whole forms a complete gradation of Public Instruction, under the direction and control of the State.
This was the crowning act of consolidation, accomplished in India under Lord Dalhousie. It has set in motion new forces, intellectual and political, whose magnitude it is impossible to gauge, but which the British Government now finds itself compelled to reckon with. Amid all the checks which occurred to Dalhousie's consolidating system in India, after his firm hand was withdrawn, this tremendous factor of unification has gone on working without break or intermission, gaining strength, and displaying its marvellous results on an ever-extending scale. Even the Mutiny did not interrupt the progress of Indian education. The year 1857, which saw us forced to fight for our existence, also saw the Acts passed to establish the three Indian Universities, since increased to five, which form the cope-stone of Public Instruction in India. Every Viceroy, whatever his public policy or private idiosyncrasies, has sought to connect his name with the magnificent system of Indian State-education introduced during Lord Dalhousie's rule. Under that system, five Universities and 133,000 schools and colleges are now educating 3½ millon pupils in India.
I have been careful to describe the educational system of India, not as the direct work of Lord
