glish, and would suffer no person to go in the character of a passenger, His own zeal and resolution, however, overcame this obstacle. "Confident," said he, "of my own strength of constitution, habituated for a number of years to a life of vigilance, austerity, and temperance, the cha racter of a soldier in the East India company's service seemed to be the only resource left to accomplish my object." With this determination unknown to his relations, or any person interested about him, he of fered his services to a recruiting officer, and in spite of remonstrances, enlisted himself, and marched off with the rest of his comrades on the 7th of November, 1754,-with a knapsack upon his back, his baggage consisting of a Hebrew Bible, Montaigue, and Charron's work's a case of mathematical instruments, and a map of India. As soon as the Abbe Barthelemy, and his other friends, were informed of the extravagant step he had taken, they renewed their application to the minister, who, surprized at the zeal Anquetil had manifested, allowed him a free Passage on board at the captain's table, and a salary, the terms of which were left to the discretion of the French governor in India. He reached India about nine months after his departure; namely, on the 10th of August, 1755. Having disembarked at Pondicherry, a commercial and military city, which offered a wide theatre to ambition and cupidity, he attracted for a while the attention of those multitudes, who had quitted their country, only with a view of seeking their fottunes in another hemisphere. It would be difficult to describe their surprize, when his motive for coming to India, was not to amass wealth but simply to discover the books of Zoroaster, a name, which, per haps, many of thens never heard, and to enrich Europe with their contents. Many, refused to credit such a story: others considered him as a person sent out by government to be a spy upon their conduct; whilst others less suspici. ous, looked upon him as as an eccentric character, whom his family had sent abroad to get rid of him. All had agreed in neglecting or forsaking him. This neglect, however, could not afflict him, who thought every mo ment was lost that was not devoted to study, and he availed himself of this opportunity, to make himself master of the modern Persian, which was become the general language of India, so as to converse in it in the most fluent mauner. Having made this acquisition, he resolved to, quit Pondicherry, and to penetrate into the interior of the country, in order to study the Malabar language, visit the Brains, and learn the Shanscrit, near some Pagoda. But, being con sicered as a stranger to commercial, as well as military and political affairs, he met with many difficulties before he could obtain that settlement which the governor was enjoined to allot to him; and when fixed, it was found inferior to that of the lowest clerk in India. Anquetil, however was still contented; a stranger to the imaginary wants of most men, he despised luxury and ease, he knew how to accommodate his wants to his means, and was wholly occupied in prosecuting the object of his researches, considering those priv. ations and hardships which it subjected him to, as trifling. He prosecuted his journey towards the mouth of the Ganges: but a violent fever which attacked him, whilst traversing the mountains of Gengy, where he had made some stay, obliged him to embark and he ar rived Fived safe at Chandernagor. His unbasiness was farther augmented by accounts he received from the French Consul, at Surat, of his having discovered the books of Zoroaster, particularly the Vendidas Zend, and Pehlwi. As soon as he regained a little strength, he thought of nothing but his journey to Surat, but exclu sive of the difficulties of the voyage, the commencement of hostilities be tween the French and English, was also a serious obstacle. Chandernagor was threatened by the English, whose troops occupied the whole of the surrounding coun try. Anquetil thought it his first duty to serve his country, and being conversant in the modern Persian, he undertook the office of interpreter, and accordingly joined the French anny destined for the defence of Bengal. He soon heard of the fall of Chandernagor: and fearful lest the chances of war should defeat the object of his voyage, he left the camp alone, almost destitute of money, and with very little baggage, to undertake a journey of 400 leagues over land to Pondicherry. He had the good luck not to fall into the hands of the English, and his natural fortitude and resolution surmounted every thing. He crossed a country overrun with tygers, though he had scarcely any weapon of detence, and joined the advanced guard of 6000 Fakirs, who were going on a pilgrimage to the famous pagoda, of Jugrenunt, and who lived only by plunder. He presented himself to them with such an air of 'assurance, that they not only desisted from plundering him, but granted him a passport, that he might not be molested by their comrades. After 100 days journey across the burning sand of a country, never before attempted by any European, sur. seunded by every kind of danger, yet never failing to visit and inspect every pagado and place worthy of attention; he at length reached Pondicherry, where the report of his death had been received, and he for. got all his troubles and fatigues in the embraces of one of his brothers, who had just arrived there from Eu rope to be employed in the Company's Civil Service. Here he had pro cured a place for him under himself at the settlement at Surat, and they embarked