Page:Ramtanu Lahiri, Brahman and Reformer - A History of the Renaissance in Bengal.djvu/100

 the same class with the Red Indian of America. The opinions of those who had lived in the country, and observed the people, were more flattering. To this class belonged Charles Grant. He was a real friend of India, and he laid its claims before Parliament. He moved “that a thorough education be given to the different races inhabiting the country, that the Gospel be preached to them, and that the conduct of no servant of the East India Company be such as to throw a stumbling-block in their way.” He also wrote a pamphlet on the last of these points and placed it in the hands of the Board of Control. Wilberforce, the great philanthropist, promised to support him. The Chairman of the Board at first showed an inclination to support Grant’s views, and to see that practical measures be taken to carry them out; but afterwards, influenced by the Court of Directors, he changed his mind; and so Mr Grant’s endeavours were fruitless.

When some noble-minded Englishmen had set their hearts on ameliorating the condition of the Indians, the people themselves showed little desire for such pursuits as might raise them in the scale of nations. Education was greatly neglected. When Dr Hamilton, deputed by the Government to go through the country, and to report on certain important matters concerning it, education being one of them, visited the district of Bakarganj, with a population numbering 926,723, he was surprised not to find a single patshala or village school there. The condition of Bakarganj was not unique in this respect. Almost the whole of Bengal was very backward in education. There were tols for the study of Sanskrit, but the only subjects taught in them were grammar, Hindu theology, and logic. No attention was given to studies tending to the development of the mind. Even the