Evening star., 1921-09-11
Translated From the French by
WILLIAM L.. MCPHERSON.


WILLIAM L.. MCPHERSON.
~HE Honorable John Hertford
is ID judge at Nazinabad, in
Nor -hrrn india. II Is useless
to hunt for Nazinabad on the
map. 1t is name which l
have invented. Eut the rest of the
story is true.
John Hertford has a salary of
twenty-five hundred pounds. Never
theless. he runs IN debt little more
each year because he is gentleman.
He knows also that he will end by
being made some day a judge in Ben
gal. at double his present salary, pro-
vided he doesn't die in the meantime
of cholera. In either case his ac-
counts will be squared. The trades
men whom he makes wait and the
native usurer who lends him money
have euv.sagvd these two EypOtheses
clearly as he has They nave III
Hated their charges proportionateiy.
So John Hertford sleeps each night,
after his last peg of wnisky, with his
soul al peace.
Three times a week he goes to his
court and judges there. with equal
conscienIiousn. IS and celebrity. all the
cases there are to be judged, and as
they ought to be judged. l mean to
say that if u case concerns the en-
pire he makes the decision the most
advantageous to the empire. If it
is one between an English function
AIRY and native he imposes the
severest penalty on the latter, il he
is in the least in the wrong, in order
to make him respect the white man 8
superiority. If the white man is in
the wrong the judge advises him to
settle the matter discTeetiy out OF
court. like gentleman. II not, he
will suffer al his club, at the hands OF
his fellow white Inen. punishment
more painful even than ueath. But
when the litigation concerns two Hin
docs the Honorable John sends it as
quickly as poss. BILE to a HindOo judge,
who generally decides in favor of Ine
richer and against the poorer. Long
experience has shown that this Is best
for the security of the ehr.rc-
rich having more friends and justice
consisting, If one wishes still to con-
slider the interests of empire. in max
ing the fewest %" ~ - malcontents.
Tn the warm hou- y. LIE day. when
he cannot sleep, John Hertford
sometimes reads the weekly edition
of the Times or the. Pioneer. which
sporting journals. All other reading
matter seems to him "rot"-that is to
say. without value or Significance.
He had this idea already when he was
at sch ool in England. and the exer-
Csc of his profession has proved to
Inn tina. after asS.fnIiat ii
the general rules of law he has moth
ing to gain from reading the news
papers AS for what one needs to
know a five-minute conversation at
the club with a competent man Is
more profitable than any tedious read
ing. So the judge at Nazinadab has
much time LETT to play golf or polo.
which are noble sports. keep the
limbs supple and the mind clear and
prevent one from taking on too much
weight. For physical Incidence not
only relaxes the muscles of the arms
and legs. but also the ligaments of
the stomach. and when fat has stolen
into the interstices one is very sus-
ceptible to disorders of the liver.
So John Hertford's life had run
along. even and reasonably happy.
cent years the detestable doctrines of
the European revolutionaries have
been introduced into India. There have
been famines. of which the people
have a horrible memory, forgetting
that. without the English. lack of
sovereigns would have. made these
famines even more terrible. There
have been also the Japanese victories.
then the war-the great war-and
which is British and also French, of
the right of nations to self govern
ment through a parliament. English
liberals have had the imprudence to
spread instruction in these matters
among the younger Hindoos.
To k q a of
these young Hindoos delivered SUBJ
versive speeches and wrote in their
own language books. pamphlets and
newspaper articles. in which they de-
manded in vague but ardent terms a
thing called liberty. When they were
brought before his tribunal John
Hertford punished them severely, al
ways in the interest of the empire.
He did this all the more sincerely be-
cause his interpreters translation OF
their writings inspired him with 2
very mediocre opinion of this sort OF
literature. 1t was grandiloquent and
confused, cited few facts and abound
ed in lyrical or abusive expressions
of which the judge himself had little
comprehension beyond that they were
in bad taste and had an unpleasant
nativist taint. He didn't know that at
the beginning of a popular movement
phrases which are worn, commonplace
or vulgar may conceal genuine feel
ing.
It wasn't so with a friend of his
Mrs. Ethel Hobson, who gave him
word of warning. What Is called
feminine intuition comes from the
fact that women have perceptions less
blunted by education than men have
And then Mrs. Hobson's ayah, her
native maid, had perhaps spoken. to
"You oughtn't to be SO severe with
them" she said to Hertford one day.
with whom?" he asked. greatly as
tonished.
with these babus. these young
mahrattas, who write foolish things
They have their friends. and these
friends may do you injury.
John Hertford made no answer ane
thought no more of the matter. II
was as II some one had said that II
playing polo you might break leg
That oughtn't to prevent you from
''A''"s ''''' ****
IJB continued. then. to discharge his
- duties az he had done in the past
He had journalists whipped. He sen
fenced agitators to be hanged. For HI
thought such was his duty to the EN-.
pire. But one day Higginson of thu
Dslios survey appeared.
sWAsre - tie bombf" asked Hig.