LIBRARY 
 
 h c 0 1 0 g i f a I c m i n a v y, 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 No. Case, 
 
 UL.J^ 
 
 BR 45 .B35 1809 
 
 ■t — 
 
 Barapton lectures 
 
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OF THE 
 
 BRAHMINICAL RELIGION 
 
 IN ITS 
 
 CONFIRMATION OF THE TRUTH 
 
 \ 
 
 OF THE 
 
 AND IN ITS INFLUENCE ON THE 
 
 iWoml Cjiaracter; 
 
 m A-SERIES OF DISCOURSES, 
 
 PREACHED 
 
 BEFORE THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD 
 
 IN THE YEAR 1809, 
 
 I 
 
 AT THE LECTURE FOUNDED BY THE LATE 
 
 , . v>C '' t 
 
 REV. JOHN BAMPTON, M. A. CANON OF SALISBURY. 
 
 __. _ . 
 
 By the Rev. I. B. S. CARWITHEN, M. A. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED for' CADELL AND DAVIES, STRAND; FOR 
 J. M. GUTCH, BRISTOL; AND FOR 
 I. PARKER, OXFORD. 
 
 1810. 
 
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TO THE MOST NOBLE 
 
 RICHARD MARQUIS WELLESLEY,K.G. 
 
 ONE OF HIS MAJESTY’S PRINCIPAL 
 SECRETARIES OF STATE. 
 
 MY LOSD, 
 
 Thou GH tlie inability with 
 which the following Discourses are 
 executed, may bring on me the 
 charge of presumption in selecting 
 a name of such high authority on 
 every question connected with the 
 
 history and science of the eastern 
 world; yet the motives by which 
 they were suggested, may, in some 
 degree, recommend them to the ap¬ 
 probation of Marquis Wellesley.™ 
 To no one, my Lord, could they be 
 addressed with so much propriety; 
 since, amongthe many claims, which 
 a vigorous and splendid administra¬ 
 tion in India has entailed on public 
 
II 
 
 esteem and gratitude, it is impossi¬ 
 ble to forget the obligations, which - 
 your Lordship’s patronage has con¬ 
 ferred on oriental literature. 
 
 Your Lordship needs not to be 
 informed, of what every scholar 
 must know, that, in a work, con¬ 
 fessedly intended for popular use, 
 but on a subject so recondite and 
 diffusive, it was impossible to avoid 
 allusions to many points, on which 
 a wide difference of opinion has 
 excited much intemperance and 
 acrimony. That the ensuing dis¬ 
 cussion of some of those points, is so 
 temperate, as to compose all differ¬ 
 ence of opinion, it would be arro¬ 
 gant to hope; but no objector to the 
 principles supported will have rea¬ 
 son to complain, that his sentiments 
 have been disguised by misrepre¬ 
 sentation, or distorted by prejudice. 
 
• • • 
 
 liu 
 
 In the composition and publica¬ 
 tion of these discourses, the great 
 object has been, to establish those 
 sound principles, which, while they 
 include the interests of religion and 
 morality, are the basis of all true 
 policy; principles, on which the 
 British constitution in Church and 
 State is founded; and to which 
 alone we must look for domestic 
 peace and security, and for the 
 preservation of empire. 
 
 I have the honor to be, with the greatest respedl. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 Your Lordship^s most obliged. 
 
 And most devoted Servant, 
 
 L B. S. CARWITHEN, 
 
 MERE, WILTS, 
 iMarcb 31,1810. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 THE AUTHOR wishes to observe^ respecting 
 the few Notes attached to the present work, that 
 they are principally designed for readers unac¬ 
 quainted with Asiatic literature. They might have 
 been advantageously extended, but the Author was 
 unwilling to add more than were absolutely iieces- 
 sary, until the sense of the public on the value of 
 his performance should be ascertained. 
 
 He cannot dismiss the volume zvithout acknow¬ 
 ledging his obligations to Dodtor Ford, the Prin¬ 
 cipal of Magdalen Hall, and Lord Almoner^s 
 Professor of Arabic, for many valuable remarks ; 
 and also for a communication transmitted in the 
 most condescending manner by the learned Bishop 
 OF Glocester. 
 
tlxtraB from the last Will and Testament of the late 
 Rev. John Bampton^ Canon oj Salisbury. 
 
 . . “ I give and bequeath my Lands and Estates to the 
 
 “ Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University of Oxford for 
 “ ever, to have and to hold all and singular the said Lands or Estates 
 “ upon trust, and to the intents and purposes hereinafter mentioned; 
 
 that is to say, I will and appoint, that the Vice-Chancellor of the 
 “ University of Oxford for the time being shall take and receive all 
 “the rents, issues, and profits thereof, and (after all taxes, reparations, 
 “ and necessary deduftions made) that he pay all the remainder to the 
 “ endowment of eight Divinity Lefture Sermons, to be established for 
 “ ever in the said University, and to be performed in the manner 
 “ following: 
 
 “ I dlrefland appoint, that, upon the first Tuesday in Easter term, a 
 “ Leflurer be yearly chosen by the Heads of Colleges only, and by no 
 “ others, in the room adjoining to the Printing-House, between the 
 “ hours of ten in the morning and two in the afternoon, to preach eight 
 “ Divinity Lefture Sermons, the year following, at St. Mary’s, in 
 “ Oxford, between the commencement of the last month in Lent Term, 
 and the end of the third week in A6l Term. 
 
 ** Also I dlreft and appoint, that the eight Divinity Le£lure Sermons 
 ** shall be preached upon either of the following subje61s—to confirm 
 ** and eatablisli tkc Chrlatian Faith, and to confute all heretics and 
 
 schismatics~upon the divine authority of the Holy Scriptures_upon 
 
 “ the authority of the writings of the primitive Fathers, as to the faith 
 and prafticc of the primitive Church—upon the Divinity of our Lord 
 
 “ and Saviour Jesus Christ—upon the Divinity of the Holy Ghost_ 
 
 upon the Articles of the Christian Faith, as comprehended m the 
 “ Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds. 
 
 “ Also I direfl, that thirty copies of the eight Divinity Leflure 
 “ Sermons shall be always printed, within two months after they are 
 “ preached, and one copy shall be given to the Chancellor of the 
 “ University, and one copy to the Head of every College, and one copy 
 to the Mayor of the City of Oxford, and one copy to be put into the 
 “ Bodleian Library; and the expence of printing them shall be paid 
 “ out of the revenue of the Lands or Estates given for establishing the 
 “ Divinity LeHure Sermons ; and the Preachdr shall not be paid, nor 
 “ be entitled to the revenue, before they are printed. 
 
 “ Also 1 direff and appoint, that no person shall be qualified to preach 
 ** the Divinity Lefture Sermons, unless he hath taken the Degree of 
 “ Master of Arts at least, in one of the two Universities of Oxford or 
 “ Cambridge; and that the same person shajl never preach the 
 « Divinity Le^urc Sermons twice, 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 25, line 6, for Purdnas read Puranss 
 30, 7, for their read its 
 
 S3, 10, Jor idiotcy read idiocy 
 
 80, Note, for Bhagaret read Bhagavat 
 91, line 17, for Kashup read Kushup 
 96, 17, for superaded read superadded 
 
 101, 21, ybr personsge personage 
 
 112, 8, for or read 
 
 120, 13, for are read is. 
 
 122, Note, for Dalistan read Dabistan 
 127, line 20, for Ethiopia read Ethiopians 
 154, 19, for their read the 
 
 181, 15, ybr impunities impurities 
 
 117, 17, for from read with. 
 
 190, 17, for represent read representing' 
 
 195, 17, for cabbalistic read cabalistic 
 
 204, 12, for give read gives 
 
 241, 2, ybr fllvisloii Uivisions^ 
 
 263, 10, for unlimitted read unlimited 
 
 272, 28, for ancestor read ancestors 
 
 287, 9, after originated insert in 
 
 294, 17, for these read this 
 
 295, 6, for goverment read government 
 
 ‘ 301, 7, for acquiese read acquiesce 
 

 DISCOURSE 1. 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE BRAHMINICAL 
 
 SYSTEM.^ 
 
 IntroduBion—Sketch of the History of 
 Hindoostan as connected with religion — 
 Authenticity of the Vedas — Probable 
 antiquity of the Vedas—Of the Pur mas , 
 and other sacred records of the Brahmins 
 —Design of the following Discourses, 
 
I 
 
GENERAL VIEW OF THE BRAHMINICAL SYSTE^J. 
 
 •Malachi, C. 1. V. 11. 
 
 From the rising of the su% unto the going down of 
 the same, my name shall he great among the 
 Gentiles^ and in every places incense shall he 
 offered to my name, and a pure offering ; for 
 my name shall he great among the Heathen^ 
 saith the Lord of Hosts. 
 
 In contemplating the scheme of ancient pro¬ 
 phecy, there is no circumstance which bears a 
 stronger evidence of divine inspiration, than the 
 universality of design, by which it stands essen¬ 
 tially distinguished from the legal and ceremonial 
 parts of the Jewish covenant. That salvation 
 is of the Jews” forms indeed a leading doctrine, 
 both of the Law and of the Prophets. But the 
 law being subservient to the great mystery of 
 godliness” to be revealed in a future age, was 
 intended by the peculiarity of its rites, and the 
 contra6led prafticability of its ordinances, to se¬ 
 parate a single nation, from the idolatrous worship 
 which overspread the world. Its injunftions 
 
 B 2 
 
4 
 
 therefore, when pra&ised with scrupulous rigor, 
 were calculated to form a temper sullen and 
 unsocial ; and its promises, when interpreted by 
 supercilious vanity, eventually contributed to 
 foster a spirit of praftical intolerance. Different 
 however were the views, and more important 
 was the commission, of the Prophets of the Lord 
 of Hosts. Commanded to proclaim the glad 
 tidings of salvation” to all the nations of the 
 earth, they were guided by none of those motives 
 which commonly, and sometimes laudably, regu¬ 
 late human conduft. Those venerable chara6ters, 
 who spake as they were moved by the Holy 
 Ghost,” exhibit a disposition equally distant from 
 unfeeling bigotry, interested concealment, or ser¬ 
 vile adulation. Through all their prediQions 
 concerning the future condition of the chosen 
 people of God, in which enthusiasm or imposture 
 might have successfully administered to the gra¬ 
 tification , of any selfish or sinister passion, there 
 is nothing to inflame the restless cupidity of 
 national ambition, and little to soothe even the 
 honest prejudices of national attachment. With 
 equal boldness they chastise the rebellious spirit 
 of their countrymen, and the vices and corrup¬ 
 tions of the idolatrous kingdoms around them : 
 with no less freedom, they predift the desolation 
 of Jerusak and the subjugation of its inhabi- 
 
5 ^ 
 
 tants to a foreign yoke, than they threaten de- 
 struaion to the power of Babylon, or dissipation 
 to the wealth of Tyre. Far from describing the 
 perpetuity of the Jewish law, they announce its 
 future abolition : far from excluding any portion 
 of mankind from a participation in the divine 
 favor, they anticipate with rapture, the period 
 when that favor shall be impartially and universal, 
 ly displayed ; when the operations of grace shall 
 be commensurate with the economy of nature ; 
 and when ,even the apparent inequality in the 
 distribution of natural blessings, shall be corre 61 ed ' 
 by a uniform dispensation of religious knowledge, 
 of the terms of acceptance, and of the hopes of ' 
 reward. 
 
 The accomplishment of prediftions like these 
 presents a state, alike suited to the wants of man, 
 and congenial with the attributes of a wise and 
 benevolent Creator ; and we cannot sometimes 
 forbear to wonder at the infatuation of that people, 
 who^ could wrest them into pledges of temporal 
 aggrandisement. Nor^ can we repress. our sur¬ 
 prize, that while they literally applied to them¬ 
 selves those magnificent promises, which describe 
 the future dominion of Zion, they should have 
 forgotten, that all her spiritual subjefils were to be 
 admitted to an enjoyment of the same privileges^ 
 
 B 3 
 
6 
 
 and that while they thus exulted in the prospefl: 
 of universal empire, they should have obstrufted 
 the diffusion of religious truth. 
 
 When therefore the professors of the Christian 
 faith refer those passages of the Jewish prophets 
 to the mission of Him, who declared that his 
 
 kingdom is not of this world,” whatever opi¬ 
 nion may be formed concerning the propriety of 
 such a reference, their adversaries must admit that 
 the application is urged with consistency. They 
 must acknowledge that the distinguishing mark 
 of the dispensation contained in the Gospel, is 
 not to withhold, but to communicate instrudlion; 
 and that the benefits which it proposes to confer, 
 are extended to the whole human race. 
 
 The Religion of Christ thus universal in its 
 design and efficacy, fairly and openly asserts this 
 pre-eminence, and its exclusive right to the title 
 of a divine revelation : and though avowedly to¬ 
 lerant of error, never confounds the distin6lions 
 between error and truth. Contrary to the spirit 
 of other religious systems, which insist on mutual 
 candour, only because they are deformed by mu¬ 
 tual imperfections; Christianity can generously 
 grant that indulgence, which she needs not to 
 ask; but, while she yields, and cheerfully yields. 
 
7 
 
 to ignorance and infirmity^ her forbearance is 
 disgraced by lio evasive compromise, no pusilla¬ 
 nimous concession. If Paganism, assuming v^hat 
 is falsely called liberality of .sentiment, but what 
 is, in reality, nothing more than laxity of princi¬ 
 ple, can boast of inculcating the dangerously 
 popular maxim, that every mode of faith is equal¬ 
 ly indifferent and acceptable to the Deity; that 
 the Supreme Being is sometimes employed 
 with the attendant on the mosque in counting 
 the sacred beads, and sometimes at the temple 
 in the adoration of idols, the intimate of the 
 Mussulman, and the friend of the Indian, the 
 companion of the Christian, and the confidant 
 of the Jew^’'^ evangelical morality dictates 
 the less accommodating, but more philosophical 
 aphorism, that God is a spirit, and they who 
 worship him, must worship him in spirit and 
 in truth.’* Although Prophecy contemplating, 
 from the Christian Pisgah that delightful har¬ 
 mony, which shall hereafter prevail throughout 
 universal nature, by a sublime figure represents 
 it as extending even to the animal world, and 
 causing the wolf to lie down with the lamb; this 
 cannot be understood to prefigure a forced as¬ 
 sociation of physical antipathies, a monstrous 
 
 ^Preliminary Discourse of the Brahmans to the Code of Gentoo Law:?, 
 
 p. 4, 4to. edition, 177S, 
 
 B 4 
 
alliance between timid innocence and savage 
 ferocity. A previous change must be effefiled in 
 those passions^ which now engender hatred, 
 discord, and contention, before that general 
 tranquillity can take place,''which these ^disposi- 
 tions must necessarily prevent. Every valley 
 must be exalted, and every mountain and hill 
 must be made low, the aberrations of the under¬ 
 standing, and the obliquities of the will, must 
 be reftified, before truth shall flourish in the 
 earth, and righteousness descend from heaven.’* 
 
 Against this claim of universal extension how¬ 
 ever, on which the Gospel so peremptorily and 
 steadily insists, objeftions are frequently opposed, 
 that it is both doubtful as a question of expe¬ 
 diency, and false as a matter of faft. 
 
 , While some have strenuously denied this apti¬ 
 tude in Christianity to assimilate every age and 
 country to itself, and its efficacy in counterafting 
 the effefts of natural temperament, of climate, and 
 of education; others have adduced its present 
 very limited and partial establishment, as a proof, 
 that this pretension must be founded on a strained 
 interpretation of allegorical passages, rather than 
 on any solid conclusions, drawn from reason and 
 experience. Although such a persuasion may. 
 
t 
 
 it is thought, be harmlessly indulged, when per¬ 
 mitted to vent itself in the deep, but quiet 
 aspirations of devotional abstradlion ; yet when 
 sufficiently powerful to operate on praftice, and 
 to animate exertion, being founded on error, it 
 must, like every other error produce evils, pro¬ 
 portioned to its magnitude. An exclusive attach¬ 
 ment to a particular mode of faith, in a state of 
 quiescence generates the overweening reserve of 
 the anchorite ; but stimulated into adlion, and 
 armed with authority, kindles the boisterous zeal, 
 and sanguinary fury, of the bigot. 
 
 These objeftions, which are always eagerly 
 espoused by unbelievers, who are in the habit of 
 classing the Christian Religion with the various 
 delusions, which have successively captivated the 
 public mind, have been supposed to derive ad¬ 
 ditional weight, from a survey of the religious 
 opinions prevalent throughout the eastern world. 
 Divided into empires of vast extent and grandeur, 
 inhabited by an immense population, its conquer¬ 
 ors have always preserved and still continue to 
 preserve, their superiority, rather by the expedients 
 of political wisdom, than by the force of arms. 
 But if its inhabitants must yield the palm of 
 intelleftual strength, in many of the arts of refine¬ 
 ment they have maintained a decided superiority; 
 
10 
 
 and wherever European power has enslaved their 
 bodies, the European mind itself has generally 
 received a bias, and European habits have taken 
 their complexion, from the fascinating and luxu¬ 
 rious manners of Asiatic climates. On subje6ts 
 conne6ted with legislation and government, the 
 liberal spirit of European policy has often been 
 contradled, and subdued, by the refinements of 
 Eastern despotism. In matters of religious belief, 
 which must always have a powerful influence on 
 the moral chara6ler, this result has been still more 
 conspicuous 3 and the pure and simple faith of 
 the western world, has been too frequently 
 weakened and confounded by the imposing 
 dogmata of oriental superstition. 
 
 V 
 
 The various forms of religion predominant in 
 the east have also acquired a higher degree of 
 importance, and occupied a greater share of at¬ 
 tention, from their connexion with the history 
 and science of a people, whose interests are so 
 intimately blended with those of the British em' 
 pire ; a people, who while they have for a series 
 of ages borne with unresisting apathy the yoke 
 of servitude, under so many different masters, 
 have stubbornly repelled any attempted innova¬ 
 tion, and every imposed restriftion, on those 
 peculiar tenets which they have so long revered. 
 
 s 
 
11 
 
 That the warlike tribes of Arabia and Tartaiy, 
 who have sent out from their bosom, conquerors 
 to invade, to subdue, or to convert the rest of the 
 earth, should have retained ves,tlges of their 
 ancient customs and traditions, might be reason¬ 
 ably expe61ed ; but that the peaceful natives of 
 Hindoostan, under the most sanguinary persecu¬ 
 tions, as well as under the milder influence of 
 .persuasion, should have preserved the prominent 
 features of their ancient character unworn by this 
 attrition, is a fa£l:, which while it causes admira¬ 
 tion, must afford an ample field for speculation 
 and research. 
 
 To the expedition of Alexander, who opened 
 the knowledge of India to Europe, we are natu¬ 
 rally prompted to look, for the earliest information 
 respe6ling the manners of its inhabitants.. 
 
 Whatever defeats may be found in the Grecian 
 historians, with respect to their geographical 
 knowledge, defefts, arising both from their diffi¬ 
 culty in obtaining local information, and from the 
 stru61:ure of their language, ‘which caused them 
 to reject many foreign term's, as barbarous and 
 dissonant; yet to their faithful accuracy in the 
 delineation of manners, the experience and obser¬ 
 vation of modern times, have afforded abundant 
 and honourable testimony. 
 
 \ 
 
12 
 
 In those authors who have recorded the aftions 
 of the Macedonian conqueror, and particularly in 
 the works of Arrian, which, although written 
 after the declension of Attic taste and elegance, 
 are not unworthy of a purer age 5 we recognize 
 many of those distin6Hve marks, which, at this 
 day are attached to the followers of the religion 
 of Brahma, We are also informed that even at 
 a period so remote from the present, their reli¬ 
 gion exhibited proofs of long establishment. 
 Their division into separate tribes or castes, by 
 which a community in religious worship, as well 
 as in social intercourse, was restrifted, together 
 with the peculiar immunities arrogated by the 
 sacerdotal order, are described with a clearness 
 and precision, which it might be thought impos¬ 
 sible for ignorance to misapprehend, or for 
 ingenuity to pervert. But in the representations 
 which are given of the simplicity of their worship, 
 and particularly of their total abhorrence from 
 idolatry, there is not less reason to conclude, 
 that their faith has suffered some remarkable 
 deviations from its original purity. 
 
 i 
 
 From the time when the i successors of Alex¬ 
 ander ceased to maintain an immediate commu¬ 
 nication with India, a wide chasm occurs in its 
 
13 
 
 It was during this interval however, that a 
 wonderful change was effefted in the opinions 
 of mankind by the introduction of a religion, of 
 which, if the purity of its doCtrines attested by 
 incontrovertible miracles prove the divine origin, 
 its propagation by means so utterly inadequate, 
 and to human reason contemptible, no less de¬ 
 monstrates the intervention of divine agency* 
 The command which its divine author gave to his ' 
 disciples: Go ye into all the world and preach 
 
 the Gospel to every creature,” was so punc¬ 
 tually fulfilled, if not in the letter, yet as to the 
 spirit and design, that in comparison with the 
 triumphs, obtained by a few artless and illiterate 
 men, not only without the assistance of all human 
 power, but in direCl opposition to it, the con¬ 
 quests of the Macedonian hero, either in magni¬ 
 tude or difficulty, shrink into insignificance. 
 Within the short period of fifty years from the 
 death of Christ, the sound of his Gospel had, 
 almost literally, gone forth into all lands, and 
 “ its words unto the ends of the worlds” It had 
 been heard in the porticos of Athens, and in the 
 pagodas of India. It had been enabled by its 
 native strength to subdue the fierce and inhospi¬ 
 table Parthian, and combat the wit and eloquence \ 
 of the Roman court. It was equally successful, 
 whether opposed to the metaphysical subtleties 
 
14 
 
 y 
 
 of the philosopher, or to the grosser and more 
 palpable absurdities of vulgar superstition. 
 
 In that division of the distant portions of the 
 habitable world, which was made by the Apostles 
 at their separation, the immense provinces of 
 the greater Asia extending eastward from the 
 Euphrates to the Indus, were assigned to the 
 ministry of Saint Thomas. The tradition which 
 relates, that his pious labors were extended be¬ 
 yond this boundary, and which is confirmed by 
 the testimony of the best ecclesiastical historians, 
 though rejefted by some modern writers, has been 
 ' placed by subsequent research still farther beyond 
 the reach of contradiftion or rational doubt.** 
 
 From recent information however, supported 
 by the concurrent voice of past ages, we are 
 warranted in drawing the conclusion, that the 
 Gospel was preached in India, during the first 
 and purest ages of the Church. For the follow¬ 
 ing fa£ls we have undeniable evidence 3 that, in 
 the middle of the fourth century, Frumentius was 
 appointed by Athanasius Bishop of India, where 
 he found the do£l:rines of the Christian faith ' 
 understood, and praftised by a great number 
 and these are represented, in the fifth century, to 
 
 ^ See on this swbje^l, Cave Ssec. S, in Manessi % 
 
 I 
 
15 
 
 have considerably increased in wealth and im¬ 
 portance.' But the primitive purity of the 
 Christian religion was soon afterwards corrupted, 
 by the introdu61;ion of the Nestorian heresy from 
 Persia, and in the course of a few ages, the 
 principles of that se£l became almost universally 
 prevalent. 
 
 To what extent the pure tenets of the Christian 
 faith might have been professed in Hindodstan, 
 or what latent effects its corruptions, and the 
 introduftion of the various apocryphal Gospels, 
 which found their way into the east, rhight have 
 produced on the religion of the inhabitants, it 
 would be inconsistent with the brevity of this 
 historical sketch to discuss. We are now reluct¬ 
 antly compelled to turn our eyes to a^different 
 picture. We are now called on to mark the 
 progress of a religion, not, like the former, pur¬ 
 suing a course silent and tranquil, observable only 
 by the blessings which it dispenses ; but, like a 
 torrent, overwhelming every obstacle that op¬ 
 posed its fury. The useful labors of the Christian 
 saint, scarcely find a place in history, and they 
 are chiefly recalled to our recolleftion, by the 
 strains of a Poet equally conspicuous for piety of 
 s.entiment and sublimity of diftion. But the 
 
 t 
 
 ' Euseb. 1. p, c. 1. Sozomen. 1 . 2 , c.24. Socrat. 1. 1 . c. 29. 
 f See the Lujiad of Camoens, B. 10* 
 
,10 
 
 “ Star of Islamism” is too banefully portentous to 
 be forgotten. The triumphs of the Arabian impos¬ 
 tor are indelibly written in charafters of blood. 
 
 In the seventh century^ his followers first 
 attempted to plant the Mohammedan faith, in 
 the country of Hindoostan ; in the south, under 
 the mask of friendship; in the north,, by the 
 terror of the sword. Through the whole course 
 of their conquests, whether conduced by the 
 insatiable avarice of Mammood, or by the fero¬ 
 cious courage of Timur, we behold the same wan¬ 
 ton insult, and licentious barbarity. Religion 
 was the pretext, and plunder the object, by 
 which they were impelled, and both co-operated 
 in the work of destru61:ion. What could not 
 tempt the rapacity of the one, was sacrificed to 
 the zeal of the other. While the possessions of 
 the unoffending inhabitants were ravaged and 
 their persons violated by brutal lust, their tem¬ 
 ples were polluted, and their altars overthrown, 
 by the relentless hand of blind fanaticism. 
 
 To the reign of the illustrious Acber, which 
 forms the only truly brilliant epoch in the Mus¬ 
 sulman empire of India, we must look for a 
 different system of policy, adopted both from 
 expediency and inclination. By him it was first 
 
17 
 
 discovered, that the security of his government, 
 and the happiness of his subjefts, could never 
 be promoted, but on the basis of universal tolera¬ 
 tion : and thus, while his desire of knowledge, 
 incited him to examine, and to compare the 
 different forms of religion, which had been estab¬ 
 lished in his extensive dominions, his moderation 
 taught him equally to proteft the exercise of all. 
 
 But the period had now arrived, when the 
 Mohammedan power, which, during the space 
 of more than eight centuries, had exerted the 
 most despotic tyranny over the East, and had 
 become formidable to the whole world, was to 
 receive a check, by the discovery of the maritime 
 passage to India; a discovery, which not only 
 opened a new direftion to Asiatic commerce, 
 but, which as has been remarked, with a warmth 
 of expression not exceeding the soberness of 
 truth, preserved the liberties of mankind.* 
 
 In reviewing the history of those important 
 events, which have decided the fate of empires, 
 and of those splendid achievements which have 
 ultimately contributed to general happiness and 
 prosperity, we have often reason to lament, that ^ 
 they have been effeSed by means at which 
 
 • AbbI Raynal. 
 
 C 
 
18 
 
 humanity revolts. We must be compelled to 
 acknowledge, that the soil in which ‘‘ the vine 
 and the tree” have afterwards flourished in the 
 greatest luxuriancy, has been fertilized by blood* 
 But the voyage of Gama is one of those occur¬ 
 rences, on which the mind dwells with more 
 unmingled pleasure. 
 
 When the kingdom of Portugal first establish¬ 
 ed its settlements in the East under'his direftion, 
 its conquests were marked by none of those 
 enormities, which have so often disgraced those 
 nations, who from motives of avarice or ambition 
 have planted distant colonies. The earliest mis¬ 
 sionaries also, who laboured to convert the natives 
 of India, were actuated by the purest intentions, 
 and prosecuted them by the most laudable means.^ 
 
 It was not till about fifty years afterwards, 
 when the Jesuits undertook the task, that a dif¬ 
 ferent method was pursued. The lust of secular 
 power was the motive which influenced all their 
 attempts 3 and to this, the precepts of their religion 
 were made to yield. While they compelled the 
 Christians whom they found established in the 
 southern parts of Malabar to abjure the tenets of 
 their ancient creed, and to acknowledge the 
 
 ^ Particularly Cubilonez the confessor of Gama. 
 
19 ' 
 
 authority of the Papal see ; they sought to acquire 
 an ascendancy over the followers of Paganism, by 
 a ready compliance with their favourite prejudi¬ 
 ces. Whithersoever they came, their principal 
 care was, to discover the popular obje&s of fear 
 and adoration 5 and thus by contradi61:ing none of 
 these, they insured a temporary success. If the 
 sun were esteemed the fountain of life,' and the 
 source from which all human blessings were 
 derived ; they represented Jesus Christ aS' de¬ 
 scended from that luminary, and themselves as 
 his younger brethren, seijt to give light to the 
 ignorant. If their idolatrous hearers were in 
 dread of exorcism, and of the machinations of 
 
 t 
 
 evil spirits ; they declared that the sole object of 
 the mission of Christ, was to destroy demoniacal 
 agency ; that he had subdued its influence in 
 Europe, and that they were sent by him into the 
 East, to complete his benevolent design. Thus 
 by a literal application of that favourite maxim of 
 their political founder, distorted from the meaning 
 of St, Paul, to the clean all things are clean — 
 innumerable proselytes of the lowest castes were 
 gained, whose tenets were composed of some of 
 the peculiar and mysterious doftrines of the 
 Gospel, engrafted on their own impure and 
 fanciful mythology. 
 
 c 2 
 
20 
 
 But although the empire of the Portuguese in 
 Indiaj was originally established on those prin¬ 
 ciples of equity and moderation which alone 
 can ensure stability and permanence ; yet to 
 these, succeeded ' a deliberate scheme of rapine 
 and extortion, which led to its destruftion. At 
 the commencement of their enormities, it was 
 pointedly observed of them, that they were 
 among men what lions were among beasts, and 
 
 for that reason nature had appointed their species 
 to be equally few/' But when luxury began to 
 enervate their manners^ these sentiments were 
 changed. ‘‘ They now conquer Asia, but Asia 
 will soon conquer them,” was the consolation of 
 an Indian prince ; a prediflion, which the event 
 fully justified. The jealousies and dissensions 
 which weakened their internal government, as 
 well as their external means of defence, afforded 
 to other nations an opportunity of participating in 
 those advantages, to which the Portuguese claim¬ 
 ed an exclusive right; and at length transferred 
 to the,British empire, the possession of one of the 
 most fertile parts of the habitable globe. 
 
 Under the dominion of all these different 
 powers, the' design of controlling the religious 
 opinions of their colonial subjects, and of super¬ 
 seding their present tenets, has been prosecuted 
 
21 
 
 by difFerent means, and with different degrees of 
 ardot. The spirit of conversion has sometimes 
 burst forth in the'well-intended, but mistakins:, 
 
 o’ 
 
 efforts of wild enthusiasm : it has sometimes, 
 though rarely, glowed with the warmth of genuine 
 piety ; it has sometimes, almost entirely, subsided 
 in the effervescence of worldly interest and poli¬ 
 tical contention. 
 
 From this short view of Indian history, as it 
 stands conne6led with religion, we are naturally 
 led to Inquire more minutely, into the nature of 
 that system, which has thus preserved some of 
 its most striking peculiarities, amidst so many 
 and calamitous revolutions. W'e have seen it 
 brought into conta61: with Christianity, under 
 every form, in a state of purity, and in a state of 
 corruption. We have seen It assailed by all the 
 virulenee of Mohammedan bigotry, a religion, 
 we might suppose, still more palatable to the 
 slothful and luxurious. Yet its most striking 
 lineaments still remain unchanged. That it has 
 experienced some alterations and corruptions, 
 there is no room for doubt, when we advert to the 
 accounts which ancient history has given of its 
 tenets 3 but they are such changes as must have 
 been almost unavoidably introduced into any 
 system of faith, in which the sacerdotal order is 
 
 c 3 
 
22 
 
 the only depositary of the sacred oracles, and 
 possesses the sole arbitration of all differences in 
 religious disputes. While the Brahmins continue 
 a seft, those motives which invariably aftuate 
 human nature under similar circumstances, a zeal 
 for their own privileges, and a regard for national 
 honor, will prompt them to impose such doftrines 
 on their followers, and to gloss over their philoso¬ 
 phy when laid before strangers, in the manner 
 best adapted to promote their interested designs. 
 
 In forming a general idea of the Brahminical 
 system, the first circumstance which strikes the 
 mind of the enquirer, is, its difference from every 
 other form of oriental Paganism, Its tenets 
 essentially diversified from those of the Zoroastrian 
 school, with which they have sometimes been 
 improperly confounded y and not less diversified 
 from those of the religion of Boodh, from which 
 they afterwards received an admixture, present a 
 subje61:, for contemplation, at once novel, and 
 -interesting. 
 
 To aid our researches in this enquiry we are 
 furnished with singular advantages. The doc¬ 
 trines of Brahminism are not to be estimated 
 solely from the comparison and concentration of 
 foreign testimony, which may be prejudiced, or 
 
23 
 
 from the evidence of oral tradition, which must 
 be uncertain ; but its principles are more fully 
 developed in the great body of Sanscrit literature. 
 This literature has been celebrated by the philo¬ 
 logist as being written in a language of wonder¬ 
 ful copiousness, and of exquisite refinement ; it 
 has been studied by the metaphysician, as con¬ 
 taining an elaborate system of abstruse philo¬ 
 sophy ; it has been adnjired by the moralist, for 
 the elevated tone and impassioned sublimity of 
 its ethical maxims. In each of these different 
 points of view this grand source of oriental know¬ 
 ledge must be interesting; and we must consider 
 it, not only as the parent of most of the dialers 
 of Asia, but as having extended far beyond the 
 confines of the eastern world. But its value is 
 enhanced, when we reflefl: that this language is 
 esteemed of celestial origin, and that its charac¬ 
 ters have been appropriated to convey to distant 
 ages those sacred oracles, to which the Hindoos 
 refer as a formulary of faith, and as a rule of moral 
 conduft. 
 
 With respeft to the authenticity and antiquity 
 of those records, and to the degree of credit which 
 they may claim, various and contradi6tory opini¬ 
 ons have been entertained. While in the true 
 spirit of fidlion and romance, they are represented 
 
 c 4 
 
 \ 
 
24 
 
 by the Brahmins themselves as having existed 
 before the creation of the world ; and while they 
 are supposed by many Europeans to be of an 
 earlier date than any history now extant, they 
 have been unwarrantably stigmatized, by others, 
 as the forgeries of modern artifice, and even their 
 existence has afiforded a subje 6 l of debate. 
 
 That the sacred volumes of the Hindoos are 
 genuine, that those compositions, which are now 
 received under the title of the Vedas, are the 
 same with those which have been received as 
 such, for a number ot ages, we have the best of 
 evidence to prove ; that species of evidence which 
 is generally deemed conclusive in determining the ) 
 
 credit of any ancient production 5 that species of 
 evidence to which we ourselves confidently ap¬ 
 peal, whenever the genuineness of our own scrip¬ 
 tures is called in question. In the recitation of 
 them, the metre is preserved with scrupulous 
 exactness; though the sense be apparently neg- 
 leCted, a praCtice which eflfeCtualJy secures them 
 from interpolation : they are explained, and com¬ 
 mented on by a multitude of annotators of dif¬ 
 ferent ages, whose extraCts agree with the original 
 text as it now stands : they are quoted by writers 
 on subjects, not professedly religious, but in 
 treatises on law, medicine, astronomy, and gram^ 
 
25 
 
 mar: and what is still more decisive to the pur¬ 
 pose, the writings of heretical sefts exhibit 
 quotations from them, which admit their genuine¬ 
 ness, although they deny their doftrines and 
 authority. 
 
 The authenticity of the Purdnas, and of the 
 other sacred writings of the Brahmins, which, 
 though not esteemed of the same transcendent 
 excellence as the Vedas, are yet acknowledged 
 by them to be of divine origin, cannot be said to 
 rest on the same immoveable foundation. But, 
 although in some instances, additions and inter¬ 
 polations may have been detefted, there are still 
 sufficient proofs to shew, that they are a compila¬ 
 tion from valuable materials, which now no 
 longer exist, or from traditions of unquestionable 
 antiquity. 
 
 For determining the exa£t period when the 
 Hindoo records were written, or even when their 
 different portions were colle6f:ed into one body, 
 no fafts have yet been established which can 
 lead to a certain decision. Attempts have been 
 made to ascertain this point from the few detach¬ 
 ed hints which they supply respc6i:ing the po¬ 
 sition of the constellations in the heavens, at the 
 asra, in which they profess to have been written. 
 
26 
 
 It has been, still more unsuccessfully, attempted 
 by the unauthorised assumption, that the varia¬ 
 tions in all languages, and therefore in the Sanscrit 
 language have taken place in times very nearly 
 proportional; and that by ascertaining the age of 
 some modern produ6lion, we may be enabled to 
 fix the age of another more ancient, by retrograde 
 calculation. The date of these records has 
 however, not without plausible reason, been 
 placed at a period, anterior to any other written 
 monuments of profane history; and has indeed 
 been carried, by some, far beyond the time of the 
 Jewish legislator. 
 
 But whatever sentiments may be entertained, 
 respe61:ing the comparative antiquity of the Brah- 
 minical records, and of that history which we 
 believe to be the produQion of inspired truth, 
 these pan in no degree affeft the credibility of the 
 latter. The priority of time is not a question 
 worthy of controversy; but we turn with an 
 anxious eye to discover how far these venerable 
 monuments of eastern literature, confirm, or dis¬ 
 prove, the narrative, which our own Scriptures 
 give, concerning the early periods of the world, 
 
 r 
 
 I 
 
 And here, with pleasure we observe, that 
 additional light has been refletled on the Mosai- 
 
27 
 
 
 cal history, and ks correctness and fidelity have 
 been more fully vindicated. The coincidence 
 and corroborative testimony are also perfectly 
 undesigned, and such as could not have taken 
 place, if they had been occasioned by/interested , 
 forgeries. They have been found to exist like¬ 
 wise, in instances, where infidelity had expe6ted 
 to gain a signal triumph by wounding Christianity 
 through the sides of Judaism. 
 
 In attempting to fulfill the design, which the 
 Founder of this Lefture appears to have con, 
 templated ; that these annual Discourses should 
 supply a refutation of some popular objections 
 against the Christian faith, no subjeCt perhaps, 
 could be selected, more important, and, at the 
 present crisis, more generally interesting, than 
 that which is now proposed for discussion. Infi¬ 
 delity continually changes her weapons of an¬ 
 noyance, and therefore the Christian champion 
 varies his mode of defence ; and by watching 
 with solicitude the fluctuation of prevailing opi¬ 
 nion he is better enabled to counteract both 
 speculative error and vicious praCtice. 
 
 It will be the design of the former part of the 
 following Discourses, to colleCt some of the prin¬ 
 cipal, and more obvious, proofs, which the Brah- 
 
minical records have afforded, in confirmation of 
 the Mosaical writings ; and as the whole code of 
 our national religion, has been asserted to depend 
 on the truth of the eleven introductory chapters 
 of the Book of Genesis, any additional evidences 
 in support of their credibility, cannot but be 
 deemed an important acquisition to our common 
 faith. 
 
 V 
 
 The first objeCt which will claim attention, in 
 the prosecution of this enquiry, is, the chronology 
 of the Brahmins, drawn both from their astrono¬ 
 mical calculations, and from their history: and it 
 will be shewn, that their scheme, far from invali¬ 
 dating, will confirm the sacred chronology. Ad¬ 
 vancing from negative to positive proofs, a dis¬ 
 quisition will succeed, on the striking correspon¬ 
 dence of the Sancrit records, with the Mosaical 
 account of the deluge, and on the peculiar cir¬ 
 cumstances, which render this coincidence of more 
 than common value. The next objefl; worthy of 
 . regard, is the Mosaical account of the origin and 
 settlement of nations, which will be corroborated 
 by the geography of the Puranas, joined with 
 testimonies incidentally collefted from other anci¬ 
 ent writers. This investigation will finally condu6l 
 us to those traces, which may yet be discovered 
 in the corrupted mythology of the Hindoos, 
 
decidedly pointing to a higher origin, and shew* 
 ing 'the derivation of many of their religious 
 opinions from those primeval traditions which 
 were common to all mankind. 
 
 But these instances of similarity between the 
 Mosalcal and Hindoo records, and especially of 
 the agreement between many of the Jewish and 
 Brahminical ceremonies; a circumstance which 
 cannot fail to strike the most inattentive observer, 
 and which caused the learned Hyde hastily to 
 pronounce, that Brahma was no other than the 
 patriarch Abraham,' has given rise to another 
 opinion, that the Christian and Hindoo codes of 
 faith may claim an origin equally divine ; that 
 Christ, the only-begotten of the Father, has pro¬ 
 bably appeared, at different periods of time, in 
 different parts of the world, under various deno¬ 
 minations, and in different forms of humanity. 
 And while these pretensions have been industri¬ 
 ously supported by the blind admirers of oriental 
 superstition, they have been ostensibly acknow¬ 
 ledged by others, who equally disbelieve what¬ 
 ever bears the name of Divine revelation, but 
 who, by elevating Paganism, endeavour to depress 
 Christianity. To support this opinion, the prin¬ 
 ciples of morality, which the Brahminical religion 
 
 f Hy4« Vet. R,el. iPers. p, 31. 
 
30 
 
 inculcates, have been extolled, as calculated to 
 produce the most sublime virtue, and the purest 
 felicity. While those absurdities, v^hich could 
 not be entirely concealed, have been defended by 
 attributing similar defefits and abuses to every 
 other revelation which professes to be derived 
 from God, the great body of their institutions 
 has been represented as containing the essence of 
 the most comprehensive wisdom and refined 
 policy. 
 
 It is a fa£l which deserves attention, that while, 
 those abuses, which have been introduced into 
 our religion, through the unworthiness of its 
 nominal professors, are often reprehended with 
 the most-intemperate acrimony, and unfairly at¬ 
 tached to the religion itself; the more flagrant 
 enormities inseparably connefted with polytheism, 
 and committed under its express sanftion, have 
 been sometimes defended by the most futile 
 arguments, and rarely chastised with the severity 
 which they deserve. That this conduft has, in 
 every instance, proceeded from disingenuous 
 motives, would be a harsh assertion. The cause 
 may rather be discovered in that propensity, 
 which exists in human nature, to swell those evils 
 which come immediately under its notice into a , 
 false appearance of magnitude. The fatal con- 
 
31 
 
 I 
 
 sequences resulting from an abuse of Christianity, 
 • have approached us near enough to cause alarm. 
 The praftical effe^ls of Paganism are so far 
 removed, as only to excite curiosity : and those 
 calamities on w^hlch curiosity can pause to specu¬ 
 late, seldom give birth to violent emotions. 
 Superstition is a spedtre, whose deformity like all 
 others diminishes by distance. Her icy touch 
 petrifies, and her features on a minute inspeclioii 
 inspire disgust. But when she recedes farther 
 from the view, or is seen by a fainter light, the 
 rigidity of her countenance insensibly softens;, 
 and even assumes a specious expression of awful 
 majesty. Thus, the unnatural penances of the 
 inhabitant of La Trappe are never mentioned, 
 but with secret contempt, or with sarcastic ridi¬ 
 cule : while the equally absurd, and more painful 
 austerities of the Indian devotee, have been 
 venerated as adfs of exalted heroism, and of 
 sublime piety. We are fired with indignation at 
 the cruelties of inquisitorial tyranny, or the im¬ 
 purities which have been pradlised under the 
 mask of monachism ; but who recoils v/ith equal 
 horror, or whose cheek flushes with equal resent¬ 
 ment, when memory recalls the shrieks of the 
 vidlims in the wicker image of Woden, or the 
 licentious rites which have been celebrated in the 
 
 I 
 
 caverns of Salsette and Elepflanta ? 
 
32 
 
 \ 
 
 A habit of thinking so natural, but so er¬ 
 roneous, has, when applied to the religion of the 
 
 Hindoos, been indulged to an extent highly 
 
 » 
 
 alarming. It is proposed therefore, in the latter 
 part of these Discourses, to state the effefts, 
 which the Brahminical system is calculated to 
 produce on the moral charafter. In order to 
 judge accurately of these, it is by no means 
 sufficient to cull out a few detached fragments of 
 sublime morality, from the voluminous mass of 
 puerile detail, to mark the scattered scintillations 
 which occasionally gleam through the surround¬ 
 ing darkness; but it is requisite to take an 
 enlarged view of the system, in its direft and 
 necessary tendencies. 
 
 This view may properly be ranged under three 
 distinft heads: the first, will comprehend those 
 doftrines, which the religion of the Brahmins 
 inculcates, concerning the Deity, operating on 
 man both as a preservative of moral purity, and 
 as a source of happiness: the second, will be 
 direfled to the influence of their religious insti¬ 
 tutions on the intelleQual faculties : the third, 
 will include their effefts on the social feelings, 
 and their tendency to promote universal bene¬ 
 volence. 
 
N 
 
 The conclusions, which must necessarily result 
 ’ from this investigation, while they collaterally 
 display the superior excellence of that revelation, 
 which professes to have the promise of the Life 
 that now is, and of that which is to come,’' will 
 also assist in demonstrating, that the universal ' 
 extension, which true believers claim for Christ¬ 
 ianity, is neither the cunningly devised fable of 
 political artifice, nor the feverish dream of enthu¬ 
 siastic idiotcy; but a conviftion, founded on ra¬ 
 tional grounds, not only on the divine promise, 
 but on the wisdom and benevolence of God. ' 
 
 Irreconcileable indeed will it appear to these 
 attributes of the Deity, from any conclusions of 
 natural reason, that so large a portion of his 
 creatures should be excluded from the knowledsre 
 of him.' The fundamental doftrine of the Gospel, 
 that the blessings of redemption are extended to 
 all mankind, even to those who have never heard 
 of their efficacy, is the only satisfactory reasom 
 which can be given for this seeming partiality 
 in the ways of Providence. But the w^ays of 
 Providence are more fully vindicated by a belief, 
 that ignorance and error shall, hereafter, be ba¬ 
 nished from the earth ; that the whole human 
 race shall not only enjoy the benefits, but be 
 made acquain^ted with the terms of the Christian 
 
 n 
 
 N 
 
3'4 
 
 covenant ; and that the earth shall be full of 
 the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover 
 the sea.*’ 
 
 In what manner this great revolution will be 
 efFe6ted, or how far it will be effefted by human 
 means, it is not our province to determine: it 
 should be rather our firm persuasion that this 
 event will take place in spite of human oppo¬ 
 sition. Whether the powers 6f, this world may 
 be eager to diffuse the blessings of religious truth, 
 or solicitous to repress them ; whether regardless 
 of petty and partial interests they may labour to 
 disseminate useful knowledge, and thereby aug¬ 
 ment the sum of human happiness; or whether 
 guided by a cold and timid policy they may 
 endeavour to stunt the growth of the intelleftual 
 powers, and to ereft their empire on the ruins of 
 human reason, is of small importance. It is of 
 importance indeed to themselves considered as 
 moral and accountable agents, but not as it 
 regards the accomplishment of the divine will. 
 
 It should be our firm conviftion, that he who 
 causes the fierceness of man to turn to his praise, 
 can render even a crusade of infidelity an instru¬ 
 ment of propagating his word. It should be our 
 unshaken belief, that all the revolutions in this 
 
35 
 
 \ 
 
 lower world are preparatory to that eventful 
 period, when the kingdoms of this world shall 
 become the kingdoms of the Lord and his 
 Christ/’ It should be our confident expeftation, 
 that the time approaches when the Son of God 
 will exalt his banner the cross, and behold all 
 nations bow before it! The ark of the covenant 
 does it homage ; the crescent of Mohammed 
 falls prostrate ; the statues of Paganism bow 
 their heads and crumble into dust. Under every 
 part of Heaven the incense of grateful adoration 
 ascends to the throne of divine grace unclouded 
 by superstition and error, and a pure offering” 
 is then offered on the altar of Him, who shall 
 command a willing people in the day of his 
 power,” the pure offering of sincere & unreserved 
 obedience, that offering which constitutes the 
 nature of our spiritual sacrifice, of that sacrifice 
 which is declared to be our only reasonable 
 service.’ 
 
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 DISCOURSE Hr 
 
 ON THE CHRONOLOGICAt 
 SYSTEM OF THE BRAHMINS, IN ITS CONNECTION 
 WITH THE SACRED CHRONOLOGY. 
 
