his present actions, the prop on which he leaned being pulled away, without the substitution of an enlightened morality, he becomes a dangerous member of society, the gratification of his passions or momentary enjoyment being his ruling principle; hence the Company's government have been exceedingly careful how such persons have been permitted to hold official situations, for were the inducement held out, that professing Hindoo christians were eligible or preferable on account of their creed for appointments, there would indeed be many candidates; and the Indian government would adopt a means of proselytism more efficacious, but more dangerous to its stability, than any that could be devised by the whole of the missionary societies in the world,

These remarks are not made with a view to depreciate the character or conduct of missionaries, so long as they confine themselves to the extension of education, the inculcation of morality, or the diffusing a knowledge of the useful arts of life; their beneficial influence in these particulars have been witnessed by me in various parts of the globe, in the kraal of the Hottentot, and in the wigwam of the Indian savage; among the New Hollanders, the Malagashes, the New Zealanders, the Cingalese, and the Kaffres, as well as at the noble College of Serampore;* but it is a wild, visionary attempt at forcing christianity, which I so

* Drs. Carey and Marshman have gone the true way to work; they have not only established schools in every direction, but they have set up a steam engine for the manufacture of paper; a foundry for casting type, whether in Oriental or European characters; and to this they have added a newspaper, half English and half Bengallee, which they publish twice a week, totally divested of all sectarian or methodistical cant. Similar efforts have been made in Ceylon, by Mr. Fox and other amiable and talented men, and by Mr. Jones in Madagascar. The conduct of Dr. Phillips and the unfortunate Thretfall in Africa well deserves commendation; also Mr. Threlkeld in New Holland; Mr. Marsden and others in New Zealand, who have periled every earthly thing for the sake of their dark brethren.

much deprecate, and which Mr. Poynder so mischievously advocates. The most remarkable circumstance connected with the christian religion is, that it has spread its influence in spite of the sword and of persecution, by the mere virtue of its precepts; and if the adoption of its doctrines be indispensable for the future salvation of man, Mr. Poynder may rest assured that his efforts to promote their circulation, or the East-India Company's endeavours (if it were so) to retard them, would be equally futile, unless the divine will were favourable to their dissemination. But the learned gentleman must not think that virtue cannot exist independent of christianity: there are thousandsaye millions, in Hindostan, of Hindoos, Parsees, Mahomedans, Budhists, &c. whose principles are as pure, and their standard of moral rectitude as high as that of any individual in Great Britain, but who nevertheless firmly believe in the religion which has been instilled into them in youth. How far locality of birth may have been the primary cause of Mr. Poynder being educated as a christian, and a native of Bombay as a Parsee, or an inhabitant of Calcutta as a Hindoo, it is not for me to decide; I merely allude to the circumstance, in order that Mr. Poynder may be induced to moderate a zeal which, if proceeded in, will retard instead of accelerating the object aimed at. A great and unjust outcry has been raised in England, on account of the Company's government levying a tax on the pilgrims resorting to several celebrated Hindoo temples, particularly at Juggernath in Cuttack; but it is not stated that the Company's government reluctantly undertook the management of these temples, at the instigation of the Board of Control; that the object was to prevent the extensive impositions and frauds which were practised on the unfortunate misguided devotees, whose lives were thus protected and comforts attended to, as beings who were in

fact, from their ultra-religious zeal, incapable of attending to worldly affairs. This system was adopted at an early period of our rule-at a period when in England the crime of purchasing and selling human beings was considered no offence against the laws of God or man; but now, after the establishment of an efficient police, the making of roads, building of bungalows, &c. and the prevention of a host of crimes and religious murders, as well as checking in a material degree the bigotry of the votaries of such degrading superstition, the Company are called on to renounce all control over the temples, and allow them to become again scenes of riot, confusion, plunder, and bloodshed, which would require and demand the strong arm of the law for the suppression thereof, as much as the system of infanticide or suttees.

