Note 12 — I THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN INDIA

‘The extent to which confidence has been restored by Lord Canning’s edict is shown by the curious fact that since its promulgation a childless ruler very rarely adopts in his own lifetime. An heir presumptive, who knows that he is to succeed and who may possibly grow restive if his inheritance is delayed, is for various obscure reasons not the kind of person whom an Oriental ruler cares to see idling about his palace, so that a politic chief often prefers leaving the duty of nominating a successor to his widows, who know his mind and have every reason for wishing him long life.’—Sir A. C. Lyall in Law Quarterly Review for October, 1893.