judgment and tafte were faft decaying." He even cenfured Lord Teignmouth for not making a broader difplay of Sir William Jones's republicanism; nay, fome pages before, we are told of his being an advocate for Catholic emancipation, and for the admiffion of Horne Tooke into the Houfe of Commons !

The character of Dr. Paley, with which his biographer concludes his life, is in many effential points juft, particularly his private character, which was truly amiable; but there is throughout, fnch a perpetual ftruggle to force him into the ranks of republicanism and difaffection, that were we to examine it in detail, we should be compelled to fpeak with les tenderness than we could wifh, of a man whofe fame, as a, writer, is unquestionably founded on the bafis of learning, religion, and public ufefulness. Had his life fallen into the hands of one able to appreciate thefe, without a perpetual recurrence to the fentiments and prejudices of a party, Dr. Paley would have certainly appeared in a more favourable light.

He was twice married; firft, in 1776, to Mifs Jane Hewit, a lady of Carlisle who died in 1791, leaving iffue four fons and four daughters; and fecondly, in 1795 to Mifs Dobinfon of Carlisle, by whom he had no children. It is fingular that both his parents furvived to witnefs his great fuccefs in life. His mother lived to the year 1796, and his father to 1799, the former being 83, and the latter 83 years old.

Prefixed to this work, is a well-engraven head of Dr. Paley from a painting by Sir William Beechey, and at the conclufion is an Appendix of Extracts from Dr. P.'s lectures and other documents, not inferted in any of his preceding

volumes.

ART. II.

An Hiftorical Review of the Commercial, Political, and Moral State of Hindostan, c.

[Concluded from p. 105.]

THE refpectable author of the work under review having, in the preceding pages, confidered Hindoftan in a commercial and political point of view, now proceeds to take a moral and religious furvey of the interefting people who are the fubject of his inveftigation. Mr. Chatfield prefaces this large portion of his volume, by taking a fummary retrofpect of the greater part of thofe multiplied fuperftitions which have, at different periods, prevailed in Afia, the worJbip of fire and the ftarry hoft, of good and evil demons, and

their various attributes and fymbols. The peculiar religious rites of the Hindus are then more extenfively detailed, and among them the veftigia of moft of thofe early fuperftitions, together with fome gleams of a nobler creed of faith and worship, are evidently to be traced. The Chinese are too near neighbours of the Indians to be paffed unnoticed in this furvey, and the third chapter of this fecond part is devoted to the investigation of their moral and religious codes; nor are thofe of Thibet and Siam forgotten. As we defcend to the times of Mahomed, the ancient Perfian and Arabian codes come under confideration, and are made introductory to the hiftory of that important revolution which the refiftlefs fword of the Koran finally effected in these regions of Afia.

Of the Arabian fuperftition, fo obfcurely known, previous to the appearance of the impoftor, all the particulars that could be gleaned from Sale, Sir W. Jones, and other the most authentic fources of information, are fedulously collected; and of that celebrated code itfelf, containing fomething plundered from all former codes, he prefents us with the following summary:

"Of the Koran it may be faid, that if it contain many fub. lime expreffions on the being and attributes of the Supreme, its general character is altogether unworthy the high credit which has frequently been attached to it. It abounds with notions the moft abfurd and fantaftic, and with principles the moft impious and contradictory. The whole,' fays an eaftern traveller, is a flat, faftidious compofition, a chaos of unmeaning phrafes, an emphatical exclamation on the attributes of God, from which nothing is to be learned, a collection of puerile tales, and ridiculous fables; nor would it perhaps be dif. ficult to demonftrate, that the convulfions of the governments for the laft 1200 years, and the ignorance of the people in the eaftern quarter of the globe, have originated more or lefs imme diately in the Koran and its morality. The prophet speaks of angels, genii, purgatory, or a place of reft between hell and paradife, of the ftate of the foul, and a refurrection, in terms too monftrous to be defcribed. His day of judgment is a libel against the mercy, and his fenfual paradife, a difgrace to the purity of the Divine Majefty. The ground.work of thefe opinions, is manifeftly to be traced, from purer fources; but the fancy or craft of the Impoftor, has built upon it, a theory, more fuitable, to the warm temper and imagination, of his countrymen. It is not, however, to be denied, that there are degrees of happiness in this paradife, nor are fpiritual pleasures wholly excluded; but fuch delights are not brought to the level of the vulgar, who eagerly feize upon objects palpable and familiar to their fenfes ; they are only formed to captivate the wife and the reflecting; and therefore, among the Mahomedan Doctors, there are fome,

