Wesley Collected Works Vol 9
| Author | John Wesley |
|---|---|
| Type | treatise |
| Year | None |
| Passage ID | jw-wesley-collected-works-vol-9-250 |
| Words | 374 |
Gain is their
god; they prefer this to everything besides. A stranger is
in great danger of being cheated, if he trusts to his own
judgment; and if he employs a Chinese broker, it is well if
he does not join with the merchant to cheat the stranger. “Their laws oblige them to certain rules of civility in
their words and actions; and they are naturally a fawning,
cringing generation; but the greatest hypocrites on the face
of the earth.”
5. Such is the boasted virtue of those who are, beyond all
degrees of comparison, the best and wisest of all the Heathens
in Asia. And how little preferable to them are those in Europe! rather, how many degrees beneath them | Vast numbers of
these are within the borders of Muscovy; but how amazingly
ignorant! How totally void both of civil and sacred wisdom ! How shockingly savage, both in their tempers and manners! Their idolatry is of the basest and vilest kind. They not only
worship the work of their own hands; but idols of the most
horrid and detestable forms that men or devils could devise. Equally savage, (or more so, if more can be,) as is well known,
are the natives of Lapland; and, indeed, of all the countries
which have been discovered to the north of Muscovy or
Sweden. In truth, the bulk of these nations seem to be
considerably more barbarous, not only than the men near the
Cape of Good Hope, but than many tribes in the brute creation. Thus have we seen what is the present state of the
Heathens in every part of the known world; and these still
make up, according to the preceding calculation, very near
two-thirds of mankind. Let us now calmly and impartially
consider what manner of men the Mahometans in general are. 6. An ingenious writer, who, a few years ago, published a
pompous translation of the Koran, takes great pains to give us
a very favourable opinion both of Mahomet and his followers;
but he cannot wash the Ethiop white. After all, men who
have but a moderate share of reason cannot but observe in
his Koran, even as polished by Mr. Sale, the most gross and
impious absurdities.