Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 32.djvu/401

Lees being a short but decisive counter-reply to the few friendly hints of the Rev. Charles B. Stennett, at present an officiating priest in the Religious College of Maynooth, and late a lieutenant of grenadiers in the North York Regiment of Militia.' Dublin, 1820, 8vo; 14th edit. 1821. 4. 'A Letter to Mr. Wilberforce, containing some Reflections on a late Address of Lord John Russell's and the Past and Present Conduct of the Whigs.' Dublin, 1820. 6. 'An Address to the King's Friends throughout the British Empire on the present Awful and Critical State of Great Britain, containing just and necessary Strictures on a late Speech of Henry Brougham, esq., in the House of Lords in defence of the Queen.' Dublin, 1820, 8vo; 11th edit. 1821. 6. 'A Cursory View of the Present State of Ireland.' Dublin, 1821, 8vo. 7. 'Nineteen Pages of Advice to the Protestant Freemen and Freeholders of the City of Dublin, containing Observations on the Speeches and Conduct of a late Aggregate Meeting in Liffey St. Chapel, the first of June; recommended to the deep and serious consideration of every Protestant in Ireland.' Dublin, 1821, 8vo. 8. 'Most Important. Trial of Sir Harcourt Lees, Bart. Before Chief Justice B and Serjeant Flummery on Saturday, the 11th January, 1823, by a jury of Special-Dust Churchmen, on charges of Barratry and Eavesdropping.' Dublin, 8vo. 9. 'Theological Extracts selected from a late Letter written by a Popish Prelate to his Grace the Archbishop of Dublin, with Observations on the same, and a well-merited and equally well-applied literary flagellation of the titular shoulders of this mild and humble Minister of the Gospel; with a complete exposure of his friend the Pope and the entire body of holy impostors,' Dublin, n.d.

 LEES, WILLIAM NASSAU (1825–1889), major-general in the Indian army and orientalist, fourth son of Sir Harcourt Lees [q. v.], bart., was born on 26 Feb. 1825, and educated at Nut Grove and at Trinity College, Dublin, but took no degree. He was appointed to a Bengal cadetship in 1846, and was posted to the late 42nd Bengal native infantry as ensign in March 1846. He became lieutenant in July 1853, captain in September 1858, major in June 1865, lieutenant-colonel in 1868, colonel in 1876, and major-general in 1885, having been placed on the supernumerary list in 1884. He was for some years principal of the Madrásá or Mohammedan College, Calcutta (averaging four hundred students), in which institution he was also professor of law, logic, literature, and mathematics. He was likewise secretary to the college of Fort William, Persian translator to the government, and government examiner in Arabic, Persian, and Urdu for all branches of the service, besides being for some years part proprietor of the ‘Times of India’ newspaper, and was an incessant contributor to the daily press on all Indian topics, political, military, and economical. In 1857 the university of Dublin conferred on him the honorary degree of LL.D., and he was also a doctor in philosophy of Berlin. He became a member of the Royal Asiatic Society, London, in 1872. A staunch conservative in politics, he twice sought to enter parliament, but without success. He died at his residence in Grosvenor Street, London, on 9 March 1889, aged 64.

Lees was a distinguished oriental scholar. In 1853, when still an ensign, he brought out an edition of the Arabic ‘Fatúh'sh-Shám,’ or account of the Muslim conquest of Syria, and edited or co-edited various native works (see Centenary Review of the Bengal Asiatic Society, 1885). The Arabic work for which his memory is more particularly honoured by Eastern scholars is his ‘Commentary of Az-Zamakhshari,’ an exegesis of the Koran, much reverenced by Sunnites. In Persian, his ‘Nafahatu l'Uns’ of Jámí (an account of famous saints and Sufites modernised from an older chronicle) and the ‘Vis u Rámin,’ which has been described as a poetical version of an original Páhlévi romance, are not less worthy. Lees assisted in the production by native writers of the ‘A'aris i Buzurgan’ (1855), consisting of obituary notices of Mohammedan doctors (edited by Lees and the Maulavi Kaberu 'd din Ahmad); a ‘History of the Caliphs’ (1856); a ‘Book of Anecdotes, Wonders, Pleasantries, Rarities, and Useful Extracts’ (1856); and the ‘Alamgirmáneh’ (1868). Among his many contributions to the Royal Asiatic Society's ‘Journal’ may be mentioned his ‘Materials for the History of India during the 600 years of Mohammedan Rule previous to the Foundation of the British Empire in India,’ which appeared in 1868 (Journ. Roy. Asiatic Soc. vol. iii.), and contains a thoughtful review of the relations of the natives of India to their English rulers. To the ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal’ he contributed an article on the application of Roman alphabetical characters to oriental languages, six other papers, and many valuable notes. He supervised the printing of Mr. Morley's edition of the 