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, 15th October, 1891.

The Diamond case is the subject of talk everywhere. Every man of intelligence thinks it but right that His Highness the Nizam should have consented to give evidence before a Commission, though no one could bring himself to approve of the way in which, and the flourish of trumpets with which, it was made known that he had consented to do so. There is little doubt in the minds of the people here as to where the mainfesto which has come in for much severe, but richly-deserved criticism in the Calcutta press, originated. When the real writer of it goes out of his way to eulogize Judges and other officials who have made sorry exhibitions of themselves before all the world, he betrays the closen foot.

How successful Sir Syed Ahmed of Allighur has been in his mission to Hyderabad all India knows. But the secret of the success few can know outside Hyderabad. It needs to be told It is all nonsense to say that the object of the old man's visit prevailed with His Highness and a portion of his subjects, so far as to make them loosen their purse strings readily, for grander and more useful "objects" to be realized nearer homo receive little real sympathy from them. The Nawab Vicarul-mulk is a friend and admirer of Sir Syed Ahmed's; this accounts for the raising of the monthly grant to the Allyghur College from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 2,000 a month. The Nawab Framroze Jung is a creature of Vicarul-mulk's; but for this Syed Ahmed would not have got 26 thousand rupees from the "people" of Warangal. These are unquestionable facts, I assure you. Sir Syed Ahmed accompanied by the Nawab Vicarul-mulk, Feteh Nawaz Jung, Imadol-mulk and others reached Warangal, by special train, on an evening. And within 24 hours of his arrival 24 bags of money, each containing Rs. 1,000 were offered to him in due 'style' by the Warangalites. How this came about it is interesting to enquire. Four Tahsildars had been told off, four days previously, to go about the town and prepare people for the giving of big donations; several officials in the surrounding


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26 snow here, and was hoping from day to day that it would begin before Her Majesty went back to Court, when I was suddenly obliged to go home. Two days after I arrived, the snow did indeed begin to fall. But here, where everything is so sordid, it gives me very little pleasure. As, seated once more at the familiar window, I watch it settling on the copses in front of the house, how vividly I recall those years of misery and perplexity! Then I used to sit hour after hour at this same window, and each day was like the last, save that since yesterday some flower had opened or fallen, some fresh song-bird arrived or flown away. So I watched the springs and autumns in their procession, saw the skies change, the moon rise; saw those same branches white with frost or laden with snow. And all the while I was asking myself over and over again: "What has the future in store for me? How will this end?" However, sometimes I used to read, for in those days I got a certain amount of pleasure out of quite ordinary romances; I had one or two intimate friends with whom I used to correspond, and there were several other people, not much more than acquaintances, with whom I kept up a casual intercourse. So that, looking back on it now, it seems to me that, one way and another, I had a good many minor distractions.

'Even then I realized that my branch of the family was a very humble one; but the thought seldom troubled me, and I was in those days far indeed from the painful consciousness of inferiority which makes life at Court a continual torment to me.

'To-day I picked up a romance which I used to think quite entertaining, and found to my astonishment that it no longer amused me at all. And it is the same with my

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, 5th July, 1891.

It is said that in a multitude of councillors there is wisdom. It is rather difficult to believe this, seeing that such an intelligent body of men as the Government of India find it easier to do a wrong thing than to do a right one, do's at times exactly what it ought not to do—at all events what it is inadvisable to do. What we have heard of Political Agents" does not reveal them to be the largest minded of rulers or the most forbearing Mr. Chatterjee's journalistic experiences at Mhow, and the exposure of Sir Lepel Griffin in the columns of the Amirta Bazaar Patrika" have shown what autocrats these are in their respective spheres' and how desirable it is that their power should be curtailed and they should be restrained from presuming too much. Yet the Government of India would make them custodians of public opinion 'in places administered by the Governor-General, but not forming part of British India'—would invest them with the power to withhold or withdraw permission to edit, print or publish a newspaper just as they like it, and to 'expel forcibly any one who edits, prints or publishes a newspaper without their permission! Verily the fates favour the wrong men.

I called upon a British authority in one of the places administered by the Governor-General, but not forming part of British India' recently in connection with the permission applied for previously to start a newspaper therein; and it might interest your readers to know what transpired at the interview. Being ushered into the authority's presence, I was asked what I wanted. I explained to him the object of my visit; and he said:

"I don't think you will get the permission."

"Why?" I asked. "can you assign reasons for thinking so?"

"Yes" said he. "We don't want to have a paper of the sort here."


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 "Is it so ?" I asked.

"Yes—it is so" said he. "We don't and that is the reason why you will not get it. Is not the reason clear enough?"

And I had to admit that the reason was clear enough" and bid him good morning and got out. What a wonderful instrument for smothering the public voice, the recent order of the Government of India will furnish politicals such as this with, it is easy to understand.

Next Tuesday full two years will have elapsed since the death of Sir Salar Jung II. And this puts me in mind of all that the Salar Jung family has suffered since the death of the Nawab Munier-ul-mulk Bahadur and the pitiable condition it is Of what avail was it that the highest personage in these Dominions constituted himself the guardian of the infant son of Sir Salar Jung II? Of what avail was it that he appointed a committee to manage the estates of the family and laid down rules for the guidance thereof? Sir Asman Jab, a nobleman not particularly well disposed towards the family, became the medium of communication between His Highness the Nizam and the committee of management of the estates. An official not overburdened with a sense of gratitude to the family for favours done by it in the past, turned up to be the master of the situation. And the result has proved to be disastrous to the interests of the family. Its right to the Meeralum Tank, one of its coveted possessions came to be questioned on the flimsiest grounds. A creature of the Government's, came to be appointed at the head of the committee of management. The only man on the Committee who could work on behalf of the family was worried' till he resigned his membership. Lady Salar Jung II was reduced to a nonentity within the palace walls-and her infant son, the rightful' owner of all the estates was left to take care of himself. Jealousy began to work mischief amongst the lady members of the family—and


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Page 148 SHANKERPALIE, 4th September. According to a recent order of the Government, the Nawab Vicar-ul-Mulk Bahadur, better-known as Intesar Jang, will hereafter carry on the duties of personal Assistant to His Excellency the Minister in addition to those of Revenue Secretary. Ekbal Ali vacates his place on the High Court Bench and acts as Joint Revenue Secretary "until further orders." The criminal suit against Jai Rao, Mukund Rao and some others in connection with the second Treasury Frands case, has been withdrawn by the Government. But the departmental inquiry into the charges brought against the Nawab Imad Nawaz Jung Bahadur. and Raja Srinivas Rao, stands. I have received a copy of the Resolution on the Report of the Salar Jung Dent Commission from the Home Secretary's Office. When it has been said that it is as loud in praise of "the labour, ability, intelligence and impartiality" of the Nawab Vicar-ul-Umra Bahadur, Mr. A. J. Dunlop, the Nawab Fateh Nawaz Jung Bahadur and Monlvi Ali Raza Khan-President and members of the Commission as it is bitter in running down the Nawab Mokarrub Jung, Baba Gaya Persad, Jai Rao and Mukbund Rao, all that it is possible to say about the salient features of the Resolution, has been said. The case in which His Highness the Nizam claims 23 laklıs of Rupees from Mr. Jacob, the Simla Jeweller, comes on for hearing in the Calcutta High Court in September; and that in' which the Government claims 60 lakhs from the "well-known' Hak will be heard by the Bombay High Court in November next.


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Rh friends. I have a feeling that those with whom I used to be most intimate would now consider me worldly and flippant, and I have not even told them that I am here. Others, on whose discretion I completely relied, I now have reason to suspect of showing my letters to all and sundry. If they think that I write to them with that intention they cannot know very much of my character! It is surely natural under such circumstances that a correspondence should either cease altogether or become formal and infrequent. Moreover, I now come here so seldom that in many cases it seems hardly worth while to renew former friendships, and many of those who wanted to call I have put off with excuses. . . . The truth is I now find that I have not the slightest pleasure in the society of any but a few indispensable friends. They must be people who really interest me, with whom I can talk seriously on serious subjects, and with whom I am brought into contact without effort on my side in the natural course of everyday existence. I am afraid this sounds very exacting! But stay, there is Lady Dainagon. She and I used to sleep very close together every night at the Palace and talk for hours. I see her now as she used to look during those conversations, and very much wish that she were here. So I have a little human feeling, after all!'

A little later in the same winter Murasaki sees the Gosechi dancers at the Palace, and wonders how they have reached their present pitch of forwardness and self-possession: 'Seeing several officers of the Sixth Rank coming towards them to take away their fans, the dancers threw the fans across to them in a manner which was adroit enough, but which somehow made it difficult to remember that they were women at all. If I were suddenly called upon to expose myself in that fashion I should completely lose my

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 split them into two parties. One of the parties headed by the elder daughter of Sir Salar Jung I—if a rumour that has been current here for several months and led to the appointment of the bribery commission is to be believed-subscribed about Rs.40,000 and called upon lady Salar Jung, to contribute Rs. 15,000 towards the sun to be paid to a high official, with a view to secure some privileges; and Lady Salar Jung II not having the cash delivered over jewellery to the value of the amount asked of her. Thus is it that the Salar Jung family has come to its present pass,—in spite of the Nizam—and it remains to be seen what steps will be taken by His Highness to set matters right.

