CHAPTER V. 
CALCUTTA. 
The town of Calcutta is at present well worthy of being the seat 
of our Eastern Government^ both from its size, and from the mag- 
nificent buildings which decorate the part of it inhabited by Euro- 
peans. The Citadel of Fort William, commenced by Lord Clive, 
immediately after the battle of Plassey, is a very fine work, but 
greatly too large for defence. The esplanade leaves a grand open- 
ing, on the edge of which is placed the new Government House 
erected by Lord Wellesley, a noble structure, although not without 
faults in the architecture ; and, upon the whole, not unworthy of its 
destination. The sums expended upon it have been considered as 
extravagant by those who carry European ideas and European 
economy into Asia ; but they ought to remember, that India is a 
country of splendor, of extravagance, and of outward appearances : 
that the Head of a mighty empire ought to conform himself to the 
prejudices of the country he rules over; and that the British, in 
particular, ought to emulate the splendid works of the Princes of 
the House of Timour, lest it should be supposed that we merit the 
reproach which our great rivals, the French, have ever cast upon 
us, of being alone influenced by a sordid, mercantile spirit. In short, 
I wish India to be ruled from a palace, not from a counting-house; 
VOL. I. H u 
