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History of Bengali Language and Literature c11: Chapter VII. The Modern Age

History of Bengali Language and Literature c11

Language
English

Contents

Chapter VII. The Modern Age

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THE MODERN AGE.

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I. (a) The epoch ushered in by European workers—civilians and missionaries.
(b) Dr. Carey and his colleagues.
(c) Bengali works written by Europeans.
(d) A new ideal in the country. II. (a) The College of Fort William.
(b) The Pundits of the College—Mrityunjaya—Rāma Rāma Vasu—Chandi Charan Munsi—and Rājiva Lochana—Their Bengali works.
(c) The Rev. K. M. Banerjee and other authors who followed in the wake of European writers—a list of their publications. III. General remarks chiefly indicating the characteristics of the new age and its contrast with the earlier one. IV. (a) Decadance of the high spiritual ideal in Hindu society and the advent of Rājā Rāma Mohana Roy.
(b) A comprehensive review of his life and work.
(c) The writers that followed Rājā Rāma Mohana Roy — Devendra Nātha Tagore. — Akṣaya Kumāra Dutta and others.

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I. (a) The new epoch ushered in by European workers,—civilians and missionaries.

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Whatever remnants of prose we may be able to unearth from old records and manuscripts in order to vindicate the glory of our past literature, it must, for the sake of truth, be admitted that they were too insignificant to deserve prominent mention in a history of literature. Disconnected from the story of the later development of prose, that has grown up like a rich harvest during the British rule, they would scarcely deserve more than a passing notice.

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Early prose—of a minor importance.

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I have said more than once in the foregoing chapters that the heart of Bengal lay in her villages,—contented as these were with their never-ceasing fountain of domestic and spiritual happiness. Our people did not hitherto care for the world outside the pale of their homes. They worked and sang, prayed, fasted and had visions of God. They heard the bird Kokil coo from the mango boughs in spring, and saw their favourite flower, the lotus, bloom in their tanks in autumn; and blithely did they sing about all these, and about the sweets of home life. They were content with loving their kith and kin, their mothers, wives and children, and thought that God revealed Himself to them in domestic tenderness. They pursued the nicities of Logic or indulged in abstruse metaphysical contemplations, and disciplined their mind that they might take a quiet and ungrudging view of the ills of life and encounter nobly the supreme penalty of nature when in due course it would come upon them.

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But this village life underwent a sudden disturbance. Political changes were of little importance to the people. They heard from gossips that the Badsah, who ruled from the throne of Murshidābād, had been ousted by the English, and that a great battle had been fought at Plassey, but this did not seem at all any important news to them. Now, however, for the first time in history, a set of people came with the distinct object of improving them spiritually and morally. The Mussalmāns had not done so,—not even the great Ākbar in his dream of a political empire. The Portuguese, the Burmese and the Maharattas had all overrun the country during successive ages. They came to loot or judge criminals—restore rights or seize them; that was in the eyes of the Hindus the true function of their foreign sovereigns. The Mussalmāns had come with the Korān, but often with a dagger also, as an alternative for the acceptance of their faith; those that failed to be convinced were sometimes forcibly served with beef and made converts.

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But here came a people who showed real anxiety to ameliorate the condition of the people. Bent on high motives of philanthropy and love, they did not apply force but used gentle persuasion. Besides they showed a great anxiety to give to our countrymen the sort of education which they had not yet had, notwithstanding their higher flights in theology and metaphysics. A class of philanthropic men, whose mission was the propaganda of the great love of their master, Jesus Christ,—the missionaries in the earlier stages of British rule did for our country and her literature what we can not too highly eulogise. They approached with love and so touched the heart of the people. Dr. Carey called us semi-barbarians in a letter to a friend, but he had no contempt for the people; it was a bonâ fide statement which we may very well excuse, when we know that he was truly inspired with the spirit of Christian love for his fellowmen and did not mean to abuse. This love touched the heart of the Bengalis. In fact the ardour, with which the missionaries and even some members of the Civil Service commenced their self-imposed task of educating the masses and ameliorating their condition, elicits our unqualified respect and admiration. The first Bengali types in the country were those em-

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A call from outside.

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Halhed's Grammar. ployed in printing a Bengali grammar by Mr. Nathaniel Prassy Halhed who was a Civilian and oriental scholar and "was so well acquainted with the language as sometimes to pass in disguise as a Native."* The grammar was printed in 1778 A.D. in a press at Hugli. The punches of the fount were prepared by Mr. Wilkins who rose to great distinction as an oriental scholar, and published a translation of the Gītā which was the first Sanskrit work made accessible to the scholars of Europe by translation. Mr. Wilkins, who was afterwards decorated with knighthood, belonged to the Service of the East India Company, and in his researches in the field of Sanskrit lore was a recipient of the distinguished patronage of Warren Hastings. Wilkins made it the mission of his life to improve the condition of the masses of Bengal by giving them a general education for which printing was essentially necessary. In his zeal to do so, he acquired the art of punch-cutting and prepared a set of Bengali punches with his own hands, after he had been seven years in this country, and in this stage he also trained another hand to do the same work. Pañchānana Karmakāra and his relation and assistant Manohara Karmakāra belonging to the caste of blacksmiths, were instructed in the art of punch-cutting by Mr. Wilkins; and the worry and trouble attending the enterprise for years would have been considered not worth undergoing, had not Mr. Wilkins proceeded with a true Christian spirit of patient philanthropy. In fact the amelioration of the condition of

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Punches by Wilkins.

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∗ A descriptive catalogue of Bengali works by J. Lang, p. 20.

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the people, amongst whom he was called upon to work, had become the all-absorbing matter of his thought. Through the labours of Panchanana Karmakāra and his relative and colleague Manohara the art of punch-cutting became domesticated in India. We do not, however, mean to say that the art of printing in a crude form was not known in Bengal before Charles Wilkins came to the field. We have come across a Ms. nearly 200 years old which was printed from engraved wooden blocks. But the art was not in general use; a stray endeavour for decorative purposes does not prognosticate a system or a regular cultivation of the art, so we may rightly pass over it.

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Panchānana and Manohara.

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Crude printing known, 200 years ago.

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The next notice that we have of printing in Bengali is that of the printed Code of Regulations drawn up by Sir Elija Impey on which all subsequent legislation has been based. The regulations were translated by Mr. Jonathan Duncan, afterwards Governor of Bombay, and were printed at the 'Company's Press' in 1785. The great Cornwallis Code of 1793, translated into Bengali by Mr. Forster, who was in his time the most distinguished European scholar of Bengali, was printed at the same press but from an improved fount, which continued to be the standard of Bengal types, till a neater and a smaller fount was prepared by Dr. Carey.

