1866.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 123 



haps of all others we were indebted for the most accurate account of 

 the history of the earliest period of the North of India. Lower down 

 in the list came the Fataiva Alamgiri, an Indian work on Mahom- 

 medan law and precedents, of such singular merit and such high repu- 

 tation throughout every part of the East where the Mahonnnedan 

 religion prevailed, that, some years ago, when travelling through 

 Egypt, he was asked by the Shaikh-ul-Islam for a copy, as the most 

 valuable gift he could bestow on him. The Hon'ble Justice Campbell 

 no doubt was aware of the rare value of this noble work. Then follows 

 the Maya, another Mahonnnedan law book, a commentary on the 

 Kifdyah and the great Mahommedan authority in India, the Heddyah, 

 the Rdmdyana, the Surya Siddhdnta, and many other equally impor- 

 tant works on Law, Rhetoric, and Logic. All these valuable works, 

 it was the desire of the Government of India of the day, to consign to 

 destruction ; an act, to use the words of our most distinguished 

 Secretary, James Prinsep, " not far out-done by the destruction of the 

 Alexandrine library itself." Such was the opinion of this Society 

 in those days ; and many members of the Society in these days will 

 perhaps hear with surprise, that these valuable works were considered 

 il waste paper" by the Government of India. On the fiat for their 

 destruction having gone forth, the Society at once memorialized the 

 Government to prefer their humble prayer to the Home Government for 

 a special grant to be appropriated exclusively to the support of orien- 

 tal literature ; they further asked to be permitted to continue the 

 printing of the works which had been stopped, soliciting some pecu- 

 niary grant to aid them in carrying out the undertaking. But the 

 Government of India declined to solicit any special aid from the Court 

 for the promotion of the object the Society had in view ; and their reply 

 on this and the other points is so remarkable that I will read it to the 

 meeting. " The Government having resolved to discontinue, with some 

 exceptions, the printing of the projected editions of oriental works, a 

 great portion of the limited Education Fund having hitherto been 

 expended on similar publications, to little purpose but to accumulate 

 stores of waste paper, cannot furnish pecuniary aid to the Society for 

 the further printing of those works, but will gladly make over the 

 parts already printed either to the Asiatic Society, or to any other 

 Society or individuals, who may be disposed to complete the publica- 



