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 DISCOURSE 
 
 ON OCCASION OF THE 
 
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 RAJAH RAMMOHUN ROY. 
 
 By W. J FOX. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 CHARLES FOX, 67, PATERNOSTER ROW 
 
 1833. 
 
The following Discourse was delivered at Finsbury Chapel, South 
 Place, on Sunday, October 14, 1833 ; and is published at the request 
 of the Congregation, and in testimony of the feelings by which both 
 preacher and hearers were influenced towards the extraordinary man 
 whom it commemorates. Some extracts from his writings are appended 
 as Notes to the Discourse, in order to render it a more efficient illus- 
 tration of his opinions and character. 
 
 London : Printed bv W. Clowe?, Duke-street, Lambeth. 
 
DISCOURSE, 
 
 Src. §-c. 
 
 “ Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy 
 country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto 
 a land that I will show thee.’’ Genesis, xii. 1. 
 
 “ And he went out, not knowing whither he went.” 
 
 Hebrews, xi. 8. 
 
 The history of Abraham, in its general outline at 
 least, is continued by a considerable variety of evi- 
 dence, internal and external, written and tradition- 
 ary, direct and inferential ; and the narrative is of 
 great interest and importance, in its connexion both 
 with the progress of society, and the dispensations 
 of revealed religion. The patriarchal polity and 
 mode of life, and the patriarchal faith and worship, 
 are instructive chapters, the one in the temporal, and 
 the other in the spiritual annals of mankind. To 
 some minds it is more interesting, and on the pre- 
 sent occasion it is more appropriate, to turn from the 
 literal meaning and bearings of the narrative to that 
 typical view of it, in which his character and destiny 
 prefigure those of an illustrious class of reformers, 
 the men who, in various and far distant climes and 
 ages, have borne a solitary, or almost solitary, testi- 
 mony against the pervading corruptions of their 
 times, and whose intellectual and moral superiority, 
 
 I! 2 
 
4 
 
 DISCOURSE ON THE DEATH' OF 
 
 though they might not avail to shield them from pri- 
 vation and persecution, yet rendered their testimony 
 as beneficial to others as it was honourable to them- 
 selves. Such men have there been, both in ancient 
 and modern times, in eastern and western regions, 
 — simple, pure, high-minded, and philanthropic — 
 mighty, not so much by the active energy with which 
 they wielded the weapons of political authority, 
 or of proselyting zeal, as by their faithful testimony 
 — witnesses for God and goodness to the world — 
 born, like Christ, to bear witness to the truth — re- 
 cording pillars, whose gracefulness and strength 
 attracted men to read the deep inscription which they 
 bore uneffaced through the injuries of violence, the 
 corrosions of time, and the desolations of a deluge of 
 apostacy, corruption, and depravity. 
 
 The world is full of parallels, analogies, harmo- 
 nies — the physical and the moral world — each in 
 itself, and each in its countless relations with the 
 other. They pervade all material forms, and all 
 modes of thought and feeling; they link together all 
 facts and fancies, the past and the future, the natural 
 and the supernatural ; the reflected form of heaven’s 
 stars is in the depth of our waters, and in the moon’s 
 eclipse we see the shadow of earth upon the face 
 of heaven. In the transformation of the insect has 
 been read the revival of humanity. The Egyptian 
 mythos of the serpent, darkly foretold the discomfiture 
 of the principle of evil. Christ was the Prophet 
 like unto Moses, and he was the second Adam. As 
 
RAJAH RAMMOHUN ROY. 
 
 O 
 
 one star differeth from another star in glory, so also 
 is the resurrection of the dead. Nature is full of 
 mysteries, of which reason is the hierophant. Reve- 
 lation itself teaches, not by dogma, but by fact — by 
 fact exhibiting the truth and guiding the investiga- 
 tion. And if we are told that this principle has been 
 abused, in theology, to the employment of the grossest 
 sophisms, and the upholding of the absurdest tenets, 
 we reply that so have been the strictest forms of 
 ratiocination ; and if we are told, that these correspon- 
 dencies in nature, history, and revelation, are not 
 logical proofs, we reply, that we appeal not to them 
 as such — we regard them as the suggestive poetry of 
 God’s works and ways, which, like all poetry, has 
 truth for the soul of its beauty and of its power, and 
 can only be neglected by those who have imperfect 
 notions of the noblest capabilities of our nature, and 
 the noblest enjoyments of our mortal and our immortal 
 destiny. 
 
 These harmonies, however disregarded in the 
 critical or strictly logical investigations of a defined 
 dogma, yet bring home to the imagination and 
 feelings, and, through them, to the intellect also, 
 the universal agency of that benignant Intelli- 
 gence in which we live, move, and have our being. 
 If they do not prove a Deity, according to the dia- 
 lectics of the schools, they make us feel his presence, 
 afar and near, above and below — the presence, not 
 of such a God as superstition fancies, shuddering at 
 its own creations — nor such as metaphysical creeds 
 
6 
 
 DISCOURSE OK TIIE DEATH OF 
 
 describe, hard, cold, and barren of love and joy, as 
 their own uncouth propositions — but that of the 
 Father Almighty, the loving parent of humanity, and 
 ol universal being. They open a communion with 
 the author of our existence, which is not merely with 
 our reason, or with our fears, but with our entire 
 spiritual nature, sanctifying, and stimulating, and 
 exalting every faculty, and making them all redolent 
 of life and hope. Of those who cherish the percep- 
 tion of them, it may be truly said that they 
 
 “ ■ — with God himself 
 
 Hold converse, grow familiar day by day 
 With his conceptions, act upon his plan, 
 
 And form to his the relish of their souls.” 
 
 And amongst these correspondencies, and reproduc- 
 tions of the same principle under dissimilar forms, 
 and in unexpected regions of being, not the least 
 remarkable is that which obtains in human character. 
 Waiving all others, how obvious is that which we 
 commenced with noticing — the fact that the patriarch 
 is the type and pattern of a class of reformers and 
 benefactors of the world, who, though diversified by 
 individual and national peculiarities, yet bear the 
 same broad characteristics, and of whom we hope 
 that similar endowments and similar usefulness will 
 herald a like ultimate personal recompense, and that 
 as they blessed others upon earth, so in heaven they 
 shall themselves “be blessed with faithful Abraham.” 
 Abraham was an Oriental; and whatever the 
 nation of the individual, I apprehend that an Orien- 
 
RAJAH RAMMOHUN ROY. 
 
 7 
 
 talism of nature and mental character belongs to this 
 class of reformers. I mean by Orientalism, a ten- 
 dency towards the spiritual, the remote, the vast, the 
 undefined, as distinguished from the microscopic and 
 grovelling intellect, which looks only upon earth, sees 
 only in detail, and comprises all philosophy in the 
 calculations which most directly solve the questions, 
 “ What shall we eat, what shall we drink, and where- 
 withal shall we be clothed ? ” The men whose 
 monuments rise on the ascending path of human 
 improvement, like “ towers along the steep,” beneath 
 which the tide of time has hitherto beaten in vain, 
 have always had loftier and wider views than these. 
 They have seen, and foreseen, what to others was 
 only a shadowy distance ; and even Socrates, who 
 brought down philosophy from the clouds to the busi- 
 ness of mankind — the Utilitarian of antiquity — had 
 his inspiring demon; a mode, perhaps, of admonish- 
 ing his disciples that there are impulses and influ- 
 ences of higher origin than they perceive, whose 
 spirits are incarcerated in the gross material world. 
 Of Christian reformers and philanthropists most 
 evident is it, that this Oriental spirit is upon their 
 spirits, for they imbibe it in the religion itself. Our 
 Bible is Eastern ; it finds or creates an affinity in 
 those whom it vests with a power and a commission 
 to enlighten, exalt, and bless the souls of their con- 
 temporaries. 
 
 Another mark of this type is, the departing, 
 always figuratively, and often in a literal sense, from 
 
8 
 
 DISCOURSE ON THE DEATH OF 
 
 the paternal home, and the shrines in which worship 
 the family, or the countrymen of him to whom, in 
 his youth, God speaks, that he may benefit mankind. 
 For such light springs up in the darkness. It im- 
 plies a conscientious originality of thought. There 
 must be the clearness and the boldness which con- 
 sanguinity is not likely to have anticipated — which 
 society is not likely to recognize, and which as, in the 
 first instance they display the mental strength of the 
 individual, next subject his moral strength to a 
 severe and painful trial. Parent, child, friend, coun- 
 trymen, all clinging to the superstitions against which 
 the reformer bears his testimony, become instru- 
 ments of torture, agonizing in proportion to the supe- 
 rior susceptibilities of his nature. Perhaps, by the 
 very operation of trying and wounding him through 
 his sympathies, expanding and refining those sym- 
 pathies, so as to contribute to his better qualification 
 for the work of generous, but ill-requited beneficence 
 which he was created to accomplish. 
 
 Such men make their pilgrimage as did the patri- 
 arch, in one sense, “ not knowing whither.” It often 
 leads them to lands they little thought to visit — to a 
 mental path they little expected to trace — to exertions 
 and associations they little thought to make or form 
 — to conclusions which once their minds would have 
 deemed appalling — to some unexpected rest of faith 
 for their spirits, and perhaps an unexpected grave for 
 their mortal bodies. They know, as Abraham knew, 
 whither they go, in this particular, that it is where 
 
RAJAH RAM MO H UN ROY. 
 
 9 
 
 truth, and conscience, and benevolence shall lead ; 
 they have the faith which, knowing this, deems it 
 knowledge enough, a sufficient revelation of futurity, 
 such as the Saviour used not only for his own strength, 
 but for his disciples’ consolation, “ whither I go ye 
 know, and the way ye know and that way known, 
 that path illumined, they are content it should lead 
 through unknown regions, covered with clouds and 
 darkness. 
 
 I will only mention more, that in such men’s views, 
 if chiefly directed to scientific and social improve- 
 ment, there has usually been involved a recurrence to 
 some sublime simplicity of principle, from the forget- 
 fulness of which, error and injury had been occasioned. 
 In theology, the reformation has generally related to 
 the divine nature and character, and has been a pro- 
 test against some modification of polytheism or ido- 
 latry. All great eras of religious improvement 
 have been a return towards the simplicity of that 
 faith in one infinite spirit, of which Abraham was the 
 patriarchal confessor. The losing sight, doctrinally 
 or practically, of the Divine Unity, has been the 
 source of almost all corruptions and debasements of 
 religion, whether among Jews or Gentiles, in ancient 
 or modern times. That “ there is one God,” truism 
 as the assertion may seem to us, is, in reality, a pro- 
 position so full of truth, and so exclusive of error, so 
 rich in devotion, and so hostile to superstition, that, 
 under some modification or other, in some application 
 or other of it to the details of faith and practice, it 
 
10 
 
 DISCOURSE ON THE DEATH OF 
 
 has always been deeply enshrined in the souls of 
 spiritual reformers. Whenever and wherever such 
 men arise, their lives, characters, and influence are de- 
 serving of our earnest study — whenever and wherever 
 they die, their loss is to be lamented, and their memo- 
 ries cherished ; and so be it with him, the unex- 
 pected termination of whose career has occasioned 
 the feeling which pervades this assembly, and in 
 whom was visible the image and superscription of 
 that excellence which I have been describing, and 
 which, first in distant report and then in personal 
 observation, our hearts recognized in the Rajah 
 Rammohun Roy. 
 
 Strange is it that such a man should have been 
 given by India to the world — by India, the con- 
 quered and reconquered, the despised, enslaved, cor- 
 rupted, and permanently subjugated India — that in a 
 country so grossly-and senselessly idolatrous, should 
 have arisen so enlightened an assertor of the unity 
 and spirituality of God — that from a people so timid, 
 servile, and abject, crouching in the dust for ages to 
 one foreign domination after another, and kissing 
 every foot that spurns or tramples on them, should 
 have sprung one whose heart beat high and strong 
 with the love of political liberty — sympathizing with 
 the free in their distant struggles, and cherishing for 
 his own country the only hope which would not make 
 ashamed, that of instruction as the herald of political 
 regeneration. Strange that, in a region of impurity 
 and falsehood, where licentiousness is not merely 
 
RAJAH RAMMOIIUN 110Y. 
 
