Gen. Sir Charles Napier in India, explaining to the locals his position on suttee - the tradition of burning widows on the funeral pyres of their husbands: "You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows.You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours."