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1836-1842
TOURS—GAIRSOPPA FALLS—RAJPOOTANA—KATHIAWAR—THE SOMNATH GATES.
Sun-Worship tested by Arithmetic—Changes in Goa—Gairsoppa and its Falls
Ajunta and the “ Possessed ” Bangle-Seller—First Tour to Rajpootana—
Farewell to Dr. Duff—Civilisation of Baroda—Dr. Wilson and his Cashmere
Shawls—Correcting Bishop Heber—Antiquities of Puttun—The Potter and the
Sword-Maker—The Dewan of Pahlunpore—Native Christians without a
Missionary Teacher—The Bheels and Sir James Outram—Aboo as it is—First
Christian Mission in a Native State—Second Visit to Rajkote —The
Prince’s Difficulty about the Existence of Evil—Dr. Wilson’s nearly
Fatal Illness—Anna Bayne’s Death—Cholera Epidemic of 1842—Persuaded to
take Furlough by prospect of a Tour in Syria—Sir W. Hill’s endowment of
the Nagpore Mission—Sir W. H. Maenagliten—Sir George Arthur—Sir Bartle
Frere’s First Friendship with Dr. Wilson—The Proclamation of the Somnath
Gates—Macaulay and Lord Ellenborougli’s Recall.
Dr. Wilson’s combined
missionary, scientific, and archaeological tonrs in the second period of
six years which preceded his first visit to Europe, were not less
thorough and fruitful in their results than those of the previous six
years. February 1837 he devoted to an inspection of the old mission
station of Hurnee and to a second visit to the Portuguese territory of
Goa, his first survey of which had led him to give more attention to the
many Portuguese and their descendants in Western India, known as
Indo-Britons. It was his custom to examine Government as well as
missionary schools at the request and generally in the presence of the
authorities, wherever he went, as well as to hold services for the
scattered and neglected English communities in distant stations. To the
Government Marathee school of Hurnee, the pupils of which he found
remarkably prompt in arithmetic, he proposed the question which they
readily solved, “ If sound travel at the rate of 1140 feet a second, and
the sun be 95,000,000 miles distant from the earth, what time will be
required for a man’s prayers to reach that luminaryThe Brahmans seemed
greatly amazed when they saw the result of a computation which really
involved the whole teaching of their system. The examination closed with
the suggestion to the Puntojee, or “dominie,” that he should extend his
crossexaminations to the scope of the passages read as well as to the
meaning of each word. The boys were rewarded with books, and their
parents crowded to talk with the missionary.
At Goa Dr. Wilson found that a great change had taken place in three
years. The Inquisition had been destroyed, but that fact was officially
assigned as a reason why no books could be admitted into the settlement
without the permission of the Archbishop or the Vicar-General. The
number of the clergy had been reduced one-half since the tour of 1834,
and all the monastic establishments had been shut up. Their libraries
had been sold. The cruel intolerance of Menezes, the Synod of Diamper,
and the Inquisition, was avenged. To this day the Archbishop of Goa
finds it impossible to assert against the Belgian or French Archbishops
of Madras and Bombay, Calcutta and Agra, who are directly subject to the
Vatican, his powers under the old Bull, confirmed by two Popes, granting
to Portugal in perpetuity whatever lands the great and good Prince Henry
and his successors might discover from West Africa to the Indies
inclusive. The Vicar-General refused the gift of a Portuguese Bible,
alleging that the use of the translation is prohibited. When asked to
point out any passages erroneously rendered, he exclaimed, Plurimi sunt,
plurimi sunt, as he turned the leaves, but could not point out one. Dr.
Wilson replied to him in the words of David, Testimonium Jehovae verax,
sapientiam affevens impevito. The Vicar-General then changed his ground
to the charge that this version omitted the Apocrypha. One of the clergy
gladly took a Bible, while another presented him with two defences of
Roman Catholicism recently published in Colombo, and full of flagrant
mistranslations of Scripture. This passage follows in Dr. Wilson’s
account of the tour:—“A respectable Portuguese officer spent the evening
with us. His conversation turned principally on the errors of the Church
of Rome, of many of which, like most of the Roman Catholic lay gentlemen
whom I have met in India, he seemed to be well aware, and on the
immoralities of some of the clergy in the State of Goa. One of them, he
mentioned to us there could be little doubt, had been accessary lately
to the exposure of his own illegitimate child, the body of which he
himself found in the course of being devoured by ravens. The late
archbishop he represented as one of the greatest debauchees in the
colony. We heard his statements with pain, though we did not much wonder
that the Papacy had been tolerant, nay, productive of many of the crimes
which he mentioned.”
This may be compared with the picture drawn by Meadows Taylor in the
last of his vivid romances of Indian life and history, A Noble Queen.
The professors, 110 students, and resident clergy, at the college of
Rachol in Salsette, showed much kindness to Dr. Wilson, and he records
that he “particularly prepared” himself for a Latin discussion on the
merits of the Vulgate and Portuguese translations of Scripture, which he
conducted with two of them. One of his adversaries, taking him aside at
the close, confessed his position to be most miserable, and was invited
to Bombay. His reply was, Est mihi voluntas sed valde tlmeo. All through
Goa the laity showed great eagerness for copies of a tractate containing
correspondence between Captain Shortrede and Bishop Prender-gast on the
heathenism of popery.
But the main interest now of this second tour to Goa lies in the
opportunity which it gave Dr. Wilson to visit and describe what has been
called the third of the greatest wonders of India, the Gairsoppa Falls,
the Himalayas and the Taj Mahal being the other two. The four falls have
since become famous in India, but the best English treatises of
descriptive or physical geography are still ignorant of them. Some 340
miles south-east of Bombay, in its district of North Canara, the
Sheravutty divides into several channels just above the old capital of
Gairsoppa, famous three centuries ago for its queen, but plundered
successively by the Portuguese, Hyder Ali, and Tippoo Saheb, and taken
by assault by General Matthews a century ago. Dr. Wilson, who was
accompanied by Dr. Smyttan, sent an account of the falls to his old
professor, Dr. Jameson, and it appeared in his Philosophical Journal.
The water falls eight times the depth of Niagara.
