Good pastor
L . D . SW A M IK A N N U P lL t iA Y
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L . D . SW A M IK A N N U P lL t iA Y . 549 the Blessed V i r g i n at Negapata m under the dir e c tio n o f Father Eyra u d. He had always been a c o nsultor and, often appoin te d P r e f e ct . His piety, which was unostentatious, appeared st rik in g ly in his manners, mien and deportm ent, in bis dress, which was simple and neat and in his humility and m od esty which were all the more s t rik in g in one whose a c a d e m ic achievem en ts were o f a very high order. A more c o n v i n c i n g p r o o f o f the gen uin ess and solidity o f his piety than lhis com ple te absen ce o f all traces o f van ity, pride and se lf-co m p la c en cy , it would be hard to find in the annals of C ath olic scholar sh ip. T o a man o f such deep piety, the c h o ic e o f a state of life w » s a serious and solemn task. The Su perio r o f the Madura Mission, the late Father Barb ier, S.J., thought he was c u t out fo r the Soc iety. He himself felt be was called to an ap ostol ate in the world . H o w eve r he would not a r r iv e at any d ecis ion without light and g u id a n c e fro m heaven. He w e s t 'th r o u g h the spiritual exercises under the d ir ectio n o f the late Father Sewell, S.J., and when be cam e out o f the retreat it was understood thnt his voca tio n was to do g o o d in the w orld as a layman and not as a religious. How true and faithful be was to his vocation, bow his light shone, how he helped the Church and the Catholic cause iu Southern India, in a measure and in ways different fro m and har dly possible to the cle rg y, r eligio us or secular, is a matter o f c om m on k nowle dge. But this is to anti cipate the moral and sp iritual values, purposes and results of his acti ons, works and exercises o f piety o f which a fuller a c c o u n t will be g iv e n later. H a v in g resolved upon a career in the world it had to be next de cided whether he was to con tin u e to be pr ofe ssor in a priv ate mission c ollege where the maximum salary was ab ou t Rupees Tw o H u ndred or try for an appoin tm ent in G o v e r n ment se r v ice with prosp ects o f st eady prom o tio n. With the permission of the Fathers who could ill afford to use his ser vice s he jo ined the G overnm ent Secreta ria t as a clerk on Ru pees Fifty. To a man o f varied literary attainments, this new pos ition , with the worry and teasing incidental to it, appear ed a m onotonous dr u d g e r y . W hen to this was added the temper o f the Under S ec r e ta r y (M r. Butt erw ortb , whose relations with him later were verv c o r d i a l) Swamikannu Pil la y applied fo r permis sion to resign and accepte d the Lat in mastership o f the P r esid en cy College. In addition to his w ork as pr ofess or, be took to the study o£ Law, attended
550 L . D . SW A M IK A N N U P l L L A V . lec tures in p r iv a te and was the first Ca tholic fr om the south to lake the deg ree o f B a ch e lo r o f Laws. ( S o m e year s after be took the l l
. b ., degre e o f the L o n do n U n iv e r s it y . ) Here
again the qu estion presented itself whether he had to prac tise as a lawyer o r re-enter G ov e r n m e n t se rvice. Had he chosen the fo rm e r co u r se he would p r o ba bly have retired as a Justic e o f the S i g h Court. T w ic e did the Madras G o ve r n m e n t p r o pose his name for a J u d g e ’ s place ; ( S i r H a v e lo c k ’ 6 G o v e r n ment r e co m m en de d him for a D istri ct Ju dg esh ip and L o rd A m p th ill’ s for a Small Cause J u dg esh ip );,, but on both those o c ca sio n s a bye-law to the effect that none but those who had put iu a p r a c t ic e o f at least six months in the High Court should be raised to the Bench was qu oted against him. Th us he lost all c h a n c e o f a d o rn in g the Bench and gav e up bis p re paratio n for the L o n d o n l l .
