would be excluded from the ceremony, and that the marriage would be in fact a betrothal, as the parties would not live together until the young man returned from England, when both would be of age. But what decided Keshab was the doctrine of adesh. He believed that he had received from God a command to go on with the wedding; and therefore, in spite of all the facts already mentioned, and in spite of the vehement protests of a large party in the Samaj, he gave his

consent.

As was to be expected, the Kuch Bihar family did not carry out their promises. The wedding as celebrated was a Hindu marriage; idolatrous implements and symbols were in the pavilion; and, though Keshab and his daughter both withdrew before any idolatrous ceremonies took place, the ritual was completed by the Hindu priests in the presence of the bridegroom in the usual way.

19. A tremendous storm followed in Calcutta. The opposing party did their best to depose Keshab, and to seize the building, but failed in both attempts. Finally, they left the Samāj, a great body of intelligent and influential men. For many years a fierce controversy raged round the details of the wedding; but the facts are now quite clear. A little pamphlet, called A Brief Reminiscence of Keshub Chunder Sen,1 written by Miss Pigot, the pioneer Zenāna Missionary of the Church of Scotland, who was most intimate with Keshab and his family, and accompanied the little bride to the wedding, gives a clear and intelligible account of all that happened.

20. Fourth Period, 1878-1884: Three Samājes: Keshab's New Dispensation. Most of the missionaries, a number of outstanding men and a section of the rank and file held by Keshab, but the major portion of the membership went out. All the provincial Samājes were consulted, and the majority fell in with the new movement. The name chosen was the

1 Published in Calcutta in 1910.

Sādhāran Brahma Samāj; and great care was taken to organize the society in a representative way, so as to avoid the single-man government and the consequent changes of teaching which had caused so much trouble in the old body. The word sädhāran means "general," and is clearly meant to suggest that the society is catholic and democratic. With regard to doctrine and practice, they were anxious to continue the old theistic teaching and the social service and philanthropy which had characterized Keshab's Samaj to begin with. They were especially eager to go forward with female education. It was the easier to organize a representative government and to secure continuity of teaching, because, while there were many able men among them, there was no outstanding leader. Of the four missionaries appointed the most prominent was Pandit Siva Nath Sastrī. On the 22nd of January, 1881, their new building in Cornwallis Street was opened.

Yet, despite the great schism, Keshab retained the primacy in Brahmaism by sheer genius and force of character until his death in 1884. His achievements during the last six years of his life are very remarkable, the extraordinary freshness of his thinking and writing, and the many new elements he introduced into his work. Yet, though very brilliant, these innovations have not proved nearly so fruitful and lasting as his early contributions to the cause. They will be more intelligible grouped under three heads, than set out in chronological order.

21. The first group comes under the head of his own phrase, the New Dispensation. For some years it had been clear that he thought of himself as having a special divine commission. That idea now becomes explicit. There have been a number of divine dispensations in the past: he is now the divinely appointed leader of the New Dispensation, in which all religions are harmonized, and which all men are summoned to enter as their spiritual home. He and his missionaries are

the apostles of this new and universal church. But this claim, which, if logically carried out, would have set him, as the centre of the final religion of all time, far above Christ, Buddha, Muḥammad and every other leader, is crossed and hindered by two other thoughts, each of which influenced him powerfully during the last section of his life; first, the idea that all religions are true, which he took over from Rāmakrishna Paramahamsa, and, secondly, a belief in the supremacy of Christ as the God-man. Consequently, all his teaching about the New Dispensation lacks consistency and grip.

On the anniversary day in January in 1881 he appeared on the platform, with twelve of his missionaries around him, under a new red banner, on which were inscribed the words Naba Bidhan (Nava Vidhana), that is, New Dispensation, and also an extraordinary symbol made up of the Hindu trident, the Christian cross and the crescent of Islam. On the table lay the Scriptures of the four greatest religions of the world, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Muḥammadanism. Four of the apostles were specially appointed that each might study the Scriptures of one of these religions. Henceforward, the phrase Brahma Samāj falls into the background, and Keshab's body is known as The Church of the New Dispensation.

Feeling now more confident of his own inspiration, he frequently issued proclamations in the name of God, calling upon all men to accept the New Dispensation, and pronouncing those who had left him infidels, apostates and disobedient men. In keeping with the universality ascribed to the New Dispensation, the faithful were exhorted to turn their thoughts to the great men of all nations. One of the methods employed was to go on pilgrimage in imagination to see one of the great ones, and to spend some time in meditation on his teaching, achievements and virtues. Men and women were formed into orders of various kinds, and solemn vows were laid upon them.

22. The second group of innovations comes from Hinduism.