wife. If he cannot place therein ten Bramins, he shall place there feven perfons, or five, or three, or two; and whenever any doubt arifes in the magiftrate, upon any circumftance, he fhall apply for a folution thereof to thofe Bramins, who, coinciding in fentiments, fhall give him an anfwer, conformably to the Shafter; according to which, the magiftrate fhall take his measures. If any concern of the Reyots fhould arife, they fhall request an ordination from the Bramins; and whatever the Bramins order from the infpection of the Shafter, to that the Reyots fhall pay obedience.

The Pundit Bramins, who are in the magistrate's kingdom, fhall perform the Nut-kerm, the Neemtuk-kerm, the Santeekerm, and the Poofhtee kerm, and fuch other works which are neceffary and proper, according to the Shafter, for the advantage of the magiftrate, and of the fubje&t.

Nut-kerm is the daily performance of the worship to Dewtah, and of the Jugg, and fuch other works of piety.

Neemtuk kerm is the performance of certain religious acts, and of the Dàn, and of the Seràdeh (or festivals of the dead) and fuch other works, during the time of the eclipfes of the fun

and moon.

• Santee-kerm is the performance of worship to the Dewtàh, during the time of a calamitous feafon, or in a dry year, or a year of famine, or when any peftilence happens in the kingdom, for the adverfation* of fuch misfortunes.

Poofhtee kerm is the performance of worship to the Dewtàh, and of the Jugg, for the strengthening of the body, and for increafe of wealth.

The Cheteree, the Bice, and the Sooder, fhall be obedient to the Bramins; and whatever order the Bramins fhall issue, conformably to the Shafter, the magiftrate fhall take his meafures accordingly.

The magiftrate, with all poffible circumfpe&tion, fhall nourish the four Ifrum; an account of the four Ifrum will be given in the chapter of Juftice. Whoever hath forfaken the principles of his own caft, the magiftrate fhall caufe him to return to the duties of that caft; if he will not return, he fhall oblige him by menaces. In whatever magistrate's kingdom, the Bramins are unable to procure food and cloaths, that kingdom becomes defolate; in fuch cafe the magiftrate fhall most certainly appoint them fubfiftence and cloathing.

• Whomfoever the magiftrate fhall retain as a fervant, he shall appoint him a ftipend proportionably to his occupation, that he may not be reduced to neceffity and diftrefs.

The magiftrate fhall keep the high-road open and plain, that men and cattle may have fufficient room to pafs and repafs; and fhall place in fome retired fituation his ftore-houfes, and elephants italls, and armories, and ftables, and barracks for the foldiers.

• Mr. H. means averfion.

+ Orders, or cafts, of men.

• The

The magiftrate fhall keep many intelligent phyficians, and magicians (or men who cure by fpells), and furgeons, i. e. men skilled in operations of furgery, and in applying plaifters; and he fhall keep great quantities of medicines, and of oils of all kinds in the phyfick fhop; and fhall retain in his fervice a great number of buffoons, or parafites, and jefters, and dancers, and athletics; and he shall render all his fervants, both counsellors and other attendants, contented and grateful.

If the magiftrate cannot punish robbers and night murderers; and is unable, by apprehending the thief, to reftore effects stolen from any perfon, then he fhall give to that perfon, from his own ftore-houses, the value of the thing fo itolen.

Such things as are not proper for him to take, he shall not take on any pretence; and of fuch things as are right and proper for him to take, even although they are exceedingly minute, he fhall not forego his claim: and he fhall efteem the fubjects in the light of his own children. And if any calamity should happen to the magiftrate, yet he must not be terrified, nor remain afflicted, even during the calamity. Alfo he must be eafy and tranquil; but muft not take any diverfions.

The magiftrate fhall not be impatient and angry at hearing any fubject's complaints; and if any perfon, not having gained his caufe, fpeaks abufively to the magiftrate, even then he fhall not be enraged against that perfon, but fhall forgive his error. Upon performing the Jugg and Poojeh, and other pious. ceremonies, he shall give to the Bramins the Duchneh, i. e. the wages for the performance of the Jugg and Poojeh, and fhall not require ought from any person.

