| Show PERSIAN POETRY the knowledge 9 e or of that bankc Lan KC possessed b tr y ot nali sir edward in a recent paper on persian poetry in the atlantic speaks of the knowledge of that language and literature required by an earlier ea alier generation of english officials in india with the other institutions of the moguls we took over the use of persian in all official business and the munshi or persian secretary and interpreter beeam became e a part of the staff of the english official in charge of political revenue and judicial business the language of business was soon discovered to be the language of a new and fine literature and volumes illustrate the enthusiasm which the magistrates judges and collectors in our older provinces and our adamini administrators orators in those newly annexed our political agents and residents in the native courts andoor and our military officers threw into these studies from the time when warren warre hastings set the example but then a generation of speculative reformers arose who asked why we should not act in the spirit of the mo gu auls Is and instead of carrying on the their ar method with literal hervill servility ty in make ake english the official language and so 50 bring the several nations of india into a new and more intimate connection with our own litera literature literati tare ire and civilization A retired bengal judge expressed the general opinion of practical men when he said that you might as well make sanskrit Sans crit the official language in the courts of westminster as english in the administration of justice in I 1 india he indeed though a man of ability and eminence in the companas comp anys service could see no inconvenience in the employment of persian in the administration of justice and such is the force of habit that when he had bad occasion to take notes of an important trial at the somers Somerset shire assizes he be actually wrote them in persian rather than i in the english words in which the evidence evidence was given just as had done many years year before when trying dalco its at jesmore Jes sore but though the general opinion of the native as well as the Eng english liah officials was against any change ch angeLorI lord auckland by the advice of siz sir charles metcalfe took what probably now seems to every one the obviously reasonable course and by his orders in 1837 finally confirmed in by bg the home hom e government all official business was to be carried on in alx the vernacular language of the country persian remained and remains the language of diplomacy y it is not required in any other branch of the public service and it is not possible that men so hard worked as our indian civilians and soldiers now are should find time and energy for a purely literary study they all fall back on their homer and horace II orace or yet vet better on their shakespeare and tennyson 9 rat ma ih have spoken so impertinently to papa at dinner she never hears mamma talk that way to him ethel stoutly well but you chooses him and I 1 tidbits |
