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either himself or others at his own will and pleasure , and that the govern * ment is completely inefficient and powerless . Common justice alone requires this interference in regard to the burning of widows and other sinful and ignorant practices in India . As to religion , it only commands us to endeavour to enlighten the ignorance and to bear patiently with the prejudices of the Heathen , kindly and perseveringly to instil the light of a purer
faith and the blessings of Christian instruction . We cannot force the con-r sciences of others , nor suddenly alter their previous associations , nor , if we could , would it be desirable to do so , because a reaction would very pro-t bably be produced extremely unfavourable to our ultimate success , and because we abhor the very idea of a spiritual inquisition ; but we both car * and ought to put a check , and that immediately , to actions criminal in themselves and extensively detrimental to society . Reason and justice both demand this , and the most liberal toleration sanctions it ; the most
benevolent religious principles will approve it and acknowledge its necessity : in this case we may also add the mercy of such a proceeding . There are also other motives to make such a restraint desirable to those who are sincerely attached to the progress of Christianity , and to all the humane and enlightened principles of pur nature . The first of these is , the utter impossibility of any education of instruction being available whilst crimes
of so enormous a kind are permitted . They corrupt society , they confuse the moral perceptions of right and wrong , they set reason at defiance ; and , without the exercise of reason , what reformation is to be expected ? Independently of the great annual number of victims sacrificed to this weak and erroneous system , the current of public opinion and public feeling is vitiated
at its source ; where such things are practised it is in vain to think of spreading the pure and simple precepts of a religion , the essence of which consists in the avoidance of immoral conduct , and more especially such crimes as suicide and murder . Can we teach men their duty to their Maker without at the same time enforcing the truth that they have no right over their own lives ; that the Being who created them is also their
Preserver , and will himself appoint the period of their departure ? How can we give them a faith , the very spirit of which is love , while we allow them to burn and to destroy one another , and this in an increasing degree ? for it is a melancholy fact , that in those parts where the authority and example of the English are prevalent , the burnings are more
numerous than in other places , and that they have increased for several years in an alarming and disgraceful degree . And in this case , how can it be otherwise ? What we do not oppose we sanction . We are in a situation that does not admit of neutrality ; we are obliged to be either the opposers or abettors of these infamous deeds , and the consequences of our being the latter are too well known to require detail . But these superstitious crimes are
not only contrary to law and to the pure and merciful requisitions of Christianity , but they are also unnatural and inhuman ; and if religion did not enter into the question at all , they ought to be put an end to , as being against conscience and natural reason . I know not on what plea they can be defended , nor how those who sanction them can answer for their conduct . As
to the \ impolicy and the danger of interfering , I would say for the first , that in national concerns , as well as in private conduct , " honesty will be found to be eventually the best policy , ' and that where reason , religion , and virtue , are on one side , and worldly policy on the other , the man who hesitates or who adopts the latter , will find that it will lead him through a labyrinth of
Untitled Article
Burhing ofJHmdoo ' Wido w ** 369
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1828, page 369, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2561/page/9/
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