merous, exists, which acts with equal propriety and justice. The generous and enlightened Hindoo, diffues over every order of life his affections; beholds, in every creature, a kinsman; rejoices in the welfare of every animal, and compassionates his pains; for he is convinced, that the essence of all creatures is the same, and that one eternal First Cause is the Father of all. Hence the merciful Hindostan is solicitous to save every species of animal, while the cruel vanity and exquisite voraciousness of other nations are ingenious to discover in the bulk, or taste, or smell, or beauty of every creature, a cause of death, an incentive to murder. The religion of the Hindoos is the most extensive and ancient of all religions now existing, a religion of the most polished, improved, and populous of the eastern nations. The accounts we have of it, in its present state of declension, are such as engage our esteem and reverence, tho' conveyed to us through very polluted channels. The followers of Brama are, for the most part, meek and patient sufferers under savage and bigoted Mahometans; who, in their turn, are oppressed by cruel, tho' not bigoted Christians: so that our accounts of the Hindoos come from plunderers, who receive them from those whom they immediately oppress. It therefore requires great precision, to determine what degree of credit ought to be given to informations thus derived. We may be well assured, that no misrepresentation takes place in favour of the ancient and oppressed followers of Brama.
Sir William Temple, in his Essay on Learning, says that "Their moral philosophy consisted chiefly in preventing all diseases or distempers of the body, from which they esteemed the perturbation of mind in a great measure to arise; then in composing the
