etween a native barrister, and a farmer
called Rambaksh, and between them as much evil is said of us and our rule
as can well be packed into so short a space. As an instance of the way in
which the English officials ill-treat the natives, Rambaksh declares that
because on one occasion he had not furnished enough grass for the horses
of the collector--Mr. Zabardust (literally a brutal and overbearing
tyrant), he had been struck by the Sahib over the face and mouth, and that
by his orders he (Rambaksh) had been "dragged away and flogged till he
became insensible. It was months before he could walk" (p. 209 of Report).
Then the India of the present is contrasted with what India would be if it
were under the rule of the Congress, and an allegorical comparison is made
between the village of Kambaktpur (the abode of misery) and that of
Shamshpur (the abode of joy). The moral is that British rule, which is
typified by the former, is making the people poorer and poorer, that
through it land is going out of cultivation, that oxen for the plough are
becoming scarce, that the villages are going to ruin, and that nothing
nourishes except the liquor shops in which the Government encourages
drinking, while the very irrigation works we are providing as a protection
against famine are described as an evil, and a mere pretext for extorting
more money from the people. The village of Shamshpur (the abode of joy),
on the other hand, is described in glowing colours, and we need hardly say
is the home of the institutions to be introduced by the Congress. The only
conclusion to be drawn from all this by the masses of India is, that the
sooner they rebel against the existing rule, and substitute for it the
rule of the Congress, the sooner will they leave the abode of misery, and
enter the abode of joy, where all the delights to be provided by the
Congress will be theirs. The imaginary dialogue concludes (p. 214) with a
demand for money to carry on the work, and the barrister suggests to the
farmer various injurious means for the collection, which Rambaksh promises
to carry out. He then tenders payment of some fees previously owing to the
barrister, who indeed receives the money, but magnanimously declares his
intention of enrolling Rambaksh as a member of the association, and paying
in the fees as a contribution from Rambaksh. "Blessed are the earnings of
the virtuous which go to the service of God," said the barrister, and with
this pious uttera