the presidency of Madras, and wherever the Tamil language is spoken. 3d, The computation amongst the Hindus by the luni-solar year, of which the months are reckoned according to the course of the moon; but the years adjusted to the course of the sun, by the intercalation of months at particular periods. This system dates also from the epoch of Sáliváhana, divided into cycles of sixty, and prevails generally throughout the northern provinces under the presidency of Madras, and wherever the Telugu language is spoken.

The first of Captain Warren's dissertations contains rules and tables for converting any given year, past or future, of the Hejira, into the corresponding year of the Christian æra; and the Christian year being given for finding the corresponding one of the Hejira, various examples of the application of these rules are added.

The second dissertation contains a translation of a tract by the Rev. J. C. Beschie, on the Hindu computation of time by the solar year, according to the respective methods of the Vakya and the Siddhanta, the two most reputed treatises in Tamil on astronomy, and various rules, tables, and examples, treating of the mode of converting such time, at any period, past or future, into European time, or European time into the solar time of the Hindus.

The third dissertation, not yet finished, is to treat in a similar manner of the luni

solar time of the Hindus.

To these dissertations the Board of Superintendence propose to add such information on the general subject, as will bring under one view all that relates to these several methods of computing time, thus affording to the public officer, and to the literary inquirer, a manual calculated to shorten their labors, and to assist their pursuits.

HINDUSTANI LEXICON,

In concluding this list, we cannot omit the mention of a work which, although not preparing for the college press, is about to be published in communication with the college, and under the immediate patronage of the Government;-we allude to a LEXICON OF THAT PECULIAR DIALECT OF THE HINDUSTANI LANGUAGE WHICH PREVAILS IN THE DEKHAN, OR SOUTH OF INDIA; by H. Harris, M. D. Second Member of the Medical Board at this Presidency.

In this very extensive, laborious, and valuable work which Dr. Harris will soon, we hope, have it in his power to lay before the public, every derivative, compound, and phrase, in general use or ac- ceptation, that occurs in this useful and popular language, is carefully referred to its proper theme or root; and the whole, thus analysed and distributed, are ranged in classes, after the manner of Scapula and

Golius in their celebrated Lexicons of the Greek and Arabic.

Primitives are accompanied as far as practicable with the roots from which they are considered to spring, or to which they seem to approach, by striking affinities and analogies, each expressed in the proper character of its own language, whether of the Hebrew, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Arabic, Persian, Greek, Latin, &c. &c.

The different interpretations of each word will be given in English, and generally in Latin also, which will enable the learned author to define and fix the meanings, and shades of meaning of words, with additional precision and accuracy,and wil! render this work of utility to Europeans of every nation,

To the Lexion three Indexes are subjoined 1st, A general Hindustani Index, including every term and phrase in the Lexicon, referred to its proper root.

2d, A snmmary Latin Index. 3, A de tailed English Index, which may be considered as the reversed portion of the work abridged.

Dr. Harris's Lexicon is confined to that particular dialect of the Hindustani which has currency in the British possessions under the Presidency of Fort St. George. The author, therefore, has rejected a very considerable number of words, which, although to be found in every dictionary of the Hindustani language that has hitherto appeared in Bengal, are totally unknown in the peninsula. At the same time many primitives, and considerably more compounds and phrases, than the and indeed essential to the dialect of the number of words, thus excluded, peculiar south of India, are introduced into the columns of this Lexicon.

The great experience of the learned author eminently qualifies him for the laborious and important task which he has undertaken to execute. This work is already very far advanced, and the zeal, perseverance, talents, and research by which he is distinguished render it probable that the Lexicon will be ready for the press within fifteen months from the present date.

We had the honor, on the 2d of November last, to submit a detailed report on the merits of the Telugu grammar composed by Mr. A. D. Campbell, the first of the Telugu works enumerated in the foregoing list. Various circumstances, we observed, had combined to delay this report beyond the period at which we hoped originally to have submitted it; but this delay, we remarked, had afforded us an opportunity of entering into a more minute examination of the work, and we trusted that the result of our labours, as contained in

In forwarding our report, we had been directed to state whether we would recommend the immediate printing of this work; a perusal of our report, we observed, would shew the opinion we enter tamed of its merits; the suggestions which we had made for its improvement, might, we thought, be fairly left to the discretion of Mr. Campbell; we felt confident that they would not be rejected without due consideration; and however we might differ from the author in minor points, our opinion of the general execution of the work was such, as enabled us to recommend that it should be immediately printed at the college.

