RAMMAHUN ROY. 
65 
creeds. He was tolerant to all believers ; and though 
he expressed the greatest respect for the Christian 
creed., the deism with which his own national faith 
had imbued his mind led him to withhold his assent 
from the fundamental doctrines of Christianity. I 
do, however, believe, and I owe it to his memory to 
state it thus publicly, that he had one of the purest 
minds, and was altogether one of the best of men. 
He seems to have felt deeply and to have embodied 
in his own faith the sentiments so eloquently expressed 
in Sir William Jones’s fine hymn to Narayana. 
Blue crystal vault and elemental fires 
That in the ethereal fluid blaze and breathe ; 
Thou, tossing main, whose snaky branches wreathe 
This pensile orb with intertwisting gyres ; 
Mountains whose radiant spires, 
Presumptuous rear their summits to the skies, 
And blend their emerald hue with sapphire light ; 
Smooth meads and lawns that glow with varying dyes 
Of dew-bespangled leaves and blossoms bright, 
Hence ! vanish from my sight! — 
Delusive pictures, unsubstantial shows ! 
My soul absorbed, one only being knows, 
Of all perceptions one abundant source, 
Whence every object, every moment flows : 
Suns hence derive their force. 
Hence planets learn their course ; 
But suns and fading worlds T view no more : 
God only I perceive ; — God only I adore. 
After quitting the Temple of Tritchengur our atten- 
tion was continually attracted by the most affecting 
scenes of distress. The rains had failed, and a famine 
had prevailed through the country to an alarming 
extent. Whole villages were depopulated, and no- 
