Pereant qui ante nos nostra dixerunt." Bad luck to the men who appropriate our subjects by anticipation. But the fact remains that they have been appropriated and I have had to look elsewhere for a subject on which I might hope to interest you to-night. The subject I have chosen is the Indian Section of the Society of Arts, and I hope to interest you in it because I have taken a great interest in it myself, and if other members of the Society, besides those specially connected with India, can be induced to take interest in it, it still has I think great scope for usefulness in the future.

The Indian Section, or as it was at first called the Indian Committee, had its origin in a motion made in January, 1869, by Mr. Hyde Clarke. Mr. Hyde Clarke, who died in 1895, was, for many years, an active and useful member of the Society and its Council. A full obituary notice of him will be found in the March number of the Society's Journal for that year. An engineer by profession, he appears to have had no special connection with India, beyond being asked to advise on a telegraph system for that country. But he was a man of many original ideas, and of untiring energy in pushing his suggestions. The. Society certainly owes to him the establishment of the Indian and Colonial Sections-the latter having been originally designated the African Section—as well as many other useful suggestions in connection with the Society's work.

As a consequence of Mr. Hyde Clarke's motion, there appeared in the Journal for January 29th, 1869, the following notice :

In addition to these gentlemen, the East Indi Association has been requested to nominate three of its members to join the Committee.

The Secretary of the Society of Arts will be glad to receive the names of any members of the Society taking an interest in Indian questions, in order that they may be invited to attend the meetings above referred to.

The Committee met on 16th February, with Sir Vincent Eyre in the chair. Those who know the history of the Indian Mutiny will remember the brilliant services of Eyre in the relief of Arrah and the dispersal of the Dinapore mutineers. The other members were Sir William Denison, late Governor of Madras, Dr. Archibald Campbell, the companion of Dr. Hooker's scientific journeys in Sikkim, and late District Officer of Darjeeling, Mr. Fielder, Secretary of the Tea Association, and Mr. Hyde Clarke.

These gentlemen proposed that six conferences should be held during the session on various subjects, specially on Tea, Waste Lands, and Trade with Border States. They also suggested a large list of names of gentlemen to be asked to join the Committee. The list is interesting, and shows a notable combination of names conspicuous in the Indian world of the day, such as Sir Bartle Frere, Sir G. Campbell, Sir Ranald Martin, Sir R. Montgomery, Sir Henry Rawlinson, and Dr. Forbes Watson, with names conspicuous in the English world, such as Dr. Chadwick, Sir C. Wentworth Dilke, James Fergusson, the archæologist, Sir Macdonald Stephenson, and Sir Digby Wyatt.

The first conference, as it was called, was held on March 12th, 1869, with Dr. A. Campbell in the chair. The proceedings were prefaced by a few remarks from Mr. Hyde Clarke, showing the objects of the Council in calling the Indian Committee into existence. He said

"That they were aware that the Society of Arts had devoted itself from an early period to the promotion of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, not only in connection with this country, but with our colonies and with India. From time to time various subjects connected with India has been brought before this Society, and those subjects had always been received with attention; it was natural, therefore, that those gentlemen who were specially interested in such matters, should apply to the Society of Arts to appoint a committee with a view to the holding of discussions on various Indian questions, because these subjects came within its domain, and it was equally natural that the Council, in its desire to promote a public

object of great importance, should accede to the request. It was under these circumstances these meetings had been projected. It had been the desire of the India Committee that these meetings should be in the nature of conferences, in order to elicit a greater variety of opinion, the subject to be considered being introduced by a short paper. He might congratulate them upon the presence this evening of many gentlemen greatly interested in India."

A paper on "Tea Cultivation" was then read by Mr. Fielder, the Secretary of the Tea Association, who gave its history from the first discovery of the tea plant in Assam by Dr. Bruce (to whom this Society gave its gold medal), through the period of its early fostering by Government, who, after four or five years pioneer work, made over their experimental gardens, in 1840, to the Assam Tea Company, up to the date of the lecture, a period of thirty years, when the export of Indian tea was something over 8 million lbs. It is now about 212 million lbs.

