been, hitherto, the great agent of proselytism, and now that agency was sus- pended. Receiving no new strength from without, and within abject and corrupt, presenting a feeble contrast to the gigantic ascendancy of the new faith, the churches of India visibly declined in power as the mosques of the Mahomedans cast their shadows over the parched ground, and the stillness of the evening was broken by the Muezhin's call to prayer. Two noticeable events, though not altogether un- obscured by that mist of uncertainty which hangs over the early history of the Christian Church in India, distinguished the eighth and ninth centuries. Towards the close of the former, when it appears that the Indian bishoprics were under the authority of the Nestorian Patriarch of Seleucia, an Armenian mer- chant, named Thomas Cana, took up his abode in Malabar. Before this time the Christian brother- MAK THOMAS. 11 hood, both on that and the Coromandel coast, perse- cuted by the native princes, had been driven into the interior of the country, to seek refuge on the hills. The influence of Mar Thomas, who whether formally appointed or not to the episcopal office, appears to have performed its functions and borne its title, was great throughout Southern India. Under his protec- tion the native Christians enjoyed security and peace. It has been conjectured that this man, who married and died in India, and left behind him a numerous progeny, is the Christian worthy who has been con- founded with the Apostolic saint. The chronological question simply involves a discrepancy of a small matter of eight centuries ; and all we now know about it, or are likely to know, is that the St. Thomas, who is venerated by the Christian Churches of Southern India, and whose name they bear, was either " an apostle, a Manichsean, or an Armenian merchant," and that he died in the first century or the ninth. The noticeable event of the ninth century, to which I have alluded, is connected with this history of St. Thomas. It is on record that Alfred the Great despatched from Great Britain an embassy, under Sighelm, Bishop of Shireburn, to the shrine of the saint at Madras.* Having paid their devotions, the * This was in 883. It seems little Alfred's embassage — there should likely that if the legend of the death have been at that time, either in and burial of St. Thomas in the Egypt or Great Britain, any confu- neighbourhood of Madras really arose sion of an incident which occurred out of the fact of the death and burial fifty years before with one that was of Mar Thomas — an event which took at least eight centuries old. place only about half a century before 12 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. holy men returned home, bringing with them a costly recompense in the shape of a rich cargo of pearls and spices. The fame of these precious commodities had reached the monarch of the Western Isle, and the substance now rewarded his zeal. This story is related on such good authority that I am slow to pronounce it apocryphal. It would seem to be at least partly true. It is surmised by Gibbon and other writers, that the pilgrims were despatched from Great Britain, but never proceeded farther than Alexandria, where they " collected their cargo and legend." However imperfectly we may understand the motives of the British monarch, or grope our way through the haze of doubt that besets the tradition, it would be pleasant to accept, without misgivings, this history of the dawn of Saxon enterprise in the East. From this time, over a large surface of years, lie few and scattered the incidents which mark the progress of the Christian churches in the East. In the tenth century the cause of the pure faith had greatly recovered from the blighting effects of Mahomedan ascendancy, and new efforts were made to support and to recruit the churches. It is said that about this time the Christians of St. Thomas were so many and so powerful in Southern India, that they asserted their independence as a people, and erected a sovereignty of their own. For some time they prospered under their Christian Eajahs, until one of them dying without issue, adopted a heathen prince as his heir, and from that time the WESTERN CIVILIZATION. 13 race of Christian rulers was extinct-^a remarkable instance of the advantages of that system of adoption which now, after the lapse of nearly a thousand years, is debated with as much warmth, and advocated with as much earnestness, as though the welfare of India were dependent upon the issue of the contest. Hitherto, with but a dim uncertain light to guide us, we have groped through a country of much doubt and perplexity, a desert on which, few and far be- tween, stand up shadowy landmarks of history, scarcely better than the merest fables. Out of the regions of the indistinct and conjectural, we are now about to emerge, by sensible degrees, into the light of substantial history. We have seen the tide of Christianity setting in from Egypt and Syria, through Arabia and Persia, towards the western coast of Hindostan, and thence up the southern peninsula. For a time the ascendancy of Maho- medanism cut oflF the growing intercourse between Christianity and Heathenism, and kept down the growth of the Nestorian churches. It was but for a time. The growing civilization of the West went out to meet the stern enthusiasm of the East, and the traders of Arabia yielded the commerce of the Indian seas to the merchants of Genoa and Venice. But the enmity of Mahomedanlsm was not extin- guished, and its power was not suppressed. By the victorious arms of Mahomed II., the crescent was planted in the capital of the Greek empire, and the mart of Constantinople closed against the European 14 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. world. By such hostility as this, the spirit of Christian enterprise was excited rather than de- pressed. The nations of the West had hitherto known no other sea route than those through the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, along the Arabian coast to Ceylon ; but the aggressiveness and exclu- siveness of the Mahomedans stimulated them to seek another channel by which to import into Europe the wealth of the Oriental marts, and on the common road of the great ocean they tried, for the first time, towards the close of the fifteenth century, the great experiment of a western passage to India, around the stormy promontory of Southern Africa. It was in the year 1497) that Vasco de Gama, a subject of the King of Portugal, doubled the Cape of Storms, and steered for the western coast of India. After a voyage of ten months from the port of Lisbon, he cast anchor before the town of Calicut in the month of May in the following year ; and from that time we date a new epoch in the history of the Christian churches in the Indian world. Long before this the Papacy had been established ; but the Syrian churches knew nothing about the Papacy — nothing about Rome. They had flourished on the Indian coast long before the days of Papal domination, and when the Romish Church erected its proud front, and overawed the empires of the West, the Christian churches in India had been defended against the inroads of its propagandism, and the tyranny of its intolerance, by the barriers which Mahomedanism had raised up between the APPEARANCE OF THE POBTUGUESE. 15 people of Europe and the dwellers on the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel. But no sooner were the Portuguese vessels anchored off the shores of Southern India than the independence of the primi- tive churches was threatened, and in a little time was grievously assailed. When Yasco de Gama appeared a second time on the Indian coast, with the title of Admiral of the Eastern Seas, the Christians of Malabar welcomed him with cordi- ality, and invited him to become the ruler of their tribe. The deputation which crossed the surf and ascended the sides of De Gama's vessel presented to the great navigator the sceptre of the last of their Christian kings. It was a wooden staff dyed with vermilion, silver-mounted, and ornamented with bells. With childlike confidence they placed themselves under his protection, and besought him to become their chief. From that time the progress of that great buccaneering expedition, which subjected many fair provinces of the Indian continent to the rule of a tyrannous, lustful, and unscrupulous band of tyrants and marauders, was, beyond example, rapid and event- ful. The success of the Portuguese over the Moorish power in the East was not without its uses ; and it would be hard to withhold our admiration from the surprising energy with which it was achieved. But it is a painful and a terrible chapter of history. The first Christian settlers in India were the most unchristian of men ; * and it has taken more than * Maffeus candidly acknowledges guese formed one of the main obsta- that the unholy lives of the Portu- cles to the conversion of the natives. 16 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. three centuries to wipe away the stain cast upon Christianity by the lives of its European professors. Intent upon worldly conquest, and the acquisition of earthly wealth, the first Lusitanian invaders appear to have troubled themselves little about the propa- gation of Christianity ; and it may be doubted whether the Franciscan Friars who accompanied the Portuguese mariners to India did not, for the most part, suflPer the missionary character to subside into the monastic. They established monasteries ; they built churches ; but they made few genuine converts. Proselytism, in the time of Albuquerque, was a matter of State policy, not of Christian zeal and devotion. The Viceroy, we are told, " in order to breed up soldiers, very wisely got the Indian maids made Christians, and married them to the Portu- guese, that they might not always stand in need of fresh supplies of men from Portugal." But whilst Albuquerque and his successors were prosecuting their conquests in the East, and the Portuguese power was extending itself from the Arabian gulf to the very confines of China, a greater than Albuquerque was achieving that greater conquest of self, and a mightier power than that of the arms of Portugal in the East was rising among the peaceful colleges of the West. Ignatius Loyola bowed himself to God ; and the reign of the Jesuits commenced. After setting forth other difficulties, tidiaiias vitse documenta, neque enim he says : " Verum nihil plane majori tantam spectata paucorum innocentia est impedimento quam nostratium et virtus adstruit Evangelio fidem ; Christianorum (quos Ethnicis prse- quantam insignis multoruin et nolis- lucere ad omnem justitiam et casti- simi fere cujusque avaritia et impro- tatem oportuerat) tauto nomini ac bitas adimit." professioni minime consentanea qiio- FRANCIS XAVIEE. 17 It was in the spring of the year 1541 that the first missionary of. the new Society of Jesus turned his clear, blue eyes, for the last time, upon the orange- groves of Spain, and set his face towards the shining Orient. A Portuguese vessel, destined to carry out to Goa a new Indian viceroy, and a reinforcement of a thousand men, suffered the great-hearted enthusiast to slink silently on board, and to mingle with the noisy crowd of soldiers and mariners on her deck. No pleasant well-fitted cabin was there for him — no well-supplied " cuddy-table " — no outfit that he did not carry on his back. He pillowed his head upon a coil of ropes, and ate what the sailors discarded. But there was not a seaman in that labouring vessel, there was not a soldier in that crowded troop-ship, who did not inwardly recognise the great soul that glowed beneath those squalid garments. No outward humiliation could conceal that knightly spirit ; no sickness and suffering could quench the fire of that ardent genius. The highest and the lowest held converse with him ; and, abject, prostrate as he was, he towered above them all, alike as a gentleman and a scholar. And when, thirteen months after the vessel sailed out of the port of Lisbon, its rent sails were furled, and its strained cables coiled before the seaport of Goa, there was not one of the many enthusiasts who now, as they dropped down her weather-stained and shattered side, shaped for themselves in imagina- tion so brilliant a career in the great Indies, or heaped up such piles of visionary wealth, as stirred the heart of Francis Xavier. But his career was only that of 18 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. the Christian missionary, and the riches he was to gain were countless thousands of human souls. It was Xavier's will to suffer. The King of Portugal had ordered, that on his passage to India a cahin should he placed at his disposal, and furnished with everything that could render tolerable the dis- comforts of a sea life. But he had rejected these kingly offers, and contented himself with the bare deck as his home ; a single cloak to shelter him in the foul weather, and a few books to solace him in the fair. And now that he had reached the point at which were to commence his apostolic ministrations, the same spirit of self-denial and self-dependence animated him in all that he did. He had prayed before his departure for more stripes ; he had asked the Divine goodness to grant him in India the pains that had been faintly foreshadowed in his Italian career. He had carried out all sorts of briefs and credentials from regal and pontifical hands ; and the bishop now eagerly tendered him assistance and pressed upon him pecuniary support. But he refused all these episcopal offers, and sought no aid but that of God. The more dangers seemed to thicken — the more appalling the difficulties that beset his path — the more agonizing the trials he endured — the louder, the more earnest was his cry, "Yet more — O my God ! — ^yet more ! " Protestant zeal is only contemptible when it denies that Francis Xavier was a great man. Delusions he may have had, strong as ever yet wrought upon the human soul ; but the true nobility of his nature is xavier's career. 19 not to be gainsaid. He faced the most tremendous trials with a courage and a constancy of the highest order, and prosecuted the most arduous and astounding labours with an energy and a perseverance scarcely exampled in the history of mankind. He found himself suddenly thrown into the midst of a mingled community of natives and Europeans, of which it was hard to say whether the one or the other were sunk in the deeper and more debasing idolatry. It was a privilege to him to endure hardship and to be beset with diflSculty in the prosecution of his great work. His courage rose as the objects in his path loomed larger and larger, and he waded through the sea of pollution that lay before him as one who never feared to sink. He began his course by endeavouring to entice his countrymen at Goa into a purer way of life ; and, as none since the days of the apostle Paul have known better how to abound and how to be abased, he became as weak unto the weak, all things to all men, that by all means he might save some. The knightly spirit was never extinct within him ; with the chivalry and the courtesy of the old noble, he united the fulness and readiness of the scholar ; and whether among the gay and gallant officers who surrounded the Viceroy of Portugal, or among the degraded fishermen on the coast of Malabar, the gentle blood which flowed in his veins imparted dignity to his presence, softness to his speech, and the most winning generosity to his actions. Whether, placing himself at the head of a band of oppressed Christians, he charged down, crucifix in hand, upon a marauding c 2 20 CHRISTIANIxy IN INDIA. enemy, or whether he braved death in fever hospitals and lazar-houses, performing readily the most sicken- ing offices for their tainted inmates, the same noble courage and self-devotion shone out in everything that he did. That the doctrines he taught may not have been the soundest — that his means of teaching were insuf- ficient — that he knew little of the native languages^ — — that he made converts who were in reality no con- verts — that he had an overweening faith, not peculiar to the sixteenth century, in the efficacy of infant baptism, are facts which all history records, but no true history in a grudging spirit. The more insuf- ficient his means, the greater the faith that sustained him. When Francis Xavier went about the streets of Goa, or traversed the villages on the western coast, bell in hand, its clear sounds inviting all who heard to gather round him and accept from his lips the first rudiments of Christian truth ; and when, with inalien- able European accent, he enunciated a rude transla- tion of the Apostles' creed, and then of the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments, he did not believe that he, so unworthy an agent, so weak a vessel, could convert thousands of wondering heathens to the faith as it is in Christ ; but he believed that even a weaker vessel, even a more unworthy agent, might, in God's hands, become a^ human medium for the conversion of tens of thousands, and he did his best, knowing how little it was in itself, but how great it might become, if the Holy Ghost descended upon him as a dove, and birdlike accompanied him in xavier's proselytes. 21 his wanderings. How far the Divine Spirit may- have worked in him, and for him, it is not for us in these days to determine. It was said that a miraculous gift of tongues was vouchsafed to him that he raised the dead, and performed other prodi- gies ; hut he was too truthful, too real a man, to favour the growth of errors which the whole Catholic world was only too willing to accept ; and it would be the vilest injustice to fix upon the first Jesuit missionary the charge of dishonesty and insincerity, because among his followers have been liars and hypocrites of the worst class. The proselytes of Francis Xavier are numbered by his followers, not by tens, but by hundreds of thou- sands. He is said to have converted seven hundred thousand unbelievers to the Christian faith. His converts were drawn from all classes, from princes to pariahs. That the dishonesty or credulity of his biographers has greatly magnified his successes is not to be denied; but, making large deductions on this score, there still remains a formidable balance of nominal Christianity to be carried to the account of the apostle. His superhuman energies seem to have been attended with almost miraculous results. Idols fell at his approach ; churches rose at his bidding ', and the sign of the cross became the recognised symbol of fellowship among the inmates of entire villages. From Goa he travelled southward to the pearl-fisheries of Cape Comorin, and after succouring the poor people who had been driven thence to the shores of thg Straits of Manaar, returned to the 22 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. western coast and commenced his labours, with extra- ordinary energy and success, in Travancore. Accord- ing to his own account he baptized ten thousand heathens in a single month ; carrying on the holy work till he could no longer articulate the words of the formula, or raise his hand to perform the office. Then he took ship for the Eastern isles, visited Malacca, Amboyna, Ternate, Java; and, after a while, returned to visit his churches in Southern India, and to prepare himself for a great crusade against the Bonzes of Japan. More than two years were spent in this holy war ; many strange adventures he encountered, many converts he made, and many churches he established ; but his career was now drawing to a close. He returned to Goa, and there in council with one lago Pereira, captain of the vessel which had carried the apostle on his strange and perilous voyage from Japan, formed the magnificent design of converting the Chinese Empire. But he never reached the flowery land. Difficulties beset the enterprise. The apostle of the Jesuits was landed at the Island of Sancian ; and there as he was about to join, full of heart and hope, a Siamese embassy of which he had gained tidings, and thus aided to pene- trate into the interior of the Celestial Empire, the hand of God was put forth to stay his triumphant career; the Divine mandate, "thus far shalt thou go, and no further," was issued to that lowly, well- prepared servant of God ; he met the summons with rapture, and on the bare beach, or beneath a miserable shed, which sheltered him neither from the heat by INROADS OF THE PAPACY. 23 day nor from the cold by night, he closed a life of agony and bliss, of humiliation and of triumph, with scarcely a parallel in the history of the world. Such briefly told in a few paragraphs was the career of Francis Xavier. He died on the 2nd day of December, 1552, at the portals of the Chinese empire. His mantle descended upon none worthy to be asso- ciated with the memory of such a man. In the history of the Jesuits' missions in India, Prancis Xavier stands out in solitary grandeur, as the one apostolic man. Beside him all his successors were but mountebanks and impostors. He was too earnest, too assiduous in his ministrations to busy himself about the doctrines .of other Christian teachers, and too large-hearted and charitable to sink into a bigot, or to be goaded into persecution. He went about his own work, and the Syrian priests tended their flocks in security and peace. Before his death the Fran- ciscan friars had endeavoured silently and secretly to undermine the Malabar churches ; but had resorted to no acts of violence. Soon, however, the over- bearing policy of Rome began openly to assert itself; and the Christians of St. Thomas saw their inde- pendence threatened by men whom they regarded as little better than idolaters in religion and buccaneers in active life. Then began that great struggle, to the history of which Gibbon has devoted two pregnant pages, and Hough more than a volume of his work. The Christians, long seated on the coast of Malabar, traced their paternity to the Apostle Paul, who 24 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. " went through Syria and Cilicia confirming the churches." They looked to Syria as their spiritual home. They owned the supremacy of the Patriarch of Bahylon. Of Eome and the Pope they knew nothing. During the rise of the Papacy, the Ma- homedan power, which had overrun the intervening countries, had closed the gates of India against the nations of the West.* This had saved the Syrian churches from Roman supremacy and Roman cor- ruption. As to the great question, whether the churchmen of Spain and Portugal or the Christian priests of Southern India entertained purer ideas and practised more orthodox forms of Christianity, authorities may widely differ. The Portuguese were scandalized at the appearance of the Syrian houses of worship, which they declared to he heathen temples scarcely disguised. The Syrian Christians shrank with dismay from the defiling touch of the Roman Catholics of Portugal, and proclaimed themselves Christians and not idolaters, when the image of the Virgin Mary was placed before their oflFended eyes. But it is certain that the Malabar Christians had never been subject to Roman supremacy, and never subscribed to Roman doctrine. The inquisitors of Goa discovered that they were heretics ; but they were quietly living in the enjoyment of a faith which had been vouchsafed to them a thousand years before — vouchsafed to them when Rome owned a heathen Emperor, and knew not the sterner, more capacious * The Abbe Eaynal, wliose views the effect of this exclusion in a very Eobertson adopts not without ac- sensible and candid manner, knowledgment, has enlarged upon THE TYRANNY OF MENEZES. 25 tyranny of a sovereign Pontiff of the Christian Church. But like a wolf on the fold, down came the dele- gates of the pontifical tyrant upon these doomed Indian churches. Their own shepherds, unworthy of such a charge, deserted their flock in the hour of need, scrambled for power, and played a game of dissimulation, that was not even justified by temporary success. The first Syrian prelate who was brought into antagonism with Kome, expiated his want of courage and sincerity in the dungeons of the Inqui- sition. The second shared the same fate. A third, whose sufferings are more worthy of commiseration, died after much trial and tribulation in his diocese, denying the Pope's supremacy to the last. The churches were now without a Bishop, at a time when they more than ever needed prelatical countenance and support ; for Rome was about to put forth a mighty hand and a stretched-out arm. Don Alexis de Menezes was appointed Archbishop of Goa. It was his mission less to make new converts than to reduce old ones to subjection ; and he flung himself into the work of persecution with an amount of zeal and heroism that must have greatly endeared him to Home. Impatient of the slow success of his agents, he determined to take the staff into his own hand. Moving down to the South, with an imposing military force,* he summoned the Syrian Churches to submit * There was other work to b's done of imparting to the movements of by tliis expedition than the reduction tlie Archbishop all the circmnstance of the Syrian Churches ; but the au- of official pomp and the persuasive- thorities of Goa saw the advantage ness of military strength. 26 CHHISTIANITY IN INDIA. themselves to his authority. The Churches were under an Archdeacon, who, sensible of the danger that impended over them, determined to temporize, but at the same time to show that he was prepared to resist. He waited on the Archbishop. An escort • of three thousand resolute men who accompanied him on his visit to Menezes, were with difficulty restrained, on the first slight and delusive sign of violence, from rushing on their opponents and proving their burning zeal in defence of their religion. It was not a time for Menezes to push the claims of the Romish Church. But no fear of resistance could divert him from his purpose ; and he openly denounced the Patriarch of Babylon as a pestilent schismatic, and declared it a heresy to acknowledge his supremacy. He then issued a decree forbidding all persons to acknowledge any other supremacy than that of the Roman Pontiff, or to make any mention of the Syrian Patriarch in the services of their Church ; and, this done, he publicly excommunicated the acknow- ledged head of the Syrian Churches, and called upon the startled Archdeacon to sign the writ of excom- munication. Frightened and confused, the wretched man put his name to the apostate document ; and it was publicly affixed to the gates of the church. This intolerable insult on the one hand — this wretched compromise on the other — roused the fury of the people against the Archbishop, and against their own ecclesiastical chief. Hard was the task before him, when the latter went forth to appease the excited multitude. They would have made one FALL OF THE SYEIAN CHURCHES. 27 desperate effort to sweep the Portuguese intruders from their polluted shores ; but the Archdeacon pleaded with them for forbearance ; apologised for his own weakness ; urged that dissimulation would be more serviceable than revenge ; promised, in spite of what he had done, to defend their religion ; and ex- horted them to be firm in their resistance of Papal aggression. With a shout of assent, they swore that they would never bow their necks to the yoke, and prepared themselves for the continuance of the struggle. But Menezes was a man of too many resources to be worsted in such a conflict. His energy and per- severance were irresistible ; his craft was too deep to fathom. When one weapon of attack failed, he tried another. Fraud took the place of violence; money took the place of arms. He bribed those whom he could not bully, and appealed to the imaginations of men when he could not work upon their fears. And, little by little, he succeeded. First one Church fell, and then another. Dangers and difficulties beset him. Often had he to encounter violent resistance, and often did he beat it down. When the strength of the Syrian Christians was too great for him, he called in the aid of the native princes. The unhappy Archdeacon, weary of resistance, and threatened with excommunication, at last made submission to the Eoman Prelate. Menezes issued a decree for a synod; and, on the 20th of June, 1599, the Churches assembled at Diamper. The first session passed quietly over, but not without much secret murmuring. 28 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA, The second, at which the decrees were read, was in- terrupted at that trying point of the ceremony where, having enunciated the Confession of Faith, the Arch- bishop renounced and anathematized the Patriarch of Babylon. The discontent of the Syrians here broke out openly ; they protested against the necessity of a Confession of Faith, and urged that such a confession would imply that they were not Christians before the assembling of the Synod. But Menezes allayed their apprehensions, and removed their doubts, by publicly making the confession in the name of himself and the Eastern Churches. One of the Syrian priests, who acted as interpreter, then read the confession in the Malabar language, and the assembled multitude re- peated it after him, word for word, on their knees. And so the Syrian Christians bowed their necks to the yoke of Bome. Eesolute to improve the advantages he had gained, Menezes did not suffer himself to subside into inac- tivity, and to bask in the sunshine of his past triumphs. Whether it was religious zeal or temporal ambition that moved him, he did not relax from his labours ; but feeling that it was not enough to place the yoke upon the neck of the Syrian Christians, he endeavoured, by all means, to keep it there. The Churches yielded sullen submission ; but there were quick-witted, keen-sighted men among them, who, as the seventeenth century began to dawn upon the world, looked hopefully into the future, feeling assured that they could discern even then unmistakable evidences of the waning glories of the Portuguese in the East. THE TYRANNY OF MENEZES. 29 There was hope then for the Syrian Churches. The persecutions of Menezes were very grievous — for he separated priests from their wives ; excommunicated, on trifling grounds, members of the churches ; and destroyed all the old Syriac records which contained proofs of the early purity of their faith. The irre- parable barbarism of this last act was not to be for- gotten or forgiven ; but, in the midst of all other sufferings, there was consolation in the thought, that this tyranny was but for a time. " Sixty years of servitude and hypocrisy," writes Gibbon, " were pa- tiently endured ; but as soon as the Portuguese empire was shaken by the courage and industry of the Dutch, the Nestorians asserted with vigour and effect the religion of their fathers. The Jesuits were incapable of defending the power they had abused. The arms of forty thousand Christians were pointed against their falling tyrants ; and the Indian Archdeacon assumed the character of Bishop till a fresh supply of Episcopal gifts and Syriac missionaries could be ob- tained from the Patriarch of Babylon." Such, briefly narrated, were the results of the oppression of Menezes. In the course of six months that ambitious and un- scrupulous prelate reduced the Syrian churches to bondage, and for sixty years they wore the galling chains of Rome. But Menezes trusted in his own strength ; he came as an earthly conqueror, and his reliance was on the arm of temporal authority. " His example," writes Mr. Hough, " should be regarded as a beacon to warn future Christian missionai'ies from the rock on which he foundered. Without faith and 30 CHiltSTIANiTY IN INDIA. godliness nothing can ensure a church's prosperity. Failing in these, the prelate's designs, magnificent as they were deemed, soon came to nothing ; and it deserves special remark, as an instructive interposition of Divine Providence, that the decline of the Portu- guese interest in India commenced at the very period when he flattered himself that he had laid the foundation of its permanency." Leaving the Malabar churches groaning under the weight of papal tyranny, we may now cross the southern peninsula, to track the movements of the Jesuits on the eastern coast. It was at the com- mencement of the seventeenth century that Robert de Nohilibus, a nephew of Cardinal Bellarmine, and a near relative of Pope Marcellus II., laid the founda- tion of the Madura Mission. The Jesuits were, by this time, rapidly supplanting the Franciscans in all parts of the southern provinces pf India. As the seventeenth century advanced, the glory of the Jesuit missions ascended higher and higher, tiU it reached its culminating point. From Goa went forth a stream of missionaries to evangelize the whole continent of India; but in the regions watered by the Ganges, they were disheartened and repulsed, and soon aban- doned their work in despair. Not so in the Southern Peninsula. There they laboured with marvellous assiduity, and, according to their own accounts, with marvellous success. Rejecting the example of Xavier, whose warm heart had expanded towards the poor and the oppressed, and whose ready limbs had ever borne him amongst them, Robert de Nohilibus, his EARLY JESUIT ISilSStOKS. 31 associates, and his successors, addressed themselves to the dominant class, and sought their converts among the Brahmans. In one respect they went forth to their work hetter prepared than the great Jesuit apostle. They had studied, and they under- stood the native languages ; they had made them- selves familiar with, and were ready to adopt, the hahits and customs of the natives. They shrank from no amount of lahour — from no suffering — from no humiliation. They turned aside from the practice of no deceit ; from the exercise of no hypocrisy. They lied in word, and they lied in action. They called themselves western Brahmans ; and in the disguise of Brahmans they mixed themselves with the people, talking their language, following their customs, and countenancing their superstitions. Clothed in the sacerdotal yellow cloth, with the mark of sandal wood on their foreheads, their long hair streaming down their hacks, their copper vessels in their hands, their wooden sandals on their feet, these "new Brahmans" found acceptance among the people, and were welcomed by the princes of southern India. They performed their ablutions with scrupulous regularity ; they ate no animal food ; they drank no intoxicating liquors ; but found in the simple fare of vegetables and milk at once a disguise and a protection. The Christians had hitherto appeared upon the scene, eating and drinking — gluttonous and wine-bibbers — and they had paid the penalty of an addiction to these feverish stimulants under the burning copper skies _ of the East. The holy men who now wandered half-naked 32 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. among the natives of southern India, and sitting on their haunches ate the common fare of the country, braved the climate with comparative immunity, and were not suspected of fellowship with the sensual Europeans who had turned Goa into a stye of cor- ruption. Whether it was necessary to the due simu- lation of the Brahmanical character to preserve in all other respects very great purity of life, may be left to all who are acquainted with the habits of that priestly class to conjecture for themselves. That these Jesuits made a surprising number of converts in the South, is confidently asserted on the testimony of their order ; and inasmuch as they baptised many thousands of people, the record is doubtless true. If the sprinkling of water and the utterance of a certain formula be enough to make a Christian, as many professing Protestants seem to believe, even in the middle of the nineteenth century, these Jesuit missionaries in the seventeenth, doubtless made multitudes of Christians. According, however, to their own showing, their success among the Brahmans was very small, and they soon began to see the necessity of flying at lower game. They went among the villagers — condescended to pariahs, and achieved great triumphs over babes and sucklings. Under the pretext of administering medicine to them, they baptized all the dying children. They did their best to render conversion as easy as possible, by heathenizing Christianity to the utmost possible extent. Indeed it may be questioned whether the Jesuit missionaries were not themselves the only real JESUIT CHHISTIANITY. 33 converts. It is almost enough to say of the scandalous nature of their proceedings, that they brought a blush to the hard cheek of Menezes. The impiety of the Jesuits in Madura startled even that unscrupulous prelate ; and yet the mission was then only in an early stage of progression towards the proficiency which it afterwards attained. The Christianity of Madura under the Jesuits was indeed un- disguised idolatry. Except that the image of the Virgin Mary was worshipped in the temples and paraded upon the cars, there was little change in the old ceremonies and processions of Hindooism. There was the same noise of trumpets, and taum- taums, and kettle-drums ; there was the same blaze of rockets, and Eoman candles, and blue-lights ; there were the same dancers, with the same marks of sandal-wood and vermilion on their naked bodies. The new Christianity of Madura disguised itself as adroitly as the priests who taught it. They married children with all the silly observances of Paganism and buried the dead with all its ghastly superstitions. To break down the barriers of Caste were a great achievement ; for Caste is the great stumbling-block of the Gospel. The Jesuits did not attempt it. They went among the people with great parade of caste, and declared that they were sprung from the head of Brahma himself. To have made an assault upon Caste would have been to betray their own secret, and utterly to ruin their schemes. They were too wise in their generation so to make shipwreck of their hopes. Among their proselytes they consented to perpetuate D 34 CHKISTIANITY IN INDIA. the distinctions which it is the ambition of Chris- tianity to destroy. The high-caste Christians and the low-caste Christians were suffered to worship apart. They could not pray in the same temple or dip their fingers in the same holy water. The whole system was one of fraud and dissimulation — of com- promise and abnegation. So little of Christianity was there in it, that the English historian of Christian India is compelled to apologise for devoting to it a chapter of his hook. Whilst the Jesuits were thus converting the heathen by becoming heathens themselves, their dominion over the Syrian Churches was rapidly relaxing, and the Christians of Malabar were be- ginning to look forward with hopefulness to the day of emancipation. The insolence and violence of the Jesuitical prelates roused the churches into resis- tance. They despatched urgent remonstrances to Eome, and not receiving answers to their prayers, renounced the domination of their E,oman bishop, and elected an ecclesiastical chief of their own. Alarmed at these proceedings, the sovereign Pontiff despatched a party of Carmelites on a mission of conciliation. But the breach was too wide for repa- ration ; the gulf which lay between them was not to be bridged over. The temporal power of the Portu- guese was declining. The Dutch had established themselves in the Eastern Isles, and were turning their eyes towards the continent of India. The two European principalities were soon in a state of open antagonism. The Dutch appeared on the DOWNFALL OF THE PORTUGUESE. 35 southern coast, and the Syrian Christians welcomed them as deliverers. Negapatam, Coulan, and Cran- ganore fell before their arms. They next laid siege to Cochin. Unsuccessful at first, for the setting in of the monsoon compelled them to break off their operations, they renewed the siege at the commence- ment of the settled weather, and captured the place by assault.* During these operations, the Syrian Chris- tians are said to have taken no active part against their oppressors, but to have awaited quietly the issue of the contest. That their " arms were pointed against their falling tyrants," appears to be a mere figure of speech. That the oppression of the churches, however, was the ruin of Portugal in the East is no rhetorical flourish. The Christians of Malabar, had they put forth their strength, might have turned the tide of conquest against the Dutch, and rescued the strongholds of Portugal from their grasp. Instead of this, they watched the issue of the contest with secret satisfaction, and rejoiced in, if they did not precipitate, the overthrow of their oppressors. Then followed a season of calm to the Churches. The Dutch did not oppress, but they neglected them. " The trading companies of Holland and England are the friends of toleration; but if oppression be less mortifying than contempt, the Christians of St. Tho- mas have reason to complain of the cold and silent indifiference of their brethren of Europe."t " The Dutch," writes Mr. Hough, "entirely devoted to * January, 1663. t Gibbon. D 2 36 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. commercial pursuits, are said to have totally neglected them, at least so far as related to their religious improvement." But if they did not encourage the Malabar Christians, they sheltered them against the rapacity of the Jesuits ; and the dawn of the eighteenth century found the authority of Rome a mere shadow among the Syrian Churches. The great field of Madura was still open to these energetic and unscrupulous men. They went about their work with unabated vigour, but their overthrow was now closely at hand. I have not space to speak in detail of the fall of the Jesuits' missions in Southern India, or to write otherwise than generally and inci- dentally of the further progress of Papacy in the East. It were better, therefore, here to state, that the ruin of the Jesuit missions in Southern India was accomplished, in time, by a natural internal process, rather than by any outward violence. The whole system was based upon a lie ; and it fell to pieces. Sentence of death was written down against it from the first ; for it was a great fraud — a mighty impos- ture. The " new Brahmans " were detected at last. They were found to be only Feringhees in disguise ; and the natives rejected their ministrations with anger and contempt.* There is no more pregnant chapter in the whole history of human imposture, than that which embraces the astonishing narrative * The best account of the Jesuits' cutta Review," and since re-issued Missions in India witli wliich I am in London and Edinburgh, as a acquainted, is one written by the separate pubUcation. An immense I?ev. W. S. Mackay, of the Free mass of information is here con- Scotch Church Mission of Calcutta densed into u, small space, and re- — originally published in the "Cal- produced in a most agreeable manner. REAPPEARANCE OF THE JESUITS. 37 of the Jesuits' Missions in Southern India. For a time the Order "stooped" " Into a dark tremendous sea of cloud ; " and the Jesuits, under the ban in Europe, disappeared from the Indian coasts. But they are now again overrunning India, and working mightily as of old. Great as is their apparent activity, perhaps the full extent of their efforts is hardly known : for although they may not now simulate Brahmans, it is more than suspected that they have not yet abandoned their old love of disguise. 38 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA CHAPTEK 11. Establishment of the East India Company — Immorality of the first English Settlers— Strife at the Presidencies— The first Church Services— Ex- hortations of the Directors — The first Protestant Church. The year which saw the Syrian Churches of Malabar fall before the papal tyranny of Menezes, witnessed also another remarkable event, which was destined to exercise a far greater influence over the progress of Christianity in India. In that year, 1599, a party of merchants, traders, and other capitalists in the City of London, their imaginations inflamed, and their cupidity excited, by the marvellous stories which they had heard of the wealth of the Great Indies, and the profits of the Eastern trade, erected themselves, under Eoyal sanction, into a corporation ; and, in a pure spirit of commercial enterprise, or as they were wont to say, " on a pvire mercantile bottom," with no other thought than that of driving a brisk trade and realising good profits, that great fact, the East India Company, was solemnly inaugurated. There is no great merit to be claimed for them. They sought their own worldly advantage. They had no grand thoughts of the diffusion of civilization and the propagation of Christianity. The conversion of INFANCY OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY. 39 the Moors or the Gentoos was assuredly no part of their design. Indeed, it must be admitted, that they launched into their great commercial enterprise with very obscure ideas of the religions of the people with whom they purposed to trade. But I have no doubt that the members of this corporation were at least as good as their neighbours. There was little or no missionary spirit at that time alive in the country. Our Protestantism was of a homely, home-staying character. It was only striking root in our own soil ; the time had not yet come for it to put forth its branches to spread over the remote places of the earth. There is reason to believe, however, that the infant Company did, according to the circumstances of the times, and the light that was in them, enough to entitle them to the respect of impartial history. They sent out chaplains in their ships ; and commonly despatched their ventures with prayer and thanks- giving, sometimes oiFered up in the presence of the Governor of the Company and his colleagues. A farewell sermon was preached upon these occasions by some respectable divine ; and perhaps published for the edification of the outside public. One of these, by Dr. Wood, is prefaced by a dedicatory epistle to Sir James Wood, the Governor, in which the writer thus, eighteen years after the first establishment of the Company, speaks of its charities to the fatherless and the widow, and to poor ministers of the Gospel — "I must needs set down," wrote Dr. Wood in I6I8, *' that as God has greatly increased your store, so ye 40 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. have not been backward to impart much, and more than any society (that ever I could heare of), to the supply of the wants of its poore members ,- your daily reliefe of poore ministers of the Gospel ; your charitie to prisoners, to widowes, to orphans and all well- minded poore people that you finde to stande in need of your helpe, can not but pleade for you in the eyes of God and of all good men. Goe on, therefore, in God's name in your noble designs, and rest ye still upon His blessing, who (I doubt not) has many more in store for you ; and so long as you conscionably seek to honour His name among the heathen, and (under him) to advance the state wherein ye live, will (no doubt) afford you many comfortable assurances of His love and favour, both to your bodies and soules, here in this life, and crowne you with eternal glory with Himself in the life to come." — It is here, at all events, asserted that the Company sought to honour God's name among the heathen ; but if, as I am disposed to believe, they did, their will was greater than their power. Every good Christian is a missionary, though he never seeks to proselytise, except by his holy example. But I am afraid that there were not many missionaries of this class among the first adventurers who voyaged to the East. The first of whom I can find any trace with the pure missionary spirit within him was one Joseph Salbank, a Company's factor at Agra, who was greatly scandalised by the doings of the Jesuits, and the success which attended their efforts in the early part of the seventeenth century ; and who, being IMMORALITY OF THE EARLY SETTLERS. 41 a devout man himself, wrote home to the Company, that it would be well if they would send out " not only solid and sufficient divines, that may be able to encounter with the arch enemies of our religion, but also godly, zealous, and devout persons, such as may, by their piety and purity of life, give good example to those with whom they live."* That good example was doubtless much needed. Our early settlers were often men of intemperate habits and licentious lives ; outraging decency and scandalising Christianity ; a terror to the natives of their adopted country and a reproach to their own. It is true that the Portuguese before them had shown how a Christian can live ; but they had built churches and imported priests, and the outward observances of their more imposing faith wrought some effect upon the heathen's minds. But it seemed as though the English had no faith and no self-control ; and the natives soon began to regard them as little better than fiends. " It is a most sad and horrible thing," wrote one of the first English clergymen who ever visited India,f " to consider what scandal there is brought upon the Christian religion by the looseness and remissness, by the exorbitances of many which come amongst them, who profess themselves Christians, of whom I have often heard the natives, who live near the ports where our ships arrive say thus, in broken English, which they have gotten — ' Christianreligion, devil religion ; Christian * India House Records. The account of wliat he saw there is letter is dated November 22, 1617. affixed to the English translation of t Mr. Terry, who accompanied Fietro Dclavalle's " Travels." Sir Thomas Roe to India. His 42 CHBISTIANITY IN INDIA. much drunk; Christian much do wrong; much heat much abuse others.'' " The passage has been often quoted. It declares, in unmistakeable language, the immorality of the first Englishmen who went out to trade with the people of India, or were sent thither by their friends, " that so they might make their own graves in the sea, or else have graves made for them on the Indian shore."* Doubtless there were some honest, decent * The writer referred to in the preceding note says, that " many that have been well born, when their friends knew not what to do with them, have been sent to East India." "A very cleanly conveyance," the writer adds, " for parents to be rid of their unruly children ; but I never knew any who was supposed to be sent thither, but he outlived that voyage." In Sir Thomas Koe's letters there are some significant allusions to the young-gentlemen adventurers, who brought him out letters of introduction from noble- men at home, and with whom, not being able to make them Members of Council or Inspectors-General of Cavalry, he did not know what to do. " You have many young gentle- men," wrote the Ambassador in 1616, " come that will not know how to bestow themselves here. . The country is mistaken. There are no inns, no chambers to hire ; every man must build a house ; and the Company's, by express order, can be no refuge for them. As many as you can continue at sea, so many burdens you take off mine and the Company's shoulders. To enter into these wars is a poor hope. Then- pay is not like ours— so much trou- ble, so much servility as no free heart can endure. Besides, these people are so proud, that they despise any art or form of war but their own. One or two men cannot break ancient customs of a nation wedded to their own discipline. I am sorry for them, and can only help them by my counsel. . . . My credit here is suflacient to do my nation right, provided it be not blasted with our own disorders, which I entreat you earnestly to look into, and, on my part, I will not fail." In another letter (Nov. 11, 1616) the ambassador says : " There is a young gentleman in your fleet, Mr. Herbert, for whom some of his friends, that have such interest in me as I dare not disobei/y have written. I shall be extreme glad to do him any courtesy, but the preferment is so mean here that I dare not encourage, nor advise him to land. But if that be his desire, and that he wiU come up to me, he shall be very welcome, and he shall find I will do him all courtesy in my power. My house and diet shall be free for him until I can either settle him in the Prince's service, or that his curiosity to see this place be gratified ; and then he shall return with me at his pleasure. If he affect any other course, if it be in my power to stand him in stead, upon advice from him I will not fail him. I pray let him know this much, that besides the respect I bear his noble brother, the name of Herbert, and being of the blood of that honourable earl (Pembroke) whom I ever loved, and from whom I ever received un- deserved favours, is such a tie to me to requite upon him, that I wiU not lose any occasion to do it." "VVe are not unlikely, after a lapse of two centuries and a half, to see some- thing of the kind enacted over again. IMPEDIMENTS TO CHEISTIANITY. 43 men from the middle classes amongst them — as old Joseph Salbank, of whom mention has been made, and Thomas Kerridge, who came to be chief of the factory at Surat. But many, it appears from con- temporary writers, were society's hard bargains — youngsters, perhaps, of good family, to which they were a disgrace, and from the bosom of which, there- fore, they were to be cast out, in the hope that there would be no prodigal's return from the " great Indies." It was not to be expected that men who had disgraced themselves at home would lead more respectable lives abroad ; but if their career would not be better, it might be briefer ; and so they were sent out to show not only how a Christian might live, but how a Christian might die — blaspheming. It is truly a matter to be looked back upon with shame and sorrow. There had been two Christian nations in India before us. We found the name of Christian little better than a synonym for Devil ; and for some time we did nothing to disturb the popular belief in the Satanic origin of our saving faith. Compared with the lives of many of our own people, those of the natives of the country really appeared to glow with the " excellent moralities" with which early travellers were wont to invest the meek and patient Gentoos, And so not only was nothing done for Christianity, during the first century of our connection with India, but very much was done against it. We made for ourselves impediments to the diffusion of Gospel light. We may deplore this now, after a lapse of two 44 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. centuries, for there is much in it to account for our tardy progress in the great work of evangelization ; but there is nothing that can reasonably surprise us. In the first place, England herself was not, at that time overburdened with morality. In the middle of the seventeenth century our countrymen at home were but little distinguished for the purity of their lives ; and there was small chance of British virtue, dwarfed and dwindled at home, expanding on foreign soil. The courtly licentiousness of the Restoration had polluted the whole land. The stamp of White- hall was upon the currency of our daily lives ; and it went out upon our adventurers in the Company's ships, and was not, we may be sure, to be easily effaced in a heathen land. Society in our distant dependencies commonly reflects, with an added coarse- ness, the prevailing tone of the morality of the mother country. England herself is chargeable with a large share of the vices which her children import into foreign lands. But there is something still which must be attributed to the deteriorating influences of the social position of the exile. The more isolated he is, the more probable becomes the decay of all high prin- ciple in his breast. Self-respect is a choice plant ; but few are at the trouble to cultivate it. A man, cut oif from the society of his countrymen, is not only removed beyond all the obstructions of immorality, but is doubly exposed to all its temptations. There is, in fact, everything to allure — and nothing to stay him. He seeks, in the pursuit of sensual enjoyment, occupation and excitement ; and, as there are none EFFECTS OF ISOLATION. 45 whose opinion he regards, to watch his descent, he cares not how low he descends. In his solitude he takes " a harem for his grot," or he flies to the com- panionship of the hottle. Regarding the natives only as so many graven images, or so many ingenious me- chanical contrivances, he sinks lower and lower in the slough of immorality, until he is utterly debased. Even in these times, the demoralising effects of segregation are not unfrequently apparent. In remote out-stations men do what they would shrink from doing in the crowded Presidency. Now this dangerous segregation in a large degree distinguished the lives and influenced the conduct of our earliest European settlers. It is true that they met together at the few stations, which were accessible to them, but even then they were mere scattered fragments broken off from the mass of European humanity. There was among them little dissimilarity of taste, feeling, and habit. There was no society, whose frowns the sensualist could dread. His doings, on those far-off shores, were unknown to. his country- men in England ; perchance there may have been a parent, or a brother, or a friend, in whose eyes the adventurer might desire to wear a fair aspect; but in India he was as far beyond the observation of that parent, brother, or friend, as though he dwelt in another planet. There were, in truth, no outward motives to preserve morality of conduct, or even de- cency of demeanour ; so, from the moment of their landing upon the shores of India, the first settlers cast off all those bonds which had restrained them in 46 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. their native villages ; they regarded themselves as privileged beings — privileged to violate all the obli- gations of religion and morality, and to outrage all the decencies of life. They who went thither were often desperate adventurers, whom England, in the emphatic language of the Scripture, had spued out ; men who sought those golden sands of the East to repair their broken fortunes ; to bury in oblivion a sullied name ; or to wring, with lawless hand, from the weak and unsuspecting, wealth which they had not the character or the capacity to obtain by honest industry at home. They cheated ; they gambled ; they drank ; they revelled in all kinds of debauchery. Associates in vice, linked together by a common bond of rapacity, they still often pursued one another with desperate malice, and, few though they were in num- bers, among them there was no fellowship, except a fellowship of crime. All this was against the new comer ; and so, whilst the depraved met with no inducement to reform, the pure but rarely escaped corruption. Whether they were there initiated, or perpetuated in destructive error, equally may they be regarded as the victims of circumstance. They left a country of checks — checks imposed not only by civil polity but by the more stringent code of opinion — to seek a country where no checks existed : what wonder then that they fell ? As the English in India increased in numbers, and something like a society began to form itself, affairs began a little to improve. There are saving influences in a multitude. The variety of character, of motive, EFFECTS OF EXAMPLE. 47 and of habit, which it presents, can scarcely fail to exercise a restraining power over the individual. When a man knows that he is surrounded by others whose opinions, tastes, and habits are widely different ■ — who will turn away with disgust from open pro- fligacy, and religiously keep aloof from the profligate — he restrains those natural impulses, and subjects himself to a course of moral training, which he soon acknowledges to possess its worldly advantages, even in a vicious state of society. The value of a fair character is appreciated even by those who have no abstract veneration for what is beautiful and excellent in religion and morality ; and good example, where it does not generate virtue, often obstructs vice. It is only from incidental allusions in the few works of travel and fewer political memoirs, which our ancestors have bequeathed to us, that we can gain any insight into the moral condition of the English in India, previous to the conquest of Bengal. Many writers, who have described the rise and progress of the rival East India Companies, have given us some- what startling accounts of the ofiicial rapacity of our predecessors — of the fierce contentions of the opponent companies, of their unscrupulous conduct towards the natives, and towards each other — of their com- mercial dishonesty, their judicial turpitude, and their political injustice — all these things are broadly stated; but to the immorality of their private life we have little but indistinct allusions. But the quaint old despatches of the earliest servants of the Company, still preserved in the records of the India House, 48 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. supply, in their marvellous truthfulness'and unreserve, much that is wanting in the printed materials of history. One fact, however, may be gathered from the latter — our countrymen managed to work through the first eighty years of the seventeenth century without building a church. Old John Mandelslo, who wrote in l640, tells us that at the chief factory prayers were said at the President's house. " The respect," he writes, " and deference which the other merchants have for the President was very remarkable, as also the order which was there ob- served in all things, especially at Divine Service, which was said twice a day, in the morning at six, and at eight at night, and on Sundays thrice. No person in the house but had his particular func- tion, and their certain hours assigned them as well for work as recreation. Our divertisement was thus ordered. On Fridayes after prayers, there was a par- ticular assemblv, at which met with us three other merchants, who were of kin to the President, and had left, as well as he, their wives in England, which day being that of their departure from England, they had appointed it for to make a commemoration thereof, and drink their wives' healths. Some made their advantage of this meeting to get more than they could well carry away, though every man was at liberty to drink what he pleased and to mix the sack as he thought fit, or to drink palepuntz, which is a kind of drink consisting of aqua vitce, rose-water, juice of citrons and sugar." It would have been well if these carouses had been CONDUCT OF THE PRESIDENTS. 49 permitted to come off only "after prayers." But sometimes they interrupted Divine service even on the Sabbath. The Deputy-Governor of Bombay was tried in 1669, and found guilty of the offence of obstructing public worship by holding drinking-par- ties at church-time on Sundays, and keeping them up on week-days " to two or three of the clock in the morning, to the neglecting of the service of God in the morning prayers."* I am afraid, however, that not many of his countrymen in England at that time were very fit for matutinal devotions. They were not all, however, of this kind. Some good, God-fearing men were, at intervals, to be found among these local Presidents and Governors. There was, for example, Sir George Oxenden, of whom Hamilton wrote, that when he died " piety grew sick, and the building of churches unfashionable."! These * The wording of the charges is to the neglecting of the service of so curious, that I am tempted to give God in the morning prayers, and the a portion of them in a note: — service of the Company in the mean " 3rd. Tliat he (Deputy-Governor time had stood still while he slept. Young) hath on the Sabhath day thus perverting and converting to hindered the performance of puhlic an ill private use, those refreshments duty to God Almighty at the accus- intended for the factory in general." — tomary hour, continuing in drinking Consultations held at Surat, January of healths, detaining others with 22, 1669. him against their wills ; and whilst f I may as well give entire the he drank, in false devotions upon passage in Alexander Hamilton's his knees, a health devoted to the travels, from which these words are Union, in the time appointed for the taken. It will he gathered from service belonging to the Lord's-day, them that Sir George Oxenden had the unhappy sequel showed it to be actually commenced the erection of but the projection of a further dis- the church; — union. " Notwithstanding the Company " 4th. That to the great scandal was at so rouch charge in building of the inhabitants of the island, of of forts, they had no thoughts of all the neighbours round about, both building a church for many years papists and others that are idolaters, after Sir George Oxenden began to in dishonour of the sobriety of the build one, and charitable collections Protestant religion, he hath made were gathered for that use ; but frequent and heavy drinking meet- when Sir George died, piety grew ings, continuing sometimes till two sick, and the building of churches or three of the clock in the morning, was grown unfashionable. Indeed, 50 CHRISTIANITY IN INJ3IA. words have a double meaning. The writer might have intended either to glorify Sir George, oj* to sneer at the propensity of the smaller people of the Factory to follow the example of the great man. In either sense the passage is honourable to Oxenden, who strove hard to compass the erection of a church at Bombay. There is on record his appeal to the Directors in England in behalf of his proposal to erect an edifice of a " form proportionable to the small churches in England," the "main design" of which, although the spiritual good of the factors themselves was not forgotten, was that the natives should be induced to enter the building *' and observe the purity and gravity of our devotions." The settlers themselves had collected a good round sum for the purpose, and they asked the Court to make up the balance, and to despatch an experienced English builder to superintend the work.* This was just at the close of the third quarter of the seventeenth century; but Bombay had yet to wait many years more for the erection of a Protestant church. No wonder that our progress was slow. The Portuguese had churches everywhere "thwacked full," we are told, " of young blacks singing vespers ;" and there were convents, and colleges, and religious libraries, it was a long while before the island money to his own use and never had people enough to fill a chapel more was heard of it. The walls that was in the fort, for as fast as were built by his predecessors to recruits came from Britain they died five yards high." It should be stated in Bombay, which got the island a that the stories which Hamilton tell? bad name. There were reckoned of Sir John Child are to be accepted above 5,000?. had been gathered with some qualification, towards building the church, but * See Anderson's " English in Sir John Child, when he came to Western India." reiga in Bombay, converted the CHURCH BUILDING, 51 nd Other indications of a living and ostentatious faith. The church-building scheme, however, was not neglected by Sir George Oxenden's successor, another President, worthy of exceptional notice. This was Gerald Aungier, who urgently pressed upon his honourable masters at home the expediency of build- ing a church at Bombay, hoping, as he wrote, that " when the merciful pleasure of God shall think good to touch them (the natives) vnth a sense of the eternal welfare of their souls, they may be convinced of their error, sensible of their present dangerous, uncertain wanderings, and desirous to render them- selves happy in a more sure way of salvation, which we pray God grant in his good time."* It was not however for Surat — it was not for Bombay — to see the erection of the first Protestant church. That honour, a few years afterwards, was conferred on the Factory at Madras. Under Presidents Oxenden and Aungier served one Streynsham Master — a devout man, of generally good repute, who was afterwards appointed chief of * Letter from the President and proceedings, we recommend to you Council at Surat, January 17, 1676-6, the pious order observed in our quoted in Anderson's " English in family, to wit, morning and evening Western India." The same accurate prayer, the strict observance of the and entertaining writer gives another Lord's-day, the preventing of all dis- passage from the Surat papers of the order, profaneness, and debauchery, time, which illustrates the earnest the preservation of the peace, and character of this good man's piety good government among our fellow- and morality. When he was about servants ; in all which we shall not to leave Surat for Bombay, he handed doubt your careful observance, being ovjer charge of the Surat factory to well acquainted with your own incli- Mr. Streynsham Master (another nation thereunto; and therefore need pious man, of whom mention will not mind you thereof, but as it is presently be made), saying, that " a one of the most essential parts of bl^ssi^g may fXteaa you in all your yotir charge." £ 2 52 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. the Factory at Madras. In the year 1681 he laid the foundation stone of the first edifice ever erected for Protestant worship in India. He commenced and carried on the great work at his own charge, and never rested until he had brought it to an end. I doubt not that there are some, who think, that when it was done, it was after all no better than a bam or a riding school ; for, assuredly, it was not episco- pally consecrated ; and Sti'eynsham Master had pro- bably no very accurate notion of the necessities of a due observance of the points of the compass. But it is no small thing to have built the first Protestant church in India — single-handed, as it is said ; or even with such help as he could obtain from his brother- settlers. It was not an achievement the less meri- torious on his part, because we wonder that it should have taken the English residents in India eighty years to build a church at all. They do not, however, appear to have been altogether destitute of respect for the Church. Among the earliest of the Company's records I find an entrance of the fact that a small party of adventurers had subscribed " 200/. for the church at Wappiug ;" and I learn from Mr. Ander- son's book, that Sir George Oxenden sent home 500/. for the repairs of the church and chancel of Wing- ham. Our missionary enterprise in those days seems to have set from east to west ; and as I have learnt since I commenced this chapter, from a circular left at my door, that my own parish of St. Pancras^ has a population of 190,000 souls, with church accommo- dation for not one third of them; that " New Zealand PROTESTANT CHAPLAINS. 53 is higher in the scale of Christianity" than this great metropolitan parish ; and that the " central organiza- tion for the diffusion of infidelity throughout Great Britain is within its bounds,"* I am almost tempted to think that some of this missionary enterprise might advantageously set in the same direction still. But although up to this time (1680) there were no Protestant churches, there were some Protestant ministers in India. The Company sent out chaplains, but in no great number. Up to the beginning of the eighteenth century the entire list of ecclesiastics did not contain more than nineteen names. The suffi- ciency of the supply, however, is not to be judged by the actual number, but by the proportion it bore to the general list of Englishmen at that time in the Com- pany's service ; and one chaplain to each Factory, by this reckoning, would have been ample for the spiritual wants of the settlers, if death, the great interloper, had not so often cut off the supply. Of the character of these men, with one or two exceptions, we have no very clear idea. The Courts of the second Charles and the second James were not peculiarly favourable to the growth either of sound morality or sound Pro- testantism : but the advent of William of Holland inaugurated a new era ; and the settlers in Western India took advantage of the occasion to assert their Protestantism, and to beg that the Governors of the Company would send them out " two good orthodox ministers, we having not one on this side of India ; ' " a little good English beer, called stout ; and a little * Circular of the City Mission.— April 18*8. 54 Christianity in iniha. wine from your honours," for their stomachs' sake and their often infirmities.* The orthodox ministers were sent, and soon after- wards, not only was the appointment of a sufficiency of chaplains to the Indian stations, but the con- version of the Gentoos by these chaplains, decreed in letters patent from the Crown. The Dutch, although they do not appear at this time to have done anything for the advancement of Christianity on the continent of India, had been active and successful in Ceylon and in the Malayan archipelago ;f * The passage here quoted, which X have extracted from the old records of the Company, is worth giving entire: — "We observe what your honours are pleased to write us con- cerning the Prince of Orange being arrived at St. James's, &c. God of his mercy send all things for the best, and keep our native country from civil wars, and grant that the true Protestant religion may flourish there as long as the sun and moon endureth We humbly beg your honours will supply us with two gunners, able men that understand their business. You will truly lose nothing by it, and if you will keep fortifications, 'tis very fit you have at least one, if not two, able gunners in each fort. We like- wise petition your honours for two good orthodox ministers; we having iiot one on this side of India, as formerly advised to your honours. We likewise beg you will yearly supply us with good paper and Quills If you do please to send us a little good English beer, as they call stout, it will be very wel- come ; and a little wine from your honours as you were pleased to favour us with formerly, would not be amiss." •f- Mr. Crawford, in his admirable " Dictionary of the Indian Islands," shows that their Dutch converts were principally at Aoiboy "a. where, he says, some SOfiOO fiJiristiaiis &t6 to be found. "These belong," he adds, "to the reformed Lutheran church, and are with justice consi- dered as the most moral, best edu- cated, and best conducted people in the whole Archipelago." — See article Cheistianixt. In this paper Mr. Crawford gives a passage translated from Pigafetta's First Voyage, which contains so curious an account of the manner in which Mazellan converted the Philippines, that I am tempted to give it entire, as an illustration of Portuguese propagandism: — " A great cross was then erected in the plain. The Captain-general bad previously advised all who de- sired to become Christians, that it was necessary to destroy all their idols and to substitute for them the cross, which they were to adore on their knees daily, morning and noon. He taught them also, how to make the sign of the cross on their fore- heads, and admonished them to con- firm these forms by good works. The Captain-general, who was entirely clothed in white, said that he was habited in this colour in order to show his love and sincerity to them. Of this they appeared sensible, but without knowing what to answer. He then took the King by the baud, and conducted him to a stage, where he, and those that were with him, were baptised. The Bang (of Cebu), ■wrho was before called Kai (Baja) Hu&abdn, if&k named Don Carlo, CHRISTIANITY BY I.ETTBRS PATENT. 55 and there seemed no reason why the English should not achieve similar successes. So the new charter granted to the second East India Company, in l698j contained a clause, enacting that the Company should constantly maintain one minister " in every garrison and superior factory," that they should "in such garrisons or factories provide or set apart a decent and convenient place for divine service only," and, moreover, that " all such ministers as shall be sent to re- side in India, shall be obliged to learn, within one year after their arrival, the Portuguese language, and shall apply themselves to learn the native language of the country where they shall reside, the better to enable them to instruct the Gentoos, that shall be the servants or slaves of the said Company, or of their agents, in the Protestant religion." Perhaps, it may be inferred from this that the chaplains were expected after the Emperor, — the prince, Don the Infant Jesus, and a cross, at the Ferdinando, after the Emperor's sight of -which things she felt a brother, — the King of Massaua, Gio- movement of contrition, and weep- vanni, and one of the principal chiefs ing, entreated to be baptised. Other got the name of our captain, that is, ladies of her train were baptised Eerdinaudo. The Moorish merchant along with her. She was named (master of a junk from Siani) Was Joanna, the name of the Emperor's named Christofbro, and others had mother. Her daughter, wife of the other names given to them. Five prince, was named Catherine, and hundred islanders were baptised be- the Queen of Massaha, Elizabeth. A fbre Saying mass. The captain in- particular name was given to aU the fited the King and some of his chiefs rest. We baptised that day, between to dine with him: they excused them- men, women, and children, about selves, but accompanied us to the eight hundred peirsons. The Queen beach, where they took leave. In asked me to have the Bainbino (the the meanwhile there was a general same . alleged to have been foiind discharge of Artillery from the ships. forty-four years after by a soldier of After dinner, the priest and many of Legaspi), in order to keep it in room iis went ttshore, in order to baptise of her own idols, and I gave it t6 her. the Queen and other ladies. We At a later hour the King and Queen mounted the Same stage where the came down to the sea-side, where we Queen was seated on a cushion, and were assembled, and took pleasure in the other ladies around her on mats, listening to th6 harrtiless discharge 6f Wliea tH6 priest tattdb his ipp6ar- canSon, which had Before produced ance, I called the attention of the §6 much fgaf.'.'^Pfflhd "Vi4g|io 111 Queen to a portrait of Our Lady, and tdfno al M(5nd(5, p. 87. to a wooden statuette representing 56 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. to make converts among the Romanists as well as among the heathens. I do not learn from any authentic records, that they were very successful in either direction.* And assuredly there was enough to do among their own countrymen, not only to keep them Protestants, hut to keep them Christians at all. For that prodigal eighteenth century, which flung the vast empire of the Mogul at the feet of the British conqueror, dawned so cloudily upon the struggling fortunes of the English in India, that it seemed as though their career were about to close in a sudden and disastrous failure precipitated by their own crimes. There is no such gloomy period as this in the life of English adventure in the East. The two rival Companies were pursuing each other with terrible malignity ; but there was no fellowship engendered in the ranks of either by the community of danger and of hatred engendered by this fierce strife. At no time, indeed, was there in our factories so much internecine strife, at no time were such scandalous * It is certain that towards the example of this may be especially close of the century, the Protestant noted. In 1691, a man, rejoicing in religion made scant progress in India. a name which afterwards grew into There were occasional conversions; better odour, vexed the spirits of the but, unhappily, they were entirely factors at Surat by openly embracing in the wrong direction. The Porta- Mahomedanism. " In addition to guese clergy made what proselytes ■ our troubles," they wrote, " there is they could ; and much public,scandal one of our wicked Englishmen, by was created at Bombay by the per- name John Newton, that came out version of a son of Sir Heneage in the Royal James and Mary, and OFinch, who had been attorney-general came from Umboor yesterday, and and lord keeper in the reign of went immediately to the Cossys and James the Second. The grief occa- declared his intention to turn Moor; sioned,however,bythefallofthismis- and before we possibly could have guided young gentleman was nothing an opportunity to send to the Go- in comparison with that resulting vernor, the business was done, and from the occasional apostacy of some he circumcised, which was past our of our people, who were attracted by remedy of retrieving his wicked the conveniences and enticements of soul." the imposture of Mahomed. One CONSTITUTIONAL CHECKS. 57 outrages committed, or was there altogether a more general defiance both of the laws of God and the decencies of man. They fought grievously among themselves ; blows following words ; and the highest persons in the settlement setting an example of pugnacity which their inferiors, under the potent influence of arrack punch, were only too well-dis- posed to follow. As I write, the statesmanship of England is expending itself in a great effort to establish just relations between the President and the Council, to which the Government of our Indian empire is to be entrusted — to devise such constitutional checks as, whilst imparting some vital influence to the latter, will not impair the salutary freedom of action which it is sought to impart to the former. Our Indian Presidents, at the period which I am now describing, adjusted their relations with their councils after a fashion of their own, and theii* councils imposed checks, which, if not theoretically constitutional, were practically sufficiently effective. If a President exceeded his authority,- or otherwise offended his col- leagues, some adventurous councillor coerced him with a cudgel or endeavoured to vacate the chair by means of the dagger or the bowl ;* whilst the President, on his part, if a man of muscle, sometimes kept a councillor in order by cuffing him to that extent » Take for example the following 1696, in which does appear a con- pleasant incident, which I have ex- spiracy against the President's life, tracted from the Company's records: and a design to murder the guards, " We send your honours our con- because he would have opposed it. sultation hooks trom the 21st of How far Messrs. Vauxe and Upphill August, 1695, to the 31st December, were concerned, we leave to your 5S cHKiSTiANiJy In india. that scarce a sound place was left about his person.* The dignified official who inflicted this severe punish- ment on the councillor was Sir Nicholas Waite, of whom afterwards the civilians said — and, no wonder, considering the perils of office under such circum- stances — that they would " rather be private centinels at Fort St. George than serve as second in council under Sir Nicholas Waite." The violence of such a man could not be tolerated for ever ; so in course of time the Court of Managers at home recalled him and appointed a new council to manage their affairs. Whilst such was the propriety of those in high place, their subordinates in the several factories were fequally dissolute in their lives and outrageous in their conduct. There was a general complaint of the " sottishness " of the factors. But for all this, there was an outward recognition of the duties of religion, and the Company's servants, however reluctantly, attended divine service, according to regulation, fair more frequently than in a later and more decorous age. They went to chapel, as boys at Eton, or men at Oxford, and were booked by the chaplain if they honours to judge by this and depo- Peachey: " I have received from you SitioBS before mentioned. There is (i.e., the President) two cuts on my strong presumption that it was in- head, the one very long and deep, tended first that the president should the other a slight thing in cord- be stabbed, and 'twas prevented parison to that. Then a great blowe much through the vigilance of on my left arme, which has enfiamed EphraimBendall; when hopes of that the shoulder, and deprived me (at failed by the guards being doubled, present), of theuse of thatlimbe; on it seems poison was agreed on, as my right side a blow on my ribs just by the deposition of Edmund Clerk, beneath the pap, which is a stoppage and all bound to secrecy upon an tomybreath,andmakesmeincapable horrid impreoatibn of damnation to of helping myself; on my left hip the discoverer, whoni the rest were another, nothiikg Inferior to the first; to ^ill ilpou and cut off." — Surat, but above all a cut on the brow of Feb. S, UH-1. , my eye." * See the complaint of Mr. CliaifUs INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE COMPANY. 6^ were not present. There were prayers, morning and evening, and every member of the factory was ordered to attend eight times in a week, exclusive of Sunday- attendances. If he failed in this he was fined, and the amount of fine cut from his pay. Had our people led more decorous lives, these outward observances might have had' some beneficial eflfect upon the minds of the natives in the neighbourhood of our factories — ^but, as it was, they had still too much reason to complain, *' Christian religion. Devil religion,'* and to rejoice that they were not themselves as this publican. The continued outrages and indecencies of their servants grievously afflicted the worshipful governors at home, and they did all that they could to control the licentiousaess of the settlers, writing out to them that " The Governor, the Deputy Governor, and Committees of the East India Company having been informed of the disorderly and unchristian conversa- tion of some of their factors and servants in the ports of India, tending to the dishonour of God, the dis- credit of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the shame and scandal of the English nation," had made certain regulations with a view to render " the religion we profess amiable in the sight of those heathens among whom they reside." Then followed directions for religious observances. The agents and chiefs of the several factories were, also, strictly enjoined " to prevent all profane swearing and taking the name of God in vain by cursed oaths ; all drunkenness and intemperaride, all fornication and uncleanness." If any 60 CHBISTIANITY IN INDIA. persisted in committing these sins, they were to be punished, and if found incorrigible, to be sent to England. In 17O8, the Union of the two companies was accomplished ; and from that time, the factories, subsiding into a state of comparative quietude, began to assume a more decorous aspect. It was not, however, until the United Company was ten years old that Bombay witnessed the erection of a Christian church. Meanwhile, Streynsham Master's great work had gone on prosperously at Madras ; and the new century had witnessed the unwonted sight of a party of English gentlemen, headed by the President, walk- ing every Sabbath morning, in stately procession, through a street of sepoys, to a goodly temple dedi- cated to the Christian's God. Prayers were read twice every week-day. There were two ministers in the enjoyment of salaries of 100^. a year ; which I am afraid was not enough to enable them to reject the practice of other settlers, and to yield to the tempta- tions of trade.* Hitherto I have spoken only of the progress of Christianity on the southern and western coasts of the great Indian peninsula. It was not at first believed that there was very hopeful business of anv kind in Northern India. The rich country on the banks of the Hooghly was laconically described as "Bengalla, a hot country — the most of the people very poor gentiles." The Portuguese had been before us in that, as in other parts, and had contrived, as * See Appendix—" The First Protestant Churcli." SOCIETY IN BENGAL. 61 elsewhere, to impart a somewhat unsavoury odour to the reputation of Christianity. They had huilt churches and convents, and baptized people by hundreds; but it was only a new form of idolatry that they taught. As for our own people, they were in continual strife with the " papists," and spoke of themselves as the only " good Christians," but with small title to such a distinction. Bad as the English were on the Coast, it would seem that they were still worse on the banks of the Hooghly. The earliest account that I have been able to find ; and I believe the earliest account extant of the moral and social condition of the English in Bengal, is in an unfinished letter written by Sir John Goulds- borough from Chuttanutty (the old name of Calcutta) in 1692. Sir John went round from Madras to visit this outlying factory and to correct the disorders of which a lamentable account had reached him. Job Charnock had recently died ; and the character which he had left behind was that of a man averse from busi- ness and prone to strife. History, somehow or other, has cast a halo of romance around the life of this man ; but I am sorry to say that cotemporary records exhibit him only as a very indifferent public servant and a dissolute cruel-minded man, who having mar- ried a native wife, apostatised outright to Paganism.* His death was conceived to be no loss to the settle- * Hamilton says, " Instead of con- a tomb over her, where all his life verting her to Christianity, she after her death he kept the anni- made him a proselyte to Paganism ; versary day of her death by sacri- and the only part of Christianity ftcing a cock on her tomb after the that was remarkable in him was heathen fashion." burying her decently, and he built 62 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. inent, and yet it was not easy to find a better man to tafee his place. Affairs at the time of his death were at all events in so bad a state, that it required all the efforts of the General to restore them to decent order. Let him tell his own story. It affords some curious glimpses into the social life of infant Calcutta :— " On the 4th of August we set sail from Bengal, and arrived at Chuttanuttee the 12th ditto, where I found your honours' servants in great disorder, and that everyone did that which seemed good in their own eyes. , . - Such wretched men many of these are ; but I have great hopes by removing the worst of them from hence to Madras I shall be able to work a thorough reformation among the rest. I have begun with Captain Hill, who was the Secretary and the Captain of the soldiers, who was allowed to keep a punch-house and a billiard table gratis, when others paid for it, and to make two false musters besides his pay for it, and his house gave entertain- ments to all strangers whatsoever, and he himself an open-tempered man, and debauched in his life, who hath let his wife turn papist without control, and this man neither Mr. Charnock nor Ellis dare contradict because they looked upon him as a fit man to dictate their consultations and letters, whilst the slothfulness of Mr. Charnock and the ignorance of Mr. Ellis would not let them do it themselves. He (Charnock) had a strange disposition, he loved everybody should be at difference, and supported a sergeant that set them to duelling, till Captain Dovrill told him the evil thereof; and always was a friend of Charles Pale> ROMANISM IN PENGAL. ^3 one of the factors, whose master-piece was to invent differences hetween man and man and deeply swea,r to the most extravagant lies he could invent ; hut G-od hath removed Pale a little while before I came, by death."* The activity of the papists at that time was one of the evils, with which the reforming General had to contend. He found the merchants and factors marrying black wives, who either were or who turned papists and became the willing instruments of the priests. Sir John Gouldsborough, however, asserted his Protestantism in a vigorous manner. He turned the Romanist priests out of Chiittanutty and pulled down their " mass-house." His own account of the matter is as follows ; — " One Messenger, an Englishman, who had a black wife here (who) died at Hooghly, and being a papist, the Padre Prior made her will, and gave to the Church (that is to himself) her estate. Mr. Hartop was sent to demand these effects from him, as being a silly Englishman's who knew not his own right by our law, was by the Prior wheedled into a consent to the will of his wife, yet complained of it here ; upon which Hartop wrote a letter to Captain Hill, as then being a great man in the Government ; by which letter your honour will see what a straite the papist priests were come to, even to threaten to command all the good Christians in this place, and our wives too, if they pleased ; upon which I turned their priests from hence, and their masshouse was to be pulled * M.S. Records of the East India Company. 64 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. down in course to make way foi* the factorie, when it shall be thought convenient to build it ; and I disbanded all the black Christian soldiers and lowered their wages from five to four rupees a month, and made them intreat to be received again so ; and all this came to pass by the poor regard which this and the former agent's wife had for our religion, and by the encouragement Hill's wife had put into the papists, by whose example several Englishmen's black wives turned papist and were not so before, which made the Padre Prior at Hooghly, who is Captain of Bandel, give such a pragmatic answer to Mr. Hartop."* The last ten years of the seventeenth century saw the licentiousness of the English in India at its height. The fierce contentions of the two I'ival Companies roused into moi'e vehement action the bad passions of humanity; and there was neither inward scruple nor outward restraint. After the union of the two Companies, these animosities sub- sided, and in Northern India, as at the Southern and Western Factories, fewer outrages were committed, and there was more decency of life ; but I am afraid that true Christianity still waxed slowly in Bengal. * M.S. Eecords of the East India Company. THE FRENCH PROTESTANT MISSION. CHAPTER III. The First Protestant Mission — Ziegenbalg and Plutscho — ^Missionary Efforts at Tranctuebar — ^Encouragement of the Company's Chaplains — Schwartz and Kiernander. In the meanwhile some hopeful symptoms of energetic religious action in the Eeformed Church were slowly evincing themselves in the Western world. The Protestantism of Europe was beginning to bestir itself. The Hollander and the Dane preceded the Englishman in fields of missionary enterprise ; but at the commencement of the eighteenth century, England herself was right royally connected both with the Hollander and the Dane ; and now that Protestant ascendancy was securely established at home, it began to move, somewhat sluggishly it must be admitted, in new directions, and to feel its way towards propa- gandism in foreign parts. Cromwell had thought of this some time before ; and at the end of the seven- teenth century, Prideaux, Dean of Norwich, had put forth a scheme for the dissemination of Christianity in the East, of which the establishment of bishoprics was a more prominent feature than the Nonconformist Protector would have approved. But out of these good intentions nothing had really come ; and it was 66 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. not until the year 1709 that England made a pecu- niary contribution towards the support of missions in the East ; and that contribution was made by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, which had been established in 1/01 ; the amount of the contribution being 201., with a case of books and some encouraging letters.* The mission to which this contribution was made, through the intervention of one of the chaplains of Prince George of Denmark, the husband of our Anne, was a Danish Mission. Early in the seven- teenth century the Danes had established themselves at Tranquebar, on the Eastern coast of the Southern Peninsula of India. But it was not until the com- mencement of the eighteenth century that they turned their thoughts towards the evangelization of the heathen. In the year 1705, Frederick IV. of Den- mark appears to have meditated much and deeply on the great subject of Gospel-difFusion ; and before the year had worn to a close, two Protestant missionaries were on their way, in a Danish ship, to Tranquebar, full of high and solemn thoughts of the greatness of their enterprise. The names of these two men were Bartholomew Ziegenbalg and Henry Plutscho. They had been educated at the University of Halle — that great centre of Evangelical Christianity — under the learned and pious Professor Franke, whose delight it was to train young men to the work of God ; and by him they had been selected, at the instigation of the King, * Hough's « Christianity in India." ZIEGENBALG AND PLUTSCHO. 6/ to go forth into strange countries, and to disseminate among benighted nations the message of eternal truth. In a true Christian temper they took up the hurden, as a privilege, and girded themselves to leave all and follow Him. It was their mission not to baptize, but to convert the heathen. They had sound Protestant ideas of Christian teaching; and they laboured for God, not for the Church. They reverenced and they used the Bible. In the great warfare they were about to wage with falsehood and idolatry, they looked upon that holy book as at once their sword and their buckler. They went forth with the truth in their hand ; and they sought the aid of no shams and disguises. It was their desire to place the Word of God before the eyes of the dark-minded people ; to declare the glad tidings of salvation, and to bring them face to face with their Maker, high above the dense mists of idolatrous superstition, on the clear mountain-peaks of revelation. In the full flush and energy of youthful enthusiasm, yet weighing well the difficulties they were about to encounter, and the sufferings it would be theirs to endure, they quitted the University of Halle, and embarked for the coast of Coromandel. The voyage was a lengthy and a perilous one ; but Ziegenbalg and his associate found leisure and quietude to map out the scheme of their enterprise, and to gird themselves up for the great work that lay before them. The first sight of the natives on the beach at Tranquebar filled them with profound emotion. Their eyes glistened with tears ; their hearts swelled with sympathy ; and their souls I" 2 68 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. were lifted up in prayer.. Their reception was not encouraging. Their countrymen shook their heads ; started difficulties ; almost regarded them as madmen. But they comforted one another; sought strength from God; and remembered the example of the Apostles. They did not expect to work miracles of genuine conversion ; and they were content with no conversion that was not genuine. They saw at once that it was no easy task that they had set themselves. The language which they spoke was high Dutch ; that of the natives was low Tamul. To open out a medium of communication was necessarily their first object. As they could not expect the natives to learn their language, they began at once to learn the language of the natives. In these days this is no difficult matter. Dictionaries, grammars, and vocabularies to aid the student of almost any Oriental dialect, are to be bought for a few rupees, and competent instructors are to be had by any one who will send for them. In Ziegenbalg's time, the vernacular literature of the Coromandel coast was only to be studied upon palmyra leaves. These Danish missionaries did not learn the language with a sleek Moonshee by their side, a freely-going punkah overhead, and an odorous hookah between their lips. They put themselves to school again. They joined a children's class under a common native schoolmaster, and sitting on the ground traced the Tamul character on the sand, or repeated the words after the master, whilst their little schoolfellows stood a-gape with astonishment PROGRESS OF THE MISSION. 