MADRAS. 141 yielding to the inertness of body and mind, which takes possession of those who have no stimulus to exertion. The Director wisely thought that the only mode of cutting off the entail of degradation, so to speak, would be to educate the rising generation ; and he therefore established a large school here, putting at the head of it a superior and intelligent Englishman. It was at first very difficult work for the superintendent to obtain anything like regular attendance. We, who have had twenty years of ragged school experience, can quite understand how little can be done with even quick and intelligent children, if the habits of the families are low, and there is consequently a want of appreciation of the importance of education. But with energy and perseverance, — a determination to raise the scholars, even at the risk of losing a few, — and setting a high standard before them and himself, he has succeeded in making attendance at the school regarded as a privilege as well as a duty, and has now a tolerably regular set of boys there. The youths in the highest class did not equal those whom I had seen elsewhere, and it was doubtful to our minds whether any of them would succeed in matriculating. The boys of the lower classes were of an inferior-looking type to those whom 1 had observed in other schools. Still the enterprise must be regarded as a great success, and the progress of the scholars had evidently produced an effect on their families. One portion of the school routine appeared to present a great barrier to improvement — the number of different languages taught in it. There were actu- ally six masters of different languages engaged in different rooms instructing their respective classes. Hindostani is considered the vernacular of the Maho- metans, and all have to learn that grammatically.
