Rajkumar college, Raipur, Central Provinces

Haftumar

BAIPUR,

OENTRAIj

HMH

UC-NRLF

CH

-. D, OSWELL, M.A., Oxoir.,

PRINCIPAL,

BUababad

?RtNTED AT THE PIONEER PRB6S
19O2

GIFT OF

RAIPUR,

JPROVINOJ58.

A SKETCH

BY
G. D. OSWELL, M.A., OXON.,

PRINCIPAL.

HllababaO

PRINTED AT THE PIONEER PRESS

1902

KAJKUMAR COLLEGE,

RAIPUR,
CENTRAL PROVINCES.

A SKETCH of the history of the Rajkumar College at Raipur
would not be complete without some account of the old
institution which existed for some twelve years at Jubbul-
pore, and which was known as the- Rajkumar School.

This institution was a mere appanage of the Grovern-
ment high school, and it was practically nothing more
than a hostel or a boarding-house. Even as it was its
buildings could not be described as altogether suitable for
the use they were put to, nor was their close proximity to
the city an advantage. The Government high school,
moreover, being at the extreme limit of the city, necessi-
tated the pupils of the institution passing right through
the city to get to their school.

The maximum number of pupils on the rolls at one
time was twenty-two, but this number had dwindled down
to five during the last year of its existence at Jubbulpore.
A variety of reasons were in operation demanding its re-
moval from Jubbulpore to a more suitable locality : the most
important of these were its failure to carry out the objects of
its founders and its distance from the feudatory States of
Chhattisgarh, from which the bulk of its pupils were drawn.
In the strictures passed on the institution in its later years
by Sir A. P. MacDonnell and in the remarks made by Mr.
Fraser may be found some of the reasons which were assign-
ed for its failure. Writing of the institution as far back as
1892, Mr. MacDonnell, as he then was, says : " The teaching
is poor, the discipline bad, and the tone of the place below
par : " and he added : " We do not want our young chiefs and
zamindars to be educated out of native ways into a poor

464224

copy of second or third-rate English ways." Mr. Fraser, in
writing to the then Chief Commissioner at the close of
the year 1891, laid special stress on the importance of an
improvement in mental training, moral training, and dress :
and he attributed the failure of the institution in Jubbulpore
to the following, amongst other, causes : to the pupils having
their meals in their own separate rooms with no one near
them except servants : to their spending their holidays, and
Sundays in loafing about aimlessly or sleeping in their own
rooms : and to their sleeping in separate rooms in the com-
pany of servants.

The only alternative that seemed to present itself to
the authorities of that time was to abolish the institution
altogether, and to send the young chiefs to Ajmere, to
the Mayo College there. However, other counsels prevailed,
and negotiations were commenced for its removal to another
place more central and therefore more convenient for the
chiefs.

Before coming to this, however, I have a few remarks to
make on what I consider to have been the principal defect
of the old institution apart from those already given : 1 have
had an opportunity of meeting from time to time several
of the alumni of the old institution after its removal ; five of
them, indeed, became my own pupils in the new institution,
one I travelled with for some weeks as his guardian, and
another used to pay me occasional visits : of one and all of
these I have a very pleasing recollection : they were to all
outward appearance gentlemen, and the majority of them
manly withal, but there I must say their good points ended :
what they were lacking in was moraie, and on looking back
I am bound to come to the conclusion that one if not the
chief and only cause of this was their association with boys
of a lower social order at the Government high school.
It has been my experience gained in three Provinces that
the morale of the average Government high school has not
hitherto been of a high standard. And, parenthetically, I may
here remark, that I have nothing but praise for the new
regulations now being introduced by the Director of Public
Instruction of these provinces, with the view of improving
that morale. To return: it was early in 1892 that the
decision was come to to remove the old institution to a more
central position, and Raipur was decided on as the most

[ 3 ]

central and the most suitable in many ways, more especially
in its proximity to the feudatory States of Chhattisgarh and
to the more important zamindaris of that division.

Certain preliminary difficulties had to be overcome, the
most important of all being that ever-present one of the
provision of the necessary funds, and another, almost of
equal importance, the selection of a suitable head. It was
at first estimated that H lakhs would be required, of which
Rs. 7 5,000 would be required for the necessary buildings, and
Rs. 75,000 for an endowment. The monthly upkeep of the
institution was estimated at Rs. 1 3,000, the calculation being
based upon the supposition that the numbers would not
exceed 12 at any rate at first : the fear being expressed at the
time that to enlarge the numbers to even 30 would necessitate
going to a low stratum of malguzars, whereby the tone of the
new institution would be endangered, as the school would
take its tone from the majority of its inmates.

The new scheme having been finally decided on, Mr.
Fraser was entrusted with the task of finding the funds
and locating a site. An excellent site was secured at the
west end at Raipur : no better choice -could have been made,
and the experience of some years has fully justified the
wisdom displayed in its selection. There were already existing
on the site excellent buildings, which only required certain
alterations and additions to adapt them for the purpose they
were required for.

The provision of the necessary funds presented graver
difficulties. Mr. Fraser first propounded the view that the
Government should itself contribute something towards the
upkeep of the college, and that a considerable portion of
the revenues of each State should be put aside for the edu-
cation of the young chiefs, and he made the further sugges-
tion that the sons of wealthy native gentlemen of position,
who might desire to bring their sons under the influence of
a good European teacher, might have the opportunity of
doing so by being allowed facilities to send their sons to the
college.

Before commencing his campaign for the collection of
funds, Mr. Fraser wrote as follows to the Chief Commis-
sioner : " I have personally seen and talked to a large number
of such of the owners of contributing States or zamindaris as

C 4 ]

have come to years of discretion : they thoroughly approve of
the contributions proposed in their cases. The feeling is
strong in this division in favour of having the college at
Eaipur."

The principle was thus accepted that the funds were to
be provided by contributions from the Chhattisgarh feudatory
States and the zamindaris.

The status of the new institution had then to be decided
on, and it was practically resolved that its status should be
that of a high school and that it should be affiliated to the
Allahabad University : the staff to be competent to teach up
to the Entrance examination. In the light of recent reforms
in the curriculum that have been proposed it is interesting
to note that the original scheme contemplated such subjects
as riding, music, drawing, farming, land surveying, and
the management of an estate being included in the curri-
culum ; only it was contemplated as a part of the scheme for
finding funds towards meeting the requirements of such a
practical curriculum, that such subjects as riding, music,
and drawing should be provided for by charging extra fees,
while for the other subjects all surplus fees were to be
utilised in providing the instruction required.

The liberal scale, moreover, on which the original scheme
was devised may be gauged from the fact that it contemplat-
ed a billiard-room, a swimming bath, and a racquet court,
and I may add what I have often considered a desideratum,
a guest-house for the reception of relatives and friends of
the boys on occasional visits. The religious requirements of
the wards were not forgotten ; full scope was to be given to
what the wards conscientiously believed to be the require-
ments of their religion. Such then was the scheme in
embryo. I now come to its actual inauguration, with the
necessary limitations involved by paucity of funds preventing
the scheme being carried out in its entirety, as originally so
liberally and so practically devised : —

I have already mentioned how Mr. Fraser undertook to
collect the funds. As the result of his vigorous prosecution of
this self-imposed duty, nearly two lakhs of rupees were ac-
tually collected. A list is here given of the principal contri-
butions.

[ 5 ]
To take the feudatory States first : —

Rs-

Khairagarh

30,000

Bastar

25,000

Kalaliandi . . .

15,000

Patna . .

12,500

Kawardha

9,000

Nandgaon

10,000

Haigarh

10,000

Kanker . .

7,000

Sonpur

5,000

Sarangarh

5,000

Sakti

2,000

Bamra

1,000

Chhuikhadan

1,000

Rairahkol

500

The principal zamindaris contn

uted :—

Pandaria

25,000

Bindra -Na wagarh

15,000

Borasamar

6,000

Phuljhar ,

5,000

Pendra

5,000

Khariar

1,000

Dondi-Lohara

1,000

Gandai

3,000

Sahaspur-Lohara

500

Zamindars in different States

7,500

It was wisely determined that at least half of this total
sum should be invested to serve as an endowment : this
endowment now stands at Rs. 1,12,200 at 3£ per cent.. The old
rate being 4 per cent., the rate having been reduced in
1895 led to a corresponding loss of income by the college.
The actual income now derived from this source of endow-
ment falls a little short of Ks. 4,000 annually.

As regards the buildings, a residence for the principal
already existed in the bungalow occupied by the commis-
sioner, which was purchased from the firm of R. B. Bunsi-
lall for Rs.15,000. The nucleus of the main college building
already existed in the handsome cutcherry building, which
had at one time done duty as the official residence of the
Resident : this was purchased for a sum of Rs.25,000. A
new story was added to it, and various ranges of kitchens
and dining-rooms were provided at a cost of some Rs. 60,000.
The later acquisition of the old circuit-house, which stood in
front of the old cutchery, as a residence for the principal,
has added greatly to the efficiency of the college arrange-
ments.

The old residence of the principal is now let as a resi-
dence for the Political Agent, and is a permanent source of
income to the college.

Arrangements are now in progress for an alteration in
the present system of cook-rooms and dining-rooms, the
present arrangement of which has at no times commended
itself to the principal, nor, I may add, to those of the chiefs
and zamindars who have inspected them. Since the origin-
al buildings were secured, other blocks have from time to
time been built by certain States wishing to provide some-
thing better for the accommodation of their wards than that
provided by the college : these blocks are the Gangpur block,
now in the occupation of the young chief of Udaipur, from
Chhota Nagpur, the Bhopalpatnam block, and the Bastar
block, now in the occupation of the Chhuikhadan wards.
A bungalow has also been purchased in the immediate
vicinity of the college as a residence for the members of
the resident staff. A porter's lodge has also been added,
and the grounds completely fenced in, thereby also adding
very materially to the efficiency of the disciplinary arrange-
ments of the college. Not the least important of the recent
additions have been the excellent covered-in gymnasium,
towards which the Education Department liberally contri-
buted Rs. 1,000, and the riding-school. There is also a
building which does duty as a cricket pavilion.

The grounds allotted to cricket, tennis, and football
are all spacious and level : trees have been planted at
regular intervals all round them, and every effort has been
made to beautify the grounds, which are already beginning
to present a very different appearance from their former
bare aspect. Water and soil have been the great difficulties
to contend with in making a garden. Every atom of soil
has to be imported from outside, and water as a rule can only
be obtained at very high rates from the local pipe supply.
However, what could be done in this respect has been
done, and more will be done as funds permit of it.

The next thing to be done, after the question of funds
and buildings had been more or less satisfactorily disposed
of, was to provide a constitution for the college, and to issue
a prospectus. In drawing up a constitution for the college

great help was obtained from a memorandum drawn up by
Mr. Lindsay Neile as far back as 1884.

By this constitution college affairs * are directed and
controlled by a council, which consists of the leading
European officials of the division, including the Director of
Public Instruction, and of some of the principal feudatory
chiefs and zamindars : the Commissioner of the Chhat-
tisgarh Division is the president of the council. Ordinarily
this council is supposed to meet once a quarter. For
purposes of closer supervision there is a board of visitors,
which, besides some of the European officials on the council,
also includes the Inspector of Schools for the Eastern Circle.
This board ordinarily meets once a month, and all questions
of discipline are referred to it by the principal. The
principal is appointed by the Chief Commissioner and the
subordinate staff by the principal.

In drawing up a prospectus for the college valuable
assistance was obtained from other institutions of a similar
character in India, notably from the Mayo College at Ajmere,
and from Rajkote, with the heads of which institutions the
principal had early put himself in communication.

In this prospectus the classes for whom the college was
primarily intended were denned to be the sons and near
relatives of feudatory chiefs, zamindars, large landed pro-
prietors, and other native gentlemen of position in the
Central Provinces, as well as minors of similar class whose
estates are under the Court of Wards.

From the very first great care has been exercised in the
selection of candidates for admission. The college authori-
ties have always had before them the danger, already referred
to, of morale suffering from opening the college to a lower
stratum of society than that intended by the prospectus, and
the sensitiveness of the aristocratic classes is further a
factor that has had to be taken into consideration. Warning
has been taken from the example of the Aitcheson Chiefs'
College at Lahore, where the Governor of the college was
under the necessity of correcting a misapprehension that
existed amongst the chiefs of the Punjab that a lower
order of boys was being introduced into that institution than
had been originally intended.

The aims and objects of the college are then declared
to be to provide a place where boys of the classes above
mentioned may receive a training which shall fit them for
the important duties and responsibilities that will ultimately
devolve upon them To this end a sound English educa-
tion up to the middle school standard will be given to all
pupils, while those who desire it, and show the necessary
aptitude, may qualify for admission to the universities and
may study for a degree in Arts.

Special attention will be devoted to the training of the
boys in right and honourable principles of thought and
conduct, in gentlemanly behaviour and bearing, and in
aptitude and proficiency in manly sports.

This practically fixed the status of the institution for
the time as that of an English middle school with a cur-
riculum up to that standard. This was sufficient for the
early years of the institution, but the time has now come for
its status to be raised and its curriculum to be modified
accordingly ; and further reference will be made to this sub-
ject in its proper place.

The next point dealt with was the provision of a suit-
able staff. It was duly recognised that for the education of
the higher classes quality rather than quantity was the
main factor to be taken into consideration, both in the selec-
tion of the European and of the native staff. The principal
of the college was to be a graduate of an English university,
and the principal members of the native staff were to be
native gentlemen of the same rank as headmasters of
district schools.

The principal selected had perhaps special qualifications
for the post : besides being an English Public School man
and a graduate of Oxford, he had had considerable teaching
experience both as a master in an English preparatory, and
in an English Public School, and as tutor, and guardian of
several important wards of Government in India.

