Thus the General Society was, by its original constitution, a regulated company; but it was provided that either the whole Society or any part of it might become a joint stock company.
The opposition to the scheme was vehement and pertinacious.

The Old Company presented petition after petition.

The Tories, with Seymour at their head, appealed both to the good faith and to the compassion of Parliament.

Much was said about the sanctity of the existing Charter, and much about the tenderness due to the numerous families which had, in reliance on that Charter, invested their substance in India stock.

On the other side there was no want of plausible topics or of skill to use them.