when men do "not like to retain God in their knowledge," He gives "them over to a reprobate mind."

The annals of every nation, except the chosen people of God, are for many ages after the flood so enveloped in obscurity, that in general we can only take it for granted that the declension was gradual; and that each succeeding generation departed farther and farther from the truth, till the religion of Noah and Shem had been changed into the most degrading idolatry.

Among the Hindoos, however, the preservation of their sacred books, enables us to trace the steps of this downward progress with greater accuracy than in the case of any other nation; for, except the hieroglyphics of Egypt, they are the most ancient human records that have been brought to light.

The "Vedas" must have been compiled at least 1400 years before Christ-that is, in the time of the Judges; and about 500 years after, or near the time of Jehoshaphat, a code of laws was drawn up, bearing the name of "Menu." Both of these give much insight into the state of religion and polity in those distant ages; and though the doctrine in the code of Menu is less pure than that of the Vedas, yet in both, we may find proofs that the knowledge of God was not then quite extinct. There is in both of them a distinct acknowledg

ment of one Supreme Being, the Creator of heaven and earth; while the use of images is discouraged, and the form of worship seems to have been patriarchal-the head of each family officiating as its priest.

But in other respects, it had not only become degenerate, but showed that it carried in itself the seeds of still deeper apostasy—many inferior deities are mentioned, to whom a lower kind of worship was to be paid; and the Bramins were unduly and almost incredibly exalted: they were considered superior even to the king, and were forbidden, under pain of future punishment, to hold any intercourse with a Soodra,* or even to teach him the law, or instruct him in the mode of expiating his sins!

The sin of Cain, in offering up "the fruits of the ground" as his only sacrifice, seems in great measure also to have been adopted by them ; for except the great, but rare, horse-sacrifice (Aswaméthe), at the consecration of some of their deities, I cannot find any offering enjoined, but those of clarified butter, and the juice of the moon-plant. How remarkable is this proneness to error, on one side or the other; either offering up to the true God some fond invention of our own, or making the appointed sacrifices to some false deity.

* See Letter v., p. 36.

Gradually the religion of the Hindoos became more and more degenerate; it proceeded from the worship of the elements, the stars and the planets, to the adoration of deified heroes, till it has ended in the present entangled mass of idolatry and falsehood.*

The principal Hindoo deities are Brahmá, Víshnoo, and Síva, with their wives, but the first of these is little cared for, and there is only one temple to his honour throughout the whole of India. Síva, Víshnoo, and the Sáktis (or female deities), are worshipped by the bulk of the people; and their votaries, who are respectively called Saívas, Vaishnavas, or Sáktas, are distinguished by the different marks upon their foreheads, breasts, and arms, made with a whitish powder, composed of dried cow-dung, raspings of sandal-wood, and saffron, which are renewed every morning before they taste food.

The accounts which the Hindoos themselves give of these different sects are very contradictory; according to some, it is free to every individual to join whichever he pleases, or, if he prefers it, to keep separate from all; but there seems reason to think, that whatever might have been the case originally, yet that the distinctions have now become

* Some of their philosophers are said to believe in one Supreme Being; but this is only the Pantheistic notion that all things are actually God.

hereditary. One thing however seems clear, that the being the peculiar votary of one, does not prevent a general worship from being paid to all the others.

The images of Síva represent him as a frightful being, sometimes with several heads, sometimes with only one: he has three eyes, the middle one of fire, and the number of his hands varies from four to thirty-two. He is generally sitting on the skin of a tiger, adorned with human skulls, his hair matted and dishevelled, and holding a trident in his hand. He accepts the sacrifice of animals, and is propitiated by the self-inflicted tortures of his votaries.

In some respects, the worship of Síva resembles that of the Egyptian Osiris; the bull also is sacred to him, and is a distinguishing ornament of his temples-figures of it being placed at the corners, and sometimes along the top of the outer walls, as well as in different parts of the interior. The famous black bull of Tanjore is probably consecrated to him.

Frightful, however, as Síva is, he is exceeded by his terrific wife. She appears in various characters, and under various names; but whether as Kâli, Bhawâni, Doûrga, or Parvâti, she is (except in one form, when she reminds one of Diana *) horrible

Near Cape Comorin, she is worshipped as Cumâri (or Virgin,) and the Cape itself derives its name from her in this character, as Calcutta does from that of Kâli (Kâlighaut).