60 LIFE OF fiURISH CHUNDER MUK.HEBJEE. on him, as opportunity presented itself, the highest post at their disposal^ namely that of Assistant Mili- tary Auditor, worth Rupees 400 per mensem, — an appointment hitherto held exclusively by Europeans. The details of his office-career in Government employ have fallen into darkness and cannot be now known with any degree of tolerable exactness. But, we know that he was held in high esteem by his official superiors for his manliness, independence, and great capacity for business. An intelligent and educated Karanee in those days, possess- ing the necessary qualifications for the proper dis- charge of the duties of his office was more respected by his European office-masters than he is now. And the reasons for this altered and deplorable state of things are too many to be dwelt upon here, at large. A sad change has now come over the spirit of the policy of the Government itself, and of its officials in 'general in regard to the treatment of natives in its service shewing a natural desire to take part in the political amelioration of their mother- country. But such was not the case at the time of Hurish Chunder. The number of educated men at the time we are speaking of, was limited, and the Anglo- .Indians and the Government officials had nothing to fear' from them. But later on, with the growth of education, when the educated Natives began to tread oh their toes, and to aspire for those high posts of emolument and responsibility which had been in their exclusive 'possession, they felt uneasy and began to grumble at it. Hurish Chunder, the Keranee will be known to posterity not as a quill-driver in the Auditor-General's Office, but as a great patriot, capable of making stupendous sacrifices for the sake of his countrymen, as a journalist of great ability and honesty of pur- pose, and lastly as a politician of a very high order. He played an important part in the history of
