Page:History, Design and Present State of the Religious, Benevolent and Charitable Institutions.djvu/172

160 the Report of the Provisional Committee it appeared expedient that the means of instruction should be in the first instance provided in the Bengallee, Hindoostanee, Persian, Arabic, and Sanscrit languages, the earliest attention being given to the preparation and printing of School Books in the Bengallee language. In this respect the wants of the people were represented to be most urgent, numerous Schools being at a stand for want of books, many respectable individuals having been compelled to relinquish their plans of establishing native Schools, solely from the deficiency of this most essential article.

supply of Books in the English language was stated to be very disproportioned to the demand both from native Schools, and those institutions in the Metropolis and it’sits [sic] vicinity where young persons of European parentage and partial descent, (which latter according to the computation of the Committee amount to about 3,000) are brought up. It was accordingly proposed that a few elementary Books in English should be immediately prepared tor the use of the Schools, Native and English, and that com-