imposts on foreign produce, and the harassing regulations of the excise, which prevent a free intercourse with foreign nations-the keenness of our merchants and manufacturers in accumulating wealth and amassing immense fortunes for the purposes of luxury-the eagerness with which our Landholders endeavour to keep up the price of grain, although the poor should thus be deprived of many of their comforts-the poverty of one class of our clergy and the extravagant incomes enjoyed by others -passing the consideration of these and similar characteristics, I shall only mention one circumstance which appears altogether inconsistent with our character as a Christian nation, and that is, the revenues derived from the support of IDOLATRY in India, and the encouragement thus given to the cruelties and abominations of Pagan worship.

In another age, it will perhaps scarcely be believed, that Britain, distinguished for her zeal in propagating the gospel throughout the heathen world, has, for many years past, derived a revenue from the worshippers of the idol Juggernaut, and other idols of a similar description at Gya, Allahabad, Tripetty, and other places in Hindostan. From the year 1813 to 1825, there was collected, by order of the British government, from the pilgrims of Juggernaut alone, about 1,360,000 rupees, or £170,000; a great part of which was devoted to the support of the idol, and the priests who officiated in conducting the ceremonies of this abominable worship. Dr. Buchanan, in his "Christian Researches," states, from official accounts, that the annual expense of the idol Juggernaut presented to the English government as follows:

In the item "wages of servants," are included the wages of the courtezans, or strumpets who are kept for the service of the temple. Mr. Hunter, the collector of the pilgrim tax for the year 1806, told Mr. Buchanan that three state carriages were decorated that year, with upwards of £200 sterling of English broadcloth and baize.

The following items show the gain of this unnatural, association with idolatry at some of the principal stations appropriated for idol worship.

Net receipts of pilgrim tax at Juggernaut for 1815, at Gya for 1816,

Do.

Do.

at Allahabad, for 1816,

Do.

Do.

Rupees.

135,667

182,876

73,053

5,683 152,000

Rupees,* 549,279

Mr. Hamilton, in his "Description of Hindostan," as quoted by Mr. Peggs, in his "Pilgrim tax in India," states with respect to the district of Tanjore, that "in almost every village, there is a temple with a lofty gateway of massive architecture, where a great many Brahmins are maintained, partly by an allowance from government. The Brahmins are here extremely loyal, on account of the protection they receive, and also for an allowance granted them by the British government of 45,000 pagodas or £18,000 annually, which is distributed for the support of the poorer temples," a sum which would purchase one hundred and eighty thousand Bibles at two shillings each! Can any thing be more inconsistent than the conduct of a professed Christian nation in thus supporting a system of idolatry, the most revolting, cruel, lascivious, and profane? Yet a member of the parliament, C. Buller, Esq., in his letter to the Court of Directors, relative to Jugger

*A Rupee, though generally considered to be only the value of half a crown, yet is reckoned in the case of the pilgrims of India. to be equivalent to the value of one pound sterling to an inhabitant of Britain, so that, in this point of view, rupees may be considered as equivalent to pounds.

naut, in 1813, says, "I cannot see what possible objection there is to the continuance of an established tax, particularly when it is taken into consideration what large possessions in land and money are allowed by our government, in all parts of the country, for keeping up the religious institutions of the Hindoos and the Mussulmans."

The scenes of Juggernaut and other idol-temples are so well known to the British public, that I need not dwell on the abominations and the spectacles of misery presented in these habitations of cruelty. I shall only remark that, from all parts of India, numerous bodies of idol-worshippers or pilgrims travel many hundreds of miles to pay homage to the different idols to which I have alluded. A tax is imposed by the British government on these pilgrims, graduated according to the rank or circumstances of the pilgrim, and amounting from one to twenty or thirty rupees-which, according to the estimate stated in the preceding note, (p. 71), will be equivalent to one pound sterling to the poorest class of pilgrims. Those journeying to Allahabad, for example, are taxed at the following rates. On every pilgrim on foot, one rupee. On every pilgrim with a horse or palanquin, two rupees. On every pilgrim with an elephant, twenty rupees, &c. Vast numbers of deluded creatures flock every year to these temples. In 1825, the number that arrived at Juggernaut was estimated at two hundred and twenty-five thousand, and in some cases they have been calculated to amount to more than a million. The deprivations and miseries suffered by many of these wretched beings are almost incredible. Dr. Buchanan, who visited Juggernaut temple in June, 1806, gives the following statement. "Numbers of pilgrims die on the road, and their bodies generally remain unburied. On a plain near the pilgrim caravansera, 100 miles from Juggernaut, I saw more than 100 skulls; the dogs, jackals, and vultures, seem to live here on human prey. Wherever I turn my eyes, I meet death in one shape or other. From the place where I now stand, I have a view of a host of people, like an army encamped at the outer gate of the town of Juggernaut,

