mpared. Christianity was not held by the apostles to be
an impossibility because the professors of that faith bought and sold
slaves; it was not held so by their descendants for hundreds of years; and
will those interpreters of Christianity whom we have sent to India venture
to assert that the Americans had no right to the name of Christians until
the close of the late war? Slavery was driven out at length, or at least
in a great measure driven out, by Christianity; but Christianity,
remember, had first of all to be introduced; and taking into consideration
the acts of the apostles, the way in which they yielded to the customs and
prejudices of their converts, and the resolution they came to "not to
trouble those of the Gentiles who were turning to God," on what grounds do
our missionaries rest their claim to debar from the advantages of
Christianity those people who, wishing to retain their place in society,
desire to become Christians? This is not the first time that these
questions have been asked. They were asked at great length by Mr. Irving
in his "Theory and Practice of Caste." Hitherto they have been asked in
vain; and owing to the indifference of people in this country, and to the
slavish submission of the laity to the opinion of the missionaries, a
system of attempting to propagate Christianity has been allowed to exist
which has been of incalculable mischief. But I think we may even go
further than this. I think it may be asserted that the line taken up, as
regards caste, by our missionaries has acted more prejudicially to the
interests of Christianity than if we had deliberately dispatched
emissaries to India with the view of preventing the people from adopting
the religion of Christ. These may seem harsh, and I have no doubt they
will prove to be unwelcome, expressions of opinion. They will hurt, and I
am afraid will shock, the feelings of many a good and worthy man. I regret
that this should be so, but I cannot help it. In any case good must arise.
If I am right, as I firmly believe myself to be, the cause of
enlightenment and Christianity will be advanced; and if I am wrong, and it
can be proved that the missionaries are right, they will have as great,
and it may even be a greater claim to public support than they ever had
before. But it must be clearly understood that, as an individual desirous
of propagating truth, I have a right to demand an answer. If that answer
is satisfactory, well and good. If it is