Directory_and_Chronicle_1841 — Page 671

654

Diary and Journal of Parsees

DEC.

at this day? When were the poor, and the sick, and the infirm, and the ignorant so much cared for as they are in our own times?

That there is in this age much that is hard and unfeeling, we ad- mit, for there are still those who can keep themselves aloof from all the great and good enterprises of the day, and pass by the most wretched sufferers unpitied and unrelieved, without taking any part or But to act thus is interest in the melioration of their fellowmen. not, we think, in accordance either with the fashion or prevailing spirit of the present generation.

The two works named at the head of this article, are pleasing proof that the spirit of the age is active, and enterprising, and becom- ing more and more free. People of different and distant nations are coming into nearer and better relations with each other; and in these altered circumstances, they see themselves in contrast with others, detect their own defects, see the advantages and improvements of others, and learn to make just comparisons, so as to reject the evil and useless, and to select whatever may seem likely to promote their own and the public good.

The Parsee gentlemen, named above, by visiting England, and by publishing the results of their observations there, have set a noble example, which will be followed by many others. In a few years, we expect to see Chinese publishing the results of their observations in Europe and America, and bringing from thence the most useful modern improvements.

The first of the two works before us, a " Diary of an Overland Journey from Bombay to England, and of one year's residence in Great Britain, by Ardaseer Cursetjee, c. E., F. A. s., chief engineer and inspector of machinery at the honorable E. I. Company's steam- factory and foundery at Bombay," was published in London last year, in a neat pamphlet, comprising 106 pages.

The second, a " Journal of a Residence of two years and a half in Great Britain, by Jehangeer Nowrojee and Hirjeebhoy Merwanjee, of Bombay, native architects," was published early this year in Lon- don, and is a handsome volume of 500 pages.

These gentlemen, all members of the Lowjee family, visited Eng- land chiefly for the purpose of improving their knowledge in naval architecture, in which profession the family has been distinguished for more than a century. It is well known that some of the finest ships in the world have been built in the hon. E. I. Company's dock- yard at Bombay, under the direction of Parsee master-builders. While in England, the three gentlemen of the Lowjee family, appear