II
I now come, to the two historical maxims put forward by Sir John Seeley concerning Indian independence, which long ago attracted my attention. These have seemed to me, the more often I have thought of them, to be profoundly disturbing. They have forced me to see how deep the evil of dependence lies, and how hard it is to eradicate it.
The first maxim may be quoted in Sir John Seeley's own words, as follows:—
“Subjection for a long time to a foreign yoke is one of the most potent causes of national deterioration.”
I wish every word of this sentence to be very carefully noted. Not every subjection, but subjection for a long time, is one of the
most potent causes of national deterioration. One hundred and sixty years have now passed away, during which India has
9
