dispensers
of knowledge, whose mission is that of teachers--for the levelling
doctrine of original sin. On the other hand, in Mongolia and Tartary,
among a more ignorant race, MM. Huc and Gabet had to cope with another
sort of opposition. The lower orders of Buddhists know nothing of the
abstract doctrine, but are hedged in by petty customs and daily
observances, which are the most powerful defence for narrow minds. In
vain did the missionaries endeavor to gain an insight into the creed of
these simple tribes, who believed firmly they knew not exactly what.
When questioned on this subject, they would refer the inquirer to the
Lamas, who in their turn would avow their ignorance as compared to the
"saints." All agreed in one point, that the doctrine came from the West,
and that there alone it would be found pure and undefiled.

When we had expounded to them the truths of Christianity, they
never argued with us, but merely answered with great coolness,
"We have not all the prayers here. The Lamas of the West will
explain all--will account for every thing; we believe in the
traditions from the West." These expressions only served to
corroborate a remark we had had occasion to make during our
journey through Tartary; namely, that there is not a single
Lama-house of any importance, of which the chief Lama does not
come from Thibet. A Lama who has travelled to Lha-Ssa is sure
on his return to obtain the confidence of every Tartar. He is
considered as a superior being--a seer, before whose eyes the
mysteries of lives past and to come have been unveiled in the
very heart of the "eternal sanctuary" in the "land of
spirits."[15]

It appears just possible to us, that this obscurity in speaking of
things spiritual, which, after all, can at best be seen but as through a
glass darkly, is not so peculiar to Buddhism as M. Huc and his companion
suppose; and that the dogmas of any religion are more difficult of
comprehension to minds who have not been prepared from infancy for their
reception than is generally imagined. When we are told, for instance, by
our author, that in a "few plain words" he exposed the doctrines of his
church, we confess that we have our doubts as to any lucidity of
expression being sufficient to convey to untrained hearers a clear idea
of the doctrine of transubstantiation among others.

Be that as it may, westward our travellers determined