96 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
mysteries are in honour of God ; and if dark-minded,, 
ignorant people cannot comprehend their signification, 
who is to be blamed ? Every man is sensible that it 
is indispensably our duty to praise our benefactor, 
and consequently it is incumbent on us to praise this 
Diffuser of bounty, — the Fountain of light ! And 
more especially behoveth it princes so to do, seeing 
that this sovereign of the heavens sheddeth his benign 
influence upon the monarchs of the earth. 
His majesty has also great veneration for fire in 
general, and for lamps, since they are to be accounted 
rays of the greater light. He is ever sparing of the 
lives of offenders, wishing to bestow happiness upon all 
his subjects. He abstains much from flesh, so that 
whole months pass away without his touching any 
animal food. He takes no delight in sensual gratifi- 
cations, and in the course of twenty-four hours never 
makes more than one meal. He spends the whole 
day and night in the performance of his necessary 
avocations, excepting the small portion required for 
sleep. He takes a little repose in the evening, and 
again for a short time in the morning. The greater 
part of the night is employed in the transaction of 
business. To the royal privacy are then admitted 
philosophers, and virtuous Sufees, who seat themselves 
and entertain his Majesty with wise discourses. On 
these occasions his Majesty fathoms the depths of 
knowledge, examines the value of ancient institutions, 
and forms new regulations, that the aged may stand 
corrected in their errors, and the rising generation be 
provided with fit rules for governing their conduct. 
There are also present at these assemblies, learned 
