"1. Government, on relinquishing the pilgrim tax, and the care of the temple, ought to have left it in the hands of the pujaris, who were, and had been for generations, in the immediate possession of it, and left them to satisfy the hakdars, according to their supposed civil rights in the property, capable of being recognized in the civil courts, should they be overlooked. Had it done this, it would have ceased, as it intended, not to have any connection with the establishment. As matters now stand, it is still the principal of the concern, for it is by its authority that the trusteeship exists. This fact is undeniable, even though it may be alleged that the Government, after having established the trusteeship, declines the control of it, and leaves all appeals against it to be settled in the civil courts.

"2. The trustees appointed by the Government, were not the choice of the whole, or any of the persons connected with the proprietary of the temple. They owe their status to the sovereign will of the Bombay Government, as expressed in the edict appointing them, a copy of which we have in our possession.

"3. The trustees appointed by the Government are not acceptable to any of the parties connected with the proprietary. From both the hakdárs and the pujáris, we received petitions begging us to represent this fact to the authorities!

"4. The appointment of trustees who adhere to Brahmanism, is the source of unceasing feuds amang the pujárís, and the majority of the worshippers, who are Lingawants.

"5. The appointment of men of respectable character among the natives, such as Morobé Dádájí Ráo Sáhib of Nargund, Anàjí Pant of Pádshápur, Chintaman Ráo Sáheb, and Shinapa Náyak of Dharwár, to be trustees of what is worse than any brothel, is conferring a dignity and importance upon it in the eyes of the natives, which it never could have enjoyed, if left in the hands of its former possessors.

"6. The arrangement of the Government has increased the number of the persons having a direct interest in upholding the practice of superstition and impurity. Though the services of the trustees are to be gratuitous, they are allowed to keep clerks, &c., for registering the offerings, and disposing of them, and keeping minutes of their proceedings. These clerks are paid from the proceeds, and must of course desire them to be abundant.

"7. The arrangement of the Government, requires the trustees to keep the temple in repair. It is evident, that being personally independent of it, they will maintain it in a style superior to what would have suited the views of the hakdárs and pujáris, who from time immemorial have been more attentive to their own bellies (we use their own expression) than the glory of their goddess.

These remarks, we would most respectfully submit to the Government. We give it all due credit for what it has already accomplished; and we beseech it to make the endeavour to give due effect to its own benevolent wishes. The Sarkar did well,' said one of the persons interested in this affair to ourselves, in drawing his hand out of our dish, but why, after dirtying it, has he again put it in?' We put the same question. Edit. of the O. C. S."

6

THE ANTI-IDOLATRY CIRCULAR.

The following copy of a circular issued by one of the presidency committees for gathering information on the idolatry question, so well expresses the wants and views of the advocates of total suppression, that we have with a few alterations adoptVII.

3 u

ed it as our own, and have much pleasure in inserting it in the Calcutta Christian Observer. Any information will be gladly received by the editors and forwarded to the respective committees at Madras and Bombay. The object of those and the Bengal Committee is to correspond with the friends of humanity and religion in Britain on this subject.

1. The reply which the Madras Government and the Government of India returned to what was called, "the Madras Idolatry Memorial," and the discussions which have recently taken place in the court of proprie tors at the India House in London, on the subject of the countenance and protection afforded by the several Governments of India to the idolatry of this country, together with the reply of the Court of Directors to the memorial noted below*, clearly show that it is not the intention of the local Governments, or of the Court of Directors, to afford the measure of toleration sought by the Memorialists, nor to carry into effect the orders of the Court of Directors, of the 20th February, 1833.

2. This course of proceeding cannot be considered to arise from any love which the parties have for idolatry, but principally it is believed from the three following causes.

1st. Want of information as to the extent and manner in which the Governments of India are countenancing and supporting the idolatrous rites and ceremonies of the Hindus and Musalmans.

2nd.-Insensibility to the sin and guilt which they and the British nation incur thereby, and,

3rd.—An undue and unnecessary alarm as to the consequences of their granting the measure of relief which has been solicited at their hands by the Christian public.

3. All that the Christian servants of Government require for themselves, is not to be implicated in any heathen ceremonies by which their consciences are violated, and all they ask for the honor of the Government, as Christian rulers, is, that it shall in no respect or degree interfere with or control the Hindus or Muhammadans in any of their religious services. In fact it is that neither individuals, nor the Government should participate in, or countenance any observances which may be inconsistent with Christian faith and practice.

