debt has, or has not, been demanded from one who goes to another country; in regard to him who resides in his own country, one case has been declared, that is, the case where the debt has been demanded; it is proper to refer the text of NAREDA to the case of one who resides in his own country, but from whom the debt has not been demanded. Were it so, what would be the rule where a demand was made after a lapse of seven months? In reply it is asked, why does the creditor neglect interest, to which he is entitled under the authority of the text, after the lapse of six months? if through tenderness he exact not interest, the debtor need not pay it

On this exposition, the text of VISHNU (52) concerns one who has received a loan for use, and goes to a foreign country before it has been demanded; and the text of CÁTYÁYANA (56) ordains interest, after six months, on deposits and the like not restored after demand. According to this interpretation, if ornaments or the like be asked and obtained for a nuptial festivity or the like, they are similar to a deposit, and are not loans, for they are stated by YAJNYAWALCYA with deposits (Book II, Chap. I, v. 10). But if an agreement were made at the time of receiving a loan exempt from interest, or the like, in this form, "it shall be restored by me at the end of one year;" in this and similar cases, if the thing be not restored after the period has elapsed, it then bears interest, and not after six months. This and similar rules may be deduced by the wise from arguments consistent with common sense. But the author of the Mitácshará is revered by CHANDESWARA and the rest, and is more ancient than they. Of the two opinions which should be rejected, which adopted in practice, must be determined from the difference of times and of places.

ART. II.-On the Limits of Interest.

59.

GÓTAMA: The principal can only be doubled by length of time, after which interest ceases.

That which is lent (prayujyaté), is (prayóga) the principal. The money lent can be doubled, that is, can only be doubled; else it would be useless to declare, that twice the principal may be received on account of the length of time elapsed. By the word "only" it is forbidden to receive more than twice the principal. Accordingly CHANDESWARA says, the word "or" in a text already quoted from VRIHASPATI (3) is indefinite, and also suggests a debt doubled, or the like. "By length of time;" counting from a period somewhat less than sufficient to double the principal, interest ceases if the debt remain longer due. This is meant in a text cited from VRIHASPATI (26). Else the mention of double the principal in a text of law propounding right and wrong would be useless. The text cited from HÁRÍTA (30) makes this evident; for the verb there used (sanstha) signifies stops or "bears interest no longer:" and this interest, sufficient to double the principal, is the highest interest receivable on gems, gold, and the like, not on grain or the like, for such limitation of interest on grain and the rest is opposed by a special text, which will be cited.

CHANDESWARA remarks, "this concerns a loan of valuable things in general" by the term " in general" it is declared that this text is a

general law; it follows, that special rules are thereby opposed. Accordingly MISRA declares the full meaning; "this concerns gems, gold, and the like, as ordained by CÁTYÁYANA."

60.

CÁTYÁYANA:-For gems, pearls, and coral, for gold and silver, for cloth made of cotton, the produce of fruit, or made of silk, the produce of insects, or made of wool, the produce of sheep, the interest stops when it doubles the debt.

"Stops when it doubles the debt;" accumulates no further. "Coral," expressed in the plural, implies" and the rest," by which shells are included in the text; for HÁRÍTA declares, that interest ceases when it has doubled the principal at the rate of eight panas in twenty-five puránas. (Purána is a name for a certain number of shells.) This induction is consistent with practice; and it is proper that double the principal be the limited. accumulation on shells, since no special rule has been declared. It is the same in respect of conchs and the like.

"Of the produce of fruit ;" as cotton and the like.(40) "Of the produce of insects;" as silk and the like. (41) "Of the produce of sheep ;" as blankets and the like. The Retnácara.

61.

MENU, stating generally, that "interest on money received at once, not month by month, or day by day, as it ought, must never be more than enough to double the debt, that is, more than the amount of the principal paid at the same time," adds a special rule:-On grain, on fruit, on wool or hair, on beasts of burden, lent to be paid in the same kind of equal value, it must not be more than enough to make the debt quintuple.*

*

"Grain;" as rice, barley, or the like. "Fruit" (s'ada) or any thing produced from trees. Here "tree" is merely illustrative, for "the produce (s'ada) of a field" occurs in a text which will be cited from GÓTAMA

(40) As flax is characteristic of Egypt, so cotton may be regarded as a product belonging exclusively to India. In Sanskrit cotton is called Karpas; from which source evidently, the Latin name Carbasus is derived. In the book of ESTHER, Ch. I, v. 6, the epithet "green" in the English version, is rendered in the Vulgate, carbasinus. The word is frequently met with in later Roman writers, as expressive of the quality of the manufacture. For instance, PRUDENTIUS calls a cotton sheet palla carbasea (Psychom, 186); and STATIUS in his Thebaid VII, v. 658, speaks of carbasei sinus; so also VIRGIL, and CICERO uses carbasea vela, for cotton tent-cloths.-EDITOR.

