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Dushm. Aside] Hah! thence, no doubt, springs his disposition, and my affection for him.-[Setting him down.]-[Aloud.]-It is, I know, an established usage among the princes of Puru's race, to dwell at first in rich palaces with stuccoed walls, where they protect and cherish the world, but in the decline of life to seek humbler mansions near the roots of venerable trees, where hermits with subdued passions practise austere devotion.I wonder, however, that this boy, who moves like a god, could have been born of a mere mortal.

2d Atten. Affable stranger, your wonder will cease, when you know that his mother is related to a celestial nymph, and brought him forth in the sacred forest of Casyapa.

Dushm. [aside.] I am transported. This is a fresh ground of hope.[Aloud.]What virtuous monarch took his excellent mother by the hand?

2d Atten. Oh! I must not give celebrity to the name of a king who deserted his lawful wife.

Dush. [asi Ah! she means me. Let me now ask the name of the sweet child's mother.—[Meditating.] But it is against good manners to inquire concerning the wife of anoth

er man.

First Attendant re-enters with a toy.

1st Atten. Look, Servademana, look at the beauty of this bird, Sacontalavanyam.

Boy. [Looking eagerly round.] Sacontalá! Oh where is my beloved mother?

1st Atten. He tenderly loves his mother, and was deceived by an equivocal phrase.

2d Atten. My child, she meant only the beautiful shape and colours of this peacock.

Dush. [asi.] Is my Sacontalá then his mother? or has that dear name been given to some other woman ?This conversation resembles the falJacious appearance of water in a desert, which ends in bitter disappointment to the stag parched with thirst. Boy. I shall like the peacock if it can run and fly; not else. [He takes it. 1st Atton. Looking round in con

fusion.] Alas, the child's amulet is not on his wrist !

Dushm. Be not alarmed. It was dropped while he was playing with the lion: I see it, and will put it into your hand.

Both. Oh! beware of touching it, 1st Atten. Ah! he has actually taken it up. [They both gaze with surprise on each other.

Dushm. Here it is; but why would you have restrained me from touching this bright gem?

2d Atten. Great monarch, this divine amulet has a wonderful power, and was given to the child by the son of Maríchi, as soon as the sacred rites had been performed after his birth; whenever it fell on the ground, no human being but the father or mother of this boy could have touched it unhurt. Dushm. What if a stranger had taken it?

1st Atten.

It would have become a serpent and wounded him. Dushm. Have you seen that con sequence on any similar occasion ? Both. Frequently.

Dushm. With transport.] I may then exult on the completion of my ardent desire. [He embraces the child.

2d Atten. Come, Suvrità, let us carry the delightful intelligence to Sacontala, whom the harsh duties of a separated wife have so long op[The attendants go out, pressed. Boy. Farewel; I must go to my mother.

Dushm. My darling son, thou wilt make her happy by going to her with me.

Boy. Dushmanta is my father;
and you are not Dushmanta.

Dushm. Even thy denial of me
gives me delight.
Sacontala enters in mourning apparel,
with her long hair twisted in a
single braid, and flowing down
her back.

Sac. [Aside.] Having heard that
my child's amulet has proved its di-
vine power, I must either be strange-
ly diffident of my good fortune, or
that event which Misracésì predicted
has actually happened. [Advancing,

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Dushm. With a mixture of joy and sorrow. Ah! do I see the incomparable Sacontalá clad in sordid weeds?Her face is emaciated by the performance of austere duties; one twisted lock floats over her shoulder; and with a mind perfectly pure, she supports the long absence of her husband, whose unkindness exceeded all bounds.

Sac. [Seeing him, yet doubting.] Is that the son of my lord grown pale with penitence and affliction -If not, who is it, that sullies with his touch the hand of my child, whose amulet should have preserved him from such indignity?

Boy. [Going hastily to Sacontalá.] Mother, here is a stranger who calls

me son..

Duskm. Oh! my best beloved, I have treated thee cruelly; but my cruelty is succeeded by the warmest affection; and I implore your remembrance and forgiveness.

Sac. [Aside.] Be confident, O my heart-Aloud.]-I shall be most happy when the king's anger has passed away.-[Aside.]-This must be the son of my lord.

Dushm, By the kindness of heaven, O loveliest of thy sex, thou standest again before me, whose memory was obscured by the gloom of fascination; as the star Róhini at the end of an eclipse rejoins her beloved moon.

Sac. May the king be

[She bursts into tears. Dusbm. My darling, though the word victorious be suppressed by thy weeping, yet I must have victory, since I see thee again, though with pale lips and a body unadorned. Boy. What man is this, mother? Sac. Sweet child, ask the divinity, who presides over the fortunes of us both. [She weeps. Dushm. O my only beloved, banish from thy mind my cruel desertion of thee. A violent phrensy overpowered my soul.-Such, when the darkness of illusion prevails, are the actions of the best intentioned; as a blind man, when a friend binds his head with a wreath of flowers,

mistakes it for a twining snake, and foolishly rejects it.

