His Excellency opened the proceedings with an address of welcome, referred to death of no less than six members of the Conference during the year (viz., the Maharajas of Bhavanagar and Aligarb, and the Rajas of Sailana, Chamba and Saket) and congratulated H. H. the Maharaja of Bikanir on the excellent services he has rendered to the Empire during the war. His Excellency said: We are all sincerely glad to see him among us again both on personal grounds and because of the valuable contributions he could make to our discussion. This is not the time or the place to dwell on His Highness's services to India and the Empire. His services at the Imperial Conference in London and at the Peace Conference at Versailles are well-known to us all. I will only state what, I am sure, is the general opinion of the Conference that the Indian States were fortunate in their representative, and are proud that his signature should have been placed on the Peace Treaty. Lord Chelmsford then referred to the large contributions made by the ruling chiefs both in connection with the Great War and in the recent engagements with the Afghans. He then passed on to enumerate the new spirit abroad and observed "that the difficulties and dangers of peace are less patent than those of war, but they are, on that account, more difficult to cope with." REFORMS IN NATIVE STATES, Turning to the question of reforms in Native States he said : You cannot expect that the demands of the new after-war-spirit for liberty and freedom from restraint ⚫ will be confined to British India. Such demands becoming more and more insistent will make themselves heard in the Indian States. I know, that several of Your Highnesses have been thinking very deeply about these questions, and most of you must, no doubt, have felt that your States also must move with the times. As to the lines on which progress is to take place, Your Highnesses must decide for yourselves with due regard to local circumstances and sentiment. You are Rulers in your States, but if you will allow me to offer you some words of advice, I would counsel you, in the first place, to determine that whatever measures of Reform may be introduced shall be substantial. CHAMBER OF PRINCES His Excellency then passed on to discuss the question of the establishment of a permanent Chamber of Princes about which His Majesty's Government at Home and the Government of India have been corresponding for some time past. I am glad to be able to announce to Your Highnesses the intention of the Government of India and His Majesty's Government to call into being a permanent Chamber of Princes, although I might ask you to regard this announcement as merely a preliminary statement of intention. The formal establishment of recognition of the Chamber must be reserved for a later date when the details of its constitution and functions have been worked out. LESSER AND HIGHER STATES But the composition of the proposed Council is a matter of some difficulty. What shall be the criterion of eligibility? There was considerable embarassment in defining with precision the "demarcation line" between the lesser and the higher states. The scheme, which, with the approval of His Majesty's Government, I desire to propound for Your Highnesses' consideration is as follows: First, that all States, the rulers of which enjoy permanent dynastic salutes of 11 Guns or over, should be entitled as of right to the membership of the Chamber; second that States, whose rulers enjoy a dynastic salute of 9 guns but have at present such full or practically full internal powers as to qualify them in other respects for admission to the Chamber, should be so admitted; third, that as regards those States whose rulers possess a dynastic salute of 9 guns but are not at present in possession of full or practically full internal powers, the Government of India should investigate each case and decide whether to grant the internal powers required in order to make the State qualified for admission to the Chamber. I may add that in my opinion the necessary enhancement of powers should be granted in every case where no sufficient reason exists to the contrary, since it is of the highest importance that the question of admission to the Chamber should be dealt with on broad and generous lines, the deciding factor being the status of the particular State and not the personal qualifications of the ruler for the time being. THE QUESTION OF SALUTES The Viceroy next discussed the question of salutes and passed on to consider the representation of the lesser states whose rulers have no salutes and do not possess full internal powers. The Government of India are in complete accord with the view which seemed to be generally held by the Conference last year, namely, that some scheme ought to be devised whereby a reasonable and proportional representation of the lesser States may be secured in the Chamber so as to enable them to have a voice in matters affecting their interests. THE INDIAN REVIEW FUNCTIONS OF THE CHAMBER After discussing the basis of classification and the representation of lesser States His Excellency made some remarks on the functions of the proposed Council. Attendence and voting, he said should be voluntary and the Chamber will be a consultative and not an executive body. The Government of India will also safeguard the interests of absent members. TREATY RIGHTS Touching Treaty Rights His Excellency said :The relations between many States and the Imperial Government have been changed. The change, however, has come about in the interests of India as a whole, and I need hardly say that there has been no deliberate wish to curtail the powers of Princes and Chiefs. We cannot deny, however, that the Treaty position has been affected and that a body of usage, in some cases arbitrary, but always benevolent, has insensibly come into being. Some of Your Highnesses have, therefore, asked that the Darbars should, for the future, have a voice in the