*i in thinking well of him. And let me here remind the honour-
" able member, tliat Dr. Buchanan did not, at least, act like a
*' man who wished to deceive the public, and to obtain their
" assent to a false proposition ; for Dr. Buchanan published
<^ that very work, which states most fully and particularly
<^^ all the great circumstances of Hindoo enormity, while he
DR. BUCHANAN. 485
«* yet resided in Bengal, and the book was in circulation
" there a year or two before he quitted that country. He
<• himself presented to the supreme government of India a
<< copy of this work ; I nipan his Memoir in favour of an Ec-
" clesiastieal Establishment for India ; by wiiich he drew as
<* much attention to the subject as he could, and, at least,
" manifested his desire that the real truth should be ascer-
*^ tained. And in justice to Dr. Buchanan, I must observe,
<*^that, notwithstanding the unjust and illiberal aspersions
*< which have been thrown out in a general way against him,
" I have never yet heard him distinctly charged with any
^< specific mistatement of any fact which he has brought for-
«« ward."
To Mr. Lushington and Sir Henry Montgomery, Dr. Bu-
chanan wrote privately in vindication of his sentiments re-
specting the Hindoos. A copy of his letter to the former
gentleman is here introduced, not merely for the purpose of
defence and explanation, for this is by no means necessary,
but to shew his exemplary mildness and forbearance under
violent and undeserved reproach.
" Kirby Hall, Borobridge, 29lli June, 1813.
'^ Sir,
*' I do myself the honour to address you for a moment, in
<* consequence of my having been informed that, on a late
" occasion in the House of Commons, you censured my state-
'' ments concerning India as being unchristian and unjust ;
<« or in terms to that effect. Had such a stricture been made
<' by a person who was hostile to the introduction of Christ-
*« ianity into India, I should have paid no attention to it ; but
" coming from respectable authority, and from one who is
<« friendly to that measure, I think it due to him and to my-
•' self to offer some explanation.
" As you are an advocate for instructing the natives of
" India, I must think that you approve in general of my en-
<* deavour to give some account of the state of tlie people, and
•« of the nature of their superstition ; for, without some ac-
186 MEMOIRS OF
*♦ count of this kind, how sliould our nation ever be excited
*« to interest itself humanely in their behalf? I must believe,
^< then, that you do not object to the giving such account, but
** only that you disapprove of the manner in which it is done.
« I am not conscious that there is any thing intemperate in
« my manner of writing. Had I been intemperate, the na-
" tion would not have listened to me. It remains, then, for
<< me to believe, that you advert to some insulated facts sta-
"ted by me, which you consider untrue. If you will have
" the goodness to refer me to any book, or other respectahlc
*< authority, which plainly invalidates any particular fact, I
" shall be happy to publish the authority in the next edition
*' of my work, and to confess my mistake. I assure you, it
<' will cost me no more to retract an error publicly than to
*< write this letter. My only ohject is to promote the cause
" of truth in the world, by legitimate means. My own fame
*< (since all men possess not the same information and prin-
<"* ciples, and cannot be equally pleased) ought to be of little
** moment, and is, I hope, a secondary consideration. But
<*Ibeg you will do me the justice to remember, that on
*< these subjects there is a great diversity of opinion, even
" among those who are adverse to my general views.
« Scarcely two persons from two different parts of India will
'* be found, who will give the same account of what they have
''* seen and heard. Nor is agreement to be expected in descri-
** bing the various nations extending over three thousand
« miles of territory. But as to those passages in my own
" work which you characterize as unchristian or unjust, I
« am at as great a loss to know which they are, as if you
'^ had charged them with high treason.
^« I understood some time ago, that the statement in my
<< publications which chiefly provoked animadversion, was
« that which referred to the burning of women. But you are
•« aware on what authority 1 ]>ublished that account ; and, I
•< presume, you are informed, that subsequent indubitable
•'« statements yt^vy far exr^ncd it, a!id set this question en-
^* tirftlv at rest.
