ning of our era," the adopting any one of the opinions founded on the authorities above quoted, proves, either that Noah was born only one thousand years before Christ, or that the birth of Foe is wholly unconnected with the commencement of the Cali age. And the hypothesis is not rendered less objectionable by this author, supposing that the Chinese Buddha was "confounded with the first Buddha, or Mercury; whom the Goths call Woden:" because he asserted Buddha to have been of the third generation from Noah, and married to a daughter of that patriarch, named Ila. You will recollect that Buddha denotes a prophet, Budha a sage. Nothing is so easy, as to support an argument, so long as assertions are taken as proofs. And this has been the case relative to the chronology of the antediluvians in general. First, Couplet never wrote Foe the son of Máyά. Mo-ye has no allusion to the former epithet. Secondly, Goverdhana does not place the birth of Buddha about one thousand years before the birth of Christ, or Rhadacanta at two thousand years before that epoch. And thirdly, M. Bailli, who places the birth of Fo, whom the Chinese frequently call Foe the son of Mo-ye, at the year B. c. 1031, never, even by implication, supposes him to be the Hindu Buddha, the G VOL. I. son of Jina, or Buddha, of the ninth Avatar. On the contrary, this author calculates the commencement of the Cali age very accurately back to the year B. c. 3102, answering to A. M. 900, which meets the Hindu reckoning to a year. For they suppose this to be the 3892917th year of the world; and the 4917th year of the Cali age, or the First age........1728000 = 400 Second age. ...1296000 ..... = 300 .Third age... Portion of the fourth Total.... The year of the world 5817 answers to the year of the Cali age 4917, and to the year of Christ 1815; which corresponds with the accounts, as given by M. Bailli and Rhadacanta ; both of whom place the commencement of the fourth age at the year, B. c. 3102. For 3102 +900 = 4002. This is the chronology attempted to be overset, on the authority of four Chinese authors. Whereas it is admitted "that the Chinese themselves do not even pretend, that any historic monuments existed in the age of Confucius preceding eleven hundred years before the Christian era." Now each of the four several Hindu Buddhas died before that epoch. But as three of them correspond both in point of time, and the principal events of their lives, with those of the antediluvian patriarchs, and as the second and third make a conspicuous figure in the sixth and ninth Avatars, it is necessary in the first instance to explain how these Avatars are placed by the Hindus. In the fourth table you will perceive that the ages are placed in arithmetic proportion, and it is universally admitted that the Avatars bear the same ratio. But that ratio alludes exclusively to their birth; and in this sense the Hindus in general believe that four Avataras appeared, i. e. were born, in the first age, or first four hundred years; three in the second or three hundred years; and two in the third. But the Bhagavat affirms that the ninth Avatara was born at the beginning of the fourth age, and these are the true data. To save you the trouble of referring to Scripture dates, I have formed a table according to the Hebrew text of the Bible; shewing the birth, death, and age of the antediluvian patriarchs. Names. 1 Seth... 2 Enos... 3 Cainan.... 5 Jared... 6 Enoch... TABLE V. Born A. M. Died A. M. Aged. 1.... 931....930 .. 131....1043....912 236....1141....905 ... 326....1236....910 4 Mahalaleel..... 396....1291....895 461....1423....962 623.... 988....365 7 Methuselah..... 688....1656....968 8 Lamech........ 875....1651....776 9 Noah.. ·1057....2007....950 The nine descents in succession from Swayambhava in the solar race, or children of the Sun, are designated as Avataras or illuminations of the Deity; the Children of God. Swayambhava, or Adam, as the general stock from whence the children of the Sun and Moon (the race of Seth and Cain descended) is not included, and of these nine, six only are admitted to have been Menus or sovereigns of the world. They record that "there were six Menus well versed in the Vedas and six others," of both which lines Swayambhava was the chief. Now let us compare the nine descents from Adam, with those from the Hindu. Adam or father of mankind as Avataras. According to the Hindus when four centuries were passed and four Avataras born, their first age ended, the fifth Avatara being born in the second age which commenced A. M. 401. Thus when seven centuries were passed and seven Avataras born, the second age ended, the third commencing A. M. 701, From the foregoing, it appears, that the nine Avataras correspond with the nine patriarchs. It is true, the last, or Noah, was born during the fourth age. But it is equally true, that the Hindu records, which never vary from truth, instead of altering the date to make it agree with their hypothesis (like those authors who fly from the |