9 
gant to the last degree, and whose ritual is a complete 
subversion of common sense. Retire, however, for a few 
moments behind the comparatively modern forms of Hindoo 
mythology, and enter into some of its more primitive recesses. 
Look, for example, into the ancient Vedas,- and observe in how 
much more pure and refined an atmosphere of thought you at 
once begin to stand. Everywhere throughout these sacred 
books there is a distinct acknowledgment of one Supreme 
God, whom they style Brahm ; describing Him and invoking 
Him in terms of almost inspired wisdom. Take one descrip- 
tion of Him as a specimen of many, — 
Perfect truth, perfect happiness, without equal, immortal, absolute unity, 
whom neither speech can describe nor mind comprehend, all-pervading, all- 
transcending, delighted with His own boundless intelligence, not limited to 
space or time ; without feet, moving swiftly ; without hands, grasping all 
worlds ; without ears, understanding all ; without cause, the first of all 
causes.* 
After this quotation I need say nothing more. Sounding 
out like a voice of holy protest against the grotesque and 
hideous idolatry of more modern Brahminism, does it not 
speak to us, from the remote ages of the past, of primitive 
truth and primeval civilization, rather than of rude and savage 
barbarism ? 
The same conclusion is forced upon us, whether we will or 
not, in reference to the ancient empire of China. We have 
every reason to believe that before the introduction of Buddhism 
into China, that country was comparatively free from idolatry. 
There exists, for instance, a very ancient Chinese work entitled 
Pokootoo, which extends to sixteen large Chinese volumes, 
containing several hundred pictures (copies of many of which 
I have seen myself) — pictures of vases, jugs, bottles, of 
the Shang, Chow, and Han dynasties, comprehending a period 
of 1 784 years b.c. Now, it is very remarkable that out of nine 
hundred illustrations of such vessels, no small portion of which 
were expressly intended to be used upon the temple altars, 
there is not found one which contains any idolatrous mark. 
This fact is in beautiful harmony with the testimony of 
Martinius, who wrote a learned history of China, and who 
tells us that during that long period “ they used neither 
images nor figures to excite the devotion of the people; 
because, as the deity was everywhere present, it was impos- 
sible, by any external image, properly to represent Him to 
man's senses." Bellamy, too, in his History of all Religions , 
* Coleman’s Hindoo Mythology. 
