1 xl PREFACE.
2 and anarchy, at length undermined the great howe of Tymur.
3 The court of Lahore, when no longer guided by the genh sof Ranjft
4 Singh, fell into a state even worse than that of the corrtly Court at
5 Delhi subsequent to the period of Bahadur Shah, the subessor of
6 Aurangzeb. De moriuis nil nisi bonum is doubtless an exellent
7 sentiment ; but the truth must be told, and told, too, in 4 its
8 nakedness, that the lesson of history may be learned with prgt,
9 Fiat justitia, ruat coelum/ The empire foundel by the ceil
10 of Baber collapsed, and the throne reared by Ranjit on the ruins
11 Moghal greatness fell, too, in its turn. Where are now the mighty
12 potentates before whom the greatest lords of the land trembled ?
13 Where is the Grand Moghal, who, seated on the peacock throne,
14 exacted prostration from the chiefs of the most ancient dynasties
15 of India ? Where is his band of tall and brilliantly clad heralds
16 with golden staves in their hands, who made the famous Sewaji
17 bow before Aurangzeb, calling out loudly on each step, as the
18 Mahratta advanced to the royal presence to pay him homage :
19 ‘Lo, the Asylum of the Universe ! lo, the Lord of the Nations ! lo,
20 the conqueror of the world! Shahin Shah Badshah salémat!”
21 All have crumbled into dust, and nothing remains but the memory
22 of their good or evil deeds! A humane nation from the far
23 West, unrivalled among the nations of the world for its benevolence
24 and sympathy with mankind, has been destined by the mysterious
25 decree of Providence to rule over this vast empire, to vindicate
26 its honour, to shelter God’s people, to protect the weak, to punish
27 the tyrant, to do away with the darkness of ignorance, to diffuse
28 the light of learning, and to fulfil its great mission in the world,
29 which is the good of the nations committed by God to its care.
30 The tremendous hurricanes that swept over India, shattered to
31 pieces its sacred temples and stately palaces, destroying its hopes
32 and spreading misery and desolation around, have happily all passed
33 away, and a cheering breeze, accompanied by refreshing showers
34 from the West, has brought on its wings, for the parched land of
35 India, its fertilizing influence and the sweet fragrance of blossom
36 and flower. Once more has the withered tree of hope gathered
37 new life and become laden with sweet fruit. The Hindu, in his
38 pagoda, utters his “ Ram, Ram!’ bowing with the utmost humility
39 before his Devatas ; the Mahomedan, in his mosque, with his face
40 turned towards Mecca, repeats his “ Allah, Allah !’’ with all the
41 fervour of a true Musalman ; and the Sikh, in his Gurudodra, re-
42 verentially waves the chowri of peacock plumes over the Granth,
43 his holy book, and invokes the spirit of the “ Wah Guru” to help
44 him in his worldly affairs. What an age of peace and concord is
45 ours! The ages of Naushrvan, the just, and Harun-ul-Rashid,
46 the magnificent, celebrated in the history of the Fast, are not to
47 be compared with it, f
48 Should you not, my dear young countrymen—you, who are
49 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com