the Gentiles, to urge that the Hindoos were even
now almost Christians; because their Brahma, Vishnou, and
Mahesa (Siva), were no other than the Christian
Trinity."[370:2]

Thomas Maurice, in his "Indian Antiquities," describes a magnificent
piece of Indian sculpture, of exquisite workmanship, and of stupendous
antiquity, namely:

"A bust composed of _three heads_, united to _one body_,
adorned with the _oldest_ symbols of the Indian theology, and
thus expressly fabricated according to the unanimous
confession of the sacred sacerdotal tribe of India, to
indicate _the Creator_, the _Preserver_, and the
_Regenerator_, of mankind; which _establishes the solemn fact,
that from the remotest eras, the Indian nations had adored a
triune deity_."[371:1]

Fig. No. 34 is a representation of an Indian sculpture, intended to
represent the Triune God,[371:2] evidently similar to the one described
above by Mr. Maurice. It is taken from "a very ancient granite" in the
museum at the "Indian House," and was dug from the ruins of a temple in
the island of Bombay.

[Illustration: Fig. No. 34]

The Buddhists, as well as the Brahmans, have had their Trinity from a
very early period.

Mr. Faber, in his "Origin of Heathen Idolatry," says:

"Among the Hindoos, we have the Triad of Brahma, Vishnu,
and Siva; so, among the votaries of Buddha, we find the
self-triplicated Buddha declared to be the same as the Hindoo
Trimurti. Among the Buddhist sect of the Jainists, we have the
triple Jiva, in whom the Trimurti is similarly declared to be
incarnate."

In this Trinity _Vajrapani_ answers to Brahma, or Jehovah, the
"All-father," _Manjusri_ is the "deified teacher," the counterpart of
Crishna or Jesus, and _Avalokitesvara_ is the "Holy Spirit."

Buddha was believed by _his_ followers to be, not only an incarnation of
the deity, but "God himself in human form"--as the followers of Crishna
believed him to be--and therefore "three gods in one." This is clearly
illustrated by the following address delivered to Buddha by a devotee
called Amora:

"Reverence be unto thee, O God, in the form of the God of
mercy, the dispeller of pain and trouble, the Lord of all
things, the guardian of the universe, the emblem of mercy
towards those who serve thee--OM! the possessor of all things
in vital form. Thou art Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesa; tho