Page:Calcutta Review Vol. II (Oct. - Dec. 1844).pdf/347

342 to have commenced. At school he is taught the alphabet, as with ourselves, by the eye and ear, the forms of the letters being presented to him in writing, and their names pronounced in his hearing, which he is required to repeat until he is able to connect the names and the forms with each other in his mind. The scholar is afterwards made to read the thirtieth section of the Koran, the chapters of which are short, and are generally used at the times of prayer, and in the burial service. The words are marked with the diacritical points, in order that the knowledge of letters, their junction and correct orthography, and their pronunciation from the appropriate organs, may be thoroughly acquired, but the sense is entirely unknown. The next book put into his hands is the Pandnameh of, a collection of moral sayings, many of which are above his comprehension, but he is not taught or required to understand any of them. The work is solely used for the purpose of instructing him in the art of reading, and of forming a correct pronunciation, without any regard to the sense of the words pronounced.

“It is generally after this that the scholar is taught to write the letters, to join vowels and consonants, and to form syllables. The next book is the Amadnameh, exhibiting the forms of conjugating the Persian verbs which are read to the master and by frequent repetition committed to memory. The first book which is read for the purpose of being understood is the of Sadi, containing lessons on life and manners, and this is followed or accompanied by the  of the same author. Two or three sections of each are read; and simultaneously short Persian sentences, relating to going and coming, sitting and standing, and the common affairs of life, are read and explained. The pupil is afterwards made to write Persian names, then Arabic names, and next Hindu names, especially such as contain letters, to the writing or pronunciation of which difficulty is supposed to attach. Elegant penmanship is considered a great accomplishment, and those who devote themselves to this art, employ from three to six hours every day in the exercise of it, writing first single letters, then double or treble, then couplets, quatrains, &c. They first write upon a board with a thick pen, then with a finer pen on pieces of paper pasted together, and last of all, when they have acquired considerable command of the pen, they begin to write upon paper in single fold. This is accompanied or followed by the perusal of some of the most popular poetical productions, such as Joseph and Zubikha, founded on a well-known incident in Hebrew history; the loves of Leila and Majnun, the Secander Nameh, an account of the exploits of Alexander the Great, &c. &c. The mode of computing by the Abjad, or letters of the alphabet, is also taught, and is of two sorts; in the first, the letters of the alphabet in the order of the Abjad being taken to denote units, tens, and hundreds, to a thousand; and in the second, the letters composing the names of the letters of the alphabet being employed for the same purpose. Arithmetic, by means of the Arabic numerals, and instruction of great length in different styles of address, and in the forms of correspondence, petitions, &c. &c. complete a course of Persian instruction. But in many schools the course is very superficially taught, and some of the teachers do not even profess to carry their pupils beyond the Gulistan and Bostan,”

After showing that the average age of entering school, for all the districts, is about 8½ years, of leaving school 22, and the average period of the duration of study about 12, Mr. Adam thus sums up his impression of the results of the protracted term of scholastic apprenticeship:—

“Upon the whole, the course of Persian instruction, even in its less perfect