Page:Twelve men of Bengal in the nineteenth century (1910).djvu/34

22 were passages in "Hindu law" entirely inconsistent with it, that induced the British Government to abandon in this one instance its position of non-interference with religious practices, and that made its abolition possible in the face of the very strong opposition it aroused.

Throughout all his efforts in the cause of education and the abolition of Sati, Ram Mohan's quest after knowledge in matters of belief had been unceasing. Always with earnest and single mind he had sought the truth. To all that was best in Hinduism he whole-heartedly adhered. It was only its errors and abuses against which he waged continual war. To all that was good and honourable and true in whatever religion it might be found he gave his allegiance. Once in the early days, his wife having overheard a long religious discussion between her husband and his friends, asked of him in bewilderment "Which religion then is the best and highest?" For a moment struck by the directness of the question, he paused, then answered in the illustrative manner that so appeals to the eastern mind—"Cows are of different colours but the colour of the milk they give is the same. Different teachers have different opinions but the essence of every religion is to adopt the true faith and to live the faithful life." Of his large-heartedness and broad-mindedness there are innumerable examples. Although not a Christian