native society, and laid the foundation of that influence which he subsequently acquired. Three years after the establishment of the Hindoo College, he projected the publication of an English and Bengalee Dictionary in conjunction with Mr. Felix Carey, the eldest son of Dr. Carey, but his death in 1822, before a hundred pages of the work were printed, suspended its farther progress. It was, we believe, soon after this undertaking, that Ram Komul Sen was placed at the head of the native establishment of the Mint, by Dr. Wilson, the Assay Master. This highly responsible and lucrative appointment raised him to great distinction, and his mansion in Colootolah became the resort of the wealthy and the learned, and the fame of his greatness was spread far and wide through Bengal. In 1830, he resumed the project of the Dictionary, and with great personal labour completed the undertaking, and carried through the press a quarto volume of 700 pages. It is by far the fullest and most valuable work of its kind which we possess, and will be the most lasting monument of his industry, zeal, and erudition. It is probably the work by which his name will be best recognized by posterity.

After the departure of Dr. Wilson to England, he quitted the service of government, and accepted the office of native treasurer of the Bank. Some months back his constitution began to exhibit symptoms of that decay, which had been accelerated, we have no doubt, by the extraordinary personal labour to which he submitted, and which had been one of the main instruments of his elevation; and he expired at his family residence in the country, opposite the town of Hooghley.

There is scarcely a public institution in Calcutta, of which he was not a member, and which he did not endeavour to advance by his individual exertions, He was on the committee of papers of the Asiatic Society: he was a vicepresident of the Agricultural Society; he was one of the committee of the Calcutta School Book Society; he was a manager of the Hindoo College. He was equally honoured in the European and Native community, and had long been considered as one of the most eminent and influential natives of the metropolis. Though he continued through life to maintain the principles of a rigid, and in some respects, of a bigotted Hindoo-for he was never in advance of his own creed-to him belongs the great merit of having taken a leading part in the efforts which were made for the diffusion of knowledge among his own countrymen at the period when Lord Hastings, for the first time, repudiated the idea that the ignorance of the people was the firmest safeguard of our empire. He was one of the chief instruments in the establishment of those institutions which have diffused European science among the natives, and so greatly raised the tone of native society."

• Friend of India.

Correspondence.

STATE OF ORIENTAL LITERATURE.

то THE EDITOR.

SIR-I was both pleased and mortified by the article on The American Oriental Society," in your November number just issued: pleased that the Americans are pursuing with such intensity their philological researches in the East, which in a few years will be of an importance and use, that our Church Missionaries and College students at present little dream of; while, on the other hand, I was mortified that England, which for nearly a century past has played such a prominent part in the East, has comparatively neglected so boundless a field for inquiry, and the exercise of our noblest powers; all bearing on the different families and history of mankind. The Germans and the Prussians (the latter incited by their Government) appear to be bearing away the palm from us; as if they kept steadily in view that maxim of Dr. Johnson, that "the chief glory of every people arises from its authors."

The present times appear to be peculiarly adapted for such enterprises, when the barriers that hitherto kept nations asunder are gradually breaking down; indeed, in some instances, with such marked rapidity, as to proclaim a new era in the history of mankind.

Could I be of any service in directing attention to the field that first deserves notice, I would point particularly to the ancient Assyria, Mesopotamia, and Chaldea. All that can be gleaned respecting these countries (not omitting the smallest minutiæ, however despicable they may appear at present) will be of incalculable importance a few years hence. In securing the past, and connected with these countries, the kingdoms around and extending to the eastward, particularly Persia, will be gradually absorbed into the studies of the learned. And, perhaps, it will be found that the Sanscrit is of more importance than it is generally thought, much as it has already gained attention.

At the same time, I would say that Egypt deserves equal attention as regards her history, language, and hieroglyphics. Exact copies of the last should be taken by a correct drawer, with their relative positions to the points of the compass. These will eventually be found to be a history of themselves.

Connected with the Egyptians and Arabians (the Rev. Mr. Forster has been in the latter field), the northern and eastern coasts of Africa will repay the studies bestowed upon them by the laborious philologist. It is probable that the British Government might sometimes be of use to those engaged, by the countenance afforded them.

Liverpool, Nov. 18, 1844.

E.

Critical Notices.

