"To all the gods, let him throw up an oblation of food; by day, to the spirits that walk in light, and by night, to those that walk in darkness."

He must throw a portion behind him for the good of living things, and cast what remains toward the south, in honor of the great ancestors of all.

Daily hospitality is enjoined. Let the entertainer, inquire the ancestry of his venerated guest" that he may do him honor; for even in hospitality rank must be observed.

Of these sacraments, the most important is the sraddha, a monthly offering to the manes of ancestors. Menu commands, that they be worshipped as gods. "The divine manes are pleased with an offering in empty glades, on the banks of rivers, and in solitary places." Here, the Brahmin must consecrate a circle upon the turf, by smearing it with dung of cows. Many Brahmins must be assembled as guests, and must share the offering with gods and manes. But those, only, who are of repute for piety and learning may partake of the oblation; and Menu even enumerates the particular torments and transmigrations, that shall be suffered by the householder who gives consecrated rice to unclean, ignorant or inferior persons.

A fire having been kindled in the consecrated circle, and the guests in attendance crowned with perfumed garlands, an offering of food is cast upon the flame. Walking from east to south, the sacrificer casts in a portion for the gods, and another for the manes; and sprinkles water upon the earth from his right hand. The ceremony is tedious in description, and but for the dainty feast it brings, must be equally so, in practice, for the guests within the consecrated circle. Every kind of food and condiment, permitted by the law, may be offered to the manes; and the guests being witnesses, the piety of the householder is estimated by the richness of the oblation.

"Let the dressed food," says Menu, 'be very hot, and let the Brahmins eat it in silence." The minds of the sacrificer and his guests, must be free of care and full of contentment. "A tear sends the offering to restless ghosts; anger to foes; falsehood, to the dogs;" &c.

One of the three cakes offered to the manes may be eaten by a lawful and dutiful wife; but if he gives any part of

it to a soudra, the household shall be cast headlong into the hell called Calasutra.

Nothing must he offered to the manes by night, for the night is infested by demons. The consecrations of the circle is to prevent the intrusion of evil spirits, who are perpetually on the watch to interrupt and divert the offices and effects of piety.

Devout Brahmins must keep a sacred fire perpetually burning in their house. They are commanded to make the sraddha on that day of the moon's dark fortnight when she is in conjunction with the sun. At the close of this chapter, Menu commands, "that the manes be revered as gods," adding, that "the Veda commands it;" but in Egypt, the manes were not looked upon as deities.* Another proof, that the worship, and apotheosis of human souls, is a superstition of Japetian, or at least of Indian origin, averse from the prejudice of Syrian and Egyptian nations.

The fourth chapter of Menu, treats of economics and private morality. A Brahmin under pressure of poverty is permitted to gain a livelihood by any honest occupation, except service for hire. But the holy saint, who lives upon the offerings of the pious, is preferred above all others. The devout Brahmin must live in a manner, and with a decency, in every particular conformable to his age. He must avoid all luxury, and with equal care, eschew parsimony and meanness. He must solicitously avoid impurity, and observe neatness and cleanliness of dress and person.

He may not hold intercourse with crafty or unjust persons; nor do the least thing that is derogatory to his family or reputation.

A multitude of inauspicious acts are enumerated, which the devout Brahmin must avoid. Such are to behold the sun, or to see his own image in water; to step over the string by which a calf is tied, or to run when it rains; to go by on the left side of a pot of butter; or, to look upon or stand by anything unclean.

So numerous are these particulars with their penances by prayer and bathings, it would seem almost the business of a life to observe them. The Brahmin must not eat with his wife, nor see her adorning or dressing herself: he must not bathe quite naked; nor defile water. He must

not wear the clothes of another; nor bite his own nails; nor must he read in a sacred book, when anything has happened that may discompose his mind, or dispose it to indifference.

Among violations of law the "giving of food to a worshipper of images," is expressly mentioned; a proof if such were needed, that the Brahmins were not, at first, idolatrous; but only tolerated image worship, as it was tolerated in Egypt, to gratify the inclination of the lower classes, and to maintain over them a more absolute authority.

A Brahmin must never be in rage or terror; nor must he shed the blood of a Brahmim. "As many particles of dust," says Menu, "as the blood so shed shall roll up, for so many years shall he be mangled by animals in another life."

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"Let him," concludes the sage, "observe the speedy overthrow of the workers of iniquity" "yes, evil once committed, fails not of its fruit; if not in himself, yet in his children to the second generation." For whatever purpose he bestows a gift, or in whatever hope he makes a sacrifice, he shall receive a similar reward. Giving pain to no living thing, let him gather virtue by degrees, to be a companion in the next world. Single is each man borne; by himself, he dies; alone he takes his reward." "When he leaves his body, like a lump of clay, upon the earth-his kindred retire with averted faces; but his virtue accompanies his soul. With virtue for his guide, he will traverse a gloom now hard to be traversed !"

