Theosophical University Press Online Edition

H. P. Blavatsky, editor

VOL. I., No. 9 - JUNE, 1880

Contents.

Section 1

The Grip of a Friend
Entheasm
A Mystery of Magnetism
Official Despatches from the American Government
The Revival of Mesmerism
Should We Call Ourselves Aryas?
A Modern Seer of Vision
A Land of Mystery
London Calls for Buddhist Missionaries

Section 2

Dissolved Soul
A People's Monthly
Long Life
The Drama of Raja Mana and his Wives
The Christian Art of War
The Bewitched Mirror
The Number Seven
What the West Expects
On the Jain Notion of the Creator
Improvement in Indian Agriculture
Some Things the Aryans knew
East Indian Materia Medica
A Buddhist Family or Village
Religious Life in India
The Theosophical Society

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Ceylon: Issac Weeresooriya, Deputy Coroner, Dodanduwa: John Robert de Silva, Colombo.

THE THEOSOPHIST.
BOMBAY, JUNE 1st, 1880.

THE EDITORIAL NOTICE OF THE PROPOSED VISIT OF OUR Theosophical Delegation to the Island of Ceylon, which is transferred to our columns from those of the Pioneer, will be read with pleasure and interest by every Fellow of our Society, Western and Eastern. Its tone is so kind, frank and honourable, that we are all placed under lasting obligations to the Editor It will be taken as a most encouraging fact that within a single twelvemonth the objects of our visit to India have become so apparent, despite the strenuous efforts that interested opponents have made to place us in a false position. A year ago, the Government was spending large sums to track our steps; now the case is somewhat different!

THE WOMEN WHO ARE FORMING SOCIETIES TO HELP the heathen, the negro and the Indian, might find a large field of Christian love and service unoccupied among the sorely tempted shop-girls and sewing-women here in this city. -- Golden Rule, Boston.

"Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott" -- says the Pioneer (Allahabad) of April 28th -- "the principal representatives of the Theosophical Society which has taken root at Bombay -- are about to pay a visit to Ceylon, accompanied by seven other members of the Society, with the view of organizing a new branch at the great head-quarters of Buddhism. The progress of their work in India is well worth attention, quite apart from all questions as to the relative merits of creeds. Hitherto the motives which have brought Europeans to India have been simple and easily defined. They have come to govern, to make money, or to convert the people to Christianity. Curiosity and philological study may have tempted a few stragglers, but these have come and gone and left no trace. The Theosophists, on the other hand, have come because they are filled with a loving enthusiasm for Indian religious philosophy and psychological science. They come neither to rule nor to dogmatize, but to learn. They regard the ancient civilization of India as having attained to higher truths concerning nature and the human soul than have been conquered yet by the science of the West. So far as they seek to teach or influence the native mind, they come to recall the heirs of this ancient knowledge to a sense of the dignity of their own inheritance, and this is the secret, apparently, of their great success with the natives. Human nature, to that extent, is the same in all countries, and everybody feels more kindly towards people who assure him that he is great and wise, -- if he knew it, -- than towards people who, however benevolent, tell him he is foolish and contemptible. He will more willingly exert himself in the direction of a moral improvement, which consists in the development of his own talents and faculties and the revival of his ancestral civilization, than in the direction of a wholly new scheme of ideas, the very pursuit of which is a confession of his original inferiority. We need not here consider the absolute merits of the Theosophical theory concerning the philosophical value of ancient Indian literature, but we have no hesitation in recognizing the Theosophical Society as a beneficent agency in prompting good feelings between the two races in this country, not merely on account of the ardent response it awakens from the native community, but also because of the way in which it certainly does tend to give Europeans in India a better kind of interest in the country than they had before. To find reason even to conjecture that, from the midst of what seems mere primitive superstition, one may be able to extract a knowledge of facts, calculated to throw a new light on natural sciences and on the highest mysteries of humanity, is to be put in a new relation with the people of India -- in one which conveys a large and interesting promise. So there is ground for watching the progress of the Society with a friendly eye, and we shall look forward with interest to news of its establishment in Ceylon. By
the Buddhists it will certainly be received with enthusiasm, and we hope the colony will give the travellers a European welcome also. In India -- Anglo-India as well as native India -- they have now many friends, and have lived down the idiotic fancies to which their advent first gave rise. The objects, they have in view, have no connection with politics, and their indirect influence on their native friends, so far as this may touch their behaviour as citizens, is wholly in favour of good order and loyalty to the powers that be."

By Professor Alexander Wilder, M.D., F.T.S., etc., etc.

* Corrected for the THEOSOPHIST by the author, from the advanced sheets of the Phrenological Journal.

The concept of actual communication with Divinity underlies all philosophical thought. It is the basis of religious faith. It has in all ages constituted the goal toward which the steps of every believer in a future life have been directed. The world has always had its Mystics fondly cherishing that ideal, sometimes even fondly believing that they had attained it. We may deem them visionary and mistaken, but we cannot impugn the excellence of their desire and purpose. If it is meritorious to do good, to be good, to entertain good-will toward others, certainly the highest meed belongs to whosoever aspires to achieve the Supreme Good.

Such an attainment requires the most imperative conditions. It is as essential to know as to believe. Indeed, faith is of little advantage where it is not fixed in actual truth, so that it shall possess the stability of knowledge. It requires all the moral energy of a strong nature to believe. The weak and vacillating character carries doubt for its index. It is often necessary in important undertakings, where all the strength is required to achieve the desired result, to thrust such persons aside. The vision of the Right is darkened in the atmosphere where they dwell. Any transcendent knowledge is rendered imperceptible. They not only shut out the light from themselves, but dim the sky into which others desire to peer. In this way, whether unwittingly or purposely, they do to others the greatest mischief of which they are capable.

The highest attainment, after all, is knowledge. There is really nothing which any one can afford not to know. It is a coming short of the human ideal to be ignorant in any respect. To love knowledge is to desire perfection; to despise it, is equivalent to being content with a bestial life. In all times the wise have won respect, as being the abler and better among humankind; and even when they were passed by and unhonored when living, they have been praised, revered, and obeyed in subsequent time. They are the luminaries that have from age to age preserved light to the world, and thereby rendered it capable of renovation.

It has always been the aim of every right-thinking person to extend the circuit of his mental vision, and to exalt as well as intensify his perception. The field of the sciences has been explored and mastered with profit as well as pleasure. It is a labour of achievement worthy of human endeavour. The mind is expanded in its scope and faculty, and the power to accomplish results is vastly enhanced. The inventor of a mechanical implement -- whether it be a stone hatchet, or a telephone -- and the discoverer of a new star or a new mineral, is a benefactor. He has given us more room to think in, and, with it, the opportunity.

Our earlier lesson of Origins instructed us that man was produced from the spore-dust of the earth -- protoplasm, perhaps -- and chemistry ratified the declaration. We have since been told that our corporeal substance was compacted from the same material as the stars, and animated by forces akin and identical with those which operate all-potent in the farthest-off world. Yet what matters it, if the postulate of the scientists is true, that we took our origin from molecules not unlike to those of the jellyfish and fungus! We are not bound to such conditions, but have a universe to occupy. The Delphic maxim Gnothi seauton (know yourself) is our commission of conquest. The knowledge of the ego is to know the all: and that which is known is possessed.

Charters and franchises are limited. The right of man to liberty, which we are told by high authority that no man can divest himself of, the ignorant cannot enjoy or exercise. They are free, whom the truth makes free. The very word liberty implies a boon from the book.* The liberal are the learned, the intelligent, who therefore are free. Codes and constitutions, whatever their provisions, can declare and establish no more; so necessary is it to eat of the tree of knowledge. But we may begin with our own interior selves. The germ is in us; it may not be transplanted from without. Not letters, but life chiefly educate him who beomes truly learned. We cannot create that which is not inborn; we may only evolve and enrich the natural endowment.

*Liber, a book or writing -- liber, free, whence libertas, freedom.

Pause right here, whoever cares for aught rather than for the highest. To such we are only visionary. They have neither time nor ears for us. Where delusion is the breath of one's life, to know is to die. As for Wisdom --

"To some she is the goddess great;
To some the milch cow of the field --
Their care is but to calculate
What butter she will yield." -- Schiller

In these days that which has been characterized as Modern Science, is audacious to repudiate whatever it does not canonize as "exact." Unable to cast its measuring line over the Infinite, it appears to be diligent in the endeavour to eliminate Him out of its methods. The personality of Deity, as implying an active principle in the universe, is now sometimes denied. Whatever we do, think, or wish, must be with no conception of Him in the mind. An actual communion with Him is nowhere within this modern scientific cognition or recognition.

