Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-05T02:54:23.009Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Solitary Vindicator of the Hindus: The Life and Writings of General Charles Stuart (1757/58–1828)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

Jörg Fisch
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

“What then was to be looked for in a remote and extensive empire, administered in all its parts by men, who came out boys, without the plenitude of instruction of English youth in learning, morals, or religion; and who were let loose on their arrival amidst native licentiousness, and educated amidst conflicting superstitions?”

This complaint was made in 1805 by Claudius Buchanan, in the first influential evangelical tract on India. It was directed against the way of life of the servants of the East India Company in the second half of the 18th century. If certain assumptions are altered, Buchanan's complaint could be changed into praise: these men were not completely indoctrinated by narrow European, English and Christian values, but arrived with a remarkable openness towards what they found in the East, ready to accept different values and customs and to adopt a new style of life. What they were lacking was not so much education as indoctrination.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 117 , Issue 1 , January 1985 , pp. 35 - 57
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Buchanan, Claudius, Memoir of the expediency of an ecclesiastical establishment for British India; both as a means of perpetuating the Christian religion among our own countrymen; and as a foundation for the ultimate civilization of the natives, London 1805, pp. 15f.Google Scholar

2 Cf. Schwab, Raymond, La renaissance orientate, Paris 1950Google Scholar. Kopf, David, British Orientalism and the Bengal Renaissance. The dynamics of Indian modernization 1773–1835, Calcutta/Berkeley 1969Google Scholar. Mukherjee, S. N., Sir William Jones: A study in eighteenth-century British attitudes to India, Cambridge 1968Google Scholar. Marshall, P. J. (ed.), The British discovery of Hinduism in the eighteenth century, Cambridge 1970.Google Scholar

3 2 02 1786, “Third anniversary discourse,” in: Jones, William, The Works, edited by Teignmouth, Lord, 13 vols., London 1807: vol. 3, p. 32.Google Scholar

4 24 02 1785, “Second anniversary discourse,” op. cit., vol. 3, p. 12.Google Scholar

5 For the facts about Stuart's life see Hodson, V. C. P., List of the officers of the Bengal Army, vol. 4, London 1947, pp. 203f.Google Scholar

6 The Ladies' Monitor (see n. 8), p. 119.Google Scholar

7 Observations and remarks on the dress, discipline, etc. of the military. By a Bengal Officer, Calcutta 1798, 37 pp. Stuart left 60 copies of this tract at his death: India Office Records (IOR) L/AG/34/27/93, 766 (cf. n. 34). Moreover he refers to the pamphlet in his own vindication of 5 August 1813 (see n. 18 and 28): IOR P/Secr./253, 17 December 1813, no. 67, para. 26. Finally the Observations are signed by “A Bengal Officer”, the same cover Stuart chose later for his Vindications of the Hindoos (see n. 13–14). The following page numbers in brackets refer to the Observations.Google Scholar

8 The Ladies' Monitor, being a series of letters, first published in Bengal, on the subject of female apparel, tending to favour a regulated adoption of Indian costume; and a rejection of superfluous vesture, by the ladies of this country: with incidental remarks on Hindoo beauty, whale-bone stays, iron busks, Indian corsets, man-milliners, idle bachelors, hair-powder, side-saddles, waiting-maids, and footmen. By the author of A Vindication of the Hindoos. London: printed for the author, 1809, 226 pp. For Stuart's authorship of A Vindication of the Hindoos see n. 13. Stuart left 30 copies of The Ladies' Monitor at his death: IOR L/AG/34/27/93, 766. The following page numbers in brackets refer to this book.Google Scholar

9 Vindication (see n. 14) 2, p. 63.Google Scholar

10 Vindication 2, p. 61.Google Scholar

11 Vindication 2, p. 62. Cf. n. 17.Google Scholar

12 For details see Fisch, Jorg, “A Pamphlet War on Christian missions in India 1807–1809,” Journal of Asian History 19 (1985).Google Scholar

13 Vindication of the Hindoos from the aspersions of the Reverend Claudius Buchanan, M.A., with a refutation of the arguments exhibited in his memoir, on the expediency of an ecclesiastical establishment for British India, and the ultimate civilization of the natives, by their conversion to Christianity. Also, remarks on an address from the missionaries in Bengal to the natives in India, condemning their errors, and inviting them to become Christians. The whole tending to evince the excellence of the moral system of the Hindoos, and the danger of interfering with their customs of religion. By a Bengal Officer. London 1808. In his vindication of 5 August 1813, Stuart refers to the two Vindications and admits of his authorship: the “two small pamphlets … may further serve to shew how far I have been observant of the customs, the manners, and the prejudices of the natives of this country, and I trust, that a reference thus unhappily exacted by the occasion, will be shielded by the necessity, from the imputation of mere vanity.” IOR P/Secr./253, 17 December 1813, no. 67, para. 30 (cf. n. 18 and 28). For Stuart's authorship see also Fisch (see n. 13), footnote 38.Google Scholar

