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"I have to thank you for your little treatise, which I have received through Mr. Macnaghten. Panah Lál has taken it home with him, and is engaged in studying it very attentively.

"In conclusion, I would say, that the Ráj Ráná has shewn himself particu larly anxious for my personal comfort, and it would be ungrateful in the extreme in me to find fault with my present situation.

"The lads, particularly the gentlemen, shew great sensibility, and there is much emulation among them. With regard to the discipline I exercise over them, you will be pleased to learn, that on several occasions, when I have thought proper to reprove them, which I have done in a kind tone and manner, and by appealing to their feelings and their sense of shame, their penitence has shown itself in tears! And these were the sons of Rájput chiefs! who might be supposed too proud to attend to the voice of admonition. Their anxiety to see me comfortable in the minutest trifles, and their ready obedience to all I have to say, fully compensate for the harassing nature of my duties."

Thus amidst many discouragements, has Mr. Wilkinson succeeded in exciting a taste for English literature in Rajputána, and in establishing a school which he hopes, (and who that wishes well to India will not respond to his feelings?) may prove the nucleus of a university at Kotah, for the instruction of the neighbouring Rájputs-soon may it be our happiness to record "a consummation so devoutly to be wished."

We have thus been particular in recording the steps which led to the formation of the central school at Kotah, not merely with a view to do justice to him who may be justly regarded as its parent, but also of exciting others of our countrymen, who possess influence among the Natives, to use it in a manner equally beneficial. The pages of the present and the few last numbers of the OBSERVER happily testify, that the number of benevolent individuals, who are thus exerting themselves for the benefit of the country, is every month increasing ;-but we cannot conceal from ourselves the fact, that there are still a great number perfectly indifferent to the intellectual, moral, and religious improvement of the people among whom they dwell. We would call upon such to consider well the responsibility of their situation. They may, it is true, rest entirely unmindful of the welfare of their ignorant and perishing fellow subjects, and yet live in ease and affluence, surrounded with the comforts and luxuries of life; but in this case they will live unblessing and unblessed, and might almost as well not have lived at all. They may, on the other hand, at some trifling expenditure of time and property, and some self-denial as to personal ease, like the Clevelands, and Duncans, and Careys of the genera tion now passed to their fathers, and like many yet living, who are the followers of such splendid examples, become the benefactors of the native population. In this case, as their motives are gradually appreciated by those whose good they seek, they will secure their thanks; by their descendants in future generations their memory will be blessed, as that of the authors of their real prosperity; and above all, where their actions are performed from Christian motives, they will receive the blessing of Him, who condescends to employ

human agency in accomplishing his own great purposes, and who will graciously reward every effort made to promote the temporal and eternal welfare of his creatures. Let each one recollect, that his time of exertion is very short, and very uncertain, and be determined, in promoting the happiness of others, as in every thing else worthy of his pursuit, that whatever his hand finds to do, he will do it with all his might. Like our great Example, let every one "work while it is called to-day, because the night cometh when no man can work."

Let not the friends of British India, (as we fear in some instances is the case,) be content to fold their hands, and indolently to remain inactive till Government address itself with corresponding energy to the great work of National Education. We yield to no one in anxious desire that under its auspices the glorious work should be commenced, on a scale in some degree suitable to the wants of this vast empire; and are grieved to see months and years roll away with so little effort made to secure it. But the neglect of Government will never excuse our indolence and inactivity. We are responsible to God as individuals, and if as such we labour not, to the full extent of our ability, as individuals we shall be condemned for neglect or misuse of our stewardship. Besides, nothing will more tend to excite Government to emulation, than the zealous and successful efforts of benevolent individuals in different parts of the country; and when Government takes up the subject, such individuals as are familiar with, and devotedly attached to, Native education, will be absolutely necessary, effectually to secure the judicious and economical disbursement of the funds which it may appropriate to the object. We hope therefore that every friend to Native improvement will be "up and doing. Every thing invites to exertion-a desire for education, and facilities for promoting it, never possessed before, are in favor of the attempt." England expects every man to do his duty," and no duty can be more imperative in its nature, or more ennobling in its performance, than that of enlightening the ignorant, and introducing the degraded heathens into the light, and liberty, and joy which the Gospel of Christ can alone impart.

At the same time we hope that the decided efforts of Government will be no longer delayed. We begin almost to fear, lest accident, sickness, or death should deprive us of the presence of the present respected Head of the Government of India, ere he has brought into operation the enlarged plan of education on which it was understood many months ago that his active mind was engaged, and should thus snatch from his brows that honour which would otherwise await him, of being regarded in future ages as the greatest Benefactor of British India, because he had introduced the comprehensive system of education by which its teeming myriads in successive generations had been elevated and blessed.

BETA.

VII.-Chapter of Indian Correspondence, No. II.

