hospitable, kind to animals and generous.  The difference between the Mohammedans and the Hindus may be seen in the most forcible manner in their temples.  It is an old saying that while one god created all men, each man creates his own god, and that is strikingly true among the ignorant, superstitious people of the East.  The Hindu crouches in a shadow to escape the attention of his god, while the Mohammedan publicly prays to his five times a day in the nearest mosque, and if no mosque is near he kneels where he stands, and takes full satisfaction in a religion of hope instead of fear.

From the political standpoint the Mohammedans are a very important factor in the situation in India.  They are more independent than the Hindus; they occupy a more influential position than their numbers entitle them to; they have most profound pride in their religion and race, and in their social and intellectual superiority, and the more highly they are educated the more manly, self-reliant and independent they become, and the feeling between the Mohammedans and the Hindus is bitterly hostile.  So much so as to make them a bulwark of the government.  Several authorities told me that Mohammedans make the best officials in the service and can be trusted farther than any other class, but, speaking generally, Islam has been corrupted and debased in India just as it has been everywhere else.

One of the results of this corruption is the sect known as Sikhs, which numbers about 2,195,268.  It thrives best in the northern part of India, and furnishes the most reliable policemen and the best soldiers for the native army.  The Sikhs retain much that is good among the teachings of Mohammed, but have a bible of their own, called the Abi-granth, made up of the sermons of Nanak, the founder of the sect, who died in the year 1530.  It is full of excellent moral precepts; it teaches the brotherhood of man, the equality of the sexes; it rejects caste, and embraces all of the good points in Buddhism, with a pantheism that is very confusing.  It would seem that the Sikhs worship all gods who are good to men, and reject the demonology of the Hindus.  They believe in one Supreme Being, with attributes similar to the Allah of the Mohammedans, and recognize Mohammed as his prophet and exponent of his will.  They have also adopted several Hindu deities in a sort of indirect way, although the Sikhs strictly prohibit idolatry.  Their worship is pure and simple.  Their temples are houses of prayer, where they, meet, sing hymns, repeat a ritual and receive pieces of “karah prasad,” a consecrated pastry, which means “the effectual offering.”  They are tolerant, and not only admit strangers to their worship, but invite them to participate in their communion.