formulation of political practice. The Government of India entirely concur in the justice of this claim, and with the approval of His Majesty's Government have decided te accede to your request in regard to that portion of our political doctrine which can be expressed in the form of general principles, in so far as it is based on considerations other than Treaty rights. From the point of view of Government also, it cannot but be of the greatest advantage that decisions as to political practice, which may have a bearing on the States' prerogatives, should be taken after formal and collective discussion with the Rulers. We have come to this conclusion with the reservation that the paramount power retains the right of ultimate decision with regard to the principles to be adopted and with regard to the extent of their application we cannot anticipate that we shall always be in absolute agreement, but we believe that, generally speaking, opposition has been in many cases directed rather at the form in which doctrines are set forth than at their substance, and we feel that you will in future view them in a new light when the reasons on which they are based and the economic interdependence of British India and the States are frankly explained to you. THE MAHARAJA SCINDIA At the conclusion of the Viceroy's Speech the Maharaja Scindia of Gwalior moved a resolution congratulating the Government on conclusion of peace. .His Highness paid an elothe quent tribute to the officers of Government for their splendid devotion to duty. H. H. MAHARAJA OF BIKANIR H. H. the Maharaja of Bikanir in seconding the Resolution made a felicitious speech touching Imperial obligations and the duty of loyalty at all times. His Highness further observed : The end of the war leaves with the princes the gratifying feeling of a solemn duty loyalty, conscien [NOVEMBER 1919 tiously performed and performed also to the utmost of their capability and resources, with the Imperial Government. It leaves the will and determination to allow nothing to remain undone which is calculated further to strengthen the bonds that already unite us, and so we are surely entitled to look at the future with high hopes and to assume it to be full of bright augury. As for the relative position of the British Government and the Princes the paramountcy of the former is beyond dispute, and the relation of the latter as Allies and friends is as freely admitted as it is clearly defined. Guided as we are by candour, loyalty, liberality and good-will, there is no need between us for that evil thing secret diplomacy. We have stood together in the past and weathered many a storm. We devoutly hope that an era of peace and prosperity lies in front of us for many a year to come. H. H. THE MAHARAJA OF NAVANAGAR His Highness the Maharaja of Navanagar then moved the following resolution recording the appreciation of the Conference of the services rendered by H. H. the Maharaja of Bikanir: "That this conference records a hearty vote of thanks to H. H. the Maharaja of Bikanir and tenders him warm congratulation for the eminent services rendered by His Highness at the Peace Conference." In the course of his speech His Highness Said : It was with a thrill of pride that we learnt that His Highness alone conducted important negotiations regarding India's inclusion in the League of Nations at Paris during the unavoidable absence in England of both Mr. Montagu and Lord Sinha. This single instance is sufficient to show the implicit confidence that His Highness inspired in the minds of his collea 'gues as also of the other members of the British Empire Delegation by reason of his commanding abilities and far-sighted and reliable statesmanship. Devotion to the Empire has for His Highness an interpretation which is all embracing and knows no distinction of caste, country or religion. Alike to the cause of his order and to that of British India he advocated progressive reforms for India. Fearless of criticism His Highness further interpreted the Muhammadan sentiment strenuously and ably at the Paris Congress for which he was gratefully thanked by the Muhamadan Community of Bombay on his return. VICEROY'S CLOSING SPEECH H. E. the Viceroy in closing the Chiefs' Conference took the opportunity of dealing with certain allegations made by The London Times charging the Government of India with a policy of evasion in connection with the publication of certain documents relating to the treaty of peace with Afghanistan. His Excellency warmly defended his conduct and said "I felt that I bad to take the earliest opportunity of dealing with a matter which so closely affected my honour." BY MR. C. N. KUPPUSAMY IYER, B.A., M.L. NDIVIDUALISTIC Religion or Mysticsm as it is also called has up till recently never been the subject of organized investigation in the west. Even now except as a purely psychological study it does not appear to have attracted the attention that it deserves in any other country except India —not that the materials for such research were wanting in the west. The world has seen no greater mystics than Thomas A Kempes or George Fox the English Quaker Saint The early Christian Saints of the 1st century A. D. were all fine types of mystics of a high order. Religion like truth is universal. It knows of nothing except the communion with or knowledge of the Omnicient Omnipotent God-the property of no one single individual or class of individuals. It is not the creed of any one that his God is not the God for another not belonging to his sect, though it may be he asserts that the sole pathway to the throne of God is that trodden by those of his own sect. The difference is in the Church, not in the Religion. Religion is defined by J. Kostlin as the conscious relation between man and God and the expression of that relation in the human conduct. So far as this conscious relation is concerned, it cannot be different for different individuals. There is no attribute or quality of God given