Page:History of Bengali Literature in the Nineteenth Century.djvu/272

 248 BENGALI LITERATURE (8) ক্ষেত্রবাগান বিবরণ অর্থাৎ আগ্রিকলচরাঁল ও হটিকলচরাল সোসাইটির নিষ্পান্ত কার্যের বিবরণ পুস্তক ০” 4১2৮-চ1০৮0810018] transactions by J. Marshman in two volumes. 1832-56. (9) Abridgement of Carey’s Dictionary. ! It will be noticed from the above enumeration, that some of these works hardly put forward any claim to literary merit whatsoever, as they are composed and their literary তাস on strictly non-literary subjects, while the historical treatises, more or less closely allied to literature pure or proper, are again mere translations or replicas of English originals.2,_ Marshman’s style, like that of most of the European writers of Bengali enumerated below, possesses hardly any characteristic distinction of its own. Indeed there is such a_ pervading uniformity and general sameness of character in the writings of these European scholars that it would be searcely necessary to take and comment upon the style and peculiarities of each. Weshall, on the other hand, content ourselves, wherever necessary, by giving specimens of their general style in individual cases. The following extract from ভারতবর্ষের ইতিহাস, the theme of which dealing as it does with historical narrative affords some scope indeed for literary expression, will serve as a specimen of Marshman’s style ; but it wlll be noticed that it presents hardly any distinctive feature at all and is greatly inferior to the manner of many of his European colleagues and fellow-writers in the same field :— ‘ See page 152 and footnote thereon. Other works ascribed by Long are: (1) Aisop’s Fables translated. (2) Murray’s Grammar in Bengali (Return of Names and Writings, etc., p. 134). of elementary works on History and Science for the use of Indian youths (see Preface to Mack’s fefaaj বিদাার সার. Serampore. 1834) noticed below.
 * These are the volumes which were intended to form a series