Page:Twelve men of Bengal in the nineteenth century (1910).djvu/217

Rh appointed a Port Commissioner of Calcutta, and the many other honours and distinctions of all kinds that came to him in rapid succession showed the esteem in which he was held by all classes of the community. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace for the town of Calcutta and an Honorary Presidency Magistrate early in his career, while later came the honour of nomination to the Bengal Legislative Council. He was also elected a member of the Senate of the Calcutta University and held office as Sheriff of Calcutta, being appointed a member of the Supreme Legislative Council in 1882. In the same year he sat on the Commission appointed for the reduction of the Public Debt while two years later came the first titular honour, that of the Companionship of the Order of the Indian Empire, conferred upon him by Government in recognition of the services he had rendered. On the occasion of the Jubilee of the Queen-Empress the title of Raja was bestowed upon him. In the following year he was again appointed a member of the Supreme Legislative Council and in 1891 he was created a Maharaja. These high honours and offices show not only in what high esteem Durga Gharan Law was held but the varied interests and activities which he contrived to combine with the management of a large and successful business.

His charities were unbounded. Possessed of immense wealth he was always ready to place it at