passed; 228 appeared at the last examination for the degree of Bachelor of Arts, of whom 68 passed. For the degree of M.A., 62 presented themselves, of whom 28 were successful. I must apologise for troubling you with statistics so dear to the heart of every Anglo-Indian. At the same time, I submit that the figures given above are not wholly devoid of significance. In order to perceive the extent to which English education has developed in India of late years, we have only to turn back to 1857, the first year of the University's life. In this year only 244 candidates presented themselves for the Entrance Examination. Some idea of the nationality and religion of our students may be gathered from the fact that in the last Entrance Examination papers were set in Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, Bengali, Arabic, Urdu, Persian, Hindi, Uriya, Burmese, and Armenian. Some candidates were permitted to translate certain passages given for translation into the student's own vernacular, into Mahratti; one demanded to be allowed to translate into Assamese. Of course, the number of students who take up Latin is usually very small; it is principally confined to Europeans and Eurasians. One candidate generally applies to be examined in Greek. For the Little-go a classical language is imperative, and some Hindus have of late years discarded Sanskrit for Latin. But, as a general rule, Hindus take up Sanskrit, and Mahommedans Arabic or Persian.

All matriculated students, who wish to appear at the subsequent examinations of the University, are required to study in an affiliated college. In order to be admitted to the First Arts Examination, a candidate must bring a certificate showing that he has studied in some affiliated institution for two years, and the same period of study is required for the B.A. Examination. The colleges may be divided into two classes, Government and Missionary Colleges. In the latter some religious instruction is given.

There is a

The students of these colleges are nearly all day boarders. boarding-house at Hooghly College, and a Hindu hotel at Calcutta in which a few students live. A few students of the Mahommedan College at Calcutta live on the premises. But these are exceptional cases.

The students of these colleges are the undergraduates of our University. But they differ from the undergraduates of most European universities, in having no common character and very little esprit de corps. The robust alumni of the Punjab colleges differ widely in appearance and dress from the youth of Bengal. But it is from the province of Bengal proper that our examination hall is principally filled, and it is accordingly to Bengalee students that most of my subsequent remarks will apply.

The expense of a University career is very small in this country. A student in Arts at the Presidency College, Calcutta (probably the most expensive native college in India), pays a monthly fee of 12 rupees and an admission fee of 10 rupees. His board, if he does not live at home, will cost him from 8 to 12 rupees a month. Indeed, it is not likely that his parent or guardian could afford to pay more for his education. Most of the parents of our students have incomes between 100 and 200 rupees a month. A great many of them are clerks in Government offices; some follow some liberal profession. It is from the children of persons of this class that our schools and colleges are recruited. The old literary castes, the Brahmans, Kayasthas, and Baidyas maintain their character under the English rule. Instead of learning Persian, as in the days of

Mahommedan supremacy, they learn English, enrol themselves in our colleges, gain our degrees, and fill our law courts and public offices. The object of a native in seeking English education is to get on in life. It is not for Englishmen to throw stones at them, for the object of a great many students in our English universities is the same. But there is, perhaps, in India less love of learning for learning's sake than there is in English universities. Few rich men's sons display great zeal for their studies. This, perhaps, may be due to the fact that our system of education has pushed into the background those Sanskrit and Arabic studies in which Hindus and Mahommedans take a real interest. At the same time, it must be admitted that the general level of diligence is higher in Indian than in English universities. The truth is, more depends upon a successful college career. The best proof of the importance of a University degree in this country is the (to Englishmen somewhat surprising) fact, that it has a distinct value in the matrimonial market. We are told that the first question a rich Bengalee mamma asks with respect to a would-be son-in-law-who does not himself belong to a well-to-do family-is, Has he passed the Entrance Examination? If the agent who transacts these interesting affairs cannot give an answer in the effirmative, there is little chance of a successful termination to the negotiation. Possibly the answer may be-Yes! he is a failed F.A. candidate. The meaning of this queer phrase is, that the gentleman in question has passed the Entrance Examination, read for two years in an affiliated college, and then been unsuccessful in the First Arts Examination. Curious to say, the mere fact of his having gone up is considered a feather in his cap. It may be remarked by the way that a large number of the students in our colleges are fathers of families. The witticism of Punch, "Papa is plucked again," would have no meaning in this country, where early marriage is still the rule in spite of the exertions of Keshub Chunder Sen and other reformers. A great ferment has been lately raised in Bengal by a proposal made by a Government Inspector of Schools, Mr. A. W. Garrett. He has had the audacity to recommend that no married man should be admitted to the University Entrance Examination. It is reported that, in spite of the conservative tendencies of Indian ladies, opinion in the zenanas of the capital and suburbs is in favour of this proposal. It is not as revolutionary a proposal now as it would have been twenty years ago.