As regards the native staff, it is only necessary for me
to mention here the selection of Mr. Dalchand as head-
master. This officer had already had some twelve years'
experience in the old institution at Jubbulpore, both in the
capacity of assistant master and in that of headmaster :
the experience of the past eight years has fully justified his

L » 1

selection : the various annual reports all bear testimony kef
the excellence of his record. The historian of the Aitcheson
College at Lahore has recently declared that disinterested
zeal cannot be expected from the average native teacher. I
consider that the highest praise that I can bestow upon
Mr. Dalchand is to say that disinterested zeal has been hi£
distinguishing characteristic. The staff was a small one,
but having regard to its quality, this was not altogether a
matter for regret, especially in a residential institution like
ours, where so much depends upon the personal influence of
those who are brought so much into contact with the boys as
the staff of our college are. At the same time the paucity of
numbers has entailed a corresponding amount of extra work
and reponsibility upon that staff, more especially when the
fact is taken into consideration, that it was never contem-
plated that the maximum number of boys for whom provision
was thus made would exceed fifteen, while as a matter of
fact the numbers have been as high as twenty-five, and have
never dropped below twenty. However, the inadequacy of
the staff to meet the altered circumstances of the college
has now been recognised, and arrangements are in progress
for the entertainment of a larger staff, who are to be recruited
from the Education Department. Whatever is decided
upon, it is certain that the importance that has hitherto been
attached to securing men of a high standard of character
will still be a main factor in the appointment of teachers in
the college.

The college is just now peculiarly fortunate in its staff:
the second master, Mr. C. S. Misra, who is a graduate of
Allahabad University, is a man of great force of character :
he was lent by the college to the administration during the
famine of 1900, and in his capacity as famine officer he won
high encomium from his superior officers. The third master,
Mr. Kerolikar, was the headmaster of a flourishing institution
at Nagpur, and has fully justified his selection by the
Director of Public Instruction. No appointment to the
subordinate staff has everb een made by the principal with-
out reference to the Director of Public Instruction.

The question of schooling fees was the next subject that
was dealt with in the prospectus. As it became evident that
the college was to be independent of financial aid from
Government, at any rate in its early years, provision had to

I 10 ]

be made, over and above the" income denveu iroiu "uie
endowment, to meet the expenditure of the college.

The minimum fee was fixed at Rs. 25 a month, and the
maximum at Rs. 100; the average fee being paid amounts
to about Rs. 40.

It has not hitherto been found feasible to adopt the
system of levying fees in force at the Aitcheson Chiefs'
College, Lahore, where practically 1 2 per cent, of a ward's
income is set aside for his education. However, it is possible
that in the near future the schooling fees will have to be
enhanced to meet the additional expenditure which the
altered circumstances of the college will entail.

For boys' personal allowances it was considered that a
minimum sum of Rs. 50 would be sufficient.

The question of the number of personal attendants to be
entertained on the establishment of boys was a mitter that
engaged the anxious attention of the framers of the prospec-
tus, and it is further a matter the importance of which has
never been lost sight of by the college authorities.

Three servants were considered to be ample for each boy
attending the college, and it was considered that the es-
tablishments entertained should comprise only one head
servant, one cook, and one body servant. Establishments
are rigorously kept down to this limit, and it is a satisfaction
to note that in several cases they have fallen below this
limit.

A considerable weeding out process has usually to be gone
through in the case of boys joining the college for the firsc
time. One sometimes cannot help having a little sympathy
with the new arrival, who, fresh from home, brings with him
his old playmates, the only playmates he has hitherto known,
the sons perhaps of old retainers of the family: but rules
have to be enforced and the playmates have to go. In some
cases the fault does not lie altogether with the responsible
guardians of the boys ; old retainers insist on accompanying
"the young master" to school to see what his new sur-
roundings are like, and with the customary laissez-faire and
absence of control and discipline that characterises Indian
court circles, the retainers have their way : they again have
to be sent back. This process has periodically to be gone

C 11 3

through whenever a boy whose family is of some importance
in the Indian world joins the college.

As regards the age of admission, it was generally
thought desirable that as a rule no boys of over 14 years of
age should be admitted. Subsequent experience has shown
that this rule is a wise one ; it was a rule unfortunately more
honoured in the breach than in the observance when the
college first opened its doors.

I now come to the time of the formal opening of the col-
lege by Sir John Wood burn in the month of November 1894.

Colonel Thomas was the Commissioner of the division
at the time, and Mr. A. D. Younghusband, whose close
connection with the college lasted practically down to 1901,
was Political Agent : a full account of the proceedings at the
opening is contained in the college records, and it is unne-
cessary for me to dilate upon it here, in what only professes
to be a sketch of the history of the college. The fuller
account can be reserved for the fuller history when the time
comes for that history to be written. The feature of the
opening was the address of the Chief Commissioner delivered
in Urdu to the assembled chiefs and zarnindars, in which
•he reminded them that education was now a necessity in all
ranks and classes of life, and not least a necessity among the
chiefs of Chhattisgarh, who had laid upon them the great
responsibility of ruling their people intelligently and justly ;
he added that it was expedient that they should have a
college close to their States and properties to which they
could send their sons, who would receive at the college the
instruction and training essential to their future progress
and success in life : he told them that he had come to Raipur
to give them evidence of the deep interest he took in the
college ; his tour in their country the previous winter had
been evidence of the warm regard he had for their happiness
and welfare : the assistance he had given to that undertaking
was the best practical proof he could give of his desire to
advance their interests.

A description of the opening would not be complete
without a list of the States and zamindaris represented
amongst the pupils who presented themself for admission,
either on the opening day or at a somewhat later period.
The chief feudatory States in the Central Provinces that have

C 12 ]

been represented are Bastar, Kawardha, Sarangarh, Raigarh,
Khairagarh, Patna, Chhuikhadan. The chief zamindaris
represented have been Pandaria, Borasamar, Pendra, Warar-
bandh, Chhuri, Bilaigarh, Kowdiya, Suarma; Ambagarh-
Chouki from the Chanda district, Bhiwapur from the Nagpur
district, as well as Narsingbpur and Umaria from the Nar-
singhpur district.

We have had also a representative of the ancient Gond
Raj, and later there have been representatives from Bengal
States and zamindaris, the States represented being Gangpur
and Udaipur amongst the Chhota Nagpur feudatories, and
the zamindaris of Deoghur in the Birbhum district of
Bengal.

Passing from the events of the opening day I come to
the subsequent history of the institution, with the various
problems that have from time to time presented themselves,
and the attempts made at their solution.

The numbers on the rolls of the college at the commence-
ment of operations was twenty-three, representing all classes
of the aristocracy, with ages varying from 9 to 20. The total
number on the rolls during the seven years of the existence
of the college has amounted to 49, while during the twelve
years of the existence of the old institution at Jubbulpore
the total number was only 31. With the inauguration of the
college now completed, various problems presented themselves
to the college authorities for an early solution. And here I
will take the subject of the curriculum first.

Added to the great disparity of ages existing in the
pupils that first joined the institution, the varying degrees of
intelligence was also a disturbing factor that had to be taken
into consideration. Another factor was the existence of more
than one vernacular : such vernaculars as Hindi, Oorya, Urdu,
Bengali, Marathi and Telugu have all at various times been
represented in the college.

In treating of the curriculum therefore it is necessary
for me to state the policy pursued in the past towards this
subject of the vernaculars. I will premise what I have to say
on this subject by stating that the vernaculars have always
played an important part in our system of instruction. I have
always been fully impressed with the importance of a sound
knowledge of their own vernaculars to Indian youth, and not

[ 13 ]

least to that particular class of India youth whom we ar6
called upon to educate in our institution. And therefore,
while believing in thoroughness in English also for this class,
I have ever kept steadily in view a more or less sound know-
ledge of their own vernaculars as a factor to be considered,
and a reference to the college records shows that there has
been a regular system pursued and a definite policy through-
out the past in this connection.

When the college first opened, the great majority of the
boys were found to be altogether ignorant of English, and even
the five who joined us from the old institution at Jubbul-
pore had a very slight literary acquaintance, but no colloquial
knowledge of it practically ; therefore all instruction had for
some time to be conveyed almost entirely through the me-
dium of the vernaculars. The difficulty was therefore present-
ed at the very outset of providing teaching in the various
vernaculars. The majority of the boys were found to possess
a fair knowledge of Hindi, though a few knew only Oorya.

The problem therefore had to be solved somehow : it
was not a case where " halting between two opinions" was
desirable, and so the decision was early come to that all boys
should be set to learn Hindi as soon as they entered the
college, and as one of the objects with which they were sent
to the college by their guardians was that they might ac-
quire a knowledge of English, it was also decided to teach
them English pari passu, more especially as the great
majority ot boys were not of very tender age. Meanwhile,
and until they were sufficiently advanced to follow the
explanations given by class masters in Hindi, an arrange-
ment was made to retain a special Oorya teacher, whose
business it was to act as interpreter for the class master in
class in the case of all work done viva voce in class, and to
correct all written exercises which the boys continued to do
in Oorya, until they were able to read and write Hindi with
sufficient fluency to dispense with his services altogether.

With the funds at the disposal of the college this was
the best arrangement that could be come to under the
circumstances : the college could not at the time afford a
highly paid teacher with special Oorya qualifications, who
would be competent to conduct a parallel class : the man
actually employed was the tutor of the late Borasamar minor

[ 14 ]

zamindar, who, with the consent of the boy's guardian,
received a small sum from the college for this special work :
this man's services were eventually lost to the college, but
this has entailed no bieak in the continuity of the policy
pursued towards Oorya: the headmaster has acquired a
sufficient knowledge of Oorya for all practical purposes of
elementary work, and another teacher was also available in
the person of the tutor of the Bhopalpatnam minor zamin-
dar. But, as a matter of fact, there has not been a great
demand for the services of either. When the Raja of
Patna sent his sons to the college, which he did for
one session only, they were taught through the medium
of Oorya as usual, but when the Raja of Gangpur sent
his five sons to the college, which he did early in 1899,
their instruction in Oorya, which was at once commenced,
was superseded, at the Raja's own request, by instruction in
Hindi pari passu with English. Since then the practice
has been followed of consulting the guardians of boys on
this subject of the vernaculars to be studied by them, and
without an exception they have all requested that Hindi
should be taught as one of these : this has been the case even
with boys from Bengal. Where more than one vernacular
is in question, the course now being pursued is practically
that pursued in the case of the Urdu-speaking boy who was
in the college for some years: he was taught Hindi according
to the ordinary routine of the college, but a special teacher
in Urdu and Persian was provided for him by his guardians.
We have Marathi and Bengali speaking boys now in the col-
lege : they are taught Hindi as usual with the other boys, but
they are also taught their own mother-tongue twice a week,
and their instructors are their own head servants, who are
educated men, who teach them under the supervision of the
class master at an hour specially fixed. There is one Telugu
speaking boy, but he has always studied Hindi, and as his
aainindari business is conducted in Hindi, he may be classed
with the Hindi-speaking boys, and as such he has always
been classed. Various influences have been at work in induc-
ing the adoption of the system whereby the study of Hindi
has been made practically compulsory in our system of edu-
cation. At the outset the object was mainly to facilitate the
arrangement of boys into classes according to their general
standard of attainments and to have one Lingua Franca,
so to speak, until English could be established as such, to
facilitate explanations being given in class through

[ 15 ]

its medium, where English may not be sufficiently known
by the majority of the boys to enable them to grasp
ideas imparted to them in that medium : and though the
principal has availed himself of his additional knowledge of
Urdu and Bengali to give his explanations to boys in his class
knowing those vernaculars through their medium, still the
generality of the teaching staff have, as a rule, been acquaint-
ed with Hindi only. As a general rule, therefore, Hindi has
been the medium of the communication of ideas to the great
majority of the boys, both in class and out of class, in the
lectures, disciplinary and other, which have been periodic-
ally given by the principal. It is unnecessary forme to
dilate here upon the system pursued in giving instruction
through the medium of the vernacular by which, in this
connection, I may be taken as meaning instruction in Hindi.
Suffice it to say that as practical a turn as is possible has
been given to instruction in it. Some subjects, especially
in the junior classes, such as history and geography, are
taught entirely through its medium; and in the senior
classes, while the readers have been largely availed of, the
valuable lessons they contain, now scattered at random all
over the different books, have been eystematised to enable
special courses being taken; such subjects as sanitation,
agriculture, and history having been especially selected:
and latterly, still further to encourage the study by the boys
themselves of their vernacular, regular courses of lectures,
are being given by the staff on Sundays and holidays on a
variety of subjects entirely through its medium. While the
principal is taking history for his subject, the other
members of the staff are taking science and sanitation, and
the principal has expressed his intention of awarding a prize
for the best paper on the subjects of such lectures at an
informal examination at the end of term. As regards the
future of vernacular instruction in the college, it has practi->
cally been decided that the college will give more facilities
than have perhaps been given in the past for more thorough
instruction in other vernaculars than Hindi, that may be re-
presented in the college; and Oorya will receive special atten-
tion, as it is intended to have parallel classes in Hindi and
Oorya, as more Oorya-speaking boys may be expected to join
the college in the future than have joined it in the past. I
may add in this connection that nearly all newcomers,
according to their age, are put through the mill of the lower
and upper primary examinations, which are held entirely in
the vernacular.

