exceedingly scarce. Numerous commentaries have been written upon them, from time immemorial, called Shastras; a common designation for all their Sacred Writings.

The Vedas are written in Sanscrit, which means The Perfect; it is likewise called Deva Nagara, or the Divine Language. Scholars pronounce it the most copious and excellent of all the ancient tongues; and this fact is a plain indication that it was formed by a people considerably advanced in civilization, who had many ideas to express. But its origin extends too far back into the darkness of antiquity to be traced by history. The people who spoke it passed away from the face of the earth such a very long time ago, that it has been a dead language beyond the memory or the records of man. The knowledge of it was confined to learned Bramins, until it attracted the attention and employed the industry of European scholars, in the last century.

The Hindoos believe that the Vedas are as old as the creation of the world. Learned Bramins profess to find traces of their existence as far back as two hundred and sixty years after our date of the Deluge; that is, two thousand and eighty-eight years before the Christian era. Sir William Jones says: "That the Vedas were actually written before the Flood, I shall never believe; but they are very ancient, and far older than other Sanscrit compositions." He thinks the Yajur Veda can be traced as far as one thousand five hundred and eighty years before Christ; that is, one hundred years before the birth of Moses. He arrived at this conclusion from certain astronomical statements therein contained. The learned Heeren says: "There is no reliable data by which to ascertain the precise period, either when the separate parts were written, or when they were arranged in their present order. Their origin is involved in deepest obscurity. They are without doubt the oldest works composed in Sanscrit. This is sufficiently attested by the obsolete idiom in which they are written. Another proof is derived from the fact that all the Sanscrit writings, even the most ancient, allude to the

Vedas as already in existence, and cite numerous passages from them, at almost every page." The various Hindoo sects all profess to find authority for their doctrines in these Sacred Oracles; but the Vedas themselves give no indications of separation into sects. They do not even allude to the great sects of Siva, and of the two incarnations of Vishnu, called Rama and Crishna, though Hindoo monuments prove them to be of extreme antiquity.

The manuscripts of the Vedas made forty-two volumes, folio. On account of their great bulk, the obsolete expressions, and the metaphorical obscurity of style, they were condensed and arranged in their present form, by a learned Bramin. This collection is called the Vedanta, or Substance of the Vedas, and is generally received as of equal authority with the original. There is no certain evidence when this compilation was made; but Oriental scholars agree that it must have been more than two thousand years ago. The work is attributed to Vyasa, which is a common term applied to all compilers. Heeren says:"Vyasa had numerous disciples, who instructed others in their turn. At last, the variations in the manner of reading and reciting the text are said to have given rise to no less than one thousand one hundred different schools. These alterations would, for the most part, only concern outward forms of pronunciation; and they must have been made many centuries ago; for the numerous quotations in the oldest writings agree with the modern copies of the Vedas."

Nothing can exceed the reverence paid to these Sacred Writings. It is not allowable to bring them into contact with animal substances, such as leather or woollen. He who uses them must first perform prescribed ablutions and other religious ceremonies. It is deemed sacrilege to read them in the presence of a wicked man, or within the sound of whipping, or in a place through which a corpse is carried. Bramins alone may study or explain them; and they have always had it in their power to communicate to other castes as much, or as little, as they pleased. The

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next caste, comprising princes and nobles, are allowed to hear them expounded, and even to read portions, under the superintendence of Bramins. The third caste, of merchants, who are generally correct grammarians, and often good poets, are permitted to hear only such parts as relate to medicine. The lower castes are rigorously excluded from all knowledge of them. The Code of Menu ordains: "If a Soodra reads the Vedas to either of the three other castes, or if he listens to them, heated oil, wax, and melted tin shall be poured into his ears, and the orifice stopped up; and if he learns the Vedas by heart, he shall be put to death." But "the Bramin, who knows all the Vedas by heart, and recites them three times with devotion, will be delivered from all sin. He would incur no punishment, though he had eaten food from the most unclean hands, or even if he had killed the inhabitants of three worlds." Devout men, who have thus read and recited the Vedas, are called "twice born," in allusion to a new spiritual birth, in addition to their natural birth.

