James Mill was the strongest critic of the Orientalists. He declared that the British should not teach what the natives wanted, or what they respected, in order to please them and “win a place in their heart”. The £pm of education should be to teach what was useful and practical. Indians should be made familiar with the scientific and technical advances that the West had made, and not the sacred literature of the Orient. Macaulay urged the British government in India to stop wasting public money in promoting Oriental learning, for it had no practical use. He felt that knowledge of English would allow Indians to read some of the finest literature the world had produced; it would make them aware of the developments in Western science and philosophy. The teaching of English could thus be a way of civilizing people, changing their tastes, values, and culture.