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quote at length, but we should draw attention to His Majesty's appeal to his co-religionists in India to abstain from cow-slaughter on the Bakrid-day, his appreciation of western learning and his unfailing cordiality to the British. "In Afghani

stan," said His Majesty at Aligarh, " I have among my subjects Sunnis, Shiahs, Hindus and Jews, and I have given to all of them full religious liberty."

Speaking at Patiala he said :—

'If God be willing, we hope to be at Delhi on id-iQurban this year. It is our religious duty to perform sacrifice on that day. Though cows, in common with other animals, are sacrificed, our religion does not compel us that the sacrifice must be of cows. On the contrary we may sacrifice camels, goats, etc., instead. We intend not to sacrifice cows on this occasion in consideration of the feeling of the Hindus of India in general and of Delhi in particular. Our visit to India should be an occasion of joy to Hindus and Mussalmans alike, not a cause of pain to the hearts of any. I wish that this intention of ours be made known to the Hindus of Delhi.

No wonder that His Majesty's courteous and generous spirit won for him the appreciation of Hindus all over India.

66

Many stories were told of the Amir's amiable traits, his shrewdness, his soldierly simplicity, his extraordinary love of adventure and his fondness for children. Of his generous catholicity the following from his own speech will bear eloquent testimony:

'I protect the interests of my Hindu subjects equally with those of Mussalmans. On my way back from the shrine, I just saw a Gurudwara. There are several Gurudwaras in Afghanistan where Fakirs and poor people live. I don't know, but I believe there are poor and needy people in this Gurudwara also. I have therefore ordered, for Rs. 200 to be distributed among them.'

On the eve of his departure, His Majesty passed Bombay where he was accorded a fitting welcome. Replying to the toast of his health proposed by H. E. Lord Lamington, His Majesty spoke with enthusiasm :

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A VINDICATION OF AURANGAZEB":

A REPLY BY DR. SADIQ ALI

AM PRASAD TRIPATHI, M.A., S.B., M.R.S., University of Allahabad, has reviewed my book, "A Vindication of Aurangzeb," in the "Indian Review," October, 1918. Several Indian journals have noticed my book briefly and very favourably, so I feel grateful to these kind reviewers. But I was looking forward to such criticism as might throw some light on additional truths unknown to me and to the general readers and so to correct my errors, and make up any deficiencies found in my book. The aforesaid review occupies about seven columns of the periodical named above, and is scholarly, free from vituperation, and of kindly tone. learned critic raises the same objections as have been fully replied to in my book, He does not

But the

find fault with any of the evidences set forth in support of my views, nor does he confute any of my arguments. He simply disagrees with the conclusions and denies them. My kind critic must know that simple negation cannot overthrow a view unless the view is disproved or the antagonistic truth is established. The object of my book was to remove and remedy one of the causes which have been maintaining discord between Hindus and Muslims in India. Living in the same country and under the same benign and liberal government, their interests have become so much interwoven and interdependent that neither community can build its fortune upon the ruins of the other nor can the one retrograde without dragging the other with it, The old-time

order has now entirely changed. Formerly, might solely constituted right, hence despotism, inequality between the rulers and the ruled, and religious and social rancour The ideals of to-day are liberality, democracy, equality, and brotherly love even among persons of different persuasions. Our forefathers, whether they wronged each other or not, have all gone, long ago, to render their account before the Supreme Judge. Their acts should be considered as things of the past, and we should take the present as it is, and make the best of it. I hope that the leaders and patriots, among both Hindus and Muslims, would join hands with me in the movement that I initiated. If all the sensible people among Hindus and Muslims tried to suppress the religious animosities of the masses, such riots as recently occurred in Calcutta and Katarpur, and have frequently occured at other times and places, could never

occur.

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Aurangazeb's history is not viewed from its historical standpoint but from its religious standpoint and it is the latter which produces disorder and animosity among the fellow-citizens of the same country.

I do not like to continue this kind of controversy which I myself wish to put a stop to. The time and energy wasted in performing this work which is useless and even injurious to the public interest, can be turned to very good account if employed in promoting the cause of our national prosperity.

