4. The mode in which Sir W. Jones gets over the difficulty is very easy. Without pretending that he has any variation of manuscripts, or other authority, to justify him, but merely because he finds the facts to be inconsistent with the existence of the whole of the present Christian system, as he chooses to expound it, he asserts the passages containing them to be interpolations from spurious gospels; but, unfortunately for his credit, this, for many reasons, will not obviate the difficulty. It is evident that much of the history is the same as the orthodox gospels, as well as of those called spurious.
In reference to the opinion of Sir W. Jones, Mr. Maurice says, “For, however happy and ingenious, as it certainly is, may be the conjecture of Sir W. Jones concerning the interpolation of the Bramin records from the Apocryphal Gospels, it still affords but a partial explanation of the difficulty. Many of the Mythological sculptures of Hindostan that relate to the events in the history of this Avatar, more immediately interesting to the Christian world, being of an age undoubtedly anterior to the Christian æra, while those sculptures remain unanswerable testimonies of the facts recorded, the assertion, unaided by these collateral proofs, rather strengthens than obviates the objection of the Sceptic. Thus the sculptured figures, copied by Sonnerat, from one of the oldest pagodas, and engraved in this volume, the one of which represents Chreeshna dancing on the crushed head of the serpent; and the other, the same personage entangled in its enormous folds, to mark the arduousness of the contest, while the enraged reptile is seen biting his foot, together with the history of the fact annexed, could never derive their origin from any information contained in the Spurious Gospels.”
Again, Mr. Maurice says, “To return to the more particular consideration of these parts of the life of Chreeshna, which are above alluded to by Sir William Jones, which have been paralleled with some of the leading events in the life of our blessed Saviour, and are, in fact, considered by him as interpolations from the spurious Gospels; I mean more particularly his miraculous birth at midnight; the chorus of Devatas that saluted with hymns the divine infant as soon as born; his being cradled amongst shepherds, to whom were first made known those stupendous feats that stamped his character with divinity; his being carried away by night, and concealed in a region remote from the scene of his birth,[1] from fear of the tyrant Cansa, whose destroyer it was predicted he would prove, and who, therefore, ordered all the male children born at that period to be slain: his battle, in his infancy, with the dire, envenomed serpent Calija,[2] and crushing his head with his foot; his miracles in succeeding years; his raising the dead; his descending to Hades; and his return to Vaicontha, the proper paradise of Veeshnu,” &c., &c., &c.
5. Upon the plea of interpolation, which Sir W. Jones has used to account for the extraordinary similarity in the lives of Jesus and of Cristna, and which Mr. Maurice has allowed, happy and ingenious as it is! to be altogether unsatisfactory; it may be asked, what could induce the Brahmins, the most proud, conceited and bigoted of mankind, to interpolate their ancient books; to insert in them extracts from the gospel histories, or sacred books of people very nearly total strangers to them; very few in numbers, and looked on by them with such contempt, that they would neither eat, drink, nor associate with them (which, if they had done, they would have been contaminated, and ruined by becoming outcasts from their order);—people who came as beggars and wanderers soliciting a place of refuge? It cannot be pretended that the Brahmins wished to make converts; for this is directly contrary to their faith and practice. The books in which these interpolations are found, were obtained from them with the greatest difficulty;