The brief college holiday in January 1838 was devoted to a second tour
to Ajunta, with its caves, and to Jalna. The incidents are most
pleasantly told by Dr. Wilson in letters to the sisters Bayne. The
effect on a bangle or bracelet seller of one of the vernacular books
distributed in the bazaar, On the Nature of God, he describes to have
been “ such as I have never witnessed. ”
“2d February 1838.—When I was preaching in the evening a man came
roaring into the enclosure in such a loud and frantic manner that he
frightened the doctor, myself, and all present. He called out to me in
the most awful manner which you can imagine, ‘ It is all true, It is all
true, It is all true. You are my Gooroo, You are my Gooroo, You are my
Gooroo,’ and then threw himself down on the ground with such violence
that we feared he had fractured his skull. He quickly recovered himself,
caught hold of my feet, and held them with such force that I was obliged
to call on the people to extricate me, which with great difficulty they
could effect. I tried to calm his mind, but his excitement gained ground
notwithstanding all my efforts. His body was greatly convulsed ; and he
tossed himself and tore himself in the most fearful manner. On every
person but myself he loaded the vilest abuse, and particularly on two of
his relatives. To me he gave ascriptions of praise proper to God only,
and extolled me as the lord of Pandarpur, and several other
idol-shrines. He cried out that he would never leave me till his death,
which he declared would take place before the close of the evening. It
was now but too evident that he was labouring under temporary
derangement, if not under direct possession of the great adversary of
souls, which the peculiarities of his case seemed most to indicate to
us, notwithstanding all our cautious reserve of judgment. I succeeded,
with the help of the natives, in getting beyond his grasp for a few
moments, when Dr. Smyttan and I anxiously consulted together about what
was proper to be done. We agreed to direct our whole efforts to the
soothing of his mind; and to his friends, who ascribed his state to my
enchantment, and who were afraid that we should carry him away with us,
we gave the assurance that I receive none as disciples but those who are
reasonably convinced, and that we should render them every assistance in
our power in allaying his excitement. He would listen patiently to none
of my counsel or instruction ; but when I found him willing to follow me
I took him by the hand and led him to a house in the bazaar, where his
friends said he could be accommodated for the night. They held him to
the ground, while we, after promising to call upon him, in the morning,
took our departure. After fighting with them for some time he got quite
exhausted, and sank into a profound sleep. They carried him off early
next morning before we could hold any communication with him. He belongs
to the village of Shhvand, about six miles from Ajunta. He had proceeded
about a mile on his return from the bazaar to that place, when he sat
down to read the tract; and he flew to me -with the speed of lightning,
bursting through all opposition, after his mind began to be affected. He
is a man whose reason was never formerly known to be disordered. What
his first emotions were on perusing the tract it is impossible to say.
The probability from his own language is, that he gave to it his assent
at the same time that Satan stirred up the evil feelings of his mind
with a view to extinguish his convictions, and to misrepresent our cause
in the eyes of the heathen. His case is a most singular one ; and what
the result of the whole may be no man can tell. Our prayers ascended to
heaven that Christ might say to the waves of his affliction, ‘ Be
still,’ and that he might sit meekly at his feet, learn his Gospel, and
receive it to the salvation of his soul. At what I have told you you
will no doubt be astonished. I trust that the occurrence has been
blessed to me, as impressing on my mind the fact that we are either the
savour of life unto life or death unto death to those to whom we
minister. How solemn are our circumstances!”
Again, at the beginning of 1839, he roamed among the jungles of the
mainland, studying the aboriginal tribes, and preparing for a more
permanent mission among them, till his stock of provisions was exhausted
and his purse was empty. He was to meet a party at the Caves of
Elephanta, to which he desired that ammunition for his gun might be
sent. The ardent naturalist writes :—“I wounded an eagle the other day
so much that I caught it, and I require to shoot some birds to keep it
in life.”
To complete his Survey of the Hative States around the Province of
Bombay, and to seek in the great stone cities and deserts of Upper India
forms of Hindooism more ancient and more directly the fruit of its Yedic
and Epic times than even the Brahmanism of Maharashtra could afford, Dr.
Wilson had resolved to assign the early portion of 1840 to a tour in
southwestern Rajpootana, with his new colleague Dr. Murray Mitchell. The
visit of Dr. Duff delayed their departure, but they resolved to face the
terrors of the hot season, which is, officially, considered to begin on
the 15th March, when the cooling punkah is for the first time in each
year allowed in the public offices. The tour may wrnll begin with this
characteristic letter from its first stage at Tanna, honourable alike to
the writer and to Dr. Duff:—
“Tanna, 28th February 1840.—My dearest Anna—I said little to you when I
parted with you, because I felt much ; but I offered up to God the
fervent prayer that his divine presence might remain with us while we
are separated from one another. My supplication was not that of the
moment. It still rises, and will rise from my heart, as I bend my
footsteps on this great journey, which the desire of publishing peace to
the unsoothed hearts of the inhabitants of Goojarat and Rajpootana has
led me to undertake. You must conceive of me as always addressing the
throne of heaven on your behalf ; and I shall have the same realisation
of your blessed employment for my sake. It is only when our desires for
our mutual welfare find their expressiou Godward that we can rest with
confidence in the view of all that may await us.
“We went through the fatigues of yesterday wonderfully well; and I was
quite refreshed by Dr. Duff’s admiration of the beauties of the
Salsitian landscape, and the interest which he felt in the antiquities
of its ancient forests. We rode together in the phaeton to Vehar, where
we met with Mr. Nesbit,
Dr. Campbell, and Mr. Mitchell ; and after performing tlie usual
operations of conservatism at the table of our old friend Merwanji, we
sallied forth on our pilgrimage to the excavated mount. The liamals
(bearers) groaned under the weight of their precious load—the apostle of
the Ganges ; and two sturdy bullocks, Pandhya and Sona, dragged a crazy
chariot containing the carcases encasing the souls of the other
constituents of the choice fraternity. We were forced to dismount about
a couple of miles from the abodes of the Buddhas, and with staif in
hand, and over-canopied with chattris (umbrellas) from the west and the
east, we plied our steps to the exalted regions. The sun himself entered
into battle with us on the way, and he had nearly overpowered us before
we could find refuge in the temple’s shade. He applied himself so
sturdily to the monk of the Don that he had nearly succeeded in making
his visage glow with a radiance as glorious as his own. We congratulated
ourselves when we arrived at the terminus ad quern that we were not
reduced to cinders, or melted into minerals, by his furnace heat. Our
perambulations in the caves followed a second conservative repast, and
the echo of our eloquent discourse caused the very hills to shake. The
images themselves told us what they were and what they had been, and
pointed to the tombs in which are enshrined the relics of their
antitype. We performed qjradakshina round the Dhagobs, reclined on the
living couches of the devotees of Xirwana, traversed the halls of
instruction of the primitive intellectualists, peeped into the bowels of
the earth, ascended the lofty stairs, and gazed on the beauty and
grandeur of the famed isle.
