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SCENE V.

DEMIPHO, GETA, PHÆDRIA.

Dem. (to himself) So Antipho, without my knowledge or consent, has taken to himself a wife? he did not stand in awe of my authority? but I shall drop that word-he did not stand in awe of my displeasure? -Did not blush? O daring deed! O Geta, his adviser!

Ge. (aside) I'm forced in at last. Dem. I wonder what they'll say, or what pretext they will invent.

Ge. I have invented one already; call another cause.

Dem. Will this be their defence? It was against my will, the law compelled me? That I listen to and own its force.

Ge. (aside) I like you now.

Dem. But with your knowledge, and through silence to betray the cause and aid the adversary; by the law were you compelled to that?

Ge. That thrust is keen.

Ph. Leave it to me, I'll parry it. Dem. I'm quite unhinged, and know not what to do, so unexpected, so incredible, the matter is. I am in such a passion, that I cannot bring my mind to think. It is our wisdom, that, when Fortune smiles upon us, we consider well what we're to do in case of a reverse. On coming from abroad, you ought to think of dangers, losses, exile, errors of your son, your wife's decease, or illness of your daughter; that events like these are common; then you're not surprised -find nothing new. And if, perchance, 'tis better than you thought, you count it so much gain.

Ge. Well, Phædria, you can't imagine how in wisdom I excel my master. All the evils that could happen, I have reckoned-how, on his return, I might be forced to grind and labour in the mill-might suffer stripes, and carry fetters round my ankles-must, perhaps, even drudge at country work; not one of all these things is unexpected; then, if matters are not quite so bad, I'll think it so much gained. But why delay accosting him? Be very smooth with him at first.

Dem. (aside) Is that not Phædria coming up, my brother's son ?

Ph. Your servant, uncle. Dem. I am your's; but where is Antipho?

ed.

Ph. I'm glad to see you safe return

Dem. You're very good; but tell me what I asked you.

Ph. O he's well-he is at hand;but, pray, has all gone to your mind? Dem. I wish it had.

Ph. What do you mean?

Dem. And need you ask? A pretty marriage you have brought about while I was absent!

Ph. Are you then displeased at him for that?

Ge. (aside) Well done!

Dem. Displeased! how should I not? I long to see his face, to let him know, that, by his conduct, he has made a kind and gentle father furious.

Ph. He has done nothing, uncle, to offend you.

Dem. There we have it; they are all alike; if one you know, you know them all.

Ph. O no.

Dem. The one commits a foolish prank, the other pleads to get him off, and so it would be vice versa; ever do they work to one another's hands.

Ge. (aside) Well said, old boy! you paint them to the life, without your knowing it.

Dem. If this were not the case, you would not so stand up for him, good Phædria.

Ph. If Antipho has done amiss, neglecting character and fortune, never will I plead his cause, dear uncle; let him suffer what he has deserved;

but if a person, with malicious art, lay snares to catch our youth, and, by his craft, prevail, where lies the fault? with us or with the judges? The judges oft, from envy, strip the rich, or, from compassion, give unto the poor.

Ge. (aside) Did I not know what's what, I should believe he said the truth.

Dem. Can any judge find out where justice lies, if one don't say a word, which was the case with him?

Ph. He acted like a modest youth. When he was placed before the court, he could not recollect his thoughts, so much was he abashed and over

come.

Ge. (aside) Well acted, faith! but I will now step up.-Good master, I rejoice to see you safe and sound come home.

Dem. Good day, our faithful guardian, prop, and pillar of the family, to

whom I gave my son in charge when I set out.

Ge. I have already heard that you accuse us all, without the smallest reason too, especially myself, who am the least to blame. What would you wish that I had done? The laws do not permit a slave to plead, nor even to be a witness.

in the islands, is founded on the prin ciples of the Sanskrit alphabet, without adhering to its artificial classification. Like other semibarbarous dialects, it is deficient in generic terms, and redundant in those expressive of individuals. But the great source of its copiousness springs from the political fabric of society. There is an ordinary dialect, and another expres

Dem. All you say, I pass; my son, from inexperience, was afraid-allow-sive of respect. ed. You are a slave; I know that too. But, after all, however strong the proof that she was his relation, Antipho was not obliged to marry her. You should have given a dowry, as the law directs, and let her find another husband. Why bring home a beggar for his wife?

Ge. That's very true-but where was money to be found?

Dem. He might have found it

somewhere.

