by Percy Greg
CHAPTER XIII - THE CHILDREN OF LIGHT.
"Probably," said Esmo, when, apparently at a sign from him, our hostleft us for some minutes alone, "much through which you are about topass will seem to you childish or unmeaning. Ceremonial renderedimpressive to us by immemorial antiquity, and cherished the morebecause so contrary to the absence of form and ceremony in the lifearound us--symbolism which is really the more useful, the morevaluable, because it contains much deeper meaning than is everapparent at first sight--have proved their use by experience; and, asthey are generally witnessed for the first time in early youth, make asharper impression than they are likely to effect upon a mind likeyours. But they may seem strangely inconsistent with a belief which isin itself so limited, and founded so absolutely upon logical proof orpractical evidence. The best testimony to the soundness of our policyin this respect is the fact that our vows, and the rites by which theyare sanctioned, are never broken, that our symbols are regarded withan awe which no threats, no penalties, can attach to the highest ofcivil authorities or the most solemn legal sanctions. The language ofsymbol, moreover, has for us two great advantages--one dependent uponthe depth of thought and knowledge with which the symbols themselveswere selected by our Founder, owing to which each generation finds inthem some new truth of which we never dreamed before; the otherarising from the fact that we are a small select body in the midst ofa hostile and jealous race, from whom it is most important to keep thekey of communications which, without the appearance, have all theeffect of ciphers."
"I find," I replied, "in my own world that every religion and everyform of occult mysticism, nay, every science, in its own way andwithin its own range, attaches great importance to symbols inthemselves apparently arbitrary. Experience shows that these, symbolsoften contain a clue to more than they were originally meant toconvey, and can be employed in reasonings far beyond the grasp ofthose who first invented or adopted them. That a body like the _Zinta_could be held together without ceremonial and without formalities,which, if they had no other value, would have the attraction ofsecresy and exclusiveness, seems obviously impossible."
Here our host rejoined us. We passed into the gallery, where severalpersons were awaiting us; the men for the most part wearing a smallvizor dependent from the turban, which concealed their faces; thewomen all, without exception, closely veiled. As soon as Esmoappeared, the party formed themselves into a sort of procession twoand two. Motioning me to take the last place, Esmo passed himself toits head. If the figure beside me were not at once recognised, I couldnot mistake the touch of the hand that stole into my own. The lightsin the gallery were extinguished, and then I perceived a lamp held atthe end of a wand of crystal, which gleamed above Esmo's head, andsufficed to guide us, giving light enough to direct our footsteps andlittle more. Perhaps this half-darkness, the twilight which gave acertain air of mystery to the scene and of uncertainty to the forms ofobjects encountered on our route, had its own purpose. We reached verysoon the end of the gallery, and then the procession turned and passedsuddenly into another chamber, apparently narrow, but so faintlylighted by the lamp in our leader's hands that its dimensions werematter of mere conjecture. That we were descending a somewhat steepincline I was soon aware; and when we came again on to level ground Ifelt sure that we were passing through a gallery cut in natural rock.The light was far too dim to enable me to distinguish any openings inthe walls; but the procession constantly lengthened, though it wasimpossible to see where and when new members joined. Suddenly thelight disappeared. I stood still for a moment in surprise, and when Iagain went forward I became speedily conscious that all our companionshad vanished, and that we stood alone in utter darkness. Fearing tolead Eveena further where my own steps were absolutely uncertain, Ipaused for some time, and with little difficulty decided to remainwhere I was, until something should afford an indication of thepurpose of those who had brought us so far, and who must know, if theyhad not actual means of observing, that in darkness and solitude Ishould not venture to proceed.
