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suitable to the discussion of such a ques- of the languages of Europe, which are tion, can present itself, than that on, all more or less assimilated to our own, which we are this day assembled. cannot reasonably be expected to enable allude to the existence of an opinion, a student to render himself master of that a knowledge of the languages of the any of the languages of Asia, which country, amply sufficient for all practical are formed upon principles possessing no purposes, is equally attainable in the disanalogy to those which regulate, the concharge of the ordinary duties of the pub- struction of the European tongues; lan lic service, as at. the College of Fort Wil- guages, therefore, new not only in cha liam, and that consequently, the junior racter and phraseology, but also in the part of the Company's servants are with- very form of their application to all, the held, during a considerable period of purposes of human intercourse; for the time, from the employments for which approximation of languages of different they are destined, without any adequate nations naturally corresponds with the advantage. approximation of the degrees of science and of arts, and with a similarity of laws, religion, manners and habits. In all these respects, it is superfluous to observe, the nations of Europe assimilate with one another, and collectively differ in an extreme degree from the nations of Asia and hence proceeds the difficulty which opposes the progress of a native of Europe in the acquisition of any of the eastern tongues. The En glish student has not merely to learn the grammar and idiom of the language ;he has to acquire new combinations of ideas; new, modes of metaphor; new forms of expression, to convey meanings which might be embodied in any of the foreign dialects of Europe, by a mere translation and transposition of words.

"The opinion is usually maintained by a reference to the times antecedent to the institution of the college. It is alleged, that, under the pre-existing state of Oriental acquirements among the servants of the Company, every branch of the administration, civil, military and political, was conducted with a degree of success amply demonstrated by the history of those events and transactions which have raised the British empire in India to its present condition of preeminence, and by the prosperity of its internal administration,, which, generally speaking, has been progressive, during those times, throughout the whole extent of our Indian dominions.-Particular instances of more than ordinary acquirement, and the universality of the power and practice of personal communication and correspondence between the servants of the Company and the natives of the country, are also referred to, in support of the opinion.

But these admitted facts will not, on examination, be found by any means conclusive, with respect to the position which they are adduced to maintain.The advocates of that position must assume, either that the college has not the effect of augmenting the knowledge of the Oriental languages among the servants of the Company beyond the degree attainable, and actually attained antecedently to its institution, or that a general improvement in this respect is not productive of any material benefit in the administration of public affairs. It is necessary therefore, in the first instance, to meet those assumptions.

"It may certainly be admitted, that, with the exception of some extraordinary, instances of proficiency, referable to a combination of opportunity, talent, and exertion, the knowledge which the students acquire during the short period of their continuance in college, is far from conferring on them that practical use of language, which is necessary to serve all the purposes of intercourse and correspondence with the natives of India, in the transaction of public affairs. A period of time, which could not suffice for the complete acquisition of any one even

"It is therefore, rather a subject of surprize, that at the period of quitting the college, the students generally should have acquired the degree of proficiency which they are found to possess, in the several languages to which they have devoted their attention, than that they should leave it with a stock of knowledge yet insufficient for all those practical purposes, to which, in the course of their public duties, they may have occasion to apply the powers of written or colloquial language.

"This concession, however, will not authorise the inference, that the studies which confer a degree of knowledge insufficient for the practical purposes of public service, would be advantageously exchanged for those employments to which the civil servants of the Company were formerly appointed, on their arrival in India.

"The advantage which the student de rives from the tuition of the college is, the acquisition of an abundant stock of fundamental knowledge; a knowledge of the principles, construction, and peculi arities of the languages which he studies, combined also with a certain degree of practical skill in reading, translating and conversing. Antecedently to the institu tion of the College of Fort William, where were the means of obtaining the funda mental instruction to be found? not in the few imperfect works, which the me ritorious labours of early orientalists

prosecuted under every circumstance of difficulty and disadvantage, had given to the public: nor in the capacity of native teachers to communicate the rules and principles, to explain the difficulties, and impart the genius of their respective languages, even when the instructor and his pupil had the rare advantage of being mutually intelligible.