I cannot tell what I felt when dear Mr. Nesbit, who had kept his
intentions secret in the chambers of his own individuality during the
day, announced that the moment had arrived when he and Dr. Duff must
proceed to Panwel, and that without the formalities of worship, which
the tide, he thought, would not await. We resolved, at all hazards,
however, to part calling on the name of God; and after reading the 20th
chapter of the Acts I endeavoured to conduct our devotions. My heart
completely failed me when I was praying, but not before many
supplications had proceeded from its inmost recesses. Dr. Duff, with
whom I was so sorry to part because I felt that I should not again see
him till the heavens are no more, addressed to us the words of comfort
which his affectionate heart can so well indite, and we solemnly bade
each other farewell. My memory will often visit the hallowed spot whence
we moved asunder.”
This tour extended over a distance of 1525 miles. At Baroda Mr.
Sutherland, the Resident, not unassisted by the influence of Dr. Wilson
in his former visit to the Gaikwar, was able to announce the abolition
of Suttee throughout the extensive territories of his Highness. Dr.
Wilson was unable to wait there long enough to accept an invitation to
renew his acquaintance with the Gaikwar ; but had much intercourse with
his nobles.
“I had a long private interview with the Resident, during which we
discussed at considerable length the abolition of Suttee in the native
States, the cessation of the Government countenance of idolatry, the
propriety of erecting an English school in Baroda, the measures to be
adopted for the further suppression of infanticide, etc. He was very
free and candid in his communications; and I am perfectly satisfied that
he will do all in his power to forward the cause of philanthropy. I
received from him the loan of several interesting works and documents
connected with the country and the native Governments. At the Residency
I met an important native personage named Govind Eao, whose son was
adopted by the late Dewanjee of the Baroda State; and who, under the new
arrangements with our Government, has been permitted to return to the
city as a candidate for high political employment under the Gaikawar.
Captain Fawcett, and Mr. Mitchell, Dr. Campbell aud I, went to pay a
visit to'him at the Diwanji’s Wadi in the evening of the 21st ult. My
friends were mounted on Mr. Sutherland’s elephant, which outstepped my
bearers on the road to the city. We lost sight of one another in one of
the lanes; and the wise men who were bearing me took me to the house of
the king instead of to that of his minister! I had there the pleasure of
seeing two of the Ranees (queens), whose curiosity introduced them to my
view on one of the staircases. Having explained the error of the bipeds
to the guards around me, I was quickly transported to what ought to have
been my first destination. I found the trio sitting in a splendid
apartment, and lost in wonder at the marvels around them. To me they had
little novelty ; and the delay which had occurred in my movements
consumed the time which should have been devoted to religious
conversation. Alas! The first movement of the household in reference to
our leaving the mansion revealed the kindness and liberality of its
owners. Govind Eao rose to present each of us with a pair of Cashmere
shawls and a turban ; and he succeeded in getting us to accept of them.
The most valuable he set apart for myself; those next in a
market-reckoning to Mr. Mitchell. Dr. Campbell, who was last served,
fared worst. I determined for my own part to manage so as to give a
snitable return ; and when the great man visited us with his followers
on the 23d, I presented his son with an Atlas, phenakistoscope, and
several helps to the acquisition of English which he has begun to study,
and himself with several books. It was a relief to my feelings to be
able to give him an exposition of Christian doctrine when he waited upon
us. The Brahmans who attended him, as well as he himself, were very
attentive to what I said. I must not forget to mention that he
accompanied us to his gardens, which are in excellent order. The first
fruits of the season were destined for our use ; and three men followed
us home with baskets filled with them.”
From Baroda Dr. Wilson and his companion marched through the level
country of Goojarat, by Khaira to which he sought to induce the Church
to send a missionary. His journal corrects a few of “ the most amusing
blunders ” of that very inaccurate but most pleasant book, Bishop
Heber’s Narrative. Here he had much discussion with the Jains, one of
whom proposed to write a reply to his letter to the priests of Palitana.
Lieutenant Pilfold, “an excellent Sanskrit scholar,” copied for him
Sanskrit inscriptions on his march to Deesa by Ahmedabad, Khaira, Puttun,
and Pahlunpoor. At Puttun (“the city”), the ancient capital of Goojarat,
they were met by Captain Lang, the scholarly political agent. After
cross-examining a young Hindoo ascetic, so as to discover for the first
time that the lengthened hair of these devotees is caused by twisting to
the growth the thinning which is taken from it, the party proceeded to
survey the ruins.
At Pahlunpoor, one of the vassal states of the Gaikwar, the Dewan held a
durbar or court for the reception of the missionaries. He was Futh Khan,
whom we had put 011 the throne as the rightful heir of the Afghan Chief
first recognised by Akbar, to a principality which the Rajpoot Chief of
Jodhpore had reduced to Pahlunpoor and Deesa. He lived till 1854, having
been first acknowledged in 1794, and his son still rules after loyal
services in the Mutiny. The most interesting visitor, however, was a
Muhammadan, who had lived nine years in the Hedjaz of Arabia. He gave
Hr. Wilson a description of the Ilajar-as-Swcid, exactly corresponding
with the engraving in Burckhardt’s travels, but without expressing
particular veneration for the sacred stone, the most venerable relic of
antiquity in the eyes of Mussulmans. The British cantonment of Deesa,
eighteen miles from the Dewan’s capital, was next visited, and the Sepoy
regimental school was examined through Marathee. Its fifty-five pupils
and regimental boys flocked to Dr. Wilson’s tent for books, and there.
he instructed them in Christianity. “Many of the youth in the Army,” he
writes on this occasion, “in consequence of its discipline and
arrangements have had their faith in Hindooism greatly shaken. They are
very observant of the walk and conversation of their officers, and they
generally respect those of them who are imbued with the spirit of
Christianity! ” Here Dr. Wilson was surprised by coming into contact
with one of the many proofs, apparent to the experienced and
unprejudiced observer of Hindoo society, that the leaven of Christianity
is working by means and in directions such as no statistics can tabulate
nor formal report record. The subsequent history of Christianity in
India has revealed many similar cases of quasi-Christian sects, of “
almost Christians,” of “secret Christians,” and of Christian heresies
and apostasies, caused by such an admixture of pantheistic speculation
with Christ’s teaching as Gnosticism, Alexandria, and the early Oriental
Churches illustrate.
