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from the moderate computation which the Mosaic writings give 
concerning the age of the world; that before this limited period, 
we see nothing but cycles of artificial construction, and an im- 
mense space of unoccupied vacuity. We have seen, that the first 
event, which its records clearly and unequivocally attest, is the 
renovation of the present world from destruction by a flood; and 
that the modern Hindoos, however solicitous to conceal or deny 
the fact, can never rationally explain many of their fables, but b}^ 
an allusion to this catastrophe. In the sequel of our researches, a 
striking coincidence has been discovered, between the geography 
of the Puranas, and the Mosaical account of the origin and settle- 
ment of nations, branching from three different stocks: and the 
geography of the Puranas, however disfigured by wild allegory, is 
in many instances, strikingly confirmed by the Grecian historians 
and geographers. In the last place, we have attempted to shew, 
that man was never left by his Creator without some revelation to 
direct his steps; and what that revelation was, what promises it 
unfolded, and what doctrines it was designed to inculcate, may 
be collected from the concise information contained in the history 
of Moses, compared with those traditions, which are yet to be 
discovered in all the mythologies of the ancient, world.’' 
“ In contemplating the moral character of the Hindoos, as taking 
its complexion from their religion, we observe, that as their super- 
stitious ritual presents a strange mixture of images, sanguinary and 
voluptuous, an intimate union between obscene mirth and austere 
devotion; so the manners of its followers have been actuated by 
contending and contradictory principles; a circumstance which 
T 