who, to avoid the unfavourable impreffion made by fuch descrip, tions, refer the luxurious images, and grofs conceptions of the Koran, to an allegorical acceptation. Thefe nice difcriminations cannot, however, be made by the ignorant Moflem, who, whilft the choice of fuch pleafures is unattended with evil, and even not contradicted by the plain text of the Koran, will not hesitate to prefer the enjoyments of fenfe, which are obvious and intelli gible, to thofe of pure intellect and refined abstraction.'

"Mahomed was fevere in his prohibition of wine, in the faft of the Ramâdan, in ftated prayers and ablutions, and the abfolute neceffity of the pilgrimage to Mecca; but the unbounded indulgence he allowed his difciples, in matters of more effential importance, amply repaid them for a few trifling corporeal reftraints: God,' fays he to them, is minded to make his religion light unto you, for man is weak.' How different this from the unaccommodating purity of the Gofpel, which charges men not only to have regard to their actions, but even of their very thoughts, fo that they be juft and upright!

"Of the external rites prefcribed by the Koran, it may be obferved, that the fyftem of ablutions was only an improvement, or rather a renewal of the practice of all eaftern nations, with whom, frequent purifications, were as much a religious duty, as an effential requifite of health. The Arabians, the Perfians, the Indians, the Jews, all practifed this rite, and attached to it, peculiar degrees of fanctity. Mahomed carried this practice to the highest pitch of extravagance, imitating, in a great measure, the rigid traditions of the Hebrews. In the Koran, prayer, fafting, and alms, have each a feparate fcale of merit, a ftated appoint ment, and regulation. Prayer,' faid an Arabian Caliph, carries us half-way to God, fafting brings us to the door of his palace, and alms procure us admiffion. The Brahmins feem alfo to have attached the higheft merit to charitable actions, and more especially to thofe, wherein, a Brahmin was concerned, They have artfully adjusted particular degrees of reward, ac cording to the value of the gift, and affigned to their benefactors proportionate durations of blifs, in their celeftial regions.

"The pilgrimage to Mecca grew out of the exceffive vene. ration of the Arabs for the Caâba, or the ftone building in the temple, to which the devout pilgrims, from the moft remote antiquity, had been accustomed to pay a high reverence. All the eastern nations appear to have been anxious, to derive the inftitutes of their religion, from Abraham, whofe name is cele. brated throughout all the Eaft. The Pagan Arabs made this patriarch, the founder of their oratory, and had attached to it the moft fuperftitious ceremonies. The prophet was, however, defirous of abolishing the reverence paid to this place, but he found the ftream of prejudice fo violent in its favour, that he deemed it wifer to convert its fanftity to his own purposes; and thus gain the affection of a powerful tribe, by making it the

refort

refort of his followers. According to one of his traditions, he who dies without performing it, may as well die a Jew or a Chriftian; and the obfervance of this pilgrimage is most ftrictly commanded in the Koran. Nor was this custom merely confined to the Arabs of the Desert, nor to the nations immedi. ately bordering on it; but it was carried by them into all the countries which they had either fubdued as conquerors, or vifited as friends. Pilgrimages, therefore, became frequent from the diftant quarters of the world, and it was not unusual to meet at the facred fhrine, devotees from Spain, the islands of Europe, the hores and interior of Africa, Hindooftan, and the ifles of the eastern ocean. When a Mahomedan king dies,' fays Tavernier, it is the custom for his fucceffor, to fend the great lords of his court to Mecca, with prefents, as well to engage them to pray for the foul of the deceased, as alfo to give thanks to God, and Mahomed, for the coming of a new king to the throne without any impediment, and to pray for the bleffing of victory over all his enemies.' The Portuguese writers mention a fimilar cir cumftance in one of the kings of the coaft, on their firft vifit to India; and nothing has probably more contributed, than the fanctity affixed to the obfervance of this rite, to support the longdeclining credit of the Koran.

