60 Lord Ourzon [Feb. 



achieved in so brief a space of time. When the Maratlia conquerors 

 overran Northern India, they pitilessly mutilated and wantonly des- 

 troyed. When Ranjit Singli built tlie Golden Temple at Umritsar, he 

 ostentatiously rifled Maliomedan buildings and mosques. Nay, dynasties 

 did not spare their own members, nor religions their own shrines. If a 

 capital or fort or sanctuary was not completed in the life-time of the 

 builder, there was small chance of its being finished, there was a very 

 fair chance of its being despoiled, by his successor nnd heir. The 

 environs of Delhi are a wilderness of deserted cities and devastated 

 tombs. Each fresh conqueror, Hindu or Moghul or Pathan, marched, so 

 to speak, to his own immortality over his predecessor's grave. The 

 gieat Akbar in a more peaceful age first removed tlie seat of Govern- 

 ment from Delhi to Agia, and then ])uilt Fatehpur Sikri as a new 

 capital, only to be nbandoned by his successor. Jehangir alternated 

 between Delhi and Agra, but preferred Lahore to either. Shah 

 Jehan beautified Agra, and then contemplated a final }eturn to 

 Delhi. Aurengzeb marched away to the south, and founded still another 

 capital, and was himself buried in territories that now belong to Hy- 

 derabad. These successive changes, while they may have reflected little 

 more than a despot's caprice, were yet inimical both to the completion 

 and to the continuous existence of arcl)itectujal fabrics. The British 

 Government are fortunately exempt from any such promptings, either of 

 religious fanaticism, of restless vanity, or of dynastic and personal pride. 

 But in proportion as they have been unassailed by such temptations, so 

 is their responsibility the greater for inaugurating a new era and for 

 displaying that tolerant and enlightened respect to the treasures of all, 

 which is one of the main lessons that the returning West has been able 

 to teach to the East. 



In the domain of archaeology as elsewhere, the original example of 

 duty has been set to the Government of India by individual effort and 

 by private enthusiasm ; and only by slow^ degrees has Government, 

 which is at all times and seasons a tardy learner, warmed to its task. 

 The early archaeological researches, conducted by the founders and 

 pioneers of this Society, by Jones, Colebrooke, Wilson, and Prinsep, and 

 by many another clarum et venerahile nonien, were in the main literary in 

 character. They consisted in the reconsti'uction of alphabets, the 

 translation of manuscripts, and the decipherment of inscriptions. 

 Sanscrit scholarship was the academic cult of the hour. How these men 

 laboured is illustrated by the fact that Prinsep and Kittoe both died of 

 overwork at the age of 40. Then followed an era of research in buildings 

 and monuments ; the pen was supplemented by the spade ; and, in succes- 

 sion, descriptions, drawings, paintings, engravings, and in later days 



