Buddhism in the first two or three centuries had much to commend it.  King Ashoka left monuments of practical beneficence and philanthropy which have survived to this day.  But countless legends soon sprang up to mar the simplicity of Gautama’s ethics.  Corruptions crept in.  Compromises were made with popular superstitions and with Hindu Saktism.[161] The monastic orders sank into corruption, and by the ninth century of our era the system had been wholly swept from India.  The Buddhism of Ceylon was planted first by the devout son and daughter of a king, and for a time was characterized by great purity and devotion.  But now it exists only in name, and a prominent missionary of the country declared, in the London Missionary Conference of 1888, that nine-tenths of the Cingalese were worshippers of serpents or of spirits.[162] The prevailing Buddhism in Thibet, from the eighth to the tenth century, was an admixture with Saktism and superstition.  Where the system has survived in any good degree of strength, it has been due either to government support or to an alliance with other religions.  The history of Taouism has shown a still worse deterioration.  Laotze, though impracticable as a reformer, was a profound philosopher.  His teachings set forth a lofty moral code.  Superstition he abominated.  His ideas of deity were cold and rationalistic, but they were pure and lofty.  But the modern Taouism is a medley of wild and degrading superstitions.  According to its theodicy all nature is haunted.  The ignorant masses are enthralled by the fear of ghosts, and all progress is paralyzed by the nightmare of “fung shuay.”  Had not Taouism been balanced by the sturdy common-sense ethics of Confucianism, the Chinese might have become a race of savages.[163]

The decline of Mohammedanism from the sublime fanaticism of Abu Bekr and the intellectual aspirations of Haroun Al Raschid, to the senseless imbecility of the modern Turk, is too patent to need argument.  The worm of destruction was left in the system by the vices of Mohammed himself; and from the higher level of his early followers it has not only deteriorated, but it has dragged down everything else with it.  It has destroyed the family, because it has degraded woman.  It has separated her immeasurably from the status of dignity and honor which she enjoyed under the influence of the early Christian church, and it has robbed her of even that freedom which was accorded to her by heathen Rome.  One need only look at Northern Africa, the land of Cyprian and Origen, of Augustine and the saintly Monica, to see what Islam has done.  And even the later centuries have brought no relief.  Prosperous lands have been rendered desolate and sterile, and all progress has been paralyzed.

In the history of the Greek religion it is granted that there were periods of advancement.  The times of the fully developed Apollo worship showed vast improvement over previous periods, but even Professor Tiele virtually admits that this was owing to the importation of foreign influences.  It was not due to any natural process of evolution; and it was followed by hopeless corruption and decline.  The last days of both Greece and Rome were degenerate and full of depression and despair.