We have it on the authority of the Government organ that Mr. Mahomed Yaseenkhan appointed to the High Court Judgship created vacant by the death of Mr. Sherieful Hussain, is a brother of Mr. Mahomed Amjad Ali, Taluqdar of customs, Hyderabad.

The Nawab Vicar-ul-Mulk Bahadur passes this station on his way to Hyderabad this afternoon. Whatever may be the character of the welcome he expects from those who belong to his party—and one at least of them has been very much wishing his speedy return—he cannot be unaware of the fact that his return to resume duties will be unwelcome news to many in Hyderabad. And what this is due, the clever Nawab knows—at any rate ought to know—as well as any one else in these Dominions. He has been looked upon as an alien who monopolizing all real power in the land, has studiously ignored or disregarded the claims of the sons of the soil, and benefitted himself and his creatures in every possible way. Now that he is in sound health again, if he does not adopt a new line of conduct and act so as to remove this wide-spread impression regarding himself and thus strengthen his position in the service it will be his own fault.


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28 head. But already I do a hundred things which a few years ago I should never have dreamed myself capable of doing. So strange indeed are the hidden processes which go on in the heart of man that I shall no doubt continue to part with one scruple after another till in the end what now appears to me as the most abandoned shamelessness will seem perfectly proper and natural. Thus I reflected upon the unreality of all our attitudes and opinions, and began sketching out to myself the probable course of my development. So extraordinary were the situations in which I pictured myself that I became quite confused, and saw very little of the show.'

The most direct discussion of her own character comes in a passage towards the end of the diary: 'That I am very vain, reserved, unsociable, wanting always to keep people at a distance—that I am wrapped up in the study of ancient stories, conceited, living all the time in a poetical world of my own and scarcely realizing the existence of other people, save occasionally to make spiteful and depreciatory comments upon them—such is the opinion of me that most strangers hold, and they are prepared to dislike me accordingly. But when they get to know me, they find to their extreme surprise that I am kind and gentle—in fact, quite a different person from the monster they had imagined; as indeed many have afterwards confessed. Nevertheless, I know that I have been definitely set down at Court as an ill-natured censorious prig. Not that I mind very much, for I am used to it and see that it is due to things in my nature which I cannot possibly change. The Empress has often told me that, though I seemed always bent upon not giving myself away in the royal presence, yet she felt after a time as if she knew me more intimately than any of the rest.'

The Diary closes in 1010. After this we do not know one

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, July, 13.

The Nawab Vicarnl-mulk Bahadur broke his journey here for a few hours, on Sunday, the 5th intant. He was accompanied by the Hon'ble Syed Ameer Husain of Calcutta —who is now in Hyderabad as the very hospitable Nawab Bashier-ud-Dowlah's guest enjoying a round of festivities—and was received by most of the big officials in the place. I was also on the platform. The mighty Nawab looked poorly in health far from being in a condition to attend to his many onerous duties. You need not be told that, though in name he is only the Revenue Secretary, he has control over all the departments in the State—and I wondered that he should have changed the cool heights of Mahableshwar or the invigorating climate of Bombay for the unhealthy atmosphere of Hyderabad. But then, I had not tasted the sweets of power like him and could not understand that power might be dearer to a person than health itself. To speak of the state of things in Hyderabad: some of his officials, his right-hand men, stand charged with serious offences; and the Nawab has need to be more than usually cautious and show himself to be impartial, if he values his position under the Government. It is too late in the day to say "if the critics were in my position they could not have acted differently from me—having accepted service in the State I must not mind the praises or the abuses of people" and expect people to put up with every kind of injustice and insult. The British Lion is watching— and he avenges wrongs sooner or later.

Some have been curious to know who the British authority is that could think of disposing of an application for permission to start a newspaper with a curt "we don't want a paper of the sort, so you will not get the permission to start it." The authority is Mr. Crawford, the first Assistant Resident. I wrote to him on a certain day asking him for an appointment to see him in connection with the permission applied for to start a newspaper. The appointment was duly made—and what transpired at the interview I bad with him on the appointed day, at


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 to rate his faithful' advisers soundly for deceiving him by keeping him in the dark about Mahomed Ali's antecedents. If this is true, why does not the Nawab Sir Asmanjah rid himself of these advisers?', it may be asked. Evidently the Nawab cannot get on without them—they are necessary evils that the State has to groan beneath, because it has got for its Minister a man who cannot help himself

The Bribery Commission has been sitting for some weeks past now, and it may sit for sometime longer—but that its enquiries will lead to any satisfactory results seems to be more than over a hoping against hope. The Nawab Akber Jung Bahadur, our City Kotwal, would have been an extremely useful person on the Commission. He knows and can know all that is going on in the City; and as one in touch with the City people, I may state without meaning any disparagement to Col. Ludlow, he is more competent to conduct an inquiry like the one in question than the Colonel who knows very little of the people and their language. Yet, he has been removed from the Commission.

"They say" said a friend in high position the other day "that Sir Dennis Fitzpatrick is a very clever man, a very intelligent man an astute politician. He may be all that; but that he can cope with the difficulties of the situation in a country like Hyderabad, is what I cannot believe. You will remember how the non-acceptance of Mushtak Hussain's resignation was brought about. Two of the friends went, one after the other, to Sir Dennis and made Mushtak's resignation out to be a public calamity. Sir Dennis believed them and at an interview with the Nizam he put it to him point-blank if it was true that he meant to send Mushtak Hussain out of service. The Nizam said "No" and according to that 'no' did not accept the resignation. Now, if Sir Dennis Fitzpatrick knew anything about oriental countries, oriental manners and customs, he would not have sought information on the subject of the resignation at an interview. He would have known that the exaggerated notions that orientals entertain of courtesy to a highly-respected


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, 29th August 1891.

The deliberations of the Salar Jung Debt Commission have come to a closs at last. The object of its existence has been accomplished; Mr. Gya Persad, M. A., at one time our Deputy Accountant-General has been sent out of service. And the Commission breathes its last in triumph.

I am told that the Departmental inquiry into the famous second Treasury Fraud case will terminate soon; and that it is not likely that the result of it will be any more favourable to the Nawab Imad Nawaz Jung and Raja Srinivasa Rao than the report of the Commission above alluded to bas been to Mr. Gya Persad. There is an impression abroad that the men in power are anxious to do away with as many as possible of those inimical in any way to their interests in the service, before the present Resident leaves, as they are afraid that Mr. Plowden may not be as non-interfering as Sir Dennis Fitzpatrick. I shall not stop to ask what reason there is for this. Sie Dennis goes away in October; and we shall not have to wait long to know the reasonableness or otherwise of the impression.

Two of the local papers have followed the "Deccan Times" into oblivion—the "Saferi Deccan " published within the Residency limits and the Mahboob-ul-kaloof in the Moglai jurisdiction. It is remarkable that in spite of his warm advocacy of our Home Secretary's gagging circular, Kaloof's career on earth has closed in about ten mouths.


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 guest prevents the expression of simple truth that may lead to any sort of discussion at a personal interview and would have written to His Highness about the matter and got a reply very different to that which he got at his interview." Much truth there may be in this.

To-day is the great Lunghurday of Mohorrum. All His Highness's regiments pass through certain streets in the city in consideration of the family and rank of particular individuals to-day and give an outsider an opportunity of admiring the regular and the irregular military pagentry—you must remember we have 'irregulars' consisting of sepoys, good, bud and indifferent, tall, short and dwarfish, shoeless and turbandless, sherwanied and under-vested, as well as regulars'—in this God-governed country.


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, 17th August 1891.

The messages wired to His Highness the Nizam on the 2nd and 3rd June last, by the Rajasahib of Anagondi, about the affairs of his principality, which I quoted at length in my last letter—call for a few comments. They draw His Highness' attention to the following facts:—

(1) That a peishush of Rs.10,000 was imposed on the samasthan in utter defiance of precedent on the occasion of recognition of the present Raja as its head;

(2) that the Minister increase the peisheush to Rs.18,000 with retrospective effect and demanded the immediate payment of 3 year's peisheush, although the Subadar of the Southern Division deputed by the Government to look into the condition of the samasthan, had, after careful inquiry, reported its inability to pay any peisheush;

(3) that Mr. Dunlop, Inspector General of Revenue, made a similar report to that of the Subadar to the Government with no effect;

(4) that several representations made by the Rajabisahib to His Highness, through his Private Secretary, the Nawab Imad-ul-mulk Bahadur, were never placed before His Highness, and that on the last occasion when the Rajahsahib's counsel called upon him, the Nawab plainly told him to go to the Resident for redress;

(5) that when further instalments towards the liquidation of the debt contracted by the Rajasahib's mother in 1293 Fasli, were stopped because of the creditor Bansi Raja's failure to furnish a statement of accounts, Bansi Raja, with the assistance of the Nawab Vicar-ul-mulk, the Revenue Secretary, took forcible possession of the two villages out of the revenues of which his money had been arranged to be paid by annual instalments;


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 when they become full-blown graduates? The Resident's allusion to the men from the North-West is not quite intelligible, if he referred to the grumble heard all over the Dominion against the monopolising of all important offices by the Hindustanees, if he meant that all the Hindustanees in service are educationally superior men to the Hyderabadees clamouring for positions, I must say that he blundered unwittingly or that he but echoed the opinions of interested parties constantly dinned into his cars. For, with the exception of the Belgramis and one or two others, the Hindustanees are ignorant of English and cannot claim to be educationally superior to their co-religionists here.

