fined courtesy which marked his intercourse with them in this country.

When he returned to Hindostan, he was met by a deputation from his father, and received by him with great consideration. He appears, from that time, to have devoted himself to the study of Sanscrit and other languages, and of the ancient books of the Hindoos. He had frequent discussions with his father: through awe of him, however, he never avowed the scepticism which he entertained as to the present forms of their religion; but from some indirect reproaches he received, he imagined that he had fallen under his father's suspicions. His father had given him, for that country, a very superior education; but having been brought up himself in the midst of the Mussulman Court, he appears to have thought principally of those qualifications which would recommend his son to the ancient conquerors of India; and till manhood RAMMOHUN ROY knew very little of the English language, and that little he taught himself.

"At the age of twenty-two," says the Editor of the English Edition of the Abridgment of the Vedant and the Cena Upanishad, "he commenced the study of the English language, which not pursuing with application, he five years afterwards, when I became acquainted with him, could merely speak it well enough to be understood upon the most common topics of discourse; but could not write it with any degree of correctness. He was afterwards employed as Dewan, or principal native officer,

in the collection of the revenues, in the district of which I was for five years collector in the East India Company's civil service. By perusing all my public correspondence with diligence and attention, as well as by corresponding and conversing with European gentlemen, he acquired so correct a knowledge of the English language as to be enabled to write and speak it with considerable accuracy."

The father, RAM KHANT Roy, died about 1804 or 5, having two years previously divided his property among his three sons. It was not long before RAMMOHUN ROY became the only survivor; and he thereby possessed considerable property. From this period he appears to have commenced his plans of reforming the religion of his countrymen; and in the progress of his efforts to enlighten them, he must have expended large sums of money, for he gratuitously distributed most of the works which he published for the purpose. He now quitted Bordouan and removed to Moorshedabad, where he published in Persian, with an Arabic preface, a work entitled "Against the Idolatry of all Religions." No one undertook to refute this book; but it raised up against him a host of enemies, and in 1814 he retired to Calcutta, where he applied himself to the study of the English language both by reading and by conversation; and he also acquired some knowledge of Latin, and paid much attention to the mathematics. At this time he purchased a garden, with a house constructed in the European mode, in the Circular Road, at the eastern extremity of the city; and he gradually gathered round him inquiring

intelligent Hindoos, of rank and opulence, some of whom united as early as 1818 in a species of monotheistic worship.

The body of Hindoo theology is comprised in the Veds, which are writings of very high antiquity, very copious, but obscure in style; and about two thousand years ago, VYAS drew up a compendious abstract of the whole, accompanied with explanations of the more difficult passages. This digest VYAS, called the Vedant, or the Resolution of all the Veds. One portion of this respects the ritual, and another the principles, of religion. It is written in the Sanscrit language. RAMMOHUN ROY translated it into the Bengalee and Hindoostanee languages, for the benefit of his countrymen; and afterwards published an abridgment of it, for gratuitous and extensive distribution. Of this abridgment he published an English translation in 1816, the title of which represents the Vedant as the most celebrated and revered work of Brahminical theology, establishing the unity of the Supreme Being, and that he alone is the object of propitiation and worship." Towards the close of his preface he thus writes-"My constant reflections on the inconvenient, or, rather, injurious rites introduced by the peculiar practice of Hindoo idolatry, which more than any other Pagan worship destroys the texture of society -together with compassion for my countrymen-have compelled me to use every possible effort to awaken them from their dream of error; and by making them acquainted with the [their] scriptures, enable them to contemplate, with true devotion, the unity and omni

presence of nature's God. By taking the path which conscience and sincerity direct, I, born a Brahmin, have exposed myself to the complainings and reproaches even of some of my relations, whose prejudices are strong, and whose temporal advantage depends on the present system. But these, however accumulated, I can tranquilly bear; trusting that a day will arrive when my humble endeavours will be viewed with justice-perhaps acknowledged with gratitude. At any rate, whatever men may say, I cannot be deprived of this consolation— my motives are acceptable to that Being who beholds in secret and compensates openly."

After the publication of the Vedant, RAMMOHUN ROY printed, in Bengalee and in English, some of the principal chapters of the Veds. The first of the series was published in 1816, and is entitled "A Translation of the Cena Upanishad, one of the Chapters of the Sama Veda, according to the gloss of the celebrated Shancaracharya ; establishing the Unity and Sole Omnipotence of the Supreme Being, and that He alone is the object of Worship." This was prefixed to a reprint of the Abridgment of the Vedant, published in London, in 1817, by some one who had enjoyed personal intimacy with him. The English preface contains a letter from RAMMOHUN ROY to this gentleman, which shows how well he had, even at that time, overcome the difficulties of the English language. "The consequence of my long and uninterrupted researches into religious truth (he says in this letter) has been, that I have found the doctrines of Christ more conducive to moral principles,

and better adapted for the use of rational beings, than any other which have come to my knowledge; and have also found Hindoos in general more superstitious and miserable, both in performance of their religious rites and in their domestic concerns, than the rest of the known nations of the earth." He then proceeds to state what he had done in order to render them "more happy and comfortable both here and hereafter;" and adds, "I, however, in the beginning of my pursuits, met with the greatest opposition from their self-interested leaders the Brahmins, and was deserted by my nearest relations; and 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." In that same letter he expresses his full expectation of speedily setting off for England; but says that he had been prevented from proceeding so soon as he could wish, by the spread of his views, and the inclination manifested by many to seek for truth.

It is not surprising that the interested advocates for heathen worship should endeavour to uphold it by imputations on the character of the Reformer; and some one did publicly charge him with "rashness, selfconceit, arrogance, and impiety." Every member of his own family opposed him; and he experienced even the bitter alienation of his mother through the influence of the interested persons around her. In his early days, his mother was a woman of fine understanding; but, through the influence of superstitious bigotry, she had