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much other miscellaneous matter, may be found in HI. H. Wilson's Select Specimens of the Theatre of the Hindus, and in the other volumes of his works, edited by Dr. Rost and Fitzedward Hall.

5. Religions.-The best general account, brought down to the present time, of the religious systems which have prevailed in India is by Paul Wurm, Basle, 1874. Another excellent survey is found in Archdeacon Hardwick's Christ and other Masters. The reader has there the opportunity of a convenient comparison of the Indian religions with the other great religions of the world. In the fourth volume of his Texts, Dr. Muir compares the Vedic with the later representations of the principal Indian deities, and in the last volume portrays at length the Vedic religion. The same eminent scholar has also published a small collection of Religious and Moral Sentiments from Sanskrit Writers. Colebrooke's essays on the Religious Ceremonies of the Hindus, and on the Indian Sectaries are valuable contributions to our knowledge. Among special works on Buddhism perhaps the writings of Spence Hardy are the highest authority. For an account of the superstitions of the aborigines, Hunter's Annals of Rural Bengal and Fergusson's Tree and Serpent Worship, may be consulted.

6. Philosophy.—Indian philosophy is so closely connected with religion that a discussion of one in some degree involves the other. The earliest penetrating analysis of the six philosophical systems was by Colebrooke, and will be found among his Essays. The Dialogues on the Hindu Philosophy, by K. M. Banerjea, is designed chiefly for use in India, and puts in a clear light the absurd and contradictory speculations of the philosophers. Nilakantha's Rational Refutation of the Hindu Philosophy, translated and extended by F. Hall, is another work of the same class, and one of the best existing introductions to the subject. The survey of Hindu philosophy in Mrs. Manning's book is clear and compiled from the best authorities.

7. Political History.-The political history of India naturally falls into three periods-the Hindu, the Mohammedan, and the English-which, however, overlap somewhat, since foreign rule was but gradually extended over the country. The native chronicles of the Hindu period are mostly legendary, and

genuine history can be constructed only by piecemeal from scattered notices in native and foreign literature, from inscriptions on monuments, copper-plates, and coins. The greatest credit for performing this difficult, and to most men hopeless task, will always belong to Prof. Christian Lassen. His great work, already alluded to, in four bulky volumes, is a noble monument to his broad, acute, and persevering scholarship. The results of later researches will doubtless make it necessary to modify some of his conclusions, but his great services to India in the resurrection of her buried history will not soon be forgotten. The first and second volumes have been revised and improved by the author.

Of the second period we have not only the European but Mohammedan historians. The large History of India as told by its own Historians, by the late Sir H. M. Elliott, edited and continued by Prof. John Dawson, is a work which draws many of its materials from the chronicles of the Mogul emperors. The sixth volume was published last year. Another standard work is the History of India by Mountstuart Elphinstone, who for many years held high official positions in India. Though the history professedly covers the first two periods, the author devotes less than half of his book to the times of Hindu dominion, and, avoiding hazardous speculations, confines himself to the recital of ascertained facts. The original work was published more than thirty years ago, but in 1866 the fifth edition appeared with notes and additions by Prof. Cowell. There is no lack of writers on the English dominion in India, or on particular administrations. The most elaborate and widely known review of this period is Mill's History of British India, in ten volumes, edited and continued by H. H. Wilson. The original work, though marked by striking merits, was marred by serious defects. The author, having never resided in India, was sometimes led into error by an inability to criticize his authorities. His judgment was also warped by an inveterate prejudice against the Hindus. A more recent and reliable work is the History of India, in three volumes, by J. C. Marshman. The author devotes but a few pages to ancient India, and hastens on to the advent of the English. The history is brought down to the close of Lord Dalhousie's administration in 1857. The

History of the Marattas, by James Grant Duff is a full account of the rise of that power, which threatened at one time to give the law to all India. In Spruner's historical atlas will be found ten maps, which convey to the eye the changing political complexion of India from the second century B. C., down to the present time.

8. Caste.--The two best authorities on caste are the first volume of Muir's Texts, and Rev. M. A. Sherring's Tribes and Castes of the Hindus. In the former are collected all the statements found in Sanskrit literature throwing light on the origin and character of this institution; and in the latter is described the present condition of the system with its almost infinite subdivisions. The different castes are also described in Sir H. M. Elliot's Races of the N. W. Provinces of India, 2 vols., edited by John Beames. This work contains a great amount of informa tion arranged under the four heads: case; customs, rites, and superstitions; revenue and official terms; rural life.

