Page:The despatch of 1854, on General education in India.djvu/5

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.

EDUCATION (INDIA).


RETURN to an Order of the Honourable The House of Commons, dated 18 July 1854;—for,

A COPY “of a Despatch to the Government of India, on the Subject of General Education in India.


India Board,
19th July, 1854.
WM. LEACH.

Copy of a DESPATCH from the Court of Directors of the East India Company to the Governor-general of India in Council, dated July 19th, 1854, No. 49.

1. It appears to us that the present time, when by an Act of the Imperial Legislature the responsible trust of the Government of India has again been placed in our hands, is peculiarly suitable for the review of the progress which has already been made, the supply of existing deficiencies, and the adoption of such improvements as may be best calculated to secure the ultimate benefit of the people committed to our charge.

2. Among many subjects of importance, none can have a stronger claim to our attention than that of Education. It is one of our most sacred duties to be the means, as far as in us lies, of conferring upon the natives of India those vast moral and material blessings which flow from the general diffusion of useful knowledge, and which India may, under Providence, derive from her connection with England. For, although British influence has already, in many remarkable instances, been applied with great energy and success to