formed part of the estates of the Rajas of Rajshahai, then in the hands of the wellknown Rani Bhobani, covered an area of no less than 249 square miles. Such, however, was the state of the country at that period of British rule that they yielded to the landholders a net revenue of only Rs. 13,000 a year, and they fell to the bid of the fortunate Darpa Narayan for the sum of Rs. 91,500.

Darpa Narayan had seven sons, Radha Mohun, Gopee Mohun, Krishna Mohun, Hurry Mohun, Peary Mohun, Ladly Mohun, and Mohini Mohun.

To

The first and the third of these he disinherited for misconduct, giving them, however, Rs. 10,000 each for their subsistence. Peary Mohun, who was deaf and dumb, he bequeathed Rs. 20,000, while the bulk of his enormous property was left in equal shares to Gopee Mohun, Hurry Mohun, Ladly Mohun, and Mohini Mohun.

GOPEE MOнUN TAGORE.

Never did a splendid patrimony fall into worthier hands than the share of Darpa

Narayan's property to which his second son, Gopee Mohun, thus succeeded.

In the extent, if not in the depth, of his scholarship, he fully maintained the reputation of his illustrious ancestry, adding to proficiency in Sanskrit, Persian, and Urdu a competent knowledge of English, French, and Portuguese. Like his father, he held an appointment under the French Government at Chandernagore, and he extended his already large estates by the purchase of landed properties in Rajshahai, Dinajpur, Jessore, and other districts. As a proof of his immense wealth, it used to be said that he never sat without a lakh of rupees by his side; and, as a matter of fact, the jewelled pāndān (betel-box) and hookah which he used in his boytak-khaneh, were alone worth that sum. What, however, is more to the purpose, he at one time lost twenty lakhs of rupees in opium transactions without being sensibly the poorer for it; and, when he died, he was in a position to bequeath to his six sons properties which gave each of them a handsome fortune.

Great as were his accumulations, he was nevertheless profuse in his private expenditure, liberal in his patronage of art, learning and religion, and lavish in his public charities. To pandits and ghataks he was especially liberal, and on the occasion of a certain marriage in his family he is said to have pre sented several hundreds of the latter class, who attended the ceremony, with a hundred rupees apiece.

He appears to have possessed a strong passion for Hindoo music, proficients in which art were always sure of a liberal welcome from him. Performances were frequently held in his house, and two of the most famous professors of the day, Sajjoo Khan and Lāla Kewal Kishen, received regular monthly stipends from him. Nor was poetry forgotten by him. Kali Dass Mukerjea, the composer of many popular songs and hymns, surnamed Mirza, from his adoption of the Hindustani costume, and Lakhi Kanta, another well-known lyric poet of the day,

F

were among his pensioners and constant attendants.

Among the great houses of Calcutta none was so famous as that of Gopee Mohun Tagore for the sumptuousness with which the annual Durga Puja festival was celebrated in it. On such occasions the élite of European and native society were among his guests. The Nawab of Chitpore, whose exclusiveness was proverbial, was an annual visitor at these entertainments, at which an enclosure in the spacious compound used to be set apart for him.

The well-known twelve Sivas and Temple to Kali, which form so conspicuous an object on the bank of the river Hooghly at Mulajore, were erected by Gopee Mohun. During his lifetime all who resorted to them were liberally entertained at his expense, and large numbers of poor people are still daily fed there.

He earned a still higher title to the gratitude of posterity by the part he took in the foundation of the Hindoo College, to which

he contributed largely. In consideration of their share in this work, he and the Maharaja of Burdwan were made hereditary Governors of the institution; and in the commemorative marble tablet set up in the Presidency College his name may be seen next to that of the Maharaja. The right of nominating a free student to the College was further conferred on him and his hereditary descendants, and one of the foundation scholarships was named, after him, the Gopee Mohun Tagore scholarship.

Gopee Mohun Tagore was a rigid Hindoo, but he was capable on occasion of rising above superstitious prejudices unsanctioned by religion. Thus, when the celebrated painter, Chinnery, visited Calcutta, most of the native nobility were deterred. from having their portraits taken by the vulgar notion that the process would entail upon them a premature death. Gopee Mohun Tagore, however, showed himself superior to this idle apprehension, and, though his brothers all held back, consented