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India became the coveted land of the invader. The second reason is that the early betrothal was necessary in the Hindu thought as a measure of protection, which includes time and the duty of education on the part of the young persons thus betrothed. between the time of the betrothal and the marriage ceremony, the betrothed shall die, the betrothed wife may be married to another. The protection to which I have referred, which this early betrothal gives to the girl of India can be as well understood by you as if I were to go into a detailed statement, for among the perquisites and spoils of the invader of all times must be reckoned, not alone lootings of perishable possessions of the conquered, but the possession and ravishment of unprotected women. Indeed, this measure of protection has not always proved adequate any more than your laws of prohibition of the licquor traffic have always, or may ever really, prohibit. A third reason may be given that womanhood is reached in our country at an earlier age than in your own.
Another mistake that I must briefly notice is the prevalent misconception of the moral status of the Hindu people at large. I cannot go into this subject further thau to affirm that the basis of morality, its laws and rules, differ in no essential respect from those that obtain throghout the universal world. The rites of our religion, the relationships
obtaining
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