676 
the way of itsremoval. The cruelty of 
the Hindoos, like that of the Mexicans, 
is no doubt attributable to the bloody 
rites of their religion: “ thousands of 
human victims have been thrown to 
smoke on the polluted altars of their hor- 
rid deities; deities, whose crimes, if upon 
éarth, society could not endure; and those 
bosoms, which have been fondly ima- 
gined the asylum of love, of meekness, 
and humanity, are found to be the recep- 
tacles of every debasing crime, and every 
malignant passion.” ‘The abjectness of 
the Hindoo is moreover confirmed by the 
secondary influence of that institution, 
which obtained, before the records of 
authentic history, the institution of casts, 
by which the station of every individual 
is irrevocably fixed, and * the walk of life 
marked out, from which he must never 
deviate, and v*hose barriers it would be 
impious to pass.” An institution like 
this, it is clear, must deaden every noble 
faculty of the mind, it must smother 
every spark of ambition, and nip every 
bud of genius. The expertness acquired 
in some of their manufactures, is scarcely 
worthy to be mentioned in the consider- 
ation of this subject. 
«¢ Tf we examine,” says Mr. Martin, 
* into the capacity pecrfliar to the Asi- 
atics, we shall find them to possess a larger 
portion of ability than is generally sup- 
osed. Indeed we have every reason to sup- 
pose, that the sun of science, as well as 
of religion, first arose upon the eastern 
world; and that the polished nations of Eu- 
rope, who now excel antiquity in arts, and 
vie with it in arms, are indebted to Asia for 
their cultivation, and many of their best at- 
tainments. ‘The Asiatics, it is probable, had 
climbed the heights of science before the 
Greeks had learned their alphabet ; and while: 
the forests of Europe were stocked with a 
few wild, uncultivated savages, these were 
collected into populous cities, the seats of 
atts, of luxury, and of despotism, Asia too 
has given birth to some of the greatest mo- 
narchies of the world; to that of the Assy- 
rians, the Medes, and the Persians. The 
foundations of astronomy are said to have 
been laid in Babylon; and from the Magi of 
Persia, Pythagoras is declared to, have ac- 
quired the principles of that knowledge, 
which procured him the applause and vene- 
ration of the Greeks. Hindoostan was infi- 
nitely more enlightened than it is at this day, 
and its inhabitants a civilized, a commercial, 
-and even a warlike people; and at the time 
that the Greeks imagined themselves the only 
great people upon earth, Confutsee had plant- 
“ed morality and good government in China. 
Thus we see that literature, taste, and sci- 
ence originated in Asia, and bya gradual dif 
MISCELLANIES. -—.. ; 
fusion, in the course of time spread them 
selves over Greece and Italy. Such then 
having been once the state of the sciences 
and arts among the Asiaties, it cannot be un- 
reasonable to suppose, that their ability still 
remains unhurt and vigorous ; and that those 
sparks of genius, hitherto smothered or en- 
feebled by the noxious climate of oppression, 
might, under the congenial eat of a 
milder government, and more favourable laws, 
again be fanned into a flame.” 
Many specimens of ancient architecs 
ture still remain; the chief edifices were 
erected for religious purposes, and, acs 
cording to Mr. Newnham, attract admi- 
ration, merely from the time and labour 
necessary for their construction, the ar- 
chitecture possessing little merit either 
for regularity or elegance. Astronomy 
and the sciences, he continues, were for- 
merly studied in Hindoostan, but they. 
seem to have been known: only to the 
Brahmins, and by the indolence of that 
race they are now almost forgotten. 
«« Tf the arts had been carried to a high de- 
gree of perfection, sume traces of that perfec- 
tion would have remained; but we find the 
mechanical instruments of the native, simple 
and unimproved, and his tools for agriculture 
and building, such as a nation emerging from 
a state of nature would’ first have invented. 
I mean not to assert, that many of the arts 
known and esteemed in Europe, have not had 
their origin in this country. Jt is probable 
that Hindoostan was one of the first coun- 
tries which emerged from barbarism; but 
there is no appearance of its having at any 
former time greatly excelled that degree of ci- 
vilization, such as itis, which exists at this 
day.” 
* * * 
«« The Indians at present under the Bri- 
tish dominion, particularly those near the 
seats of government, appear inclined to dis- 
miss many of their prejudices. The richer 
Hindoos, in particular, aflect to despise many 
of their former customs, to which the de-, 
structive persecutions of the Mahomedans 
only served to rivet their affections; they, 
however, rather copy the follies than the 
virtues of Europeans, and endeavour to excel 
them iv luxury and expence, ‘rather than in 
knowledge. They have acquired che same 
freedom of behaviour, without the generosity 
and independence of spirit; and they are 
more eager in the acquirement of riches, with- 
out the same enterprize and honesty of prin- 
ciple. ‘To over-reach the stranger by the 
lowest artifices of despicable chicane and in- 
trigue, is considered by the trading Hindoo 
as-his calling. If the passions have not the 
same influence over him as over the more 
vigorous and impetuous European, the influ- 
ence of the virtues is still less; 1f he is less 
quick i resenting injuries, he is utterly in- 
