he will of God, who showed, so far as I could obtain an
insight into their character, a reverent, earnest, humble temper, as if
they had come under the power of the few passages, occurring here and
there in the Quran, which inculcate spirituality of mind and love to all
men, and as if they had in a measure escaped from the externalism so
prominent in that book, and from its hard, fierce, bitter tone towards
all who refuse to receive it as a revelation from heaven. With two
Muhammadans I was for years on as friendly terms as I could be with any
whose belief and practice differed so widely from my own. As to
courteous, kindly demeanour, they were all that could be desired. I had
many an earnest talk with them on the highest subjects, and I was struck
with the apparent candour with which they listened to all I had to say.
They read with evident interest books I gave them, and in the case of
one such an impression was made that I hoped he was coming to the
acknowledgment of Christ as his Lord and Saviour; but after going to his
Moulvies he kept to Muhammad, though with manifest misgiving.

[Sidenote: MUHAMMADAN OPPOSITION TO THE GOSPEL.]

While I cannot join in the sweeping condemnation of Muhammadans, I must
acknowledge my experience accords with that of my missionary brethren
regarding those with whom I have come ordinarily into contact. When I
have been speaking to a company of Hindus, and have apparently secured
their attention, I have been sorry to see a Mussulman coming up, as past
experience had prepared me for the immediate introduction of such
questions as the Trinity, the Sonship of Christ, His propitiatory
sacrifice, and not infrequently the eating of pork. I have done my best
to stave off such untimely discussion, and to keep to the subject I was
teaching, but in not a few instances my audience has been broken up by
the new-comer insisting on being heard. During my long missionary career
I have had many discussions with Muhammadans in public and in private,
in some cases conducted with a calmness and fairness which promised good
results; but in still more numerous cases with a readiness on their part
to resort to the veriest sophistry, and fly from one point to another,
and with a love of disputation which led to wrangling, and could
accomplish no good. The controversy between Christianity and
Muhammadanism has been carried on by the press as well as by oral
discussion. In this department the late Dr. Pffander,