by one sect which is not given to Him by another sect in this world. When once the existance of a Universal God is postulated and if any two come to know him-know him completely, the knowledge cannot be different, for no sect admits that it does not know Him completely well. It is only in the supposed means of knowing Him that the doctrines or creeds of the so called different religions differ. A Church is a body of believers holding the same creed observing the same rites and acknowledging the same ecclesiastical authority.' There is only one religion but many Churches. Не The mystic belongs to no particular Church. To him there is religion without Church. does not depend for his knowledge of God on any other material but himself. He does not search his God in the books he reads or in the sermons he hears preached. He sees the God in himself. He knows Him. When once he knows Him in himself he himself becomes Devine-bereft of evils "The kingdom of God is within you" says St. Luke XV ii. 21. "If any man loves me he will keep my word and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and take up our abode with him St. John XIV. 23. "Blessed is the soul which hears the Lord speaking within her and which receives from his mouth words of consolation Blessed are the ears which do not listen to the voice without, but to that voice which speaks the truth within. Blessed are the eyes which look within rather than without. Blessed are they who can penetrate into the things within and who strive to fit themselves more and more by daily exercise to receive Heavenly mysteries,"-Thomas A. Kempes. The mystic does not believe in anything except that which he knows. As Luther said "Salvation springs out of the Soul's faith and is known within." "He that believeth in the Son of God hath the testimony of God in himself." St. John V. 10. He seeks for everything in his own personal experience. He feels the existence ⚫ of the sin in himself as well as his salvation from it. He knows the sin not because others say that such and such a thing is a sin, but because he is conscious of the sin himself; "I felt the evil in me weakened and the good raised," says George Fox the quaker Saint. From the moment he begins to know and feel the God in himself there is an entire change in his life. That fact has a profound influence over him the rest of his life. The outside world ceases to have any influence over him. He gets a deeper sense of preception than what others have in the sense world. A feeling of oneness with the Universe dawns in him. Its natural sequence Love in its full and complete aspect-Love Universal, Love Impartial—is seen resplendent in him. He transcends the line between the animate and the inanimate. The whole Universe with no exception whatever pulsates with The Life.-It is in this strain the Sage Thaymanavor sang the classic song in which he so very pathetically pleads. the impossiblity of offering worship to Him in an Idol as in the very flower with which he was to worship, he found the He himself. Abandoning worship by the offering of any such thing as a flower he found it impossible to offer worship even by holding the palms of his hands in Anjalibandam as He was there between the two palms and there was only the half salutation that he could offer. Pattanathu Pillaiar another great Indian Saint who attained his Samadhi at Thiruvathiur near Madras, laments as follows:— "That sprout of light which has spread and filled up all the 8 directions, the 16 points of the compasseverywhere-that the fools try to bundle roll up and place it under their armpits not in their hearts. They are such cheats as to cry "Night" in broad day light. To him who has known the God within himself, there is no other pleasure or persuit but to be ever conscious of that knowledge. In the beginning he is not able to sustain the pleasurable knowledge always. Even to read a book, read hundred a times before, in a crowded Railway compartment one finds it hard. How much more ditficult must be the task of one who has to direct his eyes inwards with absolutely no other guide but himself and to continue that persuit with vigour. "You find your mind sometimes rapt by holiest thoughts and then immediately after grovelling again upon earth."-Thomas A. Kempe's Imitation of Christ book III, Chapter 6-6. It is in such moments that we have had the soul stirring cries of our great men. "Thou turnest away thy face and I was troubled," cries David in the Psalms. Sage Thaymanavar's poems are full of such lamenta, tions. He cries, "can you not look at me in the face and by looking take away once my care, open your mouth and tell me Oh! God." Again he cries, "speak out Oh! God. Will not my cares cease and joy overflood within me." Even such lamentations have their joy because the cry is for something grand. Rabindranath Tagore, Poet, Philosopher and Saint of our days, expresses this feeling very finely in the following lines. The spell of the homeless winds has touched me, I know not when and where. I have no care in my heart; all my belongings I have left far behind me. I run across hills and dales, I wander through nameless lands because I am hunting for the golden stag," The Gardner 69, There is a divinity in every human beingnay in each and every atom of the Universe. Walt Witman states: "There is apart from mere intelect, in the make up of every human identity a wonderous something which realizes without argument, frequently without what is called Education (though I think it the goal and apex of all education deserving the name) an intution of the absolute balance in time and space of the whole of this multifariousness, this revel of fools and incredible make believe and general unsettledness we call the world, a soul sight of the devine clue and unseen thread which holds the whole congeries of things all history and time and all events however trivial, however momentous like a leashed dog in the hand of the hunter." There is no one to whom