CULTIVATING NATIONAL TREASURES

Smith chose as his editor Leslie Stephen (1832-1904) to do this work. But Leslie Stephen was not fated to see the completion of the work which he had so painstakingly started. It had taken everything out of him. He suffered a severe nervous breakdown and it was the assistant editor Sidney Lee (1859-1926) who saw the work through. The effort that the DNB had taken out of Leslie Stephen is expressed in his own heart-rending words: “That damned thing goes on like a diabolical piece of machinery, always gaping for more copy.” (The Guardian, February 3, 1985) Commemorating the centenary of the DNB, The Guardian wrote: “It was one of those massive undertakings that only the Victorians could be megalomaniac enough to conceive, and only the Victorians could have had the energy and industriousness to carry out.” In truth, any great undertaking requires energy and industriousness of this nature. If one is not ready to give one’s all, no worthwhile task can be achieved. An effort of such gigantic scale requires selfless devotion, utter dedication and unbounded patience. Here, one must be willing to remain obscure. One must keep on working tirelessly knowing quite well that he will not be able to see the fruit of his hard work. o Listen to soul-nourishing articles while on the go. A great companion for study groups and collective reading exercises. Spirit of Islam web version now available with AUDIO feature www.spiritofislam.co.in/spiritnew/