The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-14 00:00:00

DE,4711 OF MR. JORN CRADTURD.

This distinguished Oriental scholar and ethnolo-
gist died on Monday night at his residence, i3l
Elvaston-place, South Kensington. He was borU
on the 13th of Angust, 1783, in the island of Islay-
Ws father, Mr. Samuel Crawford, a man of sew ~0
and prudence, was of an Ayrshire family. lle had.
been brought up to the medical profession, andl
visiting Islay, married Margaret Campbell, daught
of James Campbell, of Ballinaley, the proprietor of
a small estate which had been for several genera-
tions in the family. Their son John was educated in
the village school of Bowmore, and to the instruc-
tion derived from the master, Daniel Taylor, Mr-
Crawford used to say he was chiefly indebted for
his advancement in life. In 1799, the profession of
medicine, for which he never had much taste,
having been chosen for him, Mr. Crawford re-
paired for his studies to Edinburgh, where be'
remained three years. In 1803 he obtained a.

medical appointment in the Indian Service, ern'
barked for India in April, and landed in Cal"
cutta in September of the same year. For the
first five years of his residence in India he
was employed in his professional duties with
the army, chiefly in the North-West Provinces, in
the neighbourhood of Delhi and Agra. In 1808 the
same duties took him to Penang in the Straits of
Malacca, where he began to devote himself to that
study of the languages and manners of the Malay
race which was destined to make him wideli
known. In 1811, having been brought under the,
notice of Lord pinto, then Governor- General 01'
India, Mr. Crawfurd was invited to accompaUl
him on the expedition which effected the cutli
quest of Java. After that event, in consequence of
his acquaintance with the Malay languages, hell
appointed to represent the British Government 3
the court of one of the native princes, and for nearly
six years he filled some of the principal diplomat°,
offices of the island. It was then that he collectea
the materials for the work which he afterwards pub-
_ _

fished, 4, The History of the Indian Archipelago.
Jova and their other Indian possessiogs having bee
t!
restored to the Dutch, Mr. Crawfurd returno
to England in 1817, and in 1820 published the
work just mentioned. In 1821 he went back t°
India, and shortly after his return was appointed
by the first Marquis of Hastings, at that time G°-
vernor-General, to the Diplomatic Mission to Siaind
and Cochin China. In 1823 Mr. John Adams,
.61

interinz Gavernor-General, apyointed him to admit'
ister the new settlement of Singapore, on the re-
signation of its founder, Sir Stamford Rafflesi.
In that position he remained three years, and
concluded with the native chiefs to whom the settle'
went belonged the convention by which we hala
,
its sovereignty. In 1826 he returned to Bengal'
and was forthwith appointed by the Governor"
General, Lord Amherst, Commissioner in feg°'
and eventually, on the conclusion of peace, Envoy
to the Burmese Court. In 1827 Mr. Crawfar',
finally returned to England, and in the following
year published an account of his mission to SW:1:
11
and Cochin China, and in 1829 another of '
mission to Burivah. After this period, Wg:
leisure, good health, and an inclination to study
and capacity for work er.abled him to keep
and perfect his stores of Indian and Eastern infer-
'nation. Ile was an indefatigable contributor t°
the Press on matters relating to the East, and if.
dee 1 on many other subjects. In 1892 he VP/
lisped a grammar and dictionary of the Malay 1314;
gu iges, and in 1856 a descriptive dictionary of Mal3o'
and the languages of the Philippine Arehipelagni
works which secured for their author the respect
philological world.
But this barren list of his services and public::
lions gives but a faint conception of the variee itse
quirements and genial character of the man wh°o
loss is now deplored by a wide circle of friends. P•,
members of the Geographical and Ethnological
‘l,O
cities will miss the tall form of the ever-grelin veter`
who scarcely ever failed to take part in their disell";
sions, and who, while stoutly maintainieg his alio,
views, showed a forbearance and courtesy in liste
ing to others which might well be imitated by le
members of learned societies. Of singularly sile,
and unostentatious bearing, few were more aLit
sy
and certainly none more ready, to impart sound ,
o
formation to those who sought his advice and ~A 0
sistance. A self-made man, he showed none of t'ep
jealousy which sometimes makes self-made hey
believe that kind of creation ended when t ip
were made. In society, ever hale and hearty ej
body, ever fresh and vigorous in mind, he seeraoro
to be of no age in particular, but in someso,
to belong to all, and thus men of a younger grifelD
ration both loved and respected him ; for the)' oo
that near him they would find warm shelter, Tito
cold shade, that any merit they might have vl°eLivi
be fully appreciated, and that they litiji
receive from the mellow octogenarian a synW of
and consideration for all shades and phase.°
opinion and thought, too often wanting in eiro
iativ
where men of science seem to meet rather as °'''"
nand
gonists pitted against each other in an arena,
as fellow-soldiers bound to combat ignorance d
error to the death. Mr. Crawfurd leaves a sou
two daughters to lament his loss.—Tinzes.