Page:Ramtanu Lahiri, Brahman and Reformer - A History of the Renaissance in Bengal.djvu/58

 how his favourite Tarakanta fared, went to his lodgings, and found him snoring away the morning hours. The little excitement caused by the presence of the august guest awoke the sleeper, who got on his legs in surprise. On being asked by his master the cause of his strange proceedings during the past night, he said in reply, ‘I thought he was unwell, and so instead of disturbing him, I shifted for myself in the best way I could. I was not, however, put out in the least.’ This act of generosity on the part of my uncle, seemed a wonder to the Raja; and he said, ’If there be virtue in this world, it is in my Dewan, Tarakanta.’ One could never recount all the noble qualities of my uncle. His self-control was uncommon. He lost six or seven sons; but no one ever saw the least sign of grief in his countenance. At the time when each passed away, he not only maintained his equanimity, but also tried to console his afflicted family. It is a mystery, that he, who would weep for his bitterest enemies in distress, could remain so unmoved by the death of his children, dearer to him than life.”

How unusually great was the nobility of this man’s character! The history of his life is really edifying. We should here say that Dewan Kartik Chandra Rai, too, from whose autobiography we have made these extracts, was himself one of the foremost among men noted for their excellent natural qualities. There are very few who are so scrupulous, dutiful, truthful and benevolent as he was. Many of his uncle’s good qualities were seen in him. He felt an intuitive impulse to attend to the wants of his fellow-creatures, to encourage by every means in his power men of real worth, to honour the honest and the just, and to relieve the distressed. It was these qualities for which such great and patriotic characters as Iswara Chandra Vidyasagara, and Akshaykumar Datta,