Christian truth after his coming to England? Some said he did, while others said he did not. It must be said that there was no such fundamental change in his faith as to justify those who said that Ram Mohan Roy was like them an orthodox Christian, though there is not the least doubt that his enthusiasm for Unitarianism had waned a good deal, and his aversion to orthodox Christianity which was so great and intense in Calcutta was changed into positive admiration for the great excellences of heart and spirit that he found among orthodox Christians. With regard to this what has been written by Mr. Sandford Arnot, a man who knew Ram Mohan Roy in Calcutta where he was acting as an assistant editor of the Journal which was suppressed and whence he was deported, and who had worked as Ram Mohan's Secretary in England, isworthy of notice. He says:—

66

As he advanced in age, he became more strongly impressed with the importance of religion to the welfare of society, and the pernicious effectsof scepticism. In his younger years, his mind had been deeply struck with the evils of believing too much, and against that he directed all his. energies: but in his later days he began to feel that there was as much, if not greater, danger in the tendency to believe too little."

This is worthy of notice with regard to the general tendency of Ram Mohan Roy's religious thinking. which became more and more positive as he grew in years. So much was this the case that he was very much disconcerted at seeing the prevalence of scepticism and infidelity in England and France. strongly disapproved of people talking of their doubts.

He

of Christianity or about the existence of God in the presence of women, and declared that if he were settled in Europe with his family, he would introduce them to none but religious people. As regards his attitude towards Unitarianism, Mr. Arnot says:

"He evidently now began to suspect that the Unitarian form of Christianity was too much rationalized (or sophisticated, perhaps, I may say) to be suitable to human nature. He remarked in the Unitarians a want of that fervour of zeal and devotion found among other Sects, and felt doubts whether a system appealing to reason only was calculated to produce a permanent influence on mankind."

From this and other testimony we learn that Ram Mohan Roy was getting more and more into that frame of mind where between believing too much and too little, one chooses the former, and accordingly he was getting more and more interested in Trinitarian Christianity which he had at first condemned hailing Unitarianism as a victory of "simple precepts". It may be that it was the difference that be found between the Unitarians and the Trinitarians that led him to be in favour of believing too much which is only another name for orthodoxy, a difference that has led many others also in the same way, making them prefer Trinitarianism to Unitarianism, which last is after all richer in negations than in affirmations. The words "By their fruits ye shall judge them" have been always the truest test of the discipleship of Jesus Christ, and " the fruits" may have weighed more and more with Ram Mohan Roy in his declining days than mere arguments and doctrines.

66

CHAPTER XV
THE END.

Rajah Ram Mohan Roy's work in England was finished. We do not know what he intended to do after this, or how much longer he wanted to stay in England. Probably before he had time to make any plans, he became seriously ill at Bristol where he was staying with some friends. The illness proved to be brain fever, and although all that could be done was done for him and he was tended by loving friends with whom he was staying, the disease took a fatal turn. On the 27th of September, 1833, Ram Mohan Roy breathed his last, the last word that was heard from his mouth being "Aum". It was thus that the spirit of the great Hindu Reformer passed away in a foreign land and amongst a foreign people.

The funeral that took place was of the simplest kind, and it was in the solemnity of sincere sorrow and silent prayers of a few friends that the earthly remains of the Rajah were consigned to the grave. It was thought absolutely essential that the ceremony should not seem in any the least way to be Christian, for that would have prejudiced the cause of his legitimate successors in their right to his property, apart from the harm it would have done to the various reform movements that he had started. Besides the Rajah himself had expressed a wish that in case he died in England, a small piece of freehold ground might be purchased for his burying place, and a cottage be built on it for the gratuitous residence of some respectable poor person, to take charge of it." Such a place was supplied free of any charge by

Miss Castle, a young English lady and a ward of Dr. Carpenter, in whose mansion called Stapleton Grave Ram Mohan Roy had breathed his last, and it was there that he was interred in the middle of the month of October, 1833. About a decade after, his remains were removed from there to the cemetery of Arno's Vale in the neighbourhood of Bristol. It was there that Dwarka Nath Tagore, (the grand father of Ravindra Nath Tagore) who had been a great friend of Rajah Ram Mohan Roy, erected a tomb of stone and in 1872, the following inscription was put thereupon:

66

Beneath this stone rest the remains of Rajah
Ram Mohan Roy,

A conscientious and steadfast believer in the
Unity of the Godhead:

He consecrated his life with entire devotion
to the worship of the Divine Spirit alone.
To great natural talents he united a thorough
mastery of many languages,

And early distinguished himself as one of the greatest scholars of his day.

His unwearied labours to promote the social, moral and physical condition of the people of India, his earnest endeavours to suppress idolatry and the rite of Suttee, and his constant zealous advocacy of whatever tended to advance the Glory of God and the welfare of man, live in the grateful remembrance of his countrymen."

Immediately after his death, there were a number of notices of the death of the great Indian in the various papers of England, and several funeral

sermons were preached in various churches, Anglican, Presbyterian and Unitarian, all testifying to the greatness and goodness of Ram Mohan Roy who had made a number of friends among people of all classes and creeds during his stay in England.

Even sonnets, poems and hymns were written in his memory by Misses Harriet Martineau, Mary Carpenter, Dale and Acland. The universal feeling that was aroused in the mind of all who knew him there was that they had lost in him not only an extraordinary man but a personal friend, so much he had endeared himself to the people among whom he lived. All spoke very highly of his great gifts, especially in the realm of intellect, and his modesty, and humility and delicacy of feeling and manner towards women in particular were the special features of his character noted by all. Miss Carpenter wrote in his own life-time in 1831 to the great American Unitarian, Dr. Channing, these words:

66

"In the interval of politics we talk of the Christian Brahmin, Ram Mohan Roy. All accounts agree in representing him as a person of extraordinary merit. With very great intelligence and ability, he unites modesty and simplicity which win all hearts."

One Mrs. Davidson who had named one of her children Ram Mohan Roy, a child whose god-father he had become, said :

"For surely never was there a man of so much modesty and humility. I used to feel quite ashamed of the reverential manner in which he behaved to me. Had I been our Queen, I could not have been approached and taken leave of with more respect."