Par. 11. “It having been ascertained, from various sources, that in some parts of the country husbands cohabit with their wives before they have attained to the age of _twelve_ years, and even before they have arrived at _puberty_, the result of such intercourse being in many cases to cause injury to the health, and even danger to the life of the girls, and to generate internal maladies which make them miserable throughout their lives, and such a state of things having come to the notice of Government, they have considered it their duty to put a stop to it, and this is the object of the present legislation.” Par. 12. “The law does not interfere with the age at which a girl may be married, but simply prohibits sexual intercourse with her by her husband before she is _twelve_ years of age.” Par. 13. “It is therefore _incumbent_ upon all husbands and their guardians (if they are very young and inexperienced lads) to be very careful that sexual intercourse does not take place until the girl-wife has _passed_ the age of _twelve_ years. It will also be the duty of the guardians of the girl-wife not to allow her husband to cohabit with her until she has attained that age.” Par. 17. “... The Mahomedan law (_i.e._, religious law) distinctly sanctions consummation of marriage _only_ when the wife has reached puberty, and has besides attained such physical development as renders her fit for sexual intercourse, and it is _not imperative_ upon a Mahomedan husband to consummate marriage with his wife when she is _under_ the age of _twelve_ years. Even in those rare cases in which the wife attains to puberty and the necessary physical development before the age of _twelve_, a Mahomedan husband _may_, without infringing any canon of the Mahommedan Ecclesiastical Law, _abstain_ from consummating his marriage with her _until_ she attains that age. Par. 18. “The above will clearly show that the Act recently passed by the Legislature does not, in any way, interfere with the Mahomedan religion, and _no_ Mahomedan husband will be considered to have committed a sin if he abstains from consummating marriage with his wife _before_ she is _twelve_ years of age.” (The pamphlet is published, as aforesaid, by the Mahomedan Literary Society of Calcutta, of which the patron is the Hon. Sir Charles A. Elliott, K.C.S.I., C.I.E., and the president Prince Mirza Jahan Kadar Bahadur (of the Oudh family), and is signed by the secretary, Nawab Abdool Luteef Bahadur, C.I.E.; Calcutta, 16 Taltollah, 22nd June, 1891.)