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tious , that lie declared bis future detestation of Buonaparte would be proportionate to his former admiration of him . ** In a letter 1 have lately received from
bim intimately connected with the subject before me , he says , i I take this opportunity of g"iv ijtig' you a summary account of my proceedings since the period of your departure from India .
444 consequence of my long" and uninterrupted researches into religious truth has been , that I have found the doc-Ztiiies of Christ more conducive to " moral principles , and belter adapted for the use of rational beings , timii any others which hare come to my knowledge : and have
also found Hindoos in general more superstitious and miserable , both in performance of their relig i ous riles , and in their doane&tic concerns , than the rest of the known nations on the earth : J , therefore , with 41 view of making * them happy and comfortable both here and hereafter , not
only employed verbal arguments against the 'absurdities /*? the idolatry practised by thern , but al ^ manslated their most re vered theological work , namely Vedant , into Bengalee and Hiudoostanee , and also several chapters of the Ved , in order to Convince them , that the unity of God , and
absurdity of idolatry , are evidently . pointed out by their own Scriptures . I , however , in the beginning of my pursuits , met with the greatest opposition from their selfinterested leaders , the Brahmins , and was
deserted by my nearest relations ; I consequently felt extremely melancholy ; in that critical situation , the only comfort that I had , was the consoling and rational conversation of my European friends , especially those of Scotland and England *
• ' I uow * with the greatest pleasure inform you , that several of my countrymen frave risen superior to their prejudices ; matny are inclined to seek for the truth ; Uttfd a great number of those who dissented from me , tmve now coincided with me in opinion . This engagement has prevented
me from proceedings to Europe as soon as I could wish ; but you may depend upon ihy setting * off for England within a short period of time : and if you do not return to India before October next , you will most probably receive a letter from me , informing you of the exact time of my departure for England , and of the name of the vessel on which I shall embark . '
44 This extract , which is made without alteration , will shew bow well the writer has overcome the difficulties of the English Urngfuage . —Pref . pp . iii .- ^ -vi . The " Translation of an Abridgment of the Ved ^ nt" is ad dressed by Rammolmn fcoy " To the Believers of the OiriylTfue God , and this pre-
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fatory address is so sensible and in . structive , that we cannot refrain from copying it entire : " The greater part of Brahmins , as well as of other sects of Hindoos , are quite incapable ot justifying- that idolatry , which
they continne to practise . When questioned on the subject , in place of adducing reasonable arguments in support of their conduct , they conceive it fully sufficient to quote their ancestors as positive authorities ! And some of them are become
very ill-disposed towards me , because I have forsaken idolatry , for the worship of the true and eternal God ! Jn order , therefore to vindicate my own faith , and that of our early forefathers , I have been
endeavouring , for some time past , to convince my countrymen of the true meaning ' of our sacred hooks ; and to prove , that my aberration deserves not the opprobrium which some unreflecting' persons have been so ready to throw upon me .
" The whole body of the Hindoo theology , law and literature , is contained in the Veds , which are affirmed to be coetal with the creation / These works are extremely voluminous ; and being- written in thje most elevated and metaphorical style , are , as may be well supposed , in many
passages seemingly confused aud contra * dictory . Upwards of two thousand years aga , the great By&s , reflecting on the perpetual difficulty arising from these sources , composed with great discrimination a complete and compendious abstract of the whole : and also reconciled those
texts , which appeared to stand at variance . This work lie termed The Vedant , which , compounded of two Snngscrit words , signifies The resolution of all the Veds . It has continued to be most highly revered by all ( he Hindoos ; and in place of the more diffuse arguments of the Veds , is always referred to as equal authority . But ,
from its being concealed within the dark curtain of the Sungscrit language , and the Brahmins permitting themselves alone to . interpret , or even to touch any book of the kind , the Vedant , although perpetually quoted , is little known to the public : and the practice of few Hindoos indeed bears the least accordance with its precepts !
u In pursuance of my vindibatiott , I have , to the best of my abilities , translated this hitherto unknown work , as well as an abridgment thereof , into tlie Hindoostanee and Bengalee languages ; and
distributed them , free of cost , among * my own countrymen , as widely as circumstances have possibly allowed . The present i ? fth endeavour to render an abridgment of iftti same into English , by which I expect tb prove to n » y European friend * . tWt ft *
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562 Review . — Hindoo Utiitarianism .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1819, page 562, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1776/page/38/
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