9. Architecture.-Though the Hindus have never rivaled the Greeks in beautiful temples, they have produced much which is deserving of study. An interesting chapter on this subject is found in the first volume of Mrs. Manning's book. The fullest treatment of the subject is in Fergusson's Tree and Serpent Worship, and in a just-published volume of his History of Architecture.

10. Manners and Customs.-An old but standard book is Character, Manners, and Customs of the People of India, from the French of Abbé Dubois, 1817. Much may be learned of life in Vedic times from the fifth volume of Muir's Texts. Rousselet's India and its Native Princes, issued in sumptuous style by Scribner, is a valuable but costly contribution to the same subject. India as it appeared to the Greeks may be learned from the fragments of Megasthenes' history, edited by Schwanbeck.

11. Famines.-The terrible sufferings which the people of some districts of India experience from famine, at short intervals, invest this subject with more than a local interest. A short account of the worst of these famines, with some suggestions for their prevention or mitigation, has been published by Charles Blair of the Indian engineer service. London, 1874.

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A lecture On the Impending Bengal Famine, illustrated by colored maps of the afflicted districts, by the eminent civilian and philanthropist Sir Bartle Frere, throws much light upon the causes of famines and upon the administrative measures by which they may be prevented. Vivid pictures of some of these terrible visitations are drawn by Dr. Hunter in his Rural Bengal and Orissa.

12. Missions.-The efforts of Protestant missionaries for more than a century and a half to convert the Hindus form an instructive chapter of Indian history. By far the most reliable and comprehensive account of their operations is in the book recently published by Rev. M. A. Sherring: The History of Protestant Missions in India. Dr. Rufus Anderson's account of the missions of the American Board in India is well known.

13. Cyclopædias.-We do not possess any work of this description relating exclusively to India which is perfectly satisfactory. Balfour's Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia is a valuable work in seven volumes, costing about forty dollars. Garrett's Classical Dictionary of India, with a supplement published later, is a much smaller work, and possesses only inconsiderable merit, while sharing inaccuracies in detail, hardly to be avoided where one man attempts singlehanded to compass so vast a field.

14. Periodicals.-The Indische Studien, edited by Prof. A. Weber, of Berlin, and issued in Parts at irregular intervals, contains elaborate papers on Indian Philology, prepared generally by the editor. The Journal of the Asiatic Society, of Bengal, is a great storehouse of information on India. It is issued in eight numbers yearly, at four shillings per number. Many valuable papers have appeared in the Calcutta Review, published quarterly. The proprietor has proposed to extract the most valuable articles from the whole series and republish them separately in from six to ten volumes, which will make it accessible to all scholars. The Indian Antiquary is a monthly journal, edited by James Burgess, Bombay. It contains papers by the most eminent scholars of India, native and European, on archæology, history, languages, religion, folklore, &c. The subscription price is two pounds sterling, exclusive of postage. It has just begun its fifth volume. The Indian Evangelical Review

is a quarterly journal of missionary effort, edited by Rev. C. W. Park, Bombay. It is now in its third year, and has thus far been conducted with marked ability. Its fearless defense of the truth against the semi-atheism of a large part of the Indian press, its catholic spirit and the scholarly character of its discussions, commend it to all friends of India. The subscription price is $3.50, including postage.

As we said at the outset, our list might be indefinitely increased, but it would swell this notice beyond reasonable limits, and perplex the student by an embarras de richesses. It might have been useful if we had added the prices to the books noticed, but we have not the necessary memoranda. It may be safely assumed that all books relating to India are sufficiently expensive by the time they reach America; but we suppose that all students who enter upon these studies have first counted the cost. It is a common experience that those investigations which lie outside of and above the daily wants of men bring scanty return in dollars and cents, and not seldom in fame. But we can assure the scholar that if he enters upon these intellectual conquests, burning his ships behind him, and seeking for truth with single-hearted zeal, he will at least have the satisfaction of contributing his share toward the solution of the vast and many-sided problem of human development.

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