ere is no woman
on earth who reveals, at this present time, more devotion and
attachment to her husband than does the Hindu wife. The old system of
_Sati_, whereby a woman immolated herself on the funeral pyre of her
dead husband, what was it? It was, indeed, a custom instituted by man,
enforced by religious rewards and penalties, with a view to reveal the
woman as the abject subject of her husband. And yet she glorified that
custom and often transmuted it into the most sublime exhibition of
wifely devotion. Hear the description of a _Sati_, given by a Hindu,
the subject of which was his own aunt. "My aunt," writes he, "was
dressed in a red silk _sari_, with all the ornaments on her person;
her forehead daubed with a very thick coat of _sindur_, or vermilion;
her feet painted red with _alta_; she was chewing a mouthful of betel;
and a bright lamp was burning before her. She was evidently wrapped in
an ecstasy of devotion, earnest in all she did, quite calm and
composed as if nothing important was to happen. In short, she was
then at her _matins_, anxiously awaiting the hour when this mortal
coil should be put off. My uncle was lying a corpse in the adjoining
room. It appeared to me that all the women assembled were admiring the
virtue and fortitude of my aunt. Some were licking the betel out of
her mouth, some touching her forehead, in order to have a little of
the _sindur_, or vermilion; while not a few, falling before her feet,
expressed a fond hope that they might possess a small particle of her
virtue.... In truth, she was evidently longing for the hour when her
spirit and that of her husband should meet together and dwell in
heaven. She had a _tulsi mala_ (string of basil beads) in her right
hand, which she was telling, and she seemed to enjoy the shouts of
'Hari, Hari-bole,' with perfect serenity of mind. We reached Nimtalla
Ghat about twelve; after staying there for about ten to fifteen
minutes, sprinkling the holy water on the dead body, all proceeded
slowly to the Kultalla Ghat, about three miles north of Nimtalla. The
dead body, wrapped in new clothes, being placed on the pyre, my aunt
was desired to walk seven times round it, which she did while strewing
flowers, cowries (shells), and parched rice on the ground. It struck
me at the time that, at every successive circumambulation, her
strength and presence of mind failed; whereupon the Darogah
(government representative) stepped forward once more and endeavoure