1838] 



Rofjal Asiatic Societ.i/» 



38! 



ancient laws, usages, and customs, which, at the time each province 

 was annexed to Great Britain, prevailed amongst the Hindus of that 

 province ; for ascertairjing the genuine opinions ^ of the Hindus upon all 

 questions of religion, morals, metaphysics, laws and government; for 

 procuring returns of the statistics^ of British India from the Bengal, 

 Madras, and Bombay Governments ; for arranging such returns ac- 

 cording to the plan adopted by the Fren:^h Govsrrmieat in 1802 ; for 

 procuring all the observations wliii^h have been made, either in favour 

 or against the continuance of the permanent system as to lands in In- 

 dia ;7 for collecting information from every part of India relative to the 

 growth of cotton, and the propagation of the silk-worm, for the first 

 of which articles Great Britain is at present dependent upon the Uni- 

 ted Stales, and for the second of which, upon France and Italy, in- 

 stead of deriving both, as it is believed she may do, from British In- 

 dia, and thereby circulating amongst her own su.bjects, in her ovv'u 

 territories, that portion of her capital which she now circulates for 

 those articles amongst foreigners in foreign countries ; for enabling the 

 people of Great Britain to become acquainted with the process « 



5 These opinions may be collected from the translations which have been made from 

 Sanskrit into English of several Sanskrit works by the late Sir Charles Wilkins, the 

 ]ate Mr- Colebrooke, and Professor Wilson. It is advisable t o make such a colic ctiou 

 at the present moment, when the Society can have the assistance of its present Di- 

 rector, Professor Wilson, who is allowed to be one of the most distingnished, if not 

 the most distinguished, Sanskrit scholar of the present day ; and when it is anxious, 

 inconsequence of the recent death of those two distinguished Oriental scholars, Sir' 

 Charles Wiikins and Mr. Colebrooke, to show every respect to their memory, and 

 to enable the British public to appreciate the real vaiue of their acquirements, and 

 their literary labours. 



6 The Committee have already obtained much valuable information upon the statis- 

 tics of British India from the Bengal and Madras Governments; and are daily ex- 

 pecting to receive more from the Bombay Government, in answer to the queries which 

 were drawn up by Mr. M'Culloch, at the request of Sir Alexander Johnston, and sent 

 out by him to the Governors of those Presidencies. 



7 It is of groat importance to those Europeans who may wish to acquire lands in 

 British India, to be acquainted with the nature of the diiFerent tenures upon whic^ 

 jands are held in that country, particularly with the nature of the permanent settle" 

 ment, about which so much difference of opinion has prevailed for many years. 



8 As it is extremely useful for the manufacturers of Great Britain to have a detailed 

 account published of the different processes observed by the natives of every part of 

 Asia in their different manufactories, Sir Alexander Johnston is endeavouring to pro- 

 cure such accounts from every part of India ; Mr". Lord lately sent him some parti- 

 culars relative to the cutting and polishing of agate, cornelians, ^c, which was pub- 

 lished in the third Volume of the Society's Journal; and Mr. Wilkinson lately pre- 

 pared for him the pnper which is above alluded to, upon the manufacture of steel. It 



