II. Madras, literature among the Canarese and other people of the south of India, a literature thoroughly native in language, style, and taste, yet thoroughly European and Christian in substance and aim. "Aye ready" was his answer. But he is gone now. His special department would have been to construct a dictionary of the Canarese language on the principles of German lexicography, to write a Canarese grammar, not on the Sanscrit model, to assist in the publication of all the truly valuable stores of ancient Canarese literature, to co-operate in translations of some of the chief works of European authors into the Canarese and the collateral languages; my task was to have been the composition of tracts, the translation of standard works of instruction from the English and German, the publication of periodicals combining useful knowledge and amusement, and in future, perhaps, the editorship of a Canarese newspaper. All these hopes appeared to me annihilated at a blow, when, on the 8th June, I received the message, informing me of the sudden departure of my friend. Reflection, however, succeeded, and the hope has taken root in my heart, that, if I found the necessary support, I might yet, if my life was spared for 15 years, complete our common plans, and finish his work and mine, before going to my own rest. Sound European knowledge is now to spread its light and blessings over Hindusthan. But how are the ideas of popular education to pass into real life, without a supply of elementary books and trained expositors of them? This part of the great work, however, lies beyond my ken, and how can-this is the question before my mind-the intellectual movement which will be stirred up in the rising generation by the efforts of popular schools, be kept up and fostered after the period of pupilage without an attractive, useful, morally sound, and intellectually elevating vernacular literature? To this labour, in my character of Canarese, or rather Southern Indian missionary, I should be happy to devote a large part of my time, while I continued to attend to my mission parish of Coorg, assisted probably ere long by younger brethren. For this work, my Lord Marquis, I venture to ask your Lordship's support. If the plans of national education, now so earnestly taken up by the Government of India, are to be carried out to their full extent, such labours must be undertaken in behalf of the different nations and languages of this country. A literature rising up in one of the southern languages would naturally transfuse itself into the sister tongues. I know of no man who thinks of putting his hand to this plough. I will, if your Lordship give the command. My qualifications are these: my age is now 44 years; 19 of which I have spent in India, chiefly in the Canarese country; I have mastered the Canarese in some measure, and several of my tracts have had a good run among the people, and have been translated into Malayalum, Mahratthi, Telugu, and Tamil. I have edited a series of ancient Canarese works, viz., Sarmines Bharata; Maha Bharata, Vol. V.; Ramayana VI; Books; Basuva Purana; Chunna Basava Pusana; a collection of 3,500 Canarese proverbs; and an anthology of Dagara Pada (songs of Canarese original poets, devoted to Vishnu). The expense of this undertaking, which was latterly patronized also by the Madras Government, has been borne by the liberality of the Honourable Walter Elliot, Esq. Since 1847 I have been a working member of the Canarese Bible Revision Committee in Mysore; I have a certain gift of management, and find no difficulty in engaging labourers, setting them to work, and keeping them active and cheerful. Besides, if I entered on this field of labour, I should have a most valuable fellow labourer in the Rev. H. A. Kanadinga, a native of Mangalore, my own son in the Gospel, a Sarasvut Brahmin by birth, who accompanied me to Germany in 1846, and returned in 1851, after having received a good European education. He is a good English and German scholar, and a man of considerable general talents. The Honourable W. Elliot, Esq., and the Honourable Daniel Elliott, Esq., could give some, I trust, favourable account of the writer of this address. No great grant or establishment involving large expenditure would be required. If I were at liberty to spend 300 rupees a month, it would suffice for a good set of Canarese, Tamil, and Telugu moonshees, translators and writers, and for the support of my friend Kanadinga, who would take no salary, as well as for other incidental expenses. For myself, I ask nothing, nor would I accept pay; I have never done so, and intend to retain the independence of a man who has nothing to lose in the world. At present I am preparing a Canarese translation of my Coorg Memoirs at the suggestion and expense of General Cubbon, the Commissioner of Mysore. A publication of the Canarese History of Coorg, by Dodda Vira Raja, the uncle of the present ex-Rajah, is likely soon to follow under the patronage of the Government of Madras. Last year I published Paley's "Hora Pauline" in Canarese, and Butler's "Analogy" will follow next year, if it please God to spare my life and health. Hitherto I have had to depend on the help of private friends for my literary labours. If Government granted me the necessary support, I should be enabled to work more cheerfully, and much more abundantly, as the head of a considerable literary establishment which might at the same time prove a successful nursery of independent native authorship. If your Lordship granted me an audience, I could explain particulars and answer every essential question in less than