Presently, as gradually as in Northern climates the night passes intomorning twilight, the darkness became less absolute. Whence the lightcame it was impossible to perceive. Diffused all around and slowlybroadening, it just enabled me to discern a few paces before us theverge of a gulf. This might have been too shallow for inconvenience,it might have been deep enough for danger. I waited till my eyesshould be able to penetrate its interior; but before the light enteredit I perceived, apparently growing across it, really coming graduallyinto view under the brightening gleam, a species of bridge which--whenthe twilight ceased to increase, and remained as dim as that cast bythe crescent moon--assumed the outline of a slender trunk supported bywings, dark for the most part but defined along the edge by a narrowband of brightest green, visible in a gleam too faint to show anyobject of a deeper shade. Somewhat impatient of the obvious symbolism,I hurried Eveena forward. Immediately on the other side of the bridgethe path turned almost at right angles; and here a gleam of lightahead afforded a distinct guidance to our steps. Approaching it, wewere challenged, and I gave the answer with which I had beenpreviously furnished; an answer which may not be, as it never hasbeen, written down. A door parted and admitted us into a smallvestibule, at the other end of which a full and bright light streamedthrough a portal of translucent crystal. A sentinel, armed only withthe antiquated spear which may have been held by his first predecessorin office ten thousand Martial years ago, now demanded our names. Minehe simply repeated, but as I gave that of Eveena, daughter of Esmo, helowered his weapon in the salute still traditional among Martialsentries; and bending his head, touched with his lips the long sleeveof the cloak of _therne_-down in which she was on this occasion againenveloped. This homage appeared to surprise her almost as much asmyself, but we had no leisure for observation or inquiry. From behindthe crystal door another challenge was uttered. To this it was thesentry's part to reply, and as he answered the door parted; that atthe other end of the vestibule having, I observed, closed as weentered, and so closed that its position was undiscoverable. Before usopened a hall of considerable size, consisting of three distinctvaults, defined by two rows of pillars, slender shafts resembling tallbranchless trees, the capital of each being formed by a branching headlike that of the palm. The trunks were covered with golden scales; thefern-like foliage at the summit was of a bright sparkling emerald. Itwas evident to my observation that the entire hall had been excavatedfrom solid rock, and the pillars left in their places. Each of theside aisles, if I may so call them, was occupied by four rows of seatssimilarly carved in the natural stone; but lined after Martialfashion, with cushions embroidered in feathers and metals, and coveredby woven fabrics finer than any known to the looms of Lyons orCashmere. About two-thirds of the seats were occupied; those to theright as we entered (that is, on the left of the dais at the end ofthe hall) by men, those opposite by women. All, I observed, rose for amoment as Eveena's name was announced, from the further end of thehall, by the foremost of three or four persons vested in silver, withbelts of the crimson metal which plays the part of our best-temperedsteel, and bearing in their hands wands of a rose-coloured jewelresembling a clouded onyx in all but the hue. Each of them wore overhis dress a band or sash of gold, fastened on the left shoulder anddescending to the belt on the right, much resembling the ribbons ofEuropean knighthood. These supported on the left breast a silver star,or heraldic mullet, of six points. Throughout the rest of the assemblya similar but smaller star glimmered on every breast, supported,however, by green or silver bands, the former worn by the body of theassembly, the latter by a few persons gathered together for the mostpart at the upper end of the chamber.... The chief who had firstaddressed us bade us pass on, and we left the Hall of the Novitiate asaccepted members of the Order.... That into which we next entered wasso dark that its form and dimensions were scarcely defined to my eyes.I supposed it, however, to be circular, surmounted by a domeresembling in colour the olive green Martial sky and spangled bystars, among which I disce
rned one or two familiar constellations, butmost distinctly, brightened far beyond its natural brilliancy, thearch of the _Via Lactea_. Presently, not on any apparent sheet orscreen but as in the air before us, appeared a narrow band of lightcrossing the entire visible space. It resembled a rope twisted ofthree strands, two of a deep dull hue, the one apparently orange, theother brown or crimson, contrasting the far more brilliant emeraldstrand that formed the third portion of the threefold cord. I hadlearnt by this time that metallic cords so twined serve in Mars mostof the uses for which chains are employed on Earth, and I assumed thatthis symbol possessed the significance which poetry or ritual mightattach to the latter.
This cord or band retained its position throughout, crossing the darkbackground of the scenes now successively presented, each of whichmelted into its successor--rapidly, but so gradually that there wasnever a distinct point of division, a moment at which it was possibleto say that any new feature was first introduced.
