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Dunlop. Besides this, it was deemed expedient to
have a British lent officer as a Member of the
Executive Council with the Revenue and the
Police portfolios. Among the officers nominated
by the Government of India for the posts
mentioned above, one was Colonel Richard
Chenevix Trench. He came towards the end of
1926 and was a welcome accession to the Council.
Besides the dash of a gallant Colonel, there was
something engaging in his manner and his advent
promised a needed change from the humdrum
ways and unaccountable delays traditionally as-
sociated with the Revenue Department, and it
was expected that his presence would make
wavering officials apprehensive and cautious.
My relations with Colonel Trench were not only
across the Council table; they extended far
beyond—to friendship confirmed by esteem.
Several things brought us into closer touch, help-
ing to reveal ourselves to each other. There
was a time when we sat together as a final court
of appeal in Revenue cases, and I had the oppor-
tunity of knowing and appreciating his capacity
for separating the relevant from the irrelevant
matter with which Revenue cases were generally
overladen. The directness and lucidity of his
judgments I also found admirable. When I
retired at the end of 1929, our meetings became
rare ; but we continued to be in touch with each
other off and on till his departure from Hyderabad.
And since then there has been a spasmodic cor-
respondence between us, which has served to keep