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the vices and corrup- tions qf the idolatrous kuigdoms around them: with no less freedom; they predi6i the desolation of Jerusalem, and' the subjugation of its inhabi- tants to a foreigri yoke, than they threaten d 6- struftion to the :piower of Babylon, or dissipation to the wealth of Tyre. Far from describing the perpe'tuitjr of the Jewish law, they announce its future abolitipn : far from excluding a:ny poVtion of mainkind, from a participation in the divine favor,: they anticipate with 'rapture, the period when that favor shall be impartlially and universal- ;ly displayed ; when the operations of grace shall be commensurate with the economy of nature j and when even the apparent inequality in the distribution of natural blessings, shall be corre£led by a uniform dispensation of religiousknowledge, of the terras of acceptance, and. of the hoples of .reward, ' / ■ . •'.■!. The accomplishment of predi£tions like these presents a state, alike suited to the wants of raan, a:^ congenial, with the .attributes of a wise and benevolent Creator ; and vve cannot sometimes forbear to wojider at the infatuation of that people, who. could wrest them iiito pledges of temporal aggrandjisement. , Nor can we repress pur. sur- prize, that. while: they literally applied to themr . selves; those magnificent promises, which describe , the, ifuture dom^ipp of Zion, they shpuld h^vp /forgotten, that all her, spiritual subjeflswere to be admitted to an enjoyment ipf the same privileges j B 3 ' 6 and that while they thus exulted in the p*ospe£l of universal empire, they should have obstm£led the diffusion of religious truth. When therefore the professors of the Christian faith refer those passages of the Jewish prophets to the niission 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 rouat acknowledge that the distinguishing mark of the dispensation contained in the Gospel, is not to withhold, but to communicate instru£lioni 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\xclusive right to the title of a divine revelation : .and though avowedly to- lerant of error, never confounds the distin6!tions between error and triith, Contrary to the spirit of other religious systerns, which insist on mutual candour, only because they are deformed by mu- tual imperfe£lions ; Christianity can generously grant that indulgence^, which she needs nof to ask; but, while she yields, and cheerfully yield^ 7 to ignorance ahd infiftnityj her fprbp^^rance is disgra,ced by no evasive comproi3cuse,.'no pusilla- nimous concession. If Paganisnj, assuming wfhat is falsely called liberailitypf. sentiroe^^t, b^i what .is, in reality, ;i,pth.ing more th^n laxity pfigfjiqci-; pie, can boast of inculcating tbe dangerously po.pujgyf maxim, that every mode of faith is equal- ly ilij^ifferent and acceptable t^o theD.eityj'that " the Supreme Being is sometimes epiployed "■ whh the attendant on the mosque in counting' *' the sacred fceadis, and sometimes at the temple *' in the adoration of idols, the intimate of the " Mpssulmanj, mid t^Jfi. friend of the Indian, ^the " companion of the Qhristian, and the confidant " of tl^e Jewj'" evangelical : morality dilates the less accommodating, but more philosophical aphorism, that " God is a spirit, and they who " worship him, must worship him in spirit and " Ifi truth." Although Prophecy contemplating, froon the Ghristiajn.Pisgah that: delightful har- ijionyi which shall ..hereafter prevail throu,ghout universal nature, iby a sublime .figure represents it as extending even to :the animal world, and causing the wolf to lie down with the lambj. this cannot be understood to prefigure a fqrced as- sociation' of physical antipathies, a monstrous fPrelimfnary Ducour^ of the Brabmans to the Code of G^qtoo I#wii ' ■ --^ ' '- ' ' . p! Vltb. eaition, lV?