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pretend to be. It seems to be almost as clear, that what each will do in private, all would do in public, were that charm once dissolved which at present prevents any one man from communicating his indifference to his neighbour. This charm was dissolved at Java. There the whole army became accomplices in the plot, and threw off their hypocrisy for a season. They resumed it on relanding in India, because there they were necessarily dispersed, and as necessarily exposed. But who can doubt the willingness of those Brahmins and Raj-poots to return once more, were they but favoured with an equally convenient season, to all the offences, both of eating and of drinking, both of omission and of commission, from which they seemed to derive so much plea

sure in their Batavian cantonments?

The next circumstance to which we shall allude, is one of a very different kind, and, we think, of very superior importance. The necessities of our government and its functionaries have now, for many years, demanded of a great and continually increasing number of native Hindoos, such an acquaintance with the English language, as implies no ordinary familiarity with the literature of England. This is at last beginning to operate in a manner that might have been easily foreseen. It has been said, absurdly enough, that he who speaks two languages has no country. But there is no absurdity in stating, that the Hindoo who has made himself completely master of English literature, cannot possibly be a slave to the more disgusting or absurd parts of his native superstition. Men who read Locke, and Johnson, and Milton, and Shakspeare, have lost all capacity to believe in the horrible tenets which have produced the bloody spectacles of Guzerat and Jaggernaut. The salutary effects of such studies are becoming daily more visible. spirit of inquiry has been excited among the learned Brahmins employed in teaching the English youth at Calcutta and Fort St George; and this is all that is wanted-in the first place. There can be little reason to doubt where the spirit of inquiry thus excited will terminate. The examination and purification of the Vedas will prepare men for the reception of the

Bible.

A

A considerable sensation has been
VOL. IV.

produced among our countrymen in Bengal, by the appearance of a reformer of the religion of Hindostan in the person of a learned and acute Brahmin, by name RAM MOHUN ROY. This person, to use his own words, "after spending several years in the endeavour to convince his countrymen of the true meaning of the sacred books," has more lately published several tracts, written by himself in excellent English, for the purpose "of proving to his European friends, that the superstitious practices which deform the Hindoo religion have nothing to do with the pure spirit of its dictates."

"I have observed," says he, "that, both in their writings and conversation, many Europeans feel a wish to palliate and soften the features of Hindoo Idolatry; and are inclined to inculcate, that all objects of wor

ship are considered by their votaries as emblematical representations of the Supreme Divinity!-If this were indeed the case, I might perhaps be led into some examination of the subject; but the truth is, the Hindoos of the present day have no such views of the subject, but firmly believe in the real existence of innumerable Gods and Goddesses, who possess, in their own departpropitiate them, and not the true God, are ments, full and independent power; and to temples erected, and ceremonies performed.

There can be no doubt, however, and it is my whole design to prove, that every rite has its derivation from the allegorical adoration of the true Deity; but, at the present day, all this is forgotten, and among many it is even heresy to mention it!

"I hope it will not be presumed, that I intend to establish the preference of my faith over that of other men. The result of controversy on such a subject, however multiplied, must be ever unsatisfactory; for the reasoning faculty, which leads men to certainty in things within its reach, produces no effect on questions beyond its comprehension. I do no more than assert, that, if correct reasoning, and the dictates of common sense, induce the belief of a wise, uncreated

Being, who is the supporter and ruler of the the boundless universe, we should also consider him the most powerful and supreme existence-far surpassing our powers of comprehension or description! And although men of uncultivated minds, and even some learned individuals (but in this one point blinded by prejudice), readily choose, as the object of their adoration, any thing which they can always see, and which they pretend to feed, the absurdity of such conduct is not thereby in the least degree diminished.

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My constant reflections on the inconvenient, or rather injurious rites, introduced by the peculiar practice of Hindoo Idolatry, which, more than any other Pagan worship, destroys the texture of society, together with T

compassion for my countrymen, have compelled me to use every possible effort to awaken them from their dream of error; and by making them acquainted with their scriptures, enable them to contemplate, with true devotion, the unity and omnipresence of nature's God.

