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year B. c. 1580. I am inclined to think that they ought to be carried at least 500 years further back. Be that as it may, the Hindus, who do nothing without system, by the division of the sections, prove that in their present state they were compiled and organized in the fourth, or Cali age, which comprises 432000 nominal years. first Veda is divided into five sections, the second into eighty-six, and the third into one thousand. By multiplying the first into the second, and adding two for the Sasters, and then multiplying the whole by the third, they obtain the number of the fourth, or Cali age; which is intended as a date. For example, 5 x 86 + 2 x 1000 = 432000. No orthodox Brahman admits the fourth Veda to be of divine origin or antediluvian, but considers it as a compilation from the three sacred Vedas, written many years subsequent thereto. There are some who profess to believe the two first to have been written by Swayambhuva; the third by Buddha, the son of Máyá; and the fourth, or Veda of Vedas, to have been compiled from the former three, by the last Buddha, or Crishnu (Moses). But the best informed Indians acquiesce with the author of the Gela, in ascribing the three first to Buddha the son of Máyá; who "This divine doctrine I declared to Menu, who delivered it to his son Menu, who explained it to Icshwacu.

says,

All ascribe the two great Sastres to Menu*, the son of the first-created, the father of Icshwacu."

In my next we will compare these accounts with those given by the Egyptians, Chinese, and Chaldeans.

Till when, believe me to remain ever yours,

* Vasisht'ha.

LETTER IV.

MY DEAR SIR,

We have now made sufficient progress in Hindu Chronology, to enable us, by examining the ancient dynasties of other Eastern nations, to prove that all were antediluvian, and that all agree with the Hebrew text of the Mosaic account of the antediluvian world.

The Hindu accounts we have directly from their own records. Those of the Chaldeans we must be content to take through several hands. The account given by Eusebius, as taken by Abydenus from Berosus, is as follows. "It is said that the first king of the country was Alorus, who gave out a report, that he was appointed by God to be the shepherd of his people. He reigned ten Sari. Now a Sarus is esteemed to be three thousand six hundred years; a Nerus is represented as six hundred, and a Sosus as sixty. After him Alaparus reigned three Sari: to him succeeded Amillarus, from the city of Pantibiblus, who

reigned thirteen Sari. In his time a semidæmon, called Annedotus, in appearance very like to Oannes shewed himself a second time from the sea. After him Amenon reigned twelve Sari; who was of the city of Pantibiblus: then Megalanus of the same place reigned eighteen Sari. Then Daus, the shepherd, governed, for the space of ten Sari. He was of Pantibiblus. In his time four double-faced personages came out of the sea to land, whose names were Enodotus, Enangamus, Enaboulus, and Anementus. After Daus succeeded Anodaphus, the son of Acdoreschus. There were other kings; and last of all Sisuthrus. So that, in the whole, the number of kings amounted to ten, and the term of their reigns to an hundred and twenty Sari." Sisuthrus is admitted, without controversy, to mean Noah. For in his time the general deluge occurred, and the account of his being preserved with his family in the ark has been very elaborately described by every author, who has written on the subject.

The Hindus, as descendants of Shem, furnish in their sacred books, the names of those of the antediluvian patriarchs, who became sovereign rulers, or Menus, of the race of Seth; while the Chaldeans, the descendants of Ham, give the names of those patriarchs who became sovereigns of the world in the race of Cain. The following

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Amillarus. Pantibiblus 13 ditto = 46800= 130
Amenon.. ditto...... 12 ditto = 43200=120

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The above statement is corroborated by ApolIodorus, with the exception of his making Acdoreschus the last monarch, instead of Anodaphus the son of Acdoreschus. From which it appears that the Chaldeans, like the Hebrews and Hindus, admit of but six sovereigns before the flood, exclusive of Adam. In the Hindu Institutes, the Menus in this race, are not mentioned by name. We are only informed that their numbers, exclusive of Adam, amounted to six. But, in the Puranas and in the Lunar dynasties, we may trace them under the names they bore when governors of provinces; as follows: Atri, Budha, Yayati, Dushmanta, Bharata, and Yudhishthir. The first,

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