und among them many whom nothing on
earth could make to swerve from the truth; do what you please, you
could never frighten or bribe them into a deliberate falsehood. 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 God and the odium of men.
Only three days ago, 'continued my friend,' 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 this 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,' my friend went on, 'the form of an oath is a great
check upon this sort of persons. The third class consists of men who
will tell lies whenever they have sufficient motive, whether they
have the Koran or Ganges water in their hands 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 class 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 class 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 class, come from the village communities--the
peasantry of the country?'

'Yes.'

'And do you not think that the greatest part of those men who tell
lies in the court, under the influence of strong motives, unless they
bear 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-fourt