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the languages of almost the whole continent of Oriental India,” "under the auspices of the College of Fort William ;" another refers to the donation of 2000l. by the Society to that object; and the gift of a fount of letter, and paper sufficient for 5000 copies, toward printing the New Testament in Arabic, to be distributed among the Mahometan inhabitants of the shores of the Caspian Sea. This is followed by a passage, in which the Reporters assert, "that they see no other limits to the beneficial operation of the Institution, than that which its funds' may prescribe." For the benefit of our author, we will here suggest that these funds are not half so great as we wish they were, and trust they will be; and that the best thing we can prescribe to him is, that uniting in himself the examples of the penitents, Zaccheus and Paul, he will give "half his goods” acquired with the “ religious people of India, toward promoting among them, by the laudable endeavours of the Society," that faith" which he has so unhappily " "sought. to destroy."

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Having taken leave of these tremendous Reports of the Bible Society, we are introduced to the still more alarming Memoir of the Rev. Professor Buchanan, on "the Expediency of an Ecclesiastical Establishment for British India." Strangely enough, however, Mr.T.conceals the discoveries which he must have made, that this antisocial production is actually dedicated to the Primate of the Church of England, and tha it tells his Lordship, that, under the auspices of Marquis Web lesley (the man whom of all others we should least expect to see accused of weakness or ignorance in India affairs) a version of the holy Scriptures may be expected, not in one language alone, but seren of the Oriental tongues." Had the Abbé Barruel been at his elbow, while he was describing the progress of this Scriptural conspiracy, he would not have suffered him to pass it in silence; and we claim his thanks for our honesty in producing it. But no one will thank or commend him for the disingenuous use made of the terms employed by Mr. Buchanan, in the sentence which we shall quote; "A wise policy seems to demand that we should use every means of coercing this contemptuous spirit of our native subject." This is indeed a "bonne-bouche" for malignity; and, with the printer's aid in exhibiting it in letters of three dif ferent sorts, and an exclamation from his own pen, he has endeavoured to insinuate that it contains something very shocking; but what he himself actually believes it to express, he does not venture to explain. Our readers will admire his discretion, when they are informed, that, whatever may be its meaning, it has no more relation to the proceedings of the Bible Society, than the spirit of its calumniator has with that

of Christianity, that it stands in the chapter " On the Policy of civilizing the Natives," not of" converting" them,—and that it solely refers to the duty of the Magistrate, without the remotest reference to the office of the Christian Minister. With regard to the import of the passage also, it is plain to every one who is not desirous of misconstruing it, that it means neither more nor less, than that the well-being of Society in British India, requires the same coercion of good and wholesome laws, in order to restrain Mahometan intemperance, as would "coerce" it in any civilized state of Europe. That the idea of propagating Christianity by forcible means is foreign to the principles which direct Mr. B.'s recommendations, the whole tenor of his Memoir plainly demonstrates. Had not our author's memory been as defective as his candor, he would indeed have recollected that he himself quotes in capital letters, but three pages before, a passage that ought to make him blush for his illiberality, in which Mr. B. observes, with respect to the Hindoos, that "no means of instruction will give them offence, except positive violence." Can it then be imputed to Mr. B. that he wishes to gain their affections by offending them? By no one in his senses.

The pages now run on with tolerable smoothness, presenting quotations which, to the understanding and feelings of every man not wilfully perverse, irresistibly lead to the conclusion of Mr. B. with which the extracts from the Memoir are closed: "every consideration we aver, would persuade us to diffuse the blessings of Christian knowledge among our Indian subjects." Here, the letter-writer is at his wits' end; his confusion obliges him to retreat from the charge, as his worthy prompter did of old from the touch of the spear of Ithuriel. How to retire with credit is the question: Hypocrisy, the never-failing friend of the cause which he espouses, lends her aid, and bids him with affected sensibility exclaini

Here, Sir, ends the second chapter which Mr. Buchanan has devoted to this subject, and here, Sir, my extracts from his work must terminate, for I really cannot cut open the leaves which contain the sequel of such 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 recent catastrophes of Buenos Ayres, Rosetta, and Vellore; and let them beware how they excite that rage and infatuation which competent judges decribe as without example among any other people." p. 27.

There is much, much indeed, in this passage, which might arrest our minds, and rouse our indignation against the irreligion and turpitude which it discloses. Had it been written

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66

or uttered by a Hindoo, or a Mahometan, we could not indeed have accused him of the renunciation of his professed faith, but we certainly should have held it up as a strong instance of that contemptuous spirit, which a wise policy demands that we should use every means of "coercing. But we know not what course of discipline, prescribed by the mild manners of this country, could be effectual to recal to a sense of reli gion or decency, a man who dares publicly to brand the endeavours toward persuading Christians to diffuse the blessings of Christian knowledge among their fellow subjects" with the odious name of sanguinary doctrine." Our nerves happening, however, to be stronger than those of Mr.T. we ventured to cut open" a few more of the leaves of the Memoir; and notwithstanding the confidence we place in the veracity of his assertions, we are somewhat inclined to suspect that he had done so too, and that the true reason of his shutting the book abruptly, was the very same which causes an ugly person to hate looking-glasses. The page next to that at which he says,) his researches terminated, contains a passage which gives such a striking epitome of the tenor and spirit of the whole letter, that the resemblance cannot possibly be overlooked. We learn from it, that there are, in India, Philosophers, who have derived from their brethren in France some of those illuminating doctrines, which are found, in Europe, to eclipse all the light derived from divine revelation, and to confound the moral distinctions between men and brutes. One of the brilliant maxims of this philosophy, adapted to the climate of India, is that "An Elephant is an Elephant, and a Hindoo is a Hindoo. They are both such as nature made them. We ought to leave them on the plains of Hindoostan such as we found them!" Far be it from us to accuse the author of being an adept in any system of philosophy, but we think that his letter lisps to ad miration the prattle of the sect.

