Ills acquaintance zi)ith Dr. Ltj/dcn. 25 



ihe'iT manners, and their religion, he visited various places on the 

 neighbouring coasts ; and the information thus collected he after- 

 wards presented to the Asiatic Society of Calcutta, under the form 

 of a " Dissertation on the Languages and Literature of the Indo- 

 Chinese Nations," which was published in the tenth volume of 

 the Asiatic Researches. Having pursued these researches in con- 

 junction with Mr. Raffles, to whose mind he thus gave an impulse 

 it ever afterwards retained, his health was speedily renovated by 

 the comparatively salubrious climate of the Island, and the kind 

 attentions of the friends he gained there. In the beginning of 

 1806, he proceeded to Bengal, addressing to Mrs. Raffles, under 

 the name of Olivia, some beautiful verses, entitled, the " Dirge of 

 the Departed Year," in which he attributes his recovery, in part, 

 to her friendship and kindness.* 



Having now conducted Mr. Raffles to his station in the Malayan 

 regions, it will obviate the necessity of giving and repeating, as we 

 proceed, many explanations relative to the geography and history 

 of the different countries they comprise, if we take a general view 

 of the situation and character of these countries, at this early stage 

 of the memoir. 



* Poetical Remains of Dr. Lcydcn ; with Memoirs of liis |Life, by the Rev. 

 J. Morton, p. xxxv, et seq. and p. 170. 



Some incidents of Dr. Leyden's early history assume a character of great 

 interest, when we survey the mighty advance of science and of knowledge in 

 general at the present time, and the individuals who have taken a distinguished 

 part in promoting it. Whilst at the University of E linburgh, for example, 

 he became one of the founders of the " Academy of Physics," in conjunction 

 with Mr. Brougham; Dr. Birkbeck, the Founder and President of the London 

 Mechanics' Institution ; the late Mr. Horner; Dr. T. Brown, Professor of 

 Moral Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh ; Mr. Jeffrey; and several 

 other gentlemen, at that time his fellow-studerits in the University, but who 

 have since attained the liighest rank in their respective pursuits, and been most 

 active in the diffusion of knowledge. The first Edinburgh Review was esta- 

 blished ab^ut the same time, and the members of the Academy of Physics, 

 who were accustomed to draw up abstracts of new publications on science, 

 were among the earliest contributors to that work. It is always pleasing thus 

 to cast a retrospective glance on the associations of those characters, who have 

 become eminent in society, that were formed at an age when they were sus- 

 ceptible of the strongest impressions, fiom the genius and example of each 

 oiher. 