[He falls at her feet,

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Sac. Rise, my husband, oh! rise-My happiness has been long interrupted; but joy now succeeds to affliction, since the son of my lord still loves me.-[He rises.] How was the remembrance of this unfortunate woman restored to the mind of my lord's son ?

Dushm. When the dart of misery shall be wholly extracted from my bosom, I will tell you all; but since the anguish of my soul has in part ceased, let me first wipe off that tear which trickles from thy delicate eye-lash; and thus efface the memory of all the tears which my delirium has made thee shed.

[He stretches out his hand. Sac. [Wiping off her tears, and seeing the ring on his finger.] Ah! is that the fatal ring?

Dushm. Yes; by the surprising recovery of it my memory was re

stored.

Sac. Its influence, indeed, has been great; since it has brought back the lost confidence of my husband.

Dushm. Take it then, as a beautiful plant receives a flower from the returning season of joy.

Sac. I cannot again trust it.— Let it be worn by the son of my lord. Mátal enters.

Mát. By the will of heaven the king has happily met his beloved wife, and seen the countenance of his little son.

Dushm. It was by the company of my friend that my desire attained maturity.-But say, was not this fortunate event previously known to Indra?

Mát. [Smiling.] What is unknown to the gods?-But come: the divine Marícha desires to see thee.

Dushm. Beloved, take our son by the hand; and let me present you both to the father of immortals.

Sac. I really am ashamed, even in thy presence, to approach the deities.

Dushm. It is highly proper on so

happy an occasion-Come, I entreat thee. [They all advance.

The scene is withdrawn, and Casyapa is discovered on a throne conversing with Aditi.

Cas. [Pointing to the king.] That, O daughter of Dacsha, is the hero who led the squadrons of thy son to the front of battle, a sovereign of the earth, Dushmanta; by the means of whose bow the thunder-bolt of Indra (all its work being accomplish. ed) is now a mere ornament of his heavenly palace.

Adi. He bears in his form all the marks of exalted majesty.

Mát. [To Dushmanta.] The pa rents of the twelve Adityas, O king, are gazing on thee, as on their own offspring, with eyes of affection.Approach them, illustrious prince.

Dushm. Are those, O Mátali, the divine pair, sprung from Maríchi and Dacsha? Are those the grandchildren of Brahmá, to whom the self-existent gave birth in the beginning; whom inspired mortals pronounce the fountain of glory appar ent in the form of twelve suns; they who produced my benefactor, the lord of a hundred sacrifices, and ru

ler of three worlds?

Mát. Even they-[Prostrating himself with Dushmanta.]-Great beings, the king Dushmanta, who has executed the commands of your son Vasava, falls humbly before your throne.

Cas. Continue long to rule the world,

Adi. Long be a wariour with a car unshattered in combat. [Sacontala and her son prostrate themselves.

Cas. Daughter, may thy husband be like Indra! May thy son resemble Jayanta ! And mayst thou (whom no benediction could better suit) be equal in prosperity to the daughter of Pulóman!

Adi. Preserve, my child, a constant unity with thy lord and may this boy, for a great length of years, be the ornament and joy of you both! Now be seated near us.

[They all sit down.

Cas. Looking at them by turns.] Sacontala is the model of excellent wives; her son is dutiful; and thou, O king, hast three rare advantages, true piety, abundant wealth, and active virtue.

Dushm. O divine being, having obtained the former object of my most ardent wishes, I now have reached the summit of earthly happiness through thy favour, and thy benizon will insure its permanence.

First appears the flower, then the fruit; first clouds are collected,then the shower falls: such is the regular course of causes and effects; and thus, when thy indulgence preceded, felicity generally followed.

Mát. Great indeed, O king, has been the kindness of the primeval Bráhmens.

Dushm. Bright son of Maríchi, this thy handmaid was married to me by the ceremony of Gandharvas ; and, after a time, was conducted to my palace by some of her family but my memory having failed, thro delirium, I rejected her, and thus committed a grievous offence against the venerable Canna, who is of thy divine lineage: afterwards, on seeing this fatal ring, I remembered my, love and my nuptials; but the whole transaction yet fills me with wonder. My soul was confounded with strange ignorance that obscured my senses; as if a man were to see an elephant marching before him, yet to doubt what animal it could be, till he discovered by the traces of his large feet that it was an elephant.

Cas. Cease, my son, to charge thyself with an offence committed ignorantly, and, therefore, innocently.-Now hear me

Dushm. I am devoutly attentive. Cas. When the nymph Ménaca led Sacontalá from the place where thy desertion of her had afflicted her soul, she brought her to the palace of Aditi ; and I knew, by the power of meditation on the Supreme Being, that thy forgetfulness of thy pious and lawful consort had procecded from the imprecation of

Durvásas, and that the charm would terminate on the sight of thy ring. Dushm. [Aside.] My name then is cleared from infamy.

