customed themselves to tolerate, if not to
admire, in their sacred books." And he is compelled to leave
untranslated, while he apologises for them, the frequent allusions to
the sexual aspects of nature, "particularly in religious books." The
revelations of the Maharaj trial in Bombay are the practical fruit of
all this.

"CALCUTTA, 17th March 1802.--I have been much astonished lately at the
malignity of some of the infidel opposers of the Gospel, to see how
ready they are to pick every flaw they can in the inspired writings,
and even to distort the meaning, that they may make it appear
inconsistent; while these very persons will labour to reconcile the
grossest contradictions in the writings accounted sacred by the
Hindoos, and will stoop to the meanest artifices in order to apologise
for the numerous glaring falsehoods and horrid violations of all
decency and decorum, which abound in almost every page. Any thing, it
seems, will do with these men but the word of God. They ridicule the
figurative language of Scripture, but will run allegory-mad in support
of the most worthless productions that ever were published. I should
think it time lost to translate any of them; and only a sense of duty
excites me to read them. An idea, however, of the advantage which the
friends of Christianity may obtain by having these mysterious sacred
nothings (which have maintained their celebrity so long merely by being
kept from the inspection of any but interested Brahmans) exposed to
view, has induced me, among other things, to write the Sanskrit
grammar, and to begin a dictionary of that language. I sincerely pity
the poor people, who are held by the chains of an implicit faith in the
grossest of lies; and can scarcely help despising the wretched infidel
who pleads in their favour and tries to vindicate them. I have long
wished to obtain a copy of the Veda; and am now in hopes I shall be
able to procure all that are extant. A Brahman this morning offered to
get them for me for the sake of money. If I succeed, I shall be
strongly tempted to publish them with a translation, pro bono publico."

It was not surprising that the Governor-General, even if he had been
less enlightened than Lord Wellesley, found in this missionary
interloper, as the East India Company officially termed the class to
which he belonged, the only man fit to be Professor of Bengali,
Sanskrit, and Marathi in the College of Fort William, and also
translator of