it has enveloped the whole mind, and become really a second nature. So the fisherman ties his mighty sein-net, knot by knot, and mesh by mesh; so the builder places stone on stone until the arch stands perfect in its grace and durability; so the ship-wright nails plank on plank, until the mighty ship rides upon the deep, in its strength and beauty. Nay, even thus are we taught by Nature herself, who ever acts by accretion, it may be silently, and imperceptibly, and slowly, but ever surely. So the century old tree has attained its giant girth by annual ring on ring. So the minute sand grains pile up the highest mountain top; so the deepest snow has accumulated by falling flake on flake; so Ocean itself has gathered all its waters drop by drop.

Education is clearing away the weeds which have grown up around the Native heart: when they are removed, I doubt not that there will spring up a verdure of herbage at once beautiful and wholesome.

I have read that in the American forests, when the axe and flame have done their work, and the hoary trees that for ages shut out the blessed light of Heaven from the soil below, have been cut down and consumed, the husbandman is astonished to see a new herbage, before altogether unknown, spring up spontaneously. The seeds were there, dormant in the earth, though before the warmth of the Sun and the dews of Heaven could reach them, they had neither power nor opportunity of vivification. So when we have rooted up the foul weeds that have for centuries been festering about the Native heart, we may be sure that those seeds of Truth which lie in every human breast, however long they may be dormant, will spring up with a new vitality, and burgeon, and bud, and blossom, and bear fruit abundantly

122 MR. GEORGE NORTON-PATCHEAPPAH'S HALL.

But we must not trust to the spontaneous operation of Nature. Those who plough must also sow; broad cast, and with a liberal hand: and this done, the issue may be left to that Providence which watches over and blesses every human effort to eradicate evil, and supplant it by that which is good.

And now it only remains for me to recall to your recollections the memory of our founder and benefactor, PATCHEAPAH. It was formerly sneeringly said that this great educational Institution, and the noble building in which we have met, are standing examples of what the Lawyers call the doctrine of Cy pres: or rather, that it never entered into PATCHEAPAH'S head or heart, that his charitable bequest should be applied in the manner that we see; and that the whole scheme is the creation of the late Advocate General, my name-sake, Mr. GEORGE NORTON, that great champion of Native Education. Be it so. Then the Native public owe a deeper debt of gratitude to Mr. NORTON, than whom they had no sincerer friend. But I, for one, will not consent to do the memory of PATCHEAPPAH the injustice of supposing, that if he could revisit this scene, he would not see that his benevolent intentions have been carried out in such a way, that in no other could they have conferred a tittle of their sent benefits upon his fellow countrymen. I believe that his large charitable heart would rejoice at this appropriation and application of his funds; and that no spectacle could be more cheering to his eye, or that of any real lover of his fellowmen, than that which this Hall at this very moment presents, filled as it is with parents, happy and proud at the success of their children, and with youths whose faces beam with that intelligence which only Education can bestow.

pre

I believe that the building of this Hall originated in the justest idea. It has literally given a local habitation to what

before was but a name. It is the common centre of all Native efforts in the cause of National education; it has come to be thoroughly identified with that great cause; and long may it remain a monument of the munificence of our founder; long may it continue the seat of learning and of tuition; long may that Virgilian motto* which has this year been happily selected to grace the title page of our prize books, continue to be appropriate.

ADDRESS on the Twenty-first Anniversary of Patcheappah's Institution: 1864.

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY.*—There is but little, calling for remark on any matter immediately connected with the affairs of this Institution; and perhaps the very absence of any such matter is the best proof of the well being of the School; for it has now fallen into such perfect workingroutine, that sameness and regularity are the most pleasing and satisfactory landmarks in its history.

The boys have acquitted themselves fairly, as appears by the Reports; testifying thereby to their having taken advantage of the opportunities here held out to them; while to the Masters, the thanks of the Trustees and the Native public at large are certainly due, for their faithful and efficient discharge of their onerous and responsible duties.

It occurs to me that the time has now arrived when the Trustees may, with safety and prudence, consider the advisability of increasing the School fee. All question touching the willingness and ability of the Natives to pay for the education of their children, has long since been set at rest. The eleemosynary discussions have been solved by time; and the immense benefits to be derived from a sound education have taken such hold of the native mind; they now so thoroughly see that education is the chief and most certain, if not the only, road to success in life, whether in the public service, or in any private profession; that they will cheerfully pay any reasonable equivalent for the tuition of their children. The fee at present demanded, though sufficient as an experiment, is in my opinion quite inadequate for the quality and extent of education afforded at this Institution.

* Sir William Denison.

THE PROFESSION OF THE SCHOOL-MASTER.

125

The Trustees will perhaps find that they could with safety and justice demand a fee of two rupees for the higher, and one rupee for the lower school: and if this should be so, I would further recommend them to consider, whether the surplus funds obtained by this alteration, could be more advantageously expended, than in increasing the salaries of the Masters, and if possible, securing pensions for them in their old age. I hold the profession of the Schoolmaster to be one of the most honourable, as it is certainly one of the most useful, in the world. The character of a whole generation is affected by the personal character and qualifications of the Schoolmasters, who exercise the strongest influence over the young and it behoves us, wherever we have the means, to lift our Schoolmasters above all the harrassing considerations of a provision for the future as well as for the present. The Schoolmaster's profession is certainly one of the least lucrative. He who selects it must be content to forego ambition, the hope of a name that shall survive him, or even any of the distinctions and large emoluments which he sees falling to the lot of others who started with him in the race of life. He must lay his account to content himself. with very moderate means; he must look for his chief reward in the gratitude and affection of his former pupils, and the consciousness of good effected, work performed, and duty done. But, perhaps, if the balance were fairly struck, the even modest tenor of his life would leave little for him to envy, in the temptations, the jealousies, the trials, and the struggles, of those who, in ordinary parlance, are spoken of as the most brilliant and successful of his contemporaries.

'Nec vixit male qui natus moriensque fefellit.

During the past year the Hindu Reading Room has been taken under the shelter of PATCHEAPPAH'S Trustees. Circumstances prevented my attendance in January, but my friend the Hon'ble A, J. ARBUTHNOT said all that I