Page:On the education of the people of India (IA oneducationofpeo00trevrich).pdf/119

Rh the community, to be able to induce the body of their countrymen to participate in their opinions. The animating and civilizing influence arising from the neighbourhood of a large seminary, and the daily intercourse of the people with its numerous scholars, and the tendency which this has to interest the public in the subject of education, and to lead to the establishment of new institutions, was too partial under the stipendiary system to have any practical effect. Even if the education given had been of a kind calculated to enlighten the people, instead of confirming them in their errors, it would have taken ages to make an impression on the immense population of western India by such means as these.

If any class of persons be favoured by the plan which has now been adopted, it is those who are able and willing to learn, and who are in a situation to induce others to follow their example. If any be excluded, it is those who used to come to obtain food, not for the mind, but for the body, and who were too poor to be able to pursue their studies in after life. So long as we offer instruction only, we may be sure that none but willing students will attend; but if we offer money in addition to instruction, it becomes impossible to