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REPRESENTATIVE MEN 
 
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 SOUTHERN INDIA. 
 
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 1896 
 
 [All Riglif.1 Reserved.] 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 It is singular that while the biographies of 
 several eminent men of Bengal and Bombay have 
 been published, India knows little or nothing of 
 the greatest men of Southern India. Madras has 
 given birth to several distinguished men who can- 
 not suffer in comparison with the best men of other 
 parts of India. Yet, no attempt has hitherto been 
 made to publish a permanent record of their lives 
 for the information of the people of India as a 
 whole and for the instruction and edification of the 
 rising generation of Southern India in particular. 
 About two years ago, it struck me that I may make 
 an attempt however humble, in this direction, and 
 accordingly opened the columns of the Madras 
 Standard for the publication of the biographical 
 sketches of eminent Indians. Out of the numerous 
 sketches that have since appeared under the heading 
 " Our Portrait Gallery," I have selected for sepa- 
 rate publication the lives of twelve representative 
 men who are held in high esteem by the people of 
 
11. PEEl'ACK. 
 
 this Presidency, both European and Indian. Among 
 the Princes and Zemindars of Southern India, none 
 are better known than Sir Rama Varma, the late 
 Maharajah of Travancore and Sir Vizia Rama, the 
 late Maharajah of Vizianagram. Sir Madava Row, 
 V. Ramiengar, C. V. Runga Charlu and A. Seshia 
 Sastri are acknowledged on all hands to be the 
 most distinguished of South Indian Statesmen. As 
 a Linguist, C. V. Runganada Sastri has left behind 
 him a reputation which is unique. As a Jurist 
 none has surpassed Sir T. Muthusawmy Aiyar. In 
 the field of education, nobody has yet been found 
 to take the place of Rai Bahadur Gopal Row and 
 Rai Bahadur Runganada Mudaliar. And there 
 breathed not sturdier patriots than Gazulu Lak- 
 shminarasu Chetty and Salem Ramasawmy Muda- 
 liar. All these men — with one exception — are 
 men of the past. It has been with the greatest 
 difficulty that the particulars of their lives have been 
 obtained. I need scarcely add that it would have 
 been impossible for me to publish this book, even in 
 its present imperfect form without the willing 
 co-operation of some of their relatives, friends 
 and admirers. Some of them have contributed 
 the sketches as they originally appeared in the 
 Madras Standard, others have supplied me with 
 materials to work upon : others again have given 
 me information by word of mouth or in writing 
 scarcely less important than the information obtain- 
 ed in other ways. To all these men I wish to take 
 this opportunity of expressing my deep obligation ; 
 and among them none have greater claims on my 
 
PREFACE. 111. 
 
 gratitude tlian Rai Bahadur Y. Kishnama Chariar, 
 Professor P. Sundram Pillai, M. A., Professor S- 
 Satlnvari.lliini, M A., LL. B., R. Ragagopala 
 Cliariar, B.A.^ B.L., C. V. Visvanatha Sastri, B.A., 
 B.L., S. Sitarama Sastri, B.A., T. Lakshmana Row, 
 B.A., 0. Kandasawmy Chetty and M. P. Durai- 
 samy Iyer. I have also utilised the infoimation 
 contained in a few books and pamphlets and among 
 them must be mentioned, Hansards' Parliamentary 
 Debates, Administration Reports of Baroda, Tra- 
 vancore and Pudukota, Reprint of an article on 
 " A native Statesman" from the Calcutta Review 
 and of another article on "Sir Madava Row," from 
 the Journal of the Poona Sarvajanik Sahba, and a 
 life of Rai Bahadur T. Gopal Row, by Mr. Nara- 
 simmiah, B. A., B. L. None of the sketches appear 
 in this book in the form in which they were pub- 
 lished in the Madras Standard. All of them have 
 been revised, some have been almost entirely re- 
 written, while one or two have undergone compara- 
 tively little change. It has not been possible to pre- 
 serve any order in the publication of the lives : 
 were it not that materials for two or three of these 
 were obtained but very recently, the lives of Runga 
 Charlu and Seshia Sastri would have followed 
 those of Sir Madava Row and V. Ramiengar. The 
 book is not free from such and similar defects 
 and my only justification for its publication is the 
 absence of any better book containing the biogra- 
 phies of the eminent men of Southern India ; and 
 this attempt to sketch the details of their lives has 
 been made in the hope that it may tempt those 
 
I'liEKACE. 
 
 who are better fitted to do the work to complete 
 the perfect figure of those men. 
 
 G. P. 
 
 Madeas, ") 
 dill May 1896.] 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Introduction ... 
 
 Sir Rama Varma, G. C. S. I. 
 
 Sir Vizia Rama, K. C. S. I. 
 
 Raja Sir T. Madava Row, K. C. S. I. 
 
 V. Ramiengar, C. S. I. 
 
 0. V. Runganada Sastri 
 
 Sir T. Muthusawmy Aiyar, K. C. I. E. 
 
 Rai Bahadur T. Gopal Row, B. A. ... 
 
 Rai Bahadur P. Runganada Mudaliar, M. A. 131 
 
 G. Lakshminarasu Chetty, C. S. I. ... 145 
 
 Rai Bahadur S. Ramasawmy Mudaliar, 
 
 M.A., B.L.... 167 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 27 
 
 
 33 
 
 
 49 
 
 
 71 
 
 E. ... 
 
 93 
 
 
 117 
 
 C. V. Runga Charhi, C. I. E. 
 A. Seshia Sastri, C. S. I. 
 
 181 
 201 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " The names and memories of great men are a 
 dowry of a nation." It may be questioned whether 
 the men, the story of whose lives is told in the fol- 
 lowing pages, may be reckoned great. Not cer- 
 tainly in the sense in which the heroes of the world 
 are great. But there is a relative greatness as well 
 as an absolute greatness. Emerson counts him a 
 great man "who inhabits a higher sphere of 
 thought into which other men rise with labour 
 and difficulty; he has but to open his eyes to 
 see things in a true light and in large relations, 
 whilst they must make painful corrections and 
 keep a vigilant eye on many sources of error." 
 Beaconsfield defines a great man as "one who 
 affects the mind of his generation." In either of 
 these senses, the men whose lives are embodied in 
 this volume may be considered great. But whe- 
 ther great or not, they are the best products of 
 that happy welding of the keen intellect of the 
 East with the sturdy self-reliance and energy of the 
 
1], IKTEODrCTION. 
 
 West. All of thein are men of the nineteenth century 
 "who have imbibed what is best of the wisdom that 
 Europe can teach without breaking away from all 
 their old moorings." The earliest of them was born 
 in 1806 and one of them still lives — "a prosperous 
 gentleman." Their lives^ therefore, well-nigh cover 
 the century. 
 
 G. Lakshminarasu Clietty was born in the first 
 decade of the present century and it was not till 
 twenty years after his birth that the First " Com- 
 mittee of Public Instruction " was appointed in 
 Madi*as. His school edacatiou was, therefore, not 
 worth the name. Runganada Sastri was born to- 
 wards the close of the second decade : Sir Madava 
 Row, Ramiengar and Seshia Sastri during the 
 third decade : and Runga Charlu and Sir M uthu- 
 sawmy Aiyar in the beginning of the fourth decade : 
 and these, therefore, had the advantage of being 
 educated in the High School of the Madras Uni- 
 versity which was established in 1840. Gopal Row 
 was bom in the fourth decade, Runganada Muda- 
 liar in the fifth and Ramasawmy Mudaliar in the 
 sixth : and all these, the two latter particularly, 
 had a University education, the Madras Univer- 
 sity having been established in 1857. The remain- 
 ing two. Sir Vizia Rama who was born in the third 
 decade and Sir Rama Varma who was bom in the 
 fourth, having been princes of the blood royal were 
 educated pi'ivately. 
 
 Before the birth of any of these, the British 
 power had been firmly established in Southern 
 
l^sTKODl'CTlUN, 111. 
 
 India. The last local effort to defy the British 
 power was the Vellore Mutiny which took place in 
 the very year in which the earliest of our heroes 
 was born. There were several wars and distur- 
 bances in other parts of India subsequent to that 
 date, but Southern India was scarcely affected by 
 them. Looking back, we find that in 1858, the year 
 of the consolidation of British Power in India, 
 all our heroes had a contemporaneous existence. 
 Lakshminarasu Chetty was then in the plenitude of 
 his power, engaged in demanding a pledge of reli- 
 gious neutrality from the British authorities, en- 
 couraged by his previous successes in the political 
 field of battle : Runganada Sastri to the evident 
 surprise and delight of judges of the High Court, 
 was displaying his mastery over fourteen different 
 languages as Chief Interpreter : Sir Vizia Rama 
 was in charge of his Zemindary devising means and 
 methods of enriching his estate and winning the 
 «steem and approbation of the British authorities : 
 Sir Rama Varma was addressing stirring letters to 
 the Indian 8tatesma,% on Travancore topics : Sir 
 Madava Row had just then been entrusted with 
 the reins of administration in Travancore : Ramien- 
 gar was working hard as a Deputy Collector in 
 Tanjore: Runga Cliarlu was acquiring revenue ex- 
 perience as Tahsildar of Saidapet : Seshia Sastri 
 was employed in improving the administration of 
 Masulipatam as Head Sherisiadar : Sir M uthusamy 
 Aiyer was winning laurels as a District Munsif : 
 Gopal Row was distinguishing himself as First 
 Assistant in the ProtiiLo: il School at Kumbakonam; 
 
IV. INTKumCTION. 
 
 Hunganada Mudaliar was a mere boy who was 
 being carefully educated at home by his father : 
 and Salem Ramasawmy Mudelliar was being rocked 
 in the cradle by his mother — all consciously, we 
 suppose, in the cradle of future distinction. 
 
 Sir Rama Varma and Sir Vizia Rama were the 
 best specimens of Native Princes in Southern India. 
 The one was the ruler of the most important Native 
 State in the Madras Presidency ; and the other 
 was in charge of the biggest Zemindary. Both were 
 highly cultured ; both were of polished manners ; 
 and both administered their dominions with mar- 
 ked ability. Their merits are particularly worthy of 
 appreciation, as in this country as well as elsewhere, 
 
 " Seldom, alau ! the power of logic reigns 
 With mach Eufficienc; in royal hraing." 
 
 Sir Grant Duff spoke of Sir Rama Varma as 
 "a typical example of the influence of English 
 thought upon the South Indian mind." Sir Rama 
 Varma was a man of such uncommon parts that he 
 would have made his mark in any profession, if he 
 was not born in the purple. As a statesman, he 
 would have been a formidable rival to Sir Madava 
 Row, Ramiengar, Runga Charlu and Seshia Sastri. 
 If he had followed the profession of the school- 
 master, he would have become as great an educa- 
 tionist as Gopal Row or Runganada Mudaliar. 
 He was the best specimen of an educated Indian 
 prince. What Sir Rama Varma was among rulers 
 of native States in India, that Sir Vizia Rama 
 was among Zemindars. Sir Vizia Rama ought to 
 
• IN'IRODCCTIUN. V. 
 
 serve as a model to the young Zemindars of these 
 days some of whom, though well educated, have 
 become incapable of administering the afEairs of 
 their Zemindaris. Sir Vizia Rama was in charge 
 of his Zemindari for thirty years and when he died, 
 he died full of years and honors, leaving a hand- 
 some surplus of fifteen lakhs of Rupees to his son 
 and successor, in spite of his numerous private 
 charities and public benefactions. 
 
 Sir Madava Row, Bamiengar, Runga Charlu 
 and Seshia Sastri represent the highest types of 
 native statesmanship in India. They were the 
 pupils of that exemplary schoolmaster. Eyre Bur- 
 ton Powell and all of them were Proficients of the 
 old High School. One of them. Sir Madava Row 
 was Dewan of three native States, Travancore 
 Indore and Baroda; another, Seshia Sastri was 
 Dewan of two native States, Travancore and 
 Pudukota ; and the remaining two, Runga Charlu 
 and Ramiengar were Dewans of Mysore and Tra- 
 vancore, respectively. Three of them. Sir Madava 
 Row, Ramiengar and Seshia Sastri were Dewans 
 of the same State, Travancore. The services of 
 Sir Madava Row were confined almost wholly to 
 native States; and he established the ground work 
 of his reputation in Travancore. Runga Charlu 
 won his spurs partly in British territory and partly 
 in Mysore. But both Ramiengar and Seshia Sastri 
 established their reputation in the service of 
 the Madras Government, which they enhanced by 
 their work in native States. Sir Madava Row did 
 
VI. l><TRODL'eTI()N. 
 
 equally good work in Travancore and Baroda. In 
 Indore, he did little or notliing. The chief scene of 
 Seshia Sastri's labours was Pudukota where he 
 raled for sixteen years though he was first called to 
 Travancore. Ramiengar's attention was absorbed 
 in Travancore as Runga Charlu's was in Mysore. 
 But, unlike Sir Madava Row, Ramiengar and 
 Seshia Sastri, Runga Charlu was cut away in 
 the very midst of his labours. Sir Madava Row 
 spent several years in Madras after his retirement 
 from Baroda. Seshia Sastri lives in honourable 
 retirement after completing his labours in Pudu- 
 kota. Ramiengar left Travancore only after seven 
 years of hard toil. But Eunga Charlu had barely 
 two years during which he had to establish his 
 reputation. Ramiengar and Eunga Charlu were 
 only Dewans or Prime Ministers. But Sir Madava 
 Row and Seshia Sastri had the rare fortune of 
 becoming Dewan-Regents or Dewans invested with 
 royal powers. 
 
 Circumstances make the man and though the 
 man is not the less esteemed on that account, it is 
 worthy of note that special circumstances favoured 
 almost all these statesmen. Travancore had attained 
 the worst stage of misrule when Sir Madava Row 
 was made Dewan. Pudukotta was no whit better, 
 when Seshia Sastri was called upon to take up the 
 reins of administration. Runga Charlu had free 
 scope in moulding the adininistration of Mysore after 
 his own mind. And Ramiengar had the peculiar 
 fortune of serving a Maharajah who was competent 
 
INTRODUCTION. Vll, 
 
 to "be his own Dewan. All of them had to surmount 
 difficulties arising from their being alien to the 
 people whose afEairs they were called upon to 
 administer. Sir Madava Row was viewed as a 
 * foreigner' more in Baroda than even in Travan- 
 core. Ramiengar was looked upon as a stranger 
 all the time he was in Travancore. Rnnga Charlu 
 was subjected to grave accusations in Mysore as he 
 had the misfortune to be a Madrasi. And Seshia 
 Sastri had his own share of unpopularity in Pudu- 
 kotta. These statesmen have left an indelible 
 mark of their individuality on the administrations 
 of Baroda, Mysore, Travancore and Pudnkota. 
 " Constitute Government how you please," says 
 Burke "infinitely the greater part of it must depend 
 upon the exercise of powers which are left at large 
 to the prudence and uprightness of Ministers of 
 State. Even all the use and potency of laws 
 depends upon them." The modern history of these 
 native States bears undoubted testimony to the 
 prudence and uprightness of the four Ministers. 
 
 Brunganada Sastri and Sir Muthusawmy Aiyar 
 were both Judges. The one was the first native 
 Judge of the Court of Small Causes and the other 
 the first native Judge of the High Court. But 
 Runganada Sastri was better known as a linguist 
 than as a jurist. He was the first Proficient 
 of the old High School. It is surprising how 
 he could have mastered fourteen difEerent lan- 
 guages, in many of which he became proficient. 
 His scholarship was the object of admiration 
 
Viii. INTRODUCTION. 
 
 among his European contemporaries. Since his 
 days, Southern India has not produced a single 
 man who as a linguist could be spoken of in 
 the same breath with him and considering the 
 tendencies of modern education, it is doubtful 
 whether any will take his place hereafter. Sir 
 Muthusawmy Aiyar was a great jurist. He haa 
 raised the reputation of Indians for judicial work 
 and his talent was of no mean order. 
 
 In these days when the schoolmaster armed 
 
 with his primer is trusted against the soldier in 
 
 full military array, the services of Gopal Row and 
 
 Runganada Mudaliar cannot fail to be estimated 
 
 at their true worth. Both of them were for some 
 
 years employed as Professors in the Presidency 
 
 College. Mathematics was the forte of both but 
 
 Gopal Row excelled in the teaching of English as 
 
 well and Runganada Mudaliar of philosophy. 
 
 Speaking of Turgot, Mr. John Morley says "It is 
 
 hardly to be denied that mathematical genius and 
 
 philososphic genius do not always go together. 
 
 The precision, definiteness and accurate limitations 
 
 of the method of the one are usually unfriendly to 
 
 the brooding, tentative, uncircumscribed meditation 
 
 which is the productive humour in the other." 
 
 Runganada Mudalliar was an exception. In fact, 
 
 his special claims to be remembered by posterity 
 
 are based on the fact that he was a man of wide 
 
 and varied culture. His English was as good as his 
 
 Mathematics and liis Philosophy. Gopal Row and 
 
 Runganada Mudaliar possessed that magnetic 
 
IKTEODUCTION. ix. 
 
 charm which creates a mysterious sympathy be- 
 tween the teacher and the taught. Both of them 
 excelled in powers of conversation and to this pro- 
 bably may be traced, at least partially the great 
 influence they possessed over society. 
 
 Lakshminarasu Chetty and Ramasawmy Muda- 
 liar are the best types of two classes of patriots, the 
 old and the new. But patriotism is no profession. 
 By profession, the one was a merchant and the 
 other a lawyer. Lakshminarasu Chetty lived in 
 days when he had not merely to educate himself 
 but educate the people. It required no small 
 amount of pluck, moral courage and ability to carry 
 on political agitation in the days of Lakshminarasu 
 Chetty and that he should have carried it on for 
 years together and so successfully till the Madras 
 Government forgetting the odium in which he was 
 once held, honored him by soliciting his assistance 
 in the administration of the presidency reflects no 
 little credit on Lakshminarasu Chetty and on 
 the Madras Government itself. Lakshminarasu 
 Chetty's patriotism was not lip deep. He not 
 merely agitated for the redress of the people's 
 grievances but plunged his hands deep into his 
 purse for the purpose. Ramasawmy Mudaliarwas an 
 ardent Congressman. Both Lakshminarasu Chetty 
 and Ramasawmy Mudaliar had great faith in political 
 associations as auxiliary to political agitation. The 
 former started the " Madras Native Association " 
 and became its President. The latter assisted at the 
 birth of the "Mahajana Sabha " and became its 
 
 B 
 
X, INTEODUCTIOSr. 
 
 Vice-President. The lives of both showed that 
 humility or modesty was not inconsistent with ad- 
 vanced views in politics. 
 
 Gopal Row and Sir Muthasawmy Aiyar were 
 known for their great perseverance. The one 
 passed the B. A. Examination and the other the 
 B. L„ very creditably in the first class long after 
 they had both ceased to be students and while 
 taxed with heavy professional work. Both had 
 " borne their faculties " very meek. Sir Madava 
 Row and Gopal Row dabbled in Maratha poetry. 
 The poems composed by the former were simple 
 and those of the latter were appreciated for their 
 chasteness of style. Bunganada Mudaliar and 
 Ramasawmy Mudaliar were the recognised leaders 
 of Hindu Society during the latter part of their 
 career. Runganada Mudaliar in private society 
 was always a powerful centre of attraction. His 
 speech, his manners, and his general behaviour 
 produced such a charming impression on the mind 
 of the public that he was one of their greatest 
 favourites. Of Ramasawmy Mudaliar, it may be 
 truly said that " there seemed a pool of honey 
 about his heart which lubricated all his speech and 
 action with fine jets of mead." Runganada Mu- 
 daliar and Ramasawmy Mudaliar were two of the 
 most charming of men. If one was like the flower 
 which by unfolding its petals sheds light and frag- 
 rance around, the other was like the bud whose very 
 form is a picture of modesty concealing beauty and 
 sweetness within. Southern India has known no 
 
INTEODl'CTION'. XI. 
 
 better conversationalists tlian Seshia Sastri, Gopal 
 Row and Bunganada Madaliar. In conversation, 
 Gopal Ro"w was impressive : Runganada Mudaliar 
 brilliant ; and Peshia Sastri's conversational powers 
 are marked by an ease, vividness, and liumour 
 rarely to be met with. 
 
 The subjects of our sketches were not merely 
 contemporary men ; most of them knew each other 
 intimately and had much in common. Runganada 
 Sastri, Sir Madava Kow, Seshia Fastri, Hunga 
 Charlu, SirMuthusawmy Aiyar audRamiengar were 
 Proficients of the old High School, all except the 
 last named having been placed in the First Class, 
 Sir Muthusawmy Iyer was both a Proficient and a 
 graduate of the Madras University. Gopal Row, 
 Runganada Mudaliar and Hamasawmy Mudaliar 
 were graduates. Lakshminarasu Chetty, Runga- 
 nada Sastri, Raraiengar and Seshia ir^astri were 
 members of the Madras Legislative Council. Sir 
 Vizia Rama was a member of the Imperial Legisla- 
 tive CouDciL Sir Rama Varma, Sir Madava Row 
 and Seshia Sastri were offered seats in the Imperial 
 Legislative Council. Runganada Mudaliar com- 
 peted for a seat in the local Legislative Council as 
 the representative of the University and polled 
 equal votes with his rival candidate. Runganada 
 Sastri was nominated a Fellow of the Madras Uni- 
 versity in 1857 : Sir Rama Varma in 1861 : Sir 
 Madava Row in 1862 : Gopal Row in 1867 ; Runga 
 Charlu and Ramiengar in 1868: ISir Muthusawmy 
 Aiyer and Runganada Mudaliar in 1872 : and 
 
XII. iNTEortri.-nox. 
 
 Eamasawmy Mudaliar in 1887. Sir Madava Row, 
 Ramiengar, Runganada Sastri and Sir Muthusawmy 
 Aiyar were invited to attend the Imperial Assem- 
 blage in 1877 and were offered the Delhi medal. 
 Sir Madava Row and Ramiengar were invited to 
 give evidence before the Parliamentary Finance 
 Commission in England. Sir Rama Varma was a 
 Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the 
 Star of India : Sir Vizia Rama and Sir Madava Row 
 were Knight Commanders: Ramiengar, Seshia Sastri 
 and Lnkshminarasu Chetty were Companions. Sir 
 Muthusawmi Aiyar was a Knight Commander of the 
 Order of the Indian Empire : Runga Charlu was a 
 Companion. Gopal Row, Runganada Mudaliar and 
 Ramasawmy Mudaliar were Rai Bahadurs. Sir 
 Madava Row was a member of the Malabar Land 
 Tenure commission : Sir Muthusawmy Aiyer of the 
 Malabar Marriage Commission: Runganada Muda- 
 liar of the Education Commission: and Ramasawmy 
 Mudaliar of the Public Service Commission. Sir 
 Madava Row, Sir Muthusawmy Aiyar and Runganada 
 Mudaliar had the honor of being called upon by 
 the Governor to deliver Convocation addresses to 
 graduates. Ramiengar, Ramasawmy Mudaliar and 
 Runganada Mudaliar were Municipal Commis- 
 sioners of the City of Madras and Ramiengar 
 Runganada Sastri, Lakshminarasu Chetty and 
 Ramasawmy Mudaliar were Trustees of Pachai- 
 appa's Charities. 
 
 It is interesting to trace the close connection 
 that existed between these eminent men. Runga- 
 
IXTIiODlCTIOX. Mil. 
 
 nada Sastri was Sir Madava Eow's tutor for a 
 short time: Sir Rama Varma was Sir Madava Row's 
 pupil : Ramiengar was Sir Rama Varma's Minister: 
 Runga Charlu was taken into the Mysore service 
 at the instance of Sir Rama Varma : and Seshia 
 Sastri was Dewan of Travancore when Sir Rama 
 Varma was heir apparent to the throne. Sir 
 Madava Row was Sir Muthusawmy Aiyar's Patron: 
 Runganada Mudaliar won the prizes instituted in 
 Pachaiappa's College by Sir Rama Varma and Sir 
 Madava Row : Ramasawmy Mudaliar was Runga- 
 nada Mudaliar's pupil in the Presidency College, 
 and Gopal Row accompanied his father to Travan- 
 core on the invitation of Sir MadavaRow's father. 
 On Lakshminarasu Chetty's death, among those that 
 contributed to his memorial, the most prominent 
 were Sir Rama Varma and Sir Madava Row. 
 
 It is also interesting to know what these 
 eminent men thought of each other. In the 
 opinion of Sir Rama Varma, Sir Madava Row had 
 done for Travancore "what Pericles did for Athens" 
 and "what Crowwell did for England." Sir Madava 
 Row thought Seshia Sastri was " one of the most 
 distinguished natives India had produced" and "in- 
 trinsically a very good man." Seshia Sastri con- 
 sidered Ramasawmy Mudaliar "one of the best 
 young men of whom the University may be proud." 
 Muthusawmy Aiyar was inspired "with a feeling of 
 high esteem and regard for Runganada Mudaliar." 
 Of Sir Muthusawmy Aiyar, Runganada Mudaliar 
 said " he is out and out the best man that modern 
 
IXTRODCOTIOX. 
 
 India has produced so far as intellectaal acumen is 
 concerned." Sir Muthusawmy Aiyar thought 
 Eunga Charlu " was really a great man possessing 
 a colossal intellect while his powers of organisation 
 were very astonishing." Of Gopal Row, he said, "he 
 is the only person whom I have throughout in life 
 admired." And Runganada Mudaliar admitted 
 that he felt the death of Gopal Row " as a loss to 
 the native community of Southern India." 
 
 Almost all our heroes were intellectual men 
 and each of them had his own favourite author of 
 whom he made a special study. Thus we find that 
 the favourite book of Sir Madava Row was Gibbon: 
 of Sir Muthusawmy Aiyar, Goldsmith : of Seshia 
 Sastri, Addison : of Sir Rama Varma, Macaulay, 
 of Gopal Row, Shelley : of Runganada Mudaliar, 
 Shakespeare : and of Runganada Sastri, Cicero. 
 
 It is worthy of note that at least five of these 
 eminent men were men "whose life in low estate 
 began" and who broke their "birth's invidious bar" 
 and made "by force their merit known." Sir Muthu- 
 sawmy Aiyar began life on a salary of Re. 1 per men- 
 sem. Ramiengar's father was hardly able to edu- 
 cate his son. It would have been impossible for 
 Runga Charlu to get himself educated without the 
 generous help he received from some of his distant 
 relatives. Runganada Sastri owed his education 
 entirely to the generosity of a District Judge. 
 Seshia Sastri was equally poor. All these were men 
 whom poverty had inured to hardship and neces- 
 sity had compelled to exertion; and the habits they 
 
IXTEODUCTION. XV. 
 
 had acquired in the early school of difficulty had 
 served them in good stead in later years. 
 
 None of the deceased eminent men has been 
 blessed with long life. Sir Madava Row and Sir 
 Muthusawmy Aiyar died in their sixty-third year : 
 Lakshminarasu Chetty and Runganada Sastri at- 
 tained the age of sixty-two : Ramiengar was sixty- 
 one years old at the time of his death : Gopal Row 
 was fifty-four : Sir Vizia Rama was fifty-three : 
 Eunga Charlu was fifty-two : Sir Rama Varma 
 forty-eight : Runganada Mudaliar forty-six : and 
 Eamasawmy Mudaliar forty. None of them, it 
 will be seen, attained the age of seventy : only five 
 attained the age of sixty : while three did not at- 
 tain even the age of fifty. 
 
 The lives of the Proficients of the old High 
 School tempt us to make a few observations. Though 
 their studies did not embrace all the higher branch- 
 es of learning now included in the curriculum for 
 the B. A. or M. A. degree, the old Proficients were 
 as men of culture, much superior to the modem 
 Bachelors of Arts and Masters of Arts. This may 
 be due to'the fact that in these days when hund- 
 reds of students are compelled to read together in 
 the same class, the teacher is not in a position to 
 devote that attention to each student individually 
 which he would have been able to devote if his 
 pupils were few in number. But apart from this, 
 we think the result is due to a large extent to 
 the fact that the Professors and masters of those 
 
IXTHODUCTION. 
 
 days took a deep interest in the welfare of tlieir 
 students and attended more to their general culture 
 than to their ability to pass examinations. Speak- 
 ing of that veteran educationist^ Mr. Powell, Runga 
 Charlu said, " when I recall to my mind the single- 
 ness of purpose and devotion with which he gave 
 himself up to the education of those placed under 
 his care during a period attended with many dis- 
 couragements and difficulties, the many hours, both 
 in and out of school time, which he devoted to 
 his pupils, the many afternoons even during holi- 
 days which he gladly spent with his pupils in read- 
 ing some English authors not embraced in the 
 school course or in showing them chemical and other 
 scientific experiments in his private laboratory 
 and the nights which he sat up to show them the 
 wonders of the planetary world with expensive 
 telescopes provided out of his own moderate means 
 and when I reflect that he was able to continue 
 with undiminished interest these by no means easy 
 labours during the period of nearly quarter of 
 a century, it is impossible not to be overpowered 
 with a feeling of admiration and gratitude ? Re- 
 markable as he was for the thoroughness and 
 precision of his teaching and the extensive range 
 of information which he was able to place before 
 his students, that which most impressed their mind 
 was, I think, the silent but enduring influence of 
 his high and exemplary character." Teachers like 
 Powell and Porter are extremely rare in these days 
 and rarer indeed are tbose who labour to make 
 their students real men of culture rather than ren- 
 
TXTr.ODrCTlUN'. XVll. 
 
 der them fit merely to receive the hall mark of the 
 University. 
 
 Another feature which cannot escape obser- 
 vation is the cordiality of feeling' which existed 
 between Europeans and Indians in the early days 
 of English education in India and the deep atid 
 abiding and even paternal interest some Anglo- 
 Indians took in the well-being and prosperity of 
 intelligent Indians. This may be partially ex- 
 plained by the fact that the number of educated 
 natives in those days was few. Nevertheless, we 
 find it difficult to resist the conclusion that these 
 European gentlemen, apart from the nobility and 
 magnanimity of their character were more deeply- 
 attached to the land of their adoption. Among 
 those who had worked in the interests of the natives 
 in Southern India, none were better known than 
 John Bruce Norton and William HoUoway. John 
 Bruce Norton closely watched the career of almost 
 every one of our eminent men.LakshminarasuChetty 
 was his great personal friend, and it was mainly 
 through his exertions that a memorial was raised in 
 that patriot's honor after his death. SirEama Varma 
 was a frequent contributor to the newspapers 
 edited by Norton and they kept up a correspond- 
 ence which ceased only with the death of one of 
 them. Of Sir Madava Row, Norton spoke in 
 the highest terms year after year at the anniver- 
 sary of Pachaiappa's College. Ramiengar i~e;.'aui.=, 
 a Trustee of Pachaiappa's charities at the instance 
 of Norton. Eungnniida S^ylri was held in hijra 
 
XVlll. INTKOI^rCTION. 
 
 esteem by Norton and he gave public expression 
 to his scholarship more than once in Fachaiappa's 
 College. Norton was one of those who early ap- 
 preciated the merits of Sir Muthusawmy Aiyar 
 and deplored the waste of " much judicial talent" in 
 the Revenue Department. He also bore testi- 
 mony to the high character of Seshia Sastri. In 
 Runganada Mudaliar, he espied " a young man of 
 singular promise." HoUoway was another warm 
 friend of the people of India. It was under 
 Holloway's training that Sir Muthusawmy Aiyar 
 developed his faculty for analysing judgments. 
 He was one of the earliest to appreciate the 
 worth of Gopal Row. The Prize essay of 
 Runganada Mudaliar in Pachaiappa^s College was 
 examined by HoUoway and it was on the recom- 
 mendation of Holloway that Ramasawmy Mudaliar 
 was trained as an apprentice under the then 
 Advocate-General. Holloway took delight in read- 
 ing the official reports of Seshia Sastri. Runga- 
 nada Sastri owed his education, his culture, in fact, 
 everything of which he was proud to the noble 
 and generous help and the unexampled liberality 
 pf a District Judge, Casamajor. To Ramiengar, 
 Runga Charlu and Seshia Sastri, George Noble 
 Taylor was a common patron. 
 
 The lives of some of the eminent men of South- 
 ern India bear testimony to the fact that the Bri- 
 tish Government in spite of their just laws and love 
 of fair play afford little scope for distinction to 
 natives and give them little encouragement. We 
 
IXTROOrCTIOX, XIX. 
 
 wonder what would have been the fate of Sir 
 Madava Row, Eunga Charlu, Ramiengar and 
 Beshia Sastri if there were no Native States in 
 India. Ramiengar would have retired as Superin- 
 tendent of Stamps or Inspector-General of Kegis- 
 tration ; to Seshia Sastri no more responsible place 
 would have been open than that of Head Sheristadar 
 of the Board of Revenue; the ambition of Runga 
 Charlu would have leapt no higher than the 
 appointment of a Deputy Collector : and Sir Madava 
 Row would have at best been an efficient revenue 
 officer. These offices would have afforded little 
 room for the display of their intellectual attain- 
 ments or for the exercise of their statesmanlike 
 instincts and they would have lived and died like 
 any other plodding, perspiring official in the 
 Revenue Department under Government. They 
 might have perished unseen, wasting their sweet- 
 ness in the desert air; and posterity would have 
 known little or nothing of them. 
 
 Even Gopal Row and Runganada Mudaliar 
 whose abilities were of the highest, were the lesser 
 lights they were on account of the restrictions 
 placed on them by the British Government. In 
 spite of his great reputation as a teacher, his re- 
 cognised abitity and the success and distinction 
 with which he had conducted the duties of Princi- 
 pal for three years in the Kumbakonam College, 
 Gopal Row was never confirmed as Principal and 
 it was several years subsequently that he was ad- 
 mitted even into the graded service as Professor 
 
XX. ISl'IiODCCTIOX. 
 
 of History and Political Economy in tlie Presi- 
 dency College. Runganada Mudaliar was not trea- 
 ted a whit better. A man of his genius had to act 
 as Professor for sixteen years in some capacity or 
 other before he was confirmed as Professor of 
 Mathematics in the Presidency College ! Even Sir. 
 T. Muthusawmy Aiyar could only act as Chief 
 Justice. He was permitted to soar no higher. 
 
 Another fact which we deplore is that these 
 men though they were the best types of educated 
 men in Southern India have left behind them noth- 
 ing of permanent literary interest to the rising 
 generation. Sir Eama Varma has written but 
 a few essays on educational and other topics. Sir 
 Madava Row is responsible only for "Hints on the 
 training of native children." Such a linguist as 
 Runganada Sastri is not known as the author of any 
 book. No treatise on law marks the memory of Sir T. 
 Muthusawmy Aiyar. The claims of Gopal Row and 
 Runganada. Mudaliar to immortality are based on 
 the metrical translation of " Goldsmith's Hermit" 
 in Marathi and "Kachikalandakam" in Tamil, 
 respectively. Few men possess the requisite 
 ability to write books. But it cannot be denied 
 that at least some of these men could have left 
 some work more enduring behind them if they had 
 made an effort. It strikes us that Indians generally 
 however highly cultured, are wanting in system 
 and method in their work and do not utilise their 
 leisure hours in the proper manner. It was the 
 ambition of more than one of these men to labour 
 
IXTRODCCTION. XXI. 
 
 in the production of some substantial work ; and 
 though they did not lack capacity, they postponed 
 the performance to the very last till they were either 
 cut away in the vigour of their manhood or found 
 it too late to make the attempt. 
 
 In the following pages, there is abundant testi- 
 mony toshow that many of the eminent men of South- 
 ern India were convinced of the necessity of remov- 
 ing some of the social evils rampant in Hindu society. 
 Sir Madava Row advocated female education and 
 was opposed to early marriage. Runganada Sastri 
 was a great believer in female education. He was 
 the first to point out the evils of Hindu customs and 
 to attribute the backward condition of the Hindus 
 to those evils. Sir Muthusawmy Aiyer thought 
 there was no foundation for the belief that a marriage 
 contracted after maturity was illegal and held that 
 re-marriage was as necessary in the case of young 
 widows whose marriage had been consummated 
 as in the case of virgin widows. Gopal Row con- 
 sidered early marriage the bane and curse of 
 Hindu society. Enforced widowhood, he thought, 
 was unquestionably productive of much misery- 
 Runganada Mudaliar advocated social reform but 
 insisted upon social reformers carrying the masses 
 with them. Lakshminarasu Chetty had great faith 
 in the education of women and encouraged the 
 marriage of widows. There were others also who 
 sympathised with social reform in the same spirit. 
 But how few among them have given a practical 
 turn to their sympathies by boldly putting them- 
 
XXll. INTKODUCTION. 
 
 selves forward as examples to other members of 
 their community ! If they had done so, consider- 
 ing the very great influence they exercised over 
 the people, the result would have been some- 
 thing of abiding interest to the whole native com- 
 munity. 
 
 Here we must bid adieu to our heroes in the 
 hope that however imperfect our performance, the 
 lives of a dozen of the best men to whom Southern 
 India has given birth cannot but be of permanent 
 interest to the rising generation. " Such men are," 
 as Emerson says " the coUyrium to clear our eyes 
 from egotism and enable us to see other people and 
 their works". 
 
 G. Paeamaswaran Pillai. 
 
 Madras ") 
 4th May, 1896. j 
 
SIR RAMA VARMA, G.C.S.I., 
 
 LATE MAHARAJAH OF TRAVANCORE. 
 
 Sir Rama Varma, late Maharajah of Travan- 
 core, was bom on the 19th May 1837. His father, 
 a member of the family of " Koil Tampurans " of 
 Tiruvallah in Travancore was a nobleman of 
 spotless character who in addition to his great 
 natural intelligence, possessed ripe scholarship in 
 Sanscrit and a tolerably fair knowledge of English. 
 His mother Rukmini Bai also possessed sufficient 
 scholarship in Sanscrit to compose easy and sensible 
 verses in that difficult tongue. Prince Eama 
 Varma was the last of a family of seven children of 
 whom three died early and two were declared im- 
 beciles. One of the three deceased died just six 
 days before Prince Rama Varma's birth, which 
 event naturally gave a severe shock to the mother 
 and probably affected also the constitution of the 
 child she was then about to deliver. At the end 
 of the eighth week after his birth his mother died, 
 which again must have further enfeebled the 
 child's delicate physique. The early training of 
 
2 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 the boy, therefore, fell to the lot of his grand aunt. 
 Rani Parvati Bai, and his own father. Of both. 
 His Highness retained to the last the kindliest of 
 recollection. His reverence for his father was 
 almost unbounded and he always thought of him 
 as the very model of self-control and rigid, un- 
 bending honesty. It was the father who mainly 
 directed the early education of the Prince. As 
 usual he began in his fifth year his Malayalam 
 and Sanscrit studies. Unlike most of those who 
 now seek instruction in our English Schools, he 
 first obtained a sound and thorough training in his 
 own vernacular, supplemented by a knowledge of 
 that Indian classic so essential to Malayalam. In 
 his ninth year he was taught the English alphabet 
 by a retired Dewan, Subba Row, who, having been 
 the English tutor to his uncles is still spoken of in 
 Travancore as " English " Subba Row. The early 
 studies of the Prince were often interrupted by 
 bodily ailments. Nevertheless, whenever he did 
 attend to his work, he did so most zealously. Per- 
 functory performance of any function seems to 
 have been wholly foreign to his nature, and the 
 strict discipline of his father rendered it further 
 impossible. Thus was an indomitable will slowly 
 nurtured in him which while submissive to all 
 rightful authority, sternly defied any power en- 
 croaching upon his own rights. In 1849 he was 
 taken seriously ill with the first signs of consump- 
 tion which, while weakening his body, seems to 
 have only strengthened his will. 
 
