phants, horses, cars, etc. In fact, one reads of kings in the Code with a feeling that they are puppets in an imaginary pageant; but the regulations concerning them are nevertheless worth studying, for although never fully realized they are alluded to and partially recognized in general Sanskrit literature. The King is exhorted to conduct himself with humility towards Brahmans learned in the three Vedas, to avoid idleness and vice, and to appoint seven or eight ministers versed in the holy books, skilled in the use of weapons, and whose lineage is noble. He must also have a very learned Brahman as a confidential adviser, and various other ministers, usually Brahmans, who assist in the council which the King meets every morning; "ascending up the back of a mountain, or going privately to a terrace, a bower, a forest, or a lonely place," that he may consult them unobserved, for it is said that "that prince of whose weighty secrets all assemblies of men are ignorant, shall attain dominion over the whole earth." The secrecy required in these Brahmanical councils, in Ayodhya and the other early kingdoms of Hindostan, offers a striking contrast to the public assemblies of the Rajputs in Guzerat and at Mathura, as recorded in after-years. From this council 'with closed doors' the Code requires that all blind, deaf, and decrepit persons should be removed, because those who are suffering in this world for sins committed in previous births, are apt to betray counsel; and for the same reason talking birds, and above all, women must be excluded. account of the subjects on which a council deliberates occupies a large portion of the chapter assigned to the King's duties. The whole question of war and negotiation is discussed, and the qualifications required in an ambassador :

* Code, vii. 145, 146, 222.

An

he must have a pure hand and a pure heart; he must be handsome, intrepid, eloquent, have an excellent memory, and be well acquainted with countries and times; but it is also essential that he understand external signs and hints, that he may discover the arts of a foreign prince through the acts of his confidential servants. By the aid of this illustrious ambassador and his secret negotiations the enemy is to be reduced by internal dissension, and by well-applied gifts all such leaders are to be gained as can be safely brought over. For this purpose spies of five descriptions are recommended; as, "active and artful youths, degraded anchorites, distressed husbandmen, decayed merchants, and fictitious penitents," who are all to be seen and paid in private. Intrigue is no disgrace, and prudence a cardinal virtue; the Code giving its highest commendation to the king who foresees the good and evil to ensue from his measures, and so arranges his affairs that no ally, neutral prince, or enemy, ever gets an advantage over him. On the other hand, there is no praise for heroic daring, or hopeless valour, or generous defence of country, home and hearth. The negative duty of not turning his face from battle is the only military duty inculcated upon kings and soldiers, and the rules of war in general are tame and dull; although they read very like rules for preserving peace, they do not excite respect and confidence, because they have the air of being drawn up in seclusion, by students who had never seen or felt the troubles and difficulties of actual warfare or politi cal contention; and, on the other hand, one is irresistibly inclined to attribute them to learned men, anxious to be independent of the Military Caste. The most pleasing part of the subject is the mercy required in the choice of weapons, and also towards captives; these rules have fortu

nately been translated in metre, which gives a most opportune relief to this unusually prosaic prose:

"Let the soldier, good in battle, never guilefully conceal

(Wherewithal to smite the unwary) in his staff the treacherous steel;

Let him scorn to barb his javelin; let the valiant ne'er anoint
With fell poison-juice his arrows, ne'er put fire upon the point.
In his car, or on his war-horse, should he chance his foe to meet,
Let him smite not if he find him lighted down upon his feet;
Let him spare one standing suppliant, with his closed hands raised
on high,

Spare him whom his long hair loosen'd blinds and hinders from to fly,

Spare him if he sink exhausted; spare him if for life he crave ; Spare him crying out for mercy, ‘Take me, for I am thy slave.' Still remembering his duty, never let the soldier smite One unarm'd, defenceless, mourning for one fallen in the fight; Never strike the sadly wounded; never let the brave attack One by sudden terror smitten, turning in base flight his back."* The Law-book mentions so few names of places, kings, or kingdoms, that we may almost suspect it of wishing to avoid identifying itself with any particular time or place: it is written for all time and for all Hindus, and in consequence gives very few data enabling us to judge how far Hindus and Brahmans had penetrated. They do not however appear to have been confined to the plains of the Ganges, which the Code calls Aryavarta, for allusions are made to most desirable forts on hills, which one hundred bowmen can defend against ten thousand. Such natural defences would be difficult to find near the Ganges; but Gwalior and Dowlatabad and other basaltic rocks of Malwa and Rajputana answer well to the description. Mathura is likewise mentioned; the men of Mathura being tall and light, and therefore good soldiers for the van of an army. The coun

*R. T. Griffith, Specimens of Indian Poctry, p. 9.

try was divided into a number of small unequal states, of which the weaker sought the protection of the stronger; and the conquest of foreign States appears to be alluded to, for it is recommended that the deities and virtuous priests of a conquered country be respected, but we can only suppose that this refers to slight varieties amongst Hindu States. It may be a recommendation to kings of the Solar race to be tolerant towards the usages of the Lunar dynasties, or to Hindus settled in Oude to be liberal towards Rajputs in Malwa, or Saurashtrians in modern Guzerat; but it is not probable that despotic and exclusive Brahmans recommended positive toleration towards the religions of people whom they called Sudras, robbers, or barbarians. If they conquered Scythian tribes in the northern mountains, whom they called Hunas and Sakas, they did not attempt to hold them or govern them, because this was apparently impossible to the philosophic theories of the Brahmans, which affected the Court and capital, but made very little impression on the people as a nation. It may be for want of knowing how to extract the information required, but with mere ordinary apparatus for this purpose the Code is far from satisfactory upon the subject of the Kshatriya, or Military Caste: if it gave mere law we could not complain, but whilst we are told that a king's displeasure is worse than lightning, and consumes whole families by its destructive violence, and that Abundance rises on her lotus-leaf whenever a king is well pleased and gracious, we get no facts to show in what manner a king ever has or ever can exercise individual enterprise in promoting the welfare or improvement of his kingdom.

H

So poets' songs are with us, though they die,

And earth inherits the rich melody."-HOOD.

HITHERTO We have been like voyagers sailing towards an unknown land, striving to catch glimpses through a telescope of the leading features of the country, but baffled by twilight when hoping to make more detailed observations. Now that we are about to look upon the graphic pages of epic poetry, we shall feel a change in our sensations, as if when nearing our port at dusk the coast should suddenly appear illuminated by a revolving lighthouse, and a palace, a procession, a sacrifice, or a tournament were for a moment visible in the rich red light, or in the succeeding clear white rays of the lofty beacon. Such are the transitory high-coloured views of life in Ancient India, which we get from the portions of the Sanskrit Epics which have been