EUi 



■'tJB^t of iht Rajas of LGmhk» whom I have alread^y mentioned, a ¥e» 

 Bcrable old man oF S^, who i§ now on the throoe, is diilinguiflied for 



:!2i§ attention to this fingular kiod of dircipline^ fo entirely however in 

 ,.£he fpirit fo oftto afcnbed to Polytheijm. 



■■''*"■■" 



*''T'he' learning of the B aline fe h contained in a dead. language, calkd 



Kawi. Thc.Kawi bears the fame relation to the vulgar diaie^ls .of the 



Archipelago^ that the Sanfcrit does to the Pracrit dialeds oV Hindu flan s 



.<or as the f*<s/8 does to the languages of the (mihcT PeriwfidnoH Indian 



It is. the language of learning, of religoOj and of the laws. 



The Kazoi may be written either in the modern charader of Bah' and 

 yava^ which are the fame (fee note a); or in a more ancient and perfe^ 

 one, now Jiearly CJUt of ufe, and alfo common to both. The modern al- 

 phabet contains 20 confonants and five vowel founds: but has^ no 

 ,chara.<Sers-for th€ initial and medial vowels. The ancient alphabet 

 has the fame number of confonants and vowels ; two dipthoog founds 

 *with charaders for the medial and initial vovvels. Both are formfd 

 .onthe principle^ of the Dezoa Nagari alphabet; and the ancient alpha- 

 bet in particular bears it a very dole refemblance. The Kawi in 

 .point of conftruciion, partakes of that lingular, degree of Simplicity, 

 which is fo univerfal a cha-raBer of the Imgmges of this part of the 

 world. It differs from mod of >thefe in a frequent ufe of thepafEve 

 ffignification of verbs, amounting indeed to a (ort of exclufion oftheif 

 adiveones % ,a want of a pronoun of the third peribn^ .and in having- 

 the adjeflive in pofition placed before .the noun. 



. Is the Kawi the original language of fome natiofi of .the con-inent 

 of India imported by the firft adventurers, or is it rather alangujge 

 gradually formed by ingraf[ing upon the meagre dialecll of the aboro- 

 ginal inhabitants of thefe countries, a large portion of the language, 



•Whick contained the religious inilitutions and arts, which the /wfl^^'^r^ 