As our remarks on Mr. Campbell's grammar are too voluminous to be admitted into the body of this address, we subjoin a copy of them as an appendix to the present general report.

The Right Honorable the Governor in Council was pleased on the 8th of November, 1814, to transmit for our cousideration and report, a copy of a letter from Mr. M'Kerrell, Telugu translator to Government, with a Telugu vocabuJary which accompanied it.

In reply to this communication, we observed, that in our present annual report we should state particularly the progress we had made in preparing elementary works for the use of the students in the college; in the mean time we confined our observations to the Telugu vocabulary composed by Mr. M'Kerrell.

The very considerable acquirements of Mr. M'Kerrell in Telugu and its cognate dialect the Carrarese, and the desire manifested by this gentleman to apply these acquirements to objects of public utility, were, we observed, already too well known to require particular remark; the present we considered another instance of laudable zeal in promoting one of the great objects for which the college was established; and which, under that encouragement which Government had always shewn themselves so willing to afford in similar cases, would, we trusted, be often imitated, when the talents of many who had benefitted by the institution should have attained greater maturity, and elementary books should by degrees be provided for all the languages of Southern India.

We thought that the following remarks 'on Mr. M'Kerrell's work, would convey to the Right Honorable the Governor in Council a knowledge of the plan on which it was written, and the manner in which it was executed, and thereby enable him to form a judgment of its value to the public. The work, we observed, was a vocabulary, English and Telugu, ar

common dialect of the latter language; the meaning, or meanings of the several words were simply given, without explanation of their general or particular use, and without examples of any kind: this plan, though possessing the advantage of. brevity, might, we thought, in some cases be productive of inconvenience; for when two or more meanings of a word occurred, the student, without the assistance of a teacher, could not know which to select. The execution of the work was, we added, in general correct; there were some mistakes in orthography, arising from too strict an adherence to common practice, and synonymous terms might often be multiplied with advantage; but the defect of the greatest importance, was one which was, we remarked, inse, parable from first productions of this kind; we meant the difficulty of rendering with precision abstract terms, or the names of objects or attributes familiar in one tongue, but unknown, or of unfrequent occurrence in the other.

Such defects, we observed, were not, however, more frequent than might be expected in a compilation in which little or no assistance could be derived from the labors of preceding writers; and there were none which might not be easily removed. As a whole, we considered the work calculated to afford assistance to the Telugu student, especially if it should receive that improvement of which some parts were susceptible, and we recommended, therefore, that it should be printed for the use of the college.

On the 15th of February we had the honor to lay before the Right Honorable the Governor in Council a letter from Captain Warren, of His Majesly's 56th regiment of foot, a gentleman well known by his scientific acquirements and productions, forwarding to us a dissertation ou the solar computation of time, as practised through the whole of the southern provinces under this presidency, and in other parts of India, containing rules and tables for the ready conversion of European time into Indian solar time, and vice versâ; also another dissertation on the lunar time observed by the Muhammadan nations, containing rules and tables for ascertaining the commencement of the year of the Hijira at any period, and for the reciprocal conversion of European and Muhammadan time.

On the great utility of these rules and tables to the service in general, and to the students on the establishment under our charge in particular, we deemed it unnecessary to enlarge, it was, we observed, clear that it was a point of the first neces sity, that the executive officers under this government should have a distinct knowledge of the several methods of computing time in use among the inhabitants of

the districts in which they preside, and that public business must be greatly facilitated by the possession of distinct and easy rules and tables for the conversion of time, as expressed by those methods, into European time and the reverse-as literary productions, these dissertations were on a subject, which we believed, had not been practically investigated with a view to practical application by any previous writer, except by the Rev. C. J. Beschie, whose very valuable work had been translated and illustrated by Captain Warren, and formed part of the paper first men. tioned.

With these observations we begged leave to recommend, under Section XX, Title First of the College Regulations, that these dissertations should be printed for the use of the institution and of the service, and that the Right Honorable the Governor in Council should confer on the author such mark of approbation as his labors might be considered to merit.

We begged leave to add, that Captain Warren had, at our suggestion, undertaken to compose a similar dissertation on the mode of computing lunar time, followed by the Hindu inhabitants of Expense for the year 1814.

Secretary's allowance

Head Native Masters......2,400 0 0.... Native Teachers....... ..6,001 39 7.... Native Students

Office Establishment and

823 23 48....

