The practice,
however, has been so general throughout the world that few peoples
can claim the honour of freedom from the stain of adopting it at one
time or another, Much curious information on the subject, and many
modern instances of human sacrifices in India, are collected in the
article 'Sacrifice' in Balfour, _Cyclopaedia of India_, 3rd edition,
1885. Major S. C. Macpherson, _Memorials of Service in India_ (1865),
and Frazer, _Golden Bough_, 3rd edition, Part V, vol. i (1912), pp.
236 seq., may also be consulted.
9. Bernier vividly describes an 'infernal tragedy' of this kind which
he witnessed, in or about the year 1659, during Aurangzeb's reign, in
Rajputana. On that occasion five female slaves burnt themselves with
their mistress (_Travels_, ed. Constable and V. A. Smith (1914), p.
309).
10. Hinduism is a social system, not a creed, A Hindoo may believe,
or disbelieve, what speculative doctrine he chooses, but he must not
eat, drink, or marry, save in accordance with the custom of his
caste. Compare Asoka on toleration; 'The sects of other people all
deserve reverence for one reason or another' (Rock Edict xii; V.
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