Opis: News From Afar or Missionary Varieties - Society Baptist Missionary

Excerpt from News From Afar or Missionary Varieties: Chiefly Relating to the Missionary Society; Being a Re-Publication of the Quarterly Papers of the Said Society, for the Years 1822, 1823, 1824,& 1825

Christian Friends,

You have often heard that the dark places of the earth are foil of the habitations of cruelty: and in this engraving you have one proof of it. It represents what is called in India a Suitee; that is, a widow burning to death with the corpse of her deceased husband.

The funeral pile, as you see, is placed on the very edge of the river Ganges. It is made of wood, and rushes, and long grass; about three feet high, six feet long, and about wide enough to admit of two persons lying upon it side by side. There lies the corpse, on the side nearest the river; and you perceive the poor widow is embracing it with her right arm over the breast. The upright stakes are fixed to keep the pile together; and that long bamboo is stretched across to prevent the widow from escaping, as the poor creatures have sometimes tried to do, when scorched by the flames. This bamboo is held down by two men, one on each side, and behind them are two others, pouring water on them to prevent their being hurt by the fire. That stout man on the left hand is the officiating brahman, or priest. You perceive he wears the poita, or sacred thread, which is the badge of the order, round his neck, and the paper in his hand is one of their Shasters, or holy books, out of which he is reading the instructions for the due performance of this dreadful ceremony. Immediately before him is a youth, the eldest son of the family, who has just applied the flaming Jtorch to the pile in which his living mother is to be consumed to ashes. Behind, sitting on the steps of the ghaut, or landing place, are two persons, relations of th, e deceased, who seem to be a little affected; but all the crowd besides are as merry and unconcerned as the mob at a country fair. They are shouting "hnrree bol" (a sort of huzza) and playing on various kinds of musical instruments, in order to drown the cries of the poor dying woman. At the top of the bank stands an English Missionary, who has just landed from the boat, a part of which is seen in the stream below. His looks express the mingled emotions of honor and pity with which he views the shocking scene; and he is reasoning on the subject with that respectable native, sitting in the window of the house, who seems to listen with some attention, but the infuriated mob around seem determined to pay no regard to his remonstrances.

This print is partly copied from a collection of drawings brought from Bengal by our friend Mr. Ward, and partly furnished by a recent account from Calcutta, which we will give you, in the words of the writer, that you may see we have not stated the case worse than it is, - though it may seem, in some parts, a little like repetition.

"Jan. 18, 1821. About five o'clock this afternoon I received intelligence that a woman was about to burn with the corpse of her husband. I went immediately to the ghaut, accompanied by our native brother. The distance was about a mile from our house. Many of the brahmans knew us, and our arrival was the signal for shouting hurree bol - hurree bol. We went to the place where the dead body was lying upon the pile, which was about two or three feet from the ground. The pile was just wide enough for another body to lay abreast, and just the length of the corpse. The fat murderous brahman who seemed to be the chief director of the tragic business, held in his hand a leaf that he professed to be from the red shaster, directing how the ceremony was to be performed. All was horrid noise and confusion. I was repeatedly forbid to touch the pile. I asked the brahman's how they could take part in so murderous an affair; but all was fury and vociferation. I might as well have had held my peace; yet who that has one spark of love to human nature could be s

Szczegóły: News From Afar or Missionary Varieties - Society Baptist Missionary

Nazwa: News From Afar or Missionary Varieties Chiefly Relating to the Missionary Society; Being a Re-Publication of the Quarterly Papers of the Said Society, for the Years 1822, 1823, 1824,& 1825 (Classic Reprint)
Autor: Society Baptist Missionary
Wydawnictwo: FB &c Ltd
Kod paskowy: 9781331600596
Języki: angielski
Ilość stron: 74
Format: 15.2x22.9cm
Oprawa: Miękka

Recenzje: News From Afar or Missionary Varieties - Society Baptist Missionary