intelligence, integrity, and sound moral principles. All these distinguished individuals are descended from _Peeralee_ ancestors. Few have more deservedly merited the respect and esteem of their countrymen, or better vindicated their rightful claim to the honors bestowed on some of them. If they are denounced as outcasts, such outcasts are the ornaments of the country. If they are far in the rear of caste they are assuredly far in the van of intelligence, ability, mental activity, refinement and honesty. If to be a _Peeralee_ were an indelible stigma, it is certainly a glory to the whole nation that such a noble and stainless character as Baboo Debendernauth Tagore is a member of the same family. We would search in vain among the countless myriads of India for such a meek, spotless, but bright and glorious model. It is, moreever, to the _Peeralee_ or Tagore family that the enlightened Hindoo community of Calcutta is principally indebted for its refined taste and elevated ideas. May they continue to shed their benign influence not only on the rising but unborn generations of their countrymen, and carry on the work of reformation, not with the impetuosity of rash innovators, but with the cool deliberation of reflecting minds. The rules of caste are not now strictly observed, and their observance is scarcely compatible with the spirit of the age, and in one sense we have scarcely a Hindoo in Bengal, especially amongst those who live in the Presidency town and the district towns. The distinction of caste is more honored in the breach than in the observance of it.[89] As English schools and colleges are multiplying in every nook and corner of the empire, more liberal ideas and principles are being imbibed by the Hindoo youths, which bid fair in process of time to exercise a regenerating influence on the habits of the people. Idolatry, and its necessary concomitant, priestcraft, is fast losing its hold on their minds; a new phase of life indicates the near approach of an improved order of things; ideas which had for ages been pent up in the dark, dreary cell of ignorance now find a free outlet, and the recipients of knowledge breathe a purer atmosphere, clear of the hazy mists that had hitherto clouded their intellect. To a philanthropist such a forecast is in the highest degree encouraging. The distinction of caste has also received a fatal blow by the frequent visits of young and aspiring native gentlemen to England for the purpose of completing their education there. This growing desire among the rising generation should be encouraged as it has an excellent tendency to promote the moral and intellectual improvement of the nation. The late Baboo Ramdoolal Dey,[90] of Calcutta, who was a self-made man and a millionaire, was a Dullaputty or head of a party. When the subject of caste was discussed, he emphatically said, that "the caste was in his iron chest," the meaning of which was that money has the power of restoring caste.