.SIR EA.MA VARMA. .5 
 
 it was while Prince Rama Tarma was thus 
 getting his character formed and struggling to 
 pick up what elements of knowledge his own 
 tutors in the land could provide, that the new 
 educational policy of the British Indian Govern- 
 ment produced a man who could guide the eager 
 young mind into the higher walks of learning. 
 Five years after the birth of the Prince, was insti- 
 tuted in Madras a High school for the secular edu- 
 cation of the Indians, — the first mark of the new era 
 of Higher Education in the Madras Presidency. One 
 of the earliest eminent products of this High School 
 was T. Madhava Row, who soon after obtaining his 
 Proficiency Degree, was deemed cultured enough to 
 officiate for his master, Mr. Powell, as Professor 
 in that very institution. By the time Madhava 
 Row had completed his education in Madras, 
 Prince Rama Varma of Travancore was prepared 
 to commence his own under him. Having been 
 asked to select a competent tutor, the choice of the 
 Madras Government naturally fell on Madhava Rao, 
 who besides being one of the foremost scholars of 
 the day, had special claims upon Travancore as the 
 son of one and nephew of another Dewan. In 
 August 1849 Madhava Rao was appointed tutor. 
 The tuition continued for nearly four years, and while 
 it cannot be said to have partaken of the character 
 of a strict scholastic education, the course was 
 nevertheless broad and sound. It embraced general 
 literature and the elements of the experimental 
 sciences, and was specially suited to set in motion 
 
4 RKrREsiENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 a naturally studious mind in tlie direction of varied 
 and useful activity. In this tuition, the Prince's 
 father co-operated heartily, and his influence ever 
 tended to confirm and expand the character he had 
 already impressed upon his son in his infancy. la 
 July 1853, Madhava Rao took up an appointment 
 in the general administration of the State, and 
 with it the period of the Prince's tuition may be 
 said to have come to an end. But unlike most 
 students of these later days the Prince spent 
 more hours in reading and writing after, than 
 before, the period of regular tuition. In fact. 
 Prince Rama Varma continued a scholar all his life. 
 The large library he has left behind, embracing, 
 as it does, a variety of well-thumbed volumes in 
 every .department of thought, would bear ample 
 evidence of the extent and thoroughness of his 
 scholarship. For composition, the Prince had a 
 special bent, and aspired to distinction in it. His 
 first attempt was an essay on 'the Horrors of War 
 and Benefits of Peace,' written in the days of the 
 Crimean war, and General CuUen, the then British 
 Resident and himself an eminent scholar, was able 
 to pronounce an encomium of which any student 
 of the Prince's tender years might really be proud. 
 This was in 1855. Thus encouraged, the Prince 
 next tried his apprentice hand in the leading 
 papers of the day. The best journal of the time in 
 Madras was the Athenseum chiefly conducted by 
 that well-known friend of the people Mr. John 
 Bruce Norton. The first contribution of the royal 
 
sin KAMA VAEMA. ■> 
 
 essayist tliat appeared in the paper was ' a Politi- 
 cal sketch of Tra van core.' The editor acknow- 
 ledged it as a truly valuable communication. A close 
 and lasting friendship followed, and contributions 
 to public prints became more or less a frequent 
 occupation with the Prince. But such literary 
 pursuits did not preclude attention to scientific and 
 more solid subjects of study, as they in some cases 
 unfortunately do. The Prince's love for the ex- 
 perimental sciences was too genuine to be so alien- 
 ated by the charms of light literature^ and he 
 continued his studies of astronomy, experimental 
 physics, and chemistry as ardently and vigorously 
 as ever, adding in later years the Natural History 
 sciences and especially Botany. 
 
 Meantime, the Prince had to mourn several 
 deaths in his family. In 1853 died his grand aunt, 
 Parvati Ranee who had been more than a mother to 
 him. In October 1857 his only sister Lakshmi Bai, 
 breathed her last just eleven days after giving 
 birth to a son, the present Maharaja. In 1858, he 
 lost his much revered and dearly beloved father to 
 whom he attributed all that was good and great 
 in his moral character. In the following year, the 
 Prince having attained his twenty-second year 
 married a lady of his own selection, from a family 
 from which more than one of his ancestors had 
 chosen partners in life. 
 
 In the interval the country itself had under- 
 gone a remarkable change of administration. In 
 
I) RKFRESKNTATIVK MEN. 
 
 December 1857, Dewan Krishna Eao died and 
 Madhava Row was appointed in his stead ; and 
 General Cullen, the British Resident was succeeded 
 by Mr. Francis Maltby, than whom an abler British 
 representative Travancore has scarcely had. Re- 
 forms were in urgent need in the country and the 
 reformers appeared in the persons of Messrs. 
 Maltby and Madhava Rao ; and heartily did they 
 fall to their work. In all their noble endeavours, 
 they found in Prince Rama Varma an able adviser 
 and friendly critic. In issue after issue of the 
 Indian Statesman, then edited by Mr. J. B. 
 Norton, there used to appear under the nom de 
 plume of " Brutus, " stirring letters with the 
 heading of " Topics for Mr. F. N. Maltby," which 
 created no little sensation in those days, and which 
 Mr. Maltby himself gladly welcomed. These public 
 utterances of the Prince often saved the Govern- 
 ment from unnecessary complications, such for in- 
 stance as the political embroglio created by certain 
 over-enthusiastic Missionaries in South Travan- 
 core. A pamphlet addressed by the Prince about 
 this time to Sir George Clerk, defending the State 
 policy of religious neutrality in Public Instruction, 
 still worth reading and so too is another, address- 
 ed to Mr. J. B. Norton, on the educational value 
 of Sanskrit literature. But so far as the adminis- 
 tration of Travancore was concerned, such literary 
 support of the Prince was not long needed. The 
 change in the Residency was followed by a change 
 on the throne itself. In 1860, His Highness Mar- 
 
SIR EAMA VARMA. 7 
 
 tanda Varma died, and was succeeded by His 
 Highness Rama Varma an elder brother of the 
 Prince, and a quondam pupil of Madhava Rao. 
 Extraordinarily intelligent, and amiable to a fault, 
 the new sovereign had an instinctive power of 
 accommodating himself most gracefully to any 
 society or circumstances. He afforded, therefore, 
 ready support to all the measures of reform 
 initiated by Messrs. Madhava Rao and Maltby : 
 and the consequence was that in the short period 
 of ten years, the country rose from positive insolv- 
 ency to financial exuberance, from the danger of 
 annexation to the enviable position of a model 
 State in the Empire. 
 
 Satisfied with the bright prospect now before 
 his country. Prince Rama Varma sought permission 
 to put the finishing touch to his own education by 
 travels, which his enlightened brother on the throne 
 readily granted. The first use he made of this per- 
 mission was to visit the Presidency town of Madras 
 about the end of 186J. This was no small achieve- 
 ment in those days for a prince of the Travancore 
 Royal Family. He was the first of that house to see 
 a British satrap in his own quarters, and such was 
 the impression he made upon Sir William Denison, 
 the then Governor, that the latter wrote to Mr. 
 Maltby to say : " He is by far the most intelligent 
 native I have seen j and if his brother (the Maha- 
 'raja) is like him, the prospects of Travancore are 
 very favourable," In recognition of this fact Rama 
 
° REPEESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 Varma was forthwith appointed a Fellow of the 
 Madras University — a rare honor again in those 
 days for natives of the soil. He made at the same 
 time a large circle of friends, including the Gover- 
 nor and some of his Councillors, with whom he then 
 kept up an unremitting correspondence. This first 
 essay at travelling was followed by almost incessant 
 peregrinations in his own country and there is 
 scarcely a mountain, a river, or a waterfall in Tra- 
 vancore, that he has not seen. The curious minded 
 never come across a ruined temple, a worn out 
 inscription, or a decaying fort, or other passing 
 land-marks of history, without being reminded by 
 the village folks that the object had already come 
 under the observation of Visakham Thirunal the 
 name by which the subjectof our sketch is still known 
 in the country. Prom each of these tours he would 
 return loaded with large collections of plants and 
 seeds, ferns and orchids, stones and minerals, but- 
 terflies and moths, stuffed birds and sundry reptiles, 
 besides excellent sketches of landscapes and in- 
 numerable drawings of indigenous medicinal herbs, 
 flowers and berries, executed by the artists in his 
 own employ. Selected specimens from these inter- 
 esting and ever increasing collections, he was in the 
 habit of exchanging for others with such eminent 
 naturalists as Sir Joseph Hooker of the Royal Kew 
 Gardens, Drs. Anderson and King of Calcutta 
 Colonel Puckle of Bangalore, Dr. Thwaite of 
 Ceylon, and Dr. Bennet of Australia. 
 
 His scientific taste was never divorced from 
 
SIK KAMA VAESIA. !) 
 
 practical application. A botanist of considerable 
 experience as he was, be had a special aptitude for 
 agriculture. No one who has visited the Vatahhe 
 Kottaram (Elia Raja's Palace) of his days — a 
 place of his own construction in which he spent 
 the major portion of his life— can ever forget 
 the aspect it always presented of a busy experi- 
 mental farm full of odd and original contrivances. 
 To him Travancore, will feel ever indebted, if 
 for nothing else, at least for the introduction 
 and extension of the Tapioca cultivation which 
 is fast spreading through the length and breadth 
 of the land. Many an octogenarian in out of the 
 way places in Travancore may be heard to-day 
 proudly extolling the many virtues of this edible 
 root, which, in his youth, was as rare as a white 
 crow, but which he now considers as indispensable 
 to his daily dinner, as the limpid waters of the 
 neighbouring stream. When that stream gets un- 
 usually dry, and gaunt scai'city strides athwart, the 
 sturdy cottager who elsewhere is the first to feel 
 the pinch, boldly defies the unwelcome visitor, so 
 long as the moisture of his naturally damp atmos- 
 phere is able to support his Tapioca plantation in 
 the new clearings around. The poor man's food par 
 excellence now in a large portion of Travancore is 
 the esculent tubor of the Tapioca plant ; and there 
 is no poor man in the land who eats it without silently 
 blessing the memory of VisakhamRaja for it, though 
 in common with his classmen elsewhere in this 
 continent, ho miffbt kno^y ai? little of hi? Politics, 
 
10 REPEESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 as of his Botany, and care even less for it. Im- 
 pressed with the eminent value of the plant Jatro- 
 pha Manihot, as a reserve to fall back upon in times 
 of famine, the prince even went to the extent of 
 drawing the attention of the Madras Government 
 to the necessity of widely encouraging its cultiva- 
 tion but with what practical results, it is not yet 
 known. Diverse other exogenous plants too e. g., 
 Manilla Tobacco, he tried to introduce into the 
 country, and though his own experiments were 
 more or less generally successful, their regular cul- 
 tivation has taken no root in the land. 
 
 Among the Fine Arts he encouraged were not- 
 ably painting in oils and water colours, ivory and 
 wood carving, and Damascene or kuftgari work, in 
 all of which, especially the first, the young men 
 he trained up have since attained considerable fame 
 for proficiency. But, reading and writing all along 
 took up the lion's share of his attention. His 
 reading was of the widest description, embrac- 
 ing in its range the gayest as well as the gravest. 
 There are many who still remember with pleasure 
 the apt remarks with which he used to delight and 
 edify them in his private conversations, dwelling 
 now on Tennyson's ' In Memoriam,' and then on 
 ' the Autocrat of the Breakfast Table.' His style 
 in consequence became day by day more and more 
 refined and natural. At first, he was an ardent 
 admirer of Lord Macaulay, and the literary ' cun- 
 ning' of that master may be traced in his earlier 
 productions. But his fondness for stilted periods 
 
SIR TiAMA VAKMA. 1 I 
 
 soon gave way to a more accurate and less ornate 
 stj'le, which resulted as a mental sedimentation 
 from the wider and more judicious reading of his 
 later life. His lectures on " Human Greatness " 
 " The Relation between Nature and Art/' " Our 
 Morals," " Our Industrial Status," and the rest, as 
 well as the descriptive pamphlets on the unique 
 Miirajapam, Tulahharam and Hiranyagarbham 
 ceremonies are samples of his later style, which 
 for elegance of language and independence of 
 thought, are well worth reading. 
 
 Meantime circumstances led to the retirement 
 of Madhava Rao from Travancore : and as an 
 affectionate and grateful pupil, Prince Eama Varma 
 sent up to the Calcutta Review a long and apprecia- 
 tive article under the heading "A Native Statesman" 
 which appeared anonymously for obvious reasons. 
 The article was universally applauded, and it was 
 mainly through it, that Lord Northbrook's atten- 
 tion was drawn to Sir Madhava Row, when 
 Maharajah Holkar desired the Government of 
 India to choose a competent person to be en- 
 trusted with the task of administering his affairs. 
 But at home, it was taken to smack of partizan 
 spirit, and led to a gradual estrangement bet- 
 ween the two brothers which, with varying de- 
 grees of bitterness, lasted till the end of the 
 reign in 1880. It reflects, however, the highest 
 credit on the good sense of both, that differently 
 constituted as they were, they never allowed to the 
 last their want of cordiality to appear as anything 
 
12 REPRESENTATIVE ME^f. 
 
 like open rupture. But the unfortunate circums- 
 tance led to the rapid decline of the Prince's 
 influence on the administration of the day though 
 outside Travancore, his labours were fully appre- 
 ciated as indicated by the offer of a seat in the Im- 
 perial Legislative Council as a non-ofBaial member, 
 by the Viceroy which the Prince was forced to 
 decline on the score of ill-health. With Mr. Ses- 
 hayya Sastri who succeeded Sir Madhava Rao, 
 personal friendly relations, no doubt, subsisted, 
 but he too found it necessary to retire on pension 
 after five years' sound and unostentatious adminis- 
 tration. Mr. Nanu Pillai, an experienced native 
 officer of the land, was then appointed Dewan, 
 but during the three years of his financially pros- 
 perous administration, the Maharajah may be said 
 to have been his own Prime Minister. This was also 
 the period when the political influence of the Prince 
 was at its lowest ebb in Travancore. 
 
 In 1874 he fell seriously ill and his life was 
 more than once despaired of. But despite all un- 
 pleasant surroundings and bodily afflictions his 
 intellectual activity remained the same. Old stu- 
 dents of the Trivandram College might still re- 
 member the gaunt appearance of the Prince, as 
 he used to come out of his sick bed to help forward 
 the cause of their "Debating Society" with those 
 telling lectures of his. Struck with the extreme 
 paucity of good reading books in Malayalam, he 
 heartily helped the Book Committee, organized 
 during the administration of Sir Madhava Rao, 
 
Slli RAW A VAIiMA. J ."J 
 
 and supplemented their publications with neat 
 little tracts and treatises on such homely subjects 
 as 'Truth' 'Education/ 'Health/ and 'Good Deeds.' 
 He took great interest in Industrial and Agricul- 
 tural Exhibitions, and contributed to several of 
 them in Europe and India. At the Vienna Inter- 
 national Exhibition, he obtained two medals — one 
 for fibres and the other for old Indian Surgical 
 instruments. He received a gold medal at one of 
 the Madras Agricultural Exhibitions for the best 
 sample of Indian Coffee. In the way of illustrating 
 the dignity of labour and the wisdom of self-help 
 and so correcting a weakness in the Hindu charac- 
 ter, he worked a coffee estate in the Assambu Hills, 
 which he had conjointly started with Sir Madhava 
 Rao. His leisure moments he delighted to spend 
 with intellectual men. He invited humble but 
 promising students in the Trivandrum College 
 to the Palace for the simple pleasure of associa- 
 ting with and encouraging them. Several now in 
 the higher grades of the Travancore service found 
 in him their first patron. 
 
 Outside the country, we have seen already 
 how sincere and steadfast was his esteem and ad- 
 miration for Sir Madhava Rao. Ramiengar was 
 another early friend of his, and we shall see pre- 
 sently how staunch that friendship proved. There 
 were scores of other intellectual men in the British 
 Service, in whose progress in life the Prince evinced 
 deep interest and genuine sympathy. For instance, 
 it is not perhaps so well-known that Mysore owes 
 
]-t KEPEESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 her first and great Dewan after the rendition, Mr. 
 Runga Charlu, to Prince Rama A^arma of Travan- 
 core, on whose recommendation his old and inti- 
 mate friend, Mr. Bowring, the Chief Commissioner 
 first took him into the Mysore service. 
 
 But the time was now fast approaching for 
 him to appoint his own Minister. About the be- 
 ginning of 1880, his brother on the throne was 
 seized by a fatal disease, which, neglected and 
 trifled with, soon assumed a critical aspect. In 
 May of that year, His Highness was confined to 
 his sick bed, from which he never rose again. 
 On the 17th June following, Prince Rama Varma 
 was installed on the throne of his ancestors as 
 Maharaja of Travancore. Never did a Maharaja 
 ascend the musnud with more universal applause. 
 The British Resident wrote on the occasion. " I 
 am firmly of opinion that few Princes have ever 
 succeeded to a throne with more opportunity of 
 earning a great name, and if your Highness de- 
 votes your talents in singleness of purpose to the 
 good of your subjects, as I believe you will do, 
 the benefit will not be confined to Travancore, but 
 will be reflected far and wide over Hindustan." 
 Mr. MacGregor rightly added : " In saying this, 
 I do not adopt the mere ordinary courtesy of court 
 language ; but I express an opinion for which the 
 strongest ground has been afforded by your High- 
 ness' former career and known attainments and 
 principles." In this opinion, he was not surely 
 singular. All Southern India entertained the same 
 
SIR RAMA VAEMA. 15 
 
 view ; and every one who ever knew the Prince 
 turned his eye upon Travancore, expecting the 
 grandest of results from the rule of one, so eminently 
 intelligent and erudite. In Travancore too, expec- 
 tations were exceptionally high-pitched. "Happy 
 is the country," said Plato, "where the philosopher 
 is the king or the king is the philosopher,," and 
 the people of Travancore were somehow of the 
 same conviction. The new Maharaja was more 
 than aware of the expectations formed of him at 
 home and abroad, and felt himself even embarrass- 
 ed by them. To an intimate friend of his, he 
 wrote :— " A feeling of despondency comes over 
 me when I think what great expectations are based 
 on this one frail life." His thrilling installation 
 speech breathes the same sense of oppressive 
 responsibility. He was indulging in no oratorical 
 flourish, when he said in reply to an address in 
 Tinnevelly, " Ever since it has pleased God to 
 place me on the throne of my ancestors the cardi- 
 nal maxim which I have ever endeavoured to im- 
 press upon myself is ' To live for my people.' " 
 Sincerity, even to the extent of bluntness, was an 
 unmistakable feature in His Highness's character, 
 and it is impossible to suppose that he ever did 
 anything, whether as Prince or Maharajah, which 
 he did not at the same time believe, according 
 to his lights, as the very best under the circum- 
 stances. 
 
 The first acts of his reign were such as were 
 meant to rectify some of the wrongs done in the 
 
10 KErKESENlATlVK MEN. 
 
 previous reign as for instance, the recalling from 
 exile of Mr. Kerala Varma, c. s. i., the Valiyakoil 
 Tampuran — Consort of the Senior Eani — an erudite 
 scholar like himself. Mr. Nanu Pillai was pen- 
 sioned and His Highness appointed Mr. Eamiengar 
 as Dewan. This gentleman, the Maharajah knew 
 for twenty-one years previously, and his kindred 
 nature in certain respects had won for him His 
 Highness' regard and esteem. The one leading 
 feature of the Maharajah's administration was Re- 
 form. Department after department was taken up 
 and reorganized — the Judicial, the Revenue, the 
 Police, the Salt, down to the Anche, and the Ele- 
 phant ; and in spite of the clamours of the time, 
 who can now say that each was not left behind, on 
 the whole either better ordered, or better manned? 
 Unseemly haste or occasional harshness was un- 
 avoidable with the conjunction of two such char- 
 acters as the Maharaja and his Minister. But the 
 captious critic must remember that His Highness 
 was always apprehensive of his life. On one occa- 
 sion he wrote : " I am myself forty-six years. 
 None of my predecessors after the old Rama Raja 
 saw his fiftieth year. Never put off till to-morrow 
 what can be done to-day." Taking all in all, we 
 have not the slightest hesitation in pronouncing 
 the reforms of the reign to be of the soundest and 
 the most solid description. 
 
 Besides reforms and reorganizations, the 
 reign witnessed the inauguration of several new 
 schemes of which the Reventie Survev and 
 
SIR RAMA VARMA. 1/ 
 
 Settlement will always stand as the foremost. 
 In importance and magnitude, it far surpasses any 
 administrative measure ever undertaken since the 
 consolidation of the State into its present form. 
 The initial difficulties of the step were equal only 
 to the urgency, all along felt for it. Travancore 
 is remarkably a land of small holdings, and her 
 revenue system, like the English Common Law of 
 Pre-Benthamite times, is a dissolving mass of the 
 debris of ages. The curious tangle of anachron- 
 isms, known as her land tenures, is sufficient to 
 perplex and overawe the boldest of Revenue Re- 
 formers, and for years together a scheme of Reve- 
 nue Settlement was more talked of than attempted. 
 But the new Maharaja with his characteristic cour- 
 age and earnestness was determined to carry it 
 out, and the well-thought out measure is now be- 
 ing worked, so far as it has gone, with evident 
 profit to the State. Another measure of great im- 
 portance adopted early in the administration was 
 the Settlement by arbitration of the long-standing 
 boundary disputes with Cochin, which, with better 
 powers of friendly accommodation, might have 
 ended more favourably to Travancore than they 
 actually did. 
 
 But all these reforms and new schemes were 
 in one respect nothing by the side of the personal 
 influence of the Maharaja on the general service of 
 the State. On the day His Highness ascended the 
 throne, even the ignorant huntsman in the far- 
 off hill tracts suddenly awakenerl to the con- 
 
 3 
 
18 EErKESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 sclousness that of all public sins, corruption was 
 the most execrable. Bribery, like adultery, is 
 always hard to be discovered, and harder still to 
 be proved ; but once the least scent of it floated to 
 the throne, nothing on earth could shield the 
 offender from sovereign wrath. Equally ready was 
 His Highness to recognize merit wherever found. 
 In earnest and indefatigable application to busi- 
 ness, he was a model for the whole service to fol- 
 low. It is doubtful whether any member of that 
 service was harder worked than the Maharaja on 
 the throne. His daily routine was a routine of 
 incessant labour. Scarcely any lamp in the town 
 was put out later in the night, or lit up earlier in 
 the morn, than the reading lamp on the Maha- 
 rajah's writing desk. Bundles of drafts passed by 
 that carping critic, Dewan Ramiengar, would 
 every day reach the palace by seven in the even- 
 ing, and before dawn, they would be on their way 
 back to the Huzur, with apt corrections and 
 admirable amendments. On the heels of these 
 hurrying to the post, would be found heavy private 
 covers addressed to all the quarters of the globe. 
 The rising sun would find His Highness himself 
 out on his morning drive, which occasionally would 
 appear as botanical excursions as well, from the 
 nature of the commodities following him to his 
 palace. After the daily ablutions, prayers, and 
 ceremonies in all of which His Highness 'had such 
 unbounded faith as to risk even his own delicate 
 health by observing them, ho would be ready again 
 
.SI 14 RAMA VARJIA. 19 
 
 for business at about 11 A. m. The affairs of Lis own 
 palace and of the temple and other establishments 
 attached thereunto, not excluding the minutest 
 details, would then occupy his attention till the 
 clock struck two announcing the time for coffee. 
 Official reports and visits would take up the re- 
 maining hours of the day ; and the evening would 
 bring on its usual round of rituals. With unerring 
 punctuality was this routine repeated day after day. 
 Extraordinary occupations, such as a Governor's 
 visit, the temple festivals, or public dinners, would 
 encroach only upon his hours of rest. 
 
 For upwards of twenty-five years. His High- 
 ness was in the habit of recording his impressions 
 and important transactions of the day in a diary, 
 and even after those transactions became as wide 
 as the whole State, the diary was regularly filled 
 before the bed was reached. It was no doubt due 
 to the regularity of his habits and the way in 
 which he apportioned his time that despite this 
 heavy unfailing routine, His Highness was able 
 to pen so many masterpieces of memoranda on 
 general Departmental Eeforms of the State, and 
 even on such special and professional topics, as 
 the Artesian well attempted in front of his 
 palace. And what is more remarkable, time 
 was found also for continuing unabated his old 
 habits of reading and writing. In the midst of 
 formal and business visits, he would occasionally 
 surprise the scholarly among them by his apt ob- 
 servations on the latest books in their own linem 
 
20 EEFEESENTATIVK MEN. 
 
 of reading. He also found time to write Malaya- 
 lam works. He selected from "Maunder's Treasury 
 of Biography " the lives of some of the great and 
 good men and women of all ages and countries, 
 and translated them into easy Malayalam, with the 
 hope of introducing the work into the Vernacular 
 Schools, and thereby "nourishing," in his own 
 words, " any sparks of noble and virtuous feel- 
 ings which may naturally exist in the hearts of 
 our youths, by holding out to them good and great 
 examples." A condensed translation of the article 
 on 'Astronomy' in the Bncyclopoedia appeared from 
 the royal pen in a Malayalam Journal, started 
 under his own auspices with the name of 'Vidya 
 Vilasini." In English, we need allude to only the 
 paper addressed to his friend Sir M. E. Grant Duff 
 entitled ' Observations on Higher Education/ to 
 illustrate how His Highness continued his literary 
 labours even while on the throne. 
 
 His passion for travelling also asserted itself, 
 although as observed in his reply to a public ad- 
 dress presented to him at Alleppey in 1884, "so 
 far as his power to carry out his inclinations in such 
 personal matters, went, he was decidedly at a dis- 
 advantage, compared with his position five years 
 previously." Nevertheless, in those five years he 
 travelled a good deal. On the 26th January 1882, 
 he started on a long tour to Upper India and 
 returned to his capital only on the 22nd March 
 following, after visiting the Presidency towns and 
 other important cities like Poona, Allahabad, 
 
SIK EA.1IA VAEIIA. 21 
 
 Benares, Patna, Jabalpur and Indore. At most of 
 the stations he halted, he received very flattering 
 addresses from the public to which His Highness 
 replied in his usual genial style. More than once 
 during this tour. His Highness evinced his deep 
 interest in education, by presiding at prize distri- 
 bution ceremonies. One of these was at the Kum- 
 baconum Provincial College, where His Highness 
 after distributing the prizes delivered an eloquent 
 and impressive speech dwelling ou the need of 
 continued Government support for Higher Educa- 
 tion. In 1883 he had again an occasion to visit 
 Madras. Then was the holy trip to Benares reli- 
 giously completed by a visit to Ramasvaram. Of 
 the curious Ramasetu he wrote thus : — " I crossed 
 the channel this morning with Capt. Hewlett. I 
 saw the venerable Ramasetu. Indeed, whether 
 natural or supernatural, it is really a most re- 
 markable object — a perfect straight line and of 
 uniform width. Further, it connects the nearest 
 points on the mainland and the Island." Within 
 his own dominions he moved about more freely 
 than it is usual for Maharajas to do. 
 
 Unabated too continued his love for the Arts 
 and Industries of the land, which he took every 
 opportunity to encourage. Having visited as a prince 
 almost every place of note in Travancore, he had 
 in his diary the name of the villages where 
 any special art or industry thrived, and the names 
 of persons who cultivated it to marked proficiency. 
 As occasions required, he took care to command 
 
--' TiUPRESENTATIVE MEX. 
 
 their services for the sake of encouraging them. 
 By way of illustration, we would cite here but one 
 such case. In the village of Armulai in the in- 
 terior of Travancore, a family of smiths followed 
 the art of polishing metals, and an old woman of 
 the family had carried her practice to such per- 
 fection that- the metallic surface under her patient 
 hands rivalled the polish and brilliance of glass. 
 One day a royal writ issued from the palace to the 
 Tahsildar of the taluq, mentioning this woman by 
 name, and ordering certain metallic pendants to 
 be prepared by her, for the lamps of a new design, 
 then being made for the temple at the capital. 
 With the object of conserving and giving a new 
 impetus to the industries of the land, a good Indus- 
 trial School was started, which, with suitable im- 
 provements, might develop into a regular Techni- 
 cal Institute. 
 
 Of equal, if not greater, industrial importance, 
 was the direct encouragement given for the 
 starting of the Cotton mills at Quilon which he 
 personally opened on the 16th December 1884 
 and which are still working well. Through his com- 
 mendation was floated also a company for paper 
 manufacture at Punalur, which, it is said, with 
 better management, might have now been no less 
 successful. The extension of the Railway to Quilon 
 and the construction of a harbour at that port were 
 other grand projects of industrial and commercial 
 significance, seriously contemplated though not 
 executed. 
 
SIR KAMA VAEMA. 23 
 
 His Highness' deep interest in science con- 
 tinued also as lively as ever. Having experienced 
 in his own person the advantages of a sound 
 training in the experimental sciences^ His Highness 
 instituted a new chair in the local College for the 
 teaching of Chemistry and Physics. Even better 
 evidence is afforded of his living interest in science, 
 by the careful records he has left behiud, of his 
 continued observations of the phenomena around 
 him embracing alike the comet in the sky, and his 
 own quaint dreams in sleep. For instance, he was 
 one of the very first to notice the strange bluish 
 tinge of the rising and setting sun in the second 
 week of September 1883. Calling attention to this, 
 he wrote thus to an intimate friend of his : — " Do 
 you observe the strange light bluish tinge and 
 absence of glare in the rising and setting sun since 
 these three or four days ? I noticed it first on 
 Monday morning, and immediately telegraphed to 
 Mr. Pogson of Madras." 
 
 The scientific societies of Europe were not 
 slow to recognize His Highness' tastes and to 
 shower honours on him. He was already a Fellow 
 of the Madras University. The old Linnean 
 Society of London elected him now a Fellow, 
 which in justice to his botanical studies, they 
 might have done full fifteen years before. In 
 appreciation of his predilections for travels and 
 his minute geographical knowledge of Travancore, 
 the Royal Geographical Society recognized him 
 also as a Fellow. He became a member of the Royal 
 
24 REPRESENIATIVE MEN. 
 
 Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, in 
 virtue of his Sanskrit knowledge and his researches 
 in ancient Indian surgery and other antiquities. 
 The Statistical Society of London also owned him 
 as a Fellow for the interest he took in the subjects 
 falling within their scope. Even foreign European 
 Powers delighted to honour him. The French Gov- 
 ernment of the day admitted him to the order of 
 Officier de I' Instruction Puhlique. He was sub- 
 sequently made Member de la Societte des ettute 
 Colonial a Maritime Paris. But long prior to all 
 these. Her Majesty the Queen-Empress recognized 
 his merit by investing His Highness with the 
 "Knight Grand Commandership of the most Exal- 
 ted Order of the Star of India." The news having 
 been telegraphed to the Madras Governor, Sir M. 
 E. Grant Duff sent him the following significant 
 reply: — "I warmly congratulate you and the Or- 
 der." Though the honor was conferred very early 
 in 1882, the investiture ceremony took place only 
 on the 1st of February in the year following. 
 
 At home, too, His Highness duly qualified 
 himself for the honorific title of Kulasekhara PerU' 
 mal usually applied to the reigning sovereigns of 
 Travancore, by performing the grand Tulapurusha- 
 danam (being weighed against gold.) It was his 
 intention to go through the other religio-state 
 ceremonial called Padmagarbham (passing through 
 a golden cow) the next year and to make himself fit 
 for the title of Kiritapati ; but he was not spared 
 to carry out the fondly cherished wish. Touching 
 
SIR EAIIA VAEMA. 25 
 
 these formal rites, His Highness wrote thus : — 
 "These ceremonies may be viewed as anachronisms 
 in this age, but as long as one continues to be in 
 the midst of a whole body of these, and rightly or 
 wrongly believes in them there is no good in half- 
 performing and half-condemning them." Somehow 
 or other, His Highness seems to have had sincere 
 faith in their religious efficacy, and performed them 
 with obvious zeal and punctilious piety. Neverthe- 
 less, His Highness seems to have always entertained 
 very broad conceptions of religion. Referring to 
 Colonel Olcott's endeavours, he wrote : — " I am 
 doubtful if the time has come for our B. A's to 
 learn Yoga Vidya and how far they can interpret 
 the true spirit of the Sanskrit lore. Buddha, 
 Sankara Charya, Jesus Christ, Mahomed — all these 
 first trained up to high standard a small but chosen 
 band of men, and with them went forth to the reli- 
 gious battle. Colonel Olcott should adopt that 
 plan, if he would at all achieve success." Again 
 in another connection, he observed ; — " A human 
 Gruru is surely necessary to many but not to 
 all. My Ouru is he that alone ought to he Guru. 
 I say solemnly that I have derived great light 
 from Him, when I have honestly sought it. I don't 
 deny the great advantage of books and men 
 of wisdom, but whenever I hear anything on 
 Adhyatma (spiritual subject), I put it to the crucial 
 test of His silent teaching. Revelation whether in 
 reference to Hindu EisMs, or Christian prophets 
 or others, is simply this inner teachiDg by Him. 
 
 4 
 
26 EEPEESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 In some cases, this teaching has been more vivid 
 and effective and in others less so. But every 
 human being, if sufficiently earnest, may reasona- 
 bly hope to receive it." 
 
 It was in the hope of receiving such spiritual 
 guidance, that the Maharajah practised with 
 remarkable earnestness and ardour, the religious 
 austerities — fasts and prayers recommended in 
 Hindu treatises on piety. It is only those that 
 have closely studied this austere side of His High- 
 ness' life that can appreciate the pardonable pride 
 with which he speaks of himself in one of his 
 letters, as Rajyasrama Muni — a hermit with a king- 
 dom as his hermitage. He goes on to add in the 
 same letter, " If God gives me sufficiently long 
 life, I may become Vannyasrama Muni" — a hermit 
 in the forest. But alas ! The cruel hand of Death 
 snatched him away just after the completion of 
 the fifth year of his reign. About the end of July 
 1885, His Highness fell ill, and on the evening of 
 the 4th August 1885, his soul quietly passed away. 
 Well did His Highness remember the Sloka he 
 used to quote with such approbation, meaning, 
 "He who is conscious of having done his duty 
 welcomes Death as a dear guest." For, whether 
 taken as a private individual, a junior Prince, or a 
 ruling Maharaja, his life was a life of duty done, 
 and done with all his might and main. 
 
SIR VIZIA RAMA, K.C.S.I., 
 
 LATE MAHARAJAH OF VIZIANAGRAM. 
 
 His Highness Mirza Sri Vizia Rama Gajapati 
 Raj Mannea Sultan Bahadur k.c.s.i.. late Maha- 
 rajah of Vizianagram, was descended from the 
 Banas of Udaipore, one of the ancient and illus- 
 trious Rajput families in India. The exact date 
 when the remote ancestor of the Vizianagram 
 House separated from his relatives in Udaipore is 
 lost in antiquity ; but tradition says that centuries 
 and centuries ago, one of the brothers of the then 
 ruler of Udaipore emigrated to Oudh and made 
 large conquests. In the sixth century one of his 
 descendants, not satisfied with the extent of his 
 territories in the north proceeded to the Deccan 
 and conquered that portion of Southern India ex- 
 tending from Ramnad to Cuttack. His successors 
 were in possession of this territory for nearly 
 a thousand years. Later on, in the middle of the 
 seventeenth century, we find that another ancestor 
 of the Maharajah was appointed " Soobadar" of 
 the Northern Circars and presented by the Em- 
 peror of Delhi with a ' zulficar' or two edged 
 
28 EEPEESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 sword which furnislied the device of the Coat of 
 Arms still used by the Vizianagur House. His son 
 succeeded in adding ten purganas or baronies to 
 the territory already acquired; and his grandson in 
 his turn conquered the dominions of the Nawab of 
 Chicacole and was honored with the title of "Mun- 
 nea Sultan." It was this Prince who established 
 Vizianagram as his capital and erected a Fort in 
 that town. Under successive rulers, the dynasty 
 was considerably strengthened and we find that at 
 one time not less than seventeen small Zemindaries 
 were tributary to the rulers of Vizianagar. In 
 1778, when Sir Thomas Rumbold was Governor of 
 Madras, the throne of Vizianagar was occupied by 
 Vijiaram Raja. He was succeeded by his son 
 Narain Baboo who was held in high esteem by Lord 
 William Bentinck. Narain Baboo died in 1845 and 
 was succeeded in his turn by his son the late 
 Maharajah. 
 
 Prince Vizia Rama was born on the 7th August 
 1826. His early years were passed in Benares 
 where his father spent the greater part of his life. 
 He acquired an excellent education under Euro- 
 pean tutors and was a thorough master of Euro- 
 pean manners and etiquette. As a sportsman and 
 a rider ho had few equals and he took a deep 
 interest in all manly games. On the death of his 
 father, he was but nineteen years old and though 
 he inherited his estate at once. His Highness was 
 engaged during nearly the next seven years in 
 acquainting himself with the needs of his Zemin- 
 
SIR VIZIA 1!A1IA, Z\) 
 
 dari and the metliods of administratiou rather than 
 in administering the estate himself. During this 
 period he had the able assistance of Mr. F. H. 
 Crozier of the Madras Civil Service, who in 1852 
 handed over the estate to his complete manage- 
 ment, free from debts and with a surplus of about 
 a lakh of Rupees in the Treasury. 
 
 For thirty years, the Maharajah was in charge 
 of his Zemindary and it may be said without ex- 
 aggeration that he lived and died a model Prince. 
 To those who are acquainted with his life, three 
 features strike as most prominent. First, in the 
 administration of his estate, he was economical 
 without being penurious and liberal without being 
 profuse. In the second place, charitable by nature 
 his charities were all well-directed. Thirdly, though 
 a Zemindar he took a deep interest in all matters 
 affecting the welfare of the public. It may be con- 
 sidered fortunate that though his Estate when he 
 inherited it was encumbered with debts, he was in 
 possession of a surplus of one lakh of Rupees when 
 he actually took possession of it. Nevertheless, if 
 he was extravagant, careless or thoughtless like 
 several Zemindars of these days, whose names will 
 readily spring to the lips of the reader, the sur- 
 plns would have disappeared in no moment and 
 his Estate would have been plunged in debts. Our 
 surprise is how he not merely steered his estate 
 free of such dangers, but succeeded in leaving a 
 surplus of fifteen lakhs of Rupees at his death, 
 particularly after his numerous private charities 
 
'SO REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 and public benefactions. As one who took a deep 
 interest in the concerns of the Empire he was very 
 often called away to Calcutta and Madras, but 
 wherever he was, whether at Calcutta or Madras 
 or Ben ires, he superintended the administration of 
 his Estate so carefully that the Indian financiers 
 of these days who indulge in sweet but unpro- 
 fitable dreams of a surplus balance sheet, will do 
 well to take a leaf from his pages. 
 
 The Maharajah was also a philanthropist. 
 His charities were confined to no particular caste 
 or creed ; nor were they restricted to India. And 
 more than all, they were always well directed. To 
 this day, there are numerous men who are the 
 happy recipients of such charities perpetuated by 
 a dutiful son. It is impossible to give a complete 
 list of his charities but a few among them may be 
 mentioned. In his own raj, he spent lakhs and 
 lakhs of rupees in roads, bridges and useful build- 
 ings. He established a High School, which is now 
 a First Grade College, a Sanskrit Seminary, a school 
 for Caste Girls, a School of Arts and a grand Market 
 in memory of the Prince of Wales' visit to India. 
 In Madras, he opened five Girls' schools and 
 erected a handsome fountain which is called after 
 him. He presented Benares with a Town Hall in 
 honor of the Duke of Edinburgh's visit, a Library 
 called after Mr. Carmichael, a Dispensary called 
 the Vizianagur Dispensary, four Girls' Schools and 
 a Racquet Court. Allahabad is indebted to him 
 for the princely gift of one lakh of Rupees to the 
 
SIR VIZIA RAMA 31 
 
 Muir College and a clock tower. Several students 
 were offered scholarships for the prosecution of 
 their studies in Colleges established at Calcutta, 
 Madras, AUighur, Cuttack and Ghazipur. In Hyde 
 Park, London, he raised a splendid granite foun- 
 tain. And there were few public movements in 
 his time which he did not assist with a liberal 
 hand. He took part in all important public 
 meetings and made himself conversant with all 
 public questions. He was for six years a Non- 
 official Member of the Imperial Legislative Council; 
 and what is far more important, he had the honor 
 of being the first native who ever introduced and 
 carried through a legislative enactment. Tho Ma- 
 jority Act which has found a place in the statute 
 book of the country is the result of his labours in 
 the Council. 
 
 His Highness' private and public virtues 
 made him universally popular among natives as 
 well as Europeans. He rose high in the esteem of 
 Government and honors were showered on him. In 
 1864, he received the title of " Maharajah " and 
 was appointed a member of the Supreme Legisla- 
 tive Council by Lord Lawrence. He attended the 
 Durbar held by Lord Lawrence in 1886 and was 
 invested with the title "K. C. S. I." His personal 
 salute of thirteen guns was also extended to the 
 Bengal Presidency. In 1874, he received the title 
 of " His Highness " and his name was enrolled in 
 the list of Indian Chiefs entitled to return visits 
 from the Viceroys of India. He was visited both 
 
32 EEPKESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edin- 
 burgh : the Duke presented him with a sword 
 and a group photo of the Royal Family and the 
 Prince offered him a gold medal, a ring, a sword 
 with belt, an express rifle, an ivory whip, an album 
 containing portraits of the Royal family and a 
 book on polychromatic art with a suitable inscrip- 
 tion. In 1876, Lord Lytton, offered to re-appoint 
 him as an additional member of his Council but he 
 declined the honor on the score of ill-health. Per- 
 sonally, His Highness was well known for his 
 refined and polished manners and his courteous 
 and gentlemanly behaviour. His commanding 
 figure and noble presence excited admiration on 
 all occasions when he appeared in public. He was 
 a fine specimen of an Indian Princ2. The great 
 esteem in which he was held by all who knew him 
 was apparent from the numerous messages of 
 condolence that were received from Governors 
 Maharajahs, Dewans and several other illustrious 
 men on his lamented death on the 28th of April 
 1879. 
 
