154 



Mr. Taylor on Professor Wilson*. 



[July 



ADDENDUM. 



Subsequently to my having sent in to the Editor of this Journal the 

 foregoing observations, I incidentally met with the number for January 

 last of the Asiatic Journal, on the library table of the Madras Literary 

 Society. It contains a brief critique on the second volume of Oriental 

 Historical Manuscripts, little more than an echo of some statements of 

 Professor Wilson, and in a tone of so much subserviency to him, that I 

 might be at liberty to pass it by without remark, especially as I had 

 written the foregoing, without knowing anything of an article seem- 

 ingly composed with so studied an effort towards the depreciation of 

 my imperfect production, which I should be the last to consider free 

 from faults. But, since the writer of that critique expressly- indicates 

 an opinion that I had borrowed from the pages of the Asiatic Journal, 

 it may perhaps be as well simply to deny the implication. Adverting 

 to the Carnataca Chronicle the writer says — "the whole of the 1 His- 

 tory' was given in this Journal ten years back, and we cannot help 

 remarking that the co-incidence of expression in the two translations is 

 so striking, that we are almost justified in asserting that Mr. Taylor 

 must have had this version before him at the time when he executed 

 his own. If not, we can only say it is one of the most miraculous in- 

 stances of correspondence between independent translations of oriental 

 works ever known or heard of." 



I regret that I have not the volume of the Asiatic Journal referred 

 to by the writer at hand, to compare with my translation, but, however 

 miraculous the correspondence alleged to exist between the two pro- 

 ductions may have appeared to him to be, one thing is certain, which 

 is, that I had not the slightest knowledge whatsoever of the existence 

 of such a paper until I met with this statement of alleged co-incidence, 

 and implied plagiary. I think, however, that I am able to solve the 

 enigma without having recourse to a miracle. In the preceding ob- 

 servations, towards the beginning, I have mentioned my having a rough 

 paraphrastic translation by Mr. Wheatley of the Carnataca Chronicle, 

 which I had intended to make use of. My intention, had it been fully 

 carried out, was to have given him the merit of the translation, and to 

 have added a brief sketch of his life and labors. In pursuance of that 

 intention, I compared the translation and original ; and, as both 

 were to appear on parallel pages, I found Mr. Wheatley' s mode of 

 translation would not do. I then attempted to render his translation more 

 literal by various'alterations ; a mode of proceeding which proved to be 

 more tedious, and less satisfactory, than simple translation, to which 

 I then resorted on my own principles. A page or two, however, of 

 his translation, with my alterations, I sent to the press, and the first 

 section of the Carnataca dynasty, possibly a portion of the second 



