Page:Twelve men of Bengal in the nineteenth century (1910).djvu/237

Rh life, apart from the testimony of a good conscience, that a man has striven honourably to do his duty, the highest reward which one can secure is the esteem and approbation of one's fellow-countrymen. I believe that element of contemporary approval is not wanting in your own position: but it is quite fitting that where an eminent citizen has used unostentatiously and disinterestedly the wealth his hands have gained him, to advance the public good, government should not be backward in recognising such efforts. This is not the first occasion upon which it has fallen to your lot to receive at the hands of official authority the approval which government desires to express to a loyal and liberal subject. I note that, on the auspicious occasion of Her Majesty's assumption of the title of Empress of India, among the natives who were selected for marks of distinction, you were one of those who received a Certificate of Honour. I note that at a more recent period you were enrolled as a companion of the Order of the Indian Empire, and now it devolves upon me, both as a pleasure and privilege to confer upon you to-day the rank and title of Nawab. We may be sure that they could be no light services for which such accumulated honours were reserved, and speaking in the presence of those who know you best, I indulge in neither extravagance nor flattery when I say that in view of the prominent and devoted services rendered by you during the