women stand opposed to the freedom of the individual and the equality of
the sexes that prevail in Great Britain, at least in greater degree. In
the sphere of politics, the absolutism, long familiar to the Indian
mind, is the antithesis of the life of a citizen under a limited
monarchy, with party government and unfettered political criticism. In
the sphere of religion, the hereditary priesthood of India stands over
against the British ideal of a clergy trained for their duties and
proved in character. The Hindu conception of a religious life as a life
of sacrificial offerings and penances, or of ecstasies, or of
asceticism, or of sacred study, stands over against the British ideal of
religion in daily life and in practical philanthropies. To the Hindu,
the religious mood is that of ecstatic whole-hearted devotion; the
Briton reverences as the religious mood a quiet staying intensity in
noble endurance or effort.

[Sidenote: Testimony to the change in ideas]

The nineteenth century has witnessed a great transition in ideas and a
great alteration in the social and political and religious standpoints.
It is easy to find manifold witness to the fact from all parts of India.
The biographer of the modern in ideas. Indian reformer, Malabari, a
Parsee[3] writing of a Parsee, and representing Western India, is
impressed by the singular fate that has destined the far-away British to
affect India and her ideals so profoundly. Crossing to the east side of
India, we seek a trustworthy witness. The well-known reformer, Keshub
Chunder Sen, a Bengali, and representative therefore of Eastern India,
declares in a lecture published in 1883: "Ever since the introduction of
British power into India there has been going on a constant upheaval and
development of the native mind,... whether we look at the mighty
political changes which have been wrought by that ... wonderful