palaces, and four hundred thousand streets. (Another book says, so many houses). The swine came swimming through this sea, which was caused by Rawana, and made the shore of Ceylon, and the place where he came ashore, is called Urau Totta, that is, Swine Haven, till this day. The king Mala Rajah likewise landed on Ceylon, and pursued the swine throughout; and, at last, the swine transformed himself into a stone, and again, in the quality of Rahu or Eclipse, went to his place. The king, however, began to strike at the stone, and to wonder at the transformation which had come to pass. In the mean time, the god Sakra made himself visible to the king Mala Rajah, and ordered him to go and avert the judgment of perjury, which was about to fall upon the king, Pandiwas Dewe Rajah, and restore him. to ease and soundness of mind. The king Mala Rajah, thereupon, formed the figures of two Brahmas, by virtue of which, he removed the evil of perjury, which was about to fall upon the king Pandiwas, and restored him to his right mind: and this king, Pandiwas, reigned as king for the space of thirty-two years. The son of Pandiwas, called Abamba Rajah, succeeded his father, and reigned as king also for the space of thirtytwo years. He took to wife his moil, that is, his mother's brother's daughter, and by her had a prince, whose name was called Pandumba Cumara, which prince, after he had grown big, murdered the nine sons of his mother's brother. He had to wife, the daughter of Here Cunda Rajah, whose name was Pallawa Tibesawa, and having come to the throne, reigned king for the space of thirty years. His son, called Pandumba, succeeded to the throne; and, in the course of his reign, cleared a piece of ground, four leagues in length, and the same in breadth, of all the trees and roots, and formed a city upon the same, and also made a lake of eighteen leagues in length, along the sides of which he caused stone pillars to be set up, which were engraven with the figures of lions, and reigned king for seventy years. His son, called Ganey Paetissa Rajah, succeeded to the throne, and reigned as king for the space of thirteen years. His son, called Motalis Rajah, succeeded to the throne; and, in the course of his reign, caused to be planted a garden, to which was given the name of Mahame Uyan. He reigned for the space of sixty years. His son, called Deweny Paetissa, succeeded to the throne; and, while he was king of Ceylon, the king, called Dharma Soca, was emperor of Dambediwa, and had the whole circle of the earth under his controul. The said Deweny Paetissa, king of Ceylon, and Dharma Soca, emperor of Dambediwa, in a former state of being, were brothers, born of one mother, and they gained their livelihood by selling honey; now, on a certain occasion, having met with the second Buddha, called Passi Buddha, they presented him with a cup of honey; on which account, according to their prayers then made, the youngest had now become Dharma Soca, emperor of Dambediwa, and the elder king of Ceylon, and their other elder brother, called Nigrada, was likewise born to be a priest. This Dharma Soca caused to be built eighty-four-thousand Dawgobs, and caused the religion of Buddha to be propagated throughout all the countries of Dambediwa; and moreover, his own son, called Mihindu Cumara, at the age of eighteen, he caused to become a priest; and he, having learned all the religion and statutes of Buddha, attained to a state of sanctification, which, whoever attains, is no more subject to transmigration, but when the body dies, drops into eternal oblivion, and resolves into non-entity. The said Mihindu, moreover, made a journey to Ceylon, and, doing so, ascended through the heavens (for in those days, all who obtained to that degree of sanctification, could fly through the air), and having alighted in Ceylon, paid a visit to the king, Deweny Paetissa, and also planted the religion of Buddha, and having preached to the king, confirmed him therein. He also caused the right jaw of Buddha to be brought from the heavenly world, called Sakra Chawana, and built upon the same a Dawgob, which was called Tapan Rama. He also caused to be brought from Dambediwa, from the emperor Dharma Soca, a vase full of Dhatu (or bones of Buddha). From league to league he caused a Dawgob to be raised, and also caused to be built the temple, called Tissa Maha Wihawra. He also, when in Dambediwa caused the right branch of the Bogaha tree to be marked round with a yellow paint and gold pencil, and petitioned that it might be translated to Ceylon; when, as if separated by a saw, it parted from its trunk, ascended to the sky, and of its own accord, descended over Ceylon, and over the place where the Bo-trees of the three former Buddhas had grown. The branch was then received in a vessel inlaid with gold, and there planted. This wise king afterwards caused houses (another book says vessels) to be cut in the solid rock, at the place called Mihintala, and there he settled the higher order of priests, bestowed great alms upon the same, and having governed for the space of thirty-six years, went to one of the regions of the gods. The younger brother of the said Deweny Paetissa, called De Paetissa, succeeded next to the throne, and went upon a time to dig a lake, and his deceased brother's son also went with him. The queen desiring the throne for her son, devised a measure to procure his elevation. She placed a quantity of mangoes in a vessel, and putting poison into one mango, covered them over, and sent them away to the place where the king and her son were, as a present. Her expectation was, that the king would uncover, and first partake of the fruit, and, consequently, that the poisoned mango would fall into his hands, and the prince would eat afterwards without danger. The messenger went, and presented the fruit where they were marking the bounds of the lake; but the king having been informed of the plot which his sister-in-law had contrived, rejected the fruit, and being offended with her, went to the city which his brother, Deweny Paetissa Rajah, had