Since writing last about the Diamond case' I have heard that His Highness is determined to get back the whole of his 23 lakhs, and that he has engaged the services of Mr. Jardine, of the Bombay Bar, for the purpose.


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 (6) that the Nawab Vicar-nl-mulk has maintained a studious silence in regard to several letters addressed to him on the matter;

(7) that a police picket productive of great annoyance and mischief has been levied on the Samasthan;

(8) and that the Minister has taken away all the powers that the Rajas of Anagondi exercised for many decades.

A stronger array of facts has not been, nor can be, produced to prove the arbitrariness of the Minister, and the nature of the advice tendered to him by his arch-adviser the Nawab Vicarul-mulk—and yet the facts have had little weight here. They reveal a powerful combination against this poor Hindu prince— a combination composed of the Minister, the Revenue Secretary and the Private Secretary to His Highness the Nizam. There is the Revenue Secretary to advise, the Minister to issue orders, the Private Secretary to keep His Highness in the dark about any representations that may be made to him through him; and thus everything necessary is secured to accomplish 'the annihilation' of this ancient Hindu samasthan which ewes its existence to His Highness. What has the poor prince done to deserve all this at the hands of these mighty men? God knows what It is true that he, with a due sense of the dignity of the Rajas of Anagondi, did not go down on his knees at the interview he had with His Excellency Sir Asman Jah Baladur. But surely this cannot be a justification for the extraordinary treatment that the Rajasahib has been subjected to. If it is—in the eyes of the powers-that-be—"what chance has an obnoxious official or individual of faring better than the Raja," it may well be asked. The Raja Sahib of Anagondi is also a British subject, his mother, Ranee Kuppamma, laving been in receipt of a pension from the Government of Madras. And if this pathetic appeal to His Highness the Nizam fail to secure any redress—and I am sure it will not so fail—he will have to seek it, no doubt, at the hands of the British Government from which the veriest beggar can claim justice or the undoing of injustice.


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 The one thing that is being universally talked about at the present moment, is what is known as the "Diamond case." Sometimes ago an English firm offered, through a merchant, by name Mr. Jacob, to sell to His Highness the Nizam a diamond for the modest sum of 46 lakhs of rupees. And the diamond itself was sent through the merchant to the Nizam for inspection, His Highness lodging in some bank or other, 23 lakhs of rupees in the name of Mr. Jacob as security for its safe delivery back to owners in case it should not meet with His Highness's approval. It was duly inspected; but though approved of, it was not purchased, by the Nizam owing to the good counsel, if I am correctly informed, of our Resident, Sir Dennis Fitzpatrick. The diamond had consequently to be returned, and the refund of the 23 lakhs of rupees demanded of Mr. Jacob. But Mr. Jacob, the successful speculator that he is, does not mean to return the 23 lakhs entire in accordance with the demand. He says that the bringing down of the diamond from England cost him 5 lakhs, and so deducting the sum from that placed in his name, he will let is Highness have 18 lakhs of rupees. His Highness does not seem to agree with the merchant—and so there is a likelihood of a case cropping up at no distant date. Several officials of His Highness's Government are said to be involved in the affair; and it is to be hoped that we shall be given an opportunity of knowing what part each of them has had assigned to him in it.


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, 23rd August, 1891.

I said about three weeks ago in these columns, that it would be difficult to find a worse-managed department, in the Nizam's State, than the Public Works Department—though under the guidance and supervision of Englishmen, I shall now lay be fore yon the details of a case, a case still pending so to say, which makes what I stated then as clear as day-light; and which shows that things are as bad as they could be in this Department and the sooner it is subjected to an overhauling by the Government, the better it will be. Mr. Mancherjee Bazonje, District Engineer, was transferred from Gulburga to Aurangabad about the middle of March last. And no sooner did he set foot in the Division where Mr. Marret was Divisional Engineer than his troubles began. Mr. Marret had a reputation for being the most zealous divisional officer in the Nizam's service; he would have the District Engineer work nuder his very nose, he would have him obtain his advice and act according to it in the most trivial matters, in fact he would have him renounce the diguity of his office and sink to the level of a subordinate out and out; and, because of this zeal, ha had in a comparatively short period brought about the turning out of the Division" of five District Engineers, successively before Mr. Mancherjee Messrs. Neilson, Allen, Fitzgerald Plunkett, and Walter. Such as Mr. Marret was, it was not long before he found serions reasons for being seriously displeased with Mr. Mancherjee especially as the latter was somewhat independent and plain spoken. In fact Mr. Mancherjee was under suspension consequent upon charges brought against him by the Divisional Engineer in less than three months. Mr. Marret had written to him about overtopping of moram which he, Mr. Marret, had discovered on a certain road; and Mr. Mancherjee, being informed of the non-existence of any overtopping on the road by the Supervisor directly in charge of it, had written to request him to let him know at what mile on the road he had noticed it. This turned out to be an act of insubordination. Mr. Mancherjee had issued instructions to a certain contractor named Sorabji


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 promotion to undeserving pupils." The suggestions above reproduced, I need hardly say, are worthy of a careful consideration at the hands of the authorities concerned. The Nawab Imadal-mulk Bahadur was the next to speak. Then came, the last but not the least item on the programme for the evening-Sir Dennis' speech. After entertaining us with a most edifying contrast between College life in India and that in England in his happy way, he addressed the young men around him somewhat in these words: Youngmen in Hyderabad are not availing themselves sufficiently of the educational advantages held out to them. What is to become of Hyderabad if the noblemen, and gentlemen of the place do not insist upon their sons obtaining a good, sound education? If you youngmen do not educate yourselves so as to make your State, if entrusted to you, keep pace with the advance made by other States, you must not complain if the chief offices are given away to men from the North-West."

Sir Dennis Fitzpatrick's words to the Hydrabadees call for a few remarks. The Resident seems to be labouring under the impression that every possible inducement is offered to youths to make them educate themselves to a high standard. In spite of his residence here for some years he seems to be in blissful ignorance of the fact that little has been done by way of appreciating the work of those who have already gone in for higher education. Mr. Hodson reported: "Mr Cornelius took his B. A. Degree in Science, and 2 out of 3 candidates passed the B. A. at their first trial." How, I ask, has Mr. Cornelins's degree been appreciated? How have the services of the first graduate of the Nizam College, the only Hydrabadee graduate we have had in the last 5 or 6 years, one of the only three graduates this State has produced-been utilized? In no way. His chances of getting into His Highness's service seem to be as few as those of Hydrabadees who have not gone beyond their alphabets in their education. And what likelihood is there, so long as the present circumstances continue, that the 2 out of the 3 candidates who have passed the B. A. in the first Branch will fare better


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 to carry out some works entrusted to him according to the agreement he had entered into with the Department according to mamool, and Mr. Marett's own orders on one occasion. This became conduct unprofessional-so unprofessional indeed as to prove Mr. Mancherjee's unfitness for discharging the duties of a District Engineer. Then again, Mr. Mancherjee had circulated the rumour that he had been sent directly by Iis Exceliency Sir Asmanjah Bahadur at the suggestion of Khan Bahadur Mahomed Sidik, Divisional Engineer, Eastern Division, to put Public Works matters right in Aurangabad. And this, which by the way, rests wholly on the authority of Mr. Marrett, was tantamount to an attempt to bully the Divisional Engineer. Such and similar were the charges that secured the District Engineer's suspension. A few days after the order of suspension lead been sent to Mr. Mancherjee, Mr. Guantlet, Superintending Engineer went over to Aurangabad to inquire into the charges brought against him. He put up with the hospitable Mr. Marret, and after cogitating under his roof for a few days, sent off a report on the affair to the head-quarters-without, (will you believe it?) so much as hearing a word of what the defendant had to say for himself, or what the Nawab Mukhtidar Jung Bahadur who as Subedhar of the Division is in a way, the head of the Public. Works executive on the spot had to say in the matter. What the nature of the communication made by Mr. Gauntiet to Mr. Palmer, Chief Engineer and Secretary to Government in the Public works Department, is, it is not difficult to guess; but all the same, we should wait to see what the result of it will be.

The above is a plain, unvaruished statement of the treatment that Mr. Mancherjee has received; and if it does not show that the Department sadly needs a careful looking-into, and better heads than it, at present, can boast of, one might well ask what else can?