The fifth chapter is of diet, purification, and women; and in a number of particulars, resembles the Levitical law.* Garlics, leeks, and onions, beside all forced vegetables, are forbidden, (as in Egypt,) to be used as food by a person of the sacred caste. 66 Many kinds of animals are enumerated as unclean, and the use of flesh meats is, in general, condemned. "The man who forsakes not the law, and eats not flesh meat, like a blood-thirsty demom, shall attain good in this world, and shall not be afflicted with disease." By the touch of impure or decaying substances, impurity, says the lawgiver, is conveyed to the whole person, and must be removed by ablution. Land is to be cleansed, by smearing it with cow-dung, or by letting a cow pass over it. "A thing nibbled by a

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bird, or sneered on, or otherwise defiled, is purified by sprinkling earth upon it." Every thing is pure which a Brahmin has either praised or sprinkled with water." "The hand of an artist in his work is always pure." So is "the mouth of a woman;" and so are gnats; sprinklings "from the lips of a speaker," "a horse, a cow, a shadow; dust, sunbeams, earth, air, and fire."

Married women are commanded to be of a cheerful temper, and, for the hope of paradise, to honor their husbands.

The sixth chapter treats of devotion, and of the life of a hermit. A householder, weary of the world, who has faithfully performed its duties, may retire into the forest, and practice various degrees of fasting and penance, with the intention of subduing all desires and affections, that he may obtain absorption at the instant of death. Such are the Sanyassies and Yogies, who practice extraordinary penance. Their food is roots and herbs, and the wild rice. They endeavor, by gradations of self-denial, to touch the verge of famine, without actually dying. The most remarkable of these are the Yogies; yoga meaning beatitude, or absorption into the divine Essence. In the Sacontala of Colidos, a Yogi is described, sitting in the sacred mountain of Indra; his body covered with an ant's nest, and the flesh of his neck perforated by the arms of shrubs, that had grown about him. The sitting Yogies were once numerous about the sacred sources of the Ganges, and were supported by the contributions of pilgrims. But asceticism is less practiced than formerly, there being, in all India, a general decline of the severer heathenism.

The modes of self-torment to be used by the devotee, are minutely described by Menu. "Let him slide backwards and forwards upon the ground; or, let him stand the whole day on tiptoe; or let him continue in motion, rising and sitting alternately." "Let him sit exposed, in the hot season, between four fires, and in the sun," &c.

A Brahmin who has performed all his duties as a student and housekeeper, may become an anchorite in the house of his son, giving his whole mind to meditation and prayer. Religious suicide, (by penance,) is commanded; and to die under torment, is a surety for paradise.

The seventh chapter is the most important of the whole book, being a summary of public and civil law; but the mind of the lawgiver is evidently more impressed with religious, than with civil duties. Kings must be held sacred, and treated with respect, even in childhood. "He must be, indeed, the perfect essence of majesty, by whose favor comes abundance; by whose valor, conquest; and by whose anger, death." The king is named the "punisher," and "punishment" declared to be the true governor; a proof that the composers of this code did not regard the law as established for protection only, and not for punishment. The code of Menu, like all others that have emanated from an ascetical or fanatical legislation, aims rather to control and punish the individual, than to protect him in his civil and moral freedom. A just legislation, assuming no jurisdiction over conscience, dares not assume the office of a punisher; and aims only to protect one against another.

Menu is full of wisdom in his advice to kings. After dwelling upon the necessity for a single head, to be the arbiter of right and the punisher of wrong, he commends humility in the sovereign, accounting it the greatest of virtues, more especially when exercised toward Brahmins. To Brahmins, the sovereign must make many and splendid gifts, to secure his happiness in this and in a future world. He must be brave and merciful, protecting the weak and suppressing the strong. He is commanded to enlarge his empire, and to subdue neighboring nations; as though the rule of more than one despot, were an anamoly in nature.

The soldier is instructed to forbear injuring a sleeping foe, or one who has broken his weapon; with many other precepts of generosity and valor; nor are the free tribes of India unworthy of such admonition; the best of them are described as possessed of many chivalrous traits. The richest spoils, in battle, must be reserved for the king. The thoughts of the monarch must be wholly occupied with war. Like the heron," says Menu, "let him muse on gaining advantages; like a wolf, let him steal upon his prey; like a lion, let him put forth his strength; like a hare, let him double to secure retreat."