one hour's time. In humble confidence, my Lord Marquis, I beg to leave the question of the extension of my sphere of labour in the service of India, to which, in Christ's name, my life is devoted, in your Lordship's hands. May God direct your Lordship's thoughts aright. I have, &c. Mercara, 21 July 1855. II. Madras. No. 28. (No. 1383.) Ordered to be transferred to the Director of Public Instruction for early report. Fort St. George, 18 October 1855. No. 47. EXTRACT Fort St. George Public, in Consultation of 20 November 1855. READ the following letter: (No. 49.) From A. J. Arbuthnot, Esq., Director of Public Instruction, to T. Pycroft, Esq., Sir, 2. I had previously been favoured by Mr. Moegling with a copy of his letter, and took the opportunity, when passing through Mercara on my journey to this place, to confer with him on certain matters connected with it. Of Mr. Moegling's thorough competency to carry out the work there cannot be the slightest doubt; he is an excellent Canarese scholar, and is in every respect, I imagine, thoroughly fitted for the work. 3. The only suggestion that I have to make in connexion with Mr. Moegling's proposal is that he should be requested to include in the scope of his design the preparation of Canarese school books. These are much wanted, and until the want is supplied, little or nothing can be done for the extension of vernacular education in the Canarese country. I am at liberty to state that Mr. Moegling is perfectly willing to adopt the above suggestion. Office of the Director of Public Instruction, 6 November 1855. I have, &c. (signed) A. J. Arbuthnot, Director of Public Instruction. No. 48. SENT the following letter: (No. 121.) From T. Pycroft, Esq., Chief Secretary to the Government, to C. Beadon, Esq., Sir, I AM directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 21st September last, No. 1233, calling for the opinion of this Government on a proposition submitted by the Rev. H. Moegling to create a vernacular literature among the Canarese and other people of the South of India, with the aid of Government. 2. The Director of Public Instruction, to whom Mr. Moegling's proposition has been referred, and who has communicated with him personally on the subject, observes "of Mr. Moegling's thorough competency to carry out the work, there cannot be the slightest doubt. He is an excellent Canarese scholar, and is in every respect, I imagine, thoroughly fitted for the work. The only suggestion that I have to make in connexion with Mr. Moegling's proposal is that he should be requested to include in the scope of his design the preparation of Canarese school books. These are much wanted, and until the want is supplied little or nothing can be done for the extension of vernacular education in the Canarese country. I am at liberty to state that Mr. Moegling is perfectly willing to adopt the above suggestion." 3. Believing 3. Believing that Mr. Moegling's projected undertaking as above enlarged will contribute materially to the advancement of vernacular education in Southern India, as regards the Canarese tongue, this Government is of opinion that it is deserving of encouragement. Fort St. George, 20 November 1855. II. Madras. EXTRACT Fort St. George Public Diary to Consultation of 27 November 1855. Received the following: (No. 1268.) EXTRACT from the Minutes of Consultation in the Revenue Department, dated the 17 November 1855. Read the following letter : (No. 2697.) From G. S. Forbes, Esq., Acting Secretary to the Board of Revenue, to J. D. Sir, 2. Mr. Purvis explains that his intention wa to recommend that Mr. Taylor's press should be purchased by Government, and worked at its expense at Nursapoor in printing official papers and elementary works for the instruction of the people until the collector's office is supplied with one of the presses ordered from America, and subsequently that it should be employed solely for educational purposes. 3. Mr. Purvis states that it was not his wish to found any recommendation on Mr. Taylor's letter of the 2d October 1854, which was forwarded at that gentleman's request merely for the information of Government. No. 9. Dated 6 Sept. in October 1855. Enclosure 2, in from Collector, 6 September, in Consultation, 4. The cost of the press with its type, &c., was Rs. 338. 13. 0., and the 16 October 1855. expenses of working it up to the 31st July last were Rs. 763. 15. 11., of which Rs. 211. 6. 7. have been provided by office arrangements, leaving Rs. 552. 9. 4. as the sum to be paid to Mr. Taylor under the sanction conveyed in para. 4 of the extract Minutes Consultation under reply. 5. The Board have addressed Government separately regarding the districts to To Government, which American presses should be supplied, and they conclude that until these 15 October 1855. arrive Mr. Taylor's press may with his consent be employed as hitherto, but at the expense of Government, the servants engaged in working it being placed on the collector's establishment as opportunities offer. 6. If the purchase of the press be resolved on, it can either be transferred to one of the smaller districts, as Kurnool, or retained in Rajahmundry for educational purposes. In the latter event, the Board think it should be made over to the Director of Public Instruction, but its management had probably better be left (subject to his orders) to Mr. Taylor, who has already shown himself capable of employing it to advantage. Revenue Board Office, Fort St. George, 16 October 1855. I have, &c. (signed) G. S. Forbes, Acting Secretary. II. Madras. Total charge of working the press up Rs. a. p. 763 15 11 Rs. 552 9 4 THE Right Honourable the Governor in Council sanctions the purchase of Mr. Taylor's press at Nursapoor with its materials for rupees (338. 