Attention has recently been drawn not only to the enormous strides with which the boundaries of the Russian Empire are expanding, but also to the equally rapid growth of the area over which the Russian Janguage is spoken. Here in India we have been educating the people for the last fifty years; some people. say.over= educating them, but however that may be there can be no doubt that "the spread of the knowledge of the English Janguage is not equal to the spread education. English is only taught in the higher schools, and it is calculated that there are probably not more than two millions of natives who speak the English language. English is not the universal language of the Court, and the great. mass of correspondence which passes between conducted in one or more of the numerous vernaculars. Now in Russia it is different; as each new province falls within the. sphere of Russian influence, schools are founded in which the Russian language is made the vehicle of imparting knowledge and Russian is used as the official language. It is therefore calculated that fifty years hence Russian will probably be the principal language spoken throughout the enormous territory which in recent years has been added on to the Russian Empire in Asia. When it is remembered how many of these provinces are inhabited by warlike races it may be understood what an enormous addition this will give to Rus-influence and prestige. In a short time you in China will see Russian schools established throughout Manchuria and very possibly Russian may be the lingua franco in use as far as the gates of Peking. This ix a very serious and. it becomes a question for consideration whether those who are interested in the spread of British Empire and influence should not take more systematic steps towards the spread of the knowledge of the English language.
Hyderabad,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.