Page:A General Biography of Bengal Celebrities Vol 1.djvu/200

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HIS SPEECHES. 191 the happiness of the people are greatly enhanced. . It is all very well to Bay that in the oomprebensive word " peace- making" every thing is included, but is it meant to assert that the great causes of the advancement of civilization, the education of the people, the im- provement of roads and the opening of canals are to sink into insigni- ficance 1 Brevity may be the soul of wit, but you attempt to screw it down in this instance j— it will not do. (Hear, hear.) Lord Har- din ge expressed a glowing desire for the advancement of- education among the native population, and the feelings he expressed made a deep impression upon me. From that moment I have felt a deep- rooted esteem for the Governor-General, and would be very sorry if no allusion be made to Lord Hardinge. as. the friend and patron of native education. The proposal ioos carried. Then with regard to the personal memorial to commemorate the services of Lord Hardinge, Sir Thomas Turton proposed the Reso- lution of obtaining a service of plate for Lord Hardinge himself, and portrait of him for the Town Hall. Babu Ram Gopal rose and said : — Gentlemen, once more I come forward to objeot to the Resolution proposed. It is not for me to say that a better Governor-General than Lord Hardinge never came to India, but upon this we are all agreed, that he was a good Governor-General/ and therefore we can- not come forward with anything less than a statue. If there is- any thing else, surely the munificent example of the Bishop of Calcutta* should embolden us to come forward with a statue. And surely a mere piece of plate and a picture are not enough. Mr. Turton. — A. service of plate. R. G. Ghose. — Be it so — a service of plate is not sufficient. Would that I had a purse as long as that of the Raja of Burdwan, I would certainly not be backward in putting down a good round sum to- wards the erection of a statue. Gentlemen, Sir Thomas Turton has alluded to the Sutlej Column, but I cannot see that their is any • Bishop Wilson had subscribed a large sum for the commemoration of the services of Lord Hardinge.