 In 1836, he was promoted to the Company's Political Department, where he was responsible for correspondence pertaining to the Company's relations with the princely states, and in 1856, was finally promoted to the position of Examiner of Indian Correspondence.In "On Liberty", "A Few Words on Non-Intervention", and other works, he defended British imperialism by arguing that a fundamental distinction existed between civilized and barbarous peoples.Mill viewed countries such as India and China as having once been progressive, but that were now stagnant and barbarous, thus legitimizing British rule as benevolent despotism, "provided the end is [the barbarians'] improvement".