And their white trunks crunch'd o'er their whiter skulls
As it slipt through their jaws, when their edge grew dull;
As they lazily mumbled the bones of the dead

When they scarce could stir from the place where they fed; So well had they broken a lingering fast

With those who had fallen for that repast."

It is to be hoped, as the pilgrim tax has been so fully exposed, and the attention of the British public so repeatedly called to the inconsistency, (to say no more,) of a professedly Christian government deriving a large revenue from the worship of idols, that when the period arrives, in which the expediency of renewing the Honourable East India Company's charter shall be considered by British senators, the abolition of this odious tax, and a total cessation of government patronage, as it respects the worship of Juggernath, will be made a stipulation.

CHAPTER IX.

O hear the word

Oraculous from the deep studied book,
Inculcated in tenderest age, and learnt
With strictest diligence. It is the voice
O' the Tuntra-Sara.- Docile, meek, and mild
Will be the true disciple. Though the mind
May steep itself in dregs of lowest guilt,—
Floundering with impunity in depths
Of sin unspeakable, the body pure

Must be; or woe to unclean wight erring
From letter'd precept. What the Shaster saith
Of good or bad implicitly believe,

Nor dare to doubt.'"-LAWSON.

TUNTRA SHASTERS-PRAN-KRISHNA VISHWASA-DOC

TRINES AND PRECEPTS OF THE SECT.

Of late years a sect has arisen among the Hindoos, who are called Tuntras, from the Shasters of that name, which they take as the only rule of their conduct, to the neglect of all the others. These Shasters present the singular phenomenon of a religious code of so licentious a character, as to be far below the general standard of public morals. In nothing is the depravity of human nature more fully shown, than by the existence of such a horribly licentious system, claiming divine authority, and openly professing that future bliss is to be

attained by the practice of those crimes which degrade and pollute humanity. Yet so it is; and I fear that this sect is rapidly gaining proselytes, as its requirements are in unison with the principles of our fallen nature; and hundreds of the middle and higher classes of Hindoos resign themselves to the unbridled indulgence of their passions under its sanction. Yet still, many of its votaries are prevented by a sense of decorum from entering into all its enormities.

A rich Baboo near Calcutta has, at the expense of a vast deal of labour, time, and money, produced an abridgment of the doctrines and precepts of the Tuntras from eighty-four large Shasters, in which they are contained. As this native gentleman was the landlord of the house in which I lived at Gusserah, I had an opportunity of knowing somewhat of his manners and character, and always considered him to be a very intelligent person, though excessively proud of his attainments, and thirsting after applause. By a pun common in Hindoo literature, his name, Pran-Krishna Vishwasa, has been compounded with the title, which is Pran-toshuna. The work was printed at his own expense, and gratuitously distributed amongst the literary gentlemen of Calcutta, for the avowed purpose of facilitating their progress in the knowledge of the principles of the Tuntras, but really with a design to promote his own glory. But as the Serampore reviewer says, "This employment of the press, though it feed the native

appetite for applause, as it may eventually lead to the most important results, cannot but be regarded as the dawn of better days to India." The example of Pran-Krishna Vishwasa will find imitators, especially if it should succeed in bringing him a large portion of glory. A few extracts from the review of this work will do more to inform my readers of many things pertaining to Hindooism than any other means I can use.

"The work is dedicated to Narayuna. The genealogy and virtues of the Vishwasa family, which follow the dedication, afford an amusing specimen of oriental hyperbole. Pran-Krishna cannot exactly say with Caesar that there is in his descent both the sacred majesty of kings, the greatest among the sons of men, and the divine majesty of gods, to whose authority kings themselves are subject, the Vishwasa family are not indeed descended from the gods, but they bear a strong resemblance to them in virtue and excellency. Neither is the family very ancient, for the grandfather of the present gentleman appears to have founded it; but what is wanting in the age of the genealogical tree, is amply compensated in the luxuriance of its foliage and the rich promise of its blossoms. The passage, however, speaks for itself, and we cannot curtail without mutilating it.

"There existed in the family of the Vishwasas, Duya Ram Vishwasa, of most excellent knowledge. His son, of great and excellent deeds, Ram Huri Vishwasa, with great faith in Vishwunatha, ob

tained final absorption at Benares, as the reward of many acts of merit. His son, the supporter of the universe, the first among many pundits, supreme in deeds of holiness, is Shree Pran-Krishna Vishwasa, whose younger brother is Jugunmohuna Vishwasa, highly celebrated. He has six sons, of unquestionable wisdom, prudent and profound, the friends of the poor, the helpless, and the blind, the great supporters of the twice-born. Of these, Anundamuya is continually absorbed in meditation on Shiva and Doorga. He is the eldest, the first among the best, always compassionate, a believer in Bhuguvutee.

"The next is Ram-chundra, equal in action to Vishnoo, in munificence to king Kurna; in deeds of valour equal to Urjoona, to his enemies inexorable as death, and is the bee in search of the honey lodged in the two lotus flowers, which the feet of Shiva resemble. The next is Vishwunatha, liberal and compassionate.

"He is followed by Shumbhoo-natha. Next in order comes Kashee-natha, beautiful in person. The last of these promising youths, is Chundranatha, splendid as the risen moon.

“On the eastern bank of the Ganges, in the celebrated village of Khurda, ornamented with beautiful houses, pure as the city of Indra through the residence of Nitya-nunda and other sages, adorned with delightful gardens, to the north of Calcutta, resides Pran-Krishna Vishwasa, free from the thirst of worldly grandeur, equal to Ur