CHAPTER V
Wititam Caney ano Fort Wittitam CoLuece. Among the institutions which in various ways gave an impetus to Bengali literature, Importance of the Fort William College in thehistory of Ben- the Fort William College. Since gali prose. we must give a prominent place to the practical disappearance of Bengali literature after Bharat-chandra’s death, its first publie emergence is to be traced in the prose publications of this College, which, although no literature by themselves, certainly heralded the more mature productions of later days. The importance of the Fort William College in the history of modern Bengali prose is not 00০ to the supreme excellence of its publication (for its publi- cations were not in any way first-rate) but to the 1801 that by itsemployment of the Press, by pecuniary and other encouragement, by affording a ceutral place for the needed contact of mind to mind, it gave such an impetus to Bengali learning, as was never given by any other institution since the establis:ment of the British rule. It is true that the books published under its patronage and generally for the use of its students were not more numerous or more substantial than those of the famous School Book Society of later times ; but it must be admitted that the list presents a long series of important compositions in the vernacular and classical languages of the East on a variety of subjects and comprehends many works which, though written expressly for young civilian students, were at one time widely celebrated im this country, and which have not
