but yesterday in the march of the
divine aeons of the past. Certainly, writers whose productions are
unreliable as a guide to the events of the past century or two are
only indenting upon their imagination when they descant upon the
chronological data of the _Puranas_.

One of the principal evils connected with this measureless time system
is found in the fact that it helps to destroy the confidence of all
intelligent men in the historicity of characters and events which
would otherwise be worthy of our credence. For example, the question
is asked whether such a man as Rama Chandra ever existed. We at once
reply in the affirmative; for does not the Ramayana dwell upon his
exploits, and are there not other reasons for believing that such a
hero lived in ancient times in this land?

And yet when the _Puranas_ tell us that this same Rama received his
apotheosis and appeared as an incarnation of Vishnu in the _Tretha
yuga_, say one or two millions of years ago, we are astounded at the
credulity of those who could write such a statement as well as those
who can accept it; and we are led to question whether, after all, Rama
ever existed or is simply a poetic conception carried far away into an
imaginary time. Thus the chronology of the land tends to cast a cloud
of doubt and suspicion over all that is historical, traditional, or
legendary in the literature of the people.

Still greater than this is the unfortunate influence of such a system
upon the people themselves, in helping to destroy any appreciation
that they would otherwise have of historic perspective. It is well
known that the people of India have throughout the ages been the most
wanting in the ability to write and soberly to appreciate historic
facts.

They are great thinkers and wonderful metaphysicians, but they are not
historians. The meagre history of India which has come down to us was
not written by the people themselves. Not until recently, and then
under the influence of western training, did any reliable book of
history emanate from the brain and hand of a native of this land. All
that we know of the ancient history of India comes to us in two ways.
It is known indirectly through the language and literature and ancient
inscriptions of the past. Historians of to-day have to study the
science of language, and especially the growth of the Sanscrit tongue;
and, through an intimate knowledge of the same, they arrive
approximately at the time in which many