The Prize Distribution of "the Nizam's College and Madrasa-i-Aliya" came off on Friday, the 21st instant. This event to which a great deal of importance is attached here, it


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HEN the knock came Ted was slumped on his spine in the Morris chair, the green-shaded lamp beside him and a magazine propped on his chest. It was Saturday night and study was not imperative, for which he was grateful. The baseball game with Prospect Hill in the afternoon had been a hard one, and the victory—for Warwick had won in the tenth—had left him rather tired, and he had passed up a lecture in the school auditorium in favor of rest and solitude at home. Which is why the knock on the door brought a sigh and a frown. Of course, he might remain silent, but the light shining through the transom would be a give-away, and the caller might be Trev or Corwin with his everlasting stamp album: Trev was a sensitive kid and easily hurt. So Ted laid down his magazine and said "Come in!" in no very enthusiastic tone. To his relief, the visitor was Hal Saunders.


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S winter drew on, the Lady of Akashi in her house by the Ōi river became very dispirited. Formerly the prospect of a visit from Genji was sufficient to rouse her from her melancholy; but now he found her always in the same dejected posture morning, noon and night: ‘How much longer is this to go on?’ he cried impatiently. ‘Do, I beg of you, make up your mind to come to my palace and use the quarters I have reserved for you.’ But he could never persuade her that she would not be thus exposing herself to a hundred indignities and affronts. It was of course impossible to be quite sure how things would go, and if, after all his assurances, the move did not turn out well, her vague resentment against him would henceforth be transformed into a definite and justified grievance. ‘Do you not feel,’ he said, ‘that it would be unfair to your child to keep it here with you much longer? Indeed, knowing as you do what plans I have made for its future, you must surely see that you are behaving towards it with a lack of proper respect…. I have constantly discussed this matter with my wife and she has always shown great interest in the child’s future. If it is

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36 put for a while under her care, she will no doubt be willing to stand sponsor to it; so that it will be possible to carry out the Initiation ceremony and other rituals of induction with full publicity.’ So far from being convinced by his arguments, she saw herself now being inveigled into doing precisely what she had always suspected with horror that he would one day ask of her. ‘Take the child away from me if you like,’ she said at last, ‘and give her to these grand people to bring up as though she were their own. But just when you think you have repaired the accident of her birth, some one will let out the secret, and where will you be then?’ ‘Yes, we must be careful about that,’ answered Genji. ‘But you need have no fear that the child will not be properly looked after. As you know, though we have been married for many years, Lady Murasaki has no children of her own, and this very much distresses her. She badly needs companionship, and when at one time there was some question of her adopting Lady Akikonomu, the former Vestal Virgin, she was obviously delighted at the prospect, though this lady was already a grown-up person. But when it comes to a child,—at an age, too, when such creatures have an irresistible charm—it is quite certain that she will welcome it with alacrity and henceforward devote all her time to its care. Of that there is no doubt at all…’ and he proceeded to a general eulogy upon Murasaki’s docility and charm. But while he was speaking the Lady of Akashi recalled the stories of Genji’s adventurous past, and of numerous other attachments with which rumour credited him. It seemed on the one hand very unlikely that Lady Murasaki would not ultimately suffer the fate of her predecessors, and why should her child be entrusted to a favourite who might soon be forgotten or thrust aside? If on the other hand Murasaki

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 the appointed hour, I have already told your readers. Well, returning from the interview, I put down on paper the particulars of the interview and sent it to Mr Crawford with a letter to the effect; "I have noted down on another paper the particulars of the interview I had with you this morning. Please look through and let me know if I have omitted anything that you may like to be mentioned and oblige. If by Friday next I do not receive a reply I shall consider myself at liberty to send to the papers my account of the interview as being strictly faithful." And this elicited, mirabile dictu, an official document from the Extra Assistant Resident's Office informing me, in reply to my letter regarding the permission, that the application for permission would be placed before the Resident for orders. I could not for the life of me understand what the document meant, for I had never written to Mr. Crawford about the permission, the only letter written to him being the one asking for appointment in connection with it to which I had received a reply making an appointment. All this about the British authority's proceedings sounds so funny that, I am sure, your readers will enjoy the reading of it.

I told you in my last that the right of the Salar Jung family to the Meer Alum Tank, one of its coveted possessions, had been questioned by the present Minister on the flimsiest of grounds. The 'grounds' are worth noticing. The tank was constructed long ago by the Nawab Meer Alum, whose name it bears, not by public subscriptions but at his own cost. And if it came to be used by the public, it was thus. The Nawab Meer Alum, out of loyalty to his sovereign and consideration for his friends, allowed water to be drawn from the tank for the use of the Nizam and certain noblemen in the city. And later on when the people applied to him for permission to draw water from it for irrigating the fields underlying it, he was public-spirited and generous enough to grant the permission. In consideration of the good derived by the people from the tank, the Government of His Highness the Nizam ordered that its repair, whenever


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 not born in you in vain, you are destined to speak before many thousands who are today still dumb. And you will find comrades, friends—you will not be alone."

The little Dryad nodded laughingly to Paul, swept lightly upwards, and sat on a branch of the birch.

"Are you going already," asked little Paul, worried.

"You must go home, little Paul. But you must always come back and I will comfort you and help you."

"Wait a little," begged Paul. "The Owl said in eighty years, not until eighty years from now, she will be able to answer my question. That is a long time. Did the Owl speak truly?"

"That depends on you people," replied the light, silvery voice of the tiny Dryad. "Perhaps it will take you eighty years to become wise, perhaps if you, you and your comrades, do not stop asking questions, it may only take fifty years. The great day of freedom may come in twenty, in ten years. Yes, perhaps even tomorrow.." [sic]

The tiny Dryad disappeared into the tree, but all the tree called in light, joyous voices to little Paul:

"Tomorrow! Tomorrow! Tomorrow!"

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 opposition here. If the opposition includes the children of the soil, there is reason for this cry. But if by it is meant the party out of power, the outs" as the "Bombay Gazette" styles it, nothing could be a greater travesty of truth than it is. "How long are we to put up with this injustice and zoolum?" said a Muhamedan gentleman the other day. And when I told him that the authors of so much mischief must sooner or later sink weighted down by their sins, he said, "It seems as if that day will never come." The feeling herein portrayed is the feeling of almost every Hydera badeo and of most of those interested in his welfare. The "Bombay Gazette" in a long leader devoted to the review of Sir Dennis Fitzpatrick's work in his issue of the 11th Instant, says that as Resident his duty lay in supporting Sir Asmanjah and that duty he discharged remarkably well. This definition of the Resident's duty "beats" Sir Dennis's- and it smacks of the counsel for the defendant and not the fair critic. Did the Editor of the "Gazette" give himself time to think what supporting Sir Asmanjah really meant? Did he remember that the Minister was but a puppet that danced at the pulling of the wires by a set of aliens with an eye to their profit?

Last Monday was His Highness the Nizam's birthday; and it differred from its predecessors, in that attempts were made thereon by some to show that the people fully approved of the trust reposed in the present Ministry by His High- ness. What a miserable success these attempts proved to be, any one who cared to take a stroll through the streets of the city last Monday night, could tell. The enthusiasm that expressed itself in the lighting of houses did not extend beyond a few officials, some Hindu noblemen who are more timid than straight forward, and a few of the inhabitants living in dread of the influence of some of the Municipal authorities. And instead of a blaze of light all round, a few well-lit houses met one's view occasionally-and this but tended to bring into bold relief the


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 it should need it, should, be execued and paid for out of the public funds—and, if I am correctly informed, the order is up to date being acted up to. These facts had evidently no significance in the eyes of Sir Asmanjah, As soon as he became the medium of communication between His Highness and the committee of management of the Salar Jung estates—and I may tell you that he has never been known to let grass grow under his feet-he brought it to the notice of the Commiteee that the tank did not belong to the Salar Jung family but was public property, for, he said, it had been used by the people and its repairs had been carried out by the Government for a long time. How could such things have been had the tanks belonged to the Salar Jung family? And this but showed that it had been constructed by public subscriptions. Sir Asmanjali's line of reasoning is "wondrous" to be sure. But it is doubtful whether he would appreciate it himself in all circumstances. Basheer Bagh has been, almost since its construction, used for housing the guests of the State, and its repairs have been more than once attended to by the Government in its Public Works Department. Now what would Sir Asmaujah say if the people said, "Basheer Bagh is not your property, but ours. It has been used as a Government—house every now and then and its repairs have been carried out more than once by the Government and how could these things have been if it belonged to you?" Would the just and impartial Nawab relish this argument?

At no time have we been wanting in slaves who could put their necks to the yoke readily and without a murmur and even commend the galling effects thereof. Following close upon the spectacle presented by the independent Shaukat Islam" refusing to dance to the tune of an unscrupulous Government and suffering thereof, we have the sight of the Malboob-ul-kuloof cheerfully putting on slavery of praising the strength of the chain binding him and testifying to the salutary results thereof. The Kuloof has within the last few days posed as a champion of the Gagging Circular—and a smart critic of the Rozyar who is


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 too stupid to understand what is good and the "Islam" who is too conceited to obey what will do him good. Too prudent Kuloof! Truly if fellow-feeling makes us wondrous kind—a servile spirit renders us wondrous blind!


