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61 the zodiac was inventedi it Was at first nothing more than a rural calendar^; and we might reason- ably expefit to discover, in its nomenclature, a de- scription of the successive phjenomena of the year, and a catalogue of the agricultural labors prac- ticed where the. invention originated. It mu5t have been the corruption of succeeding ages, which made astronomical speculations the basis of a compTicat6d mythology, embodied the celes- tial luminaries, and converted the elements into divinities. To what nation must be attributed the honor of this invention, authorities will not enable us to decide ; or rather the testimony of the wrlteife of antiquity Is so equally balanced; that it is un- . certain whfch is entitled to the preference. Pliny asserts, th-at the invention of astrOndmy was ascribed by some to the Chaldseans, and by otRers to "the Egyptians'" ; while Cicero decidedly pomts to Chalda;a as the region where the science was first cultivated." It is dertain ho#ever, that the Greeks received their astronomical knowledge immediately from the Egyptians; and on that account, they would be inclined to favoui>the " Plin. lib. 7. ? (;ic. de Oiyin. I. \. e. 3* 62 claims of that nation, to which they were theni- selves indebted for instruftion. But one circum- stance is observable, that although Herodotus" ascribes to their invention the division of the year into twelve months, -he is silent as to the origin of the zodiacal signs. Where then the external testimony is thus defeftive, recourse must be had to internal evi- dence. The hypothesis, that Egypt was the country from which astronomy radiated, has been warmly contended for, by those who assort, that since their first invention, the equino£i:ial precessions have carried on, by seven signs, the primitive order of the zodiac ; because, on that supposition, the whole appears to be an almanac suited to the clitiate of Egypt and to no other. A second hypothesis, that, on the supposition of a more reoent and specific date, this invention may be assigned to India, has been supported by ■oio feeble arguments. The suggestion has been hazarded, that as India can now indisputably assert her title t(j the invention of the numerical ; Herodot.LS. c. 82^ figureSj which had once been attributed to an Arabian origin, she will hereafter be found to have formed the first zodiac, which is generally supposed to have proceeded from Egypt. Could the point be more unequivocally ascertained, what objects the different emblems were first designed to represent, this supposition would have the highest claims to belief. The order of the sign? would be found to confirm the idea, that they were formed in Hindoostan about nine hundred years before Christ. But no fa£ts have yet been established pufficient'^ to overthrow the conclusion, which the authority of the Mosaical history warrants us tO assume, that *' the praftice of observing the stars began with *' the rudiments of civil society, in the country of *' those, whom we call Chaldseans j" from whbn* it was propagated, both in Egypt, and in India ; that different nations might vary their systems, in order to make them accord with their religious superstitions, or with their natural climate ; and that, in those countries, where they did not agree with the natural climate, they would be veiled by allegory, and disguised under symbolical rC' presentations. This last observation, more tha any other. 64 nvill preclude an adoption of the hypothesis which infidelity has laboHred to support, that Egypt was the' centre froni which astronomy radiated. Of all the oriental, aqd other ancient spheres which hfeve been preserved, the Egyptian dlterisms are the most mythological. They have deviated, far more widely than any others from those appropriate and intelligible symbols, which marked the most important periods of the rural year. Nothing can afford a stronger argument, that the sphere of the Eg^yptians is a secondary sphere ; that finding the order of the ^gns did not correspond with the natural order of their seasons,, they mixed their own peculiar mytho- logy with the rural calendar of thq country, from ■ywhich thpy derived their astrononay. 