"The consequence was such as might be expected; the industrious few, who had the patience to persevere in opposition to these disadvantages, acquired, after a long and laborious application, a practical, but still an imperfect, use of the languages which they studied. They imbibed little knowledge of the principles and rules of grammatical construction; and the degree of practical skill which they ultimately attained, was rather the effect of persevering imitation, than the fruit of systematic study aided by the lights of philological science. The bulk of the Company's servants were contented with the degrees of proficiency in the languages forming the medium of correspondence, of record and of oral communication, which was attainable in the ordinary intercourse with the natives of the country, and in the transaction of public business.

"In the College, the utmost facility is afforded, for the attainment of every language that can be required for the pnrposes of the public service, within the limits of the territories immediately subject to this presidency. The industry and erudition of its professors, and others attached to the college, and the encouragement extended by a liberal government to the learned and the diligent, have supplied all the aid that can be derived from the labours of philology, and from the gradation and variety of classical works; and to these is superadded, the incalculable advantage of being enabled to prosecute the study of the languages, under the personal guidance and instructions of learned European tutors.

"The elemental knowledge and practical proficiency, which the junior servants of the present day have thus the means of obtaining, by a short residence in the college, constitute a foundation, on which it is in the power of every individual to raise a noble superstructure. The materials are placed at his disposal; he has acquired the mode and the habit of combining them; and when natural capacity is not deficient, the progress of improvement can only be limited by apathy or intention.

"For want of these advantages, the number of those who attained to any degree of proficiency in the languages of India, antecedently to the institution of the college, was extremely confined.

those two great organs of intercourse and communication, the Persian and the Hindoostanee tongues, and forms the receptacle of the code of laws administered to the millions whom we govern, and the Sunskrit, which enshrines the mythology, the history, and the law of the Hindoos, and claims the parentage of the numerous affiliated languages of the peninsula, could boast only of a few occasional votaries, who, by the light of genius and the aid of preserving industry, acquired and imparted a knowledge of those languages, and sowed the seeds of that learning which, under the auspices of the College of Fort William, has been so successfully cultivated, and so widely diffused.

"The language of Arabia, which enters so largely into the composition of Asiatic Journ.-No. II.

"The proportion of the servants of the Company, who acquired a knowledge of the Persian language, was comparatively inconsiderable, and the general standard of proficiency in that language was extremely low. Unaided by a Moonshee, few were capable of executing even the ordinary business of translating from Persian into English, and still fewer were able to perform the converse of that operation with any degree of grammatical correctness, without the same assistance.

"The nice and intricate rules, which govern the construction of the Hindoostanee language; the peculiarities which distinguish that lauguage; the elegance, the variety and the power of which it is susceptible, were brought to light by the long and arduous labours of Dr. Gilchrist, who had the merit of exploring, by the mere force of genius and industry, the nature and conformation of that complex and intricate dialect.-The knowledge which, prior to that æra, the servants of the Company in general attained, of a language so extensive in its use and application, and so intimately connected with every branch of the administration of this empire, naturally corresponded with the obscurity which prevailed, until dispelled by the philological labours of the author of the Hindoostanee grammar and dictionary, and by the progressive operations of the college. Having no access to grammatical instruction, nor even to books composed in the Hindoostanee language,— for of the latter none but a few poetical works were in existence,-the servants of the Company principally derived their acquaintance with that language from their intercourse with the natives, in the ordinary concerns of private life, and in the transaction of public affairs.

"It cannot be supposed that, by means such as these, an enlarged and accurate knowledge of the colloquial language of India could possibly be attained, and in fact, the number who possessed the power of maintaining a conversation in that language, with any degree of elegance or propriety, or even of expressing in adequate terms the purpose of the mind, as VOL. I.

it arises in the progress of colloquial intercourse, of argument and of negociation in the transaction of affairs, whether public or private, was extremely limited.

"The language of Bengal, a knowledge of which is so obviously important in official situations within the limits of the province, was generally neglected and unknown by the public servants who filled those situations.

