Recollections of a Busy Life: Being the Reminiscences of a Liverpool Merchant 1840-1910Forwood, William Bower, Sir
History
Recollections of a Busy Life: Being the Reminiscences of a Liverpool Merchant 1840-1910
Forwood, William Bower, Sir
Forwood, William Bower, Sir, 1840-1928; Merchants -- England -- Liverpool -- Biography
This great phalanx of nations is held together, is made happy and
prosperous, by the just rule which appeals to their imagination and
their sense of justice, and which is administered by 900 British
civilians, who are for the most part men under 40 years of age. I think
this is one of the most remarkable spectacles the world has ever seen.
It speaks well for the English public-school system which has trained
these men. It speaks also well for honest administration and the
influence and power which it exerts, exercising a moral influence
greater and more far-reaching than any military rule.
The most interesting study in India is that of the people, among whom
there is the greatest difference in physique. We have the lithe, active
little coolie of Southern and Central India, the hewer of wood and the
drawer of water; the fat, astute, and subtle Bengalee, devoid of moral
or physical courage, a born agitator; the stalwart hillmen of the
North-West who furnish our Indian army with its best recruits; and the
Mahrattas, the descendants of warlike races, who to-day are among the
most active traders.
The student of character has a wide and fruitful field for
investigation, but there are certain features which stand out
prominently--their marvellous patience, their devotion to their
religion, which is almost fanatical. Like the Egyptians of old, they
live in the contemplation of death, and look upon death as the great
consummation. The elaborate and magnificent tombs we see everywhere
correspond to the pyramids and monumental buildings of ancient Egypt;
while their ruinous condition attest the wisdom of Solomon, that "Vanity
of vanity, all is vanity."
The poverty of India is also striking, but it is not so great as it
appears. When we talk of a daily wage of twopence it seems almost
impossible that life can be supported on any such sum; but in India a
penny will buy all the rice the coolie can eat, and his other expenses
are very small. Still, it must be considered a poor country.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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