season of revolutions snatched from us the greater part even of those acquisitions; but we had already laid broad and deep the foundations of a second supply. While British America shrunk from an empire into a few provinces, British India rapidly expanded from a few provinces into an empire. The glory departed from us in the west only to reappear in the east with increased force and with heightened brilliancy.

Our empire in India (says a great writer) is an awful thing.' The sentiment was originally uttered in 1793, and certainly has lost none of its force by the lapse of time. The history of conquests contains no chapter more curious than the narrative of the territorial connexion between Great Britain and the East Indies, from the capture of Arcot in 1754 to the present time. It is a sustained and a splendid piece of action. The growth of such power from such beginnings might remind us of a striking legend in Hindoo mythology, where Vishnu, under the disguise of a human form, requests from some great king or rajah the grant of as much land as he can cover, in point of length, by the flight of an arrow. The grant is obtained; but the arrow, when shot, flies to the utmost horizon. With equal humility of commencement, with a similar effect in the sequel, the British were permitted to build a few rude factories in the east; and their sway, in the shape either of avowed supremacy or of irresistible influence, already comprehends an area of Indian territory equal to the proudest kingdoms of Europe. Even now all is not accomplished;-this mighty dominion yet contmues in progress :-nor can human sagacity divine its future boundaries, or compute its probable maximum. The bow was drawn by no measurable strength, and the shaft is still flying

'Stridens et celeres incognita transilit umbras.'

The natural effect of acquisition is possession; and possession draws after it innumerable duties. Amidst the crowd of warriors whose names stand emblazoned in the aunals of conquest, perhaps only two can be found who have conquered purely for the sake of conquering, and have thrown aside their prizes when they had done-Sesostris and Charles the Twelfth. Such disinterestedness of ambition might befit a fabulous conqueror; and it might befit one whose history has almost realized fable; but, in general, the hunters of mankind, however they may prefer the chase to the game, are yet content to retain the fruits of their achievements, and to wear the spoils which they have been at the trouble of winning. Indeed, it may be thought one instance of that principle of compensation, which the moral world so beautifully exemplifies in a thousand others, that conquerors insensibly contract an interest in the welfare and improvement of that which, by dint of exertion, they have made their own. When once it is appropriated, it acquires

the

the ordinary claims of property on the proprietor; it becomes an object of his solicitude; and falls within that narrow circle in which selfishness itself inculcates the lessons of justice.

How far the acquisitions, warlike or pacific, of the British in the East Indies, can be deemed justifiable, it were irrelevant in this place to inquire. The question is probably a mixed one, requiring much detailed research and much cautious discrimination; and this only forms an additional reason why, on an occasion like the present, the consideration of it should be avoided. Neither is it here necessary to describe at large the nature, or accurately to estimate the weight, of the obligations which the possession of such a dominion entails on the British nation. Still less need we discuss the precise form of government by which those valuable dependencies may best be ruled;-a point long since decided, and, as we are disposed to believe, decided wisely. But there is one question connected with these subjects, to which recent controversy has given peculiar prominence, and on which therefore we would offer a few remarks. The nature of that question is sufficiently indicated by the title of the work which stands foremost at the head of the present Article.

If the British possessions in the east were simply a dependent or subordinate country, subject indeed to the political controul of the ruling state, but free as to the regulation and conduct of their domestic concerns, the question referred to could scarcely arise. In that case, the individuals by whom the affairs of the local government were to be managed would not be derived from England, but, generally speaking, would be persons born and educated in India. Even in colonies properly so called, the task of supplying the great body of the public functionaries required belongs to the colonists themselves. The mother-country moves in a sort of exterior circle of power; while the management of the local administration is almost wholly left to the energies of local wisdom and genius. British India, however, is not a colony; neither would the complex and singular relations which bind it to this kingdom be satisfied by the general appellation of a dependent country. It is a dependency; but one of a very anomalous kind. By the peculiar system of Indian polity which we have established, it is provided that we should govern those regions, not by delegation to a secondary or colonial state, but directly and at first hand. The functionaries, to whom the internal administration of Indian affairs is principally confided, are not grown and trained on the spot, but are drawn from the population of the Britannic islands. The vigour and intelligence demanded for the business of government are not left to be furnished by the progressive accumulations of provincial wisdom

and

and genius, but are transported at once from the west. In a word, we have monopolized the Indian market for those commodities.

It must therefore be considered a very serious question in what manner we may best fulfil the trust with which we have thus charged ourselves; a trust in its own nature most sacred, and which surely loses nothing of its sanctity because it has been voluntarily assumed.

The force of these considerations is greatly enhanced by another peculiarity in our Indian system. The European functionaries employed in the administration of Indian affairs are not selected promiscuously from the population of Great Britain, nor even from the higher classes of that population; nor are they chosen out of persons of mature age and whose talents have been satisfactorily tried at home. They are a body formed by annual supplies of thirty or forty youths, sent out ou account of their connexion with the Directors, and at an age little exceeding childhood. Among the members of this body, thus brought together, almost all the powers, privileges and emoluments of Indian offices are shared. By such an arrangement it is obvious that all the excellent effects which the complete openness of the political department produces in free countries,-effects luminously visible in our own island,the inspiring influence of generous rivalry-the introduction of talents of late developement-the ultimate success of untamable perseverance--the irresistible irruption of low-born merit,—are in a considerable degree excluded. True it is that many evils are excluded at the same time; for there seems great reason to believe that the unrestricted entrance of Europeans into India, which is perhaps the only possible alternative, would be a disastrous event for the natives. But let it not be forgotten that we buy off this mass of evils by paying a very heavy composition of inconvenience; and surely it is our duty to lighten and palliate the pressure of the necessary tax by all practicable means. In other words, if the Indian offices in question are to be the perquisites of a privileged few, let us use even extraordinary means that those few may be properly qualified.

