Francis Bradley Bradley-Birt

“ Foremost in every good work he set by his daily life and conduct a shining example to all those who with him were treading the difficult paths of moral and social progress. His intense lovableness was the secret of the great influence he wielded, his saintly life and whole-hearted devotion to the interests of his fellow-countrymen never failing to leave a deep impression on all those who came in contract with him. Though he courageously broke away from the old beliefs and the old creeds, it was only in so far as he held that they failed in the light of modern knowledge and investigation. ”

“ To the task of restoring and reforming it and of constructing the fabric of Society anew, of bringing together all that was best and noblest, and of making for the first time in their history the Bengali race into a people with great thoughts, high hopes and aspirations, Ram Mohan Roy set the whole force of his brilliant intellect and personality. It was but a reformer's accepted fate that he should meet with opposition and distrust from those whom he most strenuously strove to serve. ”

“ After long centuries of isolation East and West had met, and fusion of thought and speech had begun. On the one hand stood western civilization, with its latest scientific inventions, its latest literary achievements and its latest artistic triumphs on the other stood eastern culture, effete and decaying, strangled in the grip of custom and tradition. The full force of modern thought had been let loose about the old ideals and the old beliefs, threatening to overwhelm them in its first impetuous rush. ”

“ The bitterness aroused against Ram Mohan in certain quarters was very great. Freedom of thought and freedom of speech were then in their infancy, and Hinduism, which had so long exacted unquestioning and blind obedience, mustered all the forces at its command against the reformer. Though still clinging to all that was best in Hinduism and observing all outward performances necessary to retain his caste, he had too effectively attacked the abuses that had become a part of it, to escape the hatred of the orthodox. The storm of opposition he aroused would have overwhelmed a weaker man. ”

“ Coming straight from the midst of the most advanced coterie in Calcutta he was welcomed by the little group of men who were struggling towards enlightenment in Krishnagar. He infused into them new life and new ideas. The influence that such men as David Hare, Derozio, and Ram Mohan Roy had exercised upon him, he imparted to others—his love of truth, his respect for freedom of thought and speech, and his intense desire for knowledge, which alone could lead men to the Truth. ”

“ Gentlemen,—To-day my dearly beloved Hindu and Muhammadan fellow-citizens (whom I affectionately greet) have made me feel both very happy and very proud; happy that you approve of what I have done, in the belief that I was doing right, and proud in that I have gained your esteem and your regard. Believe me, I am keenly and deeply sensible of the honour you have now conferred on me by the address you have just presented to me, and that the pleasing memory of it will remain in my recollection as long as it shall seem fit to the Almighty to spare me. ”

“ Although it was not given to Ramtanu Lahiri to achieve fame, as the world counts it, in any particular walk of life, his influence on his day and generation was undoubted. Fame would have been the last thing that he himself would have desired. Ambitious only of all that was good and honourable and true, no man could have demanded less of life than he. ”

“ In 1864 Keshub started on an extensive missionary tour with the object of awakening the whole of India to participate in the general progress which he had so strenuously advocated in Calcutta, Everywhere he was received with popular acclamation, his eloquence and enthusiasm earning for him in Madras the name of 'The Thunderbolt of Bengal.' In almost every place he visited he found the same spirit of enquiry and eagerness for knowledge, and he returned from the tour greatly encouraged and more firmly convinced than before of the great work that lay before him and his followers. ”

“ This was the natural tendency of the sudden awakening that had come to Bengal in the middle of the nineteenth century, but from the first Ramtanu threw the whole weight of his influence on the side of moderation. He was wise enough to see that no nation, enervated by long sleep, can spring to life, at once capable and equipped to guide its own destiny with sure and steady hand. ”

“ Thus this magnificent charitable Trust Fund remains after more than one hundred years, fulfilling the intentions of its founder and conferring immense benefits on his co-religionists and fellow-countrymen. Rescued by Government from dissipation and embezzlement on the part of those who should have been its faithful guardians, it has been placed in safe keeping so that for all time it may serve the great purposes for which it was designed. No man could have raised a greater and more noble monument to himself than that which bears the name of Haji Mahomed Mohsin. ”

