Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/184

Rh number. But every reader of Bengali knows that they did not fully succeed in their attempts. A specimen of the Bengali prose as written by the missionaries is given below:—

"এক বড় বিলেতে অনেক বেঙ্গের বসতি ছিল। তাহার ধারে কতকগুলি বালক হঠাৎ খাপরা খেলা খেলিতে লাগিল, আর জলে একজাই খাপ্‌রাবৃষ্টি করিতে লাগিল; ইহাতে ক্ষীণ ও ভীত বেঙ্গেদের বড় দুঃখ হইল। শেষে সকল হইতে সাহসী এক বেঙ্গ বিল হইতে উপরে মুখ বাড়াইয়া কহিল, হে প্রিয় বালকেরা! তোমরা এত ত্বরাতেই কেন আপন জাতির নিষ্ঠুর স্বভাব শিক্ষহ?"

The above extract clearly shows, that the language is comparatively easier, but the ideas have been taken from English. The manner of expression is also in imitation of English. What more can be expected from the pen of a foreigner?

Besides Carey, Marshman, and other missionaries, many European civilians and talented natives of Bengal made admirable attempts at the development of the Bengali language. They wrote and published many books, newspapers, and periodicals in Bengali. Newspapers and periodicals will he dealt with afterwards. Here we will confine ourselves to the discussion of some of the earlier books, that had helped the growth of the Bengali language, and, by comparison, try to show the immense superiority of Vidyasagar's composition.

In 1778, Halhead, a European Civilian, published a Bengali grammar. At that time, there was no printing press in this country. Charles Wilkins, a friend of Halhead's, cut out the Bengali