his notes, and the task of exposing me, to Mr. Innes, who made a sad mess of the business. I regret exceedingly that Sir Charles Turner did not himself take me in hand. Had he done so, the public might have hoped to get an interesting and scholarly monograph on an important but neglected subject.

THE normal state of the Family in South India would seem to be one of indebtedness. Whether we look at a body of kinsmen living in clover upon the rents and profits of an ancient Zamindari, or at a Brahman Household enjoying in dignified seclusion the income derived from a hundred acres of rent-free land on the bank of an important river, or at a Family of well-to-do farmers holding some twenty or thirty acres of lightly assessed land in a flourishing village, or at a set of shopkeepers in a town, or at a company of half-starved fishermen in a hovel on the sea-shore, wherever we look, we shall in all probability find that the Managing Member has been, from the day on which he began to manage, and is, in a habit of borrowing money at interest from time to time, generally in very small, often in considerable, sums, from a professional or amateur money-lender. What with taxes, what with marriages, funerals, and numberless

religious ceremonies, and what with the daily expenditure on feeding and clothing a number of relatives and dependants, to say nothing of purchasing jewels and luxuries, the ordinary Head of a Family, however energetic and prudent, must often find it difficult, even in the best of seasons, to meet the numerous demands that are made on his purse. And, when bad seasons come, as come they will, his difficulties must increase enormously. Or, sickness may overtake him, and he may become unable for awhile to pay due attention to money matters. Numerous causes combine in South India to render continuous borrowing almost a necessity. And, so inveterate is the habit of borrowing, amongst all classes, that it is by no means uncommon for prosperous Families to owe large sums of money for common necessaries of life, at the very time that they are lending out still larger sums to others. And, as everybody borrows, so almost everybody lends, at interest. So much so, that it would hardly be an exaggeration to say that the majority of men of substance are by turns, or simultaneously, both borrowers on a large scale, and lenders on a large scale.

As we have seen above, the practical part of the Gentoo Code begins with the curious proposition that men are permitted to lend money, but not to women, children, or servants; and Narada deals with the recovery of a debt almost at the beginning of the part on judicature, instead of in its proper place, in the part on laws. There are other indications, in abundance, that in India from the earliest times (to

use the words of Professor Jolly) 'redress for nonpayment has been pre-eminent among the motives for going to law.' And at the present day, in the Districts with which I am acquainted, suits for money lent form the great bulk of all litigation.

In many of these suits relatives of the debtor intervene at various stages, either on their own account or at the debtor's instigation and various questions arise, touching the power of the debtor to oblige himself and other persons, and as to the liability of pledged things, and things not pledged, to be sold in satisfaction of debts found to be due. In others, trouble begins when the judgment creditor attempts to get his decree executed. Others, again, lead to the institution of fresh suits by aggrieved strangers.

Of all the questions that are raised in altercations between creditors and debtors, the commonest, and at the same time the most important, are those which depend, for their resolution, on the view that may be taken by the courts of the constitution of the Family, and of the jural relations inter se subsisting between the several members thereof. And, in any given case, the decision will depend partly on the idiosyncrasy of the presiding judge, partly on the amount of knowledge that he may happen to possess, at the time of deciding, of what has been said and done by the Madras High Court in more or less similar cases.

It is, therefore, of utmost consequence that upcountry judges, sitting in isolated stations, with no libraries to consult, and no learned lawyers to turn to for assistance, should be able to find at once in the