NO. 37.— 1888.] INDUSTRIES OF CEYLON. 



351 



The monuments which remain to attest the resources, and 

 to exhibit the national character of ancient races of mankind, 

 seem to show that wheresoever the surplus products of 

 labour were devoted to luxury, pomp, and unproductive 

 purpose, the improvident races so employing them perished, 

 and their epitaph is inscribed upon the memorials of their 

 wasteful policy ; and on the other hand, that wheresoever the 

 sinew and resources of an ancient people are represented by 

 reproductive works, the race and its industries survive, even 

 where these have been crushed by the weight of unproductive 

 national burdens, as in Egypt, or have been subject, as in 

 Ceylon, to the frequent incursions of rapacious neighbours, 

 and to the vicissitudes of ever-changing and despotic Govern- 

 ments. Had the ancient Sinhalese possessed the wisdom and 

 foresight which led the Chinese to fortify their country 

 against invasion and to protect their industries from harassing 

 interruptions by erecting that stupendous barrier, the great 

 wall, this country might have enjoyed, like that, a con- 

 tinuous progress of permanent and enduring wealth. And the 

 Sinhalese would almost certainly have attained a degree of 

 intellectual and moral refinement and culture which are 

 fairly foreshadowed by the art displayed in the design and 

 decoration of their religious edifices, the science exhibited in 

 the conception and execution of their stupendous irrigation 

 works, and in the beautiful ideas of womanly devotion and 

 female virtues which form a staple subject of their best 

 poetry. But, instead of any such provident regard for the 

 security of their possessions and industries, the Sinhalese 

 attracted their rapacious neighbours to their defenceless 

 coasts, by lavishing upon their religious edifices a profusion 

 of precious metals and gems, which were highly prized and 

 easily carried off by their enemies. Hence it followed that, 

 throughout their history, from the most ancient times, when- 

 ever the Government was weak, parties of Tamils invaded 

 the Island, and either despoiled it, or seized upon and 

 exercised for a time the supreme power. It is astonishing 

 how easily these marauders established themselves, and how 



