登陆注册
4705400000295

第295章

Of the numerous servants of the Company who have distinguished themselves as framers of minutes and despatches, Hastings stands at the head. He was indeed the person who gave to the official writing of the Indian governments the character which it still retains. He was matched against no common antagonist. But even Francis was forced to acknowledge, with sullen and resentful candour, that there was no contending against the pen of Hastings. And, in truth, the Governor-General's power of making out a case, of perplexing what it was inconvenient that people should understand, and of setting in the clearest point of view whatever would bear the light, was incomparable. His style must be praised with some reservation. It was in general forcible, pure, and polished; but it was sometimes, though not often, turgid, and, on one or two occasions, even bombastic. Perhaps the fondness of Hastings for Persian literature may have tended to corrupt his taste.

And, since we have referred to his literary tastes, it would be most unjust not to praise the judicious encouragement which, as a ruler, he gave to liberal studies and curious researches. His patronage was extended, with prudent generosity, to voyages, travels, experiments, publications. He did little, it is true, towards introducing into India the learning of the West. To make the young natives of Bengal familiar with Milton and Adam Smith, to substitute the geography, astronomy, and surgery of Europe for the dotages of the Brahminical superstition, or for the imperfect science of ancient Greece transfused through Arabian expositions, this was a scheme reserved to crown the beneficent administration of a far more virtuous ruler. Still it is impossible to refuse high commendation to a man who, taken from a ledger to govern an empire, overwhelmed by public business, surrounded by people as busy as himself and separated by thousands of leagues from almost all literary society, gave, both by his example and by his munificence, a great impulse to learning. In Persian and Arabic literature he was deeply skilled. With the Sanscrit he was not himself acquainted; but those who first brought that language to the knowledge of European students owed much to his encouragement. It was under his protection that the Asiatic Society commenced its honourable career. That distinguished body selected him to be its first president; but, with excellent taste and feeling, he declined the honour in favour of Sir William Jones. But the chief advantage which the students of Oriental letters derived from his patronage remains to be mentioned. The Pundits of Bengal had always looked with great jealousy on the attempts of foreigners to pry into those mysteries which were locked up in the sacred dialect. The Brahminical religion had been persecuted by the Mahommedans. What the Hindoos knew of the spirit of the Portuguese Government might warrant them in apprehending persecution from Christians. That apprehension, the wisdom and moderation of Hastings removed. He was the first foreign ruler who succeeded in gaining the confidence of the hereditary priests of India, and who induced them to lay open to English scholars the secrets of the old Brahminical theology and jurisprudence.

It is indeed impossible to deny that, in the great art of inspiring large masses of human beings with confidence and attachment, no ruler ever surpassed Hastings. If he had made himself popular with the English by giving up the Bengalees to extortion and oppression, or if, on the other hand, he had conciliated the Bengalees and alienated the English, there would have been no cause for wonder. What is peculiar to him is that, being the chief of a small band of strangers, who exercised boundless power over a great indigenous population, he made himself beloved both by the subject many and by the dominant few.

The affection felt for him by the civil service was singularly ardent and constant. Through all his disasters and perils, his brethren stood by him with steadfast loyalty. The army, at the same time, loved him as armies have seldom loved any but the greatest chiefs who have led them to victory. Even in his disputes with distinguished military men, he could always count on the support of the military profession. While such was his empire over the hearts of his countrymen, he enjoyed among the natives a popularity, such as other governors have perhaps better merited, but such as no other governor has been able to attain.

He spoke their vernacular dialects with facility and precision.

He was intimately acquainted with their feelings and usages. On one or two occasions, for great ends, he deliberately acted in defiance of their opinion; but on such occasions he gained more in their respect than he lost in their love, In general, he carefully avoided all that could shock their national or religious prejudices. His administration was indeed in many respects faulty; but the Bengalee standard of good government was not high. Under the Nabobs, the hurricane of Mahratta cavalry had passed annually over the rich alluvial plain. But even the Mahratta shrank from a conflict with the mighty children of the sea; and the immense rich harvests of the Lower Ganges were safely gathered in under the protection of the English sword. The first English conquerors had been more rapacious and merciless even than the Mahrattas--but that generation had passed away.

