514 THE INVDIAN EMPIRE [CHAP.
Downfall after a life of more than two and a half centuries. The
of the original Company received its Charter of Incorporation from
Company,
1858. Elizabeth in I6oo. Its political powers, and the constitution
Its history of the Indian Government, were derived from the Regulating
epitomized,
87173_858. Act of x773, passed by the ministry of Lord North. By that
Actof5773. statute the Governor of Bengal was raised to the rank of
Governor-General; and, in conjunction with his Council of
four other members, he was entrusted with the duty of super-
intending and controlling the Governments of Madras and
Bombay, so far as regarded questions of peace and war;
a Supreme Court of Judicature was created for Calcutta, to
which the judges were appointed by the Crown; and a power
of making rules, ordinances, and regulations was conferred
ActofI784. upon the Governor-General and his Council. Next came the
India Act of Pitt (1784), which founded the Board of Control
and strengthened the supremacy of Bengal over the other
Presidencies. At the renewal of the charter in I813 the
commerce with India was thrown open to the English nation,
though the Company was allowed to retain the exclusive trade
Actofi833. to China. By the Act of r833 even this monopoly was taken
away, and the Company was finally divested of its commercial
character. That Act also introduced various reforms into the
constitution of the Indian Government. It added to the
Council a Law-member, who need not be chosen from among
the Company's servants, and was entitled to be present only
at meetings for making Laws and Regulations; the first Law-
member was Macaulay. It accorded the authority of Acts
of Parliament to the Laws and Regulations so made, subject
to the disallowance of the Court of Directors. It appointed
a Law Commission; and it gave the Governor-General-in-
Council a control over the other Presidencies in all points
relating to the civil or military administration. It nominally
opened up administrative offices in India to the natives, irre-
Actofx853. spective of caste, creed, or race. The charter of the Company
was renewed for the last time in i853, not for a definite period
of years, but only for so long as Parliament should see fit.
On this occasion the number of Directors was reduced, and
their patronage as regards appointments to the covenanted
Civil Service was taken away. The Act laid down the
principle that the administration of India was too national
a concern to be left to the chances of benevolent nepotism,
and that British representatives in India must be chosen
by open competition and without favour from the youth of
the United Kingdom.
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