A bright mist of various colours intermixed in inextricable confusion,an image of chaos but for the dim light reflected from all theparticles, filled a great part of the space before us, but the cordwas still discernible in the background. Presently, a brightrose-coloured point of light, taking gradually the form of an Eye,appeared above the cord and beyond the mist; and, emanating from it, aray of similar light entered the motionless vapour. Then a movement,whose character it was not easy to discern, but which constantlybecame more and more evidently rhythmical and regular, commenced inthe mist. Within a few moments the latter had dissolved, leaving inits place the semblance of stars, star-clusters, and golden nebulae,as dim and confused as that in the sword-belt of Orion, or as welldefined as any of those called by astronomers planetary."What seest thou?" said a voice whose very direction I could notrecognise.
"Cosmos evolved out of confusion by Law; Law emanating from SupremeWisdom and irresistible Will."
"And in the triple band?"
"The continuity of Time and Space preserved by the continuity of Law,and controlled by the Will that gave Law."
While I spoke a single nebula grew larger, brighter, and filled theentire space given throughout to the pictures presented to us; starsand star-clusters gradually fading away into remoter distance. Thisnebula, of spherical shape--formed of coarser particles than theprevious mist, and reflecting or radiating a more brillianteffulgence--was in rapid whirling motion. It flattened into the formof a disc, apparently almost circular, of considerable depth orthickness, visibly denser in the centre and thinner towards therounded edge. Presently it condensed and contracted, leaving at eachof the several intervals a severed ring. Most of these rings broke up,their fragments conglomerated and forming a sphere; one in particularseparating into a multitude of minuter spheres, others assuming ahighly elliptical form, condensing here and thinning out there; whilethe central mass grew brighter and denser as it contracted; till therelay before me a perfect miniature of the solar system, with planets,satellites, asteroids, and meteoric rings.
"What seest thou?" again I heard.
"Intelligence directing Will, and Will by Law developing the microcosmof which this world is one of the smallest parts."
The orb which represented Mars stood still in the centre of the space,and this orb soon occupied the whole area. It assumed at first theform of a vast vaporous globe; then contracted to a comparativelysmall sphere, glowing as if more than red-hot, and leaving as itcontracted two tiny balls revolving round their primary. The lattergradually faded till it gave out no light but that which from someunseen source was cast upon it, one-half consequently contrasting indarkness the reflected brightness of the other. Ere long it presentedthe appearance of sea and land, of cloud, of snow, and ice, and becamea perfect image of the Martial sphere. Then it gave place to a globeof water alone, within which the processes of crystallisation, asexhibited first in its simpler then in its more complicated forms,were beautifully represented. Then there appeared, I knew not how, butseemingly developed by the same agency and in the same manner as thecrystals, a small transparent sphere within the watery globe,containing itself a spherical nucleus. From this were evolvedgradually two distinct forms, one resembling very much some of thesimplest of those transparent creatures which the microscope exhibitsto us in the water drop, active, fierce, destructive in their scale ofsize and life as the most powerful animals of the sea and land. Theother was a tiny fragment of tissue, gradually shaping itself into thesimplest and smallest specimens of vegetable life. The watery globedisappeared, and these two were left alone. From each graduallyemerged, growing in size, complexity, and distinctness, one form afteranother of higher organisation.
"What seest thou?"
"Life called out of lifelessness by Law."
Again, so gradually that no step of the process could be separatelydistinguished, formed a panorama of vegetable and animal life; alandscape in which appeared some dozen primal shapes of eitherkingdom. Each of these gradually dissolved, passing by slow degreesinto several higher or more perfect shapes, till there stood beforeour eyes a picture of life as it exists at present; and Man in itsmidst, more obviously even than on Earth, dominating and subduing thefellow-creatures of whom he is lord. From which of the innumerableanimal forms that had been presented to us in the course of thesetransmutations this supreme form had arisen, I did not note or cannotremember. But that no true ape appeared among them, I do distinctlyrecollect, having been on the watch for the representation of such anepoch in the pictured history.
