Siyar al-mutaʾakhkhirin 28.2.1

28.2.1

The melting of the candle affords a hold to the moth: The oppressor finds his livelihood close to the oppressed. Thanks be to God, that since the Fodjdary has been taken from the Indians, and lodged in the hands of English Gentlemen, these violences have ceased, and the weather has a little cleared up for the poor. May God grant that, in other matters likewise, evil may be changed into good! The third cause that hinders the tranquillity of the country, and proves a bar to the happiness of the people, may be found out in the endless variations in the persons appointed to posts of trust and charges of importance. In this country the custom was, first of all, to enquire thoroughly into any one's faculties and abilities, to examine into his fitness and into the goodness of his character, and then to appoint him to an office, where, as soon as his talents, his exactitude, and his good management had been put to the test, he was confirmed, of course; and he acquired daily an experience, which enabled him to dispatch business with so much vivacity and steadiness, that life was like a parterre laid out with odoriferous flowers of delightful hues. But these rules and maxims are not adhered to by the English. They appoint to offices, at their pleasure, or on powerful recommendation, or on the seniority of rank, without minding whether the appointed is completely incapable of fulfilling his duty, or unlikely ever after to acquire abilities.