Sir Walter R. Lawrence [March 13, 



WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, 



Friday, March 13, 1914. 



Sir James Orichton-Browne, J.P. M.D. LL.D. F.R.S., Treasurer 

 and Vice-President, in the Chair. 



Sir Walter R. Lawrence, Bart., G.C.I.E. 

 An Indian State. 



[Abstract.] 



A former Lecture deUvered at the Royal Institution dealt with 

 Kashmir, its people, products, races, and religions, but did not touch 

 on its constitution and political status. 



The subject of the Indian States, rarely mentioned in England, 

 and little known in India, save to the few whose work brings them 

 into direct contact with the States. 



Reticence on the subject ; but as the States comprise two-fifths 

 of the whole of India, it is right that the English pubhc should know 

 something about them. Their political importance. 



Their peculiar character. No parallel exists elsewhere. 



Variations ; but tendency to conform to a single type. 



Points in common. Devotion to the King-Emperor. Personal 

 rule of the Chiefs ; their control over legislation. 



No external relations. Status of subordinate isolation. Pro- 

 tected from external dangers and against serious internal troubles. 

 Secure and perpetual. 



Influence, of Lord Dufferin and Lord Curzon on the Indian 

 States. 



Conference of Chiefs : first step towards modification of policy of 

 isolation. 



Life in an Indian State. The Capital and the Palace. The 

 Chief an Indian ruling Indians. The devotion of the people to the 

 Chief. Factions and parties ; the respect for ceremony and social 

 order. 



Life in the villages. Its quietude. Occasional appearance of 

 Dacoits. Absence of crime. No police necessary in Kashmir. 



British India : The splendid work of the British. Up to the 

 last ten years one policy. The policy of the British District. The 

 old system not appreciated by the educated Indians. Present genera- 

 tion has never known the troubled times their fathers knew. 



Education has bred discontent. Impatient dishke of a strong 



