Page:Twelve men of Bengal in the nineteenth century (1910).djvu/102

86 and true, no man could have demanded less of life than he. For himself he asked nothing, for his fellow-men he asked everything. Upon all with whom he came in contact and they were all the leading men of his day, his intense earnestness, his love of truth, his uncompromising aversion to all that was unworthy or unjust, and his neverfailing eagerness to help others, left a deep impression. His humility was touching and profound. "When he saw others who spent much time in prayer," wrote Professor Max Muller of him, "he considered them the most favoured of mortals, for pure and conscientious as he was, he felt himself so sinful that he could but seldom utter a word or two in the spirit of what he considered true prayer." It was this spirit of true modesty which prevented him from ever thrusting himself to the front and taking a leading part in the great controversies that were shaking society to its foundations. Yet quietly and persistently he did the work that it was given to him to do, exercising a very real influence on his day and generation, his sweetness and gentleness of disposition helping to heal the wounds of controversy and pleading for a wider sympathy and a broader toleration in matters of belief.