Page:Life in India or Madras, the Neilgherries, and Calcutta.djvu/343

299 ﻿charge; and, according to previous agreement, each protested that the accuser only was guilty of the crime which he laid at their door. Which side was to be believed? Was the testimony of one man to be taken against that of ten? The result was, that the ten Brahmins were declared innocent, and the accuser, being found guilty, was expelled with ignominy from the caste. Though his innocence could scarcely be doubted, the judges were offended by his disclosure, and could more conveniently sacrifice him than the ten truly guilty and foresworn men.

At the present day the rules of caste as laid down in the sacred books cannot be enforced. Having lived for centuries under a foreign yoke, formerly that of the Mohammedans, now that of the English, they find it impossible to follow the laws of the Shasters. Sometimes from necessity, sometimes from the love of office and of gain, they must or will transgress the rules of caste. While offences are profitable, and offenders both many and strong, these breaches of the law will be winked at. In trade, public offices, schools, and the army, you will find men of all castes daily violating the rules of the Shasters.