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Early printing.

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Next to Sir Charles Wilkins, Natheniel Prassey Halhed and Graves Chamney Haughton came a host of European scholars in Bengali and other oriental languages, many of whom belonged to the Çri Rāmapur Mission, but none of them was so conspicuous in his efforts to improve the resources of Bengali prose or help the circulation of Bengali printing as was Dr. Carey.

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(b) Dr. Carey and his colleagues.

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He had started in life as a cobbler. When, however, by his great diligence, piety, scholarship and strength of character he had raised himself to a position of eminence as missionary, he was dining one summar day in 1786 with the Governor General, the Marquis of Hastings, at Barrackpur Park, opposite Çri Rāmapur and, "overheard one of the guests, a general officer, making enquiry of one of the Aides-de-Camp, whether Dr. Carey had not been a shoemaker, on which he stepped forward and exclaimed, 'No Sir, only a cobbler!'" "Carey might be seen" writes John Clark Marshman "walking eight or ten miles to Northampton with his wallet full of shoes upon his shoulders and then returning home with a fresh supply of leather to fulfil his engagements with a Government contractor."

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This man came subsequently as a missionary to Bengal and felt a true Christian love for the people around him who appeared to him to be sunk in superstition, vice and idolatory. He learnt Sanskrit, Bengali, Persian and Maharatti, not with a view to know the people or profit by the wisdom contained in oriental books, but with the object of bringing a large mass of humanity, whom he sincerely believed to be grovelling in darkness, to light. We may regret that Dr. Carey failed to observe the religious life in Bengal which, (This page is blank.)

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Your affect: Bro: W. Carey.

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inspite of superstitions, was permeated with a noble purpose and a spirit of true devotional fervour. But we can by no means ignore or underestimate the great pains and the indefatigable industry that mark his endeavours to improve the lives of the Bengalis by spreading education and by disseminating the truths of the Gospel among them. To him we pre-eminently owe the rapid development of Bengali prose before Rājā Rāma Mohana Roy took up the work right earnestly.

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The difficulties in the way of Dr. Carey were many and great. It was his greatest ambition in life to publish a translation of the Gospel in Bengali. When after years of hard and unremitted labour, he had brought the translation of the New Testament almost to completion, he estimated the cost of printing at Calcutta of 10,000 of copies at Rs. 43750. This was quite beyond his means, and he thought of getting the book printed in England. At first he proposed to obtain punches from Caslon, the eminent letter-founder in London, calculating that the cost of each punch would be 5 s. only; but he was wrong; the cost of the punches was a guinea a piece. So he gave up the idea of getting the book printed in England, though before doing so he had made another attempt to engage the services of a letter-founder whom he knew at Derby. In 1798 he read an advertisement that a letter-foundry was established for the ‘country language’ at Calcutta. Dr. Carey lost no time in corresponding with the projector of the scheme, and found that the punches of the foundry were cut by Panchānana, who had been trained by Sir Charles

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His efforts to print the Bible.

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Wilkins. Soon after a printing press constructed of wood was advertised for sale and Dr. Carey immediately purchased it for £40. Panchanana was once more found out and his services engaged by the Çri Rāmapur Mission. Here Panchanana completed a fount of 700 separate punches for Devanāgri letters and their compounds. Panchanana was now an old man, so his worthy colleague Manohara, already mentioned, was called in to assist him and "was subsequently employed for forty years at the Çri Rāmapur press and to his exertions and instruction, Bengal is indebted for the various beautiful founts of the Bengali, Nāgri, Persian, Arabic and other characters which have been gradually introduced into the different printing establishments."*

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All this was due to the indefatigable industry of Dr. Carey and his colleagues. They were determined to publish the Bible in Bengali, and this Carey was ultimately able to do. Imagine his great delight when on the 18th of March, 1803, Mr. Ward set the first types with his own hands and presented him with the first sheet of the Testament. We find the following account of him in the notice of his career published by the British and Foreign Bible Society at his death in 1834. "The extent of his zeal may be judged by the fact that, in conjunction with his colleagues, he has been instrumental in giving to the tribes of Asia the sacred scriptures in whole or in part in between 30 and 40 different languages." He acquired Bengali with a thoroughness which we scarcely find in any other

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He acquires Bengali.

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∗ History of Cri Ramapur Mission Vol. I., p. 179.

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foreigner who has studied our language. He had employed Pundits to help him to acquire knowledge of Bengali, and when they declared that he was fit to address the people he commenced preaching; and in 1794 we find him devoted to this task in the jungly tracts of Sundarvans. He writes on the 16th January, 1798, "I spoke in Bengali for nearly half an hour without an intermission." "But" says he later on "I recollect that after I had preached or rather thought that I had, for two years (in Bengali), a man one day came to me and declared that he could not understand me, and this long after my flattering teachers had declared that every one could understand me. I feel the impression which that poor man's remark made on me to this day."*

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But we presume that it was his peculiarity of accent in pronouncing the letters ত, থ etc. which must have made his speech in some cases unintelligible to people. Reading his Bengali works on various subjects, one is struck with his wonderful command over the idioms and colloquial forms of our dialect so difficult for a foreigner to acquire. Dr. Carey was not, however, the man to be daunted by failures. He composed a short and simple marriage service in Bengali for meeting the growing demand of such formulæ, as there was already a good number of native Christians, whose marriage ceremonies were to be celebrated according to the new rites for which there was yet no guide in the vernacular. He besides composed songs in Bengali and we find one of his friends writing about himself and Dr.

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∗ Memoir of Dr Carey by Eustace Carey.—p. 503.

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Carey "This morning brother Carey and I took our stand like two ballad-singers and began singing in Bengali before one of Çiva's temples."* Of course now-a-days a European Missionary singing a Bengali song is no strange spectacle in this country; but Carey was the pioneer in all such matters and he was inspired by a real zeal to bring the people who, according to his notions, erred in religion, to the creed which he considered to be the only true one; and Hindus have always judged of a people by the sincerety of their faith and not by the loftiness of their doctrines, of which their own Çāstras furnish sufficiently great and noble examples. Before these sincere souls took up the task of propagating their religious faith "there had been no indication that the conquerers of Bengal possessed any religion at all, excepting the hoisting of the flag on Sundays and the official attendance of the few at the Sunday morning service" and it was the earnest endeavour of Carey, Marshman, Martyn and their colleagues to remove this impression. They spared no pains to bring the lost sheep to the fold. In the Sundervans Dr. Carey lost a son, but he could induce no person, not even a Mahomedan, to make a coffin, and the distress, to which he and his wife were put, can hardly be adequately described. All this he underwent with a patient and even a glad heart, because though the people opposed him, he wanted to do good to them,—to return good for evil, as the great master had enjoined upon all true followers of his creed. This great love attracted the people and all difficulties, all problems—however insur-

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The result of self-sacrifice.

