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ceases to exist. Annihilation, then, as regards individuals, is as much the ultimate destiny of the soul as it is of the body, and "Not to be" is the melancholy result of the religion and philosophy of the Hindus.
RELIGIOUS PRACTICES AND OPINIONS
I have thus attempted to place before you some of the principal features of the religious practices and opinions of the Hindus, to which it is fit that your attention should be directed in engaging in any investigation of their nature. To have entered more fully into detail would have occupied too much of your time, and particulars will be easily multiplied by inquiry. With the minor incidents of the popular superstition it is not necessary to encumber the argument farther than they are countenanced by authorities considerd sacred. That learned Brahmans will readily admit the unauthorized introduction, and the unprofitable and degrading tendency of much of the popular practice, is not unlikely, as I have before stated; and their indifference is likely to be the chief obstacle to their acknowledging the inefficiency and evil of much even of that which is authorized. They are likely to adhere to their speculative tenets, and particularly to those regarding the nature and condition of the soul, with more tenacious obstinacy. Dependence on authority, veneration for antiquity, pride of learning, confidence in argument, and disdain of defeat, will combine with the inherent difficulties of the controversy to oppose the influence of reason in generating conviction in the minds of the
