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MR. A. K. SHAH.

workers among the blind in India proposed romanised Braille, a system in which the Indian words are spelt phonetically by the English letters; others a uniform code for all the different languages, and these have formulated what they call "oriental Braille." In upper India they have a Urdoo code by Sheriff, Sheriff's Braille, while in some schools they have their own code in that language. In Bengal, we have already one arrangement for Bengali, which my father made; the British and Foreign Bible Society is, however, trying to introduce a new system in which they propose to print the Scriptures in Braille. Different codes for the same language are surely not desirable. I cannot discuss the merits and demerits of the different arrangements in this short compass, as such a subject should be given much thought and time and dealt with in a separate paper. But I only hope that those interested in the

subject will confer and agree to have one code for one language. Before any one tries to adopt Braille for a language, one should make it a point to find out if that language has already been codified into Braille. Otherwise in no time there will be such a Babel of codes for the blind in India as, I am afraid, will surpass the original Babel!

It might interest you to know that most of the Indian languages take up more space than English does, even in ordinary printing, and more so in Braille. The crying need of the schools to-day is books. Without them progress is everywhere slow. Where English is taught we can, of course, procure books from England and elsewhere, but even here there is a difficulty and that is this. The English school books available are not suitable for Indian children or are not according to the requirements of the Education Department in India. We, in India, are at present content with books transcribed by hand, and only now some of the schools are getting books printed at the National Institute for the Blind, London. But this, of course, is very expensive. Braille books, as we all know, are costly and they will cost more in the Indian languages. The Bible, for instance, in Hindi or Bengali, runs close upon a hundred volumes.

The history of the education of the blind in India does not date back more than thirty years. It began with the missionaries, to whose efforts so many projects are due. The hand of the missionaries is visible in the founding of the majority of the existing schools, which now number 16. The movement began originally with the establishment of asylums or homes for the helpless blind, and the only attempt at education was to teach them the Bible in Moon. Later on work was introduced in these places, and only within the last 20 years has India seen the establishment of regular schools for the blind on modern lines, such as the Victoria Memorial Blind School at Bombay, and the Industrial Home and School for Blind Children (Calcutta Blind School) at Calcutta, with which the honoured names of Dr. Nilkant Rai and Mr. L. M. Shah must be coupled. I would like to mention something about each of the institutions we have in India, but information is lacking. I may again quote from the speech of H. E. Lord Carmichael. He said: "I have found it difficult to get

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information regarding institutions societies for the education of the blind in India and I would suggest that we should found in Calcutta a society on the lines of the British and Foreign Blind Association." It is worthwhile for workers in India to consider this excellent suggestion of His Excellency and to form themselves into a society, so that all the institutions may be in touch with one another and much benefit result therefrom.

The C. M. S. Schools for the Blind in Palamcottah, South India, founded by Miss A. J. Ask with, are the largest. The other schools are at Madras, Mysore, managed by the State; Rajpur-in affiliation to the Ch. of Eng. Z. M. S.,-the North India Industrial Home for Christian Blind founded by the late Miss Sharp in 1887, a home at Allahabad; a school at Lahore, which, I understand, is the only Government one in India; a second school at Bombay under an American Mission, at

Ranchi, also managed by missionaries. My own school at Calcutta was established in 1887, and the Bombay School in 1907. Most of these institutions are for both sexes, and some kind of trade and Indian music are taught in addition to general education comprising the three R's.

In all these places, we have accommodation only, I think, for about a thousand, whereas the blind children of school-going age and young men and women capable of learning are numbered by hundreds of thousands.

It is therefore evident from what I have said that the work in India is only at its infancy and only the fringe of the problem has been touched. A vast amount yet remains to be done. We earnestly hope-with His Majesty's most gracious watch-word of "Hope" and a large grant for educational purposes-now that the years of experiments are over, rapid strides of progress will be made.

WORLD'S HINDUSTAN STUDENT FEDERATION

has been roughly estimated that there are now about three hundred Hindu students in American colleges and universities. And one of the most significant things which this student body has done in recent years is the organization of the Hindustan Association of America. The association is a national society with national society with chapters at nearly all important institutions of learning where there is a sufficient number of Indian students. At present, the strongest branches of the association are to be found in New York, Chicago, and in the universities of Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Kansas, Washington, Oregon, and California.

The Primary object of the Hindustan Association is to further the educational interests of India. It furnishes the prospective students with information on educational conditions in America; it encourages the stay-at-homes to go abroad for education; the officers of the association meet the newly arrived students at the port of entrance, and direct them to proper colleges. Last, and not least, the association is doing a vast deal to promote closer fellowship between India and America.

