What the profound observer, quoted above, pronounced generally of fiction, is peculiarly pertinent, when applied to the Hindus. The history of their progress, in the arts of civilized life, is so clouded with mythology, and overcast by time, that our efforts to penetrate the obscurity, have been hitherto of little avail. As the mind, therefore, has little substantial gratification to expect, from this branch of intellectual enjoyment, it may be permitted to indulge in the shadows, that are abundantly presented, and dwell with more interest, than the subject would otherwise excite, on the copious materials afforded by the mass of Hindu fable, within its reach.