In a passage of this work, containing an address to the Supreme Being, it is said, The just celebrate thy praises in profound meditation.

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The pious declare thy glory.

The learned Pandits, and the Rishiswaras, who through ages read the Vedas, recite thy praises.

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"All who know thee, praise thee.

He, even He, is the Lord of Truth, and truly just.

"He is, He was, He passes not. He is the preserver of all that is preserved.

Having formed the creation, he surveyed his own work, produced by his greatness."

It contains precepts for the conduct of man, and inculcates the soundest maxims of morality.

But the Dasama Padshah-ka-Granth, or book of the tenth chief, composed by Guru Govind, is held in as much veneration as the Adi Granth. Though Govind was brought up in the tenets of Nanac, yet having been educated among the Brahmins

at Mathura, he seems to have been tainted with some of their superstitious notions; and hence, as well as from considerations of policy, he showed more complaisance for their prejudices than Nanac had done. But the sacred book of Guru Govind is not confined to religious subjects; it abounds with accounts of his battles, and of actions performed by the most valiant of his followers. Throughout the work, courage is not only highly extolled, but is considered as an indispensable virtue; and he declares to his followers, that dying in defence of their faith will not only procure the greatest glory that can be obtained in this life, but happiness in a future state. A Sikh author, speaking of Guru Govind and his doctrines, says:

By the command of the Eternal, the great Guru disseminated the true knowledge. Full of strength and courage, he successfully established the Khalsa.*_

* The State.

Thus, at once founding the Singhs, he struck the whole world with awe; overturning temples, tombs, and mosques, he levelled them all with the plain; rejecting the Vedas, the Puranas, the six Sastras, and the Korān, he abolished the cry of Namaz,* and slew the Sultans; reducing the Mirs and Pirs to silence, he overturned all their sects; the Moullahs and the Kazis ‡ were confounded, and found no benefit from their studies. The Brahmins, the Pandits, and the Jotishis § had acquired a relish for worldly things; they worshipped stones and temples, and forgot the Supreme. Thus these two sects, the Mohammedan and Hindu, remained involved in delusion and ignorance, when the Khalsa originated in purity. When, at the order of Guru Govind, the Singhs

*The Mohammedan prayer.

+ The Lords and priests of the Mohammedans. The priests, and professors of theology; and the

judges.

§ Astrologers.

seized and displayed the scymitar, then subduing all their enemies, they meditated on the Eternal; and, as soon as the order of the Most High was manifested in the world, circumcision ceased, and the Moslems trembled when they saw the ritual of Mohammed destroyed: then the Nakara* of victory sounded throughout the world, and fear and dread were abolished."+

* Large kettle-drum, always found established at head-quarters, or places of abode, of princes and commanders.

+ The principal authorities for the foregoing account of the Sikhs, are,-1. The Sketch given of them by General Malcolm, frequently referred to by the author, and which he has in several places copied literally. 2. The account of a journey to Europe, through Lahore, Cashmire, and Persia, by Mr. George Forster, to which is added a Precis sur les Sykes, by Monsieur Langlès. 3. An account of a tour to Lahore, published in the eleventh volume of the Asiatic Annual Register; and 4. Communications made to the author personally, by Mr. John Stuart, and the late Colonel Polier. The coincidence that appears in the reports given by five different persons, totally unconnected with each other, is a strong proof of the exact

less of their accounts. Free from prejudice, they seem o have viewed the virtuous Hindu and Sikh, with as nuch goodwill as the virtuous Christian; a happy, and indispensable quality in a traveller: for, whoever ooks through the medium of prejudice, must be contantly exposed to be led into error.

In the work published by Mr. Ward, at Serampore, which has already been mentioned, there is an article n the Sikhs, containing what is termed "a List of l'opics selected from the works of Nanac and four of his uccessors."

END OF VOL. I.

J. McCreery, Printer, Black-Horse-Court, London,