Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c8.s1.11

c8.s1.11

The old system of education above described could not have been preserved in its entirety; ‘Progress’ it is in many respects unsuited to modern requirements, besides having intrinsic faults; but it is very unfortunate that so many of its real advantages are lacking in the modern system, and especially unfortunate that an “English education” such as the Royal College provides, leaves the “educated” ignorant of everything that would appear to be of special interest and value to him, and unable to hand on to others even that knowledge which he possesses of the great world beyond, and the lesson he has learnt from a study of the history and manners of other peoples. Most stupid of all is the affectation of despising everything Sinhalese and thoughtlessly admiring everything English; reminding one of that time in England when ‘Falsehood in a Ciceronian dialect had no opposers; truth in patois no listeners.’