the peace of a Hindoo; con ten ted \y he adopts the rites and cere- 
monies of his forefathers, believes in their tenets, performs his 
stated ablutions, and keeps the appointed festivals: nor by free 
inquiries, and freer opinions, does he disturb the peace of others, 
or permit them to interrupt his own. 
It is not then in Hind os tan that we are to look for the perfec- 
tion of art and science, for eminent statesmen, and sage philoso- 
phers.: but the Hindoos, who reside at a distance from capital 
cities, still preserve much of that simplicity of manners fancied by 
the poets in the golden age: and seem, more than any other people 
now existing, to realize the innocent and peaceful mode of life, which 
they ascribe to that happy sera. When I saw the Brahmin women 
of distinction drawing water at the village wells, and tending their 
cattle to the lakes and rivers, the}' recalled the transactions of the 
patriarchal days. Very often have I witnessed a scene similar to 
that between Abraham’s servant and Rebekah, at the entrance of a 
Hindoo village in Guzerat. “ He made his camels to kneel down 
“ without the city, by a well of water, at the time of the evening, 
“ even the time when the women go out to draw water: and behold 
•“ Rebekah came with her pitcher on her shoulder; and the damsel 
“ was very fair to look upon: and she went down, and filled her 
“ pitcher, and came up. And the servant said unto her, Let me 
drink, I pray thee: and she said, Drink, and I will give thy ca- 
u mels drink also: and she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into 
5< the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew 
“ for all the camels.” The Hindoo damsels of the present day 
live in as much simplicity as those formerly in Mesopotamia; they 
