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The soul whic;^ has fol- lowed the immortals in the best manner, or has seen most of the nature of things, is ordered t(^animate a philosopher. Pla'lo In Ph^edr. - . P. 12. 1. 20. [_Tfieir total abhorrence from idolatry,'] Both- Porphyry and Strabo mention the metempsychosis, and-the pe- jjances of the Brachmanes ; but concerning their idolatroii^ ■worship, those writers of antiquity are entirely "silent ; Eu- seSius pjipressly state* that they worship no images. x'^^ia^Ej xa> m)).mf kte ^onvsviyy (jte |ovc ci^uxt, £useb. Prsep Evang, J^.6. C. 10. 312 '•■' 1*. 14. 1. Q. [the tradition which relatm^thal his pious labors ^ were exteMed to [ndiaj] After the third century of the Chris- ' tian aera, so universally was it aoknowledged th^ St. Thomas liad visited India, and preached the Gospel there, that the femous Manes, who gave himself put for a second Messiah,, ind chose his own Aposjjes, sent out one of them to India, named Thomas, in order that he might be confounded with theilsciple of'our Lord. 2.. 14. I. 14. [has been placedby subsequent researchtl Some ■writers, and particularly La Croze, have altogether rejefted th^agpount ofltheApcistl© 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 hiar- 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 agS of the Church." The Saint Thqme Christians, who do not belong to the church of Rome, have been stated to be 7(\fit SO,(XX), and the Syrian Chris- tian^ in communion with that church at 90,000. P. 17. !• 10. [opened a new direction to Asiatic cominerce.']—. The following is a description of the commerce, and the chan- nels through which it flowed, 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 world, were ,.brp}ightto Europe with great charge, and immense "trouble. — : The merchandise of the clove of Malucca, the, mace and nut- ^raeg of Banda, the sandalwood of Timor, the camphor 'of BorneD,, the gold and silver; of Lucohia, the sfrices, drugs, 'dyes, and pertumes, and all the various riches of China, Java, Siam, and the adjacent kingdoms, centered inthe city of -Ma- Uca in the Golden Chersoncsus. Hither.all the traders <^ tlie 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, jCambaya,, and Aden were enriched, nor was Malaca the only -source of their wealth. The western jcegions of Asia ha4 full possession of the commerce of the rubies of Pegu, the siSs 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 distributed in caravans to Armenia, Trebisond,, Tartary, Aleppo, Damascus, and the port of Barut, in the Mediterrane^fc. 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 Alexandria ; 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. J,6. [the jealousies and dissensions. '\ A king of Persia, asked a Portuguese captain, how many of the Indian viceroys had been beheaded by the kings of Portugal. *N6ne," replied the officer." "Then," returned the Per- sian, " you will not long, remain masters of India." ' P. 24. 1. 10. [under the title of Vidas.] The writings of the highest authority among the Brahmins are the Vedas, a word signifying- in the Sajiscrit, knowledge. These writings are believed to have been revealed immediately from Heaven to Brahmi, but to haVe been coUedied and arranged i^i their present order by a sage, who thence obtained the name of •Vyasa, that is, the compiler. He is said to have distribated them into foiir parts, which are entitled -Mch, Yajush,- S^man and Afharvand. The first of the Fidas, is called the Rigveda. It principally ponsists of prayers, which for the mos-t 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 Fida is distinguished by the title of the Yajur veda, and is divided into two parts, the White Yajur veda, and the Black Yajur peda. They principally treat of oblations and other religious ceremonies, such as fests, fes- tivals, purifications, and. penances. The third Feda^k the ' Samateda. This book treats of moral and^eligious duties, and a peculiar degree of holiness is attached to it by the followers oi Brahma; the derivation of its name indicating its efficacy in removing sin. The fourth Feda is ^he Afharva^veda, con- taining the whole science of theology ahd 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- tiion : but Mr. Colebrooke has shewn, that the true reason why the three first f^Sdas.are often mentioned without any no- tice of the fourth, may be discovered in their different use and purport. Tlie 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 Ffdas," say the Hindus, " are in truth " infinite ; but they were coUefted by Pyasa into their pre- " sent nurpber and ord^r." A copy of the four Vedas hgs been obtained by Colonel Poller, and has been deposited by him in the British Museum. P. 35. 1. 2. [the writings of heretical sects.'] " I have met, *' with such quotations in the books of the/ajniw, unattended by " any indication of their doubting the genuineness of the origi- "nal, though, they do notreceive it? doftrines, nor acknowledge " its cogency. I owe this to Mr. Speke among pther fragments " coUefted by the late Captain Hoare, and purchased at the " sale of that gentleman's library." — Colebrooke .0n the Ve'dof. Asiat. Res. vol. S. P. 25. 1. 6. [the Puranas.] The Puranas are eighteen in number, derive^ from a word signi^ing in the Sanscrit lan- guage, ancient. ^ The Brahme'm define a Purana to he " a " p6em treating of five subjefls ; primary creation or creation *' of matter in the abstrad ; secondary creation, or the pro- " duftion of the subordinate beings, both spiritual and mate- *'rial; chronological account of Sieir grand periods of time, " called Manwantaris; genealogical rise of particular families, " especially those who have reigned in, India ; and lastly, his- " tory of the lives of particular families." P. 25. I. 7- ['Ae otf^^ sacred writings.'] Among these may be reckoned the Institutes oi Menu, a colleftion. of sentences, comprehending the principles of Hindu law, Thfse institu-* tions are of divine force: and the 'work is thought by Sir W. Jones to have been compiled above thirteen eentilriei before the Christian asra. The Gita is also a metaphysical treatise of great value, forming an episode to thq epic poem, called the Mahg^arut, 315 P. 26. 1. 2. [by 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 Fedas, that of the Manava Dherma Sastra, and that of the Purdnas, differ in pretty exaft proportion, to the Latin of Numa, that of Ap- pius, and that of Cicero, or of Lucretius, where he has not af- fedted an obsolete style. He therefore assumes that ttie several changes took place in times very nearly proportional ; that the Fedas must hav© been written 3P0 years before the Insti- tutes of Menu, and those Institutes 300 years before the Purdnas. iP. 45. 1. 17> [however they might differ in calculations con- cerning thetime,'] As the earth is not a perfcft 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-^i years; according to Which all the stars seem to perform their revolution in the space of 25,030 years : after which, they return to exaSIy 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 5* seconds in a year.' From this motion they have evidently formed many of their calculations. They have a cycle, or peripd of 60 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, ac^rding to Mr.