THE CEYLON MUHAMMADANS. 
and suffering under strange hallucination ; or, that 
he was relating a lot of lies, and did not for a mo- 
ment himself believe what he said ! In our pre- 
sent times, too much stress is laid upon the form of 
religion, and too little, in many cases none at all, 
upon the power of it, a power in the mind, which 
like the small mainspring in the watch, regulates every 
action and tick of the curiously complicated machine. 
Preserve your mainspring all right, and no fear, but 
the watch will keep correct time. You need not be 
always lamenting yourself about the fine gold be- 
coming dim, the dust getting into the crevices : that 
watch will not go very far wrong, as long as the 
mainspring is all right. If it should, at times, don’t 
distress yourself ; give the regulator a touch, move the 
hands a little, and wipe the dust off its face, with 
the point of your silk pocket-handkerchief. The 
mainspring is all right. But you may be obstinate, and 
say, “ How am I to know the mainspring is all right ? 
I must watch the watch, and be prepared in case it 
may go wrong.” Do not trouble yourself at all, for 
if anything is wrong, even in the slightest degree, 
with the spring, it is not a case of “ may go 
wrong,” but a positive certainty that it is. Others, 
again, go upon the other extreme, and never 
will believe the mainspring is broken. The watch 
does not keep time, is actually stops, “Tuts, tuts. 
Bother that dust that is always getting in,” and 
they shake the watch, wind it up, setting it agoing 
for a time, just merely again, soon to come to a 
standstill. Days, months, go on, in this very un- 
satisfactory way, and they never take the trouble to 
examine, or have examined, if the mainspring is all 
right ; indeed the idea never enters their mind that it 
can possibly be broken. Give up this silly, purpose- 
less “dilly-dally,” all ye who have watches, that 
wont go correctly, or keep proper time, for far better 
have no watch at all, than one that does not keep 
correct time, and always deceives you. Just as you 
are a very useless individual to others, if you give 
forth no “tick,” in like manner also is that watch 
to you, that follows your mean and unworthy ex- 
ample ! Tick away, give forth “tick” to any reason- 
able extent, if your mainspring and regulator are all 
right, only don’t be like that scheming Moorman, 
HassanTambi, who, after procuring “tick,” make no 
use of it at all. For it was said, although he always de- 
clared he never had a single rupee, that, at the solemn 
silent midnight hour, when all was quiet and still, 
even the very pariah dogs, he would arise from his 
mats, and trim and light his humble lamp, then he 
would peep cautiously out of his humble dwelling to 
