This passage may stand as a fair example of Mr Kipling's method of
dealing with India. It is an able piece of descriptive writing. It is
marked by a conscious and deliberate resolve that the "effect" shall be
made. It shows us the Indian city from a high distance, as it appeared
to an observer with a knack for vividly delivering his impressions. It
is in no sense an inspired wrestle with the reality of India; and in
that it is typical. Mr Kipling has never claimed to grasp or interpret
his Indian theme. He has stood away almost ostentatiously from the
material he was exploiting.

It is indeed the chief merit of his Indian tales that he admits himself
to be no more, so far as India is concerned, than an adventurer making
the literary most of his adventure. He has at any rate the sensibility
to be conscious that often he is in the position of a tripper before
the Sphinx. His tales are thrilled with respect and a sense of India's
power. She it is who wipes the lips of Aurelian McGoggin, who flouts
the Greatest of All the Viceroys, humbles the Legal Member of the
Supreme Legislative Council, and drives the lonely white intruder to
illusion and death. She is indifferent to every conqueror. She feeds
her multitudes like a mother; and then suddenly her bounty dries and
there is famine and pestilence. Always she is a confronting Presence
dwarfing to one height masters and slaves. Mr Kipling has followed
this Presence as Browning's poet followed a more familiar quest:

"Yet the day wears,
And door succeeds door;
I try the fresh fortune--
Range the wide house from the wing to the centre.
Still the same chance! She goes out as I enter."

It is a lawful adventure, and for some it is an absolute duty, to
follow and challenge the Presence in word and deed. Englishmen who
live in her shadow have sometimes for their honour to grasp and defy
her; to assume that they are bound to question her authority. India
for all her unknown terror has to be wrestled with for the blessing
that England requires upon the labour of the English. Though the Gods
of India are sacred, the devils of India, filthy and lawless, must be
driven out. When India put the mark of the beast upon Fleete the
powers of darkness had of necessity to be brought to heel, and this
story may be read as a parable. The mark of the beast, wherever it may
appear, is the Imperial concern of the English in India.

But a warning enters here. Mr K