7. It is true that we do not give India the same kind of government we give Canada and Australia. We are obliged to govern India, not according to the notions of the natives, but according to our own. We take care, however, to keep order and see justice done, not only in the provinces under direct British rule, but also in the dependent states, which occupy about two-fifths of the country, and contain one-fourth of the population. There are no less than seven hundred of these states, great and small; none of them may make alliance with any other state except Britain; each of them must admit a British resident, who keeps an eye on its government. If any prince, after repeated warnings, fails to reform, he is replaced by another native, for Britain annexes no longer. On the other hand, a prince who does his duty and governs wisely, receives from the Emperor some mark of distinction or titular honour, nowhere in the world more valued than in India. 8. It will be seen then that our government of India is despotic, like that of a schoolmaster, who makes his own laws and administers them for the good of his scholars. There is, however, this difference. In India, the natives themselves are admitted to a large share in the administration of the laws and in the service of the state, an arrangement tending to keep the educated natives contented and to train them for the work of self-government. 9. On the whole, it may be said with truth that there is nothing more wonderful in the history of the world than that, under the flag of these two little islands, there should have grown up the greatest and most beneficent despotism that the world has sees. The very face of the country has changed; pestiferous swamps have been drained, and are now fertile lands with healthy cities. Wide tracts of jungle, the secure refuge of evil beasts, have been reclaimed. The great rivers are now brought under control; canals receive their surplus waters, and instead of causing desolation, bring fertilizing streams to a thirsty land. Railroads transport corn and rice through tunnels cut in the mountains, and across mighty rivers, to distant famine-stricken districts. In short, the story of India's progress under British rule is one of which we may well be proud.