A DISCOÜRSE, &C, n 



alfowed to introducé the names of Engelhard^ 

 Couperus and l^an J^'aersen, and to calculatc on 

 tlie advantages which must bc derived from the 

 investigations and Communications of these Gen- 

 tlemen, X am §ure there are few among us wbo 

 will not readily admit their claim to pre»emi-: 

 nence and distinction. 



Without entering on the various snbjects 

 which offer themselves for enquiry on Java^ and 

 which^ not to intrude on vour time at present, 

 niay be more advantageously introduced in a list 

 öf Desiderata, I sball confine mjself to a few 

 observations on the present state of the Coun- 

 tries in its vicinity which seera most to dem^nd 

 attention. 



The Members of the Society must have been 

 forcibly struck with the rapid progress made by 

 the Asiaiic Society ^"^ Calciitta ; an Institution 

 of recent date^ compared with that established 

 at Batavia ; and however much the decline of 

 the latter may be attributed to the political 

 circumstances already stated, I am inclined to 

 think^ that its decay may in some degree have 

 been accelerated by the nature of its constitu* 

 tion. A very essential change has lately been 

 effectcd, and the Regulations of the Batavian 



C 



