raeli) had obtained such full possession of the minds of those accustomed to watch those matters, that even superior power scarcely received its due meed of respect when at intervals it was displayed, but was postponed in the general estimation to the claims of unambitious but consistent dulness. Time alone will remove this ridiculous, but provoking prejudice. It is fast giving way already. Carry back the imagination six or seven years. You are walking down to the House of Commons, looking inquiringly in the stream of horsemen and pedestrians that flows continuously towards St. Stephen's between the hours of four and five, for the notables of the day. Some one strides rapidly towards you in the distance. Heavens, at what a rate he walks! Nearer he comes. He must be somebody; but you will scarce have time to take a steady view, ere he will shoot past you. Has he something on his mind, that those two large, wide-open eyes stare so fixedly on vacancy, half-starting from their sockets? Or is it only that he will tie his white cravat so tight that his full round face and toppling hat look like a large thistle on its fragile stem? And why stalketh he on (unmindful of the July sun!) with that blank, fixed look, as of unutterable pain? Is he possessed? Hath he a demon? or a steam leg? or thinketh he that he bestrides a velocipede? No sign! On, on! the figure comes, Old-Hamlet-like, but t'other way; and with a sharp, quick noise of iron heels. Another instant and it has whisked by you; disappeared, past the tall Hibernian porter, through the little door of the House of Commons: a brief but startling apparition of two eyes, a flushed face (which you think you must have seen before, or something very like ing to some "ditty of no tone." Positively, if the Speaker does not call upon him soon he will pirouette with airy bound along the floor, and come down with an à plomb upon the table. Ah! he is at last released from pain -the pain of standing still. He trips gracefully up to the gentlemen in wigs, the Speaker's deputies in martyrdom, delivers his papers, and drops into his seat; for (it is six years ago) he is in office-high in office; and to-night he is to introduce to the house one of the Whig mea sures for the conciliation of Ireland. A little later and our tantalising friend rises to speak, standing at the table with his ministerial despatchbox before him, a mountain of papers, and two oranges snug in a corner-awful symptoms of a long speech. Now you have a moment to study his countenance. Surely it is familiar to you! Did you, in the old days, visit the Haymarket Theatre? Did you ever see the Great Retired as Apollo Belvi? Do you ever ponder on the graphic works of our great limner-satirist, the mysterious "H. B.," he who foreshadows political events, grasping their hidden causes, or seizing on their ridiculous aspects, with such wondrous sagacity and wit? No; nor have you, to your knowledge, ever seen Lord Morpeth before. Yet you know those lineaments! Sir, it is the other face you are thinking of. He has begun to speak. He has delivered an ambitious exordium, stilted and high-flown in language, but elevated and generous in senti rather harshly ment. His voice high in its tone, and too uniform in its sound. But there is vigour and earnestness, and here and there a touch of manly feeling that almost startles by its contrast with the odd, overgrown-boyish, yet not unprepos it), a fawn-like figure with tapering sessing, figure and manner. The ac legs, in a swallow-tailed coat, and faultless inexpressibles! Having made your way into the strangers' gallery, by means of an order, you are observing the different great men of the day. There he is! standing by the side of a little green table near the bar, with papers in his hand, waiting to catch the Speaker's eye. How restless the light, graceful figure is! Is he going to dance? The feet seem as if mov tion, also, is too formal, it has too much of the schools; and there is altogether an artificial and ambitious effort at eloquence, that makes one wish Lord Morpeth would trust more to his own unfettered impulses, and not so much to the lessons he has learned of some elocution - master, who has tried to teach him what never yet was taught, and never will be. The style is too much that of the "young gentlemen's academies" on examination-day. But the more you hear, the more you like both the speaker and the sentiments: in spite of all his peculiarities he has warmed you up. If you don't think with him, at least you feel with him. You have forgotten, too, the little traits of the ludicrous, in the palpable moral integrity of the man before you, instinct with a consciousness of the deep responsibilities of his exalted rank and station. Such was the Lord Morpeth of 1840. To come at the Lord Morpeth of 1846, you have but to soften down the ludicrous ideas, and extend the influence of those which are associated with respect for high moral and intellectual qualities. Five years, while they have added some silver to the grey hair which it seems is the hereditary peculiarity of his family, have smoothed off many of the angularities and strengthened the tone of his mind. His language, still ambitious, is less inflated, his manner less bombastic, his style generally more finished. He is certainly developing, not, perhaps, into a great orator, but at all events into a powerful and accomplished speaker, with great sway over the feelings of his auditory. There are in him the materials of a statesman, but of a statesman in whom the good rather than the great will predominate. Contrasted with Earl Grey, he gains by the comparison. Although the former had the start of him in official life, he is equally, if not more efficient, from his greater patience and amenity. Lord Morpeth never excites bitterness of feeling; Lord Grey does. With equal honesty of purpose, he takes circumstances more into view, and does not run counter to public feeling where no good, but rather harm, would ensue. He takes broader views, more germane to the great