1840.] 



Life and Writings of Father Beschi, 



269 



in which his grand-father, Sadoolah khan, used to ride. The Prince 

 also granted for his maintenance a free-gift of four villages, named Boka- 

 lur, Malway, Arasur, and Nullur, in the district of Trichinopoly, north 

 of Coladam, yielding a net revenue of 12,000 Rupees per annum, and 

 appointed him to the office of dewan. Whilst in that office he retain- 

 ed the habit of a religious devotee, and on his circuits assumed all the 

 pomps and pageantry with which Hindoo gurus usually travel, along 

 with the civil Mahomedan honours, such as chobdars, horsemen, drums, 

 fifes, caparisoned state horses, hurcarrahs, daloyets, nowbut, tents, 

 &c. 



Although he was now engaged in state affairs, and continued his 

 study of the Hindu sciences and the composition of several useful 

 works, yet his principal efforts were then directed to the conversion 

 of idolaters, whilst he amused himself in the reading of Tiruvalluver 

 Cural, Naladiar, Chintamani, Raraayanam, and other celebrated Hindoo 

 works. 



Viramarauni continued to hold the office of dewan in Trichinopoly, 

 until the year 1740, when that city having been besieged by the 

 Mahrattah army under Nather Sing, and Chunda Saib made prisoner, 

 he proceeded to Manapar, and remained there in the service of the 

 church. 



But unfortunately a constitution much broken down by incessant 

 study, and laborious travels in countries whose climates are so prejudi- 

 cial to European constitutions, particularly to one who led such a 

 life as he did, shortened his life ; and consigned him to a world of 

 better existence, where he is no doubt gone to receive the reward 

 of a life well spent in the discharge of those duties, which devolved 

 upon him as a man and a Christian. He died at Manapar in the year 

 1742. 



"When all the circumstances of his life are taken into consideration, 

 many will be of opinion that such pomp as has been above described 

 did not proceed from worldly motives. Although some of the Mission- 

 aries murmured against such proceedings, men of sense will at once 

 perceive that the Jesuits did not display such worldly splendour to im- 

 prove their income, or to enable them to support their families, for 

 family they had none, and therefore no one can say that they took 

 pains for such purposes, but purely with a view to get the people of 

 this country to embrace the Christian religion. For this sole purpose 

 then the Jesuits assumed the habit, &c., of the Hindoo priesthood, re» 

 jecting animal food to which they were accustomed from their infancy, 

 and living on vegetables and other meagre diet, to which Europeans are 