"12th April.—We met three natives at Dr. Robson’s door, who said that
they had been going about the camp in search of us, in consequence of
the report of my having preached in the town of Deesa. To my inquiry,
'Who are you?’ they readily and emphatically answered, ‘We are
Christians.'' We immediately repaired with them to the bungalow in which
we were holding our meetings ; and I conversed with them, and addressed
them respecting the interests of their immortal souls. The individual
who took the lead in the conference with me stated that he is a Bhagcit,
devoted to the service of Christ, that his name is Narottam Ladha, and
that his class is that of the Lawana ; one of his companions, that he is
a disciple of Narottam, named Daman Deva, and of the Ivhatree class ;
and the other, that he is a Jain Mehta, named Natharam Dalichand, and an
inquirer into the doctrine of Christianity, of the truth of which he is
thoroughly convinced. Narottam remarked that he teaches Christianity to
those who listen to him, and receives the support which they voluntarily
afford. His knowledge, he said, he had received from hooks, and from
conversation with a native convert from Bengal, named Kainilakant Rao.
His profession of Christianity he had assumed, and his attempts to
propagate Christianity he had commenced and carried on without any
consultation with Europeans. He had seen the Bishop of Bombay, however,
and Mr. Fletcher, on the occasion of their visit to Deesa last year, and
is acquainted with Mr. Pemberton, the chaplain, whose services in the
church he sometimes attends, with a partial knowledge of what is said
though he himself is unable to converse in English. I found, on
examination, that he is well acquainted with the principal facts
recorded in the New Testament. His views of the offices of the persons
of the Holy Trinity appeared, in the first instance, to be obscure, but
after I had delivered an exposition to him on the subject, I perceived
that they were more extensive and correct than I had supposed. He
distinctly ascribed the origination of the plan of human redemption to
the Father, its accomplishment to the work and merit of the Son, and its
application to the agency of the Spirit, of Whose various operations he
spoke in a manner strictly consistent with the divine testimony. Both
Mr. Mitchell and myself felt the greatest interest in him and his
friends, and we invited him to return to us at the conclusion of English
worship in the camp.
“Narottam made his appearance at the time appointed, along with the
persons already mentioned, and Jawer, a barber, who represented himself
as an ‘ established believer ’ in Christ, and Mancharam, a respectable
Mehta, who said that he wished himself to be considered as merely in the
capacity of an inquirer. The Bhagat, at my request, gave me a particular
account of his past history, his present engagements, and the
circumstances of his followers. He was born in Bombay about thirty years
ago, his father being a native of Bhownuggur, in Kathiawar. Six years
ago he received from a soldier in the camp bazaar at Deesa, a copy of a
Goojaratee tract, entitled ‘ The Great Inquiry,’ and a Marathee tract
superscribed ‘ The First Book for Children.’ He read both of these
little publications with the greatest attention, and the consequence of
his acquaintance with them was the awakening of great anxiety about the
salvation of his soul. Seeing on one of them a notice of different
mission stations where information respecting their contents could be
found, he determined to betake himself to that which was most
accessible. He went on his way to Surat as far as Ahmedabad. He was
there assailed by various idolaters, who represented the missionaries to
him as too powerful in their influence over the minds of those who come
into close contact with them. During his stay at Ahmedabad he met with
Jayasingh, the hereditary Kamavisdar of Kadee, a most intelligent
gentleman, with whom we had a very agreeable interview on our visit to
his native place. Jayasingh’s followers said to him, ‘There are many
Fakeers, Bairagees, Gosavees, etc., in the country, why don’t you unite
yourself with one of their fraternities ? ’ but their master, when he
had a private opportunity afforded him, said, ‘ I have as much need of
God as you, stay with me ; when I hear of a teacher I will send for
him.’ This invitation was complied with ; and he to whom it was
addressed resided for five months at Kadee, when the failure of the
money which he had carried from Deesa, the usual place of his residence,
forced him again to proceed northward. About half a year after his
return to the camp bazaar he met with Kamilakant, already mentioned, and
began to associate with him, and to accompany him occasionally to
church. By the perusal of some Goojaratee books, portions of the Bible,
and tracts which he obtained, and by conversation with his friend from
Bengal, he became convinced that Jesus Christ is the only surety and
Saviour of men, and resolved, without consulting with flesh and blood,
to devote himself to His sendee, iu which he has now been engaged for a
considerable time. He reads and expounds the Scriptures, according to
the light which he has obtained, to all who will listen to him. Seven of
his acquaintances, he says, have received the truth in the love of it,
and avow themselves to be disciples of the Redeemer. About a hundred
persons appear to be sincere inquirers. About 20 or 25 of them reside in
Deesa, 10 or 15 at Pahlunpoor, 40 at Puttun, 2 at Vijapoor and Kadee, 10
at Baroch, and 5 at Baroda. Many other individuals hold religious
intercourse with him ; and there is in various places a growing
attachment to the divine word. All his temporal wants are supplied by
his followers, and Asharam, a merchant, shows him particular kindness.
“After he had given me this narrative, he asked me to explain to him
many passages of the sacred Scriptures which he had found it difficult
to understand. I was surprised at the degree of intelligence which his
inquiries evinced, and at the readiness with which he received my
expositions. He clearly showed that he reads the Bible with the greatest
attention, and that he is no stranger to the analogy of the faith. He
had no objection, he said, to be baptized ; but he added that, though
not recognised as a teacher by Europeans, he would minister to his
native flock as long as its members might choose to attend to him. Some
of the rules of the Hindoo devotees he thought it expedient to apply to
his services. He wishes to be considered a Bhagat, and not a Gooroo.
‘Gooroos, like yourself,’ he said, ‘I shall ever attend when I have the
opportunity.’ Such of his friends as were present expressed the same
determination. Though we saw a good deal of superstition in some of
their notions, we were rejoiced to find that they were far from being
ignorant of the most important truths. I read my letter to the Jain
priests to the company, and conversed about some of the topics on which
it touches. I then delivered a practical address suited to the
circumstances of my audience, and closed our meeting with prayer. The
immediate objects of our regard were evidently much affected during the
latter exercise, and they grasped my hand in the most tender manner when
I ceased to address the Throne of Grace on their behalf. On parting with
us they readily acquiesced in a proposal to correspond with our Native
Church in Bombay.
