RAJAH, a Hindu of wonderful talents and enlightenment, was born at Burdwan in the province of Bengal, about 1774. His parents, descended from Brahmans who had held high offices, both secular and sacred, resolved to make their boy worthy of his distinguished ancestry. The greatest care was taken in fitting his mind for his high prospects. The Persian and Arabic tongues were taught him, that he might attach himself to the court of Mohammedan princes. Sanscrit also was added to his education, that he might be competent to hold a sacerdotal office among the Hindus. Yet the young lad had not reached his sixteenth year before circumstances occurred to turn his thoughts in a direction different from that which had been marked out for him. His intercourse with the Moslems made him acquainted with the doctrine of the unity of the Godhead. The dogma recommended itself to his understanding, and shook his faith in the idolatrous system of worship which his fellow-Brahmins were observing. This feeling of doubt drove him to the ancient Hindu scriptures for further enlightenment. Finding that they distinctly taught the existence of one Supreme Being, he became from that time an advocate of monotheism. Boy though he was, he lost no time in composing a manuscript to show how the Hindus had corrupted the primitive simplicity of their faith. Frowns and rebukes from the entire circle of his acquaintance immediately assailed him; but they were only the means of making him pursue the investigations which he had already begun. Driven from home by the coolness of his father, and induced to sojourn for a time in Thibet, he studied all the forms of religion that came under his view. Then, after a lapse of two or three years, he returned to his paternal abode, confirmed in his aversion towards idolatry, and bent upon seeking additional enlightenment both in the oracles of his own caste and in other religious creeds.

About 1814 Rammohun Roy, living in a house in the Circular Road, Calcutta, began to be known as the most extraordinary man among the Brahmans. There were many qualifications which combined to give him this position. His patrimony was handsome. His bearing was pleasing, courteous, and imposing. His moral character was pure, earnest, and philanthropic. Still more striking were the intellectual attainments which he possessed. A more richly endowed, active, and far-searching mind could scarcely be found. The weapons of logic were thoroughly at his command. He could also range through the provinces of Sanscrit, Persian, and Arabic literature. Especially was he at home in English politics and letters. In fact, wherever in the entire region of learning truth seemed to point the way, thither did he strive with a European daring and invincibility.

This energetic and gifted native could not long remain inactive, and Rammohun Roy soon appeared in the character of a reformer of Brahminism. The plan he employed was, to seek out and lay before the Hindus those simple precepts of religion and morality which he might find within the range of his reading. He began his endeavours by translating into Bengali, Hindustani, and English the Vedant, "the most celebrated and revered work of Brahminical theology." He then published in English and Bengali some of the principal chapters of the Veda, the body Rammad of Hindu divinity. His next attempt was to draw up a compendium of the morality of the Christian religion, Greek and Hebrew were accordingly acquired, that he might examine and prove the Scriptures in the original. The result was a book, produced in 1820, in English, Sanscrit, and Bengali, and entitled *The Precepts of Jesus the Guide to Peace and Happiness*. More selections would also have been prepared by him had he not been engaged for three years in defending his last publication against the invasions of Dr Marshman and other Christian writers.

Rammahum Roy's labours for the enlightenment of his countrymen ended with 1830. A visit to England had long been one of the cherished enterprises of his mind. Taking advantage of his appointment as ambassador from the King of Delhi to the British government, he now set sail, and arrived at Liverpool in 1831. He was just beginning to form a large circle of friends throughout the country when he died at Stapleton Grove, near Bristol, on the 27th of September 1833. (See *A Review of the Labours, Opinions, and Character of Rammahum Roy*, by Lant Carpenter, LL.D., London, 1833.)