the life of william carey-第16章

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！



Clive；　Hastings　（Macpherson　during　an　interregnum　of　twenty…two　months）；　and　Cornwallis；　were　the　men　who　had　founded　and　administered　the　empire　of　British　India　up　to　this　time。　　Carey　passed　the　last　Governor…General　in　the　Bay　of　Bengal　as　he　retired　with　the　honours　of　a　seven　years'　successful　generalship　and　government　to　atone　for　the　not　unhappy　surrender　of　York　Town；　which　had　resulted　in　the　independence　of　the　United　States。　　Sir　John　Shore；　afterwards　Lord　Teignmouth；　who　had　been　selected　by　Pitt　to　carry　out　the　reforms　which　he　had　elaborated　along　with　his　predecessor；　had　entered　on　his　high　office　just　a　fortnight　before。　What　a　contrast　was　presented；　as　man　judges；　by　the　shy　shoemaker；　schoolmaster；　and　Baptist　preacher；　who　found　not　a　place　in　which　to　lay　his　head　save　a　hovel　lent　to　him　by　a　Hindoo；　to　Clive；　whose　suicide　he　might　have　heard　of　when　a　child；　to　Hastings；　who　for　seventeen　years　had　stood　before　his　country　impeached。　　They　were　men　described　by　Macaulay　as　of　ancient；　even　illustrious　lineage；　and　they　had　brought　into　existence　an　empire　more　extensive　than　that　of　Rome。　He　was　a　peasant　craftsman；　who　had　taught　himself　with　a　skill　which　Lord　Wellesley；　their　successor　almost　as　great　as　themselves；　delighted　publicly　to　acknowledgea　man　of　the　people；　of　the　class　who　had　used　the　Roman　Empire　to　build　out　of　it　a　universal　Christendom；　who　were　even　then　turning　France　upside　down；　creating　the　Republic　of　America；　and　giving　new　life　to　Great　Britain　itself。　　The　little　Englishman　was　about　to　do　in　Calcutta　and　from　Serampore　what　the　little　Jew；　Paul；　had　done　in　Antioch　and　Ephesus；　from　Corinth　and　Rome。　England　might　send　its　nobly　born　to　erect　the　material　and　the　secular　fabric　of　empire；　but　it　was　only；　in　the　providence　of　God；　that　they　might　prepare　for　the　poor　village　preacher　to　convert　the　empire　into　a　spiritual　force　which　should　in　time　do　for　Asia　what　Rome　had　done　for　Western　Christendom。　　But　till　the　last；　as　from　the　first；　Carey　was　as　unconscious　of　the　part　which　he　had　been　called　to　play　as　he　was　unresting　in　the　work　which　it　involved。　　It　is　no　fanatical　criticism；　but　the　true　philosophy　of　history；　which　places　Carey　over　against　Clive；　the　spiritual　and　secular　founders；　and　Duff　beside　Hastings；　the　spiritual　and　secular　consolidators　of　our　Indian　Empire。

Carey's　work　for　India　underlay　the　first　period　of　forty　years　of　transition　from　Cornwallis　to　Bentinck；　as　Duff's　covered　the　second　of　thirty　years　to　the　close　of　Lord　Canning's　administration；　which　introduced　the　new　era　of　full　toleration　and　partial　but　increasing　self…government　directed　by　the　Viceroy　and　Parliament。

Carey　had　been　sent　not　only　to　the　one　people　outside　of　Christendom　whose　conversion　would　tell　most　powerfully　on　all　Asia；　Africa；　and　their　islandsthe　Hindoos；　but　to　the　one　province　which　was　almost　entirely　British；　and　could　be　used　as　it　had　been　employed　to　assimilate　the　rest　of　IndiaBengal。　　Territorially　the　East　India　Company　possessed；　when　he　landed；　nothing　outside　of　the　Ganges　valley　of　Bengal；　Bihar；　and　Benares；　save　a　few　spots　on　the　Madras　and　Malabar　coasts　and　the　portion　just　before　taken　in　the　Mysore　war。　　The　rest　was　desolated　by　the　Marathas；　the　Nizam；　Tipoo；　and　other　Mohammedan　adventurers。　　On　the　Gangetic　delta　and　right　up　to　Allahabad；　but　not　beyond；　the　Company　ruled　and　raised　revenue；　leaving　the　other　functions　of　the　state　to　Mohammedans　of　the　type　of　Turkish　pashas　under　the　titular　superiority　of　the　effete　Emperor　of　Delhi。　　The　Bengali　and　Hindi…speaking　millions　of　the　Ganges　and　the　simpler　aborigines　of　the　hills　had　been　devastated　by　the　famine　of　1769…70；　which　the　Company's　officials；　who　were　powerless　where　they　did　not　intensify　it　by　interference　with　trade；　confessed　to　have　cut　off　from　ten　to　twelve　millions　of　human　beings。　　Over　three…fifths　of　the　area　the　soil　was　left　without　a　cultivator。　　The　whole　young　of　that　generation　perished；　so　that；　even　twenty　years　after；　Lord　Cornwallis　officially　described　one…third　of　Bengal　as　a　jungle　inhabited　only　by　wild　beasts。　　A　quarter　of　a　century　after　Carey's　language　was；　as　we　have　seen；　〃three…fifths　of　it　are　an　uncultivated　jungle　abandoned　to　wild　beasts　and　serpents。〃

