Page:Twelve men of Bengal in the nineteenth century (1910).djvu/101

Rh for five years. Ambitious, however, of contributing still further to his father's support than the small income so derived would allow, he set up on his own account in 1883 as a booksheller [sic] and publisher. The influence of his father's name and the support of his father's large circle of friends enabled him to meet with success from the outset. He thus had the great joy of placing his father beyond the need of financial worries and of very largely contributing to his happiness and comfort during the remaining years of his life.

Ramtanu's last years were still further saddened by the death of his youngest son at the age of fifteen, of his wife, the faithful and devoted partner of all his joys and sorrows, and of his younger brother Dr. Kali Charan Lahiri, as well as of many of his most devoted friends. Yet keenly as he felt these bereavements, they failed to kill the hopefulness and buoyancy of his nature. To the end he maintained his unwavering faith in the divine wisdom, accepting with resignation the trials that were sent to him. He died on the 18th of August, 1898 full of years and honour.

Although it was not given to Ramtanu Lahiri to achieve fame, as the world counts it, in any particular walk of life, his influence on his day and generation was undoubted. Fame would have been the last thing that he himself would have desired. Ambitious only of all that was good and honourable