“I do not know how you and my other friends in Bombay will receive this
intelligence. For my own part, I have no hesitation in saying that the
privilege of communicating it is to us a sufficient recompense for the
long journey which we have undertaken at this trying season. The simple
spread of the knowledge of Christ in this moral wilderness,
independently of the hope which this case affords that real conversion
may have occxirred, demands the fervent gratitude of all His people, and
forms a mighty encouragement to the dissemination of the holy Scriptures
and religious tracts throughout the length and breadth of the land. The
Apostle Paul and his companions met with ‘ disciples ’ in different
cities before they had commenced in them their own personal
ministrations, and before elders were ordained to watch over their
spiritual interests as ‘ those who must give an account,’ and so have we
found persons who appear to be deserving of the name in a situation
where we least expected them. ”...
Dr. Wilson had now passed through that wild Bheel country on the
Maheekanta and Rajpootana frontier, which Sir James Outram had in 1838
pacified and done much to civilise, but we have no trace of a meeting
between men who must have appreciated each other. It is to be regretted
too that we have here no detailed description of that mountain of the
Jains—Aboo—which in 1840 was purely native. Five years after his visit
the Rao, Sheo Singh, made over to the British Government lands for a
sanitarium, which became the favourite resort of Sir Henry Lawrence, and
of his successors to the present day. The reigning chief, son of Dr.
Wilson’s friend who died a few weeks before the missionary himself, is
now of age, and still insists on the one condition of the grant, that no
kine shall be killed on the holy mount of the Jains.
Marching forward thus through the country between the Aboo and Aravullee
hills and the wild Bheel land, and away by Sadra on the Saburmuttee,
Dakore, famed in Hindoo pilgrimage, and the Baria and Champaner jungles,
south-east to the great Nerbudda river, Dr. Wilson and his companions
had to climb the low Satpoora range before reaching the
Maratha-desolated plains of Khandesh. Thence, by Dhoolia and Malligaum,
Bombay was reached in the middle of June, after a journey unmatched at
that time by any save officials on military or most urgent duty, whether
we look at the terrific heat or at the desert and dangerous lands. Soon
he prepared a series of lectures on a tour which, even to the few
experienced travellers, English and Native, who had gone over the same
route, were full of the highest instruction. It is long since the
railway reached Ahmedabad from Bombay, and the line has already
penetrated from Calcutta to Jeypore for the salt of the Sambhur Lake. It
cannot be long till Ahmedabad and Jeypore are connected by a line which
will follow Dr. Wilson’s route away by Aboo to Palee and Ajmer, to which
he afterwards conducted the first United Presbyterian missionaries.
At the close of February 1841 Dr. Wilson welcomed the earliest of those
bands of missionaries who, of whatever evangelical Church, continued
successively, during the next third of a century, to find in Ambrolie or
“The Cliff” on Malabar Hill the most generous hospitality, the wisest
counsel, the most efficient aid. The first of his tours to bear fruit in
the establishment of a mission by another Church than his own, was, as
we have seen, his exploration of Goojarat and Kathiawar in 1835. To
evangelise that, the Synod of Ulster, daughter of the Scottish Kirk,
sent out two missionaries. The Rev. J. Glasgow and J. Kerr had not been
asked to volunteer for the work, but had been called upon by the Synod’s
committee to do it. This course, followed only by the autocratic
organisation of the Church of Rome, was declared by the very democratic
Assembly of the Irish Presbyterian Church “ to be a precedent in all
time to come.” It may be regretted that the precedent has been so
seldom, if ever since, followed. Certainly few Protestant missions to
people possessed of an ancient civilisation, literature, and faith, have
been so promising, to the present day, as that conducted by a succession
of men of the same stamp as the Lawrences and Montgomerys of Derry, who,
in the civil and military service?, have written their names deepest on
the page of Indian history. The landing of Messrs. Glasgow and Kerr
raised in Government circles, as well as in native society, a new
question: Would they, should they, be allowed to preach and teach in
native States like Baroda and the many vassal principalities of
Kathiawar?
The East India Company had been compelled, by the public opinion of
Great Britain expressed through Parliament, to tolerate missionaries in
their ordinary territory. But up to this time there had been no instance
of a Christian mission in a native State. And we may be assured that,
but for the pioneering work and influence of Dr. Wilson, the
principalities of Western and Northern India would have remained closed
for many a day. His interviews with chiefs and people had prepared them
as well as the British Government for Christian schools and preachers, a
result to which the earlier example of a chaplain and the increasing
number of Christian officials had contributed. There was some doubt as
to how Sir James R. Carnac, the Governor of Bombay, would act. He was an
“old Indian,” who, after experience as a sepoy officer in the Madras
Army, had himself been Resident at Baroda, and then Chairman of the
Court of Directors. One of his first utterances as Governor had seemed
hostile to toleration. But over him also Dr. Wilson’s perfect honesty,
fearless character, and fine Christian tact, had had their due effect.
His formal application to the Government produced this reply, signed by
the friendly chief secretary, Sir J. P. Willoughby, “ The Honourable the
Governor in Council will offer no objection to these gentlemen
proceeding to and residing in Kathiawar, so long as they conduct
themselves according to the principles set forth in your communication.”
Thus peacefully was established a precedent of which Dr. Wilson wrote to
the Ulster Synod: “ The freely accorded permission of the Government for
the establishment of your mission in Kathiawar, though nothing more than
what was expected in the circumstances of the case, is such as to demand
our fervent gratitude. Though we should not have refused to enter the
province even though the goodwill of our rulers had not been expressed,
the official communication which we have had with the authorities
enables us to do so with the best understanding, and without any
apprehension as to further embarrassments.”
The season of the year for tours was past, but now, as before, Dr.
