LO

EDUCATION.

on of its own accord in Ceylon as it did in England. And
in the course of time missionary effort did actually do a
great deal towards supplying what the country wanted.
During the earlier years of the British rule mission work
was confined almost entirely to the Roman Catholics; but
in 1812 some Baptist Missionaries from England established
themselves, and were followed in the course of the next
six years by the Wesleyans, the American Mission, and
the Church of England. All these bodies, English, Roman,
and American, have made schools a prominent part of their
work, and to their efforts the country owes a substantial
part of such privileges in the way of education as it has
enjoyed. It is impossible to understand the present
educational condition of the country without having some
idea of the nature of the work done by Missions in connection
with education, both elementary and higher. For this
purpose the American Mission may be taken as a typieal
specimen. The following short account of its educational
work is contributed by the Rev. R. C. Hastings :—
THE EDUCATIONAL WORK OF THE AMERICAN MISSION.
The * American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions” is
the name of a Society founded in the United States in 1819 for the
purpose of carrying the Gospel into foreign lands. It sent its first
missionaries to Ceylon in 1815. Three missionaries with their wives
and one single gentleman arrived in Colombo, March 22, 1816—five
months after sailing from Boston, United States of America. They
remained in Colombo for nearly seven months and then left for Jaffna,
where they first occupied the stations of Batticotta, Tillipallai, and
Uduvil. In 1819 a reinforcement of four men and their wives were
added to the Mission, after which owing to the attitude of the Ceylon
Government no new helpers were sent from America until 1833.
One of the first things to engage the attention of the missionaries
was the subject of education. There was very little desire on the
part of the Tamils for either education or civilization. Nevertheless,
two “common free schools” were at once established, attended by
about 80 children ; in two years the number of schools had increased
to 13 and the pupils to 600. Believing that confining themselves to
village schools only was not the wisest policy, the missionaries made
an effort in 1818 to induce a few children to come and live in the
Mission House at the stations. This aroused much opposition. To
quote from one of the earlier records: “The wildest conjectures
were formed asto its design. Some thought that the children were to
be enslaved ; others that the boys were to be sent into the interior of
the Island or to some foreign country as soldiers ; none could nnderstand
 why men of another nation should come to them and, from mere
benevolence, offer to feed, clothe, and educate these children.” We
might add that the estimate for feeding, clothing. and educating each
child was placed at £3 a year. In January, 1818, six small boys, aged
about seven or eight, were entrusted to the missionaries, and this was
the beginning of the boys’ boarding schools.