Ge. Somewhere? that's an easy thing to say.

Dem. If no way else was found to raise it, why not borrow upon interest? Ge. A pretty fancy truly! Who would lend to him while his father lived?

Dem. No, no, it cannot, and it shall not be. Does one imagine I'll allow she be his wife a single day? No, for the world I won't. That man I must directly see, or have it told me where he lives.

Ge. What? Phormio, you mean? Dem. I mean the woman's patron. Ge. You shall have him here directly.

Dem. Where is Antipho just now?
Ph. He is gone out.

Dem. I wish you, Phædria, to go in search of him, and bring him here. Ph. This moment I shall go.

(Exit. Ge. (aside to Phædria) To Pamphila's, you mean?

Dem. But I'll step in and do my homage to the household-gods, and afterwards go to the Forum, where I'll meet some friends, and beg their aid in this affair. When Phormio comes, he shall not find me unprepared.

REMARKS ON CRAWFURD'S HISTORY OF THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

(Continued from p. 32.)

THE language of Java, the most improved and copious of those spoken

"A servant addresses his master in the language of deference, -a child his parent, -a wife her husband, if there be much disparity in their ages,—and a courtier his prince. The superior replies in the ordi. nary dialect, the language still affording modifications and distinctions according to the rank of the person he addresses, until the rank rises to equality; when, if no intimacy subsists between the parties, the language of deference is adopted by both; or when, if there does, ceremony is laid aside, and the ordinary language becomes the only medium of conversation."

"The Javanese literature may be divided into lyrical compositions or songs; romances founded on Hindu legends; romances founded on native story; histories of modern transactions; legal and ethical tracts, chiefly in prose; and compositions chiefly on matters of jurisprudence and religion, founded on Arabic originals.""

Books are written on palm leaves, or paper, with pens made of the twigs of the Aren palm, or of quills, as among ourselves. There is a wonderful feebleness and imbecility, an utter absence of that energy, ardour, and sublimity, which so often characterize the compositions of rude nations, observable in every species of their writings, arising not, as is presumed, from want of talent, but from the depressing influence of despotism.

The subject of religion is considered under four heads:-the Ancient Religion-Modern Hinduism-Mahomedanism and Christianity. The ancient religion was that of Buddha, as is evident from the ruins of his temples, and other remains of his worship which exist in the country. The ruins of Brambanan occupy an area 600 feet long, and 550 broad. They consist of a groupe of temples built of hewn stone, in a pyramidal form. The blocks of stone are covered with a profusion of sculpture. The entrances face the cardinal points, and the apartments contain figures of various kinds. The temple of Boro Budur, in the mountain of Kadu, is

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a square building of a pyramidal shape, ending in a dome. There are also remains of brick temples. The architectural ornaments consist of friezes, cornices, architraves, and flat pilastres; but there are no balustrades, colonnades, nor pillars of any shape. The groupes of figures in the temples represent audiences, processions, religious worship, hunting and maritime scenes.

The Hindu religion is at present almost entirely confined to the Island of Bali, where it is the prevailing form of worship. The Balinese are Hindus, chiefly of the sect of Siwa, divided into four casts: a priesthood, a military, a mercantile, and a servile class. There are no religious mendicants, nor devotees to extravagant acts of self-mortification in the island. But the practice of the wife sacrificing herself on the funeral pile of her husband is carried to an excess unknown even in India. In 1813, twenty women were burnt on the funeral pile

of one man.

The religion of Mahomed was propagated in the Indian islands from Arabia, and is now very generally professed. And the islanders, espe→ cially the Malayan tribes, are exemplary in their attention to the positive precepts of the Koran, such as festivals, fasting, prayer, attendance on the mosque, and performance of the pilgrimage. But the only negative precept of the prophet which they obey is the prohibition against eating the flesh of hogs. Yet in violation of the Koran, they consume annually an enormous quantity of opium, and partake freely of wine and spirituous liquors.

Christianity is the prevailing religion in the Philippines and the Spice islands. In the former, the converted natives are Catholics, and in the latter, they are Protestants.

"Under all the disadvantages of intolerance, bigotry, and oppression, in the Philippines, and of a state of slavery in the Moluccas, amounting to a privation of almost every genial right which belongs to the natural situation of these people, some advantage may still be discovered in the influence of the Christian religion. It has either given rise to an energy and intelligence superior to that which characterizes the followers of the other modes of worship, or has bred manners more mild, and

morals more inoffensive.