What was now especially noteworthy was that, solid as they appeared,each form was in some way transparent. From the Emblem beforementioned a rose-coloured light pervaded the scene; scarcelydiscernible in the general atmosphere, faintly but distinctlytraceable in every herb, shrub, and tree, more distinguishable andconcentrated in each animal. But in plant or animal the condensedlight was never separated and individualised, never parted from,though obviously gathered and agglomerated out of, the generallydiffused rosy sheen that tinged the entire landscape. It was as thoughthe rose-coloured light formed an atmosphere which entered and passedfreely through the tissues of each animal and plant, but brightenedand deepened in those portions which at any moment pervaded anyorganised shape, while it flowed freely in and out of all. Theconcentration was most marked, the connection with the diffusedatmosphere least perceptible, in those most intelligent creatures,like the _amba_ and _carve_, which in the service of man appear tohave acquired a portion of human intelligence. But turning to the typeof Man himself, the light within his body had assumed the shape of theframe it filled and appeared to animate. In him the rose-colouredimage which exactly corresponded to the body that encased it wasperfectly individualised, and had no other connection with theremainder of the light than that it appeared to emanate and to be fedfrom the original source. As I looked, the outward body dissolved, theimage of rosy light stood alone, as human and far more beautiful thanbefore, rose upward, and passed away.
"What seest thou?" was uttered in an even more earnest and solemn tonethan heretofore.
"Life," I said, "physical and spiritual; the one sustained by theother, the spiritual emanating from the Source of Life, pervading allliving forms, affording to each the degree of individuality and ofintelligence needful to it, but in none forming an individual entityapart from the race, save in Man himself; and in Man forming theindividual being, whereof the flesh is but the clothing and theinstrument."
The whole scene suddenly vanished in total darkness; only again in onedirection a gleam of light appeared, and guided us to a portal throughwhich we entered another long and narrow passage, terminating in asecond vestibule before a door of emerald crystal, brilliantlyilluminated by a light within. Here, again, our steps were arrested.The door was guarded by two sentries, in whom I recognised Initiatesof the Order, wearers of the silver sash and star. The password andsign, whispered to me as we left the Hall of the Novitiate, havingbeen given, the door parted and exposed to our view the inmostchamber, a scene calculated to strike the eye and
impress the mind notmore by its splendour and magnificence than by the unexpectedcharacter it displayed. It represented a garden, but the boundarieswere concealed by the branching trees, the arches of floweringcreepers, the thickets of flowers, shrubs, and tall reeds, which inevery direction imitated so perfectly the natural forms that theclosest scrutiny would have been required to detect theirartificiality. The general form, however, seemed to be that of asquare entered by a very short, narrow passage, and divided by broadpaths, forming a cross of equal arms. At the central point of thiscross was placed on a pedestal of emerald a statue in gold, whichrecalled at once the features of the Founder. The space might haveaccommodated two thousand persons, but on the seats--of a materialresembling ivory, each of them separately formed and gathered inirregular clusters--there were not, I thought, more than four hundredor five hundred men and women intermingled; the former dressed for themost part in green, the latter in pink or white, and all wearing thesilver band and star. At the opposite end, closing the central aisle,was a low narrow platform raised by two steps carved out of thenatural rock, but inlaid with jewellery imitating closely thevariegated turf of a real garden. On this were placed, slantingbackward towards the centre, two rows of six golden seats or thrones,whose occupants wore the golden band over silver robes. That next theinterval, but to the left, was filled by Esmo, who to my surprise worea robe of white completely covering his figure, and contrastingsignally the golden sash to which his star was attached. On his leftarm, bare below the elbow, I noticed a flat thick band of plain gold,with an emerald seal, bearing the same proportion to the bracelet as alarge signet to its finger ring. What struck me at once as mostremarkable was, that the seats on the dais and the forms of theiroccupiers were signally relieved against a background of intensedarkness, whose nature, however, I could not discern. The roof was inform a truncated pyramid; its material a rose-coloured crystal,through which a clear soft light illuminated the whole scene. Acrossthe floor of the entrance, immediately within the portal, was a broadband of the same crystal, marking the formal threshold of the Hall.Immediately inside this stood the same Chief who had received us inthe former Hall; and as we stood at the door, stretching forth hisleft hand, he spoke, or rather chanted, what, by the rhythmicalsequence of the words, by the frequent recurrence of alliteration andirregular rhyme, was evidently a formula committed to the verse of theMartial tongue: a formula, like all those of the Order, never written,but handed down by memory, and therefore, perhaps, cast in a shapewhich rendered accurate remembrance easier and more certain.
