by from 50,000 to 60,000 persons: in favour of the Bill, there are upwards of 25 petitions, signed by more than, 5,000 persons."
He then went on to refute the objections of the opposing petitions summarily, and concluded his speech by saying:—"If I know certainly that but one little girl would be saved from the horrors of Brahmacharyya by the passing of this Act, I will pass it, for her sake. If I believe as firmly, as I believe the contrary, that the Act would be wholly a dead letter, I will pass it for the sake of the English name."
So it is seen that Grant was determined on the passing of the Bill, even if it were a dead letter. It was, therefore, that he did not think fit to notice the places and the persons from whom so many opposing petitions came! Was it very fair for a right-minded neutral Englishman?
On the 19th July, 1856, the Bill was read for the third time, and passed into "Act XV of 1856, being an Act to remove all legal obstacles to the Marriage of Hindu Widows," which received the assent of the Governor-General on the 26th July, 1856, and became a Law of the country. The act, which was thus passed, runs as follows:—
ACT NO. XV. OF 1856.
