Star.
London, England, 1813-07-02 00:00:00

Jo. It there heen no inch cieelaratiiiit in the
clause. *ho could tell htit the table of ti a Hoitse wuttlu
next ye., he Ina oed sitli 4111.01U:11 etpetidonsF
&set a tit trnatince ttlid tb prnsibee the very
effect w ic:, he, .15 well 411 Baronet, would
wish t eltri rt. It was preriselY becatts,. he did nct
wish t.' e.ve'item to the nati;/eu by le. titta. them step.
r 0.., , .t this c merry was in a turmeirt tr( m the
m aft, ;ations to their r, ligi, n, that he
wculti wish ,t pie:4lll,de t stand which nifebt preirent
tbe rve it, lite if petitton upun this subject. He
c u.l id d ffecating .11 unnecessary discut-
si. n 111,,n t: is oint ..s likely to prcutter the very
e% it of which Gun semen were so mitch afraid.

Mt. MA fISH rippled the chase, upon the ground
bl. the gie it datiper i,f inter letting in any way with the
ft ligion of the Hindoos. Upon every- other point,
they yieloed the most passive obedience and submis.
sion I but if their religion, which was the great solace
and ocettpation of their lives, was threatened, he cons
ceived that the exisielice of our Indian Empire would
be in the greatest danger. He dwelt for some time
on the mutiny at Veiline, which he conceived to be
purely a religious mutiny, and which, if it had broken
out simultatieously in the dillerent parts of India, as
was intetided, our Eastern Empire would now only
he to he found in history. He had great confidence
in the present Governor-General, (Lord Mint()); but
if he should happen, in the course of time, to be sue,
ceeded by a person of the evangelical tribe, who
Isould despise ail danger whin compared with the
great win k of conversion of the natives, then, indeed,
lie thought that our empire would be on the very
blink of ruin. Su far from agreeing to the clause,
or. for granting permission to those missionaries, he
should rather move for a prohibitory. clause. In
judging from the ciretonsiances which he knew to
exist in India, lie did nut believe that it was the des-
tination of PuoviDeet E that the Hindoos should now
be converted to the Cliiistian faith, and the attempt-
ioF it appei:red likely to produce the most serious
sinschiels. The conduct of the Nlissionaties had al-
teady excited alarm in India, Tha Hindoos wet e,
rand had always been, unmoved spectators of our
territorial accitesitioes and p Ii ic.tl ascendancy ; Lut
when in ce Parliamentary homilies should be uttered
ry-iiiist them, aid designs fie med to subvert their re-
lig on, their National feelings and le ejudices would be
r• tiseo It tea smischievous to imput-, as an Hon. Gen-
tient oi had door, the faults of pat ticular persons to a
whole nation; 4,,i.1 to quae:e the authority of Sir James
M.lntosli, whose experience was c• untied to the crimi-
riaipi isle udence or binthay, WASUS illiberal as it would
he to tese the character of the people of England
it ont II r iipming pi juries in a frorse.cause. To the
I inn, ed ex petit nce of Bombay, a district of only eight
Inites, be could oppose his knowledge of the inlia.
bitails of Madras, who were 7 or 800,000 persons;
lid yet he never knew above thirty-six criminal in-
'ictmeitis in a year. As to the illiberal reflections
brown on the females of India, he could say that
hey were equally unfounded as the ridiculous sat-
astn, that " every woman is at heart a rake." He
ad always found the female sex in that country mo-
est, indesttious, and attentive to the performance of
H domestic and relative duties. Even the dancing.
ills (a class not obtruded on the public, but only to
to seen by those who sought them), were not so nu-
everotis as those victims of prostiortion which choak
xl e streets of our Metropolis, and which surely were
sr wait iently.iimple field for the labours of our pi..us
/slissionaties, without transferring their cares to the
vices of the East. Thes much he. thought it neces-
sary to state, in vindication of a people among whom
he had acquired what litt:e independence he pcosessed.
lie must now say one word as to the sort of religion
to be introduced among the Hindoos. %Vas it to be
Calvinistic or Unitarian, Baptist or Anabaptist ? This
was a question which would naturally occur to an in-
telligent Brahmin, and the division of our faith would
form, with such a person, no strong presumption in
favour of its truth.

Mr. WILBERFORCE said, that the Honourable
Gentleman who spoke List, and with so much ability,
had fairly put the question on its true ground, as it '
appealed to its opposers and supporters. He di:
ilea " hint a fault, and hesitate dislike ;" but frankly,
and without insinuation, stated, that it might be pro-
perly discussed, whether there should not be one re-
ligion for this country, and another for the Hindoos ?
Those Fersons who ttaiught so highly of the I-Endo()
feligien and character as the Honourable Gentleman,
and believed that HEAVEN was a palace with many
gates, at which all different faiths might enter, were
right to argue the question in the manner last
adopted. 1 hose, on the contrary, who with himself
conceived, that Christianity was the only foundation
for the social duties, and for social happiness, for tem-
poral and eternal' blessings, would and must persevere
till their favoulite object was accomplished. What
lie himself had said in derogation of the Hindoo cha-
racter, was not the partial statement of Sir James
I‘l,lntosh, but originated in a host of respectable au-
thorities. Nor did he think that the• scheme of con-
version was impracticable ; the experience of past
ages, which shewed that one hundred thousand
persons had been converted from the Hindoo faith
to different religions, placed the advocates of con-
version on the strong ground of fact, while its
opposers spoke merely from theory. Every security
would be adopted to prevent the abuses which were
ex;exted to arise from the number of missionaries ;
and surely under such restrictions, no fair objection
mild exist against the propagation of a faith, which
w;.s the only firivil basis for morals and for happiness.
':he Hindoo had been stated, by Mr. Patterson and ,
ether, to he without morals ; to be cruel, cowardly, 1
:!: d sup,rstitiGirs ; to have all the vices of the savage
,s i.hout l is virtues, and that the Brahmins were the
roost 1, itaars of all. Fiatterers were not friends. Ile
Isas :I.e friend (' f the Hindons, and wished to raise
them frorn that abject state. Gentlemen had talked
:a the moral doctrine of the Hindoo religion, but had
liot stated, that death of the most cruel kind was the
punishment : f any of the lower classes who heard or
rid those doctrines. Experience was on his side ;
for, .n tht,se provinces where Christianity had had the
greatest success, there the merals of the people were
vie best. He doubted whether the conduct of Dr.
Carey was so violent as stated by an Hon. Member,
hs,iio:ead of being disgraced, he had another proles-
',:takhip given him by the Governor General.
Mr. PRENDERGAST felt himself called upon
by what had 'alien from the Hon. Gentleman, to re-
't it..., that he had seen Dr. Carey standing on a
hoi;4lacacl, and heard him tell the people, 44 that it