It was Dr. Campbell who, in April 1842, watched the closing scenes of Csoma’s life at Darjeeling, and his was the friendly hand, which performed the last services at his grave.
The 4th of April 1884 was the hundredth anniversary of Csoma’s birthday, and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences thought this a fitting occasion to render homage to that distinguished man of science, who was a Fellow of their Society. The method of commemoration which [[2]]suggested itself was the publication of a collected edition of his scattered works and essays, translated into the Hungarian language, and accompanied by a biographical sketch. In the compilation of this sketch, advantage has been taken of the disjointed and imperfect data which have as yet appeared on the subject; and at the same time important facts have been brought forward which had previously remained unknown.
In the archives of the Foreign Office in Calcutta, many letters are to be found which refer to Csoma de Körös and to his Tibetan labours, during the prosecution of which he enjoyed the support of the Supreme Government of India. Copies of these letters have been placed at the writer’s service by the courtesy of Mr. Durand, under-secretary of that department. Six original letters of Csoma have also been found in the library of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, which will be noticed in due course.
The narrative as it now stands will, it is hoped, make those interested in philological science better acquainted with the details of Csoma’s early years, and enable them to follow without interruption the steps of his long and arduous wanderings. These were for the most part accomplished on foot, and extended from Europe across Central Asia, Bokhara, through Afghanistan, the Panjab, and Kashmir towards the borders of China, and afterwards into Tibet and Hindustan down to Calcutta.
The motives which led him to devote himself to these literary and historical researches, and the causes which induced him to sacrifice so many years of his life to the study of the Tibetan language and literature, will be set forth on the authority of hitherto unpublished data; and it is confidently expected, that they will clear up many still obscure points in the career of this remarkable student, and dispel the erroneous, and sometimes even unjust, judgments which have been formed regarding his works and merits.
Of Alexander Csoma’s early years but few data exist. [[3]]According to the parish register he was born on the 4th of April 1784, in the village of Körös, in the county of Háromszék, in Transylvania. Körös is situated in a beautiful valley below the town of Kovászna, and its inhabitants carry on a flourishing trade in the manufacture of sieves (for which there is a special demand), and various articles of fancy woodwork. Körös is a pure Székely village, where the occupier and the proprietor are one and the same, where landlords and subject-cultivators of the soil were never known. It is the only frontier community in which no Wallachian ever settled.[1] The house in which Alexander first saw the light was destroyed by fire, but it is known that the dwelling which at present bears the number 143 on the village register, was built on the same plot of ground as the house stood in which Csoma was born.[2] His father’s name was Andrew, and the mother’s Ilona Göcz. His family was poor, but belonged to the military nobles called Széklers, a tribe which had for centuries guarded the frontiers of Transylvania against the invasions of the Turks. Csoma’s family is still known there; one of his nephews, also called Alexander, fell as a Honvéd in the War of Independence during a street fight at Nagy Szeben[3] in 1849. Gabriel, his only brother, left a son, also Alexander by name, who survives. A cousin, Joseph Csoma, was Protestant pastor in the small village of Mono, in the county of Middle Szolnok. The proprietor of the village, Baron Horváth, whilst residing there, met him almost daily. We learn from this source, that our Csoma’s near relations, and those friends who knew him in early life, are all dead, and we are therefore unable to gather much information of the incidents of his boyhood. Baron Horváth, however, tells us, on the authority of Joseph Csoma,[4] that Alexander, even as a boy, showed a keen desire for knowledge, and was of a [[4]]restless disposition, which, “like a swallow, is impelled on a distant journey when the autumn arrives.” He was endowed with a strong body and a sound constitution, and by continual exercise became fitted for extraordinary feats of endurance, such as we witness in the course of his life.
“He was of an elastic nature, and a Székler of powerful frame, resembling me to a certain extent,” was the remark of Joseph Csoma, a remark which he made with evident satisfaction; “but yet we were not quite alike,” the pastor added with a smile, “because if I walk much, I like to rest betimes, but my cousin Alexander, if once started off, did not stop till the end of his journey was attained. As boys, we could never compete with him in walking, because when he happened to reach the top of a hill, that did not satisfy him, but he wished to know what was beyond it, and beyond that again, and thus he often trotted on for immense distances.”
Alexander Csoma’s early education began at the school of his native village, and it appears, that in or about the year 1799 he entered the College of Nagy Enyed as a student. One of his masters, afterwards a faithful friend, Professor Samuel Hegedüs, always took a warm and kindly interest in the lad; and the memoir which he has left regarding Csoma, being based on personal knowledge, will ever remain a valuable source of information respecting Csoma’s early career. Professor Hegedüs has described in vivid terms the parting scene when Csoma set out on his life’s destiny. “I knew him,” the Professor said, “from his childhood, and I may say I lived in most intimate friendship with him. We held a long conversation up to the moment of his departure; and I can therefore conscientiously say, from all I know of him, I do not recollect, that he ever gave his superiors or teachers cause for reproof, or his fellow-pupils an occasion for a complaint. I include Csoma among those fortunate and rare individuals, against whom nobody has ever had a grievance, nor have I heard him make a [[5]]complaint about others. He bore work and fatigue to a wonderful degree, a power which he owed to temperate habits and purity of life and conduct.
“He was of middle stature, with dark hair and complexion; his face was oblong, the expression of his countenance full of sympathy, his eyes replete with thoughtful melancholy. He spoke little. If he happened to be of a contrary opinion to those around him, he never pressed his own point obstinately. I do not believe,” says Hegedüs, “he could ever be very angry with anybody, a trait in his character which secured him friends and sympathy everywhere.”
In dress he was neat and simple, easily satisfied, and economical; and he was particularly careful in money matters. The small savings, which as a senior student he was enabled to effect, from fees paid to him by his juniors for private tuition, he stored so carefully, that he was considered one of the richest in the school.