AKSHAY KUMAR DATTA.
There is scarcely a grown-up man to-day in Bengal who has not heard the name of Akshay Kumar Datta nor has been benefited by studying his writings. Akshay Kumar may fitly be called a founder of Bengali literature, if the expression may be allowed.
Akshay Kumar saw the light in 1820, which ushered in the decade which witnessed the birth of other eminent men whose names stand high enrolled in the annals of Bengal. It was the decade which witnessed the birth of Pandit Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar and others. Akshay Kumar was born in the District of Nadia and was brought to Calcutta at the early age of ten. At seventeen he was sent to the Oriental Seminary, the first school of private enterprise that was founded in Calcutta. To the ease-loving youngmen of our generation the example of Akshay Kumar ought to be a lesson. The young Akshay Kumar lived at Kidderpur, a suburb of Calcutta, and he had to daily attend on foot his school, which was in Chitpur Road, about five miles away. When in the second class, he lost his father and had to give up school and maintain the family by his earnings. But though compelled to put a stop to his studies in the class room, he went on acquiring knowledge for himself privately at home. It has long been said that nothing happens amiss in this world. It cannot be doubted that this sudden calamity compelling Akshay Kumar to leave school was all for his good. If he had been kept tied down to the routine work of the school hours, he might have been well versed in all the learning of the schools, but his genius would have been crippled. Freed from the trammels of scholastic routine, Akshay Kumar went on adding knowledge to knowledge. He studied English, Latin, French, German, Sanskrit, Persian and other languages and his mind was like a bee-hive stored in with honey culled from all these flowers. At this time he came in contact with the well-known poet, Iswar Chandra Gupta, who was also the editor of a magazine called ‘Prabhakar.’ It was in
