ART. I.-Kabikankan Chandi.
2. Annada Mangal and Bydya Sundar. 3. Gangabhakti Tarangini.
4. Panchali, Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4.
THOUGH the Bengali language has sprung from, and bears a close analogy to, the Sanskrit, it is, in several respects, better adapted than the original tongue, as a vehicle for the interchange of thought. Being of comparatively modern origin, it has not undergone any of those deteriorating changes, which have rendered the Sanskrit different from what it once was. With it the perverse ingenuity, which delights to invent difficulties where no difficulties exist, and to turn clearness itself into mystery, has not been at work. Neither has the jealousy of an ambitious priesthood endeavoured to counteract its diffusion. Spontaneous in its growth, it has branched out of the parent stock unrestrained and uncared for, possessing many of its beauties, and few of its imperfections. Of all the derivative languages of the East, it is, perhaps, the most simple in its structure, and lucid in its syntax. Its nomenclature, though not quite so full as that of the Sanskrit, is varied and precise. It is the spoken language of upwards of twenty-five millions of inhabitants, which is more than any thing that could have been said of the Sanskrit even in its most palmy days, the days of Kalidas and Bar-ruchi.
Of the merits and demerits of Sanskrit poetry, we have, on more than one occasion, spoken at large. We have endeavoured, with the help of Jones, Wilson, Schlegel, and other illustrious scholars, to give the reader some idea of those gigantic epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and to acquaint him with the beauties of some of the ancient Indian dramas. The capture of Sita by the ten-headed Ravana, from the forest of her exile; the invincible prowess and miraculous feats of the son of the Wind; the lamentations of Rama in search of his beloved; the trial of Sita by the flames; the audience-hall of Durjodhun; the bridal of Rukmini, and the incidents previous thereto; the conflict between the Kurus and Panduvas; the virtue of Yu