CORRESPONDENCE.

KALIDASA IN CEYLON.

British Museum, London,

23rd May, 1888.

SIR,-Referring to your note in our January issue on Kālidāsa, I wish to call attention to two recent publications, copies of which I have before me, both clearly founded on the same curious legend.

(1) The Historical Tragedy entitled Kalidās by Simon De Silva Seneviratna, Muhandrum, [Sinhalese title:] Kālidās nritya pota (pp. 22, F. Cooray, Colombo, 1887, 8vo.).

(2) Kālidās Charitaya, Hevat Kālidāsa kavīndugē hā Kumarādāsa nirindugē da jīvita-kavya (pp. 17, "Lakminipahana" Press, Colombo, 1887, 8vo.).

This last is a poem in 255 stanzas by an author bearing a name worth giving in full, if only to draw attention to the curious mixture of Western and Eastern elements prevailing in Ceylon, Heṭṭiyākandagē Joseph Andrew Fernando [Jõçap Endri Pranandu].

It will be of some service if readers of this Journal resident in Ceylon can institute inquiries from the authors of these works as to the exact historical or legendary material (MS. or printed) used by these authors in preparing their respective works.

Yours truly,

CECIL BENDall.

The Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society.

NOTES OF THE QUARTER.

(March, April, May.)

I. REPORTS OF MEETINGS OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY.

16th April, 1888.-Sir THOMAS WADE, K.C.B., in the Chair.

There were elected as Resident Members the Rev. Richard Morris, M.A., LL.D., and Col. Sir William Davies, K.C.S.I.

Mr. J. F. Hewitt, late Commissioner of Chota Nagpur, read the paper which appears in full in this Number, on the Early History of Northern India.

4th June, 1888.-ANNIVERSARY MEETING.

Sir THOMAS WADE, K.C.B., President, in the Chair. THE PRESIDENT had first to express his regret at the loss of two valuable Orientalists, Professor Fleischer, the distinguished Professor of Arabic at Leipzig; and Bhagvan Lāl Indraji, the famous native Indian scholar and archæologist. He had, on the other part, to congratulate the Society upon the great addition it had received to its strength in the past twelve months. The Secretary would read to the Meeting a short memorandum showing the changes in its condition during several years, from which it would appear that the number of its members had never been so large as at the present moment. This increase of course was the more gratifying as advantaging the finances of the Society, whose position in this respect had been further benefited by revision of the arrangements affecting the printing and publication of the Society's Journal. The thanks of the Society were specially due to the Secretary, whose conver

sance with details of the kind had enabled him to effect a large saving in the expenditure under the head of printing, and a considerable gain under the head of advertisements. As regarded the progress of the Society towards attainment of the great object of its institution, the investigation and encouragement of Oriental Art, Science, and Literature, the President had no option but to repeat the observation which, within his hearing, had fallen from both of his distinguished predecessors, Sir William Muir and Colonel Yule, namely, that the achievements of the Society fall far short of what should be expected of it, regard being had to what is done by the Orientalists of other nationalities, and to the fact that, politically and commercially, England is more interested in the East than any of her competitors in Orientalism. A step towards improvement had been made in a proposition which the Council had had under consideration, the proposition to appoint two or more Committees which should respectively interest themselves in history, literature, etc., as Aryan or non-Aryan. The Council had further been considering the possibility of reviving the Translation Fund, a branch or affiliated department, by which in earlier days there were published, under the general superintendence of the Society, both Oriental texts and translations. The formulation of this scheme was also due to the Secretary, to whose activity and industry the Council could not exaggerate its obligations.

Lastly, the Council had been engaged in preparing a revised edition of the Rules and Regulations of the Society, which was now laid upon the table. The principal changes were four. In the first place it was considered advisable to place the election of new members in the hands of the Council, as is the case with most other Societies, and secondly it is proposed to create a new class of members to be called Extraordinary Members, and to be chosen from such of the Oriental diplomatists accredited to the English Government as would be likely to take an enlightened interest in the work of the Society. In the third place it was desirable, for the reason set out in the report, to raise the subscriptions of

non-resident members (who receive the Journal post free) to a sum sufficient to pay for the production and postage of the Journal. And lastly to modify the rule under which at present those members living in England, but too far from London to take advantage of the library and of the meetings of the Society, were required to pay a higher subscription on the ground that these advantages were open to them. The proposed new draft embodying these improvements had been very carefully considered by a Special Committee appointed for the purpose, and he trusted it would meet with the approval of the Society.

The report of the Council, which was taken as read, was as follows:

REPORT OF THE COUNCIL.

The Council of the Royal Asiatic Society have to report that since the last Anniversary Meeting the Society has lost by death or retirement eight Resident and twelve nonResident Members, and has admitted as new Members fourteen Resident and twenty non-Resident, showing a total increase in the membership of the Society of fourteen. Including the thirty Honorary Members, the number on the list is now 411.

In connection with this, it should be pointed out that the Society is now in a better condition, both as to membership and as to income from subscriptions, than it has been at any other time during the last half century. This will be apparent from the following table, extending over the years 1834-87. It was not possible to include in the return any earlier years, as the balance-sheets and accounts of the Society previous to 1834 can no longer be found. It will be noticed that for the thirty years 1834-64, the membership and income were almost constant (not to say stagnant), and that there then ensued a period of decline, till, in 1876, the Society had reached its lowest ebb. In that year Mr. Vaux became the Society's Secretary, and an improvement at once set in, and has gone on almost uninterruptedly till the last year, 1887, which shows better figures than any of those

which precede it in the table. The Council feel themselves fully justified in expressing their belief that this improvement will be at least fully maintained in the future.

There follows the abstract of the receipts and expenditure for the year. There is a slight increase from subscriptions, and in that from the sale of the Journal to non-members; and an increase also in the expenditure for printing and for repairs. The latter item represents the repainting, etc., of the Society's rooms, and the former represents the great increase of work done by committees, with the hope of improving the position of the Society. As the payment for the printing of Part IV. of the Journal does not appear in the account, about £80 must be added to the total expenditure to give a complete view of the Society's financial position. When that is done, it will be seen that the receipts exceeded the expenditure by about £150, of which £100 was added to the reserve fund invested in Consols.

The Council are glad to report that it has been found possible to continue the issue of the Journal in four quarterly parts, and they hope that this most important new departure may be now looked upon as having become an established and permanent custom. The stock of printed copies of our Rules having become exhausted, the Council, before reprint

1 This table is based on the fuller table (giving the results for each year) now exhibited in the Library of the Society.