69 at the new comrades with whom they found them- selves so strangely associated. In a short time they had made such progress, and, in spite of the difficulty of ohtaining access to the Vedas, had gained such an insight into Hindoo literature and theology as greatly to alarm the Brahmans. It was hard to say whether the intole- rance of the native priesthood or the immorality of the European laity at Tranquebar were the greater obstacle, at the outset, to the success of the mission. But the pure lives of Ziegenbalg and his associate triumphed at last over the latter difficulty ; and it may be questioned whether the remarkable contrast which their temperance, soberness, and chastity, their gentleness and humility, presented to the arrogance and immorality of their brethren, did not ultimately work mightily to their advantage. They lived down a great national reproach ; and won the confidence of all by the blamelessness of their Christian deportment. The enmity of the Komanist priests was another obstacle to their progress — as was also the opposition of the Protestant divines, who were " on the Esta- blishment," and had a church and congregation of their own. But when it was discovered that the humble missionaries were under the especial protec- tion of the King of Denmark, the Governor himself went to call upon them ; and the chaplains, becoming suddenly overtaken with courtesy, lent them their church, for the performance of a special service for the Germans of the settlement, whose language the 70 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. chaplains did not understand. Soon, however, the missionaries began to think of erecting a church of their own. A wealthy native offered to build it at his own charge, but the rage of heathenism was so furious against him, that he was fain to desist from his pious purpose, and to hide himself from the malice of his enemies by running away from Tranquebar. On the 12th of May, 1707, their first converts were baptized. The victory in this case was one of no great difficulty, for the proselytes were poor slaves, in the possession of Danish masters, purchased per- haps in infancy, and willing, at any time, to belong to " master's caste." But after this, the fame of their teaching spread mightily ; and, their own humble residence being too limited to meet the requirements of their increased congregation, they determined, in spite of the scantiness of their funds, to erect for themselves the church of which their native patron had been compelled to abandon the design. " We began in great poverty," they said, "but with faith and confidence in God." And assuredly the pious work did not halt for want of money or of anything else. The first stone was laid on the 14th of June, 1707, and on the 14th of August, of the same year, it was complete. At this the natives wondered greatly, looking upon it as something truly miraculous that the Christians' temple should thus spring sud- denly out of the ground — or, as Ziegenbalg himself phrased it, "visibly discovering the finger of God attending us all along in carrying on the work." The church being built there was never any want of a HINDRANCES AND DISAPPOINTMENTS. 71 congregation. The two young missionaries preached, in Tamul and in Portuguese, to crowds of Papists and Protestants, Mahomedans and Hindoos. Doubtless many went from mere idle curiosity ; some, perhaps, simply to scoff. Ziegenbalg and Plutscho were prepared for this. They did not expect to make genuine converts by miraculous thousands ; and they were content only with genuine conversion. They numbered their proselytes slowly, by units and tens. And they met with the usual dis- appointments in the way of selfishness and hypocrisy — and, stil] worse, of backslidings. One tremendous difficulty met them at the outset — a difficulty, perhaps, but little appreciated in the learned atmo- sphere of Halle. Christianity they soon found to be, in the understandings of the natives of the country, only a synonym for ruin. It was a deplorable truth ; but they looked it boldly in the face. " If any one resolves on entering into our religion," they wrote to their friends, " he must forthwith quit all his estates and relations, and suffer himself to be insulted as the vilest and most despicable fellow in the world." Their converts were commonly, therefore, made from among men who had nothing to lose but the privilege to labour ; and, if no one else would employ them, the missionaries provided them with food and raiment. This brought some about them eager to belong to master's caste, as a short and easy road to a provision, and naturally threw suspicion upon some of their true conversions. Never destitute of resources, and quick to meet every new difficulty as it arose, Ziegenbalg and Plutscho then bethought themselves of establishing 72 CHBISTIANITY IN INDIA. manufactories, " chiefly," as they said, " on account of employing the new-converted heathen about some useful' business at home." With all their spiritual enthusiasm, these young Danish missionaries were eminently practical men ; and I am not sure that we should not have done much better in India, if we had imitated them in this good practice of providing work for our heathen converts.* But all this great work could not be carried on with the insufficient means at the disposal of the two missionaries. How could churches be built, and schools maintained, and converts supported, upon the slender resources of the Mission? Communication with Europe was irregular in those days, and often there were long intervals between the arrivals of expected vessels. So it happened, that trouble fell upon the missionaries, and that Ziegenbalg was cast into prison. The governor and the chief people of the settlement had begun to doubt whether the King of Denmark was really interested in the fate of the pauper missionaries. It seemed, indeed, as if they had no influential friends at home ; and so of what use was it to encourage them?f Ziegenbalg spent four months in prison ; and then succours arrived * Commenting upon this inoi- pathy and attention than its import- dent in the lives of Ziegenbalg and ance merits, or its dormant necessi- I'lutscho, Ur. Duff says (in the " Cal- ties must eventually demand." cutta Review"): "The subject of f Afterwards, when times had providing lawful means of support changed — when the royal patronage for converts from heathenism, with- was plain and unmistakable — and out encouraging hypocrisy, exciting Ziegenbalg was going home for the cupidity, or impairing that spirit of benefit of his health, the Governor independence and honest industry became alarmed lest the missionary which all ought to desire to cherish, should report unfavourably of him is one of the most perplexing con- to his Majesty of Denmark. He nected with successful missionary asked Ziegenbalg, therefore, to sign operations — one, moreover, which, an amnesty before his departure, ■vre think, has awakened far less sym- TRANSLATION WORK. 73 from Europe. His faith had never been, for a moment, obscured. He knew that the light would shine again upon him. Money came ; books came ; fellow-labourers came ; and the Mission grew in prosperity. There was no fear, after this, of any further tribu- lation ; for orders came from the King of Denmark, enjoining the Governor of Tranquebar at all times to assist and to protect the Christian missionaries. This must have lifted a burden of anxiety from off Ziegen- balg's mind, and enabled him to carry on the great literary work, on which he was engaged, with greater freedom of thought and intensitv of labour. He was translating the New Testament into Tamul. Com- menced in October, 1708, it was completed in March, 1711. The Old Testament, as far as the book of Ruth, was translated by him at a later period. These were the first eiforts ever made to render the natives of India familiar with the literature of the Bible through the vernacular languages of the country. If it were only for this, he would be entitled to a place in the foremost rank of Indian missionaries. It would be a pleasure to trace, step by step, the progress of such men ; but I am compelled to pass rapidly on through this history of the Danish Missions. It is the glory of Ziegenbalg and Plutscho that they were the first to attempt the conversion of the natives of India by those means which are now recognised as the only agency by which the great end is likely to be accomplished — by the translation of the Scriptures and the education of youth. The Komanists had 74 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. relied on an unintelligible preaching, and an equally unintelligible ceremony of baptism. The first Pro- testant missionaries sought, above aU things, to render the great truths of the Gospel intelligible to the dark minds of the heathen ; so they transfused the wisdom of revelation into the vulgar tongue of the natives, and in due course the words punctured on the primi- tive palmyra leaf were perpetuated and multiplied, in enduring characters, by the magic agency of the printing-press. There are few more interesting or suggestive chapters of missionary history than that which contains the narrative of the first establishment of the printing-office of the Danish missionaries at Tranquebar. After much trouble, funds were raised ; the press and the types were shipped ; but the printer who accompanied it died on the voyage. A young man attached to the Mission qualified himself to imdertake the superintendence of the press. But paper was not to be procured. Nothing daunted by this, the missionaries looked the difficulty boldly in the face, and made paper for themselves. Ziegenbalg died at his post while yet a young man, worn out by the intensity of his application and the severity of his labours. In the month of February, 1719, that pure spirit entered into its rest. Some years before, Plutscho had returned with broken health to Europe ; and now that the two men whose names will ever be remembered as those of the first Pro- testant missionaries in India had been removed from the scene, the charge of the Mission devolved on M. Grundler, whose apostolic zeal, not unworthy of those THE ENGLISH CHAPLAINS. 75 whom he succeeded, burned strongly and brightly in a frail shattered body, which soon succumbed to the weight that had been cast upon him. In March, 1720, he put on immortality. Other able and energetic men succeeded him, and year after year the influence of the mission extended itself more and more over the southern Peninsula, winning the confidence and obtaining the assistance of the English authorities on the coast. At diiFerent periods of his apostolic career, Ziegen- balg himself had made occasional visits to Madras, and had been received there with the courtesy and kindness to which he was so eminently entitled, but which he was not, therefore, more likely to meet. Neither the English authorities nor the English chaplains looked askance at him or his successors. Of two English clergymen at Madras especial mention is made in all the records of Ziegenbalg's life. The Rev. George Lewis received the Danish apostle on his visits to the English settlement ; and recommended the Mission to the good offices of his countrymen both in India and in England. A letter which he wrote to the secretary of the Christian Knowledge Society is on record.* The Tranquebar Mission, he wrote, " ought and must be encouraged. It is the first attempt the Protestants ever made in that kind. We must not put out the smoking flax. It would give our adversaries, the Papists, who boast so much of their congregations de propaganda fide, too much * I am indebted for it to that indefatigable historian, Mr. Hough, in whose third volume it is to be found. 76 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. cause to triumph over us. I do design by the January ships to let the society and yourself understand that I am a hearty well-wisher to your honourable, pious, and Christian undertaking." This was written in 1712. Two years afterwards, Ziegenbalg was compelled to visit Europe for the restoration of his shattered health.* On his return to India, he touched at Madras, where he was " welcomed by the governor and the chaplain." But his old friend Mr. Lewis had by this time been succeeded by Mr. Stevenson, who, imbued with the same good missionary spirit, had, during Ziegenbalg's absence, been aiding and encouraging the remaining members of the Tranquebar family; and was now rejoiced to extend the hand of fellowship to the young apostle himself. A true friend had Stevenson been to the mission ; for having learnt in the course of Ziegen- balg's furlough, that the establishment at Tranquebar was likely soon to be in want of funds, he authorised M. Grundler to draw upon him for any money that he might require before the arrival of his expected remittances.! Truly, was the first Anglican Church in India served by some godly ministers. * Both iiiDenmark and in England Among other things, he stated that the first Protestant missionary ■was " the people " (i.e., the native con- received -with becoming honour. He verts) " seemed far more serious, at- was introduced to George I., who tentive, and composed in their be- assured him of his Majesty's sym- haviour than our European congre- pathy, and of his great desire to- gations generally are. The children, promote the cause of missions. The whom I have heard catechised in Archbishop of Canterbury and the Portuguese, have juster notions of Bishop of London were among his religion, and are greater proficients in kindest friends and warmest sup- true Christian knowledge than those porters. of a more advanced age among us. I f Mr. Stevenson visited Tranque- have no time," he added, " to enlarge bar in August, 1716, and wrote an on the order and good discipline tliat interesting account of it to the Chris- are kept up in the three schools, nor tian Knowledge Society, of which he on the successful labours of the mis- was an industrious correspondent. sionaries." — Hough. SCHWARTZ. // It was owing greatly to the encouragement of these worthy chaplains that the Danish Mission, which up to this time had found a home only in Tranquebar, was extended in 1726, under the auspices of the Christian Knowledge Society, to the English Presidency of Madras, and also to their factory at Cuddalore. In these undertakings they appear to have received good support from the English, the King himself acting as their fugleman and giving the time from the throne. The heaviest blows which they received were from the hand of Death — one master workman after another having been removed from the scene. When Grundler followed Ziegenbalg to his rest, Mr. Schulze took charge of the mission, and the number of labourers steadily increased, and with them the number of con- verts. They were, as I have said, too conscientious to make any great show of their successes. They numbered their converts at first only by tens ; but when in the year 1756, they celebrated their jubilee, it was shown that during the ten years which had preceded that event nearly three thousand souls had been brought over to the Christian faith.* It was a few years before the celebration of the jubilee that there was added to the Mission one whose name is associated with all that is best and noblest in the history of Christianity in India. Christian Frederick Schwartz had been trained for missionary work. At the University of Halle he had studied the Tamul language, and with such success as to * By this time the number of the blishments at Madras, Cuddalore, missionary stations had greatly in- Negapatam, Tanjore, Seringham, creased. There were branch esta- Trichinopoly, &c. 78 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. enable him to preach to the natives within four months from the time of his arrival at Tranquebar. From this date until the year 1798, a period wanting but two years of half a century, did this holy man labour earnestly and diligently in Southern India, presenting an example of Christian rectitude that inspired native princes and European functionaries with an equal measure of admiration and respect. It is with the history of the Tanjore Mission that his name is most intimately associated. It was in 1759 that his first visit was paid to that place, "with the Rajah's permission, and at the request of some German soldiers in his army." A few years afterwards (1762), the Rajah, whose interest was awakened by what he had heard of the character and conduct of the missionary during this and subsequent visits to Tanjore, invited Schwartz to his palace, and, seated behind a purdah, listened with rapt attention to the conversation relating to the great truths of the Gospel which passed between his officers and the Christian teacher. Those were times of trouble for Tanjore ; little space was left for doctrinal dis- cussions ; and it was not until ten years afterwards that the Hindoo ruler openly sought an interview with the Christian priest. A remarkable meeting indeed was this — remarkable in itself, remarkable in its results. It would be a fine subject for a painter. Seated in the midst of a crowd of ofiicers and Brahmans, the Rajah received the missionary with every manifestation of kindness and respect. The inquiring, interested expression of the prince's coun- SCHWAETZ AT TANJORE, 79 tenance — the puzzled look of the attendant courtiers — the eager, penetrating glances of the Brahmans, resentment struggling with alarm in their shrewd, crafty faces — the quiet, self-possessed attitude of the Christian priest, sitting on a chair opposite the Eajah, his face beaming with mild intelligence and spiritual hope — would afford fine scope for the genius of an artist great in the expression of human character. The first question of the Eajah was a pregnant com- mentary on the system of the Soman missionaries : " How came it," he asked, " that some missionaries worshipped with images, and some without them ? " There could be but one answer — that Christianity utterly rejected all idolatry. In due course, Schwartz unfolded, in plain intelligible terms, using the Tamul language, the whole scheme of Christian redemption. The pleasurable interest, with which the Eajah obviously listened to his discourse, alarmed the Brahmans. All their influence was put forth to counteract his growing desire for further enlighten- ment from the same source. Their surest plan was to keep the Christian teacher far from the presence of so candid an inquirer. And they succeeded for a time. New dangers threatened, and new convulsions agitated the Tanjore state ; but throughout all the vicissitudes of his chequered career, the Eajah never forgot his Christian friend. Better days began to dawn upon the Eajah and upon the Mission. In the year 1777, Schwartz took up his residence at Tanjore ; and for a time it seemed that his work was advancing under happier auspices. 80 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. But those were not times when any long continuance of tranquillity could be looked for in Southern India. Hyder Ali ravaged the Carnatic, and the European power in India was shaken to its very centre. But in the midst of all this desolating warfare the Chris- tian missionary pursued his work, and only quitted it for a time when called upon to play the unac- customed part of mediator between the two contending powers. The fierce Mahomedan zeal of the tyrant of Mysore had not been proof against the holy rectitude and mild enthusiasm of the apostolic Schwartz. He had heard of the good man, to whom money was no temptation, and whose lips never uttered guile ; he had heard of one meek, lowly, yet full of courage, who had sufifered much and done much for God and man, but had sought nothing for himself; and when he was now told that the English wished to treat with him, he said, "Let them send the Christian to me ; I need fear no deceit from him." So Schwartz was summoned from Tanjore, where the erection of his church was then mainly occupying his thoughts, to play the part of an ambas- sador of State ; and the one man who was deemed incapable of falsehood and fraud— the one Christian who, it was believed by the Mussulman ruler, would not violate an engagement with a native prince, proceeded to Seringapatam. His mission was not successful. The war was not to be stayed. Schwartz returned to Tanjore. His presence was needed there. The inhabitants had no confidence in the Eajah — no confidence in the British authorities. In the SCHWARTZ THE MEDIATOR. 81 extremity which then threatened the place, Schwartz alone was trusted — Schwartz alone was believed. The word of " the Christian " was as magic every- where. Supplies came in at his bidding. Even in the midst of the fiercest paroxysm of this sanguinary war, Hyder issued a decree to his officers commanding them to treat the holy man with kindness and respect. And over the country, ravaged and desolated by Hyder's troops, even through the midst of the encampments of a sanguinary and remorseless enemy, went the Christian missionary about his godly work uninjured and unmolested. In the settlement of Tanjore, which followed the peace of 1784, Schwartz took a conspicuous part — everywhere exerting himself to obtain justice and protection for the poorer inhabitants, but never losing sight of his missionary obligations. The secular work which he had done was held in just subordi- nation to his more extended spiritual aims. His heart was in the bvisiness of conversion ; he yearned to bring all by whom he was surrounded, the highest and the lowest, to the saving faith; he never relaxed in his exertions, and never lost an opportunity. Of the Rajah himself, he had ever been the cherished friend and teacher. But the days of that docile prince were numbered ; and a question of succession arose. The Rajah being without an heii*, nominated a successor, and declared his intention to place the boy under the guardianship of Schwartz. There were political objections to this course, for an aspirant to the throne presented himself in the person of the 82 CHEISTIANITY IN INDIA. half-brother of tho deceased Eajah ; and it was con- sidered expedient to appoint this man regent and guardian during the minority of the prince. But the regent grossly neglected his charge ; and from a life of wretched imprisonment and restraint, which was crippling the limbs, destroying the health, and benumbing the faculties of the boy, Sivajee was rescued by the intervention of the Christian mis- sionary, and placed under his charge. Beautiful was the relationship that thenceforth subsisted between the venerable Schwartz and the youthful Hindoo prince — great the lessons that were taught, and abiding the influence of the teaching. The pupil regarded his master with unbounded reverence and affection ; and if he did not openly adopt the faith of his Christian parent, he at least learned to respect both the doctrines and the professors of Christianity, and to shape his conduct, in some sort, according to the precepts of his revered instructor. And when, at last, full of years, and full of honour, Schwartz bowed his grey hairs upon the bed of death, and prepared to resign his soul into the hands of his Maker, no tears of more genuine emotion were shed than those which fell from the dark eyes of the young Rajah. All classes of men, from the Directors of the great Company, beneath whose power all the states of India were fast succumbing, to the little dark-faced children who had flocked around him with up-looking filial affection, and abundant faith in his kindness and gentleness, deplored the good man's death, and revered his memory. Our two greatest MONUMENTS OF SCHWARTZ. 83 sculptors, Bacon and Flaxman, carved the image of the holy man in marble, the one for the East India Company, to be erected in the principal church of Madras, the other, for the Tanjore Kajah, to be placed in the Mission Church, where daily the young Rajah visited the monument, and delighted to point to it, exclaiming, " There is the image of my father." There are old men still living in Southern India who remember the silvery hairs and seraphic coun- tenance of the venerable apostle, whilst thousands, who have never seen him in the flesh, still vene- rate his name. There were people in those days who spoke sneer- ingly of the "saints" and "puritans" of Leadenhall Street, whilst others were fain to describe the Directors as an ungodly, anti-Christian set of men. But whatever may have been their errors at other times, and under other circumstances, their recog- nition of the virtues and the services of Schwartz was honourable to the body. When they sent out Bacon's statue to be erected in St. Mary's church, they inserted in "a general letter " some paragraphs announcing its despatch, and declaring that "on no subject had the Court of Directors been more unani- mous than in their anxious desire to perpetuate the memory of this peminent erson, atid to excite in others an emulation of his great example." At the same time, they directed the Madras Govern- ment to adopt, in conjunction with Dr. Kerr, any measures which might tend to give eflfect to the Court's intentions, and " to render them impressive g2 84 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. on the minds of the public." A sermon was to be preached on the character and career of Schwartz on the first Sunday after the erection of the monu- ment ; and it was especially stated that the native in- habitants were to be permitted and encouraged to view the monument, and that translations were to be made of the inscription " into the country languages and published at Madras, and copies sent to Tanjore and the other districts, in which Mr. Schwartz occa- sionally resided and established seminaries for reli- gious instruction." This inscription set forth that Frederick Christian Schwartz had been employed by " the Society in England for the promotion of Chris- tian Knowledge," that during fifty years, he had gone about doing good; that he had built a Christian church and established Christian seminaries, and that "the East India Company, anxious to perpetuate the memory of such transcendent worth, and gratefully sensible of the public benefits which resulted from its influence," had caused the monument to be erected to his memory.* If this letter, and the " four packing cases, num- bered 1 to 4," sent " by our extra ship the Union," had reached Madras before, instead of after, the Vellore massacre, it is not to be doubted that the disaster would have been attributed in no small mea- sure to this public exaltation, in the face of the nations, of a Christian missionary. But Bacon's * It may be mentioned here that stores and presents " for the Tran- the Company were wont to forward quehar missionaries, " freight and the packages of the Christian Know- duty free." ledge Society, containing " valuable THE company's TRIBUTE TO SCHWARTZ. 85 statue did not arrive before the excitement attending that catastrophe had considerably subsided; and Dr. Kerr's sermon was not preached till more than a year after the event. But there had never been a more open demonstration than this in favour of Christianity — never before, and never since, I believe, so direct an appeal to the people by the Government of the East India Company. It was not likely that the great corporation, which in 1806 thus declared their common delight to do honour to the venerable Schwartz, would, at any time, take pleasure in the humiliation of his brethren. They had, indeed, no prejudice against the good men who had been labour- ing so diligently for the diffusion of the Gospel, or any other than a sincere desire to see Christianity spread itself over all the dark places of the earth. As was the " traditionary policy of the East India Company" half a century ago, so is the imperial policy at the present moment. It was not merely the desire of the Directors as Christian men, but it was their interest also, as rulers of a great empire, that the blessed religion of Jesus should make its way among the people — and the more rapidly, the better. But they believed that any direct and open identification of the Government with the efforts of individuals for the evangelization of the heathen, would have the efiect, not of promoting, but of retarding the growth of Christianity, whilst, at the same time, such intervention might be regarded, constructively, as a violation of the pledges given to the people. They believed also that any indiscreet manifestations 86 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. of zeal on the part of individuals, having a tendency to alarm and to irritate the national mind, vrould he a stumhling-hlock in their way — that wherever there was the greatest prudence, there also would be the greatest success; — and, therefore, they counselled caution. Rashness is not valour. The cross, which Queen Victoria has decreed as the prize of personal bravery in the face of the enemy, is forfeited by the foolhardy ; because foolhardiness advantages the enemy. A^d so he who would bear the Cross of Christ, and fight the good fight bravely and success- fully, must take heed lest he advantage the enemy by his indiscretions, and give the battle at last to the heathen. A few more words about the Southern Missions : — Whilst Schwartz was labouring with holy zeal at Tanjore, his associates were carrying on the good work in other parts of Southern India. Among the most distinguished of his brethren were Gericke, Kohlofi\, and Kiernander. In Tinnivelly and in Southern Arcot the Gospel had made great progress. In the former place, which was the scene of Schwartz's early labours, it had taken root, perhaps more deeply than in any part of the Peninsula; and still, when proof is sought of the efficacy of Christian missions, the advocate of these pious labours, answering the doubts and objections of those who speak scorn of such efforts to evangelize the heathen, points with pride and exultation to the 40,000 Christians who are said to worship the true God on the arid plains of Tinnevelly. KIERNANDER. 87 CHAPTEK IV. Progress of Christianity in Bengal->-Kiernander — His labours in Calcutta— .State of society there — Hastings and Francis — Drinking, gaming, and duelling — Female society — Nautches — The Press. Whilst during the last quarter of the eighteenth century Schwartz and Gericke and Kohloff were labouring diligently and successfully in Southern India, the other member of the Tranquebar mission, of whom mention has been made, was performing, though with less important results, the functions of his high calling in Calcutta. The name of this man was John Kiernander. He is remarkable in the history of Christianity in India as the first Protestant missionary to Bengal. Like Ziegenbalg, Plutscho, and others of the same heroic band, he had been educated at the University of Halle. Receiving from the son of Professor Franke those credentials which the venerable father, then gone to his rest, had presented to the first Protestant missionaries, he sailed, in the year 1740, to the coast of Southern Arcot, and took charge of the Cuddalore mission. The surrender of the place to the French crushed the hopes, in that direction, of Kiernander and his brethren ; but there were other fields of missionary enterprise before him ; and, in the full vigour of 88 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. active manhood as he was, he turned his thoughts towards untrodden paths on the hanks of the great rivers of Northern India. Clive invited him to plant the Cross in Bengal, and in 1758 he left the pleasant sea breezes of Cuddalore for the dust- charged atmosphere of Calcutta. The Company's chaplains* received him kindly and encouragingly ; and Clive placed a house at his disposal, in which he resided rent-free. Between the period of the union of the two Com- panies and the time of the conquest of Bengal, but few noticeable events had occurred to mark the pro- gress of Christianity in Northern India. In 1715, the settlers built God a church, but laughed his word to scorn for many years afterwards. The Christian Knowledge Society, among other good works, aided the erection of the first Protestant house of worship in Bengal ; and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel sent out a silver chalice, in commemo- ration of the event ; but the chief amount of the money was subscribed by private liberality. There had been chaplains in Bengal before this time, — the first name on record being that of Samuel Brereton ; but death often left the settlement without a minister ; and then one of the merchants undertook to perform the duties on a Sunday, not purely as a labour of love, for there was a salary attached to the office of lay- chaplain, and we may be sure that it was punctually * The Eev. Henry Butler and the loft, the former of whom had been Eev. John Cape, who arrived in the suffocated in the Black Hole, and earlier part of the same year to the latter died soon afterwards, replace Messrs. Belamy and Maple- MORALITY OF THE ENGLISH. 89 drawn. When the Church was built, the Rev. S. Briercliffe, seemingly a devout man, was chaplain to the Factory at Calcutta ; and we may be sure it rejoiced his heart to see the President and all the chief servants of the Company walking, every Sabbath, in solemn procession to the house of God. Captain Hamilton says that at that time, all religions were freely tolerated except the Presbyterian ; " and that they browbeat."* There must have been a much smaller proportion of Scotchmen at the Presidency than there is at the present time. In 1737, the steeple of the first English Church in Bengal was demolished by the great hurricane of that year ; and in 1756 the building was altogether destroyed by the fury of Surajah Dowlah. When, therefore, Kiernander arrived at Calcutta, the presi- dency was without a church. Society was, doubtless, at that time, less scandalously depraved than it had been in the time of Job Charnock, but it was a long way off from a becoming state of morality, and the religion of the settlement was mainly the worship of gold. After the terror created by the great con- vulsion of 1756 had subsided, men gave themselves up as absorbedly as before to the pursuit of wealth, and traded for their masters and for themselves with an earnestness which commanded success. Perhaps this kept them from something worse. " We looked " " In Calcutta, all religions are is not discountenanced ; but there freely tolerated but the Presbyterian, are no polemicks, except what are and that they browbeat. The Pa- between our high churchmen and gans carry -their idols in procession our low, or between the governor's through the town. The Roman friends and other private merchants Catholics have their church to lodge on points of trade." their idols in; and the Mahometan 90 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. no further," wrote Mr. Verelst, " than the provision of the Company's investment. We sought advantages to our trade, with the ingenuity, I may add the sel- fishness, of merchants. . . . All our servants and dependants were trained and educated in the same notions ; the credit of a good bargain was the utmost scope of their ambition." That this was intended to be high praise, is not the least suggestive part of the matter. Slow, indeed, was the growth of religion and morality among the English in India. Hospitality, kindliness, generosity, nay, even a sort of convention- ality, which might have been mistaken for something better, sprang up among our people ; but it was long before Christian piety and its fair fruits began to bless our adopted land. The natives of India marvelled whether the British acknowledged any God.* And * " These people," writes Mr. India. They daily frequent their Forbes, in his Oriental Memoirs, " in churches, fast and pray, and do many their own artless, expressive style, penances ; the English alone appear often asked me this important ques- unconcerned about an event of the tion, ' Master, when an Englishman greatest importance.' " And again, dies, does he think he shall go to his the same amiable writer, a little God?' My answer in the affirmative further on, proceeds to show that generally produced a reply to this there was something worse than effect — ' Your countrymen, master, mere indifference. " What may be seem to take very little trouble about the prevailing practice, I cannot that business; they choose a smooth say; certainly, the spirit of Chris- path and scatter roses on every side. tianity was not (in my time) the Other nations are guided by strict actuating principle of European rules and solemn injunctions, in society in India. A thoughtlessness those serious engagements, where of futurity, a carelessness about the English seem fiioughtless and religious concerns, were more pro- unconcerned. The Hindoos con- minent. Highly as I esteemed the stantly perform the ceremonies and philanthropy, benevolence, and moral sacrifices at the Dewal; the Maho- character of my countrymen, I am medans go through their stated compelled to add that a spirit of prayers and ablutions at the mosques ; scepticism and infidelity predomi- the Parsees suffer not the sacred nated in the younger part of the fires to be extinguished, nor neglect community, especially in the circle to worship in their temple. You of those who had received what is call yourselves Christian; so do the called a good education," Boman Catholics, who abound in MORALITY OF THE ENGLISH. 91 in truth a large number of our countrymen, whatever may have been their creed or their no-creed, prac- tically ignored the fact.* Numbers became more or less orientalized. Acquiring Oriental tastes and Oriental habits, they soon began to look with bland toleration upon the religions of the country, and ceased to see anything either very absurd or very revolting in the faith of the Hindoo or the creed of the Mussulman. Of this school were the men who, at a latter period, endeavoured to persuade the world of the pure religions and the excellent moralities of the natives of India, and declaimed against the wickedness and the danger of attempting to wean them from such blessed conditions of knowledge and belief. It was not to be expected, whilst such was the state of society, that any great amount of encouragement would be extended to the efforts of a foreign mis- sionary by the English inhabitants of Calcutta. For- tunately, Kiernander was not in need of assistance of one kind. He was independent of the pecuniary contributions of his fellow .Christians ; for he was a rare, perhaps a solitary instance, of an affluent missionary. He married a wealthy widow; and though not altogether free from the weaknesses of * In the preceding note, Mr. valence of immorality in the settle- IForhes, whose experience was ac- ment," and of " the disregard with quired in Western India, states that which religion is treated ;" but adds, the irreUgion or infidelity of his "You will, perhaps, conclude that countrymen was far greater than the number of freethinkers must be their immorality. Mr. Shore (after- great — they are, in fact, but few." wards Lord Teignmouth), writing This relates to a time antecedent to from Calcutta, in 1772 — probably the !French Revolution, which soon about the period to which Mr. Forbes lighted up a fire of infidelity in every refers — speaks of the " too great pre- settlement in the coimtry. 92 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. humanity, he turned his worldly possessions to profit- able Christian account. His labours were chiefly confined to Calcutta, where he established a mission -school, and preached to men of all sorts and conditions. His converts were mainly from among the degraded mass of Portuguese Romanism settled in the outskirts of that increasing city. These conversions brought a hornet's nest of Papal priests about the Protestant missionary. Kiernander retaliated by converting three of them to the religion of the Reformation and enlisting them as auxiliaries in the work of the Mission. As to the people of the country, if we compare Kiernander 's successes with those of Ziegenbalg and Schwartz, they dwindle down into slender proportions. But it is no small thing that, mainly at his own expense, he erected a Protestant church, where no church was, and thus restored to the English inhabitants of the chief city of British India the long-forfeited privilege of worshipping God in a public place consecrated to His service.* It has been seen that the first church which the British residents erected was doomed to a brief and calamitous existence. From the time when, in 1 756, the entire building was destroyed by the fury of Surajah Dowlah, up to the year 1770, Calcutta was without a Protestant church; and without a Protes- tant church it would probably have remained many * From December 1, 1758, to the whom half were Romanists, one- end of 1766, Kiernander reported to third children of Romanist parents, the Christian Knowledge Society, and thirty were heathens, that he had made 189 converts; of LABOURS OF KIEBNANDER. 93 years longer, if Kiernander had not bethought him- self of erecting one for missionary purposes at his own expense. He did bethink himself of this good work, and he soon carried the design into execution. He had calculated that it would cost him 2,000/. But with the usual uncertainty attending affairs of brick- and-mortar, it cost nearly 7,000L, of which 5,000?. were contributed by himself. It was three years in course of erection ;* the architect having died before the work was complete ; and when, at last, it loomed out in all its full proportions, it was at best an unsightly edifice. Somewhat uncouth in form, and glaring in colour, it goes even now by the name of the "red church," though it no longer justifies the description. In 1775, the Christian Knowledge Society sent out a colleague to Mr.] Kiernander in the person of Mr. Diemer, who also had been educated at the Uni- versity of Halle. The president of the society stated that they " highly glorified" in Mr. Kiernander, " ac- counting him worthy of every commendation, praising God for having been pleased to send them such a servant of His, so great a friend to religion, and of such a generous disposition ; worn out by his continual labours, yet still of a cheerful and courageous mind, strengthened by long experience :" — a tribute that was well deserved. The assistance of Mr. Diemer was most welcome to Kiernander, and most serviceable to the cause. Every year saw a considerable addition to the number of converts — converts to Protestantism * It is worthy of mention that work upon the Christian Sabbath — Kiernander ■woidd never allow the a " refinement " very little under- heathen workmen to prosecute their stood in India at that time. 94 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. and converts to Christianity. The number of scholars at the mission-schools increased — schools which were erected and supported mainly, I believe entirely, at Kiemander's own expense. The buildings, indeed, were paid for from the proceeds of Mrs. Kiemander's jewellery, which she had directed in her wfll to be sold for that good purpose. Little sympathy and less encouragement did Kier- nander's labour meet with in Calcutta ; for, in truth, the professing or the unprofessing Christians of that growing settlement were but a godless community. Their morals were no better than their religion. Of the state of Anglo-Indian society during the pro- tracted administration of Warren Hastings, nothing indeed can be said in praise. The Regulating Act was not designed to regulate the private lives of our administrators, and nothing could have been much more irregular than they were. I am afraid that they who ought to have set a good example to the Presidency, did grievous wrong to Christianity by the lawlessness of their lives. We must not, however, judge them too harshly. The age of Hastings and Francis was not a moral age. Duelling in those days was a creditable occupation ; and acts of what was then called "gallantry" raised a man in the estimation of his fellows. It is something, indeed, to be noted in favour of Anglo-Indian society, that the morality which was imported fresh from England was not a shade better than that which had grown up in our Eastern settlements. Hastings was not better dis- posed to shoot Francis, than Francis to shoot HASTINGS AND FRANCIS. 95 Hastings. And if there was any difference between the "gallantries" of the two men, it is rather in favour of Hastings than of Francis. Hastings took another man's wife with his consent ; Francis did the same without it. Hastings resorted to a convenient deed of divorce, Francis employed only a rope-ladder. The external moralities of the Indian Nabob were not worse than those of the war-ojBSce clerk, and his heart was a good deal better. It was scarcely to be expected that, with such examples before them, the less prominent members of society would be conspicuous for morality and decorum. In truth, it must be acknowledged that the Chris- tianity of the English in India was, at this time, in a sadly depressed state. Men drank hard and gamed high. Concubinage with the women of the country was the rule rather than the exception. It was no uncommon thing for English gentlemen to keep populous zenanas. There was no dearth of exciting amusement in those days. Balls, masquerades, races, and theatrical entertainments, enlivened the settle- ments, especially in the cold weather ; and the mild excitement of duelling varied the pleasures of the season. Men lived, for the most part, short lives, and were resolute that they should be merry ones. If they survived the fiery trials to which they were subjected, they commonly realised large fortunes, and returned to England to make no very favourable impression on the popular mind. In truth, Nemesis then became over-active in her ministrations. The Nabob may have done some bad things in his day. 96 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. and probably many foolish ones ; but he was neither the miscreant nor the idiot, in the garb of one or other of which dramatic characters he commonly appeared in the bad plays or the worse novels of the last century. He was, indeed, more sinned against than sinning. His failings were commonly exaggerated, the better part of his nature ignored. In England, the victim of the bitterest prejudice, he found himself isolated, and he was unhappy. Disappointment grew into dis- content. The climate — the people — the social customs — all were strange and distasteful to him. Harpies and parasites gathered round him, but he had no real friends. They who were not bent on plucking the Nabob, religiously kept aloof from him. A sort of superstitious awe attached to his person ; he was looked upon as an unholy being doomed to drag out a miserable existence, haunted by the grim shadows of his victims, and tortured by relentless furies. If he shut himself up on his own premises, it was said of him that he shunned the light of day, and rustic ignorance drew strange pictures of unhallowed rites and unearthly ceremonies within the precincts of the Nabob's domain. If he wandered abroad, it was said of him that he was endeavouring to escape out of himself — to drown the fearful memory of the past. His very suflFerings were arrayed in judgment against him. The ravages which pain, and sickness, and toil beneath a scorching sun, had committed upon his frame ; the strangeness of manner which long absence from home and much intercourse with a foreign DRINKING, GAMING, AND DUELLING. 97 people had naturally engendered ; the eagerness with which he sought by lavish expenditure and luxurious profusion to compensate for the absence of friendship and kindly sympathy; — all these things, the mis- fortunes of the returned exile, were imputed to him as grave offences, and sober moralists held up their hands, without the charity even feebly to acknowledge " that what to them seemed vice, might be but woe." I think that the Nabob of the old times may fairly claim to be regarded with more toleration than has commonly been bestowed upon him. It was, doubt- less, very foolish to call for more curricles, and to think that he had any right to cut roads through his neighbours' grounds. But my lord, with the home-staying wits of his home-staying order, was scarcely less foolish when he turned his back upon the Nabob, and called him a purse-proud upstart. The poor man was not purse-proud. It is not easy to divest one's-self suddenly of the habits and associa- tions of a life, and to cut one's new coat in accor- dance with the cloth of a strange state of society. What would have been arrogance and affectation in his brother, was pure simplicity in him. He said and did foolish things without knowing it, and acted in perfect sincei'ity and good faith when he appeared to be violently pretending. But it must be admitted that he brought home with him from India very hazy ideas of a living Christianity. Of the conversion of the people he had never thought for a moment. Insensibly, as has been said, he had glided, when in India, into II 98 CHHISTIANIXy IN INDIA. their "excellent moralities" and "pure religions;" he had even taken part in their ceremonies without a misgiving ;* and had become what has since been familiarly called " half a native." Not that in those days he knew much about the creeds of the people. It was reserved for a later generation to drag the de- formities and impurities of Hindooism into the clear light of day. But he had come to think that it little mattered whether he were a Hindoo, a Mahomedan, or a Christian ; and, in point of fact, he was not one of the three. If any one questioned him on the subject of the religion and morality of the people of India, his testimony was generally favourable to both. He had not learnt to look with horror and detestation upon the hideous idolatries of the pagans, but saw something, on the other hand, sublimely heroic in the most revolting of their superstitions He idealized into saints and martyrs the poor vic- tims of a- barbarous faith, and smiled contemp- tuously when enthusiasts talked about converting them to Christianity, declaring it "better to leave them as they are." It is not to be doubted that there was, as I shall * A CTirious iUustration of this that the fanatics attending the tomb fact is to he found in the autobio- were not a little dangerous. It was graphy of Mr. Kobert Lindsay, given not my business to combat religious in "Lives of the Lindsays." He prejudices, and I therefore went in was a civilian, in the time of Warren state, as others had done before me, Hastings, and was sent as Kesident left my shoes on the threshold, and to Sylhet. Of his initiation into his deposited on the tomb five gold new office he gives the following mohurs as an offering. Being thus naive account : — " I was now told purified, I returned to my dwelling that it was customary for the new and received the homage of my sub- Resident to pay his respects to the jects." This kiijd of thing, in a shrine of the tutelar saint, Shaw modified form, has, I am sorry to Juloll. Pilgrims of the Islam faith say, existed ever since.. Freijuent flock to this shrine from every part mention will be made of it in the of India, and I afterwards found course of the ensuing chapters. DRINKING, GAMING, AND DUELLING. 99 have occasion to show, in this notion, so prevalent among old Indians, of the impossibility, and the inexpediency, if possible, of converting the people, much that at a later period tended greatly, by the diffusion of prejudice and ignorance, to retard the progress of Christianity in India. And it was, in truth, not altogether unreasonable that, seeing what the Christianity was to which, if to any, at that time, the people were to be converted, some doubts should have been entertained of the value of such conver- sion. It was of little use to think of christianizing the people, until the English in India had begun in some measure to christianize themselves. What the natives of the country thought of the earlier settlers has already been seen. Little reason had they, in the days of Warren Hastings, to think much better of the English than when they first said : " Christian religion, devil religion : Chris- tian much drunk ; much do wrong ; much beat, much abuse others." The drunkenness, indeed, was general and obtrusive. It was one of the besetting infirmities — the fashionable vices — of the period ; na- tional rather than local in its character, and only more destructive of human life than at home. In the earlier times, wine and beer had been scarce and costly commodities, obtainable only by those in high place. Arrack punch was the ordinary potation throughout the seventeenth century, and, indeed, far into the eighteenth.* During the admi- * See Lockyer's " Account of the commencement of the eighteenth Trade in India " and other works. century, says, " Every one has it in Lockyer, who was at Madras at the his power to eat well, though he can H 2 100 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. nistration of Warren Hastings there appears to have been no scarcity of wine, but it was irregularly supplied; and a large importation was sometimes followed by a succession of carouses, which mate- rially increased the bills of mortality. Contemporary writers state that it was no un- common thing for purchasers of a new investment of claret to invite a few friends to taste it, and for the whole case to be consumed at a sitting — a feat dependent upon the number of sitters and the quantity of wine, which I do not find particularly mentioned, but which, judged by the stated result, the death of one or more of the consumers, may be presumed to have been something terrific. At the larger Presidency towns — especially at Calcutta — public entertainments were not unfrequent. Ball suppers, in those days, were little less than orgies. Dancing was impossible after them, and fighting commonly took its place. If a public party went off without a duel or two, it was a circumstance as rare as it was happy. There was a famous club afford no other liquor at meals than menta, perhaps mounted guard once punch, which is the common drink or twice a week, and did no other among Europeans, and here made in duty, had abundance of leisure time, the greatest perfection. Wine and On those idle days, the morning was heer may he had ; but it must be generally occupied in calling upon good business that will afford a con- each other at their different quarters, stant supply of it. The Governor and at each visit taking a draught of keeps a generous table, nor is that punch, or arrack and water, which, where the factors and writers dine however cool and pleasant at the less regarded, — differing only in this, moment, was succeeded by the most here you have a great deal of punch deleterious effects; indeed, from its and little wine, there, what wine fatal consequences, it might be called you please and as little punch." a slow poison ; and from this cause Mr. Forbes tells us that, when he alone it may be confidently asserted first arrived at Bombay, in 1765, that a number proportionate to the " the cadets, who were soon pro- Berampore estimate were annually moted, and whether stationed at the committed to an untimely grave." presidency or the subordinate settle- FEMALE SOCIETY. 101 in those days, called Selby's Club, at which the gentlemen of Calcutta were wont to drink as high as they gamed, and which sometimes saw drunken bets of 1,000 gold mohurs laid about the merest trifles. Card parties often sat all through the night, and if the night chanced to be a Saturday, all through the next day. These were what may be called the social vices. There was another vice very common in those days, which morality is bound to reprobate, but which, all circumstances of temptation fairly considered, all charitable allowances rightly made, is not without its claim to be regarded with mercy and toleration. Honourable marriage was the exceptional state, con- cubinage with the women of the country the rule. In tracing the Christian progress of the English in India fitting mention should be made of the influence of Christian womanhood. The earliest adventurers were, doubtless, solitary men ;* but the old records of the East India Company inform us that during the second half of the seventeenth century the exile of some of the principal merchants was shared by their wives. Whether the first wives of Englishmen known in Western India were Portuguese or Dutch women whom they found in India, or Englishwomen whom they brought from home or imported into the country, is not very apparent; but the presumption is, that * Pietro della "Valle, an Italian, who nora Marineoiato be amongst women, visited Surat about 1623, says that of which there were none in the on landing there hq was immediately English house." — By which was sig- invited to the house of the English nified the house in which the prin- President, but he declined the invita- cipal merchants Uved together, tion, " for that it was requisite for Sig- 102 CHEISTIANITY IN INDIA. there was an intermixture of both classes.* There is proof, indeed, that some at least were Englishwomen, and very troublesome specimens of their class. Their contentions, especially when, as often happened, they fell into a state of widowhood, and remained to wind up the concerns of their late husbands, were very harassing to the minds of the local councils, who did not know how to deal with them.f But it was held to be a greater grievance still that Protestant English- men, high and low, should marry Papistical Portuguese — a heresy into which our people, and especially our soldiers, were wont incontinently to fall. * The earliest mention of the resi- dence of fair strangers from the West, which I have been able to find in any work open to my researches, is con- tained in the Travels of Pietro della Valle, who visited the country in 1623, and whose work is referred to in the preceding note. According to this authority, the king of Portugal took upon himself to send a small annual investment of female orphans to India, for the especial use. of the settlers on the western coast. " We were no sooner come to the Dogana," says the noble Roman, after de- scribing his voyage to Surat," but, the news of our arrival was, I think, by Sig. Alberto's means, carried to the house of the Dutch, many of which have wives there which they married in India purposely to go with them and people a new colony of theirs in Java Major, which they call Batavia Nova ; where very great privileges are granted to such of their countrymen as shall go to live there with wives and families; for which end many of them, for want of European, ~have taken Indian, Armenian, and Syrian women, and of any other race that falls into their hands, so they be, or can be made. Christians. Last year the fleet of the Portugals, which went to India, was encountered at sea, and partly sunk, partly taken by the Hollanders ; amongst other booty, three maidens were taken of those poor but well- descended orphans, which are wont to be sent from Portugal every year at the king's charge, with a dowry which the king gives them, to the end they may be married in India, in order to further the peopling of the Portugal colonies in those parts. These three virgins falling into the hands of the Hollanders, and being carried to Surat, which is the princi- pal seat of all their traffick, the most eminent merchants amongst them strove who should marry them, being all passably handsome. Two of them were gone from Surat, whether to the above-said colony, or elsewhere, I know not. She that remained behind was called Donna Lucia, a young woman, fair enough, and wife to one of the wealthiest and eminentest Hollanders." t There are some amusing pas- sages in the old records of the Company respecting one "Madam Harris," widow of President Harris (described after his death as the greatest impostor that ever lived), who gave the council at Surat vast trouble by secreting her husband's property, and cheating the Company, who had an equitable claim upon it. FEMALE SOCIETY. 103 Strangely impressed with a sense of the evil of these marriages, Gerald Aungier, of whose piety and good conduct honourable mention has been made, brought the matter to the notice of the worshipful Directors, and suggested that the Court should obviate the diflSculty by sending out a supply of Protestant womanhood. .The Court at this time were engaged in the good work of reforming the morals of their settle- ments ; and thinking that the means of forming respect- able marriages would be an important auxiliary, they acceded to the President's recommendation, and sent out not only a supply of the raw material of soldiers' wives, but some better articles also, in the shape of what they called gentlewomen, for the use of such of their merchants and factors as might be matri- monially inclined. The venture, however, was not a successful one. The few who married made but indifferent wives ; whilst they who did not marry, — and the demand was by no means brisk,-^^were, to say the least of it, in an equivocal position. Por a time they were supported at the public expense;* * See Anderson's "English in the India House by Mr. Lewis.' Western India." Mr. Anderson says, Nevertheless, their claims were not " Of course they supposed that the recognised. After considerable agi- Company were their honourable tation on their part, and reluctance guardians, and that if they could not on the President's part, six or eight find husbands, they would at least pagodas a month were allowed to have the protection of Government. such as were actually in distress. Not so the Company. To the first The President and Council, in writing party, indeed, a guarantee was given to the Court, made a merit of this that they should be supported for the base and cruel economy: — ' We have first year, and if, at the expiration of refused to put you to this charge,' that time, they were stiU unmarried, they wrote, ' declaring we have no they should be allowed their diet for order from you, which hath caused another year. This engagement was some discontent among them ; only faithfully kept. But there came out we have thought fit to assist those a second party, fondly expecting that who are more objects of charity, to they would be treated like their pre- keep them from perishing for want decessors ; indeed, they aifirmed that of sustenance.' "" 'so much was declared to them at , > » 104 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. but they received only sufficient to keep them from starving, and so it happened naturally enough — it would have been a marvel, indeed, if it had been otherwise — that the poor creatures betook themselves to vicious courses, and sold such charms as they had, if only to purchase strong drink, to which they became immoderately addicted, with the wages of their prostitution. The scandal soon became open and notorious ; and the President and Council . at Surat wrote to the Deputy- Governor and Council at Bombay, saying : " Whereas you give us notice that some of the women are grown scandalous to our native religion and government, we require you in the Honourable Company's name to give them all fair warning that they do apply themselves to a more sober and Christian conversation ; — otherwise the sentence is that they shall be deprived totally of their liberty to go abroad, and fed with bread and water, till they are embarked on board ship for England." This attempt to establish a marriage-market in Western India having thus discreditably failed. Go- vernment withdrew from all interference and left matters to take their course. For more than a century after this period the number of English- women who were induced to make trial for them- selves of the delights of an Indian settlement was small in proportion to the wants of the growing European community. In time, a mixed race sprung up ; and the settlers not seldom found wives among the half-caste girls whom an elder generation had bequeathed to them. But these poor children, though FEMALE SOCIETY. 105 seldom wanting in personal comeliness, were unedu- cated, undisciplined, and little fitted for domestic life. It was, however, a step in advance — ^better than alliances with the Portuguese women, who made Papists of their husbands and brought up their chil- dren in the same faith. In the children of English fathers there was not likely to be much Romanist zeal of this kind ; although, mixing as they did with the Portuguese, their Protestantism may have been of a dubious character. That during the administration of Warren Has- tings there were at the Presidency towns a con- siderable number of Englishwomen — and some, too, of great personal attractions, and at least as well educated as Englishwomen commonly were in those days, — may be gathered from contemporary pub- lications. The first English newspaper published in India, of which I shall speak presently, announces an arrival of spinsters, "eleven in one vessel — too great a number for the peace and good order of a round-house," and describes a grand Christmas party at Government House, at which " the ladies were all elegant and lovely;" and, it is added, "it is uni- versally allowed that Calcutta never was decorated by so many fine women as at present."* But when we read of one lady being attended to a ball by no less than sixteen admirers, all " wearing her colours," we may presume that the ladies of Calcutta bore but a small proportion to the gentlemen ; and that » Memoirs of M. Grand, husband of the •well-known Madame Grand (afterwards Madame de Talleyrand), the object of Francis' amorous regards. 106 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. English wives were only to be obtained by the very rich or the very lucky. If the opportunities of contracting honourable marriage even at the large Presidency towns were few, at the out-stations it may be fairly assumed that there were none. It must not be asserted that this admitted want justified a general resort to concu- binage with the women of the country, but Charity may suggest that it extenuated the ofience. In some cases it may have assumed so offensive a character, that nothing can be said of it except that it was gross and revolting profligacy ; but in others, there was something that seemed almost to hallow the connexion, or at least to divest it of all the attri- butes of a degrading licentiousness. Charity cannot recognise the logic any more than the morality of the assertion that, because a man cannot find a wife to his liking, he is justified in peopling a zenana.* But many a man was wont to make the native * Capt. Williamson, who, fifty years This same gentleman, when paying ago, puhUshed an Indian Vade Me- his addresses to an elegant young cum, dedicated to the Court of Direc- woman lately arrived from Europe, tors, and professedly " undertaken but who was informed by the lady at with the view to promote the welfare whose house she was residing, of and to facilitate the progress of those the state of affairs, the description young gentlemen who, from time to closed with, ' Pray, my dear, how time, may be appointed to situa- should you like to share a sixteenth tions under the several Presidencies," of Major ?' " It is something thought it rather a joke than other- very significant of the author's mo- wise that European gentlemen should rality that in this book, written " to keep harems. "I have known," he promote the welfare" of the young wrote, " various instances of two gentlemen of the Company's service, ladies being conjointly domesticated, Capt. Williamson enters upon an and one of an elderly military cha- elaborate dissertation on native wo- racter who solaced himself with no men, gives a detailed account of the less than sixteen of all sorts and expenses attendant upon the keeping sizes. Being interrogated by a friend of a coloured mistress, and devotes as to what he did with such a num- fifty pages to a catalogue of the ber, ' Oh,' replied he, ' I give them a ornaments worn and unguents used little rice, and let them run about.' by these ladies. NAUTCHES. 107 concubine the companion of his life, and to worship her with his body, in all fidelity, as truly as though the Church had sanctioned the bond. With this fidelity often went unfailing kindness — even tender afiFection, surviving the youth and beauty of the mistress ; and when circumstances, as they sometimes did, prevented the permanence of the union — ^when the English oflScer returned to England, or when he married an English wife, he was sure to make provision for the woman who had shared his bed. It was for a higher state of social civilization and Christian morality than that of which these much- reviled Anglo-Indians boasted, to sanction the prac- tice of casting adrift upon a cruel world the unhappy victim of the sated lust of an English gentleman. Such victims added in India none to the list of public prostitutes.* The concubinage, which custom sanctioned, may have been reprehensible in itself; but there was not seduction at the one end of it and desertion at the other. And here I may not disadvantageously digress to offer a few remarks on a subject, peculiarly illus- trative of the progress which the English have recently made in social morality. No one who is familiar with descriptive works of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, can have failed to observe the very prominent place which the nautch occupies in every picture, not only of native, but of European *I see that there is a proposal, decencyinlndia, not only the feelings emanating from a high quarter, to but the exclamations of an intelligent put down public prostitution in India. native of that country, on finding Mm- I can imagine, if the Legislature were self, some night, at the junction of to undertake so to maintain public Coventry-street and the Haymarket I 108 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. social life in India. A traveller, on first landing there, was pretty sure to be entertained with a nautch; and a nautch, too, dififering widely from the dull and decent affairs of the present century. Even European gentlemen sometimes entertained troops of nautch-girls, and thought it no discredit to possess such appendages to their domestic esta- blishments. Indeed, there were some who imagined that without such adjuncts the duties of hospitality could not be properly performed, and sent out troops of dancing-girls to welcome their expected guests.* What would the European of the present day think, if when about to enter the house of a friend, in quest of his hospitality, he were to be met in the compound by his host and a troop of these damsels? The English gentleman, who were now to entertain his guests with this well-nigh exploded abomination would surely infamize himself. He cannot, indeed, attend such exhibitions at the house of the native gentry, without lowering himself in * I give, but with the omission of neal, an old &iend of mine, and com- an over- warm description of the per- mandant of a fort in that district, formanees of the dancing-girls, one met me, preceded by a troop of illustration of this unhappy .truth dancing-girls, who encircled my pa- from a work published in the last lanquin, dancing around me until I 'century. The writer is Capt. Donald entered the Major's house. . Canrpbell, who was cast away on his That such incitements to vice should voyage to India, and imprisoned by make part of the system of any the officers of Hyder All; and, after society is to be lamented: yet, at a series of most distressing adven- aU ceremonies and great occasions, tures, returned to England to write whether of religous worship or do- his Memoirs. The date referred to mestic enjoyment, they make a part is 1783: — "Leaving Anjeugo, I set of the entertainment; and the altar out for Madras, designing to go all of their gods, and the purity of the the way by land — a journey of near marriage rites, are alike polluted by eight hundred miles. I accordingly the introduction of the dancing-girls, struck through the kingdom of Tra- The impurity of this custom, how- vancore, whose Sovereign is in aUi- ever, vanishes in India, when com- ance with the English ; and had not pared with the hideous practice of long entered the territories of the introducing dancing-Joys." Nabob of Arcot, before Major Mac- NAUTCHES. 109 the estimation of his hrethren.* The more respec- table portion of the British community scrupulously abstain from attending the nautches, which even in my recollection were graced by the presence of many of the first gentlemen and ladies in India. Those nautches, I have said, were very different from the nautches of the last century ; for nothing could be more staid and decorous — more dull and unexciting — than the native da,nces with which the present gene- ration has been regaled. To the eye, at least, there was no violation of decency : compared with a ballet on the boards of an European theatre, the only nautches which I ever remember to have seen were outward propriety itself. But setting aside the very important consideration that these nautches are for the most part given on the occasion of some idolatrous ceremony, and are performed in actual adoration of a graven image, it is unquestionable that in the minds of the natives — indeed, of all who are acquainted with the character of the class — the nautch-girls, who are professional courtesans, are associated with all that is impure ; and that the European lady, who gives the sanction of her presence to such exhibitions, however outwardly decorous, must infallibly lower her own character and the character of her countrywomen in the eyes of every native looker-on. In this state of society the ministrations of a few zealous Christian ministers might have done much good, but, in truth, the Pulpit had no living influence, " Of course, I except the nautches giTen on the occasion of visits of ceremony to native princes. 110 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. and the godly example of those whose special duty it was to guide and to instruct their brethren was not anything for the historian to dwell upon with pride and gratification. 'For many years Calcutta itself had but one Protestant church, and that was the pro- perty of an individual. In 1784 was laid the first stone of another church, the funds for the erection of which were raised by public subscription. In the absence of Warren Hastings, the stone was laid by Mr. Wheler, Acting President, " with the usual ceremonies." A public breakfast was given on the occasion, and all the chief people of the settlement went in state to see the tomasha. It is not im- probable that the breakfast had more attraction for the majority than any other part of the proceeding, for it was considered by Mr. Kiernander a fact of remarkable omen that Lady Coote had actually attended and received the sacrament at the Mission Church. " This good example," said the missionary, " is attended with a very happy influence, and gives great encouragement to the congregation." The very few English chaplains, whom the Com- pany sent out, at this time, were so frequently absent from their posts that even in the large Presidency towns their clerical duties were commonly performed by laymen. Of the personal character of these men no very high estimate is to be formed from the perusal of contemporary records. Even at a much later period,* it was said that " neithel" the number nor the choice of the clergymen sent out by the Court * See post, page J21. company's chaplains. Ill of Directors was in proportion to the number of their servants or the importance of the object in view." That they were considerably engrossed with the thought of heaping up worldly store, appears to be no mere matter of conjecture. From an entry in Kiernander's journal we learn that Mr. Blanshard, who was a chaplain on the establishment during the administration of Warren Hastings and Lord Corn- wallis, carried to England, after a service of little more than twenty years, a fortune of 50,000^. Another chaplain, Mr. Johnson, after thirteen years* service, took with him from Calcutta 35,O0OZ. ; and Mr. Owen, after ten years' service, 25,000?. Unless they performed a vast number more burial and baptismal services, and married more Christian couples than there is any good reason to believe, and unless the fees received for such offices were exorbitantly high, it is not clear how such fortunes could have been accumulated from the ordinary wages of clerical labour. A slight suspicion of profitable trade must therefore disturb the reflec- tions even of the most charitable. That such was the character of all the Company's chaplains at that period is not to be confidently affirmed ; there may have been bright exceptions among them, as there was among the laity. Even in those days there were in Bengal some shining examples of godliness among the servants of the Company and the other European residents, the chief of whom were connected with the Supreme Court. At the head of these were Mr. Charles 112 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. Grant, Mr. Udny, and Mr. William Chambers, of whom mention will be made more fully in another chapter. One incident, however, illustrative of the genuine earnestness of the first of these, may be here mentioned. Before the close of the adminis- tration of Warren Hastings sorrow fell on Mr. Kiernander and the Protestant mission. He was an old man, and his sight had failed. The wealth which he had once enjoyed had passed away from him. He was over-liberal, and a bad manager, and mainly, I believe, owing to the misconduct of others, a coil of debt gathered around him. His creditors became importunate. They looked to his property — no matter of what kind — for the discharge of their claims ; and the Mission Church — Beth Tephellah, as it had been named ; the one " house of prayer " in the settlement — fell a prey to the Sheriff of Calcutta. The ap- praiser came in. He valued the building — mode- rately enough, at ten thousand rupees, for it had cost seventy thousand — and Mr. Charles Grant stepped in and paid the money to. redeem it. It was after- wards, with its school and burying-ground, made over to the trustees; the first being Mr. Grant himself, Mr. William Chambers, and Mr. David Brown.* Mr. Kiernander lived many years after this — but the days of his utility were past ; and the mission, which once had given some promise of success, faded away into a mere shadow. * This incident occurred at the rated it, however, by anticipation, commencement of Lord Cornwallis's here, in connexion with the life of administration, and properly belongs Mr. Kiernander. to the next chapter. I have nar- THE PRESS. 113 I think that something should be said in this place about the birth of the Indian press and the charac- ter of its infancy. From the prevailing tone of the journalism of any particular period a just conception of the character of society may generally be derived. In the year 1780 was published the first number of the first- Anglo-Indian newspaper. The publication was started by a man named Hicky ; and was called Hichy's Gazette. Society must have been very bad to have tolerated such a paper. Full of infamous scandal, in some places so disgjuised as to be almost unintelligible to the reader of the present day, but in others set forth broadly and unmistakeably and with a relish not to be concealed, it appealed to all the worst passions of humanity. It is difficult to bring forward illustrative extracts. The most signi- ficant passages are too coarse for quotation. More- over, a clear impression of the state of society, as represented by the journal, can only be derived from the perusal of a considerable file of Hicky s Gazette. Many of the worst libels appeared in the shape of fictitious race-meetings, law-cases, warlike engage- ments, and other pseudo-narratives of events ; or were set forth in the shape of advertisements. Most of these paragraphs, doubtless, contained or insinuated atrocious falsehoods ; but what is to be thought of the people who employed themselves in fabricating these infamous calumnies, and of the larger circle who were delighted to read them ? That the writers, at least, thought well of them- selves is matter of reasonable , conjecture. " I con- I 114^ CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. gratulate this settlement," wrote one, " in having so amusing, so entertaining a channel for conveying the sentiments of some amongst us, who generously sacri- fice a portion of their time for the benefit of their fellow-subjects." These generous sacrifices of time were often made for the purpose of outraging the feelings of some young lady, who, not improbably, had rejected the suit of the generous libeller. One unlucky damsel, whom a contemporary manuscript note asserts to be Miss Wrangham, figured in a succes- sion of offensive paragraphs, assuming every variety of scandal, under the designation of " Hookah Turban." This young lady, a Mr. Tailor, translated into " Durgee," and Kiernander, the missionary, were three of the most conspicuous victims who appeared in these " generous sacrifices." Hastings, and Colonel Pearse, who acted as his second in the memorable duel with Francis, the dignitaries of the Supreme Court, and the Admiral on the station, were handled with equal severity. Thus continually striving to murder reputations, no man in such a state of society could long , have been safe ; so it happened that the assassin of reputations was well nigh assassi- nated in the flesh. One morning the journal came out with an an- nouncement that " Mr. Hicky thinks it a duty incumbent on him to inform his friends in particular, and the public in general, that an attempt was made to assassinate him last Thursday morning, between the hours of one and two o'clock, by two armed Europeans, aided and assisted by a Moorman.". RECAPITULATION. 115 " Mr. H.," it is added, " is obliged to postpone the particulars at present for want of room, but tbey shall be inserted the first opportunity," — that is to say, when the " generous sacrifices " of the slanderers should fall short of their wonted abundance. Altogetherj this chapter is a painful one. The administration of Warren Hastings, whatever may have been the greatness of his political career, was not distinguished by any striking progress in the moral and religious character of the English in India. The earlier adventurers may have committed more heinous crimes, and may have participated in scenes of more offensive debauchery ; but in those more remote times the English settlers were so few that they are to be spoken of rather as individual offenders, than in the concrete as constituting a depraved state of society. At a later period affairs were so much in a transition- state, there was so much of the turmoil and excite- ment of war and revolution, that the English in India might be properly described as living in a great encampment. Their manners, therefore, were more the manners of the camp than of the drawing-room or the boudoir. But during the long reign of Warren Hastings, affairs were comparatively in a state of quiescence, and the ordinary manifestations of what is called society began to be evinced. People had time to think of amusing themselves, and they consorted for the purpose; but their experiments were, to say the least of them, unsuccessful. It could hardly be otherwise. Hastings erred grievously against morality. There may have been circum- I 2 116 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. stances to divest his connexion with Madame ImhofF of some of its ugliest features ; and even the greatest and best of men may fall into temptation. But his determination not to regard the evil he had done as a social offence, to be hidden as much as possible from the eyes of his countrymen, had nothing to justify or to excuse it. He was Governor-General of India, and as such he could not openly offend against morality without offending as a ruler no less than as a man. Evil example in high place is a deadly evil, for vice, always infectious, dif- fuses itself with virulence a hundredfold when the disease breaks out on an eminence. In no place, perhaps, in the world, is bad example more pernicious than in India ; for in no place is personal character more mighty an agent for evil or for good. By the force of that personal character, every European who embarks for India must do either harm or good, not merely to himself and to his brother exiles, but to the nation which he represents. The higher his position the greater the amount of good or of harm ; ^but for the Englishman in India, whatsoever his posi- tion, there is no such thing as the harmlessness of obscurity. PROGRESS OF MORALITY AND RELIGION. 117 CHAPTEE V. Progress of Morality and Religion — The Administration of Lord Cornwallis— Charles Grant and John Shore — The Malda Mission — The Clapham Sect —The War of Pamphlets. Lord Cornwallis entered upon his administration in 1 7S6 ; and a considerable improvement in the tone of society very soon began to be apparent. He was a high-minded English nobleman ; the first who had. ever carried out to our Eastern settlements the con- ventionalities and the moralities of aristocratic En- glish life. I am inclined to think that he carried out something still better — the sterling integrity of a thoroughly honest man, and the pure example of a blameless way of life, not reflecting the common morality of his countrymen at home, but greatly out- shining it. Such an example was much wanted in India. It is impossible to turn over the Indian journals of 1788, and the few following years, imme- diately after laying down those of 1780-81, without being struck with the very different kind of reading which the society had begun to relish. The journals of 1788 are highly decorous and respectable. They contain no private slander; no scurrilous invective; 118 CHEISTIANITY IN INDIA. no gross obscenity. There appears, at that time, to have been more than enough of worldliness ; but it was much better regulated than it had been a few- years before. The papers abound in descriptions of balls and plays ; but in these there is nothing offen- sive. They bespeak far greater decorum and sobriety than those of the Hastings' administration. There are extant detailed accounts of two grand balls — one given in 1781, the .other in 1788. In the former, we are told that the ladies took their departure, " ac- companied by the danglers, at about half-past 12;" whilst the "jolly bucks remained behind to seek for charms in the sparkling juice of the grape, who, like the true sons of Bacchus and Comus, kept it up until four ; and in all probability their happiness had con- tinued until ' Sol in his journey towards the West had bid them good morning, had they not been disturbed by two carping sons of Mars, who began to quarrel." Then comes an account of an altercation, a pugilistic encounter, and a denouement, as offensively gross in description as anything I have ever seen in print. In the other, we are told that " the ball opened about half-past nine in the evening, which was graced with a numerous assemblage of ladies. The dances con- tinued till near twelve, when his lordship (Corn- wallis) and the company adjourned to supper. The pleasures of the dance are always preferred by the ladies, and the repast afforded but a short interruption to their renewing them, which consequently attracted their partners and left the solitary swains to the en- ioyment of the bottle, though to the jyraise of their SOCIAL IMPROVEMENTS. 119 moderation it must be observed that the dancing-room seemed to engage the most of their attention." This was no small improvement; for only a few years before, dancing was not thought to be possible after supper. There was room, doubtless, for a great deal more improvement, for even in these comparatively decorous accounts we see somewhat too much of " choice spirits" and "votaries of Bacchus ;" but the change which I have indicated must have been con- siderable, for I find a public journal — the India Gazette (1788) commenting editorially upon the palpable improvement in the state of society, and congratulating the settlement upon it : — " We are not surprised at the various changes of fashion, as they arise from fancy or caprice, but the alteration of manners must be derived from a superior source ; and when we find that the pleasures of the bottle, and the too prevailing enticements of play, are now almost universally sacrificed to the far superior at- tractions of female society, can we fail to ascribe the pleasing and rational distinction to that more general diffusion of taste and politeness which the company and conversation of ladies must ever in- spire ? — this was the sentiment of the all-accom- plished Chesterfield, and there are few who were better acquainted with the science of attaining the graces." This may be accepted as a very fair indication of the period at which a palpable improvement in the social morality of the English in India first began to be discernible. It will be gathered, from the above 120 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. extract, that before the close of 1788 gambling and drinking had gone out of fashion.* But at this time, although the English in India were emerging from that absolute slough of profligacy and corruption in which they had so long been dis- gracefully sunk ; though great social changes had supervened ; though knavery and extortion were no longer dominant in their offices, and rioting and drunkenness in their homes ; though men walked more decently before their fellows, making outward show at least of honesty and sobriety, and living as though it were no longer incumbent upon them, habitually and unreservedly, to break all the com- mandments of the decalogue, there was little real Christianity in India. Few were the altars erected to the true God ; few the ministers of the true reli- gion. Living in a heathen land, they were still contented to live as heathens. Of anything like a state religion there was but the faintest shadow. Here and there a solitary chaplain, if he chanced to be at his post, and off the bed of sickness, ministered to an * I do not know the precise date a competition even with your more at which the first regular race-meet- iwpulous settlement. The races take ing came off at Calcutta, or at the place soon, from which much enter- other presidencies. Mr. Stocqueler, tainment is expected. This is an in his "Handbook," says: "The first amusement which seems to he ex- record of the existence of racing in ploded in Calcutta, as we hear no Calcutta may be dated from the mention made of them in any of origin of the Bengal Jockey Club, your public papers." How soon the in 1803" — but in the volume of custom was revived I do not know; "Hickey's Gazette" for 1780 there but Lord Valentia stated, early in are accounts both of races and of the next century, that "on Lord race-balls. A few years later they Wellesley's first arrival in that appear to have fallen into desuetude country, he set his face decidedly in Calcutta, though carried on with against horse-racing and every other great iclat at Madras. "We have species of gambling; yet at the end Continued scenes of gaiety," writes a of November, 1803, there were three newspaper correspondent from that days' races at a small distance from presidency, in 1788; " and may boast Calcutta." SABBATH-BREAKING. 121 unwilling congregation in some riding-school or court- house ; married and buried the few who were within his reach, and left the rest to the good offices of laymen.* It would hardly express the truth to say that in those days men systematically broke the Sabbath. They did not recognise — they were barely conscious of its existence. All the daily concerns of life went on as usual, with the exception, perhaps, that there was somewhat more than the ordinary abandonment to pleasure. At our military stations the flag was hoisted, and they who saw it knew that it was Sun- day. But the work-table and the card-table were resorted to as on the week-days. Christianity cantered to the races in the morning and in the evening drove to a nautch. If there wei-e any talk of divine wor- ship, the subject was dismissed with a profane sneer or an idle excuse. One lady claimed great credit to * Some years later, that is, in clergyman is seldom seen, or even 1798, — Mr. Tennant, one of his expected, to solemnize the usual Majesty's chaplains in India, ■wrote: ceremonies of marriages, haptisms, "It is certain that neither the num- or funerals. Prayers are read some- her nor choice of the clergymen the times at the stations where a chap- Court of Directors have appointed lain happens to reside ; but I have in Bengal, has been in proportion to seldom heard ofany sermon delivered, the number of their servants, nor except by his Majesty's chaplains, the importance of the object in view ; and those at Calcutta. Hence, it whether you regard keeping up must happen that many persons have the appearance of religion among left England at an early age, and Europeans, or disseminating its resided in India perhaps for twenty principles among the natives. On or thirty years, without once having this establishment their full comple- hearddivineservice,tilltheiriieturn." ment of chaplains is only nine ; their To this passage Mr. Tennant, in thfe actual number seldom exceeds five second edition of his Indian Recrea- or six. Two of these being always tions, published in 1804, appends the fixed at the presidency, all the other following note: — " Since writing the European stations, dispersed over a above this negligence has been cor- tract of country much more exten- reeled, yet many, from indolence, or sive than Great Britain, are com- contempt of the institutions of their mitted to the charge of the other country, have wilfully neglected the three or four individuals. In con- opportunity when offered of attend- sequence of this, the presence of a ing on the ofl5ces of religion." 122 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. herself as a venerator of the Sabhath, because she read over the Church service whilst her ayah was combing her hair. Another, who had lived twelve years in Calcutta, where there was a church, said that she had never gone all that time, because no gentleman had offered to escort her and hand her to a pew. When Lord Cornwallis assumed charge of the Government of India, there was only one church in Calcutta — the old, or Mission Church, of which I have spoken in the last chapter. But in 1787, the erection of St. John's Church — then called the "new church," now known as the "old cathedral" — was completed. It has been stated that the first stone was laid in April, 1784, when Warren Hastings was Governor- General. In June, 1787, the edifice is said to have been " consecrated " in the presence of Lord Cornwallis, Messrs. Blanshard and Johnson being the officiating chaplains. Truly was this an im- portant epoch in the history of Christianity in India. The mere brick and mortar of St. John's Church were but a small matter. There were living and enduring influences then at work in men's breasts, which wrought mightily in God's good time for the diffusion of the Christian faith. The new church saw on every Sabbath a number of empty pews. In the year after its completion. Lord Cornwallis told one of the Calcutta chaplains that "he thought St. John's a pretty church ; but it had many critics." The reverend gentleman thought that he might have fitly replied, that it had not many critics — on Sundays. EDUCATION OF DAVID BROWN. 123 The man who thought this, and in heaviness of spirit, was one of a little knot of good Christians who often took sweet counsel together — Mr. Charles Grant and Mr. William Chambers* being members of the con- clave. He had so much to do with the nativity of Christianity in this part of India, that I may well be excused for giving some account of his antecedent history. ;David Brown was the son of a Yorkshire farmer. His father seems to have designed that he should follow some trade ; but the boy, happening to make the acquaintance of a clergyman at Scarborough, who discerned his early piety and promising abilities, was reserved to follow a higher calling. This new friend took young Brown by the hand, removed him to his own residence, imparted to him enough of preparatory education to fit him to prosecute with advantage his studies in a public academy, and then- removed him to the grammar school at Hull, which was superin- tended by Joseph Milner. Such acts of beneficence are not so common that I can allude to them here without deploring my inability to record the name of the benefactor. The biographer of David Brown lends me no assistance. He is content that the bene- volent patron of the farmer's son should remain in his pages an anonymous " stranger." From the Hull school, where young Brown soon won upon the aflfections of his excellent preceptor, he was removed to Magdalen College, Cambridge. This * Mr. William Chambers was a notary in the Supreme Court of Cal- brother of Sir Robert Chambers. He cutta. He died in 1793. held the appointment of Protho- 124 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. must have been about the year 1782 — the year in which Charles Simeon was ordained. Brown appears to have been a frequent attendant at Trinity Church, to have formed an intimacy with the then persecuted preacher, and subsequently to have entertained some idea of accepting a curacy under him. But it so happened that he had not very long taken his degree, before an accidental circumstance turned his thoughts towards Indian labour. That noble institution, the Military Orphan Asylum, was then in course of establishment. Captain Kirkpatrick was in England, as the delegate of the Bengal army, and among other duties entrusted to him was that of obtaining the services of a young clergyman as superintendent of the institution. A common friend introduced Mr. Brown to a Major Mitchell, who recommended him to Captain Kirkpatrick as a fit person to fill the ap- pointment. After some doubts and misgivings and consultations with friends, he resolved to start for London, and, at all events, to communicate personally with Major Mitchell. The result was a visit to Captain Kirkpatrick, and the acceptance of the proffered appointment. The Military Orphan Society required the services of a clergyman and a married man. Brown, at this time, was neither. But it appeared sufficiently easy to attain to the fulfilment of both conditions. He received a check, however, which greatly disheartened him, and for a while dispersed all his visions of an Indian ministry. The Bishop of London refused to ordain him. He had known so many, he said, or- BROWNS DEPARTURE FOR INDIA. 125 dained ostensibly for colonial ministrations, who had loitered about London and never made their way to the promised field of labour. But what the Bishop of London refused, the Bishop of Llandaff at length consented to do. Early in 1785, David Brown was ordained. About the same time he married. He continued for some nionths in London waiting for a passage to Calcutta. His circumstances were, at one time, so straitened, that he scarcely possessed the means of purchasing food for himself and his young wife. The repayment by a friend of a trifling loan, which Brown had made to him some time before, and since wholly forgotten, was viewed in the light of a very Godsend, and acknowledged as such in a devout spirit of gratitude and love. Wanting money, however, he did not want friends. He enjoyed the privilege of familiar intercourse with Cecil and New- ton ; and had he not seen before him his appointed work, he might, under the ministry of either of those two good men, have obtained pleasant and profitable employment.* " Moneyless, friendless, healthless, and helpless," he described himself at this time, but friendless he was not ; and there was a very present help in trouble to which he turned, and in the very extremity of his failing fortunes found succour. He * See Mr. Brown's Journal: adds, in a note: "In a separate me- " Went to town — called on Mr. norandum of occurrences at this Cecil; Mr. C. offered to make me period, Mr. Brown likewise mentions his curate; or, if I would stay in a similar offer having been made to England, procure me a very im- him by the Rev. John Newton, portant and valuable one, namely, With these honoured friends he at Maidley, where the pious Fletcher maintained an - affectionate corre- has long been labouring." The spondence during their lives." Editor of the "Memorial Sketches" 126 CHRISTIANITY. IN INDIA. prayed, and his prayers were answered. Having applied to the Court of Directors for an advance of money, he received from that body three hundred guineas, paid his passage money, and very soon was fairly on his way to India. Simeon came from Cam- bridge to see Brown embark, an office of friendship which many years afterwards he performed for Mar- tyn and Thomason. At the close of the month of November, 1785, Brown commenced his voyage to Calcutta. The vessel appears to have been constantly in danger, from fire, from storms, from rocks, from collisions, from all sorts of bad management. The passage was altogether very much what a consideration of the time at which it was undertaken would lead us to expect — in many respects a source of constant pain to a pious minister of the Gospel. The captain and the passengers quarrelled with him, because he would not sing a jolly song and drink his bottle of claret. Some argued in support of infidel opinions, some in defence of their favourite sins ; and, though service was some- times performed on Sundays, it was always shirked when there was a decent pretext, and often when there was none. On the 8th of June, 1786, Mr. Brown "landed with his dear family at the Orphan House," and at once took charge of his appointment. This appointment he continued to hold until August I789j when the Management thought fit to dismiss him. He had been appointed, some time before, a chaplain on the establishment, and the troops in Fort William had been placed under his THOUGHTS OF MISSIONARY LABOUR. 