^ DR. BUCHANAN. 487
" Probably you may have not heai'd, that a work lias been
•'< recently published in Bengal, in four volumes quarto, en-
•* titled a History of the Religion^ Manners, and Literature
<*of the Hindoos, which has been bought up with avidity in
" India, has already passed through two editions in that
*< country, and is now publishing at home. It was printed
" under the immediate eye of the Bengal government, (as
" you know it necessarily must be,) and possesses an un-
<* questionable authenticity on the various subjects concern-
«* ing which it treats. It takes the liigh ground of literal
** translations from the Hindoo books, recent facts, and liv-
« ing witnesses. Now this work not only confirms my state-
•'•' ments in almost every case which was controverted, but
" goes far beyond them. In describing the atrocities con-
" nected with the burning of women, self-devotement, and
" the impurity of the Hindoo worship, I find I have scarcely
*• entered the vestibule. Will those, then, who pause at my
" statements, be able to assail this authority ?
<* There is another consideration, to which I would re-
<^ quest you would advert. Speculative strictures on the cha-
<* raeter of the Hindoos constitute a very inconsiderable por-
" tion of my writings. In three publications concerning In-
'•' dia, I do not think that criminatory reflections on the Hin-
<« doo character in the abstract would occupy three pages. I
" treat, in general, of entirely diff*erent subjects. It was not
« till the other day that I was induced to give an exposition
" of a radical principle of an impure character in the Hin-
" doo worship ; and tliat exposition would certainly never
<< have been given, but for the statement of Mr. Buller.
" From his representation the nation would have been left
« to conclude, that the indecent emblems on the temples of
*« the Hindoos have no evil effect on the morals of the peo-
<« pie. Now if I was entirely convinced that the contrary
<* was the truth, would it have been right in me to aid, by
" my silence, the promulgation of such an error?
<^ I would flatter myself, that when you have read this
••' letter, you will be disposed to consider the object of my
4S8 MEMOIRS OF .
•* writings iiiorc tiivoui'ably. There is a particular reason
*• why I \\ ish to obtain from you an expression of approba-
'<tion."
Here Dr. Buchanan introduced a reference to the charge
which he had received from the late Sir Stephen Lushing-
ton, on his going out to India, which has been already men-
tioned in these Memoirs. He then continues as follows.
'« If you will do me the honour at your leisure to look
^< through my writings, I think you will approve the motives
<« and general design ; and I hope yon will pardon par-
<^ ticular aberrations. If you do not, I shall regret it ; but
" I bear no resentments ; and shall trust that time, wiiich
«* produces great revolutions in sentiment, will abate, and
*' not increase, your unfavourable opinion.
** I have the honour to be. Sir,
<* Your most obedient
' «' and humble Servant,
" C. Buchanan.-'
« To S. R, Lushington, Esq, M. P."
Such was Dr. Buchanan's temperate and satisfactory ad-
dress to Mr. Lushington. To Mr. Buller's allegations, he
thought it necessary to reply more publicly.
This gentleman perceiving in the course of the examina-
tions which took place in the House of Commons, that the
enormities practised at Juggernaut had made a deep impres-
sion on the minds of many members, deemed it his duty,
from his personal and intimate knowledge of the subject,
with a view of effacing that impression, to address a letter
to the Court of Directors of the East India Company, in-
tending that it should be laid on the table of the House ;
where it accordingly soon afterwards made its appearance.
Mr. Buller's letter contained a plausible defence of the tax
on pilgrims resorting to tlie temple of the idol in question,
and an attempt to palliate the atrocities alleged by Dr.
Buchanan to be customarily committed during the celebra-
tion of the Rutt Jattra. Of the indecencies said to be exhib-
DR. BUCHANAN. 4S9
ited there, he professed his total ignoranee.a This vindica-
tion of Jugt^ernaut was prohably intended, together with the
defence of the Indian government, to discredit the testimony
of Dr. Buchanan in tliis particular point, and thus to pro-
duce a general distrust of his statements. The failure of
this scheme shall be given in the words of a writer in a val-
uable periodical publication before alluded to ; which nobly
redeemed its pledge given some years since, never to aban-
don the sacred cause of promoting Christianity in India and
throughout the world ; and to whose pages in the year 1813
the author gladly i»efers, for a complete and masterly view
of this whole subject.
