78 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [May, 



vernaculars, — Hindi, Urdu, and Bengali. His ancestors were noted 

 for their devotion to the British nation under which they had lived 

 and thrived ; and, following their footsteps, he attached himself to some 

 of the leading Englishmen of his time, whose example exercised the 

 most salutary influence on his whole life. Among them were Cole- 

 brooke, Wilson and David Hare, who had formed a Society for the 

 extension of school education in this country, and he was appointed 

 its Honorary Secretary. In this capacity he felt the want of good 

 school books, and at once set himself to supply the desideratum. 

 The Primers and Readers which he then compiled were the first of 

 the kind in our language, and they have been the model upon which 

 all others have subsequently been formed. The want of education 

 for our females also attracted his notice at this time ; and in the 

 language of the late Hon'ble Mr. Bethune, to him ' belongs the 

 credit of being the first native of India, who, in modern times, has 

 pointed out the folly and wickedness of allowing women to grow 

 up in utter ignorance.' A number of schools, both for boys and 

 girls, were established under his care, and the little pupils used an- 

 nually to assemble in his palatial residence at Shobhabazar to pass 

 examinations and receive prizes. Indeed, what he did in those days 

 in Bengal for female education, has never been attempted since. He 

 was also instrumental, in conjunction with the late Sir Edward Hyde 

 East, in the establishment of the Hindu College, which has done so 

 much for the social, moral and intellectual advancement of the 

 people of this country. He was appointed one of the governors of 

 the Institution, and in that capacity took a deep interest in its wel- 

 fare for near forty years. Although not born a Kulin, and therefore 

 not of the aristocracy of the country according to Indian notions, 

 his alliance by marriage, and the office which his grandfather held 

 in the time of Lord Clive, as the head of the Jdtimdld Kdchdri or 

 the Court for the settlement of disputes regarding caste, gave him 

 great influence among his countrymen, and for thirty years he held 

 the leadership of the Hindus of Bengal. Gentle, frank and affable 

 by nature, and possessed of excellent address, he won the good will 

 and admiration of all who came in contact with him, and never created 

 an enemy. Sir Lawrence Peel, Chief Justice of the late Supreme Court, 

 used to say of him that ' he was a pattern of gentlemanliness which 

 we would all do well to imitate.' 



