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NOTES TO THE CANNA INDICA. 



■ Where sacred Ganges.] The Ganges has been celebrated in all ages not only on account of the clearness of its water, which does not 

 become putrid, though kept for years, as also for its sanctity. This water is conveyed to great distances, being esteemed necessary in the 

 performance of certain religious ceremonies. All parts of the Ganges are said to be holy, but some particular parts are accounted to be more 



so than others, to which places thousands resort at certain seasons of the year, in order to purify themselves. Fide Maurice s Indian 



Antiquities, Vol. I. p. 239. 



f Arching shades.] Poetry and painting are called kindred arts; but the former oftentimes rises superior to the powers of the latter. 

 Thus Virgil's description of Fame : 



" Now Fame, tremendous fiend! without delay, 

 Through Lybian cities took her rapid way; 

 Fame, the swift plague, that every moment grows, 

 And gains new strength and vigour as she goes. 

 First small with fear, she swells to wond'rous size, 

 And stalks on earth, and tow'rs above the skies; 

 Whom, in her wrath, to heav'n, the teeming earth 

 Produc'd the last of her gigantic birth; 

 A monster huge, and dreadful to the eye, 

 With rapid feet to run, or wings to fly, 

 Beneath her plumes the various fury bears 

 A thousand piercing eyes and list'ning ears; 

 And with a thousand mouths and babbling tongues appears 

 Thund'ring by night through heav'n and earth she flies, 

 No golden slumbers seal her watchful eyes; 

 On tow'rs or battlements she sits by day, 

 And shakes whole realms with terror and dismay." 



Thus we could not introduce in our back-ground the Ficus Religiosa, or Indian Fig-tree, (called so from its producing a delicious fruit 

 of a bright scarlet colour, shaped like a fig,) overshadowing one of the noblest rivers in India. This tree rises at first much higher than our 

 tallest oaks, and then sends out from the top lateral branches, and from thence drop other branches, which, reaching the ground, take root 

 and become trees, so that the canopy above continually extends, and furnishes new supports; thus constituting a forest of a singletree, under 

 the shade of which 10,000 persons have been known, upon religious occasions, to repose. Milton's account of this tree is equally correct 

 and sublime. 



" So counsell'd he, and both together went 

 Into the thickest wood ; there soon they chose 

 The fig-tree; not that tree for fruit renown'd, 

 But such as at this day to Indians known, 

 In Malabar and Decan spreads her arms, 

 Branching so broad and long, that in the ground 

 The bended twigs take root, and daughters grow 

 About the mother tree, a pillar d shade, 

 High overarched, and echoing walks between; 

 There oft the Indian herdsman, shunning heat, 

 Shelters in cool, and tends his pasturing herds." 



Par. Lost, Book ix. 



% Benares lofty towers.] Benares is one of the most ancient cities of Indostan ; and besides various temples dedicated to almost innumerable 

 deities (the fancies of the mind), it once boasted a pagoda (or sacred temple) of an immense size, in the centre of the city. This was situate close 

 to the shore of the Ganges, into which stream, according to the account of Tavernier, a regular flight of steps descend, leading directly down 

 from the gates of the pagoda. The body of this temple is constructed in the form of a vast cross, allusive to the four elements, with a very high 

 cupola in the centre of the building, but somewhat pyramidal towards the summit; and at the extremity of every one of the four parts of the 

 cross there is a tower, to which there is an ascent on the outside, with balconies at stated distances, affording delightful views of the city, the 

 river, and adjacent country. That execrable spirit of bigotry, which actuated the mind of Aurengzeb, prompted that remorseless persecutor 

 of the Hindoo faith to pollute this venerable fabric, and insult the religion of Brahma in its most ancient sanctuary. After having committed 

 in the sanctuary the most wanton acts of atrocity, he levelled this venerable pagoda with the ground, and erected over its very site two lofty 

 Mahommedan minarets, or mosques, the height of the former pagoda, which Mr. Forster, in his elegant but concise account of this city, says, 

 " at the distance of eight miles, strongly attracts the eye of the traveller who approaches Benares on the river from the east quarter, and 

 which, from their elevated height, seem to look down with triumph and exultation on the humbled pride and degraded devotion of this' once 

 flourishing city and university." Fide Maurice's Indian Antiquities, Vol. III. p. 32. 



HINDOO THEOLOGY. 



§ To Brahma pours.] The subject is so extremely interesting, that of the great God himself, the author of our being, omniscient, omni- 

 present, and omnipotent, that the reader will forgive our entering widely here into the discussion of primitive religion, in order to prove that 

 in all Nations the wise have worshipped one only supreme God, but the vulgar the pictures of his attributes. 



The wisest among the Hindoos believe that there exists one supreme God, whom they denominate Brahme, the Highest. He is repre- 

 sented with four heads, as denoting omnipresence and omniscience; and he is the father of Brahma, Veesnu, and Seeva, a trinitarian 

 god, most probably alluding to the actions of creating, upholding, and annihilating, or changing. This trinity of the godhead, armed with 

 almighty power, is represented in sculpture with three heads. The countenances of Brahma and Veesnu are placid and smiling; and that 

 of Seeva severe and vengeful. They occasionally, according to their creed, separate into their respective persons, and Veesnu has'appeared, 

 following their tradition, nine several times, on earth, for the sake of mankind. 



In the Geeta, or holy book, there will be found this sublime address to Brahme. " Thou, O mighty Being, art greater than Brahma 

 Veesnu, and Seeva, the prime Creator, the eternal God, the God of gods. Thou art incorruptible, distinct from all other substances, for these! 