 11 
 
 tolerated, but sanctified ; and where the natural vices 
 of slavery, equivocation and deception, are rife in 
 all ranks, one should have grown up so holy and 
 simple, so free from each debasing taint, as if con- 
 secrated from his birth to the God of purity and truth. 
 Strange that amongst a greedy and avaricious race, 
 who, if they covet not the sword of their masters, have 
 yet imbibed their craving after gold — who seek its 
 acquisition by all arts, from shameless oppression to 
 shameless perjury, preying even on their own pool- 
 plundered country — should have been found one who 
 so early perceived what was better far than riches, 
 and willingly saw his prospects darkened by the in- 
 terposition of that brighter orb which had risen upon 
 his mind, which was thenceforth to be his guiding 
 star, although he knew not yet that it would lead 
 him to the cottage of the babe of Bethlehem ; and 
 who, when his years of toil and privation were over, 
 and a rare affluence was showered into his bosom, 
 showed that he “ knew how to abound,” by its devo- 
 tion towards all the purposes of the purest and most 
 enlightened philanthropy. Strange, that in the 
 proudest and most selfish tribe of the land of Caste, 
 which arrogates a diviner origin than the rest of the 
 community, and unscrupulously makes the rest sub- 
 sidiary to its pleasures, its cupidity, and its arrogance, 
 legislating for the Brahmin with a recklessness of all 
 inferiors’ rights, to which there is nothing comparable 
 even in the worst insolence of feudality — should have 
 been born one, in whose heart men’s common nature 
 
12 
 
 DISCOURSE ON THE DEATH OF 
 
 and equal rights seem ever to have been recognized ; 
 whose own soul was such a revelation to him of the 
 universal brotherhood of humanity, that he read it 
 everywhere, even in the reveries of Brahminical 
 theology, and became its advocate and missionary 
 before the voice of the Apostle had told him it was 
 the word of God. Strange, that from that exclusive 
 and restricted land, where the selfish interest alike of 
 the native priesthood, and of the foreign conqueror, 
 obstruct free communication with the world at large ; 
 where the invisible wall of superstition, guarded by 
 temporal, even more than by spiritual terrors, has 
 hitherto confined all, except the very outcasts of the 
 people, within its magic circle — should have come 
 one who was already, in principle and feeling, a 
 citizen of the world, a member of the great fraternity 
 of enlarged and liberal minds, in whom the foremost 
 men of all free and civilized nations would welcome a 
 congenial visitant, and whom one country after an- 
 other was anxiously waiting to tell, upon its own 
 shores, how he was already known and honoured 
 there. Strange is it — but he was not of India, so 
 much as for India ; and the influences of race and of 
 country that were over him, only so far tinged the 
 universality of his spirit, as to give it that colouring 
 in which the best of his countrymen would delight, 
 and which would more completely qualify him to be 
 (as in the, perhaps, remote agency of his character 
 and instructions I think he will yet be) the moral 
 and spiritual reformer of his people, the Apostle ol 
 
RAJAH RAMMOHUN ROY. 
 
 13 
 
 Hindostan, the patriarch there of a purer faith, wor- 
 ship, and morality. 
 
 The remarkable faculties and operations of his in- 
 tellect, — the readiness with which it received new 
 impressions, and the tenacity with which it retained 
 whatever had once been made ; — the wide field over 
 which his acquirements spread, comprising sciences 
 and languages, which individual knowledge rai'ely 
 associates together ; — the caution with which he 
 arranged facts, and the acuteness with which he 
 detected sophisms, — the minuteness of detail to which 
 his investigations descended, and the broad principles 
 which he so early adopted, and so extensively ap- 
 plied : these qualities, remarkable as they were, and 
 remarkable as they would have made him, even 
 amongst the literary men of the most enlightened 
 countries — owed their highest worth to that pure 
 and beautiful moral constitution which was the real 
 glory of his character. Facility and kindness are the 
 common qualities of his countrymen, so far as priest- 
 craft and subjugation allow us to discern the native 
 qualities of that gentle but perverted race. Not only 
 were these, in him, sublimed into virtues, by their 
 combination with his intelligence and his principle, 
 but he was born to that expansiveness of sympathy 
 and feeling which, when feeling is also strong, pre- 
 sents the germ of the noblest philanthropy — of that 
 which will love man, and toil for man, and suffer for 
 man, and eventually bless man ; while yet not the 
 most exclusive fabricator of a family-interest can 
 have more of tenderness and fondness to all who 
 
14 
 
 DISCOURSE ON THE DEATH OK 
 
 dwell within the circle of its domestic affections. 
 And there was yet more than this in him ; there was 
 a tendency, which took the happiest direction, 
 towards what we may call natural religion, or, 
 more properly, veneration ; I mean the ready re- 
 cognition, the deep appreciation, of whatever is 
 morally superior. Real greatness, which is moral 
 greatness, he felt, he loved, he venerated, wherever 
 it existed. Hence the beautiful humility of his cha- 
 racter ; its freedom from the restlessness of the mere 
 innovator, from the pragmaticalness of the mere con- 
 troversialist, from the nationality of the narrow- 
 minded patriot, and from the hard ambition of the 
 sectarian leader and religious despot. It was this 
 which made him turn with disgust from the gross 
 mythology of his country ; it was this which made 
 him rejoice in every beam of the true light which he 
 found glimmering among the dark pages of their 
 Shasters ; it was this which guided his unerring selec- 
 tion of those wise and holy fragments, which have 
 floated down from the remote antiquity of their theo- 
 logical books, intermingled with wild dreams, and 
 prescriptions of foolish or pernicious ceremony ; it 
 was this which made him so promptly perceive, that, 
 whether his mission were natural, or supernatural, 
 the “ precepts of Jesus” were the “ guide to happi- 
 ness and if we may advert to a lower, though not 
 less striking operation of the same faculty, it was this 
 which overcame his young hostility towards the Eng- 
 lish name and people, his aversion from the conquerors 
 and despoilers of his country— making him compre- 
 
RAJAH RAMMOHUN ROY. 
 
 lo 
 
 hend to what a superior race and nation they be- 
 longed, and gaze, neither in hate nor envy, at their 
 grandeur in arts, and arms, and literature, and 
 polity, and even in religion ; it was this which made 
 him neither the indiscriminating admirer, nor the 
 indiscriminating associate, of European residents ; 
 but attracted him towards, as they were attracted 
 towards him, the most distinguished for the best qua- 
 lities of head and heart ; the most able, the most 
 honourable, the most upright, though not always the 
 most influential, of all that sojourned there. It was 
 this which made him select, when he came to the 
 daring resolution of passing abroad to other nations, 
 the countries most worthy of such visitation ; and dic- 
 tated alike the purposes which he should, in each, 
 pursue, and the associations he should form with kin- 
 dred spirits, to whom, in the simplicity of his own 
 worth, he did homage, because he reverenced in 
 them, that which made them his moral kindred, his 
 spiritual brethren. Such a disposition is of itself a 
 preparation for, and pledge of, final beatitude in 
 heaven ; it ripened him to feel blessedness in sitting 
 down with patriarchs in the kingdom of heaven, and 
 in joining the society of the spirits of just men made 
 perfect. 
 
 It is to be wished that his future biographer may 
 find ample materials for the delineation of his early 
 days. We know that he was descended, both by 
 father and mother, from the highest class of Brah- 
 mins ; and that the addiction of his paternal ancestry 
 
1G 
 
 DISCOURSE ON THE DEATH OF 
 
 to temporal aggrandizement, and of his mother’s 
 family to the most coveted priestly honours, led to an 
 unusual combination in his education, of the acquire- 
 ments which are in request for both pursuits. They 
 occasioned an acquaintance with Mohammedan lite- 
 rature, and with the stricter sciences, which probably 
 had considerable effect, both on the powers which his 
 intellect evinced, and on the conclusions at which it 
 arrived. Still, this fact is but a poor help towards 
 the developement of his early character : and that 
 character was essentially the same, mentally and 
 morally, at least so far as we can judge from all that 
 is known, in mere boyhood, as it was in full matu- 
 rity. Improvement, expansion, elevation , and ampler 
 unfolding of its capacities and tendencies, it might, 
 and undoubtedly did, receive ; but the root even of 
 all Ills subsequent opinions was already vigorously 
 germinating ; the disgust of idolatry and world- 
 liness was already strong upon him ; the idea of 
 God was in his soul “ When about the age of 
 sixteen,” he says, “ I composed a manuscript, call- 
 ing in question the validity of the idolatrous sys- 
 tem of the Hindoos. This, together with my known 
 sentiments on that subject, having produced a cool- 
 ness between me and my immediate kindred, I pro- 
 ceeded on my travels, and passed through different 
 countries, chiefly within, but some beyond, the 
 bounds of Hindostan.” ( l ) The fact is, that he 
 seems, for a time, to have been disinherited and self- 
 dependent. And so strongly were his feelings 
 
RAJAH RAMMOHUN ROY. 
 
 17 
 
 wrought upon by the alienations which then com- 
 menced, that, through life, under the pressure of de- 
 jection or disease, the frowning features of his father 
 would rise unbidden on his imagination. Our igno- 
 rance of more than the great fact of this juvenile 
 devotion to pure theism, in opposition to all social 
 and family influences, and personal interests, almost 
 reduces what we can say upon it to the brevity of the 
 patriarchal record : we only know that, though not 
 by miracle, yet by the providential stirrings of his 
 own mind, by the voice of an enlightened and com- 
 manding conscience, “ the Lord had said unto” him, 
 “ Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, 
 and from thy father’s house, into a land that I will 
 show thee : and he went out, not knowing whither.” 
 His adoption afterwards of Christianity, I can 
 scarcely call a conversion ; for it no more wrought 
 an essential change in him, than it would have done 
 on the patriarchs and holy men of the Jewish nation, 
 who lived before the coming of the Saviour, but 
 in whom was the spirit of Christ. It was not a 
 change, but an enlargement, and new modification of 
 his religion. It affected rather the evidence of his 
 principles, than the principles themselves ; for the 
 unity, spirituality, and perfection of the Deity, a moral 
 government, and a future life, with the summary of 
 duty in love to God and our neighbour, had long con- 
 stituted his religion. ( 2 ) And these are the sub- 
 stance of Christianity ; the peculiarity of which, as 
 distinguished from the pure theism of the Hindoo Re- 
 
 c 
 
18 
 
 DISCOURSE ON THE DEATH OF 
 
 former, consists rather in evidence and application, 
 in the bearing upon these truths of a supernatural 
 system, and in the resurrection of Christ, than in the 
 truths themselves. He had previously that faith, that 
 enlightened and filial confidence in God, which the 
 writer to the Hebrews has so distinctly characterized 
 as the life of all pure religion, most acceptable to 
 God — most safe and honourable for men. “ He that 
 cometh unto God, must believe that he is, and that 
 he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” 
 So came the inquiring philosopher ; and what bigot 
 shall say that, so coming, he was not accepted ? Like 
 another character in this same record, “ he walked 
 with God.” He already manifested that spirit of de- 
 votion which permanently possessed him ; which was 
 neither weak originally, through the imperfection of 
 his knowledge, nor polluted afterwards by the false 
 fires of controversy in which he was compelled to 
 engage ; but ever strong, — shining steadily even 
 through the last days of silence and darkness, when 
 his life ebbed away. This is religion ; this is 
 Christianity in spirit and in substance, whatever its 
 appellation. Nor is it improbable, that, by a direct 
 influence, as well as a native affinity, his faith was 
 linked to that of the patriarch, in the words of whose 
 history we have ventured to describe his character 
 and destiny. Through the traditions, both of India 
 and of Arabia, ( 3 ) might something of the spirit of the 
 Father of the faithful descend upon the Indian Re- 
 former; like the mantle of the ascending Elijah, 
 
RAJAH RAMMOHUN ROY. 
 