A large number of scholarships are awarded by Government to successful students on the result of the University Examinations. Indeed, it is by means of Government scholarships, awarded during a student's school and college career, that la carrière ouverte aux talents is made possible in India. A poor man's son may thus take a degree in Arts, and then in Law, become a pleader, and die a Judge of the High Court. The most important branch of University study in this country is the English language and literature. English is studied as a classical language. The works and editions of Morris, Skeat, Earle, Aldis, Wright, Abbot, &c., are largely used. The examination for this year's M.A. degree includes Skeat's selections from Chaucer, three books of "Paradise Lost," Milton's "Areopagitica," three plays of Shakespeare, and some more modern works. Besides this, candidates are expected to show some knowledge of composition and grammar. We may perhaps claim that English is studied in India on much the same system as that lately introduced by Abbott, Hales, and others into our English public schools. In 1874 an excellent manual, called "Hints on the Study of

English," was published by Messrs. Rowe and Webb, two professors in the Bengal Educational Department. Speaking of this work the Saturday Review observes: "Messrs. Rowe and Webb have thoroughly grasped not only the relations between the English tongue and other tongues, but the fact that there is an English tongue. . We are thoroughly glad to see native students taught the history and nature of our language in a way in which, only a few years back, no one would have been taught at home."

It must, indeed, be admitted that few of our students attain a perfect command of English during their University career. They gain some acquaintance with the history of the language, and are familiar with the masterpieces of English literature; but they cannot write English with perfect ease. This defect, however, is often remedied in after-life. When released from the necessity of passing examinations in a variety of subjects, they read in a more leisurely and liberal way, and turn their attention more to contemporary literature. It cannot be denied that a good many Bengalees write English with considerable fluency and accuracy. It would be difficult to discover the nationality of Dr. Rajendra Lal Mitra or Baboo Kristo Dass Paul, or Dr. Mahendra Lal Sircar from their English style. Educated Bengalees correspond with one another in English, and even introduce a great many English words into their conversations with one another in their mother-tongue, if they are discussing a literary, or scientific, or political question. It is, however, a mistake to suppose that the study of English is killing Bengalee literature. The direct opposite of this view is nearer the truth. The fact is, the study of English literature has operated as a stimulus to the production of Bengalee works. Many Bengalee plays and novels, dealing with Indian scenes and stories, have been written in imitation of English models. I might instance the works of Bankim Chandra Chattayea and Michael Madhusudan Dutt. The influence of English literature on Bengalee may be fairly compared to the influence of the revival of Greek learning on the modern languages of Europe.

The knowledge of Sanskrit is, as you well know, traditional in India. The study of Sanskrit is pursued in the old style in the native schools of Banaras and Nodiya; but the schools and colleges affiliated to the University of Calcutta follow to a certain extent the European method. Still it is not taught with a due regard to comparative grammar, and the professors of the language in Bengal proper, who are all natives, have little acquaintance with the critical methods of modern German scholars. In this respect we are far behind the University of Bombay, where the study of Sanskrit has been for a long time superintended by Drs. Bühler and Kielhorn, who have trained up a race of native scholars acquainted with the works of European Sanskritists, and comprehending the relation of the language to the kindred Aryan dialects and the position of its literature in the totality of human culture. The amusingly bitter hostility to Sanskrit displayed by the able and energetic Sir George Campbell, when Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, has had the effect of diminishing its importance in the University curriculum. This is perhaps to be regretted. I entertain no high opinion of the absolute value of Sanskrit studies. It is, in my opinion, doubtful if the present enthusiasm for the language will continue in Europe. But, as long as it does continue, it tends to promote good feeling between Indian and European scholars. A European student of Sanskrit literature finds that he has something in common with every pundit; and this is of great

importance, considering the gulf that subsists in India between natives and Europeans-a gulf that is, I am afraid, widening every day.

Fortunately for our University, the iron will of Sir George Campbell left its mark upon education, not only in the depression of Sanskrit, but in the elevation of physical science. He brought out two able professors to this country-Dr. Watts, who teaches botany at Hooghly College, and Mr. A. Pedler, Professor of Chemistry in the Presidency College, Calcutta. Speaking of the progress made by our students in scientific knowledge, the latter remarks: "The study of physical science in Bengal has been carried on for too short a time to enable us to judge conclusively of its results. So far as can be ascertained at present, there are many grounds for anticipating favourable results in the future. That science has its attractions for the natives of Bengal is shown by the great increase in the number of the students that has taken place during the last few years; but it must be admitted that the intelligent appreciation of the subject is confined to a somewhat limited number. In the majority of students physical science is a mere exercise of memory, but the minority show as clear an insight into the principles and methods of science as is ever shown by any body of English students. No originality of thought has been as yet shown, and can perhaps scarcely be looked for in this subject, for, up to the present time, there have been no facilities for practical study or training, nor has there been sufficient encouragement held out to induce any further study beyond the strict limits of the University career, which it is feared tends to give a general, and perhaps a rather superficial knowledge of several sciences and a thorough understanding of none.

