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at that time. Some of our best men had fallen victims to the curse of drink. It was considered to be an inseparable part of English culture. A man who did not drink was hardly entitled to be called educated. The saintly Raj Narayan Bose tells us in his autobiography (and I have heard the story from his own lips) how one afternoon he went to Ram Gopal Ghose's house, and, meeting other friends there, called for a drink from the servant, the master being away; and how, when Ram Gopal came back from office, he found them all lying on the floor in a state of more or less hopeless inebriety. The youth of Bengal had to be rescued from this terrible vice, and a complete transformation of the opinion of the educated community was an urgent necessity.

No man was better qualified to lead the movement than a teacher of youth so universally respected as Peary Churn Sircar. The outward look and demeanour of the man would, however, produce the impression that he was far more fit to follow than to lead. One so gentle, so quiet, so amiable, seemed to be hopelessly wanting in the sterner qualities of the leader of a great public movement. The result, however, showed that there was the mailed fist concealed under the velvet glove, and that the gentle head master of the Colootola Branch School had been gifted by nature with what are believed to be incompatible qualities, a child-like simplicity and a fascinating amiability, combined with the firmness and strength of a leader of men.

The temperance movement was a great success. We all joined it. We were enthusiastic about it, held meetings and made speeches. Keshub Chunder Sen, Iswar Chunder Vidyasagar and the Reverend C. H. A. Dall, a highly esteemed American missionary of the Unitarian Church, were active promoters of the movement. It made an abiding impression on the young generation, and helped to stem the tide of intemperance, which had assumed ominous proportions.

There was one other public movement that marked the period of my student life and which deserves a passing reference. It was the movement for the re-marriage of Hindu widows, inaugurated by the great Pundit Iswar Chunder Vidyasagar. His is an honoured name in Bengal and will, I think, occupy, next to Raja Ram Mohun Roy, the proudest place in our history. I knew him well and admired his great personality, his wonderful strength of purpose, the breadth and liberality of his views, and his deep and burning sympathy for the helpless and the poor. It was this last