[ 16 j

And now I come to the curriculum generally. From
the very outset, opening as we did with boys of every age
ranging from 9 to 20, and of every standard of attainments,
we were confronted with the difficulty of arranging boys into
classes. The principles that have guided us in our classifica-
tion have been twofold. There has neen the usual principle at
work that must guide all classification of schoolboys into
classes, namely, the standard of attainments reached by those
boys, and this was the principle first adopted by us : bovs had
to be at first classified irrespective of age, but eventually the
principle of age had to be introduced. We opened the college
with perhaps a larger proportion of " duffers " of advanced
age there is, 1 think, usual, and many of them were of a
comparatively low level of intelligence, their standard of
attainments being considerably lower than that of much
younger boys : indeed, having the importance of the college
bearing a good name from the outset before me, I remember
viewing the prospect with some degree of concern. Still there
it was, and the problem had to be faced somehow : it was
soon seen that that very important factor in an educational
institution, more especially in a residential institution like
ours, namely, morale, would suffer if the original system
adopted were to remain in force for any long period. Thus
it was therefore that we came to adopt the age standard in
making our classification, side by side with the standard of
attainments. This system then was adopted much to the
advantage of the morale and tone of the college generally.
Boys of brighter attainments have not suffered by the system,
for the practice of dividing each class into sections was
adopted at the same time, so that it never became necessary
at any time to keep the whole class down to the level of the
least intelligent boys in the class, This system prevailed for
some time, practically until all the '• aged duffers " were
eventually weeded out of the college in ail the classes ; and
no attempt could be made till then to classify subjects. Now
far less disparity of age exists between the boys in the upper
classes than was formerly the case, and it has been found
practicable, and without any danger of morale suffering, to
arrange the boys into classes according to the degree of
proficiency they have attained in the different subjects
studied, to a greater extent than formerly. At the same
time age is still a factor that has to be taken into considera-
tion with some of the boys, but it is practically confined to
the English classes, and it operates more largely perhaps in

[ 17 ]

my own English class than in others. We have to avail
ourselves to the full of our limited teaching staff, but even
as it is we are able to specialise somewhat, especially in the
direction of mathematics, science, vernacular, and drawing.
And this brings me naturally to the course of studies pur-
sued. But first I must say a few words as to my system
generally. The great point that I have always impressed on
my staff is that our object is education and not simply
instruction ; in other words, we wish " to draw out " and
not simply " to put in." Our system, therefore, is in the
main what may be called a catechetical system, as opposed
to that instruction by rote of which the average native
teacher is so fond, and which, instead of succeeding in
gradually developing the intelligence of the boy, only suc-
ceeds in actually dwarfing his natural intelligence, overload-
ing his mind with a mass of undigested material, which, as
soon as the particular object with which it has been swallowed,
namely, the passing of a particular examination, has been
attained, naturally* goes the way of all undigested material,
and is eventually " cast out into the draught." Our process
may be slower, but I feel confident it is the surer in the
end, especially in dealing with the undeveloped intelligences
that we have usually the misfortune to have to deal with.
Without losing sight, therefore, of the importance of the
public examination for the brighter boys, I have never
regarded the passing of examination as the " end all " and
the " be all " of our existence as a training institution
for our local aristocracy. Cram therefore has found no
place in my programme. My early experience with the
average native teacher was that his voice was the most
prominent sound in the class-room : the voice of the
taught was hardly heard at all ; and the instruction given by
the teacher under these circumtances was, so far as
the effect on the intelligences of the boys was concerned,
Vox et prcetera nihil. I have always recognised the
importance of a high standard of education for the class of
boys we have to train. I was very early impressed by its
importance, when I came to examine into the attainments
of the boys who first joined us from the old institution,
many of whom had been studying for some years
up to the middle school standard. I was struck by the
general ignorance displayed by them, and I was further im-
pressed by the comparatively low standerd of attainments,
more especially in English, that was required to pass that

examination, as the system then was of conducting it. A
further fact that impressed me was that most of the boys who
have been up from the college for that examination have
regarded the passing it, or even appearing for it, as the goal
of their ambition, and have generally left us after that goal
has been attained. I very early came to the same conclusion
that Mr Browning arrived at, that the examination could
practically be passed almost entirely through the medium of
the vernacular, and without any sound practical knowledge
of English at all, and practically, I may say, also without
any very high standard of vernacular education either. A
boy, I saw, could pass it with a mere surface knowledge of
certain subjects, attained very largely too through that process
known in educational circles as cram pure and simple. In
other words, boys could pass it and still leave the college
much as they came into it, with minds uniustructed and un-
informed. To put it plainly, I did not consider preparation
for the middle school examination, as it was then constitut-
ed, as an education at all, and I fully realised that if our
pupils, many of whom would never be likely to go beyond
that examination, and others never beyond preparation for it,
were to be bound by a hard and fast rule to the study only of
subjects prescribed for it, the great majority of them would
never be educated at all in the proper sense of the word.

Having regard then to the middle school examination as
it then was, I determined that boys who left us, either
before appearing for it or after passing it, should at least be
fairly well informed as well as instructed, and I have steadily
kept this end in view not only by introducing certain subjects
uhich were not prescribed for that course, such, as English
history, and by a course of supplementary lectures on a
variety of subjects, but also by pacing special attention
myself to the English education of the senior boys; and the
standard of English that I have always aimed at with these
boys has always been the standard of the Entrance examina-
tion rather than that of the middle school examination.
'•Thorough " has always been my own motto, and " thorough"
is the motto 1 have always impressed on my staff. The new
system now sanctioned for the conduct of the middle school
examination seems to promise a sounder substratum of attain-
ments in those who prepare for it : it is a distinct advance on
the old system, and it seems to ensure that boys who make
the passing of that examination their goal will have some-

thing solid to take away with them. It will at any rate ensure
a sounder knowledge both of their own vernaculars and of
English on the part of those who succeed in passing the test,
than could be ensured under the older system, and in this
respect 1 can now view with more equanimity than heretofore
the prospect of confining boys' attention to the particular
subjects prescribed for it. But it is to be hoped that we
shall soon see an end to the practice of boys regarding the
passing of it, «ven as now amended and improved, as the goal
of their ambition, and that we shall soon find amongst our
alumni boys whose ambition it will be to pass on to a
university degree. Indeed, I should view without any grave
concern its entire disappearance from the horizon of the world
of school. If it is considered advisable that our pupils'
attention should be directed to the passing of public examina-
tions at all, I should prefer that their first public appearance
should be an appearance within the portals of a university.
This will give them from the very outset of their studies a
higher ambition than under present circumstances is the case.
With the recognition of the college by the University of
Allahabad now & fait accompli, this desirable consummation
appears likely to be attained. English has always held an
important place in our course of studies, which now comprise,
beside the English language and composition, Indian history,
general and physical geography, mathematics in its three
branches of arithmetic, algebra, and Euclid, the vernacular
language and composition, and up to now drawing and
and physical science. During the past year, moreover, we
have added to our curriculum mensuration and surveying.
In the senior classes all these subjects, except of course
vernacular, are taught through the medium of English, that
being the language in which it has been ordained that the
subjects prescribed both for the middle school and Entrance
examinations should be prepared. With the junior classes
the case is of course different, and the majority of the
subjects, except of course English, are done through the
medium of the vernacular. But even the senior boys, apart
from their instruction in their own vernacular language and
composition, do not entirely lose touch with their vernacular.
I have translated for their use all the lessons from their
vernacular readers bearing on Indian history, and the
geography and history of the British Empire, and these
translations form the basis of my lectures to them on these
subjects. This system enables them to get a better grasp of

I 20 J

these subjects than they could from purely English text books,
as they have their vernacular text books to fall back upon
when they require an explanation. It is unnecessary for me
to dilate here on the system pursued throughout in connec-
tion with our course of studies, but before bringing this sub-
ject of the curriculum to a close, it might be interesting
to note the number of hours devoted to each subject. This
of course varies with the classes, but the general average
can be given. The number of working hours in the week is
practically 40, though 6 of these represent the evening
preparation hours: the actual hours ot class work are 34.
English has 9 hours devoted to it, vernacular 7, mathema-
tics 6, geography 2, history 2, mensuration 2, and sur-
veying 4, two of these being hours taken from physical
exercise. Drawing has 6 hours devoted to it, but the survey-
ing class has 4 hours work at this subject a week, and the
junior hoys 2 hours ; the remaining hours being devoted to
other subjects. The ordinary routine of the college is an
follows : —

7 — 8 ... Physical exercise.

8 — 9 ... Drawing cr preparation of vernaculars.

10-30 — 4 ... Class work with an interval.

4-30—6 ... Games.

7-30 — 8-30 ... Evening preparation.

Evening lock-up is practically at 7-30.

A few words on the conduct of examinations may fitly
conclude the subject of the curriculum, as it has hither-
to been pursued. There are two sessions of the college, one
extending practically throughout the rains, which may be
called the rains session : this lasts from July till October; the
other extends from November on till the following April. There
is a short break of ten days at Christmas, but no boys are
allowed to leave the college for their homes. Two examina-
tions have been held annually : one conducted entirely by the
principal at the close of the rains session, both viva voce and
paper work : this examination corresponds with what at Oxford
are known as "Collections," being a test of the work done
during the term.

The annual examination proper has always been held
at the end of the hot weather session, and the procedure
has always been as follows. The principal conducts an exam-
ination throughout the whole college in paper work, and the

C 21 ]

Inspector of Schools conducts the viva voce part of the ex-
amination: all paper work moreover always lies open
for his inspection. Further facilities for the Inspector of
Schools holding this examination have been given during
the past two years by the extension of the hot weather
sessions from March 31st, the old date, when it came to an
end, to April 15th, as it has not always in the past been
convenient for the Inspector ot Schools to be at headquar-
ters as early as the end of March. Whenever formerly this
was the case, the principal at his request used to conduct the
whole examination. A complete record of these examina-
tions, with detailed results in the case of each individual
boy, has been maintained in the college registers from the
very commencement, and progress reports are sent to all
guardians at the close of each session. In connection with
the subject of vacations, which I have touched on above, I
cannot but think that it would be of incalculable advantage
to our boys if the boys' guardians or those responsible for
them could, during the vacations, interest them in matters
affecting the general management of their estates. Their
work in this direction would then, as it were, dovetail into
the work they do at the college, and there would not be that
hiatus and absence of continuity that now exists between
their college and their home life: the only result of the
conditions now prevailing, whereby boys are left practically
to themselves during the vacations, to enjoy an otium that
is without any dignity, instead of their being employed in
some negotium, is that they generally return to the college
with their minds a tabula rasa and emptied of all they
have ever learnt. And further it would be of great assistance
to the college authorities, in arranging the course of studies
to be pursued by individual boys, if their guardians, on
pending them to the college, could give some idea of the
probable duration of their stay at the college, or of the age
limit to which the boy's education at the college would be
extended : this would tend to minimise the risk that must
under present circumstances occur of a boy leaving the
college with mind only half-formed and immature, more
especially where I refer here especially to a recent case that
has occurred — he has unexpectedly and without due warn-
ing been removed from the college for family reasons, some
years before the college authorities might have naturally
anticipated when the boy was first admitted into the college,
that he would be removed.

[ 22 ]

I now come to what I consider to be the most important
factor in the success or failure of an educational institution,
namely, its discipline, for what boots it Ingenuas didicisse
fideleiiter Aries to its alumni if Boni Mores be wanting.
Now various problems presented themselves for solution at
the very outset, arising from various causes. To begin with,
there were certain initial jealousies to be overcome arising
between class and class, between, that is to say, those who
belonged to the higher aristocratic classes and those who
belonged to the lower : between those whose forbears were
rajas or maharajas, and those whose forbears were thakurs
or zamindars. Here I may as well say that once boys have
been admitted within the walls of the college, no distinctions
of class are recognised by the college authorities, but all are
treated on exactly the same footing as in the great Public
Schools at home. An amusing illustration of this rivalry
occurred one day in a small dispute about chairs in
the common rooms. A young raja claimed an easy chair
that a young zamindar was sitting on and practically
demanded that the young zamindar should take t; a lower
place."

Then there was the comparative want of morale on the
part of the great majority to be grappled with ; a want of
morale of which I had several illustrations, but I need only
mention two here. One morning there was a slight scare
amongst some of the boys on the supposition that one of
their number had been attacked with cholera. Needless to
say the supposition was not a correct one. In the course of
the day the senior boy presented me with a telegram pur-
porting to come from his mother, and reading, " If you
wish to see me alive come at once. " I allowed the boy
leave, but on communicating with his guardian, a deputy
commissioner, I received the reply, "I have just seen
the lady ; she was never better in her life." It was merely
a device of the boy to get away temporarily. In the other
case a pupil having received from me an advance of his
month's personal allowance as a convenience, as he was
proceeding home for the vacation, drew the amount again
from the local treasury of his headquarters town as he
passed through it on his way home. I must say he had
the courtesy to write and tell me what he had done, relying,
he added, upon my good nature.

[ 23 ]

The large number of older boys who joined us from the
old institution at Jubbulpore, and brought with them some
of the not wholly satisfactory traditions of that institution,
were also a cause of anxiety, and from the very first I had
fears of the wisdom of the policy that admitted them into a
new institution, but financial considerations necessitated the
wide opening of our doors. Matters were not made easier
for us by the sanction that was early accorded to the non-re-
sidence of isome of our pupils, who were allowed to live with
their mothers in the city, coming to the college only for
their studies : this arrangement was unsatisfactory in many
ways, not only in the province of discipline, but also in that
of health. I tried to minimise the effects as much as
possible by keeping the boys at the college the whole day,
from early morning to late in the evening, so that they could
join in the routine of physical exercise and games with the
others, arrangements being made in the great majority of
cases for these boys to have their meals at the college during
the day. It was some years before the arrangement could be
finally put an end to : the compromise was first adopted of
allowing the boys to visit their mothers on a Saturday to
Monday exeat: then this privilege was gradually withdrawn,
and boys were allowed a Sunday exeat only: now even this
privilege is rarely asked for : the mothers of wards having for
the most part given up residence in the city, and only visit-
ing the place occasionally.

A curious illustration came under my notice of the
inconsistency of one of these ladies. She had herself visited
the college and seen the arrangements, and she had ex-
pressed herself thoroughly satisfied with them, especially
with the arrangements for excluding strangers, but she still
urged that her son might live with her, though at the same
time she recognised to the full the danger of bad associations
for her son from his residence in the city. Rut to obviate
these, she appealed to the District Superintendent of
Police for a police guard, to be maintained at her house in
the city at her own expense, " to keep off," as she said, 4< un-
desirable characters from visiting my son."

To minimise the effects on the boys' health of a resi-
dence in a less salubrious quarter than the college precincts
I instituted a weekly inspection of their mothers' lodgings in
the city.