A leading medical journal,* several years since, contained an editorial article upon this subject, which significantly expresses the view taken by physicians who alone may be esteemed to be learned and regular. "Numa, Zoroaster, Mohammed, Swendenborg," it remarks, "claimed communion with higher spirits; they were what the Greeks called entheast -- 'immersed in God' -- a striking word which Byron introduced into our tongue." W. B. Carpenter describes the condition as an automatic action of the brain. The inspired ideas, he says, arise in the mind suddenly, spontaneously, but very vividly, at some time when thinking of some other topic. Francis Galton defines geniust to be "the automatic activity of the mind as distinguished from the effort of the will -- the ideas coming by inspiration." This action, the editor remarks, is largely favored by a condition approaching mental disorder -- at least by one remote from the ordinary working-day habits of thought.

* The Medical and Surgical Reporter, 1875.

This is about the attitude which modern "exact science" has attained in its understanding of man when inspired, or in the state regarded as communion with the Deity. We fail to find any better explanation in its definitions. Whoever would know the truth of the matter must "go up higher." It is hardly acceptable reasoning that inspired ideas coming in the mind spontaneously, indicate a condition approaching mental disorder, because they seem to be remote from ordinary habits of thought. In everyday life many faculties are atrophied, because of not having been duly exercised. On the other hand, any habitual employment becomes more or less automatic, and even involuntary. What we habitually do, and often the thing, which we purpose to do, fixes itself upon us, insomuch that we perform it almost unconsciously. We awake from sleep at the hour assigned; we become suddenly conscious of a fact or idea from specific association; and do things that we are not aware of or thinking about. The man who has the habit of speaking the truth may do so automatically. Honest and upright dealing may be practised in the same way. Goodness becomes a part of the being, and is fixed in the ganglia and fibres of the brain. Faith, too, grounds itself in the constitution, and love in the corpuscles of the flowing blood. All this is normal. It is legitimate to carry the conclusions farther, and to consider whether entheasm, even though supposedly automatic, is not, nevertheless, a wholesome condition of the human mind, and the true means of receiving actual knowledge.

How, is the next inquiry, how may we know God, or define Him? A king of Sicily once asked the poet Simonodes to give him such a definition. He craved a day to consider; then two, four and eight. The impatient king finally asked why he required so much time. He answered that the more he considered the question, the more difficult he had found the solution. The finite human understanding is not equal to the endeavour to comprehend the Infinite.

In a world of unreasoning disbelief, God is regarded as a thing. Even now, in several schools of opinion, it is common to affirm that He is not a person. This seems to be equivalent to declaring Him an illusion of the fancy, a nonentity, and not in any sense whatever a thinking, intelligent Being, but simply a vagary or whimsy of the imagination. It is doubtless a notion evolved by the rebound from that unreasoning faith which requires a thing to be worshipped as God. Somewhere between these extremes is the golden wedge of truth. It is the vocation of the true student to find it. But let modesty go hand in hand with faith. A person was once discoursing volubly with a Spartan concerning the felicities of the future life. "Why" demanded the latter, "why do you not die in order to
enjoy it?" It was a pert, if not a pertinent question, and certainly conveyed a taunt that might profitably be accepted as a wholesome reproof. We may not, often we cannot, speak profoundly to those who are irreverent or who disbelieve. One may profane the truth by speaking it. In uttering to another something which is real to ourselves, we veil it in a mantle of illusion which may transform its nature, in his comprehension, to something incongruous. The impure ear will tarnish the purest speech. It is well to believe in God, but ill to say much about Him.

We may not reject utterly the methods which they employ, who stubbornly, and perhaps obtrusively, demand the reasons on which faith is based. We can hope to be truly spiritual only by being wholly rational. The true man supersedes no methods because he transcends them. His concepts are characterized by a wisdom of their own. Although in his case it may not be the product of the schools, it is capable of deriving lustre from their light. The plurality of faculties of the human mind exist for a purpose. They are to be trained and employed, but none of them may be eradicated.

Simple men long ago inferred that fire and air or spirit, in some arcane manner, constituted the entity of man. They had noticed that the dying departed with the breath, and that the warmth peculiar to the living body also disappeared. This led to the adoration of the flame as the symbol, and to the contemplation of the spirit as the source of life. Analogy pointed out the fact that as living beings derived existence from parents, man was descended from the First Father.

We are all of us conscious that the individual, as we see him with our eyes and perceive with our other physical senses, is not the actual personality. If he should fall dead in our presence, there would still be a body to look upon, as distinctly as before. But the something has gone forth, which had imported sensibility to the nerves and impulse to the muscles. It was the person, the real man, that went. The HE or SHE gives place to the it. The person had seemed to accompany his body, but has departed, leaving it behind. We witness the phenomena, but ask to learn the noumena. Here exterior, positive, "exact" science fails us. Its probe can detect no real personality, nor its microscope disclose any source or entity of being. The higher faculties must afford the solution of the problem, on which everything depends.

The witty, but somewhat irreverent, Robert Ingersoll prefixed one of his lectures with the travesty of Pope's immortal verse "An honest God is the noblest work
of man." Many are astonished, perhaps shocked, at the audacious expression. Nevertheless, it has a purport which we will do well to contemplate. If we have an actual spiritual entity exceeding the constituents of the corporeal frame, it exists from a vital principle extending from the Divine Source. A genuine, earnest faith is essential to our felicity. Do we regard Him as having "formed man in His own image" and after His likeness? Are we sure that our ideal of Him is not some extraneous personification, the product of our own character and disposition -- created in our image? Have we caught a view of our own reflection in the mirror of infinity and set that up as God?

Certainly we have no medium for the divine ray except in our own minds. If it is refracted, or even hideously distorted, this must be because that medium is clouded and pervaded with evil thoughts, motives, and propensities. The image, which will then be formed, may be the individual's highest ideal of God. But it will look to enlightened eyes more like an adversary of the good. Fear alone could persuade us to offer it worship. To speak the truth unqualifiedly, we all hate those reflected images that are so often obtruded as the highest concept of the Divine Being. Many of us would say as much if we only had the courage.

Let us bear in mind, then, that what we consider to be God is only the index to what we conceive of Him. We need not hesitate, because His actual Being transcends the power of the mind to comprehend Him. The ability to form an idea, implies that it is possible to realize it. The idea is itself the actual entity, the prophecy of its accomplishment in the world of phenomena. Such conceptions as the being of God, spiritual existence, eternity, the interior union of God with man, the eventual triumph of the Right, could never be found in the mind as dreams, if they had not somehow been there infixed from that region of Causes where real Being has its abode. We must, however, go up higher than external science reaches into the domain of Faith.

The ether which contains the Light is more tenuous and spirit-like than the air that transmits sound; but it is none the less real because of the greater difficulty to explore the secret of its existence. All, that we suppose to be known concerning it, is actually a matter of faith, rather than the "exact knowledge" of the scientist. The next lessons pertain to the higher mathematics; how, from what we know of ourselves, to find out God. We must see, if at all, with a sight not possessed by us in common with the animals; piercing beyond that which appears clear to that which is.

Our searching awakens in us the perception of the Divine One. Our wants indicate to us His character. We need wisdom that transcends our highest learning, a providence that considers all things, a power supreme above our faculty to adapt means to ends, a love ineffably pure to inspire all things for the completest good of all. Knowing that whatever we see is transitory, we are cognizant that we must have other than mortal vision to behold the Permanent. It is enough that we acknowledge Him as the fact of which we are the image; and the we devote our attention accordingly to the clarifying of the medium which receives His effluence. Let the scope and purpose of our life be devoted to becoming what we recognize to be the inherent character of the God that we need. In due time the likeness will be indeed the similitude, and not a "counterfeit presentment." We shall embody in our disposition and character the very ideal which the witty unbeliever so strangely pictured This is the meaning of the problem. A pure man will display the like image of his God.

Entheasm, therefore, is the participation of the Divine nature together with prophetic illumination and inspiration. The modern physician, scientist and psychologist, it has been noted, define the condition as "approaching mental disorder," and "remote from the ordinary working-day habits of thought." It is doubtful whether they can, from their stand-point, see the matter any more clearly. By their logic, God the Creator is only a myth, or, at most, the cause of disorder in the minds of men. We cannot wisely seek for truth at such oracles. The earlier teachers taught and builded better.

The conviction has been universal that men did communicate with the Deity and receive inspiration from Him. The Hebrew polity had its seers and prophets, schooled by Kenites and Nazarim. There were similar castes of wise men in the various countries of Arabia, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and Inner Asia. The Greeks, whose arts and poetry are even now praised and imitated, had also their sages, seers, and hierophants. The Romans, likewise, however bestial, cruel, and arrogant, nevertheless endeavoured, by means of pontiffs, augurs, and haruspices, as well as by adopting the worship and divinities of other nations, to learn whatever they could from the supernal world. All seem to have believed that the living on earth was really death, and that dying from the earth was a passing from this death to that of actual life. A gill of poison did not extinguish Socrates. The phonemena of the every-day world were regarded as the illusive cheat of the physical senses, but beyond it they contemplated the existence of a region aethereal, and not aereal, with no limits of time or space, where all was real and permanent. Thitherward they aspired in the hope that haply that might unite the potencies of that world with the scenes of the temporal universe. Was it a bootless aspiration, a beating of the air, a vagary of untutored frenzy?

