orthodox champions of the practice
appealed against the abolition not only to the Governor-General, but
also to the King in Council,--the petition having been heard in the
House of Lords in 1832. But once more to return to the emancipation of
women by Acts of the Legislature. By another Act, in 1856, the Indian
Government abolished the legal restrictions to widow marriage. Still
another Act, in 1891, forbade cohabitation before the age of twelve; and
although fiercely opposed in the native press and in mass meetings, the
Act, which expressed the views of many educated Hindus, is now
apparently acquiesced in by all, and must be educating the community
into a new idea of marriage.

In five aspects the social inferiority of the female sex is still
apparent--namely, in the illiteracy of females, in marriage before
womanhood, in polygamy, in the seclusion of women, and in the
prohibition of the marriage of widows. Excepting the last, no one of
these customs is imposed by caste, nor is the last even in every caste.

[Sidenote: Their lack of education.]

The inferior position still assigned to women in Indian society can best
be shown in figures. The indifference to their education is manifest
when for all India, rich and poor, European and native, in 1901, there
were fourteen times as many men as women who could read and write. Only
one female in 144 was educated to that extent, and the movement for
female education has practically been at a stand-still for some years,
in spite of the increase of native Christians, Brahmas, and [=A]ryas, who
all advocate the education of girls, and in spite of fostering by
Governments and missionaries. Taking _British_ India by itself, there
was a higher proportion of educated females, as we should of course
expect, although that only makes the proportion less elsewhere. In
British India, about 1 in 100 [9 per 1000] could read and write; but
even there, less than 1 per cent. The quickening of ideas in cities is
apparent. In the cities there are proportionally more than twice as many
educated females as in the whole country.

[Sidenote: Premature marriage.]

The injustice done to the sex by marriage before womanhood is apparent
from another paragraph of the same Report, showing that out of every
1000 girls of the age of 10 or under, 58 are already married, as against
22 boys. Taking Hindus alone, the number of married girls of 10 years of
age or under is 70 per 1000 as against 28 married