Memoir of Sir Walter Elliot of Wolf else. 361 



THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED BY FRIENDS. 



Co tfje fjonouret) ZTTemorY 



OF 



SIR WALTER ELLIOT OF WOLFELEE, 



K.C.S.I., LL.D., P.K.S., ETC., 



Who was for forty Years a Member of the Civil Service at Madras, 

 and during the last five held a Seat in the Council of that Presidency. 



Able, Trusted, and Distinguished in the Service of the State, 



He was yet more Eminent for the immense Compass and Fruitfulness 



of his Research 



in Fields of Study so various and so rarely combined 



as the Archaeology and the Natural History 



of the Indian Peninsula. 



His Work in the Collection, the Decipherment, and the Elucidation 



of ancient Hindu Inscriptions in sundry Languages 



Has formed a chief Element in the Recovery of the History of the 



Territories in which he laboured ; 



His Rescue of the precious Marbles of Amravati, 



which now line the great Staircase of the British Museum, 



brought to Light one of the most wonderful Monuments 



of ancient Indian Art and Religion ; 



His Treatise on the Coins of Southern India, 



based on the indefatigable Research of many Years, 



but finally elaborated at the Age of Eighty-two, when he was 



entirely bereaved of Sight, 



presents a rare and memorable Example 



of undismayed and successful Struggle with DiflBculties 



which might well have seemed overwhelming ; 



His numerous Contributions to Scientific Journals, bearing on the 



Ethnology, the Zoology, the Ornithology, the Agriculture, and the 



Vegetation of the same Regions, testify at once to the Width of his 



intellectual Interests, and the Accuracy of his Observation. 



For twenty-four yearn after his return from the East, he dwelt in his native 

 county and on his paternal estate, honoured and beloved; efficiently fulfilling 

 all the duties of a country gentleman; recognised by all as a devout Christian 

 man, of singularly sweet and equable temper, of generous and kindly hospi- 

 tality, and of unfailing patience under the blindness ivhich tried so severely a 

 man of his varied tastes and active mind; and furnishing to all an example 

 of qualities which, if they were more common, would make this a better and a 

 happier world. 



Born 16th January 1803 : Died at Wolfelee 1st March 1887. 

 UU 



