102 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [June 7 



ing the author's sources of knowledge, as would enable me to coincide 

 with niy critic, or to throw some fresh light on an interesting subject. 

 Whatever conclusion I may arrive at, I do not think, as a mere matter 

 of opinion regarding this particular author, it is of much moment 

 which of us may be in the right : but I think it of very considerable 

 importance to maintain the integrity and equity of the position, that 

 if fables should not be dignified with the name and rank of histories 

 — histories should not be rejected, or placed in the category of fables 

 or fabrications without a careful and dispassionate examination of the 

 grounds upon which such rejection is made ; we may reject, I think, 

 at once and without danger, the miraculous, but if we were to set 

 aside as worthless, all those histories in which we find statements to 

 which we cannot give our unqualified credence, I fear we should have 

 very little left. The ancient Persians have usually been considered the 

 greatest romancers ; but as we know more of them, we shall undoubtedly 

 accept much that we have been disposed heretofore to reject. Hero- 

 dotus, the Father of History, was called, by Plutarch if I mistake not, 

 the " Father of Lies," and though doubtless we must still read his 

 history with some scepticism, recent discoveries have a tendency in 

 quite the opposite direction. Xenophon again is certainly a highly 

 respectable authority, but I have just been reading his Anabasis, the 

 authorship of which, I may add, has long been disputed, and very 

 many of his statements must be taken I fear with a full complement 

 of the grains of salt. And so it is with Titus Livius, Terence, and 

 others of our most venerated Roman friends and acquaintances, whose 

 company we find so pleasant ; but whose narratives usually contain 

 something more than the truth. Niebuhr, however, and those who 

 have followed in his wake, have long since told us the rules to follow 

 in such cases. Bat as stated, it is not by generalities of this kind 

 that I propose to dispose of the case in point. I have lately been 

 absent making a tour in the tea districts of Assam, and having returned 

 with a bad jungle fever, I have had neither time nor inclination for 

 literary pursuits. When absent, I received a letter from Dr. Sprenger 

 telling me that he had written to Dr. Dozy, but had not succeeded in 

 getting what T required. I have again, however, addressed him and 

 1 hope lie will In" more successful, and in the meantime I will aslj 

 your permi don to read some extracts from a highly interesting lcttc 1 ' 



