THE HARMONY OF VIRTUE

102The Harmony of Virtueappearing in English and German, and wherever they are read,they excite admiration, wonder and delight. O sage politicians,and subtle economists, whose heads run on Simultaneous Examinationsand whose vision is bounded by Legislative Councils,what a lesson is here for you! Not in this way shall weexalt ourselves in the scale of nations, not in this way, O sagesof the bench and sophists of the bar, but by things of whichyour legal wisdom takes little cognizance, by noble thoughts, byhigh deeds, by immortal writings. Bankim and Madhusudan havegiven the world three noble things. They have given it Bengaliliterature, a literature whose princelier creations can bear comparisonwith the proudest classics of modern Europe. They havegiven it the Bengali language. The dialect of Bengal is no longera dialect, but has become the speech of Gods, a language unfadingand indestructible, which cannot die except with the deathof the Bengali nation and not even then. And they have given itthe Bengali nation; a people spirited, bold, ingenious and imaginative,high among the most intellectual races of the world, andif it can but get perseverance and physical elasticity, one day tobe high among the strongest. This is surely a proud record. Ofthem it may be said in the largest sense that they, being dead,yet live. And when Posterity comes to crown with her praisesthe Makers of India, she will place her most splendid laurel noton the sweating temples of a place-hunting politician nor on thenarrow forehead of a noisy social reformer but on the serenebrow of that gracious Bengali who never clamoured for place orfor power, but did his work in silence for love of his work, evenas nature does, and just because he had no aim but to give outthe best that was in him, was able to create a language, a literatureand a nation.