 19 
 
 borne hither and thither on the whirlwind, but rest- 
 ing at length on the meek and expectant disciple 
 who knelt upon the earth. Strong as must generally 
 be the prejudices of the Hindoo against the gospel ; 
 strong from the interweaving of idolatry with all the 
 dictates of education and the concerns of life ; strong, 
 from its remote antiquity and unquestioned reception 
 by the many millions around them ; strong, from the 
 connexion of the Christian name with those whom 
 they fear and hate, while they obey, and who ex- 
 hibit little of its benign spirit to mitigate their 
 prejudice; strong, in all the arts employed to up- 
 hold idolatry by a shrewd, unprincipled, ambitious, 
 and rapacious priesthood, possessing the hereditary 
 reverence of the community ; we may yet well be- 
 lieve that his mind, which had vanquished these pre- 
 judices in itself, and long struggled with them in 
 others, was neither unprepared nor indisposed for the 
 reception of Christianity. He must have felt con- 
 geniality with the sacred writers, as soon as their 
 pages were fairly open before him. The simplicity 
 of their narrative, the fervour of their devotion, the 
 depth of their philosophy, the purity of their precepts, 
 the boundlessness of their benevolence, the splen- 
 dour of their hopes — all must have touched corre- 
 sponding chords in his bosom — must have made him 
 feel that this was what he wanted — must have led 
 him to the Lord of all, not like John’s disciples, 
 questioning, but affirming, thou art he that should 
 come ; I look not for another. ( 4 ) 
 
20 
 
 DISCOURSE ON THE DEATH OF 
 
 \ et his reception of Christianity was no act of im- 
 pulse, of gratified curiosity, or accordant feeling, hut 
 of investigation as patient and perfect, as if it had 
 been to him, of all systems of religion, the most incre- 
 dible or uncongenial. He acquired both the Hebrew 
 and Greek languages, that he might study the Scrip- 
 tures in their originals. He called in the aid of a 
 Jewish Rabbi, for the one, and of a Christian mission- 
 ary for the other ; the singular circumstance having 
 occurred, as you know, of the missionary, who thus 
 aided his labours, being himself converted from the 
 Trinitarian opinions which he was sent thither to 
 promulgate. This investigation, and the doctrinal 
 controversies which ensued, occupied at least three 
 years : he looked back on them with complacency : 
 he had found in Christianity his own pure theism and 
 morality, not overturned, but gloriously strengthened 
 and illustrated. The doctrine of a plurality of divine 
 persons had been to him a stumbling block, at the 
 portal of the Christian temple. ( 5 ) The angel of in- 
 quiry rolled away the stone, and told him of the 
 resurrection of the man Christ Jesus. But while he 
 was more and more appreciating Christianity, many 
 Christians were less and less appreciating him, be- 
 cause it was not their dogmatized and sectarianized 
 Christianity. He sat at Jesus’ feet, with listening 
 ears, and eager eyes, and loving and obedient 
 heart ; while they were pointing to church and to 
 chapel, and saying, “Lo! here is Christ,” or, 
 “ Lo, Christ is there ! ” It better became him, than 
 
RAJAH RAMMOHUN ROY. 
 
 21 
 
 it would become us, to forget the insults and vexa- 
 tions to which he was subjected, by that spirit of 
 sectarian bigotry which dwells in the nominally 
 Christian body, the worst of demoniacal possessions. 
 One of the most amiable of prelates called him an 
 atheist ; one of the ablest of dissenting missionaries 
 taunted him as a heathen ; at the very time that he 
 was spending his substance in the support of mono- 
 theistic worship, and diffusing his mental wealth in 
 illustrations — first, of the morality, and then of the 
 doctrines of the gospel, by publications, which the 
 most enlightened believers in Christendom may profit 
 by studying. The use even of the missionary printing 
 press, open as it had been to works of a very different 
 kind, was refused to him, and he was driven to the 
 trouble and expense of purchasing types, and be- 
 coming his own printer, simply because his work was 
 in proof of the proposition, that, “ to us there is but 
 one God the Father, and one Lord Jesus Christ.” 
 And in this spirit has it been, that, from the time of 
 his arrival in this country, to the present day, there 
 have been questionings, harassments, and contro- 
 versies, which have even been carried on over his yet 
 unburied corse, — rival sects battling, as if for the 
 possession, which they seem to think the salvation, of 
 his soul. How they should all have stood abashed 
 before him; ay, even before his unconscious remains ! 
 Not for such a man should there be that poor and 
 pitiful, that blind and bitter conflict, to make a party 
 trophy of that which could not, from its very nature, 
 
22 
 
 DISCOURSE ON THE DEATH OF 
 
 become the prize or the possession of a party. The 
 factions of Jerusalem might as reasonably have 
 battled for the light that used to irradiate their 
 temple. What can matter, whether he said Shib- 
 boleth or Sibboleth, or neither ? he spake with the 
 tongues of men and angels; for his speech was cha- 
 rity, the true language of heaven, to which the noise 
 of creeds and their partizans is but as the sounding 
 brass, or the tinkling cymbal. 
 
 The Unitarians, who expected (if such there were) 
 that he should only worship in their chapels, and be 
 identified with their affairs — and the Trinitarians, who 
 because he went about the walls of their Zion, to 
 mark its towers and palaces, would incarcerate him 
 within its gates, and claim him for their own, — alike 
 mistook that which became such a man on such a 
 mission. It was in his own free and Catholic spirit, 
 ever ready to ask “ Are ye not all brethren ? why fall 
 ye out by the way ? ” that he wended his way, in 
 charity, awhile with each ; nay, that sometimes, with 
 a literal observance of the precept, when some par- 
 tizan, with rude hand, constrained him to go a mile 
 with him on his rough road, he would, in his Oriental 
 courtesy, “ go with him twain.” But the affectation 
 of a doubt on the doctrinal opinions of a man who 
 has illustrated them with unsurpassed acuteness of 
 criticism, variety of information, and conclusiveness 
 of argument, through a succession of publications, is 
 scarcely more endurable than the bigotry which would 
 append everlasting damnation to his known continued 
 
RAJAH RAMMOHUN ROY. 
 
 23 
 
 
 belief in the doctrines so defended, of the proper 
 unity of God, and the forgiveness of sinners, by his 
 unpurchased mercy. ( 6 ) 
 
 The testimony which he thus bore against the 
 departure from the worship of the one only God, both 
 by Hindoos and by Christians, has not been borne in 
 vain. Its useful influence has already been made 
 apparent, although it will probably be long before the 
 full extent and power of that influence will be mani- 
 fested. Thousands of his countrymen have followed 
 his example in the renunciation of idolatry. The 
 philosophical theists of India now comprise no in- 
 considerable portion of whatever is eminent amongst 
 the natives for intelligence and character. In their 
 temple at Calcutta, where his voice has been often 
 heard, and at the mention of which his countenance 
 ■would glow with devout and benevolent pleasure, no 
 exclusive worship is offered to the Deity, but homage 
 in which the Hindoo and the European, the rationalist 
 and the supernaturalist, the Jew, the Mahometan, 
 and the Christian, may and do unite. Where the 
 votaries of so many creeds must continue to meet and 
 mingle in the midst of an idolatrous multitude, may 
 there long remain, though he shall never return to it, 
 that one spot in which man, unquestioned, may offer 
 the universal prayer to the universal Father. And the 
 flame which he had kindled continued to burn and 
 brighten in his absence ! The liberal Hindoos, not- 
 withstanding the power and wrath of the idolatrous 
 priesthood, are growing in strength and influence. 
 
24 
 
 DISCOURSE ON TIIE DEATH OF 
 
 To them, apparently, we must look for the carrying 
 on of his work, and the continuation of the process 
 whose consummation will he the disuse of idolatrous 
 ceremony, the extinction of caste, the enlightenment 
 of the people and improvement of their condition, the 
 reception of pure Christianity, and the attainment of 
 political existence and freedom. Then will his name 
 receive its rightful honours, and his country know its 
 benefactor. And not lightly should we think of the 
 immediate result of his example and labours, in a 
 region where idolatry has so long been vainly assailed 
 by the mitred prelate and the laborious missionary. 
 Mountains of wealth, years of toil, and the sacrifice 
 of many lives, have done nothing in comparison with 
 his simple testimony in turning men from idols unto 
 God. Nor has his witness to the Gospel been un- 
 availing. To the distant and feeble churches of 
 Unitarian Christians in the Madras Presidency, his 
 name has been a shelter from reproach and a ton er 
 of strength. The proved inability of the missionaries 
 to proselyte men of education and character, illus- 
 trates the service which must needs be rendered to 
 Christianity in the respect commanded by his spon- 
 taneous adoption of its principles. A yet further, 
 and perhaps far mightier benefit will accrue, if the 
 impression should be produced, which ought to follow, 
 on the opinions of Christians themselves. Some 
 respect is surely due to his verdict on the conflicting 
 claims of simple and of mysterious creeds to the 
 authority of the Scriptures. His arguments and 
 
RAJAH RAMMOHUN ROY. 
 
 25 
 
 expositions are before us, as well as his decision ; 
 destined, we hope, to lead many to the reconsideration 
 of those traditionary dogmas which obscure the glory, 
 pervert the influence, and obstruct the progress of the 
 religion of Christ. 
 
 The benefits which, besides that great testimony 
 which it was the business of his life to bear, he 
 achieved or contemplated, for his native country, have 
 this beautiful quality of all pure and good ends realized 
 by pure and good means, that however local and tem- 
 porary the immediate advantages, they expand them- 
 selves into the universal and enduring, and a blessing 
 on any spot of earth tends to become a benediction 
 on the great globe itself. The Hindoo patriot and 
 reformer was, by the purity with which he sustained 
 those characters, a benefactor to mankind. The good 
 which he attempted for his countrymen is reflected 
 and re-acts upon us. In leading them back, as he 
 endeavoured by numerous publications, through the 
 superstitions and corruptions of ages, to the primeval 
 simplicity of their religion, does he not show us, and 
 may we not profit by the lesson, that a pure theism, 
 the original religion of mankind, is the true basis of 
 all religion ? In endeavouring to improve the manners 
 and condition, the laws and institutions of that nume- 
 rous people, was he not working good for us, who have 
 injured ourselves, in so far as we have despised them, 
 or been accessary to their oppression and debasement ? 
 The tyrant and the corrupter must themselves feed at 
 last on the fruits of corruption and tyranny ; while 
 
2f> 
 
 DISCOURSE ON THE DEATH OF 
 
 upon those who enlighten and emancipate, their own 
 blessing returns in light and freedom. 
 
 In the establishment of native schools, for providing 
 the advantages of English education, which he sup- 
 ported at considerable expense, ( 7 ) — in his connexion 
 with the Indian press, — and his able and honourable 
 exertions to prolong its existence, by obtaining for it 
 some degree of freedom, he was co-operating with 
 those who in this or any country strive after the en- 
 lightenment of the human mind as the most efficient 
 means of advancing to the possession of political 
 freedom and of social happiness. 
 
 In his work on the right of Hindoos to dispose of 
 their ancestral property, and in other legal arguments, 
 he struggled against decisions in the courts of Bengal, 
 which he regarded as a departure from the best 
 and highest Hindoo authorities ; and which, as they 
 tended to establish in that country the European prin- 
 ciple or custom of primogeniture, could not but be 
 offensive to his acute mind which so distinctly saw, 
 and his benevolent heart which so strongly depre- 
 cated, its pernicious operation. ( 8 ) Property, like 
 superstition, may perpetuate a distinction of caste. 
 This is one of the evils which make the worship of 
 Mammon not less degrading and pernicious to society 
 than other idolatries. ( 9 ) 
 
 The noble exertions of Rammohun Roy to stop 
 the prevalent atrocity of sacrificing widows on the 
 funeral pile, no doubt contributed to the abolition of 
 that practice. His struggle with the interests of 
 
RAJAH RAMMOHUN ROY. 
 