 JLarly Proficiency in Agronomical Science — 
 Antiquity ofi Nations, or oj the World not ~ 
 determinable by the gradual Progression ofi 
 Knowledge The Brahminical Qhronologq 
 shewn to be oj modern Inventio7i—External 
 Evidence—Internal Evidence—Origin ofi 
 the Zodiacal Signs—Astronomy not an iufial^ 
 lible Criterion when applied to Chronology, 
 
'i 
 
 
 
 '■ 'Vf' ■' 5 ;,.''/^:* 
 
 , > / . •- . X - , 
 
 ■ / ■/■ .'• 
 
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 • ■ f' . V ' . • > • ' 
 
 ■-. . ■ , Av 
 
 •*^AI ‘t 
 
 
 
 
 V \(,i~ } :• 'ii-.. ., ,.t..), 
 
 
 i. 
 
DISCOURSE II. 
 
 t 
 
 ON THE CHEONOLOGICAL 
 SYSTEM OF THE BRAHMINS^ IN ITS CONNECTION 
 
 ♦ f 
 
 WITH THE SACRED CHRONOLOGY. 
 
 Job, c. 38. v. 31, 32, 3,3. 
 
 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, of 
 loose the bands of Orion f Canst thou bring 
 forth Mazzaroth in his seasons, or canst thou 
 guide ArBurus with his saris f Knowest thou 
 the ordinances of Heaven, canst thou set the 
 dominion thereof in the earth 
 
 __ j 
 
 "W^HEN man was first formed after the image 
 of God, to him was granted the distinguishing 
 prerogative of elevating his views towards those 
 regions, which have been emphatically styled the 
 residence of the Deity ; not that the presence of 
 the Supreme Being is circumscribed or confined 
 to any place, but that the Heavens more conspi¬ 
 cuously display the impalpable spletidor of the 
 divine majesty, and the immensity of creative 
 power. 
 
 D 4 
 
 f 
 
40 
 
 $ 
 
 The contemplation of the heavenly bodies has 
 therefore constituted both the delight and the 
 employment of mankind from the earliest times ; 
 nor can the period be p'ointed out, when their 
 operations were either unknown or disregarded, 
 
 i 
 
 Whatever difference of opinion rpay be entertain¬ 
 ed concerning the precise age of that dramatic 
 poem the Book of Job ; yet universal consent has 
 determined it to be a produftion of high antiquity ; 
 and in the passage now selc£fed, out of many 
 others, there are evident traces of the proficiency 
 which then obtained in astronomical speculations. 
 Obje£fsrnust have become generally familiar, be¬ 
 fore Poetry could have seized and appropriated 
 them to herself; for without a long revolution in 
 the mind, scientific images cannot acquire that 
 polish, which renders them capable of adding bril- 
 Tiancy to language, and that duflility, by which 
 they readily yield to the powers of the imagination. 
 
 In the countries of the East, where the serenity 
 of the climate is* peculiarly favourable to the 
 observation of the celestial luminaries, we might 
 naturally expefl; to discover an early attention to 
 their magnitude and their motions. It was by 
 their periodical revolutions indeed, that the neces¬ 
 sary concerns of human life were formerly regu- 
 
41 
 
 lated. The constellations we're not only in after* 
 times rendered subservient to the ^purposes of a 
 blind and trembling superstition ; they were not 
 only regarded with emotions of fear or transport, 
 as they were supposed to bear an aspe6t malignant 
 or auspicious to the: interests of man y but they 
 were originally instrumental to more useful ^and 
 more noble ends: they direSed the course of 
 agricultural labours and of maritime adventure. 
 Astronomy instead of being the offspring of soli¬ 
 tude, leisure and contemplation,’" may be termed 
 more properly the child of necessity and of nature. 
 The simple occupations of pastoral life, not less 
 than the uninterrupted repose of philosophical 
 abstra6tion, the plains of Chaldaea, as well as the 
 observatories of Egypt, were favourable to its 
 cultivation* 
 
 i 
 
 From this intimate acquaintance with some of 
 the most abstruse parts of mathematical science, 
 which we know to have obtained in a period so 
 remote, a popular obje6liGn has been raised against 
 the very limited duration, which the Mosaic 
 history assigns to the age of the world. These 
 eminent acquisitions are thought to be inconsist¬ 
 ent with society in its infant state; they must 
 
 w. C est 1ft Science du repos, de la solitude et de la jouissance de soi«tiienie. 
 
 Bailli histoire derastrgnomie angienne, p. 3, 
 
 I 
 
4*2 
 
 have resulted from long and diligent observation, 
 and from gradual improvements on former dis¬ 
 coveries. 
 
 t 
 
 Whenever we attempt to remove this difficulty, 
 by replying that man, in his original state, as 
 formed by his Creator, was alike distinguished 
 by intelleftual and corporeal excellence ; or, that 
 the extended term of antediluvian existence was 
 singularly favourable to geometrical and astro¬ 
 nomical researches; the solution however satisfac¬ 
 tory, is derived from fafts, which our adversaries 
 will refuse to admit. We must therefore examine 
 the validity of the objeftion itself, and of the 
 principle on which it is'founded. 
 
 And here, if we may be allowed to argue from 
 the history of those nations which are best known, 
 we may be fully justified in the assertion, that no 
 criterion is jmore fallacious in determining their 
 antiquity, than any calculations which can be 
 drawn from the gradual and successive improve¬ 
 ments of science. Knowledge has never been 
 known to increase according to any fixed rule of 
 progression, at any two given periods of equal 
 duration. Even the finer arts, which are sup¬ 
 posed to be inseparably connefted with the 
 progress of civilteation and refinement^ have been 
 
43 
 
 cultivated with an astonishing degree of success 
 in very distant ages. Neither have they been 
 perfected by slow and measured advances ; but 
 the efforts of some happy genius, or a coincidence 
 of other fortunate circumstances, has generally 
 given them an energetic and instantaneous 
 growth. Sculpture and painting were suddenly 
 raised to excellence in Greece, by the taste of 
 Praxiteles and Apelles; arts, which their im¬ 
 mediate predecessors found rude, and destitute of 
 grace. Who can trace the infancy of epic poetry ? 
 
 In Homer we see it at once elevated to full 
 
 \ 
 
 maturity and vigor. 
 
 But the perfection of the fine arts, and of many 
 other branches of knowledge, if not demonstrative 
 of the precise antiquity of any particular nation, 
 may yet be considered as affording an indication 
 of the existing state of society and manners. The 
 intricate subtleties of juridical distinction can 
 have no place, unless where a complex system of 
 property has been introduced. The artificial 
 rules of eloquence would never have been formed, 
 unless in a state of society, where the art of 
 moving the passions had been found advantageous. 
 
 In many of those branches of knowledge 
 however, which depepd on geometrical science^. 
 
 f 
 
44 
 
 even this criterion fails. As the principles on 
 which they are founded are immutable, there is 
 less room for improvement. More than any 
 others, they appear to be the effefts of intuitive 
 perception ; and sublime as they are, our experi¬ 
 ence may convince us, that the greatest eminence 
 has been attained in them, by minds, which had 
 received no illumination from the knowledge of 
 others, and which in other respe6ls, were rude 
 and uncultivated.. ^N^either can we allege any 
 cause why the most profound discoveries should 
 be made at one time, more than at another. We 
 can assign no reason why the law of gravitation 
 might not have been discovered by Archimedes, 
 as Well as by Newton ; though we can assign a 
 reason why the pleadings of Isaeus, or the orations 
 of Demosthenes, could not have been composed;^ 
 but in an acute and enlightened age. 
 
 If indeed the instru£tion, which the Deity has 
 afforded to man, were a matter of probable proof, 
 and not of certain observation, it would, in many 
 instances, be rejeaed as incredible. That the 
 general laws of matter, and that the operations 
 of the heavenly bodies, should be so much better 
 known, than many other subjeas with which 
 human life seems more nearly concerned ^ that 
 we should be able to unfold the secrets of the 
 
45 
 
 skies, while the most impenetrable veil covers 
 the whole process of vegetation, is a faft, which, 
 although we may be unable to resolve it, is too 
 evident to admit of controversy, and may be 
 sufficient to shew, how little we are qualified to 
 estimate the nature and the extent of the intel- 
 leftual powers. 
 
 Admitting then, from what experience has 
 taught concerning the mental faculties, that this 
 early proficiency in geometrical science may be 
 easily reconciled 3 we shall find without surprize, 
 that, among the various celestial phaenomena, 
 which engaged attention, the slow revolution by 
 which the fixed stars complete their circuit, forms 
 a discovery in the ancient history of astronomy. 
 This motion was clearly ascertained by the oldest 
 observers of the heavens, however they might 
 differ from their successors in their computations 
 concerning the time in which this revolution was 
 performed, or whatever might be the cause of that 
 difference. This presumed asra, as it constituted 
 the basis on which many of the eastern nations 
 have founded their pretensions to antiquity, has 
 also given rise to a number of religious dogmata, 
 resulting from an allegorical interpretation of the 
 fa6t. Hence the old Egyptian notion, that at the 
 end of tljixty-six thousand years^ every man wa^ 
 
46 
 
 to resume all the circumstances of his present' 
 life^ which were to happen exaftly the same in 
 every contingency. Hence the opinion of a 
 moral renovation of the world, and the restitution 
 of all things to their original purity. Hence 
 those fiQitious aeras of the Brahmins and Man¬ 
 darins, their periods of millions of years, and the 
 worlds which they assert are already past, and 
 will succeed each other in endless rotation. 
 
 I 
 
 The vanity, incidental to all nations, of claiming 
 a celestial descent, has induced them to conceal 
 their origin in unfathomable antiquity ; and this 
 desire has been aided by nothing so much, as by 
 conclusions drawn from these fanciful calcula¬ 
 tions. When the light of true history becomes 
 indistin6l, and when even the fertile stores which 
 mythology has supplied, are exhausted ^ it is by 
 these, that periods of immense duration are form¬ 
 ed, which increase the amount of time to an 
 extent, as boundless as the human imagination. 
 That these periods are too artificially construfted 
 to be real, has been almost universally admitted ; 
 and few have attempted to carry them to that 
 extravagant height, which can only be reconciled 
 with the idea of the eternity of the world. But 
 some of these epochs have appeared to be. so 
 clearly established, and to be founded on such 
 
47 
 
 indisputable authority, as to furnish a strong 
 ground of objection against the chronological 
 system, which the Mosaical history establishes, 
 and which other historical fragments of profane 
 antiquity, corroborate. Dirferent degrees of cre¬ 
 dibility have also been attached to the computa¬ 
 tions of different nations. While the calculations 
 of the Egyptians, and of the Chinese, have been 
 generally given up, as untenable, many of the 
 astronomical eeras of the Indian Brahmins have 
 been supposed to display an accuracy, which 
 could not have taken place, unless they had been 
 founded on aftual observation. The astonishing 
 progress of the ancient Indians in science, from 
 which their descendants have so far degenerated, 
 appears to indicate the superior accuracy of their 
 system. Their astronomy Is found to be more 
 corre£l the higher we ascend, and its inferiority is 
 the most evident, as we approach the present 
 times; in its original perfe£lion it claims a 
 decided superiority over the system of any other 
 oriental nation. 
 
 To any assumptions of superior knowledge, or 
 of early civilization, which India may make, the 
 advocates for the truth of the Mosaical history are 
 by no means disposed to objeft : because, when 
 understood with proper linaitations, they afford 
 
4S 
 
 the strongest confirmation of its veracity. They 
 shew that we must look for the first dawnings of 
 intellefliual light, in the'countries adjacent to the 
 . spot, which the concurrent voice of history and 
 tradition represents, as the first abode of man, 
 and the theatre on which the memorable events, 
 that occurred in the infancy of the postdiluvian 
 world, were transa6led. They demonstrate the 
 arrogant, and unfounded pretensions of the Greeks 
 and Romans, who represent their ancient pro¬ 
 genitors as the immediate descendants of heaven ; 
 and who arrogate to themselves the honor of 
 being the inventors of' science, as well as the 
 arbiters of taste. The falsehood of these preten¬ 
 sions is clearly discernible, from the history of the 
 progress of knowledge, and from the early refine¬ 
 ment of oriental philosophy. If Greece could 
 once boast of her Athens, India still preserves the 
 remains of her Benares, where the do6lrines of 
 the Egyptian school were, perhaps, understood 
 and taught, long before they were heard from the 
 lips of Pythagoras and Plato. In the Institutes of 
 Menu we discover traces of enlarged policy and 
 legislative wisdom, which would not disgrace the 
 laws of Solon and Lycurgus ; and these were 
 promulgated at a time, when the Grecian states 
 were hordes of wandering barbarians. It is to 
 the East that we are indebted for the grand 
 
outlines of those metaphysical and political theo¬ 
 ries, which, being transfused into the writings of 
 the Grecian sages, are still perused with avidity 
 and regarded with veneration. 
 
 4 
 
 But while we thus willingly concede the palm, 
 of priority to oriental science in point of time, a 
 different estimation must be formed, concerning 
 its present comparative importance in point of 
 real utility. Though the learning and diligence 
 of Europeans have been long employed in un¬ 
 ravelling the mythology of the East 5 yet nothing 
 has been found in it, which should induce us 
 to prefer the fables of the Hindoos, to the fables 
 of the Greeks. They have confirmed what was 
 before known 3 they have' illustrated what was 
 before obscure ; they have reduced, to greater 
 certainty, what was before doubtful: but it is 
 difficult to explain in what respe6t they have 
 added to the stock of original information. 
 
 On the astronomical systems of any eastern 
 nation still less reliance can be placed. .Where-, 
 ever their calculations have been applied to 
 ascertain dates, and to the reftification of chro¬ 
 nological errors, they have been discovered to be 
 either false, or so interwoven with allegory, that 
 little credit can be attached to any deductions. 
 
60 
 
 which depend solely on their authority. Neither 
 have they been found to contain any new dis¬ 
 coveries, which can deprive the Grecian sages of 
 their merited celebrity. The earliest observations 
 of any accuracy, which were made in Egypt, 
 were those taken by the Greeks of Alexandria, 
 Jess than three hundred years before'the Christian 
 aera ; and yet it is this nation which pretends, that 
 during the immense period of its existence, the 
 stars have four times changed their courses, and 
 that the sun has twice set in the East. Even 
 the account of the astronomical observations, 
 which Calisthenes is reported to have transmitted 
 to Aristotle from Babylon, has been reprobated 
 by many eminent writers as fabulous. If the 
 calculations of the Indian Brahmins appear more 
 exa 61 :, yet they are not sufficiently correct to 
 establish any certain conclusions, and still less to 
 invalidate the authority of the only authentic 
 history of the world. The Grecians were the 
 first praftical astronomers to whose observations 
 we are indebted; and the science of the Egyptian, 
 ,of the Chaldasan, or even of the Indian school, 
 would have been involved in enigma and ob¬ 
 scurity, if it had not been refle£ted to us by the 
 labors of Ptolemy and Hipparchus. 
 
 Since however the Brahminical chronology ap- 
 
51 
 
 pears to be more speciously fabricated than any 
 other scheme j since the reality of some of its 
 seras has been supported by the most elaborate 
 arguments ; and since its general authenticity 
 has been defended with a view to weaken the 
 foundations of the Christian faith, it will be 
 proper to enquire what degree of credit may 
 fairly be attached to their computations. It may 
 be useful to distinguish between those seraS, 
 which are allowed to be formed by retrograde 
 calculation from an assumed period, and those 
 which are asserted to be founded on a6lual ob¬ 
 servation. It may be necessary to examine what 
 arguments may be deduced, first from external, 
 and then from internal evidence, to prove the 
 credibility of their present system ; or whether 
 a strong presumption does not arise, that their 
 ancient chronology has suffered a material altera¬ 
 tion, and is of comparatively recent origin. 
 
 If the journal of Megasthenes had been pre¬ 
 served entire from the wreck of time, a valuable, 
 accession, of information would have been sup- * 
 plied, to that which we already possess, on the 
 science and literature of the ancient Brahmins. 
 From a long residence in the centre of India, his 
 opportunities of acquiring intelligence must have 
 been considerable j while the history and an- 
 
 E 2 
 
52 
 
 tiquities of the inhabitants were the peculiar 
 objefts of his attention. Those Grecian writers, 
 who have written on Indian affairs, have amply 
 availed themselves of his labors; and indeed * 
 appear to have done little more than transcribe 
 his expressions. His diligence in collefting, and 
 his veracity in reciting, what he learnt, are unim¬ 
 peached. If he should be found in some instan¬ 
 ces to have reported contradiftions and impos¬ 
 sibilities, they are not to be imputed to the 
 invention of fancy, nor to the suggestions of 
 deliberate falsehood. They are fables, which he 
 received from the Brahmins themselves, as un¬ 
 doubted truths; and however the serious repeti¬ 
 tion of them may be thought to take from his 
 judgment,- it still leaves him in possession of 
 his fidelity. 
 
 From the few scattered fragments of his works, 
 which have been preserved in the writings of 
 other authors, it appears, not only that he is en¬ 
 tirely silent respefting the present extravagant 
 w scheme of Brahminical chronology ; but he dis- 
 tinftly affirms, that the Indians did not, at that 
 time, carry back their antiquity from their reign¬ 
 ing monarch to their original founder farther than 
 above six thousand years before the invasion of 
 Alexander.*. The veracity of Megasthenes, as he 
 
 ' Arrian. Indie, c. 9 . 
 
 I 
 
53 
 
 is thus cited by Arrian, is the more strongly con¬ 
 firmed, since his statement is not conveyed in 
 terms of loose and unsupported assertion, but he 
 specifies the exa£t number of sovereigns who go¬ 
 verned India during this period. If the Hindoos 
 had asserted the same claims to unfathomable 
 antiquity, as they alledge at present, is it not 
 highly probable that they would have been as 
 eager to proclaim them, as they are at this day? 
 Is it not probable, that among the various an¬ 
 cient writers who have treated on India, there 
 would have been some intimation of a chronolo¬ 
 gical scheme, which, however, it may exceed the 
 bounds of sober belief, would have been too re¬ 
 markable to be passed over in silence ? While 
 the accounts of ancient and modern writers agree 
 • in so many points, why do they differ in this ?— 
 While the portraiture ofBrahminism is delineated 
 with singular correctness by the Grecian histo¬ 
 rians, not only in its broad outlines, which might 
 be obtained from a distant and indistinCt view, 
 but in those nice and delicate touches, which 
 must have been the effeCt of intimate acquaint-- 
 ance, and of accurate discrimination, is it not 
 extraordinary, that, what now constitutes so pro¬ 
 minent a feature in the Hindoo charafter, should 
 entirely disappear, or rather shonld appear in a 
 colouring so totally different ? 
 
 ^ 3 
 
But here an objeftion may be urged, that a 
 detached fragment, from a mutilated work, affords 
 but a feeble support to this conclusion ; and that, 
 if the entire journal of Megasthenes were in our 
 possession, some admission might be found which 
 would set aside the inference attempted to be 
 drawn from this solitary passage. To obviate 
 this objeftion, and to corroborate what has now 
 . been advanced, a passage is literally transcribed 
 from Megasthenes by Clemens of Alexandria, in 
 which he asserts, that the Jewish and Indian 
 nations professed to entertain the same ideas, 
 concerning the creation of the world and the 
 origin of things. 
 
 This similarity cannot be supposed wholly to 
 refer to the do£l:rine of the Vedanti school, that an 
 universal chaos formerly existed, that water was 
 the primitive element, and the first work of Crea¬ 
 tive power, doftrines equally maintained both by 
 Indians and by Jews. There must, at that time, 
 have subsisted some obvious and evident corres¬ 
 pondence between the chronological systems of 
 these two nations, which are now widely dis¬ 
 similar and contradiftory, to have produced such 
 a total agreement in their physiology. Indeed the 
 
 Ckm. Alez. Strom> L1. See also Eyseb. Frsp. Evaog. 
 
55 
 
 physiological tenets, and the extravagant calcu¬ 
 lations of the Hindoos, are inseparably blended. 
 If this latter passage from Megasthenes be com¬ 
 pared with that cited by Arrian ; if six' thousand 
 years before the invasion of Alexander were the 
 utmost limit to which they then attempted to 
 trace their origin ^ and should this method of 
 stating the argument be just; the conclusion 
 which necessarily results, while it shews that the 
 religion of the Brahmins has suffered some mate¬ 
 rial corruptions, not less clearly proves the agree¬ 
 ment of all authentic records with the narrative 
 of the sacred historian. 
 
 e 
 
 Thus then the external evidence, as far as it 
 reaches, is decidedly adverse to the astronomical 
 system supported by the modern Hindoos; and 
 the testimony, which has now been quoted, must 
 be allowed to be unbiassed : it was given with no 
 design to support any favourite opinions, and 
 therefore cannot be liable to any well-founded 
 suspicion. 
 
 This testimony indeed would not be conclusive, 
 if contradifted by the internal evidence of the 
 system, but, if that be examined, its authenticity 
 will appear equally questionable. 
 
 E 4 
 
56 
 
 Though a difficulty may occur in fixing the 
 precise period, when the reveries of fancy and 
 fi£lion were substituted by the Hindoos, in the 
 place of historical truth ; yet it is certain, on the 
 authority of a celebrated astronomer’, that before 
 the- ninth century their chronology was as com¬ 
 plete, or perhaps entirely the same, as we find 
 it at present. 
 
 The principle on which this extravagant and 
 romantic scheme is founded, consists in a division 
 of the age of the world, into four grand periods 
 of astonishing duration, each decreasing from the 
 last in a regular progression. In each of them, 
 as the hnman race has degenerated in piety and 
 virtue, so the term of human existence has been 
 proportionably diminished by the divine decree. 
 In each of them, the Divinity has been supposed 
 to have manifested himself to the world, at diffe¬ 
 rent times, under various forms ^ but far from 
 appearing according as the vices and necessities 
 of mankind called for his interposition, his com¬ 
 munications with man have been less frequent, 
 since man has been immersed in misery and sin^ 
 AVhen the present age of corruption has rolled 
 through its circle, the age of purity will re-com- 
 
 ! Albumazar. 
 
57 
 
 mence, and thus these four periods will revolve 
 in continual rotation, as they are supposed to 
 have often revolved before. 
 
 On the principle of this division, it has been 
 judiciously observed, that the disposition of these 
 ages is too artificial and regular, to be natural or 
 even probable; and that men do not become 
 reprobate in geometrical progression, or at the 
 termination of regular and distinft periods. The 
 construftion however, seems to have been formed ' 
 on ideas, similar to those which di£lated the four 
 principal ages in the mythology of the. western 
 nations ; and it is a striking proof of the univer¬ 
 sality of the tradition, however obscured and 
 corrupted,.that the human race was once placed 
 in a happier state, and that an inseparable 
 connexion existed between moral depravity and 
 physical evil. 
 
 With respe£l to the reality of the three first of 
 these periods, in which the gods descended from 
 heaven in the likeness of man, or rather when man 
 in bodily stature and in mental attainments might 
 aspire to the title of divine ; the boldness of mo¬ 
 dern hypothesis has never attempted to substanti¬ 
 ate their reality : but has justly assigned their in¬ 
 vention to that warmth of imagination, and lux- 
 
58 
 
 urlance of fancy, which chara£lerise the fiftions 
 of the eastern world. 
 
 , Concerning the authenticity of the fourth sera, 
 or the commencement of the present age of de« 
 gradation, and which is said to have taken place 
 about three thousand years* before the birth of 
 Christ, whatever difference of opinion might have 
 formerly prevailed on the subjeft, there now 
 scarcely remains a doubt, that its origin was not 
 derived from aftual observation, any more than 
 our Julian period. All that can be deduced from 
 it is, that the inhabitants of Hindoostan have in¬ 
 herited from their ancestors, tolerably perfeft 
 rules for the calculation of the motions of the sun 
 and planets : although they have lost all know¬ 
 ledge of the principles on which they were found¬ 
 ed. It is universally admitted that the Brahmins 
 have formed, from retrograde calculation alone, 
 another sera, decidedly fi£titious, and extending 
 to* more than twenty thousand years before the 
 beginning of this fourth age; which affords a 
 convincing proof of the facility with which these 
 artificial periods may be constructed, so as to 
 describe the state of the heavens with a consider¬ 
 able degree of correctness* 
 
 But, even if the reality of this gera be gratuitously 
 
 * B.C. 3102. 
 
59 
 
 admitted, the admission cannot, in the slightest 
 degree, afFeft the truth of the Mosaical history.— 
 This sera will exceed by very little the Samaritan, 
 and will fall short of the Septuagint computation 
 from the flood. 
 
 The chronological system of the Hindoos has 
 indeed been vindicated, with singular infelicity, 
 by those who are so forward to ridicuje the evils 
 arising from credulous superstition; as if credulity 
 would, in any case, be more ridiculously palpable, 
 than when, with a grave and philosophical air, it 
 embraces computations that know no limits, 
 and interprets literally the fiftions of oriental 
 astronomy. 
 
 But whatever opinion may be formed concern¬ 
 ing the degree of credit due to these calculations, 
 but which, even if admitted to the extent which 
 the warmest advocates of Indian antiquity desire, 
 would not affeft the truth of the Mosaical history; 
 still it has been insinuated, that there are other 
 certain and evident proofs that the science of 
 astronomy must have been cultivated at a period 
 far anterior to any, which will agree with the 
 Scriptural history of the age of the world. 
 
 It is observable, that the Indian astronomers 
 
6o 
 
 divide the zodiac into twelve signs, whose names, 
 in their language, with a little variation, express 
 the same symbols, with those which we have 
 received from the Greeks; who in their turn bor¬ 
 rowed them from the Egyptians. While this 
 circumstance incontestably shews, that there has 
 been a mutuation of science, as well as of lan¬ 
 guage among the nations of antiquity ; it also 
 proves how very early the attention of mankind 
 was direfted to the contemplation of the heavens. 
 
 On what a slight foundation the presumed an¬ 
 tiquity of these signs has been called in, to aid 
 the cause of infidelity, it would be needless to 
 mention. A subject of regret may naturally oc¬ 
 cur, that, in opposing these groundless assertions, 
 we can but set conjefture against conjefture ; 
 conjefture indeed more strongly fortified by pro¬ 
 bable argument, as well as by positive fafts ; but, 
 certainly not amounting to that striftness of de¬ 
 monstration, which is necessary to satisfy a cold 
 scepticism, and still more to subdue an interested 
 unbelief. But it is sufficient, if, in an enquiry, 
 so abstruse in its nature, and so diffusive in its 
 extent, we can arrive at probability. 
 
 Simple inspeffion would incline us to determine, 
 that at whatever period, or in whatever country. 
 
6i 
 
 the zodiac was invented, it was at first nothing 
 more than a rural calendar 3 and we might reason^ 
 ably expefl; to discover, in its nomenclature, a de¬ 
 scription of the successive phaenomena of the year, 
 and a catalogue of the agricultural labors prac¬ 
 tised where the invention originated. It must 
 have been the corruption of succeeding ages, 
 which made astronomical speculations the basis 
 of a complicated mythology, embodied the celes¬ 
 tial luminaries, and converted the elements into 
 divinities. 
 
 I 
 
 To what nation must be attributed the honor 
 of this invention, authorities will not enable us 
 to decide ; or rather the testimony of the writers 
 of antiquity is so equally balanced, that it is un¬ 
 certain which is entitled to the preference. Pliny 
 asserts, that the invention of astronomy was 
 ascribed by some to the Chaldseans, and by others 
 to the Egyptians” ; while Cicero decidedly points 
 to Chaldsea as the region where the science was 
 first cultivated.a It is certain however, that the 
 Greeks received their astronomical knowledge 
 immediately from the Egyptians; and on that 
 account, they would be inclined to favour the 
 
 ” Plin.Iib. 7. 
 
 ^ Cic. de Divin. 11. c. S* 
 
62 
 
 claims of that nation, to which they were them- 
 selves indebted for instruflioii. But one circum¬ 
 stance is observable, that although Herodotus* 
 ascribes to their invention the division of the year 
 into twelve months, he is silent as to the origin 
 of the zodiacal signs, 
 
 \ 
 
 Where then the external testimony is thus 
 defective, recourse must be had to internal evi¬ 
 dence. 
 
 I 
 
 I ' 
 
 The hypothesis, that Egypt was the country 
 from which astronomy radiated, has been warmly 
 contended for, by those who assert, that since 
 their first invention, the equino£tial precessions 
 have carried on, by seven signs, the primitive 
 order of the zodiac ; because, on that supposition, 
 the whole appears to be an almanac suited to the 
 climate of Egypt and to no other. 
 
 A second hypothesis, that, on the supposition 
 of a more recent and specific date, this invention 
 may be assigned to India, has been supported by 
 no feeble arguments. The suggestion has been 
 hazarded, that as India can now indisputably 
 assert her title to the invention of the numerical 
 
 ® Herodot. 1.2. c. 83. 
 
figures, v;hich had once been attributed to an 
 Arabian origin, she will hereafter be found to 
 have formed the first zodiac, which is generally 
 supposed to have proceeded from Egypt. Coiild 
 the point be more unequivocally ascertained, 
 what objeSs the different emblems were first 
 designed to represent, this supposition would 
 have the highest claims to belief. The order of 
 the signs would be found to confirm the idea, 
 that they were formed in Hindoostan about nine 
 hundred years before Christ. 
 
 / 
 
 But no fadts have yet been established sufficient 
 to overthrow the conclusion, which the authority 
 of the Mosaical history warrants us to assume, that 
 the pra6lice of observing the stars began with 
 the rudiments of civil society, in the country of 
 those, whom we call Chaldaeans;’^ from whom 
 it was propagated, both in Egypt, and in India ; 
 that different nations might vary .their systems', in 
 order to make them accord with their religious 
 superstitions, or with their natural climate; and 
 that, in those countries, where they did not agree 
 with the natural climate, they would be veiled 
 by allegory, and disguised under symbolical re¬ 
 presentations. - i; 
 
 This last observation, more than any other. 
 
will preclude an adoption of the hypothesis 
 which infidelity has laboured to support, that 
 Egypt was the centre from which astronomy 
 radiated. Of all the oriental, and other ancient 
 spheres which have been preserved, the Egyptian 
 asterisms are the most mythological. They have 
 deviated, far more widely than any others from 
 those appropriate and intelligible symbols, which 
 marked the most important periods of the rural 
 year. Nothing can afford a stronger argument, 
 that the sphere of the Egyptians is a secondary 
 sphere ; that finding the order of the signs did 
 not correspond with the natural order of their 
 seasons, they mixed their own peculiar mytho¬ 
 logy with the rural calendar of the country, from 
 which they derived their astronomy. 
 
 TheTafts which have now been stated will tend 
 to establish the following important conclusions : 
 that the strongest presumption arises, both from 
 the testirhonies of ancient authors, as far as they 
 can be colle6ted>as well as from internal evidence, 
 that the chronological system of the Brahmins has 
 suffered a material change : and that their present 
 scheme is of comparatively modern invention; 
 that in earlier times, this system had some obvious 
 and striking similarity to that of the Mosaical 
 history ^ that even if the reality of the aera from 
 
05 
 
 which their present age commences, and which is 
 now generally supposed to be founded on retro¬ 
 grade calculation, were established, this admission 
 could not, in any degree, afFe 61 : the truth of the 
 sacred writings; and that the only probable 
 origin, which can be assigned to the invention 
 of the primeval zodiac, expressly contradicts the 
 unwarrantable assumption of an Egyptian sphere, 
 formed at the immense distance of sixteen thou- , 
 sand years before the present time. 
 
 The question may now naturally be stated, what 
 historical records the Brahmins possess, which 
 establish the idea of their high and remote origin, 
 and confirm those pretensions which they urge 
 with so great confidence, and which their advo¬ 
 cates receive with undistinguishing assent ? 
 
 It is on this ground, that infidelity is always 
 unwilling to meet us; because it is here that ' 
 difficulties arise, which the most wilful blindness 
 cannot overlook, and which the most artful 
 sophistry finds it impossible to evade. To what 
 cause can it be assigned, that in all the historical 
 documents which have hitherto been brought to 
 light, they should ascend to nearly the same 
 point of time, and then become enveloped in 
 obscurity, and degenerate into fable ? Whence 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 happens it, that these fables In nations the most 
 distant and dissimilar, however they may be 
 disguised by difference of language, however 
 incumbered by the adhesion of foreign circum¬ 
 stances, which the diversity of national chara6ter 
 may have engrafted on them, should still retain 
 such an evident similarity as to be clearly traced 
 to the same source ? What cause can be assigned, 
 that the whole fabric of Pagan mythology, 
 whether surrounded by the gaudy, but misshapen 
 ornaments of eastern magnificence, or rising 
 in the graceful elegance and exaft symmetry of 
 Grecian taste, or frowning terror in the ponder¬ 
 ous and massive grandeur of northern archite£lure, 
 should be raised on the same foundation, however 
 the superstru6ture may be modelled or varied, by 
 the influence of national manners ? If this globe 
 had been inhabited by nations of a separate and 
 independent origin, could this uniformity in their 
 traditions possibly have existed ? If mankind 
 had reached that perfeftion, both in science and 
 refinement, which is pretended, would there not 
 have occurred some distinft and diversified 
 events, which would have clearly charafterized 
 these periods, and would have found their way 
 to future generations? , 
 
 The transaftions of a barbarous tribe may be 
 
67 
 
 forgotten, not only from want of splendour to 
 attra6t attention, but from want of variety to 
 impress themselves on the memory. We are 
 informed, that the vigorous mind of our great 
 poet sunk under the task of reciting the feuds 
 and wars of the Saxon heptarchy, as deserving 
 no other enumeration than the contentions of 
 wild beasts and birds of prey. But, among 
 civilized nations, there is a continued and con- 
 nefted recurrence of marked events, which force 
 themselves on the notice of posterity* 
 
 If it should be said, that long intervals of 
 succeeding ignorance and depression, may have 
 obliterated every vestige of these transa6lions, 
 we can reply, that such an idea is contrary to the 
 whole course of our experience. The trans- 
 aftions of the age of Augustus, or of the age of 
 Pericles, are yet vivid in the memory of the 
 present age, though followed by the long night 
 of Gothic barbarism and Papal superstition. At 
 no period has intelleftual light been so totally 
 obscured, as not to shed its beams on some 
 remote part of the world ; whence, in a happier 
 season, it has again diffused a general illumina¬ 
 tion. The great master of Lyric song, might 
 indeed, consistently, lament, that oblivion had 
 thrown her veil over the worthies of antiquity, 
 
 F 'i 
 
68 
 
 because they wanted a genius to celebrate their 
 exploits : for who will refuse to a poet the 
 privelege of drawing his philosophy from his 
 art’’ ? But we well know that poetic fervor is 
 kindled by the same causes, which excite adven¬ 
 turous curiosity and ardent heroism* 
 
 If the antiquity of India were to be determined 
 by her own historical documents, her pretensions 
 would indeed be slender. For almost all the 
 information, which we at present possess, con- 
 “ cerning her early state, we are indebted to her 
 Grecian or Mohammedan conquerors, joined 
 with the indefatigable researches of the modern 
 nations of Europe. The few real occurrences, 
 
 ‘ which are interspersed in the dramatic writings of 
 the Hindoos, are so mingled with fable, that they 
 would be unintelligible, unless compared with 
 foreign testimony. Even the genealogy of the 
 Kings of Cashmire, and which is the most 
 valuable historical fragment yet discovered, re¬ 
 cords, at the beginning, but little more than the 
 names of their sovereigns, without assigning the 
 length of their different reigns. Whether there 
 be a probability, that many of their genuine 
 histories have been purposely destroyed, with a 
 view to promote the designs of religious im¬ 
 posture, and rivet more firmly the chains of 
 superstition, is a point not here to be determined. 
 
G9 
 
 While from a review of the siibjefl: which has 
 now been discussed, a conclusion may justly be / 
 formed, that the exuberance of national vanity 
 has prompted mankind to impose on themselves 
 and others, in a degree exaftly proportioned to 
 the poverty of their historical evidence ; another 
 conclusion may also be suggested, that astrono¬ 
 mical calculations when applied to ascertain 
 dates, are not so infallible a criterion as many 
 are inclined to imagine. That they have not,'in 
 some instances, successfully elucidated obscurities 
 in ancient chronology, it is impossible to deny. 
 They may have enabled an eminent astronomer 
 to correft an important error with respeft to the 
 battle of Salamis, and the illustrious Newton to 
 settle with probability the time of the Argonautic 
 expedition. But whenever we attempt,' by this 
 torch, to explore the doubtful abyss of profane 
 history, let us beware, lest by attrafting the 
 vapours which issue from it, this feeble light 
 should itself expire, and involve us in palpable 
 and imperictrable gloom. 
 
 The question proposed by the venerable sage, 
 here recurs with singular propriety, kiiowest 
 thou the ordinances of heaven, canst thou set the 
 dominion thereof in the earth’^ ? Is it for the 
 finite comprehension of man to ascertain, precise- 
 
 F 3 
 
70 
 
 ly, the laws by which the heavenly bodies are 
 governed, or to say, whether that Power which 
 at first formed them from nothing, may not alter 
 or suspend their operations ? 
 
 It is yet undecided, whether the course of the 
 equinoQIal precessions which forms the basis of 
 these computations, proceeds with a slower 
 motion than in former times, or whether the 
 difference in the calculation of ancient astrono¬ 
 mers, originated in their own defe£live observa¬ 
 tion.” It is yet undecided, since the true length 
 of the solar year is of comparatively recent dis¬ 
 covery, whether the difference in the calculation 
 of past ages, resulted from their ignorance, which, 
 if we consider the early perfedlion of astronomical 
 science^ is not very credible 5 or whether this 
 difference should be assigned to some concussion, 
 which our planet has suffered, and which may 
 have occasioned a variation in its annual revolu¬ 
 tion.While these difficulties remain unresolved 
 (and is human wisdom competent satisfaftorily to 
 resolve them ?) astronomy can be safely applied 
 to ancient chronology, then only, when better 
 criteria fail. 
 
 According to the supposition of M. Le Gentil. 
 
 5 According to the supposition of Whiston. 
 
 I 
 
I 
 
 71 
 
 With still less success have these computations 
 been applied to invalidate the only historical 
 narrative, v^hich, independently of the stamp of 
 divine authority, presents a rational account of 
 the formation of the universe, of the creation of 
 man, and of the infant state of the world ^ which, 
 in accuracy of description, not less than in sub¬ 
 limity of language, stands unrivalled. In vain 
 have they been applied to invalidate-that everlast¬ 
 ing covenant, which was established before the 
 foundations of the world were laid, before the 
 morning stars sang together, and all the sons of 
 God shouted for joy.*’ In vain have they been 
 applied to invalidate that covenant, which, as it 
 had a retrospedl to the period before creation 
 existed, shall receive its full and glorious ac¬ 
 complishment when creation shall be no more ; 
 when the sun shall be darkened, and the moon 
 shall withdraw her shining, and the stars shall fall 
 from heaven : for thus it’s Almighty author has 
 declared concerning it; “ heaven and earth shall 
 pass away, but my words shall not pass away,” 
 
 f 
 
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 F 4 
 
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 V 
 
 
DISCOURSE III, 
 
 ON THE CORRESPONDENCE OF THE 
 BRAHMINICAL RECORDS, WITH THE MOSAICAL 
 ACCOUNT OF THE DELUGE. 
 
 The former subjeB reswned—Positive proofs 
 of the agreement of the Brahminical records, 
 'with the Mosaical History—Generalproofs 
 of, the Deluge in India in common with 
 other nations—In the Three first Avatarais 
 ' —The Ilistorij oj Cashmire—Proofs of the 
 Deluge in India as diversified from those , 
 of other Nations—Vindication of the Pu^ 
 Tanasfro7n the'charge of Interpolation by 
 Christians, * 
 
 
. 1 
 
 ’ 'f f 
 
 , ■ S' 
 
 
 ^ / 
 
 
 v'' ' '■ ' 
 
 « *. 
 
 1 
 
 • I 
 
 "■. ■ -"''T;'.-r 
 
 
 V 
 
 J » 
 
 ■' ' ' '■ . ’ ' 
 
 .'^jrt'i'"' << ^;r 7 ' ,‘'a«v> ' 
 
 ; • ^ .au;r ‘ '■ . ■'. 
 
 -♦'v 
 
 V f 
 
 . '■!' fT 1 :■;■ ■ t ' / ^ A 
 
 j'r V --- . 
 
 , '.V -' \" » v;-^V4VJV;>\ >^i’\c ^ 
 
 I';-;-';. 
 
 ,:u’ i.UirV uj, : ■vi , • 
 
 i';^''t)>V^vi.K . ' '. 
 
 .v;\'i \v/ '■'^‘■> ■ '• 
 
 >0.\j 4-'\\::X:^\4,l Sv' -- '■■ '^i "■ ) 
 
 , . V' ‘ '. ’ ‘ ' I* . ** 
 
 S't'SAl '■ 
 
 ‘''ll 'V >':'. ■'.vh'^ • *, kU*.''■j'Y.. ; ■> 
 
 
 -.sS 
 
 'M. » 
 
 
 
 ■■’<■ 
 
 r f . 
 
 « *'’ 
 
 ■. ■ /' 
 
 » /' 
 
t 
 
 DISCOURSE III. 
 
 ON THE CORRESPONDENCE OF THE 
 PRAHMINICAL records^ with THE MOSAICAL 
 ACCOUNT OF THE DELUGE, 
 
 Genesis, c. 7* v. 23. 
 
 And every living creature was destroyed which was 
 upon the face of the ground^ both man and 
 cattky and the creeping things and the fowl of 
 heaveiiy and they were destroyed from the earth, 
 and Noah only remained alivcy and they that 
 were with him hi the ark. 
 
 Some observations were offered in the pre¬ 
 ceding discourse, by which the pretensions of 
 the Hindoo nation, to an antiquity, far beyond 
 the limits which any records of authentic history 
 assign to the age of the world, were shown to be 
 groundless , and by which the sacred chronology 
 was vindicated from those obje6lions, which 
 have been raised against it, from a literal inter¬ 
 pretation of the fiftitious calculations, contained 
 in the systems of oriental astronomy. The false¬ 
 hood of these pretensions has been exposed, on a 
 
76 
 
 general view of the subjeSi:, by arguments fami¬ 
 liar and intelligible to all, without entering into 
 minute detail, or bringing forward those scientific 
 proofs, which are too abstruse to admit of popular 
 illustration. ' 
 
 To have introduced such a disquisition, may, 
 at first, appear an unnecessary task ; since weak 
 indeed must that cause be, whose advocates 
 designedly recur, for its support, to arguments, 
 which from their nature must be founded on an 
 uncertain basis. Conscious must those advocates 
 feel of their own danger, who shelter themselves 
 under the security which darkness affords, before 
 they point their weapons at that fabric which 
 they labour to subvert, and who owe their safety 
 only to the difficulty of detection. 
 
 But since objections drawn from this source 
 have been urged by every art of subtle insinuation, 
 since they have been fortified by the most elabo¬ 
 rate reasoning, and recommended by novelty of 
 illustration as well as boldness of conjeCture, an 
 attempt to demonstrate their fallacy cannot be 
 deemed useless or unseasonable. 
 
 Hitherto indeed those opponents of the sacred 
 history, who have chosen their place of attack on 
 
77 
 
 the hollow and treacherous ground of the Sanscrit 
 records, have found no reason to boast of their 
 success : since far from discovering a situation 
 advantageous to their operations, as they fondly 
 expe£led, it has proved insecure and hazardous 
 to themselves. The partisans of infidelity, who, 
 with all the ardour which sanguine hope and 
 certainty of success inspire, had triumphantly 
 anticipated that the foundations of the Mosaic 
 and Evangelical histories would be weakened by 
 the discovery of this unexplored mine of ancient 
 literature, have experienced, to their mortification 
 and regret, that it forms a part of that impenetra¬ 
 ble rock on which the fabric of Christianity is 
 raised, and against which, the secret attacks of 
 unbelief, or the violent assaults of persecution, 
 shtall never prevail. The prediftion, which they 
 some years since, uttered with the most unreserved 
 confidence, that the Christian faith could never 
 survive another century, unless strengthened by 
 some new proofs, a prediftion founded on a 
 principle equally false and flattering, has been 
 entirely defeated by the event. Nor can we 
 forbear to refer to the gracious intention of divine 
 providence, that this additional and convincing 
 evidence from oriental literature, should be dis¬ 
 covered, at a period, when our religion has been 
 assailed under every form which invention can 
 
supply, both by grave and systematic opposi¬ 
 tion, and by the lighter weapons of sarcasm and 
 ridicule. 
 
 From the nature of -the subje6l which was 
 discussed on a preceding occasion, the arguments, 
 which were urged in support of the scriptural 
 history, could be only negative. They could only 
 prove, but they prove most irrefragably, that the 
 romantic dreams of astronomical mythology can 
 never affeft the truth of a narrative, so remark¬ 
 ably consistent, as that of the Hebrew historian. 
 They clearly tend to demonstrate, that we can 
 have no other certain guide to direct our steps 
 through the otherwise inextricable labyrinth of 
 ancient chronology. They shew, that all the 
 historical fragments, and all the traditional ac¬ 
 counts of profane antiquity, in their purest state, 
 agree with the fa6ts which he has related ; and 
 that they do not agree, but deviate farthest from 
 him, wherever they have been corrupted by 
 national vanity, or obscured through length of 
 time. They shew, that with respefl: to events, 
 supposed to have taken place in Asia and Egypt, 
 not more than two thousand years before the 
 Christian asra, the historical page teems with 
 doubts and contradiftions ; that with respeft to 
 events, which may have passed in any other part 
 
IQ 
 
 of the world, it presents an unmeaning blank ; 
 and the indubitable conclusion resulting from 
 this fa£l is, that the greatest portion of the globe 
 was then either uninhabited, or contained only a 
 few scattered tribes of wandering barbarians. 
 They shew, that although before this limited 
 period, the licentious pencil of eastern mythology 
 has attempted to delineate imaginary scenes, 
 shifting in infinite succession ; yet that the aftors 
 in them are likewise imaginary personages, dif¬ 
 fering in all their properties from the present 
 race of mortals, and whose exploits, for this 
 reason, can claim no place in the history of the 
 human species. 
 
 The objeft of our present enquiry will exhibit 
 proofs in confirmation of the sacred history more 
 direfl: and positive; but though more dire£l, yet 
 not less unsuspicious. In the present discourse 
 it will be shewn, that the fables, as well as the 
 chronological computations of the Brahmins, bear 
 a particular reference to that great convulsion of 
 nature recorded by Moses, when the v/indows of 
 heaven were opened, and the fountains of the 
 great deep were broken up, when, on account of 
 their impiety, the whole human race, except one 
 family, was swept away from the face of the 
 earth, and a new covenant was established be- 
 
 / 
 
80 
 
 tween the Creator of the universe and the rcno« 
 vated world. , 
 
 / 
 
 With perfeft unanimity can we assent to the 
 proposition, that in the same degree as any fa£l: 
 appears contrary to the ordinary course of nature, 
 the evidence in order to induce belief must be 
 completely adequate to its supposed improbability. 
 But in this indisputable truth, we are enabled to 
 find the reason why any event, which from its 
 singularity or importance contradifts experience, 
 and excites astonishment, is always, and will be 
 always, more strongly corroborated than any 
 other. The general assertion is not too bold, 
 that no common occurrences are so clearly au¬ 
 thenticated, as those which we call prodigies 
 or miracles* 
 
 ' That if a general destruftion of the world by a 
 flood, an event so stupendous in its nature, so 
 universal in its concern, and so interesting in its 
 consequences had really happened at the time 
 which is fixed by Moses, it must have excited, in 
 the minds of those who survived, and also of their 
 immediate descendants, a lively remembrance of 
 its effefts, is a supposition so perfeQly rational, 
 and so accordant to previous calculation, that 
 we cannot wonder if we find some traces of it 
 
SI 
 
 in the mythology of every nation. That these 
 traces should be more vivid, and more distindlly 
 marked, in the countries situated nearest to the 
 spot whence the renovated race of man first 
 migrated, is a supposition equally ratipnal and 
 indisputable with the former. Still farther: that 
 those traces should be longest preserved among 
 those nations, who from their insulated situation, 
 or their religious institutions, have enjoyed little 
 intercourse with the rest of the world, and who, 
 on that account, have retained many of their 
 ancient traditions uncorrupted, is an assertion 
 capable of the same incontestable proof. But 
 that if the event of a general deluge be found 
 recorded in the monuments of Indian and Egypt^ 
 ian antiquity, as well as in the narrative of the 
 Jewish historian, the latter should have borrowed 
 his materials from the former ; or that the former 
 should be more ancient, and better entitled to 
 credit; or that the testimony of all should be 
 disbelieved, as relating to some national and 
 transitory destruftion, is a conclusion, that can 
 on no legitimate principle of reasoning be dedu¬ 
 ced. An event which, from the circumstances 
 that attended it, could not but be universally 
 known, and could not fail of producing an 
 indelible impression, might certainly be related 
 by different persons, at different periods of time. 
 