13.) three hundred and thirty-eight, and annas thirteen, and grants authority for the disbursement of the charges incurred by that gentleman in working it from 1st January 1854 to 31st July 1855, amounting to rupees (552. 9. 4.) five hundred and fifty-two, annas nine, and pice four. The press will be employed hereafter, as proposed by Mr. Purvis, in printing official papers and elementary books, &c. for educational purposes, the cost of the establishment being met by reductions in the office establishment. 2. When the iron press from America is supplied to the district, this small press may be, as the Board suggest, either transferred to one of the smaller districts, as Kurnool, or be applied to educational purposes. The Government resolve to transfer the Board's present letter with its enclosure from the Collector of Rajahmundry, dated 6th September last, to the Public Department, in view to its being considered whether the press will be required for the purposes last mentioned. No. 10. (No. 1490.)-ORDERED to be communicated to the Director of Public Instruction, who will be good enough to state whether the press recently purchased from Mr. Taylor will be required for educational purchases. Fort St. George, 22 November 1855. No. 25. EXTRACT Fort St. George Public Diary to Consultation of Received the following letter: (No. 65.) From A. J. Arbuthnot, Esq., Director of Public Instruction, to the Chief Sir, I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of the extract from the Minutes of Consultation, under date the 22d ultimo, No. 1490, calling upon me to state whether the press recently purchased from Mr. Taylor will be required for educational purposes. 2. In my letter of the 9th August last, submitting detailed statements of the establishments required for the educational department, I recommended the establishment of a printing press to be attached to the provincial school at Rajahmundry. It was my intention to propose, in the event of the measure being sanctioned, that so long as Mr. Taylor might remain in the Rajahmundry district, the press should be placed under his charge in the event of his being willing to take charge of it, and that on his departure it should be transferred to the provincial school. I anticipated, however, the purchase of a press of a somewhat superior description to that which has been purchased by Mr. Taylor. 3. On further consideration, I am disposed to think that any press or presses that may be required for the educational department, may be more advantageously and more economically worked at Madras than at any station in the provinces; and I would therefore recommend that in the event of the necessary establishment being sanctioned by the Government of India, a press should be procured from America similar to those which have been ordered for some of the collectorates; and that pending its arrival that purchased from Mr. Taylor should be retained under his charge at Nursapoor, and employed in printing educational II. Madras. educational works. On the arrival of the new press, that purchased by Mr. Taylor might be transferred to one of the smaller districts, as suggested by the Board of Revenue. I have, &c. (signed) A. J. Arbuthnot, Office of the Director of Public Instruction, 7 December 1855. (No. 1580.) 1. THE Director of Public Instruction thinks that any press or presses that may be required for the educational department, may be more advantageously and more economically worked at Madras than in the provinces, and he would prefer one somewhat superior to that which has been recently purchased by Government from Mr. Taylor. 2. The Right Honourable the Governor in Council accordingly authorises Mr. Arbuthnot, in the event of the necessary establishment * (applied for under date the 8th September last) being sanctioned by the Government of India, to procure from America a press of the description recommended by him. 3. Pending its arrival, Mr. Taylor will be requested to be good enough to retain charge of the press obtained from him, and employ it in printing educational works; and this press will, on the arrival of the new one, be transferred, according to the suggestion of the Board of Revenue, to one of the smaller districts. Fort St. George, 15 December 1855. EXTRACT Fort St. George Public Diary to Consultation of 26 February 1856. (No. 51.) From A. J. Arbuthnot, Esq., Director of Public Instruction, to the Chief Sir, 2. Vernacular school books may be divided into three classes: 1st. Books required for Anglo-vernacular schools in which all substantive instruction is given in English, and in which the vernacular lauguages are taught merely as a language. 2d. Books for superior vernacular schools in which the vernacular language is the principal, if not the sole medium of substantive instruction. 3d. Books for elementary vernacular schools, or in other words, for mere village schools. No. 26. Statement No. 7, received with the Director's letter of 9 August 1855. No. 69. 3. The vernacular books at present in use in the Anglo-vernacular schools Anglo-vernacular are, with but few exceptions, of a very inferior character, especially the prose Schools. works, the number of which in most of the native languages is very limited. To supply this want it has been suggested to me by the Rev. Mr. G. N. Pope, the present missionary at Tanjore, an excellent Tamil scholar, and a person of considerable experience in education, that as a commencement, two anthologies |