November 15th, 1882. Bengali while travelling about. From my earliest years I always had a love for books. My father and mother did not do with me as others were in the habit of doing with their daughters, i.e., throw me away (literally "throw me into the well of ignorance,") by giving me in marriage in infancy. In this matter my parents were both of one mind. I was with my parents till I attained the age of sixteen, when both died in 1874, within a month and a half of each other. After this my brother and I travelled about the country. We went to the Punjab, Rajputana, the Central Provinces, Assam, and Bengal, and other lands. We lectured in the large cities on female education, i.e., that before marriage girls should be instructed in Sanskrit and their vernacular according to our Shastras. Afterwards my brother died. I was then alone in the world. I got married. On the 4th of February last, my husband was carried off with cholera sixteen months after our marriage. My little daughter is now one year old. The above is a short account of my life. It will thus appear that my parents and brother being learned people, my husband also being M.A., LL.B., and a vakil, I had many opportunities of forming an opinion on the subject of female education in the different parts cf the country above mentioned. I am the child of a man who had to suffer a great deal on account of advocating female education, and had to discuss the subject amidst great opposition, as well as carry out his own principles. My brother and I had, on this account, that is to say, on account of persecution for the cause of female education, to leave our home and travel through distant lands often in want and distress. We thus spent our time in advocating this cause according to the ancient Shastras. I consider it my duty, to the very end of my life, to maintain this cause, and to advocate the proper position of women in this land. What is the best method of providing teachers for girls?—It appears to me evident that the women who are to become teachers of others should have a special training for that work. Besides having a correct knowledge of their own language, they ought to acquire English. Whether those training to be female teachers are married or unmarried, or widows, they ought to be correct in their conduct and morals, and they ought also to be of respectable families. They ought to be provided with good scholarships. Teachers of girls also ought to have higher salaries than those of boys, as they should be of a superior character and position. The students should live in the college compound, so as to have their manners and habits improved, and there ought to be a large building with every appliance for the comfort of the teachers and students. They ought to have a native lady of good position over them. Mere learning is not enough; the conduct and morals of the students should be attended to. What do you regard as the chiet defects, other than those to which you have already referred, that experience has brought to light in the educational system as it has been hitherto administered? What suggestions have you to make for the remedy of such defects ?—— There ought to be female inspectresses over female schools. These ought to be of the age of thirty or upwards, and of a very superior class, and highly educated, whether native or European. Male inspectors are unsuitable for the following reasons. First: The women November 15th, 1882. of this country are very timid. If a male inspector goes into a female school, all the women and girls are thrown into confusion, and are unable to speak. The inspector seeing this state of things will write a bad report of the school and teachers, and so in all probability Government will appoint a male teacher for that school, and so the school will not have the advantage of a female teacher. As the education of girls is different from that of boys, female schools ought to be in the hands of female teachers. The second reason is this. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the educated men of this country are opposed to female education and the proper position of woman. If they observe the slightest fault, they magnify the mole-hill into a mountain (literally "a grain of mustard-seed into a mountain,") and try to ruin the character of a woman; often the poor woman, not being very courageous and well informed, her character is completely broken. Men, being more able to reach the authorities, are believed, while women go to the wall. Both should be alike to a parental Government, whose children, male and female, should be treated with equal justice. It is evident that women, being onehalf of the people of this country, are oppressed and cruelly treated by the other half. To put a stop to this anomaly is worthy of a good Government. Another suggestion I would make is with regard to lady-doctors. Though in Hindustan there are numbers of gentleman-doctors, there are no ladies of that profession. The women of this country are much more reserved than in other countries, and most of them would rather die than speak of their ailments to a man. The want of lady-doctors is, therefore, the cause of hundreds of thousands of women dying premature deaths. I would, therefore, earnestly entreat