Page:Vidyasagar, the Great Indian Educationist and Philanthropist.djvu/35

 well. Shrish Chandra was struck with wonder to receive the entire amount.

The governing body of his college now desired him to compose a good Bengali text-book for the use of European students. He complied Vasudeva Charita, free translation of a portion of Srimadbhagabata, a religious book treating of Sri Krishna. This work which was rejected has never been published. The ground of disapproval must have been the religious nature of the theme; otherwise it was, as a contemporary biographer records, a work of merit written in lucid, easy, graceful style. Up to the close of the first quarter of the 19th century Bengali literature existed only in a debased form. In its earlier phrases of development it had struggled to revert to its original Sanskrit element. Subsequently, under the influence of Mahomedan conquest, it had become largely Persianised. When Lord Wellesley established the College of Fort William in 1800 he directed some of the Sanskrit scholars to supply good text-