Princes possesses one decided advantage in that it is more sympathetic and more in harmony with the ideas, thoughts and usages of the people. Native Courts again have been patrons of learned men and men of character and sanctity^ and protectors of the arts, industries and manu- factures of the country. It is too true, as Col. Torrens has remarked, that 'the demand for Cashmere shawls has dwindled in extent as British supremacy has spread northwards from Bengal Proper' and the fall of Lucknow and Delhi has been almost the shawl-makei% 'last and bitterest blow.' And what is true of the shawl manufacture is true also of the manufacture of many other indigenous fabrics which once commanded universal admiration by the superiority of their texture and quality. They are still prized by our Princes and Chiefs, who, even in their decline, encourage directly or indirectly these and other arts and industries, which but for them would have probably died out of the country.
