512 On the Origin of the Hindvi Language. [J^ . 5 



Bengali and Burmese, and that if the Semitic letters be reduced to 

 the same face, as that of the Long Primer or the Bourgeois, they 

 would far surpass the Roman in compactness. No doubt the natives 

 of this country, accustomed to manuscripts for ages, are fond of large 

 types, as were the natives of Europe two or three centuries ago ; but 

 already the people of Bengal have taken to Bourgeois and Brevier 

 in Bengali, and the same will soon follow in the Nagari and the Per- 

 sian. It is possible that Bengali types, as generally used, with the 

 vowel marks cast in separate pieces and the lines leaded out, take, 

 face for face, a little more space than the Roman, but while this dis- 

 advantage may be easily obviated by mechanical means, the superiority 

 of the Roman on this account is so small, that it cannot at all make 

 up for the defects which have been set forth above. 



As a question of policy it would not be proper for our present 

 Government — the most liberal and tolerant that India ever had— to 

 force the introduction of the Roman character into our schools and 

 courts. One great cause of complaint in Poland, Hungary, Schleswig- 

 Holstein and Austrian Italy is the attempt on the part of the conquerors 

 to force their languages on the subject races, by introducing them into 

 the courts of those countries, and a similar course in India, even if 

 confined to the alphabet alone, will, I apprehend, prove a like source of 

 discontent. The Hindus regard their alphabet to be of divine origin 

 (Deva Nagari) and a gift from the Godhead. With it is associated 

 their religion, their literature, and their ancient glory. To touch it is 

 to meddle with their religion, their past greatness and their cherished 

 recollections. In the case of Austria, Russia and Denmark there is 

 some advantage in prospect. It is a prerogative of Government and 

 a source of power to use its own mother-tongue in the courts estab- 

 lished by it, though the main object of dispensation of even-handed 

 justice may not thereby be fully attained. The people of India could 

 understand the object of introducing the English language into our 

 courts, though they would feel the injustice of sacrificing the 

 interest of the million for the convenience of a few officials. But 

 they cannot but think it a gratuitous and vexatious interference 

 with their language, to force upon them an alphabet which is avow- 

 edly unfit to represent its system of phonology, and that merely for 

 the sake of an idea. Give them what is good for them, and they will 

 receive it with thankfulness. Offer them the English language and 