12/ care. When the Mission Church in 1787 fell into the hands of the SheriiF of Calcutta, and was rescued by Mr. Charles Grant, it was transferred to the hands of three trustees — Mr. Grant himself, Mr. Chambers, and David Brown ; the latter consenting to take charge of the European congregation for a time. He continued to discharge the duties of all the three oiSces ; but it appeared, and not unreason- ably, to the managers of the orphan institution, that they were entitled to a larger share of his time ; and he was called upon to take his choice — to abandon either the Mission Church or the superintendence of the Orphan Asylum. After much thought, much prayer, and much counsel with his friends, he resolved to cleave to his Calcutta congregation. He could not persuade himself to forsake the Mission Church ; so the Orphan Institution was abandoned. But eager as was this good man for the spiritual edification of his own countrymen, neither his sym- pathies nor his eiforts were bounded by his desire to bring Christian men to a sense of their Christian duties. He had not been long in India before he bethought himself of doing something to enlighten the dusky millions who had been brought so myste- riously under our sway. In counsel with Mr. Grant, Mr. Chambers, and Mr. Udny, he devised a scheme for a Church of England Mission to India. It was expedient, in the first instance, to seek the assistance of some zealous coadjutor in England. Little diffi- culty had David Brown in naming one sure to enter into such, a project with all due evangelical earnest- 128 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. ness, and to carry it out with an equal measure of perseverance. His thoughts wandered hack to Cam- hridge, and fixed themselves upon an old and a beloved friend, whose words of holy encouragement had never ceased to vibrate in the heart of the young Indian chaplain. Any sketch of Christianity in India would be incomplete without some account of this Cambridge friend, and the work that he did to promote the diffusion of the Gospel. It was at the end of the month of January, 1779, that an Eton boy, named Charles Simeon, awoke one morning to find himself a Cambridge man. The son of a Berkshire squire, he had been sent, at a tender age, to endure the hardships of foundation life at a public school, and had emerged thence at the age of nineteen, none the worse for the conflict, a sturdy scholar of King's. He had eaten the college mutton; knelt on the flogging-block ; breasted the Thames ; worn the grass ojSF the playing fields at football, and the surface off the chapel walls at fives ; — fagged and fagging, from the lower school to the sixth form, he had roughed it to some purpose, had gained strength of body and of mind, and among his brother " tugs " had obtained some repute as a hard-headed, straight- forward fellow, and an athlete of the first class. There was muscle in young Simeon — but beyond that, there was something strange about the boy, which his class-fellows did not find it quite so easy to fathom. He was not moody ; he was not unsociable ; but there was at times a solemnity in his manner which puzzled the young collegers. They laughed at him too, as CHARLES SIMEON. 129 schoolboys will laugh, at what they cannot quite understand. And no blame to them for not under- standing : young Simeon himself knew not what it was that he felt stirring within him. In January, 1779, the school boy grew into the university man. Three days after the attainment of this new dignity, he was told that, in accordance with university custom, it was expected of him that he should receive the sacrament of the Lord's supper. The announcement seemed to startle him. There was something awful in the obligation. Satan, he said to himself, might as well think of attending this solemn service. But there were three weeks before him — three weeks allowed for preparation ; and what might not be done within that time to school and discipline his erring nature ? With all his soul, he applied himself to the work. He made himself, in his own words, " quite ill with reading, fasting, and prayer." He humbled himself and groaned in spirit — but God at length smiled upon him. Hope sprung up in his breast and a light dawned upon his soul — a light which was never obscured. Three or four years afterwards, the same young man might have been seen slowly wending his way from the church of St. Edward's, Cambridge. He had taken the first great step : his ministry had com- menced. The weight of new responsibilities was upon him ; but he felt equal to the burden. He had strength, and he was now suffered to put it to the proof — to try the temper of his Christian courage. As he threaded St. Edward's passage, the jarring K 130 CHRISTIANITY IK INDIA. notes of strife issued from a mean house and smote harshly on his ear. The jovchg minister paused and listened. A man and his wife, in loud railing tones, were disputing and accusing one another. It was a time to use the passport of his Master. He entered the house ; reproached the disputants, first, for absenting themselves from Church ; then for disturb- ing those who had been more mindful of their duties ; and, this done, he knelt down and earnestly prayed for them. The door was open ; and a crowd collected. But the young minister was not abashed ; he prayed on : — they stared and they scoffed at him, but his courage did not depart. He was about his Father's business ; and he neither fainted nor failed. It was an earnest of his future career. His strength never forsook him. From that day he persevered with the dauntless valour — the inflexible resolution of one whom no selfish fears, no doubts and misgivings, no love of the world, no dread of its opinions, could drive or tempt from the straight path. And he proceeded bravely to the end. Men might marvel and stare at him ; might scoff at and calumniate him. And they did so-— but his constancy was not shaken ; he " bore up and steered right on." A place was prepared for him. Very early did the young enthusiast see before him his appointed work. Within a few months from the date of this little incident, Charles Simeon was called to take up the crook which he held to the latest day of his life. For more than half a century was he the shepherd of that same flock. Entering, in Very youth, upon GROWTH OF RELIGtON AT CAMBRIDGE. 13t the iDttiriistry of Trinity parish, Camhridge, he only relinquished the cure, when at the age of seventy- seven, he closed his eyes upon the world for ever. No temptation — no promise, no certainty of worldly advantage ; — not declining years, nor failing strength ; not wealth in possession, nor ease in prospect, could induce him to forsake the temple in which he had worshipped at the outset of his career — in which, with God's blessing, he had redeemed so many erring souls, and out of which had gone forth a spirit to evangelise the University and to work a mighty influence upon the whole Christian world. Stormy, indeed, was the dawn of that long day : but how tranquil its close ! Cambridge began by scoutitig hitn as a mountebank and a madman, and ended by honouring him as a monarch. They broke the windows of his church, when he first ascended the pulpit ; they closed their own, when that pulpit was vdcant. They had made the Sabbath, on his account, a day of tumult and uproar ; but when he passed away from them, an unaccustomed quiet reigned over Cambridge even on a market-day. When Simeon entered upon the ministry of Trinity Church, there was fierce antagonism to encounter — antagonism which would have appalled a heart less true to itself and less strong in devotion to its Saviour. Appointed in opposition to the wishes of his parishioners, he was received with enmity and with insult. The people locked up their pews, and the church- wardens tore down the seats whidh the minister erected in vacant places. For months and months, K 2 132 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. until months had swelled into yeats, he hore up against this persecution — preaching to a scanty con- gregation, with an energy and impressiveness which enchained the attention and often touched the hearts of the listeners collected in the aisles. The parishioners complained to the Bishop that he frightened them, and that strange people crowded the church. They could not, poor souls, drowze comfortably in their cushioned pews ; and so, compelled to abandon them, they petitioned for a more considerate, a more oily preacher. But Simeon stood his ground manfully. For years and years, he was calumniated, ridiculed, insulted. With the parochial authorities he was at open war. They closed the church against him, and he called in the locksmith to his aid. The Univer- sity, too, was against him. Young gownsmen went to his church, as they would go to a fair ; there was excitement to be gathered from the " hot-gospellings " of the preacher, who in vehement tones, and not without some grotesqueness of manner, consigned them all to the bottomless pit. And there was always too — rare attraction for Cambridge men — a good chance of a row. Outrages of the most indecent description were committed by men who came to scofF and to riot. There was tumult and uproar within the church ; stones were thrown in at the windows. From the University authorities Simeon had nothing to hope ; they looked upon him as a methodist — a schismatic. His zeal was a rebuke to their supine- ness. They denounced him as a perilous disturber of the dreamy quiet of scholastic life. University CAMBRIDGE REFORMATION. 133 preaching had always been in a different style ; Uni- versity Scripture had always been differently inter- preted. They could not countenance such a dangerous innovation upon established rules of procedure. But better than all support from heads of colleges, Simeon had his own Christian courage to lean upon. And it sufficed to sustain him. He lived down the enmity which assailed his opening career — he preached down the ridicule which greeted his early ministrations. One by one, the men who had scoffed at and insulted him, became listeners and then proselytes. New hearers flocked to the church, and stood in breathless silence, to catch the eager, impassioned words of a preacher who had once been received in that place with noisy derision. It became the fashion for young gownsmen to crowd the aisles of Trinity Church, and, in time, the magnates of the University condescended to do honour to the once despised fellow of King's, who had raised himself so far above them.* * "It was Mr. Simeon's peculiar portion of his ministry, all was happiness," observed the late excel- rapidly changing. He was invite^ lent bishop of Calcutta, Daniel repeatedly to take courses of sermons Wilson, in his eloquent tribute to before the University. The same the memory of Mr. Simeon, " to live great principles that he preached long enough to see the prejudices were avowed from almost every which assailed him in his earlier pulpit in Cambridge. His church ministry, changed throughout almost was crowded with young students, the whole university to respect and When the new Chancellor of the veneration. Contrast the commence- University placed a chaplainship at ment and the close of his course. the disposal of the Vice Chancellor He stood for many years alone— he in 1833, Mr. Simeon was the person was long opposed, ridiculed, shunned applied to to make the nomination. ^his doctrines were misrepresented In 1835, the University went up to ^his little peculiarities of voice and present an address to the King. The manner were satirised — disturbances Vice Chancellor wished him to at- were frequently raised in his church, tend ; and when the members of the he was a person not taken into senate were assembled, made a account, nor considered in the light public inquiry as to whether Mr. of a regular clergyman of the church. Simeon was present, that he might Such was the beginning of things. be presented to his Majesty as one But mark the close. For the last of the deputation." "The writer of 134 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. It took half a century to eonsummate this change ; hut it was a half-century pregnant with blessings to the world — a half-century, in which the cause of Christianity made progress as it had only once made progress before. It was from that centre of Trinity Church, Gam^ bridge, and of Mr, Simeon's own college rooms, that radiated so much of that apostolic spirit, to which India is now so eminently indebted. It was his privilege to awaken the hearts and to engage the affections of men destined to achieve great spiritual triumphs. Bound as he was to the narrow limits of the University — seldom going forth beyond them, it was his to impress himself, through the agency of others, upon the minds of a people with whom he had never held communion, and to shed a broad light over a country which he had never visited in the flesh. In India comparatively little is known of Charles Simeon. His name is scarcely associated in men's minds with the history of the evangelical progress of the English in the East. The student who would trace the changes which have passed over Anglo-Indian society — the moral and religious advancement of professing Christians, and the silent but sure deca- dence of the worst forms of Hinduism — seldom travels back to that Cambridge church in which these lines," adds Bishop Wilson, of arts, the hachelors, the under *' can never forget the impression graduates, the congregation from the made upon his mind, when Mr. town, seemed to vie with each other Simeon delivered one of his sermons in eagerness to hear the aged and • on the Holy Spirit before that venerable man. . . . And at his learned University about six years death, when did either of our since. The vast edifice was literally Universities pay such marked honour crowded in every part. The Heads to a private individual ? " of HouseSj the doctors, the masters BISHOP WILSON ON THE SIMEONITE INFLUENCE. 135 Charles Simeon preached the gospel, pr those eoUege rooms in which he took sweet counsel with his friends. But he was the spiritual father of many of those who during the last half-century have shaped the religious destinies of India — the sender- forth of many of the great sent-forth who have laboured in that vineyard. " In every part of the kingdom," wrote Bishop Wilson of Calcutta, many years afterwards, " he had children, as it were, in the gospel, who had derived benefit from his unwearied labours during a long life. Multitudes had first been led to serious religion under his energetic ministry or had been awakened to greater earnestness. These recommended others, when going into residence, to seek his acquaintance. In various ways did he labour for the highest welfare of those who were thus brought within his influence. His public ministry was directed very much to their edification — ^ an evening party each week was known to be open to any who wished for his counsel; and he delivered twice in a year a course of lectures upon preaching to such as had passed the earlier division of theii college course. Thus he drew around him a constant succession of pious youth, whose minds he imbued with his own sound and laborious views of ministerial diligence. The last day alone will reveal the aggre- gate of good he thus accomplished. If we take only four or five cases now before the world — David Brown, Henry Martyn, John Sargent, Thomas Thomason, and Bishop Corrie — we may judge by them, as by a specimen, of the hundreds of some- 136 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. what similar ones which occurred during the fifty- our years of his labours." At the head of this list, it is thus seen, was David Brown, who was hut little younger than his friend. Simeon, indeed, was still in the earlier years of his ministration when, in 1788, he received from the little conclave in Calcutta, of which I have spoken, a spirit-stirring letter on the subject of a mission to the heathen. They sent him the outline of a scheme, saying, " We understand such matters lie very near to your heart, and that you have a warm zeal to promote their interest. Upon this ground, we take the liberty to invite you to become agent on behalf of the intended mission at home. We humbly hope you will accept our proposal, and immediately com- mence a correspondence with us, stating to us, from time to time, the progress of our application." * The invitation was cheerfully accepted; and from that time, to provide for India became, in his own words, as written more than forty years afterwards, a principal and incessant object of his care and labour. But the project moved slowly towards accomplish- ment. Earnest as Simeon himself was in the good cause, his letters did not give very hopeful assurance of the support it would meet with at home. And in Bengal there was but slight encouragement. The high position of Mr. Grant enabled him to feel the pulse of Lord Cornwallis.f It beat but languidly. ♦ Carus's " Life of Simeon." honour, wUUng to lead the -way, and t The Presidency chaplains (Mr, addressed Government on the subject Johnston and Mr. Blanchard), it of the proposed mission. should be remarked, were, to. their LUKEWARMNESS OF LORD CORNWALLIS. 37 L The Governor- General had a very bad opinion of the natives of the country, and he seems to have thought that they were not a convertible people. " It does not seem that his lordship," wrote Brown to Siiheon, in February, 1789, "is disposed to forward our wishes ; however, we have the consolation to know that he will not oppose them. He has no faith in such schemes, and thinks that they must prove ineffectual; but he has no objection that others should attempt them, and promises not to be inimical." This neutrality was all that ought to have been expected. Rightly considered, indeed, it was all that ought to have been desired. It does not seem to have damped the ardour of Charles Grant and David Brown. "It is proposed," con- tinued the latter, " that forthwith two young clergy- men be sent missionaries to India. They will come immediately to Bengal, and remain with us a few months at Calcutta. It will then be advisable that they remove to that famous seat of Hindoo learning, Benares. There they will spend about three years in study, and furnish themselves with languages. After which they may begin their glorious work of giving light to the heathen with every probability of success."* It was proposed that each missionary should receive 300 rupees a month ; from a public fund, if such a fund could eventually be raised ; but in the meanwhile from Mr. Grant's private purse. This was, at all events, a plain, practical suggestion, with some hope of realisation. But, although others * Carus'8 "life of Simeon." 138 CHEI3TIANITY IN INDIA. besides Simeon had been appealed to— ^and amongst those others William Wilberforce* — the response from England was very feeble, and the great design, as far as it is to be judged by immediate results, then fell to the ground. There was, however, strong vitality in it, and though prostrate it was not defunct. Out of this correspondence between the little handful of Christians in Calcutta and their friends in London and Cambridge, ere many years had passed, grew that great fact-^the Church Missionary Society. Whilst this correspondence was passing between England and India, the one solitary missionary in Bengal (for Mr. Kiemander was then old and indi- gent, and had ceased to labour) was doing his best among the factories at Malda— and with much strong will and sincerity of purpose^-^to convert the heathens to Christianity. But Mr. Thomas had not learnt to temper his zeal with discretion ; and he made neither converts among the people of the soil, nor friends among his own countrjrmen. Mr. Grant was disap- pointed. He had contributed large sums of money to the support of this mission, and he was compelled at last to confess that it was a failure. Some parts of the New Testament were translated by Mr. Thomas into scarcely intelligible Bengalee ; but it may be doubted whether he ever made a single real convert. Hoping long against hope, Charles Grant continued his grants in aid ; but the missionary betook himself to commercial speculations, failed utterly, and in- ♦ " Ovir hopes are particularly his influence alone we hope the minis- flxed on Mr. Wilberforce," wrote ter will regard such a project, and ask Brown to Simeon, in 1789. " It is to for it the cotmtenance of Majesty ." SOCIAL f MPB6VEMENTS. 1 39 volved himself in debt. It was olbvipus, therefore, that he was pne, in no sense, to be trusted ; so when Charles Grant prepared to betake himself to England, he wisely determined to wind up the affairs of the Malda mission. During the remaining period of the administration of Lord Cornwallis, it does not appear that anything more was done to promote the cause of Christian misr sions in Upper India. It was at the close of 1793 that this estimable nobleman retired from the Govern-' ment of India. Far different from that in which he found it was the state of the country which he left. The improvement in civil affairs was great, but the social improvement was no less striking. Party animosities seem to have died out altogether during his benevolent administration. He was hospitable, courteous, humane ; a nobleman by birth, yet more a nobleman by nature ; and his contemporaries appear to have admired his public, and venerated his private character. The journals of 1793 abound with records of Cornwallis's hospitalities, and of the entertainments given in return by a grateful society to the ruler they loved. In these accounts is observable an increased and increasing decorum.* From year to year the pro^ gress of propriety is distinctly marked. Fashionable * Mr. Tennant, an English clergy- and sobriety of conduct became as man, writing in 1798, bears willing decidedly the test of a man of fashion •witness to the ameliorative influence as they were formerly of irregularity. of Lord Cornwallis' personal charac- [Mr. Tennant means to say, " as ter. "A reformation highly com- irregularity formerly had been."J msndable has been effected, partly Thousands owe their lives, and many from necessity ; but more by the more their health, to this change, example of a Jate Governor-General, which had neither been reckoned whose elevated rank and noble birth on nor even foreseen by those wht) gave him in a great measure the introduced it." Another and later guidance of fashion, Begular hoviia writer, though apparently no admirer 140 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. dissipation was there in abundance, and no small amount, doubtless, of secret vice ; but there was out- ward decorum, and there were social checks, which wrought a certain moral improvement. The Roman actor, who wore the mask so long that his features caught its likeness, is no bad type of the society, which constantly wears the semblance of morality. In process of time, it becomes what it appears ; and morality takes the place of decorum. People do not suddenly change their natures ; hut to change, or even to conceal their habits, is a great thing gained; and it is unquestionable that this much at least was gained, under the government of Lord Comwallis. What was thus auspiciously commenced during the administration of one good man progressed steadily under the administration of another. Sir John Shore's character and example were no less worthy of admiration than those of his predecessor ; and society, under the wholesome influence of his virtuous domi- nion, was placed beyond the perilous chance of back- sliding. His administration extended over the next four years ; and although the religious movement, commeiiced during the reign of his predecessor, made of Cornwallis's administration, gives &c., by way of profit and loss, can- equally strong evidence on the same not but approve the salutary reform point aa the above. " Gambling was introduced by the Marquis Com- formerly," says Captain Williamson, wallis, who certainly was entitled to in his Vade Mecum (1810) "one of the approbation of the Company, as the most prominent vices to be seen well as to the gratitude of their in Calcutta, but of late years has servants, for having checked so considerably diminished. Those who effectually a certain licentious spirit, recollect the institution of Selby's ' which had till his arrival been totally club, and who now contemplate the uncontrolled, indeed unnoticed, in very small portion of time dissipated, any shape by his predecessors." even by the younger classes, at cards, SIR JOHN SHORE. 141 no great demonstrations, it was quietly and success- fully encouraged. Christianity owes much, indeed, to John Shore. He was eminently a Christian man. Like his contemporaries, he had heen exposed in early life to every kind of temptation, but he had bravely resisted them all. At a time when to be corrupt was only to be like one's neighbours, he had preserved, in poverty and privation, the most inflexible integrity. Thoroughly conscientious, simple-minded and unam- bitious, he had made his way, without any brilliant talents or masculine energies to advance his progress, to the summit of the ladder of official promotion. How it was that he at last found himself on such an eminence, he must, at times, have been somewhat perplexed to determine. But now that he was there, by whatever mysterious process, occupying the seat of Clive, of Hastings, of Cornwallis, he regarded his elevation to high place and power in a humble and a trustful spirit, not at all dazzled, not at all inflated, but prayerfully and painfully endeavouring to do his duty in that state of life to which it had pleased God to call him. He entered upon his high office in October, 1 793. At the end of the year, he wrote in his private journal, "As Governor-General, I have refused to transact any business on Sundays, and have devoted portions of them to religious duties and reading." So far, his duty as a Christian ruler was clear to him. It was clear to him also that it was his duty to provide his countrymen with the means of hearing God's word in decent edifices set apart for holy uses. One of his first acts, therefore, was to 142 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. saxlGtitsn the building of a ehurch in the Fort. " I hate at last," he wrote to Charles Grant in May, 1794, "gratified your friend Mr. Brown's impatience and my own feelings in the appropriation of a place for divine worship in the new fort." He was anxious, too, as he wrote in the same letter, that the Company should erect chapels " at Patna, Dacca, and Moor- shedabad, and at the military stations of Berhampoor and Barrackpoor, for the use and edification of Chris- tians." But he did not see his way clearly much beyond this. Lord Cornwallis had either esteemed the natives of India to be an unconvertible people, or had thought that they were not worth converting. But Sir John Shore — who knew the country and the people far better— -looked at the matter in a more inquiring spirit, and drew back alarmed at the first sight of the difficulties and dangers which met his eye. Charles Grant and William WilberforCe were by this time eagerly discussing the great question at home ; and, believing that they would find in John Shore an earnest and an active auxiliary, they wrote stimulating letters to him, which were answered, as 6ome may think, coldly and cautiously ; but, at all eventSj with a due sense of the responsibility of his position. " The difficulties," he wrote, " to be en- countered and surmounted are many. Our country- men in general are by no means disposed to assist the plan ; some from indifference, others from political Considerations, and some from motives of infidelity. Some would view the attempts without concern ; others would ridicule or oppose it. . . . If the attempt INFIDELITY OP THE PERIOD. 143 were made tfith the declai-ed support and authority of Government, by the aid of misrepreseiitatiofls it W6uld excite alarm."* To Mr. Wilberforce he wrote much in the sanie strain. He considered it to he the first duty of the English in India to christianize themselves. " The Conipany," he wrote, " expect principle and honesty in their sefvants without endeavouring to establish the foundation of thetn. Why do they not direct churches to be established ? " And to those who were intent upon the great thought of diffusing the blessed light of Christianity over the dark places of the eaf th, such language as this, doubtless, appeared cold and discouraging. But, at that time, to set an example of Christianity, and openly to avow Christian prin- ciples was no small thing. For Christianity was threatened in its own home. The civilization of the Western world, in that momentous conjuncture, seemed to be madly in love with the foulest infidelity. The hideous blasphemies of the French revolutionary school — the new philosophy of the Age of Reason- were tainting men's minds even in the remote de- pendencies of the East ; and it was with the growing scepticisirt of his own countrymen that Sir John Shore now conceived that it was his first duty to contend. Both by precept and by example the Governor- General strove to keep alive the smoulder- ing religion of his countrymen f; and I believe that it was no small gain to the cause of Christianity that * Sir John Shore to Mr. Charles f "I have no hesitation," he wrote Grant. Mt^ 5, 1794, " Life of Lord to Wilberforce, ''on any occasion, Teignmouth, \>j his son." and on some find it a duty, to declare 144 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. such a man was then at the head of the Government of our Indian possessions. In the spring of 1797, Sir John Shore, glad to divest himself of the cares and the pomps of high office, turned his back for ever on the shores of India. It was with no lukewarm feelings of pleasure that he found himself again in the society of his friend Charles Grant, who had ere this become an honoured member of the Court of Directors of the East India Company, and who was exerting himself, in Leaden- hall Street, right manfully in the good cause. Grant had taken up his abode at Clapham, among the mag- nates of which pleasant suburb were Wilberforce and the Thorntons, and from the pulpit of which that eminent Christian, John Venn, preached the Gospel to a loving congregation. From Calcutta, Sir John Shore had written to Mr. Grant : — " I think it more than possible that we may be, under Providence, your neighbours at. Clapham. Lady Shore's affection for Mr. Grant, her obligations to you both, and my own predilection for a society than which I know no better, are inducements which will hardly submit to others ;" and now, as Lord Teignmouth, he gratified this long-cherished desire, and taking a large, un- sightly brick house, now converted to Romanist uses, on the outskirts of the Common, he became one of the " Clapham Sect." myself a disciple of Christ, in whose account of the chaplains. " Our Gospel, and in the Bible, I look for clergy," he wrote, " with some ex- my religion ; and in that for tran- captions, " are not very respectable quillity, confidence, and happiness." characters. Their situation, indeed, But his health was precarious at that is arduous, considering the general time; and he confessed that during relaxation of morals; and from which the hot weather he was scarcely able a black coat is no security." to attend church. He gave a had 145 He found his new associates earnestly and vigor- ously at work — Grant, Wilberforce, the Thorntons, Zachary Macaulay, John Venn, and other able and pious men, were all full of great thoughts of the eon- version of the heathen. The religious Associations, too — the veteran Christian Knowledge, and the Gospel Propagation Societies, and the younger Church Missionary Society — were making grand exertions, in the face of every kind of difficulty, to diffuse the light of truth through the dark places of the earth. It was a period of the deepest interest to all who then had the cause of Missions at heart, or who now trace the progress that has been made during the present eventful century. And it is hard to say how much Christianity in India owes to the social meetings and friendly discussions which were continually taking place in the pleasant suburban villas skirting the green area of Clapham Common. Charles Grant, as I have said, had by this time become a Director of the East India Company. His active habits, his persevering industry, his steadfast resolution, and it would be just neither to him nor to his colleagues not to add, his high integrity, soon rendered him one of the most influential members of the Court. His views of religious questions were not generally popular in Leadenhall Street ; but he was a man not easily to be put down ; and his strong con- victions, his earnestness of purpose, and his indo- mitable perseverance, soon made head-way against the feebler wills and the idler habits of his associates. And so it happened, that after he became a member 146 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. of the Home Government of India, a marked im- provement in the tone of the Court's despatches became apparent. There was a more distinct re- cognition, than before, of the duty of every Christian officer in a heathen land to illustrate his national religion by his own purity of conduct, and by his outward observance of the ceremonial decencies of his faith. Ready assent was given to the extension of the means of church-worship, as recommended by both Sir John Shore and Lord Wellesley. One celebrated despatchj written before Grant had been more than a year in the Direction, bears the unmistakeable impress of his mind, if not of his haild. It was a dignified protest against the systematic profanation of the Sabbath ; against Sunday racing and Sunday card-playing, and other desecrations of the Lord's day.* This was something; but there was much more than this in the accession of such a man to the ranks of the great corporation which then traded with, and administered the affairs of, our Indian empire. In Charles Grant the great cause of Christian Missions had an earnest advocate and a resolute supporter. Out of his own private resources he had maintained the first English missionary that had laboured in Bengal. He had no fear of the results of Christian teaching, if conducted with due discretion. In India, if he had been less cautious than his friend John Shore, it was mainly, perhaps, because he was in a less responsible position. As a member, and after- * A portion of this despatch is given in the Appendix, CHARLES GRANT. 147 wards as Chairman of the Court of Directors, his zeal had not abated; but he had probed with a steadier hand, and a more searching eye, the depth of the diflSiculties which beset the propagation of the Gospel in regions peopled with vast millions wedded to hostile creeds ; and he had pursued the great object of his life under an increased sense of responsibility, which did not give less force, but more steadiness and system to his exertions. People called such men as Grant and Teignmouth "saints" and "fanatics" in those days ; but how calmly and sensibly they thought of the great subject of Gospel-diifusion, may be gathered from their correspondence.* Such prudence and moderation would in these days incur no small risk of being stigmatised as the lukewarmness, if not as the frigid indifference, of mere empty pro- fessors. Yet no small privilege would it have been, in the. * Take for example the following I should certainly consider a dis- passages from Lord Teignmouth's position on their part to accept them letters, given in his Life, published by as an omen of a most favourable his son. " I cannot bring myself to nature to the permanency of the believe," he wrote to Mr. Wilberforce, British dominion in India. On the "that the public -would ever deli- other hand, if this country should berately put a veto on the introduc- so far disavow the obligations of its tion of Christianity in India. . . . religious profession as to prohibit But," he added, "I regret that the the promulgation of the Scriptures conversion of the natives of India among the natives of India, I should has been brought forward so con- deem it a fatal prognostic. . . , spicuously by the publications of But although I consider the Dr. Buchanan and his premiums for country called upon both by duty prize disputations. That Chris- and policy, to attempt the diffusion tianity may be introduced into India, of Christian knowledge, as far as and that the attempt may be safely circumstances will admit, amongst made, I doubt not j but to tell the the natives of India, I am equally natives we wish to convert them, is sensible that the attempt should be not the way to proceed." Again, — regulated by the greatest caution " Whether the natives of India wiU and prudence, and that it can only be disposed to receive or to reject succeed by a due attention to these the Scriptures when offered to them maxims." is at their option and concern j but L 2 148 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. earlier years of the present century, to form a part of the Clapham Council, which discoursed on these high topics when the worldly business of the day was done ; when Thornton had left his Bank, and Grant had sat out the day in Leadenhall-street, and Yenn had written his sermon, and Macaulav had corrected the proofs of the Christian Observer* It was anything but the idle abstract talk of amiable dreamers which then flowed so freely among them, as they sate round the winter's fire, or strolled on warm summer evenings round the green lawn of Thornton's villa, parochially in Battersea, but socially and historically in Clapham all the same. They were emphatically doers and not dreamers. They were always doing something to give an impetus to Christianity in the East. Perhaps, Grant had a chaplaincy to give away, and good Charles Simeon had been invited to recommend one of his young Cambridge friends; and Henry Thornton rejoiced in the thought that, if he could do nothing else, he had money in the Bank to start the young pilgrim on his godly journey. Then there were the affairs of those two young, but now most potential institutions — the Bible Society and the Church Missionary Society, to suggest unceasing topics of discourse. Lord Teignmouth, to the great scandal of many, who were not improperly called the " advocates of Heathenism," had become President of the first ; and the second had grown out of the correspondence, * If anyone has not made himself James Stephen's graphic picture familiar, either in the Edinburgh of this Clapham Council, I would Review or in the " Essays on Ec- recommend him to do so forthwith, clesiastical Biography," with Sir THE CLAPHAM COUNCILS. 149 which a few years before had passed between Grant and his Christian friends in Bengal, and Wilberforce and Simeon in England. And then, there was some- times news from India to be discussed ; good news of missionary successes ; bad news, perhaps, of official obstructions. And the Clapham Council then had to consider what could best be done in Leadenhall-street, and in Westminster, by despatch-writing and by speech-making, for Grant had enlisted under Wilber- force's banners in the House of Commons, to stem the tide of ignorance, and prejudice, and irreligion, which was threatening to bring the missionary efforts of these good men to a disastrous close. Much, too, was there to engage their thoughts in the controversial aspects of the question. The early years of the nineteenth century were distinguished by a great strife of pamphlets — a war prosecuted with some earnestness, perhaps with some acrimony, by both the contending parties. In 1805, Claudius Buchanan, of whose history I shall speak presently more in detail, published his Memoir on an Indian Church establish- ment. From that time the subject stood prominently before the public : and, in spite of the necessary obtrusion of more exciting topics throughout tho^ stirring times of European war, there were circles in which the progress of that great battle between truth and error was regarded with livelier interest than the contest between the Corsican Adventurer and the Allied Sovereigns of Europe. Havinff exhumed a considerable number of these Jong-buried pamphlets, and very carefully and con- 160 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. scientiously examined their contents, I am bound to declare my conviction that they are very heavy affairs. One wonders, in these days, how so interesting a subject could have been treated in so uninteresting a manner. So feeble was the light that illumined these weighty discourses, that if it had not been for the Beviewers, the controversy would have been the dullest, perhaps, on record. Foremost among these anonymous writers were Sydney Smith and John Foster. A dread of the biting sarcasms of the Edin- burgh Review extended even to the Northern Pro- vinces of India ; but I would rather have fallen under the hands of the former, than have been consigned to the tender mercies of the latter. The canon of St. Paul's cut sharply with a polished razor ; the dissent- ing divine clove down with a hatchet. Foster was not a witty man ; but there was a certain dry humour about him, which he turned to profitable account. His sneer was a mighty one. It came down upon its victim, very quietly but very crushingly, like the paw of an elephant. I have never risen from the perusal of one of his reviews of Scott Waring, without being haunted by a vision of that unhappy gentleman, flattened and forlorn, like a hat that has been sat upon, gasping in a state of semi-animation, and feebly articulating " quarter!" Yet this Scott Waring held the chief place in the little army of pamphleteers that fought with such good will, in defence of genuine Hindooism. On the other side, there was Mr. Owen, Secretary of the Bible Society; and there was its President, LordTeignmouth. THE WAR OF PAMPHLETS. 151 The latter wrote with most knowledge of the sub- ject; but he was not a brilliant writer; he was in earnest after his kind, but he was not an earnest man. He was not an enthusiast ; he was not a hero ;* but he was something better than a hero ; he was an eminently good and honest man ; and, at a time when lies were being tossed about so prodigally, the truisms which dropped from his pen were not without use and significance, though the sentences which con- tained them had sometimes an official dreariness about them. I have no intention to detain the reader with a long recital of the narcotic details of this war of pamphlets. A few specimens will suffice. Among other pamph- leteers was Mr. Thomas Twining, "late Senior Mer- chant of the Company's Bengal Establishment," whose patronymic has since become familiar to the con- sumers of tea throughout the whole British world. His " Letter to the Chairman of the East India Company" exploded like a shell in the enemy's camp. It consisted mainly of extracts from the Re- ports of the Bible Society and the publications of Claudius Buchanan. The original comments were brief, but pungent ; and, it was remarked by a con- troversialist on the other side, not without some show * "IndiaHousetraditions,"-writes, Lord Teigmnouth, even after liis Sir James Stephen in his " Ecclesias- return to Europe. He wrote as if tical Essays," "tell, that when a to baffle the critics, and lived as young aspirant for distinction there though to perplex the biographers, requested one of the chairs to inform -^He was in fact rather a fatiguing him, what was the proper style of man — of a narcotic influence in writing political despatches, the chair general society, with a pen that not made answer ' the style we prefer is rarely dropped truisms ; sedate and the hum-drum.' This preference for satisfied under all the vicissitudes of the hum-dnira, enjoined perhaps by life ; the very antithesis and contra- the same high authority, clung to diction of a hero," 152 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. of truth, that "no such letter was ever before written in a Christian country, under a Christian king, by a gentleman professing the Christian religion." It may be worth while to exhume, and to examine, a few passages of Mr. Twining's pamphlet. There is a fine antiquarian flavour about them. As relics of a by-gone age, as fossil remains indicating a pre- existent condition of the religious mind of England, they will be pored over with wondering curiosity. The establishment of the Bible Society called forth the following explosion of horror and alarm : — " I must observe, that my fears of attempts to disturb the religious systems of India have been especially excited by my hearing that a Society exists in this country, the ' chief object of which is the ' "universal ' dissemination of the Christian faith ; particularly among those nations of the East to whom we possess a safe facility of access, and whose minds and doctrines are known to be most obscured by the darkness of infidelity. Upon this topic, so delicate and solemn, I shall for the present make but one observation. I shall only observe, that, if a Society having such objects in view does exist, and if the leading members of that Society are also leading members of the East India Company — and not only of the East India Company, but of the Court of Directors — nay, sir, not only of the Court of Direc- tors, but of the Board of Control ! — if, I say, these alarming hypotheses are true, then, sir, are our possessions in the East already in a situation of most imminent and unprecedented peril ; and no less a MR. twining's pamphlet. 153 clanger than the threatened extermination of our Eastern sovereignty commands us to step forth, and arrest the progress of such rash and unwarrantable proceedings." After twenty-two pages of extracts from the Bible Society's Reports and Mr. Buchanan's Memoir (the entire pamphlet consists only of thirty), Mr. Twining thus comments upon the latter : — " Here, sir, ends the second chapter, which Mr. Buchanan has devoted to this subject, and here, sir, my extracts from the work must terminate, for 1 really cannot cut open the leaves, which contain the sequel of this sanguinary doctrine. Again and again, sir, I must insist upon the extreme danger to our very existence in India, from the disclosure of such opinions and views to the native inhabitants of that country. Let Mr. Brown, and Mr. Buchanan, and their patrons at Clapham and Leadenhall-street, seriously reflect upon the catastrophes at Buenos Ayres, Rosetta, and Vellore ; and let them beware how they excite that rage and infatuation, which competent judges describe as without an example among any other people." And then we have the following ominous notice relative to the Buchanan Prize Essay, which Mr. Twining describes as a " most improper and most alarming fact :" " What must the natives of India think, when they shall know, as most assuredly they will, that Mr. Buchanan has been permitted to engage the national universities of this country, in discussing and determining the best means of diffusing the 154 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. Christian religion throughout India ? It is a fact, and I think, a most improper and a most alarming fact, that the Vice-Provost of the Company's Col- lege at Fort William has actually bestowed a prize of 5001. at each of the Universities, for the best disputation on the following question, viz. ' What are the best means of civilising the subjects of British India, and of diffusing the light of the Christian Religion through the Eastern world f '" The Letter to the Chairman concluded with the following peroration, in which there would have been something not wholly impertinent, if it had ever been intended to force Christianity upon the heathen : — " As long as we continue to govern India in the mild and tolerant spirit of Christianity, we may govern it with ease ; but, if ever the fatal day should arrive, when religious innovation shall set her foot in that country, indignation will spread from one end of Hindustan to the other, and the arms of fifty millions of people will drive us from that portion of the globe, with as much ease as the sand of the desert is scattered by the wind. But I still hope, sir, that a perseverance in the indiscreet measures, I have described, will not be allowed to expose our country- men in India to the horrors of that dreadful day : but that our native subjects in every part of the East will be permitted quietly to follow their own religious opinions, their own religious prejudices and absurdi- ties, until it shall please the Omnipotent Power of Heaven to lead them into the paths of light and truth." THE ARMY OF REJOINDERS. 155 This pamphlet called into the field a small regiment of rejoinders. I have now before me, " Cursory Remarks on Mr. Twining's Letter " — " A Letter in answer to Mr. Richard Twining, Tea-dealer " — " An Address to the Chairman of the East India Company, occasioned by Mr. Twining's Letter," and other similar publica- tions. The last named was the production of Mr. Owen, one of the Secretaries of the Bible Society, and is principally directed to the defence of that institution. In so far, it is a triumphant reply to Mr. Twining's tirade. Mr. Twining had especially commented on the fact, that Lord Teignmouth, Mr. Grant, and Mr. Thornton were on the Committee of the Society — the first being at its head ; Mr. Owen, with reference to this, replied that neither Mr. Grant nor Mr. Thornton had once attended a meeting of the Com- mittee, during the _period of three years and a half for which the society had existed ; and he successfully exploded a surmise, to which some weight was attached, that a certain letter from Mr. Brown was addressed to Mr. Grant, by declaring that it was written to himself. Bishop Porteus followed Mr. Owen ; and, Scott Waring having taken the field on the other side, Lord Teignmouth sate down to write his " Con- siderations " on the duty and expediency of commu- nicating a knowledge of Christianity to the natives of India. It was said, at the time, and with undeniable truth, that if this pamphlet had appeared at the beginning of the controversy, no other need have been written. It was sensible, argumentative, con- clusive 5 and it demolished the Waringites. 156 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. I think that it may he serviceable to exhume one or two of these "considerations" — considerations not the less Avorthy of regard in these days, although, as I write, they are just half a century old. In answer to the assertion that the natives of India would identify peaceful missionary efforts with a desire, on the part of Government, to convert the people to Christianity by force. Lord Teignmouth very perti- nently remarked : — " The natives of India, whether Hindoos or Maho- medans, have the clearest possible demonstration that no such idea as their /brcible conversion can be enter- tained by the British Government. They enjoy the most complete religious toleration : and the per- formance of the rites and ceremonies of their respec- tive religions is unmolested and without restriction, even in Calcutta, under the very eye of the ruling power. They see this principle avowed in the laws by which the country is governed ; their experience tells them that it is practically observed by all the officers of Government, whether civil or military — by judges, collectors, and commercial agents, and by the officers of the army ; and they are sensible, that if any violation of it were attempted, redress for the injury might be obtained." He was of opinion that the toleration of the Government imparted both security and efficiency to the Christian efforts of private individuals and reli- gious societies : that it was because authority never sought to interfere, that the missionaries would be enabled to prosecute their efforts in perfect safety OPINIONS OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. 157 and with good success. That our position in India must always be surrounded with more or less of danger, he thus admitted : — " The situation of a Government exercising a do- minion over a population of fifty millions of natives (I am contented to take the calculation of Major Scott Waring) through the means of a few Euro- peans, and natives trained by European discipline, is" obviously at all times a situation of peril ; and the peril of the situation is greatly enhanced by the con- sideration of the moral and physical distinctions between the European rulers and their native subjects. "Our dominion is built on the subversion of the Mahomedan power ; and all the toleration which can be granted to the followers of Mahomed, all the benefits of a mild and equitable government, will never make them forget that they once possessed the empire of Hindostan, and have now lost it. Euro- peans, in their estimation, are cafers, or infidels ; and if they receive a respect from them in India, which is denied in all other parts of the globe where Islamism is the religion of the sovereign, it is merely the homage to power, and proceeds from no principle of gratitude or attachment. With respect to the Hindoos, who constitute much the largest portion of the population, the case is somewhat different. They had for centuries been the slaves of Mahomedan despotism, and saw with little emotion a revolution, which emancipated them from the rigour of its coercion. But the substantial benefits which they have derived from it,, will not obliterate the impres- 158 CHEISTIANITY IN INDIA- sion of those distinctions in manners, customs, country, colour, and religion, which so widely discriminate the people and their rulers."* One more "consideration" — it is the final one; the closing passage of a sensible essay by a good man : — "Anxious as I am that the natives of India should become Christians, from a regard for their temporal happiness and eternal welfare, I know that this is not to be effected by violence, nor by undue influence : and although I consider this country bound by the strongest obligations of duty and interest, which will ever be found inseparable, to afford them the means of moral and religious instruction, I have no wish to limit that toleration which has hitherto been observed with respect to their religion, laws, and customs. On the contrary, I hold a perseverance in the system of toleration not only as just in itself, but as essentially necessary to facilitate the means used for their con- version ; and those means should be conciliatory, under the guidance of prudence and discretion. But I should consider a prohibition of the translation and circulation of our Holy Scriptures, and the recall of the missionaries, most fatal prognostics with respect to the permanency of the British dominion in India." Wise and good men will do well to take this as their confession of faith with respect to evangelising * "A minute detail of these dia- European meal is iiot less disgusting tinctlons might throw an air of ridi- to a Brahmin, than a festival of cule on the argument. I shall, how- anthropophagi woiild he to us." erer, renture to ohserre that a THE VELLOBE MUTINY. 159 efforts in India, To go beyond this, on the one side or the other, will he assuredly to go wrong. This war of pamphlets lasted for some years. It was rightly described as " a contest between the friends of Christianity and the advocates of Heathen- ism,"* The outcry against the missionaries was most preposterous ; for, in fact, there was but a handful of missionaries in the country. Major Scott Waring had contended that the Danish missionaries had done no great harm, because the temporal power of their Government was so slight ; but that the appearance of English missionaries on the scene must fill the breasts of the people with alarm. Had it not already done so ? Had not the dangers of such interference, the awful signs of the resentment of the people, been written in characters of blood ? Was not the mas- sacre of Vellore a damning proof of the terrible calamities which might be brought down upon the nation by the follies of those zealots and fanatics who were continually casting fire-brands among the most inflammable people in the world ? Of this great * IToster's Contributiona to the it, but of marked veneration ; and " Eclectic Eeview : " — Speaking of they have been violently angry that those advocates of Heathenism the the friends of Christianity should Essayist says : " It should be dis- assume the truth of that religion in tinctly recorded, as it may probably terms implying thatallotherreligions be a fact vorth knowing long after are therefore necessarily false. . , their pamphlets and names have This direct homage to paganism perished, that they have not only re- itself, abstractedly from all considera- presented that the effort to supplant tion of policy in our management of paganism by peaceful Christian in- Pagans, appears to usthe distinguish- struction may be politically mischiev- ing circustance on account of which ous; and insisted that to political con- the recent paroxysm of enmity to siderations all others are without hesi- religion merits a more marked record tation to be sacrificed, but shown an than those ordinary manifestations explicit partiality to paganism itself. of it, in which it is perfectly common In speaking of its fables, institutions, to misrepresent religion and true and ministers, they have carefully policy as incompatible, and insist employed a language not only of that the former must be sacrificed." forbearance of ' abuse,' as they call 160 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. bugbear of Vellore I shall speak in another place. The answer given by Lord Teignmouth and other writers to Scott Waring and his associates was that there were really no English missionaries in the neighbourhood of Vellore, or anywhere, indeed, in that part of India. If the progress which had been making in the practice and in the diffusion of Chris- tianity in India had been sufficient to excite the apprehensions of the people, the alarum would have been sounded in Bengal, rather than in Southern India. It is time now to trace this progress. Eeturning to the chief Presidency of India, I shall speak first of the labours of our Anglican divines, and then of the efforts of the Nonconformist ministers, who esta- blished the first English Mission, worthy to be so-called, in the neighbourhood of the Anglo-Indian capital. THE PROTESTANT CHURCH IN BENGAL. 16 1 CHAPTER VI. Dawn of the Nineteenth Century— The Protestant Church in Bengal- Brown — Buchanan — Henry Martyn — Corrie — Thomason. At the dawn of the nineteenth century, though in the provinces of India there were few signs of the presence of Christianity, in Calcutta a great and im- portant change was every year becoming more per- ceptible. The ministrations of some pious clergy- men, and the practical encouragement of Lord Wel- lesley, may have done much to foster the growth of the true religion at the Presidency ; but the French Revolution had done still more to arrest the progress of infidelity and impiety. Scepticism had once been the fashion in India ; but the brutal excesses of that great struggle, which had convulsed all Europe, filled the minds of Anglo-Indians with disgust and detesta- tion ; and the doctrines professed by the revolutionary leaders, though at one time received amongst them with consideration and encouragement, now began to sicken and alarm. The reaction was sudden — ^but salutary. " The awful history of the French Revolution," wrote Mr. Brown, in 1805, "prepared the minds of our countrymen to support the principles of religion and M 162 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. loyalty which our late Governor-General considered it his most sacred duty to uphold with the weight of his authority ; he resolved, to use his own words, to make it he seen that the Chrisian religion was the religion of the State ; and, therefore, at different times, he appeared in his place as chief representative of the British nation, attended to church by all the officers of Government, to give the Christian religion the most public marked respect of the Governor of the country." And referriiig to a somewhat earlier period, Claudius Buchanan wrote to a friend in Eng- land, " It became fashionable to say that religion was a very proper thing, that no civilized state could sub- sist without it ; and it was reckoned much the same thing to praise the French as to praise infidelity."* The Governor-General went regularly to Church; the principal people of the settlement soon followed him there, and the place, which had once been said to be fit only for the reception of stable-boys and low Portuguese, began to open its doors wide to the quality, and to require enlargement for the accommo- dation of the people of condition who flocked to the temple they had once avoided and the priest they had once despised. Those opening years of the present century were, r.™A°5' '^ ^ f^^^^^Siy^'aS sermon, been of essential service to her. It ^^^±<. ? ^-^''^^^i^'^^'^^O) ^^^ excited greater respect for ^rZhout t^^tZ?^ distributed Christian institutions and Christian throughout the country by order of principles. . . Scepticism and Government to the great astonish- Lfidelity are iot now so wdl re- ment of the Company's servants, the ceived in society as th^yoncT" ere ^"ate ^m'^Cs"*" ThP "''^ f " ^' "'^ formerly^hough^ Tma^k of ^eater emphasis. " The contest m superior understanding to profess in- which our country has been so long fldeUty." &c &c engaged hath, in one particular ""''"''^' «^- «c. EFFECTS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. l63 indeed, important ones in the history of Christianity in the East. " The state of society among our countrymen here," -wrote Mr. Corrie, in 1806, "is much altered for the better within these few years. The Marquis Wellesley openly patronised religion ; whether from motives of State policy or not, it is not ours to judge. He, on every possible occasion, made moral character a sine qua non to his patronage, and sought for men of character from every quarter to fill offices of trust. He avowedly encouraged, and contri- buted to, the translation of the Scriptures into the native languages, and wherever he went paid a strict regard to divine worship on the Sunday." And Mr. Brown has recorded a conversation which took place, a short time before, between himself and Sir J. D. (D'Oyly) which is still more significant. " Sir J. D., by whom I was seated, said, ' it was very true that the worst opinion had been formed of us at home, and though he had written the truth to his friends, he did not think he should be believed, pre- judices ran so high.' He then told me his own feel- ings and grateful wonder on finding the society here so highly improved from what he had left it so many years before ; and further observed that there was no society in England, which he had seen, more correct in all respects. He added, you have full churches, and the most serious attentive audiences I ever saw ; and in company I never hear an offensive expression. I believe there is nothing like it in any part of the world." And yet a few years before, Mr. Obeck, when asked by Buchanan if he could produce " ten M 2 164 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. righteous to save the city," replied that he was not sure he could produce ten, hut he thought he could produce five.* That the ministrations of David Brown and Clau- dius Buchanan conduced in no small measure to this consolatory change, it would he manifest injustice to those eminent servants of God to deny. Mr. Brown, during a quarter of a century, laboured, with scarcely a week's intermission, in the same once- deserted field. Other ministers belonged to India — he was wholly of Calcutta. There was all his work done ; there he died ; there he was buried. By un- wearied industry and unfailing zeal ; by a steady and consistent course of conduct ; by a life of ministerial activity and personal holiness, he achieved more, than many, who have had the advantage of more lustrous talents and more exalted station, have proved themselves able to accomplish. He arrived in India when things were at their worst ; he lived out a quarter of a century pregnant with the most consoling changes ; and the sorrow which was felt for his death, and the reverence entertained for his memory, declare the good part which he had taken in bringing those happy changes about. Sketching the progress of Christianity in Calcutta, during the concluding years of the last century, I have sufficiently shown the difficulties with which Mr. Brown had to contend and the triumph which he achieved over them. The history, indeed, of the * Mr. Obeck had teen steward in tants of Calcutta, and one of the most the family of Mr. Charles Grant, pious men in the city. He died in He was, at the time to which we are 1803, in his 75th year, referring, one of the oldest inhabi- RESULTS OF BEOWn's MINISTRY. 165 religious improvement of the European community of Calcutta, during the quarter of a century which followed the transfer of the Mission Church to the new body of trustees, is the history of Mr. Brown's life. In the results of his teaching we read the career of the man. In all other respects his life was most uneventful. For five and twenty years he was never more than once absent from his post; and then but for a brief passage up the river. Between Calcutta and Aldeen his life was spent ; between the Mission and St. John's church his labours were divided. Having been appointed a presidency chaplain, his Sabbath duties were most onerous. Twice he ofii- ciated every Sunday at the Mission Church ; once at the cathedral ; once in the fort. At one period, he had a school in his own house. He was a constant attendant at the hospital and the gaol ; an active agent of the Bible and Church Missionary Societies in the East ; and ever zealous in his efforts to promote the translation of the Scriptures. In the religious pro- gress of the European community he found his reward. He lived to see the streets opposite to our churches blocked up with carriages and palanquins, and to welcome hundreds of communicants to the supper of the Lord. He lived to see the manners and conversation of those by whom he was surrounded purified and elevated ; the doctrines of his master openly acknowledged in word and deed, where once they had been scouted by the one and violated by the other. And when, he died it was in the full security that his mantle had descended to more than one who 166 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. was worthy to wear it — that the field which he had so long and diligently cultivated would never he suffered to he over-run with weeds, for want of lahourers to follow his example. During, perhaps, the most important period of his ministry — for it was at the very turning point of the religious fortunes of the English in India — Mr. Brown enjoyed the solid advantage and the unspeakable comfort of the support and assistance of Claudius Buchanan. The son of a Scottish schoolmaster — horn and educated in Scotland, and at the early age of fourteen appointed private tutor to the sons of a gentleman of fortune — this able and excellent man had been originally designed for the Presbyterian ministry. Having spent some time at the Glasgow university, he would there have taken his degree, but happening to fall in love with a young lady, of supe- rior worldly station, he conceived the romantic idea of leaving his native country, carving out his fortune in foreign lands, and returning with wealth and honour to claim the idol of his youth. It appears that his chief stock in trade was a lie and a violin ! With the former he deceived his parents ; with the latter he intended to fiddle his way through the world ; but had scarcely reached the borders of England before he repented of his preposterous design. His success, as a wandering minstrel, was considerable ; but at the best he felt it but a sorry way of life ; and if he had not been so overwhelmingly ashamed of himself he would even then have returned to his home. But the die, as he said, was cast. He went on — though CLAUDIUS BUCHANAN. 167 not as a fiddler by the wayside, or as an enthusiast swelling with thoughts of foreign travel. Those visions had passed away. He obtained a passage, on board a collier, from North Shields to London, and was nearly drowned before he reached his destination. Arriving safely at last, he found himself in the great metropolis ; and there, after the common fashion of ad- venturers, he was brought to the extremity of wretched- ness and want. After selling his clothes and his books, he appeared to be on the very brink of starva- tion, when he obtained employment in an attorney's office ; and subsequently he secured a situation under another solicitor, with a salary of forty pounds a year. He designed, at this time, to make the law his per- manent profession ; and so little was his future career foreshadowed in his then way of life, that it is recorded of him that although he sometimes wanted a dinner, he had money to spend on theatres, spouting clubs, and other public amusements. A year after the date of his exile from Scotland, whUe leading this unprofitable life, Buchanan received intelligence of the death of his father. The lie, with which he had set out on his journey, was not yet to be suffered to die. He wrote to his mother soon after- wards from London, and dated his letter {rom. Florence. In the summer of this year (1788) he was prostrated by a severe fever ; and whilst on the bed of sickness made many wise resolutions to be broken upon his recovery. He read Homer and Virgil ; but neglected his Bible. Occasionally he found an hour, snatched from the severe studies of the law, to devote to literary 168 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. pursuits ; but none to pious meditations. His heart was as hard as ever. In 1790, some higher thoughts and better feelings found entrance to that God-deserted shrine. He saw the sinfulness of his way of life as in a glass ; he withdrew from evil society ; he reflected much, read much, prayed much. Beneath the sanctifying in- fluence of Mr. Newton's ministry his deepening con- victions took firm root in his mind. He wrote to that good man ; and from the pulpit of St. Mary Woolnooth the preacher replied to his nameless cor- respondent. The invitation to come unto him was gratefully accepted by the heavy-laden lawyer's clerk. There he found what he had long sought — some one to guide him, some one to instruct. The old man took him by the hand, became his friend and his counsellor ; and, in a happy hour, recommended him to the good offices of one who with the will united the power to turn the best gifts of nature and of fortune to account in doing the will of his master. This was the late Henry Thornton, already mentioned with honour, whose life was mainly spent between his office in the city and his villa on Clapham Common, but whose good deeds went forth in a perennial stream to the uttermost parts of the earth. A man of enlarged sympathies, of unbounded charity, with the most reverential love of truth, and a sense of justice, not severe towards others but unstinting in self-sacrifice, he was for years the centre of that noble group of philanthropists, from which the venerable faces of William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson, Granvill?) HENRY THORNTON. 169 Sharpe, and Zachary Macaulay, beam forth with benignant expression.* In this group were men who possessed more brilliant talents, more fluent eloquence, more energy and enthusiasm of character — ■ altogether more of that heroic spirit which originates great deeds and courts dangers and privations, which sets before it some great object to be achieved and girds itself up to encounter every obstacle, strenuous in the purpose to beat them down with the strength of an unconquerable will — but in Henry Thornton there was that which rendered him the ally, the counsellor, the friend of all. With the strongest sense to advise, the most unfailing generosity to aid, and the kindliest sympathy to encourage, he promoted every good work; he rallied around him the friends of humanity ; and from his villa on Clap- ham Common went forth many a great scheme for the relief of his suffering, and the evangelization of his benighted fellow-men in all parts of the world ; and whilst he was ever ready to promote these great and comprehensive schemes, his individual charities, often noiselessly, secretly administered, brightened up many a dreary hearth and infused new vigour into many a drooping soul. He gave not by hundreds, but by thousands ; and how well and wisely his wealth was distributed, the memoirs of Buchanan, Martyn, and others, abundantly declare. To Claudius Buchanan he was indeed a friend. He sent the young Scotchman to Cambridge. Out *Grantand Shore had not returned When they arrived, they pitched to England at the time of Buchanan's their tents at the extreme comers of first introduction to Henry Thornton. Clapham Common. 170 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. of his abundance he supplied funds to one who was worthy of such patronage. Buchanan paid back the money which was thus generously advanced. Out of his first savings, he remitted to Henry Thornton the four hundred pounds which had been spent upon his college education. Nor did he stop there. In grateful remembrance of the aid which he had derived from one wealthier than himself, he placed a sum of money at the disposal conjointly of Mr. Newton, Dr. Milner, and Henry Thornton, to educate for the ministry any young man, whom they might think fit to select. At Michaelmas, 1791, Claudius Buchanan entered Queen's College, Cambridge. He was regular in his habits and indefatigable in his studies. He kept but little company, and the few whose society he sought were men of approved godliness. Among these was Charles Simeon,* who invited him to those Sabbath evening parties, at which so many of the young men of the day were encouraged to take up the cross, and strengthened in all their good resolutions by the affectionate exhortations, and by the godly example of their friends. Great as were his abilities, and assiduous as was his * " In addition," says Mr. Pearson, their academical progress. Of the in his biography of Claudius Bu- kindness of this gentleman, and of chanan, "to the society which has the benefit which he derived from been just mentioned, Mr. Buchanan his conversation and example, Mr. was invited to spend an hour on Buchanan wrote to more than one Sunday evenings at the rooms of of his friends in terms of the highest one excellent person, who has been respect and gratitude." Why the distinguished during many years for name of this " excellent person " his active and zealous support of should be so studiously suppressed, religion in Cambridge, and to whom we cannot even conjecture. Why a numerous body of clerical and should not Mr. Simeon's name take other students have been successively its proper place in the biography of indebted for the most important in- Claudius Buchanan ? u TCtion and encouragement during NEWTON AND BUCHANAN. 171 attention to his studies, he took no University honours. There were those who thought that he might, had he so willed it, have taken the highest. This, however, he always denied. " Those who think," he said, " that I might have been Senior Wrangler are not well informed. There are few instances, I believe, of any persons arriving at this eminence who had not studied mathematics before they went to Cambridge."* Honours, though not the highest, were within his reach ; but he seems to have had no academical ambition. Perhaps, the warnings and admonitions of his venerable friend, Mr. Newton, may have de- terred him from a conflict which is not without its snares. He did not despise human learning, but he entered with chastened ardour upon the pursuit. Other objects had been set before him. It was not to obtain a name but to prepare himself for the ministry that he had entered the gates of the University. And by much prayer, much self-discipline, much searching of the Scriptures, much converse with holy men, he had prepared himself for the great race which Pro- vidence had so significantly ordained him to run. The first idea of Indian labour seems to have been suggested to him, whilst yet an undergraduate, by Mr. Newton. " I decline giving any opinion," was his answer : but he added in all humility — " It is with great pleasure I submit this matter to the determina- tion of yourself, Mr. Thornton, and Mr. Grant. All I wish to ascertain is the will of God." And again, * A few years later, Henry Martyn added another to the " few instances" then on record. 172 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. in another letter, " I am equally ready to preach the Gospel in the next village or at the ends of the earth." His friends decided the matter for him. Mr. Grant was by this time in the East India direc- tion. He had the power and the will to serve Buchanan; and early in 1796 a chaplaincy was presented by him to the young minister. " On the 3rd of July, he preached for Mr. Newton at St. Mary Woolnoth." Strange, indeed, must have been the sensations with which he ascended that pulpit, to which years before he had turned his streaming eyes, and from which had come forth the announcement — the invitation, which was the settling point of his religious career. Little could the lawyer's clerk have dreamt that one day he would himself be uttering Gospel-truths from that very spot which seemed to him radiant with glory and instinct with inspiration — ^not to be profaned by unhallowed footsteps, and scarcely to be gazed at by unveiled eyes. On the 30th of that month of July, 1796, Buchanan embarked for India. Of his voyage no particulars remain. On the 10th of March, 1797, he landed at Calcutta. Mr. Brown, to whom he was the bearer of a letter of introduction, received him with a hospi- tality which would have been equally extended to him had he carried no such recommendation. His residence in Calcutta was but brief; for shortly after his arrival he was appointed military chaplain at Barrackpore. There a great disappointment awaited him. The appointment he held was in one respect, at least, a sinecure : there was no church and there was no BUCHANAN AT BARRACKPORE. 173 congregation. Divine service was never performed, " Barrackpore," he wrote soon after his arrival, " has been called the Montpelier of India. Here I enjoy everything that can minister to comfort or elegance, except society ; we have society too, but it is only polite society : there are not many here, I fear, whose hearts are awakened to the love of virtue and truth. Nevertheless, I possess two companions of inestimable value. I mean those two books which are written by the finger of God, the book of God's word and the book of God's works. These are treasures which are inexhaustible, and which afford me in my retirement pleasure, company, and comfort." The spirit of Claudius Buchanan was severely tried. He had believed that a wide field of utility had been opened to him — that his zeal and devotion were about to be put to the test, his energies called forth, his abilities proved, by circumstances at once novel and inspiriting. Instead of this, he found himself thrown into the midst of uncongenial society, drawing a good salary from Government, doing little or nothing for it, pining in dreary inactivity, his energies running to waste — his mission shown to be no more than a mis- sion to drowse away life on a salary of twelve hundred a year. Another trial was soon to be added to the pile. His friends in England began to mistrust him — to feel and indeed to express some disappointment. They expected that he would do so much ; they could not hear that he was doing anything. There were those who imderstood his position too well to blame him for that which was only his calamity ; but others 174 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. had a vague sort of idea that he had gone out to preach the Gospel to the heathen, and that tidings ought to have reached England of conversions on a grand scale. They thought, perhaps, that he had, in the language of a recent missionary writer, "apos- tatised to a chaplaincy." But he had never been anything but a Company's chaplain. It was simply Buchanan's duty to obey orders ; to bury the Com- pany's officers when they died, to marry them when they turned their thoughts towards marriage (which was not very often in those days), and to baptize their Christian children. The only work that he could add to this was the study of the Scriptures and of the native languages, hoping one day to turn his acquire- ments to good account. It was, I repeat, a sore trial ; but what could Buchanan do ? "I suffered," he wrote to Mr. Grant in 1798, " a long struggle before I could resign myself passively to my unex- pected destination. But the struggle is now over ; and I view myself as one who has run his race ; to whom little more is left to do. I have known some, who in such a case would have extricated themselves with violence, and sought a new fortune in the Gospel. But it will require a very evident interposition of God indeed to bring me out of this Egypt, now that he has placed me in it: I shall esteem myself highly favoured if I be enabled to pass my days in it with a pure conscience, endeavouring to do a little where much cannot be done." — The language this of deep despondency — probably the result of failing health. He had suffered from severe attacks of fever, and was Buchanan's despondency. 175 afflicted by a disorder of the chest. " I have now," he wrote to Mr. Newton, " been a year and a half in India, and have not yet engaged in the ministry ; and I know not when I shall. At present indeed, I should scarcely be able, were I called to it." But better times were in store for him. In 1799, Buchanan was united in marriage to Miss Whish, the daughter of a Suffolk clergyman — a young lady of amiable temper, gentle manners, and the soundest Christian principles imbibed in early youth and since cherished upon conviction. Here at least was an addition to his stock of happiness ! For some time he continued to reside at Barrackpore, doing occasional duty in Calcutta. " My public ministra- tions," he wrote to Henry Thornton in 1800, "have been rare ; but perhaps not so rare as from my situa- tion might be expected. Of the three years I have been in India, including the number of times I have officiated at the hospital in Calcutta,' and in my own house at Barrackpore, I have preached on an average once a fortnight." But soon other duties were assigned to him. Lord Wellesley had conceived the design of that noble institution, the College of Fort William. Mr. Buchanan was desired to draw out a sketch of the constitution of the college, and to prepare a justi- ficatory minute. In the month of August, 1800, the college was formally established, Mr. Brown was soon afterwards appointed Provost, Mr. Buchanan Vice- Provost and Classical Professor. From Buchanan's letters to his friends in England, despatched about this time, we gather a few interest- 176 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. ing particulars of the state of the Church in Calcutta, at the commencement of the present century. " Both the churches," he wrote to Mr. Grant in 1801, "are generally full, particularly in the cold weather. The College chapel has punkas, which will probably draw a great number of the townspeople during the hot season. Lord Wellesley has fitted up a pew for him- self in chapel." And again, " Lord W. has had serious thoughts of building a larger church. But the College institution has deranged his plans a little. If you cannot give us a new church at present, we shall thank you for a clock and bell ; and also for a singing man and organist. The charity boys sing in the two churches and in the College chapel every Sunday. And there are organs in each, but only one organist. . . . Sir Alured Clarke has just left us. He is entitled to the thanks of your Court for his attention to Divine service ; and for the general good example he has set to your settlement here."* And later in the same year he wrote to the same excellent member of the Court of Directors : " Our church continues in much the same state in which I described it to be in my last. We have had an addition of some communicants, principally from college. The church thins a little always in the hot months of May and June. Lord W. has proposed to use punkas and tatties ; and it is probable that we shall have recourse to them next season." In the following year, writing an apology for infrequency of correspondence, he says ♦ And in another letter it is set rived. He and his family were at down — " General Lake has just ar- church yesterday." PROGRESS OP RELIGION IN CALCUTTA. 177 — " I have less time now than ever. The chief labour of the churches is devolving fast upon me. My reli- gious correspondence in India is greater than at any former time. The whole direction of the College is with me ; every paper is drawn up by me ; and every- thing that is printed is revised by me. In addition to this, I give Greek and Latin lectures four times a week." And again early in the same year, " Our churches during this cold season are more crowded than I ever saw them before. Even on Wednesday evening there are a great number, and good is done. Some of the students attend on that evening. Their presence warms the heart of old Mr. Obeck. ' How would Mr. Grant rejoice,' he sometimes says, ' to see these things.' The pillars are removed, and a number of additional seats made*, to accommodate the many who come." And from that time, every year saw a more nume- rous attendance in our churches, and a more devout spirit pervading the congregations. In .1805, Bucha- nan wrote, " We have had Divine service at the Mission Church lately for the settlement. The punkas make it very pleasant ; but it was found to be too small for the auditory ; many families going away every Sunday morning ; seats being in general occu- pied an hour before service ;" and to this he added, as another evidence of the progress of vital religion among the European inhabitants of Calcutta : " The demand for religious books, particularly of evangelical principles, has been very great these two last years. Messrs. Dring told me they had sold an investment N 178 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. of fifty 8vo Bibles in the course of three months." And in other letters, written about the same time, he thus described his congregations : — " On account of the increase of our congregations we are about to have two morning services on Sunday; the first at seven o'clock in the Old Church, and the second at the usual hour of ten at the new. This is very agree- able to a great majority. Only Mr. Brown and myself will officiate at the Old Church. We shall of course (at least I shall) continue to officiate as usual at the new. . . . We have some of all sects in our congregations ; Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists, Armenians, Greeks, and Nestorians. And some of these are of my audience at the English Church. But a name or a sect is never mentioned from the pulpit ; and thus the word preached becomes profitable to all. . . . Even among the writers in the College there are Presbyterians, Independents, and Methodists. Their chief difficulty at first is from the ceremonies of the English Church, which few of them ever witnessed till they came here. I must lie down awhile and dictate to an amanuensis, for it is very hot. The thermometer is to-day near 110." In the hot weather of this year (1805) the failing health of Mr. Buchanan rendered it necessary that he should determine on a brief cessation of labour — a brief absence from the enervating, exhausting climate which had so reduced his strength and diminished his activity. A visit to the Malabar coast was accordingly planned ; but before it could be put into execution, an alarming accession of illness brought BUCHANAN NEAR TO DEATH. 179 the invalid down to the very brink of the grave. The hour of death seemed to be at hand. Buchanan himself, assured that his earthly race was run, sent for his friend and colleague, David Brown, resigned into his hands all his worldly affairs, commended wife and children to his care, ran over the history of his past life, spoke of the interpositions of an especial providence discernible in it, said that he was ready, nay eager to depart, and gave directions about his burial, his monument, and his funeral sermon. In this trying hour did he exhibit the utmost tranquillity of mind and an assured belief of his acceptance through the merits of Jesus Christ. In " a humble, submissive, patient and fervent" spirit he gave him- self up to prayer ; but not his alone were the suppli- cations which then ascended to Heaven. Other prayers were offered up in faith — other prayers were blessed to the supplicants — and Claudius Buchanan, almost by a miracle, rose up from the bed of death. The fever left him. In the steamy month of Sep- tember, he was removed from Calcutta to Barrack- pore and thence to Sooksaugor. Here a new trial awaited him. He received intelligence of the death of his wife, on board the vessel which was to have conveyed her to England. " I am now a desolate old man," he wrote, " though young in years. But my path will, I doubt not, be made ' clear as the noon- day.'" Resigned to his hard lot, he turned his thoughts into new channels, and never was his mind more busy with great projects than during this season N 2 180 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. of affliction. " My chief solace," he wrote, mind constantly occupied; and this is the greatest temporal blessing I can expect even to the end."* To Mr. Grant he wrote to recommend the enforce- ment of certain regulations for the better government of writers and cadets on board-ship ; and to the Arch- bishop of Canterbury he despatched a lengthy and elaborate epistle on the religious prospects of Hin- dustan and the necessity of an episcopal establishment for India — the darling project of Buchanan's life. He did not labour for himself ; but there were those who hoped and expected to see in him the first Bishop consecrated to the Indian Church. " I must inform you," he wrote to Mr. Grant early in 1806, " that since my late illness I am become infirm in body and in mind : and I am scarcely fit for those public duties in this place which require the heart of a lion and a countenance of brass. I trust my excursion to the Deccan, which I meditate next month, will he bene- ficial to me. ... As to returning (to England) in order to receive episcopal dignity, my soul sinks at the thought of it. I trust my lines will rather be cast in a curacy. Place the mitre on any head. Never fear ; it will do good among the Hindus. A spiritual bishop * The manifestations of genuine some consolation in writing a few son-ow are so variously shaped by lines to her memory in the Hebreir, individual character, that it would Syriac, Greek, and Latin languages, argue little charity, and indeed but a which I inscribed on a leaf of her limited knowledge of humanity, if I own Bible — the best monument that were to say more than that the fol- I could erect ; for the body was buried lowing words, which I find in the in the deep." This is the pedantic same letter, grate somewhat harshly side of sorrow; but all I wish to say on my own feelings: "Whilst I was about it is that, although I do not thus engaged (in the study of the question its sincerity, I have no sym- Syriac language), the news of Mrs. pathy with such polyglot woe. Buchanan's death arrived. I found Buchanan's journey to malabau. 181 will appear in due time !" The prophecy has been amply accomplished. Repeated attacks of fever and ague, and some diffi- culty in handing over his several appointments, de- tained him for some time in Bengal, and it was not until the beginning of May that he was enabled to commence his voyage to the southward. " The prin- cipal objects of this tour," he subsequently wrote in his Christian Researches, " were to investigate the state of superstition at the most celebrated temples of the Hindus ; to examine the churches and libraries of the Romish, Syrian, and Protestant Christians ; to ascertain the present state arid recent history of the Eastern Jews, and to discover what persons might be fit instruments for the promotion of learning in their respective countries, and for maintaining a future correspondence on the subject of disseminating the Scriptures in India." With this great design occupy- ing his thoughts, Buchanan set out on his voyage along the coast. At the Sandheads, the vessel, in which he sailed, passed within sight of another then steerinff towards the mouth of the river. It was one of an outward-bound fleet ; and it bore the name of the Union on its stern. Among the passengers in that vessel was a young man of whose great talents and signal piety Buchanan had heard much from Mr. Charles Grant, and whom he now yearned to embrace as a friend, a brother, and an associate. The son of a self-taught Cornish miner, who had raised himself to a seat in a merchant's office, Henry Martyn had passed through the Grammar-school of 182 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. ' Truro with the character rather of a docile than of a studious boy. Quiet and inoffensive, of a delicate frame and of retiring habits, he had paid the common penalty of the gentleness which does not resent, and the weakness which cannot resist, injustice. To his master he had recommended himself by the quickness of his parts and the sobriety of his disposition ; but thus early he had given no sign of the brilliant talents which distanced all competitors at Cambridge, and the energy of character which supported him through- out so great trials in the Eastern world. Unsuccess- ful, at the boyish age of fifteen, in an effort to obtain a scholarship at Oxford, he had returned to the Truro Grammar-school, and directed his thoughts towards the sister university. Two years after the Oxford failure, he was entered at St. John's, Cam- bridge ; but so little was he aware of his own capa- city for the exact sciences, that he commenced his academical career by committing to memory the pro- blems of Euclid, as lessons which he could not under- stand. Such was the inauspicious dawn of his Cam- bridge life ; but before he had completed his twentieth year he had attained the highest University honours. No man ever wore them more meekly. Senior wrangler of his year, he felt the emptiness of the distinction. In his own words, he had but " grasped a shadow." His talents were of a remarkable order. He seems to have combined, in an extraordinary degree, the imaginativeness of the poet with the exactness of the man of science. Intellectual eminence he had attained, HENRY MARTYN. 183 Social eminence was within his reach. But he had no such aspirations. The promptings of worldly ambition never disturbed the serenity of his mind. Human learning and earthly fame appeared before him as mere baubles. New desires had sprung up in his heart — new thoughts were busy in his brain. Another path was opening out before him — another hand was beckoning to him ; other voices were making music in his ears. He was one of those students who, attracted in the first instance by mere curiosity to Trinity Church, listened with deep attention to the Gospel truths there uttered by Charles Simeon. He was one of those who in due time became constant attendants at Mr. Simeon's rooms, on those ever-remembered social occasions, when he mustered his young friends around him, inquired into their wants, and gave them the counsel they needed. In the young student of St. John's, Simeon soon discerned the brilliant talents and the apostolic character which we now contemplate with so much interest and veneration. Loving Mar- tyn as a son, he was soon enabled to testify the genuineness of his affection by appointing him curate of Trinity Church.* In October, 1803, Martyn was ordained. And how truly may it be said that no man ever entered upon his ministerial career with a more solemn sense of the responsibilities he had ♦ In succession to Mr. Sowerby, been Mr. Simeon's consolations in another senior WTangler, who had the ministry at this period, enjoying shortly before died of consumption. as he now did, the rare privilege of Mr. Thomason was, at this time, an the devoted affection and invaluable associate of Mr. Simeon in his minis- co-operation of two such friends as terial duties. " What," says the Thomason and Martyn." biographer of the latter, " must have 184 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. undertaken with his ordination vows — a more holy desire to render himself worthy of the honour and the trust that had devolved upon him. It would seem that he had already determined to devote himself to missionary work. The great out- line of an undetailed scheme of action had been grasped with the tenacity of an unalterable resolution. He was called to preach the gospel to the heathen. It was whilst listening to a sermon by Mr. Simeon, in which were set forth in impressive language the immense blessings which had flowed from the endea- vours of a single labourer* in the vineyard, that his thoughts had leaped up to embrace the grand idea of a missionary sacrifice.f In his study it had gathered strength and significance. Pondered over, prayed over, wept over, it had swelled into the one desire of his soul. He read with ecstacy the outpourings of David Brainerd's saint-like spirit, and felt his " heart knit to the dear man," rejoicing in the thought of meeting him in heaven. His imagination traversed the burning sands and confronted the fiery skies of * That single labourer was Dr. petuated hy the biographer of Mr. Carey — clarum et venerabile nomen — • Simeon, who writes: "The deeply- of whom I shall speak presently. cherished desires of his (Martyn's) f Henry Martyn, like Brown and soul were at length gratified by an Buchanan; like Thomason and Corrie, appointment to missionary labour in was a Chaplain on the establishment India." Martyn's own biographer, — and in no accepted sense of the indeed, says: "God, who has ap- word a missionary. It was not his pointed different orders and degrees mission to preach the Gospel to the in his Church, and who assigns to all heathen, but to perform Church ser- the members of it tlieir respective vice in the presence of the Com- stations, was at this time pleased by pany's servants, to marry them, to the Almighty and gracious influence bury them, and to baptize their of his Spirit to call the subject of children. The error, which assigns this memoir to a work demanding to Martyn the character of an ordi- the most painful sacrifices and the nary missionary, has recently been most arduous exertions — that of a in some measure endorsed and per- Christian missionary," mautyn's resolution. 185 the Eastern world. He saw before him mighty vic- tories to be achieved over ignorance and superstition — ^but he saw with equal distinctness the cost at which they must be purchased ; not the perils and privations — these he disregarded — but the severance of ties which, enlacing a heart of no common tender- ness, bound him to his own native England. He had a beloved sister — and there was one still dearer to him than a sister. The sacrifice was great ; but he was prepared to make it — prepared to leave his family, his friends, his betrothed ; and, perhaps, for ever. With feelings most chequered, but honourable in their varying shades alike to the man and the Chris- tian, Henry Martyn turned his back upon Cambridge. A chaplaincy had been procured for him in the ser- vice of the East India Company — from the same source as that which had supplied Buchanan with his credentials, the discriminating benevolence of Mr. Charles Grant. In the summer of 1805, he prepared to embark. Mr. Simeon met him at Portsmouth, and accompanied him to the vessel, remaining some days on board, sustaining his young friend with kind words and wise counsels, preaching to the passengers and sailors, fixing the attention of all and touching the hearts of some. On the 17th of July, the two friends parted for ever. It was a bitter moment when Henry Martyn awoke, next morning, to find himself alone on the great waters. " My feelings," he wrote, " were those of a man who should suddenly be told that every friend he had in the world was 186 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. dead. It was only by prayer for them that I could be comforted." The vessel was detained, for some weeks, off Fal- mouth. New excitements, new trials, new joys, new sorrows, were now unexpectedly opened out before him. The temptation was not to be resisted ; he went on shore. He knew what it would cost him. He knew how great the agony of that fresh divulsion of the closing wounds of his lacerated heart. Who would not have done as he did— snatched a few brief hours of enjoyment even at the cost of such after pangs. He sat beside his betrothed again.