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PROPOSITION XXX.

PROVING THE DOCTRINE FROM TRADITION, IN SCY

THIA, COMPREHENDING THIBET, TARTARY, AND SIBERIA.

HAVING traced the doctrine, by tradition, through the vast regions of India and Persia, the one on the east, and the other on the west, of Chaldea,—we now direct our eyes northward to the extensive empires of Tangut and Thibet, and over the wild domains of Siberia; and in the whole of this immense tract of country, we find the doctrine recorded by tradition, more or less perfectly. Parsons, on the remains of Japhet, treating of Tangut, records, from authority which is thought good, that the Deli Lama, who sustains the character both of patriarch and king, gives medals, with the emblem of the Triune Deity whom they worship, stamped upon them; some to be suspended around the necks of the worshippers, and some to be suspended in the chapels where they perform their devotion. The same author informs us, that the Roman Catholic missionaries, when they arrived in that country, found that the inhabitants already possessed some imperfect views of this fundamental doctrine, and actually worshipped an idol, fabricated to resemble, as nearly as they could conceive, a Trinity of persons.

And with respect to the Tartars and Siberians, Van Stralenberg informs us, that all the nations north of Tartary, observe a profound veneration for the number three; and adds, a race of Tartars called Jakuthi, who are idolaters, and the most numerous people of all Siberia, adore one indivisible deity under three different denominations, which, in their vernacular tongue, are called Artugon, Schugo-Teugon, Tangara : the first of which is translated by Colonel Grant, creator of all things; the second, the god of armies; and the third, Amor ab utroque procedens, the spirit of heavenly love proceeding from the other two.

And the celebrated Siberian medal published by Dr. Parsons, is now deposited in the valuable imperial cabinet of St. Petersburg, on one side of which is engraved the figure of a triune deity, and on the other side a Thibetian inscription illustrative of the event on which it was struck; it was found in the ruins of an old cha pel, together with many ancient manuscripts, near the river Kemptschyk. The image itself corresponds exactly to the Indian triad, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, and plainly inculcates the worship of a triune deity, in the mythological persons of Odin, Frea, and Thor, the god of the northern nations. The Edda, that venerable relict of Runic mythology, represents this triple deity as sitting on three thrones, each person of the triad having a crown on his head. Dr. Percy K k

gives an account of it out of the Edda, thus:"The character Gangler being introduced into the lofty hall of Odin, the roof of which was formed of brilliant gold, behind, three thrones raised one above another, and upon each throne sat a sacred personage. Upon asking which of these was the king, the guide answered, He who sits on the lowest throne is the king; his name is HAR, the lofty one: the second, Jafnhar, equal to the lofty one: he who sits on the highest throne is called THRIDI, the third." Those who have seen the drawings of the Trinity by Roman Catholics, representing each person sitting on a throne, will at once recognize the affinity or resemblance of the Scandinavian and Roman Ca. tholic representations of the same great doctrine; the one guided by tradition from the patriarchs immediately after the flood; the other, by the records of immediate revelation. How surprising to see these great extremes meet! And what adds to the wonder is, that the Jewish Rabbies themselves, in the Talmud on Daniel, speak of the thrones set, but can give no explanation of them; so ignorant do they appear of the true principles of their own Cabbała.

From this view of the tradition of the doctrine of the Trinity, through the whole region of Asia, north of Persia, and brief glauce of it in the northern nations, taken in connection with the idea that all the places we have mentioned have

been peopled by migrations originally from Chaldea, the inference is fair, and the conclusion strictly inductive, that the descendants of Noah and his family must have carried the knowledge of the doctrine of the Trinity with them, communicated either immediately by the first family after the flood, or by tradition from succeeding generations. Hence our position is sufficiently supported.

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PROPOSITION XXXI.

PROVING THE DOCTRINE FROM TRADITION, IN

CHINA.

As Ceylon, Japan, and China, are all originally peopled by the same race of men, the direct history of the doctrine of the Trinity, from tradition, in any one of them, may answer for them all.Martinius, who resided ten years in China, and learned the language, and made himself acquainted with the religious doctrines and worship of the empire, affirms, that they originally, in the pure period of their religious creed, worshipped only one supreme God, a spirit, and had no images in their temples, nor figures of any kind to excite devotion, nor idol to be seen in all their empire in early times; but in their places of worship they had the following inscription, in letters of gold, in their own language, THE SANC

TUARY OF THE SPIRITUAL GUARDIAN OF THE CITY.

And their pure worship of the Divine Being, whom they called XANGTI, or TYEN, continued uncorrupted till the days of Confucius.

It is remarkable that Confucius, the most divine philosopher of the Pagan world, should, after all, have been the innocent occasion of leading the Chinese into idolatry. At his death, he uttered the following prediction, as if moved by inspiration, SI FAM YEU XIM GIN" In the west, the Holy One will appear." His dis

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