a self-surrender and a desire for knowledge that you may serve humanity. Your difficulties in life will come through the influence of woman. You should follow your intuitions, as they are your best and surest guide. Have a nature which allies you to the spirit of wisdom (the discreet, proper, use of knowledge, and the method of attaining it). Should study much, as your mind would utilize to good advantage the knowledge gathered. Perseverance in this direction would fit you for a literary sphere of use, both in prose and poetry. Try always to express your thought fully, and not merely to intimate it; otherwise you will be often misunderstood which will lead you into many difficulties. You should remember the fact that if there are ninety-nine ways of doing a thing right or of understanding it cor. rectly and only one way of doing it wrong or misunderstanding it, that one will be like the big apple on the top of a full basket. The times of danger are when the moon is in Leo, Scorpio, or Capricorn. and the hours when these signs are rising.

E. S. Oct. 24, 1882, 8.05 a. m. Leeds. England.

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Strict in coni

A person of thoughtful, quiet dignity and reserve. pliance with rules of life and of society. A very stubborn will, and a very high and lasting temper; it is very difficult for you to forgive an injury. There is a great deal of jealousy in your nature, which is liable to be dangerous to you. Have a good orderly mind, well adapting you to the civil service, in which sphere you would obtain rapid promotion. Are fortunate in everything but monetary interests; in that you are unfortunate. If you would reach the high goal of attainment, you must conquer anger, hate, and jealousy, and overcome secretiveness. Strive so to live that you have nothing to conceal, so that you can always freely speak whatever is in your heart. This will give you great rest, peace, and self-confidence. Any thought that would lead to jealousy should be suppressed at once. You have a great deal of selfishness in your nature, so much so that it is diffi cult for you yourself to perceive it. The only way in which you can cope with this is to have some intelligent friend, upon whom you can rely, who will call your attention to it whenever it manifests itself. The times of greatest danger are when the moon is in Scorpio or Aries, and when these signs are rising.

L. S. March 19, 1866. Scotland.

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An active mind, vivid imagination. and plenty of ideality. are restless and thoughtful, and as you give your mind to the higher spiritual thought, there is danger of overdoing by becoming anxious

You

You

to know, which is liable to produce insomnia and nervousness. have the ability to take good care of yourself in a financial way. You set too much store upon the good things of this world for success in the spiritual world. Have a high ideal of a home with elegance and excellence. Upon whatever your interests center that you are, soul and body; therefore if you give your entire self to the Esoteric life you will gain rapidly in that direction, but, we repeat, your greatest drawback is your interest in the things of this world. You should have "Woman's Circular" and follow its instructions carefully and thoroughly. Subdue anger and irritability, for that will poison your life currents and make it absolutely impossible for you to live the regenerate life. You should give the covenant continual study and thought, for, though you may make it mentally a great many times, there is something within you that constantly refuses to comply with its requirements, and until that interior self has made the covenant, it is not made; therefore persistent thought and study upon this subject is necessary in your case.

AN INTERESTING BOOK.

TRAVELS IN TARTARY, THIBET AND CHINA. (1844-1846). Translated from the French by W. Hazlitt. Illustrated with 100 engravings on wood. 2 vols. Pp. 600. Cloth, $2.00.

Court Publishing Co., Chicago.

The Open

We are glad to announce that there is in existence a reliable work descriptive of travels through portions of China, Mantchouria, Mongolia, and across the plateau and mountains of Thibet to Lha-Ssa; that the traveler. M. Huc, spent, with a companion, a year in that almost mythical city Lha-Ssa (Land of Spirits). Those who would have us believe that that the Grand Lamas of the Orient are so much beyond the religionists of the Occident, have thrown so much gild and mystery around the existence of this wonderful city that real and impartial light upon the subject is calculated to do much good-impartial in so far as religious prejudice permits a Roman Catholic missionary to be so. However, his story is told in such a plain straight-forward way as to leave the conviction that the author is strictly honest in his narration, and that his only purpose is to give the facts as they occurred, in order that they may guide others who travel the same route.

This narrative justifies our conclusion that we have a right to judge a fountain by the stream emanating therefrom, and that the condition of the Buddhists-Chinese and Hindus-is the legitimate outcome of the condition of the heads of the Buddhist faith. M. Huc's experience in

Lha-Ssa shows that its entrances are so jealously guarded against the English-speaking people only because the Thibetians fear invasion and oppression from the conquerors of India. They imagine that they are hidden away from the English, and are ready to resort to extreme measures in the case of any European who draws a map of their country or its approaches. The missionaries in their journey to Lha-Ssa spent some months in the Buddhist Lamaseries, familiarly associated with the Buddhist priests and having free access to their temples, for traveling as "Lamas of the Western Heaven" enabled them to obtain an exceptional knowledge of the inner rites of the Buddhist religion and of the private life of its priests. Although we must admit that, as they were in these countries for the express purpose of introducing the Roman Catholic faith, there would necessarily be much that was overlooked, yet in a detailed account of the doings of their own daily life, and of that by which they found themselves surrounded, one cannot fail to obtain a very accurate idea of the national religion and its priests. We quote the account of his arrival at the Lamasery of Koumboum.

