English
When a late eastern despot requested his minister, in a tone amounting to a command, to embrace the faith of Mohammed, he received the answer of assent ; " I am your slave." But the monarch well knew the danger which lurked under this seeming compliance, and the request was never repeated. ' Let this example warn us, not to # calculate too far on the mildness of the Hindoo ' temper, when their prejudices are inflamed. - The fire which is pent up burns the fiercest. Their vengeance may be secret, and may be tardy ; but it will be certain, and it will be dreadful. Haying thus endeavoured to establish the three propositions which' were originally laid down, I would willingly conclude, if it were not necessary to vindicate them from one objeftion, wl^icb fias had great weight, evein on pious minds. Holding the opinions which have been maintained in this discourse, not to speak plainly would imply cowardice, and what is worse than cowardice, would betray guilt.' 303. lam not insensible to the charge which has been, preferred against the Church of England, by a description, of men: who profess; to be her warmest friends, that she is indiferenti to the vital iliteresfs of religibn, because, she has not done with regard to Indian missions, what indeed she had not the pbwer to do ; what, if she had the power to do, she has afifced most wisely in leaving undone ; neither am I ignorant of the manner in which the motives of all those, who venture to adopt the line of argument pursued in. this dis- course, are perverted and. vilified. They are stigmatized as anxious to perpetuate the reign of ignorance, to encourage slavery, and fo check tiie progress of the Gospel of truth. These arts, weak as they are ungenerous^ are best answered by silence ; but there is one objec- tion frequeptly urged, deserving of notice, because carrying with it a semblance of piety. It is said, that the mode of reasoning now adopted, proceeds on a supposition, that the extension of the king- dom of Ghrist depends on the will of Princes, and on'the policy of Statesmen ; that it was originally s^tablished in opposition- to human power, and in a manner direftly opposite to that, which humart wisdom would have suggested. 303 iPopulankijr alone renders such arguments wortiiy of notice, for they need no refutation. Whatever: might i have; been the instruments^ which the Ataaighty Governor of the Universe was pleased to sele^k fpr the" original propagation of his I>ivine "Word J yet these instruments were power- ful indeed, when; wielded by, the arm of Omnipo- tence. But the first. establishment of Christianity, philosophical sceptiqism jtself must allow to be, an anomaly : religious piety will feel no hesitation in calling it amirade. With this miracle however vvehaye nothing fartther tp do, than to use it as a mean for* the irivigomtion of our fa:ith, not fpr the regulMiiw of our pra£iice. As far as we can pretend .to judge, it appears to be the will of God, that the only expedients left to us for the propagation of his word, are the same prudence antd fpresigjst, which are requisite for the attain- ment of any othef objeft. If then because the early preachera of the Gpspel were destitute of human accomplishmentSj but were supported by supernatural assistance, we should, in the present time, gel^Sl for the wrakmen devoid of .l(?^^ning, butj who )ppssess none of these extraordinary ^nd^wmisnts ; may vye. not justly expeft thal^ God will ! popish pur presumption ? If, becaiise the Gospelit^elf w^as first, preached, thougli Elot ex-. cliisi^ely, yet peqaliarly tp the poor, we should 304 address ourselves entirely to the lower castes of the Hindoos, in defiance of the Brahminidal order : may we not expe£t that a flame will be kindled, which we shall in vain endeavour to extinguish ? Such a procedure is not only imprudedGe, but impiety ; it is nothing less than to t|empt Gfod. But when we hear the language constantly echoed and re-echoed among those self-appointed teachers of Christianity, and observe their entire contempt of all the maxims of ordinary prudence, we must conclude either,'that they believe thern-^ selves already to possess, or confidently expeft^to be favoured with, supernatural aid. * Their at- tempts according to bumsin cjilculation must be attended with defeat ; success would be — 1 speak without a sarcasm — miraculous. These refleftions at any other period^ might appear irrelevant, because they would be undis- puted j but the aspeft of the present times will fully justify the propriety of their insertion. Neither shall I appear unnecessarily to linger, if^ from a wish to impress more strongly the arguments offered on the present occasion, I veature to fortify them under the authority of a chara6iter, dear to England ; which, in his earlier years was adorned by his virtues and his talents ; 305 endeared, in a