and exhibits a mastery of detail controlled and ordered by the sobriety of true scholarship.
In a work of this kind, necessarily offering conclusions here and there on points which in the present state of our linguistic knowledge cannot be decided with absolute certainty, it is not to be expected that all scholars will agree with every statement contained in it; and, as regards myself, I must confess that he has not convinced me that I am wrong in one or two matters in which he has lucidly expressed his disagreement. But, unless we searchers after knowledge sometimes differed, learning would not progress, and there would he the less chance of arriving at the ultimate truth. I therefore welcome his criticisms, and if his arguments, on further consideration, prove that he is right, I shall be among the first to congratulate him. These points are, however, of minor importance, and in no way affect the main thesis of his book,—to give a clear and accurate account of the origins and growth of the Bengali language. In this respect, every one who reads it will admit that the author has succeeded and that his volume is a fine example of wide knowledge, and of scholarly research.
Rathfarnam,
Camberley (Surrey),
October, 1925.
George A. Grierson.
