Page:Ramtanu Lahiri, Brahman and Reformer - A History of the Renaissance in Bengal.djvu/104

 “Vetala-panchabinsati,” in 1847. This was the first work in pure Bengali.

Along with the impetus that was given in the city to the study of Bengali, English schools were established by several Eurasians, of whom Sherbourne, Martin Bowles, and Arathoon Petras were the chief. Many of those who distinguished themselves in after years received their education in these schools; such as the great Dwarka Nath Tagore in Sherbourne’s, Mati Lal Seal in Martin Bowles’, and blind Nitya Sen and lame Adaitya Sen in Arathoon’s. As soon as the young men of the time got a smattering of English they commonly abandoned their national costume, and substituted for it loose trousers, chapkans, and laced shoes. As to their attainments in English, there was neither grammar nor idiom in what they wrote or spoke; but they enjoyed greater credit as masters of the language than any distinguished English scholar of the present day. According to the system then followed, English grammar and composition were totally neglected. The boys were taught only words and their meanings; and one who could learn by heart most of these carried off the palm. It is said that the Serampur missionaries, in giving certificates to men, stated how many English words they knew. It was the custom in the schools we have mentioned to make the pupils learn by heart a certain number of words every day. Committing an English dictionary to memory was the most laudable feat that a student could achieve.

We may be asked how such a poor and imperfect knowledge of English could be of any use. How could people, supplied only with this knowledge, make themselves intelligible to those whose language they had learnt? There are many stories on the point, and we notice one. A sircar used to lunch every day on some of the grain kept for his master’s horses. It soon came to the notice of the sahib, and