Whereas it is known that, by the law as administer in the
Civil Courts established in the territories in the possession and under the
Government of the East India Company, Hindu widows with certain exceptions are
held to be, by reason of their having been once married, incapable of
contracting a second valid marriage, and the offsprings of such widows by any
second marriage are held so be illegitimate and inept of inheriting property;
and
Whereas many Hindus believe that this imputed legal inability,
although it is in accordance with established custom, is not in accordance with
a true interpretation of the precepts of their religion, and desire that the
civil law administered by the Courts of Justice shall no longer prevent those
Hindus who may he so minded from adopting a different custom, in accordance
with the dictates of their own conscience, and
