THE NEED AND VALUE OF ACADEMIC STUDY 

 OF NATIVE PHILOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY. 



By the Rev. W. A. Norton, B.A., B.Litt. 



The School of Oriental Studies was recently opened in 

 London by the King-Emperor. Here is an extract from the 

 speech of His Majesty : — 



" If the school happily succeeds in imparting to the jmpils, 

 sent out as teachers of unselfish government and civilised com- 

 merce, a clearer comprehension of the thoughts and lives of the 

 diverse races of the East, the good effects of that success will 

 extend far beyond the immediate and tangible results." 



These words may certainly be applied to ourselves in Africa, 

 where we need indeed, as a nation, all the help we can get from 

 the sciences. 



Enormous strides have doubtless been made in the application 

 of science to the more material side of our civilisation, but how 

 backward we are still in the endowment of research, in the 

 intelligence dei)artments of our work, both in war and peace. 



I need not labour the proof of this statement. Constantly 

 we read in the war news that the greatest bravery was shown. 

 but there was something lacking in the staff work. Of cotirse, 

 it is ea.sy to say this. Unfortunately it is also hard to deny it. It 

 is not the fault of the staff officers so much as the fault of the 

 whole trend of English intellectual life, and want of thoroughness 

 on the intellectual side of our public education. 



Let me quote some words from " The Great \\'ar " on the 

 lack of sufficiently high explosives at the Dardanelles. 



" This condition of affairs was due to the fact that our mili- 

 tary authorities before the war broke out were unable to get as 

 good a fuse for high explosive shells as the Germans possessed. 

 Either through a total failure of the scientific intellect of our 

 Empire, or through the neglect by the Government to put the 

 problem of high explosive shells into the hands of men of science 

 capable of solving it. our shell remained inferior to both the 

 French and German shell." 



I add one more quotation : " It is time England emerged out 

 of the old insular order of ideas into one of greater intellectual 

 grandeur and more universal concern to mankind." This lesson in 

 man)' ways is being learned. 



It is strange that this insularity should toitch us in this 

 sub-continent ; but as a missionary and a citizen of .South Africa, 

 I for one cannot but deplore in particular the amazing want in 

 the past of scientific interest in that great asset of the Union, 

 the native races, llie old fallacies are repeated year after year, 

 the old grumbles day after day, but any real grappling with the 

 problems of race which go deep down into our social polity are 

 few and far between indeed. 



And no wonder- — for with the multitude of academic estab- 



