Chap. III.] HINDOO GOVEENMENT. 99
recourse must be had to the declarations of witnesses, who "must be examined a.d. —
concerning the landmarks in the presence of all the townsmen or villagers, or of both the contending parties." The evidence " must be recorded in writ- Boundaries ing," and when the witnesses are about to give it, " let them, putting earth on their heads, wearing chaplets of red flowers and clad in red mantles, be sworn by the reward of all their several good actions, to give correct evidence con- cerning the metes and bounds." , If there be no witnesses, "four men who dwell on all the four sides of the two villages " must " make a decision concerning the boundary, being duly prepared, in the presence of the king." Should there be " no such neighbours on all sides, nor any men whose ancestors had lived there since the villages were built, nor other inhabitants of towns, who can give evidence on the limits, the judge must examine the following men who inhabit the woods: — hunters, fowlers, herdsmen, fishers, diggers for roots, catchers of snakes, gleaners, and other foresters." By such means the king may be able to fix the precise boundary between the two villages. When the dispute is between individuals " as to the bounds of arable fields, wells or pools, gardens and houses," the testimony of next neighbours on every side will sufiice. As a last resource, should all other means fail, "let the king, knowing what is just and consulting the future benefit of both parties, make a bound line."
The subject of husband and wife, though in some respects the most impor- Husband
and wife.
tant of all, is not treated with much judgment in the Institutes of Menu. The wife in particular is degraded from her natural position, and made to be the slave rather than the companion of her husband. The very first announcement of this part of tlie Hindoo code is as follows: — "Day and night must women be held by their protectors in a state of dependence ; but in recreations, though rather addicted to them, they may be left at their own disposal. Their fathers protect them in childhood, their husbands protect them in youth, their sons protect them in age ; a woman is never fit for independence." Again, " Women must, above all, be restrained from the smallest illicit gratification : for not being thus restrained, they bring sorrow on both families ; let husbands consider this as the supreme law ordained for all classes, and let them, how weak soever, diligently keep their wives under lawful restrictions." It is admitted indeed that " no man can wholly restrain woman by violent measures," and that "those women are truly secure who are guarded by their own good inclinations." Such inclinations, it would .seem, they must have from nature, for they are precluded from the use of the means which, even the Brahmins being judges, are best fitted to instil them, it being expressly declared that "women have no business with the texts of the Veda." Their social position is only too significantly expressed by the classification adopted and the treat- ment enjoined in the following passage: — "For women, children, persons of crazy intellect, the old, the poor, and the infirm, the king shall order punishment
with a small whip, a twig, or a rope."