. A s r e g a rd s G o v e r n ment servic e, he found it extr emely difficult to en ter the P r o v in c ia l Edu cational Servic e. A n o th e r dis appointm en t was his failure to take the first place in the P r o v in c ia l Civil S e rv ic e exam inatio n which went to Dewan Bahadu r Barna- chandra Kao. The latter’ s su b je ct was Mathematics, an exact sc ie n ce, where it is easy to score very high marks while in H is tory aud Political E c o n o m y , the su bje cts taken by Sw am ik annu Pillay, a large margin has to be made for differences o f opin ion, fo r a c c u r a c y and arran gem ent pf matter fr om the e x a m in e r ’ s stan dpoin t. Sir H arold Stokes, howev er, c am e to his rescue. He had heard o f his at ta in ments. He was c o n v in c e d o f the ju s t ic e o f the claims put for w a rd on his behalf by the In dian Christian A ssocia tio n . H e ap poin ted him Deputy Collect or and posted him to K u r n o o l. His life as Divisional Officer was not without trials. A riot broke out in K u rn ool which he su ccee de d in qu ell in g by persu asion and personal appeal to both rioters and sh op keepers. The D. S. P. reported to G o ve r n m e n t that the riot would have beeu nipped in the bud had the D iv isio n al Officer g iv e n or ders to the Po lice to op en fire on the mob. Swami- kannu Pilly had to su bm it an explanat ion which was fou ud s a tis f a c to r y . We next find him iu Madras as Assis ta nt Secretary to the Board of Revenue. A f t e r some years the post o f Se creta ry fell v acan t o w in g to the retirement of Dew-in Bahadu r lia m a nu ja ch ari. Influences were at work to snatch the prize fr om him. But h is.c a p a cit y and hard w o r k e a r n e d the day. Mr. W e ir the Board member asked L . D . SWAMIKANNU PlLLAY. him to finish some work which had been lo n g in arrears. W o i k i u g all day and a con s id er able part o f the night, he finished the w ork within a f ortn ig h t, and ju st a day before the question of ap po in tm e n t came up for c o n s id e r a tio n ; Mr. W e ir who had not thou ght of him till then was so thoroughly c o n v in ce d of his talents and abilities that he forth with r ecom m en ded his ap poin tm en t as Secretar y. He then held su c ces siv e ly the appoin tm ents o f Colle ct or and D istri ct M ag istra te, R eg is tr a r o f C o-o peratio n — a new Departm ent where his mastery o f the literature on Co-operation in E n g lish , Fr e n c h and Germ an enabled him to in tro du ce m uch-nee ded leg islation, r e fo rm and develo pm ent and to p o pu la riz e the schem e by his tours and lectures. A t the request of Lord Pentland, he delivered the c o n v o ca tio n ad dress. His E x celle n cy e v in c e d his satisfaction by sen din g him a letter of thanks. He was allo w ed a y ea r ’ s extension. Th e highest place to which he cou ld naturally aspire, that o f an E x e cu tiv e Cou ncillo r, was denied him. Instead he was appointed Sec retary to. the Madras L eg is lative Council in which c a p a cit y he a c c o m p a n ie d the Pr esident Sir R aja - g o p a la ch a r i to Engla nd, to st udy parliam en ta ry pra c tic e . He su cce e ded Sir R a ja g o p a la c h a r i as Pr esiden t, when the latter was ap poin ted to the In dia Cou ncil and elected in the se con d ref ormed Cou ncil as its first non-offlcial Presiden t. He was a r r a n g in g to stand fo r the Indian Christian constit u e n cy o f Ra mnad and T in nevell y with a view to re-election as President when death surpri sed him. In his death Catholic sc h ola rsh ip has suffered an ir re para ble loss. He had a facile pen. Ideas he had to gather, bu t the power of ex pression came most naturall y to him. His mastery o f languages both ancie nt and modern was r emar kab le. Not that these are not scholar s like him, esp e c ia ll y am ong the Catholic cle rg y , men who are authorities in Greek and Latin and in several spoken tongues o f Europe, men who find time in the midst o f their arduous missionary labours to revise their H omer o r other classical authors, but c o n s id e r in g that, as matters stand, v e r y few am o n g the e duca te d Catholic laity show an y aptitude fo r the study o f la ng ua ge s or are c apa ble o f the sustained la bours in volved in o v e r c o m in g the difficulties o f gra m m a r and ph ilolo gy or take the trouble o f p e r f e ct in g the k n o w le d ge o f the single v e rn acular or classical la nguage which they have to read for (¡be In termediate or B. A. his lin guisti c attainments appear
