Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/672

Rh purpose. He performed all his household duties from a religious point of view. It was his highest sense of duty that led him to provide for the education of his sons in spite of his great pecuniary difficulties. James Mill has immortalised his name in the annals of European history by providing for the proper education of John Stuart Mill. Poor Thakurdas has also perpetuated his name in the pages of Indian history by giving his son the means of acquiring a sound scholastic knowledge. John Stuart Mill felt himself an orphan at the loss of his dear father. Vidyasagar also had a sorrowful feeling of helpless vacancy at the loss of his beloved father. So there is a great deal of similarity between the two pairs. Thakurdas provided not only for the education of his sons, but also aided the performance of different religious ceremonies by the female members of his household with gifts of money from his slender income. It was all these attributes and conduct of his parents that had chiefly served to help Vidyasagar in the formation of his noble character. Vidyasagar had once spoken to Babu Isvar Chandra Ghoshal, Deputy Magistrate of Jehanabad, of the persecutions and ill-treatments accorded to Thakurdas and his party by the opponents of widow marriage. On one occasion, the said Deputy Magistrate paid a visit to Birsingha, where he was hospitably entertained by Thakurdas. At last, he asked his host for the names of the opponents