Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/457

414 marriage is not invalid in the eyes of the Hindu Law.'

We have already said that Vidygsagar never hesitated to contract debts on his own account to rescue many debtors from the hands of usurers and money-lenders by paying them off. But he never pressed these persons, whom he thus relieved, for repayment of his money. Most of these people took advantage of his cautious reserve, and never repaid their debts to Vidyasagar. Some of them had really no means to pay. In fact, there is no reckoning how many persons (some of them men of means) he thus saved from utter ruin. We will give here a few instances of his such liberality.

(l) Ram Kamal Misra of Radhanagar and Gorachand Datta of Gangadaspur, two persons quite unconnected with Vidyasagar, were indebted to one Tarachand Sarkar to the extent of 500 rupees. Tarachand sued them, and obtained against them a decree for the whole amount. Both the Judgment-debtors were arrested under warrants of the Court. They then came to Vidyasagar, and with tearful eyes, entreated him to save them from jail. Vidyasagar had no money in his purse at that time. He stood surety for the two debtors and borrowed 500 rupees from Rakhal Mitra, a third party, under a bond executed by Ramkamal and Gorachand, and saved them from inevitable, imminent imprisonment. But the two