But though resources most unquestionable thus notoriously still abounded, yet has it not been the fortune of Ireland, hitherto, to meet with any historian gifted with the widely comprehensive, philosophical views and suitable education calculated to do her justice; so that, by the untoward hand of fate, and the iniquitous operation of the old political stroke, the knowledge of the character in which those papers are couched has become already so almost extinct, that they lie on the shelves, to all intents and purposes a _dead_ letter.[166] I now beg leave to introduce this identical war-god, in his military costume and hyperborean philabeg, in which, as before observed, the Scythians never invested themselves; and hope the reader will enjoy a hearty laugh at the expense of those blunderers, who, in their _preposterous_, I had almost said _repentant_, devotion to monastic refinements, would rob the Pagans of this long-cherished _idol_, and convert his godship into a _Christian_ nonentity! You will find him--name and all corresponding--described fully in the _Rites and Ceremonies of all Nations_, as similarly officiating and worshipped in the East. “There is,” says the author, “in the province of Matambo, an _idol_ whose priests are _sorcerers_ or _magicians_; and this image stands _upright_, directly over against the temple dedicated to his peculiar service, in a _basket made in the form of a bee-hive_.”[167] [Illustration] “To this deity in particular they apply themselves for success when they go out a _hunting_ or _fishing_, and for the relief of all such as are indisposed![168] _Miramba always marches at the head of their armies_; and he is presented with the first delicious morsel, and the first glass of wine that is served up at the governor’s or King of Matambo’s table.” But a _living_ traveller, in a very interesting work just launched from the press, and without expecting therein to become my auxiliary, decides this ascription without further pains. “This village,” says our author (near Rampore, on the Himalaya range), “instanced the care which the sacerdotal orders in the East take for their comfort and good. It was a neat, clean, and substantial place, in all acceptations of the word. These Brahmin villagers pay no rent of any kind to the state: they live on the granted lands, but are obliged to keep the _temples_ in repair, to furnish all the implements, and to take care of the godships within it--these are _small brass images, with nether garments in the shape of petticoats_. They are carried in procession, on certain occasions, and the ceremonies belonging to them are performed twice a day. Mahadeo is the great god of the mountains.”[169]