THE MODERN PERIOD 99 Hindi metre was a European named John Christian (died about 1883). His most famous work is the Mukti Muktdvall, a life of Christ in verse. Thus, while the nineteenth century was a period of great change characterised especially by the develop- ment of prose literature, and the application of it to a large number of new subjects, literature of the older type still continued to be produced, though it generally exhibited little or no novelty in its themes. The period has been largely a time of transition, and in spite of its many past glories Hindi literature still awaits its more complete development. No attempt is here made to give an account of the writers in prose and poetry of the last thirty or forty years. Many of these writers are still living, and time alone will show how much of their work will have a lasting fame and prove of real value.