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∗ Memoir p. 129.

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mountable or intricate—are overcome by love. The best men of the land during the first epoch of the British rule were drawn to Christanity by the noble examples of philanthropic love displayed by the Christian missionaries. They were not attracted by the inherent qualities of Christanity so much as by the examples of suffering for love before them. It was owing to these traits of disinterestedness in the life of early missionaries that men like the Rev. K. M. Banerjee, the Rev. Lāl Behari De, Michael Madhu Sudana Datta, Govinda Chandra Datta and last though not the least of this glorious band, Dr. K. C. Banerjee had embraced Christanity. For nearly a century the enlightened Hindus were dazzled by the glare of western civilisation; and showed no inclination to admit that anything could have been noble or great in the past of their own nation. The great personality of Chaitanya Deva and his heavenly love, the poems of Chandi Dās and the lays of other Vaisnva poets, the songs of Rāma Prasāda, the vivid and noble portraitures of domestic life found in Kavi Kaṅkana's poems and the exquisite touches and elegance of Bhārat Chahdra's style could now command no attention from the educated young men of Bengal; in fact, Bengal with her wealth of noble ideas lay far off, though so near, and Europe, removed from us by land and sea became nearer and dearer to the new generation of the Hindus who came in touch with the missionaries. In the domestic circle the parents became anxious for children who under the spell of missionary influeuce failed even to admire the patient and self-sacrificing love for religion which had marked the Hindu women of the past, and revolted

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Young men of Bengal anglicised.

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against all that was old and had been sacred in popular estimation. The gods had now become to them mere earthen clay, the temples were unholy and the hallowed precincts of their homes a hole of superstition. Their noble literature was no more than a miserable scribbling and shreds of paper which they should consign to the fire or to worms. The songs of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa which, were expressed in the highest language of poetry, and were hitherto a fountain of joy and inspiration to the rich and the poor alike, now became horrible to them; and one of our greatest countrymen of that age was known to declare that Kṛṣṇa, the supreme soul, was worse than a sweeper. The Hindu shrines had once been desecrated by Mahomedans who had thrown beef and other unholy things into them to destroy their sanctity; but they had only half succeeded, for thousands of hearts had remained true to them. But now our own people, the educated classes, lost faith in the temples, and looked upon them as pandemoniums and the gods enshrined in them as Beelzebubs and Molochs, whether they believed in Christanity or not. The victory of the missionaries was complete. The secret of their success, I beg to repeat, lay in the circumstance of their approaching us with love. They had shown a system of organised philanthropy hitherto unknown to the country. Their charity, devotion, zeal and sympathy had drawn away those who were the natural ornaments of our society, and poor Bengal may consider this love to have been the greatest of her disasters, since more than the sword it upset time-honoured hoary institutions and alienated true hearts.

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True love never spends itself in a single channel. Dr. Carey and his colleagues did not consider their work done by merely propagating the truths of Christianity. They wanted sincerely to give our countrymen education, according to their own standards, in all departments of knowledge; and the wonderful activity displayed by them in their labour of love draws forth our greatest admiration, when we consider that the Government of the East India Company, afraid of disturbing the conservative views of our people in the earlier stages, did not assist but often obstructed them. There is not a subject in which these Europeans did not come forward to write books in Bengali in order to spread education amongst the masses.

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Dr. Carey wrote the following books in Bengali besides numerous treatises on Christianity and the translation of the Bible.

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1. A Dictionary of the Bengali language in three volumes, quarto size, containing 80,000 words—the work of thirty years. The original price was Rs. 120. This book came out in 1815—25.

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2. A Bengali Grammar published in 1801. It had passed through four editions before 1855.

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3. Kathopakathana or Colloquies, published in August, 1801.

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4. Itihāsamālā, or garland of stories, published in 1812. It contains 150 short stories at that time current in Bengal.

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The last two books form a rich mine of idioms of the spoken dialect of Bengal, from which Tek Chand Ṭhākur took the cue for his style in the composition of his masterpiece in Bengali—the Ālāler Gharer Dulāla. Dr. Carey writes in the preface to his Kathopakathana: "That the work might be as complete as possible, I have employed some sensible natives to compose dialogues upon subjects of domestic nature and to give them precisely in the natural style of the persons supposed to be speakers." So he did not write the whole of the book himself, but the dialogues, other than those written on domestic subjects, are his composition, and they do him a great credit. He had a high regard for Bengali as a language. He says of it in the aforesaid preface, "This language... current through an extent of country nearly equal to Great Britain......when properly cultivated, will be inferior to none in elegance and perspicuity." He wanted not only to educate and elevate the masses of Bengal, but also to develop, as best he could, the resources of a language for which he had a great respect. The style of his colloquies inspired many of our countrymen to write in the current dialect, and not only do we find it imitated in a pre-eminent degree in Ālāler Gharer Dulāla and Hutum Pechār Naksā, but even in the style of a Bankima Chandra and Dina Vandu Mitra. I quote a passage from his colloquies. Dr. Carey appended an English translation which I adopt with some modifications.

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Dr. Carey's Bengali works.

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Specimens of colloquial style.

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*"Yesterday at 12 o'clock my youngest wife had cooked the dinner, and my children had first eaten

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*"কাল দুপুর বেলা ছোট বৌ রাঁধিতেছিল, ইহার মধ্যে their rice. At that moment the middle woman came in and set up a quarrel.”

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“None of the women of your house can bear to see any good happening to another.”

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“What can I say? There is no place where I can go and stay for 4 or 5 days, and allow the breeze to blow on my face (enjoy peace).”

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“Why don’t you go to your brother’s house and stay there for a few days?”

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“What, go to their house! If I were to go to their house, do you think I should be preserved from these abusive women? There is not one of them who can bear to hear of my brothers. My husband scarcely stays at home at all, on account of their quarrels. When he does come, he himself abuses and scolds.”

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“Formerly you lived on such good terms. Strange, you are always differing now.”

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আমার ছ্যালা আগে ভাত খাইয়াছিল, ইহার মধ্যে মায্যা মাগী আসিয়া দ্বন্দ্ব আরম্ভ করিল।”

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“তোরগো বাড়ীর মায়াঙলা কেহ কাক ভাল দেখিতে পারে না।”

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“কি করিব, এমন ঠাঁই নাই যে সেখানে গিয়া থাকিলে দশ পাঁচ দিন গায় বাতাস লাগে।”

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“কেন? তোর ভাইদের বাড়ী দিন কতক যা না কেন?

