their valuables be divided in the ceremonies of the suttee. For
ages this was done, and the young and beautiful ladies of the land
Lord William Bentinck.
were immolated amid solemn
religious ceremonies
and music, before applauding
crowds of priests, and
pundits, and philosophers,
while no voice was raised
against these vile murders
until the Christian missionary
came to plead for the
widow's life. Then a merciful
God, in response to their
prayers and efforts, sent
that noble man, Lord William
Bentinck, to India as
Governor-General, and to
him was given the honor
to face the opposition of
Pundits and Brahmins, and in 1829 to sign the law that
extinguished these murderous fires forever. The women of India will
yet hang his portrait in their homes, and gratefully cherish his
memory as one of India's greatest benefactors.
The law of Christ and the legislation of Christian countries permit a widow, where she chooses to do so, to create and enjoy the sunshine of a second home; but from this right Hindooism has for twenty-five hundred years bitterly prohibited every widow in India.
The Code declares that she is bound by the law to her husband even after he is dead, and that to change her life is to sacrifice her claim to be a virtuous woman. Menu says: “A faithful wife, who wishes to attain in heaven the mansion of her husband, must do nothing unkind to him, be he living or dead; while she who slights not her lord, but keeps her mind, speech, and body devoted to him, attains his heavenly mansion, and by good men is called sadivi, or virtuous. Let her obsequiously honor him while he lives, and
