system, while disappointed candidates would curse Fortune, who has a
broader back than the Prime Minister. No doubt examinations were
introduced on the same sort of principle, to act as a buffer between
the train of candidates and the engine of Government. That the
examination often comes after instead of before the appointment is a
necessary modification, without which no room would be left for the
play of those kindly feelings for kith and kin which we bitterly
nickname nepotism. Under this arrangement I have known a needy nepos
of H. E. himself provided with a salary for a whole year, till he
could hold the examination at bay no longer, when he evacuated his
position and retreated to his friends. Whatever the explanation of
the matter may be, it falls to the lot of most of us to experience
the Pundit. I may remark here that he is very commonly called a
Moonshee, on the same principle on which a horse is not called a cow.
The Pundit is not a Moonshee. The Moonshee is a follower of the
Prophet and teaches Oordoo, or Hindoostanee, while the Pundit is a
Brahmin and instructs you in Marathee or Gujarathee. The Moonshee
struggles to get you to disgorge the sound ghain and leads you
through the enchanted mazes of the Bagh-o-Bahar; the Pundit
distinguishes between the kurmunnee and the kurturree prayog, and has
many knotty points of mythology to expound, in order that you may
rightly understand his idioms and appreciate his proverbial sayings.
Of Pundits there are three species, quite distinct from each other.
The first I would recommend if your object should, by any chance, be
to learn to speak the language intelligibly; but he knows no English,
and you must gird yourself to work if you employ him. This sort of
teacher does not suit the tastes of the present generation and is
dying out, I think. The second kind is invaluable if your purpose is
to pass an examination. He knows English well, dresses smartly, and
is altogether a superior sort of person to the last, especially in