 G 
 
and in different parts of the world, and who had 
 no connexion or communication with each other. 
 We are expressly assured indeed, that Moses was 
 learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians : their 
 sciences, whatever they might be, were familiar 
 to him: but the knowledge of a plain historical 
 fa£i:, unconnedled with any views of national 
 vanity, must be derived not only to Moses and 
 the Egyptians, but to all mankind from the same 
 source. The very variety of the fables to which 
 this awful event has been accommodated, the 
 diversities in the narrative, adapted to local 
 prejudices or to theological opinions, prove that 
 they are taken from uncommunicated fragments 
 of some original tradition. The incident is re¬ 
 corded, not by constru6lors of philosophical 
 theories, but by simple narrators of fafts. It is 
 .also observable, that the accounts of a deluge still 
 to be found, among the more eastern nations are 
 as strongly marked by truth, and are equally 
 conformable to the history of Moses, as those 
 which are preserved in Egypt. 
 
 But although the concurrent voice of antiquity 
 thus loudly responds to the testimony of the 
 Hebrew historian though the memorials of an 
 event, so interesting to the early world, must have 
 been treasured up with care, and recollected 
 
83 
 
 with sentiments of awe and gratitude; though 
 they have been recorded on the tablet of the 
 skies, and shadowed out in hieroglyphic sculpture 
 in monuments on the earth ; though the combined 
 powers of fancy and erudition have been success¬ 
 fully employed, in referring to this source, many 
 of the Pagan symbols, and devotional ceremonies; 
 yet vague and unsatisfaftory would all these 
 evidences appear, if they had not been illustrated 
 and confirmed by that narrative, of which all 
 other records are but faint adumbrations. If all 
 the solitary fragments scattered throughout the 
 voluminous mass of oriental mythology, joined 
 with those which the nations of the west have 
 retained, were colle 61 :ed and concentrated, their 
 united testimony would be insufficient to establish 
 the reality of this calamitous prodigy. It is not 
 on the exaft coincidence of sacred and profane 
 history, that we attempt to prove the truth and 
 assume the superiority of the former ; but that 
 the one is perspicuous and full, where the other is 
 obscure and defeftive : the one is concise where 
 amplification would be unnecessary, or would tend 
 to no other purpose than the gratification of a vain 
 curiosity: the other, by those additions which 
 the artifice or conceit of man has interwoven, has 
 sometimes suppressed the truth by concealment^ 
 and sometimes weakened it by expansion, 
 
 G % 
 
With respeft to the Mosaical account of the 
 deluge, if it had been composed to aid the designs 
 of any interested imposture, the construftion would 
 have been more artificial j if it had been nothing 
 more than a fabulous representation, the narrative 
 would have been emblazoned with a richer dis¬ 
 play of imagery. While the general texture of 
 the relation appears perfeftly simple, it discovers, 
 in some parts, a minuteness and accuracy of detail, 
 which excite our admiration. Its consistency has 
 been tried with the* most critical exaftness, its 
 possibility has been brought to the test of geome¬ 
 trical calculation ; and it has triumphed over the 
 most specious hypotheses, which fanciful theorists 
 in natural philosophy have attempted to oppose. 
 While all ancient testimony indisputably corrobo¬ 
 rates the fa6t, the dedu 61 ions of scientific observa-, 
 tion, when fairly and honestly applied, are equally 
 clear in attestation of its reality. 
 
 . — t 
 
 Of the proofs, which Indian literature has af¬ 
 forded in confirmation of the Mosaical account of 
 .the deluge, there are some, which it possesses 
 only in common with the other nations of the east; 
 but there are others which are more than com¬ 
 monly forcible, and peculiar to itself. 
 
 In common with other nations, the Hindoos 
 
I 
 
 85 
 
 have retained the primary existence of a chaos, its 
 gradual reduction into order, the original darkness, 
 
 undiscernible and undistinguishable,” which 
 involved the universe as in a profound sleep : out 
 of which, at the command of the self-existent in¬ 
 visible God, issued forth light, together with the 
 separation of the waters, which at first overspread 
 the surface of the earth. 
 
 In common with other nations, the Hindoos 
 attribute the creation of all visible things in six 
 distinft periods, the successive formation of all 
 terrestial animals, and finally of man, to one Su¬ 
 preme God. In common with all other nations, 
 they have also preserved some indistin6l remem¬ 
 brance of the antediluvian generations, and the 
 antediluvian personages mentioned in the Jewish 
 Scriptures, 
 
 But the first great and important event, which 
 they attest clearly and unequivocally, is the awful 
 catastrophe of a general destrudlion of the world 
 by a flood ; and therefore it is from that point, 
 that the monuments of profane antiquity 'are 
 properly called in, to confirm the truth of the 
 sacred history. 
 
 Among the innumerable interpositions of Pro- 
 
86 , 
 
 vidence in the affairs of men, which the Hindoos 
 believe to have taken place for the preservation 
 of the just, the destruftion of the wicked, and 
 - the establishment of virtue” -y they compute ten 
 principal descents, or incarnations, of the Divinity, 
 during the current period of their four ages. The 
 order in which they succeed each other is too 
 artificial to be consistent with reality ; but the 
 three first must evidently have a reference to some 
 stupendous convulsion of our globe from the 
 fountains of the deep, while the fourth exhibits 
 the miraculous punishment of pride and impiety. 
 
 Their first incarnation of the Divinity presents 
 him assuming the body of a fish, for the purpose 
 of recovering the sacred Veda in the vv^ater of 
 the ocean of destruction, placing it joyfully in 
 the bosom of an ark fabricated by him.” The 
 following is the substance of what is recorded 
 concerning this event in one of the Puranas, or 
 sacred books of the Hindoos, which treat of 
 creation, and the genealogy of their Gods and 
 Heroes, and which are supposed to rank, in age 
 and authority, next to the Vedas themselves. 
 
 This Purana informs us, that at the close of the 
 
 * Bhagarat Geeta, p. 132, 
 
87 
 
 last of their grand periods of time, or as others 
 more rationally suppose, immediately before the 
 commencement of the present age, there was a 
 general destruftion of mankind^ occasioned by 
 the sleep of Brahma; whence his creatures in 
 different worlds were drowned in a vast ocean. 
 Brahma being inclined to slumber, desiring repose 
 after a lapse of ages, a strong deemon came near 
 him, and stole the Vedas which had flowed from 
 his lips. The incarnate God Vishnu, willing 
 to preserve a monarch, eminent for his piety, 
 from the sea of destru6tion, caused by the de¬ 
 pravity of the age, informs him by what means 
 he was to escape,, and thus addresses him : 
 
 In seven days from the present time, O thou 
 tamer of enemies, the three worlds shall be 
 plunged in an ocean of death, but in the midst 
 of the destroying waves, a large vessel sent by 
 me for thy use, shall stand before thee. Then 
 shalt thou take all medicinal herbs, all the variety 
 of seeds, and accompanied by seven saints, 
 encircled by pairs of all brute animals, thou shalt 
 enter the spacious ark, and continue in it, secure 
 from the flood, in one immense ocean, without 
 light, except the radiance of thy holy compani¬ 
 ons. When the ship shall be agitated by an 
 impetuous wind, thou shalt fasten it with a large 
 
 G 4 
 
serpent on my horn; for I will be near thee, 
 drawing the vessel with thee, and thy attendants ; 
 and will remain on the ocean, O thou chief of 
 men ! until a day of Brahma shall be completely 
 ended. Thou shalt then know my true greatness, 
 rightly named the supreme godhead ; by my 
 favor all thy questions shall be answered, and 
 thy mind abundantly instrufted.’’ 
 
 The event falls out as this divine personage 
 had predi6ted, while the pious monarch, waiting 
 in humility for the time, and conforming to the 
 direftions which had been given,'miraculously 
 escapes from the universal destruftion. ' 
 
 Distinguished as the whole of this recital is, 
 by that mixture of the puerile and sublime, which 
 so eminently chara6terizes the exuberant fertility 
 of an oriental fancy ; yet we cannot fail to dis¬ 
 cover in it, evident traces of the more simple 
 and succinft account, transmitted to us in the 
 Mosaical history. The cause of this signal dis¬ 
 play of divine vengeance ; the number of persons 
 who were miraculously preserved from this con¬ 
 vulsion of nature ^ the manner by which Omnipo¬ 
 tence interposed to elfe£l their deliverance, are 
 all clearly defined, and remarkably correspond 
 with, what we are accustomed to consider, as 
 the words of inspired truth. 
 
eg 
 
 ' At the same time, this passage affords aa 
 evident proof, that whatever claims to antiquity 
 the vanity of the Hindoos may have prompted 
 them to assume : that, although the Brahmins, in 
 their loose computation of time, have placed the 
 the three first of these incarnations of Vishnu, 
 at a period of immense distance: and as they are 
 stated to have happened in their Saturnian age, 
 or age of truth, a difference of opinion has existed 
 respedling the event which these descents were 
 designed to point out, whether that of an original 
 emersion of the earth from water, or of its reno¬ 
 vation after a flood ; yet the remarkable coinci¬ 
 dence of circumstances decidedly shews, that 
 they cannot be referred to any other transaction' 
 than a deluge, and that, under a different form, 
 they designate that important catastrophe. 
 
 But there are other circumstances, still more 
 worthy of observation, which relate, not only to 
 the certainty of the faCt, but what is of still 
 greater importance, will tend to reconcile this 
 apparent anachronism in Indian mythology. 
 These will shew, that the period when their last 
 destruction of the world happened, will nearly 
 coincide with that of the Mosaical deluge. 
 
 / 
 
 An objection has sometimes been urged, that 
 
90 
 
 in all the historical documents which have been 
 preserved among ancient nations, there are tra¬ 
 ditionary accounts of different destruftions of this 
 globe by water ^ which could not have all 
 happened at > the sanie time. The conclusion- 
 which has been attempted to be established on 
 this fa6i is, that there are some of a date far 
 anterior to any which are preserved in the annals 
 of mankind. That of Deucalion is said to have 
 occurred about fifteen centuries, and that of 
 Ogyges about eighteen centuries, before the 
 Christian ^ra. The deluges of Armenia and 
 memory of which has been preserved 
 by the Hebrews and Egyptians, though they 
 occurred about five centuries before either, are 
 still more recent than some, of which the remem¬ 
 brance is now lost 3 and that all of them, however 
 memorable, must be regarded merely as local and 
 transitory inundations. 
 
 But, in'reply to this objeSlion, it may be ob¬ 
 served, that in the records of all the eastern nations, 
 and particularly in those of India and China, the 
 time of one of these inundations is fixed at a 
 period very nearly correspondent to that, which 
 is recorded of Noah by Moses. 
 
 Though from the best and most authentic in- 
 
91 
 
 formation, derived from an accurate investigation 
 of their chronological scheme, we have the strong¬ 
 est authority for asserting that the Indian ccra, 
 which forms the commencement of their present 
 ^ge, is founded on retrograde calculation ; yet 
 whenever it was formed, it had a particular refe¬ 
 rence to this event: for the Brahmins themselves 
 assure us, that the beginning of the present cor¬ 
 rupted age of the world, was immediately preced¬ 
 ed by an universal deluge. 
 
 To this may be added, that the ancient tradi¬ 
 tional histories of Cashmire, as we find them de¬ 
 tailed by the Secretary of Acber, affirm, that the 
 spacious and delightful valley which is surrounded 
 . by its lofty mountains, remained for many ages 
 submersed in water, and that a celebrated Brah¬ 
 min, called Kashup, led thither a colony of Brah¬ 
 mins to inhabit the valley, after the waters had 
 subsided. 
 
 This very singular fa£t is rendered still more 
 worthy of regard, by the additional account which 
 the same authority gives us, thst although no 
 Hindoo nation, but the Cashmirians, have left any 
 regular histories in their ancient language ^ yet, 
 that the civil history even of Cashmire goes no 
 farther back than about four thousand years, when 
 
g2 
 
 their founder, a man remarkable for the austerity 
 of his manners, conduced his colony thither.*. 
 
 It is not meant in this place to determine the 
 exaft degree of credit, which is due to this relation 
 in the Ayeen Akbery; though probably it was 
 taken from a careful examination of the ancient 
 records of the Cashmirians : it is only cited to 
 shew, that the Indians, like every other nation^ 
 entertain a belief, and have preserved the remem¬ 
 brance of, an universal deluge, which began the 
 present age ; and that the present age was pre¬ 
 ceded by a happier state : but bolder than any 
 other nation they have attempted to fix with pre- 
 cison the sera of this deluge. It may also be rea¬ 
 sonably inferred, that this aera, though founded 
 on some imaginary conne6lion, rather than on real 
 truth, is not widely distant from the true period^ 
 and that the Hindoos have placed their deluge, 
 according as tradition had vaguely fixed that me¬ 
 morable event. 
 
 To pursue this subjeft farther, to point out those 
 traces of this memorable catastrophe, which are 
 to be discovered in many of the symbols and re¬ 
 ligious ceremonies now in use among the Hindoos, 
 
 ! Ayeen Akbery, v. 2, p. im 
 
to shew that the event, which is thus preserved in 
 their sacred records, was also sculptured in their 
 temples, and engraven on their coins, would em¬ 
 brace too wide a field. Though these symbols 
 cannot be so rationally illustrated on any other 
 supposition; and though great ingenuity and learn¬ 
 ing have been employed in referring them to their 
 true origin ; yet to insist on them would be foreign 
 to the present purpose. Where proofs of the most 
 indubitable nature exist, the strength of which 
 depends on no forced interpretation, there is less 
 occasion to scrutinize others, which leave so much 
 room for nnsupported conjecture, and in which 
 the reveries of fancy have too frequently blinded 
 and perverted the judgment. 
 
 From a similar reason, and because the investi¬ 
 gation would be attended with less advantage, it 
 is unnecessary to advert to any objections, raised 
 from those theories in natural philosophy, which 
 have been constructed with a professed design of 
 demonstrating the impossibility of this faCt ^ but 
 which, like every other faCt, must at last depend 
 on the value and consistency of the testimonies by 
 which it is confirmed. These theories, with what¬ 
 ever ingenuity they may have been formed, or 
 however adapted to attraCt admiration by their 
 novelty, have generally proved of too slight a tex- 
 
94 
 
 ture, not only to stand the test of rigorous investi¬ 
 gation, but to stand the test of time. They have 
 frequently crumbled into nothing by their own 
 weakness, and have been remembered no more, 
 even before they have been supplanted by other 
 theories, equally amusing, but equally fallacious. 
 They have only served to demonstrate this im¬ 
 portant truth, that to point out how worlds might 
 be or may have been formed, as well as to form 
 worlds themselves, is the prerogative of omnipo¬ 
 tence alone. They have served to shew, that what 
 is above the power of man to accomplish, is equally 
 beyond the power of man to explain. They are 
 always in contradiftion to each other, they are 
 often,at variance with themselves, but they all 
 assert the same claim to infallibility. Though they 
 profess to be guided by this fundamental principle, 
 that all testimony is to be disregarded, and that it 
 is nature alone who must be interrogated on her 
 age; yet the oracles of nature, as delivered by her 
 interpreters, have been found ambiguous, variable, 
 and contradiftory, while the general voice of tra¬ 
 dition must at least be allowed to be clear, uni¬ 
 form, and consistent. 
 
 % 
 
 Among the other historical proofs concerning 
 the catastrophe of the deluge, those which India 
 and the Brahminical records have supplied, have 
 
95 
 
 now been adduced. But in the light in which they 
 have hitherto been considered, they can be re¬ 
 garded only as an accumulation of evidence, to that 
 which was before sufficient; as an additional con¬ 
 firmation of that which was before incontroverti¬ 
 ble. There are some circumstances however 
 which render this evidence of more than common 
 value, which essentially distinguish it from that of 
 all other nations, and which will therefore be en¬ 
 titled to a separate consideration. 
 
 It is, in the first place, peculiarly valuable, as 
 confirming a fa6l, which the modern Brahmins are 
 solicitous to conceal or deny* It was also the 
 confident assertion of infidelity, that in India no 
 traces of the deluge could be discovered^ and that 
 a careful examination of the literature of that 
 country, would shew that the concurrence of the 
 traditions of profane antiquity with the jMosaical 
 history, is not so exa6l, as its advocates have been 
 led to suppose. It may, on this account, be reason¬ 
 ably presumed, that every proof which had a re¬ 
 mote tendency to illustrate or confirm this event, 
 would be studiously kept back by the Brahmins 
 themselves; or at least that none would be unne¬ 
 cessarily exposed to view ; that some would be 
 entirely suppressed, and others weakened or ex¬ 
 plained away. The evidence then is entitled to 
 
96 
 
 I 
 
 credit, as coming from those who are interested in 
 withholding it, & therefore given with reluftance. 
 
 But the evidence is not only thus extorted from 
 those, who must be anxmus for its suppression, it 
 is in itself undesigned \ and therefore has stronger 
 claiins to belief. 
 
 If the Sanscrit records had related the event of a 
 deluge in precisely the same terms, as those which 
 are used by the Jewish historian ; if the similarity 
 had been so obvious as to shew that they were 
 exaft copies from each other ; the coincidence 
 would have been unimportant. If the shades of 
 difference had been so artificially blended, as to 
 induce a belief, that they had been purposely 
 superaded, the better to contribute towards de¬ 
 ception, the agreement of the other parts would 
 not only have been unimportant, but would have 
 led to a conclusion, precisely the reverse of the 
 present.' A natural suspicion would have been 
 excited, that both accounts might have been 
 fabricated from some interested motive. But, 
 in the Hindoo mythology, this event is shadowed 
 out in fables, which appear to have no reference 
 to it 5 in ceremonies, which, although they can be 
 satisfaftorily derived from no other source, are 
 too ambiguous and too obscure, to have been 
 
97 
 
 instituted to serve any particular end. The 
 incarnations of Vishnu could never have been 
 engrafted on the Hindoo superstition, for the 
 purpose of confirming the Mosaical history of 
 the deluge. 
 
 The testimony, above every other reason, is 
 entitled to credit, as proceeding from a people, 
 who have preserved their faith, and the volumes 
 which contain it, not perhaps entirely free from 
 corruption and innovation ; but who have scru¬ 
 pulously reje£led the tenets of every other form 
 of religion ; a people, who, as far as can be 
 determined from their history, have equally des¬ 
 pised the do6lrines of the Gospel, the Talmud> 
 and the Koran ; a people, whose literature is 
 as singular, and as diversified from that of other 
 
 nations, as their religion, or their manners^ 
 
 ♦ 
 
 f 
 
 This assertion has not however been received 
 with unqualified assent: some circumstances 
 have occurred, which have excited an apprehen¬ 
 sion that Sanscrit literature is not so pure and 
 uncontaminated, as its warm admirers have at¬ 
 tempted to insinuate. It has been alleged, that 
 forgeries and interpolations have been praftised 
 since the Christian asra, and those likewise in 
 regard to essential points, and in order to support 
 
 H 
 

 particular opinions. It has been also alleged,- 
 that by the confession of the Brahmins them¬ 
 selves, their sacred books have suffered some 
 material alterations ; and that these will sensibly 
 detrafl: from the weight of their testimony. 
 
 As these additions and interpolations have 
 been thought to affefl: the authenticity of the 
 Puranas in particular j as they consequently must 
 have an express reference to the evidence, cited 
 in this discourse, in proof of an universal deluge; 
 and as they involve in them a subjeft of consider¬ 
 able importance, not less than the integrity of 
 the whole body of Indian literature; it will not 
 be improper to' close the present subjeft with 
 some refleftions on them ; to enquire in what 
 degree these supposed interpolations may weaken 
 the force of any passages, which have been cited 
 in this discourse ; and also, how far as a general 
 question, interpolations, in particular cases, affeft 
 the testimony, which profane antiquity affords, 
 in support of the Christian faith. 
 
 From some passages in the Puranas, which are 
 thought to be of modern insertion, and especially 
 from a similarity which has been discovered in 
 the Bhagavat Purana, between the life of Crishna 
 the Indian Apollo, and the life of Christ j a 
 
99 
 
 similarity which has caused a modern infidel to 
 draw an impious parallel between them ; it has 
 been conjeSured, not without some appearance 
 of probability, that the Apocryphal Gospels, 
 which abounded in the first ages of the Christian 
 church, might have found their way into India ; 
 and that the Hindoos had engrafted the wildest 
 parts of them, on the adventures of their own 
 divinities. Any coincidence therefore which may * 
 be discovered between the Sanscrit records, and 
 the Mosaical or Evangelical histories, is more 
 likely to proceed from a communication through 
 this channel, than from ancient and universal 
 tradition. 
 
 On this opinion it may be remarked, that both 
 the name of Crishna and the general outline of 
 his story are long anterior to the birth of our 
 Saviour ^ and this we know, not on the presumed 
 antiquity of the Hindoo records alone. Both 
 Arrian and Strabo assert, that the God Crishna 
 was anciently worshipped at Methura on the 
 river Junna, where he is worshipped at this day. 
 But the emblems and attributes essential to this 
 deity are also transplanted into the mythology of 
 the west. In the Indian God, who, with a train 
 of celestial nymphs, dances gracefully, now 
 quick, now slow on the sands just left by the 
 
 H a 
 
 / 
 
100 
 
 daughter of the sun;*’ we recognize that still, 
 more beautiful fi 61 :ion, which ascribes natural 
 light and poetic illumination to the same divine 
 origin. 
 
 In the next place it should be observed, that 
 those features of resemblance, which are said to 
 exist between the Hindoo God and the Saviour 
 of the world, are not so exaft as some have 
 insidiously suggested, and as others have .been 
 incautiously eager to admit. Most of the inci¬ 
 dents in the life of Crishna more strongly remind 
 us of the life of Cyrus than of Christ. 
 
 But it should be particularly remembered, 
 that those passages which display a striking and 
 verbal affinity ; an affinity, which, without vio¬ 
 lence to probability we cannot suppose to be 
 purely accidental, are not to be found in the 
 Puranas,^ or in any of the authentic records of the 
 Brahmins. The resemblance is discovered in 
 some passages of the Apocryphal Gospel of the 
 Infancy, which was widely circulated on the 
 coast of Malabar, and which was originally known 
 n Asia by the title of the Gospel of St. Thomas, 
 and between those legends which were repeated 
 by the Hindoos to Baldaeus, and which he has 
 recorded in his narrative. 
 
101 
 
 But of this resemblance, a more satisfactory 
 account may be given, than that vv^hich is founded 
 on the supposed mutilation of the Brahminical 
 records, or the incorporation of Christian heresy 
 with Hindoo superstition. Of the Apocryphal 
 Gospels which have descended to the present 
 time, the principal portion originated in the east. 
 That they were written from observation, and 
 that they contain many events which really 
 occurred in the life of Christ, is a supposition 
 which has been inconsiderately adopted. They 
 are so essentially different from the sober colour¬ 
 ing and dignified simplicity of the genuine 
 gospels, that they could never refer to the same 
 character. Whoever was the author of the Gospel 
 of the Infancy, it is certain that he was intimately 
 acquainted with the Magian and Zoroastrian 
 doQrines, together witl^ those other superstitions, 
 which have been long prevalent in the east, and 
 particularly in Hindoostan. The presumption 
 may be more reasonably entertained, that the 
 marvellous adventures of the Indian Deity have 
 been, applied to the author of the Christian 
 Religion, than thattnese incidents were invented, 
 to designate the life of a personsge to whom they 
 are entirely inapplicable, and that they were 
 afterwards adopted by the Hindoos, to the general 
 complexion of whose religion the origin of them 
 is more congenial. 
 
 H 3 
 
102 
 
 From this vindication of the genuineness of 
 Hindoo literature in a particular instance, we 
 may be enabled to repel the general insinuation, 
 that the corroborative testimony, which the re¬ 
 cords of profane antiquity afford in favour of our 
 Religion, is derived from passages, either of 
 doubtful authority, or which have been proved 
 to be interested forgeries. Wherever any dis¬ 
 crepancy, real or apparent, subsists, between 
 sacred and profane literature, that difference is 
 generally interpreted to the disadvantage of the 
 former : wherever any striking harmony is dis¬ 
 covered, the passage is scanned with a jealous 
 perspicacity, fearful that it might have been 
 intruded by some bold artifice of Christian zeal. 
 
 That interpolations for the purposes of decep¬ 
 tion may have been sometimes praftised, and that . 
 they may have been suggested by what is falsely 
 called pious fraud, is a faft too evident to admit 
 of dispute ; but it may safely be asserted, that 
 they have been probably less frequent and cer¬ 
 tainly less successful than has been industriously 
 proclaimed. Wherever they have taken place, 
 deteftion and disgrace have been almost uniform¬ 
 ly the result. 
 
 Still less is the common opinion consistent 
 
with truth, that periods of barbarism and mental 
 depression are peculiarly favourable to this spe¬ 
 cies of imposture; that it is the produ6rion of 
 what is termed the darker ages. Literary for¬ 
 gery is the offspring of literary refinement. The 
 incitements to this kind of deception are more 
 powerful, when a general diffusion of knowledge 
 contributes to their success, than at a time when 
 even success could bring neither advantage nor 
 applause. 
 
 But that the truth of any of the evidences of 
 the Christian faith is implicated in these suspe6ted 
 passages, or that the Christian religion stands in 
 need of their support, is an idea still more unsup¬ 
 ported and extravagant. Never were any fabri¬ 
 cations contrived with less wisdom, or with less 
 relevancy to the motives which commonly in¬ 
 fluence the sinister designs of human condu6L than 
 those which, it has been alleged, a misguided 
 zeal has officiously and compulsively thrust into 
 the venerable monuments of ancient learning. 
 If all the passages in profane authors favourable 
 to Christianity, which either the sagacity of legi¬ 
 timate criticism has discovered to be interpolated, 
 or which the ungenerous vigilance of infidelity 
 has suspefted to be so, be given up, to what will 
 they amount, or in what degree will their absence 
 
104 
 
 affeft the truth of our religion ? They enforce no 
 particular doftrine, they prove no essential faft. 
 
 If the eulogy of Longinus on the energetic 
 diftion and terse sublimity of the Jewish law¬ 
 giver be the insertion of fraud, will the subtrac¬ 
 tion of this encomium diminish any thing from 
 the veracity or even from the style of the Mosaic 
 history ? If the attestation, which the same 
 author is said to bear to the oratorical powers of 
 Paul of Tarsus, be contained in a fragment con¬ 
 fessedly spurious ; can the impressive dialeSic 
 of the Apostle to the Gentiles; can that eloquence 
 which struck terror into the breast of a Roman 
 Governor lose its animated vigour, because un¬ 
 noticed by the critic of Palmyra ? If some of 
 those compositions, which have descended to us 
 under the name of the Sybilline oracles, be 
 unworthy of credit, and branded as the awkward 
 contrivance of some Christian in the second 
 century 3 can we find no other proofs of the 
 predominancy of the expe£tation of a future 
 deliverer throughout the ancient world ? If the 
 digression which Josephus has introduced into 
 his history, to celebrate the immaculate charafter 
 of Jesus, be distrusted 3 will the divine mission 
 of Christ be a subjeft of uncertainty, while the 
 historian himself has unwittingly indeed, but une- 
 
105 
 
 quivocally, vindicated his more than human pre¬ 
 science ^ while the pen of a Jew has circumstan¬ 
 tially detailed in the destruftion of Jerusalem, 
 the tremendous accomplishment of the most 
 explicit, and important prophecy that ever was 
 uttered ? 
 
 Such testimonies, and the passages which have 
 incurred suspicion are similar to these, we can 
 willingly resign. They are never set forward 
 by our apologists with prominent display and 
 pompous dilatation , they are neither exhibited 
 as signals of defiance, nor sought as a shelter 
 from attack. Let systems of faith, formed 
 by human agents and for human ends be thus 
 defended ; let them secure the favourable opinion 
 of distant ages by a careful accumulation of 
 contemporary praise ; Christianity can do more. 
 She can derive her strongest support from the 
 reluftant but unexceptionable admissions of her 
 enemies, who although they meant it not, 
 neither did their heart think so,’’ have been the 
 witnesses and asserters of her truth. Porphyry 
 shall be our commentator on the prophecies of 
 Daniel; Julian shall attest the miraculous powers 
 of the first Christians. We will readily accept 
 the inappropriate epithet of mischievous supersti¬ 
 tion, with which Tacitus has vilified the Christian 
 
io6 
 
 faith ; while he records the existence and igno¬ 
 minious death of its Founder. We regard not 
 the unfeeling ridicule which the Roman satirist 
 has thrown on the obstinacy of the primitive 
 martyrs ; while he has distinftly detailed their un¬ 
 exampled sufferings and their unmerited wrongs. 
 We will cheerfully allow every partial, every 
 malignant insinuation, which the inveterate hos- 
 
 k 
 
 tility of ancient scepticism has opposed, but which 
 even the hardihood of modern infidelity has never 
 attempted to revive ; while we claim the benefit 
 of its admissions, which the disingenuous cau¬ 
 tion of modern infidelity in vain labours to deny. 
 As has been shewn on the present occasion, 
 we can prove the reality of an universal deluge, 
 not from the Jewish oracles which relate the 
 event in its conne 61 ;ion with their national his¬ 
 tory ; not from the phaenomena of the natural 
 world, which are in harmony with those oracles ; 
 not from the nations of Arabia and Tartary who 
 have preserved many of the fa£ts related in the 
 Jewish history, but who also retain a veneration 
 for the Jewish Law-giver ^ but from the arrogant 
 and presumptuous Brahmin, who disclaims all 
 kindred with the less favoured nations of the 
 earth ; who regards his own country as the spot 
 ■ on which the Divinity has displayed a peculiar 
 manifestation gf his presence, as the centre of 
 
107 
 
 terrestrial creation, and the land of^virtues 
 and who views with a consciousness of superior 
 sanftity the professors of that faith, which his 
 own records have shewn to be historically true : 
 thus vindicating the propriety of that apostrophe, 
 which we sometimes apply to our religion: 
 
 Through the greatness of thy power shall thine 
 enemies be found liars unto thee.’’ 
 
 % 
 
 
1 
 
 ' / 
 
 ■>. r I . 
 
 < > i 
 
 ^ • ■» f 
 
 dji’fiW jf::;? 
 
 
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 V ' ■ ■* 
 
 M.j ,.', i . N ;,'' 
 
 ■ 'i ' O'* ' ’ ■’. 
 ^r»; ' . '■ 
 
 Viirfjl od Ol i!7/ M|r -YKI^ / r .^ ■•• 
 
 t,7rlqs'^>vO<Ti^ li^dl to YniYsc^onv. 
 
 ‘iho -q ^ XnTit'^o.o.i 'y5. > ,i,Yi-. 
 
 ' f« • - 1 ' ' « • \ * • ^ \ 
 
 lii'fii r'V. 7 }. ♦ ■::r‘ 5 - 1 o■-j , ' i 
 
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 4 
 
I 
 
 DISCOURSE IV, 
 
 ON THE CORRESPONDENCE OF THE BRAHMINICAL 
 RECORDS, WITH THE MOSAICAL ACCOUNT 
 .OF THE ORIGIN AND SETTLEMENT OF NATIONS. 
 
 Accuracy of the Mosaical Geography—Jhe 
 following Discourse confined to the illustra¬ 
 tion of the Origin and Settlement of those 
 Nations more immediately conneBed with 
 India—Of India or the inner Continent of 
 Cush—Of Ethiopia or the outer Continent 
 oj Cush—Of China—Of Egypt—Defence 
 
 of those Writers zvho have illustrated the 
 
 » 
 
 sacred Geography, 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
4 
 
 
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 , y 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
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 t , ' 
 
 ■\ ,i 
 
 
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 7! i:>:.7rn:/'r 
 
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 ' V- ;';> -r, a .;7A a ; i Vi 
 
 >9- • “ . 
 
 • "•» ■•-. ■ _ , ' . , -i -cW 
 
 ■ - . *5"'v’-‘'5''vy.;. '> A ■..?■’ Vs * i’ A'l i Sf , <• •J *1 • ■-• ■ 
 
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 ■ '.' '. A->1V • :>M,-'•:■*u 'Vi i" .0 }< 
 
 
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 > 
 
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 V- 
 
 
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 \\ 
 
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 >’.- ^ w • •.* ' 
 
 1- J • ^ 
 
 '’•..A'l' 
 
 :»^ -I*. \ ■■' *" 
 
 '' ■ SV V -^' • '■ 
 
 
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 l » V - ■ ' • -i 
 
 A.:Vv \:A 
 
 
 
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 < • w' 
 
 
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 -M;'- j'>,» i i 
 
 V r 
 
 
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 V. 
 
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 A V<=' 
 
DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 ON THE CORRESPONDENCE OF THE 
 BRAHMINICAL RECORDS^WITH THE MOSAICAL ACCOUNT 
 OF THE ORIGIN AND SETTLEMENT OF NATIONS. 
 
 Genesis, c. 10. v. 32. 
 
 These are the families of the sons of Noah after 
 their generations in their nationsy and by these 
 were the nations divided in the earth after theflood. 
 
 If the truth of the Mosaical history were made 
 -to rest on any single point, and if any particular 
 part were selected, by which its credibility might 
 be brought to the most satisfaftory test; the Chap¬ 
 ter from which the words of the Text are quoted, 
 would probably be adduced as the most decisive. 
 
 Of all methods, which the authors of fiQitious 
 narratives have adopted in order to render them 
 attractive to the popular taste, there is none more 
 unlikely to be attempted, none more difficult in 
 the execution, and, when executed, none more 
 unfavourable to the purpose of deception, than an 
 excursion into the tedious and barren path of 
 
112 
 
 genealogical detail. By superficial readers such 
 a digression would be either entirely passed over, 
 -or carelessly perused, without producing any of • 
 those effefts which imposture would aim at; and 
 whenever investigation should take place, no kind 
 of Imposture would be so difficult to be sustained 
 with consistency. 
 
 An accuracy in topographical description, or an 
 intimate acquaintance with the manners and cus¬ 
 toms of antiquity, have often been successfully 
 called in, to heighten the fi£lions of poetry and 
 romance, by conferring on them a greater sem¬ 
 blance of reality : but they never can be consider¬ 
 ed as just criteria of historical truth. The place 
 of aftion may be described from personal obser¬ 
 vation, the correspondent decorations may be 
 disposed with the stridlest propriety, while the 
 personages, who animate the drama, may be only 
 phantoms of the imagination, who have never 
 moved but on ideal ground. If for instance, we 
 were to seleft the most forcible proof, that the 
 Iliad was founded on real fafls, we should be in¬ 
 clined to fix on the unvarnished catalogue, which 
 its author has given, of the diflferent nations en¬ 
 gaged in the contest, rather than to insist on his 
 exaftness in marking out the course of the Simois 
 and the Scamander, or his minute delineation of 
 
the domestic labors of Andromache. Neither 
 would the veracity of Moses be impressed with 
 equal force, from the seemingly artificial precision 
 with which he has specified the scite of Eden, or 
 from the chaste and natural colouring, with which 
 he has depicted the simplicity of patriarchal life^ 
 as from this unadorned but circumstantial enume¬ 
 ration of the different founders of the kingdoms of 
 the postdiluvian world. 
 
 But if the Grecian poet has also been dignified 
 by Strabo, with the appellation of the first and 
 greatest of geographers, because he has recounted 
 the names of a few petty tribes, engaged in a tem¬ 
 porary alliance for the execution of a military en- 
 terprize; which be alone has drawn forth from 
 obscurity, and rcocucd from oblivion, but which 
 are now vanished from the earth and whose 
 “ place can no where be found;” with what sen¬ 
 timents of admiration must that historian be re¬ 
 garded, who recurs to the original founders of the 
 most celebrated empires in the- history of the 
 world, and who at once records both the cause, 
 and the period, of tfieir establishment ? 
 
 But this valuable remnant of ancient geography, 
 not only affords a presumptive argument in favor 
 of the veracity of the Jewish Lawgiver ; we may 
 
114 
 
 not only safely allege the Improbability that a de¬ 
 tail so particular and minute should be a fanciful 
 invention ; but wq have, at this time, data, by 
 which we are etlabled to ascertain and estimate its 
 truth. The identical names by which the histo¬ 
 rian has distinguished the different colonies, 
 are, even now, preserved, among those tribes, 
 whose remote situation has precluded the en¬ 
 croachments of military conquest, or whose warlike 
 habits have enabled them to preserve their ancient 
 institutions, and their original independence.— 
 Many of them have been adopted, with little varia¬ 
 tion, by the Greeks, and inserted in their systems 
 of geography. The labors of the etymologist, the 
 antiquary, and the naturalist, wherever they have 
 been fairly applied, have served more fully to illus¬ 
 trate the authenticity of this record. Through all 
 the revolutions in empires, through all the inno¬ 
 vations in religion, through all the flu£iuations in 
 language and in manners, which the world has 
 experienced, during a period of more than four 
 thousand years, there are even now traces suffi¬ 
 ciently plain, to shew, that this piSure, tvhen 
 originally pourtrayed, must have been drawn With 
 the pencil of truth. 
 
 Among the variety of faflts, which have been 
 collefted to prove that the different nations of the 
 
 
115 
 
 earth were really descended from three distinft 
 families, it may be difficult to selefl the most 
 forcible, and to arrange them in proper order.— 
 There can be no necessity for shewing, that aii 
 obscure account of this triple division was pre¬ 
 served by the ancients, among their other fables > 
 and that this arrangement was supposed to have 
 been made, according to the express appointment 
 of the Deity.* Such a tradition would be entitled 
 to little credit, unless supjk)rted by more probable 
 arguments. But such argunients there are, and 
 they have been urged with a force, which scepti¬ 
 cism herself cannot resist. She has attempted in¬ 
 discriminately to reprobate therU by the epithet of 
 fanciful, but by this evasion has contribdted to 
 establish their solidity. 
 
 / 
 
 To pursue the various dire£tiohs, in which the 
 three distinfl: races of mankind have diverged frOfii 
 a common centre, to subdue and people the earthy 
 would be a task inconsistent with the design, as 
 well as the limits of the present undertaking ; but 
 ii will be the objeft of the present Distourse, to 
 condense those scattered rays of light, which the 
 Brahminical records have refle£ted oh this irite- 
 festing part of the: sacred history. Such as they 
 are, they cannot but be esteemed of singular value 
 
 $ Se6 er, Iliad, v. 1^7} and Plato in Crit. 
 
 1 % 
 
and importance. Should the genealogical tradi¬ 
 tions of the Hindoos, and those of the Tartars^ 
 who are separated by an immense distance from 
 India, agree with each other, and- both coincide 
 with the Jewish Lawgiver; this correspondence 
 must give a strong san6tion to th^ veracity of the 
 last. This agreement will afford another decisive 
 obje61:ion against those unfounded pretensions to 
 antiquity, which the Indians, in common with 
 other eastern nations, have asserted with so much 
 confidence, and which have been defended with 
 so much ingenuity. 
 
 The subjeft then of the present enquiry, will 
 jiaturally be limited in extent. It will be con- 
 £ned to the Hindoos themselves, and to those 
 other nations, who can be proved to have im¬ 
 mediately descended from them, or who preserve 
 any remarkable coincidence with them, in their 
 inythology. 
 
 In determining concerning the probability, 
 that any two different nations are branches of the 
 same parent stock, ^ the most incontestable proof 
 is that which arises from any authentic and un¬ 
 suspicious historical testimony. fa6ts are in 
 history, what experiments are in philosophy, 
 these mujst be paramount to all conjedures^ 
 
317 
 
 however plausible, and to all arguments however 
 ingenuous. But whenever historical documents 
 * either totally fail, or contradift each other, three cri¬ 
 teria have been laid down, by which our research¬ 
 es may in some measure be guided ; a similarity in 
 the complexion, in the lineaments of the counte¬ 
 nance, and in the formation of the human body; 
 a similarity in language, that is in its general 
 stru^ure and in the radical parts of it; and lastly, 
 a similarity in religious ceremonies, or in those 
 civil institutions, which derive their origin more 
 immediately from religious sanftions. 
 
 / 
 
 The first of these criteria is the least to be 
 depended on, though'most obvious to a common 
 observer, unless it could be precisely ascertained 
 what.influence a change of climate, and a dif¬ 
 ference of aliment may produce on the human 
 frame, in a long succession of time : the second 
 is more satisfactory, but frequently fallacious, on 
 account of the fanciful resemblances, and arbi¬ 
 trary deductions, which have been made by ad¬ 
 venturers in the field of etymological speculation; 
 the third and last Is the most positive and certain, 
 
 since the religious creed and ritual of most ancient 
 • • * 
 nations inculcate doCtrines, and prescribe customs, 
 
 which could not have been of native grpwth ; 
 
 and these have been found to survive convulsions 
 
 J 3 
 
11.8 
 
 ip governments, improvements in manners, flue* 
 tuations in language, and influence of climate. 
 But in the application of these criteria they must 
 all agree in order to produce entire conviftion, 
 nor must they oppose the testimony of history. 
 
 Our considerations then will be chiefly applied 
 to the direft proof arising from historical evidence, 
 joined with that which may be drawn from 
 similarity in religious ceremonies and institutions, 
 The other incidental proofs being of less import¬ 
 ance will consequently claim less of our attention. 
 
 In entering bn the discussion of this subje£l, it 
 Is natural to advert to a question which has been 
 long agitated, and defended, on either side, with 
 equal ingenuity and learning whether the ark> 
 which had been miraculously preserved from the 
 general destruStion of the world, at length rested 
 on the Indian Caucasus, or on Mount Ararat in 
 Mesopotamia. The solution of this question in¬ 
 volves another point of still greater importance 
 the ascertaining of the spot, from which the ge¬ 
 neral dispersion of mankind took place. 
 
 If this point were to be determined on tradi¬ 
 tional authority, we should' still be unable to 
 decide. The centre from which the different 
 
119 
 
 nations of the earth diverged, not less than the 
 situation of paradise, has been variously represent- 
 jsd. It should not however be forgotten, that 
 many of the ancient fathers assert with undoubted 
 confidence, but with what pretensions to truth 
 cannot now be ascertained, that the remains of 
 the sacred ark were, in their days, to be discover¬ 
 ed on the mountains of Armenia.'’ 
 
 I 
 
 r 
 
 The former supposition which assigns the 
 mountains of Caucasus, as the spot from which 
 the postdiluvian families migrated, has boasted of 
 numerous advocates ; and among other important 
 reasons for the adoption of this hypothesis, the , 
 astonishing population of India, above all other 
 countries, and its early maturity in civilization, 
 have been forcibly insisted on. To this, the 
 testimony of modern and ancient times certainly 
 accords in the most decided manner. However 
 an injudicious partiality may have induced many 
 of its admirers to exalt Indian science, and the 
 Indian charafter ^ yet those who have been in- 
 diped to estimate them at the lowest rate, have 
 been obliged, rejudantly to confess, that while 
 many vestiges remain, discovering their intimate 
 acquaintance with nietaphysics,-', and the more 
 .abstruse parts of geometrical science: their 
 
 ^ TteppSU. ad Aujol, 1. 3; and Chryspsjorp,, de WfeCi 
 
 V. Of p. 748, ed. Savll,*- 
 
 I .4 
 
120 
 
 treatises on legislation, which provide against 
 every possible exigence of civil government, 
 indicate a more artificial stru6ture of society, 
 than is consistent with the idea of their late 
 colonization, 
 
 I 
 
 I • 
 
 ' But against all these arguments, however plau¬ 
 sible, maybe safely opposed the express'language 
 of our own sacred books, taken in its literal and 
 obvious sense, from which it is never safe to 
 depart. The civil history of mankind contained 
 ^in the fragments of the earliest annalists which 
 time has spared, are likewise in harmony with 
 the narrative of Moses, They concur in placing 
 the theatre of the first memorable events, that 
 befell the human race, within the limits of Iran^ 
 
 understood in its true and extended signification, 
 
 _ « 
 
 between the Oxus and the Euphrates, the Arme¬ 
 nian mountains and the borders of India, 
 
 What however is still more decisive to the 
 present purpose, and confirms the superior 
 accuracy of the Hebrew historian, is the cir¬ 
 cumstance, that the literature of India, lately ex¬ 
 plored, records the establishment of the Brah- 
 minical religion in Iran, previously to its adoption 
 in Hindoostan, We are informed that a mode of 
 faith and worship, essentially different from that 
 
10.1 
 
 of Zoroaster, was anciently professed in Persia, 
 and continued to be secretly entertained by many 
 eminent men, long after the general predominance 
 of the latter. 
 
 That subtile system of metaphysical theology, 
 
 which inculcates the do 61 :rine that nothing exists 
 
 absolutely but God, and that the human soul is 
 
 an emanation from his essence, notions now so 
 
 Conspicuous in the religion of the Brahmins, 
 
 have been long professed, and even now prevail 
 
 in Persia, though in some measure subdued by 
 
 the influence of the Zoroastrian tenet of two 
 
 \ 
 
 coeval principles. The same aversion from mari¬ 
 time voyages, which now prevails among the 
 Hindoos, was also enjoined by the religion of 
 the ancient Persians 3 an aversion which they 
 carried so far, that there was' not any city of note 
 built upon their sea coasts. 
 
 From the same authority we learn, that a 
 powerful monarchy was established in Persia, 
 long before the foundation of the Assyrian power. 
 This monarchy was established on principles, 
 exaftly similar to those, which afterwards regu¬ 
 lated the polity of the Brahmins. It as related 
 that their first monarch of the present age, wh» 
 
 w Amnjiian. Marcel, i. 33 , c. 6 , 
 
. 
 
 governed Iran and the whole earth, divided the 
 people into four orders; the religious, the mili¬ 
 tary, the commercial, and the servile ; to which 
 he assigned names, unquestionably the same as 
 those, which are now applied to designate the 
 four primary classes of the Hindoos. We are 
 also assured that this monarch received from the 
 Supreme Being, for the use of n>ankind, a book 
 jof regulations, \yhich coniprehended every lan¬ 
 guage, and eyery science. The sanie account 
 asserts, that after him, arose thirteen other 
 prophets, who taught the same religion, and 
 adopted the same institutions; every successive 
 revelation corroborating the first. Now it is 
 well known that the Brahmins believe in precisely 
 the same number of celestial personages, one of 
 whonr promulgated a c,o4e of laws, which they 
 hold to be of equal authority with the Vedas 
 themselves ; and that the histories of Chaldea 
 and of Persia have been engrafted on the Indian 
 history, is a fadl too well known to require 
 additional illustration.* 
 
 From these circumstances, we are authorised 
 to conclude, that the Brahrainical faith, in its 
 grand outlines, though not in those additions and 
 i^ormptions which it may have suffered during a 
 
 * dee the translated by Gladwin, Sec. l. 
 
long course of time, was the first departure from 
 the pure and primeval religion of mankind, that 
 it was imported, at a very early period, from Iran 
 into India ; that the tribes, who migrated thither, 
 carried with them some scattered remains of their 
 religion in writing, from which the Vedas and 
 the Sastra were compiled ; that these books seem 
 to have been founded on ancient symbols badly 
 understood, and misinterpreted 5 and that what 
 remains of them consists of extravagant allegory, 
 of which little can now be decyphered. 
 
