LECTURES ON INDIA.

LECTURE I.

Ir is the opinion of some eminent geographers, that India, nder the name of Tarshish, was known in the days of Solomon, and celebrated as the land of spices, gold, and precious stones; but, whether it be the Tarshish of the ancients or not, it has for a long time been justly regarded with great interest. Here, vast and powerful empires have successively sprung up and flourished, while Europe was in a state of barbarism. Long before Christianity shed its light upon the world, India was the land of science and the arts. At the present time, however, its prominent characteristics are ignorance, poverty, and superstition.

It is not my purpose to direct your attention to the whole of India, but only to that portion of it usually denominated Hindustan, or India within the Ganges. This is a large peninsula, projecting into the Indian Ocean, south-west of the Chinese Empire, from which it is separated by the Himalaya Mountains. With a territory about as large as Mexico, it is supposed to contain a population of one hundred and thirty millions, or more inhabitants than England, Scotland, Ireland, Russia, and the continent of America.

The Hindus are of various dissimilar races, differing materially in stature, complexion, manners, language, and general character The Rajpoots and mountaineers of the north are large and of great muscular strength, while the inhabitants farther south are generally of small stature and of slender form. In complexion, they vary from a dark olive approaching to black, to a light, transparent, beautiful brown, resembling that of the natives of Northern Italy.