brought up the report of this Bill. On the question that it be now received,

presented himself to the House, and stated, that though at the present period of the session, and in the present stage of the Bill, he had but little hopes that any thing that fell from him could impede its further progress, he felt it his duty to enter his solemn protest against the measure, as fraught with the most ruinous consequences to both countries. No advantage would arise from it to the trade of this country, as the natives had succeeded in fabricating most of our manufactures, and in the province of Bengal there was a native capital of 16 millions in the funds of government, which would effectually annihilate all competition on the part of private trade. The only way to prevent which would be to prohibit the natives from engaging in commercial pursuits. On the subject of convert- ing the natives to Christianity, he should observe, that when men were conscious to themselves of benevolent intention they were apt to be carried away by intemperate zeal, which frequently defeated the object it had in view. The hon. gentleman then proceeded to refer to the evidence delivered at the bar, by philosophers, statesmen, and soldiers, commencing with Mr. Hastings, all of whom had been hostile to the idea of intermeddling with the religious opinions and principles of the natives. Their own code, the institution of Menû, was sufficient to give them a rule of moral conduct, and if the bramins saw their religion attacked, it would provoke the most inveterate hatred. The Mahometans were about one-tenth of the population of India, and they were the most uneasy under the British government, as it had deprived them of that ascendency they had formerly enjoyed. Nothing was more to be deprecated than any event that might induce them and the Hindoos to make common cause, and nothing so likely to produce this effect as any attempt at conversion. The missionaries had from their own press published an address to all the inhabitants of India, announcing their intention to preach to them new faith, and calling upon them to renounce the superstitions of their ancestors. This was surely an act of great imprudence, and had as such been censured by the government. If such things had been done formerly, it was not likely that, under the provisions of the present Bill, they would be less frequent now. He was sorry to see that the civium ardor, he would not say prava jubentium, had urged ministers to adopt that clause. The hon. gentleman again warned the House of the dangers that might attend the measure, and at the same time of the improbability of success. He, for one, should be willing to run some risk, if he thought the blessings of a pure faith could be imparted to the Hindoos; but of this he totally despaired, and was convinced that the government of India alone, and not the British parliament, could secure the happiness of the population of that country.

conceived that a clause was wanting in the Bill, and without which it could not well pass into a law. He alluded to the want of sufficient duties to protect the West India produce from a competition with the same commodities coming from the East Indies. When the former charter was granted to the East India Company, the West India colonies were sufficiently protected, and they naturally looked for similar protection in the present instance. He was sure it was enough for him to mention the subject to have it taken into consideration by the noble lord, to whose candour he confidently appealed. He did not mean to press the question in the present instance, but he thought it would be satisfactory if the noble lord would declare that the intention of government was to lay such duties on sugar and coffee coming from the East Indies, as, in the opinion of the trade, would be sufficient to protect the West India produce.

said, that the question had been very fairly put to him by the hon. gentleman; the subject had certainly engaged the attention of government, and their determination was, to protect the West India colonies as formerly; but they had thought it more advisable to put off all commercial regulations till the next session.

