In 1877, John Bright told a meeting of the India Association in Manchester that nineteen years earlier, when the British Raj began, he had urged parliament to plan ahead for Indian independence. He guessed that centralised government of so many people and languages was not sustainable, and advised them to prepare the Princely States for self-government.

Bright stressed that readying India for self-government would not only benefit Britain in the sort term, but also lead later generations to look back with pride on their forefathers, and make up for some of the British Empire’s misdeeds; for self-governance is a blessing that God wishes to give all nations in due time.

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