144 THE PURBHOO 



it the whole machinery would assuredly go out of 

 order. Nor is it easy to see how we could replace 

 him. Not one of the other castes would serve even 

 as a makeshift. They are all too far removed from 

 the Brahmin. But the Purbhoo is near him, irri- 

 tatingly near him, and he has proved in practice to 

 be just the sort of homoeopathic remedy we require, 

 the counter-irritant, the outward blister by wise 

 application of which we can keep down the internal 

 inflammation. 



In speaking of the Brahmin as an inflammation 

 in the body politic I disown all offensive and 

 invidious implications. I am only using a convenient 

 simile. You may reverse it if you like and make 

 the disease stand for the Purbhoo, in which case 

 the Brahmin will be the blister. Which way fits 

 the facts best will depend upon which caste chances 

 at the time to be nearest to the vitals of Government. 



The case stands thus. Before the days of British 

 rule the Brahmin was the priest and man of letters, 

 the " clerke " in short. The rajahs and chiefs 

 were much of the same mind as old Douglas : 



Thanks to Saint Bothan son of mine, 

 Save Gawain, ne'er could pen a line, 



Gawain being a bishop. As a Mohammedan gentle- 

 man related to one of the ruling Indian princes put 

 the matter when speaking to me a few years ago, 

 " In those days none of us could write. Our pen 

 was the sword. If any writing had to be done the 