of our Government to make provision for the study of medicine by women, and thus save the lives of those multitudes. The want of lady-doctors is one very much felt, and is a great defect in the education of the women of this country. In reply to Mr. JACOB the witness expressed an opinion that female teachers should have some knowledge of medicine, which they might both practise and impart to their children. Question by Mr. TELANG: What are your grounds for saying that the majority of educated natives are opposed to female education? -I speak from my own experience of people. I know in the first place there are inherent difficulties arising from very early marriages and from other circumstances of their life. The PRESIDENT: Do you think that there are several other cases of native ladies receiving a good education at home in the Bombay Presidency, or is yours an isolated case?—There are a very few. How many ladies do you know in your own circle?—About two or three. What are the accomplishments of these ladies? What do they learn? Sanscrit ?-Their own language, and a very few of them have a slight knowledge of Sanscrit. They do a great deal of needlework. They make their own clothing, and do the embroidery for their chowlis (bodices). I want to know if in ordinary respectable Hindu families ladies learn to recite any poetry or extracts from sacred legends?—Yes, in almost every house there is some woman who can recite pooran or November 15th, 1882. from national songs. There are a few houses in which there are women who can both read and write; but as a rule very few women go to the length of arithmetic. Sometimes they count upon their fingers; sometimes they put a mark upon the wall and reckon in that manner. With reference to my previous statement, I mean that in almost every house, some women can recite poetry of certain kinds. I don't mean that they can recite high class poetry. Would respectable native women of good class like to attend female classes in the Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy Hospital?—They will go at first in very small numbers, but I think it will become popular at last if satisfactory arrangements are made at first. Suppose you had the money to set up a medical class for females, what arrangements would you suggest ?-I should wish in the first place to establish a good medical school in the heart of a good large city. If any women wished to stay in their own houses under the protection of a suitable person-such as a brother, they could then do so. If there are no such persons, then the women might live on the premises. Where would you get your teachers from?-I admit the difficulty of getting female teachers for such a college, but the medical teachers ought to be old gentlemen, and very, very, respectable. Do you think patients would come?—If you give money you will find plenty of patients. The PRESIDENT expressed to the witness through Mrs. Mitchell, who acted as interpreter, the great thanks of the Commission for her very valuable evidence. He added: Personally, this lady is a very old acquaintance of mine, because I read a translation of a speech she made at Benares to a large meeting in Edinburgh some time since, and the whole of the audience loudly applauded, being delighted to hear that a native lady had taken such a position. I have referred to this subject in a book which I will send to her through Mrs. Mitchell. The PRESIDENT apologised to the Commission for having detained them so long in examining the witness on points which, though irrelevant to the objects of the Commission were highly interesting. It was seldom that they had an occasion of that sort. A few days later a meeting of the Native Ladies Association (Ayre Mahila Sabha) of Poona, took place. This Association holds its meetings once a month or fortnight, when papers are read, followed by discus sions. The Times of India, September 12th, says : Mrs RANADE presided, and there were assembled a large number of native ladies, besides children. About 280 native ladies were present, almost all of them of the Brahmin caste, and all unveiled. Several European ladies and gentlemen were also present, including Mr. and Mrs. Wedderburn. Mrs. Ranade introduced to the meeting Mrs. Ramabai, a well-known Hindu lady lecturer and Sanscrit scholar, who has spent a great portion of her life in advocating the claim of her countrywomen to education and legitimate liberty. Mrs. RAMABAI gave a speech and read an address in Marathi. Mr. November 15th, 1882. GOPAL HATI DESHMUKH afterwards gave the points of the speech in English. Mrs. Ramabai expressed her pleasure that two of the members of the Association had been called to give evidence before the Commission. Many matters were left out of her evidence, and she would like to bring one or two of them forward on that occasion. The state of female education in Bengal was much superior to what it was in Bombay, and in this presidency she found many difficulties in the way. The measures adopted for male education fifty years ago should be adopted now, with the same liberal grants in regard to female education, and more money should be devoted to this purpose than was allowed at present. She hoped Government would not grudge this expenditure and she believed