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Rh the religious ceremonies for his benefit. Third, that, in regard to the succession to the government of dependent Native States, he carried out the established principle, as formulated into a constitutional maxim by successive Governors-General and the Court of Directors before he set foot in India; namely, that the right of adoption, while creating a right to inherit the private property and personal status of the deceased, did not carry with it the right to succeed to his political functions, nor to the government of a dependent State, except by the consent of the Paramount Power, Fourth, that before Lord Dalhousie's arrival, the Government of India had decided 'to persevere in the one clear and direct course,' of withholding its consent in the case of dependent Native States. Fifth, that so far from extending the principle of lapse, Lord Dalhousie refrained from following in the direction indicated by his predecessor Lord Hardinge, of possibly applying the principle to sovereign Native States. Sixth, that what Dalhousie really did was to steadily enforce the principles previously laid down by the Indian Government and the Court of Directors.

It was reserved for the Queen's Government of India to discover a more excellent way. But, as I shall show in my volume on Lord Mayo, this more excellent way was rendered possible by the work done by Dalhousie.