Entoans

“ Some are very dark complexioned, others less so, and here are two men and a woman, who are blue eyed, very fair complexioned, and they have the loveliest blonde hair, waving quite to their shoulders. I must say that of all the Entoans I have seen, not one could be called ill-favored, and very few less than handsome. Then their sincere and gentle expression, their nobility of carriage and pensive gravity of manner inspire me with both admiration and sympathy, especially so, since I have come to understand their hopeless religious belief. ”

“ To be told that in nearly all directions the Entoans are further advanced than are the peoples of Earth, and in a breath to bring you face to face with their extremely circumscribed and absurd religious ideas and beliefs, out of which have grown equally circumscribed and absurd notions relating to certain scientific matters, naturally, may occasion you to hesitate as to your acceptance of other statements we have made and others yet to follow. ”

“ The influences dominating the Entoans ever have tended toward a positive mental materialism, but their spirituality has conserved and exalted them, thus enabling them to submissively yield to the will of their Creator. ”

“ Previous to the building of the Temple, and for centuries afterward, the Entoans scarcely realized the increasing aridity of the soil of the equatorial countries. Thus while they gloried in and bore to the altars of their great and beautiful Temple their most valued possessions, the already greatly lowered mountains were growing less majestic, elevations imperceptibly were becoming levelled, valleys were being filled to the level of the plains, and flowing streams were being lost or diverted from their courses. The changes of centuries are as the long, long thoughts of the Infinite Mind. ”

“ You still express surprise, that the Entoans, physically, are formed as are we, and the peoples of our Planet. My dear madame, believe me, when I reiterate, that humans, no matter of what Planet, are essentially the same. Disabuse your mind, now, and for all time, of the idea, that necessarily, different Planets must produce entirely different expressions of life. ”

“ De L'Ester—Strictly speaking, the Entoans have but one language, which is spoken by all educated persons, but among what you might term the common people of different Provinces there are dialects and provincialisms, but not of a very marked character. Yes, all the peoples of Ento are, to a greater or lesser degree, educated. Nowhere on the planet does a condition approaching barbarism exist. In every community there are industrial and other schools, which the youthful Entoans are obliged to attend ”

“ Their civilization lapsed into chaotic conditions, their learned ones passed away, and thus to the Entoans a knowledge of facts was lost, which, when again presented, they will be prepared to accept.
Bruno—Already you have learned that in many directions Ento's scientific discoveries equal or surpass those of our own Planet. That art, in its various expressions, has attained surpassing excellence. That the luxuries and refinements of living are within the reach of all. That constant and untiring effort is being put forth to elevate the entire peoples. ”

“ Your continued surprise, at seeing on Ento much that corresponds with, or at least bears a resemblance to Earth forms, is so natural that we do not marvel at it; still, if you will bear in mind a fact we already have stated, that form is the expression of a universal principle, and that in conformity with the degree of his evolvement, man expresses it, you will cease to wonder that our next door neighbors, the Entoans, shape the keels of their vessels on the same lines as Earth's shipbuilders shape the keels of their vessels. Adaptation of means to ends is an expression of form. ”

“ Thus you perceive that the Entoans are not exceptional in not having evolved equally in all directions. Even after the establishment of our national religion, from time to time, daring and irreverent seekers after knowledge attempted to teach the people strange doctrines, subversive of established beliefs. One declared that the shining points in space were worlds like Ento and that Andûmana̤ having created them he perhaps also had peopled them as he had peopled Ento. And, heresy of heresies, one Sivonadas more than hinted that the children of Ento had evolved from lower life forms. ”

“ As the Entoans of the present are the result of the Entoans of the past, you may rest assured that their progenitors also used dugouts and bark canoes, and only through their larger accumulated experiences do they, in some directions, take precedence of their less mature Earth brethren, who, in time, will outgrow their youthfulness. ”

