FUTURE OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE 497

firmly planted in Asia, is not likely to be shaken unless it is supplanted by a stronger European rival. Henceforward the struggle will be, not between the Eastern and Western races, but between the great com- mercial and conquering nations of the West for pre- dominance in Asia. From this contest England has now little to fear; and in the meantime she has under- taken the intellectual emancipation of the Indian peo- ple; she is changing the habits of thought, the religious ideas, and the moral level of the whole country. No one can as yet venture upon any prognostic of the course which the subtle and searching mind of India will mark out for itself amid the cross-currents of East- ern and Western influences. But we may be sure that the diffusion of knowledge and the changes of mate- rial environment are acting steadily on mental habits, and that future historians will have a second remark- able illustration of the force with which a powerful and highly organized civilization can mould the char- acter and shape the destinies of many millions of peo- ple. And whatever may be the ultimate destiny of our Indian Empire, England will have conferred upon the Indians great and permanent benefits, and will have left for herself a good name in history.