The Life of William Carey, Shoemaker & MissionarySmith, George
Religion
The Life of William Carey, Shoemaker & Missionary
Smith, George
Carey, William, 1761-1834; Missions -- India
This opinion would have been sufficient to give the requisite native
excuse to Government for the abolition, but the Nizamat Adawlat judges
urged the "principle" of "manifesting every possible indulgence to the
religious opinions and prejudices of the natives," ignoring morality,
reason, and humanity alike. Lord Wellesley's long and brilliant
administration of eight years was virtually at an end: in seven days he
was to embark for home. The man who had preserved the infants from the
sharks of Sagar had to leave the widows and their children to be saved
by the civilians Carey and he had personally trained, Metcalfe and
Bayley, who by 1829 had risen to Council and become colleagues of Lord
W. Bentinck. But Lord Wellesley did this much, he declined to notice
the so-called "prohibitory regulations" recommended by the civilian
judges. These, when adopted in the year 1812, made the British
Government responsible by legislation for every murder thereafter, and
greatly increased the number of murders. From that date the Government
of India decided "to allow the practice," as recognised and encouraged
by the Hindoo religion, except in cases of compulsion, drugging, widows
under sixteen, and proved pregnancy. The police--natives--were to be
present, and to report every case. At the very time the British
Parliament were again refusing in the charter discussions of 1813 for
another twenty years to tolerate Christianity in its Eastern
dependency, the Indian legislature legalised the burning and burying
alive of widows, who numbered at least 6000 in nine only of the next
sixteen years, from 1815 to 1823 inclusive.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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