1843.] Asiatic Society. 249 



Thursday, 23d February, 1843. 



At a Special Meeting of the Committee of Papers, 



Present. 

 The Honorable Sir H. Seton, 

 Lieut. Colonel Forbes, 

 Charles Huffnagle, Esq., and 

 The Acting Secretary, 

 Read the letter of the Honorable H. T. Prinsep, resigning the chair of the 

 Society. 



1. Resolved. — That it be recommended to the Society, that a letter be 

 addressed to the Honorable H. T. Prinsep, expressing the deep regret of 

 its members for the loss of his valuable aid, and their hope, that he would 

 continue to forward the interests of the Society in Europe. 



2. That it be farther recommended to the Society to request that its late 

 President do oblige us by sitting for his Portrait (of Kit-Cat size,) and that 

 a subscription be opened to defray the expence. 



3. That it be farther recommended to the Society to request, that the 

 Right Honorable W. W. Bird, will be pleased to accept the President's chair. 



The Honorable W. W. Bird was unanimously elected President of the 

 Society. 



Read the following draft of a letter to be addressed to the Honourable 

 H. T. Prinsep : — 



Honourable Sir, — The Asiatic Society of Bengal has learnt with deep 

 regret your resignation of its chair; a loss to its interests and to those 

 of Oriental science and literature which it feels will not be easily repaired. 



For its members fail not to recollect, Sir, at such a time, with how much 

 zeal and perseverance, and for how many years, and even when pressed 

 with the weight of official duties of the highest responsibility, you have 

 devoted yourself, with untiring energy, to the pursuits of the scholar, 

 the patient researches of the antiquary, and the minute and laborious 

 investigations of the geographer and the historian, and what the fruits 

 of these constant labours have been. Nor can they omit to mention, Sir, 

 that you have ever been found the strenuous and able advocate of oriental 

 literature, the generous and worthy associate and emulator of many of the 

 great men whose labours adorn its annals and the records of their Society, 

 and the kind and discerning patron of the humblest labourer in these and 

 in many other fields : adding thus a lustre to the honoured name which 

 you bear, and leaving to their Society the grateful duty of again enrolling 

 that name amongst those of which it is so truly and so justly proud. 



Deeply then, Sir, must the Asiatic Society regret the loss of one who has 

 so much contributed to its advancement and to its reputation; but this 

 regret is tempered by the confident hope which it now ventures to express, 

 that, as the field which awaits you in Europe is not less a great, a noble, 

 and an eminently useful one, you will still continue the same steady 

 friend to the interests of Indian literature and science, which you have 

 heretofore been. 



Anxious, Sir, to possess some memorial of you, they now request that 

 you will be pleased on your arrival to sit for your Portrait, which they 

 are desirous of placing by the side of those of your predecessors in the 

 Presidentship of the Society. 



In conclusion. They beg to assure you, Sir, of their unfeigned respect, 

 and to offer to you their best wishes for your future health and prosperity. 



By order of the Society, 

 Asiatic Society's Rooms, \th February, 1843. (Signed) H. Piddington, 



Acting Secretary Asiatic Society. 



