272 ON THE GODS OF GREECE, 



of their traditions concerning the creation and the flood 

 were grounded on truth. 



Who was better acquainted with the mythology of 

 Athens than Socrates ? Who more accurately verfed in 

 the Rabbinical doclrines than Paul ? Who poffefled 

 clearer ideas of all ancient aftronomical fyftems than 

 Newton? or of fcholaftical metaphyficks than Locke? 

 In whom could the Roman Church have had a more 

 formidable opponent than in Chillingworth, whofe deep 

 knowledge of its tenets rendered him fo competent to 

 difpute them ? In a word, who more exaftly knew the 

 abominable rites, and (hocking idolatry, of Canaanthan 

 Mofes himfelf ? Yet the learning of thofe great men 

 only incited them to feek other fources of truth, piety, 

 and virtue, than thofe in which they had long been im- 

 merfed. There is no fhadow then of a foundation for 

 an opinion, that Mofes borrowed the firft nine or ten 

 chapters of Genejis from the literature of Egypt : (till 

 lefs can the adamantine pillars of our Chrijhan faith 

 be moved by the refult of any debates on the compara- 

 tive antiquity of the Hindus and Egyptians, or of any 

 inquiries into the Indian Theology. 



Very refpeftable natives have affured me, that one 

 or two miflionaries have been abfurd enough, in their 

 zeal for the converfion of the Gentiles, to urge, " that 

 " the Hindus were even now almoit Chrijlians, becaufe 

 " their Brahma, Vijlinu, and Mahefa, were no other 

 " than the Chrijlian Trinity;" a fentence in which we 

 can only doubt whether folly, ignorance, or impiety, 

 predominates. The three powers, creative, prefervative, 

 and deftruclive,\vh\ch the Hindus exprefs by the triliteral 

 word O'm, were grofsly afcribed by the firft idolaters, to 

 the heat, light and flame of their miflaken divinity the 

 Sun; and their wifer fuccelfors in the Ea(t,who perceived 

 that theSunwas only a created thing, applied thofe powers 

 to its Creator; but the Indian Triad, and that oi Plato, 

 which he calls the Supreme Good ; the Reafon, and the 

 1 Soulj 



