the former a Hanoverian and the latter an Austrian, may be included in the list. Like all newly-arrived assistant surgeons, Leyden at first did duty in the Madras Hospital,-and duty in reality, not nominally as is too often the case, for he had almost sole charge of it for four months. But though his pursuits were much more of a professional character than he had expected, or indeed his friends had bargained for, he lost not a moment in setting himself to the study of the languages of South India. We have seen that he had, before leaving England, received very strong recommendations to the favourable notice and assistance of the Governor of Madras-Lord W. Bentinck. He interested himself in him, and appointed him to an office more suited to his genius and his likings, than his temporary duties in the Hospital. The war with Tippoo Sultan had resulted, in 1799, in placing the whole of his territories at our feet, so that we became masters of the whole of Mysore. Wellesley, even with all his genius and daring, felt no little difficulty in disposing of it, though there was his ally the Nizam to share it with him. In the division that he finally made, a large share fell to the Nizam; a second kingdom was created yielding in revenue thirteen lacs of pagodas, which was made over on certain conditions to the direct male descendant of the ancient Mysore Rajahs, who had been imprisoned by Hyder Ally and Tippoo. He was a mere child, and the conditions on which he received the honour were such, that the English could at any moment put down any attempt against their own power on his part, and use him as an ally in their contests with other states. The third part the Governor General kept for the British, to pay the expenses of the war, and to afford security against future aggression on the part of the native states. He selected the districts to be annexed with much foresight and political prudence. They ran contiguously from coast to coast, connecting the British territory on the east with that on the west; they comprehended a vast extent of the Malabar coast and the whole of Coimbatore and Daramporam; they included all the principal strongholds, passes, and forts in the Ghauts, Wynaad, and Seringapatam itself. Such were the arrangements made by the Partition Treaty of Mysore. Lord William Bentinck, when at the head of the Madras Government in 1808, was anxious that the whole of this valuable territory should be carefully surveyed and reported on, and a Commission was accordingly appointed with Major Mackenzie at its head. Leyden was nominated to the desirable post of Surgeon and Naturalist to the Commissioners, with whom he set out on the 9th of June of that year. This was really the first starting point in his Indian history, which was brought to so sudden a close three years afterwards. Their route lay through Bangalore and Seringapatam, Soonda close to Goa, and south by the western Malabar Coast to Cape Comorin. Such a road laid open to the delighted eyes of Leyden the whole of South India, and gave him opportunities of mastering its dialects, such as few had previously enjoyed. Nor did he confine his observations and studies to languages. True to his new profession and the office that he held, he studied the diseases and cures of the natives, the Geological or rather, as Geology was then but little known as a science, the mineralogical character of the strata, and the agricultural capabilities of the districts through which he passed. Much of the information that he thus collected he sent in, formally, to the Government that had appointed him. How much is it to be regretted that records were not published in those days, as now. He met with not a few adventures, also, in a country much of which had never yet been visited by a European. But the excitement and fatigues of a Survey party were too much for his constitution, and after five months of these, he was obliged to leave his fellows just when entering the districts of Wynaad and Coimbatore. He returned to Seringapatam, the subject of what has sent so many Europeans to an early grave, and so many back to their own land-liver complaint. He was most kindly received by Colonel Wilks, whose acquaintance he had made when there before, and he met with Sir John Malcolm who was his countryman and fellow Borderer. Malcolm was at this time returning to his old appointment of Resident of Mysore, looking forward to rest and leisure for the composition of his History of Persia. He pounced upon Leyden, and considered him a perfect treasure amid the dullness as well as the literary labour on which he was about to enter, and at once carried him off from his Assistant's house to his own. There Leyden speedily recovered, and almost renewed the days of his early life in the Hawick country, and his intercourse with the Edinburgh wits. The following, mentioned by his biographer, gives us an insight into the pleasant life that he led : "When Leyden was at Mysore, an occurrence took place which shewed that ill-health had neither subdued his spirit, nor weakened his poetical powers. His host, Sir John Malcolm, one morning before breakfast, gave him back his poem of the "Scenes of Infancy," which he had borrowed a few days before; on looking at the title-page, Leyden observed that Sir John had written with a pencil the stanzas which follow: "Thy muse, O Leyden, seeks no foreign elime, 'Tis songs like thine that lighten labour's toil, And make it death from those we love to part. 