RAJA SIR T. MADAVA ROW, K.C.8.I. 
 
 Sir Madava Row was born in the city of 
 Kumbaconam in 1828. He came of a highly res- 
 pectable Mahratta Brahmin family. His father^ 
 R. Ranga Row, was Dewan of Travancore, and hia 
 paternal uncle Raya Raya Raya R. Yenkata Row 
 was Dewan of Travancore and Commissioner of 
 Mysore. The early years of Sir Madava Row's 
 life were spent in Madras where he was sent for 
 his education. He studied in the Presidency Col- 
 lege, then known as the High School of the 
 Madras University, and was one of that disting- 
 uished band, now all but extinct, who drank deep 
 at the fountain of Mr. Powell's knowledge. Madava 
 Row was a diligent and careful, though not a 
 brilliant student. Mathematics and Science were 
 his forte. He learnt astronomy on the terrace of 
 Mr. Powell's house and delighted him by construc- 
 ting microscopes and telescopes out of hollow 
 bamboos and bits of magnifying glass. His edu- 
 cation was over in 1846, when he took the pro- 
 ficient's degree in the first class with high honors. 
 
 Mr. Powell, fully alive to the merits of his pupil 
 did not suffer him to leave the High School after 
 
 5 
 
34 EEPEESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 taking his degree, but had him appointed acting 
 Tutor of Mathematics and Physics under him for 
 some time. But soon afterwards Madava Row ob- 
 tained a situation in the office of the Accountant- 
 General, and while employed here, he was offered 
 the place of Tutor to the Princes of Travancore which 
 he accepted. This was the first step in his loug 
 career in Native States. The Princes under his 
 charge were the late Maharaja who was a dis- 
 tinguished scholar and his amiable predecessor. 
 They have justly been regarded as the most emi- 
 nent rulers that graced the musnud of Travancore 
 in modern times and Madava Row may very proper- 
 ly take credit for having laboured in preparing the 
 very ground- work of their reputation. Madava 
 Row remained as Tutor for about four years, and 
 was then appointed to a responsible office in the 
 revenue branch of the administration under the 
 Dewan. Thence he rose to the office of Dewan 
 Peishcar and obtained great credit in the manage- 
 ment of the Southern division of Travancore which 
 at the time was subject to serious breaches of the 
 peace and social tyranny and oppression. The 
 triumph that young Madava Row achieved at the 
 time cannct be better described than in the words 
 of the late John Bruce Norton : — 
 
 " Within the short space of a year, Madava 
 Row has called forth order out of disorder ; has 
 distributed justice between man and man, without 
 fear or favour ; has expelled dacoits ; has raised 
 the revenues ; and his minutes and State papers 
 show the liberality, the soundness, and statesman- 
 
SIR T. MADAVA ROW. 35 
 
 ship of his views and principles. He has received 
 the thanks of his Sovereign ; he has obtained the 
 voluntary admiring testimony of some of the very 
 missionaries who memorialised, to the excellence of 
 his administration. Now, here is a man raised up 
 as it were amid the anarchy and confusion of his 
 country, to save it from destruction. Annexation, 
 looming in the not far distant future, would be 
 banished into the shades of night if such an ad- 
 ministration as he has introduced into two of the 
 districts were given to the whole kingdom, by his 
 advancement to the post of Minister. He is, in- 
 deed, a splendid example of what education may 
 do for the Native." 
 
 The wish of John Bruce Norton was soon 
 realised. The administration of Travancore was 
 at the time in the hands of a Dewan who was unable 
 to grasp the seriousness of the situation. The 
 Maharajah was a weak prince whose thoughts did 
 not travel beyond the daily routine of the palace 
 and the pagoda. His officers, with few exceptions 
 were corrupt. Their salaries were low and in 
 arrears for over a year. The subsidy due to the 
 British Grovernment remained unpaid. The trea- 
 sury was empty. All commerce was suspended 
 owing to the difficulty of transit, and the heavy 
 import and excise duties while impoverish- 
 ing the people did not enrich the State. This 
 state of affairs attracted the attention of Lord 
 Dalhousie who began to devise plans to bring the 
 fair and prosperous realm of Travancore under the 
 direct administration of the British Government. 
 
36 EEPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 He even went down to Ootacamund to arrange the 
 terms of the annexation with the Government of 
 Madras. At this juncture, the Maharajah secured 
 the aid of Madava Bow who prevailed upon the 
 Madras Government to allow him seven years' 
 time to improve the administration and he assumed 
 the office of Dewan or Prime Minister in 1857. 
 Thus, at the early age of thirty, Madava Bow 
 attained by dint of honesty, ability and industry, 
 the highest position a native of India can aspire to 
 in a Native State. 
 
 The most striking feature of the first few 
 years of his administration was his great fiscal re- 
 forms. The finances of the State, were in a hope- 
 less condition. The chaotic fiscal policy that was 
 pursued told upon the people very heavily. The 
 country was subject to oppressive monopolies and 
 vexatious taxes of various kinds. The most oppres- 
 sive of these was the pepper monopoly. Madava 
 Bow abolished the monopoly system and levied an 
 export duty of 15 per cent, ad valorem to cover the 
 loss in revenue. This duty was afterwards lowered 
 to 9 per cent, and ultimately to 5 per cent. 
 He next grappled with the tobacco monopoly. 
 Instead of the Sirkar purchasing tobacco from 
 contractors on its own account and selling it 
 by retail to its subjects, Madhava Bao first per- 
 mitted all dealers to import tobacco on their own 
 account, provided they paid a certain import duty. 
 The scale of duty was first a little high, and 
 in consideration of its pressure, importers were 
 allowed by the Sirkar the privilege of keeping 
 
SIR T. MADAVA ROW. 37 
 
 their goods in hand, — a privilege without which 
 the trade could never have prospered. Some time 
 after, the duty was lowered ; and a still further 
 reduction was made later on. These light duties 
 encouraged the growth of the import trade enor- 
 mously. Having done away with these monopolies, 
 Madhava Bao turned his attention to reforming the 
 system of general taxation. He abolished upwards 
 of a hundred minor taxes which, while they yielded 
 little to the State, were vexatious to the subjects. 
 The land-tax in one district, which he found to be 
 excessively high, he reduced considerably, and in 
 the middle of 1863-64, he cut down the export and 
 import duties. In the following year, the commer- 
 cial treaty between the British Government and 
 the Sirkars of Travancore and Cochin was con- 
 cluded. By this treaty. State duties on goods im- 
 ported from and through British India or Cochin 
 Sirkar territories were, with a few exceptions, 
 removed. 
 
 As a reward for these labours Madava Row 
 was decorated by the British Government with the 
 title of K.C.S.I. — an honour but rarely conferred 
 on native gentlemen. At the investiture which 
 took place in Madras, Lord Napier, Governor of 
 Madras, spoke in the following eulogistic terms of 
 Sir Madava Row's work : — 
 
 " Sir Madava Row, — The Government and the 
 people of Madras are happy to welcome you back 
 to a place where you laid the foundation of those 
 distinguished qualities which have become con- 
 spicuous and useful on another scene. The mark 
 
38 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 of Royal favour which you have this day received 
 will prove to you that the attention and generosity 
 of Our Gracious Sovereign are not circumscribed 
 to the circle of her immediate dependents, but that 
 Her Majesty regards the faithful service rendered 
 to the Princes and people of India beyond the 
 boundaries of our direct administration, as rendered 
 indirectly to herself and to her representatives of 
 this Empire. Continue to serve the Maharajah 
 industriously and wisely, reflecting the intelligence 
 and virtues of His Highness faithfully to his 
 people." 
 
 In the same year, Sir Madava Row was made 
 a Fellow of the University of Madras. He had 
 thus attained the climax of his ambition in Tra- 
 vancore and having laboured hard for years, he 
 looked forward to a period of administration when 
 he might rest on his oars. But this was not to be. 
 Evil advisers poisoned the mind of the Maharajah 
 against him, and misunderstandings soon arose 
 between the Minister and his royal pupil, which 
 resulted in Sir Madava Row's resignation in 1872. 
 
 Thus closed the first chapter in the great 
 statesman's life. He brought sunshine into a land 
 covered with darkness. He secured the blessings 
 of good government to a people harassed by anar- 
 chy. He obtained freedom of person and pro- 
 perty to those who were constantly assailed by 
 hereditary robbers. He reared costly edifices in a 
 city covered with mud huts. He constructed 
 various works of public utility such as roads, 
 bridges, canals, and tunnels and put the most dis- 
 
SIR T. MADAVA ROW. 39 
 
 taut and inaccessible parts into easy communica- 
 tion, one with another. Forests were reclaimed, 
 waste lands cultivated, and new iodustries such as 
 the cultivation of coffee, were encouraged. Peace 
 and plenty reigned supreme. Travancore, which 
 when Sir Madava Row took charge of it was in 
 hourly danger of annexation, obtained when he left 
 it the appellation of a " Model State." In short, 
 in the words of the late Maharajah, " What Pericles 
 did for Athens, what Cromwell did for England, 
 that Sir Madava Row did for Travancore." 
 
 Sir Madava Row retired on a handsome pension 
 of Rs. 1,000 which he enjoyed for nineteen years. 
 Leaving Travancore, Sir Madava Row remained in 
 Madras making up his mind quietly to spend the 
 remaining years of his life in honorable retirement. 
 He was offered a seat in the Viceregal Legislative 
 Council which he declined. The news of Sir Madava 
 Row's compulsory retirement soon reached England. 
 The late Henry Fawcett, M.P., grew indignant 
 that such abilities as of Sir Madava should be al- 
 lowed to lie dormant, and asked the Secretary of 
 State for India if the Indian Government could not 
 find a place for him. In the course of a speech in 
 the House of Commons, he said : — 
 
 "Sir Madava Row administered Travancore 
 with so much skill as justly to entitle him to be 
 considered the Turgot of India. * * * He 
 found Travancore, when he went there in 1849, in 
 the lowest stage of degradation. He has left it a 
 Model State. * * * This is the kind of man 
 for whom we have no proper opening — at a time 
 
40 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 when our resources are declared to be inelastic, 
 and when, if the Opium revenue failed us, we 
 should not know where to turn for the amount 
 required." 
 
 At this time there appeared in the Calcutta 
 Review a well-written article on Sir Madava Row, 
 under the heading a " Native Statesman " by his 
 distinguished pupil, the late Maharajah of Travan- 
 core. That article after setting forth fully the 
 merits of Sir Madava Row added : " Sir Madava 
 Row is still in the prime of life, being under forty-five 
 years, and having a good and hardy constitution. 
 Administrative work has been almost a second 
 nature to him. He can well be under harness for 
 ten years more." The reputation of Sir Madava Row 
 spread far and wide and the Indian Government 
 urged by the Secretary of State set about providing 
 an adequate post for Sir Madava Row. Oppor- 
 tunely, H. H. Tukojee Row Holkar, Maharaja of 
 Indore, requested the Government of India to 
 provide him with & competent officer to administer 
 his State. The offer was made to Sir Madava Row 
 who accepted it for two years, and assumed charge 
 of his duties in 1873. 
 
 His administration of Indore lasted only for 
 two years. The only noticeable feature of it 
 beyond the construction of works of public utility 
 was the drafting of the Indore Penal Code which 
 was completed by his cousin and successor Dewan 
 Bahadur Ragoonatha Row. He also wrote several 
 minutes on the Opium question, the extension of 
 Railways in Indore, &c., which were availed of by 
 
SIR T. MADAVA ROW. 41 
 
 his successors. Sir Madava Row's engagement 
 with the Maharajah Holkar terminated in 1874. 
 But he was prevailed upon to remain for a year. 
 Just at this time Mulhar Row, Gaekwar of Baroda 
 was deposed for maladministration, and the Govern- 
 ment of India requested Maharajah Holkar to spare 
 Sir Madava Row's services for restoring order in 
 Baroda. The request was, of course, complied 
 with, and Sir Madava Row was appointed Dewan- 
 Regent of Baroda, in 1875. 
 
 The affairs of Baroda were at this time in 
 frightful confusion. In the words of a living writer 
 " it was a phantasmagoria of rapine and treachery, 
 a confusing dream of intrigue and bloodshed, where 
 reckless aspirants for ephemeral power were cont- 
 inually engaged in internecine contests, unredeemed 
 by any ennobling principle, and usually to all ap- 
 pearance, motiveless ; except so far as motives are 
 supplied by lust of plunder and venal self-aggran- 
 disement. It required an iron hand and an iron 
 will to restore order in the midst of this confusion. 
 The iron will was Sir Madava Row's and the iron 
 hand, that of Sir Philip Sandys Melville, Resident." 
 The greatest difficulty that required to be sur- 
 mounted, in the commencement in Baroda was the 
 revenue adminstration of the country. The reve- 
 nues of the State were farmed to certain nobles 
 called Sirdars for a fixed number of years who 
 in their turn farmed them to certain Sowcars. 
 These Sowcars, with the aid of armed forces lost no 
 opportunity whatever of enriching themselves at 
 the expense'of the people. - Rich and poor were 
 
 6 
 
42 EEPEESENTATIVE HTTH. 
 
 alike ground to death with impunity. Plunder and 
 oppression were the rule everywhere. Having re- 
 ceived a consideration from the Sirdars, the Govern- 
 ment could not, with any show of justice, resume 
 the right of collecting the revenue. Therefore, 
 Sir Madava Row, by special acts of State, com- 
 pelled the Sirdars to sell their rights. The 
 Sirdars, who had the Mahratta blood running in 
 their veins would not so easily submit to a new 
 regime. Astute lawyers quoted law and precedent 
 and spoke of appealing to the Secretary of State 
 for redress. But Sir Madava Row pursued his 
 course undaunted. By dint of entreaty, intimida- 
 tion and deportation of troublesome people, he 
 succeeded in restoring order to some extent. 
 
 Another difficulty lay in the same direction. 
 The precise position of the Sirdars in the State 
 was not defined. They held absolute rights over 
 land on condition of furnishing troops or money 
 to the State whenever asked to do so, as in 
 the days of feudalism in Europe. So long as the 
 Sirdars had absolute control over the land, there 
 was no chance of sound administration. Their eject- 
 ment was against all law and justice. Sir Madava 
 Row faced this question and solved it ably. The 
 Sirdars had evaded demands of money in former 
 times and they were largely indebted to the State. 
 The old records were hunted up and the Sirdars 
 were called upon to make p»ayments at a moment's 
 notice of all their dues with interest for seventeen 
 or eighteen years. Their rights were attached in 
 default of payment, ^im of them who became 
 
SIR T. MADAVA ROW. 43 
 
 unruly were deported to Benares and other 
 places. Others again were prevailed upon to sell 
 their rights for a large consideration. Order was re- 
 stored to a considerable extent in this way, but the 
 Sirdar difficulty was not yet completely solved, 
 A third knotty point was with regard to the stand- 
 ing army. The State maintained a disorderly regi- 
 ment of Arabs and Ethiopians called soldiers by 
 courtesy. They were furnished with arms and 
 committed open ravages wherever they went. Sir 
 Madava Bow determined to do away with this 
 needless encumbrance and succeeded in disbanding 
 the regiment, man after man, by giving them 
 civil employment. 
 
 Courts of law. Police, schools and libraries 
 and a host of other beneficial institutions were 
 organised. The services of eminent men from 
 Bombay and Madras were secured to help in 
 the administration. Useless taxes were abolished. 
 Narrow insanitary alleys were burnt down, and 
 clean rows of houses were built instead, at the 
 cost of the Government. Foundations were laid 
 for costly and graceful structures to adorn the city. 
 Parks and museums were erected at great cost 
 for the amusement and instruction of the people. 
 " It would be false modesty," he wrote in his last 
 Administration Report, " to disguise the fact that 
 during these five years, our work has been exceed- 
 ingly heavy and trying, for the fact accounts for 
 our visible delays and deficiencies. It is not simply 
 that we have had to carry on ordinary current busi- 
 ness. We have had to investigate and decide a 
 
44 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 multitude of matters inherited by us, which in num- 
 ber and complexity are probably unsurpassed in 
 any other Native State. We have had to organise 
 the machinery of Government. We have had to 
 carefully consider and carry out vital reforms. We 
 have had to bring under control a vast expenditure 
 in all its dark and intricate ramifications. We have 
 had to rectify our relations with our numerous and 
 diversified neighbours. In this respect, grave and 
 embarrassing aberrations from sound principles had 
 in course of time and neglect, sprung up, and their 
 correction presented peculiar difliculties. We have 
 had to bring them to the notice of the authorities 
 concerned, to explain, to discuss, to convince and 
 sometimes to respectfully expostulate. The extra 
 strain thus caused has, however, begun now 
 sensibly to diminish, and it is therefore hoped that 
 we shall be increasingly enabled to devote our time 
 and energies to the development of internal improv- 
 ments. It must be frankly admitted that there is 
 still abundant scope for our exertions in this direc- 
 tion. All we claim to have done is that we have 
 fulfilled the primary obligations of a civilized 
 Government." 
 
 While in Baroda, Sir Madava Row was made 
 a Fellow of the Bombay University. He also 
 received an invitation from the Viceroy to give 
 evidence before the Finance Committee. But 
 he was constrained to decline the invitation 
 on religious grounds. In 1877, Sir Madava Row 
 attended the Imperial Assemblage at Delhi with 
 his royal ward and was treated with marked 
 
SIR T. MADAVA ROW. 45 
 
 consideration. On this occasion the title of "Raja" 
 was conferred upon him by the Government of 
 Lord Lytton. Sir Madava Row continued adminis- 
 tering the affairs of Baroda with untiring zeal and 
 ability till 1882. He formed a Council composed 
 of the Resident and the Heads of Departments to 
 help him in the administration. He personally 
 superintended the education of the young Gaekwar 
 which was placed under the care of Mr. F. A. H. 
 Elliot, a Bombay Civilianj Sir Madava Row himself, 
 along with the highest officers, personally giving 
 instruction to His Highness. The Maharajah at- 
 tained his majority in 1888 and was formally in- 
 stalled on the gadi in the same year by Sir James 
 Fergusson, Governor of Bombay. Soon, differences 
 of opinion arose between the Maharajah and his 
 Dewan. The latter, therefore, thought it prudent 
 to retire from the service, having learnt to be care- 
 ful from his experiences in Travancore. He ten- 
 dered his resignation in September 1882 and the 
 Maharajah gave him an honorarium of three lakhs 
 of rupees in lieu of a pension. Thus closed the 
 second great chapter in the career of Sir Madava 
 Row. 
 
 Having disburdened himself of the cares of 
 State, Sir Madava Row led a retired life in Madras 
 till the end of his days, devoting himself to his 
 favourite pursuits and studies. Surrounded by his 
 large family and having a wide circle of friends, 
 European and native, he did not find his time 
 hanging heavily upon him. He never ceased to 
 take interest in politics. Home and foreign jour- 
 
46 REPEESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 uals, magazines, reviews and newspapers formed 
 an important portion of his reading. He began to 
 take a wider interest in social questions directing 
 his attention chiefly to female education and reme- 
 dying the evils of early marriage. He did not ad- 
 vocate the sastraic method as it is now called of 
 social reform but stuck to the more rational, if less 
 orthodox, view that the Sastras required to be con- 
 siderably modified before they could be of any use 
 in the preseut condition of society. Nor did he ad- 
 vocate extreme views. He adhered to the medium 
 policy of minimising the evil and not of extirpat- 
 ing it by overhauling measures. 
 
 In 1885, at the request of Sir Grant Duff, Sir 
 Madava Eow presided over the deliberations of the 
 Maliibar Land Tenure Commission and in 1887, at 
 the request of Lord Connemara, he delivered the 
 annual address to the graduates at the Convocation 
 of the Madras University. The Convocation ad- 
 dress is important merely as reflecting the dying 
 glimmer of the powerful lamp of genius which once 
 illumined Southern India. In the same year Sir 
 Madava Row joined the National Congress and was 
 elected President of the Reception Committee at 
 the third Indian National Congress. He spoke in 
 favour of the resolution asking for the enlargement 
 of Legislative Councils. During the last three or 
 four years of his life, he took to the study of Her- 
 bert Spencer's works. He was a great admirer of 
 that truly original thinker and some of the latest 
 of his opinions on social and political subjects were 
 moulded on Spenccr'a views of society and Govern- 
 
SIR T. MADAVA BOW. 47 
 
 ment. In addition to these studies, Sir Madara 
 Row was engaged in regularly contributing to the 
 local newspapers. Even when actively engaged 
 in administrative affairs he found time to contribute 
 something to the papers now and again. In those 
 days his contributions were of great weight. For 
 instance, his observations on the transit of Yenns in 
 1875, gained for him a reputation among astrono- 
 mers of European fame. But in later years, his 
 contributions lost their original weight. Under the 
 pseudonym of "Native Thinker" or "Native Obser- 
 ver," tit-bits on a wide variety of subjects, from 
 the occupation of Africa by the Germans to the way 
 in which Hindu ladies ought to dress appeared in 
 the local papers to the amusement of the public. 
 Some notes evidenced depth of thinking and power 
 of observing well worthy of the writer. 
 
 In 1888, Lord DufEerin offered Sir Madava 
 Row a seat in the Viceregal Legislative Council, 
 but it was declined on the ground of old age and 
 ill-health. 
 
 In 1889, he published a little pamphlet "Hints 
 on the training of native children by a Native 
 Thinker." This was a work of much practical 
 value. It has since been translated into Marathi, 
 Guzerati and Malayalam. He sent a small note on 
 the German occupation of Africa to Prince Bis- 
 marck, who was so much struck with the practical 
 nature of the suggestions contained therein, that 
 he thanked the author in an autograph letter, caus- 
 ing the note to be translated into German and dis- 
 
48 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 tributed to every German soldier. He was also of 
 a literary turn of mind. He cultivated the study 
 of his vernacular sedulously and acquired some re- 
 putation in it as a poet. The poems, as he himself 
 says in the preface to one of them, are " simple, 
 free from hard words and convey instruction to 
 children and ladies." 
 
 The great strain put upon his nervous system 
 in the early years brought about a stroke of 
 paralysis, on 22nd December 1890, to which he 
 succumbed on the 4th of April 1891, after lingering 
 for three months. There is hardly anything of his 
 personal character and habits which was not known 
 to his countrymen. He was a man of the highest 
 integrity. Not a pie of his vast wealth was ill- 
 gotten. Being raised to a high position at a com- 
 paratively early age he was rather of a reserved 
 and aristocratic temperament. But his manners 
 were always characterised by a charming suavity, 
 and bewitching politeness. He was never haughty 
 to his inferiors or fawning to his superiors. His 
 tastes were the very reverse of oriental. He loved 
 to surround himself with the beauties of nature and 
 art. His collection of pictures and art-ware is 
 inferior to none other in Madras and his taste in 
 such matters would not fall below that of any con- 
 noiseur. He did not trouble himself about religi- 
 ous and speculative questions. The world as it is 
 with its beauties and attractions, be it real or 
 phenomenal, was his greatest concern. 
 
V. RAMIENGAR, C.S.I. 
 
 The late Vembaukum Ramiengar C. S. I., was 
 born in 1826 in the town of Madras. His father was 
 a clerk and eventually Record-keeper in the Revenue 
 Board Office in Fort St. George during the lasfc 
 years of Sir Thomas Munro. Of his three sons 
 Ramiengar was the youngest and the other two 
 were employed under their maternal uncle Vem- 
 baukum Krishniengar, a Hindu merchant, who car- 
 ried on the produce trade of the Coromandel Coast 
 in the days of the Bast India Company. In early 
 years, Ramiengar was not physically strong and 
 was, therefore, frequently sent to his maternal un- 
 cle's village of Seevaram on the banks of the Palar, 
 as well as to his ancestral home in the village of 
 Vembaukum, near Chingleput, for change of air. 
 It was hard work for the father of a large family 
 in those days of small salaries to give a liberal 
 edxication to his sons ; but with the thrift and fore- 
 thought of Ramiengar's mother a lady of great 
 patience and strength of character, Ramiengar was 
 able to obtain a good education. 
 
 In April 1841, when the Government of Lord 
 Elphinstone established their first High School in 
 
 7 
 
50 EEPBESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 MadraSj now known as the Presidency College, 
 Ramiengar was one of the six students that entered 
 the new institution first, with the barest qualification 
 of reading and writing intelligently. The class-fel- 
 lows of Bamiengar were Bajah Sir T. Madaya Rao, 
 the Statesman, Sadagopacharln, the first Native 
 Vakil of the High Court and the first Native Member 
 of the Madras Legislative Council, Mr. Basil Lovery, 
 the well-known Eurasian educationist, P. Sadasiva 
 Pillai, the distinguished native judge who presided 
 over the Chief Court of Travancore for several 
 years and that most intellectual scholar, Dinada- 
 yalu Naidu, who lived a life of indifferent health 
 and died a premature death owing to over-study 
 and consequent mental derangement. All these six 
 obtained their Proficients' Degree with honours, 
 the then Head Master Mr. E. B. Powell, c.s.i., the 
 great pioneer of the Government system of educa- 
 tion on a secular and non-sectarian basis in Madras, 
 having followed up the capacity and zeal of his 
 pupils and carried them beyond the limits of ins- 
 truction in the various branches of literature and 
 science, appropriate to a College course. 
 
 It was at this stage that Bamiengar imbibed a 
 knowledge of the sciences and acquired a taste for 
 Physical Science and Astronomy in particular. Dur- 
 ing his school-days Bamiengar walked daily with 
 his bundle of books all the way from Black Town to 
 the Presidency Magistrates' Court on the Pantheon 
 Boad, where the Government High School was 
 located during the first decade of its existence ; 
 and his companion in these walks was his cousin. 
 
V. RAMIEKGAR. 51 
 
 V. Sadagopacharlu. There was a sad domestic 
 occurrence which cast a gloom on his family 
 during Eamiengar's school-days. He lost his elder 
 brother V. Parthasaradhi Iyengar, a promising 
 youth who was warmly loved by all who knew 
 him ; and it became a matter of necessity that he 
 should try to pave his own way as far as his 
 scholastic career went, without being a burden to 
 his bereaved parents. He studied diligently, spend- 
 ing the midnight oil, and earned one of the stipen- 
 diary scholarships founded fortunately at that 
 juncture by the Trustees of Pachaiyappa's Charities 
 in the Government High School, with a view 
 to encourage the higher education of deserving 
 youths. About the scholarship which enabled him 
 to prosecute his studies without requiring the 
 assistance of his parents he always spoke in grate- 
 ful terms in after-life. When the time came for 
 him to repay the money he had thus received, he 
 instituted himself a scholarship for science which 
 is offered to this day to an under-graduate, pro- 
 secuting his studies for the B.A. degree in the 
 Pachaiyappa's College. 
 
 When Eamiengar's school-days were over, the 
 late Sir (then Mr.) Thomas Pycroft, who at that 
 time was Secretary to the Board of Revenue, ap- 
 pointed him as a Translator in the Mahratta Cut- 
 cherry, where the Sheristadar wrote his reviews of 
 the Collector's Jamabandy reports, in the Mahratta 
 tongue. The position of Translator in the Revenue 
 Cutcherry gave him numerous opportunities of 
 studying the history of the system of Revenue ad- 
 
52 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 ministration in this Presidency and prepared him 
 for active life in the higher grades of the Revenue 
 and Financial Departments of the Public Service. 
 By his solid abilities and diligence he soon won the 
 confidence of the European Collectors and Secre- 
 taries. In September 1850, he was offered by the 
 Collector of Nellore the appointment of Head 
 Moonshee in that Collectorate. This was accepted, 
 and Bamiengar held the office till 1854. In the 
 beginning of 1854, when the Department c>f Public 
 Works was organized as a separate branch of the 
 administration, he was offered the appointment of 
 Deputy Registrar under the Chief Secretary to 
 Grovernment, and was employed in assisting the late 
 Sir Henry Montgomery, not only in dealing with 
 the papers in the Department of Public Works but 
 also in the other Departments imder the Chief 
 Secretary under Lord Harris's Government. In 
 the following year, Ramiengar had the choice of 
 two appointments offered to him — one that of Naib 
 Sheristadar in the Nellore District, and the other 
 that of Sub-Division Sheristadar in the then newly 
 formed Sub-CoUectorate in the Kistna District. 
 He preferred going back to his old District of 
 Nellore, where he became the Collector's confiden- 
 tial adviser in matters of District administration in 
 certain branches of public business separately en- 
 trusted to him. This office he filled till March 
 1857, when he was appointed Head Sheristadar 
 of the District of Tanjore. It is worth mentioning 
 here that, while filling this office, Ramiengar 
 declined the office of Sheristadar in the place of 
 
V. RAMIENOAR. 53 
 
 the then iucumbent whom the Collector wanted 
 to retire compulsorily from the service on account 
 of inefficiency. When leaving Nellore to take up 
 his new appointment, the Collector, Mr. F. B. 
 Elton, a most conscientious officer, wrote a letter 
 to Ramiengar which concluded as follows after 
 referring to Bamiengar's attainments and charac- 
 ter : — " Such men are the true friends of their 
 country, and in their several spheres do much to 
 raise it in the scale of nations and in the estima- 
 tion of all good men." 
 
 He filled the post of Head Sheristadar of Tan- 
 jore for nearly a year. He was next appointed a 
 Deputy Collector in the same District, and he 
 continued in that capacity to be still the Collec- 
 tor's confidential adviser. About the middle of 
 the following year, 1859, he was advanced by Sir 
 Charles Trevelyan to the place of an Assistant to 
 the Inam Commissioner for the purpose of settling 
 the Inams in the Tanjore District and was sum- 
 moned to Madras, to confer with Mr. G. N. Taylor, 
 the Inam Commissioner, before entering upon his 
 new duties. While he was thus employed in 
 Madras, he was informed by Sir Charles Trevelyan 
 that he was expected to return to Tanjore and 
 undertake the Revenue Settlement of an important 
 portion of the District in the Cauvery Delta, 
 which was then under what was called the Olungu 
 Settlement — a Settlement which fluctuated each 
 year with the outturn of the harvest and the ruling 
 price of paddy. This settlement was to be con- 
 verted on principles laid down by Government, into 
 
6-4 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 an arrangement under which the Government de- 
 mand on each village and land-holder was to form 
 a fixed instead of a fluctuating item. He accord- 
 ingly returned to Tanjore, and, under the im- 
 mediate orders of the Collector efEected in the 
 course of eight months, the change ordered by 
 Government in the Olungu villages. While the 
 settlement was in progress. Sir Charles Trevelyan, 
 accompanied by his able Secretary Mr. J. D. Bour- 
 dillon, went on a tour to Tanjore and other 
 Southern Districts. In Tanjore, they took occasion 
 to scrutinize the work of Kamiengar so far as it 
 had proceeded, and after repeated and prolonged 
 discussions with the District Revenue Officers and 
 with the landholders directly interested in the 
 conversion of the Olungu, Sir Charles expressed 
 his approval of the work already done and ordered 
 that it be proceeded with. 
 
 Speaking at the anniversary of the Presidency 
 College in 1860, Sir Charles Trevelyan said :— 
 " Another Native Officer who belongs to the same 
 class has just carried through a work of the highest 
 consequence in the Revenue Department in the 
 Province of Tanjore, and his sterling ability and 
 personal integrity are highly honorable not only to 
 himself but to the nation to which he belongs." 
 Ten years later, in a letter to Ramiengar written 
 at a time when the Statute regarding the extended 
 employment of the Natives of India was passing 
 through Parliament, the same gentleman said : — 
 "We have reached another stage of the great 
 question of the extended employment of the Natives 
 
T. liAMIENOAB. 55 
 
 of India. The Bill now passing through Parliament 
 is based upon the just principles of dealing with the 
 natives as we deal with our own countrymen, and 
 appointing them to any vacant situations when they 
 appear to be the persons best qualified for them, 
 whether their qualifications are derived from pre- 
 vious employment in the public service or from the 
 general course of an active independent life. I 
 shall be disappointed if you are not among the first 
 to profit by the enlarged powers conferred upon the 
 local Governments. If you were employed in im- 
 portant public situations for a hundred years, you 
 could not be charged with a more diflBcult or res- 
 ponsible task than the Olungu settlement in Tanjore. 
 You were recommended to me for the duty as being 
 better qualified for it than any other person, Euro- 
 pean or Native, in the Presidency, and you acquit- 
 ted yourself of it to everybody's satisfaction with- 
 out a breath of suspicion on your previous high 
 oHaracter although you had the fortunes of half 
 the provinces in your hands." 
 
 On the completion of the settlement in Tanjore, 
 Bamiengar who had orders to join the Inam Com- 
 mission, was prevented from doing so, and, at the 
 special request of the Collector, was allowed to be 
 retained in Tanjore as the Collector's Personal 
 Assistant. While thus employed, he was appoin- 
 ted by Government in June 1860 to investigate and 
 adjust the outstanding claims of certain Mirasidara 
 and Contractors who had received large advances 
 from the Department of Public Works to repair the 
 extensive damage done to the Irrigation Works in 
 
56 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 the District by' the heavy floods which had oceurred 
 in it in 1858 and 1859. This duty he perfoi-med, 
 and he succeeded in recovering a large portion of 
 the outstanding advances. He was also entrusted 
 in the same year with the settlement of the village 
 of Nallattadi in the Tanjore District which was 
 held on a peculiar tenure by a wealthy native fa- 
 mily in Madras, and which had long been neglect- 
 ed by the proprietor on account of its heavy assess- 
 ment. He introduced a revised assessment with 
 the approval of the Collector and Government. In 
 the beginning of the year 1861, the head-quarters 
 of the Collector of Salem, which was still at Oos- 
 soor above the ghauts, was removed by Govern- 
 ment to Salem and the Sub-Collector who was 
 stationed at Namkul was transferred to Oossoor. 
 Ramiengar was selected by Government to take 
 the place of the ,Sub-Collector at Namkul, being at 
 the same time promoted to the place of a First 
 Grade Deputy Collector and invested with the full 
 powers of a Magistrate. He entered upon his duties 
 at Namkul in May 1861 and remained there to the 
 close of 1864. 
 
 About this time the Government of India in- 
 troduced the Paper Currency and at their request 
 the services of Eamiengar were placed by the 
 Madras Government at the disposal of the Supreme 
 Government ; and he was summoned to join Tri- 
 chinopoly as Assistant Commissioner of paper cur- 
 rency on a salary rising from 600 to 800 Rupees. 
 He accordingly entered on the duties of this ap- 
 pointment in the beginning of 1865, but in the 
 
V. EAMIENGAE. 57 
 
 course of that year he found that there was 
 scarcely sufficient work for him as Assistant Com- 
 missioner. This fact he brought to the notice of the 
 Madras Government^ whereupon he was drafted 
 into the Chief Secretary's Office as the Chief Secre- 
 tary's First Assistant, his place at Trichinopoly 
 being at the same time abolished. He entered on 
 his duties in the Government Office in January 
 1866 and remained there during the whole of that 
 year. In the beginning of 1867, the office of 
 Superintendent of Stamps fell vacant by the death 
 of the then incumbent, Colonel Temple, and Ram- 
 iengar was selected by Lord Napier's Government 
 to the vacant post on a salary of Eupees 1,000. 
 
 In the following year, he was appointed by 
 Lord Napier and Ettrick as an Additional Mem- 
 ber of Council for making Laws and Regulations. 
 He continued to be in the Council for over twelve 
 years and had the privilege of taking an active ' 
 part in all the principal measures of legisla-tion 
 which came before the Council during that period. 
 With reference to the share taken by Ramien- 
 gar in the, perhaps, two most important of those 
 measures, namelj'^, the schemes of Municipal and 
 Local Fund Taxation introduced into the Council 
 by Lord Napier's Government in the year 1870, 
 Sir Alexander Arbuthnot, a Member of the Madras 
 Government and the Member in charge of those 
 Bills wrote to him in the following terms after the 
 Bills had received the assent of the Governor-Gene- 
 ral : — " Now that they have become law, you must 
 allow me to repeat to you on paper what I have 
 
58 KiePEEgENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 already said to you in words, how greatly I feel in- 
 debted to you for all the valuable help and counsel 
 you have given me throughout the whole of this 
 affair. I believe that the two Acts have been so 
 framed that if they are well administered, they 
 cannot fail to prove very useful measures, and if 
 this should be the result, it will be mainly attributa- 
 ble to the part which you took in the preparation 
 of the Acts and especially in their final revision." 
 
 At a later date, speaking on a public occa- 
 sion, the same gentleman, referring to the College 
 founded by Lord Elphinstone's Government in 
 1841 in which Ramiengar received his education, 
 said : — " It was during that period that there was 
 being educated a native member of our local Legis- 
 lative Council — an Institution at that time un- 
 thought of, who, I am bold to say, whether as re- 
 gards the uprightness of his character, the excel- 
 lence of his judgment, the honesty of his purpose 
 or the independence of his action, has not his 
 superior in any one of the Legislative bodies now 
 at work in this great Indian Empire." 
 
 Ramiengar was also a M nnicipal Commissioner 
 for the Town of Madras for more than eight years, 
 and was once offered the Acting Presidentship by 
 Sir William Robinson when he was Acting Governor 
 which, however, he declined. In May 1871,he had 
 the high honor of being admitted as a Companion 
 of the Order of the Star of India. On that occa- 
 sion, the Governor of Madras, Lord Napier and 
 Ettrick, wrote to him in the following terms :—' 
 
T. RAMIENGAR, Otf 
 
 I believe that the Insignia of the Order of the 
 Star of India will shortly be forwarded to you by 
 the Chief Secretary to Government in the usual 
 official form. I avail myself of this occasion to con- 
 vey to you once more my sincere congratulations ou 
 the honor which Her Majesty the Queen has been 
 graciously pleased to confer upon you, and to 
 assure you that my colleagues concur with me in a 
 cordial feeling of satisfaction that you should have 
 been selected for this mark of Her Majesty's favor 
 so well deserved by your character, abilities, and 
 services to this Government." 
 
 In 1873 he was called upon by Government to 
 proceed to England for the purpose of giving 
 evidence before the Parliamentary Finance Com- 
 mittee which was then sitting, but he had to decline 
 the honor on the same ground as that of his distin- 
 guished school-fellow Sir Madava Row. Two years 
 later, when Mr. Powell retired from the office of the 
 Director of Public Instruction and Colonel Mac- 
 donald was called upon to succeed him, Ramien- 
 gar was appointed Inspector-General of Regis- 
 tration by Lord Hobart'a Government. At the close 
 of the same year, he was invited by the Duke of 
 Buckingham and Chandos to attend the Imperial 
 Assemblage at Delhi on the 1st of January 1876, 
 and had the honor of obtaining the Commemoration 
 Medal from H. E. the Viceroy and Governor- 
 General. 
 
 Ramiengar also sat in various Committees on 
 important public questions such as those for the 
 
60 EEPEESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 organization of the Department of Public Works; 
 for revising the Madras Municipal Act; for pre- 
 paring the Report on Vaccination in connection 
 with the Municipality ; for the revision of School 
 Books in use in the Madras Presidency ; for pre- 
 paring a Bill for regulating the administration of 
 Hindu Religious Institutions; for the re-organiza- 
 tion of the Municipal Establishments ; and for revi- 
 sing the establishment of the Sheriff's Office, the 
 Assay Office, and the Village MunsifEs' Regulations 
 of Sir Thomas Munro. 
 
 When his stay in Madras became a certainty 
 after his appointment as Superintendent of the 
 Stamp Office, Ramiengar was at the instance of John 
 Bruce Norton, appointed a Trustee of Pachaiyappa's 
 Charities. As a Trustee he did yeoman service by 
 judicious advice when he and his colleagues were 
 involved in a suit that threatened the very existence 
 of Pachaiyappa's educational institutions. Ramien- 
 gar did much to regulate the educational charities in 
 particular and won for the Trust Board the confi- 
 dence oi the Hindu public and the respect of the 
 European and Native Staff of Professors and Masters 
 of Pachaiyappa's Schools. It was during his con- 
 nexion with the Board of Trustees that Pachaiy- 
 appa's High Schools got fairly on the high road 
 to improvement with the new Principal Mr. D. M. 
 Cruickshank at the head of the institution who 
 raised it after a time to the status of a Second 
 Grade College. It was about this time that the 
 administration of the late Chengalroya Naik's 
 Estate passed into the hands of the Trustees and 
 
V. RAMIENGAK. 61 
 
 that effect was given to the charitable objects in- 
 dicated in the will — a document full of perplexing 
 subtleties. The Trustees of those days gratefully 
 acknowledged the value of his experience and ad- 
 vice in solving those subtleties and in the adminis- 
 tration of the various charitable bequests entrusted 
 to their management. 
 
