N o t e s fr o m a Di a r y Ke pt c hiefly in So u the rn India 1 8 8 1 - 1 8 8 6 Y I H B THE R G T HON . SIR MO UN S UAR E RAN DUFF T T T . G T ’ O n ne o t ama s r re ue de c u on aime d i j i éc i q c q . ’ ’ L oubli et le silence sont la puniti on qu on infiige a ce ’ qu on a trouvé laid on commun dams la promenade h travers ”— la vi e . RBNAN — V L V L. I IN TWO O S . O LONDON O N MURRAY ALBEMARLE REE J H , ST T 1 8 9 9 ALL THE INDIAN FRIENDS WHO A SSISTED IN MY P UBLIC DUTIES OR MA DE MY LEISURE HOURS A GREEABLE AND TO ALL THE C O RRESPO NDENTS WHO KEPT UP MY RELA TIONS WITH THE WORLD I LEFT BEHIND ON THE 511 1 OCTOBER 1 88 1 I INSCRIBE THESE PA GES P R E FA C E IN two volumes which a eared in 1 8 and in pp 97 , ’ two others which followed them at a ear s , y interval I ublished lar e ortions of m Di a r , p g p y y kept between the first day of the half-century now a roachin its close and the th of pp g , s O c n lef l f tober 1 8 8 1 whe I t E n and or India . , g From these four volumes I excluded nearly everything that related to the more serious interests of m life su ch as the business of the y , House o f Comm ons and the olitical o inions I , p p had formed durin man ourne s u ndertaken g y j y , with a view to study persons and circumstances o n the Eur inen I h said all I opean cont t . ad cared to sa about these matters in m lace in y , y p Parliament on man latforms in several boo ks , y p , , as well as in a great variety of pamphlets and viii NOTES FROM A DIA RY si ned articles I thou h m elf ifie ac g . g t ys just d cordingly in directing my endeavours chiefly to amuse the li hter hours of readers whose tastes g , , in the em lo ment of those hours were not p y , unlike m y own . The two volumes which I now o ffer to the indulgence of those who care to follow me into new scenes cover the eriod which ela sed , p p between my departure from this country and my laying down the Government of Madras in De em c ber 1 8 86 . So far as I n I ha e exclu e business ca , v d d , olitics and the raver interes ts o f a Governor p , g from these pages also bu t there is this difference between the life to which I had been accu stomed in he H ou se f Co mm ns n the life I led in t o o , a d In ia The H ead o f n In ian Government d . a d knows nothing of the Recesses which divers ify the P arliamentar y year and prevent its mo notony The a hardl ever becoming intolerable . d y y dawns for him which is no t largely occupied with pu blic affairs o f one kind or ano ther . PREFACE ix That bein so it is hardl ossible abs olu tel g , y p y to exclu de bu siness from these pages bu t I h e m ave do n y very best to effect that object. I m e m re n an a th o able to do this because i 1 8 8 . d , 4 " 1 8 86 I pu blished in India two Minu tes Angli a State- a ers in the nature o f Blu ebooks which p p , , taken to ether set fo rth rett full m views g , p y y y u pon the things which most o ccu pied my mind in m ca acit of Governor o f Madras and sent y p y , copies o f them to all my friends in this cou ntry whom I thou ght likely to be interested in Indian i i Adm nistrat on . For some reas ons I should like to have reprinted these as part o f this work bu t as they wo uld have nearly or altogether dou bled its size have been ver drear readin for , y y g erso ns not interested in Indian af airs and have p f , thus scared away the very readers to whom the f ol mes o f hich these are a continu ti our v u , w a on, were s eciall addressed that course was ou t o f p y , l the u estion . I have aced however in an q p , , A endix an address which delivered at pp , ‘ I NOTES FROM A DIA RY Madras as Chancellor o f its U niversit in y, which I said a good deal u pon su bjects lying within the province o f an Academic au thority rather than of a Governor . O uts ide m imm edi ate duties m two reatest y , y g pleas u res in the Eas t were the letters o f my friends in E uro e or elsewhere and the ve eta p , g tion surroundin me which made alm ost ever g , y n e me reeable O f the walk ride a d drive xtre ly ag . first of these leas ur es m rea ders will be able p , y to j udge from the numero us extracts with which the kindness of a great many people has allowed th ha been o bli ed me to enri h ese a es . I ve c p g g , o e er f r ob iou reasons to lea e unused h w v , o v s , v all or nearl all letters which dealt with olitics , y , p and kept me exceedingly well-informed abou t what was oin o n at leas t u to the eve o f g g , p the great earthq u ake which shattered the party l with which I had so ong acted . O f the pleas ure I derived from the vegetation il of the cou ntr I cannot so eas conve an idea . y, y y Yet to leave it out entirely would give so false PREFACE xi an im ress io n that althou h I shall strike out p , g referen es to it b the hundred I mus t erforce c y , p leave a certain number hich can however , w , , easily be skipped by those who have no interest Su h of m rea ers as care for ood in plants . c y d g st ries ill I think fin reaso nable number o w , , d a of them thou h not so man as I ma have to , g y y o ffer at some fil ture erio d when I ma be p , y dealing with my life after I ha d returned to E uro e and found m self once more to borrow p , y , a hrase from Dr . P arr i n lena la ce L ondimm i . p , p I trust the two volum es will leave on the mind the impression that the life of an Indian Governor ma be a ver a reeable o ne and it y y g , mu s t be remembered that the official portio n o f it hardl noticed in these a es the s alidur dies , y p g , , extending from after breakfast till the sun is low enou h for the evenin ride is often full of g g , terest P eo le in co in . p this u ntry thi nk that Indian business is dull becau se its nomenclature is uzzlin and its eo ra h u nf m I is a iliar . t p g g g p y , nevertheless far from bein dull to those who , g xii NOTES FROM A DIARY have to transact it in direct contact with the facts . Some matters no dou bt whi h ome within the , , c c ken of a Governor are tires ome enou h more g , especially the perso nal q ues tions bu t the lar e uest ons of olic of whi h there is g q i p y, c ood store and m an items o f mere urrent g , y c fre uentl er interes tin in eed business are q y v y g d . When a man has for nearly a q uarter of a century led the life o f a Member o f P ar liament ever criti al when out of o ffi e ever , c c , on the defensive when i n o ffi e it is hi hl c , g y agree able to be able to say practically the las t word u pon almost everything he cares to form T an opinion abou t. o look at pu blic affairs from the point of View o f the lo cal British P rovidence for between thirty and forty millio ns of men after havi n loo ked lon at them from , g g the point o f view o f a member of a huge popular Assembl teaches one a reat deal about h y, g uman histor He mu st be s tr n y.