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who grieved with me and consoled me in one of the saddest moments of my life.

We had lost nearly a year in fighting the case, and we were given the option of going up for the final examination with the men of our year (1869) or with the candidates who would be selected in 1870. I decided in favour of the former course; Sripad Babaji Thakur preferred to join the batch for 1870.

Of Sripad Babaji it may not be out of place to say a word or two. In every way he was a remarkable man. His genius for the mastery of languages was phenomenal. Constitutionally he was averse to hard work; but he found ample compensation in the bountiful gifts of a beneficent nature, which made good his lack of steady industry.

A little story occurs to my mind in connexion with him, which shows the man and the large part which the chapter of accidents sometimes plays in human life. On the eve of our examination we were of course all very busy, but not so Sripad Babaji Thakur. Chess was his favourite diversion and he was an expert chess player, able to direct the moves from a different room from where the game was being played. As usual he had finished a game; and then perhaps a qualm of conscience seized him and he felt that he must do something for the examination at which he was to appear on the following morning. He took up Webster's Dictionary, which happened to be near him, and read the chapter on the requisites of a good dictionary. His memory was marvellous, and every idea that was in the chapter was imprinted on his mind. As luck would have it, we were asked in the paper on English Composition to write an essay on the requisites of a good dictionary, and, as might have been expected, Thakur, who had read the subject up the previous night, acquitted himself well.

With his great intellectual gifts Thakur was one of the most amiable of men. Sir Taraknath Palit was his guide, philosopher and friend. When he arrived in London Thakur was a vegetarian and used to wear his hair like the rest of his orthodox countrymen. Sir Taraknath soon made him a meat-eater and induced him to dress and wear his hair like an Englishman; and Thakur was never happier than with his new habits and in his new habiliments. We used to chaff him about them, and his loud laughter 'that spoke the vacant mind', the echoes of which I still remember, added to our hilarity and enjoyment.

Among the Indian candidates who competed with us for the Indian Civil Service in 1869 was another remarkable man whose