Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1857-12-04
BRITISH INDIA.


and the fearful scenes enacted there, What
good can 70 discover - going 70 proceed
out Of this! While lamentipg those awful
crimes, and the misery produced upon
thousapds, We believe that the good which
will At least appear will be sufficient to
outweigh and overtop all tho evil.
In the FIRST place, it will do some good to
the governments that have ruled over its
swarthy millions, grinding and crushing
down the poor for the last fifty years, and
melting down, as it were, their blood and
bones into gold and silver, to fll the trea.
sures Of government quite as imperial,
and less responsible or conscientious than
almost any Christian government on earth.
In this respect, the East Mdia Company,
though better, because more sagacious in
the administration of justice, than the Mo-
hammedan rulers around, is one of the
greatest disgraces Of Christianity. 1t has
pandered to heatheuism, and ignored Chris.
tianity. 1t has, for gold, sold again the
cause Of Him once betrayed by Judas for
thirty pieces Of silver. 1t has obstructed
the work of Missionaries, ground down the
poor, and exalted native tyrants, heather
and Mohammedan. Its army has not been
so vicious or so vile in the wanton destruc-
ton of life, perhaps, as those of other des
pots around and some, indeed of the high
est and most successful officers have been
men of earnest piety, but, if so, they have
suffered persecution for it. More of them,
however, have been of an utterly opposite
character, men whose glory has been in
their shame; officers who have trained the
native troops in Wholesale, systematic and
open proaigacy, to an extent that would
hardly be believed, and could not be fully
described. All the idea which those Se-
poys have obtained of Christian is that
Of man who curses and swears, whose
only prayers are oaths, who never goes So
Der to bed when any one will drink with
him, bu. who CANDLES all the day and is
guilty Of every debauchery by night. The
Sepoys might even justly say, if brought
to trial, that they bad only returned, with
some extra atrocities and depravities by
way Of interest, tho crimes which Euro.
peans had taught and encouraged them to
commit on the natives to far larger ex.
tent. Many whole villages of native Bri.
tish subjects in India have they deuorali-
zed. Nena Sahib was esteemed a sort of
English country gentleman by the British
officers of the garrison until this last out
break quite one Of themselves, only lit
tie grander!
Storms clear the air, and this storm will
probably wipe out the most mercenary,
and, therefore, depraved of Christian gov
ernments, the East India Company, and
make India British Province, with all
religions on q footing Of perfect equality,
and where missionaries can operate with
out many of the drawbacks that now at
tend their labors. 1t will also be the
means of raising up a new set of men, of
an altogether better stamp,as missionaries.
The difficulties and perils will incite and
enticc men Of enterprise and courage to
enter the field-men who will look at the
,emporal welfare and arrangements of In
1ia as we'll as the Observation-Disclosures,
hard working, bold and fearless, mot loving
ease and comfort and the name and fame
IF being a missionary. Many of our com.
munity were getting to ,oorship missiona-
ries, Just as Of old they used to worship
the martyrs and confessOrs. This has
caused missions to degenerate, and many
good people we're in danger of losing
their interest in the whole matter. But
now this will be revived, and men called
forth who are willing to take their lives
in their hands and to do, and if need be to
die, like the four noble missionary fami-
lies from the Presbyterian and Methodist
who were killed in India.
In fact. we must look on the whole of this
great outbreak in India as the dying throes of
heatheaism. II any one will read the last great
struggle with heaihenism, A. d. 303, 'l2, when
Diocletian and Galerius prosecuted Christi
anity more fiercsly than ever before, he will
find that it ended in the establishment of
Christianity. ten years afte:, under Constan-
line. This has been war of religions, and
has conquered; it has been a
dying struggle, and heathenism may be look
ed upon as dead body, an efIete thing, an
exploded system. As, through the famine
and The pestilence in Ireland, ten years ago.
that land is now more prosperous than ever.
SO India, after going through this war and The
pestilence and famine that must follow, will
blossom out like another Eden. Immense
bodies of land will be bought up by Europe
an settlers. Capital will flow into India from
instead of being drawn out Of it as it
has been thus far for half century. Direct
ly this capital is properly united with labor,
the country will flourish beyond all precedent
The colony of Australia will sink into insig-
nifcaHce compared with Bengal, since pro-
ducts more valuable than gold can there be
raised in profuse abundance. India will
then become allied to Great Britain only by
The same slender and slackenIng ties, and
those chiefly Of commerce. that now bind the
North American Provinces TO the parent
Perhaps the next great speculation
in England will not be in Australian but in
Indian lands, the English Mania running
EdsfUard as ours has done Wesfward.-Pu6-
lie Ledger, lsf inst.
James G. Birney died at Eagleswood,
NJ, Oath ult., aged Ga years. He was a
STAKEHOLDER, but emancipated his slaves.
A real opponent of Slavery, yet, running
for President in 1874, be defeated Henry
Cav, thereby enabling Slavery TO triumph