technical system of logic, which the Brahmins had communicated to the inquisitive Greek, and which the Mohammedan writer supposes to have been the ground-work of the famous Aristotelian method: if this be true, it is one of the most interesting facts, that I have met with in Asia; and if it be false, it is very extraordinary that such a

confined in a cage placed on a carriage that followed the army, and that he thus miserably ended his life. Justin pretends, that he died by poison, which at his own request was secretly conveyed to him by Lysimachus. But what appears certain, is, that he was accused of treason and tried, and that his death, in whichever way it happened, was in consequence of his condemnation. But instead of referring the reader to the numerous ancient authors who have mentioned Callisthenes, we recommend to him the perusal of an article on his life and writings, by M. [l'Abbé Sevin, in Mémoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, tom. viii. p. 126.

To learned readers, the above, and some other notes, may appear superfluous; but they are inserted with the view of saving the trouble of inquiry to those who may be less informed concerning the subjects mentioned, or who may not possess the opportunity of consulting the authorities referred to.

story should have been fabricated either by the candid Mohsani Fani, or by the simple Parsis Pandits, with whom he had conversed; but, not having had leisure to study the Nyaya Sastra, I can only assure you, that I have frequently seen perfect syllogisms in the philosophical writings of the Brahmins, and have often heard them used in their verbal controversies. Whatever might have been the merit or age of Gotama, yet the most celebrated Indian school is that, with which I began, founded by Vyasa, and supported in most respects by his pupil Jaimini, whose dissent on a few points is mentioned by his master with respectful moderation; their several systems are frequently distinguished by the names of the first and second Mimansa, a word, which, like Nyaya, denotes the operations and conclusions of reason; but the tract of Vyasa has in general the appellation of Vedanta, or the scope and end of the Veda, on the texts of which, as they were understood by the philosopher who collected them, his doctrines are principally grounded.

The fundamental tenet of the Vedanti school, to which in a more modern age the incomparable Sancara was a firm and illustrious adherent, consisted, not in denying the existence of matter, that is, of solidity, impenetrability, and extended figure, (to deny which would be lunacy,) but, in correcting the popular notion of it, and in contending, that it has no essence independent of mental perception, that existence and perceptibility are convertible terms, that external appearances and sensations are illusory, and would vanish into nothing, if the divine energy, which alone sustains them, were suspended but for a moment; an opinion, which Epicharmus* and Plato seem to have adopted, and which has been maintained in the present century with great elegance, but with little public applause; partly because it has been mis

* A Pythagorean philosopher and poet, born in Sicily, under the reign of the first Hieron, and the first who there introduced regular dramatic works on the stage. Plato is supposed to have borrowed from his writings.

understood, and partly because it has been misapplied by the false reasoning of some unpopular writers, who are said to have disbelieved in the moral attributes of God, whose omnipresence, wisdom, and goodness, are the basis of the Indian philosophy. I have not sufficient evidence on the subject to profess a belief in the doctrine of the Vedanta, which human reason alone, could, perhaps, neither fully demonstrate, nor fully disprove; but it is manifest, that nothing can be farther removed from impiety than a system wholly built on the purest devotion; and the inexpressible difficulty, which any man, who shall make the attempt, will assuredly find, in giving a satisfactory definition of material substance, must induce us to deliberate with coolness, before we censure the learned and pious restorer of the ancient Veda; though we cannot but admit, that, if the common opinions of mankind be the criterion of philosophical truth, we must adhere to the system of Gotama, which the Brahmins of this province almost universally follow.

"If the metaphysics of the Vedantis be wild and erroneous, the pupils of Buddha' have run, it is asserted, into an error diametrically opposite; for they are charged with denying the existence of pure spirit, and with believing nothing absolutely and really to exist but material substance ; -a heavy accusation, which ought only to have been made on positive and incontestable proof, especially by the orthodox Brahmins, who, as Buddha dissented from their ancestors in regard to bloody sacrifices, which the Veda certainly prescribes, may not unjustly be suspected of low and interested malignity. Though I cannot credit the charge, yet I am unable to prove it entirely false, having only read a few pages of a Saugata book; but it begins, like other Hind books, with the word Om, which we know to be a symbol of the divine attributes: then follows, indeed, a mysterious hymn to the goddess of Nature, by the name of Arya, but with several other titles, which the Brahmins themselves continually bestow on their Devi: now, the Brahmins,

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