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LORD CURZON ON INDIA.
[inked in by hand] THE TIMES - 22 May, 1909.
The Royal Asiatic Society's Public School medal,
presented yesterday at the society's house, Albemarle-
street, by Lord Curzon. LORD REAY (president of
the society) occupied the chair, and among those
present were the Rev. E. Lyttelton (Headmaster of
Eton), Sir C. Lyall, Mr. Hart Davies. M.P.,
Sir Mortimer Durand, Mr. C.E. Buckland, Mr. K.G.
Gupta, Dr. T.H. Thornton, Mr. Syed Hosain Bilgrami,
Sir A. Wollaston, Mr. T.W. Thomas (India
Office Librarian), and Miss Hughes (secretary of the
Asiatic Society).
ASIATIC SOCIETY'S PUBLIC SCHOOL MEDAL.
LORD REAY said that this was the first occasion on
which the medal had gone for a second time to the
same school. Eton was previously victorious in the
competition in 1905. In 1904 it went to Merchant
Taylor's School, in 1906 to Rugby, in 1907 to Westminster,
and in 1908 to Harrow. He spoke of the
importance of encouraging the study of history in
general, and more especially that of India, in all our
public schools and like institutions. No person
could engage successfully in administrative or political
work who was not, to a certain extent, master of the
historical problems which lay at the root of all
political development, and nothing but disaster could
accrue to any country where the study of history
did not obtain a foremost place.
LORD CURZON said that the ignorance in England
about India was perhaps less than it was 20 or 30
years ago, but it was still quite appalling. A little
while ago he came across a case in which a popular
English novelist had written a book the scene of
which was laid in India, and the error was perpetrated
of making Bombay appear in Bengal. When this
mistake was pointed out to the author, instead of
sacrificing the edition, he rather humorously had a
slip of paper printed and pasted into each copy on
which appeared the words. "It must be understood
that for the purpose of this story, and for this story
only, Bombay is in Bengal." (Laughter.) If this
sort of ignorance could prevail among men of culture,
and distinguished as the writer of the novel was, it
was not surprising it should be widespread among the
general class of the population. He truly believed
we could find 100 men in England who could give a
correct list from memory of the Derby winners from
the start for every one who could give a correct
account of the number and names of the Indian
provinces or a list of the Viceroys since the Mutiny.
(Laughter.) He referred to the mass of information
available about India in Blue-books and other publications,
especially emphasizing the value and importance
of "The Moral and Material Progress Report on
India." He suggested that the right thing to do was
to take that Blue-book, reduce its apparent compass,
invest it with an attractive appearance and pleasant
binding, and hand it over to the Daily Mail for circulation.
(Laughter.) He really believed that would
do more to advertise India than any official expenditure
on Blue-books spread over a series of years.
A great many people went out to India now, and it
was a remarkable thing that in proportion to the
shortness of their visit there they felt an over-mastering
impulse to record their impressions in print.
The shorter the time they spent in the coutnry, the
longer the speeches they made in the House of
Commons afterwards about it, the more immense
their pretentions and the great the ignorance, as a
rule, they showed. (Laughter and "Hear, hear.")

THE INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE.
If he were a parent seeking a profession for his son
he thought that the first thing he would do would be
to cast his eyes on India, mainly for two reasons.
In the first place, because his son would be doing
something definite, practical, of positive value to
large masses of human beings at a time of life when in
any other country or profession he would be only
occupying a secondary and irresponsible place, and,
secondly, because India opened up a field of responsible
activity to a young Englishman greater than any in
the world. It was open to any young man of
character and ability who went to India, from whatever
class he was drawn, to rise to a position in that
country, before he had attained to the age of 50,
where he was ruling, with almost single
authority, a territory larger than that of many
European kingdoms, and exercising an authority
greater than that of many European kings. Many
years ago John Bright used to say that India was
the playground for the aristocratic classes. John
Bright had a great and genuine interest in India,
tempered by a good deal of ignorance (laughter);
and he seriously seemed to think that we kept India
as a means of finding billets for the younger sons of
the aristocracy. Lord Reay, who had been in India
a long time, could tell them if in travelling about
the country and observing the Civil servants conducting
the Administration he ever came across the
scions of a pampered aristocracy. For himself,
Lord Curzon said, he never saw them and he always
held that one of the greatest merits of the service,
and one of its sources of strength, was that instead
of being recruited from one class at home it was
drawn impartially from all classes of the community,
so that the best English blood - the upper, the middle,
and all classes - was perpetually percolating into
India and giving it all that British character and
British intelligence could offer. (Cheers.)
His belief was that India would get a much larger
share of public attention in the future than in the past.
A wave of unrest had been going over that country
resulting in the commission of atrocious crimes and
eventually producing a series of concessions and
reforms by the present Administration. Nothing
could be more improper than for him to say anything
on that occasion with a political complexion. Therefore,
he would not say a word as to the effect which
it appeared to him these changes would have in the
future; that they must impose a great strain upon
the civilians called upon to administer the country.
And, if that be so, how important it was for the
training up of ensuing generations of those men that
they should have that broad acquaintance with
Indian conditions and history which it was the main
object of the competitions for the society's public
school medal to give. In presenting the medal to
Mr. Wedderburn, he said that he had read his prize
essay and having had occasion to study Lord
Wellesley's career he had always taken the view
expressed by the writer that he was a man of large
views, great courage, most distinguished abilities,
and of absolutley sincere patriotism. (Cheers.)
The REV. E. LYTTLETON remarked that interest
in the East was growing steadily year by year at
Eton.
On the proposition of LORD REAY, seconded by Mr.
W. IRVINE, a vote of thanks was passed to Lord
Curzon.
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