the Kingdoms of Cuc/i/n and Travancoye. 81 



throughout every part of the extende<l countrv. The Roman 

 cathoHc religion, niv lord, I beHcve I may say, without of- 

 ftnce to truth or charity, has ahnost always been made a po- 

 litical engiue in the hands of its governments ; and \vc must 

 be blinded indeed by our own confidence, if we do not cal- 

 culate on its being so used in this great and rich cnnntry, 

 where it has established a footing amongst an ignorant peo- 

 ple; especially when it is so well understood that our eastern 

 possessions have been a subject of the greatest jealousy to 

 ail the rival nations of Europe. In my humble opinion, my 

 lord, the error has been in not having long ago established! 

 free-schools* throughout every part of this country, by 

 which the children of the 'natives might have learned our 

 language, and got acquainted with our morality. Such an 

 establishment v.-ould, ere this, have made the people at large 

 fully acquainted with the divine spring, from whence alone 

 British virtue must be acknowledircd to flow. This would 

 have made them better acquainted vyith the principles by 

 which we are governed; they would have learned to respect 

 our laws, to honour our feelings, and to follow our maxims ; 

 whereas they appear to me, generally speaking, at tliis mo- 

 ment, as ignorant of their masters as on their first landing 

 on these shores. I speak not of interfering with their re- 

 ligious prejudices, or endeavouring to convert the natives by 

 an extraordinary effort on the part of the British govern- 

 ment. Conversion, in my opinion, must be the conse- 

 quence which would naturally flow from our attention to 



* To give Engliili morals to the natives in their purity, we must, I imagine, 

 make tlicm read English books. Translations have hitherto been very defec- 

 tive in the ditTerent country languages; besides, they must be extremely cir- 

 cumscribed ivi number. I do not think the natives will come to us freely but 

 to learn English. This they coasidcr as the key to fortune ; and, en the coast, 

 the most strict of the bramins will have little hesitation, as far as I can karn, 

 in permitting their cliildrrn to attend a free- school for the purpose of learning 

 j; ; for they despise Ui too much to suppose there is any danger of overturn- 

 ing the principles of braminism. But their ill-founded, ridiculous principles 

 must be shaken to the very foundation by the conimiuiicaiiou of such hber.il 

 knowledge as a Christian can instil into the niind; of youth, .ind fix thcr? by 

 means (<f English hooks; and all this without niak':)|; any 'alarming attack 

 direcllv on the religion of the Hindoos. 



Vol. 29. No. !13. Oft. I8O7. F their 