A glance at the following correspondence will show that the cause of education is ra pidly advancing. Ignorance, prejudice, and barbarism, could not be more fitly represented than by the Coles, the Rajputs, and the tribes on the Indus: yet these people flock to our schools, as soon as ever they are established. We hear much of the apathy of the natives, and their dislike to innovation: the apathy, we are per suaded, is not in the people of Hindustán, who are ever keen enough to see and to follow what is for their own interest, but in their European Masters. If they did but exert themselves in the cause of native improvement, the experience of those already in the field proves, that the only bar would be, not the want of encouragement and success, but the want of means. If any one doubts that the people of

India are willing to learn, let him read the letter from the Cole country, where our benevolent correspondent, assisted by no better teacher than a Bengálí Sarkár, has already gathered upwards of 30 boys in an English School. We rejoice to see Providence so graciously overruling the conquest of this people to effect what we doubt not will prove their civilization and moral improvement.-ED.]

I. TRIBES AND DIALECTS ON THE BORDERS OF THE INDUS.

Extract of a Letter from a Political Officer on the banks of the Indus, dated 4th July, 1834.

"I have to acknowledge the receipt of your packet containing a number of copies of the Synopsis of the mode of applying the Roman letters to Asiatic languages.

I

"I am so much out of the world, and the newspapers are so long in reaching me after their issue from the press, that I may be excused pleading ignorance of what is going on in the capital. Your letter was the first intima tion I had of any new plan being adopted for the dissemination of a knowledge of the English language among the natives. The only paper I see is the Englishman, and that very irregularly; therefore I must have lost much of the discussion on the merits of the plan ;-there can be little doubt, however, that it would greatly facilitate the attainment of the object in view, if it could be brought into general use. of their fellow creatures at heart must rejoice at the exertions now makAll who have the interest ing in the cause of instruction, however remote the chance of success. am sorry to say the banks of the Sutledge do not at present offer a very promising field for our exertions. Learning and learned men are not patronized at the Court of Bahawalpur, nor are the mass of the people at all anxious or curious to be instructed. Perhaps next to Sinde, no country in the East presents a picture of more debasing and gross ignorance, pervading all ranks, than this: among the Daúdputras, the rulers of the country, if we except the Khan's own family and nearest relations, it is rare to meet with an individual possessing a knowledge of reading and writing. Even those filling responsible situations in the government are quite ignorant of their letters. A few industrious Hindu Lálas enjoy respectability, and earn a scanty pittance by acting as secretaries and conducting the duties and cor respondence of these pampered minions. The eastern idea, that it is unbe coming in a great man to be his own scribe, is carried to a fault among them, "The Mussulman population are, in proportion to their ignorance, superstitious and bigotted beyond any thing we see in other parts of Hindustan, although they may be freer from some of the minor prejudices of Indian growth. They consider a Faringi who believes in the divine origin of Christ as much a Káfir or heathen as they do the Hindu, and look upon our learning and science as something forbidden. Their blind submission to their FATE is a fatal bar to all improvement.

"The Khan is hardly less jealous of our designs than the Sindhians, and any attempt on my part to introduce the study of our literature would be construed into a design of establishing our authority in his coun try. He expressed a very strong desire some time ago to be supplied with English books, from an idea, which he must have culled from his news2 U

writer at Delhi, that his doing so would be highly gratifying to Government; but since his wish was complied with, I have not heard of his having made any great progress, or having taken measures to provide any instructor for his son and heir. I have been long absent from Ahmadpur, but am now returning to that place, and I shall take an opportunity at my first interview of shewing the Synopsis, &c. to the Khan.

"In my short note to you from Mithankot, I mentioned that the mass of the population inhabiting the banks of the river have no written language. Since their conversion to Islamism the educated among them have adopted the language used by their Mussulman conquerors, the Persian; and no traces of their Hindu origin remain. The population of the few towns on the river is, on the contrary, chiefly Hindu and of the Bunniah caste; they have a written language, a specimen of which I am preparing to send you. The dialects vary considerably in the different towns; those of Bahawalpur and Khairpur resemble each other; Mithankot and Sitpur are different, and approach to that of Multán. In the Derajat the majority of the Hindus, from their constant intercourse with Khorasan, speak the Persian fluently. The character used by the Hindus is as exclusively confined to a particular class, the mercantile, as the Mahájaní character is to the merchants of Hindustán. It would therefore be lost labour to compile a book in it. I have several specimens in the shape of dialogues in the Beloch language, which I committed to writing for my own amusement in my intercourse with the Beloch zamindars, and at a time when I contemplated a trip into the Suleman Range: but the Beloches have no written character. Their language has a great deal of Persian in it, and is pleasing to the ear. A knowledge of Persian would not however be of much use to a listener in hearing them talk, until familiarized to their mode of expression. When committed to writing, the affinity of the two languages is very apparent. Nearly one-third of the words, especially the verbs, are Persian, and differ only in termination.

