Page:A General Biography of Bengal Celebrities Vol 1.djvu/114

SHYAMA CHURN 13 THE CHIEF INTERPRETER OF HIQH COURT. 105 was promoted from the Translatorship to the post of Chief Interpreter of the late Supreme Court, SHYAMA, CHURN AS THE CHIEF INTERPRETER OF THE HIGH COURT. In June, 1857, he was promoted "from the Trans- latorship to the post of Chief Interpreter of the late. Supreme Court in the place of Mr. Aviot who died at the time ; but some objections having been raised to the appointment, Shyama Churn, at the request of Sir James Colville, the Chief Justice, produced certificates of character from the Judges of the late Sudder Court and from the late Sir Rajah Radha Kant Dev Baha- dur, Babus Prosunno Cumar Tagore, Ram Gopal Ghose, and Ramaprasaud Roy, whereupon those ob- jections were set aside. The implicit confidence of the Judges which Shyama Churn enjoyed as Chief Inter- preter of the late Supreme Court, fully justified hisorii ginalselection for the appointment. This was the first time, we believe, when the post of the Chief Interpreter was conferred upon a native. When the post fell va^ cant, he made enquiries from the late Babu Prasuna Kumar Tagore whether it would be thrown open to ■the Natives or not. Being assured in the affirmative, he prepared himself -for it and stood first among the twelve competitors chiefly composed "of Europeans. Thus, the credit of taking away one of the lucrative appointments from the hold of Europeans belongs to Shyama Churn. It is said that Babu Prosuna Kumar recommended him several times, to Sir James Colville, the then Chief Justice in general terms of praise. The •Judges of the Supreme Court were so much pleased with the efficient and satisfactory discharge of the duties of the new post, that they allowed him to charge a commission fee of two gold mohurs per day, when he would be required to go out of Court to take evi- dence in a case. 14