Among the individuals notably regarded as entheast, were Socrates, also styled theomantis, or God-inspired; Ammonius Sakkas, the God-taught; and Baruch or Benedictus Spinosa, the God-intoxicated. Plato, Gautama-Siddharta, Apollonius and Iamblichus, were also named DIVINE. "They were called gods to whom the word of God came." It was the universal belief that men might receive superior illumination, and that a higher and more interior faculty was thereby developed.

It should not embarrass us that peculiar disorders of the body are sometimes attended by extraordinary spiritual phenomena, nor that great and unusual commotions of the mind may occasion them. No more is proved by this than by the fact, equally well established, that shocks and excitement often restore paralyzed limbs and functions. As for fasting and prolonged intense mental action, they are methods in every studious endeavour to develope a more perfect perception. They are legitimate aids to enable the mind to get beyond the impediments to clear thinking and intuition, into a higher spiritual domain. There is no morbidness or abnormality in this, but a closer approaching to the Source of real knowledge. Science owes more to such methods than scientists are aware or willing to acknowledge. It is not fair to cite them as arguments against spirituality.

The entheastic condition indicates a life that is lived beyond and above the physical senses. It is a state of illumination rather than a receiving of messages from the Divinity. Indeed, it is safe to affirm that there are no new revelations. The same word, that ordained Light to exist, never ceases to so ordain; the same spirit or mighty mind, that moved and operated upon the waters at the genesis, is potent and active to-day. The world may vary in form and aspect, but that which gives it life is always the same. Whoever will ascend above the changing scenes, will know and mirror in himself the Unchanging. This is what is meant by being involved and included in the divine aura and light.

The old Mystics used to teach that we must be passive and not active. This by no means implied physical or moral inertia, but simply receptiveness. Just as a mirror receives and infixes an image, so every divine radiation and inflowing should be retained and embeinged. The light is not given or received for the sake of having the borrowed splendor to shine with, but that it may be assimilated and incorporated into the life. The word is not mere speech, but the reason taking that form. The true speaking of a man is itself the man. Every revelation of God is God, himself coming to man. Every such one expressing God in his life and act is the word of God made flesh.

Thus we perceive that entheasm is the participation of the divine nature, spirit, and power. It is the end for which mankind have existed on the earth, the culmination of the divine purpose.

By D. S. Socolis, F. T. S.

Permit me to report a case which has lately come under my observation, and which appears to me to be remarkable enough to warrant its consideration by Indian Magnetists. I trust, that some, under whose eyes the facts may come, will favour your readers with a satisfactory explanation of the same. It is a curious instance of the effects of magnetism, exercised in some occult way upon a woman sensitive to such influences.

The woman I speak of was about thirty years old, hysterical and subject to convulsions; she had besides (according to the doctors) paralysis of the feet and could not walk. She had consulted all the physicians of Corfu without benefit, and after four years' illness, driven by despair, as is usually the case, she begged one of our friends to magnetise her; but, before continuing my recital, I must say that the said woman had once visited a monastery in a neighbouring village, and that the Father Superior of the monastery had produced on her a strange impression. The first time she was magnetised, she saw him in a dream and thought he told her that he would be her protector, that to him she owed her lucid somnambulism, and that he would cure her.

During her somnambulence she prescribed for herself many remedies which never failed to relieve her, and every time she was magnetised she saw her so-called protector. After four or six months of magnetism, being almost cured, her protector ordered her to try certain baths, for which purpose she was to take a voyage that would last eighteen months, and at the end of that time to be back again. All this she did exactly, and the protector kept his promise that during her journey he would appear to her whenever he should consider it necessary. I will relate two instances only. During her stay at Naples, she was attacked by a sudden swelling, which frightened her so much that she called in one of the best doctors in the place, who told her that she must remain at Naples that he might observe the case, and that her departure might give rise to dangerous consequences. But the same night she saw her protector, who told her to leave the next day, and promised that, while travelling by rail, the swelling would all disappear. This really happened. She started, and, after twenty-four hours, the swelling no longer existed.

Again, being at Paris, she was told that, in spite of all the precautions she could take, her clothes would catch fire; and, on the seventh day, sitting near the fire, this really happened to her, and, if it had not been for the servant girl, she might have been burned to death. An important point is that, thanks to magnetism alone, she is now perfectly cured, but her protector tells her that she must still remain four years under his care, and that she must continue to obey him. It is a strange incident in the history of magnetism, and I hope that, with your usual kindness, you will explain in it what I do not yet understand.

A FRIEND AT TRICUHINOPOLY TELLS THE FOLLOWING story: "A female relative of mine in a village, named Mosoor, near Madras, is in the habit of vomiting actual stones occasionally. It is said a magician has commanded a devil to possess her in this extraordinary, and, of course, very difficult way. Physicians cannot prescribe any remedy for this, and here is what you will certainly admit to be a marvellous example of the Hindu occultism, of which I have been an eye-witness."

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THERE IS A PLEASURE IN CONTEMPLATING GOOD; there is a greater pleasure in receiving good; but the greatest pleasure of all is in doing good, which comprehends the rest.

The undersigned asks the attention of the class of persons indicated in the subjoined communications, to the requests for cooperation made on behalf of the United States Government. The documents mentioned by Colonel Mallery have come safely to hand, and will be forwarded to any gentlemen who may be willing to aid the Bureau of Ethnology in its attempt to define the gesture-speech of mankind. In this connection, the reader cannot avoid calling to mind the inestimable benefit which resulted, a few years ago, from the voluntary assistance rendered by shipmasters to the United States Naval Observatory, in observing the ocean currents and prevailing winds in different parts of the globe. Maury's Charts were the precious result. In the hope of largely increasing the number of observers, I have written to Colonel Mallery to send me duplicates of the illustrative wood-cuts which illustrate his circular, with the view of publishing them in this journal.

The "Official Gazette" of the United States Patent Office is the most valuable publication of the kind issued by any Government. I will be happy to receive the applications of any publishers or societies that may be desirous of accepting the Librarian's offer for an exchange of publications.

HENRY S. OLCOTT.
Girgaum, Bombay, May 1880.

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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY,
Washington, D. C., Feb. 28, 1880.

COL. H. S. OLCOTT,
U. S. Commissioner,
c/o American Consul,
Bombay, India.

MY DEAR SIR,

I have the honor to mail to you herewith ten copies of the preliminary paper on Sign Language referred to in my letter of November 18, 1879, as in preparation for distribution to persons in various parts of the world, who may be expected to take interest and give assistance by contributions to the final work. You will confer a favor upon this Bureau and myself by distributing the copies according to your judgment, as I well know that you have both the acquaintance and the personal influence which may be relied upon to secure attention, in the most useful quarters, to my undertaking.

I also mail fifty sheets of "Outlines of Arm," and five of "Types of Hand Positions" so that if any of the persons, receiving the pamphlet, are ready to contribute, they can do so without the delay of application to me.

I remain, very sincerely yours,

GARRICK MALLERY,
Bos. Lt.-Col., U. S. A.

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LIBRARY OF THE UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,
Washington, D. C., Feb. 27, 1880.

COL. HENRY S. OLCOTT, Bombay.

DEAR SIR,

At the request of the Department of State, I send you copies of the Patent publications of this office, viz: --
1. A volume of the "Official Gazette:" some copies of numbers of the same.
2. A volume showing the weekly issue of Patents and Specimens of the form in which they are issued.

I hope these may be of use to you in showing the work of this Government in the matter of Patents as related to commerce and manufactures. I would also add that, if you desire other copies, we shall be glad to supply them, and only regret that the haste, in which these are sent, prevents our giving the best styles of art in the specimens now sent.

In your labors for the interests of commerce, may I ask, in behalf of this Library, that you will, if convenient, suggest to those you meet the desire of this office to procure all publications in the East, that refer to the arts or manufactures in any way. We especially desire to procure the transactions of learned societies, periodicals and other works, published in India and the East, and in exchange shall be glad to send the "Official Gazette" (weekly) to such as will favor us with their publications. I would especially call your attention to the branches of the Royal Asiatic Society at Bombay and Calcutta, sets of whose publications would be very useful to us. I should like also to secure an exchange with the Calcutta Review. I mention these as specimens, but would say that any publication in the East will be most welcome, and in your troubles, if you can suggest the desire expressed herein, you will confer a great favor which will be duly appreciated.

Very respectfully,

WESTON FLINT,
Librarian.