C 24 ]

Another difficulty that faced us at (he commencement
of our operations was the unprotected state of the college
grounds.

The college had, as it were, been located in the middle
of a great maidan, across which various thoroughfares ran in
all directions, and the lapse of time had almost established
a right of way. To put a stop to this nuisance the owner of
the principal village in the immediate neighbourhood of the
college had to be interviewed, and the passage of carts to and
fro was stopped, but it took longer to persuade the villagers
to give up what they thought their right of way. At last this
was effected, but complete privacy could not be secured as
long as the Government circuit-house was located in the grounds
immediately fronting the college main building, and the
court of the sessions regularly held there. The residence of
the principal, moreover, was at some considerable distance
from the college. It is satisfactory to be able to record that
none of these disabilities now exist. While the old residence
of the principal has become the residence of the Political
Agent, the Government circuit-house has by purchase been
acquired by the college, arid now constitutes the principal's
residence. The grounds, moreover, have been completely
fenced in, and a porter's lodge has been placed at the main
entrance.

In every educational establishment I take it, two depart-
ments of discipline have to be recognised, namely, class
discipline and house discipline. Class discipline primari-
ly falls within the province of each individual class master,
and its importance was early impressed on the staff, in whose
hands, when they first join us, I have always placed an excel-
lent little manual on the subject by an old Rugby form
master, entitled "Form Discipline," which mutatis mutandis
is as applicable in India as in England. It contains amongst
other good things that excellent motto of Quintilian's that
should form the guiding star of all teachers who wish to
gain an influence over their class : Minime iracundus minime
contumelioa'us, and a still more useful and necessary motto
especially necessary with a native staff, Obsta principiis.

Important as class discipline is, however, far more im-
portant is house discipline, and here the head of the house
must remain supreme. There can be no dual control here.
As our college is at present constituted, it practically

[ 25 ]

constitutes a house, with its fairly manageable numbers, and
the principal is, and must be, his own house master. Practical-
ly, therefore, the principal is responsible for the entire discip-
line of the college. I could not help being struck, on a
recent perusal of the history of the Aitcheson Chiefs' College,
Lahore, with one rather curious e*h try in it, and it is the
principal who is making it, though it is only fair to add that
it is not the present principal, but a previous principal writing
of an earlier day. The entry is to this effect : " With regard
to discipline, I am sorry to say there is much to be desired.
The masters are lax in enforcing it, and the boys are prompt
to take advantage of their laxity. The boys too presume to
no little extent on their supposed social superiority to their
teachers, and I constantly overhear conversations and argu-
ments between masters and pupils, in which their relative
positions are reversed. The boys freely accuse one another
of using abnsive language, and this while in class and under
the supposed control of their masters."

At the first blush this looks like a condemnation of the
principal from his own mouth, but a further investigation into
the history revealed the fact that actually a triple control has
prevailed in the college in the past, and if I am right in my
conclusions from v* hat T have read in that history, this triple
control still exist.'-'. Under the system prevailing — I quote
the actual records of the report — " The principal is excluded
from a share in boarding-house supervision, which lie^
between the governor and the superintendent. " The super-
intendent, it may be noted, works through a class of men known
as musahibe, who are now pensioned native officers. A
triple system of control such as is here delineated must, one
would suppose, do away with the raison d'etre of a principal
altogether : it must at any rate tend to weaken that enthusiasm
in his work which our present Viceroy has rightly gauged to
be of the very essence of all really good work, and which
only a man who has a really free hand can really develop
if he does not possess it already.

To my mind the principal must be the head of the
college ; he must be, at least in the department of discipline,
Ant Ccesar ant nnllus.

In our institution there is, it is trne, a controlling body
designated the board of visitors, but their action rather
than impeding any independence of action on the part of the

[ 26 ]

principal, renders that action more effective. Theadviceof this
body is always most welcome, and is always invited in any
flagrant breaches of discipline, happily now rather the excep-
tion than the rule. Its control is practically confined to
criticism, if it thinks criticism necessary, of any disciplinary
action taken by the principal, and simply with regard to its
adequacy or not. When we first opened we had what might
have appeared to be a dual control, but it simply existed in a
division of responsible duties between the headmaster and
the superintendent of the boarding-house : while the former
was responsible for the arrangements of all class-work, the
latter was responsible for the arrangements of the boarding-
house, but his disciplinary functions were confined to reports
and not action ; all action the principal kept in his own
hnnds. Even this semblance of a dual control has now
disappeared, the headmaster combining the offices in his
own person, but he still has no power of independent action in
the field of discipline.

The principles that have guided me in the administration
of discipline have remained the same throughout, though there
may have been some modifications in the methods of that ad-
ministration in the course of the seven years that have
elapsed since I first, on the opening of the college, took the
reins of discipline into my hands. The personal equation
must enter largely into all disciplinary systems ; but nowhere
more largely than in institutions like ours, where the scions
of Indian nobility have to be dealt with. With no class of boys
in the world is individuality more marked than with this
class, with its innumerable susceptibilities and prejudices, all
of which have at some time or other to be taken into
consideration. Each individual boy must be dealt with
as in individuality possessing an idiosyncracy of his own.
Even the Education Department with its rigid and cast-
iron system of rules and regulations for the maintenance
of discipline in its schools, has recognised that there may be
boys in the schools of these provinces that may require very
special treatment, and it expressly exempts certain of the
aboriginal classes from the operation of these rules, leaving
those in authority some liberty of action in dealing with
them. Amongst these aboriginal tribes the Khonds especially
are recognised as boys requiring special and tactful treat-
ment. We have had and still have Khonds in our institu-
tion, and my experience has been that theirs is a very

[ 27 ]

peculiar idiosyncracy. Intense pride, curiously enough, is
one of their peculiar characteristics, combined with extreme
sensitiveness.

Kecognising that all discipline has for its principal
object the building up of character, personal influence
and personal association have been the principal factors
at work in my system. These principles have always
guided me in the selection of members of my staff: it is
essential to the success of the system that they should
be men of character, and therefore men able to bring
personal influence to bear, and these principles must be
borne hi mind whenever the college expands sufficiently
to enable a larger staff to be engaged : a few good men on
good pay will be infinitely preferable to a large number of
men of inferior stamp and character.

I have been exceptionally fortunate with my staff so
far as its vsenior members are concerned, and I rejoice that it
has never fallen to me to encounter that curious experience
which the records of the Aitcheson College show to have
been encountered in that institution in its early years. I
quote from the report from which the present principal
gives this extract: "In 1891 the principal records as a
matter of congratulation that during the year under report
no complaint has been made to me by a pupil against a
master."

However active and energetic the head of a residential
institution may be, much must depend for the success of
that institution upon the subordinate staff: their personal
influence and example must be the chief factors after all.
This of course correspondingly increases the responsibility
of the staff, and I have been fortunate in possessing a senior
staff who have recognised their responsibilities. There is
always the danger of supervision being carried to the point
where it narrowly approaches espionage : this danger we have
avoided, and it has very largely been avoided by the personal
association of the staff with the boys in their play as well as
in their work. The junior members of the staff on first
joining the college have not always recognised the distinc-
tion, and I remember the casn of one man who strongly ob-
jected to taking his turn of duty both at preparation and at
games on the ground that he had not been engaged as a
chowkidar !

[ 28 ]

Passing from principles, I will now come to my actual
practice. This divides itself into two periods : first the
system in force for the early years of the institution,
and secondly, that in force during the last few years, and
which will continue to be the model for succeeding years.
An ideal system would be one that would tend to create that
atmosphere of freedom and honour that is of the very
essence of the best Public Schools in England : a system the
very antithesis to this is the system prevailing in French
seminaries, which from all accounts only tends to create an
atmosphere of restraint and suspicion with its necessary
corollary deceit. In India we have to find " the golden
mean," and to adopt a system which shall help to develop
all the best qualities developed by the English Public School
system, with at the same time perhaps rather closer supervi-
sion than prevails in that system, for, after all, when all is
said and done, " East is East " and " West is West," and the
English Public School system, in its entirety, cannot yet
be adopted in Indian schools.

During the early years of the college I must confess the
Public School system formed my model, and in those years
I allowed perhaps more freedom than was altogether prudent.
I did not sufficiently allow for the possible facilities given by
my system to a boy of vicious tendencies to get into mis-
chief; for after all school legislation must be framed not
necessarily for the majority, who may be of good character,
but for the "microscopic minority " that will always exist
even in the best ordered schools, who do possess vicious
propensities.

The suaviter in modo may perhaps have appeared a
stronger element in my system than the fortiter in re,
and " the velvet glove " may have been more conspicuous
than the " iron hand." But they were all there, and at no
time were the reins of discipline dropped altogether, however
loosely they might have appeared to be held, and when the
time came, as it did eventually come, for tightening them
up, the process was hardly observed. I do not suppose that
our experience has been at all an exceptional one : indeed,
the records of the Aitcheson Chiefs' College show abundantly
that other institutions have had their trials as well as ours,
and I know too that the Rajkote College, even under its
Bayard of a head, the late Mr. Chester Macnaghten, also
suffered in this respect. The late president of our council,

[ 29 1

in a recent address at the college, very happily spoke of the
trials our institution experienced in its early day as " infan-
tile disorders," and the expression aptly expresses their
character. Still they were " disorders," and as such " they
gave occasion to the enemy to blaspheme."

The crisis came when the college council set on foot a
scheme to do away, once for all, with the non-residential
system that had prevailed for some years in the case of some
of the young chiefs, notably in that of the young chief of
Bastar. The scheme met with very determined opposition, an
opposition that emanated almost entirely from the zenanas
affected by it. Rumours to the discredit of the college were
at once set on foot, and the old prejudices against the old
institution, whose mantle was naturally supposed to have
fallen on the new one, were revived with ten-fold force, a
handle having unfortunately been given to reproach by the
44 disorders " alluded to above. Rumour invariably vires
acquirit eundo. And so it was now. A committee was
ordered to be convened to enquire into the general adminis-
tration of the college, and the college was most fortunate in
its composition. The two men who were commissioned to
make the enquiry were also commissioned to draft a scheme
of discipline which should form a vade mecum for the
college authorities for all time.

They were the then Commissioner of the division, Mr A. D.
Younghusband, who was also president of the college coun-
cil, and Mr. A. Monro, the Director of Public Instruction
in the Central Provinces, and also auex * officio member of
the council. The institution owes them a vast debt of
gratitude for the infinite pains they took to draw up a
comprehensive scheme of discipline.

The system of discipline ever since in force, and now
prevailing in the college, is based upon that scheme.

The system is no longer that of the great Public Schools
of England, but is practically that which is the nearest
approach to it, namely, the system that prevails in the best
English preparatory schools, which is perhaps the best system
for India. The fact that all boys are now boarders has sim-
plified matters very much, as all are thus brought under the
influence of discipline in a more effective way than was pos-
sible when some boys only were boarders and some day boys.

[ 30 ]

The college council has ruled that for the future all boys
coming to the college must be boarders. Apart from its
influence on discipline, this ruling will help the development
of esprit de corps, and will be of great advantage to the
health of the boys concerned. There is an element of self-
government in my system, which renders it further incumbent
that all boys should be resident. From the very first a boy of
character and influence has been elected, latterly by the votes
of the boys themselves, as prefect of the school, and the effect
has been distinctly good. Roll-call perhaps forms one of the
principle features of the system. Following a custom prevail-
ing in most Public Schools in England, where all boys and
masters assemble in " big school " before proceeding to their
respective class-rooms, I have invariably held the principal
roll-call of the day myself at the opening of school : all boys
are assembled in the college hall. This custom has several
advantages, all more or less of a disciplinary character : it
enables, me to address the boys on any matters requiring
special attention, and especially on the quality of their work :
a weekly report is given of the boys' work in the class-rooms,
and this is weekly reviewed with the boys themselves at this
roll-call. Other roll-calls are the early morning roll-call held
by the master on duty at the gymnasium preparatory to
physical exercise : another is held in the afternoon, preceding
the games, and the last one preceding evening preparation,
which practically represents " lock up" for the clay, as no
boys are allowed to leave the main building after that hour.

The senior resident masters each have a week on duty,
and they are responsible for seeing that all goes on smoothly,
and they have to report to the principal. A report and order
book has been maintained from the first; the senior masters
only report, and all orders on their reports are written by the
principal in this register for necessary action.

This division of duties between the different resident
masters has been found to work well; the system that prevailed
for some time, of the headmaster being made responsible for
the arrangements of the boarding-house as well as of the
classes, was found to be too great a tax upon one man, and
the present system has been devised to relieve the strain and
pressure upon him. While the senior resident masters are
thus made responsible for the boarding-house, the junior
master is made responsible for attendance at the games. This
system again works better than the old system, whereby

[ 31 ]

attendance at the games was compulsory upon the whole staff,
each member of the staff attending upon alternate days. Here
I may parenthetically remark that though attendance at the
games is no longer compulsory upon the senior members of
the staff, they have rarely allowed their other duties to inter-
fere with showing an interest in the games by occasionally
joining in them with more or less keenness and possibly
with more advantage to themselves and the boys than when
their attendance was compulsory.

I now come to the arrangements of the boarding-house
proper, as distinguished from school arrangements generally.

And first I will take that very important subject, the
establishments of wards.

