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PEOF. D. S. MARGOLIOUTH, D.LITT., ON 



My. Atterbury is correct when he says that a missionary stated 

 there were many who were converted from Mohammedanism to 

 Christianity in Morocco, and yet you may travel in ^Morocco without 

 hearing anything of them. 



Another thing — I l^elieve that most of these converts are made from 

 the Berbers, who speak a different language, and they would be very 

 careful to hide anything from the Arabic-speaking people with 

 regard to such a thing as the spread of Christianity in their midst. 



There is one thing I should like to say in regard to the future of 

 Islam, and that is — we, as Christians, are inclined and glad to 

 think that the political power of Islam is passing away, and to 

 congratulate ourselves that a large part of the Mohammedan world is 

 now under the dominion of Christians. But there is another side to 

 that. Mohammedanism under native rule is decaying rapidly. I 

 have been a missionary for many years in North Africa. In the 

 twelfth century the population of the province of Tunis was some 

 17 millions. Now, under Mohammedanism, without any rival, and 

 with consideral)le means of increasing their numbers through piracy 

 and bringing up slaves from the Sudan, what has l)een the result ? 

 AVith no native Christian church to oppose them, from 17 millions 

 of people living in a rather prosperous country, the population of 

 Tunis is reduced to less than 2 millions, decimated every few years 

 by famine. That is the case in Morocco. I would like to say that 

 Mohammedanism under European powers, such as India and Egypt 

 and other parts, has the opportunity of progressing and has the 

 opportunity of striking its roots deeper under European Christian 

 powers than under native rule. 



I cannot, of course, help regretting the action of the Government 

 in Egypt in refusing to allow Christian missionaries to penetrate 

 farther into the Sudan. I think it is the worst thing that could be 

 done from a political and religious point of view. I believe a 

 Gordon Khartoum College might have been established deliberately 

 as a missionary system to propagate Christianity in the Sudan, and 

 that it would have met with respect from the natives."^ 



* Since the above words were spoken it has been stated in the papers 

 that liord Kitchener and the Sirdar have allowed the C.M.S. Society 

 to open Christian schools at Khartoum ; the rights of parents to prohibit 

 their children receiving religious instruction being respected.— Ed. 



