resent relationship to
their European conquerors upon which interesting lights are thrown by an
acquaintance with the traditions and beliefs enshrined in the ancient
literature.

The Javan alphabet, according to the native idea, consists of only
twenty consonants. But as a matter of fact, each of these consonants is
credited with an inherent vowel sound of _a_ (often written _o_) as in
_water_; and there are five vowel signs which are attached to the
consonants, and so vary the inherent _a_. There are also twenty
auxiliary consonant forms, corresponding to the original twenty
consonants, which are used in all combinations of consonants. Even this
does not exhaust the list, for there still remain a number of double
letters, while modifications of the letters of the alphabet are
employed for numbers. Speaking of this alphabet as a whole, Crawfurd
says[21] that it reaches perfection, since "it expresses every sound in
the language, and every sound invariably with the same character, which
never expresses but one." He concludes, "In splendour or elegance the
alphabet of the Arabs and Persians is probably superior to that of the
Javanese; but the latter, it may be safely asserted, surpasses in beauty
and neatness all other written characters." Some idea of the extent of
the Javanese literature may be gained from the fact that M. Vreede's
recently issued account of the Javanese manuscripts in the Leiden
University Library[22] gives the names of some five hundred manuscripts,
containing no less than one hundred and fifty separate works. And--to
come nearer home--the collection of the Royal Asiatic Society contains
as many as forty-four Javanese manuscripts, for which the society is
mainly indebted to the generosity of Lady Raffles. No little interest
and learning have been displayed by continental scholars in the study of
these works; but, unfortunately, their valuable treatises, written in
German, French, and Dutch, are not easily accessible to English readers.
In order to find an account of the Javanese literature in English, we
have to go back more than half a century to the works of Raffles and
Crawfurd. Fortunately, the former has enriched his "History" with
unusually full and interesting extracts from Javanese works. But since
Raffles was in Java immense advances have been made, not only in our
general knowledge of oriental languages, but especially in the
interpretation of literature by means of antiquarian remains. It