( 190 ) Bk. i. 



CHAP. XL 



Of the Checks to Population in Indostan and Tibet. 



In the ordinances of Menu, the Indian legislator, 

 which Sir Wm. Jones has translated, and called 

 the Institutes of Hindu Law, marriage is very 

 greatly encouraged, and a male heir is considered 

 as an object of the first importance. 



" By a son a man obtains victory over all peo- 

 " pie; by a son's son he enjoys immortality; and 

 " afterwards by the son of that grandson he reaches 

 " the solar abode." 



" Since the son delivers his father from the hell, 

 " named Put, he was therefore called puttra, by 

 " Brahma himself."* 



Among the different nuptial rites, Menu has 

 ascribed particular qualities to each. 



" A son of a Brahmi, or wife by the first cere- 

 " mony, redeems from sin, if he perform virtuous 

 " acts, ten ancestors, ten descendants and himself, 

 " the twenty-first person." 



" A son born of a wife by the Daiva nuptials 



* Sir William Jones's Works, vol. iii. c. ix. p. 354. Speaking 

 of the Indian laws, the Abbe Raynal says, " La population est un 

 " devoir primitif, un ordre de la nature si sacre, que la loi permet 

 " de tromper, de mentir, de se parjurer pour favoriser un mariage." 

 Hist, des Indes, torn. i. 1. i. p. 81. 8vo. 10 vols. Paris, J 795. 



