of the Vedas, the giver of sacred knowledge is the more venerable father, since second or divine birth ensures life to the twice-born, both in this world and eternally.”  In the gurukuls or seminaries founded by the Arya Samaj pupils or chelas are admitted between the ages of six and ten.  From that moment they, are practically cut off from the outer world during the whole course of their studies, which cover a period of 16 years altogether—­i.e., ten years in the lower school and six years in the upper, to which they pass up as Brahmacharis. During the whole of that period no student is allowed to visit his family, except in cases of grave emergency, and his parents can only see him with the permission of the head of the gurukul and not more than once a month.  There are at present three gurukuls in the Punjab, but the most important one, with over 250 students, is at Kangri, in the United Provinces, five miles from the sacred city of Hardwar, where the Ganges flows out of a gorge into the great plain.  A large and very popular mela or fair is held annually at Kangri, and it is attended by the Brahmacharis, who act as volunteers for the maintenance of order and collect funds for the support of their gurukul.  The enthusiasm is said to be very great, and donations last year are credibly reported to have exceeded 300,000 rupees.

Life in the gurukuls is simple and even austere, the discipline rigorous, the diet of the plainest, and a great deal of time is given to physical training.  As the chelas after 16 years of this monastic training at the hands of their gurus are to be sent out as missionaries to propagate the Arya doctrines throughout India, the influence of these institutions in the moulding of Indian character and Indian opinion in the future cannot fail to be considerable.  Some five years more must elapse before we shall be able to judge the result by the first batch of chelas who will then be going forth into the world.  For the present one can only echo the hope tersely expressed a few months ago by Sir Louis Dane, the Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab, in reply to assurances of loyalty from the President of the Arya Samaj, that “what purports to be a society for religious and social reform and advancement may not be twisted from its proper aims” and “degenerate into a political organization with objects which are not consonant with due loyalty to the Government as established.”  But neither the spirit of Dayanand’s own teachings nor the record of many of his disciples, including some of those actually connected with the gurukuls, is in this respect encouraging.