It is a fortunate thing that the Baron du Potet has survived to lead the new movement for the study of Magnetic Science, that has begun. The dignity of his venerable age, his high personal character, his learning, his devotion to science, and especially his own marvellous magnetic power and experience in psychological matters, mark him as the fittest of all men for the post of leader. A vigorous constitution has tided him over a long series of vital crises, such as would have killed ordinary mortals. During the sixty years that have elapsed since the time when, a young man, he crushed the scepticism of the French Academicians by his experiments at the Hotel-Dieu, what changes has he not seen! What revelations have there not come to him of the cowardice, treachery, falsity and narrow-mindedness of the so-called scientific world! Sixty years of comparative isolation spent in search of honest men who were ready to be convinced by proofs. More than half a century during which this devoted student of Psychology has been exploring the labyrinths of nature and human nature with the lamp of Hermes and the wand of the Indian adept. His long day began with a hard-earned triumph, and though constantly overclouded by the hostility of the ignorant and the sceptical, it now seems likely to close with the bright promise of a better era for his favourite science.

Not within thirty years has there been such attention paid to magnetism as now. The Spiritualists and Spiritists have hitherto quite neglected it for the more sensational phenomena of their "circles"; and such scant attention, as science would have otherwise grudgingly given it, has also been absorbed by the mediumistic marvels. But, like all novelties, phenomenalistic spiritualism has apparently lost its first momentum. A variety of causes, among them the Theosophical movement, have combined to force Magnetic Science again upon the public notice. Thoughtful Spiritualists have at last discovered that mediumship can never be understood without the aid of Mesmerism. Yet a little while and we will see the somnambule properly valued, and the magneto-therapeutist accorded his due place among our medical benefactors. Yet a little longer, and the sublime utterances of Aryan seers and the philosophic expositions of Aryan sages, will be eagerly read by a West that is already tired of its blind guides in theology and science. The West waits for the mystery of life to be disclosed to it. Who will help along this consummation? Who is ready to unite with sympathetic minds, the world over, irrespective of race or creed, and give the Science of Magnetism the attentive study its transcendent merits deserve? Our Society has begun the work in Asia and will see that it does not flag.

The magnetists of Paris, under the lead of du Potet, are organizing societies, publishing journals, opening free dispensaries, giving public lectures with experiments by scientific magnetists, and educating a corps of female practitioners to relieve patients of their own sex. It is plainly seen, on reading the Chaine Magnetique, the able organ of the Parisian magnetists, that the mystical science of Paracelsus and Mesmer is fully revived. At Vienna, the Court Academy and public are alike staggered by the mesmeric cures and experiments of a Danish physician, named Hansen. At St. Petersburgh, some of the most eminent savants, moved by the late Pavisian successes of our colleague, the Hon. Alexandre Aksakof -- already described in this magazine -- are investigating magnetism and spiritualism. Leipzig is now one of the world's great centres of psychological interest, Zollner, Fichte and other philosophers and scientists of the first rank having made most important discoveries in psychic force. The wave has reached America, and our neighbouring colony of Australia responds with enthusiasm. Thus, on every side breaks a splendid morning in whose full light we may see perfected a science whose beginnings are found in the remotest antiquity -- the noblest, most absorbing that mankind ever studied.

For Asiatics this magnetic revival has a paramount interest. Every advance, made by Western Science in this direction, brings out more clearly the grandeur of Indian philosophy. We have said this before, but will not rest until the fact is fully recognized. It cannot be denied that modern magnetism makes it easy to understand ancient Yoga Vidya. When one sees how the psychic self manifests its separate activities while the physical body is plunged in the deepest insensibility, Patanjahli's Aphorisims acquire a meaning which might otherwise escape us. When the magnetist can by passes of his hand release the somnambule's "soul" from the bodily prison, and send it wandering wheresoever he wills, the Siddhis of Krishna are seen to be realities and not mere fanciful imaginings. Knowing that the clairvoyant's sight discovers the most hidden things, his inner ear hears the most distant sounds, and neither space nor time exist for him any longer, how dull an observer must he be who fails to understand that the Yogi's powers, as described in the Tantric Shastras, the Dnyaneshwari and the Shrimat Bhagavata, must be attainable. Extasis is but a modern name for the old Samadhi, the sensitive's double, nothing but the Indian Kama-rupa and Mayava-rupa. And, if the magnetists of our age can point to their multitudenous cures of disease by the laying-on of their hands, the self-same results are also recorded in every one of the older Asiatic works treating of psychological science. So runs the world's experience in cycles after cycles, ever starting from a fixed point and always returning to it again. As matter and spirit oppose and balance each other, so material science and spiritual philosophy are ever in conflict, but still effecting an equilibrium. Materialism has had its day; the time has now come for its opposite to show its power. The gate of the secret shrine is about to be opened and the magnetist has the key at his girdle.

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IN LEMAISTRE'S TRAVELS WE READ THAT OVER THE GATE of a church of La Chartreuse, near Milan, is the following inscription: "Marie Virgini, matri, filie, sponse Dei," which in English is, "To the Virgin Mary, the Mother, the Daughter, the Wife of God." This adds another to "the mysteries of Godliness," for, according to this, Jesus was his own father and the son of his own daughter.

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JAMES COLE, OF NEW JERSEY, LEFT $50,000 to the cause of the heathen, in his will, and his own sister, living a mile away, was sick and suffering for a nurse. James has gone where coal is not needed, and yet they'll take him in. -- Banner of Light.

By A. Mittra.

Little less than a quarter of a century ago, the thought first occurred to me that the proper designation of the people, who believed in the Vedic religion, was not Hindu but Arya, the former name having been first applied to them by the Mahomedans. I am behind now in my reverence, sentimental at least, for that noble race the Ancient Aryas, and the term Arya is certainly associated with all that is great and glorious in human character. Nevertheless, truth requires it to be stated that your correspondent goes rather too far when he says that the term Hindu is a name of contumely and disgrace. Far from being so, it is derived, or rather corrupted in pronunciation, from a genuine Sanskrit word -- Sindhu, which was the name of the people who inhabited the country bordering on the Indus, also called in Sanskrit Sindhu.* Foreign invaders from the North -- crossing the Sindhu and finding the people whom they first met, called Sindhus -- applied to the name to the people of the whole Peninsula. Thus Hind, India and Hindu are still derived from the Sanskrit Sindhu,** the first two terms coming to designate the country and the last, the people, on this side of Sindhu or Indus. It is, indeed, gratifying to think that the name of our great ancestors -- Arya -- which, but a few years ago, was not even renown to the great majority of our countrymen including those educated in English schools, has now come to be so generally respected by them. And this, it must be frankly confessed, is due to the exertions of Pandit Dayanand Saraswati. It is, however, not only pedantic but simply ludicrous to apply, as some do, the term Arya instead of Hindi, to the vernacular of the North Western Provinces, in contradistinction to Sanskrit. It betrays an ignorance or careless disregard, least pardonable in an Arya who pretends to any familiarity with Sanskrit literature, of the fact that the language which, at a comparatively later period, was styled Sanskrit (polished), was the native tongue of the Aryas alone and that if Arya, is to stand for the distinctive name of a language, it must be the name of the Sanskrit only. To call the Hindi language Arya and the vernaculars, for instance, of Bengal, Maharashtra, Guzrat -- Bengali, Maharashtri and Guzratee and the ancient Indian language Sanskrit, is ignorantly, though unintententionally, to insinuate that the ancient Indians were not Aryas. I would also take this opportunity of pointing out the mistake, which has been now too often repeated, of supposing Aryavarta to be the name of the whole peninsula; whilst it is the name of only Hindustan Proper or India between the Himalaya and Vindya mountains. I may add that the word Ind is not, as your correspondent supposes, derived from Inda; Sindh, Hind, and Ind being, as I have already said, all modifications of Sindhu, as pronounced by different races.

* True, the term Hindu is sometimes used in a bad sense by Persian writers, but the Sanskrit word Deva, denoting divinity itself, is employed by old Persian writers in the form of Deo to denote invariably a demon. No Mahammadan should ever think of relinquishing the title Musalman, simply because the term is sometimes used by Hindus in an impure sense. No doubt, Arya is a better and more appropriate term than Hindu, which, though certainly of Sanskrit origin, is after all a corruption, and was applied first to Indians by the Mahammadans.

