Called in the language of the day Foṭadár*. The treasury should be located near the residence of the governor and the situation should be such where it is not liable to injury. He should receive from the culti­vator any kind of mohurs, rupees or copper that he may bring, and not demand any particular coin. He shall require no rebate on the august coinage of the realm but take merely the equivalent of the deficiency in coin-weight. Coinage of former reigns he shall accept as bullion. He shall keep the treasure in a strong room with the knowledge of the shiḳdár* and the registrar, and count it every ēvening and cause a memorandum thereof to be signed by the Collector and compare the day-ledger with the regis­trar's account and authenticate it by his signature. On the door of the treasury as sealed by the Collector, he should place a lock of his own, and open it only with the cognisance of the Collector and registrar. He shall not receive any monies from the cultivator save with the knowledge of the Collector and registrar, and he shall grant a receipt for the same. He shall cause the patwári's signature to be affixed to the ledger known in Hindustan as bahi, so that discrepancy may be avoided. He shall consent to no disbursements without the voucher of the diwán,* and shall enter into no usurious transactions. If any expenditure should be necessary that admits of no delay, he may act under the authority of the registrar and shiḳdár and represent the case to government. The aforementioned duties, from those of the commander of the troops up to this point, are primarily under the direct cognisance of the sovereign authority and as no one individual can perform them, a deputy is appointed for each function and thus the necessary links in administration are strengthened.

Since the benefit and vigour of human action are referrible to bodily sustenance, so in proportion to its purity is the spirit strengthened; the body, were it otherwise, would grow corpulent and the spirit weak: the thoughts too under such a regimen, incline to refinement and actions to virtue. The seekers of felicity, sober in conduct, are before all things particularly careful in the matter of food and do not pollute their hands with every meat. To the simple in heart who fear God, labour is difficult and their means of living straitened. They have not that luminous insight which penetrating to the essence of things, dwells in repose, but through fear of the displeasure of God, are sunk in exhaustion of soul from the pangs of hunger. As for instance in the case of the man who possessed a few cows, his legitimate property, and subsisted on their milk. By the accident of fortune, it chanced that they were carried off, and he passed some days fasting. An active fellow after diligent pursuit brought them back, but he would not accept them and replied, “I know not whence those dumb animals have had food during these past few days.” In a short space this simple soul died. Many tales are told of such dull-witted crea­tures who have thus passed away. There are also avaricious worldlings who do not recognize the difference between other people's property and their own, and gratify themselves at the expense of their spiritual and temporal good. The ignorant and distraught in mind, making their own necessities an occasion of spoilation and seizure, prepare for themselves eternal punishment.

Simple, innocent-minded folk consider that there are no unappropriated waste lands and were they obtainable, it would be difficult to furnish the implements of cultivation, and if these could be had, the means of providing food which would enable them to labour, are not manifest. They can dis­cover no mine to excavate, and if one were pointed out to them which had no owner, it would be extremely onerous to obtain a living therefrom. They are averse too, from the profession of arms, lest dear life be the exchange for base lucre. They withdraw themselves also from commerce for this reason that many ask a high price for their goods, conceal their deficiencies and praise them for qualities which are not in them, while they close their eyes to the evident excellencies of what they purchase and disparage it for faults it does not possess, preferring their own benefit to another's loss. And they disapprove also of those who are content to hold lawful the sequestration of the goods of rival sectaries, and they affirm that if the fautor of such pretension be discerning and wise, it will seem an occasion for additional anxiety rather than a sanction to retain the property of another; for how can the illicit seizure of what is another's be commend­able on the score of a difference of faith? On the contrary, it is a sugges­tion of the evil one, a phantasy of the dreams of the avaricious and unfit for the ears of the good. At the present time His Majesty has placed a lamp upon the highway before all men, that they may distinguish the road from the pitfalls, and sink not into the slough of perdition, nor pass their dear lives in unprofitableness.

Since there is infinite diversity in the natures of men and distractions internal and external daily increase, and heavy-footed greed travels post haste, and light-headed rage breaks its rein, where friendship in this demon-haunted waste of dishonour is rare, and justice lost to view, there is, in sooth, no remedy for such a world of confusion but in autocracy, and this panacea in administration is attainable only in the majesty of just monarchs. If a house or a quarter cannot be administered without the sanctions of hope and fear of a sagacions ruler, how can the tumult of this world-nest of hornets be silenced save by the authority of a vicegerent of Almighty power? How, in such a case can the property, lives, honour, and religion of the people be protected, notwithstanding that some recluses have imagined that this can be supernaturally accomplished, but a well-ordered administration has never been effected without the aid of sovereign monarchs. That fiery wilderness of talismanic power, too, is haunted by spells and sorcerers, and storms of confusion from this sea of undiscern­ment have arisen and arise, and many souls, through simplicity and short­sightedness, in the turbulent billows of inexperience have been and are still ever engulfed, while those who by the light of wisdom and through the grace of acceptance have bridled their desires and garnered provisions for the long journey to come, have, in the cross-roads of distraction, become the reproach of high and low, for their folly, irreligion and unbelief. In that assembly of ignorance should a philosopher of experience enter, he must needs take up the fashion of fools and so escape from the contumely of the base.

