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he had to rely on his natural capacity of intellect
for deciding many a vexatious question. This he
did after careful deliberation, and with a clearness
of vision that was astonishing. He somehow
made the State officers feel that his eye would at
once detect any weak point in the presentation of
a case. I had once heard from Sir David Barr
about the Nizam's wonderful' perspicacity.' Such
a mind as his, nurtured in traditions of the regal
grandeur of the Nizam of Hyderabad, and standing
alone and relying on its own inherent strength was
just the one to guard against indiscriminate modern-
ism. He kept a proper watch and ward on rash
innovations, and what right-minded man would
blame him for this ?
"It is well-known how he stood alone. His
isolation, resulting partly from his lofty position,
was partly temperamental. Some inherited pro-
clivities too may have led him to it, and the
circumstances in which he had been brought up
may have helped to confirm his natural reserve
and delicate sensibility and shyness, and this may
have increased his reticence. But whatever his
shortcomings, he was a magnificent symbol of
power and dignity.
" It must be regarded as a misfortune that at
the very time when proper instruction and judi-
cious guidance were most needed by him, the one
man from whose sagacity and experience they
could have been expected died suddenly. If Sir
Salar Jung had lived another ten years—he died
at the age of 54—what a difference it would have