 That Iran, understood in its true and enlarged 
 signification, was the country from which the 
 three original and distinS races of men first 
 separated, is rendered still more probable, from 
 its central situation. It was from this part of the 
 globe that the adventurous prpgeny of Japhet 
 could biest transport themselves to those countries, 
 which, on account of their being separated from 
 Judea by jthe sea, are emphatically styled m the 
 writings of Moses, “ the isles of the Gentiles,” 
 in contradistinftion to Asia, which to Palestine 
 was stri£ljy continental. It was nearest to this 
 quarter that the peaceful descendants of Shem 
 settled themselves in Arabia, where so many of 
 their names may now be discovered ; and it was 
 from this quarter, that the Ammonian race, so 
 
124 
 
 famed for daring exploits, subdued the vast and 
 fertile countries of India, Ethiopia, and the coun¬ 
 tries situated on the Nile ; where they have left 
 so many vestiges of their scientific excellence, 
 and of their martial prowess. 
 
 Having thus endeavoured to ascertain, from 
 the concurrence of historical testimony, as well 
 as from other probable proofs, the point, from 
 which the general dispersion of mankind took 
 place, our researches become more confined. It 
 is now sufficient to mark the progress of that 
 particular family, whose history and settlement 
 are more intimately conne£led with that nation, 
 the religion of which forms the subject of our 
 present enquiry. 
 
 It is an idea in the highest degree probable, 
 that a'partial migration of the different races of 
 mankind might have happened, sometime before 
 that remarkable and general dispersion occurred, 
 in consequence of the presumptuous attempt of a 
 particular colony to raise a fabric of immense 
 height in defiance of the divine power. 
 
 t 
 
 Neither is it necessary to suppose, that the 
 principal founders of the different colonies led 
 them all, in person, to those regions, in which 
 
125 
 
 they afterwards ‘settled. It is on the contrary 
 to be expefted, that subordinate branches of 
 the parent stock would retain the name of their 
 original progenitor, and afterwards pay divine 
 honors to his memory, though they.might have 
 been immediately led to settlement or to conquest, 
 not by himself, but by one of his descendants. 
 
 Among the most adventurous and enterprizing 
 of all the Ammonian race, the names of Misr, 
 Rama, and Cush, yet remain unchanged in the 
 East, to shew to posterity the greatness of their 
 achievements, ‘and the high veneration, which 
 they must have impressed, on the minds of 
 distant generations. It may indeed appear won¬ 
 derful, that any single family should have extend¬ 
 ed itself so widely, and have formed settlements, 
 in so many parts of the world. Their usurpations 
 are said to have reached as far as India one way, 
 and in the countries called Ethiopia, as far as 
 Mauritania on the other. Differing from the 
 roving nations of Tartary, who have’been styled 
 
 the foundery of the human race,^^ but who, 
 with respe6l to science and letters, were buried 
 in the most deplorable ignorance, the descendants 
 of Ham have widely diffused those arts, in which 
 they peculiarly excelled, and by which they may, 
 at thi§ day, be discerned. Their unrivalledi 
 
126 
 
 superiority In manUfaflure, their lilagnificent 
 Structures, so charaCteristical of their bold and 
 ardent temper, the complexion of their religious 
 ceremonies, are all too strongly marked to be 
 mistaken. 
 
 In all the researches S^hich have been made 
 into the mythology of India, additional evidence 
 has been adduced, to strengthen the conjeCture, 
 that either Cush himself, or one of his progeny 
 assuming his name, led the first colony from 
 Shinaar eastward, and peopled the country of 
 Hindoostan, or as it is styled by themselves in 
 their sacred geography the Continent of Ciish.*^ 
 The express words of their own books> the 
 genealogies of their heroes and deiiiigods, Which 
 rank this personage among their number, as Wdl 
 as their peculiarity of religion, and their eminence 
 in scientific pursuits, would indisputably prove 
 them to belong to the Ammoliian race. 
 
 But positive and unsupported assertions hf this 
 kind would possibly pass unnoticedi ahd Would 
 certainly fail in producing a complete conviCiion, 
 that a descendant of the Patriarch had really 
 founded the Indian colony; if the geographical 
 part of the Puranas of the Hindoos, had not also 
 satisfactorily pointed out those other regions^ 
 
127 
 
 whefe different branches of the same family have 
 fixed their residence. This has been effefted 
 with such remarkably accuracy, as not only to 
 furnish a perspicuous commentary on an interest¬ 
 ing part of the Mosaical writings, but also to 
 confirm, in a striking manner, those testimonies 
 on the subjeft, which are incidentally scattered 
 In the works of several profane writers. 
 
 The similarity between the Indian race, and 
 
 r 
 
 the Eastern Ethiopians of Africa, is a citcurri- 
 stance which seems to have particularly engaged 
 the attention of the ancient poets, geographers, 
 and Historians. When Homer conducts Neptune 
 into Ethiopia, he places him in the centre be¬ 
 tween two nations, both black, biit essentially 
 differing from each other: and he adds, that 
 they inhabited the two opposite extremities of 
 the world.y Herodotus has marked the differ¬ 
 ence, which Homer has omitted to specify. He 
 mentions the Eastern Ethiopia, who were con¬ 
 sidered as Indians; and that they were distin¬ 
 guished from tho'se of Africa, by the straitness of 
 their hair.^* Arriuh informs us, that the Indians 
 differed very little from the Ethiopians of Africa, 
 especially from those of the South, being of the 
 
 ^ Odyss, 1. a v. 22. 
 
 ^ Herod, b, 7, p, Ed. Franc. 150 $, 
 
128 
 
 same dark complexion, 3^nd that those who lived 
 in the North more resembled the Egyptians.* 
 Strabo describes them in the same manner, and 
 very strongly insists on the likeness between the 
 southern Indians^ and the natives of Ethiopia.^ 
 
 In the form-of their government, in their 
 scientific pursuits, and in their religious tenets, , 
 an affinity prevailed, which clearly pointed out a 
 common origin. According to Philostratus the 
 Gymnosophists of Ethiopia were descended from 
 the Brahmins of India, having been expelled 
 from that country for the murder of their king, 
 near the Ganges.' ^ It is probably for this reason 
 that Lucian derives the science of astronomy 
 from Ethiopia, by which we must understand him 
 to mean from those Gymnosophists, who brought 
 their sciences with them into Ethiopia from 
 . Hindoostan, 
 
 It cannot therefore but be deemed a valuable 
 confirmation of the truth of this intelligence, 
 colle6ted from such a variety of sources, and 
 from authors, who have written at differgijt times 
 with such different views, to learn, that in the 
 
 ^ Arrian, Indie. 
 
 ^ Strabo, 1. 13. 
 
 Philostrat. in Vit, Apoll, 1.3, c. 6, 
 
I'lQ 
 
 Sanscrit geography, this resemblance is aLccoilnted 
 for in the most satisfaftory manner. It appears 
 that there are two Continents called the Conti¬ 
 nents of Cush ; the one called the iniier Conti¬ 
 nent, cornprehending India, while Abyssinia and 
 Ethiopia are styled the outer Continent: and the 
 Brahmins account, plausibly enough, for its name, 
 by asserting that some of the descendants of Cush, 
 being obliged to leave their country migrated 
 thither, and gave to the new settlement, the 
 name of their ancestor.** * This circumstance ap¬ 
 propriately confirms the observation of Josephus, 
 that time has in no respe6l effaced the memory 
 of Cush, for among all the descendants of the 
 Ammonian race, his name has obtained the 
 highest veneration, while the traces of his progeny 
 are easily and dlstin6Ily ascertained** 
 
 That the Chinese belong to the same family, 
 and were originally a colony from India, is another 
 fa£l, which if it cannot be supported by that 
 accumulation of evidence, which the former car¬ 
 ries with it, has notwithstanding a strong proba¬ 
 bility in its favor. This nation, which has been 
 extolled by some, as the wisest and most in¬ 
 genious of the human race,, while others have 
 
 ^ ^ Asiat. Res. v. 3. 
 
 1 Joseph, Aiit. Ind. 1.1. c. 6* 
 
130 
 
 derided its pr^tendons to antiquity and to civili¬ 
 zation, has been not less differently represented 
 ' with regard to its origin. Among jthe various 
 opinions which have been advanced on this sub¬ 
 ject, that of the Brahmins is not the least arbi¬ 
 trary : and if the question were to be settled ori 
 their authority, it would be decisively proved, 
 that the Chinese proceeded from the Indian 
 stock. They assert that the Chinese were for¬ 
 merly Hindoos of the military class, who, aban¬ 
 doning the privileges of their order, wandered, in 
 large bodies, to the north-east of Bengal: and 
 forgetting gradually the rites and institutions of 
 their ancestors, established there separate princi¬ 
 palities. This is not' only the opinion of the 
 modern Brahmins, who might be induced to 
 support it from motives of national vanity, but 
 is the unsuspicious testimony of the Institutes of 
 Menu. 
 
 Nor is this opinion wholly unsupported by the 
 authority of other ancient historians. Pausanias 
 gives a very interesting account of this people. 
 He takes notice of the Indians under the deno¬ 
 mination of the Seres, and describes two different 
 nations, who were distinguished by this appel¬ 
 lation. The first was situated on the great 
 Erythrean or Indian ocean, or rather upon the 
 
131 
 
 Ganges, being a province inclosed by the branches 
 of that river. The other country of the Seres was 
 farther removed towards the East. It is the same 
 as China, though spoken of by Pausanias as an 
 island, and it lies opposite to the island of Japan.^/ 
 
 In attempting to confirm this opinion, by a 
 comparison of the religion and philosophy of the 
 Chinese, with those of India, various obstacles 
 oppose themselves. Their po;^ular religion is 
 known to have been imported from India, at a 
 period comparatively modern : and of their at¬ 
 tainments in knowledge a learned traveller boldly 
 asserts, that “ the Chinese had no sciences,’' 
 that is to say none which they had not received 
 from other nations.? ’ 
 
 But there are, even yet, traces, though indeed 
 imperfeft, in the names of the Deities, both of 
 China and Japan, and in the mythology, with 
 which they are attended, sufficiently clear to 
 point out the country, from which they were 
 originally derived. There is precisely that af- 
 ' jfinity, which favors the adoption of the opinion 
 supported by the Brahmins, that the Chinese 
 • were apostates from the Brahminical faith* An 
 
 ^ Pausan. 1.6. 
 
 ? Renaudof, 
 
 X 2 
 
132 
 
 author who cannot be accused of partiality hi 
 favor of the sacred writings,*after, a long and 
 laborious investigation, was led to think that 
 
 the puerile and absurd stories of the Chinese 
 fabulists contain a remnant of ancient Indian 
 history, and a faint sketch of the first Hindoo 
 ages.”* From which a conclusion may fairly be 
 drawn, that they were originally the same people •, 
 but that the Chinese have corrupted their lan¬ 
 guage and their religion, by a mixture with the 
 Tartarian bloo^; while the Hindoos have preserv¬ 
 ed both, by keeping their races uncontaminated. 
 
 It nowremains to point out the connexion 
 between the inhabitants of India and that nation, 
 which has disputed with them the palm of su¬ 
 periority in speculative science and in pra6i:ical 
 art j in those pursuits, which elevate and expand 
 the mind, and in those institutions, which 
 heighten and refine the enjoyments of social life. 
 
 From an accurate survey of the Brahminical 
 religion, as we find it established in India, it is 
 impossible not to perceive its essential identity 
 with that of the Egyptians, and therefore that 
 both must have emanated from a common origin. 
 
 * JBailli. 
 
133 
 
 Both nations were distinguished by a division 
 into various orders, of which the philosophers 
 were the most honourable. Each tribe adhered 
 to the profession of its family, and never invaded 
 the department of another. The fundamental 
 principles of their astronomical systems, would 
 also incline us to suppose, that their sciences 
 were derived from the same source. 
 
 To explain this fa61: two hypotheses have been 
 adopted, and defended, with equal warmth. The 
 first, that the religion and sciences of Hindoostan 
 were transported from that country into Egypt ; 
 the second, which supports the converse of this 
 proposition, and maintains, that the religious 
 tenets of the Brahmins were brought into India 
 from Egypt, at a comparatively recent period. 
 It has been alleged that in the remotest asr^s to 
 which history reaches, we find the Brahminical 
 religion established' in Egypt j ' but that the 
 religion of Boodh was the predominant and 
 primitive faith established in India, though after¬ 
 wards subdued and nearly extirpated, by the 
 preponderating influence of Brahminism. 
 
 If the first of these hypotheses cannot be fully 
 substantiated, yet from the mass of evidence 
 which has been adduced, we are justified in con- 
 
 K 3 
 
134 
 
 eluding that the ancient Brahmins possessed a 
 knowledge of the countries situated on the bor¬ 
 ders of the Nile, and that an intimate connexion 
 once subsisted between India and'Egypt. On 
 still less satisfaftory grounds has the contrary 
 opinion been maintained. That the Brahminical 
 system, with its division of castes, had been com¬ 
 pletely established in India, at the time of Alex¬ 
 ander ; that it universally prevailed throughout 
 all the countries situated between the Indus and 
 the Ganges, are positions founded on the con-r 
 currence of, historical testimony, whose force 
 could not be resisted, even if a survey of the 
 religious edifices in India, and of the sculpture 
 which adorns them, did not tend to corroborate 
 their truth. 
 
 That by the Misra of the Puranas must be 
 intended Egypt, is a supposition which scarcely 
 admits a doubt, when we know that this country 
 has so long retained, throughout the East, the 
 name of its original founder, It is related in 
 the geography of the Brahmins, that the country 
 of Egypt was peopled by a mixed race, consisting 
 of various tribes, who though living for their 
 convenience in the same region, kept themselves 
 distinft, and were perpetually disputing about 
 their boundaries, or what is more probable about 
 
' las 
 
 their religious opinions. This account of the 
 miscellaneous origin of the Egyptians is perfefitly 
 consistent with modern observation. According 
 to the opinion of an eminent anatomist,* the 
 Egyptians may be divided into three distinft 
 classes; the first, that of the Ethiopians in Africa ^ 
 the second, that of the Hindoos; and the last 
 partaking of the nature of both. A mixture so 
 general must prove the accession of Hindoos to 
 the Egyptians, and that in considerable numbers. 
 Even if the slender evidence which has been 
 brought to support the contrary opinion, that a 
 colony of Egyptians had settled themselves in 
 Hindoostan, be admitted, yet we may safely 
 conclude, that they visited the sages in India, 
 as they themselves were afterwards visitqd by the 
 sages of Greece rather to acquire than to 
 impart knowledge ; nor is it likely that the self- 
 sufficient Brahmins would have received them 
 as their preceptors.^ 
 
 From a comparison of these different fafts, 
 the following will appear to be the result: at 
 the time of the general dispersion of mankind, 
 some tribes migrated towards the East to India, 
 while others diverged towards the West to Egypt, 
 
 * See a Paper by Dr. Blumenbach, in the 84th vol. of the Philosoph.TransatJl 
 ^ Sir W. Jones on the gods of Greece, Italy, and India, 
 
 K 4 
 
136 
 
 land some still remained in their original' settle* 
 jnents in Chaldcea. Egypt therefore we might 
 expeft to find the source of knowledge, for the 
 western, and India for the eastern parts of the 
 globe. The few general traditions, which they 
 had received from their ancestors, it is reasonable 
 to imagine, would find a place in the religious 
 systems of all. These traditions would remain 
 unaltered, chiefly in countries like India, insulated 
 from the rest of the world by’continued and al¬ 
 most impregnable barriers. From the unrestrain¬ 
 ed intercourse, which so long subsisted between 
 India and Egypt, it is probable, that a communi¬ 
 cation might have taken place, on subjefts of 
 religion and science ; that we have the strongest 
 reason fo conclude that large bodies of-Hindoos 
 have settled themselves in Egypt ; but that there 
 is no reason to imagine, that the Brahminical 
 system was transported, at a recent period, from 
 Egypt into India, 
 
 This opinion is not less reconcileable with 
 probability, than with the express language of 
 Scripture. Whatever the most ancient profane 
 historians relate concerning the early civilization, 
 and high attainments of the ancient Indians, no 
 less than of the Egyptian nation, is confirmed 
 by various passages of the sacred volume. The 
 
lar 
 
 description which is given of the wisest of men is, 
 that his wisdom excelled all the wisdom of the 
 East country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.’* 
 
 To enter into a discussion of any farther con- 
 firmation, which the geographical records of the 
 Brahmins, joined with the testimony of other 
 historians, have afforded to the Mosaical account 
 of the origin, and settlement of nations, would 
 lead into too extensive a field of argument. It 
 mig ht indeed be gratifying to the curious, to 
 pursue the followers of Brahma, to trace their 
 religion, their language, and their sciences, 
 through the vast range of country, which they 
 have pervaded, in different degrees, and under^ 
 various modifications. It might be particularly 
 interesting to discover the Brahminical religiou 
 prevailing in its full vigor throughout the British 
 isles, to penetrate the recesses of the Druidical 
 groves, to draw their mysterious ceremonies to 
 light, and to follow them up to the fountain, 
 from which they were originally derived. But 
 such a discussion would bear but a remote 
 application to the design of these discourses, 
 and the proofs would be less satisfa 61 ory than 
 those which have now been offered. I hough the 
 principles on which such an enquiry should be 
 instituted, might be sound 3 yet, as the argunients. 
 
_) , 
 
 % 
 
 ■138 
 
 in their defence, must be colle£led from a variety 
 of sources of different pretensions to credibility, 
 they might be controverted in particular instances. 
 If the present discourse shall afford a specimen 
 of what may be effefted with better abilities, 
 and on a more enlarged plan, than could possibly 
 be here adopted ; and if it shall tend to shew, 
 that although so little respe£l: has been paid to 
 the genealogies of the sacred history by many 
 writers of the present day, yet that a more careful 
 investigation would lead to a contrary judgment, 
 its design will be completely answered. 
 
 Some observations will however be hazarded 
 on the labors of those, who have undertaken this 
 arduous task, which may serve to defend them 
 from those indiscriminate and unmerited censures, 
 by which they have been attacked. 
 
 Tlie time of that man would indeed' be mis¬ 
 employed, which was spent in attempting to 
 vindicate those writers, who have devoted their 
 talents to the elucidation of the symbols and 
 ceremonies of Pagan mythology, from a propensity 
 to form groundless theories, and to deduce arbi¬ 
 trary and unsupported ^conclusions ; a charge 
 which has been sometimes urged with a degree 
 of asperity far beyond what the subjea demanded. 
 
 ) 
 
»nd sometimes with sarcasm and ridicule t(> 
 which no subje£t can be less appropriate. 
 
 But if on the one hand it may be admitted, , 
 that this condemnation has not been entirely 
 unfounded; yet, in many instances, it has been 
 equally unjust and ungenerous, the result of 
 wilful perversion or of ignorance. Arguments 
 arising from etymological analogies, from a com¬ 
 parison of archite£lural monuments, from an 
 elucidation of hieroglyphical sculpture, as they 
 are of a distinft and peculiar nature, so they 
 require a peculiar turn of mind and peculiar 
 studies to understand them ; such arguments the 
 generality of readers are little qualified to com¬ 
 prehend, and still less to appreciate. They cer¬ 
 tainly cannot carry with them that convi£l:ion 
 which arises from demonstration, neither will 
 they admit of those decorations arising from 
 imagery and fascination of style, by which many 
 other theories in philosophy, equally absurd, 
 visionary, and impious, have captivated the po¬ 
 pular taste. 
 
 * If however gratuitous assumption and fanciful 
 theory are to be thus indiscriminately and harshly 
 condemned s the charge may be safely retorted 
 on those who have been the most forward to 
 
140 
 
 V 
 
 allege it. If arbitrary and unsupported assertion 
 must be thus severely stigmatized, Bailli is far 
 more obnoxious to censure than Bryant. If the 
 one, amidst that rich variety of information which 
 he has amassed, may have collected some of 
 dubious authority ; if, in attempting to unravel 
 the origin of ancient mythology, and the primitive 
 religion of the Ammonian race, he may have 
 fancifully explained some hieroglyphics, and 
 wrested some fables from their obvious significa¬ 
 tion ; the other will still rriore justly deserve the 
 epithet of visionary, who has ascribed the origin 
 of eastern science and superstition to the North/ 
 who has placed the gardens of Hesperus and the 
 groves of Elysium in the dreary regions of Scythia, 
 and who has fixed the first spot of civilization in 
 a country undefined by geographers, of which we 
 know not the existence. If it be reprobated as 
 an absurd chimera, or a ridiculous legend, even 
 ' upon the authority of all historical evidence, 
 that the whole globe was originally peopled from 
 a particular spot, it is still more visionary to 
 assert, in defiance of all historical evidence, that 
 the countries of the East must have been peopled 
 by northern tribes, merely because the southern 
 nations have been unfit for conquest or for distant 
 expeditions j when we know, that in the earliest 
 periods of Asiatic history, all its invasions wer« 
 
141 
 
 from the South ; when melancholy experience 
 has evinced, that not only the fabled conquests 
 of Bacchus, Semiramis, and Sesostris, but the 
 conquests of the Arabians under Mohammed, 
 the most rapid, the most extensive, and the most 
 calamitous, which the world ever saw, pointedly 
 contradifl: the assertion. 
 
 If the fafts which have been collefted in this 
 discourse, should be allowed to carry any weight, 
 they will amply vindicate the labors of those, who 
 have employed their ingenuity and learning in 
 the illustration of this, and other parts of the 
 sacred geography. Nor should it be forgotten, 
 in a disquisition designed to promote the ends 
 of pra6tical piety, that whatever degree of merit 
 may be allowed to their different conjectures, 
 on their intentions th^re can exist no contrariety 
 of opinion. No hypothesis can be lightly esteem¬ 
 ed, which has for its objeCt the confirmation of 
 revealed truth ; nor can the philosophy of that 
 
 N 
 
 man ever be useless, which brings him nearer to 
 God; which either strengthens his faith, or 
 animates his piety. It has for its reward what 
 is far more valuable than the praise of men f ’ 
 that reward which shall remain when tongues 
 shall cease and knowledge shall vanish away f * 
 which indeed can only receive its full acconi' 
 
< 
 
 142 
 
 plishment when our present limited attainments, 
 shall be ripened into perfe£lionj when hope shall 
 be recornpensed by enjoyment, and when our 
 capacities shall be fitted for the comprehension 
 of infinite truth,. 
 
 * 
 
( 
 
 V 
 
 
 DISCOURSE V. 
 
 ON THE CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 THE BRAHMINICAL SYSTEM, WITH THE PRIMEVAL 
 RELIGION OF MANKIND. 
 
 Preliminary cautions in judging concerning 
 the traces of general traditions in Pagan 
 Mythologies—What traces of primitive 
 revelation discernahle in the Brahminical 
 iystem'^The Unity oj God—The Fall of 
 Man^The Custom of sacrificial oblations 
 —“The oblation of a Divine Personage for 
 the sins of mankind““ Recapitulation. 
 
 
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i 
 
 DISCOURSE V. 
 
 ON THE COKRESPONDENCE OF 
 THE BRAHMINICAL SYSTEM^ WITH THE PRIMEVAli 
 RELIGION OF MANKIND. 
 
 Psalm 147 , v. 19,20. 
 
 He shewefh his waysjinto Jacob, his statutes and 
 his ordinances unto Israel; he hath not dealt 
 so with any nation, neither have the heathen 
 knowledge of his laws. 
 
 It was the obje6t of the preceding discourse 
 to point out the manner in which the principal 
 nations, conne6ted with the Indian race, separated 
 from their parent stock 3 and by degrees turning 
 aside from the worship of the true God, were 
 at length plunged into the grossest polytheism 
 and idolatry. The arguments, which could be 
 adduced to prove, that any two remote and 
 independent nations were derived from a com¬ 
 mon origin, were shewn to be reducible under 
 three distin£t classes; first, similarity in the 
 formation of the human body ; secondly, simila¬ 
 rity in the stru6ture of language ; and lastly, that 
 which furnishes the most incontrovertible proof. 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 similarity in religious opinions, and in those civil 
 institutions which owe their existence to religious 
 sanctions. 
 
 I . ' 
 
 The design of the present discourse, is to 
 retrace the path which has already been pursued, 
 and to enquire, \Vhether any impressions may 
 yet be discovered in their corrupted mythology 
 of a purer faith, which was coeval with the 
 creation, revealed to man immediately by the 
 author of his existence, and which may be pro¬ 
 perly termed the primeval religion of mankind. 
 
 ^. What might have been the religion of man in 
 a state of purity and perfection ; what knowlege 
 he might have possessed, of the essence and 
 attributes of the supreme Being; what might 
 have been his obligations, and what his duties, 
 it is equally impossible for us to comprehend 
 with clearness, or to define with accuracy. On 
 this subject nothing can be found to gratify 
 curiosity, and conjeCture is equally vain and 
 unprofitable. Such an enquiry can have no re- 
 
 ' ference to the present state of human nature, 
 and is therefore wisely rendered fruitless. AVe 
 are only interested in considering what revelation 
 of the divine will was afforded to mankind, 
 immediately after that order of providence com- 
 
147 
 
 A 
 
 thenced> which we now experience. This state 
 is indeed variously represented, according to the 
 tamper of different individuals 5 and the repre¬ 
 sentation will principally differ, whether it be 
 considered as a state of final compensation, or 
 as connefted with another, and preparatory to a 
 future state of perfeftion. But to the following 
 definition few will be inclined to objeft : that it 
 is a state in which there are evident marks of 
 beneficent design, though those designs are often 
 counterafted, and prevented from taking effedl; 
 a state in which man is endued with a desire of 
 happiness, though complete happiness is absolute¬ 
 ly unattainable ; a state in which good and evil 
 are never entirely separated, but frequently pro¬ 
 duced out of each other. 
 
 \ 
 
 Whether under this condition of human nature 
 a divine revelation were expedient or necessary; 
 whether such a revelation would improve the 
 present state of mankind, and might therefore be 
 expefted from a Being, who according to any 
 reasonable conceptions must desire the hap¬ 
 piness of his creatures ; whether this revelation 
 should have been proposed to all men alike, and 
 when proposed should have produced irresistible 
 conviftion ; these are questions, which, though 
 capable of a rational solution, would lead us too 
 
 I. 'i 
 
1 
 
 148 
 
 far from' the objeft of our present enquiry* This 
 will be confined to the more obvious question^ 
 whether any proofs exist, to shew that any pro¬ 
 mulgation of the divine will was originally vouch¬ 
 safed. 
 
 When the passage recited in the text, and 
 there are various other passages in the Old 
 Testament which speak the same sense, records 
 the intimate connexion which subsisted between 
 the Deity and his peculiar people, it is to be 
 understood as referring chiefly to the visible 
 display of the divine favor, which was manifested 
 under the Jewish dispensation. It accurately 
 describes that polity, wherein the line of duty 
 was marked out by the finger of God, and in 
 which the interposition of Omnipotence extend¬ 
 ed, even to temporal concerns, and obedience 
 was enforced by temporal sanctions. It cannot 
 be understood to imply, that the other and far 
 greater, part of mankind had never received, 
 from the supreme Being, any intimation of his 
 will. The Jewish revelation itself professes to 
 be built on the foundation of another, and prior 
 covenant, established between the Creator and 
 the whole human race. The declaration made 
 to Abraham, ‘‘in thy seed shall all the nations 
 of the earth be blessed/' conveys some additional 
 
149 
 
 information to what was before known. It can¬ 
 not be reconciled with reason, if considered as an 
 insulated passage, and unconne 61 :ed with a pre¬ 
 vious and universal communication, that through 
 the seed of a woman, salvation should be obtain¬ 
 ed and effefted. 
 
 But although the Jewish dispensation was 
 founded on a former covenant of more general 
 concernment, yet we are not to imagine that it 
 was nothing more than a republication of pro¬ 
 mises perverted or forgotten : nothing more than 
 a renewal of what is called the primeval religion 
 of mankind. The positive declaration of the 
 Psalmist, that the dealings of God with his 
 chosen people were essentially distinguished from 
 those with the other nations of the earth, obliges 
 us to draw a different conclusion. It may na¬ 
 turally be expelled, that every new communica¬ 
 tion of the divine will, must discover some new^ 
 and important relation between God and man, 
 and must impose on the latter some additional 
 obligations, resulting from such a discovery. 
 
 Revelation then, if we would form an accurate 
 idea of its design, must be considered, first, as a 
 connefted scheme, which cannot be properly 
 comprehended, unless viewed in its several parts 
 
 L 3 
 
150 
 
 and dependencies; anjd secondly, as a progres¬ 
 sive scheme, every successive addition to the 
 stru£lure being not only cemented with the pre*' 
 ceding, but conferring an accession of strength^ 
 utility, and beauty, on the whole. 
 
 Although these observations may be too evi¬ 
 dent to admit of dispute, and have been too 
 frequently insisted on to bear even the appear¬ 
 ance of novelty ; yet they suggest this important 
 corollary, not sufficiently insisted on : that there 
 is no relation of God to man revealed to the 
 primitive race of mankind, which is not more 
 fully revealed under the Jewish, and still farther 
 under the Christian dispensation 5 but that there 
 ^are many discoveries in the two last, which we 
 shall in vain expeft to find in the former. 
 
 # 
 
 It is the more necessary to advert to this con^ 
 
 elusion, because the oldest, and what has been 
 * 
 
 boldly termed the noblest and purest religion, 
 that religion which prevailed throughout the 
 world before the imaginations of men became 
 corrupted, and they transferred to the creature 
 the worship which is due only to the Creator, has 
 been represented as nothing more than a refined 
 deism. This religion is described to consist in 
 a firm belief that one supreme God made th« 
 
151 
 
 world by bis power, and continually governs it 
 by his providence ; a pious fear, love, and adora¬ 
 tion of him; a due reverence for parents and aged 
 persons; a fraternal affeftion for the whole human 
 species, and a compassionate tenderness even for 
 the brute creation.’^ 
 
 This definition maybe true, as far as it extends, 
 but falls short of a complete description. The 
 oldest religion of mankind was the same In es¬ 
 sence, though not in degree, with the Jewish 
 and Christian dispensations which succeeded. 
 Man at that time, standing in the same relation 
 with respefl: to God as at present, had need of 
 the same promises to animate his hopes, and the 
 same sanctions to enforce his obedience. We 
 are therefore authorized to conclude, that in this 
 primitive revelation were contained the outlines, 
 though the outlines only, of that comprehensive 
 plan, which it was the lot of the patriarchs to 
 behold afar off, but which it is our happiness to 
 see in its full accomplishment. 
 
 With what degree of clearness and precision, - 
 those promises, which have received their com- 
 ,pletion under the dispensation of the Gospel, 
 might have been revealed to the progenitors of 
 the human race, it is no less difficult, than import- 
 
 L 4 
 
✓ 
 
 15^2 
 
 ant, to determine. If on the one hand, their 
 religion has been reduced by some to a pure 
 deism, it has been exalted by others, to a more 
 perfeft knowledge of the divine economy, than 
 perhaps was really given. The concise account 
 which the Mosaical records have supplied, of the 
 religion of the early world, may lead us to imagine, 
 that the historian has only related what was 
 absolutely necessary, and has left us to fill up the 
 imperfe 61 : sketch which he has delineated. But 
 whenever we attempt this task, it is requisite to 
 guard against the suggestions of a warm imagina-*- 
 tion, and the idea that mankind, at this remote 
 period, possessed a clearer view of the future 
 condition of their posterity, than was vouchsafed. 
 We may be allowed to admire the lofty genius of 
 Milton, who from the scanty materials which the 
 sacred history has furnished, could raise from the 
 fertile stores of his own imagination a stru6lure, 
 not less admirable for the nice adjustment and 
 exa6l proportion of its particular parts, than for 
 the splendid effect of the whole. But in laying 
 down principles, from which to deduce argu¬ 
 ments, such a method, however ingeniously pur¬ 
 sued, will be found treacherous and unsafe. It 
 must be difficult, and perhaps impossible, for 
 those who have lived under the refulgence of 
 the perfect day,'' to form an accurate judgment 
 
J53 
 
 of the situation of those, who saw only the early 
 dawning of revealed light. 
 
 General and succinft however, as is the infor¬ 
 mation contained in the sacred history, and dan¬ 
 gerous as it might prove implicitly to follow the 
 vivid, but illusive light of the imagination, there 
 is yet another source open to us, which will 
 sometimes supply the defe 61 :. There are still 
 remaining, in the mythology of every nation, some 
 general traditions which could never have been 
 dilated by natural reason ; some customs which 
 could never have originated in any other cause, 
 than in positive institution; which, however 
 perverted and obscured, may be clearly traced up 
 to a common source. By conneQing these with 
 the fa6ls, which our own written oracles supply, 
 we may be sometimes enabled to form arguments, 
 which if they will not amount to the strictness of 
 demonstration, may yet claim a very high degree 
 of moral probability : a pertinent example may 
 best illustrate the truth of this remark. 
 
 When immediately after the first and fatal 
 transgression of man, a promise was given that 
 
 the seed of the woman should bruise the head 
 of the serpent, but that the serpent should bruise 
 his heel however obscure these expressions 
 
r54 
 
 may be, yet we may fairly interpret them to 
 signify, that a future deliverer should appear, 
 assuming a double charafter, both suffering and 
 triumphant: so far we may be allowed to go, 
 but no farther. We may imagine it probable, 
 that some additional information was given con¬ 
 cerning this extraordinary personage ; but we 
 have no right to argue that there really was. 
 We have no right to assume, that the promise 
 extended so far as to predi6f, that this personage 
 should be divine, or ^rather the divinity itself; 
 stilt less that any intimation was given concerning 
 the time of his appearance, or concerning the 
 place where he should appear. But if it be 
 found that the incarnation of the divinity, by his 
 own will and pleasure, was a do6frine of universal 
 extent, and unquestionable antiquity ; if this 
 doftrine be found generally current throughout 
 the East, and forming a leading article of their 
 popular creed; if it be found also diffused 
 throughout the western world, and taught by 
 those philosophers who had acquired a knowlege 
 of oriental learning ; if it be also discovered that 
 this opinion was more than ordinarily predomi¬ 
 nant at the time of the appearance of Christ; 
 if it be proved that the Jews were, at that time, 
 in such a state of depression, as to be the con¬ 
 tempt and derision of the nations around them; 
 
1^5 
 
 and that if the rumour had entirely originated 
 from them, it would have neither been entitled to 
 any credit, nor would have been imputed to any 
 other motive than national vanity ; if above all it 
 be found that all these distindf circumstances are 
 transmitted to us, not by Christians, but by some 
 who were indifferent, and by others who were 
 host;le, to the Christian cause ; if we conne61: all 
 this information with the written promise con¬ 
 tained in the history of Moses, we may fairly and 
 reasonably infer, that the written promise was 
 only the substance of what was more fully com¬ 
 municated to the' early world, and which com^ 
 munication traditional authority has thus contri*? 
 buted to preserve. 
 
 But in this method of reasoning, however 
 corre£l the general principle may be, there is a 
 necessity for caution in its exercise and applica¬ 
 tion. Of all authority, traditional authority is the 
 most equivocal and least satisfa61:ory» As infor¬ 
 mation, conveyed through this channel, is always 
 liable to corruption, by the addition of foreign 
 circumstances, it must on that account, be dif¬ 
 ficult to trace the original truth through the 
 mazes of error. 
 
 That all Pagan mythologies are founded on 
 
156 
 
 real revelation, is a position, which though gene¬ 
 rally true, is true only to a certain extent: this 
 assertion must be understood with several import¬ 
 ant aiid interesting limitations. In no instance 
 have learning and ingenuity been more unsuc- 
 , cessfully directed, than in unravelling their intri¬ 
 cacies, and especially in referring them to one 
 cause. To explain every hieroglyphical symbol, 
 to reconcile every physiological solecism, to 
 reduce every poetical hyperbole, and to unravel 
 every astronomical enigma, with the avowed 
 design of discovering through those shadows, 
 some important reality ; even if the principle 
 were in itself just, could never be executed in 
 such a manner as to command a reluflant assent, 
 and still less to enforce a rational convi6i:ion. 
 Much of the antient Pagan creed and ritual is 
 doubtful in its origin, much is absolutely inex¬ 
 plicable, and much, if it were capable of expla¬ 
 nation, would perhaps be found to have its rise in 
 causes trivial and absurd, 
 
 Neither will the great truths and mysteries of 
 the Christian Revelation ever gain credit, by such 
 an injudicious mode of defence ; but on the 
 contrary, its utility and its necessity will be less 
 conspicuous, and may even appear problematical. 
 Let us not, through a blind zeal, to prove that 
 
157 
 
 I 
 
 i\l false religions are shadows of the true, confef 
 on the aerial form the substance, the sinews, the 
 vitality, and the vigor which are the property of 
 the living original: let us not make the true 
 , religion itself nothing more than an unmeaning 
 replicate of the false. All that we should in 
 fairness contend for, because all that we can 
 satisfaftorily prove is, that a few prominent 
 features of the true religion are visible through 
 the mask of deformity, which polytheism has 
 superinduced ; with this additional circumstance, 
 that these lines must be more clearly discernible 
 in the countries situated nearest to the seat of 
 primeval tradition. 
 
 This preliminary view of the subjefit was 
 absolutely necessary, to enable us to enter, into 
 the discussion proposed; and will supply us 
 with some necessary cautions, in aid of our 
 judgment, when we attempt to delineate those 
 proofs, still to be discovered in the Brahminical 
 system, and which point to a higher and uncor¬ 
 rupted original. 
 
 The first grand doftrine of primeval revelation 
 prevalent in all the mythologies of the Heathen 
 world, though not generally insisted on, and 
 seldom considered in its true light, is that which 
 
158 
 
 constitutes the basis of every true religion^ the 
 doftrine of the Unity of God. 
 
 However the forms of Paganism may be 
 varied, yet in asserting this important truth they 
 all agree* ‘‘ From all the properties of man and 
 nature'' (is the language of an eminent writer) 
 
 from all the various branches of science, from 
 all the deduftions of human reason, the general 
 corollary admitted by Hindoos, Tartars, and 
 Arabs, by Persians and Chinese, is the supremacy 
 of an all-creating and all-preserving spirit, in¬ 
 finitely wise, good, and powerful ; but infinitely 
 removed from the comprehension of his most 
 exalted creatures."! 
 
 f 
 
 While the universal voice of tradition proclaims 
 that the religion of the primitive world was 
 something more than pure deism, the same au¬ 
 thority attests that this religion was nothing 
 different from the worship of the one true God ; 
 and fully rebuts the notion, that polytheism and 
 idolatry were thd oldest religion, on which the 
 doctrine of the Unity of God was a refinement. 
 If this had been the case, the opinion might have 
 found its way into the systems of speculative 
 
 ! SirW. 
 
159 
 
 philosophers, who might be supposed to entertain 
 exalted conceptions concerning the divine nature; 
 it might have animated the language of their 
 poets, who in the sublimity of their conceptions, 
 frequently rise higher than their philosophers 
 themselves 5 but would never have formed a 
 leading article of popular belief, would never 
 unexpectedly appear in those very writings, 
 which in other places inculcate the most degrad¬ 
 ing and licentious ideas of the divine Being, and 
 which prescribe a mode of worship, in dire 6 t 
 contradiftion to his unity and spirituality. The 
 do 6 lrine of a pure and invisible Spirit is so totally 
 abhorrent from idolatry, and yet is so frequently 
 expressed and acknowleged in those writings, 
 which inculcate the grossest idolatry, that it is 
 impossible to consider this tenet as belonging to 
 them. It is a tenet so entirely incongruous, that 
 it must have been derived from a source forei^jn 
 and extrinsical: it is like a solitary figure in a 
 painting, which differs from the rest of the 
 groupe, and betrays the hand of a different 
 master. 
 
 The Brahminical records, although they often 
 display most absurd and degrading ideas of the 
 Deity, yet occasionally speak of him in a lan¬ 
 guage truly noble ?nd exalted. It has been 
 
i6d 
 
 truly said, that the philosophical treatise of the 
 Geeta was designed to reform the abuses which 
 had been introduced into the Hindoo religion ; 
 and more particularly to inculcate the dodrine 
 of the Unity of God : but the other, and more 
 ancient sacred books of the Brahmins, not less 
 strenuously enforce the same truth. Their great 
 legislator describes him as the sole self-existing 
 power, he whom the mind alone can perceive^ 
 whose essence eludes the external organs, who 
 has no visible parts, who exists from eternity, 
 even the soul of all beings, whom no being can 
 comprehend.’’” The description of the Deity 
 exhibited in the Vedas has been compared, and 
 not unaptly, with the doftrines contained in the 
 first Article of the Church of England. 
 
 Although the Brahmins have expressed the 
 different powers of God and nature, by intro¬ 
 ducing different personifications of the Deity 
 into their worship ; although, at a subsequent 
 period, they expressed these powers by images 
 suited to their own licentious imaginations, yet 
 concerning their supreme Divinity it is written: 
 
 of him who is so great there is no image.”® 
 
 Menu, c. 1, V. 6, 7. 
 
 ” Colebrooke on the Vedas, Asiat. Res. v. S. 
 
Though the Hindoos have represented the 
 creating, preserving, and destroying powers of 
 nature, by different divine personages, yet that 
 they are to be understood in a mystical, and not 
 in a real sense ; that they denote qualities, and 
 not persons, the following passage which has 
 before been cited on the subjecl, may again be 
 quoted as decisive. 
 
 You are not to consider Vishnu, Brahma, 
 and Mahdeva, and other incorporate beings, as 
 the Deity, although they have each of them the 
 denomination of Deva or divine. They are all 
 created ; while the supreme Being is without 
 beginning or end, unformed, and uncreated : 
 worship and adore him. 
 
 The worship which is paid to inferior Deities 
 and to the representations of them, proceeds from 
 this. Mankind in general are more affe6ted by 
 appearances than by realities : the former they 
 comprehend, but the latter are difficult to be 
 understood. Hence learned tutors place figures 
 before them, that their minds^may be composed 
 and conducted, by degrees, to the essential Unity, 
 who survives the annihilation, when the Debtas 
 ^ and all created existence are absorbed into his 
 essence. 
 
 * From a Persic Version of the Yoog Vashesti, a very ancient composition 
 in Sanscrit, quoted by Lord Teicnmouth, in his life of Sir W. Jones, 
 V. 2. p. 284, 8vo. edit. Tv/r 
 
Quotations such as these, are indeed frequent¬ 
 ly brought 'forward with triumphant ostentation, 
 for the purpose of depreciating the necessity of 
 revelation, and of exalting the purity of Pagan 
 philosophy. With what justice and propriety 
 this method is pursued, will be a subjeft of . 
 future discussion : but when Paganism arrogates 
 to herself the merit of inculcating the Unity and 
 Spirituality of the Divine Essence, she assumes a 
 claim which does not belong to her. This may 
 be shewn from the observation already made, 
 concerning the manner in which this tenet is 
 inculcated, and from the little influence which 
 it possessed on the praQice of the heathen world. 
 
 Neither does it appear, that the idea of one 
 invisible Spirit pervading and animating all 
 nature is that, which would have been likely 
 to be adopted by human reason unaided by the 
 light of revelation. The propensities of mankind 
 have constantly led them to different conclusions. 
 Not only the proneness of the vulgar in every 
 age and country, to relapse into polytheistic and 
 idolatrous worship, strongly militates against this 
 supposition s but it is still more forcibly opposed, 
 by the refinements aud speculations of philoso¬ 
 phers themselves. If the vulgar paid their ado¬ 
 ration to a variety of sensible obje£ls, it wa$ 
 
103 
 
 because the philosopher first delighted to trace 
 the Deity through the different operations of . 
 nature ; and the distin£tion of these diversified 
 powers, at length led to a separation of them. 
 The observation is not without its force, that the 
 Unity of God may be an idea, too sublime for the 
 human mind to dwell on ; and it was therefore 
 natural to view, in its several parts, and to 
 observe in its various effefts, what, in the whole, 
 was an objeft too vast for mental contemplation. 
 
 Still however it must be allowed, that as all 
 our speculations concerning the attributes of 
 God, must, from our limited capacities, be liable 
 to uncertainty, the marks of primeval tradition, 
 on this article, may not be so evident. ' A dif¬ 
 ficulty may occur in distinguishing between what 
 might have been reasoned out by the intelleftual 
 faculties, and what must have been communicated 
 by express revelation. We may imagine it im¬ 
 probable, that man would ever have arrived at 
 any just conceptions of the supreme Being by 
 his own unassisted reason ; nay, we may perhaps 
 pronounce it absolutely impossible. We can 
 proceed, however, with more confidence to the 
 second article ; which from 'the nature of God, 
 descends to the condition of man. The next 
 proof of primitive tradition disceniible in every* 
 
 M 2 
 
i64 
 
 mythology of the ancient world, and particularly 
 
 in the Brahminical system, is the Fall of Man. 
 
 / 
 
 . The fall of man then, may be considered either 
 as a barren fa£l in the history of the human 
 species, coming down to us attested by the same 
 evidence as any other fa6l ; or as an article of 
 religious faith, and conne6led with other opinions 
 necessarily arising from it. It will be sufficient 
 in this place to consider it in the former point of 
 view, as a matter of faft, without entering into 
 a discussion of the various and contradiftory 
 opinions, which have been entertained concern¬ 
 ing its elFefls. 
 
 I ' 
 
 The idea that man was originally placed, by 
 his Creator, in a state of perfe6l enjoyment, 
 which he forfeited by some transgression of his 
 own, would scarcely have suggested itself with¬ 
 out a foundation in reality. Such an event is 
 the most unlikely solution which human reason 
 would have devised, to account for the origin 
 of evil. It is probably the last conclusion which 
 the human mind, on a survey of the a£lual 
 condition of the universe would be likely to 
 embrace. On a candid review of the general 
 harmony which prevails throughout the order of 
 nature, of the marks of beneficent contrivance. 
 
iS5 
 
 of the adaptation of agents to ends, and on a 
 
 comparison of the good and evil which are 
 
 blended in it, we cannot forbear drawing the 
 
 conclusion, that the preponderance is decidedly 
 
 in favor of the former. It is a happy world 
 
 after all,’’ we should be obliged to exclaim with 
 
 an amiable Christian moralist. But even if the 
 
 concession should be made, that man has a 
 
 propensity to magnify, beyond its just proportion, 
 
 the sum of natural and moral evil, or that there 
 
 ■> 
 
 really exists a considerable sum of both ; still 
 the conclusion that either the one or the other, 
 is a just punishment inflifted on man by his 
 Creator, on account of some transgression com¬ 
 mitted in a former and happier state, would never 
 have been drawn. The remark may perhaps be 
 hazarded, without danger of contradiftion, that 
 the most probable solution which the human 
 mind, unaided by the light of revelation, would 
 adopt, if tiot at once enveloped in the gloom of 
 atheism, would be that which has prevailed so 
 widely throughout the eastern world, the Mani- 
 chean doftrine of two opposite principles ofequd 
 force, and alternately controlling the affairs of 
 the world. 
 
 But yet we find, that the most common method 
 of accounting for the origin of evil is the deg^- 
 
 M 3 
 
neracy. of man from a state of purity to a state 
 of corruption : a do£lrine which has retained a 
 place in the popular creed of every nation. Of 
 Brahminism it may be almost said to form the 
 basis. It is this idea, which has regulated its 
 elaborate scheme of chronology ; it is this idea, 
 which causes its followers to submit to the most 
 excruciating penances, in order to purge the soul 
 from the stains which she has contrafted, during 
 her abode in this polluted body. They have 
 indeed corrupted and obscured this do£l;rine; 
 they have engrafted on it additions which do not 
 properly belong to it; they have carried it so 
 far, as to inspire them with a hatred of life, and 
 a dereliftion of every worldly enjoyment; they 
 have continually placed before their eyes the 
 accomplishment of that melancholy period, when 
 a total decay of bodily strength, as well as an 
 entire degeneracy of morals shall increase the 
 ,sum of -present misery ; but these deviations 
 from the truth could never have happened, unless 
 .they had truth itself for a foundation. These 
 are phantoms of the imagination, which would 
 never have existed, if they had not been derived 
 from some correspondent reality. 
 
 From the fall of man we are naturally led to 
 the consideration of a positive ordinance, im- 
 
mediately conneflied with it, and springing out of 
 
 it; THE CUSTOM OF SACRIFICIAL OBLATIONS 
 AS AN EXPIATION FOR SIN. 
 
