ledge of this bucket, even at the present time.

Indeed, we were at Parma before the little old man (or the Guide-Book) would have considered that we had half done justice to the wonders of Modena. But it is such a delight to me to leave new scenes behind, and still go on, encountering newer scenes -and, moreover, I have such a perverse disposition in respect of sights that are cut, and dried, and dictated that I fear I always sin against similar authorities, in every place I visit.

altars. From every one of these lurking places such crowds of phantom-looking men and women, leading other men and women with twisted limbs, or chattering jaws, or paralytic gestures, or idiotic heads, or some other sad infirmity, came hobbling out to beg, that if the ruined frescoes in the cathedral above, had been suddenly animated, and had retired to this lower church, they could hardly have made a greater confusion, or exhibited a more confounding display of arms and legs.

There is Petrarch's tomb, too; and there is Parma has cheerful, stirring streets, for the Baptistery, with its beautiful arches and an Italian town; and, consequently, is not immense font; and there is a gallery conso characteristic as many places of less taining some very remarkable pictures, note. Always excepting the retired Piaz- whereof a few were being copied by hairyza, where the Cathedral, Baptistery, and faced artists, with little velvet caps more off Campanile ancient buildings, of a sombre their heads than on. There is the Farnese brown, embellished with innumerable gro- Palace, too; and in it one of the dreariest tesque monsters and dreamy-looking crea- spectacles of decay that ever was seen—a tures, carved in marble and red stone-are grand old, gloomy theatre, mouldering away, clustered in a noble and magnificent repose. It is a large wooden structure of the Their silent presence was only invaded, horse-shoe shape; the lower seats arranged when I saw them, by the twittering of the upon the Roman plan, but above them, many birds that were flying in and out of great heavy chambers rather than boxes, the crevices in the stones and little nooks where the nobles sat, remote in their proud in the architecture, where they had made state. Such desolation as has fallen on this their nests. They were busy, rising from theatre, enhanced in the spectator's fancy the cold shade of Temples made with hands, by its gay intention and design, none but into the sunny air of heaven. Not so the worms can be familiar with. A hundred worshippers within, who were listening to and ten years have passed since any play the same drowsy chant, or kneeling be- was acted here. The sky shines in through fore the same kinds of images and tapers, the gashes in the roof; the boxes are dropor whispering, with their heads bowed ping down, wasting away, and only tenantdown, in the very self-same dark confes-ed by rats; damp and mildew smear the sionals, as I had left in Genoa, and every

where else.

faded colors, and make spectral maps upon the panels; lean rags are dangling down where there were gay festoons on the Proscenium; the stage has rotted so, that a narrow wooden gallery is thrown across it, or it would sink beneath the tread, and bury the visitor in the gloomy depth beneath. The desolation and decay impress themselves on all the senses. The air has a mouldering smell, and an earthy taste; any stray outer sounds that straggle in with some lost sunbeam, are muffled and heavy; and the worm, the maggot, and the rot have changed the surface of the wood beneath the touch, as time will seam and roughen a

The decayed and mutilated paintings with which this church is covered, have, to my thinking, a remarkably mournful and depressing influence. It is miserable to see great works of art-something of the Souls of Painters-perishing and fading away, like human forms. This cathedral is odorous with the rotting of Coreggio's frescoes in the Cupola. Heaven knows how beautiful they may have been at one time. Connoisseurs fall into raptures with them now; but such a labyrinth of arms and legs, such heaps of fore-shortened limbs, entangled and involved and jum-smooth hand. If ever Ghosts act plays, bled together, no operative surgeon, gone mad, could imagine in his wildest delirium. There is a very interesting subterranean church here. The roof is supported by marble pillars, behind each of which there seemed to be at least one beggar in ambush: to say nothing of the tombs and secluded VOL. VIII. No. II.

52

they act them on this ghostly stage.