But, says Mr. Poynder, the Company realize a revenue from the pilgrims at Juggernath and Gya; the learned gentleman should have added, as a set-off; for "under the Madras presidency, the payments on account of mosques and temples far exceed the revenues derived from pilgrims."*

It is not a little remarkable as illustrative of the spirit of party, that while so much odium has been attempted to be cast on the Company's government for their conduct, in keeping those pilgrimage resorts within the bounds of decorum, that no remark has been made on the conduct of the King's government in Ceylon, which, as the talented editor of the Asiatic Journal observes," has been from the first in actual contact and co-operation with the temple affairs without exciting any observation." I have personally witnessed the devil worship in Ceylon-at Kandy, and other places in the interior, as well as along the coast from

* Evidence of Mr. Stark, head of the revenue department in the Board of Control.

Colombo to Matura, and I candidly declare I saw nothing equally hideous in the Hindoo superstitions, if I except those voluntary martyrs who delight in being swung in the air by a hook passed through the muscles of the loins; or who have a gusto for thrusting a large iron through the thickest part of the tongue or lips!

It is rightly observed by the before-named editor, that the "King's government of Ceylon stands forth as high priest of superstition; enforces attendance upon temple ceremonies, to the manifest inconvenience of the poor people,* who are under the necessity of making long journeys for that purpose; sanctions an absurd and superfluous mummery by the presence of the representative of the King of England, and expects people of all classes to attend from the remotest provinces, and pay a considerable sum,' which is placed in the custody of British commissioners: and all this, which must be notorious to the missionaries on the island,† has not provoked a single animadversion!" In truth, Mr. Poynder must have a poor idea of the clergy and bishops of India, when he takes upon himself their functions, respecting the disgrace which it is alleged a Christian government suffers by reason of the conduct of the Company. Bishop Heber, in his writings, has never I believe once touched on the subject; and we hear nothing of it in the life of the orthodox Middleton; and with respect to Bishop James, I speak from a personal knowledge, that he judiciously saw the Company were necessitated on state policy, as well as on the grounds of humanity, to persevere in their course. All the authors

* These remarks are made by the editor, after quoting an extract from the report of the King's commissioners, on which they are founded. + Mr. Callaway and other Ceylon missionaries, as well as the late Rev. Mr. Ireland, were well aware of these circumstances.

+ Asiatic Journal for July.

or persons who have visited Juggernath, agree that the flux of pilgrims resorting to this celebrated shrine (the mere ground around which, for twenty miles, is considered holy) is yearly diminishing, and if no injudicious measures be adopted, will in a brief period be exceedingly, if not entirely, diminished.* Mr. Poynder says, "I think that the tax levied induces resort;" if he could prove this by analogy, it would be well for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the present perplexing state of his budget; but, unfortunately for Mr. Poynder's theory, Lord Althorp finds that taxation diminishes consumption, and that the less the duty regularly levied, the greater the use of the article taxed. I will not, however, occupy the reader's time in dwelling longer on a subject which all, who know any thing of the people of India, deprecate at present any interference with. Had the Company's government attempted to suppress sutteest at the time when infanticide was put a stop to, England would not now be in possession of India; and even at the present advanced period of civilization and knowledge, the Bengal government would not

* Mr. Rickards admits that, although "the Hindoo castes are now the same as they have been for centuries," yet, in spite of this impediment, "the light of knowledge, irresistible in its progress, has at length penetrated the barrier of Eastern darkness." Vol. i. p. 115.

+ There can be no doubt that this infernal rite originated in the jealousy of princes, who feared that on their decease the numerous wives which they possessed would be enjoyed by other men (their inferiors), and that consequently their memories would be degraded ; the system of ancestral law among the Hindoos, by which property became divided among the family after the demise of the widow, brought cupidity to the aid of jealousy; and the Brahmins, for the purpose of perpetuating their domination, made priestcraft an accessary to both; in time, therefore, it became as much a point of honour among very many Hindoo women to sacrifice themselves, as it is to an Englishman, or a Frenchman, or an American, to submit to immolation by means of a pistol, a rapier, or a rifle: with this difference, that the woman only sought her own destruction; but the gentlemen, not content with hazarding their own lives, seek the murder of others. Both customs are atrocious, but they are equally rooted in the prejudices of society, the suttee claiming precedence for antiquity.