peculiar manner, to thi? University, which he ever regarded with the warmest affec- tion to the last moment of his valuable life ; but esteemed almost sacred by Indiai where his en^ nent attainments and virtues were so%setully and so honourably, displayed. His, opinion- on *the question of Indian conversion, haS often been set forward in the conspicuous light which it de- serves ; his expressions have been dilated and tortured, in order to make them speak a sense which they will not bear; but no unprejudiced mind can reflet on them, without perceiving his decided convifilion, that jt|ie attempt,*' was ppposed by difficulties almost insuperable.' Let it' be observed, that this is not an hypothesis, whidh, however ingeniously defended* by supe- rior learning, an inferior mind might possibly subvert ; but the deliberate opinion of an accu- rate; observer of the human charafiler, on a subje£l, wherein above any other, that knowledge is indis- pensabla. It is also the opinion of a man, conr cerning whom it would be a cold commendation to say, that no considerations of secular prudence, no motives of contra£led policy, could warp, his judgment, and check his. benevolencef'^lJ3''ho could be more feelingly alive than he* to the blessings of liberty ? but he knew (to use Jjis owja WQfds) that ^' the Asiatics must and wiU be vv 306 governed by absolute power." "Who -could bft more forcibly impressed by the historical truth of the Christian.Religion, and -by the transcendant purity of Christian ethics ? but he saw the dif- ficulty of ^grafting them on the sickly morality of the Hindoo. His useful labors may well be proposed for imitation in the direftion of our's, as their success may prove a powerful incite- ment. In him we shall see the maxim studiously defended by men of moderate acquirements, that superior minds are unqualified for the aftive duties of life, completely refuted. In him we shall find, that the voice of the student, even in the retirement' of his closet, will sometimes be heard amidst the din of camps, and will influence the deliberations of contending councils ^ and we may learn, that present applause and posthumous fame, the objefcls after which human ambition pants, may be obtained, without pursuing them through ,the field of blood, or the labyrinth of intrigue. • Let his example be followed by us in our attempts to improve the condition of our Indian subjefts. iJfet the cautions and gradual propaga- tion of truth be the r\ile of our conduft : the |xcell^ce of which rule, may be exemplified by the praftice even of an inspired Apostle ; 307 " I have fed you with milk and not with meat, for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither, yet now are ye able." The general conversion of the Hindoos appears, under present circumstances, at an immense dis- tance. This is an event, which, although we have reason to suppose it may take place in the course of ' God's Providence, seems beyond the achievement of human wisdom. This is a day, which like the Patriarchs of old, we may behold afar off; but, like them, we can behold it only , with the eye of faith. It must be reserved for future generations, to witness the happy period, when " the household of faith" shall comprise the universal offspring of that beneficent Parent" of whom the whole family in " heaven and earth is named," and be admitted to receive " the adoption and inheri- tance of the children of light." Sotes. NOTES. P. 12. 1. 1. [Their division into separate tribes and.casl^.'] — Both Arrian and Strabo have divided the Indians into sevtn classes or tribes, ino-t J rm h^mi leXyi^o? ei; ivra ^Sfti Ji>ipi<rSai, xai wpioTs; (w,Ev TH! *Aoi7o$f £ivi iSfraio. 1. 15. The ancient wrlferS, in all probability, confounded some of the subdivisions with the four primary orders. : ^ ' • P. 12. 1. 14. [peculiar immunities arrogated by the sacerdotal order.'] Arrian gives a description of the ancient Brachrnanes, which decidedly proves the long; establishment of castes,' and the anteriority of the Brahminical institution to the heterodox opidions of the Baudhas and lainas. He mentions the Bracli- Twflnei as a distinft tribe, which, though inferior to the others . in number, was superior in rank and estimation ; that they were bound to no bodily work, nor contributed any thing from labor to the public use ; in short, no duty was prescribed to that tribe, but the duty of sacrifidng.to.the gods for the cortimon benefit of the Indians ; and when ^ny one celebrated a private sacrifice, a person of that class became his guide, as if the saorificeother- wise would not, be acceptable to the gods. I'he pre-eniinence of the sacerdotal order in the scale of dignity, above sovereigns or warriors, seems to have bfeen of high antiquity. Plato, in ,< his description of the passing of the soul into different bodies, gives the first honor to philosophy.