"At the distance of a li from the Lamasery we found four Lamas. friends of Sandara, who had come to meet us. Their religious costume, the red scarf that enveloped them, their miter-shaped yellowcaps, their modest mien, the low, grave tones of their voices, all this produced a marked impression upon us, and we felt as though a perfume of religious and cenobitie life was diffused around us. It was past nine in the evening when we reached the first dwellings of the Lamasery. To avoid disturbing the profound silence which reigned everywhere about, the Lamas made the ear-man stop, and filled with straw the interior of the bells which hung from the horses' necks. We then advanced slowly, and without saying a word, along the calm deserted streets of this great Lamanesque city. The moon was not present: but the sky was so clear, so pure, and the stars were so brilliant, that we could perfectly distinguish the cottages of the Lamas spread over the sides of the mountain, and the grand, though fantastic outlines of the Buddhist temples. standing out in the air like gigantie phantoms. That which most struck us at the moment, was the majestie and solemn silence which prevailed throughout the Lamasery, and which was interrupted only by the short sleepy bark of some halfwakened dog, like the scream of the sea-eagle, or the melancholy sound of a marine shell marking, at intervals. the watches of the night.

"We attempted to sleep, but it was in vain: slumber would not come near us; our minds, indeed, were too full of the strange position in which we now found ourselves. The whole thing appeared quite inconceivable. There were we, in this land of Amdo, unknown to Europe; in this great Lamasery of Kounboum, so famous, so venerated among Buddhist, in the cell of one of its ablest Lamas, amidst conventual manners altogether new to us; all these and analogous considerations whirled through and about the brain, like the vague in

tangible forms of a dream. We passed the night framing all sorts of plans.”

After spending six months in this and a neighboring Lamasery these two missionaries continue their perilous journey to Lha-Ssa. The details of the journey make very interesting reading, and, no matter what his prejudices, the writer describes too circumstantially the life of the people among whom he is traveling not to bring to light their true character and that of their religion. He gives the following description of his first impressions of Lha-Ssa, and of the palace of the Tale-Lama, or the Living Buddha:

"The morning after our arrival at Lha-Ssa, we engaged a Thibetian guide. and visited the various quarters of the city, in search of a lodging. The houses at Lha-Ssa are for the most part several stories high, terminating in a terrace slightly sloped, in order to carry off the water: they are whitewashed all over, except the bordering round the doors and windows, which are painted red or yellow. The reformed Buddhists are so fond of these two colors, which are, so to speak, sacred in their eyes, that they especially name them Lamanesque colors. The people of Lha-Ssa are in the habit of painting their houses once a year, so that they are always perfectly clean, and seem, in fact, just built; but the interior is by no means in harmony with the fine outside. The rooms are dirty, smoky, stinking, and encumbered with all sorts of utensils and furniture, thrown about in most disgusting confusion.

The palace of the Talé-Lama merits, in every respect, the celebrity which it enjoys throughout the world. North of the town, at the distance of about a mile, there rises a rugged mountain, of slight elevation and of conical form, which, amid the plain, resembles an islet on the bosom of a lake. This mountain is entitled Buddha-La (mountain of Buddha, divine mountain), and upon this grand pedestal, the work of nature, the adorers of the Talé-Lama have raised the magnificent palace wherein their Living Divinity resides in the flesh. This palace is an aggregation of several temples, of various size and decoration; that which occupies the center is four stories high, and overlooks all the rest; it terminates in a dome, entirely covered with plates of gold, and surrounded with a peristyle, the columns of which are, in like manner, all covered with gold. It is here that the Talé-Lama has set up his abode. From the summit of this lofty sanctuary he can contemplate. at the great solemnities, his innumerable adorers advancing along the plain or prostrate at the foot of the divine mountain. The secondary palaces, grouped round the great temple, serve as residences for numerous Lamas, of every order, whose continual occupation it is to serve and do honor to the Living Buddha. Two fine avenues of magnificent trees lead from Lha-Ssa to the Buddha-La, and there you always find crowds of foreign pilgrims, telling the beads of their long Buddhist chaplets, and Lamas of the court, attired in rich costume, and mounted on horses splendidly caparisoned. Around the Buddha-La there is constant motion; but there is at the

same time, almost uninterrupted silence, religious meditations appearing to occupy all men's minds."

*

The following incident serves to illustrate prevailing conditions among these people:

"One day when we were talking to him [the Regent] of observatories and astronomical instruments, he asked if we would allow him to examine closely the strange and curious machine which we kept in a box; he meant the microscope. As we were in a better humor and infinitely more amiable than when the officers inspected our property, we readily satisfied the curiosity of the Regent. One of us ran to our residence, and returned immediately with the wonderful instrument. While adjusting, we tried to give our auditor, as well as we could, some notions of optics, but seeing that the theory did not excite much enthusiasm, we proceeded at once to the practise. We asked if one of the company would be so good as to procure us a louse. The article was easier to find than a butterfly. A noble Lama, secretary to his excellency the First Kalon, had merely to put his hand under his silk dress to his armpit, and an extremely vigorous louse was at our disposition. We seized it by the side with our nippers, but the Lama forthwith opposed this proceeding, and insisted upon putting a stop to the experiment, on the ground that we were going to cause the death of a living being. Do not be afraid,' we said, 'your louse is only taken by the skin; besides, he seems strong enough to get over the pressure, even were it greater.'

It must be admitted that the zeal and devotion of these Buddhists is such as inevitably to bring remarkable results to the devotee, yet when we take into consideration the belief, methods, and objects of these people, we cannot but see that those results must be degrading to manhood rather than elevating. This book is one that we hope may have a large sale; everyone interested in the Orient and the oriental religion should read it. M. Hue's book appeared originally in the French, and, with its English and German translations, was allowed to pass out of print. The Open Court Publishing Company is doing a good work in placing it again before the public; for, in the words of the publishers' preface, it is a storehouse for the ethnologist, geographer, the scholar interested in religious customs, the reader of travels, and the student of human nature." This work appears in two volumes, handsomely bound in cloth, ornamented with lamanesque colors and designs. It is beautifully illustrated and is altogether quite as attractive as it is valuable.