B 2
Col. Munore waited eagerly for an English teacher to come from England. The CMS England had to relent on this demand. Rev. Thomas Norton was chosen for the purpose by the Anglican establishment. They were surprised that in the Southern part of India there was an active Christian community that needed the CMS support for education and social progress. Rev. Norton and family set sails on 8th May 1816. He came to Alappuzha and by then the Rani had allotted him a bungalow for staying. Rev. Norton started learning Malayalam and went on setting up an English school for the local Christian and common population. Rev. Norton was also responsible for creating a library in the college.
In his work Ebin shows the arrival of Rev. Norton by a ship. The suggestion of the ship on the right side of the panel represents the tedious and dangerous journey that the missionary had undertaken. There are no detailed representations of the landscapes. One could see a humble thatched structure suggesting the English school in Alappuzha started by Rev. Norton. The central figure, an erudite and scholarly figure is none other than Rev. Norton. The book in hand could the Bible or an English textbook, in whichever case that was his weapon to conquer the minds of the people in Alappuzha and Kottayam.
