My Dear Mr. Halliday,
We are all wrong here in the Martiniere institution, and you have now
an admirable opportunity of setting all right and doing an infinite
deal of good with little trouble. I know how little you have of time
and attention to devote to such things, and conclude that Mr.
Devereux cannot have much more, and you may feel assured that I shall
do all in my power to assist you. We are here attempting to give the
education of gentlemen to beggar-boys, who must always depend upon
their daily work for their daily bread. The senior boys are in
despair, for they find that they have learnt hardly anything to fit
them for the only employments open to them, and this tends to
discourage the younger ones. The Roorkee Civil Engineering School
seems to have been eminently successful, and a fine field is open to
all who are taught in it. We shall no doubt have a similar field open
in Oude when Government interposes in behalf of the suffering people,
and we might prepare for it by converting the Martiniere into a
similar school or college. The committee has just expressed to you a
hope that Mr. Crank, the officiating principal, may be able to pass
an examination in the native languages. This hope can never be
realised; and if he does I shall have to record my opinion that he is
otherwise unfitted. The power of nominating a principal rests
entirely with the trustees; and if you concur in my views you might
at once prepare for the change by getting a man from England or
elsewhere, such as Mr.
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