greatness in India, viz.--that _we hold India by_ OPINION _only:_ the
opinion which is there entertained of our greatness of national
character, intellectual and moral--of our wisdom, our justice, our
power. If this fail us, our downfall in India inevitably follows; and
memorable and tremendous indeed will be such an event, amongst all
nations, and at all future times, till the name of England is blotted
from the recollection of mankind. Therefore it is that we all regard the
administration of affairs in India with profound anxiety, justly
requiring, in those to whom it is entrusted, an intimate practical
acquaintance with Indian character and manners, with Anglo-Indian
history, and a clear view of the policy to be ever kept in sight, and
ability and determination to carry it out to the uttermost. When Lord
Auckland went to India, under the Whig Government, in 1836, he found
both its foreign and domestic affairs in a satisfactory state--peaceful
and prosperous--with, upon the whole, a sufficient military force,
notwithstanding the immense reduction of Lord William Bentinck. How did
he leave it to his successor, Lord Ellenborough, in 1841? The prospect
which awaited that successor was indeed dark, troubled, and bloody. An
army, alas! dreadfully defeated in one quarter, and dangerously
disaffected in another; a war of extermination in Affghanistan; probable
hostilities with Burmah and Nepaul; an almost hopelessly involved
foreign policy; and, moreover, under these desperate circumstances, with
a treasury _empty!_
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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