mans shall be at length released from their captivity, and shall be introduced into paradise at the second intercession of our blessed prophet Mahomet, whose great compassion will be signalized by his engaging, in order to our redemption, to supplicate the power and the mercy of the Most High, as well as his justice, already satisfied by the long captivity of the criminals. Wherefore let us from henceforward weigh our good works, to the end that we may assiduously strive to increase their weight, and that they may have the advantage over the bad.

XI.-Of the Sharp-edged Bridge, and the unavoidable passage thereof.

We are obliged to believe from our hearts and to hold as assured, that all mankind in the world must pass one day over the Sharp-edged Bridge, whose length shall be equal to that of this world, whose breadth shall not exceed that of one single thread of a spider's web, and whose height shall be proportionable to its extent. The righteous shall pass over it swifter than a flash of lightning; but the impious and the ungodly shall not, in as much time as the present age shall endure, be able to surmount the difficulties thereof, and that through the want of good works. For which reason, they shall fall and precipitate themselves into hell-fire, in company with the infidels and blasphemers, with those of little faith and bad conscience, who have done few deeds of charity, because they were void of virtue. There shall be some among the good, notwithstanding, whose passage shall be lighter and swifter than that of

many others, who shall therein meet with temptations and obstructions from every precept which they shall have ill-observed in this life. Good

God! how dreadful to our sight will this formidable bridge appear! What virtue, what secret grace from the Most High shall we not need to be enabled to pass over it?

XII.-Of Paradise.

We are to believe and to hold for a certainty that God did create a paradise which he prepared for the blessed, from among the number of the faithful, by which are meant the followers of the true religion, and of our holy prophet, Mahomet; where with him they shall be placed in perpetual light, and in the enjoyment of heavenly delights; for ever beautiful in the vigour of their age, and brighter than the sun; and where they shall be found worthy to contemplate and adore the face of the Most High God. As for those who shall be detained in the tortures of hell, to wit, the sinners and transgressors who have nevertheless believed in one only God, they shall be released at the second intercession of the prophet, by whom they shall immediately be washed in the sacred laver, from whence being come forth whiter than snow, and more refulgent than the sun, they shall, with the rest of the blessed, behold themselves seated in paradise, there to enjoy all the glory they can desire. This is what shall befall the body composed of clay; and what then shall be the state of our souls? To the which it shall be granted eternally to behold the light and brightness of the divine majesty. Let us then endea

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