 In whatever point of view this custom may 
 be regarded, whether as eucharlstical or propitia¬ 
 tory, whether originating in the idea that it was 
 a proper mode of expressing sentiments of grati¬ 
 tude to the Deity, for the enjoyment of the boun¬ 
 ties of nature, or as a proper atonement for guilt; 
 still a rite so peculiar and so universal, must 
 have received its san6lion from some positive 
 command, and could never have been the dictate 
 of natural reason. 
 
 The oblation either of the fruits of the ground, 
 or ^of the choicest produce of the flock, could 
 never be supposed any proper method of demon¬ 
 strating gratitude, or appeasing the wrath of the 
 supreme Being. Thinkest thou that I will 
 eat bull’s flesh, or drink the blood of goats,” 
 is a question, which would have suggested itself, 
 though it had not proceeded from the mouth of 
 God. Shall I offer the fruit of my body for 
 the sin of my soul,” is a sentiment of natural 
 reason, which, with reverence be it mentioned, 
 seems not to require the stamp of divine authority. 
 
168 
 
 An opinion has indeed been maintained with 
 some plausibility, that animal sacrifices might 
 have derived their origin from the hieroglyphical 
 language of former times ; and that it was 
 customary to typify vices, by animals, whose 
 propensities were analogous to them. To the 
 ignorant and uninformed multitude, such an 
 hieroglyphic would seem to prescribe the aQual 
 sacrifice of the animal. But in what respeft 
 does this analogy hold good ? Is there any 
 correspondence, in hieroglyphical language, be¬ 
 tween the qualities of those domestic animals 
 \ 
 
 which supplied man with sustenance, and those 
 depraved appetites which were supposed to be 
 thus offered up to the Deity ? Was the tender 
 lamb, which is well known to have been the 
 favourite vi6lim, not only under the Jewish 
 theocracy, but throughout the heathen world, an 
 apposite emblem of pride, of lust, of revenge, 
 or of any of those vices which debase the human 
 heart ? Can the period be pointed out when 
 sacrificial viftims were sele£ted, with any re^ 
 ference to the qualities which they represented 
 iir hieroglyphical language ? In short this rite, 
 as we find it praftised under every form of 
 ancient religion, cannot be reconciled with the 
 idea of a spiritual God, unless it had been 
 §an£tioned by his express injun^ioii. 
 
That this custom does not, at present^ find a 
 very prominent place in the religion of Hindoo- 
 stan, was at first thought an anornaly in the history 
 of Pagan mythology, difficult to be explained, 
 and which strongly opposed the supposition of 
 its divine and positive institution. But in the 
 earlier periods of the Indian history, it is certain 
 that both bestial, and also human, sacrifices 
 were pradlised. Although the predominant in¬ 
 fluence of the doftrines of Buddha in Hindoostan, 
 has greatly contributed to repress these sangui¬ 
 nary rites, and although the general mildness of 
 the Hindoo charafter has induced some writers, 
 to deny that they ever existed ; yet their vestiges 
 are still visible, though they have never been 
 re-established in their pristine vigor with the 
 reviving authority of the Brahminical system. 
 The Vedas themselves, on some occasions, enjoin 
 the oblation of men, as well as animals, and 
 that the sacrifices of the latter were anciently 
 pra£lised, we have the authority of Strabo and 
 Arrian.It is also well known that one of the 
 incarnations of Vishnu, that of Buddha himself, 
 is described by the Brahmins, as having taken 
 place for the purpose of abolishing the sacrifices 
 -enjoined in the Vedas 5 and whatever difference 
 
 * 
 
 Strabo, U|?. 15. Arrian in InUiciJ* 
 
170 
 
 \ 
 
 of opinion may be entertained concerning the 
 time, or the genuineness of this descent, it is a 
 decided proof, that the custom of sacrificial ofFer-^ 
 ing must have been universally prevalent. 
 
 The universal praflice of sacrificial oblations 
 will at length. condu£l us to that memorable 
 event, which they were designed to prefigure; 
 
 THE OBLATION OF A DIVINE PERSONAGE 
 FOR THE SINS OF MANKIND. 
 
 And here, if the subjefl be of more than 
 common importance, the tradition is more than 
 ordinarily explicit. In other instances, tradition¬ 
 ary evidence glimmers with a faint, a partial, 
 a doubtful light, .but here it bursts forth in full 
 and transcendant splendor. Whither can we 
 turn our eyes on the religion and philosophy of 
 the ancient world, without discovering an ardent 
 expectation of a future deliverer, who should^ 
 by his sufferings and example, expiate sin and 
 render virtue more lovely ? It is not the decla¬ 
 matory language of national vanity ; it is not the 
 hyperbolical rhapsody of poetic fervor; it is but 
 the sober narrative of unornamented truth, when 
 the Psalmist -thus speaks of him in a prophetic 
 spirit: They that dwell in the wilderness shall, 
 kneel before him, his enemies shall lick the dust , 
 
171 
 
 the kings of Tharsis and of the isles shall bring 
 presents, the kings of Arabia and Saba shall 
 bring gifts ; all kings shall fall down before him ; 
 all nations shall do him homage/* If we turn 
 our eyes to the Persian legislator, we shall find 
 him predicting the appearance of a personage, 
 who should establish a religion pure and im¬ 
 mutable > that kings should be obedient to him ; 
 that, under his empire, peace should prevail and 
 discord cease. If we turn to Confucius, we 
 shall hear him attesting the same event, and 
 proclaiming that in the West the Ploly one 
 should arise/* If at length we approach the 
 followers of Brahma, the sages of the Vedanti 
 school, we shall find them putting into the mouth 
 of their incarnate God, of that divinity, whom 
 they 'consider as invested with the fullness of 
 celestial glory, this remarkable declaration, “ I 
 am the sacrifice, I am the viCtim/* If we 
 advance in our researches, to the Gothic mytho¬ 
 logy, we there find their middle divinity repre¬ 
 sented as obtaining a victory over death and sin ; 
 but at the expence of his own life. Shall we 
 pursue this notion from the East to the West, 
 from the sages of Hindoostan to the sages of 
 Greece ? We shall find Plato, imbued with all 
 the learning of the East, and with all the learning 
 of Egypt, describing his righteous man, who 
 
172 
 
 should end a life of unrivalled goodness, by a 
 death of unexampled ignominy. Shall we finally 
 attempt to discover this idea in the religion of 
 Pagan Rome? There also it appears. While 
 it lurks in the magnificent but mysterious imagery 
 of Virgil, it meets us openly the full and 
 unreserved confession of Tacitus. 
 
 Thus then, those grand truths on which the 
 Christian scheme is founded, may, all of them, 
 be traced up to the source of primeval tradition ; 
 they form the substance of what is termed the 
 primitive religion of mankind. The important 
 do6lrine of the existence of an invisible and 
 spiritual God, in opposition to the practice of 
 polytheism and idolatry; the fall of man; the 
 custom of sacrificial oblations as an atonement, 
 for sin ; and these intended to prefigure the 
 great sacrifice of the divinity by his own will 
 and pleasure, for the offences of the world : all 
 these may be clearly discerned among the general 
 corruptions of Paganism, and particularly in the 
 religious system of Hindoostan. And these are 
 sufficient. Other instances of correspondence 
 might be adduced which decidedly point to 
 some original and universal communication, and 
 which might be satisfaflorily proved, without 
 Infringing on any of those important canons, by 
 
173 
 
 which the coincidence of traditional evidence 
 ought to be determined; but these are sele6led, 
 as being the most unequivocal, and as compre¬ 
 hending subje£ls of infinite importance. 
 
 These observations will close the view of the 
 Brahminical religion, with respeft to the con¬ 
 firmation which it has afforded to the truth of 
 the Mosalcal history; and this confirmation 
 cannot but be deemed highly important, when 
 we recapitulate the different arguments in their 
 connexion and dependency. 
 
 We here behold a system of religion, subsisting 
 at the present time, in the same form, by w^hich 
 it has been known since the earliest period of 
 authentic history. We have taken a review of 
 its doflrines from a comparison of foreign tes¬ 
 timony with its own sacred records ; and these 
 have afforded mutual illustration ; and the one' 
 proves the veracity of the other. We have seen 
 the regal government, which was established 
 under this religion, long since overthrown; we 
 have seen its hierarchy partaking in the same 
 destru6lion ; but even in this disjointed state, 
 retaining those inherent seeds of vitality, which 
 have preserv^ed its dominion over a vast and 
 refined population* We have, in the first place. 
 
174 
 
 shewn on whs-t n baseless foundation those 
 claims to unfathomable antiquity, which its pro-' 
 fessors assume, must at length rest; that there 
 is the strongest reason to suppose that their 
 chronological scheme, in its pure state, was not 
 widely different from the moderate computation, 
 which the Mosaic writings give, concerning the 
 age of the world ; that before this limited period 
 we see nothing but cycles of artificial construc¬ 
 tion, and an immense space of unoccupied 
 vacuity. have seen that the first event, 
 
 which its records clearly and unequivocally attest, 
 is the renovation of the present world from de- 
 .stru&ion by a flood, and that the modern 
 Hindoos, however solicitous to conceal or deny 
 the fa£t, can never rationally explain many of 
 their fables, but by an allusion to this catastrophe. 
 In the sequel of our researches a striking coinci¬ 
 dence has been discovered, between the geogra- 
 phy of the Puranas, and the Mosaical account 
 of the origin and settlement of nations, branching 
 from three different stocks : and the geography 
 of the Puranas, however disfigured by wild 
 allegory, is in many instances^ strikingly confirm¬ 
 ed by the Grecian historians and geographers. 
 In the last place we have attempted to shew, 
 that man was never left by his Creator, without 
 some revelation to direft his steps y and what 
 
that revelation was, what promises It unfolded, 
 and what do 61 :rines it was designed to Inculcate, 
 may be collefted from the concise information, 
 contained in the history of Moses, compared 
 with those traditions, which are yet to be dis¬ 
 covered, in all the mythologies of the ancient 
 world. 
 
 The remaining part of the proposed design 
 will be difefted to a different obje 61 :. We have 
 itherto regarded this system of ancient super¬ 
 stition, venerable in its ruins, with respe6t to its 
 origin ; it is now to be viewed in its effefts on 
 the character. We are now to examine that 
 theory of morals, which has been celebrated as 
 bearing evident marks of divine Inspiration ; 
 which has been said to contain every precept, 
 which can preserve the virtue and advance the 
 happiness of man : which some have praised 
 from a transient and superficial view, and which 
 others have admired from the fastidious taste of 
 a depraved appetite. Nor can this latter circum¬ 
 stance excite surprize. For as to an understand¬ 
 ing relaxed by indolence, or vitiated by improper 
 studies, the false ornaments of style will dazzle, 
 where genuine eloquence wdll be disregarded ; 
 a splendid and specious paradox will confound, 
 where the native force of truth will fail to con- 
 
176 
 
 , vince ; so there is a sickly morality, the hectic 
 of an inflamed imagination, which consumes, 
 not the genial warmth of true benevolence which 
 invigorates the mental energies ; a morality, 
 which contributes to form the suspicious cha- 
 ra6ter of-a grave sentimentalist, and not that of 
 a rational philosopher; a morality, which is 
 totally incompatible with the necessary duties of 
 human life considered as a state of discipline, 
 and as a preparation for a state of eternal hap¬ 
 piness and perfeflion. 
 
DISCOURSE VL 
 
 ON THE BRAHMINICAL REPRESENTATIONS 
 OF THE DEITY OPERATING AS A PRESERVATIVE 
 OF MORAL PURITY, 
 
 AND AS A SOURCE OF HAPPINESS. 
 
 ContradiSiion in the Hindoo charaEter ex- 
 ^ plained—Of the mystic Worship of the 
 
 Hindoos and their licentious Rites — Of 
 the DoBrine of the immortality of the 
 jSouly how converted into a source of 
 misery—Of the effects of a System of' 
 Metaphysics operating on the Superstition 
 of the Vulgar—Of the Influence of Cli^ 
 mate on national CharaEter, , 
 

DISCOURSE VI. 
 
 ON THE BRAHMINICAL REPRESENTATIONS 
 OF THE DEITY OPERATING AS A PRESERVATIVE OF 
 
 MORAL PURITY, 
 
 AND AS A SOURCE OF HAPPINESS, 
 
 Exodus 34, v. 5. 6 . 
 
 And the Lord descended hi the cloud, and stood 
 with him there, and proclaimed the name of the 
 Lord, And the Lord passed by before'him, and 
 proclaimed the Lord, the Lord Godj, merciful 
 and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in 
 goodness and truth, ^ 
 
 An eminent'^ writer has observed, that the 
 indistlnftness, produced by the association i of 
 abstraft ideas, is often a source.of the true sub¬ 
 lime. The remark is in no case so well illus¬ 
 trated, as in those representations of the Deity, 
 with which the Holy Scriptures abound : repre¬ 
 sentations, which while they exclude form and 
 body, affeft the soul with the' most awful sense 
 of infinite power, majesty, and glory, manifested 
 
 Edmund Burke. 
 
180 
 
 in infinite mercy and goodness. The mind of 
 man, utterly incapable of comprehending the 
 obje6l, shrinks back within itself, at the contem¬ 
 plation of the high and holy one who Inhabiteth 
 eternity,” and humbles itself. In unutterable 
 aspirations, before the Lord God Almighty. If 
 he who was caught up into the third Heaven, 
 knew not, even when the rapture was past, 
 whether he had been in the body or out of the 
 body : If he was unable to utter the things which 
 he had seen and heard : if the positive, the 
 experimental knowledge of the things which 
 God hath prepared for them that love him,” 
 could be represented by an inspired Apostle, 
 only in negative and indistinft terms ; well may 
 we be assured of the insufficiency of language to 
 describe Him who Is the author of them all: and 
 of whom the human imagination can conceive 
 nothing more than the shadows of his perfections; 
 the out-skirts of his glory. That man, unassisted 
 by revelation, is capable of forming any notions 
 worthy of the Almighty, may safely be denied s 
 because most certain it is, that all the proper no¬ 
 tions which any people on earth ever did form 
 concerning him, may be traced to their sources, 
 either in primeval tradition, or in the written 
 theology of Moses. 
 
181 
 
 But insufficient as man must ever be to speak 
 or to think of the eternal Majesty, ‘‘ with the 
 honour due unto his name,” still man is capable 
 of knowing Him, so far as he has condescended 
 to reveal himself ; because the terms of such 
 revelation must of necessity comport at once 
 with the Divine nature, and with the capacity of 
 the creature to whom the revelation is made. 
 When the God of the universe no longer hideth 
 himself in thick darkness, he allows us to recog¬ 
 nize him as the God of man, as the Lord, the Lord 
 God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and 
 abundant in goodness and truth. Again—what¬ 
 ever peculiar attributes such revelation should 
 display as inherent in the divine essence, those 
 attributes must be analogous to the ideas of 
 them, with which man is conversant. The 
 archetypal wisdom, and power, and goodness, 
 and patience, cannot be different in nature, 
 though infinitely different in degree, from the 
 same qualities in a created being ; because a real 
 difference in their nature, would not only render 
 a revelation of the divine nature totally incom¬ 
 prehensible as a truth ; but every deduftion from 
 its principles would defeat all propriety and 
 justness of religious sentiment, and all order in 
 religious obedience. Whensoever therefore the 
 Divine Being should have imparted to his rational 
 
 N 3 
 
182 - 
 
 creatures the knowledge of himself, that know¬ 
 ledge must be at once proportioned to their 
 intelleftual capacity, and to the purposes for 
 which the knowledge is imparted. But the 
 intellectual powers of man, however capable of 
 pursuits and attainments, transcendently higher 
 than his present state of existence demands, are, 
 with respeCt to the things of God,’’ merely 
 dormant faculties, till awakened into aCtion by 
 a divine call, and directed by a divine rule 5 and 
 the duties prescribed by that rule, must be con¬ 
 sonant to the nature and to the authority of Him 
 who gives it. But the spiritual nature, and the 
 inherent dominion of the Lord God, must of 
 necessity, to be intelligible by man, be adum¬ 
 brated by representations to which man’s faculties 
 are equal, because it is impossible for man to 
 understand them as they really are; and the 
 religious duties towards Him who is without 
 parts or passions, must be conformable to the 
 intellectual powers of the creature who is to fulfil 
 them 5 and in terms, of which, so far as they go, 
 his conceptions are clear and just, however 
 inadequate to the essential dignity of the Lord 
 
 OF ALL. 
 
 Most of those terms, by which the Holy Scrip¬ 
 tures represent the attributes of the Supreme 
 
18 a 
 
 Being, are, in a strict sense, inapplicable to Him : 
 they are derived from qualities and relations appli¬ 
 cable to MAN alone, for whom language -was in¬ 
 tended, Sc whose wants it was designed to express. 
 But yet those notions which are philosophically 
 erroneous, may be rendered praftically useful. 
 
 Though in condescension to the weakness, and 
 in conformity to the capacity of man, the Al¬ 
 mighty is sometimes described as affe6ted by 
 human passions and subjeftto human infirmities; 
 yet these representations carry with them no 
 praSical error. They are such as no blindness 
 can misunderstand, and no base passion misinter¬ 
 pret. On the contrary they are such as are 
 adapted to produce the happiest influence on the 
 conduct. Whenever occasions present themselves, 
 when a more appropriate idea of the Divinity is 
 essentially conne6ted with the revelation of any 
 important truth, or with the injunftion of any parti¬ 
 cular precept, he always appears in a manner cal¬ 
 culated to impress sentiments of the purest vene¬ 
 ration : he is then divested of every passion which 
 belongs to humanity, and is exhibited in awfuh 
 but indistinft grandeur. 
 
 And if under the Jewish law, where the 
 €X)nditions of obedience were more strict, the 
 
 N 4 
 
' 184 
 
 penalties of involuntary error or of wilful rebellion 
 were proportionably severe : yet, even then. 
 Almighty Power is tempered by mercy; though 
 the formalities with which the law was intro^ 
 duced, w^ere designed to impress terror, yet the 
 precept itself was only love. The Governor of 
 the universe is, indeed, represented, as punishing 
 a violation of his commands on distant genera¬ 
 tions ; but when he promulgates that code of 
 moral duty of which rigorous justice is the 
 characteristic, he describes himself as gracious, 
 long suffering, and abundant in goodness and 
 truth.” The same design was preserved through¬ 
 out the old covenant, which is still more con¬ 
 spicuously displayed under the Christian dispen¬ 
 sation, that of placing the'Divine Being in such 
 a point of view, as, while it may operate on the 
 one hand in the most forcible manner, as a 
 preservative of moral purity, may, on the other 
 hand, afford to man a source of rational happiness. 
 
 In the general delineation of the Brahminical 
 systemj in its influence on the moral charaCler, 
 the first place was assigned to the ideas which it 
 inculcates concerning the Divine nature ^ but, 
 before a particular discussion is attempted of their 
 praClical effeCls, it wilt be proper to state the 
 irresistible influence, which these ideas must have. 
 
185 
 
 on the general complexion of every religion, and 
 consequently on the formation of the character. 
 
 It has been frequently stated, that, although 
 the religion of the Hindoos, on a superficial 
 view, appears to consist in the most extravagant 
 polytheism; yet that it is, in fa61:, the worship of 
 the one true God. According to their own expla¬ 
 nation, they have, in their temples, many statues, 
 both of superior and inferior divinities, before 
 which they prostrate themselves, and present 
 them with offerings ; nevertheless they do not be- 
 lieve that the statues are the divinities them- 
 selves, but only their image or representation ; 
 and that they honour them only on account of 
 the beings which they represent; that they are 
 placed in the temples only to furnish the 
 people with some visible objeft of attention; 
 “ and that when they pray, it is not to the 
 statue, but to him whom it represents,”^. 
 
 This indeed has been the apology for idol¬ 
 atrous wwship in every age;'but on this very 
 account, we assume the superiority of the Jewish 
 and of the Christian revelation, over the dreams 
 of Pagan superstition. In each we are occasionally' 
 
 I Sketches of the Hindooai 
 
1S6 
 
 afFefted by sublime descriptions of the invisibility 
 of the Supreme Being; in each the Supreme 
 Being is brought nearer to the human compre¬ 
 hension, by being invested with the relations and 
 qualities of human nature. But, it is perhaps 
 necessary that he should most frequently appear 
 in this latter point of view ; because this view 
 will have the most powerful influence ^ on the 
 chara£ler and conduft of man. We can readilv 
 admire the magnificent description of the Pagan 
 Jupiter^ causing the universe to tremble at his 
 nod; but this description could have little 
 influence on the mind of his worshippers : to 
 whom he more frequently appeared wallowing 
 in the impunities of sensuality and lust ? 
 
 Whenever we peruse the history of the va¬ 
 rious superstitions which have prevailed in the 
 world, we find, that they have derived their 
 origin from the sentiments and opinions, which 
 were at that time, generally popular. ’On this 
 account, by observing the complexion of ancient 
 mythologies, by an acquaintance with the attri¬ 
 butes and adventures of their deified heroes, by 
 marking those particular passions, which were 
 thought worthy to animate those celebrated 
 personages, whether those of ambition, cruelty 
 or lust, we can, with some degree of certainty. 
 
187 
 
 determine concerning the state of society and 
 manners, at the period in which they took their 
 rise. We may easily judge of the moral condition 
 of the world, at the time which rendered the 
 labors of Hercules meritorious and even necessary, 
 and of the turbulent anarchy, which suggested 
 the fi6lion of the various and successive incarna¬ 
 tions of Vishnu. 
 
 But if ancient mythology derived its origin 
 from the prevailing state of society and manners, 
 m process of time the state of society and 
 manners was determined by the prevailing 
 mythology. And as the charafter must be in¬ 
 fluenced by the complexion of religion, so the 
 genius of every religion is determined by the 
 light, in which its peculiar Divinity appears. 
 The total exclusion of a superintending provi¬ 
 dence from the affairs of men, will either generate 
 indifference, and indisposition to mental exertion, 
 or an intemperate love of sensual gratifications. 
 On the other hand, the predetermination of the 
 minutest events by an irresistible decree, will 
 necessarily give rise to abje£t fear and gloomy 
 apprehensions of inevitable woe. Nay it has 
 been insidiously asserted, with no friendly re¬ 
 ference to the Christian religion in particular, 
 that a belief in the Unity and Spirituality of th^ 
 
 T 
 
188 
 
 Divine nature, brings with it a praaical conse¬ 
 quence not generally regarded. It engenders a 
 spirit of inflexibility towards the errors and 
 prejudices of others, which is rarely to be found 
 among the followers of polytheism.' 
 
 / « 
 
 This however is certain, that in the same 
 proportion as the cloud which veils the divine 
 splendor, appears to the human vision in lighter 
 or deeper shades, in the same degree will the 
 human intelleft be enlightened or obscured, and 
 the human passions will be elevated by confidence 
 and hope, or depressed by doubt and despondency. 
 
 The pillar of fire’*, which is beautifully repre¬ 
 sented in the sacred history, as proving a cloud 
 and darkness” to the Egyptians, while it afforded 
 a light to the camp of Israel,” is an illustrative 
 symbol of the praaical and efficient difference 
 between the worship of Jehovah, and of the 
 Gods of the Heathen. 
 
 In contemplating the moral charaaer of the 
 Hindoos, as taking its complexion from their 
 religion, we observe, that as their superstitious 
 ritual presents a strange mixture of images 
 sanguinary and voluptuous, an intimate union 
 between obscene mirth and austere devotion 3 so 
 
 * Hume, 
 
 / 
 
the manners of its followers have been aftuated 
 by contending and contradictory principles ; a 
 circumstance which has excited much wonder, 
 and given birth to much erroneous and unprofita¬ 
 ble speculation. While, on the one hand, the 
 native of Hindustan, has been represented, as 
 shuddering at the sight of human blood: as 
 carrying this terror to the most troublesome excess: 
 to an excess, which prevents him from destroying 
 the most noxious animals,- or of partaking of 
 such as were designed for the use of man ; and 
 while he has been represented as sunk in the 
 most degrading inactivity ; on the other hand the 
 same charaCler is distinguished by such aCls of 
 deliberate cruelty, of undaunted resolution, and 
 of painful and continued exertion, as sometimes 
 astonish, and sometimes disgust; such aCts as sur¬ 
 pass all credibility, and even exceed description. 
 
 it 
 
 This union so unnatural and discordant, can 
 never be distinctly explained nor understood, 
 but by tracing the steps which led to its form^ 
 ation; by shewing in what manner the different 
 kinds of superstition have been so blended with 
 each other, as, at length, to compose one con¬ 
 fused whole. 
 
 When the hieroglyphics, which v/c may sup- 
 
I 
 
 190 
 
 pdse at first innocently intended to represent 
 the attributes of the Deity, ceased to be consider¬ 
 ed as mere symbols, and were converted into 
 distinft personages; then mankind divided them¬ 
 selves into particular sefts, attaching themselves, 
 each to the exclusive worship of the idol of his 
 choice. The same spirit which led them to 
 personify the powers of nature, led them to 
 distinguish between the efficacy of those powers. 
 The se£l of Brahma, who worshipped the crea¬ 
 tive power or supreme Lord, at first claimed a 
 pre-eminence for the objeft of their adoration. 
 The se 61 :s of Vishnu and Siva, who worshipped 
 the preserving and destroying powers of the 
 Deity, combined against the followers of Brahma, 
 and obtained so decided a vi£l:ory over them, 
 as totally to abolish their worship. Each of these 
 two last, afterwards, contested the superiority 
 with the other. 
 
 f 
 
 The se<ft of Vishnu, which worshipped the 
 preserving power of the Deity, had been always 
 addi6led to the celebration of obscene rites. It 
 had indeed been united with that of Siva in the 
 league against the'seft of Brahma, and that union 
 appears to have continued till the time, when the 
 conversion of an emblem of an abstraft idea into 
 an objefl: of worship, introduced a revolution in 
 
191 
 
 t 
 
 religion, which had a sensible and extended 
 influence on the manners of mankind. 
 
 \ 
 
 It was then that a species of superstition arose, 
 which rapidly spread its deadly influence; a 
 superstition, which degraded the Deity into an 
 implacable tyrant; which prescribed the most 
 dreadful penances, and filled the minds of its 
 votaries with the most excruciating terrors. If 
 the former superstition were calculated to vitiate 
 and corrupt the mind, the latter was not less 
 adapted to enslave it. The se6l of Siva, having 
 at length totally separated itself from that of 
 Vishnu, introduced those cruel pra6tices and 
 sanguinary rites, which, in after times, were 
 extended over so large a portion of the world. 
 These rites were acknowledged, and praftised 
 by remote nations, who were ignorant of both 
 their origin and significancy; and to this cause 
 may be attributed that mixture of images, gloomy 
 and gay, cruel and lascivious, which characterised 
 the religious fictions of the ancient Greeks and 
 Romans. Their ignorance of the symbols which 
 they had borrowed, caused them to supply their 
 want of information by fables congenial to their 
 national temper, and gave rise to a mass of 
 irreconcileable contrarieties. 
 
1Q2 
 
 By the conjun£lion of these two opposite kinds 
 of worship, the Hindoo charafter has been always 
 a^luated; and still retains the marks of these 
 different Impressions. But as this account com- 
 prises only a general view, it will be necessary to 
 take a more intimate survey ; and to specify 
 those particular articles of their religious faith, 
 which debase the moral charafter of the Hindoos; 
 classing them under the two general divisions, 
 already laid down, as they operate in preserving 
 the purity, or in promoting the happiness of. 
 man. 
 
 In attempting to unfold the praaical effeas 
 of the mythology of the Hindoos, and to estimate 
 the purity of their moral code, it is of little 
 importance to advert to those particular passages 
 in their sacred writings, represent the Deity * 
 in those colours, in which he always appears 
 to a mind divested of guilt and prejudice, 
 and unclouded by superstition. To what source 
 these sentiments shou.ld be attributed has been 
 intimated in another place. Such passages may 
 justly claim the admiration of those, whom a 
 purer faith has taught, duly to appreciate their 
 value, and forcibly to feel their beauty. Who 
 for instance can refuse the merited praise of 
 sublimity, to the following simple, but energetic, 
 invocation of the divine Being ? 
 
193 
 
 Let us adore the supremacy of that divine sun, 
 the god-head, who illuminates all, who recreates 
 all, from whom all proceed, to whom all must re¬ 
 turn, whom we invoke to direft our understand¬ 
 ing aright, in the progress towards his holy seat.”^ 
 
 $ 
 
 Again, what sentiments can be more exalted, 
 and more worthy of the divine nature, than the 
 following ? 
 
 As God is immaterial, he is above all con¬ 
 ception ; as he is invisible, he can have no form 9 
 but from what we may behold of his works, we 
 may conclude that he is eternal, omnipotent, 
 and present every where/’" 
 
 Front such passages an undeniable conclusion 
 must be formed, that, although the religion of 
 the Hindoos, in its praftical tendency, leads to 
 the most extravagant polytheism 5 yet it was 
 originally the worship of the one true God; 
 since it teaches, that there is one great and 
 supreme Being, who is distinguished by the 
 title of Brahme, or the great one, and that 
 from him even the inferior deities themselves 
 have proceeded. 
 
 ! Gayatri of holiest verse of the V^das. 
 
 ” Geeta. 
 
 © 
 
m 
 
 But it will now be seen, in what manner 
 the conceit of man has been employed, in con¬ 
 verting this noble doflirine into a prolific source 
 of error. 
 
 The reverence paid to this God of Gods, is 
 not that veneration which is a regulating princi¬ 
 ple of a6lion, which is efibaually calculated to 
 produce purity of heart, and reftitude of condufl:; 
 but that mysterious reverence, which springs from 
 superstitious fear, and which has always proved 
 the destruftion of the moral principle. 
 
 The worship paid to him is said to be purely 
 spiritual, consisting chiefly in devout meditation. 
 The following is considered as the wish of genuine 
 piety. 
 
 May that soul of mine, which mounts aloft 
 in my waking hours, as an ethereal spark, and 
 which, even in my slumber, has a like ascent, 
 soaring to a great distance as an emanation from 
 the light of lights, be united, by devout medi¬ 
 tation, with the spirit supremely blest, and su¬ 
 premely intelligent.”! 
 
 But this worship, although chiefly consisting 
 
 ! Extras from the VWas. 
 
in abstra£led devotion, is sometimes expressed 
 by the suppressed utterance of the mystic word 
 OM; a word never to be used by the devout 
 Hindoo, without a particular preparation. 
 
 . The solemnities, which ought to precede the 
 utterance of this word, are carefully prescribed 
 by their divine legislator. If he have sitten on 
 culms of sacred grass with their points towards 
 the East, and be purified by rubbing that holy 
 grass in both his hands, and be farther pre¬ 
 pared by three suppressions of breath, equal in 
 time to five short vowels, he may then fitly 
 pronounce 
 
 It is not Intended, in this place, to shew what 
 resemblance these previous solemnities may bear 
 to the occult worship of the Egyptians, or to 
 the cabbalistic mysteries of the Jews ; but the 
 quotation- is made to shew that this praftice^ 
 once so general throughout the world, of covering 
 religious doftrines under the veil of mysterious 
 secresy, has always proved the bane of' moral 
 virtue ; and has ever been applied to vicious 
 and interested purposes. In every religion myste¬ 
 ries must exist, or rather there are moral difficul- 
 
 j - ... 
 
 V 
 
 'll!. Menu, c. 2, v. 75. 
 
iq6 
 
 ties, inseparable from the present constitution of 
 the world, which religion cannot remove. But 
 when the peculiar doctrines of any revelation, are 
 jealously guarded by a favoured few, from the 
 unhallowed touch of the vulgar, they become a 
 source of absurdity and error. They are then 
 converted into engines of tyranny, or into in¬ 
 struments of licentious pleasure. In process of 
 time they become obnoxious to the just condem¬ 
 nation, which the Apostle has bestowed on the 
 rites of the Heathen world j "" it is a shame 
 even to speak of those things which are done 
 by them in secret.’' Mysticism in science has 
 always proved an infallible method of perpetua¬ 
 ting the reign of ignorance : mysticism in religion 
 hasprov’^ed a method, not less effe6tual, of fostering 
 the seeds of immorality* They have always 
 disappeared, and disappeared together, wherever 
 the light of true learning and genuine piety 
 have dispelled the mists of error and of barbarism. 
 
 An awful veneration for the majesty of heaven, 
 is not better preserved, by thus shrouding it in 
 obscurity, concealing it from common observa¬ 
 tion, and removing it to so great a distance, 
 from the hopes and fears of man. By true 
 devotion it is always regarded without servile 
 dread. No preparatory rites, no preliminary of 
 
/ 
 
 397 
 
 initiation Is requisite, to raise the devout spirit to 
 God ; no time, no place can exclude it from 
 communion with him. 
 
 \ 
 
 Accordingly, by thus removing the Supreme 
 Being so far beyond the reach of ordinary con¬ 
 templation, He is among the Hindoos seldom 
 the object of any religious honor, and still less 
 of religious adoration. He is now considered 
 as an obsolete Deity, who has no interference in 
 the affairs of the world. 
 
 From this statement, it will appear, that the 
 do6lrine of the Unity and Spirituality of the 
 Divine Being, has but little influence on the moral 
 condu 61 : of the Hindoos ; nor indeed is this 
 contended for, even by their warmest apologists. 
 
 N 
 
 But It remains to point out the practical effecls 
 of their polytheistic worship, on which the opini¬ 
 ons of mankind have been widely at Variance. 
 
 Experience has amply proved, not only that the 
 bias of human nature, has uniformly tended to 
 polytheism and idolatry, during times of ignorance; 
 but also, that in an age of learning and refinement, 
 the same bias has had the same tendency : since 
 the writings of the most distinguished philoso- 
 
 o 3 
 
m 
 
 phers in modern times, alike eminent for delicacy 
 of taste, and strength of reasoning, have display¬ 
 ed an unequivocal partiality in their favor. They 
 have found apologists in the piety and erudition 
 of Bacon"', as well as in the metaphysical acute¬ 
 ness of Hobbes^ and the cold scepticism of 
 Hume. The latter has thus declared his opinion 
 concerning their praftical influence. 
 
 Where the Deity is represented as infinitely 
 superior to mankind, this belief, though altogether 
 just, is apt, when joined with superstitious terrors, 
 to sink the human mind into the lowest submis¬ 
 sion and abasement; and to represent the monk¬ 
 ish virtues of mortification, penance, humility, 
 and passive suffering, as the only qualities which 
 are acceptable to him. But where the Gods are 
 supposed to be only a little superior to mankind^ 
 and to have been advanced, many of them, from 
 an inferior rank, we are more at our ease in 
 our addresses to them 5 and may, even without 
 profaneness, aspire sometimes to a rivalship 
 and emulation of them. Hence aflivity, spirit, 
 courage, magnanimity, lov.e of liberty, and all 
 the virtues which aggrandize a people.’? 
 
 * Advancement of Learning, b. 1. c. 7. 
 
 ^ Leviathan, c. 45. 
 
 ® Hume, Natural Hist, of Religion, se<a. 10. 
 
-199 
 
 Without discussing the general accuracy of this 
 statement ^ without contending that the qualities, 
 which the world has thought proper to deify, 
 have been rarely such as to deserve emulation ; 
 the religion of the Hindoos, may be fairly tried 
 by this rule ; and we may be enabled to discover 
 how far their multiplied representations of the 
 Deity, agree with this test; how far they are 
 adapted to produce energy of mind, or to preserve 
 purity of conduct. 
 
 Although, in the Brahminical system, the 
 original source of creation is ascribed to the 
 sreat souh' which animates the universe; yet 
 this Sovereign essence, by his own thought or 
 will, created another being, who diffused its 
 aftive powers. But even this secondary being 
 has long since been divided into three, to express 
 the creative, preserving, and destroying powers 
 of universal nature. 
 
 The chief objects of adoration however, at 
 present, among the Hindoos, are now confined 
 to the preserving and destru61ive powers of the 
 Divinity ; the creative power being seldom the 
 objefl; of their fear, or of their regard. But this 
 separation of the different powers, soon led to a 
 personification "of thejn, by symbols expressive 
 
200 
 
 of their nature. That this distinaion was made 
 at a very early period, is plain from the Vedas 
 themselves : as well as from the Institutes of 
 Menu. To this succeeded that distinaion be¬ 
 tween the efficient and effeaive powers of the 
 Divinity, which at length so essentially contri¬ 
 buted to corrupt the mind. 
 
 To unfold the gross enormities, which, in after¬ 
 times, arose from sentiments so degrading of the 
 Divine nature, to disclose those licentious rites, 
 which have been celebrated under the name of 
 religion, but which equally insult the common 
 understanding of mankind, and are offensive to 
 common decency, would be not less useless and 
 improper, than disgusting; neither would they 
 have been hinted at, if sentiments had not 
 been entertained, contrary to sound reason, and 
 false in that these rites, however abhor¬ 
 
 rent from the sentiments of men instruaed in 
 the principles of a purer faith, and accus. 
 tomed to notions more worthy the Supreme 
 Being, may yet have been praaised, without 
 producing any pernicious effeas on the cha- 
 raaer of their votaries; that the frequency of 
 their repetition tends to diminish their hurtful 
 effects on the mind ; and that objeas which are 
 rendered thus familiar to the view, are atleno-th 
 regarded with indifference. 
 
201 
 
 % 
 
 It Will indeed be allowed, that actions, by con¬ 
 stant repetition, become habitual, and produce a 
 different effe 61 : on the chara6ler, from those which 
 are indulged in for the momentary gratification 
 of desire. Neither can it be doubted, that 
 satiety and langour are the necessary consequen¬ 
 ces of pleasures, strained beyond their proper 
 limits, when they have been pursued rather 
 from custom than inclination. But that the 
 effedls on the moral sense are less pernicious, 
 when that sense is blunted and become incapa¬ 
 ble of farther incitement, is a dangerous error. 
 It is with the mental as with the bodily consti¬ 
 tution, That irritable temperament, in which the 
 slightest touch thrills through every pore, and 
 vibrates on every nerve, is less radically danger¬ 
 ous, than that morbid apathy, that insensibility to 
 external impressions, which is the constant har¬ 
 binger of decay and dissolution, and the most 
 lamentable state of perishing humanity. 
 
 From observations which have been made on 
 the moral character of the natives of Hindoostan, 
 this remark cannot but acquire new conf rmation. 
 The Hindoos possess not that inflammatory tem¬ 
 per, which prompts to excesses, dangerous indeed, 
 but generally transient. They live in that total 
 subjeftion of the mental faculties, which precludes 
 
202 
 
 the necessity, and even the disposition, to exertion. 
 They are properly described to exist in a state of 
 subordination, which knows no resistance, and to 
 slumber in a voluptuousness, which knows no 
 wants.’’! 
 
 If th^ physiological part of their worship pos¬ 
 sess so little to elevate the mind; that part, 
 which consists in the worship of deified heroes, 
 is far from favourable to any of those virtues 
 which aggrandize a people.” These are, indeed, 
 what their sculptured representations declare 
 them to be, monsters. Of all the sources of 
 mythology, that which was derived from the 
 apotheosis of heroes falsely so called, has produced 
 the greatest praQical evil. The honors of deifica¬ 
 tion have always been decreed, by the most 
 fallacious and dangerous appreciation of worth. 
 In the infancy of society, they were usurped by 
 lawless power, and brutal libertinism ; in subse¬ 
 quent period^ they were offered by groveling 
 ^ adulation to impotent grandeur. When the ad¬ 
 vocates for idolatrous worship recommend it to 
 protection and favor, as powerfully calling forth 
 emulation y and when, in support of their opinion, 
 they mention Alexander, who was animated to 
 
 • Orme. 
 
203 
 
 prosecute his expeditions, by a desire of rivalling 
 Hercules and Bacchus, whom he at length 
 pretended to have excelled ; we may freely allow 
 them the use of such an example. Such virtues 
 may, indeed fitly be learned in the pantheon : 
 such may also be found in the Hindoo my¬ 
 thology. But it is very difficult to find examples 
 which contribute to the repose of the world, 
 and to the advancement of human happiness: 
 it will be difficult to prove that such qualities 
 have ever attained the reward of celestial ho¬ 
 nors, or even that gratitude which should await 
 them. 
 
 } 
 
 These are the effeSs, which the Brahminical 
 representations of the Supreme Being, are calcu¬ 
 lated to produce on the moral charadter. These 
 effects may be counterafted by other causes ; but 
 • they are sufficiently visible in the Hindoo charac¬ 
 ter, to justify the truth of the principles laid down 
 in this Discourse. 
 
 We are now to consider the influence of the 
 Brahminical representations of the Divinity, in 
 another point of view 3 in their tendency to pro¬ 
 mote the rational happiness, and to gratify the 
 natural desires of man. 
 
204 
 
 That happiness cannot possibly be separated 
 from rectitude of conduct, and that it is incon- 
 consistent with the indulgence of corrupt inclina¬ 
 tions, there is no necessity to prove. But there 
 ' are tumultuous pleasures, and there is a supine 
 inaftivity, in which happiness is vainly supposed 
 to exist; a happiness unworthy of the name, ever 
 transient and unsatisfaftory, and totally different 
 from that pure felicity, which has been rightly 
 termed the sunshine of the mind.’* 
 
 But even here, the representations which the 
 Brahminical system give of the Deity, form a pic¬ 
 ture the most gloomy and repulsive. The popular 
 religion of Hindoostan is not, like that of Greece, 
 captivating though corrupt, in which taste dis¬ 
 played all its resources, and pleasure all its charms. 
 It is neither calculated to excite tumultuous mirth, 
 nor to prqmote temperate enjoyment ^ but the de¬ 
 spondency of settled melancholy, or the frantic 
 .ravings of despair. When Heaven itself is repre¬ 
 sented as a place of discord, can earth be consi- 
 dered as a seat of happiness.? When the atmos¬ 
 phere is suffused with dark and impenetrable 
 clouds ^ when every breeze wafts pestilence and 
 death ; can the most beautiful scenes of nature be 
 enjoyed with their proper relish ? 
 
205 
 
 The same religion, which has generated a gross 
 and licentious worship, which has given birth to all 
 the disgusting enormities already mentioned, has 
 been equally productive of the most deliberate cru- 
 eltyj and of the most abje6l superstition. The same 
 Divine Being, who is represented as delighting in 
 all the impurities of sensual lust, delights also in 
 the blood of human vi6lims. Though the in¬ 
 carnation of the humane Buddha was expressly 
 intended to abolish the sanguinary sacrifices 
 which the Vedas prescribe, rites which have 
 never prevailed in their former vigor since the 
 reviving influence of the Brahminical tenets ; yet 
 the secret immolation of human victims, and the 
 voluntary oblation of enthusiastic devotees is still 
 praflised, and deemed meritorious. The infant 
 is still offered up to appease the wrath of Heaven, 
 and to procure the blessing of a numerous pro¬ 
 geny ; the aged and expiring are still exposed on 
 the banks of the sacred river, as the most honour¬ 
 able method of terminating an existence too long 
 protrafted, and thus ensuring an indisputable title 
 to the enjoyment of future bliss. 
 
 The doftrines of the immortality of the soul 
 and of a future state, which, when pure and 
 unsophisticated, are equally adapted to secure 
 the general welfare of society, and to promote 
 
 t 
 
I 
 
 206 
 
 individual happiness, have, by the refinements of 
 Brahminism, been rendered instrumental, both in 
 repressing the exertions of the mind, and in aug¬ 
 menting the miseries of life. Though it is a 
 fundamental tenet in the religion of the Brahmins, 
 that the soul is incorruptible, and is itself a ray 
 , from the infinite spirit,” yet, in that re-union of 
 the human soul wdth the Divine ethereal sub¬ 
 stance of the universe, which it is imagined will 
 at length take place, all personal consciousness of 
 immortality is excluded ; and consequently all 
 personal consciousness of happiness. But before 
 the soul can possibly be absorbed in the Divine 
 essence, to which state it is progressively tending, 
 it must undergo various transmigrations, in order 
 that it may be completely purified from the taints 
 of evil, contrafled in this present life. 
 
 Henc^, w’hile this notion has been the cause of 
 that ridiculous veneration, entertained by the Hin¬ 
 doos for the most loathsome & noxious parts of the 
 animal creation, it has also embittered their present 
 happiness, by recalling to their recolleftion the 
 idea of an existence, in some former state, of more 
 exalted purity, and of more refined pleasure. 
 Perhaps” (is the language of one of their dra- 
 matic poems) the sadness of men, otherwise 
 happy, in seeing beautiful fornis, and listening to 
 
207 
 
 sweet melody, arises from some faint remembrance 
 of past joys, and the traces of connexions in a 
 former state of existence/’^ 
 
 This doXrine of the immortality of the soul, 
 which has the happiest tendency to mitigate the 
 calamities of life, has, by a perversion in the 
 Brahminical system, increased their intenseness. . 
 Since it pourtrays the universe as a cheerless 
 prison, from which the soul is continually strug¬ 
 gling to be free : it, not unfrequently, prompts 
 a premature termination of an existence, which 
 can at the best be considered, only as a state of 
 painful servitude. What relish can there be for 
 enjoyment in this body, assailed by desire and 
 wrath, by avarice and illusion, fear and sorrow, 
 envy and hate, by absence from those whom we 
 love, and by union with those whom we dislike, 
 by hunger and thirst, by disease and emaciation, 
 by growth and decline, by old age and death 
 
 From the faXs which have been stated in this 
 discussion, two important conclusions will arise. 
 The first will shew the praXical tendency of a 
 refined system of metaphysics, when it operates 
 on the religious sentiments of a whole people* 
 
 ^ Sacontala. 
 
 ® Extract from the V^das, 
 
208 
 
 By those who are inclined to view both the re¬ 
 ligion and charadler of the Hindoos, in a favour¬ 
 able light, it is objefted, as a want of candour, 
 that the corruptions, arising from vulgar supersti- 
 - tion, have been improperly stated as the genuine 
 principles of their creed. But to this we may re¬ 
 ply, that the opinions and customs, stated in this 
 are the necessary result of their insti¬ 
 tutions, and, sometimes, in conformity to their 
 positive and express injun6lions. Popular religion 
 can never consist in abstrafl: ideas; it must have 
 a body. It has been truly observed, that the Brah- 
 minical tenets concerning the Deity, perfectly 
 coincide with those of the Stoical school; and if 
 an accurate definition were given of Brahminism, 
 it might be described, as a religion, in which the 
 •subtile spirit, which charafiterized the doftrines of 
 the porch, has animated the great mass of vulgar 
 superstition. But we may here perceivej in what 
 manner the most lofty speculations become a pro¬ 
 lific source of error, when operating as regulations 
 of popular manners. If those speculations had 
 been confined to the sages of Benares, as they 
 were to the sages of Athens, they might have been 
 regarded as the offspring of refined sensibility} 
 and though few would have been willing, or able, 
 to follow them, many would have been induced 
 to admire, and none would have been willing 
 
^09 
 
 harshly to condemn. But when these Ideas arc 
 embodied, and assume a tangible form, we are 
 irresistibly led to conclude, how useless and how 
 pernicious the sophistry of the Stoical school must 
 have been, in the regulation of human conduft. 
 
 The fa8:s,‘ which have now been laid down, 
 will also dlre6t to another and different conclusion. 
 They will contribute to decide, how far the nation¬ 
 al charafter may be influenced by climate ; and 
 how far the power of religious enthusiasm may 
 exclude climate from any share in its formation. 
 We here behold a people, living under a tempe¬ 
 rature favourable to voluptuousness, and, in some 
 measure, taking the complexion of their national 
 chara6ler from its influence : living in that state 
 of oscitancy, which arises from natural imbecility, 
 or oppressed by that lassitude, which proceeds 
 from intemperate gratification. 
 
 But we also see the same people, when the 
 force of religious impressions stimulates their 
 natural indolence, displaying Instances of self- 
 denial, of laborious and painful exertion, which , 
 almost exceed belief. 
 