4. The fa£ls which have now been stated will ten^ to establish the following important conclusions,: that the strongest presumption arises, both from the testimonies of ancient authors, as far as they can becolle,fted,as well as from internal evidence, that the chronological system of the Brahmins has suffered a material change : and that their present scheme is of comparatively modern invention; that in earlier times, this system had some obvious and striking similarity to that of the Mosaical history 3 that even if the reality of the ?era from 66 which their present age commences, and which is now generally supposed to be founded on retro- grade calculation, were established, this admission could ncrtj in any degree, af&£t the truth of the sacred writings ; and that the only probable origin, which can be assigned to the invention of the primeval zodiac, expressly contradifts the unwarrantable assumption of an Egyptian sphere, formed at 'the immense distance of sixteen thou- sand years before the present time. The question may now naturally be stat€(J, what historical records the Brahmins possess, which establish the idea of their high and remote origin, and confirm those pretensions which they urge with so great confidence, and which their advo- cates receive with undistinguishing assent ? It is on this ground, that infidelity is always unwilling to meet us ; because it is here that difficulties arise, which the most wilful blindness cannot overlook, and which the most artful sophistry finds it impossible to evade. To what cause can it be assigned, that in all the historical documents which have hitherto been brought to light, they should ascend to nearly the same point of time, and then becomec enveloped in obscurity, and degenerate into fable ? Whence 66 Jhappens it, that these fables in nations the most distant and dissimilar, however they may be disguised by difference of language, however incumbered by the adhesion of foreign circum- stances, which the diversity of national charafiter may have engrafted on them, should still retain Such an evident similarity as to be clearly traced to the same source ? What cause can be assigned, that the whole fabric of Pagan mythology, whether surrounded by the gaudy, but misshapen ornaments of eastern magnificence, x)r rising in the graceful elegance and exa£t syinmetry of Grecian taste, or frowning terror in the ponder- ous and massfve grandeur of northern architefiture, should be raised on the same foundation, however the superstructure may be modelled or varied, by the influence of national manners ? If this globe had been inhabited by nations of a separate and ifldependent origin, could this uniformity in their traditions possibly have existed ? If mankind had reached that perfefitioii, both in science and refinement, which is pretended, would there not have occurred some distinct and diversified events, which would have clearly characterized these periods, and would have-found their way to future generations 3 The transaftions of a barbarous tribe may be 67 forgotten, not only from w^nt of splendour- to attraft attention, -but from want of variety to impress themselves on the memory. We are informed, that the vigorous raind of our great poet sunk under the task -of reciting the feuds and wars of the Saxon heptarchy, as deserving no other enumeratiori than the contentions of wild beasts and birds of prey, But, among civilized nations, there is a continued and con- •nefted recurrence of marked events, which force themselves on the notice of posterity. If it should 'be said, that long intervals of succeeding ignorance and depression, may have .obliterated eve,ry vestige of these, transaflions, we can reply, ,that such an idea is contrary to the whole course of our experience. The trans- 'a£lions of the age of Augustus, or of the age of Pericles, are yet viyid in the memory of the 'present age, though followed by the long night . of Gothic barbarism and Papal superstition. At no period has intelle£lual light been so totally obscured, as not, to shed its beams on some remote part of the world ; whence, in a happier season* it has again diffused a general illumina- tion." The great master of Lyric song, might •indeed, consistently, lament, that oblivion had -thrown her veil over the- worthies of antiquity, "f 2 68 because they wanted a genius to celebrate theif exploits : for who will refuse to a poet the prrvelege of' drawing *' his philosophy froni his art" ? But we well know that poetic fervor is kindled by the same causes, which excite advenr turous curiosity and ardent heroism. If the antiquity of India were to be determined by her own historical documents, her pretensions would indeed be slender. For almost all the information, which we at present possess, con- cerning her early state, we are indebted to her Grecian or Mohammedan conquerors, joined •with the indefatigable researches of the modern nations of Europe. The few real occurrenpes, which are interspersed in the dramatic writings of the Hindoos, are sO mingled with fable, that they would be unintelligible, unless compared with foreign testimony. Even the genealogy of the Kings of Cashmire, and which is the most valuable historical fragment yet discovered, re-? cords, at the beginning, but little more than the names of their sovereigns, without assigning the length of their different reigns.