The policy of ingrafting western methods on eastern customs by a gradual and gentle process has been attended not only with marked success but with appreciation by the natives themselves. It has been the means by which old prejudices have been broken down, and reforms in laws and administration have step by step, and without friction or difficulty, been substituted for unjust and debasing customs. By preserving old customs good in themselves, modifying these where necessary, avoiding sudden and drastic changes, and, above all, by acting in conjunction with the native chiefs and in sympathy with their ideas, a faith in the integrity of the purpose of their white Ruler has been instilled into the minds of the people, and a feeling that whatever change he may advise will be primarily for their benefit. I do not exaggerate, the Rajah wrote in 1870, when I say our chief success has been owing to the good feeling existing between the Ruler and people, brought about by there being no impediments between them; and that the non-success of European governments generally in ruling Asiatics is caused by the want of sympathy and knowledge between the Rulers and the ruled, the reason being the distance and unapproachableness of the Leader. If I were to exclude myself from Court I must necessarily withdraw myself from hearing the complaints, either serious or petty, of my people, who would then be justified in drawing an unsatisfactory and unhappy comparison between myself and my uncle, who was _de facto_ the slave of the people, and left the country under _my_ charge expecting me to carry out _his_ policy. Changes in laws and customs, which a few decades back would have been viewed with sullen distrust, are now readily accepted by the Malay chiefs, even those affecting their own strict religious laws. These as enacted by Muhammad were adjusted to meet the requirements of the past, but the Malay chiefs have so far advanced in their ideas that they are ready to admit that some of these laws may no longer be in accordance with present conditions. So by an Act passed in the Supreme Council an important rule contained in that code regulating the succession to property was modified as being opposed to modern ideas of fairness.