Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/710

 CHAPTER XXXVI.

All was over. Amidst the fearful lamentations, preparations were made by the friends of the deceased for the performance of the last rites according to the dictates of the Sastras. Dressed in purest white, supported on the softest bedding, the corpse was placed on the very nice cot, upon which he used to sleep in his life-time. At 4 A. M. the mournful funeral procession proceeded in the direction of the place of cremation by the side of the Bhagirathi. The uncovered stretcher with its majestic burden was borne on the shoulders of the son, grandsons, brothers, other relatives, and friends. On its way, the sorrowful cortege once stopped a while before the Metropolitan Institution building. Here Narayan Chandra cried out in loud, pathetic terms, and invoked the blessing of his parent, saying—'Oh! my beloved father, here stands your dear Metropolitan. Bless me from heaven—give me power to preserve your noble work.' The pathetic appeal so affected the processionists, that each of them was moved to a flood of tears. The procession moved on with, sad, slow steps, and at 5 O'clock reached the Nimtala cremation Ghat, where two days previously, another powerful, great Indian, Dr. Rajendra Lala Jditra, had lain to rest for ever.