istian powers, jealous of Russian advance on Constantinople. It
will be a blessing to mankind to have the capital of Russia on the
Bosphorus. A recent writer on Turkey thus speaks:--

"The military strength of Mohammedanism was in its steady and
remorseless bigotry. Socially, it won by the lofty ideality of its
precepts, without pain or satiety. It accorded well, too, with the
isolate and primitive character of the municipalities scattered over
Asia. Resignation to God--a motto well according with Eastern
indolence--was borne upon its banners, while in the profusion of
delight hereafter was promised an element of endurance and courage. It
had, too, one strikingly Arabic characteristic,--simplicity.

"One God the Arabian prophet preached to man;
One God the Orient still
Adores, through many a realm of mighty span,--
God of power and will.

"A God that, shrouded in his lonely light,
Rests utterly apart
From all the vast creations of his might,
From nature, man, and art.

"A Power that at his pleasure doth create
To save or to destroy;
And to eternal pain predestinate,
As to eternal joy.

"It is the merit and the glory of Mohammed that, beside founding
twenty spiritual empires and providing laws for the guidance through
centuries of millions of men, he shook the foundations of the faith of
heathendom. Mohammed was the impersonation of two principles that reign
in the government of God,--destruction and salvation. He would receive
nations to his favor if they accepted the faith, and utterly destroy
them if they rejected it. Yet, in the end, the sapless tree must fall."

M. H. Blerzey,[399] in speaking of Mohammedanism in Northern Africa,
says:--

"At bottom there is little difference between the human sacrifices
demanded by fetichism and the contempt of life produced by the
Mussulman religion. Between the social doctrines of these Mohammedan
tribes and the sentiments of Christian communities there is an immense
abyss."

And again:---

"The military and fanatic despotism of the Arabs has vested during many
centuries in the white autochthonic races of North Africa, without any
fusion taking place between the conquering element and the conquered,
without destroying at all the language and manners of the subject
people, and, in a word, without creating anything durable. The Arab