Points and Pickings of Information about China and the Chinese. By the Author of "Soldiers and Sailors,'' &c. London: 1844. Grant and Griffith. This is a little compendium of facts, accurate in the main, and amusingly put together, respecting the mighty empire of China, adapted for young readers. "No one can put the world in a walnut-shell," the author justly observes, and "China is too long, too wide, too full of curiosities, too every thing, to be brought into a small compass:" he, therefore, points out and picks out what is likely to captivate his young readers' attention. We admire the dexterity with which he has despatched the whole history of China, from Pwan-koo and Fuhhe, to Taou-kwang, some 5,000 years, in ten pages 12mo.

The remarks upon Chinese punishments are just :

"To expect that between three and four hundred millions of people, even the most civilized on the earth, could be kept in order without punishment, would be somewhat unreasonable; but to entertain any hope that such a number of semi-barbarians could be repressed without some provision being made to punish their outbreaks, would be still more visionary. Taou Kwang, the 'father of his people,' at the head of such a hopeful family, no doubt lays his account in being called upon to order, now and then, a little salutary chastisement.

"The punishments of China are not light, but they are often in description much overdrawn and caricatured. It is possible that you may have seen some of the rice-paper drawings executed by Chinese artists, wherein culprits are represented as undergoing horrible tortures and punishments, the most barbarous instruments of cruelty being used. These are, to a great extent, monstrous productions, wherein the truth is most extravagantly distorted. Whether the object of the mandarins in encouraging these outrageous libels on the character of the empire be to frighten the people, or to alarm foreigners, I cannot say; but certain it is, that, for the most part, these punishments take place on ricepaper only.

"In uncommon cases, punishments are very heavy, as they are even in European countries; nor can we dispute the truth that the Chinese are habitually unfeeling and cruel, but that is no reason why they should be misrepresented. Foreigners buy up these pictures of imaginary horror, too ready to believe them copied from the life, and thus unfounded tales of terror get abroad.

66

The most common punishments in China are those of the bamboo, the cangue, the cage or imprisonment, banishment, and death."

Royal Asiatic Society.

THIS Society held its first general meeting for the season on the 2nd of November; Professor H. H. Wilson in the chair. A considerable number of donations to the library and museum of the Society were laid upon the table; among them were the following:-A large collection of Chinese works, some of them of great rarity; presented by Samuel Ball, Esq., to whom the special thanks of the Society were voted for his valuable present. The Yaçna, and the Vispard of the Parsis, in the Zend language and Guzerati character; lithographed under the auspices of the Bombay Branch Royal Asiatic Society. The concluding livraison of M. Burnouf's lithographed edition of the Asiat.Journ.N.S.VOL.IV.No.20.

2 D

Vendidád Sadé; presented by the editor. A Grammar of the Persian Language, by Duncan Forbes, M. A.; presented by the author. Shortrede's Logarithmic Tables to seven places of decimals, containing logarithms, numbers from 1 to 120,000, &c. &c.; presented by the author. The works of Sády, complete; Persian MS.; Persian odes, MS., and a copy of Gladwin's Gulistán; presented by Sir Charles Malcolm. A portion of the Makhzan al Asrár of Nizami; edited for the Oriental Text Society, by N. Bland, Esq. A Sanskrit MS. roll, containing the thousand names of Vishnu; found in the palace at Bhurtpore, when that place was captured in 1826; presented by the Hon. Col. John Finch. The author's autograph map of the city of Benares, from the survey made by James Prinsep in 1832; and four spears used by the Nagas of the Assam frontier; presented by William Prinsep, Esq. Note on the Historical Results deducible from Recent Discoveries in Affghanistan, by H. T. Prinsep, Esq.; presented by the author.

