complishment to which neither you nor we can pretend to lay claim.

E. I refer to the sentiments and doctrines, as well as to the language.*

* Even with this modification, how unsatisfactory the evidence of the divine original of the Coran! admitting, for the sake of argument, that its sublimity, if not unrivalled, has never been surpassed. What a slender foundation for the hundreds of millions to build their faith upon, who have embraced the Coran as the only authentic revelation of the will of God! Where is there a finer specimen of the sublime, than that which is quoted from Moses by Longinus, "And God said, Let there be light, and there was light." The language indeed is simple, but the sentiment is unrivalled by any thing that ever dropped from the pen of philosophers or poets, in reference to the creation of the universe. Yet, on supposition there were no other evidence of his divine mission than the sublimity of this and other parts of his writings, who could take it upon him thence to infer, that they were dictated by the inspiration of the Almighty? Sublimity of language or sentiment may strengthen the conviction produced by other evidence, that a book is from God; but of itself is by far too delicate an idea to have its merits appreciated by more than one in a hundred of those whose eternal welfare is involved in the truth or falsehood of its contents. On a comparison with the phan. tom, on which the impostor of Mecca rested his claims, as the prophet of God, how satisfactory was the evidence exhibited to the senses, and impressed on the hearts and consciences of his hearers, by Him who spake as never man spake! "Then Jesus answered and said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. And

M. Still we are prepared to enter the lists, when a favourable opportunity offers; but remember that in judging of the claims of books, which profess to be a revelation from God re

"There

blessed is be whosoever is not offended in me. was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art art a teacher come from God; for no man can do these miracles except God be with him."+ "But I have greater witness than that of John; for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me."+ "Then gathered the chief priests and Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him."§ The argument of the Mohammedans, considered as having been put into the mouth of their founder by God, becomes still more suspicious, when it is remembered that, according to him, the Coran was not intended for the Arabs alone, but for men of every language under heaven. How improbable that God, who is merciful and wise," should have withheld from a prophet of Mohammed's pretensions, the proofs of his divine legation, with which his predecessors were furnished, and left him to rest the whole fabric on a kind of evidence which, apart from other people, is far from being conclusive to men of the most cultivated mind, and altogether beyond the investigation of almost any but a few interested individuals who understand the Arabic language.

Luke vii. 22, 23. + John iii. 1, 2. John v. 36, 37. § John xi, 47, 48.

specting the way of salvation, the proper question is not, which of them is the most sublime in the style of its composition, but which of them produces the strongest evidence that it has been dictated by the inspiration of the Almighty, and that its contents are suited to the necessities of those to whom it is given. In neither of these respects is the Coran to be compared with the Bible. We have sought evidence of the inspiration of its author, but can find none. We have asked its admirers again and again, but asked them in vain, to shew us, from any thing contained in it, how sinners are to be justified in the sight of God, and saved from the wrath to come.

By the time we had proceeded thus far in the discussion, night had begun to set in, and as we had a couple of versts to travel to our lodgings, and rather an awkward road, we found it necessary to draw the conversation to a close; at which, we have reason to think, the Effendi was not at all displeased, for though he still talked of the sublimity of the Coran, and affected to have the fullest confidence in the goodness of his cause, it was obvious he had no wish to come to close quarters, in presence of the students, by bringing the question to the touchstone, which we proposed. When about to take our leave of him, however, he again averred his willingness to discuss the subject when it suited our conveni

ence; and on our part, we assured him we were prepared to abide the result of a candid investigation, but reminded him, that with us mere assertion would go for nothing. We must have evidence to rest our faith upon, before we could subscribe to the divine original of the Coran. We had incontrovertible evidence, we told him, that our religion had come from God; and till evidence was produced that it had been superseded by another, we must adhere to it.

In the course of the evening, conversed with the Mirza's servants, who listened to us with some degree of attention. The Mirza is from home on business, consequently we have not an opportunity of conversing with him on the objects of our mission.

Nov. 5. Left the Conack-house about halfpast eight, and took the road for the villages near the head of the Clous water, which are situated about forty vests north-west of the Cullish.

When ascending the Cullish water, we observed a great many plots of land on both sides of it, which had been in crop last summer, and the appearance of the stubble seemed to corroborate the popular statements respecting the fertility of the soil. Such parts of the ground, as had been in crop last summer but one, were overgrown with large weeds, most of

them five or six, and many of them seven or eight feet high. Their bushy tops were supported by a large stem, which gave them such a shewy appearance, that, on a cursory view at a small distance, the fields might have passed for so many young plantations. In consequence of the luxuriance of these weeds, there is almost no grass on the land for at least one summer after it has been in crop, and it is not till after the lapse of several years, that it masters them so as to be considered good pasturage. Toward the summit of the contiguous ridges on both hands, as also around the sources of the rivulet, twenty versts or more from the villages, there were large tracts of land which had been appropriated for raising hay, of which there was an excellent shew. After tracing the rivulet to its source, we made for an opening in the mountain ridge on our right, beyond which, we understood the Clous villages were situated. As we approached the opening, an immense plain burst on our view, extending from the base of the mountain as far as the eye could reach. It was part of the great Calmuc steppe. Near the bottom of the mountain range, the rivulet from which the villages take their name, winds its way in its progress to the north-east. The villages are situated on its banks, and had a fine effect as we descended the mountain range, by a serpentine course, which reminded me of

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