and wisdom of God, to send the gospel of man's salvation to every nation in their own tongue, or to send them an Arabic Qur'an, which no one can understand out of Arabia, without first spending years in its study? Can any one suppose that the time will come when all the nations — we will not say of the whole world, but merely of Europe — will learn so much Arabic that they may perform their prayers and read the Qur'an in that language? Surely no man, and no Musalman, who knows the world, will believe this, unless, perhaps, some whose veneration for the Arabic leads them even to believe that 'no doubt Arabic is the language of heaven'. The conclusion, therefore, at which a reflecting and sincere Muhammadan must arrive, when comparing the national Arabic character of Islam with the spiritual and universal nature of Christianity, can hardly fail to be any other than this, that the former, instead of being a higher development of the true religion, falls far short of the lofty, spiritual, and universal adaptation of the latter.

4. Retaliation.

We have already remarked (p. 24) how far the gospel advances beyond the law in its requirement of a spirit of love, forbearance, and forgiveness in the private conduct of individuals. As it is impossible to conceive nobler and more spiritual principles of action between man and man, we cannot but wonder that Islam, instead of presenting a higher

standard in this particular than Christianity, falls back to the level — we will not say, of the Mosaic law — but of that law as misunderstood by the Jews. The retention and sanction by Muhammad of the right of private revenge appears from the following passages of the Qur'an: 'Whosoever shall be slain wrongfully, to his heir have we given powers; but let him not outstep bounds in putting the man-slayer to death, for he too, in his turn, will be assisted and avenged' [Suratu Bani Isra'il (xvii) 35] . And again, 'O believers, retaliation for blood-shedding is prescribed to you: the free man for the free, and the slave for the slave, and the woman for the woman; but he to whom his brother shall make any remission is to be dealt with equitably, and to him should he pay a fine with liberality' [Suratu'l-Baqara (ii) 173] . And it is to be observed that the Qur'an has not, like the Torah, taken sufficient steps to check the abuse to which such an enactment is plainly liable. Many Muslim tribes think themselves entitled by the Qur'an not merely to punish an actual murderer, but also to exact vengeance on any member of his family or tribe, so that, in the name of their religion, they slay the innocent for the guilty. Against such an abuse of the law of retaliation the Torah had expressly guarded, by enjoining, in Deut. xxiv. 16, 'The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own