* For- * Henry Martyn's biographer has shadowed forth the individuality of this yoang person with an indistinct- ness which we cannot suppose to he accidental. She was a Miss Gren- fell. In the following extract from one of Simeon's letters, in his pub- lished biography, we catch a glimpse of the truth : — " With her mother's leave Miss G. accompanied us to Col. Sandys'; vchen I had much conversation with her on Mr. Martyn's affair. She stated to me all the obstacles to his proposals ; first, her health ; second, the indelicacy of her going out to India alone, on such an errand; third, her former engagement with another person, which had indeed been broken off, and he had actually gone up to London, two years ago, to be married to another woman; but as he was unmarried, it seemed an obstacle in her mind ; fourth, the certainty that her mother would never consent to it. On these points I observed, that I thought that the last was the only one that was in- surmountable; for that first, India often agreed best with persons of a delicate constitution; e. g., Mr. Martyn himself, and Mr. Brown. Second, it is common for ladies to go out thither without any previous connection; how much more there- fore might one go out with a connec- tion already formed. Were this the only difficulty, I engaged, with the help of Mr. Grant and Mr. Parry, that she should go under such pro- tection as should obviate all difii- culties upon this head. Third, the step taken by the other person, had set her at perfect liberty. Fourth, the consent of her mother was indis- pensable ; and as that appeared im- possible, the matter might be com- mitted to God in this way: If her mother, of her own accord, should express regret that the connection had been prevented, from an idea of her being irreconcilably averse to it, and that she would not stand in the way of her daughter's wishes; this should be considered as a direction from God in answer to her prayers ; and I should instantly be apprised of it by her, in order to communicate it to Mr. M. In this she perfecthj agreed. I told her, however, that I would mention nothing of this to Mr. M., because it would only tend to keep him in painful suspense. Thus the matter is entirely set aside, unless God, by a special interposition of his Providence {i.e., by taking away her mother or overruling her mind, contrary to all reasonable ex- pectation, to approve of it), mark his own wiU respecting it." — This was written shortly after Martyn's de- parture. The picture is not an CHARACTER OF HENRY MARTYN. 187 getful of the past, regardless of the future, he gave himself up to the happiness of the present hour. But the dream was soon dissolved. A sudden summons to rejoin his ship called him hack to the dreary reality of actual life. With all speed he hurried to Falmouth, and again, in solitude of heart, sinking beneath the burden of his sorrows, he looked out over the wild waters, and called on God to comfort his soul. The agony he endured was excessive. He seemed as one sinking in deep mire, where there was no standing ; as one who had come into deep waters, where the floods was overflowing him. He wept and groaned till he was weary of his crying ; till his throat was dried, and his eyes failed him. We must know the nature of the man to appreciate his sufifer- ings. A strange, sensitive being — all nerve — was this young Cornish priest. Irritable and impulsive, of varying moods, sometimes sanguine and hilarious, at others despairing and dejected, he was wrenched and torn by gusts of passion which seemed almost to threaten his existence. His health was delicate, and he had over- worked himself. He seemed to be always in an extreme state of tension vibrating to the slightest touch. His soul never rested. Ever alive with emotion, trembling with deep joy or deeper agreeable one. To many it is simply did not love Henry Martyn. Love thatof a prudent, calculating mother, never deals in reasons after this " Old and formal, fitted to her petty ^^^f"""- I^ all probability her heart ^ ' had never wholly given up her old With a' little hoard of maxims j-^ol Perhaps, when she first lis- preaching down a daughter's If^^f, ^"'^"^ addresses, she heart" thought herself stronger than she really was, and subsequently dis- But the truth, I fear, is not to he covered her mistake. Let no man disguised: that daughter's heart re- ever trust to such appearances, quired little preaching down. She 188 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA, sorrow, -with wild hope or profound despair, he should have had the frame of a giant to sustain the shocks of so tempestuous a spirit. But his physical organi- zation was of the most delicate kind ; his body was feeble and diseased. Much, indeed, that was strange and unaccountable in his character may be attributed to this constitutional weakness ; his irritability, at one time so extreme, that the life of a friend was en- dangered by an attack which young Martyn made upon him with a knife — his dreadful fits of despondency, which at times almost seemed to threaten his reason — were but so many indications of the constant presence of disease. But for the saving influence of Chris- tianity, it is probable that the curse of madness would have descended upon him. That influence made him a hero — a martyr. The Christian character has never, in these later days, worn a more heroic aspect. He had the courage to do and to endure all things ; he was the true soldier of the Cross. From the day on which, from the deck of the Union, he gazed, for the last time, with swimming eyes, on the dim outline of St. Michael's Mount and St. Hilary's Spire, to that hour when he sat in the Armenian orchard, and thought with sweet comfort of God, in solitude his company, his friend and his comforter, — his life was one long season of self-sacrifice — of self-sacrifice mighty in the struggle between the strength of his earthly affections and the intensity of his yearnings after the pure spiritual state. The subjugation of the human heart was finally accomplished — but what it cost him who can tell ? CHARACTER OF HENRY MARTYN. 189 The voyage to India was a long and a tedious one : to Martyn it was inexpressibly painful. For weeks and weeks he had not even the consolation of that sense of progress, which has always an exhilarating influence on the mind. At last the fleet began to make some way. Rising from the depths of despon- dency in which he had been sunk, Martyn began to bestir himself. He saw that there was work to be done and he flung himself upon it with a whole- hearted energy to be admired whilst it is deplored. The truth must be told ; Martyn lacked judgment and discretion ; he lacked kindliness, not of heart, but of manner. He wept for the sinners by whom he was surrounded, but he did not weep with them. The earnestness — almost the ferocity, with which he preached against the companions of his voyage, exas- perated rather than alarmed his hearers.* Some assailed him with bitterness — some with ridicule. It was a failure to be utterly deplored. On the western bank of the Hoogly, not far from the settlement of Serampore, where in those days * Simeon, at the outset of his whom it was reported that his style career, had erred in the same manner was " unnecessarily harsh and of- as his disciple. But his more matured fensive," he observed : — " It is not hy judgment had pointed out the danger coarseness of expression, or severity of this intemperance. " I am arrived of manner, that we are to ivin souls, atthe timeof Ufe," hewrote, inl817, but by speaking the truth in love." " when my views of early habits par- And again, a short time afterwards, ticularly in relation to the ministry, lie thus remonstrated with another, are greatly changed. I see many who had the same taste for strong things in a different light from what preaching: "What is your object? I once did ; such as the beauty of Is it to win souls? If it be, how are order, of regularity, and the wisdom you to set about it? by exciting all of seeking to win souls by kindness manner of prejudices, and driving rather than to convert them by people from the church? How did harshness, and what I once called our Lord act? He spake the words fidelity. I admire more the idea in parables, ' as men were able to hear which I once had of our blessed it' How did St. Paul act? He fed Lord's spirit and ministry." And the babes with milk, and not with again, writing to a clergyman of strong meat," 190 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. toiled with unintermitting energy, regardless alike of the frowns of Government and the apathy of the people, those eminent servants of God, Carey, Marsh- man, and Ward, stood a garden-house, in which there dwelt the venerable minister, David Brown. At no great distance from this house, a deserted idol-temple, on the banks of the river, stands out shadowy and grand against the setting sun. It had once been the temple of Radha-Bullub — an eminent shrine in its day, not wholly unconnected with pseudo-miraculous associations ; but the encroachments of the Hoogly had driven the idol to seek a residence further inland, and the once sacred abode had been given up to the profaning hands of the stranger. David Brown bought it, as a mass of brick and plaster ; and turned it into a bungalow. Being a hospitable man, in the true spirit of Christian hospitality, the number of his guests often outgrew the dimensions of the Aldeen house ; and the idol-temple soon grew into a supplementary place of reception. Here Henry Martyn was presently located as the honoured guest of David Brown ; and here, before many weeks had passed, he was joined by Daniel Corrie. Martyn's first public discourse, delivered at the New Church of Calcutta, produced no little sensation. It was one of those bold, uncompromising sermons, which had so exasperated his auditors on board the Union. Here he not only gave offence to his congregation, but drew down upon himself the enmity of some of his brother-chaplains. His doctrines did not consort DISSENSIONS IN THE PULPIT, \Ql with their notions, so they preached at alid against him. They pronounced his discourse a rhapsody — a mystery; said that he would drive men to despair, destroy their hopes of salvation, and speedily empty the church. All this was gall and wormwood to poor Martyn ; hut there was boundless comfort in the conviction that God was on his side. Right or wrong, Martyn was always sure of this. What he did was done at immense sacrifice of self. He may have had subsequent misgivings ; but he ever acted, in all sincerity, according to the light that was in him at the time. These unseemly pulpit contentions were not new to the settlement,* Brown and Buchanan had been preached at in the same manner. It appears that they had offended by offering " strong meat " to their congregations. The former, we may be assured, did it very sparingly ; and not before he had long fed his people with " milk." And it was not very difficult to persuade Henry Martyn that there might be wisdom in inoderating his fiery zeal. Corrie, * Lord Valentia, alluding to a time be more requisite. From the want prior to the arrival of Martyn, oh- of this it is painful to observe, that served; — " It will hardly be believed the characters of too many of that that in this splendid city, the head of order are by no means creditable to a mighty Christian empire, there is the doctrines they profess, which, to- only one church of the establishment gether with the unedifying contests of the mother-country, and that by that prevail among them, even from no means conspicuous, either for size the pulpit, tend to lower the religion, or ornament. It is also remarkable, and its followers, in the eyes of the that all British India does not afford natives of every description. If there one episcopal see, while that ad- be any plan for conciliating the vantage has been granted to the minds of the natives to Christianity, province of Canada; yet it is certain it is so manifestly essential that it that from the remoteness of the should appear to them in a respect- country, and the peculiar tempta- able form at the seat of Government, tions to which the freedom of manners that I presume all parties will allow, exposes the clergy, immediate epis- that the first step should he to place copal superintendence can nowhere it there upon a proper footing." 192 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. on his arrival, found that a " great opposition was raised against Martyn, and the principles he preached,"* but adds soon afterwards, " Martyn preached from E.om. iii. 21 — 23, the most impres- sive and best composition I ever heard. The dis- position of love and good-will which appeared in him must have had great effect : and the calmness and firmness with which he spoke raised in me great wonder. May God grant a blessing to the word. Oh, may it silence opposition, and promote religion, for Jesus Christ's sake, amen !" And now that we find them together — those two friends, Martyn and Corrie — located beneath the same roof, comforting and sustaining each other, each at the outset of his apostolic career, sprung from the same seat of learning, the sons of the same " father in the Gospel," the same bright rays of glorious promise descending on either head ; so similar and yet so dissimilar, so firmly knit together in common bonds, and yet in human character so inharmonious : let us pause to think- of the latter of the twain, of the fainter, but of the steadier light. Daniel Corrie was not a man of great genius or gigantic enthusiasm. His mind was in nowise cast in the heroic mould ; but for ordinary purposes of life it was sufficiently strong and serviceable. He was the model of an useful colonial chaplain, rising at last to the highest ecclesiastical rank, and whether in a humble or an elevated condition of life, blameless in all relations and admirable in some. He was the * " Lord, grant me wisdom,'' ex- with disoretion, and in nothing give claimed Corrie, " that I may act unnecessary offence." DANIEL CORRIE. 193 son of a Scotchman who had become a Lincolnshire clergyman. Cast early upon his own resources, and subsequently redeemed from a profitless London life, and sent to Cambridge, he had done his best to repair the defects of a neglected education, and had passed out of college with credit to himself, but with no distinguished success. Attracted by the preaching of Mr. Simeon, he had become a constant attendant at Trinity Church, and was one of the little band of disciples which gathered around the teacher in his rooms. With Martyn he had formed an intimacy, which had ripened into affection on either side, and with another predestined fellow-labourer, not the least loveable of the group, the excellent Thomas Thoma- son, he had united himself in brotherly bonds, which were only broken by death. Some two or three years spent in a country curacy had strengthened his convictions and endeared to him his office ; and when Simeon pressed upon him the acceptance of an appointment to ministerial labour in India, it was with the assurance that he was in every way fitted to bear the burden and to perform the work. Daniel Corrie was the man of all others to glide easily through a voyage to India. He gave offence to no one, and endeared himself to many by the kind- liness of his heart and the gentleness of his manners. There was nothing more remarkable, nothing more loveable in his character, than his affectionate concern for the welfare of young people. He took a deep interest in all that related to the cadets on board the Asia; and his friendly condescension was not without o 194 CHEISTIANITY IN INDIA. its results. All respected him; many loved him; some were converted by him. And as at the com- mencement so to the very close of his career, he was emphatically the friend of the young. Many and many an eye, as it is fixed on this page, will glisten in grate- ful recognition of the truth which I have just uttered. A few weeks spent together in the enjoyment of the Christian hospitality of Mr. Brown ; and Martyn and Corrie parted. The former had been appointed to the Dinapore station, and in the middle of October he set out on his voyage up the river, accompanied some little way by Corrie, by Brown, and another chaplain, Mr. Parson. " Mr. Marshman seeing them pass the mission-house (at Serampore) could not resist joining the party, and after going a little way left them with prayer." Martyn was soon fairly launched on his solitary journey. How easy is it for all who have read the memoir written by Mr. Sar- geant, — and who has not read it ?* — to accompany him as he goes. We see him, we sympathise with him, now immersed in deep study, translating the Scrip- tures in his boat ; now sauntering along the shore with gun in hand, the student bent on active exercise ; now listening to the wild discordant music which mai'ked the approach of some heathen procession ; now deploring the idolatries which he was forced to witness ; now mixing with the deluded people, con- * My pen was arrested before I plied to soldiers' libraries in India, had finished writing this question by asked, indignantly, what the authori- the recollection of the ludicrous fact ties could be thinking of, when they that, some fifteen years ago, an proposed to supply the soldiery with English journal, commenting on a the life of Henry Martyn the regi- list of certain books which had been cide 9 ordered by Government to be sup- MARTYN ON HIS JOURNEY. 195 versing with them as hest he could, distributing his tracts among them, often with exquisite griffinism unwittingly offending their prejudices, hut always regarding them with the deepest feelings of com- miseration and love. Yes ; and easy is it to penetrate into the deeper recesses of that warm human heart — to take discursive flights with the imaginings ' of that ever active human brain. What memories, what hopes, what aspirations ! Now his thoughts travel back to his college rooms ; he is face to face with the revered Simeon, or the beloved Thomason — ^he is taking sweet counsel with one in whom he sees, as in a glass, himself reflected — one as delicate, as sensi- tive, as earnest as himself, with his genius and his holiness blended together — the early-called Kirke White. Now he is at home again in his father's house, sitting beside his dear sisters — hoping all things, yet trembling much, for sad events already are casting their mournful shadows before ; — now, still as his eye ranges over the wild scenery of his native Cornwall another female figure passes before him, and his heart leaps up to embrace it ; he is in an ecstacy of wild hope, and then in the very slough ' of abject despair.* He spreads his books out on the little table of his narrow cabin ; the lamp is set before him ; the unfamiliar characters of strange languages are before his eyes ; strange sounds are in his ears, the bowlings of the jackalls, the scarcely more melo- dious music of the boatmen, the clanging gongs on * " Thought at night more than exaggerated these ideal joys, the usual of dear L— — ; but the more I more I treasure up subjects of woe." 2 198 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. the river side — but the sights and sounds loved long ago still distract him. He cannot quiet that throb- bing heart. At Berhampore his Christian courage and his Christian patience were severely tried. The rebuffs of the natives on whom he obtruded himself pained him little, but his sensitive nature shrank from the insult- ing ridicule of his European fellow-countrymen. He knew what it was to force his way among hard-hearted English soldiers ; but what he had done on board the Union, he was prepared to do at Berhampore. He went to the European hospital ; but the inmates would not listen to him. " Rose very early," he records in his journal, "and was at the hospital at dajdight. Waited there a long time, wandering up and down the wards, in hopes of inducing the men to get up and assemble ; but it was in vain. I left three books with them, and went away amidst the sneers and titters of the common soldiers. Certainly it is one of the greatest crosses I am called to bear to take pains to make people hear me. It is such a struggle between a sense of propriety and modesty on the one hand, and a sense of duty on the other, that I find nothing equal to it. I could force my way anywhere in order to introduce a brother minister; but for myself I act with hesitation and pain." The failure here described is as characteristic as the tone in which it is recorded. The passage may ad- vantageously be compared with one in another jour- nal. Two months afterwards, Corrie, on his way to the Upper Provinces, visited that same hospital. " In MAllTYN AT DINAPORE. 197 the afternoon," he writes, " we visited the hospital. I drew near the bed of a man apparently in the last stage of disease, who received the word with tears and requested me to pray with him. Having made this known, P. (Parson) invited the others to draw near ; a large party collected from all parts of the hospital. I expounded the third chapter of St. John's Gospel, and prayed. Much attention in the poor men" Corrie could find hearers, where Martyn could find none. With a lower order of intellect, and less he- roic zeal, he abounded in what Martyn most wanted, the tact to conciliate and the cordiality to attract. He was, in the more honourable Christian acceptation of the phrase, "all things to all men" — from the Governor- General to the youngest cadet. Henry Martyn, in his ministrations, was always the same Henry Martyn. The inward zeal rode rough-shod over the outer manner. He failed so often, because to his spiritual earnestness he did not impart an exterior grace. Arrived at Dinapore, and surrounded by an un- congenial society, Martyn found his chief solace in the letters of his Calcutta friends and the translation work in which he was engaged. The duties of the chaplaincy were not very onerous. There was no church ; but he " read prayers to the soldiers at the barracks from the drum-head, and as there were no seats provided, was desired to omit the sermon." A building better adapted to the purpose being subse- quently found, he managed to collect on the sabbath a number of Christian families, but they did not like 198 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. his extempore preaching, and intimated to him that it would please them better if he would read them a written sermon. This excited the natural irrita- bility of the man ; but his anger soon passed away, and he saw clearly the wisdom of conciliation. " He would give them," he said, " a folio sermon-book, if they would receive the Word of God upon that account." The year 1807 opened and closed upon Martyn at Dinapore. He saw little society ; there was, indeed, but one Christian family with which he was on terms of intimate friendship ; but in his solitary bungalow how busy he was, how active, and, in thought, how social. He could people his room at will with be- loved forms, and fence himself around with loving faces. " I am happier here in this remote land," he wrote, " where I hear so seldom of what happens in the world, than in England, where there are so many calls to look at ' the things that are seen.' How sweet the retirement in which I here live ! " Shadows there were, doubtless ; but perhaps at no period of Martyn's career was there more of sunshine to irra- diate his path. Now discussing points of faith with his Moonshee and Pundit ; now dreaming of his be- loved; now in deep humiliation contrasting himself with David Brainerd ; now cheering himself with the thought that as a translator, at least, his labours were not profitless ; now endeavouring to obtain redress for the injured; now submitting to injury himself; now rejoicing in the affection of his friends ; now weeping over cruel disappointments — ^he passed from MARTYN AT CAWNPOHE.. 199 one state of feeling to another; but ever in weal or woe there was a sustaining power, a cheering influence in the thought of work done or doing — of something already accomplished, of something more to be accom- plished, by human brain and human hand active in the cause of their Maker. And it was at this period that he succeeded in obtaining the greatest mastery over himself. Never had he been so resigned — never so hopeful^-never so assured that God is love — ^never so eager to see Him face to face. Tried in the furnace of human afflic- tion, he had come forth purer and brighter, longing for that great and glorious hour when God will wipe away all tears from the eyes of his beloved children. The victory was not complete. We dare not say it was. How could it be, with that warm human heart still beating against his side ? From Dinapore, early in 1809, Martyn was removed to Cawnpore. Here was much to vex his spirit and to assail his health. The arid, dust-charged atmo- sphere of that sultry place pressed upon him with a weight which sunk him to the earth. He had seen a Christian church rise up before him at Dinapore. He was now at a station where was no Christian church. He performed service, in the open air, to the European troops, and sometimes saw them dropping around him under the influence of the intense heat. Among the natives he was at this time unusually active. His heart was always with them. In spirit, at least, he was their minister ; not a mere military chaplain. We see him preaching to 200 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. crowds of mendicants whom he assembled around his house. They came to receive alms, and he distributed to them. Then they listened to what he said — those naked, squalid heathens — the halt, the maimed, and the blind — they flocked around him and listened. Or they pretended to listen — for what could they do less? And Martyn spoke to them, as one who could not help speaking ; as one who felt it would be a sin to be silent. From the full heart gushed forth a torrent of words — not always perhaps with the strictest philological propriety — and, in sooth, only by rare snatches intelligible to his congregation. But the numbers increased, and so did the plaudits : and far be it from me to say that no seed fell upon good ground. In the meanwhile Corrie, who had been appointed chaplain at Chunar, was steadily pvursuing his course, contented with small successes. There was much to discourage and dishearten ; but for this he was pre- pared. The invalids were, at best, but a careless, godless, set of men ; and they were slow to welcome the Padre. The ofiicers of the station had not much more piety than the men ; and Benares, to which Corrie occasionally went, had about as much Christi- anity as Chunar. At the latter station there was public worship in the Fort, but the greater number of the invalids remained away ; and the officers made all manner of excuses. To preach openly to the heathen he hesitated. He had the fear of the supreme Govern- ment, of the Court of Directors, and above all of the Edinburgh Reviewers before his eyes. " I suppose," FEAR OF THE EDINBURGH REVIEWERS. 201 he wrote, " we should be taken to task were we to preach in the streets and highways ; but other methods, not less effectual, are to be used and less likely to produce popular clamoui*. Natives themselves may and can be employed with the greatest advantage in evangelizing their brethren, whilst the minister super- intends and directs and encourages." And again, hearing that a letter to his friend Mr. Buckworth had been published in England, he writes, "• I heard some time since, by a friend, that a letter from one of the Bengal chaplains who came out in 1806 had been published, and in the then state of the Court of Directors towards the evangelization of this country might be of great detriment ; Mary (his sister) brought me word who the offending chaplain is, and who the friend is that has published his letters. I confess that for a time I found myself wounded in the house of friendship. In the eyes of the world, pride told me that my character would suffer ; and I still expect to see myself caricatured by the Edinburgh Reviewers, or by some such enemies to all serious acknowledg- ment of God." Sydney Smith's well-known article had recently been published. It seems to have alarmed Corrie more than it pained him.* Corrie was then on a visit to Calcutta ; his sister having arrived from England. His sojourn at the presidency was but brief : and we soon find him again among his people at Chunar. His residence was on * I must distinctly be understood natives of the country. It was not not to reproach any chaplain on the the business of the Company's chap- establishment for abstaining from lains to give themselves up to such preaching, at such a time, to the work. 202 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. the banks of the river ; and his hospitality was con- stantly extended to passing travellers, proceeding by water to the Upper Provinces — especially to young officers, recently arrived from England, whom he was always eager to advise and to assist. " Our dwelling," he wrote " is on the banks of the Ganges. The common mode of travelling is by water, in commodious boats, dragged when the wind is adverse, like barges. At this distance from home, hospitality to strangers seems to me a peculiar though painful duty, as it breaks in too much upon my leisure. There is no such thing as an inn, and very many of the passers-by are young officers, whose situation is in general far from being comfortable. To these I would be especially kind, as being also less noticed by many who judge of the attentions due to them by the wealth and rank they possess. Those youths who are now here join readily in our family worship, and delight me when I hear them repeating the Lord's Prayer after me with seriousness. Dear lads, my heart yearns over them, exposed as they are, to every kind of temptation, without a rudder or a pilot." A passage in every way most characteristic of this amiable and excellent man. Though the fruits of his ministerial labours were not very palpable at first, in due time they began to develope themselves, both at Chunar and Benares.* * Of Corrie's first attempt to esta- me with most chilling coolness. He blish liimself at Benares, we find this told me that he had nothing to do account in his journal: "I came with divine service or the Artillery down on Triday evening, with the men; and that he should not inter- view to perform divine service on fere ; he had heard nothing of divine Sunday. On Saturday morning I service except from my application waited on the General, who received Mr. , who had been forward for SLOW PROGRESS. 203 Still there was much to discourage his' eiforts — much painful opposition to encounter. " We have for some time," he wrote, " been engaged about a Church at Benares ; a subscription of about 3,000 rupees has been made, and a spot of ground is fixed on. I trust now all opposition is silenced, though not entirely done away. The hearts of some haters of all good have been brought to give money even. One family is highly respectable and regular in religious duties. One young officer has become a new creature. Of the rest, few, alas ! seem willing to go any further." Still counting by units ! — But other good work was done. He had opened several schools ; and was diligently engaged in studying the native languages with the view of translating the Scriptures. And he had a congregation of native women, principally soldiers' wives, to whom he read and discoursed. But he was soon removed to another field of labour. Government appointed him, in 1810, to the ministerial charge of the Agra station. On his way to join his new appointment he halted at Cawnpore. There he took up his abode beneath the roof of his beloved Martyn. Twice had he seen him at Dinapore, and then had cause to tremble for my coming down, on hearing of my did not come to church) saying, I arrival, flew quite off, and said they was ' at liberty to come and go as could do quite as well now, as before, I pleased, but the Artillery-men without divine service; he, however, and officers could not be permitted to came yesterday in the morning. A attend so far from the lines, for fear congregation of at least sixty as- of the natives seizing the guns whilst sembled; and after service Mr. A. they were at a distance. If the thanked me, and said he hoped they Court House were used to assemble should give me encouragement to in, or a place of worship erected near come oftener amongst them. After - the lines, he should have no objection ; wards the Brigade-Major came with but all this was to be kept a secret' " a message from the General (who 204 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. the safety of his friend. But even with this prepara- tion, the altered aspect of poor Martyn greatly startled and alarmed him. " When I arrived here," he wrote to Mr. Brown, " Martyn was looking very ill, and a very little exertion laid him up. Since then, you will know that I have heen ordered to remain here for a time to assist him ; and he is already greatly recovered." Three weeks later he wrote, " On my first arrival, Martyn recruited greatly for a fortnight, but is now, to say the best, at a stand . . . The state of his health seems to be this : he is easily fatigued and then gets but broken rest, with confused and distressing dreams. A very little exertion in speaking produces pain in the chest, with almost total loss of voice, and all these symptoms are produced by the evening of every day."* * In another letter (to his English friend, Mr. Buckworth) Corrie gives the following refreshing account of their way of life at Cawnpore. It need scarcely be said that the initial S. represents the name of Sherwood : " The account of one day will give you a general idea of our whole manner of life. We usually rise at daybreak and ride out. Martyn and I breakfast between six and seven o'clock : then read the Scriptures with a Polyglot before us, and pray. Martyn then goes to his study. I go to see Mary (Miss Corrie); and she and Mrs. S. are learning Hindustani, in order to be able to speak on reli- gion to their female servants ; and, if circumstances favour, to get a school of female native children. 1 am their teacher. Mrs. S. has a school of European children belonging to the regiment. I return to reading, usually Hindustani or Persian. At eleven, my Christian children come to me to say the lesson they have been learn- ing with the native schoolmaster. In the middle of the day we have a re- past, and then resume reading till four, when the Christian children come again to read in the Hindu- stani Gospels. In the evening we meet, usually at Captain S.'s or Martyn's, when we sing some hymns, with reading and prayer before we separate. This is the peaceful tenor of our way. At the intervals, two days in the week, I visit and pray with the sick in the hospitals. On the sabbath, public worship ; in the morning at the drum-head of one of the three European corps lying here, in rotation. In the evening of Sun- day and Wednesday we have social worship with a goodly number of pious soldiers in a public building fitting up, but not yet ready to open as a church: besides the (services) once a fortnight, there is public worship in the General's house. Ex- cept the soldiers, all our other English rank as gentlemen. We have here only these two classes, except a very few persons in trade," martyn's return. 205 Most unwilling was Martyn to leave his post, and difficult, indeed, was it to persuade him even tempo- rarily to lay aside his work. He thought that a hrief river-trip would suffice to restore him, and when he felt, under the influence of excitement, a little temporary accession of strength, he said that even that was unnecessary. But the truth was not much longer to be disguised. He was absolutely dying at his work. The aifectionate solicitude of his friends prevailed aver his own reluctance ; and he at last consented to obtain leave to proceed to Calcutta and to try the restorative eficcts of a sea-voyage. On the 1st of October, he commenced his journey down the river. It was some consolation to him to leave his flock under the care of one whom he so dearly loved, and in whom he reposed so much confidence. He had smoothed the way for his friend. A church had sprung up during his ministry. He had remained long enough to see it opened ; and when he turned his back upon Cawnpore he felt that he had not sojourned there in vain. For Martyn's aifectionate heart there was other comfort in store. He was about again to partake of the hospitality of his venerable friend, Mr. David Brown. He was about to meet for the first time in this land of exile a cherished friend and associate of former days — one whom he had loved and honoured at Cambridge, a fellow-disciple in the great Simeonite school : a fellow-labourer in the ministry at the outset of his career. Let me break ofi' for a while to speak of this last accession to the saintly band. There are 206 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. few of my readers who have not already syllabled in thought the name of Thomas Thomason. Left in infancy, by the death of his father, to the care of his surviving parent, a woman of sound understanding and matured piety, he had imbibed whilst yet a boy those lessons of wisdom, which, how- ever slowly they may seem to fructify, or however destructively they may be choked up for a time by the weeds of worldly engrossment, are never instilled wholly in vain. In the case of Thomas Thomason the good fruit was seen early upon the boughs. When only twelve years old he had in his conversation and in his manner of life evinced signs of a settled piety almost unprecedented at so immature an age. Like Buchanan he had been engaged in teaching others, whilst himself yet a boy ; but the offer of a situation as French interpreter to a Wesleyan establishment then proceeding to the West Indian islands, had carried him for a time from his native country ; and it is probable that he might long have remained in a Western settlement and subsequently attached him- self for ever to the Wesleyan ministry, but for the advice of a lady, bearing the honoured name of Thornton, who had directed his thoughts towards the Episcopal Church, and pointed out the especial advantages of the EUand institution to one who, like young Thomason, had not the means of obtaining, out of his independent resources, the benefits of an University education. To this institution, therefore, he had endeavoured to gain, and had succeeded in gaining, admission ; and, after some time spent under THOMASON. 207 its tutelage in the house of the venerable Mr. Clark, of Chesham, he had been sent up by the society to Magdalene College, Cambridge, and had distinguished himself by the successful exercise of talents of a high order.* Whilst yet an undergraduate, a chaplaincy had been offered to him by Mr. Charles Grant, but reasons of a domestic nature had induced him to decline the tempting invitation, and the appointment had been given to Claudius Buchanan in his stead.f After taking his degree, Mr. Thomason had accepted a tutorship in a private family ; and from this, having received ordination, had been raised to the more honourable office of assistant to Mr. Simeon. The curacies of Trinity Church and of Stapleford had both been intrusted to him ; for, of all Simeon's disciples, I must pause to observe, Thomas Thomason was the one whom the master most loved. He had such a loveable spirit, he was so gentle, so humble, so little selfish, so little envious, it would have been difficult not to love him. Simeon, indeed, always "clove" to him. It was to Thomason, that in after days he delighted to write — to record all that he felt, to narrate all that he did. Thomason was his own familiar friend — his brother, not simply by Gospel bonds, but by the ties also of human affection. He felt the tenderest concern for all that related to him. He became a son to Thomason's mother — a father to Thomason's child. Of others it may be said, * He was fifth wrangler of his f Thomason's biographer says, that year — and had he commenced earlier the offer made to him was that of an the race for university honours, he appointment " to fill the Mission would have gained a more forward Church of Calcutta" — but the con- place, text shows this to be a mistake. 208 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA, that Simeon loved the Christian — of Thomason, it is emphatically to be remarked, that he loved the man. In the companionship of a loving wife and of his dear friend and master ; and in the continued per- formance of his ministerial duties, the stream of Thomason's life flowed placidly on until the spring of 1805, when the great idea of Gospel-labour among the Heathen rose up and took possession of his mind — " This year he resolved under God, with the Bible in his hand, and his Saviour in his heart, to go where the darkness was dense and the sphere extensive for the diiFusion of light." But there had then been no vacancy. Mr. Grant's patronage for the time was exhausted ; and it was not until the spring of 1 808, that an Indian chaplaincy had been placed by that Christian gentleman at Mr. Thomason's disposal. He sailed soon afterwards for Calcutta, and was shipwrecked before reaching it ; but most miraculously delivered, and suffered to come face to face with his beloved friend and associate, Henry Martyn. There was deep joy in the meeting ; but with it how much of human sorrow mingled! He saw in poor Martyn but the wreck of his former self — he saw one whom sickness, and sorrow, and much toil in an exhausting climate — the strong spirit ever battling against the weakly frame — the carnal wretchedness of the man at strife with the heavenly ecstacy of the immortal — had brought down to the very borders of the grave. " This bright and lovely jewel," wrote Thomason to Simeon, " first gratified our eyes on martyn's departure. 209 Saturday last. He is on his way to Arabia, in pursuit of health and knowledge. You know his genius, and what gigantic strides he takes in everything. He has some great plan in his mind, of which I am no com- petent judge. But as far as I do understand, the object is far too grand for our short life, and much beyond his feeble and exhausted frame. Feeble in- deed it is ! how fallen and changed ! his complaint lies in the lungs, and appears to be incipient consump- tion. But let us hope the sea air will revive him, and that change of place and pursuit may do him essential service, and continue his life many years. In all other respects he is exactly the same as he was ; he shines in all the dignity of love, and seems to carry about him such a heavenly majesty as impresses the mind beyond all description. But if he talks much, though in a low voice, he sinks, and you are re- minded of his being dust and ashes. It would have filled your eyes with tears to have seen dear (Mrs. Thomason) when she saw him; you know her smile and hearty countenance, and eyes darting good- nature, but you never saw them so called forth. We were all filled with joy unspeakable, and blessed God for the rich opportunity of loving intercourse. I immediately put into his hand your long and affec- tionate letter, in order that you might be of the party. Martyn read it in the comer of the sofa, sat by him, and I sat looking on : so the letter was read and the tears flowed." And Martyn left them, never to return. On the 7th of January he embarked on board a vessel bound for p 210 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. Bombay. I do not think that his biographer records, but it is still worthy of notice, that the companion of his voyage to Bombay was Mountstuart Elphinstone. Arrived at the Presidency, he was introduced by his fellow-traveller to Sir John Malcolm and Sir James Mackintosh*. From Malcolm he must have learnt much concerning the new lands in which he was about to travel. In his philological pursuits, he was encouraged by his new friends ; but his missionary enterprises were not countenanced by them. Malcolm especially cautioned him against endeavouring to convert the people, and entering into controversies with the Moollahs ; and he thought that he had suc- ceeded. " Mr. Martyn," wrote Malcolm to Sir Gore Ousely, to whom he had recommended the wandering chaplain, " assured me, and begged I would mention it to you, that he has no thought of preaching to the Per- sians, or of entering into any theological controversies, but means to confine himself to two objects ; a research after old Gospels, and the endeavour to qualify him- self for giving a correct version of the Scriptures into Arabic and Persian, on the plan proposed by the Bible Society. I have not hesitated to tell him that I thought you would require that he should act with * Mackintosh called him "the saint Martyn made a stronger impression from Calcutta," and said of him : on Malcolm's mind than his cheer- "His meekness is excessive, and fulness. "I am satisfied," he said, gives a disagreeahle impression of " that if you ever see him, you will efforts to conceal the passions of he pleased with him. He will give humanity." (See " Life of Mackin- you grace hefore and after dinner, tosh," by his son.) Perhaps the and admonish such as take the Lord's author would have written more name in vain ; but his good sense correctly, if he had said to " sup- and great learning will delight you, press," not to "conceal" the passions whilst his constant cheerfulness will of humanity. It is worthy of re- add to the hilarity of the party."— mark, too, that nothing about Henry Life of Sir John Malcolm. HENRY MARTYN AND TttE MOOLLAHS. Sll great caution, and not allow his zeal to run away with him. He declares he will not, and he is a man of that character that I must believe." But although in all sincerity, Henry Martyn may have promised this at Bombay, it was another thing to abstain from con- troversy at Shiraz and Ispahan. He could not be silent ; he could not be inactive ; he could not refrain from doing his Master's work. So Malcolm's exhorta- tions were forgotten ; and, surrounded by the disciples of the great false Prophet of Medina, the Company's chaplain soon again expanded into the missionary of Christ. My subject is Christianity in India, and I cannot, therefore, now narrate the history of his travels and his trials — what he did and what he sufltered in other lands. There is nothing grander in the annals of Christianity, than the picture of Henry Martyn, with the Bible in hand, alone and unsupported, in a strange country, challenging the whole strength of Mahomedanism to a conflict of disputation. He seems at this time to have possessed something more than his own human power ; so cool, so courageous ; so bold to declare, so subtle to investigate ; astonishing the Mahomedan doctors with his wisdom, — gaining the confidence of all by the gentleness of his manners and the blamelessness of his life. There is a cheer- fulness of spirit predominant in the Shiraz journal — almost, indeed, are there touches of humour in it — ■ which would lead us to think that at this period of his life he was more happy and self-possessed than he had been for many years. His victory over the P 2 212 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. MooUahs was complete ; and it pleased him to think of it. In the translation of the Bible into the Persian tongue he had achieved a great work, which was a solace to him to the very hour of his death. He quitted Shiraz and new trials awaited him. Inclement weather — extremes of heat and cold alternating — • weary travelling along rugged roads on ill-trained horses — little rest and had food — every possible kind of exposure and privation, soon fevered the blood and exhausted the strength of one so sensitive as Martyn. From Shiraz to Ispahan — from Ispahan to Teheran — 'from Teheran to Tocat, he struggled onwards, hoping to reach his home ; and he did reach his home — hut it was in Heaven. He died on the l6th of October 1812 ; but he is truly one to be held in perpetual remembrance. Of all the men who had gone before him on the same great Christian enterprise, Xavier alone can be com- pared with him in intensity of zeal and heroism of character. In both was there the same burning love of their fellow-men, the same eager spirit of adven- ture, the same vast power of self-annihilation, the same ecstatic communing with the unseen world. Had Henry Martyn lived three centuries before the time of his ministrations, he might have seen visions, such as appeared to Francis Xavier, and believed, with the same strong impulse of faith, that he had been commissioned to work miracles among men. It may be a scandal in the eyes of some Christian readers to name the two enthusiasts in the same sentence ; for Henry Martyn is the very pink and MARTYN AND XAVIER. 213 essence of the chivalry of Evangelical Protestantism ; and it may seem a shame to liken him to a Jesuit. But Xavier was born in days when Protestantism was not ; and of Jesuits he was the least Jesuitical. He was, indeed, the very antithesis of a sham : and it is in the reality of the two men that their likeness is most apparent. Henry Martyri disputing with the Maho- medan doctors at Shiraz, and Francis Xavier con- tending with the Bonzes of Japan, each alone and unsupported in a strange country, present images of genuine zeal and devotion, the grandeur of which may be admired, without a compromise, by Protestant and Romanist alike. Both died with the harness on their backs, far from home and all friendly succour, broken down by much fatigue and much suffering, by painful alternations of heat and cold, by the hardships and dangers of journeyings "in strange lands, and among inhospitable people. And whether we look upon the picture of the gaunt Jesuit, stretched beneath a wretched shed on the barren coast of Sancian, breathing out his soul with the uplifted crucifix before his eyes in accents of hope and adoration, as one longing to be blest ; or watch over Martyn's dying bed, as plague-struck he lay at Tocat, with his Bible by his side, and saw close at hand the answer to that great question which a few days before he had put to himself with a thrill of eager exultation, " When shall appear that new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, wherein in nowise shall enter anything that defileth ? " — we still see the grandest of human spectacles, the triumph of the spirit over 214 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. the flesh — one who had crucified self throughout life, throwing himself with ecstacy into the arms of his Maker, I have, perhaps, dwelt more minutely on the lives of these Bengal chaplains than is altogether con- sistent with the scope of such a work as this. They were not, as I have said, missionaries ; and it may be doubted whether they were the direct means of con- verting any large number of heathens to Christianity. But still, it is difiicult to say how greatly they con- tributed to the progress of Christianity in India. It was impossible for us to christianise our neighbours until we had in some measure christianised ourselves. The ungodly lives of our people and the practical non- recognition, if not the abnegation, of our national faith, had been, for two centuries, vast obstructions to the successful career "of the Gospel. If, then, such Christian heroes as Brown, Buchanan, Martyn, Corrie, and Thomason had, by their bright example and by their appointed ministrations in regular official course, merely contributed to the amendment of their own countrymen's lives and to the better observance of the outward decencies of religion, they would have done a great thing. But they did much more than this. They awakened in the breasts of many that missionary spirit which now for half-a- century, unquenched and unquenchable, has wrought so mightily for the deliverance of the Gentiles ; they •taught their countrymen to believe that the propaga,- tion of Gospel truth in a heathen land was not a work, becoming only dissenters and '* methodistSj" but DUTY OF CHAPLAINS. 215 one in which churchmen and official functionaries of all kinds might engage without loss of caste, and that there was not an ensign in the service, who might not do something, if only by an exemplary way of life, to plant the cross in heathen soil ; and it is hard to say how much that has since been done in the way of direct missionary labour has resulted from the Christian efforts of these missionary chaplains. But what they did themselves towards the diffusion of Gospel light was not contemptible. If it were only for what was done by them to transfuse the great truths of Christianity into the languages of the East, they would deserve honourable mention in the evan- gelical annals of the country. They were earnest in translation-work from the very commencement of their career ; and the achievements of one, at least, of their band were crowned with remarkable success. The best linguists in the country acknowledged the ripe oriental scholarship of Henry Martyn ; and I cannot help thinking it a source of regret that the chaplains of the present day are so little eager to devote them- selves to the acquisition of the " country languages." It is not expedient that they should collect crowds in front of their bungalows and preach to wandering natives in broken Hindostanee. There are mis- sonaries now to do that work, as there were not in Henry Martyn's time ; and the chaplains of the establishment are called to the performance of other duties. But there are more ways in which the know- ledge of the languages may enable the Christian minister to serve his Master ; and, therefore, the 216 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. example in this, as in other respects, of such men as those of whom I have here spoken, may profitably be held in remembrance. But there were others in those early years of the nineteenth centurv, not with the mark of the esta- blishment upon them, who were labouring still more diligently in the great cause, and are still more worthy of distinguished mention in such a volume as this. They were not chaplains — they were not ordained ministers of any kind — they were simply, in the language of ecclesiastical wits, " inspired cobblers." But they wrought mightily for all that ; and the lawn sleeves of the bishop could not have made them more potential agents of Christianity in India. Others who have since trodden the same paths, both chaplains and cobblers, might deserve equal notice for the thing done and the result ob- tained; but taking account of obstacles encountered and difficulties overcome, history delights to exalt the pioneer above all who follow after him : — " 'Tis on the advance of individual minds That the slow crowd mast ground their expectation Eventually to follow — as the sea Waits ages in its bed, tiE some one wave Of all the multitudinous mass extends The empire of the whole, some feet, perhaps. Over the strip of sand which could confine Its fellows so long time : thenceforth the rest, E'en to the meanest, hurry in at once. And so much is clear gained." THE SERAMPORE MISSION. 217 CHAPTEE VII. The Serampore Mission — First missionary efforts of the Baptists — ^William Carey — The Mission to Bengal — Marsbman and Ward — Establishment at Serampore — Hostility of the Government — Eventual Success. It was in the year 1793, when John Shore was pre- paring to enter upon the Governor- Generalship of India ; and Charles Grant was striving to obtain a seat in the direction of the East India Company ; and David Brown was ministering peacefully in Calcutta on a salary of l,OOOZ. a year — when Claudius Buchanan was still attending Charles Simeon's Sunday parties, and Martyn and Corrie were yet at school — that a member of the Baptist persuasion, sick at heart and weary of limb, might have been seen wandering about the streets of London, and entering, often vainly and disappointedly, house after house, in quest of contri- butions towards the support of a great, but a doubtful, enterprise. What he sought was pecuniary aid to enable him to launch a Baptist mission to the heathens on the banks of the Ganges. What he wanted was but a small sum — an amount that in these days would be the merest trifle in the accounts of any one of our great religious societies ; but, foot-sore and heart-sore, this holy man passed from house to house, 218 CHBISTIANITY IN INDIA, seeking help from brethren of his own persuasion or from religious friends of other sects, and, in spite of his abundant faith in the goodness of God and of his own unyielding perseverance, often obstinately ques- tioning his eventual success and weeping over his repeated failures. This good man was Andrew Fuller. A little while before, in conjunction with a few other members of the same church, a society had been inaugurated, under no very brilliant auspices, the object of which declaredly was " to evangelize the poor, dark, idola- trous heathen by sending missionaries into different parts of the world, where the light of the glorious Gospel was not then published ; " and there were two labourers ready to go forth and shed that blessed light upon the dark places of Northern India. One of these was Mr. Thomas, who had already spent some time in Bengal ; who had gone out as a ship- surgeon, had advertised for a Christian, had been planted, as I have already shown, by Mr. Grant in Malda, had failed both as a missionary and a mer- chant, and had irremediably forfeited the good opinion of his patron. The other was a younger and a better man. His name was William Carey. He was the son of a village schoolmaster in North- amptonshire, and had early in life been apprenticed to a shoemaker. Of a studious disposition and an inquiring nature, he had acquired a stock of informa- tion rarely obtained in such humble circumstances at so immature a period of life, and it does not appear that the necessities of his new calling quenched the WILLIAM CABByr 219 ardour of his thirst for knowledge, or wholly f0rh3.de its gratification. It is not on record that he achieved, or was ever likely to achieve, any great distinction as a craftsman. He said, indeed, years afterwards, when he was the guest of the Governor- General of India, that he had never been anything better than "a cobbler." But he rose to the dignity of journeyman (in which rank he accidentally attracted the attention of the well-known biblical commentator, Thomas Scott, who predicted that he would become a shining character), and afterwards married his master's sister • — a wretched speculation — and did some business on his own account. His vocation, however, was towards preaching rather than towards cobbling; and his heart having been touched by an accidental circum- stance, and afterwards softened by the pulpit oratory of Thomas Scott, he soon conceived the idea of teaching others ; and, at the early age of eighteen, commenced, in an irregular sort of way, his minis- trations in a dissenting chapel. His grandfather had been parish-clerk, and his father parish school- master ; so that he was bound by strong family ties to the Church of England. But the Church of England has no place for such men as William Carey, except as diggers of graves, or openers of pews, or utterers of " Amen ! " and so his eager desire for the ministry drove him into the ranks of dissent. In October, 1783, he was baptized by Dr. Ryland, in the river Nene, near ISTorthampton, and SQon after- wards was placed in ministerial charge of a congrega- tion in the village of Earl'g Barton. He 4id not, 220 CHKISTIANITY IN INDIA. however, forsake his worldly calling until he found his business falling away, and, in great pecuniary distress, was compelled to sell his stock-in-trade. The Boston congregation was equally unprofitable ; so, after enduring considerable privation, he removed to Moulton, where he took charge both of a congrega- tion and a school ; but neither being productive, he fell back upon the old craft of shoe-making, and carried to Northampton twice a month a bag full of his professional performances. But he was now at the turning-point of his career. Whilst at Moulton he had conceived the grand idea of illumining the dark places of the earth; and intently did his mind brood over the sublime project in his little workshop, whilst his hands were busily plying the implements of his humble craft. In this state of mind he made the acquaintance of Andrew Fuller — then minister at Kettering — an acquaintance which soon ripened into a friendship only severed by death. He had previously become acquainted with Dr. Kyland — another eminent Baptist divine ; and to both of these did young Carey now impart the great scheme of evangelization which occupied all his thoughts. They were pious and able men with whom he communicated ; but they did not at first grasp that mighty design. Carey, however, had fast hold of it ; and would not let it go. From Moulton he removed to Leicester; but his thoughts travelled vast conti- nents ; and the changes neither of time nor place could weaken the tenacity with which he clung to the FORMATION OF THE BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 221 great idea of a heathen mission. He wrote in aid of it ; he preached in aid of it ; he talked earnestly and continuously in aid of it to his older and more in- fluential brother ministers ; and, at last, what had been frowned or sneered down, began to be accepted as a thing possible, perhaps a thing desirable ; and at last it was agreed that, at the next meeting of the Baptist ministers at Kettering, a project for the esta^ blishment of a society for propagating the Gospel among the heathen should be formally discussed. The meeting was held ; the subject was discussed. Doubts and misgivings assailed the minds of many of the ministers present ; but the earnestness of brother Carey prevailed, and the Society was established. This done, he at once ofifered to proceed to any part of the world to which the Society might be pleased to send him. But before they could commence opera- tions branch societies were to be formed ; money was to be collected ; much was to be done. London ever delights to lead, and has small notion of being dictated to by the Provinces. So the metropolitan ministers and magnates of the Baptist church looked coldly at the Kettering mission — almost, indeed, thought it an impertinence. Fuller, who had been appointed secre- tary, and on whom, therefore, devolved the general organization of the Society, was then little known to his brethren, and Carey was not known at all. So, although some of the provincial churches responded to the invitation, and money was collected, scant pro- gress was made in London ; and it was plain that the Society must content itself with a small beginning, 222 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. Where was the beginning to be made? Fortu- nately in some respects, unfortunately in others, Mr. Thomas, whilst this question was yet undecided, re- turned to England, and, hearing of the formation of the society at Kettering, recommended that they should commence operations in Bengal, and offered to be their first workman. The offer was accepted. It was determined that Thomas and Carey should go together to India ; and it was to collect the amount necessary to defray the expenses attending their start in life, that Andrew Fuller went from door to door begging the contributions of unwilling givers. There were other difficulties, however, in the way of the inauguration of the great enterprise. How were they to make their v^ay to Bengal ? The ques- tion is a surprising one in these days, when no one has anything to do, in such a case, but to take his passage in sailing vessel or in steamer, and go whithersoever he listeth. But at the close of the last century there was a wholly different order of things. India was a close preserve in the hands of the East India Company, and to go there without a license from the Company was to become a poacher, and to incur the risk of being ignominiously sent home again. Now, in 1 793, although Charles Grant, not yet a Director, was infusing some better leaven into the Court, the Company were decidedly not the friends and favourers of missions. They were jealous of strangers of all kinds, especially of preachers of the Gospel. A man without a covenant was, in their estimation, a dangerous person; doubly dan- DIFFICULTIES AT STARTING. 223 gerous the man without a covenant and with a Bible. The ships, too, which sailed for India were the Com- pany's ships ; and any captain of a vessel, carrying out such unlicensed persons, might forfeit his ap- pointment, and be ruined for life. How, then, were Thomas and Carey to leap the great gulf which separated the banks of the Thames from the banks of the Ganges ? Their only hope was in Charles Grant. But Charles Grant knew nothing of Carey ; and of Thomas a little too much. In this strait the ready help in trouble of John Newton was sought and readily granted. Mr. Grant, however, still hesi- tated. Eager as he was to serve so good a man as Mr. Newton, and earnest as he was in the cause of missions, he would have nothing to say to an enter- prise in which Mr. Thomas was concerned. So the missionaries were driven back upon the necessity of going to India without a license. Their first attempt failed. Having embarked on board one of the Company's vessels, commanded by a friend of Mr. Thomas, they were compelled to unship themselves in the Channel. An information against the captain was threatened ; so, to save him from ruin, the missionaries were disembarked. It is hard to say whether Thomas or Carey were the more dis- heartened by this failure, or grieved, in greater anguish of spirit, when he saw the fleet sailing out of the Channel; for Thomas was escaping from his creditors ; and Carey, with all the true apostolic afflatus within him, was eager to begin his appointed work. The disappointment, however, was but tern- 224 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. porary. They remembered Ziegenbalg and his asso- ciates ; obtained a passage in a Danish vessel, and sailed for Bengal.* After an uneventful voyage, they landed at Cal- cutta on the 11th of November, 1793. If, during the voyage they had entertained any apprehensions regarding the manner of their reception, their alarm soon disappeared. 'No kind of notice was taken of them. They took a house ; and, whilst Mr. Thomas was trading, Mr. Carey was studying the languages of the country. Such ill-assorted companionship could not last long. The strenuous realities of mis- sionary life lay before the inspired cobbler ; and he was eager to embrace them. But, in spite of all his faith and all his courage, the trial was a hard one. The sufferings which, in the cause of his Master, he was now called upon to endure were something very different from the delicate distresses of the Bengal chaplains. That "awkward circumstance" in their lives — the salary of 1,000/. a year^ — did not stand in the way of the struggling Baptist. He found himself, with a wife, a sister-in-law, and a family of young children, under the burning copper skies of Bengal, without money, without friends, and, seemingly, with- out hope. A rich native lent him a miserable dwelling-house in one of the suburbs of Calcutta; and there for some time he bore, as best he could, the reproaches of his wife and her sister, and struggled to » Their party was now increased missions, had at first refused to by the addition of Mrs. Carey, her accompany her husband, but had sister, and four or five children. afterwards relented, yielding to her Mrs. Carey, who had a soul above fears, rather than to her inclinations. EARLY STRUGGLES. 226 raise a few pounds to enable him to remove himself to a part of the country in which he might hide himself from his brother Christians, and find food for his family in the jungle. But even that excellent minis- ter, Mr. David Brown, closed his heart against the applicant ; not because he was a Baptist, but because he was, or had been, an associate of Mr. Thomas.* But Carey was a man of a robust nature ; not one to turn back. With a small sum of money obtained from Mr. Thomas, who bore the purse of the Mission, and was bound to render more assistance than he did, the good, man went forth literally into the howling wilderness. He betook himself to the Soonderbuns — a place of forests, and jungles, and intersecting streams, where the alligator basks in the sun, and the tiger watches for his prey. Having obtained posses- sion of a convenient clearing, he built himself a hut ; and, as game of all kinds was abundant, and there were heathens in the neighbourhood to whom he could preach, when not marketing with his gun in the jungle, he would probably have remained there until carried off by a fever, if that worthy Christian, Mr. Udney, having heard of his forlorn condition, had not invited him to Malda, and given him charge * I gather this, as almost every- disgust prevails between him and thing else that is interesting in this Mr. Thomas, and I left him without chapter, from Mr. Marshman's "His- his having asked me to take any re- tory of the Serampore Mission." Mr. freshment, though he knew, I had Marshman says: "He (Carey) waited walked five miles in the heat of the on him (Mr. Brown) on the 24th of sun.' Such conduct on the part of January, but without any satisfac- the generous and hospitable David tory result. 'He is an evangelical Brown could be attributed only to minister of the Church of England,' the calamity of Mr. Carey's being writes Mr. Carey, ' and received me associated with Mr. Thomas, whom with cold politeness. I found him a he regarded with feelings of incurable very sensible man ; but a marked mistrust." Q 226 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. of an indigo factory, a few miles distant, with full permission to convert as many people as he could. There he spent five quiet years, attending to the business of the factory, honestly and usefully, and yet not neglecting the weightier concerns of the Mission. There he improved his knowledge of the languages ; preached to the natives, probably with no great success ; opened a school for heathen children, and devoted such time as he could spare to the important work of translating the Gospel into Bengalee. But the factory which Mr. Carey superintended was not successful as a commercial speculation ; and he was, therefore, compelled to seek other employment. So he purchased from Mr. Udney a small factory, to work upon his own bottom ; and, having heard, to his extreme delight, that four fellow-workmen were on their way to join him, he proceeded to erect mat- houses for the whole party, with the idea of forming something like a Moravian settlement. This had, for some time, been a cherished idea, and he now pro- ceeded to carry it out, under the encouragement of the society at home, vi^ho could not perceive at the time any other means of supporting what, in the slender state of their finances, appeared to them so extensive a Mission.* As for brother Carey, he was full of joy at the thought of the associates who were about to join him, and of the great work which such a, body of labourers would accomplish. To overcome * Mr. Marshman, in his "History of the Moravian settlement: "No* of the Serampore Mission," gives we apprehend you wUl find it iieces- the following suggestive extract from sary to form what you have proposed, the Society's letter, adopting the idea a kind of Moravian settlement, aS ARRIVAL OF NEW COLLEAGUES. 227 all official difficulties he proposed that they should come oiit to India ostensibly as his assistants — for he had obtained a license as a free-merchant, and that his little factory in the obscure village of Kidderpore in Malda, should be the nucleus of the Mission station. There he believed that he might set up his printing press — there strike off innumerable copies of his Bengalee version of the New Testament — and thence " diffuse the blessed light of the Gospel through all the dark places of heathen India." Whilst full of these great thoughts, early in the cold weather of 1797, William Carey received a stirring letter, intimating that his new colleagues had arrived in an American vessel ; but that the authori- ties had come down upon them at the very threshold, and that they were in sore tribulation. They had refused to give any other than a thoroughly honest account of themselves. Not only were they resolute to tell the truth, but to declare the whole truth. To have registered themselves as assistants to Mr. Carey, indigo factor, at Kidderpore, in Malda, would, under otherwise •we do not see ho-w the the printing of 2,000 copies of the missionaries can he supported. Our New Testament, for -which we have hearts rejoice at the character of already sent the paper; and if a these young people; and in antici- larger edition be wanted, we shall pating the joy it Will afford you find the money. We have now if God should prosper their way, nearly 3,000/. in hand, above 1,000/. and carry them in safety to Mudna- of which will go in sending out the butty. We shall he able, through missionaries. But the Lord is our the good hand of God upon us, to provider. We shall not want." This support you, if you form a settle- letter was addressed to Mr. Carey, ment according to brother Carey's and to a Mr. Fountain, who had proposal, — that is, you may draw on gone out to join the Mission, but had Messrs. Weston and Co., bankers,' taken to politics, abused the authori- London, for 360/. a year for your ties, and well-nigh brought the mis- whole number, in which we do not sionary enterprise to disgrace and include Mr. Thomas, who will pro- disaster.— iSee Marshman's "His- ba,bly not be with you. We shall tory." also, we trust, be able to get through Q2 228 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. the prevailing notion of a self-supporting Mission upon the Moravian plan, have been no actual untruth. But there would plainly have been a suppressio veri ; and so, after much counsel and much prayer, they entered themselves as missionaries, and as mis- sionaries were reported in Calcutta. But they had taken good advice from Mr. Grant and others, before they left London ; and had determined not to land at the English capital and fling themselves naked into the lion's den. Some sixteen miles above Calcutta, on the opposite bank of the river, lies what was once the little Danish town of Serampore. It has now lost its ancient privileges as a foreign settlement; but not many years ago it was a sort of Alsatian receptacle for outcasts of all kinds. Fugitive debtors from Calcutta found there an asylum where English law could not reach them ; and it was believed that even that most perilous and pestilential of all suspected persons at that time in India, the missionary of the Gospel, might lie there without molestation So the little party of Baptists, when they descended the ship's side in the Hooghly, put themselves and their worldly goods on board a river boat, and made their way to Serampore. There they were received by the Danish governor with all courtesy and kindness ; but they had not found a sanctuary which English authority would willingly respect. The privilege of the fraudulent banker and the low swindler was not to be extended to them. So they had scarcely had time to congratulate themselves on the kindness of their new friends when INVITATION TO SERAMPORE. 229 alarming tidings reached them from Calcutta. The intelligence of their arrival had dismayed and incensed the Government ; and now the missionaries wrote to hrother Carey in Malda, that they were all to he sent home again hy the first ship, and begged him to come down to the presidency to aid them in the crisis of their fate. The storm, however, passed over. Good Governor Bie had resolved to refuse, if demanded, the extradition of the missionaries ; and great Go- vernor Wellesley had, on calmer consideration, decided that it might he better to leave them alone. So they waited for an answer from brother Carey ; but before it arrived, trouble fell upon the Mission, for one of the little party died. Three or four days afterwards, the expected communication was received. Mr. Carey was still sanguine as to the success of the missionary settlement in Malda; but grave and reason- able doubts had assailed his colleagues whether they would be permitted to preach, and to itinerate, and to set up printing-presses in that part of the country ; and as Governor Bie pressed upon them the hospitality of Denmark, offered them the rights of Danish citizens, and declared that they should always have the protection of his flag, it became matter for serious consideration whether they should not establish them- selves permanently at Serampore. But they acknow- ledged the chiefship of brother .Carey, and were unwilling to oppose themselvesf'Ao what obviously lay so near his heart. Agitated by these con- flicting opinions and desires, they did the best thing they could — they sent one of their party on a 230 CHBISTIANITY Iff INDIA. deputation to Malda to talk over the matter >vith their chief. The deputy was William Ward. The son of a carpenter and builder at Derby, he had received a decent education, and had been apprenticed, in early youth, to a printer in that town. From this humble position he had risen to the responsible office of editor of the "Derby Mercury," which, under his superintendence, soon developed into an influential political organ. He was a high-pressure liberal, dallying on the brink of revolutionary doctrines, and on more than one occasion, well nigh involving himself, by the utterance of his extreme opinions, in personal trouble. From Derby he had after- wards betaken himself to Hull, where he conducted, with good success, a second newspaper, and, living in a pleasant lodging on the banks of the Humber, enjoyed much literary leisure, and the cheerful companionship of friends. Put, in the year 1796, when he was twenty-seven years of age, he began to take more serious views of Christian life, and, utterly ceasing from the strife of politics, turned his thoughts towards the ministry of Christ. In the August of that year, he was baptized, and soon afterwards began to instruct the poor and to preach to rustic congrega- tions open-mouthed in the open air. In this condi- tion, he attracted the attention of an influential gentleman, who, at his own charge, placed Mr. Ward at Dr. Fawcett's well-known training establishment of Ewood Hall. There he was visited by a member of the Baptist Missionary Society, who spoke tp him PROSPECTS OF THE MISSION, 231 of the labours of Carey in Bengal, and filled him with an earnest desire to go to the dark places of the earth and to do likewise. He believed that he might turn to good account, in his Master's service, the knowledge of the trade in which he had been brought up ; so he offered himself to Mr. Fuller, as one willing to join Carey in Bengal and to aid him in the printing of the Scriptures. He had met the " inspired cobbler " some years before, and had con^ versed with him on the subject of his contemplated mission — little thinking that he would one day be his associate. But so it was willed ; and now they met again, face to face, in Carey's bungalow, and talked over the present fears and future prospects of the Mission ; they reverted to the time of their first meeting, when they walked together " from Rippon's chapel one Lord's day," and inspired each other with a feeling of mutual liking and trust. The great question now between them was, whether it were better to cling to the Malda factory, where they were at the mercy of the British Government, which might at any moment revoke their licenses and send them all to England ; or to gather them- selves together under the protection of the Danish flag, and to plant the Mission at Serampore. Reluct- antly and regretfully, Mr. Carey abandoned his cherished scheme of the Moravian settlement in Malda, and consented to remove himself and his family — ^his press and his types- — to the Danish settle- ment. Early in the new year (1800) he arrived at hi9 new home, and there embraced hia other associates 232 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. in the great missionary enterprise. One of the four who had left England had fallen a -victim to the climate. Another (Mr. Brunsdon) was soon after- wards cut off at the outset of his career. The fourth, of whom no mention has yet been made, was Mr. Joshua Marshman. Descended from a good family, but born in very humble life — his father being a weaver in Wiltshire — this remarkable man had acquired all the know- ledge ever derived from the tuition of others at a village school, whose academical capacity did not extend even to the power of teaching its scholars to write or to cast up a sum in simple addition. He was one, however, little dependent upon others for intellectual nourishment. He taught himself thoroughly to read ; and, under difficulties scarcely to be appreciated in these days of much and cheap printing, he borrowed books from whomsoever he could, and at an early age had indulged extensively in desultory reading. Great, indeed, was his delight when, at the age of fifteen, a London bookseller, who happened to be a native of Joshua Marshman's own borough-town of Westbury, offered to take him into his shop and bring him up to the business of a bibliopole. The boy had begun to follow his father's occupation — and the change from the loom to the book-shelf appeared to him to be little less than a transfer to Paradise. But the experiment was, after all, only a disappointing failure. In his new situa- tion he saw more of the outside than of the inside of books. He acquired, in a short time, a wonderful JOSHUA MABSHMAN. 233 knowledge of titles; but he had scanty literary leisure, and he did not find that his knowledge increased as rapidly as in the little Wiltshire borough. So, after brief trial of metropolitan life, he returned to the loom, and for many years lived the life of a weaver, increasing largely in intellectual wealth and growing strong in his religious convic- tions. His parents were pious, god-fearing people of the Baptist persuasion ; and Joshua had become a great reader of the old Puritan divines. But the magnates of the Westbury church had high views of church fellowship. They looked suspiciously [at the book-learning of the young weaver ; and were fain to keep him in a state of probation, though he was eager to be baptized. But another field of labour was now ready for him. He was ofiered the mastership of a school at Broad- mead, Bristol — under the shadow, as it were, of the great Baptist University over which Dr. Ryland pre- sided. He had taken to himself a wife by this time — the daughter of a Baptist minister, the Reverend John Clerk of Crockerton — and he was pleased to enter upon a sphere of extended usefulness which at the same time increased his means of subsistence. Permitted to take private pupils, he had no diffi- culty in finding them ; and as the privilege of attend- ing the classes of the Bristol Academy had been granted to him, he contrived, whilst earning a com- fortable income by tuition, to increase his stores of knowledge, and especially his acquaintance with the classical and the Hebrew languages, and so to fit 234 CUIHSTIANITY IN INDIA. himself for higher pursuits. At Broadmead he was baptized; and there, conversing with Dr. Byland on the great subject of missionary enterprise, he conceived the idea of becoming a labourer in that vineyard. Having once formed the resolution, he was not slow to carry it into effect. He made an offer of his services to the Society; his offer was accepted ; and threq weeks afterwards, accompanied by Mr. Ward, Mr. Grant, and Mr. Brunsdon, he was on his way to Calcutta. Such, briefly narrated, were the antecedents of those distinguished Indian missionaries — Carey, Marshman, and Ward. I have brought them now together at Serampore, which their labours have since made illustrious.* They dwelt together in utter unselfishness, as one great Christian family. Never have men addressed themselves to the Holy work of evangelisation in a purer spirit, or with more earnestness of purpose ; and yet at the same time with more sound good practical sense and more steady perseverance in the adaptation of all legitimate means to the great end which they had set before them. In this, as in other respects, they greatly resembled Ziegenbalg and his associates. They expected no miracles to be wrought in their behalf. They hoped to make their way only from small beginnings. They knew that much toil was ne- cessary to the attainment even of scanty success. But they never spared themselves. They gave up ♦ Mr. Fountain and Mr. Brunsdon were also, at this time, members of the Mission. Mr. Grant had preyiously died. TRANSLATION OF IBM. SCBIPTUKES. 23$ everything to the one great ohject of their liyes, Most thrifty in their own expenditure, casting everyT thing into a common stock, they were glad, by any fitting labour, to realise this world's wealth, that they might devote it to the somewhat costly requirements of the printing of the Scriptures in the native languages. Carey had translated nearly the whole of both testaments. The presses and the typeg were ready, and Ward had all the knowledge of a first-rate printer. So, whilst Carey went out into the highways to preach. Ward, studying hard, with Marshman as his fellow-student, at the vernacular languages of the country, undertook to set up the New Testament in good Bengalee; and on the 18th of May, to the inexpressible joy of the whole party, the first sheet was struck ofi^ in clear legible type. In less than a year from that date, the whole of the New Testament had been printed in Bengalee. This was a great thing accomplished ; for they believed that only by sowing the Scriptures broad-cast over the land, could the conversion of the heathen, on any great scale, be accomplished without a niiracle. They did not fail utterly ; but the results of their teaching were at first so limited that it would have taken, at such a rate of progression, a century to fill a church with their converts. It was something even to *' save some." Nay, at the outset of their career, one convert was a matter of great rejoicing. The first-fruits of the labours of the Seramporp Missipn was the open avowal of Christianity by a Bengalee carpenter, named Krishna Pall. The occasion was a 236 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. great one ; and Mr, Thomas, who had recently come down from the Mofussil on a visit to the Serampore missionaries, was so greatly excited, that he literally went mad with joy. When the baptism of the con- vert took place in the Hooghly, the ceremony, so touching in itself that the Governor of Serampore shed tears as he witnessed it, was rendered terible by the blasphemous shoutings of the madman, who hg,d been brought down on a litter to witness the spectacle, and by the screams of Mrs. Carey, who had gone mad with grief sometime before, and who now responded to the bellowings of Mr. Thomas from an adjoining house. The gentleman expiated his enthusiasm in a lunatic asylum ; but was released, after a time, to pursue his varied occupations with renewed vigour. Mrs. Carey died not long afterwards ; and her hus- band, in due time, linked himself with a more fitting helpmate. Other successes, but still numbered slowly by units, were accomplished ; and, in the meanwhile, the mis- sionaries, waiting hopefully the results of the distri- bution of their Scriptures and tracts, increased greatly in worldly prosperity. Mr. and Mrs. Marshman had established boarding-schools at Serampore, and such was the confidence reposed in those excellent persons, that in course of time their establishments yielded to the Mission a revenue of 1,000^. a year. Mr. Carey, too, was adding by his exertions largely to the common stock. Lord Wellesley's magnificent design of a college in Fort William for the education of the younger members of the Company's service, had THE COLLEGE OF FORT WILLIAM. 237 been inaugurated, and a staff of learned professors and teachers appointed to give practical effect to the scheme. At the head of this staff, as I have already shown, were the chiefs of the English Church in Calcutta, David Brown and Claudius Buchanan. There was no sectarianism in those days among the English in India, and neither did the Governor- General look askance at learning and merit in a dissenting guise, nor did the English Churchmen on the Establishment refuse to be associated, in this or in other enterprises, with pious men of different denominations. It was enough for them that Mr. Carey was a learned man, of a blameless way of life. So, on the recommendation of Mr. Brown, he was appointed teacher of Bengalee at the College of Fort William on a salary of 600/. a year ; but with the distinct understanding that the acceptance of such an office was in no wise to be regarded as a constructive pledge of his intention to cease from his missionary labours. The proceeds of office, like the scholastic earnings of the Marshmans, were thrown into the common stock — 20/. a year, however, being set apart to enable the Government servant to appear "in decent apparel " at the College, and at the levees and parties of the Governor- General which he was some- times expected to attend. The Mission was now thriving to the full extent of the expectations of its most sanguine members. They were not unreasonable. They did not look for great and sudden gains to the cause of Christianity. They were well content, at the end of 1802, to ^38 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. know that they had thirteen native communicants and nine " inquirers." Early in the following year they baptized their first convert of the great sacer- dotal caste of Brahraans. Important as was the event in itselfj it was still more important as the inauguration of a great principle, to which the Serampore missionaries, unlike some of their pre- decessors, had determined rigidly to adhere. The Christianity which they taught utterly rejected the distinctions of caste. Converts of all classes were to meet together in fellowship and to communicate, at the Lord's table, as members of the same family. The Danish missionaries on the coast had suffered their proselytes to maintain the social distinctions of their abandoned faith in the presence of the sacred elements ; but Carey and his associates regarded this as an unworthy compromise, and laid it down as a fundamental maxim that Christianity is of but one caste ; and so successful was the teaching, that soon after the first Brahman convert joined the congregation, he married the daughter of a carpenter, who had been for some time a member of the Christian Church. I cannot afford to trace in minute detail the progress of the Baptist Mission in Bengal, nor is it necessary that I should do so, for the son of Joshua Marshman has done the work with such authority and with such ability, that this great chapter of evangelical history can never need further illustration. It is sufficient to record here, that as time advanced, the Serampore missionaries beheld, more and more THE TRANSLAflOff SCtttlMfi. ^3^ clearly, the way that stretched before them and the manner in which it behoved them to tread it. Becoming with increased experience inci'easingly sensible of the little impression to be made upon the dense mass of Indian life by a few European strangers, they exerted themselves to train up native missionaries, and believed that they themselves would do more good by transfusing Gospel truth, eithet in the way of pure Scripture, or of simple elementary tracts, into the common languages of the coutttryj than by expending themselves in the exhausting labour of itinerating under a burning sun. At a later period, encouraged by the Bible Society, which had grown up in full vigour and activity at home^ they suffered themselves to be carried away by this leading idea, to an extent which, at this distance of time, it is hard to decide whether most to admire or to regret. Carey and Marshman were eager to translate the Bible into no less than seven of the chief languages of India; and, as if this were not enough, the list was subsequently increased, at the suggestion of Mr. Buchanan, by the addition of the Chinese ; and Mr. Marshman gallantly undertook to bring out a Bible in the language of Confucius. Against this extended scheme of translation work Mr. Ward earnestly protested- He took brother Carey and brother Marshman severely to task: telling them that whilst they were expending their lives in this scheme of translations for China, Bootan, and other remote places, *' the good in their own hands and at their own doors would be left undone." 240 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. It must be admitted that they were attempting too much ; and that, in the main, brother Ward was right. But there was something grand and heroic in the enterprise, though the polyglot enthusiasm of the brethren might have led them away from the more legitimate objects of the Mission. But, right or wrong, there was one great advantage in this display of Orientalism : it endeared the mis- sionaries to Lord Wellesley. It seemed to be the natural growth of his darling scheme of a mighty collegiate establishment in the metropolis of British India, from which was to go forth a perennial stream of learning to fertilise the soil, and to generate the best fruits of civilization. It matters little whether the Governor-General over-rated or not the benefits to be conferred on India by the College of Fort William. The enthusiasm with which he promoted the cherished design made him look kindly on what- soever could be rendered auxiliary to its accomplish- ment, and inclined his heart, therefore, towards the missionaries who were deep in the study of the Oriental languages, and turning their acquirements to the best practical uses by widely disseminating the truth through the medium of the common vehicles of barbarism and error. A little startled at first by the idea of a small party of Englishmen, within twenty miles of the Government house and public offices of Calcutta, setting up an unlicensed printing- press, and, with no fear of the censor before their eyes, issuing freely their papers and tracts for general circulation among the people, he soon began to SLOW PROGRESS. 241 tolerate what he had no legal power to prevent, and ere long his toleration expanded into something very like encouragement. The stamp of the College appears to have covered in his lordship's estimation a multitude of political sins. He even suffered under the roof of Government House, one of those disputa- tions, which were among the leading features of the periodical public displays of the college, to take the shape of an attack upon the religions of the country ; so that then, for the first time in the history of the British empire in the East, it was reported that the Government intended forcibly to convert the natives to Christianity. Nothing that had been done at any other time, or in any other place, had occasioned any public alarm, though it may, in some instances, have provoked private resentment. English missionaries had preached in the bazaars, had circulated the Christian Scriptures, had distributed Christian tracts, had publicly baptized heathen converts in the sacred river of the Hindoos ; but the people had not been alarmed. No sooner, however, was there an appearance of Government connection even with so trifling a matter as an anti-Mahomedan thesis, intended only to display the logical acumen and philological attainments of the stripling disputants, than there arose a cry that Mahomedanism was in danger, and the pundits caught up the cry which the moulavees had commenced. The alarm was soon dissipated ; but the incident was instructive. It was demonstrated that the natives of India have no fear of the persuasive efforts of Christian ministers, that u 242 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. the arguments and exhortations of individual men or of private societies create no apprehensions in their minds; hut that they are keenly sensitive of anything that even faintly resembles coercion by the State, and that the least appearance of authoritative Government interference, therefore, excites, first in the teachers, and then in the followers both of Hin- dooism and Mahomedanism, the most unreasonable emotions of alarm. So, all through the period of history occupied by the administration of Lord Wellesley, the Serampore Mission, if it did not actually bask in the sunshine of viceregal favour, encountered no storms and was chilled by no frosts.* The missionaries increased in number and relaxed not in diligence. The Seram- pore Mission had, indeed, become a great fact. It made no vast pretence of multitudinous conversions. But it supplied the means of converting nearly the whole Oriental world. Nor should it be forgotten that the Baptist mis- sionaries at Serampore were forward to do battle against all those cruel abominations, which were among the outward and visible signs of the tre- mendous superstition, which they were endeavouring to destroy. What were then called the " Sanger sacrifices," the present generation knows only by name. At the mouth of the Ganges, Hindoo mothers, at the commencement of the present century, threw * It was a great thing for the Council. Charles Grant's mantle Mission that Mr. Udney, a man of had descended upon him, and he the highest Christian character, was wore it with becoming dignity, then a Member of the Supreme Humanising efforts. S43 their babes into the river on a festival day, as a propitiation to the deity. In accordance with the general system of toleration then observed by the British Government, this iniquity, like the kindred horror of widow-burning, was suffered to continue without molestation. A report upon the subject of this abominable rite, drawn up for Lord Wellesley by Mr. Carey, fixed the Governor- General's determina- tion to suppress it ; and on the occurrence of the next festival a detachment of soldiers was sent down to the point of massacre, to enforce the law passed for the prohibition and punishment of the crime. It was no fault of the missionaries that Suttee was not extin- guished at the same time. From the very commence- ment of their career they had exerted themselves, actively and laboriously, to drag into the clear light of day all the realities of this fearful rite. With that love of truth, which rendered them so accurate and precise in all their doings, they made explorations in the neighbourhood, or sent out native agents to report to them the exact number of imniolations within a certain circle around the capital ; and they were then enabled clearly to ascertain that, year after year, from three to four hundred widows were annually sacrificed within thirty miles of the Govern- ment House of Calcutta. These and other facts illustrative of the same important subject were duly supplied to Government, in the hope that something might be done to root out the iniquity. The duty of a Christian government in such a case was strongly urged upon Lord Wellesley by Mr. Udney ; but the E 2 244 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. Governor- General was then on the eve of departure, and it was reserved for another statesman, who was then on the coast of Madras, to give, a quarter of a century afterwards, the death-hlow to the abomina- tion. That statesman was Lord William Bentinck. I do not know that at any more fitting point of my narrative than that which it has now reached, the attention of the reader could be diverted for a while from the chief presidency of Bengal to the southern peninsula, where that worthy nobleman and his pious wife were by the rectitude and propriety of their own lives and the encouragement given to Christianity, in all its aspects, upholding the character of our national faith. There were some complaints, in those days, of the social quietude and decorum of the little court at Madras. The Governor and his wife were sneered at, by the licentious, for the drab-coloured domesticity which was the prevailing attire of their own lives and which they sought to render fashionable throughout the society over which they presided. But there were others, who spoke with delighted approbation of the good example thus prominently set to the people of the settlement, and diligently endeavoured to follow it. By the exercise of the power and the authority of the Governor, no less than by the example of the man, did Lord William Bentinck endeavour to pro- mote the progress of Christianity in India. The senior chaplain, on the establishment at that time, was Dr. Kerr, a man of distinguished piety, zealous, laborious, and not wanting in the true missionary KERR AND BUCHANAN.. 