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“তাদের বাড়ী যাব কি? তাহা হইলে কি ভাইধাগীদের কাছে রক্ষা আছে? আমাদের ভাইদের নাম শুন্তে পারে না কেউ। কর্তা যিনি তিনি দ্বন্দ্ব ডাকাডাকির জন্য বাড়ী প্রায় থাকেন না। যখন আইসেন তখন গালাগালি তিরস্কার করেন।”

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"If I could only give my daughters in marriage, I would take seven mustard seeds and bathe (an idiom in Bengali signifying great relief of mind). I would offer betel to Kulai Chandi and send puja to Suvachanī."

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"Where do you think of marrying your girls? In the country or outside it?"

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"I cannot say what God intends. I think it would be well to marry them near home."

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"What do all the brothers' wives say? What say the uncles and aunts? What all agree upon is proper."

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"As it happens I will go home; if the evening comes I shall be scolded."

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"তোদের সংসারে এমন ঐক্য ছিল, এখন এমন অনৈক্য হইয়াছে।"

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"ম্যায়া দুটার বিয়া দিতে পারিলে আমি সাতটা শরিষা দিয়া স্নান করি, কুলাই চণ্ডীর বাড়ী গুয়া পান দিই, সুবচনী পূজা করি, মনস্কামনা সিদ্ধ করিলে হয়।"

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ম্যায়ার বিবাহ কোথায় ঠাওর হইয়াছে? দেশের মধ্যে না বিদেশে দিবা?

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"ঈশ্বরের মনে কি আছে বুঝতে পারি মা; আমার ইচ্ছা দেশের মধ্যে হইলেই ভাল হয়।"

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"তোমার যারা সকলে কি বলে? ম্যায়ার মামা, মামী কি বলে? পাঁচটার যে মত সেই কর্তব্য।"

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"সে যেই হউক, আমি বাড়ী যাই, বেলা গেলে এখনই গালাগালি দিবে।"

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The colloquy under the head "Quarrels of Women" beginning with "Where have you been, gossip? Is none of the business of the evening in your mind?" presents to us a disagreeable scene, which, assuming that some pundit wrote it for Dr. Carey, though he himself appends an English translation, should not, for the sake of decency, have found a place in a missionary's book. We find slang of a most revolting type used freely in that dialogue, and we wonder how Dr. Carey could have published it in his own name. This goes to show that even a European missionary of such spotless reputation as Dr. Carey's was, could not escape from that corrupt taste of the age which marks the writing of Içvara Gupta and Gauri Çankar Bhattāchāryya.

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We quote below two more extracts from Dr. Carey's Bengali writings, which will illustrate his great command over the language. I take both of them from his Itihāsamālā or Garland of Stories.

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I. *" Once upon a time a thief was running away with the articles stolen from a house, and was passing by the fields adjoining the village. A ploughman, who happened to see him, said, 'Would you mind returning those things to the rightful owner? If you do not, I shall have you punished in the court of the king.' The thief replied, 'Mind your

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*“ এক চোর কোন গৃহস্থের কতকগুলি দ্রব্য চুরি করিয়া গ্রামোপান্তে যাইতেছিল; সেই সময়ে এক কৃষক তাহাকে দেখিয়া কহিল, ‘তুই যে লোকের দ্রব্যাদি লইয়া যাইতেছিস তাহাকে ফিরিয়া দে, নতুবা রাজ নিকটে দণ্ড হইবে।’ চোরের উত্তর

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The story of a thief.

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own business, fool. If you show any undue enthusiasm in this matter I shall make you suffer capital punishment at the hands of the king.' The ploughman, who was naturally very angry at the audacity of the thief, caught hold of him with the stolen articles and brought him before the king to whom he related the whole story. When the king asked the thief what he had to say in reply, he answered, 'Great king. I saw that this man was sitting with these articles in a jungle: I told him that he looked like a thief and threatened to bring him before your majesty, if he would not return the articles to the owner. But the man abused me for saying so. Be pleased to judge this thief as he deserves.' The king asked if there was any eyewitness to substantiate the statement of either; but both of them declared that there was none. The king ordered his officers to take away both of them, and, after tightly binding each to a corpse, to burn them at separate places. He desired, moreover, that his order should be quickly executed.

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করিল, তুই আপনার কৰ্ম্ম কর, অতিরিক্ত কহিলে রাজার অগ্রে তোর প্রাণদণ্ড হইবে।' কৃষক ইহা শুনিয়া ক্রুদ্ধ হইয়া দ্রব্যের সহিত চোরকে ধরিয়া রাজার সমীপে সমস্ত গিয়া নিবেদন করিল। অনন্তর নৃপতি চোরকে আসিয়া জিজ্ঞাসা করিলে, সে উত্তর করিল, 'হে মহারাজ আমি দেখিলাম যে এই লোকে ঐ সকল দ্রব্য লইয়া বন মধ্যে বসিয়া রহিয়াছে। তাহাতে আমি কহিলাম যে তুমি চোর হইবা। যাহার দ্রব্য আনিয়াছ তাহাকে দিয়া আইস, নতুবা তোমাকে মহারাজের নিকট লইয়া যাইব তাহাতে ইনি আমাকে কটুবাক্য কহিলে, আমি ইহাকে এখানে ধরিয়া আনিলাম। ইহার বিচার করিতে আজ্ঞা হউক।'

c11.78

After publicly passing this sentence, he brought the officers into his private chamber, and instructed them to keep a secret watch upon these men after they had been bound to the corpses as directed. They were instructed to listen to the conversation of the two and report it to him at once. The officers accordingly took the two men to the river side, where they bound them to two different corpses; and on the pretext of going away to bring fuel for burning them, hid themselves close by, so that they could overhear without being seen. The two men thinking they were left to themselves, now felt sure that death was inevitable, upon which the ploughman said to the thief, ‘Well, thief, you are a remarkably clever fellow, you have succeeded in bringing death and ruin upon me though I am innocent.’ The thief said in reply, ‘I begged you not to adopt the course you took, saying that if you quarrelled with me your life would pay the forfeit. For my part, I am a thief, and death is just the punishment that I deserve. But you are going to lose your life

c11.79

তদনন্তর রাজা কহিলেন, ‘উহার কেহ সাক্ষী আছে?’ তাহাতে উত্তরে কহিলা ‘সাক্ষী কেহ নাই।’ অনন্তর ভূপতি ভৃত্যের দিগকে আজ্ঞা করিলেন, যে এই দুই জনকে লইয়া নদী তীরে দুই শবের সহিত পৃথক পৃথক দাহ কর, ইহাতে বিলম্ব না হয়। পশ্চাৎ নির্জ্জনে ঐ দাসের দিগকে ডাকিয়া কহিলেন ‘ঐ দুইজনকে দুই শবের সহিত পৃথক পৃথক বন্ধন করিয়া গুপ্তবেশে নিকটে থাকিয়া উভয়ের কথোপকথন শুনিয়া আমাকে কহিবা।’ পরে দাসের। সেই দুই লোককে নদীতীরে শবের সহিত বন্ধন করিয়া কাষ্ঠাদি আনিতে যাই ইহা কহিয়া অস্পষ্টরূপে নিকটে থাকিল, তাহাতে ঐ দুই ব্যক্তি আপন মরণ নিশ্চয় বুঝিয়া কৃষাণ চোরকে out of sheer foolishness.' The officers overheard the conversation and at once reported to the King who, on knowing the facts, inflicted a suitable punishment on the thief and duly rewarded the ploughman."

