1840.] 



Life and JVrltmgs of Father B&scJiL 



26T 



titude, which Father Beschi says in the third part of his Tamil Grammar, 

 are the subjects fit to be treated apoQ as a guidance for authors. 



In composing this work, Father Beschi not only intended to de- 

 fine the rules of grammar more concisely and accurately than the an« 

 cient ones, but also by means of it to establish the Christian doctrine, 

 which he considered to be more particularly his duty than any other 

 object. With this laudable intention, "Viramamnni has taken a 

 couplet from Tiruvallaver's Caral, and illustrated it by several quota- 

 tions from the Chintamani and Ramayanam, shewing how much they 

 fall short of the standard assumed by the poet, after which he intro- 

 duces quotations from scripture, and argues from the purity of their 

 tendency that they must hare emanated from divine authority. This 

 is introduced in the third part of Tonnul, where he lays down the 

 rules of logic. 



Mr. Ellis has translated the above said couplet, and a part of Father 

 Beschi's illustrations, which I have added in the appendix. No. 2. See 

 Ellis's Cural, page 88. 



The Tonnul Vilaccam, was lately printed at Pondicherry by one of 

 the native Tamil christians, but, I am extremely sorry to say, it is 

 quite incorrectly done, because the proof sheets of the work were 

 examined by an illiterate Hindoo, who, without understanding the 

 plan of Father Beschi, made several omissions and useless additions 

 to the work, 



23.— The Sadur Agaradi — a dictionary of the superior dialect, like- 

 wise composed by Beschi : it in fact consists of four distinct diction- 

 aries — the first, Peyer, shews the several meanings of every word — the 

 second, Porul, the several words bearing the same meaning— third, 

 Togei, shews the subordinate species of the technical and general terms 

 of science and literature, and the fourth, ToJei, is a rhyming diction- 

 ary. This work, compiled from the various dictionaries of the high 

 Tamil, of which there are a great number, is the only one which is en- 

 tirely arranged in alphabetical order, the words in the others (a few 

 sections excepted, in which the alphabetical form is used fromneces- 

 sitv) being collected into general classes, and resembling, therefore, 

 vocabularies rather than dictionaries, except that they are more 

 •opious. 



This work was printed by the Board of Superintendence for the 

 College of Fort St. George, iu the College press, in 1S24, and re-prinf- 

 cd by the Reverend Mr, J. Smith, a protestant missionary of the London 

 Missionary Society, at the Church Mission press at Madras, in the year 

 1835. 