"Concerning the multitude of other ceremonies, which the prophet has enjoined to his difciples, he does not attempt to ground them upon any reasonable defign, or to prove their fubferviency to any moral purposes; but contents himself with ftating, that they are arbitrary appointments, not really good in themfelves, but as they are commanded by God, to try the obedience of mankind, and therefore to be complied with." P.

200.

After extending thefe ftrictures through many pages highly deferving of attention, Mr. Chatfield returns to India, and exhibits the characters of the various Mahomedan dv. naflies established in different parts of that country, by the repeated and terrible irruptions of Arabian, Perfian, and Tartar chiefs, during a long fucceffion of ages; with the gradual influence of their habits and manners on the conquered people. He then confiders at what periods, and to what extent, through the channels of a more general intercourfe with mankind, and an enlarged commerce with the other nations of Ala, the facred dogmas of a more refined religion, than their own idolatrous ritual inight have made their way, as it is evident they did from the fettlements on their fhores of whole colonies of Jews, from whom the race of Afghans are affirmed to be defcended, and the remains of Chriftian churches in Malabar regularly fupplied with paftors by the patriarch of Seleucia. Through lefe latter,

who

who were of the Neftorian fect, the Brahmins probably became acquainted with the purious gofpels, then widely dif fufed through Alia, and artfully ingrafted the accounts of the miracles which they recorded into the hiftory of their fabulous deities.

Purfuing the hiftory of the progreffive advance of the Christian church, in India, down to the periods in which its fhores were vifited by the Portuguefe, Mr. C. proceeds to obferve;

"When the Portuguefe arrived in India, they found nearly a hundred Chriftian churches on the coaft of Malabar; the purity and fimplicity of whofe doctrine had not greatly deviated from the primitive faith. The patriarchal fee of their Bishops was Antioch. Upon these Chriftians, the Portuguese first exercised their ill-timed zeal. Indignant at their obftinacy, in owning but two Sacraments, Baptifm and the Lord's Supper, in denying tranfubftantiation, the invocation of Saints, purgatory, and, above all, at their refufal to acknowledge the fupremacy of the Pope, they raised against them a perfecution, in which the Epifcopal Palace, and the Syriac and Chaldæan books*, which had been deposited in their churches, were directed to be burned, in order, fay the enlightened Inquifitors, that no pretended apoftolic monuments may remain. The dread of the Inquifition produced a temporary conformity, in fome of the members, to the Romish church; but a great body of them refolutely defended their faith; and being afterwards affifted by the Dutch, on the capture of Cochin, in 1663, not only triumphed over all oppofition, but, eventually brought back the feceders themselves to the worship of their fathers.

"The quarrels between the Dutch and Portuguese contributed alfo greatly to retard the progrefs of the Gofpel: while the latter were masters of Cranganore, the Jefuits, or Fathers of St. Paul, as they are called in that country, befides their church, poffeffed a numerous college, and a fine library: the Francifcans had a convent; and the Chriftians of Saint Thomas an archbishopric and a cathedral t. But when the Dutch took the city,

their

"It has been recently stated, on refpectable authority, that certain ancient MSS. in the Chaldaic language, are preferved in the country of Travancore. Dr. Buchanan has difcovered a confiderable colony of Chriftians in this country, 55 churches, and a collection of very valuable antiquities."

"When Gama took the city of Meliapour, he found a great number of the inhabitants who profeffed the Chriftian religion. He changed the name of the city to San Thome, in

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BRIT. CRIT. VOL. XXXVII. APRIL, 1811.

honour