(41) Silk was considered by the ancients as the produce exclusively of China, the country of the Seres. Its cultivation in Europe, seems to have been introduced by the Emperor JUSTINIAN about A. D. 530. The frequent allusion to silk in the most ancient Sanskrit books, though not likely to disprove fully the claims of China in respect thereof, still the mention of an Indian class whose occupation it was to attend to silk-worms,-for example - Pundraka, feeder of silk-worms, and Pattasutrakara, silk-thrower-may be admitted as proof that the rearing of silk-worms and the manufacture of silk, were things not unknown in early ages-in India. The above names occur in the Rudra-yamala, a work of some authenticity, and one of the most ancient tantras or ritualistic treatises among the Hindus.-EDITOR.

* The first hemistich has been already quoted (43).

(62).

"Wool or hair," what is afforded by sheep, cows, and the like, as wool, cow-tails, and the like, as appears from the derivation of the word (lava) what is shorn (lúyaté). The Retnácara.

What is shorn (lúyaté) is wool or hair (lava), such as wool and other hair on the body (lóman). CULLÚCABHATTA.

"Hair" (lava); anything to be shorn (lavaniyam), except wool; that is, hair on the body (lóman) and the like. The Viváda Chintameni. "Wool or hair" (lava); cow-tails and the like. The Dipacalicá.

"Wool or hair" (lava); the fleece of sheep, the pod of musk-deer, and the like. The Mitacshará.

All therefore agree, that the word "lara" is synonimous with lóman, being derived from the same crude verb (lu, cut or shear). But MISRA thinks, hair other than that of sheep is meant in the text of MENU, because it is opposed by the text of CÁTYÁYANA (60). But, according to the Retnácara and the rest, this text (60) concerns cloth alone; it is almost expressly said so by CHANDESWARA.

"Beasts of burden;" employed for transport, as horses and the like. On these, the interest of the loan must not exceed the quintuple; with the principal it must not amount to more than quintuple; it can produce no more. That the quintuple includes the principal is thus inferred; as it is declared, that a debt is doubled in fifty months, and accumulation then stops; that is, interest ceases; and consequently the principal is one part, and the interest another part, which united make the double sum; so, in this case also, by parity of reasoning, the principal is one part, and the interest four parts, which united make the whole quintuple sum. Accordingly, any such debtor, who has borrowed grain or horses valued at a hundred pieces of money, for interest at the rate of two in the hundred, however long the period of debt may be, can only be liable to pay grain and the like amounting in value to five hundred pieces of money, and no more.

The Retnácara.

Here the rate of two in the hundred is a mere example: on a loan secured by a pledge also, where the rate of interest is an eightieth part of the principal by the month, the interest can only double the principal, which consisted of gems, gold, or the like: and, by parity of reasoning, it can only make the debt quintuple, if it consisted of grain or the like; for no other limit of interest is found in the codes of law. VRIBASPATI (26), declaring that the principal is doubled even in the case of a loan secured by a pledge, states that alone as the limit of interest; and it concerns gems, gold, and the like, for it has the same import with the text of CÁTYÁYANA (60).

On this it should be remarked, say some lawyers, that the rule regards priests only; but, if the debtor be of the military or other class, interest must make the debt treble, quadruple, or quintuple, in the order of the classes: else it would be a great disparity, that interest payable by a Súdra should cease after twenty months; and, payable by a Brahmana, after fifty months. That is wrong; for no Sage has mentioned interest on gems, gold, or the like, more than sufficient to double the principal. As interest on a loan secured by a pledge stops at the end of six years and eight months,

but, if there be neither pledge nor surety, at the close of fifty months; so, if the debtor be of the sacerdotal class, interest stops at the end of fifty months, but, if he be of the servile class, at the end of twenty months: there is no unjust disparity. (42)

(42) From this and other passages scattered in the present work, the reader will not fail to observe that among Hindu Society the Brahmans were invariably regarded as the privileged class,-possessing various social and political rights in which the other subordinate castes did not participate. Subjoined are a few extracts from the Institutes of MANU, touching the pre-eminence of the Brahmans :

"Since the Brahman sprang from the most excellent part, since he was the first-born, and since he possesses the Véda, he is by right the chief of this whole creation." Chap. I, verse 93.

"Of created things the most excellent are those which are animated; of the animated, those which subsist by intelligence; of the intelligence, mankind; and of men, the sacerdotal class." Verse 96.

"The very birth of Brahmans is a constant incarnation of DHARMA, (God of Justice) for the Brahman is born to promote justice, and to procure ultimate happiness." Verse 98. "When a Brahman springs to light he is born above the world, the chief of all creatures assigned to guard the treasury of duties, religious and civil." Verse 99.

"Whatever exists in the universe, is all in effect though not in form the wealth of the Brahman; since the Brahman is entitled to it all by his primogeniture and eminence of birth."

"The Brahman eats but his own food; wears but his own apparel; and bestows but his own in alms; through the benevolence of the Bráhman indeed, other mortals enjoy life." Verses 100, 101.

"Let not him, who knows this law, even assault a Brahman nor strike him even with grass, nor cause blood to gush from his body." Chap. IV, verse 169.

"A king, even though dying with want, must not receive any tax from a Brahman learned in the Védas." Chap. VII, verse 133.

