Page:Vidyasagar, the Great Indian Educationist and Philanthropist.djvu/137

 say in reply, maintained a respectful silence.

Early in 1891 he was requested by Government to give his opinion touching the age consent on the part of females. A bill had been introduced in the Legislative Council to modify the law on the subject. Vidyasagar came down to Calcutta for a week and after consulting the Shastras submitted a scheme of his own which would give adequate protection to child-wives without in any way running counter to religious usages. There is no need to pursue here the details of the movement; suffice it to state that his suggestions which aimed at discouraging child-marriage were not acceptable to Government. They passed the bill without materially modifying its provisions.

This was the last public act of his eventful life and though he toiled in vain to convince the rulers, he was certainly not to blame. Protracted illness and the infirmities of old age prevented him from setting on