Almighty prevented the malicious intention of the Jews, and sent an angel to draw some water out of the river whilst it remained pure and undefiled. This is the received opinion of the vulgar, but their aversion, in reality, arises from the dog's dung which is thrown into the composition of this colour; a dog being looked by the Christians of St. John as a very unclean animal. The aversion which they have to the Mahometans, their ancient persecutors, gives them also an equal distaste to any thing that is green, which is the sacred colour of Mahomet.

We shall now proceed to the nuptial ceremonies. The priest and the relations of the intended bridegroom wait on the young lady proposed to be his bride, in order to ask her, whether she is a virgin or not; her answer is foreseen; she says, yes: but she is not believed upon her bare affirmation. She is obliged to take her solemn oath; the priest's wife searches her, and gives in her deposition likewise upon oath. After which the bridegroom and the ale conducted to a river, and there baptized. As As soon as they are come within a small space of the bridegroom's house, he takes his bride by the hand, and conducts her to the door, and after that returns with her to the same place where the ceremony began, which he repeats seven times successively, the priest following them all the time, and reading in his ritual several prayers. Then they go into the house, where they are seated by the priest under a canopy with their heads and shoulders close to each other, whilst he reads a long service over them which is followed with a lesson out of their Faal, or a book of divination, which he consults in order to find out the critical minute for a happy consummation of their nuptials. As soon as that is over, both parties wait upon the bishop, and the husband deposes before him, that he found his wife a virgin; and then the bishop marries them, puts several rings upon their fingers, and baptizes them again. If the bridegroom finds himself deceived, as to his wife's virginity, and is notwithstanding determined to wed her, he must make application to a priest, and not to the bishop to complete the ceremony. But the people are so fond of being married by the bishop, and it is such an infamy to have the ceremony performed by any one else of inferior dignity, that a marriage with one who is discovered to have lost her honour before-hand, but very seldom, if ever, holds good.

Tavernier gives for a reason of this strict inquiry with respect to the virginity of their wives, the right of the bridegroom which he ought to maintain with the utmost rigour and severity; to which we may add, that the honour and interest of fami

lies in a great measure depend upon it, and they design, by this prudent precaution, as our traveller expresses it, to bridle their daughters. These Christians of St. John are allowed to marry several wives, but only of their own family, and their own tribe, and this custom is derived from the Jews, for their widows are not allowed to marry again, and their men are debarred the invaluable privilege of putting away their wives.

We shall close this dissertation with an account of a pretended sect, called the Abrahamites, who, if we credit an anonymous traveller's voyages printed in the year 1724, are also to be met with in Egypt; but we suspect the veracity of the author, since no traveller but himself, as we know of, ever made any mention of these deists of Egypt. Besides, the way of thinking of these Abrahamites is, in our opinion, so conformable to that of those free-thinkers who dogmatize in England and Holland, without the least apprehension either of dragoons, gallies, or inquisitions, that it is very probable, he has formed his Abrahamites upon the same model. Moreover, the character of this bold adventurer, and of those who assisted him in the method of compiling his romantic treatise, is very-different; but tho' the general idea which is entertained of them, will never prejudice any one in favour of that performance, we shall notwithstanding include the fundamental tenets of these imaginary sectaries.

The Abrahamites, who are very few, acknowledge no other law but that of nature, which God, they say, delivered to Abraham, from whom, as they pretend, they originally descended. They constantly read those sacred books, wherein the history of the creation is included, tho' widely different from that of Moses, which they look upon as a mere romance. As to Moses, the Abrahamites are of opinion, that he was the ablest and most learned physician, and best chymist till that time'; that his miracles were wholly due to his extraordinary skil in physic and chemistry. They do not look upon him as a prophet, but as a wiselegislator, and compare him to the law giver of the Chinese. Jesus Christ, whose law we have corrupted, never, say they, pretended to be God; his morals, however, must be allowed to be extremely just, pure and refined. The fathers of the church were men either too illiterate or too hypocritical. The Abrahamites reflect very severely upon the ceremonies, the divine worship, and the festivals of the Chris tians. They despise and turn to ridicule the mysteries of Christianity; and to conclude, they affect to worship one supreme Being, and him only; and to love their neighbours as themselves; yet

think their destiny uncertain, and look upon the immortality of the soul only as a modern system, yet comfortable and grounded upon reason.

