The Nizam. By R. Paton McA.nliffe, B.A. (C. J. Clay
and Sons. 2s. 6d. net.)—This essay, which won the Le Bas Prize at Cambridge this year, deals with "the origin and future of the Hyderabad State." Hyderabad is the first in importance of the " Protected " States, and our policy with regard to it may be con- sidered as typical of that which, as the sovereign Power in India, we are bound to pursue. The Nizam reigns quamdiu se bene gesserit. It is impossible for us, whether our own position or the welfare of India in general and of his subjects in particular is considered, to give any more definite assurance. Theoretically this is not an ideal state of things ; it does not harmonise with the aphorism that "all men are born equaL" Yet it is practically effective. Mr. McAuliffe sets out in detail the processes by which the present condition of things came into being. The story is not always easy to understand, at least not in details, but the general bearing of the whole is sufficiently clear. The British policy has not been logical, but it has worked out well. Mr. McA.nliffe should aim at lucidity in his style. Here is a specimen of the obscure: "Nor is it possible to avoid seeing that the Nizam's alliances with the English, whether or not the superior benefit was generally in the end the Company's, were all that prevented the Company's ultimate advantage from being secured at the expense of, instead of in participation with, his Highness."
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