Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/675

628 been impaired, began gradually to sink. Continued illness for some years, aggravated by the most distressing afflictions at the loss of those nearest and dearest to his heart, began to tell on him very seriously. He was reduced in flesh; his body took the form of a skeleton. He gave up his toilsome works, one by one. He could not bear the hustle and turmoil of the city. He frequented other salubrious places. Karmatar was his general resort. But the thoughts of his educational institutions never forsook him. No doubt, he had made over the management of the Metropolitan Institution to his son-in-law, Suryya Kumar, and delegated to him some of his anxieties in that respect, but he could not entirely shake them off. The reader has already been told how, through his exertions, the Metropolitan Institution was affiliated to the Calcutta University up to the B. A. Standard in 1879, and up to the B. L Standard in 1882. Under a rule of the University, college students intending to appear at its examinations are required to keep a certain percentage of attendance at the College lectures. Vidyasagar was very strict in the observance of this rule. He warned the professors of his Institution to observe the rule faithfully, and if he ever found any one deviating in the slightest degree, he would not fail to censure the culprit most severely.

Vidyasagar now applied himself diligently to