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MAY, 1875.]
ANCIENT INDIA ACCORDING TO MANU.
full moon is their day for actions, and that beginning from the new-moon is their night for slumber. A year is a day and a night of the gods, and again their division is this: their day is the northern, and their night the southern, course of the sun." One can hardly avoid the inference that the writer of this was aware of the relative motions of the sun, moon, and earth; and also of the earth's revolution about her axis. The effort at a systematic scale of time-measures is very noteworthy, the more so as later in the book (p. 206, 131 et seq.), and also entirely out of place, appears a similar, though very much longer, scale of weights based on an imaginary atomic unit, namely, "the very small mote which may be discerned in a sunbeam passing through a lattice, and is the least visible quantity" (p. 206, 132). The hereditary transmission of disease had been observed (p. 52, 7). And in Bhrigu's account of the creation there is an attempt at explaining the phenomena of sound, light, and so on. From intellect called into action by the will of Brahma emerges the subtile ether to which philosophers ascribe the quality of sound (p. 10, 75); from ether transmuted in form proceeds air, the vehicle of all scents, and endued with the quality of touch. Then from air changed rises light, making objects visible, and having the quality of figure; and from light changed comes water, with the quality of taste; and from water earth, with the quality of smell. Besides this there is a curious speculation upon a peculiar branch of physiology, which is, however, nothing better than pure guess-work (p. 57, 49).
The government of the country, and the general political administration, was in the hands of the hereditary aristocracy, i.e. the Kshatriya class. There was an absolute king of this class who reigned of divine right (p. 159, 3, and p. 160, 8), and was represented as being formed (p. 135, 96; p. 159, 4) by the ruler of the universe out of particles drawn from the eight guardian deities, and as therefore pure and surpassing all mortals in glory. "Even though a child (p. 160, 8), he must not be treated lightly, from the idea that he is a mere mortal: no; he is a powerful divinity who appears in a human shape." His highest attribute is criminal justice (p. 162, 28, and p. 191, 16), which is again in fact itself a deity. He governed by the aid of a council (p. 163, 36; p. 165, 54) of
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seven or eight sworn ministers. But (p. 163, 37; p. 166, 58) it was right that he should be influenced by the opinions of discreet. Brâhmans, and in particular he ought to take the most distinguished of them all as his confidential adviser. Manu is very earnest and specific in warning a king against the common vices of those possessed of irresponsible power, and it is somewhat startling to find hunting characterized as one of the four most pernicious vices in the set which love of pleasure occasions (p. 165, 50). The stability of the royal authority does not appear to have been great, notwithstanding the divinity of the king's person; for Manu enjoins extraordinary precautions for the purpose both of ensuring the security of the king's residence (p. 167, 69 et seq.), and of guarding him from possible violence or treachery on the part of his immediate attendants (p. 187, 217 to 223). The daily routine of the royal business is given in some detail by Manu, broken by a dissertation upon military and other matters. It may be abstracted thus:-The king rose in the last watch of the night, and after making oblations, and paying due respect to the priests, he entered his audience-hall decently splendid" (p. 177, 145). There he showed himself to the people for their gratification, and then retired with his ministers to some private place, in order to consult with them unobserved, and special care was taken that no one should be within hearing who was considered "apt to betray secret counsel." Having thus consulted with his ministers upon all the public matters demanding his attention, he next took his exercise; and then after bathing he entered at noon his private apartments for the purpose of taking food. The meal over, he diverted himself with his women in the recesses of his palace; and having thus "idled a reasonable time" he again addressed himself to public affairs. Probably, his apparel within the palace was somewhat scanty, for it is said at this point that "he dressed himself completely" and proceeded to review his troops At sunset he performed some religious duties, after which he received in a private inner apartment informers and emissaries employed by him to gather intelligence secretly. And this business being despatched, he went, "attended by women. to the inmost recess of his mansion for the sake of his evening meal. There, having a second
