382 



Proceedings of Societies; 



[Oct. 



observed by the people of India in the manufacture of steel, on 

 which subject a very able paper was latel)', on the suggestion 

 of the Committee, read before the Society by Mr. Wilkinson ; for 

 promoting the establishment of a Committee of Agriculture, & com- 

 posed of Members of the Society ; and for reviving at Madura, sub- 

 ject to such alterations as change of circumstances and the progress in 

 arts, science, and literature may require, the ancient Hindu College,' 

 which is supposed to have had so great an influence upon the educa- 

 tion and character of the Hindus in the Southern peninsula of India, from 

 the third to the tenth century of the Christian era. 



appears, by some papers collected by Sir Alexander Johnston, that his uncle, the 

 late Hon. Colonel George Napier, when in the Ordnance, inquired very particularly in- 

 to the manufacture of gunpowder in different parts of Asia ; and ascertained that the 

 proportions of charcoal, sulphur, and saltpetre, used in China, from the most anci- 

 ent periods, in the manufacture of gunpowder, are the same as are used in this coun- 

 try, to produce the strongest and best gunpowder. 



9 With a view of acquiring a knowledge of the agriculture and statistics of British 

 India, the Committee of Correspondence, on the suggestion of Mr. Holt Mackenzie 

 and Dr. Royle, some time ago recommended to the Council the formation of an 

 Agricultural Committee, composed of the Members of this Society. Sir A. John- 

 ston having himself at the same time communicated with the Members for Glasgow 

 and Liverpool, and with some of the leading men of Manchester, upon the subject, 

 and having found from them that they all agreed as to the utility of such a Commit- 

 tee ; and one having been recently formed, it is only necessary to state that 

 the Chairman of that Committee is Sir Ctarles Forbes, and that the two 

 leading Members of the Committee are Mr. Holt Mackenzie and Dr. Royle, in order 

 to convince the public of its efficiency, and of the advantages which Great Britain and 

 India are likely to derive from its establishment. 



^ 0 In consequence of the influence which was exercised by this College for seveii 

 centuries over the Hindus in the Southern Peninsula of India, the celebrated Jesuit 

 Missionary, Robertus di Nobilibus, who resided at Madura in the Hth century, and the 

 equally celebrated Jesuit Missionary Beschi, who resided at Trichinopoly in the I8th 

 century, both formed plans for reviving it ; but, owing to the dissensions in their order' 

 were unable to carry them into effect. The father of Sir Alexander Johnston, and the 

 late Colonel Mackenzie, who resided at Madura in 1783, having procured an account of the 

 ancient Colleg e, and copies of the plans of Robertus di Nobilibus and Beschi, in that 

 year formed a plan of their own for the revival of this College ; and Colonel. Mackenzie, 

 who was an officer of the Engineers, and who was then superintending the building of 

 the house for Mr. Johnston, v/hich is known at Madura by the name of Johnston House, 

 and which is now the property of Sir Alexander Johnston, at the request of Mr. 

 J ohnston, laid out this house in such a manner as to enable Mr, Johnston, whenever an 

 opportunity might offer, to convert it into the Hindu College which he had planned. No 

 such opportunity, however, occurred during the lives of Colonel Mackenzie aftd Mr. 

 Johnston; but as the house is still the property of Sir Alexander Johnston, he has 

 offered to make over all right which he has to it, according to the original plan of his 

 father, to any individual or society who may agree to carry that plan into effect, and he 

 is now in communication with a Society abroad, who have the intention of sending 

 out to Madura six men eminently distinguished in different branches of science, for 

 the purpose of establishing themselves at Madura, and educating the Hindus, of that 

 part of India, and circulating amongst them the arts and sciences of Europe. 



