CHAPTER III. THE college of Fort William, according to the regula tion of Lord Wellesley, in obedience to the decision of the Court of Directors, was to close on the 31st of December 1803. It was, however, a very gratifying circumstance to the friends of that institution, that on the 3d of January 1804, a despatch announced to the Governor General the determination of the Court, that the college should for the present continue on its original footing. The business and examinations of the students accordingly proceeded in their usual train, or rather with additional spirit. "An example of idleness," says Mr. Buchanan in a letter to a friend, is a rare thing. The appointments to the "service continue to be made according to the college list, "that is, according to merit." The annual disputations in the oriental languages were held this year on the 20th of September, in the presence of the Governor General, accompanied, as usual, by the principal officers of the Presidency, with the addition, on this occasion, of Soliman Aga, the envoy from Bagdad. The subjects of the disputations were, "the Shanscrit, as the pa"rent language of India," in Hindostanee; "the figurative "sense of the Poems of Halfiz," in Persian; "the utility "of translations of the best works extant in the Shanscrit "into the popular languages of India," in Bengalee; and, in Arabic, the importance of the Arabic to a grammatical "knowledge of the Persian language." A declamation was afterwards pronounced in Shanscrit, for the first time, by one of the students; which was followed by a speech in the same language by the Rev. Mr. Carey, the Moderator and Professor. Prizes were at the same time awarded for the best English essays on "the utility of the Persian language in India," a See "The College of Fort William," page 124. b For a translation of this eloquent and interesting speech, see "The College of "Fort William," p. 168. on "the progress of civilization in India under the British "government," and on "the decline and fall of the Moham"medan empire in India." Honorary rewards of books were also adjudged to the best proficients in the Greek and Latin classics, and in the French language. The several compositions of this year were afterwards published in the third volume of the " Primitiæ Orientales." In the speech with which Marquis Wellesley closed the proceedings of the day, his Lordship declared, that in each successive year the standard of comparative merit had been progressive in the highest classes of the college, and expressed his cordial satisfaction at the proficiency and good conduct of the students. "The observance of all the statutes," said his Lordship, "is equally essential to the interests and honour of the stu"dents; nor is their duty confined merely to the diligent "pursuit of the prescribed course of study. The intention "of the statutes is not only to provide instruction in the ori"ental languages, and in the several branches of study im"mediately connected with the performance of official func❝tions, but to prescribe habits of regularity and good order. My principal purpose in founding this institution was, to "secure the junior servants of the Company from all undue "influence in the discharge of their official functions, and to "introduce them into the public service in perfect freedom "and independence, exempt from every restraint, except"ing the high and sacred obligations of their civil, moral, "and religious duty." In the course of the year 1804, several circumstances occurred, connected with Mr. Buchanan and the college of Fort William, which will be best introduced by a few extracts from his letters. He thus wrote to Major Sandys in the month of February. "We are much the same in church, state, and college, as "when you left us; only in respect to myself my various la"bours have increased, are increasing, and, I fear, will "not be diminished. "I am literally left alone in many matters of a public na❝ture, particularly in a battle now fighting, (the worst I "have yet had,) with Mussulman and Hindoo prejudices "against translations of the Scriptures. Their clamour has "assailed the government. Lord Wellesley and Mr. Barlow "are neuter; but the old civil servants fan the flame. A folio "volume would not detail the particulars; but I trust you "will soon hear of the good effect. In the mean time, I am "growing infirm in body, and long for more holy employ ❝than that of hewing wood only for our future sanctuary in "India. I know that what is doing is useful; but spiritual "comforts do not accompany the occupation, in the degree I "desire, and look forward to, when I have peace from pub"lic conflict." The particular circumstance to which Mr. Buchanan probably referred in the preceding extract was a memorial which about this time was addressed to the Governor General, in consequence of the following subject having been proposed, among others, for discussion by the students of the college, at the annual disputations which have been just mentioned; viz. "The advantage which the natives of this coun"try might derive