HAJI MOHAMMAD MOHSHIN.
There are very few in Bengal who have not heard the blessed name of Mohshin. Thousands of poor Mahomedan students owe their education to-day to the munificence of this saintly man. The Madrasahs and students' boarding houses which are to be found all over the country, the celebrated Imam-bara of Hughli, where innumerable poor men receive medicines and diet free of costs in illness and are fed and clothed in times of festivity,—these are all due to his princely endowments. The name of such a man deserves to be celebrated all over the land and his example ought to be placed before all who desire the good of their country.
Mohammad Mohshin was born at Hughli in 1732. The Mahomedan power was still paramount in the country and Hughli was ten times more splendid and wealthy than Calcutta, which was then a small town of no great pretensions. Mohshin received his early education from a scholar of repute surnamed Shirazi. He soon imbibed from his teacher a passion for Arabic and Persian literature, a desire for travel, and a contempt for worldly riches. After competing his education under Shirazi he went to Moorshidabad to be "finished off." Several years were thus spent in company with learned Maulovis and saintly darweshes; and Mohshin came to acquire a great fame for Persian and Arabic scholarship. His calligraphy was very fine indeed. In later times he used to copy out the Quoran and present copies to poor beggars, who were thus enabled to make money for themselves. A specimen of his handwriting may still be seen in the manuscript of the Quoran made by Mohshin and preserved in the Hughli College Library. Luxury and licentiousness were the prevailing vices of the day. But although the youth of Mohshin was spent in Hughli and Murshidabad, which were the very hot-beds of vice, his character was above suspicion. He always spent his time in holy meditations and in doing good to others. He had realised the truth of the maxim 'sound mind in a sound body' and
