The Sun.
London, England, 1818-01-16 00:00:00

BENGA LEE.

" The advantage of the Oriental method of conveying in-
'' struct ion by Means of parables or tables is peculiarly con-
!' spicuous in the Bengalce language."
Respondent
Ist Opponent ... Mr. D. M'Favlane, •
2d Ditto ...... Mr. E. W. OK-Let-ell,
Moderator ...... itee. Dr. W. tarry.

When the disputatious were concluded, the
President of the College Council .presented to his
Excellency the Visitor, the sevet al students of
the College who were entitled to receive degrees
of honour, medals of merit, or other honorary
rewards, adjudged to them at the public examin-
ations of the past year ; As well as the students,
who, at the examination held in June, had been
found qualified to enter upon the public service,
by their knowledge of two languages, and had
consequently obtained permission to quit the Col-
lege. The President read the certificates granted
by the Council of the College to each student,
in pursuance of the statutes, specifying the pro-
ficiency which he had made in the prescribed
-Studies of the College, and the general tenon'• of
his conduct.

‘Vhen the certificates had been read, the Visi-
tor presented to each student entitled to teceive a
degtee of honour, the usual diploma inscribed on
vellum, and at the same time expressed the satis-
faction which lie felt in conferring it.

The prizes and medals which had been awarded
to the several students were also distributed to
them respectively, after which his Excellency the
Visitor read the following discourse *
" Gentlemen of the College of Fort William,—
If any just account of the late examinations at
the College have gone abroad, all whom 1 have
the- honour to meet on this occasion must have
come impressed with the same sentiment which
animates me. This is a day in which we may
• well exult. Our satisfaction, however, ought to
be indulged with discritnivation. We have but to
ask ourselves to what we owe it, and our minds
will inonetliately point to the quarter whence the
obligation has flowed. Upon great public ques-
tions, all men Collle to think nearly alike at last ;
that is; when the fleeting prejudices or interests
of the (lay have passed away, their judgments act,
and they discern uniformly what, is beneficial. But
there is a main difference between him who per-
ceives and recommends, what is useful, While it is
yet time to secure the advantage, and those who
come to a tartly, sluggish conviction, when the
opportunity has gone by, or when at least much
indisputable good has, been lost in the delay of re-
cognizing it. To the wise and extensive forecast
of the Marquis Wellesley let us, therefore, pay a
grateful tribute on a day like this. Let us recol-
lect what objections assailed the noble institution
which his genius, planned ; and let us feel with
triumph how .experience has overthrown the cavil.
The present exhibition,, and the circumstances
which I am about to detail, are uncommonly gra-
tifying. In contemplating the realizai Fon of those
generous and comprehensive. views which dictated
the establishment of the College, one has to re-
joice in the full success of so elevated a purpose.
The acknowledged practical benefits already ex-
perienced from this institution, attest at once the
svisdom of the plan, and the merit of the College
officers and instructors. Those gentlemen have a
proud reward in the applause which they must be
sensible general opinion offers to them.

" 7u nay last address to you from this chair, I

* We bare given only the tours general panty= of this
Speech. • • • •

1 . 'I, ~.

.1 ,

~n
~

[PRICE SEVENPENCr;

took occasion to congratulate the institution on
the happy diffusion among the students of a greater
inclination to study, than I had been able to trace
in the returns of any preceding examination. Yon
will recollect that 1 looked upon the more general
prevalence of this disposition, not as the casual
variety of the year, but as a radical, and, I trusted,
a lasting improvement, effected iu the character
of the great body of the students. 1 hailed time
occasion on which this had first shown itself as
an epoch whence to date a new era in the history
of the College ; one in which it would he the boait
of its members to he studious, and in winch an
individual of contrary propensities would be avoid•
eel by his fellows as an uncongenial spirit.
" When I drew, in anticipation, this picture of
what the College was henceforward to exhibit, I
told you that. I was taking a sanguine view, but
that my hopes were by no means indulged without
due calculation. The result of the examination
of this year has verified my prediction to an
tent even beyond what I had ventured toimagine.
The reports laid, before me clearly show, not only
that the application, of the
,students has been
greater this year titan it. was in the last: bat fur-
ther, that there has not been a single, individual
whose conduct is an exception to this general cha-
racter. It is truly pleasing to me to 'say, that
some who had before shown a blameable indif-
ference, have in the course of this. year manifested
a generous self•correction.

