hesitate long in deciding to which the preference was due: for to instance only in another particular; whereas the penances and atonements for sins in the latter, are chiefly directed to useless rituals, and unprofitable mortifications; the expiations of the former have generally a benevolent direction to the good of society; as to the freeing the captive, to feeding and cloathing the hungry, &c. Much having been said relating to the sensuality of Mahomet's paradise, it may not be disagreeable to the reader to see from the Koran one of the best connected descriptions of it. "When the inevitable day of judgment shall suddenly come, no soul shall charge the prediction of its coming with falsehood: it will abase some, and exalt others. When the earth shall be shaken with a violent shock; and the mountains shall be dashed in pieces, and shall become as dust scattered abroad; and ye shall be separated into three distinct classes: the companions of the right hand, (how happy shall the companions of the right hand be!) and the companions of the left hand; (how miserable shall the companions of the left hand be!) and those who have preceded others in the faith, shall precede them to paradise. These are they who shall approach near unto God; they shall dwell in gardens of delight: (there shall be many of the former religions, and few of the last.) Reposing on couches adorned with gold and precious stones; sitting opposite to one another thereon. Youths which shall continue in their bloom for ever, shall go round about to attend them, with goblets and beakers, and a cup of flowing wine: their heads shall not ake by drinking the same, neither shall their reason be disturbed: and with fruits of the sorts which they shall choose, and the flesh of birds of the kind which they shall desire. And there shall accompany them fair damsels, having large black eyes, resembling pearls hidden in their shells, as a reward for that which they shall have wrought. They shall not hear therein any vain discourse, or any charge of sin, but only the salutation, Peace! Peace! And the companions of the right hand, (how happy shall the companions of the right hand be!) shall have their abode among lote trees, free from thorns, and trees of mauz, loaded regularly with their produce from top to bottom; under an extended shade, near a flowing water, and amidst fruits in abundance, which shall not fail, nor shall be forbidden to be gathered: and they shall repose themselves on lofty beds. Verily we have created the damsels of paradise by a peculiar creation; and we have made them virgins beloved by their husbands, of equal age with them; for the delight of the companions of the right hand."* The heaven declared in our Scripture, is more pure from carnal delights than this of the Koran; but for that very reason, not so well calculated to attract mankind in general. We are there told that " in heaven none is either married, or given in marriage, and that strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it;" for few men reason so well as to apprehend the excellence and sublimity of joys they do not feel. Mahomet on the other hand, ensured the affection of his followers, by suiting his promises more to their feelings as men; and though the sanction of punishment is nearly alike in both, he has opened a broad way to their expectations, and many there be who travel therein. And we presume it will not lead to destruction, those sincerely upright mussulmen, whose conduct may shew that they understand what they owe to their fellow creaThere can exist no doubts on this subject, if the following passages in the new testament, are entitled to credit, and they certainly bear the most indubitable marks of truth, being founded on reason and justice. tures. "What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. Of a truth-God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation, he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." Reflections on the obvious disparity every where observable, between precept and practice, are too trite to be insisted on now Koran ch. 26. as new observations; nor will they appear peculiarly applicable on the present occasion. The Koran directs what true mussulmen ought to be; travellers will inform us what they are: and if we consult Mr. Tournefort, a person of known talents and unimpeached veracity, who travelled through great part of the Levant on botanical researches, at the command of Louis XIV. we shall be enabled to conceive some idea of the present state of the government, religion, and private manners of the Turks, (who, though not the only mussulmen, are the most distinguished part of them) from actual observations, on which we may safely rely. The Ottoman government is very well characterized by M. Tournefort in the following passages; by which it will appear how necessary it is in our present enquiry to distinguish between the government and the people. "Those, who do not reflect on the original of this empire, discern at first sight, that the Turkish government is extremely severe, and almost tyrannical; but if we consider that it began in war, and that the first Ottomans were, from father to son, the most formidable conquerors of their age, we shall not be surprised, that they set