Abbe Dubois' State of Christ'mnilif in India. 



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This force of custom is remarked 

 among tlie native Ciirislians, as well as 

 among tlie pagans. The lormer slicw 

 in all tlieir religious concerns an apathy 

 or insensibility, a dullness, bordering iu 

 most instances on stupidity. Inderd, 

 the education of all Himloos rendeis 

 them incapable of acquiring nevv ideas, 

 and every thing which varies from the 

 established customs is rather odious, or 

 at least indiiTcrent to tliem. 



It is not tl'.at they want wit, pene- 

 tration, and aptness iu the matters in 

 which they were brought uj), or those 

 in which their temporal interests arc 

 compromised ; but it is impossible to 

 instil new principles, or infuse new 

 ideas info their minds. Besides that, 

 surrounded on all sides by a religion 

 which speaks to the sinses, allures and 

 bewilders its votaries by all kinds of 

 sensual gratifications in this life, and in 

 that which is to come, their minds are 

 too gross to understand a religion which 

 speaks only to the spirit, exhibits to 

 them oidy inscriitablc myslcnes, nnd 

 promises them chiefly sjiirilual enjoy- 

 ments. 



In fact, in discoursing upon the Chris- 

 tian religion with the Hindoos, your 

 hearers will readily agree with you upon 

 all that you say; but they will feel 

 nulliing. When you discourse upon 

 such topics, either among the Chris- 

 tians or pagans, your hearers, sitting 

 down on their heels, or cross legged, 

 will patiently, and with frequiut assent- 

 ing nods, listen to jou. iiut, after 

 preaching to them in (his manner for 

 several days, ask them for an account 



the congregation surrounding the car 

 all in confusion, several among them 

 dancing, or playing with small sticks, 

 or with naked swords: some wrestling, 

 some playing the fool: all shouting, or 

 conversing with each other, without 

 any one exhibiting the least s'gn of 

 respect or devotion. Such is the mode 

 in which the Hindoo Chiistiatis in the 

 inland country celebrate their festivals. 

 They are celebrated, however, with a 

 little more decency on the coast. They 

 are all exceedingly pleased with such 

 a mode of worship, and any thing short 

 of such pageantry, such coniusion and 

 disorder, would not be liked by them. 



If any one among the pagans still 

 shews a desire to turn Christian, it \» 

 ordinarily among out-casts, or quite 

 helpless persons, left without resources 

 or coimexions in society, that they arc 

 to be found. They, generally speak- 

 ing, ask for baptism from interested 

 motives. Few, if any of these new 

 converts, would be found, who might 

 be said to have embraced Christianity 

 from conviction ; and I have every 

 reason to apprehend, that as long as 

 the usages and customs of the Hindoos 

 C(]n(inue unimpaired, it is pt rfect non- 

 sense to think of making among them 

 true and sincere proselytes. 



BKAM.IH KELIGION. 



The Hindoos may be divided info 

 two classes — the impostors and the 

 dupes. The latter include the bulk of 

 the population of India; and the for- 

 mer is composed of the whole tribe of 

 Brahmins. Now, in a society com- 

 posed of such materials, we can enter- 



of jour sermons, or moral instructions, tain but very faint hopes of improvin"" 



the interests, or extending the benefits 

 of the Christian religion. 



The Brahmins, in framing their 

 system of imposture, and in devising 

 tlie monstrous worship prevailing all 

 over India, not only used every artifice 

 ill their power to adajjt it to the dispo- 

 sitions of a sim|)le and credulous peo- 

 ple, but, above all, they employed all 

 possible means to establish in this way, 

 in a permanent and indisputable man- 

 n( r, the high power and uneontroverted 

 control th<y have always e.Kcrciscd over 

 the other tribes. 



It is a sin, it is a crin)c, a sacrilege 

 iu CNcry Hindoo who is not born a 

 I5rahmin to endeavour to emerge from 

 that slate of ignorance, and to aspire 

 to the lowest degree of knowledge. It 

 is a sin for him even t« presume to 

 calculate on what days fall the new 

 and full moon. He i^ obliged to learn 



thia 



and JOU will find that they have com- 

 prelu tided nothing, and that >ou have 

 laboured in vain, because instead of 

 speaking to their sensi-s, jou endtavour- 

 ed to s]ieak to their niind.<>. 



HINDOO CHIIISTIANS. 



This Hind<JO pageantry is chii lly 

 seen in the festivals celebrated by the 

 native Christians. Their processions 

 in the streets, alwajs pei formed in 

 the night-time, have indeed been U> me 

 at all limes a suhjcet of shame. yXceoin- 

 pani((l with hundreds of toyn tonis, 

 (small drums,) trumpets, and all the 

 discordant iioi.sy music of the <-onntry ; 

 with numberh'ss torches, and lire -works: 

 the statue of the saint ilaeed on a 

 car which is chargeil whU garlands of 

 floweis, and otiier gaudy (irnameiils, 

 aec<jriling to the taste of the country, 

 — the ear slowly iliagged by a miilli- 

 lude shouting all along the march— 



