1834.] Miscellaneous. 803 



poem of the Ram£yana is also spoken of as having been prepared by him : this, with 

 a small essay on the theory of the Sl6ca, or Sanscrit heroic metre, comprises his prin- 

 cipal productions. He also published the poem of Mejnoon and Leila, from the 

 Persian, which was remarkable for the elegance of his diction ; and in 1831 an ab- 

 stract and translation of the century of erotic verses by the poet Amru. That the 

 productions of his intense and unremitting study were not more numerous is deeply 

 to be regretted, and must be ascribed to the unfortunate state of his health for many 

 years, exasperated by the occurrence of some mortifying circumstances. M. Chezy 

 was remarkable for the amiability and gentle playfulness of his disposition, qualities 

 which ensured him the devoted attachment of his friends and pupils. 



"The two professorships left vacantby the death of MM. Remusat and Chezy have 

 beenfilledbyM. Julien and M. Burnouf. Both these able scholars are foreign mem- 

 bers of this Society, and would satisfy every wish that could be formed for these 

 important chairs being worthily filled, if we could forget the rare endowments of the 

 eminent men whose loss we have had to deplore. 



" At the general meeting of the Society, held on the 1st of December, a donation of 

 an edition of the Fables of Locman, and two small works on the language of Iceland 

 was laid on the table from Professor Emanuel Rask ; and it Avas then announced 

 there was reason to fear, that the highly distinguished scholar from whom they were 

 received had died since he had despatched them to this country. This intelligence was 

 shortly afterwards confirmed ; and in the death of Professor Rask the study of Orien- 

 tal literature has lost one of its most able and indefatigable adherents. The peculiar 

 branch of research to which he had devoted himself rendered his investigations parti- 

 cularly interesting ; and his numerous publications illustrative of the languages and 

 literature of the ancient inhabitants of Northern Europe, combined with the 

 knowledge which he had acquired of the most important languages and literary anti- 

 quities of the East, fully attest his qualifications for the task of comparing, showing 

 their agreement and distinction, and illustrating them. 



" Among his numerous philological works may be mentioned graramai-s of the Italian 

 Spanish, Anglo-Saxon, and Icelandic languages, treatises on the Phonics of India 

 and the Literals of Europe ; tracts on the Zend language and the Zend Avesta and 

 many others. 



"In the course of the session of 1832, a communication addressed by Professor 

 Rask to the Bombay Literary Society, containing his remarks on the last-mentioned 

 subject, was read before this Society, and has been ordered to be inserted in the 

 Transactions. 



" Professor Rask was remarkable for the facility he evinced in the acquisition of dif- 

 ferent languages. In the year 1822, it is stated that he was acquainted with no less 

 than twenty-five. His knowledge of English was extensive and correct. He spent 

 some years ona literary missioninPersia, India, and Ceylon, where he procured many va- 

 luable manuscripts, and acquired much sound information on those points to which his 

 attention was more especially directed. From his temperate habits of life, approaching 

 indeed to abstemiousness, the vicissitudes of climate and season had no apparent 

 effect on his frame, and he gave promise of many years' continuance in his favourite 

 pursuits, when the insidious effects of consumption prematurely terminated his useful 

 and laborious career. His mild and gentle manners endeared him to his friends and 

 acquaintance ; and he combined, with an extent of acquirements not often equalled, a 

 remarkable diffidence and modesty. 



" Professor Rask was keeper of the Oriental MSS. in the Royal Library at Copen- 

 hagen, and had recently been appointed a commissioner to prepare measures for the 

 amelioration of the condition of the Danish colonies in Guiana. He was elected a 

 Foreign Member of the Royal Asiatic Society in the year 1826." 



Dr. Alexander Turnbull Christie, and M. Victor Jacquemont are also 

 honorably mentioned in the Report ; but we observe nothing more than is already 

 known to our readers in the sketch of their career. 



