I asked a native law officer, who called on me one day, what he thought would be the effect of an Act to dispense with oaths on the Koran and Ganges water, and substitute a solemn declaration made in the name of God, and under the same penal liabilities, as if the Koran or Ganges water had been in the deponent’s hand.  ’I have practised In the courts thirty years, sir,’ said he, ’and during that time I have found only three kinds of witnesses—­two of whom would, by such an Act, be left precisely where they were, while the third would be released by it from a very salutary check.’  ’And, pray, what are the three classes into which you divide the witnesses in our courts?’

’First, sir, are those who will always tell the truth, whether they are required to state what they know in the form of an oath or not.’  ‘Do you think this a large class?’

’Yes, I think it is; and I have found among them many whom nothing on earth could make to swerve from the truth; do what you please, you could never frighten or bribe them into a deliberate falsehood.  The second are those who will not hesitate to tell a lie when they have a motive for it, and are not restrained by an oath.  In taking an oath they are afraid of two things, the anger of God and the odium of men.  Only three days ago, ‘continued my friend,’ I required a power of attorney from a lady of rank, to enable me to act for her in a case pending before the court in this town.  It was given to me by her brother, and two witnesses came to declare that she had given it.  “Now,” said I, “this lady is known to live under the curtain; and you will be asked by the judge whether you saw her give this paper; what will you say?” They both replied:  “If the judge asks us the question without an oath, we will say yes—­it will save much trouble, and we know that she did give this paper, though we did not really see her give it; but if he puts the Koran into our hands we must say no, for we should otherwise be pointed at by all the town as perjured wretches—­our enemies would soon tell everybody that we had taken a false oath.”  Now,’ my friend went on, ’the form of an oath is a great check upon this sort of persons.  The third class consists of men who will tell lies whenever they have sufficient motive, whether they have the Koran or Ganges water in their hands or not.  Nothing will ever prevent their doing so; and the declaration which you propose would be just as well as any other for them.’

‘Which class do you consider the most numerous of the three?’

’I consider the second the most numerous, and wish the oath to be retained for them.’

’That is of all the men you see examined in our courts, you think the most come under the class of those who will, under the influence of strong motives, tell lies if they have not the Koran or Ganges water in their hands?’

‘Yes.’

’But do not a great many of those, whom you consider to be included among the second class, come from the village communities—­the peasantry of the country?’