The life and letters of Raja Rammohun Roy - WordPress.com

OF SOPHIA DOBSON COLLETxithing to do with Miss Collet's interest in the Brahmo Samaj.But the great impetus came when she saw Raja RammohunRoy in South Place Chapel, London. Though then onlya girl of tender age, she must have been greatly impressed,for throughout her life she retained a warm attachment forthe Raja, whom she always used to call "Rammohun". Inher later life she was most anxious to bring out a Life ofthe Raja. She often used to say to friends that her onedesire was to live long enough to complete her book aboutRammohun. How strong that desire was is evident from thenote of the gentleman, who, at her earnest dying request,completed the work. Miss Collet wrote to him "I am dying.I cannot finish my 'Life of Rammohun Roy. But when Ienter the Unseen,his Life will be finished. Will youI want to be able to tell Rammohun that"finish it for me ?The little girl of ten never forgot Rammohun or lostsight of his work. Quietly she kept watching and collectingevery detail of information about the Samaj, which theMaster had founded before leaving his beloved land to die inEngland.Her earliest writing about the Brahmo Samaj that we havebeen able to trace was a letter in the British Quarterly Reviewfor July 1869 refuting certain allegations against KeshubChandra Sen. By this time she had put herself in communicationwith the rising leader of the progressive section of theBrahmo Samaj, for whom she entertained great admirationand regard until the Cooch Behar marriage brought aboutan unfortunate revulsion of feeling.The British Quarterly Review for April 1869 published anarticle on the "Brahmo Samaj or (Theistic Church) of India",under Rammohuntracing its growth from its origin in 1830Roy down to its latest phase under the influence of KeshubChandra Sen. In this article, in spite of a general fairness oftone, the reviewer concluded by making the following grave