To win by presents, to create divisions, and to gain by force, are reckoned as the lawful means of conquest.

The civil duties of the sovereign are much less insisted on, excepting that he must assiduously cultivate the good will of Brahmins, and be always guided by their advice. Taxes must be as light as possible, and justice suddenly and cruelly inflicted. Thieves are to be discovered, by tempting them to commit theft; and to that end, skillful persons must be employed as spies and bailiffs. The king's private conduct is carefully regulated, and many politic rules suggested for the quiet of the nation and the advancement of the priests. The king is advised to employ a number of informers, to whom he must devote a portion of each day. He is commanded to retire early, and be up betimes, to meet his council in the morning.

The eighth chapter is of the judicature. All causes are to be decided by the rayah, or king, in his council of priests, unless he chooses to appoint a Brahmin as his substitute. The ordinary crimes are enumerated, and various punishments, of a cruel nature, appointed for them. Mutilation and whipping, are the most usual. Indeed, the Hindoo notions of justice are described as singularly false and imperfect though in this chapter the metaphysical idea of it is clearly expressed.

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The only firm friend," says Menu, "who follows men even after death, is justice. Being destroyed it will destroy, being observed it will preserve.”

Eighteen titles of law are enumerated, which are declared by Menu to be the ground of all judicial procedure, but nothing is said of the statutes, or of equity; the religious and civil ordinances of the law, interpreted by the judge, being deemed sufficient to meet any case. Advocates and attorneys are very numerous in the Hindoo courts, and find abundant employment; for all ranks of this people are exceedingly litigious. False swearing is a very common and trivial offence among them; and for a trifling sum, any number of witnesses may be suborned: nor do they esteem forgery a crime, but count it among venial offences. The judge, says Menu, must learn to read the thoughts of offenders," since the motions of the body discover the internal workings of the mind. The king must inquire into the usages of towns and neighborhoods, and establish them as law. The foundation of law in usage is clearly recognized by Menu; " All men, who mind their own

customary ways of living, and are fixed in the discharge of their several duties, become united with the people at large, even though they dwell far asunder."

Custom, among all nations, whether barbarous or civilized, is known to have the force of law; but with none more than with this people, whose every action and opinion is modified by immemorial custom; and to this trait, as to the same in the Egyptians, may be ascribed the wonderful duration of their governments. Though they seem to have sense of political nationality, their sociality, by caste and sect, preserves the lesser portions of society, and the power of their foreign masters holds them together as a nation.

The customs and rules of Hindoo courts are complicated and exact, particularly in regard to testimony; for in the days of Menu, (as at present,) it seems to have been a point of difficulty to secure true testimony. Punishments of perjury are threatened with visitation in the future life, and Menu prescribes the following admonition for a witness. "The soul itself is its own witness; offend not thy conscious soul: The sinful have said in their hearts, none see us;' Yes, the gods distinctly see them, and so does the spirit within their breasts." The judge must admonish the witness, thus: "O, friend to virtue, that supreme Spirit, which thou believest to be one and the same with thyself, resides in thy bosom perpetually, and is an all-knowing inspector of thy goodness, and of thy wickedness."

When true evidence may cause the death of a man who has not been a grievous offender, Menu advises the witness to speak falsely, in order to save his life from the unjust severity of the law, or of the king. Such witnesses must make expiation for perjury with cakes of rice and milk, to Saraswati, the goddess of speech; for thus, says Menu," they shall expiate the venial sin of benevolent falsehood." Most remarkable of all is the provision, that if any sickness or misfortune happens to a witness within seven days after the giving of his testimony, in a case of debt, he must pay the litigated demand, and costs of court; the sickness or misfortune being looked upon as a warning against him from the gods. Oaths, says Menu, must not be taken

lightly; "let no man of sense take an oath in vain, for the man who takes an oath in vain, shall be punished in this life and in the next." Lovers' oaths, and light asseverations, are specified as venial and inoffensive. A soldier must swear by his weapons, a priest by his veracity, a merchant by his gold. "On great occasions, let the judge cause the party to hold fire, or dive under water, or severally to touch the heads of his wife and children: He whom fire burns not, whom the water soon forces not up, or who meets with no speedy misfortune, must be held to be veracious." Regulations for the interest of money are minute; and a larger per centage is allowed, when the adventure is hazardous. Things lent, must not, do not, by length of time, or use, become the property of the user or borrower. Compound interest is expressly forbidden, nor can the total of interest demanded, ever exceed the principal.

