Page:The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 4-1875.djvu/149

 ia THK INDIAN A>*TIQT:akY. fiLli Thin procedure and doctrine n* to the H court leave* hardly anything 10 be desiredi Rwmi to be indicative of mi odvnneeii Uiaation, a high uppret'ntiou of cWObl law. and a considerable amount of juridical culture It t* to be reared, hnwawr, that the integrity of tin kings, judge*, nod the veracity tigsnte and witnesses WW exalted character. I'uHsagu after pass* kite hi'tdutai u devoted to impressing upo»i the king urn I his officer* the awful nature of the obligation tojudgu the pQOptc ■ onaly, and ■ i-uuujndous consequences her© and horeaitce ,.t disregarding it. And whole pages arc Gfl lied in nan trust ing HUB GttCS of thtiKit who are the witnesses of truth and the Irthood. Thus we have {p. LOO, 81) A witabtt who gives evidence with tenth ahull Attain exalted scots of beatitude above, anil (lift highest fame here below: such testimoi I > ■ imI by B rah ai u hiim-ul:'. Tim vfi-.im.-i* n ho J, til. I, I mt bound in thu eordi i if V n r una, and lw wholly deprived of power -J dnringahumlr'iiltrsihBmlqrnkti^^: let mankh •h.rr, giro no false testimony. By truth iritltsa cleared from sin; by truth injustice udvaiiL-ed - truth niu&t therefore bespoken by witnesses of every ditas. The soul itself own witness; the eoul itself is its own refngv: offend not thy en sod, the k up rein* 1 1 witness of men! The I tti their bearta, * None Biies us.' gQjd| distinctly nee them, and so dots the spirit Wtthln their breast*. The guardian deities of Uio Armament, of the watel t ] L. - hmuMu heart, of tbc moon, of I he bun and fire, of punishment after death, of the win da,, of I of Imth twilights, and of je leeily know the atat© ofallspirilseloLbedwit.il bodies. 11 And in calling upon a S A dru to give his evidence udgeis unjoined to exhort him to truth in » homily of some leaglb T which contain* pee. sages such an the following] — "The fruit 9 every virtuous nut which thou luu»t done, O pood man. since thy birth, ahull depart Qrofl thee to dog* iT Hi -m deviate in speech I'r truth" (p. SQI» 9Q*f ng;). ? S sked and tormented with hunger und thirst, uud deprived of Might, shall the man who give* falsa evldetlJH go with a potabonl bo tag food doorn hia cue my." *" Headlong in utter ilurkmam nhall the iinpions wretch tumble into hell, who, being , gated in u judicial tupriry, question falsely." The at truthful- ness could hardly have been high where eon- rinnal exhortation of this land irna needed. And perhaps the effect of thin teudiiag huvL' been marred by the qualification, {p, 202 108 and 104) that " In sonic east false evidence from a pious motive, even though he kuOW 1 1 n I r 1 1 th. shall not lose a scat in heaven : such evidence wifw men mill the apecch of the gods. Wbem i f i i bo death of a man, either of the servile, the ceial, the militar thu uftcerdotal class, would be oeousli oe, falsehood may be &pokeu even prof* truth, "—a qualification not unknown to tender-hearted British jurymun, though seldom admitted even bj thnu, w> dan- gejvmB n the doctrine felt to be. Ir Is worthy of note that in the Inrtitufr> creditor is expreesly ant property (p. IBS, VJ and 50), if h hi» own arm, wdthont linving recourse to ft 001 i i inh doing so the original wrong, deer complains, tie latter becomes liable to be fined (p. 212, 176), and also (p. 201. 117) ilvlt false eeidenoe lias been given in any suit the king must rev* ind rer lias been dene must be rnnsidt i two facts which go far to suggest that thu regular action of the courta wae i»;«t altn- - fsetory in its results. And this sccro* to bo eonfinecd by tho nlternnt -< which it wM thought necessary to allow them, of re»> their rloctsion by The shortcut of a so lei tm oath, or of ordeal : " la caiifs where n>> I can ba had between two parties oppoMing each the jndge may acquire a knowledge of the bv the oath of title pfcftk*, If ho cannot perfeetly ascertain it" (p. 208, 100). •' Or, let hiin t*use the parly to hold fire, or to dive nnder water, or severally t« touch the be&dfl nf hit; children and wife. Ho whom the blazing fire burtis not, whom the water noon forc«-« ant up, OX meets with no speedy misfortune, tniiwt h vunicious in his testimony ou oath" (p--"'- III). In all (his it is more than prol»bl< ih have a rolativuly modern method of pleading and trial superimposed upon a primitiv eeedinp; for in the next topic io whiob we namely, municipal law, it appears plainly manifest i.mething of the like kind hoe taken place*