Modern facilities for the swift expression and inter-communication of thought between people, however widely separated by time, space, scale of education, grade of civilisation and form of religion, have rendered it impossible to remain ignorant of what is going on in the outside world, of the possibilities in store for man, and still continue to be satisfied with the old mode of life with its ancient social and political conditions. Now, seeing that the western nations are progressing in

civilisation and prosperity by leaps and bounds, our Indian brethren naturally aspire to similar advance. The liberal and democratic policy of the British Government is instilling liberal ideas in our minds, inspiring us with the hope of success, and encouraging us to follow the example of advancing nations. In such a happy state, it is impossible for us not to yearn after the advantages that others are reaping so plentifully from their well-intentioned and well-directed endeavours. But there is a very heavy and strong chain that not only drags us down but is continually pulling us backwards as well and hindering our advance. This chain is our internal feuds, discord and apathy. Unless we first break this chain, we cannot move a single inch forward. It is for this reason that I beg my readers and such leaders of the nation as my learned critic seems to be, to entirely forget the old disputes and errors which may have existed among our predecessors, and to strive that the masses likewise forget them. Thus we shall make friends with one another and can direct our combined forces and endeavours towards the promotion of the common cause, progress. Both Hindus and Muslims should be careful not to speak, write, or behave in such a way as to hurt each other's feelings. Unless we act upon this rule (one well recognised and followed in the west), we shall never be fit to ameliorate or better our condition. I beg, in conclusion, to bring to the notice of my readers a providential universal and unchangeable rule.

God is good and gracious, He supplies the wants of His creatures and satisfies their desires. As we are too selfish, and every one of us wishes to gain some personal advantage at the expense of his brethren, God knowing all, dispenses both the good and evil things of the world, to all of us that both, our good-will and ill-will, may be equally satisfied. If we love one another and always wish for others what we wish for ourselves, then God, wishing to satisfy our desires will have to do good to all, because He will not find any ill-will demanding satisfaction through the misfortunes of others. The proportion of prosperity of every community, therefore, depends upon the proportion of altruistic ideas and good-will which prevail in that community. For this reason, we should strive to inculcate altruism and promote brotherly love in our community.

BY

PROF. SURYANARAYANA, M.A.

ESSRS. Natesan are noted for their biographical sketches, also for their various collections of essays and addresses by eminent Indians. But it was a happy idea which prompted them to combine in this case* a collection of addresses and a biographical sketch in the same volume. Like other sketches from the same publishers, this one also does full justice to the eminent man whose life is studied. Big names are sometimes to us nothing but abstractions. So and so is a great poet; how many people understand anything definite by it? And yet, here at least is a chance of the man being appreciated, for Poetry is never a sealed book. But the sense of our own unworthiness weighs heavily on us, when the great man happens to be a scientist, for that gateway of knowledge is certainly not open to all. The life of a Scientist is perhaps the most difficult to write, for one has to remove from the minds of the reader the innate prejudice that a scientist is a musty, cranky creature, and show the living man, with the same hopes, passion and ideals as the rest of humanity. Both the biographer and the person who selected the essays seem to have had in view the element of success and we must admit they have both succeeded admirably.

Perhaps; the task was lightened in this case by the remarkable versatility of the subject. That a man of eminence in Chemical Science should at the same time have been an ardent student of History and have produced valuable works in both departments of knowledge must remain a matter for wonder. And yet, perhaps, there is little to wonder at, when one comes to think of it; for both are concrete sciences.

A combina

Essays and Discourses by Dr. Prafulla Chandra Ray with a Biographical Sketch and Portrait-G. A. Natesan & Co., Madras, Price Rs. 3.

tion of Pure Mathematics and History would have puzzled us more.

The scope of the book would not allow of any reproduction from the historical works of Dr. Ray. But there are at least three essays "Ancient India," "British India," and "Antiquity of Hindu Chemistry" which exemplify the historical acumen of the Doctor. One of these, "British India," contains some excerpts from "India before and after the Mutiny," a book published by Dr. Ray when a student at Edinburgh.