Wilson set the prudent fears of his friends at defiance, and resolved to
spend the hot months in helping his Irish brethren to establish their
mission at Rajkote, Pore-bunder and Gogo. At all three places Dr. Wilson
found that his former visit had borne fruit in the goodwill and
intelligent interest of the native chiefs in the mission, and in the
readiness of the leading inhabitants to send their boys to the English
schools. The Rajkote Chief himself took part in a public discussion of
the comparative merits of Christianity and Hindooism, propounding the
question, “ Why does not God Almighty, who created the world, annihilate
sin at once in the heart of man, and thus instantly save him from evil %
” This led to a statement of the principles of the moral government of
God. Thus, as by some weeks’ study of the missionary work in Bombay,
where the new missionaries trained. And not only they, for the Parsee
convert, Dhunjeebhoy, was, for the first time, on this tour the
companion of the teacher to whom he was thenceforth as a son. Hardly had
the mission been established in a house in Rajkote when Mr. Kerr was
carried off by jungle fever, which prostrated Dr. Wilson at the same
time. Captain Le Grand Jacob, afterwards a famous name in Western India,
and then acting as Political Agent, removed his friend from the fatal
house, and in the Residency Dr. Wilson was tenderly nursed by
Dhunjeebhoy, while deserted by some of his heathen servants who feared
infection.
“Though, when death presented itself to my view, and I called to mind my
own waywardness under the teaching of the Lord, and my awful
responsibility as a missionary of the Cross to this darkened and unholy
country, ‘my flesh,’ in the first instance, ‘trembled for fear of God’s
judgments,’ there was soon imparted to me, through contemplation on the
glory and stability of the covenant of grace, and the freeness with
which its blessings are bestowed on the humblest and most unworthy
believer, a peace and joy the remembrance of which is calculated to
excite most fervent and devout gratitude. After I had become in some
degree convalescent I was called to experience a most unfavourable
relapse. A change of climate affording the only hope of my recovery, I
was conveyed, by bearers, from Rajkote to Gogo. I remained about a week
at the latter place before the daily paroxysms of fever began to be
mitigated ; but as soon as I felt them subsiding I sailed for Bombay,
which I reached in safety on the 21st of September.
“Here it pleased the Lord, in his unerring wisdom and unswerving
faithfulness, to visit me with other great and sore afflictions. During
my voyage I had fondly indulged the hope that my beloved sister and
endeared companion Miss Anna Bayne would receive me with her usual
affection, and attend to me in my weakness with her wonted care and
tenderness. On my arrival at the mission-house, however, I learnt that
she Avas Avith her sister, Mrs. Nesbit, in the most precarious, nay
dangerous state of health. Her appointed days of suffering soon drew to
a close; and on the morning of the 4th of October her ransomed, and
justified, and purified soul was called to enter into the joy of its
Lord. The triumph of her faith during the Avhole of her last illness was
most remarkable, instructive, animating, and encouraging. She proved a
conqueror, and more than a conqueror, through Him that loved her.
“Miss Bayne, though not officially connected with the General Assembly’s
Mission, was actually much engaged in its service. To comfort and assist
me in the work of the Lord, she and her sister Hay, now Mrs. Nesbit,
left the land of their fathers. She was the life and charm of my
household. To the Parsee converts, and Abyssinian and Native youth, whom
I have received into my family, she was a tender and affectionate
mother, as they themselves declare and feel, and will long remember. Her
visits to the female schools proved very encouraging to the scholars ;
and her instruction of the classes in her Own room was highly promising
of spiritual good. She zealously sought the improvement and conversion
of the students of English who visit the mission-house; and with s&me of
them she regularly read and explained the Scriptures, while with others
she regularly corresponded when they were removed from Bombay. In the
Christian society in which she moved she was most exemplary and
influential; and both noticed and respected for her gifts and graces.
All who enjoyed her friendship admired her kindness, faithfulness, and
judiciousness. It was her request, when she came to India, that no
mention should be made of her endeavours and exertions in any public
report or letter.”
The indomitable spirit of Dr. Wilson is apparent in every line of this
letter. At Mahableshwar he devoted his returning health to the
composition of The Parsi Relitjion and the renewed study of the
aboriginal tribes of the Western Ghauts.
“I am at present sojourning on the most lovely spot which you can
imagine. The scenery around is the grandest, the most beautiful, and the
most sublime, which I have yet witnessed during my earthly wanderings,
extensive though they have been. The Mahableshwar is part of the great
Western Ghats, and 4700 feet above the level of the sea,—a loftiness
considerably surpassing the highest of Caledonia’s mountains. The
vegetation partakes of the magnificence of the tropics, but is
enchanting to the dwellers in the climes of the sun, as in some respects
resembling that of our beloved native land. The materiel of the heights
is of the trap formation, which by its basaltic masses and columns, and
precipitous scarps, affords the most wonderful and diversified specimens
of nature’s architecture, and by its valleys and ravines, of her
gigantic excavation. The province of the Konkan, with its hills and
dales, and exhaustless forests and fruitful fields, stretches below. At
a distance the ocean is seen as a vast mirror of brilliancy, reflecting
the glory of the sky. The clouds baffle all description. Their various
and changing hues, and multifarious forms and motions, as they descend
to kiss the mountain brow, or remain above as our fleecy mantle, or
interpose between us and the luminary of heaven to catch its rays, and
to reveal their coloured splendour, fill the mind with the most intense
delight. The whole display forces us to praise God, and to exclaim,
‘Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, Thou art very great, Thou art
clothed with honour and majesty!
“If thus Thy glories gild the span
Of ruined earth and fallen man,
How glorious must the mansion be
Where Thy redeemed shall dwell with thee!’
“Mahableshwar, 27th November 1841.—You have, I suppose, often seen
Satara. In my opinion it is the most lovely station in our Presidency.
The valley of the Yena, with its abundant cultivation, and that of the
Krishna, which partly appears, and the mountains to the west, and the
hills to the north and south, presenting, with their basaltic masses and
layers, and columns, and scarps, and towers, the most interesting
specimens of nature’s architecture, have a very striking effect on the
eye of a spectator. The fort is curiously formed on the summit of one of
the highest elevations, and it is associated with all the interest and
romance of Marathee history. The native town is spacious, busy, and
regular, to a degree seldom seen in this country. The camp is very
agreeably situated; and the Residency has a beautiful neighbourhood.
“We were introduced by Colonel Ovans to the Raja. His Highness was
encamped, with an enormous suite, outside the town, having just arrived
from a. pedestrian journey to the shrine of Khandoba at Jejuri. When I
intimated to him the fruitlessness of his pilgrimage by saying Khandoba
laMchyd bokdnd'm basto, ‘ Khandoba seizes folks by the throat,’ he
laughed most heartily ; but I have reason to believe that he is really
very superstitious. He has no appearance of the dissipation with which
his enemies have charged him ; and he is noted by the Europeans at
present at Satara for his benevolence and good nature. Of his own accord
he has abolished Suttee and the sale of children. He has lightened the
burdens of his cultivators, and established for the benefit of his
subjects an extensive hospital, all the expense of which—including Rs.