I have already referred to the committee on discipline that
was constituted some years back, and to the very comprehen-
sive character of the suggestions made. These proposals
received the full concurrence of the Chief Commissioner
before whom they were placed, and in his note on these pro-
posals he lays especial stress on the importance of keeping
these establishments as low as possible. I quote from his
note. " So far as it is possible to select for special concurrence
any portion of a paper with which he is in entire concord, he
would specify the paragraph on private servants : private
servants attached to the pupil are a constant danger and
source of trouble. It is probably impossible to forbid them
altogether, but they should be kept within the narrowest
possible limits. "

The employment of private tutors has always been dis-
couraged by the college authorities : where they have been on
the establishments of wards, they have been appointed by the
guardians to act as heads of these establishments rather than
in the capacity of tutors, as we understand the terms. It has
generally been considered preferable to have an educated
rather than an uneducated man at the head, as a certain
amount of responsibility attaches to the post. As a matter
of fact at the present moment there is only one man who
may be called a tutor, and he has been specially appointed
by the boy's guardian not only to direct the affairs of his
establishment, but also in some sense to help him in his
studies, the boy being of weak mental capacity. But even in
this case I have found it better for the boy's morale that he

C 32 ]

should attend the ordinary classes, the tutor's work being
confined to correcting his exercises with him after they have
been looked over by the class master : in fact he has the same
functions to perform that a house tutor has to perform in
English Public Schools. We are also providing a special
tutor for a poor young blind chief who is now with us.

There is one special case also where a boy has a resident
guardian. This is a case where the boy's father expressly
stipulated in his will that the boy should be accompanied by
a guardian, whom he specifically named, whenever he went to
the college. This man's duties, however, are confined to the
administration of the boy's establishment, and he practically
comes within the category of the class recommended by the
committee on discipline to act as head servant. I quote from
their report : 4< As a confidential servant we are inclined to
prefer the original idea of a respectable old-fashioned
servant appointed by the boy's own relatives and enjoying
their confidence."

This is undoubtedly the view that commends itself to
those who send their sons and relatives to us. Such respon-
sible head-servants are practically munahibs, an oriental
term which may be said to sum up all the qualities that are
required of a " guide, philosopher, and friend. " At the
same time, from the college point of view, there are
inconveniences arising from this system, as these old
family retainers also act as Jcbabardarfi, another ancient
oriental institution ; in other words, they are the news-
agents of the family, retailing all and every item of news
that they think may interest the absent members of the
family : thus they keep the zenanas in a constant flutter of
anxiety and excitement, which has a reflex action on the
boys themselves, and some times on the heads of the families.
Every little ailment and every trifling accident to the "dear
bo>s at school " is exaggerated, A confidential head-servant
almost invariably means a man possessing the confidence of
the ladies of the zenana, and not infrequently this means the
mother's brother. The system in force at Lahore of employ-
ing pensioned native non-commissioned officers as mueahibs
has much to commend it. Still, taking it all round, our
present system is perhaps the best solution of the difficulty,
though sometimes indeed one is tempted to ask — Quis
custodiet custodes.

[ 33 ]

It is against the class of mukhtars especially that the
college authorities have to be on their guard. No one is more
interested than this class, with their motto Alieni appetens,
in reducing boys who come under their influence to mere
nonentities, by trying to make themselves indispensable ;
and to check this influence the college authorities must
insist on always dealing direct with their boys ; they cannot
tolerate any " middlemen ;" but to do this efficiently a
knowledge of the boy's vernaculars is indispensable. The
reponsibility of head-servants or jemadars, as they may be
called, is limited to the time when the boys are at leisure for
their baths and their meals, and the college routine of work
and play does not admit of the boys being in the society of
their servants for ?my great length of time. A regular
register of boys' establishments is kept, and is periodically
examined by the principal in the course of his Sunday
inspections, to check any tendency towards an increase over
and above the sanctioned number. I have already referred
to the temporary disturbing influences created by the arrival
of new wards, so I need not mention them again. As regards
the dining arrangements, the hours for these are limited to
the hours from 9 to 10-30 in the morning and from 6 to 7-30
in the evening. The hours originally fixed for the evening
meal were from 8 to 10 p.m. after evening preparation, but
it is now some years since, on the suggestion of the board
of visitors, they were changed — and with great advan-
tage— to an earlier hour. The evening preparation hour
now comes after the evening meal, and is the signal for
" lock up." Now in. this country, at least with Hindus,
the meal has been described as a "religious sacrament"
to be partaken of in solitary isolation and in silence.
In the latest and perhaps most realistic of his creations
Eudyard Kipling, who, whatever else he knows does know his
India, has, in the various wanderings of the vagabond Kim,
as delineated by him, exemplified this. Under our present
system all boys have their separate dining rooms, most of
which are attached to their kitchens : there are practically
no mftsses : the nearest approach to " a mess " is where boys
coming from the same district and belonging to the same
caste employ one cook and mess together. No doubt the
present system does entail the boys spending some time with
their private servants, but, as I have shown, the college
routine reduces this time to a minimum. At the same time
1 have long recognised that the combination of dining-rooms

[ 34 ]

with kitchens is not a good one, and for this reason I have
encouraged estates building separate blocks where this
inconvenience may be obviated : such blocks are intended to
form as models for a more elaborate scheme, which provides
for the construction of blocks to serve as dining-rooms
pure and simple, and under this scheme it is intended that
the kitchens and servants' quarters should be in distinct
blocks.

It is doubtful whether, where there are so many castes
concerned, more than this can be attempted. The utmost we
can attempt in this direction is the encouragement of the
messing system among boys of the same caste. The social
element must be, and as a matter of fact is, provided in
other ways, as will be abundantly seen as I proceed with
this sketch.

The sleeping arrangements are very simple. All boys
have to sleep in the college main building, the upper portion
of which has been constructed for the purpose. Each boy
has his own cubicle, and private servants are not allowed in
these at all. The headmaster invariably sleeps in this upper
building, and occupies a cubicle. One personal servant a
week is told off for duty, and in the same way one Ravat ;
they sleep in the verandahs and their presence is necessary
in cases of emergency. >. The utmost number of boys that this
upper building can accommodate is 30, which is after all the
maximum number of which a boarding-house should consist,
as any number in excess of this renders it less easy to manage
with efficiency : should the numbers increase, it will be
necessary therefore to build, and so to form the nucleus of a
second boarding-house. As I have already mentioned, 7-30
is practically the hour for locking up, no boys being allowed
out of the main building after that hour : by 9 p.m. indeed
most boys are in bed.

Another question that comes for consideration in con-
nection with boarding-house arrangements is that of the
management of the boys' personal allowances. The personal
allowances of all wards of Government are administered by
mjself ; regular accounts being kept of the boy's expendi-
ture, and the funds banked with a local banker. In this way,
and in this way only, can expenditure be controlled : the
system has not been without its good effects. Boys have
seen for themselves the advantages of small savings effected

C 35 ]

in their monthly expenditure : they have thus been able to
afford certain luxuries, which they would otherwise, had
all their money gone on "food and 'clothing, have had to do
without : thus some boys have been able to purchase bicycles
entirely out of savings effected from their allowances, and
others watches. An element of suspicion always attaches to
the handling of money in this country, and it is doubtless
partly this, and partly also from a spirit of independence,
and a chafing against control of finances, the theme on
which their familiars are always harping, that is the cause
that in some cases the parents and relatives of boys prefer
that no control should be exercised over their boys' personal
allowances. Closely connected with the subject of boarding-
house discipline is the provision made for indoor recreations.
The college routine does not admit of many vacant hours,
and it is chiefly on Sundays and holidays that such hours
occur. Few as they are, however, provision has been made
to meet them : all boys have to be in the main building on
Sundays and holidays from 1 1 to 2 and again at 4, when
there is roll-call. Papers and periodicals are provided for
them in the library, and books likely to prove of interest
to them are periodically bought. As regards vernacular
newspapers, it is so difficult to distinguish between the
bad and the good that 1 have found it the safer policy
to forbid them altogether. I have had the advantage of
hearing the opinions of some of the great chiefs of Behar on
this subject, and they one and all expressed their opinion
that the less their young relatives learned of politics, especial-
ly of such politics as the Vernacular Press usually indulges
in, the better for them. My attitude towards sound vernacu-
lar literature, however, is very different, and I am hoping
shortly to establish the nucleus of a good vernacular library,
and I have already established a course of lectures on various
subjects in the vernacular, which are regularly given on
the afternoons or evenings of every Sunday or holiday.

Billiards we have not yet been able to compass, but I
hope in time that the generosity of the chiefs will enable us
to add this game to our other indoor games, amongst which
chess is now established.

The magic lantern is another and a very favourite
source of entertainment.

I have always observed that there is often a strong taste
for mechanical pursuits amongst boys of the class we educate,

C 36 ]

and to encourage this taste, I have maintained for some time
now a carpenter's shop on the premises, where boys whose
tastes run that way may indulge them. By the courtesy of
the Inspector-General of Police and the Superintendent of
the Central Jail I was allowed to send the carpenter to the
jail for a course of instruction in wood carving at the hands
of the Burmese experts. Not very many of the boys have
developed a great taste for mechanical pursuits, and it is a
moot point whether any of them will ever arrive at the skill
developed in this direction by the first ward I was placed in
charge of, the Maharaja of Nuddea in Bengal, who was not
only able to engineer his own river steamer, but also to shoe
his own horses, and for the matter of that to shoe any horses
that were sent him. Apropos of this I have heard a very
good story about this accomplishment of his. The Maharaja
was one day calling upon the Collector of the district, who
was telling him of the difficulty he experienced in getting his
horses shod. " Oh ! " said the Maharaja, "send them to me,
and I will shoe them myself. " Still it is an experiment worth
continuing, and more valuable results may ensue in the near
future.

All that I have said above shows that the social element
enters largely into our system, and one evidence of the greatly
improved social relations existing between class and class now,
as compared with those that existed in the early days of the
college, is the generosity and freedom with which boys lend
their ponies and bicj^clesto one another. This may be a small
matter, but I think it does point to a very good feeling of
comradeship existing amongst the boys, and it is a feeling
that the college authorities do their best to encourage, as after
all one object with which boys are sent to us is that they may
learn to choose their companions from amongst boys of their
own class, rather than from amongst their inferiors, which is
an hereditary failing with this class of boys. The jealous
exclusiveness of this particular class in the seclusion of their
own homes naturally drives the children to associate with the
children of the family retainers, in order to get that com-
panionship for which the heart a child naturally yearns ; and
here I may incidentally remark that it is this feeling of exclu-
siveness that must be taken into consideration in deciding on
the classes to be admitted into Rajkumar colleges : they
must also be exclusive in their character, if they are to attract
boys of this class.

[ 37 ]

The rules regulating the admission of visitors or strang-
ers into the college premises are very strict : no one not
known to the chowkidar at the lodge is admitted, except
on a written order from the principal, and visitors who wish
to see the college are, in addition, only allowed to enter when
there are no boys in the building : and as a matter of fact even
this permission is very rarely given during term time.
When visitors are allowed in, they are limited to the afternoon
hour from 4 — 5 when the boys are all out in the playing fields.
It is only the complete fencing in of the college premises and
the acquisition of the circuit-house that has enabled these
rules to be properly enforced. JNo boys are allowed to leave
the premises without an exeat signed by the principal : the
ordinary procedure being for the boy to put up his request
before the master on duty, who sends it on to the principal,
who signs it and returns it to the master on duty, who
finally returns it to the principal initialled. This system
enables the master on duty to note the fact on taking the
various roll-calls of the day. No exeat is given except for a
very special reason, and then only for the day. Owing to
most of the boys' relatives having left the city; as I have
already mentioned, it is not often that an exeat is wanted,
and as a rule the only day on which one is granted is a
Sunday or a holiday. On these occasions the responsible
head-servant always accompanies the boy. The grounds are
so spacious, and the college so well provided with facilities
for exercise within its precincts, that it is rare for the boys
to require to leave them for exercise outside their limits ; but
the principal occasionally takes parties of them out riding or
bicycling with him : and it is his custom to allow them to go
out all together walking or riding on the afternoons of Sun-
days and holidays when they so require it, but only in the
company of a responsible member of the staff, and then only
in a direction away from the town, which is strictly out of
bounds. They appreciate this privilege, and they never take
advantage of it : the variety it affords them is, I consider,
also good for them.

This naturally brings me to the subject of physical
exercise, for which, as I have stated, ample provision exists.
The college possesses an excellent covered gymnasium,
where gymnastics are regularly taught by a trained gymnast,
trained at Poona.

t 38 ]

There is plenty of variety in the exercises, which con-
sist also of dumb-bells, physical drill, and deshi kasrat, the
latter a form of exercise which they all seem to take to.
Every boy in the college moreover, has been taught if not to
ride well, at least to sit on a horse. For some time a
subadar of Madras Lancers was engaged for the special pur-
pose of teaching riding, but there are not enough horses now
kept by the boys to make it necessary to engage a trained
teacher. Owing to the freedom with which boys lend each
other their animals, I have found it possible by dividing boys
into sections to give every boy one lesson a week at least
in riding. Musketry is also taught to every boy in the
school : to the seniors with a rifle at the volunteer rifle
range, kindly placed at my disposal by the colonel and
adjutant of the Bengal Nagpur Rifles, of which corps I am
myself a member, to juniors in the college grounds through
the medium of a rook rifle. Needless to say musketry is
always taught entirely under my own supervision.

In this way it is possible for every boy in the college to
handle a rifle of one calibre or another at least once a week.
All these represent the morning exercises : the evening hour
is devoted to games pure and simple, of which cricket, foot-
ball and tennis are those chiefly patronised.

From the first opening of the college games have formed
an integral portion of our regular college routine, and
attendance at them has always been compulsory.

Though their organisation is from without, their man-
agement is practically from within : the best athlete in the
college is also the captain of the games, the boys them-
selves having the principal voice in his selection. As there
are generally a number of junior boys in the school, it has
become necessary to form two sections, as in riding and
shooting : and while the seniors play under the captaincy
of one from among themselves, the juniors are placed under
the superintendence of that member of the staff whose
special province the games are, In the same way, alternate
days are fixed for cricket and tennis, so that all get their
fair share of each. Throughout the period of the existence
of the college it has been the exception rather than the rule
for the headmaster or the principal not to be found parti-
cipating with the boys in their games : and this personal

[ 39 ]

association has not been without its effect on the boys'
characters. It has only been carrying out into actual prac-
tice a favourite maxim of mine in dealing with boys — a
maxim the importance of which my senior staff also, I
rejoice to say, abundantly recognise — Segnius irritant (mi-
mas demised per avres Quam quce sunt oculis subjecta
fidelibus. As a natural corollary to the attention paid to
the department of physical exercise, the health of the
college boys has always, as a general rule, been remarkably
good. The excellent situation of the college has also a
good deal to say for this : it has always been recognised that
the air to the west of Raipur, where the college is situated,
is better than that to the east; Apart, too, from this, the
college possesses an abundant and excellent water-supply,
not only from pipe-water but also in its well, the merits of
which are recognized far and wide, and which is always care-
fully conserved.