5 5 2 L. D. SWAMIKANNU PlLLAY. n o th in g sh o rt o f marv ellous Th is was not all. T o kee p up and r ender av aila ble for ready use all in fo rm a tio n a c q u ir e d , he devised a system o f m em ory aids. He im proved upon P it a ia n ’ s shor t ba nd system. He fo u nd in the st ud y o f I n dia n c h r o n o l o g y a po te nt means o f c o r r e c t i n g many w r o n g dates and e x tr av aga n t c h r o n o l o g ic a l as su mptions o f writers on India n history and an c ie n t c iviliza tio n . The p u b lica tio n o f the sev er al volu m es o f India n Ephem eris c o s t him much labour and many w eary year s o f patient m ath em atical c a l cula tion. Some ar ticles c o n t rib u t e d by him to the Indian A n ti q u a r y on the pr o ba ble date o f B u d d h a ’ s death or the date o f the Ta m il poet M an ik k av as ag an showed the p o ssib i lities o f In dian c h r o n o l o g y as an aid to historical researoh. A t the same time, to c o r r e c t the p r e ju d ic e s and su perstitio n s o f the av e r a g e India n s c h o la r be was at great pains to show, as in his last lectures and in two I. C. T. S. tracts, that the pr eten tion s o f Indian as tro lo g e rs to foretell the fu tu re, w ere g ro u n d e d neither on reason, fa c t or sc ie n ce . In his death the Cath olic India n c o m m u n ity has lost a grea t leader, one whose ch a ra cte r and moral g re atn ess in spired c onfid e nce, ev oked ad m ir a tion and co m pe ll e d imita tion and c o m p li a n c e . T o him was not g iv en the pow er o f sw a yin g men and k e e p in g them spell-bound by fa iry e lo qu en ce, by g rea t d a r in g and c o u r a g e o r by ov e rm a st e rin g strength o f will. His influ ence o r lea dership was o f a mild nature. It was the o u tc o m e o f deep earnestness and disin te reste dness, o f g o o d ex am ple and a v irt u o u s life. He
practised all the d e v o tio n s and e x e rcis e s o f piety learnt at sc h ool and pr om ptly adopted others which had acqu ir ed greate r p r o m in e n ce in r ece n t times. A s a sodalist and a m em ber o f the Apo s tle sh ip o f Pray er, he kept up the habit o f r e c it in g the office o f the Blessed V irg in , o f p r e p a r in g for all feasts r eco m m e n d e d to Sodalists and o f being in close touch with the old sodality in bis A lm a Mater and the one estab lis hed in his pa rish. He faith full y followed the Fir st F r id ay dev otions» He w as a w ee kly c o m m u n ic a n t until the p r a c t ic e o f frequ ent and daily c o m m u n io n c am e to be p reach ed when he qu ie tly ad opted it and pa rsevered in it to the end.
H e visited T r ic h ih o p o ly o n c e a year or, if official b u si ness st oo d in the way, o n c e in two years to go through the Sp iritu al E x e rcis e s. A f t e r the death o f his first wife, he be g a n Jo read- the kiv ^s pf Captain Marceau, A dm ir al de L. D. SWAM1KANMU P l L L A Y . 553 Senis, the H oly Man o f Tou rs and other pro m in e n t Catholic laymen. H e cult iv ated the d ev otio n to the H oly Pace and like the H o ly Man o f Tours he kept a lamp bu r n in g night and da y b e f o r e it. It was bis idea to rem ain a w id ow er all his life, a reso lu tion in w hich he would have persevered but for the step taken by his father, w ho near seventy years old, in m o u r n in g a y o u n g woman. It took him some time to re c o v e r from the sh o c k a n d t as his stepm other had to rem ain under his su pport, he thought it pr udent to m a rry again. Wh en the idea o f R e pa ra tion io the Sa cred Heart and the p r a c tic e o f enth ro nem ent o f the Sacred Heart pic tu re began to sp read he adoptud both pr ac tic es and had a light b u r n in g be fo re tho en throned pic tu r e o f the Sacred Heart. His soul nurtured on these de v o tio n s ex pan ded in g r a c e and o v e r flowed in g o od work^. in his o w n fam ily c ir c le he was a m od el husband, a model parent, a b e n e fa c to r o f those