amours of their gods which they celebrate; the courtezan prostitution which they witness, the deception which they see practised upon a blind and deluded multitude, and the ridiculous mummery performed as worship, must prove rank and luxuriant weeds and nettles, briers and thorns, to choke any seed or principle of truth, which may be found in Sanscrit writing. But in reality, what do we find is the effect which native literature has produced? Has it inspired a love of liberty, of truth, or of justice? Has it strengthened their intellectual powers; or nourished the fruits of righteousness, of benevolence, and peace? Is their social system,walled and barred by the divisions of caste :-or is their domestic intercourse, where woman is only a menial, a slave, and a victim of passion, the indigenous growth of their literary culture, -a demonstration of wisdom, or an evidence of the beneficial tendency and the enlightening influence of their educational institutions? A shrewd observer and competent witness, Dr. Buchanan, affirms, in the 166th page of the sixth volume of Asiatic Researches, that "no useful science have the brahmins diffused among their followers: history they have abolished; morality they have depressed to the utmost; and the dignity and power of the altar they have erected on the ruins of the state and the rights of the subject."

So far, however, as I have discovered, the Hindoos have manifested no indifference to the advantages of education: they have evinced the strongest desire to attain, and a zeal in the pursuit which indicated a deep sense of the value of instruction. The educational philanthropist is not required, even in rural districts, to use stimulants to excite attention, or to beat up for scholars that his school may be filled: while Hindoo youth show more than an equal aptness in receiving instruction with the youth of other nations. I think they may be said to possess a peculiar facility in acquiring the learning to which they have access. Nor do I imagine, that there is so great a want, in the remote districts, or among the unassisted native communities, of scholastic institutions, as there is of a good system of education, the elements of correct learning and the means of useful information. There are districts of which I cannot speak so favourably :-the Ghoonds, the Koolies, the Beeloochees, and the Muggs, will appear excерtions, with many others among one hundred millions of idolaters or followers of Mohammed. But there is verge and room enough for the corps scholastique, in which to display their enterprise, their love of letters, and their ability to "rear the tender thought, and teach the young idea how to shoot;" to become the benefactors of unnumbered millions of mankind.

The English authorities ruling over India might have been expected to be more engrossed in the acquisition and consolidation of conquest, or in their pursuits as merchant adventurers, during the earlier stages of their power, than in inquiries about education, or efforts to promote it. Yet men there were whose tastes and acquirements prepared them to enter cordially into such associations, as had for their object the development of oriental literature. Halhed and Colebrook, Sir William Jones and Sir James Mackintosh, Sir John Malcolm and Mr. Erskine, Richardson and Wilkins, Wilson and Shakspeare, Wilford and Gilchrist, Vans Kennedy and Trevellyan, with many others, have filled up the succession of oriental scholars, or acted as patrons of literary institutions. To many of them the Asiatic Societies and the Royal Society have been indebted for the accumulated stores of varied learning deposited in their archives, or published in their journals and researches; while a stimulus was given by them to other, less known but not less indefatigable labourers, in the same work. In 1801, the government required returns from their servants respecting the morals of the people and the state of education; though I do not find that any general measures were adopted till after the year 1813, when parliament included it as a term of the renewed charter, that 10,000l. per annum should be devoted to Hindoo education. Isolated acts of government had, however, preceded this

measure.

In the year 1781, Warren Hastings, as governor of Bengal, founded the Madressa, a Moslem college at Calcutta. Buildings were erected for its use at an expense of nearly 6,000l., which, at first, he disbursed from his own resources, and afterward obtained leave to repay in full from the government treasury. 3,000l. annually, from lands, were applied for its maintenance. Persian and Arabic were the languages studied; Mohammedan law was taught the students to qualify them as officers in the courts of justice. The branches of instruction taught, were subsequently classified; grammar, rhetoric, oratory, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, natural philosophy, law, and the theology of the koran, were prescribed as branches by a government committee. The salaries of the officers varied from 500l. to 36l.: while the students were allowed, some as much as 20l., and others as little as 8l., annually. From the year 1794 to 1818 inclusive, the gross expenditure was nearly 50,000l.: the total charges for the first buildings, and a re-erection in 1823, 21,6281.; and for support till 1835, from its foundation, 135,2201. Two hundred scholars of the institution were publicly examined, on the 15th of August, 1821, in the various branches of science taught in the Madrissa. The study of Arabic, Mohammedan law, and mathematics, was then extended, and a medical class instituted. An English class was formed in 1828, when skeletons, anatomical models, and surgical works were provided. Examinations were now held in arithmetic, algebra, and Euclid; in philosophy and medicine; in Arabic, logic, and rhetoric. All applications for law-officers under the Bengal government were to be accompanied by certificates from the college; and a preference given to those who had acquired the English language, and produced testimonials of good conduct. The number of students in 1830 was ninety-nine. Perhaps this smaller number was better instructed; at least, a greater expenditure was incurred for them individually; while other institutions had increased and competed with the Madrissa.

Jonathan Duncan, Esq., resident at Benares, established in 1791 the Hindoo Sanscrit College, in that ancient capital of brahminism: his avowed object was to employ, beneficially, a surplus, which the revenue yielded above their estimated amount. Beginning with 1,400l. in the first year, it was augmented to 2,000l. in the following years; and in 1834, its revenue amounted to 2,600l. The receipts of the Benares Sanscrit college till 1834, were 96,000l. The avowed object of this institution was to preserve and cultivate the laws, literature, and religion of the Hindoos in their sacred city. The course of studies prescribed for its students, comprehended theology, ritual, medicine including botany, &c., music, prosody, grammar, sacred lexicography, poetry, logic, ethics, philosophy, law, history, metaphysics, mathematics, and mechanic arts. Besides the scholars on the foundation, and a certain number of poor children who were to receive instruction gratis, the institution was open to all who were willing to pay for instruction: 162 scholars had monthly allowances in 1834; besides thirteen pundits or professors, and a librarian, with a European superintendent and secretary. In 1824, the number of scholars had