The wrath of Damzè may be easily imagined;
especially as he had boasted to several of his
officers, of having put a spoke in the
lieutenant's wheel. And by way of throwing
salt upon the colonel's wounds, the lieutenant
called upon him, and, in the politest manner
possible, inquired if there was anything he
could do for him at head-quarters !

While at Agra, a Bengalee Baboo called
upon me. Judging from his appearance, I
should have guessed his age to be about
fifty years; but he was upwards of seventy.
He spoke English with marvellous fluency,
and accuracy, and could read and write the
language as well and as elegantly as any
educated European. He was, perhaps, the
cleverest Hindoo whom I encountered during
my sojourn in the East. His manners were
peculiarly courteous and winning, and there
was an air of penitence about the man,
which, apart from his abilities, induced me
to treat him with kindness and consideration.
His name was — let us say — Nobinkissen.

The history of Nobinkissen was simply
this. He was a Brahmin of the highest
caste, and, at the age of eighteen was a writer
in the service of the Government, on a salary
of ten rupees per month. He ingratiated
himself with every civilian under whom he
served, and gradually rose, step by step,
until he became the Sheristadar or head-
clerk, of a circuit judge of a court of appeal.
In this office he acquired riches — and was
still adding to his store, when his official
career was brought prematurely to a close.

I must here inform the reader that not one
civilian in a hundred — no matter what his
rank or grade—can read and write
Hindoostanee or Persian, although the majority of
them have some colloquial knowledge of
both those languages. Yet, as a matter of
course, they append their signatures to every
document of which, on hearing it read aloud,
to them by their native officials, they approve.
Their orders they dictate orally; those orders
are transcribed by the Sheristadar, who gives
them to a native writer to copy. This done,
they are read aloud for correction or
approval, and then signed, in English, by the
covenanted civilian. Before leaving office
every day, such civilian may have to sign
fifty, sixty, or a hundred documents; for the
rule is, not to sign each of them when read;
but to sign them in a mass at the breaking
up of the court. Here Nobinkissen
invented his means of money-making.
Whenever the judge gave a decree in any
case of importance, he made a counterpart
of such decree, and, when the signing
time came, obtained, without any sort of
trouble or inquiry, the signature of the Sahib
and the seal of the Court to both documents.
He was thus, to all intents and purposes — or,
at all events, for his own — in possession of
something tantamount to the fee simple of
the lands in dispute. He could arm either
the appellant or the respondent with the
final decree of the Court, under the hand and
official seal of the judge. The only question
with him now was, which of the litigants
would give the most money ; — and to each in
private, and in the sahib's name, he exhibited
the documents. The highest bidder, of
course, gained the day, whereupon
Nobinkissen took the coin, handed over one of the
decrees, and burnt the other.

It fell out that Nobinkissen was attacked
with fever; and, in a state bordering on
delirium, he parted with, that is to say, sold,
to both respondent and appellant, a decree,
under the hand and seal of the judge; such
decree arming the holder with the power to
take possession of a very large estate in
Bengal. Each party, fearful of a disturbance,
which often occurs when possession of an
estate is sought for, applied to the magistrate
of a district, under a certain regulation of
government, for assistance, in order to enable
him to carry out the judge's decree, which
each, as a matter of course produced. The
magistrate was naturally much perplexed,
and made a reference to the judge, who could
only say he had signed but one decree. There
was then a report made to the government
by the magistrate. An investigation ensued,
and the judge was, meanwhile suspended,
for great suspicion lurked in the minds of
many that he was not so innocent as he
affected to be. When Nobinkissen recovered
from his sickness, and saw the dilemma in
which his superior, the judge, was placed, he
made a clean breast of it, and confessed that
the guilt was his, and his alone.
Nobinkissen was tried, convicted, and sentenced to
be imprisoned in irons for the term of his
natural life. For nine years he was in the
jail at Alipore, near Calcutta. At the
expiration of that period he was called upon to
furnish some information of which he was
possessed, in relation to certain public affairs.
He was brought from the prison, confronted
with several officials, amongst whom was a
member of the Council. His altered appearance,
his emaciated form, his attitude of
despair, and the intelligence and readiness
with which he responded to the questions put
to him, touched the hearts of those by whom
he was examined; and the member of
Council, who has been since a director of the
East India Company, spoke to the Governor-
General, and eventually obtained
Nobinkissen's pardon and release. The Hindoos,
and Mussulmans in India (like the Arabs),
do not regard being guilty ot a fraud or theft
as a disgrace. The degrading part of the
business is, being convicted, and
Nobinkissen, on being set at liberty, could not face
his countrymen in Bengal, and, therefore,
retired to the upper provinces, where he lived
in comparative obscurity, and in easy
circumstances; for he had not disgorged his
illgotten gains. His wife had taken care of
them during his captivity.