98 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
these deities had been occasionally sold by the Brah- 
mins from their very altars, I proposed to pur- 
chase this, and made for it what I imagined to be a 
very liberal offer. The obsequious priest, bowing 
his head, placed his hand upon his breast with the 
most ludicrous humility, and said that he could not 
sell, since that would be a desecration of the holy 
sanctuary of which he was an unworthy minister, 
and that he could not give because he was too poor 
to replace the treasure of which the temple would be 
thus deprived ; but, he continued, “ suppose sahib 
take, what can a poor Brahmin do V* Upon this hint 
I acted, and, without the slightest opposition from the 
good-tempered priest, took possession of the image. 
The holy man did not even offer a rebuke, but, on 
the contrary, extended his open palm towards me, 
into which I dropped a pagoda that I had previously 
held between my finger and thumb, and upon which 
he closed his hand with a courteous smile, bowing 
with the profoundest reverence the moment his flesh 
felt the delectable pressure of the gold. 
It is surprising to see with what facility some of 
these spiritual functionaries reconcile themselves to a 
breach of the spirit of their religious restrictions, 
though they literally conform to them. The obliga- 
tion of sincerity is, with a large portion of them, 
a mere dead letter ; so much so that they claim 
the rewards of heavenly beatitude, if they outwardly 
obey a given law, whatever depravity may lurk in 
the heart. It is true that such mental reservations 
or compromises of conscience are not admitted by the 
more intelligent of their priesthood as legitimately 