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, 20th July, 1891.

I very much regret to have to record the death, at Edinburgh, on the 2nd Instant, of Mrs. Littledale, for some time the Head-mistress of the Hyderabad Zenaua School. She was an extraordinary lady in many respects, and under favourable circumstances she might have been of immense service to the Indian society and might have left a name and example not easily to be forgotten. Blessed with an extremely liberal minded father she passed her early years away from the mischievous influences of the Hindu nursery, amidst very enlightened surroundings and up to the close of her short life she remained a vivid expression thereof. Her letters written to her brother, studying in England, while only 13 or 14 years of age, and one on the Hindu society published over her signature by the "London Spectator" sometime after that reveal her to be, if not a genius, at least one who, had her lot been cast in England, could have influenced the minds of her generation' considerably. And if her marriage with an Englishman was possible at a time when Hindu conservatism was much more powerful than now, it was because of the rare moral courage she showed as much as of the liberal-mindedness wich enabled her father Dr. Atmaram Pandarang, to withstand the onslaughts of custom and bigotry. But unfortunately this marriage proved unhappy, and left Mrs. Littledale very little of the will to do may useful work. She came to Hyderabad when the Zemana School was started in connection with the Hyderabad branch of the National Indian Association,—and if with the Nawab lmadul-Mulk Bahadur, the Director of Public Instruction, originated the idea of this unique institution, to her wholly belongs the credit of working it out. Her way of making lessons interesting as well as her manner attracted pupils; and she was loved by her "girls" as she used to call the pupils of her school, as much as she was respected and admired for her cleverness" by all that knew her. She was compelled by continued ill-health to resign her appointment and leave for Bombay and therefrom to England; but we little thought when she left us that in a few


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Page 94 by Mr. Gallagher with prosecution not in the Madras Courts but in the Hyderabad Courts"-and winds up thus. "So clear is the meaning of these letters, and so absolutely must they have proved to the public the utter absence of probity in the complainant, that I am unable to find that the imputation of dishonesty, conveyed in the second passage complained of, can have lowered his character in this respect either directly or indirectly. I therefore discharge the accused under Section 253." Now I should like to know if it is not the duty of the genuine nobility of Hyderabad to press his Excellency Sir Asmanja Bahadur for an explanation of the discreditable conduct of his henchmen, to "proceed against him before His Highness the Nizam for allowing his men to spend the money got out of the hard-worked ryat in the manner so well described by Mr. Bosanquet in his able judgment? Is not the British Resident, I ask, bound to take notice of the facts vouched for by one of the Judges of the Residency Courts, and stay the alien hands busy spoliating the reis and the rayet alike? I am glad to inform you that very laudable efforts are being made to bring those concerned in the City Murder Case to justice. Sadulla, you will remember, filed a suit some time ago against Mr. Gallagher, Editor of this "Deccan Standard" for publishing a paragraph defaming his wife. On Mr. G.'s tendering him an apology for inserting the paragraph, he withdrew the charge against him and through his counsel Mr. Nelson sought permission of Mr. Bosanquet to bring a charge of murder against Abdul Wahid and others who had been discharged by Mr. Ahmed Raza Khan. Mr. Bosanquet heard the Counsel's argument for re-opening the case and wished to know if he had jurisdiction' in the matter. And consequently Mr. Nelson appeared before the Judge on the 31st ultimo and made an able speech with a view to prove that being British-born subject Abdul Wahid and his servants were amenable to British laws only and that according to the Criminal Procedure Code and


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 wisher of the Indian National Congress movement. Alluding to the "Pioneer's" article on "Missionaries and Politics" he writes thus to me:--

"With reference to "Missionaries and Politics" I believe every Christian Missionary in India ought to be in the vanguard in all things relating to the social or politico-social as well as moral advancement of the people. There are politics and politics; and inasmuch as in many of the political reforms called for to-day, there are bound up many and weighty social problems which demand a satisfactory solution in the interests of the people of India and which when solved will expedite poli- tical reforms, I am of opinion that Missionaries are not guilty of meddling in matters beyond their concern when they extend practical sympathy to the National Congress. My own sympa- thies are very largely with the Congress."

The statement that is going the rounds of the Indian Press that the Nawab Franz Jong Bahadur is the first Parsi Nawab is not correct. Hyderabad has had two Parsi Nawabs, riz., Nadir Jung and Rustam Jung before Framjee's time. As for the third Nawab himself, though it is whispered in certain circles that he got his title through some back-door influence yet it is admitted that he had better claims to it than any other Parsi in the State.

The "interesting information" furnished by the "Stafford- shire Chronicle" about "the Muhomedan rule of Hyderabad- Deccan," to which reference is made by your London corres- pondent in his letter of the 12th ultimo, is news to us one and all. Would that our young ruler were put in the way of evincing so much interest in the welfare of his subjects as to confer "the franchise on certain classes!" Then, knee- crooking would not do duty for efficiency and criminality would not be allowed to go unpunished because of influence acquired by hook or crook.


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his learning with phrases from the sermons of the saintly Shones Talysarn.

If one asked him: "What are you going, Ben Abel Deinol?" he always answered: "The errander of the White Gospel fach."

His father communed with the preacher, who said: "Pity quite sinful if the boy is not in the pulpit."

"Like that do I think as well too," replied Abel. "Eloquent he is. Grand he is spouting prayers at his bed. Weep do I."

Neighbours neglected their fields and barnyards to hear the lad's shoutings to God. Once Ben opened his eyes and rebuked those who were outside his room.

"Shamed you are, not for certain," he said to them. "Come in, boys Capel. Right you hear the Gospel fach. Youngish am I but old is my courtship of King Jesus who died on the tree for scamps of parsons."

He shut his eyes and sang of blood,


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 being the only function at which His Highness the Nizam presides, was robbed of much of its interest this year by the absence of His Highness, the chief nobles of the city and the elite of Secunderabad and Bolarum. Sir Dennis Fitzpatrick took the chair; and by the side of him on the dais I saw Sir Asmanjah, the Nawab Ekbal-ul-Dowlah, and the Nawab Imaum Jung to whom the Nizam's elder sister had only a short time ago been betrothed. The report of the Principal, Mr. H. P. Hodson, M. A., was as usual an interesting document, satisfactory, hopeful and full of important observations and well-thoughtout suggestions. "We are beginning to get, at any rate in the lower departments, the children of those who have had education, and it is interesting to observe how anxious the parents are that their sons should avoid that carelessness in early life which they themselves now regret. Not only do some of our old pupils look keenly after their sons, but they deligently beat up recruits among those less alive to the benefits of education; notable examples of the help thus given are found in Raja Murli Manohur (whose son has just matriculated at the age of 15) and Mir Hafiz Ali (Nawab Intekal Jung Bahadur), The awaking zeal bas in some cases resulted in our having father and son both at school together—.... "After recording this pleasing fact, Mr. Hodson proceeded to submit to the Board that the time has now come for provision to be made for after education, for there is evidently a desire for it; I mean some system of lectures, conversazioues, and evening classes by which grown-up pupils could continue to improve themselves, unbound by the hard and fast rules of a University course, for which they have not the leisure nor the inclination. He repeated the complaint he had made last year, "bow early marriage or succession to family posts and duties took away promising pupils as soon as they were qualified by good grounding to begin to really learn; and suggested by way of "encouraging lads to persevere in the regular course" that the Government should consult the Board as to their character " while young nobles are still in statu pupillari," and refuse "honor and


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 It is always painful to have to write an obituary-and much more so when it relates to one who has done some service in his time. Yet it is desirable that it ought to be "writ"-for it often points a moral. The "Hyderabad Record" after struggling for life for a little over five years, breathed its last on Friday last. Its was a chequered existence—and its reverses, successes and the unhappy circumstances which led to its sudden demise are full of valuable counsel to all those who are already engaged in journalistic work or who may be engaged in it, hereafter here.

Under the late Mr. Job Solomon it was a power in the land—how before it was many months old it came to be stopped by British officials, how persistently and courageously Mr. Solomon fought against tremendous odds and secured the right to publish the paper again, how the "Record", until the moment of his death, was a terror to corrupt officials, how they winced under its attacks and kept their hands off partiality or injustice to a certain extent at least in sheer fright of its criticism, all Hyderabad knows. Mr. Solomon died, and with him died the independence and courage of the "Record." Under a good guide it might have had a long and very useful career.

The management of the "Deccan Times" has again changed hands. Mr. Gribble's connection with the paper as Managing Proprietor ceased this morning. Under Mr. Gribble the "Deccan Times" improved considerably in matter as well as manner, and its tone was uniformly courteous, and generally impartial and independent—though not much to the benefit, it must be confessed, of Hyderabadees. But what it may be under his successor or successors the future alone can reveal to us.


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wood, white shirts, and thorns; of the throng that would arise from the burial-ground, in which there were more graves than molehills in the shire. He cried against the heathenism of the Church, the wickedness of Church tithes, and against ungodly book-prayers and short sermons.

