lOO JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS 



their father Japhet did when with his father Noah, and his brothers 

 Shem and Ham, he came forth from the Ark. It is an interesting 

 thought, that in that ancient Aryan Bible, the Rig- Veda, we have per- 

 haps the very religion which the pious Japhet taught his children, 

 and enjoined them to teach to their posterity. Let me now read you 

 one or two selections from those ancient Vedic hymns. — (See Chips 

 from a German Workshop, vol. i, pages 29 and 39.) 



1. " In the beginning there arose the Golden Child. He was the 

 one born lord of all that is. He established the earth and the 

 sky ; — Who is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice ? 



2. He who gives life ; He who gives strength ; whose com- 

 mand all the bright Gods revere ; whose shadow is immortality ; 

 whose shadow is death ; — -Who is the God to whom we shall offer 

 our sacrifice ? 



3. He, who through his power is the one King of the breathing 

 and awakening world ; He who governs all, man and beast ; — Who is 

 the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice ? 



4. He, whose greatness these snowy mountains ; whose great- 

 ness the sea proclaims, with the distant river ; He, whose these 

 regions are as it were his two arms ; — Who is the God to whom we 

 shall offer our sacrifice ? 



5. He, through whom the sky is bright and the earth firm; He, 

 through whom the Heaven was established, nay, the highest Heaven ; 

 He who measured out the light in the air ; — Who is the God to 

 whom we shall offer our sacrifice ? 



6. He to whom heaven and earth, standing firm by his will, 

 look up, trembling inwardly. He over whom the rising sun 

 shines forth. Who is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice ? 



7. Wherever the mighty water clouds went, where they placed 

 the seed and lit the fire, thence arose He who is the sole life of the 

 bright Gods ; — Who is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrfice ? 



8. He who by His might looked even over the water clouds, 

 the clouds which gave strength and lit the sacrifice : He alone is 

 God above all gods ;~Who is the God to whom we shall offer our 

 sacrifice ? 



