Page:History of Bengali Literature in the Nineteenth Century.djvu/75

 INTRODUCTORY RETROSPECT 51 upop keeping the people immersed in ignorance. It was not until Wellesley’s time that more liberal ideas began to gain ground. Thus the history of education in this early period, as we shall see, consisted chiefly of the educational efforts of private individuals who had set up schools for instruction in the rudiments of learning. Such small isolated attempts are obviously by their very nature bound to be transitory ; and such private schools could not surely be expected to answer the larger purpose of national education. Such humble efforts date so far back as 1747! ; but the desire of prospering in commercial enterprise under the uew condition of things served as a great incentive to English education, as Persian education, now declining, had been eagerly sought for under the Mohammedan administration. In 1796, only a few Bengali children were taught by European school-masters: but gradually a set of Bengali teachers possessing a smatter- ing of English came into existence and opened schools. In those days, however, penmanship, quickness in calcu- lations, and a knowledge of accounts were considered greater accomplishments than an accurate study of English itself; and even men like Raém-dulal De, we are told, never cared to make a better acquaintance with English than picking up a few broken phrases of colloquial speech ; for such knowledge was enough to make them serve as ship-sarkars, banians, and writers and ultimately win for them colossal fortunes. Thus although the study of English was sought for, no systematic course of instruction was given or required ; and for a time a low and broken English, or half-English and half-Bengali gibberish was spoken, of which humorous specimens may be found in Old Days, vol, i, p. 893 et seq.
 * * Long, Hand-Book to Bengal Missions, pp. 441-451. But see Good