From all that has been said concerning these Greeks, whom those who dwell in the Levant call Schismatics, we may draw the following useful reflections. First, that as the corruptions among them are in some measure universal, so this, as an effect, must have originally flowed from a cause of the same extensive nature. For had not the whole Christian world been at one time totally corrupted in sentiments concerning the truth, those fatal effects would not now have been discovered or felt.

Secondly, the least deviation from truth in religion, or in morals, is generally attended with the most fatal consequences. Complaisance to the Heathens, and the vain ambition of making numerous converts, induced the Christians, after the time of Constantine the Great, to adopt many ido. latrous ceremonies. The progress was gradual, and the poison spread itself furiously, till the gospel of Christ became little better than a system of Heathenisin. In all these corrupted churches, where poverty, in all temporal things is conspicuous, and where ignorance is rather sought after than avoided; we find the wretched people fond of image worship, and a thousand other fopperies.

Thirdly, as the corruption was gradual, and is now become as it were inveterate, a reformation must likewise be gradual. How far distant that period may be, no man can say. It is much to he wished for by all those who seek to promote the

happiness of their fellow creatures, in time and in eternity; and consistent with the divine perfections we may hope for it. God may in justice punish men, by withdrawing his favours when they forsake his laws and despise his ordinances; but no sooner do they return to their duty, like the prodigal in the gospel, than they are received with open arms of affection.

Lastly, let us as Protestants, who are favoured with the holy scriptures and the gospel in its purity, endeavour to set a proper value upon such undeserved and inestimable privileges. Let our consciences never upbraid us with the horrid sin of ingratitude to our most generous benefactor, but let us shew ourselves worthy of his mercies, by living as obedient children. And to conclude, let us consider that we cannot give a stronger proof of our gratitude for the favours and blessings he has bestowed, than in praying that he would be graciously pleased to open the eyes of those who sit in darkness, and in the region and shadow of death. It is the character of the devil, to wish every creature as miserable as himself; but a Christian of a noble, generous disposition, knowing the happiness of his own condition, wishes all mankind to be equally so. Our Saviour has commanded us to pray that his kingdom may come, the meaning of which words are, that we should earnestly desire to see the gospel promulgated over the whole habitable world, as an emblem of the kingdom of glory that must succeed it.

WE

E are now, in the course of this work, obliged to enter upon a melancholy subject indeed, we feel for the Heathen nations who know nothing of God or Christ Jesus; but when we meet with a body of people who actually believe in Divine Revelation, but pay more regard to an imposition than to the truth, we are apt to make use of the expressions recorded by Knowles, "O! why "will ye believe in lies." The most judicious of our Christian commentators, whether ancient or modern, are of opinion that the locusts mentioned

in Revelation ix. 3, allude in all respects to the Mahometans. Nay, it would seem that there could be no manner of doubt concerning the truth of this opinion, especially when we consider the similarity of circumstances. Locusts, as we are assured by the learned Dr. Shaw, come from the north to the south of Asia, in such amazing numbers, that they even darken the air, and it is well known, that fist the Arabians and then the Turcumans, both of whom established Mahometanism, marched in such armies together, that they carried destruction before

them

them. Like the army of Xerxes they darkened the sun, which circumstance induced the Athenian to say, "We shall fight in the shade."

