Page:A Nation in Making.djvu/129

President, who fixed for me the limit of time, a speech that did not exceed half a dozen lines. I owed my recovery on this occasion to the affectionate care and watchfulness of the late Dr. Debendra- nath Roy. I had known him since 1868. He was then ready to proceed to England with me, to compete for the Indian Medical Service. But there was a difficulty in his way. Mr. Monomohan Ghose, our non-official protector of emigrants, as Michael Madhu Shudan Dutt styled him, would not help him without his brother's knowledge and consent; and his brother, Rai Jadunath Roy Bahadur, the leader of public opinion in Krishnagore, objected to his visiting England. Caste prejudices against sea-voyages were then strong, and Rai Jadunath Roy Bahadur did not feel himself equal to overcoming them. But my friend, Dr. Debendranath Roy, graduated from the Calcutta Medical College and rose to distinction in the service of Government; and, when on his retirement he settled down in Calcutta, he commanded a large and lucrative practice. Skilful as a physician, his geniality as a man was even more remarkable. He was himself the victim of diabetes and asthma; but they were never permitted to mar his cheerfulness or disturb his optimism; and the hope and confidence that radiated from his glowing eyes were a source of never-failing comfort to his numerous patients. His premature death in 1909 was mourned by a large circle of friends and admirers. He was not only a dis- tinguished physician but an active educationist, and as a member of the Senate he rendered good service to the Calcutta University.