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the records of history, shall we first behold the faftorial establishment of a com- mercial nation, ereftilig an absolute empire over a population' of more than sixty millions ; while the best security of that establishment is founded on the opinion which the inhabitants entertain of , the superior wisdom and integrity of foreign 243 Settlors ?— atttong a natioti of ChtlstlatiSi ' Fforrt whom did the htlrtikhe' and libefal idea ori- ginate, that the natives should be governed by those laws which they have so long revered as /divine, and Whieh alone they are qtialified' to appreciate, ' while at the same timcj the sterii code of Menu should be Softetted by that spirit, which dictated the institutions of Alfred ?^ — front Christians.* Where shall we first see the singular speftaele of the fefined Asiatics, willingly flying for protection to the arms of strangers ; seeking redress for injuries in their courts of justice ; following them to the field of battle, with a confidence in their invincible strength ; tacitly owning the benefits of their administration ; and proving that, if the Aristotelian maxim be true, that "the Asiatics are born to be slaves," yet sub- jugation itself may become a blessing, when abso- lute power is exercised by freemen? — in a colo- nial -establishment, formed by Christians. Finally, where shall we see an European nation, differing indeed as to the means, but agreeing as to the end, endeavouring with parental care to meliorate the condition of a vast empire, which the inscrutable destinies of Providence have committed to its protection, not indeed by sudden innovation and wild theories of reform, but by that cautious and gradual propagation of truth, which is r2 244 requisite to ensure its . ultjmate and complete success'? — in a colonial establishment,' forn^ed by Christians. , Let us indulge a pious gratitude for the enjoy- ment of the blessings of religious truth :, for these are, the .triumphs of , Chtistianity ; let us feel a pious exultation as Britons ; for these triumphs are our's. , ;: DISCOURSE VIIL ON THE BRAHMINICAL SYSTEM IN ITS OPERATION ON THE SOCIAL AFFECTIONS. Difference between the exclusive Pretensiotis of Christianity to a Divine Origin, and the Indifference of Paganism to the specu- lative Opinions of other Nations — Peculiar , Tenet in the Brahminical System— The Srahminical Religion intolerant— Defence of the Christian Tenet of universal exten- sion, in its tendency to promote universal Benevolence. DISCOURSE VIII. ON THE BRAHMINICAL SYSTEM IN ITS OPERATION ON THE SOCIAL AFFECTIONS, * ' COLOSSIANS 3, V, 11. There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond, nor free ; but Christ is all and in all. XT has been frequently cbjeflied by the enemies of our religion, that while Christianity professes to inculcate a benevolence undistihguishing and universal, many of those sentiments, which ex- pand and refine the social feelings, are regarded with an eye of indifference, if not of hostility. — That the virtues of patriotism and of private friends ship, if not prohibited, are passed over without their due commendation. That the morality of the Gospel encourages a passion, which, although it may dazzle, can never warm; a passion, which can only evaporate in empty declamation, & can never be efficacious in the condufil of life : while it has R 4 248 negle£led to enforce that less exalted but more useful sympathyj which proves its benevolence to all, by its kindness to a few. While these objeflions have been insinuated with a design of depreciating Christianity in the estimation of those who regard it merely as an en- gine of state policy, and who hold everV form of religion in equal indifference, as having no other objeft than to preserve the good order of society ; another obje^ioii, the reverse of the former, has been urged, with still more plausibility and suct cess, to degrade it in the opinion of those who assume a more enlarged liberality, and a philo- sophy' elevated above the prejudices of vulgar superstition. It has been said that this doftrine of Universal - Bei^evolence, of which the Christian religion boasts, .though extended beyond those limits which might render it produ£liye of local benefit, is contrasted by others, which prevent it from promoting general utility. Though this benevo- lence easily surmounts every barrier of national distin£lion, though it professes to cherish with equal affe£tion the inhabitants of every climate and country, yet it has drawn another line of separation equally arbitrary, and equally impass^ 249 able. Though in the chart of Christian philan- throphy, the geographical division of a chaia of