** The letters s and h, according to a well-known philological law, are interchangable, as in the words semi and hemi.

With reference to the proposal of our resuming at once the title of Arya, I must say -- first deserve, then desire. The first step, says your correspondent, towards the gradual restoration of India to her ancient greatness, would be to assume the title. To me it seems, it ought to be the last step. How few are there among us, whose knowledge of Sanskrit enables them even to hold a communion with our noble ancestors. We, a considerable number of us, have formed ourselves into Arya Samajas to discuss questions of old Indian religion and philosophy. But have we, as yet, earnestly set ourselves to the study of the Aryan language in which they are embodied? Your correspondent admits that until recently the names of Veda and Arya were scarcely known to thousands of our ignorant countrymen. He adds that it was "Pandit Dayanand, the Luther of India, who made these names echo and re-echo all over India." It is very good that you have been taught to be fond of these names. But is it a mere sentimental or a real, active fondness? Are you, my Arya brethren, especially those of the Arya Samaja, are you labouring to acquire a knowledge of the Sanskrit, to be enabled to judge, for yourselves, the merits of the energetic productions of your Indian Luther and compare them with the abler commentaries? Can you honestly claim the right of passing, just now, any judgment whatever on Pandit Dayanand's work and awarding him any title whatever? Are you content with being blindly led by his teachings -- favouring, perhaps, as they do, the Semitic notions of deity and worship* you have imbibed from English books, -- and with satisfying your vanity by the empty title of Arya? I hope not. Then do drink at the very fountain of ancient wisdom and let your breast be inspired, purified and elevated with genuine sentiments, lofty, indeed, as they are, of Aryan philosophy and religion. Resolve solemnly to devote at least a couple of hours daily to the study of Sanskrit. Unite and strive for the general diffusion of Sanskrit learning. Let Aryan words and Aryan thoughts be far more familiar to your tongue and heart than English is at present. Appeal to the liberality of the princes and chiefs of India, awaken them to a sense of their duty to their dear native land, for it is they that can really help the cause of Aryan learning. It is for them to establish Sanskrit schools and colleges in all the principal cities of India, besides those under their own administration to found scholarships and fellowships for the encouragement and support of scholars and learned men. Is it not the chief object of our literary ambition, at present to be able to compose an article in good English and to deliver an eloquent speech in the same language? And can we, who have not even a smattering of the Aryan tongue, honestly claim the denomination of Arya? Is it not a painful, a shameful necessity that compels me, at the present moment, to advocate the cause of Aryan learning in a foreign tongue? Should not the Sanskrit rather than the English be the universal medium of communication in the Aryan land? I am here reminded of the Vedic injunction (let us not utter a non-aryan, let us not utter a corrupt word), and the statement of Mahabharata "The Aryas by their speech never act the Mlechcha." But how can the study of Sanskrit be widely and deeply diffused throughout India? Who would devote himself to the study of Sanskrit for the sake of starvation? The knowledge of English alone leads to posts of emoluments -- nay, it is necessary for natives, in order even that they may live. I have already hinted that the ancient learning of the land must depend, for its revival, upon the patriotic liberality of those who yet represent the more or less ancient ruling powers of India. Our enlightened Government has already granted a munificent fund for the preservation of Sanskrit manuscripts, and it can hardly be expected (though we may naturally hope for it) to lend stronger and more effectual aid to the cause of Sanskrit instruction than it is already giving. Some time ago, I heard from Colonel Olcott that the Theosophists were going to address, in the vernacular, the princes and chiefs of India on the subject. Should this noble band, that is inspired with so ardent a love for our country, succeed in awakening them from the sleep of ignorance and apathy in this all-important matter, India shall ever remain beholden to the Theosophical Society and shall have every reason to look upon its establishment as providential and God-send. The charity of Indian chiefs is perhaps more bountiful than that of the nobles of other lands. Hundreds are daily fed, though alas! without much discrimination, in alms-houses (anna-sattras) established by their munificence. If they be but impressed with the sacred character -- the most sacred under the teachings of the Dharmasastras -- of gifts organized and perpetuated for the encouragement and maintenance of learned men; if it be but shown to them that their religion itself rests upon sacred learning and teaching and that the class of scholars and Pandits -- the real representatives of the old Aryas -- whose chief business is to receive and bestow Sanskrit instruction, is daily dying away from want of livelihood, they are sure to turn their liberality in this direction also.

* I cannot resist the temptation of quoting here the beautiful contrast drawn in "Isis Unveiled," I. 152, between Aryan and Semitic worship, noting however, at the same time most distinctly that the Deity, in the Aryan creed, is never conceived, as limited to Nature, but as sustaining It. God, it must never be forgotten, is the Being beyond Nature and manifested in Nature, or more correctly, in which Nature is manifested.

"Christians call this adoration of Nature in her most concealed verities -- Pantheism. But, if the latter, which worships and reveals to us God in Space in His only objective form, that of visible nature -- perpetually reminds humanity of Him who created it, and a religion of theological dogmatism only serves to conceal Him the more from our sight, which is the better adapted to the needs of mankind?"

I cannot help adding that the cultivation of Sanskrit alone will not be sufficient for the restoration of Indian greatness at a time when the study of natural science has created a new power in civilized Europe and America. Though the Theosophists very justly deprecate -- and we heartily sympathise with them -- the materialistic tendency of Modern Science, they cannot deny that the present national superiority of Europe and America to India is due to no other cause. Until (if at all) Psychology or Spiritualism secures to man in general powers by which he could defy those derived from the physical source, India must study external nature also. The sons of Bharata, therefore, must combine a knowledge of Sanskrit and of English, but no useless waste of time should be made, as at present, for the study of the latter, beyond what is necessary for the acquisition of the sciences. Ample encouragement should be held out for the translation of valuable scientific works into Sanskrit and then, as more easily practicable, into the different vernaculars. All this is, of course, a work of time, and cannot be at once accomplished. When we consider that Greek and Latin are both studied in European Universities, it cannot be fairly contended that the Indian youth would find it almost impossible to learn both Sanskrit and English, difficult as they are. It is to be remembered that Sanskrit is more intimately connected with our vernaculars than Greek and Latin are with the modern languages of Europe.

In conclusion, I would remark that the appellation Veda-vadi, or, still better, Brahma-vadi -- the word Brahma denoting not only the Veda, but the Eternal and Infinite Spirit underlying nature, -- may be used to indicate our creed as the term Arya may be employed in more particular reference to our nationality.

Mr. Ambrose March Phillipps-de-Lisle, of Gavendon Park and Grace-Dieu Manor, an English gentleman of ancient lineage and a fine estate, who has died early in 1878, has left behind him a most startling story of his spiritual experience. He became a Catholic while very young, in obedience to a "heavenly vision" like that which was witnessed by M. de Ratisbonne in the Church of St. Andrea della Valle, at Rome. While wandering over the hills and woods of his Leicestershire estates, he saw a light in the heavens and heard a voice cry "Mahomet is Anti-Christ!" which led to his writing a work on Mahomedanism. In France, lying ill of a fever, he was instantly cured by an invocation of the blessed Virgin; and, while singing the midnight mass last Christmas in his private chapel at Gavendon, he heard an unearthly voice saying: "Wouldst thou not rather chant in heaven than on earth?" -- to which he replied that he would, and was that day seized with the illness of which he died. These things are all affirmed of himself by a man of unquestioned veracity, rare accomplishments, high social position, and of remarkable ability in managing his ordinary affairs as a landowner and a magistrate.

[Continued from the April Number.]

By H. P. B.

The ruins of Central America are no less imposing. Massively built, with walls of a great thickness, they are usually marked by broad stairways, leading to the principal entrance. When composed of several stories, each successive story is usually smaller than that below it, giving the structure the appearance of a pyramid of several stages. The front walls, either made of stone or stuccoed, are covered with elaborately carved, symbolical figures; and the interior divided into corridors and dark chambers, with arched ceilings, the roofs supported by overlapping courses of stones, "constituting a pointed arch, corresponding in type with the earliest monuments of the old world." Within several chambers at Palenque, tablets, covered with sculptures and hieroglyphics of fine design and artistic execution, were discovered by Stephens. In Honduras, at Copan, a whole city -- temples, houses and grand monoliths intricately carved -- was unearthed in an old forest by Catherwood and Stephens. The sculpture and general style of Copan are unique, and no such style or even anything approaching it has been found anywhere else, except at Quirigua, and in the islands of Lake Nicaragua. No one can decipher the weird hieroglyphical inscriptions on the altars and monoliths. With the exception of a few works of uncut stone, "to Copan, we may safely assign an antiquity higher than to any of the other monuments of Central America with which we are acquainted," says the New American Cyclopaedia. At the period of the Spanish conquest, Copan was already a forgotten ruin, concerning which existed only the vaguest traditions.

