Page:Vidyasagar, the Great Indian Educationist and Philanthropist.djvu/152

 ability, but did not look with an eye of condescending favour upon his less cultivated brethren. Neither did he fail them in their supreme hour of need. He was a munificent donor and subscriber to many educational institutions. The monthly allowances he granted the poor students enabled them to prosecute their studies, thereby qualifying them for a noble and useful career. In times of dire distress and scarcity, when the country was visited by famine or malaria, he promptly held out a strong hand of help to the sufferers and gave them the comfort of his presence and active sympathy. In all practical measures of relief he took the lead. He fed the hungry, clothed the nude, watched and tended the sick with the utmost care and when occasion needed opened charitable foundations for their benefit. Liberal stipends were paid to many a poor but respectable family; but this was done in secret to avoid notice and remark. To the disinterested service of man he devoted his entire life. It would be an impossible