prophet, I was well aware that I could not take refuge with the Abyssinian monarch Najáshi, he being attached to Muhammad; and that if I repaired to Heraclius, the emperor of Rúm and Shám, this prince would tender to me either the Jewish or Christian religion; one of which I should be under the necessity of embracing, although quite averse to them both. I was thus in a state of suspense; and on the prophet performing the pilgrimage, I left Mecca. When he had finished the ceremony, he inquired of my brother, who had turned Musalman, where Khálid was; which induced my brother to send me a letter, as follows:- Dear Brother, I am greatly astonished that thou hast not yet embraced the faith of Islamism; and when the prophet asked, Where is Khalid? I replied, God perhaps may bring him hither. When the prophet said, Khálid is not of that race, that the truth of Islám should remain concealed from him: if he should become a Moslem, and exert his bravery against the infidels and idolaters, he would fare much better, and I myself would receive him before any other. Make haste, therefore, dear brother, to partake of this happiness and blessing, for thou hast already lost much good from not knowing the value of the Islám.' On this letter being handed over to me, I felt great compunction at my former life: my inclination to the Islám grew stronger, and the idea of meeting the prophet pervaded me with joy; in consequence of which I set out for Mecca, and thence proceeded to Medína,”—(where Muhammad received him with open arms). Ibid. Paley admits the genuineness of the Korán; but nothing can be more doubtful. Muhammad's reveries were only partially written, being partly committed to memory : his scribes are plainly intimated to have been unfaithful. The loose sheets of the transcribed portion were entrusted to Hafsa, one of the prophet's widows. Abú Bekr published the first edition, said to be incomplete and defective. Othmán called in all the copies, and published a new one. Very many other circumstances throw doubt upon the matter. Since, however, the Korán contains few facts, it is of little moment whether the oracular dulness of Muhammad, or of his interpolating scribes, preponderate. After the capture of Mecca, and the appointment of Moáwiyah as secretary, the style of the Korán is, in the main, more intelligible and elegant. The doctrine also varies. Page 479. The story of Muhammad's epilepsy, or falling sickness, although so indignantly slighted by some writers, is nevertheless to be inferred from Abulfeda. (Gagnier's Abulfeda, p. 9.) Page 480. The instructive and amusing author of 'Hajji Baba of Ispahan' introduces the hypocritical Imám of Kom, asserting, that if he were willing to expose himself to as many risks and dangers as Muhammad did, he might become as eminent a prophet as the son of Abdallah; for that impudence conquered every difficulty. This assertion hints at the secret of the prophet's success. It proceeded from a bold imposture addressed to a pre-existing state of thought and feeling, aided by some concurring favourable circumstances of time, place, and opportunity. Page 485. Muhammadanism, as a religion, prevails chiefly in Turkey and Africa. In Persia it can scarcely be said to be held sincerely and bona fide. In both cases, however, an accurate knowledge of Muhammadan controversy might be a means of exciting discussion, whether among the zealous or the indifferent; the one permitting it from motives of pride, the other from those of curiosity. Al Khidr, or St. George. (Page 128 and 406.) The Musalmán notions respecting Al Khidr present a curious intermixture of Judaic and Christian tradition. He is the same as our St. George; but as the spirit of Elijah re-appeared in St. John the Baptist, so also (say the Muhammadans) did the soul of the zealous Phinehas return to the re-animated body of the holy and youthful warrior George. Al Khidr and Elijah are therefore represented as companions, being alike in zeal, and alike partakers of the privilege of transmigration. Al Khidr is moreover said, by some, to have drank of the water of immortality, and to be still living-a fable resembling that of the Wandering Jew. He is mentioned in the Korán, and is said to have convinced Moses of the justice of providential retribution in a very practical manner. The story is the original source of the poem of 'The Hermit,' by Parnell. an evident affinity to that of George. Tewpycos, the adjective of τὸ γεώργιον and ὁ γεωργός, husbandry and the husbandman, flows from the compound verb which expresses the idea of working the earth, which is clothed with verdure. George is therefore derived from the earth, that produces, and Al Khidr, from the green herbage produced. George is a Christian name, signifying "the object of God's husbandry ;" a beautiful allusion to John xv. 1. and 1 Cor. iii. 9. The Musalmáns always regard the two names as referring to one and the same person, and religiously respect the images and ensigns of St. George, whenever they fall in their way. His martial character is naturally attractive to them; and they pretend that he was a professor of Islám. It may appear surprising that the very existence of a suint so popular in the time of Muhammad, that he was incorporated into his system of religion, should have been subsequently questioned, and the Greek church accused of venerating an airy phantom, a mere allegory and abstraction; yet, since the Reformation, several writers, among the last of whom is the celebrated Dr. Byrom, have denied that there ever was a St. George, the trophy-bearing martyr, whom, at one time, all Asia and the world respected. A greater number, however, perceiving the absurdity of this hypothesis, have rescued St. George from the limbos of possible existences, and restored him to a rank among actual objects; but they have inflicted a deeper injury upon him than the others, and have confounded the Christian martyr of Lydda with the Arian intruder of Alexandria. The matter is, however, sufficiently clear, if we consult authorities and records which approximate more nearly in place and time to the scene and date of the event, instead of first examining later traditions. The legend of the Greek church respecting St. George, as published by Simon Metaphrastes, asserts that St. George was born in Cappadocia, of noble parents, who educated him in the Christian religion, which they professed. His father being killed fighting bravely with the enemies of Christ, he removed with his mother to Palestine, where he had great riches. There becoming a soldier, he was soon raised successively by Diocletian to the rank of tribunus militum (colonel), and comes (count, or member of the war-council). Coming to court at the age of twenty years, he opposed, in open senate, the persecuting decree of the emperor against the Christians. For this he was tortured and beheaded at Lydda, April 23, A.D. 290. Such is the legend; erroneous, no doubt, in some details, but confirmed by sufficient testimony as to the leading facts. A book written by St. Ambrose, entitled 'Liber Præfationum,' and not now extant, is quoted by several very ancient writers. The following extract relates to St. George: "Georgius, Christi miles fidelissimus, dum Christianismi professio tegeretur, solus inter Christicolas intrepidus, Dei Filium confessus est; cui tantam constantiam gratia Divina concessit, ut et tyrannicæ potestatis præcepta contemneret, et innumerabilium non formidaret tormenta pœnarum." "George, that most faithful soldier of Christ, who, at a time when the profession of Christianity was kept concealed, was the only one of the adorers of Christ who fearlessly confessed the Son of God; unto whom such constancy did Divine grace grant, that he both scorned the injunctions of the tyrant's power, and also shrunk not from the sufferings of innumerable tortures." Gelasius, A. D. 492, (one of the Popes,) complains of some superfluous and unfitting expressions in the lives of saints, and mentions that, among others, the passion of St. George, who, he affirms, is commonly venerated, has also been corrupted. Childebert, son of Clovis, who began to reign a. D. 515, founded a monastery in honour of St. Vincent, and deposited there some relics of St. George, by whom, tradition says, St. Vincent had been converted. The Emperor Justinian founded a church at Lydda in honour of St. George. Venantius Fortunatus, a Christian poet, nearly contemporary with Justinian, wrote an inscription for a shrine of St. George : : "Martyris egregii pollens micat aula Georgî, Cujus in hunc mundum spargitur altus honor. |