ed with
the robuster qualities that are most needed for grappling with new
circumstances and carving out the empires of the future.

The second fact is the high standard of patriotism and honour which we
may, I think, truly say has nearly always prevailed among English
public servants. It is not an easy thing to secure honest and faithful
administration in remote countries, far from the supervision and
practical control of the central government. I think we may boast with
truth that England has attained this end, not indeed perfectly, but at
least to a greater degree than most other nations. The history of
Indian and colonial governors has never been written as a whole, but
it is well worthy of study. In the appointment of these men party has
always counted for something, and family has counted for something;
but they have never been the only considerations, and, on the whole, I
believe it will be found, if we consider the three elements of
character, capacity and experience, that our Indian and colonial
governors represent a higher level of ruling qualities than has been
attained by any line of hereditary sovereigns, or by any line of
elected presidents. In the period of the foundation of our Indian
Empire much was done that was violent and rapacious, but the best
modern research seems to show that the picture which a few years ago
was generally accepted had been greatly overcharged. The history of
Warren Hastings and his companions has been recently studied with
great knowledge and ability, and with the result that the more serious
opinions on the subject have been considerably modified. Much
exaggeration undoubtedly grew up in the last century, partly through
ignorance of Oriental affairs, and partly also through the eloquence
of Burke. There is no figure in English political history for which I
at least entertain a greater reverence than Edmund Burke. I believe
him to have been a man of transparent honesty, as well as of
transcendent genius; but his politics were too apt to be steeped in
passion, and he was often carried away by the irresistible force of
his own imagination and feelings. Misrepresentations were greatly
consolidated by the Indian History of James Mill, which was for a long
time the main, and indeed almost the only, source from which
Englishmen obtained their knowledge of Indian history. It was written,
as might be expected, with the strongest bias of hostility to the
English in India, yet I suspect