Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Pencillings Prom The Sketch-Book Of A Madras Officer.
PENCILLINGS PROM THE SKETCH-BOOK OE A MADRAS OFFICER .
BY AN INFANTRY M . M ,
CHAPTER IV .
MUSINGS ON THE PAST AND FUTURE OE INDIA , FOLLOWED BY A CHANGE EROM PERSONAL NARRATIVE TO A TALE OE EICTION . Tis the elime of the East ;— 'tis the land of the Sun . Byron . Wonderful as is the extent of empire into which , since our first conquests , the British possessions in the East have gradually become
consolidated , till they have , as it is truly said , been made to constitute the brightest gem in the crown of England ; and singular as were the successive steps by which such acquisitions were gained ,
not less surprising to the uninitiated in such matters does it appear , that till within a very brief period so little , compared with other more recently adopted countries , where civilization has made such rapid strides , should have been done by practical methods to test the fertility of the soil of India—to advance the fluctuation of its vegetable and improve its animal productions , or to develop to their full extent its hidden treasures and mineral advantages , so as to bear
more closely on our own commercial prosperity as a nation , and benefit the hundred and fifty millions of natives now under the control of Britain , and amongst whom we have so long sojourned . The reason , however , to those who have there passed a long and allotted part of life ' s brief span , and been employed in the public service , is
obvious and distinct . Doubtless had we , as a people , but only a short time back thrown up the cards , could it have been possible to have given up the game of conquest , and returning all we had reaped into the hands of the descendants of the ancient proprietors of the soil , bid farewell to Hindostan for ever , a statesman , being called
upon m his place in Parliament to point out some great and lasting monument of her prosperity under our rule—some column of distinction on which is indeliblv traced in unmistakeable characters the civilizing agency of our own glorious institutions—in order to show that for upwards of two hundred and fifty years , since the first charter was granted to the East-India Company by Queen Elizabeth , the English had held sway , small in extent at first , but increasing in magnitude during successive eras , and now undisputed over such a vaat expanse of territory , —he would have been sorely puzzled to do so . One great and glorious object in reference to the religious element , he might say , had been achieved—Christianity had
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Pencillings Prom The Sketch-Book Of A Madras Officer.
PENCILLINGS PROM THE SKETCH-BOOK OE A MADRAS OFFICER .
BY AN INFANTRY M . M ,
CHAPTER IV .
MUSINGS ON THE PAST AND FUTURE OE INDIA , FOLLOWED BY A CHANGE EROM PERSONAL NARRATIVE TO A TALE OE EICTION . Tis the elime of the East ;— 'tis the land of the Sun . Byron . Wonderful as is the extent of empire into which , since our first conquests , the British possessions in the East have gradually become
consolidated , till they have , as it is truly said , been made to constitute the brightest gem in the crown of England ; and singular as were the successive steps by which such acquisitions were gained ,
not less surprising to the uninitiated in such matters does it appear , that till within a very brief period so little , compared with other more recently adopted countries , where civilization has made such rapid strides , should have been done by practical methods to test the fertility of the soil of India—to advance the fluctuation of its vegetable and improve its animal productions , or to develop to their full extent its hidden treasures and mineral advantages , so as to bear
more closely on our own commercial prosperity as a nation , and benefit the hundred and fifty millions of natives now under the control of Britain , and amongst whom we have so long sojourned . The reason , however , to those who have there passed a long and allotted part of life ' s brief span , and been employed in the public service , is
obvious and distinct . Doubtless had we , as a people , but only a short time back thrown up the cards , could it have been possible to have given up the game of conquest , and returning all we had reaped into the hands of the descendants of the ancient proprietors of the soil , bid farewell to Hindostan for ever , a statesman , being called
upon m his place in Parliament to point out some great and lasting monument of her prosperity under our rule—some column of distinction on which is indeliblv traced in unmistakeable characters the civilizing agency of our own glorious institutions—in order to show that for upwards of two hundred and fifty years , since the first charter was granted to the East-India Company by Queen Elizabeth , the English had held sway , small in extent at first , but increasing in magnitude during successive eras , and now undisputed over such a vaat expanse of territory , —he would have been sorely puzzled to do so . One great and glorious object in reference to the religious element , he might say , had been achieved—Christianity had