 In 1880, Ramiengar retired from the service of 
 the Madras Government and on the invitation of 
 the late Maharajah of Travancore, became his 
 Dewan and adviser. His Highness had previously 
 had several opportunities of forming an opinion of 
 his administrative ability, educational attainments, 
 practical good sense and moderation, through 
 regular correspondence with him. His career 
 in Travancore fully justified the late Maharajah's 
 selection. Ramiengar was Dewan of Travancore for 
 nearly seven years, and during this period, he tho- 
 roughly re-organised every branch of the Travan- 
 core administration. He found that the Criminal 
 Courts were working without any law defining 
 offences or laying down the procedui-e, and he ac- 
 cordingly introduced the Indian Penal and Proce- 
 dure Codes as the law of Travancore. The Police 
 of the country having been found to be ill-paid, ill- 
 disciplined and generally inefficient, a regulation 
 was passed on the lines of the Madras Police Act to 
 reorganise the entire force. The condition of the 
 Judicial Department received his early attention as 
 Dewan. The litigation of the country was con- 
 tinually on the increase notwithstanding the intro- 
 duction of a higher scale of fees, and the superior 
 
62 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 Courts were unable to cope with the increasing 
 work. The entire judicial system was, therefore, 
 re-organized by increasing the jurisdiction of 
 Munsiffs' Courts and investing them with Small 
 Cause jurisdiction, reducing the number of Zilla 
 Judges, raising the salary of all judicial officers, 
 separating the Police from the Magistracy, decrea- 
 sing the number of Magistrates which was unneces- 
 sarily large and increasing their powers and re-con- 
 stituting the highest Court of the land on a satis- 
 factory and independent basis. 
 
 The revenue side of the administration next 
 engaged his attention. Here the existing arrange- 
 ments were even more primitive and unsatisfactory 
 than in the judicial branch. He, therefore, placed 
 the revenue establishment on an efficient footing by 
 revising both the Taluq and Division establish- 
 ments, the principle observed being to reduce the 
 number of hands and raise the salaries, as the one 
 striking feature running through the whole of the 
 revenue establishment was the smallness of rem- 
 uneration and the want of the adaptation of the 
 staff to the work required of it. He also effected a 
 complete reorganization of the Salt Department, 
 having for its object the efficient supervision of the 
 salt works and depots. By far the most important 
 administrative measure introduced into the State 
 by Eamiengar was the Revenue Survey and Settle- 
 ment of Travancore. The want of such a survey 
 was long felt and acknowledged by successive ad- 
 ministrators. The defective character of the early 
 surveys and the imperfect nature of the revenue 
 
V. EAMIENGAE. 63 
 
 accounts rendered a sound administration of the 
 State extremely difficult and as this difficulty was 
 increasing year by year, Ramiengar resolved to 
 undertake a regular and comprehensive survey and 
 settlement as the only means of remedying the 
 grave defects in the revenue arrangements. His 
 scheme of survey and settlement defined the extent 
 and value of all landed estates, gave an elasticity 
 to the revenue and perceptibly improved the 
 public exchequer so as to facilitate all measures of 
 progress in the " Model" State, besides being a re- 
 liable record to appeal to in every case of dispute 
 about lands and boundaries. 
 
 Among the other measures he introduced into 
 the State were the introduction of intramural 
 labour into jails on a systematic plan, remission 
 of various minor taxes which while oppressive 
 to the people were not highly remanerative to 
 the State, the partial or total abolition of cer- 
 tain measures which compelled the poorer classes 
 to supply provisions, &c., to Government at al- 
 most nominal prices, the encouragement of indi- 
 genous industries such as the starting of paper and 
 cotton mills and the manufacture of sugar, the in- 
 troduction of a Stamp Act, the remission of assess- 
 ment on coffee lands, the simplification of the 
 export tariff by the abolition of the export duty on 
 numerous petty articles, the holding of agricul- 
 tural exhibitions, the extension of elementary edu- 
 cation by offering grants-in-aid to the numerous 
 indigenous schools in the country, the establishment 
 of Normal Schools, the abandonment of the import 
 
64 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 duty on opium and last, though not least, the im- 
 provement and extension of the irrigation system 
 of Travancore. In a word, there was no depart- 
 ment of Grovernment which he did not overhaul 
 and improve. It is also worthy of remark that it 
 could not be said that he embarked public money 
 in any undertaking that proved fruitless. 
 
 After the introduction of all these measures, 
 Ramiengar looked forward to a long and distin- 
 guished career in Travancore the finances of which 
 were rendered considerably buoyant by the salutary 
 reforms he had effected. But he was not allowed 
 to remain there to reap the fruits of his administra- 
 tive work. He continued for over a year under the 
 service of the present Maharajah of Travancore 
 and carried on vigorously the settlement and survey 
 work he had undertaken, so that, when he left 
 Travancore the settlement had been completed in 
 two Taluqs. Two of his acts as Dewan have yet to 
 be specially chronicled ; first, his stout opposi- 
 tion to the rendition of the Periyar waters to the 
 British Government on the ground of injury to 
 Travancore interests and particularly on the most 
 easy terms agreed to by a former administration, 
 and secondly, his exertions to release Travancore 
 from the obligations of a railway line from Shoranur 
 via Cochin to Travancore to which the Government 
 had pledged itself to a powerful syndicate in 
 England. 
 
 Referring to his work in Travancore the 
 present Maharajah observed in a letter addressed 
 
V. RAIIIENGAE. 65 
 
 to him on the eve of his retirement : — "In ac- 
 cepting the resignation of your important office, 
 I feel it due to you to place on record, the high 
 sense I entertain of the valuable and eminent 
 services you have rendered to the State. You have 
 brought to bear upon the administration of Travan- 
 core all the experience acquired during a long and 
 distinguished service, under the British Government, 
 and of association with the most prominent men 
 in the Madras Service. Combined with a firmness 
 of purpose and an untiring energy, you have been 
 able to lay your plans in matured wisdom, and 
 carry them out with vigour, undaunted by the 
 obstacles which beset your path. I need not recount 
 the various measures of reform you have carried out ; 
 how almost every branch of the Public Service has 
 been improved, and how the finances have prospered 
 and been placed on a secure footing during the last 
 six years of your administration. Your last and 
 greatest work, the Revenue Survey and Settlement, 
 so full of promise alike to the public exchequer as 
 well as to the land-holders, when successfully carried 
 out on the lines laid down by you, will I am sure, 
 ever remain a lasting monument of your adminstra- 
 tion. You have, in fact, during the past six years 
 imparted an impetus to national prosperity the full 
 force of which remains to be felt." 
 
 The testimony of the British Eesident, Mr, 
 Hannyngton, is equally flattering : — "On the occa- 
 sion of the retirement of Ramiengar, I desire to 
 express my high appreciation of the important 
 
 9 
 
66 nEPEKSENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 services lie has rendered to the Travancore State 
 during the period of over six years' tenure of the 
 office of Dewan. The record of his administration 
 is before Government, and it only remains for me 
 to express my admiration of the ability, firmness 
 and zeal with which he steadily carried out, in the 
 face of no little ignorant opposition, measures 
 which experience has shown to be generally bene- 
 ficial. The measures introduced by Ramiengar by 
 which he will be chiefly remembered in the State, 
 are probably the inauguration of the Revenue 
 Settlement and Survey and the establishment of a 
 sound system of Police. One very important effect 
 of his administration which does not appear on the 
 surface, and which I will here mention, is that 
 under his firm administration, the general tone as 
 well as the efficiency of the Public Service has 
 considerably improved." 
 
 In 1887, Ramiengar retired from Travancore 
 on pension and settled down in Madras to enjoy a 
 well-earned repose, contemplating religious study 
 and literary undertakings. But the hot winds of 
 May were too strong for him and brought on sud- 
 denly a slow insidious fever, from which medical 
 skill could do nothing to save him. It proved fatal 
 immediately and deprived this country of the fruits 
 of his leisure, varied knowledge and experience. 
 
 Ramiengar was passionately fond of reading 
 and not a month passed without his importing 
 fresh books from England ov purchasing some in 
 the local bookshops ; and notwithstanding the 
 
V. EAMIENGAR. 67 
 
 heavy claim whicli his official and public duties 
 made upon him, he was not able to forego the 
 pleasure of reading for reading's sake for at least 
 half an hour daily. His own pen was never idle 
 and his letters were written in a polished and 
 graceful style peculiarly his own. Nothing can 
 exceed the interest of some of his letters to friends 
 describing the country he travelled through and 
 lived in. His descriptions though brief were in 
 words so simple, yet so vivid. His library has been 
 presented by his widow to the Pachaiyappa's Col- 
 lege, where his favourite books are to be seen bear- 
 ing marks of careful study. He was not an orator, 
 but both in debate and in argument his language 
 was polished and measured and sometimes witty. 
 
 Eamiengar was of medium height with well- 
 set shoulders. His head showed strength as well 
 as shapeliness. In manners he was quiet, but his 
 intelligent eyes made up for any lack of demons- 
 trativeness by their kind expression. He never 
 could bear the sight of a man in pain and dis- 
 tress. He was sober and abstemious, studious and 
 methodical in the despatch of business. He loved 
 and preached order and method to all who came 
 under his influence. He was always judicial in his 
 tone and temperament, and deprecated extrava- 
 gant and exaggerated language. Another feature 
 of his life was that he would never take anything 
 on trust and his private and official letters 
 show that he always liked to have his facts and 
 figures first. Such words as 'suppose,' 'guess,' &c. 
 
08 EEPEESEXTATIVE MEN. 
 
 were abhorred by him. He deprecated every des- 
 cription of cant and was always straightforward 
 though never offensive. He was not a demonstra- 
 tive man and was liable to be misunderstood but 
 he cherished a warm and sympathetic heart within. 
 In a word, he always earned the respect and regard 
 of everyone whom he met or conversed with by his 
 upright bearing and gentlemanly demeanour and 
 conduct. 
 
 Kamiengar was not without his faults. His 
 likes and dislikes were very strong, but he loved 
 to think that he could rectify his mistakes when 
 he discovered them. He was a strict master and 
 judged others by a severe standard so that he not 
 unnaturally alienated from himself the affection of 
 several men who honestly believed that they had 
 been treated with but scant courtesy and kindness. 
 The more constantly such persons, however, moved 
 with him or happened to come in closer contact 
 with him, the better they judged of him and 
 appreciated his goodness of heart and kindliness 
 of disposition. Faults of judgment he committed 
 occasionally, but it is only due to him to say that 
 these could be counted on one's fingers. He lacked 
 also the suaviter in modo in private life, though he 
 was accessible to all in his official life. He was 
 also sparing in kind words to his subordinates, 
 though, to those who deserved encouragement, he 
 always showed it by official promotion and favour. 
 
 Another feature of his character was that he 
 relented towards those whom he had punished for 
 
V. RA3IIENGAE. 09 
 
 misconduct. These he always endeavoured to 
 restore to their former position, if they showed 
 signs of repentance and good behaviour. He was, 
 over-sensitive on a point of honour ; and this often 
 led him to the brink of resigning his official posi- 
 tion. Though a conservative by nature, Festina 
 Lente was his motto. He was the first native to 
 keep his house in European style, to teach English 
 and European music to the female members of his 
 family and to invite European gentlemen to parties 
 at his residence. He took a leading part in 
 organising and establishing the Madras Cosmopo- 
 litan Club of which he was the first Secretary, at 
 the suggestion of Lord Napier then Governor of 
 Madras, for the purpose of promoting social inter- 
 course between Europeans and Natives. And, 
 curious to tell, it was he that first suggested and 
 asked for the expansion of the Legislative Councils, 
 the discussion of the Budget and Ficancial State- 
 ment and for the right of interpellation as early as 
 in the seventies — privileges which took such a 
 length of time for the British Government to grant 
 to the people. 
 
 Ramiengar was very fond of his children, all 
 daughters, and his grandchildren ; and all of them 
 were fond of him. He would take them into his 
 study and keep them there for some hours engaged 
 with picture-books and photos and interesting toys, 
 as well as with little anecdotes of other children if 
 not of his boyhood. His gentle, tender nature 
 made children feel at once that he was their friend. 
 
70 REPRESENTATIVE MEN, 
 
 He used to have before him in his Travancore re- 
 sidence, a pictorial sheet with the words "Heaven 
 is our Hope" printed in golden letters. 
 
C. V. RUNGANADA SASTRI. 
 
 Calamur Viravalli Runganada Sastri, was born 
 in a small village, near Chittur about the year 
 1819. His father, although extremely poor, had the 
 reputation of being one of the greatest Sanskrit 
 scholars of his day. Born and nursed in the cradle 
 of poverty, Runganadam's parents were unable to 
 give him any substantial education beyond instruct- 
 ing him in Sanskrit. It is said that he was extreme- 
 ly precocious in his youth. In his eighth year he 
 was able to speak Sanskrit, and to construe it cor- 
 rectly. He was passionately fond of play, and took 
 a delight in romping with street boys. It was the 
 pride of his latter years that at ten he was able to 
 scale the highest walls and climb the tallest trees. 
 
 When he was twelve years old, an incident 
 occurred, which may well be considered as the turn- 
 ing point in his life, and which was destined to 
 raise him to the ranks of the foremost men in India. 
 His father had taken an Ijara of certain lands 
 under Government. The crops having failed, and 
 he being unable to pay the Government dues, he 
 was according to the custom prevalent in those 
 
72 REPEESENTATI\'E Mia<". 
 
 daj'P, lodged in tlie Civil Jail. While the father 
 was in jail, his father's annual ceremony had to be 
 performed. Runganadam's mother, not knowing 
 what to doj fell a crying. Seeing his mother cry, 
 the feelings of young Runganadam were deeply 
 agitated and on ascertaining from her the cause of 
 her sorrow, he resolved to go to Chittur to obtain 
 his father's release. He went to the house of the 
 District Judge Mr. Casamajor at Chittur and laid 
 his case before him. The Judge told him that he 
 would not release his father, without taking security 
 for his re-appearance. Runganadam said in reply 
 that the only security he could give was himself, 
 and offered to take his father's place in jail. Such 
 an unexpected offer coming from a boy of twelve, 
 moved the feelings of the District Judge. He at 
 once ordered the immediate discharge of the father, 
 and asked Runganadam to go home and see him 
 the next morning. Runganadam himself took the 
 order of his father's discharge to the jail authori- 
 ties, obtained his father's release and reached home 
 late in the night. His mother was surprised to see 
 her husband return, and upon hearing that it was 
 due to her dutiful son, she lavished on him the 
 tenderest caresses. It was the pride of Runganada 
 Sastri in his old age, to describe the treatment he 
 received at the hands of his parents on that epoch- 
 making night. 
 
 Early in the morning, Runganadam again 
 started for Chittur, and at the appointed time was 
 at the house of Mr. Casamajor. The benevolent 
 
C. V. EUNGANADA SASTEI. 73 
 
 Judge received him very kindly and after question- 
 ing him about the state of his family, asked him 
 whether he would begin the study of English if he 
 undertook to bear all his expenses. Bunganadam, 
 like a dutiful son said that he would consult his 
 parents before giving any reply. The Judge there- 
 upon sent for his father and prevailed upon him to 
 give his consent, and the very next morning Mr. 
 Casamajor himself taught Eunganadam his A. B.C. 
 The progress made by young Runganadam was 
 remarkable. Within the short space of six months 
 he was able to read English correctly. 
 
 Mr. Casamajor finding himself unable to do 
 justice to his new pupil, recommended him to the 
 care of one Mr. H. Groves, a missionary residing 
 at Chittur. Mr. Groves spent nearly the whole of 
 his morning hours in educating his new pupil. 
 Mrs. Groves also treated him with remarkable con- 
 sideration. Runganadam's residence was about five 
 miles distant from Mr. Grove's house. One morning, 
 Mrs. Groves found him coming walking and asked 
 him whether he had had his breakfast. Receiving 
 a reply in the negative, she at once ordered her 
 milkman to give him half a measure of milk every 
 morning immediately on his arrival. This and vari- 
 ous other acts of kindness of a like nature, were the 
 constant theme of Runganadam's conversation in 
 his latter years. 
 
 Runganadam evinced a remarkable aptitude 
 for mathematics, a subject in which Mr. Groves 
 was himself a proficient. Within two years he 
 
 10 
 
74 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 advanced as far as Conic Sections, and had begnn 
 the study of Astronomy, a subject in which he 
 took the greatest interest till the last day of his life. 
 As time passed on, the fund of Runganadam's know- 
 ledge increased proportionately. Mr. Casamajor 
 who was bent upon giving him a liberal education, 
 wanted to send him to Madras. At first, Runga- 
 nadam's parents were very reluctant. The counsel 
 of the Judge, however, soon prevailed, and in the 
 year 1836, he was sent to Madras, with a letter of 
 introduction to Mr. Kerr, the then Principal of 
 Bishop Corrie's Grammar School. 
 
 Mr. Kerr was astonished at the capacity for 
 knowledge displayed by his new pupil. The regard 
 which the master had for his pupil is expressed 
 in a book entitled "Domestic Life of the Natives 
 of India," published by Mr. Kerr on his return 
 to England, after a long service in India, first as 
 Principal of Bishop Corrie's Grammar School at 
 Madras and then as Principal of the Hindu High 
 School at Calcutta. Runganadam used to go often 
 to Mr. Kerr's house, and Mr. Kerr, in his book 
 says that at such meetings, they read together 
 Smith's Wealth of Nations, Locke's Essays on the 
 Understanding and Paley's Natural Theology. " At 
 what I may call our meetings for mutual improve- 
 ment," writes Mr. Kerr, "we often engaged in 
 general conversation, after the more serious busi- 
 ness of the evening was over. I was astonished to 
 find so little difference between his mind and that 
 of an intelligent European. His mental powers 
 
C. V. EUNGAXADA SARTEI. 7.J 
 
 were equal to those of any European of the same 
 age I have ever known, while his amiability, truth- 
 fulness and manly honesty were above all praise." 
 
 During the time Eanganadam was at Madras, 
 Mr. Casamajor took the deepest interest in his wel- 
 fare. The following letter written by him to Mr. 
 Kerr shows that the interest taken by him was of no 
 ordinary kind : — " I reallj' believe Runganadam to 
 be worthy of all the culture that can be bestowed 
 upon him and in this confidence I am desirous he 
 should remain with you as long as you think that 
 he is likely to add anything to his knowledge. How 
 long this will be, no one can judge as well as your- 
 self. I have all along wished to give you a carte 
 blanche respecting him. I feel that he is in perhaps 
 the most favourable situation for his improvement 
 that could have been provided for him, and my 
 only anxiety has been that he should be able 
 to take the fullest advantage of that situation. I 
 do not know to what extent you have acted on the 
 authority to supply him with books, but I wished 
 it to be understood and acted upon in a very liberal 
 sense. He is now likely to require more and more, 
 and I beg of you not to stint him. For instance, 
 I have no objection to your supplying him with an 
 encyclopaedia and the best dictionaries if you 
 think the time has come for him to use them with 
 advantage. You need not tell him (and I had 
 rather you did not) that the books are given him 
 as his own, or by whom they are supplied. He will 
 think they are yours, and so perhaps take more 
 
76 EEPEESENTATIVK MEN. 
 
 care of them. You may give them to him as his 
 own when he leaves." 
 
 During the whole of the time that Runga- 
 nadam was at Bishop Corrie's, not a week passed 
 without his writing to Mr. Casamajor about the 
 progress made by him. The following extract 
 from a letter written by him, will show that his 
 passion for knowledge was of no ordinary kind. 
 " I was during the whole of last week, engaged at 
 the rate of two or three hours a day, in writing an 
 essay on ' Female Education.' It is rather too long. 
 It consists of twenty-eight pages. During the time, 
 I was writing the essay, I was led to consider when 
 would my countrymen learn to see education in its 
 true light, and appreciate it for its own sake, and 
 not pursue it with the unworthy motive of making 
 it a tool for procuring money. I clearly see that 
 the greatest of all benefits that either a European 
 or a Native can do for the good of this country is 
 to disseminate the happy seeds of education." 
 
 This yearning for knowledge, for its own sake, 
 was the pole star of his life, and it was this firm re- 
 solve which left him at the time of his death, master 
 of fourteen different languages. When during the 
 holidays Runganadam was in his native place, Mr. 
 Kerr and he used to correspond with each other 
 on the most intimate terms. The following is an 
 extract from a letter written by him to his master : 
 —"With sincere respect I beg leave to address 
 you the following letter. I am detained here 
 longer than I expected. I am now very fond of 
 
0. V. EUNGANADA SASTRI. 77 
 
 Algebra. I worked all the problems in Hutton's 
 Mathematics with the exception of five. My es- 
 teemed friend Mr. Groves has lent me his Algebra 
 by Eulerj and I have worked several questions in 
 it. These I have copied in my exercise book, and 
 hope to show them to you." 
 
 The holidays were entirely spent by him at 
 Chittur, in going over the books in Mr. Casamajor's 
 library. He and his patron were constantly in the 
 habit of meeting and discussing various questions. 
 The following letter written by Runganadam to 
 Mr. Kerr will show how he stood in the Judge's 
 estimation : — " I saw my generous and kind patron 
 at his house. He received me with extreme kind- 
 ness, of which it is my sincere desire to prove my- 
 self worthy. He asked me about my studies with 
 you, and he was pleased to hear that we were read- 
 ing together Herschel's Astronomy and Smith's 
 Wealth of Nations. He asked me about my views 
 after leaving school. I told him my views without 
 the least reserve. I told him that I would be very 
 glad to be employed in the projected University of 
 Madras, and that very few situations would be so 
 much to my mind as that of Professor in the Uni- 
 versity. I told him that I deem it my duty and 
 feel it a pleasure to wait for his advice on the point. 
 He concluded by saying : ' You will always find a 
 a firm friend in me. God bless you.' " 
 
 About the year 1839, Mr. Casamajor was 
 transferred to Madras, as Judge of the Supreme 
 Court, and Mr. Kerr got a situation in Calcutta. 
 
7^ EEPRESENTATIVE MEX. 
 
 Mr. Casamajor was unwilling to allow him to re- 
 main any longer at Bishop Corrie's, and sent him 
 to the old high school with a letter of introduction 
 to Mr. Powell. He was soon admitted, and in a 
 few days, Mr. Powell came to know the stuff of 
 which Runganadam was made. The remarkable 
 aptitude for mathematics displayed by him induced 
 Mr. Powell to make him teach that subject to the 
 lower class. Rajah Sir T. Madava Row was then 
 one of Runganadam's pupils. In the year 1842, 
 Rungandadam presented himself as a candidate for 
 the Proficient's degree and came out with honours. 
 He was the only one who passed that year, and his 
 name still stands in the Presidency College Calen- 
 dar, as the first among Proficients. 
 
 On taking his degree he went to see Mr, 
 Casamajor at his house. He received him with 
 open arms and said : "Why, Runganadam, I feel 
 myself perfectly rewarded by your conduct. God 
 bless you." They had a very long conversation as 
 to his future career. Runganadam's greatest am- 
 bition was to become a Professor in the University 
 which was about to be formed. He let slip many 
 other opportunities, and did his best to get the 
 desired situation. The following letter written by 
 him to Mr. Kerr on taking his degree, shows 
 the inclination of his mind. " During the first 
 two years of my continuance at the High School, 
 I had made up my mind to prosecute my studies 
 in mathematics, and procure the situation of 
 teacher in the projected Engineering College, 
 
C. V. EUNGANADA SASTRI. 79 
 
 and had even the vanity to fancy that I might 
 become a Professor in the same way as Ganga- 
 dhara Sastri of Bombay." Mr. George Norton 
 who was then president of the University Com- 
 mittee, as well as Mr. Powell and Mr. Casamajor 
 recommended him very highly for the coveted 
 post. Unfortunately for Runganadam, the Madras 
 Government smashed all the plans of the projected 
 Engineering College. The subsequent hostile at- 
 titude of Government towards the High School 
 gave him do hopes of getting a situation there, 
 notwithstanding the endeavours of Mr. Norton and 
 Mr. Powell. 
 
 When matters stood thus, Runganadam was 
 summoned to Chittur, where his father was very 
 ill. He wanted to obtain a footing at Chittur, 
 to enable him to be by the side of his father 
 in his old age, and asked Mr. Casamajor to help 
 him to get it. The Judge was only too glad 
 to help him. He gave him a letter to the Collec- 
 tor and Runganadam, a few days after his arrival 
 at Chittur, was given the post of Head Clerk in 
 the Subordinate Court, on a salary of Rs. 70. He 
 had ample leisure for study, and did not let slip 
 the opportunities he had to increase his fund of 
 knowledge. He began the study of Telugu, Hin- 
 dustani, Persian and Canarese. and the progress he 
 made in them was remarkable. Nearly the whole 
 of the records in Court were translated by him 
 alone and every successive Judge was astonished 
 at seeing the talents displayed by him. He was 
 
80 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 thrice ambitious of securing a post in the Supreme 
 Court. His father died, and he wished to leave 
 Chittur. Fortunately for him the post of Inter- 
 preter in the Supreme Court fell vacant, and the 
 Judges resolved to throw the post open for com- 
 petition. Mr. Casamajor wrote to Runganadam, 
 and asked him to send in his application. This 
 was soon done, and Runganadam offered to stand 
 his trial in Tamil, Telugu, Maratha, Canarese, 
 Hindustani, Persian, and English. His superiority 
 was perfectly decisive, and the post was conferred 
 on him. 
 
 As Interpreter in the Supreme Court, he had 
 ample opportunities of distinguishing himself. His 
 personal contact with the Judges made them admire 
 the ease and fluency of his interpretations. As 
 days passed he rose in their estimation, and their 
 opinion of him was so very high, that they did not 
 fail to compliment him openly, whenever there was 
 an opportunity. Having exhausted all the languages 
 of Southern India, he betook himself to the study of 
 the languages of Europe. French and Latin soon 
 opened their treasures to him. One day, the services 
 of a French Interpreter were wanted in Court. 
 Runganada Sastri at once offered his services, 
 and the presiding Judge Mr. Gambler was surprised 
 at the offer. He asked him to proceed with the in- 
 terpretation, and within a few minutes, was asto- 
 nished at the accuracy of his interpretations. From 
 this day he became a personal friend of the Judges. 
 He was invited to their house often and most of 
 
C. V. EUNGANADA SASTKI. 81 
 
 liis holidays were spent in conversing upon many 
 questions with them. The following testimonial 
 given to him by one of the JudgeSj will show the 
 estimation in which he was held by them. "I say 
 unhesitatingly, that you are out-and-out the best 
 interpreter I have met with. I have received your 
 interpretations not only from many Hindoo lan- 
 guages, but also from those of Europe, and have 
 never had any occasion to correct you. I must add, 
 my unqualified good opinion of your honourable 
 conduct as an officer of this Court." 
 
 The post of Chief Interpreter in the Supreme 
 Court, was not the same trifling post it is now. 
 The Interpreter was then paid by commission, and 
 Runganada Sastri who was master of many langu- 
 ages was able to make between Rs. 2,000 and 
 2,500 a month. He was at this time a master of 
 the Sanskrit language, and his elucidation of the 
 texts was so very clear, that not a single intricate 
 point of Hindu Law was decided without his opinion 
 being given. Sir Christopher Rawlinson was his 
 greatest admirer, and in the year 1857 when the 
 Madras University was established, it was through 
 his influence that Runganada Sastri was made a 
 Fellow. 
 
 In the year 1859, when Sir Charles Trevelyan 
 came out as Governor of Madras, Sir Christopher 
 introduced Runganada Sastri to him as the most 
 enlightened native in Madras. Sir Charles soon 
 became an ardent admirer of Runganada Sastri. 
 He was constantly invited to Government House, 
 
 11 
 
82 EEPEESENTATIVK MEN. 
 
 and with liim Sir Charles discussed many questions 
 regarding the social condition of the Hindus. 
 
 In April 1859, there was a vacancy on the 
 Small Cause Court bench and Hunganada Sastri's 
 name was mentioned in connection with it. Much 
 opposition was raised to his appointment on the 
 score of his being a native. But Sir Charles was 
 firm and the acting appointment was given to 
 Runganada Sastri. The ability displayed by him 
 in his new post soon falsified the predictions of 
 those who were opposed to him. He was every- 
 where spoken of as a wonderful man who could dis- 
 tinguish himself in any capacity. He continued to 
 act as a Judge of the Small Cause Court until 1862, 
 and was confirmed in that appointment on the third 
 day of February 1863. When he gave over charge 
 of his appointment as Interpreter, he received a 
 letter from Sir C. Scotland, and Sir Adam Bittle- 
 stone in which they said : " In acknowledging 
 the receipt of your letter informing us of your 
 appointment as Judge of the Small Cause Court, 
 and tendering your resignation of the office of 
 Chief Interpreter, we cannot but express the satis- 
 faction we feel, at your well-merited promotion, 
 whilst we regret the loss to ourselves of your 
 valuable assistance, which is the necessary conse- 
 quence of that promotion ; nor can we permit you 
 to retire from an oflSce which you have filled so 
 ably for so many years, without conveying to yon 
 an assurance of the high esteem in which you have 
 ever been held by the Judges under whom you 
 have served." 
 
C. V. RCNGANADA SASTEI. 83 
 
 As Judge of the Small Cause Court, Runga- 
 uada Sastri had ample time at his disposal. His 
 shrewd common sense, and his knowledge of several 
 languages enabled him to go through his work in a 
 few hours. Courteous and affable to all, he is still 
 remembered as one of the best Judges that graced 
 the Court. 
 
 He now began the study of Arabic, a language 
 in which he made considerable progress. Hafiz 
 and Sadi were his favourite authors, and he took 
 a pride in getting their best passages by heart. 
 As time rolled on, the fund of his knowledge in- 
 creased proportionately. In every field of knowledge 
 which he entered, he walked with giant strides. 
 He came to be lionized wherever he went, and his 
 scholarship was the talk of the day. He enjoyed 
 the confidence of successive Governors, and every 
 one of them treated him with marked considera- 
 tion. His Grace the Duke of Buckingham was his 
 sincere admirer and it was he that induced Runga- 
 nada Sastri to add German to his store of know- 
 ledge. 
 
 In the year 1867, Runganada Sastri was 
 appointed a Trustee of Pachaiyappa's Charities, 
 in the welfare of which he took a keen interest. 
 la 1877, he was honoured with an invitation 
 to be present at the Imperial Assemblage held 
 at Delhi, and was presented with a medal and 
 certificate of confidence from the Viceroy. On 
 the 16th of February 1880, he retired on pen- 
 sion and in honour of his distinguished services. 
 
84 HEFRESENTATIVE MKN. 
 
 he was made a Non-Official Member of the Madras 
 Legislative Council. In July 1880, he was offered 
 by Sir Salar Jung, the post of Private Secretary on 
 a salary of Rs. 2,500. This honor he declined, as 
 it was his ardent desire to spend the evening of his 
 days among his books, and in the education of his 
 grand-children. But he was not destined to realise 
 the objects he had in view. Death which is no 
 respecter of persons, overtook him on the 5th day 
 of July 1881. 
 
 Runganada Sastri was in stature full six feet. 
 The muscular development of his body was a 
 matter of surprise to many an Englishman. Mr. 
 Kerr says in his book,, '• Of all the Hindus with 
 whom I have become acquainted in India, perhaps 
 the most interesting is my friend Runganadam. 
 His personal appearance was very much in his 
 favour. He was for a Hindu rather above the 
 middle height, stout and well made. His com- 
 plexion differed but little from that of a European 
 well-bronzed by a tropical sun. His features were 
 regular and even handsome, his eye bright with 
 intelligence, his forehead one of the finest I have 
 ever seen. The expression of his face was generally 
 serious." In every assembly in which he was pre- 
 sent, he was immediately recognised, and his power- 
 ful voice carried with it an amount of authority 
 which few dared to dispute. Himself open to con- 
 viction, he always tried to convince others by 
 argument. 
 
 The secret of his success lay in the mechanical 
 
C. V. EUNQANADA SASTEI. 85 
 
 precision with which he went through the routine 
 of life. His movements were like clock-work, and 
 one merely had to see what he did — to know the 
 time. He was passionately fond of exercise, and 
 used to spend the first hours of the day in the 
 building up of his physique. An ardent admirer 
 of native gymnastics, he used to go through a 
 regular course of training every morning between 
 four and five. From five to seven he was on 
 horseback, and it might be said to his credit that 
 the firmness with which he sat on the saddle was 
 admired by many Englishmen. The evenings were 
 generally spent in taking long walks. Such being 
 the training he gave his body till the last day of 
 his life, it is not surprising to hear that there was 
 hardly a single day in his life on which he was 
 confined to bed. Six hours of the day were regu- 
 larly spent in his study and it might be said that 
 he was the only native who died book in hand. 
 
 "Whatever he did, he tried to do to perfection. 
 He never knew the way of doing things by halves. 
 Himself a thoroughly conscientious man, he hated 
 falsehood in all its forms. As a man of culture 
 Runganada Sastri occupied a very high place in 
 India. " I was astonished to find" says Mr. Kerr, 
 " so little difference between his mind and that of an 
 intelligent European. His mental powers were equal 
 to those of any European of his age." In the evi- 
 dence of Mr. George Norton, formerly a Judge of 
 the old Supreme Court, given before the Parliament- 
 ary Committee which sat in England in 1853, he said 
 
8G REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 with regard to the attainments of Runganadam. 
 " He is a young man of very powerful mind, and 
 would have been a distinguished man at either of 
 our Universities. He is as remarkable for the 
 strength and powers of his mind in mature life, as 
 I should say almost any European." The extreme 
 uniformity of his life, coupled with equable cheer- 
 fulness maintained by habits of regular work, 
 enabled him to amass a vast amount of knowledge. 
 
 In style, he aimed at the simplicity and strength 
 of undefiled English. In every language he took 
 up, his aim was to go through the best authors. 
 Their best passages he could repeat word for word. 
 His library consisted of over three thousand volumes 
 and every book bears marks of having been 
 handled by him. The references which are to be 
 found on almost every page to the other books in 
 other languages, containing similar thoughts, show 
 that his study was of the most critical kind. He 
 took a delight in reading old authors. Cicero, 
 Virgil, Plato and Aristotle were his favourites. 
 His admiration for Cicero's orations was so great 
 that he was able to repeat most of them by heart. 
 With him, to read a passage once was to under- 
 stand it, to read it twice was to be able to repeat 
 it, and to read it for a third time was to treasure 
 it in his mind. Arabic and Persian he could speak 
 like the most accomplished Moulvie, and the best 
 passages of Hafiz and Saad were always at his 
 fingers' ends. He did not take equally great 
 delight in English poetry. Pope and Milton were 
 
C. V. EUNQANADA SASTEI. 87 
 
 the only poets he liked. Tt was his firm conviction 
 that the best of poets thrived only in the East. 
 
 He loved knowledge for its own sake. It was 
 not in his hands a mere tool for making money. 
 This was the idea he formed in his school-days. 
 And it was this thirst for knowledge for its own 
 sake which left him at the time of his death master 
 of fourteen difEerent langua.ges, viz., Tamil, Telugu, 
 Malayalam, Canarese, Marathi, Hindustani, Per- 
 sian, Arabic, Sanskrit, Latin, Greek, French and 
 German and a student in a fifteenth — Hebrew. The 
 treasures of Sanskrit literature were to him the 
 dearest. There is not a single book in Sanskrit 
 which has escaped his attention, and the countless 
 manuscripts which he purchased at high prices 
 show that his appreciation for that language was 
 of the most enthusiastic kind. Of him it might 
 be truly said while seated in his library : 
 
 " His days among the dead were passed 
 
 Around him he beheld, 
 Where'er his casual eyes were cast 
 
 The mighty minds of old. 
 His never failing friends were they 
 
 With whom he conversed day by day." 
 
 As a Patron of letters Runganada Sastri was 
 not behind-hand. His enthusiasm for learning 
 showed itself in his zeal for communicating know- 
 ledge to others. His great principle was — teach or 
 be taught. He had always around him a number 
 CI scholars in different languages, and his happiest 
 hours were those spent in their company. He 
 rewarded them all munificently. French and Latin, 
 
88 EEPBESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 he studied under an eminent Frenchman from 
 Pondicherry, whom he was maintaining in his own 
 bungaloWj and to whom he was paying a hundred 
 rupees a month. To one Sanscrit pundit, for whom 
 he had the highest admiration he gave presents 
 amounting at times to five hundred rupees. He 
 was always fond of educating others himself, and 
 had in his house half a dozen students whom he fed, 
 clothed and educated at his own expense. In the 
 Senate, he was ever ready with his counsel and the 
 good work done by him may be estimated by the 
 following testimony of Mr. Norton : — "I have 
 every expectation that he will apply his powerful 
 mind and untiring efforts for the amelioration of 
 the condition and prospects of his fellow-country- 
 men, who are already deeply indebted to him for 
 his past labours as one of the Governors of the 
 Madras University." 
 
 As a social reformer Kunganada Sastri 
 occupied a very high place. He was the first to 
 point out the evils of Hindu customs and to attri- 
 bute the backward condition of the Hindus to 
 those evils. Mr. Kerr says in his book. "I remem- 
 ber having an interesting conversation with him one 
 evening, on the subject of the social condition of his 
 countrymen. He seemed to be convinced that the 
 backward state of his countrymen, was mainly 
 owing to a silly reverence for old customs, however 
 absurd they might be." He worked heart and soul 
 to efface these evils. He had however to work 
 single-handed and was, therefore ,unable to accom- 
 
C. V. EUNOANADA SASTEI, 89 
 
 plish much. He was the first among natives to 
 wear boots and trousers though this was a small 
 matter. At first, he was ridiculed by many of his 
 countrymen, but being a man of iron will, he never 
 gave up the habit. The opposition gradually grew 
 weak, and many flocked to his standard. He was a 
 great believer in female education. While reading 
 at the Bishop Corrie's Grammar School, he was 
 asked by Mr. Kerr to write an essay on female 
 education. He wrote one twenty-eight pages long, 
 and after strongly advocating it, he concluded aa 
 follows:— "I think it unlikely that the natives will 
 be inclined to enlighten their females by educating 
 them, unless the men themselves are first well edu- 
 cated. In all the civilized countries of Europe, the 
 education of the females, was subsequent to that of 
 males. Hence in this country too, the education 
 of the males should precede that of females" His 
 only daughter, he educated personally in Sanskrit, 
 Tamil and Telugu. Whatever he thought best he 
 did, and thus set an example to others. 
 
 With all these Western notions in him, he 
 was a staunch Hindu. He was well versed in the 
 Vedas, the Bible and the Koran, and delighted in 
 taking part in religious controversies and establish- 
 ing the supremacy of his own religion. He tried 
 to make Hinduism suit the requirements of modem 
 civilization, and not allow it to remain an impedi- 
 ment. It was through his exertions that a Brah- 
 min boy, who was converted to Christianity, and 
 who remained in the custody of the missionaries 
 
 12 
 
90 REPEESENTATITE MEN, 
 
 was rescued and reconverted. He was no great 
 respecter of the caste system. He believed in the 
 doctrine of Karma and his principle was — be true 
 and just. Virtue, he always said had its own re- 
 ward. Truth was the god he worshipped most. 
 He is known never to have uttered a lie during 
 the whole of his life. Even the worst of his ene- 
 mies did not deny him this quality. With him, 
 truth was everything. This sterling quality which 
 he possessed was characteristic of him even in his 
 school days. Mr. Kerr says in hia book that while 
 at school " his amiability, truthfulness and manly 
 honesty, were above all praise." In a letter of in- 
 troduction given by Mr. Kerr, to one Mr. Bowie, 
 he says. " There is a highmindedness, and if you 
 will pardon the expression, a moral dignity in the 
 young man, that I have never seen equalled in any 
 other Hindoo." 
 
 He had very high notions of dignity, and 
 could not brook the idea of being insulted. In 
 society, he was rather reserved and had no faith 
 in too many friends. Tall talk he hated, and never 
 mixed with every one indiscriminately. Those 
 whom he knew, he knew well, and with them only 
 he was intimate. His manners were those of the 
 most polished kind, and, what provoked him most, 
 was to find persons wanting in manners. Those 
 who saw him for the first time, always thought that 
 he was a very proud being but this idea was soon 
 wiped away, when they came to know him well. 
 He knew no two ways of treating people. He was 
 
C. V. RDNOAKADA SASTEI. 91 
 
 courteous to all — Europeans and Natives were alike 
 in his eyes. Simplicity in life was his motto, and 
 above all, he was free from any notions of false 
 pride. Being brought up from his youth in the 
 society of Europeans, he imbibed one great quality 
 which is characteristic of them — Independence. 
 He was never known to cringe or fawn for favouvs 
 at the hands of any one. He was always treated 
 as an equal, by the many Europeans with whom he 
 was associated. The following letter of George 
 Norton, shows how he was esteemed by Europeans. 
 " On, my departure from India, I am desirous of 
 leaving in the hands of my personal friend, some 
 testimony of my high esteem for his character and 
 of my opinion of his distinguished and extensive 
 attainments. I can personally testify to his superior 
 attainments in most parts of English literature. I 
 have every reason to believe that as a linguist, he 
 is unrivalled in India. He has always exhibited 
 moral qualities which must even recommend him 
 as an honorable man, and there is no post or office 
 to which a native can aspire, to which he would 
 not do ample justice and honour. He has my 
 cordial wishes for distinguished advancement." 
 He was the first proficient of the Madras High 
 School, the first Indian Fellow of the Madras Uni- 
 versity, the first Indian Judge of the Court of Small 
 Causes, and the first and only Indian linguist who 
 knew fourteen different languages. 
 
