Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/639

592 The Hon'ble C. E. Buckland in his 'Bengal under the Lieutenant-Governers,' says,—"Reform was the principal feature of Sir G. Campbell's Government. The experiment of appointing a Lieutenant-Governor who had not graduated in Lower Bengal certainly led to great changes, and it seemed as if every department and institution had to justify its method of working. It would have been impossible for any one, in such a position and bent on such a mission as Sir G. Campbell, to avoid running counter to many cherished ideas in conservative Bengal: and it was no wonder that the pressure he applied on all officers and classes tended to render him unpopular."

A contemporary writer thus described Sir George Campbell:—"That he was more than a mere executive officer every one knows who knows India. His Governorship represented a virtual revolution, succeeding that of Sir William Grey. It was a change from desk management to root-and-branch administration, resting on fixed and matured views as to political principles underlying action. As a statesman, Sir G. Campbell stands foremost among the Lieutenant-Governors, and it is unpleasant to add that he was the least popular."

He was a great enemy of the high education of the natives of the soil; he lowered the status of the Berhampur, the Krishnaghar, and the Sanskrit Colleges from the first to the second grade.

The Hon'ble C. E. Buckland, in his 'Bengal