Dr. Ray's views on Social Reform are brought out in his presidential address at the Indian National Social Conference of 1917. He delivers himself strongly against empty forms and conventions which serve only to clog the wheels of onward marching Society. Human ingenuity and inventiveness get mis-directed and occupy themselves with laying down precise and unjust rules for meaningless ceremonies. The real and the only object worthy of the human intellect was relegated to the background, forms were multiplied endlessly, and Society stood still or began a downward march: In this connection, we would specially recommend to the reader the essay entitled "The Bengali Brain and its Misuse."

The book under review gives an exhaustive list of the contributions to Chemical Science from Dr. Ray and his pupils. The list is formidable and is followed by something more interesting, an Anglo-Indian's appreciation of the Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works. Messrs. Natesan have spared no pains in making the book as comprehensive as possible, in its small volume and have bad all through in view the object of bringing out the many-sidedness of Dr. Ray's talents and activities. They have achieved this object with no little degree of success,

BY

THE LATE PROF. MICHAEL MACMILLAN.

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"The lad that was born in Kyle will be remembered to-day in Cologne, in Bagdad in Jerusalem; wherever there are Scottish troops the immortal memory will be honoured," wrote the Glasgow Herald,' on the 25th January, the anniversary of Robert Burns. "At home, the return to old interest, dislocated by four years of war, is being marked by the revival of the custom. now a century old, of celebrating the poet's birthday. If Scott's 'Marmion' and the Lady of the Lake' were read in the British lines during the Peninsular War, the poems of Burns have been freely quoted in the trenches in France and in Flanders, and his songs have been sung in the gatherings behind the lines. The hold which Robert Burns possesses over the emotion and the affection of his countrymen rests on too sure a foundation to be disturbed even by the mighty events through which we have passed. The appeal which he makes is an appeal to the things that cannot be shaken even by the convulsions of a new world in the making; while men live and love, they will read and quote the living words which tell of life and of love."

IRCUMSTANCES compelled me to visit the home-land of Burns in the wrong order, so that I went first to Dumfries, the scene of his declining years and death and afterwards to the region of Ayrshire where he was born and bred. This arrangement of my tour, although it may be called, in the literal sense of the word, preposterous, was not without its advantages, as it left the best to the last and led me from scenes associated with the poet's decay and death to the, region of Scotland that he celebrated in his glorious prime.

Dumfries is a flourishing town beautifully situated on the broad river Nith and well deserves its proud title of Queen of the South. When Burns settled in Dumfries in 1792 as an exciseman on a salary of £ 50, his first home was in a flat in Bank Street above a stamp office and below another flat occupied by a blacksmith. It was a wretched tenement in itself, but a few steps from it would lead the poet to the banks of the Nith where the stream rolls over the dam below the new bridge in an amber flood incrusted with masses of white foam. Thence the poet often strolled a mile or two up the river to Lincluden Abbey, the red sandstone ruin of which crowned with clusters of rowan berries was one of his favourite haunts. In 1793, he moved to another house where there was more room for his family and there he died in 1796. This is now the chief show place in the town and is occupied by the poet's grand daughter, Mrs. Thos. Brown and his great grand-daughter, Jean Armour Burns Brown,

It was the latter who showed us over the house. when through a narrow crooked street we had found our way to the door. In her face could be traced a strong likeness to Nasmyth's portrait of the poet. The resemblance was most striking in the eye, which was the most remarkable feature in the countenance of Burns. The house was plain and prosaic, but appeared commodious and comfortable enough to show that during his last years the poet must have been fairly well off. We were shown a few relics in the upper rooms, but they were not of great interest as compared with the fact that we were in the very house in which Burns died conversing with his direct descendant. Close by is St. Michael's Churchyard with a Mausoleum in the form of a Greek Temple, in which Burns is represented by a sculpture of Turnerelli as driving the plough and visited by Coila, the Muse of his native land. In the High St. is an old inn where are shown his punch bowl and ladle and the chair in which he sat carousing with his cronies.

