The Sun.
London, England, 1839-08-14 00:00:00

in no way could it be the duty of a Christian Go-
vernment to compel its servants to honour stocks
and stones, and all the mummeries of idolatry.
Ignorant although the Hindoos were, they were not de-
ficient in sagacity, and they actually taunted our mis-
sionaries with the honours paid to their degrading cere-
monies. The last complaint he had to make was a most
important one. In consequence of one of our sepoys
being killed at an attendance upon their idols, Sir Ro-
bert O'Callaghan, with his Council, issued an order that
no troops were to attend such ceremonies in future, ex-
cept a mere guard of honour for the Rajah. When Sir
P. Maitland was about to proceed to India to take the
command of the army, he was informed by the Chairman
of the Directors that the Board over which he presided
wished India governed upon the principles contained in
the despatch of 1833. Haring that despatch—ha%ing
also the opinion of the Chairman of the Court of Di-
rectors and meeting, with the order of Sir Robert O'Cal-
laghan, was it possible that he could for a moment sup.
pose he would be found fault with by the Home Go-
vernment for acting upon them. Yet so it was ;
orders were sent out to him which he could not
conscientiously put in force, and he tendered
his resignation, which was accepted ; but the public, in
justice to that Gallant Officer, ought to be made aware
of the reasons which induced him to take such an ex•

treme course as to abandon a command entrusted to him
by the Government, and his motion would ask for a
copy of the letter in which he placed the appointment in
the hands of the Board of Directors. While speaking
thus of the conduct of the India Government he was
bound to say they had made one step towards the object
all must have in view, for they had in one instance given
directions for the discontinuance of the pil-
grim tax. In consequence of the superstition
of the Indians, the atrocities committed under the
name of religion in India were frightful, it tended
to the entire degradation of the character of the natives,
and they were proverbial for their disregard of truth
and honour, and no testimony given by a native in
courts of justice could be relied on. All that was the
effect of superstition. He thought the Government
ought to take all the means in their power to lead them
to embrace a holier and happier religion, which would
promote their prosperity here as w(11 as their happiness
hereafter ; and they ought not to be led to think it was
a matter of indifference to this country whether they
embraced the true teligioa or continued in the practice
of idolatory.—(Hear, hear.) He could not conceive
there could be any objection to his motion except on
the ground of expediency.—(Hear, hear.) If we
continued to be masters of a hundred million of human
beings at the sacrifice of our own religion, the sooner
we gave it up the better. His opinion was, that all
attempts to retain it would be vain, for he did not be-
lieve that that merciful Providence which had intrusted

us with that vast empire, would allow us to continue in
possession of it for the purpose of making it the domi-
Lion of Satan, when it was given us for the purpose of
extending religion.—( Hear, hear, hear.) The Right
Rev. Prelate concluded by submitting the motion of
which he had given notice.

Viscount MELBOURNE was as deeply impressed
the awful importance of this subject as the Right
Rev. Prelate could be. He was also deeply impressed
with its importance to the character of this country, of
its importance to the great spiritual and future interests
concerned in it, as well as the great present interests of
this country, and to the stability of that vast empire over
which we possessed dominion. He agreed entirely with
the Right Rev. Prelate, that every respect should be
shown to the religion of the country ; that no insult or
disrespect should be offered, while at the same time
no unnecessary respect and no undue honour was
tendered, and that. all practices which could give to
those religions any unnecessary or undue encou-
ragement should be carefully abstained from. He
would not therefore enter into a general consideration
of the question, because he hoped that on those gene-
ral principles they were all agreed. It was with very
great concern that he learned the Right Rev. Prelate
did not consider the pledge which Government hi d
given on a former occasion had not been fulfilled, be-
cause, as far as he (Lord Mlbourne) understood the
evils complained of by the Right Rev. Prelate, it ap-
peared to him that the despatch which had been scut
out, and the instructions given to the Governor. General
of India did not, in fact, proceed entirely on the princi-
ples which had been laid down by the Right Rev. Pre-
late, and did carry out those intentions which all pro-
fessed a wish to see effected. In compliance with the
instructions that had been sent out, he believed
the pilgrim tax had been already discontinued
in some parts, and that the Government were proceed.
ing with a view to its entire discontinuance. The Right
Rev. Prelate had said—" You manage the funds of the
Pagodas in India, why do you not entirely discontinue
that support, and leave them to the management of
their own priests, to the collection of their own revenues
and the settlement of their own affairs?" Why in 'the

dispatch, to which allusion had been made, there was
this passage—" We more particularly desire the ma-
nagement of all temples and other places of religious
resource, together with the revenue therefrom, be in-
signed into the hands of the natives, and that the re-

terferenee of the public authorities in' the religious cere-
monies of the people be regulated by the instructions
contained in the 61.'d paragraph of a dispatch of the
20th February, 1833." With respect to the observa-
tions which the Right Rev. Prelate had made as to the
employment of troops in religious processions, all he
(Lord Melbourne) would observe was, that respect was
paid to the person Whose. rank and station demanded
such a mark of tribute and respect, and not to the oc-
casion.—(Hear, hear.) And he thought it would, not
be very wise or prudent to discontinue that respect.—
(Hear, hear.) Although, undoubtedly, as the Right
Rev. Prelate had said, we ought to regard the con-
sciences of our own troops and the respect due to our
own religion, yet, at the same time, they ought
to act consistently with those dictates _of pru-

dence, the violation of which might sacrifice and
endanger the ultimate interests, not only of the
country but of religion itself.--(Hear, hear.) He bad
certainly hoped that the principles on which that dis-
patch were founded, and the measures taken, would
have been satisfactory to the Rev. Prelate. He was
sorry to find they were not so, but he was glad to think
there were no tuck material differences between them as
might not be reconciled by further consideration.—
( Hear.) With respect to the motion of the Right Rev.
Prelate, he had no objection to the papers mentioned in
the two first paragraphs, because they had already been
laid before the other House of Parliament. The dis-
patch of the 18th of October, 1837, had not yet been
laid before Parliament, but he had no objection to its
production ; still, considering that was the letter of a
General Officer, stating his reasons for the resignation
of his command, he would put it to their Lordships
whether it would be prudent or wise to press for that
document. No charge had been brought against that
General Officer, and there was nothing that called for a
vindication of his character.
The Bishop of LONDON would not press for that
paper, after what the Noble Viscount had said.
Lord BROUGHAM
.was sure that every one must
be most grateful to the Right Reverend Prelate for the
very able and acute manner in which he bad introduced
this subject, but the charge which the Right Reverend
Prelate had made, that no native could be believed on
his oath, was of rather.a sweeping description, and he was
sure the Right Reverend Prelate did not mean to carry
it to the extent his words would imply. _ There were

many persons in India, whom he could assure their
Lordships, knowing it from his attendance in the Ju-
dicial Committees of the Privy Council, were as much
to be believed on their oaths, or even their bare words,
as any of their Lordships.
The Bishop of LONDON explained. •
The Duke of RICHMOND agreed with the Right
Reverend Prelate, that it was impossible to keep that
great empire under our dominion if we did not endea-
vour to wean the nativesfrom their horrible superstitious
practices. Sir Peregrine Maitland had only endea-
voured to carry out the instructions which he had re-
ceived, and he (the Duke of Richmond) could not