The secretary read the following letter, addressed to him by the Rev. James Reynolds, secretary to the Oriental Translation Committee, and which accompanied a copy of a sermon, printed in 1658, entitled, "The Comfort and Crown of Great Actions, &c.":

"Permit me to present to the library of the Society a curious old sermon of Dr. (afterwards Bishop) Edward Reynolds, preached before the East-India Company on the 4th December, 1657. This production is in some respects remarkable, because it was delivered upon occasion of the commencement of some great undertaking,' or enterprise, by the Company. What the precise nature of this great undertaking' was, the preacher declares to be unknown to him; but at that period, Cromwell had resolved to bestow his patronage and favour upon the East-India Company, and had specially interested himself in their proceedings. Perhaps, therefore, this 'great undertaking' may refer to the entertainment by that extraordinary man of new and grand projects to be carried out in the East Indies; and the counsels of Cromwell may have anticipated by a century the exploits of Clive. The success of the Dutch and Portuguese must have been well known to the former, whilst the glories of the merchant princes of Venice formed a popular theme in his younger days; and nothing appears more probable than that, in imitation of them, he may have designed to extend conquests together with commerce, and unite sovereignty with trade. However this may be, the affairs of the East-India Company are so rarely found forming a subject of a popular pamphlet, and especially of a popular preacher, in the seventeenth century, that I secured this little work, in the hope that the Society would accept it. I remain, &c. &c."

The time usually devoted to the meetings having expired, no further business was commenced, and the meeting adjourned to the 16th November.

16th November.-Sir Alexander Johnston in the chair.

Capt. John Lewis and Major T. Wilkinson were elected resident members of the Society.

The secretary read a letter from the Court of Directors of the East-India Company, forwarding to the Society a paper submitted last year to the Madras Government by Major-General W. Cullen, suggesting the formation of museums at each collectorate, and the means of obtaining systematic reports on mineralogical, statistical, and other subjects. The letter was also accompanied by a list of scientific reports which had been submitted to the Government of

that presidency at various times, and offering, for the use of the Society, copies of any of them it might desire to possess.

The paper of General Cullen was read to the meeting. The writer stated that a recent circular from the Asiatic Society, requesting information regarding the mineralogy, vegetable productions, and general resources of India, had led him to draw up the paper submitted. He thought the objects desiderated should not be left to the chance contributions of individuals, but that the Government of the country should take measures for ensuring the systematic aid of its civil and military officers in the provinces in promoting such researches. The present system of appointing civil engineers to the several districts seemed to offer peculiar facilities for the collection of statistical and other information of the kind desired by the Asiatic Society, as the peculiar nature of their duties led them to study minutely the features of the country, with a view to the extension of irrigation, the formation of roads, &c. He considered it would be desirable to form small museums in each collectorate, which would induce many persons in the neighbourhood to contribute mineralogical and other specimens, together with their own observations upon them, who might, in the absence of such an inducement, hesitate to send their contributions to the society at the presidency. From these local and district museums, selections of papers and specimens might be made for the use of the Government and scientific bodies. Small cabinet collections of rocks and minerals, together with a few of the best works on the subjects, and a small box of chemical tests, might be sent from England for the use of each district. He thought, also, that influential natives might be found to take considerable interest in such local museums.

The writer then instanced the want which existed of any scientific reports of the extensive deposits of gold dust in the Calicut collectorate; and of the lead ore, copper, and diamond tracts in Cuddapah, Bellary, &c. Another subject of interest and importance was that of taking levels by the barometer for irrigation, cutting canals, roads, &c. Long experience of the capabilities of the barometer had given him great confidence in its application to these purposes, and he had remarked very singular and close correspondences between its results and those of the ordinary levelling instruments. From the barometer he had ascertained the cause of the failure of the canal, of seventy miles in length, which a late ruler of Mysore cut from the Cavery to Mysore: the dam across the river was actually below the general level of the town of Mysore. Another similar instance of want of scientific accuracy was mentioned by the writer. Some fifty years ago, the Ram Raja of Travancore wished to bring the waters of the Codiaar, a river in the Vellavencade district, into those of the Tambrapoorny; and he constructed a magnificent dam across the former river, and cut a fine canal through eight or ten miles of a most difficult country; but when the work was completed, it was discovered that the bed of the Tambrapoorny, instead of being lower, was actually higher than that of the Codiaar, and the water consequently flowed but a short way up the canal.

After mentioning several instances of the satisfactory results of the indications of the barometer, the writer concluded his communication by giving a register of the fall of rain at ten or twelve different places between Cape Comorin and Palghat, which shewed a sudden and great diminution in the quantity at the distance of even fifty miles from the coast. In recent experiments for the cultivation of American cotton, he doubted if the degree of humidity of