ITS ORIGIN, ITS STRENGTH, AND ITS WEAKNESS. 185 
many of the human family. Why should fatalism be welcomed ? 
It is opposed to experience, to logic, and to our intuition ; and yet 
itis liked,and why? Because fatalism does away with free-will, and 
free-will is the necessary element for obedience or disobedience to 
God. Hence, Islam, in doing away with free-will, does away, 
logically, with sin, and that being done away with, responsibility is 
gone, and there is no reason for living so as to please God as the 
God of holiness and as the God that hates sin. That is one 
reason why Islam had such an acceptance, not only was it 
propagated by the terrors of the sword, but it pandered to the 
lowest passions of men and did away with responsibility. 
Rev. O. Brven, M.A.—While welcoming the earnest language 
that has been used as to the Islam conception of God, so utterly 
unlike the Christian conception, and also the Islam conception of 
sin, I would refer to Dr. Mosely’s remarks on the point in the 
Bampton Lectures, for like most of what he wrote, it is very forcible. 
A point in the system to which no allusion has been made, and 
one that seems rather to contradict these features is, that Muham- 
madanism inculcates and fosters a very strong sense of brother- 
hood. This may seem utterly incompatible with their dealing in 
slaves, but it is a fact that I have noticed in Ceylon where 
Muhammadanism is strong, 
Dr. T. Cuapiin.—I beg permission to say a few words, because 
for some twenty-five years of my life I have been in almost daily 
intercourse with Muhammadans in various classes of society. One 
or two things seem to me to have been omitted or passed over too 
lightly in this very valuable paper; one is in connection with the 
strength of Muhammadanism.—It has been said that too little 
weight has been given to the consideration that Muhammadanism 
was propagated by the sword and upheld by the sword. That, uo 
doubt, is true, but I think we cannot shut our eyes to the fact that 
although this was the case in the past it is not the case at the 
present time. Unless 1 am misinformed there are something like 
forty or fifty millions of Muhammadans enjoying the protection of 
the British Crown, and there would seem to be no reason why 
those forty or fifty millions of Muhammadans should not give 
favourable consideration to the doctrines and claims of Christi- 
anity. There must be some reason which does not lie on the 
surface, why the teachiug of Muhammad has taken such a hold on 
men’s minds, especially in Hastern countries ; and it seems to me 
