by the belief of the transmigration of souls. This doctrine, which has been held by others besides the Hindus, perhaps, in some instances at least, derived from them, is laid down in the Sanscrit sacred books with extreme minuteness. An abstract only of the opinions on this point can be given here. Three principles are held to compose the human soul, goodness, passion, and darkness; and, according to the predominance of any one of these, the character, actions, and future state of the individual are determined. Where the element of goodness prevails, its fruits are shown in the diligent study of the sacred books, in performance of austerities, continence of body, strict attention to religious and social duties, and meditation on divine things: where passion predominates, ambition and desire of worldly prosperity are its best fruits; and its excess produces the commission of forbidden acts, the performance of religious duties from interested motives, undue perturbation on slight occasions, and love of ease: but that soul in which the element of darkness prevails is prone to evil, and to the commission of acts of which their perpetrator is ashamed. The distinguishing marks of such a character are covetousness, avarice, indolence, detraction, atheism, omission of prescribed duties, a habit of soliciting favours meanly, and an inattention to the necessary business of life. When a soul leaves the body it is judged by Yama, lord of the infernal regions; and its temporary future abode fixed in Swerga, (heaven,) or Tartarus, according as good or ill shall prove to have predominated in the actions of the individual during the course of his life. Here the predominating good qualities are confirmed, or evil ones corrected and punished, for a certain period; when the soul is again joined to a body, varying in its nature, according to the character of the regenerated soul. If the quality of darkness still predominate, the soul will animate a vegetable or reptile form, that of one of the nobler beasts, or that of a man of servile class, of mean and dishonourable occupation, according to the greater or less degree of the predominating quality. The soul endued with the quality of passion will animate the body of a man of dubious occupation, of a warrior, a king, or a domestic chaplain, or, finally, even one of the lower order of celestial beings. But a soul, endued eminently with the quality of goodness, may animate, as its lowest grade, a hermit, a sage, or a demigod; as its highest, even the person of a superior god. This latter assertion is not very intelligible; but it is strictly in accordance with the laws of Menu, a work decisive on questions of religious belief. The soul, in its new combination with this second body, begins again its course of life on earth, is again adjudged to a temporary state N of happiness or misery on dissolution, and again animates a body till the end of the age, or its absorption into the divine essence, of which it originally formed a part; or its annihilation, which is considered, among the Hindus, the summit of bliss. We have endeavoured, above, to give such an explanation of the Hindu creed as shall explain the spirit in which it is conceived, and render intelligible the allusions to practices resulting from it, occurring in accounts of Hindustan. Many sects have sprung from the original form of these doctrines, some of them differing so widely as to require separate notice; especially the sect of the Buddhists, which we are hardly justified in assuming to be an offspring of Brahminism, as the respective votaries of the two religions each lay claim to the honour of priority. This belief we propose to make the subject of a separate notice. We give below a brief notice of some works, accessible to the English student, in which he may find much curious and interesting matter on the subject of which we have been treating. Moor's "Hindu Pantheon" contains a very full and interesting account of the Hindu gods; and is valuable from its unpretending style, and its avoiding the seducing but bewildering subject of comparative mythology. In Sir William Jones's paper" on the Affinity of the Hindu gods with those of Greece and Rome," this comparison is made, perhaps sometimes fancifully, but always with great ingenuity and modesty, and, in many cases, with great plausibility. "The Institutes of Menu," translated by Sir W. Jones, is a treasure of information on the religious practices, laws, and belief of the Hindus. It is well worthy attention as a sample of Sanscrit literature; and the rich eloquence of its style, which the usually destructive process of translation has not removed, is a very favourable sample of the Sanscrit religious works. "The Hitopadesa," or Salutary Instruction, translated by the late Sir Charles Wilkins, is a book of fables, in which will be found a great number of those we are accustomed to ascribe to European authors. It is mentioned here as abounding with illustrations of the creed we have been describing, given in a very natural and amusing manner. The above