pagoda or monastery, is assumed by them, of which they are very proud, and always append to their signature. The religious merit which is supposed to attach to mere repairs of such edifices is of a very much smaller value in the scale of good works; and the consequence is that many of these buildings are allowed to go to ruin, whilst new ones are founded for the sake of gaining merit and fame.

The monastic system in Burma has a practical interest from its being connected with national education. Every monastery has its school, where in harmony with the national religion are learnt the same lessons which have been taught from generation to generation for a couple of thousand years. On arriving at some obscure spot in the interior of the country, the first sign of life that often strikes the ear, is the murmuring sounds proceeding from the monastery school; and there is not a town or village, scarcely even a hamlet, I think, that has not at least one of such schools.

The instruction of the young is one of the several means by which merit in a Buddhistic sense is obtained, and has given rise to lay schools, also, or, as they are called, "house schools." These, though comparatively few in number as compared with monastic schools, are of great importance, as they are free from some of the disabilities that are attached to the religious seminaries-notably so in

the absence of the rule precluding the attendance of female scholars.* Owing to these two classes of indigenous schools, there is scarcely a man in Burma who cannot read, write, and cipher. Statistics show that there are few convicts in our gaols, natives of Burma, who are not so far grounded in the rudiments of education.

The masters of the lay schools are men who have retired from active life, and whose piety gives confidence to their neighbours. The schools are conducted in their private houses, a large portion of which is given up for that purpose, and the system of teaching and the text-books are the same as those used in the monasteries. The school hours, lay and monastic alike, extend over the whole day, with fixed intervals. The discipline is strict, and there is no sparing of the rod when such is necessary.

From an early period of our occupation of the country, in addition to this two-fold system of indigenous education, the British Government established denominational schools at the four chief towns for teaching the English language and literature; and several smaller schools connected with Christian missionaries were also opened out in different parts in the interior of the province. These latter being under European or American supervision and con

* The last education report of British Burma goes so far even to state "that the lay schools, where girls are taught with the boys, are almost invariably found in better order than the monastic ones, where boys are exclusively educated."

trol, and furnishing a higher order of education than the indigenous ones, were supported by grants of yearly allowances from Government, under the provision of certain rules known as the grants-in-aid system.

This plan was followed until 1866, when my predecessor, Sir Arthur Phayre, drew the attention of the Government of India to the large number of monastic schools in the province, and suggested that they might be made the basis of a national system of education. The idea was one which recommended itself in every way, and the scheme was adopted. A Director of Public Instruction was appointed, together with a small staff of inspectors and circuit teachers, to be increased if the plan was found to work successfully, and a few manuals of geography and arithmetic, after the European system, were printed in the Burmese language for gratuitous distribution in the monasteries. I need hardly say that, on my assuming charge of the province in the following year, every encouragement and assistance for the development of the scheme was afforded.

The literature studied and taught by the Buddhist priests is entirely religious. Here and there a hierophant may be found, like the priests during the revival of letters in the Middle Ages, who is anxious to acquire some knowledge of European