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4 136 and some still remained in their original settle- ments in Chaldffia, Egypt therefore we might expeft to find the source; of knowledge i for^ the westerrii and India, for theeast^rn parts of the globe. The ifew general traditions, which they had received, from thfiir ancestors, it is reasonable to imagine, would find a place, in the religious systems of ^11. , These traditions would remaia unaltfired, chiefly in countries like Indiajinsulated from (the rest of the world by continued ' and al* most impregnable barriers. iFtom the unrestraiii- ed intej-course, which so long subsisted between Ifidia and Egypt, itis probable, that a communis- cation might hayp taken place, on subjefts.'of religiori and science j that we have thestrringe^ je^spn, to conclude that large bodies of Offindoos have s&ttled themselves in E^ypi:; but that.th'ere is no reason to imagine, that the /Brahminical system was transported, at a recent periodj from Egypt into India, , ;q -liari .! l^hisr opinion jsinot less ■ reconcileablev with prob^bili^yi than with the express language of Scripture. "W^hatever thei most ancient profane historians relate; conceriMng the. early civilization, ^nd high att^inmppts of the-^ncient Indians,^.no less than of the Egyptian nation, is confirmed Isy various passages of the s^cre^' volun^p. '^Th? 137 description whtdhr is given of the wisest'of men is^ that": his ^vrisdoni'excelled all the wisdomof 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 3rahmins, 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 might indeed be gratifying 'to the . ctirious, to pursue the followers of Brahmji, to trace their religion, their language, and their sciences, through the vast range, of country, which they havei pervadedj in different degrees, and under various .modifications. ^.It might be particularly interesting : to discover the, iBrahminical religion prevailing in itji full vigOB throughout the British isles, to penetrate the recesses of the Druidical groves, to draw„their mysterious cereSionies to light, anditQ follow them- upl td the fountain, from which' they were originally ddcived. ' But such ' 3,,jdiscussioin w-ould ; bear but; a remote applLqatiop to.ithe design ofj {these idiscom^es, and the, proof? would be less satisfa^oiyithan . those ■v^hicl\ havenow been <j^|^||edHiJ ll^ghtlie princjple;§,:op iW^hich- su,(fh an^sepqiiiJryiSTOaM be ^ inst^tnt^d, jnight b,^pjjii4i yet,.as'thd aigutpcatSj %Z8 Jartiheix defence, must becolleftedfroma'^riety of sources of different pretensions- to credibility; they might be controwerted'iii particular, instances. If the present discourse shall afford a specimen of >whaJE:raay be; eflfe£led: with better fabidifies, arid on a more enlarged plan, than cbuld possibly be , here adopted ; and : if : it shall i tend, to . rshew, that although so little respe£l has.been paid to the genealogies iof; the. sacred histoajy iby:many writCT5 of the present day, yet that a more, carefiil invpstigation would lead to a contrary judgment, itsdesign will be completely answeredi.' j;. .sojo-... ■ ' ./ ■ ■' ' '■^df ,no'- '■-■ ; Soe6£ observations will however be' ha^ardied on the labors of those, who have -Undertaken this arduous, task, which may serve tdidefendf theih from thoJse indiscriiriinaie and unmerited Censures, Jjy.whichitheyhave been attacked^' The time of that man woUld indeed be ,mis- , employed, i which "Was spent in atte^|)ting to :vindic&te those writers, who have devoted *heir lalents to -the elufcidation of the' symbols 'and ,cerfimoriies:of Pagan mythoiogyi fi^hi a propensity itoform groundless theorielsi and to dieduce arbi- trary and unsuppbrted conclusions'; a charge awhich has been sOmetiiries' urged with aidegriee .of swpeQty far beyond what the kol^tfil ddhainded. 13a ;5(nd ^ometiiflBS with isarcasm and ridicule to. ^hich no subje^ can be less appfofoiate. But if on the one hand it may be^ -admitted,' that this coridemflatiow has -not been ;entiretyf ilinfounded j yet, in many instances;, it has; been equally 0ftjust and ungenerous^ the resull of wilfiil perversion or 6f ignorance. ^Aigfti6Ms' arising frem etymological Analogies, from a cgm- pafison of archite£tural monuments, from an elucidation of hieroglyphical soUlpture, as they are of a distinfil and ' pebiiliar nature, so they require a pbculiar turn of ■ 'mind and peculiar studies to tindiei'stand them : such arguments the generality of readers are little qualified to com- prehend, and dtill