Again, to go on with the parallel, locusts are produced by a corruption in the air, and all our ecclesiastical historians acknowledge, that during the sixth century, the Christian church was so mnch corrupted, particularly in the east, that little beside the name was left. Poetry itself has been brought in to support the assertion; for on this melancholy subject, Mr. Hughes wrote the siege of Damascus, one of the finest compositions this country ever produced.

of

As the swarms of locusts destroy every herb of the field, and leave neither food for man nor beast, so in the same manner the Mahometans destroyed most of the remains of antiquity, and converted the Christian churches into Mosques. Nay, they even destroyed the food necessary for the support the intellectual faculties, namely books, and the scats of learning. The comparison indeed, might be carried much farther, but the following narrative renders it unnecessary. We shall therefore begin with the life of the arch impostor Mahomet, and then proceed to describe the ceremonies of his religion.

Mahomet was born at Mecca, a city of Arabia, and descended from the ancient tribes of Korashites, who had long enjoyed the regal dignity, so that this impostor was far from being descended of such mean parents as has been generally represented. Indeed, it seldom happens, that men, who are no ways connected with illustrious families, are fired with that sort of ambition which creates a name. But when a man has been told that his ancestors were revered for actions, which have rendered their names famous, they are stimulated on to imitate them, or at least to attempt to do so.

The father of Mahomet was Abdollech of the royal family of Arabia, and his mother's name was Amena. He was born in the year of our Lord 571, Justin the second, then emperor of Constantinople, and Cheross the first king of Persia. It happened, however, from a variety of causes, that in his youth he was in very indigent circumstances, for his father dying before he was two years of age, he was left in a manner destitute of subsistence, and as for education in letters, it appears he had none. His mother died when he was about eight years of age, and then he was left to the care of his grandfather, who died within a year afterwards, and then Taleb his uncle took him under his protection, to bring him up as a merchant, a name much esteemed among us at present, but at that time signifying a robber.

In this manner Mahomet was brought up till he arrived at years of maturity, and then he was sent to conduct a caravan to Syria. It was in Bostra, a city of Syria, that Mahomet was first taken notice of by a Nestorian monk, whose name, according to the Christian historians, was Sergius, but according to the Arabians, Bahira. But let his name be what it will, it is here necessary to observe that this monk, who seems to have been an abandoned vagabond, saluted Mahomet in the crowd of merchants, and told him that he was to be the third light of the world. The law of Moses, said he, is now totally abolished, the Christians have corrupted their holy religion, and therefore God has raised you up to reform the world and establish a pure religion.' There cannot remain the least doubt but this declaration, fired with ambition the mind of our young adventurer, but for some time he concealed his real sentiments, till he was about twenty-five years of age, when he married Cadigha, a rich widow, in Mecca, who made over her whole fortune to him, and for three years longer he continued to travel with his caravan to Damascus. It was then that he began to form some hopes of making himself sovereign over all the Arabian tribes, but he had many difficulties to struggle with, the greatest of all being that of religion, or rather superstition.

Having maturely weighed all these circumstances, he concluded that no project bid so fair as that of establishing a new form of religion. Many circumstances concurred to facilitate his design; for the Arabians his countrymen had all that time little or no knowledge of religion, and as he had conversed with the Jews and corrupt Christians while he carried on merchandize with the Syrians and Egyptians, so he had learned as much as to enable him to form a new system composed of all the errors of the Jews and Christians, mixed with a considerable share of Heathenism. He had observed, that the Arabians his countrymen, who attended him, were acquainted with some of the notions espoused by the Syrian Christians, and likewise with those of the Jews, which naturally led their minds from idolatry, and rendered them susceptible of any impostures, however erroneous in their nature, or pernicious in their tendency.

He was now about thirty-eight years of age, but as his life had been extremely vicious, he, like an artful impostor, considered himself as under very delicate circumstances. He therefore formed the resolution of withdrawing from company, and spending part of his time in the desert, under pretence that he was employed in heavenly exercises. The place he went to was a cave near Mecca, called the

of one of his wives, and out of it, after his death, was the Alcoran compiled, in the same manner aş Homer's Rhapsodies were out of the loose poems of that poet. Abu Beker first made the collection, but Othman afterwards revising and new modelling it, formed into that shape in which we now have it.

