, 1874-02-14

| with men, they would not fnghten me away
And when be had brought the people to listen
he dismissed them with the simple prayer, " d
for the happiness OF ali living beings and abstai1
from violence. Extend your goodwill to al
mankind let there be peace among the dweller
on eauh.
No doubt, the accounts of the successes
l achieved by those early missionaries are exag
I ge1ated, and their fights With snakes and drag
ons and evil spirits remind Us sometimes OF tht
/ legendary accounts of the achievements Of sucl
men az St. Patrick in Ireland, or St. Boniface il
= Germany. But the fact that missionaries were
sent out to convert the world seems beyond tht
| reach Of doubt and this fact represents to III
at that time new thought, new, not only IN th
history Of india, but in the history OF tht
] whole world. The recognition Of duty tt
| child, was an idea opposed to the deepest in
| stiucts of Bralmanism !; and when, at the end O.
! the chapter On the frat MISSIONS We read the
simple words Of the old chronicler, 'tWhe
would damur, it the salvation of the world ia al
stake :" we feel at once that we move in . new
world, We see the dawn Of new day. the open
| ing OF vaster horizons, we fee:, for the hrs
! time i'll the history Of the world, the beating oi
the great heart Of humanity So: :.
! MoI1ANMEDAS1sM.
The Koran breathes different spirit it doe:
J not invite. it rather comneis, the world to come
in Yet there are passages, particularly IN the
! earlier portions, which show that Mohanmed,
too, had realized the idea OF humanity, and Of 9
religion Of humanity; nag, that at first he wished
I to unite bis own religion With that OF the Jews
! aud Christians, compTehending all under, the
common name Of Islam. Islam meant originally
! humility or devotion; and NIL who humbled
themselves before God, and were filled With real
reverence, were called Moslime "Ihe Islam y
When men dispute with you, nay, i am a Mos
lm.' Ask those who have sacred books, and ask
the heathen: 'Are you Moslim? ? II they are,
| they are on the right path; but ii they turn
away, then you have no other task but to deliver
! the message, to preach to them the lslam."
| CHRISTIANITY
| AZ to our own religion, its very soul is mis-
| eionary, progressive, World-embracius it would
cease to exist il it ceased to be missionary-n it
! disreearded tho parting words OF it's Founder
| ing them in the name Of the Father, snd Of tho
Son, and of the holy Ghost teaching them to
| observe Ill things IhaGe commanded ; and, 10, I
an With Yen alway, oven unto the end Of tho
] world"
It is this missionary character peculiar to these
three religions, Buddhism, Nohanlmct tlailisul and
Christianity, WHICH binds them together. aud
lifts them to 4 higher sphere. Their differences,
no doubt, are great on some points they are
opposed TO each other lko day and night. But
they could not be what they are they could not
hive achieved what they hare achieved, unless
the spirit OF truth and the spirit Of love had been
alive in the hearts Of their founders, their first
messengers and missionaries.
THE FATE OF Nos-N1ss1oSARY RELIGION.
. And now, let us look again at the religions in
which the missionary spirit has been at work,
and compare them with those in which any at
tempt to convince others by argument, to save
,souls, to bear witness to the truth, is treated
with pity or scorn.. The former ore a{ice, The
zoRoAsTRLAS1sM.
The religion Of Zoroastsr,-the religion Of
Cyrus, OF Darius, and Xerxes-vhich, but for
the battles of Marathon and Salamis might
have become the religion Of the civilized world,
is now profcsscd By oniy toaa 900 sopls-that is,
by about ten-thousanath part OF the in
habi1ants Of the world. During the last two
centuries their number has steadily decreased
from 400, 900 to 100000, and another cen
tury will probably exhaust what ls still left of
the Norshipers Of tho Wise Spirit, Ahuranazda-
The Jews are shout thirty times the number Of
the Parsls, aud they therefore represent = more
appreciatiye portion Of mankind. Though 1t is
not likely that they will ever increase in number,
yet such is their physical vigor and their intel
lectual tenacty such also their pride of and
their faith III 1ehoyah, that NC can hardly imag-
inc that their patriarchal religion and their all
cient customs will soon >ysnish from the face OF
the earth.
+: But though the religions Of tho Parsis and
Jews might justly seem to have paid the penalty
OF their antl-mi.Bionary spirit. how, it will be
said, can the same be maintained with regard to
the religion of the Brahmana5s Tint religion is
still professed by at least 10000, 900 Of human
souls, and, to judge from the Inst census,
even TINT, enormous number fills much
short OF the real truth. And yet do not
shrink from saying that,their religion is dying
or dead. And why? Because it can:lot stand
the light Of day. The Worship o. silva. Of
Vishuu- and the other popular deities, is Of the
same nay. in many cases Of q more degraded
and savage character than the worship Of Jupi- |
ter, Apollo aud Minerva it belongs to u stratum
of thought which is long buried beneath our |
feet; it may live on, like the lion and the tiger,
but the mere air Of free thought and civilized /
life will extinguish it. religion may lnger On |
for long time, it may be accepted By The large |
masses OF the people, because it is there, and
there is nothing better. But when religion
prophets, champions, martyrs, it has ceased to
live; aud in this sense Brahnanism has ceased |
to 1--we for more than Thousand years.
Il is true there are millions Of children,
women. and men in India who fall down before
the stone image OF Vishnu, with his four arms,
riding On creature half bird, half man, or
sleeping On the serpent; who worship silva, &
monster with three eyes, riding naked on bull,
with necklaco Of skulls for his ornament,
There are human beings who still believe in q
& peacock, and holding bow and arrow in his
hands; and who invoke god Of SUCCESS, Ganesa,
with four hands and IN elephants head. sitting
on rat. Nay, it is true that. in the broad day-
light Of the nineteenth century, the figure Of
the goddess Kali is carried through the streets |
Of her own city, Calcutta, her wild dishc7eled
hair reaching to her feet, with necklace OF
human heads, her tongue protruded from her
mouth. her girdle stained With blood. AL thisis
true; but ask any Hindu, who can read and write
and think, whether these are the gods he be-
ieyes in, and he will smile at your credulity.
How long this living death OF national religion
n India may last, no one can tell :; for our pur-
poses: however, for .gaiuing an idea OF the issue
II the great religious struggle Of the future, that
religion too is dead and gone.
THE THREE LIVING RELIGIONS.
The three religions which are ai;ye, and be-
;weeR which the decisive battie for the dominion
II the world will have to be fought. are the three
missionary religions, Buddhism, ,Mohammedan-
snn, and Christianity. Though religious Btatis-
ics are perhaps the most uncertain OF all, yet it
we'll to have u general conception Of the forces
II our enemies; and it is well to know TINT, |
housh tho number OF Christians is double the
lumber OF 3lohamu1edans, the Buddhist religion |
til occupies the first place in the religious cen
us of mankind.
Buddhism rules supreme in Central, Northern. !
3astorn, and Southern Asia. and it gradually |
bsorbs whatever there is left of aboriginal
eathenism in that Yast and popuIous area 4 |