Page:A General Biography of Bengal Celebrities Vol 1.djvu/190

HIS PRIVATE LETTERS! 181 PROJECT FOR A NATIVE NEWSPAPER. Calcutta, lOih January, 1842. My dear Gobind, &o. &.c Ac. The necessity of establishing a paper I had long been convinced of, and I have never failed to agitate the subject on all Buitable occasions, and when I heard of the extinction of the Durpan, I have viewed it in the same light as you have done, and after much dis- cussion, we have now come to a satisfactory conclusion. On last Tuesday evening the 7th, Tara Chand, (Chuekerburty) Peary, (Chand Miter), myself met it Krishna's, (Rev K. M. Banerjea's) and we resolved upon establishing a monthly Magazine in Bengalee and English, and also the Durpan in oase the receipts on account of the latter will enable us to employ a competent person versed in English and Bengalee to undertake, the translations of both the papers. This important duty no one seems willing to undertake and unless we can secure an intelligent young man to devote all his time which would perhaps cost us Rs 100. We can not veuture to take up two Papera. And in my humble opinion they are both, under present circumstance, equally necessary. The magazine is to keep up a spirit of enquiry amongest the educated natives, to revive their dying institutions such as the Library, the Society for A. G. K. ( acquirement of general knowledge), to arouse them from their lethargic state, to discuss such subjects as Female Education, the re-marriage of Hindoo widows <&«. It is in short to be our peculiar organ. The Durpan on the other hand is for the native community in general, to be easy and simple in its style not to run into any lengthened discussion of any subject — to avoid abstract questions, to be extremely cautious of awaking the prejudices of the orthodox, to give items of news likely to be interesting to the native community, and gradually to ex- tend their information, quietly fco purge them of their prejudices, and open their minds to the enlightenment of knowledge and civilization. It should make the extinct Durpan its model. The two objects of the two papers are quite distinct, and though I have very inadequate- .y expressed myself, you will perceive the difference, and I think you will concur with me as to the wisdom of the plan I have proposed.