The magiftrate fhall take all prudential measures in his own kingdom, that no perfon commit adultery with another person's wife, and that no perfon have power to commit any violence to another. And every magiftrate who caufes the guilty to be punifhed is commendable,

The magiftrate fhall collect from the people the neceffary tribute; and fhall never commit injuftice; and fhall liften upon all affairs to fuch men as are poffeffed of an acute judgment, and who are very expert in all affairs.

If a plunderer fhould attack a magiftrate's kingdom, and grievously moleft the people, the magiftrate fhall moft furely punifh him; if he does not, he is unworthy of the magiftracy. And a magistrate, who, without protecting and taking care of the fubjects, collects the accustomed tribute from them, will

go

to hell.

The magiftrate fhall keep fuch a guard upon himself, that his foibles may never be discovered; and, by fending Hircarrahs, and spies, he fhall inform himself of the faults of others.

• If a Burrut, i. e. a religious foundation, hath been appointed to any Bramin, or other perfon, being a ftipulated fum for the performance of Poojeh to the Dewtàh, the magiftrate has no power to refume the donation. Whoever refumes the establifhed Burrut of a Bramin and the Dewtàh or of any other perfon, will remain in hell one thousand years.

In a kingdom, where men of rank eat in the houses of profiitutes, or have carnal connexion with prostitutes, or practise the drinking of wine, fuch kingdom becomes defolate; therefore it is the duty of the magiftrate to appoint perfons to prohibit fuch practices.

If a magiftrate, not diftinguishing between good and bad men, takes fines, in contradiction to the Shafter, his kingdom becomes defolate.

If a thief, or any other perfon within the obfervation of the magiftrate, or of the magiftrate's counsellors, fhould cause any. moleftation to the people, and the magiftrate and his counsellors fhould not punish the offender, fuch magiftrate and counsellors,. during their life time, are like dead perfons.

The magiftrate, at what time he is defirous to confult with his counsellors, fhall choose a retired place, on the top of the house, or on the top of a mountain, or in the defart, or fome fuch fecret recess, and shall hold his council there; and in places where there are parrots, or other talkative birds, he fhall not hold his council while they are prefent.

• The magiftrate fhall not take council of a weak old man, or of a woman, or of a perfon unacquainted with works of piety. If any perfon, exclufive of the magiftrate's counsellors, is acquainted with the defigns of the magiftrate, his magiftracy is not of long duration.'

The tranflator's able preface is illuftrated with eight copper-plate engravings, elegantly executed by Bafire, of the Shanferit and Bengal alphabets, and of specimens of the languages. The preface contains alfo an account of the Shanferit language, for which the ftudiers of it should be grateful. A tranflation of a beautiful afhlogue (stanza) of their poetry we shall lay before our readers. It is recorded to be the compofition of a modern poet, one Kiyat, who lived in the third age of their world; fomething less than one million fix hundred and five thousand years ago.

A good man goes not upon enmity,

But is well inclined towards another, even while he is ill-treated by him:

So, even while the fandal tree is felling,

It imparts to the edge of the axe its aromatic flavour.'

The meekness of Chriftianity delivered in the beautiful language of the East!

In this preface we find many ingenious obfervations upon the mythology of the Gentoos; as well as upon that amazing antiquity, to which their history lays fuch uniform and obftinate claim: delivered by Mr. Halhed with a forbearance, a modefty, a diffidence, which make one, for a moment, almoft overlook his judgment, his learning, his information. Sure

we

we are that half this gentleman's curious materials would have drawn fuch a differtation from the fcepticism of a Hume, or a Voltaire, as the world has not yet feen.

