works in Bengali, or as when, lately, I sent to Oxford, by request, copies of all Bengali translations from the Sanskrit; or when I have procured for missionaries, Government, Rajas, &c., Vernacular books of all kinds-I should have been a strange person, indeed, had my opinions harmonised with all the chaos of opinion in those various publications. Why! at the request of missionaries I have procured antiChristian works for them, as they wished to know what was written against Christianity.

I am charged with slandering English-women in the Nil Durpan. Now, waiving the point that it is only planters' wives the Native author refers to-I myself believe planters' wives are as chaste as any other females of English Society in India, and it was my impression that the author only referred to some exceptional cases, not giving them as specimens of a class of females. The view that I and others who know Oriental life have taken of this part relating to females is, it gives the Eastern notion of the high indelicacy of any woman who exposes her face in public, or rides out in company with a gentleman. I have heard such remarks made of my own wife; but I treated them as a specimen of village ignorance. Sir F. Shore in his "Notes on Indian Affairs" states instances of a similar kind, and Lieutenant Burton, who went disguised as a pilgrim to Mecca, mentions the greatest reproach the pilgrims there made against the English was, that they shook hands with their neighbours' wives! I regret, however, I did not append a note of explanation to this part.

I hold in my hand the first drama ever translated, and that by an illustrious Judge of this Court-Sir W. Jones, -in order to give a view of Hindu society. Similar service was rendered by Horace H. Wilson, by Dr Taylor and various other persons. I beg to say I was far from wishing to vilify planters generally, though from sincere conviction and enquiry opposed to the system. Thus, when summoned before the Indigo Commission, my evidence was considered even by the planters' friends as moderate and free from invective. I was elected a member of a sub-committee of the Calcutta Missionary Conference to watch the progress of the Indigo controversy, and it was never objected then that any of my actions in connection with this Conference on this subject were for the purpose of vilifying. I have never lived near planters, nor have I had any personal altercation with them that would lead me to a vindictive course.

I ask, when hundreds, yea, thousands of Bengali books were submitted by me during the last ten years to the notice of Europeans of influence, was the Nil Durpan to be the only exception? And wherefore? The ryot was a dumb animal who did not know his ruler's language. And at the time of this Nil Durpan appearing, matters on the Indigo controversy were assuming a threatening aspect; so it was important that men of influence should know that the wound was not a surface one, but requiring deep probing. Could I as a clergyman have withheld a work of this sort, which indicated some of the causes of the deep-seated aversion of ryots to Indigo cultivation? This work, the Nil Durpan, was sent to me as hundreds of Vernacular books have

been, because it is known in many quarters that I take a deep interest in Vernacular literature. Here is an illustration: these two Vernacular books were sent to me a few days ago from Benares-one Robinson Crusoe in Hindi, the other a Choral Book in Urdu. Almost every week I receive new Vernacular books, and I make a point of bringing them to the notice of Europeans on various grounds. Sir F. Halliday honoured my "Reports on the Vernacular Press" by publishing them; so did the present Government in the case of publishing my Sketch of Vernacular Literature; so did the Vernacular Literature, Religious Tract Society, Christian Tract and Book Society shew their confidence in publishing various works of mine.

I will now state the grounds why, as a clergyman opposed to war, I published the Nil Durpan. My Lord, four years only have elapsed since Calcutta was waiting in trembling anxiety for the result of the mutiny. Few could look with calmness on the future, while watch and ward were kept all night by the citizens. Many felt then, as I had long felt before, how unsafe it was for the English to reside in India in ignorance of and indifference to the current of Native feeling. The mutiny, in common with the Affghan war, has showed that the English in India were generally unacquainted with it; so a short time previous to the mutiny the Sonthal war burst out unexpectedly to the public. For a long period were thuggee and torture prevailing in India, without the English knowing any thing of them? Had I, as a missionary, previous to the mutiny, been able to submit to men of influence a Native drama which would have thrown light on the views of sepoys and Native chiefs, how valuable might the circulation of such a drama have proved, although it might have censured severely the treatment of Natives by Europeans; the indifference of sepoy officers generally towards their men; and the policy of Government to Native States. Such a drama might have helped to save millions of money and torrents of human blood in Kabul, where the authorities through a false security founded on ignorance of Native opinion, entailed a loss of fifteen millions sterling on the State, and the damage of England's prestige. Has Calcutta forgot the lessons taught by the mutiny? I ask, was it very malicious to reveal to the governing race the latent current of Native thought and feeling on the subject of indigo, which was convulsing the whole country, and threatening it with anarchy, incendiarism, and assassination? Would I have been justified to withhold contributing my mite at such a crisis to the great object of rousing men of influence by shewing them, from a native source, that the dissatisfaction was deep-seated, and that the wound must be throughly probed before healing measures could be efficacious.

