A widow of Malabar.

We wished to question one of those women of India, obliged to burn themselves upon the bodies of their husbands. Not knowing any of them, we had asked Saint Louis to send us one who could answer our questions in a satisfactory manner. He answered us that he would do so willingly within some time. At the session of the Society, on November 2, 1858, Mr. Adrien, a seeing medium, perceived one, disposed to speak, and of whom he gave us the following description: Large black eyes; slightly yellowish scleras; rounded face; prominent and fat cheeks; saffron-yellow skin; long eyelashes and arched, black eyebrows; a somewhat large and slightly flattened nose; large and sensual mouth; beautiful teeth, large and well-arranged; smooth, abundant, black, and greasy hair. Obese and plump body, wrapped in fine silk fabric, leaving half the chest exposed. Bracelets on the arms and legs.

Do you remember more or less in what epoch you lived in India and where you were burned with the body of your husband?

Answer. – (She made a sign, giving to understand that she did not remember.) – Saint Louis answers that it was about a hundred years ago.

Do you remember the name you had?

Answer. – Fátima.

What religion did you profess?

Answer. – The Mohammedan.

But does Mohammedanism not repress such sacrifices?

Answer. – I was born a Muslim, but my husband belonged to the religion of Brahma. I had to conform to the customs of the country where I lived. Women do not belong to themselves.

What age did you have when you died?

Answer. – I believe 20 years, approximately.

Observation. – Mr. Adrien observed that she appeared to be twenty-eight to thirty years old; but that in that country women age more quickly.

Was your sacrifice voluntary?

Answer. – I would have preferred to have married another. I reflected well, and you will conceive that all of us think in the same way. I followed the custom, but, at bottom, I would have preferred not to do it. I waited several days for another husband, but no one appeared; then I obeyed the law.

What sentiment could have dictated that law?

Answer. – A superstitious idea. In burning us, they imagine they please the Divinity; that we redeem the faults of him whom we have just lost and that we are going to help him to live happily in the other world.

Was your husband satisfied with the sacrifice?

Answer. – I never sought to see him again.

Are there women who thus sacrifice themselves of their own free will?

Answer. – Few; one in a thousand. At bottom they would not wish to do it.

What happened to you at the moment when corporeal life was extinguished?

Answer. – Disturbance; I experienced a kind of fog and then I do not know what happened. My ideas did not clear up except a long time afterward. I went everywhere, but I did not see well; and even now I do not feel myself entirely enlightened; I have many incarnations to undergo, in order to elevate myself; but I will burn myself no more… I do not see the necessity of burning myself, of casting myself into the midst of the flames in order to elevate myself…, above all for faults I did not commit; besides, this did not please me. Moreover, I never sought to know. You would give me great pleasure if you prayed for me, for now I understand that only prayer is capable of making us bear courageously the trials that are sent to us… Ah! if only I had faith!

You ask that we pray for you; as we are Christians, could our prayers be agreeable to you?

Answer. – There is but one God for all men.

Observation. – In several successive sessions the same woman was seen among the Spirits who assisted at them. She said that she came in order to instruct herself. It seems that she was sensible to the interest that we showed her, because she followed us several times in other gatherings and, even, in the street. [Note: In the article devoted exclusively to the seeing medium Mr. Adrien, Allan Kardec says the following: "Mr. Adrien is the most powerful auxiliary we have seen… his faculty and his complaisance were placed at the service of our personal instruction, whether in intimacy, whether in the sessions of the SOCIETY, whether, finally, in visits to various places of gatherings. We were together in theaters, at balls, on walks, in hospitals, in cemeteries, and in churches; we attended burials, marriages, baptisms, and sermons."] [1] Malabar — also known as the Malabar Coast — is a region situated on the southwest coast of the Indian peninsula and constitutes the northern part of the present-day state of Kerala.