y was one of the weak points in their religion.

CHAPTER XVIII

RELIGIOUS PHASES IN INDIA

Hindus and Roman Catholicism. Parsees and Christianity.
Their works of charity. Persian visitors. Religious
controversy. Mr Hole's pictures. Hindu family quarrels.
Indian repartee. Appreciation of the dignity of labour.

English-speaking Hindus, who are often eager to talk about religious
matters, are inclined to take up the cudgels in favour of
Protestantism, as compared with Roman Catholicism. But meeting an
intelligent Brahmin in a train in the Mysore State, he did just the
reverse, showing an unusual knowledge of ecclesiastical affairs. "Do
you know how the Pope is elected?" he asked of an old engine-driver
who happened to be a fellow-traveller, who seemed rather embarrassed
by such an unlooked-for question from such a source. "It is the most
extraordinary thing on earth," the Brahmin went on to say, and he
proceeded to describe pretty accurately the process of election.

"Now if the Pope was to come to St Paul's Cathedral, would your
Archbishop of Canterbury receive him with due respect as the greatest
dignitary on earth?" asked the Brahmin.

I said that the circumstances were not very likely to occur, but that
if they did, I had no doubt the Pope would be received with the
respect due to his office.

"And if your Archbishop went to Italy, would he stay with the Pope?"
said the Brahmin.

I replied that I did not think it likely that he would get an
invitation, but that if he did, he would probably accept it. The
Brahmin at times made use of semi-profane expressions when talking
English. "Good Lord! what a crowd," he said, putting his head into the
window of a carriage when we were changing at a junction. But in spite
of his knowledge of ecclesiastical affairs, he called on the Hindu god
_Rama_ when settling down for the night.

Meeting a Parsee, who having been educated at a Roman Catholic school
knew something of Christianity, I asked him how it was that this
knowledge had borne no practical fruit. His reply was that when in
Christian colleges attendance at a religious class is compulsory, it
makes the heathen boys hate Christianity.

Very few Parsees have become Christians. I asked another Parsee the
cause of this. He said that their religion was so pure that they did
not need to seek a better, and that they only looked upon light as a
symbol of God. But when the electric light was t