Professor Toy's Lecture.

The subject of the rise of Islam was most ably treated in the lecture, given last evening in Upper Boylston, by Professor Toy. Our own civilization is largely based on that of the Moslems, and hence their religious history is very interesting to us.

The northern part of Arabia is occupied by vast sandy deserts, which are inhabited by the roving Bedouin tribes. The Bedouins love the wild, untrammelled freedom of desert life, and despise the dwellers in the cities. Hence it is not surprising that only two cities, Mecca and Medina, exist within their borders. The three characteristics of the Arab race are, tribal isolation, love of poetry, and utter lack of religion. Union of the scattered tribes was impossible, and the people remained dormant for centuries, on account of the lack of combined effort. War was the business life and poetry the only unwarlike enjoyment, and, in fact, almost the only means of artistic expression.

No other people has ever been so devoid of religion. They cared only for the present, and thought sensuous enjoyment the only end of life. Their theory was a half contemptuous polytheism and their indifference is shown by the fact that the men had no objection to giving up their idols at the command of Mohammed. Only the women tried to keep the household gods.

That Mohammed was able to rouse religious enthusiasm amongst such a people, shows that he was not a mere impostor, and the theory of epilepsy also breaks down. There were many Christians and Jews in Mecca, and their sacred books were the source of his teachings. He invented or elaborated nothing, but he gained a hold on the people which mere doctrine never attains. The future life was the only real present for him and his promisef of future paradise in addition to present prosperity, secured for him many followers, Mohammed was a practical reformer and did not press the people too far. He took the chief of the tribal deities and elevated them to the position of omnipotent God. His Allah was based on the tribal theology, and hence the rapid progress of the new religion.

With the citizens of Mecca the case was different. The city had grown rich by trade, being situated on the caravan route to the highly civilized states of southern Arabia. At Mecca was situated the Caaba, the central temple of the Arabs. The pilgrims wished to find their tribal gods in the temple, and thus a polytheism became the religion of the city, although many of the citizens, who had studied the sacred books of the Jews, were inclinto monotheism. Any attack on the idols endangered the commercial prosperity of the city, as the pilgrims afforded the chief source of revenue. The hard-headed merchants, who had enlarged their minds by travel, were by no means as captivated by the doctrine of the would-be reformer as were the savage tribes of the desert. Mecca surrendered, not to the religion or personal influence of the prophet, but to a superior armed force, and that only when by the complete coercion of the roving tribes, their commercial supremacy was no longer in danger.