• The death of the Maharaja of Mysore from diphtheria
is really a misfortune to his territory. The representative of the ancient House which preceded the usurper Hyder Ali, the Maharaja has exhibited genuine capacity for government, and has excited no hostility among the Mahommedan popula- tion. He has kept the finances of his States in order ; has improved the means of communication ; and has so managed a little Parliament that its Members have done true service to the peopla, raising, for instance, the age of female marriage, without talking windy rubbish about politics or impairing the authority of the Executive. The Mysore Parliament is a valuable precedent for the National Congress to quote ; but then the Sovereign was an Indian, and would, we fancy, if too much criticised or hampered, have made himself decidedly unpleasant to the representatives of the people. It is very difficult to say what a Native Prince in India can, or cannot, do ; and his subjects, aware of the uncertainty, rarely put it to the test.
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