174 MEMORIES OF MY LIFE
originator of the idea of making Singapore a free port, and had trouble in convincing Sir Stamford that it would be wise to do this. He became its first Governor, and the descriptions he gave of his multifarious occupations in that new post, with a very small staff, were amusing. He established a newspaper and wrote much of it himself. The settlement quickly grew in size and wealth, and had attained much importance by the time he retired. He compiled the first Malay Dictionary and Grammar. Having failed in England to secure a seat in Parliament, he engaged heart and soul in Ethnology and Geography, spoke very frequently at meetings, always with reason, and he wrote many ethnological papers, all good, but perhaps few of first rank. He was a very kind and helpful friend to me. He caught his death illness through handing ladies to their carriage on the occasion of one of his Soir6es, on a bitter night. He died believing in his delirium that he was speaking at the Ethnological Society (since merged into the Anthropological), to which he was devoted.
Mr. George Bentharn (1800-18N, the botanist, was a great friend of Mr. Crawfurd, and he became a kind friend to myself and to my wife. He was son of General Bentham, who obtained one of the highest positions as constructor of ships in the Russian Navy, and he was nephew to Jeremy Bentham. Mr. George Bentham was the companion in youth of John Stuart W.11, of whom lie had much to tell. In his early manhood he took to logic, and wrote an important paper, in which he pointed out that the distinctiveness of a certain logical operation in common use had been overlooked and never received a name. I myself am
