an student may merely _drape_ an
_unchanged_ being. Writing in 1823 about the encouragement of education
and the teaching of English and the translation of English books, the
Governor of Bombay, Mountstuart Elphinstone, declared too confidently
that "the conversion of the natives _must_ result from the diffusion of
knowledge among them." Macaulay, similarly, writing from India in 1836
to his father, the well-known philanthropist, declares: "It is my firm
belief that if our plans of[English] education are followed up, there
will not be a single idolater among the respectable classes in Bengal
thirty years hence." Omar Khayyam's words suggest themselves as the
other extreme of opinion regarding English education in India, inside of
which the truth will be found:
"Myself when young did eagerly frequent
Doctor and saint, and heard great argument
About it and about, but evermore
Came out by that same door wherein I went."
The lines express the view of many Anglo-Indians. We may reply that
anywhere only a few individuals are positively liberalised by a liberal
education. We must patiently wait while their standpoint becomes the
lore and tradition of the community.
[Sidenote: Reformers are English-speaking; reactionaries are ignorant of
English.]
The part played by English education in the introduction of new ideas is
apparent whenever we enumerate the leading reformers of the nineteenth
century. One and all have received a modern English education, and
several of them have made some name by addresses and publications in
English. Of Indian reformers, distinguished also as English scholars,
may be named with all honour:
1. Rammohan Roy, a great opponent of Suttee and Idolatry, who also dared
to make the voyage to England. He died at Bristol in 1833.
2. Iswar Chunder Vidyasagar, a great upholder of the right of widows to
remarry and an advocate of education, both elementary and higher. He
died at Calcutta in 1891.
3. K.M. Banerjea, D.L., C.I.E., an opponent of the caste system, the
greatest scholar among Indian Christians. He died at Calcutta in 1885.
4. Keshub Chunder Sen, religious reformer, an advocate of a higher
marriage age for girls. He died at Calcutta in 1884.
5. Mr. Behramji Malabari, an advocate of a higher marriage age for
girls--of the Bombay side of India.
6. The late Mr. Justice M.G. Ranade, a social reformer of Bombay.
7. The late Mr. Justice K.T. Telang, C.I.E., an opponent of ch
|