most extended signification,-of archery, architecture, and sixty-four mechanical arts.

The third class consists of the six Ved-angas, or bodies of learning,-derived from the same primordial source,—and revealed by divine persons, or written by inspired saints. They treat of the principles and facts of astronomy,—of grammar, and prosody,-of pronunciation, and the signification of difficult words and phrases in the Vedas,—of religious rites and ceremonies,-of charms and incantations.

The fourth class consists of the four Up-angas, or appended bodies of learning,-so named, from their being always placed last in the enumeration of the sacred writings. This is by far the most copious division. The first embraces the eighteen Puranas or sacred poems, believed to have been written by the divine sage, Vyasa. These treat of cosmogony and chronology,-of geography and astronomy,—of the genealogies and exploits of gods, demigods, and heroes,— of virtue and good works-of the nature of the soul, and the means of final emancipation. Besides the Puranas, the first Up-anga comprises the Ramayan and Mahabharat,—written, the former by Valmiki, the latter by Vyasa,-designated by Europeans the great classical epics of India, the Iliad and Odyssey of Sanskrit poetry,-and believed by the Hindus themselves to be of divine origin. In the introduction of the Ramayan, its surpassing excellency is thus expressed :"He who sings and hears this poem continually, has attained to the highest state of enjoyment, and will finally be equal to the gods." The great object of those giant epics is to rehearse the achievements of Vishnu, the second person of the Hindu Triad, who is represented in the Ramayan as incarnate in the person of Rama; and in the Mahabharat, as incarnate in the person of Krishna. Both, however, abound with digressions, or interlocutory conversations put into the mouths of gods, sages, and heroes. Of these the most celebrated is the Bhagavad Gita,-an episode of the Mahabharat; in the form of a dialogue between the god Krishna and his favourite pupil, the hero Arjun, on subjects of abstruse theology. It has been pronounced the most

"curious exposition of the half-mythological, half-philosophical pantheism of the Brahmans" which has yet been brought to light. The second and third Up-angas consists of the four principal works on Logic or Dialectics; and Metaphysics or Disquisitions on the essence and modifications of spirit. The fourth and last Up-anga consists of the Body of Law, called Smriti, or what is to be remembered; in eighteen books; compiled by Manu, the son of Brahma, and other sacred personages,-detailing all manner of duties connected with the worship of God, and all the possible relations that can subsist between man and man.

The writings now enumerated are usually styled THE GREAT SHASTRAS, or books of sacred ordinance,-"sacred ordinance delivered by inspiration,"-to contradistinguish them from a countless host of other works, original and derivative, whose authority, though often highly reverenced, may not be acknowledged as absolutely divine.

What an aggregate do the sacred writings of the Hindus form! Along with their number, only consider their bulk. Of this, from the circumstance of their being composed in a species of blank verse, or measured prose, some conception may be conveyed to the general reader. The Æneid of Virgil extends to about twelve thousand lines; the Iliad of Homer to double that number;-but the Ramayan of Valmiki rolls on to about a hundred thousand; while the Mahabharat of Vyasa quadruples even that sum! Many of the other sacred works exhibit a voluminousness quite as amazing. The four Vedas, when collected, form eleven huge folio volumes. The Puranas, which constitute but part of the first of the Up-angas, extend to about two millions of lines! In one of these it is gravely asserted on divine authority, that, originally, the whole series of Puranas alone consisted of "one hundred Kolis, or a thousand millions of stanzas; but as four hundred thousand of these were considered sufficient for the instruction of man, the rest were reserved by the gods!" Well might Sir W. Jones exclaim, that "whereever we direct our attention to Hindu literature, the notion of infinity presents itself,"-and sure enough the longest life

would not suffice for a single perusal of works that rise and swell protuberant like Himalayas, above the bulkiest compositions of every land beyond the confines of India! To the system of Hinduism, as unfolded and developed in these ponderous masses, may not unaptly be applied the graphic language of our great Epic poet in reference to another theme. In strict and sober literality may we characterise it, as

An unfathomable ocean, without bounds,

Without dimensions, where length, breadth, and height,
And time, and space are lost!

