to join the Christian community, they would escape the contempt into which proselytes now fall, and perhaps might attract new converts, instead of, as now, standing a melancholy warning against a change of faith, which in this world renders them miserable and ridiculous. Far be it from me to oppose the conversion of the Hindûs; but I cannot but grieve that the means employed are so inadequate to the end proposed, and whether, as happens in the physical world, doing little and unskilfully in a deeprooted disorder, be worse than leaving nature to her own quiet operations, is to me not doubtful. Sooner or later these will take effect: once excite the hopes of gain, the desire of advancement, place knowledge within the reach of those not unwilling to know, they will conquer difficulties to attain their wishes, they will feel, with the conscious superiority which a vanquished obstacle inspires, courage and ambition to overcome anew, the fetters of opinion will be broken, and the Hindû, as he rises in the scale of beings, will shake off the superstitions, with the lethargy of slavery, and the long desired object of good men will be obtained by a creature worthy of enjoying it.

All this y you will say is visionary: alas! I am compelled to acknowledge, that without some of those extraordinary occurrences that have oc

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casionally changed the belief with the destiny of nations, centuries must elapse before these things can come to pass; and I can only excuse myself by saying, that certain as I am of the impossibility of the present and sudden conversion of the Hindûs, I have no resource but to build my hopes on the silent operation of ages, and the certain though remote effects of moral causes on the mind of man.

MY DEAR SIR,

LETTER XIV.

I FANCY I shall exercise your patience as much in the Letter I am now beginning as I have ever done in any I have written on the same subject, for I have to speak much of ceremonies, which to us are tedious and unmeaning, but they influence greatly the private life of the Hindûs, which passes among the higher castes, in complete indolence, when not engaged in superstitious observances. The existence of the lower classes is an alternation of the greatest bodily labours, with perfect idleness; but among all, there is discernible a portion of that ingenuity which, in times of remote antiquity, rendered India the nurse if not the mother of arts

and science, and of that spirit which in all times has made the Hindûs a warlike people.

The manners of the Hindûs are proverbially mild and gentle, and among the higher orders especially it is extremely rare to see any one allow himself to be transported by passion into the slightest intemperance of word or gesture. The higher classes of women are now almost as much recluses as those of the Mussulmans, who have introduced their jealousy of the sex into India; but we have abundant proofs in the ancient poets that they formerly enjoyed perfect freedom, or at least were only subject to the restraints which among a civilized people are imposed by the laws of society and decorum. Sacontala, the adopted daughter of a holy Brahmin, received his guests and exercised all the rites of hospitality, and appears to have been restrained by no ties but those of religion and virtue. The mother of Dushmanta governed his people during his absence from his capital; women were competent witnesses in a court of justice: indeed, Menu says, that in a case concerning a woman, women are the proper witnesses. But it is needless to multiply examples, for every Hindû tale confirms the fact of the ancient polished state of India, when its splendid courts presented all the charms of literature, and all the chivalrous gallantry, which in raising

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women perhaps a little higher than nature intended them in some respects to stand, polished the manners of the men, and produced that gentleness and suavity which the refined yet easy intercourse of the sexes can alone secure among a warlike people.

The lower castes of Hindû women are employed in a manner analogous to the professions of their husbands; and it is by no means uncommon to see them carrying burdens, working in mortar and lime, tilling the ground, and other laborious occupations.

The daily life of a Hindû admits of little variety, almost every action being prescribed by law*. The Puranas contain rules for diet, and for the manner and time of eating; two meals, one in the forenoon, the other in the evening, being allowed. They also enumerate the places, such as a boat, where a Hindû must not take his repast, and the persons with whom it is permitted to partake of food, among whom are his sons and other inmates, excepting his wife. The posture in which it is enjoined to sit, and the quarter to which the face must be turned while eating, with the precautions requisite to insulate the person, lest it be touched by the impure, are particularly insisted on. After washing his

* Mr. Colebrooke.

hands and feet, and sipping water, the Hindû must sit down on a stool or cushion before his plate, which is placed on a plain spot of ground, wiped and smoothed, in a quadrangular form if he be a Brahmin, a triangle is required for a Xetrie, a circle for a Vaissya, and a crescent for a Sudra. When the food is brought in, he must bow to it, and raising both hands to his forehead, say "May this be always ours." When he sits down, he must lift the plate of food with his left hand, and bless it. If the food be handed to him, he must say " May Heaven give thee," and on taking it," Earth accepts thee." Before he begins to eat, he must move his hand round his plate, or rather his own person, to insulate himself; he then offers five lumps of food to Yama (the Hindû Pluto), sips water, and offers five other lumps to the five senses, when wetting his eyes, he eats his repast in silence, with all the fingers of his right hand. At the end of his meal, he again sips water, saying, " Ambrosial fluid, thou art the couch of Vishnu and of food!"

The sipping of water is necessary in all ceremonies and religious acts. When a Brahmin rises from sleep, he must rub his teeth with a twig of the banian or racemiferous fig-tree, under penalty of losing the benefit of any other rites performed by him, excepting on the days of the