Page:Twelve men of Bengal in the nineteenth century (1910).djvu/232

202 cleanliness is next to godliness had in him a firm believer and in season and out of season he preached greater cleanliness and better sanitation as one of the chief needs of the day.

It was in the dark days of the mutiny that Syed Walayet Ali Khan first came prominently forward and won golden opinions from government for his loyalty and practical assistance. Patna, the second city in Bengal, was looked upon at that time as the centre of disloyalty. A large number of Muhammadans there hankered after the old regime, refusing that strong support and loyalty to the British Government which they have since accorded. Syed Walayet Ali Khan's loyalty thus stands out all the more conspicuously, as being one of the first to see in what direction the true interests of his co-religionists and fellow-countrymen lay. From the first he followed his own convictions without thought of fear or favour. "With regard to Walayet Ali Khan," wrote the Commissioner of Patna at the time of the Mutiny, "the following extracts from one of my official reports will show the opinions I held regarding his loyalty and the valuable assistance I had received from him during the most critical period of danger."—

"It is also gratifying to me to be able at this time to record the assistance I have received from several of the respectable native residents of Patna, more especially from among others, Walayet Ali