1866.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 65 



subject which I now hold in my hand, and which, with the permission of 

 the meeting, I will read. The result, I think, is fully to bear out my 

 assertion of the extreme meagreness of our knowledge on the subject, 

 and at the same time, of the extreme interest of the language, and the 

 wide field for inquiry offered by it. The learned Babu's note also shows 

 the difficulty of the task, the failure of summer tourists to do what is 

 desired, and the necessity of some more effectual action. The fact is, 

 that although most Indian languages have had the attention of most 

 zealous and knowledge-loving men, who have collected many words 

 and much information, this was for the most part done at a time, when 

 language had not yet been elevated into a science and found to be one 

 of the principal keys for unlocking the great problems of history. 

 Now-a-days we require information in a somewhat different form, and 

 of a more precise and exact character than was before thought of. 

 This we cannot obtain in a mere casual way : some systematic effort is 

 required. If the thing be once set in motion, I believe that ample 

 means are available. I am not without hope that the distinguished 

 native gentleman, whose note I am about to read, may himself visit 

 Cashmere before long. In the Punjab there are several most learned 

 and excellent members of this Society, and equally well qualified ser- 

 vants of Government. Dr. Leitner, the head of several new move- 

 ments, is a host in himself. It is only required to make a 'beginning, 

 and if the influence of this Society and of the local Government be 

 used to effect so much, the rest will follow. Of the importance of the 

 end proposed, I do not think that there can be diversity of opinion ; 

 the only question is as to the particular means, and those I hope may 

 be devised. 



Mr. Campbell then read the following note by Babu Rajendra Lala 

 Mitra : — 



" Nearly half a century ago the learned scholar and indefatigable 

 translator, Dr. Carey, drew the attention of European scholars to a living 

 Sanskrit dialect till then unknown, the Kashmiri, by the publication 

 of a translation of the Bible in that tongue. So little was it then un- 

 derstood, that a grammar of the Punjabi language, published soon after, 

 was mistaken for it, and it was not till the year 1839 that any attempt 

 was made to reduce its grammar to writing. Since then, two gramma- 

 tical treatises have been published in the Journal of the Asiatic Society 



