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cities, and to illustrate the obscure passages in it, which he accordingly did, and gave it the title of The Criterion of Wisdom. At length these fables made their way into Europe, and have been circulated there with additions and alterations, under the names of Pilpay and Esop. Many of the Sanskreet apologues are ingenious and beautiful, and have been copied or imitated by the fabulists of other nations. But in some of them the characters of the animals introduced are very ill sustained. To describe a tiger as extremely devout, and practising charity, and other religious duties, p. 16. or an old mouse well read in the Neetee Sastras, i. e. Systems of Morality and Policy, p. 24.; a cat reading religious books, p. 35, &c., discovers a want of taste, and an inattention to propriety. Many of the moral say. ings, if considered as detached maxims, are found

been made acquainted. The extensive use of the Sanskreet language is a circumstance which merits particular attention. "The grand source of Indian literature," (says Mr. Halhed, the first Englishman who acquired the knowledge of Sanskreet,) "the parent of almost every dialect from the Persian gulf to the China seas, is the Sanskreet, a language of the most venerable and unfathomable antiquity; | which, although at present shut up in the libraries of Brahmins, and appropriated solely to the records of their religion, appears to have been current over most of the oriental world; and traces of its original extent may still be discovered in almost every district of Asia. I have been often astonished to find the similitude of Sanskreet words with those of Persian and Arabic, and even of Latin and Greek; and those not in technical and metaphorical terms, which the mutation of refined arts and improved❘ed upon a thorough knowledge of life and manners, manners might have occasionally introduced, but in the ground-work of language, in monosyllables, in the names of numbers, and the appellations of such things as would be first discriminated on the immediate dawn of civilization. The resemblance which may be observed in the characters on the medals and signets of various districts of Asia, the light which they reciprocally reflect upon each other, and the general analogy which they all bear to the same grand prototype, afford another ample field for curiosity. The coins of Assam, Napaul, Cashmeere, and many other kingdoms, are all stamped with Sanskreet characters, and mostly contain allusions to the old Sanskreet mythology. The same conformity I have observed on the impressions of seals from Bootan and Thibet. A collateral inference may likewise be deduced from the peculiar arrangement of the Sanskreet alphabet, so very different from that of any other quarter of the world. This extraordinary mode of combination still exists in the greatest part of the East, from the Indus to Pegu, in dialects now apparently unconnected, and in characters completely dissimilar; and it is a forcible argument that they are all derived from the same source. Another channel of speculation presents itself in the names of persons and places, of titles and dignities, which are opened to general notice, and in which, to the furthest limits of Asia, may be found manifest traces of the Sanskreet." Preface to the Grammar of the Bengal Language, p. 3. After this curious account of the Sanskreet tongue, I proceed to enumerate the works which have been translated from it, besides the two mentioned in the text.-1. To Mr. Wilkins we are indebted for Heeto-pades or Amicable Instruction, in a series of connected fables, interspersed with moral, prudential, and political maxims. This work is in such high esteem throughout the East, that it has been translated into every language spoken there. It did not escape the notice of the emperor Akber, attentive to every thing that could contribute to promote useful knowledge. He directed his vizier, Abul Fazel, to put it into a style suited to all capa

and convey instruction with elegant simplicity. But the attempt of the author to form his work into a connected series of fables, and his mode of interweaving with them such a number of moral reflections in prose and in verse, renders the structure of the whole so artificial that the perusal of it becomes often unpleasant. Akber was so sensible of this, that among other instructions, he advises his vizier to abridge the long digressions in that work. By these strictures it is far from my intention to detract in the smallest degree from the merit of Mr. Wilkins. His country is much indebted to him for having opened a new source of science and taste. The celebrity of the Heetoo-pades, as well as its intrinsic merit, notwithstanding the defects which I have mentioned, justify his choice of it, as a work worthy of being made known to Europe in its original form. From reading this and his other translations, no man will refuse him the praise, to which he modestly confines his pretensions, "of having drawn a picture which we suppose to be a true likeness, although we are unacquainted with the original." Pref. p. xiv.—2. In the first number of the New Asiatic Miscellany, we have a translation of a celebrated composition in the East, known by the title of the Five Gems. It consists of stanzas by five poets who attended the court of Abissura, king of Bengal. Some of these stanzas are simple and elegant.-3. An ode translated from Wulli; in which that extravagance of fancy, and those farfetched and unnatural conceits which so often disgust Europeans with the poetical compositions of the East, abound too much. The editor has not informed us to whose knowledge of the Sanskreet we are indebted for these two translations.-4. Some original grants of land, of very ancient dates, translated by Mr. Wilkins. It may seem odd, that a charter or legal conveyance of property should be ranked among the literary compositions of any people. But so widely do the manners of the Hindoos differ from those of Europe, that as our lawyers multiply words and clauses, in order to render a grant complete, and to guard against every thing

