liers, with attendant priests, while the great hall in the centre, as well as the two wings and the vestibule, are crowded with worshippers, who go through a number of salutations, prostrations, and ceremonies. I was permitted to go close up to the images, upon leaving my boots under the great dome; and certainly, amidst all that surrounded me, I felt a considerable degree of awe and respect.

Indeed a man of sensibility, in the presence of even marble statues, that represent a state of mental abstraction, in which the Hindoos conceive there is real perfection, or the likeness of God, feels an elevation of sentiment towards the great Creator, who has so visibly revealed himself, in every atom, that meets human optics, and yet lies so completely veiled with his own magnificence, as to be seen by different imaginations in a vast variety of particular forms. Such a man, so situated, is apt to be impressed with the Brahmanical idea, that all forms of natural adoration must be pleasing to God; and, while he pities the delusion of mortal inconsistencies, he will enlarge the sphere of his charity, and believe that a pure heart, under any mode of faith, will meet with favour in the sight of the Almighty.

That Jain worship was a reformation in Brahmanism cannot be doubted. Any one will admit its pretensions to superior purity, who compares the simple forms of it to the complicated system of Hindooism, and the monstrous idols which the

Brahmanical pantheon displays, many of which are too shocking for delicacy to describe. It would be uninteresting to exhibit such monsters; and it seems only necessary to observe, that they are obviously creations of grossness and ignorance, which have crept into Brahmanism in its day of degeneracy; for originally there is nothing very repugnant to human reason in its construction. Even in some of its incarnations, particularly that of Chrishna, there is a remote resemblance to the history of our Saviour.

The last attempt, made by a native of India, to substitute a new form of worship in Hindostan in room of the Brahmanical institution, was made by Nanac, the founder of the Seiks, towards the middle of the fifteenth century. He was born at a village called Tulwandy, in the province of Lahore. His great success in converting the Hindoos to pure Deism, proves that they may be roused by persuasion alone to change their religion, and imbibe principles of enthusiastic republicanism, with more ease than is generally supposed. The Seiks, or disciples of Nanac, are now very numerous, and besides nearly the whole province of Lahore, they have the Punjab, part of Mooltan, and the greatest share of the country between the Jumna and the Sutleje. Their converts are permitted to retain the manners and customs of their castes, in a great measure. The cer mony of initiation is a solemn oath, to devote themselves to the use of the sword

in defence of the state. Their priests are called Immortals, and preside at a great assembly, which meets, in prosperous times, at Amritsar, where the chiefs, having taken a sort of sacrament, by eating together of consecrated cake, transact the business of the government, which is a theocracy; but this invisibility has induced each chief to constitute himself the head of the state, and, therefore, the Seiks are weakened by internal divisions, and constant struggles for power.

In Hindostan it is believed that the world has existed for 7,205,000* years, which period is divided into four ages, that bear names conveying the same ideas as the golden, silver, brass, and iron times of classical notoriety. The present is called the black age, and about 395,000 years of it remain.

Having thus briefly run over the general history of India, we shall next proceed to describe the discoveries and conquests of the Portuguese, and other European states in the East, which portion of this work, we fondly hope, will be found pregnant with entertainment and utility.

* Vide Appendix, note 8.

CHAPTER II.

THE DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS OF THE PORTUGUESE IN INDIA.

AFTER the extinction of commerce and literature in Europe, it was long a prevailing opinion that the central regions of the torrid zone were uninhabitable, from the burning nature of the sun's rays. The intercourse of the Arabians with Spain and Portugal gradually removed this prejudice. Writings of antiquity, saved from the destructive devastations of ignorance, imparted new ideas respecting geography; mariners became bold, with the compass for their pilot; and Henry, son of John the First, king of Portugal, caused those seas to be explored in which Diodorus Siculus had placed the island of Atalantis: under his direction, in the year 1419, Madeira was discovered, which some learned men have considered as the remains of it; for Plato, in one of his dialogues, says that this once extensive region sunk into the sea, and disappeared in an instant. There are men every where, whose ardent spirits will always push forward if supported by hope. Under the terrible expectation of being perhaps burned to a cinder, the Portuguese navigators adventured ;

and coasting along the western shores of Africa, at length doubled its southern extremity, which was then called the Cape of Storms; but John the Second, foreseeing vast consequences from this discovery, named it the Cape of Good Hope. Animated by the success of Columbus in 1492, and in pursuance of that grand object, by which a new world had been found, the discovery of a passage by sea to India, Vasco de Gama was furnished by King Emanuel with four ships, and doubling the Cape in 1497, reached the Malabar coast after a voyage of thirteen months.

In all successful undertakings there is a concurrence of favouring circumstances. At Melinda, situated on the eastern coast of Africa, which was then a place of considerable trade, Gama received most valuable information respecting the state of India. Among those who crowded to see the interesting strangers from Europe, he discovered a Moor of Tunis, who understood the Portuguese language. He was intimately acquainted with the affairs of India, and disposed to be a firm friend to the Portuguese. Under his guidance, Gama shaped his course for Calicut, the capital of the Zamorin, where he was received with all that fond hope which admiration excites. Through his intelligent interpreter the Moor, he was enabled to communicate with the natives, and being at length introduced to the emperor, who was here styled as before mentioned, he made a favourable impression