record; as their worship consists either in a frantic madness, or in a disgusting lasciviousness, or in a murderous cruelty, or in a bachanalian riot, what must be the moral and spiritual state of the people? It is a shame to speak of those things that are done of them in public, as well as in secret. During a short residence at Bellary, I accompanied a friend to one of their ceremonies, that I might see with my own eyes, and estimate for myself, the nature of their worship. The place of assembly was the residence of a Jungum priest, and the occasion was that of a man and his wife, who, in consequence of having obtained a son through the favour of their gooroo, determined to present to his feet an oblation of flowers. It was shocking to see a poor, dying, and contemptible worm occupy a chair as an object of worship, and to behold so many immortal beings profess to be his disciples and his adorers. It was disgusting to witness the airs, and the attitudes with which the dancing-women paid their devotions to their deity, and to hear the songs and din of instruments with which the musicians celebrated his praise. It was fearful to see a man and a woman bring their basin of flowers, and lave them upon the feet of a creature, as an offering of thanksgiving, and prostrate themselves in the dust before him as their divinity. But how shall I describe the scene that followed? Well might the old priest send limes to me and to my friend, and express his hope that we would squeeze some of the juice

HEATHEN WORSHIP.

27

into our eyes, that we might witness no more of their performances. A dancing woman who seemed to have been reserved for this closing scene, began now her operations. What a sink of infamy! So indecent, so licentious, so degrading were the gestures and the dance of this female, that no harlot in Sodom could ever equal them. But the old gooroo appeared intoxicated with delight; the people seemed in a perfect frenzy; and as she advanced in her dance, and became more disgusting in her attitudes, they responded to her with their shouts of approbation. I was ashamed of my nature; but woe to the land that is cursed with such priests, and that has chosen such bestiality for its religion!

Alas! India, notwithstanding her connection with Britain, and the privileges which she enjoys, is still the dark valley of the shadow of death; she is still, like mystical Babylon, the habitation of devils, the hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird; she is still the Tophet of Ben-Hinnom, where the children pass through the fire unto Moloch, and the diabolical shouts are to be heard and the fumes of abominable sacrifices infect the air: she is still the chamber of imagery, where the form of creeping things and abominable beasts, and every sort of idol are pourtrayed upon the walls, where the ancients and the young unite to hold their censors, and send up clouds of incense to Baal, where all the women

28

ANCIENT DESCRIPTION.

sit weeping for Tammuz, and where not seventy, not a million, but where all the men have their backs turned to the temple of the Lord, and are worshipping the sun, and the host of heaven; and she is still the mighty continent of the East, swarming with a hundred millions of enslaved freemen, heaving with the evils, and the calamities which Satan and his agents have inflicted for many an age, and prepared, like the cities of the plain, to be visited with snares, fire and brimstone as the portion of her cup. Who would not weep and mourn over the guilt, the superstitions, and the idolatry of India?

CHAPTER III.

THE BRITISH POWER IN INDIA.

THE TRANSFER OF INDIA ΤΟ GREAT

BRITAIN-THE

MEANS

ADOPTED TO GAIN IT, MUCH TO BE CONDEMNED THE STATE OF INDIA UNDER FORMER CONQUERORS—THE DESIGN OF GOD IN PUTTING HER INTO OUR POWER-THE OBSTACLES TO THE ENTRANCE OF THE TRUTH-THE GRACIOUS INTERPOSITION OF

PROVIDENCE-CHRISTIANITY

OVERTHROW OUR

NOT LIKELY TO RULE-THE PROSPERITY OF OUR POWER

THE OPINION OF SIR THOMAS MUNRO.

In traversing the plains of India, and in contemplating the number and character of its inhabitants, how often have I reflected, with astonishment, on the strange and political phenomenon presented to my view. It is very easy to see how a country placed, in the centre of kingdoms, may become so powerful as to obtain their supremacy, and to render them all tributary to its aggrandizement. It is not difficult to comprehend how a conquering nation, whether it occupy an island, or the extremity of a continent, may extend its dominion over the territories of its neighbours, and make them tremble under its frown, or rejoice in its protection. But that an island of the western sea,-that a country

30

STRANGE ACQUISITION.

which scarcely contained twenty millions of inhabitants, that a nation which has been called to struggle with accumulated difficulties in its own government, should,-at a time when America asserted her independence, and withdrew her support from the mother-land,—at a time when, with all the kingdoms of Europe leagued against her, she was obliged to struggle for her own existence,-obtain the supremacy over the eastern continent, and bring the powerful kingdoms of which it is composed into subjection, and, at a distance of fifteen thousand miles, hold them in her paternal sway, is not to be accounted for on the ordinary principles of worldly calculation and of political economy. No; the man who would so account for it, would strangely overlook the divine administration of affairs. The fear of the Lord has unquestionably been upon the people; the distrust and disunion which have prevailed among them, have been our strength and security; and while their confidence in our truth, and honour and honesty, is a very strong ground of attachment to us, yet the Lord fought the battle and gave us the victory. He introduced divisions into their councils and rendered them weak in enterprise; he caused the sword and the hand of every man to be turned against his neighbour; and he made the events of his providence contribute to the growth and establishment of our power, that he might exalt us, and make us the agents of his love.