The college has a regular medical officer in the person of
the assistant-surgeon, who holds a weekly inspection both
of the boys and of the premises, including the stores kept
for sale at the shop located on the premises. Besides this
weekly inspection, all boys are thoroughly examined at the
commencement of each term, to ascertain their fitness for
physical exercise, and at the end of each term to mark their
physical development after a course of gymnastics.

The physique of boys is found to improve immensely as
a rule under the regime they undergo. It has always indeed
been my experience that Indian schoolboys, under a proper
combination of work and play, keep as a rule quite as good
health as English schoolboys.

The medical officer lives at some distance from the
college, but with a bicycle orderly at the college to summon
him in cases of emergency, this has not hitherto proved a
serious inconvenience. However, it is certainly a matter for
consideration whether a small and well-equipped hospital,
with a resident medical officer, even of the grade of a hos-
pital assistant, is not a desideratum of the college : it cer-
tainly will be if the college expands . In all really serious
cases the services of the Civil Surgeon are requisitioned.

[ 40 ]

I now come to the very important subject of attendance
and punctuality in returning to school after the vacations, or
even after casual leave, whenever that kind of leave has had
to be granted for domestic or family reasons and ID connec-
tion with religious ceremonies, the only reasons for which it
is ever granted.

This subject attracted the attention of the college
authorities from an early date, and it was with a view to
encouraging punctual attendance at school after each vaca-
tion that the principal has always annually presented a silver
medal to the boys showing the best attendance in the year
at school and at physical exercise. It has been a difficulty
experienced by one and all of the institutions in India of a
similar character. The records of the Aitcheson Chiefs' College
at Lahore give abundant evidence of this fact, and conversa-
tions I have held with the head of the Mayo College, Ajmere,
have all pointed in the same direction.

This was one of the subjects that engaged the attention
of the committee on discipline that I have already referred
to, and the system now in force for checking the evil is prac-
tically based on the principles enunciated in that com-
mittee's note. Boys are now well aware that if they return
late to the college after the hot weather vacation, the}' will
be detained at the college and have to work for double the
period of time that they have been late during the Dusserah
vacation, and that in special cases they will forfeit the Dus-
serah vacation altogether. Then again casual leave is never
granted to boys except at the special request of the boys'
responsible guardians, who are required to show urgent
necessity for the indulgence, and even then the discretion
of granting it or of refusing it rests entirely with the prin-
cipal. I may add that such irregularity of attendance as
exists is confined to unpunctuality in returning from leave,
The college records show abundantly that the attendance
and punctuality of boys, when they are once within the
walls of the institution, are excellent. Naturam expellas
furca, tamen usque recnrret ; unpunctuality is undoubtedly a
weakness of the people of India, and when a boy is once out
of reach of the influences of the college amidst his home
surroundings, he may possibly forget all about the pains
and penalties attaching to this particular fault, and delay
his return, the remedy must then lie in the hands of the

C 41 ]

responsible guardians of the boy, and if nothing else avails,
a reference must be made to the head of the administration.
This has had to be done before now, and it has invariably
proved successful. The fault really lies very largely with
the parents and relations of the boys, who are not careful
enough to see that they do return punctually. Sometimes,
moreover, when a boy is undergoing the penalty at college
for his unpunctuality, and when he has practically accepted
the position, urgent telegrams and special messengers are
sent by the relatives, all having the effect of upsetting the
boy and rendering the task of maintaining discipline still
harder than it need necessarily be. Needless to say " a firm
front " has to be presented. The principal is doubtless re-
garded by the boy concerned as *' a beast," but if only he is
regarded as " a just beast " he will, in the excellent company
of the present Archbishop of Canterbury, accept it as u the
highest compliment " that can be paid him.

The question of punishments may naturally bring this
portion of my sketch which deals with discipline to a close.
In institutions such as ours, individuality is a factor that can-
not be overlooked in apportioning punishments : the memo-
randum on discipline drawn up by the committee abundantly
recognizes this : I quote from this memorandum : u the
fewer and simpler the rules consistently with efficiency of
administration the better, and the principal's present code
of rules is a model of conciseness and simplicity : but the
fewer and simpler the rules, the greater the necessity for
insisting on absolute and scrupulous obedience to them, and
for visiting any breach of rule with really deterrent punish-
ment. As to the particular punishment to be meted out for
each offence, it is of course impossible to draw up any hard
and fast code. This must be left absolutely (except in such
serious cases as require to be dealt with by higher authorities)
to the discretion of the principal, and in the exercise of such
discretion the principal must of course study the indivi-
duality of each boy." Various forms of punishment, appor-
tioned according to the idiosyncracy of individuals, are then
dealt with in the memorandum : among such may be men-
tioned such punishments as detention in school, including
impositions and extra lessons ; extra drill or some form of
compulsory physical exercise : " the great point being to
inflict on each boy such a punishment as would be least con-
genial to his nature, and to make each boy in the school

[ 42 ]

recognise the principle that breach of rule would be inevitably
followed by consequences of a distinctly disagreeable nature,
and that repeated offences would involve cumulative punish-
ment to an indefinite extent : deprivation of treats may in
some cases suffice as a sufficient punishment, and should be a
matter of course whenever a boy is- in serious disgrace."
Other punishments are then touched upon, such as fining a
boy's pocket money: " putting into Coventry " is also mentioned
in the note. As regards this very ancient form of punish-
ment, it is of course very commonly used in English Public
Schools, but it is only put in operation there by boys as against
boys, and the idea of its ever being efficacious as a form of
punishment to be inflicted by the head would never have
occurred to me had not the head of the Ajmere college inform-
ed me that he had found it efficacious, especially in the
case of what may be called moral offences. Now the Indian
boy is as a rule very amenable to discipline, and it is a rare
thing to come across the real mauvais sujet, and when
such an one is found, one is inclined to treat him on the
principle of the old Scotch proverb, " He that will gang to
Cupar, maun gang to Cupar," and let him leave the college,
but in the interests of the majority, he has to be dealt with,
and failing expulsion putting such an offender into Coventry
is as effective a way of dealing with him as any other I know.

The committee on discipline lean to the opinion that
perhaps this procedure may be found to be more suitable
for emphasising the fact that a boy is in serious disgrace
than as an independent form of punishment. The opinion
of the committee on corporal punishment is a very sound
one. I had suggested that in this country there were rea-
sons why corporal punishment should be put out of court
altogether.

The committee hold, however, " corporal punishment
is not in our opinion a thing to be put out of court quite as
summarily as the principal would suggest.

" It is a form of punishment to be very sparingly used
and to be reserved for really serious cases, and it should only
be inflicted with the special sanction of the visitors, and in
the presence of one or more of their number, as well as of
a medical officer."

C 43 ]

As a final resort, expulsion may have to be resorted to,
and as a matter of fact, since the above memorandum was
penned, expulsion has had to be resorted to in the case of
one boy. The procedure adopted was that resolved on by the
college council : the expulsion was formally carried out in
the presence of the board of visitors and of the assembled
boys and staff, the object being to make the boy really
sensible of the disgrace of his position. *

Such is the general outline of our system. For all
serious offences the board of visitors are promptly called
together, and their decision as promptly given : the decisions
in each case being recorded in a regular punishment register,
which is maintained for serious offences. Beyond this no
register is maintained : all cases are dealt with as they come
up, and noted in the report and order book. As a matter
of fact the residence of the principal and the senior mem-
bers of the staff on the premises, and their constant associa-
tion with the boys, minimises the necessity for punishments
very largely, while the character and tone of the boys them-
selves render the commission of any serious breach of dis-
cipline a very rare thing. The great point to be insisted on
in all punishments, if they are to be efficacious, is prompt-
ness. If the offence committed is one that deserves punish-
ment, then the punishment must follow closely upon its
heels with no " halting gait." The one weak point I have
always thought in any iron code of rules denning the
offence and regulating the punishment, such as exists in
the Education Code, is that it sometimes leaves the master
in a quandary as to whether the offence is one which he
should deal with himself, or should refer to his school
committee : he generally ends in referring the matter to
the school committee. It may be weeks before this com-
mittee takes cognisance of it : the result of their decision,
when it is at length given, must be practically nil, so far
at least as any deterrent effect upon the boy is concerned.

And now to pass from punishments to more pleasant
subjects. Before bringing this rather fragmentary sketch to
a conclusion, I cannot forbear to mention here those who
have shown interest in the college, and those whom, to use
the good old term current at Oxford, I may call benefactors
of the college.

[ 44 ]

The present Viceroy, Lord Curzon, is well known for
the interest he takes in all educational matters, and more
especially in the education of the nobles of India. We have
not been privileged to receive an actual visit from him at
the college, but when he passed through Raipur in Novem-
ber 1899, intent on the investigation of famine problems,
he honoured me with an interview at which he expressed
his deep regret that time had not allowed of his visiting us,
and expressed the very warmest wishes for the welfare of
the college and that of its alurnni, and I may as well say
here that every word he spoke bore the impress of that
enthusiasm which is perhaps his distinguishing characteris-
tic, and which he succeeds in imparting to those who have
had the honour of meeting him personally. He has recently
very kindly sent his portrait to the college. The records
of the college are a sufficient proof of the keen interest
that the Chief Commissioners of the province have always
taken in it, from Sir John Woodburn, who first opened it,
to our present Chief Commissioner, Mr. Fraser, who has
ever taken the keenest interest in the institution, and
without whose exertions on its behalf in past years it would
probably never have existed at all : that interest he has
maintained to the present day. The very careful inspection
he made a few months back, and the reforms he has since
then set on foot, are sufficient proof, if proof were wanting,
of that interest. Of the presidents of the governing body,
Mr. A. D. Younghusband has been par excellence our
guide, philosopher, and friend in the truest sense. He
has been more closely connected with the college than any
other member of the governing body, and his portrait
now hangs on our walls as a token of our gratitude ; and
though he has now left the province, the royal portraits
that also grace our walls, which are a gift from him, are a
substantial token of his continued interest in the college.
I have already mentioned the debt due by the college to
Mr. Monro, the Director of Public Instruction, in the special
matter of its discipline : he has also always very generously
accorded his aid in the selection of the staff. Mr. Sly, for
some time Political Agent in succession to Mr. Younghus-
band, was ever a warm friend to the college. He evinced
his interest in a variety of ways : in organising entertain-
ments, and in his presentation of a silver medal for athletics.
His successor, Mr. Womack, has very generously also pro-
mised a silver medal for the same.

[ 45 ]

Amongst other members of the governing body, the
Raja of Raigarh has ever been a consistent friend of the
college : he has shown his appreciation of it by sending his
own young brother to it ; his sympathy, by his periodical
visits to it, and his attendances at the meetings of the
college council, and his continued interest in it, by his
presentation annually of two silver medals, one for proficiency
in English and one for good conduct.

Another member of the governing body, in his capacity
as Executive Engineer of the Chhattisgarh States, Mr. Starky,
well known also in another capacity as a keen hunter of the
" mighty boar," has presented two silver medals for proficiency
in equitation : he wishes the young Chhattisgarh chiefs to
attain such proficiency in the noble art of horsemanship
as shall enable them in their own persons to disprove the
old Horatiaa saying, Pout equitem atra cura sedet, if I may
be allowed a special translation adapted for the purpose.
Our best horseman of recent years has been the young Gond
raja, Azam Shah, who has now left us, and who I under-
stand wishes to be enrolled in the ranks of the new Imperial
Cadet Corps. Apropos of this corps, we are to have our own
cadet corps in the college, and with a view to its formation
I have already introduced a certain uniformity in dress for
drill and musketry classes. Our recruits from Chota Nagpur
have generally proved keen horsemen, but with the great
majority of our boys horsemanship is not their strong point.
A reference to the long list of contributors to the original
endowment fund shows the Raja of Khairagarh to have
been a princely benefactor, and his sympathy and interest
have been only recently evinced by his sending us his son
and other relatives to be educated at the college. And now
I must add what I consider to be certain requirements of
the college, and first and foremost I would place an
increased endowment to allow of a more liberal scale of
pay for the staff. The pay and status of the principal
of an institution like a Rajkumar college should not be
inferior to that of the heads of Government colleges,
who are on the Imperial establishment. And, moreover,
the institution should be provided with a headmaster
who could, on an emergency, act for the principal. So
far this emergency has only arisen when the question
of leave has cropped up, which has been only once in nearly
eight 'years ; but in no country in the world, and certainly

C 46 ]

not in India, can health be guaranteed. Under the present
system no provision is made to meet this emergency.
A headmaster on superior pay, competent to take the
principal's place at a moment's notice, is therefore an urgent
need. Amongst our other requirements I would place next
the provision of a small and well equipped hospital, with
quarters for a resident medical officer. A pensioned assistant
surgeon or a good hospital assistant would meet the case.
Amongst less pressing requirements, but still a desideratum,
I would place a billiard table, for which an excellent
room exists. I hope in time also to be in a position to
grace the walls of the college with portraits of all past and
present benefactors of the college. It may seem strange
that I have said nothing about religious instruction in this
sketch, but in an undenominational institution like a
Kajkumar college, I do not see how any special arrange-
ments can be made to suit all requirements. Certainly
the college cannot make any. It is a matter entirely for
the parents and guardians of the boys themselves.
Whenever boys are required to perform specific religious
observances, every facility is put in their way to enable
them to perform them. Casual leave is provided for this
specific purpose, and where the religious observances are
such as can be performed while the boys are actually in
residence at the college, as recent experience has shown is
very largely the case, the family guru or priest is always
allowed free access for this specific case. Further than this
we cannot go. I may instance the case of the Aitcheson
Chiefs' College, where the private munificence of parents and
guardians has provided a dharm saia for Sikhs, a temple
for Hindus, and a mosque for Mussulmans to illustrate the
great variety of religious opinions that may exist in colleges
like ours. And now I come to the conclusion of my sketch,
in which I invite the confidence of the chiefs and zamiadars
in an institution established for their sole benefit. In 1895
Sir John Woodburn recorded this note in the visitors' book
of the college : " It has been a great pleasure to me to pay
a visit to the school. There has been marked improvement
since I was here in November, and I am thoroughly satisfied
with the appearance of the boys and the condition of the
dormitories and class-rooms. Every chief in Chhattisgarh
must see the value of this institution for the education of
the boys of his family, and I hope before my next visit to
see representatives from every State in the school. The

[ 47 ]

committee are at liberty to circulate a copy of these remarks
to the chiefs concerned." In 1900 the present head of the
administration, Mr. Fraser, recorded a note to this effect :
" The improvements which have taken place since 1 saw the
college when I was visiting Sir John Woodburn are very
marked ; the accommodation has been greatly improved by the
construction of excellent quarters for several of the pupils ;
the appearance of the pupils is most satisfactory — a manly,
well-mannered group of young gentlemen. The college
should be commended persistently to the chiefs and zamin-
dars, who cannot do better for their sons than send them
here." And writing in 1901 a similar note, Mr. Fraser
remarks : " My examination of the college gave me much
pleasure in respect of the manliness of the pupils and the
discipline and tone of the institution."

