OCT. — MAJt. 1858-59.] for the Indian characters. 



249 



one another in the race of civilisation. The calamity which Europe 

 escaped has unfortunately fallen upon India, the various populations 

 of which, though civilised from a common source, are sundered 

 and isolated not only by differences of language and caste, but by 

 the use of different characters. So long as the country was par- 

 celled out into a multitude of independent political divisions, this 

 evil could not be remedied, but now that a single Government has 

 acquired a position of commanding influence in every part of In- 

 dia, there seems to be no reason why the different nations might 

 not be united together by the use of a single alphabet. If this 

 were done, the various languages belonging to each of the great 

 families being very similar in structure and pronunciation, books 

 and newspapers published in any one language would become 

 more widely diffused in other language districts, and more exten- 

 sively useful, than at present. Whatever works of genius or re- 

 sults of progress distinguished any one people would speedily be- 

 come the common property of the race, and the empire would 

 learn to feel itself to be one. The Roman character being in 

 general use, the study of the English language would necessarily 

 be popularised, and it might reasonably be expected — it might, at 

 least, reasonably be hoped — that the gulph which now separates 

 the Eastern mind from the Western would by degrees be bridged 

 across. The adoption by the East of the literary symbols of the 

 West would be at least a step towards union, and a sign of the 

 deeper union which is desired. 



d. If the Roman character were in general use boohs might be 

 printed at a greatly reduced cost. This advantage would neces- 

 sarily appear last in the order of time ; it would not take effect 

 till the change became universal or at least very general ; but 

 it must be admitted to be an advantage of great national im- 

 portance. 



The various Indian characters occupy much more space than the 

 Roman, and their twirls and ornaments, together with the clumsy 

 mode of combining consonants which prevails in many of them, viz., 

 tying them up one within the other in a bundle, instead of placing 

 them one after the other in the order of their pronunciation, render 

 it necessary that the lines should be kept far apart. Some of the 

 Indian characters have been a good deal compressed already by the 