"The natives of the Philippines, who

VOL. VII.

are Christians, possess a share of energy and intelligence, not only superior to their Pagan and Mahomedan brethren of the same islands, but superior also to all the western inhabitants of the Archipelago, to the very people who, in other periods of and civilization upon them. They not their history, bestowed-laws,-language, only excel these, but the more advanced nations of Hindustan, as well in energy of character, as in intrepidity and intelligence. A well-known fact will place this beyond the reach of doubt. In the intercolonial navigation of all the nations of Europe in the Indies, the natives of Manila are almost universally employed as gunners and steersmen; that is, in those offices where it is necessary to combine skill and firmIt is an acknowledged fact, that the naness with mere physical labour and agility. tives of Hindustan, with their present character, are incapable of being bred to fill such offices.

"The natives of Amboyna, who are Christians, are much superior, both in morals and intelligence, to their countrymen who are Mahomedans, and, notwithstanding all the oppression they have endured, are a peaceable and most inoffensive race of men. In the Dutch armies, they ranked above all the other Asiatic troops, and scale of merit. were paid, equipped, and considered on this

"Without venturing at present to decide upon our right to impose our religion upon the people of this portion of India, or our claim to arbitrate for them in a matter of conscience, it will be fair to view Christianity in its influence as a mere instrument of civilization. The most scepti cal, then, may admit that it must tend to be of the same religious belief with their the unspeakable benefit of the governed to

be strengthened, and benevolence and governors, that mutual confidence must kindness increased, by an accordance of opinion on so material a point. It is not, indeed, possible to conceive that the barbarians of the Archipelago should ever adopt a material and beneficial portion of the humanity,-improvement, and morality of Europe, without, at the same time, adopting the religion with which these interwoven." Vol. II. pp. 277--279. concomitants of civilization are so closely

Our limits will not permit us to enter into the details of the historical narrative of these islands; but we must take some notice of their political institutions. The people are divided into six classes, namely, the royal family, the nobles, the priests, the cultivators, debtors, and slaves. The title to the throne is regarded as divine, and is guarded by public opinion. The nobility depends upon

the will of the sovereign; and though every man's title dies with himself, yet no people are fonder of titles, nor behave with greater arrogance when clothed with a little brief authority. The third class, or priesthood, seems, says our author, never to have acquired an undue and pernicious influence in society. The tenure of land depends upon the will of its proprietor, and the condition of the peasantry is determined by the utility and necessity of their labour to their superiors. Among themselves they live on terms of much equality; and in some parts of Java, the village is a kind of corporation in which the chief officers, including the priest, are elected by the cultivators of the soil. The class of debtors are such as voluntarily or by the laws of their country mortgage their services for a certain period to discharge some obligation, which they have no other way of liquidating. "Their condition is in fact a mitigated kind of slavery." Slavery, in the true sense of the term, exists in all the islands, except Java, and constitutes the sixth class into which society is distributed. "The origin of this state is referable to four heads -prisoners of war-debtors who cannot redeem themselves - criminals condemned to slavery by sentences of courts of law-and persons kidnapped."

The revenue of the islands is derived from a land-tax, poll-taxes, and taxes on consumption. That from land is the most important. The impost is regarded as the price of super intending the water of irrigation; but much of the land is unclaimed and uncultivated. The amount of the poll-tax is a mere trifle. In Java a direct tax is imposed on fisheries, and on all goods exposed to sale in the public markets.

The laws of the islanders are a mixture of the Hindu and Arabic law. The supreme court of justice at the seat of government consists of four persons called "the nails which fix the kingdom"-the sovereign-his minister-the high priest-and the judge of common law. The court is open, and held in the portico of the principal mosque. Civil disputes are settled in the inferior courts, rather by arbitration than by judicial process. In all important cases the evidence is reduced to writing, and the

whole procedure conducted with calmness, deliberation, and decorum. The punishments are various, often arbitrary, and cruel. Mutilation is inflicted for theft, and death, by strangulation, and stabbing with the kris, is, in too many cases, wantonly awarded.

