A history of the Sikhs, from the origin of the nation to the battles of the Sutlej.

350

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

APP. XV

The Indian mind has not yet been suffused or saturated
by the genius of the English, nor can the light of European
knowledge be spread over the country, until both the
Sanskrit and Arabic (Persian) languages are made the
vehicles of instructing the learned. These tongues should
thus be assiduously cultivated, although not so much for
what they contain as for what they may be made the means
of conveying. The hierarchies of 'Gymnosophists' and
' Ulema' will the more readily assent to mathematical or
logical deductions, if couched in words identified in their eyes
with scientific research; and they in time must of necessity
make known the truths learned to the mass of the people.
The present system of endeavouring to diffuse knowledge by
means of the rude and imperfect vernacular tongues can
succeed but slowly, for it seems to be undertaken in a spirit
of opposition to the influential classes; and it is not likely
to succeed at all until expositions of the sciences, with ample
proofs and illustrations, are rendered complete, instead of
partial and elementary only, or indeed meagre and inaccurate in the extreme, as many of the authorized school-books
are. If there were Sanskrit or Arabic counterparts to these
much-required elaborate treatises, the predilections of the
learned Indians would be overcome with comparative ease.
The fact that the astronomy of Ptolemy and the geometry of Euclid are recognized in their Sanskrit dress as
text-books of science even among the Brahmans, should not
be lost upon the promoters of education in the present age.
The philosophy of facts and the truths of physical science
had to be made known by Copernicus and Galileo, Bacon
and Newton, through the medium of the Latin tongue; and
the first teachers and upholders of Christianity preferred the
admired and widely spoken Roman and Greek, both to the
antique Hebrew and to the imperfect dialects of Gaul and
Syria, Africa, and Asia Minor. In either case the language
recommended the doctrine, and added to the conviction of
Origen and Irenaeus, Tertullian and Clement of Rome, as
well as to the belief of the scholar of more modern times.
Similarly in India the use of Sanskrit and Arabic and
Persian would give weight to the most obvious principles
and completeness to the most logical demonstrations.
That in Calcutta the study of the sciences is pursued with
some success through the joint medium of the English
language and local dialects, and that in especial the tact and
perseverance of the professors of the Medical College have
induced Indians of family or caste to dissect the human body,
do not militate against the views expressed above, but rather
serve as exceptions to prove their truth. In Calcutta Englishmen are numerous, and their wealth, intelligence, and political position render their influence overwhelming; but this