V (. 8 জীবন-চরিত । impulsive, though "no sooner thought than done” was his motto, though inspired by love at first sight, he would not supposing adult marriage to have been prevalent in Hindu society, have acted with any precipitancy in the selection of a fit partner for his life. When his heart had been fixed, and it would not have been fixed until he found that his better half breathed equally responsive vows, he would, if circumstance had permitted, not have cared for the barriers of conventionalism or the trammels of caste. It is a fact that, before he became a Christian, his parents had elected for his bride a girl who was a cherub-a veritable Peri. But Modhu had not a heart to give away at the bidding of another, though that bidding was from a revered parent. He could not realise the idea of a wife without experiencing before marriage the mutual 'flow of soul and feast of reason' that characterises true love between the sexes. Mere animal passion had no influence on his feelings in matters matrimonial. He longed for courtship though courtship was a myth in Hindu life. His emotions were not excited by the mere sight of physical beauty, without mutual play and interchange of feelings and sentiments in which grown up young people only can indulge. The infantile face gave rise 1n his mind to fraternal sensations such as a grown up brother feels for his little sister. He used always to tell me that he would rather die a Benedict than wed an "illiterate, un"-educated, unsympathetic" girl, and in those days an educated female was a rara avis un our society, the one solutary exception being in the family of a native Christian Clergyman; but his hopes in that quarter, if any, were nipped in the bud. By em! bracing Chlistianity, he was enabled to realize his idea of English courtship before marriage I had little intercourse with him when he was at Madras, except by means of occasional correspondence ; but, for aught I know to the Contrary, I can confidently say that Modhu was disappointed in his first wife. There was not that close unanimity of feelings and sentiments between them which Modhu, and not only Modhu, but all geniuses, expect from their wives. Hence the estrangement of feeling between them, and subsequent separation. I am glad to be able to state that he was not disappointed in this respect in his second wife. He was as happy ın her company as possible in this world and she was as faithful as Savitri herself. He, like Krishna of old, was dark in complexion, but handsome in features, with eyes beaming with expression. His sparkling wit and brilliant repartee were to him the flute, as it were, with which he charmed and enthralled. It was the poetry of his soul, the music in the fibres of his composition, that made every one gravitate towards him. The magic of his conversation, the sweetness of his manners, acted like electricity upon, those who associated with him. When he was in your presence you could never open your mouth; you would only hear him talk, laugh