In June, 1869, the Committee reported that they had held six conferences, with four additional meetings for adjourned discussions, and made various suggestions to the Council, including the offer of a medal for the best essay on tea cultivation, and that the Council should move the Government of India to establish a department of agriculture, with the object of diffusing information and encouraging the production and amelioration of various agricultural staples. They added that, in view of the success that had attended the first year's conferences, and the number of important subjects still demanding their attention, they recommended the continuance of the Committee's action. This latter suggestion was acceded to, and I gather from an allusion made to the subject in the annual address of the Chairman (Lord Henry Lennox), delivered in November, 1869, that the advice of the Committee on the former subject was also adopted. He said that "one result of these conferences was that a deputation waited on the Duke of Argyll, and pressed on his Grace the importance of developing the agricultural resources of India by the appointment of a Minister of Agriculture, and by extending the system of assisted exhibitions of agricultural produce in India. The Duke of Argyll received the deputation with great cordiality, &c." It was shortly after this-post noc, if not propter hoc-that the Agricultural Department of the Government of India was formed a department which, after a starved infancy, owing both to want of means

as well as want of knowledge, has of late years done much useful work, but only recently under Lord Curzon's administration has received a fairly efficient scientific equipment and may be expected to do much more in the future than it has done in the past.

How the Indian Committee of these early years came to blossom into the Indian Section is not on record, but in 1874 when other "Sections" of the Society were formed the name of Indian Section was substituted for that of Indian Committee.

Passing over a succession of years of useful work I come to some noteworthy proposals made in 1875 bearing on the use and functions of the Indian Section.

On January 29th, 1875, Sir G. Campbell delivered a remarkable address to the Indian Section of the Society of Arts at the opening of the Session. Sir George Campbell had recently returned from the post of Lieut.Governor of Bengal. He was a man whose really remarkable ability and mental energy were lost sight of and rendered useless by his habit of addressing the House of Commons on every subject that came under discussion whether within or without the scope of his experience or knowledge. Nature, moreover, while endowing him with this inordinate love of speaking, had at the same time handicapped him with a voice and manner which rendered the task of listening to him singularly irritating, so that as a member of the House of Commons his reputation was not what his friends would have wished. Yet he was a man of real intellectual power, with a passion for absorbing information, had written several good books about India, and as LieutenantGovernor of Bengal gave a progressive impulse to the Government of that province, which, if it rather disturbed for the time the conservative traditions of his colleagues and subordinates, has proved the fruitful parent of most of the larger reforms worked out in suhsequent administrations. Returning from his work as Lieutenant-Governor, he was full of the difficulties and obstacles that had lain in the way of the reforms and improvements he was in a hurry to introduce. He explained that whereas in England all improvements in Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce came from private enterprise; in India, it was necessary that the Government should lend a hand in starting such improvements, but that in trying to introduce any technical teaching, he had found that there was no machinery. Government officials had not the requisite knowledge of the subject,

and English experts had not the requisite knowledge of Indian conditions, nor had he, as Lieutenant-Governor, a sufficient backing of public interest to overcome the vis inertia of the administrative machine. He thought he might find in the Indian Section of this Society, the machinery by which, to some extent, the necessary knowledge might be imparted, and the requisite motive power might be obtained to remove or minimise these difficulties.

“It seems clear,” he said, “that there is room for great effort and great improvement, and for that improvement I think the Government of India must very much rely upon the aid of a Society constituted as this Society is-a Society devoted, I think I may say, to material as distinguished from moral and legal improvement, a Society which has taken upon itself to advance material improvement in all its branches of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, and which has been good enough to establish an Indian Section, in the hope that by its means a great deal may be done in regard to the progress of India.

"An immense field lies before the Society in this respect, and I think it offers a theatre in which real improvement may be practically developed to a very great extent. We know that in this country there are a very large number of practical men interested in India from a commercial and industrial point of view. On the other hand, there are resident in this country a large number of men thoroughly experienced in Indian administration; men possessing a great deal of leisure, a great deal of knowledge, and a great deal of practical experience and influence; and I believe that the function of this Society is to bring together these old Indians, and the commercial and industrial representatives of this country, in order that they may work together for the material improvement of that great country, which has been committed to our hands, and in which we have so great an interest."

Accordingly, he laid before the Society a portentous list of subjects for discussion, enough to fill a dozen sessions. Their mere outline will give you an idea of the extent of his ambition. Agriculture generally, cattle breeding, irrigation and drainage, and the sanitation connected therewith all these were to be considered. Cotton, jute, fibres, silk, sugar, tobacco, all these had a future before them, if this Society would only show how their cultivation and manufacture might be improved. Then we were to throw light on the best policy for dealing with waste lands and with labour for the tea districts. We were to develop forestry, rubber, and cinchona plantations. Indigo (alas for human foresight!) was the one crop in which he thought Europeans

had made a permanent success in India. and he was jubilant over it at the very time when friends of the planters were trying to induce them to combine for the introduction of scientific teaching both for the growth and manufacture of it. Now that it is too late this is being done and the Government are assisting liberally; had it been tried thirty years ago a great industry, and one of no less political than commercial value, might have avoided ruin. From vegetable products he turned to minerals. Iron and coal were found together. There should be a great iron industry in India. In their arts we might at least improve not the design but the material of Indian pottery. their manufactures the Indians were already learning their lesson and setting up mills to compete ultimately with those of Manchester and Dundee. Finally, the Society should consider the needs of India in regard to communications, railways (the controversy between the broad gauge and metre gauge was in his mind), roads, lighthouses and harbours.

