volume. If the hasty reader is still unsatisfied, further condensation must be left to his own discretion, and the fact, that the main thread of the sotry will not be seriously damaged by the omission of such parts as the following, may help him in that process :- description after the classical style of south Travancore in scene I of Act II, the reflections of Nataraja in the 2nd scene of Act II, and also of Act III, Te Indian Hermit, introduced in Scene 3 of Act III, the debate on religious ideals in the last scene of the same Act & c. But the author would fain trust, that readers that condescend to look into this volume would not all be hasty, or even if hasty, would care for something more than the bare thread of a story.

It remains now only to apologize to the critical reader for the errors and oversights of grammar and expression, which perhaps greater vigilance in revising the final proofs (and manuscripts too) might have avoided. The more important of them will be found in the errata at the end of the volume, and others of equal) consequence, if pointed out, will be most gratefully acknowledged.

In conclusion, it may be added, that if the work here submitted to the public, should succeed ever so little in helping the cause of Tamil Literature, the labours spent upon it would not be regarded as taken in vain.