 27 
 
 the Brahmins and the prejudices of society would not 
 have been so long, had the British authorities more 
 decidedly and promptly espoused the claims of huma- 
 nity. In one of his tracts on this subject, there is a 
 noble and eloquent passage, in which, from reprobating 
 the particular instance of oppression of the female 
 sex, he rises to the advocacy of such amelioration of 
 their education and condition as would give the 
 amplest scope and highest direction to their influence 
 on the mind, the morals, and the happiness of the 
 whole human race. ( 10 ) And thus, also, his desire to 
 visit Europe and America, had its source in that pure 
 patriotism which not merely agrees with, but is, 
 philanthropy. He had long wished to observe society 
 under the influence of liberal institutions. He wished 
 the sea to become the same broad highway for his 
 countrymen that it is for the merchants, the travellers, 
 and the literati of free and civilized nations. He 
 wished, in the spirit of that Gospel which destroyed 
 the partition wall betwixt Jew and Gentile, to break 
 the barriers which divide the Eastern and the Western 
 world. He had other and more immediate purposes. 
 It was his hope that he might benefit his countrymen 
 by his presence, and, if opportunity favoured, his 
 interference, during the discussions which were about 
 to take place on the renewal of the East India Com- 
 pany’s Charter. An appeal had also been made to 
 the King in Council, by the idolatrous Brahmins and 
 their partizans, against the decree of the local autho- 
 rities for the abolition of Suttees. And the Emperor 
 
28 
 
 DISCOURSE ON TIIE DEATH OF 
 
 of Delhi had constituted him his representative, with 
 the title of Rajah, for the purpose of procuring repa- 
 ration of certain encroachments on his rights by the 
 East India Company. These purposes are all happily 
 accomplished. His evidence on Indian affairs, which 
 no doubt had its weight with the legislature, is before 
 the public. lie was present when the Privy Council 
 gave its final decision against the Braliminical appli- 
 cation for the renewal of the Suttee atrocities ; and 
 his negotiations on behalf of the Emperor of Delhi 
 were conducted to a satisfactory and honourable ter- 
 mination. During his residence here he was the 
 deeply-interested spectator of the most important 
 struggle for popular right which has taken place in 
 this country. And, in social intercourse, he endeared 
 himself to natives of many countries, and to persons 
 of all parties, ranks, and ages ; attracting a regard 
 which no celebrity could have conciliated, but which 
 flowed spontaneously towards that goodness which 
 u as in him the soul of greatness. ( u ) 
 
 We shall see his face no more ! His presence has 
 passed away as a poetic image fades from the brain ! 
 But it has left impressions which will long endure ; 
 influences of good, wide and deep, here ; yet wider 
 and deeper in the distant land of his nativity. And, 
 “ being dead, he yet speaketh” with a voice to which 
 not only India but Europe and America will listen 
 for generations. A few days of fever have made him 
 dust. It appears that no skill could have s^ved a life 
 which, as he was probably but in about the fifty-fifth 
 
RAJAH RAMMOHUN ROY. 
 
 29 
 
 year of his age, seems to us prematurely terminated. 
 Subsequent to all other signs of consciousness, he 
 indicated the yet surviving sense of the kindness of 
 his friends, and, by silent devotion, of the presence 
 of his God. His body will be silently committed to 
 its rest in ground only hallowed by its reception — the 
 noblest of all consecrations. Many will there be 
 whom personal attachment will draw towards that 
 spot ; and it should draw them thither ; for it is good 
 to weep over the grave of such a man, and makes 
 the heart better. Good will it be for them, there, to 
 adopt as the rule of their own conduct his favourite 
 quotation from the Persian poet, which he often 
 wished should be inscribed on his tomb — “ the true 
 WAY OF SERVING God, IS TO DO GOOD TO MAN.” 
 And if we shed at his death “no faithless tears,” 
 such is the service which the contemplation of his life 
 will stimulate us to render. God is not served by 
 our forms and ceremonies, our creeds and anathemas, 
 our wild emotions, or our bustling zeal. He will 
 have mercy, and not sacrifice. The garland with 
 which the Hindoo decks his idol is not less worthy 
 heaven than the useless observances and mysterious 
 dogmas, by the faith and practice of which many, who 
 are called Christians, have thought to propitiate God. 
 The dissemination of knowledge, the mitigation of 
 suffering, the prevention of oppression, the promotion 
 of improvement, the diffusion of a beneficent piety, — 
 these are God’s work, for us, towards others ; and 
 they are all reflected upon ourselves in the building 
 
30 
 
 DISCOURSE ON THE DEATH, ETC. 
 
 up of our own characters to intellectual and moral 
 excellence. “ Speaking the truth in love,” we shall 
 best bear our own testimony, and prolong theirs who 
 have joined the “ cloud of Avitnesses ” that compass 
 us about, as AA r e “ run the race set before us, looking 
 unto Jesus.” The voice of duty may not call us to 
 quit either country or kindred ; but our souls have 
 their pilgrimage of faith to pursue, through varied 
 trials, to our Father’s house, in which there are many 
 mansions, wherein ultimately shall be gathered toge- 
 ther the Avhole family of heaven and earth. Already 
 should our hearts feel the bond of that holy fraternity, 
 — the love which never faileth, which never shall fail, 
 in time or in eternity ; for it is the essence and the 
 influence of God, and “ he that loveth dwelleth in 
 God, and God in him.” 
 
 Thus may AA'e anticipate, according to our useful- 
 ness and progress, acceptance in degree like that 
 which aAvaited our departed visitant and friend. For 
 may Ave not devoutly trust that the Great Master has 
 received him with — “ Well done, good and faithful 
 servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord ;” and 
 that patriarchs and prophets, apostles and confessors, 
 philosophers and reformers, the holy and illustrious 
 of all times and countries, gathering round to greet a 
 brother, have responded in gratulation, “ Amen, even 
 so, Lord Jesus !” 
 
NOTES. 
 
 1. 
 
 The passage here quoted is from the following letter ad- 
 dressed by the Rajah to a friend, and published by Mr. Sandford 
 Arnott, as part of a memoir in the “ Athenaeum” of October 5. 
 A compilation from this and other notices is printed in the 
 “ Unitarian Chronicle” for November 1. The materials for a 
 complete and satisfactory account of the Rajah’s life are neces- 
 sarily yet wanting in this country. It is to be hoped that they 
 will be speedily collected, and intrusted to a biographer able to do 
 justice to his character : — 
 
 “ My dear Friend, — In conformity with the wish you have 
 frequently expressed, that I should give you an outline of my life, 
 I have now the pleasure to send you the following very brief 
 sketch. 
 
 “ My ancestors were Brahmins of a high order; and, from 
 time immemorial, were devoted to the religious duties of their 
 race, down to my fifth progenitor, who about 140 years ago gave 
 up spiritual exercises for worldly pursuits and aggrandizement. 
 His descendants ever since have followed his example, and, 
 according to the usual fate of courtiers, with various success, 
 sometimes rising to honour, and sometimes falling ; sometimes 
 rich and sometimes poor ; sometimes exulting in success, some- 
 times miserable through disappointment. But my maternal 
 ancestors being of the sacerdotal order by profession as well as by 
 birth, and of a family than which none holds a higher rank in that 
 profession, have, up to the present day, uniformly adhered to a life 
 of religious observances and devotion, preferring peace and tran- 
 quillity of mind to the excitements of ambition, and all the 
 allurements of worldly grandeur. 
 
 “ In conformity with the usage of my paternal race, and the 
 wish of my father, I studied the Persian and Arabic languages, — 
 these being accomplishments indispensable to those who attached 
 themselves to the courts of the Mohammedan princes ; and, 
 agreeably to the usage of my maternal relations, I devoted myself 
 to the study of the Sanscrit, and the theological works written in 
 it, which contain the body of Hindoo literature, law, and religion. 
 
32 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 “ When about the age of sixteen, I composed a manuscript 
 calling in question the validity of the idolatrous system of the 
 Hindoos. This, together with my known sentiments on that 
 subject, having produced a coolness between me and my imme- 
 diate kindred, I proceeded on my travels, and passed through 
 different countries, chiefly within, but some beyond the bounds of 
 Hindostan, with a feeling of great aversion to the establishment 
 of the British power in India. When I liad reached the age of 
 twenty, my father recalled me, and restored me to his favour ; 
 after which I first saw and began to associate with Europeans, 
 and soon after made myself tolerably acquainted with their laws 
 and form of government. Finding them generally more intel- 
 ligent, more steady and moderate in their conduct, I gave up my 
 prejudice against them, and became inclined in their favour, feeling 
 persuaded that their rule, though a foreign yoke, would lead more 
 speedily and surely to the amelioration of the native inhabitants ; 
 and I enjoyed the confidence of several of them, even in their 
 public capacity. My continued controversies with the Brahmins, 
 on the subject of their idolatry and superstition, and my inter- 
 ference with their custom of burning widows, and other pernicious 
 practices, revived and increased their animosity against me ; and 
 through their influence with my family, my father was again 
 obliged to withdraw his countenance openly, though his limited 
 pecuniary support was still continued to me. 
 
 “ After my father’s death, I opposed the advocates of idolatry 
 with still greater boldness. Availing myself of the art of print- 
 ing now established in India, I published various works and 
 pamphlets against their errors, in the native and foreign lan- 
 guages. This raised such a feeling against me, that I was at last 
 deserted by every person, except two or three Scotch friends, to 
 whom, and the nation to which they belong, I always feel 
 grateful. 
 
 “ The ground which I took in all my controversies was, not 
 that of opposition to Brahminism, but to a perversion of it; and I 
 endeavoured to show that the idolatry of the Brahmins was con- 
 trary to the practice of their ancestors, and the principles of the 
 ancient books and authorities which they profess to revere and 
 obey. Notwithstanding the violence of the opposition and resist- 
 ance to my opinions, several highly respectable persons, both 
 among my own relations and others, began to adopt the same 
 sentiments. 
 
 “ I now felt a strong wish to visit Europe, and obtain, by per- 
 sonal observation, a more thorough insight into its manners, 
 customs, religion, and political institutions. I refrained, however, 
 from carrying this intention into effect, until the friends who 
 coincided in my sentiments should be increased in number and 
 strength. My expectations having been at length realized, in 
 
NOTES. 
 
 33 
 
 November, 1830, I embarked for England, as the discussion of 
 the East India Company’s Charter was expected to come on, by 
 which the treatment of the natives of India, and its future govern- 
 ment, would be determined for many years to come ; and an 
 appeal to the King in Council against the abolition of the practice 
 of burning widows was to be heard before the Privy Council ; and 
 his majesty the Emperor of Delhi, had likewise commissioned me 
 to bring before the authorities in England certain encroachments 
 on his rights by the East India Company. I accordingly arrived 
 in England in April, 1831. 
 
 “ I hope you will excuse the brevity of this sketch, as I have 
 no leisure at present to enter into particulars ; and I remain, &c. 
 
 (Signed) “ Pammohun Roy." 
 
 2. 
 
 The religious state of Rammohun Roy’s mind, and the feelings 
 with which he contemplated the idolatry of his countrymen, are 
 beautifully expressed in several of the introductions and prefaces 
 which he prefixed to translated selections from their sacred books. 
 The following is one of the most interesting. It is the introduc- 
 tion to the “ Translation of the Ishopanishad, one of the chapters 
 of the Yajur Veda ; according to the commentary of the celebrated 
 Shankar-Acharyi ; establishing the Unity and Incomprehensibility 
 of the Supreme Being ; and that his worship alone can lead to 
 Eternal Beatitude.” Calcutta, 1816 : — 
 
 “ 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 be contrasted 
 with the great age of the universe, and the limited extent of bodily 
 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 contem- 
 plation 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 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 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 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 blame- 
 less) 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 caste. 
 
 “ 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 caste, is visited 
 in their society with no peculiar mark of infamy or disgrace. 
 
 “ A trifling present to the Brahmin, commonly called Prdyasehit, 
 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 pain- 
 ful for many years. I have never ceased to contemplate with the 
 strongest feelings of regret, the obstinate adherence of my country- 
 men 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 immo- 
 lation of the nearest relations, under the delusion of conforming 
 to sacred religious rites. I have never ceased, I repeat, to con- 
 template 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 im- 
 pelled 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 em- 
 
NOTES. 
 
 35 
 
 ployed 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 con- 
 viction 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.” 
 
 3. 
 
 Although Rammohun Roy seems always to have been repelled 
 from Mohammedanism by the intolerance of its spirit and the 
 imperfections of its morality, he appreciated the good which that 
 religion had effected by checking idolatry, and was inclined towards 
 more favourable views of the character of its founder than are 
 generally held by Europeans. He is understood to have made 
 diligent researches into the history, and to have written part of a 
 life of the celebrated Arabian. In replying to Dr. Marshman, he 
 thus employs his knowledge of the Koran, and expresses his view 
 of its theology : — 
 
 “ As to the question of the editor, 4 Did Mohummud, arrogant 
 as he was, ever make such a declaration as Jesus did, namely, 
 that ‘ I am with you always even to the end of the world V I 
 will not renew the subject, as -it has been already discussed in 
 examining the first position. I only entreat the attention of the 
 editor to the following assertions of Mohummud, known to almost 
 all Moossulmans who have the least knowledge of their own reli- 
 gion : — ‘ Truly the great and glorious God raised me as mercy 
 and guidance to worlds. I was the first of all Prophets in crea- 
 tion, and the last in appearance. I was a Prophet when Adam 
 was in earth and water. I am the Lord of those that w-ere sent 
 by God. This is no boast to me. My shadow is on the head 
 only of my followers. He who has seen me has seen God. He 
 who has obeyed me, has obeyed God ; and he who has sinned 
 against me, has sinned against God.’ 
 
