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' If the 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 anj of " those virtues which aggrandize a people." These are, indeed, what their sculptured representations declare therry 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 praftical evil. The honors of-deifical- 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 periods they were offered by gpveling adulation to impotent grandeur. When the ad- vocates for idolatrous worship recommend it to proteftion a;id favor, as powerfully calling forth emulation j and when, in support of their opinion, they mentibii Alexander, who was animated to * Orme. 203 prosecute his expeditions, by a desire of rivalling Herculesv and Bacchus, whom he at length pretended to have excelled ; we maj 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 effefts, which the Brahminical representations of the Supreine Being, are calcu- lated to produce on the, moral chara£ter. These effefts may be couhterafted 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. AVe are now to consider the influence of the Brahminical representations of the Divinity^ in another point of view ; in their tendency to prq- mote the rational happiness, and to gratify the natural desires of man. 204 . That happiness cannot possibly be, separated froni refilitude of conduft, and that it is ihcon- 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 unsatisfafitory, and totally different from that pure felicity, vvhich has beea rightly termed " the siin^hine of the mind." ' But even here, the representatiops which the Brahminical system give of the Deity, form a pic- ture the most gloomy and repulsive. The popular religion of Hihdoostan is not, like that of Greece, captivating though corrupt, in which taste dis- playfid.all its resources, and pleasure all its charms. It is neither calculated to excite tumultuous mirth, nor to promote temperate enjoyment j 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 ? 2a5 The same religion, which has generated a gross and licentious worship, which has given bfrth to all the disgusting enormities already mentioned, has been equally produftive of the most deliberate cru- elty, and ofthemostabjeft stiperstition. The same Divine Being, vi'ho is represented as delighting in all the impurities f sensual lustj delights also in the blood of human viftims. Though the in- carnation of tiie humane Buddha was expressly intended, to abolisb 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 viftims, and the voluntary oblatitn of , enthusiastic devotees is still praftisedj and deemed rneritorious,. 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 ter^ninating an existence too long protrafted, and thus ensuring an indisputable title to the enjoyment of future, bliss. ' :i The do£trines of , the immortality of the ;souL and of a future state, which, when pure "^nd unsophisticated, are equally adapted , to secure the general welfare of Society, and to promote 206 individual happiness, have, by the refinements of Brahminism, been rendered instrumental, both in repressing the exertions of th'e 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," yetj in that re-union of the human soub with the Divine ethereal sub- stance of the universe, which it is imagined wilt at length take pl^ce, 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 transmiyations, in order that it riiay be completely purified from tjie taints of evil, contra£led in this present life. Hence, while 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 recoUeftion 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 forms, and listening to ap7 sweet melpdyjari^e^jfroiQ somie f?ii[utrqmein]braf|ce of past joys, aji4<th^ traces of connefitioiis ia a former state of existence. ''^ This do£tri^ of tbe immortality -of the soul,. whicK bas thSi happiest tendency to mitigate the calamities of life, has, by a perversion in the Brahminical system, increased their in|enseness-. Since it,, pourtrays th©; universe as a cheerless prison, frqoi' which, the soul is continually strug- gling! to he free : it, not unfrequently, prompts a premature termination of ah existence, which can at the best be considered, only as a state of painful servitude.. " What xelish) can there be for enjoyment in this body, assailed by desire and wrath, by avarice and illusion, fear and sorrow, envy and. hate, iby absence from those whom we love, , and. by union withi those whom we dislike, by hunger and thirst,, by disease and emaciation, by growth and decline, by old age and death ?" Fromtbefafts which have been stated in this discussion, two iniiportant conclusions will arise. The first will shew the praftical tendency of a refined system of metaphysics, when it operates qn tibe religious sentiments of a whole people. ** Sacontala. '. Extraa from tbe Viiu. • I 208 By those who are inclined to view both the rt- ligion and charafter of the Hindoos, in a faV(Wr- able light, it is objeftedj &3 a want of candour,/ that the corruptionsj arising from vulgar supersti- tion, have been improperly stated as the genuine principles of their creed. But to this ive riiay re- ply, that the opinions and customs, stated in this Discourse, are the necessary result of their insti- tutions, and, sometimes^ in conformity to their positive and express injunftions. Popular religion can ,never coiisist in abstraft ideas ; it must have a body. It has been truly observed, that the Brah- minical tenets concerning the Deity, perfeftly coincide with those of the Stoical school ; and if an accurate definition Were given of Brahminisra, it might be described, as a religion, in which the subtile spirit, which characterized the doftrines of the porch, has animated the great mass of vulgar superstition. But We may here perceive, 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 j 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 209 harshly tp condemn., : But when these ideas are embodied, and asspme 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~fa£ls, which have now been laid down, will also direft to another and different conclusion. They ^ill coniribute 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 son>e measure, taking the complexion of their national character 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 religidus impressions stimulates their natural indolence, displaying instances of self- denial, of laborious andpainful exertion, which alpiost exceed belief.