mountains,ofariver,oroftheoceanareobliterated, yet there is another boundary marked out, which all the selfish passions of the heart will more vigilantly defend. If the "superstitious follower of Brahma trembles at the thought of crossing the sacre'd river, lest, by setting his feet on unhallowed ground, he may contraft pollution ; the believer in Christianity sees before his eyes " a great gulph fixed" which, like the boundaries of heaven and hell, can never be passed. Though the Gospel has levelled every distinftion bet\Veen "the Jew and the Greek,barbarian, and Scythian, bond and free ;" yet it has preserved another distinftion, still more -invidious, between the be- liever and the infidel. This distinfition affords ample room for all the unsocial passions of the human heart to display themselves. Partialities arising from country arid kindred however strong, may be countera£led by a general intercourse with mankind ; and the patriot may be taught to consider himself a citizen of the world ; but, the affefitions and antipathies arising from religious opinion} who can surmount ? Though Greece could stigmatize the inh'abitants of all other countries with the epithet of barbarians, yet even Greece has enrolled the Scythian AnacharsJs , 250 ambng the number of her sages. But where shall we find a counterpoise against, the supercili- ous bigotry, which the following harsh injun6lion of a religious teacher is adapted to excite? "Be ye not unequally yoked together with un- believers, for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, and what communion hath light with darkness, and what concord hath Christ with Belial, or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel, and what agreement hath the temple of Goth with idols ?" In order to place these allegations in a stronger light, intolerance to the religious opinions of other nations has been represented as charafterising the professors of the Christian faith, and has often been contrasted with that liberality and forbearance on speculative points, which are said to form a strik- ing feature in the history of the nations professing polytheism. If their own tenets were absurd, yet they nev^r attempted to obtrude them on the belief of others ; if the tenets of other se£ls ap- peared to them erroneous, yet they treated them with respeft, or at least suffered them to remain unmolested. This temper of accommodation to igiiiorance aqd prejudice, was admirably fitted to preserve the peace of society, and to prevent those feuds and animosities, which have distrafted the world since the introduftion of Christianity. 251 On most other points, whenever the morality of Paganism, and the morality of the Gospel are compared together, it has been the praftice of those who would depreciate the latter, to assimilate them as far as possible ; to shew that in many in- stances, where the Author of the Christian faith professes to give "a new commandment," that new commandment is nothing more than what has been previously ♦enforced by the sages of antiquity. Thus, if the Christian precept of forgiveness of in^ juries, anc^ of love towards enemies be adduced, the same duty is said to be enforced in that beau- tiful couplet of the Hindoos, which pronounces *' the duty of a good man^ven in the moment of his destruction to consist not only in forgiving, but even in a desire of benefiting his destroyer ; as the sandal tree even in the moment of its overthrow sheds perfume on the axe that fells it." But in those precepts which prescribe the degree of benevolence due to those who differ in matters of religious opinion, it is here that Pagan liberality is set in opposition to Christian intolerance, to that contracted disposition which fixes the stand- ard of truth to the size of its own opinion, and by the measure of this opinion, deals out its beneficence. It was the observation of an acute adversary of 252 the Christian faith, that " the most refined^ systems of faith have always been the most intolerant j" and when Francklin dilated his celebrated para- ble oh persecution, he seems to have ^t^ritten with a view of inculcating the sameJdea. The insinuation, if it were true, might tend to establish a conclusion very different from that, whicti they who allege it, either wish pr are aware of. A system of deistical philosophy divested of all positive ordinances, and of all revealed precepts, would probably be pronounced by its advocates the most refined ; and it would hence follow that the Deist must be the most intolerant of all men ; a consequeoce which the history of past times shevvs not to be entirely without foundation. , But it will now be shewn how far this insinua- tion is applicable towards proving the superiority of Pagan benevolence.