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87 Chap. III.J HINDOO GOVEENMENT. 87

and discovei' the acts of the foreign king, by the signs, hints, and acts of his ad. — confidential servants, and the measures which that king wishes to take, by his ministers."

After the appointment of proper officers, the next thing considered is the Tiie kmg-s selection of a locahty for the king's residence. On this subject a number of injunctions are given, of which the following are the most prominent: — "Let him fix his abode in a district containing open champaigns, abounding with grain, inhabited chiefly by the virtuous, not infected with maladies, beautiful to the sight, surrounded by submissive neighbours; a country in which the subjects may live at ease." Within this district he is to take up his residence, in a capital rendered difficult of access by natural or artificial barriers, as a desert, a mound of earth, water, trees, and above all, " a fortress of mountains," which is said to have "many transcendent properties." Here he may live secure, having built a fort, which he is recommended to do, because " one bow- man placed on a wall is a match in war for a hundred enemies ; and a hundred for ten thousand." The centre of the fort is the proper site for the royal palace, which is to be " well finished in all its parts, completely defended, habitable in every season, brilliant, surrounded with water and trees." Such a palace having been prepared for his mansion, the king is to establish his household, beginning with the choice of " a consort, of the same class with himself, endued with all the bodily marks of excellence, born of an excellent race, captivating his heart, adorned with beauty and the best qualities." The only members of the royal household specially mentioned are "a domestic priest," and "a performer of sacrifices."

The ordinary routine of the king's life while he resides in his palace deserves The king's to be described. Having risen " in the last watch of the night," or, as the same ^^^ thing is elsewhere expressed, "at early dawn," and performed his religious duties, he is to enter his hall, and standing there, "gratify his subjects before he dismiss them with kind looks and words." After they are dismissed he is to " take secret counsel with his principal ministers." For this purpose, and that he may be able to consult with them unobserved, he climbs up the back of a mountain, or goes privately " to a terrace, a bower, a forest, or a lonely place." This secrecy is deemed of paramount importance; for it is declared that " that prince, of whose weighty secrets aU assemblies of men are ignorant, shall obtain dominion over the whole earth." The other measures which the king takes to secure secrecy are rather curious. "At the time of consultation let him remove the stupid, the dumb, the bhnd, and the deaf, talking birds, decrepit old men, women, and infidels, the diseased and the maimed; since those who are disgraced (in this life by reason of sins formerly committed) are apt to betray secret counsel; so are talking birds; and so above all are women ; them he must for that reason diligently remove." After the consulta- tion, the king having taken exercise and bathed, retires at noon to his private