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the names of all the numerous Hindū writings that have been mentioned of late years, unless we were at the same time to give an analysis of each: we shall, therefore, only observe, that from the researches and examinations of learned orientalists, it fully appears, that the books of the Hindūs contain not only their civil and religious institutions, but also treat of all the various branches of science and literature which are known to, or practised by Europeans; though unquestionably some of the sciences have, in the course of time, and in consequence of discoveries, been improved, and may continue to receive still further improvements.*

The following extracts from their works, will serve to illustrate what has been advanced with respect to the real tenets of the Hindu religion.

* Those who may wish to inform themselves more particularly on this interesting subject, are recommended to consult the works already quoted in the course of this essay, together with those which are referred to in the following pages.

"By one Supreme Ruler is this universe pervaded; even every world in the whole circle of nature. Enjoy pure delight, O man, in abandoning all thoughts of this perishable world; and covet not the wealth of any creature existing."

"There is one Supreme Spirit, which nothing can shake, more swift than the thought of man."

"That Supreme Spirit moves at pleasure, but in itself is immovable: it is distant from us, yet near us: it pervades this whole system of worlds, yet is infinitely beyond it."

"The man who considers all beings as existing even in the Supreme Spirit, and the Supreme Spirit as pervading all beings, henceforth views no creature with contempt."

"In him who knows that all spiritual beings are the same in kind with the Supreme Spirit, what room can there be for delusion of mind, or what room for sorrow, when he reflects on the identity of spirit?" "The pure enlightened soul assumes a luminous form, with no gross body, with no perforation, with no veins, or tendons, -unblemished, untainted by sin;-itself being a ray from the infinite spirit, which knows the past, and the future, which pervades all, which existed with no cause but itself, which created all things as they are in ages most remote."

"To those regions, where evil spirits dwell, and which utter darkness involves, will such men surely go after death, as destroy the purity of their own soul."

"They who are ignorantly devoted to the mere ceremonies of religion, are fallen into thick darkness; but they surely have a thicker gloom around them, who are solely attached to speculative science."

"A distinct reward, they say, is reserved for ceremonies, and a distinct reward, they say, for divine knowledge; adding, This we have heard from sages who declared it to

us."

"He alone is acquainted with the nature of ceremonies, and with that of speculative science, who is acquainted with both at once: by religious ceremonies he passes the gulph of death, and by divine knowledge he attains immortality."

"They, who adore only the appearances and forms of the deity, are fallen into thick darkness; but they surely have a thicker gloom around them, who are solely devoted to abstract thoughts."

"A distinct reward, they say, is obtained by adoring the forms and attributes, and a distinct reward, they say, by adoring the abstract essence; adding: This we have heard from sages who declare it to us."

“O M, Remember me, divine Spirit!" "OM, Remember my deeds."

"That all-pervading spirit, that spirit which gives light to the visible sun, even the same in kind am I, though infinitely distant in degree. Let my soul return to the immortal spirit of God, and then let my body, which ends in ashes, return to dust!"

"O Spirit, who pervadest fire, lead us in a straight path to the riches of beatitude! Thou, O God, possessest all the treasures of knowledge: remove each foul taint from our souls; we continually approach thee with the highest praise, and the most fervid

adoration."

"As a tree, the lord of the forest, even so, without fiction, is man; his hairs are as leaves; his skin, as exterior bark."

"Through the skin flows blood; through the rind, sap: from a wounded man, therefore, blood gushes, as the vegetable fluid from a tree that is cut."

"His muscles are as interwoven fibres ; the membrane round his bones as interior bark, which is closely fixed; his bones are as the hard pieces of wood within: their marrow is composed of pith."

"Since the tree, when felled, springs again from the root, from what root springs mortal man when felled by the hand of death?"

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Say not, he springs from seed: seed surely comes from the living. A tree, no doubt, rises from seed, and after death has a visible renewal."

"But a tree which they have plucked up

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