266 APPENDIX display of the calm judgment and justice of the assem- bly! These men brought forward the old received assertions, and did not attempt to arrive at truth by reasoning. Their statements were torn to pieces, and they were nearly put to shame; and then they began to attack the contradictions in the Gospel, but they could not prove their assertions. With perfect calmness and earnest conviction of the truth, the Padre replied to their arguments, and then he went on to say, " If these men have such an opinion of our Book, and if they b eh' eve the Koran to be the true word of God, then let a furnace be lighted, and let me with the Gospel in my hand, and the Moslem priests with their holy book in their hands, walk into that test- ing-place of truth, and the right will be manifest." The black-hearted, mean-spirited disputants shrank from this proposal, and answered only with angry words. This prejudice and violence greatly annoyed the impartial mind of the Emperor, and, with great discrim- ination and enlightenment, he said: " Man's outward profession and the mere letter of Mohammedanism, without a heartfelt conviction, can avail nothing. I have forced many Brahmans, by fear of my power, to adopt the religion of my ancestors; but now that my mind has been enlightened with the beams of truth, I have become convinced that the dark clouds of con- ceit and the mist of self-opinion have gathered round you, and that not a step can be made in advance with- out the torch of proof. That course only can be bene-
