6 
Mr. Dow, Mr. Sonnerat, Mr. Crawfurd, 
and many others, who have received 
their information from the moft authen- 
tic fources, that the unity of God is the 
fundamental tenet of the Hindoo reli- 
gion, and that Brahma, Veefhnou, and 
Seeva, the three principal forms under 
which the Deitv is worihipped, are only 
emblems, or perfonifications of his attri- 
butes, or modes of operation, under the 
different charaéters of Creator, Pre- 
ferver, and Deftroyer, in which he ex- 
ercifes the powers of preducing, con- 
tinuing, and diffolving the forms of na- 
ture. : : 
The affertion, that no other rational 
account can be given of the general pre- 
Valence of this doctrine in’ Meet but 
that it derived its origin froma the an- 
ceftors of the human race and the He- 
brew Patriarchs, will obtain little credit 
with thofe who do not read this doctrine 
in the Hebrew {criptures. ‘Till clearer’ 
proof is given than is to be found-in the 
“« Indian Antiquities,” that Noah was 
the Fohi of China, and the Menu of [n- 
dia, and that the revelaticn, criginally 
given in Eden, was tran{mitted through 
Afia by his fon Ham, the divine origin 
ef the doétrine cf the Trinity will, not 
be confirmed from the hifory of Indian 
pinlofophy. 
tributes and charaéters which, in India 
and other caftern nations, gave birth te 
a long train of filly fables and grofs fu- 
peritiuions, have been thought by many 
to have been the origin of the Platonie 
‘Prinity, and, through Plato’s writings, 
to have occafioned the introduétion of 
this notion into the Chriftian church (1). 
But it’ is net my intention to lead your 
Mifcellany with the leaden weight of the 
trinitarian controverfy. I only mean to 
enter a caveat againfi the impofing dog- 
matifm of a writer, whofe eafy faith 
finds the Hebrew jed (2) in the knot of 
the Indian xeuzar, or iripie cord which 
girds the loins of the Bramins, and ad- 
mits that Confucius, by divine infpira- 
tion, prediéted the advent of the Mef- 
fiah in Paleftine ; and whofe forward 
zeal, or faftidious delicacy, has induced 
him to refer the worfhip of the Lingam 
in Endia to a Hebrew origin (3). * Con- 
fidered.”” fays Mr. M. © in a theological 
point of view, and writing in a country 
profelling Chriftianity, I truft I have 
SS a Res 
(1) See Bruckeri. Philof, Hift. Crit. lib. vi. 
€. 1, 2. or Dr. Enfield’s Abridgement, vol. ii. 
p-271. (2) p. 739. (3) p. 271. 
Dr. ‘Fortin and Vincent Bourne. 
[ Feb. . 
referred fo indecent a devotion to its érué 
fource, the turpitude of Ham, whofe 
Cuthine progeny introduced it-into Hin- 
doftan. The brevity i have obferved on 
the fubjeé, has proceeded from choice, 
and not from ignorance of the extenfive 
and deeply phyfical nature of the fub- 
jet (4).”’—In a country not Chriftian, 
and ina point of view not theological, it 
thould feem, then, that the author could 
have found azo‘ber true fource of this fu-_ 
perftition——Am I wrong in hinting to. 
young people, that Mr. Maurice’s, * In- 
dian Antiquities’ fhould be read with 
caution ? 
CaTus, 
SSE ee - 
Ie the Ed:tors of the Monthly Magazine. 
GENTLEMEN, 
THE foliowing folution of aliterary 
difficulty, from a friend to your Un- 
dertaking, is at your jervice for imfer- 
tion, if iuihciently important, In your 
intended Mifcellany. 
Hackney, Feb. 3, 4796, G. We 
A LATIN ode, entitled * Votum,” and 
beginning with the line 
“ Qualis per nemorum nigra filentia,” 
is found in the Colle€tign of Dr. Jortin’s 
Latin Poems, publifhed by himfelf, ig 
his hfe-time, and among the traéts pub- 
lithed by his fon fince his death: and 
the fame ode occurs alfo in page 314 of 
Vincent Bourne’s Poems, in quarto; of. 
which Mr. Jortin, in the edition of his 
father’s tracts juft mentioned, expreffes 
his furprize, with an appearance of re- 
fentment. He, as every other to whom 
I have mentioned the circumftance, 
feems not to have been apprized of the 
fource ot this apparent plagiarifm, which 
has contributed to make doubtful the 
proper author of the poem in queftion, 
The following fuggeftions will, I think, 
furnifh a fatisfactory folution of the 
difficulty : 
The pofthumous edition of Vincent 
Bourne’s poems, from the lift of {ub. 
{cribers, and from a letter inferted at 
page 321 of that volume, may be pre- 
fumed to have been publithed for the 
benefit of his family; and with this 
purpofe, a wifh to enlarge the volume 
as much as pofhble was probably can- 
nected. Now, in the frit publication 
of Bourne’s Poems, of which I have a 
copy, in 1721, under the title of ‘* Car- 
mina Comitialia Cantabrigienfia,’ the 
(4) Pref. p. 109. 
eich ode. 