that may invalidate it, the Pundits seem to des- lunar years, nothing can be more extravagant in patch the legal part of the deed with brevity, but, itself, or more repugnant to our mode of calculating in a long preamble and conclusion, make an extra- the duration of the world, founded on sacred and ordinary display of their own learning, eloquence, infallible authority. Some attempts have been and powers of composition, both in prose and verse. made by learned men, particularly by M. Bailly, The preamble to one of these deeds is an encomium in a very ingenious dissertation on that subject, to of the monarch who grants the land, in a bold strain bring the chronology of the Hindoos to accord of Eastern exaggeration: "When his innumerable somewhat better with that of the Old Testament; army marched, the heavens were so filled with the but as I could not explain the principles upon dust of their feet that the birds of the air could which he founds his conclusions, without entering rest upon it."—" His elephants moved like walking into long and intricate discussions foreign from the mountains, and the earth oppressed by their weight | subject of this Dissertation, and as I cannot assent mouldered into dust." It concludes with denounc- to some of his opinions, I shall rest satisfied with ing vengeance against those who should venture to referring to his Astron. Indienne, Disc. Prelim. p. infringe this grant: "Riches and the life of man lxxvii., and leave my readers to judge for themare as transient as drops of water upon the leaf of selves. I am happy to observe that a memoir on the lotos. Learning this truth, O man! do not the Chronology of the Hindoos will be published attempt to deprive another of his property." Asiatic in the second volume of the Transactions of the Researches, vol. i. p. 123, &c. The other grant, Society of Bengal, and I hope that some learned which appears to be still more ancient, is not less member of that body will be able, from his acremarkable. Both were found engraved on plates of quaintance with the languages and history of the copper. Ib. p. 357, &c.-5. The translation of part country, to throw light upon a subject which its of the Shaster, published by colonel Dow, in the connexion with religion and science renders exyear 1768, ought perhaps to have been first men- tremely interesting. From one circumstance howtioned. But as this translation was not made by ever, which merits attention, we may conclude, him from the Sanskreet, but taken from the mouth that the information which we have hitherto reof a Brahmin, who explained the Shaster in Perceived concerning the chronology of the Hindoos sian, or in the vulgar language of Bengal, it will fall more properly under notice when we come to inquire into the state of science among the Hindoos, than in this place, where we are endeavouring to give some idea of their taste and composition.

NOTE LXVII. P. 1145.

As many of my readers may be unacquainted with the extravagant length of the four æras or periods of Indian chronology, it may be proper to give an account of them from Mr. Halhed's Preface to the Code of Gentoo Laws, p. xxxvi.

1. The Suttee Jogue (or age of purity) is said to have lasted three million two hundred thousand years; and they hold that the life of man was extended in that age to one hundred thousand years; and that his stature was twenty-one cubits.

2. The Tirtah Jogue (in which one-third of mankind was corrupted) they suppose to have consisted of two million four hundred thousand years, and that men lived to the age of ten thousand years.

3. The Dwapaar Jogue (in which half of the human race became depraved) endured one million six hundred thousand years; and the life of man was then reduced to a thousand years.

4. The Collee Jogue (in which all mankind are corrupted, or rather lessened, for that is the true meaning of Collee) is the present æra, which they suppose ordained to subsist four hundred thousand years, of which near five thousand are already past; and the life of man in that period is limited to one hundred years.

If we suppose the computation of time in the Indian chronology to be made by solar or even by

is very incorrect. We have, as far as I know, only five original accounts of the different Jogues or æras of the Hindoos. The first is given by M. Roger, who received it from the Brahmins on the Coromandel coast. According to it, the Suttee Jogue is a period of one million seven hundred and twenty-eight thousand years; the Tirtah Jogne is one million two hundred and ninety-six thousand years; the Dwapaar Jogue is eight hundred and sixty-four thousand years. The duration of the Collee Jogue he does not specify. Porte Ouverte, p. 179. The next is that of M. Bernier, who received it from the Brahmins of Benares. According to him, the duration of the Suttee Jogue was two million five hundred thousand years; that of Tirtah Jogue one million two hundred thousand years; that of the Dwapaar Jogue is eight hundred and sixty-four thousand years. Concerning the period of the Collee Jogue, he likewise is silent. Voyages, tom. ii. p. 160. The third is that of colonel Dow, according to which the Suttee Jogue is a period of fourteen million of years; the Tirtah Jogue one million eighty thousand; the Dwapaar Jogue seventy-two thousand; and the Collee Jogue thirtysix thousand years. Hist. of Hindost. vol. i. p. 2. The fourth account is that of M. le Gentil, who received it from the Brahmins of the Coromandel coast, and as his information was acquired in the same part of India, and derived from the same source with that of M. Roger, it agrees with his in every particular. Mem. de l'Academ. des Sciences pour 1772, tom. ii. part i. p. 176. The fifth is the account of Mr. Halhed, which I have already given. From this discrepancy, not only of the total num

the Sanskreet, and could consult the astronomical tables written in that language, were capable of calculating eclipses. P. Tiessenthaler describes, in a very cursory manner, two observatories furnished with instruments of extraordinary magnitude, at Jepour and Ougein, in the country of Malwa. Bernouilli, tom. i. p. 316. 347. But these are modern structures.