 “ It is, however, fortunate for Moossulmans, that from want of 
 familiarity and intimate connexion between the primitive Mohum- 
 muddans and their contemporary heathens, the doctrines of 
 monotheism taught by Mohummud, and entertained by his fol- 
 lowers, have not been corrupted by polytheistical notions of 
 Pagans, nor have heathen modes of worship or festivals been intro- 
 duced among the Moossulmans of Arabia and Turkey as a part 
 of their religion. Besides, metaphorical expressions having been 
 very common among Oriental nations, Mohummuddans could not 
 fail to understand them in their proper sense, although these 
 expressions may throw great difficulty in the way of an European 
 commentator even of profound learning.” — Second Appeal , p. 199. 
 
36 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 4 . 
 
 “ A conviction in the mind of its total ignorance of the nature 
 and of the specific attributes of the Godhead, and a sense of doubt 
 respecting the real essence of the soul, give rise to feelings of great 
 dissatisfaction with our limited powers, as well as with all human 
 acquirements which fail to inform us on these interesting points. 
 — On the other hand, a notion of the existence of a supreme super- 
 intending power, the author and preserver of this harmonious 
 system, who has organized and who regulates such an infinity of 
 celestial and terrestrial objects ; and a due estimation of that law 
 which teaches that man should do unto others as he would wish to 
 be done by, reconcile us to human nature, and tend to render our 
 existence agreeable to ourselves and profitable to the rest of man- 
 kind. The former of these sources of satisfaction, viz. a belief 
 in God, prevails generally ; being derived either from tradition 
 and instruction, or from an attentive survey of the wonderful skill 
 and contrivance displayed in the works of nature. The latter, 
 although it is partially taught also in every system of religion 
 with which I am acquainted, is principally inculcated by Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 “ Moral doctrines, tending evidently to the maintenance of the 
 peace and harmony of mankind at large, are beyond the reach of 
 metaphysical perversion, and intelligible alike to the learned and 
 to the unlearned. This simple code of religion and morality is 
 bo 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, disappoint- 
 ment, pain, and death, and has equally admitted all to be par- 
 takers 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 .” — Introduction to the Precepts 
 of Jesus, the Guide to Peace and Happiness. 
 
 The different impression made by the moral and the miraculous 
 evidence on his own mind is again referred to in the ‘ Second 
 Appeal.’ — 
 
 “ Under these circumstances, and from the experience that 
 nothing but the sublimity of the precepts of Jesus had at first 
 drawn the attention of the compiler himself towards Christianity, 
 and excited his veneration for the author of this religion, without 
 aid from miraculous relations, he omitted in his compilation the 
 mention of the miracles performed by Jesus, without meaning to 
 express doubts of their authenticity, or intending to slight them 
 by such an omission. 
 
 “ I regret, therefore, that the editor should have suffered any 
 
NOTES. 
 
 3? 
 
 part of his valuable time to be spent in advancing several argu- 
 ments, in the concluding part of his Review, to establish the 
 truth of the miraculous statements of the Xew Testament. But 
 as this discussion applies to the evidence of miracles generally, it 
 may be worth considering. Arguments adduced by the editor 
 amount to this : 4 If all social, political, mercantile, and judicial 
 transactions be allowed to rest upon testimony ; why should not 
 the validity of Christian miracles be concluded from the testimony 
 of the Apostles and of others, and be relied upon by all the 
 nations of the world ?’ The editor must be well aware, that the 
 enemies to revelation draw a line of distinction on the subject of 
 proofs by testimony, between the current events of nature familiar 
 to the senses of mankind, and within the scope of human exer- 
 tions ; and extraordinary facts beyond the limits of common 
 experience, and ascribed to a direct interposition of Divine power 
 suspending the usual course of nature. If all assertions were to 
 be indiscriminately admitted as facts, merely because they are 
 testified by numbers, how can we dispute the truth of those mira- 
 cles which are said to have been performed by persons esteemed 
 holy amongst natives of this country ? The compiler has never 
 placed the miracles related in the Xew Testament on a footing 
 with the extravagant tales of his countrymen, but distinctly 
 expressed his persuasion that they (Christian miracles) would be 
 apt at best to carry little weight with those whose imaginations 
 had been accustomed to dwell on narrations much more wonderful, 
 and supported by testimony which they have been taught to 
 regard with a reverence that they cannot be expected all at once 
 to bestow on the Apostles. See Introduction to the Precepts, 
 and Appeal, p. 17. The very same line of argument indeed 
 pursued by the editor would equally avail the Hindoos. Have 
 they not accounts and records handed down to them relating to 
 the wonderful miracles stated to have been performed by their 
 saints, such as Ugustyu, Yushistu, and Gotum ; and their gods 
 incarnate, such as Ram, Krishnu, and Xursingh ; in presence of 
 their contemporary friends and enemies, the wise and the igno- 
 rant, the select and the multitude ? — Could not the Hindoos quote 
 in support of their narrated miracles, authorities from the histories 
 of their most inveterate enemies the Jeins, who join the Hindoos 
 enti.ely id acknowledging the truth and credibility of their mira- 
 culous accounts ? Tne only difference which subsists between 
 these two parties on this subject is, that the Hindoos consider the 
 power of performing miracles given to their gods and saints by 
 the Supreme Deity, and the Jeins declare that they performed all 
 those astonishing works by Asooree Shukti, or by demoniac 
 power. Moossulmans, on the other hand, can produce records 
 written and testified by contemporaries of Mohummud, both friends 
 and enemies, who are represented as eye-witnesses of the miracles 
 
NOTES. 
 
 38 
 
 ascribed to him ; such as his dividing the moon into two parts, 
 and walking in sunshine without casting a shadow. They can 
 assert too, that several of those witnesses suffered the greatest 
 calamities, and some even death, in defence of that religion ; 
 some before the attempts of Mohummud at conquest, others after 
 his commencing such attempts, and others after his death. On 
 mature consideration of all those circumstances, the compiler 
 hopes he may be allowed to remain still of opinion, that the mira- 
 culous relations found in the divine writings would be apt at best 
 to carry little weight with them, when imparted to the Hindoos 
 at large in the present state of their minds : but as no other reli- 
 gion can produce anything that may stand in competition with 
 the precepts of Jesus, much less that can be pretended to be 
 superior to them, the compiler deemed it incumbent upon him to 
 introduce these among his countrymen as a guide to peace and 
 happiness.” — P. 223 — 226. 
 
 5. 
 
 “ It has been the different interpretations of the dogmas that 
 have given rise to such keen disputes amongst the followers of 
 Jesus. They have not only destroyed harmony and union between 
 one sect of Christians and another, and continue to do so ; but in 
 past times have even caused continual wars and frequent blood- 
 shed to rage amongst them, more dreadfully than between 
 Christians and infidels. A slight reference to the histories of 
 Christian countries will, I trust, afford to my readers entire convic- 
 tion upon this head. Besides, the compiler, residing in the same 
 spot where European missionary gentlemen, and others, for a pe- 
 riod of upwards of twenty years have been, with a view to promote 
 Christianity, distributing in vain amongst the natives numberless 
 copies of the complete Bible, written in different languages, could 
 not be altogether ignorant of the causes of their disappointment. 
 He, however, never doubted their zeal for the promulgation of 
 Christianity, nor the accuracy of their statement with regard to 
 immense sums of money being annually expended in preparing 
 vast numbers of copies of the Scriptures ; but he has seen with 
 regret, that they have completely counteracted their own benevo- 
 lent efforts, by introducing all the dogmas and mysteries taught 
 in Christian churches to people by no means prepared to receive 
 them ; and that they have been so incautious and inconsiderate in 
 their attempts to enlighten the natives of India, as to address their 
 instructions to them in the same way as if they were reasoning 
 with persons brought up in a Christian country, with those dog- 
 matical notions imbibed from their infancy. The consequence 
 has been, that the natives in general, instead of benefiting by 
 the perusal of the Bible, copies of which they always receive 
 gratuitously* exchange them very often for blank paper ; and 
 
NOTES. 
 
 30 
 
 generally use several of the dogmatical terms in their native lan- 
 guage as a mark of slight in an irreverent manner ; the mention 
 of which is repugnant to my feelings. Sabat, an eminently 
 learned but grossly unprincipled Arab, whom our divines supposed 
 that they had converted to Christianity, and whom they of course 
 instructed in all the dogmas and doctrines, wrote a few years ago 
 a treatise in Arabic against those very dogmas, and printed him- 
 self and published several hundred copies of this work. And 
 another Moosulman, of the name of Ena’et Ahmud, a man of 
 respectable family, who is still alive, speedily returned to Mohum- 
 mudanism from Christianity, pleading that he had not been able 
 to reconcile to his understanding certain dogmas which were 
 imparted to him. It has been owing to their beginning with the 
 introduction of mysterious dogmas, and of relations that at first 
 sight appear incredible, that notwithstanding every exertion on the 
 part of our divines, I am not aware that we can find a single 
 respectable Moosulman or Hindoo, who were not in want of the 
 common comforts of life, once glorified with the truth of Chris- 
 tianity, constantly adhering to it. Of the few hundred natives 
 who have been nominally converted to Christianity, and who 
 have been generally of the most ignorant class, there is ground to 
 suspect that the greater number have been allured to change their 
 faith by other attractions than by a conviction of the truth and 
 reasonableness of those dogmas ; as we find nearly all of them 
 are employed or fed by their spiritual teachers, and in case of 
 neglect are apt to manifest a rebellious spirit; — a circumstance 
 which is well known to the compiler from several local facts, as 
 well as from the following occurrence. About three years ago, 
 the compiler, on his visit to an English gentleman, who is still 
 residing in the vicinity of Calcutta, saw a great number of 
 Christian converts with a petition, which they intended to present 
 to the highest ecclesiastical authority, stating, that their teachers, 
 through false promises of advancement, had induced them to give 
 up their ancient religion. The compiler felt indignant at their 
 presumption, and suggested to the gentleman, as a friend, the pro- 
 priety of not countenancing a set of men who, from their own 
 declaration, seemed so unprincipled. The Missionaries them- 
 selves are as well aware as the compiler, that those very dogmas 
 are the points which the people always select as the most proper 
 for attack, both in their oral and written controversies with 
 Christian teachers ; all of which, if required, the compiler is pre- 
 pared to prove by the most unquestionable testimony. 
 
 “ Under these circumstances, the compiler published such say- 
 ings of Christ, as be thought intelligible to all, conveying convic- 
 tion with them, and best calculated to lead mankind to universal 
 love and harmony ; not dwelling upon those matters, an obser- 
 vance of which is not absolutely ordained, and the interpretations 
 
40 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 of which, instead of introducing peace and happiness, have gene- 
 rally given rise to disputes and controversies. The compiler has 
 had no local influence nor power to promote any one’s interest, 
 nor has he situations to give away, nor yet has he friends and 
 colleagues to recommend others to their patronage. Humble, as 
 he is, he has therefore adopted those measures which he thought 
 most judicious, to spread the truth in an acceptable manner; but 
 I am sorry to observe, that he has unfortunately and unexpectedly 
 met with opposition from those whom he considered the last per- 
 sons likely to oppose him on this subject. From what has already 
 been advanced, the reviewer may perceive the reason why the 
 passages extracted by the compiler from the Gospel of St. John 
 should be comparatively few. It is from this source that the most 
 difficult to be comprehended of the dogmas of the Christian reli- 
 gion have been principally drawn ; and on the foundation of pas- 
 sages of that writer, the interpretation of which is still a matter of 
 keen discussion amongst the most learned and most pious scholars in 
 Christendom, is erected the mysterious doctrine of three Gods in 
 one Godhead, the origin of Mohummudanism, and the stumbling- 
 block to the conversion of the more enlightened amongst the 
 Hindoos .” — First Appeal, p. 117 — 121. 
 
