portion of the globe."-" The conquests of Syria, of Persia, of Egypt, and of Palestine, succeeded each other with a celerity which outruns description. Thence the storm spread, without check or pause, eastward to the frontiers of India and China, westward to the Pillars of Hercules and the shores of the Atlantic, and on the north, to the banks of the Oxus and the borders of the Caspian."-" The Saracen empire extended its dominion in eighty years over more kingdoms and countries than the Roman in eight hundred."-" A few years more annexed Spain "A and Sicily to the empire of the Caliphs. And thus in less than a century from the period of its rise in the barren wilds of Arabia, the Mohammedan religion extended over the greater part of Asia and Africa, and threatened to seat itself in the heart of Europe."

It would be easy to extend this rapid sketch of the rise and progress of Mohammedism, and to trace the phenomena of the rising Crescent till it reached the very zenith of its altitude. This would be easier by far than any other part of the task which I am now called to attempt. But I do not feel at liberty to occupy your time by a lengthened detail of facts which are already familiar to the minds of many of my hearers,

* See Forster's Mahometanism Unveiled, Vol. I. p. 11.

and which even a limited and an attractive course of reading may render familiar to all. The facts already stated cannot have failed to suggest an inquiry on which it is both important and interesting to enter.

Let us inquire then,

II. To what causes may we justly ascribe the rapidity and extent of the progress of Mohammedism, and the influence it still continues to exercise over a vast population of the world?

It is justly observed by Dr. Paley, that "the only event in the history of the human species, which admits of comparison with the propagation of Christianity, is the success of Mohammedism." That success has been pleaded by the advocates of Islamism as an irrefragable proof, that Mohammed was the true Prophet of God: and that success has been represented by sceptical opposers of Christianity, as displaying a parallelism sufficient at least to neutralize the argument arising from success in favour of the gospel of Christ. To the discussion of this subject many able writers have brought both strength of reasoning and stores of historical knowledge. An author, however, whose elaborate performance, the result of nine years' researches, has recently been given to the public, the Rev. Charles Forster,- -expresses on this point an opinion

which I will state in his own words. "In the estimation of the unbeliever this parallel is still seen to furnish his most specious ground of attack; in that of the christian advocate, it opens an arduous and anxious field for the defence of revelation; while, by competent minds, neither deficient in sound learning and philosophy, nor wanting in genuine attachment to the great truths of Christianity, the question is to this day regarded as unsettled, and the causes which induced the success of Mohammedism pronounced an unsolved problem." In the progress of his work, he represents the difficulty of the question as regarding not so much the rapidity of the original promulgation, as the permanence of this extraordinary religion.

Let us then examine the most weighty of the reasons usually assigned by the advocates of Christianity to account for the success of Mohammedism. We may be thus prepared to form an opinion in reference both to the necessity and the validity of the new principle of examination, by which this learned and able writer attempts to confirm the evidences of the christian faith.

Among the causes of success usually and justly assigned, we must not overlook

The talents and character of Mohammed. His constitution was vigorous, his person was commanding, and his activity was indefatigable. He

had a quick discernment, a retentive memory, and a presence of mind which never betrayed perturbation or embarrassment. He exercised a profound penetration into human character, and was well versed in the art of selecting the most appropriate instruments for the accomplishment of his purposes. It is said to have been one of his maxims always to shelter himself, if possible, from the odium of crimes, and never to instigate any except he regarded them as useful. It has been the attempt of some writers to prove that his master-passion was religious enthusiasm, and that he himself mistook the suggestions of fancy for the inspirations of heaven. In this opinion I cannot coincide. If ever there was a human soul under the impulse of ambition, as its inspiring and absorbing principle, such a soul was that of Mohammed. It was an ambition such as fired the spirit, and kindled the energies, and blazed in the career of Napoleon. Might I not almost hazard the conjecture, that if there was any ancient conqueror whose glory dazzled the eye and excited the envy of that scourge of Europe, it was Mohammed? What creed would

he not have avowed, what principles would he not have enforced, could his eagles have soared to the elevation of the Crescent, and could his victorious banners have been waved with Saracenic pomp over territories equal in extent, in

population, and in oriental magnificence to those of the Caliphs ! Enthusiasm, I doubt not, took possession of the heart of Mohammed; but it was the restless and quenchless ardour of an ambition, which employed, as the most efficient of all instruments, the arts of religious imposture. Let us now attentively consider

The adaptation of the system of Mohammedism to accomplish the purposes of its founder.

The leading article of his creed was the unity of God. This doctrine he taught, not as a truth newly revealed, but as an eternal verity which had been maintained by Ishmael, the father of their nation. He thus gratified their pride without awakening their prejudice. When he addressed himself to Jews, he professed to pay high honour to Abraham, to Moses, and to the prophets. He endeavoured also, in the early stages of his progress, to conciliate the professors of Christianity, by asserting, that he was commissioned to introduce a more perfect form of the true religion, of which Jesus was a distinguished teacher. He admitted that Jesus was the Son of Mary by a miraculous birth, that he was the Messiah of the Jews, and that he will be the final judge of all. He even acknowledged, says the learned Sale, "the divine authority of the Pentateuch, the Psalms, and the Gospels; and often appealed to the consonancy of the Koran with these writings,