Page:Twelve men of Bengal in the nineteenth century (1910).djvu/82

66 every morning, ending with the Hindu College. He was looked upon with the greatest love and reverence by the students, many of whom, too poor to pay for it, owed their education entirely to his generosity and that of his friends whose interest he had aroused. The story of Ramtanu's appointment as a free scholar gives some insight into the difficulties with which Mr. Hare had to contend.

As soon as it became known that he kept a number of free scholarships in his own gift, he became pestered with applications for them. Kesava had become acquainted with one Gour Mohan Vidyalankar, a pundit in one of the David Hare schools, and he enlisted his help in endeavouring to secure one of the free scholarships for Ramtanu. Gour Mohan took the latter to Mr. Hare's house, but this first visit did not prove a success. Beseiged by applications for the free scholarships, Mr. Hare had become suspicious of the good faith of many of the applicants, and he refused at first to entertain Gour Mohan's request. The latter, however, evidently knowing the kindness of Mr. Hare's nature, instructed Ramtanu to remain in waiting outside the great man's gate, and to repeat his request, running beside his palanquin every time he entered or left his house. For two months Ramtanu remained a supplicant, poor and in straitened circumstances, but hopeful and persistent. It was truly a triumph of importunity, for Mr. Hare at last convinced of