What Philately Teaches Part 5

In the mean time the 20 cash stamps had arrived and, not needing provisionals of that value, he restored them to their original value by the second surcharge, "100 cash."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Stamp, 1 penny, surcharged "Cyprus", 30 paras]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Stamp, "Antigua", surcharged "Montserrat"]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Stamp, "Bermuda", surcharged "Gilbraltar"]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Stamp, "Straits Settlement", surcharged "Perak"]

This group ill.u.s.trates stamps of one country or state surcharged for use in another. For a long time Cyprus was supplied by overprinting the stamps of Great Britain. In like manner Montserrat was surcharged on Antigua stamps, Gibraltar on Bermuda and Perak on the Straits Settlements. In the case of Gibraltar some of the stamps were printed in other colors than were used in Bermuda. The colony of Eritrea has always been supplied by overprinting the Italian stamps.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fives]

In 1883 a large quant.i.ty of stamps were stolen in Cuba and to prevent their being used the remaining stock were overprinted with the devices shown here. These were the _cliches_ used to print the control numbers on the tickets of the Havana lottery.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Stamp, "Z. Afr. Republiek", 1 penny, surcharged "Transvaal"]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Stamp, "Transvaal Postage", 6 pence, surcharged "Z.A.R", 2 pence]

Sometimes surcharges are the outcome of historic events or are at least suggestive of such. The first stamp in this group is one of the crude products of the South African Republic, which was surcharged during the British occupation of the country. The second is a stamp issued during the same occupation and surcharged after the Boers again came into power. The Chilian coat of arms on the stamps of Peru tells its own story of war and invasion. Lastly we have a stamp of Fiji on which the initials "C.R.", Cakambau Rex, are overprinted with the "V.R." of the Queen of England.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Stamp, "Correos del Peru", 1 centavo]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Stamp, "Fiji", surcharched "V.R."]

During the Carlist insurrection in Spain, the stamps of France, surcharged with a _fleur de lys_ surrounded by a five-rayed star, were used by Don Carlos to frank his correspondence across the frontier into France. These stamps were in use for only a brief period, pending the preparation and issue of the Carlist stamps.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Stamp, Poland]

It may be remarked that there are many suggestions of history in stamps that are not surcharged. The succession of portraits and other devices in the issues of a country is often eloquent of the march of great events, and there is a touch of pathos in Poland's solitary stamp.

Finally, I wish to call your attention to a few stamps which tell most interesting stones, and which have a touch of mysticism and symbolism, which is not of to-day.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Stamp, "Correos Mexico", real]

The coat of arms of Mexico has its origin in the distant past. General Lew Wallace says in his historical romance the _Fair G.o.d_: "The site of the city of Tenocht.i.tlan was chosen by the G.o.ds. In the south-western border of Lake Tezcuco, one morning in 1300, a wandering tribe of Aztecs saw an eagle perched, with outspread wings, upon a cactus, and holding a serpent in its talons. At a word from their priests, they took possession of the marsh and there stayed their migration and founded the city; such is the tradition. As men love to trace their descent back to some stoned greatness, nations delight to a.s.sociate the G.o.ds with their origin."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Stamp, Persia]

Many stamps of Persia bear the lion and the sun, the arms of the country and the insignia of its highest order of n.o.bility. It is the lion of Iran, holding in its paw the sceptre of the Khora.s.san while behind it s.h.i.+nes the sun of Darius. There is a legend concerning the latter symbol to the effect that Darius, hunting in the desert, threw his spear at a lion and missed. The beast crouched to spring, when the sun, s.h.i.+ning on a talisman on Darius' breast, so overpowered it that it came fawning to his feet and followed him back to the city. And for this reason the sun became part of the arms of the kingdom. But I think we may look further than this and find in it a relic of the ancient fire wors.h.i.+p and of oriental pretentions to power over heaven and earth.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Stamp, Egypt, 5 para]

How much of Egypt's myths and splendors are here depicted; the temple column called Pompey's pillar, the obelisk of Luxor, the mighty pyramids, last of all the sphynx, that fabled creature with the face of a woman, the body of a tigress and the heart of both. In fancy we can see her, crouched on a rock beside the great highway to Thebes, propounding her fatal riddle to the bewildered pa.s.sers by, till Oedipus shall come.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Stamp, Turkey]

On the stamps and coins of Turkey we miss the portrait of the reigning sovereign, which we find on such issues of most monarchies. This is due to a law of Mohammed, which forbids the reproduction of the human figure. On the stamps we find the crescent, said to have been the emblem of the Byzantine empire and adopted by the Turks after the fall of Constantinople. We also find an elaborate device called the Toughra or signature of the Sultan. It owes its origin to the Sultan Murad I, a liberal sovereign and founder of many schools and inst.i.tutions of learning but unable to write his own name. He signed imperial decrees by dipping his fingers in ink and placing them on the doc.u.ments with three fingers close together and the little finger and thumb extended. In course of time this was adopted and, so to speak, consecrated as the signature of the Sultan. It was also elaborated and arranged to form a written phrase, while preserving, in a general way, its original form.

The toughra contains certain characters which are permanent and minor ones which change. The latter are the names of the sovereign and his father. Thus the toughra which we ill.u.s.trate reads: "His Majesty Abdul Hamid, son of Mejid, may he be always victorious." The small inscription at the side reads "_el ghazi_," the victorious, one of the t.i.tles of the Sultan. The toughra is often referred to as the hand. In an article published in 1867 I find the following on this subject:

[Ill.u.s.tration: [Arabic: El Ghazi]]

"The hand has to Mussulmen three mystic significations; it denotes providence; it is the expression of law; and thirdly, of power; it restores the courage of the faithful and strikes terror to the hearts of their enemies.

"As an emblem of law, the Mussulman thus explains the meaning of the hand. It has five fingers, each, with the exception of the thumb, having three joints, all the fingers are subordinate to the unity of the hand, their common foundation. The five fundamental precepts of the law are: 1st--Belief in G.o.d and his prophet. 2nd--Prayer. 3rd--Giving alms.

4th--Fasting during the sacred months and at the appointed times.

5th--Visiting the temples of Mecca and Medina. Each of these precepts admits of three divisions, except the first, symbolized by the thumb, which has only two, _heart_ and _work_. These dogmas and their modifications have for their source the central doctrine of the unity of G.o.d; and all the creed of Mohametanism is contained in the hand,--the five fingers and their forty joints.

"The hand placed above the gates of the Alhambra, upon the Sultan's seal, and upon the stamps, symbolises the spiritual and temporal power which protects the good and the faithful and punishes their adversaries."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Stamp, "Korea", 5 Poon]

This stamp is from Corea, the Land of the Morning Calm. In the corners are the plum blossom, the royal flower of the present dynasty which has existed over 500 years. In the four corners of the central square are letters taken from the original alphabet of all languages and representing the four spirits that stand at the four corners of the earth and support it on their shoulders. The central device is an ancient Chinese symbol which represents the dual principle in nature, the male and the female, the beginning and the end, the union of all opposite forces, of which the highest product is man. This symbol pervades all oriental art and thought. Those of you who have seen Vedder's ill.u.s.trations of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam will remember the ever recurring swirl which "represents the gradual concentration of the elements that combine to form life; the sudden pause through the reverse of the movement that marks the instant of life, and then the gradual, ever-widening dispersion again of these elements into s.p.a.ce." The swirl is only another form of the Chinese symbol.

A postage stamp is a tiny thing but it holds in its pictured s.p.a.ce thoughts that embrace the beginning and the end of things, life, death and--we know not what.

[Ill.u.s.tration]