500 monthly to Dr. Erskine for supervision—he himself discharges. He has
increased the efficiency of the school founded by his brother the
ex-Raja, and it is now, as it should be, as much English as it is
Oriental. He has greatly extended the roads throughout the country, and
he is building two excellent bridges, which I went to see, over the Yena
and the Krishna. ‘I trust that he will be permitted to continue to
occupy the throne, for of the guilt of his brother, for which he has
been sent to Benares, there ought to be no doubt. You remember what
Captain G. told us at Goa, about the horses on which the Capitao General
and his suite were riding having been presented to them by the Satara
State, when the Raja asked the co-operation of the Portuguese in turning
the English out of the country. I have seen the letters’ of Don Manuel
de Portugal e Castro, the former Governor of Goa, to the Raja,
acknowledging his letters, and identified them by the signature, seal,
and other marks. I have also seen the communications of the ex-Raja of
Nagpore, and in a similar way identified them. Now, when it is kept in
mind that Pratap Singh was bound over by the treaty—on a breach of which
his possessions were to be forfeited—to abstain from all correspondence
with the different chieftains and States of India not sanctioned by our
Government, it must be seen that he has justly been deposed. It is much
to be regretted that so many benevolent and excellent men in England
have espoused his cause, and seem determined to make it the subject of
senatorial and popular agitation, instead of more worthy themes
connected with the welfare and amelioration of this great country. In
the number of the Asiatic Journal of August last you will see a very
full report of the debates which have already taken place on the subject
before the Court of Proprietors of India stock. Sir R. Campbell quotes a
note which I sent to Major Jervis about the Goa affair ; and Mr. George
Thompson makes such an absurd and improper comment upon it, that, with
my estimate of his Christian worth, I cannot conceive that he had heard
the little document read, which he entirely perverts. If he wishes to
establish for himself the character of a friendly advocate of the claims
of India, he must speak from a perfect knowledge of facts, and not from
vague impressions. He ' seems to insinuate blame against me for
presuming to form any judgment in the case at all; but he ought to have
observed that I was brought forward only as a witness, and to have
remembered that if missionaries do not give notice of any treasonable
movements which they may happen to observe, they are altogether unworthy
of that protection which is extended to them by the British Government,
which, with all its faults, is next to the offer of the Gospel
itself—which it facilitates—the greatest blessing ever conferred cn
India. I have been extremely sorry to observe several speakers
impeaching the motives and feelings of the commissioners sent to Satara
to aid the Bombay Government in its investigations. Colonel Ovans stood
in the most disinterested position which can be imagined ; and Mr.
Willoughby’s benevolence, so well evinced by his most able and
persevering efforts to abolish infanticide in Kathiawar, not second to
those of Walker himself, formed a good guarantee that the claims of
mercy would be consulted by him as well as those of justice.”
On his return to Bombay at the end of January 1842, he writes:—“I had a
most cordial reception, not only from my Christian friends but from
great numbers of the natives. The rush of the latter to bid me welcome,
and their sincere greetings on my recovery and restoration I am disposed
to consider as an indication that they are ready to avail themselves of
such ministrations as I may be able to render.” He at once announced a
new course of lectures on the Parsee religion, to prepare the community
for the appearance of his hook. Dr. Murray Mitchell hacl vigorously
conducted the Bombay Mission during his absence, a fact which he
gratefully reports to Dr. Brunton. On the session of 1842 Dr. Wilson
entered with such vigour that he wrote:—“I have seldom been able to do
more in the mission than during the last three months.” But the season
proved to be one of those periodical years of cholera which was “ most
extensive and fearful in its ravages.” One of the ladies at the head of
the female schools was struck down by the pestilence; the other, the
head of the boarding-school, soon followed her, and that when the loss
of Anna Bayne was still fresh.
Dr. Hugh Miller and others so pressed on Dr. Wilson the duty of taking
furlough after thirteen years of toil, that he agreed to make such
arrangements “ as will permit me, if I am preserved, to pay my promised
visit to the land of my fathers.” To Dr. Brunton he wrote thus on the
23d May, as if tempted to a prudent regard for his health and rest only
by the prospect of a far more extended tour, through Syria and Eastern
Europe, than he had yet made in India:—“ I begin already to long to have
the privilege of conferring with you and the committee about our wants
and wishes in this place, and pleading with the public on behalf of this
great country. I wish, however, to look at the Muhammadan delusion and
the Jewish unbelief of Asia near the centre of their influence as I
proceed to the West: and I know that you will not consider my movements
as aberrations in a missionary point of view, even though they should
prove somewhat extended and circuitous.” He was not to leave until
enabled by Captain, now Sir W. Hill, to announce the supply of funds for
another Scottish Mission in Tagpore, now the capital of the Central
Provinces, and to plan the organisation of that mission which was
established by Mr. Stephen Hislop a few years after. And he was
summoned, in the last busy weeks of his preparation for his departure,
to the counsels of the Bombay Government in the matter of Lord
Ellenborough and the proclamation regarding the gates of Somnath. He had
not long before visited the spot. He knew its history better than any
man in India; he understood, because he loved, the natives, Hindoo and
Muhammadan ; he held familiar intercourse with the highest English
officials. And, in the Satara case, he had just proved that his judgment
on political questions was as cautious as it was guided by the
principles of righteousness in every form.
When, early in the year 1841, Sir James E. Carnac ceased to be Governor
of Bombay, the official nominated as his successor was Sir William Hay
Macnaghten. Macnaghten was the Calcutta Secretary, whom Lord Auckland
and Lord Broughton had found to be the most enthusiastic advocate of the
evil policy of interference in Afghanistan. Blameless in life,
accomplished as an oriental scholar, for some time a judge of high
repute from his knowledge of the natives, and a hard-working secretary,
Macnaghten was sent to Cabul as the envoy to carry into execution the
mad scheme he had encouraged. During the seven ill-fated weeks when his
prepossessions cheated him, though not those around him, into the belief
that that policy had succeeded, he was rewarded by the Governorship of
Bombay, and he was arranging to leave Cabul for Western India, when the
catastrophe came. Sending for the three officers whom he always
consulted, though he too often refused to be guided by them, he
brusquely directed them to accompany him to a conference with the
hostile Akbar Khan, the favourite son of the supplanted ruler Dost
Muhammad. Colin Mackenzie, bravest of all the heroes of that time, but
the only one of them who, though a Lieutenant-General and C.B., still
remains unhonoured by the country he has served so long and so well,
remonstrated that it was a plot. “Trust me for that,” said the envoy,
who had hardly begun to talk when Akbar Khan himself shot him with one
of the pistols for which the assassin had just thanked him; Trevor was
also cut down; and Mackenzie and the third officer, now Sir George
Lawrence, escaped alive with difficulty, past a line of excited
fanatics.
