Part 4 (1/2)

”The second are those who will not hesitate to tell a lie when they have a motive for it, and are not restrained by an oath. In taking an oath, they are afraid of two things, the anger of G.o.d and the odium of men.

”Only three days ago,” he continued, ”I required a power of attorney from a lady of rank, to enable me to act for her in a case pending before the court in this town. It was given to me by her brother, and two witnesses came to declare that she had given it. 'Now,' said I, 'this lady is known to live under the curtain, and you will be asked by the judge whether you saw her give this paper: what will you say?'

They both replied: 'If the judge asks us the question without an oath, we will say ”_Yes_;” it will save much trouble, and we know that she _did_ give the paper, though we did not really _see_ her give it; but if he puts the Koran into our hands, we must say ”_No_,” for we should otherwise be pointed at by all the town as perjured wretches--our enemies would soon tell everybody that we had taken a false oath.'

”Now,” the native lawyer went on, ”the form of an oath is a great check on this sort of persons.

”The third cla.s.s consists of men who will tell lies whenever they have a sufficient motive, whether they have the Koran or Ganges-water in their hand or not. Nothing will ever prevent their doing so; and the declaration which you propose would be just as well as any other for them.”

”Which cla.s.s do you consider the most numerous of the three?”

”I consider the second the most numerous, and wish the oath to be retained for them.”

”That is, of all the men you see examined in our courts, you think the most come under the cla.s.s of those who will, under the influence of strong motives, tell lies, if they have not the Koran or Ganges-water in their hands?”

”Yes.”

”But do not a great many of those whom you consider to be included among the second cla.s.s come from the village-communities--the peasantry of the country?”

”Yes.”

”And do you not think that the greatest part of those men who will tell lies in the court, under the influence of strong motives, unless they have the Koran or Ganges-water in their hands, would refuse to tell lies, if questioned before the people of their villages, among the circle in which they live?”

”Of course I do; three-fourths of those who do not scruple to lie in the courts, would be ashamed to lie before their neighbors, or the elders of their village.”

”You think that the people of the village-communities are more ashamed to tell lies before their neighbors than the people of towns?”

”Much more--there is no comparison.”

”And the people of towns and cities bear in India but a small proportion to the people of the village-communities?”

”I should think a very small proportion indeed.”

”Then you think that in the ma.s.s of the population of India, _out of our courts_, the first cla.s.s, or those who speak truth, whether they have the Koran or Ganges-water in their hands or not, would be found more numerous than the other two?”

”Certainly I do; if they were always to be questioned before their neighbors or elders, so that they could feel that their neighbors and elders could know what they say.”

It was from a simple sense of justice that I felt bound to quote this testimony of Colonel Sleeman as to the truthful character of the natives of India, when _left to themselves_. My interest lies altogether with the people of India, _when left to themselves_, and historically I should like to draw a line after the year one thousand after Christ. When you read the atrocities committed by the Mohammedan conquerors of India from that time to the time when England stepped in and, whatever may be said by her envious critics, made, at all events, the broad principles of our common humanity respected once more in India, the wonder, to my mind, is how any nation could have survived such an _Inferno_ without being turned into devils themselves.

Now, it is quite true that during the two thousand years which precede the time of Mahmud of Gazni, India has had but few foreign visitors, and few foreign critics; still it is surely extremely strange that whenever, either in Greek, or in Chinese, or in Persian, or in Arab writings, we meet with any attempts at describing the distinguis.h.i.+ng features in the national character of the Indians, regard for truth and justice should always be mentioned first.

_Ktesias_, the famous Greek physician of Artaxerxes Mnemon (present at the battle of Cunaxa, 404 B.C.), the first Greek writer who tells us anything about the character of the Indians, such as he heard it described at the Persian court, has a special chapter ”On the Justice of the Indians.”[39]

_Megasthenes_,[40] the amba.s.sador of Seleucus Nicator at the court of Sandrocottus in Palibothra (Pa_t_aliputra, the modern Patna), states that thefts were extremely rare, and that they honored truth and virtue.[41]

_Arrian_ (in the second century, the pupil of Epictetus), when speaking of the public overseers or superintendents in India, says:[42] ”They oversee what goes on in the country or towns, and report everything to the king, where the people have a king, and to the magistrates, where the people are self-governed, and it is against use and wont for these to give in a false report; _but indeed no Indian is accused of lying_.”[43]

The Chinese, who come next in order of time, bear the same, I believe, unanimous testimony in favor of the honesty and veracity of the Hindus. [The earliest witness is Su-we, a relative of Fan-chen, King of Siam, who between 222 and 227 A.D. sailed round the whole of India, till he reached the mouth of the Indus, and then explored the country.

After his return to Sinto, he received four Yueh-chi horses, sent by a king of India as a present to the King of Siam and his amba.s.sador. At the time when these horses arrived in Siam (it took them four years to travel there), there was staying at the court of Siam an amba.s.sador of the Emperor of China, Khang-thai, and this is the account which he received of the kingdom of India: ”It is a kingdom in which the religion of Buddha flourishes. The inhabitants are straightforward and honest, and the soil is very fertile. The king is called Meu-lun, and his capital is surrounded by walls,” etc. This was in about 231 A.D.

In 605 we hear again of the Emperor Yang-ti sending an amba.s.sador, Fei-tu, to India, and this is what among other things he points out as peculiar to the Hindus: ”They believe in solemn oaths.”][44] Let me quote Hiouen-thsang, the most famous of the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims, who visited India in the seventh century.[45] ”Though the Indians,” he writes, ”are of a light temperament, they are distinguished by the straightforwardness and honesty of their character. With regard to riches, they never take anything unjustly; with regard to justice, they make even excessive concessions....

Straightforwardness is the distinguis.h.i.+ng feature of their administration.”