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THE REV. H. D. GRISWOLD, M.A.,, PH.D., ON 



just as in Zech. xiv, 4, it says that the Lord's feet shall stand upon 

 the Mount of Olives ; so, when the eleven disciples with their 

 companions were looking up into heaven after the ascending Jesus, 

 two angels appeared to them and said : "Ye men of Galilee, why 

 stand ye gazing up into heaven 1 this same Jesus, which is taken up 

 from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen 

 him go into heaven," Acts i, 11 — that is to say, comparing it with 

 Zechariah, that He shall descend in glory upon the Mount of 

 Olives. 



The Chairman. — The paper is extremely interesting from many 

 points of view, and not only from the personality of the Mirza, who 

 claims to be the Messiah, but from the fact that his is one of the 

 very latest of the many sects of Mohamedans and Hindus. New 

 sects are very common in India in both religions. A large book 

 has been written, I think, by a missionary at Ludhiana on the sects 

 of Hindus alone. Some of them are of a very obscure and even 

 degrading character ; but, in the majority, there is a general tendency 

 to cope with the special evils of the times and to start reform. The 

 Sikh religion was a powerful effort of the kind. Also in Bengal 

 was the extensive body which followed Chatanya, whose teaching 

 had many good points. In llajputana many small sects have arisen, 

 such as the Dadu Panthis, the Ramsnehis and others. In most of them 

 there was a groping after the truth. In the lifetime of the founder 

 they nourished, but decay as a rule soon set in after his death. So 

 in the ordinary course we may expect that, on the death of Mirza 

 Ghulam Ahmad his cult will probably decline. He writes on quite 

 familiar lines such, for example, when he makes much of the similarity 

 and significance of words. Thus Mohamad has a jaldli name, that 

 is a glorious one, and therefore, he had a triumphant career, but he 

 had also a second or jamfili, that is beautiful name, viz., Ahmad 

 (praiseworthy), which the new Messiah interprets as pointing to 

 peace, and therefore which must apply to himself as that is his own 

 name. His brother was also a religious leader for the sweeper 

 community, hence he too must be a guide. 



The usual thing is that when a prophet dies his memory is 

 revered by worship of his foot-print, which is carved in stone, if he 

 be not in Hindu sects converted into a god or a minor incarnation 

 or an atom of one, and so the cult maintains some degree of 

 permanency. 



