have even been daring enough
to question his views upon some points in connection with the Sanscrit
and Hindoo tongues, with the result that we have been arguing for
an hour or more without either of us convincing the other. Without
pretending to as deep a theoretical knowledge as that which has made the
name of James Hunter West a household word among Oriental scholars,
I happen to have given considerable attention to this one point, and
indeed I am in a position to say that I know his views to be unsound.
I assure you, sir, that up to the year 700, or even later, Sanscrit was
the ordinary language of the great bulk of the inhabitants of India."

"And I assure you, sir," said my father warmly, "that it was dead and
forgotten at that date, save by the learned, who used it as a vehicle
for scientific and religious works--just as Latin was used in the Middle
Ages long after it had ceased to be spoken by any European nation."

"If you consult the puranas you will find," said Ram Singh, "that this
theory, though commonly received, is entirely untenable."

"And if you will consult the Ramayana, and more particularly the
canonical books on Buddhist discipline," cried my father, "you will find
that the theory is unassailable."

"But look at the Kullavagga," said our visitor earnestly.

"And look at King Asoka," shouted my father triumphantly. "When, in the
year 300 before the Christian era--before, mind you--he ordered the laws
of Buddha to be engraved upon the rocks, what language did he employ,
eh? Was it Sanscrit?--no! And why was it not Sanscrit? Because the lower
orders of his subjects would not have been able to understand a word
of it. Ha, ha! That was the reason. How are you going to get round King
Asoka's edicts, eh?"

"He carved them in the various dialects," Ram Singh answered. "But
energy is too precious a thing to be wasted in mere wind in this style.
The sun has passed its meridian, and I must return to my companions."

"I am sorry that you have not brought them to see us," said my father
courteously. He was, I could see, uneasy lest in the eagerness of debate
he had overstepped the bounds of hospitality.

"They do not mix with the world," Ram Singh answered, rising to
his feet. "They are of a higher grade than I, and more sensitive to
contaminating influences. They are immersed in a six months' meditation
upon the mystery of the third incarnation, which has lasted with few
intermissions from the time th