Page:The despatch of 1854, on General education in India.djvu/5



of a DESPATCH from the Court of Directors of the East India Company to the Governor-general of India in Council, dated July 19th, 1854, No. 49.

1. appears to us that the present time, when by an Act of the Imperial Legislature the responsible trust of the Government of India has again been placed in our hands, is peculiarly suitable for the review of the progress which has already been made, the supply of existing deficiencies, and the adoption of such improvements as may be best calculated to secure the ultimate benefit of the people committed to our charge.

2. Among many subjects of importance, none can have a stronger claim to our attention than that of Education. It is one of our most sacred duties to be the means, as far as in us lies, of conferring upon the natives of India those vast moral and material blessings which flow from the general diffusion of useful knowledge, and which India may, under Providence, derive from her connection with England. For, although British influence has already, in many remarkable instances, been applied with great energy and success to