was as well to wait and watch events, and the páhul can be taken at any period of life.
When the census of 1868 was taken, there had been a great and welcome change. The Mutiny had taken place, and the Sikhs had cordially joined their conquerors in reestablishing order in Hindustan. Their share had been an especially grateful and glorious one. Perhaps a more fortunate occurrence than the Mutiny of 1857 never occurred in India. It swept the Indian sky clear of many clouds. It disbanded a lazy, pampered army, which, though in its hundred years of life it had done splendid service, had become impossible; it replaced an unprogressive, selfish and commercial system of administration by one liberal and enlightened; and it attached the Sikh people closely to their rulers and made them, what they are to-day, the surest support of the Government. Lastly, it taught India and the world that the English possessed a courage and national spirit which made light of disaster; which never counted whether the odds against them were two or ten to one; and which marched confident to victory, although the conditions of success appeared all but hopeless. After the Mutiny the Sikhs found themselves no longer regarded with suspicion by their new masters, but treated in a spirit of confidence and good fellowship. The name of Sikh became what it was in the days of the great Mahárájá, a title of honour opening to its possessor the door of military service. Thus the creed received a new impulse, and many sons of Sikhs, whose baptism had been deferred,
