Many signs of the working of this new spirit may be observed. The Director of Public Instruction in the Bombay Presidency observes that during the last few years a great change has come over local boards and other bodies; there is now far less objection to Outcaste children taking places in the ordinary schools.1 Mr. T. B. Pandian has succeeded in raising money to dig a number of wells for Outcastes in the Tamil country. Quite recently the Hindu community in a centre in the Panjab held a ceremony to begin the practice of allowing these untouchable Outcastes to use the ordinary wells. So the leaven works.

Yet it is very important to observe that, though the activities of the Depressed Classes Mission are of considerable value, the fact that it can do no vigorous religious work seriously weakens its results. "The kindly touch of the Christian religion elevates the Mahar at once and for ever," as the Mahars said in their address to the Earl of Crewe; while the Depressed Classes Mission can merely give a little education and moral advice.

LITERATURE. - The Outcastes' Hope, by G. E. Phillips, London, Y. P. M. M., 1912, 1s. net. The Depressed Classes, by many writers, Madras, Natesan, 1912, Re. 1.

b. Universal Education

One of the most striking manifestations of the new national spirit is the Bill which Mr. Gokhale laid before the Viceroy's Council in the winter of 1911-1912, for the purpose of extending primary education all over the country. The method proposed was to give local authorities the power, under certain conditions, to make primary education compulsory amongst the people under their jurisdiction. For various reasons the Bill was rejected, but it served a very

1

1 ISR., XXI, 184.

3

* Ib., XX, 621.

• Ib., XXIII, 25.

useful purpose in familiarizing the educated classes with the reasons why universal education is desirable, and in evoking the opinions of the native press on the subject. Thus, though it failed to pass, the Bill undoubtedly forwarded the cause. Some step for the furtherance of universal education will have to be taken ere long.

c. The Servants of India Society

In Poona there is a Hindu College called the Fergusson College, the professors of which receive very small salaries and do their work for the love of India. The quality of the education is high; and a number of most devoted public servants have been trained in its work. Amongst these the most brilliant is the Hon. Mr. Gopal Krishṇa Gokhale, C. I. E. He served as one of the professors of the College for twenty years, from 1885 till the end of 1904. He then set himself to the formation of a society, the aim of which should be devoted and life-long service to the people of India.

The following paragraphs give the substance of an interview which the writer had with Mr. Gokhale in the National Liberal Club, London, in June, 1913.

The Society, which was established in 1905, is called the Servants of India Society. Its headquarters are in Poona, where there is a Home specially built for the training of the workers; and there are Branches in four of the provinces of India, Bombay, the Central Provinces, Madras and the United Provinces.

Only University graduates or men who have done successful public service are admitted as members. When a young man wishes to become a member, he lives in Mr. Gokhale's house for a short time, or in the Home, so that he may learn by experience what the society is, and so that the other members

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Fergusson ll salaries uality of ed public st these Gokhale, College then

ve an opportunity of gauging his temperament and er. If he is thought suitable and if he wishes to go e work, he becomes a student. For five years he rea salary of only thirty rupees a month, and spends "year four months in study in the Home in Poona, onths in practical work in that Branch of the society ich he belongs and two months at home. The purpose e whole movement is to create by means of practical a higher type of worker. The progress of India is great aim in view. There is a clear perception that, if ia is to be a nation, the communities must become united. nce in all the work of the society the aim of bringing ndus and Muḥammadans together in real brotherhood kept in view. Young Hindus are sent to live among Mummadans, to help them by loving service to the utmost their power, just as missionaries do.

The society is open to young men of any race or religion; and there is a keen desire on the part of the leaders to get members other than Hindus. One Muḥammadan is already a member. There is no attempt made to bind the men together religiously. There are no common prayers in the Home. Each man is left to order his own devotions as he thinks best. Yet Mr. Gokhale holds that the aims in view, and the serious renunciation which membership imposes, are in themselves deeply religious. No demand is made that a student should give up caste; yet brotherly feeling in the Home is so rich and deep that no caste distinctions are kept. Members are not asked to become celibates; but life in the Home during the four months of training is monastic. The students are completely under the guidance of the First Member, Mr. Gokhale. During the five years of their training they are not allowed to deliver public addresses or to write to the magazines, without first submitting the matter to the First Member.