(ie. of marriageable age,) should be 14 years, and it is now the law of the land. There seems to be no doubt that, if a Hindu omits to give his daughter in marriage before the age of puberty, he brings damnation upon 3 generations of ancestors. But there seems to be considerable uncertainty as to the definition of the period of puberty......On the whole it seems to be clear:-(1) That according to educated native opinion in Bengal 14 and 20 are the proper ages for the marriage of women and men respectively. (2) That marriages generally take place before these ages. And (3) that such marriages constitute the evil denounced by reformers as infant marriage.

Several students have already banded themselves into associations, and bound themselves by pledges to remain single until they attain a certain age. The influence of educated, parents is tending in the same direction.

52. C. T. METCALFE, C.S.I., COMMISSIONER OF THE ORISSA DIVISION.-In Orissa, the evil is less than in Bengal, for here young children are only betrothed, and a second ceremony takes place when the wife is old enough to cohabit with her husband; but in Bengal the infant proceeds at once to her future home. Among the Kandaets and Kurrans of Orissa, infant marriage is not practised at all, and girls and boys attain the age of 16 and 20 before they think of marriage. In some places, such as Tajpore, whole communities are to be found, who do not marry till the girls are 16 and the boys are 20.

53. A. SMITH, COMMISSIONER, PRESIDENCY DIVISION.As to the existence of the evils described by him (Mr. Malabari), there can be no doubt. As regards infant marriages, there is a consensus of opinion, as to the limit of marriageable age having been raised, with the progress of education and the widening influence of a healthier public opinion.

54. F. M. HALLIDAY, COMMISSIONER, PATNA DIVISION.The evils of early marriage and enforced widowhood are admitted on all hands, but the means proposed for their removal are generally considered to be neither practicable nor desirable.

55. BABU KEDARESUR ROY.-There are people who, if I may so term it, give their daughters in marriage to the highest bidder, who may be too old to marry a girl of 10 or 12 years of age, and depart this life long ere the girl reaches her mature age.

56. BABU KAILASH CHANDRA BHATTACHARJI, HEAD MASTER, ZILLA SCHOOL, NOAKHALLY.-The whole question of 'infant marriage' turns upon the unanimous injunctions of the Shastras to marry girls before the age of puberty........ Generally, the seeking of a bridegroom begins with the girl's slipping into the 7th or 8th year of age, and ordinarily the marriage is consummated with her 10th or 11th year. The feelings of the educated guardians in all communities are against the custom; but no one is, in his own case, prepared yet to put up with the social ignominy, attaching to the departure from a deep-rooted and time-honoured custom, enjoined by the Shastras.

In spite of the social degradation that attaches to the selling of brides, the practice is rather common all over Bengal, and cruelly oppresses certain sections of the community.

57. C. N. BARLOW, COMMISSIONER, BHAGULPUR DIVISION. Some of the leading gentlemen, belonging to the orthodox party, make a distinction between the two cases, and suggest that the proposals of Mr. Malabari, involving direct interference by the State with infant marriages, which are not inculcated by the Shastras, might be attempted; but they decline to approve of anything being done to assist the remarriage of widows, as they view the prevailing system upon this head as supported by the sanction of religion.

58. BABU PEARY MOHAN SIRCAR.-A Hindu girl generally attains her age of puberty, after she passes her 12th year and before she reaches her 14th; but there is no knowing when such an event will happen. Consequently a Hindu parent is obliged to marry his daughter, at or before the age of 12.

59. BABU GOPAL CHUNDER MOOKERJEE.-He says "that early marriage cements love from the tender ages of the married people." In his opinion early marriage in boys leads

to no obstruction of their education and progress. To prove this he states "that 9/10 ths. of the University graduates are led through the hymeneal altar."

60. BABU HORI MOHUN CHANDRA.-He quotes the following statistics from Mr. Bourdillon's report on the census of 1881 in Bengal.

Statement showing, for children from 5 to 9 years of age, the proportion borne by the married and widowed to every 100 children of that age.

Statement showing the number of the married in every 100

persons between 10 and 15 years of age.

Mr. Bourdillon writes........."It may be assumed that no marriages take place during the first quinquennial period...... Among that people (i. e. the Hindus) more than 10 boys in every 100, between 5 and 10 years old, are bridegrooms while of the girls 28 in 100, or more than 1 in 4, are wives or widows at an age when, if they were in Europe, they would be in the nursery or the infant school.

The following statistics are also quoted.

Total number of Hindu males and females in all India and the percentage of males and females of different ages from 1 to

Percentage of population of different ages from 1 to 60 years.

Male and female population in Bengal and their percentages at different ages from 1 to 60 years.

Mr. Bourdillon also writes: "In point of fact, every member of the female population is given in marriage as soon as she has reached a marriageable age, and the figures representing unmarried females above the age of 15 years, are really largely composed of the prostitutes who form a separate and distinctly definite class, in every district of these Provinces."