The new North-west., 1888-10-05

RISES HIGHER AND HIGHER.
Ne-t, lie crosses his arms upon his breast,
with the outstretched fingers almost touching
the opposite shoulders, and SO bows three
times. Then he returns to tho first position
and bows three times more in tho original
way. After that he may, or may not &C
cording to his own knowledge of his spiritual
requirements, bow twice moro in tho second
fashion and perhaps twice again as at first
Whilo he is doing all this he is mentally
praying, either putting special petitions
suited to his requirements before the Deity
for consideration, or repeating ono or more
of the 200 formulated prayers prescribed by
the priests, many of them said to be far
moro ancient than tho Christian religion.
Here is free trans alton of ono that is said
to be more than {, 900 years old, and is yet
one of those in commonest use today:
"Oh, God! accept my love. Forgive my
misleeds, Of the body and the thought.
Bless me, and my family, and my ancestors,
and those / love, and all who love thee.
Bless those who love thee not and bless
those who know thee not. Give unto me
q happy future and cali mo as thy child
when all things are past. And bring about
the time when thou shalt be with us. Amen"
And here is one Of their little prayers that
CONVEYS the ideas of reincarnation and
karnla:
"Ohl Lord, thank thee that have grown
through SO many lives to be man and
thence to be myself. I pray thee that my
good deeds may hold me up in other lives
and that thou wilt assist me in my growth
until reach thee in the end"
Finally, hero is one with which the wor-
shiper may close his devotions, as simple,
trustful and beautiful as any child's prayer
ever was: ..-
"Ohl Lord, now I lay me down to sleep.
Keep away from me all diseases and all
dragons, and so fill my soul with thy good
ness that when I awake shall be better
man."
But before arriving at that point, when he
las sacrificed, made his obeisances and said
his prayers, the worshiper-especially in
these troublous times-wiu want to look into
be future. Quong- Tai Gong, if his adora-
Ions have been acceptable, will aid him. On
the altar stands deep cylindrical bamboo
vase, handsomely lacquered. In 1t are stand
ing upon end many very thin long strips OF
bamboo that do not quite reach to its top.
Sometimes there arc not more than W or lOo
of these strips, but there shoald be 3OO. With
the latter number one has an oracle that
amounts to something. He who inquiries OF
shakes it with rotary movement. AS he
docs so one of tie Slender bamboo strips de-
taches itself from the mass and with steady
movement, as if it really meant it, rises
higher and higher, until it is ready to fall to
the ground, and doubtless would do so It tho
shaking were continued. The theory is that
amagnetism n from tho soul Of tho earnest in
ouirer. especially when he has just been puri-
fed by prayer, acts upon the bits OF bamboo
md causes them to be receptive Of the
spiritual power that selects tho particu-
lar one that points out truthful
answer to the question that is domi-
nant in tho mind OF him who
holds tho vase. Each Of the strips bears
number and that number is affixed to SEN
tenco in the Book Of Fate-a volume that lies
from the shrine. A priest generally takes
tho strip, hunts I'D the sentence it indicates
and reads it to the worshiper. 1t is supposed
that those sentences reply, in all possible
ways. to all serious questions concerning
life that can be asked ana saH}ng goe mso CON- CON-
str,ction of some Of them, they probably
do-more or less. ..4,
Chinan,en have nm immense deal of faith
in this method of divination, and majority
have been informed that The ley ev,i day Is
not nigh" !. H. OoNNkAAa'
Tho British Navy.
While the Americans have "gone through
their sweat" and their naval department. is
now doing some excellent work, the British !
are aenjoying" one Of their regular panics
about invasion, and this time apparently
With some reason. They have lately COM
n,eted tho most stupendous experiment ever
tried in naval maneuvers-a snam bat1de on
scale involving almost tho entire circuit OF
the British isles. They divided their entire
navy into two squadrons, one tor attack, the
other for defense, and arranged for rules by
which any vessel should DO considered as dls,
abled Thus, vessel within range q slgnted
guns for given length OF time ssocld DC
with soft ends,
which would break
4 off by contact; SIM