c11.80

How 23 fish disappeared.

c11.81

II. *" A husbandman went with his plough to the fields one day, and got 24 fish from a neighbouring canal. He came back to his home and, after having made over the fish to his wife for cooking, returned to his duties. His wife prepared a curry with the fish and wanting to know the taste of her preparation took a sip from it. She found that it tasted well, and then she thought, 'But I don't know how the fish tastes ; let me eat one.' So she ate a fish, and then she thought 'But still I donot

c11.82

কহিল যে 'হে চোর তুই এতবড় বুদ্ধিমান, বিনাপরাধে আমার প্রাণদণ্ড করিলি!' ইহাতে সে প্রত্যুত্তর করিল 'আমি পূর্ব্বে তোমাকে বারণ করিয়াছিলাম যে আমার সহিত বিবাদ করিলে তোমার প্রাণ যাইবে, আমি চোর, আমার মৃত্যু অবধারিত আছে। তুমি না বুঝিয়া প্রাণ হারাইয়াছ। রাজ-ভৃত্যেরা এই কথোপকথন শুনিয়া রাজ-সমীপে সমুদায় কহিল। রাজা সমস্ত বৃত্তান্ত অবগত হইয়া চোরকে উপযুক্ত দণ্ড করিয়া কৃষককে তুষ্ট করিয়া বিদায় দিলেন।"

c11.83

*" এক কৃষক লাঙ্গল চষিতে গিয়া কোন খানে গোটা চব্বিশেক মৎস্য ধরিয়া গৃহে আনিয়া আপন গৃহিণীকে পাক করিতে দিয়া আপনি পুনর্ব্বার চষিতে গেল। তাহার গৃহিণী সে মৎস্য কয়টী পাক করিয়া মনে বিবেচনা করিল, যে মৎস্য পাক করিলাম কিন্তু কি প্রকার হইয়াছে চাখিয়া দেখি। ইহা ভাবিয়া কিঞ্চিৎ ঝোল লইয়া খাইয়া দেখিল যে ঝোল সুরস know how that one on the dish would taste, and she ate the second fish also. In this manner she proceeded till she had finished all but one; and when her husband came home, she presented him with a dish of rice and a single fish. The husbandman wondering said ‘what is the matter? I got 24 fish; what about the rest?’ His wife gave him the following account of the fish.

c11.84

“You brought 24 fish. A kite fell upon them and took away eight; sixteen remained.

c11.85

“I took them to the tank for washing and eight swam away in the water; eight remained.

c11.86

“I got two bundles of fuel in exchange of two fish.

c11.87

হইয়াছে। পরে পুনর্ব্বার মনে ভাবিল মৎস্য কিরূপ হইয়াছে, তাহাও চখিয়া দেখি, ইহা ভাবিয়া একটা মৎস্য খাইল। পুনর্ব্বার চিন্তা করিল ওটা কিরূপ হইয়াছে, তাহাও চাখিতে হয় : ভাবিয়া সেটাও খাইল। এইরূপে খাইতে খাইতে একটামাত্র অবশিষ্ট রহিল। পরে কৃষক ক্ষেত্র হইতে বাটী আইলে তাহার গৃহিণী সেই মৎস্যটী আর অন্ন তাহাকে দিলে, কৃষক কহিল ‘যে একি? চব্বিশটী মৎস্য আনিয়াছি, আর কি হইল?’ তখন তাহার স্ত্রী মৎস্যের হিসাব দিল।

c11.88

মাছ আনিল ছয় গণ্ডা,
চিলে নিল দুই গণ্ডা,
বাকী রইল ষোল।
তাহা ধুতে আটটা জলে পলাইল॥
তবে থাকিল আট।
দুইটায় কিনিলাম দুই আটি কাঠ॥

c11.89

“ Your good neighbours ought to have a share.

c11.90

“ I presented them with six ; and then only two remained.

c11.91

“ I ate one to see how it tastes ; there remained only one.

c11.92

“ Look for that on the dish.

c11.93

“ If you are a true man eat the bone and keep the flesh (for me).

c11.94

“ Because you have got such a wife as myself, you are furnished with a true account.”

c11.95

The above two extracts illustrate the easy and simple style which is to be found in some of the text books compiled for the college of Fort William in which Dr. Carey taught the Bengalee, Hindusthānī, and Mahārathi languages. He not only contributed very considerably himself to Bengali prose literature, but always befriended those who took good vernacular work in hand. For instance we find that Thākur's Bengali and English Diction-

c11.96

তবে থাকিল ছয়। প্রতিবাসীকে চারিটা দিতে হয় ॥ তবে থাকিল দুই। তার একটা চাহিয়া দেখিলাম মুঁই ॥ তবে থাকিল এক। ঐ পাতপানে চাহিয়ে দেখ ॥ এখন হইস যদি মাংসের পো। তবে কাঁটাখান খাইয়া মাছখান খো ॥ আমি যঁই মেয়ে। তঁই হিসাব দিলাম ক’য়ে ॥ ary, an admirable work of scholarship, was compiled for the Fort William College in 1805 at the suggestion of Dr. Carey. He employed Rāma Rāma Vasu and Rājiva Lochana to write Pratāpaditya Charita and Kriṣṇa Chandra Charita respectively, the former of which appeared in 1801, and the latter in 1805.

c11.97

Thus lived Dr. Carey in Bengal from 1793 when he first landed here till his death in 1834,—one of those rare spirits who, crossing the barriers of their national prejudices, by dint of that all-embracing brotherhood which every true Christian should feel for all men, worked without a thought of reward or personal aggrandisement. He and his colleague Mr. J. Marshman had nothing to bequeath to their children at death, but enough as heritage to the suffering race whose cause they espoused, not under obligation or extraneous mandate, but according to the dictates of their own consciences through which their God spoke to them. Amongst his other colleagues the name of Yates, W. Marton (of whom the Rev. J. Long says ‘He is one of the ablest Bengali scholars ever produced in the country’), and the Rev. J. Pearson deserve a special mention as having greatly furthered the cause of our prose literature.

