457 



." ness of character; and that the Christian religion has not done 

 " so much for the lower orders of society in Europe, as that of 

 " Brahma appears to have done for the Hindoos." 



I cannot acquiesce in these opinions, and others of a similar 

 nature, unnecessary to introduce; a residence of many years 

 among the brahmins, and a constant intercourse with those em- 

 ployed in the revenue department, afforded me great opportunity 

 of becoming acquainted with the Hindoo character, from the 

 religious and lay brahmins, to the lowest of the banian tribe. On 

 my return to Europe I had the pleasure of a long intimacy with the 

 venerable and respectable governor Holwell, one of the first who 

 published an account of these people, under the name then better 

 known ofGentoos; that benevolent man was esteemed very partial 

 to the natives of India, and had investigated their character more 

 than was usual at that period. Yet this is his portrait of them. 

 " The Genloos, in general, are as degenerate, crafty, superstitious, 

 " and wicked a people, as any race of people in the known world, 

 " if not eminently more so, especially the common run of brah- 

 " mins ; and we can truly aver, that, during almost five years that 

 " we presided in the cutchery court of Calcutta, never any murder 

 " or other atrocious crime came before us, but it was proved in 

 " the end a brahmin was at the bottom of it." 



I have no pleasure in making these quotations, but when so oppo- 

 site acharacter is held forth by modern writers, truth and candor com- 

 pel me to confirm them by my own observations; the same opinion 

 was formed of these people by Dr. Fryer, a century before governor 

 HolwelFs publication. "The banians at Surat make all the bargains, 

 and transact all money business; and though you hear, see, and 



VOL. II. 3 n 