But　the　British　peace；　in　Bengal　at　least；　had　allowed　abundant　crops　to　work　their　natural　result　on　the　population。　　The　local　experience　of　Shore；　who　had　witnessed　the　horrors　he　could　do　so　little　to　relieve；　had　united　with　the　statesmanship　of　Cornwallis　to　initiate　a　series　of　administrative　reforms　that　worked　some　evil；　but　more　good；　all　through　Carey's　time。　　First　of　all；　as　affecting　the　very　existence　and　the　social　development　of　the　people；　or　their　capacity　for　being　educated；　Christianised；　civilised　in　the　highest　sense；　there　was　the　relation　of　the　Government　to　the　ryots　（〃protected　ones〃）　and　the　zameendars　（〃landholders〃）。　　In　India；　as　nearly　all　over　the　world　except　in　feudalised　Britain；　the　state　is　the　common　landlord　in　the　interests　of　all　classes　who　hold　the　soil　subject　to　the　payment　of　customary　rents；　directly　or　through　middlemen；　to　the　Government。　For　thirty　years　after　Plassey　the　Government　of　India　had　been　learning　its　business；　and　in　the　process　had　injured　both　itself　and　the　landed　classes；　as　much　as　has　been　done　in　Ireland。　　From　a　mere　trader　it　had　been；　more　or　less　consciously；　becoming　a　ruler。　In　1786　the　Court　of　Directors；　in　a　famous　letter；　tried　to　arrest　the　ruin　which　the　famine　had　only　hastened　by　ordering　that　a　settlement　of　the　land…tax　or　revenue　or　rent　be　made；　not　with　mere　farmers　like　the　pashas　of　Turkey；　but　with　the　old　zameendars；　and　that　the　rate　be　fixed　for　ten　years。　　Cornwallis　and　Shore　took　three　years　to　make　the　detailed　investigations；　and　in　1789　the　state　rent…roll　of　Bengal　proper　was　fixed　at　？；858；772　a　year。　The　English　peer；　who　was　Governor…General；　at　once　jumped　to　the　conclusion　that　this　rate　should　be　fixed　not　only　for　ten　years；　but　for　ever。　　The　experienced　Bengal　civilian　protested　that　to　do　that　would　be　madness　when　a　third　of　the　rich　province　was　out　of　cultivation；　and　as　to　the　rest　its　value　was　but　little　known；　and　its　estates　were　without　reliable　survey　or　boundaries。

We　can　now　see　that；　as　usual；　both　were　right　in　what　they　asserted　and　wrong　in　what　they　denied。　　The　principle　of　fixity　of　tenure　and　tax　cannot　be　over…estimated　in　its　economic；　social；　and　political　value；　but　it　should　have　been　applied　to　the　village　communities　and　cultivating　peasants　without　the　intervention　of　middlemen　other　than　the　large　ancestral　landholders　with　hereditary　rights；　and　that　on　the　standard　of　corn　rents。　　Cornwallis　had　it　in　his　power　thus　to　do　what　some　years　afterwards　Stein　did　in　Prussia；　with　the　result　seen　in　the　present　German　people　and　empire。　　The　dispute　as　to　a　permanent　or　a　decennial　settlement　was　referred　home；　and　Pitt；　aided　by　Dundas　and　Charles　Grant；　took　a　week　to　consider　it。　　His　verdict　was　given　in　favour　of　feudalism。　Eight　months　before　Carey　landed　at　Calcutta　the　settlement　had　been　declared　perpetual；　in　1795　it　was　extended　to　Benares　also。

During　the　next　twenty　years　mismanagement　and　debt　revolutionised　the　landed　interest；　as　in　France　at　the　same　time；　but　in　a　very　different　direction。　　The　customary　rights　of　the　peasant　proprietors　had　been　legislatively　secured　by　reserving　to　the　Governor…General　the　power　〃to　enact　such　regulations　as　he　may　think　necessary　for　the　protection　and　welfare　of　the　dependent　talookdars；　ryots；　and　other　cultivators　of　the　soil。〃　　The　peasants　continued　long　to　be　so　few　that　there　was　competition　for　them；　the　process　of　extortion　with　the　aid　of　the　courts　had　hardly　begun　when　they　were　many；　and　the　zameendars　were　burdened　with　charges　for　the　police。　　But　in　1799　and　again　in　1812　the　state；　trembling　for　its　rent；　gave　the　zameendars　further　authority。　　The　principle　of　permanence　of　assessment　so　far　co…operated　with　the　splendid　fertility　of　the　Ganges　valley　and　the　peaceful　multiplication　of　the　people　and　spread　of　cultivation；　that　all　through　the　wars　and　annexation