14 A Vindication of the Hindoos: Part the second, in reply to the observations of the Christian Observer; of Mr Fuller, secretary to the Baptist Missionary Society; and of his anonymous friends; with some remarks on a sermon preached at Oxford, by the Rev. Dr Barrow, on the expediency of introducing Christianity among the natives of India. By a Bengal Officer. London 1808. The following references in brackets are to the two Vindications.Google Scholar

15 The Baptist missionaries were at a loss to identify the Vindicator, and the identity of the author has never been fully established to this day: Cf. Fisch (see n. 13), footnote 38.

16 An anonymous author in Fuller, Andrew, An apology for the late Christian missions to India: Part the second. Containing remarks on … a “Vindication of the Hindoos”, “by a Bengal Officer”, London 1808, pp. 81fGoogle Scholar. For Stuart's comments: Vindication 2, pp. 142–147.Google Scholar

17 25 August 1813, Stuart to Fagan (cf. n. 18): IOR P/Secr./253, 17 December 1813, no. 68, para. 39.

18 The sources for the following are in IOR P/Secr./253, Bengal Secret Consultations of 17 December 1813, nos. 48–72, unpaged. I am very grateful to Dr. R. Bingle of the India Office Library and Records who told me about the existence of these records and who gave me other valuable advice.

19 2 July 1813, Tutty Ghur. IOR P/Secr./253, 17 December 1813, no. 59.

20 Cf. 1 October 1813, G. H. Fagan, Adjutant General, to Stuart, para. 25. Ib. no. 71.

21 9 July 1813, Fagan to Lieutenant General Champagne, Kanpur. Ib. no. 61.

22 5 August 1813, Stuart to Major James Nicol, Deputy Adjutant General. Ib. no. 67. 25 August 1813, Stuart to Fagan. Ib. no. 68.

23 1 October 1813, Fagan to Stuart. Ib. no. 71.

24 Ib. para. 21.

25 17 December 1813, J. Adam, Secretary to Government, to Fagan. Ib. no. 72.

26 1 October 1813, Fagan to Stuart, para. 12. Ib. no. 71.

27 9 July 1813, Fagan to Champagne, para. 7. Ib. no. 61.

28 5 August 1813, Stuart to Nicol, paras. 26–28. In para. 30, Stuart refers to his two pamphlets Vindication of the Hindoos. Ib. no. 67.

29 1 October 1813, Fagan to Stuart, para. 7, cf. para. 20. Ib. no. 71.

30 Ib., para. 18.

31 Ib., para. 20.

32 Ib., paras. 21–23; 28.

33 Asiatic Journal 26 (1828), 607.Google Scholar

34 The following is based on Stuart's will of 9 September 1823, with a codicil of 24 April 1825, revised on 17 April 1827 and in March 1828: IOR L/AG/34/29/43, 213–224, and especially on the “Particulars of the late General C. Stuart's Museum sent to Messrs. Cockerell, Trail & Co.”: IOR L/AG/34/27/93, 745–796.

35 IOR L/AG/34/27/93, 790.

36 There is “A Catalogue of the very extensive and valuable oriental museum, comprising mss., sculpture, bronzes, articles of female dress and ornaments, weapons, and natural history, which were formed at great expense by the late Major-General Charles Stuart of Bengal.” Cf. Cotton, Evan, “‘Hindoo’ Stuart. A discovery at the British Museum,” in: Bengal, Past and Present 48 (1934), pp. 78f.Google Scholar

37 “Shepherd's Bush. A catalogue of the valuable & interesting museum of oriental sculpture, which was formed at great expense by the late general Charles Stuart, of Bengal and purchased by the late J. Bridge, Esq.” The catalogue contains 121 items of Indian sculpture, several manuscripts and drawings and some western sculptures.

38 Cotton (see n. 36) 79f. Hobson, R. L., Introduction to Ramaprasad Chanda, Medieval Indian sculpture in the British Museum, London 1936, XIf. I owe much information on the fate of Stuart's collections to the kind help of Mr. V. Zwalf of the British Museum.Google Scholar

39 Since I wrote this I have discovered in the repository of the British Museum a satī stone from the Indian Museum, of the East India House, which originally belonged to Stuart.

