Samasthanam. At a Durbar held on the 5th August in connection with this occasion the Maharajah delivered the following speech:—
"Gentlemen,
"First of all, I think I must explain to you the object of this Durbar, held in connection with my twenty-five years' administration of this ancient Samasthanam. In the West, it is a custom among Kings to celebrate a Jubilee after the completion of fifty years' reign. In this case, however, as fifty years are not completed, the Durbar—though some of you have thought otherwise—is not held in accordance with the above custom. Again, as I have not ruled for a longer period than every one of my predecessors, it is not held in celebration of any such record of administration. My grand-father and great-grandfather ruled for thirty-two and twenty-eight years respectively. But, as regards the latter, his six years' minority has been included in the calculation, and if