c11.98

His colleagues.

c11.99

(c) Bengali works written by Europeans.

c11.100

The works written in the vernacular language about this time by European writers cover a vast field. We cannot name all of them. We confine ourselves to the following list of works, and our list even here is not exhaustive as we have not included those that deal with Christianity. There is a great literature of translations of the Bible and treatises on Christianity which we cannot undertake to dwell upon at present. The list below is mainly based on the catalogue on vernacular works compiled by the Rev. J. Long in 1855. Most of these works were no doubt written for educational purposes.

c11.101

Arithmetic.

c11.102

1. Smith's zemindary papers, printed at the Çri Rāmapore press in 1817.

c11.103

2. Mr. May's Arithmetical Table selected from those employed in the native schools. It was published in 1817 and called May-Gaṇita.

c11.104

3. Harley's Arithmetic—Gaṇitāṅka. First Edition appeared from Chinsura in 1819.

c11.105

Dictionary.

c11.106

1. Bengali Dictionary by Forster,—a Civilian and Sanskrit Scholar. It contains 18000 words. Published in 1719 in two volumes. Price Rs. 60.

c11.107

2. Miller's Bengali Dictionary, published in 1801. Price Rs. 32.

c11.108

3. Haughton's Glossary, published in 1825.

c11.109

4. Haughton's Bengali-to-English Dictionary, published at the expense of the Court of Directors in 1833. It contains 40,000 words. Price Rs. 80.

c11.110

5. Marshman's Bengali Dictionary. Published in 1827,—25000 words.

c11.111

6. Marshman's Bengali and English Dictionary, published in 1829. Price Rs. 10.

c11.112

7. Rev. J. Pearson's School Dictionary, published in 1829.

c11.113

8. Morton's Dictionary. 600 pages, Quarto size. Published in 1828. Price Rs. 6.

c11.114

9. Mendie's Abridgment of Johnson's Dictionary (Bengali and English). First Edition appeared in 1822.

c11.115

10. Rozario's Dictionary—1837. Price Rs. 6.

c11.116

Ethics and moral tales.

c11.117

1. Dr. Gilchrist's Bengali translation of Æsop's Fables—in 1803.

c11.118

2. Upadeçakathā or moral tales by Stewart—in 1820.

c11.119

3. Satguṇa O Viryya (95 anecdotes illustrating virtue and valour). Price Re. 1-8 as. compiled by a Çrī Rāmapore Missionary in 1829,

c11.120

4. Æsop's Fables translated by Marshman.

c11.121

5. Hitopadeça by Yates. Published in 1841.

c11.122

6. Pārasika Itihāsa by Kneane.

c11.123

Geography.

c11.124

1. Bhugola Evaṁ Jyotiṣa (dialogues on Geography and Astronomy) by Pearson. Published in 1824.

c11.125

2. A Map of the world in Bengali by G. Herklotts (1825).

c11.126

3. J Sutherland's Geography of India.

c11.127

4. Pearce's Bhugola Vrittānta (Geography)—in 1818.

c11.128

5. Sandy's General Geography in Bengali—in 1842.

c11.129

Grammar.

c11.130

1. Halhed's Bengali Grammar—in 1778.

c11.131

2. Carey's Grammar—in 1801.

c11.132

3. Murray's English Grammar translated into Bengali by Rev. J. Pearson—in 1820.

c11.133

4. Sir C. Haughton's Grammar. Price Rs. 15. Published in 1821.

c11.134

5. J. Robinson's Bengali Grammar (a translation of Carey's Anglo-Bengali Grammar). Pages 109.

c11.135

6. Keat's Bengali Grammar (Ket-Vyakaraṇa). Published in 1820. Pages 59. Price 2 as. From 1820-1854 upwards of 15,000 copies were sold.

c11.136

7. Wenger's Bengali Grammar. Pages 156. Price Re. 1-4 as.

c11.137

History and Biography.

c11.138

1. Goldsmith's History of England translated into Bengali by Felix Carey in 1819. Pages 412.

c11.139

2. Captain Stewart's Moral tales of History with selections of historical subjects such as—glimpses of the early days of England, with moral instruction, historical anecdotes—illustrative of friendship, industry, justice, pride, anger; the arrival of the English in India, the Rules of the permanent settlement.

c11.140

3. Itihāsa Samuchaya or Epitome of ancient history by Pearson. Pages 364. Price Re. 1. This book gives an account of the history of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medea, Persia, Greece and Rome.

c11.141

4. Prāchina Itihāsa by Pearson. Published in 1830. Pages 623, compiled from Rollin and Anquetel; it gives brief account of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes and Persians, Grecians, Romans, treating of manners, customs, buildings, natural productions, laws, Government and history of those States.

c11.142

5. Vanga Deça Purāvritta translated from Marshman's History by Wenger. Pages 284.

c11.143

6. Dharma Pustaka Vrittānta by Mrs. Hæberlin. Published in 1846. Pages 252 with 27 woodcuts.

c11.144

7. Kāla Kramika Itihāsa by G. Pearce, published in 1838. Pages 89 with 10 wood cuts.

c11.145

8. Daniel Charita by Morton. Pages 345;—in 1836.

c11.146

9. Purāvritta Samkṣepa by J. Marshman;—1833. Pages 515. Price Rs. 3.

c11.147

10. Bharata Varṣiya Itihāsa by J. Marshman. Two Volumes, 1831. Price Rs. 8.

c11.148

11. Tucker's History of the Jews translated into Bengali by J. Kempbell. Pages 257. 1845.

c11.149

12. Mahammad Jivana Charita by Rev. J. Long. Pages 121. Founded exclusively on Arabic authorities as given in the works of Sprenger, Weile, and Caussin de Percival—treats of Geography, Natural History and religious state of Arabia previous to Mahammad's time, Mahammad's youthful days, his trading, when 40 years old he announces a new faith, opposition of his relatives, becomes a warrior, his polygamy, messages to foreign rulers, regulations for his followers: death in the midst of his plans. 'The second part now in the press will take in the spread of Moslemism, the Korān, Moslemism as at present, the festivals and sects of the Mahomedans.'

c11.150

Medicine.

c11.151

1. Carey's Bengali Anatomy (Hāḍavali Vidyā) Pages 638. Price Rs. 6. Published from the Çrī Rāmapore press in 1820. Designed in 1818 to form the first part of a Bengali Encyclopædea, to consist chiefly of translation of 'esteemed compendiums of European art and science.'

