From C. F. Chamier, Esq., Officiating Secretary, Member of the Corresponding Committee of the Church Missionary Society, to A. J. Arbuthnot, Esq., Director of Public Instruction. Sir, IN reference to the 2d para. of your letter, dated 12th instant, I have the honour, by desire of the Committee, to state, that in accepting the Harris legacy, the Church Missionary Society pledged itself to provide and permanently maintain a school establishment, and that the continuance of the Harris School may therefore be said to be inseparable from that of the Society itself. The Committee trust that this will afford a sufficient guarantee to the Government for the permanence of the institutions. Madras, 23 November 1855. I have, &c. II. Madras. (No. 1585.) Para. 1. WITH the foregoing letter the Director of Public Instruction submits an application from the Madras Corresponding Committee of the Church Missionary Society for a grant in aid of building and furnishing a school-house to be erected in the immediate vicinity of Triplicane, and designed solely for the instruction of Mahomedans. 2. The estimated cost of the building, including the purchase of the ground, is about 23,000 rupees; and as the Committee expect to have placed at their disposal towards its erection funds to the extent of 16,000 rupees, they solicit a grant from Government of 7,000 rupees to supply the deficit. 3. The Right Honourable the Governor in Council concurs in the views of the Director as to the great importance of the object contemplated by the Committee; and as that officer considered that the sum allowed for grants in aid for the current official year will be more than sufficient to provide for all the grants for which he has as yet received, or is likely to receive, applications, his Lordship in Council is pleased, on Mr. Arbuthnot's recommendation, to accede to the request of the Committee. He accordingly authorises the disbursement to them of the sum of seven thousand rupees (7,000), they having pledged themselves to comply with the stipulated conditions under which such grants are made. Fort St. George, 17 December 1855. (signed) Geo. Taylor, Acting Deputy Secretary to Government. No. 38. 2. PAPERS referred to in Madras Public (Education) Despatch, dated 13 May 1857, No. 37, Para. 9. EXTRACT, Public Letter from Fort St. George, dated 11 February (No. 1 of 1856). Para. 74. THE Director of Public Instruction laid before us a memorial from In Diary to Con., certain native inhabitants of Honore, praying for a grant in aid towards the 11 December 1855. expenses of an Anglo-vernacular school, which they proposed to establish at that station. 75. Towards the support of the school the memorialists had raised subscriptions amounting to about 50 rupees per mensem, and a grant in aid to the same amount was solicited. 76. The rules under which such grants are made would preclude a compliance with the memorialist's prayer, in the absence of a report in favour of the grant from a Government Inspector; as, however, the Director was unable to depute an Inspector to Honore at an early date, and we were unwilling to 186 (II.)-Sess. 2. II. Madras. discourage the efforts already made for the establishment of a school in that zillah, we have, on Mr. Arbuthnot's recommendation, authorised the acting collector of Canara to disburse to the trustees of the school a sum equal to such monthly sum as the subscriptions actually paid each month might amount to, on being informed by them that they had engaged a competent master, and that the school was in operation. 77. This aid, we observed, would be given for one year, and its continuance would depend on the report of the Government Inspector. EXTRACT, Fort St. George, Public Diary to Consultation of 11 December 1855. (No. 61.) From A. J. Arbuthnot, Esq., Director of Public Instruction, to the Sir, Para. 1. I HAVE the honour to submit, for the consideration of the Right Honourable the Governor in Council, the annexed copy of a letter, under date the 6th instant, from the Moofty Sudr Ameen of Honore, forwarding a memorial from certain native inhabitants of that zillah, praying for a grant in aid towards the expenses of a school which they propose to establish at Honore. 2. It will be observed that the memorialists have raised subscriptions towards the support of the school, amounting to about fifty rupees (50) per mensem, and that they seek a grant in aid to the same amount. According to the strict letter of the grant-in-aid rules, the aid sought should not be granted until a Government Inspector shall have reported on the efficiency of the teacher, and his competency to instruct pupil teachers, the specific purposes for which aid is applied for, being the provision of the salary of the teachers, and of stipends for the pupil teachers; but as I see no prospect of being able to depute an Inspector to Honore at an early date, and as the memorialists will probably be unable to engage a teacher until they are apprised of the decison passed on their application, I beg to recommend that the prayer of their memorial be complied with, and that the Acting Collector of Canara may be authorised to pay the trustees of the school a sum equal to such monthly sum as the subscriptions actually paid each month may amount to, on being informed by them that they have engaged a competent master, and that the school is in operation. 3. The continuance of this grant will, of course, depend on the report of the Government Inspector. I may add, that this application is, with one exception, the only one I have received from a native community since the publication of the grant-in-aid rules. It was submitted shortly after the rules were published; but, at my suggestion, the original application was revised. It had been my intention to visit Honore for the purpose of conferring with the memorialists on various points connected with their projected school, but I was prevented from doing so by a long and tedious illness, which detained me much longer than I had intended to remain at Mangalore. I have, &c. (signed) Office of the Director of Public Instruction, A. J. Arbuthnot, Sir, To A. J. Arbuthnot, Esq., Director of Public Instruction. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 28th September last, and in conformity with the requisition therein contained, beg to forward herewith a revised memorial, applying for aid towards the establishment of an Anglo-vernacular school at this station. Honore, 6 November 1855. I have, &c. (signed) Emayet Alli Khan, Moofty Sudr Ameen. To A. J. Arbuthnot, Esq., Director of Public Instruction. The respectful Memorial of the Native Inhabitants of the District of Honore, dated 12th September 1855. Showeth, THAT your memorialists have long felt the want of a regular institution in this district for the education of their children in the English and vernacular languages. 2. That your memorialists often thought of establishing an English school at this place, but as often gave up the idea for want of aid from without. 