Page:The Maharaja of Cashmere.djvu/32

 Native States again are the only centres tound which true self-government on an appreciable scale is possible in the present political exigencies of the country. Indians had successfully governed themselves from remote antiquity, and the resuscitation of their self-governing capacities is a desideratum not only to themselves but also to their British rulers and masters. Hence a movement in this direction is visible throughout the Empire. The higher ins- tincts of the people are to be preserved and even developed, and Britain's mission in India is not to extinguish every spark of generous ambition in the Indian breast^ but to generate in it that vital warmth which will call forth latent powers and susceptibilities and enliven the capacity for organisation and discipline self-government imposes. The utility of the Native States as self-governing agencies is palpable, and I can do nothing better to support my position than quote the utterances of our present Viceroy on the subject. Speaking at the St. Andrew's Dinner on