Page:Twelve men of Bengal in the nineteenth century (1910).djvu/189

Rh Hindu as Maharaja Sir Jotindra Mohan Tagore, by so good a Muhammadan as Nawab Abdul Latif and by such men of western light and learning of another faith as Professor Max Müller and Dean Stanley.

Loyalty was one of the watch-words of the Brahmo Samaj. None realised more fully than Keshub Chandra Sen how essential it was to the peace and welfare of his country that the British Government should receive the loyal and hearty cooperation of his fellow countrymen. "You are bound to be loyal to your divinely-appointed sovereign" he wrote to his people. "Not to be loyal" he argues base ingratitude and absence of faith in Providence. You are bound to be loyal to the British Government, that came to your rescue as God's ambassador when your country was sunk in ignorance and superstition and hopeless jejuneness, and has since lifted you to your present high position. Honour your Sovereign and the entire ruling body with fervent loyalty. The more loyal we are, the more we shall advance with the aid of our rulers in the poth [sic] of moral, social and political reformation.'

Worn by his ceaseless activities and worried by dissensions among his followers, Keshub's health now began to give serious cause for alarm. Visits to Darjeeling and Simla effected only temporary relief and he himself was the first to realise the fatal nature of the malady from which he was suffering. The knowledge that his end was near served to urge