built, called Magam Nuwara, and there abode; but as for the mangoes, they fell into the hands of the young prince himself, who having uncovered the deadly fruit, ate, and fell a lifeless corpse; but the king reigned, and laid out fields and gardens. His son, called Molata Tissa Rajah, was made king of Calany; and while king thereof, he built the said city of Calany. His son, called Goten Tissa Rajah, was the next that succeeded to the throne; and he also built the city of Calany. The son of Gatambaw Rajah was the next king, and his name was Kawivan Tissa Rajah. The king, called Calany Tissa Rajah, reigned as king of Calany, and built that city. The grandson of Deweny Paetissa Rajah, was made king of, and reigned ten years: his name was Sura Tissa Rajah. His son was also king, and reigned likewise for ten years: his name was Oepatissa Rajah. At this time, the king of Calany used to pay a yearly tribute to the king of Anuradhapura. What is Poetry? THE other night I had stirred my fire, snugly settled myself in the large oaken arm-chair with the velvet cushion, when, prepared to spend a comfortable evening of pure thought, I agreed with myself to let imagination rove wherever she might list, and indulge in one of those waking and luxurious dreams which a blazing fire, a still house, and a comfortable apartment, have a most powerful influence in conducing, to engender. I felt the poetical furor stealing over me, of which words are insufficient to convey any distinct idea, except to those who have themselves experienced the fervid transport, and have found how feeble and inadequate a medium language has appeared, to embody their sensations, or to portray their form and semblance. What is poetry? was a question which started on me in the midst of my wanderings. A better time for its appearance, and for obtaining a satisfactory solution, could not have been chosen, than when its influence was rapidly stealing upon my mind. I had read Lectures on Poets, and Lectures on Poetry; the first, like our reviews, giving you the body and substance without its essence; the latter, like Locke's abstractions, tending only to bewilder. In fact, poetry may be talked about and written about, without coming one jot nearer to a knowledge of its qualities and modes of subsistence, as the scholiasts say; and, if a person were to acquire no other knowledge of Poetry than what may be gained from the definitions and inexplicable explications of modern definers, I really think he might live, and die, without ever discovering whether it were a metaphysical, enthusiastical, or scientifical assemblage of ideas, or a compound of them all, according to form and quantity, mingled secundum artem. What, then, is it? I was comfortably ruminating upon the subject, and watching its operations on my own mind, as I thought, to catch its "manners as they rose," when lo! the chamber seemed slowly to expand, and my old book-case changed into a very magnificent, though odd looking kind of temple, in which I beheld, instead of my books neatly arranged in half-bound pomp, a number of strangely attired persons, variously employed, in sundry amusing occupations: they took no notice of me, though I started up to watch their motions and behaviour. I do not know how I came by the information, whether by some intuitive knowledge, or by some occult sympathy mysteriously arising in the mind, but I knew them to be our living Poets, and the name of each was revealed to me, without my being at the trouble of any formal introduc tion. Not finding any obstruction to my proceedings, I marched forwards, and soon found myself amongst the motley masquerade, without so much as needing the protection of a domino. These men, thought I, will be the likeliest to tell me, "what is Poetry," and I will solicit the opinion of each individual on this momentous, and hitherto puzzling subject. Not to obtrude immediately on the privacy of a few solitary phantoms, who were sedately pursuing more important occupations, I approached a knot of worthies, who were chattering with amazing volubility, in pretty good town language, though evidently applied in discoursing about places and things with which these personages were entirely unacquainted. Some of these young men were very cavalierly dressed in hat, cloak, and feather, wearing false mustachios, and having a very dark, and evidently would-be villanous appearance in their aspect; their eye-brows were painted black, and their wigs very heavily curled over their ears. Each had a wooden sword, curiously gilt, and ever and anon they struck their hands to the hilt, with a force which made them rattle in their sheaths: the sound, however, proceeded only from the wood, being marvellously dull and tubbish. They seemed to have no connexion with, or to notice any body but themselves, except sometimes by an occasional point, and stare, accompanied with a hearty and very loud laugh at most of the persons who passed by: but these motions were seldom noticed by the individuals for whom they were intended, and the selfcomplacency of this precious group of petits-maîtres was, in consequence, not often disturbed; nay, so far from this being taken as a proof of silent contempt, and an utter recklessness of their praise or their scorn, their censure or their commendation, the silence of their adversaries was always hailed as a fresh source of triumph and gratification to our pseudo-cavaliers, whose good opinion of themselves seemed to be increased by every succeeding adventure. Once, indeed, I observed a little ill-looking man, with a villanous Scotch accent, and having a blown bladder tied 'to a pole, approach these worthies, and fall to belabouring them vehemently with his windy instrument: they seemed struck with consternation for a while, and scampered off in every direction; but immediately rallied when the man was gone, and with all the sang-froid imaginable, began to sing Jo Peans," in token of a complete victory. As I approached, one of these personages met me, and offered for my acceptance a book, which he said was his tragedy, "1500 |