Page:A Sanskrit Grammar.pdf/9

Rh whole grammar, however, was not published till 1808. In the mean time Forster had finished his grammar, and had actually delivered his MS. to the Council of the College of Fort William in 1804. But it was not published till 1810. The first part of Colebrooke's grammar was published in 1805, and therefore stands first in point of time of publication. Unfortunately it was not finished, because the grammars of Forster and Carey were then in course of publication, and would, as Colebrooke imagined, supply the deficient part of his own. Carey's grammar was published in 1806. Among these four publications, which as first attempts at making the ancient language of India accessible to European scholars, deserve the highest credit, Colebrooke's grammar is facile princeps. It is derived at first hand from the best native grammars, and evinces a familiarity with the most intricate problems of Hindu grammarians such as few scholars have acquired after him. No one can understand and appreciate the merits of this grammar who has not previously acquired a knowledge of the gram- matical system of Pâṇini, and it is a great loss to Sanskrit scholarship that so valuable a work should have remained unfinished. I owe most, indeed, to Colebrooke and Bopp, but I have derived many useful hints from other grammars also. There are some portions of Wilson's grammar which show that he consulted native grammarians, and the fact that he possessed the remaining portion of Colebrooke's MS., gives to his list of verbs, with the exception of the Bhû class, which was published by Colebrooke, a peculiar interest. Professor Benfey in his large grammar performed a most useful task in working up independently the materials supplied by Pâṇini and Bhaṭṭojidîkshita; and his smaller grammars too, published both in German and in English, have rendered good service to the cause of sound scholarship. There are besides, the grammars of Boller in German, of Oppert in French, of Westergaard in Danish, of Flecchia in Italian, each supplying something that could not be found elsewhere, and containing suggestions, many of which have proved useful to the writer of the present grammar. But while thus rendering full justice to the honest labours of my predecessors, I am bound to say, at the same time, that with