ional, as
it rests on the principle of mutual insurance among those who form a
closely-knitted community, bound together by common interests and
associations. Even then excellence needs to be guarded by an oath, which
is viewed with superstitious awe. I do not think the Professor's friends
will thank him for this defence of the morality of their countrymen.

When I think of the wickedness rampant among large classes in a country
like our own, notwithstanding our great privileges, I shrink from
applying to the Hindus the strong terms of condemnation which I have
often heard. There is among them, as I have already said, much family
affection; they are, in ordinary circumstances, very courteous; they
often manifest a kindly disposition; almsgiving is reckoned a high
virtue; many lead quiet, orderly, industrious lives; and, as Max Muller
tells us, from the earliest age _satya_, "truth," in its widest sense,
has been represented by them as the very pillar on which goodness rests,
though it must be allowed it has been much more praised than practised.

[Sidenote: THE HINDU AND CHRISTIAN STANDARDS.]

Am I then to say, as many have done, that Hinduism has done its
adherents no harm, and that Christianity has done its adherents no
good--that the Hindus as a people stand as high morally as we do? With
every desire to speak of them as favourably as I can, with a pleasing
recollection of many acts of kindness and courtesy, and with every
desire to rid myself of prejudice, I must dissent strongly from this
view. I cannot forget the lurid light cast on the native character
during the Mutiny; the treachery, ingratitude, falsehood, and cruelty
shown by many who gloried in their caste purity--relieved, however, it
is only right to acknowledge, by notable instances of faithfulness and
kindness. I cannot but remember the impression often made on my mind of
their low standard of character, the absence of high motive, even when
full expression has been given to the distinction between right and
wrong. Happily, in our land there are many, in every class of society,
who, as the result of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, hate sin in every
form, and strive after excellence, an excellence springing from supreme
love to God, and prompting to sustained effort for the good of man, for
which we look in vain among the best of Hindus, though among them we
discern the workings of conscience and the desire to do what is right.
The standard of character