SIR T. MUTHUSAWMY AIYAR, 
 
 K. C. I. E. 
 
 Sir Tiruvarur Muthusawmy Aiyar was born 
 of a very poor but respectable family in the village 
 of Vuchuvadi, in the Tanjore District, on the 28th 
 January 1832. To his great misfortune, his father, 
 Venkata Narayana Sastri, died while Muthusawmy 
 was very young, and the burden of bringing up 
 youDg Muthusawmy and his brother fell on the 
 mother. With the small fortune she had, she re- 
 moved to Tiruvarur, where, under her kind and 
 careful supervision, they received a rudimentary 
 knowledge of Tamil. But as her scanty means did 
 not permit her to allow her sons to remain long in 
 school, young Muthusawmy was forced rather too 
 early in life, to seek some means of livelihood. 
 
 He became an Assistant to a Village Accoun- 
 tant on a salary of Be. 1 per mensem and while in 
 this humble position an incident happened which 
 shows how sensitive young Muthusawmy was. On 
 the occasion of a Hindu festival he was presented 
 by a relative with a new cloth. Muthusawmy thought 
 the quality of the raiment was of an inferior kind 
 
94 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 and he accordingly indulged in some very dispara- 
 ging remarks to that effect. The relative in ques- 
 tion replied that the cloth was quite good enough 
 for a boy depending on charity like himself; where- 
 upon the future Judge divested himself of his 
 garment, rent it in twain and flung it at the asto- 
 nished donor. He was thus left without the new 
 cloth which according to custom he and his rela- 
 tives received at that time of the year; so he 
 decided to purchase a cloth for himself, but unfor- 
 tunately his means did not permit of such extrava- 
 gance, for he used to hand all his earnings to his 
 mother. The lad was therefore, compelled to work 
 during extra hours in order to earn a few more 
 annas which he carefully laid by, till he had ac- 
 cumulated sufficient money to procure another cloth 
 in lieu of the one which he had indignantly des- 
 troyed. 
 
 His mother was not spared long enough to 
 enjoy even the pittance he was able to earn. She 
 died soon after. Her devotion to young Muthu- 
 sawmy was so great that he gratefully attributed 
 all his later success in life to the wholesome in- 
 fluence of his afEectionate mother. It was she that 
 inspired him with a strong love for learning to 
 which he owes all his greatness. 
 
 Till the year 1846, he continued as the Village 
 Accountant's Assistant. In this situation, however, 
 he was not suffered to remain long, for he soon 
 found a patron in Muthusawmy Naiken, who was 
 known as " Butler— -Tahsildar," presumably be- 
 
SIR T. MUTHtTSAWMY AITAE. 95 
 
 cause lie began life as a butler to Sir Henry 
 Montgomery. This gentleman was struck with 
 young Muthusawmy's intelligence and industry, 
 and even foresaw a bright future for him. The 
 way in which the Tahsildar happened to form 
 a high opinion of Muthusawmy's intelligence and 
 habits is testified to by the following anecdotes. 
 One day, the Tahsildar received a report informing 
 him of a breach in an adjoining river-belt, and 
 being anxious to obtain some information about it, 
 he sent for a clerk in the Cutcherry. But there 
 being none in the oflBce at the time, young 
 Muthusawmy made bold to approach the Tahsildar 
 and await orders. The Tahsildar put the report 
 into Muthusawmy's hands and asked him if he 
 knew anything about the breach. The boy said 
 he would obtain the required information immedi- 
 ately, and taking the report with him, he went to 
 the spot, ascertained the dimensions of the breach, 
 inquired where the materials for its repair could 
 be had, and in a short time submitted a written 
 report furnishing all the necessary information. 
 The Tahsildar, though at first not inclined to credit 
 the report submitted by the boy, signed the paper 
 owing to the urgency of the occasion and sent it at 
 once to his office. Meanwhile, the Head Clerk 
 turned up and on reference being made to him by 
 the Tahsildar, he found that the boy's report was 
 accurate. 
 
 On another occasion, a certain Mirasidar called 
 on the Tahsildar to know how much Ihis arrears of 
 
96 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 tax amounted to. He owned lands in more than 
 twenty villages which lay scattered in the Taluq 
 and the Tahsildar was not able to give the informa- 
 tion without consulting his clerks. Finding, how- 
 ever, young Muthusawmy standing close by, he 
 asked him if he knew anything about it ; and to his 
 surprise he received an answer which, on verifica- 
 tion was found to be correct. These two incidents 
 raised young Muthusawmy in the estimation of his 
 master. 
 
 Muthusawmy, however, was not satisfied with 
 the humble place he occupied in the Tahaildar's 
 oflSce. There was in Tiruvarur at that time a small 
 primary school, managed by one Chockalingam, 
 and young Muthusawmy having generally no work 
 between 11 A. m. and 2 p. m., frequented the school 
 just to see what was being done there. His re- 
 peated visits, however, enabled him to pick up in a 
 few days the English Alphabet, and though he had 
 a great mind to continue his studies, he was pre- 
 cluded from doing so by his straitened circu- 
 mstances. But the Tahsildar had a nephew living 
 in his house in whose education he was deeply in- 
 terested. And in his leisure hours, he taught him 
 and young Muthusawmy the First English Reader. 
 Once, the Tahsildar allowed a week's time to both 
 of them with a view to judging what attention each 
 paid to his studies, and to his great astonishment 
 he found on examining them at the end of the 
 week that the Brahmin boy had gone through the 
 whole book while his own nephew had read only a 
 
SIR T. MUTH0SAWMY AITAR. 97 
 
 few pages of it. It was then that the Tahsildar 
 realised how promising young Muthusawmy was 
 and he resolved at once to give him a better edu- 
 cation. He asked Muthusawmy if he would go to 
 the Mission School at Negapatam to prosecute his 
 studies. The boy agreed^ and he was sent there 
 and placed under the guardianship of the Tahsil- 
 dar's brother. Here, he stayed for nearly eighteen 
 months and during that period gave sufficient evi- 
 dence of his laborious nature. 
 
 Boon afterwards, the Tahsildar sent him to the 
 Madras High School, with a note of introduction 
 to Raja Sir T. Madava Row who had just then 
 closed his distinguished career as a student. Ha 
 joined the school, and under the constant supervi- 
 sion and guidance of Sir Madava Row, of Sir Henry 
 Montgomery who, out of pure love for Tan- 
 joreans took delight in looking after the Tanjore 
 boys then in the school and of several others, he 
 continued his studies earnestly. Mr. Powell, who 
 has rendered excellent service in the cause of 
 native education in Southern India, was then the 
 Principal of the High School, and under his tuition 
 Muthusawmy became a " marvellous boy," winning 
 prizes and scholarships year after year. He was 
 regarded as clever in Mathematics and his forte 
 was Astronomy. He also distinguished himself in 
 Spherical Trigonometry. 
 
 In these days, students very rarely come in 
 personal contact with their Professors, except in 
 their lecture rooms ; but in the days of Muthu- 
 
 13 
 
98 EEPRESEKTATIVE MEW. 
 
 sawmy's pupilage, students had the fortune ta 
 learn more from their masters' private conversa- 
 tion than from their teachings in class-rooms. 
 Mr. Powell, while most laboriously and conscien- 
 tiously discharging his duties in cultivating the 
 intellect of his pupils, succeeded also in winning 
 their affection. Muthusawmy had all along been 
 his favourite boy. After the day's work in school 
 Mr. Powell would teach him lessons in Astronomy, 
 of which the boy was passionately fond and often 
 detain him in general conversation till so late as 
 nine o'clock in the night ; and what is more re- 
 markable, drive him home to Mylapore and leave 
 him safe at home. He took such deep interest in 
 the boy that he often audited even his monthly 
 expenses at home. 
 
 Muthusawmy was always more stndious than 
 playful; and his studious habits enabled him to 
 carry away some of the best prizes in the school. 
 In 1854, the Council of Education instituted a prize 
 of Rs. 500 for the best English Essay open to all 
 students of the Presidency; Muthusawmy competed 
 for it and won it. The subject of the Essay was 
 " National vices and means to rectify them." His 
 answer papers attracted the notice of the late Mr. 
 Justice HoUoway, who remarked : " Mr. Muthu- 
 sawmy is one of those whose intellectual attain- 
 ments any country may justly be proud of." Sir 
 Alexander Arbuthnot and Mr. HoUoway were then 
 the Secretaries to the Council, and had consequent- 
 ly abundant opportunities to know and admire the 
 
SIR T. WDTHUSAWMY AIYAE. 99 
 
 boy in his career as a student. The reward of 
 Rs. 500 was bestowed on him by the Council and 
 he was gazetted as " being fit for any service under 
 the Government." In handing him the money, 
 Mr. Powell remarked that he hoped it would form 
 the nucleus of a fortune which would assuredly 
 result from the distinguished career in store for 
 him. Muthusawmy carefully put this money aside 
 and to his dying day did not spend a single Hupee 
 of it. 
 
 Mr. Powell, convinced of the pupil's talents 
 asked bim if he would go to England to study for 
 the Civil Service. But, as is the case with many 
 an Indian youth, he was at the time married, and 
 he could not or would not undertake the voyage. 
 Soon after he completed his studies in the High 
 School, Muthusawmy was employed as a tutor on 
 a salary of Rupees sixty. He was then sent as a 
 Record-keeper in the CoUectorate of Tanjore by 
 Sir Henry Montgomery, and this reminds us of a 
 funny incident in Muthusawmy's life which is 
 worthy of being related. Before securing this ap- 
 pointment he had seen Sir Henry Montgomery 
 with a note of introduction and he had promised to 
 write to Muthusawmy when he required him. The 
 first of April now happened to come round ; and 
 the late Sir T. Madava Rao who was then a clerk in 
 the Accountant-General's office and Dewan Bahadur 
 Raghunatha Rao who was for some time Dewan of 
 Indore conjointly manufactured a letter purporting 
 to come from Sir Henry Montgomery and requiring 
 
100 EEPEESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 Muthusawmy to call at his house in Adyar. The 
 young man was naturally highly elated, and having 
 donned his best attire, gleefully set out for Sir 
 Henry's house, accompanied by the two practical 
 jokers. At the corner of the Mylapore tank, how- 
 ever, these latter had to part company from Muthu- 
 sawmy ; but they were unwilling to carry the joke 
 any further and so asked him to carefully read the 
 letter which he was carrying in his pocket. This 
 he did, but failed to discover anything amiss and. 
 it was only when they raised a fold in a corner of 
 the letter, and displayed the words "You are an 
 April Fool," that the future Judge realised that 
 his fond hopes of immediate employment had been 
 ruthlessly dashed to the ground. However, in a 
 few days, a genuine letter from Sir H. Montgomery 
 arrived and Muthusawmy was employed in the 
 Collectorate of Tanjore. 
 
 This office he held till 1st March 1856, when 
 Sir Alexander Arbuthnot, then Director of Public 
 Instruction, took him into his own Department as a 
 Deputy Inspector of Schools on a salary of Rupees 
 150 ; and here he earned a name by his powers of' 
 organisation. But he was soon compelled to sever 
 his connection with the Educational Department. 
 Just at this time the Madras Government instituted 
 an examination known as the "Pleader's Test" 
 and those who passed it, it was notified would be 
 allowed to practise in the Sudder as well as the 
 Mofussil courts of the Presidency. In February 
 1856 the first examination was held. Kumbakonam 
 
SIE T. MUTHUSAWMY AIYAR. lOl 
 
 was one of the examination centres^ and Mr. J. T. 
 Beauchamp, the Civil Judge, «s he was then 
 known, was appointed to conduct the examination 
 at that station. Several candidates appeared ; but 
 only three succeeded, MuthusawmyAiyar andDewan 
 Bahadur Raghunatha Kao coming off first and 
 second respectively. One portion of the test con- 
 sisted in writing a judgment in a case taken from 
 the records of the Court, all the necessary informa- 
 tion being read out to the candidates. The case 
 placed before the Examinees at Kumbakonam re- 
 lated to an agreement which had been made bet- 
 ween two heirs, as to how the property should be 
 divided between them. The parties subsequently 
 quarrelled and came to Court. The question at 
 issue was whether any agreement between the par- 
 ties, which was contrary to the terms of Hindu Law 
 was binding upon them. The Appellate Court having 
 reversed the decision of the Original Court in this 
 case, there was some scope for the display of legal 
 ingenuity. As the Sheristadar of the Civil Court 
 was reading out the facts of the case to the candi- 
 dates there was an altercation between him and 
 Muthusawmy Aiyer, who could not quite follow 
 the Sheristadar. Mr. Beanchamp's attention was 
 attracted by the dispute ; and on learning that 
 the Sheristadar was reading too quickly, the 
 Judge decided in order to secure fair treatment 
 for the candidates, to consider himself an examinee 
 and also take down the facts of the case and write 
 a judgment thereon. Muthusawmy Aiyer's judg- 
 ment tallied in evei-y respect with Mr, Beauchamp'a 
 
102 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 viz., that the agreement^ even if contrary to Hindu 
 Law would be binding on the parties. 
 
 Mr. Beauchamp, soon after, appointed Muthu- 
 sawmy Aiyar as District Munsiff of Tranquebar. 
 Sir Alexander Arbuthnot objected to the transfer, 
 but Mr. Holloway having been equally anxious 
 to have him in the Judicial Department, prevailed 
 upon the former. Muthusawmy Aiyar's work as a 
 MunsifE was highly spoken of in the District. On 
 one occasion Mr. Beauchamp wishing to inspect the 
 oflBce, resolved to take the Munsiff by surprise. 
 He went to Tranquebar without previous announce- 
 ment J but Muthusawmy Aiyar, hearing of his arri- 
 val saw him at his lodgings and, contrary to the 
 general dread among Munsiffs in those days when 
 District Judges go to their Courts for inspection, 
 requested the Judge to grant him the favour of a 
 searching inspection of his office, and of sitting 
 with him on the Bench to witness how he conducted 
 cases. The Judge attended the Court and was 
 highly delighted with the excellent manner in 
 which the Munsiff conducted cases and kept the 
 registers in the office. The Judge returned to Tan- 
 jore and expressed it as his opinion that " Muthu- 
 sawmy was one of those who was fitted to sit with 
 him on the same Bench." 
 
 Muthusawmy Aiyar was again compelled to 
 give up the department in which he served. Just 
 about this time an Inam Commission was appointed 
 with the object, as Sir Charles Trevelyan said, " of 
 quieting the possession and giving the Inamdars 
 
SIE T. MrTHTTSAWMT AITAR. 103 
 
 proprietary titles." A number of educated youtts 
 was asked to join the Commission and one of them 
 was Muthasawmy Aiyar. He was appointed Deputy 
 Collector of Tanjore on the 2nd July 1859, and 
 was placed in charge of two Taluqs. This duty he 
 discharged with marked ability. In July 1862, 
 he was made Deputy Collector and Magistrate, first 
 of Arcot and then of Tanjore. As Deputy Collector 
 and Magistrate, he displayed not only considerable 
 aptitude for revenue work, but also a thorough 
 knowledge of the criminal law of the country. 
 Once a rich Sowcar was charged with the offence 
 of cheating, and Mr. Morris the Collector, re- 
 ferred the case to Muthusawmy Aiyar for proper 
 inquiry. Mr. J. B. Norton appeared before him to 
 conduct the case, and after a prolonged trial for 
 about fifteen days, the Magistrate committed the 
 Sowcar to the Sessions. Mr. Norton was so much 
 struck with Muthusawmy Aiyar's abilities, that on 
 his return to Madras he told his friends, Mr. Hol- 
 loway and Sir Alexander Arbuthnot, that " much 
 judicial talent of a very high order was wasted 
 in the Eevenue Department." 
 
 Just at this time there was wanted at the Man- 
 galore Court a Judicial ofiicer well acquainted with 
 Procedure and Muthusawmy Aiyar was appointed 
 Sub-Judge of South Canara, on the 9th July 1865. 
 In July 1868 he was appointed a Magistrate of 
 Police at Madras, and confirmed in that appoint- 
 ment on the death of the late Mr. Maskell. While 
 employed in this capacity, Mr. HoUoway, advised 
 
104 EEPEISENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 him as to the best means of acquiring a sound 
 grasp of the principles of Law, and, in conformity 
 with that eminent Judge's directions, Muthusawmy 
 Aiyar carefully worked up the principles of Juris- 
 prudence, and even learnt sufficient German in 
 order to enable him to study the " tough Teutonic 
 Treatises" on this subject. After he had thor- 
 oughly mastered Jurisprudence, Mr. Holloway 
 made him analyse every judgment of the High 
 Court and of the Privy Council and submit it to the 
 rigid test of the principles of Jurisprudence. Mr. 
 Holloway himself carefully revised all that Muthu- 
 sawmy Aiyar wrote and not infrequently judgments 
 thus analysed were found to be not exactly in con- 
 formity with the strict principles of Jurisprudence. 
 To this training Muthusawmy Aiyer in later life 
 ascribed the remarkable power which he possessed 
 of accurately analysing cases. 
 
 One important feature of Muthusawmy Aiyar's 
 character as a Judge was his stern devotion to duty 
 and theiconscientious discharge of his work without 
 fear or favour. As an instance we may mention 
 that when he was Police Magistrate, a native who 
 had been thrashed by a European Judge of the 
 High Court for alleged trespass into the latter'a 
 premises applied for a summons against that 
 official for assault. Muthusawmy Aiyar immedia- 
 tely granted a summons without resorting to the 
 temporising process of issuing a notice to show 
 cause and though his senior on the bench suggested 
 to him not to insist on the appearance of the High 
 
SIR T. MUTHUSAWMY AIYAK, 105 
 
 Court Judge at the trial, Muthusawmy Aiyar would 
 not yield and caused the High Court Judge to ap- 
 pear before him and fined him Rs. 3. 
 
 While employed as a Magistrate he studied 
 for the B. L. Examination and passed it in the 
 First Class. Referring to his success, Mr. John 
 Bruce Norton said in one of his annual speeches 
 at Pachaiyappa's College : — " Let me mention our 
 excellent fellow-townsman and Magistrate, Muthu- 
 sawmy Aiyer, who has never relinquished his 
 studies J and at his age, and while occupying a seat 
 on the Bench, he has had the moral courage to 
 present himself for examination for the B. L. 
 Degree. Rumour speaks of his having done excel- 
 lently well ; and indeed, I hear that he has ob- 
 tained a First Class. If he is not at the head of the 
 list, he has only been beaten by a very few marks 
 by a younger competitor, who, it must be remem- 
 bered, has had the advantage of being able to 
 devote his entire time to his studies, while Muthu- 
 sawmy has had all his magisterial duties to per- 
 form, and has only been able to devote his leisure 
 to fitting himself for his examination. There have 
 been first-class men in the B. L. Degree before ; 
 but then the standard was two-thirds of the whole 
 number of marks ; now it has been raised to three- 
 fourths." 
 
 The result of the admirable work he did as a 
 Magistrate was that he was elevated to the Small 
 Cause Court as a Judge. So great was the satis- 
 faction he gave to the Madras Government as 
 
 14 
 
106 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 a Small Cause Court Judge that Lord Hobart, the 
 then Governor, appointed him District Judge of 
 Cuddapah ; but objection was taken to the appoint- 
 ment in certain quarters, and he had to give it up. 
 
 In January 1877, the Madras Government 
 honoured him with an invitation to be present at 
 the Imperial Assemblage at Delhi, and he received 
 on that occasion a commemoration medal from the 
 Viceroy. In 1878, he was admitted to the Com- 
 panionship of the Order of the Indian Empire in 
 recognition of his valuable services. In investing 
 him with the Insignia of the Order, the Duke of 
 Buckingham and Chandos, the then Governor 
 said : " Muthusamy Aiyar, — The pleasing duty has 
 fallen to me to deliver to you the Insignia of the 
 Order of the Indian Empire in accordance with the 
 grant which has just been read. You belong to a 
 branch of the service, the judicial branch, of the 
 highest importance to the well-being of the Em- 
 pire. There is no branch of the service on whose 
 efficiency, on whose integrity, and on whose ability 
 and calm judgment, the liberty of the subject so 
 entirely depends as upon the judicature. I have 
 great satisfaction in observing that you who have 
 distinguished yourself in this branch have been 
 called forward to occupy a high and prominent 
 place among the Judges of the land, and it is with 
 great pleasure that it falls to me to announce to 
 you that it has been Her Majesty's pleasure to 
 select you for this favour, a favour which, I trust, 
 you may long enjoy." 
 
SIR T. MUTUUSAWMY AIYAR. 107 
 
 In the same year, Muthusawmy Aiyar was 
 raised to the High Court bench and the Duke re- 
 ferred to his appointment in the following terms in 
 one of his public speeches : — " In nominating the 
 Hon'ble Sashia Sastri to the Council of the Vice- 
 roy, in placing the Hon'ble Mr. Justice Muthu- 
 sawmy Aiyer on the Bench of our own High Court 
 . . . , I know that I have advanced them to 
 no honor which was not well deserved or to a post 
 which would not be well filled. Such are the men 
 of whom one shall hereafter need many more — keep 
 them in your minds as studies for your emulation." 
 When Muthusawmy Aiyar was elevated to the 
 High Court Bench, he owned to a feeling of consi- 
 derable difl&dence as to his ability to cope with the 
 work. It was the first time that a Native of India 
 had been elevated to such an exalted position, and 
 Muthusawmy Aiyer confessed to experiencing feel- 
 ings of considerable trepidation when he tried his 
 first case ; and to his dismay one of the first cases 
 which were put up before him was a breach of 
 promise trial. As a Hindu, he was a complete 
 stranger to European manners and customs — and 
 he feared that his unfamiliarity with European life 
 would lead him to some egregious blunders. 
 He however, carefully studied the evidence and 
 wrote and re-wrote his judgment several times 
 before delivering it. With positive fear and trem- 
 bling he read his judgment out in open Court, and 
 to his intense relief and satisfaction it met with 
 great commendation from the members of the Bar. 
 
108 EEPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 Other hard-won successes followed and in the 
 process of a short time he was on all sides recog- 
 nised to be one of the ablest Judges who adorned 
 the High Court Bench. His calm, dispassionate 
 behaviour on the Bench, his industrious and syste- 
 matic habitSj his wonderful memory, his powerful 
 grasp of the minutest details in cases that were 
 posted for hearing before him, and above all, hia 
 laborious discrimination of truth from falsehood, 
 be the mass of evidence however great — all 
 these marked him out as a model Judge. His 
 legal conception of things presented to him was, 
 like Lord Eldon's very accurate. His decisions 
 are acknowledged to be fit to take rank with 
 those of the best English Judges. It is bare truth 
 to say that the most intricate cases were posted 
 particularly before him in the High Court for dis- 
 posal. He firmly believed that the duty of a 
 Judge was sacred and he described it thus in hia 
 Convocation Address to the graduates of the 
 Madras University. " The Court of Justice is a 
 sacred temple, the Judges presiding over it are, 
 though men, the humble instruments in the inter- 
 ests of truth, and those who enter this holy edifice 
 with unholy thoughts or desecrate it with unworthy 
 actions, are traitors to their God and country. Those 
 of you who may rise to the Bench should recollect 
 that the power you may be called upon to exercise 
 in the name of your sovereign is, according to 
 another of your ancestors, a power divine." 
 
 The European Judges with whom he sat, one 
 and all regarded him as a great authority upon all 
 
SIR T. MUTHUSAWMY AIYAR. 109 
 
 principles of law. Dissents from his opinion were 
 rare and his judgments, though often very long, 
 were always exhaustive. They are valuable con- 
 tributions to Indian legal literature. In the 
 general introduction to his " Anglo-Indian Codes," 
 Mr. "Whitley Stokes says : — "My principal source 
 of help has been the decisions of the High Court 
 Judges published in the Indian Reports from 1862 
 to 1886 inclusive — decisions which not only throw 
 light on the ideas and customs of the people of India, 
 but are, as a rule, (if I may say so without imper- 
 tinence) admirable for their logicality and learning. 
 Of these Judgments, none can be read with more 
 pleasure and few with more profit than those of the 
 Hindu Muthusawmy Aiyar and the Mahomedan 
 Sayyed Mahmood. For the subtle races that pro- 
 duce such lawyers no legal doctrine can be too re- 
 fined, no legal machinery can be too elaborate." 
 Muthusawmy Aiyar adorned the Bench for over 
 fifteen years eliciting golden opinions from every 
 one he came in contact with, and he attained the 
 highest position open to a native of India in the 
 Judicial Department in the country, when he acted 
 as Chief Justice for three months in 1893. Soon 
 afterwards he was made a K.C.I.E. and on that 
 occasion, he was congratulated universally by 
 natives as well as Europeans. The heavy and 
 taxing duties of an Indian Judge brought to a 
 speedy termination his brilliant career. Towards 
 the beginning of the year 1895, he suddenly took 
 ill and passed away to the regret of all his country- 
 men. 
 
110 REPKESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 As a Judge he found little leisui'e to attend to 
 other duties but he always took very great interest in 
 matters connected with the Madras University. He 
 was made a Fellow of the University in the year 1872 
 and became a member of the Faculty of Arts in 
 1877. He was for many years an Examiner in the 
 B.L. and M.L. Examinations; and in all discussions 
 on educational questions coming up before the 
 Senate he took an active part. In connection with 
 the University, he instituted a prize in the name 
 of Mr. Carmichael who was a member of the 
 Madras Council. He was the first native gentleman 
 who was called upon to address the graduates 
 on the Convocation day, and he discharged that 
 duty with great credit and success. Sir T. Muthu- 
 swamy Aiyar was not accustomed to make public 
 speeches, but the written addresses he delivered 
 were characterised by sober suggestions clothed in 
 simple but choice words. 
 
 His opinions of some of his contemporary pub- 
 lic men are interesting. Of Mr. Powell, to whose 
 tuition he owed his greatness, he always spoke 
 in tei'ms of reverence and affection. According to 
 him, he was the best friend the natives have ever 
 had ia this Presidency. In no educational speech 
 of his. Sir. T. Muthusawmy failed to pay a 
 tribute of gratitude to his "revered master." 
 Of Rai Bahadur T. Gopal Row, he used to say: 
 "He is the only person whom I have through- 
 out my life admired." Of Mr. Ranga Charlu of 
 Mysore, he said that he was " really a great man. 
 
SIE T. MtTTHnSAWMY AIYAE. Ill 
 
 possessing a colossal intellect, while his powers of 
 organisation were very astonishing." The late 
 Professor Runganada Mudelliar was also held in 
 high esteem by him, and at the meeting held to 
 mourn his loss. Sir T. Muthusawmy Aiyar referred 
 to him thus : " The very first conversation we had, 
 inspired me with a feeling of high esteem and regard 
 for him — an esteem and regard, which, I may tell 
 you every day of my subsequent acquaintance only 
 tended to enhance, until they ripened into a strong 
 feeling of personal attachment." 
 
 It is often remarked that Sir T. Muthusawmy 
 Aiyar did little to further the cause of Social 
 Beform in this country. But he had not on that 
 account failed to recognise the necessity for im- 
 proving Hindu society in certain respects. He 
 believed that the mending of Hindu Society must be 
 brought about slowly and gradually. His views were 
 broad, but in action he was cautious. His public 
 addresses bear testimony to this fact. Speaking of 
 the status of Hindu women, he said " No one who 
 considers the social status of Hindu women can 
 fail to come to the conclusion that it is open to 
 considerable amendment." On female education, 
 his opinion was "all of you should endeavour to 
 secure the benefit of teaching to such young 
 women as may come under your protection and 
 guardianship, and I have no doubt that the pre- 
 judice against it will wear away in the same man- 
 ner in which it has worn away in relation to girls 
 receiving any education at all." 
 
112 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 He was not opposed to foreign travel. " I will 
 advise those of you who can afford to pay a visit 
 to Europe," said he, " to do so and add to your 
 knowledge the benefit of that social education which 
 residence in civilised countries for a time, with a 
 view to self-improvement, is likely to ensure." Here 
 is his declaration on infant marriage : — "There is no 
 foundation for the belief that a marriage contracted 
 after maturity is illegal though in practice the sup- 
 posed sin of the father was often visited by society 
 upon the daughter." His opinion on re-marriage 
 of widows was more pronounced : — " Although a 
 woman could marry but once, a man is entitled 
 to marry as often as he likes even when he has 
 several wives living. This inequality between man 
 and woman with respect to the rights and obliga- 
 tions of marriage, is aggravated by the incidents 
 of the family system. ... In these circum- 
 stances, it is no matter for surprise that friends of 
 progress should characterise the social system and 
 the law on which it rests as cruel to women. Con- 
 sidering it in relation to the requirements of mora- 
 lity, I must say that re-marriage is as necessary in 
 the case of young widows whose marriages have 
 been consummated as in the case of virgin widows." 
 
 It has been frequently asserted that, he did not 
 take advantage of the opportunities he had as a 
 Judge to facilitate social reform. His opinion was : 
 " It must be remembered that the Hindu Law which 
 the Courts are bound to administer is the law as 
 received by the Hindu community and not as it 
 
SIR T. MDTHUSAWMY AIYAR. 1 13 
 
 stood either in the Vedic or Smrithic period of 
 their history, and that no other conception of 
 Hindu Law to be administered by the Court is 
 either judicial or rational." Holding this view, he 
 was still for progress in society, and on the broad 
 issue of legislative interference he said: " It seems 
 to me that the orthodox party overlooks the fact 
 that a ruling power which recognises neutrality as 
 the key-stone of all legislative and administrative 
 action, and which has to deal with forms of mar- 
 riage as numerous as there are races who owe 
 allegiance to it, should interpose no obstacle in the 
 path of progress, but that it should recognise the 
 forms of marriage which the party in favour of re- 
 form may introduce from time to time. On the 
 other hand, the party in favour of progress forgeta 
 that no statesman should be invited to commit him- 
 self to a course of legislative action which would 
 invalidate marriages that are performed in accord- 
 ance with national custom, and which would 
 thereby involve in it an irritating interference with 
 the most important domestic event of the majority 
 of Her Majesty's Hindu subjects." Perhaps, it 
 was a close knowledge of the opinions of Sir T. 
 Muthusawmy Aiyar on social matters that made 
 Dr. Duncan say in his Convocation address, (1891); 
 " Are you afraid lest the good cause should make 
 shipwreck at the outset by the intemperate advo- 
 cacy of those whose zeal is apt to carry them be- 
 yond the bounds of prudence and legality ? This 
 difficulty can surely be met and overcome by a 
 
 15 
 
114 REPRESDNTATIVE MEN. 
 
 society which possesses men with the judicial acn- 
 men and calmness of the Hon'ble Mr. Justice 
 Muthusawmy Aiyar." 
 
 On religion. Sir T. Muthusawmy Aiyar held a 
 decided opinion. He acted on the belief that 
 religion is indispensable to man. Believing in 
 the existence of a Supreme Being from whom all 
 good emanates, he did not fail to adopt even the 
 conventional form of expressing bis gratitude to 
 his Maker and to offer solemn prayers to Him 
 every day. The every day duty of a Brahmin 
 of performing poqja, he practised. With him, it 
 was a warm and vigorous dictate of the heart, and 
 he did it, not as a policy but on principle and con- 
 viction. He had very great respect for those who 
 were learned in the Vedas and it is worth mention- 
 ing that he supported a Patasala for the revival of 
 the Shastras and other sacred writings. He was 
 scrupulous in observing the several rites and cere- 
 monies ordained by the Hindu religion and was an 
 ardent well-wisher of its revival in its true, pure 
 form. 
 
 We have referred to the studious habits of 
 Sir T. Muthusawmy Aiyar, and we shall now men- 
 tion a few of his favourite books. Shakespeare was 
 one of his very favourite authors, and he and 
 Rai Bahadur T. Gopal Row whenever they met, 
 used to read a play together, and often dispute 
 the meanings of particular passages. Sometimes 
 a very hot debate would ensue, but these little 
 debates were always of a very instructive kind. 
 
SIK-'T. muthcsawmy aiyar. 115 
 
 Milton he had no pai-ticular liking for. Among 
 prose writers of modern times he often read 
 Carlyle and always Oliver Goldsmith, the latter 
 being his chief favourite. He had read the 
 " Vicar of Wakefield" not less than fifty times. 
 He used to say that Gibbon was the study of 
 the late Baja Sir Madava Eow, Addison, of 
 Mr. Seshiah Sastri and Shelley and Shakespeare 
 of Rai Bahadur T. Gopal Row. His wonderful 
 memory was almost the key to hie enviable success 
 in life. la the study of his books and in the hear- 
 ing of cases, his memory helped him a great deal. 
 He had only to read three times anything he wished 
 to remember. We have also heard it often said that 
 after hearing a case he could write out the judgment 
 even after an interval of six months. In the 
 schooldays of Sir T. Muthusawmy Aiyar, 
 students cultivated memory as a regular art. Each 
 student selected a book and got it by heart so that 
 he might re-write the whole without the help of 
 the book. 
 
 Sir T, Muthusawmy Aiyar was from his boy- 
 hood industrious, patient, and well-behaved. Pet- 
 ted by every one of his friends and masters he 
 was naturally a little haughty in his schooldays, but 
 the harness of office, the acquisition of more know- 
 ledge and the experience of age made him revere 
 and obey his superiors, love and respect his equals 
 and encourage and advise the young. 
 
 Modesty and obedience were the essentials of 
 his success in life. To whom else could Col. Hughes- 
 
116 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 Hallett have referred when he addressed the Madras 
 graduates of 1888 thus ; "You have in this 
 town, among your own countrymen, a living proof 
 that the greatest abilities and the greatest industry 
 may go hand-in-hand with extreme modesty, and 
 may yet win not only the highest personal esteem 
 but also the highest official rewards 1" It was 
 also his force of character that lifted him high in 
 the eyes of his superiors. 
 
 He had a liking for natural objects and the 
 Fine Arts. He had a passionate love for music as 
 indicated in his excellent public address in Pachaiy- 
 appa's Hall during Lord Reay's visit to Madras. 
 Sir M. E. Grant Duff referred to it in these words: — 
 " I had great cause during the last few years to 
 admire my honorable friend in many capacities, but 
 I am not aware that he was also an a.uthority upon 
 that art which begins where all others end, which, 
 when sculpture, painting and poetry respectively 
 have had their say, takes up our thoughts, and 
 carries them so far, I suppose, as it is permitted 
 for them to be carried, while here in this state of 
 existence." The name of Sir T. Muthusawmy 
 Aiyar the first Native Jurist in the Madras Presi- 
 dency is intended to be perpetuated by the erection 
 of his marble statue in the Law Courts in Madras. 
 
RAI BAHADUR T. GOPAL ROW, B.A. 
 
 Eai Bahadur Tandalam Gopal Row was born in 
 the year 1832 in Ganapati Agraharam, a village on 
 the banks of the Cauvery, near Kumbhakonam, 
 He was a member of a Mahratta family of Western 
 India which migrated to Tanjore with the early 
 Mahratta Princes. His grandfather Tandalam 
 Jeevanna alias Ramachandra Pundit was employed 
 first under the Tanjore Raja and subsequently as a 
 Tahsildar in the British service. His son Bava 
 Pundit alias Raghava Punt, the father of Gopal 
 Row, was also employed under the Rajah of 
 Tanjore, the well-known Serfoji, in his Revenue 
 Cutcherry. He had five sous and the youngest of 
 them was Gopal Row. After a stay of about three 
 years at Ganapati Agraharam, the place of Gopal 
 Row's birth, where Bava Pundit was employed, he 
 removed to Tiruvadi. From Tiruvadi, the family 
 migrated to Travancore on the invitation of Dewan 
 Runga Row, the father of Raja Sir T. Madava 
 Row ; and two of Bava Pundit's sons were at once 
 taken into the Travancore service. Bava Pundit 
 died while in Travancore and his family, including 
 Gopal Row, returned to Tanjore. 
 
118 EEPKESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 Gopal Row had received from his father a good 
 education in Marathi and Sanscrit, along with his 
 four brothers; and for his elementary education in 
 English he was indebted to one " English" Devaji 
 Row. The complete mastery he subsequently acquir- 
 ed over the English language, was due entirely to his 
 own exertions. Four years before his death, he said 
 " I owe my education to no School or College. At 
 fifteen, I was left to educate myself, as best I could, 
 with just such a smattering of English as private 
 tuition in the Mofussil could give thirty-five years 
 ago; and whatever knowledge of Western literature 
 or science I have acquired, has been acquired by un- 
 aided study — unaided in the most absolute sense. 
 Books have been my only teachers." 
 
 In his seventeenth year, he entered public 
 service as a clerk in the ofiice of the Collector of 
 Tanjore and in the space of two years, he was pro- 
 moted to the responsible position of Manager of 
 the Department of Public Works. He held this 
 appointment for three years and during this period 
 he rendered valuable service to Government by 
 resolutely setting his face against all corruption. 
 Mr. HoUoway, who was then Assistant Collector 
 at Tanjore and who afterwards became one of the 
 Judges of the High Court, always spoke in high 
 terms of Gopal Row's "very able and faithful 
 services ;" and none better appreciated the worth 
 of Gopal Row in after years than Mr. Holloway. 
 
 In 1854, Gopal Row entered the Educa- 
 tional Department as First Assistant in the 
 
T. QOPAL ROW. 119 
 
 Provincial School at Kumbakonam. In 1857, the 
 Madras University was established and Gopal Row 
 aacceeded in passing the Matriculation Examina- 
 tion in that very year. In 1859, he appeared for the 
 B. A. Examination and came off first, being placed 
 alone in the first-class. This success of Gopal Row 
 was remarkable considering that at the time, he 
 was a schoolmaster with six hours of school work 
 on an average. Mr. Forbes, then a member of the 
 Governor-General's Legislative Council, wrote to him 
 from Calcutta as follows : — " Although I have not 
 heard from you to tell me, I cannot doubt that you 
 are the man who has taken his B. A. degree at the 
 University lately, and I am unwilling that you 
 should suppose that I am not sufficiently interested 
 in you to write and offer you my congratulations. 
 I think that your success is very highly creditable 
 to your talents and your industry, and I hope that 
 you will let it stimulate you to further exertion." 
 Mr. HoUoway wrote to him thus : — "My letters are 
 not many but I could not resist my desire of tel- 
 ling you, on this interesting occasion, how sin- 
 cerely I rejoice in your present success and desire 
 your future happiness and prosperity." 
 
 The rest of Gopal Bow's life was spent in the 
 Educational Department and during the greater 
 portion of it, he was connected with the Kumbakonam 
 College. The reputation of this College was chiefly 
 due to two men, Mr. Porter and Rai Bahadur Gopal 
 Row. The teaching of Mathematics and English in 
 this institution chiefly devolved on Gopal Row : and 
 
120 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 Mr. E. B. Powell, the pioneer of higlier education 
 in Southern India spoke of Gopal Row's work as 
 "nowhere surpassed." During the years 1870, 1871 
 and 1872, Gopal Row acted as an Inspector of 
 Schools and that was the very first instance of a native 
 being appointed to such a responsible post in the 
 Educational Department. During this period he 
 performed his duties in a careful and conscientious 
 manner and did his best to render sounder the 
 instruction given in the schools under his charge. 
 The Madras Government observed that the experi- 
 ment of employing a native as an Inspector of 
 Schools had been tried and proved a decided suc- 
 cess. In recognition of his singular ability, Gopal 
 Row was nominated a Fellow of the TMadras Uni- 
 versity. 
 
 From 1872 to 1874, he was in sole charge 
 of the Kumbakonum College. The results achieved 
 during these years by the College were even 
 more brilliant than those obtained during Mr. 
 Porter's time, and the then Director of Public 
 Instruction in his report to Government, re- 
 marked : — "Mr. Gopal Row has most satisfactorily 
 established his fitness to preside over the second 
 College in the Presidency, should a vacancy occur 
 in the Principalship." But he was never confirmed 
 as Principal of the College. In 1878 he was 
 admitted into the graded service as Professor of 
 History and Political Economy in the Presidency 
 College. The action of Government in long with- 
 holding from such an excellent educationist a 
 
T. GOPAL EOW. 121 
 
 place in the graded service gave much pain to the 
 native community. The Government of India, 
 however, in recognition of his educational service, 
 conferred on him the title of " Rai Bahadur" as a 
 personal distinction. 
 