“ David Hare, a Scotsman who had come out to Calcutta as a watchmaker in 1800 at the age of twenty-five, had become one of the pioneers of education in Bengal. A man of no great education himself, he had become firmly impressed with the belief that a sound English education was essential to the real intellectual development of Bengal. Associated with some of the leading Bengali gentlemen of the day, among whom one of the foremost was Ram Mohan Ray, he succeeded in starting an English school for Indian students in the centre of Calcutta. ”

“ His tall dignified figure, familiar at court and in the highest circles of society, welcomed alike by the English Church and non-conformists, and equally at home in every circle of society, became in the eyes of those, who for the most part had never before seen an Indian at all, the embodiment of the Indian Empire. ”

“ In vain it was pointed out to them that under the new regime a knowledge of English was essential, and that the importance of Persian and Arabic and the study of Muhammadan Law was not what it had been. With a persistence that seems remarkable seventy years later they steadily refused to take the opportunities that were offered to them by a Government anxious only for their welfare. It was thus that the Hindu community, untramelled by the same prejudices and quick to move with the times, seized the advantage which it has ever since held. ”

“ After six months in England, he left for India strengthened and encouraged by contact with some of the greatest minds of the day and with his loyalty to the British Government greatly intensified. So deeply was he touched by the universal kindness he met with from all classes, from Her Majesty the Queen to the poorest peasant that, as he himself said, his loyalty to the great nation which had done so much for India became a part henceforward of his religion. ”

“ Not yet wholly emerged from the troublous times of the eighteenth century, it was not in a position to reap the full advantages of the rule of law and order which under British supremacy was gradually settling down upon the distracted land. Hindu Society, in the usual acceptation of the term, there was none. Nothing that could be called public opinion existed. Bengal had no literature, scarcely even a language of its own. Such education as existed was confined to Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic, and even the study of these languages had fallen into decay. ”

“ It is for his social and philanthropic work that his memory will ever be revered by the Muhammadan community for whose advancement he so earnestly strove. It is difficult in the present day when so many Muhammadans are to the fore in every walk of life to realise how unique was the position occupied by Abdul Latif and how large was the part he played in raising the community to the place it holds to-day. The pioneer of the great forward movement, which the latter half of the nineteenth century saw among his co-religionists, he often stood well nigh alone. ”

“ It is to the lasting credit of the Nawab Bahadur that, beginning in their darkest days, he consistently showed them the better way of loyalty and high endeavour. His own success in public life and the honoured position he rose to occupy in the opinion of all who knew him were themselves sufficient proof of the wisdom of his teaching, and might well serve as an example to inspire each one of his co-religionists to follow in his steps. ”

“ Ram Mohan carried out his campaign with characteristic thoroughness. Having suffered so severely from persecution himself, he was utterly opposed to coercion in any form. He would avoid, if possible, even compelling people to do what was right, if by any means they could be brought to do what was right by persuasion and a greater diffusion of knowledge. He therefore first endeavoured by every means in his power to bring home to this fellow-countrymen the real hideousness of the practice. ”

“ The firm had agents in London, Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow while in Calcutta it acted as banian to no fewer than ten European firms. Such was the enormous, business over which Durga Charan Law exercised for nearly half a century personal and complete control. From the outset of his career Durga Charan had shown not only industry and business capacity but a high sense of commercial integrity and honour. It was this reputation which the firm early acquired that enabled it to win the respect and inspire the confidence of the Indian and European communities alike. ”

“ There is no calculating what might have been the danger or mischief of a spread of the belief among a credulous and timid population. The fear was at once allayed by Amir Ali's advent and not only has the real justice of the Government been made apparent to the native mind but its vast power and resources, not half understood or believed by the people were made real and credible to all. ”