*< Had it pleased Providence," said the Christian Obser-
ver,b " that the severe illness with which Dr, Buchanan
" has recently been visited had either deprived the Church
<« of his valuable life, or reduced him to an incapacity of
•« employing his pen in her service, it would obviously have
^< been difficult, if not impossible, to have effectually defen-
" ded him from this assault. But while the pressure of
" disease confined him to his couch, and almost denied his
*^ tongue its office, the use of a hand was spared to him,
^< and his mind retained its more than youthful vigour. In
« a few days his reply to Mr. Buller was in the hands of
" every member of the House of Commons ; and it may be
'i considered as no unfair presumption that the reply was
" complete and satisfactory, that in the parliamentary dis-
" cussions which afterwards took place, not the most distant
*» allusion was made to the letter of Mr. Buller, by any of
" his friends, although it cannot be doubted that, when first
"produced, it was intended to serve important purposes in
« debate. We do not deny that we may be fairly susjiected
<^of feelings of partiality towards Dr. Buchanan. Our
a If Dr. Buchanai^'s representations of this point needed any support, we might
resort to the coincident and unconscious testimony of the Danish missionaries, par-
ticularly that of Mr. Hutteraan, which is contained in tlie Report of the Society for
promoting Christian Knowledge for the year 1762.
h Review of Buchanan's Apology for Christianity in India, ml, xii. p. 648
490 MEiMOIRS OF
'* cordial respect for liis character, and our gratitude lor
** the important services he has rendered to the Christian
*' cause, may very possibly give a bias to our sentiments in
<* his favour. We think, however, that Iiad we been mista-
" ken in attributing to liis reply correctness of statement
<*and solidity of reasoning, we shoidd ere this have heard,
♦*that either in Parliament or out of it, some one of those
*< Anglo-Indians, who have been accustomed never to pro-
'< nounce his name without some expression of vituperation,
•* would have accepted the challenge of his friends, and have
•• descended from the convenient but impotent generality of
•• hard names, to the specification of some particular mis-
»' tatements of fact/'
. As soon as Dr. Buchanan's reply to Mr. Buller's letter
had thus produced its intended effect in the House of Com-
mons, he prepared to publish it, together with some other
documents, to the world. It accordingly appeared in the
course of the summer under the following title ; <« An Apo-
•*logy for promoting Christianity in India: containing two
<* Letters, addressed to the Honourable East India Compa-
<^ ny, concerning the Idol Juggernaut ; and a Memorial pre-
<^ sented to the Bengal Government in 1807, in defence of
<f the Christian Missions in India. Printed by Order of the
" Honourable the House of Commons. To which are now
*< added. Remarks on the Letter addressed by the Bengal
" Government to the Court of Directors in reply to the Me-
" morial. With an Appendix, containing various official pa-
•• pers, chiefly extracted from the Parliamentary Records
•• relating to the Promulgation of Christianity in India."
This valuable and interesting volume is so well known,
and is still so accessible, that it would be unnecessary to do
more in this place than refer those who may be desirous of
investigating the important subjects of which it treats, to
the perusal of its various contents. Two passages, how-
* ever, deserve to be extracted. One is from the close of the
first letter to the Court of Directors ; and is worthy, as it
DR. BUCHANAN. 49 j
has been justly observed, of so distinguished a combatant in
tliis field of saered warfare.
*< The annual waste of human life, from the causes that
'^ have been mentioned, in the territories under the domi-
<* nion of the Honourable the East India Company, is a sub-
" ject of appalling contemplation. Every friend of humani-
" ty must be often putting the question, Is this scene to con-
•^^ tinue for ever? Can there be no melioration of human ex-
" istence in India? Are there no means of mitigating the
" anguish of reflection in England, when we consider that
" the desolations of Juggernaut exist under our govern-
^* ment ? Yes, we answer, tliere are means. We have seen
" with what avidity the holy Scriptures are received by the
*^ pilgrims. These pilgrims come from every part of India ;
<' some from Cabul, a distance of sixteen hundred miles,
" and some from Samarchand. They are the representa-
*< tives of a population, amounting, as we have seen, to ^ two
" hundred millions.' They are of every caste, and many of
«* them of no caste at all. The Bible is, by the inscrutible
<< providence of God, at hand : it has been translated into
" the languages of India. Would it not, then, be worthy of
" the East India Company to order ten thousand copies to
'' be distributed annually at Juggernaut, in any manner that
«« prudence would justify and experience direct, as a sacred
" return for the revenue we derive from it, if it should be
" thought right that that revenue should still be continued ?
