320 INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE. 



a measure which will ultimately prove hostile to idolatry ; 

 while Mr Poynder rejoins, that were it not for the sanction 

 thus afforded by the company, and the excellent order in 

 which the temples arc kept, there would be a rapid decline 

 of the whole system. Considerable doubt hangs on this 

 question; but we cannot hesitate to express our opinion, 

 that the directors ought to keep themselves pure from 

 every transaction of this nature, and to throw the idol tem- 

 ples altogether into the hands of their blinded votaries. 



CHAPTER X. 



Industry and Commerce of India. 



Prevalent Ideas of Indian Wealth— In a great degree fallacious-State 

 of Agriculture— 1'overtv of the Cultivator— Rice— Cotton— Opium— 

 Silk— Su»ar— Tobacco— Indigo-Pepper— Manufactures of Cotton— 

 Silk— Working in Gold, &c- Decline of Manufactures -Commerce— 

 Commodmes-Mode of conducting the Trade-The Company-Effects 

 of Free Trade— Tables of Exports and Imports. 



Extravagant ideas respecting the wealth of India and 

 its people long prevailed in the Western World. The pomp 

 which surrounded its sovereigns, the precious commodities 

 furnished by its commerce, gave the idea of a country in 

 which the most profuse abundance reigned. A more ex- 

 tensive acquaintance has proved this impression to be ex- 

 tremely fallacious ; the opulence being conlincd to the 

 princes and high officers, or to a few merchants and mo- 

 neyed men in the great cities. The labouring class, by 

 whom the splendid wares are produced, are sunk in the 

 deepest poverty. An intelligent writer, in the Friend of 

 India, believes" that the rent generally paid by the ryot m 

 the rich province of Bengal docs not amount to 40 rupees 

 annually. Sir Thomas Munro states the same sum as the 

 average payment of that district in the Camatic which he 

 minutely surveyed, and is of opinion that there was not a 

 single cullivato'r worth 500/. As the rent in India exceeds 

 a third of the gross produce, a farm can yield only a very 

 gmall income ; 'which, however, enable* the tenants to keep 



