The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-04-30
VIII.

The English ascendancy in India came later.
and embodied the European ideals OF the
eighteenth century in place OF the European
ideals OF the sixteenth and seventeenth. II
was the outcome Of modern as against semi
medieval Christendom. Yet even England
found it difficult to shake off the traditions OF
the period with which the present volume OF
Sir William Hunters history deals. to wit. the
traditions Of monopoly in the Indian trade
and of governing India for the personal
profit of the rulers. The English m
with the East started on the basis OF royal
prerogative. the prerogatiye OF granting
monopolies in trade. Under the later Stuarts.
the East India Company formed a battle
ground between the ancient privileges
OF the Crown and the growing strength
Of the nation: with the revolution OF
1888 the right Of granting its charters
passed finally to Parliament. Nor have even
the varied forms OF organization which tho
Dutch devised for their Indian trade lacked
countcrparts In England-from the London
Company's initial system OF separate voyages
and its regulated or Joint stock associations OF
tho seventeenth century to the United East
India Company and Board Of Control in tho
eighteenth century. and to q Secretary Of
State for India under the Queen Empress
at the present day. II. however. some re-
semblances are apparent between Eng
h'hN NhN Ahoio II tloI VI hOf
predecessors. the history. Of which the
first chapters are now before US. will
disclose differences even more profound.
The achievement Of Portugal. as We have
seen. was the command OF the ocean
routes. secured by settlements at strategic
points along the shore. The Dutch dominion
lay chiefly in the eastern archipelago. Eng.
lands conquest was India itself. The native
chiefs whom the early Portuguese encountered
naffu onaat ra,aha. 81. -.klno 1890
whom the Dutch subdued were island chlefsi
the English in India. schooled for a hun.
dred years under the rod OF the mighty MoRuls.
brought a deeper experience and wider con.
ceptions to a harder task. Their empire was to
be not a few shore settlements like those OF
Portugal, nor an island dominion like that
OF the Dutch. but the whole Indian CONT
nent. The question Of territorial extension az
against trade profits and sea control arose with
the first Portuguese viceroy in the East. II
divided parties alike in the Dutch and In tho
English Companies. as. In its moral form OF ths
forward policy it still divides British opin-
Ion: one Tact stands plainly out: No European
n whjcb di hpS not Won o. tnG supremacy OF the Easf
w ,In,H.t was Tason not ready AEo to defend i With I:
to States small in area, but Of a great heart,
SIR William Hunteri in his introduction directs
but also a new nation. has entered on the scene
Of the Far East. The colonial empire Of
spain has crumbled to pieces at a touch from
til" oungeSt OF the great Christian peoples,
America starts on her career Of Asiatic rule
with an amplitude of resources and with a
previous state Of CCRTistendoom Brought
I" tho world, Each Western nation, has
stamped upon IFS Eastern history the Euro
pean ethics, of the age when its supremacy
was won. III the splendid and difficult task
which lies before our American kinsmen. they
VIII be tramelled by nc Portuguese inquisition
OF the sixteenth, century. nor By the slave
co.nnlzaton OF Holland in the seventeenth,
nor hv that cynical conception Of rule Tor the
gam OF. the rulers which for a timo darkenei
the British acquisition of India in the eight
zenith; The United States IN tho government
OF their dependencies will represent the pDliti:
cal conscience OF the, nineteenth. century, ]
nan their advent in the East as that OF a new
power for good. not alone for the island races
dnat come under their care. but also IL, that
1uence in Asia which. II we could see Alright
u. W. n.