HIS SPEECHES. 189 the scope of this compressed biography. Ram Gopal was a distinguished orator of his time, but he never made any display of his oratory, except on rare immergent oc- casions, when the best interests of the nation of which he was a foremost representative, required it. It is the noblest function of an orator to represent the grie- vances and wants of the suffering humanity, and that heavenly function, Ram Gopal has gloriously performed, and achieved an imperishable renown. HIS SPEECHES ON THE BUBNING-GHAT QUESTION. "Personally I have the highest respect for the present Lieutenant- Governor, and I believe if he were aware how very objectionable ia the proposed order in a Hindu point of view, how wounding and exasperating it must be to all who believe in the sanctity of the holy river, he would be far from wishing to enforce that order. As for myself, Sir, I care not where my body may be burned after death, but I consider it my duty to stand up here, on behalf of the vast majority of my countrymen, who would feel it to be a dire calamity, if the prospect, so reverentially contemplated, of their bodies being disposed of on the banks of the Hoogly were lost to them. It was only this morning, Sir, that two aged Brahmins came to me, and asked me if it were really true that Government were about to prohibit the burning of the dead on the banks of the Gunga. I told them iu reply that the Government had passed such an order, and you English gentlemen, can scarcely realize the effect which this, to' them astounding announcement, produced. One of them shook from head to foot, breathing heavily ; the other fell tottering on a chair, and his eyes were bedimmed with tears. Such, Gentle- men, are the feelings which the natives have on this subject, a sub- ject which to them has an interest beyond this world. Is it just, I ask to wound those feelings 1 Is it right to sow the seeds of dis- content among a vast body of unoffending peaceful subjects ? Is it policy, is it toleration to pursue such a course % And yet this is proposed to be done without even making out a case. As to the argument that the burning of dead bodies on the banks of the river
