Page:Anandamath, The Abbey of Bliss - Chatterjee.djvu/13

 too literally. Our author's patriotism is not to be identified with the revolutionary propaganda of his adventurers in the present work. There is no place for revolution or aggressive warfare in his scheme of patrotismpatriotism [sic]. Bloodshed and war Bankim Chandra looked upon as the detestable remnants of a barbarian age which were bound to pass away. If therefore he seems to have so much sympathy with revolutionaries of the type of his Children, it is not because his common sense would endorse similar proceedureprocedure [sic] but because his natural instincts were largely in sympathy with them. And if there is one lesson more than any other that he seeks to impart by his Children it is that revolutionists though foolish are very often estimable men, inspired with lofty sentiments, and perfectly honourable in their conduct. They may fail, but their failure does not justify the world in branding them as infamous brigands. On the contrary, we have a great deal to learn from them. Their earnestness and singleness of purpose, their tenacity and resourcefulness, their courage in facing the immense odds that are arrayed against them, not only on the battle-field but everywhere in the existing order of things and above all their supreme indifference to their own interests,—these are traits of character which every reformer, every patriot and every fighter in a noble cause should lay to heart if he wants to succeed. Our modus operandi must needs be different from the suicidal path of revolution, our conception of national welfare and of the goal of national life may be altogether different, but let us all he inspired with the same sense of the nobility of our mission and the selfless zeal in serving the interests of our 'Mother' as the Children.

Two outstanding features of our author's conception of patriotism are its provincialism and its religious tone. As