pantheism. I
myself have seen, within the area of one acre of land in South India,
the instruments of these varied forms of worship, from a greasy, round
stone, before which the lowest classes prostrated themselves, to an
image of one of the supreme gods of Hinduism. There is not a phase of
worship, however high or mystic, or however mean or degraded, which
has not its devotees in this land.

6. Modern Hinduism is also guilty of harbouring and fostering
immorality.

This is a cruel statement to make concerning any faith. But justice
compels me to add this as one of the characteristics of Hinduism. Some
of the most revered and popular writings of this religion are so full
of obscenity and impure suggestion, that, to publish them in a
Christian land, in the English tongue, would make the publisher liable
to imprisonment. When, years ago, Lord Dalhousie, the Viceroy of
India, enacted a law punishing obscenity, the leaders of the Hindu
religion were so exercised by it that the government had to exempt
religious writings of Hinduism, and emblems of that faith, from the
action of the law. There are many religious books in India to-day
which are classical in the beauty of their language, but which the
Universities of India decline to use as text-books because of their
gross obscenity.

Among the most demoralizing institutions to the youth of India are the
temple cars, which are found in every village of any consequence
throughout the land. They are erected at great expense, by temple
authorities, are most elaborately carved, and are used for the
conveyance of the gods through the village streets upon festival
occasions. There is hardly one of these cars, in South India at any
rate, which is not disfigured by grossly sensual carvings such as
ought to bring blushing shame to any decent and self-respecting
community. They are open to the public gaze, and children of the
village play under their shadow, and gaze daily upon their vile and
disgusting sights. The government would forbid the erection of such
cars to-morrow, if they had not pledged themselves not to interfere
with the religion of the people!

In the Vaishnava cult of Hinduism there is at least one sect, well
known throughout the land, whose worship is loaded with impurity, and
whose worshippers, at certain festivals, specially, yield themselves
to all forms of sexual practices such as cannot be mentioned.

Sakti worship, or the worship of the goddesses, lends it