Page:History of Bengali Literature in the Nineteenth Century.djvu/28

 4 BENGALI LITERATURE eentury, mighty revolutions were occuring not only in the political and the social but also in the literary history of Bengal. In an historical study of literature, the far- reaching significance of these years cannot surely be ignored. On the other hand, although the first half of the 19th century till 1858 is comparatively barren from a strictly literary point of view, yet this was the formative period of modern literature, and the early devoted labours of the various philanthropic Europeans and _ Indians, whose memory is still cherished by grateful Bengalis, had sown the seeds which, when the time came, broke into the rich and lovely after-growths of modern times. We, therefore, propose, taking 1800 A.D. to be roughly the year of commencement, to discuss Division into periods. a তরল Re and decide, first of all, by way of trospect, 1760-1800. introduction, the question of origins, with a preliminary recapitulation of the causes and circumstances, political, social, and literary which led to the beginning of modern literature. This will involve a cursory review of the period between 1757 (or 1760) and 1800 in its various aspects, and its bearing upon literature. From 1800, the year of the foundation of the Fort William College and the (ii) এ formation of the Srirampur Mission, to 1825, the year of the publication of the last volume of Carey’s Dictionary and the laying of the foundation-stone of the Hindu College, we have a period of very great importance in our literature from an historical rather than a literary point of view: for we are concerned here with the early beginnings of our literature, with the labours of the Missionaries and the Civilians, and with the early efforts, public and private, for the spread of British education in Bengal. From 1825 to