And find it dreary, too, most likely if they come from the pleasant Cemetry at Bologna, where I found myself walking next Sunday morning, among the stately marble tombs and colonnades, in company with a crowd of common people-all good temper

From Fraser's Magazine.

ed and obliging, as they always are in Italy) to every one who has a cheerful word for them and escorted by a little cicerone of THE SIKHS-THEIR RISE AND PROGRESS. that town, who was excessively anxious for the honor of the place, and most solicitous. THE founder of the sect by whom, under to divert my attention from the bad monu- the denomination of Sikhs, the Punjaub has ments whereas, he was never tired of ex- for half a century been governed, and to a tolling the good ones. Seeing this little great extent inhabited, was Nanac Shah, a man (a good-humored little man he was, Hindu of the tribe of Vedi, in the Chastrya who seemed to have nothing in his face but caste. He was born in the year of Christ shining teeth and eyes) looking wistfully, 1469, at a village called Talwandi, in the as I thought, at a certain plot of grass, I district of Bhatti, and province of Lahore; asked him who was buried there. "The and from his earliest years is described as poor people, Signore," he said with a shrug devoting himself to the study of truth, and and a smile, and stopping to look back at to the contemplation of the Supreme Being. me-for he always went on a little before, Many marvellous stories are told of him, of and took off his hat to introduce every new course, which all resolve themselves into monument. "Only the poor, Signore! this: that becoming satisfied of the many It's very cheerful. It's very lively. How absurdities that abound in the popular begreen it is, how cool! It's like a meadow ! lief of his countrymen, and discrediting the There are five "-holding up all the fingers fables with which Mahommedanism is overof his right hand to express the number, which an Italian peasant will always do, if it be within the compass of his ten fingers "there are five of my little children buried there, Signore; just there; a little to the right. Well! Thanks to God! It's very cheerful. How green it is, how cool it is! It's quite a meadow!"

spread, he not only adopted as his own creed a pure Theism, but did his best by persuasion and argument to bring others to the same way of thinking. Nanac, however, appears to have been a wise, as well as righteous reformer. He assumed, and with justice, that in the religions both of the Hindus and the Moslems, there was a He looked me very hard in the face, common foundation of truth. He disaand seeing I was sorry for him, took a pinch vowed, therefore, every thing like an intenof snuff, (every cicerone takes snuff,) and tion to root out either system; but sought made a little bow-partly in deprecation of to reconcile the disciples of each to reason, his having alluded to such a subject, and and to one another, by inviting them equalpartly in memory of the children and his ly to return to the pure and simple faith favorite saint. It was as perfectly an un- from which both had been induced to stray. affected and as natural a little bow as ever Accordingly he interfered but little with man made. Immediately afterwards he the usages of common life to which those took his hat off altogether, and begged to introduce me to the next monument; and his eyes and his teeth shone brighter than before.

We learn that Mr. Dickens has suddenly discontinued this admirable series of Letters, with the probable design of issuing them in another form. We break off the thread thus abruptly with no little regret. -EDITOR.

with whom he conversed were accustomed. He endeavored, indeed, to break down among Hindus the religious distinctions of caste, by proclaiming wherever he went that in the sight of God all men were equal, And on the other hand, he invited the Mahommedans to abstain from practices, such fensive to the prejudices of their neighas the slaughter of the cow, which were of bors; but beyond these limits he never ventured. Nanac's teaching was simple, gracious, and therefore sublime. He endeavored with all the power of his own genius, aided by the authority of writers of acknowledged weight on both sides, to impress upon Hindus and Mahommedans; alike, a belief in the unity of the Godhead while in their dealings one with another he inculcated love of toleration and an abhorrence of war; and his life was as peaceable as his doctrines.