It is evident that in all cultivated areas, the possessors of property are numerous, and they hold their lands by ancestral descent, but through malevolence and despite, their titles become obscured by the dust of uncertainty and the hand of firmness is no longer stretched above them. If the cultivator hold in awe the power of the Adorner of the universe and the Elixir of the living, and the merchant turn back from evil designing and reflect in his heart on the favour of the lord of the world, the depository of divine grace, his possessions would assuredly be approved of wisdom. Thus the virtue of property lies in the pledge of intention, and a just ruler, like a saltbed, makes clean the unclean, and the evil good. But without honest coadjutors, abundant accessories of state and a full treasury even he could effect nothing and the condition of subserviency and obedience would lack the bloom of discipline. Now the man of robust frame should, in the first place, choose the profession of arms and reflect on the assistance which he is capable of rendering, so as to regard his life as devoted to the task of preserving human society from dissolution. The means of sustenance are likewise as abundant to the labourer as forage for his cattle. But if a man is unequal to this, he should endeavour, in some way, to enter into the number of state servants. Thus the currency of the means of sub­sistence rests on a twofold basis, viz., the justice of sovereign monarchs and regard to the welfare of well-disposed dependents. The base materialist understands not the language of reason and never transcends the limits of bodily sense. This unfertile soil needs the water of the sword, not the limpid spring of demonstration. In the presence of the majesty of the prince, the proud and perverse of disposition sink into obscurity while the prosperity of the good who seek after justice is ever continuous.

Of a truth, whatever be the recompense of the guardianship over the four* priceless elements of the constitution, it is both meet and expe­dient and according to the Almighty will. To the watchmen over the house, the lord thereof appoints the guerdon, and to the watchmen of the universe, its shepherds.* If the whole of a man's possessions were spent for the protection of his honour, it would be but fitting if in gratitude he further pledged his whole credit, how much the more when it is a question of the guardianship of the four great elements of State polity? But just monarchs exact not more than is necessary to effect their purpose and stain not their hands with avarice; and hence it is that this principle varies, as has been stated, according to diversities of age and country. From this suggestive digression, it will be evident that whatever circumspect rulers exact from their subjects after due deliberation and to subserve the interests of justice and grant to their submissive dependents, has a perfect propriety and is universally in vogue. It is also clear that the maintenance of the soldier should be ampler and more choice. Next follow the cultivators and then other artisans. Ancient Greek* treatises affirm that professions are cir­cumscribed to three classes, the Noble, the Base, and the Intermediate. The former refers to the mind and is, also, of not more than three kinds: the first concerns the pure intellect, as sagacity and capability of adminis­tration; the second, acquired knowledge, as composition or eloquence; the third personal courage, as military duty. The Base also is of three kinds; the first is opposed to the common weal of mankind, such as the hoarding of grain: the second is the contrary of any one virtue, as buffoonery; the third is such as the disposition is naturally averse from, as the trade of a bar­ber, a tanner or a sweeper. The Intermediate comprises various callings and trades; some that are of necessity,* such as agriculture; others which could be dispensed with, as dyeing; others again simple, as carpentry and ironmongery; and some compound, as the manufacturing of scales or knives.*

From this exposition the distinguished character of the military pro­fession is evident. In short, the noblest source of maintenance is to be found in a profession which is associated with just dealing, self-restraint and bravery and apart from evil doing and sensuality. The good regard three things as necessary in a profession—avoidance of tyranny, refraining from what is dishonourable, abstinence from all that is mean; by what is dishonourable, is meant buffoonery and the like low pursuits; by what is mean, is understood an inclination to base callings.*

When an appropriate means of maintenance is secured, it is a requisite condition of economy to husband a portion of one's means, provided that the household is not thereby straitened. The mendicant should not be turned away disappointed nor subjected to the reproof of covetousness and greed. The proper control of an estate is conditional on the expen­diture being less than the income; it is permitted to indulge a little in commercial speculation and engage in remunerative undertakings, reserving a part in coin and valuables, a part in goods and wares, and somewhat invested in the speculations of others, and yet a por­tion in lands and immoveable estates, and a share may be entrusted to borrowers of credit, and expenditure regulated with circumspection, justice and modesty. Let such a one be frank in his commercial dealings and give no place in his heart to self-reproach. He should keep in view of his pur­pose, the will of God, not the hope of gratitude, the increase of reputation or the expectation of reward. He should also give freely to the needy whose destitution is unexposed. There is also a twofold manner of munificence which if exercised in just measure, is meritorious. Firstly, what is given in pure generosity or largesse such as a present and the like. This should be done quickly and secretly and without setting store on its ampli­tude or abundance, nor yet so as to cripple one's resources or exhaust them.