multitude of painful and vexatious evils, which meet us at
every turn, for it hampers the actions, and clogs those efforts at
progress which are the natural result of intellectual advancement. And
here I cannot do better than quote the words of a Parsee gentleman, whose
unceasing efforts to aid the progress of India entitle him to be placed
in the very highest rank of those who spend much time and labour to
produce effects which they can never live to see the fruits of. These
remarks of his, which I am now about to quote, were made at the close of a
paper on caste, which I read at a meeting of the East India Association,
and are quoted from the report published in the journal of the
Association. After fully granting that, in the condition of society
existing at the time the system of caste was established, it may have done
a great deal of good, Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji proceeded to remark on the way
the present system of caste interferes with progress among the higher
classes, and then gave several instances to illustrate his observation.
"The great struggle," he said, "which is now going on in Bombay about the
widow-marriage question is an apt illustration of this; and, also, the
fear of excommunication prevents a large body of natives from coming to
this country, and profiting by their visit. It is often said, 'educated
Hindoos ought not to care for this excommunication;' but those who say
that, little think what excommunication means. A man who is excommunicated
may not care for it for his own sake, but he has his family to consider.
What is to be done with daughters? They cannot marry if their father is
excommunicated, and the result is, therefore, most serious to them. I knew
of one instance of a native gentleman who, being excommunicated from his
caste for having visited England, had, on the death of his child, been put
to the very painful necessity of having the body carried by his servant,
without anyone accompanying him."

It would be impossible, I think, to furnish two better instances of the
evils of caste to people desirous of shaking off in any way the habits of
their forefathers; and a more melancholy picture than that of this
unfortunate man setting out with his dead child without a single friend
to accompany him it would indeed be difficult to find. Many other
illustrations might, of course, be given; but enough has been said
already, and we may safely consider it as a settled question that, as far
as the pe