"How essential, how extensive has been the change in all these respects, since the establishment of the College of Fort William! gentlemen, eminently distinguished for their knowledge and acquirements in each of these languages, are now the organs of instruction to successive bodies of the junior servants of the Company, civil and military. The profound oriental learning of Dr. Lumsden, professor of Arabic and Persian, has supplied that great desideratum, a complete grammar of the Persian language; and the first part of his valuable Arabic Grammar has also been given to the public;-works, of which I venture confidently to affirm, that they not only embrace a most able and scientific arrangement and illustration of grammatical rules, calculated to afford the amplest means of acquiring a critical knowledge of those languages, but that they also develop and exemplify the principles of general grammar, in a degree yet unrivalled by any of the philologists of Europe.

"In addition to these and other philological works, books requisite for the study of every language taught in the college, have been collected, composed or compiled; every obstacle which formerly impeded the progress of the student has been removed; every possible facility has been supplied, by the labour and erudition of the professors and learned natives attached to the college. The effect has been commensurate with the means which have been provided.-Exclusively of the numerous instances of eminent and extraordinary proficiency, which have done honour to the institution, the college has annually transferred to the public service a body of young men, most, if not all, of whom had acquired a fundamental knowledge of two or more languages; and some had risen to high practical proficiency, not only in those which may be termed the living languages of India, but also in the abstruse and refined repositories of oriental learning and science, the Arabic and Sunskrit ;-and although it was not to be expected that the advantages of the college should be improved by all the students; that the seed should grow and flourish in every soil in which it had been sown, yet I do not incur the hazard of error, when I assert, that the general stock, both of theoretical and practical acquaintance with the languages of the country, among the servants of

the Company, has been augmented and improved in a very extensive and sensible degree. I might also refer to specific instances of the power of elocution and of composition in the languages of India, possessed by several public officers holding high situations, who have passed through the studies of the college, in proof of the advantages which an institution like this is exclusively calculated to afford in the acquisition of the oriental languages.

"It remains, however, to advert to the argument adduced, in proof of the sufficiency of the knowledge of the Eastern languages generally possessed by the Company's servants antecedently to the institution of the college, which is founded on the progressive prosperity and power of the British dominion in India, and on the success which attended the administration of the concerns of this great empire. When we contemplate our situation in this country; when we reflect that we are governing a population of many millions, to whom our langauge is unknown, whose religion, habits, manners, usages and prejudices wholly differ from our own, no argument would seem requisite to prove, that the diffusion of the benefits and blessings of a British administration among these our subjects, must essentially depend on the degree in which the power of communication with the natives of India is possessed by the public officers employed in the various branches of this great and complicated government. Splendid as has been the career of our dominion, prosperous as has been the conduct of its internal concerns, who will allege that no advantages have been lost, no evils have been incurred, which a skilful use of the powers of language might not have secured and prevented?

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"Who will say that improved means of direct intercourse with our subjects are not indispensably required, to co-operate with the enactment and administration of salutary laws, for the purpose of diffusing the knowledge and the practice of those principles of conduct, which have a tendency to exalt the standard cr national character, to diminish the prevalence of immorality and crime, and to promote the general welfare and happiness of the inhabitants of these territories? Who will maintain, that far greater advances in the attainment of such important purposes might not long since have been made, if the existing facilities of Oriental study and acquirement had in early times enabled the Company's servants to arrive at that proficiency, which is now so generally attained?

"All therefore who unite in the opinion which I profess to entertain, of the great advantages of this institution, even when considered merely as the means of stimulating and enabling the civil and

military servants of the Company to acquire an intimate and critical knowledge of the languages of the East, must anxiously désire its stability; and to such it must be satisfactory to reflect, that the college has been formally recognized by an act of the Legislature, as well as that the Hon. Court of Directors continue to afford to it their indispensable support; deeming their College of Hertford, so far as it embraces the study of the Eastern languages, to be calculated only to bestow an elementary preparation for the more efficient and exclusive studies of this institution.

