A banquet given by the Royal Asiatic Society on Tuesday
was marked by two events of interest : an official state- ment by the Duke of Connaught that the Prince and Princess of Wales would shortly visit India, and a speech from the Maharajah of Gwalior professing even passionate loyalty to "my King and Emperor." It is not yet a hundred years since the Mahratta sword was broken, and though it is the interest of every Hindoo Prince to stand by the Overlord who guarantees him against rebellion and against the much-dreaded Mussulman ascendency, there lingers a feeling among Mahrattas which renders this public declaration most acceptable. Sindhia is the most powerful and the wealthiest, as he is personally the most capable, of the Mahratta Princes, and had his father joined the mutineers in 1858 when his army revolted, the task of Sir Hugh Rose might have been even more difficult than it was. The Mahrattas are not only brave soldiers, they are quick-witted men, they are most orthodox Hindoos, the tradition of their victory over the Mogul still lives among them, and should they ever rise in united rebellion "the fire," to use their own phrase, would really be "in the hills." When we crushed them before, we had the genius of Wellington and the soldiership of Lord Lake to help us, and even then the fight was sharp.
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