To begin schools at once for this lowest class of women would probably be very premature. There are, however, means by which I think, they might be educated indirectly. One of these is through factories. There are factories springing up lately in various parts of India; and if the Factory Act were introduced, and the managers were to take care that all the girls who work at the mills should have a little instruction, immense good would be done. Another way of improving this class would be by establishing an institution for training nurses. In the general want of them in hospitals I saw another instance of the enormous evils of the present condition of the women of India. Men do not nurse there, and the poor patients are left in many places without nurses. Except in one hospital in Calcutta, where I afterwards found there had been a nurses' training institution established in honour of Lady Canning, the results of which I saw in well-ordered nurses, I did not see proper female nurses in any of the hospitals. Ignorant, untrained native women did what was necessary; but the poor patients sadly wanted the attention afforded them in England. I hope that the ladies of England will take up this matter.

I wish it to be understood, that I warmly appreciate the labours of the missionaries. I believe that their schools are doing great good, which is not fully known in England. Though they are not making many converts, they are preparing the way by their labours for the progress of Christianity.

What I saw in India led me strongly to consider how the evils which I witnessed could be remedied. We know very well the course which is pursued in England. We remember our Conferences and Parliamentary Committees, and the long efforts we made before we obtained from the Legislature an Act for the establishment of reformatories. When a member of the Government, favourable to our cause, informed me that the subject could not then be brought forward, I asked him "Why?" The answer was, "Because public opinion is not prepared for it." "Well," I thought, "we must prepare public opinion." Accordingly we convened the first Reformatory Conference at Birmingham. The speeches and the resolutions passed appeared in the newspapers, and public opinion was prepared. But to my great dismay I found in India what we can hardly conceive in Englandthat there is no public opinion in existence on such subjects. There is not the material for public opinion, because there are very few English there except those who are on duty in public offices, and the missionaties; and it is evidently impossible for the English who are in Government offices to rouse any public opinion on matters connected with the Government. The natives have not the slightest conception of the subject. I have heard that they are generally rather harsh in their treatment of criminals; at any rate, they cannot understand in their present condition, the necessity for any alteration in prison discipline. In sanitary matters there is much necessity for reform. The drainage of the cities is so exceedingly bad that I could not bear to ride through what is called the Black Town at Madras, the odours were so pestilential. In Calcutta, which is called the city

of palaces, open sewers were running on each side of many of the streets, and the odours were intolerable. The fact of there being no public opinion to bear upon these seemed to render improvement very difficult and hopeless.

A gentleman called on me, a missionary of the Church of England. The name of the Rev. Mr. Long may be known to some present as having been put in prison on a charge of libel, some years since, for supporting the cause of the natives on the indigo question. For five-and-twenty years he has been labouring unobtrusively, but most usefully, among the natives. He is devoted to their welfare; he knows much more of them than most people. This gentleman consulted me whether it were not possible to establish a Social Science Association in Calcutta, having learnt how very much good had been done here by such an Association in England; I mentioned the matter to several English gentlemen; all said it could not be carried out, because every one was so much worked in India that he could not do more than his necessary business. Circumstances are very different in England where there are many gentlemen of leisure, who can attend to such subjects, but there are none in India. Mr. Long was not thus to be daunted. We talked to native gentlemen, and told them how such an Association was worked. They wished to make a trial. Some English gentlemen joined them. We ended by having a meeting, at which Sir Cecil Beadon most kindly took the chair, the Governor-General being also present, and at that meeting a Provisional Committee was formed, through which a Social Science Association was established. They have since held their first meeting, and I saw the list of the subjects to be considered; they are similar to those discussed in this Association. The Bengal Social Science Association is now entirely established. I trust that it will correspond with ours, and I feel assured that this Association will have the greatest pleasure in co-operating with them. It is evident that the movement is considered important, for I understand that a telegram has reached this country, stating that the first public meeting had taken place. I will not say more on the subject, for an Indian Committee is already formed in connexion with this Association; and I hope that Mr. Hastings, our Secretary, will succeed in enlisting some gentlemen here to take an interest in it. I may be permitted, however, to mention a more simple manner in which any gentleman can co-operate with those who are exceedingly desiring help. The young man to whom I have alluded as not objecting to being excommunicated for the sake of his wife, has shown great anxiety to help to benefit his fellow-creatures, though he has been subjected to much annoyance and persecution. He was even imprisoned on a charge of murder made against him by a publican, who took that means of revenging himself for his having opposed the liquor traffic. The murdered man was, however, produced the next morning, and the young man was set free. He has persevered with his work, and requested me to furnish him with information respecting Working Men's Clubs, and other agencies for social improvement; hoping that the managers of the neighbouring factory, and other Englishmen, would co-operate with him in his

