conquerors and rulers. But there exist no materials suited to the accomplishment of such a purpose. Amid the voluminous writings of the Hindoos, we find the most lamentable deficiency of historical records. Previous to the establish ment of Moslem dominion, these appear only through the vail of a mythology at once poetical and extravagant. The theology, history, poetry, literature, and social condition of this remarkable people are all so closely interwoven, as to make it impossible satisfactorily to consider any one, unless in connexion with all the rest. The Hindoos, it must be admitted, possess ancient works, which are generally believed to present somewhat of an historical character. Such are a great part of the Puranas, and the singular compositions termed the Mahabarat and the Ramayana. Yet these are religious poems, exhibiting the actions of gods, not of men, and leading the reader through a maze of wonder and mystery. The deities and heroes whose exploits they celebrate appear indeed to have been ancient monarchs who held sway over India; but the details are so palpably fabulous, and at the same time so childishly absurd, as to be unfit for any of the objects of genuine history. They convey no idea of the character of the actors, the manners of the age, or the train of human events. The system of Indian chronology, though it bears a character equally extravagant, has yet, from its apparent research and imposing aspect, excited much attention among the sages of Europe. The reader will learn from Professor Wallace's treatise in the third volume, their measurement of time by astronomical epochs, manwantaras, days of Bra ma, and years of the gods. It is enough to remark in this place, that the Maha Yug, or great divine age, through which mankind are now passing, consists of four human ages, the last and worst of which is at present revolving. These ages, of unequal and continually decreasing length, are the Satya Yug, which lasted..... Treta Yug.. Dwapar Yug.. Cali Yug, which is to last........... .1,728,000 years. Of the dark era in which we live, only about five thousand years have yet elapsed. Of the satya yug, the golden age of innocence, there remains only a dim and pleasing tradi tion; the great flood, said to have arrived at its close, having swept away almost all its memorials. But the Indian annals, such as they are, extend over the entire series of the treta and dwapar yugs, and consequently comprehend a period considerably exceeding two millions of years. This chronology has been embraced with eager credulity by a number of learned men in Europe, who have proclaimed that all the nations of the West are only of yesterday, when compared with the boundless ages through which the Hindoo records extend. There is, however, one circumstance which breaks at once the spell of this imaginary duration. Although India possesses nothing which can approach to the character of history, many of her princes and great men preserve lists of kings, which, from their coincidence, though found in different and distant quarters, appear to be substantially correct. These extend through the whole of the three ages; but instead of that almost endless roll of names which ought to have been supplied during two millions of years, we find, by Mr. Bentley's list, in the treta only sixty-six, and in the dwapar forty-seven kings; consequently, the potentates of the first period must have had an average reign of 19,636; those of the second of 18,383 years. It is maintained, indeed, on the faith of tradition, that Yadhisthur, the great hero, held sway during upwards of twenty-seven thousand years. But if we assign to the Indian monarchs the average of human life, we shall reduce these ages to an extent perfectly consistent with European history and the Mosaic records. Mr. Bentley considers seventeen years as the mean length of a reign in a long series of princes. Even should we, with Colonel Tod, allow from twenty to twenty-two years, the Indian dynasties will not pass the limits of our established chronology. Although we find thus transmitted from an early period lists of Hindoo kings which may be considered tolerably authentic, the details, as already observed, are either too meager or too extravagant to be of any value as materials for history. A few very general outlines can alone be traced. Two races of monarchs are recorded as claiming descent respectively from Surya and Indu, the sun and the moon. The former established their metropolis at Ayodhia, the modern Oude, still a large city, and described as then of immense extent. The lunar branch had several succes PRINCIPAL DYNASTIES. 211 sive capitals: first, Mahesvati, in Malwa; next, Allahabad, called the Pooraj, and afterward Hastinapoori, higher up the Ganges. Colonel Tod, upon some probable grounds, considers that the subjects of this empire must have entered it as invaders from the great plains of Seythia or Tartary. Several bloody wars were waged between these states, striving for pre-eminence or final conquest. The most dreadful of these contests took place at the close of the treta yug, in which almost all the powers of India appear to have been engaged. It is celebrated under the title of the Mahabarat, or great war, in the remarkable Hindoo composition bearing that title. The chief actors were Krishna, Arjoona, Yadhisthur, and Jarasandha; the first of whom has, as an incarnation of Vishnu, been enrolled among the principal deities. This sanguinary conflict appears to have terminated in the premature fate of almost all the leaders on both sides. The lunar and solar dynasties continued to reign contemporaneously, during almost the whole of the third, or dwapar yug. Yet the prevalence of fable is strongly marked in the genealogy of