LAWS. 1813. 53 Geo. 3, c. 155, $118. § 119. persons would be subject to an increased punishment, the clerk of the crown, or other officer to whom it may belong to keep the records of the court where any such conviction shall have taken place, shall, at the request of the prosecutor, or any other person on his Majesty's behalf, certify the same, by writing under his hand, in a few words, containing the substance and effect of such conviction, for which certificate one rupee and no more shall be paid; and such certificate being produced in court, shall be sufficient proof of such former conviction. Having in possession more than five pieces of counterfeit coin, without lawful excuse, punish (4) And be it further enacted, that if any person or persons within the local limits of the criminal jurisdiction of the said courts, or if any person or persons personally subject to the jurisdiction of any of the said courts, at any place in the East-Indies, or at any able by fine or place between the Cape of Good Hope and the three months' Streights of Magellan where the said Company shall imprisonment. have a settlement, factory, or other establishment, shall have in his, her, or their custody, without lawful excuse, the proof whereof shall lie on the party accused, any greater number of pieces than five pieces of such false or counterfeit coin as aforesaid, every such person being thereof convicted upon the oath of one or more credible witness or witnesses, before one of his Majesty's justices of the peace, or if there should be no justice of the peace duly qualified to act in the place where such offence shall be committed, before one of the judges of his Majesty's court there, shall forfeit and lose all such false and counterfeit coin, which shall be cut in pieces and destroyed by order of such justice or judge, and shall for every offence forfeit and pay any sum of money not exceeding in value forty sicca rupees, or less than twenty sicca rupees, in the currency of the place in which such offence shall be committed, for every such piece of false or counterfeit coin which shall be found in the custody of such person; one moiety to the informer or informers, and the other moiety to the poor of the presidency, settlement, or place in which such offence shall be committed; and in case any such penalties shall not be forthwith paid, it shall be lawful for such justice or judge to commit the person or persons who shall be adjudged to pay the same to the common gaol or house of correction, there to be kept to hard labour for the space of three calendar months, or until such penalty shall be paid. COLLEGES AND SEMINARIES. By the Act of 47th Geo. III, cap. 68, sec. 2, 1807, any person, after attaining the age of seventeen, and having bond fide spent, either before or after that age, two years at least at the East-India College in England, on his proceeding to India in the Company's civil service, was allowed to account such period of two years, as to offices, places, and emoluments, as so much time actually spent in India. By the act of the 53d Geo. III, cap. 155, sec. 42, the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India have full power and authority to superintend, direct, and control all orders and instructions whatsoever respecting colleges and seminaries in India: the Civil College and Military Seminary in England are to be continued and maintained, and all the regulations which may from time to time be framed for the good government of those institutions, are subject to alteration and approval by the, Board. The establishments in INDIA will be first noticed, and afterwards those which have been formed in England. It was during the administration of the Marquess Wellesley that the first regular institution was formed for the education of the civil servants of the Company in India. In the year 1800, that distinguished nobleman founded the Calcutta College, in order that ample means might be afforded to the junior civil servants to qualify themselves for the efficient discharge of the duties of the several offices to which they might be nominated. Provision was made for the study of the Oriental languages, and for lectures on almost every branch of literature and science. The plan, whilst it evinced the enlightened views of the noble founder, was considered by the authorities in Europe to involve an indefinite expense, to embrace far too wide a field, and to contemplate the acquirement of various branches of knowledge, the study of which, it was conceived, might be M 3 prosecuted prosecuted with far better prospect of success at home. On this point it was remarked, that if general knowledge be necessary, as much of it as can be imparted in Europe consistently with the nature of the service should be so imparted, and that the presumption is in favour of the knowledge thus bestowed being found of superior quality, and obtained at a much smaller expense. It was also proposed that every writer, on his appointment, should in the first instance proceed from Europe to Calcutta, and there enter the college, although his subsequent employment might be either at Madras or Bombay; and that it should be left to the Governor-General for the time being to determine to which establishment of the service the students should be finally appointed. To this it was objected, that the three presidencies were not on a similar footing; that a young man would more readily adapt his conduct to the manners and habits of the community of which he is to continue a member: and as Bengal might be considered the preferable presidency, the studies of each servant would be directed to the acquisition of that