Page:Twelve men of Bengal in the nineteenth century (1910).djvu/86

70 Through all these momentous years Ramtanu had remained at the Hindu College. In 1833 he became a teacher there on the modest salary of thirty rupees a month. Busy with his work all day and engrossed in the great questions which were agitating Hindu society, he was not forgetful of family ties and duties. A touching story is told of his devotion to his younger brother, Kali Charan Lahiri, at this time. The latter was reading for his exminationexamination [sic] for the medical degree, when, a few months before the date of it, his eyesight failed and he was ordered for the time being to give up reading altogether. It was a terrible blow to all his hopes, and but for his brother's help there is no doubt that he would have had to give up the career that he had planned. Ramtanu, however, was determined that if it was humanly possible, his brother should enter as arranged for the examination, and devoting every moment of his spare time to him, he read aloud the prescribed text books over and over again until Kali Charan practically knew them by heart. When the time came he passed the examination with flying colours, a result due solely, as he always gratefully acknowledged to Ramtanu's help.

The year 1835 is a memorable one in the history of education in Bengal. The Governor-General, Lord William Bentick, had long been at variance with the Committee of Public Instruction, which had been