"From what I have said, you will see that I can be of little use in furthering your object of familiarizing the people on the Indus with our lan guage. With regard to familiarizing their language to us, with the better educated, a knowledge of Persian will carry us through. With the peasantry, who have a different dialect at every thirty or forty miles down the river, the Brij Bhákhá must be our ground work, but it would be difficult to recognize any thing of it in the mouths of the Jats and other Mussulman castes. The language spoken by the Hindus of the different towns is as distinct from Hindi as the language of the upper part of the Panjab. Should you wish for specimens of all the different dialects it will be no trouble to me to provide them, and I can use either the Roman, Persian, Deva Nágri or Khula Nágrí character in sending them to you, whichever you prefer."

II. BENEVOLENT EFFORTS FOR THE EDUCATION OF THE COLES. Extracts of letters from Lohardigá, the Civil station in the Cole country, lately the seat of war, dated Sept. 1834.

"Your letter in defence of Sir W. Jones is admirable-all except causa, cowsa, which I shall never be Scotchman enough to approve of, as far as Latin is concerned. You have I think fully established the matter, and though I am, or rather was, prejudiced in favor of Gilchrist, I will give him up for ever.

"When will your Picture Letters and Primer be ready?—I have sent Mr, Ostell a hundred rupees to discharge the bill for the books which you were so good as to bid him send me, and have written for others. What I now want is, a couple of masters, and though I know your hands are full of business, I hope you will ask Mr. Mackay to send me a pair of his lads,

to make an impression in this obscure corner of the country. I have had a class going at English for nearly a month; but it is small, and I can only spare a Bábu for a couple of hours, and myself for half an hour, early in the morning, to attend to it. The thing however takes, and I am most anxious to establish it before I leave for my tour through the district in the latter part of November. Now pray get me a couple of intelligent, hardworking, praise-worthy scholars from Mr. Duff's school. They should be both Hindus, I think, as they would be more comfortable together, and I will endeavour to make them as much so as possible. This climate is quite delightful, and now the rains are closing, I think they might get on a couple of Tattus and find their way up here viâ Hazáríbágh, without danger or difficulty. Mussulmans are disliked, and Persian is abhorred by the Maháráj and many of the people. You see therefore, that I get rid at once of one of your stumbling-stocks. Romanized Hindi and English for ever! But it is of great importance that I should get them as soon as possible, to set them going at once, and lay the foundation of the future University at Lohardiga ! "As to their pay, I will give them, as long as I am here and they work well, whatever may be considered proper. I have at present a couple of English writers, Bengálí Brahmins, who get 40 and 20 rupees: perhaps something of this kind as a beginning would be sufficient-but more if necessarythough I think it a bad policy to be too liberal. A European would be lost here at present, but these will be pioneers, and I hope to be able to build a house next year, and then we shall see about it. Meantime I know you and Mr. Mackay will pick me out a brace of young men, who will be willing to exert themselves, and prepare matters for a more able successor.'

With regard to turning the Persian into Colish, it would be useless; it would be making a translation for Zumurzetshire. In fact all, who can read, read and speak Hindí, and all understand it :--wherefore then perpetuate a barbarous provincial dialect?

You have little idea of the low ebb of things among the Coles. Witches are as common as blackberries; and it was only 15 years ago that the Maháráj, at the instigation of a Faqír, took off the heads of 7 for bewitch ing his children.

Saint Matthew in Hindi shall be romanized, as I can find time, as quickly as may be, though with regard to St. Matthew, as the first book for the Coles, I think it too hard by far. We must begin with some simple composition, questions and answers. Now our version of the Scripture is, to say the least, difficult as a whole. I think selections, with language simplified, the thing.

III. PROSPECTS OF EDUCATION AT NIMACH.

Extract from a letter, dated Nimach, Aug. 21st, 1834.

"Our school is going on slowly, but I hope surely. There have been some discussions of late, but I hope that they are now at an end. Difference of opinion in such matters, as well as in all others, must be expected. I have sent for two supplies of books, including a few copies of the Sermon on the Mount; I mean to give them to the school, and they will, I hope, lead to a larger order. I feel quite convinced that nowhere would schools prove of greater benefit than on this wild frontier, and in that of Guzirát towards Sirowi. The Minas, Kulís, and Bhils, and I may add many of the Rájputs on the latter named border, have but few prejudices, and their superstitions sit lightly upon them in general; they would I am sure gladly avail themselves of any opportunity of having their children educated. Almost all the female children of respectable families amongst the Rajputs can read and write Hinduwí: the Rau of Sirohi's daughter, who is married to the Jaipur Rájá, constantly used to write, and I believe does now write, with her own hand to her father."

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