claration of their belief in a Supreme Being, in a future state of rewards and punishments, and in the doctrine of transmigration. Every animal, they say, from the highest of the species down to the meanest insect, has existed from all eternity, and will continue to do so, though it may undergo changes from a higher to a lower rank, or from a lower to a higher.

They say, that the ancient religion of India, and of the whole world, consisted in the belief of one God, a pure spirit, indivisible, omniscient, and all-powerful : that God having given to all things their appointed order and course of action, and to man a sufficient portion of reason, or understanding, to guide him in his conduct; he leaves him to the operation of free will, without the entire exercise of which, he could not be held answerable for his actions.*

* See Historical Sketches of the South of India, by Lieutenant-Colonel Mark Wilks. Mr. Wilks quotes,, as his authority, a learned Jain Brahmin, named Dhermia, and the Pere Dubois, "a worthy and in

1

Their Brahmins, like the other Hindus, are a sacred tribe, and divided into different classes, each class having its special functions and mode of life.*

The Jainas, equally with the Buddhaists, do not believe in the account given of the creation and universal deluge. They consider the world as eternal, and say that the changes it has undergone, or may undergo, proceed from natural causes; that those changes are only partial, but that the system of the universe, of which this world is a part, is eternally preserved by immutable laws, that have ever existed and must ever continue.

In their temples they have images of Gurus, or holy and wise men, whom they are taught to respect; but they hold it as absurd to pretend to represent by any ef figy, or image, a being, who, they say, "is all wise; all seeing; the father, or origin

telligent missionary, (says he) who has lived seventeen years among the Hindus, as one of themselves."

* See note B, in Appendix.

of all; enjoying eternal bliss; without beginning or end, without name, infinite, and indescribable."

The Vedas allow to almost all, except the Brahmins, the frugal use of certain animal food, but the Jains, without distinction, are expressly prohibited from it, as well as from the use of spirituous liquors; nor is it lawful for any one to kill an animal of any kind, except the Cshatriya cast, when engaged in war. Self-defence is unquestionably to be allowed, but unnecessarily to deprive any being of life, is regarded as acting in opposition to him by whose will it has existence.

They do not permit the widow to burn herself with the corpse of her husband, but she is forbidden to marry again; nor can she after his death use, or possess any personal ornament.

The only obsequies observed by them, are, burning the body, and throwing the ashes into water, but by preference into rivers, should a facility of doing it present itself.

They suppose two souls, which may be termed the divine soul, and the vital soul. The former is a pure spirit; the other, more immediately united with our corporal substance, and possessing desires and affections but we do not find that they consider the divine soul as an emanation of the Supreme Being, as almost all other Hindus do.

In addition to what has already been stated,* the following passage from Dr. Taylor's work above cited,† will still further illustrate the tenets of this sect.

The Jainas, in their philosophical opinions, have been supposed to resemble the Sankhyas; but their tenets exhibit rather a mixture of the Sankhya and

Besides the authorities before quoted, see an article on the Jains, by Major Mackenzie, Asiat. Researches, vol. ix. p. 244; one by Mr. H. T. Colebrooke, ibid. p. 287;-and "Journey from Madras, through the countries of Mysore, Canara, and Malabar, performed by order of the Marquis of Wellesley, GovernorGeneral of India, by Francis Buchanan, M. D."

+ See Appendix to the Prabodh Chandro Daya.

Mimangsa doctrines, than an exclusive adoption of either. Like the Mimangsa, they believe that the Supreme Being is motion, and that he is without figure, impassible, and all-pervading; and like the Sankhyas they believe in the eternity of the world, and conceive that the soul is only a refined species of matter, which possesses thought and understanding; and which, pervading the whole body, illumi nates it as a lamp does the apartment in which it is kept. Wherever there is blood, say they, there is soul. As the infinite Being is indescribable and incomprehensible, they direct their worship to Tirthakars, or deified men. The great Being is omniscient, but the soul possesses only finite knowledge. Man is elevated to the state of the infinite Being, by renouncing secular concerns, and devoting himself to contemplation and divine worship; but, like the Mimangsa, they conceive that holy actions are required to secure eternal beatitude."

But after examining all that is said in