h
plans for tricking the government of his Imperial Majesty.

The sort of indifference with which our declaration was received by the
Thibetian authorities did not surprise us in the least. From the
information we had received of the position of strangers at Lha-Ssa, we
were convinced we should have no difficulty in the matter. The
Thibetians do not profess, in regard to other people, those principles of
exclusion which constitute the distinctive character of the Chinese
nation. Everyone is allowed to enter Lha-Ssa; everyone can go and come,
and engage in commerce and industrial pursuits without the least
restraint. If entrance into Thibet is forbidden to the Chinese, this
prohibition must be attributed to the government of Peking, which, to
show its complete adherence to its narrow and suspicious policy, forbids
its subjects to penetrate among other nations. It is probable that the
English would not be excluded more than any other nation, had not their
invasive march into Hindostan inspired the Tale-Lama with a natural
terror.

We have already mentioned the many and striking analogies between the
Lamanesque worship and the Catholic rites--Rome and Lha-Ssa--the pope and
the Tale-Lama, {155} might furnish further analogies. The Thibetian
government, being purely Lamanesque, seems in some sort framed upon the
ecclesiastical government of the Pontifical states. The Tale-Lama is the
political and religious head of all the Thibetian countries; in his hands
is all the legislative, executive, and administrative power. The common
law and some rules left by Tsong-Kaba, serve to direct him in the
exercise of his immense authority. When the Tale-Lama dies, or, in the
language of the Buddhists, when he transmigrates, a child is selected who
is to continue the imperishable personification of the Living Buddha.
This election is made by the grand assembly of the Houtouktou Lamas,
whose sacerdotal dignity is only inferior to that of the Tale-Lama.
By-and-by we will enter more fully into the form and rules of this
singular election. As the Tale-Lama is not only the religious and
political sovereign of the Thibetians, but also their visible deity, it
is obvious that he cannot, without seriously compromising his divinity,
descend from the height of his sanctuary, to meddle, on all occasions,
with human affairs. He has, therefore, reserved to himself the matters
of primary importance, content to reign much, and to govern very l