By taking the path which conscience and sincerity direct, I, born a Brahmin, have exposed myself to the complainings and reproaches even of some of my relations, whose prejudices are strong, and whose temporal advantage depends upon the present system. But these, however accumulated, I can tranquilly bear, trusting that a day will arrive when my humble endeavours will be viewed with justice-perhaps acknowledged with gratitude. At any rate, whatever men may say, I cannot be deprived of this consolation: my motives are acceptable to that Being who beholds in secret, and compensates openly!"

The three principal English tracts of Rammohun Roy which have come into our hands are, 1st, "A Translation of an Ahridgement of the Vedant, or Resolution of all the Veds." 2d, "A Translation of the Cena Upanishad, one of the Chapters of the Sáma Véda; according to the Gloss of Shancaráchárya.” 3d, “ A Translation of the Ishopanishad, one of the Chapters of the Yajur Véda," according to the commentary of the same celebrated person. -Each of these, as he has assured us in his title pages, "establishing the unity and incomprehensibility of the Supreme Being, and that his Worship alone can lead to Eternal Beatitude."

Those who have never at all attended to the subject of Hindoo literature, will be astonished with the display of metaphysical acuteness in all and each of these performances. The same minute controversies concerning the essence and mode of the Supreme Being, which occupy so much space in the writings of the later Platonists, it will here be seen, have perplexed the understandings of the most skilful commentators on the sacred books of the Hindoos. The same arguments, for and against the adoration of beings inferior to the Supreme, which have been so hackneyed among the theologians of modern Europe, are, at this moment, employed in the most imposing and logical array, by Rammohun Roy and his principal opponent Senkara Sastri. Even in the most trivial illustrations introduced into these voluminous controversies, the likeness to what we have seen before is such, that it cannot escape the notice of the most

cursory observer. It is not however with these parts of our Brahmin's writings that we wish to trouble our readers; we would rather direct the attention of such of them as have never considered the nature and scope of the sacred books of the Hindoos, to some of those striking passages which he has selected in proof of their adherence to what we all regard as the primary doctrine of all true religion.

have named above, commences thus : The first of the tracts, which we

"The illustrious Byas,* in his celebrated work, the Vedant, insinuates in the first text, that it is absolutely necessary for mankind to acquire knowledge respecting the Supreme Being, who is the subject of discourse in all the Veds, and the Vedant, as well as in the other Systems of Theology. But he found, from the follow ig passages of the Veds, that this in iry is limited to very narrow bounds: "The Supreme

Being is not comprehensible by vision, or by any other of the organs of sense; nor can he be conceived by means of devotion, or virtuous practices !" "He sees every thing, though never seen; hears every thing, though never directly heard of! He is neither short, nor is he long; inaccessible to the reasoning faculty; not to be compassed by description; beyond the limits of the explanation of the Ved, or of human conception!" Byas, also, from the result of various arguments coinciding with the Vede, found, that the accurate and positive knowledge of the Supreme Being, is not within the boundary of comprehension: i. e. that what, and how, the Supreme Being is, cantherefore, in the second text, explained the not be definitely ascertained. He has, Supreme Being by his effects and works, without attempting to define his essence; in like manner as we, not knowing the real nature of the Sun, explain him to be the cause of the succession of days and epochs. "He, by whom the birth, existence, and annihilation of the world is regulated, is the Supreme Being!" We see the multifarious, wonderful universe, as well as the birth, existence, and annihilation, of its dif

ferent parts; hence, we naturally infer the existence of a being, who regulates the whole, and call him the Supreme: in the same manner as from the sight of a pot, we conclude the existence of its artificer. The Ved in like manner declares the Supreme

*The greatest of the Indian Theologists, Philosophers and Poets, was begotten by the celebrated Purasur and Satyubutee: Byas collected and divided the Veds into certain Books and Chapters, he is therefore commonly called Vede Byas; the word Byas is composed of the preposition bi and the verb uss to divide.

Being thus," He from whom the universal the being, concerning whom you would inworld proceeds, who is the Lord of the quire:-Learned men having relinquished Universe, and he whose work is the universe, the notion of self-independence and self-conis the Supreme Being! sideration, from knowing the Supreme understanding to be the sole source of sense, enjoy everlasting beatitude, after their departure from this world.