object of all statesmanship and legislation, than the strict logical conclusions of Earl Grey. He reasons to a great extent through his feelings; Lord Grey subdues all feeling to the harsh necessities of experimental policy. The one gives the rein in a great measure to his sympathies, feeling that they will not lead him far wrong with the other, to think, to reason, to prove, is to be wise; he sets up the wisdom of man's limited capacity above that higher wisdom which is based on our moral instincts. The one warms, inspires you; the other convinces, perhaps, but chills. The one makes the (untried) principles of modern political economists subservient to general policy and the wants of human nature; the other has a cast-iron mould for all things. The one would expand legislation as far as possible, trusting much to the good old forms in which the English nation has grown up; the other would centralise, and, by centralising, paralyse. The one trusts, perhaps, a little too much to the heart; but certainly the other depends too entirely on the head. It almost follows that the one should be more popular than the other, at least, so is the fact. Both, no doubt, deserve credit for good intentions. Their future carcer will be, at no very great distance of time, perhaps, again side by side. It is to be hoped that neither the popular sympathies of Lord Morpeth, nor the personal ambition of Earl Grey, will lead them to disregard or undervalue the dangers to which their own character as statesmen and the welfare of their country will be exposed, if they too readily yield, on insufficient grounds, to the "pressure from without." THE SIKHS-THEIR RISE AND PROGRESS. THE founder of the sect by whom, under the denomination of Sikhs, the Punjaub has for half a century been governed, and to a great extent inhabited, was Nanac Shah, a Hindu of the tribe of Vedi, in the Chastrya caste. He was born in the year of Christ 1469, at a village called Talwandi, in the district of Bhatti, and province of Lahore; and from his earliest years is described as devoting himself to the study of truth, and to the contemplation of the Supreme Being. Many marvellous stories are told of him, of course, which all resolve themselves into this: that becoming satisfied of the many absurdities that abound in the popular belief of his countrymen, and discrediting the fables with which Mahommedanism is overspread, he not only adopted as his own creed a pure Theism, but did his best by persuasion and argument to bring others to the same way of thinking. Nanac, however, appears to have been a wise, as well as righteous reformer. He assumed, and with justice, that in the religions both of the Hindus and the Moslems, there was a common foundation of truth. He disavowed, therefore, every thing like an intention to root out either system; but sought to reconcile the disciples of each to reason, and to one another, by inviting them equally to return to the pure and simple faith from which both had been induced to stray. Accordingly he interfered but little with the usages of common life to which those with whom he conversed were accustomed. He endeavoured, indeed, to break down among Hindus the religious distinctions of caste, by proclaiming wherever he went that in the sight of God all men were equal. And on the other hand, he invited the Ma ity of writers of acknowledged weight on both sides, to impress upon Hindus and Mahommedans alike, a belief in the unity of the Godhead; while in their dealings one with another he inculcated love of toleration and an abhorrence of war; and his life was as peaceable as his doctrines. The opinions of Nanac had gained so much ground while he lived, that at his death Guru Angard, his suc cessor, found himself at the head of a numerous and continually increasing party. Like the founder of the sect, Angard was a teacher of reverence and devotion towards one God, and universal peace among men; neither does any change appear to have been introduced into the Sikh tenets, till persecution and wrong drove a people benevolent in principle to gird on the sword, which they have never since laid aside. The outrage in question befel in 1606, when Argun-mal, Guru or chief teacher of the body, excited the jealousy of the Mohammedan rulers of the province, and was put to death. He had, by collecting the sacred treatises of his predecessors into a volume, and blending with them his own views on various important points, given a consistency and form to the religion of the Sikhs, such as it had not previously been seen to possess. And the dominant party taking the alarm, and as tradition records, having their bad passions ministered to by a rival, caused Argun to be cast into prison, where he died. Argun left a son, Nar Govind by name, who, though young, possessed both talent and energy of character, and who succeeding to the chiefship, gave at once and for ever a new turn to the tastes and feelings of his hommedans to abstain from practises, followers. He put arms into their such as the slaughter of the cow, which were offensive to the prejudices of their neighbours; but beyond these limits he never ventured. Nanac's teaching was simple, gracious, and therefore sublime. Ile endeavoured with all the power of his own genius, aided by the author hands, and in the name of a religion war with of peace waged implacable the persecutors. He likewise so far broke in upon the ordinary habits of his people, that he permitted them to eat the flesh of all animals except the cow; thus marking his hatred of the Mahommedans by sanctioning the use of swines'-flesh, which, though esteemed by the lower tribes of Hindus, is to the Moslem an abomination. Nar Govind is said to have worn in his girdle two swords; and being asked why he did so, made answer, "One is to avenge the death of my father, the other to destroy the miracles of Mahommed." Tegh Behadur suffered a violent death, and his son Guru Govind, cherished an implacable hatred of the murderers. Circumstances, moreover, favoured him more than they had