A new Governor had to be selected, and he proved to be the amiable and
useful Sir George Arthur, Bart., who was thus rewarded for services in
the Colonies. As his private secretary the new ruler appointed a young
civilian, who, eight years before, in 1834, had been admitted to Dr.
Wilson’s friendship on his presenting a letter of introduction to the
missionary at Ambrolie. Henry Bartle Edward Frere had begun to redeem,
by his ability and industry in the Eevenue Department, the promise which
he gave at Haileybury. Over him, as over so many young officers in both
services, Dr. Wilson exercised a powerful influence, and hence few
public men in high position have so fairly represented the nature and
the importance of missionary work in India and Africa as he. In his case
the intimacy became friendship honourable to both. When Sir Bartle Frere
himself rose to be Governor, and with all the state of an Indian
proconsul would sometimes call on the simple scholar to introduce some
native prince and show the mission college, he used to recall the day
when, as a shy youth, he first ascended the Ambrolie stair to present
his letter to one who was even then beginning to be regarded with
reverence.
The unhappy Lord Auckland had given place to Lord Ellenborough, as the
Governor-General sent out to avenge and retrieve the disasters of
1838-40. Lord Ellenborough, in the delirium of a heated and an unequally
unprincipled policy, had with the one hand directed Generals Pollock and
Nott to “retire” without rescuing the noble men and women who were in
captivity, and with the other to bring back the gates of the Hindoo
temple of Somnath, which adorned Muhammad’s tomb at Ghuznee, that he
might declare, “ the insult of eight hundred years is at last avenged.”
On the 5th October the Commander-in-Chief, Sir Jasper Nicholls, saw the
first draft of the precious document known as “ The Proclamation of the
Gates,” and freely criticised it. Sir John Kaye, in his best book, The
History of the War in Afghanistan, states that it was published in its
English form on the 16th November. But it seems to have been first
referred to the subordinate Governments for opinion, for it had not
appeared in Bombay on the 2d December, as this note shows:—
“My dear Dr. Wilson.—When yon were in Kattywar did you visit the temple
of Somnath Puttun, the gates of which are about to be restored by Lord
Ellenborough, and in this case can you afford me any information on the
subject of its present condition, and how it is managed? The
notification that is about to be published regarding the gates of this
pagau temple will astonish the whole Christian world.—Yours very
sincerely, J. Willoughby.
“2d December 1842.”
On the next day Dr. Wilson was officially asked for information to
enable the Bombay Government to criticise it. The temple from which the
so-called gates had been taken, and to which they were to he restored,
was in their jurisdiction. In spite of the two months that had passed,
and of all the remonstrances and criticisms of those around him, it is
evident that Lord Ellenborough knew nothing accurately about the temple,
the gates, and their history. His ignorance was as profound as his
conduct was pernicious. Sir Bartle Frere thus confidentially wrote to
Dr. Wilson. Like Carey when called on to translate the order suppressing
Suttee, Dr. "Wilson spent the greater part of a Sunday in meeting this
urgent call in the service of religion and humanity.
“Parell, 3d December 1842.—Dear Sir—You are of course aware, that among
the trophies which have been brought away from Afghanistan by the
British army are the ‘Somnath Gates’ of Sultan Mahmoud’s tomb at Guzni;
and you have probably heard that it is the intention of the
Governor-General that, as a memorial of the triumph of our arms, they
shall be restored to the spot whence they were taken by the Guznivide
Sultau 800 years ago. As the Governor understands that, in the course of
your late tour through Kattywar, you visited the site of Sonmath Puttun,
and made particular inquiries regarding the history and antiquities of
the place, he will feel much obliged if you will let him know, for the
information of the Governor-General, in what state you found the ruins
of the ancient city. How many temples, and of what kind, are still in
existence—which of them is the temple whence the gates are said to have
been taken, and on what kind of evidence the conclusion of its identity
rests—who has charge of or control over it—what is its condition— who
are the ‘Poojarees,’ or persons who perform the usual ceremonies of
worship, etc.—and of which castes and sects the worshippers are
generally composed? If your inquiries established any other facts
connected with the history or present state of ‘ Somnath Puttun,’ which
yon think likely to be of interest to the Governor, he desires me to say
he will feel much obliged by your communicating them.—Believe me, dear
Sir, ever faithfully yours,
“H. B. E. Frere.”
So early as October, two months before this, Lord Ellenborough had sent
his proclamation privately to the Queen, in a letter filled with
historical mistakes and baseless native gossip, which thus closed : “
The progress of the gates from Ferozepore to Somnath will be one great
national triumph, and their restoration will endear the Government to
the whole people.” Two months after, on the 19th February 1843, he
announced to her Majesty, in similarly bombastic phrases, the arrival of
the gates at Delhi under the escort of five hundred Sikh troopers.
“All,” he wrote, “consider the restoration of the gates to be a national
not a religious triumph.” His Excellency had been taught by
remonstrances far less courteous than Dr. Wilson’s, to abandon the
religious argument which he had from the first paraded; while at home
the storm was rising, and all the efforts of his personal friend, the
Duke of Wellington, could not quell it. To the Governor-General himself
the Duke could not write more strongly than this: “I say nothing of the
Gates of Somnath, which is, I think, made a cheval de bataille”
The gates never got farther than the Agra arsenal, where they stand to
point the sneer against Lord Ellenborough. Mr. Vernon Smith, three
months after, faintly expressed public opinion in Europe, when he moved
in the House of Commons a resolution condemning the conduct of the
Governor-General in this matter as “unwise, indecorous, and
reprehensible.” The party of the accused, then in power, procured the
rejection of the motion; but in spite of all the great Duke’s influence,
that proclamation soon after led to its author’s recall. We cannot
altogether regret an act which was the occasion of Macaulay’s most
famous Philippic; his greatest, at once as a piece of eloquence and a
vindication of the principles of religious liberty applied to India. |