c11.152

2. Bachelor's Medical Guide. Pages 358. Price Re. 1.

c11.153

Mensuration.

c11.154

1. Robinson's Bengali Mensuration (Bhumi Parimāṇa) 1850. The author was an Inspector of Government Schools in Assam and the neighbouring districts. This work gives the elements of land-surveying and rules for finding the areas of 16 plain figures. 'It contains 10 problems—to find the area of a square, of a rectangular parallelogram: an oblique-angled parallelogram, a trapezium, a circle, ellipse, two sides of right-angled triangle, a triangle, a right-angled triangle.'

c11.155

Readers.

c11.156

1. Yule's Spelling book—Çiçu Vodhodaya. A spelling book with short sentences and verses for reading.

c11.157

2. Haughton's Selections, containing 10 stories from the Totā Itihāsa, 4 from the Vatriça Simhāsana and 4 from the Puruṣa Parikṣā. Published in 1822. Price Rs. 10.

c11.158

3. Kṣetra Bhāgana Vivarana or Agri-horticultural Transactions, by J. Marshman, pages 730. Published in 1831 in two volumes.

c11.159

4. Çiçu Çikṣā or Object Lessons—by J. Weitbrecht, in 1852.

c11.160

5. Praçnāvali—by J. Long. This book contains questions on the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms, taken from objects in this country—designed to call forth the curiosity of the young people, and show them the wonders existing in common objects around them.

c11.161

Natural Philosophy.

c11.162

1. Padārtha Vidyā Sāra or Natural Philosophy and History by Yates, compiled from Martinet's Catechism of nature, William's Preceptor's Assistance and Bayley's Useful Knowledge, designed as an easy entrance to the path of science—treats of the properties of matter—the firmament and heavenly bodies, air, wind, vapour, rain, earth, man, animals, birds, fishes, insects, worms, plants, flowers, grass, grain, minerals and miscellaneous productions. Published in 1825.

c11.163

2. Yates's Padārtha Vidyā—1824. Pages 91.

c11.164

3. Kimiya Vidyā Sāra or Chemistry by Mack, pages 337—price Rs. 2-8 as,—treats of Chemical forces, Caloric, Light, Electricity, Chemical substances, Oxygen, Chloride, Bromine, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Sulphur, Phosphorus, Carbon, Boron, Selenium, the steam engine.

c11.165

Miscellaneous.

c11.166

1. Rev. J. Pearson's Pāthaçālā Vivarāna—a translation of the more important part of Dr. Bell's instruction for modelling and conducting schools. Published from Chinsura in 1819.

c11.167

2. Patra Kaumudi, composed by the Rev. J. Pearson, contains 286 letters on familiar subjects, commercial and familiar correspondence, forms of leases, zemindary accounts and other forms in common use. First edition 1819, sixth edition 1852 ; 8,500 copies sold within this period.

c11.168

3. Pāthāvali by the Rev. J. Long—extracts chiefly from native works, on the life of a shepherd astronomer, Punjab salt mines, silk worms, Moslem saints, frog in a tone, printing the wonderful veil, the transparent watch, the tower of Pandua, ghāta-murders, steam engines, women devoted to Christ, a wonderful spring, the gold and silver of Scripture, balloons, Rāma Mohana Ray, productions of India-tin, lead and copper of Scripture, human body, Siamese twins, breathing, sagacity of elephants, etc.

c11.169

4. Samvāda Sāra or selections from the native press by Rev. J. Long, 1853; pages 198. Price 6 as.

c11.170

⁵ Yates' Prose selections, vol. I, 1847, pages 428. Price Rs. 5.

c11.171

6. Prose selections from Bengali literature by Yates, vol. II, Octavo size, pages 407; gives 18 tales of a parrot, 9 letters from the Lipimālā, 14 stories from Vatriçā Simhāsana, notices of Indian kings from the Rājavali, the History of Rājā Kriṣṇa Chandra Ray of Krishnagar, 16 moral tales from the Puruṣa Parikṣā, 5 chapters from the Hitopadeça, 9 moral essays from the Jñāna Chandrikā and 9 from the Jñānārṇava, 4th chapter of Pravodha Chandrikā, chapters against idolatry from the Tatta Prakāça, History of Nala from the Mahābhārata, specimens of Rāma Mohona Ray’s hymns, selections from two native newspapers.

c11.172

7. Vākyāvali (Idiomatical exercises) by J. Pearson, pages 294, Price Re. 1. A phrase-book with examples of words alphabetically arranged; “very useful for either natives wishing to learn colloquial English idioms or Europeans wishing to know Bengali dialogues.” Forms of letters and notes; appeared in 1819.

c11.173

8. Sāra Samgraha by Yates, 1845.

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We have quite a large number of Law books translated into Bengali by European writers. Forster’s translation of the Regulations of 1793, a work about 400 pages,—is a curiosity both as to style and typography. We have besides the Regulations of 1802—1809, pages 504, translated by Turnbull and Sutherland. Ditto 1816—1821 by Wynch; the Navavidhāna or abstract of miscellaneous Regulations of 1793—1824; Dewani Āin Sāra and Rjā Samparkiya Āin (in two volumes) by Marshman, any many other works of this nature.

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9. In 1818 a Bengali Encyclopædea was commenced at Çrī Rāmapore, but only one part, Carey's Anatomy, was completed. In 1828 the society for translating European sciences with H. Wilson as president started the Vijnāna Sevādhi, a serial on the plan of the Library of useful knowledge. It reached 15 numbers embracing Indian Geography, Hydrostatics, Mechanics, Optics, Pneumatics and Broughām's discourse on the advantage of Science.

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10. Virgil's Æneid. First book translated into Bengali by J. Serjeant. a Civilian and a student of Fort William College, pages 65 ; it came out in 1805.

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11. Shakespeare's Tempest, translated into Bengali by Monckton, a student of the Fort William College.

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12. First Part, Robinson Crusœ. Pages 261. Translated into plain Bengali by the Rev. J. Robinson, illustrated by 18 wood-cuts. A second edition was published in 1855.

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13. Pilgrim's Progress, translated into Bengali in two volumes by Felix Carey.

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14. Gladwin's Pleasant stories, translated into Bengali, by George Gallowway in 1840.

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15. Mylius' School Dictionary, translated by J. Lavandier.

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16. History of a lion.

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17. Life of Fatik Chānd by the Rev. J. Lawson.

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18. Madhu's conversation,—by the Rev. W. Morton.

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19. Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare, translated by Dr. Roer.