Early Ben entered College Carmarthen, where his piety—which was an adage—was above that of any student. Of him this was said: "White Jesus bach is as plain on his lips as the snout of a big sow."

Brightness fell upon him. He had a name for the tearfulness and splendour of his eloquence. He could conduct himself fancifully: now he was Pharoah wincing under the plagues, now he was the Prodigal Son hungering at the pigs' trough, now he was the Widow of Nain rejoicing at the recovery of her son, now he was a parson in Nineveh squirming under the tongue of Jonah; and his hearers


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 HYDERABAD, 10th January, 1891.

Mr. Syed Ahmed Raza Khan has proved himself a good hand at special pleading. His order for the discharge of two of the accused in the City marder case has been published in the local papers since my last writing to you. And those incredul- ous people who might not have believed the information I placed before your readers about the murder case, could see for themselves now that I did not invent things to cause "mischief." As for the order itself, any one with a modicum of common sense could read between the lines of it a desperate attempt to exculpate Abdul Wahid fully. When the man who had driven the murdered woman to the scene of murder-or rather to with- in a short distance of it, confessed in court to being able to identify the man that had accompanied the jutka, Ahmed Raza Khan bade the Nazir of the Court and two chaprasees to take him through the streets of the City and ask him to point out every one of those he had ever driven in his jutka. This decla- res the spirit in which the trial, so far as Abdul Wahid was concerned, was conducted-and this is the spirit which charac- terises the order. If there were little evidence to incriminate Abdul Wahid, there was less against Wazeeran the decoy. Yet Abdul Wahid has been at large on bail for several days now, while Wazeran is still in police custody. How is this to be accounted for? No application was ever made in Court for Abdnl Wahid's being admitted to bail, and unless we believe a statement made by a local paper that Abdul Kader, Wahid's brother, had had a private interview with the Judge just before the proceedings of the case began and had not only applied but arranged for his being released on bail, no application was ever made even out of Conrt. If Wahid could be let off on bail in the absence of an application put in for it, why was not Wazeeran dealt with similarly? Referring to the evidence given by the murdered woman's daughter, Ahmed Raza Khan says that those (meaning the police,) who are adepts at tutoring grown-up people could easily get a little girl say what they


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, 11th April 1891.

It would be difficult to find in the whole of India a family more illustrious than the Salar Jung family or one which has suffered so much as the Salar Jung family has at the hands of men who know not or rather will not know "Joseph." The fates as well the powers-that-be seem to have decided against it. The two sons of the great satesman who had for over a quarter of a century occupied a unique position in the Indian political world, died while hopes were yet being formed of them, within a few months of each other—and the name itself of the family might have been buried with them but for a babe that lives in degradation and discomfort to tell of former greatness and raise in the few Salar Jungites that are left faint hopes of future prosperity. The calamity is not calamitous enough in the eyes of some-and they must needs see that the friends of the family are powerless to do any good. The Nawab Imad Nawaz Jung Bahadur Hussan Bin Abdulla who has followed the fortunes of the family for well-high twenty-five years, and whose faithfulness to it and zeal in its behalf are facts that every one here can vouch for, can no longer lift so much as a finger of his to ward off any evil designed or intended against it. Under a very great pressure from the ruling authorities, the Nawab has had to resign his membership of the Salar Jung's estates management Committee. The want of foresight which allowed Busherad Dowlah's administration to have anything to do with the Salar Jung estates management Committee-is being made more and more clear day by day to be sure.

I get such few opportunities of singing the praises of those in power that when I get them I never like to let them slip through. Sometine ago a strong rumour was current in the city that a high official had taken a bribe of Rs. 60,000 from the Begums of the Salar Jung family. Being addressed on the subject by the official, the Begums have written to contradict the rumour. This is an immesely gratifying fact-and I wish to place it on record.


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 Wonders never cease in Hyderabad. About two months and a half after the passing of Judgment by Mr. Ahmed Raza Khan in the City murder case, and a mouth and 25 days after the decision of a Divisional Bench of the High Court on it, His Excellency Sir Asmanjah Bahadur has issued a resolution about it. The resolution is a lengthy one, and it pitches into Ahmed Raza Khan and the police and protests too much in the same breath-and betrays, fortunately or unfortunately, its forced tone. It winds up with the following orders:—

(1.) The order of the Divisional Bench sentencing Abdool Husain to imprisonment for life, is confirmed.

(2.) His Excellency desires to record his grave displeasure at the procedure adopted both by the city and suburban police and by Hafiz Syed Alimed Raza Khan Sahil, which prevented all the facts of the case being brought to light and led to circumstances much to be regretted.

(3.) With regard to Abdul Rahman, H, E. the Minister, in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 13 of the High Court Rules, directs that the Full Bench of the High Court should consider the points above raised and direct the Government Pleader to re-open the case against him.

(4.) The Kotwal should be directed to do his utmost to collect such further information as will complete the links in the chain of evidence. The High Court should then be moved to re-open the case against Abdul Wahid, admit the further evidence that may be forthcoming and decide on the merits of the case so as to give a clear decision as to his innocence or guilt. In the meanwhile Abdul Wahid should be rearrested unless lie can furnish bail to the extent of Rs. 10,000.

There is no doubt that this resolution is due to the wide-felt sympathy—secured for Sadulla by the circumstances amidst which and the manner in which "Mumtiaz" met her death—which found expression recently in a laudable attempt to get the case retried by a British Magistrate.


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winced or hungered, rejoiced or squirmed. Congregations sought him to preach in their pulpits, and he chose such as offered the highest reward, pledging the richest men for his wage and the cost of his entertainment and journey. But Ben would rule over no chapel. "I wait for the call from above," he said.

His term at Carmarthen at an end, he came to Deinol. His father met him dolefully.

"An old boy very cruel is the Parson," Abel whined. "Has he not strained Gwen for his tithes? Auction her he did and bought her himself for three pounds and half a pound."

Ben answered: "Go now and say the next Saturday Benshamin Lloyd will give mouthings on tithes in Capel Dissenters."

Ben stood in the pulpit, and he spoke to the people of Capel Dissenters.

"How many of you have been to his


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 HYDERABAD, 31st January, 1891. The City murder case has come to a close. Mr. Hafiz Ahmed Raza Khan delivered judgment last Thursday, acquitting Abdul Wahid, Abdul Rahman and Ameeran on all the charges and sentencing Abool Husain to seven years' rigorous imprison- ment not for murder or abetment of murder, but for doing away with the evidence of the commission of the crime. After all that I have stated in former letters as to the manner in which the trial has been conducted, I need hardly tell you that the judg- ment, bearing as it does a clear impress of miscarriage of justice, las caused no surprise here. The last issue of a local paper makes mention of a rumour that has been going the round for sometime past, in connection with the murder case. Some one connected with the defence seems to have made up his mind to teach a lesson to people disposed to be as meddlesome as the Rev. Mr. Gilder, of the Chadarghat Methodist Episcopal Church, but for whom the murder might have gone the way of many cases of equal impor- tance-and offered a Rohilla in the City a sum of Rs. 500 with a view to induce him to assassinate the Reverend gentleman. The Rohilla proved the wrong person to be trusted with an offer of this sort. Being a recipient of many kindnesses at the hands af some Punjab missionaries, he did not feel up to spilling the blood of a missionary-and so he straightway carried the news to Mr. Gilder. Mr. Gilder communicated with the Residency authorities and got a few policemen to keep guard round his house. This precaution withal, some ruffians, who are said to have closed with the offer, that the Rohilla had declined so gracefully, approached the house on a night and had to beat a hasty retreat because of the alarm raised by the police on guard. So runs the rumour. And it is, I am in a position to say, not without a foundation. The dismissal of Chella Rama Row in connection with the second of the Treasury Frauds Cases is worth noticing as giving


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Page 60 of the Club." "I had not supplied myself with the full informa- tion before I wrote about the memorial, and what I stated was against actual facts," I am told, and an expected to believe this in spite of myself. I had spoken to the Raja Murli Mono- hur Bahadur on the subject of the scholarship question some- time before the "Club" members thought of drawing up a memorial about it, in the presence of one or two members of the Club. The Raja told us there was no need for memorializing and tried his best to convince us that the Guvernment would throw the scholarships open to all irrespective of caste or creed, And the list of those allowed to sit for the competitive examina- tion held long before the Club's memorial was ready showed what strong reasons the Raja had had for telling us that the Govern- ment would throw the scholarships open to all. I could not for the life of me understand "what more consistent way of defence" I could have found than stating the plain truth.