where a guard of soldiers is posted, to prevent them from entering the town until they have paid the tax. A pilgrim announced that he was ready to offer himself a sacrifice to the idol. He laid himself down on the road before the car as it was moving along, on his face, with his arms stretched forward. The multitude passed him, leaving the space clear, and he was crushed to death by the wheels. How much I wished that the proprietors of India stock would have attended the wheels of Juggernaut, and seen this peculiar source of their revenue! I beheld a distressing scene this morning in the place of skulls; a poor woman lying dead, or nearly so, and her two children by her, looking at the dogs and vultures which were near. The people passed by without noticing the children! I asked them where was their home? They said they had no home but where their mother was. O there is no pity at Juggernaut! Those who support his kingdom, err, I trust, from ignorance; they know not what they do."

"The loss of life," says Colonel Phipps, who witnessed this festival in 1822, "by this deplorable superstition, probably exceeds that of any other. The aged, the weak, the sick, are persuaded to attempt this pilgrimage as a remedy for all evils. The number of women and children is also very great, and they leave their families and their occupations to travel an immense distance, with the delusive hope of obtaining eternal bliss. Their means of subsistence on the road are scanty, and their light clothing and little bodily strength, are ill calculated to encounter the inclemency of the weather. When they approach the temple, they find scarcely enough left to pay the tax to government, and to satisfy the rapacious brahmins; and, on leaving Juggernaut, with a long journey before them, their means of support are often quite exhausted. The work of death then becomes rapid, and the route of the pilgrims may be traced by the bones left by jackals and vultures, and the dead bodies may be seen in every direction."

The Rev. W. Bampton, in an account of this festival, VOL. VI.. -7

in July, 1823, states, "in the front of one of the cars lay the body of a dead man; one arm and one leg were eaten; and two dogs were then eating him; many people were near, both moving and stationary, but they did not seem to take any notice of the circumstance. I went to see the pilgrims, who, because they could not pay the tax, were kept without one of the gates. In the course of the morning, I saw, within a mile of the gate, six more dead, and the dogs and birds were eating three of them. Five or six lay dead within a mile of the gate. A military officer pointed out a piece of ground, scarcely an acre, on which he had, last year, counted twenty-five dead bodies." Mr. Lacey, a missionary, who was at the festival in June, 1825, states, "On the evening of the 19th, I counted upwards of sixty dead and dying, from the temple, to about half a mile below-leaving out the sick that had not much life. In every street, corner, and open space-in fact, wherever you turned your eyes, the dead and the dying met your sight. I visited one of the Golgothas between the town and the principal entrance, and I saw sights which I never shall forget. The small river there was quite glutted with the dead bodies. The wind had drifted them all together, and they were a complete mass of putrefying flesh. They also lay upon the ground in heaps, and the dogs and birds were able to do but little towards devouring them." Such horrid de-tails could be multiplied without number; every one. who has visited such scenes of misery and depravity,. gives similar relations, some of which are still more horrible and revolting. With regard to the number that perish on such occasions, the Rev. Mr. Ward estimates that 4000 pilgrims perish every year, on the roads to. and at holy places-an estimate which is considered by others as far below the truth. Captain F ―estimates those who died at Cuttack and Pooree, and between the two stations, at 5000. How many of these miserable people must have died before they reached their homes! many of them coming three, six, or nine hundred miles. Mr. M, the European collector of the tax at Pooree, estimated the mortality at 20,000!