Page:History, Design and Present State of the Religious, Benevolent and Charitable Institutions.djvu/6

Rh scription of the several objects to which they have been directed. Should, then, this humble volume ever reach the Mother Country, it may serve to indicate, that her Sons have not lost sight of her illustrious example, while it will afford a practical refutation of the charge of indifference to the interests of the Natives, which has, oftener than on one memorable occasion, been so precipitately and unjustly urged against the British name in India. But, unfortunately, as has been frequently observed, so great and unnatural is the apathy evinced in England, with regard to Indian affairs, though, almost every family at home, is, in some degree, connected with those sent forth from her bosom, that the attempt to excite some interest beyond the executive authorities, relative to the most important Foreign Possession of Great Britain, and the most singular dominion that was ever exercised by any nation, is nearly hopeless. A momentary and partial attention is, indeed, occasionally roused by discussions respecting the conduct of conspicuous individuals, but this soon subsides, unless the stimulus of an Impeachment keeps it awake, until the question of the renewal of the Charter, provokes periodical excitement. An insurrection of Negroes in a petty Colony of the West Indies, would create a greater general sensation in England, than the news that the British Empire in the East was in imminent danger.

will be perceived, that the present work is avowedly a compilation, a considerable portion of its contents having appeared, though in a more diffuse shape, in separate Pamphlets. In order, however, to secure accuracy, recourse