"I am aware, that the benefits of the College of Fort William, considered in a general point of view, have been disputed on grounds which have reference to the habits and private conduct of the students; that the advantages of efficient instruction in the Oriental languages have been deemed to be overbalanced by the example and contagion of dissipation and extravagance.

"But I have no reason to believe, that the degree of discredit to which the college may have been exposed in this respect, has proceeded rather from the prominent misconduct of a few, who perhaps in any situation would have disregarded the obligations of duty and discretion, than from the general prevalence of irregularity in the body of the students; and to whatever extent the charge might have been justly applicable at some period of the institution, I have the satisfaction to know that, at the present time, instances of deviation from the maxims and rules of prudence and propriety (for such must always exist in every large association) are exceptions to the general system of conduct observable among students of the college.

"This gratifying improvement may, perhaps, be traced to sources beyond the limits of this establishment; but to the paternal superintendance of the government; to the vigilance of the respectable members of the college council; to the advice and attention of the professors and officers, and to the operation of the salutary rules and ordinances of the college, must also be attributed in a material degree, the actual state of its moral prosperity.

"At the same time, it is certainly to be desired, that the means of promoting the important object of collegiate discipline should be systematized in the College of Fort William, as in other similar institutions, by arrangements calculated to meet those evils and defects, the real or supposed existence of which, has induced persons of acknowledged judgment, to doubt the expediency of this system of Oriental education.

“Gentlemen! acting as I now am in

a delegated capacity, I am not perhaps entitled to assume a personal relation to the college, yet having had the honor to fill an active situation in it at the infancy of its establishment, and having both in that situation and in a higher department of the institution, witnessed its efficacy and its advantages, I cannot refrain from taking this opportunity of professing at warm personal interest in its prosperity, and an earnest solicitude for its permanent duration."

APPENDIX.

Catalogue of Literary Works, the publication of which has been encouraged by Government, at the recommendation of the Council of the College of Fort William, since the period of the Disputations held in 1814.

1.-KIRATAYOONEEYU, a celebrated historical work, in the original Sunskrit, with the commentary of Mullee Nath, an account of which is given by the learned Mr. H. Colebrooke, in his essay on Sunskrit and Prakrit poetry, published in the Asiatic Researches, vol. 10th, page 431. (Calcutta edition.)

2.-VEERUMITRODUYU, is a complete digest of Hindoo law, on the administration of justice. It is divided, like other complete digests, into two parts; one on trial at law in general, and the other on the several subjects of litigation in particular. Under the first head, the legal rules of pleading are set forth and explained; and the law of evidence, written and oral, with prescription, and other branches of the important head of proof. Under the second, the various heads of contracts and succession, together with criminal law, and questions concerning real property amply discussed.-The whole contains a rich and well arranged collection of the text of ancient legislators, and the docta of the most esteemed compilers and commentators. The work was compiled for practical purposes, a little more than a century ago, for one of the independent Hindoo Rajahs of Hindoos

tan.

It is deservedly held in great estimation in the Benares school, including all the Hindoostanee provinces. It is the best modern digest, as the Smriti Chundrika is the best ancient one. Edited by Babooram Pundit.

3. SUBHA BILAS, a work in the Bruj Bhak,ha, consisting of approved extracts in poetry, from various authors, compiled by Moonshee Lulloo, for the use of the students of the Bhak,ha class. This work has lately been published.

4.-A K,HUREE BOLEE and ENGLISH VOCABULARY, of all the principal words in the Premsagur, or History of Krishnu, with the corresponding Sunskrit etymology of each term, when it could be clearly ascertained, by Lieut. William

Price, Assistant Professor of the Bengalee and Sunskrit languages. The utility of this vocabulary will not be confined to the work from whence the words have been extracted, since they are of constant occurrence in other K,huree bolee and Bhak,ha compositions, and this arrangement and mode of execution will very considerably facilitate the subsequent undertaking of a complete K,huree bolee dictionary.