40 Mitter, Partha, Much maligned monsters. History of European reactions to Indian art, Oxford 1977, p. 325. Cf. ib. p. 178; 252.Google Scholar

41 Prinsep, James, “Facsimiles of ancient inscriptions,” Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 6 (1837), pp. 279f.; 7 (1838), p. 558.Google Scholar

42 Chanda, Ramaprasad, “‘Hindoo’ Stuart, a forgotten worthy and his tomb”, Bengal, Past and Present 50 (1935), pp. 52f.Google Scholar

43 Mitra, Rajendralala, The antiquities of Orissa, vol. 2, Calcutta 1880, p. 90; 84. Mitra also repeats Prinsep's story.Google Scholar

44 Lewis, Charles B., John Chamberlain: A missionary biography, Calcutta 1876, 139–141Google Scholar. The story is also mentioned by Barnett, Lionel D., “Bhubaneswar inscription in the Royal Asiatic Society,” Epigraphia Indica 13 (1915/1916), p. 150, n. 1.Google Scholar

45 Lewis, (see n. 44) p. 139. Cf. ib. p. 141.Google Scholar

46 According to Prinsep, Stuart's donation was mentioned in the appendix of volume 11 (1810) of the Asiatick Researches. There is no such appendix in the volume. Volume 15 (1825), however, contains a “List of Donors and Donations to the Museum of the Asiatic Society, from January, 1822.” It mentions, on p. XXXV, several donations by a “General Stewart”, among them “Two Stones from Bhuvaneswara in Orissa with Sanscrit Inscriptions.” On the identity of Stuart with this “General Stewart” see n. 47.

47 This is based on the lists of members annexed to the Asiatick Researches. A Captain Charles Stuart is mentioned as early as 1805 (vol. 8). In 1808 he becomes a Major (vol. 10, 1807). But our Stuart had been a Lieutenant-Colonel since 1803. Major Charles Stewart is still mentioned for 1810 (vol. 11), while in 1815 only a Major-General Charles Stewart appears (vol. 12, 1816). His name remains on the list in 1820 (vol. 13), but it disappears in 1822 (vol. 14). The Major must be Charles Stewart the Orientalist, who lived from 1764 to 1837, became a Captain in 1799 and a Major in 1807 and was a professor at Haileybury from 1807 to 1827 (cf. Hodson [see n. 5] pp. 4, 185f. and Dictionary of National Biography 18, pp. 1163f.). The Major-General mentioned from 1815 onward, however, must be our Stuart, as there was no other General Stuart or Stewart either in the Bengal or in the King's Army at that time.Google Scholar

48 Asiatic Journal 26 (1828), 606. The obituary first appeared in the India Gazette of 7 April 1828. It was also reprinted in the Bengal Hurkaru and Chronicle of 8 April 1828 and in the Oriental Observer of 13 April 1828.Google Scholar

49 1 October 1813, Fagan to Stuart. IOR P/Secr./253, 17 December 1813, no. 71, para. 12.

50 Moderator, , A letter to Sir James Rivett Carnac … on British interference with the religious observances of the natives of India, London 1838, p. 50.Google Scholar

51 Cotton, Evan, “‘Hindoo” Stuart,” Bengal, Past and Present 46 (1933), 32, without indication of sources. Cotton gives other examples of British officers and civil servants with inclinations towards Hinduism.Google Scholar

52 “The Banks of the Bhagirathi,” Calcutta Review 6 (1846), pp. 398–448:434Google Scholar. Similar, : Bengal, Past and Present 1 (1907), p. 74 (Editor's notebook) and p. 214 (Secretary's pages).Google Scholar

53 Vindication (see n. 14) 2, pp. 106–108.Google Scholar

54 Stuart was buried by J. R. Henderson, Junior Presidency Chaplain on 1 April 1828. IOR N/l/22, 173. Cf. Cotton, Evan, “‘Hindoo’ Stuart. A discovery at the British Museum,” Bengal, Past and Present 48 (1934), p. 78.Google Scholar

55 Cotton, Evan, “‘Hindoo’ Stuart,’ Bengal, Past and Present 46 (1933), pp. 32f.Google Scholar, with a photograph of the tomb. Chanda, Ramaprasad, “‘Hindoo’ Stuart. A forgotten worthy and his tomb,” Bengal, Past and Present 50 (1935), pp. 52–55Google Scholar, with another photograph. Bengal, Past and Present 1 (1907), pp. 74; 214; 25 (1923), p. 175.Google Scholar

56 “The Banks of the Bhagirathi”, in Calcutta Review 6 (1846), pp. 398–448: 434Google Scholar. Later it was even suggested that a painting in the rooms of the Asiatic Society of Bengal represented Stuart with his Indian wife and their children: Cotton, Julian James, “George Beechey and his Indian Wife,” Bengal, Past and Present 24 (1922), p. 49. Cotton shows that it is the artist Beechey with his own family.Google Scholar

57 IOP L/AG/34/29/43, pp. 213–218. Cf. n. 34.

58 Mullens, Joseph, Brief memorials of the Rev. Alphonse François Lacroix, missionary of the London Missionary Society in Calcutta, London 1862, pp. 77f.Google Scholar