Page:History of Bengali Literature in the Nineteenth Century.djvu/220

196 BENGALI LITERATURE gain the favour of the English ”; but we must admit that it shows more leaning towards gossip than Pratipaditya- charitra does. In point of language, Its language however, the last-named work com- pares very unfavourably with the work under review. Mahamahopadhyay MHaraprasid groups this work with Pratipaditya in the class of “ unreadables ” for its lan- guage, but the plain story-telling style, occasionally Sans- critised and wholly free from Persian, eminently befits the gossipy tendency of the work. The story is enlivened by frequent introduction of descrip- and manner, : tions, dialogues, letters and anec- dotes; and the narrative towards the end, describing the- Raja’s acquaintance with the Nawab, his joining the conspiracy, his negociations with the English, and the ultimate triumph of his party with the defeat of the Nawab is told ina connected and interesting manner, with a large infusion, however, of fiction which may not be strictly acceptable to the historian. But it is this ming- ling of fact and gossip that makes the work so interesting to the general reader. The work begins with a preli- minary account, legendary and historical, of pedigrees and ancestries, then narrates the story of Raja Krsna- chandra’s birth, his marriage, his religious work, a description of his residence called Stsa-nibasa, his amusements, his acquaintances with Nawab Siraj, his joining a conspiracy started by MirJa‘far and _ others against the Nawab, his delegation to the English at Caleutta by the conspirators, 115 Seren 619 negociations there with the Bada- -stheb of the Factory, flight of Raj- ballabh and his son, correspondence between the Nawab and the English, the Nawab’s descent upon Calcutta, agreement with MirJa‘far, the meeting of the English and ৭০ সি রান সালা সার বার়াশার