" The Scriptures would thus be carried to the extremities
'« of India and the East. Is it possible that the shadow of
*« an objection should arise against such a measure, innoxi-
^< ous, as it is humane and heavenly, in its tendency ? Are
" we afraid that * the wretches who come to lay their bones
" within the precincts of Juggernaut' would mutiny and
<« take atvay our dominion ? Would not the consequence be
^< rather, that ^ the blessing of Him that was ready to perish'
" would rest upon you ?"
The other passage which it may be right to quote from
the volume in question, is the following general defence by
Dr. Buchanan of his Memorial to Lord Minto, with which
^9g MEMOIRS OF
the Bengal Government was so much offended, and wliich
did not escape the more gentle reprehension of the Court of
Directors.
" Of the accuracy of the facts stated in the Memorial, I
<< think there can be little doubt. I challenged inquiry bc-
*• fore I left Calcutta; but tiie government did not think it
** necessary to investigate tliem. They wrote their Letter
<* to the Court of Directors while I was yet on the spot,
»< without communicating their sentiments to me in any
*« manner, although I was on terms of personal civility with
« every member of the administration ; and they sent the
" letter home without my knowledge by the same fleet which
" conveyed myself, Nor did I ever see it, until it was re-
<< cently printed by order of the Honourable the House of
" Commons.
<* The second remark I would make refers to the charge
*' « disrespect' which is preferred against me, in the letter
<« alluded to, for addressing government at all on the sub-
** ject ; and to which they frequently revert witli lively sen-
*< sibility. I am not at all anxious about self-justification in
'< this matter, except as the honour of religion may be con-
^'cerned : and I hope little personal feeling will be visible in
*' these Remarks. But in regard to the charge in question,
*' I only request that the Bengal government will look back
•« to the transaction, and survey the nature of the subject
'' and the circumstances in which I stood. Let them say
*^ whether I had any personal interest in the cause at issue.
<< Did I address government for my own advantage? Was
" it to recommend myself to the favour of the Court of Di-
" rectors when I returned home ? No. It was not my own
<« cause, but that of Revealed Religion, which I maintained.
<« Christianity had been dishonoured. Its teachers were op-
<< pressed and silenced ; and there was nobody to appear for
" the truth. I stood for a moment the representative of
*< ^ Him who is higher than the highest.' And is this to be
" denominated disrespect ; especially when the words of my
<« Address are perfectly respectful? I think that in the
♦< judgment of candour and of enlightened minds, it will be
DR. BUCHANAN. 49^
*• thought that I barely did my duty. The public voice in
« the settlement of Calcutta was certainly in my favour ;
" for the proceedings against tlie missionaries were very
•^ generally condemned.'*
It will now be necessary to return to the more private his-
(ory of Dr. Buchanan, and for this purpose to recur to his
letters to various friends. The following extracts are part-
ly of a general nature, and partly refer to the subjects which
have been lately discussed.
*< To Colonel Sandy s»
"Kirby Hall, July 29, 1813.
'* Many thanks to you for your letter. The last eleven
•« years have indeed been eventful to you and me ; and it is
'* possible that the next eleven (whether in heaven or earth)
^' will be equally marvellous. My health, concerning which
*' you inquire, continues, we hope, to amend ; but it will be
*« long before I obtain much strength, even if there should
♦< be no relapse of paralysis, which can only be known to
" Him who * said to the sick of the palsy. Thy sins be for-
*< given thee.' If I am able, I must go up to Town about the
*< end of autumn or the year, to superintend the publication
•* of some Syriac works which I have commenced, viz. New
" Testament, Grammar, and Lexicon.
« Since Mrs. Buchanan's death I have enjoyed more dis-
<^ tinct views of the heavenly state than I had before ; and
" have attained to more emphasis in prayer. So far that
*< event has been blessed to me. May the fruits of righte-
" ousness grow and increase to the end, even as they do
«* with you and the faithful children of God in every place !
^« I rejoice to hear that you and your family are well. As
<« for the spiritual state of those you love, that must be for
<^ the trial of your faith and hope, even unto the end. * Re-
<« member David and all his trouble.' Children seldom shew
" signs of grace until they grow up. David had one hope-
<* ful son, Solomon ; and he became an idolater. What may
" have been his end is not well known. But I think the
^< Preacher became a monument of grace.
