Page:Vidyasagar, the Great Indian Educationist and Philanthropist.djvu/90

 as serviceable as possible. The boys shared his confidence; they knew he was not a braggart. The best Indian professors were engaged on fair salaries. At the First Arts Examination of 1874 the college stood second in order of merit, which was doubtless an agreeable surprise for many. In 1879 it was raised to a first-grade college and three years later affiliation was granted for teaching the Law Course.

The successful working of the college under the direction of Vidyasagar was in no small measure due to the fact that he recognised merit at once. He chose the best teachers and professors and inspired them with his own zeal and tenacity of purpose. As he sought no personal profit, he could afford to pay them handsome remuneration. Corporal punishment was absolutely prohibited and teachers were instructed to try the effect of kind and gentle words. Those boys who did not yield to rectification were expelled. Once he was under the painful necessity of dismissing a teacher for flogging a boy, in defiance