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| item =1
| item =1
| type = article
| type = article
| status = wanted
| status = proofread
| continues = 151
| continues = 151
| author =Peebles J.M.
| author =Peebles J.M.
| subtitle =
| subtitle =
| untitled =
| untitled =
| source title = Spiritualist, The
| source title = London Spiritualist
| source details = Jan. 18, 1878
| source details = No. 282, January 18, 1878, pp. 26-7
| publication date = 1878-01-18
| publication date = 1878-01-18
| original date =
| original date =
}}
}}
...
{{Style S-Small capitals|Among}} several distinguished men of Colombo may be named the Hon. James Alwis, a member of the Legislative Council, a Jurist, a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society, and author of several books. Though a native Singhalese and Buddhist by birth, he was educated a Christian, and is connected with the English Church. During an afternoon’s conversation with this gentleman under the portico of his palatial residence, I took the opportunity of questioning him concerning the present position of Buddhism, the nature of the Veddahs, and the prevalence of Oriental occultism. It was a rich mine that I struck.
Here are some of the specimens:—
“Is Buddhism declining, or dying out, upon the island?”
“It is not, I am sorry to say. On the contrary, the Buddhists are repairing some of their temples; and within a few years some of the priests have become aggressive, gaining ground previously lost.”
“Are the ‘priests all grossly ignorant,’ as a returned missionary recently said at a public meeting in London?”
“Taking as a standard the physical sciences, and literature as found in English universities, many of the priests are decidedly illiterate, devoting themselves entirely to their religion. Others, again, are not only really learned, but exceedingly shrewd and capable.”
“Are Buddhists naturally superstitious?”
“Decidedly so. They believe in omens, signs, spells, demons, premonitions, and astrology. They nearly all have their horoscopes cast, soon after birth, to know what profession or business they are best designed for, and what their general destiny is to be. Some have them recast frequently, that they may know what to expect each month and day of the month.”
Gathering from this reply and other remarks that he had some considerable faith in astrology, I made bold to ask—
“Have ''you ''any faith, sir, in what here in the East is termed astrology?”
“I have, although recently my faith has been a little shaken; still, I must admit that I have had wonderful things foretold me by astrologists. I remember that once my consulting astrologist, pointing to a bad combination of planets on a certain day of a future month, warned me to be cautious on that day, and remain at home. But in the multiplicity of legal matters the words of warning, though noted down at the time, had entirely slipped from my memory. . .. Riding in my carriage on the afternoon of that day, the horse sprang, and I felt as though a thunderbolt struck my head. I was at once insensible. The horse had taken fright, and in an instant, seemingly, the carriage was upset, and I was thrown into the ditch, severely injured, and taken up for dead.... I blamed myself, for I had been fully warned of the unfortunate day. Facts of this and of a similar character are almost innumerable in this country.”
“It is my intention, when reaching Kandy, to go still further into the country to see the Veddahs—that tribe reported to be too low in the scale of beings to laugh. Have you ever seen them, sir?”
“Oh, yes; they are a very low, wild people—the aborigines probably—who reached this island in remote antiquity from the extreme south of India. But of this there is no certainty. It is not true that they ‘never laugh,’ and have ‘no notion of music.’ I have seen them laugh, and they have a knowledge of such music as corresponds to their own wild, uncultivated natures…. By going out to see the Veddahs you may see something of polyandria — one woman married to several husbands.... It is still practised to some extent, and occasionally comes into the law courts in connection with estates.”…
“Are you acquainted with, or have you witnessed anything relating to Spiritualism?”
“If you will define what you mean by Spiritualism, perhaps I shall be able to answer you more intelligibly.”
“Spiritualism implies a belief in the Infinite Spirit, and a conscious intercourse with spirits—that is, the spirits of mortals called dead.”
“Oh, if that is what you denominate Spiritualism, doubtless a great majority of Asiatic people are Spiritualists. It enters in some form into nearly all the concerns of life, secular and religious. I could relate many accounts of spirits returning into our midst.”
“Will you do me the favour of putting some of them into writing, that I may from time to time use them?”
“I shall take great pleasure in so doing.”
The following is the first of these written statements:—
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<gallery widths=300px heights=300px>
london_spiritualist_n.282_1878-01-18.pdf|page=4|London Spiritualist, No. 282, January 18, 1878, pp. 26-7
</gallery>