No less extraordinary are the remains of the different epochs in Peru. The ruins of the temple of the Sun at Cuzco are yet imposing, notwithstanding that the deprecating hand of the Vandal Spaniard passed heavily over it. If we may believe the narratives of the conquerors themselves, they found it, on their arrival, a kind of a fairy-tale castle. With its enormous circular stone wall completely encompassing the principal temple, chapels and buildings, it is situated in the very heart of the city, and even its remains justly provoke the admiration of the traveller. "Aqueducts opened within the sacred inclosure; and within it were gardens, and walks among shrubs and flowers of gold and silver, made in imitation of the productions of nature. It was attended by 4,000 priests." "The ground", says La Vega, "for 200 paces around the temple, was considered holy, and no one was allowed to pass within this boundary but with naked feet." Besides this great temple, there were 300 other inferior temples at Cuzco. Next to the latter in beauty, was the celebrated temple of Pachacamac. Still another great temple of the Sun is mentioned by Humboldt; and, "at the base of the hill of Cannar was formerly a famous shrine of the Sun, consisting of the universal symbol of that luminary, formed by nature upon the face of a great rock." Roman tells us "that the temples of Peru were built upon high grounds or the top of the hills, and were surrounded by three and four circular embankments of earth, one within the other. "Other remains seen by myself -- especially mounds -- are surrounded by two, three, and four circles of stones. Near the town of Cayambe, on the very spot on which Ulloa saw and described an ancient Peruvian temple" perfectly circular in form, and open at the top," there are several such cromlechs. Quoting from an article in the Madras Times of 1876, Mr. J. H. Rivett-Carnac gives, in his Archaeological Notes, the following information upon some curious mounds in the neighbourhood of Bangalore: --* "Near the village there are at least one hundred cromlechs plainly to be seen. These cromlechs are surrounded by circles of stones, some of them with concentric circles three and four deep. One very remarkable in appearance has four circles of large stones around it, and is called by the natives 'Pandavara Gudi' or the temples of the Pandas. . . . This is supposed to be the first instance, where the natives popularly imagine a structure of this kind to have been the temple of a by-gone, if not of a mythical, race. Many of these structures have a triple circle, some a double, and a few single circles of stone round them." In the 35th degree of latitude, the Arizone Indians in North America have their rude altars to this day, surrounded by precisely such circles, and their sacred spring, discovered by Major Alfred R. Calhoun, F. G. S., of the United States Army Survey Commission, is surrounded with the same symbolical wall of stones, as is found in Stonehenge and elsewhere.

* On Ancient Sculpturing on Rocks in Kumaon, India, similar to those found on monoliths and rocks in Europe. By J. H. Rivett-Carnac, Bengal Civil Service, C.I.E., F.S.A: M.R.A.S., F.G.S.,&c.

By far the most interesting and full account we have read for a long time upon the Peruvian antiquities is that from the pen of Mr. Heath of Kansas, already mentioned. Condensing the general picture of these remains into the limited space of a few pages in a periodical [* See Kansas City Review of Science and Industry, November 1878], he yet manages to present a masterly and vivid picture of the wealth of these remains. More than one speculator has grown rich in a few days through his desecrations of the "huacas." The remains of countless generations of unknown races, who had slept there undisturbed -- who knows for how many ages -- are now left by the sacrilegious treasure-hunter to crumble into dust under the tropical sun. Mr. Heath's conclusions, more startling, perchance, than his discoveries, are worthy of being recorded. We will repeat in brief his descriptions:--

"In the Jeguatepegue valley in Peru in 70 degrees 24 minutes S. Latitude, four miles north of the port of Pacasmayo is the Jeguatepegue river. Near it, beside the southern shore, is an elevated platform 'one fourth of a mile square and forty feet high, all of adobes' or sun-burnt bricks. A wall of fifty feet in width connects it with another;' 150 feet high, 200 feet across the top, and 500 at the base, nearly square. This latter was built in sections of rooms, ten feet square at the base, six feet at the top and about eight feet high. All of this same class of mounds -- temples to worship the sun, or fortresses, as they may be -- have on the northerly side an incline for an entrance. Treasure-seekers have cut into this one about half-way, and it is said 150,000 dollars' worth of gold and silver ornaments were found." Here many thousands of men were buried and beside the skeletons were found in abundance ornaments of gold, silver, copper, coral beads, &c. "On the north side of the river, are the extensive ruins of a walled city, two miles wide by six long. . . Follow the river to the mountains. All along you pass ruin after ruin and huaca after huaca," (burial places). At Tolon there is another ruined city. Five miles further, up the river, "there is an isolated boulder of granite, four and six feet in its diameters, covered with hieroglyphics; fourteen miles further, a point of mountain at the junction of two ravines is covered to a height of more than fifty feet with the same class of hieroglyphics -- birds, fishes, snakes, cats, monkeys, men, sun, moon, and many odd and now unintelligible forms. The rock, on which these are cut, is a silicated sandstone, and many of the lines are an eighth of an inch deep. In one large stone there are three holes, twenty to thirty inches deep, six inches in diameter at the orifice and two at the apex. . . At Anchi, on the Rimac river, upon the face of a perpendicular wall 200 feet, above the river-bed, there are two hieroglyphics, representing an imperfect B and a perfect D. In. a crevice below them, near the river, were found buried 25,000 dollars' worth of gold and silver; when the Incas learned of the murder of their chief, what did they do with the gold they were bringing for his random? Rumour says they buried it. . . . May not these markings at Yonan tell something, since they are on the road and near to the Incal city?"

The above was published in November, 1878, when in October 1877, in my work "Isis Unveiled" (Vol. I. p. 595), I gave a legend, which, for circumstances too long to explain, I hold to be perfectly trustworthy, relating to these same buried treasures for the Inca's ransom, a journal more satirical than polite classed it with the tales of Baron Munchausen. The secret was revealed to me by a Peruvian. At Arica, going from Lima, there stands an enormous rock, which tradition points to as the tomb of the Incas. As the last rays of the setting sun strike the face of the rock, one can see curious hieroglyphics inscribed upon it. These characters form one of the land-marks that show how to get at the immense treasures buried in subterranean corridors. The, details are given in "Isis," and I will not repeat them. Strong, corroborative evidence is now found in more than one recent scientific work; and the statement may be less pooh-poohed now than it was then. Some miles beyond Yonan, on a ridge of a mountain 700 feet above the river, are the walls of another city. Six and twelve miles further are extensive walls and terraces; seventy-eight miles from the coast, "you zigzag up the mountain side 7,000 feet, then descend 2,000" to arrive at Coxamolca, the city where, unto this day, stands the house in which Atahualpa, the unfortunate Inca, was held prisoner by the treacherous Pizzaro. It is the house which the Inca "promised to fill with gold as high as he could reach, in exchange for his liberty" in 1532; he did fill it with 17,500,000 dollars' worth of gold, and so kept his promise. But Pizzaro, the ancient swineherd of Spain and the worthy acolyte of the priest Hernando de Lugues, murdered him, notwithstanding his pledge of honor. Three miles from this town, "there is a wall of unknown make. Cemented, the cement is harder than stone itself. . . . . . . . . . . At Chepen, there is a mountain with a wall twenty feet high, the summit being almost entirely artificial. Fifty miles south of Pacaomayo, between the seaport of Huanchaco and Truxillo, are the ruins of Chan-Chan, the capital city of the Chimoa kingdom. . . . . . . . . . The road from the port to the city crosses these ruins, entering by a causeway about four feet from the ground, and leading from one great mass of ruins to another; beneath this is a tunnel. "Be they forts, castles, palaces or burial mounds called "huacas," all bear the name "huaca." Hours of wandering on horseback among these ruins give only a confused idea of them, nor can any explorers there point out what were palaces and what were not . . . The highest enclosures must have cost an immense amount of labour.

To give an idea of the wealth found in the country by the Spaniards, we copy the following, taken from, the records of the municipality in the city of Truxillo by Mr. Heath. It is a copy of the accounts that are found in the book of Fifths of the Treasury in the years 1577 and 1578, of the treasures found in the "Huaca of Toledo" by one man alone.

First. -- In Truxillo, Peru, on the 22nd of July 1577, Don Gracia Gutierrez de Foledo presented himself at the royal treasury, to give into the royal chest a-fifth. He brought a bar of gold 19 carats ley and weighing 2,400 Spanish dollars, of which the fifth being 708 dollars, together with 1-1/2 per cent. to the chief assayer, were deposited in the royal box.

Secondly. -- On the 12th of December, he presented himself with five bars of gold, 15 and 19 carats ley, weighing 8,918 dollars.

Thirdly. -- On the 7th of January 1578, he came with his fifth of large bars and plates of gold, one hundred and fifteen in number, 15 to 20 carats ley, weighing 153,280 dollars.

Fourthly. -- On the 8th of March, he brought sixteen bars of gold, 14 to 21 carats ley, weighing 21,118 dollars.

Fifthly. -- On the fifth of April, he brought different ornaments of gold, being little belts of gold and patterns of corn-heads and other things, of 14 carats ley, weighing 6,272 dollars.

Sixthly. -- On the 20h of April, he brought three small bars of gold, 20 carats ley, weighing 4,170 dollars.

Seventhly. -- On the 12th of July, he came with forty-seven bars, 14 to 21 carats ley, weighing 77,312 dollars.

Eighthly. -- On the same day he came back with another portion of gold and ornaments of corn-heads and pieces of effigies of animals, weighing 4,704 dollars.