less to appreciate, -They cer- tainty cannot fearry with them that conviftion which arises from demons^F^t-ion, neither will they admit 'of, thoise decorations arisitvg iiom imagery and fascinati&n of style, by wbidh many ether theories 'in philosophy^ 'equally absurd^ visionary, and impious, have eiaptivated the po- pular taste* If 'however gratuitotis assumption aihd'fafidiful theory 'are to be thus indiscriminately-and IfafsMy condettined ; the -charge mily'be Safely ^toifted on those' who have^ bada ' ^tHe rapst -forward tq y.tt allege.it. 6, If arbitrary and uasupported assertion: must be. .thus^seyerely. stigmatized, Bailli is far more obnoxious to censure than Bryant. If the,, one, amidst thati rich: variety of infermatioh which he has amassed, may have colle£ted some of; dubious; authority : if, in attempting to unravel the origin of ancient mythology, and the primitive religion of the iVmrooniap race, he may have fancifully^ explaineid , sqme hieroglyphics, and. wrested some fables fjgnj their obvious significa- tion ; the other \yill still more justly, deserve the> epithet of visionary, who has ascribed the origiH' of eastern: sciertfie and ^uperstitiqn to • the North, who has. placed: the^gardesjis of Hesperus aiid the, groves of Elysium in the dreary regions of Scythia, and> who ihas fixed the Ast spot of civilization ia a country uridefined by geographers, of which we know not the existence. If it be reprobated as an absurd chimera,] pr, a ridiculous legend^ even upon the authority . of all historical evidence, th^t the whole globe' was originally peopled from a particular spot, it^ is still more j. visionary to assert, in defiance of all historical evidence, that the countries of the East must have been peopled by northern tribes, merely be<^ause the -soiithera ■nations haye been unfit for conquest or fpr distant: expeditions ; when we know, that in the. earliest peripd's.of Asiatic history, all its invasions ;wet ^itota. the South'; \^^Hen melancholy ** ex!p6nence has evinced,' that not only the fabled toriqufests of Badchus,' SeiiiJramisj^and Sesostris, hut the conijVieSts; of ' the Arabians' under Mohammed, the most rapid, the most extensiv^i' and 'the; most calamitous, which the world ever saw, pointedly contradifil the assertion. If thefa€ts 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 an4 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 practical piety, that whatever degree of rtierit may be allowed to their different conjedlures, on their intentions there cdn exist no contrariety of opinion. No .hypothesis can be lightly esteem- ed, which has for its obje£t the confirmation of revealed truth j nor can the philosophy of that jpian ever be useless, which brings him nearer to Godj which either strengthens his faith, or animates his piety. It has for its reward what is far more valuable than " the praise of men ;" that reward which shall remain when " tongues shall cease and knowledge shall vanish away;" which indeed can only receive its full accora^ 142 plishment when oijr present Hmitfj^ ifittainments shaU be ripeAed intp pe^rfp^ion, when hppe shall l)e. recompensed by enjoyment, and when our capacities shall be fitted for thei comprehei^siott o;f infinite truth. DISCOURSE V. ON THE CORRESPONDENCE OP THE BKAHMINICAL 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 discernable iA the Brahminical system-^The Unity. of God — The^Blil of Man— 'The Custom of sacrificial oblations ^-The oblation of a Divine Personage for the sins of mankind— Recapitulation. DISCOURSE V. ON THE COEEESPONBENCE OF THE BEAHMINICA.L SYSTEM, WITH THE PRIMEVAL EELIGION OF MANKIND. .Psalm 147, v. 19, 20. He sheweth his ways unto Jacob, his statutes and his prdinances unto Israel i he hath not dealt so with any nation, neither have the heathen knoioledge of his laws. It was the dbjeQ: of the preceding discoufse to point out the manner in which the principal nations, connefted with the Indian race, separated from their parent stock ; 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 cbuld be adduced to prove, that any two remote and independent nations were derived frbm' a com- mon origin, wer6 shewn to be reducible undeir three distinfl: classes ; first, similarity in ' the ■ formation of the human body ; secondly, simila-^ rity in the stru£lure of language 5 and lastly, that which furnishes tjie most incontrovertible proofj ]40 similarity in religious opinions, and in those civil institutions which owe their existence to religious san£tions.