Enough has been written to justify confidence on the
part of the chiefs and zamindars ; and there are now not
wanting signs that that confidence is increasing. It only
requires, I think, a personal acquaintance with the inner
working of the institution, an acquaintance that can best
be made by a personal visit, to establish the required confi-
dence. As an illustration of the value of such a personal
acquaintance I may instance the case of the late feudatory
chief of Udaipur in Chhota Nagpur. He paid us a long visit
on one occasion, and thoroughly satisfied himself of the
working of all the arrangements, teaching and other : he came,
he saw, and was conquered. He at once made proposals for
sending some of his nephews to the college, and left in-
structions behind him that his son and heir should be sent
to the college. The Raja of Khairagarh has also recently
visited the college and he has evinced his confidence by
sending us his son and other relatives.

In his recent address on the occasion of the conference
called together by him, of principals of Rajkumar colleges,
the Viceroy pointed out the directions in which the assistance
of chiefs and zamindars may be of value. His words are :
" If the chiefs ask me how they can help, the answer is
simple. Where they have means let them support or endow
the colleges. Where they have not means, but have families,
let them send their boys : let them visit the colleges, attend
functions, take part in the management, —show an interest in
the entire concern."

C 48 ]

The real aim of the Rajkumar colleges i« after all for
the welfare of the chiefs and th*; zamindars themselves.
What our aims are not are very clearly expressed in a letter
written some years ago by Sir Antony MacDonnell, to Mr.
Fraser. Sir Antony MacDonnell clearly says; "We do not
want our young chiefs and zamindars to be educated out of
native ways, into a poor copy of second or third rate English
ways." What the aims of the administration are are also
very clearly expressed in the prospectus, which I will again
quote from: —

" The aim of the Chief Commissioner in establishing
the college is to provide a place where the sons and near
relatives of feudatory chiefs, zamindars, and large landed
proprietors, and oth^r native gentlemen of position in the
Central Provinces, may receive a training that shall fit them
for the important duties and responsibilities which will
ultimately devolve upon them. Special attention will be
devoted to the training of the boys in right and honour-
able principles of thought and conduct, in gentlemanly
behaviour and bearing, and in aptitude and proficiency in
manly sports." Our aims in this college then are practi-
cally identical with the aims of the great Public Schools
of England, and what those aims are has never been so

O

clearly expressed as by the present Viceroy, Lord Curzon,
in an address ne delivered to the students of the Aitcheson
Chiefs' College at Lahore, and which is equally applicable
to our institution : " The Public School system, as we
understand it in England, is one which is devised to develop
simultaneously and in equal measure the mind, the body,
and the character of the pupil ; we undertake to educate
our young men at these schools in England for the position
or profession in life which they are destined to fill. We
endeavour to train their physical energies so as to give them
a manly bearing, and to interest them in those games,
pastimes, and pursuits which will both so much conduce
to their health and add so greatly to the pleasures of their
lives, and above all by the ideals which, we set before them,
by the higher example which we endeavour to inculcate in
them, and by the attrition of mutual intercourse with each
other from day^to day we endeavour so to discipline their
character that they shall be turned not merely into men,
but into what in England we call gentlemen."

[ 49 ]

The records of the college show that these aims have
been consistently pursued by the college authorities. Our
aim has been throughout to develop the minds and characters
of those entrusted to us, and to send out into the world
educated gentlemen, having not only the outward semblance
of gentlemen, but the instincts as well.

The present head of the administration, Mr. Fraser,
in his note after his inspection of the college in July 1U01,
has set his seal upon this portion of the work of the college.
Speaking of the boys at the college, he says : ;t They are
undoubtedly gentlemen." The college authorities have
desired and looked for no greater encomium than this for
their boys ; and it has been a great satisfaction to them
also to have received, as they have done from some of the
past alumni of the college, a recognition of the debt they
owe to the college.

To make the institution then a still greater success
it only remains for the chiefs and zamindars to do their
part in sending their sons and relatives to us to be educated,
and here I cannot do better than conclude with the words
of wisdom spoken by Lord Curzon, at the recent conference
on chiefs' colleges. " Let the chiefs contrast the healthy
life of the school with the hothouse atmosphere of indulr
gence and adulation in which in bygone times too many
of the native aristocracy have been brought up and from
which it has required real strength of character for a man
to shake himself free. Let them remember that this
education is offered to them to render their sons and rela-
tives better and more useful men, not to stunt their
liberties, but to invigorate their freedom. Let them
recollect that it is probably the only education that these
young men will get in their lives, and that the days are gone
by for ever when the ignorant and backward can sit in the
seat of authority. The passionate cry of the 20th century,
which is re-echoing through the Western world, is that ib
will not suffer dunces gladly. The prophets of the day are
all inviting us to be strenuous and efficient. What is good
for Europe is equally good for Asia, and what is preached
in .England will not suffer by being practised here."

APPENDIX.

Rajkumar colleges are now on their trial. Criticisms
have recently appeared upon them in the columns of the
daily Press and in the pages of magazines, and the Viceroy
has himself criticised them in conference.

As regards the criticisms of " Civis " in the Press
there is very little to say : he evidently knows but little of
the problems really involved, and the very form his criti-
cisms take shows that he can in no sense be regarded as a
representative speaking on behalf of the great landed classes
of India. The case is very different when we come to those
of the Graekwar of Baroda in the pages of the magazine East
and West, but even in his case his criticism loses much of
its value from imperfect acquaintance with the actual work-
ing of these colleges, and his criticism is practically con-
fined to suggestions for bringing the Rajkumar colleges
more into touch with the educational needs of the day. So
far, and so far only, his criticism, such as it is, is valuable.

But when we find the Viceroy himself summoning a
conference of principals of Rajkumar colleges to meet to
discuss with them the situation, then we are forced to the
conclusion that criticism on their methods is required, and
the great value of his criticism is that it is not only destruc-
tive, but also constructive. Taking it for granted therefore
that reforms are wanted, and that there have been faults in
the past, the first question that presents itself is where the
fault lies. Now I take it there are only four possible alter-
natives : the fault must either lie with the heads of these
institutions, or it must lie with the material sent to the
institutions there to be moulded, or with the methods adopt-
ed and the system generally, or with the curriculum.

The conference brings out clearly — and a very satisfac-
tory feature it is — that the fault, wherever it lies, does not lie
with the heads of the colleges; and considering the great
importance attached by the administration to the selection of
suitable men, and considering, moreover, the qualifications
required of such heads, this is not altogether a matter for
surprise.

The head of a Raj kumar college in India has perhaps
more functions to perform in his way than cceteris paribus the
head of a Public School in England.

He has to be not only the magister scholce, in which
capacity he may be a Busby or an Arnold, but he has also to
be the paterfamilias of his boys. He must therefore be a
man of character, possessing that all-important factor re-
quired in dealing with all classes of the aristocracy in this
country,- — personal influence. With these qualifications he
must also, if he is to have the power of exercising this per-
sonal influence to the full, be invested, in all matters affecting
the internal economy of the college, with a perfectly free
hand. The history of the Raj kumar college at Rajkote,
under the direction and guidance of its late head, Mr. Ches-
ter Macnaghten, is, I venture to say, sufficient evidence of
what can be done when such is the case. And on the other
hand the records of the Aitcheson Chiefs' College at Lahore
show what the difficulties of working such an institution ere
when the opposite is the case. The ces triplex with which
that institution is encircled does not seem at all times
to hav'e connoted corresponding strength. To use a
simile adopted by a recent brilliant exponent of the art
of war, it may not be the function of the head to set the
machinery in motion, but it must be his function to regulate
and control it when it has once been set in motion by the
higher powers. And again, if I were asked what are the
special qualities that a man taking up this work as his life^
work should possess, for his own peace and comfort, I should
say an infinite fund of patience and good temper, and
above all that quality possessed in a pre-eminent degree by a
former head of one of these colleges, the "saving grace of
humour." We come next to the material, and how far that
may be in fault. We may take it for granted that the
material is not always of the best, especially where boys are
sent to these colleges often from remote jungles, and with
minds an absolute blank, and who perhaps represent the first
of their race to submit themselves to the " tyranny" of the
schoolmaster. But though the material may be such, and
though it may be permissible to complain that .'« bricks can-
not be made without straw," still there is no intention of
finding in the material the fault that is being searched for :
at the same time I do think that many failures that the
''finger of scorn" has pointed out as due to residence in these

[ 52 ]

Rajkumar colleges, should really be attributed to family
or domestic reasons necessitating boys leaving the college
in early youth, with both body and mind immature. And
after all, when all is said or done in this connection, unless
the college can have entire control of its alumni through-
out their whole student period, home influences, and not
college influences, must be held responsible for what are
after all but " reversions to an original type." We pass on to
the system generally, in which we must include the system
of discipline. No reflection has been passed on this.

Having now eliminated from our enquiry the heads of
these colleges, the material sent to the colleges, and the
system of discipline pursued, we come finally to the curri-
culum The decree has gone forth that it is here that we are
to look for the grave defects from which these institutions
are supposed to be suffering, and that it is here that the
knife of reform must be applied. The education given in
the colleges is said not to be of a sufficiently practical
character, and as not meeting the requirements of the special
classes sent to them : and herein is further supposed to be
one cause amongst many of that hostility amongst the
class who should be their special patrons and supporters
that has militated against the full success of these colleges
in past years.

There have been many causes operating in the past to
bring about the indifference or actual hostility that has un-
doubtedly characterised the attitude of many of the chiefs to
colleges intended entirely for their welfare and benefit, and
I do not need to add any to those which the Viceroy has
gauged so nicely in his recent address to the conference. I
quote from his address : " I am led to think that hostility or
indifference of the chiefs springs in the main from three
causes : there is first of all the deeply embedded conservatism
of the States' traditions that the young chief or noble should
be brought up and trained among his own people, the
zenana influence, which is frightened at the idea of an
emancipated individuality, and the court surroundings, every
unit of which is conscious of a possible loss of prerogative or
authority to itself in the future should a young recruit from
the West appear upon the scene and stir up the sluggish
Eastern pools : next come the belief that education in chiefs'
colleges was too costly, and also the doubt whether the chiefs

[ 53 ]

were entirely satisfied with the class and quality of the edu-.
cation provided." It is this latter point that we are now
engaged on. Personally I am inclined to think that this
last is the least of the many factors operating ; and that the
most potent factor is to be found in zenana influence, with its
fears of an " emancipated individuality." However, it can-
not be disregarded as a factor, and as such it commands
serious attention. Undoubtedly there has been in the past
a great want of uniformity in the curriculum pursued in the
different Rajkumar colleges ; while one college for instance
has had its curriculum fixed in a groove for it by the require-
ments of the Education Code, others have practically adopted
a curriculum of their own : thus the highest class in the
Mayo College at Ajmere were not so very far back studying
such subjects as Shakespeare, astronomy and agriculture, and
were also being taught to paint in oils !

Another weak point has been the vagueness or want of
clear definition of what was really wanted in the education
of the scions of Indian aristocracy. All of these colleges
have had, I take it, the same end in view, and that is, to
send their alumni out into the world as educated gentlemen ;
there has been a difference in the methods only whereby this
end should be attained. Still the term perhaps is vague, and
the qualifications of the old All Souls fellows have generally
in the past been accepted as sufficient qualifications for the
classes sent to these colleges : they have been sent there bene
nati and bene vestiti, and the colleges have hitherto generally
considered their function discharged if they send them away
mediocriter docti.

This vagueness has now been removed, and a clear
note struck by the Viceroy as to what the end in view is to
be.

The alumni of these institutions are to be trained as
men of business and as gentlemen withal. The Viceroy's
words will well bear repeating : " If I am to come to you for
my Imperial cadets, I must have reasonable security that
you will not give me a callow and backward fledgling,
but a young man with the capabilities of an officer and
the instincts, manners, and education of a gentleman.
Similarly, let us make clear that the thakurs, and jagirdars,
and zamindars of the future to which class the majority
of the boys at the Eajkuinar colleges belong, are sent

away to their future careers with a training in the elements
of agricultural science, in civil engineering, in land records
and measurements, and in knowledge of stock and plants
that will be useful to them. If it is a future ruler that is
being shaped for the responsibilities of his life, then let
him be given that all-round education in history, geography,
mathematics, political economy and political science that
will save him from degenerating into either a dilettante or a
sluggard."

