CHAPTER XVIII. Public Profession of Attachment to the Christian Faith by the Government of India.—Suppression of Sunday Newspapers in India.-Important Influence of the Institution of the Sabbath in Heathen Countries. Observations on the State of Religion in British India.-Lord Wellesley ordains a Day for a Public Thanksgiving.—Account of the Solemnities observed on the Occasion.-Sermon of the Rev. Claudius Buchanan, &c. WE have already seen that Lord Wellesley had prohibited the publication of newspapers on Sunday. His Lordship's motive in taking this step, in connexion with other regulations, was, that the due observance of the Christian sabbath, without interfering with the rights, duties, obligations, or prejudices of the native population, should act morally on the mind of India, in utter unacquaintance with the nature and character of the true God. Apart from all cant or pharisaical formality, the sabbath is a blessed institution in any land, and has justly been assigned* as one of the great springs of European civilization ;— "Sweet Sabbath morn! Soft steal thy bells upon the tranced mind, What heart communes not with the day's repose, But great as the influence of the institution of the * Guizot's Lectures, &c. sabbath on a community like our own unquestionably is, if we reflect, we shall see that it is designed to have a ten-fold greater influence in a land peopled by a race in ignorance of revealed religion. The observance of the sabbath is essentially a public acknowledgment of belief in the God who made the heavens and the earth; and the institution of the christian sabbath necessarily implies a profession of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Every seventh day, therefore, an unostentatious proclamation of the true God was made in India; the recurrence of a day of rest and refreshment for man and beast, after the labour of the week, necessarily awakened curiosity and inquiry among the heathen dwellers in the British territory. However questionable, therefore, what is called sabbath legislation may be in this kingdom, we are inclined to think that Lord Wellesley performed his duty as a Christian governor in the regulation which he directed in his letter to Sir Alured Clarke, which has formed the subject of a separate chapter. Lord Wellesley knew the character of the native population too well to attempt, or sanction, any indiscreet intermeddling with the deep-rooted prejudices of the Hindoo and Mahommedan races; he wisely refrained from unnecessary interference with their religious feelings; but trusted to the slow and silent operation *To such a length was this fear of hurting the prejudices of the natives, or interfering with their religious feelings carried, that up to the year 1845 the British Government in India were bound to punish with deprivation of goods, &c., according to the provisions of the Hindoo and Mohammedan laws, a native who became a convert to the Christian religion. The lex loci of Sir Henry Hardinge, Bart. has happily put an end to this unjust and anomalous practice, of the truth; feeling that the surest way to impress the natives of India with a persuasion of the Divine origin of the gospel of Christ, was for the christian population to exhibit a regular observance of public worship, and, what is of far greater importance, an habitual performance of the moral duties enjoined by their more pure and elevated religion. Lord Wellesley conceived that it was the duty of the British Government in India to make a public official profession of allegiance to the author of christianity; and while it observed the most cautious reserve in respect to the religious prejudices of the natives, and acted upon principles of the most comprehensive and generous toleration, not to conceal the fact from the subjects of the British Crown in Hindostan, that the British Nation were worshippers of the God of heaven. Guided by these motives, shortly after his Lordship's return to Calcutta, Lord Wellesley ordained that a day should be set apart for a public and general thanksgiving for the various successes which had attended the British arms in the tremendous struggle for national existence in which the crown and people of this empire were then engaged. The following is an official account of the observance of the solemnity. "Fort William, February 13th, 1800. "ON Thursday last, the 6th of February, being the day appointed by the proclamation of the Right Honourable the Governor-General, in Council, to be observed as a day of general thanksgiving to Almighty God, for the late signal and important success obtained by the naval and military forces of his Majesty and of VOL. I. A A his allies, and for the ultimate and happy establishment of the tranquillity and security of the British possessions in India, the Right Honourable the GovernorGeneral, accompanied by the Chief Justice, the Commander-in-chief, the members of council, and the Judges of the supreme Court of Judicature, and by the public officers, civil and military, proceeded to the New Church, to return thanks to God for these great mercies and blessings. His Lordship proceeded on foot from the Government-House to the church, at about half an hour past six o'clock in the morning, through the Council-housestreet, which was lined by the body-guard, the native troops in garrison at Fort William, and Calcutta Native Militia, and the avenues into the streets through which his Lordship passed were guarded by parties detached from the above corps. The Right Honourable the Governor-General was preceded by all the public officers, civil and military, and at the entrance of the church was met by the Chaplains attached to the Presidency. The prayers which were selected for the occasion were read by the Rev. David Brown, the senior chaplain, and the sermon was preached by the Rev. Claudius Buchanan. The Te Deum and appropriate anthems were sung. Divine Service being ended, the Right Honourable the Governor-General, the Chief Justice, the Commander-in-chief, &c. &c. returned in their carriages. Three royal salutes were fired from the ramparts of Fort William; the first, on the Governor-General's setting out; the second, during the celebration of the Te Deum; and the third, on his Lordship's return. The guns from the ramparts of Fort William were answered by several ships in the port. A great concourse of the native inhabitants of Calcutta were assembled in the streets during the proof the Right Honourable the Governor-General, from the Government-House, and on his return. gress At three o'clock in the evening, divine service was performed in Fort William, for the European troops in garrison. The European and native troops in garrison fired three volleys from the ramparts of Fort William at sun-set. At the same hour the Calcutta European militia, cavalry, and infantry paraded on their usual ground of exercise, and the last mentioned corps fired three volleys. On this solemn occasion, all the persons (amounting to upwards of sixty in number), confined for debt in the prison of the Court of Requests, were liberated in the name of the Honourable Company, the respective sums for which they were imprisoned having been discharged by order of the Governor-General in council. Orders were also issued by his Lordship in council, for the discharge of the debts of several persons confined in the Calcutta gaol." "MINUTE OF COUNCIL, FEB. 11. "Ordered that the thanks of the Right Honourable the Governor-General in Council, be given to the Rev. |