1832.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 301 



fervent and sincere as that which with a willing ear he has heard of his rival 



in a generous contest. Gentlemen, though I have disclaimed, as I was bound 



to do, all acquirement or ability in the department of Oriental Literature, T 



will not pretend to entertain so humble an opinion of the results of a life 



which has at least been a studious and thoughtful one, as that there is no 



province of study in which I might have hoped to gather offerings which 1 



should not have been ashamed to present to you. But here in vindication 



of my own consistenc y, and to shew at least that I dealt fairly by you in 



accepting the office of your President, I beg leave to recall what none of you 



are likely to recollect, that seven years ago, upon another public occasion^ 



in taking leave of a Society at Madras, of which also I was President, I bade 



adieu at the same time to all literary employment, so long as I should 



fill the station to which I was called in Bengal. I foresaw that it would 



impose upon me a predominant duty, and one of which the most peculiar 



features are not perhaps the most obvious, and to which I knew my own' 



mind too well to think I could give a divided attention. How I have 



performed that duty, this is not the place, neither is it for me, to 



say : but I will say, that to perform it aright, in its most important and 



essential particulars, has been the earnest and engrossing purpose of my 



soul. I do not look for a fair estimate in the present day. I have never 



weighed appearances against realities in the scale of popular applause* 



But time will declare it ; and I am willing to abide the judgment of time. 



All that I desire at present is to offer the duties of my station to 



your consideration, as some apology for what might otherwise appear a 



neglect of what you had a right to have expected of me. From that 



station and those duties I have now retired, and I have to regret, that the 



leisure which I thus obtain can no longer be employed either in your ser* 



vice or your company. But in that studious retirement, which, I devoutly 



hope, awaits the latter portion of my life, I shall to the end of that life be 



proud that I have borne the name of your President, and I shall recollect 



with gratitude both the favor which conferred on me that honor, and the 



indulgence which has been attendant on my tenure of it." 



The President sat down amidst a general demonstration of feeling on the 

 part of the members, to which Sir Edward Ryan gave expression in the 

 following reply: 



" Sir, — I am requested by the members who are present, to express to you 

 their feelings on this, I may truly say, sorrowful occasion. I wish they had 

 selected some one more competent to be the organ of their thoughts and 

 wishes, but at the risk, nay with the certainty of being unable adequately 

 to express the feelings which your eloquent address has excited in their 

 minds, I cannot decline the honor, for so indeed I consider it, which they 

 have conferred upon me. 



" For more than five years, Sir, you have filled that chair, and during the 

 whole of that period, I repeat with confidence, you have evinced the deepest 

 interest in the welfare of our Society— you have never willingly absented 



