1825.] 
the divinity, who descend from the 
Himalaya mountains, subduing giants 
and eyilgenii.. Thejr astronomical tables, 
as has been lately proved, are of a com- 
paratively recent period, 
There are, however, some very pure 
sources from which a Hindoo history 
and chronology might be drawn, viz, the 
innumerable ancient inscriptions which 
are found in all parts of the country. 
They have, for the most part, been col- 
lected by the late Colonel Mackenzie, 
and are now in the hands of the Hast- 
India Company, A publication of them 
would be more valuable than of all the 
Védas and Pooranas taken together, of 
which a few specimens are sufficient to 
give us an opinion, The same observa- 
tions, that I have just made on the his- 
torical chasm among the Hiadoos, may 
be equally applied to all the nations 
who have embraced their religion, unless 
where its effects were counteracted by 
Chinese civilization. The Tibetans, how- 
ever, seem to have historical documents, 
as high as the beginning of our era, At 
that period, the religion of Buddha was 
introduced into Tibet, and with it the 
art of writing, without which history is 
impossible. But the history of a nation 
so secluded as the Tibetans, between 
their steep mountains and deserts, would 
be of little interest to the general history 
of the human race, were it not that 
Tibetan priests introduced their religion 
among the savage nations of modern 
Asia, and thus humanized a set of bar- 
barians. Thus, Tibet has, by a purified 
branch of the religion of Hindoostan, 
tamed the character of the Mongols, 
formerly the rayagers of the world. It 
is true that the worship of Buddha had 
spread before to Kashgar, Khotan, and 
other countries of central Asia; but 
the inyasions,of the hordes coming from 
the East, and subsequently the progress 
of Islamism, had caused it to disappear 
from among them again. 
» (To be continued.) 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
Sin: 
KNOW that your motto is Salus 
populi.suprema lex, and, that you 
will freely give admission to any recipe 
that will restore or support it into your 
excellent and widely-spread Miscel- 
lany. 1 wish to direct your attention 
to the condition of Ireland, and_ re- 
commend a prescription for its cure. 
That country forms no small or mean 
of the strength of the empire: yet 
it is generally neglected, or its com- 
Montuty Mac.—No. 404. 
Remarks on the present State of Ireland. 
513 
plaints attended to in a manner that 
only serves farther to expose them, 
without a hope, even, that commen- 
surate good will ever be afforded, | Tra- 
vellers into the south, without being 
masters of the art, can depict scenes 
that would harrow up the soul; they 
can shew whole families without habita- 
tions, or the youth of the country in 
crowds, congregated from want of em- 
ployment, dropping successively to the 
earth, destitute of what the English 
peasant would turn from—the exclusive 
potatoe meal.* It is impossible for the 
human mind to conceive all the varieties 
of wretchedness that the forlorn Irish 
endure, and often patiently. It has 
been said, and it is believed, that the 
government of England turns a deaf ear 
to their petitions: they have seen this 
in 
* If this were always to be lad, and 
they had clothes, however coarse and mean, 
to protect them from inclemencies of 
the weather, and fuel for the hearths of 
their chimneyless, mud-built cabins, their 
condition would not, by them, be thought 
deplorable; for the potato is a wholesome 
and nutritious root, and it is to be ques- 
tioned whether the Irish peasant would 
exchange it for our wheaten bread. But 
we have seen them thronging both the 
streets and roads, shivering in such wretched 
shreds and strips of filthy rags (women and 
men), as rendered, their state even more 
obscene than nakedness; receiving with 
hungry avidity, yet sharing with fraternal 
sympathy among their equally miserable 
compatriots, the offal leaves of vegetables 
and the parings of potatoes, from the chari- 
table door. And we have collected, on the 
spot, in the respective neighbourhoods of 
Dublin, Cork, Limerick, &c., the well- 
attested facts of whole families of these our 
wretched brethren, haying existed, or drag- 
ged on, rather, the decrepid and miserable 
shadow of existence, week after week, with 
no other food or sustenance than the weeds 
and nettles they could gather from the dikes 
and hedges, to boil in their else useless 
skillets. And yet this was not at the time 
of that great dearth, as it was called, when 
we, on this happier side of the Channel, 
were, at the same instant, receiving ‘ship- 
Joads of every species of edible produce, 
from the estates and lands of Ireland, and 
subscribing our shillings and our pounds 
to redeem from the extremity of famine 
the very peasantry by whose toil the ex- 
portable superfluity had been produced.— 
Oh! “there is something rotten in the state 
of Ireland,” which neither the repeal of the 
proseriptive and degrading Catholic restric- 
tions, nor the specific of our correspondent, 
how, desirable soever both may be, can 
efficiently remedy.—Enprr. 
3 U 
