OFFICE OF ASYMBOLIC ACRONYMS |
| DIRECTOR S.T. Drago |
ABOUT
In 1863 General Forlong married the eldest daughter of Major Montague Perreau, of his old regiment (1st Madras N.I.), and enjoyed forty years of perfect domestic happiness, through the care of a devoted wife of intellectually congenial character.
From the preceding statements it will be seen that General Forlong, when he undertook to present to students a work on Asiatic religions and superstitions, possessed unusual qualifications for such a task. He was not merely a bookworm, writing the " History of Human Error." He spoke of countries and customs as to which he had already gained intimate personal knowledge before he began to write. Not only in Burmah or in India did he study such questions on the spot, by aid of constant intercourse with the Asiatic custodians of traditions, but he knew also the homes of other faiths, in Palestine, Greece, and Italy. He held long talks with Gurus in Burmese forests, and he visited the remote west of Ireland to study on the ground its prehistoric monuments. In his library were to be found, not only ancient works, like those of Bryant and Monfaucon on mythology, but also the latest dictionaries and books of reference, the Transactions of all the leading learned societies, and such works as the long series of "Sacred Books of the East." He also followed with the keenest interest the progress of exploration and research, in Asia especially. His shelves contained all the leading works of travellers in the East. He was familiar with questions of Assyriology and Egyptology; and one of his latest studies was devoted to the great discovery of the Laws of Hammurabi, found at Susa. But his strength lay especially in his knowledge of Indian religions, not only those of Vedas, Puranas, and Sutras, but especially the folklore of the peasant, and the early superstitions often only orally preserved, which cannot be studied save by those who are able to gain the confidence of Asiatics. He read Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, besides speaking the languages most useful in India; and he understood the philosophy of Greece, as well as that of Buddhists, Confucians, and Taoists.