English
" It should be our confident eypeftation, that the time approaches when the Son of God will exalt his banner the cross, and behold all nations bow before it ! The ark of the covenant does it homage ; the crescent of Mohammed falls prostrate ; the statues of Paganism bow their heads and crumble into dust. Under every part of Heaven the incense of grateful adoration ascends to the throne of divine grdce unclouded by superstition and error, and " a pure biFerihg" is then offered on the altar of Him, who shall command " a willing people in the day of his power," the pure offering of sincere & unreserved obedience, that offering which constitutes the nature of our spiritual sacrifice, of that sacrifice which is declared to be our only " reasonable service.' Da DISCOURSE II. ON THE CHRONOLOGICAL SYSTEM OF THE BRAHMINS, IN ITS CONNECTION WITH THE SACRED CHRONOLOGY. Early Proficiency in Astronomical Science — Antiquity ofNatioiis, or of the World not ' determinable hy the gradual Progression of Knowledge — The Brahminical Chronology shewn to be of modern Invention — External Evidence — Intei'nal Evidence' — Origin of , the Zodiacal Signs— Astronomy not an infal- lible Criterion when applied to Chronology, DISCOURSE II. ON THE CHBONOLOGICAL SYSTEM OF THE BKAHMlNS, IN ITS CONNECTION WITH THE SACRED CHRONOIJOGY. . Job, c. 38. y, 31, 32,33, Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his seasons, or canst thou guide ArSlurus with his sons ? Knowest thou the ordinances of Heaven, canst thou set the dominidn thereof in the earth ? W HEN man was first formed after the image of God, to him was granted the distinguishing prerogative of elevating his views towards those regions, which have been emphatically styled the residence of the Deity ; not;that the pireseilte'of the Supreme Being is citoimscribed : or 'confined to any place, but that the Heavens more conspi- cuously display the impalpaibk splendor of the divine majesty, and the" iniijiteask^^^wf' creative powers iol i.rrniT'wa ij Kfn'sono d4 Xhe contemplation of the heavenly bodies has therefore constituted both the delight and the employment of mankind from the' earliest times j nor can the period be pointed out, when their operations were either unknown or disregarded. Whatever difference of opinion maybe entertain- ed concerning the precise age of that dramatic poem the Book of Job ; yet universal consent has determined it to be a produftion of high antiquity j and in the passage now selefted, out of many pthersj there are evident traces of the proficiency which, then obtained in a^t^o^onqical speculations. Objefits must have become generally familiar, be- fore Poetry could have seized and appropriated them to herself: for without.^ a long revolution in the mind, scientific images cannot acquire that polish, which renders them capable of adding bril- liancy to language, and that duftility, by which . they readily yield to the powers of the imagination. In the countries of the Eastj where the serenity of the climate is peculiarly favourable . to :the observation of the celestial luminaries, we might naturally expeft to discover an early attenticMi to their magnitude and their motions, It was by their periodical revolutions indeed, that the neces- sary concerns of human life were formerly ,regu- 41 feted. The constellations were not only in aftier- times rendered subservient ;to the purposes of a blind and trembling, superstition j they were not only regarded with emotions of fear or transport, as they were supposed to bear an aspefil malignant or auspicious to the interests of man ; but they were originally instrumental to more useful and more noble ends : they direfted the course of agricultufal labours and of maritime adventure. Astronomy instead of being the offspring of soli- tude, leisure and contemplation," may be termed more properly the child of necessity and of nature. The simple occupations of pastoral life, nqt less than the uninterrupted repose of philosophical abstraftioh, the plains of Chaldaea, as well as the observatories of Egypt, were favourable to its cultivation. From this intimate acquaintance with some of the most abstruse parts of mathematical science, which we ; know to have .obtained in a period so remote^ a popular objeftibn has been raised against the very limited " duration, which the Mosaic history assigns to the age of the world. These eminent acquisitions are thought to be inconsist- ent with society in its infant state : they must t C'fiBt 1ft science du repos, de la solitude et de la jouissance de loUmenije. Sailli bistoire derestronomie Micienne, p. 2, 42 have resulted from Ipng and diligent obsiervatioit, and from gradual improvements 6n former. dis- coveries. "Whenever we attempt to remove this