157 
of " The Hindoos" has, from Mr. Colebrooke , s Essays, 
briefly noticed the systems of philosophy which are 
considered orthodox by the Hindoos, because consistent 
with the theology of the Vedas ; as the two Mimansa 
schools: others, incompatible with their sacred writings, are 
deemed by them heretical ; such are the Nyaya and the 
Vaiseshika system : others, again, are partly heterodox, 
and partly conformable to the established Hindoo creed ; 
such are the Sankhya and Yoga. " The Nyaya, of which 
Gotama is the acknowledged author, furnishes a philoso- 
phical arrangement, with strict rules of reasoning, not 
unaptly compared to the dialectic of the Aristotelian 
school." While Kanade, the reputed author of the Vaise- 
shika, maintained, like Democritus, the doctrine of 
Atoms. (The Hindoos, ii. p. 317-321.) 
My friend, Sir Graves Haughton, in his exposition of 
the Vedanta philosophy, has stated with respect to their 
philosophy, that " the androgynous characteristic of male 
and female principles, which is at the bottom of all Hindoo 
metaphysical systems, as well as the tendency of the lan- 
guage to personification and realism, has given a bias 
to their philosophy, which could not be corrected even by 
the wonderful power and acuteness of their metaphysicians. 
But for the taint arising from these causes, the system 
contained in Manu would be almost perfect : and if its 
unfathomable antiquity be also considered, it must be 
allowed to be the most extraordinary effort ever made by 
the mind of man. It is the undoubted prototype of every 
subsequent system, of which we have any knowledge, 
whether we call them Hindoo, Chinese, Egyptian, Persian, 
Chalda?an, or European, which are all but distorted and 
mutilated copies of this one grand, simple, and original 
conception, already given in one line. 1. God ; — 2. Mind ; 
— 3. Consciousness ; — 4. Matras; — 5. Elements." "Matras 
