Page:The empire and the century.djvu/743

 he learns to read and write in the local vernacular at his own home, because there are probably no educational facilities in the rural village in which his parents live. When about eleven or twelve he is sent to live at the house of a relation or friend in a neighbouring townlet which possesses a High School—that is, a school in which English is taught up to the standard of matriculation to the University. The headmaster and all the staff are probably Indians, and the boy is at first conducted through the dreary wilderness of English spelling by a subordinate master who probably does not draw more than £2 a month, and whose English would probably not be understood in London. In four years he is taken through a course of arithmetic, history, and geography, an 0riental classic-e.g., Persian or Sanskrit—and English. This English course is the main part of his education, and by the end of four years he will be expected to write some of his answers in English, and his masters will from time to time teach him in English, though they generally think it prudent to fortify this instruction by a second explanation in the vernacular. He now enters upon the highest course of instruction given in a High School, which consists of two years' preparation for the matriculation examination of the University. Now all his work has to be done in English, and he begins to write and speak with some fluency, if not correctness. He studies such examples of English literature, as Lamb's 'Tales from Shakspeare,' or Kingsley's 'Heroes,' the 'Lays of Ancient Rome,' or the 'Deserted Village.' When at length he passes his matriculation examination, he has to decide where and how he will pursue his University education. There are perhaps about a dozen colleges in the whole of the province, each situated in a large town, and all of them teaching simultaneously for the same public examinations. If, as is often the case, the father knows nothing of English or modern education, the boy decides for himself, in consultation with his master and school friends, which college he will join. He leaves