1835.] Asiatic Society. 293 



the legal profession must cease to be members of the Society. This doctrine seemed 

 to him to involve the necessity of submittiug to every species of spoliation. More- 

 over that they were not competent to advert in any way to the measures of Govern- 

 ment. Now it appeared to him, that they were not here as lawyers or as civil or 

 military servants of the Company ; and that when they met in this hall, they di- 

 vested themselves of those characters, and appeared only in the character of the ser- 

 vants of science and of literature, the guardians of oriental learning, and the re- 

 presentatives of its interests both in Asia and in Europe. In that sacred character 

 they were bound to be vigilant and active. Indeed, he could conceive cases involv- 

 ing questions of law, in which they should feel themselves compelled to act. Sup- 

 posing the Government were to be advised that they held a mortgage in the So- 

 ciety's premises, and that upon this hint, they were to proceed instanter to an eject- 

 ment. Ought they in such a case tamely to resign their right, because there hap- 

 pened to be lawyers among them ? He could understand the motive which should 

 restrain particular gentlemen from expressing an opinion, but he could not con- 

 ceive any circumstance which would justify their surrendering without a struggle 

 the rights of their constituents. Those constituents are, he said, the literary men 

 of all nations. They had an awful trust imposed upon them, and they must ex- 

 ecute it faithfully and conscientiously as a great public body, without any per- 

 sonal motives, or any personal scruples. 



Mr. Piunsep felt great diffidence in expressing his dissent from what had 

 fallen from the President, the more so, as he was himself a most unworthy 

 member, whereas the President's merits towards the Society were of the highest; 

 character. But he could not think, under British Government, any society, or 

 even any individual could have the least hesitation in expressing respectfully an 

 opinion, that the Government had misconstrued a law, when that misconstruction 

 was likely to do injury to the rights or the feelings of so large a portion of its 

 subjects as the native community formed in this country. No wilful error or wrong 

 was imputed to the Government : but surely it was not too much to say, as he was 

 confident was the case, that Government had in this instance been ill-advised and 

 misled. He did not speak as a lawyer, but as a member of this Society ; whose 

 position in respect to the literature of India had been well described by Mr. 

 Macnaghten. That there could be no possible offence to Government in so 

 expressing themselves he felt assured, by seeing members and high officers of the 

 Government ready to join in so doing. He was somewhat surprised at what had 

 fallen from Mr. Colvin, as to the ancient literature of India, being calculated 

 only to perpetuate idolatry and superstition. What would be thought, if 

 England had possessed herself of Greece, a part of which was under her dominion, 

 and had bestowed funds for reviving its language and literature, — would any one 

 be listened to who should urge, that with the language of Greece one would be re- 

 viving her mythology ? The most advantageous thing for the advancement of 

 European literature in India was to revive that of the country, and place them in 

 contrast side by side : it was easy to see which must then prevail. He did not 

 think the Society should take so humble a tone as to ask, as a charity, that which 

 Parliament had given as a right, and would rather not succeed in the object that 

 all had equally at heart, than take it in the shape of an eleemosynary donation. 



Mr. H. T. Prinsep quoted the words of the act, which he believed had been 

 grounded on a minute of Mr. H. Colekooke's, specially pointed to the literature 

 and learned natives of the country. He thought there could be no doubt as to 

 the meaning of the clause, and if such were entertained by any present, he 

 should not hesitate to take the votes of members as to the construction to be put 

 upon the words. Entertaining this opinion, he thought the Society ought to have 

 no hesitation about expressing it ; and as for the fact stated, that the Government 

 had put a different interpretation upon the law, he knew not how the Society 

 could know that these questions had ever been determined by the Government. 

 But eveu if this point had been so ruled, that was no reason why the members 

 of this Society, if their opinion was clear as to the legal rights of this literature, of 

 which they were the patrons and protectors, should not express that opinion even to 

 the Government. He was quite sure it was the general feeling, that the grant was 

 made by Parliament to the literature of India, which ought not to be robbed of 



