worthless character, but to those, who are well known to have been brought up to other employments, and have therefore never bestowed so much as a passing thought on the great ends of education. But surely a child is of greater value than a horse, and the pabulum mentis far more important than mutton and beef for the nourishment of the body.

The season of infancy is the seed time of the mind. The faculties of observation and memory are then beginning to be developed. The former catches every thing, and the latter stores it up. How necessary then is it, that the observation should be directed to those objects and those scenes, which may be useful in after life, which ennoble man's nature, enlist his feelingson the side of virtue, and attach them to Truth! At this season, too, curiosity is most powerful, and imitation, most active. It is obvious, then, that this curiosity should be directed to those objects, which strengthen the intellect, and develop the moral nature; and that the principle of Imitation should have held up to it, as it were in a mirror, those actions, that course of conduct, and those characters, which add to the dignity of human nature, and adorn it with those graces, which shed a lustre around names, that will not easily be unlearned by mankind! And now, above all others, is the time to teach the dawning mind to reverence God, to write upon it His holy commandments, and to train it to look up with child-like love, trust and confidence to its Creator and Redeemer. So spoke the wisest of men: "Train up a child in the way in which he should go; and, when he is old, he will not depart from it."

As the child advances to maturity, the understanding begins to exert its powers, and admonishes the teacher that now, with the various systems of Science and Philosophy, the truths of man's nature and his destiny must be taught, so that he may know who and what he is, and to what his destiny points. His mind must be fortified against the prejudices and errors, which often lead the mind from the path of truth to the cold and benumbing regions of infidelity. In short, he must be taught how to lead a useful and a happy life here, and to make this life a stepping stone to life everlasting.

These, and much more than these, constitute the great business of the School-master; and yet how few consider the responsibility, which is attached to the office. A few columns of Spelling, a few pages of Grammar and Geography, a few chapters of Reading, writing copies, and working examples in Arithmetic, with many make up education. With others, a play of Shakespeare, some Essays of Bacon, a superficial know

Kl

ledge of History, an equation, and a demonstration comprise the sum of teaching. Moral and religious education are altogether omitted.

But what else can reasonably be expected, as things now stand? One man starts in life, as an assistant to an Indigo Planter; but, at the end of the season, which proved unfavourable, he becomes a teacher: for he thinks the work extremely simple, and concludes that the manufacture of indigo is a far more difficult task. Another has been trying to enter a Government Office; but the portals of patronage will not open: and he is thereby induced to become a teacher, as a kind of "hanger-on," until he shall succeed in the accomplishment of his wishes. A third cannot find employment for himself. He is too well known for his irregular habits. The profession, in which he has been brought up, has discarded him. The society, in which he moved, has driven him out of its pale. He is in utter disgrace: when suddenly he becomes a schoolmaster -and (will it be believed?) he is supported, tolerated, praised. A fourth is a widow, left without any support by her deceased husband. Her education has been scanty. And yet she puts herself forward as a teacher; opens a school; and manages to eke out a subsistence, without any conscientious scruples, that she has undertaken a task, for which she is utterly unqualified.

This wretched system is not yet defunct; but great changes have taken place. So long as parents will look out for cheap education only; so long as they do not estimate at their proper value a sound and thorough training for their childrenstrangers of blighted prospects will perpetuate this system: and, though driven from the high places' of the city, it will still haunt its purlieus, and, creeping into lanes and crowded streets, live a life of feverish anxiety for some years to come.

6

As British supremacy began to extend, and the increasing demands of war and commerce caused an influx of Europeans into this land, greater efforts (and on a larger scale) were made to extend the benefits of education, and to elevate its tone. With the view of presenting our readers with a complete sketch of the state of education in Calcutta, past and present, we will divide our essay into four distinct heads.

I. The educational efforts of private individuals.
The educational efforts of classes of men.

II.

III. The educational efforts of the clergy.

IV. The educational efforts of the Government.

Before we enter on the first division, we feel our

selves bound to notice the Free School, which is decidedly the first school that was established in Bengal, even prior to the efforts of private individuals of liberal education. The Free School may be regarded as the termination of all those little schools, of which we have already taken notice, and as the beginning of changes in education, which have not yet ceased in this country. It is the end and the beginning of two phases of society, two different moral epochs; and as such, is quite an historical monument.

About the end of the year 1747, a charity fund was instituted for the purpose of giving board and education to indigent Christian children-so early was there manifested a good spirit towards the poor of this world. Besides subscriptions, either monthly or annual, it enjoyed an endowment, which, upon the authority of Mr. Charles Weston's letter to the Select Vestry of the Cathedral, dated in the year 1787, grew out of the restitution money received for pulling down the English Church by the Moors, at the capture of Calcutta, in 1756." To this amount was subsequently added a legacy of 6 or 7,000 Rs. bequeathed by Mr. Constantine; and this sum was still further increased by the public spirit of Mr. Bourchier, and the liberality of the Government.

