ELEGANT AND APPROPRIATE TRIBUTE OF RESPECT, PRESENTED BY THE HONOURABLE ANNE SEYMOUR DAMER TO THE LIBERAL AND ENLIGHTENED KING OF TANJORE.

A VERY fine bronze bust of Admiral Lord Nelson, of an heroic size, is just now on the point of being sent out to India, as a present from the Honourable Anne Seymour Damer to the King of Tanjore; and accompanies the diploma by which the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland have appointed his Royal Highness an Honorary Member of that Society. This original bust of Nelson was modelled from life by the Honourable Anne Seymour Damer, soon after the battle of the Nile; it was then executed by her in marble, and presented by her to the City of London; and is now executed by her in bronze, and presented by her to the King of Tanjore, as the most appropriate mark she can show him of the admiration which she, as an artist, entertains of his Royal Highness, in consequence of the liberal and enlightened manner in which he has encouraged the introduction and cultivation of European arts and sciences amongst his subjects; and in consequence of the respect which he has paid to the naval and military heroes of Great Britain, by erecting a splendid monument, in his country, to commemorate the great achievements which they performed during the late arduous and protracted contest which prevailed between France and Great Britain.,

The character of the King of Tanjore, the nature and peculiarity of the early education which he received, the state of the people who inhabit his dominions,-the fame of the hero whose bust is sent to him, the importance of the battle of the Nile to the British ascendancy in India, the circumstances which led Mrs. Damer, from her feelings as an artist, to make the bust in question, the high rank, the genius and the celebrity of the artist herself, as well on the continent of Europe as in England,—are considerations which render the present a subject of more than ordinary interest to all those who are acquainted with the character of the Hindoos, and who think it of importance, with a view to give them a taste for the arts and sciences of Europe, and to encourage a Hindoo prince to continue the prudent and well-directed efforts by which he has already succeeded in removing from the minds of the Natives of the highest caste in his country the prejudices which they formerly entertained against the introduction of any European institution. The King of Tanjore is a Hindoo sovereign of rank, influence, and wealth, who was originally educated by the late Rev. Mr. Swartz, a European missionary of the greatest respectability throughout India; and who has, ever since he has been upon

the throne, used his rank, influence, and wealth in acquiring himself, and in promoting amongst the people of the highest caste and highest rank in his country, a knowledge of the arts and sciences of Europe. The country of Tanjore is, for its size, the most populous and the best cultivated part of the southern division of the Peninsula of India. In it the effects of the Mohammedan conquest are less visible than in the more northern parts of that Peninsula, and the Hindoo religion, laws, usages, and manners, are, from the sovereign of the country being himself a Hindoo, kept up in full force.

Sir Alexander Johnston, a relation of the Hon. Anne Seymour Damer, while Chief Justice and First Member of his Majesty's Council on the island of Ceylon, formed a plan of giving the Natives of that island a direct interest in the government of their country, by imparting to them an important share in the administration of justice amongst their countrymen, and of introducing Trial by Jury amongst them, under such modifications as would, at the same time that it secured to the people the full benefit of this popular mode of trial, make it strictly conformable to their respective religions, laws, manners, and usages; as all the inhabitants of the northern provinces of Ceylon are Hindoos, and are descended from, and agree in religion, laws, manners, and usages with the Hindoo inhabitants of the opposite Peninsula. Sir Alexander was extremely anxious, with a view to the regulations which he was about to make for adapting Trial by Jury to the feelings of the Hindoo inhabitants of Ceylon, not only to acquire a thorough knowledge of the Peninsula of India, but also of the wise and prudent measures which the King of Tanjore, from his knowledge of the Hindoo character, had pursued for adapting the arts and sciences of Europe to the feelings and prejudices of the Hindoo inhabitants of his country.

For this purpose Sir Alexander made two journeys through the southern provinces of the Peninsula of India, and paid a visit to the King of Tanjore, who received him with great attention, and gave him a full opportunity of observing the progress which his Royal Highness himself, as well as the persons of the highest caste and rank at his court, had made in acquiring a knowledge of European arts and sciences, and in accustoming the people of the country, notwithstanding the prejudices which had formerly prevailed amongst them, to view such studies with feelings of the highest respect. Sir Alexander was very much struck with the effects which the King of Tanjore had been able to produce upon the character of his Hindoo subjects, by cautiously removing from their minds the prejudices which they had previously entertained against the study and adoption of some of the most useful of the arts and sciences of Europe, and was fully convinced that it would be of the utmost importance to the British interests in India, to seize the favourable

opportunity which was afforded to Europe, by the peculiar character of the King of Tanjore, to introduce with success a taste for those arts and sciences amongst the Hindoo inhabitants of India. It seemed to him also to be the true policy of Great Britain to encourage, by all means which could be devised, the King of Tanjore to proceed in the course in which he had already made so great a progress, of exciting, by his example and influence amongst the Hindoos of his country, a very general taste and respect for studies of that nature; and to consider the King of Tanjore and his Hindoo subjects as the medium through which such a taste and respect for the arts and sciences might be disseminated with safety and success amongst all the Hindoo inhabitants of Asia.