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 no fraud was committed, and the other is that no motive for a fraud does exist. Alum Ali Khan is paid for the maintenance of his troops stationed in five districts, from the District and Central Treasuries. A certain sum paid to him from the District Treasuries and not deducted from that owing to him in the District Accounts, was overdeducted by the Central Accounts Branch. Thus though mistakes were committed yet the result turned out to be what it ought to be. This the gentleman who congratulated himself on having discovered frauds and hastened to turn his discovery to account was too blind to see. Now as to the so-called motive for a fraud: it is inferred by the Government from the fact of the Nawab Imad Nawaz Jung's having sold his house "which was ultimately sold for Rs. 26,000 and which is really of that value to Alum Ali Khan for Rs. 45,000. The house according to the valuation of four professional men, is worth over Rs. 62,000 and that it was not "ultimately sold for Rs. 20,000" as stated by the Government plaint but for Rs. 45,000 is proved by a letter addressed to the Nawab Imad Nawaz Jung by Alum Ali Khan. And no portion of the purchase money was allowed to be appropriated by any one by the Nawab. These facts speak for themselves.

Jaya Rao has been acquitted. The Judges of the High Court who heard his appeal against the decision of Afzul Husain have reversed the sentence of the Lower Court. And to Mr. Norton, of the Madras Bar, is due the credit of having secured this. I commend Mr. Norton's able defence to the notice of those here who looked unutterable thoughtfulness when my letters commenting upon Afzul Husain's judgment appeared. They will now see that I was not fighting with shadows, that I evolved nothing out of my inner consciousness, that I but noticed what must be palpable to every one who is not born blind.

My attention has just been drawn to "A Member's" letter about "the Hindu Social Club" here. The letter is at best a sorry attempt to prove that I have "compromised the position


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 HYDERABAD, 17th January, 1891. The beginning of the end of the case against the Nawab Imad Nawaz Jung and the Raja Srinivas Rao has been heralded by the announcement that the Government will inquire into it departmentally. And now it may not be amiss to place before your readers the denouement of the "plot" of the case. The character who is the first to appear on the stage, is a gentleman by name Munover Khan. His swagger bespeaks his influence; and his being officiating Accountant-General without knowing any more of accounts than I or you know of navigation, shows he is in luck's way. He advances to the individual yclept Government, and states with low bow that he has discovered some frauds in his office in which such men as Hassan Bin Abdulla and Srinivas Rao are concerned. The Government is all joy. It summons all its "faithfuls" to a solemn conclave and assured of the political enemies' guilt, settles to appoint Ekbal Ali in place of Hassan Bin Abdulla aud Mahiomed Ali to fill the vacancy created by the dismissal of Srinivasa Rao-and (if a rumour is to be believed) does not forget to send word to Mr. Fred. Gordon to keep three rooms ready for the reception of the enemies in Chenchulgooda jail. This closes the first act. Then Justice Afzul Husain appears dressed in authority and issues summons calling upon the Nawab Imad Nawaz Jung (as well as others) to appear before him within 18 hours of its being served to answer such a serious charge as abetment of forgery and criminal misappropriation. The Nawab applies to the Minister for the postponement of the trial. And the Minister accedes to the Nawab's request and appoints a Commission of two of the Judges of the High Court, presided over by Afzul Ilusain, to try him and others concerned in the case. Shortly after this he is asked by the Government to submit an explanation departmentally. The explanation furnished being considered unsatisfactory, the Commission is asked to begin business. Then comes the appointment of Mr. Badrudin Tyabjee of the Bombay Bar as Government Prosecutor. Whether it is true or not that


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church?" he cried. "Not one male bach or one female fach. Go there the next Sabbath, and the black muless will not say to you: 'Welcome you are, persons Capel. But there's glad am I to see you.' A comic sermon you will hear. A sermon got with half-a-crown postal order. Ask Postman. Laugh highly you will and stamp on the floor. Funny is the Parson in the white frock. Ach y fy, why for he doesn't have a coat preacher like Respecteds? Ask me that. From where does his Church come from? She is the inheritance of Satan. The only thing he had to leave, and he left her to his friends the parsons. Iss-iss, earnest affair is this. Who gives him his food? We. Who feeds his pony? We. Who built his church? We. His cows? We. With stones carted from our quarries and mortar messed about with the tears of our mothers and the blood of our fathers."


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 Mr. Badrudin after a careful study of the evidence placed before him, wrote to the Government to say there was no case against Hasain Bin Abdulla and others, this is a fact that a number of gentlemen headed by the mighty ones met at the house of one of the legal luminaries here with a view to find out if any case could be bolstered up against them. At this meeting a number of the witnesses for the prosecution were called. And the "unconquerable" will one of these who is a Jamedar of the Irregular Troops interposed, I am credibly informed, insurmountable obstacles are in the way of the accomplishment of the object with which the politicals met. The noble resolve on the part of this witness to speak the truth and nothing but the truth elicited a threat from the legal laminary. And when told he was an officer of the Government and as such he was bound to carry out its instructions, he is said to have stood on his knees his hand resting on his sword and told the men assembled that his life as being that of a soldier's was the Government's but his honor was his own—and to have left the meeting. This failure to trump up a case resulted in a Roobkar from the Home Secretariat, closing proceedings in a manner calculated not to evoke much hostile criticism. In the Roobkar issued shortly after Hasain Biu Abdulla's submitting an explanation departmentally it was stated that the explanation being of an unsatisfactory character the Commission appointed to inquire into the case would set to work. And although not even a tittle of addition has been made to the explanation above referred to, yet we are told in another Roobkar that the explanation is still under the consideration of the Minister and the commission will postpone its sittings until further orders.

I have been put in possession of the real facts of this case. What decision the Government may come to, the inscrutability of its ways makes it impossible for any one to say. But this much can be said that no sane man can see any guilt t in the Nawab Imad Nawaz Jung with the facts before him. Two things are clear from the evidence before me. The one is that


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Page 55 Supreme Government. It is bad enough to have eyes and yet not to see. But it is worse to be blind or to blind oneself and expect every one else to be in the same miserable plight. If the accused is innocent as made out to be by the Judge in the first instance, then he need not fear the decision of the Divisional Bench and abscond. But if he is guilty and has reasons to fear that what was slurred over by the Judge might be taken notice of by the Divisional Bench and used against him, what guarantee is there that he will not abscond and thus cheat justice with a sop to Cerberus?

The collapse of the second of the Treasury Frauds cases has been announced. Mr. Badrudeen Tyabji is reported to have written to the Government to say there was no case against the accused in the case, and consequently those in custody in connection with it have been released. Patent as it has been to many men here, Afzul Husain could not or did not choose to see "there was no case" when he committed the grave error of summoning the Nawab Imad Nawaz Jung and the Raja Srinivas Rao as being among the accused. Will the Government or rather the party in power notice this? If it be true that they are "innocent" of all connection with the prosecution in the case, they ought to take notice of this, and teach a lesson to the man who could wantonly heap indignities on high officials in the State. Just think of a man being hauled up before a Court or taken into custody on the strength of mere suspicion of his official conduct! Think of the first Treasury Frauds case in which people were sent to jail on the flimsiest grounds, and a man figured as an accused by reason of his having had a seat in the Accountant General's Office within sight of that of the man who forged signatures and you have an idea of the pass we have come to in Hyderabad, in the premier Native State in India!

Information comes to me of the issue of two incorrect cheques by the Officiating Accountant General within the last few days. Ali Abdullah, in charge of His Highness's Studs'


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Page 54 want. This suggestion, so to say, in the face of the well-known fact that it is not so easy to tutor little children as to instruct grown-up people so that they may not contradict themselves in their evidence—proclaims the determination to see a loophole even where there is none for the accused to escape by. It is said that the stains on the clothes held to be blood-stained by the prosecution might have been due to mosquito and bug blood and that there are hundreds of such clothes to be found in Hyderabad! Why were not some of these "hundreds obtained and compared with the clothes said to be blood-stanied? Seeing that the stains on one of the sherwani sleeves resembled the converse of the Arabic figure 7000, the Judge concluded that they were due to red ink. Was it ascertained in Court whether Wahid knew Arabic figures and whether he had been in the habit of using them? And was it asked what the occasion for the writing of 7000 had been? No—and why not? A Judge who could go out of his way to cross-question in behalf of the accused might have very well enlightened himself on these points. This coupled with the fact that the clothes were not submitted to a chemical examination, tells its own tale. Then we are told in the order that one of the letters found by the Police in Abool Husain's house speaks of Mumthiaz and not of Imthiaz, the name of the murdered woman, and consequently there is nothing to show that Wahid and Abool Hussain had fallen out on account of the deceased. If Wahid Ali in whose name the box holding the corpse of the murdered woman was consigned at the Hyderabad Railway station proved to be Abdul Wahid, is it difficult to believe, I ask, taking all the circumstances into consideration, that Imthiaz and Mumthiaz were one and the same?

Ahmed Raza Khan in a long preamble to the order, above referred to, holds up the procedure in vogue here, which admits an accused person to bail pending the confirmation by a Divisional Bench of the High Court of the order for discharge made out by the Judge in the first instance—for the information of the


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 HYDERABAD

IN

1890 AND 1891.

COMPRISING ALL THE LETTERS

ON

HYDERABAD AFFAIRS WRITTEN TO THE MADRAS

"HINDU”

BY ITS HYDERABAD CORRESPONDENT

DURING

1890 AND 1891,

Bangalore:

PRINTED AT THE CAXTON PRESS,

17, SOUTH PARADE.

1892.