5, 6, 7.-HITOPUDESHU, from the Sunskrit, also the BUTTEESEE SING HASUNU, from the Sunskrit and the PRUTAPADITYU, from the Bengalee, have been translated in the Muhratta language by learned natives, under the superintendence of the Rev. Dr. Carey, for the use of students of the Mahratta class.

The two former works have been published, and the third is at present in the press.

8. A collection of ORIENTAL LETTERS in the Muhratta language, is likewise in course of publication.

9.-POOROOSHU PUREEKSHYA, or the TEST OF MAN, a work containing the moral doctrines of the Hindoos, translated into the Bengalee language, from the Sunskrit, by Huruprusad, a Pundit attached to the College of Fort William, for the use of the Bengalee class. It is a delineation of eminence of character, in many situations of human life, and consists of forty-eight stories, illustrative thereof. Some of these describe men eminent for moral virtue; others, men eminent for heroic or daring actions; others are represented as examples of high qualifications; and others, of extraordinary folly or wisdom, virtue or vice. The whole forming an useful miscellany of eastern manners and opinions. 10. CLAVIS SINICA," a work on the Chinese language, consisting of two parts. Part the first contains a dissertation, of pages 80, on the origin, nature and formation of the Chinese characters; and a second dissertation (comprising pages 102) on the colloquial medium of the Chinese, wherein its nature is laid open, and its connexion with the colloquial media of the surrounding countries carefully traced: Part the second (pages 384) contains a grammar of the Chinese language, in which the construction of the language is illustrated by nearly five hundred examples, selected from the best Chinese authors, ancient and modern. To the work is added, by way of appendix, the Tahyoh, an ancient work, on the nature of Government. An English translation on the same page accompanies the Chinese text, and a praxis at the end explains each character as it occurs. By J. Marshman, D.D. The Chinese part of the work is printed with the metal types with which

the Scriptures in Chinese are now printing at Serampore.

The following Works, mentioned in the Appendix to the Discourse of His Excellency the Visitor of the College of Fort William, at the Disputations of 1814, have since been completed.

1. SOOHRAB, A POEM, the translation from Persian into English, of an episode, in the celebrated epic poem of Firdousse, entitled the Shah Namu, by J. Atkinson, Esq. acting assistant secretary and examiner in the College of Fort William.

2. THE KHI RUD UFROZ, originally translated into the Hindoostanee language, by Muoluvee Hufeez ood deeni Uhmud, from the Uyari Danish, written by the celebrated Shuekh Ubool Fuzl, Prime Minister to the illustrious Ukbur, Emperor of Hindoostan: revised and compared with the original Persian, and prepared for the press by Captain Thomas Roebuck, acting secretary and examiner in the College of Fort William, in two volumes, royal octavo. This work is an elegant paraphrase of the book known in Europe, by the name of Pilpay's Fables, which have been satisfactorily traced to a work in the Sunskrit language, entitled Punchu Tuntru, of which the celebrated book, called the Hitopudeshu, is an abridgement, written above twelve centuries ago, by a learned Brahman, named Vishnoo Shurma. It contains all the moral polity and wisdom of the East, expressed in the most polished dialect of the Hindoostanee language. Perhaps no book in the world (the sacred writings excepted) has undergone so many versions, or has been translated into so many languages, as the fables above-mentioned. A full account of the various transpositions of the fables of Pilpay is given in the English preface, prefixed work by the editor.

3. THE QAMOos, a celebrated dictionary in the Arabic language, has been completed to the close of the first part, which has passed the press.

The types which have been employed in printing this edition, were formed under the immediate inspection of the learned editor, Shurkh Uhmud Shirwanee, a native of Yumun in Arabia, and the author of several Arabic works, composed for the use of the Students of the College of Fort William. He has paid particular attention to this department of his labours. The book is neatly printed, and has the singular advantage of being complete in the vowel points throughout the volume, -a measure absolutely necessary, to remove those difficulties and obscurities of meaning, which so frequently occur in the greater number of the manuscript copies of this work.

4. The Supplement to the MUQAMAT

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