The opinions of Nanac had gained so violent contest arose about the succession, much ground while he lived, that at his which was referred to Delhi, and by the death, Guru Angard, his successor, found imperial court sent back again to be decided himself at the head of a numerous and con- by the free votes of the Sikhs themselves. tinually increasing party. Like the found- For as yet, it is worthy of remark, that the er of the sect, Angard was a teacher of influence of the chief was purely spiritual. reverence and devotion towards one God, He did not affect temporal authority, neiand universal peace among men; neither ther was he followed into the field as one does any change appear to have been intro- who sought to establish the independence duced into the Sikh tenets, till persecution of a people, or his own right to rule over and wrong drove a people benevolent in them. His was the leadership of a sect; principle to gird on the sword, which they and as Arungzebe appears to have granted have never since laid aside. The outrage free toleration, so, in matters of civil arin question befell in 1606, when Argun- rangement, both Nar Ray and his religionmal, Guru or chief teacher of the body, ex- ists paid to Arungzebe a willing obedience. cited the jealousy of the Mahommedan ru- Accordingly the Sikhs, in 1664, elected lers of the province, and was put to death. Nar Creshn to be chief, in preference to He had, by collecting the sacred treatises Ram Ray, both being sons of Nar Ray; of his predecessors into a volume, and and on the demise of Creshn passed over blending with them his own views on vari- Ram Ray Moullin, and placed his uncle, ous important points, given a consistency Tegh Behadur, at their head. This was and form to the religion of the Sikhs, such one of the sons of Nar Govind, whom peras it had not previously been seen to pos- secution had driven to the mountains; and sess. And the dominant party taking the now, again, he appears, chiefly through alarm, and as tradition records, having their the malice of his nephew, to have suffered bad passions ministered to by a rival, caused much disquiet. It must be acknowledged, Argun to be cast into prison, where he however, that over this portion of Sikh hisdied. tory a considerable cloud has fallen. truth is, that this sect was well nigh crushed, in consequence of the endeavor of Nar Govind to raise it into political importance; and not till the dissolution of the Mogul empire which ensued upon the death of Arungzebe, did it exhibit any marked signs of returning vitality.

Argun left a son, Nar Govind by name, who, though young, possessed both talent and energy of character, and who succeeding to the chiefship, gave at once and forever a new turn to the tastes and feelings of his followers. He put arms into their hands, and in the name of a religion of peace waged implacable war with the persecutors. He likewise so far broke in upon the ordinary habits of his people, that he permitted them to eat the flesh of all animals except the cow; thus marking his hatred of the Mahommedans by sanctioning the use of swine's-flesh, which, though esteemed by the lower tribes of Hindus, is to the Moslem an abomination. Nar Govind is said to have worn in his girdle two swords; and being asked why he did so, made answer, “One is to avenge the death of my father, the other to destroy the miracles of Mahommed."

The

Tegh Behadur suffered a violent death, and his son, Guru Govind, cherished an implacable hatred of the murderers. Circumstances, moreover, favored him more than they had done his warlike predecessor and namesake; and he took full advantage of them. He made his first appearance at the head of an armed band among the hills of Serinagar; and when forced by superior numbers to abandon that theatre of operation, he repaired to the Punjaub, where a Hindu chief, in active rebellion against the government, welcomed him gladly. was put in possession of Mak-haval, a town Five sons survived Argun, of whom two on the Sutlej, and of the villages dependent died without descendants; two more were upon it, and set up forthwith for a prince driven to the mountains by the persecutions as well as a high priest. Crowds of warriors of the Mahommedans; while the fifth, his gathered round his standard, and he gaineldest, died before his father, leaving two ed over converts to his religious opinions sous, Daharmal and Nar Ray. The latter from day to day. All these he encouraged succeeded his grandfather in 1644, and to devote themselves to steel, by carrying owing, probably, to the vigor of Arungze- arms constantly about them, and using them be's government, passed his days in peace. freely. He would admit of no avenue to But in 1661, the year of his decease, al advancement except personal merit. He

