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our ministerial work. We were both content to forget and forgive, and to unite in the common work that lay before us, which, in its ultimate results, would benefit Hindus and Mohamedans alike.

It is, however, useless to disguise the fact that the Nawab Sahib's appointment as Minister caused dissatisfaction in certain quarters. Some Mohamedan leaders felt aggrieved that one, perhaps not their equal in respect of literary qualifications, should, in preference to them, have been the recipient of so exalted a trust. The feeling was natural, but perhaps not reasonable. High literary qualifica- tions, Eastern or Western, or both combined, do not necessarily connote the possession of administrative capacity. Statesmanship is a peculiar gift, sometimes natural, but oftener the product of common sense, tempered by prudence, broadened by a wide general outlook, and dominated by the recognition of the para- mount claims of justice. Of Frederick the Great it was said that he would never employ a schoolmaster in any administrative post; and the story is told, and I heard it from the great Vidyasagar, that one of the early Lieutenant-Governors of Bengal would not appoint a schoolmaster as a Deputy Magistrate, but was persuaded on the insistence of the Pundit to make his one solitary departure from this policy.

Nor in this connexion should the fact be forgotten that some of Asia's greatest men were illiterate. Mohamed and Akbar, Sivaji and Hyder Ali, Ranjit Singh and Jung Bahadur compose a galaxy of brilliant men, the like of whom the world has not witnessed among the most illustrious group of literates. Let us not deprecate culture, but let us not exalt it beyond its merits. It is not for me, however, to make a pronouncement on the administration of a colleague; but the highest authority, no less than the Governor of the province himself, has recorded an emphatic eulogy. A similar pronouncement has been made by the same high authority in regard to my Hindu colleague, Mr. (now Sir) Provash Chunder Mitter. But his ability or fitness and even his culture was never questioned, though there was one member of Council who felt aggrieved that Mr. Mitter had been preferred to him, and laid the blame on me. I bore it without the slightest perturbation of mind, and listened to the indictment with a good-humoured laugh.

Before I proceed further, let me pause for a moment to trace the genesis of my relations with Lord Ronaldshay. They began, if I may so put it, in strife and contention, which, by a happy transformation, developed, so far as I am concerned, into warm