said: If I have not hitherto intruded myself upon the attention of the House, during the discussion of the India Bill, I can assure you, Sir, that it has not arisen from any indifference to the subject. Having passed many years of my life in India, it is not natural that I should be insensible to any thing which relates to the interests of that country, or to the welfare of its inhabitants; but from the opening speech of the noble lord, upon the introducing the Resolutions under which this Bill has been framed, I was led to believe that the attention of parliament would have been directed, in the first instance, to the paramount duty, as it was called, of providing for the peace, prosperity, and happiness, of that mass of population which has been brought under our controul and made subject to our government in India. The noble lord told us, "That a greater and more important question never came under the consideration of parliament than India presented, that we were legislating for the happiness of a great empire, and that he trusted the decision of parliament would erect a proud and lasting monument to the character of the British legislature." Could any man suppose that these high sounding terms in the preface, were to be dwindled down in the sequel, to the narrow limited views of settling the commercial squabbles between the merchants of the out-ports, and the merchants of the port of London—could any man have supposed, that all the great questions relating to our empire in India, its revenues, its police, its administration of justice, protection to the cultivator, encouragement to the manufacturer, and all the various relations and bearings, in which the happiness of millions was so deeply implicated, should have been wholly set aside and abandoned, for the purpose, as it now appears, of sacrificing the East India Company to the commercial clamors of the out-ports? Can any man now doubt, that the whole scope, aim, and object, of the proposers of this measure has been to lay the East India Company prostrate at the foot of the Board of Control, grasping the immense patronage of the Eastern empire into the hands of the minister, establishing an overbearing, controlling system of licensing, and thus at one stroke sweeping away all those constitutional barriers, which have hitherto, upon the renewal of every India charter, been so anxiously set up, and so jealously interposed, to protect, and guard the people, from the undue influence of the crown. Before I enter upon the principle of the Bill, I must advert to the unbecoming precipitancy with which this measure has been hurried to its present stage; papers damp from the press, placed into our hands in the moment of decision, nay in some instances never came into our hands, till after we had been called upon to exercise that judgment, they were intended to inform. The very important Resolution which related to the exclusive trade to China, foisted upon the House, already exhausted by previous debate, at the late hour of 2 o'clock, and passed without a discussion; and this very Bill which is now to be read a second time would, but for the holiday incident of last Friday, been pressed upon us for decision, before the Bill in its amended state was itself out of the press. There is another point I would advert to, the defective state of the evidence; absurd indeed, as it may appear, to advert to evidence in a case, where evidence has been so wholly disregarded, for I would challenge the records of parliament to produce a Bill so directly in the teeth of all evidence, as the present Bill: but surely we had a right to expect, that those who claimed a participation in a free trade to India, would have produced some evidence to shew, what they had to substitute in lieu of that trade they sought to destroy; we had a right to expect evidence, to shew, that the revenue of the country would not be in- jured, by the measures they proposed to adopt; but all this evidence was suddenly waved,—waved as I conscientiously believe, because it could not be satisfactorily produced, but waved upon the declared and avowed pretence of not impeding the progress of that Bill they so anxiously sought to obtain. The noble lord, in stating the ground work of this Bill, affirmed, "That the commerce of India was become too great for the Company, that the capital of the East India Company was inadequate to the exigencies of their situation, and that it was absolutely necessary to pour in the national capital into the trade to India, for the relief of the Company themselves; that it was important so to renovate and improve the resources of India, as to render them beneficial to this country; that India wanted capital:"—That India wanted capital is most certain, that a country always under drain must be ultimately, exhausted, no one can doubt. But let us see how this Bill provides a remedy. From the evidence on the table, two points are irrefutably established; first, that the export trade to India cannot be materially increased; 2dly, that an unrestricted admission of Europeans into that country will be dangerous. If, then, the trade to India differs so essentially from the common principles of commerce, that it cannot by possibility be made a trade of barter, how, I would ask, are we to pour the national capital into India? How are the resources of India to be improved and renovated? Certainly not by the observations of this Bill; it can be effected only by the exportation of bullion. It is bullion that is wanting to put into a state of activity the productive powers of India; and here let me observe a very popular, but a very mistaken argument, which has been plausibly advanced. Why not place the British merchant upon the same footing in India with the foreign merchant? Is it to be endured, that the inhabitants of every other country should be permitted to trade to India, and our own merchants alone be excluded? Why not place the British merchant at least on the same footing with the American? The answer is obvious. The British merchant cannot place himself on the same footing with the foreigner, or the American; they take seven parts in ten of their outward investment to India in bullion; this makes them welcome guests there. Let our own merchants do this, and they will be received with open arms in every port in India. Does this Bill provide any such remedy? The merchant from this country, will under this Bill, go to India with trifling export cargoes, provide their home investments, under a system of remittance, thus adding to, rather than relieving the distresses of India, with this additional and aggravated injustice, they will be enabled to be competitors with the East India Company themselves, and that too with the Company's own property. With regard to the China trade, no one, after the admission of an unrestricted intercourse of Europeans with the Indian seas, will question the facilities with which teas may be procured from China; and the only question is, whether you can by any revenue arrangements, prevent the smuggling of teas into England: all the evidence proves the improbability of this being attainable; common sense will tell you that it is impracticable, for if you cannot prevent smuggling in a given tract of ocean, from the Land's End up the British Channel to the mouth of the Thames, how are you to guard against it, in the whole circumference of seas which surround these islands. The principal consumption of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales will be smuggled teas; it is a delusion to suppose, that you can preserve the tea trade entire to the Company; it is a delusion on the public to hold out, that the revenue will not be materially injured.

