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tired life, and applauded virtues of the religious brahmins, at their 

 sacred groves and temples; and was delighted with the patriarchal 

 manners of the natives, at a distance from European settlements, 

 and Mahomedan oppressors. 



In those days Ave had no Asiatic Researches; made few in- 

 quiries into the antiquities of India; and knew but lillle of the 

 mythology and literature of the brahmins. The Institutes of 

 Menu, the Gecta, and Heetopades, the depositaries of their ethics 

 and morality, were not translated. The Sastras and Vedas, the 

 most sacred brahminical volumes, mysteriously concealed from 

 even the lower classes of Hindoos, were veiled still closer from 

 Europeans; the language in which they were written was confined 

 to the priesthood, and strangers seldom interfered with their reli- 

 gious or moral institutions. At the period of my arrival in 17b6, 

 the pursuits of the English in India were chiefly confined to com- 

 merce, or defensive war: the hostilities in Beno-al and the Car- 

 natic had only been lately settled, and the Company's territory 

 and influence were comparatively small. 



After the appointment of Mr. Hastings to the supreme govern- 

 ment of India, in 1774, a new scene opened to the intellectual 

 view; his enlightened mind, corresponding with his exalted station 

 and powerful influence, exerted every means for the acquisition of 

 knowledge, not only in the dominions immediately under his 

 jurisdiction, but in foreign countries; his researches in remote, 

 and hitherto unexplored regions, were rewarded by a rich increase 

 from their treasures of literature, art, and science. In these pur- 

 suits the governor-general was assisted by many eminent charac- 



