1866.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 177 



Mr. Campbell, as the mover of the resolution, replied as fol- 

 lows: — "I must remind the meeting that this discussion came 

 ■about in consequence of the submission to the Society of an address 

 of Sir D. Macleod to the Oriental University, and a memorandum 

 of that gentleman asking our advice on the subjects there mooted. 

 A resolution of thanks to Sir Donald for his address was proposed 

 and voted ; but at the same time, to guard against the construction 

 that we shared the more extreme Orientalist views contained in the 

 address, I gave notice of the present motion. It appears to me that 

 SirD. Macleod, in words as plain as words can be, urged the managers 

 of the new University not to adopt European scientific terms, but to 

 take them from Oriental models. Major Lees now seeks to show that Sir 

 Donald meant nothing of the kind. His argument is ingenious, but 

 savours somewhat of special pleading. I can, however, well believe 

 that on re-consideration, Sir Donald would not maintain so extreme 

 a view, and am glad to suppose that both he and Major Lees may 

 now to a great degree concur in my motion. I sought to express 

 dissent from the view contained in the passage of the address, by 

 voting affirmatively, that when we have to express a new thing or a 

 new idea, not known to the vernacular languages, it is better to adopt 

 the cosmopolitan term expressing that idea or thing, rather than coin 

 a new one, or drag into the service from a dead oriental language a 

 term wholly unintelligible to the people. But I am extremely ready 

 to defer to the feeling expressed by several members of the Society, 

 that it is desirable to avoid any appearance of dictation in the matter. 

 I am perfectly content to leave the matter to the free and unbiassed 

 choice of the natives themselves, who, in all their relations with us, 

 show so decided a tendency to the adoption and adaptation of Euro- 

 pean terms. I have no doubt that whatever we may resolve, they 

 will in the end use those terms. My only object is to express dissent 

 from the strong discouragement of and warning against that course, 

 which the passage in Sir D. Macleod's address to which I allude, 

 seems to convey. Therefore, when I came, to the meeting to-day, I 

 thought that my object would be quite sufficiently served by the 

 negative form of the resolution, which I sought to substitute for 

 that which I had placed before the meeting, and which Dr. Anderson 

 has now been good enough to move. Dr. Anderson's amendment 