245 spirit. In him the Governor found a willing and an indefatigable agent. Under the instruction of Lord William Bentinck, Dr. Kerr made a circuit of the Syrian churches on the Malabar coast, and sent in a long and interesting report to Government on the subject. He, also, under the orders of the same benevolent statesman, drew up, at a later period, a memoir on the state of the ecclesiastical establish- ment in the Madras presidency, and commented forcibly on the lamentable spiritual destitution of the greater number of stations at which European officers were posted. It was obvious that the Christian welfare of his fellow-men lay very near to his heart ; and that although in some measure necessarily held in control by his official position, the missionary spirit was strong within him. Few men better deserve honourable mention in such a volume as this. About the same time, Claudius Buchanan was prosecuting his researches into the state of Chris- tianity in Southern India. He found the Tranquebar mission in a very decayed condition. The missionaries blushed when he reverted to its former glories in the days of Ziegenbalg and Grundler. But he heard the praises of the Christian's God sung in Tamul by two hundred voices, and saw native listeners taking down on the palmyra leaf the heads of the Taraul sermon. At Tanjore, which he described as the "grand scene of all " — " the garden of the Gospel," he found Mr. Kohloff still labouring, with a goodly congregation of Christians around him. The Rajah received Buchanan with the kindness and courtesy which he 246 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. extended to all the co-religionists of Schwartz, and conversed with the English chaplain on the good deeds and saintly life of his old friend. From Tan- jore, he proceeded to Travancore ; and thence made a circuit of the Syrian churches of Malabar. He found them, in some places, much Romanised ; their priests performing the services in languages unknown to the people. In others, they appeared to be trem- blingly apprehensive of Romanist interference, and not without suspicion that Buchanan himself was an agent of the Pope in disguise. He found the Syrian Christians for the most part a simple-minded, guileless people, timid and suspicious from the results of long- oppression ; poorly instructed in the truths of the Gospel, but willing to be taught and willing to believe. What they most needed was the circulation of the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue ; and this Buchanan diligently promoted. He persuaded the bishops of the Syrian Church to undertake this most necessary duty, and he was able to report before he left that part of the country, that learned Syrian and Malayalim scholars w-ere engaged in the translation of the Bible into the language of Malabar, and that there were 200,000 persons ready to receive it. It was during the time of Buchanan's visit to Madras, that there came to pass that great and terrible event known as the Vellore massacre— an event, which during fifty years held undisputed prominence as the saddest domestic tragedy which the English in India had witnessed since the night of the Black Holej but which has now been dwarfed THE VELLORB MASSACBE. 24/ by the tremendous calamity which has overtaken the present generation of Anglo-Indian Christians. The tidings of the mutiny met Buchanan as he advanced. He had well nigh been among its victims. He had intended to have visited Vellore two days before the eventful night of the massacre ; but Providence, as ho wrote soon afterwards, retarded his steps. He was seized by one of the fevers of the country and kept a prisoner at a dawk-bungalow, until the crisis had passed. How much his own researches had to do with the causes of the tragedy may be gathered from the fact, that it occurred on the 10th of July, and that he only crossed the frontier of the Madras pre- sidency on the 29th of June. I believe that I should best convey my opinion of the connection of the Vellore massacre with the subject of this work by taking no further notice of it. But although it was in no degree the result of Christianity in India, it was the cause of many grievous charges, and much dire hostility against Christianity in India. " A rumour," wrote Buchanan to Henry Thornton, in September, 1806, "has for some months pervaded India, that all castes are to be made Christians. I know the alleged causes of the rumour, but I consider them as inadequate to produce the effect without a concurring Providence. This strange rumour of con- version is perhaps auspicious to the event itself; as the shaking of an old building announces its approach- ing fall. It was attempted to be shown that the massacre at Vellore, which happened when I was in the neighbourhood, was in some measure caused by 248 CHUISTIANITY IN INDIA. this rumour. But it has been proved by the evidence of the conspirators that the design of resuming the Mahomedan dynasty in Mysore was planned by the princes immediately on their hearing the joyful news that the tiger Wellesley, as they called him, had returned from India." The massacre of Vellore was the growth of a number of concurrent circumstances. That an insane hope engendered in the breasts of the princes of the house of Tippoo — a hope of recovering their lost dominion in Mysore — was the origin of the movement is not to be doubted. Surrounded by adherents of the family, who chafed under the galling loss of all their powers and privileges, and who hated with the bitterest Mahomedan hatred the infidels w^ho had trodden them down, these unfortunate princes were induced to listen to evil counsel, and to suffer them- selves to become the focus of a sanguinary intrigue which resulted, after much loss of life, only in a strangling failure. It was thought that the time, which had arrived, was propitious for such a move- ment. Not because Christian missionaries were itinerating in Southern India; not because Lord and Lady William Bentinck were known to be good Christians ; not because Dr. Buchanan and Dr. Kerr were making their inquiries into the state of the Christian churches : of all these things, as far as they existed (and in part, at least, they did not exist, for the missionaries were by no means active, at this period, in Southern India), the conspirators themselves were, in all probability, profoundly ignorant. But, CAUSES OF THE MUTINY. 249 because, just at that period some changes had been introduced into the external equipment and discipline of the native army ; and designing people, on the alert to discover any demonstrations on the part of the paramount power, virhich might be tortured into aggressive movements against the religious faith or the social observances of the soldiery, insidiously circulated a report that the object of these changes was to violate the caste of the Hindoo and to defile the purity of the Mussulman. The prin- cipal cause of excitement and alarm was a change in the head-dress of the native troops. A leather chacot had been substituted for the old turban ; and a report was industriously circulated, firstly, that the shape of the head-piece, resembling as it did, the round hat, which was considered by the people as the distinguishing mark of the feringhee (whom they called a topi-wallah or hat- wearer) was intended to fix upon them the outward mark of Christianity ; and, secondly, that the materials of this head-piece being leather — that is the skin of the cow, or the skin of the pig — was intended to outrage the Hindoo and to pollute the Mahomedan soldier, by placing a portion of the sacred or of the unclean animal on the top of his head. Other innovations, unfortunately, were attempted, mostly in ignorance, about the same time. Whilst the round hat of the Christian was being placed on the sepoy's head, his own distinguish- ing marks of caste were rubbed oflF his forehead; he was despoiled of his necklaces ; and ordered to divest himself of his beard. In some stations the 250 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. beating of taum-taums, an almost invariable attendant of native religious ceremonies, was prohibited; and English martinets forbade Hindoo soldiers, when on duty, to strip to their meals. Under such circum- stances as these, it was not strange that the native soldiers of the coast army should have been readily pursuaded by the emissaries of the deposed family of Mysore to believe that their European conquerors purposed by these and similar means to endeavour to convert the sepoys to Christianity, after compelling them to violate their ancestral faith. Meanwhile, other agencies were set at work to excite the public mind and to prepare the people to rise against their white-faced masters. Wandering faqueers uttered wild prophecies in the bazaars. Wandering minstrels sung stirring ballads in the soldiers' lines. And puppet-shows were carried from place to place, repre- senting in a series of dramatic scenes, the restoration of the imperial house of the Mogul, and exhibiting the European stranger as an object of detestation and contempt. Now all this had nothing to do with chaplains or with missionaries. Perhaps, the sum of the whole would not have excited a single regiment to revolt, if the emissaries of the house of Mysore had not gained over a number of Mussulman officers in the Company's service, and through them excited the religious fears of the soldiery. The Mysore princes, or the courtiers surrounding them, thought that the time was propitious ; for the army was in course of rapid reduction, the finances of the British Govern- BEAL NATURE OF THE ALARM. 251 ment were in a state of alarming depression; and " Tiger Wellesley " had gone to England. They who delight to pursue historical parallels will have no difficulty in tracing many remarkable points of resemblance between the antecedents of the mutiny of 1806, and the far more disastrous revolt of 1857. I have only to do with the fact, that in both cases, an apprehension of what is called " the forcible con- version of the native army to Christianity," was excited, by the machinations of designing persons, under circumstances favourable in the extreme to the successful dissemination of the dangerous lie. Current, however, as is the phrase, it by no means represents the real nature of the alarm of which I speak. We cannot forcibly make converts to Christianity. What is dreaded is the destruction of Caste. The appear- ance of a Christian- missionary in every village in the country would excite little apprehension in comparison with even a rumour that the Govern- ment are greasing the cartridges in the magazines with animal fat, or mixing animal bones with the flour sold in the bazaars. The natives know that they may meet the missionary with argument, or that they may turn a deaf ear to his charmings, charm he never so wisely ; but covert attempts to destroy caste they can neither grapple with nor evade ; and when they believe that the immense machinery of a powerful foreign Government is set at work to compass their pollution, no wonder that a panic is engendered, and that panic rapidly ferments into revolt. The same process appears to have gone on in the 252 CHRISTIANITY IN INI^U. minds of the chief people of the Bengal Government, and of Anglo-Indians generally, alike in the east and in the west. A mighty panic was engendered ; and panic rapidly grew into revolt — revolt against Chris- tianity. In all such cases, when anything goes wrong, whether in the affairs of nations or in the affairs of individuals, it is always Christianity that is to blame. If a man catches cold, he is sure to say that he caught it at Church ; such accidents never happen at the Theatre. It was certain that there had been a great disaster at Vellore ; and it was said to have arisen, and perhaps it did arise, in some measure, from a vague fear of certain offensive proceedings hostile to the integrity of Caste, but which were as little influenced by the spirit of Christianity as by Brahmanism itself. The Supreme Government, how- ever, discovered that the massacre of Vellore was the growth of the diffusion of Christianity in India ; and as there were living, only sixteen miles from the doors of the council-chamber, a little party of devout men, whose lives were given up to that diffusion, it was easy to find some culprits — accessories, at all events, before the fact — ready to the hand of the executioner. The Serampore missionaries were to be visited, therefore, with condign punishment — the heaviest punishment that could be inflicted upon them. They were to be shut up in Serampore, and peremptorily forbidden, under pain of expulsion from the country, to prosecute their blessed work anywhere in the Company's dominions. It happened unfortunately, just in this adverse OPPOSITION OF GOVERNMENT. 253 conjuncture, that two more Baptist missionaries arrived, to join the society at Serampore. They were speedily ordered to leave the country. The mandate, however, was not obeyed without a resolute attempt, within the limits of Christian resistance to authority, to obtain a revocation of the order. They had gone out on board the Criterion, which had done the same pious service before, and good Captain Wickes was refused his clearance order, unless he carried back his dangerous passengers to the place from which he had brought them. This order, however, was subsequently rescinded. The ship went ; the passengers stayed — but only under a constructive arrangement for their voluntary with- drawal. And this was the origin of the Burmese Mission. They had come out to evangelise the heathen, and all heathendom was not under the orders of the Company. Heathen Governments might tolerate what a Christian Government had ejected ; so Mr. Chater betook himself to the Burmese country and there planted the mission. Those years succeeding the mutiny at Vellore are not years to be dwelt upon with pleasure by the annalist of Christianity in India. There was, in truth, what appears in these days, a silly panic in high places; and England, as I have already shown, caught up the alarm. But, in what light did the collective wisdom of the East India Company look upon the contest between the great Government of India, and the humble missionaries shut up in Serampore. Differences of opinion there doubtless 254 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. were among the Directors, and, probably, some sharp discussion. But the practical result was a despatch to India, in which the question was considered, in a calm judicial spirit, and instructions issued, in my opinion, admirably suited to the requirements of the case. The despatch, which, after much careful preparation, was signed on the 7th of September, 1808, expressed the wish of the Court that it should be distinctly understood that they were very from being averse to the introduction of Christianity into India, or indif- ferent to the benefits which would result from a general diffusion of its doctrines. " But," said the Court, " we have a fixed and settled opinion, that nothing could be more unwise and impolitic- — nothing even more unlikely to frustrate the hopes and endea- vours of those who aim at the very object, the introduction of Christianity among the native inhabi- tants — than any imprudent or injudicious attempt to introduce it by means which should irritate and alarm their religious prejudices." And having en- larged on these propositions, they went on to counsel a course of non-interference on the part of the local Government. " We rely on your discretion," they said, " that you will abstain from all unne- cessary or ostentatious interference with, their (the missionaries') proceedings. On the other hand, it will be your bounden duty, vigilantly to guard the public tranquillity from interruption, and to impress upon the minds of all the inhabitants of India that the British faith on which they rely for the MODERATION OP THE MISSIONARIES. 255 free exercise of their religion will be invariably main- tained."* I am bound to say that I do not think that the Serampore missionaries were open to the charge of indiscretion. They conducted their weighty affairs with earnestness and with zeal, but with an amount of prudence — it may be almost said of forbearance — and with a regard for constituted authority and what is commonly called " public convenience," not only very creditable, but very surprising, considering the circumstances in which they were placed. Their whole bearing towards the Government was admirable. And it should never be forgotten, that Andrew Fuller, the mainspring of the Baptist Missionary Society in England, who was less, or rather not at all, within the reach of the powerful influences of a despotism like that of the British Government in India, never failed to counsel submission to the magis- trate, as one of the first duties of a Christian. But a good time was now coming. It was decreed by Providence that a change in the law very favour- able to the Christian enterprise, should be inaugurated by the British legislature ; and in expectation of this event the missionaries laboured patiently and hope- fully in the face of strong opposition. The instructions * -The despatch will be found ployed under the protection of the entire in the Appendix. There is British Government;" and to this one passage in it which I tliink the Court now replied, "You are of ought to be excepted from the gene- course aware that many of the meri- ral praise which I, at least, am dis- torious individuals who have devoted posed to bestow upon it. The Indian themselves to these labours were not Government, in one of the despatches British subjects, or living under our under reply, had expressed a hope authority, and that none of the that the Court of Directors would missionaries have proceeded to Ben- not " encourage any accession to the gal with our license." This appears number of missionaries actually em- to me to be an unworthy evasion. 256 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA, from the Court of Directors, not to put forth the authority of the Government against the missionaries, if such a demonstration could possibly be avoided, were only operative for a time. After a few years, they were either forgotten or wilfully disobeyed. In the last two years of the old charter of 1/93, the Supreme Government were more active and unre- lenting in their hostility than at any former period. How this happened, I do not pretend to understand. The orders of the Court had not been revoked or superseded, and India was in a state of unwonted tranquillity. But in 1 812, there was a raid against the missionaries in Bengal ; and no less than five, partly Americans, partly English, were driven out of the country by the imperative orders of an unyielding- government, who could find no other offence in them than that they had just arrived without a license.* I cannot understand this any more than I can explain it. But it was the last act of persecution permitted by the law. Events were then taking shape in England which deprived the Government of India for ever of this despotic power — events which I now proceed to describe. * These were Messrs. Judson, coming work. See also " The Lives Newell, and Kice, of the American of Dr. and of Mrs. Judson ; " and Mission ; and Robinson and Johns, the " Correspondence between the of the Baptist Mission. For a de- Supreme Government of Bengal and tailed and very interesting account the Missionaries at Serampore," puh- of their eviction, I would refer the lished in 1814. reader to Mr. Marshman's forth- THE EMANCIPATION ACT. 257 CHAPTEE VIII. The Eraancipntion Act of 1813— The Episcopal and Missionary Clauses— The Committees and the Debates— The First Indian Bishop— His Character and Career— The First Visitation Tour— State of the Churches — Death of Bishop Middleton. In the spring of 1813 a great movement, which had long been gathering strength and consistency in England, seemed to have acquired an irresistible impetus, which would command for it speedy success. The harvest now appeared ready for the sickle. The labours of those busy workmen, Grant, Teignmouth, Thornton, Wilberforce, Buchanan, and their com- panions, were at length about to be rewarded. They had toiled and striven manfully for years ; they had encountered public opposition and private ridicule ; they had been shouted at by the timid and sneered at by the profane ; they had been described as dangerous intermeddlers, and as imbecile fanatics. They had contended only against the open official suppression of Christianity in India; they had asked only for toleration ; they had demanded that, in the midst of opposing creeds, the faith of the Christian might be suffered to walk unveiled and unfettered. They had been seeking this liberty for many years ; and 258 OHBISTIANITY IN INDIA. now at last the day of emancipation was beginning to dawn upon them. The " Clapham Sect " were victorious. There was in truth everything to make them so. All the wit of Sydney Smith, and all the ponderous Orientalism of Scott Waring, could not long prevail against the steady efforts of that little band of strong-headed and strong-hearted Christians. They were not inexpe- rienced novices, or mere idle dreamers. They had reason and experience on their side, and Christian England was with them. They had written much, and spoken much on the subject so near their hearts ; and now they were bracing themselves up for a final effort — secure of victory in the end. The old Charter of the East India Company was expiring. The provisions of a new Act were about to be considered and determined by the Parliament of Great Britain. Grreat changes of a commercial character were ahout to he introduced — but my business is with other changes. Twenty years before, Wilberforce had striven earnestly and resolutely to wring from Parliamerit a reluctant consent to the introduction into the India Bill of 1793 of a clause recognizing the duty of the country " to promote by all just and prudent means the interests and happi- ness of the inhabitants of the British dominions in the East," and to " adopt such measures as might gradually tend to their advancement in useful know- ledge, and to their religious and moral improvement." But although he had contrived to bring about the passing of a resolution, declaratory of this as the THE COMING CONTEST. 259 opinion of the House, he was defeated at a subsequent stage of legislation. The East India Company were against the resolution. Proprietors of India Stock assembled in Leadenhall Street to denounce what was considered as nothing less than the first step towards the despatch of an army of missionaries to the shores of India ; and when a clause, in accordance with Wilberforce's resolution was introduced, with some fatal specifications, into the Bill itself, it was opposed by the House and abandoned by the Minister. But the twenty years, which had passed away since that disheartening failure, had witnessed great changes in public opinion — changes brought about, it is hard to say how much, by the influence of such men as Wil- berforce, Simeon, and the Thorntons. And now, having decisively routed the enemy in all their literary skirmishes in the open country, they girded them- selves for a great effort to carry Parliament by storm. What they contended for was nothing very alarming — nothing very unreasonable. They sought the exten- sion and the elevation of the Anglican Church Establishment in India, including the establishment of an episcopal see ; and a removal of the restrictions which had so long impeded the progress of missionary labour in the Company's dominions. For these con- cessions to Christianity the battle was now to be fought. Churchmen and Nonconformists were on the same side. Thousands, who cared little for the extension of the Church establishment, except as a public declaration of Christianity which might, in some measure, favourably influence the minds of the S 2 260 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. heathen, were eager in the cause of Christian mis- sions ; whilst others, wlio had little missionary spirit, clamoured for the extension of the Church. The two questions were distinct from each other ; but in the hands of Wilberforce and his friends they yielded mutual support, and many felt that the success of the one was identified with that of the kindred measure. And so, with this great union of Christian interests, there was little doubt of the issue of the conflict. It had virtually been decided before. Public opinion had pronounced, and was stiil pronoimcing, the doom of the abnegation system. So emphatically were the people of England declaring themselves in favour of a more open recognition of Christianity by a Christian Government, and the concession of greater liberty to Christian missions in the East, that it was no longer possible to withstand the tide of popular feeling. Petitions were pouring in from all parts of the country ; from all classes of society ; from all denomi- nations of Protestant Christians. " On the subject of facilitating the diffusion of Christianity in India," wrote Mr. Simeon to his "dear friend and brother" Thomason, " there are going to be petitions from all quarters. Vast opposition is made to it: Lord Castlereagh is adverse to it ; examinations are making in relation to it at the bar of the House of Commons ; Mr. Hastings, Lord Teignmouth, and others have given their evidence ; Hastings is very adverse. Lord Castlereagh's plan is to send out a bishop and three archdeacons ; but whether it will be approved by Parliament I cannot tell." The war was now being waged in earnest. PETITION OF THE PROTESTANT DISSENTERS. 261 A few days after Simeon's letter was written, the Protestant Dissenters of the country memorialised Parliament, setting forth that " to represent a system of idolatry and superstition as tending to produce moral virtue and human happiness, is no less contrary to the dictates of sound reason and philosophy, than irreconcileahle with the first principles on which our faith is built ; and that, entertaining a directly oppo- site sentiment, the petitioners are anxiously desirous that the light and blessings of Christianity should be gradually diffused over the immense Empire of Great Britain in the East, which, instead of being thereby endangered, would, as they believe on the ground of fact and experience, derive additional strength and stability h-om the spread of the Christian religion ; and that the petitioners are fully aware of the mass of ignorance and prejudice to be encountered, and that the progress of knowledge must be proportionably slow ; but whilst the means of persuasion only are employed (and all others they utterly deprecate), they are at a loss to discover from whence any such appre- hensions of danger can arise, as to induce any wise and good government to discountenance the attempt." Local petitions poured in both from England and Scotland. Glasgow put forth an emphatic appeal, both in behalf of the general dissemination of Chris- tianity throughout India, and, through its ministers and elders, of the claims of the Scottish Church to recognition in India. The Synod of Fife embodied both objects in one comprehensive petition. Mr. Whitbread presented a petition from " the Treasurer, 262 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. Secretaries, and Directors of a certain voluntary Society, known by the name of the Missionary Society, instituted in 1795;" but, half-ashamed of it, begged to be understood as giving no opinion on the subject. Warrington, Sunderland, Leeds, Weymouth, and other places in the north and south too numerous to specify, poured in their petitions both to the Upper and the Lower House. And whilst the two Houses were receiving these indications of popular opinion out-of-doors, they were busily engaged in taking the evidence of experienced members of the civil and military services, and of the commercial community, regarding the different points embraced in the charter of the great Company, which was now about to lose some of its dearest privileges, in spite of the most manful efforts to retain them. Among the remarkable men examined by the Par- liamentary Committees were Warren Hastings, Lord Teignmouth, Sir John Malcolm, and Sir Thomas Munro. When Hastings was asked by the Commons Committee whether he recollected any missionaries in India in his time, he said that he remembered Schwartz, " a very worthy gentleman " in the Car- natic ; and another in Calcutta, Kiernander, who might not perhaps be properly described as a mis- sionary. He stated also, that he remembered one conversion in Calcutta, effected by Kiernander, because it was announced "with great pomp and parade;'' and that he remembered a catholic priest at Dacca, who boasted that he had a number of Christian con- verts, but did not seem to understand Christianity EXAMINATION OF WARREN HASTINGS. 263 himself. When he was asked, what would be the consequences, if persons were allowed to employ them" selves, as missionaries, " unlicensed and subject to no restraint ;" he answered, that he could not suppose such a situation ; but, when told that the Committee meant " unrestrained, as to the mode they may think proper to adopt for effecting their object," he said, that, if such people had demeaned themselves pro- perly, he should have taken no notice of them ; but that, if they had given out that Government en- couraged their designs, he should have exercised his authority in controlling them, or, if necessary, have sent them out of the country. To the question, " What is your opinion as to the political effect of the measure proposed, respecting a Church establishment for India ?" he gave this answer : — ■ " The question is one of great intricacy, and of such delicacy, that I should almost fear to speak to it, but that my respect for this honourable House enjoins it ; because, though it specifically mentions only political effects, yet it intimates no allusion to the nature of the office itself. Of the religious uses, or present necessity, of such a creation I cannot be a judge, and therefore can say nothing to it ; and, unless I knew both the circumstances and object of the creation, it would be impossible for me to conjecture in what way they could affect the peace of the country. May I say, without offence, that I wish any other time had been chosen for it ? A surmise has gone forth of an intention in this Government to force our religion upon the consciences of the people in India, who are 264 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. subjected to the authority of the Company. It has pervaded every one of the three establishments of Bengal, Fort St. George, and Bombay, and has unhappily impressed itself with peculiar force upon the minds of our native infantry, the men on whom we must depend, in the last resort, for our protection against any disturbances, which might be the effect of such surmises. Much would depend upon the temper, conduct, and demeanour of the person devoted to that sacred office. I dare not say all that is in my mind on this subject ; but it is one of great hazard." And thus expressing his fears, the fine old man sat there, the embodiment of public opinion, as it was in India some twenty years before. Another Governor- General followed him; he spoke also, accord- ing to the light that was in him — but how different that light ! Lord Teignmouth came forward, as the representative of a more enlightened era. The Committee seemed to know the kind of man they had to deal with, and assailed him at starting by putting an extreme case: " Would it be consistent with the security of the British empire in India, that mis- sionaries should preach publicly, with a view to the conversion of the native Indians, that Mahomet is an impostor, or should speak in opprobrious terms of the Brahmins, or their religious rites?" To this, of course, Lord Teignmouth replied, that there might be danger in such indiscretion ; but that no one contemplated the conversion of the natives of India by such means ; and when, soon afterwards, the ques- tion was put, " Is your Lordship aware that an opinion EXAMINATION OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. 265 prevails in India, that it is the intention of the British Government to take means to convert the natives of the country to the Christian religion?" he answered, without a moment's hesitation, " / never heard it, or suspected it." One would have thought that there was little need after this to put the case hypothetically; hut the witness was presently asked whether, allowing such an opinion to exist among the natives, the appearance of a Bishop on the stage would not increase the danger. •' I should think," said Lord Teignmouth, " it would be viewed with perfect indif- ference." Determined to work the hypothesis a little more, the Committee asked him whether, "were the Hindoos possessed with an idea, that we had an inten- tion of changing their religion and converting them into Christians, it would be attended with any bad consequences at all?" "I will expatiate a little in my answer to that question," said Lord Teignmouth ; and he then delivered himself of the following explanation, the admirable good sense of which (as I have by anticipation observed, when citing almost similar words from his printed pamphlet,) is not to be sur- passed by anything to be found in the entire mass of evidence elicited, throughout the inquiry, upon all points of the Company's Charter : — " Both the Hindoos and Mahommedans, subject to the British Government in India, have had the expe- rience of some years, that, in all the public acts of that Government, every attention has been paid to their prejudices, civil and religious, and that the freest toleration is allowed to them; that there are 266 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. many regulations of Government which prove the disposition of Government to leave them perfectly free and unmolested in their religious ordinances; and that any attempt at an infringement upon their religion or superstitions would be punished by the Government of India. With that conviction, which arises from experience, I do not apprehend that they would be brought to believe that the Government ever meant to impose upon them the religion of this country." But the Committee had not yet done with their hypothesis, and were determined not to let the witness, whatever might be his opinion of its absurdity, escape without giving a direct answer ; so they assailed him again, by asking, " Should the state of things be altered, and we not observe the conduct we have hitherto observed, but introduce new modes and enact new laws, for the carrying into effect the conversion of the natives to Christianity, would not that be attended with disagreeable consequences ?" To this, of course, but one answer could be given ; and Lord Teignmouth gave that answer, leaving the Committee to make what use of it they could. " If a law were to be enacted," he said, " for converting the natives of India to Christianity, in such a manner, as to have the appearance of a compulsory law upon their con- sciences, I have no hesitation in saying that, in that case, it would be attended with very great danger." Who ever doubted it ? Who ever contended for anything so preposterous — so insane? The Com- mittee must have been in extremis indeed, to have SCIOMACHY OF THE COMMITTEES. 267 fallen back upon such sciomachy as this. They sup- posed a case, which the warmest advocate of church extension and missionary liberty in India would never have contemplated in their most enthusiastic moments ; and which the leaders of the Christian party, men of eminently sound practical good sense, would, if sug- gested to them, in those days, have repudiated with scorn. Such hypothetical questioning — such fighting with shadows, was quite unworthy of a Committee, whose object ought to have been to direct men's minds to the truth, and not to bewilder and lead them astray. No one ever dreamt of forcing Christianity upon the people of India : but the tendency, if not the object, of such questions, as have been cited, was obviously to induce an impression abroad that such intentions had absolutely existed. The Lords' Committee, when they examined Lord Teignmouth, did not touch upon the subject of religion, or Church establishments, at all.* Meanwhile, the work of legislation was slowly pro- ceeding. Lord Liverpool was at this time Prime Minister. Lord Castlereagh was Foreign Secretary, and leader of the House of Commons. The Earl of * But, knowing the kind of answers minds of the natives of India, wlio that would be returned by their men, are subject to the authority of tlie they had not shrunk from questioning British Government, and that not Hastings on these points, though partial, but extending to all our pos- Teignmouth was discreetly left to sessions, arising from a belief, how- himself. Warren Hastings was asked, ever propagated, that there was an "Would the introduction of a Church intention in this Government to en- establishment into the British terri- croach upon the religious rights of tories in the East Indies probably be the people. From the information attended with any consequences that of persons who have recently come would be injurious to the stability of from the different establishments of the Government of India?" and he India, your lordships will easily know replied, "I have imderstood that a whether such apprehensions still great feribentation has atisen in the subsisted, when they left it, or 268 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. Buckinghamshire (known in India as Lord Hobart) was President of the Board of Control. It is believed that the Premier was more liberally disposed than his colleagues towards the promotion of Christianity in India. " Be so good," wrote Buchanan,, in July, 1812, "as to tell and that I have received a letter from Colonel Macaulay this morning, inform- ing me that a deputation of Messrs. Wilberforce, Grant, Babington, &c., had waited on Lord Liverpool, on the subject of evangelising India, and that his Lordship surprised them by offering almost more than they wished. He intimated his intention to carry the three following important measures : — 1st. To establish a seminary at each presidency in India for instructing natives for the ministry ; 2nd. To grant licenses to missionaries, not from the Court of Directors, but from the Board of Control ; 3rd. To consecrate bishops for India." It is probable that Lord Castlereagh's pruning knife was applied to this scheme ; and thence the modified form, which it sub- sequently assumed. It had been determined to proceed by Resolutions, and on the 22nd March, they were announced by Lord Castlereagh. When he came to (what twenty years before had been, and still were irreverently whether the report of them is gronnd- of such an establishment at this par- leas; but, if such apprfheisinns ilo ticnlar season ; in no other light am exist, everything that the irritable I permitted to view it. But 1 can minds iif the people can connect witli conceive that, in a proper time and that, will make an impression upon season, it would he advantageous to them, which they will adopt as the interests of religion, and highly certain assurance of it. So far only, creditable ti> the Company and to considerin|{ the question as a poll- the nation, if the Ecclesiastical Esta- tical one, I may venture to express blishment in India were rendered my apprehension of the consequences complete in all its branches," ' THE RESOLUTIONS. 269 called,) the "pious clauses," he seemed somewhat inclined to get over the ground, with as much rapidity as possible. " Another Eesolution," he said, " which he should propose to the House, would be on the subject of religion. He was aware that it was un- wise to encroach on the subject of religion generally, and that this, under the circumstances of our Govern- ment in India, was a most delicate question. But there was one regulation on the subject necessary, even for the sake of decency. The Company en- trusted with the Supreme Government, in this as in other matters, had permitted the free exercise of religion at their settlements ; but there was no sort of religious control, and the members of the Church of England could not receive the benefits of those parts of their religion, to which the episcopalian functions were necessary, — for example, the ceremony of confirmation. He hoped that the House did not think he was coming out with a great ecclesiastical establishment, for it would only amount to one bishop and three archdeacons, to superintend the chaplains of the different settlements. The Company, he hoped, would not think it an encroachment on their rights, that while British subjects in India were governed by British laws, they should be permitted to exercise their national religion." Charles Grant and Mr. Wilberforce both spoke (but briefly) on that evening : the latter complaining — " that the Eesolu- tion of the 14th May, 1793, relative to the religious and moral instruction of India, had not been attended to." He was unwilling, he said, to leave the same power for 270 CHEISTIANITY IN INDIA. twenty years to come in the hands of the Directors, who had set their face against the introduction of preachers into that country, for twenty years past. On the 9 th of April, moving for certain papers. Lord Wellesley, in an able, and energetic speech, reviewed the whole question of Indian Government in the House of Lords. When he came to those especial points, which we are now considering, he gave his opinion, but not without some qualification, in favour of an extension of the Church establishment ; and delivered himself of a well-deserved compli- mentary tribute to the missionaries. But he spoke as a man with a hobby of his own, which he was resolutely bestriding ; and, thoughtless of any great comprehensive system calculated to advance the real glory of a Christian nation, he looked only to the carrying out of his favourite project of an extensive collegiate establishment, to be presided over by the dignitaries of the Church. The old bugbear of alarm- ing the natives had possession even of his mind : — '* As to the last point," he said, "which regarded the ecclesiastical establishment in India, he always had thought that our ecclesiastical establishment there, did not rest on a footing sufiiciently respectable. He was of opinion that a suitable ecclesiastical establishment would tend to elevate the European character in the eyes of the natives. Whether the proper establish- ment would be a bishop, or archdeacons, was a matter of detail which could be better discussed out of that House. But if it were intended to place the ecclesi- astical establishment there on a more dignified footing, VIEWS OF LOUD WELLE8LEY. 271 care should be taken to avoid all collision between the Government and the Church establishment, with respect to their authorities, by means similar to the connection between the Crown and the Church in this country and in Ireland. From recent events, which had taken place in India, it would, however, be certainly a matter of considerable delicacy : and, although no mischief might result from it, yet there was a possibility that the introduction of a very con- siderable novelty of this description in India might occasion some alarm am.ong the natives." He lamented the absence from the scheme of the new Charter of any provision for the education of the civil and military servants of the Company. He expressed his conviction that there could be no better means of disseminating Christianity in India, than by placing the head of the Church establishment there at the head of the Collegiate establishment of Fort "William ; and he augured much from *' the gradual diflPusion of knowledge, which would result from this intercourse between learned natives and the dignitaries of our church in India." He then wept on to speak of the missionaries ; — "With regard to the missionaries, he must say, that, while he was in India, he never knew of any danger arising from them ; neither had he heard of any impression made by them, in the way of conver- sion. The greater number of them were in the Danish settlements } but he never heard of any con- vulsions, or any alarm being produced by them. Some of them, particularly Mr. Carey, were very 272 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. learned men, and had been employed in the College of Bengal. He had always considered the mission- aries, who were in India during his time, as a quiet, orderly, discreet, and learned body ; and he had employed many of them in the education of youth, and in translating the Scriptures, into the Eastern languages. He however had issued no order, nor given any authority for the dissemination of those translations among the natives. He had thought it his duty to have the Scriptures translated into the languages of the East, and to give the learned natives, employed in the translation, the advantages of access to the sacred fountains of divine truth. He thought that a Christian governor could not have done less, and he believed that a British governor ought not to do more."* * The influence of Mr. Wilberforce, revive, that, I mean, of diffusing an intimate personal friend of Lord nseful knowledge of all sorts among Wellesley, had been exerted, in this the natives of India ; and 1 confess, direction, with good success. With for my own part, that I have always admirable tact and savoir faire, he held, and still retain the opinion, assailed the weak side of his lordship, that education, the translation and appealing to his particular sympathies diflusion of the Scriptures, and ad- and predilections, and almost per- vancement in general knowledge, suading him that the Anti-Christian would be far the most powerful party were attacking the ex-Go- agents in the great work of Christi- vernor-General's own system. " I anising the natives of India. Your know not," he wrote, "whether your weight thrown into the right scale lordship has heard of the unreason- will make it preponderate." To this able clamour, that has been raised he added a complaint, only too by the Anglo-Indians in the House applicable to the Parliament of the of Commons against all, even the present day, of the ignorance of most prudent, attempts to convert both Houses — " I will only add, that the natives of India ; and more your lordship can scarcely conceive especially against missionaries. Now (if I may judge of the House of let me hope — a hope, which I share Lords from the general condition of with, I am glad to say, a considerable the members of the House of Corn- number of men in the House of mons) how ignorant their lordships Commons, and with many more out in general are likely to be regarding of it — ^that your lordship, will to- India, and therefore how little they morrow use your just authority in are qualified to ask questions in putting to flight these vain fears ; — Committee." A wish was also the rather, because the alarmists are expressed that the Marquis would enemies of the system, which your attend that Committee, of which he lordship certainly established, and was a member, but an ever-absent which, I trust, you will confirm and one. In replying to the speech, THE RESOLUTIONS. 273 The President of the Board of Control and the Prime Minister spoke upon that evening, , and Lord Grenville made a very long and very able speech; but the religious points of the question were left untouched. In the meanwhile the Commons had proceeded to the consideration of the Eesolutions. On the 31st of March, they resolved themselves into a com- mittee of the whole House (Mr. Lushington in the chair). A lengthy debate ensued, principally remark- able for a very dull speech by Mr. Bruce, and a very brilliant one by young Charles Grant.* Canning also spoke, characterising the free admission of English- men as traders in India, as a movement to " allow a fe\y pedlars to travel in the country with a pack of scissors, or other hardware, at their backs ; " and declared his conviction that "no system could be radically bad, which had produced such able and enlightened statesmen as had been examined on the part of the Company." But the "pious clauses" were not then touched upon. It was not, indeed, until the l6th of June, that the 12th Kesolution — " That it is the opinion of this Committee, that it is expedient that the Church establishment in the British territories should be placed under the superin- frotn which I have quoted in the descended to cast one ray of light on text, the Earl of Buckinghamshire, their proceedings, &c. &c." Warren then President of the Board of Hastings, Mr. Cowper, and Lord Control, taunted Lord Wellesley with Teignraouth, had aU been examined his non-attendance. " A Select Com- at this time. mittee had been formed, of which * The present Lord Glenelg. It his noble friend was a member, but must have been a fine thing to have he never once had attended that seen the two Charles Grants — father Committee ; with all the Icnowledge and son — fighting side by side on the and all the information he possessed floor of the House of Commons, on that subject, he had not con- 274 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. tendence of a bishop and three archdeacons, and that adequate provision should be made, from the terri- torial revenues of India, for their maintenance," came under discussion. It passed without a division, but "after a long conversation," the particulars of which have not been reported by the Parliamentary historian. The missionary clause came next. That was the field on which the great battle was to be fought between the Christian and the Philo-Hindoo parties. The resolution was thus worded : — " That it is the opinion of this Committee, that it is the duty of this country to promote the interest and happiness of the native inhabitants of the British dominions in India, and that such measures ought to be adopted, as may tend to the introduction among them of useful know- ledge, and of religious and moral improvement. That in the furtherance of the above objects, sufficient facilities shall be afforded by law to persons desirous of going to and remaining in India, for the purpose of accomplishing those benevolent designs." It was thus cautiously worded, so as to contain no direct mention of missionaries and Christianity. Twenty years before, the effort to obtain a similar recogni- tion of the duties of a Christian nation had broken down under the alarm created by the mention of schoolmasters and missionaries ; and now profiting by experience, Wilberforce and his friends exerted themselves to obtain an official avoidance of the dangerous specifications which had ruined the good cause of old. wilberfobce's speech. 2/5 A special day (the 22nd of June) was set apart for the discussion of the clause. In a brief speech, ex- pressive of his helief that no evil would arise from the admission of missionaries (under certain restric- tions) into India, and of his hope that the question would be discussed with discreetness and moderation, Castlereagh introduced the resolution. He was fol- lowed by Sir Henry Montgomery, an old Indian, who declared that during twenty years' residence in the country, he had " never known an instance of any convert being made to Christianity, nor had he ever heard of any, except one, who was converted by that very respectable individual, Mr. Schwartz." " The attempt to introduce Christianity," it was said, " had never succeeded ; but it had been productive of endless massacres and mischiefs." " The religion of the Hindoos," it was contended, "was pure and unex- ceptionable ;" and Dr. Buchanan's account of its ceremonies was " an imposition upon England, and a libel upon India." And he concluded by declaring that "he was more anxious to save the lives of the 30,000 of his fellow-countrymen in India, than to save the souls of all the Hindoos by making them Christians at so dreadful a price." After a brief maiden speech from the Honourable Frederick Pouglas, who spoke in favour of the reso- lution, and contended that religion was not the cause of the massacre at Vellore, Mr. Wilberforce rose. He had girded himself for the conflict : and had gone down to the House with quite an encyclopaedia of authorities in support of his favourite opinions. His 1 2 276 CHniSTIANITY IN INDIA. whole heart was in the encounter. He spoke long and well, tossing about the testimonies of the learned with a prodigality that was quite overwhelming. He quoted the opinions of all the Governors-General, one after the other, to show that the people of India were the most abandoned people on the face of. the earth. He quoted the historians ; he quoted the missionaries ; he quoted the civil servants of the Company ; he quoted Orme, Verelst, Scrafton, Bolts, Malcolm, Grant, Mackintosh, Colebrooke, Kerr, Marshman, Carey, Ward, and an infinite number of ofiicial reports. He piled up authority upon authority to demonstrate the claims of this un- happy and most benighted people upon the Christian sympathies of the British nation. It was a noble piece of special pleading, not exempt from exaggera- tion* — that exaggeration, which is perhaps seldom * But it was characterized, at the same time, hy a remarkable amount of acuteness and good sense. At the outset, he insisted upon the necessity of detaching ministers entirely from all connection with Go- vernment. Mr. Douglas had spoken of the expediency of employing the Company's chaplains as missionaries. After stating other objections to this course, Wilberforce said : — " It wiU not, I know, escape him, passing over other objections to the mea- sure, that it necessarily implies that the missionaries who are to officiate in India, are to be expressly com- missioned and employed by the State, or by the East India Com- pany; whereas, I am persuaded we shall all concur in thinking that it ought to be left to the spontaneous benevolence and zeal of individual Christians, controlled, of course, by the discretion of Government, to engage in the work of preaching the gospel to the natives in our Indian territories; and that.the missionaries should be clearly understood to be armed with no authority, furnished with no commission, from the govern- ing power of the country." A little while afterwards he observed, with equal truth: — "After much reflec- tion, I do not hesitate to declare that from enlightening and informing them (the natives), in other words, from education aud instruction, from the diffusion of knowledge, from the progress of science, more especially from all these combined with the circulation of the Scriptures in the native languages, I ultimately expect even more than from the direct labours of missionaries properly so called." Most worthy, indeed, are these passages of consideration at tlie present time. PROGRESS OF THE INDIA BILL. 277 absent from the addresses of a man very full of his subject, very earnest and energetic, thoroughly con- vinced in his own mind, and intensely eager to bring conviction to the minds of others. The grandeur of the aims, the high character and pure sincerity of the speaker, imparted a dignity and solemnity to the address which it was impossible not to venerate. It made an impression upon the House ; it made an impression throughout the country.*" Its course was successful, but not unopposed. The resolution was carried that night by a majority of 89 to 36 ; only 125 members having been induced to sit out the discussion. The Bill was read a first and second time without a division. On the 28th, Castlereagh moved the order of the day for going into committee. After some brief speeches from Mr. Pascoe Grenfell and others, the elder Grant delivered a long and able address in defence of the Company ; but he purposely avoided the discussion of "the religious question," thinking it wiser to leave it in the hands of Wilber- force and other independent speakers. Mr. Lushing- ton followed with a reply to Wilberforce, and a defence of the Hindoos, to be answered by stout William Smith, who, with Mr. Stephen, had fought the battle of Christianity nobly, as Wilberforce's * "The dogmas of some men,'' mas of some men are of incomparably writes Sir James Stephen, who, in more value (in the House of Corn- fulfilment of the mandate, Thine own mons) than the logic of others ; and friend and thj Father's friend forsake no member except the leaders of the not, has borne touching and eloquent great contending parties, addressed tribute to the worth of Wilberforce the House, with an authority equal . and his chosen associates, " the dog- to that of Mr. Wilberforce." 278 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. lieutenants. Mr. Tierney was the next speaker. Mr. Tierney often said very clever things in a very had spirit. But the following is a very stupid thing in a very bad spirit. " He now came to the consider- ation of a clause for the appointment of an arch- bishop, who was never to apply himself to trade. Why, what was he to employ himself about? An arduous task — the jurisdiction from the Cape of Good Hope to remote Cape Horn. It would have been well, had any explanation been given, concerning what the archbishop was to busy himself about. He had no concern with morals and religion : these were confided in a separate clause to the missionaries. It appeared to him a gross job, the object of which was Church patronage in India." In such a spirit, and with such an amount of intelligence, was the episcopal question discussed by independent members of the House of Commons. On the 1st of July, the House having gone into committee, the discussion was again resumed, and a very remarkable speech delivered oil the wrong side of the question. The speaker was Mr. Charles Marsh. This gentleman had formerly been a member of the legal profession at Madras. He had taken a conspicuous part in the discussions which had arisen, a few years before, out of the unhappy dissensions at that presi- dency, during the administration of Sir George Barlow, distinguishing himself by the bitterness with which he assailed that misjudged statesman. He was a writer and speaker of eminent ability ; bold, ear- MR. CHARLES MARSH. 279 nest, and impetuous : but he wanted judgment, tem- per, and consistency. He used strong language, and he used it well. His declamation was forcible, vivid, picturesque. But the impression left upon the minds of his hearers was of a transitory character. They admired his eloquence, but were not convinced by his arguments. The address, which he delivered on the 1st of July, 1813 — an elaborate protest against Christian liberty in India — cannot be read, even now, without the strongest feelings of regret that such fine talents were turned to such bad account. With a more chastened fancy, a more calm and philosophic temperament, with a less dominant self-reliance, with less impatience, and with less intolerance, he might have taken a foremost place among the debaters of that epoch ; but grievously lacking self-control and moderation, he failed by reason of his excesses, and after a brief meteoric display, disappeared altogether from the scene, and was speedily forgotten. There was little or nothing in this address that had not been said before ; but Mr. Marsh assuredly said it better than it had ever been said before. He said, indeed, everything that could be said upon the sub- ject ; and he said it extremely well. A dexterous allusion to the recent murder at Blackheath of Mr. and Mrs. Bonar by their footman, Nicholson, and to the still mysterious affair of the alleged attack upon the Duke of Cumberland by his valet, Sellis — two incidents which were then exciting the public mind — told with something of novel effect on the House. It was, of course, the object of his party to 280 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. exalt the Hindoo character. It must, in all candour, be acknowledged that Wilherforce and his associates had unduly depreciated it. There was consider able exaggeration on both sides ; but it may be doubted whether the following eloquent picture of Hindooism is not more painfully untrue than anything that emanated from Mr. Marsh's antago- nists ; — " Indeed, when I turn my eyes either to the present condition, or ancient grandeur, of that country ; when I contemplate the magnificence of her structures, her spacious reservoirs, constructed at an immense ex- pense, pouring fertility and plenty over the land, the monuments of a benevolence expanding its cares over remote ages ; when I survey the solid and embellished architecture of her temples, the elaborate and ex- quisite skill of her manufactures and fabrics, her literature, sacred and profane, her gaudy and ena- melled poetry, on which a wild and prodigal fancy has lavished all its opulence ; when I turn to the philo- sophers, lawyers, and moralists, who have left the oracles of political and ethical wisdom to restrain the passions and to awe the vices which disturb the commonwealth ; when I look at the peaceful and harmonious alliances of families, guarded and secured by the household virtues ; when I see, amongst a cheerful and well-ordered society, the benignant and softening influences of religion and morality, a system of manners founded on a mild and polished obeisance, and preserving the surface of social life smooth and unruffled — I cannot hear without surprise, mingled wilberforce's rejoinder. 281 with horror, of sending out Baptists and Anabaptists to civilize or convert such a people, at the hazard of disturbing or deforming institutions, wrhich appear to have hitherto been the means ordained by Providence of making them virtuous and happy." This speech called forth a rejoinder from Wilber- force, distinguished by no common ability. Southey had ransacked his marvellous common-place book to supply illustrations, dravirn from Portuguese history, of the little danger that attends interference with the customs of the people of India. And now the speaker, thus fortified by the erudition of the newly-appointed laureate, cited Albuquerque with good effect ; entered into an elaborate explanation of the causes of the massacre of Vellore (an event which Mr. Marsh had of course emphatically dwelt upon, for it was the stock-in-trade of his party) ; spoke of the suppression of female infanticide by Jonathan Duncan and Colonel Walker, and of the Saugor sacrifices by Lord Welles- ley ; rebuked Mr. Marsh for speaking of the mission- aries as Anabaptists and fanatics ; and compared the present contest with the great struggle, in which he and his friends had so long been engaged, for the suppression of the Slave Trade. He was followed by Mr. Forbes, Mr. William Smith, and other speakers, among whom was Whitbread, who spoke out manfully in favour of the religious clauses. " I am charmed with Whitbread," wrote Buchanan to a friend, a few days afterwards, " when he sounds the right note." The House divided ; and there were fifty-four votes for the clause, and thirty-two against it. A hundred 282 .CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. members could not be induced to sit out this im- portant debate. Five hundred had divided a few weeks before on the Roman Catholic Relief Bill. The most important Indian questions were then, as at a later period, debated in attenuated and languid Houses. The clause, however, was not carried less surely for that in the Commons. In the House of Lords it passed ^yithout a division. And so the victory was gained. A charter, em- bracing the establishment of an Indian bishopric and the concession of greater liberty to Christian Missions, passed into law ; and those good men, who had fought so valiantly in the libraries of their suburban villas, and on the floor of the Commons' House at West- minster, rejoiced with an exceeding great joy over their success. They all lived to see the end of the struggle ; but, the contest over, some soon descended to their graves. " John Venn," says the ecclesiastical biographer, " to whom the whole sect looked up as their pastor and spiritual guide, was at that time on his death-bed. He had been the projector, and one of the original founders, of the Society for sending Missionaries of the Anglican communion to Africa and the East — a body which, under the name of the ' Church Missionary Society,' now commands a wider field of action, and a more princely revenue, than any Protestant association of the same character."* Nor was he the only one of that band of Christian * This society had exerted itself to meeting of the society had been held, tlie utmost throughout the glorious at which 400 gentlemen were present, and successful contest. On the 21st including several members of Parlia- of April, 1812, a special general ment. Lord Gambier was in the DEATH OF CLAUDIUS BUCHANAN. 283 athletes whose days were well nigh numbered. Henry Thornton did not long survive his honoured friend and pastor ; and Claudius Buchanan soon followed his early benefactor to the grave. Neither lived to receive the tidings of the arrival of the first Indian bishop at the seat of his future labours. In January, 1815, Henry Thornton entered into his rest. Claudius, Buchanan, whose strength had been for some time visibly declining, came up from the country to at- tend the funeral of his revered patron and friend. The effort was too much for him. The inclement January weather told with deadly effect upon his decaying constitution, and he returned home only to die. He was not an old man. He had not, indeed, entered his fiftieth year. But he had brought with him a debilitated constitution from India, and had encountered many severe trials since his return to his chair. By this meeting, a committee, cious maimer in which he brought or deputation, was appointed to seek the claims of the heathen before the for interviews with his Majesty's public, his own high character, per- Ministers, and to use all available sonal influence, and holy zeal in the means of obtaining a favourable cause, and the high and well-won reply to their petition. This deputa- reputation of the Serampore mis- tion held various conferences with sionaries, did much to win the battle, the Prime Minister, and other lead- Nor was Mr. Pratt, even in this life, ing members of the Administration. without his reward. In one year after Their success was mainly owing to the publication of the "Register," the indefatigable labours of the se- the income of the society rose from cretary of the society, the Rev. 3,000?. to 14,000/.; and what its sub- Josiah Pratt. He made arrange- sequentcoursehasbeen,all Christians ments for large and influential meet- know. He lived to see a " spiritual" ings throughout the country, framed bishop: he lived to see his own pupil petitions, drew up resolutions, and and friend at the head of the Indian himself appealed most effectively to ecclesiastical establishment ; he lived the public, both from the platform to see his own son (the present Arch- and through the press J and with the deacon of Calcutta), like-minded most marked and happy effect, in with himself, labouring in the same January, 1813, he published the first great field ; and he died, lamented by number of " The Missionary Re- good men of every persuasion, full of gister," The admirable and judi- years and honour. 284 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. native land. The disappointments of worldly ambition were not, however, among them. He was not a dis- appointed man. If he had ever been ambitious, he had long outgrown his ambition. It was of course imputed to him that his zeal in behalf of the establishment of episcopal jurisdiction in India was fostered, if it was not actually generated, by a selfish desire to place the mitre upon his own brows. It would have been marvellous if this charge had not been brought against him ; for in polemics forbear- ance is a rare quality. But I believe that there was no more truth in the accusation than in the ordinary shifts of defeated controversialists, who, when argu- ment is lacking, betake themselves to abuse. Before leaving India he had written to Mr. Grant, — " As to returning in order to receive episcopal dignity, my soul sinks at the thought of it. I trust my lines will rather be cast in a curacy. Place the mitre on any head. Never fear ; it will do good among the Hin- doos. A spiritual Bishop will appear in good time." What he thought of the selection that was actually then made from among the clergy of Great Britain to fill the episcopal chair, first planted on Indian soil, his biographer has not informed us. The state of Buchanan's health was a sufficient bar to his promo- tion, had no other impediments existed. But there is no reason to believe otherwise than that, had his constitution been unimpaired, his claims would equally have been passed over. He was not in good odour in high places. His zeal and ability were admitted ; but, rightly or wrongly, he was supposed to be wajjt- EARLY DAYS OF BISHOP MIDDLETON. 285 ing in judgment and discretion. He was not a safe man. A safe man was wanted ; and one was found in the parish of St. Pancras. The first bishop of the Anglican Church in India deserves detailed notice in such a volume as this — I may be permitted, there- fore, to pause and to speak of his antecedents. Thomas Fanshawe Middleton, the only son of a country clergyman, was born in January, 1769) at his father's rectory, in the village of Kedleston, Derby- shire. At the age of ten he was sent to Christ's Hospital (the " Blue Coat School"), whence he emerged in due course to commence, at Pembroke Col- lege, Cambridge, his university career. In January, 1792, he took his bachelor's degree — standing fourth in the list of senior optimes. In the^foUowing March, he was ordained Deacon by Dr. Pretyman, Bishop of Lincoln, and entered upon his duties, as a minister of the Gospel, in the quiet curacy of Gainsborough. Bishop Middleton was one of many eminent men, who have owed their elevation in life mainly to their connection with the press. At Gainsborough, having sufficient leisure for literary pursuits, he edited a small periodical, entitled the " Country Spectator," which, short-lived as it was, endured sufficiently long to recommend the writer of the principal papers to the good offices of Dr. Pretyman, brother of the bishop, who took the trouble to lift the anonymous veil, and, having lifted it, was sufficiently well pleased with the result to secure Mr. Middleton's services for the domestic education of his sons. The Pretyman interest seems to have been the making of the young 286 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. clergyman. It introduced him not merely to ordinary church preferment, hut to such scholarly society, as, under other circumstances, would not have heen within his reach ; and, from this attrition of erudite classical minds, emanated that work on the Greek article, which laid the hroad foundation-stone of his reputation and his success. In those days, a treatise on the Greek article was not seldom the ladder hy which inen rose to the highest offices in the Anglican Church. How far it may have assisted in the eleva- tion of Middleton, I do not undertake to determine ; hut his advancement, after that great feat of scholar- ship, was sufficiently rapid to warrant a conjecture that the Greek article helped him to ascend to the Epis- copal climax. The Pretymans, as I have said, were his great patrons. Through them Middleton obtained the livings of Tansor and Bythams, a prebendal stall at Lincoln, the Archdeaconry of Huntingdon, the Eectory of Puttenham, in Hertfordshire, and the great parish of St. Pancras, London. In the last of these, Dr. Middleton exerted himself to compass the erection of a new parish church. It wa^ deplorably wanted: — hut, somehow or other, he failed. The good work, which he could not achieve, was left to his successor to accomplish ;* and St. Pancras now rejoices in one of the most capacious religious edifices in the metropolis of England, and a large supplement of district churches, but still, I am told, greatly inadequate to the religious wants of the period.f * Dr. Moore succeeded Dr. Middleton, and held the living for nearly five and thirty years. It is now held by Mr. Dale, f See ante, pages 52-53. CONSECRATION OF BISHOP MIDDLETON. 287 His removal to London, which took place in 1811, enahled him to take an active part in the proceedings of the Christian Knowledge Society, to form many valuable clerical acquaintances, and to undertake the editorship of the British Critic — at that time a periodical of some repute in the literary and religious worlds. He was in a fair way now to the highest honours of the church, and would, not improbably, have risen to the episcopal dignity in his own country, if the establishment of the Indian bishopric had not opened the road to more speedy preferment. The nomination of the new bishop was in the power of the President of the Board of Control — then the Earl of Buckinghamshire ; and the choice, upon the recom- mendation (it would seem) of Dr. Tomline, Bishop of Lincoln, fell upon Dr. Middleton, who held a prebendal stall in that diocese. " Overpowered," says his biography, " by the vast magnitude and appalling novelty of such a charge, he was at first tempted to decline the offer. His maturer thoughts, however, condemned this determination as unworthy of a Christian minister; and he found no peace of mind, until he had recalled his first decision, and had formed a resolution to brave the difiiculties of the office, and the dangers of a tropical climate, in the service of his Saviour," On the 8th of May, 1814, in the chapel attached to that venerable pile of buildings, which imparts something of interest to the dreary tracts of river- bank that lie between Westminster and Vauxhall — the archi-episcopal palace of Lambeth — the first 288 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. Indian bishop was formally consecrated. The con- secration sermon was preached by Dr. Kennell, Dean of Winchester. The subject was a suggestive one ; but what it suggested it is not permitted to me to write. There is no exhumation of the discourse practicable, search, as we may, in public libraries or old book-shops. It is customary to publish these things; but good Dr. Rennell's consecration sermon was not published. Christianity had triumphed ; but still, in spite of its triumph, Christianity was com- pelled to walk with discretion. There were thorns and briars, and broken glass and sharp flint-stones, to be avoided with cautious tread. The bishopric had been wrung from Parliament ; but it was dan- gerous to make a noise about it. The least said, the soonest mended. The enemy had been beaten, but not annihilated ; and it was deemed prudent not to invite any new attacks. So the sermon was left to languish in the obscurity of manuscript, secure from the stolid assaults of the Warings, the Twinings, and other ingenious members of the same college of alarmists, who saw a massacre in every thread of the lawn-sleeves, which were now about, for the first time, to form an item of an Indian outfit. Having been elected a fellow of the Royal Society — having been complimented by the Christian Know- ledge Society, who placed 1,000Z. at his disposal for the promotion of their views in India — and having received from his friends a parting memorial in the shape of a superb silver inkstand, Bishop Middleton embarked for Calcutta. Among the passengers in BISHOP MIDDLETON AT MADEIRA. 289 the Warren Hastings were two of the new archdea- cons. It might be thought, and not unreasonably, that a selection for these subordinate offices would have been made from among those ministers, who had long been bearing, in India, " the burden and heat of the day:" but, except in the case of the Madras archdeaconry, which was bestowed upon Mr. Mousley, a resident chaplain, the appointments fell to the lot of new men — fellows of Oxford. The Simeonites were not much in favour in those days. Among the passengers, too, was Dr. Bryce, who had been ap- pointed, under the new charter, Scotch chaplain, and who was destined afterwards to fill no inconsiderable part in the annals of Indian controversial literature. The voyage out was a prosperous and a pleasant, one. Middleton fitted up a library in his cabin, " furnished with more than a hundred volumes, Hebrew, Greek, Persian, Latin, French, and English — ^theological, classical, mathematical, historical, and poetical ;" he preached on Sundays to an orderly and attentive congregation, and was well pleased with his fellow-passengers and the captain. Stopping at Madeira, he was induced to preach to the factory there ; but, as there was no regularly consecrated church, the mind of the formalist misgave him. " I rather hesitated at first about preaching in such a place ; but I recollected that the bishops in England preach in proprietary chapels, which are not a whit better, and have less excuse ; for the Portuguese Government will not allow anything having the interior of a church to be built by Protestants." u 290 CHRISTIANITY JN INDIA. Why, under such circumstances, he should have hesitated to preach " in a room, with seats for the ladies, and a sort of desk for the clergyman," more than in the cuddy or on the quarter deck of the Warren Hastings, with the dinner tahle or the capstan for a pulpit, it is not very easy to discern. And it is still less easy to understand how one, claim- ing to he a successor of the apostles, can have hesi- tated at all about doing what the apostles did of old, and a greater than the apostles did before them. On the 28th of November, 1814, the first Indian Bishop ascended the steps of one of the ghauts of Calcutta. His landing, in his own words, " was without any eclat, for fear of alarming the prejudices of the natives." On Christmas day he preached his first sermon before a congregation of 1,300 persons, and administered the sacrament to 160 communicants, including the Judges and the members of Council. " The day," he wrote to his friends in England, " will long be remembered in Calcutta." " And so commenced the episcopal period of Chris- tianity in India. There was no commotion — ^no excitement at its dawn. Offended Hinduism did not start up in arms ; nor indignant Mohammedanism raise a warcry of death to the infidel. English gentlemen asked each other, on the course, or at the dinner table, if they had seen the Bishop ; and officious native sircars pressed their services upon the ' Lord Padre Sahib.' But the heart of Hindu society beat calmly as was its wont. Brahmanism stood not aghast at the sight of the lawn sleeves of the Bishop ; AUBIVAL OP THE BISHOP. 291 he preached in the Christian temple on the Christian's bara din ; and that night the Europeans in Calcutta slept securely in their heds : securely next morning they went forth to their accustomed work. There was not a massacre ; there was not a rehellion. Chow- ringhee was not in a blaze ; the waters of the Z/all Diggy did not run crimson with Christian blood. The merchant took his place at his desk ; the public servant entered his office : and the native underlings salamed meekly and reverentially as ever. In the fort the English captain faced his native company ; and the sepoy, whatever his caste, responded to the well-known word of command, with the ready disci- pline he had learned under the old charter. Every- thing went on according to wonted custom, in spite of the Bishop, and his lawn sleeves, and his sermon on Christmas day. No one looked differently ; no one felt differently ; and it really seemed probable, after all, that British dominion in the East would survive the episcopal blow. " The truth is, that those of the natives — the better educated and more intelligent few — who really thought anything about the matter, thought the better of us for evincing this outward respect for our religion, and have thought the better of us and our faith ever since. All the trash that was written and spoken about alarming the Hindus and weakening our hold of India ; all the ominous allusions to the Vellore mas- sacre, and anticipations of new catastrophes of the same class, now appeared in their true light, and were valued at their proper worth. Mr. Buchanan's * san- c 2 292 CH&ISTIANITY IN INDIA. guinary doctrines,' as Mr. Twining ludicrously called them in one of his pamphlets, had now heen fully reduced to practice ; and yet not a drop of hlood had heen shed — not a blow struck — not a menace uttered — not a symptom of disquiet had evinced itself. Our empire in India was then 'not worth a year's pur- chase ;' and yet now for thirty-five years has it survived that first awful episcopal sermon on Christmas day."* Of the condition of the church, on the arrival of Bishop Middleton, some idea may be gathered from what has been written in other chapters of this work. " The total number of clergy," says Mr. Le Bas, the biographer of Bishop Middleton, " both civil and mili- tary, did not, there is reason to believe, in 1814, exceed thirty-two ; in the proportion of fifteen for Bengal, twelve for Madras, and five for Bombay. This number, small as it was, was subject to continual reduction, by illness, death, necessary absence, or return to England. Such, for instance, was the amount of these casualties at Bombay on the arrival of Archdeacon Barnes in 1814, that he found at that presidency only one efficient clergyman on the esta- blishment ; and was compelled himself for some time to undertake the ordinary duties of a chaplain." Mr. Whitehead says that this computation is too high ; and makes the following statement on the authority of Mr. Abbott, the ecclesiastical registrar : * The two paragraplis indicated this book, sometimes with and some- by inverted commas have already times without acknowledgment, I do appeared in the chapter on " Chris- not see why I should not quote tianity," in a work published by me from it myself, when it appears to in 1853, on "the Administration of me that I cannot say the same thing the East India Company." As I find better ia other words, that other writers quote largely from PAUCITY OF CLEBGYMEN. 293 " On the arrival of Bishop Middleton in 1814, he found effective resident chaplains in Bengal, eight ; in Madras, five or six ; and in Bombay, one. Mis- sionai-ies under episcopal jurisdiction, or licensed by the Bishop, there were none, India then possessed fifteen parochial clergy." We have now in the three presidencies more than two hundred clergymen of the Church of England. " The grand evil," writes Mr Le Bas, " next to the want of the regular episcopal superintendence, was the insufficiency of the number of the clergy ; it is painful to add that, few as they were, the churches, or places set apart for divine worship, were still fewer. At each presidency or seat of the local Governments there was one church, and one only ; for the second church at Calcutta was private pro- perty, and the chaplain who officiated there was especially appointed to that service by the Court." [It was not less a church for all that]. " In the country there were one or two more churches at certain of the more important stations ; but, in most of the places where the clergy were called upon to officiate, no such provision was made. A mess-room, a barrack, or, in some instances, the official court of the magistrate, was the only convenience that could be obtained for the assembling of a Christian congre- gation, and the public exercise of prayer and praise to the Almighty." Marriages were generally per- formed by commanding officers, or civil authorities, and the sacrament of baptism was often administerde by laymen. But there were worse things still in the 294 CHHtSTlANITY IN INt)IA. opinion of the orthodox biographer ; for a minister of the Church of England — on one occasion certainly, perhaps on others— had " ventured on the perform- ance of religious functions in a character, higher than that to which he had been ordained !" The Bishop soon began to busy himself about forms, and to exhibit much orthodox zeal in the matter of church-building, " You will be glad," he wrote to Archdeacon Barnes, " to hear that, including a chapel at the gaol here, Surat chapel will be one of four now building in India. PTay, direct that it be placed with the altar to the East;" and agaih, *' Pray request Mr. Carr to take care that it he built in the proper direction, east and west ; so that the altar be east- ward. The architects in India seem rather to affect variety than uniformity in this particular. There has been sad irregularity !" Sad, indeed ! — But Brown and Buchanan, Martyn and Thomason, had not been much distressed by it ; or, at all events, had borne the affliction patiently and uncomplainingly. Perhaps, they had learnt no lessons in church archi- tecture at Mr. Simeon's college rooms. The Simeon and Pretyman schools seem to have somewhat differed. The Bishop was a martyr to the prickly heat. He complained piteously of it in his letters. " It has ignited," he said, " my whole frame ; and what with the setisations of pricking, and burning, and itching, and sorenfess, and lassitude, and irritability, I am littlfe qualified for anything that requires attention." But there was something that irritated him even ■ THE BISHOP AND THE PRESBYTERIANS. 295 more than the prickly heat ; and that was — Dr. Bryce. The same charter which tolerated a hishop tolerated also two Scotch clergymen ; and the same ship which conveyed the Bishop to Calcutta, carried also the senior Scotch chaplain. The shipmates had not been long landed, before, as it is said. Dr. Bryce, lacking a presbyterian church for his own especial uses, applied to the bishop for the alternate use of the cathedral ! The application, as might be expected, not proving successful, he obtained the use of the college hall, and there preached a sermon, in which little quarter was given to the predominance of episcopalianism ; and he published it as a " Sermon preached at the opening of the Church of Calcutta." And to crown the whole, when the first stone of St. Andrew's Church was laid, with great national demonstrations and masonic ceremonials, Bishop Middleton was invited to attend.* All this was gall and wormwood to the Bishop. It irritated him, as I have said, more than the prickly heat ; and the irritation was kept alive by the astounding presumption of the Presbyterian com- munity of Calcutta, who petitioned Parliament for the privilege of being married by their own ministers, and according to the rites of their own church. They * Speaking of the appointment of and tiiat in the other presidences the the Scutch chaplains, and the erection defection was still more insignificant." of the Scotch churches in the three This is very inconclusive, there presidencies, Mr. Xe Bas observes may have been many others, not that " it was shown incOntestably, withdrawn from Episcopal com- that there was no occasion for such munion, because never in it. Mr. a movement, by the fact, that, when Le Bas should have estimated the the new congregation was formed in want by the number, who joined Calcutta, it withdrew no more than the Scotch congregation. When the 100 members from our communion, church was erected. 296 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. gained their point too. The Scottish ministers at the presidencies were permitted to perform the cere- mony of marriage for members of the Scottish church ; and "it will easily be imagined," says the Bishop's biographer, " that occurrences of this description were not peculiarly animating or consolatory to Bishop Middleton."* Calcutta, indeed, was found to be a very hotbed of schism ; and the Bishop thought it was very hard that the State should have conspired to disturb the even tenor of the Church's existence at so critical a time. A new source of inquietude arose from the defec- tive provisions of the letters patent. Bishop Mid- dleton was a bishop without a clergy. There were clergymen in India — but there was no parochial clergy. There was no clergy over which he had supreme authority. The chaplains were Government chaplains, amenable to the orders of the secular authorities — sent hither and thither in general orders like a deputy collector, or a captain of engineers. The Bishop had really no power over them ; and of this complaint was not unreasonably made. The Governor- General — Lord Moira — decided in favour of the authority of the Bishop ; but the Court of * In the celebrated "steeple" It was built after the model of a controversy also, the pugnacious Dr. church in Italy, with two fine domes, Bryce was again victorious. The and to these, was added a spire, vexation of Mr. Le Bas, in relating which, like that at Calcutta, towers this fresh instance of Presbyterian very considerably above the steeple of presumption, is not a little amusing. every English place of worship !" " St. Andrew's Church in Calcutta," The Bishop's biographer however he wrote in his Life of Middleton, consoled himself with the reflection "is a much more stately fabric than that the Court of Directors agreed St. John's Cathedral, while the Scotch to erect the Bombay spire as a church, at Madras is, perhaps, the matter of indifference not as a noblestChristiauedificeJnHindustan. matter ot right! p. 247. THE ENGLISH . CHURCH AT MADRAS. 297 Directors repealed the decision : and the Bishop was no longer suffered to be commandant of the regiment of chaplains.* In July, 1815, the office of confirmation was per- formed for the first time in Calcutta ; and December of the same year witnessed the Bishop's first visitation. On the 18th of that month he left Calcutta for Madras. In the latter presidency, he found church affairs even in a less encouraging condition than in that which he had just left. In his own words, " within two years, a clergyman of good character was put under arrest by his commanding officer. In another instance, a military officer chose to have notice of the sacrament inserted in regimental orders ; and, in a third, an officer ordered a chaplain to do the duty in a place so offensive, that no body could attend." The secular authorities were getting the upper hand sadly. But there was consolation and encouragement for him, at all events in one circum- stance, that greeted his arrival at Madras. There was a splendid new church (St. George's) to be con- secrated. " Yesterday," he wrote, " I consecrated a handsomer church than any which I recollect in London, supported on eighteen Ionic columns, which no English eye would distinguish from marble ; with a lofty and elegant spire, and standing in a field (also to be consecrated) of five or six acres, surrounded with rows of palm trees. The whole conveys a mag- nificent idea of Christianity in the East. I was * A later order of the Court, to attend to the Bishop's recom- bowever, directed the Government meadations. 298 CHIII8TUNITY IN INDIA* assisted on this occasion by seven of my clergy, a great number to bring together in this country ; and the solemnity seems to have been very gratifying to the inhabitants. This morning I confirmed nearly 300, of whom I rejoiced to find a large portion were adults. ... A respect for the ordinances of our religion is gaining ground. To-morrow morning, I am to receive at ten o'clock a deputation from the Armenian nation who are numerous at Madras ; and at eleven, no less a person than his highness the Nabob of the Carnatic who returns my visit ; and, on which occasion the guns will be Jired from the fort." At these interviews the Nabob embraced him very afifec- tionately, without, after the manner of Sivajee, sticking a knife into his bowels ; and it does nof appear that his highness, or any other potentate of heathendom, felt the least alarm for their [hereditary faith from the appearance of the Lord Padre Sahib of the Feringhis at their gates. But the secular authorities of Madras were not equally confident. They had not forgotten the Velloro affair. Visions of blood were still floating before their eyes. They thought a bishop a most dangerous, revolutionary personage — the representa- tive of a pestilential heresy; and they anticipated that his visit to the southward would be the signal for another massacre. But the Bishop started with his family and his suite ; visited the seven Pagodas, inspected the Capuchin Church and Jesuit's College at Pondicherry, where the Eomanists with courteous toleration made him a present of books; halted at THB nmH VISITATION TOUR. 299 Cuddalore, the seat of one of our earliest protestant missions ; proceeded thence to the great Pagodas of Chillumbrum, where the Brahmans pressed forward to look at him, showed him the lions of their temple, and, instead of anticipating that he would demolish it, asked for a little money for its repair. It is not recorded in history that the episcopal tour produced either a rebellion or an earthquake. At Tranquebar, where the first protestant mis- sionaries had found a home, he was received with open arms. The population went out to meet him in the streets, or greeted him from the windows and the house-tops. " The place," he wrote, " is in great distress ; and the people are living on incomes which, in this country,' appear still smaller by comparison ; but I never saw poverty more respectable. The mission there is everything, and the missionaries are the regular clergy of the place." Here he lived with the Governor; entertained him and the municipal officers in turn ; contributed, at the expense of the Christian Knowledge Society, two hundred pounds to the mission ; and then pursued his journey towards Taiijore, the seat of the illustrious labours of the apostolic Schwartz. The Bajah, who had been edu- cated by the missionary, and who still called himself the good man's son, sent his Minister to the Christian Bishop, and invited him to the palace, where, descend- ing from the musnud, he " received him at the steps of the durbar, embraced him with the warmest cor- diality and courtesy, and, after the customary inquiries respecting his health, expressed the gratification with 300 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. which he saw the chief of our religious estahlishmenfc in his country and his Court." " He subsequently," says Mr. Le Bas, " assured an English officer, that no occurrence, since he had occupied the throne, had given him more lively gratification than this visit of the English prelate ; and that since he must so soon lose his society, he hoped to indemnify him by the pleasure of his correspondence." At Trichinopoly, the Bishop consecrated a church, licensed the clergyman, confirmed about a hundred persons, including several officers, and preached twice on the Sunday, At Palamcottah he was visited by a deputation of Brahmans from the Tinnevelly Pagodas, who came to pay their respects to the Lord Padre Sahib, and to represent that their church lands yielded so little, after payment of Government de- mands, that the priests were in danger of starving : — such being their lamentable position, they hailed with dielight the arrival of the English bishop, feeling sure that he would interfere, as a brother, in their behalf. Having dismissed this deputation with becoming courtesy, he received another of native Christians, who sung a hymn in Tamul; and the two parties then quitted the camp together. From Cochin, where the Bishop found " the Dutch church shut up for want of a minister — the school in the fort destroyed — the children left unbaptised — and the sick unassisted;" and where the Syrian church was in an equally depressed state, he proceeded to Cannanore, and thence to Bombay and Ceylon. There I need not foUow him in detail. In spite of the THE bishop's troubles. 301 ominous predictions of people who ought to have known better, the first episcopal visitation produced no sort of alarm or irritation throughout India, ex- cept in the puckah, well-verandahed houses of a few professing Christians. Native princes received the Christian bishop with reverence, and embraced him with affection. Native priests came out from their temples to welcome him, and implored his assistance in their behalf. He came back to Calcutta again as sound as he had quitted it. Not a hand had been lifted up against him ; not a stone had been cast at him ; not an affront had been put upon him. The natives of India thought the better of us and our religion — and the great question, which had been discussed in scores of pamphlets and speeches, was now set at rest for ever. But the Bishop's troubles, which were of a different class, were not yet quieted. There was much — in Calcutta above all other places — to vex and to irritate one of his peculiar frame of mind. Schism and in- formality were the banes of his existence. It is melancholy to read his complaints, and to think how much cause of rejoicing there was, in at least some of the circumstances which caused him so much annoy- ance. I am afraid that in the affections of Bishop Middleton, the Church was before the Gospel. Nay, even the Church itself was a source of vexation to him, where there was not proper episcopal control. Unhappily for the peace of Bishop Middleton, the missionary clause had been voted by Parliament soon after the episcopal clause. The Church, it is true, 302 CHRISTIANITY W INDIA, had been somewhat slow to respond to the invitation, or, rather, to avail itself of the permission of the Legis- lature ; English clergymen were not eager to avail themselves of the privilege of imparting Christianity to the Gentiles, Two ministers, however, (Greenward and Shroeter hy name — the second probably a Switzer), were sent out by the Church Missionary Society in 1816. This was the beginning — others followed. Did the Bishop open his arms to receive the missionaries of the Church which he represented? No: they were thorns in his flesh. He talked of either licensing or silencing them, but he foimd it was beyond him to do either. He tolerated the mis- sionaries in remote regions ; he could even rejoice in their appearances upon the outskirts of civilization ; but it was a different thing when they toiled at the very seat of the Supreme Government, and preached the Gospel without a license from any one but Christ, under the shadow of the episcopal residence itself. He did not recognise the value of the work done by Protestant ministers out of the pale of his own ecclesiastical jurisdiction. It was not Establish- ment work. It had not the stamp of the mitre upon it. It was not made legitimate by letters patent, or rendered lovely by lawn. It was not likely that such men as Corrie and Thomason should regard these episcopal peculiarities without feelings of lively concern — ^perhaps, I might truthfully write, without lively contempt. That they differed from him, on many points, is well known ; but, situated as they were, it was only decorous that THE BISHOP AND THE MISSIONARIES. 303 they should express themselves with moderation. " I was led," wrote the former, in a letter to his brother, " last Thursday into a long conversation with the Bishop respecting missionary proceedings, in which the Church Missionary Society and its views were brought forward and discussed. The Bishop's chief objection was, that the sending out of English clergy- men as missionaries would prevent the. East India Company from making such a provision of chaplains as they ought to make. As far as it goes, the argu- ment is just ; but I think he ought rather to adopt such missionaries, and, by pointing out to Govern- ment the benefits produced by them, to draw forth Government support which otherwise may not be afforded in any way."* Mr. Corrie had returned to England, for the benefit of his health, a few weeks after the arrival of Bishop Middleton. Towards the close of the rainy season of 1817 he was again at his post. The Bishop had returned in the preceding cold weather. There being no vacancy at the presidency on Corrie's * See also the Bishop's own letters the Bishop's jurisdiction?" Again: passim. " But the missionaries in " As to my recognising the mission- orders of the Church Missionary aries, what can I do ? They will Society," he complains in one case, soon have in India a hody of ordained " are coming out continually. Three clergymen, nearly half as numerous arrived very lately ; and they will as the Company's chaplains ; and I become in a few years the parochial must either license them, or silence clergy. In one place the society them — there is no alternative. [The have lately huilt a neat church, and Italics are the Bishop's own]. But appointed their minister ; and who how can I silence men, who come to can say anything against it ? . . India under the authority of a clause Other cases of the same sort may in the charter ? " It does not seem be expected every day, and if tohave occurred to Bishop Middleton, the Church Missionary Society will that they came to India, not merely supply ordained clergymen, where- under the authority of a clause in ever they are wanted, the Company the Company's charter, but under may be relieved, indeed, of a heavy the authority of a clause in the great expense ; but then what becomes of Gospel charter of Christianity. 304 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. arrival, he was ordered to proceed to Benares.