idea，theplaceonceoccupiedbythesanctityofhumanlife，and
’sittingdharna，’whentheEnglishlawfirstendeavouredto
suppressit，wasunderstoodtobeaspecialmodeofoppression
practisedbyBrahminsforaconsiderationinmoneyThisisthe
viewtakenofitbytheIndianPenalCode，whichcondemnsitin
thefollowingtermss。508：——
’Whoevervoluntarilycauses……anypersontodoanything
whichthatpersonisnotlegallyboundtodo……byinducing……
thatpersontobelievethathe……willbecomebysomeactofthe
offenderanobjectofDivinedispleasure，ifhedoesnotdothe
thingwhichitistheobjectoftheoffendertocausehimto
do……shallbepunishedwithimprisonment，&c。’
Itseemstomethatareasonableexplanationmaybegivenof
theoriginofthesepracticeswhichnowseemsostrange。Letus
notforgetthatallformsofDistress，theseizureofwife，
child，orcattle，evenwhenwhollyunregulatedbylaw，were
improvementsonoldercustom。Theprimitiveproceedingwas
undoubtedlytheunceremonious，unannounced，attackofthetribe
orthemanstungbyinjuryonthetribeorthemanwhohad
inflictedit。Anyexpedientbywhichsuddenplunderorslaughter
wasadjournedorpreventedwasanadvantageeventobarbarous
society。Thus，itwasagaintomankindasawholewhenits
priestsandleadersbegantoencouragetheseizureofpropertyor
family，notforthepurposeofpermanentappropriation，butwith
aviewtowhatweshouldnownothesitatetocallextortion。
Similarly，itwasastepforwardswhenmenlearnedtopause
beforeattackinginsteadofattackingatonce。Wearetold，in
theCompendiumofKafirLawsandCustomspublishedbyMrDugmore
andothermissionariesp。38，thattheregularprocedureofa
Kafirlaw-suitsimulatesanexpeditioninforceoftheplaintiff
andhisfriendsagainstthevillagetowhichthedefendant
belongs。’Ontheirarrivaltheysitdowntogetherinsome
conspicuouspositionandawaitquietlytheresultoftheir
presence。This……isthesignalformusteringalltheadultmale
residentsthatareforthcoming。Theseaccordinglyassembleand
alsositdownwithinconversingdistance。’Afterlongsilencea
conversationensues，andtheproceeding，whichisaperfectly
peaceableone，iscontinuedbyalongseriesoftechnical
formalitiesandintricatepleadings。Thissilentpauseofthe
attackingpartyisanearlyformofNotice，initselfoneofthe
mostvaluableofinstitutions；andwithitisconnectedanother
primitivecontrivance，shuttingamanupinhishousetillhe
givessatisfaction，insteadofsettingonhimatonce。Avery
strikingillustrationofitisfoundinalawofAlfred，familiar
tohistoricalscholarsKemble，’Saxons，’i。272；Thorpe，
’AncientLaws，’i。91：——
’Letthemanwhoknowshisfoetobehomesittingfightnot
beforehehavedemandedjusticeofhim。Ifhehavepowertobeset
hisfoeandbesiegehiminhishouse，lethimkeephimtherefor
sevendaysbutnotattackhimifhewillremainindoors。Ifthen，
aftersevendays，hebewillingtosurrenderandgiveuphis
weapons，lethimbekeptsafeforthirtydays，andletnoticebe
giventohiskinsmenandfriends。Butiftheplaintiffhavenot
powerofhisown，lethimridetotheEaldorman，and，ifthe
Ealdormanwillnotaidhim，lethimridetotheKingbeforehe
fights。’Thepassageendswithaprovisionofwhichthespirit，
strangetosay，survivesinthemodernCodemakingtheloudest
claimtocivilisedprinciple，theCodeNapol閛nCodeP閚al，s。
324，totheeffectthatifthemanwhoishomesittingbereally
shutupinhishousewiththecomplainant’swife，daughter，or
sister，hemaybeattackedandkilledwithoutceremony。
TheobjectoftheLawofAlfredisplainlythesamewiththat
aimedatbytheancientruleofBrihaspiti。Themanwho，if
naturehadherway，wouldbeslainatonce，isshutupinhis
housebutleftotherwiseunharmedtillheorhiskinsmenpaythe
debtorcompoundforthemoney。TheEnglishruleistobe
enforcedbythecivilpower，theEaldormanortheKing；the
HindooBrahminicalrulebythefearofpunishmentinanother
world。TheIrishlaw-tractretainstheBrahminicalruleasan
alternativeincertaincasestoNotice。Butaninstitutionwhich
wasperfectlyintelligibleinasocietywhichincludedanorder
oflawyerswhowerealsopriestshaslostallmeaningwhenthis
societyhasbeenintroducedbyChristianitytoawhollynewset
ofreligiousideas。
Thecourseofourenquiryhasledusbackwardsandforwards
betweentheextremeEasterlyandtheextremeWesterlybranchesof
theAryanrace。LetmenowaddonewordtoconnecttheEastern
usagewiththemostancientlawofthecommunitywhichonce
occupiedwithitsgovernmentnearlythewholespacebetweenthe
two。’Sittingdharna，’placedunderthebanofBritishlaw，
chieflysurvivesinBritishindiainanexaggeratedairof
sufferingwornbythecreditorwhocomestoaskadebtorof
higherrankforpayment，andwhoistoldtowait。Butitisstill
commonintheNativeIndianStates，andthereitispre-eminently
anexpedientresortedtobysoldierstoobtainarrearsofpay。
Youwillrememberthatthe’pignoriscapio’oftheRomansis
statedbyGaiustohavesurvivedasaremedyintwoclassesof
cases，oneofthembeingthedefaultofamilitarypaymaster。
