A remarkable instance of suttee, which oocurred at l3eliaghata, was
reported in the Statesman of April 27th. A Hindu gentleman named Surendra Nath Ghosh, who had been dangerously ill for some time, was pronounced by his doctor to be on the point of death. This was at about one o'clock in the afternoon. His wife, overhearing the doctor's words, retired to her room, dressed herself in her best orna- ments, and painted her forehead with vermilion and her feet with lac dye, according to the ancient practice in suttee. She
then poured some kerosene oil over her body and set it alight. Shortly afterwards she was found by one of her relations in a mass of flames, and with her bands folded in prayer. Before anyone could reach her she fell to the ground and died a few minutes before her husband. The account adds that, by the permission of the police authorities, the two bodies were cremated together, according to the Hindu rites, upon the same pyre. In their hearts we have no doubt that millions of Hindus find the widow's action "wholly laudable "—so far is East from West.
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