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JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [YOL. XIV. 



they write, so that if he happens to meet with them in 

 letters or manuscript treatises he may be able to distinguish 

 them ; as well as of the more common words, from which he 

 will be able to form a judgment as to the points of agreement 

 between those languages and others, and concerning the origin 

 of those peoples themselves, which are frequently detected, 

 from the affinity of their languages with those of others. 



Nor does the curiosity of most people as a rule extend 

 further than this. Having no idea of themselves ever 

 visiting these islands, they take little trouble to make them- 

 selves acquainted with the languages of their inhabitants or 

 to study their literature, and so are not much concerned about 

 the grammars or lexicons of these languages. 



I do not, however, condemn them for this ; on the contrary, 

 I consider that they spend their time well if by reading 

 books written in their own or some familiar tongue they 

 imbibe ideas useful to themselves or to others. Nevertheless, 

 I do not think it can be unpleasing to them to have some 

 knowledge of the characters in which documents which 

 from time to time come into their hands are written, or of 

 such words as may help by comparison of them with others, 

 in tracing back the origin of these peoples to neighbouring 

 peoples, or in explaining many names of Eastern cities and 

 rivers which are incorrectly given in maps because they were 

 imperfectly understood by the compilers, and have thus been 

 the cause of disputes which would be received with much 

 laughter if they ever came to the ears of the Asiatic races. 



Neither is this alien to the functions which I discharge 

 in this Academy,* while it tends to a richer knowledge of the 

 Oriental languages, which are mutually connected together 

 by so close a bond of relationship, that it may be said with 

 some show of reason that for a perfect, and in all ways 

 absolute, knowledge of one Oriental language is required 

 not merely an acquaintance with one of them, but with more 

 than one, in fact, with all of them as far as possible. 



" This Academy," i.e., the University of Leyden. 



