I860.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 131 



which he viewed it — its bearing on the advancement of literature and 

 science. He had employed no ingenuity in the remarks he had already 

 addressed to the meeting, his object being simply to place before the 

 meeting, as clearly as he could, the position this Society had previ- 

 ously occupied with reference to the question that had come under 

 discussion, and the interest they had in supporting to the utmost of 

 their power the new impulse which was about to be given to the 

 cultivation and study of the Oriental classical languages in the Punjab. 

 As to the Educational views of the Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab, 

 they had better not discuss them here ; they were not involved in 

 the Resolution before the meeting, and they were foreign to the busi- 

 ness of this Society. Mr. Justice Campbell however, he said, had 

 fallen into error, in saying that if the Government of India had dis- 

 continued the publication of Oriental works, it had done better, it 

 had appropriated a handsome grant for the purpose, to be adminis- 

 tered by the most competent body to undertake this work. The Go- 

 vernment of India had done nothing of the kind. The pecuniary aid 

 which had been granted for the special purpose of publishing Orien- 

 tal works had been obtained by the persevering exertions of this 

 Society, not through any aid or support it received from the Govern- 

 ment in this country, but in spite of its opposition. 



The Chairman thought that such a point as that mooted by Mr. 

 Campbell was quite within the province of our Society to decide. 

 This Society stands in a position somewhat analogous to that of the 

 French Academy. It is the one body in India competent, as embrac- 

 ing a knowledge of the requirements of science, together with a know- 

 ledge of the genius of the oriental languages, to give an opinion which 

 cannot fail to carry weight in all quarters. The Society has no 

 immediate connexion with education, but few educationalists would 

 set themselves in opposition to a view expressed by the Society on 

 such a point as this. For himself, Mr. Heeley continued, he did not 

 profess to have studied the question. He knew only that scholars, 

 such as the late Dr. Ballantyne, had thought it quite possible to form 

 a technical language from purely Sanscrit roots, which should be 

 equally expressive with the technical language derived from Greek 

 and Latin roots which prevailed in Europe, and would be much more 

 in accordance with the spirit of the people. The study, in the ver- 



