toward England, but there can be no greater mistake than this. That there is dissatisfaction is true, but that the rule of Britain should pass away is not the desire of any. It is the dissatisfaction that seeks to prevent arbitrary measures, and to establish a more large-hearted policy. If Russia or Germany depend at all upon our dissatisfaction, they will soon find proof to the contrary. Should there be war with Russia, all the inhabitants of India would zealously come forward to support the Government.”
Their preference for English rule, and their appreciation of its advantages, is equally if not more fully entertained on the western coast. Mr. Satyendra Nath Tagore, a cultivated Parsee of Bombay, speaks for his class of the population in the following enlightened language:
“It is not for nothing that India has been placed under the British rule. It is impossible to think that her destinies have been ruled by blind, unsparing Fate, or that it is for the glory and power of England alone that such a wonderful bond of connection has been established by an inscrutable Providence between the two countries. There is one hope, one intense conviction from which no true patriot can escape; that is, that England and India are to be a mutual blessing; that our country, once famous in the world's history, is destined to be helped out of her present degeneracy and utter stagnation. And is there no reason for this hope? and are there no data to base this conviction upon? What was India a few years ago, and what do we now see around us? We see a marked progress, brought about by Western civilization. We see a nation domineered over by caste and idolatry—a nation of which the men are completely enslaved to custom, and the women kept down and tyrannized over by the men, by dint of sheer physical strength, which they cannot resist—a nation which has long ceased to be progressive, and of which inertia and stationariness is the natural condition. Even this nation, opening its eyes to the enormous evils around it, is gradually awakening to the influences of the bright light of thought and knowledge, before which millions of false stars are fading away. India sank down