"The Ved begins and concludes with the three peculiar and mysterious epithets of God viz. 1st ONG, 2d TUT, 3d SUT. The first of these signifies, "That Being, "3d, Hence no vision can approach him; which preserves, destroys, and creates !" no language can describe him; no intellecThe second implies, "That only being, tual power can compass or determine him. which is neither male nor female !" The We know nothing of how the Supreme Bethird announces, "The true being!"ing should be explained: He is beyond all

These collective terms simply affirm, that,
ONE, UNKNOWN, TRUE BEING,
IS THE CREATOR, PRESERVER,
AND DESTROYER OF THE UNI-
VERSE."

The same doctrine is stated over and over again in a thousand different shapes-as, for example, in the following Slokams:

He is eternal, he is the splendor of splendor."

"He supreme and glorious." "The sun shines not with respect to him, nor the minor fire."

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"Thou hearest without ears.' 99 "Thou smellest without a nose." "Thou walkest without legs." "Thou seest without eyes.' "Thou tastest without a tongue." "Thou hast no gotram, nor birth, nor name, nor shape, nor state, nor place."

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Though thou art thus, yet thou art

the Lord of the Earth and the Heaven."
“In the same manner as the illusive ap-
pearance of water, produced by the reflec-
tion of the rays in the mirage,

"So the universe shines in thee, the real and intelligent spirit."

"Thou canst not be known either by the Organs or by the mind, as thou art self resplendent and distinct from elemental Being."

"If ignorance be annihilated by knowledge, as darkness by the dawn, thy light

will shine like the sun."

"The whole had its birth in thee." "The whole rests in thee." "The whole obtains its destruction in thee like bubbles in water." 99

The translation of the Upanishad begins thus:

"1st, Who is he [asks a Pupil of his Spiritual Father] under whose sole will the Intellectual Power makes its approach to different objects? Who is he, under whose authority Breath, the primitive power in the body, makes its operation? Who is he, by whose direction language is regularly pronounced? And who is that immaterial being, that applies vision and hearing to their respective objects?

"2d, He [answers the spiritual parent] who is the sense of the sense of hearing; the intellect of the intellect; the essential cause of language; the breath of breath; the sense of the sense of vision:-This is

that is within the reach of comprehension, and also beyond nature, which is above conception. Our ancient spiritual parents have thus explained him to us.

"4th, He alone, who has never been described by language, and who directs language to its meaning, is the Supreme Being; and not any specified thing which men worship: Know THOU this,

"5th, He alone, whom understanding cannot comprehend, and who, as said by learned men, knows the real nature of understanding, is the Supreme Being; and not any specified thing which men worship: Know THOU this,

"6th, He alone, whom no one can conceive by vision, and by whose superintendance every one perceives the objects of vision, is the Supreme Being, and not any specified thing which men worship: Know THOU this,

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7th, He alone, whom no one can hear through the sense of hearing, and who knows the real nature of the sense of hearing, is the Supreme Being, and not any specified thing which men worship: Know

THOU this.

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9th, If you, [continues the Spiritual Parent] from what I have stated, suppose and say, that I know the Supreme Being thoroughly,' you in truth know very little of the Omnipresent Being; and any conception of that Being which you limit to your powers of sense, is not only deficient, but also his description, which you extend to the bodies of the celestial Gods, is also imperfect; you, consequently, should inquire into the true knowledge of the Supreme Being. To this the pupil replies: I perceive that at this moment I begin to know God.'

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comprehend God, does know him; and he who believes that he can comprehend God, does not know him; as men of perfect understanding acknowledge him to be beyond comprehension, and men of imperfect understanding suppose him to be within the reach of their simplest perception."

