143 Leaves torn out of a Common-place Book. [Feb. 



the execution of so dangerous a practical joke from some facetious per- 

 son of his character I What a field would there not be opened for fools 

 or fanatics ? And would not the inevitable consequences, be not only a 

 separation of India from England, but the destruction of the English 

 settlers in India themselves ? 



That the English power in India rests upon too artificial a foundation 

 for us to believe it can ever be secured, is true ; but it may be doubted 

 whether all the evil consequences will result from its destruction which 

 have been prognosticated by natives or foreigners ; of whom the last 

 believe that India is to England what South America was to Spain — 

 the source of all her riches and prosperity. Certainly the loss of any 

 large colony, supplying such means for the employment of English capi- 

 tal and industry, and furnishing such a nursery for her marine, must, in 

 its many consequences, be severely felt ; but these consequences are 

 mostly indirect, and little immediate loss would foUow to the nation. 

 For what is the fiscal profit derived from provinces whose revenues are 

 mortgaged, or whose resources are anticipated ? Or what is the present 

 commercial gain acquired from the exports of manufactures, to a people 

 who, for the most part, feed upon a pittance of rice, and clothe them- 

 selves with a wrapper of their own flimsy cottons ? 



In speculating upon the way in which India may be lost to us, so 

 many sources of danger present themselves — such as some imprudent 

 act of a governor-in-chief or that of some Indian department, as a league 

 among the native powers, ^c. 8fc. S^c, — that foresight is distracted by 

 the variety of the perils which threaten our dominion. It may, how- 

 ever, be truly observed, that a great part of those whose eyes are 

 opened to the probable risk which hangs over it, more especially on 

 the Continent, seem to play the part of the Dutchman, who is said to 

 look leeward for the foul weather which is brewing. 



Russia is the quarter where they expect the storm to gather, and 

 whence clouds of Cossacks are to issue, and cry havoc ! in the heart 

 of Hindostan ; yet, measured by the scale of common sense, what can 

 be more chimerical than this alarm ? It is said, indeed, that the court 

 of St. Petersburg has entertained such projects, which would, of course, 

 be popular with all its Tartar hordes. Such projects were, also, enter- 

 tained by the Empress Catherine against China ; but it is one thing 

 to strike out, and another to mature and execute such romantic schemes. 

 How, if India can be conquered by a swarm of light cavalry, is an army 

 of Cossacks to be provisioned, and safely conveyed amid mountainous and 

 hostile tracks ? If Russia cannot safely send a diplomatic agent through 

 her provinces bordering upon Persia, without an escort of 1,000 men 

 and cannon, as we know is the case, would she risk her militia of 

 irregular horse in Persia itself, which they must traverse, in order to 

 reach India, upon the faith of any treaty which could be concluded with 

 such an enemy ? Indeed, the safety of such a force could never be 

 provided for by any thing short of the previous conquest of Persia — for 

 supposing the two governments to be actuated by the best intentions 

 towards each other, ^^hat warrantry could there be for a corresponding 

 confidence upon the part of the governed ? An army of Cossacks 

 could never be adequately provisioned in its march by either power. It 

 would, therefore, necessarily be compelled to take what was not given, 

 and the consequences are obvious. 



Few causes of,apprehension, indeed, appear to us more extravagant 