together for the coast of Malabar. The vessel having put into Mahe, Anqueti! resolved to visit the country, and proceeded to Coliour, Goa, and Aurengebad, as far as the Mahratta country. At length he arrived at Surat, where he expected to find the treasure he had so long been in search of. Here again he had many difficul ties to encounter, before he could overcome the scruples and prejudices of the priests, who regarded the com munication of their writings and dot. trines to persons of a different reli gion as nothing less than profanati on. However, his zeal and perse. verance sur mounted every obstacle, and he even obtained admittance into the number of the disciples of Destours. By an intense application he soon became sufficiently acquainted with the Zend and Péhlwi, to be able to translate several works from those languages. He began, in March 1759, with a vocabulary of the Pehiwi, a work which no Europesa before him had even thought of undertaking. The governor of Pondicherry, to whom he had communicated this successful commencement expressed his satisfaction by doub ling his salary, which even then did not exceed 3000 livres; yet with this trifling sum he was enabled, by economy and sobriety, to defray the expenses of his journey in India, to pay for the lessons he received, and even even to purchase a number of manuscripts, with which he hoped to enrich his native country. A few days after he had commenced his translation of the vocabulary, he also began to translate the Vendidad from the Zend and Pehlwi texts, un der the immediate direction of Destours, This work was finished in a little less than three months; but the intense application brought on a dangerous illness, and for several weeks he was obliged to relinquish all kind of study, His health was scarcely restored when he was in volved in a fresh misfortune, by an accident to which literary and studi ous characters are rarely exposed, He was publicly attacked in the streets of Surat by one of his countrymen who was irritated by the propagation of false reports, of which Anquetil was supposed to be the author. They were armed, and our author being obliged to defend him self, had the luck or rather the mis fortune, to give a mortal blow to his antagonist, after having received himself five wounds. His life was long in danger, and it was several months before he recovered. As soon as his health would permit, he under took, with the aid of an Arabic interpreter, to translate several Zend and Pehlwi books, and in a short time he acquired so complete a knowledge of the Persian language and history, that he was enabled to Anish the remainder of his work without assistance. It was no longer possible for a master to conceal any thing from a student who had profted so well by his instructions, and who bad discovered all the mysteries of his religion in so complete a manner, that he was regarded as a propher. Anquetil, at the risk of his life, had he beed discovered, was introduced to the sacred fire, w which was kept in the most accret part of the temple, and beheld the various rites, of which before he had only obtained an imperfect idea. Having satified his curiosity, and attained the principal object of his voyage, he then proposed to study the language, antiquities, and sacred laws of the Hindoos. He had already procured several Sanscrit vocabularies, and thought of reparing to Benares, that he might obtain instruction from the Bramins, who in that country were reckoned the most learned men of the east. The taking of Pondicherry destroyed all his projects, and he was now intent on only returning to Europe. In consequence of the unfortunate rencounter mentioned above, he was obliged to throw himself upon the protection of the English, in order to avoid the persecution of his coun trymen. He procured a passage in an English ship, and was enabled to take with him one hundred and eighty valuable manuscripts of the different oriental languages, coins, medals and many other things which he had collected during his residence in India. On his arrival in England, he was treated as a prisoner of war; but on a proper representation of his situa tion to the British government, he was immediately set at liberty. Before his return to his native country, he wished for the sake of more infor mation, to visit the University of Oxford, and inspect the manuscripts of the Vendidad, which had origi nally suggested the enterprize he had now accomplished. He collated the principal manuscripts which he had brought, with the same works he found in the library, and returned to Paris in March 1762, after an absence of nearly eight years, loaded with oriental collections, but poorer than when he left his country, having now lost the small pittance he which he formerly enjoyed. He would long have remained so, if the Abbe Barthelemy and other friends had not been more attentive to his interest than he was himself. They represented to the minister in the strongest terms, his zeal and success, and obtained a pension for him, together with the title and appoint. ment of sranslator of oriental lam guages to the Royal Library, in which he deposited the books of Zoroaster and other curious manuscripts, some of which were totally unknown in Europe. In 1763, his labours received a still more flatter. ing recompence, and to which he always attached the highest value; he was nominated a member of the academy of belles-lettres, vacant by the death of M. Bougainville. He occupied his time in giving to the public a translation of the sacred books of Persia, which he had collected