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AN ESSAY ON HINDUISM

and their own religion. The conquered tribe often begins to feel that the god of victors is stronger than theirs, though they may often call the enemy's god a devil. If the conquerors belong to any particular theophratry, membership of that theophratry becomes an advantage to people from the conquered class who may join that theophratry. If the feeling of brotherhood be very strong, then the converts become united with the conquerors. If it is not very strong, then the new converts are treated contemptuously to be sure, but greater favour is shown to them than that shown to the people outside the theophratry.

Let us now try to estimate the importance of another cause which has contributed to modify civilization; and has led to the unification of a portion of the world. The factor referred to here is the propaganda of a religion. I have used the word religion not in the sense of philosophy or ideal of life, but in the sense of the entire system, like Christianity, which is popularly considered as religion. In fact, no strong missionary movement for religious conquest has been undertaken and achieved with an unmixed and honest desire of spreading higher ideals of life. The stress laid on the ethical ideas in religion and the ideals of life therein has been a very recent matter, and even now the ethical ideas have not been singled out for propaganda or for missionary work. That the people of old ideas almost identify barbarism and heathenism, that is profession of dissimilar religions, is not a mere accident; for the conversion to a different religion has helped to change the entire civilization. Let us be more concrete and see how such a process has taken place with reference to the spread of Christianity.

But before entering into a discussion of this topic the different items which a religion is composed of should be