4. To argue that, if the Government were to deliver over to their na tive subjects all their property, directing them to take all the advantages of it to themselves, and the management of it into their own hands; assuring them, at the same time, that the fullest protection, as heretofore, should be afforded them in securing to them all possible freedom in the exercise of their religious observances; to argue that this would produce disaffection or rebellion in the country, would be to state what is contrary to the experience of the world, in all ages, in this, or in any

Extract from a letter from the Hon'ble the Court of Directors to the Governor General of India in Council, dated 18th October, 1837, (No. 14.)

Para 8th. We now desire that no customary salutes, or marks of respect to native festivals be discontinued at any of the presidencies, that no protection hitherto given be withdrawn, and that no change whatever be made in any matter relating to the native religion except under the authority of the Supreme Government."

9th. With reference to a memorial received through the late Bishop of Madras, on behalf of the Christian community under that presidency, praying that all interference on the part of Government or its Civil and Military officers in the religious ceremonies of the natives may be discontinued. We shall furnish the Government of Madras, also that of Bombay, with a copy of this despatch for their information and guidance."

other country. It is far from difficult to conceive how assuming the management of property, and participating in the benefits derived therefrom, should excite disaffection, but it is absolutely inconceivable to any reflecting mind, that letting them alone should produce these results.

5. The authorities no doubt must entertain the erroneous notion, that something aggressive is intended on the part of Christians, when they pray for religious toleration; for it is past belief, that rational men should conceive that a rebellion in a country could possibly be excited, by giving the people all the property which belongs to them, and by letting them have their own way, in all respects in what they consider religious ob servances*.

6. Yet such it is believed is the manner in which the minds of our rulers reason on this subject, and if they do not reason thus, they act in a mode quite consistent with it. Their fears have never assumed a tangible shape; there is therefore no means of saying precisely what they are; in what particular way they apprehend the danger will arise; or how it is to be removed. The very mention of the subject, seems, to fill their minds with some undefined apprehensions, which put an end to reasoning and prevent all further consideration of the subject, and induces them to regard, as religious fanatics, if not as enemies to the public peace, those who view the subject in another but its true light.

7. He must have lived in this country a short time and to very little purpose who does not remember, or know, that the introduction of every important moral improvement into India, has been denounced in the same manner, and has been regarded in the same gloomy way by men, who, without intending any personal disrespect to them, may certainly be considered as unreasonable alarmists. Look for instance at the first entrance of Missionaries into India. The majority of those who had resided longest in this country and who ought to have known better, were quite sure that an insurrection would ensue, and hence the manner in which the first Missionaries were hunted from place to place by the Governor General. The parliament of England was not however to be deterred by a fear so truly visionary, but acting upon the only sound and legitimate principle on which man can proceed, viz., by doing that which is right and leaving all consequences to God, the country was opened, Missionaries have flowed into it on all sides, and where is there an instance of the so much appre hended disturbances and danger?

8. The same may be said of the institution of Bible and Tract Societies, the establishment of Schools, and the introduction of the Scriptures into them, the abolition of infanticide and of the Suttee, and other things, but who ever heard of a disturbance occasioned by any of these means, or by all of them put together; notwithstanding all these were of positive aggression, whilst the boon now sought is one of an opposite character. It was a truth then, and it is the truth now, that the imagination, rather than the judgment produced all the alarms on the subject.

9. It is moreover undeniable that the same usages, and the same support and countenance of Idolatry, are not practised in all parts of the country, and therefore why should they be practised in any? In Bengal for example, troops and individuals are little engaged in idolatrous rites

It seems impossible to conceive the natives so utterly unreasonable as to deny to Christians the privilege of freely discharging their own religious obligations, and of declining to take part in the acts of worship and religious ceremonies inconsistent with that book which they believe to be the word of God, when a similar privilege in the fullest extent has long since been enjoyed by the Hindus and Muhammadans themselves.

compared with what they are in Madras and in one part of Madras little compared with other parts. This fact of itself is conclusive as regards all reasoning upon the subject. If the interference of Government with idolatry be unnecessary in most places, why should it be retained in any, and if abstinence from interference does not produce rebellion in many instances, why should it in those which still remain to be relinquished. It is believed that it can be proved that in the greater number of instances in which Idolatrous rites and ceremonies are practised, the Government does not even now interfere with them nor give them any direct counte. nance or support; why then should the interference of Government be any where retained.

10. It has been thought that if all the information upon these subjects which this country is capable of supplying were concentrated in one body, the evidence would be so overwhelming that infatuation itself could no longer hold out; and for the purpose of collecting and digesting such information, a few friends have united into an association; upon some has devolved the duty of communicating with; on some with

; on others

with England; on me it has fallen to collect information from this Presi dency and its dependencies, and the object of my present address to you is to request, that you will be so kind as to collect and furnish me with all the information in your power upon the following points.

1st. In what way is the Government connected with idolatry or Muhammadanism in the neighbourhood in which you reside?

