The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 3, June, 1851Various
History
The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 3, June, 1851
Various
Art, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Science -- History -- Periodicals
"The other missionaries, we need hardly say, were as active as the
Americans. After some years of further experience, they all felt the
necessity of founding educational institutions of a still more
advanced description for the instruction of the natives in their own
language. It became plain to them that, from physical as well as moral
causes, the conversion of the natives could be only hoped for through
the medium of their well-taught and well-trained countrymen. The
niceties of the language and their modes of thought presented
difficulties of a most serious character to others; the very terms of
the ordinary address of a missionary suggested ideas altogether
different from what he intended. Thus, when GOD is spoken of, they
probably understand one of their own deities who yields to every vile
indulgence; by SIN, they mean ceremonial defilement, or evil committed
in a former birth, for which they are not accountable; _hell_ with
them is only a place of temporary punishment; and _heaven_ nothing
more than absorption, or the loss of individuality. Under these
impressions each of the missionary bodies at Jaffna formed for
themselves a collegiate institution, in which the best scholars from
their other schools were admitted to a still more advanced course, and
taught the sciences of Europe. That of the Church Missionary Society
of England was established at Nellore, but subsequently removed to
Chundically; the Wesleyans commenced theirs in the great square of
Jaffna; and that of the Americans was founded at Batticotta, in the
midst of a cultivated country, within sight of the sea, and at a very
few miles distant from the fort."
"'It was opened in 1823, with about fifty students chosen
from the most successful pupils of all the schools in the
province; and the course of education is so comprehensive as
to extend over a period of eight years of study. With a
special regard to the future usefulness of its alumni in the
conflict with the errors of the Brahmanical system, the
curriculum embraces all the ordinary branches of historical
and classical learning, and all the higher departments of
mathematical and physical science, combined with the most
intricate familiarization with the great principles and
evidences of the Christian religion.
"'The number which the building can accommodate is limited,
for the present, to one hundred, who reside within its
walls, and take their food in one common hall, sitting to
eat after the custom of the natives. For some years the
students were boarded and clothed at the expense of the
mission; but such is now the eagerness for instruction that
there are a multitude of competitors for every casual
vacancy; and the cost of their maintenance during the whole
period of pupilage is willingly paid in advance, in order to
secure the privilege of admission.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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