* At that time Brown and Martyn and Buchanan were dead. Thomason was at Calcutta. At Benares, as at Chunar, Corrie employed himself diligently ; founding schools ; correcting translations of the Scriptures ; and doing incidentally as much mission- ary work as could he done without impairing his efficiency as a chaplain. Nothing could he more correct than Corrie's views of the relative claims to his services of the chaplaincy and of the mission. " If I were professedly a missionary," he wrote to Mr. Simeon, " and had the same prospect of entrance into this very citadel of idolatry, I should consider it a call to. live and die in this place ; hut, as a chaplain of the Government, am I not to consider the disposal of Government as the voice of Providence to me ? I can truly say that, in the prospect of leaving this place, I am oppressed ; O Lord, undertake for me." In the cold weather of 1 818-1 9> Mr. Corrie was summoned to Calcutta to take his place there as a Presidency Chaplain. There the characteristic kind- * On his way to Benares, he kept a 'Yes; ' Miss B : — 'You are going to journal. There is an entry, strikingly kill it outright.' On which they illustrative of the barbarity of those began to laugh, and talk with each Ghat murders, which are so demon- other ; and prosecuted their work of strative of " the excellent moralities death. Farther on, a sick man was of the Gentoos," the "pure and nn- laid, with severalpeoplesittinground. exceptionable religion," which had A young and handsome Brahman excited the enthusiasm of Sir Henry was attempting to bind a weight Montgomery. " During the 19th and round his neck, in order to sink him 20th, we had an opportunity of in the river, which the sick man witnessing two distressing instances was resisting, with marks of much of the unfeeling conduct of the remaining strength. Abdullah called Hindus towards the sick and dying. out — ' take him into some warm On one occasion, two women were place, and he will recover; 'to which employed at the river side, filling the Brahman answered with a signi- the mouth of a child with mud. ficantnod; 'Aye, aye; we will put Miss B. asked them, if the child him into a warm place;' on which were ill ? One of them answered the persons around laughed aloud." INCREASE OF MISSIONARY ZEAL. 305 liness and hospitality of his nature found such vent as was denied to them in the Mofussil. The social charities were largely cultivated by him. His doors were ever open to the stranger. He was continually surrounded by his friends. To the young he was especially accessible ; and it was said of him. " as long as he lives, and wherever he lives, he will have as many people about him as fall in his way, until every corner is occupied, and he himself left without a corner." It was about this time that the missionary zeal of Bishop Middleton began astonishingly to develope itself. The Archbishop of Canterbury had, in that year, 1818, as President of the Society for the Propa- gation of the Gospel, made a vigorous movement in favour of Indian Missions, by proposing to place 5,000^. at the disposal of the Bishop of Calcutta, to enable him to carry out the objects of the Institution — ^good hope being entertained of the result, now that the affairs of the Society were to be placed under " proper diocesan control." A Royal letter had been obtained on application to the Prince Regent, and large collections made on the strength of it. The biographer of Bishop Middleton says that "this in- telligence was as the breath of life to him, as it showed that his urgent representations had at last succeeded in communicating a powerful impulse to the public feeling in England." It appears to me, that it would have been more correct if it had been • stated that public feeling in England communicated a powerful impulse to Bishop Middleton. X 306 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. These " splendid manifestations," it is said by the Bishop's historian, "confirmed him in the resolution to attempt the foundation of a Mission College at Calcutta." Here was a noble commencement of the Fund, which he had long wished to accumulate, for the establishment of a Collegiate Institution under Episcopal superintendence. The project was soon sketched out, and sent Home to the Propagation Society, the .objects of the proposed college being thus represented: — 1. For instructing native and other Christian youths in the doctrines and discipline of the Church, in order to their becoming preachers, catechists, and schoolmasters. 2. For teaching the elements of useful knowledge, and the English language, to Mussulmans or Hindoos, having no object in such attainments beyond secular advantage. 3. For translating the Scriptures, the Liturgy, and moral and religious tracts. 4. For the reception of English Missionaries, to be sent out by the Society, on their first arrival in India. The proposal was readily accepted by the Propaga- tion Society, and the promised 5,000/. were placed at the Bishop's disposal. The Christian Knowledge Society also contributed 5,000/. towards the under- taking. Other large sums flowed in from other quarters. Government granted a plot of ground for the erection of the building — as noble a site as could have been found in the whole country — and the work of construction was speedily commenced. It has now bishop's college. 307 been completed for more than a quarter of a century, during which time it has been, in its comely " Colle- giate Gothic," an ornament to the river-bank upon which it stands. There is not perhaps a nobler monument of an unaccomplished purpose in any part of the world. On the 15th October, 1820, the first stone of Bishop's College was laid, " with all due and im- pressive solemnity." It appears that the nature of the undertaking was not very clearly understood. One party " a sensible man, and a churchman too," much scandalised the Bishop, by asking him if his new college was a branch of the Baptist establishment at Serampore ! Mr. Jones, the contractor, died suddenly, whilst the edifice was in course of erection ; but, after a brief pause, it sprang up, none the less rapidly for this, under the superintendence of Captain Hutchinson of the Engineers. But they were getting on still faster at Serampore, and this made the Bishop a little anxious and impatient. In 1821, Bishop Middleton went forth on a visita- tion-tour to Bombay and Ceylon. He arrived at the former place, towards the end of February, and remained there about five weeks — during which he held his visitation, consecrated two or three burial grounds, visited the caves of Elephanta, and received a vast number of visits of ceremony and invitations to dinner. Here he began to feel, more sensibly than before, that the climate was " telling " upon his con- stitution, and, in more than one letter, he complained of the lassitude which beset him, and of other dis- X 2 308 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. tressing sensations, " symptomatic of decay." It was whilst at Bombay, that he received intelligence of the attempt, made at Queen Caroline's trial, to make light of the imputation, that she had been present during an indecorous exhibition of dancing by a mountebank named Mahomet, on the plea that Bishop Middleton and his family had attended a nautch at the Governor- General's — the witness being a gentle- man, who was a guest of the Bishop's at the time. The Bishop wrote to a friend, requesting him to deny the assertion in a London paper. "As his" (the witness's) " topic," he wrote, " was no better, than that Mahomet must have danced decently before the Queen, because a Hindoo woman had danced decently at Calcutta, his evidence might have been spared. The fact, however, of my being there is utterly untrue. He (the Governor- General) did me the favour of taking charge of the ladies of my family, while I remained with my books and business at home. I am not quite sure that I, was asked; but I could safely swear that I was not there." The Governor- General also thought it worth his while to deny the imputation — in a very curious manner, too, according to a statement in another letter from the Bishop : — ■ " Lord Hastings was very indignant at the dragging in of the subject of Government House ; and im- mediately wrote to the Lord Chancellor, explaining, as was the truth, that there was no dance at his house ' — the mere movement of the woman's feet, whilst she was singing, not deserving the name." It may be a question whether the singing, in such performances. BISHOP MIDDLETON AT CEYLON. 309 accompanies the dancing, or the dancing the singing ; but there are both singing and dancing; and it is generally supposed that the latter, which gives the name to the exhibition, is, as grammarians say, " the more worthy " of the two. There are different styles of dancing ; a Hindustani nautch-girl does not dance like our Taglionis and Ceritos ; but if " move- ment of women's feet " to music, under such circum- stances, does not constitute dancing, I do not know what does.* Touching on his way at Cochin, to glance at the Syrian Churches there, the Bishop proceeded from Bombay to Ceylon, where he was hospitably enter- tained by Sir Eward Barnes, whose sublime intentions were, however, somewhat frustrated by the eccentri- cities of the weather. A magnificent fete had been prepared, some miles out of Colombo, and a gorgeous edifice, in the style of a large Gothic cathedral, had been erected, " after the Cingalese fashion of embellish- ment," in honour of the Bishop. Divers other prepa- rations were made, on an equally grand scale, for the occasion ; but, on the evening before the fete, when the Bishop was dining at Government House, a tremendous storm arose, and entirely demolished the ecclesiastical structure. Foreshadowing the destiny of Bishop's College, the gorgeous Gothic edifice, ♦ At the same time I am liouTid to affairs. They were not even grace- say that the dancing of nautch girls, fully, ranch less licentiously attrac- onpublicoccasions,atthe Presidency, tive — differing greatly therein from was, as far as my experience ex- the dancing of an earlier period, an tends, never otherwise than decorous. account of which, partly quoted in I went to many nautches, when I a preceding chapter, I have been first went out to India, and in ray compelled to expurgate, juvenile estimation they were dreary 310 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. erected at so much expense, proved nothing but a magnificent failure. The Governor did the best he could under such circumstances ; he substituted another kind of entertainment — ^but the disappoint- ment was great and general. Better things, however, were done. "During my stay," wrote the Bishop, after his departure, " I had a visitation^ — two confirma- tions — three consecrations of churches, or burying- grounds; I preached four times, and resuscitated the Promotion of Christian Knowledge District-Com- mittee, and looked into the state of the schools ; and, what is of most consequence, I got together a body of information respecting ecclesiastical affairs, which will furnish matter for a paper to be addressed to his Majesty's Government."* In June he sailed again for Calcutta. On his arrival there, he found that Mr. Mill, Principal of the new College, and Mr. Alt, one of the professors, had already made their appearance on the scene of their future labours. The walls of the college had risen to an assuming height during his absence ; and so far there was much to cheer him. But there were sources of inquietude too. Rammohun Eoy was entering boldly the field of controversy : the Press — " that monstrous despotism, and tremendous * Besides this, he ordained Mr. tratiohs in strict conformity with Armour, of whom an interesting the services and doctrines of the account is to be found in Mr. established Church His Le Bas's book. " This extraordinary heart's desire was that at some time man," he says, " originally came out he might be thought worthy to be to Ceylon as a private soldier ; but received as an ordained missionary, subsectuently he took upon himself . . . His whole soul was devoted almost the work of an evangelist to the service of God, and his truly among the natives, who maintained Christian demeanour had won for a mere nominal profession of Chris- him the cordial esteem of all ranks tianity, always conducting his minis- of met}." LAST DAYS OF BISHOP MIDDLETON. 311 instrument of corruption, which some call the liherty of the press " — was growing audacious ; and he was troubled about the question of precedence, the authorities having given to the chief justices of the three presidencies a place, on the social ladder, higher up than that assigned to the Bishop of Calcutta. Serampore, moreover, was flourishing in its rank soil of heterodoxy ; and a body of Christians had actually built a chapel at Howrah, open to the ministration of Protestant divines of all persuasions. His corre- spondents, too, in England were very lax. Anxiously expected communications, public and private, did not arrive. All these evils — real and imaginary — preyed upon his spirits, and affected his health. The hot weather of 1822 found him in an irritable state, both of body and of mind. On the 2nd of July, he visited the college at an early hour of the after- noon ; and, on the following day, went out with Mrs. Middleton, before the sun was down, for an evening drive. The slant rays shone distressingly upon him, dazzled his eyes, and sickened him. He said that he was struck ; and he returned home. He passed that night, and the following, in a state of extreme anxiety and irritability : but it was not until the 4th, that, the fever having increased to an alarming height, dear Simon Nicolson was called in. It was then too late. All the skill of that eminent practitioner — all the unremitting attention of that kindest of men — could not save the prostrated invalid. At one time certain favourable symptoms developed themselves ; but they were only those delusive signs which so often are the 312 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. precursors of immediate death. And so it was. On the evening of the 8th of July, those favourable symptoms were followed by an alarming paroxysm of fever, attended with the most appalling agitation of mind. About nine o'clock, he was in a state of violent delirium ; "his thoughts wandering, his articu- lation gone ; his faculties, in short, a melancholy wreck, at the mercy of the tempest that had shattered them." To this succeeded a state of perfect serenity ; and, a little before midnight, he died. Such, briefly narrated, was the career of the first Indian Bishop. It will be gathered, perhaps, from the manner of my narration that I am not among the most ardent admirers of the prelate, whom Mr. Le Bas, with no great felicity of expression, described as "the father and the founder of the Protestant Episcopal Church of our Asiatic empire." He was the father of Protestant episcopacy in India, but he was not the father, and most assuredly he was not the founder, of the Episcopal Church. I do not know that he was the founder of anything but Bishop's College. With every disposition to speak charitably of the prelatical character of Bishop Middleton, I am con- strained to express my opinion that he was a cold and stately formalist. There may have been something in this very fact, especially to recommend him for em- ployment, at a time, when it was apprehended, that Christian zeal would bring down upon us a sanguinary revolution, involving the forfeiture of our Indian empire. The alarmist party may have been somewhat CHARACTER OF BISHOP MIDDLETON. 313 appeased by the appointment of so safe a man as Bishop Middleton ; and his subsequent episcopal pro- ceedings must have greatly confirmed the sense of security, which his nomination engendered. Nothing was to be apprehended from the burning zeal of the first bishop of Calcutta. He was the man of all others to uphold the dignity of our ecclesiastical establishment, without exciting the fears, or ofifending the prejudices of the natives of India. He took little interest in conversion- work ; and at one time talked of silencing the whole missionary clergy. Brahmanism was scarcely more offensive to him than Protestant sectarianism ; and even a minister of the Church of England, not on the Company's establish- ment, was a thorn in his episcopal flesh. Puseyism and Tractarianism were not known by those names, when Bishop Middleton went out to India; but he was of the number of those, who esteem the Church before the Gospel, who have an overflowing faith in the efficacy of certain forms of brick-and-mortar, and who believe that a peculiar odour of sanctity ascends from prayers, ofifered up in an edifice, constructed with due regard to the points of the compass. No man could have had a higher sense of the external importance of his office, or stickled more rigidly for the due observance of the ceremonials which he conceived to belong to it. He had a decided taste for military salutes, and struggled manfully for social precedence. In all this he was sincere. He wrought in accordance with his genuine convictions. It was not personal vanity that inflated him Self was 314 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. not dominant over all. But he had an overweening sense of the dignity and importance of his office. He helieved that it was his first duty to suffer nothing to lower the standard of episcopal authority, or to ohscure its exterior glories. His zeal as a bishop shot ever in advance of his fervour as a Christian. This peculiarity was not without its uses. The externals of religion had been too much neglected in India. It was desirable that something more of dignity should be imparted to the priestly character. Lord Wellesley was described by Sir James Mack- intosh as a Sultanised Anglo-Indian ; Bishop Middle- ton would have Sultanised the episcopal office. He was not without a motive — and a good one — in this. But, doubtless, there are many good Christians, who would fain have seen in his career a little less of the bishop, and a little more of catholic Christianity. He w^as an able and an active labourer in his way, blameless in the relations of private life, and, as a man, to be greatly respected. In a recent work on the Anglo-Indian Church he stands labelled as "India's first and greatest bishop." India's first bishop he truly was, but who that has heard of Daniel Wilson, can ever believe him to be her greatest ? THE EPISCOPATE OF REGINALD HEBER. • 315 CHAPTER ^X. The Episcopate of Reginald Heber — The Bishopric in Commission — Heher's Early History — His Nomination to the See of Calcutta — State of Chris- tianity on his arrival — ^His Tour in the Upper Provinces — Visitation in the South — State of the Southern Missions — ^Death of the Bishop — His Character. It was in the steamy month of September, 1822, that Daniel Corrie, driven by ill-health from Calcutta, to seek a purer and more refreshing air upon the plea- sant banks of the Hooghly river at Pultah Ghaut, took a pen one day into his hand, and wrote down the following words : — " This day sixteen years ago, I first landed in Calcutta. How altered the state of society ! Then Mr. Brown was senior chaplain. He had at that time, dear Martyn in his house, and received Parson and myself into his family. Now he and his wife are numbered with the dead, and all their children returned. . . . How many other changes also, in the state of the religious society of Calcutta? so that Mr. U[dny] only remains of the friends of religion in his class of society of that day. How varied has been the scene of my own Indian life ! In respect of public affairs, great changes, also, have taken place. In ecclesiastical matters, great changes. A bishop and archdeacon appointed in 1814, and Bishop's College has been the result. 316 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. The subject of missions has thus, by degrees, become one of acknowledged duty and advantage to society. The Bishop hurried off by sudden death, the Arch- deacon taken off not two months after, more suddenly still ; Parson and I appointed to exercise their func- tions pro tempore. I would, however, remark espe- cially, the state of my own mind during this long period. I came to India chiefly with a view to the propagation of the Gospel ; and that view, I trust I can say, has not been lost sight of. My time has been principally devoted to that object ; my money, too, has chiefly gone in that cause. I trust a mission has been established at Chunar, Agra, and Benares, through my humble means, which will go on and increase with the increase of God." Early in July, 1822, Bishop Middleton closed his eyes upon the world for ever. Early in October, 1823, his successor arrived at Calcutta. During fifteen months India was without a bishop. Through- out this interval the duties of the diocese were per- formed by Mr. Corrie and Mr. Parson. To the former it was a season of much suffering and much depression. Kepeated attacks of fever prostrated his strength and turned his thoughts with eager expec- tancy towards the cool breezes of his native country. "God make you a greater blessing than ever to the Church," said one whose dying bed he was affection- ately attending, "but don't waste your life in this country; go home and do good among the poor." To go home and do good among the poor were indeed a great thing to do ; and if Corrie, at this time, in FAMILY OF KEGINALD HEBER. 317 moments of sickness and depression, thought lovingly of the green villages of old England, where " The snow-white church upon her hill Sits like a throndd lady sending out A gracious look all over her domain," and ever and anon embraced the idea of abandoning the scattered flocks on the wide arid plains of Hin- dostan, for one in some retired shady nook at home, where old men would have stood bare-headed before him, and children would have " plucked his gown to share the good man's smile," we must not think less admiringly of his fortitude and perseverance. He would have been a model of a parochial clergyman ; and wherever his lot had been cast, he would have scattered blessings around him broad-cast, as the hus- bandman scatters the seed. But God willed it that he should labour upon Indian soil, that there he should live, and that there he should die. It was but for a little while that he thought of claiming his pension and ending his days as a parish priest. Bishop Heber came out to preside over the Indian Church, and one of his first public measures was the appointment of Mr. Corrie to the archdeaconry of Calcutta. Reginald Heber, the second son of a Yorkshire gentleman of old family and good estate, was born at Malpas in the county of Chester, on the 21st of April, 1783. At a very early age he evinced signs of an amiable yet resolute disposition, a thoughtful in- quiring mind, and such readiness of apprehension, and quickness of imagination, that he was a scholar and a poet before he was eight years old. He trans- 318 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. lated " PhsBdrus's Fables" into English verse in the nursery; and being soon afterwards sent to the gram- mar-school at Whitchurch, and after a little space, to the care of a private tutor, resident at Neasdon, in the western suburbs of London, he acquired the character of a studious, thoughtful boy, eschewing boisterous sports, delighting in long solitary rambles, often with a volume of the "Fairy Queen" as his companion; but still a favourite with his school-fellows, for he was easily persuaded to tell them long stories, drawn from memory or imagination, of deeds of chivalry done long ago, in the old heroic times ; or to recite some romantic ballad of love and war, and mar- vellous self-devotion. He was very happy in the choice of a friend ; for the much-loved of his boyish days was John Thornton, who carried back to school after the holidays, reminiscences of the Clapham Sect, and wrote to him about its members, after he had turned his back upon academical Neasdon. "I think that you are very lucky in your acquaintance with Lord Teignmouth," wrote young Heber to his friend. "They are such men as you have described him, who are to keep us from sinking." He had surpris- ing notions at that time of the might, majesty, and dominion of the Church, and at the age of seventeen wrote letters on ecclesiastical discipline and episcopal supremacy, such as might have emanated from Bishop Middleton himself.* It does not appear that * Take, for example, the following assurance that I hare extracted it passage, Vhich any reader now light- from the "Lifeof Reginald Heber,"by Ing upon for the first time might natu- his widow : — " The arbitrary suppres- rally suppose to belong to the pre- sion of ecclesiastical assemblies, the ceding chapter, but for my positive disuse and contempt into which apos- HEBER AT OXFORP. 319 this disorder lasted very long. A healthier state of mind came with his wisdom teeth, and he was soon entirely cured. In November, 1800, Beginald Heber was entered at Brazennose College, Oxford ; and in the first year of his residence there, he obtained the University prize for Latin verse. In the spring of 1803, when he was just twenty years of age, he wrote, what is com- monly regarded as the best prize poem in the English language. His "Palestine," at all events, is One of the few academical efforts of the kind that has survived the year — I might almost write, the day of its recitation. It gained for him great University distinction at the time, and is even now read with delight. He was not one, however, to be easily inflated by success ; and he thanked God, in pure humility of spirit, only for the pleasure which his honours would impart to others. In November, 1804, he was elected a fellow of All Souls, in the hall of which college, his portrait is now suspended. In the following year, his "Essay on the Sense of Honour " gained the bachelor's prize for English prose. Soon afterwards, he accompanied his beloved friend, Mr. John Thornton, on a tour through the North of Europe, from which he returned in Sep- tember, 1806. In the following year, he was ordained; tolical censure and penances have the Church so entirely of power, and fallen, and the number of chapels rendered it in everything so de- which, though many of them are pendent, thatit has no ahiUty to help served by episcopal clergymen, are itself on this or any other point. I yet independent of their spiritual sincerely pray that the Almighty head the bishop (and consequently would put it into the hearts of the equally schismatical with the ephod nursing-mothers of the Church, to and teraphim of Micah), have, as take some order for the comfort of you are no doubt well aware, stripped her ministers." 320 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. and at once instituted to the family living of Hodnet, in the county of Salop. There for sixteen years he continued to perform, with unremitting devotion, the duties of a parish priest, greatly beloved by his flock, and loving them with parental tenderness. " Do not think that I fancy myself anything but what I am in truth," he wrote to John Thornton, " a prosperous man who has unremitted causes of gratitude, and whose principal apprehension ought to be that he has a greater share of earthly happiness than he knows how to manage." Sometimes in his humility, he was inclined to doubt whether he did not suffer his love of literature to beguile him from the quiet walk of the country pastor, and to devote too much, both of time and thought, to pleasant secular affairs unconnected with his ministry. There is something very attractive in quarterly-reviewing, and as it is attractive, so, for the time, is it absorbing, for quarter-day waits for no man ; and, perhaps, the sermon was sometimes hurried over, or the round of visits curtailed, that the article might receive an additional polish, or be freighted with new matter. During this period of his life, he wrote many excellent papers in the Quarterly, some fugitive pieces in verse, and those hymns, which, in numerous places of public worship, are still, sabbath after sabbath, chaunted forth in praise and prayer to the Almighty, and of which it is small praise to say that while they are more poetical, they are not less devotional than any similar collection in the English language. It was at Hodnet, in the December of 1822, that OFFER OF THE BISHOPEIC. 321 Reginald Heber received from his old and cherished friend, Mr. Charles Wynn, who had recently been appointed to the Presidency of the India Board, a letter which raised a tumult of contending emotions in his breast. That letter related to the Indian Bishopric. Intelligence of the death of Bishop Middleton had arrived, and it had become necessary to appoint a successor. The epistle which Mr. Wynn addressed to the Hector of Hodnet did not contain an oflFer of the appointment, although it placed it within his reach. " I cannot expect," he wrote, " and certainly do not wish, that with your fair prospects of eminence at home, you should go to the Ganges for a mitre. Indeed, 5,000^. per annum for fifteen years, and a retiring pension of 1,500?. at the end of them, is not a temptation which could compensate you for quitting the situation and comforts which you now enjoy, if you were certain of never being promoted. You would, however, extremely oblige me by giving me, in the strictest confidence, your opinion as to those who have been, or are likely to be, suggested for that appointment ; and you would add to the obligation, if you could point out any one who, to an inferior degree of theological and literary quali fications, adds the same moderation, discretion, and active benevolence, which would make me feel that, if you were not destined, I trust, to be still more usefully employed at home, I should confer the greatest blessing upon India in recommending you." Heber's answer to this flattering letter — more flat- tering, indeed, than a direct offer of the Bishopric, Y 322 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. was one neither of acceptance nor of refusal. " I will confess," he wrote, "that (after reading missionary reports and some of Southey's articles in the Quar- terly) I have sometimes heen tempted to wish myself Bishop of Calcutta, and to fancy that I could be of service there. Had you, as was once reported, gone out to the East, I should have liked it beyond most other preferments. As it is, I am probably better at home, so far as my personal happiness is concerned, than in a situation, however distinguished and how- ever splendidly paid, which involves so many sacrifices of health, home, and friendship." He added, that on such a question, it became him to consult those most nearly related to him — his wife, his mother, and his brother ; and then went on to speak of the succession to the Bishopric, in a strain which we think every one will acknowledge to be highly honourable to the man. He urged the claims of those who had been long bearing the burden and heat of the day on the torrid plains of Hindostan. " There is one case," he wrote, " in which, however anxious I may be for the appoint- ment, I should wish ""you to put me decidedly out of the question ; I mean if any eligible person should be found among the archdeacons and chaplains already in India. The time may, perhaps, be not yet arrived for a division of the single unwieldy diocese into three, which otherwise might be done with ease and at no additional expense, by raising the three archdeacons to the episcopal dignity, and divid- ing the salary of the Bishop among them in addition to that which they already receive. If it were, such CLAIMS OP THE ARCHDEACONS. 323 an arrangement might, I conceive, add greatly to the improvement and extension of Christian India ; whilst, if the Bishop of Calcutta were made Primate, a unity of system and a power of appeal might he preserved as well as at present. But at all events it must he a gi-eat advantage to a Bishop to have heen already for some time conversant with the wants, the hahits, and the persons of his flock, his clergy and his heathen neighbours ; and the advancement of a deserving man among their own number, might be a very beneficial stimulus to the activity and circum- spection of the inferior clergy. Of the present archdeacons, however, I know nothing or next to nothing." To this disinterested and sensible suggestion the answer was brief and conclusive. There was a prac- tical difficulty in the way — if there were no other. It was urged that if one of the resident archdeacons were selected for the office, he would be compelled to return to England for consecration ; and that in this way much time would be necessarily lost : whereas it was expedient to fill up the vacancy with the greatest possible despatch. This is not likely to have been the only consideration which had weight at the IndiaBoard; but there was no need to allege any other reason for not suffering promotion to go in the line of the profession. At all events, the elevation of one of the archdeacons was never seriously contemplated. Heber thought much and prayerfully on the momen- tous subject, and anxiously consulted his friends and his medical advisers. His wife readily consented to Y 2 324 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA, go, but there was a painful and embarrassing doubt about the health of his little daughter. The conflict, however, was not of long duration. He resolved not to accept the appointment. " Though I do not," he wrote to Mi% Wynn, " pretend to be indifferent to the power of raising a provision for my wife and child, and though this is the first point on which I should wish you to judge for me, I trust you will believe me when I say that there is a second, in my eyes, of far greater importance. I mean my probable comparative usefulness in India or in England. It has, indeed, been for several years a favourite day-dream of mine, to fancy myself conducting the afikirs of an extensive mission, and by conciliation and caution, smoothing the diflSculties, and appeasing the religious quarrels and jealousies which have hitherto chiefly opposed the progress of Christianity in the East." But con- siderations of a domestic character — considerations which have decided the fate of so many men against their own judgment, and against the interests of the public, pressed him strongly to remain in England. He was a husband and a father ; and people told him that he must leave his little daughter behind, and that the mother must remain with the child. His friends, too, were all against the acceptance of the oriental appointment, and so a second time Reginald Heber declined the Bishopric. But Mr. Wynn, still hopeful of his friend's even- tual acceptance of the offer, abstained from filling up the appointment ; and meanwhile, Heber was dis- quieted by the thought of the election he had made. INWARD CONfLICTS, 325 The evils of the state of exile, which had at first loomed in such gigantic proportions before him, began to dwindle down into comparative insignifi- cance ; he beheld more and more clearly the great work to be done in India ; and his heart sunk within him, when he thought of the opportunities of ex- tended usefulness which he had thus wilfully neg- lected. The missionary spirit burnt strongly wdthin, and would not suffer him rest. '* I hope I am not an enthusiast," he wrote at this time to John Thorn- ton, " but I am, and have long been, most anxious for the cause of Christianity in India ; and I have per- suaded myself that I am not ill-adapted to contribute to its eventual success, by conciliating the diflferent sects employed in the work, and by directing, and in some instances reining in and moderating their zeal." " Surely," he wrote to another beloved cor- respondent, "a priest should be like a soldier, who is bound to go on any service for which he thinks him^ self suited, and for which a fair opening occurs, how- ever he may privately prefer staying at home, or may flatter himself with the hopes of a more advantageous situation afterwards ; I may also say that, for many years, I hardly know how long, I have had a lurking fondness for all which belongs to India or Asia ; that there are no travels which I have read with so much interest as those in that country, and that I have often felt that I should like to be in the very situ- ation which has now been offered to me, as a director of missionaries, and ministering to the spiritual wants of a large colonv." 326 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. With these feelings strong within him, doubtful exceedingly of the propriety of the course which he had adopted, and praying earnestly for guidance, he determined, if possible, to recal his refusal, and wrote, therefore, to Mr. Wynn, declaring that, if the ap- pointment were still vacant, he was ready to respond to the call. The appointment was still vacant ; and the President at once submitted his friend's name to the King. Heber said afterwards, that he should never have known peace of mind, if in this conjunc- ture he had turned a deaf ear to the call of duty. On the 1st of June, 1823, Reginald Heber was consecrated Bishop of Calcutta. On the 8th, he preached his last sermon in England, in aid of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, whose valedictory address he received a few days afterwards, declaring in his reply, that his great hope was, that he might be the chief missionary of the society in the East.* On the l6th, he embarked for Calcutta, on board the Grenville, and after an uneventful voyage, during which the Bishop prosecuted with some ardour his Persian and Hindostanee studies, he entered upon the duties of his diocese at the commencement of the cold weather. And in what state did he find — not his diocese — but Christ's church in India, when he arrived and looked about him with the eyes of the chief mis- ' See Memorandum by Sir Robert would be to be the chief missionary Inglis, a dear friend of Reginald of the Society in tlie East; and the Beber, and one to whom the cause emotion with which we knelt down, of Christianity in India is greatly sorrowing most of all that we should indebted — " We shall long remember see his face no more." — " Memoir of the sensation which he produced, Reginald Heber," by his Widow, when he declared that his last hope BISHOP HEBfiB's ARRIVAL. 327 sionary? I fear that there was not much to rejoice his spirit; for whatever apprehensions may, at one time, have been entertained, that under the "religious clauses" of the Charter of 1813, there would be a vast flooding-in of Christian missionaries, they soon disappeared before the barren, un-alarming fact. In truth, the Christianity of England was slow to accept the invitation. There had been, ever since the com- mencement of the century, a steady, gradual change for the better, in the general Christian deportment of the English in India; and, doubtless, some impression had been made upon the dense mass of heathenism by which they were surrounded.* But the toleration so long sought, and so bravely contended for by the great advocates of the Christian cause in England, had not given that impetus to it which was so much desired and expected. To such men as Daniel Corrie, who had done so much single-hand.ed, and who looked eagerly to the time when fellow-labourers would crowd in to aid him, this was mortifying in the extreme. He was himself so emphatically a missionary chap- lain, that he believed a large accession of churchmen » " There is a growing respect for the Scriptures to his neighbours, religion in this place," wrote Corrie, thirteen of the heathen were anxious in 1817. Indeed, there are many to be baptized. We hear, too, that instances of serious religion through- near Delhi a company of about five out the Presidency, both among the hundred persons had collected to civil and military servants of the converse on the subject of the Company. The chaplains have en- Christian Scriptures, which had been tered into a. regular communication circulated among them, and that with each other in common with they had resolved to become Chris- the Committee of the Church Mis- tiahs, although they professed an sionary Society, and at some stations unwillingness to associate with the things seem wonderfully prepared English on account of their eating for them. At one station where all kind of food. I hope they will Mr. Spring is (Tellicherry) he found learn the ways of God more per- that through a native Christian, fectly." whom God had stirred up to read 328 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. to the establishment would alone suffice to evangelise India. But the chaplains were not appointed ; and ministers of the Church, not on the Establishment, were slow to avail themselves of the privilege that had been conceded to them, and to enter, as free lances, the service of their master in a heathen land. " The desirableness of some extension of our present establishment," wrote Corrie to his honoured father in the Gospel, Mr. Simeon, "is beyond all dispute. The most careless among us cry 'shame' on the want of attention of our rulers to this point. If we had a sufficient establishment of proper chaplains, we need be under no anxiety about evangelizing India; but who can supply the places of Brown, Buchanan, Jeffereys, and Martyn. It seems almost as if Mr. Carey's prophecy were coming true, that God would not employ us in the work of evangelization. Amidst the great attention we hear of excited to the distri- bution of the Scriptures, how comes it none of our brethren offer themselves to come and distribute the word of life ? And what are we, who believe epis- copacy to be the order of the primitive church, to do for duly ordained pastors from among the native converts." But although missionaries came but slowly, the religious societies, which since the commencement of the century had been gathering strength in England, were actively at work. The Christian Knowledge Society, the Gospel Propagation Society, the Church Missionary Society, the Bible Society — had all rami- fied into different parts of India, and each in its own EVIDENCES OF IMPROVEMENT. 329 way was diffusing the light of Truth.* Missionary stations had sprung up in different parts of the country, at greater intervals it is true than might have heen desired ; and the great missionary college on the banks of the Hooghly had at least " begun operations." Then, too, a marked improvement was visible in the outward manifestations of professing Christianity. There was far more self-assertion in it than there ever had been before. Several churches had been built in the outlying parts of the country. A place set apart for Christian worship was no longer the distinguishing mark of a great presidential town. Everywhere the natives of the country were becoming more and more sensible of the fact that the Feringhees had a religion of their own, and were not ashamed to assert it. To Heber, fresh from a country where from any hill-top may be seen spire after spire, or tower after tower, rising up from our quiet villages, the destitu- tion of India in this respect may have been painful in the extreme. But to Corrie, now his archdeacon, who remembered a period of far greater destitution, there was something encouraging in the change. " When I arrived in Bengal," he wrote in 1824, * See Correspondence of Daniel all languages for all descriptions of Corrie, passim — exempli gratia : — persons ; and then the glorious " Mrst, there is the Diocesan Com- Bible Society, like ' the lion which mittee, which confines itself to sup- coucheth,' embracing all classes and plying those only who understand climes in the distribution of the English, with bibles, prayer-books, words of eternal life. If to these and tracts. Next, the Church Mis- be added the labours of missionaries sionary Society, which supplies the of diflerent denominations, it will native Christians with bibles and appear that the Kingdom of God is prayer-books in the native languages, near to India. Of missionaries, as well as its more direct objects. however, we have as yet but a scanty Then the School Book Society, supply." (July, 1818.) which supplies elementary books in 330 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. *' there was only one place of Protestant worship in Calcutta,* and not a building appropriated to worship, out of Calcutta, belonging to the English. There are now in Calcutta four places of worship in the established Church ; besides the mission college and three dissenting chapels. There is a church at Dacca, Benares, Chunar, Futtyghur, and Meerut. Churches are in the course of erection at Agra and Cawnpore. Whilst at the old stations of Dinapore and Berhampore public worship is still performed in an empty barrack. There are at Monghyr and Benares dissenting chapels, and perhaps at some of the upper stations also. All this has not been accom- plished without considerable individual exertion as well as public support ; and though individual piety is still lamentably scarce, yet much more of public attention to religious observances prevails than for- merly, and also much more of individual piety." Such, stated by one who had watched with the deepest interest the progress here indicated, and had contributed perhaps more than any man living to the acceleration of that progress, was the state of the Anglican Church in Bengal, at the period of Bishop Heber's arrival. In the same letter, the good Arch- deacon, whose true missionary spirit no ecclesiastical honors could quench, spoke also of the progress that had been made in the extension of the Christian Church in the dark places of heathendom. " With respect to the natives," he wrote, " when I arrived in * This is surely a mistake. TheJe mission church and St. John's were two Protestant churches in Cathedral. Calcutta at that time — the old or EVIDENCES OF IMPEOVEMENT. 331 the country, a few converts were found at Seram- pore ; and a few, I believe, existed at Dinapore : nor were there any attempts entered upon beyond those places, except at Cutwah, where the late mis- sionary Chamberlaine had settled. Now we have a few native converts in Calcutta, at Burdwan, and at Cutwah and its branch in Beerbhoom ; at Monghyr, Buxar, Benares, Chunar, and Meerut. In each of these places a few converts are found ; and what will eventually work greatly for the good of the heathen, some of the Roman Catholic converts and descendants of Europeans, who had become quite native in their habits and language, are attracted by the labours of the missionaries at those places ; and in some of them, as at Chunar, where the native congregation is the largest on this side of India, they constitute the chief part. Besides these I might mention Meerut and Futtyghur,* where missionaries are labouring and some converts have been gained. Thus where all was darkness^ now here and there, a glimmering of light begins to prevail." Many, doubtless, will ask what the Baptist mission- aries were doing at this time — they who had prayed so earnestly, and waited so hopefully, and toiled so bravely for that grand opening of the gates of heathendom which was to give the Christian brethren free scope for the exercise of their vocation in all * I would call the attention of men's minds with some of the those who have recently said and saddest events of that calamitous Written so much of special provi- history) the first places in the North- dences discernible in the incidents Western Provinces in which Chris- of the recent military rebellion in tian churches were erected, but were India, that not dnly were Meerut also among the earliest seats of our and Futlehghiir (now associated in Protestant missions. 332 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. parts of the great Indies. Truly, such a change as this must have added vastly to their strength ! They were no longer at the mercy of a Government — no longer on sufferance in a strange land. Whatever might have heen the self-imposed ohstructions to the free ingress into India of the " lordly Episcopalians," surely the " inspired cobblers " would he eager to rush into their appointed work. Up the river and down the river, on the opposite bank of the river, and in remote places where no rivers were, they were now free to itinerate ; and it might be conceived, therefore, that Serampore, having done such great things in the face of almost every possible obstruction, would, now that these obstructions were removed, emerge into a state of far higher grandeur and glory. But they who know the real character of the Seram- pore missionaries will hardly anticipate that result. The missionary clause of the Charter of 1814 gave them the security that they desired, but it imparted to them no fresh vigour or new strength. It enabled them to pursue, without alarm and anxiety, the steady progressive course which they had marked out from the first ; and as they believed that their success depended upon their gradual, well-considered advances, they were not men to encourage any impetuous notions of taking heathendom by storm. It was a great thing for them that they now felt secure of their position on the banks of the Hooghly, for they had once seriously contemplated the neces- sity of seeking a new home on the Irrawaddy, under the protection of an Eastern despot. Indeed, they THE SERAMPORE MISSION. 333 needed little else ; and they went on with their translations, and they established mission stations in Bengal and Orissa (pHncipally under native converts) ; and they multiplied their schools, and they distri- buted the word of God ; and, if they did not see clearly before them the result of their teaching, they still were sustained by the knowledge that they were not labouring in vain. There are some, I know, who will not be satisfied with this general statement of their success, and will ask for the statistics of the mission. The success of a missionary enterprise is not to be tested by statistics. It appears, however, that in the year 1815-16-17, the Serampore missionaries baptized into their Church between four and five hundred persons ; and that they had about 10,000 children in their schools. In the three years above mentioned, they distributed not less than 300,000 copies of religious tracts in twenty different languages, besides trans- lations of the Scriptures, and there w^re at least some gratifying proofs that all this good seed had not been scattered in vain. Up to this time, the Serampore mission and the Baptist mission were identical. All the Baptist missionaries from England owned the supremacy of Carey, Marshman, and Ward. But the complete Christian union, which had imparted so much strength to the fraternity, was doomed to be dissolved ; and before Bishop Heber arrived in Calcutta, there was a Baptist Mission strenuously at work there, owning no allegiance to Serampore. The Serampore brother- 334 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. hood were at issue with the Committee of the Baptist Society at home, on some important questions con- nected with the government of the Mission. The younger missionaries sided with the Society, and left Serampore, to establish themselves in Calcutta. The first and foremost of these were Dr. Yates and Mr. Pearce, who lived to take a prominent place among the missionaries of Bengal. Into the history of this disruption, which was the work of years, and was not finally and formally accomplished before 1827, I do not purpose to enter. It is enough that henceforth we are to regard the Serampore missionaries and the Baptist missionaries as two separate bodies, having only a common faith and a common object. And far off in the Burmese territory another -little party of devoted Baptists were labouring bravely in the good cause. The Serampore missionaries had many years before turned their attention to that field of enterprise ; Mr. Chater had laboured there for some years, and had translated the gospel of St. Matthew into the Burman language. But after a while he had removed himself to Ceylon ; and others, also, after a brief residence at Rangoon, had betaken themselves to more alluring fields. Mr. Felix Carey, the eldest son of the patriarch of Serampore, had, at an early period, gone forth as a missionary to Burmah ; but in the felicitous language of his father, he had ^^ shrivelled into an ambassador ;" and had scandalised the brethren on the banks of the Hooghly, by appear- ing at Calcutta, with the cortege of an Eastern prince *' in the highest style of oriental splendour." The THE JUDSONS IN BURMAtt. 335 field, however, had not heen deserted. Mr. and Mrs. Judson were labouring there, and Mr. Hough was aiding their efforts. They were Americans in com-^ munication with the Baptist connection,* and are worthy of all honour. The Judsons had heen driven out of Bengal ; and, after further wanderings in uncertainty and anxiety, had, at last, by God's provi- dence, been cast upon the shore of the Burmese empire. When Bishop Heber arrived in India, they had been labouring among the Budhists for some ten years ; and they had achieved no contemptible success. Their later history is well known. The captivity of Mrs. Judson is one of the most deeply interesting chapters in the whole history of missionary enterprise. Dr. Judson, who survived her for many years, and whose name was subsequently borne by two other ladies, with some claim also to mention in this book, has been called, and not without establishing his title to such a distinction, the "apostle of Burmah." The American Baptist churches have made that great field of labour their own, and will ever be honourably identified with the victories there achieved. Such, as regarded by Reginald Heber, on his first arrival at Calcutta, were some of the most noticeable matters connected with the then existing state of Christianity in India. What he learnt upon the great subject was principally derived from the reports of others. But he soon determined to see what he could with his own eyes, and in the month of June, * The Judsons had gone out to converted and baptised at Seram- Indiaas psedo-Baptists, but had heen pore. 336 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. he started upon a journey to the Upper Provinces. With the principal incidents of this journey, the English public have been rendered pleasantly familiar through the medium of one of the most attractive books ever devoted to an Indian subject. Every one has read Bishop Heber's Journal. I do not, there- fore, purpose to indent upon it for illustrative matter. The impression made upon his mind by what he saw of the progress of Christianity, in the course of his journey, was of a favourable and encouraging kind. " There are," he wrote, in October 1824, "on the whole more native Christians than I calculated on finding when I last wrote to you. At Chunar there is really a large congregation, as many as seventy or eighty; still, principally women — soldiers' wives or widows, but who have most of them been actual con- verts, and retain many of their natural peculiarities. The women in receiving the sacrament would not lift up their veils, and even received the bread on one corner of them, lest their bare hand should be touched. All of a certain age appear to have been brought over by Corrie while he was in this neighbourhood ; the present missionaries do little more, though decent and zealous men, than keep up his numbers. They are prudent, however, and conciliating, and everybody tells me, are respected and esteemed by the natives. The system of street-preaching, or obtruding themselves in a forward or offensive manner on the public notice, as is frequently done in Calcutta, is here quite un- heard of; at least, among the missionaries of the Church of England. By this quiet way of proceed- THE "chief missionary." 337 ing, it is probable tliat few opportunities of doing good will be lost, and that many occasions of mischief and danger will be prevented." He believed, indeed, that caution was necessar}' to success ; and that nothing would so surely retard the progress of Chris- tianity as the over-zealous and indiscreet efforts of its professors. But he was not one to suffer caution to degenerate into timidity. Ever as he went, he remembered what he had said before leaving England, about being the chief missionary in the East. He took the liveliest interest in the native converts, and never neglected an opportunity of communing with them. To Corrie all this was delightful. " His visit," wrote the good Archdeacon, " cannot fail to increase the disposition of the British to help on the work of missions. At Buxar, he. sat down in the hut of the native catechist and heard the Christians read, and questioned them in their catechisms ; at Benares, he went in his robes to the Hindostanee chapel, where Mr. Morris offi- ciates, and pronounced the blessing ; and the same at Chunar. He has acquired sufficient Hindostanee to give the blessing in that language. Also at Benares, he administered confirmation to fourteen native Christians, and afterwards the Lord's Supper: and at Chunar to fifty-seven native Christians. He asked the questions and pronounced the prayer in confir- mation in Hindostanee, and also the words addressed in giving the elements in the Lord's Supper. Some of the old alarmists still remain, who, by these pro- ceedings, are silenced, if not convinced ; and scoffers 338 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. are put to shame. The Bishop also visits all the missionary native schools as he proceeds ; and the missionaries are greatly encouraged by the interest he takes in their proceedings." The progress of Bishop Heher through Central and Northern India, created no greater sensation than his predecessor's tour in the South. At Benares, the great stronghold of Hindooism, the Bishop was at first taken for the patriarch of Constantinople. As he proceeded upwards, holy men of all denominations made obeisance to him. !N^othing, as he wrote to the Governor-General, occurred to excite the jealousy of the natives. " Of that jealousy, I must say," he wrote to Lord Amherst ; "I have hitherto neither seen nor heard any indications. The very small degree of attention which I have excited has been apparently that of curiosity only. The King of Oude and his court expressed a wish to be present at Mr. Ricketts' (the Resident's) marriage, pretty much as they might have done, had it been a puppet-show; and as his Majesty is said to be curious in cos- tumes, I suspect that the novelty of my lawn sleeves may have, in part, induced him to honour me, by asking for my picture. From the Brahmins and Fakirs," he continued, " of both religions, I have had pretty frequent visits. Some of the Mussulmans have affected to treat me as of nearly the same faith with themselves, and to call me their ecclesiastical superior, as well as of the Christians ; but these com- pliments have generally concluded with a modest statement (like that of Sterne's Franciscan) of the Hebeb in The nori-h-west. 339 poverty of their order. A rupee or two, with a request that they would remember me in their prayers, I have found, on such occasions, extremely well taken ; and it has been, I hope, no compromise of my religious opinions." The Brahmins of Southern India had welcomed Bishop Middleton somewhat in the same way. Whatsoever their amount of religious zeal, they were not averse to Christian buxees. But although Bishop Heber believed that the natives of Upper India had very little pure love for their several religions — although he saw that Hindoos and Mussulmans were being drawn closer and closer to each other in the bonds of a common bastard faith — ^he did not contend that, therefore, there was no danger in indiscreet interference. He seems, indeed, to have had an insight into the character and the temper of the people of Upper India, very remarkable considering his limited experience. " They are," he wrote to Lord Amherst, " a proud and irritable people ; as yet, I apprehend, by no means thoroughly reconciled to the English or their Government ; not unlikely to draw a sabre .against any one who should offend their prejudices, and though caring little for religion itself, extremely likely to adopt the name of religion as a cockade, if induced by other and less ostensible motives to take up arms against their masters. Under such circumstances. Government certainly act most wisely in a careful abstinence from all show of interference ; and it is still more fortunate that the inhabitants of these (the North- Western) Provinces have not at present the remotest suspicion Z 2 340 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. that any such interfei'ence is contemplated." Viewed by the light of more recent history, there seems to be a suggestion of prophesy in this. The words are full of weighty significance and worthy at all times to be held in remembrance.* The Christmas of 1824 was spent by Bishop Heber at Meerut. There, the elder Mr. Fisher, a chaplain on the establishment, a man of great piety and worth, had a considerable native congregation. The state of affairs at this large military station made a most favourable impression on the Bishop's mind. " I was * There are some passages in this and other letters, written about the same time, which, although not bear- ing upon the immediate subject of this work, I shall perhaps be ex- cused for citing. " Through the Company's territories," remarks the bishop, " what have perhaps struck me most forcibly, are the great moderation and the general ability with which the different civil func- tionaries apparently perform their arduous duties, and the uniform good order and obedience to the laws which are enforced through so vast a tract of country, amid a warlike, an armed, and I do not think a very well-affected population. The un- favourable circumstances appear to be the total want of honourable em- ployment for the energies and ambition of the higher rank of natives, and the extreme numerical insuflSciency of the establishment allowed by the Company for the administration of justice, the collection of revenue, and, I am almost tempted to add, the permanent security and internal defence of their empire." There was at this time a restless feeling in the upper provinces of India, and a general revolt of the native array, if not the whole armed population of the country, appeared to be no improbable contingency. Circum- stances, not wholly dissimilar to those of the early part of 1857, had occurred, or were still in operation. to give some colour to this suspicion of a coming danger. The mutiny at Barrackpore seemed to indicate the temper of our troops, and the war in Burmah, occupying, as it did, the attention of the Government, and diverting to a distant point no small part of our military strength, sug- gested that a favourable moment had arrived for a hostile internal move- ment. Bishop Heber was so alive to the supposed danger, that he wrote a farewell letter to his wife, to be delivered to her in the event of his falling by the hands of the insurgents. But in November he seemed to think that the danger had subsided, and he wrote: " A general revolt was, a little time since, thought not un- likely, but the period seems now gone by ; and the alarming mutiny at Barrackpore was apparently made in concert with no other regiment. But thei-e certainly is, in all the Doab, in Oude, and Kohilcund, an immense mass of armed, idle, and disaffected population, and I am inclined to doubt whether the Hon. Company's tenure of their possessions is worth many years' purchase, un- less they place their army on a more numerous establishment than it now is, and do something more for the internal improvement of the country, and the contentment of the higher ranks of the natives, than they have hitherto seemed inclined to do." — Zjife of Bishop Heber, by his Widow. MR. FISHER AT MEERUT. 341 greatly pleased," he wrote to Lord Amherst, " with the church, chaplain,, and congregation of Meerut, all of which are more English than anything of the kind which I have seen in India. In Mr. Fisher, the chaplain, I had, I confess, heen led to expect some share of fanaticism and intemperate zeal, of both of which I am bound to acquit him. The sermon which I heard him preach was extremely plain and sensible, and with regard to his native converts, who are numerous, he has solemnly assured me, and I have not the smallest reason to disbelieve him, that he has sought after none of them, and given instruction to none, who have not voluntarily come to request it of him. Two such came, whilst I was in Meerut ; and a third, during the same time, received baptism. Mr. Fisher asked me to perform this ceremony myself, but in consequence of the rule which I have laid down not to become needlessly conspicuous in the pursuit of objects which are not my immediate concern, I declined. For the same reason I have abstained from distributing tracts, or acting in any way, which might excite the jealousy of those whom it is on all accounts desirable to conciliate. The work of conversion is, I think, silently going on ; but those who wish it best will be most ready to say ^festina lenteJ " It was not improbably " the story of the sepoy," which had caused Bishop Heber to regard Mr. Fisher as an over-zealous and indiscreet man. This story was then some years old, but it was discussed by Heber on this visit to Meerut — and we may be sure, 342 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. not in the same spirit in which it was commented upon, a third part of a century afterwards. The story was this: A naik or corporal of the 1st bat- talion of the 25th Eegiment of Native Infantry, was in the year 1819 converted to Christianity by the agency, direct or indirect, of Mr. Fisher, and formally baptized.* He was a man of good character, much esteemed by his comrades ; and his conversion created no little excitement among the Brahmins, of which his battalion was mainly composed. From the society of his comrades he necessarily became an outcast. He could not work with them ; he could not eat with them ; he could not join in their religious cere- monies. The excitement created in the lines by the apostacy of Purrubdeen Pandeh attracted the atten- tion of the regimental authorities and subsequently of the Government, and there was an inquiry into the circumstances attending the conversion of the man. The result was that he was removed from the regiment. He was not dismissed ; he was not, as has been said, " pmiished, because he became a Christian." He was offered either translation to another regiment in a higher rank, or a pension in accordance with the scale of the rank which he had attained. He chose the latter. He said that it should never be said of him that he had obtained any worldly advantage by taking up the cross. He, therefore, refused promotion. But the question * A native missionary laboured at each a native missionary, who labours Meerut, under Mr. Fisher's auspices. around them, and instructs especially See Corrie's " Memoirs." " Mr. H. those natives who profess Chris- Fisher at Delhi, his father at Meerut, tianity ," a,nd Mr. torn^ns at Cawnpore, have THE STORY OF THE 3EP0Y, 343 which has arisen does not relate to the behaviour of the convert, but to the conduct of the Government. The conduct of the Government, in this instance, vras in the autumn of 1857 denounced from a large number of Protestant pulpits, in all parts of the British isles. It was said that a sepoy at Meerut had been dismissed from the service because he had dared to become a Christian. And it was asked, with a latitude of logic, which, astounding though it was to every instructed mind, took the understandings of large congregations by storms, whether the ways of God to man were not justified in a very striking manner by the fact that the great catastrophe of the sepoy revolt in Upper India had commenced in that very station which, nearly forty years before, had been the scene of the unparalleled iniquity of the sepoy's dismissal. The cause of this clerical outburst, on a solemn day of fast and humiliation, was the extensive distribution by the Church Missionary Society of a circular letter signed by its secretaries, in which this story of the sepoy was told with an inaccuracy, which however unintentional, was most mischievous in its results ; and in which the great disasters in Upper India, that had filled so many homes with mourning, were attributed to .the unholy conduct both of the Christian Government and the Christian community in India. The contents of that document were taken upon trust by hundreds of English clergymen, who not having previously given a thought to the sub- ject of Christianity in India, rejoiced in the oppor- tune arrival of an available suggestion — and I cannot 344 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. say that I am surprised at the effect of the circular, for it bore the honoured name of Mr. Henry Venn.* From the North-Western Provinces of India Bishop Heber proceeded to Bombay. It was no insignificant proof of the progress that had been made in the external assertion of Christianity by a Christian Government and a Christian community, that he found there were five churches for him to consecrate, though Bishop Middleton had visited Bombay only four years before. And as a further proof of the Christian feeling both of the Government and of the community, it is to be recorded that the Bishop's efforts for the establishment, throughout the diocese, of "district committees in aid of Bishop's College and the Society's Missions in India," were warmly seconded by both. A meeting was held in furtherance of these objects, at which the Governor of Bombay, the Commander-in-Chief, and most of the principal officers of Government attended ; and the Bishop was especially delighted because the Governor who had given him this support was so great and so good a man as Mountstuart Elphinstone.f In the month of August 1825, Bishop Heber took ship for Ceylon. In that beautiful island there appeared to him to be " better hopes of an abundant and early harvest of Christianity than are to be foimd * See Appendix. words : — " A sermon preached on f As the fact here stated is of WhitSunday at St.Thomas's Church some interest and importance, in was succeeded the following day by connection with the much-mooted a meeting of the friends of our question as to the extent to which Society, attended by tlie Governor, tlie servants of Government in India the Honourable Mr. Elphinstone, the may properly take part in public chief and two puisne justices, the meetings for the promotion of Chris- Commander-in-Chief (Sir Charles tianity, I give the Bishop's own Colville), and almost all the mem- HEBEr's KETURN to CALCUTTA. 345 in all India besides." Nothing could have been more cordial than his intercourse with the missionaries of the island — nothing more pleasing than the impression which it left on their minds. His sojourn among them was brief, but eventful.* A missionary meeting was held, at which the Governor not only attended but presided ; and a committee was formed similar to that established at Bombay. Heber said afterwards that he had passed a most interesting month in Ceylon, but never in his life so laborious an one. He had intended to spend the ensuing Christmas at Madras and to visit the Southern Provinces, before the setting in of the summer heats — but this idea was afterwards abandoned, and the cold weather of 1825 found him again located in Calcutta. Here one of his first labours was the establishment of a diocesan committee of the Society for the Propa- gation of the Gospel, with the same objects as those bers of Government, together with was received, on enteting, by five all the clergy of the island, and a missionaries, and Mr. Lambert read majority of the principal civil, naval, an address, in the name of all, ex- and military officers now within the pressive of their joy at ranging limits of the Presidency. .... themselves under his paternal autho- An example has thus been set to rity The scene was most Ceylon, Madras, and Calcutta, which beautiful. We were embowered in is of the greater value from Mr. the sequestered woods of Ceylon, in Elphinstone's high reputation for the midst of a heathen population ; talent, and pre-eminent knowledge and here was a transaction worthy of the natives of India, their feelings, of an apostolic age, — a Christian and interests." — Letter to the Rev. A. bishop, his heart full of love, and full Hamilton, Secretary to the Incorpo- of zeal for the cause of his Divine rated Society for the Propagation of Master, received in his proper cha- the Gospel in Foreign Farts, — Life of racter by a body of missionaries of Reginald Heber, by his Widow, vol. ii., his own Church, who, with full con- pp. 317, 318. fidence and affection, ranged them- ♦ Mr. Robinson, at this time the selves under his authority, as his bishop's chaplain, gives the fol- servants and fellow-labourers, — ^men lowing account of Heber's first meet- of devoted piety, of sober wisdom, ing with the Ceylon missionaries : — whose labours were at that moment " At daybreak I attended his lord- before him, and whose reward is in ship six miles from Colombo to Cotta, heaven." the principal missionary station. He 346 CHKISTIANITY IN INDIA. already formed at Bombay and Ceylon. It was his earnest desire to enlist the sympathies of all the chief members of the Anglo-Indian community in behalf of the great cause of Christian missions in the East. There had been meetings before this for missionary purposes, and committees had been formed, but they had been confined mainly to the missionaries them- selves and to the local clergy ; but Heber desired to engage in the good work a far wider circle of Chris- tians, and he appealed, therefore, boldly, in his own name, to the Anglo-Indian community at large. He sent a circular letter to all the chief European resi- dents of Calcutta, in which, after adverting to what had taken place at Bombay and Colombo, he an- nounced his intention of preaching a sermon, on Advent Sunday, on behalf of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and of holding a meeting, to which he invited them, at his ovfn house, on the following day. The circular appears to have been wrorded with great care. Nothing could have been better calculated to catch the timid and the wavering. It called, at the outset, the attention of the Christian community to the proceedings of a meeting held at Bombay, " in which the Honourable Mr. Elphinstone and all the members of the Government took an active and munificent part, and which has been since followed up by collections in all the different churches of that presidency, and by the accession of the names of the most distinguished civil and military officers at its principal stations." No one knew better than Bishop Heber that, although much of the old HEBEr's JiPPEAL TO SOCIETY. 347 alarm, with which the Enghsh in India, and espe- cially the servants of Government, had contemplated anything like interference with the religions or the religious usages of the people, had greatly subsided, there was still some of the ancient leaven remaining, especially among the higher official functionaries of the presidency. The practical support, therefore, given to the Bishop's missionary exertions at Bombay by Mr. Elphinstone, who was held in the highest estimation in all parts of India as a model of a high- minded and sagacious Indian statesman, was a great fact, which Heber knew well was worth more to the missionary cause than a phalanx of serried argu- ments. But still he recognised the expediency of emphatically declaring that nothing was further from his thoughts than a violent crusade against the reli- gions of the country. He was, above all things, anxious not to irritate or to alarm the public mind. " I will only beg leave to add my hope," he proceeded to say in this remarkable appeal, " that the caution and temper displayed in all the measures and by all the functionaries of the benevolent society whose cause I plead ; the inoffensive and useful nature of the institution of Bishop's College ; and the counte- nance and support which, in consequence, both these have received from our sovereign and countrymen at home, and in this country from so many distinguished individuals in the service of her Majesty and the Honourable Company, will be regarded as sufficient grounds of assurance that, neither in the projected meeting, nor in the association consequent to it. 348 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. anything will be suffered which is likely to give offence to our unconverted fellow-subjects, or which is at variance with that wise respect for their feelings and prejudices, which has been uniformly maintained and enforced by the Government of British India." The logic of this is, that the highest servants of the Government may attend missionary meetings without offending the prejudices or alarming the minds of the natives of the countr}\ More than thirty years have passed since this theory was insinuated by Bishop Heber — a man moderate, although zealous, and cautious without timidity — but still the extent to which it may be safely carried out in practice is one of the most difficult points within the entire range of the great missionary question. People are even now hotly discussing it, and with no nearer approach to its solution than had been attained in Bishop Heber's days. In a subse- quent chapter of this work, something more may be said on this important subject. Here it is sufficient to indicate that at the beginning of the second quarter of the present century it was not conceived that the participation of Government servants, in proceedings at all events of a deliberative character, having for their object the evangelisation of Hindoos and Mussulmans, was in any way censurable or objec- tionable. The Bishop's appeal was responded to heartily and generously at Calcutta, as it had been at Bombay ; and he was so much pleased with the support he received, that he declared that if it had not been for considerations connected with the health HEBER AT MADRAS. 349 and the education of his children, he would have desired nothing hetter than to end his days in his diocese. How much his heart was with the mission- aries, and what a comprehensive view he took of their lahours in all parts of the country, may be gathered from an elaborate letter which he wrote at this time to the Secretary of the Christian Know- ledge Society, and from another to the Propagation Society, both of which throw considerable light on the state of Christianity in India at the close of the first quarter of the present century.* In the early part of 1826, accompanied by Mr. Robinson, afterwards Archdeacon of Madras, Bishop Heber took ship for the southern coast. He was about to fulfil the intention formed, but frustrated, in the preceding year, of making a visitation tour through the southern part of his gigantic diocese. He was much pleased with everything that he saw at Madras — with the Governor (Sir Thomas Munro) — with the clergy — with the churches — with the mis- sionary establishment at Vepery — with the Christian converts and with the native schools. There was unmistakeable evidence that much had been done in that part of the country to diffuse the light of truth among; the heathen. It was at Madras that the first English church had been built. It was on the Madras coast that the first Protestant mission had been planted. It was on the Madras coast that the early Syrian churches had numbered their Christian converts by thousands. The whole country was alive * See "Life of Reginald Heber," Vol. II., pp. 344—360; and 365—368. 350 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. with historical traditions and associations which irre- sistibly appealed to his imagination. He was about to traverse the scenes of the early labours of Ziegen- balg, of Schwartz, and of Schulze — he, " the chief missionary," to tread in the footprints of the first. There was one thing, however, which disquieted him at this time. There was sharp contention among the Southern missionaries upon a point, which, from the very commencement of the Christian labours of the Protestant Church in the East, had been a subject of more or less deliberation and discussion. Every- body knows that Caste is the great stumbling-block of Christianity. Well aware of this difficulty, the Jesuits, with their usual address, had sought rather to enlist it into their service than to make war upon it as an abomination. The Brahminical cord was, in their eyes, a serviceable institution. Nay, indeed, they Brahminised themselves. " Christianity made easy," was what they aimed at ; and they achieved considerable success. By not being over-nice in these matters, they made what they called "converts" by thousands — converts to a Christianity only one degree removed from the heathenism which they were said to have abjured. The early Protestant missionaries were satisfied with no conversions that were not genuine. But they had not grappled with the great difficulty of Caste. A large number of their first converts were men of the lowest caste, or of no caste at all. But, as time advanced and their labours extended, they perceived the necessity of some concessions to an institution so interwoven with the very life of THE QUESTION OF CASTE. 351 Hindoo society, and they suffered converts of dif- ferent castes to sit apart from each other at church, and to communicate separately at the Lord's table. This necessity was deeply deplored by Ziegenbalg, by Schwartz, by Gerecke, and other holy men, who prayed earnestly that God would so turn the hearts of their converts as to make all this social exclusive- ness a folly and an abomination in their eyes ; but well considering the whole matter, and setting before them the example of the early apostles, they came to the conclusion that by insisting too rigidly upon the observance of an unappreciable equality, they would jeopardise the success of the great cause to the promotion of which they had given their lives. All through the eighteenth century this system of con- cession appears to have been recognised by the Protestant missionaries. But early in the nine- teenth, the Baptists of Serampore set their faces strenuously against it. The utter denial of Caste was held to be an essential condition of Christianity. Carey, Marshman, and Ward would have nothing to do with men, who desired to carry with them, into their new conversion-state, any of the old garments of heathenism, which they had worn in their days of darkness.* And some of the younger missionaries, in Southern India, had now determined to carry into practice the same views of the duty of a Christian teacher, and had steadfastly arrayed themselves against the toleration which was still the rule of their elder brethren on the coast. * See ante, page 238. 352 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. There was strife, therefore, among the missionaries, which Heber was anxious to allay. The question had been brought before him, before he quitted Bengal. He had there sought to arm himself with all the information that he could obtain, respecting not only the practice of the earlier Protestant missionaries, but the true nature of the institution of Caste. There was then in Bishop's College a Christian convert, known as Christian David. He had been a pupil of Schwartz ; and was truly a remarkable man. No less distinguished for his intelligence than for his piety, he was regarded by the good Bishop as the one of all others to whom he might most expediently refer for the solution of his doubts. Heber drew up, therefore, a series of questions, which he submitted to the native Christian, and received from him a series of replies, stated not only in excellent English, but with a force and precision which could not be easily surpassed. First, with regard to the nature of Caste, it was declared by Christian David, that it was, among the natives of Southern India, " purely a worldly idea " — " not connected in their minds with any notion of true or false religion ;" that the native converts, drawn from the higher castes, were disinclined to intercourse with low-caste proselytes, not on religious or superstitious grounds, but simply for social rea- sons ; that there were certain distinctions between high-caste and low-caste persons, not by any means ideal, and that these distinctions were not to be gilded over merely by the acquisition of worldly THE QUESTION OF CASTE. 353 wealth. He especially set forth that low-caste people indulged habitually in an unseemly mode of speech — frequently using" coarse or indecent expressions very revolting to the feelings of high-caste men ; and that they were altogether less decorous and self-respectful in their way of life. Learning, he said, might elevate them ; and if a pariah became learned he was called a pundit, and respected by the Church ; and then his brother converts would associate with him, but still they would not " from worldly fear or pride" eat with him from the same dish. From the days of Ziegen- balg downwards they had been wont to sit at church in two separate divisions, and had communicated separately at the Lord's table, drinking out of the same cup, but the high-caste converts drinking first. As a proof, however, that these were regarded as merely worldly distinctions, Christian David said that high-caste and low-caste, among the Christian con- gregations of the South, were buried in a common burial ground, and took part promiscuously in the funeral ceremonies, " as if with the consciousness, contrary to the heathen nations, that death levelled all distinctions." Rather by mild remonstrance and persuasion than by the enactment of any stringent rules, which might have proved great obstructions to Christianity, the elder missionaries had sought to mitigate the evil ; and Christian David declared that under the minis- tration of Schwartz the evil had considerably dimi- nished. But Mr. Rhenius, of the Church Missionary Societ}'', a truly conscientious and devout Chi'istian, A A 354 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. had taken other views of the duties of Christian teachers, and had gained over to his opinions the younger missionaries in the South ; so that they agreed, as I have said, among themselves, to make the total repudiation of Caste, even in its mere social aspect, an essential condition of admittance to the Christian Church ; and they had, moreover, spoken and preached against the elder missionaries — even the most venerated of their predecessors — denouncing them as " corrupters of the Gospel " for having per- mitted such things to soil the purity of Christianity. Of all this Christian David spoke with profound regret. His own opinions were naturally inclined to- wards the doctrine and the practice of his old master Christian Schwartz. The mild interference and affectionate advice of the Bishop might, he thought, dispose the hearts of the younger missionaries towards greater toleration and forbearance. Very earnestly and very conscientiously did Heber revolve this important subject in his mind. It is in accoi'dance with all that we know of the character of the man, that he should have inclined towards the more conciliatory practices of the elder missionaries. But he deferred any final decision, until the oppor- tunitv should arrive for the collection of further information and the delivery of a sounder and fuller judgment on the spot. When, therefore, he visited the Southern Presidency, he wrote letters of inquiry to some of the principal missionaries, and instituted a select committee of the Christian Knowledge Society for the purpose of making further investigations HEBER ON CASTE. 355 into the subject. From one letter written to the Rev. D. Schreivogel, though little more than a series of questions, the bent of his opinions may be derived. It appeared to him, after much deliberate consideration, that Caste, as represented to exist among the Christian converts on the Coast, was in reality an institution differing little in its essential features from the social exclusiveness prevailing in Christian countries. Is there no such thing, he asked himself, as Caste in Europe ? Is there no such thing as Caste in America? Do not the high and the low sit apart in our English churches ? Do not our well-dressed high-caste folks go up first to the altar to communicate ? Do high and low sit down to meat together — do their children attend the same schools ? Are there no pariahs amongst us ? In other civilized countries, is there not a prevailing sense of Caste, apart from all associa- tions of worldly distinction ? Does not the Spanish hidalgo wear his Caste bravely beneath his threadbare cloak ? Is the wealthiest mulatto fit companion for the poorest white ? It may be called Caste in one part of the world ; it may be called blood, or anything else in another ; but in its essential features the one thing differs but little from the other. It is an intel- ligible and appreciable Christian principle that all men in the sight of God are equal. But it is equally certain that all are not equal in the sight of Man ; and it is a fair presumption that God never intended them to be equal. Social distinctions exist every- where ; and if, argued the Bishop, the distinctions which exist among the converts on the Southern coast A A 2 356 CHRISTIANITV IN INDIA. are merely social distinctions, why should we endanger the success of our efforts by endeavouring to enforce a law of equality, which is maintained among no other classes of men ? In this wise thought Bishop Heber. He had said from the first, that if he could be of any service to the Christian cause in India, it would be as a mode- rator — that by a conciliatory course, smoothing down the asperities of the over-zealous, he might hope to do much good as the chief missionary ; and now he believed that it was his duty to cast in the weight of his authority upon the side of those who had resolved not to pour too much of new wine into the old bottles. But many wise and devout Christians since that time have believed that the " gentle Heber " was altogether wrong ; and another Bishop, at a later period of the annals of Christianity in India, reversed his decision, by emphatically pronouncing against all toleration for the iniquities of Caste. He regarded the institution altogether with other eyes. It was, in Bishop Wilson's estimation, an ingrained part of the religion of Hin- dooism ; and it is not to be doubted that in the unconverted state of the Hindoo mind. Caste is much more than a social or a civil institution. But what Christian David affirmed, and what Bishop Heber believed, was, that in the converted state it ceased to be associated in men's minds with the articles of their faith, and was regarded only as a matter of worldly pride or social convenience. This may have been right, or may have been wrong. But whether right or wrong, Bishop Heber firmly believed that he was STATE OF THE DANISH MISSIONS. 357 making no compromise with any of the essential truths of Christianity. He believed, on the other hand, that he was deciding as the Apostles of old would have decided ; and that such a decision would conduce to the diffusion of genuine Christianity. Still pondering these things in his mind, the Bishop quitted Madras, and turned his face towards the South. He had been obliged, not without regret, to abandon the idea of visiting Tranquebar. Per- haps it was as well that he did so— for there could be no other than painful associations suggested by the fallen glories of the first Protestant mission ; and there was little, indeed nothing, that he could do, in the face of the decrees of the Danish Government, to restore it to its former vitality. It was proposed by the authorities to absorb the remaining missionaries into the Establishment, and so to suffer the Mission to die a natural death. One of them, thus threatened, and unwilling to " apostatise to a chaplaincy," wrote to the Bishop, beseeching him to cause his translation to the Yepery Mission, where he would no longer be subject to the Danish Government. At Cuddalore, the Mission, founded by M. Schulze in 1736, was scarcely in a more flourishing condition. Mr. Rosen, who had taken charge of it only a short time before, found that the native congregation consisted of barely fifty members, though it had once numbered three hundred. Everywhere, indeed, there were signs pf painful decadence in the old historic Missions of Southern India, except, perhaps, at Tanjore, where the labours of Schwartz, more reverenced by a native 358 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. prince than those of Ziegenbalg by a Christian Government, were still bearing good fruit. In the Mission Church, on the evening of Easter Day, when the service was performed in Tamul, the Bishop pro- nouncing the blessing, there were gathered together no less than thirteen hundred Christian converts. The Bishop was touched to the heart by the spectacle of their devotion ; and declared that one such day was worth years of common life.* The Bishop spent some days at Tanjbre, in the course of which he made the acquaintance of the Rajah, who, years before, had been the pupil and the friend of Schwartz, and who still held the good man in the most reverential and affectionate remembrance. The great missionary's place was still filled by Mr. Kohloff, now well stricken in years, but labouring with unabated zeal in the cause of his Master. For him also the Rajah had a profound respect — saying, at times, " Whatever John Kohloff asks of me shall » See Archdeacon Robinson's ing the loud ' Amen ' at the end of " Last Bays of Bishop Heber." The every prayer. For the last ten Archdeacon gives a pleasing account years I have longed to witness a of this congregation: — "I desired," scene like this, but the reality ex- he says, " one of the native priests ceeds all my expectations. I wish to ascertain how many were present, that some of those (if any of that and I found they exceeded thirteen small number still remain) who deem hundred I have seen no all missionary exertion, under any congregation, even in Europe, by circumstances, a senseless chimera, whom the responses of the liturgy and confound the humble and silent are more generally or correctly made, efforts of these devoted men with the or where the psalmody is more de- dreams of fanaticism or the frauds votional and correct. The effect was of imposture, could have witnessed more than electric, it was a deep this sensible refutation of their cold and thrilling interest, in which me- and heartless theories. The Bishop's raory, and hope, and joy mingled heart was full; and never shall I with the devotion of the hour, to hear forget the energy of his manner and so many voices, but lately rescued the heavenly expression of his conn- from the polluting services of the tenance, when he exclaimed, as I pagoda, joining in the fine and assisted him to take off his robes, heavenly music of the Easter Hymn ' Gladly would I exchange years of and the Hundredth Psalm, and utter- common life forone such dayasthis.'" THE TANJORE CHKISTUNS. 359 be done," It was a great thing, indeed, for the mission that such a man sat on the throne of Tan- jore ; and so deeply was Heber impressed with a grateful sense of what the Rajah had done for Chris- tianity, that he composed a short prayer for the temporal and the spiritual welfare of the Prince, to be translated into Tamul, and used in all the mission churches throughout the province. It ended with a supplication for his conversion to Christianity. What would have been thought of this some years before ? Thousands of native converts were then taught by the Lord Padre Sahib of the Feringhees to pray for the apostasy of the ruler of the country, who had recently been on a pilgrimage to Benares. It is easy to imagine what an outcry this would have excited some twenty years before — how Heber's "sanguinary" indiscretion would have been denounced as the origin of every subsequent disaster. Even now the incident may be regarded by many not without some feeling of wonder. At all events, it cannot be said that, in that part of the country, Christianity did not openly assert itself under the auspices of the great representative of the hierarchy of England. On the 1st of April, the Bishop arrived at Trichi- nopoly, where he found the Mission in a very decayed state ; and on the following morning, he preached at the station church. In the afternoon he confirmed fifty-two candidates. He appeared to be in good health ; full of animation, full of energy. But the day was unusually hot, and in the evening, he com- plained of languor, and was induced to forego his 360 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. intention of attending the native congregation. But the following morning found him again at his work. He went at daybreak to the Mission church in the Fort, and after listening to the service in Tamul, confirmed several native converts, made many inquiries about the state of the Mission, and received an address from the native Christians praying that he would provide them with a spiritual chief. He then went home ; and, as is the wont of Englishmen in India after their morning labours, prepared himself for the bath. No mortal eye ever saw him alive from that time. The corpse of Reginald Heber was found by his alarmed attendants ; his soul had gone to its rest. There is no need that I should write anything about the character of Reginald Heber ; for every one knows what were the gentleness, the amenity, the goodness of the man — how rich he was in intellec- tual gifts, and yet how much richer in charity and loving-kindness and good-will towards men, and in lowly reverence for his God. It is enough that it should be said in this place, that with him the Church Avas not before the Gospel, and that he was more of a missionary than an ecclesiast. It had been from the first his ambition, not to be the head of the Anglican Church in India, but to be "the first mis- sionary in the East ;" and although he did not go about preaching in unknown tongues to the benighted children of the soil, he gave up heart, head, time, health, life itself, to the great work of diffusing the light of truth, in the manner which he believed to be INFLUENCE OF BISHOP HEBER. 361 most surely calculated to result in eventual success. It may be said that there was no grand enthusiasm — no heroic ardour in the man. And truly there is little of fiery zeal discernible in his character and his career. The first of living missionaries has described him as " the gentle Heber :" * and gentle he was in the best, the holiest, the most Christian sense. Gentle, too, he was on principle — gentle the system by which he hoped to turn aside the heathens from their superstitions. But more genuine earnestness was nowhere to be found ; although it was of the reasoning and reflecting kind ; not impetuous or impulsive. Equally removed from the extreme views of those who at that time contended, and do still con- tend, that all men in authority — all the servants of the State — should scrupulously abstain from taking part, direct or indirect, in the conversion of the people ; and of those, on the other hand, who would counsel a course of unsparing iconoclasm, striking down the false Gods of the heathen with the strong hand of the Christian conqueror, were the opinions which he encouraged from the first, and which under the influence of time and ripening experience grew into settled convictions. He was anxious that nothing should be done to alarm or to irritate the public mind ; and, therefore, he always counselled prudence and forbearance, and a due regard, especially on the part of Government, for the feelings and pre- judices of the unconverted. But he believed, at the same time, that Christian men could not assert their * Dr. Duff's " Letters on the Indian Mutiny." 362 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. Christianity too boldly ; and that it was the duty of the head of the Christian Church in India to give no uncertain sound. Bishop Middleton had conceived that any open and direct episcopal connection with missionary societies was impossible. Bishop Heber thought otherwise, and two months after his arrival, he accepted the office of President of the Auxiliary Church Missionary Society at Calcutta. Bishop Middleton had conceived it to be impossible for him to ordain to the ministry a Christian convert who had been for some time employed as a catechist by the Christian Knowledge Society. Bishop Heber ordained him out of hand, and sent his examination papers to the Archbishop of Canterbury.* Bishop Middle- ton had talked about "silencing" the missionary clergy : Bishop Heber opened his arms to receive them, and desired that they should be allowed the freest utterance of their opinions without regard to their conventional orthodoxy. And they, in turn, were glad to submit themselves to him. " They all cheerfully," he said, — " such at least as were of the Church of England — received licenses and submitted themselves to my authority. They are, in fact, very respectable and pains-taking young men, who are doing far more in the way of converting and educating the natives than I expected, and are well pleased to find themselves recognised as regular clergymen, and treated accordingly." * And I have no doubt that they whose answers to Heher's queries on hoth surprised and delighted the the subject of Caste in the churches Archbishop, for the candidate for holy are distinguished by a high order of orders was that Christian David of intelligence, whom I have already spoken, and INFLUENCE OF BISHOP HEBER. 363 There is no doubt that this general toleration, this catholic sympathy, imparted strength, as it gave union to the Christian cause.