To be explicit, I must recall to the reader’s mind the destination which the Brahmins assigned to the Egyptian pyramids, on hearing Wilford’s description of them--viz. that they were places appropriated to the worship of Padma-devi.[95] Before I proceed, however, I must state that I do not intend to make this the basis of what I shall designate my _disclosures_. It would be very foolish of _me_, if hoping to dislodge a _world_ of long-established prejudice, to use, as my _lever_, a ray shot transversely from a volume which has been tarnished by forgery. I need no such aid, as the sequel will show; and yet were it requisite, no objection would be valid, as the “_Pundit_” could have had no motive, either of interest or of vanity, such as influenced his _transcriptions_, here to mislead his victim. It was the mere utterance of a casual opinion, without reference to any deduction. Besides it was not the statement of the knave at all, but that of a number of religious men of letters, who all agreed in the ascription above laid down. They spoke, no doubt, from some traditionary acquaintance with the use of those tall round buildings which so much baffle antiquarians, not more in Ireland than they do in Hindostan: but the explanation of this their answer will be a happy inlet--and as such only do I mean to employ it--to the _illustration_ of what we have been so long labouring at. The word Padma-devi[96] means “_the deity of desire_,” as instrumental in that principle of _universal_ generativeness diffused throughout all nature. Do I mean that gross suggestion of carnal concupiscence?--that mere propensity of animal appetite which is common to man with the brute creation? No; it became redeemed, if not justified, by the religious complexion with which it was intertwined, derived, mayhap, originally from that _paradisiacal_ precept which said, “increase and multiply”; while the strain of metaphor under which it was couched, and the spiritual tendency by which the ceremony was inculcated, prevented offence even to the most refined taste, the most susceptible fancy, or the most delicate sensibility. The love of offspring has ever been a powerful ingredient in man’s composition. The fair portion of the human species, as every age and experience can prove, have shown themselves not more exempt from the control of the same emotions or the influence of the same impulses. It was so wisely instituted by the great Regulator of all things, nor is the abuse of the principle any argument against its general utility or sanctified intent. Search the records of all early States, and you will find the legislator and the priest, instead of opposing a principle so universally dominant, used their influence, on the contrary, to bring it more into play, and make its exercise subservient to the increase of our species; the law lent its aid to enforce the theme as national, and religion sanctified it as a moral obligation.