Page:The Autobiography of Maharshi Devendranath Tagore.djvu/64

16 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF believed to have been the objection raised by Keshab to the wearing of the sacred thread by those who conducted Divine Service in the Brâhma-Samaj. At first my father was inclined to give in, and even went so far as actually to set up two of Keshab's friends, who had discarded their Brahminical thread, as Acharyas, in the place of the old ministers who had refused to comply with the proposed reform. But on second thoughts, reflecting perhaps on what was due to the old ministers who had suffered so much for the Samaj, and being desirous of retaining and harmonising the conservative and progressive elements in the Samaj, he changed his mind, and the old thread-bearing Brâhmas were replaced as ministers.

The rupture between the two parties was further widened by an intermarriage between two persons of different castes, solemnised by Keshab in 1863; this was a reform of a radical character which my father was not prepared to adopt, in opposition to the sentiments of the entire Hindu community. For some time proposals for separate services in the same church were discussed, but with no result. A complete severance seemed to be the only solution. Some of the young men broke away, but Keshab held on for some time longer. The mutual love between the Pradhan Acharya and Brahmananda delayed the catastrophe. But as no compromise was possible between the two separation was inevitable.