& -■ •' ■ ' b4 alliance between timid innocence aiid i&Vage ferocity. A previous' change must be efFefted in those passionsj which now engender hatred, discord, and contention, before that general tranquillity \cah take place,"which these dlsposi-; tions must- necessarily prev€nti> Every Valley; iriust be exalted^ and every inbuntain and hilL must be linage lovf, the aberrations of' the under- standing, and the obliquities of the will', must be reftified, before "truth shall 'flourish in the earthi and righteousness descend from heaven." ;> lAgainst this claim of universal extension how- ever j 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 falssi as a matter of faft. ^ While some have strenuously denied this apti- tude in Christianity , tor assimilate every age and country to! itself, and its efficacy in counterafling. the effefts of natural temperament, of climate, and df education; others have . adduced its; present very limited and Ipartial establishment, as a proof, that thispreiensio'nmnsfcbelfoundedona strained interpretation qf allegorical passages, jather than on any solid conclusions, dtawn from reason and experience. Although such a 'persuasion may. 9 it is thoughti "be harmlessly indulged, when per- mitted to. vent itself in the deep, but quiet aspirations of devotional abstra£tion ; 'yet when sufficiently powerful to operate on practice, and to animatfe'exertion, being founded on err6*, it ^ must, Jike every other error produce evils, pro- portioned to its magnitude; An exclusive attach- ment to a particular mode of faith, in a state of quiescefice generates the overweening reserve of the anchorite ; but stinjijlated into a£tioni and armed with authority, kindles the boisterous zeal; and Sanguinary fury, of the Bigot; 'These objeftions, which ar'e always eagerly espoused by unbelievers, 'who are in the habit of classing the Christian Religion with the various delusions, which hdve 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* irild empires of vast extent and grarHfe'ur, inhabited by an immense population^ its conquer-^ ers have always preserved and still contiriue to preserve, their superiority; rather by the expedients f pblitica;} wisddm, than by the force of arms. But if its inhabitants iriust yield' the palm of Jnte'Hedtual strength, in many of the arts of refine- nlent they have mai?ftained'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- • rioffl|§ m,anners of Asiatic climates. On subjects conriediiieid with legislation and government, the liberal spirit of European policy has often been contra£led, and subdued, by the refinements of Eastern d,espol;ism. Ii:i matters of religious belief, which must always hg-ye a powerful influence on the moral character, this result has been still more conspicuous; and the pure and simple faith of the western world, has been too frequently weakened and confounded by the imposing dogmata of oriental superstition. , The various forms of religion predominant in 4he east have also acquired a higher degree of importance, and occupied a greater share of at- tention, frojn their connexion with the history andfcicience of a people, who^e interests-are so ♦Intimately blepded with thpse of \h& British em" pire ; a people, vfho while they have for ^ series of ages borne with unresisting apathy tl\e yoke of servitude, uqdpr so many different masters, have stubbornly repelled ^ny attempted innova- tion, and every imposed restri£lion, on those peculiar tenets which they have so long revered. 11 That the; warlike tribes, of Arabia and Tartary, who have sent out from their bosom, conquerors to'invade, to subdue, or to convert the rest of the earth, should have retained vestiges of their ancient c:u?toms and traditions, might be reason- ably expefted ; bu,t that th,e peaceful natives of Hindoostan,, ynder the mast sanguinary peisecu- tions, as well as under the milder influence of persua^on, should have preserved the prpminent features of their ancient chaVafiter pnworn by this " attrition, is a fa£t,,whigh while it causes admira- tion, mu§t 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, fonthe earliest information respefiting the manners of its inhabitants. "W^hatever defe£ts niay be found in the Grecian historians, >vithc respe£t to theii*~ geographical knowledge, dfifejSs, arising both from their diffi- culty in obtaining local information, and from the strufliure of their language, which caused them to rejeQ: many fcreign terms, as barbarous and .dissonant ; yet to their faithful accuracy in the delineation of manners, the experience ftnd obser- vation of modern times, have afforded abundant and honourable' testimony. 12 In those authors who have recdrded the afitions 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 ; we recognize many of those distindHve iflarks, which, at this daycare attached to the followers of the religion of Brahma. We are also informed that.