ARITA.

The mutual sorrows of Rama and Sita in their state of separation are
pleasingly and tenderly expressed. The meeting of the father and his
sons may be compared advantageously with similar scenes with which the
fictions of Europe, both poetical and dramatic, abound. The true spirit
of chivalry pervades the encounter of the two young princes with their
father. Some brilliant thoughts occur, the justice and beauty of which
are not surpassed in any literature. The comparison of Chandraketu to a
lion's cub turning to brave the thunderbolt is one of these; and another
is the illustration of the effects of education upon minds possessed or
destitute of natural gifts.

MALATI-MADHAVA.

The marriage dress of high-born females described in the sixth act is
well worthy of our observation. It consisted of a corset of white silk
and a fine red upper garment, besides the usual lower dress, ornaments,
and a chaplet of flowers. It has received several modifications since
the days of Bhavabhuti.

The sacrifice of good-looking girls, alluded to in the fifth act, was
common in his time and other authors allude to it. The seventh story of
Dasakumar Charita is just like it, when a prince rescues a princess from
a similar Sanyasi and afterwards marries her.

The story of "Malati and Madhava" is one of pure invention. The manners
described are purely Hindu without any foreign admixture. The appearance
of women of rank in public, and their exemption from any personal
restraint in their own habitations, are very incompatible with the
presence of Muhammedan rulers. The licensed existence of Buddha
ascetics, their access to the great, and their employment as teachers of
science, are other peculiarities characteristic of an early date; whilst
the worship of Siva in his terrific forms, and the prevalance of the
practices of the Yoga, are indications of a similar tendency.

MUDRA RAKSHASA.

It must be acknowledged, that the political code from which the
stratagems of Chanakya emanate, exhibits a morality not a whit superior
to that of the Italian school; but a remarkable, and in some respects a
redeeming principle, is the inviolable and devoted fidelity which
appears as the uniform characteristic of servants, emissaries, and
friends.

The play is wholly of a political character, and represents a series of
Machiavellian stratagems, influencing public events of considerable
importance.

The Mudrarakshasa is, in sundry respects, a