'Tis songs like thine that make each rugged wild, "Tis songs like thine that spread the martial flame, with much apparent While the clear Teviot thro' fair meads shall stray, And Esk still clearer seeks the Western main; So long shall Border maidens sing thy lay, And Border youths applaud the patriot strain." "Leyden read these verses once or twice over, satisfaction, and then exclaimed, "What! attack me at my own trade; this must not be. You gentlemen," addressing himself to two or three who were in the parlour, "may go to breakfast, but I will neither eat nor drink, until I have answered this fine compliment." He retired to his room, and in less than half an hour, returned with the following lines, addressed to Colonel Malcolm : "Bred mid the heaths and mountain swains, Rude nature charm'd my early view ; I sighed to leave my native plains, Careless of fame, nor fond of praise, The simple strains spontaneous sprung, Enough for me if these impart Torn from my native wilds afar, We shall soon see how his intimacy with Malcolm was renewed in different circumstances. Having, as he thought, almost completed his recovery, he set out towards the Malabar Coast, passing through Coorg, Cherical, and Cotiote, determined to perfect his health by a sea-voyage. He reached Cananore, and being deterred by the monsoons from sailing, as he had intended, to Bombay, spent a few months with great delight amid the temples, tongues, and peoples of Calicut, Cochin, and Travancore. Sanscrit, Persian, and Hindustani had been occupying not a little of his leisure, in addition to the list of languages which he himself details,-Arabic, Mahratta, Tamal, Telinga, Canara, Malayalam, Malay, and Armenian. He was particularly au fait at Tamal, translating some inscriptions in an old dialect of it, and written in a character called the "Lada Lippee, or Verraggia," which he made out by comparison.' His versatility is farther seen from his successful attempt to interpret the "Tambuca Shashanas, or brazen inscriptions, belonging to the Jews of Cochin." At the end of September he embarked at Quilon in a Parsee vessel for Penang, which he reached on the 22nd of October. Amid all this, his friends in Scotland had not forgotten him. Scott writes to George Ellis that he had heard news of his bad health, "such indeed, as to give room to apprehend the very worst." This introduces us to the second period of Leyden's short Indian career-his residence at Penang. During his stay in the Madras Presidency, and his rambles throughout its wide and then little known extent, he had had opportunities of studying with all his characteristic ardour, and at the same time his unscholarly versatility, the South Indian, or, as they are now called, Dravidian family of languages. He had now an opportunity of acquiring on the spot, and in circumstances even more favourable than the great Indo-Chinese linguist, Marsden, had enjoyed, the whole class of Malay dialects and tongues; and to their study he devoted himself with the greatest eagerness and success. In 1805, the Court of Directors had resolved to form an establishment in Penang, and entertained high hopes of its value and importance in the future, which have never been realised. He found the infant Government in full order, and with the leading members of it he speedily became intimate. The society consisted in the beginning of 1806, only of Mr. Philip Dundas, the Governor; Mr. John Oliphant, first member of Council; Mr. Pearson, Secretary, and Mr. Raffles, Assistant Secretary. While all of these, and especially the Governor, shewed Leyden not a little kindness, a warm friendship at once sprang up between him and Raffles. He was his guest during the greater part of his stay in the island, and together they pursued their linguistic studies, while each thoroughly appreciated and entered into the tastes of the other. The fruits of his studies, assisted by Raffles, were shortly seen in his Dissertation, and in his translation of the "Malay Annals." In the verses "The Dirge of the Departed Year," which he addressed on his departure from Penang to Olivia,' the wife of Mr. Raffles, he expresses his regret at leaving the island, and the friends whose society he had so much enjoyed. The melancholy induced by his frequent sickness had not passed, and in its sadly closing lines, we have his own anticipations as to an early grave, "Friends of my youth, for ever dear, Where are you from this bosom fled ? A lonely man I linger here, Like one that has been long time dead. "Foredoom'd to seek an early tomb, For whom the pallid grave-flowers blow, And sternly mock at joy or woe." With the departing 1805 he left Penang for Calcutta, the third scene of his Indian experiences. He sailed in a Portuguese vessel, the "Santo Antonio." In his journal we find the usual traces of a mind that was ever active and observant, that was ever restless in its search after "eastern lore." Confined for three weeks amid the disagreeables of a country trader, he passed his time in noticing the crew, speculating as to their origin, and making enquiries as to Macao, the settlement from which most of them had come. On the eighth day of February 1806, John Leyden landed in Calcutta. His reputation, and, we may add, his notoriety, had gone before him, and his firm friend, Sir John Malcolm, was ready to receive him and introduce him to the scholars who then adorned Calcutta society by their genius and their learning. Sir W. Jones had landed in 1783, with similar desires to sound the depths of Oriental lore, but with a higher enthusiasm, for he had a brighter destiny before him, and a more accurately trained and extensively cultivated mind. In 1794 he died, but left behind him his works, his followers, and the Asiatic Society, as monuments of the most distinguished scholar that England has yet sent to the East. Twelve years after his death, when Leyden visited Calcutta, the fruits of his labours were still evident, and the Asiatic Society was still worthy of its founder. The |