e of any result at all from their pains,
whilst a foreign rascal (without any allegation of merit in his favour)
shall at one bound, by planting his servility in the right quarter and
at the fortunate hour, vault into an income of 25,000 francs per
annum; the money, observe, being national money--yours, ours,
everybody's--since at that period Ceylon did not pay her own expenses.
Now, indeed, she does, and furnishes beside, annually, a surplus of
L50,000 sterling. But still, we contend that places of trust, honour,
and profit, won painfully by British blood, are naturally and rightfully
to be held in trust as reversions for the children of the family. To
return, however, and finish the history of our scamp, it happened that
through the regular action of his office, and in part perhaps through
some irregular influence or consideration with which his station
invested him, he became the depositary of many sums saved laboriously
by poor Ceylonese. These sums he embezzled; or, as a sympathizing
countryman observed of a similar offence in similar circumstances, he
'gave an irregular direction to their appropriation.' You see, he could
not forget his old Marseilles tricks. This, however, was coming it too
strong for his patron, who in spite of his taste for adulation was a
just governor. Our poor friend was summoned most peremptorily to account
for the missing dollars; and because it did not occur to him that he
might plead, as another man from Marseilles in another colony had done,
'that the white ants had eaten the dollars,' he saw no help for it but
to cut his throat, and cut his throat he did. This being done, you may
say that he had given such a receipt as he could, and had entitled
himself to a release. Well, we are not unmerciful; and were the case of
the creditors our own, we should not object. But we remark, besides the
private wrong, a posthumous injury to the British nation which this
foreigner was enabled to commit; and it was twofold: he charged the
pension-list of Ceylon with the support of his widow, in prejudice of
other widows left by our meritorious countrymen, some of whom had died
in battle for the State; and he had attainted, through one generation at
least, the good faith of our nation amongst the poor ignorant
Cinghalese, who cannot be expected to distinguish between true
Englishmen and other Europeans whom English governors may think proper
to exalt in the colony.

Cases such as these, it is well known t