form an independent opinion, who were in schools ten years ago, while there might be others who might have forgotten what they had subscribed to in former petitions. Such being the case, we do not wonder that the brevity of the petition has been misunderstood in certain quarters, that it has been construed to be a prayer for the total abolition of Polygamy, while it only seeks to correct the abuses of that custom."
The Hon'ble C. E. Buckland, in his 'Bengal under the Lieutenant Governors', says:—
"In 1855, the Maharaja of Burdwan presented a petition to the Legislative Council setting forth the monstrous evils arising from the practice of unrestricted polygamy, and Sir J. P. Grant promised in 1857 to introduce a Bill on the subject: but the Mutiny stopped all further action. Several petitions having in 1863 been presented to Government by nearly 21,000 Hindus in Bengal for the enactment of a law to restrain the abuses attending the practice of polygamy among certain classes of Hindus, and it appearing from these and from the notices taken of them by the native Press that the greater proportion of the more advanced section of the native community were anxious to have some check placed on a social abuse which had become intolerable, an application was made to His Excellency the Governor-General, under section 43 of the Indian Councils Act, for permission to introduce into the Bengal Council a