Desiring to leave nothing to chance, the society has organized a campaign to carry

on its patriotic program. As a practical step to that end, it is publishing an excellent educational magazine, called "The Hindusthan Student." The association has already secured the support and cooperation of many of the leaders of this nation and of India. In its long list of distinguished honorary members figure the names of many a notable American university president, college professor, author, journalist, and not a few Indian Nawabs, Maharajas, and Rajas.

The Hindustan Association is now very anxious to extend its field of operation by internationalizing its organization. It has perfected a plan to unite all Indian student societies in every land under one general federation, to be known as the "World's Hindustan Student Federation." The branch organizations, which will be members of the Federation, will have for their basic purpose the promotion of Indian student welfare. As far as possible, the chapters federated throughout the world will render one another neighborly services, and look after the interests of Indian students, just as the Hindustan Association of America is trying to do at present through its various local organizations in the United States.

All the important business of the Fede

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Bhai Gurdit Singh and the Party of 375 Hindustanees on Board S. S. Komagata Maru. ration should be conducted through a central office, the location of which is to be fixed annually by its chapter members. It may be one year in England, another in Europe, next in America, and the following year in Japan or in India. The central office which will be under the direction of an international president and international general secretary, will become the international clearing house of informa

tion.

It should be well understood that the coming of a branch society within the circile of the World's Hindustan Student Federation will in no way or manner interfere with the constitution of the local organization. Each individual society will retain its full freedom and autonomy, and will merely become a cooperating member of the Federation. Take a recent instance. The Women's Auxiliary of the Hindustan Association, started by that true and loyal friend of India, Sister Kamala Devi, has applied the other day for a membership in the Hindustan Association of America. The Auxiliary is organized for the benefit of all Indians in the city of New York, and its active members are all American women. This rather new organization will be in no

way competing with the old Hindusthan Association of New York: each has its own constitution and by-laws, each has its own peculiar work, and each will try to help the other as far as possible. The chief reason why the Auxiliary is seeking affiliation with the national organization is that such a connection will give it a better standing, and in some respects, a wider field of activities.

As the national president of the Hidustan Association of America, I take this opportunity to extend a cordial invitation, through the medium of your valuable journal to all Indian student societies to cooperate with us, and build what promises to be one of the greatest and most effective agencies for the welfare of Indian students. We have been criticized, doubtless sometimes unjustly, for our inability to organize on a national and international basis. We can now show how untrue There is a real demand for young men of constructive vision, and of aggressive personality to step forward, and lend us a helping hand. We need the World's Hindustan Student Federation.

this is.

SUDHINDRA BOSE, M.A., Ph.D., Lecturer, State University of Iowa.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

BY REV. J. T. SUNDERLAND, M.A., D.D.

THINK it is generally conceded by those best qualified to judge, that the most distinguished writer and the most influential thinker yet produced by America, is Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Emerson's fame and influence have been steadily growing now for more than half a century, and there seems to be no sign of falling-oft or decline.

The number of persons, particularly persons of intelligence, thinkers and leaders in all departments of life, who are attracted to him and find his writings a great source of inspiration is very large, not only in America, but in all English-speaking countries, on the Continent of Europe, and even in Asia.

I have recently had my attention called to the honour in which he is held amongst leading minds in France, Germany and Russia. In India I found his writings widely read and greatly admired. A few weeks ago, when in Tokyo, the Professor of Ethics in the Imperial University of that city told me that a considerable use was made of Emerson's Essays in that and other Universities in Japan. I was also pleased to learn from Baron Kanda, the Dean of the Tokyo Higher Commercial College, that he has a class of 300 young men engaged in the study of Emerson in that institution of learning.

Emerson was born in Boston, the chief city of New England, and at that time the leading literary centre of America; most of his life was spent in or near that city. He died within the memory of the present generation; indeed, I myself remember well not only the man but the first publication of many of his works.

Emerson's parents and ancestors were persons of intelligence, education and high character, but not of wealth. His father was a Christian minister living in Boston, who died when his son, Ralph Waldo, was only eight years old, leaving a widow and

four or five children. The mother was left with little means, and the struggle which she had to undergo in order to support and educate her family was severe. In after-life Emerson often referred to the hardships of those days as amongst the greatest benefits of his life, because, he said, they taught him industry, economy, resourcefulness, self-reliance, and courage in facing and overcoming obstacles. Partly through the aid of his mother and partly by his own persistent exertions he was able to obtain a good education in the schools of Boston and in Harvard College.

