buried at Murugankuruchi in Tirunelvely district (See plate No.11). In 1818, a severe epidemic of cholera broke out and Rhenius wrote a tract on it which was published by the Madras Tract and Book Society. This was the first Tamil Tract.³²

Rhenius had his early education of Tamil under Mukavai Ramanuja Kavirayar. His keen intellect was quick to absorb and he soon became fluent. His style in Tamil has arrested the admiring attention of Dr. Pope. It was a clear and precise style. Only his prose works are available and we are not sure whether he wrote any poetry. If he did, nothing is available today. Rhenius was considered a good and fluent speaker in Tamil.

20. J. P. ROTTLER

J. P. Rottler who will always be remembered for his valuable dictionary was born at Strassburg (Lower Rhine, France) in June, 1749. He took his Master of Arts Degree before he arrived in India. After his study at Strassburg, he was ordained and later left for Tranquebar with J. W. Gerlach. He was in Tranquebar till 1803, from where he went to Madras Mission. Dr. Rottler made a large botanical collection during his spare hours, which made him a member of nearly eight different learned societies. He died on 24th January, 1836 after a worthy career in India after nearly sixty years of residence. It was he, who continued the Tamil-English Dictionary started by Fabricious³³ and he also translated into Tamil the English Prayer Book.

21. CH. FR. SCHWARTZ

On the 26th of October, in 1726, he was born in Sonnenburg in Brandenburg. He studied in Halle and in 1749 (17th September) was ordained at Copenhagen. He set out for India landing at

32. Rev. H. Bower, History of Christianity in India 1879 edn., P. 293.

33. Ibid. P. 60.