VIII. 'him never mix the clothes of one person with the CHAP. 'clothes of another, nor suffer any but the owner to 6 wear them. 6 397. LET a weaver, who has received ten palas of 'cotton-thread, give them back increased to eleven by the rice-water and the like used in weaving: he, 'who does otherwise, shall pay a fine of twelve panas. 398. As men versed in cases of tolls, and acquainted with all marketable commodities, shall establish the price of saleable things, let the king take a twentieth part of the profit on sales at that price. 399. Of the trader, who, through avarice, exports Any seller or buyer, who fraudulently passes by the toll-office at night or any other improper time, ' or who makes a false enumeration of the articles bought, shall be fined eight times as much as their ' value. 401. Let the king establish rules for the sale and purchase of all marketable things, having duly con'sidered whence they come, if imported; and, if exported, whither they must be sent; how long they have been kept; what may be gained by them; and 'what has been expended on them. 402. Once in five nights, or at the close of every half month, according to the nature of the commo'dities, 202 СНАР. ، dities, let the king make a regulation for market prices in the presence of those experienced men: VIII. 6 403. Let all weights and measures be well ascer'tained by him; and once in six months let him re'examine them. 404. The toll at a ferry is one pana for an empty cart; half a pana, for a man with a load; a quarter, for a beast used in agriculture, or for a woman; ' and an eighth, for an unloaded man. 405. Waggons, filled with goods packed up, shall pay toll in proportion to their value; but for empty ' vessels and bags, and for poor men ill-apparelled, a very small toll shall be demanded. 406. For a long passage, the freight must be proportioned to places and times; but this must be 'understood of passages up and down rivers at sea there can be no settled freight. 407. A woman, who has been two months preg nant, a religious beggar, a forester in the third order, and Bráhmens, who are students in theology, shall not be obliged to pay toll for their passage. 408. Whatever shall be broken in a boat, by the 'fault of the boatmen, shall be made good by those men collectively, each paying his portion. 409. This rule, ordained for such as pass rivers in boats, relates to the culpable neglect of boat< men on the water in the case of inevitable acci'dent, there can be no damages recovered. 410. THE VIII. 410. THE king should order each man of the mer- CHAP. cantile class to practise trade, or money-lending, or agriculture and attendance on cattle; and each man of the servile class to act in the service of the twice-born. 411. Both him of the military, and him of the 'commercial class, if distressed for a livelihood, let some wealthy Bráhmen support, obliging them without harshness to discharge their several duties. 6 412. A Bráhmen, who, by his power and through avarice, shall cause twice-born men, girt with the sacrificial thread, to perform servile acts, such as washing his feet, without their consent, shall be fined by the king six hundred panas ; 413. But a man of the servile class whether bought or unbought, he may compel to perform servile duty; because such a man was created by the Self-existent for the purpose of serving Bráh mens: 414. A Súdra, though emancipated by his master, is not released from a state of servitude; for of a state, which is natural to him, by whom can he be 'divested? 415. THERE are servants of seven sorts; one made captive under a standard or in battle, one maintained in consideration of service, one born of a female slave in the house, one sold, or given, or ' inherited CHAP. inherited from ancestors, and one enslaved by way of punishment on his inability to pay a large fine. VIII. 416. Three persons, a wife, a son, and a slave, are declared by law to have in general no wealth 'exclusively their own: the wealth, which they may earn, is regularly acquired for the man, to whom they 'belong. 6 6 417. A Bráhmen may seize without hesitation, if he be distressed for a subsistence, the goods of his Súdra-slave; for, as that slave can have no property, his master may take his goods. 418. With vigilant care should the king exert him'self in compelling merchants and mechanicks to perform their respective duties; for, when such men swerve from their duty, they throw this world into 'confusion. 419. Day by day must the king, though engaged in forensick business, consider the great objects of publick measures, and inquire into the state of his carriages, elephants, horses, and cars, his constant C revenues and necessary expences, his mines of precious metals or gems, and his treasury: 420. Thus, bringing to a conclusion all these weighty affairs, and removing from his realm and from himself every taint of sin, a king reaches the supreme path of beatitude.' CHAP. CHAP. IX. On the same; and on the Commercial and Servile Classes. 6 6 1.' I NOW will propound the immemorial duties of CHAP. man and woman, who must both remain firm in the legal path, whether united or separated. 2. Day and night must women be held by their protectors in a state of dependence; but in lawful and innocent recreations, though rather addicted to them, they may be left at their own disposal. 3. Their 6 fathers protect them in childhood; 'their husbands protect them in youth; their sons protect them in age: a woman is never fit for independence. 6 4. Reprehensible is the father, who gives not his daughter in marriage at the proper time; and the husband, who approaches not his wife in due season; reprehensible also is the son, who protects not his 'mother after the death of her lord. 5. Women must, above all, be restrained from the 'smallest illicit gratification; for, not being thus restrained, they bring sorrow on both families : 6. Let husbands consider this as the supreme law ordained for all classes; and let them, how weak soever, IX. |