3. That the want of an English school at this place having attracted the attention of the present Judge and Sub-collector, these gentlemen have opened one at their own expense since the last three months, where the boys could be initiated in the rudiments of the English language. 4. Now that your notification invites applications for grants in aid of schools for the extension and improvement of the secular education of the people, your memorialists eagerly embrace the present opportunity to further their object. 5. That your memorialists trust that the existence of an English school at Mangalore aided by Government, will not be considered to supersede the necessity of one being established at this station, the centre of North Canara, but that the same reasons which actuated the Government in making this a detached district for the convenience of the inhabitants, will weigh with them in the matter of this institution. 6. That the sums already raised by your memorialists for maintaining a regular Anglovernacular school at this place, amount to little more than 50 rupees monthly, as per list herewith submitted; and they entertain every hope that the Government grant in aid will not fall short of this sum, as they depend on this amount for the attainment of the object in view, 7. That the specific purposes for which the grant is solicited are, the payment of the salary of a schoolmaster, and the provision of stipend for pupil teachers. 8. That a fee of two annas is proposed to be exacted from every pupil sent by the subscribers, and one rupee from every pupil sent by non-subscribers. 9. That your memorialists intend to procure a schoolmaster from Bangalore, on a salary of 50 rupees per month, and one or more pupil teachers, with reference to the number of the pupils, on salaries of 15 and 10 rupees. 10. That it is the desire of your memorialists that the course of instruction to be given to the pupils should comprise a knowledge of grammar, English composition, translation from Canarese into English, and vice versa, history, geography, arithmetic, and algebra. 11. That two of your memorialists, viz., Mr. B. V. D'Rozario, sheristadar of the zillah court, and Annapiya Tahsildar, of Honore, are prepared to act as trustees of the school, to undertake its general superintendence, and to be responsible for its permanence for five years. 12. That your memorialists will also be prepared to subject the school to the inspection of a Government inspector. 13. Your memorialists, therefore, respectfully solicit your Honor will be pleased to submit this their application to Government, and recommend a grant in aid of the school to be established at this place, and your memorialists, as in duty bound, shall ever pray. II. Madras. II. Madras. LIST of Subscribers to the Anglo-Vernacular School proposed to be established at Honore. Para. 1. WITH his letter above recorded, the Director of Public Instruction submits a memorial from certain native inhabitants of Honore, praying for a grant in aid towards the expenses of an Anglo-vernacular school which they propose to establish at that station. 2. Towards the support of the school the memorialists, it appears, have raised subscriptions amounting to about 50 rupees per mensem, and a grant in aid to the same amount is now solicited. 3. The rules under which such grants are made would preclude a compliance with the memorialists' prayer, in the absence of a report in favour of the grant from a Government inspector; as, however, the Director is unable to depute an inspector to Honore at an early date, and the Right Honourable the Governor in Council is unwilling to discourage the efforts already made for the establishment of a school in that zillah, he is pleased, on Mr. Arbuthnot's recommendation, to authorise the Acting Collector of Canara to disburse to the trustees of the school a sum equal to such monthly sum as the subscriptions actually paid each month may amount to, on being informed by them that they have engaged a competent master, and that the school is in operation. 4. This aid will be given for one year, and its continuance will depend on the report of the Government inspector. Fort St. George, 8 December 1855. PAPERS referred to in Madras Public (Educational) Despatch, dated 2 December 1857, No. 69. II. Madras. Public Department, 27 June (No. 12) 1857. To the Honourable the Court of Directors of the East India Company. Honourable Sirs, IN para. 17 of your Despatch, No. 37, of 1857, your Honourable Court, with reference to your previously expressed disapproval of the employment of persons in holy orders in connexion with Government education in India, desire that this order may be strictly adhered to. 2. We have the honour to lay before you the accompanying copies of minutes recorded by us on the subject. Some doubt was at first entertained as to whether your Honourable Court's prohibitory order was not restricted to chaplains; but we now understand it to apply to all persons in holy orders, and shall act on this understanding in making future appointments. We solicit, however, permission, for the reasons stated in the minutes, to retain the Rev. Messrs. Percival and Gundert in their present employments. Fort St. George, 27 June 1857. We have, &c. (signed) Harris. Minute by the Right dated 25 June 1857. dated 25 June 1857. MINUTE by the Right Honourable the President, dated 25 June 1857. THE Honourable Court have in their Despatch, No. 37, dated 13 May 1857, just received, expressed their disapproval of the employment of ministers of religion in the educational department. This subject has lately been brought before Government by the Director of Public Instruction, and he strongly urges a reconsideration of the Honourable Court's instructions. I had previously considered the prohibition of the Honourable Court to be mainly confined to chaplains, but the terms of their late Despatch appear to me more general, and to prohibit ministers of religion of any class from being in any way employed in the Government scheme of education. If this construction be correct, I cannot but, with all deference, express regret at the conclusion to which the Honourable Court has deemed it advisable to come. It is, however, necessary to receive accurate information on this point as soon as possible, and I therefore propose that the question as it now stands in this presidency should be referred for distinct order from the Honourable Court. I think the instructions referred to are, as I have said above, to be regretted: 1. Because it will deprive the department of its best officers, both as to acquirements and as to character, and of men who, under present circumstances, cannot be replaced. 2. Because, if it is hoped by this measure to avoid the charge of proselytism on the part of Government, I believe it will altogether fail in its object. With regard to the first point, the ministers of religion are best informed in the habits and customs of the people; they take more interest in their intellectual development; they are better acquainted with the vernaculars, than any other persons who might be procured. |