Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/359

 "6thly. That, though the Bill has been brought in for the benefit of the people, the perusal of the foregoing paragraphs will not fail to convince your Honourable Council, that, instead of producing the good intended, it will injure their temporal and spiritual interests. Besides, those who have petitioned your Honorable Council for such an enactment, cannot by any possibility derive any advantage from it. For at present widow marriage does not obtain in this country, nor can persons be found who are the offspring of such marriages.

In conclusion, your Petitioners most humbly but earnestly protest against a Bill which is opposed to the whole of their Shastras; which is contrary to the customs and usages of the most respectable portion of your Hindu subjects throughout the country; which, when passed into law, will create endless confusion in their order of successions prevalent from time immemorial, give rise to numberless disputes, and necessitate the framing of a new code on Inheritance for deciding those disputes; by which the property of many a Hindu subject will not only be endangered but even destroyed: from which no party can reasonably expect any present advantage; which will consign the names of many families to oblivion; which will tempt not a few wicked people to betray innocent widows into viscious courses, that they may deprive them of their husband's estates: and they pray that the discerning Legislature of the British Government, which is so careful of the interests of its subjects, will not pass such a Bill into law.

"Your petitioners are most loyal subjects of your Government. It is not less, the duty of that Government to maintain their religion and customs than to protect their lives and property. Your Petitioners do not pretend to direct your Council, nor have they the power to oppose your designs. As children ask indulgence from their parents, so