 We may behold the native of Hindoostan, 
 whose form is naturally of a tender texture, and 
 
 p 
 
210 
 
 I 
 
 whose body is enfeebled by age, patient of 
 fatigue, careless of danger, taking his long and 
 painful journey from the Ganges to the Volga, to 
 offer up a prayer, at the shrine of his God. We 
 may behold him, at another time, relinquishing 
 every worldly connexion, subduing every feeling 
 of self-love, and all the sympathies of social life, 
 ‘Emotionless as a tree, and fixing his eyes on the 
 solar orb,” till exhausted nature sinks, or despair 
 prompts him to devote himself to the fury of the 
 flood or fire. 
 
 But, what is still more decisive to the purpose, 
 and what shews the irresistible force of religious 
 impressions, we may perceive the followers of the 
 religion of Mohammed, and the professors of the 
 Brahminical faith,, living in the same country, 
 breathing the same atmosphere, and therefore 
 subjeft to the same effeSls from climate ; each 
 still retaining those remarkable peculiarities, 
 which the genius of two religions, so diametrically 
 opposite, inspires. In some of their institutions, 
 such as those which prohibit the indulgence of 
 inebriating liquors, or which permit the almost 
 unrestrained gratification of sensual desire, they 
 assimilate; but even the common observer may 
 distinguish the discriminating lines, which mark 
 the difference of their faith. 
 
 \ 
 
211 
 
 The force of religion can, of itself, combat the 
 influence of climate, or counteraft the want of 
 bodily strength. It can form the Ascetic and the 
 Devotee, under the burning rays of an eastern 
 sun ; it can form the Sybarite under the invigora- 
 tingdnfluence of a temperate clime. 
 
 And chiefly that part of religion, which ex¬ 
 clusively consists of t)ur ideas concerning the 
 j Supreme Being, and the nature of our devotion 
 to him, will be instrumental in forming the cha- 
 rafter. That course of life which is deemed the 
 most acceptable to him, will be pursued and 
 persevered in, however repugnant to all the 
 feelings of nature, however detrimental to the 
 interests of society, however painful in its execu¬ 
 tion, or however useless in its tendency. 
 
 Happy then are .they, who live under the 
 benign influence of a religion, in which the Deity 
 is represented, not as a stern and inflexible 
 tyrant, delighting in the sufferings of his slaves : 
 but as a kind and compassionate parent, who 
 rejoices in the happiness of his offspring • in 
 which human life is represented, not as a state of 
 servitude, but as a state of discipline 3 in which 
 the Almighty does not address himself to man in 
 the accents of terror, but speaks to him in the 
 
 p 2 
 
I 
 
 ^12 
 
 same consolotary voice, in which he once pro¬ 
 claimed himself to his chosen people of old: 
 
 The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and graci¬ 
 ous, long suffering, abundant in goodness and 
 truth.” 
 
/ 
 
 ■ ■■ - ■ ■■■■■—■I . .... 
 
 # 
 
 DISCOURSE VIL 
 
 ON THE BRAHMINICAL SYSTEM IN ITS 
 OPERATION ON THE INTELLECTUAL PACULTIES, 
 
 The Causes which contribute to depress the 
 intellectual Faculties of the Hindoos deri- 
 'oedfrom their Religion^The Division of 
 Society into Castes—^The comprehension of 
 Science in their Scheme of Revelation— 
 
 The Incorporation of their Civil Institu^ ■ 
 tions with their Religious System. Their 
 Chronological Scheme — Superiority of 
 Europe over Asia, attrihutahle to the 
 Genius of the Christian Religion, 
 
 \ 
 
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t 
 
 DISCOURSE VII. 
 
 ON THE BRAHMINICAL SYSTEM IN ITS . 
 
 OPERATION ON THE INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. , 
 
 • t 
 
 Romans 14, v, 17. 
 
 The Kingdom of God is not Meat and Drink, hut 
 Righteousness, and Peace, and Joy in the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 To form a just estimate of the comparative 
 excellence of Christian morality, and of its in¬ 
 fluence on the human charafter, it is requisite to 
 consider the precepts of the Gospel, not only in a 
 positive, but also in a negative view. Some 
 duties and obligations are enforced with a degree 
 of strictness and precision, to be sought in vain 
 elsewhere ; but the Christian revelation does not 
 fix what should be left indeterminate, and has 
 always declined to interfere in those cases, where 
 interference would be sometimes unnecessary, 
 and sometimes prejudicial. And it has effected 
 this purpose, not only by disregarding many 
 of those qualities so highly applauded by the 
 world, and some of which have been thought 
 
 p 4 
 
‘lid 
 
 essential to the existence of political society; it 
 not only neglefls to form the Patriot and lire the 
 Hero, but, satisfied with Jaying down a few com¬ 
 prehensive rules of condu6f, it never direfts their 
 
 0 
 
 application to particular cases. Though it com¬ 
 mands, in the most unequivocal terms, the obser¬ 
 vance of temperance and self-denial; yet it has 
 not defined the exadl limits where rational enjoy¬ 
 ment ends, and criminal excess begins. Though 
 it inculcates the fundamental principles of equity 
 and justice ; yet it never descends to discuss them 
 with forensic prolixity, or forensic minuteness; 
 nor does it specify exceptions and limitations to 
 plain and indubitable rules of pra6tice. Though 
 it dire£ts, that some part of human life should be 
 employed in the necessary occupations of secular 
 industry, and that some part should be devoted 
 to religious meditation; yet it does not ascertain, 
 with rigid and undeviating formality, the precise 
 quantity of time requisite for each ; but leaves 
 the question, to be decided by existing circum¬ 
 stances, and by the conscience of the individual. 
 Contented with giving a right impulse to the 
 motions of the heart, it does not pretend to 
 regulate them, with the exaaness of mechanical 
 oscillation; but leaves them to be biassed by 
 external causes; by causes which will sometimes 
 accelerate^ and sometimes retard their ordinary 
 
217 
 
 course; by causes, which it is not less easy to 
 foresee, than impossible to control. 
 
 Should this distinguishing chara61er of Christian 
 morality, appear to merit no higher praise, than 
 that of maintaining a decorous and consistent 
 reserve, concerning the ordinary concerns of life, 
 which badly accord with the awful grandeur of 
 religious san£lions; yet this negative excellence 
 may claim a higher commendation, and is produc¬ 
 tive of more important advantages. 
 
 The first advantage is, that the morality of the 
 Christian religion, being contained in a short 
 
 I ** 
 
 compass, is always ready for use in the condufl 
 of life. Of the Mussulman code we are informed, 
 that it consists of not less than seventy-five 
 thousand traditional precepts ; and of the sacred 
 literature of the Hindoos, it has been said, that 
 
 the longest life would not be sufficient for .the 
 perusal of near five hundred thousand stanzas in 
 the Puranas, and a million more perhaps in other 
 works.”** Moral precepts, applied to such a 
 variety of cases, and on such a variety of subje 6 ts, 
 must perplex, rather than enlighten 5 must leave 
 room for cavil and evasion, rather than afford a 
 
 * SirW.Jonw. 
 
218 
 
 specific direftlon, in any emergency of moral 
 doubt. 
 
 The next excellence of Christian morality, and 
 which essentially distinguishes it from every other 
 mode of religious faith, is, that this silence on 
 many points of doubtful disputation,” renders 
 Christianity the same yesterday, to-day, and 
 forever.” H. d its injunftions been contained in 
 a code of jurisprudence, or comprised in a'regular 
 compendium of ethical maxims, they would have 
 received a tinfture from the opinions and customs 
 of the country wherein they originated. But 
 Christianity, being an historical religion, although 
 it abounds in references and allusions to the 
 theatre, on w^hich the events which it records 
 were transa6led ; has nothing of that locality, 
 which could confine its progress, or limit its 
 duration.. Though the tree was first planted in 
 Judea, yet it stretches out its branches unto the 
 “ sea, and its boughs unto the river;” it flourishes 
 not in any peculiar soil, but in climates the most 
 remote from the spot, where it first arose to 
 overshadow the world. 
 
 It is on this account, that the Christian Religion 
 is the only faith capable of universal extension ; 
 for whatever variations may take place in the 
 
219 
 
 course of worldly affairs, it is not in the least 
 affeaed by them. At it lays down no particular 
 form of civil government, or system of political 
 economy, it survives the dissolution of states and 
 empires: or assimilates itself to any alterations 
 and improvements which wisdom or expediency 
 may suggest in their administration. As it dic¬ 
 tates neither theories in philosophy, nor axioms in 
 science, it has left mankind free to adopt im¬ 
 provements and discoveries in either. As it 
 prescribes no regulations with respe6l to the 
 customs of domestic life, or to the different inodes 
 of social intercourse, it permits those changes 
 which constantly take place in them, from the 
 innocent love of novelty, and the progress of 
 refinement. Thus it is not a fabric, which though 
 composed of durable materials, may, in a series 
 of ages be rendered less beautiful or less com¬ 
 modious, but is equally calculated to resist the 
 assaults pf external violence, and to withstand 
 the silent decay of time. 
 
 But the highest commendation of Christian 
 morality, derived from its negative excellence, 
 is the unconstrained exercise, which it allows 
 to the intelleftual powers of man. Christianity 
 has left the mind free. W hile the perfe 61 ion 
 of the mental faculties in a future state, is pro- 
 

 posed as £in encouragement to exertion ; it has 
 opposed, in the present state, no obstacle to 
 impede their progressive improvement. 
 
 In proof of this assertion, we may allege, 
 that if Christianity be the only religion capable 
 of universal extension, it is also the only religion, 
 which, if confined to a single nation, would 
 allow and enable that nation to preserve a neces¬ 
 sary intercourse with the rest of the world, and 
 to maintain its rank in the political scale, without 
 violating any of its fundamental precepts or 
 departing from its genuine spirit. 
 
 This cannot be said of any other religion 
 ever promulgated. Experience must have taught 
 us how frequently nations, not professing the 
 Christian Religion, have been obstrufted in 
 their necessary exertion, either of precaution¬ 
 ary defence, or in the cultivation of many 
 of the arts of peace. But the Kingdom 
 of God’' is not confined to place, nor bounded 
 by the barriers of the earth or ocean. It has 
 not restrifted the spirit of inquiry and adventure, 
 the pursuit of knowledge, or the prosecution of 
 commercial industry : nor has it fixed a river, or 
 a chain of mountains, as the limit, beyond which 
 to pass, is an a£t not only of danger, but of 
 
221 
 
 impiety. Of many forms of religion we may 
 almost say, that they are indigenous. They 
 derive their efficacy, and even their substance, 
 from some local peculiarity ; and are like any 
 other natural production of the soil. But the 
 Kingdom of God is not meat and drink,” it 
 is connected with no national ordinances, which 
 prohibit the use of any of the bounties which 
 nature has freely dispensed, but they are left 
 to be enjoyed as expediency may direCt, or as 
 choice may diCtate, 
 
 And, if a single Christian nation could preserve 
 a necessary intercourse, with others of a different 
 faith, without violating any injunction of Christian 
 morality ; so a single individual professing the 
 Christian faith, might live, in any part of the 
 world, with any seCt, under any "climate, under 
 any form of government, without transgressing 
 any command of his own religion, without any 
 privation of necessary enjoyment, and without 
 any sacrifice of integrity. 
 
 The method by which all other religions have 
 established their authority, and preserved their 
 influence over the minds of their votaries, has 
 been exaClly the reverse. They have begun by 
 binding, under religious sanctions, what might 
 
1222 
 
 properly be left to the regulation of human laws. 
 They have included every obje£l, either of specu¬ 
 lative science, or of praftical wisdom. They 
 have even modelled the forms of social inter¬ 
 course ; and, from regulating the disputations of 
 the schools, they have descended to prescribe the 
 beverage of the banquet. Thus they have con¬ 
 tributed to fetter the mind, by confining the 
 exercise of its powers, by fixing limits to its 
 pursuits, and impeding its free exertions. Form¬ 
 ed to meet the present exigency, and without 
 any prospeftive view to the condition, the inte¬ 
 rests, and the wants of distant generations, thev 
 have marked out a state of society which is to 
 admit of no change or improvement. They 
 have always opposed, with inflexible obstinacy, 
 any attempt to alter those stationary manners, 
 which they had originally introduced. 
 
 Thus many Pagan nations are, at the present 
 time, what they have ever been, since the earliest 
 periods of authentic history : the state of India 
 in the time of Alexander, is, with little varia¬ 
 tion, its present state. The same distinaions in 
 society take place ^ nearly the same objeas of 
 worship are holden in veneration ; the same arts 
 are cultivated. W^ith the progressive improve¬ 
 ments of the world, either in natural philosophy. 
 
223 
 
 or in moral and political wisdom, the inhabitants 
 of India have had no concern. The light which 
 has been refle6led on them, by their intercourse 
 with those nations, whom avarice, ambition, and 
 ' curiosity have allured to their shores, they have 
 endeavoured as far as possible to resist; and the 
 very slight variation, which has arisen in their 
 manners, from their conta6i: with their different 
 conquerors, may be said to proceed from a neces¬ 
 sity almost physical. 
 
 In the preceding discourse, some of the defefts, ' 
 inherent in the Brahminical system were pointed 
 out, with respeft to the pra6lical influence which 
 their ideas, and representations, of the Supreme 
 Being, were calculated to produce on their nation¬ 
 al chara6ler. It yet remains to consider the in¬ 
 fluence of their religious institutions on the intel- 
 leftual faculties, and on the social affeftions. 
 The present discourse will be confined to the 
 former of these subjects, reserving to another ocr 
 casion the consideration of their effefts on the af- 
 feftions of the heart, and their tendency to promote 
 private happiness, and universal benevolence. 
 
 Without discussing the question, whether man¬ 
 kind may be gradually though slowly increasing 
 in wisdom and virtue,, with the age of the world : 
 
224 
 
 or whether the world may be in a perpetual 
 revolution from ignorance to knowledge, and 
 from barbarism to refinement ; it is certain, that 
 a variation in local circumstances has caused, in 
 different periods of society, a different application 
 of the intelle&ual powers of man. They cannot 
 without violence be continually direfted to the 
 same pursuits. Perhaps the difference between 
 one age and another, consists, rather in the 
 diversity of the objefts to which the mental 
 faculties have been applied, than to any difference 
 in the natural powers of the mind itself. If, for 
 instance, a knowledge of the powers of mecha¬ 
 nism, has, in former ages, been applied, to raise 
 the massive column, to ereft the lofty pyramid, 
 and to form those vast struftures, which seem to 
 deride the pigmy efforts of more degenerate 
 days ; in the present times it has been more 
 successfully direfled, to augment the comforts 
 of domestic life, to operations, which, though more 
 minute are not less useful; which demonstrate 
 equal fertility of invention, and equal comprehen¬ 
 sion of genius. But this difference in the appli¬ 
 cation of the intelieftual powers, is, perhaps 
 necessary, to prevent their total stagnation ; and 
 eminence in either science or art, has never been 
 attained, but by the free exertion of the mind, 
 uncontrolled by civil regulations, or by the more 
 powerful san6lions of religious opinion. 
 
225 ,' 
 
 The first Institution then, in the Brahminical 
 system, which more than any other, contributes 
 to check this necessary freedom, and to depress 
 the mental energies, is that artificial line of divi¬ 
 sion, which has been drawn between the different 
 orders of society ^ a line of separation, which it 
 is impossible to pass 3 and which is not only 
 guarded by the prescriptions of law, but fortified 
 by the adamantine and impregnable barriers of 
 the divine decree. At the creation of the world, 
 each of the four primary castes, is said to have 
 proceeded immediately from the Divinity ; and 
 to mingle, or to confound, what He has thus 
 originally separated, must be a deed of the most 
 daring impiety. ; 
 
 To enquire minutely into the numerous sub¬ 
 divisions, which have branched out from these 
 primary orders, and to ascertain the different 
 modifications of caste, which have taken place 
 throughout HIndoostan, might present a subje£l 
 worthy of attention. But the effe6ls of such an 
 institution can be argued, here, only on a general 
 view. 
 
 Unnatural and arbitrary as this division has 
 eventually proved, and favourable, as it must 
 necessarily be, to the exercise of despotism, it 
 
 Q 
 
226 
 
 has, not unfrequently, been defended, as singular¬ 
 ly adapted to secure the end, which must have 
 been in the view of those, who first formed it. It 
 has been said, that the human mind accom¬ 
 modates itself, without a murmur, to the law of 
 necessity; that the native of Hindoostan patiently 
 acquiesces in an institution so repugnant to our 
 feelings; and that thus knowing, from his birth, the 
 Station allotted to him, and the duties peculiar to 
 that station ; as the objefts which relate to these, 
 are the first and sole presented to his view, he 
 has no other to inflame his desires. He is there¬ 
 fore a stranger to the fatal effefts of inordinate 
 ambition. It has been also alleged, that this 
 division is the most undoubted proof of the early 
 and high civilization of the Hindoos, and of their 
 perfe6tion in the art of government; and that 
 the arrangements of government are judiciously 
 made, not for the Few, but for the Many; not 
 for individual convenience, but for public advan¬ 
 tage. It has been finally asserted, that to this 
 institution may be attributed the astonishing 
 perfeftion of the inhabitants of India in their 
 manufaftures, which exhibit a dexterity, unrivalled 
 by Europeans, with all the advantages of superior 
 science. 
 
 If we may be allowed to assign a cause for 
 
k 
 
 2!27 
 
 an institution so singular, we may imagine it 
 to have been, at its commencement, nothing 
 more tham a necessary division of labor, among 
 the different orders of society. It might, at first, 
 have been morally innocent, as well as politically 
 useful. It must have been long, before the 
 different gradations in society, could have been 
 . immutably fixed, and rivetted by the chains of 
 an inexorable superstition. But, that in its pre¬ 
 sent state, and its present state is the necessary 
 result of such a regulation, it can have a tendency 
 to increase national prosperity, is a position that 
 equally contradifts reason, and experience. 
 
 From the time when our acquaintance with 
 the history of India begins, its inhabitants, so far 
 from possessing any political importance, have 
 ever groaned under the dominion of a foreign 
 yoke. They have dragged the chains of an igno¬ 
 minious servitude for ages, under a people, whose 
 numbers have scarcely exceeded a tenth part of 
 their own population. In a country, where an 
 order of men is set apart, expressly for the pro- 
 teftion 6f the rest ; a class, whom the enthusiasm 
 of some historians has represented to be mighty 
 in martial deeds it must appear wonderful, 
 that this spirit could be so completely extinguish¬ 
 ed. It must appear wonderful, if this institution 
 
 Q 2 
 
S2$ 
 
 of castes, were really as beneficial as is con¬ 
 tended, that in a mode of life, where superi¬ 
 ority is generally the result of skill, and where 
 skill is derived from experience, the warriors 
 of India should so long have slumbered in supine 
 indifference. That an order of men, like the 
 sacerdotal order, to whom is entrusted the care 
 of science, as well as of religion, should, in 
 modern times, have so far degenerated from 
 their antient pre-eminence, is another proof of 
 the impolicy of this regulation ; plainly demon¬ 
 strating, that where knowledge is not permitted 
 generally to expand, knowledge is itself diminish¬ 
 ed 3 when it is, at first, from interested motives, 
 confined to a few, it is, at length, negle£led by all. 
 That the inhabitants of India may have excelled 
 in the labors of the loom, and that their manu- 
 fa6lures are so remarkable for delicacy of texture, 
 
 is not to be imputed to the institution of a com- 
 * 
 
 mercial caste, but to the suppleness of their frame, 
 to the formation of their bodies, and above all, 
 to the remarkable configuration of their hands. 
 But, whatever superiority may be visible in their 
 execution of many useful arts, the exercise of 
 others is absolutely prohibited by their religion ; 
 and the scrupulous adherence, with which they 
 follow the praftices of their ancestors, has entirely 
 checked the spirit of invention. 
 
229 
 
 The fa6l Is, that this example, drawn from the 
 history of the Hindoo nation, will considerably 
 tend to solve the problem so long debated—how 
 far the powers of industry and application can 
 supply the want of natural genius 3 and also to 
 ascertain that important question in political' 
 philosophy*—how far it is prudent to warp the 
 natural bent of the mind, by the artificial regula-' 
 tions of civil government. From this example" 
 it will appear, that to prevent the intelle 61 :ual 
 powers from exerting their native strength, and 
 from following those objefts to which the impulse 
 of innate genius would prompt them, will soon 
 bring on an indifference to every pursuit, and 
 at length leave the mind in total oscitancy. 
 Whatever external force, and mechanical adroit¬ 
 ness can effe 61 :, will be comparatively trivial, 
 when put in competition with the elastic power 
 of unconstrained and voluntary exertion. 
 
 The character of the Hindoos, from their being' 
 thus fixed, from their birth, in this unalterable 
 state, from which no efforts of their own, and no' 
 casualty of fortune can possibly remove them, 
 is marked by nothing of that vigor and decision, 
 inseparable from competition in pursuits and 
 collision of interests. Hence this favourite maxim, 
 which they constantly repeat, seems to govern’ 
 
 Q 3 
 
!230 
 
 their condufl. It is better to sit than to stand, 
 to lie down than to sit, to sleep than to wake, 
 and death is the best of all/* In those occupa¬ 
 tions, which require perseverance without exer¬ 
 tion, and which demand only that degree of 
 attention, which permits the current of thought 
 to glide on in uninterrupted indolence, they 
 excel; but they uniformly shrink from attempts 
 of hazard and of enterprize. They prefer a lazy 
 apathy to the agitations of a6llve life, and think 
 it sufficient to pass through existence, with the 
 negative merit of having neither disturbed their 
 own repose, nor that of the world, by'intemperate 
 ambition. 
 
 But, that this regulation in the religion of 
 the Hindoos, is lamentably inefficient to pro¬ 
 duce the ends originally designed, is farther 
 evident; from the deviations, which they have 
 been compelled to make, from Its literal interpre¬ 
 tation: from the injudicious attempts which they 
 have made to soften its inflexibility, and to 
 moderate its rigor. 
 
 Their law has permitted the mixed classes, 
 which have sprung from the intermarriages of 
 the four first, to gain a subsistence by agriculture, 
 commerce, or menial service, The same law 
 
231 
 
 has also permitted, with a few limitations, such, 
 as cannot procure a subsistence by following 
 the duties and occupations of their own class, to 
 pursue those of another. Yet even this seemingly 
 wise provision, a provision which might have 
 been used to better purposes, has beea converted, 
 by the Hindoo priesthood, to their own interested 
 designs, to gratify their avarice ; a passion which 
 takes deep root in their minds, and which always 
 preys on minds not stimulated by nobler obje£l:s. 
 It has enabled the Brahminical order to follow 
 their inordinate love of wealth, by insinuating 
 themselves into offices of trust and emolument. 
 It has enabled them to administer to their interest, 
 without derogating from their sacred charatler, 
 or injuring their reputation in the eyes of their 
 followers. But this provision has proposed no 
 incitement, it has not even given permission, 
 to the subordinate castes to aspire to eminence. 
 The sacred order, to which is entrusted the 
 key of knowlegc*^ must be preserved unpolluted i 
 into that, none of the inferior classes can enter. 
 
 j 
 
 When to this is added, that the Brahminical 
 order alone is permitted to read the sacred 
 oracles, that the military class is only permit¬ 
 ted to hear them recited, and that, to the lower 
 castes, who compose the greater number, even 
 
 Q 4 
 
23 % 
 
 this privele-ge is denied, it may easily be perceived, 
 that while the mind is enthralled by arbitrary 
 tj^ranny, the moral chara6ter will be proportion- 
 ably sunk, as being entirely dependant on the 
 caprice of the same despotic influence. 
 
 And, if the religion of the Hindoos has a 
 natural tendency to depress the mental faculties, 
 by assigning, to each individual, the sole objefts 
 of his legitimate pursuit; it has still farther con¬ 
 tributed to this effefl, by making science itself a 
 subjea of divine revelation. When we revert to 
 the periods of Papal ignorance, and find the 
 celebrated Galileo subjefled to a rigorous con¬ 
 finement for his astronomical discoveries, we 
 are strongly impressed with the futility of com¬ 
 prehending, under religion, matters, entirely 
 irrelevant to its design. But, in the religion 
 of the .Hindoos, every fine art is declared to 
 be revealed from heaven ; and all knowledge, 
 speculative or praaical, is traced to its source^’in 
 the Vddas. A revealed code of morality, and a 
 revealed science, both agree in this respea j they 
 equally preclude all change or improvement 
 But It IS not less necessary for the happiness of 
 mankind, that the first should be unalterably fixed, 
 than that the latter should be enlarged by inven-. 
 tion, and correaed by experience. 
 
I 
 
 233 
 
 Another circumstance, connefted with the 
 former, which tends decidedly to check the pro¬ 
 gress of knowledge among the Hindoos, is, the 
 peculiarity of incorporating their civil code of 
 laws, with their other moral and religious institu¬ 
 tions. It was this peculiarity which'rendered 
 the Jewish people, what, for wise reasons, they 
 were designed to be, a people separated from 
 the rest of the world ; a people, who while they 
 were “ men in religion, were children in every 
 thing else/’ - It is the same peculiarity which 
 renders the Hindoos so hostile to improvement ; 
 and to this may, in a great degree, be imputed, 
 that singularity of manners, which they have so 
 long retained. As their laws are supposed to be 
 derived immediately from Heaven, they are of 
 eternal and immutable obligation ; as they were 
 really the produ 6 tion of human wisdom, though 
 they might be sufficiently adapted to the time in 
 which they were first promulgated, yet the regu¬ 
 lations which they enjoin, are often absurd, often 
 prej udicial, and often impra 8 :icable. They some¬ 
 times disgust by their puerility, and sometimes 
 shock by their unnatural rigor. The most trivial 
 duties of ordinary life, are discussed with the 
 greatest gravity ; the succession of property is 
 regulated by maxims, which no change in ex¬ 
 ternal circumstances must alter 3 contra£l:s arc 
 
^^4 
 
 specified according to every imaginable, or per- 
 haps, possible case ; the regulations of com¬ 
 mercial intercourse are prescribed with the most 
 circumstantial exaftness. Thus the civil code 
 of the Hindoos, far from resembling the jejune 
 brevity of the twelve tables, has been celebrat¬ 
 ed as bearing a comparison with the^ digest of 
 Justinian, in the number and the variety of the 
 subje£ts which it discusses ; and it has assumed, 
 what the code of Justinian never assumed, the 
 authority of divine and immutable sanftion. 
 AV^hile^ the one, being modified by the varying 
 circumstances, and more liberal spirit of modern 
 times, is a valuable repository of legal knowlegC 5 
 and is still beneficial for the purposes of equity ; 
 the other has been converted into an engine of 
 mischievous superstition, and has become perni¬ 
 cious in proportion to its duration. 
 
 It appears indeed to have been the intention 
 . of Providence, that the course of Nature should 
 be subje£t to fluctuations, though the fundamental 
 Laws, by which the world is governed, are im¬ 
 mutable ; and that, in political governments, 
 nothing should be fixed, but those eternal barriers 
 of justice, which no length of time can alter, 
 no art of man can destroy. With respeCt to all 
 institutions, merely human, it seems to have 
 
235 
 
 % 
 
 been the design of Heaven to mock the pride of 
 man, who wishes to dire6t the a6lions of posterity 
 as well as those of his contemporaries, and endea¬ 
 vours to make his own wisdom the rule of 
 conduft for future generations. Such arrogant 
 pretensions Time always confutes ; and the vain, 
 though laudable, artifice, by which the Athenian 
 legislator attempted to secure perpetual obedience 
 to his laws, has been frustrated, not only by the 
 fickle disposition of his countrymen, but by the 
 revolution of Time, who has laid in ruins Athens 
 herself, and rendered her polity, her wisdom, 
 and her eloquence merely themes of curious 
 speculation, or subjects for declamatory praise. 
 
 To the causes already mentioned, arising from 
 their religious and civil institutions, which operate ^ 
 towards the mental depression of the Hindoos, 
 may be added another, which contributes to 
 increase their natural ina6tivity. This may be 
 found in the mortifying and melancholy prospeft, 
 which their chronological scheme gives, of the 
 future condition of the human race. It is sup¬ 
 posed by the Brahmins, that Man is in a progress 
 sive state of mental degeneracy, as well as of 
 diminution of bodily stature, and bodily strength. 
 That happy sera has long since rolled away, 
 when the life of man was extended to myriads 
 
236 
 
 of years; when peace and innocence resided on 
 the earth ; when the mind of man could compre¬ 
 hend every material objea, and every moral 
 truth 5 and when his corporeal strength could 
 remove mountains. In the present degraded 
 condition of man, nothing of this kind is to be 
 expeaed, or hoped. But the time will arrive, 
 ^ when even the present degeneracy of the world 
 shall become greater ; when every species of 
 depravity shall more and more abound: and 
 when, together with the decay of his intelleaual 
 powers, the stature of man shall be so lessened, 
 that he shall not be able, by his natural strength, 
 to pluck the smallest plant from the earth. 
 
 It may easily be perceived, that a prospea, 
 thus gloomy, must powerfully operate on minds 
 easily terrified by religious impressions : and that 
 it must afford every encouragement to that love 
 of indolence, which invariably adheres to the 
 Hindoo charaaer. To be able to attain no 
 higher eminence than the feeble consolation of 
 being the first among a race which is continually 
 growing worse ; to feel a conviaion, that the 
 highest exertions will be insufficient to prevent 
 this deterioration of posterity : to reflea that 
 each da, bring, wi.h' ii a fr„h alrion 
 
 to the sum of human corruption and of human 
 
237 
 
 misery ; while such a convi£tion must, on the one 
 hand, inspire a hatred of existence in the present 
 state, it must also produce that disinclination to 
 exertion, which is, of itself, sufficient to render 
 life insupportable. 
 
 These then, are some of the primary causes 
 which necessarily paralize the intellect, and con¬ 
 sequently depress the chara6ter. These causes 
 are not remote and contingent; they are immedi¬ 
 ate and irresistible. These articles of belief, 
 which have been specified are inseparably incor¬ 
 porated with the religious system of the Brahmins, 
 and indeed form its substance. 
 
 , But it yet remains to shew, that these causes 
 have really produced their correspondent effe6ts : 
 that they have a6tually forwarded the mental 
 subjugation of the inhabitants of Hindoostan. 
 
 In the first place, their total abstinence from 
 animal food, and their veneration for some of 
 the most noxious parts of the animal creation, 
 have, in their general effeiSls, proved strong impe¬ 
 diments to agricultural improvement, and, in 
 many instances, have aggravated, if not caused, 
 the miseries of famine. 
 
238 
 
 Their dread of shedding human blood, has 
 prevented them from studying the anatomy of the 
 human frame, and from applying this science to 
 the purposes of medicine. Their total abhor¬ 
 rence from maritime voyages, arising from religi¬ 
 ous prohibition, has prevented them from enjoying 
 a general intercourse with distant parts of the 
 world, either for purposes of commerce, or for the 
 gratification of useful curiosity; and they have 
 seldom seen the face of a stranger, but to recog¬ 
 nize in him an enemy. In short, there is scarcely 
 an art which embellishes life, or a science which 
 strengthens the faculties, which is not, in some 
 manner, brought under the domination of their 
 superstition, and is not either prohibited, or re¬ 
 strained, or controlled, by their r^igious creed. 
 
 If, in addition to the arguments, which have 
 been already urged, to prove the inseparable 
 connexion between mental ignorance and moral 
 degradation, and the powerful influence of religion 
 on the removal of both, any exemplification 
 should be thought necessary; this may be fairly 
 instanced, in the superiority of Europe over Asia ; 
 a superiority acquired, and retained, by intellec¬ 
 tual strength : and this intelle£lual pre-eminence, 
 arising from the profession of a religion favourable 
 to the progress of knowledge. And, if there be 
 
239 
 
 any truth in the popular apophthegm, that know¬ 
 ledge is power,*’ its propriety and its justice will 
 here be forcibly asserted. 
 
 That a diversity formerly subsisted, in the 
 manners of the inhabitants of these two different 
 parts of the world, the voice of history abundantly 
 testifies. It is well known to have been the chief 
 wish of Alexander, among his other vast projefts, 
 to reconcile this remarkable dissimilarity. After 
 his death, there was found among his tablets or 
 commentaries, a design, to build several new 
 cities, some in Asia, and some in Europe ; to 
 people those in Asia with Europeans, and those 
 in Europe with Asiatics : that by inter-marriages, 
 and by the constant interchange of the common 
 offices of social life, the inhabitants of these two 
 great continents might be gradually moulded into 
 a similarity of sentiment, and become attached 
 to each other, by mutual affeftion. 
 
 But, whatever this diversity might have once 
 been, it was not such as we find at present. The 
 rich and powerful empires of the Asiatic conti¬ 
 nent, might once have disputed, with the greatest 
 kingdoms of the western world, pre-eminence, 
 either in science, or in martial prowess, or in 
 political wisdom. There wa$ nothing of that 
 
240 
 
 Complete subjeftlon on the one hand, and of that 
 unqualified superiority on the other, which is 
 now felt and acknowledged. The boast of the 
 Athenian poet, that Asia was formed to be the 
 hand-maid of Europe, was far distant from sober 
 truth, at the period when it was uttered. It was 
 not true, when the Indian monarch, gigantic in 
 mind as well as in stature, defended with noble 
 intrepidity, his territories, against the insatiable 
 ambition of Alexander; and preserved his courage 
 undaunted, both in defeat and in captivity. It 
 was not true, at a subsequent sera, when the 
 whole western world was torn by feuds and 
 religious dissentions, and when the followers of 
 Mohammed brought their proud independance, 
 and their romantic chivalry into Spain, and estab- 
 Jished the most absolute authority, from the con¬ 
 fines of Tartary and India, to the shores of the 
 Atlantic ocean. It was not true, at a still later 
 pel iod, when, by the arms of the ^logul dynasty, 
 the globe itself was shaken from China to Poland,, 
 and the Ottoman power became the scourge and 
 the terror of Europe. 
 
 But it has been reserved to these times, to see 
 this boast completely verified. It has been reserv¬ 
 ed to these times, to see the haughty potentates 
 of the East, with the countless myriads under 
 
241 
 
 their dominion, acknowledging the superiority 
 and yielding to the sway of the nations of the 
 western world : tacitly admitting the excellence of 
 their civil institutions, and of their religious faith. 
 This superiority began to be felt and acknow¬ 
 ledged, when the pure doctrines of the Christian 
 faith were separated from the additions of human 
 craft, or human foJly : when the eyes of mankind 
 were, at length, opened to the errors and super¬ 
 stitions of the Romish Church, by which they 
 had been so long enslaved 5 and religion and 
 science re-appeared'together, to bless and to 
 enlighten the world. It was then, that the be¬ 
 nign influence of the genius of the Gospel, was 
 sensibly felt ; and if Asia be now indeed the 
 handmaid of Europe, Europe ’ has attained do¬ 
 minion, by conquering under the banner of the 
 cross. 
 
 .1 
 
 ' The elegant and rational Jortin, with a 
 warmth which the subjeft justifies, and which, 
 if the professors of Christianity have any cause 
 for glory, or if Christianity were capable of 
 inspiring ostentatious vanity, might be enlarged 
 on with greater force, and emblazoned with 
 greater eloquence—has enumerated many of those 
 advantages, for which the world is indebted to ^ 
 the Christian Religion; and which Have, in more 
 
 R 
 
242 
 
 senses than one, proved the assertion of its divine 
 author to be true, I am the light of the \vorld.” 
 
 In the same spirit, and with the same success, 
 may we apply his observation to the subjefl which 
 has now been under contemplation, the superiority 
 of the-Europcan to the Asiatic continent. 
 
 We may boldly ask, by whom was the design 
 first formed and attempted, of encountering the 
 fury of distant seas, when navigation was yet 
 in its infancy, with the laudable desire of rescuing 
 the commerce of the eastern world, from the 
 despotic influence of Mohammedism?—by Christ¬ 
 ians. By whom was this influence at length, 
 subdued? and by whom were the riches of Asia, 
 diverted from the Persian Gulph, to the shores of 
 the Adriatic and the Mediterranean ?—by Christ¬ 
 ians* In spite of the exaggerated aspersions of 
 
 . prejudice, ofignorance, or of party, on the Europe¬ 
 an charaaer in the East, we may again confidently 
 ask, .where in the records of history, shall we 
 first behold the faaorial establishment of a com¬ 
 mercial nation, ereaing an absolute empire over 
 a population of more than sixty millions; while 
 the best security of that establishment is founded 
 on the opinion which the inhabitants entertain of 
 the superior wisdom ^nd integrity of foreign 
 
settlers ?—among a nation of Christians.' From 
 whom did the humane and liberal idea ori¬ 
 ginate, that the natives should be governed by 
 those laws which they have so long revered as 
 divine, and which alone they are qualified to 
 appreciate, while at the same time, the stern 
 code of Menu should be softened by that spirit, 
 which diftated the institutions of Alfred ?—from 
 Christians. Where shall we first see the singular 
 spedtacle of the refined Asiatics, willingly flying 
 for proteftion to the arms of strangers ; seeking 
 redress for injuries in their courts of justice; 
 following them to the field of battle, with a 
 confidence in their invincible strength ^ tacitly 
 owning the benefits of their administration ; and 
 proving that, if the Aristotelian maxim be true, 
 that the Asiatics are born to be slaves,** yet sub¬ 
 jugation itself may become a blessing, when abso¬ 
 lute power is exercised by freemen?—in a colo¬ 
 nial establishment, formed by Christians. Finally, 
 where shall we see an European nation, differing 
 indeed as to the means, but agreeing as to the end, 
 endeavouring with parental care to meliorate the 
 condition of a vast empire, which the inscrutable 
 destinies of Providence have committed to its 
 proteftion, not indeed by sudden innovation and 
 wild theories of reform, but by that cautious 
 and gradual propagation of truth; which is 
 
244 
 
 requisite to ensure its ultimate and complete 
 success ?—In a colonial establishment, formed by 
 Christians, r 
 
 f 
 
 I ? - 
 
 Let us indulge a pious gratitude for the enjoy¬ 
 ment of the blessings of religious truth: for these 
 are the triumphs of Christianity ; let us feel a 
 pious exultation as Britons: for these triumphs 
 are our’sv- ^ 
 
 {> 
 
' DISCOURSE Vlir. 
 
 I 
 
 GN THE BRAHMINICAL SYSTEM 
 IN ITS OPERATION ON THE SOCIAL AFFECTION 
 
 Differe7ice between the exclusive Pretensmis 
 of Christianity to a Divine Origin, and 
 the Indifference of Paganism to the specu¬ 
 lative Opinions of other Nations—Peculiar 
 Tenet in the Brahminical System—The 
 Brahminical Religion intolerant—Defence 
 of the Christian Tenet of universal exten¬ 
 sion, in its tendency to promote universal 
 _ \ 
 
 ' Benevolence, 
 

 \ 
 
 I 
 
 
 V 
 
DISCOURSE Vlir. * 
 
 ON THE BRAHMINICAL SYSTEM 
 IN ITS OPERATION ON THE SOCIAL AFFECTIONS. 
 
 COLOSSIANS 3, V. 11, 
 
 There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor 
 uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond, nor 
 free s but Christ is all and in alL 
 
 It has been frequently objefted by the enemies 
 of our religion, that while Christianity professes 
 ^to inculcate a benevolence undistinguishing and 
 universal, many of those sentiments, which ex¬ 
 pand and refine the social feelings, are regarded 
 with an eye of indifference, if not of hostility.— 
 That the virtues of patriotism and of private friend¬ 
 ship, if not prohibited, are passed over without 
 their due commendation. That the morality of the 
 Gospel encourages a passion, which,' although it 
 may dazzle, can never warm; a passion, which can 
 only evaporate in empty declamation, kc can never 
 be efficacious in the conduct of life: while it has 
 
 a A 
 
243 
 
 neglefted to enforce that less exalted but more 
 useful sympathy, which proves its benevolence to 
 all, by its kindness to a few. 
 
 While these objeftions have been insinuated 
 with a design of depreciating Christianity in the 
 estimation of those who regard it merely as an en¬ 
 gine of state policy, and who hold every form of 
 religion in equal indifference, as having no other 
 obje6l than to preserve the good order of society ; 
 another objeflion, the reverse of the former, has 
 been urged, with still more plausibility and suc¬ 
 cess, to degrade it in the opinion of those who 
 assume a more enlarged liberality, and a philo¬ 
 sophy elevated above the prejudices of vulgar 
 superstition. 
 
 It has been said that this doarine of Universal 
 Benevolence, of which the Christian religion 
 boasts, though extended beyond those limits 
 which might render it produaive of local benefit, 
 is contraaed by others, which prevent it from 
 promoting general utility. Though this benevo¬ 
 lence easily surmounts every barrier of national 
 distinaion, though it professes to cherish with 
 equal affeaion the inhabitants of every climate 
 and country, yet it has drawn another line of 
 reparation equally arbitrary, and equally impass- 
 
249 
 
 able. Though in the chart of Christian philan- 
 throphy, the geographical division of a chain of 
 mountains, of a river, or of the ocean are obliterated, 
 yet there is another boundary marked out, which 
 all the selfish passions of the heart will more 
 vigilantly defend. If the superstitious follower 
 of Brahma trembles at the thought of crossing 
 the sacred river, lest, by setting his feet on 
 unhallowed ground, he may contraft pollution ; 
 the believer in Christianity sees before his eyes 
 a great gulph fixed” which, like the boundaries 
 of heaven and hell, can never be passed. Though 
 the Gospel has levelled every distinftion between 
 the Jew and the Greek, barbarian, and Scythian, 
 bond and free;” yet it has preserved another 
 distindlion, still more invidious, between the be¬ 
 liever and the infidel. This distin61:ion affords 
 ample room for all the unsocial passions of the 
 human heart to display themselves. Partialities 
 arising from country and kindred however strong, 
 may be countera6led by a general intercourse 
 with mankind; and the patriot may be taught to 
 consider himself a citizen of the world ; but, the 
 affe6tions and antipathies arising from religious 
 opinion, who can surmount? Though Greece 
 could stigmatize the inhabitants of all other 
 countries with the epithet of barbarians, yet even 
 Greece has enrolled the Scythian Anacharsk 
 
250 
 
 among the number of her sages. But where 
 shall we find a counterpoise against the supercili¬ 
 ous bigotry, which the following harsh injunftion 
 of a religious teacher is adapted to excite? 
 
 Be ye not unequally yoked together with un¬ 
 believers, for what fellowship hath righteousness 
 with unrighteousness, and what communion hath 
 light with darkness, and what concord hath 
 Christ with Belial, or what part hath he that 
 believeth with an infidel, and what agreement 
 hath the temple of Goth with idols ?” 
 
 In order to place these allegations in a stronger 
 light, intolerance to the religious opinions of other 
 nations has been represented as charafterising the 
 professors of the Christian faith, and has often been 
 contrasted with that liberality and forbearance on 
 speculative points, which are said to form a strik¬ 
 ing feature in the history of the nations professing 
 polytheism. Jf their own tenets were absurd, 
 yet they never attempted to obtrude them on the 
 belief of others ^ if the tenets of other sefts ap¬ 
 peared to them erroneous, yet they treated them 
 with respeft, or at least suffered them to remain 
 unmolested. This temper of accommodation to 
 ignorance and prejudice, was adhiirably fitted to 
 preserve the peace pf society, and to prevent those 
 feuds and animosities, which have distradted tht 
 world since the introduftion of Christianity. 
 
/ 
 
 ^51 
 
 On most other points, whenever the morality of 
 Paganism, and the morality of the Gospel are 
 compared together, it has been the pra6lice of 
 those who would depreciate the latter, to assimilate 
 them as far as possible ; to shew that In many in¬ 
 stances, where the Author of the Christian faith 
 professes to give ‘^a new commandment,*’ that new 
 commandment is nothing more than what has been 
 previously enforced by the sages of antiquity. 
 Thus, if the Christian precept of forgiveness of in¬ 
 juries, and of love towards enemies be adduced, 
 the same duty is said to be enforced in that beau¬ 
 tiful couplet of the Hindoos, which pronounces 
 
 the duty of a good man even in the moment of his 
 destru6^fcion to consist not only in forgiving, but 
 even in a desire of benefiting his destroyer; as the 
 sandal tree even in the moment of its overthrow 
 sheds perfume on the axe that fells it.” But in 
 those precepts which' prescribe the degree of 
 benevolence due to those who differ in matters 
 of religious opinion, it is here that Pagan liberality 
 is set in 'opposition to Christian intolerance, to 
 that contraftod disposition which fixes the stand¬ 
 ard of truth to the size of its own opinion, and 
 by the measure of this opinion, deals put its 
 beneficence. 
 
 It was the observation of an acute adversary of 
 
252 
 
 the Christian faiths that the most refined systems 
 of faith have always been the most intolerant 
 • and when Francklin diaated his celebrated para^ 
 ble on persecution, he seems to have written 
 with a view of inculcating the same idea. The 
 insinuation, if it were true, might tend to establish 
 a conclusion very different from that, which they 
 who allege it, either wish or are aware of, A 
 system of deistical philosophy divested of all 
 positive ordinances, and of all revealed precepts, 
 would probably be pronounced by its advocates 
 the most refined; and it would hence follow that 
 the Deist must be the most intolerant of all men ; 
 a consequence which the history of past times 
 shews not to be entirely without foundation. 
 
 But it will now be shewn how far this insinua¬ 
 tion is applicable towards proving the superiority 
 'of Pagan benevolence. 
 
 Among all the different modifications of Pagan¬ 
 ism, which have been exhibited and praised, as 
 inspiring this benevolence and forbearance, the 
 Brahminical system has been the most highly 
 commended, for the liberality of its sentiments, 
 and for the toleration which it so frequently, and 
 it cannot be denied, eloquently enforces. 
 
 God by them declared to be the God 
 
G53 
 
 of all mankind. The Pagan and the Mussulman 
 are equally in his presence. Distinftions of 
 color are of his ordination. To vilify the re¬ 
 ligions or customs of other men, is to set at 
 nought the pleasure of the Almighty. When 
 we deface a pidure, we naturally incur the resent¬ 
 ment of the Painter; and justly has the Poet 
 said—presume not to arraign or scrutinize the 
 various works of power divine.’’ 
 
 It has indeed been asserted by one who might 
 be thought qualified to judge on the subjeft, 
 that if ever superstition produced a universal 
 good, it is in Hindoostan, where we see it made 
 the foundation of universal benevolence. 
 
 There will be no difficulty in shewing, that 
 these indiscriminate commendations, which have 
 been bestowed on the tolerance and liberality of 
 polytheism, either in ancient or in modern times, 
 have been admitted with little controversy, only 
 because they have been urged with unbounded 
 confidence. They have been adopted from dis¬ 
 tant and partial views of the subje6t, by no means 
 from an accurate investigation of the pra6tical 
 effe£l:s of Paganism. 
 
 The forbearance which is said to charaQcrise 
 
the Religion of Pagan Greece or Rome con¬ 
 sists in positive assertion, and not on any con¬ 
 clusions drawn from historical/a61:s. These will 
 support rather a contrary opinion. It is not 
 from that spirit of persecution which could 
 condemn Anaxagoras or Socrates to death, that 
 we seleft a solitary example to prove a broad 
 assertion : but from regulations which decidedly 
 shew their whole religious constitution to have 
 been founded on intolerance. We shall hear Mse- 
 cenas though polished by Augustan refinement and 
 enervated by Epicurean indifference, giving the 
 followdng advice to the Emperor of the civilized 
 world: perform divine worship in all things 
 
 exactly according to thepraftice of your ancestors, 
 and compel others to do the same; and as for 
 those who make innovations in Religion, detest 
 and punish them, and that not only for the sake 
 of the Gods, but because they who introduce 
 new. Deities, excite others to make changes in 
 civil affairs.’^ The faith of the ancient world 
 was loose rather than comprehensive; its forbear¬ 
 ance proceeded from a spirit of indifference ; but 
 its rigor was exercised with capricious and un¬ 
 relenting severity. 
 
 The Brahminical system has indeed one tenet, 
 which some have thought highly favourable to the 
 
0.55 
 
 cultivation of universal benevolence. It admits 
 of no converts. While it vigilantly guards against 
 any innovation from foreign sources, it equally 
 precludes any extension of itself. One great 
 source of religious discord, that of controlling the 
 opinions of other nations, is therefore necessarily 
 removed. 
 
