s) are the things we most dread, sir; and we are
glad to escape from them as soon as we can, in spite of all the evils
we are exposed to on our return to the place of our birth. It is not
the fault of the European gentlemen who preside over them, for they
are anxious to do, and have justice done, to all; but, in spite of
all their efforts, the wrong-doer often escapes, and the sufferer is
as often punished."

"The truth, sir, is seldom told in these Courts. There they think of
nothing but the number of witnesses, as if all were alike; here, sir,
we look to the quality. When a man suffers wrong, the wrong-doer is
summoned before the elders, or most respectable men of his village or
clan; and if he denies the charge and refuses redress, he is told to
bathe, put his hand upon the peepul-tree, and declare aloud his
innocence. If he refuses, he is commanded to restore what he has
taken, or make suitable reparation for the injury he has done; and if
he refuses to do this, he is punished by the odium of all, and his
life becomes miserable. A man dares not, sir, put his hand upon that
sacred tree and deny the truth--the gods sit in it and know all
things; and the offender dreads their vengeance. In your adawluts,
sir, men do not tell the truth so often as they do among their own
tribes, or village communities--they perjure themselves in all manner
of ways, without shame or dread; and there are so many men about
these Courts, who understand the 'rules and regulations,' and are so
much interested in making truth appear to be falsehood, and falsehood
truth, that no man feels sure that right will prevail in them in any
case. The guilty think they have just as good a chance of escape as
the innocent. Our relations and friends told us, that all this
confusion of right and wrong, which bewildered them, arose from the
multiplicity of the 'rules and regulations,' which threw all the
power into the hands of bad men, and left the European gentlemen
helpless!"

"But you know that the crime of murdering female infants, which
pervades the whole territory of Oude, and brings the curse of God
upon it, has been suppressed in the British territory, in spite of
these '_aens and kanoons?_'"--"True, sir, it has been put down in
your bordering districts; but the Rajpoot families who reside in them
manage to escape your vigilance, and keep up the evil practice. They
intermarry with Rajpoot families in Oude, and the female infants,
born of the daug