There is something strangely ironic in the following tele- gram
from Rangoon, which appeared in the Times of Monday : —" A crowded and enthusiastic meeting of influential Mahom- medans has been held here to consider the adoption of measures for promoting the Mahommedan religion in Eng- land, A committee was appointed to raise funds in support of a Mahommedan Institute in Liverpool, and large subscrip- tions were promised." We have repeatedly pointed out the certainty that the ideas of Asia would before long exer- cise a visible influence in England ; but we certainly did not expect to see Mahommedans subscribing for a missionary effort to convert our countrymen. They are not likely to have much success, the great dogma of Mahommedanism, the irresponsibility of God, being as opposed to the thought of the West as polygamy is to its morals ; but the effort is a curious proof of the fervour with which the True Believers still hold their faith. They send abroad more missionaries than we do, and, as regards numbers, with more success. All Chinese Mussulmans, said recently to number five %pillions, are converts of a tolerably recent date.
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