Page:Viscount Hardinge and the Advance of the British Dominions into the Punjab.djvu/66

62 The Calcutta Review of 1847 remarks that 'The Punjab has been called the difficulty of recent administrations, but Oudh is the difficulty of all.' Such a difficulty now arose from the King of Oudh's attempt to supplant his Wazír, Muna-ud Daula, by a mere upstart, Amin-ud Daula. The Governor-General might have enforced one of the articles of the Treaty, but preferred giving friendly advice accompanied by a solemn warning, which for the time put an end to the systematic disregard of the Resident's representations. It was reserved to him at a later period of his administration, on visiting Lucknow, to take up the question from a more serious point of view.

The next subject that engaged his attention was that of native education, which may be regarded as a test by which to measure the beneficent results of British administration in India. The Muhammadan College at Calcutta and the Hindu Sanskrit College at Benares (in addition to the missionary and other private institutions) had already done much good by introducing improved literature and modifying the prejudices of the higher classes of the population. Education — and especially education in English — has since advanced by rapid strides, until what was at that time but a small beginning, has now grown into a general system of instruction, with ramifications in every village.

To stimulate this progress was the aim of Sir Henry Hardinge's Minute, dated October 10th, 1844: 'The Governor-General, having taken into considera-