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By what process of reasoning or of philosophy Mr. T. connects the diffusion of Christianity with the catastrophes at Buenos Ayres, Rosetta, and Veliore," he is not so kind as to inform us. Should any scrutiny take place upon the causes of these occurrences, we would recommend those who are so unfortunate as to be accused of mismanagement, to beseech him to favour them with his arguments, as they will doubtless be fully adequate, in the eyes of the world, to transfer all blame from themselves to Mr. Buchanan, and the British and Foreign Bible Society. We shall continue to doubt the validity of the defence, till Mr. T. has proved it; for we know of a simple fact which will shew that he is little acquainted with mankind, and very ill qualified to measure their gene

ral feelings by his personal prejudices. After the termination of hostilities at Buenos Ayres, the inhabitants of the surrounding country, BOTH CLERGY AND LAITY, received WITH THE UTMOST THANKFULNESS two hundred copies of the New Testament in Spanish; and what will increase the importance of the circumstance in the opinion of every genuine Christian, is, that before this distribution a copy of the sacred volume was not to be found in the vernacular tongue of the inhabitants throughout the Spanish territories! May it prove "an incorruptible seed!" It is of no importance to mention that it was by the benevolence of a few individuals, not by the Bible Society, that this invaluable gift was made.

The application of Mr. T.'s cold-blooded philosophy to the circumstances of India is equally visionary and ridiculous ; and distrust of his cause, as well as incapacity to promote it, is evident from the manner in which it is conducted. His letter is a mere bundle of straw, without connexion or strength. A few paltry assertions, and miserable exaggerations, are huddled together, and substituted for arguments. And as far as any tendency to a conclusion can be discovered, in point of reasoning, it is to the absurdity, that the utmost discordance on the subject most interesting to mankind, is the best means of promoting their harmony on topics of inferior moment. But, if his intellects could not furnish him with arguments, his memory ought to have supplied him with facts. Why does he not bring forward such stubborn fucts, as will outweigh those which the friends of Christianity are ready to adduce? The propagation of the Gospel by means of Bibles and Missionaries, as inust be known to a Politician so deeply versed in Oriental affairs, is no new thing in India; and yet, under such disad➡vantages, the territories of the Company have extended to an immense empire-an empire that only wants the principle of cohesion which the general reception of Christianity can alone. impart, to render it invulnerable.

What can be said to the ignorance, the hypocrisy, and the rashness (we had almost said insanity), of the concluding passage of the letter?

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 shall arrive, when religious Innovation shall set her foot in that country, indignation will spread from one end of Hindostan 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 countrymen 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 absurdities, until it shall please the Omnipotent Power of HEAVEN to lead them into the paths of LIGHT and TRUTH.' PP. 30, 31.

To charge it with irreligion, with mockery of Divine Provi dence, is to waste our ink; but we will add, on patriotic and political grounds, that if such a dangerous, such an inflammatory, such a frantic insinuation be found in the Memoir of Mr. Buchanan, or the Reports of the British and Foreign Bible Society, they ought to be burnt by the hands of the public. executioner. Well may Mr. T.'s own exclamation, excepting the profaneness, be applied to it; what senti

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ments are here set forth amidst the population of our provinces of India !" What! does the shrewd Mr. T. think his friends among the natives in India are so weak as to suppose that, if their power be so great as he takes care to tell them it is, there is any reason for waiting till Religion be made the ostensible cause of exerting it? With their known ingenuity, can they devise no other moral, no other political motive, for the application of their physical strength? To what conclusions do unsound principles lead indiscreet meddlers with things beyond their comprehension! Why will Mr. T. think that, because his pocket may be lined with Indian money, his head is fitted to discuss Indian affairs? Let us, in concluding, intreat the friends of this unhappy man, from a regard to his and their own honour, not to suffer him to expose himself afresh, either as a letter-writer, or as a speaker in the Court of Proprietors, upon Indian topics; and let us also urge them to use their utmost influence in abating those discussions, to which he has so rashly given birth.

Art. X. An Address to the Chairman of the East India Company, occasioned by Mr. Twining's Letter to that Gentleman, on the danger of interfering in the religious opinions of the Natives of India, and on the views of the British and Foreign Bible Society, as directed to India. By the Rev. John Owen, M. A. Curate of Fulham, and one of the gratuitous Secretaries of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The third Edition; to which is added a Postscript, containing brief Strictures on the "Preface" to Observations on the present State of the East India Company. Svo. pp. 36. Price 1s. Hatchard, Black and Co. Rivingtons. 1807.. WE are concerned that the length of our article on Mr..

Twining's Letter prevents us from paying, in the present number, that attention to Mr. Owen's Address which its merit demands. At the same time, we are unwilling to defer introducing it to our readers till the following month, lest any instance the circulation of the poison should be pro

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