 “ I have now noticed all the arguments founded on Scripture 
 that I have heard of as advanced in support of the doctrine of the 
 Trinity, except such as appeared to me so futile as to be unworthy 
 of remark ; and in the course of my examination have plainly 
 stated the grounds on which I conceive them to be inadmissible. 
 Perhaps my opinions may subject me to the severe censure of 
 those who dissent from me, and some will be ready to discover 
 particular motives for my presuming to differ from the great 
 majority of Christian teachers of the present day in my view of 
 Christianity, with the doctrines of which I have become but 
 recently acquainted. — Personal interest can hardly be alleged as 
 likely to have actuated me, and therefore the love of distinction 
 or notoriety may perhaps be resorted to, to account for conduct 
 which they wish it to be believed honest conviction could never 
 direct. — In reply to such an accusation, I can only protest in the 
 most solemn manner, that even in the belief that I have been suc- 
 cessful in combating the doctrine of Trinitarians, I cannot assume 
 to myself the smallest merit : — for what credit can be gained in 
 proving that one is not three, and that the same being cannot be 
 at once man and God ; or in opposing those who maintain, that 
 all who do not admit doctrines so incomprehensible must be there- 
 fore subjected by the All-merciful to eternal punishment? It is 
 too true to be denied, that we are led by the force of the senses 
 to believe many things that we cannot fully understand. But 
 where the evidence of sense does not compel us, how can we 
 believe what is not only beyond our comprehension, but contrary 
 
NOTES. 
 
 41 
 
 to it and to the common course of nature, and directly against 
 revelation ; which declares positively the unity of God, as well as 
 his incomprehensibility ; but nowhere ascribes to him any number 
 of persons, or any portion of magnitude ? Job xxxvi. 26, ‘ Behold 
 God is great, and we know him not.’ Ch.xxxvii. 23, ‘Touching 
 the Almighty, we cannot find him out.’ Psalm cxlv. 3, ‘ His 
 greatness is unsearchable.’ Neither are my attempts owing to a 
 strong hope of removing early impressions from the breasts of 
 those, whose education instilled certain ideas into their minds 
 from the moment they became capable of receiving them ; for 
 notwithstanding great and long-continued exertions on my part 
 to do away Hindoo polytheism, though palpably gross and 
 absurd, my success has been very partial. This experience, 
 therefore, it may be suggested, ought to have been sufficient to 
 discourage me from any other attempt of the kind ; but it is my 
 reverence for Christianity, and for the author of this religion, that 
 has induced me to endeavour to vindicate it from the charge of 
 Polytheism as far as my limited capacity and knowledge extend. 
 It is indeed mortifying to my feelings to find a religion, that from 
 its sublime doctrines and pure morality should be respected above 
 all other systems, reduced almost to a level with Hindoo theology, 
 merely by human creeds and prejudices ; and from this cause 
 brought to a comparison with the Paganism of ancient Greece ; 
 which, while it included a plurality of Gods, yet maintained that 
 ©toe etc, or ‘ God is one,’ and that their numerous divine 
 persons were all comprehended in that one Deity. 
 
 “ Having derived my own opinions on this subject entirely 
 from the Scriptures themselves, I may perhaps be excused for the 
 confidence with which I maintain them against those of so great 
 a majority, who appeal to the same authority for theirs ; inasmuch 
 as I attribute the different views, not to any inferiority of judg- 
 ment compared with my own limited ability, but to the powerful 
 effects of early religious impressions ; for when these are deep, 
 reason is seldom allowed its natural scope in examining them to 
 the bottom. "Were it a practice among Christians to study first 
 the books of the Old Testament as found arranged in order, and 
 to acquire a knowledge of the true force of scriptural phrases and 
 expressions without attending to interpretations given by any sect ; 
 and then to study the New Testament, comparing the one with the 
 other, Christianity would not any longer be liable to be encroached 
 upon by human opinions.” — Second Appeal, p. 303 — 305. 
 
 6 . 
 
 On the second of these great principles, the opinions of Ram- 
 mohun Roy were as clearly expressed and ably defended as on 
 the first. A single quotation may suffice. 
 
 “The authority of St. Paul, the most exalted among primitive 
 
42 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Christians, quoted by the Reverend Editor, (page 89,) ‘ If 
 righteousness come by the law, Christ is dead in vain,’ is not, I 
 presume, adequate to set aside, nor even applicable to the express 
 authority of the Author of Christianity, already quoted ; as the 
 latter includes not only the Mosaic law, to which St. Paul alludes, 
 but both law and religion, as is evident from the following pas- 
 sages : ‘ Therefore all things whatever you would that men should 
 do to you, do you even so to men ; for this is the Law and the 
 Prophets.’ ‘ On these two commandments (to love God and to 
 love our neighbours) hang all the Law and the Prophets.’ Every 
 one must admit, that the gracious Saviour meant by the words 
 * the Law and the Prophets,’ all the divine commandments found 
 in the Scriptures, obedience to which is strictly required of us by 
 the founder of that religion. Luke, ch. xi. ver. 28 : ‘ Blessed 
 are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.’ John, ch. 
 xiv. ver. 15: ‘If you love me, keep my commandments.’ Had 
 the manifestation of love towards God with all our strength, and 
 towards our neighbours as ourselves, been practically impossible, 
 as maintained by the Editor, (page 112,) or had any other doc- 
 trines been necessary to lead to eternal life, Jesus of Nazareth 
 (in whose veracity, candour, and perfection, we have happily been 
 persuaded to place implicit confidence) could not, consistently 
 with his office as the Christ of God, have enjoined the lawyer to 
 the obedience of those two commandments, and would not have 
 promised him eternal life as the reward of such obedience ; ( vide 
 Luke , ch. x. ver. 28, ‘ This do and thou shalt live ;’) for a man 
 possessed of common sense and common humanity would not 
 incite another to labour in vain by attempting what was prac- 
 tically impossible, nor delude him with promises of a reward upon 
 conditions beyond his power to fulfil ; much less could a Being, 
 in whom dwelt all truth, and who was sent with a divine law to 
 guide mankind by his preaching and example, inculcate precepts 
 that it was impracticable to follow. Any commandment enjoining 
 man to love God with all his heart and all his strength, requires 
 of us of course to direct our love towards him as the sole Father 
 of the universe ; but does not amount to a prohibition of the 
 pursuits necessary for life, or to an abstinence from love towards 
 any other object ; for such love also is enjoined by the subsequent 
 commandment. The following passages, John, ch. xiv. ver. 21, 
 
 ‘ He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that 
 loveth me : and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father ; 
 and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him Ch. xv. 
 ver. 10, ‘ If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my 
 love:’ ver. 14, ‘ Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I com- 
 mand you, &c.,’ and many other passages of a similar import, 
 exhibit clearly, that love of and adherence to Jesus can be evinced 
 solely by obedience to the divine commandments. But if the 
 
NOTES. 
 
 43 
 
 observance of those commandments be treated as practically im- 
 possible, the love of Jesus and adherence to him must likewise be 
 so considered, and Christianity altogether regarded as existing 
 only in theory. 
 
 “ I appeal to the Reverend Editor himself, whether we are to set 
 at defiance the express commandments of Jesus, under the sup- 
 position that manifestation of the love enjoined by him is prac- 
 tically impossible ? Yet this we must do, if we are to adopt the 
 position of the Editor, found in his Review, page 111, ‘ That the 
 most excellent precepts, the most perfect law, can never lead to 
 happiness and peace, unless by causing men to take refuge in the 
 doctrine of the cross meaning, I presume, the doctrine of the 
 vicarious sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, as an atonement for the 
 sins of mankind. 
 
 “ As the Reverend Editor has most fairly and justly confined 
 himself to arguments, founded on the authority of the divine 
 Teacher himself, I should hope to be allowed to beg him to point 
 out, in order to establish his position, even a single passage pro- 
 nounced by Jesus, enjoining a refuge in such a doctrine of the 
 cross, as all-sufficient or indispensable for salvation ; so that his 
 position, thus supported, may be placed in competition with that 
 founded on those passages which 1 have quoted in the foregoing 
 paragraph, showing both the indispensableness and the all-suffi- 
 ciency of the excellent Precepts in question to procure salvation ; 
 and may impel us to endeavour to reconcile contradictions, which 
 would in that case be shown to subsist between the passages, 
 declaring the all-sufficiency of the moral precepts preached by 
 Christ for eternal life, and those that might be found to announce 
 the indispensableness of the doctrine of the cross for everlasting 
 happiness. 
 
 “ It is however evident, that the human race are naturally so 
 weak, and so prone to be led astray by temptations of temporary 
 gratifications, that the best and wisest of them fall far short of 
 manifesting a strict obedience to the divine commandments, and 
 are constantly neglecting the duty they owe to the Creator and 
 to their fellow-creatures; nevertheless, in reliance on numerous 
 promises found in the sacred writings, we ought to entertain every 
 hope of enjoying the blessings of pardon from the merciful Father 
 through repentance, which is declared the only means of procuring 
 forgiveness of our failures. I have already quoted some of these 
 comforting passages in my Appeal, page 1 10 ; but as the Reverend 
 Editor seems to have entirely overlooked them, and omitted to 
 notice them in any of his publications, I deem it necessary to 
 repeat them here with a few additions. Ezekiel , chap, xviii. ver. 
 30 : ‘ Repent and turn yourselves from all your transgressions, 
 so iniquity shall not be your ruin.’ Luke , chap. xiii. ver. 3 : 
 * Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.’ Chap. xv. 
 
44 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 ver. 7 : ‘ I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over 
 one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine persons 
 who need no repentance.’ Matthew, chap. ix. ver. 13: ‘I am 
 not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’ Chap, 
 iii. ver. 2, John the Baptist preached, saying, ‘ Repent, for the 
 kingdom of heaven is at hand and Jesus, after his resurrection, 
 lastly, directs his disciples, Luke, chap. xxiv. ver. 47, ‘ That re- 
 pentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name 
 among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem,’ wherein he declares 
 the remission of sins as an immediate and necessary consequence 
 of repentance. 
 
 “ The foregoing authorities and remarks will, T trust, suffice with 
 every candid reader, as my apology for persisting in the convic- 
 tion, that the Precepts compiled and published as a guide to peace 
 and happiness, though deficient in respect to speculative doctrines 
 and creeds, as well as narrative, yet contain all that is essential 
 in practical Christianity ; since they teach us the performance of 
 our duty to God and to our fellow-creatures, and the most accept- 
 able atonement on our part to the All-merciful, when we have 
 fallen short of that duty .” — Second Appeal, p. 150 — 154. 
 
 7 . 
 
 In the “ Final Appeal” are some excellent remarks on the 
 course which parents should adopt, as to disputed religious doc- 
 trines, in the education of their children : — 
 
 “ Let me here suggest, that, in my humble opinion, no truly 
 liberal and wise parent can ever take advantage of the unsuspect- 
 ing and confiding credulity of his children, to impress them with 
 an implicit belief in any set of abstruse doctrines, and intolerance 
 of all other opinions, the truth or reasonableness of which they 
 are incapable of estimating. Still less would he urge by threats 
 the danger of present and eternal punishment for withholding a 
 blind assent to opinions they are unable to comprehend. Parents 
 are bound by every moral tie to give their children such an edu- 
 cation as may be sufficient to render them capable of exercising 
 their reason as rational and social beings, and of forming their 
 opinion on religious points, without ill will towards others, from 
 a thorough investigation of the Scriptures, and of the evidence 
 and arguments adduced by teachers of different persuasions. 
 Judgments thus formed have a real claim to respect from those 
 who have not the means of judging for themselves. But of what 
 consequence is it, in a question of truth or error, to know how 
 the matter at issue has been considered, even for a hundred gene- 
 rations, by those who have blindly adopted the creed of their 
 fathers? Surely,, the unbiassed judgment of a person who has 
 proceeded to the study of the Sacred Scriptures with an anxious 
 desire to discover the truth they contain, even if his researches 
 
NOTES. 
 