"The sum of these eight bringings amounted to 278,174 gold dollars or Spanish ounces. Multiplied by sixteen gives 4,450,784 silver dollars. Deducting the royal fifth -- 985,953.75 dollars -- left 3,464,830.25 dollars as Toledo's portion! Even after this great haul, effigies of different animals of gold were found from time to time. Mantles, also adorned with square pieces of gold, as well as robes made with feathers of diverse colours, were dug up. There is a tradition that in the huaca of Toledo there were two treasures, known as the great and little fish. The smaller only has been found. Between Huacho and Supe, the latter being 120 miles north of Callao, near a point called Atahuangri, there are two enormous mounds, resembling the Campana and San Miguel, of the Huatic Valley, soon to be described. About five miles from Patavilca (south, and near Supe) is a place called "Paramonga" or the fortress. The ruins of a fortress of great extent are here visible, the walls are of tempered clay, about six feet thick. The principal building stood on an eminence, but the walls were continued to the foot of it, like regular circumvallations; the ascent winding round the hill like a labyrinth, having many angles which probably served as outworks to defend the place. In this neighbourhood, much treasure has been excavated, all of which must have been concealed by the pre-historic Indian, as we have no evidence of the Incas ever having occupied this part of Peru after they had subdued it."

Not far from Ancan, on a circuit of six to eight miles, "on every side you see skulls, legs, arms and whole skeletons lying about in the sand . . . At Parmayo, fourteen miles further down north," and on the sea-shore, is another great burying-ground. Thousands of skeletons lie about, thrown out by the treasure-seekers. It has more than half a mile of cutting through it. . . It extends up the face of the hill from the sea-shore to the height of about 800 feet. . . Whence come these hundreds and thousands of peoples, who are buried at Ancon? Time and time again the archaeologist finds himself face to face with such questions, to which he can only shrug his shoulders and say with the natives -- "Quien Sabe?" -- who knows?

Dr. Hutchinson writes, under date of Oct. 30, 1872, in the South Pacific "Times": -- "I am come to the conclusion that Chancay is a great city of the dead, or has been an immense ossuary of Peru; for go where you will, on a mountain top or level plain, or by the sea-side, you meet at every turn skulls and bones of all descriptions."

In the Huatica Valley, which is an extensive ruin, there are seventeen mounds, called "huncas", although, remarks the writer, "they present more the form of fortresses, or castles than burying-ground." A triple wall surrounded the city. These walls are often three yards in thickness and from fifteen to twenty feet high. To the east of these is the enormous mound called Huaca of Pando . . . and the great ruins of fortresses, which natives entitle Huaca of the Bell. La compana, the Huacas of Pando, consisting of a series of large and small mounds, and extending over a stretch of ground incalculable without being measured, form a colossal accumulation. The mound "Bell" is 110 feet high. Towards Callao, there is a square plateau (278 yards long and 96 across) having on the top eight gradations of declivity, each from one to two yards lower than its neighbour, and making a total in length and breadth of about 278 yards, according to the calculation of J. B. Steere, of Michigan, Professor of Natural History.

The square plateau first mentioned at the base consists of two divisions . . . each measuring a perfect square 47 to 48 yards; the two joining, form the square of 96 yards. Besides this, is another square of 47 to 48 yards. On the top returning again, we find the same symmetry of measurement in the multiples of twelve, nearly all the ruins in this valley being the same, which is a fact for the curious. Was it by accident or design? . . . The mound is a truncated pyramidal form, and is calculated to contain a mass of 1,46,41,820 cubic feet of material. . . The "Fortress" is a huge structure, 80 feet high and 150 yards in measurement. Great large square rooms show their outlines on the top but are filled with earth. Who brought this earth here, and with what object was the filling-up accomplished? The work of obliterating all space in these rooms with loose earth must have been almost as great as the construction of the building itself . . . Two miles south, we find another similar structure, more spacious and with a greater number of apartments. . .It is nearly 170 yards in length, and 168 in breadth, and 93 feet high. The whole of these ruins . . . were enclosed by high walls of adobes -- large mud bricks some from 1 to 2 yards in thickness, length and breadth. The "huaca" of the "Bell" containes about 20,220,840 cubic feet of material, while that of " San Migonel" has 25,650,800. These two buildings with their terraces, parapets and bastions, with a large number of rooms and squares -- are now filled up with earth

Near "Mira Flores," is Ocheran -- the largest mound in the Huatica valley. It has 95 feet of elevation and a width of 55 yards on the summit, and a total length of 428 yards, or 1,284 feet, another multiple of twelve. It is enclosed by a double wall, 816 yards in length by 700 across, thus enclosing 117 acres. Between Ocharas and the ocean are from 15 to 20 masses of ruins like those already described.

The Inca temple of the Sun, like the temple of Cholula on the plains of Mexico, is a sort of vast terraced pyramid of earth. It is from 200 to 300 feet high, and forms a semi lunar shape that is beyond half a mile in extent. Its top measures about 10 acres square. Many of the walls are washed over with red paint, and are as fresh and bright as when centuries ago it was first put on . . .In the Canete valley, opposite the Chincha Guano Islands, are extensive ruins, described by Squier. From the hill called "Hill of Gold", copper and silver pins were taken like those used by ladies to pin their shawls; also tweezers for pulling out the hair of the eyebrows, eyelids and whiskers, as well as silver cups.

"The coast of Peru," says Mr. Heath, "extends from Tumbey to the river Loa, a distance of 1,233 miles. Scattered over this whole extent, there are thousands of ruins besides those just mentioned while nearly every hill and spire of the mountains have upon them or about them some relic of the past; and in every ravine, from the coast to the central plateau, there are ruins of walls, cities, fortresses, burial-vaults, and miles and miles of terraces and water-courses. Across the plateau and down the eastern slope of the Andes to the home of the wild Indian, and into the unknown impenetrable forest, still you find them. In the mountains, however, where showers of rain and snow with the terrific thunder and lightning are nearly constant, a number of months each year, the ruins are different. Of granite, porphyritic lime and silicated sand-stone, these massive, colossal, cyclopean structures have resisted the disintegration of time, geological transformations, earthquakes, and the sacrilegious, destructive hand of the warrior and treasure-seeker. The masonry composing these walls, temples, houses, towers, fortresses, or sepulchres, is uncemented, held in place by the incline of the walls from the perpendicular, and adaptation of each stone to the place destined for it, the stones having from six to many sides, each dressed, and smoothed to fit another or others with such exactness that the blade of a small penknife cannot be inserted in any of the seams thus formed, whether in the central parts entirely hidden, or on the internal or external surfaces. These stones, selected with no reference to uniformity in shape or size, vary from one-half cubic foot to 1,500 cubic feet solid contents, and if, in the many, many millions of stones you could find one that would fit in the place of another, it would be purely accidental. In 'Triumph Street,' in the city of Cuzco, in a part of the wall of the ancient house of the Virgins of the Sun, is a very large stone, known as 'the stone of the twelve corners,' since it is joined with those that surround it, by twelve faces, each having a different angle. Besides these twelve faces it has its internal one, and no one knows how many it has on its back that is hidden in the masonry. In the wall in the centre of the Cuzco fortress there are stories 13 feet high, 15 feet long, and 8 feet thick, and all have been quarried miles away. Near this city there is an oblong smooth boulder 18 feet in its longer axis, and 12 feet in its lesser. On one side, are large niches cut out, in which a man can stand and by swaying his body, cause the stone to rock. These niches apparently were made solely for this purpose. One of the most wonderful and extensive of these works in stone is that called Ollantay-Tambo, a ruin situated 30 miles north of Cuzco, in a narrow ravine on the bank of the river Urubamba. It consists of a fortress constructed on the top of a sloping craggy eminence. Extending from it to the plain below, is a stony stairway. At the top of the stairway are six large slabs, 12 feet high, 5 feet wide, and 3 feet thick, side by side, having between them and on top narrow strips of stone about 6 inches wide, frames as it were to the slabs, and all being of dressed stone. At the bottom of the hill, part of which was made by hand, and at the foot of the stairs, a stone wall 10 feet wide and 12 feet high extends some distace into the plain. In it are many niches, all facing the south."

The ruins in the Islands in Lake Titicaca, where Incal history begins, have often been descried.

At Tiahoanaco, a few miles south of the lake, there are stones in the form of columns, partly dressed, placed in line at certain distances from each other, and having an elevation above the ground of from 18 to 20 feet. In this same line there is a monolithic doorway, now broken, 10 feet high by 13 wide. The space cut out for the door is 7 feet 4 inches high by 3 feet 2 inches wide. The whole face of the stone above the door is engraved. Another similar, but smaller, lies on the ground beside it. These stones are of hard prophyry, and differ geologically from the surrounding rock; hence we infer they must have been brought from elsewhere.

