DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9550#0258
2o8 preface to the second edition.
more rational than the religion which the Missionaries
profess, and that those of the latter, if unreasonable,
are not more so than their Christian Faith. To this
the Missionaries made a reply in their work entitled the
" Friend of India," No. 38, which was immediately
answered by me in the 3rd No. of the Magazine; and
from the continuation of a regular controversy of this
kind, I expected that in a very short time, the truth or
fallacy of one or other of our religious systems would
be clearly established; but to my great surprize and
disappointment, the Christian Missionaries, after having
provoked the discussion, suddenly abandoned it; and
the 3rd No. of my Magazine has remained unanswered
for nearly two years. During that long period the
Hindoo community, (to whom the work was particularly
addressed and therefore printed both in Bengallee and
English), have made up their minds that the arguments
of the Brahmunical Magaz/ne are unanswerable;
and I now republish, therefore, only the English
translation, that the learned among Christians, in Europe
as well as in Asia, may form their opinion on the
subject.
It is well-known to ' the whole world, that no people
on earth are more tolerant than the Hindoos, who believe
all men to be equally within the reach of Divine bene-
ficence, which embraces the good of every religious
sect and denomination : therefore it cannot be imagined
that my object in publishing this Magazine was to
oppose Christianity; but I was influenced by the
conviction that persons who travel to a distant country
for the purpose of overturning the opinions of its
inhabitants and introducing their own, ought to be
more rational than the religion which the Missionaries
profess, and that those of the latter, if unreasonable,
are not more so than their Christian Faith. To this
the Missionaries made a reply in their work entitled the
" Friend of India," No. 38, which was immediately
answered by me in the 3rd No. of the Magazine; and
from the continuation of a regular controversy of this
kind, I expected that in a very short time, the truth or
fallacy of one or other of our religious systems would
be clearly established; but to my great surprize and
disappointment, the Christian Missionaries, after having
provoked the discussion, suddenly abandoned it; and
the 3rd No. of my Magazine has remained unanswered
for nearly two years. During that long period the
Hindoo community, (to whom the work was particularly
addressed and therefore printed both in Bengallee and
English), have made up their minds that the arguments
of the Brahmunical Magaz/ne are unanswerable;
and I now republish, therefore, only the English
translation, that the learned among Christians, in Europe
as well as in Asia, may form their opinion on the
subject.
It is well-known to ' the whole world, that no people
on earth are more tolerant than the Hindoos, who believe
all men to be equally within the reach of Divine bene-
ficence, which embraces the good of every religious
sect and denomination : therefore it cannot be imagined
that my object in publishing this Magazine was to
oppose Christianity; but I was influenced by the
conviction that persons who travel to a distant country
for the purpose of overturning the opinions of its
inhabitants and introducing their own, ought to be