§ Sir R. Inglis, having presented petitions upon the subject of Idolatry in India, said he would take that opportunity to put the question on this subject, of which he had given notice, to the right hon. Baronet, the President of the Board of Control. The right hon. Baronet, on the 26th of July, of the year 1838, said, that as far as it depended upon himself, he thought the time had arrived for the discontinuance of the connexion of the East India Company with the system of idolatry. The right hon. Baronet had stated that an official representation should be sent out, such as would render it impossible for any functionary in India to make a mistake. He wished to know whether such a despatch had been addressed to the government of India—what was the result of such despatch at the different presidencies—whether it had worked well at the Bengal presidency, and worked differently at Madras? And, if so, whether any censure had been passed upon the government at Madras, and whether measures had been taken to stimulate that government to the performance of its duty? And the last question he had to ask was, whether the right hon. Baronet would feel it his duty to give to or withhold from the House a copy of the despatch addressed under his sanction by the East India Company to the respective presidencies?
§ Sir J. HobhouseIn answer to his hon. Friend's first question, he could tell him, that not ten days had elapsed after he gave the positive assurance mentioned, ere he did his best, as far as he was concerned, to carry his wishes into effect. On the 8th of August, 1838, a despatch was sent out from the Court of Directors of the East India Company to the Government of India upon the subject, the concluding words of which were these:—
We further desire that you will make such arrangements as may appear necessary for relieving all our servants, whether Christian, Mahomedan, or Hindoo, from the compulsory performance of any acts that may justly be considered liable to objection on the ground of religious scruples.In consequence of that despatch having been sent to the government of India, and in consequence of several private recommendations made by himself to the government there, Lord Auckland applied himself at once to the subject of the Pilgrim tax. That tax had been abolished 1025 last year at Alahabad, and he had the satisfaction of stating, that by the last mail he had received the draft of an act of our Indian government for the total abolition of the Pilgrim tax. In answer to the question whether he had any objection to lay before the House the proceedings of the Government in India, he could inform the hon. Baronet that not only had he no such objection, but he should think it his duty, not only for the satisfaction of the curiosity of his hon. Friend and others, but in justice to the Governor-general of India. With respect to the other question, as to the government of Madras, it was his duty to inform the House that the Governor-general of India had addressed instructions to the minor presidencies of Bombay and Madras, in order to effect the objects that had already been brought about at Bengal. He had received a private communication upon this subject from the Governor-general, from which he would take the liberty of reading an extract. Lord Auckland, in a letter dated March, 1839, and which was half private and half public, said this:—I know nothing, in Bengal, of such processions as those which the Bishop of London alludes to, nor are there any such, as far as I am aware of, in Bombay. It is only at Madras, where there are two or three native princes resident, who have been dispossessed of power, but left with the style and title of Royattes, that any such processions occur. I will write again to Lord Elphinstone on the subject; and I am sure he is working steadfastly, with every disposition to advance as fast as may be honestly and safely ventured.This was the answer he had to give to his hon. Friend with respect to the government of Madras. It was his duty, however, to tell the House that information had reached him which satisfied him that the governments in India were carrying into effect the wishes of the home authorities. Before he sat down, he might as well inform his hon. Friend, that there was greater difficulty upon this subject in the way of the government of Madras than in that of the other presidencies. There were in the presidency of Madras many pagodas, having large revenues; and in order to prevent those revenues from being applied to objects other than those which the founders intended, the collection of them had in many cases been taken from the natives and given to British subjects. It had 1026 occupied the anxious attention of the Government how best to transfer the care of these endowments from British subjects to natives, without suffering them to be diverted from the charitable purposes for which they were intended. That was the real difficulty that prevented the adjustment of the question in the Madras presidency, and he hoped that the Government would soon be able to overcome it. On the subject of the attendance of troops at idolatrous processions, he would not trouble the House, as by moving for papers he could convince the hon. Baronet, that the apprehensions entertained by him on this subject were not altogether well founded. The chief complaint related to the attendance upon the Rajah of Travancore, when he went on certain occasions every year to the pagoda of Travancore, and when British troops, as well as native troops, were drawn up to do him honour. He had received a private assurance from the officer commanding those troops, that they did not suppose, they were drawn up to pay honour to an idolatrous or religious ceremony, but merely as an escort for the Rajah. They were not permitted to enter the pagoda, or sacred precincts; on the contrary, they were kept at a considerable distance, in order to show, that they had nothing to do with the religious ceremonies. He would take an opportunity of moving for papers, which he was sure would convey a satisfactory answer upon all the points to which the hon. Baronet alluded, and at all events he trusted, that the fact of so much having been done would be taken as a guarantee, that they meant hereafter to proceed in the same course, until they had accomplished the object they had in view. He would move for the papers in a day or two.
§ Sir R. Inglissaid, that nothing could be more satisfactory than his right hon. Friend's answer as respected the two presidencies of Bengal and Bombay, and he trusted, that it would be equally satisfactory in another year as far as related to Madras.—Petitions laid on the table.