, though
the man had been a year dead. Thousands surrounded his house, and his
court was filled with the principal men of the city, imploring him to
surrender the woman; and among the rest was the poor woman's father,
who declared that he could not support his daughter; and that she
had, therefore, better be burned, as her husband's family would no
longer receive her. The uproar was quite alarming to a young man, who
felt all the responsibility upon himself in such a city as[10]
Benares, with a population of three hundred thousand people,[11] so
prone to popular insurrections, or risings _en masse_ very like them.
He long argued the point of the time that had elapsed, and the
unwillingness of the woman, but in vain; until at last the thought
struck him suddenly, and he said that 'The sacrifice was manifestly
unacceptable to their God--that the sacred river, as such, had
rejected her; she had, without being able to swim, floated down two
miles upon its bosom, in the face of an immense multitude; and it was
clear that she had been rejected. Had she been an acceptable
sacrifice, after the fire had touched her, the river would have
received her'. This satisfied the whole crowd. The father said that,
after this unanswerable argument, he would receive his daughter; and
the whole crowd dispersed satisfied.[12]

The following conversation took place one morning between me and a
native gentleman at Jubbulpore soon after suttees had been prohibited
by Government:--

'What are the castes among whom women are not permitted to remarry
after the death of their husbands?'

'They are, sir, Brahmans, Rajputs, Baniyas (shopkeepers), Kayaths
(writers).'

'Why not permit them to marry, now that they are no longer permitted
to burn themselves with the dead bodies of their husbands?'

'The knowledge that they cannot unite themselves to a second husband
without degradation from caste, tends strongly to secure their
fidelity to the first, sir. Besides, if all widows were permitted to
marry again, what distinction would remain between us and people of
lower caste? We should all soon sink to a level with the lowest.'

'And so you are content to keep up your caste at the expense of the
poor widows?'

'No; they are themselves as proud of the distinction as their
husbands are.'

'And would they, do you think, like to hear the good old custom of
burning themselves restored?'

'Some of them would, no doubt.'

'Why?'

'Because they be