My Lord, the mutiny has passed away; who knows what is in the future? And as a clergyman and a friend to the peaceable residence of my countrymen in India, I beg to state the following as a motive for my editing such works as the Nil Durpan. I for years have not been able to shut my eyes to what many able men see looming in the distance. It may be distant, or it may be near; but Russia and Russian influence are rapidly approaching the frontiers of India.

Her

influence so manifest in Cabul 20 years ago, as shewn in a recent parliamentary Blue Book, was beginning to be felt during the last mutiny; now she goes on the principle of divide et impera; previous to invasion she gains over the native population in various countries to her side. Could I, then, as a clergyman, have watched with apathy measures like those in connection with the indigo system, which were furthering this Russian policy, and which might lead to war and dissensions that would retard for a long period the progress of religion, education, and peaceful commerce. I now speak merely my own honest convictions on this point, and I ask if this conviction has any foundation in reality; as also if there be any ground for another as deeply rooted in my mind; that mere armies can no more secure the English in India than they established the Austrians in Italy. Was it not my duty as a clergyman to help the good cause of peace, by showing that the great work of peace in India could be best secured by the contentment of the Native population, obtainable only by listening to their complaints as made known by the Native press and by other channels. I pass over French views in the East, but I say, forearmed is forewarned, and even at the expense of wounding their feelings in order to secure their safety, -I wish to see the attention of my countrymen directed to this important subject.

As a missionary, I have a deep interest in seeing the faults of my countrymen corrected; for after a residence of 20 years in India, I must bear this testimony-that, of all the obstacles to the spread of Christianity in India, one of the greatest is the irreligious conduct of many of my own countrymen. Thousands of Natives have said to me, "We judge of the Christian religion by what your countrymen do, not by what they say; by the life not by the doctrine." For 20 years I have, as a missionary, been in close and confidential intercourse with Natives of all classes. Often and often has my spirit been harrowed and almost crushed by a close view of the condition of the ryot, his wants and his sufferings; shut out from that ability to read, without which the pages of inspiration are locked up to him. I can see in the improvement of his social condition a means of enableing him to enjoy the light of knowledge. I have circulated many pamphlets in England on "The ryot, his teachers, and torturers," and on the evils resulting from the ryots not having a sound Vernacular education. When I have not shrunk from exposing many social evils to which the ryot is subject, I beg to submit, could I have avoided, in my position, his sufferings for exposing the indigo system?

[The Chief Justice here stopped Mr Long, stating that the Court were willing to hear anything that he had to address to them in his defence. That it was not the length of the matter he was now reading but its substance they objected to as irrelevant. The remainder we give as from the M.S. prepared by Mr Long.]

Influential men in England have deeply sympathised with me on these points, and have said, "You and others that expose those recesses of human suffering and degradation must let us know the results," and I have been, my Lord, amongst those masses for years, and hope,

as long as I live, have a brain to think and a pen to write, to advocate the social elevation of the masses as incidental with the progress of mental and moral light. Should I not have been a traitor to the religion I professed, whose great founder's motto is, "The poor have the Gospel preached to them," had I not availed myself of all legitimate opportunity to bring the wants and sufferings of the ryots, and the feelings and views of Natives generally to the notice of men who had the power of remedying them? It may be called too political a course, as some now unduly restrict that term; but Christianity itself is political in the extended sense; for in the early ages it assailed the slavery of the Roman Empire; in the middle ages it afforded an asylum to the serfs against the oppressions of the feudal chiefs; at the period of the Reformation it brought freedom to the peasant's home; and in modern days it has abolished slavery in the West Indies; it has protested against American slavery, and is now throwing its mantle of protection round the aboriginal tribes throughout the world. In 1856, I delivered an address in Calcutta to the friends of Missions "Peasant degradation an obstacle to Gospel propagation." No one then objected to that address on the ground of its being political.

