388 Asiatic College. 



that these claims can never be substantiated as long as ifs crt!i> 

 tents are withheld from public view. — The expense of printing 

 this work will undoubtedly be great, as it is voluminous, and 

 its completion must necessarily occupy many years : nor do they 

 expect that the College will ever be reimbursed for the expense 

 of printing it; since, with the exception of learned bodies in 

 Europe and America, who may wish to enrich their libraries with 

 a copy of a work so ancient, few purchasers can be expected. 

 As copies of the Vedas, however, are already so scarce, and are 

 likely to become far more so, the Committee think it highly ])ro- 

 per to take measures to preserve this ancient monument of Hin- 

 dooism from complete oblivion." 



The Committee having purchased a spot of ground, on the 

 banks of the river, exactly facing the country residence of the 

 Governor-general at Barrackpore, which cost 1 1,500 rupees, have 

 determined on erecting the buildings for the College, to consist 

 of a centre building which shall include a large hall for public 

 examinations and the dispatch of public business, rooms for the 

 various classes, suitable rooms for the library and the museum 

 and an observatory above ; and of two wings for the accommoda- 

 tion of the students and professors. The building will contain 

 two stories, it being intended to render the rooms on the ground 

 floor equally habitable with those above, with the view of com- 

 bining the strictest oeconomy with the greatest convenience and 

 neatness. On the same principle the erection of a double row 

 of rooms has been preferred, a single row involving a certain 

 waste of expense, and a triple row being highly inconvenient for 

 those who should occupy the middle rooms. The central build- 

 ing will form a front of about a hundred and twenty feet, each 

 wing an extension of somewhat more than a hundred and eighty; 

 and the whole when completed present a front of nearly five hun- 

 dred feet. Each of the wings will contain rooms for the accomm- 

 modation of nearly a hundred native Christian students, besides 

 rooms for the professors. The College, when completed, there- 

 fore, will be capable of containing from a hundred and sixty to 

 two hundred Christian students; and perhaps an equal or greater 

 number of other students will preserve their cast inviolate by 

 boarding in the town. It is not intended, however, to build 

 more than one Aing at present; the rest of the buildings can be 

 added as the circumstances of the College may render them ne- 

 cessary. 

 The following are the concluding remarks of the Committee : 

 *' The plan of the institution, thus fully developed, they re- 

 spectfully leave before the public. If India needs enlightening, 

 beyond almost any other blessings, as is universally acknowleged, 



this. 



