According to MISRA, interest accruing in all these cases, after the lapse either of three or of six months, must be understood of payment fraudulently withheld; but, if no fraud be practised, interest commences after the lapse of a year, under the rule of VISHNU above cited (LIV). In fact, a journey to another country indicates fraud; and another country is that, during the debtor's residence, in which the creditor cannot demand payment of the debt: herein MISRA and CHANDESWARA concur. But, according to CHANDESWARA, a debtor offends not by going to another country on urgent business, as has been already noticed. In the case of a commodity purchased and the rest, interest also commences after the lapse of a year, if the debtor have not gone to another country: this is deduced from the expression in the Viváda Chintámeni, “in all these cases ;" and is not disallowed by CHANDESWARA, CULLÚCABHATTA, and the rest.

On a loan made without interest, and of which payment is withheld after demand, interest accrues at the end of three months: on other things fraudulently withheld after demand, such as a deposit, a bailment for use, or the like, interest accrues at the end of six months; but not restored through inability, and submissively refused, they bear interest after the lapse of a year. Such is the opinion of CHANDESWARA, CULLÚCABHatta, Misra, and others. If payment be withheld by one taking the protection of some person who may awe the creditor, how soon interest commences in such a case, is not expressly said by any author.

According to the Mitacshará, interest is in some cases due without a special agreement, as is declared generally by NÁREDA (LVIII); but remarking, that "interest without a special agreement is in certain cases prohibited," the author of the Mitácshará subjoins, as a particular rule, the text subsequently cited (LXXI). Consequently, from the several applications of the general and particular rules, interest without a special agreement accruing at a certain period on loans advanced free of interest, appears obviously suggested; but no interest, without a special agreement on the price of a commodity, and the rest. That, however, is not satisfactory; for interest without a special agreement is allowed on things amicably lent; and fines and the rest would be vainly included in the second text (LXXI). This text, therefore, is not opposed to the preceding text (LVIII); but it restrains a purchaser, who covetously demands interest at the same rate with loans, because a commodity purchased by him has long remained with the seller. Accordingly the text of CATYAYANA (LVI 2) has a similar import; and the same rule should be understood in regard to the price of a commodity purchased.

In this gloss, the third measure of the text of CÁTYÁYANA (LVII) is read" after the lapse of a year," instead of, "after three seasons. Consequently, should a man, who has received a loan exempt from interest, go to another country before it be demanded, he shall pay interest after the lapse of one year (LVII); but if he go to another country without restoring it after it has been demanded, he shall pay interest after a lapse of three months (LI). The word "yáchitaca" must signify a loan in general, instead of a chattel lent for use, for this text (LVII) is inserted after stating the text first cited (LI). If one, who remains in his own country, do not pay the debt after a demand, it bears interest from the date of the demand; for the text of CÁTYAYANA (LV) does not specify a period.

According to this gloss, what is the purport of the text of NAREDA (LVIII)? The answer is, two cases have been declared according as the

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 (LII) 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 (LVI) 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. IL-On the Limits of Interest.

LIX.

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

That which is lent (prayujyaté), is (prayoga) 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 (III) 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 (XXVI). Else the mention of double the principal in a text of law propounding right and wrong would be useless. The text cited from HARITA (XXX) makes this evident; for the verb there used (sanstha) sig. nifies 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."

LX.

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 the interest stops when it doubles the debt.

produce of sheep,

"Coral,"

'Stops when it doubles the debt;" accumulates no further. 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.

LXI.

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, produced from trees. duce ('sada) of a field"

barley, or the like. "Fruit" ('sada) or any thing Here "tree" is merely illustrative, for "the prooccurs 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.

(*1) 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 silkworms,-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 (XLIII.)

(LXII). "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. (lavaniyam), except wool;

"Hair" (lava); any thing to be shorn that is, hair on the body (lóman) and the like.

"Wool or hair" (lava); cow-tails and the like.

The Viváda Chintameni.

The Dipacalicá.

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

All therefore agree, that the word "lava" 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 CATYAYANA (LX). But, according to the Retnácara and the rest, this text (LX) concerns cloth alone; it is almost expressly said so by CHANDÉSWARA.

"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. VRIHASPATI (XXVI), 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 CATYAYANA (LX).

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 casts did not participate. Subjoined are a few extracts from the Institutes of MANU, touching the pre-eminence of the Bráhmans :—

"Since the Brahman sprang from the most excellent part, since he was the first-born, and since he possesses the Veda, 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 Bráhmans is a constant incarnation of DHARMA, (God of Justice) for the Bráhman 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 Bráhman; since the Bráhman 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 Bráhman 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 Bráhman 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 Brahmans," 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 Bráhman 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 Brahmans 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 Brahman; 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 casts; 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 Bráhman versed in the four Védas, who does not find VASUDEVA, (KRISHNA) is a donkey of a Bráhman, trembling for the heavy burden of the Veda. 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 Bráhman, 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