ness: but it must be confessed, that it is often rendered dull by repetition and bombast, and deformed by an indelicacy unknown to European writers.

"The vices of their deities, and their own

"In fable, hymn, or song, so personating
"Their gods ridiculous, themselves past shame!

PARADISE REGAINED.

You will, nevertheless, find something to please, and more to interest you. India, it is probable, if not certain, is the parent of all the western gods; and, consequently, of that beautiful body of poetry which has the Grecian mythology for its basis: and though the child be grown up to a beauty and strength, of which the mother could never boast, we cannot behold without reverence, the origin of all that has delighted and instructed us, of those heavenly strains which have soothed our griefs or quieted our passions, and in a manner given us a new moral existence. How often in our evening walks on the banks of the Thames, or amid the woody glens of Scotland, has the spring of life, the breathing flood of existence around us, seemed to realize the fables of the poets, and to people every tree and every wave with a tutelary deity! And believe me, that in the forests of

Hindostan, and on its caverned mountains, the same divinities have been adored, for the same feelings and passions have filled the hearts of their votaries.

LETTER III.

DEAR SIR,

SINCE the Bramins were almost exclusively the lettered men of India, it will not appear extraordinary that the literature of that country should be so intimately blended with its religion, that it seems impossible to separate them however, I shall put off to another time the history of the Vedas, or four sacred books of the Hindoos, and content myself at present with profaner poems. But, before I proceed, I must say one word of the Sanscrit prosody, which is said to be richer in variations of metre than any other known language.

Sanscrit and Prácrit poetry is regulated by the number, length, and disposition of syllables, and is disposed into several classes, each of which is again subdivided. Some of the metres admit any number of syllables, from twentyseven to nine hundred and ninety-nine; and others are equally remarkable for their brevity:

but the most common Sanscrit metre, is the stanza of four verses, containing eight syllables each.

Sanscrit poetry admits both of rhyme and blank verse, and is in some instances subject to very rigid rules, although, in others, there is scarcely any restraint.

The rules of prosody are contained in brief aphorisms, called Sutras, the reputed author of which is PINGALANA, a fabulous being, in the shape of a serpent, and who, under the name of PATANJALI, is the author of the Maha Bhashya, or great commentary on grammar. The Sutras have been commented on by a great variety of authors; and there are also some other original treatises on the subject, the most remarkable of which, is that by the poet CALIDASA, who teaches the laws of versification in the very metres to which they relate.

Every kind of ornament seems to be admissible in the Indian poetry, and some embellishments which we should look upon as burlesque, are admitted even in the most pathetic poems. Calidasa himself, in the Nalodáya, gives an example of a series of puns on a pathetic subject, and employs both rhyme and alliteration in the termination of his verses.

When you have time, I advise you, if you wish to know all the varieties of metre, and

their rules, to look into Mr. Colebrooke's Essay on the Sanscrit and Prácrit Poetry, in the tenth volume of the Asiatic Researches, from which I take the greater part of the substance of this Letter, and perhaps, occasionally, his very words.

I will now proceed to mention the books of the Hindoos, on which Sir William Jones and Mr. Colebrooke will be our guides. There are eighteen orthodox Vedyas, or parts of knowledge. The first four are the Vedas, of which I propose hereafter to give you a particular account. The four following are the Upavedas, or treatises on medicine, music, war, and mechanical arts. The six Angas treat of pronunciation, religious ceremonies, grammar, prosody, astronomy, and the explanation of the difficult words and phrases in the Vedas. Lastly, the four Upangas contain-first, eighteen Puranas, for the instruction and entertainment of man; second, books on apprehension, reason, and judgment: third, moral and religious duties and laws; and fourthly, the books of law and justice*.

* The names of the eighteen Vedyas are as follow, the Rich, Yajush, Saman, and Athervan Vedas; the Ayush, Gándharva, Dhanush, and St'hapaya Upavedas; the Sirsha, Calpa, Vyacarana, Ch'handas, Jyotish, and Niructi Angas; and the Purana, Nyáya, Mimansa, and Dherma Sastra, Upangas.

The Maha Bharata, and the Ramayuna are the most ancient historical books, and for the information of the lower classes there are some works adapted for them, as none but the twice born, that is the three highest castes are permitted to read either the eighteen Vedyas or the two great poems.

There are besides these works of the heterodox sects upon almost all the subjects above enumerated.

The most ancient Indian poem is the Ramayuna, of Valmiki. Three volumes of it have been printed at Serampore, in the Devanagari character, accompanied by a literal translation by the missionaries Cary and Marshman. I do not know whether it was wise to translate literally so long a poem, éspecially as it abounds in those repetitions and tedious details which deform the eastern writings, and the closeness of the translation to the original, naturally makes it obscure to persons accustomed to the English idiom, and takes from it, to me at least, the character of poetry*.

The first section of the first book may be

* Three hundred rupees per month are allowed to the translators by the Asiatic Society and the College of Fort William, and it is proposed to translate and publish a series of the oriental poems.