the unknown has not its attraction, There is a carving in every soul to know the Him in himself. The Divinity in ourselves haunts us, "But most of us substitute bloodless symbols for these deeper felt realities, just as we are thinking with words and give up visualising the objects for which the words stand. The mystic on the contrary resists the tendency but he is able to do it simply because his impressions of the divine inter course are so vivid." -Mysticsm has mostly been sporadic because it is purely individualistic. The mystic feels the God in himself. He has learnt something which he can feel, enjoy, but cannot communicate to others because we have no language for the heart experience. Not all your learned detailed description of sugar can make one know what it is unless he puts it in his mouth and actually tastes it. I cannot close this without recalling to my mind the following beautiful lines of Tagore. "From dawn till dusk I sit here before my door, and I know that of a sudden the happy moment will arrive when I shall see. In the meanwhile I smile and I sing all alone. In the meanwhile the air is filling with the perfume of promise." Song and Action. BY MR. A. YUSUF ALI, I.C.S. dreams. The life of Shivanath Shastri (1847–1919) exactly spans the three score years and ten between Sir Henry Hardinge and Lord Chelmsford, between the first feeble, hesitating, and sometimes grotesque attempts to translate the new learning into our life and our society and the present day when the ultimate victory of Reform is a clear certainty (though not yet an accomplished fact), when the old order knows itself hopelessly beaten, and the cracks in that grey Petrified Cathedral (Achal-ayatan) our Hindu society have dangerously widened and are threatening the loosening of stone from stone. Our work in the last 72 years has been constructive in a high degree and never wantonly destructive, for the old order has been dying a slow natural and almost imperceptible death. The life of Shivanath Shastri bridges this chasm, and in the construction of a newer and better India, which is the glorious achievement of these 72 years, he took a leading part. The Pundit was born at a time when the social reform movement was unheard of,-when there was hardly any talk of widow remarriage, enforced monogamy, inter-caste marriage or adult marriage-when neither political nor literary activity nor any religious or educational propaganda had begun to be discussed, when University education was not even thought of., "And he lived" says Prof. Sarkar, "to see them all and to contribute no mean share of his own to nearly all of them." In our last issue we have given a succinct account of his life and career, and appraised his influence in various spheres of public activity. But why was Sivanath Sastri never a "national leader," asks the Professor, and answers: "The reason is partly personal and partly general. He was too modest, too retiring; he shunned the drawing-room and the political platform alike; he loved to wrestle, not with a political opponent in the pandal or the press, but with "the world, the flesh and the Devil" in the solitude of prayer. He kept no private secretary, inspired no personal paragraphs in the daily papers; never even became director of a Swadeshi joint-stock bank or factory. A potential great man with such antiquated prejudices cannot be labelled as a twentieth century. "Indian Nationbuilder." The Brahmin Schoolboy The Rev. H. Heaton, writing in the current number of The East and the West says that the Brahmins who are the brain of India constitute an obstacle to their acceptance of the meek and lowly Christ, while on the other hand, the incredible ignorance of the out castes makes the mass— movements a source of danger as well as of joy to the whole Church. A cynic might say that the Christian missions in India are confronted by a twofold problem, viz., the masses who move without thinking and the Brahmins who think without moving. The Brahman boy, whether in Ratnagiri district or elsewhere, has one very attractive asset; he is instinctively courteous. When you meet one who is not courteous you feel he is not a typical specimen. As a rule, he has a fair complexion and refined features. He often appears weak in physique, for many Brahmans are poor. His clothes are simple and in good taste. If they are not washed with soap, that is owing to the high price of soap rather than indifference to cleanliness. He may wear bracelets or an earring. Otherwise he has few luxuries, except an umbrella in hot weather. To feed Brahmans is a religious duty, and generous people are often ready to acquire merit by offering hospitality to boys who are at school away from their homes. But this custom has its drawbacks when a lad has to spend his precious leisure time in rendering little services to the family or families which support him. The pathos of the situation, according to the writer, is that the utterly anti-Christian dogmas of Hinduism are those that have taken the deepest root in the minds of the Brahmin students. To the Hindu, personality is that which prevents him from realising that he is one with the infinite impersona God. Besides the obstacles created by these preconceptions which belong to the religious furniture of the boy's mind, he brings to the school a prejudice of quite another kind, namely, the political prejudice against Christianity as the faith of the ruling race. In the face of all these difficulties, the writer urges the missionaries to secure vigorous action by showing in themselves living illustrations of Christianity. He naively adds: That great demoraliser, the tropical sun, possesses an extraordinary power of exciting irritability and anger in Europeans; and to an Indian anger appears utterly inconsistent with genuine religion. All the more striking, then, will be the impression made by any missionary who can curb his anger, and is not ashamed to try to imitate the meekness of Christ. |