done his warlike predecessor and namesake; and he took full advantage of them. He made his first appearance at the head of an armed band among the hills of Serinagar; and when forced by superior numbers to abandon that theatre of operation, he repaired to the Punjaub, where a Hindu chief, in active rebellion against the government, welcomed him gladly. He was put in possession of Mak-haval, a town on the Sutlej, and of the villages dependant upon it, and set up forthwith for a prince as well as a highpriest. Crowds of warriors gathered round his standard, and he gained over converts to his religious opinions from day to day. All these he encouraged to devote themselves to steel, by carrying arms constantly about them, and using them freely. He would admit of no avenue to advancement except personal merit. He changed the name of the sect from Sikh to Singh, that is, Lion; and conferring upon all his followers alike the title which heretofore only the Rajaputs had borne, taught them to aspire after a similar military reputation, and to achieve it. He it was who commanded the Sikhs to wear blue dresses, and not to cut the hair either of their heads or beards. Like Argunmal, he was an author as well as a soldier; for he added to the AdeGrant'h of the former his own not less sacred volume, called the Podshah Ka-Grant'h, or book of the Tenth King, a title which he boldly assumed to himself, because he was the tenth Guru, or spiritual chief, from Nanac. Five sons survived Argun, of whom two died without descendants; two more were driven to the mountains by the persecutions of the Mahommedans; while the fifth, his eldest, died before his father, leaving two sons, Daharmal and Nar Ray. The latter succeeded his grandfather in 1644, and owing, probably, to the vigour of Arungzebes' government, passed his days in peace. But in 1661, the year of his deceasc, a violent contest arose about the succession, which was referred to Delhi, and by the imperial court sent back again to be decided by the free votes of the Sikhs themselves. For as yet, it is worthy of remark, that the influence of the chief was purely spiritual. He did not affect temporal authority, neither was he followed into the field as one who sought to establish the independence of a people, or his own right to rule over them. His was the leadership of a sect; and as Arungzebe appears to have granted free toleration, so, in matters of civil arrangement, both Nar Ray and his religionists paid to Arungzebe a willing obedience. Accordingly the Sikhs, in 1664, elected Nar Creshn to be chief, in preference to Ram Ray, both being sons of Nar Ray; and on the demise of Creshn passed over Ram Ray Moullin, and placed his uncle, Tegh Behadur, at their head. This was one of the sons of Nar Govind, whom persecution had driven to the mountains; and now, again, he appears, chiefly through the malice of his nephew, to have suffered much disquiet. It must be acknowledged, however, that over this portion of Sikh history a considerable cloud has fallen. The truth is, that the sect was well-nigh crushed, in consequence of the endeavour of Nar Govind to raise it into political importance; and not till the dissolution of the Mogul empire, which ensued upon the death of Arungzebe, did it exhibit any marked signs of returning vitality. Guru Govind was for awhile successful in every undertaking. He overthrew Rajas and Zemundars on both sides of the Sutlej, till an appeal was made to Delhi, and Arungzebe sent an army against him. He fought with the resolution of despair, but was beaten from one post to another; and at length, after losing wives, children, and hosts of adherents, became a solitary wanderer and a maniac. He was the last spiritual head of the Sikhs, whom a prophecy is said to have forewarned that they should never be able to number more than ten high-priests. But if as a religious body they lost their consistency, as a nation they became for awhile more terrible than ever. One Banda, or Bairagi, a devoted friend and follower of Guru Govind, seized the moment of Arungzebe's death to raise their banner again. He won many battles, committed frightful atrocities, overran all the country between the Sutlej and the Jumna, and was at last wholly routed by Abdel-Samad Khan, one of the ablest and most successful of the generals of the Emperor Forokhseer. The wreck of the more resolute among his troops sought shelter among the mountains northeast of the Punjaub, whither the pursuers were unable to follow them. Banda himself, with many more, was taken and put to death, while the mass of the people bent to the storm, and for awhile ceased to be overwhelmed by it. It was thirty years subsequently to these events, when Nadar Shah carried his victorious arms into Hindostan, that the Sikhs appeared again as a party in the arena. They descended from their fastnesses, and falling upon the peaceful inhabitants of the Punjaub, robbed them of the property which they were endeavouring to secure from the rapacity of the Persian plunderer. In like manner they hung upon the rear of the Persian army during its return, and stripped it of much of the booty which had been gathered in Delhi and elsewhere. Emboldened, likewise, by the state of feebleness into which the empire had fallen, and seeing that both into Cabul and the Punjaub the death of Nadir had introduced anarchy, they began to aim at permanent conquests; and being joined by their ancient co-religionists, and finding willing converts every where, they gradually possessed themselves of the whole extent of the country of the five rivers. They appear, however, at this time, to have been destitute of a head, either civil or religious. Like the AngloSaxons, they followed a multitude of petty chiefs, who in a great council, called the Guru-mata, of which Guru Govind is said to have been the inventor, made choice, ere an important expedition was begun, of the warrior who should lead in it; but the authority of the chief, as it The Sikhs were in this state Daulut Rao Scindia, after retreat- |