554 THIS S7TR.A

India. It may also be hoped that the same news may lead the Committee of Public

Instruction in Turkey to establish o chair for Hindustant m Istamboul.

The Shah of Persia, when he visited the Queen n 188, was no less surprised to see the Queen learn Flindustani than his Tm- perial cousin at the Golden Horn. o "The accompanying remarks ol the Queen m her Hindustanm diary respecting His Majesty’s visit will doubtless prove very interesting to the readers of this Magazine,

Some description of the Hindustani language will not be out of place here. Of all the modern languages spoken i India

—I might say n Asia--the Urdu language stands pre-eminently distinguished for the

delicacy and swectness o 1ts expressions. The Moghul emperors stood need of common language for their court and camp, which were composed of representatives of various nationalitics, and thus a mixture of Persian, Arabic, and Sanskrit gave rise to a new and beautiful language.

Nowhere have the \lowlm]s rendered a more lasting service to [ndia than in giving

her the Urdu language, which may fairly be said to be the Zgwa Jranca of India. Tt has in 1t the sweetness of Persian, the grandeur of Sanskrit, and the sublimity of Arabic. The language has, during one hundred vears’ connection with lingland, borrowed many and scientific C\]ncsslons of the West, and recent translations of eminent foreign works have cnriched its vocabulary to an cnormous extent. If the language continues to make the present progress in the course of the next hundred years, 1t will perhaps be the richest language e Asia. Time was when Mohammedan scholars who alwavs used Arabic or Persian thought It fra dies to use Hindustant as a means of intercommunication, just as much as British scholars thought of using linghsh m place of Latin. But of late the feeling has undergone a complete change simult: mcousl\

with the growth ol the language. The rich and healthy hterature that comes out cvery day fronmt the pen ol the rising generation s simply amazing. News

papers and periodicals are fast over-running the length and breadth of the country. We have always had beautiful works 1 poctry and fiction, but modern books on these subjects indicate a marked revolution n the ideas of the writers : while both the manner in which they are written and the matter which they contain are extremecly praiseworthy.,

The rapidity and case with which the

MWAGAZINE. Queen 1s mastering the language 1s very remarkable. \m()n(r her many enviable

qualitics, there are two which the possesses - an eminent degree. These are strict regularity and firm determimation, Both these qualities have ncever bheen more conspicuously displayed by her than in the acquisition of her new language. Tt s cgenerally known that no frost, no wind, no ran will ever prevent her from her daly drives I may say, no pressurce of work, no anxiety, no sorrow keeps her from her hnguistie work. Lovery day at the appomted hour the Queen is I)Us) with her Hindustani, liven (lmmg the hours of most poignant pam and l)cwildcring gricf, cnough to upsct the daily routine of ordinary mmds the Queen did not faill to write her Hmdustam diary at the usual time. The accompanying remarks of Her Majesty on the death of the Duke of Clarence i that diary will be read with much mterest and sympathy by her loyal subjects.

The diary- - which T had the privilege of \L‘C]l]g, among many other mtuutm“ thmus At Balmoral - is highly instructive. and T am sure the readers will be very grateful to Her Majesty for graciously permitting us to pub- lish with this article fac-simile copies ol a leaf or two out of the same for the benefit of the hiterary public,

I have said above that the Queen’s studies have reacted m the most symp sathetic manner in the Iast. The people of India may well expect that they will give new impetus to Oriental learning 1 th]s country. I‘or the first time n the lnst(n\ of Llurope a Sovereign of a great Power has devoted hersclf .suluu.sl) Lo thu literature of the Orient. "T'he fact s noteworthy, because it marks an nnportant cpoch 1 the history of the reunton of the Fast and West, W h()uu writes the future history of the rise and progress of Oriental Iterature i Furope, will be bound to chronicle the self=sacrificing devotion and aracious hiterary patronage of the illustrious of India.

[Forty years ago, when Albert the Good,” with the true msight of a statesman and philosopher, nobly advocated the spread of Oriental Tearning m this country, hittle did he dream that his own Royal Consort would one day declare herscell an Oriental student, and thus give a practical shape to his Tnudable

(Jueen

advocacy. Had he been alive to-dav we should have found m him, not the strongest supporter of the languages ol the Last, but also an Orientahst himself,

he should have en- learning among the

1s that Oriental

Doubtless it couraged