the leading princes throughout this period; one of whom is the offspring of Pavana, the god of the winds, another of Indra, or the firmament, a third of the river Ganges. These two lines, according to Sir William Jones, come down for thirty generations, into the cali yug, or present age, when both are supposed to have become extinet. There reigned, however, along with them another dynasty, sprung from the lunar branch, which rivalled and soon surpassed them both in power. This was that of the kings of Magadha, whom the Greeks found reigning at Palibothra over the greater part of the Gangetic provinces, and spreading their sway even to the remoter quarters of India. Chandragupta, after the murder of Nanda, one of the Magadha kings, became the founder of a new dynasty, called Maurya, and is supposed to be the same with Sandracottus, whom the ambassadors of Seleucus found ruling at Palibothra. Other successful usurpers established the dynasties of Sunga, Canna, and Andhra, till that of Magadha became extinct by the death of Chandrabija; which, according to Sir William Jones, took place in 452 B. C. Very considerable obscurity envelops the succession of Indian princes during the next four hundred years. In that period there would seem to have been no extended empire, though Sir William Jones and Colonel Tod have collected lists of kings belonging to some detached and local dynasties, About the Christian era, however, Vicramaditya and Salivahana disputed the supremacy, and rank among the most potent of Indian warriors and sovereigns. The relations concerning them bear a somewhat more sober character. They rank as mortal, not as celestial, heroes; yet as Vicramaditya is said to have had power over spirits, and to have made captive the king of the devils, his contemporaries, it would seem, were by no means inclined to abandon their love of the marvellous. Malwa being mentioned as his favourite region, it may be concluded to have been his native one, and that he employed its rude inhabitants in extending his dominion over the more fertile provinces. Major Wil ford has traced nine individuals to whom the name has been applied, of whom one appears contemporary with Solomon; and probably this may have been an appellative, like that of Cæsar, applied in succession to monarchs of the same dynasty, After this period, the history of the Hindoos again relapses into obscurity, giving occasion to Mr. Mill's remark, that while the annals of every other nation become more distinct as they approach a modern date, those of India, on the con trary, become darker and more imperfect. This is probably to be accounted for by the fact that the country had again ceased to be united in any extensive empire, being split into those small kingdoms which were successfully assailed by the Ghiznevide conqueror, before they could be induced to form a general league to oppose him. After this very imperfect sketch of the history of the Hindoo people, a more interesting and accessible object remains in the delineation of their mind and character, Under this view, their religious belief and mythology must first command our attention. It forms, as it were, the basis of their whole social existence. Their ceremonies employ every day, and almost every hour; its ministers rank above every other class, even above kings; there is no history, scarcely any poetry, but what relates to the actions of the gods and deified heroes. Unhappily, this devotion, unenlightened by divine instruction, and misled by the mysterious perversities of the human heart, instead of being PRINCIPAL DEITIES. 213 a lamp to their path, has involved them in an abyss of absurdity, and impelled them to follies, and even crimes, of which there is scarcely an example in any other pagan worship. Notwithstanding its extravagance, the Hindoo system claims attention, from its striking features, from the view which it affords of the history of the human mind, and from its paramount influence on the ideas and institutions of the natives themselves. It is impossible, therefore, without premising an outline of this religion, to convey any distinct idea of the character of those who profess it. The learned books of this people contain some sublime doctrines respecting the nature of the Deity. They dis tinctly recognise the existence of one supreme and invisible Author and Ruler of the universe. They even describe his attributes in lofty terms, superior to those employed in the philosophical writings of Plato, and approaching nearer than any other human composition to the delineations of the inspired penman. We may illustrate this by quoting the Gayatri, or holiest text of the Vedas, from Sir William Jones's translation. "Let us adore the supremacy of that divine Sun, the Godhead, who illuminates all, who recreates all, from whom all proceed, to whom all must return, whom we invoke to direct our understandings aright in our progress towards his holy seat. "What the sun and light are to this visible world, that are the Supreme Good and Truth to the intellectual and invisible universe; and as our corporeal eyes have a distinct perception of objects enlightened by the sun, thus our souls acquire certain knowledge by meditating on the light of truth, which emanates from the Being of beings; that is the light by which alone our minds can be directed in the path to beatitude. "Without hand or foot he runs rapidly, and grasps firmly; without eyes he sees, without ears he hears all; he knows whatever can be known; but there is none who knows him. Him the wise call the great supreme pervading Spirit." The Supreme Mind, according to the Braminical system, displays its energies in the three grand operations of creat ing, preserving, and destroying. These are expressed by |