Page:A General Biography of Bengal Celebrities Vol 1.djvu/23

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14 UFB OF RAJA DEGUKBER MITTBR,

6. He was a very strong-minded man. When his only son, Grish Chundra, died of a fall from his horse, the first thing that occurred to Degumber was to give notice to the police. He was very much grieved, but not to the extent that ordinary men are.

7. He was a very popular man and highly liked by his friends. When he was attacked by severe nervous debility and retired to Babu Heralal Seal's villa at Burranaggur, for a time, all his friends from the highest to the lowest flocked to see him. He was highly delighted at this proof of the attachment of his friends. He was very fond of music.

9. He practised deep breathing, a kind of Yoga. He taught me the same. The practice has salutary effect on the bodily system, but not to the extent he believed. He recommended me books on spiritualism.

10. The following anecdotes we have heard from other sources.

THE AM RITA BAZAR PATRIKA AND RAJA DEGUMBER.

It was in the year 1872 that this newspaper which had been hitherto published from the native village of its well-known editor, Babu Shishir Kumar Ghose, in the district of Jessore, had to be transferred to Calcutta, pestilence, epedemic fever, and other causes compelled Babu Shishir Kumar and his brothers to adopt this course. He stood in need of patronage and encouragement in his new career; and the first man to whom he applied for moral help was Raja Degumber. Babu Shishir Kumar knew the Raja to be a broad-minded and far-sighted statesman who would readily sympathize with his political aspirations and the aims of his journalistic career. He appealed to the Raja, and the appeal was not made in vain. The Raja lent his moral support to the paper as he thought that an outspoken and fearless journal like the Amrita Bazar was a desideratum at the time.