"On failure of witnesses to a debt," says the law-giver, let the judge actually deposite gold, or precious things, with the defendant, by the artful contriv ance of spies whose persons are engaging. Should the defendant restore that deposite, in the manner and shape in which it was entrusted to him by the spies, there is nothing in his hands for which others can justly accuse him;" but if the defendant, thus tempted, fails to restore the deposit, he must pay both that and the debt in suit."

"Written titles, and not occupation, though for the longest period, are essential to support of claims."

Very minute directions are given for the wages of servants. The hired soudra, whose wages are paid in milk, may milk the best cow in ten.

Menu commands, that commons for pasture shall be left, of sufficient breadth, about the skirt of every village. For the preservation of boundaries, secret landmarks are to be buried in the earth.

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Slander is severely punished. 66 If a soudra contumeliously mentions a Brahmin, au iron style, ten fingers long, shall be thrust, red hot, into his mouth." A man who reproaches another with blindness or deformity, must be punished, though he speak truth."

"A blow given to cattle, or to a human being, must be punished with a pain in-' flicted, equal to the pain given." It is

forbidden to beat a pupil, or a child, upon any noble part of the body, on pain of fine; to be inflicted upon the guardian or preceptor.

tal.

For stealing men, the penalty is capiFor a theft of small value, the judge must exact twice the worth of the thing stolen. But the taking of roots, or fruit, from a large tree, a forest, or an unenclosed field, is not to be accounted theft. If any person injures another, in body or limb, he must bear the cost of a perfect cure of the injury. Adultery must be punished, in the woman, by being torn to pieces by dogs; and the adulterer, by roasting upon an iron bed but the frequency of the crime and the severity of the punishment combine to frustrate the law-giver's in

tention.

The various possibilities of impurity are specified by Menu, and severe inflictions appointed against each. The desertion of parents by their children, or of children by their parents, is made punishable by fine. Social insults are classed among offences; "A priest who gives an entertainment to twenty respectable persons, without inviting his worthy neighbor, shall be fined one pana of silver." The laws of trade are exact and severe. Smuggling, subjects the offender to confiscation. Weights and measures must be known, and examined, twice a year, by the kings officer. Slavery is made legal; and a soudra, or a prisoner of war, may be bought or sold. Menu enumerates several classes of slaves, namely: those taken in battle, bond servants, the children of slaves, and persons enslaved because of inability to pay a fine. Slaves cannot have property of their own; "a Brahmin," says the law-giver, if he be distressed for subsistence, may seize without hesitation, the goods of his soudra slave; for that slave can have no property of his own."

The ninth chapter is on judicature, social and criminal law, and the duties of relatives and classes.

Concerning women, Menu decrees, that they be held by their protectors in a state of dependence. "Their fathers protect them in childhood, their husbands in youth, their sons in age; a woman is never fit for independence." Learned women, in India, are usually of bad reputation, and connected with a sect, or temple: they are employed to draw

votaries.

"The husband," says Menu, "must vigilantly guard his wife, and keep her

employed in the collection and expenditure of wealth, in the preparation of food, and the duties of the house." " But those women are truly secure, who are guarded by their own good inclinations." Drinking, bad company, gadding, unseasonable sleep, and living in the house of another, are enumerated among the faults that bring infamy upon a woman. She must purify herself and expiate her errors by stated ceremonies, prayers, and offerings.

The good conduct of a woman is supposed to confer happiness upon the manes of her own and her husband's ancestors. "Then only," says Menu, "is a man perfect, when he consists of three persons united-his wife, himself, and his son:" "the husband is even one person with the wife; and, neither by sale, nor by desertion, can a wife be released from her husband."

The limits of consanguinity, appointed by the lawgiver, within which marriage may be contracted, are such as are established among civilized nations, agreeably to the law of nature.

A husband is commanded to bear with a vicious wife, for one year; after which she may be repudiated. A wife, whose children are all daughters, may be superseded by another, after the tenth or eleventh year; but she must be treated with tenderness. "She who is afflicted with incurable illness, but is beloved and virtuous, must never be disgraced, though, with her own consent, she may be superseded by another."

Girls may marry in their ninth year. They must wait three years to be chosen; and if none offers, they may then choose for themselves; but the choice is always made by the parents. "Let mutual fidelity," says the legis lator, "continue till death; this is the supreme law."

The remainder of this chapter is occupied with the duties of family and caste. Gambling, and the use of spirituous liquors, are enumerated among grievous offences. For a priest to drink spirituous liquor, is accounted by Menu, a crime nearly equal in enormity to the murder of a Brahmin. 66 Dancers and singers, revilers of Scripture, open heretics. men who perform not the duties of their several classes, and sellers of spirituous liquor, let the king instantly banish from the town; these wretches, lurking like unseen thieves in the dominions of a prince, continually harass his good