self and to whom all finally return. In the same way, it would seem that Nanak in no way denied the existence of the lower deities of the Hindu mythology; or the poetic pantheism on which his belief in the one supreme God was based could hardly exist without the symbolism which inspired all nature with life, and found a spiritual force behind and within every manifestation of natural energy. Yet all such deities he asserted to be indifferent and unworthy of regard, much as the early preachers of Christianity treated the gods of Greece and Rome, in whose existence they believed, but whose dominion was to be overthrown by Christ. Idolatry he condemned, asserting that the service pleasing to the Deity was that of the heart: neither vain ceremonies nor the austerities which the Hindu ascetics had been wont to consider as the key which unlocked the highest and most secret mysteries, but a pure, unselfish life, a faith in God revealed through the instrumentality of the appointed Guru, or spiritual guide. Charity and good works were commendable and the worthy fruits of an unselfish life; but they were not of themselves sufficient to release the soul from its bondage to sense and illusion, or to save it from transmigration, the ever-present dread of the Hindu, or to insure its reunion with God. These results could only be attained by meditation on God and through the saving grace of His name.

Although Nanak claimed to be a prophet, he did not assert that he was inspired or possessed of

miraculous powers, though these were freely ascribed to him by his disciples, both during his lifetime and after his death. But he magnified his office of Guru into that of an intermediary between man and God, and blind obedience to the Guru was enjoined as an essential article of faith. The Guru's saving power was such that contact with him brought salvation to the most criminal. In short, the virtue of the Guru was supreme; and although Nanak himself claimed no special sanctity, but spoke of himself as an ignorant and sinful man, yet the Gurus who succeeded him, and who possessed more ambition and less piety, were virtually deified by their followers; and the worship of the Guru and the surrender to him of the wealth, the honor, and the life of his followers, became as grievous a burden to the Sikh community as the yoke of the Brahmins had been.

The doctrine of transmigration of souls was common to Sikhism, Hinduism, and Buddhism-the belief in the continued existence of the soul, through countless changes into various forms of animal and human existences, until, by the virtue of the Guru and the saving power of the name of God, final emancipation was attained and absorption into the Supreme, when individuality ended. This practical annihilation, which the loss of individuality signifies to the less subtle fancy of Europeans, was the chief object of the religious strivings of the Sikh or Hindu, and it was the reward of virtue and of faith in God. It was thus from a different

standpoint that life and death were regarded by Eastern and Western thinkers. To the former life is a burden from which the soul should seek release in forgetfulness and darkness; to the latter, the idea of a happy immortality, as the reward for a virtuous earthly life, is the one thought which permits life to be borne with cheerfulness and death faced with equanimity. But the troubles and enigmas which have confused and perplexed many Christian communities found their exact counterpart in Sikhism. There was the same conflict between predestination, election, and free will. The sacred name was only communicated by the Guru to him upon whose forehead had been imprinted, from the beginning, the sign which designated him as one of the elect. Destiny was absolute and supreme. Man was represented as a puppet, whom the Master made to dance as it pleased Him. In every breast, goodness, passion, or darkness was predominant, and human actions were necessarily the result of the influence that swayed them. Illusion had been spread around all earthly things; man was deceived by a power above and without him; and he was irresponsible, seeing that the impulse of his conduct was beyond his control. It was hopeless to attempt to reconcile the doctrines of predestination and free will, the choice of good or evil, and a system of rewards and punishments with the fixed decree of an unchanging destiny; and the attempt was probably made in order to account for the inequalities, the sorrow, and suf

fering of human life, the perplexity of which had lain at the root of the Hindu doctrine of the transmigration of souls.

It is not possible here to discuss the dogmas of Sikhism as expounded by Nanak in more detail. He was a true prophet, and accomplished worthily an exalted mission. His system, like all systems, had many imperfections; and chief of them were those which equally belonged to Calvinism, in the substitution of one tyranny for another, and the overshadowing of all human joy by a predestined lot which no faith or virtue could modify. But the good far outweighed the evil. Nanak taught the wisdom and omnipotence of one supreme God, and the equality of all men, of whatever race or creed, in His sight; purity of life, charity, humility, and temperance. He enjoined kindness to animals, and forbade both female infanticide and the burning of widows. He condemned idolatry and asceticism, and preached the wholesome doctrine that the state of the worker and householder was the most honorable condition, and that, to find God and serve Him, it was not necessary to practise austerities or retire from active life. His object, in which he largely succeeded, was to purge Hinduism of the dross which had gathered about it; to lift it from the slough of polytheism and vain ceremonial in which it was choked, and to bring it back to the firm ground and the pure air of the Vedas. His mission, at the close of the fifteenth century, was the same

as that of Raja Lal Mohan Roy and Keshab Chandar Sen in the nineteenth; but his originality was the greater, for his impulse was not, like theirs, the necessary result of contact with European culture and modes of thought, which are largely and beneficially affecting Hinduism. The missionary teaching of Christianity affects educated Hindus little if at all; but the science and literature of the West are playing an important part in purifying Hinduism of its materialism, and bringing it back to its ancient monotheism, or to that state of suspension of judgment which is somewhat inadequately designated agnosticism.

The successors of Nanak, who held the Guruship from 1538 to 1675 A.D., were of far inferior capacity and disinterestedness, and do not require much mention. It was the fourth Guru, Ram Das, who founded the famous city of Amritsar, and built the Golden Temple in the middle of the Tank of Nectar, thus giving to the Sikh people a centre for worship; while Arjan, the fifth Guru, systematized the theocracy, collected taxes, and assumed something of the state of a secular ruler. His death was due to the tyranny of the Mohammedan government, which then, from its capital of Delhi, ruled the greater part of the Indian peninsula; and from that date, 1606 A.D., commenced an obstinate quarrel between Sikhs and Mohammedans, which continued until, in the general crush of the Mogul Empire, at the beginning of the present century, the former seized supreme