同类推荐
  • Journal of A Voyage to Lisbon

    Journal of A Voyage to Lisbon

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 江南闻见录

    江南闻见录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说仁王护国般若波罗蜜经疏神宝记

    佛说仁王护国般若波罗蜜经疏神宝记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 子渊诗集

    子渊诗集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 三皇内文遗秘

    三皇内文遗秘

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 佛说尊那经

    佛说尊那经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 末星

    末星

    我的女友叫做林梦,两年前消失,我一直在找她,最后我终于打听到,她成为了“鬼”。而后“鬼”开始入侵地球,面对这样可怕的境况,等待我们的到底是生?是死?
  • 红楼之庶子风流

    红楼之庶子风流

    外科医生贾琮过劳而卒,魂穿荣府。谱一曲红楼幽梦,唱一世庶子风流。
  • 重生之不朽帝君

    重生之不朽帝君

    【玄幻神作,火爆追读】一梦千年,重生少年!铸最强根基,威震九霄,横扫诸天!帝小贱书友群:229719460欢迎大家加入。
  • 撩神快穿,大佬我错了

    撩神快穿,大佬我错了

    【1v1双洁】沉迷于游戏的沈鱼被一个可爱的系统绑定了。狗子,你是不是传错了?这么难的位面????确定让我一个新手做这个???【系统】掐着手指,弱弱的说:“这只是个意外,”沈鱼:………这都多少个意外了????沈鱼经历几个位面之后,她发现总有人莫名其妙爱上朕。
  • 镜子

    镜子

    林那北:本名林岚,已出版长篇小说《剑问》《我的唐山》《浦之上》,长篇散文《宣传队运动队》,中短篇小说集《唇红齿白》《寻找妻子古菜花》等二十部著作。大型历史人文纪录片《三坊七巷》《过台湾》《闽南望族》总撰稿。福建省作家协会副主席,现供职于《中篇小说选刊》杂志社。当时是这样的,邓宏三来说要出大事了。邓宏三为此前后加起来共来了五次,当然余多顺只见到两次,另外三次家里门关着,余多顺不在。房子要被收走,地也不留,家里的东西更不客气,总之都要充公。什么意思!房子、地和家里所有东西都是祖上留下的,房契、地契白纸黑字摆在那里,充公?充哪个公?
  • 皇明纪略

    皇明纪略

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 东方异闻谈

    东方异闻谈

    幻想乡,被遗忘者的乐园,在这个与世隔绝的地方,许多的人类妖怪以及各种生物生活在这里,但幻想乡并不是封闭的,仍有许多的外界生物会来到这里。我们的主角玲莲子鑫莫名进入幻想乡,接下来她将前去探索幻想乡以及自己来到这里的原因,这奇异的世界她会如何体验呢?(本小说为东方project二次同人作品,尊重原作,绝对不会出现颠覆原作设定的情况出现,不过加入了一些个人对于东方的理解)
  • 你是我猝不及防的美丽

    你是我猝不及防的美丽

    据说,在我们的世界,一个人只能拥有一个灵魂。又据说,有一个灵魂老人,他负责掌管我们的灵魂。他做事谨慎,井井有条,把每个灵魂和身体都契合的很妥帖。但他偶尔也会犯错,比如,倒换了两个人的灵魂,或者把两个灵魂装进了一个身体里。
  • 死亡面孔

    死亡面孔

    《死亡面孔》选自希区柯克短篇故事集,包括《死亡面孔》《坦白》《亡命猎手》等十余篇短篇小说,文字简洁平实,情节曲折跌宕,结局却出人意料,并且往往让读者有一种身临其境的感觉。小说具有较高的可读性,富于现代特点,符合当下阅读习惯及阅读趋向,颇受年青一代欢迎。