119
Gulburga, 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