O....

Printing Office, &c..... 870 0

Sad erwared...

Contingent charges

the northern provinces subject to this government, which we hoped circumstances would enable him to complete; and we proposed, if approved by the Right Honorable the Governor in Council, to publish these papers, together with such other valuable writings, theoretical and practical, on the modes of computing time in use in India, as we might be able to obtain, forming together a work, which would probably contain all that was necessary to be known on the subject, and which we doubted not would be productive of considerable utility.

The Right Honorable the Governor in Council in reply informed us, that in consideration of the merits of the works composed by Captain Warren, and under the uncertainty of his returning to India, he had determined to purchase the copyright of those works.

ACTUAL CHARGES FOR 1815. Excluding the allowances of the junior civil servants, we have the honor to submit an abstract statement of the actual expenditure on account of the College of Fort St. George, during the year 1815, compared with that of the preceding year 1814.

Expense for the year 1815.
1,799 44 79
....2,325 0 0....
....7,214 19 48....
925 25 62....

Difference. 101 10 51 75 0 0

........ 1,212 25 41 102 2 14

East-India House, Feb. 6, 1817. Mr. Grant rose and said-The attention aud patience of the court of proprietors having been occupied by one speech for nearly three hours, I feel unfeigned reluctance after such an ordeal, and at so late an hour of the day, in offering myself to your notice. Indeed I am less inclined to the task, feeling almost exhausted by the close attention which I have paid to the hon. and learned gentleman; and, not a little am I discouraged by the consciousness, that the time during which I must trouble the court, will not afford scope for that justice which the importance of the subject requires. If however the court is disposed at this hour to hear my sentiments upon the question, exhausted and fatigued as I am, I shall, because unwilling that the learned gentleman's speech should pass without receiving some immediate reply from me, readily avail myself of the opportunity. If the question were to be decided this day, whatever reluctance I might feel in being precluded the opportunity of rebutting the charges and statements of the learned gentleman, yet I certainly should not arrogate to myself the occupation of the whole of the remaining part of the day; but, as it must be admitted that candour and justice require an impartial hearing of those who may be disposed to offer their sentiments on the other side of the question, and that another day must therefore be appointed for that purpose, I indulge the hope of being allowed to take this occasion of stating as far as I may be able, my opinions on the subject before us.

In the outset of what I have to offer, I must profess myself decidedly hostile to the motion submitted to the court by the learned gentleman. My opposition is grounded upon a long and thorough consideration of the subject, and upon a firm persuasion that the matter and the course of proceeding proposed by the motion are alike unadvisable, with reference to present circumstances, and inexpedient with respect to the true interests of the Company.

Before I go into any detail of my reasons for entertaining this opinion, let me take the liberty of observing, that the true merits of this case cannot be justly appreciated nor thoroughly understood without a candid, a liberal, and a complate discussion of all the topics which may be urged on both sides the question. But, I own, according to my view of the manner in which this subject is now

brought forward by the hon. and learned gentleman, referring it to the inquiry of the directors, the object does not seem so much to be inquiry, as to throw blame upon that body, by implied unfounded accusations (Cries of no! no!)- am sorry to observe that the business of this day is not the beginning of so ungenerous and uncandid a mode of proceeding." Other avocations occasioned my absence, from the court on a former day when this subject was brought forward; but I have seen reports of the proceedings, which are now in the hands of the public, which the public will read as they have been ac customed to do, and which are uncontradicted: if, uncontradicted as they are, I may judge from them, the proceedings of the former day were tinctured throughout with injustice, error, and perversion. If this business had commenced merely, by a temperate proposition for inquiry, for the production of papers, in order to a candid, liberal, and complete discussion, I should, if then present, have been, from my former declarations, from my confidence in the cause of the college, and from the desire of ren dering justice to a much injured institution, in favour of such a proposition. But how was this business introduced? without any previous notice; without the knowledge of those who would have thought it their duty to defend the college in the absence of persons known to take a particular interest in that subject, occasion was seized upon a mere collateral point to make a formal attack upon the college, its constitution, its character, and its effects, all which were furiously arraigned in terms of gross unmannered invective and abuse upon surmises, rumours and misrepresentatious of interested parties; without the evidence of one proved fact, beyond the reports of the college professors themselves, which were unfairly strained and distorted, in order to make them answer a purpose which their natural genuine import could not serve. Such at least is the account of that debate of the 18th December given in the public papers. Of the general nature and course of that debate I presume, from the concurrence of all authorities, there can be no doubt. Whether the particular expressions ascribed to the hon. mover and seconder of the motion of that day are ac curately stated, I cannot say, having my self been, from distant avocations, necessarily absent; but as they have been circulated throughout the kingdom and remain