In

Sir G. Campbell was more explicit in finding subjects for discussion than in explaining how such discussion would influence the Government of India and assist in bringing about the reforms which he advocated, though in the passage I have already quoted he shows that the combination of Indian experience with scientific and commercial eminence to be found among the members of this Society would not fail to exert a beneficial influence when brought to bear on the Government and the public. At the end of his address he makes a more explicit recommendation.

"I do hope," he says, "That not only we may bring together much experience in this room for the great benefit of both countries, but I also believe it is quite possible, by developing these subjects and creating an interest in them here, you may create a corresponding interest in India also. I know of no problem in respect to India which is more interesting than that of turning into a useful channel the immense amount of education and development that we are now bringing out amongst the native classes of India. We are at this moment educating very highly large numbers of young men of the most intelligent classes in India. . You must turn that education into useful material channels; and amongst these young men themselves and amongst the native population I think there is a very considerable disposition to accept this view-that it is absolutely necessary that a large proportion of their educated men should learn to rival Europeans, not only in respect to intellect, but in respect to practical art; and I do hope that if these subjects are earnestly taken up by this Society, we shall find that

we shall have in the great towns in India affiliated societies which will take them up on that side of the water also, which will correspond with us and learn from us, and that so working together the societies in India and this parent Society in this country may really effect very material improvement, both directly in the condition of the people in India, and indirectly by affording a field in which the education which we are now supplying to the natives may be turned into a useful channel."

Here we have a definite suggestion for extending the utility of the Indian Section, by having affiliated branches of the Society in India, and though this part of Sir G. Campbell's programme has never been carried out, and is to my mind of doubtful utility, the idea has been worked, not unsuccessfully, elsewhere. In other respects, I may say that the methods laid down in the early days of the Committee's existence, and even Sir George Campbell's extensive programme have been followed with conscientious fidelity, and have led to some evolutionary development. I have been making an analysis of the papers read before the Indian Section from the beginning, and without inflicting on you the whole of it, I may mention that seven of them deal with the tea industry; silk and cotton, and other fibres, claim twelve. Sir G. Campbell's optimistic views about indigo seem to have pervaded the Section, for I only find one paper devoted to it, and that when the ruin of the once flourishing industry was already well nigh accomplished. Railways have had no less than fourteen meetings given up to them, and a similar number have been devoted to agriculture, though this question has been dealt with more often from the revenue side than in a purely scientific aspect. The manufactures, the mineral resources, the external commerce, the currency of India and its irrigation have all received an equivalent share of attention, each subject having occupied the attention of the Section for eight evenings. But, as I have said, there has been much fresh ground broken up besides and beyond that originally contemplated by the committee. Some of the most iuteresting papers read before the Section have been those on the wilder tribes within or contiguous to the Indian frontier. Of these we have had sixteen and a similar number dealing with Afghanistan and Persia. Lately, moreover, the committee of the section have endeavoured, with considerable success, to provide a series of papers dealing in turn with each province and presidency

town.

Of these there have been twelve given, and I hope the series will be rendered complete. Other subjects have engaged much attention. Famines, the census, domestic life, architecture, sanitation, all these have been considered, and treated with more or less adequacy, and a vast amount of valuable information on them made available to the public. I should have expected the subject of education to have attracted more attention, especially that of female education, where the Society might have given valuable assistance, but in all I find only three evenings devoted to it. In addition to what I have enumerated above there have of course been a number of single papers upon special subjects, some of them such as Dr. Grierson's brilliant paper on the linguistic survey of India, of the highest possible value but not coming under any of the above categories. Then the question arises not only as to the quantity but as to the quality of these papers. We want to know who are the teachers as well as what are the subjects taught. Well, with very few exceptions, I may say that the writers of these papers have been acknowledged experts on the subjects treated of and in many cases the leading experts. The early years give us papers by such honoured names as Sir Arthur Cotton, Sir Bartle Frere, Sir George Birdwood (why does he no longer assist us with his papers ?), Sir Joseph Fayrer, Professor Vambery, Sir Richard Temple, Sir Caspar Purdon Clarke, Dr. Leitner, and many others. In later days, we have the Economic Resources of India" dealt with by Sir G. Watt, the author of the 'Economic Dictionary of India." We have the late Sir William Hunter lecturing on the "Religions of India." Forests are dealt with by Dr. Sclich; Burmah, by ("Shway Yeo") Sir J. G. Scott; Kafristan, by Sir G. Robertson Scott; Seistan, by Sir Henry Macmahon; Chitral, by Sir F. Younghusband-all these, at the time, were the recognised leading authorities on these special subjects. The same may be said of the papers given us by Sir Frederic Goldsmid, Sir Thomas Holdich and Major Molesworth Sykes on subjects connected with Persia. In regard to less specialised subjects, I need not remind you of the many brilliant papers we have had from the present Chairman of the Indian Section, Sir William Lee-Warner, from Sir C. Elliott, Sir Athelstane Baines, and many others. I should like to name very many more, but I think I have proved my point that these papers,