Sir; I cannot omit to remark upon some popular prejudices which have prevailed against the East India Company; they are stigmatized with the epithet of monopolists, without, as I conceive, a due regard to their origin, or to their present situation; their monopoly was originally granted to them for the public benefit, and it is but fair to ask, whether it has produced it. Through all the varied vicissitudes of nearly two centuries, they were undoubtedly pure monopolists; nobody was found to claim a participation with them in the drenchings at Amboyna; they were left in the undisturbed possession of the Black Hole in Calcutta, they had the exclusive privilege of fighting single-handed against all the powers of Europe, who had got a footing on the peninsula of India. But now that they have with a valour almost unexampled driven every hostile European from the continent of India, now that they have acquired an extent of territory of nearly 4,000 square miles, brought under the government and controul of this country a population of sixty millions, have realized a revenue of sixteen millions, have raised an army of 150,000 men, erected fortresses, established factories, and completed an immense empire, swept the Indian seas of every hostile flag, and possessed themselves of a sea coast of 3,000 miles in extent, with all the facilities of commerce, now it is, that the liberality of the British merchant claims an unqualified participation in a free trade to India; now the wisdom of the legislature interposes to render inefficient that instrument by which these acquisitions have been attained, and the equity of the British parliament is now about to refuse to secure even the dividends of that capital stock, which has been sunk in the public service; now it is discovered, that 24 merchants are very unfit persons, not to manage the government, (for that they are admitted to be peculiarly qualified for) but to manage the commerce of these dominions; they are merchants and monarchs, they are sovereigns and traders. Sir; the mischief of blending and combining these two characters in the same body, is no new idea; it was ably stated, together with other most important matter, in a letter of Mr. Francis to lord North, as far back as 1777, taken up and dilated afterwards by the superior powers of Mr. Burke, in his celebrated Ninth Report, and has again been brought into notice by an elegant political essay of lord Grenville. But I would ask, how did the East India Company become monarchs? Parliament knew they were merchants, why did they permit them to become sovereigns? And, Sir, if the natives of India are oppressed by this mixed character in our Indian government, what has this Bill provided for their relief? The case of the East India Company is really curious; they have for these last fifty years been expending their capital, incurring an enormous debt, sacrificing their commercial interests, their primary and legitimate object, as a subordinate and secondary consideration, to the acquisition of extensive territorial possessions; to one acre of which you now tell them, they have not a shadow of right. The parliament having encouraged, supported, recognized, and at length applauded the system of extending territory, is it fitting that the Company should be reproached with that state of things, which parliament created? They are now told it is a deception to talk of any existing rights they possess, that their charter was granted for a limited period, that expired, the legislature was bound by no previous grant, fet- tered by no existing laws; that the Company have neither commerce or territory which they can call their own, and that all that remains to them is, their being an incorporated body of merchants, with a right to trade to India, in common with all his Majesty's subjects; thus degraded in political estimation, thus disgraced in commercial character, thus elbowed out of their trade by interlopers of every description, they are still to be left in the nominal management of an extensive empire. What will be the consequence? Eternal sources of mischief will arise, encroachments on the one hand, resistance on the other; a new class of society will produce a new order of things, the government of opinion in India will be no more, and thus this Bill, which the noble lord (Castlereagh) told us was to produce a proud and lasting monument to the character of the British legislature, will, I sincerely believe, produce a lasting monument of disgrace to the administration which is thus precipitately passing it into a law. I shall vote against the Report being received, believing, that in the present advanced stage of the session, it would be more prudent to bring in a short declaratory Bill on the 1st and 2nd Resolutions, in order to give stability to your governments in India, reserving the details of the measure to be enacted in the next session of parliament.

said, that the Bill was far from being what he wished it; but the Company had gained something from the delays which had taken place by the discussions, and from the evidence offered at the bar of both Houses. Adventurers would not now be so ready to seek their fortunes in India, where they would assuredly meet their ruin: so far the danger of the Company had decreased. Their dividends, too, had been secured, not, perhaps, in so direct a way as he could have wished; but this was another point gained. At the same time he appealed to the House not to put on the directors a responsibility too heavy for the means they would leave in their power to encounter, and to bear them out of every difficulty into which their decision might plunge them. He, however, in the present instance, would give no decisive opinion, whether the Company ought to accept the Bill or not.