 The last years of Gopal Row were spent ia 
 the Presidency College as Professor of History. 
 In 1883, he had a severe attack of fever due to 
 over-exertion of his mental faculties. Since 
 then he never recovered his full strength. For two 
 years more he continued to work as Professor but 
 finding that his health was failing, he took fur- 
 lough for six months and proceeded to Kumba- 
 konam for rest. But he never resumed his duties 
 again. He was taken back to Madras in a state 
 of serious illness and he passed away quietly on the 
 nth May 1886. 
 
 The news of his death was received with uni- 
 versal regret. The Presidency College Council 
 placed on record " their appreciation of his long 
 public services and of his personal character." 
 Dr. D. Duncan, the Director of Public Instruc- 
 tion in Madras, in intimating to Government the 
 death of Rai Bahadur Gopal Row, referred in the 
 following terms to his services as an Educa- 
 tionist: — "Having entered the department in Octo- 
 ber 1854, he (Gopal Row) had completed a service 
 of over thirty-seven years. During this long period 
 he rendered most valuable service to Government 
 and the public. A good Mathematician, Mr. Gopal 
 Row was nevertheless better known as an English 
 
 16 
 
122 EEPKESENTATIVE MTOT. 
 
 scholar. As a teacher of the English language 
 and literature he stood in the first rank, even 
 when compared with the beat European teachers of 
 that subject. Having had the good fortune to be 
 intimately associated with him in the Presidency 
 College and the Univei"sity during recent years, I 
 am in a position to estimate the greatness of the 
 loss which the cause of education has sustained by 
 his death." " I have" wrote the same gentleman 
 to Gopal Row's eldest son on the 26th May 1886 : 
 " I have known for many years and admired him 
 for his pre-eminent intellect and moral qualities. 
 Latterly it has been my privilege to be closely 
 associated with him in the Presidency College, and 
 when I look back upon our intercourse during 
 these years, I cannot remember a single incident 
 having occurred to break the harmony of our 
 friendship. The members of the Department of 
 which he was such an ornament sympathise deeply 
 with you in your affliction, and feel that your loss 
 is also theirs." 
 
 Equally flattering was the testimony of other 
 men who had known Gopal Row intimately. 
 " None of the many friends of your late lamented 
 father" wrote Rai Bahadur P. Runganada Mudaliar 
 to Gopal Row's son " can feel deeper sorrow than 
 I do, or appreciate more keenly the loss that the 
 Native community of Southern India has suffered 
 by his untimely death." Sir T. Muthusawmy Iyer 
 said that among his educated countrymen, he 
 hardly knew one who had a stronger claim to 
 
T. GOPAL ROW. ]'23 
 
 public recognition in Tanjore than his much 
 lamented friend, Gopal Row, or who had ren- 
 dered more useful service to the cause of liberal 
 education. He added, " I first met him in 1854, 
 and I have ever since uniformly respected and 
 admired him. To a superior mind which he richly 
 cultivated for upwards of thirty years, and to 
 literary attainments of a very high order which he 
 owed less to Colleges than to self-teaching and 
 well-directed industry, he united a rare purity of 
 character and devotion to duty. He struck me in 
 many ways as being what a man of high education 
 and culture should be. His career in Kumba- 
 konum, first as Mr. Porter's Assistant, and after- 
 wards as his successor, is well known to you. It 
 is part of the history of liberal English education 
 in Tanjore, and he has nobly earned for himself a 
 conspicuous position in that history. I have reason 
 to think that if it had pleased Providence to spare 
 him to us for a few years longer he would have 
 done something in retirement to improve our 
 literature. I feel that in his premature death the 
 people of Tanjore have lost one of their brightest 
 ornaments ; the educated classes a rare model of 
 high culture and worth in private and public life ; 
 and his pupils, an Educationist who often reminded 
 one of Messrs. Powell and Porter." 
 
 The Hon'ble aad Rev. Dr. Miller, the well-known 
 Principal of the Madras Christian College delivered 
 himself thus in the Christian College Magazine : — 
 "We wish only to join with others in expressing 
 
124 EEPRfiSENTATlVi: MEN. 
 
 deep regret at tlie too early removal from our 
 midst of one who held most deservedly so high a 
 place in the esteem of the community at large, and 
 of those members of it in particular who watch 
 with interest the process by which the India that 
 is to be is emerging from the India that has been. 
 That is no disparagement to many well-known 
 names when we say that few oi the educated sons 
 of Southern India held so high a place in the 
 regard of Natives and Europeans equally, and that 
 fewer still have done so much to mould the gene- 
 rations that are to come, as he who has now passed 
 away. Engrossed in the work he had to do, un- 
 obtrusive and unambitious, Mr. Gopala Row has 
 yet had an influence both healthier and more en- 
 during than that of many whose names have been 
 far more widely sounded. As an Examiner and 
 Fellow of the University, as an Inspector of Schools, 
 most of all as a Teacher, he set himself to do 
 thoroughly, to do as well as it admitted of being 
 done — the work which his hands had found. For 
 the rewards which sometime follow, and which 
 ought to follow successful work, he cared compara- 
 tively little. To him the question of fulfilling duty 
 was always the paramount one ; and in deciding 
 on the way of fulfilling it he taught for himself and 
 judged for himself. He was little swayed by 
 popular prejudice or party cries. When convinced 
 that the course he had chosen was the right one, it 
 mattered little to him whether popularity or un- 
 popularity was its immediate outcome to himself. 
 Few things are more urgently required at present 
 
T. UOPAL KOW. 125 
 
 than that in these respects — not to speak of others 
 — his example should be followed by the educated 
 men of Southern India. 
 
 " Some among those to whom Mr. Gopal 
 Row's memory is dear will be disposed, unless we 
 are mistaken, to regret that t&lents so great and a 
 character so high never raised the possessor to a 
 loftier position in the world and never gained him 
 more wide-spread fame. In this regret we can 
 hardly share. It is the quiet flowing stream that 
 does most to fertilize the valley with its waters. 
 If even a few of the many hundreds whom he help- 
 ed to train exhibit in coming years that earnest- 
 ness in duty, that superiority to petty aims, that 
 determination to have every question thought out 
 and decided on its proper grounds which characte- 
 rised their departed teacher, his life will have been 
 more truly useful, and deserving therefore of high- 
 er honour, than the lives of many whose names 
 have been bruited abroad more widely. We are 
 glad to learn that steps are being taken to perpe- 
 tuate the memory of Mr. Gopala Row in the town 
 where most of his active life was spent. This is 
 well ; but a still better and more lasting monument 
 will be erected in his honour if those whom he 
 taught and trained will guide their own lives by the 
 moral principles which animated his, and by so 
 doing bring those principles to bear with living 
 power on those whom they will influence in turn." 
 
 To these highly flattering notices of Rai Baha- 
 dur Gopal Row's life we have the pleasure to add 
 
126 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 the testimony of Mr. Porter. In a private letter to 
 one of his friends he wrote : — " The news of Mr. 
 Gopal Row's death, which reached me about a fort- 
 night ago, was a great surprise and sorrow to me. 
 I had written to him two months before, and my 
 letter was acknowledged by his son, who said his 
 father was not very well, but I thought nothing of 
 it, and was always expecting to hear from him his 
 opinion of a book which I had sent him, when the 
 Maharajah of Mysore mentioned in a letter that 
 Gopal Row was dangerously ill. His life has been 
 a most useful one : and as regards myself, I am 
 able to look back on a friendship with him of 
 twenty years, never once disturbed by a single un- 
 pleasant word or act." 
 
 It is as a teacher that Gopal Row lives in the 
 memory of the people of Southern India and we can- 
 not give a better idea of him as a teacher, than by 
 quoting the words of one of his successful pupils, 
 who in the course of a speech delivered in the Porter 
 Town Hall, Kumbaconum, gave a most faithful pic- 
 ture of the recollections he had of Gopal Row : — 
 "As a teacher, he was a thorough-going man. 
 Everything that he did and said was characterised 
 by genuineness. There was no Brummagem at all. 
 In addition to teaching the text, he introduced 
 into his teaching a great deal of collateral matter, 
 the moral influence of which cannot be forgotten. 
 Thrilling quotations, interesting anecdotes, spiri- 
 ted narratives; and great sayings of great men 
 came in rapid succession ; at one moment he would 
 
T. GOl'AL ROW. 127 
 
 Speak about the world's greatest intellect^ namely, 
 Aristotle, at another of Shelley, and then again 
 about the Poet-philosopher, Wordsworth ; at one 
 time he would speak about the genius of Pascal, at 
 another of the Greek and Eoman heroes. He used 
 to speak occasionally also about the great heroes 
 of the Madras University, of Poezold, and Sanjiva 
 Bow, of Subramania Aiyar and Kanganadam, and 
 bid his pupils emulate and imitate them. He tried 
 every means for elevating us : — 
 
 ' As a bird each fond endearment tries. 
 To tempt its new-fledged offspring to the skies, 
 He tried each artj reproved each dull delay, 
 Allured to brighter worlds and led the wa;.' " 
 
 In his younger days Gopal Row seems to have 
 taken delight in drawing; and he acquired from his 
 father a taste for Marathi literature which he kept 
 up to the last. His early compositions in Marathi 
 verse have been lost ; but his metrical translation 
 of Goldsmith's "Hermit," which he composed a few 
 months before his death, is still extant, and is ap- 
 preciated for the chastenessof its style and the faith- 
 ful delineation of the beauties of the original. He 
 delighted the family circle by the recital of nume- 
 rous Sanskrit and Marathi verses, which he easily 
 fixed in his strong memory and delivered with the 
 same peculiar charm, with which in later years, he 
 entertained his pupils, by reciting well-known pas- 
 sages from his favourite English poets. He had a 
 good taste for Music and appreciated the finest 
 touches of it, with an amount of discrimination 
 rarely to be met with. 
 
128 EEPKESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 It was, indeed, a treat to listen to him when- 
 ever he spoke of his favourite English poets and 
 more especially of Shelley, his greatest favourite. 
 Though he did not excel as a public speaker, yet in 
 private conversation he was most impressive and 
 instructive. As Mr. Porter has well expressed in 
 one of his letters to a friend, " Gopal Row's life 
 was spent in educating his fellow-citizens quite as 
 much by his conversation as by his direct teach- 
 ing." His choice, chaste English, expressed in 
 clear ringing tones often rose into fervid eloquence 
 and kept his hearers in wrapt attention. He was 
 always possessed of a clear head. Everything he 
 said was deeply thought out and logically express- 
 ed. He was ever willing to learn from all with 
 whom he came in contact, and never obtruded his 
 views on others. To the end of his life he remained 
 a student. 
 
 Gopal Row's intellectual attainments were 
 certainly of no mean order. What made his very 
 name inspire the deepest admiration and reverence 
 was the moral grandeur of his character. Genius 
 may inspire awe and men may look upon geniuses 
 with the same feelings as they view a work of 
 fine art full of sublimity, but intellectual greatness 
 must be combined with moral goodness in order 
 that men may be influenced. The very name " Gopal 
 Rao" has in Kumbaconum and among his pupils 
 and friends become synonymous with all that is 
 just, upright and honest. His deep sense of right 
 
T. GOPAL ROW. 129 
 
 and duty made him at times intolerant of the frail- 
 ties of others. He appeared sometimes hard and 
 unsympathetic, and men of suspicious character 
 trembled to appear before him. But as a rule his 
 generosity and cheerfulness of temper drew always 
 round him a band of enthusiastic admirers who 
 looked up to him as their guide, philosopher, and 
 friend. 
 
 Gopal Row was not a Social Reformer. Never- 
 theless, his views on Social Reform are worth quot- 
 ing. The reforms which seemed to him most urgent 
 were " (1) female education ; (2) the abolition 
 of early marriage; (3) the abolition of enforced 
 widowhood; (4) the abolition of those distinctions 
 without the slightest warrant from the Shastras 
 which divide and keep asunder members of the 
 same caste." Early marriage, he considered un- 
 questionably to be the most crying of our social evils. 
 " It is the bane and curse of Hindu Society. It is 
 visibly deteriorating, and most visibly among that 
 class of Hindus among whom it is most prevalent, 
 viz., the Brahmins. It is very rarely that one sees 
 men and women of that class as tall and strong as 
 their parents. Brahmins of the present day have 
 little stamina : few of them are capable of vigorous 
 and sustained exertion, bodily or mental. A few 
 years' study seems in many cases to do serious in- 
 jury to their constitution. Too many of them die 
 untimely. It requires no profound knowledge of 
 physiology to be convinced that youths of sixteen 
 and seventeen and girls of twelve or thirteen must 
 
 17 
 
130 EEPBESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 be incapable of producing mature offspring. The 
 husbandman takes care tbat his seed paddy is 
 mature and that his soil is well manured and pre- 
 pared before he sows ; and it is strange that the 
 acute and quick-witted Hindu of the present day 
 is unable to see that the analogy applies to the 
 human frame." Enforced widowhood, he thought 
 was "unquestionably productire of much misery and 
 sin ; and the cruelty involved in society inflicting 
 all this misery on so many of its members and 
 drawing them into this sin, becomes more flagrant 
 when it is remembered that early widowhood is, in 
 a great many cases, the result of early marriages, 
 for which the contracting parties are by no mean* 
 responsible." 
 
RAI BAHADUR P. RUNGANADA 
 MUDALIAR, M.A. 
 
 lUii Bahadur Fundi Bunganada Mudaliar was 
 born in Madras in 1S37. He belonged to a res- 
 pectable family of Mudaliars. His father Fundi 
 Subbarayai Mudaliar, who was fairly well-edu- 
 cated in English, was for some time Manager 
 of the Irrigation Canal Company. He fully ap- 
 preciated the advantages of English education 
 and took good care to educate his son at home, 
 as at an early period, Bunganadam showed signs 
 of remarkable intellectual enei^. While Bunga- 
 nadam was quite a lad, his father was trans- 
 ferred to Avanashi as Head Accountant of 
 the Madras Bailway. He, however, did not re- 
 main in this place long. One night Subbaraya 
 Mudaliar's little cottage home was attacked by 
 dacoits. The father fearing the harm that 
 may happen to his favourite son, hid him in a 
 wooden loft which was suspended to the roof, and 
 gave himself up with his little daughter to the 
 tender mercies of the dacoits. Everything in the 
 house was surrendered and yet the dacoits were 
 
132 KEPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 not satisfied. " You have more hidden somewhere" 
 they said "and if you do not give up all, you shall pay 
 for it with your life." Then the father had to con- 
 fess tremblingly that his little son was hidden 
 above. The young lad was brought down and had 
 to plead in turn for his own life. This incident 
 made Subbaraya Mudaliar leave Avanashi the 
 next day and he, with his family, settled in Madras 
 once more. 
 
 Runganadam's home education was attended 
 to carefully by his father. The instruction he 
 received in English could not have been of a very 
 high character, but there cannot be the slightest 
 doubt that Runganadam's passionate love for Tamil 
 literature must have been to a great extent due to 
 the instruction that he received at home under the 
 superintendence of his beloved father. 
 
 In 1860, when Bunganadam was thirteen years 
 of age, he was sent to Pachaiappa's High School. 
 He was admitted into the Third Class, correspond- 
 ing to the present Fourth Form, which was taught 
 by one Parthasarathy Iyengar, who afterwards be- 
 came a Vakil of the High Court. This school, 
 which was under the management of Mr. Basil 
 Lovery, one of the distinguished educationists of 
 the Presidency, was even then very popular with 
 the Hindu community. Runganadam's remark- 
 able attainments came under the notice of the 
 Principal who took a personal interest in every lad 
 in the school to whatever class he belonged. In 
 the third class, Runganadam held a scholarship 
 
p. EUNQANADA MUDALIAE. 133 
 
 of Rs. 60 per annum, and he did so well at the 
 annual examination that he was promoted to the 
 First Class (Matriculation) at the beginning of the 
 following year. 
 
 Here, under the immediate tuition of Mr, 
 Lovery, he achieved greater distinction than 
 he had done in the lower class. He carried 
 away a number of prizes and won also the special 
 prize offered by Rajah Sir T. Madava Row, for 
 proficiency in English and Mathematics. An 
 incident relating to Runganadam's scholastic 
 career may be of interest to our readers as showing 
 the great confidence which the lad had in his own 
 intellectual powers and also his boldness which was 
 a marked characteristic of his, till the end of his 
 life. He was asked once to write an essay on 
 "Female Education" for which a special prize was 
 offered. When the essays of the youthful competi- 
 tors came to be valued, the Examiners found the 
 best were those of Runganadam and one Coopuram 
 Sastri. The essays were then shown to Messrs. 
 J. B. Norton and J. D. Mayne ; Mayne preferred 
 Bunganadam's, whereas Norton gave the palm to 
 Coopuram's essay. The essays were thereupon sent to 
 another literary Judge, Mr. Justice Holloway, who 
 decided in favour of Runganadam. But somehow 
 or other, the prize was given to the other student. 
 The decision did not satisfy Runganadam and he 
 made up his mind to fight the battle out to the bitter 
 end. On the day of the anniversary of the school 
 which was presided over by the then Governor, Lord 
 
134 REPKESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 Harris, Runganadam rushed from his seat with 
 the essay in hand with a view to get the final 
 verdict from the Governor himself. His masters 
 knew what the lad was about, and it was with con- 
 siderable difficulty that they persuaded him that 
 the matter would be looked into by the authorities 
 concerned. 
 
 In 1862, Runganadam matriculated, as first in 
 the Presidency and in the same year he joined the 
 Presidency College, with a stipendiary scholarship 
 from the Trustees of the Pachaiyappa's College. 
 Runganadam's collegiate career was even more 
 brilliant. When he joined the Presidency College, 
 that institution had just then entered upon a new 
 era of progress. With Mr. Edmund Thompson as 
 Principal and Professor of English literature, the 
 College had begun to turn out men of a very su- 
 perior type. Men like Psezold and Snell and 
 Nevins were giants in themselves, but Runga- 
 nadam had determined to break the record and 
 he succeeded. He was an " Admirable Crichton" 
 in his own way. In Mathematics, in English, in 
 Philosophy and in Tamil, there was none Runga- 
 nadam's superior, and Mr. Thompson and his fel- 
 low Professors watched with the greatest interest 
 the unfolding of the powers of a real man of genius. 
 His fame spread far and wide and men even out- 
 side his College, such as Mr. E. B. Powell, the 
 Director of Public Instruction, the late Mr. Justice 
 HoUoway and others began to take a deep interest 
 in the career of this distinguished student. Though 
 
p. EtTNGANADA MTTDALIAE. 135 
 
 Bunganadam made Mathematics his special 
 fstudy, he succeeded in acquiring a mastery over 
 the English language which would have done 
 credit to any English Professor. He entered fully 
 into the genius of the English language and wrote 
 and spoke it with the fluency and grace of the most 
 cultured English gentlemen. 
 
 In 1862, Sir Bama Yarma the late Maharajah 
 of Travancore (then First Prince) handed over a 
 sum of money to the Senate of the Madras Univer- 
 sity to found a gold medal worth Rs. 300 to be 
 awarded to the Bachelor of Arts who might stand 
 highest in the First Class in the Degree Examina- 
 tion. Neither in 1863 nor in 1864 was the medal 
 awarded, as no Bachelor secured a place in the 
 First Class. In February 1865, the medal was 
 carried o£E by Bunganadam. Beferring to Bunga- 
 nadam's success in the B.A. Examination, Mr. John 
 Bruce Norton said in his annual address at the 
 Pachaiappa's Institution in 1865 :— " Among the 
 passed candidates at the recent Matriculation 
 Examination, out of fifty, ten were alumni of 
 Pachaiappa's ; no less a proportion than one-fifth : 
 of eleven who succeeded in obtaining the Degree 
 of B.A., four were young men whose education 
 commenced at Pachaiappa's; and of these P. 
 Eunganada Mudaliar obtained the first place. He 
 passed, I understand, a highly creditable examina- 
 tion. He has also carried off the prize instituted 
 by that most enlightened Prince, His Highness 
 Bama Varma, the First Prince of Travancore; and 
 
136 EEPEESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 I hear on excellent authority, that he is a young 
 man of singular promise." The prizes and medals 
 he won at College were many and Mr. Thompson 
 was so pleased with his pupil's career that he had 
 Eunganadam appointed as Assistant Master in the 
 Presidency College, immediately after his passing 
 the B. A. Degree examination. 
 
 Eunganadam, in his choice of a profession, 
 was no doubt, influenced by his European friends 
 who were mostly educationists, but at the same time 
 he was himself not unaware of the opportunities of 
 usefulness he would have by adopting this profes- 
 sion; and hence it is that, though on more than one 
 occasion he had tempting offers in other depart- 
 ments, he chose to remain a teacher till the end 
 of his life. But the Madras Government recognized 
 his services tardily, though no opportunity was 
 lost to extol his abilities and the distinguished 
 services he had rendered Government in his varied 
 capacities as an educational officer. Before he was 
 confirmed as Professor of Mathematices in the Pre- 
 sidency College he had to act sixteen years as 
 Professor in some capacity or other. 
 
 In 1872 Eunganada Mudaliar was appointed 
 Fellow of the Madras University, and since 1875, till 
 his death he was elected every year a member of 
 the Syndicate. He took an active part in the 
 deliberations of the Senate of the Madras Univer- 
 sity, and there was no native whose opinions on 
 University questions were more respected than 
 those of Eunganada Mudaliar. In the Syndicate also 
 
p. RUNGANADA MUDALIAE. 137 
 
 his influence was very great and he always used it 
 not to further the interests of any particular indivi- 
 dual or clique, but to advance those of all classes, 
 irrespective of caste or creed. There was not a 
 single important Educational Committee or Commis- 
 sion of which he was not a member and in all these 
 Runganada Mudaliar's ready pen was brought into 
 requisition, no resolution or report being con- 
 sidered perfect until it had received the finishing 
 touch of Runganada Mudaliar. In 1890 he was 
 appointed Tamil Translator to Government, and in 
 1892, solely through the influence of Sir Henry 
 Stokes, he was appointed Sheriff of Madras. 
 
 Not only as an educational officer, but also as 
 a public citizen, Runganada Mudaliar was most use- 
 ful to his countrymen. In all matters needing the 
 interpretation of the views of the native public he 
 was consulted. He took an active part in the 
 deliberations of the Madras Municipality of which 
 he was a member. The speeches he made at the 
 Municipal meetings are some of the best specimens 
 of English "pure and undefiled." He was the life 
 and soul of the "Cosmopolitan Club," and the popu- 
 larity of this institution was a great deal due to the 
 fascinating influence of his personality. 
 
 In 1890 he had the honour of delivering the 
 Convocation address to the graduates of the Mad- 
 ras University. The address was not marked by 
 any originality but by sound common sense and was 
 couched in the most elegant language. It was 
 well received by the European and native public. 
 
 18 
 
138 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 Mr. H. J. S. Cottoiij the author of New India, hap- 
 pened to read the address and wrote as follows to 
 Runganada Mudaliar : — "As a complete stranger I 
 must apologise for writing to you that I have just 
 had the pleasure of reading your University address 
 and cannot omit telling you how excellent it reads 
 to me from first to last. If I may do so without 
 impertinence, I would heartily congratulate you 
 on it. I hope it may be widely read, not only in 
 Madras, but all over India and in England also." 
 
 Runganadam was a real ornament to the Native 
 community and very few of its members expected 
 that they would be called upon so soon as on the 
 10th December 1893 to mourn his loss. But so it 
 happened. Runganada Mudaliar breathed his last 
 after a few days' illness which none suspected would 
 prove fatal. He was ailing from fever, brought on 
 by overwork. He was in harness till the very end 
 and attended College even four days before his 
 death. His loss was mourned by all classes of 
 people, European and Native. The Presidency 
 College Council while placing on record its sense 
 of the great loss the College had sustained by hia 
 sudden and untimely death, admitted that "he had 
 filled with marked distinction, not only the Chair 
 of Mathematics, but also those of Logic and Moral 
 Philosophy and History" and that " his death has 
 deprived the College of one who has rendered it 
 invaluable services in various capacities." 
 
 Dr. Duncan, the Director of Public Instruc- 
 tion, who was one of Runganada Mudaliar's oldest 
 
p. RUNQANADA MUDALIAE. 139 
 
 colleagues and friends in the Presidency College, said 
 in the coarse of a letter to Bunganada Mudaliar's 
 eldest son, that to the last Runganada Mudaliar re- 
 tained the highest place in his esteem. " Perhaps" 
 he added, " Perhaps, no European now in Madras 
 had such a long and unbroken friendship with your 
 father as I had, or had more opportunity of know- 
 ing his sterling qualities of mind and heart. A 
 brilliant scholar, a loyal citizen, wise and prudent 
 in council, and courteous in manners, he endeared 
 himself to all who had the privilege of knowing 
 him. I see that steps are to be taken to honor his 
 memory in some tangible form, and I am glad to 
 see so. But after all, the best way to commemorate 
 him is to follow the example he set to his fellow- 
 countrymen and to all of us." 
 
 Dr. Miller bore testimony to the admirable work 
 Runganada Mudaliar did as a member of the Edu- 
 cation Commission and his words are well worthy of 
 reproduction : — " I think I may say that of all the 
 sons of our University with whom I have at any 
 time come in contact — nay, I would say of all the 
 sons of India with whom in a public way I have had 
 to deal — there has not been a single one so marked- 
 ly valuable in this particular way, as the friend 
 whose loss we are mourning now. There are many 
 men amongst us who hold strong views upon public 
 questions, many men who are able to express their 
 views impressively and eloquently, and many men 
 who are able to play the very useful part of an ad- 
 vocate or pleader of one side of the question, but 
 
140 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 there are extremely few in any land, and very few 
 indeed I fear in this land, who are qualified calmly 
 and dispassionately when public questions come 
 before them, to exercise the still higher function of 
 a Judge. But amongst these was he whose loss 
 we are mourning now. In that Commission to 
 which I have ventured to refer, there were many 
 difficult questions to be considered, many questions 
 about which much had been said on every side, 
 many questions that had aroused feelings ; but he 
 whose loss we are mourning was not swayed by 
 any considerations of that kind. He displayed 
 beyond almost any member of the body the calm, 
 dispassionate, far-reaching and wide view of the 
 Judge — the quality which is, above all things, most 
 important and most valuable to him who would be 
 the guide to the community at large. There were 
 few differences between him and me, between him 
 and most of his colleagues at the beginning of our 
 discussions, and there were none of any importance 
 at the end. For the wonderful unanimity that 
 characterized the decisions arrived at by the Com- 
 mission, composed though it was of the most varied 
 and discordant elements, dealing with most difficult 
 questions, we were most largely indebted to the 
 calm judgment and the far-reaching grasp of 
 Mr. Runganada Mudaliar. There were strong men 
 on that Commission, Sir, few men stronger than 
 one, whose loss all educated India was called to 
 mourn only a brief period before Mr. Runganadam 
 himself was taken away from us, Mr. Justice 
 Telang of Bombay. There was that ornament of 
 
p. RPNGANADA MUDALIAE. 141 
 
 educated Indian Society, and there were others, 
 too, whom I will not name, because they still are 
 doing honoured and useful work for the benefit of 
 this ancient land ; but amongst them all there were 
 but few, and perhaps not even one, who in a quiet 
 and steady way did more useful and more lasting 
 work than the friend who has been taken from us." 
 
 Runganada Mudaliar was a teacher: neverthe- 
 less, he was esteemed by Dr. Miller more as a fair 
 and impartial judge of men and measures. To 
 this intelligent appreciation of Runganada Mudal- 
 liar's abilities it is interesting to add what an emi- 
 nent judge thought of the Professor. " Close ac- 
 quaintance and friendship" said Sir T. INIuthu- 
 sawmy Aiyar in the course of his speech at the 
 Runganadam memorial meeting in February 1894," 
 " Close acquaintance and friendship soon convinced 
 me that as a public man his merits were pre-eminent. 
 His devotion to public duty, his services as a teacher 
 and a professor, as an educationist and as a friend 
 of progress, were invaluable. His industry and 
 perseverance were remarkable, and he had a mar- 
 vellous devotion first to duty and next to study. 
 His application to study was so close that it often 
 reminded me of what the younger Pliny once 
 wrote in speaking of his uncle, the elder Pliny. 'It 
 makes me ' said the former, ' smile when people 
 call me a student, for compared with him, I am a 
 mere idler. I remember his rebuking me once for 
 ta,king a walk, and saying you might have managed 
 not to lose these hours.' " 
 
142 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 It was not so much his industry as his intelli- 
 gence that made Runganada Mudaliar the unique 
 figure he was in enlightened Hindu society. His 
 intellectual versatility was at once the admiration 
 and the envy of his numerous friends. He was not 
 only a capable man and a ripe scholar, but also a 
 practical man. He combined the rarest culture 
 with the highest intellectual gifts. It was indeed a 
 treat to listen to his brilliant conversations. His 
 style was racy, sinewy and idiomatic; and he would 
 often entertain his friends with some striking ex- 
 pression of some favourite author or other. As a 
 speaker he was by no means eloquent, but he spoke 
 with ease, fluency and grace, clothing his thoughts 
 in the choicest language. He was passionately 
 fond of English literature and his favourite poet 
 was Shakespeare. Among prose writers his fav- 
 ourites were Lecky, Leslie Stephen, John Morley 
 and Ruskin. His knowledge of Tamil literature was 
 profound and in this department he was a match 
 for any Pundit. Nothing he so much revelled in 
 as quoting passages from the Ramayana and ex- 
 pounding them to his friends. He always deplored 
 the neglect of the study of vernacular languages 
 by the present generation of students. 
 
 Runganada Mudaliar was every inch a gentle- 
 man. He possessed the polished manners and high 
 breeding which are so difficult of attainment and 
 so strictly personal when attained, He possessed 
 a very tender and sympathetic heart. A large 
 portion of his income was spent on charities and 
 
p. EUNGANADA MDDALIAE. 143 
 
 in helping poor and deserving students. But what- 
 ever he did, he did secretly without telling others. 
 He was most generous in the appreciation of gifts 
 and talents in others. Of men like Mr. Telang of 
 Bombay and Sir T. Muthusawmy Iyer he spoke in 
 the most enthusiastic terms. Of the latter, he 
 said : — " He is out-and-out the best man that 
 modern India has produced, so far as intellectual 
 acumen is concerned." 
 
 Runganada Mudaliar has not left any original 
 work behind, except a poem in Tamil entitled 
 "Kachikalandakam," but this work did not enhance 
 his reputation as a scholar. He did not identify him- 
 self with any movement having for its object social 
 reform. A man of his influence and talents, if he had 
 only possessed the necessary enthusiasm, would have 
 been a great power for good. His views on Social 
 Reform are contained in the following brief extract 
 from his Convocation address : — " Never lose sight 
 of the fact that you have to carry the masses with 
 you, and that in consequence some of the social 
 and religious changes that the educated few may 
 be ripe for will have to be postponed ; and that 
 true wisdom and philanthropy require that while 
 you have your faces set in the right direction, and 
 while you have the courage to declare your convic- 
 tions, you walk warily and slowly so that your less 
 favoured brethren may follow your lead at such 
 pace as is good for them. Observe, I do not com- 
 mend the practice, which is only too prevalent, of 
 talking and acting in a manner entirely at variance 
 
144 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 with one's own thouglits and feelings. Such incon- 
 gruity between the inner and the outer life is the 
 very death of all that is pure and noble and self- 
 denying. According to the best light in you, ap- 
 prove only of what you consider to be right, and 
 so conduct yourself as to make it clear, that you 
 neither justify nor excuse injurious customs and 
 debasing superstitions. The Western ideas and 
 sentiments that you have imbibed in the course of 
 your education will and must urge you to advance, 
 but as in human affairs, good and evil are inextrica- 
 bly blended together, and the desire to obtain a 
 thing is no guarantee of fitness to use the thing 
 desired wisely and well, T would solemnly entreat 
 you to look before you leap, and to make sure by 
 observation, by study, and by reflection that in 
 your impatient unwillingness to bear the ills you 
 have, you do not fly to greater ills you know not 
 of." 
 
G. LAKSHMINARASU CHETTY, C.S.I. 
 
 Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty was born in the 
 year 1806 in Periamet, Madras. His father Sidhulu 
 Chetty was an indigo merchant in fairly affluent 
 circumstances. Indigence was, therefore, no im- 
 pediment in the way of his obtaining a sound 
 English education. But in those days, there 
 were few schools in which natives of India 
 could learn the English language. The mission- 
 aries who were the first to establish English 
 schools had not then come out to India in large 
 members. The education given in schools started 
 by native enterprise was hardly worth the name, 
 and it was to one of such schools that Lakshmi- 
 narasu was sent for education. The three R's was 
 all that Lakshminarasu was able to learn in the 
 Native Association Society's School. His father 
 intended him merely to look after the family 
 trade and learn the art of selling goods to 
 the best advantage and keeping accounts. But 
 it is said that even during his boyhood, Lakshmi- 
 narasu evinced a predisposition to that remarkable 
 individuality and fearless independence which 
 characterised his subsequent career. While yet a 
 
 19 
 
146 EEPBESENTATIVE MES. 
 
 boy, he joined Debating Societies and took more 
 than a passing interest in the political queetions 
 of the hour. 
 
 On leaving school, he was apprenticed to his 
 father's shop, and, after he learned, what in mer- 
 cantile parlance is called, the tricks of the trade, 
 he was made an active member of the firm ; and the 
 business was carried on by father and son under 
 the style of Sidhulu Chetty and Co. The firm 
 chiefly dealt in Madras handkerchiefs and throve 
 apace especially after the death of Sidhulu Chetty 
 which event left Lakshminarasu Chetty in sole po- 
 session of the large concern. The States of America 
 happened just about this time to be involved in in- 
 ternal feuds which resulted in the temporary and 
 sudden cessation of their cotton trade. This opened 
 up a wide scope for speculation in other countries^ 
 especially Egypt and India. Lakshminarasu Chetty 
 took advantage of the propitious hour and entered 
 largely upon speculation in cotton. The trade 
 throve considerably and in an inappreciably short 
 time, Lakshminarasu Chetty was able to amass a 
 large fortune. 
 
 With considerable wealth at his command, 
 Lakshminarasu Chetty grew rather indifEerent to 
 his business and gave himself up heart and soul, 
 to the task of achieving the political emancipation 
 of his countrymen. The Hindus at the time, 
 not having had the benefit of English educa- 
 tion, were entirely ignorant of the nature 
 of the Government to which they were the 
 
G. LAKSHMINAKASU CHETTY. 147 
 
 subject. To the suffering and ignorant Hindus 
 the executive authorities in Madras constituted 
 the entire ruling body. They did not know that 
 these were subject to the authoritative control of a 
 Board in England and that they could make repre- 
 sentations to the Boardj about their grievances. 
 Lakshminarasu Chetty was one of the few excep- 
 tions. He started the Madras Native Association 
 of which he became President, for the purpose of 
 ventilating from time to time on perfectly consti- 
 tutional lines the people's grievances. Wealthy 
 merchants and respectable non-officiuls became 
 members of the Association and did very useful 
 work. Meetings were often held for considering 
 the grievances of the people and memorials were 
 despatched to England for their redress. 
 
 Lakshminarasu Chetty's first political fight was 
 with the European missionaries. The missionaries 
 who had come out to India with the ostensible ob- 
 ject of disseminating the learning and the literature 
 of the West, after a very short residence in this 
 country, made their original object a secondary one 
 and set about proselytizing. Few Hindus knew the 
 English language and as a knowledge of it was a 
 condition precedent to the securing of any situa- 
 tion in Government offices, they were driven to the 
 necessity of sending their children to missionary 
 institutions for education. The missionaries con- 
 verted the indigent and the helpless among them 
 notwithstanding their tender years. The few Eng- 
 lishmen who held positions of any degree of autho- 
 
148 EEPEESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 rity or influence in the Presidency espoused the 
 cause of the missionaries. The Collector of Tinne- 
 velly, one Mr. Thomas, openly co-operated with the 
 missionaries in his district in their efforts to spread 
 the Christian religion. Sir William Burton, a 
 Judge of the Madras Sadr Court, made no secret 
 of his sympathywith the cause of the missionar- 
 ies and now and then delivered sermons 
 from his seat on the bench to the Hindus. 
 Mr. J. F. Thomas, the then Chief Secretary to 
 Government and a close relation of Mr. E. B. 
 Thomas, Collector of Tinnevelly, provided Hindu 
 converts to Christianity with appointments under 
 Government in preference to Hindus. The Dis- 
 trict Judge of Chingleput, Mr. Morehead, post- 
 poned the hearing of causes set down on a cer- 
 tain day^'s list and threw his court-house open to a 
 preacher of the gospel. The Madras Govern- 
 ment carried their partiality for the Christian 
 religion to such ao extent as to remove from the 
 Sadr Court a Judge who refused to carry out their 
 unjust dictates. The following passage from 
 Mr. Lewin's reply to an address from the Hindu 
 community depicts the Government of the day in 
 their true colours : — 
 
 " Had the Government met with no resistance 
 in their attempt to coerce the judges of the Sadr 
 Court into measures fatal to impartial justice, it is 
 probable the next attempt would have been an 
 open and undisguised one to force Christianity 
 upon the Hindus. Although the Marquis of 
 
G. LAKSHMINAEASU CHETTY. 149 
 
 Tweeddale has disclaimed these views, experience 
 has abundantly proved that there are parties con- 
 nected with the Government who had the will and 
 the means to carry them out. The conduct of the 
 Government towards the Sadr Court forced the 
 Judges to resist an order which no Judge who 
 knew his duty could submit to ; that resistance was 
 foreseen and calculated upon by the advisers of 
 the Government, and there can be no doubt it was 
 the first step of a scheme which was devised for the 
 removal of the second Judge who had been more 
 than once obliged to inform the Government that 
 he was prepared at all hazards to uphold the in- 
 tegrity of his Court and to prevent its being made 
 an instrument of injustice." 
 
 The malpractices of the Missionaries and the 
 open and undisguised manner in which they were 
 encouraged by Government OflBcials incensed the 
 Hindu community greatly and Lakshminarasu Chetty 
 resolved to do all that lay in his power to check the 
 violation of the pledges which the Britigh Power 
 had given the people of India not to interfere with 
 their religious observances. Just then there was in 
 existence a newspaper called the Native Circulator 
 edited by one Narayanasamy Naidu. Lakshmi- 
 narasu Chetty purchased the paper and the press, 
 changed the name of the paper to that of the Crescent 
 and secured the services of one Mr. Harley as Editor. 
 Mr. Harley was previously serving in the Army 
 and brought to the conduct of his journal his mili- 
 tary spirit and an untractable' disposition. He was 
 
150 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 a man of very strong convictions. The first issue 
 of the Crescent was given to the world on the 2nd 
 October 1844. The object of the paper was stated 
 to be "the amelioration of the condition of the 
 Hindus." The Crescent was intended to act as a 
 corrective on the Record, the declared missionary 
 organ. It set itself to condemn the malpractices 
 of the missionaries and expose their vagaries. For 
 a time the Crescent incurred some odium. But in 
 spite of all difficulties it firmly maintained its 
 ground. The Judges and executive officials smarted 
 under its scathing criticism, and unable to meet it 
 by facts or reasoning, secretly assisted the work of 
 the missionaries while they appeared impartial in 
 the eyes of the public. The Government denied 
 to the Crescent the smallest privileges which they 
 willingly accorded to other newspapers of the day. 
 The Manager of the Crescent sent an advertise- 
 ment to the Government office regarding itself 
 for insertion in the Fort St. George Gazette. The 
 advertisement was returned as inadmissible with 
 the endorsement of the Chief Secretary to Govern- 
 ment that it was " of a character not usually inser- 
 ted." 
 
 Meanwhile, the Government officials, to place 
 the wordly prospects of converts above all danger 
 determined to use their powers of legislation for 
 their good and to enact a law under the provisions 
 of which Hindu youth may become converts, 
 to Christianity without the slightest prejudice to 
 their rights in the property owned by their family. 
 
a. LAKSHMINARASU CHETTY. 151 
 
 The Hindu community protested against the 
 measure and Lakshminarasu Chatty convened on 
 the 9th April 1845 a meeting of the native inhabi- 
 tants of Madras to draw np a memorial to the 
 Supreme Government. The meeting was very lar- 
 gely attended and in pursuance of the unanimous 
 resolution of the members a memorial was drawn 
 up and sent to England complaining of the in- 
 tended alteration in the law and protesting against 
 the abrogation of the social and religious usages of 
 the natives. The memorial reached the Supreme 
 Government in due course and was accorded pro- 
 per consideration. After some correspondence be- 
 tween the local and the Supreme Governments, the 
 memorialists were informed that the obnoxious pro- 
 visions of the enactment which had necessitated 
 the memorial would be expunged from the Act. 
 
