Page:Twelve men of Bengal in the nineteenth century (1910).djvu/241

Rh "In presenting this address, allow us to express the hope that you will continue to take the keen interest you have hitherto done in the welfare of this city and its inhabitants, and we sincerely trust that the Almighty may prolong a life conspicuous for its energy in the cause of good and its activity in the cause of liberality and philanthroppy."

The Nawab replied as follows:—

",—To-day my dearly beloved Hindu and Muhammadan fellow-citizens (whom I affectionately greet) have made me feel both very happy and very proud; happy that you approve of what I have done, in the belief that I was doing right, and proud in that I have gained your esteem and your regard. Believe me, I am keenly and deeply sensible of the honour you have now conferred on me by the address you have just presented to me, and that the pleasing memory of it will remain in my recollection as long as it shall seem fit to the Almighty to spare me. You estimate too highly the poor services that I have been able to render, and I attribute the high praise that you are pleased to accord to them rather to the liberality of the Government in marking their sense of them and to the kindly sentiments you entertain towards me, than to the inherent value of the services themselves. With particular reference to what I have been enabled to do on the occasions of public calamity and disturbance, and in the cause of