CHILDERS, Robert Caesar (1838-1876), an eminent Oriental scholar, was the son of the Rev. Charles Childers, English chaplain at Nice. In 1860 he received an appointment in the civil service of Ceylon, which he retained until 1864, when he was compelled to return to England owing to ill health. He had acquired some knowledge of Pali during his residence in Ceylon, but it was not until the autumn of 1868 that, under the advice of Dr Rost, he gave himself to the scientific study of the language. Entering at once on the task of preparing a Pāli dictionary, he laboured at it with such extraordinary assiduity that he was able to publish the first volume in 1872, and the second and concluding volume in 1875. The work is an enduring monument of learning and zeal, and has been gratefully acknowledged by a competent authority as “the most valuable contribution that has yet been made to the knowledge of Pāli, and as the foundation of all future study of that language.” Mr Childers was a frequent contributor on subjects connected with Buddhism to scientific and literary periodicals. In 1872 ' he was appointed sub-librarian at the India Office, and in the following year he became the first professor of Pāli and Buddhist literature at University College, London. He died at London on the 25th July, 1876.