without a disavowal, they are fair objects of animadversion and of contradiction and censure, as far as truth may warrant. A proceeding such as has been described was obviously not a temperate proposal for papers which might afford materials for inquiry. It was beginning with accusation and condemnation, first passing sentence, and then insisting on papers, evidently with an expectation and desire that they should confirm the sentence. The gentlemen became both accusers and judges, the other parties not even being heard; and then they profess to call for inquiry. Could any thing be more opposite to the common principles of justice, than, first to condemn, and then to propose an exa-, mination into the grounds of the condemnation ?-they would first execute the accused, and then examine into the justice of his sentence. I do not wonder therefore, that the court of directors thought fit upon the motion for papers to oppose that motion, for how could they consent after a proceeding which, in the first instance, precluded all hope of a candid discussion on the subject? According to the reports therefore, which I have seen of the proceedings at the last court, if they are to be credited, I must repeat in the most unqualified manner, that the agitation and management of the question, as it was then conducted, was one tissue of injustice, of error, and unfounded accusation. Such were the proceedings of the former day. And, I cannot but feel the present proceedings to be exactly of the same description. The hon. and learned gentleman has brought forward a string of propositions, all of which are, more or less, charged with crimination and accusation against the college, and he has concluded, by proposing a resolution, requiring the court of directors to give their opinion upon each of them. If the general court could be persuaded to pass such resolutions, what would be the consequence? they would do the utmost injustice to the court of directors, and to the very object of their inquiry; they would, in fact, be sending the college to trial. with an halter about its neck. The motion carried crimination in every proposition of it; and it seemed as if the hon., members who brought it forward, having failed of obtaining papers by which they might endeavour to support their former charges, were determined to accuse at all

events.

In the newspaper report of the speech of the hon. and learned gentleman on the former occasion, a history is given of the institution of the college, which is materially erroneous. He has again gone today into a similar but more diffuse historical detail-possibly with a view to soften down some of the errors in the preceding one, but it is still far enough from Asiatic Journ.-No. 16.

being correct. The tendency and obvious design of the whole of that history is to inculpate the court of directors, first on the ground of their having departed from the original plan of the institution, and thereby given occasion to all the evils alleged to have since happened; next, for having put down the splendid institution of lord Wellesley at Calcutta. The learned gentleman is said in the report of his first speech to have begun by stating, that the Hertford college was instituted upon the suppression of that at Calcutta, to which suppression the report goes on to say, he agreed, because it was an university, not a school. Now in the first place, there never had been a question before the general court about suppressing the Calcutta college; the learned gentleman therefore has, if his speech is truly given, gratuitously acknowledged his ap probation of a measure on which his opi nion was never asked. In the next place, what was done by the court of directors in abrogating lord Wellesley's institution took place in the year 1802. At that period they certainly did order the suspension of the Calcutta establishment, but in a short time after it was restored. upon a reduced scale, and on that footing it had quietly existed nearly two years, be fore the formation of an establishment at home was submitted to the general court. It was every way therefore a complete misstatement to represent this last institu tion as founded upon the ruins of the other. The hon. and learned gentleman has thought fit to launch forth into amplified superlative commendations of the collegiate establishment of the Marquis Wellesley; I have little disposition to follow him into that subject, as I conceive he has wandered into a field of expatiation, respecting both the Calcutta institu tion and other matters wholly irrelevant to the point under consideration. But of his object I may take notice; it seems to be to form a contrast between the grandeur and magnificence of lord Wellesley's ideas, of his plan,fand the dignity of his conduct relative to it, and the littleness and narrowness of the ideas and proceedings of the court of directors. The learned gentleman has wholly omitted to state the grounds and principles on which the court acted, but he has himself, in. mentioning his own inducements for not approving the Calcutta college, advanced strong reasons against it, and it is for him after having concurred in the suppression of it, and stated the grounds on which he justifies himself for so doing, to shew the consistency of his present strain of argument with his conduct and his opinions. The learned gentleman has laboured to shew that the leading motive of 'the court of directors in disapproving of the plan of lord Wellesley was to save exVOL. III. 3 C