Thomas Munro was even more emphatic: If a good system of agriculture, unrivalled manufacturing skill, a capacity to produce whatever can contribute to convenience or luxury; schools established in every village for teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic; the general practice of hospitality and charity among each other: and above all, a treatment of the female sex full of confidence, respect, and delicacy, [if all these] are among the signs which denote a civilised people, then the Hindus are not inferior to the nations of Europe; and if civilisation is to become an article of trade between England and India. I am convinced that England will gain by the import cargo.
— SIR THOMAS MUNRO, 1ST BARONET