Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/24

Rh and some of the greatest Indian workers of the day. He helped the young Durga Charan Banerjea (father of our distinguished countryman, the Honorable Surendra Nath Banerjea) to the post of Head writer to the Fort William College; he learnt English with the young and earnest Raj Narain Basu who subsequently distinguished himself in Bengali Literature; he made the acquaintance of Raja Radha Kant Dev then the venerable head of the orthodox Hindu community; and he formed that early friendship, which lasted through life, with the talented Akhay Kumar Datta, who subsequently rivalled Vidyasagar himself in his patriotic work, as in his high literary reputation.

Lord Hardinge, then Governor General of India, paid a visit to Fort William College in 1844, and had a long talk with Vidyasagar. And when the hundred and one "Hardinge schools" were founded in the different districts of Bengal during the two subsequent years, the selection of teachers for these schools was left to Mr. Marshall and to Vidyasagar. It is a remarkable and a characteristic fact that in the exercise of his extensive patronage, Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar was never influenced by personal considerations, and was never untrue to the trust which was reposed on him. A touching instance is recorded of the manner in which he passed over his own claims to appoint