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EDITOR ' S INTRODUCTION
modesty is so extreme that he rarely appears in his own person throughout his work , and those particulars that
I have been able to obtain have been culled from various other sources — chiefly from the Madras Government Secretariat , from the British Museum , and from the Missions ttrangeres . The absolute retirement of the Abbe from
European society for a long series of years after his arrival in India , though it qualified him , as was said when his work first appeared , ' for penetrating into the dark and unexplored recesses of the Hindu character ,' also veiled
him in an equal degree from the curiosity of his readers .
Major Mark Wilks , the accomplished historian of Mysore ,
who in those days was British Resident in that province , in introducing the Abbe ' s work to the notice of the Government of Fort St . George , remarked : Of the history
' and character of the author , I only know that he escaped from one of the fusillades of the French Revolution and has since lived amongst the Hindus as one of themselves : and of the respect which his irreproachable conduct inspires , it may be sufficient to state that when travelling , on his approach to a village , the house of a Brahmin is uniformly cleared for his reception , without interference , and generally without communication to the officers of Government , as a spontaneous mark of deference and
respect .' Subsequently , however , Major Wilks became much more intimate with the Abbe , and the latter speaks of him years afterwards in terms of great affection as his patron and friend . With regard to the circumstance mentioned above as having induced him to leave France
'
and come to India , the Abbe remarked afterwards : It is quite true that I fled from the horrors of the Revolution , and had I remained I should in all probability have fallen a victim , as did so many of my friends who held the same religious and political opinions as myself ; but the truth