species of knowledge best calculated to qualify him for that establishment, to the manifest injury of the public service at Madras and Bombay; and that, were the Governor-General to possess the power of selecting the servants for the presidencies, it would, in fact, be delegating to a remote authority the patronage of India, and vesting in an individual that species of influence, to guard against which has been a leading object at each of the periods when a renewal of the Company's privileges has come under discussion. The plan of the Marquess Wellesley having been greatly modified, was finally sanctioned, the writers for Madras and Bombay not being required to proceed to Calcutta, and considerable reductions being made in the proposed collegiate establishment. Since the year 1804, when the college at Hertford was projected, the object of the Calcutta College has been confined to perfecting the students in Oriental literature. In 1808, provision was made at Madras for civil servants, on their arrival at the presidency, continuing the study of the native languages: they have the assistance of native teachers, teachers, and quarterly examinations take place for the purpose of ascertaining the progress which has been made: such examination also extends to subjects of general knowledge connected with the affairs of the Company. In 1812 the establishment was denominated a college, and placed under a board of superintendance. Measures have likewise been taken to promote the study of the Hindustannee, Mahratta, and Guzzeratte languages at Bombay, under a permanent public examination committee. Whilst such ample means have been provided for enabling the Company's servants to perfect themselves in the knowledge of the Oriental languages, the education of the natives has been an object of solicitude. Schools where English may be taught grammatically, and instruction given in that language on history, geography, and the popular branches of science, have been established, under the sanction and patronage of the Company. The natives have themselves evinced an anxious desire to obtain the benefit of an English education for their children, and have contributed in many cases liberally towards the support of such schools. Provision is likewise made, in the forty-third section of the Act of 1813, that, out of the surplus territorial revenues, one lac of rupees shall be set apart and applied to the revival and improvement of literature amongst the natives. The institutions in ENGLAND are the East India College at Haileybury, near Hertford; and the Military Seminary at Addiscombe, near Croydon. The college was established in the year 1805 by the EastIndia Company, with the view of affording the means of education to persons intended for the Company's civil service under the presidencies of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay, and of acquiring, with classical and mathematical instruction, the elements of those branches of science likely to be most useful in their future service in India. It is under the superintendence of a principal and professors, and is governed by statutes and regulations approved by the Board of Commissioners, which statutes are good and valid in law, and binding and effectual upon all persons and in all matters belonging to or relating to the said college. The Bishop of London exer cises visitatorial jurisdiction. No person can be appointed a writer who shall not have kept four terms at the college. The expediency of continuing the college, as well as of applying to Parliament to repeal the obligatory clause requiring all persons to reside four terms before they can be nominated writers, has been discussed by the Court of Proprietors. The first question was debated during three days in 1817, and rejected by a shew of hands on the 4th of March in that year; the second in 1824, and, after a debate of equal duration, was negatived by the ballot on the 31st of March, the number in favour of the application to Parliament for a repeal of the compulsory clause being two hundred and seventy-two, and against it four hundred. The difference of opinion which still exists as to the clause in question, combined with the probable demand of the service abroad exceeding the means of supply from the college, may possibly lead to a relaxation in this enactment. The Military Seminary was established in the year 1809, for the purpose of educating the cadets intended for the Company's engineer or artillery service in India. Prior to that period a certain number had been educated at Woolwich, and some under private tuition; but the inadequacy in point of number qualified to meet the exigency of the service became so apparent, that it was considered, by combining the whole establishment under the immediate government of the EastIndia Company, and making the professors and tutors, as well as the pupils, responsible to the Court of Directors for the due discharge of their respective duties, advantages would arise that could not be expected from institutions over which the Directors had no power or control whatsoever. The plan was accordingly laid before the Court of Proprietors in the month of March 1809, who highly approved thereof, confirming the appointment of the late General (then Colonel) Mudge as the first public examiner, Under the unceasing efforts of that distinguished and scientific officer, as well as those of his successor, Sir Howard Douglas, and of the present examiner, Sir Alexander Dickson, the greatest proficiency has been made by the students; and the public service in India has reaped all the advantages which were anticipated at the first foundation of |