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THE BRITISH INDIA ASSOCIATION.

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the history of what immense benefit one powerful intellect, exercising its energies in the right direction, can do for an entire nation, and leave a glorious heritage to future generations "to paint a moral and adorn a tale." Already it has mitigated the reproach so long cast on our nationthat our best energies were only confined to the desk and the counter,-by distinctly showing, that, as occasion requires, we can even as well advise and regulate politics. Already it has been the source of great national benefit, by averting the imposition of ruinous and improper taxes, by sagely persuading the authorities out of their crudely-formed views; already it has been acknowledged to muster statesmanlike wisdom and prescience within its ranks, so as to sit in a fit conclave of consultation on any question of importance and interest; already it has been recognised as the great representative of the people of this country, to express their feelings, wants, and convenience in every department of government; and already it is being consulted by Government on every question of internal policy as such. This Association was formed, and it achieved all this, mainly through the energy and exertions of Baboo Harrischander; and this reflects no small amount of credit

on the power and force of his intellect. Scepticism is one of the safe and cautious characteristics of the English people-nothing is believed at first; and this habitual resistance to novelties might be applauded as a sound instinct, if it did not sometimes obstruct the progress of knowledge; and it was with a people so habituated that Baboo Harris succeeded in getting himself heard, even with respect, as a suggestive patriot! His fame now culminated; he was introduced to every one, and every one heard his suggestions and revelations in regard and good faith, even when he did not appreciate their full worth. "Rien ne réussit jamais comme le succès," says the French proverb"there's nothing half so successful as success," say the Americans, translating the untranslatable; and the full force of its truth was here exemplified. He, to whom neither European nor Native would vouchsafe the meanest berth, which he at first stood so sadly in need of, was now the friend and companion of the greatest and the richest of the country; he, who was but twelve years before a common clerk, so lightly valued as to be pinned to a three-legged desk and broken chair at the lowest step, was now the highest Native functionary of the office,

CLIMAX OF HARRIS'S FORTUNE.

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more honoured and better appreciated than even his immediate European superiors, by the Government and the public; and he, who was scoffed at in the beginning of his public career, as a mere "nigger" and a " pandy"—when it was the fashion to politely utter these little catchwords of distinctive abuse on the part of every splenetic English journalist at a loss for something to argue, was now respected, esteemed, admired; recommended as a State-craftsman upon all topics of the time; and, in spite of his inherent unfortunate position, which gained him no practical experience of State politics, rescued from the obscurity of a tiny English hebdomadal to be the leading spokesman of India! But in the midst of these achievements, time and incessant toil had gradually broken down the health of this Patriot and Philosopher. The evening of life had come, surely, and but too quickly; and at the appointed hour, calm and happy, with his mind full of radiant hope and triumph, with a consciousness of having lived a life of usefulness and fellow-feeling for God's creatures on earth, and of holy communion with the Spirit above, this Martyr of public labour breathed his .last.

It is a pity that he left no dying words of · advice; for strange have been the sentences and expressions of dying warriors, kings, philosophers, and priests, reflecting some ever-latent trait in their character; and strange, too, but yet not unnatural, is the fondness with which we linger over death-bed scenes, and gasping words. Gasping words!-eh bien !—the whole of life seems, as it were, summed up in one moment, and we linger round its utterances when "out of the fulness of the heart the mouth speaketh," in anxious yearning, and question those moribund expressions, whether they cannot give us some glimpse of the world to come, where the spirit that sent them out in tremulous motion is about to find its lodging for evermore. In one sense, every man here is a Moses, seeking the Promised Land-brighter still, we must admit, than what was vouchsafed to the Jewish Prophet, who took the Pisgah view of his destination from the summit of the mountain; and we can well conceive other chosen spirits of this world, if not all, like him, taking a Pisgah view from the side of the death-bed, and seeing something of the bright land of promise in their own case. Harris's last words would no doubt have afforded a glimpse

DEATH-BED SCENES.

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of his own faith, full of intense interest and veneration. But alas! he had no last words to utter. Eminently prosperous and useful, he lived and worked, and died in perfect silence; only leaving the awful impression on his friends and countrymen, when his spirit left this world, that a bright star had set in Heaven!

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