In another of his publications, after quoting several similar passages, our author proceeds as follows:

"Should it be said it still remains unaccountable, that notwithstanding the Véds and Purans repeatedly declare the unity of the Supreme Being, and direct mankind to adore him alone, yet the generality of Hindoos have a contrary faith, and continue to practise Idolatry,' I would in answer request attention to the foundation, on which the practical part of the Hindoo religion is built. Many learned Brahmins are perfectly aware of the absurdity of Idolatry, and are well informed of the nature of the purer mode of divine worship. But as in the rites, ceremonies, and festivals of Idolatry, they find the source of their comforts and fortune, they not only never fail to protect Idol worship from all attacks, but even advance and encourage it to the utmost of their power, by keeping the knowledge of their scriptures concealed from the rest of the people. Their followers too, confiding in these leaders, feel gratification in the idea of the divine Nature residing in a being resembling themselves, in birth, shape, and propensities; and are naturally delighted with a mode of worship agreeable to the senses, though destructive of moral principles, and the fruitful parent of prejudice and superstition.

"Hindoos of the present age, with a very few exceptions, have not the least idea that it is to the attributes of the Supreme Being as figuratively represented by shapes, corresponding to the nature of those attributes, they offer adoration and worship under the denomination of Gods and Goddesses. On the contrary, the slightest investigation will clearly satisfy every inquirer, that it makes a material part of their system to hold as articles of faith all those particular circumstances, which are essential to a belief in the independent existence of the objects of their Idolatry as deities clothed with Divine Power.

"Locality of habitation, and a mode of existence analogous to their own views of earthly things, are uniformly ascribed to each particular God. Thus the devotees of Siva, misconceiving the real spirit of the Scriptures, not only place an implicit credence in the separate existence of siva, but even regard him as an omnipotent being, the greatest of all the divinities, who, as they say, inhabit the northern mountain of Cailas; and that he is accompanied by two wives and several children, and surrounded with numerous attendants. In like manner the followers of Vishnu, mistaking the alle

gorical representations of the Sastras for relations of real facts, believe him to be chief over all other Gods, and that he resides with his wife and attendants on the summit of heaven. Similar opinions are also held by the worshippers of Cali, in respect to that Goddess. And in fact the same observations are equally applicable to every class of Hindoo devotees in regard to their respective Gods and Goddesses. And so tenacious are those devotees in respect to the honour due to their chosen divinities, that when they meet in such holy places, as Haridwar, Pryag, Siva-Canchi or VishnuCanchi in the Dekhin, the adjustment of the point of precedence, not only occasions the warmest verbal altercations, but sometimes even blows and violence. Neither do they regard the images of those Gods merely in the light of instruments for elevating the mind to the conception of those supposed beings; they are simply in themselves made objects of worship. For whatever Hindoo purchases an Idol in the market, or constructs one with his own hands, or has one made up under his own superintendence, it is his invariable practice to perform certain ceremonies, called Pran Pratisht'ha or the endowment of animation; by which he believes that its nature is changed from that of the mere materials of which it is formed, and that it acquires not only life but supernatural powers. Shortly afterwards, if the Idol be of the masculine gender, he marries it to a feminine one, with no less pomp and magnificence than he celebrates the nuptials of his own children. The mysterious process is now complete; and the God and Goddess are esteemed the arbiters of his destiny, and continually receive his most ardent adoration.

"At the same time, the worshipper of Images ascribes to them at once the opposite natures of human and of super-human beings. In attention to their supposed wants as living beings, he is seen feeding, or pretending to feed them, every morning and evening; and as in the hot season he is careful to fan them, so in the cold, he is equally regardful of their comfort, covering them by day with warm clothing, and placing them at night in a snug bed. But superstition does not find a limit here: the acts and speeches of the Idols, and their assumption of various shapes and colours, are gravely related by the Brahmins, and with all the marks of veneration, are firmly believed by their deluded followers. Other practices they have with regard to those Idols which decency forbids me to explain. In thus endeavouring to remove a mistake into which I have reason to believe many European gentlemen have been led by a benevolent wish to find an excuse for the errors of my countrymen, it is a considerable gratification to me to find that the latter have begun to be so far sensible of the absurdity of their real belief and practices, as to find it convenient to shelter them under

such a cloak, however flimsy and borrowed. The adoption of such a subterfuge encourages me greatly to hope, that they will in time abandon what they are sensible cannot be defended; and that, forsaking the superstition of Idolatry, they will embrace the rational worship of the God of nature."

