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twenty years ago, I published in a local magazine a series of biographical and critical essays on Bengali writers, and they were published in a collected form under the disguise of a nom de plume in 1877. The publication did not receive much attention at the time, but it attracted the notice of that prince of Indian statisticians, Sir William Hunter. He embodied much of the information conveyed in my book in his valuable work on the Indian Empire. and he suggested that a more complete treatment of the subject should be attempted.

The work of bringing out a more complete work on the subject has been deferred from year to year amidst other works which have claimed my more immediate attention. I do not regret this delay, as the information available on this subject is now far more satisfactory than it was twenty years ago. More attention is now given to