Page:The Aristocracy of Southern India.djvu/192

152 to idleness and luxury, and leaving the best interests of his people to their fate, has set himself to imitate the public spirited and beneficent action of the best class of European nobles and not only made for himself a name and position in the foremost class of Indian local administrators, but has given his Zemindari the highest position that any Indian district of this class has yet reached. I cannot but trust that the Madras Government will take the opportunity of evincing its sense of the Zemindar's services to the State by the example he has set, and its desire that his example should be followed by others in some appropriate manner. For instance, might they not give this history, a place amongst the historical memoirs and records published by themselves, together with conferring on this model Zemindar, some title of honour, valued by natives ?"