it would not, as it was always liberal in matters of education. The Government had done much to improve the status of ladies in this country. The great thing wanted was the employment of more female teachers, who should have better education than at present, and the knowledge of English should be added to their qualifications. Good books should also be composed on subjects of morality, good behaviour and duty. At the schools established there should be scholarships attached in order to induce girls to remain a good time. There should also be improvements in the pay of teachers. The custom of early marriages was one of the great obstacles in the way of female education, for the children could not remain long in the schools. The male inspectors now employed were not proper persons. Then ten out of 100 of the male population were in favour of female education, but 90 were not, and these 90 always spread bad reports when any measure for the improvement of female education was taken. Another measure that was suggested was that a female medical profession should be created. Many women had very bad illnesses and were sometimes sacrificed, because they were not willing to disclose their ailments to male doctors. Some measures should be adopted to prevent early marriages, and people should be induced to come over to the movement. In Bengal among the Brahmos there were girls fourteen or fifteen years of age who had not been married, and in some other places there were unmarried girls twenty years of age. Here these early marriages generally took place at eight or nine years, and the children were then removed from the schools and all they had learned was soon forgotten. The address which Mrs. Ramabai read was signed by nearly fifty ladies. Mr. MAHADEO GVOIND BANARD said that there was no race in India which allowed such freedom to women, or which was more liberal in its treatment of women, of course within traditional Indian limits, than the Mahrattas. Their women went out freely, they had their own way, and they moved about in the public streets without restraint. The Hon. Mr. HUNTER could see on the present occasion that the women were allowed as much liberty as any race in India was expected to give to the fair sex. This state of things was not at all the result of English education. This liberty had been allowed from times long before the English went there. The advent of English rule only strengthened the motives which justified a further extension of this liberty. In times past it was nothing very unusual for noble ladies to attend durbars, hold meetings, ride horses, go all over the country and even to command armies. This liberty was enjoyed as a traditional possession, and it would be a great source of pride to them that that liberty was not likely to be lost since English education had been introduced into the country. He denied that Bombay, compared with other provinces, was backward in the matter of female education. The training college had a large endowment of about 30,000 rupees or 40,000 rupees subscribed by the natives themselves; but it had not yet been turned to account. It was proposed to erect a good building when the proper time came. By the administration reports of the several presidencies he was surprised to see that Bombay, which had a quarter the population of Bengal, had 1,000 more students in its girls' schools than Bengal. There were a larger number of aided schools and girls' schools proper in Bengal, but taking both aided and Government schools together there were only about 16,000 girls attending schools in Bengal, while Bombay had 17,162 girls in its schools. With reference to the statement that female education had met with much support in the NorthWestern Provinces, he would call attention to the figures and show that they were behind Bombay in the matter of female education. In the united provinces of the North-West and Oudh, the total population was nearly twice that of the Bombay presidency; but they could only muster in their schools 9,000 girls-6,775 from the North-West, and 2,111 from Oudh—and the schools only numbered half those in existence in the Bombay Presidency. Madras could not be mentioned in the same breath. In that presidency there was a large missionary staff devoted to the promotion of female education, and as a consequence there were 30,000 female students in the mission schools. As far as the Government was concerned, the attendance was less than 1,000. The Punjab had a greater number of schools, but there were only 9,000 pupils. The Central Provinces also afford a striking contrast, there being only 62 Government schools with a population of nearly ten millions. As a matter of fact Bombay beat every other presidency in regard to the extent of education. In conclusion Mr. Ranade contended that the presence of so many ladies on that occasion was the best evidence, that there was no comparison between the natives of the northern, eastern, and southern parts of India and the Western races in regard to the instruction of females. RECORD OF EVENTS. ROYAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND. ON October 11th the Examiners agreed to report to the standing Committee the following nine women candidates to be recommended to the Senate : |