Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-10-23
THE BABOO AND HIS ENGLISH.
An Educated Hindu Has Something to
Saw to the SstiriStS

Andra Singha in the London Specta-
tor.-Mr Anstey in his latest book,
"A Bayard from Bengal" has followed
what is now a somewhat old. and, |
| should think, worn tradition in poking
fun at my fellow country 1t was
in the ''70s'' Of the last century that
the late Aberigh-Mackay wrote that
when Lord Macaulay said that what
the milk was to the cocoanut, what
! beauty was to the buffalo, and what
scandal was to woman, that DR.. John
sons dictionary was to the Bengal
BaboO, he unQuestionably spoke in
terms of figurative eXaggeration."
Mr.. Anstey probably remembers and
has made literary capital of another
passage in the same essay, which says
that the true Baboo is full of words
and phrases-full of inappropriate
words and phrases, lying about like
! dead men on a battlefield, to be
carted away promiscuously, without
refernce to kith and kin" Not other
! wise, perhaps, would a genially satiri-
| cal Roman if he could return to earth,
write to English attempts to write
| Latin.
Necessity cOmpels us to use the Ian
guage Of our foreign masters. Our
instructors in school and college set
! before us such models as DR.. Johnson
and Lord Macaulay, writer's whose
mannerisms are easily exaggerated by
even English imitators; and thus in
| English we show a tendency to YER
bosity which is not, think, char
| acteriStic of our Verlacular style. But
surely some allowance should be made
for foreigners using a strange speech,
and one whose rich vocabulary per-
| haps tends to eXuberance of speech.
| Such allowance is not always wanted.
| The first Bengal BabOo who wrote
English, less than 100 years ago, was
! the well known Rajah Ram MOhun
Roy. Jeremy Bentham was not per-
! haps an unprecedented critic, but he
was at least an eminent man of let
ters. Writing to Ram Mohun about
the year 1880, he said: Your works
are made known to me by a book in
which I read a style which, but for
the name of a Hindu, | should GER
tainly have ascribed to the pen of a
superiority (sic) educated and In
structed Englishman." And in an
other place, after some words of
praise of James Mills History of
British India,' he adds: Though, as
to style, l wish l could with truth
and sincerity pronounce it equal to
yours"
! In truth, Englishmen, however
benevolently disposed toward us Ben
| galese, do not seem to realize how
recent is our start, how rapid our
progress in letters. So lately as 1890
no work had ever been written in
Bengal prose. Our literature was ell
tirely composed as songs, stories,
epics, all composed in primitive
rhyme. In 1890 Rapah Ram Mohun,
wrote his "Himdudiger Pauttalik
| Dharmapranali," or disquisition on
Hindu idolatry. A hundred years
ago we were in something of Mr..
Jourdian's predicament, and diG not
know that we could write prose, even
in our own language. 1t was the
study of English literature which
opened our eyes to the possibilities OF
was an innoVator, and his attempt
was not very successful. But since
then We have had the exquisite prose
style, as charmingly naive and artlesa
as that of your own Goldsmith of
lsWar Chandra, the richly mOdulated
blank verse of Madhu Suhdan, the
picturesque and rapid prose of Ban
kim Chandra, to say nothing of the
works of many others whose names
would be unfamiliar to Englishmen
In English literature we can hardly
nope to find a place, though many Of
your readers must have admired Miss
Toru Quits Ancient Ballads and
Legends Of Hindostan." Let me, in
passing, quote one verse as a sample
of her dextrous use of your Ian
guage:-
Still barred thy doorsl The far East
gloWs,
The morning wind blows fresh and.
free.
Wake also thee?
That is pretty well for a BengaIi
girl of II, who could write even better
than that in French. Romesh Chun-
der Dutt writes with equal ease in
Bengal and English, and many of
our journalists and lawyers are, what
few English are, biglot beings, who
can enjoy two literatures, and write,
not without distinction, in two Ian
| guages. Only a hundred years ago
our literature was not yet at the stage
yours reached when Chaucer and
Cover wrote. Perhaps we have some
of the drawbacks of precocity and
too rapid intellectual growth. But at
least we are young pupils and, as even
Mr.. Anstey's fun shows, apt pupils.
We shall do better yet l wish Mr..
| Anstey could read am sure he
would enjoy-Bankim Chandra's
amuseing ''Lokrahasya." He would
there see the man painted by the lion,
and with a sense of good natured fun
| as keen as his own. Unfortunately,
Englishmen judge us by our prentice
attempts to master their difficult
language. We cannot invite them to
taste the masterpieces of our tongue
masterpieces inspired by Milton
and Macaulay and Walter Scott