I proceed to remark, in confirmation of the opinion that the Suttees may be safely suppressed by the arm of public power, that there is already a strong party in India against the cruel rite. There are the Mahomedans, who form a numerous part of the population, and are unequivocally hostile to the ceremony. Next may be mentioned the Voishnobs, a very extensive sect of Hindoos, who frown upon the practice, and maintain that the life of no creature, still less of a human being, ought to be destroyed; and the inculcation of their principle tends to weaken the faith of the other Hindoos, as to the propriety of the part they are acting in performing Suttee. The disciples of Rammohun Roy stand also opposed to the rite: that intelligent Brahmin has written and circulated tracts anong his countrymen, tending to prove, not only that the practice is revolting to humanity, but inconsistent with the tenet held by the great Munoo himself, to whom the Hindoos at large appeal as their chief oracle. Add to these considerations, that natural feeling is all in favour of the suppression of the agonizing ceremony. There are probably many Hindoos, now outwardly countenancing the practice, who in their hearts would rejoice if it were forcibly suppressed; whereby they would have an honourable relief from an observance repugnant to their

minds, and to which they have hitherto adhered, only from deference to custom and to the prejudices of their countrymen.

But arguments, yet stronger than the preceding, may be adduced in favour of a resort to coercive measures. Some Suttees have been actually prevented by the official interference of the magistrate, and no tumult or disturbance has resulted. This will appear by the following extract from the official document relating to the subject." Mr. Bayley having reported, that under the construction which the magistrate and his police officers had put upon the instructions circulated on the 29th of April, 1813, as meant to prevent the burning of women, having infant children, with the other forbidden practices therein mentioned; since the circulation of those instructions, the official interference of the police officers in the district of Burdwan had prevented the sacrifice of five women, four of whom were prohibited burning on the sole ground of their having infant children."-"The practical operation of this single head of the instructions of the court having been already attended with the preservation of the lives of four women in this district; and not perceiving any general symptoms of jealousy, tumult, or opposition to the interference of the police officers on these occasions; I

confess that I should feel deep regret if the court were to annul an order, which has actually produced such beneficial effects."

Here we have instances in which the police have actually suppressed intended Suttees, and that without any appearance of popular commotion. I am aware that these cases are open to the remark, that the intended Suttees did not come within the limitations which the Hindoo Shasters themselves lay down; and that for this reason, the people were not disposed to murmur or oppose. But, in reply to such an observation, I would humbly submit that the Hindoos are not so much alive to this distinction as we may suppose them to be-with them, usage and custom are of principal weight. A Hindoo's main inquiry is not so much, What do the Shasters say? as, What do his neighbours do?-He would much sooner side with his neighbours against the Shaster, than side with the Shaster against his neighbours. And in the case of usage or custom, which with them is the one thing needful to be regarded, their quiet conduct, in the instances above mentioned, shew that they will allow their governors to interfere for the suppression of the practice in question.

I may proceed to notice the encouraging fact, that the forcible suppression of infanticide, at the

mouth of the Hooghly, was attended with entire success: a measure this, appearing in one material respect, to be much more fraught with danger than the one proposed; inasmuch as that was the coercive prohibition of a ceremony participated in by a great multitude of Hindoos, by long and established concert, meeting together in one place; whereas the Suttee occurs as a sudden and insulated act, in which comparatively few concur. But the omission of drowning children, like the omission of burning parents, involved no forfeiture of caste, and no sacrifice of any deeprooted principle; and the wishes of government were yielded to, without a struggle or a sigh. Such, also, it may confidently be expected, would be the result of a similar mode of conduct, with reference to Suttees.

If any one should, notwithstanding the preceding weight of evidence, yet remain in doubt, on account of the weight due to the opinion of a person possessing so much knowledge of the Hindoo character and religion as the Abbé Dubois; the grounds of such hesitation may be entirely removed, and that with speed and ease. Strange as it may appear, the Abbé himself must be introduced as an advocate for the authoritative interference of government, in order to terminate the practice of Suttee. In his 'Description of the

Character, Manners, and Customs of the People of India,' published in 1817, he thus expresses his opinion on the point under consideration: "The ancient and barbarous custom, which imposes it as a duty on women to die voluntarily on the funeral pile of their husbands, although still in force, is by no means so general or frequent as it was in former times. It is also more rare in the Peninsula than in the northern parts of India, where it is by no means uncommon, even in the present times, to see women offering themselves up as the willing victims of this horrid superstition; and devoting themselves, out of pride or vanity, to this cruel death. It is confined to the countries under the government of the idolatrous princes, for the Mahomedan rulers do not permit the barbarous practice in the provinces subject to them; and I am persuaded the Europeans will not endure it where their power extends." (p. 236.)

Here the Abbé intimates a conviction of the propriety of using force, in order to put an end to Suttees; and so far from apprehending any danger from such a line of conduct, quotes the Mahomedan rulers as having adopted the measure with success, and as an example worthy of European imitation.

Perhaps the reader may be disposed to desire the opinion of some safer guide, and to pay no