with so much care and difficulty. This work made its appear ance in 1771, under the title of the Zend Avesta. Two of the most va. luable passages from the manuscripts were the Vendidad and the Izesehne, which contain many valuable pas sages from the writings of Zoroaster and other antient writers, for it cannot be admitted that the whole of those pieces was from the pen of Zoroaster, as Anquetil endeavoured to prove. As an author cannot remain insensible to attacks made on the principle which he considers as the basis of the edifice he has constructed; of which Anquetil was far from being satisfied with the suffrages he had obtained, and which were in fact counterbalanced by criticisms of considerable weight. He found some opposition even in the academy, and certain foreign writers, treated his production with considerable acrimony. Among these was one celebrated for his pro found knowledge of the literature of many of the eastern languages, for his works of taste and erudition, for being the founder of the academy at Calcutta, and who was not less distinguished by the manner in which he filled the office of supreme judge of Bengal. This was Sir William Jones, who attacked Anquetil with considerable asperity. The latter perhaps felt that he had provoked these criticisms by some indiscreet pleasantries, in which he had indulged against the literati of Oxford and had the good sense not to reply. To the translation of the works from the Zend and Pehlwi, Duper ron annexed an account of his voyages, containing illustrations of the anuquities and geography of India; also the life of Zoroaster, an exposi tion of the dogmas, rites and ceromonies of the Persians, and many curi ous notes. The greater part of his manuscripts were upon various points of Indian history and literature, and he became so prepossessed in favour of the orientals, that he undertook to vindicate them against an assertion of Montesquieu, who represented them as mere slaves. For this purpose, Anquetil published in 1779, a work intitled La Legislatione Orientale; Indian Legislation, or Considerations on Despotism in Turkey, Persia and Hindostan. In short, in France, Anquetil was the representative and literary agent of India; and under this title, M. Legentil, a Lieutenant-colonel in the service of one of the na. bobs, addressed to him a collection of upwards of two hundred manuscripts in diffe ent languages, desir. ing him to make a present of them to the Royal Library if he thought them worthy of being deposited there. (To be Continued). LETTER III. TO THE MOST REV. DR. REILLY, mark, or the ci-devant subjects of the well-pensioned Prince of Orange) must be admitted to the only efficient foreign allies England has to look to for relief, throughout the Titular Primate of all Ireland, and whole habitable globe, not except Bishop of Armagh. My Lord, SINCE I had last the honour of addressing you, and declaring that, in common with the Catholic body, you had my most cordial and grateful thanks for your spirited and seasonable letter to Dr. Milner, the English Agent, on the proposal of subjecting the nomination of our Bishops to what we conceive an unnatural controul, a letter signed CLEON, appeared in the Herald, containing strictures on mine of the 1st instant, as published in the same patriotic and impartial Paper. The writer, in proof, forsooth, of his polished education, his elightened mind, and his profound respect for the nice feelings of his Catholic countrymen, sets out by complimenting them on their having "emerged from the gross and sanguinary superstitions that for a long period darkened and harassed the world:" and, in the generous distribution of his favours, and, in the same conciliating style, he conjures up the ghost of the Inquisition, wherewith to scare the poor Spanish Friars, who, by the bye, let CLEON "mince the matter as he may," since we have lost for ever the support of swindling Protestant Frederick, the accursed cause of continental Europe's slavery; and, the more than suspected defection of magnanimous Protestant Gustavus, to whose royal embrace Sir John had so great an aversion-not to mention here the implacable hostility of Protestant Laughlin of Den ing even the dominions of the Dey of Algiers. Bravo, CLEON! hollow-hearted friend, you have already shewn the cloven foot. Are you too priviledged to crawl forth from your "fastness" and insult anew the unfortunate Catholic slaves, by charging their noble and religious ancestors with having been the deluded victims of "gross and sanguinary superstitions?" Are they to be thus daily taunted with every disgusting brainless project their implacable enemies can hatch against them; and must they adopt the child of every Knight-errant's fancy, of whom perhaps they know nothing, except that he is a religious weather-cock, and a snug pensioner? Does CLEON, whose letter pretty clearly shews that, in order to accept office, he would have no great objection to take Lord Hawkesbury's "necessary qualifi cation oaths," if, indeed, he has not already done so; does he, I say, consider them as the only common-place, and Butt, against whom "the vilest of instruments" can direct the envenomed shafts of their malice; or does he by this wellchosen method, hope to conciliate "all that is liberal, dignified and enlightened among Catholics," and induce them to remove" one of the greatest barriers to the emancipation of their brethren, and the greatest obstacle to the cordial union of the sovereign with his subjects?" After having fought and won the battles of England, on the scorch 3 E ing |