The commerce of the Archipelago, in all its bearings and relations, is treated of at great length. And as the author brought his personal experience, in an especial manner, to this part of the subject, we have reason to be satisfied that his facts were well ascertained, and his speculations entitled to respect; though we could have wished he had been less disposed to vituperation, and appealed with greater frequency to the sources of his own information. His strictures on the impolicy of monopoly and restriction would, we are confident, have commended themselves to his readers with more persuasive influence, had they been given with less acrimonious keenness of language. The account of the commerce of the islands, however, is a very valuable part of the work before us, and fraught with information both to the philosopher and the merchant; and is especially acceptable at this time as the benefits of free trade, in a national point of view, are beginning not only to be understood but recognised, and even to be partially enjoyed.

The account of the internal commerce of the country is curious. Trade is honourable, and the higher class of dealers are remarkable for fairness, spirit, and integrity. In Java, the women are almost the sole merchants and brokers. The markets present scenes of great bustle and activity; for besides the numerous venders and purchasers, artisans, such as blacksmiths, goldsmiths, braziers, dyers, and many others, mingle in the throng in quest of employment. The islanders have commercial intercourse with several of the Asiatic nations, and chiefly with China. The trade, of all others, the Chinese are the least jealous of, is that of the Indian islands. This trade is carried on from the maritime province of Fokien; and the cargo of a junk (or Chinese vessel) is the property of several individuals, each having his share stowed in a separate compartment of the junk.

"The articles of importation from Chi

na may be enumerated in the order of their importance, as follow: Black tea, coarse porcelain, wrought iron, principally in the form of culinary vessels, (kwali,) cotton cloths, raw silk, wrought silk, brass-ware, paper, books, paint, shoes, fans, umbrellas, and toys. The articles of the return

cargo are far more numerous, and may be said indeed to embrace, without exception, every article of the produce of the Archipelago. The most prominent are the following: Black pepper, cloves, mace, and nutmegs, long pepper, clove bark, ebony, sandal, sapan, and Agila wood, benzoin, camphor, ivory, tin, rattans, Kawul, or tinder of the Gomute palm, betel-nut, beeswax, Gambir, and cotton wool, agar-a-gar, or sea-weed, tripang, or sea-slug, edible birds' nests, jerk-beef, or dendeng, sharks' fins, fish maws, rhinoceros' horns and hides,

ox and buffalo hides and horns, tortoise

shell, gold-dust, silver coins, European woollens and cottons, &c."

Vol. III. p. 181. This commerce engages 30,000 tons of shipping.

The trade with the Hindus is of old date, and comprehends cargoes consisting of betel-nut, damar, beeswax, ivory, lignum-aloes, Indian frankincense, cloves, nutmegs, and mace, black pepper, and tin. The trade of Arabia with the East is at present confined to a few ports of the western islands. Arabia, a poor country, has no commodities to exchange, but the genius and enterprise of its people. A few dried fruits are occasionally brought, and the rest of the investment is in bullion. The returns are cloves and nutmegs, black pepper, frankincense, betel-nut, rice, sugar, and the manufactures of Europe and China,

"Down to the close of the fifteenth century, the consumers of Europe were ignorant of the name and situation of the countries which produced the commodities on which they set so high a value. The great discovery of Vasco di Gama, in 1498, changed the commercial history of the world, which had remained nearly station. ary for three thousand years; and fourteen years thereafter the Portuguese obtained the first cargo of spices on the spot where they grew." Vol. III. p. 212.

In the first English voyage the whole subscribers were 237, the greater part of whom for sums under I. 300. The subscribers, in the second joint stock company, were 954, of whom 338 were merchants; and the rest adventurous" dukes and

earls, knights, judges, privy counsellors, countesses, and ladies, doctors of divinity and physic, widows, and virgins." The company had no naval or military protection from government, but was invested with a porthe origin of the monopolies granted tion of sovereign authority, and hence to the Indian commerce by the nations of Europe. Mr Crawfurd thinks great advantages will arise to the trade from the partial freedom which it now enjoys; and is a zealous advocate for entire liberty. Were that the case, our manufactures (at least many of them) would find a market in the East. We should enjoy the tea, spiceries, and other produce of those fertile regions at an immensely cheaper rate; we should constitute a nursery for the training of skilful seamen ; and reap a variety of other advanta ges.

Such is a brief survey of the subthe Indian Archipelago." And though jects contained in "The History of it must be obvious, that many things are omitted, and others treated of ceeded in giving such a view of the slightly, yet we trust we have sucwork, as to induce those who delight in Oriental literature, and those who design to extend their commercial adthemselves of the valuable informaventures to the Archipelago, to avail tion with which it is so well fitted to furnish them.

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