Journal of a Cavalry Officer; Including the Memorable Sikh Campaign of 1845-1846Humbley, W. W. W. (William Wellington Waterloo)
History
Journal of a Cavalry Officer; Including the Memorable Sikh Campaign of 1845-1846
Humbley, W. W. W. (William Wellington Waterloo)
India -- Description and travel; Sikh War, 1845-1846
Except in a few cases of very talented Writers, it is all lost time to
study the Oriental languages in England, beyond the mere grammar and
ground-work. To teach a civilian a few words and phrases, in order to
enable him to ask some necessary questions and give a few orders, is
all that is requisite. It is far better to devote their minds to the
study of the history and political economy of the country, in which
they are to reside, and to assist in governing. Let them study the
laws of England as to crimes, and the civil laws as to obedience and
allegiance; the law of contracts; the mode of recovering debts due to
the Government, and to individuals. Let them well digest the principal
regulations of the government under which they are to serve; and the
customs, manners, prejudices and religion of the natives, both Hindoos
and Mahomedans. These are ample subjects for the employment of the
Writer's mind whilst in England; for as to the Oriental languages,
there is great danger of acquiring a bad pronunciation, a point which
is of the utmost importance in the colloquial languages, such as Oordoo
and Persian.
At the East India Military Seminary, at Addiscombe, the students are
taught mathematics and classics, fortification and artillery, military
drawing and surveying, landscape drawing, geology and mineralogy,
chemistry and French.
It is an important consideration, whether cadets who can now, as in
the Royal Army, enter the service at sixteen years of age, should not
rather leave England at the age of eighteen; for it is a well-known
fact, that recruits for the army are more healthy, and bear the climate
of India better, when they arrive at the age of eighteen, nineteen or
twenty years. Formerly, indeed, direct cadets were sent out to India at
the early age of fifteen years, and Marlow cadets at fifteen and a half.
Bishop's College was founded in 1820, by "The Incorporated Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," at the instance
of Bishop Middleton. This institution is essentially a religious
foundation, and is under the management of a Principal, the Rev. W.
Kay, B.D., Lincoln College, Oxford, and three Professors.
Bishop's College is open for the admission of all students of moderate
qualifications, who shall conform to its religious ordinances, and its
academical instruction and discipline. It has a library of about 6,000
volumes, besides a large and varied collection of manuscripts, chiefly
Oriental; namely, Syriac, Zend, Pehlevi, Arabic, Persian, Tibetan
and Sanscrit. Among the latter are parts of the first two Vedas, and
several Puranas. The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge send copies
of all works printed at their presses, to Bishop's College.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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