able to my original plan, fhall proceed to take a brief furvey of the religion which has predominated in a confiderable part of the world for more than one thousand years paft, and which has been adopted by feveral empires in Afia and Africa.

IN the fixth century after Jefus Christ, a most extraordinary man, called Mahomet, appeared upon the theatre of the world, in Arabia Felix, where he was born and bred. He was a man of mean parentage and condition, and very illiterate, but was witty, and had great natural talents. He was a fervant to a rich merchant of this country; and, after his master's death, having married his widow, he became poffeffed of much wealth, and of a numerous family. Among others, he entertained in it a monk, at leaft one who went by that name, whose libertine dispositions had made him leave his convent and profeffion; but otherwife he was a man of great learning. Mahomet,' from his childhood, was fubject to fits of the epilepsy; and, either from the heat of the climate, or from the neceffity which that difeafe laid him under, was very temperate, and abstained from wine; but, in other things, he was voluptuous, and diffolute to a great degree. He was ashamed of his disease, and, to disguise it from his wife and family, he pretended that his fits were so many trances, into which he was caft by the God of Heaven; wherein he was instructed in his will, and in his true worship and laws, together

with the particular form in which he would be ferved; and that he was commanded to publish them to the world, to teach them, and to fee them obeyed.

At this time, all the chriftian provinces of the eaft were over run with Arianifm; which, notwithstanding all the fophiftry of its learned advocates and profeffors, denied the divinity of Jefus Christ, and allowed only his prophetical office. The principal parts of Arabia and of Egypt were filled with great numbers of the fcattered Jews, who, upon the deftruction of their country in Adrian's time, had fled into thofe parts, to avoid the total ruin, and even extinction, which was threatened their nation by that emperor. The reft of Arabia and Egypt was inhabited by an idolatrous race, who had very little regard for their decayed and derided idolatry, and therefore had turned their whole attention to luxury and pleasure, and to the defire and acquifition of riches, in order to obtain these ends. The difpofition of the inhabitants of this part of the world being fuch, Mahomet, to humour and comply with the paffions of thefe three forts of men, and with the affiftance of the Monk, his only confident, formed a scheme of religion, which he thought would be the most likely to take them all in; or at least not to fhock their common opinions and difpofitions; and, at the fame time, perfectly agreeable to his own difpofition and defigns.-He profeffed to believe in one God, the creator and

governor

governor of heaven and earth, and of all things which are therein; and who is equally omnifcient and omniprefent. He declared that, in ancient times, God had fent Mofes, his first and great - prophet, to explain his laws to mankind; but that they were not received by the Gentiles, nor even obeyed by the Jews themfelves, to whom he was more peculiarly fent; and that this was the caufe of all the evils and captivities that fo frequently befel them. He declared that, in later ages, God had fent Jefus Chrift, who was the fecond prophet, and greater than Mofes, to preach his laws, and the observation of them, in greater purity; and to do it with gentlenefs, humility, and patience; but he had found no better reception, or fuccefs, among men than Mofes had done. He declared that, for this reason, God had now fent him, his laft and greatest prophet, to publish his laws, and orders, with power, and to fubdue those, by force and violence, who would not willingly receive them; and, for this purpose, to establish a kingdom upon earth, that should propagate the divine laws and orders throughout the whole world. He declared that God had doomed all thofe to utter ruin and destruction, who fhould refuse them; and, on the contrary, he had given to those who profeffed, and obeyed them, the fpoils and poffeffions of his and their enemies, as a reward in this life; and had moreover provided a paradife hereafter, with an excess of luxury and fenfual enjoyments, particularly of beautiful women, who

were to be newly created for that purpofe; but, to those who should die in the purfuit and propagation of the divine laws, through the rest of the world, which, he said, would in time submit, or be fubdued under them, he promised more tranfcendent degrees of pleasure and felicity.

The more to favour the opinions of his Jewish converts, he declared, that the circumcifion was a kind of covenant between God and man, and therefore he ordered it to be continued; but that children were not to be circumcifed before they were seven or eight years old, and were able to pronounce the following words; La ilha illa allha mehemed rasoul allha; namely, that there is but one God, and Mahomet is his prophet.-He declared that each of his followers was permitted to marry four wives at a time; and moreover to have as many other women as he could fupport.-Thefe, with the severe prohibition of drinking wine, and the principle of predestination, were the first and principal doctrines and inftitutions of Mahomet; and they were received with much applause by great numbers of Arians, Jews, and Gentiles, in this part of the world: fome adhering to him, from the belief of his divine miffion and authority; but a much greater number from his profeffing many of their own principles, and religious opinions; and still more, by his complying with their luxury, voluptuousness, avarice, and ambition. After his fits, or trances, he wrote the dif ferent chapters of his Alcoran, as newly inspired

and

and dictated from heaven; and left them in fuch a ftate, that the whole appears to us like a wild rhapfody of fantastical imaginations and inventions, without any meaning or order; although this has always paffed, among his followers, as a divine and facred book..

This new religion, being fo agreeable to the principles and paffions of great multitudes of people in those countries, made fuch a rapid progress, that it very soon spread from Arabia into Egypt and Syria; and the power of this impoftor increased with fuch a fudden growth, as well as his doctrines, that he lived to fee them overfpread both those countries, and a great part of Perfia. The decline of the Greek empire at Conftantinople, which had for fome time before been much fhaken by the invafions of the northern nations, and thereby disabled from making any oppofition to this new and formidable enemy, together with the divifions among the Christians, made way for the Mahometan conquefts, and increased the number of profelytes in this new religion. The Arians, perfecuted in the eastern provinces by fome of the Greek emperors, who were of the fame faith with the western or Roman church, made eafy turns to the doctrines of Mahomet, which profeffed Jefus Christ to have been a great and a divine prophet, and which was all in a manner that they themselves believed. The cruel perfecutions of the other Grecian princes against those Chriftians who would not admit the use of images, made great numbers