Mr. Bourchier, well known as Governor of Bombay, was originally Master Attendant of Calcutta: he was a merchant, and most successful in his pursuits. At this period there was no particular house, in which the Mayor and Aldermen could meet for the transaction of business; for there was a time, when Calcutta was governed by a Mayor and Aldermen! To remedy the inconvenience, which these municipal officers suffered for want of special accommodation, Mr. Bourchier built the Old Court House, which was much enlarged by several additions in the year 1765. He gave it to the Company, on condition. that Government should pay 4,000 Arcot Rs. per annum, to support a charity school, and for other benevolent purposes. In consideration of the many great improvements, which had been chiefly made by the munificence of private individuals, Government agreed to devote 800 Rs. per month to these charitable purposes. And, when the ruinous state of the building rendered its demolition necessary, Government with a truly generous spirit consented to pay 800 Rs. in perpetuity. Some years afterwards, when application for assistance was again made to the Government on behalf of the school, a further donation of 800 Rs. per mensem was munificently bestowed. The liberality of the Government, on this occasion, is truly deserving of praise.

In the lapse of time, the old Charity School became quite inadequate to the demand for education: and, in consequence of the necessity of providing instruction for the offspring of the poor, the Free School Society was established on the 21st of December 1789, and its management placed in the hands of a Patron (the Governor-General), the Select Vestry, and a few other governors.

It was soon found that the subscriptions and property of the old Charity School, and the Free School Society," being of a contingent nature, so that each was occasionally obliged to lend and borrow interchangeably from the funds of the other, produced thereby a perplexity in the accounts, which would be avoided by the consolidation of the funds;" and it was therefore resolved that, on the 14th April, 1800, the two funds should be consolidated, and the two institutions be united under one establishment, to be governed by the Select Vestry.

In 1813, the benefits of the school were extended to an unlimited number of day scholars; and in 1817, a separate establishment was formed for children, who were willing to pay a sufficient sum to cover all expences. These children were placed under the superintendence of the 2nd master.

At this time the funds of the school suffered diminution, on account of the improvements, which the governors were obliged to make on the premises, for securing the health and comfort of the children, and on account of the reduction in the rate of interest given by the Government. On this occasion, the Bishop preached a sermon on behalf of the school; and, correspondent exertions being made by other friends of education, the funds were once more restored to a healthy condition, and its means for doing good were considerably enlarged.

The Free School may be considered as the parent of all educational and benevolent institutions in this land. It emphatically stands a monument of British sympathy and generosity, at a time when " war and the rumours of war rendered all things connected with the East India Company fluctuating and insecure, and when the desire for making money was more intense than it is at present. Many of those, who now hold responsible situations in the uncovenanted service of Government, received their education in the Free School; and others, who have since been numbered with the "generations gone," but who, in their day, were conspicuous for their mental and moral qualities, owed all the knowledge, which they possessed, to this same school.

At the present moment the Free School is imparting an excellent practical education to about four hundred indigent children

of both sexes. Great praise is due to the head teacher and his colleagues for their indefatigable labours in the school-room. A School of Industry has been established also for printing, tailoring, shoe-making, and carpentry. So far things promise well, and we have only commendation to bestow. But there is a small cloud, which is, we see, annually increasing, and which, we much fear, will, if not quickly dispelled, paralyse the exertions of the friends of this school. The income is diminishing. As far as regards the origin of this serious evil, we cannot acquit the governors of all blame; and we would ill discharge the duty, which we have undertaken, if we shrunk from speaking the truth. The first evil, from which the funds of the school suffered, was the appropriation of upwards of thirty thousand rupees to another purpose. The building of the Free School Church, however praiseworthy in itself, was a diversion of the school funds from their proper object. This was a heavy blow to the financial prosperity of the school. Another great cause of the diminution of the funds is, that applications for subscriptions are not now made with that energy and perseverance, which characterized the exertions of an individual, whose services to the school can never be too highly appreciated, and who deserves a passing notice.

Mr. Patrick Sutherland, Register of the Military Board Office, was connected with the Free School, as Purveyor and Assistant Secretary, from November 1807 to March 1833, a period of twenty-six years. If we are not mistaken, he was originally educated in this school; and never have we witnessed a more handsome return for benefits received, than in the instance of Mr. Sutherland's after-exertions for its prosperity. The comforts of the children were well attended to; every thing was managed on the most approved economical principles; and, at his suggestion, the Government donation of 800 Rs. per month was originally obtained. Various other sources of revenue were also opened by him for the benefit of the school; and not a stranger could arrive in the country, but straight way an application was made to him for a pecuniary contribution.

We have already remarked that, in consequence of the increasing demand for the education, fee scholars were received into the Free School. Their number was increasing every month; and parents, notwithstanding the reluctance they felt to send their children to charity schools, were compelled, for want of other private or public educational establishments, to sacrifice their feelings, and to send their little urchins to the Free School. This state of things was not suffered to continue. Many enterprising individuals observed that a school would make