most reasonable of beings the
most unreasonable. Arguments and warnings are wasted upon him, and you
can only leave him alone and deal with him when he has recovered.

When shallowness of nature has been recognised as being that of the
average Indian, it simplifies your relations with him. You take him as
he is, and enjoy the many attractive qualities which flourish, up to a
certain point, in the shallow soil. It also makes it easier to govern
him, supposing you have responsibilities of that nature, if you
understand that you must not depend too much on certain qualities
which he only possesses in a limited degree. And this is equally true
whether your responsibility extends only to one or two individuals, or
whether it embraces a wide area and large populations.

With the Indian boy, for instance, firmness and kindness must be
judiciously blended. It is no good arguing with him in times of
difficulty, or you will stir up that latent spirit of obstinacy. Rules
concerning work or conduct must be clearly laid down, and deviations
taken notice of at once. Almost all Indians require the stimulus of
supervision to keep them up to their work. But many Indian boys are
slow in learning the duties of their office, whatever it may be. They
must be given time, and the same thing may have to be often patiently
explained before it is digested. A word of commendation for good work
or conduct may be dropped now and then, but not too often, or it will
be taken as an indication that a less amount of exertion will suffice.

The question of punishment should always be very carefully thought out
beforehand. But if threatened, and really earned, it is best given.
"Letting off" is looked upon as a sign of weakness, and does not
stimulate gratitude. Reasonable punishment, given good-temperedly, as
the proper due for debt incurred, never produces ill-feeling. But the
Indian boy smarts under a sense of injustice, and his case ought
always to be carefully weighed, and what he has to say in his defence
patiently listened to, and due deference should be shown to his
special characteristics as an Eastern and not a European. Also, the
infinite variety of character to be found amongst Indian boys should
be taken into account. They must be dealt with, not as a flock, but
as individuals.

The old Anglo-Indians of the "Lawrence" school, who were for the most
part eminently Christian men, ruled India much on the same lines as if
it was a large boys'