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they fail to prove this , they should not undergo such , useless trouble , nor tease Hindoos any longer by their attempt at conversion . In consideration of the small huts in which Bramuns of learning generally reside , and the simple food , such as vegetables , which they are accustomed to eat , and
the poverty which obliges them to live on charity , the missionary gentlemen may not , I hope , abstain from controversy from contempt of them ; for truth and true religion do not always belong to wealth and power , high names or lofty palaces /'
Whether the mode of proceeding , above described , is the best way of recommending the pure principles of Christianity , and of converting the Hindoos from , their errors , will at least admit a question . To revile , and mock , and abuse , and ridicule the
opinions and customs of others , especially when these are connected with religious sentiments and feelings , does not seem the readiest method of gaining attention , winning esteem , convincing of mistake , or proving by example the efficacy of any system of
doctrines to promote humility , soften the temper , and amend the heart . It is not commonly found , that people become more willing hearers by being abused and vilified ; or that they are the more likely to admire and adopt the principles of him who commends himself to them by such conduct .
In regard to the Missionaries maintaining persons belonging to the lower classes of Hindoos , " who become Christians from the desire of gain , " it is a matter which chiefly concerns those among us who form societies and pay the money for their support .
We will only add , in confirmation of this statement of the . Bramuns , au extract from Rammohun Roy ' s First Appeal . " Of the few hundred natives , who have been nominally converted to Christianity , and who have been generall y 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 em-Ployed or fed by their spiritual teach * er& , and , ia case of neglect , are apt to
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manifest ; a rebellious spirit ; a circumstance which is well known to the compiler from several local facts , as well as from the following
occurrence . < s About three years ago , the compiler , on a 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 ,
statingthat 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 propriety of not countenancing a set of men who , from their own declaration , seemed so unprincipled . "
The article published by the Mis sionaries in the Sumachar Durpun relates to some of the peculiarities of the Hindoo theology . It is copied entire into the Bramunical Magazine , and consists chiefly of quotations from the Shastrus , and other religious books , collected with a view to point out their absurdities and
inconsistencies . Much is said on both sides , which is not very intelligible to us . The discussion runs deeply into the metaphysical and superstitious notions of the Hindoos , which are but imperfectly unfolded ; and it is replete with allusions , which can be understood only by such persons as are acquainted with their writings .
One point , however , seemg to be clearer than some of the others . The Missionaries quote many passages from the Hindoo books to prove what false and degrading ideas the Hindoos entertain of the Supreme Being , and of the nature of divine worship . They
are charged with assigning to God various forms , and other properties peculiar to created beings , but which could not belong to a spiritual , uncreated and perfect God . Against this charge , the Brainuns defend themselves in two ways ; first , by quoting
and explaining their own books , and proving them to have a different sense from the one fixed on them by the Missionaries $ and , secondly , b y attempting to shew , that the Christian Scriptures ascribe the same properties to the Deity , as are found ia the Ved $
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Rammohun Roy s Controversy between the Brarnuns and Missionaries . 437
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1823, page 437, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1787/page/5/
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