194 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
respectable family. At length one was found remote 
from the metropolis, at Kolapore, near Goa, and he 
married her. So little, however, was this success cal- 
culated upon, that a reason was expected and given 
for it. It appeared that this lady in her infancy had 
been afflicted with some personal debility that had 
prevented her early betrothment ; this had suddenly 
been removed about the time of Nana's predicament, 
and he was thus deemed fortunate in finding a damsel 
under such suitable circumstances." 
It may seem extraordinary to Europeans, who have 
been accustomed to hear of the extreme reluctance 
which the Hindoos feel to destroy animal life, that 
there should exist among them such savage customs 
as an intimate acquaintance with their history and 
social habits will certainly unfold ; for, although their 
moral and civil code, contained in the Institutes of 
Menu, exhibits in general a system of rigid morality, 
corporeal forbearance, and an absence of everything 
like Draconic severity, except in cases of extreme 
guilt — nevertheless, there is perhaps no country in 
the world equally civilized where so many sangui- 
nary practices prevail. This is a problem very diffi- 
cult to solve, except we admit the general solution, 
which after all is probably the right one, that every 
faculty of the mind and natural prejudice of the heart 
yields to the force of custom, which reconciles us to 
the greatest moral contrarieties. 
Infanticide, however, is not confined to Hindostan : 
it is practised among the modem Chinese, and a re- 
ference to Bryant’s Analysis of Ancient Mythology 
will show how extensively human sacrifice prevailed 