efforts. They did so in the kindest manner, and the result was the establishment of a Social Improvement Society. They have had their first public meeting, the physician of the place taking the chair, and speaking in the highest terms of this young man's exertions. He writes earnestly requesting books and other help for this Social Improvement Society, and his schools. It is much to be regretted that the female schools in India are in the same position with respect to Government help that the ragged schools are here. To obtain duc recognition and help from the Privy Council I have battled all these long years-as you well know-and unsuccessfully. We have not gained our cause yet, and the Government aid is not given to them in the same proportion as to other schools. Girls' schools in India are not efficiently helped unless they rise to a status which they cannot attain. This young man, and others who are labouring as he is in the cause of female education, cannot obtain needed help for their schools. In a letter recently received from him, he requests me to ask our Temperance Society here to Cooperate with him. I think that a little encouragement to this young man would be well bestowed. He is wearing himself out in the cause, and it is right that such men, who suffer through the caste prejudices of their own countrymen, should be helped by us. I am glad, however, that the very man who put this young man in prison is now co-operating with him. In another suburb of Calcutta, a native—the same to whom I referred as taking his evening meal with his family-is endeavouring to form a working man's club. It is very gratifying to see how these men are exerting themselves amid great discouragement.

In Bombay, the work of improvement is going on. A new building for the Mechanics' Institution is in course of erection; and Sir Bartle Frere was requested, before his departure, to lay the first stone, which he did. I have just received the first annual report of the Bombay Mechanics' Institution, and they would be most glad of a gift of books. We hope, also, that a Social Science Association will be established in Bombay. That was commenced, but it did not arrive at the same maturity as in Calcutta, before my departure. I have already stated that factories are beginning to spring up in different parts of India. These will be a most important agency if they are properly managed, and particularly on this account. The Hindoos are not at all in the habit of working in co-operation with each other. The railways are doing them good in this respect, and this factory work will greatly benefit them by training them to regular business habits, as well as by enabling them to earn money. Now, in England, we have the Factory Act, which requires that proper attention should be paid to the morals and education of the younger workers at any rate; this has not been adopted in India. It would be very desirable that some gentlemen connected with the Legislature should turn their attention to the introduction of similar regulations in India.

I have now touched on a few of the subjects which struck me as

EE

most interesting in my visit to India; it is very difficult, in so large a field, to make a selection of topics on which to speak. Let me conclude with saying that I can bear testimony from my own experience that the enlightened Hindoos feel kindly to the English; and receive any consideration from them most carefully, treated respectfully, as one gentleman should treat another. It lies in the power of the English to make them devoted and attached to this country. The feeling which they showed towards Sir Bartle Frere on his departure from India proves how easy it is to gain their confidence, if they are treated in a manner which deserves it. I shall be truly thankful if anything I have said should excite more sympathy towards India, and lead many to think, "What can we do for this our greatest Dependency, which calls so much for our assistance?"

This Department deals with the various questions relating to Education, whether of the Upper, Middle, or Lower Classes of Society.

SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS.

THE following special questions were discussed in the Depart

ment :

1.Is the "National" or the "Denominational" System of Education better suited to the Circumstances of Ireland? 2.--What are the best Means for improving the Status of Teachers, and for securing to the Public sufficient Guarantees for the Efficiency of their Teaching?

3. What is the best Method for educating the Idiotic and Imbecile? and ought the State to subsidize Educational Establishments for such persons?

In addition to the papers printed in the foregoing pages, the following were read in the Department:

"Is the 'National' or the 'Denominational' System of Education best suited to the Circumstances of Ireland?" By the Rev. J. Scott Porter.

"On the Education of the Idiotic and Imbecile." By G. H. Kidd, M.D.

"The Deaf and Dumb of Ireland, their Condition, and the Means of ameliorating it." By the Rev. John Kinghan. "University Reform, with special relation to the Queen's University in Ireland." By the Rev. S. Arrott Bellis, LL.D. "The Arts' Course in the Queen's University and Queen's Colleges, as compared with that in other Institutions." By the Rev. Professor M'Cosh, LL.D.

"The Educational Advantages of a Decimal System of Money, Weights, and Measures." By the Rev. J. Scott Porter. "Intermediate and Middle Class Education."

Professor M'Cosh, LL.D.

By the Rev,

"Intermediate Education." By the Rev. James MacIvor, D.D. "History and peculiar features of the Belfast Seminaries for Higher Education." By the Rev. R. J. Bryce, LL.D.

THE IRISH EDUCATION QUESTION.

Is the "National" or the "Denominational" System of better Education suited to the Circumstances of Ireland?

In addition to the papers on this subject by Professor Nesbitt and the Rev. Charles Seaver, which will be found at pp. 297, 317

The Rev. J. SCOTT PORTER read a paper. He said:" In the present paper I propose briefly to consider the foregoing question, being the first of those specially suggested for discussion in the department of Education; and I may as well state at the outset that my inquiries and reflections have led me to adopt decidedly the former branch of the alternative-viz., that the "national system, as distinguished from the "denominational," is not only the best in itself, but the best suited to the circumstances of this country." Having explained the sense in which he understood the terms "national" and "denominational" he then went on to say: "It is notorious that Ireland has long been distracted by the contentions of political and ecclesiastical parties that the religious feuds, as they are called-but most improperly, for there is nothing religious in them-are by far the most durable and the most prolific sources of strife; that the outbreaks of fanaticism which disgrace our land, though occasionally countenanced by men of superior station, occur chiefly among the lower orders of