ABSTRACT
The present tottering condition of Brahminism, occasioned by the free circulation of European knowledge, is an index not to be mistaken. It shows that the fabric reared by the labours of centuries has received a blow from which it can never recover. It predicts a mighty revolution sooner or later to overturn the institutions of Menu and Vyas, and to confound the philosophy of Gautama and Kapila. The shasters legalized certain modes of marriage which would reflect as little honor on our legislators. The Gandharva union was a desecration of holy matrimony for which the female was the only sufferer. A short review, therefore, of the institutions of the country, especially as they regard the female sex, will serve as a comment upon the present state of the female society. The customs of disposing of females by very early marriages, and of shutting them up in the Zenana, have helped in a fearful manner to perpetuate their ignorance and misery.
