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''The 27th June of the year 1838 is a red-letter day in the history of Bengal. It shall ever be remembered, with pride and glory, by the millions of the Bengali-speaking race, as the birthday of that master-mind—that great literary genius—the late Rai Bahadur Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, C.I.E., the immortal author of the well-known novel,'' Chandra Shekhar. The year 1874 will also not be forgotten, and will, by all means, leave an imperishable landmark in the annals of the Bengali literature; for, it was in that year that Chandra Shekhar with all its literary beauty and elegance—rich thoughts and sentiments—and above all, with its masterly finished pictures and characters, was contributed to the world's treasure of literature by the great man whose stamp of genius it bears.

It is neither my desire nor is it possible to attempt here to analyse the various remarkable factors and