Page:A General Biography of Bengal Celebrities Vol 1.djvu/85

76 LIFE OF HUHISH CHUNDER MUKHEBjEE. active and loyal co-operation of Her Majesty's subjects and Princes of all classes, British statesmanship and British valour triumphed at last, and the Mutiny was) suppressed The narrow limits of our book prevenf us from noticing with minuteness, all the writings^ of Hurish Chunder and to criticize them at an elabor-J < ate length. That requires a separate volume which? we hope and trust better writers would undertake! hereafter. But this much we must say that in trying? to suppress the Mutiny, Hurish Chunder did not onlyf a duty to the great British Government to which he inl common with the rest of his fellow countrymen owedf allegiance and a debt of deep gratitude but rendered valuable service to India, his mother country. The? Mutiny may have inflicted upon this country a thousand! losses but it has done some good to it as well. The Proclamation of 1858 which stands as an imperish^ able monument of the large-heartedness of a conquer* ing nation towards the conquered would not have beenj promulgated so soon but for this execrable rising. lis moreover opened the eyes of Great Britain that' in* order to make Britannia's rule permanent in India, the policy of distrust, of exclusion of people from offices of great trust and responsibility, and from all share in the Government of their country was a mistake. The illus- trious subject of our memoir wrote an excellent article in the Hindoo Patriot of December 31st 1858, summarizing the evil effects of this political event, from which we extract the following. "The year 1857 will form the date of an era unsurpassed in importance by any in the history of mankind. For as who are living in the midst of those scenes which have atampt this epochal character on the year, it is impossible to realise in its fullest measure the interest that will attach to it in the eyes of posterity. Our minds are too fuU of the incidents of the rebellionr— of this siege and that massacre, the battle, the retreat* the ambnuoade; mutinies, treacheries and treasons— they are far too agitated, — to receive a