PREFACE.
The present publication is intended to meet a long-felt desideratum. Biographies of the late venerable Vidyasagar have been written in Bengali by distinguished writers, but no attempt has yet been made to bring out in English an account of the life and career of that eminent man, although more than eleven years have passed away since he left this world. All this long while we have been waiting to see if an abler hand than ourselves would take up this onerous task, but in vain; so, with great reluctance, we at last feel compelled to take this mighty responsibility upon ourselves. Our sole aim has been to give a clear and faithful account of the life-work of the great pundit in the simplest language at our command; without endeavouring in the least to gloss over what appeared to us as his short-comings. How far we have succeeded in our attempt it is for the reading public to judge.
We have to express our indebtedness to our venerable countryman Mr. R. C. Dutt C. I. E. for his kindness in writing the Introduction. Indeed, the readiness with which he accepted the task will always be gratefully remembered by the present writer. As regards the body of the work, our heart-felt thanks are due to Babu Behari Lal Sarkar, the veteran author and journalist, from
