60 Address. [Feb 



same hio-h regard for the Hindu Shastras, the same desire for bringing 

 about a revival of Hinduism, the same admiration for the science of 

 Hindu. Medicine, the same aversion to the Anglicising tendency of the 

 past generation, combined with the same admiration for the great writers 

 and thinkers of Europe, and the same loyalty to the British rule and 

 Empress. It is curious to note that literary effort in India occupies 

 itself more with religion than with any other subject. Though there is 

 a family likeness between the several lists, yet each provincial list 

 exhibits also a peculiar characteristic. Bengal has a literature rich in 

 biography and fiction ; the Panjab is noticeable for its controversial 

 writings of the professors of the Hindu, Arya, Sikh, Muhammadan and 

 Christian religions ; Madras excels in the number of books published for 

 the glorification of the deities of particular shrines ; Bombay is distin- 

 guished by Jain and Parsi publications. Even in Muhammadan litera- 

 ture we mark the same family likeness in the several lists, in the matter 

 of a preponderance of Persian fiction. Urdu, in its various forms is the 

 Muhammadan vernacular throughout the several provinces, from the 

 pure and elegant Urdu of the Doab and Oudh to its variously modified 

 phases in Bihar, Bengal, Gujarat and Panjab : and I may remark here, in 

 passing, that the Bengali Urdu, even possesses peculiar and hitherto almost 

 unnoticed alphabetical characters of its own. The backward condition 

 of the Muhammadan community is plainly observable in the paucity of 

 their English- written books. 



Bengal, including Bihar, Orissa and Assam. — In Bengal we notice 2,351 

 entries in the official catalogue, from the middle of 1887 to the middle 

 of 1888. Of the entries about 80 per cent, are Bengali, and 35 per 

 cent, are works designed for educational purposes. Publications in 

 Eno'lish are becoming more and more numerous, and more and more impor- 

 tant. During the period under review two excellent biographies in 

 Eno-lish were published by two native gentlemen. One is the " Life of 

 Bai Kristo Das Pal " by Mr. 1ST. IS". Ghose. The other is Babu P. 0. 

 Mozumdar's " Life and Teachings of Keshub Chunder Sen." Dr. 

 Shambu Chandra Mukherji's " Travels and Voyages between Calcutta 

 and Independent Tippara " gives a faithful picture of Hill or Indepen- 

 dent Tippara, and shows to young Bengalis, fond of travelling to Europe, 

 that there are many interesting things nearer at home which should engage 

 their attention before they think of undertaking a journey beyond the 

 seas. Ram Chander Bose's work on " Hindu Heterodoxy " contains a 

 review of Buddhism, Jainism and other systems of religion not con- 

 sidered orthodox by the people of India. The number of works of 

 fiction issued from the Bengal presses is very large; it will suffice to 

 draw your attention to two of the most striking. The " Bishad 



