l labor being
pleasurable, each kind in its degree is immoral and wicked. This sect,
which embraces many of the most holy and learned men, is rapidly spreading
and becoming a power in the state. It has, of course, no churches, for
these cannot be built without labor, and its members commonly dwell in
caves and live upon such roots and berries as can be easily gathered, of
which the country produces a great abundance though all are exceedingly
unpalatable. These _Gropoppsu_ (as the members of this sect call
themselves) pass most of their waking hours sitting in the sunshine with
folded hands, contemplating their navels; by the practice of which
austerity they hope to obtain as reward an eternity of hard labor after
death.

The Golampis are an essentially pious and religious race. There are few,
indeed, who do not profess at least one religion. They are nearly all, in
a certain sense, polytheists: they worship a supreme and beneficent deity
by one name or another, but all believe in the existence of a subordinate
and malevolent one, whom also, while solemnly execrating him in public
rites, they hold at heart in such reverence that needlessly to mention his
name or that of his dwelling is considered sin of a rank hardly inferior
to blasphemy. I am persuaded that this singular tenderness toward a being
whom their theology represents as an abominable monster, the origin of all
evil and the foe to souls, is a survival of an ancient propitiatory
adoration. Doubtless this wicked deity was once so feared that his
conciliation was one of the serious concerns of life. He is probably as
greatly feared now as at any former time, but is apparently less hated,
and is by some honestly admired.

It is interesting to observe the important place held in Golampian affairs
by religious persecution. The Government is a pure theocracy, all the
Ministers of State and the principal functionaries in every department of
control belonging to the priesthood of the dominant church. It is
popularly believed in Mogon-Zwair that persecution, even to the extent of
taking life, is in the long run beneficial to the cause enduring it. This
belief has, indeed, been crystallized into a popular proverb, not capable
of accurate translation into our tongue, but to the effect that martyrs
fertilize religion by pouring out their blood about its roots. Acting upon
this belief with their characteristically logical and conscientious
directness, the sacerdotal ruler