IS 



dispersed : receive thy share of him, who has now taken an ever- 

 lasting flight ! 



Eastern and western philosophers seem to coincide in senti- 

 ment respecting this disposition of the human frame at its disso- 

 lution : at least the authoT of the Night Thoughts has thus beau- 

 tifully expressed himself on a similar subject. 



" The moist of human frame the sun exhales ; 

 " Winds scatter, through the mighty void, the- dry ; 

 " Earth repossesses part of what she gave; 

 " And the freed spirit mounts on wings of fire : 

 " Each element partakes our scattered spoils ; 

 " As nature, wide, our ruins spread ! — Man's death 

 " Inhabits all things, but the thought of Man ! Young. 



In the brahminical benediction at the commencement of Sa- 

 contala, the Hindoo system of philosophy is still more enlarged, 

 and contains a beautiful part of their mythology. " Water was 

 the first work of the Creator, and fire receives the oblations or- 

 dained by law ; the sacrifice is performed with solemnity: the two 

 lights of heaven distinguish time; the subtle ether, which is the 

 vehicle of sound, pervades the universe; the earth is the natural 

 parent of all increase; and by air all things breathing are ani- 

 mated: may Isa, the god of nature, apparent in these eight forms, 

 bless and sustain you !" 



I have occasionally mentioned the most striking features in the 

 moral and religious character of the Hindoos. It would be end- 

 less to enter into the various shades of caste and different cere- 

 monials observed among them; nor are they of importance to an 

 English reader. One doctrine which I have not particularly ad- 