Leaving Dunfries by the Pitpathick railway, we found ourselves, after passing castle-Douglas, in the lonely Moorland of Galloway. It was in this region that Burns composed his immortal. war lyric, while riding through a tempest from Kenmure Castle to Gatehouse. "I took him," writes his companion, "to the moor road, where savage and desolate regions extended wide around. The sky was sympathetic with the wretchedness of the soil; it became lowering and dark. The hollow winds sighed, the lightning gleamed, the

thunder rolled. The poet enjoyed the awful scene he spoke not a word, but seemed rapt in meditation." The result of his meditation was "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled. 99

the moon

The shades of night were falling by the time we reached Ayr, but it was also by beam's misty light that Burns had his vision of the dusky spectres of the two bridges. So we thought we could not do better than go like him to the river side, when

"The tide-swol'n firth, with sullen "sounding roar, Through the still night dash'd hoarse along the shore:

All else was hushed as Nature's closing e'e, The silent moon shone high o'er tower and tree." Burns in prophetic vision heard how the spirit of the Auld Brig taunted that of the New Bridge foretelling the day when with all its "whirls and whirlygigums" it would be swept away by the flooded river. Proud of its antiquity of more than six hundred years, it cried out to its new fangled rival

"This mony a year I've stood the flood an' tide;
And tho' in crazy eild I'm sair for fairn,
Ill be a brig when ye're a shapeless cairn!
This prophecy was fulfilled just thirty years
ago when the new bridge collapsed and had to be
pulled down. It has since been rebuilt and now
in its turn the Auld Brig is threatened with
destruction. We found it propped up with wood
work and closed except for pedestrians. Unless
patriotic Scotsmen can subscribe enough money
for putting it in a thorough state of repair, the
ruthless town council of Ayr has resolved to pull
it down. Naturally indignant meetings are being
held all over the country to protest against the

threatened insult to
an ancient monument so
closely connected with the national bard.

On the following morning, we
started along
the road traversed by Tam O'Shanta on his
famous ride. On the left of the High Street still
stands the inn where he drank and cracked jokes
with Souter Johnny. The tramcar at first follow-
ed the footsteps of Tam's mare, but presently the

new road diverged from the path of the old one
so that we went to the left instead of the right of
Burns' birth place and Alloway Kirk. In the
kirkyard, an old man with a wooden leg was lying
in wait for us. He knew all Tam O'Shanter by
heart and recited fragments of the poem with
great gusto and a fine broad Doric accent. He
knew all the places passed by Tam on this famous
tride and showed us the exact spots

Where in the snaw the chapman smoord.'
And past the birks and meikle stane,
Where drunken Charlie brak's neck-bane,
And thro' the whins and by the cairn.
The hunters fand the murder'd bairn,
And near the burn aboon the well,
Where Mungo's mither hang'd hersel,'

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Then he stumped before us to the window, through which Tam glowr'd into the blazing kirk. Thence he pointed out the very "winnock bunker in the east 19 where the Devil sat in the shape of a "tousie tyke, black, grim, and large" and Screw'd the pipes and gart them skirl, Till roof and rafters a' did dirl"

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that the witches and warlocks might dance to the music. There too before us was the holy table on which were spread out " a murderers' banes in gibbet airns " and other gruesome horrors. From the kirk Tam fled to the old bridge over the Doon with the witches in hot pursuit. The Scottish superstition (I do not know whether it is the same in India) was that witches could not cross running water.

"Now do thy speedy utmost, Meg,
And win the keystane o'the brig;
There, at them thou thy tail may toss,
A running stream they dare na cross,
But ere the key-stane she could make,
The fient a tail she had to shake,"

for the foremost of the witches got hold of it, and
though Meg carried her master safe over the
bridge, she did it at the expense of her gray tail.
When all this happened, a tempest was raging
and the river was swollen with heavy rain. We
saw the river in very different circumstances on a
beautiful summer's day. The birds were wanton-
ing through the flowering thorn and the banks
and braes o'bonie Doon were blooming fresh and

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