Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/272

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PRINCIPAL OF THE SANSKRIT COLLEGE.
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time, might, on pretexts of economy, abolish the institution altogether. These considerations led Vidyasagar to bring the matter to the notice of the Education Council The authorities approved of his scheme, and the system of fees was newly introduced into the College. It was ruled, that hence-forth all new-comers must pay tuition-fee, only a limited number of free studentships being reserved for poor boys.

Another of his most important acts, on his installation to the post of Principal of the Sanskrit College was to get the worm-eaten, time-worn manuscripts on Belles-lettres in the Library of the College printed. If he had not, at that time, taken up the matter, most probably the manuscripts would have disappeared. Besides these, he struck off a reprint of all the philosophical works.

He now directed his attention to the publication of his own compositions. On the 6th April, 1851, appeared his Sisusikska, Part IV. It was a Bengali version of Chambers's "Rudiments of Knowledge." It was originally intended for the girls of the Bethune School. Its language is easy and plain, though some of the words used are a little too stiff for those for whom it was intended. Like the original, it deals with diverse subjects instructive to young children. The name of the book was afterwards converted to its present name Bodhoday. It was, at first, titled "Sisusiksha, Part IV," because Madan Mohan Tarkalankar had al