The Vedas, the sacred books of the Hindus, are the oldest existing sacred writings, excepting those from which Moses compiled the earlier chapters of Genesis. In these Vedas there is little of the confused mass of mythological statements, gross superstitions and the hosts of gods of later Brahminism. Here is presented a picture of the simple nature-worship of the people of India in their earliest history. Having been composed so soon after the dispersion of the nations, or rather the hymns contained in it having been handed down by word of mouth from generation to generation, it is a very valuable source of information just here. Before the beginning of this century the Vedas were almost unknown to European scholars. Since that time great attention has been devoted to the subject, especially since Max Müller went to England to seek the aid of Englishmen, and more particularly of the East India Company, in publishing his translation of the Vedas. At present we can read them for ourselves in tolerably accurate translations. Until within a hundred years, there was no direct way of learning of the faith, and manners, and customs of ancient Persia. It was known that there was an authoritative record of the earliest Persian religion, a Bible of the Parsees, but no European had ever read it. In 1754, a young French student of Paris, chanced to see a few lines of an ancient manuscript in an unknown language. He at once determined to go to Persia, or India, whence the manuscript had come, and to learn more about it. As he could not secure the means for the journey, in any other why, he enlisted as a private soldier to go to India. Just before sailing, however, he received the means to go, and his discharge from the army. He traveled through India until he came to the borders of Persia. From some Parsee priests he learned the language, and gained some slight knowledge of the Zend-Avesta, the Parsees’ Bible. He pursued his investigations for four years more, and then published his translation of the Avesta. But his work was incomplete, and while he rendered a great service to the world in showing the way to a knowledge of the Avesta, it was left for later scholars more fully and accurately to prepare the translation of the book. The ancient Egyptian sacred books have been almost wholly lost, it is believed. Just enough remains to give us the outlines of their early worship.