The Rhode-Island Republican. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1809-1841, 1813-01-21
E,2$se rMrs4se (nI) pr:i,h
BRITISH RELIGION.

adhorents OF Britain 10 enlist the ltcilngs auu
prejudiccs Of Americans IN her cause, and
deadon their sensibili.y TO her insults and c.
normities
They have addressed themselves TO our
fears---lor 's she is the only barrier between
France and universal despolisn )" to our
sympathies--for " she is the mother country,
ahc speaks with us a common language, ana
her soil entombs tho ashes Of our fathers"
They have spoken to our literary prejudices
for /" Shakespeare and Newton and Locke
are hers )" and lastly, to our pIEry--ior
&c she is The Bnlwarkef orr Religion -
1t would be interesting TO contemplate her
in each Of the attributed characters but
with the profoundest veneration, let US now
view her as I" the bulwark Of our religion"
II scarce need be remarked, that she was
thus characterized by the Chicl Magistrate
of Massachusetts, very soon alter the COM
mcncemcnt Of the present war. NOW II II
be not rigidly true, that the enemy is the bull
wark of our religion, see not what can save
His Excelency from the guilt and disgrace
of having uttered fasehood OF the most
pernicious kind for if 1t is falschood,
pernicious one indeed must il be, as its ten
lcncy is 10 damp the martial ardor of all who
believe it, and produce fear in the minds of
the pious, that in fighting against "the bull
wark Of our reiigion," they might be found
fighting agans, God. How stands the fact
then From wha, does it appear that Great
Britain is the bnlwark Of our religion Not
surely from their prosecutions, punishment
and murders of her catholic and dissenting
subjects, for that only proves her the bulwark
of her own " religion by law established"---
which is known by all who are acquainted
with tito be thing not precisely synonymous
with Christianity, which it Is presumed Ills
ExcelIcncy meant by our religion.
But perhaps there is nothing capable OF
throwing more light on the subject, than ccr-
tain statements made by Doctor CLAUDlUs
BucHAwAN, in his Christian Researches In
.fsia'--a work to which would refer the
reader, as cont tanning much Information, not
only Of the buwark Of our religion, but ot
religion itself and must confess, that the
facts there stated place the British govern
ment in point Of view SO wicked and so de-
testabe, that no authority short of that of a
Divine Of the Church OF England,and a warm
.admirer of her government Gas was Doctor
DycHANAN) would have commanded my be-
lief Of them. The facts are ,hesc read them,
and see how nations as well as individuals
sometimes,
(" MIA ,he seri5ianee Of dcvoton's usage,
Do sugar Ger the DepNhimscV I"
grca, proportion Of the Asiatic subjects
Of Great Britain worship an idol called Jug
gerEaut, tho ceremonies OF whose worship
are the most obscene and the most cruel that
can be imugined---as proof of which take the
following extracts from Buchanans Joorhai
of Tour to his Temple
awe know (says he) that we are approach
ting Jugsernait, though moro than fifty miles
distant, bv the human bones which we sec
strewed by the way" This idol has been
Justly called the Moioch of the present age,
and he is Justly SO named, for the sacrifices
offered up 10 him by sef-devotion are not
less criminal, perhaps not less numerous, than
those recorded Of the Moloch OF Canaan.
The walls of the temple are covered with in
decent cmblcms, in massive and durable
sculpturc" (" At IL O'Clock this day, IL be-
ing the great day OF the feast, the Idol was
brought out. of his temple. amidst the accla-
nations of hundreds OF thousands. The
throne Of the ld,l was placed on car sixty
feet high, whose massy wheels indentcd tho
ground, as they turned slowly under the pom
derous machine. After few minutes the
car stopped, and the worship begen a high
priest pronounced obscene verses in the ears
Of the people, who responded in the same
strain pilgrim now announced that he was
ready to offer himself sacrifice to The Idol
he laid himself dawn before the car, as it WAS
moving along, and was crushed to death by
the wheels Of the tower--and great numbers
arc annually sacrificed in the same way J"
Now let these things be borne in mind,and
viewed in connection with what follows
81 feel it my duty (says Buchanan) to
state, that these Idolators are our own sub
iuc,s aud that every one who can DO it'
PAYS A TRIBUTE 10 THE Bhil-
ISu GOVERNMENT FOR LEAVE TO
WORSHIP THIS IDOL !--Thfs is cal
led the Revenue Of the Temple and a cIviL
ovrrcrp suppoRrED gY MILITARY FORCE,