['7] 



Notwithstanding the great persecution of Confucians in B.C. 212, by 

 the Ts'in rulers, and other smaller attempts to destroy the new system 

 of morality in favour of the sun-gods, the moral code of Confucius was 

 publicly permitted to be used in A.D. 57, and since the seventh century 

 has almost entirely taken the place of god-worship, a few only of the 

 more uneducated classes still professing to worship Fo-hi. 



Mohammedanism, or Islamism, the reformed faith of Arab polythe- 

 ists, arose in the sixth century of our era. Mahomet, or Mohammed, 

 was a young religious enthusiast, a camel-driver of Mecca, who deter- 

 mined to uproot the idolatry and superstition of the Arab tribes, and 

 was singularly successful in his arduous undertaking. He had a power- 

 ful aversion to all kinds of priestcraft, sacrifices, and superstitious 

 ordeals, and boldly preached the unity of God, declaring that " there 

 is but one God, and Mahomet is his prophet." Of all the religions of 

 the world, perhaps none has been more successful than this ; and, 

 certainly, not one ever spread so rapidly over the face of the earth. In 

 less than 100 years after the decease of the prophet the Khalifs of 

 Islamism were masters of the whole of Northern Africa, Spain, and 

 part of France, besides a great portion of Asia ; which vast territories 

 they retained possession of for about 600 years, encouraging the while 

 philosophical and scientific studies, establishing libraries, schools, and 

 universities, and otherwise benefitting the human race. At the present 

 day upwards of 100,000,000 people embrace this faith, whose God is 

 Allah, the great unity, whose prophet is Mahomet, and whose Bible is 

 the Koran. 



We now come to Christianism, that widely-spread faith, whose cradle 

 was Alexandria, whose nursery was Rome, and whose workshop was 

 Europe. The founder of this religion, if he ever lived at all, about 

 which there is considerable doubt, was a young ascetic monk belonging 

 to the Essenes a Syrian branch of the large order of Therapeutae 

 whose headquarters were in Alexandria. His name was Yahoshua bent 

 Pandira and Stada ; he was born about B.C. 120, in the reign of Alex- 

 ander Jannaeus ; and he preached the doctrines of Confucius, declaring 

 publicly that the priests were liars and hypocrites, and inculcating com- 

 munistic and socialistic theories. He gained many lowly followers, who 

 followed him about preaching in the open air, and begging their bread 

 from day to day, and, at last, was publicly executed for his seditious 

 conduct. 



At the same time a remarkable mental revolution was taking place 

 in Greece and Egypt, the natural homes of mythology ; the University 

 of Alexandria and the Academic Groves of Athens were fast sending to- 

 the right-about-face the old superstitions, much to the dismay of the 

 priests and religious fanatics, who were driven to their wits' end to know 