* It assuredly endeared Heber to a large number of his fellow-labourers, and removed the impression that, however much the establishment of the Indian episcopate may have added dignity and stateliness to the Anglican Church, it had done little to give an impetus to vital Chris- tianity. Some, indeed, thought that the Bishop was too regardless of form, that he did not sufficiently parade the mitre, and rustle the crinoline of his lawn sleeves. Indeed, he was guilty of the episcopal sole- cism of wearing a " solah topee," (or white-pith hat) and encasing his lower limbs in loose white trousers, like any subaltern or indigo-planter in that torrid clime.f But although his episcopal majesty was thus stripped of its externals, it never became a jest ; and there was seldom a truer bishop — aTrio-KOTroc — or over- seer ; seldom one who overlooked his flock with a more comprehensive eye, or who did more to keep them together in the bonds of a common brotherhood. * Hear what Archdeacon Corrie "The Bishop's manner everywhere said about this feature of his epis- is exceedingly popular; and though copal character: — " Our Bishop is the there are some points, such as his most free from party views of any wearing white trousers and a white man I ever met with. In a ruler this hat, which I could wish were altered is beautiful ; and I have felt the with more regard to his station, and benefit resulting from it. But a few which perhaps strike me the more years ago it seemed as if it was im- after being accustomed to the parti- possible to exercise such a spirit. cular attention of Bishop Middleton Certainly, in those days. Bishop to such points, yet really I feel com- Heber would not have been raised to pelled to forgive him, when I observe the bench, when unlimited submis- his unreserved frankness, his anxious sion was the only condition of co- and serious wish to do all the good operation. Some would have given in his power. ... I see the ad- up the Church Missionary Society, vantage which Christianity and our and resolved aU the episcopal socie- Church must possess in such a cha- ties into the diocesan connection." racter to win their way, and to keep f See Archdeacon Eobinson's all together in India." " Last Days of Bishop Heber." — 364 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. It was no small thing for the episcopate of Bishop Heher, it was no small thing for the cause of Chris- tianity in India, that at that time Corrie and Thomason were at hand, to aid the Bishop alike with their wise counsel and their active ministrations. Thomason, who for some time had been the very life of all the religious and educational associations in the metropolis of British India — who was, indeed, a kind of secretary-general, unstinting of labour, and unsparing of self — betook himself to England, a few months before the close of Heber's career, to return thence only to die. There was much in his character that resembled the good Bishop's, and therefore, that endeared him to his chief.* His departure was a heavy loss to the Christian cause; but Corrie remained behind to carry on the good work. He preached Heber's funeral sermon ; and, as next in ecclesiastical rank, discharged the duties of the episcopate. About the permanent succession to the office he was natu- rally very anxious, although he never expected, and, indeed, never desired to see the mitre on his own brows. Deeply deploring Heber's death, he had written to his friend Sherer, — " Our late beloved Bishop was so entirely a missionary, that we can * The "gentleness" both of his Metcalfe: "In the Chinsurah schools personal character, and of the system the Scripture has not been intro- which he had prescribed to himself duced. They are schools for know- as that best calculated to give effect ledge, not for religion. / apprehend to his efforts for the conversion of these gentle expedients are the best. But the heathen, -was one of the features time will show hoivandwhen effectual in which he most resembled the good is to be accomplished. The Bishop. Speaking of the early educa- field is vast, and the mind is bewil- tional measures, consequent upon dered in looking around it It seems, the passing of the Charter of 1813, however, time to fix on some definite in which he was so deeply interested, spot, and say, ' Here we begin.' " — he wrote to Sir Charles (then Mr.) MS. Correspondence, heber's successor. 365 scarcely hope to see one like him;" — and as, ever and anon, reports came from England, of this or that expected nomination, he was disquieted by the appre- hension that the choice of the Government at home would fall upon a mere Churchman. " Rumours," he wrote, " have reached us about a new bishop, and men unknown to missionary fame have been named. This seems sad : let us in patience wait the event." He waited, and he found that the bishopric had been conferred, not on a missionary priest, but on a pictorial critic. 366 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA CHAPTER X. Government connexion with Idolatry — Juggernauth — The British Govern- ment and the Religious Endowments of the People — The Pilgrim-Tax — Gradual extension of State-Patronage — Results of our interference. What I have written hitherto, has heen chiefly of the efforts and the endeavours — the failures and the successes — of individual men, either wholly uncon- nected with the British Government, and suffering contumely, perhaps, at its hands ; or only hound to it as the ministers of a State Church, and the recipients of certain sums of State money. It is time now, however, that I should speak of the Government itself ; of the position which it occupied — of the attitude which it assumed, at this time ; of the manner in which by its tolerance it fostered, or by its intole- rance it depressed the false religions of the country. It has been incidentally shown that up to this time, it was the almost universal opinion, even of those who were most diligent in their endeavours for the promotion of Christianity in India, that the Govern- ment, as such, should stand entirely aloof from all missionary proceedings ; that any direct interference of the State for the conversion of Mahomedans or NEUTRALITY OF THE GOVERNMENT. 367 Hindoos to the religion of the Saviour would, by- exciting alarm and causing irritation, rather retard than accelerate the progress of Christianity in India. What was held to be the duty of the Government was the practice of general toleration towards all the religions professed by the people under their rule, permitting every man, without restraint and without interference, to worship his God, true or false, in his own way. Christian men sought for liberty to diffuse, without hindrance from the strong hand of authority, the religion in which they gloried; but, if at any time they had thought of seeking the direct aid of that strong hand, the idea had been aban- doned, and passive rather than active encouragement was the support they looked for from the State.* But, it was alleged that the State had not remained neutral — that whilst at one time it had suppressed, and, at a later period, had surlily permitted the diffu- sion of Christianity, it had actively encouraged the worst forms of idolatry. Little by little, this grave charge gathered strength and consistency. Little had been heard of it until the early part of the present century, when Claudius Buchanan set it a-going. The feeling out of which it arose may have existed before his time ; but in an inert and unde- monstrative shape. A conviction, indeed, of the heinousness of the idolatry, of the grossness of the * Towards the close of the last ceived in England, and embodied century, before the passing of the into the resolutions submitted to Act of 1793, the idea of despatching Parliament. Mainly on this account, a number of missionaries and school- the resolutions (which are given in masters to India, to be under the the Appendix) met, as already stated, control of Government, had been con- with a disastrous fate. 368 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. superstitions, by which they were surrounded, seems to have dawned hut slowly upon the intelligence of the English in India. Not very keenly alive to the beauty and the holiness of their own blessed religion, and considerably ignorant of the real cha- racter of Hindooism, they had been rather attracted by the "excellent moralities of the Hindoos," than repulsed by their abominations, and had seen in many of the barbarities, which we now most deplore and condemn, only the courage of the hero and the patience of the martyr. Old Zephaniah Holwell, who must have had a rare taste of the excellent moralities of the Moors in the Black Hole of Cal- cutta, wrote, perhaps in revenge, some treatises on the tenets of the Gentoos, in which he commended, in the highest strain of eulogy, the simple, the rational, the sublime religion of Brahma; declared that the detestable rite of Suttee was based " upon heroic, as well as rational and pious principles ; " and concluded his panegyric with the assertion that a true Brahman is " the purest model of genuine piety that now exists or can be found on the face of the earth." He was by no means singular in these opinions. The excellent moralities, both of the Gentoos and the Moors, and the simple, rational sublimity of the religions they professed, had their admirers, and, I may add, their followers, at a much later period of our history. The European mind was first awakened to a sense of the enormities of Hindooism by the revelations of Claudius Buchanan, who visited Orissa in 1806, and JUGGERNAUTH. 369 there first made the acquaintance of the giant-idol, known as Juggernauth. Within the influence of the salubrious sea-breezes of Pooree, he found the monster holding high carnival, and straightway noted his pro- ceedings. The picture was a terrible but instructive one. There, on the sandy coast of Orissa, was a stately pagoda, grand against the sky ; shrine of a mighty Moloch, tended by hundreds of priests, and venerated by millions of worshippers ; — a hideous grotesque thing, of huge proportions, in the sem- blance of mutilated humanity, stuck about with pseudo- divine emblems, and endowed in the language of the priests, and in the imaginations of the people, with all kinds of miraculous gifts. Thousands and tens of thousands of people from all parts of the country flocked to this famous temple every year, to see the god go forth, amidst all kinds of manifest inde- cencies, upon his periodical excursions ; there to pro- strate themselves before him, or, may be, to die miserably upon the road. The pilgrimage in itself was a fearful thing. Hard the struggle — often bravely encountered ; often all obstacles surmounted — climate, want, horrible disease ; and the weary traveller arrived within the sacred precincts, to perish beneath the crushing wheels of the great idol-car, in ecstatic mockery of martyrdom. Few, perhaps, in proportion those sudden immolations ; but loud the outcry about them. Greater far the number whom the pilgrimage destroyed ; who died by what are called natural causes on the line of road — by fever, dysentery, and such-like grim diseases of the country ; rife at all B B 370 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. times, rifest at the season of the great carnival of the Rutt Juttra. Some said, ten thousand people, men and women, died for Juggernauth, one way or other, every year ; that is, died for the priestly Brahmans — old Zephaniah's purest models of genuine piety to he found on the face of the earth ; three thousands of whom were supported in connection with the imperial idol, each having, therefore, three men and one-third of a man as his annual share of human sacrifice. But others, good Dr. Carey included, computed the annual waste of life, " caused by this one idol," at 120,000 human beings, thus giving each pure model forty victims as his individual quota of the great holocaust.* The accounts, indeed, published by the Baptist missionaries were even more distressing than those which emanated from the English Churchman. They spoke of "numbers" of miserable creatures pro- strating themselves beneath the wheels of the great idol-car — of a hundred and fifty people killed at one time by the pressure of the crowd at the gate of the * "Idolatry destroys more than that, at tlie lou-est calculation, the sword, yet in a way which is 1,200,000 persons attend. Now, it scarcely perceived. The numbers only one in ten died, the mortality who die in these long pilgrimages, caused by this one idol would be either through want or fatigue, or 120,000 in a year ; but some are from dysenteries and fevers caught of opinion that not one in ten by lying out and want of accommo- survive and return home again." — dation, is incredible. I only mention Periodical Accounts of the Baptist one idol, the famous Juggernauth, in Mission. Orissa, to which twelve or thirteen Buchanan says that when he in- pilgrimages are made every year. It quired on the spot as to the number is calculated that the numbers who of pilgrims, at the time of the Rutt go thither is, on some occasions, Juttra, he was told that a lakh 600,000 persons, and scarcely ever (100,000) "would not be missed." less than 100,000 persons. I suppose THE christian's OPPOBTUNITY. 371 temple.* But they declared at the same time, that the pilgrims were willing to listen to the Christian preacher, and received with avidity copies of the Holy Scriptures in the native tongues. Arguing upon this fact, Claudius Buchanan declared that the immense gathering of heathens from all parts of the country was a golden opportunity for Christianity ; and, with greater boldness than the majority of his countrymen, propounded the " sanguinary " doctrine that Government ought to step in and turn the opportunity to account. " The Bible," he said, " is, by the inscrutable providence of God, at hand; it has been translated into the languages of Asia. Would it not, then, be worthy of the East India Company to order ten thousand copies to be distri- buted annually at Juggernauth, in any manner that prudence would justify and experience direct, as a sacred return for the revenue we derive, if it should be thought right that revenue should be continued. The Scriptures would thus be carried to the extremi- ties of India and the East. Is it possible that the shadow of an objection should arise against such a" * See the statements of Messrs. Barraekpore to this station had per- Smith and Green. " You would have mission to visit the temple, A been astonished to see the vast num- famine was produced in the country, her of pilgrims crossing the river and great numbers of the pilgrims at Cuttack. As far as the eye could died of hunger and thirst. We reach, we could not see the end of talked to some of them, but it was the ranks: it put us in mind of an of no use; they said, wliether we army going to battle You surviveornot, we will see the temple can easily conceive what a multitude of Juggernauth before our death, of men, women, and children must Numbers killed themselves by falling have been at the temple, for one under the wheels of the idol's car. hundred and fifty or thereabouts to They laid themselves flat on their have been killed by the crowd. They backs for the very purpose of being trod one upon another in approaching crushed by it." — Feriodical Accounts the temple gate. Ten sepoys per of the Baptist Mission. company from all the battalions from B B 2 372 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. measure, innoxious as it is humane and heavenly in its tendency? Are we afraid that 'the wretches, who come to lay their bones within the precincts of Juggernauth,' would mutiny and take away our domi- nion? Would not the consequence be rather that * the blessing of him that was ready to perish' would rest upon you ? " Thus, on the 25th of May, 1813, wrote Claudius Buchanan to the Court of Directors of the East India Company. Perhaps there were not many who, in those days, looked upon the immense gathering of people around the temple of Juggernauth, as a mighty congregation to be preached to by Christian men; but all these accounts of the horrors and the impieties attending the carnival of the great Moloch of Hin- dooism filled the humane with compassion, and the religious with sorrow, and raised a common cry of indignation against the Government which tolerated such things. In truth the whole subject was not very clearly understood ; and, as commonly happens in these cases, the loudest noise came from the emptiest understandings. But, at all events, there was one broad patent truth, namely, that there existed, not only amidst the sand-hills of Pooree, but in many other parts of the country, that which, for want of a better designation, was called " Govern- ment Connexion with Idolatry." And, straightway, this idea having taken possession of the public mind, it was declared that the Christian Government of India, not content with their exertions to suppress the diffusion of the saving truths of the Gospel, were THE QUESTION OF STATE-PATRONAGE. 373 openly and authoritatively aiding and abetting the worst forms of devil-worship ; that they were taking all the hideous indecencies and revolting cruelties of Hindooism under their especial patronage ; sending their own masters-of-the-ceremonies to preside over the hellish orgies ; and with paternal tenderness managing the property of the idol temples, pamper- ing the priests, cherishing the dancing girls, and doing such honour to heathenism generally as was best calculated to maintain it in a high state of exultant obesity. These grave charges set people a-thinking about the matter in all its length and breadth. There were some who then saw, or thought that they saw, things for the first time in their true light ; and boasted that the scales had fallen from their eyes. Others were there, who, not less seriously pondering the question, settled themselves down in the conviction, that the existing state of things was right, not simply on the score of expediency, but on that also of inalienable jus- tice. The idolatry which the British Government was accused of fostering was many centuries old. It had existed under the native Governments, and had been protected by them ; and the English conqueror, who in a general way had pledged himself to deprive the people of none of the rights, privileges, and immuni- ties which they had enjoyed under their former rulers, might not uni*easonably believe that he was compelled to continue the State-patronage of the religions of the people which he had found in existence at the period 374 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. of conquest. Nay, indeed, the pledges given to the natives had not always been given in a general way. Kight or wrong, it had been the policy of the British Government to impress upon the people that under the new rule of the Feringhee there would be no interference with the religions of the country — that religious freedom would be granted to them to the fullest extent, and that the property of their temples, and the privileges of their priesthood, would be secured to them in the same state as they might have been found by us on the first occupation of the terri- tory. When, for the first time, in 1793, anything like a regular administrative system was inaugurated, the regulations framed by Cornwallis and Barlow distinctly set forth that the laws of the Shastre and the Koran would be preserved to them, and that they would be sufifered to worship in their own way, as un- restrictedly as though there had never been a change of Government. Nothing, indeed, could have been more intelligible than such language as the follow- ing: — "The many valuable privileges and immuni- ties which have been conferred upon the natives of these provinces evince the solicitude of the British Government to promote their welfare, and must satisfy them that the regulations which may be adopted for the internal government of the country will be calcu- lated to preserve to them the laws of the Shastre and the Koran in matters to which they have been invari- ably applied, to protect them in the free exercise of their religion, and to afford security to their persons CHRISTIAN TOLERATION. 375 and property."* Nor was the regard for the reli- gions of the people confined to Indian legislators. The legislature of Great Britain took the same view of the matter. Even the protection of Caste was decreed by Act of Parliament. " And in order," it was declared, "that due regard may be had to the civil and religious usages of the natives, be it enacted that the rights and authorities of fathers of families and masters of families, according as the same may be exercised by the Gentoo or Mahomedan law, shall be preserved to them within their families respec- tively, nor shall the same be molested or interrupted by any of the proceedings of the said courts ; nor shall any act done in consequence of the rule or law of caste, so far as respects the members of the same family only, be deemed a crime, although the same may not be justifiable by the laws of England."! The utmost toleration, indeed, for the religions and the religious and social usages of the people was held to be the duty of the British Government. All the material and moral rights and privileges, which they enjoyed before they became the subjects of that Government, were declaredly continued to them ; their temples, and temple-lands, and idolatrous endow- ments were in no wise to be taken from them, and the lessons taught by their priests were not to be violently gainsaid. And yet it does not appear to me that at the bottom of this toleration there was any of that heathenism which is so often charged to it. * See Preamble to Regulation 3 of 1793. f 37 Geotge III. cfip. 142, sec, xii., following 21 Geo. III. cap, 70. 376 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. If there were any question at all for the solution of the rulers of India in those days, it was a very simple question of right or wrong. A certain tract of country, by conquest — by cession — no matter how — passed, from beneath the rule of the old native Govern- ment, under the yoke of the encroaching European. The new Government declaredly took upon itself all the duties and responsibilities of the old. Ever as they extended their dominions, the British pro- fessed to appear upon the scene of their new triumphs not as spoliators, but as deliverers. Life and pro- perty were to be more secure, justice was to be more respected, under the new Christian Government, than under that which it had supplanted. It was not our business to inquire either how the property had come into the hands of the existing owners, or whether, being in such hands, it was turned to good or bad uses. All that we rightly had to recognise was the fact of possession. We professed to draw no dis- tinctions ; we did not tell the merchant that he might keep his gains, but that the priest must disgorge his possessions, because the British Government was a trading government, and not an idolatrous one. It was conceived to be more just to say to the priest, or to the temple, or to the idol, or to whomsoever the property might belong, "It is yours ; you have got it. No matter how you came by it ; no matter what you do with it. You enjoyed it undisturbedly under the old Government, and you shall enjoy it undisturbedly under the new." And this was the system under which the British THE POLICY OF TOLERATION. 377 ruler invariably acted. He did not lay his hands upon temple property; firstly, because he believed that he had no right to take any property at all ; and secondly, because, strong in that belief, he was repeatedly telling the people that under the new rule of the Feringhee all their old rights and privileges would be respected, and most especially the ancient right of worshipping their gods in their own way. The case appeared to be a very simple one, admit- ting of no dispute. Moreover, there may have been in former days, as there are at the present time, some who believed that a good Hindoo (good after his kind), or a good Mahomedan, was likely to be a better subject than a bad Hindoo or a bad Maho- medan ; and who, therefore, felt that they would advance the interests of the State, and promote the happiness of the people, by encouraging them in the faithful observance of their several religions, whether true or false. It was not, in those early days, a question in any degree between Christianity and Idolatry. For, in truth, there were no means of converting the people to Christianity. We had not even the means of asserting our own Christianity — except at the great presidential towns. But it was a question whether the people would, in any sense, be better — better as men, or nearer Heaven — for the decadence of the ancestral faiths, to which they clung with blind vene- ration ; worshippings darkly as we know, but still worshipping. It is not for me to say whether, in the sight of 378 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. God, an erring faith or an erring love is better or worse than no faith and no love. But I know that, humanly speaking, there is better hope of the even- tual growth of the truthful and the lovely from a soil in which rank weeds have grown luxuriantly, than from one hard and stubborn as a rock, in which nothing has ever grown. I know, too, that in the concerns of life, I would rather trust a good Hindoo — meaning thereby one strong in faith and strict in observance — than one spiritually cold and ceremonially neglectful. The thing venerated may be bad, but there is veneration — a desire for some- thing beyond, a respect for something above, which elevates, perhaps purifies, and at all events is better than the inanition of the beasts that perish. More- over, although there is something sublimely ridicu- lous in the assertion that a genuine Brahman is the finest specimen of true piety that the world has ever seen, it does not follow that everything connected with Brahmanism is absolutely gross and debasing. The sacred writings of the Hindoo are very different from the sacred writings of the Christian, but there are truths in them nevertheless which it is well to cherish, and good moral rules which it is well to observe. It may, therefore, have been not wholly desirable, either for the sake of the people them- selves, or that of the State under which they lived, that their temples should fall into decay and their hierarchy into contempt. This view of the matter may be sound, or it may be unsound ; but I do not perceive that every one who adopts it is fairly MR. LIONEL PLACE. 379 open to the charge of encouraging and patronizing idolatry. But the theory was sometimes pushed so far, and in so had a spirit, that it is hardly matter of surprise that such a charge should have heen made. There, douhtless, were men in the early part of the present century, who did not merely tolerate Hindooism as something in their estimation better than absolute infidelity, but who applauded and upheld it as some- thing excellent itself, and to be fostered on account of its excellence. That Mr. Lionel Place, who has an unsavoury reputation as the earliest English patron of idolatry, in an extended official sense, was one of this class of persons is very generally declared. There were, doubtless, English Hindoos and Mahomedans before his time — Job Charnock, for example, who is said to have sacrificed every year a cock at the tomb of his wife, on the anniversary of her death. But this Mr. Lionel Place, " Collector of the Com- pany's Jagheer at Madras," was the first to give authoritative exposition to his views, and practically to illustrate Government interference in his own person. Some forty miles distant from Fort St. George is the city of Conjeveram, whose temples are among the most celebrated in Southern India. There is the great Conjeveram temple and the little Conjeveram temple, and it is hard to say how many priests in their service, swarming in all the straight intersecting streets of the " City of Gold." Towards the close of the last century these famous pagodas were falling into decay ; the gardens around them 380 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. were uncultivated ; their common ceremonies were negligently performed ; their periodical festivals had lost much of their pristine grandeur ; their funds had been turned to improper uses ; altogether, the gods were being defrauded out of their dues, — when the benevolent eye of Mr. Place fell upon them, and his heart was stirred with compassion ; and believing that any how a good Hindoo was better than a bad one, he stepped in to save the temple from wreck, and idolatry from degradation ; and in a report which has greatly shocked the present generation, contended for the expediency of State interference, in a large political sense,* as tending to make better subjects, and more to conciliate the people. What he recommended to Government he did himself, as far as he could, by his own individual efforts. It is said that he even went so far as to present offerings at the shrines of the idols, and to this day the Brahmans exhibit what they describe as the votive gifts of the good coUector.f His representations to * See his Report to the Board of good order and subordination by Kevenue, in which the following conciliating their affections, a re- passage occurs : " The management gard to this matter is, I think, in- of the Church l<'unds has heretofore cumbent." been thought independent of the f Of the fact, indeed, there is no control of Government ; for this doubt. Hear what Dr. Duff, who strange reason, that it receives no visited Conjeverara half a century advantage from them; but inasmuch afterwards, says on the subject, as it has an essential interest in pro- " Probably no one bearing the moting the happiness of its subjects, honoured name of 'Christian,' has and as the natives of this country left behind him so distinguished a know none superior to _the good reputation for his services in the conduct and regularity of~ their reli- cause of idolatry as Mr. Place, gious ceremonies, which are liable to When visiting Conjeveram last year neglect without the interposition of (1849), I found his name still che- an efficient authority, such control rished with traditionary reverence by and interference becomes indispen- the votaries of Brahmanism. The sable. In a moral and political nomenclature which he had intro- sense, whether to dispose them to duced was still in vogue. The native the practice of virtue, or to promote officers spoke of the pagoda as the THE PILGRIM-TAX. 381 Government were successful ; and in 1796 the temples were placed under his charge, and he undertook, willingly enough, the due appropriation of what he called the " Church Funds." This is commonly cited as the first instance in which the British Government took upon itself the office of dry nurse to Vishnu ; but although it had not previously interfered in the internal manage- ment of the temples, it had in other ways handled the unclean thing. Indeed, such handling, more or less, was a necessity of empire. For example, the British Government found, first in one place, then in another, that its new dominion extended over certain places, long held in repute among the Hindoos as points of pilgrimage. The pilgrims, who flocked from all parts of the country to the holy place, were subject to a tax, imposed by the native Govern- ment which we had supplanted. What our prede- cessors had taken we thought it no iniquity to take. So the proceeds of the pilgrim-tax, or such portion thereof as had been received by the native Govern- ment, passed into our Christian coffers ; and it 'Established Church;' of the temple instruments, elephants and horses revenues as the 'church funds;' of attached to the different temples in the Brahman keepers of the idol the surrounding districts, in order to shrines as the ' churchwardens.' celebrate the Conjeveram festival In the neighbourhood of one of the with the greatest pomp. Attending great temples a spacious garden in person, his habit was to distribute was pointed out as the ' gift of clothes to the dancing girls, suitable Mr. Place to the god;' within was offerings to the oflSciating Brahmans, shown a gorgeous head ornament, and a, lace garment of considerable begemmed with diamonds and other value to the god." — India and its jewels, worth a thousand pounds, Evangelization : a lecture delivered which Mr. Place had presented to by Dr. Duff to the Young Men's the great idol. During his coUec- Christian Association, in December, torate, he was wont to send for all 18.'50, at Exeter Hall, the dancing girls, musicians, and 382 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. appeared to be, on the non~olet principle of the old Koman, as good coin as any other. There were but two courses, in such a case, between which the choice of the British ruler lay^ on his first assuming the administration of these pilgrim-funds. He might have continued the existing system, established by his predecessor, or he might have declared that he would have nothing to do with revenue derived from an idolatrous usage. In either case, it appears to me that he must have laid himself open to the charge of encouraging Hindooism. What has been said of the receipt by the British Govern- ment of the proceeds of the pilgrim-tax is well known. It is certain, however, that the Mahomedan Government, which imposed the tax, in the districts where we first found it in existence, had no idea of encouraging Hindooism. It was imposed as a puni- tory or suppressive measure, in a spirit of hostility to Hindooism. To abolish this tax, or to refuse to receive the portion of it paid to Government, would have been to confer a boon upon the pilgrims, or more properly upon the priests, which would have been a mighty encouragement to Hindooism. It would, in this case, have been said that the first act of the British Government was to exhibit its tender regard for idolatry by removing all the restrictions upon it — indeed, by largely endowing it. This is no mere hypothesis. Mr. Law, the collector of Gaya, where the British Government first became the recipient of this tax, has been sarcastically censured for reducing it, " as a tradesman lowers the price of THE PILGRIM-TAX. 383 his goods to increase the numher of his customers." But if the reduction of the tax increased the number of pilgrims, how much more would its total abolition have increased it ; and if the partial measure is condemned, as an encouragement of Idolatry, what amount of condemnation would be heaped by the same writers on so complete an act of grace as the entire removal of the impost. The next place to which the British Government was called upon to direct its attention, in connexion with this matter of the pilgrim-tax, was the province of Cuttack, taken from the Mahrattas in the early part of the present century. There Juggernauth held his court ; and to Juggernauth, as I have already shown, pilgrims were wont to flock by thousands. On assuming the government of the province, the first conception of the British ruler was that inasmuch as that the Mahrattas had levied their collections on the pilgrims in a very oppressive manner, it would be an act of humanity to abolish the tax altogether. Those were not days in which the " religious element" was likely to enter very lai'gely into the consideration of the question ; and it must be admitted that Lord Wellesley, or his secretary, settled it in a manner not very consonant with our present ideas of Christian propriety. It was found that as it cost a considerable sum of money to keep the temple in repair, and to pay the salaries of the " establishment," duties which had devolved on the former Government, it was expedient not altogether to abandon the assets from which the expenditure had formei-ly been met. The 384 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. tax was, therefore, reimposed. " His Excellency in Council is satisfied," so went the order, " that it will be in every point of view advisable to establish mode- rate rates of duty or collection on the pilgrims proceed- ing to perform their devotions at Juggernauth. Inde- pendently of the sanction aiforded to this measure by the practice of the late Hindoo Government in Cuttack, the heavy expense attendant on the repair of the pagoda, and on the maintenance of the establishment attached to it, render it necessary, from considerations connected with the public resources, that funds should be provided for defraying this expense." So far it appears to have been merely a money-question. Taking upon itself certain obligations previously borne by the native ruler, the British Government conceived that it had a clear and undisputable right to lighten the burden as much as it could by asserting its right to any proceeds which had passed into the coffers of its predecessor. But the view taken by Lord Wellesley was by no means bounded by these pecuniary considerations. He thought whether the continuance of the tax would be grateful or not to the Hindoos, and he came to the conclusion that they would look with approving eyes upon its continuance, because it would afford the best possible guarantee for the due protection of their religion by the domi- nant state. " His Excellency," so went the document already quoted, " understands that it will be consonant to the wishes of the Brahmans attached to the pagoda, as well as of the Hindoos in general, that a revenue should be raised by Government from the pagoda. GOVERNMENT CONNEXION WITH IDOLATRY. 385 The establishment of this revenue will be considered both by the Brahmans and the persons desirous of performing the pilgrimage, to afford them a perma- nent security that the expenses of the pagoda will be regularly defrayed by Government, and that its atten- tion will always be directed to the protection of the pilgrims resorting to it, although that protection would be afforded by the Government under any circum- stances. There can be no objection to the British Government availing itself of these opinions for the purpose of relieving itself from a heavy annual expense, and of providing funds to answer the con- tingent charges of the religious institutions of the Hindoo faith maintained by the British Government." Nothing can be plainer than this language. The British Government here undertakes to maintain the religious institutions of the Hindoo faith. Thus was Government connexion with Idolatry openly declared and authoritatively established. As it was held that there could be no objection to this sort of thing, the Government of the day not merely connected itself with, maintained, encouraged, protected Hindooism, but took an active part in the management of its affairs. The State, indeed, from that time, became Juggernauth's churchwarden. Regulations were framed, scales of fees were fixed, certificates were provided, and appoint- ments were made by Government. All this is very dreadful in the eyes of Christians at the present time ; but, to judge the matter rightly, we must regard it with the eyes not of the present, but of a bygone, generation. In recent days, emboldened c c 386 CHBISTIANITY IN INDIA. by success, we have dared openly to assert our Christianity. But half a century ago, when the question of political supremacy was yet unsettled, our Government, in its dealings with the people of the soil, thought it best for its own safety to be openly of no religion. Whether upon any other principle, and by any other practice, it would, in that most important conjuncture, have built up our vast Anglo-Indian empire upon a more secure or a less secure foundation, can, in this world, only be vaguely conjectured. But it is due to the memory of some of the greatest statesmen who have at any time administered the affairs of that empire, to bear steadily in mind the experimental character of that extension of dominion which has since become the chronic state of our existence in India, and, as some think, the very condition of our tenure. We must not view the actions of our forefathers by the Ught of our present enlarged experience. As to what, rightly considered, that experience has taught us, there may be differences of opinion ; but it is easy to understand the policy of our predecessors, without conceiving that it necessarily indicates any love for the unclean thing ; or that the many evils which, from time to time, necessarily grew out of this State patronage, are proofs of the un-Christian character either of the Government or of its executive officers. But when account was taken of these evils, doubtless, they were very serious. Special attention has been directed to the idolatry of Juggernauth, which, by reason of its gigantic proportions and its EXTENSION OF GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE. 387 excessive monstrosity, has always stood forth, in the sig-ht of European nations, as the great representative of the idolatries of the Indies. But Government connexion with idolatry extended itself over the whole country ; and as new provinces passed under British rule new examples of this unholy alliance arose to swell the great sum-total of our practical heathenism. Such things were then regarded as the necessities of our position. Leaping suddenly into the throne of a heathen prince — as at Poonah, or other places easily to be named — we took up, as we had done elsewhere before, the said prince's liabilities, without regard to the nature of the contract ; and in the discharge of them, we doubtless entered into details of administration very repugnant to the feelings of Christian men. Not merely did the State afford protection to idolatry, by securing to it the endow- ments it had enjoyed under the native rulers of the country, but it entered, in a variety of ways, into the internal management of the pagodas and the regula- tion of their ceremonies, and actively participated in what it would have been sufficient to passively tolerate. It was done with good intentions, I do not doubt ; rather, perhaps, it should be said, in furtherance of a good principle. Without some such intervention and supervision of the State, the property of the temples was in a fair way to be misappropriated by the priests; and what the Government really intended to do was simply to protect Moloch against the felonies of his own servants, and see that his business was conducted in a proper methodical way. c 2 388 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. "If we are to do it at all," it was said, in those days, "we may as well do it handsomely. A corrupt heathen church is no worse than a well-ordered one. What is Christianity to gain by ecclesiastical abuses and hierarchical frauds in the bosom of Hindooism ? " So thought those who thought anything about the matter. But many did not think at all. They went about this work as about any other work. They collected the idol tribute ; saw that it was devoted to its proper uses ; that the servants of the temple were duly paid ; its ceremonies properly performed, and the necessary repairs executed in a proper work- manlike way.* Now this was something beyond neutrality ; something more than mere toleration. Such as it was, too, it went on, in many parts of the country, for years. Nor was it merely in the admi- nistration of the revenues of idolatry and the super- intendence of its establishments that our tender regard for the heathenism of the people evinced * A writer in the Oriental Christian clerks, appointed by Government, iS/jcftofortliusenumeratesthevarious have charge of the idol's property, ways in which the servants of Go- and hire dancing girls, and engage vernment were employed in the con- readers of the Paranas when they servation of idolatry : — "They (the are in requisition! The temples, of Government clerks) collect the reve- which we now write, are from time nues derived from the Enams (rent- to time repaired hy order of the free lands) held by the temples and European collector; and there are fromtheofferingswhicharepresented: instances on record of orders having They regulate all disbursements, such been issued for the European assis- as the payment of the servants of tant collector to proceed to the the idol, and the expenses incurred temple to see that the repairs were on feast-days : They make regular executed ! It is a well-known fact, periodical returns relative to their and one observed both by natives proceedings to the collector's office ; and Europeans, that the present and their accounts find the same prosperity of the idol's estates, the place in the general dufter, or record, real conservation of the shrines, the as those connected with the regular regularity of the attendance upon business of Government ; The Mam- them, and the zealous performance lutdur, or his substitute, makes a of the heathen rites are principally regular visitation of the temples, as to be attributed to the services of the 'master of ceremonies.' The Government." UN-CHRISTIAN OATHS. 389 itself. We made much open display of our reve- rence for their institutions, by attendance at their festivals ; turning out our troops to give additional effect to the show ; firing salutes in honour of their high-days and holidays ; and sanctioning, nay pro- moting, the prayers and invocations of the Brahman s to propitiate the deity for a good harvest or a good trade.* Some thought too, that in our law courts there was more recognition of Mahomedanism and Hindooism than became a Christian Government; and even questioned the propriety of admitting any other than Christian oaths. But as the object of all judicial procedure is to elicit truth, and by eliciting truth to secure justice, it was not easy to perceive how this great end was to be attained by releasing the consciences of the people from all obligations likely to render them faithful witnesses. Moreover, there were some ugly promises on record, pledging the Government to administer the laws according to the Shastres and the Koran ; and it was not, there- * See the following classification of anti-Christian usages, as set forth in a memorial addressed in 1837 to the Government of Bombay : — 1. In the employment of Brahmans and others for the purpose of making heathen invocations for rain and fair weather. 2. In the inscription of "Shree" on public documents, and the dedication of the Government records to Gonesh and other false Gods. 3. In the entertainment in the courts of justice of questions of a purely idolatrous nature, whenno civil right depends upon them. 4. In the degradation of certain castes, by excluding them from particular offices and benefits not connected with religion. 5. In the servants of Government, civH and military, attending in their official capacity at Hindoo and Mahomedan festivals, with a view to participate in their rites and ceremonies, or in the joining of troops and the use of regimental bands in the proces- sions of heathen and Maho- medan festivals, or in their attendance in any other capacity than that of a police for the preservation of the peace. 6. In the firing of salutes by the troops, or by the vessels of the Indian navy, in intimation and honour of heathen festivals, Mahomedan idols, &c. 390 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. fore, clear that these deviations from pure Christian practice were as demonstrably discreditable to our Government as others noted above. There is in all interference a principle of grow^th and expansion. We seldom interfere by halves. It was natural, therefore, that when once the servants of Government began to interfere in the ecclesiastical concerns of the Hindoos, they should have continu- ally extended the sphere of their interference, and gone more and more into details of management where only a general supervision had, in the first instance, been contemplated by Government.* The mismanagement of the native officials themselves — the injustice, perhaps, which was being done to the many by the few — often roused the sympathies of the European functionary, who, looking at the case only as between man and man, did, from a pure love of justice, what he might have shrunk from doing, had he regarded the issue as one between Christianity and Idolatry. Knowing that he himself had no other thought than that of doing justice to his neighbour, irrespectively of all conflicting creeds, it did not occur * See for example the following, ments with the dharmaikasteTs, or taken from a Madras report in the the priests of the temples ; in course Parliamentary papers : — " When we of time we observed that in many first assmned possession of the instances those lands were mis- various districts of the Madras Pre- managed, the ryots brought com- sidency, we did not find the religious plaints of oppression, and the people institutions of the natives enjoying pointed to the decay of their temples, that degree of support from the as the consequence of the mis- Government which we have since management and the neglect of extended to them. Our connexion the lands. The result was that, in with the Hindoo idolatry has grown numerous instances, we displaced the with our growth ; we found, that in dharmarkaster, and ourselves took many districts pagodas were enriched charge of the duties of the manage- by large landed endowments ; that ment of the temple and the culti- the lands attached to them were vation of the lands." cultivated by ryots, under engage- RESULTS OP OUR PATEONAGE. 391 to him. that his actions might be misjudged; and that, however- remote may have been his intentions from ail thought of encouraging Hindooism, it was impossible to dissever the knowledge of his acts from such asso- ciations in the minds of the people. It was not the thing itself so much as the interpretation put upon it that was injurious to Christianity; for it was impossible to disabuse the native mind of the belief that the English Government, which exhibited so tender a regard, for the welfare of the idolatrous institutions of the country, was really anxious to per- petuate them. And so, little by little, the English Government came to be regarded, especially in the Southern and Western parts of the great Indian peninsula, as the firm friends and supporters of the idolatrous institutions of the country. And certainly the prac- tical results of their patronage seemed well to entitle them to the distinction. It is not to be doubted that idolatry flourished under the superintendence of a powerful Christian Government. Wherever the British collectors administered its affairs, the temple was in a high state of prosperity.* In this we amply * See the following, ■vrhich is con- as the friendly guardian of their tainedin the official document quoted religion, but they looked up to him in the preceding note:— "The reports as the regulator of its ceremonies receiyed from the collectors of the and festivals — as the supervisor of different zUlahs of the Madras Pre- the priests and servants of the sidency show that the superintend- pagodas — as the faithful treasiaer of enoe of no less than 7,600 Hindoo the pagoda-funds — and the comp- establishments, from the famous troller of the daily . expenses of pagoda of Seringham to the common idolatry. ' We have hitherto,' says village temples, has hitherto been the collector of North Arcot, ' stood vested in the officers of Government, to these pagodas in the obligation of And this was something more than a sovereigns, and our interference has nominal superintendence ; the people extended over every detaU of manage- did not merely regard the collector ment; we regulate their funds, super- 392 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. redeemed our pledges to the people. Perhaps, indeed, we went beyond them. There were, however, able and enlightened statesmen who conceived that the compact, actual or constructive, between the British Government and the people, involved not merely toleration, but protection also on the part of the former ; and that it was as much our duty to defend the religions of the country from internal dangers as against external assaults. The assumption in this case was, that whatever the native Government would have done in such a case we also were bound to do. But, in point of fact, we were doing not what the native Government would have done, but what it ought to have done (when the rulers and the ruled were of a common faith), for the conservation of the religions of the country and the due administration of ecclesiastical affairs. And we certainly had con- tracted no obligation to do more for the protection of the religions of the country than the native rulers, whose thrones we had usurped. In looking back at the authoritative enunciations of the British Government, it would seem as though intend the repairs of their temples, terms very similar : ' The present keep in order their cars and images, control and interference of the dis- appoint the serrants of the pagodas, trict.Goyernment authorities extends purchaseandkeepinstorethevarious over almost everything connected commodities required for their use, with the pagoda ; from the collection investigate and adjust all disputes, of its revenues (from whatever source and at times even those of a religious derived), and the management of its nature. There is nothing appertain- lands, to the regulating of its daily ing to or connected with the temples usualexpenses,itsperiodicaIfestivaIs, that is not made a subject of report, and its repairs. Accounts in detail, except the religious worship carried including every item of receipt and out daily in them.' The collector of expenditure, are kept and controlled, Tinnevelly, a district never visited and the appointment and dismissal by the violence of Mahomedan zeal, of its servants made, by the officers where Hindoo idolatry has always of Government.'" flourished undisturbed, writes in GOVERNMENT PLEDGES. 393 it had commonly set out on a safe middle course, but had imperceptibly drifted into danger. What some of these enunciations were may expediently be shown. On assuming the government of any new territory, previously under native rule, it has been our wont to announce to the people that they should be protected in the free exercise of their religions — that neither their institutions nor their usages should be assailed. Thus, in 1801, solemn declaration was made, in the following terms, to the people of the Carnatic : — " Although the Eight Honourable the Governor in Council trusts that the experience which the inhabitants of the Carnatic have already had v?ill have rendered it unnecessary for his Lordship to explain the general principles of moderation, justice, protection, and security, which form the characteristic features of the British Government, yet his Lordship in accepting the sacred trust trans- ferred to the Company by the present engagements, invites the people of the Carnatic to a ready and cheerful obedience to the authority of the Company, in a confident assurance of enjoying, under the protection of public and defined laws, every just and ascertained civil right, with a free exercise of the religious institu- tions and domestic usages of their ancestors." As was the language of Lord Wellesley, so also was that of Lord William Bentinck. When, more than thirty years afterwards, the Coorg territory was annexed to the British-Indian empire, there went forth (in May, 1834,) a similar promise to the people : — " Whereas it is the unanimous wish of the inhabitants of Coorg to be taken \inder the protection of the British Government, his Excellency the Eight Honourable the Governor-General has been pleased to resolve that the territory heretofore governed by Veer EajunderWoodyer shall be transferred to the Honourable Company. The inhabitants are hereby assured that they shall not again be subjected to native rule ; that their civil rights and religious usages 394 CHRISTIANITY: EN INDIA. will be respected, and, the greatest desire will, invariably be shown by the British Government to augment their security, comfort, and happiness." And as were the pledges of Lord William Bentinck, so also were those of Lord Dalhousie, when, in 1849, the annexation of the Punjaub was proclaimed : — " The British. Government will leave to all the people, whether Mussulman, Hindoo, or Sikh, the free exercise of their own religions; but if will not permit any man to interfere with the other in; the observance of such forms and customs as their respeC'- tive religions may either enjoin or permit." Other similar pledges might be cited ; but these, spread over a space of half-a-century, will suffice. It is well that the reader should bear them steadily in mind. It was equally just and politic that such. pledges should be given. It would have been equally unjust and impolitic to ignore them at any subsequent time. But such general promises of toleration as these did not bind the Government to any active interference in the ecclesiastical affairs of the people. It was no part, indeed, of the original design that we should take the administration of the mosques and pagodas into our own hands. But in the course of the first quarter of the nineteenth century, regulations were issued in both the Bengal and the Madras Presidencies, which, although originating in nothing more than a desire to do justice between man and man by the prevention of fraudulent practices, have ever since, in the minds of many Christian men, been a reproach to the British Government and to the British nation. These Regu- lations set forth that, " Whereas considerable endow- ments had been granted in money, or by assignment of THE BEGULATIDNS. 3^ lands, or of the produce or portions; of the produce o£ lands, by former. Goverriments of this Gountryj as well as by the British. Government and by individuals,, for the support of mosques, Hindoo temples,, colleges, and choultries,, and for other pious and beneficial pwr- poses; and whereas there were grounds, to believe that the produce of such endowments was, in. many instances, appropriated contrary to the intentions: of the donors ; and whereas it was the duty of the Government to provide that aU such endowments be applied according to the real; intent and wiH of the grantor," &c. &c. ;. " the general superinten- dence of all endowments," &c. was to be thenceforth " vested in the Board of Kevenue;" and; that "it should.be the duty of the Board of Kevenue to take such measures as might be necessary to ensure that all endowments made for the maintenance of esta- blishments of the description above mentioned, were duly appropriated to the purpose for which they were destined by the Government, or the individual by whom, such endowments were made." "In like manner," proceeded the Regulations, "it shall be the duty of that Board to provide, with the sanction of Government, for the due repair and maintenance of all public edifices which have been erected at the expense either of the former or the present Govern- ment, or of individuals, and which either are or can be rendered conducive to the convenience of the com- munity." To enable the Board the better to carry into effect the duties entrusted to them by this Eegulation, local agents were to be appointed in each 396 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. zillah ; " and," said the Eegulations, " the collector af the zillah shall he ex officio one of those agents." And in order that the heneficent intention of these Acts might not he misinterpreted, it was set forth that it was " to he clearly understood that the ohject of the Regulation was solely to provide for the due appropriation of lands or other endowments, and not to resume any part of them." The words which I have used are those of the Madras Regulation (VII. of 1817), which follows very closely the Bengal Act (XIX. of 1810). The substance of the Regulations was held to be bad enough; but the words, if possible, were still worse, for they openly declared the conser- vancy of the false religions of the country to be a "pious and beneficial purpose." Some portions of these Regulations were subsequently modified ; and, as will presently be seen, the practice which they directed was disallowed by the Home Government; but substantially they remained unrepealed up to the close of the reign of the East India Company. It remained for Her Majesty's Government to sweep them out of the code. IGNORANCE OF THE PEOPLE OF ENGLAND. 397 CHAPTER XI. Ignorance of the people of England — Their dawning apprehensions— Mr. Charles Grant — The extension of the ecclesiastical establishments-Bishop Wilson— The despatch of 1833— Misgivings of the Court— SubsecLuent orders. It was long before the state of things described in the last chapter was well understood by Christian England. People had heard of Juggernauth, and had encouraged exaggerated ideas of the wholesale slaughter committed by the crushing wheels of the great idol-car. Every child's book, illustrative of the manners and customs of foreign nations, had an im- pressive picture of Juggernauth making high holiday at the expense of hundreds of prostrate worshippers. But it was little known to what extent the great Pooree temple, or any other idol-home of the same kind, was supported and patronised by the British Government. The history, indeed, of British administration in India was, for a long time, a sealed book. How India was governed few people cared to inquire. It was not until the first quarter of the present century had worn away, that the religious mind of England was in any way awakened to a sense of the extent to 398 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. which the British Government in India had linked itself with the idolatries of the country, and of the evils resulting from this unnatural alliance. Then the voice, perhaps of expostulation, perhaps of denun- ciation, was heard at public meetings and in private assemblies. The religious societies addressed them- selves to the consideration of the great question, and individual men, appealing to the public mind through the press or from the platform, gave utterance, with no uncertain sound, to the convictions which- had forced themselves upon them. Many, indeed, con- ceiving that the source of the evil lay in the indif- ference, if not in the impiety, of the Court of Directors, spoke in no measured language of the delinquencies of that body ; and even the placid dulness of the India-House elections was for a time disturbed by appeals to the religious sensibilities of languid proprietors ; and men who were not proprietors " qualified" for the purpose of infusing more of the religious element into the constituency at large. Candidates for the Direction were compelled to put forth manifestoes declaratory of their views on this important question,* and long debates in the Court of * Mr. Tucker has left on record pledge, and that it was high time for the following account of an attempt those, who were not proprietors, to that was made to extract a religious become such for the same purpose.' " pledge from him : — " I was called In a few pregnant sentences of this upon by a proprietor to give a pledge paper, Mr. Tucker enunciated his that Iwasfriendlytopai-ticular views views — "lam of opinion," hewrote, connected with this subject, and dis- " that the Government should never posed to promote -particular objects, identify itself with the missionary .... On my declining to give and other societies which ha^ve been the pledge required, the proprietor instituted for the propagation of the observed that. it was 'high time for Christian religion in the Bast. In him, and other proprietors who the minds of the people of India, thought as he did, to look out for Government is habitually associated a candidate who would give such a with the idea of power, of force, alud THE CHARTEB OF 1833. 399 Proprietors evinced tiie interest that was taken in the Buhject. In language, temperate and respectful — ^more potent for its very moderation — the missionary societies addressed the Court of Directors.* But the Court meaning only toleration, slowly took up the notion that they were actively encouraging idolatry, and hy such encouragement tending to make the heathen helieve that the Christian Government under which they lived rejoiced in their superstitions and desired to perpetuate them. But a great change was now impending; new counsels were about to prevail. The year 1833 was, in many respects, a great year for Christianity in India — not merely because the East India Com- pany then ceased to be a trading company, and so I am persuaded that the slightest demonstration of an intention to use force for the conversion of these people would alarm their fears in a degree to produce immediate and serious dangers. Our Government is established in the spirit of toleration, and a sort of tacit compact or under- standing exists that we shall not interfere with the religion of our native subjects. Our Government stands in the situation of a powerful . umpire, whose duty it is to afford equal protection to all, and to main- tain in the free exercise of all civU rights (and among these liberty of conscience) its subjects of whatever description, with strict impartiality. I consider, then, that the Government could not take part in the missionary societies with the slightest prospect of advancing the interests of religion, nor without departing from those principles, upon a strict adherence to which its own existence essentially depends." * The Christian Knowledge Society, for ejiiample, declared themselves to ie " anxious to acknowledge its grateful sense of the attention and kindness invariably evinced by the Honourable Company in promoting its (the Society's) objects in that part of the world," and thus mildly expressed their sense of the evil of the " toleration " system : — " That among the causes, whieh appear to offer a powerful obstruction to the proceedings of the society, is the encouragement afforded, however in- advertently, by the Company and its agents, to the idolatrous worship of the East, by means of the imposts levied on the pilgrims and worship- pers at the several temples, and by the revenues thence derived, the inference from which regulation of the Government is feared to have been an opinion too generally adopted by the native population, that so iar from any objection being felt by the Company to tlie continuance of the idolatrous rites and corrupt practices of heathenism, it rather intends to afford them . its patronage and sup- port, in thus being contented to derive from them a considerable revenue." 400 CHKISTIANITY IN INDIA. ceasing, began at once to take a deeper and more solemn interest in the welfare of the people of the country, and to address themselves earnestly and devotedly to the work of Government with an en- larged sense of their duties as the rulers of a mighty empire ; but because there were a variety of concur- rent circumstances then at work, some of a personal and accidental character, to give a new impulse to the great cause, and to unite Christian men in England and in India in one common effort for the assertion of their national faith and the rescue of the British Government from its degrading subserviency to the idolatries and superstitions of the country. Many predicted then that the East India Company, ceasing altogether to be a trading company, would not long survive the loss of its mercantile privileges. But the excitement which the great change created in political and commercial circles met with slight response from the religious world. The great battle of Christianity had been fought twenty years before. During the period which had since elapsed, the country had been thrown open to the Christian mis- sionary. All obstructions and impediments to the diffusion of Gospel truth had been removed. There was no longer, therefore, any common ground on which Christians of all denominations could take their stand. The Church of England alone was in- terested in the provisions of the Act of Parliament under which India was thenceforth to be governed. It was part of the Government scheme to divide the enormous diocese of Calcutta. Two other episcopal CHARLES GRANT, THE YOUNGER. 401 sees were to be established — one including the pre- sidency of Madras, the other the presidency of Bom- bay. This was, at all events, great gain to the Church ; in the estimation of Churchmen it was great gain to Christianity. But the interest which it excited was but limited ; and it was not then said, as it had been said in 1813, that a new epoch in the history of Christianity in India would date from the passing of that new charter. Against these episcopal arrangements the East India Company remonstrated.* They had no objec- tion to the bishops, but bishops are costly commo- dities, and the Company resented the idea of the expense. Their arguments, however, were over- ruled. It was not the least of the favourable circum- stances to which I have above alluded, that Mr. Charles Grant was then President of the Board of Control. The " Young Charles Grant " who, twenty years before, had done battle in defence of the Com- pany, side by side with his father, the venerable director, had graduated in the school of statesman- ship, and taken rank as a Cabinet Minister.f If his * "Your petitioners,'' wrote the rrom this Sir James Carnac dis- Court of Directors, in a petition to sented, saying, with mucli trutli : — Parliament,"whilsttheyaresincerely "The experiment has been tried; desirous that adequate means should and the apprehension of any ill he provided for the spiritual instruc- effects with reference to the feelings tion and consolation of all classes of of the natives has been proved to be the public servants stationed in groundless. I can speak from expe- India, must be permitted to remark rience to the highly beneficial results that no evidence has been brought which have followed the increase of before them, which satisfies them of the episcopal establishment in India, the necessity of adding to the esta- among which its zealous and suc- blishment two suffragan bishops and cessful exertions for the encourage- two chaplains of the Church of ment of general education among the Scotland, and that without such natives may be enumerated to its evidence they could not consider honour." it just to employ the revenue of -f The elder Charles Grant died in India in maintaining these officers." 1823. b D 402 CHUISTIANITY IN INDIA. industry had been equal to his ability and his in- tegrity, he might have taken the very highest rank. The one great drawback of constitutional indolence prevented him from doing justice to himself — it may be said, and to the world. For, with his high Chris- tian principles and his pure sense of universal justice, he might, had he gone to the front, have raised the standard of our political ethics and given a higher tone to the practical statesmanship of the age. Far short of what he might have done, still what he did, subsiding long before his time into a tradition, has not been without its uses. It is for others to speak of the genuine humanity which glowed in his colonial despatches. It is mine to record, in this place, that to what he did, as Indian Minister, the cause of Christianity is deeply indebted. He had not for- gotten the lessons of his youth. He had not forgotten that, many years before, his father had fought at the head of that little band of Christian heroes which had bravely withstood the sneers and buffets of the world, and steered right on to what seemed, to all but the eye of Faith, an unattainable success. And now, that the power was in his own hands, and it was his to shape the measures which were to determine the future career of Christianity in India, he was true to the training of his early youth, and the aspirations of his later manhood, and he bethought himself, earnestly and reverently, of what was to be done most effectually to promote it. What he did will be told presently. It is only a small part of his doing, that he gave increased dignity to the Church establish- THE EPISCOPAL QUESTION. 403 ment in India, and so promoted that outward assertion of our national faith which had once heen so greatly neglected. He believed that the financial objections of the Court ought to be overruled ; and although in the earlier stage of the negotiations between the Company and the Government, he did not press the point, he subsequently adhered to the original pro- posal for the additional bishoprics, and easily carried Parliament with him. Whether, consistently with strict justice, a Christian Government can support its own Church out of revenues derived from Hindoo and Mahomedan tax-payers may be an open question. The arguments on either side are too well known to need repetition. It is sufficient to say here, that if it be justifiable to support any Christian Church establishment at the expense of the revenues of India, it is justifiable to support an effective one. If the English were to have a State Church at all, under episcopal superintendence, there was no reason why that episcopal superintendence should not have been in some measure proportionate to the local requirements of the country. And it was demonstrable that one bishop could by no possibility perform the duties of a diocese extending from the Himalayahs to Point de Galle, and stretching out across the great waters to Australia and the Cape of Good Hope. The see of Calcutta was at that time vacant — vacant for the fourth time. It has been seen how Bishop Middleton was struck down by coup de soleil in his carriage, and how Bishop Heber had perished DD 2 404 CHRISTIANltY IN INDIA. suddenly in his bath. Since the disastrous day at Trichinopoly, which had witnessed the latter event, two other bishops had made their way to Calcutta, and had died at the very outset of their episcopal careers. The first of these, Bishop James, had arrived at Calcutta in January, 1828, and died on his way to Penang in August of the same year. In so brief a space of time, much enfeebled as he was by failing health, it was not possible that he should have done much for the cause of Christianity in India. How it happened that he was selected for such an office — for his antecedent reputation was mainly that of an accomplished art-critic — is not very apparent. But he seems to have entered upon his episcopal duties witli a full sense of their importance, and to have addressed himself to their performance with a mild earnestness, which, had life and health been vouchsafed to him, would have crowned his years of office with respectable rather than brilliant results. He was a tolerant Christian* and a moderate Church- man, and in many respects resembled, though with * At the Cape of Good Hope, would have refused to interfere. The where Bishop James spent some incident is a suggestive one. It will three weelcs on his way out to Cal- appear, douhtless, to many, that if a cutta, he was appealed to as " a man Christian bishop might, without of God," by some Mahomedan offence, act as an arbitrator in the (Malay) priests, to compose the disputes, whether doctrinal or cere- differences which had arisen between monial, of the Mahomedan priest- them on some points of discipline. hood, there was no great scandal James seems to have undertaken the in the arm of the secular government office of a peace-maker, without any being stretched out to allay the dis- misgivings, although the settlement orders and correct the malpractices — of the dispute involved a question often involving violations of the law, of the right interpretation of a and throwing up questions of abstract passage in the Koran. The Bishop justice — which were brought to the said afterwards that he was glad it notice of the agents of the British was a point of discipline and not of Government in connexion with the doctrine. But it does not appear administration of the churches of that if it had been the latter, he the country. BISHOP TURNER. 405 manifest dilution, the prelate whom he succeeded. After another interval, the vacant place was filled by the appointment of Dr. Turner to the episcopal office. He arrived at Calcutta in December, 1829; but Christianity had scarcely begun to rejoice in the fostering care of this truly devout prelate when he also was struck down, scarcely beyond the threshold of his career. His loss was deeply deplored. They who were best qualified to understand his character, and had the best means of observing the zealous and conscientious manner in which he addressed himself to the per- formance of his duties, were of opinion that he was better fitted for the duties of his office than any one of his predecessors, and that if he had been spared, an extended career of usefulness would have lain before him largely conducive to the prosperity of the Christian Church.* But the little space of eighteen * See notices of Bishop Turner's affairs of that institution. A chapel brief career in the Memoirs of Arch- is commenced at the Free School, and deacon Corrie. Shortly after the a Mariner's Church at tlie Custom Bishop arrived, Corrie wrote : — House is preparing, and the building " The Bishop seems bent on con- of a church at Howrah is in progress, ciliation, with more decision than his A form- of an association for the predecessors. He has become patron better observance of the Lord's-day of the Calcutta Bible Society, presi- has been drawn up by the Bishop, dent of the Church Missionary and sent to the chaplains and all the Society, and is to preside this dissenting ministers, and yesterday evening at a public meeting of the sermons were preached in all the Bible Association in the Town Hall. churches and chapels here on the He has attended the examination of duty of sanctifying the Sabbath." schools at Mirzapore, Mrs. Wilson's Some months afterwards, Corrie school, the Female Orphan Asylum, again wrote : — " Our increased ac- and other institutions." — {Jan, 8, quaintance with the Bishop renders 1829.) us more at home with him, and we Again, in the spring of the same see more to admire in him. He is year, " he (the Bishop) visited lately by far the best suited for this ap- with me at Burdwan, and takes a pointment of any who have occupied lively interest in missions ; preaches it. With more practical knowledge in Bishop's College Chapel on Sun- of men and of parochial matters day evenings to the few students and than any of them, he has large views others, and enters much into the of usefulness ; aii with perfect prO' 406 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. months that was permitted to him, before he was removed from the scene, sufficed only to make him generally acquainted with his diocese, and his name is not specially associated with any measures for the advancement of Christianity in India. He died in the month of July, 1831 ; and when intelligence of the event reached England, the consternation of the Church was extreme. Four bishops had now been stricken down. Three had died at their posts within five years. It was said by many to be no more than the necessary result of excessive labour in an exhaust- ing climate. The vast extent of the diocese — the immense distances to be traversed on the episcopal visitation tours — the laborious duties involved in the "care of the churches," were eagerly commented upon as so many obtrusive proofs of the necessity of dividing the great diocesan area, and sending out more episcopal workmen to share the duties between them. Others contended that neither work nor climate had destroyed the bishops — certainly not work ; that it was exceedingly healthy to itinerate ; and that the judges who had been stationary at Calcutta and Bombay had died off even faster than the bishops. But, whatever may have been the cause of the mortality among the prelates, there was no doubt of the fact itself; and great account was made of the space of time which, since the first establish- priety of language states them to wrote to a friend : — " To the Indian Government." — {June, 1830.) After Church the loss will he greater than liis death, the Archdeacon, who any yet suffered. He unites the best mourned it deeply, lost no oppor- qualities of his predecessors with the tunity, public or private, of bearing knowledgeof the business of a clergy- testimony to the Bishop's worth. In man in the conducting of schools, hourly anticipation of this event, he management of charities," &c, DANIEL WILSON. 407 ment of the Indian episcopate, had seen the Church without a head, and the consequent embarrassment of ecclesiastical affairs. If the arguments were not all-powerful, the men were ; and the Government carried the point against the opposition of the Court of Directors. Ths Crown was empowered to divide the Indian diocese into three, corresponding with the limits of the three presidencies of India : the Bishop of Calcutta being at the same time created Metro- politan of all India.* The first Metropolitan was Daniel Wilson. He had been for many years vicar of Islington; and in that capacity had not only won for himself the reve- rence and the affection of a numerous flock, but had achieved also a much wider reputation as an evan- gelical divine. In the ranks of the Protestant ministry of England there was not a truer Christian ; there was not one in whom a more childlike sim- plicity, a more unselfish and unworldly singleness of purpose was united with a masculine understanding, and a scholarly, cultivated mind. Many doubted whether he had sufficient tact and address to acquit * The Act declared that, " -whereas and his successors as their metro- the present diocese of the bishopric politan; be it therefore enacted, that of Calcutta is of too great an extent in case it shall please her Majesty to for the incumbent thereof to perform erect, found, and constitute two efficiently all the duties of his office bishoprics, one to be styled the ■without endangering his health and bishopric of Madras, and the other life, and it is, therefore, expedient to the bishopric of Bombay, and from diminish the labours of the said time to time to nominate and appoint diocese, and for that purpose to malce bishops to such bishoprics under the provision for assigning new limits to style and title of Bishops of Madras the diocese of the said bishop, and and Bombay, there shall be paid for founding and constituting two from out the revenues of the said separate and distinct bishoprics, but territories to such bishops respec- nevertheless the bishops thereof to tively the sum of 26,000 Sicca rupees be subordinate and .subject to the by the year." Bishop of Calcutta for the time being. 408 CHRISTIANITY Iff INDIA. himself, with much success, as the head of the Anglo- Indian Church. Ecclesiastical domination, indeed, was held to be somewhat out of the line of one so little versed in the ordinary commerce of life. But the missionary spirit was strong within him ; and the evangelical Christianity of the country rejoiced in his mission to the East. He went forth, not without painful doubts and misgivings, expecting soon to lay his bones beside those of Middleton and Turner. But at the Cape of Good Hope, where his vessel touched, he met Simon Nicolson, who had profession- ally attended three of the lost bishops, and who well knew not only the proximate but the predisposing causes of their several mortal diseases ; and that eminent physician, after much examination, assured him that there was no reason why he should not live and work a quarter of a century in India, and enjoy as good health as at home. And happily for the Christian Church in India, the encouraging antici- pation was fulfilled. It is a noticeable fact in the history of Christianity in the East that Charles Grant, being then President of the Board of Control, appointed such a man to be Bishop of Calcutta and Metropolitan of all India. It is a noticeable fact also that under the new Act of Parliament, authorizing the appointment of two sufiragan bishops, Daniel Corrie, for some time Archdeacon of Calcutta, was the first to whom letters patent were issued. That so excellent and so love- able a man should at last receive his earthly reward, all who have, from the scattered notices of his BISHOP CORRIE. 409 career in this volume, if from no other and better source, learnt how he laboured, for well nigh thirty years, zealously and successfully in the good cause, must instinctively rejoice. He had fairly earned his mitre long before, and probably, but for the delay attendant upon the consecration of an absentee, would have received it. The time, however, had now come when his claims might be regarded without prolong- ing the episcopal destitution of the Anglo-Indian Church ; and Charles Grant was not a man to neglect the opportunity. So he sent out, by Bishop Wilson, intimation to the Archdeacon of his intention to recommend him to the King for preferment to one of the new bishoprics. Those bishoprics were not esta- blished until some time after the passing of the Act ; and then with a manifest timidity — first one, and then the other. It was not until Trinity Sunday, June 14th, 1835, that Corrie was consecrated Bishop of Madras. It was, doubtless, a conjunction of affairs very fa- vourable to Christianity in India that two such men as Daniel Wilson and Daniel Corrie should be labour- ing together, each in high place. It is, also, worthy of record among the encouraging circumstances of the times, that Lord William Bentinck was Governor- General of India, and that Lady William was every inch a Christian woman. There was a devout spirit abroad in Anglo-Indian society. The English in India had outlived the old reproach of irreligion and immorality. To be a regular attendant at Church, to be strict in family worship, to subscribe liberally to missionary objects and to attend missionary meetings. 410 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. was in no wise to stand out conspicuously from the crowd. Even the young subaltern, from his scanty pay, rendered scantier by the spirit of retrenchment then abroad, contributed his monthly rupee to different Christian funds. In some regiments, indeed, the " new lights," as they were profanely called, were so numerous that they ceased to be the exceptions, and therefore were no longer objects of derision. Churches wore springing up at all the considerable European stations throughout the country. In town and in village the Christian missionary was doing his work, and the missionary school was thronged by the heathen children. Of individual endeavour, indeed, there was no lack. But people cried out that the Government was not doing its duty as a Christian Government — that still heathenism was deriving more active support and encouragement from the State than was consistent with the absolute neutrality, which was said to be the rule religiously observed by the domi- nant race. But here, too, a great and important change was slowly working its way into practical operation. The subject of Government connexion with idolatry had been for some years exciting deep and painful interest in the religious mind of Christian England. Keli- gious societies and devout individuals had eagerly discussed it ; but they had not made much impression on men in power, until Charles Grant, in due course, had come to be President of the Board of Control. Then there was a new burst of hope. Very earnestly and solemnly he addressed himself, as a Christian THE DESPATCH OF 1833. 411 statesman, to the consideration of the whole question, in all its aspects ; and the result of his reflections was a strong conviction that Government, with the best intentions, had allowed its toleration to fructify into active patronage of idolatry, and that the support given by the State might, without any breach of existing obligations, be greatly relaxed. This relaxa- tion he determined, in conjunction with the Court of Directors, to enjoin upon the different Governments of India ; and so a despatch was prepared, in which the whole question was reviewed with becoming moderation, and instructions were conveyed which, if not all that some zealots might have desired, went at least as far as justice demanded or policy could safely prescribe. The despatch, after long incubation, finally received the signatures of the Court of Directors, on the 20th of February, 1833. Any sketch of Christianity in India would be incomplete without some detailed notice of this memorable document. It contained at the outset a definition of the toleration which it was incumbent upon the Government to observe ; — " All religious rites and offices," it said, ** which are in this sense harmless, that they are not flagrantly opposed to rules of common humanity or decency, ought to be tolerated, however false the creed by which they are sanctioned. But they could not properly be said to be tolerated, if those who are engaged in them did not experience that ordinary degree of protection to which every citizen not offending against the laws is entitled at the hands of his rulers. A religious festival, 412 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. attended by immense crowds, cannot be said to be tolerated, if the Government does not provide a police sufficient to enforce order, and to ensure the safety of individuals during the celebration. And, on the other hand, the providing of such a police is not an act of favour or friendship to the mode of worship, but one of simple justice to the worshippers. Beyond this civil protection, however, we do not see that the maxims of toleration enjoin us to proceed. It is not necessary that we should take part in the celebration of an idolatrous festival, or that we should assist in the preparations for it, or that we should affisrd to it such systematic support as shall accredit it in the eyes of the people and prevent it from expiring through the effect of neglect or accident." Having enunciated these general principles, the Court of Directors proceeded to apply them especially to the case of the Juggernauth festival, and the Pil- grim-tax : — " The application of these principles," it was declared, " to the subject before us is not very difficult. Although it is probable that the Hindoo rites, or at least those of Juggernauth, are less liable than formerly to the charges of cruelty and open in- decency, their essential character is, of course, not changed. They are at variance with the precepts and practice of Christianity, and they seem opposed even to the plain injunctions of a natural religion. This, however, is not a reason for prohibiting them by law ; and if they are not to be so prohibited, if they are to exist at all, they must receive from the civil power that measure of protection which it affijrds to any CONTENTS OF THE DESPATCH. 413 other act, the doing or the not doing of which it treats as a matter of indifference. To this extent, we entirely concur with Lord William Bentinck. On the other hand, we cannot conceive that a Government which believes those rites to be deeply founded in error, and to be productive, even in a civil view, of serious evil, is obliged, or is at liberty, to show to them any degree of positive sanction or encouragement." It was then considered how far, the obligation on the part of Government to maintain an efficient police force for the protection of the pilgrims being admitted, it was morally competent for them to continue the Pilgrim-tax for the sake of supplying the necessary expenses of the protective establish- ment. Looking at the matter purely in this light, we might regard the position of the Government as simply that of the conservator of the public peace. But it was held that the sum collected was far in excess of the amount required for the payment of the police ; and that a large amount of the revenue so raised was employed in keeping in repair " the shrines, idols, or other edifices, which form the local objects of the pilgrimage, or in supporting the priests and other ministers attached to them." And thus it was argued, " from being simply conservators of the public peace at certain numerous assemblages of the people, we are become the chief agents in sustaining an idol establishment." The despatch then went on to show that " the provision of the funds, which are to be employed in supporting the establishment, creates at once a right and a motive to watch over 414 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. this expenditure ; " and that the Government thus taking upon itself not only the collection, but the administration of the revenue, appeared before the people of the country " in such intimate connexion with their unhappy and debasing superstitions, as almost necessarily to inspire them with the belief either that we admit the divine origin of those super- stitions, or at least that we ascribe to them some peculiar and venerable authority." This would have been strong argument against the continuance of such administration of the Pilgrim- funds, if there had been nothing else to say against it ; but, as it happened that after paying the police, and otherwise contributing to the support of the idol establishment, the Government had still a consider- able surplus in hand, which surplus was swept into their own treasury, the connexion between the State and the Pilgrim-fund was complete, and at all points objectionable in its completeness : " It is true," said the Court of Directors, "that the Government in India has always professed, and we doubt not very sincerely, to consider the amount of the revenue which may be obtained by means of a Pilgrim-tax, as an object of trifling importance, when compared with that of conciliating the natives by a well-arranged system for the support of their favourite superstitions. This also has always been the feeling of the Govern- ment at home. But though the chief motive of the arrangement has always been a liberal ambition to conciliate the natives, the natural desire of procuring financial benefit to the Company has always mixed FEELINGS OF THE NATIVES. 415 itself with the former sentiment; neither of these objects, indeed, could be overlooked by the Company's servants, zealous as they have ever been to promote in every way the interests of the body by whom they have been employed." After quoting, with much detail, the opinions expressed by the local functionaries in different parts of India, with reference to the probable effects of the withdrawal of Government interference, the Court of Directors proceeded to weigh the probabilities of a favourable or of an unfavourable inipression to be made on the native mind by the abolition of the Pilgrim-tax, saying : — " We have adverted to the apprehensions entertained by some persons that the abolition of the Pilgrim-tax would be regarded by the Hindoos with dread and regret, as indicating the withdrawal of the protection hitherto afforded by this Government to their religion, and as leading to further measures of the same character. From the papers before us, from the tenor of the answers to the Governor- General's circular, and also from general principles, we think it at least as probable that the impression resulting from the abolition would be of an opposite description. We mean that the Hindoos would view the abolition as a boon, and as a new proof of special toleration, and that in this view it would tend to increase the popularity of British administration. We do not wish to lay much stress on this topic, because it is not mainly by such con- siderations that we must regulate our Indian adminis- tration ; but it is important to bear it in mind as a 416 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. set-off against anticipations so often indulged in of a different effect." It is no small proof of the difficulties with which the whole question was beset, that it was seldom discussed by the advocates either of the one side or of the other without some manifest inconsistency. It is here, for example, set forth as an argument in favour of the abolition of the Pilgrim-tax, that it would most probably be regarded by the people as " a new proof of especial toleration." But these proofs of especial toleration were the very things which were said to render the Pilgrim-tax and all other kinds of Government connexion with idolatry so peculiarly offensive to Christianity. There was no stronger argument adduced against this connexion than that the especial toleration which it evinced, was calculated to impress the people with the con- viction that their English masters regarded their idolatries with favour. If then the hypothesis of the Court of Directors, or of Charles Grant, was correct, and the people were likely to regard the abolition of the tax as an act of grace, it was, with reference to their general line of argument, a reason for main- taining rather than for rescinding the impost. If, however, thei*e were some weak points in the logic of this memorable despatch, there was no weak- ness or hesitation in the enunciation of the conclu- sions at which, after full consideration, the Home Government arrived. These conclusions were thus summed up, and communicated to the Governor- General in Council : — ■" First, That the interference THE DESPATCH OF 1833. 417 of British functionaries in the interior management of native temples, in the customs, habits, and religious proceedings of their priests and attendants, in the arrangement of their ceremonies, rites, and festivals, and generally in the conduct of their interior economy, shall cease. " Secondly, That the Pilgrim-tax shall everywhere be abolished. " Thirdly, That fines and offerings shall no longer be considered as sources of revenue by the British Government, and they shall consequently no longer be collected or received by the servants of the East India Company. "Fourthly, That no servant of the East India Company shall hereafter be engaged in the collection, or management, or custodies of moneys in the nature of fines or offerings, under whatsoever name they may be known, or in whatever manner obtained, or whether furnished in cash or in kind. " Fifthly, That no servant of the East India Company shall hereafter derive any emolument resulting from the above-mentioned or similar sources. " Sixthly, That in all matters relating to their temples, their worship, their festivals, their religious practices, their ceremonial observances, our native subjects be left entirely to themselves. " Seventhly, That in every case in which it had been found necessary to form and keep up a police force, specially with a view to the peace and security of the pilgrims or the worshippers, such police shall E E 418 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. hereafter be maintained and made available out of the general revenues of the country." There -was no uncertain sound in this. Conclusions thus enunciated were in reality definite instructions. It was intended that they should be acted upon, not hastily and abruptly, but with all proper caution and circumspection ; in a manner neither to offend nor to alarm the people. " Such explanations," it was added, " should be given to the natives as shall satisfy them that, so far from abandoning the principles of a just toleration, the British Government is resolved to apply them with more scrupulous accuracy than ever ; and that this proceeding is, in truth, no more than a recurrence to that state of real neutrality from which we ought never to have departed." But the good seed of the despatch fell upon a hard and stubborn soil. Practically, it was long disobeyed by those whose business it was to give effect to its instructions. It was dated on the 20th of February, 1 833 ; but, for five long years, it remained all but a dead letter. The spirit of Charles Grant ceased to animate the Govei-nment of the East India Company. The Directors, with their " old Indian" prejudices and semi-native ideas, appear then to have subsided into their old state of indifference or timidity. The authorities in India were content to do nothing, and the authorities in England were content to see nothing done. Indeed, it would seem as though the magnates of Leadenhall-street contemplated with something like dismay their own temerity in afiixing their signa- tures to such a despatch ; and being relieved from the COURSE OP THE UIRECTOKS. 