 The Missionaries next turned their attention 
 to the Madras University. The Madras University 
 which was started by Lord Elphinstone was giving 
 Indian students a purely secular education. Mis- 
 sionaries and devoted friends of missionaries were 
 engaged in testing year after year the progress that 
 the students had made; they were often questioned 
 on points connected with Christian theology and de- 
 clared ineligible for appointments under the Gov- 
 ernment. When the natives murmured about such 
 treatment they were quietly informed that the real 
 panacea for these evils was the introduction of the 
 Holy Bible as a text-book of studies. 
 
 Lakshminarasu Chetty convened again in 
 
152 KEPBESKNTATITE MJEN. 
 
 Pachaiyappa's institution a public meeting of 
 Hindus on the 7th October 1846 over which he 
 presided. It was resolved that a memorial be ad- 
 dressed to the Honorable the Court of Directors 
 setting forth their grievances and praying for re- 
 dress. A memorial was accordingly drawn up des- 
 cribing concisely the pledges which had been given 
 ensuring the religious neutrality of Government, 
 the unscrupulous violations of these sacred pledges 
 during the regime of the Marquis of Tweeddale, 
 the conversion policy of the missionaries, the active 
 co-operation of Government oflBcials with themj 
 the apathy of the Governor in the matter of found- 
 ing schools for the diffusion of European know- 
 ledge in the interior of the Presidency, the at- 
 tempts of the missionaries to prevent the natives 
 from passing competitive examinations, the dis- 
 inclination of the local authorities to employ 
 natives largely in offices under Government, the 
 perversion of justice in courts owing to missionary 
 influence and many other wrongs to which the 
 natives were subjected. The deliberations of the 
 meeting were thoroughly orderly and there was 
 no trace of disloyalty or insubordination to the 
 paramount power about them. Still it was 
 alleged that the Chairman's address and the 
 whole proceedings generally were calculated to 
 foster a rebellious spirit in the audience and to 
 wean the allegiance of the Hindus • to their 
 British Rulers. All that Lakshminarasu Chetty 
 said was " we believe that by a mild and firm re- 
 
G. LAKSHMINAEASU CHETTT. 153 
 
 presentation of our grievances to the superior 
 authorities we shall obtain justice and redress." 
 The Sheriff went out of his way to dissuade those 
 assembled at the meeting from signing the memo- 
 rial. But notwithstanding the intervention of the 
 SherifE more than twelve thousand peeple signed 
 it. The memorial was forwarded through the local 
 Grovernment to the Honorable the Court of Direc- 
 tors and the local Government passed their own 
 remarks upon the allegations contained in it, 
 characterizing them as founded on utter ignorance 
 of the doings of Government and on " partial 
 extracts of official documents surreptitiously pub- 
 lished." The memorial, we believe was shelved 
 for the nonce in consideration of the observations 
 of the Governor which accompanied it to the 
 Honorable the Court of Directors. The attempt to 
 introduce the Bible as a text book in Government 
 schools was revived in 1853 but owing to the 
 united efforts of George Norton, John Bruce 
 Norton and Lakshminarasu Chetty, the scheme fell 
 through. 
 
 In 1852 Mr. Danby Seymour, a member of the 
 British Parliament, came out to India apparently 
 for sight-seeing. At the time, the name of Lakshmi- 
 narsu Chetty was well known to some Members of 
 Parliament from the memorials now and then sent 
 up under his guidance to England. On landing at 
 Madras Mr. Seymour enquired of Lakshminarasu 
 Chetty and from their very first acquaintance they 
 became inspired with feelings of respect for each 
 
 20 
 
154 HEPJ!T!SKITTATIVE MEN. 
 
 othei". Mr. Seymour became Lakshminarasu Clietty's 
 guest at Madras and the latter found very good 
 opportunities of conveying to Mr. Seymour 
 information regarding the high-handed manner in 
 which the local authorities curtailed the civil and 
 religious rights of the Hindu community and re- 
 garding other serious defects in British Eule. Mr. 
 Seymour accompanied by Lakshminarasu Chetty 
 made a tour through Southern India visiting Cud- 
 dalore, Kumbakonam, Coimbatore and other places 
 and learnt by personal observation how the land- 
 holder was assessed at prohibitive rates and how 
 defaulters in the payment of Grovernment revenue 
 were subjected to excruciating torture and other- 
 wise inhumanly treated. He saw unhappy men 
 standing in the sun fully exposed to its scorch- 
 ing rays and with large stones resting on their backs 
 performing under compulsion the penance and self- 
 immolation which their forefathers voluntarily did 
 in obedience to the regulations of the Sastras; 
 some thumb-screwed and others tied down to ad- 
 jacent trees and posts with their heads holding com- 
 munion with their toes — and all this in front of the 
 Taluq Cutcherry and within sight of the august 
 Tahsildar and Magistrate who was holding hia 
 office and doing his work without wasting a thought 
 on the unfortunate victims groaning inaudibly with- 
 in a few yards of the Court house ! Mr. Seymour 
 took note of all that he had heard and seen about 
 the malpractices of the officers and with a set of 
 implements of torture neatly and safely bundled up 
 left soon after for England. 
 
G. LAKSHMINAEASU CHETTT. 155 
 
 lu July 1854, on the occasion of a motion 
 brought forward in the House of Commons, Mr. 
 Seymour asserted that to his knowledge torture 
 was inflicted on the natives of India not only 
 in criminal cases under inquiry but also in the 
 collection of revenue. This assertion was met by a 
 distinct denial by several members in the House and 
 conspicuous among them was Sir James Hogg who 
 twitted Mr. Seymour with having gone into remote 
 districts in the prosecution of vague and idle in- 
 quiries. Sir C. Wood who was President of the 
 India Board at the time stated that he could not 
 positively deny an accusation he had never heard 
 before but he could cause a strict inquiry to be 
 made. The report of the debate was sent out to 
 India immediately and in September a Commission 
 was appointed to inquire into the whole subject. 
 In April following, the report was concluded and 
 the whole mass of evidence was brought under the 
 consideration of the Home Government. Mean- 
 while, Lakshminarasu Chetty caused a petition to 
 be numerously signed and sent to Parliament and 
 the Earl of Albemarle presented it to the House of 
 Lords on the 14th April 1 856. The House there- 
 upon condemned the practice of torture in unmeasu- 
 red terms. 
 
 In 1852, the Madras Native Association under 
 the guidance of Lakshminarasu Chetty drafted a 
 long and interesting petition detailing the griev- 
 ances of the people of Southern India and presented 
 it to Parliament. That petition premised by saying 
 
156 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 " that grievances of your petitioners arise princi- 
 pally from the excessive taxation and the vexa- 
 tions which accompany its collections, and the in- 
 sufficiency, delays and expense of the Company's 
 Courts of Law ; that their chief wants are the con- 
 struction of roads, bridges and works for the 
 supply of irrigation and a better provision for the 
 education of the people ; they also desire a reduc- 
 tion of public expenditure and a form of local 
 Government more generally conducive to the hap- 
 piness of the subjects and the prosperity of the 
 country." It concluded as follows : — " that in con- 
 clusion your petitioners would respectfully suggest 
 that whether the Government of India be continued 
 in the hands of the East India Company or other- 
 wise provided for, the new system, whatever it may 
 be, shall be open to alterations and improvements 
 from time to time as the well-being of the country 
 may require and that the working of its internal 
 administration may undergo at stated interval, if 
 practicable triennially but quinquennially at the 
 latest, public enquiry and discussion in the Im- 
 perial Parliament in order that the people of this 
 vast and distant empire may have more frequent 
 opportunities of representing whatever grievances 
 they seek to have redressed and that the local 
 Governments may be stimulated to the diligent 
 execution of their functions under the influence of 
 a constant and efiicient supervision of their conduct 
 by the higher authorities at Home." 
 
 This petition was presented to the House of 
 
G. LAKSHMINARASO CHETTY. 157 
 
 Lords on the 25th February 1853 by the Earl of 
 EUenborough. The Earl of Albemarle in the course 
 of a speech in the House of Lords in the same year 
 on presenting a petition from the inhabitants of the 
 city of Manchester praying that the future Govern- 
 ment of India in England should consist of " a 
 Minister and a Council appointed by the Crown and 
 be directly responsible to the Imperial Parliament," 
 said : — " He happened to have in his possession two 
 letters confirmatory of the statements contained in 
 the (Madras) petition from which he had just 
 quoted. The letters were written by two thorough- 
 ly educated native gentlemen who were capable 
 of giving expression to their ideas in as correct 
 language as could be employed by any of their 
 Lordships. The first of these gentlemen Lakshmi- 
 narasu Chetty wrote as follows, under the date 
 of Madras, January 24, 1853 : — ' If a Commission 
 could be obtained to take information in this coun- 
 try, all the more glarmg complaints could be fully 
 substantiated. We have tried to avoid exaggera- 
 tion in our statements, but the evils alluded to are 
 so great that nothing will convince people in Europe 
 of their truth except the establishment of such 
 Commission.' " 
 
 In the same year, John Bright made the fol- 
 lowing reference to the petition in the House of 
 Commons : — •' This petition is one of great length, is 
 very ably drawn up and I may say I have seen 
 several private letters from very influential persons 
 in Madras, stating that if a Commission of Inquiry 
 
158 KEPRESENTATIVi; MEN. 
 
 be sent out to the presidency they are prepared to 
 establish every fact stated in the petition." The 
 agitation was kept up in India by Lakshminarasu 
 Chetty and in 1855, he sent another petition signed 
 by 14,000 persons praying that the administration 
 of the British Territories in India be transferred 
 from the East India Company to the Crown. This 
 petition was presented in the House of Lords by 
 the Earl of Albemarle on the 16th July 1855. The 
 agitatioD carried on by Lakshminarasu Chetty in 
 Madras and others in Bombay and Bengal prior to 
 1853 had the effect of reducing the strength of the 
 Court of Directors from thirty to eighteen of whom 
 six were to be nominated by the Crown, of throw- 
 ing the appointments in the Civil Service open to 
 competition and of bringing about the amalgamation 
 of the Company's Sadr Courts with the High Courts 
 in the Presidency towns. The continuation of the 
 agitation in subsequent years and the Mutiny in 
 1857 led to the extinction of the East India Com- 
 pany and the placing of India under the direct 
 authority and control of Her Majesty the Queen in 
 1858. 
 
 So early as in 1854, Mr. J. B. Norton, in the 
 course of his yearly address in Pachaiappa's Hall, 
 expressed a hope that Lakshminarasu Chetty would 
 soon become one of the Trustees of Pachaiappa's 
 charities : " There is another gentleman also" he 
 said, referring to Lakshminarasu Chetty "who will, 
 I trust, ere long join you heartily in making com- 
 mon cause. He has been lately the subject of 
 
G. LAKSHMINAEASU OHETTY. 159 
 
 much animadversion and much mlBrepresentation ; 
 but both the sacrifices he has made in his purse 
 and the labour and fatigue he has voluntarily 
 undertaken in person testify forcibly to the practi- 
 cal interest which he takes in the welfare of his 
 countrymen — I speak of Lakshminarasu Chetty.'' 
 It is necessary to mention here that Lakshminarasu 
 Chetty was about this period of his life regarded 
 by the local authorities as a seditious person and a 
 police watch was set over him. His speeches were 
 closely scrutinised and his movements were watch- 
 ed by the police then as they do those of a known 
 depredator now. Lakshminarasu Chetty was ap- 
 pointed a Trustee in 1854. 
 
 After the memorable Mutiny of 1857 Lakshmi- 
 narasu Chetty as President of the Madras Native 
 Association drew up a memorial to Government 
 praying for the continuance of its policy of religious 
 neutrality. The memorial was read with interest 
 in England and fetched a satisfactory reply. 
 
 Meanwhile, the change in the executive officers 
 of the Madras Grovernment, the rising popularity 
 of Lakshminarasu Chetty and the admiration of 
 the European and Native communities for the self- 
 sacrifices he had made on behalf of his country, 
 made the Madras Government forget the odium in 
 which he was once held. In recognition of the 
 services he had rendered to his country, he was 
 in 1861 made a C. S. I. and on the death of the 
 Hon. v. Sadagopa Charlu in 1863 appointed a mem- 
 ber of the Madras Legislative Council. John Bruce 
 
160 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 Norton alluding to this appointment in his address 
 in Pachaiyappa's Hall in 1864 said that the Gov- 
 ernment had selected as Sadagopa Charlu's suc- 
 cessor the man who would have been called to the 
 post by the unanimous suffrage of his fellow-coun- 
 trymen. 
 
 Lakshminarasu Chetty had, in the meanwhile, 
 directed his attention to the state of affairs in 
 Mysore. In the war with Tippu, the English had 
 received considerable aid from the Nizam and 
 there was a sort of compact between the English 
 and their ally that in the event of the English not 
 restoring the province of Mysore to the Native 
 Baja, it should be parcelled out fairly between the 
 English and the Nizam. Lakshminarasu Chetty 
 who had marked the reluctance of Englishmen in 
 India to restore Mysore to Krishna Raj Udayar went 
 to Mysore and advised the old Eajah to adopt a 
 son for the perpetuation of his family and press for 
 the recognition of the rights of the adopted son by 
 the Home Government. At the same time, he pre- 
 vailed upon Sir Salar Jung, the famous Minister 
 of Hyderabad, to assert the claims of the Nizam 
 to a fair moiety of Mysore if the British Govern- 
 ment were not willing to restore Mysore to the 
 Native Raja. We need hardly add that English 
 statesmen who saw that in conformity to their pledge 
 they should either restore Mysore to the Native 
 Raj, or failing that, parcel it out and give a moiety 
 to the Nizam under the compact, resolved upon 
 the more honorable expedient of recognizing the 
 
G. LAKSHMINARASU CHETTY. 161 
 
 rights of the adopted son of Krishna Eaj Udayar 
 to succeed to the throne on attaining his majority. 
 With the aid of John Bruce Norton, Lakshminarasu 
 Chetty also made strong efforts to place the widows 
 of the late Raja of Tanjore in a prosperous condi- 
 tion and to relieve the sufferings of the family of 
 the last Nabob of the Carnatic after his death. 
 
 By this time, i.e., 1864, Lakshminarasu Chetty 
 had ceased to be wealthy. The Crescent with its 
 highly paid establishment had considerably drained 
 his resources ; the family trade was almost a losing 
 concern and his son, to whom Lakshminarasu 
 Chetty had for some years entrusted the manage- 
 ment of his firm had brought it to ruin. The 
 Crescent was given up for want of funds; and 
 Lakshminarasu Chetty continued poor for the rest 
 of his life. He died in 1868 leaving a name for 
 genuine patriotism and self-sacrifice rare in the 
 annals of India. 
 
 Referring to his death, John Bruce Norton 
 said in the course of his address at Pachaiyappa's 
 Hall in 1869. "He was for many years one of 
 my closest personal friends ; I know of none whose 
 memory I more esteem. It is not of my own per- 
 sonal loss that I have now to speak ; it is of the 
 general loss which the community has sustained by 
 the death of this great and good man. Possessed 
 of excellent abilities, highly educated, with refined 
 taste, and a most powerful judgment, he was the 
 best type of a true patriot, not a noisy demagogue 
 but one who appealed only to the lepal, peaceable 
 
 21 
 
162 EEPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 weapons of reason ; he, years ago dedicated his 
 talents and his fortune to the service of his country- 
 men at a time when the task was more difficult, if 
 not dangerous, than what it is to-day. It requires 
 no small courage for a native to start and sustain 
 a journal devoted to the interests of native 
 society. It caused him far more evil than good 
 report. He sacrificed a large portion of his patri- 
 mony in the patriotic object he had in view. No 
 one who remembers the Crescent will deny that 
 it was written with much force of argument 
 and close logical reasoning and that its tem- 
 per was generally calm and dignified. That it 
 did much towards bringing about the recognition 
 of the social and political rights of the natives, I 
 cannot doubt. When he was nominated to the 
 honorable post of a member of the Legislative 
 Council, every one felt, whatever might be the 
 divisions between this and that section of Native 
 Society, that he was the best representative man 
 who could have been selected. A retiring disposi- 
 tion, perhaps, somewhat impeded his usefulness, but 
 when he died, all felt that he had left a void that 
 cannot be supplied. A meeting was at once held 
 to consider how honor could best be shown to his 
 memory : and it was determined that a public sub- 
 scription should be raised for the purpose of placing 
 his picture in this Hall, and founding a Sanscrit 
 Scholarship in his name in the Presidency College. 
 Believe me, in honoring such a man's memory you 
 honor yourselves. I do not doubt that a large 
 subscription will be forthcoming for carrying out 
 
G. LAKSHMINAEASU CHETTY. 163 
 
 these objects. The Maharajah of Travancore, the 
 First Prince, and the Dewan Sir Madava Row, 
 whose names are ever coupled with all that is 
 enlightened and generous, I hear, have sent in 
 their subscriptions and condolences. Many native 
 gentlemen have subscribed, and though we are not 
 so wealthy as the munificent Native merchants of 
 Bombay before ruin overtook their city, I cannot 
 doubt as to the success of this proposition to honour 
 so great and good a man." 
 
 Mr. Norton again paid a handsome compli- 
 ment to Lakshminarasu Chetty in 1870 in the fol- 
 lowing words : — " With respect to that (the port- 
 rait) of the Honorable Lakshminarasu Chetty, in 
 the words of the report, I feel that it is superfluous 
 to speak. At the same time, I cannot help stating 
 that I hold in my hand a copy of a letter from one 
 native to another, speaking of him in the very 
 highest terms, as the originator of enquiry into al- 
 most every abuse and defects which formerly mar- 
 ked the administration of this country ; a letter 
 which is above all suspicion, as it shows in what 
 estimation the natives themselves hold his memory, 
 I have no time to read it to you ; I must content 
 myself with observing that he was a zealous and 
 honest reformer and that he backed his convictions 
 by putting his hand into his pocket in their sup- 
 port. He founded the Crescent, a journal which, 
 under the able Mr. Harley, for years advocated 
 the Native cause. In this undertaking, Lakshmi- 
 narasu Chetty sunk a very considerable portion 
 
164 EEPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 of his fortunes; in 1852, at the renewal of the 
 Charter, he drew up the Native petition, which 
 was assailed at the time as a tissue of mis-state- 
 ments, but which certainly contributed very large- 
 ly to those numerous enquiries into the practice 
 of torture, over-assessment, and the like, which 
 shortly followed ; while the general respect in 
 which he was held by the Government during 
 the latter portion of his life, proves that the part 
 he played in his earlier political career was so 
 truthful and sincere. He received at the hands of 
 the Queen the honour of a Companionship of the 
 Star of India, and when he was selected by the 
 Government as a member of the Legislative Coun- 
 cil, all sections of Native Society unanimously felt 
 that he was the best representative of Native 
 opinion. He was snatched away just when he was 
 likely to have become most useful. He was so 
 singularly modest and retiring that these qualities 
 somewhat perhaps even impaired his utility to the 
 public. He was a man of the keenest intellect and 
 of the most kindly disposition. He was a staunch 
 supporter of the cause of education. All admit 
 that the void his loss has caused cannot be sup- 
 plied." 
 
 Lakshminarasu Chetty, though he belonged 
 more to the first half of this century was by no 
 means a Conservative in social matters. He had 
 great faith in the education of women. He started 
 and provided several Girls' schools at his own ex- 
 pense and advocated and even encouraged the 
 
G. LAKSHMINAEASU CHETTY. 1C5 
 
 marriage of widows. His sympathies were always 
 with the agricultural classes. He loved and culti- 
 vated the society of educated men whether Tamil 
 and Telugu Pundits or English Scholars and priva- 
 tely helped many a young man in prosecuting his 
 studies. In fact, he staked the whole of his fortune 
 in his noble and patriotic attempt to ameliorate the 
 political and social condition of his countrymen. 
 
RAI BAHADUR S. RAMASAWMY 
 MUDALIAR, M.A., B.L. 
 
 Rai Bahadur Salem Hamasawmi Mudaliar was 
 born in Salem on the 6th September 1852. He 
 belonged to a highly respected family in Salem. 
 Venkatachala Mudaliar, the great-grandfather of 
 Ramasawmi Mudaliar was an Agent or Dubash of 
 the East India Company and Ramasawmi Mudaliar's 
 father, Salem Gopalasawmi Mudaliar, is an influ- 
 ential Mittadar or extensive landowner, in Salem. 
 He was Tahsildar of Namkal and retired on pension 
 in 1867. 
 
 At the early age of six, Ramasawmi was sent 
 to Madras for education. His guardian in Madras 
 was one Nagalinga Mudaliar, son of a well-known 
 Tamil scholar, Conjeveram Sabapathy Mudaliar. 
 The man who had charge of his vernacular 
 education was one Kathirvelu Vadyar, a wit and a 
 pandit. Ramasawmi in course of time joined the 
 Madras High School, now the Presidency College, 
 from which he was sent to Pachaiappa's School on 
 the abolition of the primary classes in the former 
 institution. After reaching the required standard 
 
168 REPKESEXTATIVE MEN. 
 
 he was sent back to the Presidency College, where 
 he completed his educational course. 
 
 In the Presidency CoUge, Raniasawmi studied 
 diligently, winning the esteem of his Professors 
 and carrying off several prizes. At the Matri- 
 culation examination, he obtained one of the 
 Government scholarships awarded to the first 
 fifteen successful candidates. He was also the first 
 of his year at the First in Arts Examination. The 
 subjects in which he distinguished himself were 
 Tamil, English Composition and History. He 
 passed the B.A. Examination in 1871 as first in the 
 Presidency. Mr. Thompson, the then Principal of 
 the Presidency College had such a high opinion 
 of the ability, industry and good conduct of 
 Ramasawmy that on his graduation he offered him 
 an Assistant Professorship of English at the Col- 
 lege — a place which he declined with the object 
 of allowing the offer to be made to the next man 
 who, he knew, was in sore need of help. He then 
 followed up his studies at the College by preparing 
 in private for the Degree of Master of Arts in His- 
 tory and Moral Science, which he obtained in 1873. 
 In 1875, he qualified himself for the legal profession. 
 At the B. L., Examination too he stood first in 
 the list of passed candidates. At the recommenda- 
 tion of Mr. Justice HoUoway, Ramsawmy Mudaliar 
 was trained as an Apprentice-at-Law by the Hon. 
 Mr. P. O'SuUivan. In 1876 he was enrolled as a 
 High Court Vakil and established himself at Salem 
 for practising there. 
 
S. EAMASAWMY MCDALIAR. 169 
 
 By his unassuming manners and the sensible 
 way in which he conducted his oases, he won the 
 respect and good will of the native community and 
 the esteem of the District Judge at Salem. At the 
 same time, the general turn of his mind rendered 
 him fitter for the bench than for the bar. With a 
 view to use his talents in the service of Government, 
 he sought a place in the Judicial Department. 
 The application was endorsed by the District Judge 
 who was " happy to be able to express an opinion 
 that he is well qualified both as to legal attain- 
 ments, and, what in my opinion is still more impor- 
 tant, as to character." He was appointed a District 
 MunsifE intheTrichinopoly District in 1876. His judi- 
 cial administration was marked by the most thorough- 
 going honesty and the strictest impartiality. He 
 regarded it as a sacred duty always to maintain an 
 independent judgment in the discharge of his ofiBcial 
 functions. If anybody attempted to bring outside in- 
 fluence to bear upon him he resented it as an insult. 
 A story is told of how one of the parties in a case 
 which he was to decide in his court brought " a 
 letter of recommendation" or introduction, to the 
 Mnnsiff from a personforwhom he had great regard. 
 The party thus introduced was received politely and 
 all due kindness shown to him. The Munsiff even 
 drove him to the court with him. But vain and mis- 
 taken were the party's hopes if he thought on these 
 grounds, as indeed he did think, that the case 
 would be decided in his favour. On taking his 
 seat, the Munsiff delivered judgment ; and the 
 party did not wait to be taken home by the Mun- 
 
 22 
 
170 REPEESENTATIVE HEN. 
 
 sift. More than once he spoke from the bencb 
 agaiust these letters of introduction, pointing out 
 the futility as well as the wickedness of such tam- 
 perings with the course of justice. Thus he held 
 on to the path of rectitude he had chosen with- 
 out swerving either to the right or to the left. The 
 work was as hard as he was conscientious ; and 
 the responsibility was great. He had once to 
 recoup to Government a portion of the money lost 
 through defalcation in his office. 
 
 He, however, did not continue long on the 
 bench. He felt that the public service did not 
 afford a free field for distinction. Though disap- 
 pointed in his hopes, his service as Munsiff gave 
 him a high place in the esteem of the native com- 
 munity as is evidenced by the following testimony 
 of Mr. A. Seshiah Sastri, the late Dewan of Pudu- 
 kotta : " Though I have not the pleasure of a per- 
 sonal acquaintance with Salem Ramasawmy Muda- 
 liar, M. A., B. L., of the Madras University, I have 
 always heard the very best accounts of him as Dis- 
 trict Munsiff of Udiarpallium. His unassuming 
 manners, his strict impartiality, and his integrity, 
 have won for him the confidence of the people 
 under his jurisdiction. I have always considered 
 him one of the best young men of whom the Uni- 
 versity may be proud, and who is destined to rise 
 high in the service which he has entered." Desti- 
 ned ! He was not so destined. After having offered 
 to resign twice before, he finally gave up service 
 under Government in 1882, He resolved to prac- 
 tise at Madrab. 
 
S. -RAMASAWIIY MUDAUAl?. 171 
 
 In the High Court, he generally appeared on 
 the Appellate Side and when he took up original 
 cases, he was supported by a junior. His know- 
 ledge of law was soon recognized as sound. Though 
 others might excel him in the subtlety with which 
 they could draw legal distinctions, none had a 
 firmer or truer grasp of the principles of law. He 
 was endowed, as it were, with an instinct which 
 rendered him sensitive to every discord in the in- 
 ternal harmony of the judicial science. With him 
 Law was not a mere means of livelihood ; his en- 
 thusiasm for its study led him to start the Law 
 Journal of which he was Chief Editor till 1891. 
 His legal attainments were recognised by the Uni- 
 versity who appointed him Examiner for the B.L. 
 and the M.L. Examinatious. His scholarship in 
 Tamil Literature was utilized for the Examinations 
 for the B. A. Degree. In 1887, he was appointed 
 a Fellow of the Madras University. His services 
 were highly valued by the Faculties of Law and of 
 Arts ; of both of which faculties he was a member. 
 
 in the events which have made the India of 
 the present politically different from the India of 
 1880, Ramasawmy Mudaliar played an effective 
 part. In South India, at all events, none had such 
 a single eye for the general good as he. As during 
 his oflBcial days he resisted private influences in the 
 discharge of his judicial functions, so in his later 
 days when he was answerable to none but himself, 
 he preserved his judgment untainted by party pre- 
 j.udice or class interest. At the same time, his zeal 
 
172 EEPEESENI'ATIVE MEN. 
 
 for the public cause was none the less warm nor his 
 position any the less pronounced. The first time he 
 took a prominent part in a public movement was 
 in 1882 for protesting against any public character 
 being accorded to a memorial meeting in honor of a 
 retiring Councillor, Mr. D. F. Carmichael. 
 
 During the first years of the last decade, India 
 passed through a political ferment under the regime 
 of a Viceroy whose well-known popular sympathies 
 were resisted by the fury of a powerful community 
 which felt itself outraged thereby. The Ilbert Bill 
 agitation stirred the smooth waters of Indian 
 politics to the very depths. In Madras, the people 
 were ruled by a Governor who boasted of his 
 ignorance of public opinion and who lavished 
 public money on extravagant adornments of his 
 own residence on the hills. Sensible of the feeble 
 hand that held the reins, officials throughout the 
 Presidency had their own sweet way ; and one 
 scandal after another broke out in difEerent parts. 
 During all this time much had to be done by way 
 of vigila.ntly guarding the interests and persistent- 
 ly urging the claims of the people. The greater 
 security there now is against official vagaries, and 
 the greater willingness with which Anglo-Indians 
 admit the claims of natives to an increasing share in 
 the Government of the country, have been brought 
 about in Madras, at least partially, by the agitation 
 carried on by the Mahajana Sabha; and among its 
 members, it is an open secret that SalemKamasawmy 
 Mudaliar exercised considerable influence. When 
 
S. RAMASAWMY MDDALIAU. IT^J 
 
 the history of that agitation in South India comes 
 to be written as it deserves to be^ it will be seen 
 how much the loyalty, the moderation, the prac- 
 tical as opposed to the merely sentimental, the 
 generous as opposed to the merely narrow 
 and selfish, character of the movement was 
 due to the wise part which Salem Ramasawmy 
 Madaliar took in its counsels. In the Salem Riots 
 case, — when an attempt was made to include his 
 father, as an influential Mittadar, among those 
 implicated in the trouble, although his father, was 
 at the time of the riots in Madras, — he declined a 
 brief to defend the prisoners that he might more 
 effectively work in extra-professional ways for 
 procuring their freedom. 
 
 One happy and effective way that suggested it- 
 self to the political leaders in India for the redress 
 of the people's grievances soon after Lord Ripon's 
 departure, was that some of India's own sons should 
 go to England and plead her cause before the Eng- 
 lish voters at the General Election of 1885. For 
 this responsible and novel task, Salem Ramasawmy 
 Mudaliar was deputed to England from Madras 
 with two other delegates from Bombay and Bengal. 
 Ramasawmy Mudelliar and his brother delegates 
 addressed several meetings in England. They 
 visited London first and then they sallied forth 
 to Swansea in Wales, to Newcastle-on-Tyne, 
 to Birmingham and to Aberdeen in the north of 
 Scotland. At their first appearance in London at 
 the Westbourne chapel, we are told of " an earnest 
 
174 HKPRESENTATIVK MES. 
 
 politician, a girl of nineteen evidently a working 
 girl whose umbrella, none too strong at the begin- 
 ing of the meeting, seemed likely to be shaken to 
 pieces by the hard concussions with which she 
 sought to indicate her enthusiasm." 
 
 At Birmingham, the delegates spoke at a 
 liberal gathering held in support of the candi- 
 dature of John Bright. Ramasawmy Mudaliar 
 considered the meeting at which Mr. Bright spoke 
 on India, the greatest he had ever attended. Mr. 
 Chamberlain also took part ia this demonstra- 
 tion. On 5iis way to Aberdeen, Ramasawmy Muda- 
 liar halted at Edinburgh where he fulfilled his 
 object of hearing Mr. Gladstone who spoke at 
 the great Music Hall. The meetings in Aberdeen 
 formed a fitting climax to the political mission of 
 Ramasawmy Mudaliar in Great Britain. Dr. W. A. 
 Hunter and Professor Bryce availed themselves of 
 the presence of Ramasawmy Mudaliar to form in 
 the " Granite City," an association for the diffusion 
 of knowledge about India. 
 
 Thus was brought to a close the " campaign" 
 of the Indian delegates. The effect of these 
 meetings on the English mind generally was a 
 profound impression of the overwhelming res- 
 ponsibility borne by England towards this country. 
 Ramasawmy Mudaliar individually made on Eng- 
 lish audiences an impression which was quite 
 unique. His personal appearance was to them 
 .somewhat romantic. " A fine handsome face, with 
 large black eyes, such as Moore has painted in 
 
H. EAMASAWMT MUDALIAE. 175 
 
 Lallah Rookli, witli as finely chiselled a face as yon 
 could find in the lobbies of the law-Courts" — such 
 was the picture of the man as it fell on the English 
 retina. Hismode of speaking was as strongly marked 
 as his personal appearance. There was in his words 
 a quiet dignity and force peculiar to the man him- 
 self. The simple earnestness of his voice carried 
 conviction with it ; and the foreign accent which 
 was detectable in his delivery heightened the im- 
 pression it made. His English tour effected a 
 great improvement in Ramasawmi Mudaliar's stj'le 
 of public speaking. Between his first speech at 
 Westbourne and his last one at Aberdeen, there was 
 all the difference there is between the tracing on set 
 forms in a copy book and a free hand. But what 
 carried his words straight to the heart of his Eng- 
 lish hearers was the pathetic appeal for confidence 
 and sympathy which underlay all his remarks. 
 He spoke about financial retrenchment by reducing 
 the army and enlisting native volunteers, about 
 giving the sons of the soil a larger share in the 
 administration of the country and about reducing 
 taxation and thus relieving the poverty of the 
 ryots. These were grievances to be redressed ; 
 but in communicating them there was not the 
 slightest suggestion of discontent. On the other 
 hand, Ramasawmy Mudaliar felt and expressed his 
 conviction, that while England could do without 
 India, India could not do without England. 
 
 It may not be generally known that Bama- 
 sawmy Mudaliar in his trip to England tried to 
 
176 KEl>IiES£NTATlVE MEN. 
 
 avoid doing anything by which his place amongst 
 his caste men might be forfeited. He went a Hindu 
 and came back a Hindu, taking a Hindu servant 
 with him who cooked his food. He declined invi- 
 tations to meat dinners while he participated in 
 vegetable food with English friends. Thus he did 
 nothing in England which he dared not avow 
 among the men of his community by whom he was 
 taken back without a murmur, — and without the 
 humiliating rite of prayischittam. On his return, 
 he met with an enthusiastic reception from the 
 native public of Madras. His self-effacing humility 
 on that occasion only served to show the true 
 magnitude and value of the services rendered by 
 him to the country at large. His reception at Salem 
 was if possible even more enthusiastic, though it 
 could not have been more appreciative. 
 
 Yet another task awaited the England-return- 
 ed delegate of the Madras Presidency. The per- 
 sistent demand of educated natives for a larger 
 share in the work of governing the country, led to 
 the appointment in 1886 of the Public Service 
 Commission to which he was appointed as the re- 
 presentative of the non-official community of Mad- 
 ras. Other Hindu members of the Commission were 
 Sir Romesh Chunder Mitter of Bengal, the 
 Hon. K. L. Nulkar of Bombay and the Rajah of 
 Bhinga. Sir Charles Aitchison was the President. 
 It was urged from the beginning by the official 
 members that the adoption of the Commission's re- 
 commendations by Government and the Secretary 
 
a. EAMASAWMT MtJDALIAE. 177 
 
 of State would depend upon those recommendations 
 being made unanimously. But the interests repre- 
 sented on the Commission were mutually irreconci- 
 lable ; and compromise was but partial surrender. 
 The action of the native members in not having 
 stood up for the Civil Service Examinations being 
 held simultaneously in England and India by writing 
 a dissenting minute in favour of them, has been 
 adversedly criticised by leaders of native opinion, 
 but with the disagreement that existed among the 
 native members, it was thought best not to presa 
 the point on Government, even by means of a dis- 
 senting minute. This was the explanation which 
 Ramasawmy Mudaliar himself submitted to the 
 National Congress at Allahabad in 1888. 
 
 Though Ramasawmy Mudaliar attended but 
 two Congresses, the one at Madras in 1887 when 
 he hurried down from his labours on the Public 
 Service Commission at Calcutta just in time to take 
 part in the debate on the Arms Act and the other 
 at Allahabad, his services to the Congress cause 
 were felt to be so valuable that its Presidentship 
 was once offered to him — an honour which he de- 
 clined because he thought he had not sufficiently 
 established a claim thereto. With him it was not 
 a shrinking from responsibility but an inherent 
 bashfulness towards outward honour. 
 
 As a Trustee of Pachaiappa's Charities, he did 
 effectual work. On the Madras Municipal Board 
 his counsel was valued both by the President and 
 the Commissioners ; and if it had been given to 
 
 23 
 
178 EEPEESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 him to witness the fruition of his political labours 
 connected with the Indian Councils Act of 1893, 
 he would have been returned by that body to the 
 Legislative Council. In the meantime, Death by 
 whom so many of the promising men of this 
 country are carried away before they attain the 
 meridian of their power claimed him and he pasaed 
 away on the 2nd March 1892. 
 
 By his death, Hindu Society lost the silent charm 
 of his character. It was often remarked that there 
 were two men — Professor Runganadam and Salem 
 Eamasawmy — who by their inspiring presence, 
 dignified manners and edifying conversation, made 
 the Cosmopolitan Club genial and attractive. If 
 one was like the flower which by unfolding its 
 petals sheds light and fragrance around, the other 
 was like the bud whose very form is a picture of 
 modesty concealing beauty and sweetness within. 
 But Ramasawmy Mudelliar's claim to be re- 
 membered by posterity rests not on his social in- 
 fluence, or his legal erudition, or even on the un- 
 assuming sincerity of his character amid a genera- 
 tion that is fast losing its ancestral Hindu virtues 
 and adopting the artificial insincerities of Western 
 civilization but on the fact that he was a model 
 of a Hindu public man. 
 
 Ramasawmy Mudaliar had hidden beneath his 
 meekness, a certain dogged assertiveness. This is 
 a quality which when unsupported by sound judg- 
 ment degenerates into obstinacy, but which when 
 based on keen insight constitutes the stuff of which 
 
S, RAMASAVTMY M0DALIAE. 179 
 
 heroes are made. In his case, it was the secret of 
 the steady unostentatious perseverence which char- 
 acterised his life. It saved his mildness from any 
 appearance of a desire to please. He was plain, 
 straightforward and sincere. His language was 
 never in advance of his purpose nor his purpose 
 too much in advance of his ability. He was hum- 
 ble but he could rebuke. He was charitable in his 
 judgment of others : but he would not condone 
 their faults. He was independent, though not for- 
 ward ; and when he submitted to the will of others, 
 he did so deliberately. The sweet reasonableness 
 that marked his intercourse was as much a matter 
 of will as of temperament. 
 
C. V. RUNG A CHARLU, CLE. 
 
 Cettipaniam Veeravalli Runga Charlu was 
 born in 1831 in a village in the Chingleput District. 
 He was the son of C. Ragava Chariar, a clerk in 
 the Chingleput CoUectorate. While he was yet a 
 child he narrowly escaped an accident. The cart in 
 which his mother travelled capsized and he escaped 
 from serious peril to his life and limbs only by his 
 removal from the lap of his mother by her brother, 
 just a moment before the collapse of the cart. 
 Runga Charlu's father, besides his small pay, had no 
 property of any kind. He was anxious to give his 
 son a good English education, but his very slender 
 resources had almost compelled him to give up 
 the idea, when happily for Runga Charlu one of his 
 paternal uncles died at the time, bequeathing a 
 small sum of Rs. 800 to be laid out upon his educa- 
 tion. This was no doubt a material addition to 
 the resources of his father, but was hardly large 
 enough to ensure his being sent to Madras for edu- 
 cation. His father was still undecided, but the 
 timely offer of patronage and help by V. Raghava 
 Chariar, the first native Magistrate in Madras re- 
 
182 P>EPliESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 moved all his father's apprehensions, and Runga 
 Charlu was sent to Madras for education. 
 
 As a school-boy, Runga Charlu had the 
 reputation of being precocious. He would often 
 sit near his grown up kinsmen silently watching 
 them play at chess, and he became such an 
 adept in this royal game that when any of the 
 players got puzzled by some difficult move, they 
 would consult their boy companion for a solution, 
 which they readily obtained. Runga Charlu 
 when a school boy paid more attention to play 
 than to his books ; but he was so remarkably 
 intelligent that with far less devotion to study he 
 was able to distance most of his classmates. 
 He was at first educated in Pachaiappa's School 
 and his first teacher happened to be one Priya- 
 gnana Mudaliar. He always loved and rever- 
 enced his old tutor and through all the latter years 
 of his life he set him up as a model to those who 
 undertook the teaching of infant classes in the 
 Madras and Mysore Schools. During the last years 
 of his life when age incapacitated the teacher for 
 school work his loyal pupil periodically rendered 
 him pecuniary help. 
 
 Runga Charlu was next sent to the Madras 
 High School and Mr. Powell who found in him a 
 bright and promising student gave him a scholar- 
 ship of fourteen Rupees a month which he accepted. 
 Under Mr. Powell's teaching his intellect expanded 
 and he so thoroughly distanced his fellow-students, 
 that their highest ambition was to be but second 
 
C. V. EUNGA CHARLtr. 183 
 
 to him. He continued his course in the Madras 
 High School till the beginning of 1849, when he 
 passed the Proficient's test with great credit, ob- 
 taining a first class certificate. Mr. Powell had such 
 a high opinion of Runga Charlu that subsquently 
 when he declared his intention of competing for a 
 Public Examination, Mr. Powell wrote to him, " I 
 feel personally obliged to you for having made up 
 your mind to enter the lists and throw down your 
 glove on behalf of this institution .... you 
 have ability, added to it energy and judgment and 
 you are sure to succeed." 
 
