oubt for a moment that those must be the conditions of
anything deserving the name of a reform in the Indian government; that
anything short of them would not only be delusive, but, in this matter,
which admits no medium, noxious in the extreme.

To all the conditions proposed by his adversaries the mover of the bill
perfectly agrees; and on his performance of them he rests his cause. On
the other hand, not the least objection has been taken with regard to
the efficiency, the vigor, or the completeness of the scheme. I am
therefore warranted to assume, as a thing admitted, that the bills
accomplish what both sides of the House demand as essential. The end is
completely answered, so for as the direct and immediate object is
concerned.

But though there are no direct, yet there are various collateral
objections made: objections from the effects which this plan of reform
for Indian administration may have on the privileges of great public
bodies in England; from its probable influence on the constitutional
rights, or on the freedom and integrity, of the several branches of the
legislature.

Before I answer these objections, I must beg leave to observe, that, if
we are not able to contrive some method of governing India _well_, which
will not of necessity become the means of governing Great Britain _ill_,
a ground is laid for their eternal separation, but none for sacrificing
the people of that country to our Constitution. I am, however, far from
being persuaded that any such incompatibility of interest does at all
exist. On the contrary, I am certain that every means effectual to
preserve India from oppression is a guard to preserve the British
Constitution from its worst corruption. To show this, I will consider
the objections, which, I think, are four.

1st, That the bill is an attack on the chartered rights of men.

2ndly, That it increases the influence of the crown.

3rdly, That it does _not_ increase, but diminishes, the influence of the
crown, in order to promote the interests of certain ministers and their
party.

4thly, That it deeply affects the national credit.

As to the first of these objections, I must observe that the phrase of
"the chartered rights _of men_" is full of affectation, and very unusual
in the discussion of privileges conferred by charters of the present
description. But it is not difficult to discover what end that ambiguous
mode of expression, so often reiterated, is meant to answer.