split into two bodies, the conservative Brahmos, who
wanted to put new wine into old bottles, and the progressive Brahmos,
who desired new bottles as well as new wine. Both of them disapproved in
different degrees of the Hindoo ceremonials. The question had arisen
whether they could form legal marriages, and the doubts had been rather
increased than diminished by an opinion obtained by the progressive
Brahmos from the Advocate-General, Mr. Cowie. Thereupon they applied to
Government. Maine, who was then (1868) in office, came to the conclusion
that they had had a real grievance. Their creed, briefly, would
disqualify them from marrying, whereas we were committed to the
principle that varieties of creed should entail no civil
disqualifications. Maine accordingly prepared a bill to remove the
injustice. He proposed to legalise the marriage of all persons (not
Christian) who objected to conform to the rites of the various religions
of the country. The knot would be cut by introducing civil marriage into
India generally for all who preferred it. This proposal, however, met
with general disapproval when the draft was circulated among the local
authorities. The ground of objection was that it would introduce too
great a change into native customs. It would enable a man to 'play fast
and loose' with his religion; to cease, for example, to be a Hindoo for
the purpose of marrying, and to be a Hindoo again when he had married.
The Government admitted that this objection was conclusive.

When Fitzjames became member of Council, the matter was still under
discussion, and it became his duty to prepare a bill, which he
introduced to the Council in March 1871. This measure avoided the
difficulty by providing a form of marriage for the Brahmos alone. To
this, however, he found to his surprise that the conservative Brahmos
objected. The essential difficulty was that of every 'denominational'
system. The bill would give a certain legal status to a particular sect.
We should then be bound to provide similar measures for any new sects
that might arise and for marriages between adherents of different
creeds. There would have to be a 'jungle of marriage acts.' And besides
this there would be the difficulty of defining by law what a Brahmo
precisely was--whether the Progressives or the Conservatives were the
real Brahmos, and so forth. Finally, Fitzjames resolved to bring in an
Act resembling Maine's, but with this difference, that anyone who