«70 ON THE RELIGION AND 



" lot of evil deeds : but whoever beftows alms, 

 " pra6tires the ten virtues, and adores god and the 

 " Rahans, will obtain the lot of good deeds. In 

 " the fecond place, in the fame manner as the 

 *'• fliadow and body are infeparable, fo during all 

 *' the fuccefiive deilrutlions of future worlds, thefe 

 " lots of good and evil infeparably follow all living 

 " beings, and are the fufticient caufcs of all the 

 " good and evil, by which thefe beings are effeQed : 

 " from thefe lots beings are born noble, or ignoble; 

 " from them men pafs into animals, or into Nat. 

 " This is the do61rine revealed by Godama, and 

 " it is called the doftrine of Sammadeitti. This 

 " dotlrine is the great Megnap, or nail, which com- 

 *' pletely plucks forth from the minds of men the 

 " thorns of the dcitti. O ye mafters and wife men 

 " of all nations, Armenians^ EngUpi^ French^ and 

 " Dutch^ proclaim it to all living beings ! 



" Q^. Did thefe fix falfe gods, who taught that it n 

 " good to honour our parents and teachers, to 

 *' fuflfer heat, cold, and the like, receive no benefit 

 '' by the performance of fuch aftions ? 



'•• A. As when any one eats bitter fruit, which he 

 *' fuppofes to be fweet, in the aft of eating he does 

 *' not find it fweet, but on the contrary bitter : or 

 *' as when any one drinks mortal poifon, thinking 

 " it to be a valuable medicine, his fo thinking 

 *' does not prevent his death : fo it is with thefe 

 " fix deitii, who pretended to be gods, and did not 

 " abjure their do6lrine ; although they endured 

 " hunger, thirft, heat, and cold, thinking fuch to 

 '*• be good, yet have they received no advantage, 

 " but have paffed into the infernal regions, where 

 '* they fuffer many evils and tortures. Therefore, 

 " O ye teachers of the EngliJJi^ Armenians^ Dutch, 

 " and others, and ye the wife men of all nations, 

 " take heed to the above example, and like lights 

 " in a dark place teach others, who wander in the 

 " errors of the deitti, fo that they may efcape from 

 " thefe, as from an inhofpitable and defert path, 

 " and arrive at the ample and itraight road of the 

 " true dotlrinc and faith. " Q. What 