no other limits to their power than merely their will. "Could it be expected that princes, who owed their greatness solely to their arms, should divest themselves of their right of conquest, in favour of their slaves? It is natural for an empire which is founded in a time of peace, and the people of which make choice of a chief to govern them, to be mild and gentle, and the authority of it may, in a manner, be divided and shared; but the first Sultans owed their promotion purely to their own valour, and being full of maxims of war, affected to have a blind obedience, to punish with severity, and to keep their subjects under an inability to revolt; and in a word, to be served only by persons who stood indebted to them for their fortune, whom they could advance without jealousy, and crush without injustice." Thus much may suffice, as to the maxims on which this empire was first founded, and still subsists; the effects of it will not be difficult to conceive. "Though the Turks, says M. Tournefort, imagine God gives prudence, and the other necessary talents, to those whom the Sultan raises to high employments, experience often testifies the contrary. What capacity can pages have, who are trained up among eunuchs, who treat them with the bastinado for so long a time? Would it not be better to promote youth by degrees, in an empire where no regard is had to birth? Beside, these officers pass at a step, from a state of the utmost uneasiness and constraint, to such an extraordinary liberty, that it is impossible they should not let loose their passions; and yet they are entrusted with the government of the most important provinces. As they have neither abilities nor experience to perform the duties of their charge, they trust to their deputies, who are commonly great robbers, or spies of the grand Visier, to send him an account of their conduct. These new governors are forced also to pass through the hands of the Jews; for as they have nothing when they come from the seraglio, they have recourse to those usurers, who lead them to all manner of rapine and extortion.-This evil would not be so extreme, if they would be content to receive it again by little and little; but as they are afraid every moment the Bassa should be strangled or removed, they never let a debt grow old, and the people must be squeezed to repay them." Under such circumstances it is evident that nothing can be permanent at the Ottoman Porte, and that it is a wheel incessantly turning. Such is the government of a prince, whose "empire extends from the Black Sea to the Red Sea; who has the better part of Africa; is master of all Greece, and even to the frontiers of Hungary and Poland; and who, in short, can boast, that his predecessors or their grand Visiers, have besieged the capital of the western empire, and have left only the gulph of Venice between their dominions and Italy.” From the sight of the wolves, let us now ease our aking eyes, by contemplating the more placid manners of the sheep; or, to drop the figure; from characters, which would make us detest human nature, let us, as is our interest, turn to the fairer side, and endeavour to reconcile ourselves with it again: nor to do this, need we seek farther than amongst the people of whom we are now treating. With regard to their religion, M. Tournefort agrees with what we have already seen; and says" The only article of faith the Mahometans have, is, that there is but one God, and that Mahomet is the messenger of God. As to the commandments, the Turks reduce them to five. I. To pray five times in a day. II. To fast in Lent, [or their month of Ramadan.] III. To give alms, and do works of charity. IV. To go in pilgrimage to Mecha. V. To suffer no filth upon their body. There are four other points added, but not as absolutely necessary to salvation. 1. To keep Friday a sabbath. 2. To be circumcised. 3. To drink no wine. 4. Not to eat swine's flesh, nor things strangled. They believe also that their prayers will not be heard, unless they first resolve firmly to forgive their enemies. It is for this reason that they never let a Friday pass without making a hearty reconciliation; and hence it is, that we never hear of any detraction or injury among the Turks." - Where their theological assumptions are so few and simple, and where, in consequence, such stress is laid on good works; there, if any where, we may expect to see the duties of humanity cultivated in an especial manner; and if we cannot consider them good christians, we shall be obliged to allow them at least the character of being good Samaritans.* We are told, that "beside private alms, there is no nation which expends more upon public foundations than the Turks. Even they who have but a moderate fortune, leave something after their death, to maintain a man to give water in the summer heats to drink to passangers, as they go along by the place where they are buried. Nor, (continues M. Tournefort,) do I question but they would also have ordered vessels of wine, if Mahomet had not forbidden the use of it."-" The sick visit the prisons, to discharge those who are arrested for debt: they are very careful to relieve persons who are bashfully ashamed of their poverty. How many families may one find, who have * Luke, 1. 30, &c. |