120 BENGALI LITERATURE we have, if not art, at least craftmanship; if precisely no work of genius, at least the hint and intimation of such close at hand. The College of Fort William which was actually in operation from May 4, 1800' was formally established on August 18 by a Minute in Council in which the Governor-General detailed at length the reasons for start- Its foundation (1800) and object. ing such an institution.? No sooner did Lord Wellesley find himself freed from the uncongenial bonds of war in the South than he devoted himself to various measures of internal administration with an ardour seldom equalled except perhaps by Lord Bentinck whom he so closely resembled. The Company’s Civil Service, although it produced a few men of first-rate ability, had sunk into the lowest depths of vice and ignorance. The Service had_ its origin in a mercantile staff, well-versed in the mysteries of the counting-house ; and its training, since the Factory had grown into an Empire, had not been sufficient for the more important duties which now devolved upon it. The system which Burke had reprobated fifteen years ago was still unchanged, and lads of fifteen to eighteen were being sent out to India before. their education could be finished, with no opportunity or inducement on their arrival to complete it. At the close of three or four years’ residence, the young Civilians, endowed with an affluent income and unchecked authority, had not only lost the fruits of their European studies and gained no useful knowledge of 1 The First Term of the College commenced from February 6, 1801.
- Minutes in Council at the Fort William by His Excellency the
Most Hon’ble Marquis of Wellesley, containing his reasons for the establishment of a College in Bengal, dated August 18, 1800 (See Roebuck, op. cit. p. vi and Buchanan, op, cit. p. 8-9.
