granted unto thee, above the rest of the true believers."*

Several writers who have carefully examined his Koran, have detected such a variety of mis-statements of facts, of anachronisms, and absurdities, as could only proceed, either from total ignorance of history, or from a deliberate intention to deceive. He makes Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, believers in his Koran; though they lived two thousand years before him. The disciples of our Saviour he affirms to have been his scholars, though they were all dead nearly five hundred years before he was born. He represents both Jews and Christians as idolaters. He says that the Angels worshipped Adam, and that the fallen Angels were expelled from Heaven, for refusing to do it. In the sixty-sixth chapter of the Koran he says, "Remember how Jesus the son of Mary said to the children of Israel, I am the messenger of God: He hath sent me to confirm the Old Testament, and to declare to you, there shall come a prophet after me, whose name shall be Mohammed."" The latter is a most impudent forgery, deliberately executed by him who censures the Jews and Christians for corrupting the Scriptures.

As the votaries of superstition are, almost always, credulous, and cannot distinguish the marvellous, or even the ridiculous, from the probable, he amused his countrymen by his narrations of the wonderful visions he had Of these, we shall only give the great outlines of one. One night, he told them, that as he lay in his bed with his beloved wife Ayeshaw, he heard a knocking at his door; upon which he rose, and found there the angel

seen.

Koran, Chap. 66.

Gabriel, with seventy pair of wings expanded from his sides, whiter than snow and clearer than crystal, and the beast Alborak standing by him. This beast he describes to be as white as milk, and of a mixed nature, between an ass and a mule, and of a size between both. On this beast, he says, the prophets used to ride, when they went to execute the Divine commands. This animal is represented as passing through any intermediate space with the quickness of lightning; from which circumstance it derives its name Alborak; a word which in the Arabic language, signifies lightning. As soon as Mohammed opened the door, the angel Gabriel most kindly embraced him, and with a pleasant countenance saluted him, in the name of God, and told him that he was sent to bring him unto God in heaven, where he should see things which were not lawful to be seen by any other man, and then bade him get upon the back of Alborak. The beast, having had no exercise for a long time, (from the time of Christ to that of Mohammed), was mettlesome and skittish, so that he would not stand still, for Mohammed to mount him, till at last the prophet, by a lucky thought, offered him a bribe, by promising him a place in paradise. Upon this promise, Alborak stood quietly till he mounted, and Gabriel leading the way, with the bridle in his hand, they passed from Mecca to Jerusalem, in the twinkling of an eye.

Here they found a ladder of light, already fixed for them, which they immediately ascended, leaving Alborak tied to a rock, till their return. When they arrived at the first heaven, Gabriel knocked at the gate, and the porter being informed that he had brought with him Mohammed, the friend of God, by the Divine command, the gate was immediately opened. Here, he met our first father Adam,

who immediately embraced him, gave thanks to God for so great a son, and recommended himself to his prayers. As he proceeded, he saw a multitude of angels, of all manner of shapes, some in the shapes of men, others in the shapes of birds, and others in the shapes of beasts. Among those who appeared in the shapes of birds, he saw a cock, the colour of which was white as snow, and of so prodigious a size, that while his feet stood upon the first heaven, his head reached up to the second, which was at the distance of three hundred years' journey from it, according to the usual rate of travelling on earth. This great cock was the chief angel of the cocks, and every morning, God singing a holy hymn, this cock joineth with him in it, by his crowing, which is so loud that all that are in heaven and earth hear it, except men and fairies; and then all the other cocks that are in heaven and earth, crow also.-Thence he ascended to the second heaven, where he met Noah, who was exceedingly glad to see him, and recommended himself to his prayers. Here, too, he saw twice as many angels as in the former, and particularly one whose head reached the third heaven. In the third heaven, which was still more glorious than the former two, as the first of them was made only of silver, and the second of gold, but this of precious stones, he met Abraham who treated him with the same marks of respect. In this third heaven, he saw a much greater number of angels, and one angel particularly of so immense a bulk, that the distance between his two eyes, was about a moderate journey of seventy thousand days, according to the common mode of travelling. He successively ascended into the fourth and fifth, and sixth heavens, which were made of emerald, adamant, and carbuncle, and was received with equal honours by Joseph, by

Moses, and by John the Baptist, and saw things still more wonderful. From the sixth, he ascended up into the seventh heaven, which was all made of divine light. Here, he says, he found Jesus Christ, and that he recommended himself to Jesus Christ, desiring him to pray for him. Here is a confession of the superiority of Christ, extorted from the lips of this impostor. In the seventh heaven he found a much greater number of angels, than in all the other six put together. One extraordinary angel particularly attracted his attention. He had seventy thousand heads, and in every head seventy thousand tongues, and every tongue uttered seventy thousand distinct voices at the same time, with which day and night he incessantly praised God! Here the angel Gabriel told him, that he was not permitted to go further, and left him to find his way to the throne of God, by himself. This journey, he says, he performed with great difficulty, ascending through waters, and snows, and many other obstructions, till he came to a place where he saw a vast expanse of light, the brightness of which dazzled his eyes. This was the habitation of God, and here his throne was placed.

On the right side of the throne, the name of God and the name of Mohammed were written, in Arabic words, "There is no God but God, and Mohammed is his prophet." This, he likewise tells us, he found written on each of the gates of the seven heavens through which he passed. When he had approached within two bow-shots of the throne of God, he tells us he saw him, with a covering of seventy thousand veils before his face; that as a sign of his favour, God put forth his hand and laid it upon him; that it was of such exceeding coldness, that it pierced to the very marrow of his back, and that he could

not bear it. He then informs us, that God entered into the most familiar converse with him, revealed to him many mysteries, and bestowed on him privileges above the rest of mankind, that he should be the most perfect of creatures; be the redeemer and saviour of all that believe in him; should have the knowledge of all languages, and the spoils of all whom he should conquer in war. With these instructions and honours, he returned to the place where he had left Gabriel, and found him waiting for him. Gabriel conducts him back again through all the seven heavens, till descending at Jerusalem, they found Alborak, and Mohammed having remounted, Gabriel again taking the bridle in his hand, conducted him back to Mecca. This amazing excursion was made in the tenth part of one night, and yet it is at least as wonderful as any of those which make the tale of a whole Arabian Night's Entertainment. Surely, no man in his right senses, can read the history of our Saviour's life, as it is written by the four evangelists, three of whom were the witnesses of the transactions they record, and the wild and blasphemous romances of the man who was his own historiographer, without being fully able to decide, who was the prophet that came from God.

The opposite characters of Christ and Mohammed, are contrasted, with great justness of colouring and force of truth, by Bishop Sherlock, in the conclusion of one of his sermons. "The gospel had no competitor till the great and successful impostor, Mohammed, arose; he, indeed, pretends a commission to all the world, and found means sufficiently to publish his pretences. He asserts his authority, upon the strength of revelation, and endeavours to transfer the advantages of the Gospel evidence to himself, having that pattern to copy after; and should