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President's Address to the [May, 



India, has been laid before our Society. It is by Mr. Bruce, and has been 

 transmitted to England, where it will not fail to be appreciated. 



Of all the topics of inquiry meriting attention, that of the History and 

 Present Condition of the People, in the different provinces, in regard to 

 language, religion, literature, science and art, means of support, and 

 manners and customs, is paramount. It is very extensive ; and has met, 

 from the members of the Society, with considerable attention. 



The Parsis, the great bodv of whom dwell amongst us, present them- 

 selves as special objects of inquiry. The history of their original country, 

 has been ably unfolded by Sir John Malcolm ; and on its ancient chrono- 

 logy previous to the conquest by Alexander, and its state from the battle 

 of Arbela in A. C. 331, to the rise of Ardeshir Babegan, much light 

 has been cast by our late learned President, Colonel Vans Kennedy. 

 Mr. Erskine's papers respecting them, are remarkably interesting, as con- 

 taining an able review, and analysis, of the Works of Anquetil du Per- 

 ron, who followed Dr. Hyde as the expositor of their tenets ; the results 

 of his. own observation; and valuable disquisitions on their sacred books 

 and ancient languages. The researches of Professor Rask, in his paper 

 given to this Society, whatever may be the opinions formed of the parti- 

 cular conclusions at which he has arrived, and it must be admitted he has 

 reasoned ingeniously in their support, are also interesting. For the ori- 

 ginal tracts, with remarks, in the course of being published in France by 

 M. Mohl, we owe our gratitude. The History of the Early Kings of 

 Persia by Mirkhond, translated by Mr. Shea; and the History of Vartan 

 and the Armenians, by Mr. Neumann ; and of the Shah Namah, by Mr. 

 Atkinson, for which we are indebted to the Oriental Translation Fund, 

 contain much historical information on the religion of Zoroaster. Still 

 more may be expected from the translation of that singularly curious 

 work, the Dabistan, which is about to appear. The curiosity of the public 

 respecting the Parsis, however, is far from being satisfied, as is evident 

 from the inquiries which frequently reach this place both from London 

 and Paris. We need a more exact translation of the books which they 

 esteem sacred, than that which is furnished by Anquetil du Perron. 

 Such a translation has been promised by Professor Burnoup, whose attain- 

 ments in oriental literature, and ardour in oriental study, afford good 

 ground for hope that our wishes respecting it will be realized. Should he 

 fail, the attempt may be made in Bombay, where there are still a very few 

 Zand scholars among the Zoroastrians to be found, and whose assistance, 

 as well as that to be furnished by the translations into Gujurathi, may be 

 procured*. We require information particularly on their popular super- 

 stitions, and domestic manners and customs, and general habits, as exhi- 

 bited to the native community, and which, there is reason to believe> 

 differ not a little from those generally observed by their European acquain- 

 tances, and for which they have received, in the opinion of the most 

 intelligent of their own number, a more than quantum sufficit of credit. 

 It was with the view of adding my mite to the information possessed on 

 these topics, and not because I conceived it possessed of any intrinsic 

 merit, that I lately, presented the Society with a translation of their Gene- 

 ral Siroze. There are extant narratives of their settlement and history 

 in India, versions of which should be presented to the Oriental Translation 

 Fund. At a late meeting of the Committee of Correspondence of the 

 Royal Asiatic Society, some of the more liberal natives in Bombay, were 

 invited to form themselves into an association, with the view of aiding in 

 collecting information on some of the topics to which I have now adverted. 

 Little, I fear, can be expected from them, without the co-operation of 



* Six Fargards of the Vandidad can also be procured in Sanskrita. 



