Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/363

 with the two parties, the one was for, and the other, against, the innovation, and they gave quite conflicting accounts of the first Hindu widow marriage. The Tattvabodhini, the best conducted magazine of the day of the so-called progressive class, filled its columns with a detailed account of this marriage.

From this account, which is the more creditable, it is seen that Vidyasagar gave the bride her nuptial dress and ornaments, and also defrayed other expenses out of his own pocket.

By slow degrees, several such marriages were celebrated during the life-time of Vidyasagar, each of which cost him a good sum of money. Besides, he had to provide for the maintenance of many poor families, who were boycotted from Society and persecuted in different ways for contracting widow-marriage or for associating with those who had ventured to enter into such alliance, which was looked upon with abhorrence by the majority of the Hindus. Vidyasagar's limited income from his books, for he had afterwards no other means, was not at all sufficient to cope with these various heavy outlays, and he had to contract debts to the fearful amount of nearly half a lakh of rupees.

The Hon'ble C. E. Buckland, in his 'Bengal under the Lieutenant Governors', says,—"Vidyasagar was a Hindu of the orthodox type, but he felt the position of inferiority assigned to the women in India, and on their behalf he started