Page:Convocation Addresses of the Universities of Bombay and Madras.djvu/428

Rh

agriculture, your foes will be pestilence and famine, and they slay myriads compared to the puny efforts of man's bloodiest wars. These be foemen worthy of your steel, and if there shall arise amongst you some one who, by his genius and acquirements, shall shew his countrymen how to avoid, or amply mitigate these evils, he will, even should he escape decoration, be amply honored in the plaudits of a grateful posterity.

 

In promising to deliver the address to the Graduates on this occasion, it appeared to me that there were two reasons why any remarks I might venture to make might deserve to be received with indulgence. These were, first, my known sentiments of good-will towards the Natives of India of every class, and, secondly, my grey hairs, which bear witness to the more than forty-one years during which I have endeavoured, as far as lay in my power, to promote the best interests of my adopted country.

Educated Natives may fairly be expected both to contribute to the enlargement of the bounds of human knowledge in every thing that pertains to their own Country and also to endeavour to exemplify in their intercourse with society and their public duties the benefits of the education they have received. The study of the history, ancient literature, and archaeology of the country will never reach any thing like completeness of development or realise results of national importance till it is systematically undertaken by educated Natives. Learned Natives of Calcutta and Bombay, trained in European modes of thought and vieing with Europeans in zeal for historical accuracy, have already made a promising beginning in this department of research. I trust that the Native scholars of the South will resolve that they will not be left behind in the race. The most important aid educated Natives can render to the study of the history of their country is by means of a search after inscriptions, many of which, hitherto unnoticed and unknown, they will find inviting their attention on the walls of the temples in almost every village in the interior. The only ancient Indian history worthy of the name is that which has been spelled out from inscriptions and coins. Popular legends and poetical myths, by whatever name they are dignified, may be discarded, not only 