Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/715

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ISVAR CHANDRA VIDYASAGAR.

and medals were offered in memory of the great Vidyasagar. Besides these, Libraries and Dispensaries were opened in different places in his name.

On the 27th August, 1891, a grand meeting, presided over by Sir Charles Eliott, the then Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, was held in the Town Hall of Calcutta to consider the means of perpetuating the memory of Pandit Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar and Dr. Rajendra Lala Mitra. Among those present were Sir Comer Petheram, the then Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, the Hon'ble Dr. Gurudas Banarji, Maharaja Jatindra Mohan Tagore, Raja Pyari Mohan Mukharji, and a number of European and native gentlemen of high station and influence. As a fruit of that meeting, a statue of the first Principal of the Sanskrit College has been set up in the College-building as a tribute of respect to the great man.

But is this sufficient? Who is to answer the question? The natives of Bengal must consider themselves fortunate that they have been able to do so much. Most surely, they have won a very bad name that they are great in words, but small in deeds. How often have they assembled in large gatherings rending the walls of the room with loud vociferations of their thundering eloquence, and how often have they failed in deeds! In fact, these persons are objects of great pity. The practice of holding meetings to express grief for the departed and to raise funds for raising monuments in