Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/329

286 that the law is as the petitioners allege. Indeed, text-writers speak on this point with less qualification perhaps than they might have done, if they had given more attention to it. But the custom prohibiting remarriage is followed so universally in practice, that the point does not appear to have been very deeply studied by any of the English writers on Hindu Law.'

In another part of his speech, Grant said,—'I will read to the Council a paper which was partly supplied to me by a Hindu gentleman of great knowledge, and partly taken down from that gentleman's mouth, which describes the mode of life which a Hindu widow of respectability is now actually required to adopt, until the latest day of her life.

"A widow is required to live a life of austerity, the only alternative being to ascend the funeral pile of her husband. Her manner of life is minutely prescribed. Not only must she see no man, she must also avoid every approach to ease, luxury, or pleasure: she must wear no ornaments: her hair must be shaved, or at least must be worn dishevelled: she must not see her face in a mirror, nor use perfumes or flowers: she must not freely anoint her body; and her dress must be plain, coarse and dirty. The use of any kind of conveyance is prohibited, and she must not rest on a bed. Her food is limited as to quantity as well as to quality. She must not take more than a single