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But our "Illustrious" is not precisely of that opinion. Mr. Hume's pride and self-opinion — he argues — wish as our saying goes — that all mankind had only two bent knees, to make puja to him; and he M. is not going to humour him. He will do nothing, of course, to harm or even to vex him purposely; on the contrary, he means to always protect him as he has done until now; but — he will not lift his little finger to disabuse him.

The substance and pith of his argument are summed up in the following:

"Hume laughed and chuckled at real, genuine phenomena (the production of which have brought us well nigh into the Chohan's disgrace) — only and solely because the manifestations were not sketched by himself, nor were they produced in his honour or for his sole benefit. And now let him feel happy and proud over mysterious manifestations of his own making and creation. Let him taunt Sinnett in the depths of his own proud heart, and even by throwing out hints to others — that even he, Sinnett, was hardly so favoured. No one has ever attempted a deliberate deception, nor would anyone be permitted to attempt anything of the sort. Everything was made to follow its natural, ordinary course. Fern is in the hands of two clever — 'dwellers of the threshold' as Bulwer would call them — two dugpas kept by us to do our scavengers' work, and to draw out the latent vices — if there be any — from the candidates; and Fern has shown himself on the whole, far better and more moral than he was supposed to be. Fern has done but what he