TheEarlyHistoryoftheSettledPropertyofMarriedWomen
ThesubjectonwhichIamabouttospeakmayperhapsconvey
onelesson。Itmayserveasacautionagainstthelaxemployment
ofthewords’ancient’and’modern，’Therearefewpersons，I
suppose，who，approachingtheSettledPropertyofMarriedWomen
withoutpreviousknowledgeofitshistory，wouldnotpronounceit
oneofthemostmodernofsubjects。Ithasgivenrisetovehement
controversyinourownday；someofthequestionswhichit
suggestsarenotyetsolved；andtherearemanyhere，Idaresay，
whobelievethattheyrememberthefirstdawnofsoundideason
thesequestions。Yet，asamatteroffact，thediscussionofthe
settledpropertyofmarriedwomenisaveryolddiscussion。Ido
notindeedsay，consideringthevastantiquitynowclaimedfor
thehumanrace，thatourveryfirstforefatherstroubled
themselvesaboutthematter；butnothingcanbemorecertainthan
thatverysoonafterthosedivisionsofmankindwhichwere
destinedtoultimategreatnessareseeninpossessionofthe
institutionwhichwastheoneconditionoftheirprogressto
civilisation——theFamily——theyarediscernedgrapplingwith
theverysameproblem，nodoubtinanearlyform，whichwe
ourselveshavehardlyyetsucceededinsolving。Thisassertion，I
mayobserve，islessincredibletoaFrenchman，orindeedtoa
citizenofanyContinentalState，thanitispossiblytoan
Englishman。ThelawoftheContinentontheproprietaryrelations
ofhusbandandwifeisinthemainRomanlaw，veryslightly
transmuted；andthroughtheinstitutionsoftheRomansthe
historyofthisbranchoflawmaybetracedtotheearliest
institutionsofsomuchofthehumanraceashasprovedcapable
ofcivilisation。
TheRomanandHindoosystemsoflawfromwhichIproposeto
illustratemysubjectareveryfarindeedfrombeingtheonly
sourcesfromwhichinformationcanbegatheredconcerningthe
infancyofmankind，orevenconcerningtheAryanraceofmen。But
theevidencesuppliedbyeachofthemishighlyauthentic，and，
whilebothofthemrunbacktowhatmayfairlybecalledavast
antiquity，theybothassumeattheirstarting-pointtheexistence
oftheinstitution，bynomeansapparentlyuniversalamongsavage
men，outofwhich，asIsaid，allcivilisationhasgrown——the
Family。Ineedscarcelyaddthat，evenforhistoricalpurposes，
theirvalueisveryunequal。
Thereisnohistorysolong，socontinuous，andsoauthentic
asthatoftheRomanLaw；andyetitisnotalittleremarkable
thattillabouthalfacenturyagoitwassystematicallytreated，
exceptbyasmallminorityofjurists，asifithadnohistoryat
all。Thiswasaconsequenceofitsgreatjuridicalperfection。
Letmepausetoobservethat，consideringthetimeandpains
spentinacquiringtheLatinlanguage，itismuchtoberegretted
thatsolittleisknownofthechiefbranchofLatinliterature。
Foritisreallysoexpressed，andsoputtogether，astodeserve
thenameofliterature。Moreover，itwastheonlyliteratureof
theRomanswhichhasanyclaimtooriginality；itwastheonly
partoftheirliteratureinwhichtheRomansthemselvestookany
stronginterest；anditistheonepartwhichhasprofoundly
influencedmodernthought。Oneresult，however，ofitssymmetry
andluciditywasthatitwaslongregardedasabirthofpure
intellect，produced，sotospeak，atasingleeffort。Thosewho
attemptedtoconstructahistoryforitwerefew，andnotofthe
highestcredit。Butithappenedthatin1816，thegreatGerman
historian，Niebuhr，travellinginItaly，hadhisattention
attractedatVeronatoamanuscriptofoneoftheFathers，under
thelettersofwhichancientwritingappeared。Thismanuscript，
whendeciphered，provedtobeanearlyperfectcopyofan
educationalwork，writteninthesecondcenturyofourera，for
youngRomanstudentsoflaw，byoneofthemostfamousofRoman
lawyers，GaiusorCaius。AtthatperiodRomanjurisprudence
retainedenoughofthetracesofitsmostancientstateforitto
benecessarythattheyshouldbeexplainedtoyoungreadersby
theauthorofsuchatreatise；anditthusbecamepossibleto
reconstruct，fromthebookofGaius，thewholepasthistoryof
RomanlawwithsomecompletenessCertainly，withoutNiebuhr’s
discoverythesubjectofthislecturecouldneverhavebeen
understood，oritsoriginaloutlinerestored。
Hindoolaw，whichIhaveplacedbythesideofRomanlaw，
callsassuredlyfornoeulogy。Itisfullofmonstrous
iniquities，andhasbeenpervertedinalldirectionsbypriestly
influence。Butthenagreatdealofitisundoubtedlyof
prodigiousantiquity，and，whatismoreimportant，wecansee
thisancientlawinoperationbeforeoureyes。British
legislationhascorrectedsomeofitsexcesses，butits
principlesareuntouched，andarestilllefttoproducesomeof
theirresults。Frenchlaw，asIsaid，isRomanlawalittle
altered，butthenitistheRomanlawinitsmatured，developed，
andrefinedcondition，andtheancientinstitutionsoftheRomans
areonlyseenthroughitdimly。Butsomeoftheinstitutions
whichtheRomansandHindoosoncehadincommonmaybeseen
actuallyflourishinginIndia，undertheprotectionofEnglish
CourtsofJustice。