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20. Memoir of Pitāmvar Singh by the Rev. W. Ward.

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"On the 31st of May, 1818, the first newspaper ever printed in any oriental language, was issued from the Çrī Rāmapore Press; it was called the Samāchāra Darpana or the 'Mirror of News.' It was started jointly by Dr. Marshman and Dr. Ward.

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In February, 1818, Dr. Marshman published the Dikdarçana, a monthly journal, in which amongst other subjects, there was given an account of the life of Rājā Kriṣṇa Chandra of Nadia.

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The Satya Pradipa by Mr. Townsend,—started in 1850, was a most useful paper; it gave a precis of news, correspondence, wood-cuts with descriptions of objects in art and nature.

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The above list shows that European writers, chiefly missionaries, were the pioneers in all departments of vernacular-writing which grew into favour with the awakening of Hindu intelligence under British rule. Every subject, from the principles of Arithmetic, Botany, Astronomy, Anatomy, Chemistry down to Law, is comprised in this list. The extraordinary energy displayed by foreign writers in mastering the idioms and technicalities of our language, and dealing with such widely divergent subjects, is a sure proof of the earnestness of their philanthropic mission. The writer of the present treatise can hardly refrain from giving expression to his gratitude, while reviewing these works, for the impetus given by them to the native mind in acquiring the knowledge so essential for the needs of modern civilisation. They laid the foundations upon which the vast fabric of our present-dayliterature is based—a literature which though necessarily lacking in originality, chiefly consisting as it does of translations and compilations, promises to rise to universal esteem under favourable circumstances, when it shall have passed its noviciate in acquiring all that it can assimilate from the vast resources of occidental learning.

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(d) A new ideal in the country.

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In the chapter on the Paurānic Renaissance, we noticed how mythological stories, fraught with a spirit of noble martyrdom and sacrifice, had elevated the minds of the people, and helped in spiritualising them. The Paurānic revivalists had held the earliest torch to enlighten our masses after Buddhism had declined in the country. The efforts of the missionaries and European scholars in giving culture through the medium of Bengali, now again after a lapse of nearly 700 years, served to awaken the Bengali mind to the consciousness of new ideas, the ideal of western civilisation.

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It was as if the home-stayers of Bengal had suddenly left the precints of home and launched out into the wide world. Hitherto the highest and noblest ideas that had inspired the Hindu mind in Bengal had drawn their impetus from home and from domestic life. Obedience to parents, loyalty to the husband, devotion to brothers and sacrifices to be undergone for guests, servants and relations, had all been elevated into the highest virtues, and the Puraṇas had supplied inexhaustible examples, illustrating each of these qualities. Rāma who left the throne and became an ascetic, and Viṣma, who took the vow of celibacy, foregoing his rightful claims to the throne of Indraprastha, typify the highest example of filial obedience. Sītā, Sāvitrī, Damayantī, Çakuntalā, Behulā in the past and hundreds of those in the later age who courted death on the funeral pyre of their husbands, showed that the ideal of nuptial duties in this land was capable of raising women to the highest martyrdom. Hanumāna typifies devotion to a master, and Ekalavya to the religious preceptor. The home was the great sanctuary where sacrifices and martyrdoms were to be undergone for the sake of those sacred ties which bind one to it; and this would, according to the notion of the Hindus, infallibly lead him to a realisation of the supreme duty which a man owes to God,—culminating in a glorious renunciation of home for the good of the soul and of the world. Indeed, in a place where a joint and undivided family system required a man to live and eat together with all his near kinsmen, it would be impossible to live in harmony without elevating the domestic duties into the highest virtues. Hence no other nation has ever given so high a value to domestic duties, identifying them so closely with the spiritual.

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The literature of a race inspired with such ideas has a unique value. Its scope may be comparatively small, but within its own narrow limits, it is deeper and purer than one could expect from a literature covering a wider range. The Bengali literature of the past had been reserved for the Bengalis alone; a fact which gives it an original character, displaying the subtle turns of the intellectual and spiritual qualities of the race; and one, who may feel interested in studying our national ideas and aspirations, would do well to read this ancient literature, which, for a century after the English conquest, lay neglected and uncared for,—consigned to the care of the Batatalā publishing agencies of Calcutta.

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The old and the new.

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From the home to the world—it was a descent from the Himalayas to the plains,—from the lofty spiritual idea permeating the Hindu home,—the visions of beatitude which it was the dream of every great Hindu to attain,—to the matter-of-fact world and to an observation of things that are taking shape and changing all arround ;—from the great examples of Bhīṣma and Rāma—cherished in the heart of every Hindu—the loftiest like the loftiest peak of the Himālayas,—to the stories of Duval's assiduity in learning, and Sir Philiph Sydney's offering his cup of water to the dying soldier ;—from the pursuit and acquisition of Yoga to the knowledge of a Geographical catechism,—to be able to point out Popocatepetl on a map of the globe,—from the celestial songs of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, which while gratifying all our yearnings for the loftiest of human love, have kept a door constantly open heaven-wards,—to the stories of Paul and Virginia or of Æneas and Dido : the descent is as great as one from the Himalayas to the plains. But a race of people confined within the narrow grooves of their own thoughts were dragged out to observe the wonders of the world, of which they had hitherto known nothing, nor cared to know,—nipping in the bud all curiosity about the material world by fabrication of monstrous stories to explain the origin of things. To explain earthquakes, they had fabricated the story of Vāsuki, the great serpent who upholds the earth, as shaking his hydra-heads a little. To explain the origin of the universe they had invented the story of the golden egg that burst; with regard to the sea their idea was, that there were seven seas—one of curd, one of wine, one of salt, one of milk, and so forth; and as to the earth, that it consisted of seven islands and had a triangular shape. I do not mean to say that the race, who first formulated the principles of Arithmetic, Trigonometry, Geometry and Astronomy, and from whom the world learned these sciences, was so stupid as not to know the simple truths of Physical Geography; a Bhaskarāchāryya or a Varāhāmihira certainly knew them, and many things more, in advance of their age. But after the revival of Hinduism the spirit of inquiry had been directed from the material to the metaphysical world; the masses cared not to know the facts or the laws of the external world, and were content with fables regarding them, because the temporal had no longer any attraction for them. They took the same interest in the outer world as a globe-trotter takes in what he sees. Their knowledge of their surroundings was as superficial and as full of mistakes as that of one who merely passes through a country, thinking that this is not his true home. The Hindus showed the subtlest knowledge with regard to that world which they considered to be the only real one, and their Metaphysics is a mixture of the simple and the complex, in various grades of spiritual thoughts, springing from those of home life—reaching the loftiest range in the conception of the Nirguṇa.

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