1868.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 161 



practicable to have the proper circulars issued, so as to allow of the 

 two months' interval from date of issue now required by the rules, 

 and that the actual date of the Meeting would therefore be fixed by 

 the Council. 



The President reported that on a motion of the Hon'ble J. B. 

 Phear, the Council have resolved to propose to the Society : 



That the Society do record their recognition of the eminent services 

 rendered by A. G-rote, Esq., to the Society during the long period 

 over which his connexion with the Society has extended. 



The President in moving the above resolution remarked — 



" It is with much pleasure I bring forward this motion from the 

 Council. It is known to most persons here, although I believe we 

 have no regular announcement of the fact, that Mr. Grote, who has 

 long been connected with their Society, who has justly attained its 

 highest honours, and has been one of its most hard working and 

 devoted servants, will leave India, within a few days. It is to me a 

 source of unalloyed pleasure that it should have fallen to my lot to be 

 in the chair this evening, inasmuch as I have thus an opportunity 

 which might not otherwise have occurred, of giving very briefly expres- 

 sion to my feelings, and specially, because it would be idle affectation to 

 attempt to ignore what is well known to very many here, that on 

 numerous questions, affecting the management of the Society, Mr. 

 Grote's views, and my own, have frequently differed widely. In such 

 differences of opinion, I see nothing to regret — on the contrary, I 

 believe that the success of any Society like ours, must depend on the 

 entire freedom of our discussions, and I might say, on the existence of 

 a healthy and even decided ' opposition party.' In any climate, under 

 any circumstances, but more especially under the peculiar conditions of 

 our existence here, the inevitable result of the absence of some interest 

 of this kind, is the induction of a state of lethargy, a kind of vegetable 

 existence, which certainly does not, and certainly did not conduce to 

 progress or success. And therefore I say, I have never regretted that 

 there should have been opposition of view or difference of opinion. 

 But I trust that on no occasion have I forgotten that an opponent is not 

 necessarily an enemy. Our differences of opinion have been only as to the 

 best methods of attaining the same end, the advancement of knowledge, 

 and the improvement of this Society, as one of the great means for 