2nd. Are the Troops, or are Civil or Military men, under the sanction of Government, engaged in performing or assisting at any Hindu or Muhammadan rites or ceremonies ?

3rd. And what is the nature of the service or ceremonial in which the Officers or Sipáhís participate and the extent to which they lend assistance? 4th. Are there any Pagodas in your neighbourhood? Has the Government any connexion with them?

5th. What is the nature of that connexion? and does the Government assist in any way in the support or services of the Pagoda by collecting its revenues or otherwise, or in regulating its affairs ?

6th. Are there any offerings made on any particular festival, in which its Officers take the lead officially, acting in behalf of Government ?

7th. If there are temples or pagodas to which pilgrims resort, are the offerings collected by the Government officers or rented? if rented, please to obtain a copy of the Cowle.

Our readers will perceive by an advertizement on the cover of this month that the papers which appeared in the Observer for April, May and June have been reprinted in a pamphlet form for general distribution. We advise our Mufassil friends

to purchase and distribute them far and wide.

φιλος.

IV. On the use to which the Pseudo Vedas written by the Roman Catholic Missionaries, might be turned for the refutation of Hindu errors.

GENTLEMEN,

To the Editors of the Calcutta Christian Observer.

When the perfection of the Sanskrit language, its aptitude for the conveyance of every modification of thought and sentiment, the universal

veneration with which it is regarded by the Hindus, the number of learned men by whom it is understood all over India, and the contempt in which they hold every other medium of written communication, together with the formidable obstruction which the influence of the Brahmans, if not conciliated, may offer to the improvement and Christianization of this country-when all these things are duly considered, it would appear that no laboured argumentation is necessary to prove that Sanskrit should be largely employed as an instrument for the diffusion of our faith. These views are, I imagine, pretty generally if not universally admitted to a cer. tain extent. But they do not, I think, receive nearly so much attention as they deserve. If however, the number of their zealous supporters be very small, it is fortunate that the beginning which has been made to give effect to them, is so vigorous and splendid. I allude, of course, to that finished production of ripe and affluent scholarship, the Christa Sangita of Dr. Mill. It is much to be regretted that the Harmony of the Gospels prepared by the Rev. Mr. Yates, mentioned at page 373 of your number for this month, should have been lying for ten or twelve years in the desk of the compiler from want of funds to publish it. It is highly desirable that it should be given to the Indian world, because it would probably from its simplicity and from its being in prose, be intelligible to Hindus of less learning than is requisite for the understanding of the Christa Sangita. I cannot form any idea of the cost of printing, but could not a subscription be got up adequate to meet it? Mr. Yates, I imagine, must in the "Harmony" referred to have given a new rendering into Sanskrit, which the style of Dr. Carey's version would probably render expedient*. 2. I now come to the object of this letter, which is to suggest that inquiry should be made whether the Pseudo Vedas, written by the Roman Catholic Missionaries on the Coromandel Coast, do not contain much valuable matter which might be easily adapted, with a little modification and retrenchment, to the refutation of the Brahminical errors, philosophical or popular. The propriety, or even necessity of meeting with an exposure in their native Sanskrit, the many perilous and delusive doctrines of the six Darsanas (or schools of philosophy), and the other errors of Hinduism seems to admit of no reasonable doubt; and if such a confutation is to be found in the labours of the Romanists, as with some expurgation, revision and addition could be rendered satisfactory and conclusive, it should be seized upon with avidity. I subjoin some notices of these pretended Vedag from the preface to the 1st Edition of the 1st part of the Christa Sangita.

The following are Professor Wilson's remarks on this version, which apply to the first Edition, but the whole of the second does not seem to have appeared.

"Considerable advance had been also made in the revisal of the Sanskrit translation, and the Pentateuch and historical books had been printed. It is to be hoped, therefore, that Dr. Carey may have been spared to put the finishing hand to the work, at least in manuscript, and thus wound up his pious labours and well spent life together."

"The revised edition of Dr. Carey's Sanskrit translation will no doubt be exempt from many of those imperfections which its preparation at so early a period of Sanskrit study rendered unavoidable. These defects were neither incorrectness nor obscurity; but inelegance of expression and harshness of construction. The latter was in a great measure inseparable from the principle which appears to have influenced all the Serampore versions: that of translating as closely to the letter of the text as practicable; a rigour of fidelity that cannot fail to cramp and distort the style of the translation. The novelty of the subject, also, and the necessity of employing words to designate meanings which, although admissable, were unusual and unknown, contributed to disfigure the composition; and the Sanskrit Version has accordingly never been popular with the learned natives of India, for whose use more particularly it was designed."-Carey's Memoirs of Dr. Carey, pp. 606-7.