On his first appearing publicly as a prophet, the people laughed at him for the ridiculousness of his pretence; some called him a sorcerer, and a magician, others a lyer, an impostor, and a teller of old fables; of which he often complains in his Alcoran; so that for the first year he prevailed nothing among them, nor got any thing else by his publishing those chapters of his Alcoran which he had then composed, or his preaching to them the doctrines of them, but scorn and contempt. But this did not discourage him from still proceeding in his design, which he managed with great art, for he was a man of a ready wit, and a very acceptable address; he bore all affronts, without seeming to resent any; and applied himself to all sorts of people, without contemning the meanest; was very courteous both in giving and receiving visits; the great men he soothed with very flattering praises, and the poor he relieved with gifts and alms; and towards all men managed himself with that art of insinuation (in which he exceeded all men living) that at length he surmounted all the difficulties which so bold an imposure in the first venting of it must necessarily be liable unto, and several other new proselytes joined themselves unto him, among whom was Omar Ebno 'I Chattab, who was one of his successors, and then a considerable man in the city. example was soon followed by several others, so that in the fifth year of his pretended mission he had encreased his party to the number of nine and thirty, and himself made the fortieth.

His

On his having made this progress, several began to be alarmed at it. Those that were addicted to the idolatry of their forefathers, stood up to oppose him as an enemy of their gods, and a dangerous innovator in their religion. But others, who saw further into his designs, thought it time to put a stop thereto for the sake of the public safety of the government, which it manifestly tended to undermine for the establishing of tyranny over them; and therefore they combin ng together against him, intended to have cut him off with the sword. Abu Taleb, his uncle, getting notice hereof, defeated the design, and by his power, as being chief of the tribe, preserved him from such other like attempts as were afterwards formed against him. For although he himself persisted in the paganism of his ancestors, yet he had that affection for the impostor,

Tut

as being his kinsman, and one that was bred up in his house, that he firmly stood by him against all his enemies, and would suffer no one to do him any hurt as long as he lived. And therefore being safe under so powerful a protection, he boldly went on to preach to the people in all public places of the city, where they used to assemble, and published unto them more chapters of his Alcoran in the order, as he pretended, they were brought him by the angel Gabriel. The chief subject of which was to press upon them the observance of some moral duties, the belief of the unity of God, and the dignity of his own pretended apostleship, in which indeed, besides some Heathen and Jewish rites which he retained, consisted the whole of his new forged religion.

The main arguments he made use of to delude men into this imposture, were his promise s and his threats, as being those which easiest work on the affections of the vulgar. His promises were chiefly of paradise, which he so cunningly framed to the gust of the Arabians, as to make it totally consist in those pleasures which they were most delighted with. For they eing within the Torrid Žone, were, through the nature of the clime, as well as the excessive corruption of their manners, exceedingly given to the love of women; and the scorching heat and dryness of the country making rivers of water, cooling drinks, shaded gardens, and pleasant fruits, most refreshing and delightful unto them, they were from hence apt to place their highest enjoyment in things of this nature. And therefore to answer the height of their carnal desires, he made the joys of heaven, which he proposed for a reward to all those that should believe in him, to consist totally in these particulars. For he tells them in many places in his Alcoran, That they shall enter into pleasant gardens, where many rivers flow, and many curious fountains continually send forth most pleasing streams, nigh which they shall repose themselves on most delicate beds adorned with gold and precious stones under the shadow of the trees of paradise, which shall continually yield them all manner of delicious fruits, and that there they shall enjoy most beautiful women pure and clean, having black eyes and countenances always fresh and white as polished pearls, who shall not cast an eye on any other but themselves, with whom they shall enjoy the continual pleasures of love, and solace themselves in their company with amorous delights to all eternity, drinking with them most delicious liquors, and most savoury and pleasant wines, without being ever intoxicated or overcharged by them, which shall be administered

to