insinuations, gratuitous severity, and supercilious language which we
sometimes meet with, are the most powerful adversaries of conviction. Let us
not, however, be mistaken; we are boldly and unflinchingly to declare the
message and truth of the Gospel, and the incompatibility of the Moslem faith
with it, but it must be done with prudence, with kindness, with love. The
missionary of the Cross will find it a difficult thing in the heat of
controversy, when his own feelings are wounded in the tenderest point, when
his Saviour is afresh buffeted in his presence, to command his temper and his
words; —and yet it is absolutely necessary, as well for the exemplification
of the Christian character as for success. Finally, there are two lessons we
should learn from this controversy. The first is, never to employ a weak
argument; for the effect generally is most disadvantageous to our position,
and we may be certain that it will not escape the eagle eye of our adversary,
who will leave all our stronger reasoning in order to expose the fallacy of
the weaker. The second is, never to force a prophecy; fanciful and
far-fetched interpretations must be studiously avoided by ourselves, if we
wish with any consistency to deny those of the Mohammedans: let our
conclusions be always the clear, unforced, unquestionable, deductions of
reason.
