extent, and that it did not bear the form of a mountain, as had been at first imagined, and that the Spirit of the Deity was not abiding in hills only, but was extant in other parts of the creation also. The symbol, the hill, was deemed to be inadequate, and another sought. Relinquishing that primal idea, that the world was the hill of the Garden, the next likely to be entertained was the idea that it was an extended plain, the hill of the Garden being central and pre-eminent. Some of the most ancient authorities of Holy Writ give this idea of the surface of the earth.

The author of the book of Job represents the Deity enquiring of the woeful sufferer, "Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth?" The question is apt on the supposition that the earth is an extended plain, but not so if it were of any other form. The same idea of the extended plain of the earth is occasionally noticed by other writers, even down to the time when the book of the Revelations was written. The epithets, broad and wide, are of continual occurrence, and familiarize the idea.

That the earth was not of unlimited extent, is signified by the frequent mention of the borders of the earth. Other texts mention the ends of the earth, and the ends of heaven; others, a measure longer than the earth, broader than the sea. All these authorities most assuredly represent the earth as being a plain, varied indeed with hills and mountains, but lying within the general level of the same horizon.

The form of this plain is rarely noticed, but there are two texts which describe it as being a square. Isaiah declares, that at some certain time "the Lord shall gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth."k The Evangelist declares, in the book of the Revelations, that he saw in his prophetic visions, "four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the

Job xxxviii. 18. Revelation xx. 9.

k Isaiah xi. 12.

earth." The division of the horizon by the four cardinal points must have been made upon the supposition, that the earth was a square, and that the points of the in the direction of the lines dividing the horizon.

square.

square were

The idea that the earth is a level surface, and of a square form, is so likely to have been entertained by persons of little experience and limited observation, that it may be justly supposed to have prevailed generally in the early ages of the world. It must, however, have been at the same time plainly obvious, that the earth was a body solid as well as This conviction naturally suggested the idea that it must resemble and bear the form of a cube, which, of all other solids, accorded best with that stability which, from the course of the seasons and motions of the heavenly bodies, it appeared to possess. Such was the firm belief of many of the early nations of mankind; and, as appears from many remains of antiquity, the cube was made the emblem of stability. To the vulgar and untaught eye, the heaven or sky above the earth appears to be coextensive with the earth, and to take the same form, inclosing a cubical space, of which the earth was the base, the heaven or sky the upper surface. Led by appearances, it was inferred that the form of the earth beneath the mundane surface was a cube also, whose base was an extended area or country into which the dead entered when they returned to the earth out of which they had been taken. According to this theory the universe was composed of two cubes, the one imposed upon the other; the whole forming a quadrangular column, or parallelopiped, of height double the side of the base.

This ancient idea of the form of the world or universe is exhibited by the following texts of Holy Writ. The royal Psalmist, asserting the ubiquity of the Deity, writes, "If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in

1 Revelation vii. 1.

hell, thou art there also."m It is here supposed that the earth, the abode of man, is situate between the two regions, heaven and hell. The former of these two regions the royal writer notices as being a chamber above the earth. "He (the Deity) watereth the hills from his chambers." These chambers are supposed to rest upon beams, as the chambers of a house. "Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters."o The prophet Amos, signifying the unbounded power of the Deity, represents him speaking thus: "Though they dig into hell, thence shall my hand take them; though they climb into heaven, thence will I bring them down."P

These authorities shew that the world was commonly believed to consist of three areas, or floors, of vast extent, rising in succession the one above the other; the whole forming a double cube, as already stated. Having thus exhibited the opinions entertained by the writers of Holy Writ, the theories of other scriptures not less ancient demand attention.

The records contained in the voluminous books of the Sastra or Shaster, the name by which the body of scriptures esteemed holy by the Brahmens of Hindosthan is known, claim attention next to those books which are regarded as holy by the christian, that is, by the civilized world. Relying on the authority of Sir William Jones, one of the most excellent and learned Englishmen that ever entered the Indian provinces, those books may be received as the most ancient writings now extant next to the books of the Pentateuch, if they be not coeval with, or even anterior to them. Indeed it were not an extravagant assumption, were it held that some of those books are among those first written after the invention of letters; and farther, that the divine Providence gave the pen into the hand of the Hebrew lawgiver, to faithfully record the purport of the patriarchal

m Psalm cxxxix. 8. n Psalm civ. 13.

o Ibid. 3.

P Amos ix. 2.

traditions, then in hazard of being corrupted and confused by the writings of idolaters. It was the same dispensation which did command the utter extirpation of the Canaanites, the only means by which the current of idolatry could be checked in its course, and its overflowing streams prevented from overwhelming the whole world, drowning in oblivion the religion of truth and the knowledge and the name of the true God. That the books of Moses should have been intended to oppose and counteract the earliest books of the Sastra, will not deserve to be regarded as a supposition altogether extravagant, when it is known that the intelligent and pious Bishop of Calcutta found, even at the commencement of the discharge of his episcopal functions, that in the provinces of Hindosthan all the licentious and all the cruel rites, even the human sacrifices, of the Canaanites, are now in practice in that extensive and populous region, under the sanction of the Sastra. It is far from being a visionary supposition, that but for the barrier of the law of Moses, strengthened by the awful extirpation of the Canaanites, the authority of the Sastra might have been at this day established even in our own islands.

The observation of the Bishop will not fail to invite the attention of all persons who can be pleased by curious enquiry. Indeed, the subject ought to be regarded with peculiar interest by every person belonging to the empire of Great Britain, because she now holds the sceptre of command over one hundred millions of people, of whom the greater part are disciples of the Sastra. These millions, who justly deserve the title of fellow-subjects, may possibly be converted by us from their errors; but the work will not be effected by the hand of violence which has been laid in vain on the disciples of the Sastra by their Mahommedan conquerors: but if it ever be effected-and Providence having afforded the opportunity of the trial, may be said to have imposed the obligation of the attempt-if ever the conversion

be effected, it will be wrought by the civilization of the mind, by the communication of useful knowledge, and by acts of kindness. Such a course may gain their esteem, win their affection, and bring them by degrees to consider and understand our literature, our philosophy, and lastly, the powerful evidences of the truth of the christian religion.

The christian advocate will be ill able to promote this good work, until he shall be made acquainted with the errors against which he may have to contend. It will be a particular object in this treatise, to develope, as occasion may serve, the dogmas and doctrines which at present delude the Hindu, and which teach him to regard with religious contempt the governors whom he notwithstanding duteously obeys. In this undertaking, the first step will be to make known to the European the doctrines and theories connected with a symbolical eminence, called in the Sastra Mount Merù, the supposed abode of gods, and the paradise of departed and beatified spirits. This subject will be interesting to every christian reader, because the circumstances recited in the accounts of the Mount are evidently borrowed from the records of our sacred history of the garden of Eden, the happy abode of Adam till the fall. This evident resemblance being found in books which till now have never been compared, may justly, or rather, must be regarded as an ample confirmation of the accuracy and truth of the Mosaic history.

The Brahmens affirm, on the authority of the Sastra, that among the Himalaya mountains situate on the north of their country, certainly the highest mountains on the face of our globe, there is one known by the name of Merù, whose summit is the abode of gods and beatified spirits. The Bishop of Calcutta reports that one of these is really distinguished by that name; that it is twenty-three thousand feet high; but yet less high than some others among which, and not from Merù, the river Ganges actually takes its rise. 9

Heber's Travels, vol. ii. chap. xviii. pp. 209, 223.