The Report was then read. The Amendments were next read a first time, and on the Speaker proceeding to read them a second time,

in pathetic terms, prayed that the House would not sanction that clause of the Bill which gave full toleration to missionaries to proceed indiscriminately from this country to convert the Hindoos from a religion, to the doctrines of which they were so much attached. He would not say that they were particularly averse to the Christian religion, but they were so much attached to their own, that any attempt on our part to alter their opinion would not only endanger, but ultimately subvert our government in India. So strong were his objections to the clause, that he should feel it his duty to move, that the preamble be omitted.

said, that, after the full discussion which this clause had already undergone, and after the distinct manner in which the sense of the House had been so frequently declared in its favour, he did not expect the subject would have been again renewed. He did not apprehend that more danger was likely to accrue, or so much indeed, from this measure being in the shape of a positive enactment, than if it simply remained upon their Journals, Where it had already been placed by the assent which was given by the House to the Resolution which in 1793 was submitted to their consideration. By the clause, a restrictive guard was placed upon the missionaries who were to go out; and the free exercise of their religion was guaranteed to the natives, in so clear a manner, that he thought the measure was more calculated to give satisfaction than to elicit discontent; and with this impression on his mind, he certainly should feel it his duty to give it his warmest support.

had already so frequently troubled the House on this subject, that he felt most reluctant to again present himself to their attention; yet, in the present stage of this question, he thought it necessary to say a few words in opposition to this clause, towards which he entertained the same hostility as ever. He had that morning received two letters from gentlemen, who were intimately acquainted with the manners, habits, and language of the natives of Hindostan, and from them it appeared, that the introduction of Christianity into India would be attended with the worst possible effects; and this, he was convinced, was the opinion of ninety-nine out of every hundred of those who were at all acquainted with India. Had not the examination of the witnesses at the bar of the House been prematurely stopped, he had no doubt that they would have distinctly proved the truth of this assertion. Indeed, he did understand that this examination was to have been renewed at some future period; and why that pledge had not been redeemed, he should like to be informed. In all events, he felt it his bounden duty to give every opposition in his power to the clause.

declared that he had never said this inquiry was to be renewed at a future period.

did imagine that such a pledge had been given, and was surprised it had not been fulfilled.

said, if it was wished that any further inquiry should take place, those gentlemen who entertained such a wish, had it in their power to submit a motion to the House for that purpose.

understood that the examination upon this point had only been deferred, and by the use of the term deferred, he did think it would have been resumed at some future period.

said, that the permission complained of was in itself perfectly innoxious, as no power was granted to compel the Hindoos to change their religion. He felt extremely sorry to hear gentlemen of great talents opposing the diffusion of Christianity over any part of the world. Their speeches could not be soon forgotten, but he conceived them as brilliant examples of superlative talents misapplied. The House was bound to continue the permission granted to missionaries by former acts of parliament, to prevent the Hindoos from committing the very atrocities so much apprehended by gentlemen who spoke on the other side. What respect could we command from a people whom we should now deprive of the benefits of a religious education which former parliaments declared to be essential to their happiness? If the great obligations of religion impressed upon our minds the duty of instructing our subjects of other countries in its doctrines, should we put it in the power of an enemy to say, that we neglected so useful a duty from a pusillanimous tear of danger to our commercial interests? Should we, who possessed the sovereignty of so vast an empire in India, tremble at a proposition to diffuse a religion which the government of every other country in Europe took pains to extend over their limited territories? So far were the natives in general from being averse to the Christian religion, that, as appeared from the evidence before the House, a very great number on the Malabar coast had been converted, under the direction of one individual, in a very short time; and so great was their attachment to the new religion, that it was found extremely difficult to restrain them in the effervescence of their zeal, from destroying Gentoo images which they had formerly worshipped. How, then, could it be said that an attempt on our part to extend the benefits of Christianity to the Indians would endanger the massacre of the European inhabitants? He denied that the mutiny at Vellore was occasioned by the professors of Christianity in India. It was proved on the contrary, that that lamentable event was produced solely from the severities inflicted upon the native troops to compel them to discontinue the outward characteristic marks of their casts. The hon. and learned gentleman then expatiated at length on the immoralities so habitual to the lower classes of Indians, which he chiefly attributed to their ignorance of Christianity. In confirmation of that opinion, he would quote a charge of the late Recorder of Bombay (sir James Macintosh) to the grand jury, wherein that learned gentleman in glowing terms, deplored the prevalence of perjury, and other offences, so habitual in India, to their ignorance of the Christian religion.