He

changed the name of the sect from Sikh to plunderer. In like manner they hung upon Singh, that is, Lion; and conferring upon the rear of the Persian army during its reall his followers alike the title which here- turn, and stripped it of much of the booty tofore only the Rajaputs had borne, taught which had been gathered in Delhi, and them to aspire after a similar military rep- elsewhere. Emboldened, likewise, by the utation, and to achieve it. He it was who state of feebleness into which the empire commanded the Sikhs to wear blue dresses, had fallen, and seeing that both into Cabul and not to cut the hair either of their heads and the Punjaub the death of Nadir had or beards. Like Argunmal, he was an au- introduced anarchy, they began to aim at thor as well as a soldier; for he added to permanent conquests; and being joined by the Ade-Grant'h of the former his own not their ancient co-religionists, and finding less sacred volume, called the Podshah Ka- willing converts every where, they gradualGrant'h, or book of the Tenth King, a title ly possessed themselves of the whole extent which he boldly assumed to himself, be- of the country of the five rivers. They apcause he was the tenth Guru, or spiritual pear, however, at this time, to have been chief, from Nanac. destitute of a head, either civil or reGuru Govind was for a while successful ligious. Like the Anglo-Saxons, they folin every undertaking. He overthrew Rajas lowed a multitude of petty chiefs, who in a and Zemundars on both sides of the Sutlej, great council, called the Guru-mata, of till an appeal was made to Delhi, and Arung- which Guru-Govind is said to have been zebe sent an army against him. He fought the inventor, made choice, ere an imporwith the resolution of despair, but was beat- tant expedition was begun, of the warrior en from one post to another; and at length, who should lead in it; but the authority of after losing wives, children, and hosts of the chief, as it was conferred upon him for adherents, became a solitary wanderer and a special purpose, so, as soon as the object a maniac. He was the last spiritual head for which it had been given was attained, it of the Sikhs, whom a prophecy is said to ceased of its own accord. Such a state of have forewarned that they should never be things, though it might render them formiable to number more than ten high-priests. dable for attack, reduced them in defensive But if as a religious body they lost their warfare to great weakness: and their inconsistency, as a nation they became for ability to withstand a resolute and united a while more terrible than ever. One Ban- enemy was proved in the contests which da, or Bairagi, a devoted friend and fol- they endeavored to sustain, now against lower of Guru Govind, seized the moment the Afghans, and now against the Mahratof Arungzebe's death to raise their banner tas. Ahmed Shah, as is well known, chasagain. He won many battles, committed tised them severely, and established his son, frightful atrocities, overran all the coun-Timour Khan, as governor at Lahore; but try between the Sutlej and the Jumna, he could not long maintain himself there, and was at last wholly routed by Abdel- and was driven out. Next came the MahSamad Khan, one of the ablest and most rattas, who after seducing Surhind, marchsuccessful of the generals of the Emperor ed to the capital of the Punjaub, and took Forokhseer. The wreck of the more res-possession. But the battle of Puniput, in olute among his troops sought shelter 1762, broke their strength for ever, and among the mountains northeast of the Pun- Lahore and all the districts dependent on jaub, whither the pursuers were unable to it, passed once more under Afghan rule. follow them. Banda himself, with many Then followed a great battle, or rather surmore, was taken and put to death, while prise, when Ahmed fell upon the Sikhs unthe mass of the people bent to the storm, expectedly, and cut to pieces 20,000 of and for a while ceased to be overwhelmed them. But Ahmed abode in the country by it. not more than a year, and his return to It was thirty years subsequently to these Cabul gave the signal for fresh risings, and events, when Nadir Shah carried his vic-led the way to new outrages. Finally, the torious arms into the heart of Hindostan, that the Sikhs appeared again as a party in the arena. They descended from their fastnesses, and falling upon the peaceful inhabitants of the Punjaub, robbed them of the property which they were endeavoring The Sikhs were in this state when Dauto secure from the rapacity of the Persian lut Rao Scindia, being supported by an

chiefs began to quarrel among themselves, feuds being transmitted from father to son; and the nation became, in consequence, formidable to itself and to the weak governments which bordered upon it.

