East. Those who had any acquaintance with the less public proceedings of the Government, had observed how ready and able he was to afford all needed information;-how courteous, humble and respectful in giving it;-how firm and persevering in adhering to the course of duty;-how patient and assiduous in waiting for and seeking the proper opportunities.

We trusted that he was now to rest awhile in the enjoyment of the intercourses of friendship, thus preparing to return with renewed strength to carry to his countrymen new light, and the assurances of help and sympathy from their brethren in England.

But it was not so ordered. The sun of India went down with tropical suddenness, and left us in the deepest gloom. We were bewildered and cast down. The noble form of him in whom we had seen the embodiment of all that was good and noble and lovable, and which had appeared likely to last for many long years, was laid low in death, even while the thought of him in apparent health and strength was fresh in our remembrance. He passed away without one message to his countrymen, without one last testimony to the truths which he had laboured to establish,-without one expressed wish as to the future of his family, and especially of his adopted son, left thus in the land of strangers! He believed from the commencement of his illness that the hand of death was upon him, but, though his spirit was frequently in prayer, and though while consciousness remained he could give a loving, grateful look, and an affectionate pressure of the hand to those who were tenderly caring for him, disease checked all utterance of

his wishes. Thus, too, was it ordered. In that solemn hour his faith in the Eternal Spirit resigned the labours of his life to higher keeping than his own, and his confidence in his friends left all else to them without distrust or anxiety. His faith had a sure foundation,— for it was based on that revelation of the Father of our spirits which was made by his well-beloved Son.

At this distance of time we can perceive some of the reasons of that appointment which appeared at the time so mysterious. India was not at that period prepared fully to appreciate its great reformer. Had he returned to his own country he might have received even greater opposition and persecution than he had before experienced; had he died there, it is not likely that the event would have excited any special interest at the time, judging from the remarkable want of it which was there manifested at the period of his decease. But now that thirty years have witnessed great changes in his native land, that some of his views have made much progress among his countrymen,-that important alterations have taken place in the position of our Government in reference to India, tending to remove the feeling of separation between the two nations,-it is now that the fact of the sacred remains of the Rajah RAMMOHUN ROY being laid in our country forms a kind of tie of relationship between us, while the reverence and love with which we treasure the memory of our distinguished guest are a token to them of our sympathy with themselves, and may give to his writings an added claim on their attention.

The death of the Hindoo Reformer attracted much attention in the journals of the day, and drew public notice to his life and labours. In all that we have met with, however, the sources of information were the same only as have already been laid before the reader in this volume, and it would be unnecessary to repeat them. We shall present therefore in this chapter such private testimonies of respect as have been preserved to us, and in the next such portions of the Funeral Sermons which were preached on occasion of his death, as show the estimate formed of his character by ministers of piety and intellectual attainments.

The testimony of the family of the Mr. HARES, with whom the Rajah resided in London, has been given to us by Dr. CARPENTER. He says,―

"From this family I have received every advantage I could desire, in forming or confirming my opinions as to the Rajah's habits and character; and to the several members of it, his other personal friends must feel grateful for the numerous sources of comfort which he enjoyed among them. Mr. ARNOTT (in the 'Athenæum') says, with perfect justice, that they 'discharged the duties of hospitality towards him, ever since his arrival in England, with a kindness, delicacy, and entire disinterestedness, which are honourable to the English character.'

"Possessed of the Rajah's unbounded confidence, acquainted with all his movements, and enabled to judge with complete accuracy of his habits and dispositions, the unhesitating and unequivocal testimony of this family, one and all, to the unvarying purity of his conduct and

the refined delicacy of his sentiments, is as decisive as it is valuable. I had, myself, repeated opportunities of observing with what earnest respect he appreciated true delicacy in the female character: and I learn that, while he always maintained his habitual politeness to the sex, and may therefore have misled the superficial observer, he manifested a very prompt and clear discrimination as to individuals; and that he commonly expressed strong dislike, and even disgust, where they seemed to him to depart from that true modesty which is essential to its excellence.

"Mr. JOSEPH HARE his brother fully agreeing with him-assures me, that the Rajah was constantly in the habit of dictating, to those who were for the time acting as amanuenses, in phraseology requiring no improvement, whether for the press or for the formation of official documents-such verbal amendments only excepted, as his own careful revision supplied before the final completion of the manuscript: that he often had recourse to friends to write from his dictation; among others to himself and the members of his family: that it is his full conviction, that, from the day of the Rajah's arrival in this country, he stood in no need of any assistance except that of a mere mechanical hand to write: and that he has often been struck-and recollects that he was particularly so at the time the Rajah was writing his 'Answers to the Queries on the Judicial and Revenue Departments' with his quick and correct diction, and his immediate perception of occasional errors when he came to revise the matter. These facts I and others have repeatedly heard from the Mr. HARES; and I rest

with conviction upon them. It is happy for the Rajah's memory that he lived in the closest intimacy and confidence with friends who are able and willing to defend it, wherever truth and justice require."

Mrs. ESTLIN recorded at the time some interesting particulars which she learnt from Miss HARE. "The Rajah read the Scriptures daily in Hebrew and Greek. Miss HARE often read them to him also;-this was never omitted at night. He was also in a constant habit of prayer, and was not interrupted in this by her presence; -whether sitting or riding he was frequently in prayer. He told Miss H. that whenever an evil thought entered into his mind he prayed. She said, 'I do not believe you ever have an evil thought.' He answered, 'O yes, we are all liable to evil thoughts.""

A touching mark of respect to the memory of her illustrious guest was given by Miss CASTLE.* A fine painting of the Rajah by BRIGGS, R.A., was brought to Bristol for exhibition; Miss CASTLE purchased it and presented it to the Bristol Philosophical Institution, that all who visit the place of his death may there see his living likeness. It is from this beautiful picture that the frontispiece is taken. The Rajah's personal appearance, which is well represented in this picture, is thus described in the Asiatic Journal, as quoted by Dr. CARPENTER in the appendix to his sermon:—

66 C 'The person of RAMMOHUN ROY was a very fine one.

*This estimable young lady did not long survive the Rajah. After a tedious and wearing illness she died December 13, 1835, aged 22.