something rich in life. This was the soul-force
that influenced my nature in childhood; and
whatever faults I can recall were committed
when my father's influence was not operating
on me directly, or seemed remote for a time.
Even now, though he has been dead forty-five
years, my moral nature is reinvigorated when
I think of him."
When I requested Sir Nizamat Jung to give
me some details about his early home education,
he replied, " Shall we give this somewhat pomp-
ous title, to those happy careless days full of
sunshine, during which I was led on towards
knowledge less by means of books than by the
persuasive guidance of affectionate teachers ?
How I learned the alphabet I do not remember,
but I found myself able to read a Persian book,
Nigar-i-Danish, when I was about nine years old,
and it is delightful to recall how I went about with
an Urdu version of the Shahnama, shouting verses
out of it and fancying myself Rustam before I was
ten. The dramatic reading of my teacher, Moulvi
Mohammad Vasil, with natural elocution and
appropriate gestures made the scenes real to me.
English also came to me in the same easy and
pleasant manner and all my reading seemed a
pleasing pastime, not a task. Teacher and pupil
seemed to join in getting pleasure out of friendly
meetings at which books were allowed to be
present. Such was the method of teaching in
those days, and teaching and learning were names
given to gathering pictures in the mind. This is