ever may be said of the merits of celibacy
in those who are under no marriage vows, the abandonment of sacred
relations once formed must be considered a crime against all society. As
Mohammed's example of impurity has cast a blight over all Moslem lands,
so Gautama's withdrawal from his home has borne, and is still bearing,
its evil fruit. In Burmah it is common for a Buddhist who desires a
change of wives to abandon his family for the sacred life of a
monastery, where, if he remains but a single month, he sunders the old
relation and is at liberty to form a new one. Good men are disgusted,
but there is the example of "the Blessed One!" It will be admitted that
in comparison with Hinduism the Buddhist ethics advanced woman to a
higher social condition, but when modern apologists compare Gautama with
Christ there are many contrasts which cannot be disguised.

In some respects Socrates stands highest among great philosophers.
Mohammed's career cost him nothing but gained for him everything that
man's earthly nature could desire. Gautama made only a temporary
sacrifice; he changed lower indulgences for honor and renown, and died
at a ripe old age surrounded by loving friends. But Socrates resolutely
and calmly suffered martyrdom for his principles. The sublime dignity
and self-control of his dying hours will never cease to win the
admiration of mankind; yet Socrates was by no means a complete
character. He died unto himself merely. He left no gospel of peace to
humanity. His influence, however pure, could not, and in fact did not,
become a diffusive and transforming leaven, either in his own or in any
subsequent generation. The late Matthew Arnold has said, "The radical
difference between Jesus and Socrates is that such a conception as
Paul's (conception of faith) would, if applied to Socrates, be out of
place and ineffective. Socrates inspired boundless friendship and
esteem, but the inspiration of reason and conscience is the one
inspiration which comes from him and which impels us to live righteously
as he did. A penetrating enthusiasm of love, sympathy, pity, adoration,
reinforcing the inspiration of reason and duty does not belong to
Socrates. With Jesus it is different. On this point it is needless to
argue: history has proved. In the midst of errors the most prosaic, the
most immoral, the most unscriptural, concerning God, Christ, and
righteousness, the immense emotion of love and sympathy inspired by the
person and