constellations, and instruments, as are clearly of Indian origin, from such as were introduced into this country by Mussulman astronomers from Tartary and Persia, or in later days by mathematicians from Europe.

V. From all the properties of man and of nature, from all the various branches of science, from all the deductions of human reason, the general corollary, admitted by Hindus, Arabs, and Tartars, by Persians, and by Chinese, is the supremacy of an allcreating and all-preserving Spirit, infinitely wise, good, and powerful, but infinitely removed from the comprehension of his most exalted creatures; nor are there in any language (the ancient Hebrew always excepted) more pious and sublime addresses to the Being of beings, more splendid enumerations of his attributes, or more beautiful descriptions of his visible works, than in Arabic, Persian, and Sanscrit, especially in the Koran, the introductions of the poems of Sadi, Nizámí, and Firdausi, the four Vèdás and many parts of the numerous Purànas: but supplication and praise would not satisfy the boundless imagination of the Vedanta and Sufi theologists, who, blending uncertain metaphysics with undoubted principles of religion, have presumed to reason confidently on the very nature and essence of the divine spirit, and asserted in a very remote age, what multitudes of Hindus and Mussulmans assert at this hour, that all spirit is homogeneous; that the spirit of God is in kind the same with that of man, though differing from it infinitely in degree; and that, as material substance is mere illusion, there exists in this universe only one generic spiritual sustance, the sole primary cause, efficient, substantial, and formal, of all secondary causes and of all appearances whatever, but endued, in its highest degree, with a sublime providential wisdom

and proceeding by ways incomprehensible to the spirits which emane from it: an opinion which Gótama never taught, and which we have no authority to believe, but which, as it is grounded on the doctrine of an immaterial Creator supremely wise, and a constant Preserver supremely benevolènt, differs as widely from the pantheism of Spinoza and Toland as the affirmation of a proposition differs from the negociation of it; though the lastnamed professor of that insane philosophy had the baseness to conceal his meaning under the very words of Saint Paul, which are cited by Newton for a purpose totally different, and has even used a phrase which occurs, indeed, in the Vèda, but in a sense diametrically opposite to that which he would have given it. The passage to which I allude, is in a speech of Varuna to his son, where he says, "That spirit, from which these created "beings proceed; through which, having proceeded "from it, they live; toward which they tend, and in which they are ultimately absorbed,---that spirit study to know; that spirit is the Great One.”

The subject of this discourse, Gentlemen, is inexhaustible: it has been my endeavour to say as much on it as possible in the fewest words; and, at the beginning of next year, I hope to close these general disquisitions with topics measureless in extent, but less abstruse than that which has this day been discussed; and better adapted to the gaiety which seems to have prevailed in the learned banquets of the Greeks, and which ought surely to prevail in every symposiac assembly.

A DISCOURSE

Delivered at

A MEETING OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY,

ON THE 22D OF MAY, 1794.

BY SIR JOHN SHORE, BART. PRESIDENT.

I

IF I had consulted my competency only, for the station which your choice has conferred upon me, must, without hesitation, have declined the honour of being the President of this Society; and although I most cheerfully accept your invitation, with every inclination to assist, as far as my abilities extend, in promoting the laudable views of our association, I must still retain the consciousness of those disqualifications, which you have been pleased to overlook.

It was lately our boast to possess a President, whose name, talents, and character, would have been honourable to any institution; it is now our misfortune to lament, that Sir William Jones exists but in the affections of his friends, and in the esteem, veneration, and regret of all.

I cannot, I flatter myself, offer a more grateful tribute to the Society, than by making his character

the subject of my first address to you; and if in the delineation of it, fondness or affection for the man should appear blended with my reverence for his genius and abilities, in the sympathy of your feelings I shall find my apology.

To define, with accuracy, the variety, value, and extent of his literary attainments, requires more learning than I pretend to possess; and I am therefore to solicit your indulgence for an imperfect sketch, rather than expect your approbation for a complete description, of the talents and knowledge of your late and lamented President.

I shall begin with mentioning his wonderful capacity for the acquisition of languages, which has never been excelled. In Greek and Roman literature, his early proficiency was the subject of admiration and applause; and knowledge, of whatever nature, once obtained by him, was ever afterwards progressive. The more elegant dialects of modern Europe, the French, the Spanish, and the Italian, he spoke and wrote with the greatest fluency and precision; and the German and Portuguese were familiar to him. At an early period of life his application to oriental literature commenced: he studied the Hebrew with ease and success; and many of the most learned Asiatics have the candour to avow, that his knowledge of Arabic and Persian was as accurate and extensive as their own; he was also conversant in the Turkish idiom; and the Chinese had even attracted his notice so far, as to induce him to learn the radical characters of that language, with a view, perhaps, to further improvements. It was to be expected, after his arrival in India, that he would eagerly embrace the opportunity of making himself master of the Sanscrit; and the most enlightened professors of the doctrines of Brahma, confess, with pride, de