Page:History of Bengali Literature in the Nineteenth Century.djvu/158

 134. BENGALI LITERATURE of these writers except perhaps Haughton’s Glossary and Keith’s Grammar (popularly called Ket-Byakaran) obtained the reputation and currency which Carey’s scholarly works did. Carey’s Grammar was composed Carey’s Grammar, aa more than twenty years after Halhed’s Grammar. Halhed’s was indeed a work of merit; but in the interval that had elapsed between its appearance and the institution of public lectures in the Fort William College, it had probably become scarce, and was no longer available for the needs of the students of the College. ‘To Halhed indeed belongs the credit of first reducing to rule the construction of the Bengali language, and Carey must 22 have derived much help from him.! nality. But though ostensibly modelled on Halhed’s work, Carey’s Grammar was altogether a new and original contribution to the scientific study of the language; for Carey had an opportunity of “studying the language with more attention and of exa- mining its structure more closely” than had been done before. Whilst acknowledging the aid he had derived from Halhed, Carey observes (Ist Ed. 1801): “‘I have made some distinctions and observations not noticed by him, particularly on the declension of nouns and verbs and the use of participles.” In the preface to the second edition (1805) he says :——“Since the first edition of this work was published, the writer had had an opportunity of study- ing this language with more attention and of examining its structure more closely than he bad done before. The result of his studies he has endeavoured to give in the following papers which, on account of the variations from the former editions, may be esteemed a new work”. The 1 E. Carey, op. cit. p. 247.