ays: "Now, what sort
of law shall I give you? If I take it out of this book" (taking up a
black volume), "it will cost ten rupees. But if you want to have the
best law out of this book" (taking up a red volume), "it will cost
twenty rupees." The applicant probably agrees to take the twenty-rupee
law out of the red volume, naturally thinking that the best law is the
safest, even if it costs more.

It has been said that if you chance to hear two Indians talking
together, the word "money," or something relating to it, will almost
invariably be heard. In our crowded rural road, as villagers go to and
fro in pairs or groups, I have often tested the truth of this
proverbial saying. It is undoubtedly the case that perhaps in nine
cases out of ten they are discussing past or prospective earnings, or
some difficulty or quarrel connected with money matters. But this does
not necessarily indicate a love of money in the Western sense of the
expression. The majority of people in India are poor. The struggle
even for the small sum required for daily bread is often acute. The
conditions under which the majority of the poorer class of people have
to do their work has been already described. Hence the injustice which
they have received from their employers; hardships connected with
money earned but not paid, or only in part; the ups and downs of the
daily struggle for bread; these naturally form the burning questions
of the day, and they are the natural topics of conversation amongst
men and women. The very scarcity of money intensifies the temptation
to think too much of it when it has been acquired. It is not uncommon
to hear the critic of the Indian Christian say that he cares too much
for money. On the whole, it would probably be true to say that he does
not err more in this respect than the average Christian of the West.
But he happily retains a good deal of natural simplicity of character
and does not pretend to be different to what he really is, so that
when he is importunate for a rise of salary he does not think it
necessary to beat about the bush, or to appear to blush.

It is sometimes urged that though natives may dislike the often
brusque manner of some Englishmen, they are more than compensated by
getting in exchange English honesty and fair dealing. It is to be
feared that this boast has its limitations. In a country where it is
so difficult to find out what is the proper price of any article,
because the vendor almost