am o n g his relations who needed his help. His hospit ali ty was boundless . M ore e n jo y a b le even than his h ospitality was the cha rm o f his c o n v e rs a t io n . In his pu blic a ctivit ie s he de vote d to the social and intellectual am elioratio n o f the mem bers o f his own c o m m u nity a la rge pa rt o f bis time w hich , if it had been g iv en to the g o od o f the general p u b lic, would have earned him un d y in g fam e and gratitude. He was one o f the f ou nders o f the Catholie F o r m er Pupils A s s o c ia t io n , St. J o s e p h ’ s Col lege, T r ic h in o p o ly , and for a quarte r o f a c e n t u r y the S ecre ta ry to its annual meeting. He was one o f the founders, and f o r a little o v e r tw enty years, the H o n o ra ry S e cre tary o f the Cath olic In dian A s so c ia t ion o f Souther n India. Gut for him the latter w ould har dly have entered on its secon d or third year o f its existence. He had to meet c r it ic is m s , r e c o n c i le c o n f li c t in g interests, diffe rences o f o pin io n . He had to dispense fa v o u rs , to extend its p a tr o n a g e to delegates fr om m o fu ss il stations who attended general mee tings p rim a rily f o r their own good. A t a later stag e, he had to fac e storm y meet in gs , to put up with noisy ag it ations or d is tu rb an ces o f of
an ultra d e m o c r a ti c kind. His patienec, his fo rbearan ce, h is sweetness of temper dis arm ed o p p o s i t i o n and e n fo rc e d r esp ec t for his person. Even after his resig na tio n o f the se c re tary sh ip , fo r e n c o u r a g i n g such a c t i v i t i 9 s and aims as were in com p atible with his posit io n as G ove r n m e n t servant, he co n tin u e d to be the life and d ir e c t in g f o r c e o f the Asso* ciation. 7 0
L. D. SWAMIKANND P lL LAY . His sin c e rity and earnestness were beyon d c av il. His sim plicity o f manners and easy acc essib ility , his g enia lity, modesty and humility which to those who had not known him c o n v e y e d no im pression, no idea o f bis position or c o n d itio n until he began to speak or read his r eport were the surest m ark s o f Christian p e r fe ct io n . They were a sou rce of edification to the c le rg y . A Bishop and his V ica r-G e ne ral were st ru ck with am azement to find him w alk in g up towards them on the beach|and k n eelin g down to kiss the B i s h o p ’ s ring. In this respect he reminded one o f the Duke o f Norfolk . One am ong many iustances might here bti reco u nted to show how his humi l i t y seemed to g ro w as he rose in bis official position. He was Colle ct or and District Mag istra te when, happen in g to pass through the headquarters o f a dis tric t, he deemed it his du ty as a Catholic to pay his respec ts to the Bish op of the place. As he was w a itin g in the parlour, he began to read a b o o k he fou nd on the table, a new c o m m e n ta r y in Latiu on the A p o c a l y p s e o f St. John. When His Lo r d sh ip came and saw what he was d o in g he told him that the lan g uage o f the work he was r e adin g was far too difficult to under st an d. Ifc was or d in a r y Church Lat in , and Church Latin or cla ssical La tiu , it could present no difficulty to one who was an ac k n o w le d ged master o f its language and litera ture, one who was exam iner and a member o f the Boa rd o f Studies in that la ng ua ge and often consulte d by Lat in scholars o f eminence. Sw am ik ann u Pillai relished the hum our o f the situation and though c h u c k l in g within himself was as cheerful and humble as ever. In these days o f little le arnin g and much v ap o u rin g , o f restiveness and noise ag it ati on, the ex am ple o f this simple, hum ble and mod est Catholic, a s c h ola r o f undoubted pre- em inen ce, a retired g o ve r n m e n t servan t whose merits had won for him the titles of Dewan Bahadu r, D istinguished S e r v ice O rd er and Com pan ion of the Indian Empire, to which won d have been ad ded, had life been spared to him fo r a few months more, a K n ig h th oo d , one who had risen to the highest position o f honour in the P r esid e n c y next to that of Download 6.63 Mb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
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