332 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [April, 



may boldly challenge the comparison of the literatures of all nations the 

 history of which shows the same progress of intellectual development. There! 

 is no necessity that I should here dwell on the high value of the Vedas, since 

 you no doubt have the same opinion with me, that they, among works of a 

 .similar kind, are the most interesting and important productions of the human 

 mind, and give us the most valuable disclosures on the history, language and 

 intellectual development of -a people highly gifted by providence with the 

 happiest faculties. It is true, to find the proper value and true sense of 

 these hymns, we must frequently deviate from the scholastic explanations of 

 Madhava, however great the regard may be we are to place on his commen- 

 tary, founded as it is on ancient tradition. I intend to publish my view of 

 the Vedas in a German translation, after the Sanskrit text has been com- 

 pleted ; Prof. Wilson has, however, promised an English translation, which 

 will probably be attached to every volume of the text. 



I would not have ventured to address you so long about my own affairs* 

 did I not suppose that you take yourself a lively interest in the success of 

 an undertaking for which you have worked with so zealous an activity. It 

 would give me great pleasure to hear which part of Vedaic literature you 

 have chosen first to treat on, and with regard to this I would draw your 

 attention to the fact, that the Vajasaneya Sanhita will probably soon be 

 published by Dr. A. Weber in Germany, and also that Bardelli prepares an 

 edition of the Atharva Veda. Yet there still remains for you a rich field in 

 India, especially respecting the Brahmanas, in which the European collections 

 are comparatively poor. As soon as the first volume of my edition is com- 

 pleted, I will forward the subsequent sheets to the Asiatic Society. 



Jan. the 10th. 



I am sorry that the transmission of my letter has met with some delay. 

 I placed it inside of the copy, in the hope, that you would thus most certainly 

 receive it. The sheets have, however, been sent off separately by the Direc- 

 tors. The printing has now made further progress, and I trust to be able 

 to publish in the course of this year a large volume. In conclusion I take 

 the liberty to ask you, whether there is an opportunity in Calcutta to pur- 

 chase or copy a large number of MSS. The Prussian Government, which 

 has bought on a former occasion, the collection of Sir Ch. Chambers, is 

 desirous to vote an annual sum to complete their collection, which is espe- 

 cially indispensable with regard to the commentaries to render these MSS. 

 useful. You would also do great service to all German Sanskrit scholars, 

 if you could inform me about the mode of doing this, principally about the 

 terms of copying, unless this gives you too much trouble. The money of course 

 would be deposited with an Indian banker, and the Prussian ambassador in 

 London, Chevalier Bunsen, takes an active interest in this undertaking. 



