s compared with the antiquity of the hymn
should be read complete.

The seventh verse (above) has a special literature of its own, since
the words "let them, to begin with, mount the altar," have been
changed by the advocates of _suttee_, widow-burning, to mean 'to the
place of fire'; which change, however, is quite recent. The burning of
widows begins rather late in India, and probably was confined at first
to the pet wife of royal persons. It was then claimed as an honor by
the first wife, and eventually without real authority, and in fact
against early law, became the rule and sign of a devoted wife. The
practice was abolished by the English in 1829; but, considering the
widow's present horrible existence, it is questionable whether it
would not be a mercy to her and to her family to restore the right of
dying and the hope of heaven, in the place of the living death and
actual hell on earth in which she is entombed to-day.

ORDEALS.[37]

Fire and water are the means employed in India to test guilt in the
earlier period. Then comes the oath with judgment indicated by
subsequent misfortune. All other forms of ordeals are first recognized
in late law-books. We speak first of the ordeals that have been
thought to be primitive Aryan. The Fire-ordeal: (1) Seven fig-leaves
are tied seven times upon the hands after rice has been rubbed upon
the palms; and the judge then lays a red-hot ball upon them; the
accused, or the judge himself, invoking the god (Fire) to indicate the
innocence or the guilt of the accused. The latter then walks a certain
distance, 'slowly through seven circles, each circle sixteen fingers
broad, and the space between the circles being of the same extent,'
according to some jurists; but other dimensions, and eight or nine
circles are given by other authorities. If the accused drop the ball
he must repeat the test. The burning of the hands indicates guilt. The
Teutonic laws give a different measurement, and state that the hand is
to be sealed for three days (manus sub sigillo triduum tegatur) before
inspection. This sealing for three days is paralleled by modern Indic
practice, but not by ancient law. In Greece there is the simple
[Greek: _mudrous airein cheroin_] (Ant. 264) to be compared. The
German sealing of the hand is not reported till the ninth century.[38]

(2) Walking on Fire: There is no ordeal in India to correspond to the
Teutonic walking over six, nine, or twelve hot ploughshares. To l