419 controlling authority of Charles Grant, had sought either to stifle the document altogether or to explain away its contents. Fortunately, they could not stifle it. There were those both in England and in India, who knew the advantage they had gained, and were resolute to profit by it. Such an authoritative enun- ciation of the principle which was henceforth to regulate the connexion of the British Government in India with the idolatries of the country was too sub- stantial and too vital a fact to be sufifered to rest quietly in the grave of forgotten things. So the Directors, finding that they could not strangle the despatch, determined to ignore the whole spirit and purpose of it, and to take their stand upon certain passages which, read without their context, might be supposed to impart a conditional character to the instructions which it contained. The despatch had certainly called for information. Now this " call- ing for further information" was in India House prac- tice, for the most part, tantamount to the indefinite shelving of a question. Questions were in this way very often shelved. The despatch of 1833 was too decided in its tone — it expressed in language too clear and unmistakeable the desire of the Home Govern- ment to sever the existing connexion between the State and the degrading superstitions of the country — to be interpreted by any intelligent and candid mind into one of those evasive documents ; but it did contain passages on which an unwilling local Govern- ment might found pretext for almost indefinite delay. " In stating to you," it said, " our distinct opinion E E 2 420 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. respecting the abolition, not only of the Pilgrim-tax, but of the practices to which we have referred as either connected with or bearing a similar construction, we desire to repeat that we are rather holding up a standard to which you are ultimately to conform your policy, than prescribing a rule which you are instantly, and without respect of circumstances, to carry into accomplishment. We are sensible that this is one of those subjects respecting which it is peculiarly diffi- cult to give from this country any other than general instructions. As to the details of any measures regarding it, the time, the degree, the manner, the gradations, the precautions, these must in a special sense rest with the local Government." Left thus to the discretion of the local Government the "time" would probably have been never, the " degree " none. But the local Governments were not left to themselves. The contents of the despatch of February, 1 833, wei'e well known in India ; and there were men with strong religious convictions who observed with shame and indignation the lethargy into which the higher authorities had fallen. In Madras, especially, this feeling waxed stronger and stronger; for in that presidency idolatry was honoured in a more open and offensive manner than in other parts of India; the consciences of Christian men were more grossly outraged by enforced professional connexion with Heathen and Mahomedan rites and ceremonies ; and altogether the subject was obtruded more painfully upon the daily lives of the Christian community. It was bad enough to be compelled to THE MADRAS MEMOKIAL. 421 attend the festivals of the unconverted, and to salute their idols or processions, under the orders of the authorities in England ; but to be forced to do these things, after the authorities had expressed their desire to absolve their servants from such duties, was well nigh intolerable. So, first at one station, then at another, there was talk about remonstrance. A memorial to the Supreme Government was pro- posed, and soon drawn up and circulated. Hot was the discussion ; many were the dissentients ; much, from some quarters, the ridicule. But still the memorial made its way; for it stated plain, unde- niable facts, and it put forth in temperate language very reasonable requests. " It enumerated," said Bishop Corrie, who forwarded it to the Madras Government, " instances * wherein those whose duty it is to engage in them feel themselves aggrieved by practices and orders, which seem to them contrary to the command of God, thereby subjecting them to the painful alternative of violating the dictates of their * The instances cited in the me- of 1817, that no important idola- morial were these : — " First, that it Irons ceremony can be performed, is now required of Christian servants no attendant of the various idols, of the Government, both civil and not even the prostitutes of the military, to attend Heathen and temple, be entertained or discharged, Mahomedan religious festivals, with nor the least expense incurred, the view of showing them respect. without the oflBcial concurrence and Second, that in some instances they orders of the Christian functionary, are called upon to present offerings. Fourth, that British officers, with and to do homage to idols. Third, the troops of the Government, are that the impure and degrading ser- also now employed in firing salutes vices of the pagodas are now carried and in otherwise rendering homage on under the supervision and control to Maliomedan and idolatrous cere- of the principal European, and, monies, even on the Sabbath day; therefore. Christian officers of the and Christians are thus not un- Government, and the management frequently compelled by the autho- and regulation of the revenues and rity of Government to desecrate endowments, both of these pagodas their own most sacred institutions and mosques, so vested in them, and to take part in unholy and de- under the provision of regulation vii. grading superstitions." 422 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. consciences, or incurring the displeasure of the Government ; and praying that the same toleration and exemption which have been long granted to their Heathen and Mahomedan fellow-subjects may be extended to the Christian members of this presidency." " It is my duty," added the good Bishop, "to state that I fully concur in every part of the memorial and its prayer." But he would not have concurred in it, had it not been very temperate — had it not expressly disavowed all intolerance, and sought only that which the Court of Directors had already emphatically sanctioned. " We explicitly disclaim," said the memorialists, " as utterly inconsistent with our prin- ciples as Christians, all desire that the liberty of conscience so fully and justly accorded to the Mahomedan and Heathen should be in any degree violated. Our sole object and wish is to see the true principles of religious toleration, declared in the instructions of the Honourable Court of Directors, practically and universally enforced, believing the policy there marked out of a real neutrality to be as safe and salutary as it is wise." This memorial bore two hundred signatures — the signatures of chaplains, of missionaries, of civil and military officers of the Government, of independent members of society. It appears to me to be a very temperate and respectful appeal to superior authority; but it gave great offence to the Madras Government. It was forwarded to Calcutta, but in announcing this to Bishop Corrie, the Chief Secretary intimated to him that the sentiments of the Governor were not in sup- BISHOP CORRIE ANB THE GOVERNMENT. 423 port of the measures advocated by the memorialists ; and then he proceeded, as the organ of Government, to administer a rebuke to the Bishop. " It is matter," he wrote, " of deepest pain and concern to the Right Honourable the Governor in Council that your lordship, instead of exercising the proper influence of your office, strengthened as it must be by the personal respect which is everywhere entertained for you, in moderating the zeal of over-heated minds, should have made yourself the channel of a communi- cation fraught with danger to the peace of the country, and destructive of the harmony and goodwill which should prevail amongst all classes of the community." Such an extraordinary commentary as this upon what appeared to the Bishop to be a very temperate and respectful manifestation of Christian feeling, surprised as much as it vexed him. He could not sit silent under the unmerited rebuke; so he appealed at once to the Governor-General. " The authority of Government," he wrote to Lord Auckland, "to dictate to me as to the performance of my duties I entirely deny. I hold myself free to act on my own judgment as to what is my duty; and differing as I do from the Right Honourable the Governor of Madras in Council, both as to the propriety of granting the toleration prayed for by the memo- rialists, and as to the consequence of deferring to grant the relief sought, I consider myself to have been strictly within the line of my duty in forwarding the memorial to Government." Having then stated that the memorial had in reality been not only 424 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. prepared, but printed and circulated before his arrival at Madras, * Bishop Corrie proceeded to remark, " I observe that some of the Calcutta newspapers accuse the memorialists of asking for more toleration than they are willing to grant to others ; and similar opinions may be held in other quarters. I therefore take the liberty, in the name of all the clerical subscribers to the memorial, expressly to deny this ; and I am persuaded that I speak the sentiments also of the lay subscribers upon this point. If the firing of a salute on Christmas Day be con- sidered a claiming from the natives of a concession in favour of our religion, let the salute be discon- tinued ; and if there be any other ceremony of our religion in which natives are required to attend (though I know not of any), let compulsory attend- ance be forbidden." How very much unlike is this to the language of an over-heated zealot. He sought for all religions full liberty of conscience, and on the part of Government universal toleration. He had never entertained in his own mind, or encouraged in others, any extreme views of the duties of the dominant Christian race. He had made every wise allowance for the difficulties with which the Govern- * The Bishop, on first hecoraing tliat Government will pursue tlie acquainted with the movement in course which appears wise and progress, forwarded, priviitely, a proper. But with reference to the copy of the memorial to the Governor Christian military servants of the of Madras, saying, " I have always State, who are occasionally com- abstained from taking part in such pelled to do honour to the super- representations, helng aware that stitions of the country, I am per- Government may have good reasons suaded that you will not take it for measures, whicli the public can- amiss the bringing the case to your not be acquainted with, and in notice," To this no answer was respect of interference with pagodas, returned. &c., I have the fullest confldence DEATH OF BISHOP CORRIE. 425 ment had to contend, in dealing with the religious institutions of the country ; and all that, in this instance, he had striven for was exemption, for his Christian brethren, from compulsory personal con- nexion with these institutions. The letter of the Madras Government was, indeed, an error without excuse : it was not more at variance with abstract propriety than with the tenor of the instructions received from superior authority at home. To Corrie, however, it was but a small matter. It was not suffered long to vex his holy spirit ; for he was about to appear before a Judge, who would not rebuke him for over-heated zeal in the cause of Christianity. On the 5th of February, 1837, he died, after a brief illness, at Madras. He had held the episcopal office little more than a year, when amidst a general burst of grief, he was carried off to receive his reward. For more than thirty years, he had done the work of his Master unwearyingly and ungrudgingly, and had, perhaps, achieved a larger success than any single labourer in the same vineyard. In the Christian biography of the present century there may be more shining characters, but there are no better men. Of what he was, and how he was esteemed, as chaplain and as archdeacon, I have, but with inadequate expression, spoken in many chapters of this book. "It is almost inconceivable," said Bishop Wilson, who preached his funeral sermon, " how far in the brief space of his bishopric he had won all hearts to his mild rule, and conciliated universal esteem to the Church and her offices in his new and extensive 426 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. diocese." There were servants of Christ in his time, and perhaps, on the same field of labour, with higher enthusiasm, stronger energies, and more commanding intellect, but not one who accomplished more than Corrie accomplished by mere singleness of purpose, and constancy of effort. Bengal and Upper India were studded with monuments of his successful exer- tions.* And, on the whole, I am inclined to think, that next to the holy man who melted the hearts of his audience by the touching tribute to the worth of the deceased prelate which I have quoted above, there is no one of whom the Christian historian of India will take more loving account than of Daniel Corrie, Bishop of Madras, but better known as Archdeacon of Calcutta. Whilst the Madras memorial was slowly making its way to England, through the authorised official channels, another letter respecting the great question of Government connexion with idolatry was voyaging out to India.f It was the visible growth of that feeling of uneasiness and alarm, which the recollection of the Christian epistle of 1833 had engendered in the breasts of the majority of the Directors. It was precisely the kind of document, which, in any view of * " Wherever I passed," said in founding the high school at Cal- Bishop Wilson, in the beautiful cutta, vhat as respected the free iloge quoted in the text, " in places school, what in Mrs. Wilson's he had resided, Corrie's was the female schools, what at Mirzapore, name constantly repeated. Corrie what in the Church Missionary and huilt the church and founded the Bible Society Committees, you all mission at Chunar. Corrie built the know." A longer extract, illustra- chapel and school-house at Agra. tive of Corrie's character, taken Corrie built the two churches at from this discourse will find a suit- Benares, and founded, or caused to able place in the Appendix, be founded, the schools. At Buxar f Under date Feb. 22, 1837. it was also the same. What he did MISGIVINGS OF THE COURT. 427 the case, was least required at such a time. Had the local Government shown any disposition to enter upon a career of rash innovation, there might have been some reason for the extension of a restraining hand. But why the Court should have taken the trouble to help the local Government to do nothing, unless they were really anxious practically to cancel the instructions issued in Charles Grant's time, it is not easy to perceive. Plainly and unmistakeably the despatch sanctioned all past delays, and encouraged future inactivity. It called the especial attention of the Supreme Government to the conditions with which the Court had burdened their former instruc- tions, and significantly said that they had no doubt that it would take long to collect the information for which they had called. I cannot help thinking the despatch a very discreditable one. Sir Peregrine Maitland, the Commander-in-Chief of the Madras Army, a Christian warrior worthy to be held by all ages in honourable remembrance, thought so badly of it that he straightway resigned.* The excitement which the intelligence of this event created in the religious mind of Great Britain was intense. There was an outcry against what appeared to be the unchristian retrogression of those who had pledged themselves to go forward — against the violation of the promise made five years before by the voice of authority to the Christianity of Great Britain. The pledges given in the despatch of 1833 * Mr. Kobert Nelson, a Madras civilian, resigned the service on the same grounds. 428 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. had been virtually cancelled, and one of the highest officers of the State, ashamed of his connexion with such a Government, had retired from it in disgust. An act so decided as this — an act which told upon the public mind as no words, whether of argument or remonstrance, could have done, alarmed the Home Government of India. Alike in Leadenhall-street and in Westminster was it apparent that this policy would not do. Parliament was appealed to ; Par- liament was roused. Sir John Hobhouse was then the responsible Indian Minister. He told the House of Commons, that he should use "the discretion vested in him by the Act of Parliament, to direct such a despatch to be sent to India as would render it impossible for any functionary there to make a mistake." He would take care, he added, and he trusted that the Court of Directors would agree with him, to have such a despatch sent out to India as would perfectly satisfy the most tender conscience. He did not state that he had been responsible for the . short-comings of the Directors during the preceding years, and that the despatch of the 22nd of February, 1837, had been written under his auspices. The promised instructions were speedily sent. The pledge was given to Parliament on the 26th of July, 1838; and on the 8th of August, the despatch was signed. Under the influence of this pressure from without, there could be no more dallying on the banks ; this time the plunge was taken. The orders sent out were clear and unmistakeable. After alluding to the previous despatches, the Directors proceeded to say : GOVERNMENT PROGEESS. 429 " We have again to express our anxious desire that you should accomplish, with as little delay as may be practicable, the arrangements which we believe to be already in progress for abolishing the Pilgrim-tax, and for discontinuing the connexion of the Govern- ment with the management of all funds which may be assigned for the support of the religious institutions in India. We more particularly desire that the management of all temples and other places of reli- gious resort, together with the revenues derived therefrom, be resigned into the hands of the natives ; and that the interference of the public authorities in the religious ceremonies of the people, be regulated by the instructions conveyed in our despatch of the 20th of February, 1833." "We further desire," said the Court, " that you will make such arrange- ments as may appear to you to be necessary for relieving all our servants, whether Christians, Maho- medans or Hindoos, from the compulsory performance of any acts, which you may consider to be justly liable to objections on the ground of religious scruples." It is admitted even by those who have been loudest in their condemnation of the traditional policy of the East India Company, that from that time the Court of Directors never drew back again. Their orders for the severance of all connexion between the State and the idolatries of the country were explicit and imperative ; and they watched with a jealous eye the measures of the local Government, stimulating the inactive and rebuking the dis- 430 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. obedient, and never missing an opportunity of pushing on the good work by timely exhortation and instruc- tion. Under this pressure, the local authorities were compelled — reluctantly, lam afraid, in some cases — to move forward in the right direction ; and in all the presidencies of India, the work of dissolution went on, if not with a celerity to satisfy the more eager, with a steadfastness that gave plentiful assurance to the more reasonable Christian reformers. Bonds such as then existed, the growth of years, could not be hastily severed. The complications were so great; the questions involved were so numerous ; the evil to be eradicated was so much a part of the general administrative system of the country, that the work to be achieved was a great and laborious one, and only to be eventually accomplished by progressive efforts extending over many years. PROGRESS OP REFORM. 431 CHAPTER XII. Severance of Government connexion with Idolatry — ^Employment of Native agency — Administration of temple-funds — ^I^nded endowments — Money- payments — Missionary efforts — Bishop Wilson — Connexion of Govern- ment servants with Missionary schemes — The Hindoo law of inheritance — Education. The work, however, was worthily commenced. The great series of Government measures for the seve- rance of its connexion with the idolatries of the country was fitly inaugurated hy the total abolition of the Pilgrim-tax. And on the 3rd of May, 1840, in pursuance of an Act passed in the preceding month, the gate of the great temple of Juggernauth was thrown open to the pilgrim, amidst a convulsion of nature which threatened to destroy even the stately pagoda itself. The year 1841 was a year of determined and systematic action. The supreme Government issued its orders to the minor Governments, and they in turn sent forth their instructions to the depart- ments under them. But it was an easier thing to direct absolute withdrawal from " all interference with native temples and places of religious resort," than to carry these instructions into effect. Indeed, when the work came to be done, it was found to be 432 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. very difficult. The administration of the religious endowments was so mixed up with the revenue system of the country that our public officers, in many instances, found themselves perplexed in the extreme, not knowing how to carry out the orders of the Government without doing palpable injustice to a large number of people. The first thing to be accomplished was the sub- stitution of some other agency from that of the servants of Government, to which the executive management of the religious institutions might be entrusted. Nothing was plainer than that the admi- nistration should be vested " in those individuals who, professing the same faith, may be thought best qualified to conduct that administration with fidelity and regularity, such individuals, together with their subordinate officers, being held responsible to the courts of justice for any breach of the duties and trusts assumed by them." The theory of this was excellent, and the practice would seem to have been easy of fulfilment; but a question arose as to the appointment of these native trustees. Doubtless, the best means of securing the conduct of the administra- tion with fidelity and regularity was by vesting the appointment of trustees and managers in the hands of the Government. But it was objected to this, that there was little real difference between Govern- ment servants and Government nominees ; and that, therefore, the disconnexion of the Christian Govern- ment from the administration of the heathen institu- tions of the country would, under such a system, be ADMINISTRATIVE AQKNCY. 433 incomplete. On the other hand, under any other system, there was likely to be no small amount of mismanagement and malversation, no remedy for which could possibly be supplied by our courts of justice. Here, again, a difficult question was sug- gested, or one, rather, made difficult by the widely different opinions brought to its solution. There were some who contended that idolatry, being an unmitigated evil, could not be rendered worse by the bad administration of its affairs — that it was better to leave it to perish by the innate force of its own corruption than to endeavour to impart any respectability and security to it. Others, on the other hand, declared that to withdraw all securities against administrative corruption was simply to super- add evil upon evil, and that there was no reason why, because the religion of the people was false, there should be no check upon the evil practices of those entrusted with the managem.ent of its affairs. That a false religion well conducted is worse than the same thing ill conducted, is not very apparent. The question, however, was considered an open one, and the practice was left uncertain. Whilst the Bombay Government resolved that the choice of adminis- trators should be left to the worshippers themselves,* * " In carrying out the principle kind of election in certain families, of entirely severing Government and or in such other way as the Govern- its officers from any interference ment of India may determine upon, whatever in matters connected with and that the Poojarees, or officiating the native religious institutions, the priests, or the heads of the castes Governor in Council is of opinion connected with the institution should that in whatever way corporate bodies be the parties having authority to of trusts may be established, it prosecute the trustees for any mal- should be provided that vacancies versation or breach of trust." — Reso- are to be filled up without the inter- lution of Bombay Government, Feb. 27, vention of Government, either by a 1841. F F 434 CHRIstlANITY IN INblA; in Madras the nomination bf ti-ustees Was left to the British collector. The agencies to which the charge of the religious institutions of the country were now entrusted were of various kinds. In some places, the superintendence of the temples was entrusted to a single man— to some rajah or influential zemindar ; JUggernauth, for example, being given over to the managemeiit Of the Rajah of Koordah. In others, the trust was vested in punchayets, or native committees, the hereditary village officers being associated with the temple priests and with private individuals of high local posi- tion.* In the same manner, the mosques Were given over to the charge of respectable Mahomedan gentle- men, chosen generally from among their most regular frequenters. From that time the servants of Govern- ment ceased altogether to interfere in the internal management of the mosques and pagodas ;f ceased to concern themselves about the repairs of the build- ings ; ceased to take part in the preparation of their ♦ The agencies employed in the head of the village or the Carnum, Madras Presidency, in which Go vern- have been conjoined with the pujari ment connexion with idolatry exis- in a committee or panchayet. ted in its most varied and extensive Temples of more importance, with a aspects, are thus described by Mr. reputation and interest extending Daniel Eliott, in his admirable report : beyond the vicinity, have been placed — " The arrangements which have under the charge of committees, been made with respect to Hindu composed of persons of weight and institutions are various. The small influence, selected from among the village pagodas had not generally residents within a wider range. En- been under the charge of Govern- dowments belonging to matums or ment ofBcers : but, where such charge gurus have been left to the care of had been assumed, it has been ie- the parties interested ; and institu- signed to the pujari, who is looked tions of which the managers have upon in the light of one of the village been usually appointed by such functionaries, entitled to merafls, matums, have been deemed to need with the smith, carpenter, and the no other superintendence." like. In the case of larger temples, f Perhaps this ought to be stated with more considerable endowments, with some qualification, for the two or more of the principal inhabi- Regulations, under which this ma- tants, including generally the official nagement was given over to Govern- THE PAtJODA-LANbS. 435 festivals ; ceased to superintend the decdriitibtt of their cats and the equipments of their idols ; ceased to appoint those whose business it was to tiand the gods a,nd take custody of the temples. But there was at least one class of religious endow- ments the administration of which could not imme- diately be handed over to native trustees. The landed revenues of the pagodas, like all other funds, were made over to the native administrators ; but their collection still remained with the Government revenue officers. It was not considered just or expedient that they should relinquish the management of lands (attached to religious institutions) which had been assumed for the purpose of securing the public revenue, or in order that protection and justice might be afforded to the ryots. The continuation of the management of such lands by the revenue officers, it was remarked by the Supreme Government, was " due as a measure of justice to the agriculturists, whose contracts and engagements have been made in anticipation of the continued management of the land by Government." Plain, however, as this may have been, as a question of abstract justice, the proposal to continue the manage- ment of the pagoda-lands was not in accordance With the theory of total withdrawal from all connexion with the religious institutions of the country. It was suggested, therefore, that Government should resume the lands, and pay, in lieu of their revenue, a fixed ment servants, were not repealed; have survived up to the present and the total separation aimed at time. But the last link of the con- was not effected. Here and there nexion is now (1859) about to be some remains oi' the old system broken. FF2 436 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. annual amount to the trustees. This money-payment, however, of which I shall presently say something more, was held by some to be a more objectionable, because a more direct, method of supporting the false religions of the people. The difficulty did not escape the notice of the Court of Directors; but they believed that it could be overcome. They believed that arrangements might be made of such a character as to prevent the transfer of authority over the . pagoda-lands from being injurious to the ryots — that if the revenue were fixed at an equitable amount, the collection of it might be " safely transferred to agents, to be appointed by the parties in whom the management of the affairs and funds of the institu- tions may be vested, subject to such penalties against exactions and other abuses of their trust as the native servants similarly employed on the part of Govern- ment would be liable to ; " and, accordingly, they directed that the management of the pagoda-lands should be made over to native trustees, care being taken to secure, as far as possible, the interests of the cultivators by granting them beneficial leases before effecting the transfer. This was another most important step towards the total severance of the ties' which bound the British Government to the idolatries of the country. One more has now to be mentioned. The attendance of British officers at Hindoo and Mahomedan festivals ; the turning out of our troops to grace their ceremo- nies; and the firing of salutes in their honour — prac- tices which had obtained to an unfortunate extent, CHKISTIAN OFFICERS AT NATIVE FESTIVALS. 437 especially in the Madras Presidency — were now to be disallowed. In a circular letter signed by the Military Secretary to the Government of Fort St. George, and addressed to the Commander-in-Chief, under date of July 6, 1841, it is intimated, " under instructions from the Court of Directors, conveyed through the Govern- ment of India," that " the attendance of troops or of military bands at native festivals or ceremonies, and the firing of salutes on occasions of that nature," were " in future to be discontinued, with the object of separating the Government and its officers, as far as possible, from all connexion with the ceremonies of the Hindoo and Mahomedan religions." The ordinary marks of respect paid to native princes on the occasions of their going forth or returning from such festivals or religious observances were, how- ever, to be paid ; and the change was to be eflfected " in a manner calculated not to alarm the minds of the natives or to offend their feelings." These orders were circulated by the Commander-in-Chief to the generals commanding divisions, and by them to the regiments under their several commands. But it was still objected that Government had not ceased to be connected with the religious institutions of the country, for large sums of public money were paid towards their support. It ought to have been enough to answer to this, that such money-payments repre- sented either certain property or certain endowments enjoyed by those religious institutions before the country passed under the rule of the British Govern- 438 CHEISTIANITY IN INDIA. meTit. Our Governmerit had taken the property, and the payments made to the mosques or pagodas were simply for value received. This is admitted lyith respect to one class pf payments — those made in lieu of the revenues of resumed lands — but not with respect to the grants made in continuance of similar contributions from the native rulers whose authority we supplanted. It was urged that those grants being volnntiary gifts might be discontinued without injus- tice. But, in fact, t-hey were not less payments for value received than the others whose claims were admitted. With those grants, and with promises, actw^l or constructive, of their continuance, the British Governpient, in a transition-period (and all transition-periods are more or less c^tical), purchased the good-will a;nd the quiescence of the people. I do not conceive that, having gained those ends, or, in othpr words, having received the value for which the promise was given, we have any sort of right to with- draw from it. I know what will be replied to this. It will be said that they were originally grants from Hindoo or Mahomedan Governments to religions believed to be true ; not, as in our case, to religions known to be false. But if those religions are no^y known to be false, they were equally known to be false when we undertook to endow them. This, however, is not, it appears to me, the main argument by which the objection is to be overthrpwn. The money paid to these people, for the support of their religious insti- tutions, is their own money : it is mpney which MONEY-PAYMENTS. 439 they pay to thQ state as Hindoo or Mahomedan tax -payers. Now our system is a system of declared religious neutr9.1ity. But qonsiderable sums of money are paid annually, from the revenues of India — that is, by Hindoo and Mahomedan tax-payers — towards the support of the Christian Church. Can it be said, then, that the British Government especially supports Mahomedanism and Hindooism, because it allows some portion of the revenues derived from th^ labour of the people to be devoted to the endowment of their national faiths ? If the religion of the few- is to be supported from the revenues of the count;*y, why, on any conceivable principle of neutrality, is not the religion of the many ? And if they who do not contribute to the revenue are to be supplied from it with temples ai^d with priests, why, in the name of all that is reasonable, are not the people who do? Moreover, it is certain that when the British Government finally determined to disconnect them- selves from the management of the religious insti- tutions of the country, it was their policy to make the people believe that the change was intended for their own good, and that no grants or customary allowances made by Government would be with- drawn. In the Madras Presidency, special instruc- tions were given to the revenue officers to impress this on the minds of the people : — " In carrying the instructions which may be issued into effect," wrote the Chief Secretary to the Board of Eevenue, "it is essential that you give your most careful attention 440 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. to local circumstances and to native feelings and prejudices, and that you make it generally understood that the object of the Honourable Court of Directors is to leave to the people the management of their own religious institutions without the interference on the part of the revenue officers of Government, and that there is no intention of withholding any authorized and customary payments and allow- ances." These instructions were issued on the 12th of June, 1841, and on the 5th of July they were approved by the Supreme Government of India. Nothing could be more distinct or more compre- hensive than these orders. The payments here secured to the pagodas were not merely those which had the support of some distinct engagement or promise from the British Government, but those also which had obtained by prescriptive usage. The " customary allowances," whatever their origin, were to be continued.* * The question of the money- fiinds. The case is thus stated in payment to Juggernauth turned upon the letter of the Bengal secretary special grounds. Lord Auckland (Mr. Halliday) : — " The ohject ori- declared that there was an abso- ginally in view was no doubt to lute and unconditional pledge from secure the peaceable possession of Government to continue it. Mr. the province, by conciliating the Mills, the Commissioner of Cuttack, people in general, and by removing was of opinion that the promise was from them all apprehension of any merely a constructive one, but that design on our part to interfere with it was the duty of Government to their religion ; but it was fully continue the payment. At a later understood by all parties that we period, however, the Bengal Govern- were not to be losers by the measure, ment, on a deliberate reconsideration and that we were to be reimbursed of the question, involving no small by the collections from the pilgrims, amount of historical inquiry, ruled When, however, the means of reim- that the abolition of the pilgrim-tax bursement no longer existed, in con- had absolved Government from its sequence of the boon granted to the previous obligation to continue the Hindoo community at large by the money-payment, which had virtually abolition of the tax, and the parties been made from the surplus pilgrim- in charge of the temple had before PROPOSED COMPROMISE. 441 But were there no means of meeting the difficulty by a compromise ? The plain fact of a direct money- payment from the Company's treasury being held, by reason of its very plainness and directness, to be objectionable in the extreme, it was suggested that the Government might evade the continually recur- ring necessity of feeding the revenues of Idolatry, by making over in perpetuity to the idol-trustees certain lands, yielding an income equal to the annual donation. Another proof of the difficulties with which the whole question was beset — of the incon- sistencies and contradictions which started up at every turn ! A little while before, nay, about the very same time, when the land-endowment question had been discussed, and the evils of handing over the administration of certain tracts of country to private individuals had been under consideration, it had been proposed to commute these landed revenues for direct money-payments ; and now the very obverse of this proposal was recommended. But when this recommendation, with especial reference to Jugger- nauth, was considered by the Bengal Board of Revenue, they declared that they could not concur in it. " The distinction," they said, " appears to them quite illusory ; and with reference to the peculiar value set by the people on landed endow- ments, they are of opinion that the proposed plan involves even greater evils than that now in operation. There is, in fact, no argument against the simple them the prospect of a great influx nor proper, nor consistent with the of pilgrims, and a still greater influx object in view, that the donation o< oflFurings, it was neither necessary should be continued." 442 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. payment of a donation in money which 4oes not apply with greater force against a permanent endownaent in land, and if it be not just and expedie^it tq pursue the one course, it may be certainly predicated tliat no case can be made out for adopting the other."* There being, therefore, no escape, through the agency of a compromise. Government, except when there was some special justificatory plea for resumption, held to the money-payments ; and I humbly conpeiye that they were right. I do not assert that it would be the part of a Christian Government to initiate concessions of revenue for the support of the religious institutiops of ]\!rahomedans or Hindoos, but it is as little the part of such a Government, having obtained the sovereignty of an Indian province by substitution — or, as some would say, by usurpation — to deprive those institutions of any endowments which they possessed at the time of our assumption of the government; and, if it be unjust to deprive them of such endowments at the outset of our career of dominipn, it is doubly unjust, doubly dishonourable, to do so at a later period, when we have tided over pur first difficulties by reconciling the people to the change, on the plea that the British Government would withhold from them none of the privileges and immunities which they had enjoyed under their native princes. If the resumption is to take place at all, it should take place at once, so that we may * Secretary to the Board of Eevenue to the Secretavy to the Government of Bengal. July 29, 1845. MISSIONARY EFFORTS. 443 not add deception to injustice. To coiiciliate the people in a critical conjuncture by delusive promises, to be broken in a season of security, is simply to commit a fraud upon them ; it is to make promise of payment for valine received, and then deliberately to dishonour it. The Christianity which ignores truth aiid justice is not very appreciable. But enough was done at this time to vindicate the genuine Chfistianity of the nation, and fortunately no heed was given, in a general sense, to these spoliatory recommendations. There are those ^ho think that the British Govern- ment could not have done less at such a time ; I am certain that it ought not to have done more. B,ut there was nothing to restrain the energies of inde- pendent societies, and great efforts were nobly made for the diffusion of the true faith. Throughout the whole of this epoch — I mean, up to the year 1853 — the activity of the missionaries was deserving of all honour. I cannot now speak in detail of the endeavours or of the successes of individual men. History takes account of the pioneers — of those who go singly into the thicket, clearing their way with axe and hatchet, and opening the road for the later crowd; but, although in that crowd there may he men Vidth like energies, who, as precursors, had Providence so willed it, would have done the same, yet they are but of the multitude multitudinous, and are lost in the crush. The religious societies of Great Britain had now attained to their maturity of vigour; and they were 444 CHUISTIANITY IN INDIA. sending forth their torch-bearers to all the dark places of the earth. It was no longer a reproach to the "lordly Episcopalians" that the Church of England could not find in its communion men willing to abandon the ease and comfort of home, with the prospect of ecclesiastical preferment, in exchange for the privilege of declaring God's truth to the heathen. Churchmen now vied with Dissenters in the great and glorious work. At every place of note in the country a missionary station was established. Churches and schools sprung up as if by magic. Money in abund- ance was forthcoming. From every cantonment in India, almost, it may be said, from every town and village in England, contributions poured in, directly or indirectly, for the sustentation of Indian missions. Never before had the great cause enjoyed such earnest hierarchical support. In Bishop Wilson, the chief priest of the Indian Church, the pure missionary spirit glowed with intense fervour. In Bengal, he was worthily seconded by Thomas Dealtry, Arch- deacon of Calcutta, upon whom afterwards the mitre of Madras descended ; and in the Southern and Western presidencies by Bishops Spencer and Carr. It would be a privilege to write in detail of the career of such a man as Bishop Wilson. That the privilege is duly appreciated, and will be worthily exercised by him who has the best right to it, there is ample assur- ance, and in the assurance great comfort. For the period of a quarter of a century that most evangelical of bishops, and most devout of men, presided over the Indian Church. No warnings of failing health, of BISHOP WILSON. 445 enfeebling age, of increasing exhaustion and prostra- tion ; no thought of home and its endearing ties, of honoured old age, and lettered ease in his native country, could drive him or lure him from his post. He had resolved to die in harness ; and in harness he died, bewailing the wickedness of the heathen, in the midst of the great Indian rebellion, and praying for their conversion to the saving faith. He was a man sui generis. He lived in the world, but was not of it. I do not think that I ever saw in a man of his advanced years such childlike simplicity. He mixed largely with society ; indeed, it may be said that, in the best Christian sense, he was of a really social dis- position ; hospitable, courteous, of an overflowing kindliness, incapable of a malicious feeling, or an ungenerous act ; and yet I have known people to writhe beneath the guileless, unconsidered words which had fallen from his lips. His eccentricities of demeanour, conspicuous as they were to some, and frequent subjects of irreverent discourse to men unmindful of his many fine qualities, were little observed by those who came within their genial influ- ence, and had eyes to see and faculties to understand the inner nature of the man. His strong devotional spirit, his self-forgetfulness in his Master's cause, his unstinting love towards his fellows, his earnest- ness of speech, his energy of action, had something of an almost apostolic greatness about them. Few of his contemporaries had taken so little of the form and pressure of the times in which he lived. In the course of his long episcopal career, he 446 CHRISTlANItY IN INDIA. triaversed all parts of India. In the progress of Christian missions he took the deepest interest, and he went from station to station, encouraging, ani- matingj aiding all. He was of the high evangelical otdei- of Churchmen ; and he would not sanction any of those compromises and half conversions, those clingings to the old garments of caste, which the earliel" missionaries, not altogether without episcopal authority, had yielded to in perfect good faith, and as sotne think, with full Christian warrant. On the banner which he carried, the word " Thorough" was emblazoned. He did everything in a large way. Although pure Gospel truth was far dearer to him than the dignity of the Church over which he pre- sided, he strove mightily for the outward honour of that Church, and he has left an enduring monument of his resolution in the great cathedral of Calcutta. In the face of many discouragements — discourage- ments even from friends, who believed that the money expended on that magnificent structure might have been more profitably diffused over a larger area — he laboured onwards unceasingly, giving largely from his own store, and seeing the completion of his work, as he often said he should, in time to lay his bones beneath it. If he was mistaken in this, it was a grand mistake. Only those, who Were alike ignorant and uncharitable, ascribed it to personal vanity. The dominant idea in his mind was that of an outward manifestation of the glories of the Christian Church, speaking through its visible magnificence to the senses of the Unconverted. Why should Error be BISHOP wiLsbNi 447 proclairtied thus triumphantly, with all that is ^Ir- geous alid beautiful in Art to syrhbolise its attriactibtiSj and Tl-uth be left without a fitting monument of its greiatiiess? He had visions, too, of a noble army of Christian Churchmen, in association with a richly- endowed cathedral establishment, radiating thbnCe to the uttermost parts of the Indies, and cartyitig the glad tidings of salvation to places where nbtie before held breathed the name of Christ. He may have been right, or he may have been wrong; but right or Wrong, he was moved only by honest impulses and worthy desires to do God service in that way ; and the most that can be said by those who differ from him is that his way was not their way, and that in all probability he had considered the subject more thoughtfully and prayerfully than themselves. That the character and example of such a man as Bishop Wilson must have contributed largely to that progressive improvement in the religious character of the English in India, which we contemplate with so much satisfaction, is not to be doubted. Certainly, an impulse was given to the active Christianity of our countrymen, the good fruits of which it is not easy to overvalue. Among the principal laymen of the period — servants of the Company — there were many men of distinguished piety and benevolence ; men who, like Wilberforce Bird, Frederick Millett, and John Lewis, in Bengal; Thomas Thomason (worthy son of a worthy master), in the North- Western Protiiices ; J. B. Thomas, in Madras ; and James Farish, in Bombay, — demonstrated, by the 448 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. lustre which their Christian graces shed upon their high position, how the best servants of Christ might also be the best servants of the temporal Govern- ment. Their example was largely followed by men of less elevated, station. The military servants of the Government vied with the civilians. Even the ensign cheerfully contributed his rupees to church- building funds and missionary societies. The ordi- nances of the Church were diligently observed. The Sabbath-day was kept holy. Family prayer became a necessity of daily life. Public theatricals languished for want of aristocratic support. English gentlemen esteemed it a reproach to be seen at the nautches of the native gentry. Society ceased to tolerate public lotteries. There was an increased demand for religious books and periodicals. And, altogether, the manifestations of a vital Christianity were not less encouraging than those evinced by contemporary middle classes at home. But the activity of the Government servants alarmed the Government. From time to time tidings reached England that a proselytizing spirit was abroad among the officers of the State — that soldiers and civilians were usurping the functions of the mis- sionary — and so interfering with the religions of the people of the country as to awaken suspicion of the good faith of Government itself. What was the pledged neutrality of the State so long as its officers who represented it were violating that neutrality? To what extent this violation had been carried was not very clear ; but there appeared to be no reason to CONDUCT OP GOVERNMENT SERVANTS. 449 doubt that some indiscretions had been committed; that there had been in some cases too palpable and obtrusive an identification of the Government servant with the private individual — an application, perchance, of the resources of Government itself to purposes of Gospel-diffusion. Perhaps, Government buildings had been lent for missionary meetings ; perhaps, the native servants of the Government had been employed to collect missionary subscriptions. At all events, some notion of this kind was entertained by the Court of Directors, who, clearly perceiving that all their efforts to convince the people of the religious neutrality of Government would be frustrated, if their officers did not practically adhere to this policy — for in the eyes of the natives the Government officers are the Government — determined in some manner to check the zeal of their employes. So, after due con- sideration of the matter, they incubated a despatch. On the 21st of April, 1847, Mr. Tucker being then in the chair, it was signed by the Court of Directors. It called " immediate and particular attention " to the necessity of Government servants, civil and military, abstaining from all interference with the religion of the natives of India.* The despatch is so vague and * " You are aware that we have he aware that, while invested with uniformly maintained the principle of public authority, their acts cannot abstaining from all interference with be regarded as tliose of private indi- the religion of the natives of India. viduals. We are, however, led by It is obviously essential to the due circumstances of recent occurrence observance of that principle that it to conclude that a diflfierent view of should be acted upon by our servants, this subject is taken in India, and civil and military. The Government we, therefore, deem it necessary to is known throughout India by its call your immediate and particular officers, with whom it is identified attention to the absolute necessity in the eyes of the native inhabitants, of maintaining this most important and our servants should, therefore, principle in its fullest extent." G G 450 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. meaningless, that there is reaspn to suspect that all pith and purpose were cut out of it, in its passage through Committee, Court, and Cannon Bow, in a hopeless endeavour to reconcile a diversity of con- flicting opinions. No wonder that it puzzled the Government to which it was addressed. The Pre- sident in Council at Calcutta could make nothing of it; the Governor- General at Simlah could make nothing of it. The members of Government, one and all, Lord Hardinge, Sir Herhert Maddock, Mr. Millett, and Sir Frederick Currie, were all alike thrown into a state of ludicrous emharrassment. But as there was no meaning in the despatch — at least, none that they could discover — they virtually determined to take no action upon it. No ^orders were to he issued to the officers of the two services ; but the heads of the minor governments, and the Commander-in-Chief of the army, were to be made acquainted with the Court's despatch, and instructed to communicate it to such high and confidential officers of the State as might be able, by their influence, to prevent any contravention of the prin- ciple laid down by the Court. But as no one clearly knew what that principle was, these orders were practically nothing. The Governor- General and Mr. Millett, referring to a previous despatch of the Court, in which it was declared to be the duty of Government, " and not less of its officers, to stand aloof from all missionary labours, either as promoting or opppsing them," con- ceived that to be the " principle " now inculcated by THE PRINCIPLE OF NON-INTERFERENCE. 451 thp IJome Government ; but as the Gpyeri^py-General deplared his belief that the *^ interferience alluded to by the Honourable Court is almost unknown in the Bengal army," and as the Commander-in-Chief had "reason to believe that no officer contravened this order of the Court, by interfering with the religipn of the natives," whilst nothing vi?as more certain than that a large number of officers of the Bengal army " promoted missionary labours," it is clear that the principle was differently understood by different authorities, and sometimes variously interpreted even by the same functionary. In their perplexity, how- ever, they did the best thing that they could do ; they wrote to the Court of Directors for an interpre- tation of their previous orders; and in due course another despatch was sent out to India, not quite so indefinite as its predecessor, but still giving anything but a certain sound. " The application of the rule," it was said, " should in every case be governed by the principle on which it is founded." But the question at issue related not to the application of the principle, but to the principle itself. The principle was declared to be a principle of non-interference with the religions of the people. But what did "non-interference" mean? The later' despatch, in some measure, explained the meaning of the term, as applied to the conduct of the servants of Government. " While we are unwilling," wrote the Court, to prohibit our servants from contributing their private funds towards the promotion of objects which they may feel to be connected with the interests G G 2 452 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. of true religion, we would caution them against any manifestation of a disposition calculated to excite uneasiness and alarm among the people. We think also that missionary meetings ought never to be held in official buildings, or to wear the appearance of having any official sanction." In this last sentence there is a clear and definite expression of opinion, to which it was easy to give practical effect ; but it did not go very far towards the settlement of the question, and the determination of the general prac- tice to be followed by the servants of the Government. In truth, after no small quantity of despatch-writing and minute-writing, the whole matter was left very much as it was before. In every mixed assembly like the Court of Directors, there is sure, on such a subject as this, to be a con- siderable diversity of opinion. The declared policy of such a body, therefore, partakes largely of the nature of a compromise. Up to a certain point there was very little difference of opinion between the several members of the Home Government of India. They were well nigh agreed, both with respect to the principle and the practice of the non-interference of Government itself, but when they went beyond this, -and began to consider the extent to which the servants of Government ought to be debarred, as individual men, from following the dictates of conscience, and endeavouring to diffuse the precious truths of the Gospel among the ignorant people of the soil, there was naturally less harmony of opinion. It seemed, on the one hand, perfectly clear that although no servant POSITION OF GOVERNMENT SERVANTS. 453 of the Government ought in his official capacity to identify himself with missionary operations, he had an inahenahle right, as an individual man, to do what he conceived to be his duty to Christianity, by promoting the diffusion of the truth. A man, as some were wont to phrase it, did not cease to be a servant of Christ when he became the servant of the Company. It seemed to be sufficient, therefore, to instruct public functionaries in India never to bring the prestige of their official position to the aid of missionary endea- vours. Every Englishman knows the difference between what he does in his official and what he does in 'his personal capacity. It was easy, therefore, for a soldier or a civilian to divest himself, to his own entire satisfaction, of his official capacity, when attending missionary meetings, or promoting mis- sionary subscriptions, or entertaining missionaries at his house. But it was argued, on the other hand, that however distinct might be the actions of the private individual from those of the public functionary in his own eyes, the distinction was not equally clear in the eyes of the people of the country. In their estimation, the Collector Sahib, or the Colonel Sahib, is always the Collector Sahib, or the Colonel Sahib. Let him, it is said, adopt what precautions he may to divest himself of his official character, let him go to the missionary meeting unattended by orderlies or chu- prassies, and sign his name as plain John Brown, or Thomas Smith, still, in the eyes of the natives, it is the Collector or the Colonel who attends the mis- sionary meeting, and thus declares his hostility to the 454 CtiRIStlANITY IN INDIA. rbligiblls of tile coutitry. It was because the people never separate the man frbtn the officer, and draw no distinction between the acts of the officer aiid the acts of the Government which he serviss, that some questidlied the propriety of permitting public servants, civil bt" military, to take aiiy ostensible part iii opera- tions designed for the conversioii of Hindbos atid Mahomedahs to the religion of Jesus Christ. And it was a necessity of this conflict bf ojpinibti, that the instructibhs sent out to India by the Home Govern- ment should have been of a somewhat uncertain and undemonstrativb character. The questibn, it must be admitted, is a very dif- ficult one. Subsequent efforts have been made to settle it, but with no better result. And, indeed, I hardly think that it ever can be settled in a satis- factory manner. To lay down geheral instructions, defining the precise extent to which the inalienable right which every man possesses to promote the inte- rests of his religion, may be carried in practice without coming into collision with the duties imposed upon the public officer by the Government which he serves, and therefore which he is bound to obey, appears to be a hopeless task, and if not hopeless, perhaps an unptbfitable one. It is better that every man should follow the dictates of his own conscience in such a matter, and that Government should deal with indi- vidual cases as they arise. Though it may be very difficult to define in written words the limits of the permitted and harmless interference of Government servants in eflPorts for the religibus advancement or GOVEBNMENT INTERFERENCE. 455 social improvement of the people, I scarcely think that in a man's own mind there can be any inward conflicts, or that any one can go far wrong for want of iiltelligiblie iiistrudtions. Much has been said, and said most truly, about the higher duties imposed upon evei-y Christian man by the mere fact of his Chris- tianity 5 and it is asked what a man is to do when his conscience tells him that his duties as an officer and a Christian are in antagonism with each other? The answer may not be a convenient one ; but, once given, there is an end of the matter. He is bound to be a Christian ; he is not bound to be an officer. The inward conflict may be trianquillized at once by his ceasing to be the latter. But whilst Government were thus impressing upon their servants the duty of an absolute religious neu- trality, they were themselves sanctioning measures which were by no means regarded in that light by the people, and which were calculated to create a far greater tumult than the most indiscreet demonstra- tions of individual men. It is not my intention to write here in detail of the great humanizing effiarts of the British Government as manifested in the sup- pression of Suttee, of Female Infanticide, of Human Sacrifices, and other kindred abominations ; but there is one measure of the British Government, belonging to this period, so intimately associated with the subject of this work, that it ought not to be passed over. I speak of the change which has been introduced into the Hindoo law of inheritance. By that law, a Hindoo, on abjuring his Hindooism, ipso 456 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. facto was disinherited. The Mahomedan law was equally distinct and equally intolerant. All right to the inheritance of property, ancestral or acquired, was forfeited by apostacy. The apostate was regarded as one civilly or legally dead. That such a state of the law must have been a severe hindrance to Chris- tianity, is plain. It was an evil, indeed, which those who laboured for the conversion of Hindoos and Mahomedans were continually bewailing ; and an evil to which it appeared to them a legislative remedy might be applied without violation of the neutrality of Government. The subject was brought pro- minently to the notice of the Court of Directors, who, as far back as the year 1832, directed an inquiry to be made and some legislative remedy to be applied. Lord William Bentinck was then Governor- General. He at once gave his attention to the subject, and in the course of that year, 1832, a regu- lation was passed, the effect of which was to secure to persons, whether Hindoos or Mahomedans, or converts from those religions, the property in their possession at the time of the passing of the Act.* The regulation, however, only applied to Bengal ; and was even there only a partial remedy for the evil. After many years the Bishop of Bombay called the attention of Government to the painful circum- * The following is the most im- suasion, the laws of these religions portant portion of it : — " Whenever shall not be permitted to operate to in any civil suit tlie parties to such deprive such party or parties of suit may be of different persuasions, any property to which, hut for the when one party shall be of Hindoo operation of such laws, they would and the other of Mahomedan per- have been entitled ; in all such suasion, or when one or more of the cases the decision shall be governed parties to the suit shall not be either by the principles of justice, equity, of the Hindoo or Mahomedan per- and good conscience." THE LEX LOCI. 457 stances in which native converts to Christianitv were placed, hy the existing state of the law ; and he was told in reply that an Act which would meet all the requirements of the case was under the considera- tion of the Legislative Council. This was in 1845. The draft Act was published in the Gazette ; and it contained a clause enacting — " that so much of the Hindoo and Mahomedan law as inflicts forfeiture of rights or property upon any party renouncing, or who has been excluded from the communion of either of these religions, shall cease to be enforced as law in the courts of the East India Company." The proposed Act of which this formed a part was that known in history as the "Lex Loci" of 1845. It struck terror into the souls of the elder generation of Hindoos. Already were their sons apostatising from Hindooism, if not to any other faith ; already were they eating beef, indulging in theological dispu- tation, and writing in the newspapers about Reform. To abolish all penal enactments against the renuncia- tion of their ancestral faith would clearly encourage this spirit of inquiry — this propensity of young Bengal to revolt against the absurdities instilled into them in their cradle. So they memorialised the Government against the threatened innovation, urging that such a change struck not only at their laws, but at their religion (how, will presently be shown), and imploring that the matter might be reconsidered, the more espe- cially as they regarded the contemplated change only as a prelude to others equally alarming. The result of this protest was that Government — after expressing 458 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. their regret that at a period when public opinion among a great part of the Hindoos had become in a high degree tolerant and enlightened) a memorial foUttdted upon doctrines of so opposite a nature should have been presented — consented to remove the ob- noxious clauses from the Act, and to embiody thetn into a separate Kegulation for future coiisideratidn. Four years passed away, and the expurgated clauses never became a substantive Regulation. So in Mafchj 1849, the Bishop of Bombay again called the atten- tion of his Government to the subject, and the Government supported his plaint. Lord Dalhousie was then in the Upper Province^ ; but Sir John Littler, President of the Council, at Calcutta, recorded a minute, declaratory of his conviction that it was unfortunate that the measure of relief sought for by the Bombay Government for Christian converts in that Presidency, had been so long delayed, " and apparently without any sufficient cause." " Cannot we extend the provisions of our Act ? " asked Sir F. Currie. " I would do so," said Mr. Lowis. And Mr. Bethune, the Legislative Member of Council, did it. I cannot but think, too, that he did it With great judgment. The toleration clauses of the Lex Loci had not been happily worded. They aimed at too much precision and specification. They were particular, instead of general, in their phraseology ; and instead of declaring a principle, suggested a palpable application to a particular case. The new legislative experiment was of a totally different kind. It was simply the enunciatioti of a rule of universal THE LAW OP INHERrtANCE. 459 justice, not on the facfe of it designed for thie pfotec- tion of one particular class of persons,' btit of peoplte of all colours and all creeds. Mr. Bethune's fit-st idea had hie'en merely to extend the ptovisions of the Act of 1832, But upon further consideration, he sug- gested the expediency of passing a brief but compre- hensive Act, couched in the following terms : — " Whereas it was enacted by section 9, regulation vii. of 1832, of the Bengal code, that ' whenever in any civil suit the parties to such suit may be of different persuasions, when one party shall be of the Hindoo and the other of the Mahomedan persuasion, or when one or more of the parties to the suit shall not be either of the Mahomedan or Hindoo persuasions, the laws of those religions shall not be permitted to operate to deprive such party or parties of any property to which, but for the operation, of such laws, they would have been entitled ; ' and whereas it is expedient to extend the prin- ciple of that enactment throughout the territories subject to the government of the East India Company ; — it is enacted as follows : " So much of any law or usage now in force within the territories subject to the government of the East India Company as inflicts on any person forfeiture of rights or property, by reason of his or her renouncing, or having been excluded from the communion of any religion, shall cease to be enforced as law in the courts of the East India Company, and in the courts established by Royal Charter within the said territories." The principle here laid down is one of universal toleration. The Act was not so framed as to appear to have been prepared for the protection of one par- ticular class of her Majesty's subjects. It was osten- sibly framed for the protection of all. It secured to every one, not only the property actually in his pos- session at the time of his renunciation of his ancestral faith, but the right to inherit property as though no such renunciation had taken place. After the passing of the Act, every Christian convert had as much right 460 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. to his share of his paternal property as the most bigoted Hindoo in all the fraternitj' of his co-in- heritors.* There would seem to be, at first sight, such a soul of justice in the proposed Regulation, that it would be almost impossible to find anything to object to it. But not only was an objection, and a very weighty one, found by the Hindoo community, but the very framer of the Act sent it forth from the legislative anvil with grave doubts and misgivings on his mind as to the propriety of the proposed enact- ment. The simple fact was, that the Hindoo law of inheritance was not based upon considerations purely of a civil or legal character ; it was interwoven with the fabric of the Hindoo religion. The inheritance of every Hindoo descended to him burdened with certain obligations or conditions ; nay, indeed, it was said to be actually contingent upon the performance of ceremonial duties only to be performed by a co-reli- gionist of the deceased. This was certainly an awkward fact. For if it did not constitute a valid argument against the enactment of a law of general toleration, it certainly rendered the Government fairly charge- able with something very like interference with the religions and religious usages of the country. Regard- ing the matter in this light, certain persons repre- senting themselves as " the Hindoo inhabitants of * The Judges of the Sudder passage saying, " or may be held in Dewany of Bengal, not thinking any manner to impair or affect any that this yfAs clearly enunciated, claim of inheritance." But the recommended that after the words -word "rights" included all claims of " forfeiture of rights and property," inheritance, there should be inserted in the Act a HINDOO RESISTANCE. 46 1 Bengal, Behar, and Orissa," alarmed by the in- tended assault upon their ancestral bigotry, again rose up to resist, and, aided by some congenial Europeans, sent in an emphatic protest against the threatened innovation. And the native inhabitants of Madras followed their example. This was a repetition of the movement which had been so successful four years before. But it was not now doomed to like good fortune. The memorials were strongly worded. They dealt in argument ; in declamation ; in threats scarcely disguised. They paraded, as the strong point of their case, the asser- tion that the performance by the heir of the funeral ceremonies above noticed was designed to secure the eternal safety of the deceased,* and that therefoi'e to make a new law of inheritance, would be to jeopardize every Hindoo's chance of everlasting happiness ; and in this view of the case nothing could be more alarming than the threatened innovation. " Your memorialists will not conceal," said the Bengalees, " that from the moment the proposed Act becomes a part of the law applicable to Hindoos, that confidence which they have hitherto felt in the paternal character of their British rulers will be most materially shaken. No * The case is thus stated in the sively upon the right to present the Bengal petition : — " Among Hindoos funeral oblations. It is by virtue of one of that faith who abandons his such last act, which can only be per- religion loses the property he derived formed by a Hindoo, that sons and from his ancestor, because he can no near kinsmen take the property, longer perform the duty which alone because, according to the belief of entitled him to receive it. If a the Hindoos, it is by such acts his Hindoo had self-acquired property father's spiritual bliss, and that of from trade or otherwise, and were to his ancestors to the remotest degree, turn Mahomedan or Christian, he is secured, and by the tenets of the would incur no forfeiture of his self- Hindoo religion an apostate from acquired property The that faith cannot perform the obse- rigbt of succession depends exclu- quies." 462 CHRISTIANITY IN INpIA. outbreak of coursp is to \)e dreaded; but the actiye spirit of fervent Ipyalty to tbeir Sovpyeign, a^d of pride in. their rulers, will be changed into sullen sub- luission to their will, and pbpdience to their ppwSV'" But far stronger than this was the language which the English lawyers of Madras put into the ipouths pf the native petitioners. They denpunced the proposed Eegulatipn as a "direct apt of tyranny;" and declared that the British Government, " treading in the path of oppression," would \yell deserve, " what it will assuredly obtain, the hatred and detestation of the oppressed."* Aided by the missionaries, the Christian converts pf 5engal sent in a counter-petition- They con- tended that the Hindoo law, in its integrity, as set forth in the Institutes pf Menu, had long ceased to be practically regarded ; that a return to pure Hin- dooism was impracticable, and that the great bulk of the people rejoiced in their emancipation from its cruel and pernicious thraldpm. They pointed out that '' a great intellectual moyement, induced in a great measure by the progress of ednpatipn, had for the last quarter of a century been steadily advancing in Bengal ;" and that there was " a growing aversion to the popular superstitions and cerempnies of the * One other passage from the liaye u^-ged a similar argument, in Madras Memorial may be quoted: — a preceding page, in ignorance that "When a Government has Ijecome it h^d been put; forth by the Hindoos so regardless of right and wrong, themselves: or, it rather should be that on attaining to independence said, for them. OnthepartofGovern- it can repudiate the principles and ment it had been pleaded, by the the pledges under which it acted in official moutjipiece of Mr. Bushby, its weakness, towards those who that no conservative promises or Jielped it forward to that indepen- pledges had, at any time, been given dence, the confidence of the people to the people ; but how a statement can no longer be retained 1 " I need so grieyously erroneous could have not say that I consider that there is been made it is difficult to under- a great deal of force in this, for I stand. MEMORIAL QJP THE NATIVE CHBISTIANS. 463 country, inqluding that rite on which inheritance depends agrepahly to the Hindoo law. ^^ Whatever special pleading," they said, " a few of our Calcutta countrymen, educated in English, and confident of the tolerant character of the British Government, may hring forward in support of an antiquated system scarcely venerated by themselves, and with whatever success they may procure subscriptions to such a memorial, the quiet agricultural population of Bengal would not spontaneously raise their voice against an act) which they could not but expect under an enlight- ened Christian Government." This memorial was described as " the voice of 12,000 converts in Bengal, all loyal and respectable subjects of her Majesty.'^ "It may in itself be feeble," they said, '' but the voice pf justice and equity is mightier than that of any human community, however large. To that voice we appeal." And they did not appeal in vain. The Supreme Government of India could not bring themselves to believe that they were bound, in defiance of the laws pf justice and of liberty, to maintain the integrity of Hindooism inviolate ; and, moreover, they were pf opinion that Hindooism did not declare the right of inheritance to depend upon the obligation to perform the funeral rites of the deceased transmitter of the property. The Legislative Member of Council, Mr. Bethune, wrote a minute in support of this opinion, and broadly proclaimed " the inherent and inalienable right of every Government to regulate the law of property, and to deprive any class of its subjects 464 CHKISTIANITY IN INDIA. of the power of securing conformity to their own opinions by the infliction of penalties which it belongs to the Government only to impose." The other Members of Council took the same view ; and the Governor- General, Lord Dalhousie, drew up a brief but pregnant minute, in which he expressed entire concurrence in the doctrine " that it is the duty of the State to keep in its own hands the right of regu- lating succession to property." And he added: "The Government of India will, doubtless, continue as heretofore to administer to Hindoos the general body of Hindoo law ; but I conceive that the Government will not do its duty, if it leaves unchanged any portion of that law which inflicts personal injury on any one by reason of his religious belief. In now Acting on this principle, I can see no semblance of interference with the religion of the Hindoos, nor any unautho- rised interference with rights secured to them." This minute was signed on the 9th of April, 1850 ; and two days afterwards the Act was formally passed. That it offended the elder generation of Hindoos ' I do not think that there is any reason to doubt. A bigoted, priest-ridden Hindoo of the old school was likely to be considerably disturbed in his mind, especially when he knew that his sons, or his sons' friends, were eating beef and disputing with the mis- sionaries, and reading the Institutes of Menu by the light of young Bengal. It was bad enough in itself; but it seemed only the precursor of other startling innovations. There was a cry that Hin- dooism was in danger. The faith of many in the UNIVERSAL TOLERATION. 465 British Government was shaken ; and the priests, who found that little hy little their authority was heing weakened, fomented the growing discontent. But I cannot see, that consistently with its duty, an enlight- ened Government could have done otherwise than it did. The principle enunciated was simply this : — that no man, by his profession of a particular faith, should entail upon himself any kind of civil disabili- ties. It happened that, in this particular instance, the application of the principle was favourable to Christianity and adverse to Hindooism; but this was merely an accident : the reverse might have been the case. The British Government, indeed, had aforetime publicly recognised the same prin- ciple, with the intention of removing the disabili- ties under which persons, not being Christians, had laboured. And if they had fairly carried it out in practice, when its operation was adverse to the interests of their own people, they would have stood upon a pedestal of right from which nothing could displace them. Unfortunately, the promise made to the people of India that no man, by reason of his colour or his creed, should be excluded from any office under the State, was not practically fulfilled. Nothing was gained to Hindooism by this spasm of toleration. The failure, doubtless, weakened the* eflfect of the subsequent declaration against all for- feitures on the score of religious faith ; but the principle itself was not less sound because, in one notable instance, the practice of the Government had been inconsistent with its promises. H H 466 CHKISTIANITY IN INDIA. The principle of universal toleration cannot be too emphatically declared ; but if we desire to reconcile the natives of the country to the abolition of all forfeitures and disabilities on account of religious persuasion, we must first show them that Hindooism and Mahomedanism are no disqualifications in the eyes of the Christian ruler. Let us demonstrate the sincerity of our toleration by first reducing it to practice to our own detriment. Let there be nothing one-sided in the application of the great principle ; and we may carry it out to the protection of Chris- tianity without an apprehension of danger or even of discontent. And what was the Convert Christianity which the law had now consented to protect ? It was at the end of the first half of the nineteenth century that the old Hindoo law of inheritance was virtually abolished — a landmark in the great desert of time at which both the friends and the enemies of Hindooism might well pause to ask what had been donej from the days of Wellesley to the days of Dalhousie, to destroy the idolatries of the country. The sovereignty of Great Britain now extended over a hundred and fifty millions of people ; and the pro- portion of Christians to the aggregate population of the country was, doubtless, extremely small. But not on that account were the signs of the times otherwise than most encouraging to the Christian observer. If no converts had actually been made, the fact that we had established in India an immense MACHINERY OF EVANGELIZATION. 467 machinery of conversion, wherewith to commence the new half century, would have been one whereat abundantly to rejoice. If we had only, in spite of immense difficulties and almost insuperable obstruc- tions, landed an army, with all its munitions of war and abundant means of supply, in the enemy's country, we should assuredly have done a great thing, although we had not yet struck a blow. But a blow had indeed been struck, and there were large communities of Christian converts, in different parts of India, whose interests the legislature was bound to protect. Let us see, first, what was the Christian army that had encamped itself in the enemy's country — what the material resources at its disposal, at the close of the first half of the nineteenth century. At this time, twenty-three missionary societies were employing their agents in India and Ceylon. Those agents consisted of upwards of four hundred European or American missionaries, with a staff of more than five hundred native preachers.* The resources at their command were the inestimable words of Truth translated into all the dialects of India, and large sums of money, which enabled them to diffuse the blessed messages * Mr. Mullens thus distributes the miasionary agency : — " The numerous band of mission- aries here mentioned," adds Mr. Mullens, " constitutes more than one- fourth of the entire body of mission- aries sent into all parts of the world ; and furnishes a splendid proof of the deep interest which Indian missions have aroused in the Church of Christ." Mission- aries. Natire Preachers Bengal, Orissa, and Assam .... In N. W. Provinces In Madras . . . In Bombay . . . In Ceylon . . . 101 58 164 37 43 135 39 308 11 58 403 551 H H 2 468 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. among the people, and to establish missionary stations with Christian churches and schools. If nothing else had been done but the transfusion of the Gospel into the spoken languages of the country, the half century which had just elapsed would have been a memorable one in the history of Christianity. But great as were the preparations made, the Christian host had done much more than prepare for the battle. The contest, indeed, had long before commenced ; and now there were great promises of eventual victory. More than three hundred native churches had by this time been established in different parts of India ; and it is computed that these churches were the centres of an aggregate Christian community, numbering more than a hundred thousand persons. It cannot with truth be affirmed that the whole, or any large proportion of these were Christians of a very high order. They were all under Christian instruction; and, at all events, had cast off their ancestral faiths. Less than eighteen thousand of the whole number had been admitted to church- membership ; and only five thousand of these had been approved in accordance with a high standard of Christian excellence.* There is nothing peculiar They are thus distributed by Mr. Mullens : Churches. Members. Christiana. Bengal, Orissa, and Assam North-West Provinces Madras Presidency . . . Bombay Ceylon 71 21 162 12 43 309 3,416 608 10.464 223 2,645 17,356 14,401 1,828 74,512 554 11,859 103,1154 NATIVE CONVERTS. 469 to India in the large proportion vi^hich the number of merely nominal Christians, in outward connexion with the Church, bears to those who are really con- verted and regenerate. Such as it was, the native Christianity of India was by no means equally diffused over the country. It seems to have started up here and there in accidental patches of greenery, and to have left many places altogether barren and desolate. It was on the Madras coast that it seemed to flourish most luxuriantly, espe- cially in Tinnevelly and Travancore, where dwelt at least one-half of the entire native Christianity of the country. Next to that great field of missionary success — success for which there was special reason in the caste and character of the population — certain districts of Bengal are to be classed. In Krishnaghur a great movement had taken place. Some five thousand of Bengalees had been brought under Christian instruc- tion ; one-half of whom regularly attended Christian worship. In these Krishnaghur Missions, Bishop Wilson and Archdeacon Dealtry, now Bishop of Madras, ever took the deepest interest; frequently visiting the Christian villages and baptizing the people by hundreds. In Moulmein, in Tavoy, and in parts of the Burmese Empire, the American mis- sionaries had achieved splendid successes, and are worthy to be ranked with the most devoted of our own labourers. But up to the end of the first half of the last century, Christianity had made compara- tively small progress in Upper and Western India. The soil appeared to be more stubborn, and for a 470 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. time, the labours of the husbandman were requited only by a scanty harvest. Looking at the aggregate result of our efforts up to this time, there was much cause for rejoicing. A good beginning had been made. The number of real converts to a living Christianity may have been small ; but it was impossible to say how even those few might multiply and bring forth fruit, some twentyfold, some fiftyfold, some a hundredfold.* A few earnest- minded men, from their own ranks, with courage and independence to face all obstacles, and with moral influence and the gift of speech to persuade their brethren, might carry conviction to the hearts of thousands, and thus the truth might go on radiating and radiating until it reached the remotest corners of the great continent of India. By means of direct European agency we could never hope to convert the nation. The hope was that, in God's good time, native apostles would be raised up to carry the glad tidings of salvation to the inner heart of Hindoo society. Meanwhile, by other than direct appeals, the English Government and the English people were * How even chance-so-wn seed may audience sought the aid of a mis- fructify may be gathered from the sionary. More than forty persons following interesting and suggestive have been baptized in consequence, incident, recently brought to notice and the converts commenced build- by the Friend of India : — " At the ing a church at their own expense, village of Malliana, about a mile Government has, of course, come from Meerut, a native convert to forward to assist. The example has Christianity was compelled, when had good effect. At Kaukar Kairah, the outbreak oecurred, to leave his a neighbouring hamlet, the villagers books in the house of a man who assembled, and besought a convert, had sheltered him. This man read who was about to leave with his the books, was struck with them, family, not to depart, stating that, and read them to his family daily. though not prepared to embrace A knot of listeners was formed, and, Christianity, they regarded it with as soon as peace was restored, the favour." EDUCATiaN. 471 carrying on the great work. The history of Education in India demands a volume to itself. It will some day, perhaps, be written by a more experienced hand than mine. It is enough to say, in this place, that two systems were tried : one, a system of purely secular education, under the auspices of the British Government; the other, of secular and religious teaching combined, under the superintendence of the missionaries. Each in its own proper place was right. The Government could not with propriety do more ; the missionaries could not do less. The object of both was so to enlighten the minds of the people as to render the absurdities of Hindooism utterly repugnant to them. The missionaries might safely go beyond this ; they might show the people saving truths, to be substituted for their pernicious errors. If the Govern- ment had done this, they would have soon emptied their schools. But in excluding, as they once did, the Bible altogether from their library shelves, and forbidding their teachers to afford, even if solicited, any religious information to the students, they exercised an amount of caution, which, however pardonable at the outset, could not be grafted upon any continuing system without discredit to the State. Perfect tolera- tion forbids the existence of an Index Expurgatorius ; and religious neutrality excludes the idea of pro- hibiting inquiry into the nature of any articles of faith, or any principles of morality. The British Government, after a time, opened its eyes to this fact, and the practice of tolerating all religions but their own was abandoned. 472 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. It was not, however, until the year 1854, that distinct instructions on the subject were embodied in a despatch from the Court of Directors to the Supreme Government of India.* This was the famous educational despatch, prepared with so much thoughtful elaboration, when Sir Charles Wood was President of the Board of Control. For this de- spatch, whether it be good or whether it be evil, the Parliament and People of Great Britain are answer- able. No one can have forgotten the cry which, during the discussions of 1863, was raised against the Company's Government for expending such im- mense sums on war and so little on education. It was, indeed, the standing reproach of the Company, at that time, that it had done so little for the educa- tion of the people ; and that that little was of an anti-Christian tendency. Pressure from without was brought to bear upon the Indian Minister ; and mis- sionary influences powerfully prevailed. The result was that pecuniary assistance on a large scale (in the shape of grants-in-aid) was to be rendered to the educational institutions of the country, and that the missionary schools and colleges were to be permitted to participate in this boon. The aid so granted was * The following is the passage in should be exclusively secular. The the Education Despatch of 1854, Bible is, we understand, placed in the which lays down the practice to be libraries of the colleges and schools, observed: — " Considerable apprehen- and the pupils are free to consult it. sion appears to exist as to our views This is as it should be ; and, more- with respect to religious instruc- over, we have no desire to prevent or tion in the Government institutions. to discourage any explanations which These institutions were founded for the pupils may of their own free- the benefit of the whole population will ask from their masters on the of India ; and in order to eflFect their subject, provided that such informa- objeot it was, and is, indispensable tion be given out of school hours." that the education conveyed in them NATIVE FEMALE EDUCATION. 473 to be applied strictly to objects of secular education. But, nevertbeless, it was aid rendered by the British Government, from the resources of India, to institu- tions avowedly established for the conversion of the people to Christianity ; and although I do not see that so long as the same assistance was rendered to other institutions, in which Christianity was not taught, and other religions, directly or indirectly, were, there was any violation of the boasted neutra- lity of the Government, I am not surprised that it should have been regarded by many as an insidious attempt to bring the power and prestige of Govern- ment to bear upon the general conversion of the people. In such a case, it is better that the Govern- ment should not even be suspected of a missionary connexion, the reputation of which is not more injurious to the State than to the missionaries them- selves. But there was something which, even more than this, alarmed the elder generation of Hindoos. The subject of native female education — indeed, of the condition generally of the women of the country, had attracted the benevolent regards of the English in India, and eflibrts had been made to break down that system, which, in Oriental countries, consigns one half of the human family to ignorance and to slavery. Kightly considered, this was a very difficult and embarrassing question. Reason and humanity were on the one side. On the other, were inveterate pre- judices, deeply ingrained in the constitution of society. Home-staying people in this country have no 474 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. notion of the institution of the Purdah. In the East, even the most apathetic will fight for it, and die for it. What we did to tear down the Purdah was not much. But even the little was a source of inquietude and a weapon of offence. And when, moreover, they found us endeavouring to accomplish another great social innovation, hy legalising the remarriage of Hindoo widows, the indignation of the grey-heards waxed stronger, and in anger and astonishment they asked. What next ? It was very right that the Hindoo widow, often a child-widow, should not he condemned to a life of solitude, perhaps of sin ; but the old-school Hindoos looked upon such condemna- tion as one of their most venerable social usages, and to legislate against it was in their estimation to invade the sanctity of the Zenana, and to obtrude ourselves into the most delicate concerns of their domestic life. We were talking, too, of some day prohibiting infantine marriages, polygamy, especially in its worst form of Kulinism, and other kindred institutions ; when suddenly the Great Rebellion of 1857 burst upon us and calamitously arrested our progress. RECAPITULATION, 475 CONCLUSION. Eetrospect — Recapitulation — Success the result of caution — The question as affected by the Rebellion of 1857 — Our future policy — Proposed demon- strations — ^Duty of the Government — Duty of individuals — Conclusion. Looking back at what I have written, I think I have made it clear that the progress of Christianity in India has been such as any reasonable person, view- ing it with due regard to the exigencies of time and circumstance, would be inclined to predicate from his knowledge of predisposing causes. That this progress has been slow is admitted ; but it would be a mistake to assume that, therefore, any great national sin is to be laid at the door of the English in India, either as a state or as a people. It is not strange that Christianity advanced so slowly in India. It would have been strange if it had not advanced slowly. Nay, I do not see how, without a special interpo- sition of Providence, it could possibly have advanced in any other wq,y. We have seen how, at the commencement of their career in India, the English in India were licentious and irreligious; and that the un-Christian lives of those early settlers wrought mightily to the prejudice 476 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. of Christianity, by blackening its face in the eyes of the natives of the country. But the lax habits and coarse manners of those exiles were importations from the mother country ; and if they cared nothing about the souls of the heathen, they were in that respect only on a level with their brethren at home. The missionary spirit infused itself but slowly into the British nation ; and if we wonder that, at any particular time in the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries, there were no English missionaries in India, we shall in all probability iSnd that there were no English missionaries anywhere. The progress of Christian missions in India, during the present cen- tury, has been only one of many practical emanations of the general revival of evangelical religion in Great Britain. The English in India have always kept pace with their brethren in the parent country. It is only within very recent times that the aggregate contributions of the English nation towards mis- sionary objects has been otherwise than most con- temptible in proportion to the general wealth of the country ; and within these times the contributions of the English in India, considering their numbers and their means, have borne an honourable proportion to the aggregate national amount. It can be no special reproach to the English in India that they were not better than their countrymen at home. I have no hesitation in saying that they have never at any time been worse. But, if the people who have gone from our shores to the Eastern Indies be not deserving of rebuke , EARLY POLICY. 477 for their active sins, or their scarcely less sinful negligences, is not, many have aslied, the Anglo- Indian Government to be rebuked for its impiety, or for its remissness ? The answer to this question is, I hope, to be found in the foregoing pages. It has been seen that, at the outset of the career of the East India Company, they had no thought of empire, no system of policy, and no intercourse with the people, except of a purely mercantile character. Of the Moors, and of the Gentoos, they took no account, except as buyers and as sellers. If they bought and sold honestly, which, as a Company, they desired to do, whatever may have been the overreachings of individual merchants, they did their duty as a society of Christian men. When time and circumstance compelled them, in spite of themselves, to possess territory, and, therefore, as the rulers of a people, to inaugurate a political system, it appeared to them that justice and expediency alike demanded that they should govern, as their predecessors had governed before them, and that, above all things, they should abstain from asserting their national faith in such a manner as to offend the prejudices of the people. As time advanced, and their empire extended, it appeared to them to be more and more necessary to adhere to that system. The English in India were so few in numbers, their means of defence were altogether so feeble, that it seemed absolutely necessary by every means to conciliate the people of the country, lest they should suddenly be swept into the sea. It is possible that they may have over-estimated the 478 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. importance of this non-assertion of the national faith as a means of conciliation, but it was, at least, a reasonable hypothesis that the less they obtruded their Christianity upon the Hindoos and Mahomedans, the less likely they were to offend the prejudices of the people of the soil. Indian government was, in those days, merely an experiment, and the continuance of our empire a problem of very uncertain solution. Political power had been thrust upon the Company, and very unwillingly accepted; and it was, perhaps, because they never thought of theorising, but accommodated themselves to surrounding circumstances, that they were enabled to hold possession of the territory Avhich, province by province, had been committed to their care. We know now that with perfect safety our Christian Government may assert its national faith without offence either to Mahomed an or to Hindoo. But we do not know how far this happy state of things has resulted from the discretion which we exhibited at the outset of our career. We do not know how greatly we are indebted to the confidence established by that very forbearance which is often branded as unseemly timidity, if not as un-Christian indifference. We have no right to assume, because we can now demonstrably adopt a particular course with safety, that we might have safely adopted it fifty years before. Everybody knows, in the daily concerns of life, what liberties he may take with his neighbours, so long as he does not take them too soon. Moreover, if it were EARLY POLICY. 479 a demonstrated fact, instead of a vague conjecture, that we might, at a much earlier period — nay, from the very commencement — have boldly asserted our national Christianity, it can hardly be a reproach to our Government, that they were not, in the very earliest stage of the great experiment of Indian Government, cognisant of that fact — a fact, indeed, which could only be ascertained by a progressive series of small attempts upon the forbearance or indiflFerence of the people. My own impression is — nay, indeed, it is a profound conviction in my mind — that the cause of Christianity in India is indebted, humanly speaking, to nothing so much as the often-condemned "back- wardness" of our forefathers. 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