Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/286

Rh contact with many wealthy and influential persons of the places he visited. He advised these respectable men to establish schools in their localities and estates. In this way, he made an acquaintance of Babu Jay Krishna Mukharji, the learned Zemindar of Uttarpara.

During these tours, Vidyasagar generally travelled in palanquins, and if he found any sick person, faint and feeble, lying on the way, he used to alight from his vehicle and take the poor sufferer into it. He then walked on foot himself to the next inn, where he placed the poor man under the care of the inn-keeper, giving him sufficient money to feed, and take care of, the sufferer. He never travelled without money in his purse. He always kept with him a stock of a sufficient quantity of coins of different values. Whenever a poor person presented himself, he was sure to give him some money in proportion to his need. He never sent away a beggar displeased.

Vidyasagar's heart was a fountain of sympathy and kindness. The tale of distress moved his naturally gentle heart, and he tried his utmost to relieve the distrest. There is no reckoning how many orphans he helped with food, books and school-fees. Whenever the tale of a poor boy reached his ears, that for want of means, the boy was prevented from obtaining education, he never failed to take the boy to his own house, and make proper arrangements for his education. It is said, that on one