but likewise the names
of Adam and Eve, of Abraham and Sarah, and all the rest.

Great was the surprise, still greater the joy, not only in Calcutta, but
in London, at Paris, and all the universities of Germany. The Sanskrit
MSS. from which Lieutenant Wilford quoted, and on which his theories were
based, had been submitted to Sir W. Jones and other scholars; and though
many persons were surprised, and for a time even incredulous, yet the fact
could not be denied that all was found in these Sanskrit MSS. as stated by
Lieutenant Wilford. Sir W. Jones, then President of the Asiatic Society,
printed the following declaration at the end of the third volume of the
"Asiatic Researches":--

"Since I am persuaded that the learned essay on Egypt and the Nile has
afforded you equal delight with that which I have myself received from it,
I cannot refrain from endeavoring to increase your satisfaction by
confessing openly that I have at length abandoned the greatest part of the
natural distrust, and incredulity which had taken possession of my mind
before I had examined the sources from which our excellent associate,
Lieutenant Wilford, has drawn so great a variety of new and interesting
opinions. Having lately read again and again, both alone and with a
Pandit, the numerous original passages in the Puranas, and other Sanskrit
books, which the writer of the dissertation adduces in support of his
assertions, I am happy in bearing testimony to his perfect good faith and
general accuracy, both in his extracts and in the translation of them."

Sir W. Jones then proceeds himself to give a translation of some of these
passages. "The following translation," he writes, "of an extract from the
Padma-purana is minutely exact":--

"1. To _Satyavarman_, the sovereign of the whole earth, were born three
sons; the eldest, _Sherma_; then _Charma_; and thirdly, _Jyapeti_.

"2. They were all men of good morals, excellent in virtue and virtuous
deeds, skilled in the use of weapons to strike with, or to be thrown,
brave men, eager for victory in battle.

"3. But _Satyavarman_, being continually delighted with devout meditation,
and seeing his sons fit for dominion, laid upon them the burden of
government,

"4. Whilst he remained honoring and satisfying the gods, and priests, and
kine. One day, by the act of destiny, the king, having drunk mead,

"5. Became senseless, and lay asleep naked; then was he seen by _Charma_,
and by him were his two b