1840.] 



Life and Writings of Father Beschi, 



257 



any difficulty employed 90 such variations. Indeed it would have 

 been easy to give a different cadence to every stanza ; but this could 

 not have been done with propriety, as the same cadence is usually 

 preserved through ten, fifteen, or more stanzas." 



Mr. Babington on his return to England took with him a copy of the 

 Tembavani in two volumes folio. 



"When Sir John Malcolm visited the College of Madras in 1817, 

 Mr. Ellis, in shewing him a copy of the Tembavani, written on cadjan, 

 dwelt largely on the merit of that w^ork. Sir John not only expressed 

 his great admiration of the work but also requested that, as Europeans 

 so rarely acquire a perfect knowledge of Indian poetry, or compose 

 poems of such extent and excellence, in any of the eastern languages, 

 Mr. Ellis would procure him a copy of the Tembavani in cadjans, to 

 take with him to England, for the purpose of placing it in Lord 

 Spencer's library. Accordingly a copy of it was made in cadjans, the 

 two boards of which were ornamented with silver and gold. It was 

 transmitted through the Government of Fort St. George, to Sir John 

 Malcolm, when he was Governor of Bombay, by the College Board of 

 Madras. 



T am* happy to state that I have the honour of possessing the copy of 

 the Tembavani, written by Father Beschi's own hand. 



A specimen of Father Beschi's poem translated by Mr. Ellis, as also 

 the Reverend Mr. E. Hoole's, are added in the appendix, No. I, at the 

 end of this paper. 



2. — Tirucavalur Calambacam ;t 3. Adeikala Malei, and 4. Calivenba. 

 Father Beschi composed these three poems in honour of the Madonna, 

 to whom the church at Tirucavalur was dedicated. 



5. — Annei Azhemgal Andadi. The poem of the sorrowing Mother, 

 or the lamentation of the Mother of our Lord on his crucifixion. It 

 consists of 100 stanzas composed in the measure called Andadi, in 

 which each stanza commences with the same word that terminates the 

 preceding one. 



* On my arrival, durius my journey abovementioned, at a place called Avoor, twenty 

 miles south of Trichinopoly, I found the Tembavani in Beschi's own hand-writing, ia 

 possession of Luz Naig, son of Bungaroo Naig, Beschi's disciple. In compliance with 

 my request, Luz Naig brought the book to Madras for the inspection of Mr. Ellis, who 

 purchased the work for 300 rupees. After taking a copy of it for his own use, that gen- 

 tleman kindly presented it to me. Mr. Josiah Hudleston purchased Mr. Ellis's Tem- 

 bavani, when his effects were sold by auction. 



+ Calambacam— a sort of poetry in which the author mixes at pleasure all kinds of 

 verses. This variation in the measure renders the composition pleasing to the ear, but 

 difficult to those who compose or recite it. 