" The relative proportion of students who may
be found qualified at an examination to the whole
number that have entered the lists, affords an
unerring indication of the degree in which habits
of diligence or of inattention have prevailed &Ir.
ins; the term. Applying this criterion to the rt.i.t
ports of last year, I found that out of 33 students
examined, 25 ad been reported qualified, whereas
in no former year had halt the number examined
been declared 'competent. This was such an
disputable pioot of the wider adoption of st lotions
habits, that.l dwelt upon it .with peculiar stress.-
" The returns of the present examination af-
ford us a similarly favourab!e result. Out of 2
Students, who had attended the lectures of the
term, and who formed the whole .number exa‘
mined, exclusive of three gentlemen who had
been re-admitted a few months before the exa-
mination, seventeen have this Year been declared
qualified to enter the public service. The ratio is
thus rery nearly the same in this year as it was
in the last. It preserves the same commanding
superiority over earlier years ; and the most eager
expectation could promise itself no more. 1 do
not look upon this coincidence as the effect of
chance. The same effect niust have been produced
in each of the two last years, by the working of
the same causes ; and I assume this continuance
of the favourable rate as a confirmation of what
I advanced with so much confidence on first ob.
serving it last year, that there has been such a
radical improvement obtained in the efficiency of
the College, as to induce those ,attached to it to
avail thetuselres adequately of its signal advan.
tages. 1 delight to see my prediction so com-
pletely verified. It seems that, of the present
race of Students, every one has been impressed
with a sincere desire to conic forth from the Col-
lege with honour, and that there has beets no
one who did not make it his earliest object to tie.-
quire the•requisite proficiency at as early a date as
possible. _ _

" The Gentlemen of the. Civil Service, to whom
I have given degrees of honour, are--

" Messrs. Dundas, Millett,•MTarlane, Robertson, for high
inoticiency in the Persian language; and MilirS.
Dundas, Scott, Robertson, Reade, and Nl‘Farlane, for the
same in the Ilindoustance language.

The eighteen Gentlemen who have been re:
ported qualified for the public service are—

1. William Pandas,
2. Frederick Mi'lett,
8. David Mc Farlane,
• 4. Win. 't. itOcrtsim,
5. John 'l'hurlow Reade,
5. Richard liasti ogs Scott,
7. Edward Win. Cuckerell,
13. William Dent,
9. %\'in. Janies Turquand,
and to these 1 ant to ad
den, who, though not IA
as already observed, pas;
been declared qualified it

10. Hugh Fraser,
11. Francis Macnaghten,
12. Henry Tayloi,
13. Geo. I'. Thompson,
1 14. Thomas A. Shaw,
lA. Jamei IVyatt,'
16. John Dtinsmuret
!7. Thomas Nionseli,
18. Edward Stir!ing ;
it the name of Mr. Plow%
!gularll re-admitted, has,
set) an examination, and
t two languages.

" GuNtlentett, the interest felt in the concerns
of your institution is not confined to the public of
this country. It is an object of attention to 'a
large portion of the public of England and of
Europe. In tracing the causes of the singular
success with which this great and distant empirr
is governed with so much apparent case, and
served in such tranquillity, the attention of eve' y
observer must be arrested by those institutions
which are destined to form the future legislators
and statesmen of India, and which have already
contributed so largely to the general improvement
in the administration of affairs. The Institutions
of Hertford and Fm t William will necessarily be-
come objects of the. deepest .interest. , The Inst..
tution of Hertford has but
_very lately been sub-
jected to the minutest scrutiny of the public at
home, and it has passed the ordeal with an in-
crease of honour and reputation which, to those
who from its effects in this country see its value,
cannot but he a source of high gratification.... I
have sought to give in this address a faithful ex-
position
.of the present state of our Collegiate Es-
tablishment. I feel myself perfectly satisfied with
its condition in all its branches, and I have told
you whence, my satisfaction arose, To disguise
or colour any circumstance that might, elucidate
the character of this Institution would he a fraud
on the public, to which I would never lend my.
self. The College must stand upon the unreserv-
ed.exposure of its Management and product. It
need not fear. to invite the judgment of the world
as kt, is, and. as it ever will be, so long as it is con.
ducteti,op.its present principles..'!