At "Chavin de Huanta," a town in the province of Huari, there are some ruins worthy of note. The entrance to them is by an alley-way, 6 feet wide and 9 feet high, roofed over with sand-stone partly dressed, of more than 12 feet in length. On each side there are rooms 12 feet wide, roofed over by large pieces of sand-stones, 11/2 feet thick and from 6 to 9 feet wide. The walls of the rooms are 6 feet thick, and have some loopholes in them, probably for ventilation. In the floor of this passage there is a very narrow entrance to a subterranean passage that passes beneath the river to the other side. From this many huacas, stone drinking-vessels, instruments of copper and silver, and a skeleton of an Indian sitting, were taken. The greater part of these ruins were, situated over aqueducts. The bridge to these castles is made of three stones of dressed granite, 24 feet long, 2 feet wide by 11/2 thick. Some of the granite stones are covered with hieroglyphics.

At Corralones, 94 miles from Arequipa, there are hieroglyphics engraved on masses of granite, which appear as if painted with chalk. There are figures of men, llamas, circles, parallelograms, letters as an R and an 0, and even remains of a system of astronomy.

At Huaytar, in the province of Castro Virreina, there is an edifice with the same engravings.

At Nazca, in the province of Ica, there are some wonderful ruins of aqueducts, four to five feet high and 3 feet wide, very straight, double-walled, of unfinished stone, flagged on top.

At Quelop, not far from Chochapayas, there have lately been examined some extensive works. A wall of dressed stone, 560 feet wide, 3,660 long, and 150 feet high. The lower part is solid. Another wall above this has 600 feet length, 500 width, and the same elevation of 150 feet. There are niches over both walls, three feet long, one-and-a-half wide and thick, containing the remains of those ancient inhabitants, some naked, others enveloped in shawls of cotton of distinct colours and well embroidered . . . . . . . .

Following the entrances of the second and highest wall, there are other sepulchres like small ovens, six feet high and twenty-four in circumference; in their base are flags, upon which some cadavers reposed. On the north side there is on the perpendicular rocky side of the mountain, a brick wall, having small windows, 600 feet from the bottom. No reason for this, nor means of approach, can now be found. The skilful construction of utensils of gold and silver that were found here, the ingenuity and solidity of this gigantic work of dressed stone, make it also probably of pre-Incal date. . . Estimating five hundred ravines in the 1,200 miles of Peru, and ten miles of terraces of fifty tiers to each ravine which would only be five miles of twenty-five tiers to each side, we have 250,000 miles of stone wall, averaging three to four feet -- high enough to encircle this globe ten times. Surprising as these estimates may seem, I am fully convinced that an actual measurement would more than double them, for these ravines vary from 30 to 100 miles in length. While at San Mateo, a town in the valley of the River Rimac, where the mountains rise to a height of 1,500 or 2,000 feet above the river bed, I counted two hundred tiers, none of which were less than four and many more than six miles long.

"Who then," very pertinently enquires Mr. Heath, "were these people, cutting through sixty miles of granite; transplanting blocks of hard porphyry, of Baalbic dimensions, miles from the place where quarried, across valleys thousands of feet deep, over mountains, along plains, leaving no trace of how or where they carried them; people (said to be) ignorant of the use of word with the feeble llama their only beast of burden; who after having brought these stones fitted them into stones with Mosaic precision; terracing thousands of miles of mountain side; building hills of adobes and earth, and huge cities; leaving works in clay, stone, copper, silver, gold, and embroidery, many of which cannot be duplicated at the present age; people apparently vying with Dives in riches, Hercules in strength and energy, and the ant and bee in industry?"

Callao was submerged in 1746, and entirely destroyed. Lima was ruined in 1678; in 1746 only 20 houses out of 3,000 were left standing, while the ancient cities in the Huatica and Lurin valleys still remain in a comparatively good state of preservation. San Mignel de Puiro, founded by Pizzaro in 1531, was entirely destroyed in 1853, while the old ruins near by suffered little. Areguipo was thrown down in August, 1868, but the ruins near show no change. In engineering, at least, the present may learn from the past. We hope to show that it may in most things else.

The following interesting letter from a philanthropist of London, addressed to a Hindu Buddhist, has been handed to us for publication. The sort of practical Christianity, they have in the commercial metropolis of the world, is herein graphically depicted. The letter should be framed and hung on the wall of every mission house, school. and chapel throughout "Heathendom." A religion, that cannot save its professors from becoming drunkards and criminals, is a poor sort of religion, it would seem.

London, March 26, 1877.

Sir, -- I write with a faint hope that this letter may reach you, not knowing your private address.

I have just seen in one of our newspapers a short statement that you had delivered an address in August last, to the citizens of * * * *, on your visit to Tasmania, that you spoke of the intemperate habits of the people as well as of their immoralities, and that you made a proposition to send Buddhist teachers to the Christians to convert them to a virtuous life.

As I read these few lines, I was deeply moved by feelings of wonder, admiration and gratitude to you and your fellow-citizens for their truly good intention; and, though I am only an humble person, I trust you will not think my earnest expression unworthy your acceptance.

I have read a little of your Vedas, and have admired their excellent precepts, and the purity of thoughts in them. I believe the Great Father of all has had many sons who came to teach us His Will, among whom were Buddh and Jesus; but our priests have always spoken evil of them, and so our people are prejudiced, because they are ignorant of their divine teachings.

In my country the forms of religion are greatly respected, and its numerous clergy are all well paid. Instead of preaching the duty of righteousness or holiness of life, they are always preaching doctrines which are useless, having no influence on morals or manners. Here is one of them -- Jesus died as a sacrifice to God for the sins of man -- and no matter how bad a man you have been, if you only believe this, God will take you to Heaven when you die. This doctrine is all an invention of man's fancy, and quite contrary to the teachings of Jesus, and may truly be considers irrational, anti-Christian, and impious; yet they are always impressing it on the public mind and so draw off attention from practical truth.

The vice of drunkenness is truly awful here and the utter indifference to its sinfulness is still worse. Every rank and class of people, from the highest nobility to the lowest paupers, have drunkards in their families. Our judges tell us that nine-tenths of the criminal cases, brought before them, are directly the result of using intoxicating drinks. Every day our newspapers are full of reports of murders, robberies, and all kinds of wickedness; yet so accustomed are we to all this that no notice is taken. If the drinkshops of London were placed in a line, they would extend seventy-two miles, or the distance a soldier on a forced march would make in 24 hours.

Forty years ago, some good men of the working classes formed a society to reform this national vice; the clergy would not assist them -- for they were all spirit drinkers -- the religious people would not join them, as they were led by the clergy (priests). But these good men persevered, and at last have succeeded in drawing public attention to the subject, and efforts are being made to have proper laws made on the subject; but one-fourth of our legislature has an interest in the drinking habits, to make money from them.

My brother, I ask you and your good people to come and help us in London! Send us a few pious-minded, clever, prudent men, to teach us the precepts of Buddh, and call on the Christians to renounce their evil practices and become a good people instead of being a drunken people. Here you will find friends to aid you in every way.

I have several reasons for asking you to come here, not desiring that you should turn away from any other place where you may have thought your assistance needed.

First, -- London is the great commercial centre of many nations, and her influence extends over almost all countries in the world. As the heart sends its life-blood to every portion of the body, so the mind of London, to a great degree, sends its influence, good or bad, to all the extremes of the Earth; and if you, good Buddhists, for love of humanity, come here to teach us, bad Christians, how to live righteously, it would shame our Christian priests into action. The newspapers would report your speeches and criticise your teachings, and you would find numbers to sustain you.
Secondly, -- You would, in a great measure, break down the prejudice against your religion. We are all prejudiced, because we do not know its goodness.
Thirdly, -- Your influence as foreign missionaries would be powerful, coming from "the land of darkness and blind idolatry" as India is falsely called for our priests are full of the foolish presumption that we alone have God's truth, and that all your sacred books are mere inventions! You would break down this idea and create respect for the Hindus. I do not think you would get many believers in Buddh; but if you level your artillery against drinking alcohol, and tell the people to avoid it as they would a consuming fire, then you would do much good. Our holy books are full of lessons to shun evil and do good.

Should you entertain this proposition of visiting London to endeavour to convert us to improved habits of life, and the avoidance of evil people, evil actions, and evil thoughts, and encourage us to purity of mind, you would inflict a tremendous blow on our hypocritical priests and our deluded nation. The force of the blow would lie in this -- that you, Hindus, to whom we send missionaries to teach you Christianity, return the compliment by sending us missionaries to teach us that it is wrong in God's sight to drink alcohol, which is the devil's instrument to curse England with and her colonies.

In London there are about one million of people who never worship any God; and fully two millions who are led by the clergy any way. We are four millions.

Come then, good Buddhists, help us to reform our wicked habits, teach us the duty and advantage of leading a righteous life, and our God will bless your labors, and reward you hereafter. We need your help. Coming openly as Buddhists, you would astonish all England, you would command public attention, and win for yourselves, for your country, and for your beautiful religion the respect of every good man.

Contents

Section 2