 45 
 
 were to be continued but for a single twelvemonth, ought, as far 
 as authority goes in such matters, to outweigh the opinions of 
 any number who have either not thought at all for themselves, or 
 have studied after prejudice had laid hold of their minds. What 
 fair inquiry respecting the doctrine of the Trinity can be expected 
 from one who has been on the bosom of his mother constantly 
 taught to ask the blessing of God the Father, God the Son, and 
 God the Holy Ghost, and to hear the very name of Unitarian 
 with horror ? Have the doctrines of the Yedant ever succeeded 
 in suppressing polytheism amongst the generality of Hindoos 
 brought up with the notion of the godhead of the sun, of fire, 
 and of water, and of the separate and independent existence of 
 the allegorical representations of the attributes of God ? Were 
 the sublime works written by the learned among the Greeks ever 
 able to shake the early-acquired superstitious notions and poly- 
 theistical faith of the generality of their countrymen ? Nay, even 
 when Christian converts became numerous, did not those who 
 were brought up in the ancient superstition introduce some ves- 
 tiges of their idolatry into their new persuasion ? In fact, nothing 
 can more surely impede the progress of truth than prejudice 
 instilled into minds blank to receive impressions ; and the more 
 unreasonable are the doctrines of a religion, the greater pains 
 are taken by the supporters of them to plant them in the readily 
 susceptible minds of youth.” — P. 355 — 357. 
 
 8 . 
 
 “ Opinions have been advanced for some time past, in opposi- 
 tion to the rule laid down in the Dayubhagu, authorising a father 
 to make a sale or gift of ancestral property, without the consent 
 of his sons and grandsons. But these adverse notions created 
 little or no alarm ; since, however individual opinions may run, 
 the general principles followed by every government are entirely 
 at variance with the practice of groundlessly abrogating, by arbi- 
 trary decision, such civil laws of a conquered country as have 
 been clearly and imperatively set forth in a most authoritative 
 code, long adhered to by the natives, and repeatedly confirmed for 
 upwards of half a century, by the judicial officers of the conquerors. 
 But the people are now struck with a mingled feeling of surprise 
 and alarm, on being given to understand that the Supreme Law 
 Authority in this country, though not without dissent on the 
 Bench, is resolved to introduce new maxims into the law of inhe- 
 ritance hitherto in force in the province of Bengal ; and has, ac- 
 cordingly, in conformity with the doctrines found in the Mitak- 
 shura, declared every disposition by a father of his ancestral real 
 property, without the sanction of his sons and grandsons, to be 
 null and void. 
 
 “ We are at a loss how to reconcile the introduction of this arbi- 
 
40 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 trary change in the law of inheritance with the principles of jus- 
 tice, with reason, or with regard for the future prosperity of the 
 country: — it appears inconsistent with the principles of justice; 
 because a judge, although he is obliged to consult his own un- 
 derstanding, in interpreting the law in many dubious cases sub- 
 mitted to his decision, yet is required to observe strict adherence 
 to the established law, where its language is clear. In every 
 country, rules determining the rights of succession to, and aliena- 
 tion of property, first originated either in the conventional choice 
 of the people, or in the discretion of the highest authority, secular 
 or spiritual ; and those rules have been subsequently established 
 by the common usages of the country, and confirmed by judicial 
 proceedings. The principles of the law as it exists in Bengal 
 having been for ages familiar to the people, and alienations of 
 landed property by sale, gift, mortgage, or succession, having 
 been for centuries conducted in reliance on the legality and per- 
 petuity of the system, a sudden change in the most essential part 
 of those rules cannot but be severely felt by the community at 
 large ; and alienations being thus subjected to legal contests, the 
 courts will be filled with suitors, and ruin must triumph over the 
 welfare of a vast proportion of those who have their chief interest 
 in landed property. 
 
 “ Mr. Colebrooke justly observes, in his preface to the transla- 
 tion of the Dayubhagu, that ‘ the rules of succession to property, 
 being in their nature arbitrary, are in all systems of law merely 
 conventional. Admitting even that the succession of the offspring 
 to the parent is so obvious as almost to present a natural and uni- 
 versal law ; yet this very first rule is so variously modified by the 
 usages of different nations, that its application at least must be 
 acknowledged to be founded on consent rather than on reasoning. 
 In the laws of one people, the rights of primogeniture are esta- 
 blished; in those of another, the equal succession of all the male 
 offspring prevails ; while the rest allow the participation of the 
 female with the male issue, some in equal, others in unequal pro- 
 portions. Succession by right of representation, and the claim of 
 descendants to inherit in the order of proximity, have been respec- 
 tively established in various nations, according to the degree of 
 favour with which they have viewed those opposite pretensions. 
 Proceeding from linear to collateral succession, the diversity of 
 laws prevailing among different nations is yet greater, and still 
 more forcibly argues the arbitrariness of the rules.’ — (Page 1.) 
 
 “ We are at a loss how to reconcile this arbitrary change with 
 reason; because, any being capable of reasoning would not, I 
 think, countenance the investiture, in one person, of the power of 
 legislation with the office of judge. In every civilized country, 
 rules and codes are found proceeding from one authority, and 
 their execution left to another. Experience shows that un- 
 
NOTES. 47 
 
 checked power often leads the best men wrong, and produces 
 general mischief. 
 
 “We are unable to reconcile this arbitrary change with regard 
 for the future prosperity of the country ; because the law now 
 proposed, preventing a father from the disposal of ancestral pro- 
 perty, without the consent of his son and grandson, would imme- 
 diately, as I observed before, subject all past transfers of land to 
 legal contest, and would at once render this large and fertile pro- 
 vince a scene of confusion and misery. Besides, Bengal has 
 been always remarkable for her riches, insomuch as to have been 
 styled by her Mohammedan conquerors ‘ Junnntool-belad,' or 
 ‘ the paradise of regions during the British occupation of India 
 especially, she has been manifoldly prosperous. Any one possessed 
 of landed property, whether self-acquired or ancestral, has been 
 able, under the long-established law of the land, to procure easily, 
 on the credit of that property, loans of money to lay out on the 
 improvement of his estate, in trade or in manufactures, whereby 
 he enriches himself and his family, and benefits the country. 
 Were the change which it is threatened to introduce into the law 
 of inheritance to be sanctioned, and the privilege of disposing of 
 ancestral property (though not entailed) without the consent of 
 heirs be denied to landholders, they being incapacitated from a 
 free disposal of the property in their actual possession, would 
 naturally lose the credit they at present enjoy, and be compelled 
 to confine their concerns to the extent of their actual savings from 
 their income ; the consequence would be, that a great majority of 
 them would unavoidably curtail their respective establishments, 
 much more their luxuries ; a circumstance which would virtually 
 impede the progress of foreign and domestic commerce. Is there 
 any good policy in reducing the natives of Bengal to that degree 
 of poverty which has fallen upon a great part of the upper pro- 
 vinces, owing, in some measure, to the wretched restrictions laid 
 down in the Mitakshura, their standard law of inheritance ? Do 
 Britons experience any inconvenience or disadvantage owing to 
 the differences of legal institutions between England and Scotland, 
 or between one county of England and another ? What would 
 Englishmen say, were the Court of King’s Bench to adopt the 
 law of Scotland, as the foundation of their decisions regarding 
 legitimacy ; or of Kent, in questions of inheritance ? Every 
 liberal politician will, I think, coincide with me, when I say, that 
 in proportion as a dependent kingdom approximates to her 
 guardian country in manners, in statutes, in religion, and in social 
 and domestic usages, their reciprocal relation flourishes, and their 
 mutual affection increases .’’ — Essay on the Right of Hindoos over 
 Ancestral Property. 
 
48 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 9 . 
 
 “Wherever respectability is confined to birth only, acquisition 
 of knowledge, and the practice of morality, in that country, must 
 rapidly decline .” — Second Defence of the Monotheistic al System 
 of the Veds. 
 
 10 . 
 
 “ The reason you have now assigned for burning widows 
 alive is, indeed, your true motive, as we are well aware; but the 
 faults which you have imputed to women are not planted in their 
 constitution by nature ; it would be, therefore, grossly criminal to 
 condemn that sex to death merely from precaution. By ascribing 
 to them all sorts of improper conduct, you have indeed successfully 
 persuaded the Hindoo community to look down upon them as 
 contemptible and mischievous creatures, whence they have been 
 subjected to constant miseries. I have, therefore, to offer a few 
 remarks on this head. 
 
 “ Women are, in general, inferior to men in bodily strength and 
 energy ; consequently, the male part of the community, taking 
 advantage of their corporeal weakness, have denied to them those 
 excellent merits that they are entitled to by nature, and afterwards 
 they are apt to say that women are naturally incapable of acquir- 
 ing those merits. But if we give the subject consideration, we 
 may easily ascertain whether or not your accusation against them 
 is consistent with justice. As to their inferiority in point of un- 
 derstanding, when did you ever afford them a fair opportunity of 
 exhibiting their natural capacity ? How then can you accuse 
 them of want of understanding? If, after instruction in know- 
 ledge and wisdom, a person cannot comprehend or retain what 
 has been taught him, we may consider him as deficient ; but as 
 you keep women generally void of education and acquirements, 
 you cannot, therefore, in justice pronounce on their inferiority. 
 On the contrary, Leelavutee, Bhanoomutee (the wife of the 
 prince of Kurnat), and that of Kalidas, are celebrated for their 
 thorough knowledge of all the Shastrus ; moreover, in the Vrihudar- 
 unyuk Opunishud of the Ujoor Yed it is clearly stated, that 
 Yagnuvulkyu imparted divine knowledge of the most difficult 
 nature to his wife Muitreyee, who was able to follow and com- 
 pletely attain it ! 
 
 “Secondly. You charge them with want of resolution, at which 
 I feel exceedingly surprised ; for we constantly perceive, in a 
 country where the name of death makes the male shudder, that 
 the female, from her firmness of mind, offers to burn with the 
 corpse of her deceased husband ; and yet you accuse those women 
 of deficiency in point of resolution. 
 
 “ Thirdly. AVith regard to their trustworthiness, let us look 
 minutely into the conduct of both sexes, and we may be enabled 
 
NOTES. 
 
 49 
 
 to ascertain which of them is the most frequently guilty of betray- 
 ing friends. If we enumerate such women in each village or town 
 as have been deceived by men, and such men as have been betrayed 
 by women, I presume that the number of the deceived women 
 would be found ten times greater than that of the betrayed men. 
 Men are, in general, able to read and write, and manage public 
 affairs, by which means they easily promulgate such faults as 
 women occasionally commit, but never consider as criminal the 
 misconduct of men towards women. One fault they have, it must 
 be acknowledged ; which is, by considering others equally void of 
 duplicity as themselves, to give their confidence too readily, from 
 which they suffer much misery, even so far that some of them are 
 misled to suffer themselves to be burnt to death. 
 
 “In the fourth place, with respect to their subjection to the 
 passions, this may be judged of by the custom of marriage as to 
 the respective sexes ; for one man may marry two or three, some- 
 times even ten wives and upwards ; while a woman, who marries 
 but one husband, desires at his death to follow him, forsaking all 
 worldly enjoyments, or to remain leading the austere life of an 
 ascetic. 
 