The colleges now have no excuse for not knowing what is
wanted. So much has been gained, but the problem still
remains unsolved as to how the end in view may best be
attained. The verj* fact of two classes having to be provided
for in these colleges shows the complexity of the problems
still existing : we have to consider side by side with the
ruling class the larger class of the zamindars. We have to
provide an all-round education for the former, and a technical
education for the latter. All this points to the necessity
of adopting that system recommended by the Educa-
tion Commission of 1882-1883 for the Government high
schools and styled " The Bifurcation of Studies."

These problems are in process of being worked out by
a small committee appointed by the Viceroy, and possibly
before this is in print a satisfactory solution will have been
found, and a suitable curriculum devised to suit all cases.

Meanwhile I will sketch out what I think would meet
all the circumstances of the case. The questions practically
resolve themselves into two ; first, up to what standard in the
first instance should all the classes in each of the colleges
be taught; and secondly, when and at what period should the
necessary bifurcation of studies commence. Looking at
the whole question, both from the pupils' and from their
teachers' point of view, I have come to the conclusion that
the standard to be aimed at in the first instance should be
the Entrance standard of the university : this would neces-
sitate each of the colleges being recognised by some univer-
sity up to that standard.

This would do away with at least one of the difficulties
of providing for the education of both ruling chiefs and of
the zamindars and thakurs : they would all be treated
alike up to the Entrance standard.

L 55 ]

And now comes the question as to when the bifurcation
of studies should commence. I would postpone this until
after the Entrance standard had been reached. After this I
would strongly recommend that a special standard of attain-
ments, more or less elastic in its character, should be fixed,
and a special diploma arranged to be given which could be
adopted by each and all of the colleges : this <• would remove
the individuality that now exists in the studies of each
college, and introduce an elastic uniformity in place of that
dull uniformity that would have to prevail were all the col-
leges bound under the Education Code to the regular higher
examinations as prescribed by the universities : in other
words, I would not bind the colleges to follow as a necessary
thing the university course once the Rubicon of the
Entrance examination had been successfully negotiated. All
this of course would be subject to the proviso that special
arrangements would be made to enable specially bright boys
to pass on to the higher university examinations, without
at the same time removing them from the special influences
of residence in the college. Their case would have to be
treated as a special case, and supplementary classes would
have to be opened for them. For the moment then I am not
considering this class, who will probably be a " microscopic
minority," I am considering the majority. Thus after the
Entrance standard had been once attained, the college would
then proceed to provide an all-round liberal education for its
ruling chiefs, and a technical education for its zamindars.

There would be many practical advantages to be gained
by such a system as this. First and foremost all the boys in
the college would receive a solid basis of a more or less
liberal education before proceeding to technique : then, again,
it might be possible by this time to discover the natural bent
of a boy's mind, and it would under this system be possible
to treat him accordingly. There are very many boys for
instance who have absolutely no head for mathematics and
for whom a course of logic would be more profitable. Others
who have a distinct taste for science, and specially for what
I may call the mechanism of science : under the elastic sys-
tem I am proposing this class of boy would be specially
provided for to his own great advantage. To force such
boys along the beaten path of a university course, as univer-
sity courses now are, would be to warp for ever any origi-
nality he ever possessed, and to make him an automaton
instead of a thinking practical man of the world.

[ 53 ]

Another advantage of such a system would be, that it
would enable the teaching staff to give courses of lectures
suitable to their pupils' requirements and their own individ-
ual tastes and acquirements, when lectures would have their
full educative value, once the bugbear of examination was
removed from the horizon both of the lecturer and of
the pupil. Atritic calling himself "Civis" has recently
suggested that the hours of study at Eajkumar colleges
should be limited to three : he does not mention what
should be done with the rest of the time : had he suggested
that facilities should be given for supplementing the
regular hours of study with courses of lectures on subjects
similar to those pointed out by the Viceroy, his criticism
would have been of more value.

Such is a fairly workable scheme, and it is a scheme
that I consider would, on the whole, meet all require-
ments. But there is yet another problem to be
considered, which only illustrates the difficulty these
colleges labour under, and which is undoubtedly one
cause why perhaps they have not as yet succeeded
in falling into line, so far at least as examination results are
concerned, with other and contemporary educational insti-
tutions. It farther points to the fact, not always recognised
by irresponsible critics, that only those who have -to work
these institutions really know the nature of the many prob-
lems involved. And here I refer to the case of a very large
class of boys who join our colleges who are utterly incapable,
and will always remain incapable, of passing any public
examinations at all. If these boys are to be confined to the
special university standard, it will practically mean that they
will receive no special training at all, and for them the college
will never be anything but a preparatory school, with no
school for them to look forward to as a finishing school:
they will, in other words, always be undergoing a course of
preparation with no good resulting from it. The case of such
boys must be considered : they exist in large numbers in all
of our Rajkumar colleges, and their case can only be met by
the adoption of special methods to meet it.

This class of boy as a rule is a class that will never
derive much benefit from an English education pure and
simple, and in all probability they will, on returning to
their native wilds, have very little occasion for it : it would

[ 57 ]

be the better course to adopt for them an Anglo- Verna-
cular course of studies : a modicum of English only to be
required of them, just enough for them to read and write it.
The time now devoted by them to the laborious study of a
language which only succeeds after several years in impart-
ing to them an imperfect aquaintance with colloquial
English, and practically no fluency in writing and reading
it, would be far more profitably spent by them in studying
other and more practically useful subjects through the
medium of the vernacular. I would not give up the study
of English altogether with this class, as it would bring about
too strong a dividing line of demarcation between them and
these who were studying English, which in a residential
institution might indirectly affect the morale of the school ;
but I would have every subject but English taught through
the vernaculars. There is only one difficulty connected with
this policy, and that is the provision of suitable vernacular
text-books dealing with the more advanced subjects that
would in time have to be introduced into the Vernacular
course. This difficulty could be obviated by the college
employing a translator, who would translate the required
works under the supervision of the head of the college : the
translation would be made from the best English text-books
dealing with the respective subjects, whether the subject was
history or geography, or agricultural science or political
economy.

The only other alternative would be for the college to
fix a limit of age for the final attempt at passing the Entrance
examination, or a limit of trials for it : two attempts
should be the outside number allowed, and 1 6 years of age
the age limit.

This was the system I myself adopted with a ward who
was specially placed under my charge some years ago by the
Bengal Government, and it answered admirably in his
particular case ; after the final trial at the Entrance his
studies followed the bent of his mind, which took especially
the direction of chemistry. A laboratory was fitted up for him,
and he was given every facility for its study. Lectures were
also given him on law, political economy, travel and
biography, and literature generally, and simultaneously he
studied the management of a zamindari.

C 58 ]

After the final attempt then an all-round education
should be given, so that at length when the time comes for the
boy to leave school, he has at least a chance of leaving it with
mind fairly mature, instead of only " unprepared and still to
seek." I put the age for this class of boy at which the final
opportunity for passing the Entrance should be given at 16,
as in the great majority of cases these boys are removed from
the college at the age of 1 8 : they have thus two ful'l years for
useful study of a special character. Of course if there is a
chance of boys being left at college till their majority at
21, the age may be and perhaps should be extended to 18.
With the average boy, as we find them in our colleges, 8 years
is none too long a period to prepare them for the Entrance
standard. Indeed the authorities of the Aitcheson Chiefs'
College at Lahore have found 3 0 years nearer the mark. Now
boys as a rule rarely join these colleges before they are 10
years of age, indeed 12 is nearer the mark : the later then a
boy joins, the less chance he has of passing the Entrance
examination until his last year, leaving no time for
any special studies. Practically this all points to the fact
that if, as is eminently desirable, a practical course of
instruction is to be the order of the day with our boys,
examinations must more and more retire into the
background, and we practically return to the point
we started from, that, taking everything into consideration,
an all-round education is the best education the Eajkumar
colleges can give, and if they can give this by any closer
connection with the universities than they now have, by all
means let them be more closely connected, and be affiliated
up to the highest standard attainable ; but if, on the other
hand, they can give it better without this very close connec-
tion, then let them do so. Their raison d'etre after all is
not the passing of so many examinations, but, as the Viceroy
has expressed it in an address I have already quoted from,
" to develop simultaneously and in equal measure the mind,
the body, and the character of the pupil. "

There is further the question of health to be considered.
It is a factor that cannot be ignored in these days of exami-
nations. No one who has not had experience of Indian youth
can possibly realise the strain upon them that preparation for
an examination entails. Conceal the fact as we may, memory
is the chief faculty brought into play in this preparation by
Indian boys, and this means a corresponding waste of physi-

C 69 ]

cal energy, and a strain upon the constitution of the boy that
time only will reveal. The Indian boy is, as a rule, very keen
on what he calls " a pass, '; and will work for many hours at
a stretch in the hope of obtaining it. It is no uncommon
thing for boys to read till late into the night and again from
early dawn ; and the first thing that a boy asks for when he
has this ordeal before him is that he may be excused from
physical exercise. Now the boys in our colleges, as a rule,
belong to a class whose strong point has not hitherto been the
exercise of brain-power, and it would probably entail serious
injury to their health were they to be often subjected to this
ordeal. The conclusion of the whole matter is, therefore, I
think to reduce their appearance in the public examination
halls to a minimum. And now to come more particularly to
our own institution at Raipur.

We also " have been weighed in the balance and found
wanting, " and in our case also as with the other Rajkumar
colleges, it is in the direction of our curriculum that we
have been found wanting. We are the youngest of all the
Rajkumar colleges, and it is impossible, therefore, so far for
a verdict to be passed upon the results of our system either
in the direction of failure or of success. That time will come
when we are older, and when we shall be in a better position
to compare ourselves with older institutions of the same cha-
racter. But meanwhile I think I have shown abundantly
in my sketch of what we have attempted to do ; that looking
at our work from the point of view of education, rather than
of instruction, that work does not necessarily spell failure.
However that may be, the necessity for reform in our curric-
ulum is recognized ; it is to take a more practical Direction
than it has hitherto taken. The head of the administration,
Mr. Fraser, ou a long inspection visit which he paid to the
college in the course of 1901, at once detected the weak
point in the old curriculum as hitherto pursued. By his
orders a committee assembled and drew up certain recommend-
ations, having for their object the introduction of such prac-
tical subjects into the curriculum as agricultural science,
surveying, revenue accounts, and other subjects, such as will
prove of practical utility to the class of boys we are educat-
ing; and, further, the recognition of the college by the
Allahabad university up to the Entrance standard, with the
view of encouraging amongst our pupils a higher standard of
attainments. These recommendations have since received the

r eo ]

full sanction of the Chief Commissioner, and arrangements are
now in progress for giving effect to them. In this connec-
tion it is of interest to note that these recommendations
appear to fall into line with the known wishes of the chiefs
on the subject, as very similar ideas had been propounded
earlier in the year by one of the feudatory chiefs themselves.
They had received the attention of the governing body of
the college, and this council will again be consulted on the
best method of bringing the recommendations of the com-
mittee into effect. An increased staff, it is recognized, will
be necessary if full effect is to be given to them; and addi-
tional funds will be required. The whole question indeed is
very largely one of funds, and it is possible that in the near
future the college may have to ask for aid from provincial
funds. Self-help has hitherto been its motto, and this, if
anything, may be a justification for such an appeal. At
the same time the chiefs and zamindars and thakurs can-
not altogether be absolved from the responsibility of providing
the necessary funds, as, after all, the reforms to be introduced
are for the ultimate benefit and welfare of their own sons and
relatives, And now a word in conclusion as to the future of
the Rajkumar colleges as shadowed forth in the Viceroy's
address to the conference at Calcutta,

For one thing they are to be maintained and for another
their distinctive character is to be retained. Speaking
generally of Rajkumar colleges, the Viceroy said ; " In the
first place I would keep firmly to the original object for
which the chiefs' colleges were founded, namely, as seminaries
for the aristocratic classes. I would not unduly democratise
them. In this respect I would not aspire to the ideal of
the English Public School. The time is not yet. I would
frankly admit that a Rajkumar college rests, as its name
implies, upon class distinctions — a distinction congenial to
the East and compatible with the finest fruits of enlighten-
ment and civilisation. Let us keep them as they are
intended to be, and not turn them into a composite construc-
tion that is neither one thing nor the other. Next, let us
try to make the education business-like and practical, and
where we have not got them, let us secure the teachers and
let us adopt the courses that will lead to that result."
The Viceroy further added that if success could only be
secured by giving more money, he would do his best to
provide it.

But he added, and with these words I propose bringing
this sketch to a conclusion, he had a corresponding claim
to make upon the chiefs : " I have," he said, " a right to ask
them for their support, not merely in funds, for many have
given and continue to give handsomely in that respect, but
in personal sympathy and direct patronage. If chiefs'
colleges are to be kept going, and to be reformed in their
interests, they must deserve the boon. They must abandon
their attitude of suspicion and hanging back. I am ready to •
do anything within reason to attract their confidence to the
colleges, and it will not be fair upon me if they accept all
these endeavours and then continue to sit apart and look
askance. Let them contrast the healthy life of the school
with the hothouse atmosphere of indulgence and adulation
in which in bygone times too many of the native aristocracy
have been brought up, and from which it has required real
strength of character for a man to shake himself free. Let
them remember that this education is offered to them to
render their sons and relatives better and more useful men,
not to stunt their liberties, but to invigorate their freedom.
If the chiefs ask me how they can help, the answer is simple.
Where they have means, let them support or endow the
colleges. Where they have not means, but have families, let
them send their boys, let them visit the colleges, attend
functions, take part in the management, — show an interest in
the en.tire concern. If this is the spirit in which they will
meet me, I venture to think that we can soon make up the
lost lee-way, and that Government and the native aristocracy
in combination — for neither can do it apart — will be able to
convert the Rajkumar colleges of India into something more
worthy of the name."

Pioneer Tress, No. 541. -23-4-02. 50.

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