4^4 MEMOIRS OF
" I am not surprised that Lord — was sick when you
♦^ addressed a letter to him on Cliristian subjects. He is as
•* remote from the right way as poor and . And
" yet even these may be converted by Him who made tlie
" world before they die."
<' To Z. Macaulay, Esq.
" Kiiby Hall, August.
" I thank you for your letter of the 2d inst. and was much
** pleased with your favourable account of Mr. G's exertions
*« in the Christian cause. He gave me the perusal of his ad-
*^ mirable book a few days before I went to India ; and I
«* know not whether it did not lay some foundation in my
" mind for future investigations.
** I approve most highly of your patronizing Dr. John's
♦< plans of native schools. They are properly Mr. Swartz's
« plans. See the defence of them in the last Church Mis-
*< sionary Register. I visited some of the schools, patroni-
<* zed by government, and witnessed their operation. They
" may be justly termed * Mediate Schools' for christianizing
<* the Hindoos, though their effects be not immediate. I had
" the same plan in view in proposing the numerous schools
<« attached to the Ecclesiastical Establishment in my last
" work."
'* Kirby Hall, August 20.
" I only received copies of the ^ Apology' yesterday. The
^< editorial part reflects great credit on your attention ; and
(i the various improvements which I mark in many places
<« demonstrate your kindness to me, and affection for the
*« cause in which I have been engaged.
« The battle is now, I hope, over ; and I would gladly
« forget all tliat is past, and turn my face Zionward, for the
*< rest of my pilgrimage.
<« Neither Sir Henry Montgomery nor Mr. L. has conde-
»« scended (as the Scotch say) on a single instance of mis-
'« tatement in my volumes. As to what Mr. L. has alleged
•< which Mr. Smith should consider not defensiblef I have not
*< the smallest idea ; unless it be, as Home Tooke says,
•« < eating little children alive without being roasted.' "
DR. BUCHANAN. 495
" Kirby Hall, 8th September.
«* The strange circumstance of your being at a watering-
<^ place, doing nothing but batiiing, mounting hills, and look-
<* ing down on the tumult below, induces me to write you a
** few lines in tlie style of Pope, that is, about nothing.
*< What labours of mind that man Pope achieved in doing
" nothing ! And yet he thought he did something. But Ho-
<^ race did as much as he. Johnson flattered himself he did
^« a little more for virtue and the chief good than the other
*^ two. But, alas ! he, like they, < knew not the way to the
^« city;' and in vain attempted to shew it to others. But I
" am likely to fail in writing a letter in the style of Pope,
" and shall therefore approximate a little to business.
'< 1 had a letter from lately, accompanying a present
<* of his book on India. He had been reading my Apology,
<^ and says he thinks my tw^o letters to the Court of Direct-
" ors, particularly the second, and my remarks on the letter
^' of the Governor General in Council, < are the best of my
ff controversial pieces.' He adds, « I am the more glad of
^' this, because it is an evidence that your long course of ill-
^« ness has not affected your mental powers, whilst it may
" have invigorated qualities of a still more important kind.'
" It is certain, however, that I have suffered from my ill-
<< ness. JVon sum qualis eram. Would that this were true
" in the other sense to which he alludes ! He further says,
«* * Something seems yet wanting to expose to the public the
<* irreligious spirit w hich has animated the Anglo-Indians in
" the whole of this question of introducing Christianity into
" the East.'
'' I have answered, that I would not be an assailant any
" more. I seek peace and an oblivion of past scenes; and
<* have suggested that he himself might probably have lei-
" sure now to send forth a few pages on that subject.
" mentions that one of the Directors, * who is now
•^ removed to another world,' was a violent enemy of mine.
•• 1 do not know what is his name ; and so little have I been
<« in the habit of inquiring what is passing abroad, that I did
^* not know I had such a thing as a personal enemy in the
<* world."
496 MEMOIRS OF
The two next letters were addressed to Colonel Macau-
lay ; and while they manifest the lively interest which the
writer continued to feel in the great work of diffusing
Christian knowledge, it will be a subject of regret that the
voyage in question was not accomplished either by himself