enumeration is very far from completing the list of English works on this subject, and is only given as containing a few of the most accessible and popular. "What dost thou here?" once more he cried : He answered yet again, Thy faithful worshippers, O God, By cruel hands are slain, And where thy holy altars stood Is Baal's idol fane. "Thy people have despised thy law, Am wandering here, O Lord; "The burden of my bitter life Is more than I can bear- But thus the answer of the Lord- Elijah left his place in hope- Where for the bitter boon of death That death his heart, mistrustful, prayed The common doom of all mankind And God's own chosen rose to heaven J. H. REVIEW. Baptism and the Lord's Supper not Typical Rites. By MARIA HACK. -Hamilton, London; Hudson, Birmingham; Lea, Gloucester. 1837. pp. 34. OUR readers will find this pamphlet full of original thought, and written in a truly Christian spirit. The writer lives in the affections of many who have not the pleasure of her personal acquaintance, through the associations connected with her various works, so delightful and attractive, as well as instructive, to the youthful mind; we trust, therefore, that it will find admittance within the borders of the Society to which it is addressed, in quarters inaccessible to mere controversialists. It is especially and successfully directed to meet the statements of Mr. Gurney on the above subjects. We cannot do justice to the argument by quoting a part our readers must buy the work, and judge for themselves. We shall simply introduce a few extracts : "When we contemplate' the signs of the times,' whether it be with regard to civil or to religious institutions, we see every where around us indications of disturbance, as if the vast ocean of thought were heaving beneath the impulse of some mighty unseen power, secretly at work to effect important ends by means incomprehensible to man. Friends need not, then, wonder that their Society should participate in the general movement."-p. 3. 66 "No one affects to deny that religion is now in a very low state amongst you, but if inquiry is made as to the cause of this declension, Friends constantly assert that the principles of the Society remain unchanged; and it never seems to occur to them that there is any possibility of a mistake having been made in the outset. Even when this is suggested, they are more disposed to consider their present state as the painful consequence of an abandonment of principle, than as the natural result of an error in the principle itself. And so long as you feel no doubt that your predecessors were led by an immediate revelation from Heaven to adopt their peculiar views of religious truth,—so long as you shall persuade yourselves that they had a clearer apprehension of the nature of the Christian dispensation than was granted to the apostles, you can get no forwarder. You may look resignedly on the gloomy state of things, and say, 'It is the will of God;' but will never, while under such a persuasion, be able to find a remedy, because your faith is founded upon an assumption, and it requires a third revelation to assure yourselves that the assumption is correct. Will you, then, continue to regard the precepts and examples of the apostles as of inferior authority? for, in effect, you do this, if you look upon their injunctions and practices as the evidences of a weakness in the infant church, which the early Friends had outgrown. * "This extraordinary veneration for hereditary opinions, however meritorious it appears in the eyes of some, is considered by Lord Clarendon as a moral disease of very general prevalence, originating, not in a modest distrust of our own judgment, but in laziness, which induces us too much to adore those who have gone before, and, like sheep, to tread in their steps; considering more what other men have thought or done, than whether they did think or do reasonably.' The state of mind resulting from the indulgence of this undue estimation he terms an' abyss of servitude;' and certainly it is a surrender of the right of private judgment—a passive acquiescence in the great error of popery, esteeming the authority of the church above that of Scripture. then, you would escape from this abyss,' might it not be the safer way to avoid anxiously inquiring what degree of knowledge your predecessors had obtained, and to refrain from judging or extolling persons who were placed in very different circumstances."—pp.3-5. If, "But let us inquire what is the effect of those' simply spiritual' views, which are described by our author as exhibiting'exclusively the true character of Christian worship.' We will suppose the persons who receive them to be perfectly sincere in the high profession they are making, fully persuaded that they have really found 'a more excellent way '|| than that trodden by apostles and martyrs; without impugning their faith, we may ask them to "Barclay's Apol., Prop. XIII., S. 8." "Essays on the Faculties and Passions of the Human Mind, vol. ii., p. 136." "Peculiarities, p. 61-63." " Ibid., p. 129." |