 His brilliant career at school and the reputa- 
 tion which his high intelligence had already earned 
 for him so favorably impressed Mr. Ellis of the 
 Madras Civil Service that he appointed him almost 
 immediately after he left school, as a clerk in the 
 Madras Collectorate; and ere the term of acting 
 appointment had expired he was confirmed as a 
 clerk in the Chingleput Collectorate. From 
 Chingleput, be was transferred on promotion to 
 Salem where he became Head Writer. About this 
 time he published two pamphlets, one on "Bribery 
 and Corruption in the Revenue Department" and 
 the other on the then burning question of " Mirasi 
 Rights in the Chingleput and Tanjore Districts." 
 Runga Charlu's next promotion was as Tahsildar 
 of Saidapet, which ofiice he held for two years. 
 From Saidapet he was transferred to Nellore as 
 next in rank to the Sheristadar in that Collectorate 
 and was soon made Head Sheristadar. In 1859, 
 
184 EEPEESENTATITE MEN. 
 
 he was appointed Special Assistant to Mr. G. N. 
 Taylor, the President of the newly organised Inam 
 Commission for the Madras Presidency. Runga 
 Charlu distinguished himself by his ability and 
 integrity and won the confidence of Mr. Taylor. 
 His service in this department extended over a 
 period of about seven years. 
 
 When Mr. Taylor's work on the Inam 
 Commission was brought to a termination, the 
 Madras Government appointed him to the special 
 duty of enquiring into and reporting on the working 
 of the Indian Railways. And he chose Runga 
 Charlu as his coadjutor in his new sphere of work 
 which required an intimate knowledge of accounts. 
 Runga Charlu accepted the ofEer without consulting 
 even his best friends and dearest relatives, but on 
 going home an attempt was made to dissuade him 
 from keeping his word with Mr. Taylor. The engage- 
 ment involved a voyage to Calcutta. It was urged 
 that a high class Brahmin like Runga Charlu would 
 be setting a most objectionable precedent by sailing 
 in a ship to Calcutta. But Runga Charlu was far in 
 advance of the times and cared not a jot for the ter- 
 rors of ex-communication. He followed Mr. Taylor 
 to Calcutta and other places where their business 
 called them, giving fresh proofs of his honesty and 
 high intellect and strengthening the very favoura- 
 ble impression which he had produced on the mind 
 of his superior. His duties having been faithfully 
 and satisfactorily discharged, he returned to Madras. 
 Mr. Taylor's appreciation of Runga Charlu is best 
 
C. V. EUNGA CHARLtr. 185 
 
 expressed in the follomng extract from a letter of 
 Mr. Taylor : — 
 
 "We were on terms of the closest intercourse 
 from the period of his leaving College and entering 
 public service in 1849 and our mutual regard never 
 faltered to the last. Whatever he may have owed 
 to me for a helping hand at first starting or for 
 subsequent advancement in the public service was 
 amply repaid by steady and. untiring devotion. 
 Throughout the whole of our oflBcial intercourse, 
 his intimate knowledge of native character, his 
 excellent judgment, his wonderful capacity for 
 affairs and his able and ungrudging assistance were 
 always at my disposal. I attribute, in short, to his 
 constant and ready help, whatever of success I may 
 have accomplished in the several measures with 
 which we were associated." Mr. Taylor who after- 
 wards became the Madras member of the Viceroy's 
 Council, consulted Runga Charlu and quoted in the 
 Council his opinions with reference to the various 
 legislative measures introduced into the Council. 
 After his return to Madras, Runga Charlu was ap- 
 pointed Commissioner in the Madras Railway Com- 
 pany. On the organization of the Currency Depart- 
 ment in 1864 he was appointed Treasury Deputy 
 Collector at Calicut, where he won the esteem of 
 Mr. G. Ballard, the Collector, who afterwards be- 
 came British Resident of Travancore and Cochin. 
 
 Meanwhile, affairs in Mysore were undergoing 
 a complete revolution. The adopted son of the 
 
 24 
 
186 REPRESKNTATlVi: MEN. 
 
 dethroned Krisfcna Raj Woodyar was recognised as 
 heir to the throne and it was resolved that the king- 
 dom should be handed over to him on his attaining 
 the age of eighteen. It was further resolved 
 that, to prevent the recurrence of any catastrophe 
 such as had necessitated the interference of even 
 Lord William Bentinck, the well-known advocate 
 of peace and the non-interference policy in India, 
 the young Maharajah should be given an education 
 and a training which would fit him for undertaking 
 the onerous responsibilities of a king with five nril- 
 iions of subjects and for administering the king- 
 dom in a manner conducive to the material pros- 
 perity and well-being of his subjects. This order 
 of the Secretary of State for India necessitated an 
 immediate revolution in the administration of the 
 province. Mr. L. Bowring, who was then in charge 
 of Mysore on behalf of the British Government, 
 wrote to Mr. Ellis for a trustworthy Madrasi to 
 hold the appointment of Comptroller of the Mysore 
 palace. Runga Charlu was recommended for the 
 place. He accepted the offer and joined the Mysore 
 service in 1868. Soon after taking up his appoint- 
 ment, he was deputed, without prejudice to his 
 duties as Comptroller, to assist Major Elliot in pre- 
 paring an account of the moveable property of the 
 palace, giving the estimated value of every item of 
 property and to arrange for the safe custody of 
 the more valuable portion of them, consisting 
 chiefiy of costly ornaments belonging to the Raja. 
 
 Runga Chavlu next directed his attention to 
 
C. V. RtJNQA CHARLU. 187 
 
 the confused state of affairs within the palace. 
 With the small executive powers which his position 
 gave him, he checked the growing malpractices 
 within the palace walls. He rid the palace of a large 
 number of useless sycophants who were fattening 
 upon the palace resources. Col. Malleson was at this 
 time the Tutor and Guardian of the Mysore Prince 
 and the able and affective way in which Hunga 
 Charlu cleansed the palace of all wicked underlings 
 enlisted the sympathy of Malleson. The following 
 letter addressed to Runga Charlu by the Colonel 
 shows how highly he esteemed Runga Charlu : 
 " I have been struck with the noble tone of your 
 letter. It went quite to my heart. I am very glad 
 of your determination to come to Ooty with the 
 Maharajah. I can easily conceive that you must be 
 tired. You are the brain and life of our concern 
 and I cannot say how much I am indebted to you." 
 
 In 1874, Runga Charlu published in London a 
 remarkable pamphlet entitled ' The British Admi- 
 nistration of Mysare.' The author promised the 
 public another pamphlet which was to contain sug- 
 gestions for the future. But this was never given 
 to the world and the only probable reason of this 
 breach of promise is that Runga Charlu was soon 
 raised to a position where he had free scope and 
 sufficient authority to put into immediate practice 
 the suggestions he had intended to make. This 
 pamphlet was no sooner published in Mysore than 
 its author ceased to be regarded as a mere Comp- 
 troller of the palace. He was universally recogni- 
 
188 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 sed as a man of consummate ability. Mr. Gordon, 
 Chief Commissioner of Mysore, chose Eunga Charlu 
 as his Revenue Secretary. They jointly introduced 
 several reforms and changes which considerably 
 reduced the expenditure previously incurred. A 
 Native Secretary and Revenue Commissioner was 
 substituted for three Commissioners, who were pre- 
 viously discharging the same functions. The salary 
 of Deputy Commissioners, which originally ranged 
 from Rs. 1,000 tol,666 was reduced to the grade of 
 Rs.700 to 1,000. The offices of eight of the twenty- 
 seven Assistant Commissioners were abolished. 
 All European Assistant Commissioners drawing 
 large salaries were replaced by nineteen natives on 
 moderate pay. All except four of the Deputy Com- 
 missioners receiving the old scale of salary were 
 removed and efficient natives appointed instead. 
 Similar reforms upon the principle of substituting 
 cheap but efficient natives for highly paid Europeans 
 were inaugurated in every branch of the adminis- 
 tration, viz., the Educational, the Forest and the 
 Public Works Departments. Owing to these re- 
 ductions and other numerous items of retrench- 
 ment in other directions, the expenditure for 
 the year 1879-80, the first year of Runga Charlu's 
 Secretaryship, was two lakhs and a half short of 
 the actual receipts for the year. It will thus be 
 seen that in the course of one short year of his 
 being raised to the Revenue Secretaryship, Runga 
 Charlu was able, under the superintendence and 
 co-operation of Mr. Gordon, to institute reforms and 
 to reduce expenditure. 
 
C. V. EUNOA CHAHLU. 18^ 
 
 In appreciation of these services the Govern- 
 ment of India honored him with the title of CLE. 
 in 1880. But some of the natives of Mysore were 
 resolved to decry his intellectual accomplishments 
 and even to traduce his unimpeachable moral 
 character. In 1880 it was alleged for the first time 
 in public prints that some jewels were clandestinely 
 removed from the palace by somebody in 1872 or 
 1873 and it was suggested that the then Comptrol- 
 ler of the Palace had certainly much to answer for 
 in that connection. False as this and kindred alle- 
 gations apparently were, they created quite a sen- 
 sation at the time in Mysore. Mr. Bowring, at 
 whose instance, Runga Charlu was taken to Mysore 
 and who reported in terms of unqualified praise 
 of Bunga Charlu's work as Assistant to Major 
 Elliot, thought that an explanation was then due 
 from him to the Mysore public and hastened to 
 write to one of the Mysore officials letters ex- 
 culpating himself. "When I nominated him 
 (Runga Charlu) on the recommendation of the 
 Madras Government to assist Major Elliot," wrote 
 Mr. Bowring on the 25th August 1880, to a Mysore 
 official, ''it was not my intention that he should 
 assume a high administrative position, for I regarded 
 his appointment as of a temporary character, while 
 recent events would have disinclined me still more 
 from selecting him as Dewan." In another letter 
 dated 30th December 1880, to the same Mysore 
 correspondent he said : " As regards the introduc- 
 tion into Mysore of Mr. Runga Charlu, I am res- 
 ponsible for it as you remark ; but you know that 
 
190 KEPBESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 I nominated him for a special purpose and that it 
 never entered into my head that he would assume 
 the prominent position he now holds. Perhaps 
 you will say that I ought to have foreseen this, but 
 in reply I may urge that, had I remained Chief 
 Commissioner, I would not have allowed him to 
 exercise any undue sway in the country. I cannot 
 regret having obtained his services to assist Major 
 Elliot, for his work in this capacity was very well 
 done ; but I do not hold myself responsible for his 
 subsequent self-aggrandisement. Supposing an 
 engineer constructed an irrigation channel, and 
 that owing to want of attention on the part of his 
 successor the channel ate into its banks and flooded 
 the country, would you hold the first man respon- 
 sible ? I think not ; so I cannot take blame to 
 myself for any unchecked action on Mr. Bunga 
 Charlu's part. If he be nominated Dewan, it will 
 not be in accordance with my suggestion." 
 
 In justice to Mr. Bowring, it is necessary to 
 add here what he thought of Runga Charlu at the 
 time of his death. "I hasten to convey my sincere 
 sympathy on an event which besides the great sor- 
 row which it must naturally ca.use to the members 
 of his family is to be deplored as a national mis- 
 fortune by the people of Mysore. I am well aware 
 of the efEorts made by him to restore the financial 
 position of the provinces and of the laudable steps 
 taken by him to promote the welfare of its inhabi- 
 tants who, by his untimely death, have lost a sincere 
 benefactor and a wise administrator. I feel very 
 
C. V. ETTNQA CHARLC. 191 
 
 anxious for the future of the country, as although 
 there are doubtless many able officials from among 
 whom the selection of a successor might be made, 
 I fear there is no one in the Province who is likely 
 to command the support both of the Resident and 
 the Maharajah. Administrative talent combined 
 with integrity and a knowledge of character is a 
 rare accomplishment. Bare, indeed, are integrity 
 and patriotism." 
 
 The supposed disappearance of the palace 
 jewels was thoroughly and satisfactorily explained 
 by Mr. Wilson and other respectable officials. The 
 whole affair was traced to a mere clerical error for 
 which Bunga Charlu was certainly not responsible, 
 and the other allegations against the character and 
 intellectual qualifications of Bunga Charlu were 
 proved to be altogether baseless and malicious. 
 On the 25th March 1881 he was appointed Dewaa 
 of Mysore. 
 
 To form a reasonable estimate of the suc- 
 cess of Bunga Charlu's administration as Dewan of 
 the province of Mysore it is necessary to take into 
 consideration its financial, agricultural and indus- 
 trial condition at the time of the rendition. Ex- 
 pensive establishments in every branch of the ad- 
 ministration after the model of the adjacent British 
 dominions had well-nigh drained the resources of 
 the country and the terrible famine of 1877 almost 
 unprecedented in the annals of any province in 
 India for its severity impoverished the exchequer. 
 A million of the people whom it affected had sue- 
 
192 KEPEESKNTATIVE MEN. 
 
 cumbed to its effects and as the major portion of 
 these unfortunate victims were sturdy men who 
 earned by handicraft more than they consumed, 
 their deaths produced a retarding influence on 
 the extent and success of handicraft for some years 
 to come. The amount of immediate damage caused 
 by the terrible famine to produce, live stock and 
 other property was estimated at ten millions ster- 
 ling. The comparatively small saving effected by 
 judicious reforms and the inauguration of a policy 
 of retrenchment during the official years 1878, 
 1879, and 1880 was more than swallowed up by the 
 special and additional expenditure incurred during 
 the close of the official year 1880 under the heads 
 of installation and palace charges and a few expen- 
 sive reforms that had necessarily to be instituted 
 despite the poverty of the State. The revenue 
 which before the famine was nearly a hundred and 
 ten lakhs a year, was just recovering itself and 
 there was not the slightest possibility of any addi- 
 tion to it by increased taxation. The industrial 
 activity of Mysore had considerably abated after the 
 famine. The standing debt of eighty lakhs due by the 
 State to the Imperial Government drained the coun- 
 try of 4 lakhs of rupees annually by way of interest. 
 It was under such circumstances which would have 
 daunted the sanguine spirit of the best of statesmen 
 that Runga Charlu began his career as Dewan of 
 Mysore. The only advantage which Runga Charlu 
 possessed was the intelligentappreciationand co-ope- 
 ration of the young Maharaja who, though too young 
 to lead had grown old enough to be worthily led. 
 
C. V. EUNGA CHAELU. 193 
 
 The first task that engaged his attention was 
 the completion of the reforms which had been 
 inaugurated by the Mysore Commission and par- 
 tially achieved during the two preceding years. 
 Hassan and Chittaldroog ceased to be separate dis- 
 tricts for the purpose of civil and criminal adminis- 
 tration. Nine taluks were converted into Deputy 
 Amildars' stations : four Munsiffs' Courts and three 
 Sub-Courts were abolished : five out of eight Dis- 
 trict Jails were also abolished, as also the establish- 
 ments attached to a number of travellers' bungalows. 
 All these reductions resulted in considerable savings 
 to the extent of nearly 2 lakhs of rupees annually. 
 Runga Charlu next directed his attention chiefly 
 to the Forest Department which, owing to mal- 
 administration and to some extent the nature of the 
 country and the difficulties of traffic, had not been 
 yielding a revenue commensurate with the area 
 covered by the forests and the demand for timber. 
 The long-established custom of disallowing the sale 
 of sandal and the wasting of all available quantity 
 of it within the four walls of the palace was dis- 
 continued and the revenue from the Forest Depart- 
 ment showed a considerable increase. 
 
 With the help of savings thus effected, Runga 
 Charlu made the long talked of Mysore Railway, an 
 accomplished fact with an outlay of eleven lakhs of 
 Rupees. There was no reform so highly appreciat- 
 ed by Runga Charlu as the introduction of a net- 
 work of railways within the Mysore territory af- 
 fording considerable facilities for communication 
 
 25 
 
194 EErRESENTATlVE MEN. 
 
 and for the development of local industries by con- 
 necting Mysore with the outlying districts of the 
 British dominions. Mysore possessed all facilities 
 for purposes of irrigation, but still a large area of 
 land remained uncultivated and a larger area ill- 
 cultivated. This defect in the agricultural industry 
 of Mysore, Runga Charlu discovered was attribut- 
 able not to want of conveniences of irrigation but to 
 want of enterprise in the agricultural portion of the 
 population. And this defect could only be cured 
 by the introduction of railways. Notwithstanding 
 the crippled resources of the country, Runga 
 Charlu met the expenditure required for the con- 
 struction of the railway without making it felt as a 
 grievance. He more than once assured the Repre- 
 sentative Assembly that year after year a sum of 
 five lakhs would be allotted to meet the expendi- 
 ture incurred by the construction of railways until 
 the proposed line of communication should have 
 been accomplished. 
 
 The next important subject that attracted his 
 attention was the heavy debt of eighty lakhs which 
 the State owed to the Imperial Government. The 
 state of finances negatived all hopes of the debt 
 being paid off in a lump for ages following. The 
 interest on the amount of the debt was in itself a 
 startling figure and for a number of years it would 
 be as much as the State could do to be punctually 
 paying up the interest. As matters stood, the pay- 
 ment of the debt could be demanded at any 
 moment by tlic Impuriul Government and the State 
 
c. T. ?rNnA CHAT^r.r. 195 
 
 would, in that contingencj-, be driven at the best 
 to adopt measures altogether ruinous to its pros- 
 perity. With the object, therefore, of providing 
 against such a contingency and of securing such 
 other concessions as the Imperial Government 
 might in their generous wisdom be induced to 
 grant, he opened correspondence with the British 
 Government, laying stress not merely on the im- 
 poverished condition of Mysore, but on the con- 
 fessed mismanagement of the famine-relief works 
 while the country was under British administration 
 — a fact admitted by Lord Lytton, the then Vice- 
 roy of India. The result of the correspondence was 
 that very favorable terms were granted to the 
 State. The interest was reduced from five to four 
 per cent, (no small concession where the capital 
 was eighty lakhs) and the loan itself was made 
 payable in forty-one annual instalments of four 
 lakhs. This arrangement reduced the enormous 
 debt to an increased expenditure of four lakhs a 
 year for forty-one j'ears. 
 
 All apprehensions on the subject of this enor- 
 mous debt having been set at rest by this arrange- 
 ment, Runga Charlu directed his attention to the 
 funds required for the construction of the line from 
 Bangalore to Tiptur. Encumbered as the State was 
 he would not abandon this project or even postpone 
 it ; but with commendable boldness that rested on 
 calculations of profit which the line was expected 
 to bring in, he applied for and obtained the per- 
 mission of the Bi-itish Government to raise a lonn 
 
19(5 RKPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 of the sum necessai-y to be laid out on the line. A 
 loan of 20 lakhs was raised and the construction of 
 the line was begun and pushed on energetically. 
 
 But we have yet to speak of the most glorious 
 feature of Eunga Charlu's administration of My- 
 sore. It was the organization of the Representa- 
 tive Assembly. The statesmanlike caution with 
 which Runga Charlu approached this experiment 
 as it must then have appeared to every body can- 
 not but raise our estimate of his intellectual powers 
 and foresight. The Representative Assembly was 
 not to be given any active share in the administration 
 of the province. The members were to be mere re- 
 cipients of information about the doings of Govern- 
 ment and of its intentions with regard to the future. 
 They were assured that the Government had the 
 best interests of its subjects at heart and that it 
 would try to promote their prosperity. The pro- 
 visions of new laws intended to be introduced would 
 be explained to them that they might see their utility. 
 It was necessary and advantageous to the State 
 and the subjects that they should properly under- 
 stand each other. " Such an arrangement," wrote 
 Runga Charlu, " such an arrangement, by bringing 
 the people in immediate communication with the 
 Government would serve to remove from their 
 minds any misapprehension in regard to the 
 views and actions of the Government and would 
 convince them that the interests of the Government 
 are identical with those of the people." 
 
 "SYlien the Representative Assembly met 
 
C. V. RUNGA CHARLU. 197 
 
 for the first time in 1881 its objects were 
 questioned, its success doubted, its constitution 
 discussed and adversely commented upon, and 
 the whole affair was represented as a well-devised 
 artifice of the fertile brain of the Dewan who saw 
 the necessity of giving some proof of an assumed 
 patriotism to conciliate the indignant Mysoreans 
 whom his towering ambition, his partiality for 
 Madras, and his sudden elevation had offended. 
 But the assembly has survived all such criticisms. 
 During the first two years of the Assembly Eunga 
 Charlu carried out only partially the reforms which 
 he intended to institute. He hoped to live long 
 enough to complete them and to see the Mysore 
 province intersected by a number of railway lines. 
 But this was not to be. About the close of 1892 
 he fell seriously ill. After a wearing illness of 
 some months, he was brought down to Madras for 
 a change but he grew worse and continued to sink 
 until death put an end to his highly useful and 
 honourable career, 
 
 Mr. Taylor, his old friend and patron, on hear- 
 ing of his death wrote that Runga Charlu's " loss 
 will long be felt and mourned by his fellow coun- 
 trymen, and it will be no easy task to the adminis- 
 tration to fill his place." Mr. Powell his old 
 Master said " He was one of my earliest and 
 best pupils and a most honourable and able 
 man. Apart from the loss to his family and 
 his friends, his untimely death is a sad blow to 
 India and Mysore in particular. The advance of a 
 
198 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 
 
 Hindu to a prominent position amongst statesmen 
 necessarily raises the whole country and is an in- 
 centive to his countrymen to persevere in well- 
 doing. So far, it is a consolation that his career 
 has been a most useful and a distinguished one and 
 that his example and his reputation will continue 
 to actuate your countrymen for many years to come. 
 I would urge upon you to have his example before 
 you throughout your lives to aim at being as con- 
 scientious and as energetic as he was throughout 
 his lifetime." 
 
 Mr. Porter considered Runga Charlu's death 
 an irreparable loss to Mysore. Writing to his son, 
 Mr Porter said : " He had just time to show how 
 much he was able to do when he was taken away. 
 There is nothing I know so full of sadness as a 
 career like that cut short when it was so full of 
 promise. I was wonderfully fond of your father. 
 Of all the men I have met in India, there was no 
 one I was so fond of talking to on all subjects. 
 He was full of ideas and his thoughts were always 
 running on schemes for improving the condition of 
 the people. I can hardly think of that busy brain 
 being still. Then he had a remarkably fine temper 
 and was very pleasant in all his ways. There was 
 not a particle of rancour about him. I feel per- 
 sonally as if there was a great blank in Mysore 
 when he is gone. It is gratifying to hear that he 
 retained his vigour of mind to the last. The Times 
 noticed the curious coincidence that the Ministers 
 of Mysore and Hyderabad died within a few days 
 
C. V. K0NGA CHARLC. I9*J 
 
 of each other." The late Maharajah of Mysore 
 said that by the death of Runga Charlu he had 
 been deprived of an able, faithful and devoted 
 councillor and that the people of the State had lost 
 a true and sympathetic friend. The Mysoreans who 
 once hated him mustered strong to show their res- 
 pect for his memory at the meeting held at Banga- 
 lore, soon after his death, to concert measures for 
 perpetuating his memory. 
 
A. SESHIA SASTRI, C.S.L 
 
 Amaraviiti Seshia Sastri was born in tlie ycai* 
 1829 in the village of Amaravati situated on the 
 southern bank of the Vettar near Kumbaconum, 
 He was born of poor though respectable parents. 
 Madras was then the only place where any English 
 education was given. Seshia after learning the 
 rudiments of English under two Eurasian teachers, 
 was sent to the Mission kSchool known as Ander- 
 son's School in Madras. Here he studied for about 
 two years, when the conversions to Christianity 
 which took place then resulted in the desertion 
 of the school by the students en masse. Seshia 
 was next enrolled as a pupil of a school known 
 as Preparatory School, so called because it was 
 preparatory to the establishment of the High 
 School in 1840. Just about that time, the Trustees 
 of Pachaiappa's Charities founded a few scholar- 
 ships to poor and deserving youths and one of 
 these scholarships was conferred on young Seshia; 
 It was a most timely help to him, for his poor uncle's 
 
 26 
 
202 EEPRESEXTATiri; HETff. 
 
 means were by no means equal to the payment of a 
 school fee of Rs. 4 per mensem. He then obtained 
 a Gove'-nment scholarship and studied in the High 
 Scho-l from 1840 to 1848 under Messrs. White 
 rrad Bowers in the lower classes and in the 
 higher classes under Messrs. Adam, Gordon and 
 Powell. His career in school was a very distin- 
 guished one and in addition to many annual class 
 prizes, he was awarded Pachaiappa's Translation 
 Prize and the first Prize of the Council of Educa- 
 tion. He took a first class Proficient's degree in 
 1848 and left school with the very highest testi- 
 monials of character from M essrs Powell and Gordon 
 — the former concluding his certificate with the ob- 
 servation that " he had formed a very high opinion 
 of Seshia's integrity and would not scruple to place 
 the highest confidence in him." The several essays 
 he wrote both in the class room and in open com- 
 petition for prizes were considered remarkable for 
 one of his age and the speech he delivered on the 
 occasion of laying the foundation-stone of Pachai- 
 appa's Hall in 1846 attracted great attention. 
 The Editor of the Orescent spoke of it in terms of 
 great praise and contrasted it with the addresses of 
 one Uajagopal, one of I^ev. Anderson's best pupils. 
 
 Seshia Sastri entered the Revenue Board as a 
 Clerk on Rs, 25 in September 1848 and was trained 
 under the immediate eye of Sir Henry Pycroffc, 
 whose style of drafting official correspondence has 
 become a bye-word in the clerical line of business. 
 In June 1849, Seshia Sastri accompanied the 
 
A. SKSniA SASTEI. 203 
 
 Senior Member of the Board, Sir Walter Elliot on 
 his tour through the Northern Circars. Seshia 
 Sastri besides acquiring vast knowledge in clerical 
 work and in all departments of Revenue ad- 
 ministration was Sir Walter Elliot's Personal 
 Assistant in the matter of researches botanical, 
 numismatic and antiquarian. Seshia Sastri had 
 special aptitude for such useful work. In May 
 1851 he became Tahsildar of Masulipatam and in 
 February 1854 was promoted as Naib Sheristadar. 
 In 1855 he was appointed Head Sheristadar at Ma- 
 sulipatam. Here he acquired a thorough know- 
 ledge of the Telugu language. 
 
 In the Kistna District he displayed his ability 
 in Revenue administration. When he entered 
 Masulipatam it was in a state of demoralization 
 and corruption, but when he left it in 1859 after 
 eight years' active service in that part of the 
 district, it was very nearly a model district. 
 During the year of the Mutiny he displayed great 
 tact and energy in adopting the precautionary 
 m.easures necessitated by the large Mussulman 
 population at Masulipatam. In 1859, Seshia Sastri 
 was appointed Deputy Collectorand made to do duty 
 under Mr. George Noble Taylor, luam Commission- 
 er. From 1859 to 1866, Seshia Sastri worked in the 
 Inam Commission as Deputy Collector and Special 
 Assistant. During this time, he registered 50,000 
 original Inam claims and reviewed 2,50,000 letters 
 registered by other Deputy Collectors and control- 
 led a central office of more than 250 clerks. Hp 
 
20-t HErUESENTATlVE MEN'. 
 
 made a wide research into the various Inarn tenures. 
 It was a very laborious and difiBcult task and was 
 performed with splendid results. In 1866, he was 
 posted as Treasury Deputy Collector. In 1868, he 
 was appointed Head Sheristadar of the Revenue 
 Board which he had left twenty years previously for 
 the Northern Circars. 
 
 In July 1872 he was summoned to Travancore 
 as Dewan in succession to Sir Madava Row. The 
 administration of Travancore by Dewan Seshia 
 Sastri extended over a period of five years. 
 The first reform that received his attention 
 was the tabulation of the various kinds of land 
 tenures obtaining in Travancore which was a 
 work of no small difiiculty. He then removed 
 some of the abuses largely prevailing in the Gov- 
 ernment feeding houses. The Salt Department 
 next engaged his attention. The system of 
 measuring out salt by the middlemen who 
 bought it at the first instance from Govern- 
 ment and sold it to the people was attended 
 with great fraud. The Dewan ordered the subs- 
 titution of weight for measure in the sale of salt, a 
 reform which though it could not go direct to the 
 root of the evil was calculated to minimise it. The 
 system of selling salt by weight still afforded op- 
 portunites to the seller to cheat the purchaser, but 
 it was hoped that the ignorant multitude could 
 easier detect frauds in weight than in measure. 
 The returns of the Revenue Department were 
 full of entries against defaulters pointing to large 
 
A. SESHIA SAS'l'l.'I. "JO") 
 
 and long standing arrears due by them to tte 
 State and the Dewau as a relief to the ryots 
 granted large remissions. The voluminous re- 
 cords of all branches of the administration irres- 
 pective of the nature and importance of their 
 contents were written on palmyra leaves. Seshia 
 Sastri ordered the substitution of paper for the 
 leaves. In 1875, the Dewan directed his attention to 
 the legal profession in the State which was consti- 
 tuted of men whose knowledge of law was very 
 limited. He insisted upon the members of the Bar 
 undergoing an examination, an ordeal out of which 
 only a small number came unscathed. Those who 
 came out successful were alone declared competent 
 to practise before the highest tribunals of the land 
 and the rest were allowed as a sort of concession to 
 practise in the inferior Courts. 
 
 During his administration some important 
 changes were made in the Educational Depart- 
 ment. Taluq and Village Schools were multiplied. 
 A class of "attaches" wss first formed and at- 
 tached to the Dewan's office. The posts were given 
 to the most successful pupils who passed out of 
 the College and they were trained to the work in 
 various branches of the admiaistration. After 
 their training was completed, they were absorbed 
 in the several Executive Departments as vacancies 
 arose. The administration of Seshia Sastri in Tra- 
 vancore is best remembered by the cleansing out 
 of the Padmathirtham tank in Travancore and 
 the restoration of the Kochar channel which used 
 
2()6 HEt'RESKNI'ATTVK JtflN. 
 
 ill former days to feed the sacred tank perennially 
 and which had been neglected and allowed to 
 fall into disrepair. He is also remembered for 
 the sympathetic way in which he dealt with the 
 large number of immigrants from the neighbour- 
 ing Districts of Madura and Tinnevellyj whom the 
 famine of 1876-77 drove into Travancore for pro- 
 tection. Many of them were men of means and 
 very respectable, but they could no longer remain 
 in their villages as the deepest wells had run dry 
 and there was absolutely no water for man or beast. 
 It was this dire necessity which compelled them to 
 seek an Asylum in Travancore which had received 
 and protected them on the occasion of a similar dire 
 famine a century before. The refugees, consisted of 
 males, females and children of all ages and ranks. 
 They were welcomed, well-housed, well-fed and 
 altogether well-cared for. 
 
 After a service of five years in the Travan- 
 core State, Seshia Sastri retired from Travancore 
 on a pension of Rs. 500 in 1877. On the 1st Janu- 
 ary 1877, he was made a 0. S. I. After his retire- 
 ment, he was engaged in conjunction with Mr. 
 Webster in the distribution of the Mansion House 
 Fund to the sufferers in the great famine of that 
 j-ear, in the Districts of Trichinopoly and Tanjore. 
 He attended the public meeting that was held in 
 Madras for thanking the people of England for 
 their generous help and delivered a speech giving 
 a graphic account of all the measures adopted by 
 His Grace the Duke of Buckingham for the re- 
 
A. SKSHIA SASTRI. 207 
 
 lief of the people. It was just about tliis time that 
 lie was nominated a member of the Madras Legisla- 
 tive Council. Subsequently, he was ofEered a seat 
 in the Viceregal Legislative Council which he de- 
 clined. 
 
 Meanwhile, the affairs of the small native state 
 of Pudukota had been drifting from bad to worse 
 and the Duke of Buckinghum offered the appoint- 
 ment of Dewan of Pudukota to Seshia Sastri 
 in August 1878. At the time he took charge 
 of the administration the coffers of the State were 
 thoroughly empty. The chief source of State re- 
 venue was land. The Amani system was then in 
 vogue in the State. This system of collecting re- 
 venue was attended with the most disastrous results 
 both to the State and to the ryot. A cumbrous and 
 expensive machinery was maintained at the ex- 
 pense of the State for the purpose of estimating 
 on a field-to-field inspection the produce of the 
 lands with reference to the state of cultivation at 
 the time of the inspection. The ryots were not al- 
 lowed to reap the crop or store it up unless in the 
 presence of some officials of the State's Agency 
 and as, notwithstanding the large number of officers 
 employed by Government to superintend the reap- 
 ing of the crops, the presence of these officials 
 could not be secured in every field when the crop 
 was ready for harvest, there was a diminution 
 in the produce owing to the delay in the har- 
 vest. This system opened a large door to fraud. 
 The excess of the actual yield over the estimate 
 
208 i!Eri;Ks.i;\TATivi; jikn. 
 
 was never broiiglit into account but diviilciT 
 on the tlireshing floor in some definite ratio 
 between the ryot and the officer superintend- 
 ing the harvest on behalf of the State. In addi- 
 tion to the loss occasioned to the State by the 
 deliberate reduction of the estimate and by the 
 subsequent fraud of which the State was kept in 
 complete ignorance by the well-concerted action 
 of its interested and corrupt officials, the arrange- 
 ment of storing up the State's share of the pro- 
 duce was a source of additional loss. The employ- 
 ment of a large number of watchmen from one end 
 of the State to another to guard the paddy 
 on behalf of the State in various places until 
 such time as the price of paddy had sufficiently 
 risen to allow of its being sold with advantage to 
 the State, cost a considerable sum of money which 
 more than counterbalanced the small profit accru- 
 ing to the State by the rise in the price of paddy. 
 The Dewan, consequently, abolished the Amani 
 system and substituted for it the system of assess- 
 ment in money. This change considerably en- 
 hanced the revenues of the State without in the 
 slightest degree increasing the burden of the ryot. 
 
 Simultaneously with the financial improvement 
 in this direction, the Dewan had also been strenu- 
 ously exerting himself in the direction of reducing 
 the scandalously large palace expenditure. 
 The Dewan spent the surplus thus secured in 
 works of public utility and in making such 
 improvements in the physical condition of the 
 
A. SESHTA SASTRI. 209 
 
 State as would in a way re-imburse the State of the 
 money expended on them. In 1882, the Rajah's 
 School, was raised to a second Grade College. 
 A Girl's school was also started. The town 
 of Pudukota and its suburbs depended on the ad- 
 jacent jungles for the supply of fuel and it was 
 clear the jungles would in the course of some years 
 be totally destroyed. The Dewan, therefore, 
 selected suitable sites on the banks of the Palar 
 and directed the planting of thousands of casu- 
 arina plants there. The state of the tanks next 
 engaged his attention. The most difficult portion 
 of the programme of renderinj^ the tanks useful 
 as large reservoirs of water was the enormous 
 quantity of slough and silt that had to be removed. 
 Every little village, therefore, within the State was 
 directed to send in all its labourers by rotation and 
 three to seven thousand labourers were every day 
 at work in some tank or other so that the largest 
 of them was cleared of its slough and silt in a 
 very short time. Having dug up the tanks and 
 rendered them useful as reservoirs of water all 
 the year round, the Dewan turned his attention to 
 the improvement of the roads in the capital. 
 
 In April 1886 the old Eajah of Pudukotta died 
 leaving behind his grandson, the present Rajah who 
 was a minor. The Dewan was, thereupon, appointed 
 Dewan- Regent. The death of the Rajah armed the 
 Dewan-Regent with greater powers for carrying out 
 some important reforms. The first thing which 
 received his attention after the death of the Enjiih 
 
210 EEPRESEyTATIVE ItEN. 
 
 was the Appeal Court. He constituted the Pudu- 
 kotta Chief Court on the 1st January 1887 and 
 modelled it after the Madras High Court. He then 
 took up the question of the enfranchisement of 
 Inams and the resumption of grants of certain des- 
 cription made for services rendered or supposed to 
 be rendered to the State by the holders of the Inams 
 or their ancestors. The first portion of the reform 
 occupied some years, for the Inams had to be mea- 
 sured and their extent ascertained. Any excess found 
 to exist on actu;il measurement over the extent of 
 the lands originally given by the State was decla- 
 red the absolute property of the State and the rest 
 was slightly burdened with a small assessment. 
 Other provisions were also made subjecting the 
 Inam lands to increased assessment on the happen- 
 ing of certain contingencies. This reform, no doubt, 
 caused some amount of heart-burning among the 
 Inamdars. But it contributed to a large increase 
 in the State revenue and furnished the Dewan- 
 Eegent with funds. 
 
 The public buildings in Pudukota form one of 
 the grandest monuments of Seshia Sastri's adminis- 
 tration. The various offices of the town were scat- 
 tered over the whole length and breadth of it and 
 people who had often business to transact in more 
 than one office at about the same time were put to 
 great hardship and inconvenience. The Dewan, 
 therefore, raised a block of buildings to accomo- 
 date all the public offices. The construction of 
 works of public utility, the excellent arrangements 
 
A. SF.:?1IIA fiASTRI. 211 
 
 for lighting the town, the laying and metalling of a 
 number of roads connecting the town with the adja- 
 cent districts and important places within the State, 
 the digging of new and the improvement of old tanks, 
 and the impetus given to education generally and fe- 
 male education in particular are some of the salient 
 features of his administration. In one of his adminis- 
 tration reports, the Dewan-Eegent wrote, — " People 
 who had known the town well ten years ago can hard- 
 ly recognise it now. New suburbs, new streets, new 
 lanes added to new roads and new tanks and old 
 tanks so improved as not to be easily recognised, all 
 kept in perfect order and cleanliness and all lighted 
 without stint in the dark hours, meet them at every 
 turn and confound them for the nonce." This is 
 indeed a glowing picture but none the less true. 
 
 Seshia Snstri retired from the service of 
 Pudukota on the 27th November 1894, the day 
 when the young Tondimau was installed as Rajah. 
 At the installation, Lord Wenlock, Governor of 
 Madras, paid a handsome compliment to him. 
 Addressing the young Rajah, the Governor said : — 
 " The inheritance upon which you are this day 
 entering was twenty years ago financially and in 
 every other respect in a most dilapidated condition. 
 The aspect of affairs is now very different ; you 
 will have made over to you a State not only 
 unencumbered with debt but possessing a balance 
 of no less than three lakhs, while there is every 
 prospect of its yielding an increasing revenue if 
 administered with due care. On every side material 
 
2l'l REPEiiSJiNTATlVt: JIKN. 
 
 improvements are visible. Every brancli of the 
 administration has been more or less reformed, the 
 revenue has improved, the roads are excellent, and 
 the capital is adorned with modern public buildings. 
 All these are due to the untiring energy and 
 devotion to his duties of Dewan- Regent Seshia 
 Sastri, one of that talented body, the proficients of 
 the High School, so many members of which have 
 taken a promiaent and honourable share in public 
 affairs. Seshia Sastri became Dewan in 1878, and 
 after serving your grandfather until his demise in 
 1886, has since then continued to work for the 
 well-being of the State of Pudukota with great 
 ability and remarkable fidelity and honesty of 
 purpose. The result of his labours has been so 
 successful that what was at the time of his accession 
 to office almost a wreck is at the present mOment 
 a prosperous possession. He is now, after a long 
 and trying period of devotion to public service, 
 laying aside official harness in view to enjoying a 
 well-earned repose. I consider that Your Highness 
 owes him a deep debt of gratitude, and I am 
 pleased to learn that you have decided to manifest 
 your appreciation of the service done by him on 
 his retirement in an appropriate manner." 
 
 Seshia Sastri has the reputation of being a 
 terse writer. His school essays showed signs of a 
 careful study of English idiom and style. Reports 
 on the history of the Inam Commission which he 
 wrote for Mr. Tom Blair, and his Jamabundi Settle- 
 ment Keports will amply repay perusal even to 
 
A. SESHIA SAEiTIil. 'IVo 
 
 this day. His official papers are interesting reading 
 unlike the usual tedious and dull conventional 
 prosaic productions. The late Mr. Justice Holloway 
 complimented him more than once on the excellence 
 of his reports. Seshia Sastri's conversational 
 powers are far above the average. His conversa- 
 tion is easy, flowing and humorous and the apt lines 
 of poetry always ready on his lips make his narra- 
 tions and descriptions worth listening to. Having 
 experienced the cold touches of poverty in his boy- 
 hood, Seshia Sastri deeply sympathises with the 
 poor and he gives to this day unostentatious help 
 to many of his poor relatives and friends. He is 
 now spending his days in honorable retirement on 
 the banks of the Cauvery at Kumbakonam. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 6, line 25, read "is" before the word "still". 
 
 „ 31, „ 25, read " 1866" for " 1886". 
 
 „ 131, „ 2, read " 1847" for " 1837". 
 
 „ 145, „ 11, read "numbers" for "members". 
 
 „ 146, last line, drop the last word "the". 
 
 „ 177, line 9, read "adversely" for "adver- 
 
 sedly".