These remarks do not decide the specific question respecting the East-India College, which has recently excited so much keen discussion; but they shew its importance. The question has indeed been disposed of in the place where it originated; but we have thought that it would not, for that reason, the less profitably engage the attention of our readers; since it may be considered as released from the contending influences of local interests, and as submitted to the unclouded review of public opinion. Nor can it be doubted that this is strictly a public question, in virtue of all those admitted principles

principles which oblige the British nation to regard her Indian provinces as vital portions of herself.

The greater part of the Statements' of Mr. Malthus appears to have been composed some time since, on occasion of a prevalent rumour that the College would be the subject of discussion in the Court of East India Proprietors. No discussion, however, then taking place, nor any being specifically announced, the author withheld his work from the press; but the animadversions lately made on the subject, both in the Court of Proprietors and elsewhere, induced him to publish what he had prepared, with such additions as appeared necessary. It is certainly fortunate that so considerable a portion of the pamphlet should already have been in existence; since it has enabled the author to meet the exigencies of a sudden and unforeseen controversy with a treatise containing much matter of a general and comprehensive nature.

The frequent and very honourable mention which the writer makes of the Marquis Wellesley's Minute in Council, containing the reasons for the establishment of a College at Calcutta, led us to re-peruse that paper, and, in the sequel, to comprise it within the scope of the present Article. We have done so, because the two compositions reflect great light on each other, and, collectively taken, appear to supply a very sufficient mass of information and disquisition for the purposes of the intended inquiry.

The pamphlet of Mr. Malthus seems to have acquired a considerable_reputation, and, we think, very deservedly. It throughout exhibits a clear good sense and calm ability, which are highly impressive and satisfactory; and with these qualities are united others to which we cannot help attaching peculiar value,-great fairness and sincerity. We do not here allude to the veracity of his statements, which we should of course presume to be beyond suspicion; but to his good faith and honesty as a debater. The question is encountered plainly and directly, without any of that nervousness and anxiety with which ordinary disputauts march into the field of battle. The topics are arranged skilfully; but it is with that sort of art which would be called judgment rather than address. There is no studied or solicitous amplification of what seem strong or popular points; and, when the writer has to meet an adverse assertion or argument, he disposes of it fairly, and without stopping either to mangle its remains or to exult over its fall. This species of plain dealing, this freedom from finesse or exaggeration,-united as they here are with a strong power of reasoning,-impress on the work a very singular character of persuasiveness; but we doubt whether those qualities will be fully appreciated, except by such persons as possess the questionable advantage of a considerable experience in controversial reading.

Of

Of the Minute' of Lord Wellesley, it is also necessary, we presume, to give some general account. It is an official document indeed, and may therefore seem a quarry too lofty for the talons of literary criticism. It stands, however, in the rare position of a state-paper immediately bearing on the interests of learning; and in this view, even if in no other, appears very fairly accountable to the tribunals of the republic of letters. It may appeal, perhaps, against their sentence, but surely cannot disclaim their jurisdiction. One of the greatest of ancient critics very beautifully observes, respecting one of the greatest of ancient warriors and statesmen, that he spoke with the same mind with which he fought: Tanta in eo vis est, id acumen, ea concitatio, ut illum eodem animo dixisse, quo bellavit, appareat." * Such analogies are captivating, and perhaps therefore often delusive; yet there can be no doubt that the different exercises of the same mind will be distinguished by some common features. In the Minute' of Lord Wellesley, a fanciful observer might without difficulty discover traces of those qualities which are generally confessed to have characterized his Indian administration. It clearly indicates, on the one hand, that spirit, decision, rapidity, and comprehensiveness of genius, the praise of which has never been denied him by his enemies; and is perhaps not untinctured, on the other, by somewhat of that tendency to profusion and magnificence, which, within venial limits, would scarcely be disclaimed for him by his friends. The distinguished author has been blamed for an Asiatic style of writing; a criticism manifestly unjust, if that phrase is meant to imply, what it conveyed in the mouths of the detractors of Cicero,† a weak and empty verbosity. Yet, in a better sense, there certainly is a tinge of what may be called Orientalism in the cast of Lord Wellesley's composition; and, perhaps, the costume with which imagination naturally invests the heroes of Eastern romance, would be no unapt representative of its character, which seems every where to exhibit the strong and wellknit armour of reason, circumfused by the flowered and flowing drapery of a certain copious and noble eloquence.

We must not, however, forget that our immediate concern is rather with the subject discussed by Mr. Malthus, than with Lord Wellesley. Yet, in pursuing our course, we do not hold ourselves bound to a very nice study of method; but shall be content to present our reflections in the order in which they have occurred, although not the most scientifically exact. It may not be inexpedient, to commence with a rapid glance at some former passages in the history of British India.

* Quint. Inst. lib. x. c. 4.

+ Quint. Inst. lib. xii. c. 10.

The