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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

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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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Alaparus.. ditto..... 3 ditto 10800= 30
Amillarus. Pantibiblus 13 ditto=46800=130
Amenon.. ditto...... 12 ditto = 43200=120
Megulanus ditto...... 18 ditto = 64800 = 180
Daus.....
.... ditto...... 10 ditto=36000=100
Anodaphus ditto...... 18 ditto = 64800 = 180

100

740

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,

as ruler of that country to which Cain retired when he went forth from the presence of the Lord was always considered as a sovereign; and the second and third, Budha and Yayati, were certainly of the same, or the third generation, and most probably denoted the same person. This does, in no way, militate against the Mosaic account. Because the book of Genesis records the generations without any allusion to their succession as sovereigns; neither does the difference in the names invalidate the account. The Hebrew names, by which the patriarchs are described, invariably denote something allusive to the character of each. So that unless we believe Hebrew to be the original language of the world, we cannot expect that other nations should record the patriarchs by Hebrew names: the Hebrews call the first-created Adam; the Hindus Swayambhuva; the Chinese Fohi; the Chaldeans Alorus; the Egyptians Protogones; each of these names denoting, in their several languages, his affinity to the Deity, as being created not born. The following comparative table may assist our enquiry.

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