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dwarf,,thou purifier of men with the water (iof Ganga) spring- ing from thy feet, O. Cesava,- assumfiig the form of 3' dwarf. Be victorious, O lieri. Lord of the Universe. VI. Thou' bathest inpure water, consisting of the blood' of Cshatriyds the World, \i'hose offences are removed, and who are relieved from the pain of other births^ O Cesava, assuming the form of Farasu Rama, Be viflorious, O Heri, 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 pf com- bat, the damon with ten heads, O Cesava, assuming the form of Raina^han'dra. Be victorious, O Heri, Lord of the Uni- .verse. 320 . VIII. Thou wearest on thy bright body a mantle shining like a blue cloud, or like the water of Yamana tripping towards . thee through feaf of thy furrowing ploughshare, O Cesava, as- suming the form of Crishnd. Be viftorious, O Heri, Lord of the Universe. ' ' IX. Thou blamest (Oh 1 wonderful power!) the whole Veda, when thou Seest (O kind-hearted !) the slaughter of cat-.. • tie prescribed for sacrifice, O Cesava, assuming the body of Buddha. Be viftorious, 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 Calci. Be vidtorious, O Heri, Lord of the Universe. P. 90. 1. 22. \particularly those of India and ChinaJ} De diluvio multa est apud Sinicos scriptores mcntio, de illius origine causaque, nulla.- lUud pro certb compertum, Sinensem de diluvio historiam non multum a Noetico ' abesse, quippe quater mille circiter annos vulgarem Ghristi epocham pra- greditur, Martinii Hist. Sinica, p. 12. P. 92. 1.21. [To pursue the subject farther. 1 Among many passages of the Sanscrit records which refer to the deluge,- and to other circumstances related in the Mosaical history, may be mentioned the following extradl from the Vidas. " But what " are they ? Others yet greater, Gandawas, Asuras, Racshasa^ " companies of spirits,, Pisachas, Urayas, and Grdhas have we " seen been destroyed. But what are they ? Others' greater " still have been changed ; vast rivers dried ; mountains torrt " 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.16, p. 420, 4to. ed. P. 99. ' 1. 20w [Both Jrrian and Strabo asseft.J 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 ineorporation 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 sijbjeftSiscusi' ed. ' The argument will turn on two.points,; first, whetiier, 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 ths r spurious Gospels, or whether, the spurious Gospels, may have adopted the fables current among tlic Hit^ius,- — - It may, I thi^k, safely be denied, that, the Bhagavat Purdna has bcen.ijjterpolated, with passages from either, the genuine or the spurious Gospels. The Puranas may indeed have beea interpolated ; but not from this source. That the birth-place of Crishjia was fixed at Mathura long before the Christian sera, has been observed above ; norjwill it invalidate tlie force of this argument, that the Gospel of the Infancy records Ma^ iarea, near Hierapolis, in Egypt, to have been the place xyhere 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 accpunt of the Gospel of the Infancy be worthy of belief or not, is foreign to the question. The express words of ^rrian, who wrote so long before the birth of Christ, decidedly prove, that, the birth-place of CV;.s&^a could not have . b^en fixed at Methura, frpin any similarity between that word and Matarea^ With respefl; to the circumstance of Crishnc^^ trampling on the serpent, . it is well known, that the sculpture4li£ure in the . cavern of Elephanta representing this fadt, is far older than ,thc Christian aera j whether this proceeded from tradition, or from any other source, it^is not material to enquire, j^s, for; the whole account of Crishtia's birth ; the warning which was given to his fat:hec Cahsa, that his; son should be\ his destroyer; the alarm •wijich the father felt in consequence of thi| intelligence ; the resolution wljich he formed ^o, destroy the child as soon as born } the manner in which the infant was.preserved, by being entrusted to the care, of a herdsman : all tliese circumstances, so far from proving that the Bhagavat Pur^nd has been . inter- polated lyith passages from the spurious or the genuine Gospels, are^ yitha little variation,, )the same as the bistory of Cyrus re- Jated; in ..Herodotus. Tb^se circumstances clearly shew, that the history pf India has b^sn mixed with that pf Persia,^ With jresped^ to the second question,; in what, manner thp resemb- lance has happened between, the legends of t^e Hinfiif^ as given byBaldaB,us,,and thespuripa^Gosppls, a difference 'of opinion will probably arise. This resemblance is undpubtedly too ex- 322 aft to be acddental. It is not determined, who was the author of the Gospel of the Infancy, which ha^ been sometimes as- signed to Maries. But as Ii'ensBu^j 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 t>{ Manes, was com- pounded out of the Zoroastrian and Magian superstitions, to- getljer with certain perverted doctrines of Christianity. He ptropagatcd 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 fobles belonging to the Apollo of the Pagan world, and which could only relate to him, and have applied them to tlie author of the Christian Religion. I have al'ways 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 charafterises the latter, affords one of the strongest proofs not only of their veracity, but of their inspiration. ' - P. 122. Note, [the Dabisthn.] The Dahistan is a lite- rary curiosity of great value. " It has," says Sir W. Jones, ' thrown such light on the ancient history of Irani and of the *' human race, as I had ever despaired of obtaining;" The author himself, in {lis Preface, gives the following concise and simple account of it. " This book comprehends some- " what of the learning, philosophy, and religious opinl- " nions of divers ancient societies of men. I have everywhere " endeavoured t6 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^ias, to deal either in exaggeration or detrac- " lion." The Dabistan is divided into 12 chapters, or sec- tions. Cap. i, Of the Religion of the Parsigt. Cap, 3, Of 323 the Hindu Religion. Cap. 3, Of the Religion of the Tibetti- am. Cap. 4, Of the Jewish Religion. Cap. 5, Of the Chris- tian Religion. Cap. 6, Of the Mohammedan Religion. Cap. 7, Of the Sect called Jaifj'Aj/a/i. Cap. .8, Of the [/nj/an'a?o. Cap. 9, Of the Sect called Roshenians. Cap. 10, Of the Divine!. Cap. J 1, Of. the Philosophers. Cap. 12, Of the Susis, Concerning the life of its author, Mohsan, but distin- fuished by the assumed surname of Fani, or Perishable, we ave but few.accounts. ' It is understood that he was of the sect of the Siisis. His deatli is placed in the year of the Hejira loai. P. 134. 1. 6. \That the Brdhminical system,"] The testimony of all .the Gfreek writers is decidedly in favor of the priority of the religion of the Vedas-, 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 Brahfmns. Strabo asserts (lib. 15) that there were two classes of philosophers or priests, the Brachmanes and the Germanes; but that the Brach- manes were holden ip 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, AitIoh h rmmt to ysvof, oi )u£v Xci^HatM oUiTtuv, 01 Ss BpaJ£;u.avai KsXs^pEVOt, aeu tm ^^nMm oi A^^a.• Jio( 7rjO(7ayo{Euojuiw, sti sroAsif oixbotv, bte sreyas tp^atwy, ^B^gm h (tju^iEyvvvrai fXoiot;, neu Hjo$;va o-iTUvTai, xosi vau^ t(; X^?