The fame confidential reliance, which we place in our divine text, upon the authority of its divine infpirer, is by their prejudices transferred to the four Beids of their Shafter, the original facred text of the great Hindoo creator and legiflator Brihma. Talk to them of the indifputable authenticity of our Scriptures, they are ready to boast the indubitable veracity. of their own. Relate to them our account of the creation of the world, and of its inhabitants; they are not without their hiftory of the fame event, for the truth of which they refer to records compofed fome millions of years before we say the world was created, thence tracing mankind upward through inillions of years more.

The Hindoos reckon the duration of the world by four Jogues or distinct ages.

1. The Suttee Jogue (or age of purity) lafted, fay they, 3,200,000 years: during which the life of man was extended to 100,000 years; and his ftature to zi cubits.

2. The Tirtah Jogue (or age in which one third of mankind were reprobate) lasted 2,400,000 years-in which men lived to 10,000 years.

3. The Dwapaar Jogue, in which half the human race became depraved, endured 1,600,000 years; when the age of man was reduced to 1000 years.

4. The Collee Jogue, in which all mankind are corrupted, or rather leffened (for fo Mr. Halhed tranflates collee), is the prefent æra; which they fuppofe ordained to fubfift 400,000 years, about 5000 of which are already paft; in which period. man's life is limited to 100 years.

Aftonished Computation ftands at gaze; Conjecture in vain toils after fuch diftant periods as thefe : the wondering reader looks a fecond and a third time at the numbers, and hardly dares to believe his fight.

How exactly the Mofaic chronology, and the Mofaic ages of man, fo far as they reach, tally with the Hindoo mythology, we need not observe. It is equally fingular how exactly fome parts even of that mythology, and many of these laws, all which claim fuch incredible antiquity, agree with many of the laws, and fome parts of the religion, of Moses.

Of a deluge they have no tradition-of a tranfmigration of fouls they have, in all ages, entertained a conftant belief. Their creed is, that the fouls of men are fifted and refined through different changes and fucceffive tranfmigrations, until they have attained, either by innocence of manners or by feve

rity of mortifications, to that degree of purity which can alone intitle them to admiffion into the regions of happiness: a fyftem (if we remember right) not very much unlike that which Mr. Soame Jenyns attempted to propagate in his Origin of Evil.

One other circumftance is most remarkable, that the days of the week are named in the Shanfcrit language from the fame planets, in the fame order, to which they were affigned by the Greeks and the Romans.

Curiofity is not a little furprised to find a prohibition of firearms in records of fuch unfathomable antiquity. Our readers recollect, we fuppofe, that paffage of Quintus Curtius which seems to say that Alexander met with fire-arms in India. Their word for a cannon is het aghnee, the weapon which kills a hundred men at once; invented by Beefhookerma, who forged all the weapons in the futtee jogue, the first age of the world (above 4,005,000 years ago, even fuppofing it to have happened in the last year of the jogue), for the war which was maintained between Dewta and Offoor (the good and bad fpirits) during 100 years.- Was it chance or infpiration, Mr. Halhed very properly asks, that furnished our admirable Milton with exactly the fame idea?

And now let us defcend from thefe ftupendous heights of hiftory to thank Mr. Halhed for the diligence, the ingenuity, the learning which he has difcovered in this laborious work, and in his preface. While he is combating the climate of the Eaft Indies-while he is placed by fortune at a fearful diftance from his native country-let the approbation of that country make him forget the distance and the climate: let our author derive fatisfaction from reflecting that his labours have not been thrown away; that merit receives the fame impartial applaufe. from the British cenfors of literature, whether it make its appearance on this or on the other fide of the Tweed, the Atlantic, or the Indian ocean.

The Poems and mifcellaneous Compofitions of Paul Whitehead; with explanatory Notes on his Writings, and his Life written by Capt. Edward Thompson. 410. 10s. 6d. KearЛly.

THIS publication we can venture very fafely to recom

mend to any of our readers, who are troubled with weak eyes the type is fufficiently large, the lines are by no means crouded. Nunquam vidi plures trecentos : we never faw fo much made of fo little. Some readers may think