vour to do works of such a character, that we may have no cause to fear hell-fire. Let us, I say, chiefly apply ourselves to good works, let us not refuse to exert our utmost strength in the exact observation thereof, and of the fast of our venerable month of Ramadan, and of the prayers and ceremonies which are ordained; and let us not defraud the poor of a tenth of all our goods.

XIII.-Of Hell.

We must sincerely believe and hold for certain, that there is a hell prepared for the unrighteous, the refractory transgressors of the divine law, accursed of God for their evil works, and for whom it would have been better had they never have been born, and to have never seen the light of day. It is for such as those that a place of torment is appointed, or rather a fire which burneth without touching them, a fire of ice and north winds, where there shall be nothing but snakes and serpents, with other venomous and ravenous creatures, which shall bite them without destroying them, and shall cause them to feel grievous pains. That place shall be the abode of the impious and of the devils, where these shall, with all sorts of cruelty and rage, incessantly torture those; and lest the sense of their pain should cause them to relent, a new skin shall continually succeed in the stead of that which has been burned or mortified. It is for us Mussulmans to conceive and entertain a just horror of this detestable place; such reflections are the duty of all God's servants. As for those others who have declared war against our religion, they shall one day feel the torments of

hell. Let us all dread this punishment and these frightful terrors. Let us confirm our faith by the sentiments of our hearts, and by the confession of our tongues, and let us engrave it in the bottom of our souls.

NO. III..STYLE OF THE KORAN.

Most of the extracts from the Koran, given in the former parts of this work, are connected with some doctrine or practice taught by that singular production. Our design will be scarcely completed without giving a more perfect specimen of its style. We select, therefore, an entire chapter, the third, which perhaps is the best adapted for this purpose. It will be at once perceived, that whatever merits the Koran has, that of originality does not belong to it. Its stories are mostly borrowed in a corrupted form from the sacred page. Its grandest passages, magnificently describing the Almighty sitting on the eternal throne, encompassed with clouds and darkness, and giving laws to the universe, instantly remind us of the hallowed manner, the ideas, and even the language of the Hebrew prophets. Its account of the attributes of Deity, whether natural or moral, exhibits nothing new to the reader of the inspired volume, the expressions of which are but reechoed and feebly imitated; and from the same source it borrows the severe invectives, the fearful punishments which it denounces on those who rob the Almighty of the honour due exclusively to him, by associating others with him as equals or

partakers of his majesty and glory. The religious practices for which the Koran provides were taken, as in some instances has been already seen, from the fanciful and superstitious ceremonies with which the pagan Arabs had adored their imaginary deities, and in its rewards and penalties the Koran is almost equally indebted to divine revelation and heathen mythology. Even those passages which at first view appear most captivating by their novelty, and in which Mahomet has most indulged a luxuriant imagination, and expatiated in the boundless regions of fancy, will be found on examination to contain as little really new, as they do of valuable information. His future world, whether of happiness or misery, is derived from the Jewish Rabbins, whose writings are an exhaustless store of marvellous and improbable fiction. And the precepts he enjoins, many of them good, as was to be expected, though many are ridiculous and immoral, are obviously drawn from the same sources. Every duty which Mahomet inculcates, every precept which he enforces, may be traced up to the divine original contained in the sacred volume, though its native beauty is greatly marred, and though it is strongly marked with the impure and corrupt channel through which it has passed. Thus, when he summons his followers in a tone of authority, to the practice of charity,-when he commands them to give alms, to relieve the distressed, to forgive injuries, the principle on which he places the practice of these duties is base and narrow, when compared with the expansive charities of the gospel. The Koran pretends, indeed, to be the grand close and consummation of divine revelations, but instead of improving on the

law and the gospel, it is a gross corruption and perversion of both. These observations, however, and others of a similar character that might be made, are all sustained by the following chapter from the Koran.

CHAP. III.-Entitled the family of Imran, a name given to the father of the Virgin Mary, the Arabic form of Amram, or Amran; the father of Moses and Aaron. Some think that Mahomet preserved alive the Miriam of Aaron's family till the time of Christ, that she might become his mother.

"In the name of the most merciful God. A. L. M.," that is "God is gracious, and to be glorified;" or as God is the speaker, "To me belongs all perfection, from me proceeds all good."

There is no God but God, the living, the selfsubsisting He hath sent down unto thee the book of the Koran with truth, confirming that which was revealed before it; for he had formerly sent down the law, and the gospel, a direction unto men; and he had also sent down the distinction between good and evil. Verily those who believe not the signs of God, shall suffer a grievous punishment; for God is mighty, able to revenge. Surely nothing is hidden from God, of that which is on earth, or in heaven: it is he who formeth you in the wombs, as he pleaseth; there is no God but he, the mighty, the wise. It is he who hath sent down unto thee the book, wherein are some verses clear to be understood; they are

the foundation of the book; and others are parabolical. But they whose hearts are perverse will follow that which is parabolical within, out of love of schism, and a desire of the interpretation thereof; yet none knoweth the interpretation thereof; except God. But they who are well grounded in knowledge say, We believe therein, the whole is from our Lord; and none will consider except the prudent. O Lord, cause not our hearts to swerve from truth, after thou hast directed us: and give us from thee mercy, for thou art he who giveth. O Lord, thou shalt surely gather mankind together unto a day of resurrection: there is no doubt of it, for God will not be contrary to the promise. As for the infidels, their wealth shall not profit them anything, nor their children against God: they shall be the fuel of hell-fire. According to the wont of the people of Pharaoh, and of those who went before them, they charged our signs with a lie; but God caught them in their wickedness, and God is severe in punishing. Say unto those who believe not, Ye shall be overcome, and thrown together into hell: an unhappy couch shall it be. Ye have already had a miracle shown you in two armies, which attacked each other; one army fought for God's true religion, but the other were infidels; they saw the faithful twice as many as themselves in their eye-sight; for God strengtheneth with his help whom he pleaseth. Surely herein was an example unto men of understanding. The love and eager desire of wives, and children, and sums heaped up of gold and silver, and excellent horses, and cattle, and land,

The allusion in this passage is to the battle of Bedr, described in page 131, of this work.