Very few Mahommedans display any zeal for English education. The majority of our students are Hindus. Some of the most distinguished have attached themselves to the Brahma Samáj, a native Theistic church. It may be doubted if all those who register themselves as Hindus have a firm belief in the Pauronic mythology. They do not openly break with the faith of their forefathers, and no doubt go through most of the prescribed ceremonies with edifying devoutness. If those reports which occasionally reach us from the mystic seclusion of the Indian yuvaιkwvitis are to be trusted, the Hindu ladies keep a vigilant eye upon the conformity, if not upon the orthodoxy, of their male relatives. The following anecdote will illustrate my meaning: Lectures in most of the colleges of Calcutta begin at half-past ten a.m. Once in my experience the time had to be changed in consequence of an eclipse which was to take place at about half-past nine a.m. Now it appears that the ladies of an Indian household religiously break all their cooking vessels at the commencement of an eclipse, and replace them by new ones as soon as it is over. The consequence is that, until the monster Rahu, who is supposed to devour the sun, has finished his morning meal, no Hindu can get his. On this ground the native professors and students of a certain college requested that on the day of the eclipse the lectures might begin an hour and a half later. It was considered advisable to accede to this request. There can be no doubt that the women of India are more conservative in matters of religion than the men, but it is difficult to decide how far an educated Hindu who has not become a Brahmist disbelieves the religion of his forefathers. Casual European observers are too apt to dogmatise on this point. The pantheistic tone of the Hindu mind renders it possible for educated natives to retain a quasi-belief in much that seems to us absurd. The attitude of a Brahmist student towards the Hindu faith is

well described in "Dhûpnagar, or the City of Sunshine," a novel by Mr. Allardyce. As far as I am able to judge, this gives a true picture of the religious feelings of the more serious and thoughtful students in our Indian colleges. Natives take readily to metaphysics and theology, and the shelves of our colleges which are set apart for works on these subjects receive what some would consider an undue share of attention. The modern sect of Progressive Brahmists is more indebted to the writings of English and American theists than to the Uphanishads. This is no doubt due to the spread of English education, which, if it has done nothing else, has elevated the tone of thought on religious questions, and improved the practical morality of the literary classes in Bengal.

Most of the affiliated colleges have libraries, and there is one in the university building containing a small collection of books not easily procurable elsewhere in Calcutta, viz., European editions of Oriental classics, and disquisitions on Oriental subjects, scientific treatises, and a set of Latin, French, and German classics. For this library the University is indebted to the munificence of the Babu Joykissen Mookerjea of Ooterparah, who presented the University with 5000 rupees for the purpose. This has since been supplemented from other sources.

The lecturer

There are no University professorships. It has often been proposed to found some, but there are no rooms in the University building in which professors could lecture, and their audience probably would not be numerous. A Tagore lecturer on law is appointed every year. This lectureship was founded by the late Hon. Prosanna Kumár Tagore, C.S.I. delivers his lectures in a room in the Presidency College, which is placed at his disposal for the purpose. He is bound to publish his lectures six months after delivery. Our other foundations are the four Duff scholarships of 15 rupees a month, founded in honour of the late Dr. Duff; the Eshan scholarship, founded by a native gentleman of that name; the Mouat medal, founded in honour of Dr. Mouat; the Râdhâkânta medal, founded in honour of the late Raja Râdhâkânta Dev, under whose auspices was brought out the Sabdakalpa-druma, a magnificent dictionary of the Sanskrit language; the Haris'-chendra prize, founded by Haris' chendra Chandhedri, a zemindar at Mymensingh; and the munificent foundation of the Premchand Roychand studentships. These were founded in the year 1866, by Premchand Roychand, Esq., of Bombay, who presented the University with two lakhs of rupees for the purpose. There are five studentships of the value of 1600 rupees a year, tenable for five years. An election is made annually. Any M.Å. of the University is eligible during eight years from the time that he has passed the Entrance Examination. Candidates have to select not more than five of the following subjects, viz. :-1. English. 2. Latin. 3. Greek. 4. Sanskrit. 5. Arabic. 6. History of Greece, Rome, England, and India, and a general view of the history of Modern Europe from Guizot, Hallam, &c., to include Political Economy. 7. Moral Sciences, viz., Ethics, Mental Philosophy, Logic. 8. Pure Mathematics. Mixed Mathematics. 10. Physical Science. As a general rule three subjects only are taken up. The Premchand students are the best article we turn out from our educational mill. One of them, Mr. Anundo Bose, went to the University of Cambridge, and, in spite of the fact that he studied law at the same time, and had to learn two new languages in order to pass his Little-go, he managed to come out sixteenth in the Mathematical Tripos. Since he returned to this country he has been a very successful barrister, and is known, it appears, even in the rural

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