Now, suppose a geologist had brought to light the bones of a fossil animal, dating from a period anterior to any in which traces of animal life had been discovered before, would any young lady venture to say by way of criticism, “Yes, these bones are very curious, but they are not pretty!” Or suppose a new Egyptian statue had been discovered, belonging to a dynasty hitherto unrepresented by any statues, would even a school-boy dare to say, “Yes, it is very nice, but the Venus of Milo is nicer?” Or suppose an old MS. is brought to Europe, do we find fault with it, because it is not neatly printed? If a chemist discovers a new element, is he pitied because it is not gold? If a botanist writes on germs, has he to defend himself, because he does not write on flowers? Why, it is simply because the Veda is so different from what it was expected to be, because it is not like the Psalms, not like Pindar, not like the Bhagavadgîtâ, it is because it stands alone by itself, and reveals to us the earliest germs of religious thought, such as they really were; it is because it places before us a language, more primitive than any we knew before; it is because its poetry is what you may call savage, uncouth, rude, horrible, it is for that very reason that it was worth while to dig and dig till the old buried city was recovered, showing us what man was, what we were, before we had reached the level of David, the level of Homer, the level of Zoroaster, showing us the very cradle of our thoughts, our words, and our deeds. _I_ am not disappointed with the Veda, and I shall conclude my address with the last verses of the last hymn, which you have now in your hands,--verses which thousands of years ago may have been addressed to a similar meeting of Aryan fellow-men, and which are not inappropriate to our own:-- Sám gacchadhvam sám vadadhvam sám vaḥ mánâṃsi jànatâm, Devâh bhâgám yáthâ pû́rve[7] saṃjânânấḥ upấsate, Samânáh mántraḥ sámitiḥ samánî́ samânám mánaḥ sahá cittám eshâm, Samnám mántram abhí mantraye vaḥ samânéna vaḥ havíshâ juhomi. Samânî́ vaḥ ấkûtiḥ samânấ hṛdayâni vaḥ, Samânám astu vaḥ mánaḥ yáthâ vaḥ súsaha ásati. “Come together! Speak together! Let your minds be concordant--the gods by being concordant receive their share, one after the other. Their word is the same, their counsel is the same, their mind is the same, their thoughts are at one; I address to you the same word, I worship you with the same sacrifice. Let your endeavor be the same! Let your hearts be the same! Let your mind be the same, that it may go well with you.” NOTES. NOTE A. In the “Indian Mirror,” published at Calcutta, 20 September, 1874, a native writer gave utterance almost at the same time to the same feelings:--