Every part of Hindostan has been constantly exposed to
these and similar disadvantages ever since the Mahometan conquests. The
Hindoos, who never incorporated with their conquerors, were kept in
order only by the strong hand of power. The constant necessity of
similar exertions would increase at once their energy and extent. So
that rebellion itself is the parent and promoter of _despotism_.
Sovereignty in India implies nothing else. For I know not how we can
form an estimate of its powers, but from its visible effects; and those
are everywhere the same from Cabool to Assam. The whole history of Asia
is nothing more than precedents to prove the invariable exercise of
arbitrary power. To all this I strongly alluded in the minutes I
delivered in Council, when the treaty with the new Vizier was on foot in
1775; and I wished to make Cheyt Sing independent, because in India
dependence included a thousand evils, many of which I enumerated at that
time, and they are entered in the ninth clause of the first section of
this charge. I knew the powers with which an Indian sovereignty is
armed, and the dangers to which tributaries are exposed. I knew, that,
from the history of Asia, and from the very nature of mankind, the
subjects of a despotic empire are always vigilant for the moment to
rebel, and the sovereign is ever jealous of rebellious intentions.
Pages:
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248