358 Application of the Roman Alphabet. r$ . 4 



for improving their acquaintance with each other's customs in this 

 respect. When letters pass between two educated gentlemen of 

 different race and creed in India, though written in what may he call- 

 ed the mother-tongue of both, they must be taken to the village scribe 

 to be read. This certainly is an anomaly — an anomaly which does 

 not exist perhaps in any other part of the world. But we have not 

 yet reached the end ; we are introducing railways, telegraphs, and all 

 kinds of mechanical power into India, and we are teaching sciences 

 bristling with technical terms. A medical student who may be un- 

 able to speak a word of English, will glibly run over half the Latin 

 terms in the pharmacopoeia of medical science, and any ordinary native 

 gardener will give the Latin botanical name for every tree and flow- 

 er in a well-stocked garden. We have here, then, not an alphabet 

 seeking for a language ; we have a language seeking for an alphabet. 

 It has greater natural claims perhaps on the Deva JSTagari alphabet 

 than upon any other, because the language, in its ancient dialectic 

 form must have been closely allied to the Sanskrit, and the present 

 Deva JSTagari alphabet was formed from the Indian alphabet ; but cer- 

 tain portions of the frame- work of the language are so distinct as to 

 be deduced with difficulty from Sanskrit, and if English, Sanskrit, 

 Arabic, and Persian words are to be adopted into the language, and 

 one of the three alphabets is to be selected to be a common alphabet 

 for all races who use this language throughout the country, the ba- 

 lance, on many grounds, is in favour of that alphabet which is used by 

 the most highly civilized people — the ruling power. 



Certainly very great difficulty would attend the inaugural measures 

 of a comprehensive change of the kind ; but these I need not discuss 

 here, further than to add that any attempt to accomplish so great an 

 end, must be made gradually, and with much caution. 



But besides Hindustani, it must be borne in mind, that there is a 

 very wide field that the Eoman alphabet may occupy at once. I 

 allude to the very numerous dialects which we find in all parts of 

 India to which the civilization of the Budhists and Brahmins have not 

 penetrated. In the province of Assam and neighbouring districts, 

 we have eight different dialects which, are stated to be distinct lan- 

 guages^ having no affinity with one another. 



# 1. Garow. 5. Abor. 



2. Naga. 6. Mishmee. 



7. Kamptee. 



8. Mikir, 



3. 



4. 



Booteah. 

 Khassiah. 



