Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/396



Vidyasagar's retirement from public service was productive of incalculable good to the country. He had so long been chained down by the fetters of thraldom. As a lion when confined in a cage can not display its powers, so Vidyasagar had been incapacitated by his servitude from unfolding his abilities to their full extent. He now discovered fresh fields of action. He found ample opportunities to do a good turn both to his country-men and to himself. In his resignation letter he had stated, that although his direct official connection with the education and enlightenment of his countrymen would cease with his retirement, yet he would devote his remaining days to the advancement of the sacred cause in which his deep and earnest interest could only close with his life. He now applied himself in right earnest to the fulfilment of that sacred promise.

When Vidyasagar resigned his appointments under Government, his friend, Sir James Colvile, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at Calcutta, advised him to pass the Law examination and enrol himself as a pleader of the Sadar Adalat. He had, from his early years, a great aversion for the legal profession, and therefore, expressed his unwillingness to follow the advice of the Chief Justice. Yet