"Ye who, lost in outer night, Reach at last the Source of Light, Ask ye in that light to dwell? None we urge and none repel; Opens at your touch the door, Bright within the lamp of lore. Yet beware! The threshold passed, Fixed the bond, the ball is cast. Failing heart or faltering feet Find nor pardon nor retreat. Loyal faith hath guerdon given Boundless as the star-sown Heaven; Horror fathomless and gloom Rayless veil the recreant's doom. Warned betimes, in time beware--Freely turn, or frankly swear."
"What am I to swear?" I asked.
A voice on my left murmured in a low tone the formula, which Irepeated, Eveena accompanying my words in an almost inaudiblewhisper--
"Whatsoe'er within the Shrine Eyes may see or soul divine, Swear we secret as the deep, Silent as the Urn to keep. By the Light we claim to share, By the Fount of Light, we swear."
As these words were uttered, I became aware that some change had takenplace at the further end of the Hall. Looking up, the dark backgroundhad disappeared, and under a species of deep archway, behind the seatsof the Chiefs, was visible a wall diapered in ruby and gold, anddisplaying in various interwoven patterns the several symbols of theZinta. Towards the roof, exactly in the centre, was a large silverstar, emitting a light resembling that which the full moon sheds on atropical scene, but far more brilliant. Around this was a broad goldencircle or band; and beneath, the silver image of a serpent--perfectlyreproducing a typical terrestrial snake, but coiled, as no snake evercoils itself, in a double circle or figure of eight, with the tailwound around the neck. On the left was a crimson shield or what seemedto be such, small, round, and swelling in the centre into a sharppoint; on the right three crossed spears of silver with crimson bladespointed upward. But the most remarkable object--immediately fillingthe interval between the seats of the Chiefs, and carved from a hugecubic block of emerald--was a Throne, ascended on each side by five orsix steps, the upper step or seat extending nearly across the wholesome two feet below the surface, the next forming a footstool thereto.Above this was a canopy, seemingly self-supported, of circular form. Achain formed by interlaced golden circles was upheld by four greatemerald wings. Within the chain, again, was the silver Serpent, coiledas before and resting upon a surface of foliage and flowers. In thecentre of all was repeated the silver Star within the golden band; theemblem from which the Order derives its name, and in which it embodiesits deepest symbolism. Following again the direction of my unseenprompter, I repeated words which may be roughly translated asfollows:--
"By the outer Night of gloom, By the ray that leads us home, By the Light we claim to share, By the Fount of Light, we swear. Prompt obedience, heart and hand, To the Signet's each command: For the Symbols, reverence mute, In the Sense faith absolute. Link by link to weld the Chain, Link with link to bear the strain; Cherish all the Star who wear, As the Starlight's self--we swear. By the Life the Light to prove, In the Circle's bound to move; Underneath the all-seeing Eye Act, nor speak, nor think the lie; Live, as warned that Life shall last, And the Future reap the Past: Clasp in faith the Serpent's rings, Trust through death the Emerald Wings, Hand and voice we plight the Oath: Fade the life ere fail the troth!"
