Short time previous to my visit, however, the government had
restored the two keys to the natives with great solemnities, and
they are now confided to one of the native Radschas, or princes.
The relic itself is only shown to a prince or some other great
personage; all other people must be content to believe the priest,
who, for a small gratuity, has the politeness to describe the size
and beauty of the tooth. The dazzling whiteness of its hue is said
to eclipse that of ivory, while its form is described as being more
beautiful than anything of the kind ever beheld, and its size to
equal that of the tooth of an immense bullock.
An immense number of pilgrims come here every year to pay their
adoration to this divine tooth.
"Where ignorance is bliss, 't is folly to be wise." How many people
are there among us Christians who believe things which require quite
as great an amount of faith? For instance, I remember witnessing,
when I was a girl, a festival at Calvaria, in Gallicia, which is
still celebrated every year. A great multitude of pilgrims go there
to obtain splinters of the true cross. The priests manufacture
little crosses of wax, on which, as they assure the faithful, they
stick splinters of the real one.
