ever have it in his power to send them, by presenting those ancient coins to the Court of Directors. The story is that they were sent to the melting-pot. At all events they had disappeared when Warren Hastings returned to England. It rests with you to prevent the revival of such Vandalism.
In one of the last numbers of the 'Asiatic Journal of Bengal' you may read of the discovery of a treasure as rich in gold almost as some of the tombs opened by Dr. Schliemann at Mykenae, nay I should add, perhaps not quite unconnected with some of the treasures found at Mykenae; yet hardly any one has taken notice of it in England[1]!
The study of Mythology has assumed an entirely new character, chiefly owing to the light that has been thrown on it by the ancient Vedic Mythology of India. But though the foundation of a true Science of Mythology has been laid, all the detail has still to be worked out, and could be worked out nowhere better than in India.
Even the study of fables owes its new life to India, from whence the various migrations of fables have been traced at various times and through various channels from East to West[2]. Buddhism is now known to have been the principal source of our legends and parables. But here too, many problems still wait for their solution. Think, for instance, of the allusion[3] to the fable of the donkey in the lion's skin,
- ↑ See Note A.
- ↑ See Selected Essays, vol. i. p. 500, 'The Migration of Fables.'
- ↑ Cratylus, 411 A. 'Still, as I have put on the lion's skin, I must not be faint-hearted.' Possibly, however, this may refer to Hercules, and not to the fable of the donkey in the lion's or the tiger's skin. In the Hitopadesa, a donkey, being nearly starved, is