Rising from his seat and standing immediately before and to the leftof the Throne, Esmo replied. But before he had spoken half-a-dozenwords, a pressure on my arm drew my eyes from him to Eveena. She stoodfixed as if turned to stone, in an attitude which for one fleetinginstant recalled that of the sculptured figures undergoing suddenpetrifaction at the sight of the Gorgon's head. This rememberedresemblance, or an instinctive sympathy, at once conveyed to me theconsciousness that the absolute stillness of her attitude expressed ahorror or an awe too deep for trembling. Looking into her eyes, whichalone were visible, their gaze fixed intently on the Throne, at oncecaught and controlled my own; and raising my eyes again to the samepoint, I stood almost equally petrified by consternation andamazement. I need not say how many marvels of no common character Ihave seen on Earth; how many visions that, if I told them, none whohave not shared them would believe; wonders that the few who have seenthem can never forget, nor--despite all experience and all theoreticalexplanation--recall without renewing the thrill of awe-stricken dismaywith which the sight was first beheld. But no marvel of the MysticSchools, no spectral scene, objective or subjective, ever evoked bythe rarest of occult powers, so startled, so impressed me as what Inow saw, or thought I saw. The Throne, on which but a few momentsbefore my eyes had been steadily fixed, and which had then assuredlybeen vacant, was now occupied; and occupied by a Presence which,though not seen in the flesh for ages, none who had ever looked on theportrait that represented it could forget or mistake. The form, thedress, the long white hair and beard, the grave, dignifiedcountenance, above all the deep, scrutinising, piercing eyes of theFounder--as I had seen them on a single occasion in Esmo's house--werenow as clearly, as forcibly, presented to my sight as any figure inthe flesh I ever beheld. The eyes were turned on me with a calm,searching, steady gaze, whose effect was such as Southey ascribes toIndra's:--
"The look he gave was solemn, not severe; No hope to Kailyal it conveyed, And yet it struck no fear."
For a moment they rested on Eveena's veiled and drooping figure with awidely different expression. That look, as I thought, spoke a gravebut passionless regret or pity, as of one who sees a childunconsciously on the verge of peril or sorrow that admits neither ofwarn
ing nor rescue. That look happily she did not read; but we bothsaw the same object and in the same instant; we both stood amazed andappalled long enough to render our hesitation not only apparent, butstriking to all around, many of whom, following the direction of mygaze, turned their eyes upon the Throne. What they saw or did not seeI know not, and did not then care to think. The following formula,pronounced by Esmo, had fallen not unheard, but almost unheeded on myears, though one passage harmonised strangely with the sight beforeme:--
"Passing sign and fleeting breath Bind the Soul for life and death! Lifted hand and plighted word Eyes have seen and ears have heard; Eyes have seen--nor ours alone; Fell the sound on ears unknown. Age-long labour, strand by strand, Forged the immemorial band; Never thread hath known decay, Never link hath dropped away."
Here he paused and beckoned us to advance. The sign, twice repeatedbefore I could obey it, at last broke the spell that enthralled me.Under the most astounding or awe-striking circumstances, instinctmoves our limbs almost in our own despite, and leads us to do withparalysed will what has been intended or is expected of us. Thisinstinct, and no conscious resolve to overcome the influence that heldme spell-bound, enabled me to proceed; and I led Eveena forward byactual if gentle force, till we reached the lower step of theplatform. Here, at a sign from her father, we knelt, while, laying hishands on our heads, and stooping to kiss each upon the brow--Eveenaraising her veil for one moment and dropping it again--he continued--
"So we greet you evermore, Brethren of the deathless Lore; So your vows our own renew, Sworn to all as each to you. Yours at once the secrets won Age by age, from sire to son; Yours the fruit through countless years Grown by thought and toil and tears. He who guards you guards his own, He who fails you fails the Throne."
The last two lines were repeated, as by a simultaneous impulse, in alow but audible tone by the whole assembly. In the meantime Esmo hadinvested each of us with the symbol of our enrolment in the Zinta, thesilver sash and Star of the Initiates. The ceremonial seemed to me toafford that sort of religious sanction and benediction which had beenso signally wanting to the original form of our union. As we rose Iturned my eyes for a moment upon the Throne, now vacant as at first.Another Chief, followed by the voices of the assembly, repeated, in alow deep tone, which fell on our ears as distinctly as the loudesttrumpet-note in the midst of absolute silence, the solemnimprecation--
"Who denies a brother's need, Who in will, or word, or deed, Breaks the Circle's bounded line, Rends the Veil that guards the Shrine, Lifts the hand to lips that lie, Fronts the Star with soothless eye:--. Dreams of horror haunt his rest, Storms of madness vex his breast, Snares surround him, Death beset, Man forsake--and God forget!"