His aim in life was to be a Christian minister, as his father had been. For four years he served as pastor of a Boston church. But, by the end of that time, a change had come in his thought and he had decided to devote his life to writing and to public lecturing. Accordingly he resigned the pastorate of his church, withdrew to the little village of Concord, a quiet place in the country, 20 miles away, and there, amidst the sweet New England scenery of fields and woods, of running brooks and open skies, made for himself a modest home, where he lived for nearly 50 years, and wrote those books which have carried his thoughts to all parts of the civilized world.

Speaking of his reason for leaving the city and settling in a quiet little village, he says: "I am by nature a poet, and therefore must live in the country."

How much the quiet of country life, and the beauty and companionship of country scenery meant to him throughout all his years, every reader of his books well knows.

To few spots in America, or in any other land, came so many noble spirits as to Emerson's simple Concord home, during all its years. From the first the home was dedicated to "plain living and high thinking," to friendships that were real, to intercourses that were sincere. The wisest

and best men and women of Boston, of Massachusetts, of New England, of the whole land, were frequent guests at his fireside. Distinguished visitors from foreign countries sought him in his country retreat. Few homes were marked by so great simplicity; indeed, the simplicity and genuineness of the home were its charm. Show, makebelieve, pretence, could find there no place.

Emerson's general plan of life during most of his Concord years, was to give three or four months each winter to public lecturing, the winter being the best season for this work, and devote the rest of the year to quiet study, thinking and writing

at home.

His common habit when at home was to spend his forenoons at hard work in his library or study, and his afternoons out of doors, either alone, or with a chance companion, rambling in the fields or the woods, rowing on the water, lying on the grass in the meadow or by a brookside, observing the eternal beauty and change of nature, and studying her marvellous

secrets.

The books he loved most were great books-the books of the ages, which had proved their worth by living on from century to century,-Plato, Plutarch, and the great tragedians amongst the Greeks; Shakespeare, Chaucer and Swedenborg; Hafiz, the Persian; Confucius of China; the great sacred books of India. He cared for science too, and gave much time to its writers, but his most ardent delight was in great books of thought.

During the months devoted to lecturing, he went wherever there were calls, speaking upon literary, historical, biographical, political or religious subjects, but always with a high ethical purpose in view, always so treating his themes as to make them. alive with quickening thought, electrical with fine feeling, challenges to just judg. ments, trumpet-calls to courageous, manly and noble living.

At first his invitations to lecture were few and confined to Boston and New England; but, little by little, the number grew greater and from longer distances, until at last he had more calls than he could fill from all parts of the American nation, and even from England.

But if his popularity as a public lecturer came slowly, he was equally slow in gaining public favour as a writer.

His first book, entitled "Nature," was

twelve years in reaching so very small a sale as 500 copies. To-day there are few books of any kind that have so large and so steadily increasing sales, not only in America, but wherever the English language is spoken. And, every where the minds that are interested in him are the best minds. He teaches the teachers; he preaches to the preachers; he writes poetry for the poets; he thinks for the thinkers; and this in every land where his works are read.

I have said that Emerson was a lover of nature. Nature is to every human soul what that soul makes her to be. To the soul that can perceive it, she is an infinite wonder, a teacher whose lessons are new every morning and fresh every evening, a never-failing fountain of inspira tion and joy. She was all this to Emerson, else he could never have given to the world such a wealth of poetry and wisdom drawn from nature's heart as we find in his books.

Some persons said that Emerson's love of nature and of books ate up his love for men. But such persons did not know him well. His friendships were always warm and sincere; his interest in his neighbours, even the poorest, was striking and beauti ful. He used often to chat with the farmers at their work; he had personal acquaintance and friendship with the humblest day-labourers; he loved and was loved by the school children; he was a general favourite in the village. Everything that pertained to the welfare of the community, he was interested in. Town-meetings and all important village gatherings he attended with scrupulous fidelity. He voted without fail at all elections and had part in all plans for the public good.

Nor did his love of men stop with his personal friends, and neighbours and the town where he resided. It reached out far-to the State, to the nation, to all humanity, especially to all who suffered or were wronged. Few reform movements in America during the fifty years preceding his death, from the great anti-slavery cause to the movement to enlarge the sphere of woman, failed to receive his support. The reform methods with which he sympathized were not violent. way of working was that of the sunshine, which warmed and quickened into new life, and not that of the lightning which blasted. Yet he could, if necessary, hurl lightning shafts with with a strength and sureness of aim that none could surpass.

His

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