difficulty, by replying that man^in his original state, as formed by his Creator, was alike distinguished by intelle£bual and corporeal excellence ; or, that the extended term of antediluvian existence vras singularly favourable to geometrical and astro^ nomical researches ; the solution however satisfac- tory, is derived from fa6ts, which our adversaries will Infuse to admit. We must therefore examine the validity of the objeftion itself, and of the principle on which it is founded. ,< And here, if we may be aUo\!ved to argiie from the history of those nations which are best known, we may be fully justified in the assertion, that no criterion is more fallacious in determining their antiquity, than any calculations which can be drawn from the gradual and successive improve- ments of ;science. Knowledge has never been known to increase according to s any fixed rule of -progression^ at any two given periods of equal duration. Even the finer arts, which are sup- posed to be inseparably connected with the progress of civilization and refinement, have been 43 cultivated with an astonishing degree oF success in very distant ages. Neither have they been perfe£ied by slow aiid measured advances ; but the efforts of some happy genius, or a coincidence of other fortunate .circumstances,; has generally given thetn an energetic and instantaneous growth. Sculpture and painting' were suddenly raised to excellence in Greece, by the taste of Praixiteles and Apelles ; arts, which thefr im- mediate predecessors found rude, and destitute of grace. Who can trace the infancy of epic poetry i In Homer we see it at once elevated to full maturity and vigor. * But the perfe£tion of the fine arts, and of many other branches of knowledge, if not demonstrative of the precise antiquity of any particular nation, may yet be considered as affording an indication of the existing state of society and manners. The intricate subtleties of- juridical distinction can have no place, unless where a complex system of property has been introduced. The artificial rules of eloquence would never have been formed, unless in a state of society, where the art of moving the passions had t)een found advantageous. In many of those branches of knowledge ■however, which depend on geometrical science. .44 even this Criterion fails. As the pfinci|)les on which they are founded are immutable, there is less room for improvement. More than any others, they appear to be the effefts of intuitive perceptipn ; and sublime as they are, our experi- ence may convince us, that the greatest eminence has been attained in them, by minds, which had received no illumination from the knowledge of others, and which in other respe£l;s, were rude and uncultivated. Neither can we allege any cause why the most profound discoveries should be made at one time, more than at another. We can assign no reason why the law of gravitation might not have been discovered by Archimedes, as well as by Newton ; though we can assign a reason why the pleadings of Isaeus,or the orations of Demosthenes, could not have been composed, but in an acute and.'enlightened age. If indeed the instruftion, which the Deity has afforded: to man, were a matter of probable proof, and not of certain observation, it would, in mariy instances, be reje£ted as incredible. That the general laws of matter, and that the operations of the heavenly bodies, should be so much better known, than many otlier subje£ts with which human life seems more nearly concerned ; that we should be able to upfold the secrets of the- 45 skies, while tfeie most impenetrable veil covers the whole. process of vegetation, is a fa£t, which, although we maybe unable to resolve it, is too evident to admit of controversy, and may be sufficient to shew, how little we are qualified to estimate the nature and the extent of the intel- leftual powers. ' . , ' ' ' Admitting then, from what experience has taught concerning the mental faculties, that this eafjy proficiency, in geometrical science may be easily reconciled, j we shall find without surpirize, that, among the < various, celestial phsenomena, whjch engaged attention, the slow revolution by which the fixed stars coniplete their circuit, forms' a discovery in the ancient history of astronomy. This motion was clearly ascertained by the oldest observers of the heavens, however they might differ from their successors in their computations concerning the.time in whidi this revolution was performed, or wha,teYer might be the cause of that difference. This presumed sera, as it constituted the basis on which raanyof the eastern nations have founded their prejtensions ,to antiquity, has also given rise to a number of religious dogmata, resulting from an allegorical interpretation of the fa£t.