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 doubly sure, I wrote to the Nawab Mushtak Hussain for infor- mation about it; and he has written to me to say: "There is no truth whatever in the statement made by "a Correspondent," about "a curious order"-alluded to by you. It may be classed with the false "facts" which mischievous people manufacture to poison the minds of the public against the present administration."

The rumour that has been going the rounds in Hyderabad for sometime past, that the Nawab Intesar Jung has resigned his appointment or is about to resign it is not without foundation, I say so on the authority of the Nawab himself. The Nawab, it would seem, bound himself to serve the Nizam's Government for a period of 30 years when he took service under it during the days of the first Salar Jung. His term of office expires on the 22nd instant and he has put in an application to the Govern- ment for permission to retire on pension on that date. "This need be no matter for surprise" writes the Nawab. "I told the late Sir Salar Jung I, when I entered the service that I had no intention of staying here after the completion of my term; and I have all along been telling my friends of my intention to resign my appointment at the close of the term."

Mr. Seymore Keay's visit is looked forward to anxiously by many in Hyderabad. What might come out of his visit, no body could say, or rather I, who do not happen to be in the confidence of the busy bodies who lay much store by it, could not say. But this may be said, that Mr. Keay, such as he has proved himself to be, now that he can be meddlesome with impunity is not likely to keep his hands clean of Hyderabad affairs. I mean to interview him here on his way to Hyderabad, and I may be able to acquaint myself at least with the ostensible object of this, his second visit to the capital of the Nizam after his entrance into the House of Commons.


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Page 56 Department, goes every year to Malagam fair with a view to buy horses for His Highness's stables. As usual he wanted Rs. 15,000 for the purpose this year. The Nawab Vicar-ul- mulk, the Revenue Secretary-who evidently holds a carte blanche from H. E. the Minister to arrogate to himself the functions of any office in the State-issued, in defiance of all rules and regulations, instruction to the Taluqdhar of the District in which Malagam lies to supply Mr. Ali Abdullah with funds to the extent of Rs. 15,000 and forwarded a copy of the same to the Accountant General to apprise him of it. The Accountant General, the clever official and loyal henchman that he is, cared not to read through the copy and understand it, but issued two cheques to the value of Rs. 15,000 to the Revenue Secretariat. This gives you, Mr. Editor, an idea of the quality of the work turned out by many if not most highly paid servants of His Highness.' Subscriptions in aid of the movement to spread Mahomedanism in England are coming in apace. The Nawab Vicar-ul- Umrah has given Rs. 5,000, the Nawab Vicar-ul-Mulk Rs. 1,000 and the amount already collected is likely to amount to a big sum very soon, A portion of the sum raised will be spent, I am informed, in sending some Mahomedans to England to preach the Koran-and Moulvic Hassin Ali of whom you have all heard so much will not be the least of thom. An attempt to convert the followers of the meek Christ to the 'Religion of the sword' at the fag end of the Nineteenth Century savours rather of the ridiculous. We shall soon have a Unani Dispensary under the management of Hakeem Syed Ahmed who "chopped logic" not long since with Dr. Laurie on the subject of Chloroform. The Nizam's Government has, it is stated, sanctioned a monthly grant of Rs. 2,000 for the establishment in connection with it.


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 "The Nawab Imad-ud-Dowlah, Mr. Hodson and myself where on the Committee appointed to select members for the Hindu Committee. After a deal of discussion we chose Rajah Shiva Raj and others as being men in whom the Hindu commu- nity has confidence."

"You have not made a happy selection" said I. "These are men whose opinions or decisions on social and religious matters few Hindus would care to accept or be guided by. I say this after having sounded many intelligent and educated Hindus on the point. "

"If you will give me the names of some of those, who, you think, are worthy of being on the Committee, I shall feel very much obliged to yon," said the Nawab. "I shall send you a list of the names of the men whom the Government might profitably consult with regard to the matter."

The Nawab then assured me: "The decisions of the Com- mittee are not final. It has simply to receive the applications for scholarships and transmit them to the Government with such remarks as it might deem fit to offer. The Government reserves to itself the right to act up to or set aside the conclusions of the Committee."

Then our talk turned upon several other matters which I have not the time to refer to now.

I bade the Nawab Intesar Jung good-bye at about half-past one in the afternoon, He was very kind and civil throughout the interview, and his manner impressed me as being that of one who is as ready and willing to be advised as to advise.

, 3rd September, 1890.


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HENRY MORSE STEPHENS �


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 "You have mentioned only two instances" I said, "in which Hindus have come into prominence. But, I could mention several instances of noble and time-honoured Hindu families reduced to a pitiable state under the present regime. The Chandu Lal family is nowhere in the State now—the living representative of it, Rajah Kishen Pershad, has not even the wherewithal to live up to his social position. The Rajah of Anagondy is only a Rajah in name. Rajah Rai Rayan is a beggar now compared with what he was."

"Raja Kishen Pershad" the Nawab Intesar Jung replied, "could have no reasonable complaints to prefer against those in power. The Peishkarship has been a sinecure for the last 35 years—ever since Secretaryships were created by the first Salar Jung. And if Sir Asmanjah tries to reduce the emolumeuts of the sinecure, is he to be blamed? Is it not the object, nay the bounden duty, of all enlightened Governments to reduce useless expenditure as far as possible? Had the reins of Government been in the hands of a modern graduate or a man like Sir T. Madhava Rao instead of in the hands of a noblemen of Sir Asmaujah's stamp, the Peishkarship would have gone clean out of existence long since. Sir Asmaujah is blamed for doing what anybody else in his position would consider an act of extreme kindness or consideration."

"What has the Minister to do with the Peishkar? The Peishkar has ever been independent of, and not inferior to, the minister—is it not ?"

"No" replied the Nawab; "the office of Peishkar has always been subordinate to that of minister."

"I have read somewhere that the way in which Nasir-ud- Dowlah, the grandfather of the present Nizam. installed Rajah Narender Pershad and Sir Salar Jung I in the offices of Peishkar and Minister, at the Durbar held on the 31st May 1353, attests to the equality of the two positions. Nasir-ud-Dowlah, it is said, took the turban and jewels pertaining to either of the


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, 11th September 1890.

Speculation is rife with regard to the question of the four Government Scholarships founded ostensibly for the benefit of Hyderabadee students desirous of presenting their studies in England. I have heard that the Scholarships are meant for four Mahomedan youths, all related to one or the other of the leading officials and that the Hindu Committee and the notice of a competitive test in the Jareeda are all make-believes having for their object the providing against the hue and cry of the newspaper wallahs, and the hoodwinking of the people. And I have even been furnished with the names of these fortunate youths, by some kind people. I shall wait to see how far this hearsay is true. In the meanwhile, it might interest your readers to know, that writing to the Nawab Intesar Jung Bahadoor,-subsequent to my sending you the account of the interview-anent this affair I said, "The Government might profitably consult on the matter Hindus of light and leading like Dewan Baladoor Raghunath Rao of Madras, Messrs Telaug and Ranade of Bombay, anul Dr. Rajandra Lal Mitra of Calcutta. Nothing less than a consultation of this sort will, I can assure you, satisfy the public, and divest the question of the character of a "hole and corner affair" that many are inclined to give it."

In a letter on Hyderabad affairs" from a correspondent which appeared in your issue of the 3rd instant, it was stated: "A curious order, I hear, was promulgated by the Government just before the commencement of the Moharrum. It is that during the Moharrum no music should be played in Hindu houses, not even bells should be rung." I was in Hyderabad during the Moharrum and I did not hear of any such order, or notice any thing in proof of such an order having been promulgated by the Government." However, to make things


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 glory that were, to come in the way of our abiding by its pru- dential decisions; we should only be the losers for so doing."

"It is said and believed" I said, "that Sir Asmanjah does nothing by himself, that he is solely led by you in every matter that you are the minister de facto. Is this true?"

"It must be admitted that Sir Asmanjah is not a graduate of a University. And it is fortunate that he is not a graduate- otherwise there would have been a sweeping off of all traditions and old associations and families. Sir Asmnanjah is where he is, not so much by right of his intelligence and education as by that of being one of the leading noblemen in the State. such, one cannot expect him to understand, judge and decide everything by himself-and he must needs trust somebody under him."

"Is it true," I asked then, "that a committee has been appointed to find out whether, from a religious point of view, it is advisable for the Government to send Hindu students to England for being educated there?"

"Yes. In accordance with a resolution of the Govern- ment published in the Jareeda (Government Gazette) a committee has been appointed of Raja Shivaraj Bahadur, Bansi Raja, Motilal, Desikachari and others-to find out whether the rules and codes that guide the Hindu Society, allow of Hindus going to England."

"The Government," I said, "has been unfortunate in the men it has selected to be its advisers on this important subject. In the first place, the men you have just now named, are not by education, or association fit to undertake the consideration of the subject of Sea-voyage. In the second place, they are men known to entertain views adverse to Hindus going to England, So then, does not the appointment of these men on the Committee amount to taking away with the one hand what has been given with the other-nullifying the promises held out by the notifi- cation in the Jareeda?"