from translations, in the vernacular "tongues, of the books containing the principles of their "respective religions, and those of the Christian faith." There certainly appears to be no ground of offence to the natives of India in the foregoing thesis. A Christian might rather have objected to it as placing his most holy faith too much upon a level with Heathen and Mohammedan error. A memorial was, however, addressed to the Governor General on the part of the Mohammedan moonshees, and of a number of the Mussulman inhabitants of Calcutta, remonstrating against this supposed infringement of the toleration afforded to them by the British government. In reply, Marquis Wellesley signified to the memorialists, that although he perceived no principle of an objectionable tendency in the foregoing thesis, yet, with a view to prevent all apprehension on the part of the natives, he had prohibited the intended disputation upon that subject. Some years afterwards this incident was appealed to on the part of the Bengal government in support of some measures tending to discourage or suppress the exertions of missionaries. Upon which occasion Mr. Buchanan observed, that the memorial probably originated in the suggestions of some individuals at that time connected with the government and the college, who appeared to entertain a degree of morbid tenderness for the religious feelings of the natives. These gentlemen had from the beginning been hostile to a most important work which had been carrying on in the college; viz. the translation of the Scriptures into the oriental languages by natives and Europeans. So great was their jealousy on this subject, that there existed a kind of compromise between the friends and the opponents of this salutary measure, that if the Bible were printed for Christians, the Koran should be printed for Mohammedans. It is to this honourable contest that Mr. Buchanan refers in the letter last quoted; and, happily for the interests of Christianity, he was decidedly successful. So early as the year after the present period of these Memoirs, a commencement had been made in the translation of the Scriptures into several languages. The first versions of any of the Gospels in Persian and Hindostanee which were printed in India, issued from the press of the college of Fort William. The Persian was superintended by Lieut. Colonel Colebrooke, and the Hindostanee by William Hunter, Esq. The Gospels were translated into the Malay by Thomas Jarrett, Esq. of the civil service. Of these and other translations of the Scriptures then projected and undertaken, only a very inconsiderable part was executed at the public expense. The sole charge incurred by the college in the department of sacred translation, was for the Gospel of St. Matthew in Persian and Hindostanee; with this exception, the extensive Biblical works successively announced from this institution were carried on at the pri See his "Apology for promoting Christianity in India,” p. 102. vate expense of those members of the college, amongst whom the Provost and Vice-Provost held the first rank, and others who deemed it to be of the highest importance to promote the diffusion of sacred literature in Asia. A second occurrence in this year marked an improved state of moral feeling in Calcutta, and particularly illustrates the salutary influence of the college of Fort William. It is thus mentioned by Mr. Buchanan in a letter to Major Sandys, in the month of August. "The institution of a civil fund for widows and orphans "agitates this service at present. The old gentlemen wish "to include black illegitimate children. The junior ser❝vants who are now or have been in college, almost with one "voice exclaim against a measure which they conceive "would have a tendency to sanction vice, and to countenance "an illicit connection with native women. The question is "now referred to the vote of every individual in the ser"vice. In the mean time, one of my old scholars has writ"ten a letter to the service; in which he complains of their "violation of the divine law, and requests them to revert to "the principles of honour and chastity. Mr. M. is in the "Governor General's office, and is supported by the young school, by all the college, by the Governor General, and "by all the friends of revealed religion. Caricatura prints, "exhibiting the mover of the subject, with a black child in "his arms, pleading its cause in full assembly, while a black "dye behind urges him forward; and various other devices "mark the popular question, and promise to brand the im"moral practice. It is said, that the affliction and shame of the old service are extreme; and that they execrate the "the college and its fruits, and hope that the Court of Di"rectors will now see, how unfriendly it is to ancient insti❝tutions! "What the result as to the fund will be, I know not." This, however, Mr. Buchanan stated to the public in the following year, in some remarks on the college of Fort Williama. The contest," he observes, " was maintained for a a See "The college of Fort William," p. 163. |