Page:Vidyasagar, the Great Indian Educationist and Philanthropist.djvu/117

 Bengal gave rise to many evils. Vidyasagar's attention was first drawn to the subject by the sorrowful tales of a female relative of his, who had been ruthlessly deserted and neglected by her nominal husband wedded to several other wives. He assured her that he would do his best to root up that custom. On the 27th December 1855, about a month after the introduction of the Remarriage of Hindu Widows Bill into the Imperial Legislative Council, he submitted to the Government of Bengal a petition signed by 25,000 persons who were headed by Maharaja Mahatab Chand Bahadur of Burdwan and other leaders of the community. In the course of the next year several other petitions were presented, subscribed by the highly respectable Pundits of Nadia, Calcutta and other places as well as by Maharaja Shrish Chandra Roy Bahadur of Nadia, the Raja of Dinajpur, and several other influential persons. But no legislative measures were adopted by Government