success; that of the priests and religious-conservative element,
who oppose it tooth and nail as subversive of the old religious
ideas and priestly power; that of the missionary, who finds therein
his vantage-ground for familiarizing the intelligent and influential
section of the people with the doctrines and ideals of the Christian
religion; and that of the Government, which, indifferent alike to
the motives of the missionary and the opposition of the Mullahs,
requires educated young men for administrative posts, and believes
that education eclipses fanaticism.

"Any parent sending his son to the mission school will be
excommunicated" was the fatwa of the Mullahs at Bannu when the
mission school was inaugurated; the delinquent would be unable to get
priestly assistance for marriage, for burial, or for the other rites
so essential to a Muhammadan's religious safety. But parents and boys
alike were desirous of availing themselves of the advantages of the
school, so the Mullahs relented, and said: "Let the boys go to school,
but beware lest they learn English, for English is the language of
infidelity, and will certainly destroy their souls." But without
English all the best Government appointments were unattainable, and
their boys would have to be content with inferior posts and inferior
pay; so pressure was again brought to bear on the Mullahs, and the fiat
went forth: "Let the boys read English, so long as they do not read
the Christian Scriptures, for the Christians have tampered with those
books, and it is no longer lawful for true Muhammadans to read them."

Again a little patience and a little gaining of confidence, and
the Mullahs tacitly retracted this restriction too, and now many of
the most prominent Mullahs themselves send their sons to the mission
school. The Muhammadan lads compete zealously with the others for the
Scripture prizes, and in 1907 two Muhammadan officials gave prizes
to be awarded to the boys who were most proficient in Scripture in
the matriculation class. Sic tempora mutantur!

A significant occurrence was the visit of His Majesty the Amir of
Afghanistan to the Islamic College at Lahore, when he made a speech,
in which he reiterated the advice: "Acquire knowledge! acquire
knowledge! acquire knowledge!" and went on to say that if they had
been previously well grounded in their religion they need not fear
lest the study of Western science might overthrow their beliefs or
undermine their fa