All these obstacles it is necessary to take into account, if we would understand
the nature of that Herculean task which he undertook and accomplished. Under these difficulties, he proposed:—
1. To describe the circumstances in which the intercourse of this nation with India commenced, and the particulars of its early progress, till the era when it could first be regarded as placed on a firm and durable basis.
2. To exhibit as accurate a view as possible of the people with whom our countrymen had then begun to transact ; of their character, history, manners, religion, arts, literature, and laws, as well as the physical circumstances of climate, soil, and production, in which they were placed.
3. To deduce to the present times a history of the British transactions in relation to India, &c.
The history of British India which Mr. Mill produced, under these circumstances, and upon such a plan, in spite of subsequent histories written under more favourable auspices, will ever remain a distinguishing monument of his high talents, research, and perseverance. Much, of course, had to be written that militated not only against national prejudices but individual interests; and therefore the work, at its first appearance, encountered no small amount of rancorous criticism. It was also faulty in point of style, being frequently marked by carelessness, and sometimes, though not often, disfigured by obscurity. But the immense body of information he had collected, the skill of its arrangement, and vigorous style in which it was embodied, made these defects of little account. On the one hand, the nature and character of the British proceedings in India, and especially the administrations of Hastings and Lord Wellesley, were given with clearness and dispassionate fairness; while, on the other, the account of the condition and character of the Hindoos, and their state of civilization, was illustrated by an amount of learning and depth of investigation such as history has very seldom exhibited. The effects of his labours were soon apparent. Not only was a greater interest excited at home upon Indian affairs, of which the public had hitherto remained in contented ignorance, but more enlarged and practical views in the legislation, government, and political economy of India, were suggested to our countrymen there, by whom our eastern empire was extended and consolidated.
While Mill had been thus generously devoting himself for years to a labour from which no adequate return, in the way of profit, could be expected, and while the expenses of a growing family were increasing upon him, his literary by-labours appear never to have yielded him above £300 per annum—a small amount for the support of a respectable household in the British capital, and small compared with what his talents and industry might have procured him, had he consented to become a mere trader in literature. But his was a contentedness of mind that could be satisfied with little, as well as a dignity and independence that would not stoop to solicitation for either place or patronage. But he who could not seek was now to be sought. His "History of India" had well shown what he was worth; and the East India Company was not long in discovering that one so well acquainted with their interests could not be dispensed with. Accordingly, soon after the publication of his history (in 1819) he was appointed, by the East India Court of Directors, to the second situation in the examiner's office; and, on the retirement of Mr. William M'Culloch, he was raised to the place of chief examiner. His important duties, for which he was so thoroughly qualified, consisted in preparing the despatches