"A once born man, who insults the twice born with gross invectives, ought to have his tongue slit; for he sprang from the lowest part of Brahma."

"If he mentions their names and classes with contumely, as if he say "Oh! DEVADATTA, thou refuse of Bráhmans," an iron syle, ten fingers long, shall be thrust red-hot into his mouth." Chap. VIII, verses 270, 271.

"Never shall the king slay a Brahman though convicted of all possible crimes; let him banish the offender from his realm; but with all his property secure and his body unhurt." Chap. VIII, verse 380.

"Let not the king, although in the greatest distress for money, provoke Bráhmans to anger by taking their property." Chap. IX, verse 313.

"What prince could gain wealth by oppressing those, who, if angry could frame other worlds and regents of worlds, could give being to new gods and mortals.' Verse 315. "A Brahman, whether learned or ignorant is a powerful divinity. Verse 317. "Though Brakmans employ themselves in all sorts of mean occupation, they must invariably be honored; for they are something transcendently divine." Verse 319.

We, however, occasionally meet with passages showing the utter inefficiency of the mere study of the Védas, and outward form of austerities to secure happiness :--for instance,"To a man contaminated by sensuality, neither the Védas, nor liberality, nor sacrifices, nor strict observances, nor pious austerities ever procure felicity." Chap. II, verse 97. "As an elephant made of wood, as an antelope made of leather, such is an unlearned Bráhman; those three have nothing but names.' Verse 157.

"

The above passages, some of which are cited in this work, speak for themselves, and require no comment.

By way of conclusion it may be mentioned, that, in later times, when the sects of Vishnu (Vaishnavás) and SIVA (Saivas) had sprung up among the Brahmans, and the Indian world was divided between them-the odium theologicum running high,-it would seem that different deities had been ascribed to different castes; and even particular families appear to have had assigned certain gods which were more exclusively celebrated-as the Lares and Penates of the Romans of old. In the following quotation from the Vasishta-Smriti, the Saivites, who are the opponents, are handled, it will be seen, rather roughly, by the follower of the opposite doctrine.

"A Brahman versed in the four Védas, who does not find VASUDEVA, (KRISHNA) is a donkey of a Brahman, trembling for the heavy burden of the Véda. Therefore, unless a man be a Vaishnava, his Brahmahood will be lost; by being a Vaishnava one obtains perfection, there is no doubt. For NARAYANA (VISHNU) the highest Brahman, is the deity of the Brahmans; SOMA, SURYA, and the rest, are the gods of the Kchatriyas and Vaisyas; while RUDRA and similar gods ought to be sedulously worshipped by the Sudras. When the worship of RUDRA is enjoined in the Puránas and law books, it has no reference to Brahmans, as PRAJAPATI (BRAHMA) declared." The worship of RUDRA and the Tripundra (the three horizontal marks across the forehead with ashes of cow-dung, &c.,) are celebrated

K

Interest on grain or the like makes the debt quintuple in so much time as is sufficient for interest to become equal to four times the debt, whether at the rate of an eightieth part and so forth, if a pledge or the like have been given, or at the rate of two in the hundred and so forth, if there be neither pledge nor surety; not in so much time as would make other debts double else, since the law ordains monthly interest at the rate of an eightieth part and so forth, something less than twice the principal would be received on grain or the like, if the period elapsed were one day short of eight months above six years, but five times the principal would be received on grain and the like if the eighth month were completed; which would be a great disparity. Since fifty months and various other periods. are not ruled universally, it is proper to affirm, that interest ceases at those periods respectively, when it has risen to so many times the principal.

62.

GÓTAMA:-Interest on milk or curds, on the hair of goats and the like, on the produce of a field, and on beasts of burden, shall rise no higher than to make the debt quintuple.

What is produced from cattle (pas'órupajáyaté) is (pasúpaja) the produce of cattle, such as milk and the like, excepting however clarified butter.

The Chintameni.

In the Retnácara a gloss is found, "milk, clarified butter, and the like." It is liable to objection; for interest making the debt octuple will be declared for clarified butter.

"Hair" (lóman); wool; for AMERA explains wool, the hair of sheep and the like.

"The produce of a field ;" fruit produced from a field as barley, wheat, plantains, mangoes and the like. The Retnácara.

It is also proper to include grain in general under this term. Interest on grain, making the debt quintuple, is declared by MENU and Gótama but by VRIHASPATI it is declared to make the debt quadruple.

63.

VRŤHASPATI :-On the precious metals or gems the interest may make the debt double; on clothes and inferior metals, treble: on grain, quadruple; so on fruit, beasts of burden, and wool or hair.

"Precious metals;" gold and silver.

The Retnácara.

It is a general expression comprehending gems and the like; for the rule coincides with that of CÁTYÁYANA (60).

The term "inferior metals" signifies all other minerals except gold or silver, namely copper and the rest. The Retnácara.

in the Puránas but only for the Kchatriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras, and not for the others. Therefore, ye excellent MUNIS, the Tripundra must not be worn by Brahmans."

The above extract affords, no doubt, a fair specimen of the genus irritabile vatum prevailing among Hindu dogmatists.-EDItor,