Sac. Happy am I that the son of my lord, who now recognises me, denied me through ignorance, and not with real aversion.- -The terrible imprecation was heard, I suppose, when my mind was intent on a different object, by my two beloved friends, who with extreme affection, concealed it from me to spare my feelings, but advised me at part ing to show the ring if my husband should have forgotten me.

Cas. [Turning to Sacontala.] Thou art apprised, my daughter, of the whole truth, and must no longer resent the hehaviour of thy lord.He rejected thee when his memory was impaired by the force of a charm; and when the gloom was dispelled, his conjugal affection revived; as a mirrour, whose surface has been sullied, reflects no image; but exhibits perfect resemblances, when its polish has been restored.

Dushm. Such, indeed, was my situation.

Cas. My son Dushmanta, hast thou embraced thy child by Sacontalá, on whose birth I myself performed the ceremonies prescribed in the Veda?

Dushm. Holy Maríchi, he is the glory of my house.

Cas. Know too, that his heroick virtue will raise him to a dominion extended from sea to sea; before he has passed the ocean of mortal life, be shall rule, unequalled in combat, this earth with seven peninsulas: and, as he now is called Servademana, because he tames even in childhood the fiercest animals, so in his riper years, he shall acquire the name of Bhereta, because he shall sustain and nourish the world.

Dushm, A boy educated by the son of Maríchi, must attain the summit of greatness.

Adi. Now let Sacontaká, who is restored to happiness, convey intelligence to Canna of all these events: Vol. II. No. 12. 3M

her mother Ménacà is in my family, and knows all that has passed.

Sac. The goddess proposes what I most ardently wish.

Cas. By the force of true piety the whole scene will be present to the mind of Canna.

Dushm. The devout sage must be still excessively indignant at my frantick behaviour.

Cas. [Meditating.] Then let him hear from me the delightful news, that his foster-child has been tenderly received by her husband, and that both are happy with the little warriour who sprang from them.-Hola ! who is in waiting?

A Pupil enters.

Pup. Great being, I am here.

Cas. Haften, Gólava, through the light air, and in my name inform the venerable Canna, that Sacontalá has a charming son by Dushmanta, whose affection for her was restored with his remembrance, on the termination of the spell raised by the angry Durvásas.

Pup. As the divinity commands. [He goes out.

Cas. My son, reascend the car of Indra with thy consort and child, and return happy to thy imperial seat.

Dushm. Be it as Maríchi ordains. Cas. Henceforth may the god of the atmosphere with copious rain give abundance to thy affectionate subjects; and mayst thou with fre quent sacrifices maintain the Thunderer's friendship! By numberless interchanges of good offices between you both, may benefits reciprocally be conferred on the inhabitants of the two worlds !

Dushm. Powerful being, I will be ftudious, as far as I am able, to at tain that felicity.

Cas. What other favours can I beftow on thee?

Dushm. Can any favours exceed those already beftowed? Let every king apply himself to the attainment of happiness for his people let Sereswati, the goddess of liberal arts, be adored by all readers of the

Veda; and may Siva, with an azure neck and red locks, eternally potent and self-existing, avert from me the

pain of another birth in this perish able world, the seat of crimes and of punishment. [All go out.

ORIGINAL.

POETRY.

FOR THE ANTHOLOGY. Messrs. Editors,

During the retirement of the last fummer, it was my good fortune to efcort two lovely girls, on a rural pro" menade. Pursuing for fome diftance precipices, which feemed to guard from intrusion the mazes of a quiet stream; we were furprized at obferving a little wherry tied to a stump on the margin, and which offered to us an opportunity of proceeding with greater fecurity and pleasure. While I was employed, however, in difengaging this little veffel for their reception, my fair companions, who remained on the rocks above me Sportively concealed themfelves. Determined however to betray no embarraffment on the occafion, and knowing that but one part of the Stream offered them a paffage, in case they meant to defert me, I, like an able general, haftened by forced marches to fecure it; and on the coming up of the fugitives prefented them the following lines, which at their request I now present to you.

30 on the Pilgrim's weary way;
(Woke by twilight's crimson ray
That bafhful wooing confcious earth,
Gave the brilliant treafon birth)
Dancing oft in meteor light,
Streams the phantom of the night!
Still it flings its starry hues,
Still th' enchanted ftep purfues,

Through many a mazy thicket led,
And wild unknown to human tread;
Mountain drear, and ravine deep
Where echoes unmolested fleep;
Till skimming fome lone tracklefs
height,

Sudden it vanished in night!
Too late alas! the steps effay
To measure back the weary way--
Vain is the frequent long balloa,
That echoed, feems to mock his woe,
While many a lengthen'd howl af-
frights the vale-

No ear attends his fault'ring pray'r,
While fad and pale,

The spirit of despair

Frowns from each mould'ring fteep,
and fighs in ev'ry gale!
finks th' exhausted wand'rer 'mid
the gloom,

Soon
His fhrowd the breeze of night; the
autumn leaf his tomb!

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