There can be no doubt that England stands in a position of a steward
before God. We are all stewards of the various talents and opportunities
which we possess. The minister is a steward of the mysteries of God, and
I stand here myself this very day as his steward, or servant, to declare
his word. The parent is a steward; and what a stewardship it is to be
entrusted with the training of immortal souls for the kingdom of the
Lord! The rich man is a steward; his property is not his own, but he is
entrusted with it in order that he may lay it out for man’s happiness and
God’s glory. On the same principle, nations are entrusted with their
various stewardships. The Jewish nation, for example, was the steward of
Scripture: “Unto them were committed the oracles of God;” and whatever be
the particular power or privilege of a nation, that power or privilege is
a talent, or stewardship, to be employed in the service of Him who gave
it.
Now, if ever there was a case in which this stewardship was conspicuous,
it is in England’s relationship to India. It was placed in our hands by
God himself. When our merchants first settled on the banks of the
Hooghly, there was no thought of territorial possession. In their first
acquisitions of property they were influenced merely by motives of
self-defence. They were compelled to occupy districts surrounding them,
in order to protect themselves from aggression. I fear that the same
cannot be said of our more recent annexations; but it was most
unquestionably the case when India was first placed in our hands. Our
first merchants had no thought of a kingdom, but the providence of God
gave it us.
Look, again, at the wonderful power with which that vast empire has been
held. Look at the two countries on the map—the one a little island on
the western ocean, and the other a vast territory 15,000 miles distant,
extending thousands of miles in every direction, and supporting a
population of not less than 160,000,000 souls. Remember, again, that
India contains many large, powerful, and warlike nations, and you will
see that there must have been a power far beyond the hand of man which
has enabled a little handful of Englishmen to hold under control so large
a proportion of the inhabited world. As the Lord gave the stewardship,
so the Lord has likewise preserved the power.
But look again at the religious condition of the two countries; one,
being the centre of Asiatic idolatry, with its vast population sunk in
idolatrous worship, and degraded by the most soul-abasing superstitions,
while the other has been the centre of Christian light, with a greater
amount of Christian truth, and greater opportunities for its spread than
any other nation in the world. Is there not enough in this to teach us
the character and purport of our stewardship? Idolatrous India is placed
under the government of professedly Christian England. This vast mass of
heathen darkness is brought into direct contact with the clearest light
to be found in Christendom, and is it too much to conclude that the
stewardship was a Christian stewardship, and that the great purpose for
which it was entrusted to our care was that the scriptural light of
England might be freely communicated, and shed its beams in the midst of
the deep darkness of Indian heathenism?
And is it not again most remarkable that this trust was given to
Protestant England? There were other nations which preceded us in India,
but to us was the stewardship given. It was entrusted to the care of no
Romish people, of Spain, or France, or Austria, for none of those nations
had the great qualification for the trust. Not holding the truth
themselves they were disqualified from the high commission. In England
there was the profession of Scriptural truth. In England the light of
the Reformation burnt steadier than in any other nation. In England
there was a larger circulation of the Scriptures than in any country in
the world, and therefore to England was the great trust given.
Can there then be any doubt as to the real character of England’s
stewardship? Can we suppose that such a trust was given simply in order
to enrich our merchants, or to find employment for our sons? Can we
believe that these 160,000,000 immortal heathens were placed under our
care in order that the wealth and luxury of the East might be transferred
to our little island? and that our merchant princes might return to erect
palaces, and spend their latter days in luxurious ease? Was it not
rather given in order that England’s light might shine in India’s
darkness; that heathen Asia might have Christianity presented to its
view, and that the millions of that vast empire might be brought under
the blessing of a Christian government, and favoured with that which is
the highest gift within the reach of man, the clear exhibition of
Christian truth? I believe it may be safely said, that throughout the
history of the world no nation was ever yet favoured with so noble an
opportunity, or intrusted with so high a stewardship. We have had both
light and power, and with this double qualification in our hands we have
had a vast empire for a whole century placed under our care. No wonder
then that God now says to us at the close of the hundred years, “Give an
account of thy stewardship.”
* * * * *