bers, but of many of the articles in the different | intimates, that none but Brahmins who understood accounts, it is manifest that our information concerning Indian chronology is hitherto as uncertain as the whole system of it is wild and fabulous. To me it appears highly probable, that when we understand more thoroughly the principles upon which the factitious æras or Jogues of the HinF doos have been formed, we may be more able to reconcile their chronology to the true mode of computing time, founded on the authority of the Old Testament; and may likewise find reason to conclude, that the account given by their astronomers of the situation of the heavenly bodies at the beginning of the Collee Jogue, is not established by actual observation, but the result of a retrospective calculation. Whoever undertakes to investigate further the chronology of the Hindoos, will derive I great assistance from a Memoir of Mr. Marsden on that subject, in which he has explained the nature of their year, and the several æras in use among them, with much ingenuity and precision. Philos. Transact. vol. lxxx. part ii. p. 560.

C.

NOTE LXVIII. P. 1147.

In the public buildings of India, we find proofs and monuments of the proficiency of the Brahmins in science, particularly of their attention to astronomical observation. Their religion enjoins, that I. the four sides of a pagoda should face the four cardinal points. In order to execute this with accuracy, they take a method described by M. le Gentil, which discovers a considerable degree of science. He carefully examined the position of one of their pagodas, and found it to be perfectly exact. Voy. tom. i. p. 133. As some of their pagodas are very ancient, they must have early attained such a portion of knowledge as was requisite for placing them properly. On the ceilings of Choultries, and other ancient edifices, the twelve signs of the zodiac are often delineated; and from their resemblance to those which are now universally used, it is highly probable that the knowledge of these arbitrary symbols was derived from the East. Colonel Call has published a drawing of the signs of the zodiac, which he found on the ceiling of a Choultry at Verdapettah, in the Madura country. Phil. Trans1 act. vol. Ixii. p. 353. I have a drawing of them in my possession, differing from his in some of the figures, but I cannot say in what particular place it was found. Sir Robert Barker describes an observatory at Benares, which he visited, A. D. 1772. In it he found instruments for astronomical observation, of very large dimensions, and constructed with great skill and ingenuity. Of all these he has published drawings. Phil. Transact. vol. Ixvii. p. 598. According to traditionary account, this observatory was built by the emperor Akber. The view which sir Robert took of it was a hasty one. It merits a more attentive inspection, in order to determine whether it was constructed by Akber, or erected in some more early period. Sir Robert

SINCE the first edition of the Historical Disquisition was published, the Souriak Seddantam, or, according to a more correct orthography, the Surya Siddhánta, on the principles of which I had observed that all the Indian astronomy is founded, has been discovered at Benares by sir Robert Chambers. He immediately communicated this valuable work to Samuel Davis, Esq. who has favoured the world with a translation of several considerable extracts from it.

The Surya Siddhanta is composed in the Sanskreet language, and professes to be a divine revelation, (as Abul Fazel had related, Ayeen Akbery, III. p. 8.,) communicated to mankind more than two millions of years ago, towards the close of the Sutty or Satya Jogue, the first of the four fabulous ages into which the Hindoo mythologists divide the period during which they suppose the world to have existed. But when this accompaniment of fiction and extravagance is removed, there is left behind a very rational and elaborate system of astronomical calculation. From this Mr. Davis has selected what relates to the calculation of eclipses, and has illustrated it with great ingenuity. The manner in which that subject is treated, has so close an affinity to the methods formerly brought from India, and of which I have given some account, as to confirm strongly the opinion that the Súrya Siddhanta is the source from which all the others are derived. How far the real date of this work may be ascertained from the rules and tables which it contains, will be more clearly established when a translation of the whole is published. In the mean time it is evident, that what is already known with respect to these rules and tables, is extremely favourable to the hypothesis which ascribes a very high antiquity to the astronomy of the Brahmins.

The circumstance, perhaps, most worthy of attention, in the Extracts now referred to, is the system of Trigonometry included in the Astronomical Rules of the Súrya Siddhánta. Asiat, Research. ii. p. 245. 249. It may be shown that this system is founded on certain Geometrical Theorems, which though modern mathematicians be well acquainted with, were certainly unknown to Ptolemy and the Greek geometricians.

It is with pleasure, too, we observe, that Mr. Davis has in his possession several other ancient books of Hindoo astronomy, and that there is reason to

expect from him a translation of the whole Súrya | My friend, Mr. Professor Playfair, has examined

HISTORY OF SCOTLAN D.