difice, in which the afflicted are lodged, fed,
and kindly treated. Would that we had such institutions in Hindustan!"
In pursuance of this feeling, we now find him visiting the Blind Asylum
and the Deaf and Dumb School; and the circumstantial details into which
he enters of the comforts provided for the inmates of these
establishments, and the proficiency which many of them had attained in
trades and accomplishments apparently inconsistent with their
privations, sufficiently evidences the interest with which he regarded
these benevolent institutions. Another spectacle of the same character,
which he had an opportunity of witnessing about this period, was the
annual procession of the charity children to St Paul's:--"I obtained a
seat near the officiating _imam_ or high priest, and saw near ten
thousand children of both sexes, belonging to the different eleemosynary
establishments, which are deservedly the pride of this country, all
clothed in an uniform dress, while every corner was filled with
spectators. After the _khotbah_ (prayer) was read, they began to sing,
not in the ordinary manner, but, as I was given to understand, so as to
involve a form of prayer and thanksgiving. I was told that they belonged
to many schools,[12] and are brought here once a year, that those who
contribute to their support may witness the progress they have made, as
well as their health and appearance."

The military college at Addiscombe, for the education of the cadets of
the East India Company's army, would naturally be to the Khan an object
of peculiar interest; and thither he accordingly repaired, in company
with several of his friends, apparently members of the Indian direction,
on the occasion of the examination of the students by Colonel
Pasley.[13] "After partaking of a sumptuous luncheon, we went to the
students' room, where they were examined in various branches of the
military science, as mathematics, fortification, drawing, &c., besides
various languages, one of which was the Oordoo."[14] After the close of
the examination, and the distribution of prizes to the successful
candidates,[15] the company repaired to the grounds, where the Khan was
astonished by the quickness and precision with which the cadets took to
pieces and reconstructed the pontoons, and went through other operations
of military engineering; and still more by a subaqueous explosion of
powder by the means of the voltaic battery--"a method by which Colonel
Pasle