Of England waved in triumph on
the ocean, her fleets sat swan-like on the waves, her standard
floated on the strongholds of the universe, and far and wide
stretched the vast boundaries of her conquests.
Again I ask, is this the effect of "chance?" or is it the mighty
will of Omnipotence, which, choosing his instruments from the
humbler ranks, has snatched England from her lowly state, and has
exalted her to be the apostle of Christianity throughout the
world?
Here lies her responsibility. The conquered nations are in her
hands; they have been subject to her for half a century, but they
know neither her language nor her religion.
How many millions of human beings of all creeds and colors does
she control? Are they or their descendants to embrace our faith?
- that is, I are we the divine instrument for accomplishing the
vast change that we expect by the universal acknowledgement of
Christianity? or are we - I pause before the suggestion - are we
but another of those examples of human insignificance, that, as
from dust we rose, so to dust we shall return? shall we be but
another in the long list of nations whose ruins rest upon the
solitudes of Nature, like warnings to the proud cities which
triumph in their strength? Shall the traveler in future ages
place his foot upon the barren sod and exclaim, "Here stood their
great city!"
The inhabitants of Nineveh would have scoffed at such a
supposition. And yet they fell, and yet the desert sand shrouded
their cities as the autumn leaves fall on the faded flowers of
summer.
To a fatalist it can matter but little whether a nation fulfills
its duty, or whether, by neglecting it, punishment should be
drawn down upon its head. According to his theory, neither good
nor evil acts would alter a predestined course of events. There
are apparently fatalist governments as well as individuals,
which, absorbed in the fancied prosperity of the present,
legislate for temporal advantages only.
Thus we see the most inconsistent and anomalous conditions
imposed in treaties with conquered powers; we see, for instance,
in Ceylon, a protection granted to the Buddhist religion, while
flocks of missionaries are sent out to convert the heathen. We
even stretch the point so far as to place a British sentinel on
guard at the Buddhist temple in Kandy, as though in mockery of
our Protestant church a hundred paces distant.
At the same time that we acknowledge and protect the Buddhist
religion, we pray that Christianity shall spread through the
whole world; and we appoint bishops to our colonies at the same
time we neglect the education of the inhabitants.
When I say we neglect the education I do not mean to infer that
there are no government schools, but that the education of the
people, instead of being one of the most important objects of the
government, is considered of so little moment that it is
tantamount to neglected.
There are various opinions as to the amount of learning which
constitutes education, and at some of the government schools the
native children are crammed with useless nonsense, which, by
raising them above their natural position, totally unfits them
for their proper sphere. This is what the government calls
education; and the same time and expense thus employed in
teaching a few would educate treble the number in plain English.
It is too absurd to hear the arguments in favor of mathematics,
geography, etc., etc., for the native children, when a large
proportion of our own population in Great Britain can neither
read nor write.
The great desideratum in native education is a thorough knowledge
of the English tongue, which naturally is the first stone for any
superstructure of more extended learning. This brings them
within the reach of the missionary, not only in conversation, but
it enables them to benefit by books, which are otherwise useless.
It lessens the distance between the white man and the black, and
an acquaintance with the English language engenders a taste for
English habits. The first dawn of civilization commences with a
knowledge of our language. The native immediately adopts some
English customs and ideas, and drops a corresponding number of
his own. In fact, he is a soil fit to work up on, instead of
being a barren rock as hitherto, firm in his own ignorance and
prejudices.
In the education of the rising native generation lies the hope of
ultimate conversion. You may as well try to turn pitch into snow
as to eradicate the dark stain of heathenism from the present
race. Nothing can be done with them; they must be abandoned like
the barren fig-tree, and the more attention bestowed upon the
young shoots.
But, unfortunately, this is a popular error, and, like all such,
one full of prejudice. Abandon the present race! Methinks I hear
the cry from Exeter Hall. But the good people at home have no
idea to what an extent they are at present, and always have been,
abandoned. Where the children who can be educated with success
are neglected at the present day, it may be imagined that the
parents have been but little cared for; thus, in advocating their
abandonment, it is simply proposing an extra amount of attention
to be bestowed upon the next generation.
There are many large districts of Ceylon where no schools of any
kind are established. In the Ouva country, which is one of the
most populous, I have had applications from the natives, begging
me to interest myself in obtaining some arrangement of the kind.
Throngs of natives applied, describing the forlorn condition of
their district, all being not only anxious to send their children
to some place where they could learn free of expense, but
offering to pay a weekly stipend in return.
