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Translation of the letters of a Hindoo rajah
Translation of the letters of a Hindoo rajah Author:Elizabeth Hamilton Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: LETTER II. The most faithful of Friends, Kisheen Negay Maaudaara; to the Powerful and enlightened Rajah, Seeta Juin Zaarmilla. Praise be to Veeshnu! The lo... more »ng wished- for letter from the friend of my youth hath kindled the fire of conflicting passions in the breast of Maanrtaara. The assurance of thy continued kindness lights the spark of joy; but the intelligence of the infatuation that hath seized thy mind envelopes ray soul in the dark cloud of despair. I perceive that thou art under the influence of enchantment, and that that false stranger hath used some charm to deceive thy understanding. What would the spirit of thy father, what would the learned Pundit, to whose instructions we are equally indebted, vlmt wouldthey pronounce, could they hear that Zaar- milla thought it necessary to sojourn among infidels and impious eaters of blood, in order to acquire knowledge ? Can a race who sprung from the dust that was shaken from the feet of Brahma, and who are on that account beneath the meanest Sooder, who is honoured in being permitted to touch thy sandals, a race, who though less savage than that of the Mussulmans with regard to those that bear the human form, exceed them in cruelty to all the other animated inhabitants of the earth. Can any of this race be capable of- instructing the descendant of a thousand Rajahs ? Impossible. From the ant thou mayest learn industry. From the dog tbou mayest be instructed in faithfulness. The horse may teach thee diligence, and the elephant instruct thee in patience, magnanimity, and wisdom; but expect not from Europeans to attain the knowledge of any virtue. How should they be learned that are but of yesterday ? Their remotest annals extend but to the trifling period of a few thousand years. While enlightened and instructed in mystery...« less