s a guerilla war; Mangku Nagara was now flying to
the mountains of Kerdenz, and now issuing forth to fall upon and
harass his enemies; but upon the whole his losses were
predominant, and the manuscript ends with an account of the
peace he was compelled to submit to, and the conditions on which
it was concluded. All this may be read in Raffles' "History."

[Footnote 28: _Journal of the R. A. S._ xx. 1863.]

The existence of such babads as this of Mangku Nagara would seem to
point to the conclusion that a consecutive and reliable account of
the Hindu period could be produced by careful sifting and
comparison of the various babads dealing with this epoch. For this
purpose they require to be examined by the methods of scientific
history, and the results thus obtained must be checked by the
faithful records of the antiquarian remains.

Among the prose works in modern Javanese, two, the "Niti Praja"
and the "Surya Ngalam," are especially interesting as throwing
light upon Javanese customs and thought. The former is one of a
number of similar works, containing rules of conduct and
instructions on points of Eastern etiquette especially intended for
the information of the princes and nobility.

It is said to have been "compiled" by the Sultan Agung of Mataram.
According to Vreede, the language of the "Niti Praja" is not Kavi,
but it is written in the "stiff and artificial language common to
the ethical treatises." The following passages are taken from
translations which appear in Raffles' account of the work:--

"A good prince must protect his subjects against all unjust
persecutions and oppressions, and should be the light of his
subjects, even as the sun is the light of the world. His
goodness must flow clear and full like the mountain stream,
which, in its course towards the sea, enriches and fertilizes
the land as it descends.

"When a prince gives audience to the public, his conduct must be
dignified. He must sit upright, and not in a bending posture,
and say little, neither looking on one side or the other,
because, in this case, the people would not have a sight of
him."

The following paragraph, which deals with the duty of a prime minister,
is conceived in a spirit more suitable for the court of a constitutional
monarch than for that of an Eastern potentate.

"It is a disgrace to a prime minister for any hostile attack to
be made in t