under the weight of the accumulated corruption of ages; foreign influences were requisite to arouse her. These are being felt throughout her length and breadth. A steady, though slow, progress is perceptible. The tyranny of society is slowly succumbing to the gaining force of individuality and intellect. Superstition is losing its strongholds one after another. Ceremonial observances are being replaced by true principles of morality. There are many things still wanting, hideous defects to be remedied; but let us work and hope for a brighter future. May India be grateful to England for the blessing she has been enjoying under her benign rule! May England feel that India is a sacred trust and responsibility, which cannot be thrown away!”
In the same spirit, but with even a wider and more candid range of moral vision, (all the more remarkable from such a source,) Baboo Keshub Chunder Sen of Calcutta tells the world what he and his Brahmo Somaj think of English rule, and the Christian missions which it protects. The Baboo says, (and I would commend his words to the consideration of some of his Christian (?) and clerical admirers in New York and Boston, as a lesson which they certainly much need to learn :)
“It cannot be said that we in India have nothing to do with Christ or Christianity. Have the natives of this country altogether escaped the influence of Christianity, and do they owe nothing to Christ? Shall I be told by my educated countrymen that they can feel nothing but a mere remote historic interest in the grand movement I have described? You have already seen how, in the gradual extension of the Church of Christ, Christian missions came to be established in this distant land, and what results these missions have achieved. The many noble deeds of philanthropy and self-denying benevolence which Christian missionaries have performed in India, and the various intellectual, social, and moral improvements which they have effected, need no flattering comment; they are treasured in the gratitude of the nation, and can never be forgotten or denied. That India is highly indebted to these disinterested and large-hearted followers of Christ
