266 



Life and Writings of Father Beschi. 



[April 



the little book with the said Latin translation of the Cural, I found 

 that both had been written by Potensa himself. On my producing both 

 the originals to Mr. Ellis, he was unable to ascertain whether Best;hi or 

 Potensa was the translator, as there was no title page to either of the 

 copies, but he was inclined to decide in favour of Potensa, because the 

 manuscript was in his hand-writing. He has therefore merely alluded 

 to this translation as the work of " the Latin Commentator," and in- 

 tended to have entered more fully into the subject in the preface to his 

 own translation, which unhappily he did not live to finish. The portion 

 translated by Mr. Ellis himself was intended to comprehend the first 

 part only, called ^p^uir&) (Arappal) on virtue, containing twenty- 

 four chapters. 



In pursuance of this resolution, eighteen chapters of the Cural were 

 translated and exemplified with quotations from the best Tamil 

 authors: of these chapters which he translated, thirteen only were 

 printed and the rest are with me still in manuscript, as Mr. Ellis died 

 before he could finish the task he had undertaken. 



Works written in Tamil hy Father Beschi^ intended for the use of 

 (he Hindoos in general, 



22. Tonnul Vilaccam is a grammar of the superior dialect of Tamil 

 by Father Beschi. This is not only a complete and copious grammar 

 of the language, but, as an enumeration of its divisions will shew, em- 

 braces all that is comprised in the scholastic term humanities. Its seve- 

 ral divisions are, on Orthography, Etymology, Composition, Pro- 

 sody, and Rhetoric. This work as originally composed by Beschi, 

 contains the substance of the Tolcapiam, Nannul, and other pre-exis- 

 tcnt treatises on grammar, &c. As usual the rules are in verse, accompa- 

 nied by a copious explanatory commentary in prose j perspicuity and 

 arrangement are especially attended to, so that a person moderately 

 skilled in the low Tamil might soon make himself master of this gram- 

 mar. 



All the Tamil grammarians treat of certain rules for this species of 

 writing, distinguished by the titles ^s;iljOun-(^&T or QpjSl(^ uih — 

 Agapporul or Sittinbam, meaning sensual pleasure, and of Lj^uOutr^^ 

 QY u&s>i~(^<s=&j<BUj — Purapporul or Padeisewagum, signifying military 

 lervicei instead of which Beschi introduces a new series of com- 

 positions under the names of (Aram) — virtue; OuirQ^ir — Porul 



matter; g)^Ljui-.(inbum)— pleasure; a?®— (Vidu)— final bea- 



