{
  "bookName": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
  "authorName": "M. K. Kuriakose",
  "publisherName": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
  "publicationYear": 2011,
  "chapterNumber": 61,
  "chapterName": "1799. Carey on Witnessing a Sati",
  "pageFrom": 72,
  "pageTo": 72,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 72,
      "ocrText": "72\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nAt another place I preached from Christ being a blessing, sent\nto bless in turning every one from his iniquities. I observed the\nsuperiority of the gospel to all other writings, and Christ to all\npretended saviours in that point; that believing on Christ was\nuniversally accompanied with turning from iniquity; and that\ntheir worship must be false, for they made images and offerings\nto them, and were abundant in their worship, but, said I, there is\nnot a man of you yet turned from his iniquity. There are among\nyou liars, thieves, whoremongers, and men filled with deceit. And\nas you were last year so you are this, not any more holy nor can\nyou ever be so, till you throw off your wicked worship and wicked\npractices, and embrace the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. This\nis the method of preaching I use among them; nothing of this kind\naffronts them; many wish to hear; many, however, abhor the\nthoughts of the gospel. The Brahmins fear to lose their gain;\nthe higher castes, their honour; and the poor tremble at the\nvengeance of their debtas. Thus we have been successful,\n61. CAREY ON WITNESSING A SATI (1799 A.D.)\nCarey played an important role in having the practice of sati\n(widow-burning) abolished. In an entry dated 1 April 1799, he\ndescribes in his diary the first time he witnessed this practice. Cited\nin George Smith, The Life of William Carey, pp. 94-95.\nAs I was returning from Calcutta I saw the Sahamaranam, or,\na woman burning herself with the corpse of her husband, for the\nfirst time in my life. We were near the village of Noya Serai,\nNiaverai. Being evening, we got out of the boat to walk, when\nwe saw a number of people assembled on the river-side. I asked\nthem what they were met for, and they told me to burn the body\nof a dead man. I inquired if his wife would die with him; they\nanswered Yes, and pointed to the woman. She was standing by\nthe pile, which was made of large billets of wood, about two and a\nhalf feet high, four feet long, and two wide, on the top of which\nlay the dead body of her husband. Her nearest relation stood by\nher, and near her was a small basket of sweet meat called Thioy.\nI asked them if this was the woman's choice, or if she were brought\nto it by any improper influence? They answered that it was per-\nfectly voluntary. I talked till reasoning was of no use, and then\nbegan to exclaim with all my might against what they were doing,\ntelling them that it was a shocking murder. They told me it was a\ngreat act of holiness, and added in a very surely manner, that if I\ndid not like to see it I might go farther off, and desired me to go.\nI told them that I would not go, that I was determined to stay and\nsee the murder, and that I should certainly bear witness of it at the\ntribunal of God. I exhorted the woman not to throw away her",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}