Page:Bengal Celebrities.djvu/151

[ '5« ] decline a seat on the Bench for more than once. But Womes chandra was a patriot first and a lawyer next He was one of the organisers of the Indian National Congress, of which body he twice became President, [the highest honour that can fall to the lot of any Indian. He was one of the starters of the Bengalee, which has become a newspaper of so much force in the country. Hard work and excessive mental worry soon broke down Mr. Bonerji's health in India and he .went to England for a change. It was in England that his last days were spent Although away from his native land, his heart always turned towards it as the magnetic needle turns to the pole. It would be endless to mention all the various services he has rendered to his motherland from his distant "KhiderpoTe villa" at Croydon. The innumerable speeches he delivered in England, always pleading the cause of this distant country and the immense personal sacrifice he underwent on her score are too well-known to require any mention. Shortly before his death he resolved to stand for Parliamentary election, but he had to retire from the contest owing to ill-health. He dragged on a miserable existence for some months more until all was over in 1906. The news of his death has plunged his native country into a depth of sorrow from which she will take a long time to rise. By his stem independence and gravity of manners, by his unflinching devotion to the cause of truth and .patriotism, by the sympathy and kindness of his heart Mr. Bonerji secured the admiration and respect of Englishmen and Indians alike ■& fortune rarely enjoyed by others in these days.