es freely about, he is
constantly receiving information about the people in a degree which he
himself does not always realize. If his residence be prolonged for many
years, as he looks back to his first year, and remembers its experience,
he finds that his views have been greatly enlarged, on many points
greatly modified; he is sure that his knowledge is much more accurate
and mature; but there is scarcely any subject on which he finds his
views entirely reversed.

[Sidenote: THE EXPERIENCE OF THE FIRST YEAR.]

This, at least, has been my experience. I have a vivid remembrance of my
first year in Benares--a much more vivid remembrance than I have of
subsequent years, and it would be strange if I did not find that my
views on many Indian subjects have been greatly modified, and on all
much enlarged; but I do not discover that on any subject there has been
a complete reversal.

I have already mentioned that on my voyage from Calcutta to Benares I
spent much of my time in the study of the Hindustanee language, commonly
called Urdu. Within a week of my arrival I gave myself to it with all
the application of which I was capable. I had as my teacher a munshee,
who had been long employed by the missionaries of our Society, but who
could not speak a sentence in English, though he knew the Roman
character well. I was told that his ignorance of English would prove an
advantage, as I should on this account be obliged to speak to him, in
however broken and limping a fashion, in the language which it was
indispensable for me to acquire. We had before us an English and
Hindustanee Dictionary, a Hindustanee and English Dictionary, a
Hindustanee Grammar, and a book of easy sentences in both languages in
the Roman character. At first my teacher and myself had to put things
into many forms before reaching mutual intelligibility; but gradually
our work became easier, and when two or three months had passed we
fairly understood each other--I trying to express myself in Hindustanee,
and he performing the much-needed work of correcting my words and idiom.
I commenced with a portion of the New Testament, and soon got into some
of the classics of the language. The use of the Roman character in the
writing of Indian languages had been strongly advocated by Sir Charles
Trevelyan, by Dr. Duff, and other men of mark, and was accepted by the
majority of the missionaries. Portions of the Scriptures and other books
were printed in it. Like all you