Of Intransitive Verbs, whose Agent is Nominative Of Verbal Appellatives CHAP. X.-ON THE GOVERNMENT OF CASES. $60. Karaka APPENDIX A.-THE TEXT OF THE SIDATH SANGARAWA APPENDIX B.-THE TEXT OF THE VIBATH MALDAMA APPENDIX C.-NOTES ON THE TEXT Note 1. Page 1." Bow ye to the feet of Budha Hymn to the Trinity 100. Declension of the Feminine form of Thou'. ib. Specimen of Singhalese Prose. A few Hints to Europeans studying Singhalese 191 TO HIS EXCELLENCY SIR GEORGE WILLIAM ANDERSON, K. C. B., GOVERNOR OF CEYLON, ETC. ETC. SIR, The constitution of the native society in this Island, the habits and feelings of the Singhalese, their wants and grievances, their domestic and social relations, their traditions and customs, and their all-concentrating religion, are very imperfectly known; and these, which constitute their national character, can be understood but little, without a competent knowledge of the medium through which they are perpetuated the Singhalese or Elu language. This, I conceive, is the reason which has rendered an acquaintance with the native languages a sine quâ non in the requisite qualifications of those who enter the public service of this Island. However stringent the rule referred to, I may perhaps be permitted to state, the practice has nevertheless been very lax. Such a state of things, it is presumed, can neither be advantageous to those who govern, nor at all beneficial to the governed. a During the proceedings in one of the state prosecutions in 1848, it was elicited in evidence, that there were, in this comparatively small Island, many natives who had never seen an Englishman. This, doubtless, is to the people a source of regret, and may, under peculiar circumstances, prove to be a serious grievance: but how much greater must be the vexation and annoyance to thousands to know, that the majority of those whom they do see, and with whom they hold official intercourse, do not understand the Singhalese, and cannot correctly interpret the language of their complaints, or the expression of their grievances?—and how often, indeed, does an ignorance of the native character, the habits and feelings of the people (all which spring as it were from their language), induce Europeans to act in a manner hostile to the general interests of this Island? To encourage therefore the study of Singhalese, amongst at least the European portion of the inhabitants of Ceylon, will not only be, it is confidently hoped, one of Your Excellency's first endeavours; but, it is respectfully submitted, becomes a duty which cannot perhaps be too strongly impressed upon your attention. Under such circumstances, the following work, perhaps the first of the kind that has emanated from a native, and which has for its end the dissemination of the Singhalese language amongst Europeans, is inscribed to Your Excellency: and if, by the authority of your official position in this Island, the weight of your name, and the influence of |