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dealing with Indian subjects, and specially calculated to direct attention to them, and impart information concerning them, are the work, not of casual or ill-informed persons desirous of notoriety, or with axes of their own to grind, but of the men recognised in their own walks of life, as being the most solidly informed, and the most worth listening to on their own special subjects. Then the next question to be asked is, How far have these papers excited public interest and attained the object with which the Section was instituted? To this question it is obvious that a direct reply can hardly be given. We can only gather indications of the importance which may be attached to them outside. I think I may say from my own experience that they attract as large and influential audiences as those ordinarily attending the meetings of other sections of the Society, and that they are followed by discussions which display vivid interest and creditable knowledge, and which are almost always closured by the time limit and not brought to an end from exhaustion. Then as another test, let us see who are the people willing to come and preside at them. We have had as chairmen during the years of my own connection with the Committee (to go no further back), Lord Roberts, the late Lord Northbrook, Lord Elgin, Lord Curzon (three times), Lord G. Hamilton (on six occasions) Earl Spencer, Lord James of Hereford, the 'late Lord Russell, of Killowen, Mr. Brodrick, and the late Sir Henry Stanley. These are not men who would have cared to lend their time and support to wholly useless or even trivial meetings. Then we may ask, have we a hearing among our Indian fellow-subjects? Well, at different times, six of them - the earliest, Mr. Dadabhai Naorojee (in 1871), Professor J. C. Bose (in 1897), and the latest Mr. Wagle (in 1902)—have themselves occupied the platform, and we are promised, I am glad to say, another paper in December by a Mahommedan gentleman, Mr. Yusuf Ali. Among the members of the Society, there are some 250 residing in India, of whom half probably are Europeans. But among Indian names we have the Maharajas of Jodhpore, of Travencore, of Bhawnagur, of Kuch Behar, of Burdwan, and of Bobili. Indian commerce, too, is very strongly represented—and among retired Anglo-Indians we have enough exViceroys, Governors, Lieutenant Governors, Members of Council, &c., to furnish a complete, if somewhat mixed, administration- at

all events, we have enough here to show that the proceedings of the Section are not without interest, and if occasion required, might not be without influence.

I should not like to let this opportunity go by without saying publicly how much the Indian Section is indebted for its success in recent years to the work of its able and energetic Secretary, Mr. Digby, especially in the matter of obtaining (by peaceful persuasion!) the admirable papers to which I have alluded from our modest or unenterprising contributors, and then bringing them to the notice of all persons likely to be interested; and it is in our large and attentive audiences that he finds his work has not been in vain.

I have often given consideration to the question how-outside the slow process of educating public opinion by papers and discussions, the process of infiltration which is always going on-the Indian Section of this Society may be further developed and made more fruitful, but I cannot say that I have any useful suggestion to offer. I have shown that in early days gone by the Society used to bring direct pressure to bear on the Government by means of deputations and correspondence. I can imagine that in exceptional circumstances it would still be possible to adopt such a course, and a sufficient array of influential names both commercial and official might be collected to justify it. But the circumstances would have to be very exceptional, and we must never forget that as a rule this Society rigidly eschews party politics, and day by day every subject on which we might wish to influence the Government tends more and more to become a question of party politics. Apart from this method of acquiring influence, the only suggestion I have seen is that of having affiliated branches of the Society in India. The subject is worth considering, and might well be made the subject of a paper at some future meeting of the Society. Personally I see little to be gained by it, and serious pitfalls in the way of it, and I should hesitate to advocate it. Then it is to be noticed that there are other societies whose aims and objects are to some extent identical with, or at least overlap, those of the Indian Section. Now the history of the Society of Arts, as has been shown in the Address of one of its recent Chairmen, has been that of fissiparous reproduction, that is to say, different sections having grown to maturity, have broken off from the parent society and formed separate specialised asso