“ While believing no less than Ram Mohan Roy, whom he personally consulted on the subject, in the advantages of persuasion over force, he was unwilling to wait indefinitely for a reform that he considered urgently needed. Statistics still showed that, however much had been hoped from a gradual spread of education and a quiet insistence on the part of local officials, the practice was not yet sensibly on the decline. The gradual enlightenment of the people would take years, perhaps generations, and hundreds of innocent human lives would meanwhile be wantonly sacrificed. ”

“ It was truly said of him that he was the life and centre of Indian society in Calcutta for he alone was the friend equally of European, Muhammadan and Hindu, who all perforce sank their differences and jealousies under the influence of his good nature and quick sympathy. 'This man ne'er lost a friend nor made a foe' might well be taken as his epitaph. The Muhammadan community owes a debt of gratitude to Nawab Abdul Latif Bahadur which it behoves it never to forget. ”

“ But conditions were rapidly changing and with the strengthening of the British dominion in India came the necessity for widening and modernising the course of study and making the English language one of its principal features. It was thus while still at the Madrassa that Abdul Latif was first brought face to face with the problem which was to form the chief work of his life. The Muhammadan community, clinging to the old traditional forms of study, turned a deaf ear to the rising tide of modernism. ”

“ Brought up under strictly orthodox influences, Jotindra Mohan always retained his orthodox beliefs, furnishing by his piety, his charity and the sincerity of his life one of the most striking examples of all that is best in Hinduism, at the same time that his broadmindedness, his wide sympathy and his intense humanity was typical of the awakening that had come to Bengal. ”

“ Blest with splendid physique, his simple living and hard training had endowed him with excellent health, while his skill as a swordsman and as a wrestler was to become famous during his travels throughout India. It was always said of him, however, that his great strength was never used for oppression or in an unjust cause, while it was ever ready to defend the weak or the helpless. ”

“ Always he advocated free and unrestrained discussion, believing that it was only by going to the root of a question and judging for oneself on a full presentment of the facts that true knowledge could be acquired. He himself was always eager to gain fresh knowledge, even from the youngest and humblest, and it was this enthusiasm combined with innate modesty and simplicity of heart that helped to win him the popularity which he possessed in such full measure. ”

“ None had succeeded in the fight with nature and tamed its rampant luxuriance to any great extent the dull routine of cultivation. But in one corner of the vast area it was reserved for an English family to do, what others had failed to do, and by sheer force of character and energy to clear the splendid estate which was eventually to pass into the hands of Maharaja Durga Charan Law. ”

“ Truth is the everlasting Scripture: Faith is the root of all religion; Love is the true Scriptural Culture: the Destruction of Selfishness is the true asceticism.' It was to be a universal church founded on broad principles to which the whole world might subscribe if it would. Keshub and his little band of followers, having given up all their worldly prospects threw themselves with true missionary zeal into the work of spreading the tenets of their faith. ”

“ His Honour in handing him the Sanad spoke as follows—
"Syed Walayet Ali Khan—It is at the instance of His Excellency the Viceroy that I am present here to-day to confer upon you in this public Durbar the title and dignity of Nawab. In any career of life, apart from the testimony of a good conscience, that a man has striven honourably to do his duty, the highest reward which one can secure is the esteem and approbation of one's fellow-countrymen. ”

“ A feeling of revolt against the old creeds had grown up, and freedom of thought was making itself as it had never hitherto done in the history of Hinduism. Though as yet confined to the few, this spirit of progress was animating some of the most brilliant and able men of the rising generation. To such as these, education on western lines appeared the first essential. ”

“ He is withal one of the most modest men I had ever met with. It is no small compliment to such a man that even a Governor General like the present, who, though a man of the most honest intentions, suspects everybody and trusts no body, and who knows that Ram Mohan Roy greatly disapproves of many of the acts of Government should have shown him so much respect as to furnish him with introductions to friends of rank and political influence in England.'
He was careful, even when breaking so far with Brahmanical tradition as to cross the sea, to observe the laws of caste. ”