20 



when he asserts that " the thunder of Jupiter, the &>gis of Minerva, 

 the trident of Neptune, the torches and snakes of the Furies, 

 together with the whole heathen theology, are all fable; which the 

 legislators who formed the political constitution of stales, employ 

 as bugbears to overawe the credulous and simple." 



Among my Hindoo visitors at Dhuboy, I have frequently heard 

 liberal and intelligent men express themselves almost in the very 

 words of Jesswant Sihng, the Hindoo rajah, who wrote the follow- 

 ing letter to the emperor Aurungzebe, a prince of a most fanati- 

 cal and persecuting spirit: it is deservedly preserved by Orme in 

 his valuable history. 



" Your royal ancestor, Abker, whose throne is now in heaven, 

 conducted the affairs of this empire in equity and firm security, for 

 the space of fifty years; preserving every tribe of men in ease and 

 happiness, whether they were followers of Jesus or of Moses, of 

 David or of Mahomed ; were they brahmins of the sect of Dha- 

 rians, they all equally enjoyed his countenance and favour: inso- 

 much that his people, in gratitude for the indiscriminate protection 

 which he afforded them, distinguished him by the appellation of 

 Juggut-Grow, guardian of mankind. If your majesty places any 

 faith in those books, by distinction called divine, you will there 

 be instructed that God is the God of all mankind ; not the God 

 of Mahomedans alone. The Pagan and the Mussulman are equally 

 in his presence; distinctions of colour are of his ordination: it is 

 he who gives existence. In your temple, to his name, the voice 

 is raised in prayer; in a house of images, where the bell is shaken, 

 still he is the object of adoration. To vilify the relioion and 

 customs of other men, is to set at naught the pleasure of the Al- 



