Page:Elements of Hindu Law.djvu/21

PREPACjp XI jiotidM as the subject may suggest^ drawn principally from dtbcr M8S. in his possession ;— the chief of those exhi^it- htg statements and opinions, prevalent in Southern India, having been left by the late lamented Mr. Ellis of Madras, and recently traftsmitted to the author, by common friends of his, and of the deceased, at that Presidency. I. The general body of ceremonial and religious ob- servances, of moral duties, and of municipal law, con- stituting, in its most comprehensive sense, the Dharma Bastra of the Hindus, and derived, as will be seen in a succinct and masterly paper on the subject subjoined to this volume,(^) consists, 1 - Of their Smritis, or text-books ; each in structure, and most in doctrine, the same with that of Menu ;— attributed to authors, of whom scarcely any thing is known ; — in many instances, not even their names, the assumed ones being fictitious. These are each divided into three Candas, or sections ;— the Aekara Canda, relating to ceremonies ; the Vyavahara^ to law ; and the Prayaschit^ to expiation. With the first and last CandOLS of these works, the following one has nothing to do.-— 2. Of Glosses and Commentaries on the text-books ; — and, 3. Of Digests, comprehending either the whole system of jurisprudence, or relating only to particular titles of law. Of the latter, the Digest, translated by Mr. Colebrooke, is an instance; embracing, as it does, only eight, out of the eighteeoi acknowledged standing titles ; and referable principally, as it professes to be, to the subject of Contracts and Successions. (1) Letter A. post, p. 313. i >