Moslem boys were given religious instruction, paid for by the state from the revenue, to which the Copts of course contributed, and contributed a larger percentage probably than their percentage to population. Finally, the Coptic boys had to sit in the room and hear (though not take part in) the Moslem religious lesson! No comment is necessary. No wonder the educated part of the Coptic nation was lapsing into infidelity, indifference, or semiIslamism !

However, just before Lord Cromer left Egypt a change for the better was made. The religious hour was put at the end of the day, and the right of entry was given to Coptic religious instructors to teach Coptic boys at the expense of the Coptic community. But the lesson was not compulsory; only those who applied for it got it, and unless a certain proportion of the parents applied for it, it could not be given at all.

But a serious injustice still remains. Why should the Copts, who contribute their full share of the taxes out of which the Moslem teachers in these schools are paid, have further to pay Christian teachers of religion? Why should not the state pay both, or neither?

Again, why should this instruction be compulsory for Moslems, optional for Christians?

Again, why should the state run training-schools for Sheikhs, and elementary schools for children, from both of which Christians are excluded though the Copts pay their share of the taxes which support those schools, and while the Christians have no such state-aided elementary or training-schools?

These three iniquitous conditions should be instantly remedied. They are indefensible. The only reason why nothing is done is, once again, fear. For a long time the British agent feared to take even the first obvious step to remedy the worst iniquity. And yet when he

made the plunge the fears were seen to be groundless. But the lesson of this is one which it seems British officials find it impossible to learn thoroughly.

(d) The Sudan. Here the British government has practically the sole and supreme control. In the Moslem part of the Sudan it has thought right to forbid the holding of any sort of gospel meeting, fearing the effect it might have on the Sudanese. Britain has been administering the Sudan for twelve years, and the embargo has not yet been withdrawn. The Gordon College which was founded by the free-will offerings of British people in memory of Gordon is now a purely Moslem college. The Moslem religion is taught in it at the expense of the state. I do not know whether there are any Christians who might wish to take advantage of the instruction in secular subjects provided at Gordon College; I have heard it asserted that such students even if they entered could not receive any Christian instruction. If this is so, it is another iniquity, made all the greater by the name of the great Christian man after whom the college is called.

In the Pagan Sudan the government gives some facilities for missions, though the missionaries have complained of the slowness and timidity of their policy. But its effect is probably neutralized by the pro-Islamic influence of the army upon the pagan recruits who join it. At the Edinburgh Conference Mr. Kelly Giffen, the American missionary, is reported as having related a conversation with an English official, who said to him, "Why do you do mission work among Moslems? You might as well give it up-' we make' ten Moslems to your one Christian!" If he really said these words they must refer to the observed-I will not say calculated-result of the whole policy of the govHere we have the very opposite of the Dutch policy in the East Indies.

ernment.

(e) East Africa. Bishop Peel reports that the gov ernment in British East Africa is neutral, and that its attitude largely depends on the personality of the officials, but that for the last ten years all mission work has been well supported by government.

(f) British Central Africa. Islam is making way here, but I am not aware of the attitude of government in the face of this fact.

(g) South Africa. For the sake of completeness South Africa with its 50,000 Moslems must be mentioned. But they do not make a noticeable enough element in South Africa, I am informed,' to call for comment here. Where Moslems are not formidable they get no notice taken of them by the British government.

(h) Sierra Leone. Mr. Garrett writes: "The policy of the British government towards Mohammedans in Sierra Leone is called neutrality. This is, however, certainly a mistake, as Mohammedan schools are aided admittedly on different lines from others. . I would like to see neutrality thrown away and tolerant Christianity encouraged. This can be brought about by the arrival of out-and-out Christian statesmen." Mr. Garrett also thinks the present policy of neutrality with special consideration for Mohammedans will end in "failure and contumely." He calls the impartiality of the government a spurious one.

(i) Nigeria. It is probably here where the British government is seen at its weakest and its policy most mistaken. Dr. Miller, of Hausaland, has repeatedly criticized the attitude of British officials, and very strong things were said on this subject at the Edinburgh Conference. Christians and pagans, it was said, are consistently made to feel by British officials that

'By Mr. Clinton J. Wood, who has recently made a special and full study of the subject.

they are not wanted; that the country is not for them; that work would always go to Moslems. Moslem ceremonies have respect elaborately paid to them, Moslem prejudices are yielded to, Moslem customs strengthened and upheld. More serious still, Christian missions are unsympathetically regarded, and their advance thwarted. Actually the leave of the Moslem chief has to be ob. tained before the mission can be carried into his territory. And, perhaps, more serious still, the government refuses to give a really enlightened system of education to the people, but bolsters up the old useless Koranic system, flatters the Sheikhs, and refuses to allow the missionaries perfect freedom to open schools with an enlightened system of education.

On the other hand the Moslems can go anywhere and make as many proselytes as they please. What wonder that the Mohammedans think that the government is simply running the country for them; that they are the only people; that British officials are afraid of them, and have implicitly declared the superiority of Islam. Such policy can bring nothing but difficulty and disaster in the future. It is cowardly and unchristian; it is not even neutral. It ought to be wholly changed. The British official may one day see that all this subservience to the Moslem and neglect of his own faith gains him neither the respect, gratitude, nor affection of the people, but the very reverse of all three.

T

XV

MOSLEM ADVANCE IN INDIA

REV. JOHN TAKLE, BENGAL

HE pagan races of India have suffered much from invaders, but most from the raids made

at different times by the hordes of Moslem freebooters that swept down from Central Asia into their midst bent on conquest. These races are supposed to have "let the legions thunder past, then plunged in thought again," but they never regained the position they had before the invasion. With the coming of the Arabs in the eighth century a new epoch in India's history was begun. They were followed by the Huns, Turks, Afghans and Moguls, and with their advent Islam made mighty inroads upon the districts where they came.

Was the progress made by fair or foul means; was it the result of belief born of conviction, or of a propaganda emphasized by force and persecution? Most will agree that progress first came through conquest and amalgamation; it was a growth largely due to the Moslems marrying the women of the land. The invaders had large battalions of men, but very few women of their own nationality and faith, hence the necessity of finding wives from amongst the Indian people. The men settled down and established towns and villages; thousands of half-breeds were born and this mixed race intermarried with the newcomers and the natives. In this way the crescent with its sickly light began to move across the Indian sky to its first quarter.