Inherent sacredness and supernatural power are ascribed to the identical Sanscrit words, and it is considered sacrilege to make the slightest alteration in the arrangement of the sentences. Hence, the Bramins have evinced an almost insurmountable reluctance to have them translated into foreign languages. Probably no one of them would have dared to show the manuscripts for such a purpose, had it not been for their hopeless conviction that everything is going to predestined destruction in this present Cali Yug, and therefore it matters little what is done with anything this perishable world contains. But though this view has reconciled some to imparting a knowledge of their religion to foreigners, the stricter sort have always regarded translations of their Sacred Books with mingled feelings of terror and sadness.

The Vedas are collections of detached pieces, by different authors, whose names are therein cited. They purport to be the utterance of certain very ancient and celebrated saints, called Rishis, who received them directly from Di

vine Beings. Some of these authors were Bramins, and some were royal personages, who had attained to complete sanctity. They are represented as holy anchorites in the forest, a circumstance which indicates the extreme antiquity of that mode of life in India. Heeren says: "The worship prescribed concerns a religious system, which, according to the unanimous opinion of all who have studied the subject, has for its foundation the belief in One God. This Divinity, however, was manifested in the grand phenomena of Nature, which were themselves separately invoked as deities. In this sense, we might consider it a kind of natural religion, but it is interwoven with a tissue of refined speculations on the infinite, on the origin of things, the emanation of beings, and their absorption into the Godhead; and this constitutes their peculiarity." The names of Vishnu and Siva are only mentioned two or three times; but the "One Immutable Being" is mentioned much more frequently. The prayers are mostly addressed to Sun, Moon, Fire, Air, Water, and other forces of Nature, whose presiding Spirits are supposed to be subordinate agents of the Supreme, and different manifestations of his being. The Vedas contain civil laws, moral precepts, treatises on medicine, astronomy, astrology, and divination, dialogues concerning God and the soul, and a prescribed ritual for external worship. Each Veda is divided into two parts. The first part, called the Sanhita, contains hymns, prayers, invocations, rules concerning sacrifices to be offered to Spirits of the Planets and of the Elements, and to the souls of departed ancestors; and various other things connected with the ceremonials of religion. The second portion is called the Upanishad, which signifies The Knowledge of God, or the Science of God. These portions contain moral precepts, and dialogues between the Rishis and the Deities, concerning the existence of God, the origin and destiny of the soul, and other kindred topics. They teach the existence of One Invisible Being, and urge subjugation of the senses, and devout contemplation, as the means of obtaining from above intuitive perceptions, which they call

"science," by whose divine agency the human soul is brought into perfect and blessed union with the Supreme One.

In the first two Vedas, there is but a small proportion of this spiritual teaching. The third comprises the most detailed and abstract researches of that description; and even in the fourth, which is not so highly esteemed by European scholars, they occupy more than half the whole book. The Sanhita, or Liturgy, of the first and second Vedas, contains hymns and prayers to be recited at sacrifices, festivals, the consecration of Bramins, the inauguration of kings, and other public ceremonies. Some of them are said to be composed by the ancient Rishis, others are ascribed to various Deities. The hymns of the third Veda are exclusively intended for chanting. The fourth contains more than seven hundred and sixty hymns and prayers. A large proportion are forms of imprecation, for the punishment of the wicked and the destruction of enemies. There are also numerous invocations to the Spirit of the Sun, of the Air, of Water, and of other forces of Nature, to procure rain and good harvests, or to avert sickness and calamity.

The following extracts will serve to give some idea of the more spiritual portions of the Vedas. Where the word science occurs, it must be remembered that the writers intended thereby to express perceptions of divine truth, obtained by immediate revelations from God to the soul.

"Any place where the mind of man can be undisturbed, is suitable for the worship of the Supreme Being."

"The vulgar look for their gods in water; the ignorant think they reside in wood, bricks, and stones; men of more extended knowledge seek them in celestial orbs; but wise men worship the Universal Soul."

"There is One living and true God; everlasting, without parts or passion; of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the Maker and Preserver of all things."

"What and how the Supreme Being is, cannot be ascertained. We can only describe him by his effects and