“ As the Dual man creature evolves into finer conditions the Ego, the Spiritual Self, is better able to manifest its higher attributes, thus, though the Entoans still observe the superstitious beliefs of their religion, Spiritually they have out [Pg 485] grown them, and at a fitting opportunity gladly they will discard them and quickly they will manifest that despite ancient usages, Priestly influences, fear of the Deific Ones and a lack of knowledge concerning the continuity of existence, they are a Spiritualized people. ”

“ In future we will speak of the Planet as Ento, and of its peoples as Entoans, and during our journeyings and investigations you will learn that on Ento there is a state of civilization and consequent culture quite in advance of that of our own immature Planet. ”

“ Compared with the gentle, civilized, unbelieving Entoans, we are uncivilized, believing savages. I no longer wonder that to the Spirit Worlds our Planet is known as the Sorrowful Star.
De L'Ester—Patience, patience, Gentola̤. Although the contrast between Ento's and Earth's social conditions is very marked, evolution means progress, and slowly, but surely, the peoples of our planet are emerging into higher conceptions of truth. Inevitably, a period will arrive when the surface of Earth will have become as level as is the surface of Ento. ”

“ If I say that those young men are practising with Indian clubs will I be greatly mistaken? How gracefully they handle the clubs and they, like their classmates, may be called handsome; but, somehow, I do not grow accustomed to the extraordinary size of the Entoans. ”

“ Zenesta Hao—Long have we of our Spirit World heard [Pg 257] of you as of one who, in the fullness of time, would aid in conveying to the Entoans an assurance of continuous existence. I offer to you the homage due to one who lovingly yields time, strength and an indulgence of personal aims for the welfare of others, and may the time quickly arrive when, through this mission, the darkness of certain conditions may be dispelled from the minds of the children of Ento. You have been informed of their pitiable despair which ever grows more unbearable ”

“ Try to understand that the vital, animating principle controlling all the activities of your physical body, is the immortal Self, the real Dano. Aside from certain of your Priests, but few Entoans are so highly sensitive as are you, who [Pg 273] soon readily will perceive wholly freed Spirits. Because that I still am connected with my physical body you see, hear, and feel the touch of my real Self, the Spirit woman. For the reason that your Spirit consciousness, which is self perception, is highly evolved, you are thus favored. ”

“ Zenesta Hao—As De L'Ester desires that I shall reply to your query, I shall say that with all Entoans merit is the measure of men and women. I have learned that on your planet official position confers honor and dignity upon an incumbent. On Ento it is the character and conduct of the incumbent that confers honor and dignity upon the office. On Ento official position is regarded as a trust, and woe be to the man or woman weak or wicked enough to betray it. ”

“ My four remaining years then, at Eton, formed, indeed, a dream of happiness.
When not otherwise particularly engaged, it was my delight, on the instant of coming out of school, or church, to fix my eyes on some distant object, and to start off for it, merely, I suppose, because it was out of bounds. Being constantly in the habit of this, I became acquainted with the localities of the neighbourhood, perhaps more accurately than any other boy at Eton. The two most distant points I ever reached, were Staines and the race-course at Ascot Heath. These excursions I ever undertook in solitude. ”

“ May those yet to come continue to bear the torch of Eton, handed down from distant generations, bravely aloft, whilst never ceasing to keep before their eyes the duty of delivering it to their successors, its flame bright and brilliant as of old. ”

“ I gradually arose from my trance to be conscious of the truth; and now even concluding it to be my duty to combat against the weakness, though in a joyless mood, I descended the ladder.
"Time and tide tarry for no man," and I think even less for me. The day had now come that I was to take leave of Keate and of Eton, and return to my father's house—and for what! ”

“ The contrast and contact, resulting from the sheer multitude of varying dispositions, refined by the gentlemanly tone of character indigenous to the college, afford advantages superior to all the rest put together.
There are three other prominent features in the economy of Eton, which I have touched on in former pages, namely, those of fagging, flogging, and attendance in church during the week days. ”

