at use he made of the book,
the writer can only guess; but he has little doubt that when the question
of sending a person to --- was mooted in a Parliamentary Committee--which
it was at the instigation of the writer's friend--the Radical on being
examined about the country, gave the information which he had obtained
from the writer as his own, and flashed the book and its singular
characters in the eyes of the Committee; and then of course his Radical
friends would instantly say, "This is the man! there is no one like him.
See what information he possesses; and see that book written by himself
in the court language of Serendib. This is the only man to send there.
What a glory, what a triumph it would be to Britain, to send out a man so
deeply versed in the mysterious lore of--as our illustrious countryman; a
person who with his knowledge could beat with their own weapons the wise
men of-- Is such an opportunity to be lost? Oh, no! surely not; if it
is, it will be an eternal disgrace to England, and the world will see
that Whigs are no better than Tories."

Let no one think the writer uncharitable in these suppositions. The
writer is only too well acquainted with the antecedents of the
individual, to entertain much doubt that he would shrink from any such
conduct, provided he thought that his temporal interest would be
forwarded by it. The writer is aware of more than one instance in which
he has passed off the literature of friendless young men for his own,
after making them a slight pecuniary compensation and deforming what was
originally excellent by interpolations of his own. This was his especial
practice with regard to translation, of which he would fain be esteemed
the king. This Radical literato is slightly acquainted with four or five
of the easier dialects of Europe, on the strength of which knowledge he
would fain pass for a universal linguist, publishing translations of
pieces originally written in various difficult languages; which
translations, however, were either made by himself from literal
renderings done for him into French or German, or had been made from the
originals into English, by friendless young men, and then deformed by his
alterations.

Well, the Radical got the appointment, and the writer certainly did not
grudge it him. He, of course, was aware that his friend had behaved in a
very base manner towards him, but he bore him no ill-will, and invariably
when he heard him spoken against,