Under this impression, Sir Alexander Johnston, as soon as the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (one of the principal objects of which is to communicate to Asia such of the arts and sciences of Europe as are applicable to the situation of the people) was permanently established, proposed the King of Tanjore as the first honorary member of that society; and Sir Alexander Johnston,-being fully aware of the beneficial effect which would be produced upon a character like that of the King of Tanjore, who himself, upon principles of policy, had encouraged persons of the highest caste and rank in his country to study the arts and sciences of Europe, to receive as a mark of respect for such conduct from an artist of high rank and celebrity in Europe one of the finest specimens of her art,-mentioned the subject to his relation, the Hon. Anne Seymour Damer; who immediately, with the liberality which is peculiar to her character, and with the zeal which she displays on every occasion when she can promote a knowledge of the arts and sciences of her country, proposed, of her own accord, notwithstanding the expense and the labour which she would inevitably incur, to execute, with her own hands, the bust in bronze, of Nelson, and to send it as a present to the King of Tanjore; feeling that no present could be more appropriate to a king, who had been so faithful an ally of the British Government, than a bust of that hero, who, by the victory of the Nile, had freed the British dominions in India from the danger of being invaded by the French, and who had thereby finally secured for the King of Tanjore himself that tranquillity which enabled him to prosecute, without interruption, the plan which he had so wisely adopted of encouraging amongst the people of his country the arts and sciences of Europe.

The king of Tanjore, whose great object it has always been to impress upon the minds, both of his own relations, and of all the persons of rank in his country, that the people of the highest rank in Europe are proud of being distinguished for the progress they have made in knowledge, will perfectly understand how much it Oriental Herald, Vol. 10.

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will support the opinion which he has circulated amongst his people, to receive a fine specimen of her art, from an artist like the Hon. Mrs. Damer, whose rank, whose genius, and whose works are noticed, as well on the continent of Europe as in her own country, as appears by her bust being placed in the hall of ancient and modern painters, in the Royal Gallery of Florerce, and by the honourable mention which is made of her, and of her works, in Dallaway's Anecdotes of the Arts in England.' As our publication is peculiarly devoted to circulating useful and interesting information amongst the inhabitants of India, and to the recording of such events as may be deemed of importance in improving and elevating the minds and characters of persons of every description in that part of the world; and as the name and works of the Hon. Anne Seymour Damer may henceforward be considered as intimately connected with the efforts which are making in this country to promote the improvements and happiness of the people under the British Government in Asia, we feel it our duty, on the present occasion, to extract, for the information of those persons in India who may not have access to the original sources of this information, the account which is given of the Hon. Mrs. Damer, and of her works, in the Gallery of Florence, as well as that which is contained in Dallaway's Anecdotes of the Arts in England.'

The following is the account given in the Gallery of Florence: The Honourable Anne Seymour Damer, sculptrix, was born in London, of parents the most illustrious; the head of her family, on the side of her father, is the Duke of Somerset ; and on the side of her mother, is the Duke of Argyle. She was married to Mr. Damer, the eldest son of Lord Milton, who was afterwards created Lord Dorchester.

This lady, from her earliest childhood, showed indications of the talents which have since distinguished her; and, becoming afterwards a widow, and less occupied in the great world, her genius led her to follow her taste, which has since, for a long time, occupied her understanding, not merely as a dilettante, but as a real artist.

The Hon. Anne Seymour Damer received her first lessons from the celebrated sculptor, Ceracchi, who at the time happened to be in London. She learnt the technical part of working in marble the workshop of Mr. Bacon, of the Royal Academy of London; studied the elements of anatomy under the auspices of Professor Cruikshank, and made journies into Italy to contemplate the chef d'œuvres of the art, in order that she might perfect herself in the true and simple style of the Greeks, which she always endeavoured to follow.

Amongst her works are to be seen a statue in marble, eight feet high, of his late Britannic Majesty, George the Third, placed in the Register's-office at Edinburgh,

Two colossal heads, in relief, executed in Portland stone, representing Tame and Isis, forming the keystone on each side of the middle arch of the stone bridge of Henley upon Thames.

A monument, executed in Rochdale stone, a bust (portrait) in marble, and erected in Sunbridge church, Kent, to the memory of her mother, the late Right Honourable the Countess of Ailesbury, who was the daughter of John, fourth Duke of Argyle, and married, in the first instance, to the Earl of Ailesbury, the father of the late Duchess of Richmond, and in the second, to the late Field Marshal the Right Honourable Henry Seymour Conway, the father of the Hon. Anne Seymour Damer. On it is the following inscription:

ARGATHELIE DUCIS

FILIA

MATRI CHAR EC

HOC MONUMENTUM

PROPRIA MANU SCULPTUM

POSUIT

ANNA SEYMOUR DAMER,

1808.

Many busts in marble, bronze, and models in terra cotta.

A bust in marble (heroic size), portrait of Admiral Lord Nelson, presented to the City of London.

A head in marble, of Bacchus (portrait of Prince Lobomirski), placed in the gallery of the University of Oxford.

A bust, executed in bronze, of Sir Joseph Banks, the late president of the Royal Society, presented to the British Museum.

A bust, in marble, of the late Mr. Fox, which the Honourable Anne Seymour Damer had the honour of presenting in person to his late Imperial and Royal Majesty, the Emperor Napoleon, on the 1st of May, 1815, at the Palace Elisée at Paris. This bust had been promised on a journey which Mrs. Damer had made to Paris, at the period of the treaty of Amiens. Mrs. Damer quitted Paris shortly after her presentation of the bust of Mr. Fox; but, before her departure, she received, by the hands of Marshal Count Bertrand, a magnificent snuff-box, with the portrait surrounded by diamonds, of the Emperor Napoleon, who begged of her "to accept of this souvenir," the very words which were used by the Emperor. This bust was, by order of the Emperor, to have been placed in the Gal ery of Great Men, at Fontainbleau.

A dog, executed in marble, presented to her late Majesty, Queen Charlotte of England, and now in the collection of her Royal Highness the Landgravine of Hesse Homberg.

Α group of two sleeping dogs, executed in marble, and given to her brother-in-law, Charles Lennox, Duke of Richmond. Another dog, in marble, a favourite of the Hon. Anne Seymour Damer,