on

My Lord, I am sustained in this course by the convictions of, I trust, an enlightened conscience, and confidently relying on the continued sympathy of many friends both among the European and Native community, and of all in India and Great Britain, who desire to see India governed, not merely for the advantage of its fluctuating population from Europe, but for the benefit of and with considerate regard for, the feelings and interests of the 180,000,000 Natives over whom stretches the aegis of the Queen and Parliament, I know I shall have the sympathy of good men, the friends of the Natives, in India and in England, and of all those throughout the world who believe in the indissoluble connection of spiritual and intellectual improvement.

My Lord, a Court of Law has decided that the work is a libel, and it is my duty to submit to that verdict and to act accordingly. My conscience convicts me however of no moral offence or of any offence deserving the language used in the charge to the Jury. But I dread the effects of this precedent. This work being a libel, then the exposure of any social evil, of caste, of polygamy, of Kulin Brahminism, of the opium trade, and of any other evils which are supported by the interests of classes of men may be treated as libels too, and thus the great work of moral, social, and religious reformation may be checked.

My remarks are ended my Lord. I beg to hand in an affidavit. [The affidavit put in was the printed "statement" which had appeared, pending the trial, in the columns of the Friend of India.]

THE BIBLE TEXT CYCLOPÆDIA.*

BY THE REV. JAMES INGLIS.

SINCE the first publication of Cruden's Concordance, no book has appeared equal in value to the present Bible Text Cyclopædia, as an aid to the Student in obtaining a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. Examination of the volume convinces every one that the work has been performed in a spirit of perfect honesty and unrelaxing industry. Nothing but the habit of perseverance and skilful arrangement, continued for a long period of time, could have furnished so excellent an Index of subjects, alike concise, methodical, and exhaustive; yet giving the texts in full, so as to afford at one view the accumulation of authorities in the sacred record for substantiating whatever doctrine is sought to be investigated.

It is a handsome volume of 524 double-columned pages, strongly bound in cloth,-each column containing about 75 lines of close but clear type. The quantity of printed matter is large, and the classification of subjects is so masterly, natural, and convenient, that scarcely any difficulty can be felt by persons consulting it. We feel that praise ought not to be extended sparingly to a work like the present, and yet if we said all that we desire to say in commendation, the praise might seem excessive. Gratitude will be rendered to the author the Rev. James Inglis of Johnstone-by many a reader, clerical or lay, who consults his volume. Without intending to disparage formal expositions of difficult passages, we believe that guidance will be found more safe and available for the disentanglement of long-harassing perplexities, in the simple exhibition of all the texts that bear on the matter, as given in the volume now under consideration.

In his Preface, the author thus speaks regarding the plan and execution of his work:

"This work, it is believed, will be found to differ materially from any Cyclopædia, Dictionary, or Index to the Holy Scriptures hitherto published: its title, 'THE BIBLE TEXT CYCLOPÆDIA; BEING A COMPLETE CLASSIFICATION OF SCRIPTURE TEXTS, IN THE FORM OF an alphabetICAL INDEX OF SUBJECTS,' distinctly expresses its character. The following is the general plan which has been observed in its preparation.

"1. EVERY SUBJECT will be found in it which has a place in the Sacred Volume, whether Doctrinal, Devotional, Practical, Ecclesiastical, Historical, Biographical, or Secular. The name of every person and place connected with any historical event is given, but where such names occur only in Topographical or Genealogical Tables they are omitted. Among the subjects are some of considerable importance which do not appear in any other Cyclopædia.

*The Bible Text Cyclopædia; a complete Classification of Scripture Texts, in the form of an Alphabetical Index of Subjects. By the Rev. James Inglis, author of "The Sabbath School and Bible Teaching." Edinburgh: Gall & Inglis, 6 George Street; and W. & C. Inglis, 46 Hanover Street. Glasgow: G. Gallie. London: Houlston & Wright. 1861. Pp. 524.

VOL. XXXI.

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