 V 
 
 It may justly ho\vever be questioned whether 
 this absolute prohibition of all intercourse with 
 the professors of other forms of religion, and the 
 indifference to their tenets resulting from this 
 prohibition, can properly be honoured with « the 
 praise of liberality.^ Liberality consists in yield¬ 
 ing to the errors, and infirmities of others however 
 repugnant they may be to our own conviftion or 
 interest, but to yield, when forbearance is not 
 opposite to our inclinations, as it calls for neither 
 exertion nor self-denial, can never be accounted a 
 virtue. A form of religion founded on this princi¬ 
 ple of exclusion, absolutely precludes the exercise 
 of some of the noblest sentiments of our nature. 
 
 Toleration and forbearance arising from true 
 liberality, may be considered under two different 
 points of view. First, with respe61to diversity of 
 sentiment among those who profess the same 
 faith ; secondly with respefl to the prpfessors of 
 different modes of faith, 
 
 
^56 
 
 It will be the objeft of this discourse to 
 shew, in what manner the Brahminical system 
 operates in promoting benevolence among them¬ 
 selves : in what manner it tends to cement and 
 strengthen that peculiar strufture of society which 
 Brahminism has established. 
 
 I 
 
 On a former occasion it was shewn, that the 
 arbitrary division of society into distinft castes 
 among the Hindoos, had a powerful influence in 
 contrafting the intelleftual faculties; but it yet 
 remains to shew how far this division operates in 
 contrafting the social affeftions. In the one case, 
 its pernicious effefts, have been increased, by the 
 corruptions introduced into the institution, during 
 a long course of time ; in the other case, its effefts 
 must have been immediate and irresistible. The 
 mental powers dudlile in their nature, elastic in 
 their force, will sometimes surmount every tie 
 which the pressure of civil institutions has formed 
 to prevent • their free exercise and expansion. 
 But the alFe6lions of the heart, when once chil¬ 
 led by a cold and unfeeling superstition, re¬ 
 main in that inertion, which no power can call 
 into aftion. 
 
 Were we indeed to judge of the Brahminical 
 system from the precepts of benevolence which 
 
25? 
 
 It contains, there would be sufficient cause for 
 admiration. Although an insurmountable bar¬ 
 rier has been placed between the dilfe rent orders 
 of society'; yet God” says the sacred Veda, 
 having created the four classes, had not yet 
 completed his work; but in addition to it, lest 
 the royal and military class should become insur¬ 
 mountable on account of their power and ferocity, 
 he produced the transcendant body of law ; since 
 law is the King of Kings, far more powerful and 
 rigid than they. Nothing can be mightier than 
 Law, by whose aid, as by that of the highest 
 
 monarch, the weak prevail over the strong.”® 
 
 * 
 
 To this sentence it is impossible to deny the 
 praise of sublimity, as well of the most inflexible 
 justice; but nugatory are such professions in an 
 institution, which is founded on oppression. In 
 those countries, where a purer religion has intro¬ 
 duced a more liberal spirit of government, the 
 gradations between the different orders of society, 
 however distant, are not impassable. Hence, as 
 the lowest are animated by,hope, and incited 
 to exertion, so there is a powerful restraint on 
 despotism in the highest. The ties which bind 
 society are then equal in their pressure, and the 
 laws impartial in their application. 
 
 * Colebrooke, Digest pf Hindoo Law, 
 
 S 
 
258 
 
 But, in a country, where the superior orders 
 have repressed every hope^and precluded even the 
 possibility of advancement in those below them, 
 where indolence may be indulged without any 
 call to a 6 tivity, and where tyranny may be exer¬ 
 cised without fear of resistance, it is impossible 
 that there should not be on the one hand, capri¬ 
 cious rigor, and on the other hand ignorance and 
 servility. Though such a variety of opinion on 
 religious subjefts is prevalent throughout Hin- 
 doostan, and though even the Brahminical hierar¬ 
 chy itself is, at the present time, nothing more 
 than an oligarchical form of government, yet its 
 power is not less arbitrary because its operations 
 are desultory and partial. Its influence is felt in 
 a greater or less degree throughout India 5 and 
 wherever it is felt, it is converted into an instru¬ 
 ment of evading just demands, or of enforcing 
 immoderate exactions. 
 
 V 
 
 Nor let it be supposed, that the Brahminical 
 system has repressed all religious animosity, to¬ 
 wards those who are not subje 6 ted to its authority. 
 The Brahmins are said to speak of the followers 
 of Boodh with all the malignity of an intolerant 
 spirit.’* If the government of India established 
 under the Brahminical priesthood, were at the 
 present time, subsisting in its ancient vigor, we 
 
 * 
 
259 
 
 should behold it not less domineering in its 
 external deportment, than severe in its internal 
 economy. 
 
 Thus far we have taken a view of the institu¬ 
 tions of Brahminism, as they tend to expand and 
 refine the social affefti^ns, in the different orders 
 of society among themselves ; it yet remains 
 to shew, in what manner they operate in their in¬ 
 tercourse with OTHER NATIONS; how far they 
 promote a disposition of universal benevolence. 
 
 It has been said that the principle of exclusion, 
 which is a fundamental tenet in the Brahminical 
 religion> has not contrafted their beneficence or 
 limited their philanthrophy. Kindness to stran¬ 
 gers is a leading maxim of their faith, and enjoin¬ 
 ed in the strongest terms. Fire is the superior 
 of the Brahmins, the Brahmin is the superior of 
 the tribes, the husband is the superior of women, 
 but the stranger is the superior of all.’^! 
 
 But that these precepts can have any consider¬ 
 able efhcacy, in counteradting that unsocial spirit 
 which charafterises their other institutions, may 
 reasonably be doubted. Their religion has in¬ 
 
 I 
 
 i HeetopadeJ* 
 
 s2 
 
/ 
 
 26 o 
 
 spired them with vast and unbounded ideas of 
 their own superiority over the rest of mankind, 
 ideas, which can never be entertained, consist¬ 
 ently with the genuine spirit of benevolence. 
 They have always encouraged that contempt 
 for the persons and opinions of other nations, 
 which is always founds to exist among men 
 unused to a general intercourse with the world. 
 The same fancied pre-eminence, which the Greek 
 once assumed over foreigners, from his attain¬ 
 ments in science or his-achievements in the field, 
 the Hindoo claims from his religion. What, in 
 the former, was founded on some reasonable 
 pretensions, and might impel him to main¬ 
 tain the superiority of which he boasted, has 
 proved, among the Hindoos an empty vaunt, 
 which can raise no emotion in others, but pity 
 or contempt. Nothing is more contemptible 
 than a Yavan,’* was a sentiment common among 
 them; a term of degradation, which they have 
 applied to designate, first, their Grecian, and 
 afterwards, their Mohammedan conquerors. A 
 Hindoo, though oppressed by the sharpest penury, 
 with scarcely sufficient to supply the cravings of 
 hunger, when he makes his scanty meal, draws 
 a circle round him, which he would think polluted, 
 if the greatest potentate on earth should presume 
 to enten 
 
26l 
 
 The religious system then of the Brahmins, 
 considered as it affefts those who are subjefted to 
 its authority, is, in the highest degree, intolerant; 
 as it regards the inhabitants of other countries, and 
 the professors of other religions, it is repulsive 
 and unsocial. In its internal economy, it possess¬ 
 es all the properties of Inquisitorial tyranny, 
 though its power is not concentrated, nor its 
 operations dire6led, by a common head ; in its 
 external deportment, it assumes the contrafted 
 spirit of Judaism, though not like that, softened 
 by the liberal views of its prophetic writings, 
 which proclaim universal acceptance to all the 
 nations of the earth. Like the Jewish law, while 
 the Brahminical religion has restrifted the inter¬ 
 course of its professors with the inhabitants of 
 all other countries, it has superadded to the 
 reserve of its cautionary restrictions, personal 
 abhorrence and contempt. 
 
 It may indeed be doubted whether the unqua¬ 
 lified praise of benevolence, which some Europe¬ 
 ans are eager to claim for the Hindoo charaaer, 
 may not be attributed to the absolute submission, 
 which the native of Hindoostan pays to his con¬ 
 queror, from a motive of fear. But there is an 
 essential difference between the passive acqui¬ 
 escence arising from indolence or terror, and 
 
262 
 
 \ , 
 
 that disinterested forbearance which compassion¬ 
 ates while it condemns; which, though it discri¬ 
 minates between the merit of individuals, yet 
 never insists on that merit, as a preliminary to its 
 beneficence, 
 
 But since this indifFerence to the speculative 
 opinions of others, has been represented as consti¬ 
 tuting one of the most amiable features in the 
 Hindoo religion, and has been insidiously con¬ 
 trasted with the a6tive zeal for proselytism, which 
 distinguishes Christianity; it may not be improper 
 to discuss the question, how far this desire of 
 extending itself, detracts from the beneficial ten¬ 
 dency of the Gospel; or whether it be not rather 
 an indication of its divine origin, and have not 
 been of considerable effe61:, in promoting the 
 happiness of mankind. 
 
 If the Christian religion had confined its bene¬ 
 fits to any particular nation, or to any particular 
 description of men ; if it had formed an insur¬ 
 mountable barrier of exclusion to the greater part 
 of mankind ; if it had indiscriminately condemned 
 all who were thus involuntarily excluded; it might 
 in some degree have deserved those accusations 
 of intolerance, with which it has been sometimes 
 stigmatized by its enemies. If it had prohibited 
 
263 
 
 its professors from extending its doctrines; if it 
 had consigned to eternal misery all who were 
 ignorant of them, it might have engendered ar¬ 
 rogance and cruelty. But Christianity is not 
 founded on such principles. Even that do£lrine 
 which has been assailed with the greatest viru¬ 
 lence, the doftrine of the atonement, is, in its 
 praftical effefts, calculated to produce sentiments 
 of the most unbounded philanthropy. It teaches 
 that the benefits of this sacrifice are unlimitted in 
 their efficacy j that they have a retrospeftive 
 influence in sanftifying the virtues of those who 
 saw the promises afar off; and that they have an 
 influence in san£tifying the virtues of those who 
 were never acquainted with the conditions of 
 
 the Christian covenant. If any superior priveleges 
 
 0 
 
 are annexed to the knowledge of the Gospel of 
 Christ, they are conferred on a condition of 
 obedience to the evangelical declaration ; to 
 whom much is given, of him shall be much 
 required and among the most important of the 
 duties which are thus imposed, is the communica¬ 
 tion of divine truth by every rational method. 
 
 When indeed Christianity claims to itself the 
 title of being the only true revelation of the will 
 of God, of being “ the way, the truth, and the 
 life/* it claims no more than every religion 
 
 s 4 
 
264- 
 
 must assume which pretends to be of divine 
 origin. The idea that the Supreme Being is 
 pleased with a variety of religions, and with 
 different modes of worship, is a supposition 
 willingly entertained by the votary of super¬ 
 stition, because it affords a palliation for those 
 errors which he is unable to defend. This 
 supposition is also warmly applauded and insidi¬ 
 ously defended by the infidel, because it amounts 
 to a tacit confession, that all pretensions to revela¬ 
 tion rest on the same uncertain basis. But the 
 notion is, perhaps, of all others, the most irrecon- 
 cileable to the attributes of God ; it is the 
 most destructive of sound morality. It would 
 not only level all distinctions between truth and 
 error, but would justify every crime committed' 
 under the mask of sanCtity. 
 
 If an impartial estimate be formed concern¬ 
 ing the effe6ts, which have resulted from that 
 desire of extension inseparable from a true 
 faith in the promises of the Gospel, they will 
 be found in a high degree beneficial. It has been 
 justly remarked, that it is well for the inhabi¬ 
 tants of Hindoostan, that they did not fall under 
 the dominion of Europeans at an earlier period, 
 before the influence of knowledge and philosophy 
 had dispelled the gloomy bigotry of the western 
 
203 
 
 world, and rendered it less incapable of forbear¬ 
 ance to opposite opinions/^® There can be no 
 doubt, that, under the pretence of disseminating 
 Christianity, the greatest enormities have been 
 committed, and the most unjustifiable methods 
 have been adopted. 
 
 Tt may be justly questioned however, whether a 
 wish of conversion has been the true cause of these 
 atrocities. The love of national aggrandisement, 
 or of private interest, has proved a fertile source 
 of calamity, as well since the introduftion of 
 Christianity, as before; and this passion has often 
 disguised itself under a zeal for religion. But 
 Christianity is not chargeable with these evils, 
 nor can they be justly imputed to the desire of 
 extending the Christian faith. On the contrary, 
 not only are such methods of propagation in 
 dire£l: opposition to the precepts of the Gospel, 
 but these precepts have operated sensibly, in 
 checking this intolerant spirit, even in the worst 
 of times. The atrocious cruelties inflifted by 
 Spain on the inhabitants of the New World, are 
 never recalled to our recolleftion, unaccompanied 
 by the thought that they were nobly resisted, and 
 eloquently exposed, by the piety of a Christian 
 
 * Dr. Tennant. 
 
V 
 
 266 
 
 missionary.*' In modern times^ since the principles 
 of Christianity have been better understood, the 
 tendency of this disposition in its professors to 
 diffuse its doftrines, has been less equivocally 
 displayed. Though an unfeeling stoicism has 
 attempted to deride its efforts as visionary, and 
 though enthusiasm has often afforded occasion 
 for the ridicule of affefted prudence ; yet the 
 propagation of the Gospel has not only dif¬ 
 fused the blessings of civilization, but has es¬ 
 sentially distinguished the colonial policy of 
 modern nations from that of ancient times. 
 Where in the, history of Athens or of Rome, 
 shall we look for any tenderness or solicitude, 
 respefting the welfare of provincial settlements? 
 They were regarded merely as instruments to 
 facilitate schemes of conquest or of plunder ; the 
 power of the parent state was frequently ex¬ 
 erted to Vestrift, but seldom to proteft or to 
 foster. How could anxiety for the melioration 
 of the moral chara6lerj be consistent with that 
 destitution of fixed principles which amalgamated 
 all religious opinions ? Such a wish can never be 
 formed, such a plan can never be rationally 
 executed, but on the basis of Christianity ; which 
 with inflexible striftness inculcates that there is 
 but one faith,but with genuine benevolence 
 
 H Les Casas. 
 
207 
 
 teaches that God hath made of one blood all 
 nations, for to dwell on all the face of the earth 
 
 It would be pursuing the subjeft too far, to 
 enter into a discussion of those other defefts in 
 the Brahminical system, which contra61: benevo¬ 
 lence, and weaken the foundations of all moral 
 obligation. It should however be mentioned, 
 that this system inculcates the pernicious doc¬ 
 trine that it is presumption in the lower orders, 
 to attempt the performance of those virtues, 
 which exclusively belong to the higher ; a tenet 
 which strikes at the very existence of society. 
 This religion also permits the praftice of some 
 present evil, for the purpose of obtaining a remote 
 good ; and it proceeds on that principle, insepa¬ 
 rable from all false religions, that the exa61: per¬ 
 formance of external ordinances is a sufficient 
 compensation for the neglefl: of moral duties, 
 
 1 
 
 A survey of the various evils resulting from 
 a code of morality so defective and unsound, 
 extorted, from a writer, who cannot be accused 
 of bigotry, the following animated eulogy. 
 
 Christianity vindicates all its glories, all its 
 honors, and all its reverence, when we behold the 
 most horrid impieties committed amongst th« 
 
268 
 
 nations on whom its influence does not shine, 
 as actions necessary in the common conduct of 
 life ; I mean poisoning, treachery, and assassina¬ 
 tion, among the sons of ambition; rapine, cruelty, 
 and extortion, among the ministers of justice^ 
 I leave to divines, by more sanftified refledtions, 
 to vindicate the cause of their religion and their 
 God;^i 
 
 This vindication has been attempted in the 
 preceding discourses; and whatever may be their 
 imperfedtions in many other respedls, let it not 
 be said, in depreciation of any arguments which 
 have been offered, that the representation of the 
 Brahminical system has been drawn with a partial 
 hand; that its disagreeable features have been 
 invidiously protuded; that the deformities inherent 
 in it, are nothing more than deviations from its 
 original perfedtion; and that the breath of vulgar 
 superstition has sullied an otherwise beautiful 
 theory of morals. The eflPedls on the moral cha- 
 radler, which have been here pointed out, are 
 the natural and necessary consequences of the 
 Brahminical creed ; some of these defledlions 
 from the sound principles of morality, are ex¬ 
 pressly enjoined in the Hindoo code ; others arc 
 
 ! Oraw, 
 
26g 
 
 tacitly allowed; and all of them are in perfeSt con¬ 
 formity with the genuine spirit of the Hindoo 
 religion. 
 
 I 
 
 To those who are inclined to entertain a hiffh 
 
 o 
 
 opinion of Indian morality, and of the Indian 
 charafter, but who are nevertheless willing to 
 admit the indisputable truth, that the national 
 chara£ler is determined by the national religion, 
 and that national prosperity is inseparably con¬ 
 nected with national virtue, a short,^ but, satis¬ 
 factory, answer may be given. If there be any^ 
 man, who has passed the early period of his 
 life in an Asiatic climate, and particularly in 
 India, who from a few solitary instances, has 
 formed a judgment of the Asiatic character, and 
 who re-visits his native shores enamoured of 
 Asiatic government, and of Asiatic superstition ; 
 to such a man, it may be fearlessly replied, that 
 he has returned with his discovery too late; that 
 the whole course of Oriental history is against 
 him ; and that history furnishes a more certain 
 criterion of manners and morals, than any specious 
 opinions, derived from partial and prejudiced 
 observation. 
 
 The pathetic invocation which the Florentine 
 Secretary once uttered in behalf of Italy, would 
 
(270 
 
 be striftly applicable to India, if a native of India 
 were capable of feeling the depressed condition 
 of his country. 
 
 If/^ says this able politician, for the mani¬ 
 festation of the courage of Moses, it was necessary 
 that the Israelites should be captives in Egypt; 
 for discovery of the magnanimity of Cyrus, that 
 jthe Persians should be oppressed by the Medes ; 
 and for the illustration of the excellence of 
 Theseus, that the Athenians should be banished 
 and dispersed ; so to demonstrate and evince the 
 necessity of an Italian spirit, it was necessary 
 that Italy should be reduced to its present condi¬ 
 tion 5 that it should be in greater bondage than 
 the Jews; in greater servitude than the Persians ; 
 and in greater dispersion than the ^ Athenians ; 
 without a head, without order, harrassed, spoiled, 
 overcome, overrun, and overwhelmed with all 
 kind of calamity/’^ 
 
 No words can convey a more faithful descrip¬ 
 tion of India, not only of its present state, but of 
 its past condition ^ and this description will tend 
 to counteraft the unjust insinuations, which have 
 been urged against the condudt of European 
 
 ? Macbiavelli, II. Princip. c. 26 ^ 
 
2yi 
 
 nations in the East. They have been accused of 
 introducing into the territories subje6t to their 
 empire, those evils which they found there : they 
 have been accused of fostering those seeds of 
 anarchy, which are the spontaneous production of 
 the soil. But European conquest, far from ag¬ 
 gravating, has tended to mitigate the calamities 
 of India; and it is a pleasing consolation to refleCt, 
 that the period will arrive, though slowly yet 
 necessarily will arrive, when it will be seen how 
 much she is indebted to the enterprising spirit of 
 the nations of the West. The time will arrive 
 when the rays of intelleClual light, which we have 
 so long enjoyed, though late in their approach, 
 shall again visit the Eastern world. 
 
 » r 
 
 4 • 
 
 Nos primus equis oriens afflavit anhelis, 
 
 IHic sera rubens accendit lumina vesper.^ 
 
 To hasten this happy sera must be the wish of 
 every heart adluated by Christian benevolence. . 
 But the duty of communicating instrudlion of any 
 kind, as it must be prosecuted by human means, 
 must be undertaken in that manner, which accord¬ 
 ing to probable calculation, will be attended with 
 success. This duty is binding, only where such a 
 
 y 
 
 / 
 
 1 Virgil Georg. I.ib, J, v, 2 j0, 
 
 I 
 
272 
 
 V 
 
 prospe£l is afforded ; and on this account, every 
 effort should be direfted, with an ardor propor¬ 
 tionable to the wants and the wishes of those, 
 whom we propose to instruft, as well as to our 
 own powers and opportunities of communicating 
 instrudfion. 
 
 Thus, if the case be stated concerning the differ¬ 
 ence between the Africans and the Asiatics, it 
 must be concluded, that, with respeft to the, 
 former, the duty is positive. No description of 
 men are more versatile in disposition than the 
 Africans ; in no instance do the necessities of the 
 people more loudly call for the intervention of 
 some benevolent hand, to rescue them from 
 ignorance, and the miseries attendant on igno¬ 
 rance ; in no instance can it be more imperiously 
 demanded as a debt of justice, in order to atone 
 for the calamities inflifted by avarice and cupidity 
 on that unhappy quarter of the Globe. 
 
 With respe£t to the^ Asiatics, and particularly 
 the professors of the Brahminical faith, the case is 
 different. Of their inflexible adherence to the 
 religious opinions of their ancestor, sufficient 
 evidences have been adduced in the preceding 
 discourses ; of their moral wants it has been truly 
 observed, that if they are not the most enlightened 
 
273’ 
 
 \ ' 
 
 they are the most refined people that ever existed 
 in the world ; of their disposition to embrace the 
 Christian faith it cannot be denied, that all 
 attempts to introduce it into India, have been 
 either fruitless, or attended with faint hopes of 
 success. . 
 
 This however is a field of enquiry which has 
 been already pre-occupied : but is still ample in 
 its limits; for on every question which becomes 
 a subjeft of general discussion, if it be difficult to ' 
 produce novelty, it is equally difficult to preserve 
 silence. Besides, silence is always suspefled, 
 and is imputed either to ignorance, to indecision, 
 or to timidity. If therefore a future discourse shall 
 be devoted to the consideration of the pra£tica- 
 bility of converting the natives of Hindoostan to 
 the truths of Christianity, and of the probable 
 success of those methods, which have been hither-* 
 to employed to accomplish that important end; 
 whatever difference of opinion may be found in 
 it, from some of those which have been offered to 
 the world, that difference, it is hoped, will be 
 received with candor; nor can the attempt itself 
 be attributed to any other motive, than to an 
 honest desire of being useful. 
 
 / 
 
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DISCOURSE IX. 
 
 \ 
 
 t * 
 
 ON THE PRACTICABILITY 
 OF 
 
 INTRODUCING 
 CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. 
 
- 
 
I 
 
 DISCOURSE IX. 
 
 ON THE PRACTICABILITY OF 
 INTRODUCING CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. 
 
 Ga LATIANS 6, V. 10, 
 
 While we have time let us do good unto all men^ 
 and especially unto them which are of the house¬ 
 hold of faith. 
 
 Throughout the preceding discourses, it 
 
 has been the objeft, rather to countera£t those 
 popular attacks which have been made on the 
 Christian faith, through the medium of oriental 
 mythology, than to suggest any methods, by 
 which oriental superstition might be supplanted, 
 by the introdu6lion of a purer system of morality. 
 They have been executed with a humble hope, 
 that they may prove instrumental in preserving 
 our countrymen, resident in our eastern settle¬ 
 ments, from the contagion of infidelity; but they 
 have not been diredted to the arduous task of 
 correfting the erroneous opinions of the numerous 
 inhabitants of India. 
 
 T 3 
 
 I 
 
278 
 
 Faithful to the original design, the present 
 discourse, though intended to discuss the expe¬ 
 diency and pra^icability of propagating the 
 Gospel among ouh Indian subje£ts, (and the at¬ 
 tempt can be expi^dient only, as far as it is 
 rationally pra6licabl^) will chiefly refer to the 
 religious wants of tho^e, who have higher claims 
 on our benevolence, and among whom our bene¬ 
 volence maybe more efFeflually, and more use-- 
 fully exerted, 
 
 If it be necessary to insist on the propriety of 
 this condu6l, or if it be necessary to adduce any 
 authority, in order to prove its propriety, we 
 have the sanction of the Apostolical precept 
 contained in the text; we have the sanftion of 
 experience to convince us, that by aiming at 
 objefls above human power or wisdom to ac¬ 
 complish; we often lose sight of those, which 
 are within our reach; and that the most compre¬ 
 hensive designs must be executed by slow and 
 gradual advances, 
 
 How;ever we may have reason to lament the 
 disappointment, which the missionaries of modern 
 times have experienced in the work of conversion, 
 yet their want of success affords an argument in 
 favor of our religion, which cannot be too fre- 
 
quently repeated; because the evidence, which 
 it gives of the divine interposition in the original 
 propagation of Christianity, is irresistible. It 
 possesses indeed almost all the properties of a 
 sensible miracle. That the Christian religion is 
 now established, must be admitted as an indis¬ 
 putable fa 6 t; but, that if it were at first establish¬ 
 ed, merely by the operation of human causes, 
 the same causes, and others added to them still 
 more cogent, should now fail of producing the 
 same effe 6 ls, is a phsenomenon irreconcileable 
 to the ordinary course of events ; and can be 
 accounted for only, on the supposition of some 
 superior agency. 
 
 It has been the praftice of many writers, not 
 only of unbelievers, but of Christians, to invali¬ 
 date the force of this argument 3 and, in stating the 
 difficulties which oppose the present propagation 
 of the Gospel, and particularly its propagation 
 in India, they have compared them with the 
 impediments which the first preachers of the 
 Gospel were compelled to encounter ; and have 
 represented the situation of India to be far more 
 unfavourable to the introdudtion of a new system 
 of faith, than the general state of the world was, 
 in the time of the Apostles. 
 
‘280 
 
 But this insinuation is founded on any thing, 
 rather than on a knowledge of historical fa6ts, or 
 an acquaintance with human nature. The first 
 preachers of the Gospel had to contend with 
 a spirit of general indifference and infidelity in 
 
 matters of religion, a temper of mind the most 
 
 ♦ 
 
 unpromising for the reception of new tenets, and 
 especially of such as they taught. . The modern 
 missionaries have to contend with rivetted and 
 rigid superstition, an obstacle certainly formid¬ 
 able, but far less insurmountable than general and 
 confirmed scepticism. On the contrary, a mind 
 enthralled by superstition, may often be led to 
 espouse new opinions ; for as superstition implies 
 a disposition to contemplate religious subjects, 
 and to be swayed by religious terrors, the objefts 
 may be changed, while the disposition remains 
 the same. 
 
 But, without enquiring minutely into the precise 
 difference between those two opposite disposi¬ 
 tions, it may be answered, that while modern 
 missionaries have failed in their attempts on 
 either, the first preachers of the Gospel were 
 equally successful against both. They could pe¬ 
 netrate the recesses, they could reveal the 
 licentious mysteries of the Druidical groves, 
 and expose them to public indignation, as well 
 
281 
 
 as silence the arrogance and the sophistry of the 
 schools. 
 
 If ever indeed a satisfaftory answer were given 
 to that historian, who has digressed from his 
 principal subjeft, to trace the establishment of 
 Christianity ; and if a decisive proof be wanted, to 
 shew the insufficiency of those causes, which he 
 has assigned for the overthrow of the Pagan- 
 Colossus, and for the ere6tion of the banner of the 
 Cross in its place ; this proof may be found in 
 the history of the missionaries of the Romish 
 Church to the eastern world. We may there see 
 all those causes operating together, and operating 
 ineffe6tually. 
 
 If intolerant zeal, but a zeal which desired the 
 enlargement of its own opinions, were an adequate 
 cause for the first success of the Christian faith: , 
 
 where has that quality been more conspicuously 
 displayed, than in the Church of Rome ? If the 
 immortality of the soul were a sufficient cause, 
 that doftrine has been taught by the Romish , 
 Church, in a manner as likely to command 
 success, as when taught by the first Apostles; 
 for who have been so eager to hurl forth threats 
 of everlasting punishment against those, who 
 disregard its admonitions, and disov/n its autho- 
 
282 
 
 / 
 
 rity, or to .promise exclusive salvation to those, 
 who come within its sanctuary ? If the miracu¬ 
 lous powers of the first preachers of the Gospel 
 were the cause of its success, powers, of which the 
 historian insinuates, that they were only assumed: 
 who have dealt in mystery and miracle, in their 
 attempts at proselytism, so much as the Roman¬ 
 ists ? If the virtues of the primitive Christians were 
 so effeflual towards the conversion of the Pagan 
 world, but which virtues are represented as con¬ 
 sisting in unnecessary mortification, in abstinence 
 from the innocent enjoyments of nature, in ab¬ 
 straction from the world, in a disregard and con¬ 
 tempt for the duties of social life: where have 
 those qualities been more conspicuously visible, 
 than in the followers of the Church of Rome ? 
 Lastly, if Unity in the government of the Church, 
 could once prove so effectual in extending its 
 limits: what Church was ever so strongly organ¬ 
 ized, so systematic in all its operations, so careful 
 to preserve uniformity of sentiment, and to pre¬ 
 vent defection from its ordinances, as the Church 
 of Rome ? But we have seen, that all these causes 
 have been insufficient to make any lasting im¬ 
 pression on Oriental superstition. The proselytes, 
 which have been made,have been chiefly nominal; 
 gained at first by undue compliances, and either 
 preserved by the same artifices, or permitted to 
 relapse into their former errors. 
 
283 
 
 Should an objedlion here arise, that the state 
 of the eastern world is widely different from the 
 state of the Roman empire at the first propagation 
 of Christianity \ and that to this circumstance 
 may be imputed the failure ofi modern mission¬ 
 aries: it may be replied, that there are causes, 
 whose potency is irresistible, and whose efficacy 
 is universal, which have contributed towards the 
 conversion of the idolatrous inhabitants of India. 
 It is not the Church of Rome solely, which has 
 direfted her efforts towards the subversion of 
 Oriental Paganism^ the task has been attempted 
 not by one se6l of Christians, or by one nation, 
 but by se6ts widely discordant in opinion, and 
 •by nations eminently differing m charafter. The 
 experiment has been tried by men of warm pas¬ 
 sions and weak judgment, and by men whose 
 learning and piety have adorned their native 
 countries ; but which they have voluntarily relin¬ 
 quished for the noble purpose of disseminating 
 that faith, the consolations of which they them¬ 
 selves so powerfully felt. The objed has not 
 been hastily espoused, and then as suddenly 
 forgotten ; but has been tried, during the space 
 of three centuries, sometimes more languidly, 
 sometimes more vigorously, but never entirely 
 given up or kept out of view. 
 
 / 
 
284 
 
 While however the faith of the believer in the 
 miraculous establishment of his religion, is strongly 
 confirmed by the disappointment in the attempts 
 of those, who have been destitute of this super¬ 
 natural assistance ; his benevolence is sometimes 
 led to lament the failure of these labors of love. 
 For, on a candid review of the progress of the 
 Gospel in the East during these latter ages, his 
 mind is irresistibly led to adopt one of these two 
 conclusions ; either that the design of introducing 
 Christianity among the natives of India, is, by 
 any hur^ian means, totally imprafticable, and that 
 all future attempts will be attended with similar 
 consequences to those, which have been already 
 made ; or that, although so many different plans’^ 
 have been proje 6 ted and executed, there may be 
 some other, as yet untried, which would probably 
 be attended with success. Or thirdly, might not 
 a rational and benevolent mind, shrinking from 
 the hard necessity of assenting to either of the 
 two former conclusions in a rigid and unqualified 
 sense, recommend a line of condu 6 t drawn from 
 a partial admission of both ? Might it not infer, 
 that the undertaking is surrounded by difficulties, 
 which should repress any too sanguine expeft- 
 ations of their removal 3 but that, if any other 
 mode may hereafter be pointed out both safe and 
 practicable, it should be adopted, though its 
 success be uncertain. 
 
285 
 
 That among all the plans, which may be 
 formed, after so many have been already defeat¬ 
 ed, there should be any so totally different from 
 the preceding, as to promise immediate efficacy, 
 is highly improbable ; and therefore we must at 
 length be compelled to acquiese in this opinion, 
 that the undertaking is opposed by obstacles, 
 which it is extremely difficult to remove, and 
 which at this distance, it is perhaps impossible 
 for us entirely to comprehend. 
 
 In this situation, and under these disadvantages, 
 it is natural to enquire, whether through this 
 eager desire of accomplishing an objeft, which, 
 however worthy of pursuit, seems to be at an 
 immense distance ; another obje£t of equal im¬ 
 portance, an objeft easy in its attainment, and 
 which if attained, might ultimately, though re¬ 
 motely, lead to the event so ardently wished, has 
 not been neglefted. 
 
 0 
 
 The first proposition then, which may be safely 
 
 laid down on the subjeft, is the following ; that 
 
 the conversion of the Hindoos should be the 
 * 
 
 objetl of our second care ; that it should be our 
 first concern, as it is our most solemn and indis¬ 
 pensable duty, to provide for the communication 
 of religious instruction, and for the preservation 
 
286 
 
 
 of religious knowledge, among our own country¬ 
 men resident in India. 
 
 In the midst of all the zeal, which has been 
 displayed for the subversion of idolatry, it may be 
 justly retorted on us, that the moral and religious 
 wants of our numerous fellow subjefts in our own 
 eastern settlements, have been seldom brought 
 under contemplation. It may also be urged with 
 no little force^ that any schemes for diffusing the 
 Christian faith, are not likely to be conduced 
 with prudence by those, who have shewn an 
 unwarrantable negleft of a plain and unequivocal 
 duty. Is it policy to aim at the corre£lion of the 
 moral depravity of the Hindoos, while we leave our 
 British youth to the contagion of evil example, and 
 to the enervating influence of an eastern climate, 
 without making scarcely an effort to fortify their 
 minds by religious impressions ? Is it consistency 
 to propose the introduction of a pure system of 
 doctrines, of which our own praCtice shews, 
 that we entirely disregard their utility and efficacy; 
 while the native of HIndoostan, in speaking of 
 the religious faith of his British conqueror, desig¬ 
 nates him by the appellation of the Infidel’’ ? 
 Is it wisdom, to expend vast sums on an objeCl, 
 which some will call visionarv, and all must allow 
 to be of doubtful attainment, while we omit 
 
287 
 
 every opportunity of effeaing, what no oiie who is 
 alive to the happiness of mankind, but will ac- 
 knowlege to be safe and salutary ; which, if wisely 
 conduced, cannot be attended with hazard, and 
 must be produdlve of certain benefit? Is it 
 benevolence, benevolence which can be justified 
 on any rational principle, to shew a more lively 
 regard for the welfare of those, whose conneaioii 
 with us originated, and will be determined -by 
 commercial interest, than for those who are united 
 to us by every tie, which can endear man to man; 
 who are conneaed either by interest, consan¬ 
 guinity or friendship with almost every individual 
 in the British empire ? These suggestions might 
 be enlarged on with effea ^ they might be urged 
 with greater force ; but to insinuate them how¬ 
 ever lightly, is sufficient for every purpose of 
 conviaion. 
 
 Though for several considerations of importance, 
 which will readily occur, but which it would be 
 foreign to the present purpose to speafy, it might 
 be impolitic to hold out inducements to the great 
 mass of the British population in India, which 
 might bind them too strongly to the interests of 
 that country, & consequently weaken their attach¬ 
 ment to their native land ; yet any motives, which 
 mightinduce a body of pious and regular Clergv 
 
288 
 
 to settle there ; any advantages, which while they 
 might be sufficient to satisfy the virtuous love of in¬ 
 dependence, would not be strong enough to gratify 
 the dreams of avarice, might perhaps be proposed 
 with success, and certainly could be liable to no 
 well-founded obje£lion. That such a measure, 
 would effeaually tend to raise the standard of 
 morals, which a disuse of the means of religious 
 instruftion would necessarily relax, would be a 
 benefit so obvious, that to enlarge on it, would 
 weaken its force. There are other and subor¬ 
 dinate advantages deserving of notice, but which 
 might ultimately prove of incalculable dtility. 
 
 A Clergy of this description in the opportuni¬ 
 ties of leisure, which their situation would afford, 
 might be profitably employed in exploring those 
 recondite sources of Oriental literature, which 
 might both enlarge the stock of general know¬ 
 ledge, and add new confirmation to the truths of 
 revealed religion. That so much has hitherto 
 been effefted by our countrymen, amid the inces¬ 
 sant occupations of a 61 :ive life, will fully repel the 
 illiberal and unjust insinuation, that their whole 
 attention has been absorbed in the acquisition of 
 wealth, or directed to objects of unlawful ambi¬ 
 tion ; but what might not be expected from a 
 body of men, whose profession is so intimately 
 
289 
 
 connefled with literature, and whose disposition 
 would naturally prompt them to cultivate those 
 branches of knowledge, which would be generally 
 useful to the public, as well as peculiarly interest¬ 
 ing to the religious world. 
 
 To this advantage may be added another of 
 still greater weight. Such a measure would ef¬ 
 fectually remove an objection, which has been 
 urged against the plan of educating the British 
 youth in lodia. Whatever difference of opinion 
 may be entertained in a general point of view, 
 concerning the comparative advantages of a do¬ 
 mestic, or of a foreign education, for those natives 
 of Britain, who are employed in our eastern settle¬ 
 ments 3 certain it is, that a numerous body of 
 them cannot be educated at home. Adequate 
 means of instruction must therefore be devised 
 for those who are born in India, and who are 
 destined to be employed in the service of that 
 country. It has hpwever been said, that the ge¬ 
 neral state of learning is there at so low an ebb, 
 that whatever superior advantages may be attain¬ 
 ed by an Indian education, with respeCl to the 
 acquisition of the native languages, yet they are 
 more than counterbalanced by the difficulty of 
 acquiring the elements of general knowledge. 
 
 ” Dr. Tennant. 
 
) 
 
 290 
 
 ' The establishment of a regular Clergy, equal 
 to the wants of the British population, would at 
 once remove this obstacle. The progress in the 
 Oriental languages, which their situation would 
 enable them to make,^ joined with their superior 
 proficiency in general knowledge, would eminent¬ 
 ly qualify them for^the task of education, in 
 India as well as in Europe; and among the 
 variety of opinions, which prevail on other ques¬ 
 tions, it seems established by tacit consent and 
 by universal custom, that this important duty 
 cannot be confided to better, or more able hands. 
 
 But it may here be enquired, whether all the 
 schemes, which have been projefted with so much 
 benevolence, for the conversion and moral im¬ 
 provement of the Hindoos, are to be indiscrimi¬ 
 nately condemned ? Are they to be at once 
 given up, merely for the purpose of introducing 
 an ecclesiastical establishment ? This is by no 
 means intended. 
 
 But here it will be proper to lay down a second 
 proposition : that no scheme for the conversion of 
 the Hindoos, can be safely prosecuted, unless 
 under the superintendance of a British ecclesias¬ 
 tical establishment. 
 
291 
 
 There is one obstacle of great magnitude, in 
 Ihe way of any attempt towards the conversion 
 . of the Hindoos to Christianity, but which is 
 seldom noticed as such; which is, that the 
 majority of the British population in India, are 
 adverse to the measure. This faft is not only 
 indisputable in itself 3 but it is a fa6l, which men 
 of different opinions are forward to proclaim. 
 The most zealous propagandists acknowledge it, 
 and hastily, or even ungenerously, impute it to 
 religious infidelity, or at best to indifference. 
 Their opponents equally acknowledge it, and 
 bring it forward as a decisive argument against the 
 propriety, the policy, and the prafticability of the 
 measure. But it is mentioned, in this place, with 
 neither of these views. It is mentioned to shew, 
 that whatever be the cause, the result will be' 
 precisely the same. 
 
 While this opposition continues, all hopes of 
 success, in the ordinary course of events, are 
 absolutely chimerical. To suppose that any so¬ 
 ciety, or joint societies in this kingdom, can carry 
 into execution a work of such magnitude and dif¬ 
 ficulty, not only without the co-operation, but in 
 direft contradiftion to the decided opinion of so 
 powerful an interest, is an idea which may perhaps 
 be entertained by heated zeal, but can never stand 
 
 the test of dispassionate judgment. Will not the 
 
 u 2 
 
292 
 
 / 
 
 Brahmin, already sufficiently attached to his own 
 prejudices, be more strongly confirmed in them, 
 when he perceives, that although a few solitary 
 individuals are eager to oppose them, they are 
 regarded with complacency and even with respe6l, 
 by chara£lers of the highest estimation and au¬ 
 thority ? If there be no aftive opposition, yet 
 a coldness and disgust will be shewn to the agents 
 in the measure^ which will be readily perceived 
 by the Hindoo, who will not fail to convert them 
 to his own advantage. 
 
 By the adoption of the expedient proposed, by 
 providing an ecclesiastical establishment for our 
 fellow subjefts, this qpposition to the conversion 
 of the Hindoos would not perhaps be destroyed ; 
 but we should then be enabled to ascertain on 
 what grounds this opposition was founded. If 
 scepticism, and a general indifference to all 
 religion, be so prevalent in the East, this would 
 be the most likely method to subdue their pre¬ 
 dominance. Infidelity, we well know, more 
 frequently proceeds from inconsideration, from 
 want of attention to serious concerns, than 
 from any other cause; nor can it be a mat¬ 
 ter of surprise, that an aversion from religion 
 should prevail, where the opportunities of re¬ 
 ceiving any religious impressions are so rare. 
 
293 
 
 as sometimes not to occur once in the course of a 
 whole life. By an establishment of the institu* 
 tions of a protestant episcopal Church, these scep¬ 
 tical opinions would be considerably diminished. 
 Any opposition to the dissemination of Christian¬ 
 ity among the Hindoos, would then no longer 
 proceed from concealed hostility, or avowed un¬ 
 belief^ and if the same opinion concerning the 
 propriety and pra6ticability of the attempt, should 
 then be retained, that ^opinion could only be' 
 assigned to a rational conviftion of its danger. 
 
 In the course of the various speculations, which 
 have been hazarded on this interesting subje6l, 
 a debate has frequently arisen, whether our pur¬ 
 pose may be more effeftually promoted, by the 
 quiet dispersion of our Scriptures, or by the more 
 a6live labors of Christian missionaries. The 
 almost total failure, which the missionaries, either 
 of former or of the present times, have experien¬ 
 ced, would clearly point out the necessity of 
 adopting some other method. The design of 
 supplying the Hindoos with a version of the 
 whole, or of part of our Scriptures, in their different 
 languages, has been thought to unite every ad¬ 
 vantage. This may at length awaken their in¬ 
 dolence, and stimulate their curiosity ; and may 
 solicit their attention, without alarming their 
 prejudices. 
 
 u 3 
 
/ 
 
 ag4^ 
 
 That such a plan, if pursued under proper 
 restriftions would be harmless, no doubt has been 
 entertained ; of its success it is impossible to 
 hazard more than a probable conjefture. But 
 the necessity of a regular Clergy, to carry even 
 this measure into execution, is not less apparent. 
 They could judge more accurately than we can 
 pretend to determine, concerning the number of 
 dialefts, into which the proposed versions should 
 be made; and what parts, it might be most proper 
 to submit successively to consideration. 
 
 To judge of the precise periods, which are 
 proper to pursue this task y to know when to 
 raise, and when to remit exertion; to understand 
 what parts will operate most forcibly on different 
 minds, or on the same mind under different 
 circumstances; these will require a long and inti¬ 
 mate acquaintance with the manners of the inha¬ 
 bitants, as well as a nice discernment and general 
 knowledge of the motives, which prompt the 
 human heart: but this knowledge is absolutely 
 necessary. An indiscriminate circulation of our 
 translations will defeat every salutary effeft, which 
 a judicious dispersion of them might in time 
 produce; they will either become the sport of 
 the winds, or fan the flames of jealousy and 
 sedition. 
 
‘295 
 
 The necessity of forming a British ecclesiastical 
 establishment in India will be still more evident, 
 if we consider it as an instrument, capable of 
 counterafting the misguided and pernicious efforts 
 of other religious sefts, to alienate the affeiSlions 
 of the natives from our goverment. I speak not 
 only of unauthorized missionaries among our¬ 
 selves, but of the emissaries of our enemies, 
 under the mask of religion. If the probable 
 subjugation of Brahminism, at some distant period, 
 were the only benefit to be contemplated from 
 the establishment of an episcopal Church, that 
 probability itself might be the principal point to 
 be discussed: but there are advantages unequivo¬ 
 cal and immediate, to be expe£led. Among the 
 vast variety of se£ts prevalent through Hindoos- 
 tan, many of the natives, are entirely but of 
 the pale of the Brahminical faith ; and there 
 are numbers, the offspring of Europeans and 
 Asiatics, who are insurmountably excluded from 
 all participation in the religious institutions of 
 their country. These compose a body, already 
 powerful, and which may hereafter become for¬ 
 midable. Among these, the labors of a Protestant 
 Clergy might be advantageously and effeftually 
 exerted. It is well known that in one presidency 
 alone,* there are more than four hundred thousand 
 
 • Fort St. George. 
 V 4 
 
*2g6 
 
 French Papists, all'aftive in disseminating their 
 religion, and together with their religious tenets, 
 their political principles. If an agreement in 
 external ceremonies, be a ground of union in. 
 matters of faith, many of the Hindoos would be 
 more likely to be converted by the Church of 
 Rome, than by any other Church. Nor is this a 
 vague surmise. The venerable Swartz was heard 
 to lament, that many of'his Indian converts, 
 disgusted at the simplicity of his mode of worship, 
 embraced an early opportunity of going over to 
 the Romish Communion j allured and conge¬ 
 nially gratified by the pageantry and splendor 
 of its ordinances. While our enemies, and while 
 the dissenters from our establishment, are thus 
 unwearied in their exertions, it is not for us to be 
 indifferent. If England had long since planted a 
 Church in her Indian possessions, that Church 
 would now have formed the strongest bulwark of 
 her powers would have preserved the Hindoos 
 from being irritated by the goad of fanaticism; 
 and would have preserved thousands of British 
 subje6ts from the worst of evils, infidelity. 
 
 The third proposition which may be laid down 
 on this subje6l is, that no attempts at converting 
 the Hindoos can be safely prosecuted, unless, 
 under a conviftion, that their efficacy will be slow. 
 
297 
 
 This is not a proposition which. demands 
 only a cold assent; it should regulate every 
 movement. It is not stated with a view to 
 repress any well directed a&ivity ; but to prevent 
 that relaxation of activity, which always follows 
 the disappointment or delay of visionary, expect¬ 
 ation. If any man can be led to imagine, that an 
 edifice, which has resisted the impetuous attacks 
 of Mohammedan bigotry, and the undermining 
 approaches of Jesuitical craft, is to be suddenly 
 or speedily razed to the ground ^ his benevolence 
 must be praised at the expence of his discretion. 
 We may on this occasion learn a useful lesson 
 from our enemies. Let Christianity,” said the 
 infidel rulers of France, when they restored at 
 least the nominal profession of it, descend slowly 
 and silently to the tomb: it is not possible at . 
 once, or by violent measures, to extirpate the 
 religion of eighteen centuries.” They were per¬ 
 fectly right. They were right according to what 
 they conceived the Christian Religion to be, and 
 what the Brahminical system really is, a structure 
 firmly cemented by interest on the one hand, and 
 by terror on the other. 
 
 It is not possible, we may also say on the 
 present occasion, at once, or easily to subdue a 
 religious system, which we know to have subsisted 
 
298 
 
 under nearly the same form, more than three 
 thousand years. Whatever progress can be made 
 in the work, must be made by gradations almost 
 imperceptible : and let us not rudely attempt to 
 force an effeft, which, if ever produced at all, 
 must be matured by the utmost delicacy, patience, ’ 
 and discrimination. The Hindoos, are already, in 
 some degree, influenced by the prevalence of Eu¬ 
 ropean customs, in the ordinary commerce of life: 
 they already own the salutary effefts of British le¬ 
 gislation ; many of their cruel and pernicious rites, 
 springing out of their superstition, have been 
 restrained by the timely interference of British 
 power ; more may hereafter be gradually and 
 gently abolished. But as for their religion, we 
 may be assured, that it is the last thing which 
 they will relinquish ; that they will retain many 
 of its outward ceremonies and positive institu¬ 
 tions, when their utility shall be no longer acknow¬ 
 ledged, and when their significancy shall be no 
 longer understood. 
 