In the same work the following eloquent and feeling passage occurs.

"The physical powers of man are limited; and when viewed comparatively, sink into insignificance; while in the same ratio, his moral faculties rise in our estimation, as embracing a wide sphere of action, and possessing a capability of almost boundless improvement. If the short duration of human life he contrasted with the great age of the universe, and the limited extent of body strength with the many objects to which there is a necessity of applying it, we must necessarily be disposed to entertain but a very humble opinion of our own nature; and nothing, perhaps, is so well calculated to restore our self-complacency, as the contemplation of our more extensive moral powers, together with the highly beneficial objects which the appropriate exercise of them may produce.

"On the other hand, sorrow and remorse can scarcely fail sooner or later to be the portion of him, who is conscious of having neglected opportunities of rendering benefit to his fellow-creatures. From considerations like these, it has been, that I (although born a Brahmin, and instructed in my youth in all the principles of that sect), being tho roughly convinced of the lamentable errors of my countrymen, have been stimulated to employ every means in my power to improve their minds, and lead them to the knowledge of a purer system of morality. Living constantly amongst Hindoos of different sects and professions, I have had ample opportunity of observing the superstitious puerilities into which they have been thrown by their self-interested guides; who, in defiance of the law as well as of common sense, have succeeded but too well in conducting them to the temple of Idolatry; and while they hide from their view the true substance of morality, have infused into their simple hearts a weak attachment for its mere shadow.

"For the chief part of the theory and practice of Hindooism, I am sorry to say, is made to consist in the adoption of a peculiar

mode of diet; the least aberration from which (even though the conduct of the offender may in other respects be pure and blameless) is not only visited with the severest censure, but actually punished by exclusion from the society of his family and friends. In a word, he is doomed to undergo what is commonly called loss of cast.

"On the contrary, the rigid observance of this grand article of Hindoo faith is considered in so high a light, as to compensate for every moral defect. Even the most atrocious crimes weigh little or nothing in

the balance against the supposed guilt of its

violation.

"Murder, theft, or perjury, though brought home to the party by a judicial sentence, so far from inducing loss of cast, is visited in their society with no peculiar mark of infamy or disgrace.

"A trifling present to the Brahmin, commonly called Prayaschit, with the performance of a few idle ceremonies, are held as a sufficient atonement for all those crimes; and the delinquent is at once freed from all temporal inconvenience, as well as all dread of future retribution.

"My reflections upon these solemn truths have been most painful for many years. I have never ceased to contemplate, with the strongest feelings of regret, the obstinate adherence of my countrymen to their fatal system of idolatry, inducing, for the sake of propitiating their supposed Deities, the violation of every humane and social feeling. And this in various instances; but more especially in the dreadful acts of self-destruction, and the immolation of the nearest relations, under the delusion of conforming to sacred religious rites. I have never ceased, I repeat, to contemplate these practices with the strongest feelings of regret, and to view in them the moral debasement of a race who, I cannot help thinking, are capable of better things;-whose susceptibility, patience, and mildness of character, render them worthy of a better destiny. Under these impressions, therefore, I have been impelled to lay before thera genuine translations of parts of their scripture, which inculcates not only the enlightened worship of one God, but the purest principles of morality, accompanied with such notices as I deemed requisite to oppose the arguments employed by the Brahmins, in defence of their beloved system. Most earnestly do I pray, that the whole may sooner or later prove efficient in producing, on the minds of Hindoos in general, a conviction of the rationality of believing in and adoring the Supreme Being only; together with a complete perception and practice of that grand and comprehensive moral principle-Do unto others as ye would be done by.'

We should have embraced the present opportunity of entering more in detail into the merits of this eminent ferred doing so, because we hope ere long man's performances; but we have deto have more of them in our possession. We understand he is himself, at this moment, on his way to England, for and countenance to assist him in the the purpose of procuring information prosecution of the noble work he has undertaken. May his success be such as he deserves! In the intimate know

ledge of our language and literature which he has evidently attained, he has command of an instrument such

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