“ From very advanced ancient spirits of Ento and Earth we have learned of civilizations of both planets adorned by arts, sciences and social conditions of a high order, but of an antiquity so remote that, compared with them, the civilization of their time was more than crude, and the revelations of their Yohoida̤s and Tsûfa̤len (teachers of the divine mysteries) of Ento and those of the alchemists, astrologers and astronomers of Earth were as echoes of a dead past. Yes, it is a truth that there is nothing new under the sun. ”

“ It is not easy to separate my recollections of the Praed of Eton from those of the Praed of Cambridge. The Etonian of 1820 was natural and unaffected in his{16} talk, neither shy nor presuming; proud, without a tinge of vanity; somewhat reserved, but ever courteous; giving few indications of the susceptibility of the poet, but ample evidence of the laughing satirist; a pale and slight youth, who had looked upon the aspects of society with the keen perception of a clever manhood ”

“ Even these youths and maidens shall share in the splendor of Ento's religious freedom, which, like a radiant sun, shall dissipate the shadows of its long Spiritual night. When that long-hoped-for period shall have arrived, and Ento's peoples shall dare to investigate in all directions, they soon will arrive at correct conclusions concerning two sciences which to them are as unread books. Of astronomy they are ignorant, of geology nearly so, their religious beliefs deterring them from arriving at logical conclusions, lest they might incur the displeasure of Andûmana̤ and His Messengers. ”

“ A man of fine taste, he also possessed a large fund of vivacity and spirits, which, with his unvarying kindness, made him very popular among his pupils; indeed, only at Eton itself could there have been a more delightful life, regarded from the boyish point of view, than that which we led in those summer months, fishing, bathing, bird’s-nesting. ”

“ Omanos Fûnha̤, thou art favored beyond all men who ever have lived on Ento, for even in the hour of thy deepest anguish a joy hath come to thee, which henceforth shall fill thy days with blessedness and peace. Then hasten, oh, hasten to crown the days of the children of Ento with unlooked for gladness. Give to them the assurance that the old, hopeless faith is no more. ”

“ For, if it be true of schoolboys that “thought would destroy their paradise”—that is, the thought merely of the personal ailments of mature age—how much more disturbing would be the contemplation of the vast social wrongs that fill the world with suffering! Of such sombre thought Eton knew nothing, but basked content in the warmth of her own supreme self-satisfaction; and the Eton life was probably the most enjoyable of all hitherto invented forms of heedless existence. ”

“ I found it very difficult to settle the title of my book. Should it be the stately “Life of Peregrine Courtenay, Esq., of the College of Eton, foolscap octavo”? or should it be the quaint “Notice of a Gentleman who has left Long Chamber?” or should it be the concise and attractive “Peregriniana”? It was a weighty affair; and I abandoned the design before I could settle the point. For I at last began to believe, my public, that this is all of which you ought to be informed—that I have lived long at Eton, and that have I edited the Etonian ”

“ Peona of the woods!–Can she endure–
Impossible–how dearly they embrace!810
His lady smiles; delight is in her face;
Endymion, weep not so! Why shouldst thou pine
When all great Latmos so exalt will be?
Thank the great gods, and look not bitterly;
And speak not one pale word, and sigh no more. ”

“ Eton ranks, manfully and stoutly, for a whole year, are first seasoned with salt and then separately described in little poems which must be as salted and graceful as possible. Next, they make epigrams against the new boys, one vying with another to surpass in all elegance of speech and in witticisms. Whatever comes to the lips may be uttered freely so long as it is in Latin, courteous, and free from scurrility. ”

“ Alas! art is extinct here; the wonders of nature alone remain; and it was with vast pleasure I observed those of mount Etna, whose flame appears very bright in the night many leagues off at sea, and fills the head with a thousand conjectures. However, I honour philosophy too much, to imagine it could turn that of Empedocles ”