Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/665

618 at Calcutta. The two were most intimately attached to each other. Both were engaged in what they sincerely believed to be the social reforms for this country. It was this Pyari Charan, who had published an appeal in the Education Gazette, of which he was the editor, calling upon the public for contributions towards the liquidation of Vidyasagar's debts, alluded to before. That Vidyasagar should be heartily grieved at the loss of such a sincere friend and fellow-worker is not at all strange. The depth of his grief will be evident from the under-quoted letter, which he addressed at the time to doctor Bhooban Mohun Sircar.

"My dear Bhoobun Mohun,

"I regret exceedingly that in the present state of my health, of which you are aware, I am unable to attend this evening's meeting of the Bengal Temperance Society. No one knows better than yourself the profound grief with which the lamented death of my beloved friend, Babu Pyari Charan Sircar, has filled me. We knew each other from early youth, and we were so closely attached, that in him I have lost a dear and affectionate brother. To the public the loss cannot be easily replaced. His great ability, high character and single-minded zeal in work of humanity rendered him highly useful to society at large, whilst his devotedness to the cause of temperance, which was manifested in the foundation of the Bengal Temperance