History of the Parsis : including their manners, customs, religion and present position : with coloured and other illustrations : in two volumes

102 HISTORY OF THE PARSIS. [CHAP. 11.

all his influence and support to the undertaking by presiding at the meeting, made an eloquent and impressive speech. He thought it was a good sign when a community came forward of its own accord to do homage to real worth, and that in honouring Sir Jamshedji Jijibhai the community honoured itself. He pointed out that Sir Jamshedji’s claims to their respect and love did not rest solely upon the vast sums which he had contributed to objects of charity and other great undertakings of a public character. His Lordship went on to remark that the extent of those contributions was almost incredible—his public benefactions alone amounting to a quarter of a million sterling—and asked “in what age and in what country can we find another example of such princely munificence?” But it was not the amount only of Sir Jamshedji’s charities that most commanded Lord Elphinstone’s admiration. He said :—

“True liberality is shown in the manner of distribution no less than in the amount. I will not go back to the dark ages, and cite the times when Christian monasteries and Buddhist wickaras were endowed by men who sought to gain the favour of Heaven by renouncing their possessions and performing what they considered an act of charity, and which was certainly one of abnegation. I may, however, refer to those who founded our great collegiate institutions, and to the monarchs who built the Hotel des