"Steam to India" was nevertheless almost stifled at its birth, and its early progress sadly fettered and retarded by those whose duty it was to have fostered and encouraged it--I mean the East India Company. From this censure of a body I would exclude some of their servants in India, and particularly a name that may be new to your readers in connexion with this subject, that of the late Mr. Charles P. Greenlaw of Calcutta, to whom I would ascribe all honour and glory as the great _precursor_ of the movement, subsequently so triumphantly achieved by the Peninsular and Oriental Company. This gentleman, at the head of the East India Company's Marine Establishment in Bengal, brought all the enthusiasm of his character to bear upon the question of steam _viâ_ the Red Sea; and raised such an agitation in the several Presidencies, that the _slow coach_ in Leadenhall Street was compelled to move on, and Mr. Greenlaw lived to see his labours successful. Poor Greenlaw was as deaf as a post, and usually carried on his arm a flexible pipe, with an ivory tip and mouth-piece, through which he received the communications of his friends. How often have I seen him, after an eloquent appeal on behalf of his scheme, hand this to the party he would win over to his views: and if the responses sent through it were favourable, he was delighted; but, if the contrary, his irascibility knew no bounds; and snatching his pipe from the mouth of the senseless man who could not see the value of "steam for India," he would impatiently coil it round his arm, and, with a recommendation to the less sanguine to give the subject the attention due to its importance, would whisk himself off to urge his point in some other quarter! I have already said that Mr. Greenlaw lived to see the overland communication firmly established; and his fellow citizens, to mark their high estimation of his character, and the unwearied application of his energies in the good cause, have embellished their fine "Metcalfe Hall" with a marble bust of this best of advocates for the interests of India. J. O. * * * * * PARALLEL PASSAGES. (Vol. viii., p. 372.) Adopting the suggestion of F. W. J., I contribute the following parallel passages towards the collection which he proposes: 1. "And He said unto them, Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth."--Luke xii. 15. "Non possidentem multa vocaveris Recte beatum; rectius occupat Nomen beati, qui Deorum Muneribus sapienter uti, Duramque callet pauperiem pati; Pejusque leto flagitium timet."--Hor. _Carm._, lib. IV. ode ix. 2. "For that which I do I allow not: for what I would that do I not; but what I hate that do I."--Rom. vii. 15. "Sed trahit invitam nova vis; aliudque Cupido, Mens aliud suadet. Video meliora, proboque: Deteriora sequor."--Ovid, _Metam._, lib. VII. 19-21.