sations of his official duties; and made choice of
Chrishnanagur, at the distance of about fifty miles, which, besides a
dry soil and pure air, possessed an additional recommendation in its
vicinity to a Hindu College. Indeed, he omitted no means that could tend
to facilitate his acquaintance with the learning and manners of the
natives. A considerable portion of his income was set aside for the
purpose of supporting their scholars, whom he engaged for his
instruction.

The administration of justice was frequently interrupted by the want of
integrity in the Pundits, or expounders of the statutes. To prevent the
possibility of such deception, this upright magistrate undertook to
compile and translate a body of Hindu and Mohammedan laws, and to form a
digest of them in imitation of that of the Roman law framed by the order
of the Emperor Justinian. The mind can scarcely contemplate a plan of
utility more vast or splendid than one which aimed at preserving the
fountain of right uncontaminated for twenty millions of people. During
the period of sessions and term, when his attendance was required at
Calcutta, he usually resided on the banks of the Ganges, five miles from
the court.

In 1785 a periodical work, called the Asiatic Miscellany, which has been
erroneously attributed to the Asiatic Society, was undertaken at
Calcutta; and to the first two volumes, which appeared in that and the
following year, he contributed six hymns addressed to Hindu deities; a
literal version of twenty tales and fables of Nizami, expressly designed
for the help of students in the Persian language; and several smaller
pieces.

A resolution, which had passed the Board of the Executive Government of
Bengal, for altering the mode of paying the salaries of the judges,
produced from him a very spirited remonstrance. The affair, however,
seems to have been misconceived by himself and his brethren on the
Bench; and on its being explained the usual harmony was restored. At the
commencement of 1786, while this matter was pending, he made a voyage to
Chatigan, the boundary of the British dominions in Bengal towards the
east. In this "Indian Montpelier," where he describes "the hillocks
covered with pepper vines, and sparkling with blossoms of the coffee
tree," in addition to his other literary researches he twice perused the
poem of Ferdausi, consisting of above sixty thousand couplets. This he
considered to be an epic poem as majestic and entire as th