into many other tongues spoken by Mohammedans, and its alphabet has been adopted or adapted in many parts of Asia and Africa. The Koran has been translated into Persian, Urdu, Turkish, Javanese, Bengali, and two or three other languages, but these translations are expensive, rare, and not commonly used. The chief literary languages of Islam next to Arabic are Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Bengali, Chinese, and Russian. In these there exists a considerable religious literature. The chief Moslem languages in Africa next to Arabic are Kisuaheli, Hausa, Berber, and Kabyle. In India we must add to this list of polyglots, among many others, Punjabi, Gujerati, Kashmiri, Baluchi, and Pushtu; while for Asia Minor and Europe, in addition to Turkish, there are Kurdish, Albanian, and a number of Turkish dialects.

The Bible has been translated, or a portion of the New Testament at least, into all these languages of the Moslem world; yet it is well to emphasize at the outset the fact that these Moslem lands, and therefore this world of Moslem childhood, has been greatly neglected, and in some cases utterly omitted from the programme of worldwide missions. How full of pathos are the words of Miss Von Mayer, who writes from Samarkand: "I shall gather information as to numbers, education, and mortality of children here, but I can

not contribute to your report anything as to the religious work done, for not a single one of the one and a half million Moslem children in this field, at any time or anywhere, comes into con

tact with Christianity." What she says of

Bokhara and Khiva is true also of Chinese Turkestan, of the nomad tribes in the deserts of Gobi and Mongolia, of all Afghan children, of those in Central and Western Arabia, the extreme south of Persia, and most of Baluchistan. And to this the unoccupied areas of Moslem population in Africa-most of Morocco, the southern half of Algeria, Tripoli, the Atlas Riff country, the uncounted thousands of the Sahara districts, the millions of Nigeria and the Sudan, and the thousands in British, French, and Italian Somaliland-and we face a problem of unreached and utterly neglected childhood which we must lay upon our hearts as it rests upon the heart of God. The total number of children in these wholly unoccupied areas is not less than 40,000,000, untouched by any Christian influences.

Aside from all missionary claims upon the churches of Christendom, no one can deny that there exists a great and grave national responsibility toward this world of childhood, on the part of European Governments which have been made morally responsible, through colonial expansion or conquest, for the childhood in these areas.

This white man's burden of responsibility for the social, intellectual-we will not say religiouscondition of those who are under European Governments cannot be shifted. And no believer in God can doubt that there is a divine purpose in thus entrusting the material, moral, and spiritual interests of these millions to those who call themselves Christians.

Before the breaking out of the great European war and the changes which will doubtless take place after it as regards colonial rule in Africa, the total number of Mohammedans under British rule or protection was 90,478,111. Of these, in round numbers 22,000,000 live in Africa and 68,000,000 in Asia. Great Britain practically holds the balance of power political in the Moslem world. Next in order of importance is Holland, with not less than 35,000,000 Moslems in her colonies. Russia has 20,000,000 Moslem subjects and France 15,000,000 in Africa and 232,000 in Asia. Germany and Italy each counted about the same number of Moslems in their African protectorates, the former 1,480,000 and the latter 1,365,000. Portugal, Belgium, and Spain also have a Moslem population in their African possessions, but only in the case of Portugal does the total exceed a quarter of a million. United States of America faces its largest missionary problem in the Moros of the Philippine

The

Islands group. These number 277,547, and are all Moslems. This is the largest single unit of unevangelized people within the bounds of the United States Government. Socially, intellectually, morally, and spiritually these people are the most needy of all, and therefore have the greatest claim upon the nation which boasts that all men are created equal and should have equal privileges. Savage and fierce as the Moros may be, they are physically and mentally superior to the surrounding pagans who inhabit the hills and the interior of Mindanao. Islam has here undoubtedly raised the standard of civilization. With Mohammedanism came art and knowledge and communication with the outside world. Nevertheless, as William H. Taft remarked when Governor of the Philippines: "They do not understand republican government. They welcome a despotism, and they will never understand popular government until they have been converted to Christianity."

In the case of all these possessions and colonies it is evident that the problem of secular education for Moslem childhood rests first of all upon the government. Illiteracy, as we shall see later, is well-nigh universal among Moslems, and it is not impossible, even with a government that professes strict religious neutrality, to afford such education, mental and moral, as shall be an uplift

to these backward races. Great Britain, France, Germany, and the Netherlands have done much for the economic development of their colonies, and so have removed many hindrances to real progress. They have also given Moslems special inducements to accept Western education. Above all, with a few notable exceptions, they have granted liberty for missionary effort. On the other hand, Great Britain in East Africa and in Nigeria seems to aim at conserving Islam wherever it finds that faith, and although not actively and officially proMoslem, it yet furthers the spread of this religion in pagan districts. Dr. St. Clair Tisdall writes:

"At present the government 'appears to put obstacles in the way of all concerned in seeking to evangelize the people of British East Africa.' So much has this been the case that not long since the various missions sent a special deputation to urge that the government should at least be neutral, and no longer use its influence to keep the chiefs and others from Christian teaching, nor show a tendency to encourage Islam as more suitable for the people than Christianity. The government has gone out of its way to build, open, and support schools for Arabs, Suahelis, and others, in which no Christian teaching may be given. There are some reasons for hoping, however, that this foolish and unworthy policy will be modified, if not abandoned."