DIVINE  8UPREMAGT  OF  CHRISTIAN  FAITH    375

It  is  only  necessary  to  trace  its  unmistakable  influ-
ence in  the  moral  degeneracy  of  Mohammedan  pop-
ulations in  all  lands  and  all  ages — destroying  the  sa-
credness  of  the  home,  degrading  woman,  engendering
unnatural  vices,  and  poisoning  all  society  from  gen-
eration to  generation.  It  is  indeed  a  hard  task  for
its  apologists,  by  any  kind  of  literary  veneering  to
cover  the  moral  deformity  and  the  blasphemous
wickedness  which,  side  by  side  with  acknowledged
excellences,  mar  the  pages  of  the  Koran.  The  soiled
finger-marks  of  the  sensual  Arab  everywhere  defile
them.  Like  the  blood  of  Banquo,  they  defy  all
ocean's  waters  to  wash  them  out.  It  was  easy
enough  for  Mohammed  to  copy  many  exalted  truths
from  Judaism  and  Christianity,  and  no  candid  mind
will  deny  that  there  are  many  noble  precepts  in  the
Koran ;  but  after  all  has  been  said,  its  ruling  spirit
is  base.  Even  its  promised  heaven  is  demoralizing.
It  is  characteristically  a  human  book,  and  very  low
in  the  ethical  scale  at  that.
