'Why, what are we to think of them,' said he, 'when we see Paul and Barnabas quarrelling; Peter acting the hypocrite, sometimes eating with the Gentiles, and then withdrawing from fear; and again, all the Apostles, not knowing what to do about the circumcision of the Gentiles, and disputing among themselves about it?' I answered, 'The infirmities of the Apostles have nothing to do with their authority. It is not everything they do that we are commanded to imitate, nor everything they might say in private, if we knew it, that we are obliged to attend to, but the commands they leave for the Church; and here there is no difference among them. As for the discussions about circumcision, it does not at all appear that the Apostles themselves were divided in their opinions about it; the difficulty seems to have been started by those believers who had been Pharisees.' 'Can you give me a proof,' said he, 'of Christianity, that I may either believe, or be left without excuse if I do not believe--a proof like that of one of the theorems of Euclid?' I said it is not to be expected, but enough may be shown to leave every man inexcusable. 'Well,' said he, 'though this is only probability, I shall be glad of that.' 'As soon as our Testament is finished,' I replied, 'we will, if you please, set about our third treatise, in which, if I fail to convince you, I can at least state the reasons why I believed.' 'You had better,' said he, 'begin with Soofi-ism, and show that that is absurd'--meaning, I suppose, that I should premise something about the _necessity_ of revelation. After a little pause, 'I suppose,' said he, 'you think it sinful to sport with the characters of those holy men?' I said I had no objection to hear all their objections and sentiments, but I could not bear anything spoken disrespectfully of the Lord Jesus; 'and yet there is not one of your Soofis,' I added, 'but has said something against Him. Even your master, Mirza Abul Kasim, though he knows nothing of the Gospel or law, and has not even seen them, presumed to say that Moses, Christ, Mohammed, etc., were all alike. I did not act in this way. In India I made every inquiry, both about Hinduism and Mohammedanism. I read the Koran through twice. On my first arrival here I made it my business to ask for your proofs, so that if I condemned and rejected it, it was not without consideration. Your master, therefore, spoke rather precipitately.' He did not attempt to defend him, but said, 'You never heard _me_ speak lightly of Jesus.' 'No; there is something so awfully pure about Him that nothing is to be said.'