I. The Rigveda, which contains invocations addressed to deities

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from ancient India, doubtless, in this instance, might have changed the sense of the words, and applied a me-
of Fire, of the sun, the moon, the firmament, the winds, and the seasons, whose presence is invited to the sacrifices intended to supplicate their aid. Some of the Manhras, or hymns contained in it, display specimens of the most exalted poetry. The sun, savitri, is addressed as the light of the Divine Ruler ; but in an allegorical sense as the divine light which sheds its rays over all, and emanates from the Supreme Being. One of the hymns, translated by Mr. Colebroke, contains expressions closely resem- bling those in the Book of Genesis, which describe the period prior to the creation of this world. — "Then there was no entity nor nonentity ; no world, nor sky, nor aught above it : nothing, any where, in the happiness of any one, involving or involved ; nor waters deep and dangerous. Death was not ; nor then was immortality ; nor distinction of day or night. "a In another por- tion of the Veda, called Aitareya Brahaman's, we find this sen- tence : — "Originally this was indeed soul only, nothing else whatever existed, active or inactive." He thought, " I will create worlds." These, and similar expressions, are supposed to imply the Monotheism of the Ramadam Hindoo faith, according to which, the creation of man arose from the circumstance that every element begged from the Creator a distinct form, and the whole choose a distinct body.