instruction is in a great measure based on the indigenous schools, which receive grants-in-aid from the State; in Bombay, in the North-Western Provinces and the Punjab, on the other hand, the primary schools are mostly provided by the Government at the cost of local funds, raised by rates on the land. In Burma, where a larger proportion of the population can read and write than in any part of India, primary education, according to the ancient custom of the country, is almost entirely in the hands of the Buddhist monks.

Reading, writing, arithmetic, and sometimes a little mensuration, are taught in the primary schools.

In 1886, taking together all classes of primary schools-Government, aided, and private-there are said to have been in British India about 120,000 institutions, with nearly 2,900,000 scholars. Among them were 5,200 girls' schools, with about 250,000 scholars.

It is considered that about 20 per cent. of the population are of an age to require elementary instruction. It cannot be asserted that the figures which I have given are altogether to be accepted; but assuming them. to be approximately correct, there ought to be in British. India about 21,000,000 boys at school instead of less than 3,000,000, and 20,000,000 girls instead of little more than 200,000.

Women in India take a larger and more active share in the practical business of life than is usually supposed; they often manage estates and large commercial concerns, and show extreme acuteness and intelligence. An example of their administrative ability is seen in the Native State of Bhopal, which for two generations has been ruled by women. But the idea that women, or at any rate respectable women, ought to receive a school education, or any of the instruction that is

proper for boys, is one that is almost unknown in India, even among that small section of the population that has been powerfully affected by Western habits of thought. Not unfrequently it is considered that to be able to read and write is an accomplishment which a modest woman had better be without. These prejudices, the custom of marrying girls when they are mere children, and, among all but the poorer classes, the seclusion in which women live, render it impossible for the Government to take any very active steps for the encouragement of female education. Nothing except the growth of more reasonable views among the Natives. themselves can bring about much improvement.

In spite of these obstacles, the last ten years have seen some progress in female education. Remarkable instances have not been wanting in which Native ladies have attained literary and academic distinction; several have passed the University Entrance Examinations, and two or three have obtained degrees. The instruction afforded has been chiefly of an elementary character. The progress has been especially marked in Southern and Western India, where the women are less secluded than in the North. While in 1871 there were about 10,000 girls receiving school instruction in Madras, the number had risen to 59,000 in 1886. In Bombay, the number similarly increased from about 9,000 to 49,000. In Bengal, the number of girls at school was 5,900 in 1871, and 80,000 in 1886.

Much of this progress has been due to the missionary societies. The girls in their schools are far more numerous than in those of the Government, and zanána missions connected with the societies give more or less secular instruction in a considerable number of Native families. The example given by English ladies who

have devoted themselves to teaching in the zanánas is being followed by Natives themselves, who are often unwilling to admit avowedly Christian influences into their families. The Report of the Indian Education Commission states that

' in Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, and in many large cities of India, it is now possible for a wealthy native to obtain instruction for the ladies of his family within his own house. A distinct class of zanána agencies on a secular basis is springing up, conducted by committees of native gentlemen, or by mixed committees of Natives and Europeans, with the object, in some cases, of imparting education in zanánas without any element of religious teaching; in others, of testing by periodical examinations, and encouraging by records, the home-education of governesses. These agencies are already doing useful work, although on a comparatively small scale, and the commission trusts that they will receive a still larger measure of sympathy and co-operation from English ladies in India.'1

In connection with the subject of female education I must mention the admirable scheme initiated by the Countess of Dufferin for supplying female medical aid to the women of India. I have referred to the success of the medical colleges established by the Government, and to the great aptitude shown by Natives of India in the practice of surgery and medicine. The country is covered with hospitals and dispensaries; but the women of India are shut off from the benefits brought by European science to their doors, because their customs make it impossible to allow the professional attendance of men. A lamentable amount of unnecessary suffering is the consequence. The association that has been founded, and which has already made. remarkable progress, has for its objects the provision, on a large scale, of the means of teaching and training 1 Report p. 535.

women in India to act as doctors, hospital assistants, nurses, and midwives; the establishment, under female superintendence, of dispensaries and hospitals for the treatment of women and children; the opening of female wards under female superintendence in existing hospitals and dispensaries; the provision of female medical officers and attendants for existing female wards; and the supply of trained nurses and midwives for women in hospitals and private houses. It has been laid down as a fundamental rule of the association that it shall be absolutely unsectarian in its aims and conduct, and that no one of its servants shall ever be allowed to proselytise or interfere in any way with the religious belief of the people. The success of this most excellent movement will largely depend on the encouragement that it may receive from the Government and from local authorities. There is no reason to fear that this will be wanting.

In 1885-86 the total expenditure of the State on education was 2,420,000l., of which about 1,290,000l. was contributed from imperial, provincial, and municipal funds, and the rest was derived from fees, endowments, and other sources. In every province a considerable sum is raised by rates on the land for local purposes, and in almost every instance a share of it is devoted to education. Some, but not many, of the towns contribute liberally from municipal resources.

It will be understood from the account which I have given that although progress has been made during the last thirty years, a very small proportion of the population of India has received even elementary instruction.

The information given by the census of 1881 is incomplete; but out of about 116,500,000 males for whom returns are furnished, only 10,500,000, including

those under instruction, were recorded as being able to read and write, and 106,000,000 as illiterate. At the same time, out of a female population of 111,800,000, no less than 111,400,000, were illiterate; only about 400,000 could read and write or were being instructed.

If we turn to higher education I am afraid that the numerical results are not much better. The number of Natives of India who can be called highly educated according to a European standard is extremely small. I have already mentioned that in ten years only 365 graduates passed the M.A. examination in all the Indian universities. Sir Henry Maine tells us that in the twenty years ending with 1883 not more than 5,000 M.A. and B.A. degrees were given altogether.

'I will assume,' he says, 'that every man who has taken a Bachelor of Arts degree is sufficiently educated to have valuable ideas on politics; and for the purpose of including all who in any sense can be called educated men, I will multiply the total by five. That gives 25,000 Indian gentlemen of an education and age to take an interest or a part in politics. But the population of all India-of British India and of the dependent states -is rather over 250,000,000 souls. Thus the proportion of the educated element to the rest of the population is as 25,000, which is probably much above the mark, is to 250,000,000, which is below the true total.'1

I have no doubt that Sir Henry Maine was right in his belief that 25,000 is much above the actual number of Indian gentlemen who can be called educated, and among the 123,000,000 of Hindu and Mohammedan women in India there are probably not 500 to whom that term could properly be applied. Sir M. E. Grant

1 The Reign of Queen Victoria-' India,' vol. i. p. 526. It is shown by the report of the Public Service Commission 1886-87, Appendix M, that the actual number of M.A. and B.A degrees given in the twenty years ending with 1883 was 4,526, or less than Sir Henry Maine's estimate.