often made, especially by new comers, that the native servants each perform only one particular duty, and refuse to assist in any others, urging that it is against their caste; and comparisons are drawn between them and the English servant, who will do anything he is bid to do. As to caste, the natives merely urge that as an excuse, because they think it more likely to meet with attention; what they mean is, “It is not my business.” A little consideration will show us a very tolerable parallel between India and England on this subject.
If my readers will observe the ménage of a native, or even of an Englishman, in India, whose income is so moderate as only to allow him to keep two or three servants, he will find that they perform nearly as great a variety of services as any domestic at home. But even there, it is only in families similarly situated in society that these “servants of all work” are to be found. The English in India have chosen to adopt the style of noblemen and men of large fortune in England: almost every man chooses to have his butler, (khansamah,) two or three table attendants, head valet, messengers, &c., &c.; not that the individuals employed are at all qualified for these situations; it is only the dignity of the name, for which the masters are obliged to pay accordingly. Among the young members of the civil service, during their residence at college, whose salary is about three hundred a year, may be found many who pay twenty pounds of that sum annually to a clerk to keep their accounts; it being below their dignity to do it for themselves.
It is among the establishments of men of rank and fortune in England that the parallel to this must be sought. Where a butler, under-butler, two or three footmen, valet, coachman, groom, stable-boy, house-keeper, lady’s-maid, head-nurse, with two or three nursery-maids, upper and lower house-maid, laundress, cook, kitchen-maid, scullion, &c., are retained, there is just as much caste, in this respect, as there is among the native servants. Try the experiment: order the butler to stand behind the carriage; the powdered footman to sweep the stable; the coachman to clean the horses; the lady’s-maid to sweep the room; the upper house-maid to scrub the fire-grate; the cook to