though he professed himself to be as friendly as any man to the propagation of Christianity, objected both to the clause and the preamble as a legislative measure. The clause to which this preamble had been prefixed originally referred to nothing else but the right to trade; and it was most apparent that the preamble and clause were really inconsistent with each other; and he contended that the preamble was wholly unnecessary. The object would be as perfectly attained if the preamble were omitted, as if it were suffered to remain. There were two points connected with the subject, which he should always maintain: first, to endeavour to disseminate the religion he professed; and next, not to make such an attempt, at the hazard of other people. And, when gentlemen who had passed much of their time in India, on being questioned, stated that an attempt to introduce Christianity, in the way proposed, might be attended with fatal effects, he could not help feeling considerable alarm. The question was not whether the propagation of Chris- tianity was to be allowed, but whether the intention was to be proclaimed aloud, in a manner calculated to excite the passions and prejudices of the natives. He would therefore be cautious, in introducing Christianity amongst them, not to put to hazard the British interests in India, as well as the lives of a great number of persons. He was perfectly ready to afford every facility to religious persons for proceeding as missionaries to India, but he felt insuperable objections to such facilities being made the object of legislative enactment.

contended, that if the preamble were omitted, the inference would be, that the legislature were hostile to the performance of that, which, by their Resolution, they had agreed to do; that they had completely changed their minds, and now saw great danger in that course of proceeding, from which they originally augured none. The gentlemen who, on former occasions, had opposed the interference of the legislature, in the manner proposed, had argued, that the Hindoo religion was so pure, as to render it quite unnecessary to introduce Christianity amongst them. But the right hon. gentleman proceeded on a different view of the case: he did not object to the propagation of Christianity, but to the means which were to be employed. But surely the right hon. gentleman must know, that, for 20 years, a resolution had remained on their Journals, recognising the necessity of disseminating the Christian religion in India. That resolution was put into the Bill of 1793, but unhappily the House was prevailed upon by arguments similar to those that had been used on the present occasion, to strike it out. By doing this, it was supposed that the legislature had expressed an opinion hostile to the reasoning of those who supported the clause; and major Scott Waring had actually stated that the sentiments of the legislature were so expressed. Now, if the preamble were omitted, it would be giving up all that they had in view. And though the right hon. gentleman and a few others, might see the matter in its true light, and be aware that the opinion of the legislature was not hostile, yet the general feeling of the country would be different. The right hon. gentleman should also recollect, that this proposition went to introduce light, and knowledge, and science among the people of India. Indeed, from the dissemination of knowledge amongst them, he hoped that the doctrines of the Christian religion would meet with a more general reception, than even the labours of the missionaries could produce.

supported the amendment.

The House then divided: For the amendment 24; Against it 48; Majority 24.

A short conversation then took place between lord Castlereagh, Messrs. R. Smith, Rose, Atkins, and Forbes, on the clause allowing for a certain period the entrance of India built shipping into this country. Two amendments were proposed by Messrs. Rose and Smith, which were inserted, and the clause was then agreed to. On the clause relative to the appropriation of territorial revenue for investments, Mr. R. Smith proposed a clause, which, on the suggestion of lord Castlereagh, and after some observations from lord A. Hamilton and Mr. Tierney, he agreed to withdraw till the third reading of the Bill, to give his lordship an opportunity of examining it. The clause equalizing the service, either in India or in the college of Hertford, and allowing persons to receive certain salaries, after a limited period, caused some conversation, and the House divided upon it: For the clause 45; Against it 16; Majority 29.—Mr. R. Smith proposed, that copies of all regulations made in India, should be laid before the House annually, which was agreed to.—The report of the other clauses were then received; and lord Castlereagh moved, that the Bill be read a third time to-morrow. To this Mr. R. Smith, and Mr. P. Moore made some objections; but the noble lord's motion was agreed to, without a division.