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the "pride of office," should exalt himself with a degree of self-complacency as a learned and talented man, because he has written a dishonest essay, perhaps scarcely readable, or mere trash, and puffed up by writers not one whit better than himself, is an offence which no honest individual will ever willingly pardon.* That this spirit of opposition and ignorance does exist in the rising Native society is unquestionable: those who have read what the author calls "the domestic treason" of literature in the "Literary Character of the Men of Genius" of the elder Disraeli, will not find any difficulty in arriving at a full realisation of our sketch; while the state becomes doubly pernicious when we consider that the growing

* It affords a curious illustration of this observation to state that one gentleman, whose education never reached higher than M'Culloch's "Series of Lessons," whose worldly position was never better than that of a petty schoolmaster of fifteen or twenty, or that of a common country-printer, once undertook to lecture for full two hours to the writer of these pages on the method of writing articles for a paper, though he had had experience in this line of business for two full years, as well as upon the means of study, in an English conversation, every third word of which betrayed some violation either of grammar or idiom. He holds himself to be of the learned class, competent to criticise every individual, and to suggest, with a low running commentary, how the first should behave and the second should be executed.

ABSENCE OF PERSEVERANCE.

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youngsters of our schools and colleges are too apt to imitate the pride and sloth of their elders; and the elders-those who initiate them and those who do not--one and all lack a spirit of pre-calculation on the nature and difficulties of their undertaking, steadfast perseverance in it when undertaken, and a final execution of it after thought and labour. Books are shut up so soon as the college or the school is left, and the fresh hero, who has to win his way in the world, enters upon undertakings both in business and in the reform and enlightenment of his country, without a previous patient reflection on their nature and magnitude; he lacks perseverance; he has undertaken them with the mercenary object either of gain or worldly fame; so that when he meets with slight opposition or defeat, he is dissatisfied, and leaves them--perhaps only just commenced. He then runs to others, as blindly as before. Sometimes his abilities, sometimes means, fail him; and he relinquishes these for a third set, again in the same narrow spirit; and thus goes on, stumbling from one failure to another-or, if more fortunate, from one modicum of success to another, which benefits neither him nor his country. The secret of the utter futility of

the thousand and one projects of the Natives, as soon as commenced, is, that they do not pre-calculate the real depth of their mind and extent of their means; nor do they undertake aught in a spirit of thorough earnestness; and it is not wonderful, then, that in attempting to imitate the visionary calculations of Alnascar on his basket of glass-ware, which was so soon to procure for him the Sultan's daughter, they meet with like defeat and ridicule.

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With Harris it was different. He had a mind at first to proceed in his studies, and even presented himself at the entrance examination of the Presidency College; but having failed, he on reconsideration resolved to become a man of business. He made his choice, and became a lowly clerk; but, having cast his die, and taken his course, he devoted himself thoroughly to it. At the Military Auditor's Office he entered into his work, from the beginning, with all his heart, soul, strength, and intelligence, and allowed no thought of ease or prospect of fame to interfere with the execution of what he held to be his imperative duty. But a mind like his could not rest satisfied with merely mechanical copying, and it joyfully fled, morning and evening, to the converse of

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THE CONTRAST IN HARRIS.

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books. Indeed, it was not possible for an active mind, brought under the fostering care of such high-souled superiors as Mr. Mackenzie and Colonel Champneys, to do otherwise than pass every moment of leisure in the congenial atmosphere of literature, philosophy, political economy, and law;-for these were the heavy studies in which Harris was hearty, earnest, fixed, and united-on which his whole soul was concentrated; and these are precisely the studies which our young students, coming out from the college, sedulously neglect to cultivate. Knowledge, he, unlike his fellow-countrymen,* pursued for its own sake; pursued it in business, in leisure, in recreation from professional strain. Look at his taste, his energy, his greed after it: Dr. Duff was to deliver a lecture on mental philosophy in Cornwallis Square, a distance of twelve English miles, going and coming, from Bhowaneepore, in the suburbs of Calcutta, and Harris footed it, alone, without conveyance, and without companions! Where is the youth among us who will incur such physical exertion, even on an exciting occasion, without thought of either? Again, while

* Honorable exceptions, by no means very few, must always be allowed, to every general observation in these pages.

advancing steadily in his professional position, Harris, instead of feeling satiated, and passing his time in idle luxury, sought out amusements which beguiled his hours in happy relaxation, while they sharpened his intellect to that fine acumen of reasoning which distinguished his writings, whether plain or polished, in the subsequent period of his life. Baboo Samboonath Pandit, the Government pleader, then only a Mohurir of the Calcutta Sudder Court, had at this time established himself at Bhowaneepore. His learning, good taste, and kind urbanity, attracted a crowd of educated young men from the vicinity to his house; and among these Harris daily wended his way to the venerable mansion. Luxury was abhorrent to the Pandit, idle chat perfectly disgusting; and in choosing the best method to amuse themselves, the young inmates decided on a law-club, to conduct mock-trials, and discuss the intricacies of law. Brilliant were the discussions nightly held in the room of the Sudder pleader: regulations were framed, and constructions put upon them, with all the enthusiasm and keenness of professional lawyers-presenting, to all intents and purposes, the appearance of the spirit and talents of a Bengalee Inner Temple! There

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