Thus far I have stated my convictions respecting the character and sentiments of this eminent man.

now consider the actual effects of his labours.

Let us

In relation to the reformation of the religious belief and practice of his countrymen, and the restoration of their most ancient system of faith and worship, there is good reason for the conviction, both from his printed and from his private statements, that his success has been greater than was to be anticipated, and that the work begun will be effectually carried on by the progress of knowledge and of social improvement. It is a great step when those among the followers of pagan worship who have influence through their rank or intelligence, 'turn from these vanities unto the living God'; and the revered Brahmin was able, even seventeen years ago, to express his joy in perceiving many respectable persons of his country "rise superior to their religious prejudices, and enquire into the truths of religion" and, three years after to say, "that a great body of his countrymen, possessed of good understanding, and not much fettered with prejudices, being perfectly satisfied with the truth of the doctrines contained in the works which he had laid before them, and of the gross errors of the puerile system of idolworship which they were led to follow, have altered their religious conduct, in a manner becoming the dignity of human beings ".*-Some who have contemplated the poetical forms of idolatry till they have forgotten the moral evils and degradation resulting from it, have been disposed to represent it as a harmless system; but the Hindoo reformer, who knew the real

* See Translation of the Veds. pp. 44 and 57.

truth, gives a far different picture; and after presenting some of the frivolous and absurd practices of Hindooism, dehasing to the intellectual character, he proceeds to speak of its immoral influence. Introducing his observations with an expression of those motives to his course which arise from the improvable nature of the moral powers of man, and the duty of employing all the opportunities afforded to render benefit to our fellowcreatures, he continues,

"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 thoroughly 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 hid 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 selfdestruction 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 them 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."Veds, pp. 97-100.

66

As to his more direct services to Christianity, I view them as of vastly more importance than has yet, perhaps, been developed. It is no slight service, that he has rendered a large portion of the recorded teachings of Christ accessible to his countrymen, in their sacred language, the Sanscrit, and in the ordinary language of Bengal. Perplexed himself with the various doctrines insisted upon by the teachers of Christianity, he songht for the essential characteristics of this religion —its moral system, its sanctions, and its promises-in the words of Christ himself; and these he presented to the Hindoo public in the way which he deemed most likely to produce the desirable effect of improving the hearts and minds of men, of different persuasions and degrees of understanding." "This simple code of religion and morality, (he says at the end of his Introduction,) is so admirably calculated to elevate men's ideas to high and liberal notions of one GoD, who has equally subjected all living creatures, without distinction of caste, rank, or wealth, to change, disappointment, pain, and death, and has equally admitted all to be partakers of the bountiful mercies which he has lavished over nature; and is also so well fitted to regulate the conduct of the human race in the discharge of their various duties to GOD, to themselves, and to society; that I cannot but hope the best effects from its promulgation in the present form."*

One would have thought that the christian Missionaries would have hailed the learned and excellent Brahmin as their fellow-labourer, and as at least preparing the way for that knowledge of Christ which

D

* See Appendix (H).

they thought essential to his Gospel.* True it is that he did not introduce into the "Precepts of Jesus" the narration of our Lord's miracles: but the purpose of the miracles was answered if any were led without them to the same end-the reception of Jesus Christ as a heaven-sent teacher, and the disposition to receive his words as the words of truth, and the guide of heart and life; and the Brahmin thought such narrations less likely to affect the minds of his countrymen, than the simple records of Christ's instructions. He knew that the Saviour hath declared that he that doeth the will of his heavenly Father, was to him as a brother, or sister, or mother: and he expressed his conviction that the sayings of Christ which he had presented to his countrymen, are those "the obedience to which is so absolutely commanded as indispensable and all-sufficient to those who desire eternal life"; that they "include every duty of man and all that is necessary to salvation”, while "they expressly exclude mere profession or belief from those circumstances which God graciously admits as giving a title to eternal happiness"; and that there is not, in the New Testament, any commandment similarly enjoining a knowledge of the mysteries or historical relations contained in those books".+ But it is an immense advance when any are led from the degrading forms and disgusting and cruel practices of heathen idolatry, to the reception of the only true God, and to seek for the words of eternal life in the instructions of Jesus Christ. Even if they were only brought near to the kingdom of God, he who presented the means of this * See Appendix (I).

+ See Appeal subjoined to the Precepts of Jesus, pp. 114, 115. See the case of the Scribe, Mark xii. 28-34.