Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/749

VI. ] BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. — 707 suburbs early in the 1gth century. This was Mr. Antony of Chandernagar. He and his brother Mr. Kelly were of Portuguese parentage, and had settled in Bengal. They had accumulated immense wealth by successful trade in India. Mr. Antony, when a young man, fell in love with a remarkably handsome Brahmin widow of Chandernagar. He did not marry her, but the pair lived as husband and wife in his garden house at Gereti near Chander- nagar, where the remains of his house may still be seen. Antony did not interfere with the reli- gious views of the Brahmin woman, nay, he en- couraged them as best as he could; for in his house at Gereti, the religious festivals of the Hindus were performed by her with great ec/at, and he heartily joined the festal ceremonies. The temple of Kali known as Firingi Kali, at 243, Bowbazar Street, Calcutta, was erected by him at her desire. Antony acquired Bengali so well that he gained a perfect mastery over its colloquial forms. During the religious festivals of Hindus, his house became a resort of the kaviwalas who showed their en- thusiasm in reviling their rivals in extempore verses. Antony took so great an interest in these free competitions of the faviwalas, that he himself founded a party of his own, and employed a bard named Goraksanatha to compose extempore verses of satire to be levelled against others. He however soon found that he was himself more than a match for many a kaviwala, dismissed Goraksa natha, and himself appeared on the stage singing Bengali songs ; and asa sequel to them he attacked the rival parties in doggerels composed extempore by himself,—vilifying, slandering and abusing them « ~~