He alludes to the Hindoos, and the ceremony of Suttee, encouraged by the Brahmins.

Flinching.—Vide Cic. Tuscul. Disp. ii. 14.

“Every man is the architect of his own fortune.” Sallust, in his letters “De Republic Ordinand,” attributes these words to Appius Claudius Cæcus, a Roman poet whose works are now lost. Lord Bacon, in the Latin translation of his Essays, which was made under his supervision, rendered the word “poet” “comicus;” by whom he probably meant Plautus, who has this line in his “Trinummus” (Act ii, sc. 2): “Nam sapiens quidem pol ipsus fingit fortunam sibi,” which has the same meaning, though in somewhat different terms.

“A serpent, unless it has devoured a serpent, does not become a dragon.”

Or “desenvoltura,” implying readiness to adapt one’s self to circumstances.

Impediments, causes for hesitation.

“In that man there was such great strength of body and mind, that, in whatever station he had been born, he seemed as though he should make his fortune.”

“A versatile genius.”