How, then, can we pretend or presume, within so narrow a compass as ours, to convey any thing like an adequate conception of a system so stupendous? Doubtless, to enter into details, would be an utterly impracticable attempt. But is this necessary? We think not. When a traveller enters an unknown territory, anxious to carry away with him a vivid impression of some magnificent landscape, there are two ways in which he may proceed to realize his design. He may, first of all, set out with an examination of the different objects in detail, that bestud the diversified surface. He may skirt the lake, penetrate the forest, and emerge into the open field. He may trace the meandering of each sparkling rill, as it winds its way back into some Alpine glade. He may pursue the course of the mighty stream, now flowing on in unmurmuring peacefulness, and anon bursting headlong in the foam and thunder of a cataract. He may, in retracing his steps, cross the verdant mead, and soliloquize in the sequestered grotto. He may then enter the umbrageous avenue, and confront the baronial castle, whose battlements seem to vie, in massive grandeur, with the "munitions of rocks" that guard, from age to age, the bounding horizon. And last of all, he may ascend some neighbouring eminence, and fix his admiring gaze on all the varied objects, harmoniously combined in one bright and glorious assemblage. Or, reversing the order of this procedure, our traveller may, first of all, mount the

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most commanding elevation; and having caught, at a glance, a panoramic view of the wide-spread scene, he may then proceed to a minute and piece-meal inspection of its almost endlessly varied objects.

We need not stop here to canvass the respective advantages and disadvantages of these plans. Either may issue in the same result; as regards the ultimate impression and lasting recollections of the spectator. But, during the intermediate stages of the closer and narrower survey, the degrees of satisfaction in his mind may be vastly different. In following the former of the two plans, the relative bearings and mutual dependencies of the multitudinous objects,—viewed as parts of one great whole,-not being discerned, the traveller finds himself isolated at every turn, as if lost amid the intricacies of a labyrinth. If he have pursued the latter of the two plans, he can enter on the examination of particular objects, with the full advantage of a previously acquired mental perception of their reciprocal bearings and connections, as component parts of a harmonious whole. The latter plan, accordingly, is that which most travellers, having the liberty of choice, would be disposed to follow. us profit by their example. Without attempting to enter into a minute description of the various component parts of Hinduism viewed separately and in detail, let us at once ascend the mount of intellectual vision, and endeavour to present a coup-d-ail of the stupendous system. And should the inquirer carry away with him a general impression of the relative bearings and relations of the more prominent objects, he will be the better enabled to fill up the outline from the subsequent investigations of a minuter survey.

Let

Strange as it may sound in the ears of those who may never have heard of the Hindus but as a nation of polytheists and idolaters, it is, nevertheless, true, that the very foundation of their system is laid in the belief and assertion of the existence of one great universal self-existing Spirit,— the fount and origin of all other beings, animate or inani

mate, material or immaterial. The incommunicable appellation of this supreme and eternal Spirit, viewed in its own abstract impersonal essence, is BRAHM;-a noun in the neuter gender, never to be confounded with Brahma, a noun masculine ;-the distinguishing title of the first person of the Hindu Triad.

A distinct understanding of the real nature and character of this Supreme God of India,-in itself indispensable towards an adequate comprehension of the system of Hinduism, is highly important on other and independent grounds. Again and again have missionaries of every name expatiated on the degrading and abominable practices of Indian idolatry. For this, how often have the enamoured votaries of Oriental literature branded them as ignorant, or rated them as fools? What!' say they, abuse and insult whole millions of people, as if they were nothing but vile idolaters! You credulously trust to modern apocryphal writings, and to corruptions of ancient truth. Go to their original standards, and thence learn that their creed is based on a belief in the unity of God; of whom, as he is devoid of corporeal organs, and, consequently, beyond the apprehension of sense, no image has ever been framed by the artifice of man.' 'Well,' the missionaries may reply, 'you appeal to the original standards, as if you monopolized all the learning, and we all the ignorance. To the original standards let us go. With these spread out before us as well as before you, we at once allow that a certain description of unity is predicated of the Supreme Spirit; and that of it no image has ever yet been fashioned. But, with this admission, we do challenge you and the whole world of Orientalists to prove, that idolatry is not, at the same time, systematically taught, and its observances peremptorily enjoined. The proof, however, may be spared; since, in futility, it could scarcely be equalled by the attempt to show that the Novum Organon of Bacon contains no notice of the inductive method of philosophy; nor the Principia of Newton any glimpse of the principles of gravitation. Besides, seeing that practically the great mass of the people are idolaters,