The new arrival incurs considerable hazard in
his selection of servants in the first instance.
Not only do their numbers render it out of the
question for him to communicate with the former
masters of those who present themselves as
candidates, but the masters themselves move about
so much that it would be a work of infinite
labour to find them, even if they are to be found
at all. To provide for this difficulty it has
become the custom to bestow upon every servant,
on dismissing him, a chittee, or letter, testifying to
his having been in your service, and giving him
what we call in Europe "a character." This
would be a very excellent arrangement if the
character could be relied on, but, unfortunately,
it can't. Chits (we abbreviate the word
in Anglo-Indian circles) are given too indiscriminately;
and even were they given only where
well deserved, it by no means follows that the
right man would always hold the right
testimonial. The truth is, that these testimonials
are passed from hand to hand, as occasion may
require, and are very often made the subject of
pecuniary dealings. In the China Bazaar, in
Calcutta, they are, I believe, a regular article of
merchandise, and may be borrowed or bought by
anybody who has occasion for them. As for the
unfortunate victim to whom they are submitted,
how is he likely to distinguish between the
Ramchunders who hold them and the Nubbee
Bakhshes to whom they properly refer? An
Englishman very seldom troubles himself about
the names of his servants. He calls them
generally by the names of their respective offices—
Bearer, Syce, &c. Their individual designations
he may pick up by degrees, as he does their
physiognomies, but it is by no means imperative that
he particularises thus far. It is not always that
he troubles himself to consider the dates of the
documents, which are in many cases
conspicuously inconsistent with the ages of the
holders. I was once presented, by a Khitmutgar
seeking a situation in my household, whose age
could not be more than five-and-twenty, with
a chit signed by Sir John Shore at the
beginning of the century, and certifying that the
bearer had served him long and faithfully, and
was a person whom he could strongly recommend.
Nor should I be very much surprised to have a
couple of chits submitted to me, by aspirants for
employment, to the following effect:

"This is to certify that the bearer was in my
employment for seventeen years as Khansamah.
I found him faithful and obedient, and have no
hesitation in recommending him as a good
servant.
"CLIVE."

"The bearer served me as a Syce for ten
years. I have much pleasure in bearing testimony
to his carefulness and general efficiency.
"W. HASTINGS."

It is almost impossible to gain a knowledge
of your servants' antecedents. Those already in
your employ will not implicate a new comer, even
though he be a convicted thief, or worse. They
hold it to be no business of theirs; neither
do they take the same serious view of crime
that we are accustomed to take in Europe.
Whatever a man is, or has been, it is his destiny,
they consider, and he is not to be hastily judged.
I heard of a native bearer, since the mutinies of
1857, who was a particular favourite in the
family where he was engaged—especially with
the children, to whom his kindness was remarkable.
All went well, until one day he was
identified as a principal agent in the outbreak at
Meerut, where, it seems, he had assisted in
slaughtering men, women, and children in cold
blood. His connexion with the new family was
broken off by his being hanged.

As a general rule, however, it must be said
that the natives are faithful to those whose salt
they eat. If they swindle their masters a little
themselves, it is only in accordance with a
custom which they consider to confer something
like a right, and most certainly they will not
allow anybody else to take a similar advantage.
Your Bearer, for instance, will relieve you of
many more or less considered trifles which he
chooses to think you do not want, and your
Khansamah will commit similar depredations in
the kitchen; but neither will go out of his
department to rob you, except under special
circumstances; while either may be generally
trusted with money, however large the amount.
To trust them in this way, indeed, is by far a
safer plan than to lock up against them; for
in the latter case they will be put upon their
ingenuity to defeat your purpose; and native
opinion looking upon robbery generally in a
charitable light, is even more lenient when the
offence is committed against the Feringhee. I
am inclined to think that many Hindoos and
Mussulmans of otherwise sound (Hindoo and
Mussulman) morality, look upon it as quite
justifiable—like the Scottish doctor who apologised
for killing his English patients, by remarking
that it would be a long time before he made up
for Flodden.

As illustrative of the peculiar views of honesty
taken by the native conscience, I cannot do
better than recite a case in point. The following
letter—which I have preserved among some
other curiosities of the kind—was addressed to
me at Allahabad, in the year 1860, by a native
writer, or clerk, who solicited employment in
my establishment, or "department," as he chose
to call it, with a view to which he proposed
relinquishing a similar position which he held in
a government office. I copy his letter textually.
The writer took great credit to himself for his
proficiency in the English language:

"Sir,—I most respectfully beg leave to
inform you with these few lines as follows:

"That my earnest desire to know the office
hours of your department, whether it is ten to
four, or it is any other customs. Because I
wish to settle about my lodging, where am I to
keep in. My present lodging is near the Chouk.
Also I shall feel much obliged by your informing
me whether your office department shuts on
Sunday as the others does.