 “ Fifthly. The accusation of their want of virtuous knowledge 
 is an injustice. Observe what pain, what slighting, what con- 
 tempt, and what afflictions their virtue enables them to support ! 
 How many Kooleen Brahmins are there who marry ten or fifteen 
 wives for the sake of money, that never see the greater number of 
 them after the day of marriage, and visit others only three or four 
 times in the course of their life ! Still amongst those women, 
 most, even without seeing or receiving any support from their 
 husbands, living dependent on their fathers or brothers, and suf- 
 fering much distress, continue to preserve their virtue; and when 
 Brahmins, or those of other tribes, bring their wives to live with 
 them, what misery do the women not suffer ! At marriage, the 
 wife is recognised as half of her husband, but in after-conduct they 
 are treated worse than inferior animals. For the woman is em- 
 ployed to do the work of a slave in the house, such as, in her turn, 
 to clean the place very early in the morning, whether cold or wet, 
 to scour the dishes, to wash the floor, to cook night and day, to 
 prepare and serve food for her husband, father and mother-in-law, 
 sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, and friends and connexions ! (for 
 amongst Hindoos more than in other tribes relations long reside 
 together, and on this account quarrels are more common amongst 
 brothers respecting their worldly affairs.) If in the preparation 
 or serving up of the victuals they commit the smallest fault, what 
 insult do they not receive from their husband, their mother-in-law, 
 and the younger brothers of their husband 1 After all the male 
 part of the family have satisfied themselves, the women content 
 themselves with what may be left, whether sufficient in quantity or 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 not. Where Brahmins or Kayustu9 are not wealthy, their women 
 are obliged to attend to their cows, and to prepare the cow-dung 
 for firing. In the afternoon they fetch water from the river or 
 tank ; and at night perform the office of menial servants in making 
 the beds. In case of any fault or omission in the performance 
 of those labours, they receive injurious treatment. Should the 
 husband acquire wealth, he indulges in criminal amours to her 
 perfect knowledge, and almost under her eyes, and does not see 
 her perhaps once a month. As long as the husband is poor, she 
 suffers every kind of trouble, and when he becomes rich she is 
 altogether heart-broken. All this pain and affliction their virtue 
 alone enables them to support. Where a husband takes two or 
 three wives to live with him, they are subjected to mental miseries 
 and constant quarrels. Even this distressed situation they vir- 
 tuously endure. Sometimes it happens that the husband, from a 
 preference for one of his wives, behaves cruelly to another. 
 Amongst the lower classes, and those even of the better class who 
 have not associated with good company, the wife, on the slightest 
 fault, or even on bare suspicion of her misconduct, is chastised as 
 a thief. Respect to virtue and their reputation, generally makes 
 them forgive even this treatment. If, unable to bear such cruel 
 usage, a wife leaves her husband’s house to live separately from 
 him, then the influence of the husband with the magisterial autho- 
 rity is generally sufficient to place her again in his hands ; when, 
 in revenge for her quitting him, he seizes every pretext to torment 
 her in various ways, and sometimes even puts her privately to death. 
 These are facts occurring every day, and not to be denied. What 
 I lament is, that seeing the women thus dependent and exposed to 
 every misery, you feel for them no compassion that might exempt 
 them from being tied down and burnt to death .” — Second Con- 
 ference on the Practice of Burning Widows Alive. 
 
 11 . 
 
 In the early part of September, the Rajah arrived at the resi- 
 dence of Miss Castles, Stapleton Grove, near Bristol, where his 
 youngest son, who is about fifteen years of age, had been passing 
 his vacation. He was, as usual, accompanied by his two Hindoo 
 attendants, one of whom is said to be a distant relative, and of the 
 Brahminical caste. “ His arrival in Bristol seemed to be at last 
 realizing hopes which delays in public affairs had so often frus- 
 trated. Those whom he had long honoured with his friendship 
 had opportunities of unreserved communication with him, on which 
 they now dwell with deep interest and satisfaction. Several others 
 who could appreciate his eminent qualities had friendly intercourse 
 with him ; and arrangements were making to enable more to 
 know him personally, who had learnt to regard him with high 
 respect. But ten days had scarcely elapsed before the fatal dis- 
 
NOTES. 
 
 51 
 
 order began its ravages ; and in less than ten days more the 
 event arrived which has filled many a heart with dismay and sor- 
 row. 
 
 “ It remains only to present the reader with an account of the 
 last scenes, which he will be glad to receive in the words of that 
 friend whose services during them were incessant, and who is 
 best qualified to give a narrative of them. 
 
 “ On Thursday, the 19th instant, Mr. Estlin, who had enjoyed 
 much intercourse with the Rajah during the preceding week, and 
 had occasionally corresponded with him before he left India, 
 called accidentally at Stapleton, and was informed that he had 
 been indisposed since the preceding day, but had thought medical 
 advice unnecessary, as he had taken some of his usual remedies. 
 On Mr. E.’s being announced, however, he requested to see him. 
 He found the Rajah so ill with feverish symptoms as to occasion 
 him considerable alarm. Medicines were prescribed, and fol- 
 lowed by some relief ; but an extremely dry and glazed tongue, 
 frequent pulse and incessant restlessness, (though without much 
 increase of heat or local pain,) indicated the continuance of serious 
 disorder. On the following Saturday Dr. Pritchard visited him, 
 and Dr. Carrick attended in consultation on Monday the 23d. 
 Some of the symptoms in the progress of his illness led to the 
 conclusion that his head was considerably affected, though no 
 pain was felt there, the stomach being the part of which he most 
 complained. 
 
 “ His indisposition experienced but a temporary check from the 
 remedies : severe spasms, with paralysis of the left arm and leg, 
 came on during Thursday last, and he fell into a state of stupor 
 during the afternoon of that day, from which he never revived ; 
 but breathed his last at twenty-five minutes after two on Friday 
 morning, the 27th instant (September). His son, Rajah Ram 
 Roy, and two Hindoo servants, with several attached friends who 
 had watched over him from the first day of his illness, were with 
 him when he expired. 
 
 “ Mr. Hare, of Bedford Square, London, under whose roof he 
 had for two years lived, a welcome guest, was also with him during 
 the greater part of his illness ; and Mr. Hare’s niece, who was 
 well acquainted with his habits, and possessed his full confidence 
 and strong regard, attended upon him day and night, with a degree 
 of earnest and affectionate solicitude, well deserving the epithet of 
 filial. 
 
 “ He repeatedly acknowledged during his illness, his sense of 
 the kindness of all around him, and in strong language expressed 
 the confidence he felt in his medical advisers. It was a source of 
 gratitude to the friends with whom he resided in London, to find 
 that, distressing as the event was to the family he was visiting, 
 he had every comfort and accommodation that a large house, a 
 
 e 2 
 
52 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 quiet and healthy situation, and attached and affluent friends could 
 bestow. 
 
 He conversed very little during his illness, but was observed 
 to be often engaged in prayer. He told his son and those around 
 him that he should not recover. An examination of the body 
 took place on Saturday, when the brain was found to be inflamed, 
 containing some fluid, and covered with a kind of purulent effu- 
 sion : its membrane also adhered to the skull, the result, pro- 
 bably, of previously existing disease : the thoracic and ab- 
 dominal viscera were healthy. The case appeared to be one of 
 fever, producing great prostration of the vital powers, and ac- 
 companied by inflammation of the brain, which did not exhibit, 
 in their usual degree, the symptoms of that affection. 
 
 The Rajah was a remarkably stout, well formed man, nearly 
 six feet in height, with a fine, handsome, and expressive counte- 
 nance. A cast for a bust was taken a few hours after his death. 
 — Bristol Gazette, Oct. 3. 
 
 The following hymn, written for the occasion by Miss Harriet 
 Martineau, was sung after the delivery of the foregoing discourse, 
 at Finsbury Chapel on Sunday the 13th of October. Our printer’s 
 types enable us to subjoin the music. 
 
 HYMN. 
 
 No faithless tears, O God ! we shed 
 For him who, to thine altars led, 
 
 A swallow from a distant clime, 
 
 Found rest beneath the cherubim. 
 
 In thee he rests from toil and pain, 
 
 O Father ! hear our true Amen ! 
 
 No faithless tears! Led forth by thee, 
 
 Meek pilgrim to the sepulchre, 
 
 For him thy truth from day to day 
 Sprang up and blossomed by the way. 
 
 Shalt thou not claim thine own again ? 
 
 O bend to hear our deep Amen ! 
 
 No faithless tears ! Though many dream 
 To see his face by Ganges’ stream ; 
 
 Though thousands wait, on many a shore, 
 
 The voice that shall be heard no more ; 
 
 O, breathe thy peace amid their pain. 
 
 And hear thy children’s loud Amen ! 
 
HYMN. 
 
 53 
 
 H Y M N. 
 
 ANDANTE. 
 
54 
 
 1IYMN. 
 
LIST OF WORKS. 
 
 55 
 
 LIST OF THE WORKS 'OF RAJAH RAMMOHUN ROY WHICH 
 HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED IN ENGLAND. 
 
 1. The Precepts of Jesus the Guide to Peace and Happiness, 
 extracted from the Books of the New Testament ascribed to the 
 Four Evangelists. To which are added, the First and Second 
 Appeal to the Christian Public, in reply to the Observations of 
 Dr. Marshman of Serampore. London, 1823. 
 
 2. Final Appeal to the Christian Public in Defence of the 
 “ Precepts of Jesus.” London, Hunter, 1823. 
 
 3. Translation of several principal Books, Passages, and Texts 
 of the Veds, and of some Controversial Works in Brahminical 
 Theology. London, Parbury, 1832. 
 
 This Collection contains the following Tracts, to the titles of 
 which are affixed the dates of their (English) publication at Cal- 
 cutta : — 
 
 Translation of an Abridgment of the Vedant, or Resolution of 
 all the Veds; the most celebrated and revered Work of 
 Brahminical Theology ; establishing the Unity of the Su- 
 preme Being, and that He alone is the Object of Propitiation 
 and Worship. 1816. 
 
 Translation of the Moonduk-Oopunishud of the Uthurvu Ved. 
 1819. 
 
 Translation of the Cdna Upanishad, one of the Chapters of the 
 Sama Veda. 1823. 
 
 Translation of the Kut’h-Oopunishud of the Ujoor-Ved. 
 
 Translation of the Ishopunishud, one of the Chapters of the 
 YajurVeda. 1816. 
 
 A Translation into English of a Sungskrit Tract, inculcating 
 the Divine Worship ; esteemed by those who believe in the 
 Revelation of the Veds, as most appropriate to the Nature 
 of the Supreme Being. 1827. 
 
 A Defence of Hindoo Theism, in reply to the Attack of an 
 Advocate for Idolatry, at Madras. 1827. 
 
 A Second Defence of the Monotheistical System of the Vdds ; 
 in reply to an Apology for the present State of Hindoo 
 Worship. 1817. 
 
 An Apology for the Pursuit of Final Beatitude, independently 
 of Brahminical Observances. 1820. 
 
 Translation of a Conference between an Advocate for, and an 
 Opponent of, the Practice of burning Widows alive ; from 
 the original Bungla. 1818. 
 
 A Second Conference between an Advocate for, and an Oppo- 
 nent of, the Practice of burning Widows alive. 1820. 
 
56 
 
 LIST OF WORKS. 
 
 Abstract of the Arguments regarding the Burning of Widows, 
 considered as a Religious Rite. 1830. 
 
 Brief Remarks regarding Modern Encroachments on the An- 
 cient Rights of Females, according to the Hindoo Law of 
 Inheritance. 1822. 
 
 4. Essay on the Right of Hindoos over Ancestral Property 
 according to the Law of Bengal. With an Appendix containing 
 Letters on the Hindoo Law of Inheritance. Calcutta, 1830. Lon- 
 don ; Smith, Elder, and Co. 1832. 
 
 5. Exposition of the Practical Operation of the Judicial and 
 Revenue Systems of India, and of the general Character and Con- 
 dition of its Native Inhabitants, as submitted in Evidence to the 
 Authorities in England. With Notes and Illustrations. Also, a 
 brief Preliminary Sketch of the Ancient and Modern Boundaries, 
 and of the History of that Country. London ; Smith, 1832. 
 
 6. Answers to Queries by the Rev. H. Ware, of Cambridge, 
 U. S., printed in “Correspondence relative to the Prospects of 
 Christianity, and the Means of promoting its Reception in India.” 
 London, C. Fox, 1825. 
 
 7. Translation of the Creed maintained by the Ancient Brahmins, 
 as founded on the Sacred Authorities. Second Edition, reprinted 
 from the Calcutta Edition. London; Nichols and Son, 1833: 
 pp. 15. 
 
 He was also the author of an able Memorial to the Privy 
 Council on behalf of the Native Press of India; of a Bengalee 
 Grammar in the English language ; and, probably, of various pub- 
 lications not known in this country. His early work, which was 
 written in Persian, with a preface in Arabic, “ Against the Ido- 
 latry of all Religions,” has not, so far as is known to the writer of 
 this note, appeared in the English language. Besides some por- 
 tion of a Life of Mahomet, already referred to, mention is made 
 by Mr. Arnot, in the “ Athenaeum,’’ of supposed works in favour 
 of monotheism, and also that “ he prepared, while in England, 
 various able Papers or Essays on the working of the Supreme 
 Court of Calcutta, against the salt monopoly in India, &c., which 
 have not been published.” If his “ Journal” have been regularly 
 and fully kept, its appearance must excite a strong interest. 
 
 Printed by William Clowes, Duke Street, Lambeth.