MAHOMEDANISM IN THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 458 
est, and be more likely to lead to true conclusions, than the 
mere explanation of our own opinions. Besides the subject 
is a complex one, and needs many minds to apprehend it in 
its various phases. 
Why have Mahomedan , been more successful than Christian 
Missionaries , in the Indian Archipelago ? 
Many circumstances contributed to frustrate the effects of 
this zeal. The instructors were ignorant of the language, the 
habits, and manners of the natives,—the manners of Europe 
were at direct variance with those of the east,—the Europeans, 
by their intemperance, and, above all, by their avarice and 
rapacity, brought their religion into odium,—and it happen¬ 
ed unluckily that but a very little time before the commence¬ 
ment of their intercourse, the people of the Archipelago had 
received a new religion, more popular, because introduced 
with more skill, and under circumstances more agreeable to 
the genius of their character, their state of society, and their 
temporal prosperity. Had not, however, the violence, injus¬ 
tice, and rapacity of the first Europeans estranged the natives 
from their worship, they were still in time enough, for scarcely 
was the Mahomedan religion any where fully established. 
The greater number of the people of the Moluccas and neigh¬ 
bouring isles were Pagans, so were many of the Javanese, 
and even many of the inhabitants of Malacca were so. 
The success of the Mahomedan missionaries, contrasted 
with the failure of the Christian , it is not ditficult to trace to 
the true cause. The Arabs and the other Mahomedan mis¬ 
sionaries conciliated the natives of the country,—acquired 
their language,—followed their manners,—intermarried with 
them,—and, melting into the mass of the people, did not, on 
the one hand, give rise to a privileged race, nor on the other, 
to a degraded cast. Their superiority of intelligence and 
civilization was employed only for the instruction and conver¬ 
sion of a people, the current of whose religious opinions was 
ready to be directed into any channel into which it was 
skilfully diverted. They were merchants as well as the Eu¬ 
ropeans but never dreamt of having recourse to the iniquitous 
measure of plundering the 'people of the produce of their soil 
and industry. This was the cause which led to the success 
of the Mahomedans, and it was naturally the very opposite 
course which led to the defeat of the Christians. The Euro- 
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