It was probably rather the tone of profound conviction and almosttremulous awe with which these words were slowly enunciated by theentire assemblage, than their actual sense, though the latter isgreatly weakened by my translation, that gave them an effect on my ownmind such as no oath and no rite, however solemn, no religiousceremonial, no forms of the most secret mysteries, had ever produced.I was not surprised that Eveena was far more deeply affected. Even theearlier words of the imprecation had caused her to shudder; and ere itclosed she would have sunk to the ground, but for the support of myarm. Disengaging the bracelet, Esmo held out to our lips the signet,which, as I now perceived, reproduced in miniature the symbols thatformed the canopy above the throne. A few moments of deep and solemnsilence had elapsed, when one of the Chiefs, who, except Esmo, had nowresumed their seats, rose, and addressing himself to the latter,said--
"The Initiate has shown in the Hall of the Vision a knowledge of thesense embodied in our symbols, of the creed and thoughts drawn fromthem, which he can hardly have learned in the few hours that haveelapsed since you first spoke to him of their existence. If there benot in his world those who have wrought out for themselves similartruths in not dissimilar forms, he must possess a rare and almostinstinctive power to appreciate the lessons we can teach. I will askyour permission, therefore, to put to him but one question, and thatthe deepest and most difficult of all."
Esmo merely bent his head in reply.
"Can you," said the speaker, turning to me with marked courtesy, "drawmeaning or lesson from the self-entwined coil of the Serpent?"
I need not repeat an answer which, to those familiar with the oldestlanguage of Terrestrial symbolism, would have occurred as readily asto myself; and which, if they could understand it, it would not bewell to explain to others. The three principal elements of thoughtrepresented by the doubly-coiled serpent are the same in Mars as onEarth, confirming in so far the doctrine of the Zinta, that theirsymbolic language is not arbitrary, but natural, formed on principlesinherent in the correspondence between things spiritual and physical.Some similar but trivial query, whose purport I have now forgotten,was addressed by the junior of the Chiefs to Eveena; and I was struckby the patient courtesy with which he waited till, after two or threeefforts, she sufficiently recovered her self-possession to understandand her voice to answer. We then retired, taking our place on seatsremote from the platform, and at some distance from any of ourneighbours.
On a formal invitation, one after another of the brethren rose andread a brief account of some experiment or discovery in the science ofthe Order. The principles taken for granted as fundamental andnotorious truths far transcend the extremest speculations ofTerrestrial mysticism. The powers claimed as of course so infinitelyexceed anything alleged by the most ardent believers in mesmerism,clairvoyance, or spiritualism, that it would be useless to relate thefew among these experiments which I remember and might be permitted torepeat. I observed that a phonographic apparatus of a peculiarlyelaborate character wrote down every word of these accounts withoutobliging the speakers to approach it; and I was informed that thisautomatic reporting is employed in every Martial assembly, scientific,political, or judicial.
I listened with extreme interest, and was more than satisfied thatEsmo had even underrated the powers claimed by and for the lowest andleast intelligent of his brethren, when he said that these, and thesealone, could give efficient protection or signal vengeance against allthe tremendous physical forces at command of those State authorities,one of the greatest of whom I had made my personal enemy. Onebattalion of Martial guards or police, accompanied by a single batteryof what I may call their artillery, might, even without the aid of aballoon-squadron, in half-an-hour annihilate or scatter to the windsthe mightiest and bravest army that Europe could send forth. Yet theMartial State had deliberately, and, I think, with only a dueprudence, shrunk during ages from an open conflict of power with thefew thousand members of this secret but inevitably suspectedorganisation.