army of which French officers were at the head, not only checked their incursions into the upper province of Hindostan, but compelled their chiefs south of the Sutlej to pay tribute, and accept his protection. And had it not been for his war with the English, there is little doubt but that he would have made himself master of all the fertile provinces that lie between that river and the Indus.

as his son, Maha Singh, was a boy of only ten years old; and in the Punjaub, not less than elsewhere, the reign of a minor is almost always a feeble one. But the Missul held together, and Maha exhibiting, as he advanced towards man's estate, great vigor both of body and mind, it soon began to enlarge its influence. Moreover, Maha, like a politic chieftain, married the daughter of a sirdar, who proved very serviceable to him; and almost as soon as his son and heir, Runjeet, was born, looked about for similar benefits to the nation through him. Accordingly, the Lion of the Punjaub, who first saw the light in the year 1780, was, in 1786, wedded, or, at least, betrothed, to a bride of his father's selection,

Daulut Rao Scindia, after retreating across the Sutlej, was forced to capitulate; whereupon the Punjaub-and, to a considerable extent, the country between the Sutlej and the Jumna-submitted to the rule of the Sikhs. These set up, when in power, the same form or system of government under which they had lived and fought dur The education of Runjeet Singh appears ing their season of difficulty. The smaller to have been entirely neglected. He never proprietors of the soil, the heads of villages learned so much as to read or to write. and towns, and so forth,-the whole body, Nature, too, seems to have acted the part in short, of local governors and magistrates, of a step-mother towards him; for he was paid obedience to one or other of twelve attacked by the small-pox in his infancy, chiefs; for twelve aristocrats seem to have and not only had his face scored and deepdivided the land among them, and to have ly indented by it, but lost the sight of one of ruled over it with an authority co-equal-his eyes. He was unfortunate, moreover, at least, in name-from about the year 1765 in this respect, that his father died in the to 1773. The associations over which each very flower of his days, being as yet under sirdar, or chief, held rule were called Mis-thirty; and Runjeet, at twelve years of age, suls. They varied both as to extent and was left to the guidance of tutors. They military strength; the largest being able to indulged him in every whim and caprice, furnish 10,000 horse for war, the smallest insomuch that, up to his seventeenth year, being assessed at 2500. For it is worthy of remark, that though for purposes of domestic administration each chief or sirdar was perfectly independent of the others, in case of danger from without, all were expected to act under a common standard. And the Guru-mata, or great council of the nation, composed entirely of chiefs, determined on whom should be conferred the honor as well as the responsibility of commanding the whole.

his life was one of constant and frightful dissipation. Indeed, the national character was by this time wholly changed from that which its founder designed it to be. Excesses of all sorts, over-eating, overdrinking,-the coarse feeding of the North combined, with the hideous vices of the East, to render the Sikh the most dissolute and depraved among all the families of men. And from his twelfth to his seventeenth year Runjeet Singh appears, in all these respects, not to have come short of the most dissolute of his subjects and countrymen.

Runjeet Singh, the Lion of the Punjaub, and the true founder of the Sikh empire, derived his descent from one of these feudal chiefs. His grandfather, Churut Singh, Runjeet Singh was yet in the midst of was sirdar of the Sookeer-chuck Missul, his career of vice, when Shah Mahommed, and seems to have been one of the least from Cabul, broke in upon the Punjaub powerful of the confederation, his retainers with a powerful army. Chief after chief numbering no more than 2500 horse. Like went down before him; and Runjeet, his brother-chiefs, he was constantly at among others, fled from his home and his war, invading the territories of a neigh government. But in his case, misfortune bor or repelling invasion; and was killed appears to have operated beneficially. He in a feudal battle by the bursting of his own awoke, as it were, to a sense of his proper matchlock, though not, as the records of duties, and forthwith devoted himself to his nation aver, till he had slain a multi-the management of public affairs, and, in tude of his enemies. He died at a mo- due time, to the aggrandizement of his Misment of much peril to his tribe, inasmuch sul. He could not, indeed, offer to Shah