 In contemplating the causes, which oppose the 
 conversion of the Hindoos to Christianity, there 
 are some, which have been entirely disregarded; 
 and others, which have been stated in a manner, 
 .diametrically opposite to truth. 
 
 In the first place, we have heard it asserted. 
 

 that there is a manifest analogy between some 
 fundamental tenets of the Christian faith, and the 
 leading doftrines of Brahminism. The doctrines 
 of the Trinity, of the Incarnation, and of the 
 Atonement, have been particularly specified; and 
 a conclusion has thence been drawn, that this 
 resemblance between the two systems, will pre¬ 
 dispose the minds of the Hindoos, towards the 
 reception of Christianity ; that far from revolting 
 at its mysteries, many are already familiar to them. 
 
 Without pausing a moment to enquire into the 
 nature of this resemblance, we may contend, that 
 this circumstance, will perhaps have no weight, 
 or if it should have any weight, will, instead of a 
 facility, prove an impediment." 
 
 That a similarity of opinion in leading articles, 
 forms a basis of union in matters of religion, is a 
 very disputable position, when we refleft on the 
 almost infinite variety of Christian sefts, and on the 
 slight causes, which have led to their separation 
 But the Hindoo has no objeftion to allow the 
 divine authority of the Christian religion: he 
 entertains a respeft for every religion. The nearer 
 then that Christianity can be made to approach 
 towards Brahminism, the more strongly will he be 
 confirmed in his favorite idea, that heaven is a 
 
I 
 
 300 
 
 palace, to which there are many avenues*’; and 
 the less reason will he see for relinquishing the 
 faith of his ancestors. 
 
 Another cause stated, as tending to facilitate 
 the conversion of the Hindoos, is the flexibility 
 of their charafter. That this flexibility extends 
 to points connefted with their sacred institutions, 
 has never been proved; on the contrary, rigid 
 adherence to their ancient superstition, was always 
 understood to be their national charafteristic; 
 until, among other novelties, this fa6l, san£tioned 
 by the experience of ages, has lately been repre¬ 
 sented as unfounded, and in praftice has been 
 completely set at defiance. That the intemperate 
 zeal of our fanatical missionaries, has excited the 
 apprehensions of the Brahminical order, is abun¬ 
 dantly proved from their own letters and journals. 
 It cannot indeed be denied, that the most absurd 
 and ludicrous passages have been selefted from 
 these singular produftions, for the purpose of expo¬ 
 sing their authors to ridicule; but no man has ever 
 presumed to contend, that these passages are 
 forgeries. If their own statements be entitled to 
 any credit, no farther argument need to be urged 
 against either their competency to the task, or 
 against this supposed pliability in the Indian 
 charafter. 
 
301 
 
 The real disposition of the Hindoos has indeed 
 been little understood, and grossly misrepresented. 
 Naturally passive and indolent, they may not 
 always be roused to warmth, even in defence of 
 their religion. They are known generally to 
 avoid debate on the subje 61 :, and even apparently 
 to acquiese in the arguments of their opponents. 
 When a late eastern despot requested his minister, 
 in a tone amounting to a command, to embrace 
 the faith of Mohammed, he received the answer 
 of assent ; ‘‘lam your slave.'’ But the monarch 
 well knew the danger which lurked under this 
 seeming compliance, and the request was never 
 repeated. Let this example warn us, not to 
 calculate too far on the mildness of the Hindoo 
 temper, when their prejudices are inflamed. The 
 fire which is pent up burns the fiercest. Their 
 vengeance may be secret, and may be tardy; but 
 it will be certain, and it will be dreadful. 
 
 Having thus endeavoured to establish the three 
 propositions which were originally laid down, I 
 would willingly conclude, if it were not necessary 
 to vindicate them from one objeftion, which has 
 had great weight, even on pious minds. Holding 
 the opinions which have been maintained in this 
 discourse, not to speak plainly would imply 
 cowardice, and what is worse than coivaidicc, 
 would betray guilt. 
 
302 
 
 I am not insensible to the charge which has 
 been preferred against the Church of England, 
 by a description of men who profess to be her 
 warmest friends, that she is indifferent to the 
 vital interests of religion, because she has not 
 done with regard to Indian missions, what indeed 
 she had not the power to do) what, if she had the 
 power to do, she has afted most wisely in leaving 
 undone ; neither am I ignorant of the manner in 
 which the motives of all those, who venture to 
 adopt the line of argument pursued in this dis¬ 
 course, are perverted and vilified. They are 
 stigmatized as anxious to perpetuate the reign 
 • of ignorance, to encourage slavery, and to check 
 
 the progress of the Gospel of truth. 
 
 \ \ 
 
 These arts, weak as they are ungenerous, are 
 best answered by silence ; but there is one objec¬ 
 tion frequently urged, deserving of notice, because 
 carrying with it a semblance of piety. It is said, 
 that the mode of reasoning now adopted, proceeds 
 on a supposition, that the extension of the king¬ 
 dom of Christ depends on the will of Princes, and 
 on the policy of Statesmen 3 that it was originally 
 established in opposition to human power, and in 
 a manner dire£lly opposite to that, which human 
 wisdom would have suggested. 
 
303 
 
 Popularity alone renders such arguments worthy 
 of notice, for they need ;io refutation. Whatever 
 might have been the instruments, which the 
 Almighty Governor of the Universe was pleased 
 to sele£l, for the original propagation of his 
 Divine Word; yet these instruments were power¬ 
 ful indeed, when wielded by the arm of Omnipo¬ 
 tence. But the first establishment of Christianity, 
 philosophical scepticism itself must allow to be 
 an anomaly: religious piety will feel no hesitation 
 in calling it a miracle. With this miracle however 
 we have nothing farther to do, than to use it as a 
 mean for the invigoration of our faith, not for the 
 regulation of oiir praSice. As far as we can 
 pretend to judge, it appears to be the will of 
 God, that the only expedients left to us for the 
 propagation of his word, are the same prudence 
 and foresight, which are requisite for the attain¬ 
 ment of any other obje£l. If then because the 
 early preachers of the Gospel were destitute of 
 human accomplishments, but were supported by 
 supernatural assistance, we should, in the present 
 time, seleft for the workmen devoid of learning* 
 
 O ^ 
 
 but who possess none of these extraordinary 
 endowments ; may we not justly expeft that God 
 will punish our presumption ? If, because the 
 Gospel itself was first preached, though not ex¬ 
 clusively, yet peculiarly to the poor, we should 
 
304 
 
 V 
 
 address ourselves entirely to the lower castes of the 
 Hindoos, in defiance of .the Brahminical order; 
 may we not expefit that a flame will 'be kindled, 
 which we shall in vain endeavour to extinguish ? 
 Such a procedure is not only imprudence, but 
 impiety ; it is nothing less than to tempt God. 
 But when we hear the language constantly 
 echoed and re-echoed among those self-appointed 
 teachers of Christianity, and observe their entire 
 contempt of all the maxims of'ordinary prudence, 
 we must conclude either, that they believe them¬ 
 selves already to possess, or confidently expefit to 
 be favoured with, supernatural aid. Their at¬ 
 tempts according to human calculation must be 
 attended with defeat; success would be—I speak 
 without a sarcasm—miraculous. 
 
 These reflexions at any other period might 
 appear irrelevant, because they would be undis¬ 
 puted ; but the aspeX of the present times will 
 fully justify the propriety of their insertion. 
 
 Neither shall I appear unnecessarily to linger, 
 if, from a wish to impress more strongly the 
 arguments offered on the present occasion, I 
 venture to fortify them under the authority of a 
 charaXer, dear to England 5 which, in his earlier 
 years was adorned by his virtues and his talents; 
 
305 
 
 endeared, in a peculiar manner, to this University, 
 which he ever regarded with the warmest affec¬ 
 tion to the last moment of his valuable life ; but 
 esteemed almost s^pred by India, where his emi¬ 
 nent attainments and virtues were so usefully and 
 so honourably displayed. His opinion on the 
 question of Indian conversion, has often been set 
 forward In the conspicuous light which it de¬ 
 serves ; his expressions have been dilated and 
 tortured, in order to make them speak a sense 
 which they will not bear; but no unprejudiced 
 mind can refle£l: on them, without perceiving 
 his decided conviftion, that the attempt was 
 opposed by difficulties almost insuperable. Let 
 it be observed, that this is not an hypothesis, 
 which, however ingeniously defended by supe¬ 
 rior learning, an inferior mind might possibly 
 subvert; but the deliberate opinion of an accu¬ 
 rate observer of the human charafter, on a subjeft, 
 wherein above any other, that knowledge is indis¬ 
 pensable. It is also the opinion of a man, con¬ 
 cerning whom it would be a cold commendation 
 to say, that no considerations of secular prudence, 
 no motives of contra 61 ed policy, could warp his 
 judgment, and check his benevolence. Who 
 could be more feelingly alive than he to the 
 blessings of liberty ? but he knew (to use his own 
 words) that the Asiatics must and will be 
 
 w 
 
306 
 
 governed by absolute power.*’ Who could be 
 more forcibly impressed by the historical truth of 
 the Christian Religion, and by the transcendant 
 purity of Christian ethics?‘but he saw the dif¬ 
 ficulty of^ engrafting them on the sickly morality 
 of the Hindoo. His useful labors may well be 
 proposed for imitation in the direftion of our’s, 
 as their success may prove a powerful incite¬ 
 ment. In him we shall see the maxim studiously 
 defended by men of moderate acquirements, that 
 superior minds are unqualified for the adlive 
 duties of life, completely refuted. In him we 
 shall find, that the voice of the student, even in the 
 retirement of his closet, will sometimes be heard 
 amidst the din of camps, and will influence the 
 deliberations of contending councils ; and we 
 may learn, that present applause and posthumous 
 fame, the objedts after which human ambition 
 pants, may be obtained, without pursuing them 
 through the field of blood, or the labyrinth of 
 intrigue. 
 
 Let his example be followed by us in our 
 attempts to improve the condition of our Indian 
 subjefts. Let the cautions and gradual propaga¬ 
 tion of truth be the rule of our condudt; the 
 excellence of which rule, may be exemplified 
 by the pradticc even of an inspired Apostle ; 
 
% 
 
 307 
 
 “ I have fed you with milk and not with meat, 
 for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither 
 yet now are ye able/’ 
 
 The general conversion of the Hindoos appears, 
 under present circumstances, at an immense dis¬ 
 tance. This is an event, which, although we have 
 reason to suppose it may take place in the course of 
 God’s Providence, seems beyond the achievement 
 of human wisdom. This is a day, which like the 
 Patriarchs of old, we may behold afar off ^ but, like 
 them, we can behold it only with the eye of faith. 
 It must be reserved for future generations, to 
 witness the happy period, when ‘‘ the household . 
 of faith” shall comprise the universal offspring of 
 that beneficent Parent” of whom the whole 
 family in ‘‘heaven and earth is named,” and be 
 admitted to receive “ the adoption and inheri¬ 
 tance of the children of light.” 
 
 \ 
 
r 
 
 
 
s/ 
 
NOTES. 
 
 P. 12. 1. 1. [T/zefr divisioji into separate tribes and castes .'\— 
 Both Arrian and Strabo have divided the Indians into seven 
 classes or tribes. Sv twv TvXnBo? sig ettto* (jispri ^lYipritr^c/A, >tat 
 Trpwryj /x£v ra? <I>Aocro(?>a? stvoA Strabo, 1. 15. The ancient writers, 
 in all probability, confounded some of the subdivisions with 
 the four primary orders. 
 
 P. 12. 1. 14. '[peculiar inimunities arrogated by the sacerdotal 
 order.'] Arrian gives a description of the ancient Braclwianes^ 
 which decidedly proves the long establishment of castes, and 
 the anteriority of the Brahminical institution to the heterodox 
 opinions of the Baudhas and lainas. He mentions the Brack- 
 manes as a distindl tribe, which, though inferior to the others 
 in number, was superior in rank and estimation; that they were 
 bound to no bodily work, nor contributed any thing from labor 
 to the public use j in short, no duty was prescribed to that tribe, 
 but the duty of sacrificing to the gods for the common benefit 
 of the Indians; and when any one celebrated a private sacrifice, 
 a person of that class became his guide, as if .the sacrifice other¬ 
 wise would not be acceptable to the gods. The pre-eminence 
 of the sacerdotal order in the scale of dignity, above sovereigns 
 or warriors, seems to have been of high antiquity. Plato, in 
 his description of the passing of the soul into different bodies, 
 gives the first honor to philosophy. The soul which has fol¬ 
 lowed the irrxmortals in the best manner, or has seen most of 
 
 the nature of things, is ordered to animate a philosopher.-^- 
 
 Tnv /xEv TvXagoc t^isa-otVj nj yomv n (piXoKCcXa, 
 
 Plato In Phasdr. 
 
 P. 12. 1. 20. [Their total abhorrence from idolatry Both 
 Porphyry and Strabo mention the metempsychosis, and the pe¬ 
 nances of the Brachmanes; but concerning their idolatrous 
 worship, those writers of antiquity are entirely silent: Eu¬ 
 sebius expressly states, that they worship no images. 
 
 sroXXoci Twv >>.iyofjLivuiv B^a;;^juav£uy oitives nam ruv 5rpoyoviyy, 
 
 xoti vo/xwv, aT£ (ponvaa-iV) are foava Euseb, Prsep Evang, 
 
 JL, 6. c. 10. 
 
312 
 
 1 
 
 P. 14. I. Q. \the tradition which relates that his pious labors 
 were extended to lndiad\ After the third century of the Chris¬ 
 tian lera, so universally \vas it acknowledged that St. Thomas 
 had visited India, and preached the Gospel there, that the 
 famous Manes, who gave himself out for a second Messiah, 
 and chose his own Apostles, sent out one of them to India, 
 named Thomas, in order that he might be confounded with 
 the disciple of our Lord. 
 
 P. 14. I. 14. \has heeii placed by siibseqiient research Some 
 writers, and particularly La Croze, have altogether rejected 
 the account of the Apostle Thomas having preached the Gospel 
 in India. They have confounded the dreams and fables of the 
 Romish missionaries, with the true history of the life and mar¬ 
 tyrdom of that Apostle. But the number of native Christians 
 now in India, unattached to the church of Rome, are a living 
 evidence that the Christian Religion must have been introduced 
 there in the first and purest age of the Church. The Saint 
 Thome Christians, who do not belong to the church of Rome, 
 have been stated to be 70 or 80,000, and the Syrian Chris¬ 
 tians in communion with that church at 90 , 000 . 
 
 P. 17* 1. 10. \opened a new direction to Asiatic commercedy^ 
 The following is a description of the commerce, and the chan¬ 
 nels through which it downed, before the arrival of the Portu¬ 
 guese in India, taken from Faria y Sousa. Before these our 
 discoveries, the spicery and riches of the Eastern w'orld, were 
 brought to Europe with great charge, and immense trouble.— 
 The merchandise of the clove of Malucca, the mace and nut- 
 meg of Banda, the sandal wood of Timor, the camphor of 
 Borneo, the gold and silver of Luconia, the spices, drugs, 
 dyes, and perfumes, and all the various riches of China, Java, 
 Siam, and the adjacent kingdoms, centered in the city of Ma- 
 laca in the Golden Chersonesus* Hither all the traders of the 
 countries as far west as Ethiopia, and the Red Sea, resorted, 
 and bartered their own commodities for those which they 
 received : for, silver and gold were esteemed as the least va¬ 
 luable articles. By this trade, the great cities of Calicut, 
 Cambaya, and Aden were enriched, nor was Malaca the only 
 source of their wealth. The western regions of Asia had full 
 possession of the commerce of the rubies of Pegu, the silks of 
 Bengal, the diamonds of Narsinga, the cinnamon and rubies 
 of Ceylon, the pepper and every spicery of Malabar, and 
 whatever on the eastern islands and shores, nature had lavished 
 
313 
 
 of her various riches. Of the more western commerce, Or¬ 
 muz was the grand mart, for, from thence the commodities 
 were conveyed up the Persian Gulph to Bassora, on the mouth 
 of the Euphrates, and from thence dhtributed in caravans to 
 Armenia, Trebisond, Tartary, Aleppo, Damascus, and the 
 port of Barut, in the Mediterranean. Suez, on the Red Sea, 
 was also an important mart. Here the caravans loaded and 
 proceeded to Grand Cairo, from whence the Nile conveyed 
 their riches to Alejiandria ; at which city, and at Barut, some 
 Europeans, the Venetians in particular, loaded their vessels 
 with the riches of the Eastern world, which at immense prices 
 they distributed throughout Europe. 
 
 P. 20. 1. l6. \the jealousies and disseiisiojis.l A king of 
 Persia, asked a Portuguese captain, how many of the Indian' 
 viceroys had been beheaded by the kings of Portugal.—— 
 “ None,’’ replied tlie officer.” “ Then,” returned the Per¬ 
 sian, “ you will not long remain masters of India.” 
 
 P. 24. 1. ]0. [under the title of Vedas.] The writings of 
 the highest authority among the Brahmens are the Vedas^ a 
 word signifying in the Sanscrit^ knowledge. These writings 
 are believed to have been revealed immediately from Heaven 
 to Brahma., but to have been collected and arranged in their 
 present order by a sage, who thence obtained the name of 
 Vydsa, that is, the compiler. He is said to have distributed 
 them into four parts, which are entitled Rich, Yajush, Sdmcui 
 and Atliarvand, The first of the Vedas, is called the Rigveda, 
 It principally consists of prayers, which for the most part are 
 encomiastic. It also treats of the science of divination: and 
 is said to contain a very particular account of the formation 
 of the world. The second is distinguished by the title 
 of the Yajur vida, and is divided into two parts, the White 
 Yajur veda, and the Black Yajur veda. They principally treat 
 of oblations and other religious ceremonies, such as fasts, fes¬ 
 tivals, pyrifications, and penances. The third Veda is the 
 Samaveda. This book treats of moral and religious duties, and 
 a peculiar degree of holiness is attached to it by the followers 
 of Brahma; the derivation of its name indicating its eliicacy 
 in removing sin. The fourth Veda is the ACharva-veda, con¬ 
 taining the whole science of theology and metaphysical philo¬ 
 sophy. Doubts were entertained by Sir W. Jones and^Mr. 
 Wilkins, whether this last is not more modern than the other 
 three; and several remarkable passages from other Sanscrit 
 
314 
 
 writings of antiquity, have been brought to support this opi¬ 
 nion ; but Mr. Colebrooke has shewn, that the true reason 
 why the three first VUas are often mentioned without any no¬ 
 tice of the fourth, may be discovered in their different use and 
 purport. The three first are constantly used at religious cere¬ 
 monies ; whereas the fourth consists of prayers employed at 
 lustrations, at rites conciliating the deities, and at imprecations 
 on enemies, and is therefore essentially different from the 
 other three. ‘‘ The Vedas^' say the Hindus, “ are in truth 
 ‘‘ infinite ; but they were colle6led by Vyasa into their pre- 
 sent number and order.” A copy of the four Vedas has 
 been obtained by Colonel Polier, and has been deposited by 
 him in the British Museum. 
 
 P. 25. 1.2. \the writings of heretical I have met 
 
 ‘‘ with such quotations in the books of theunattended by 
 “ any indication of their doubting the genuineness of the origi- 
 “ nal, though they do not receive its doftrines, nor acknowledge 
 “ its cogency. I owe this to Mr. Speke among other fragments 
 collefied by the late Captain Hoare, and purchased at the 
 ‘‘ sale of that gentleman’s library.”—Colebrooke on the Vedas, 
 Asiat. Res. vol. 8. 
 
 P.25. 1.6. \thc Pur anas."] The Pwra/zay are eighteen in 
 number, derived from a word signifying in the Sanscrit lan¬ 
 guage, ancient. The Brahmens define a Parana to be “ a 
 “ poem treating of five subjedts; primary creation or creation 
 “ of matter in the abstradt; secondary creation, or the pro- 
 dudtion of the subordinate beings, both spiritual and mate- 
 rial; chronological account of their grand periods of time, 
 “ called Manwantards ; genealogical rise of particular families, 
 “ especially those w^ho have reigned in India; and lastly, his- 
 tory of the lives of particular families.” 
 
 P. 25. 1. 7* other sacred writmgs.'] Among these may 
 be reckoned the Institutes of Menu, a colledtion of sentences, 
 comprehending the principles of Hindu law. These institu¬ 
 tions are of divine force: and the work is thought by Sir W. 
 Jones to have been compiled above thirteen centuries before 
 the Christian acra. The Gita is also a metaphysical treatise of 
 great value, forming an episode to the epic poem, called the- 
 Mahdbarat. 
 
315 
 
 P. 26 . 1. 2. \bi/ the unauthorized assumption. This was 
 advanced by Sir W. Jones in his Preface to the Institutes of 
 Menu. He says that the Sanscrit of the three first Vedas.^ that 
 of the Manava Dherma Sasira^ and that of the Pur anas, differ 
 in pretty exa<5f proportion, to the Latin of Niima, that of Ap- 
 pius, and that of Cicero, or of Lucretius, where he has not af- 
 fe6ted an obsolete style. He therefore assumes that the several 
 changes took place in times very nearly proportional; that ‘ 
 the Fedas must have been written 300 years before the Insti¬ 
 tutes of A/e/zi/,arid those Institutes 300 years before the Pur anas. 
 
 P. 45 . 1 . 17 . \Jiowever they might differ in calculations con^ 
 cerning the time.'] As the earth is not a perfect sphere, the 
 quantity of matter is greater at the equator. Hence the earth 
 turns on her axis in a rocking motion, revolving round the 
 the axis of the ecliptic. This revolution, which causes the 
 stars to appear to shift their places, is calculated by Newton 
 to proceed at the rate of a degree in 7'^ years ; according to 
 which all the stars seem to perform their revolution in the space 
 of 25,920 years: after which, they return to exactly the same 
 situation as at the beginning of this period. The philosophers 
 of the Egyptian and Greek schools believed, that the precession 
 of the equinoxes proceeded after the rate of one degree in a 
 century, and that the whole revolution of the fixed stars would 
 not be completed under the period of 36,000 years. The 
 Indian astronomers computed the precession of the equinoxes 
 to be after the rate of 54 seconds in a year.' From this motion 
 they have evidently formed many of their calculations. They 
 have a cycle, or period of fiO years, another of 3,600, and ano¬ 
 ther of 24,000. But there is the strongest presumption, that 
 the more early race of Indian astronomers were of the same 
 opinion with those of Egypt and Greece : since, according to 
 Mr. Reuben Burrow, the life of Brahma himself consists of 
 36,000 of his days, that is cycles, which, in fad, constitutes 
 the presumed period of the long revolution of the heavenly 
 bodies, the Annus Magnus of antiquity. Mr. Colebrooke, in 
 the 9 th volume of the Asiatic Researches, mentions a passage 
 from Bhascara, from which it appears, that though the more 
 corred opinion of a revolution of the equinodial points has 
 been advanced by some authors, yet it has not obtained the 
 general suffrage of writers on Hindu astronomy. 
 
31 ^ 
 
 P. 53. 1. 25. \ahove six thousand years from the invasion of 
 Alexander.'\ Atto /xev Atoyy<r«, rpiQ/xEov Iv^oi ej Av^go- 
 
 xoTov, 'rpsi?, Jtai TTEVT^iKovTa, >cai ejccctov* srea ^e ^voy acck TEO-cagaKOVTa 
 
 xat i^Kia-x^Xtx .—Arrian in Indicis. 
 
 P, 54. 1. 25. passage is literally quoted hy Clemens of Alex¬ 
 andria from Megasthenes.^ MsyairQEvv)?, o (rvly^a,(ptv 5 tw SeXewhoi; 
 Tw {ru/x/SE/Stwxwj, ev rr? rwy Iv^wwv w^e y^a^st. Ktoyto, 
 
 fxtv IIEPI 4>T2E^i£ EtpnjaEva tok XEyErai Kai Traga TOij 
 
 £|iu T^ij EAXa^o? (piXo<ro(Pii(7iy r(X, /x»v, Trap. Iv^ot? utto twv Bpa;)^/xavc<;i», 
 
 ra ^E, Ev Eypiot liro tojv KocXiiixsvm la^'atwv.—Clem. Alex. Strom. 
 
 1 ._Part of this passage is also quoted in the Prasparatio 
 
 Evangelica of Eusebius. 
 
 P. 56, 1 . 9 .' [The principle on which this extravagant scheme 
 is founded,] The following sketch of the chronological scheme 
 of the Brahmens may not be unacceptable to those who are 
 unacquainted with Indian literature. The age of the world 
 is divided by them into four grand periods, which they call 
 YugSy the Satya Yug, or the age of purity and truth; the 
 Treta Yug, or the age in which the third part of mankind be¬ 
 came reprobate; t\iQ Dwapar Yug, or the age in which half 
 the human race became depraved; and the present age, or 
 Cali Yug, in wdiich the whole of mankind became depraved or 
 lessened. In each of these Yugs the length of human life is 
 diminished, in a subdecuple ratio, from a hundred thousand 
 vears ; in each, the number of avatars, or descents of the Divi¬ 
 nity, decreases arithmetically, and the number of years de¬ 
 creases geometrically; and altogether constitute the extrava- 
 vagant sum of four million, three hundred and twenty thou¬ 
 sand years: which aggregate, multiplied by seventy one, is 
 the period in which every Menu is believed to preside oVer the 
 world. The reign of fourteen Menus constitutes a day of 
 Brahma; each Menu, they suppose, transmits his empire^ to 
 his sons and grandsons during a period of seventy one divine 
 ac^es; and such a period they name a Manwantara; but since 
 fourteen multiplied by seventy one are not quite a thousand, 
 we must conclude that six divine ages are allowed for intervals 
 between the Manwaniaras, or for the twilight of Brahtnas day. 
 Thirty such days or Calpas constitute in their opinion, a month 
 of Bralmia; twelve such months one of his years, and an hun¬ 
 dred such years, his age, of which age they assert that fifty 
 years are elapsed. 
 
317 
 
 ' P. 58. I. \the fourth aora^ or the present age] The be¬ 
 ginning of the Cali Yug is reckoned from two hours, twenty- 
 seven minutes, and thirty seconds, of the morning of the lOth 
 of February, 3102 years before the Christian sera; but the 
 time for which the astronomical tables of the Hindus are con¬ 
 structed, is 2 days, 3 hours, 32 min. and 30 sec. after that, 
 or the 18th of February about six in the morning. 
 
 P. 62 . 1. 18. [J second hypothesis that on the supposition^ 
 The following is the substance of a paper, published in the 
 Monthly Magazine for June 1796 , on the antiquity of the 
 Zodiac, After observing that the retrograde motion of the 
 equinoxes takes place at the rate of one degree in years, 
 the author lays it down as certain, that the zodiac must have 
 been invented and named at some period, when the solstice 
 occurred during the Sun’s stay in Cancer, and the equinox in 
 liibra; the former alluding to the retrograde motion which 
 the Sun seems at that time to assume, and the latter to the 
 equipoise of day and night occurring at each equinox. The 
 signs of the Zodiac then must have come into use, either 
 about poo years before the Christian asra, when the summer 
 solstice fell in the 15th degree of Cancer, or about 13,860 
 years before the Christian aera, when the winter solstice fell 
 in Cancer, and the vernal equinox in Libra. No interme¬ 
 diate period will account for the choice of these two em¬ 
 blems. After stating many facts, tending to shew the impro¬ 
 bability of the latter, and more remote date, the author 
 proceeds; Probably the whole Egyptian-nation, but certainly 
 their civilizers came from the remote east, suppose Guzerat. 
 The resemblance between the Colchians and the Egyptians, 
 insisted upon by Herodotus, may best be explained by 
 supposing them to have radiated from a common centre, 
 farther east than Babylon. The lotos was consecrated by the 
 Egyptians as a type of production, generation and fertility, 
 while the only species of lotos adapted for this emblem, is 
 to be found in Hindustan^ and is so consecrated in the religion 
 of that country. The Egyptians then had at least common 
 instructors with the nations of the Deccan. As among these 
 nations the same zodiacal signs, in the same order are intro¬ 
 duced, the inference seems inevitable that all these things 
 deriv^e their origin from some primeval nation. The following 
 extract from tme Ratnamala of Sripeti is found in Sir Wm. 
 Jones’s dissertation on the Indian Zodiac. “ The sheeps bullj 
 craby lio?iy and scorpion^ have the figures of these animals 
 
318 
 
 rcspecllvely. The pair^ are a damsel playing on a Fina, and a 
 youth wielding a mace. The virgin stands in a boat in water, 
 holding in one hand a lamp, and in the other an ear of rice.— 
 The balance is held by a weigher with a weight in one hand. 
 The how by an archer, whose hinder parts are like those of a 
 horse. The sea tnonster has the face of an antelope. The 
 ewer is a water pot borne on the shoulder of a man, who emp¬ 
 ties it. The fishes are two with their heads turned to each 
 “bther’s tails; and all these are supposed to be in such places as 
 suit their several natures.” Now what should forbid dete6ling 
 in this oriental zodiac, a natural calendar of some primeval 
 nation, and construfted only gOO years before Christ? It will 
 suffice to assign an hypothetical situation to this nation, in the 
 Penjab, in the highest parts of the Sind, or the Ganges, where 
 rice can be cultivated. The ram or the lamb (as the Persians 
 call this sign) may have denoted the time for beginning to kill 
 and eat the young sheep. The bull that of ploughing in the 
 seed. The pair mark the age of growth. The crab is the sol¬ 
 stitial period of summer. The lioji extreme heat. The vir¬ 
 gin is the time of sowing rice, which is performed by women, 
 who lay the steeped grains on a plank, and let them fall into the 
 water, in order that they may grow up in straight lines. The 
 balajice is the autumnal equinox now. The scorpion marks a 
 period of contagion. The the season for hunting. The 
 
 'monster^ half antelope^ half fish^ may express the passage of the 
 year from a windy to a wet weather. The bucket describes 
 the time for flooding the rice meadows j and the fishes the 
 month of spawn. 
 
 P. 64. 1. 5. \_Could the point be more unequivocally ascertained,'\ 
 It must be a matter of doubt, for instance, w’hether the sign 
 hihra may have a reference to the equinox, or to the mensura¬ 
 tion and weighing of commodities. If the hypothesis be just, 
 that the zodiac was originally meant to designate a rural calen¬ 
 dar, we should suppose the latter. In the description of the 
 '6(5 Dreschands translated from Faraha7nihirds on the 
 
 casting of nativities, entitled Vrihat Idtaca^ by Mr. Colebrooke; 
 almost all the emblems are natural. The Hindus, like the 
 Babylonians and Egyptians, divide each sign into three parts, 
 and allot to every such part a regent, exercising a planetary in¬ 
 fluence under the particular planet whom he there represents. 
 The sign Libra, in the first part of this triple division, is thus 
 described [Venus], ‘‘ A man is proceeding along the middle 
 “ of a highway, holding a balance and having weights in his 
 
319 
 
 hsnd j he is skilled in mccisuring a.nd metino, 3 nd medifste^ 
 “ on commodities and their prices.”—Asiat. Res. vol. 9 , p. 270 . 
 
 P.64. 1.5. [The hoyptian aster isms are the most mytholo- 
 logicaL'\ For a description of the asterisms of the oriental and 
 other ancient spheres, see Maurice’s Ancient History of Hin- 
 dostan, vol. 1. 
 
 P. 86 . 1 .4. ^ They compute ten principal descents,'] Though 
 iht Hindus believe in innumerable descents, or special inter¬ 
 positions of Providence, yet they reckon ten principal avaidras 
 or descents. They are thus described in order as they are' 
 supposed to occur, in the following ode of layadeva^ the great 
 lyric poet of India ; 
 
 I. Thou recoverest the Vida^ in the water of the ocean of 
 destrudion, placing it joyfully in the bosom of an ark fabri¬ 
 cated by thee, O Cesava^ assuming the body of a fish. Be 
 vidorious, O Heri, Lord of the Universe. 
 
 II. The earth, placed oh the point of thy tusk, remains 
 fixed, like the figure of a black antelope on the moon, O 
 Cesava^ assuming the form of a boar. Be vidorious, O Ileri^ 
 Lord of the Univese. 
 
 The earth stands firm on thy immensely broad back, 
 which grows larger from the callus, occasioned by bearing that 
 vast burden, O Cesava, assuming the form of a tortoise. Be 
 vidorious, O Heri, Lord of the Universe. 
 
 IV. The claw with a stupendous point on the exquisite 
 lotos of thy lion’s paw, is the black bee that stung the body of 
 the embowelled Hiranyacasipu, O Cesava, assuming the form 
 of a man-lion. Be vidorious, O Heri, Lord of the Universe. 
 
 V. By thy powef thou beguilest O thou miraculous 
 dwarf, thou purifier of men with the water (of Ganga) spring¬ 
 ing from thy feet, O Cesava, assuming the form of a dwarf. 
 Be vidorious, O Heri^ Lord of the Universe. 
 
 VI. Thou bathest in pure water, consisting of the blood 
 of Cshatriyds the world, whose offences are removed, and who 
 are relieved from the pain of other births, O Cesava^ assuming 
 the form of Parasu Rama, Be vidorious, O Fieri, Lord of 
 the Universe. 
 
 ^ VII. With ease to thyself, with delight to the genii of the 
 eight regions , thou scatterest on all sides in the plain of com¬ 
 bat, the daemon with ten heads, O Cesava, assuming the form 
 oi Rama-chandra, Be vidorious, O Fieri, Lord of the Uni¬ 
 verse. 
 
 
320 
 
 VIII. Thou wearest on thy bright body a mantle shining 
 like a bine cloud, or like the water of Yamana tripping towards 
 .thee through fear of thy furrowing ploughshare, O Cesava^ as¬ 
 suming the form of Crishna. Be vidorious, O Heri, Lord 
 of the Universe. 
 
 IX: Thou blamest (Oh 1 wonderful power!) the whole 
 ' Feda^ when thou seest (O kind-hearted !) the slaughter-of cat¬ 
 tle prescribed for sacrifice, O Cesavq, assuming the body of 
 Buddha, Be vidorious, O Heri^ Lord of the Universe, 
 
 X. For the destrudion of the impure, thou drawest thy 
 scymetar blazing like a comet, (how tremendous!) O Cesava, 
 assuming the body of Calcu Be vidorious, O Heri, Lord of 
 the Universe, 
 
 P. 90. 1. 22 . {^particularly those of India and Chinal\ De 
 diluvio multa est apud Sinicos scriptores mentio, de illius 
 origine causaque, nulla. Illud pro certo compertum, Sinensem 
 de diluvio historiam non multum a Ndetico abesse, quippe 
 quater mille circiter annos vulgarem Christ! epocham prx- 
 greditur. Martini! Hist. Sinica, p. 12 . 
 
 P. 92 . 1 . 21 . [To pursue the subject farther,"I Among many 
 passages of the Sajiscrit records which refer to the deluge, and 
 to other circumstances related in the Mosaical history, may be 
 jjj 0 j^tioned the following extrad from the \tdas. But what 
 “ are they ? Others yet greater, Gandawas^ Asuras, Raeshasas^ 
 ** companies of spirits, Bisachas^ Urayas^ and Grahas have we 
 “ seen been destroyed. But what are they ? Others^ greater 
 “ still have b^en changed ; vast rivers dried ; mountains torn 
 “ up ; the pole itself moved from its place; the cords of the 
 “ stars rent asunder ; the whole earth itself deluged with water; 
 
 “ even the sufes or angels, hurled from their stations.’’-Sir 
 
 W. Jones’s Works, vol. 6 , p. 420, 4to. ed. 
 
 P. 99 . 1. 20 . {Both Arrian and Strabo assert,'] See Arrian 
 in Indicis. Crishna is worshipped at Mathura, even to this 
 day, where the remains of his magnificent pagoda are still to 
 be seen. 
 
 P. 100 . 1. 4 . '{the incorporation of Christian heresy with Hin^ 
 doo superstition.] It is a point worthy of debate, whether 
 Christian heresy has been most inclined to assimilate itself to 
 Paganism, or whether Pagan superstition has drawn more 
 • largely from the source of corrupted Christianity, This ques- 
 
321 
 
 tion may in some measure be resolved from the subjed discuss¬ 
 ed. The argument will turn on two points; first, whether 
 the Purdnas, or the authenticated Scriptures of the Hindus^ 
 have been interpolated with passages from the spurious or ge¬ 
 nuine Gospels; secondly, whether the other legends of the 
 Hindus, which Baldaeus has related, were derived from the 
 spurious Gospels, or whether the spurious Gospels may 
 have adopted the fables current among the Hindus,' 
 
 Jt may, I think, safely be denied, that the Bhagavat Purdnet 
 has been interpolated, with passages from either the genuine or 
 the spurious Gospels. The Purdnas may indeed have been, 
 interpolated ; but not from this source. That the birth-place 
 of Crishna was fixed at Mathura long before the Christian 
 asra, has been observed above; nor;will it invalidate the force 
 of , this argument, that the Gospel of the Infancy records Ma- 
 iarsa, near Hierapolis, in Egypt, to have been the place where 
 the infant Saviour resided during his absence from the land of 
 Egypt, till the time that Herod died ; and that the village of 
 Matarea still remains unchanged in its name. Whether the 
 account of the Gospel of the Infancy be worthy of belief or 
 not, is foreign to the question. The express words of i^rrian, 
 who wrote so long before the birth of Christ, decidedly prove, 
 that the birth-place of Crishna could not have been fixed at 
 Methura, from any similarity between that word and Matarea^ 
 With respeft to the circumstance of Crishnds trampling on 
 the serpent, it is well known, that the sculptured figure in the 
 cavern of Elephanta representing this fa6t, is far older than the 
 Christian aera; whether this proceeded from tradition, or from 
 any other source, it is not material to enquire. As for the whole 
 account of Crishnd!s birth ; the warning which was given to his 
 father Cansa, that his son should be his destrover; the alarm 
 which the father felt in consequence of this intelligence ; the 
 resolution which he formed to destroy the child as soon as 
 born; the maimer in which the infant was preserved, by being 
 entrusted to the care of a herdsman : all these circumstances, 
 so far from proving that the Bhagavat Purand has been inter¬ 
 polated with passages from the spurious or the genuine Gospels, 
 are, with a little variation, the same as the history of Cyrus re¬ 
 lated in Herodotus. These circumstances clearly shew, that 
 the history of I^idia has been mixed with that of Persia,—With 
 respedl to the second question, in what manner the resemb¬ 
 lance has happened between the legends of the Hindus as given 
 by Baldaeus, and the spurious Gospels, a difference of opinion 
 will probably arise. This resemblance is undoubtedly too ex- 
 
 X 
 
322 
 
 ata to be accidental. It is not determined, who was the author 
 of the Gospel of the Infancy, which has been sometimes as¬ 
 signed to Manes. But as Irenaeus, long before the time of 
 Manes, had noticed and condemned this production, it must 
 belong to some other author. It has been distinguished by the 
 title of. The Gospel of St. Thomas; and although reprobated 
 by the ancient fathers as unworthy of his name and character, 
 we may fairly suppose it to have originated in some of those 
 countries, in which that Apostle had planted the Christian faith* 
 But if Manes was not the author of this production, it was no 
 doubt circulated by him. The heresy of Manes, was com¬ 
 pounded out of the Zoroastrian and Magian superstitions, to¬ 
 gether with certain perverted doctrines of Christianity. He 
 propagated the notion of a relation between the character of 
 Christ, and the mediatorial Mithras of the Persians ; declaring 
 him to have been the presiding genius over the visible world, 
 and his throne to have been from eternal ages in the Sun. It 
 is not therefore to be wondered at, that he should have wrested 
 tables belonging to the Apollo of the Pagan world, and which 
 could only relate to him, and have applied them to the author 
 of the Christian Religion. I have always been induced to think, 
 that the apocryphal Gospels bear evident marks of a design to 
 engraft the adventures of Pagan Divinities on the Life of 
 Christ: and that no actions recorded of Christ in the spurious 
 Gospels, are to be accounted worthy of credit, unless supported 
 by the authority of those which are esteemed canonical. The 
 soberness of narration which characterises the latter, affords 
 one of the strongest proofs not only of their veracity, but of 
 their inspiration. 
 
 P. 122. Note. [the Dabistan,] The Dabtsian is a lite¬ 
 rary curiosity of great value. ** It has, says Sir W. Jones, 
 “ thrown such light on the ancient history of Iran, and of the 
 “ human race, as 1 had ever despaired of obtaining.” The 
 author himself, in his Preface, gives the following concise 
 and simple account of it. “ This book comprehends some- 
 “ what of the learning, philosophy, and religious opini- 
 “ nions of divers ancient societies of men. I have everywhere 
 “ endeavoured to distinguish the form of things from the sub- 
 “ stance, and as it made no part of my design, to overthrow 
 “ any particular doctrines, I have not been induced through 
 
 any improper bias, to deal either in exaggeration or detrac- 
 “ lion.” The Dabtsian is divided into 12 chapters, or sec¬ 
 tions. Cap, 1, Of the Religion of the Pars^es* Cap. 2, Of 
 
313 
 
 the Hindu Religion. Cap. 3, Of the Religion of the Tibetti- 
 ans. Cap. 4, Of the Jewish Religion. Cap. 5, Of the C//m- 
 Religion. Cap. 6, Of the Religion. Cap. 
 
 7, Of the Sect called Sadikyah. Cap. 8, Of the Unitarians, 
 9> Of the Sect called Rosheniaiis, Cap. 10, Of the 
 
 Divines. Cap. 11, Of the Philosophers, Cap. 12, Of the 
 
 Susis, Concerning the life of its author, Mohsan^ but distin¬ 
 guished by the assumed surname of or Perishable^ we 
 
 have but few accounts. It is understood that he was of the 
 sect of the Susis, His death is placed in the vear of the Hejira 
 1081. 
 
 p> 
 
 P.134. 1.6. [That the Brahminical system,'] The testimony 
 of all the Greek writers is decidedly in favor of the prioritv 
 of the religion of the Uedas, to that of the heterodox Hindus, 
 This is clear, because it was well known to the Greeks, that 
 other classes existed in India besides the Brahmens, Strabo 
 asserts (lib, 15) that there were two classes of philosophers or 
 priests, the Brachmanes and the Germanes ; but that the Brack- 
 manes were holden in the highest estimation, because they were 
 most consistent in their doctrine. But the account of the diffe¬ 
 rent religious systems prevailing in India, is still more clearly 
 stated by Clemens of Alexandria. Anlov h raruv ro ysvoj, of 
 Xet^fMOivcci auTwv, oi xat twv 'Loc^fxcc.vm oi AXXo~ 
 
 ^loi ir^oaocyo^ivop.im^ an svoKuq oircamv, an ^nyccq t^aanif 
 «/*^i£vvyvTai (pXoioi^^ xat o-iravrai, Kxi ratj %£fcri 7rtv- 
 
 KO’iy* a yxpov^ a vxi^ottouxv icracrtv, uasrtf oi wv EyK^xrrirxi KosXajxsvoi, 
 VKri h TUP Iv^uv 01 Tojf Baxlx TCBi^op.iioi srx^xyfeXy.xa'tv* ov J'i yTTE^^oX^iy 
 tnp,poTr>Tog ug ©toy T£Ti/x)i>ta 3 -i—Strom. Lib. 1. 
 
 P. 134. 1. 13. [even if a survey of the religious edifices hi 
 India.] See a Paper by Capt. Mackenzie and Mr. Harington 
 in the 6th Vol. of Asiatic Researches, of a temple near Cali- 
 ture. This temple exhibits part of a very ancient edifice built 
 entirely in the Hindu style, and decorated with sculptural fi¬ 
 gures of the Divinities of the Brahmens; and upon this edifice 
 a structure, comparatively modern, has been raised in a style of 
 architecture totally different, and surrounded with emblematical 
 representations of Buddha, 
 
 P. 190 . 1.20. [The sect of Vishnu.] The sect of Vishnu 
 appears to have joined in the phallic worship, with the sect of 
 Siva, until the latter introduced the worship of Qali^ and the 
 sanguinary rites that attended it. 
 
 X 2 
 
324 
 
 P. 1^5. 1. 3. [The mystic word Oa/.] The three mysterious 
 words of, Koyf, O/x, which were used at the»conclusion 
 of the mysteries of Eleusis, have long baffled all attempts at 
 explanarion. They are interpreted by Le Clerc to signify 
 “ Watch and abstain from evil.” These words are now found 
 to be pure Sa/iscrit, and are used at this day, by Brahmms at 
 the conclusion of their religious ceremonies. The significancy 
 of their connection, will not however, even now, appear very 
 clear. They are thus written in the language of the Gods, as 
 the Hindus call rhe Sanscrit language: Canscha^ Ow, Pachsa. 
 Canscha signifies the object of our most ardent wishes : Orn is 
 the famous monysyllable used at the beginning and conclusion 
 of a prayer : Pachsa exactly answers to the obsolete Latin word 
 vix; it signifies change, course, place, fortune. It is used 
 particularly after pouring water in honor of the Gods and 
 Paris, 
 
 P. 228 . 1. 22 . [The rejnarlcable configuration of their hands,"] 
 The same instruments which an Indian employs to make a 
 piece of cambric, would, under the rigid fingers of an Euro¬ 
 pean, scarcely produce a piece of canvas.— Orme, 
 
 P. 230. 1. 3 . [In those occupaiions which require perseverance 
 without exertion,] It is common to see the accounts of a huck¬ 
 ster in his stall, who does not exchange the value of two rupees 
 in a day, as voluminous as the books of a considerable merchant 
 in Europe.—The peculiar patience of the Gentoos in Bengal, 
 their affection to business, and the cheapness of all produc. 
 tions, cither of commerce or necessity, had concurred to ren¬ 
 der the details of the revenue, the most minute, voluminous 
 and complicated accounts, which exist in the universe; inso- 
 • much that the Emperor lehangire (although the Mohammedans 
 had been sovereigns of the country for three centuries) says in 
 his note book, that the application of ten years was requisite to 
 obtain a competent knowledge of them.— Orme, 
 
 ^ P. 254. 1.10. [lye shall hear Mdecenas.] Gibbon, misled 
 by his admiration of the tolerant spirit of Paganism, seems to 
 think that Dion Cassius, from whom this passage is quoted, 
 has put these sentiments into the mouth of Msecenas, to whose 
 character they are by no means accordant. But Suetonius in¬ 
 forms us, that Augustus enacted a law founded on this very 
 principle. Sanxit ut priusqaam consuleret quisque, thure ac 
 mero supplicaret, apud aram ejas Dei in cujus templo coiretur. 
 —Sueton. Vit Augus, c. 35. 
 
325 
 
 P. 282. I, 2f). [^gained at first hy ^mdue compliances . - 
 
 Urbano Cerri, in his account of the Catholic Religion, men¬ 
 tions a Jesuit named Rohertus de Nobili, who taught that every 
 one should remain in his own caste, and by this policy made 
 many converts. He also proposed to erect a seminary of Chris¬ 
 tian Bralmiens. But the See of Rome disapproved his design, 
 and defeated his labors. 
 
 P. 305. 1. 6. [Fits opinion on the subject of Indian C07iversion.~\ 
 We may assure ourselves that neither Mussulmans, or Hindus, 
 will ever be converted by any mission from the Church of 
 Rome, or from any other church; and the only human mode 
 perhaps, of causing so great a revolution, will be to translate, 
 into Sajiscrit and Persia7i, such chapters of the Prophets, par¬ 
 ticularly of Isaiah, as are indisputably evangelical, together 
 with one of the Gospels, and a plain prefaratory discourse, 
 containing full evidence of the very distant ages, in which the 
 predictions themselves, and the history of the divine person 
 predicted, were severally made*public: and then quietly to 
 disperse the work among the well-educated natives ; with 
 whom, if in due time it failed of producing very salutary fruit 
 by its natural influence, we could only lament more than ever 
 the strength of prejudice, and the weakness of unassisted rea- 
 sop.—Sir W, Jones on the Gods of Greece, Italy, and India, 
 
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