Esmo called on me in my turn to give such account as I might choose ofmy own world, and my journey thence. I frankly avowed my indispositionto explain the generation and action of the apergic force. The powerwhich a concurrent knowledge of two separate kinds of science hadgiven to a very few Terrestrials, and which all the science of a farmore enlightened race had failed to attain, was in my conscientiousconviction a Providential trust; withheld from those in whose hands itmight be a fearful temptation and an instrument of unbounded evil. Myreserve was perfectly intelligible to the Children of the Star, andevidently raised me in their estimation. I was much impressed by thesimple and unaffected reliance placed on my statements, as on those ofevery other member of the Order. As a rule, Martialists are both, andnot without reason, to believe any unsupported statement that might beprompted by interest or vanity. But the _Zveltau_ can trust oneanother's word more fully than the followers of Mahomet that of hisstrictest disciples, or the most honest nations of the West the mostsolemn oaths of their citizens; while that bigotry of scientificunbelief, that narrowness of thought which prevails among theircountrymen, has been dispelled by their wider studies and loftierinterests. They have a saying, whose purport might be rendered in theproverbial language of the Aryans by saying that th
e liar "kills thegoose that lays the golden eggs." Again, "The liar is like anopiatised tunneller" (miner), i.e., more likely to blow himself topieces than to effect his purpose. Again, "The liar drives the pointinto a friend's heart, and puts the hilt into a foe's hand." The maximthat "a lie is a shield in sore need, but the spear of a scoundrel,"affirms the right in extremity to preserve a secret from impertinentinquisitiveness. Rarely, but on some peculiarly important occasions,the Zveltau avouch their sincerity by an appeal to their own symbols;and it is affirmed that an oath attested by the Circle and the Starhas never, in the lapse of ages, been broken or evaded.
Before midnight Esmo dismissed the assembly by a formula which dimlyrecalled to memory one heard in my boyhood. It is not in the power ofmy translation to preserve the impressive solemnity of the immemorialritual of the Zinta, deepened alike by the earnestness of itsdelivery, and the reverence of the hearers. There was somethingmajestic in the mere antiquity of a liturgy whereof no word has everbeen committed to writing. Five hundred generations have, it isalleged, gathered four times in each year in the Hall of Initiation;and every meeting has been concluded by the utterance from the samespot and in the same words of the solemn but simple _Zulvakalfe_ [wordof peace]:--
"Peace be with you, near and far, Children of the Silver Star; Lore undoubting, conscience clean, Hope assured, and life serene. By the Light that knows no flaw, By the Circle's perfect law, By the Serpent's life renewed, By the Wings' similitude-- Peace be yours no force can break; Peace not death hath power to shake; Peace from passion, sin, and gloom, Peace of spirit, heart, and home; Peace from peril, fear, and pain; Peace, until we meet again-- Meet--before yon sculptured stone, Or the All-Commander's Throne."
Before we finally parted, Esmo gave me two or three articles to whichhe attached especial value. The most important of these was a smallcube of translucent stone, in which a multitude of diversely colouredfragments were combined; so set in a tiny swivel or swing of gold thatit might be conveniently attached to the watch-chain, the onlyTerrestrial article that I still wore. "This," he said, "will testnearly every poison known to our science; each poison discolouring fora time one or another of the various substances of which it iscomposed; and poison is perhaps the weapon least unlikely to beemployed against you when known to be connected with myself, and, Iwill hope, to possess the favour of the Sovereign. If you are curiousto verify its powers, the contents of the tiny medicine-chest I havegiven you will enable you to do so. There is scarcely one of thosemedicines which is not a single or a combined poison of great power. Ineed not warn you to be careful lest you give to any one the means ofreaching them. I have shown you the combination of magnets which willopen each of your cases; that demanded by the chest is the mostcomplicated of all, and one which can hardly be hit upon by accident.Nor can any one force or pick open a case locked by our electricapparatus, save by cutting to pieces the metal of the case itself, andthis only special tools will accomplish; and, unless peculiarlyskilful, the intruder would 'probably be maimed or paralysed, if notkilled by ...
"Thoughts he sends to each planet, Uranus, Venus, and Mars; Soars to the Centre to span it, Numbers the infinite Stars."
_Courthope's Paradise of Birds_